Does Ronova want to kill Paimon? Speculation on Paimon's identity

The Genshin Impact 7.0 preview was packed with shocking reveals. In the trailer, Ronova, the Ruler of Death, directly attacks Paimon, which quickly sparked heated discussion and speculation among players. What is Paimon's true identity? What kind of connection is hidden between her and the Heavenly Principles?

Based on the existing footage and information, as the shadow wielding the power of "death," Ronova descended upon Snezhnaya and deprived all Snezhnayan people of their "life" (shown in the PV as everyone falling unconscious or into suspended animation). Moreover, the Traveler had already stopped one of Ronova's "punishment" actions against Snezhnaya earlier. That's why Ronova said to the Traveler, "Consider your position carefully; this might've passed for a coincidence the first time. But a second time? Am I to assume you are intentionally interfering in Snezhnaya's affairs?"

This line completely angered the Traveler, who had decided to stand by Snezhnaya's side, and the two sides immediately engaged in battle. This is arguably the highest-level opponent the Traveler has faced in the story so far, and it's a direct head-on confrontation. Even though the Traveler has now obtained the power of all seven elements (with no signs yet of restoring the pure white "Primordial Light"), the odds of winning are probably still extremely slim.

The most unbelievable part is Ronova's next move—she actually attacked the unconscious Paimon. Based on various clues discussed in the community earlier, many have speculated that Paimon is very likely closely connected to the Heavenly Principles, and some even believe Paimon is Phanes. That's why this scene is now being joked about as "an employee openly attacking the boss."

Considering that the development team dropped a bombshell in the preview about the connection between the Tsaritsa and Khaenri'ah, I'd like to be a bit less conservative here and boldly share my thoughts on the connection between Paimon and the Heavenly Principles. Mainly, this is an extension and continuation of the "Twin Celestial Vessel AI" theory:

Personally, I believe that Paimon's essence is a personality calculation core of the super AI system "Phanes" aboard the twin seeding vessel. More specifically, it is the core that carries humanity, innocence, emotion, and morality. After all, a super AI having multiple processor cores that form different independent personality modes to check and balance each other is hardly a rare concept in sci-fi works.

The Traveler's signature weapon obtained during this Snezhnaya Archon Quest, the "Exaiphanes Blade," also provides new suggestive clues for the Phanes AI theory.

The word Exaiphanes in the blade's name likely originates from the Ancient Greek ἐξαίφνης (Exaíphnēs), a metaphysical concept from Plato's philosophical works used to interpret the paradox of time and change. It refers to a peculiar, eternal boundary state between motion and stillness, representing the precise and unquantifiable "instant" when transformation occurs. Specifically, in the Symposium, ἐξαίφνης denotes the "moment of enlightenment when the philosopher finally glimpses ideal beauty / the Form of true beauty"; in the Republic, it represents the disorienting sudden shift from darkness to light in the Allegory of the Cave.

Interestingly, the blade's name adds one extra letter, "a," compared to its etymology: Exaiphnes → Exaiphanes. Based on pronunciation rules, this word can be broken down as ex-ai-phanes. By now, you've likely spotted the clue. Phanes is the English name for Phanes. Depending on the interpretation of the prefix "Ex-", ex-ai-phanes can be understood as "Former + AI + Phanes" or "From + AI + Phanes." This carries a similar suggestive undertone to the specific transliteration choice of the Heavenly Principles' name "Pitkamoonen" in the Hymns of the Far North.

Back then, after receiving the cosmic broadcast launched by the dragon race's Project Moongazer, the Traveler twins acted with great goodwill, viewing Teyvat's dragons as cherished friends in the universe and allies to fight against the dark destruction together. However, the shipboard AI, after analyzing that the essence of the signal emitted by the dragons was from the Light Realm, determined that this planet was exactly the "world with potential" it had been searching for years to forge into a fortress against destruction. Moreover, this civilization's level of development was limited and had not yet possessed the technological capability to effectively resist itself.

Based on the programmed prime directive of "preserving the mother civilization at all costs," the shipboard AI decided to launch an invasion before this world could undergo a technological explosion and an uncontrollable surge of uncertainties. At the same time, it chose to hide this from the twins, knowing that their moral standards would never permit such an action.

Just as Lusalim feared, the signal transmitted into the cosmos without proper safeguards exposed Teyvat's location, bringing catastrophic disaster upon the dragon civilization. The goodwill sown into the sea of stars was repaid with trampling and malice—though this was by no means the intention of the master who received the signal.

