Genshin Sandrone: Details of Song of the Welkin Moon Prelude "The Journey Home"

In the new Genshin Impact Version 5.8, we concluded the prologue of "Song of the Welkin Moon"-"The Journey Home." A long-teased member from the Fatui PV, who had piqued many Travelers' curiosity, finally appeared in the storyline. She is "Marionette" Sandrone.

Regarding the Seventh Harbinger of the Fatui, the prologue provided limited information, summarized as follows:

First, due to recent shifts in circumstances and the arrival of "a certain catalyst," large numbers of Fatui troops have moved south from Snezhnaya to garrison in Nod-Krai, intensifying efforts to research and seize lunar power. Beyond constructing the massive fortress base "Kuuvahki Experimental Design Bureau" on the northern Paha Isle, the Fatui have targeted the "Idols of the New Moon" scattered across Nod-Krai. They use specialized mechanical devices to imprison these idols and extract their power. They even employed an unknown method to guide fragments of lunar debris from near-Earth orbit to crash onto the surface, causing significant panic among local residents.

The mechanical devices that imprison the Idols of the New Moon and extract lunar power are one of the key achievements of the design bureau. The struggle over these idols was foreshadowed in the special program "Behind the Scenes of Genshin Impact: 'Let's Start With Nod-Krai,'" representing the conflict theme of "technology versus nature."

Amid these major actions, conflicts between the Fatui and the local cult-the moon-worshipping Frostmoon Scions-have become increasingly frequent and intense. After all, in the eyes of the Frostmoon Scions, the Fatui's actions are undoubtedly a great desecration of the Moon God and destruction of their ancestral homeland. The Fatui, meanwhile, deploy troops to suppress the Frostmoon Scions' resistance while continuing to advance their research. All of this has heightened regional tensions, turning the already fragile Nod-Krai into a dangerous and turbulent land.

And "Marionette" Sandrone is one of the supreme commanders responsible for deploying troops stationed in Nod-Krai. This Harbinger, long described as a reclusive "tech-obsessed" researcher, has now acted contrary to her nature by actively participating in operations with remarkable vigor. Beyond obeying the Tsaritsa's highest orders, it is likely that other reasons have sparked her intense personal interest.

Second, through intelligence provided by Zhuoxin, we learned that Sandrone's direct forces are an unconventional faction even within the Fatui. They frequently conduct covert operations worldwide, avidly collecting hidden histories and lost knowledge of ancient civilizations, then utilizing them for so-called "deduction."

This new intelligence, to some extent, provides fresh support for the community's long-held speculation since the Fontaine version: "Sandrone has some connection to Alain Guillotin, the 'Lord-Artificer'-a pivotal figure in Fontaine's history." After all, Alain's close friend Rene de Petrichor once roamed the world gathering legacies and knowledge of ancient civilizations to complete the derivation of the "World Formula." Today, in the submerged ruins of Fontaine's Natural Philosophy Academy, we can still see the samples Rene collected. The Book of Secret Revelations (Rene's notes) also records parts of his deductive logic. Now that Sandrone's forces are executing similar "deduction" missions, it is hard not to recall Rene and, by extension, his connection to Alain.

Furthermore, multiple suggestive clues point to the link between Alain and Sandrone: For instance, among the "Fontaine Four," Alain is the only one whose fate remains unrevealed. Records mention that in his final years, he suddenly vanished from public view to devote himself to a secret research project. Fontaine also harbors intriguing unresolved plot threads about "consciousness upload" and "neural networks."

Five hundred years ago, Alain Guillotin invented new-style clockwork meka and Pneuma-Ousia Annihilation energy technology. These two inventions profoundly influenced Fontaine's direction of progress and social structure. Alain was also the founder of the Fontaine Institute of Kinetic Energy Engineering Science. However, this great inventor, revered by the world as the "Lord-Artificer," completely vanished from public view in his later years, devoting himself alone to a secret research project never publicly disclosed...

Page 12 of the Book of Esoteric Revelations records that Alain was developing prototype machinery capable of transplanting consciousness at that time.

