Genshin Version 7.1 Preview Analysis: Tsaritsa & Pierro

After watching the Genshin Impact Version 7.1 preview, because the amount of information is overwhelming, and because the production team especially loves to create "misleading previews," analyzing the accuracy of the story direction in detail right now will probably not be very high.

However, there are still quite a few details in this PV that are worth taking out and mentioning. Let us look together at what exactly the preview contains.

First is the old Khaenri'ah photo that Pierro took out. If my guess is correct, this should be a group photo of a young Pierro (the handsome young man with black hair combed back on the left) and the Wise Hroptatyr (the beautiful man with long purple hair on the right). With close observation, it is not hard to notice that the man with purple hair has the same "crown" shaped decorations on his body (neck and legs) as the Wise chess piece that appeared in the Moon Phase 2 story.

The two former friends would later become the dean and vice dean of Khaenri'ah's research institution, the Universitas Magistrorum, but their friendship gradually broke apart as their ideals increasingly diverged. Pierro once engaged in a fierce struggle over the course with the Wise. The Wise, pandering to the Vinster King's ambition, advocated vigorously developing infinite energy (the Abyss), while Pierro held a strong opposing stance.

After the Wise's faction succeeded in summoning the ideal Abyss vessel through the "Sky Summoning"—namely, one of the blonde twins, the Traveler's sibling (from the 7.0 Archon Quest, we know that during the same period, Pierro summoned Paimon from Celestia, but the Vinster King did not think highly of her)—the anti-Abyssal faction represented by Pierro completely lost ground in the political struggle, and could only watch helplessly as their homeland descended step by step into the abyss of destruction in a maddening spiral, until that day—the destruction of Khaenri'ah erupted. In the lore text of the artifact "Pale Flame," Pierro, who failed to stop his compatriots' folly and witnessed his homeland's fall in grief, lamented his failure back then as follows:

Since the stain of my compatriots' blood cannot be cleansed, I shall become The Jester, who laughs in the face of fate.

Since my level of learning could not compare with the sages, I failed to earn the favor of the previous ruler.

So too did I fail to stop them from tearing away the veil of sin, ushering in a tide of divine wrath, destruction, and foolishness...

Then I shall become instead a fool, a Fatuus, and devote myself to Her Majesty, who understands my pain...

Then is the scene at 2 minutes 38 seconds. Here we see the "Seals of Life" that Snezhnaya has gathered from all over the world over the past few hundred years — that is, fragments of the authority of Naberius, the Ruler of Life. Now, in order to fight against Ronova, the Ruler of Death, Snezhnaya is trying to extract "life" from these fragments to find a way to counter the great authority of "Death."

Moreover, it seems that a long time ago, "a certain lord" entrusted part of the power of Bio-Alchemy to the ancestors of the Wind Immortal Clan for safekeeping. That is why we can see Vesna playing a key role in guiding the power of "Life" in this story segment. The "certain lord" mentioned here does not necessarily refer to the Ruler of Life herself but may refer to Koitar, the Goddess of the Dawnstar. Back then, it was she who granted the authority of Bio-Alchemy to the people of the City of Gold. Combined with the alien technology brought by the Traveller, the Gunnhildr Clan completely unraveled the mysteries of life and developed highly advanced biotechnology.

Snezhnaya's act of using the power of "Life" also drew the attention of the Ruler of Life / Rhinedottir, who personally descended upon Snezhnaya and confronted the Tsaritsa face to face, thereby paying off the scene from the "Sudden Snow" PV where the Tsaritsa and the Ruler of Life played chess on a board.

Although the atmosphere in the PV was tense, and the Ruler of Life's words carried a sharp tone that suggested ill intent, it is still hard to judge what thoughts and attitude she holds and what plan she has in mind for intervening in this battle between Snezhnaya and the Ruler of Death.

Next is the scene of Ronova appearing in front of the Celestial Nail in Snezhnaya. She appears to be using the Celestial Nail to lift the restrictions that the "Rules" place on her exercise of the power of "Death." (Of course, this is doubtful; we should be wary of the PV's usual misleading editing that separates audio and visuals. It is even possible that in the end it will be revealed that Ronova was actually stopping the Celestial Nail from falling...

This should be the Celestial Nail that destroyed Hyperborea. Back then, the golden nation once attempted to use the flesh and blood of the Ice Dragon to create a "transcendent Giant of Light," so as to attain the status and authority possessed by Nibelung, the Primordial Dragon, and fill the vacant "Primordial Human" throne on the planet after his disappearance, hoping to reverse the outflow of the primordial light and change Teyvat's fate of marching toward destruction under the erroneous "Divine Plan" (Heimarmene).

However, the experiment unexpectedly went out of control. The power of primordial ice struck the earth, causing a large-scale "Holy Soil" transformation, turning the land of Snezhnaya into a permanently frozen wasteland bound in ice for thousands of miles. This also caused the plan of the Saint (the interstellar traveller) and the humans under the leadership of the archangel to rebel against the Heavenly Principles to be leaked ahead of time, forcing them to go to war with Celestia before they were fully prepared.