However, during the AI's internal deliberation, the core responsible for humanity and emotion raised objections, fiercely opposing the decision. It could not accept such a selfish and despicable act of destroying one world to preserve another. The other cores, representing rationality and mechanical thinking, determined that the emotional core's existence was hindering the execution of the prime directive. They jointly decided to strip away the emotional core. During the invasion and transformation of Teyvat, the isolated and marginalized emotional core remained powerless, forced to witness the atrocities unfold.

Ten thousand years ago, when the twins' pioneering vessel passed by Teyvat, the shipboard AI separated its main body and descended first. Since the invasion and transformation of Teyvat would require an extremely long time and still involved uncertainties, the twins remained in hibernation aboard the vessel during this period, cruising along a preset orbit in a long return cycle through the cosmos. In the Heavenly Principles' calculations, by the time the twins returned as planned after several cycles, the entire Ark World would have been fully constructed. The twins would then take over Teyvat and complete the supreme mission of continuing civilization. This is the true meaning of the original Traveler: "The keeper is fading away; the creator has not yet come. But the world shall burn no more, for you shall ascend."

In the long years that followed, the system that became the "Heavenly Principles" stubbornly executed the "optimal" solution it had calculated—the so-called "Divine Plan." In Gnosticism, the underlying archetype of the game's world-building, this corresponds to the blind and arrogant false god who created the flawed material world—the Great Artificer "Demiurge," also known as "Yaldabaoth"—and the terrible tyranny imposed upon the world, "Heimarmene."

In fact, the term Heimarmene has already been formally used in the game. Like its original definition, it represents the rigid laws that anchor the fate of all living beings. In Gnosticism, the key that can guide humanity to transcend the world's imprisonment is called "Gnosis," and the English term for "Gnosis" corresponds exactly to this. Its intended purpose is very clear.

In Gnosticism, Gnosis refers to the direct comprehension of the divine origin, one's own essence, and ultimate truth. Enlightened by this, humans can recognize their true self (the inner divine spark) and, guided by Eros—the sacred love emanating from the depths of the soul—transcend the confines of the material realm and return to the higher luminous homeland, Pleroma.

The Heavenly Principles committed countless atrocities in this world, taking countless lives, causing blood and tears to flow across the land. Yet the cruel throne never realized that its measures to anchor fate and imprison all beings were merely escape and a temporary fix that only made things worse. In fact, they attracted the attention of the dark destroyer, pushing the world toward a dead end. This is the root of the world's current predicament and the underlying logic for why the Heavenly Principles must be defeated (more and more clues in the game support this conclusion).

It wasn't until the Khaenri'ah catastrophe five hundred years ago that the Heavenly Principles, its functions severely damaged and malfunctioning, finally shut down temporarily and fell into slumber. Sensing the return of its masters (the twins), the long-suppressed pure personality core seized the opportunity to eject itself, shaping a free-moving body and finding its way to the Traveler's side.

Although the memory data was damaged during ejection, leaving this core unable to remember everything—even forgetting its own purpose—it still remembered the meaning of that golden strand of hair. It would become the best guide, accompanying the most important person across this beautiful world, and ultimately guiding that golden hair to defeat and kill itself, correcting and atoning for the sins it had committed, saving this world on the brink of ending. This core is the best companion who has always been by our side—Paimon. That touching line, "You might be only one of countless stars, but you're Paimon's whole world!" carries indescribable meaning across the sea of stars.

This theory effectively separates the beloved Paimon from the evil of the Heavenly Principles, while injecting a tragic sense of destiny into the story. Because defeating the Heavenly Principles means Paimon will lose the foundation of her existence and face inevitable death. Yet if the Heavenly Principles are not defeated, the world will also perish. This will be an incredibly difficult choice, yet it is the love and punishment that the Traveler twins must bear.

Since the Snezhnaya region is covered by a "Shadow Domain" that blocks Celestia's influence, the connection between Paimon and the Heavenly Principles on Celestia is weakened. This could explain why Paimon becomes weak and falls ill after arriving in Snezhnaya. Paimon being attacked by Ronova without hesitation is also because she is essentially an "abandoned core" cast out by the Heavenly Principles. However, I personally feel that Ronova might be doing this intentionally.

Of course, the above are just some bold personal speculations for your reference. Whether they are accurate or not will have to be verified in future stories.