At the end of the Fontaine side quest Questioning Melusine and Answering Machine, a message highly suspected to be from the Marionette was delivered to the Traveler (marked in dialogue as "an Executive interested in intelligent machinery"). This includes Childe's voice line mentioning the Marionette's inexplicable attitude toward him, which could be explained by her awareness of Childe's hidden connection to Fontaine's "prophecy crisis," leading to hostility stemming from concern for her homeland...

Additionally, there is a highly visible clue: judging from the group photo left by the Narzissenkreuz Institute, the Marionette bears a striking resemblance to Alain's deceased sister, Mary-Ann Guillotin, with her hair style and eye color matching almost perfectly.

Interestingly, the etymology of "Marionette" originates from the French Marionnette (France being the primary cultural prototype of Fontaine). "Marionnette" itself derives from "Marie," initially referring to small statues of the Virgin Mary, later denoting puppets of the Virgin Mary used in religious plays, and eventually becoming a generic term for any puppet.

Linguistically, Marionnette can be broken down into Marion (a variant of Marianne) + -ette (a French diminutive suffix with affectionate connotations). Thus, the term "Marionette" inherently means "Little Marianne." The game subtly hints at the connection between Sandrone and Mary-Ann through this codename.

Third, it is officially confirmed that Snezhnaya's "bionic puppet" technology was born from Sandrone's hands. In this prologue story, Velimiru, the Fatui squad leader who appears as an antagonist, explicitly admits to being one of Sandrone's "creations." Being a bionic puppet rather than a biological entity allowed him to stand again after enduring the Primal Source barrier's assault, while his two human squad members were reduced to pulp.

The bionic puppets created by Sandrone are nearly indistinguishable from ordinary humans in appearance. They possess autonomous consciousness, capable of thinking and acting like humans, representing highly advanced technological creations.

Speaking of the most familiar bionic puppet, it is undoubtedly Katheryne, the Adventurers' Guild receptionist we see daily (the Guild's headquarters is in Snezhnaya). Since launch, players noticed a "keyhole" or "wind-up hole" socket on Katheryne's neck, occasional mechanical voice repetitions of "...Anomaly..." and "...Retrying...", and identical Katherynes across nations. The community speculated that Katheryne was a bionic robot manufactured in Snezhnaya. This was officially confirmed in the Sumeru storyline when Nahida revealed Katheryne to be a bionic puppet. Now, it is further confirmed that the technology used to create Katheryne indeed originated from Sandrone.

In fact, Marionette herself may be a bionic puppet housing consciousness. Character posters clearly show a wind-up key inserted into the back of her girlish form. Combined with previous clues, it's easy to speculate that Marionette is a miraculous puppet created by Alain out of endless longing for his sister Mary-Ann. Alain achieved mechanical ascension himself, forever guarding his sister's side."

Thus, Marionette's true body might actually be the large robot inseparable from the girlish puppet-housing Alain's consciousness-while the Mary-Ann-resembling form contains an artificial consciousness Alain crafted to mimic his sister. Alternatively, the real Alain may have died long ago, with only artificial consciousness existing in Marionette today. Of course, speculation remains speculation; decisive evidence is still lacking. These questions will likely be answered when we formally meet Marionette.

Although Traveler had unpleasant encounters with Marionette's subordinates in "The Journey Home," subsequent information suggests this resulted from underlings recklessly seeking merit without authorization. Marionette herself never cared about these matters (before Velimiru acted, Marionette merely instructed, "Go cause trouble if you want, but remember to watch for a 'variable'"). The "variable" specifically referred to Traveler. At least judging by the apology letter Marionette left Traveler at the end of Fontaine's side quest "Questioning Melusine and Answering Machine," she never intended to make an enemy of Traveler.

That concludes all the information about "Marionette" Sandrone in the Song of the Welkin Moon Prelude "The Journey Home". Have you gained a better understanding of her and are you ready for her arrival? Of course, don't miss our more articles and Genshin Impact merchandise on the site!