A coalition gathered at the City of Gold, bringing together revolutionaries from all the city-states around the world, most of the angels, and even surviving ancient dragon kings (which should include the Thunder Dragon King), to launch a monumental war challenging the fate ordained by the divine. However, facing the Heavenly Principles at their full strength, this prematurely started revolution could only end in dismal failure. With the azure nail of judgment falling, the grand dream was shattered, and the great city glorious like the dawnstar, along with countless lives, was mercilessly erased by Celestia...

Several thousand years later, in a hatchery on the mountain like a wing, the posthumous child of the primordial light, the result that the unfinished experiment of the golden nation had expected, was finally born into the world in an incomplete form. He was the hero who would later unify the snowy plains, the Ice Emperor praised as the patron of all spirit beings and the Heir to the Pale Star — the first Cryo Archon, the Belyi Tsar.

The core mystery that has run through the entire main storyline so far — the true reason why the Tsaritsa collects Gnoses — will also receive an important revelation in this Version 7.1 story. According to the information given in the PV and the special program, it can now be confirmed that the Gnosis has two main functions: the first is to amplify the Tsaritsa's power, allowing her to break through the limits of being the Cryo God and gain enough power to fight against the Heavenly Principles; the second is, by gathering all the remains of the Third Descender, to unlock the legacy of the Third Descender sealed within the deep ice of the Zapolyarny Palace.

The Third Descender had a very close relationship with the Tsaritsa and the previous Cryo Archon, the Belyi Tsar. Long ago, entrusted by the Belyi Tsar, who was eager to seek his roots, the Third Descender opened the "passage" leading to the Shadow Realm, where the ruins of the City of Gold were sealed, for him. However, this act caused serious consequences that could not be undone.

The Shadow Realm is the last resort that the Second Descender (the interstellar traveler) left for Teyvat before being forced to leave after the failure of the golden nation's revolution. It is a "firewall" built using technology that the Heavenly Principles cannot understand, separating the Abyss plane from Teyvat. It has the property of repelling Abyssal contamination at the root level (infinite possibilities), and is a protective measure that can effectively extend the lifespan of Teyvat, which has been anchored by the Abyss at a higher dimension due to the implementation of the "Divine Plan."

Perhaps it was precisely because the Shadow Realm used the technology of the first civilization with overly distinctive characteristics that the traveler's actions of violating the ancient laws of their race and intervening in other civilizations were noticed by their kin, and in the end, the traveler was taken back to their homeworld and detained.

Because the Belyi Tsar insisted on opening the Shadow Realm, the integrity of the Shadow Realm was damaged, and a passage appeared that ran through the Shadow Realm and continuously leaked high-dimensional Abyssal filth into Teyvat. The Belyi Tsar was deeply remorseful about this and believed that he had committed an unforgivable sin.

But in the end, it was the Third Descender who bore everything, chose to face death calmly, and told the Heavenly Principles the method of using his remains to make the "Gnosis" to stabilize the world order. Based on some known texts, it can be speculated that the Third Descender's motive should have been to protect Snezhnaya and protect the Tsaritsa from punishment. He also made an agreement with the Heavenly Principles allowing the race created by him and the Tsaritsa — the people of Khaenri'ah — to survive in this world, and only then did he accept the fate of death.

After that, in order to continue the unfinished dream of his former nation and to ensure that the efforts of the survivors and the sacrifices were not in vain, the Belyi Tsar decided to outwardly submit to the Heavenly Principles, accepting the throne promised by the high heavens and the remains of the innocent one (namely, the Gnosis). However, this decision also drove the Tsaritsa and the Belyi Tsar toward a rift. "The Frost Emperor's Lament" records that farewell night as follows:

"On the night the truth stirred like bitter waves, she prepared this gift for her friend upon the throne—though she herself was no longer the person she used to be.

They both seemed to understand that they might never speak to each other like this again.

For after that night, the path they once walked together diverged—sundered by the weakness of one, and the fury of the other."

The Tsaritsa then left the Belyi Tsar's side. (Aksinya once mentioned that "that one" had already not been in the palace long before she arrived, referring to the Tsaritsa.) Then, five hundred years ago, when the destruction of Khaenri'ah broke out, the Belyi Tsar, who had gone on an expedition to suppress the Abyss, died on the battlefield of Khaenri'ah. Only then did the entrusted Tsaritsa choose to step forward again, take over the nation of Snezhnaya, and become the second Cryo Archon.

Because Khaenri'ah tore open the Shadow Realm barrier once again, the lifespan of all Teyvat was further compressed to only a few hundred years, and by now, there is even less than a dozen years left. The end is already close at hand. All factions, based on their own plans, are seeking ways to save the world. Whether they are bold moves or foolish moves, they are all fighting with everything on the line. Only by achieving "transcendence" can a glimmer of hope be won for the world.

Our old friend Dainsleif also made a surprise appearance in this great battle directly confronting the Ruler of Death, Ronova, providing an important addition to combat strength in this high-level battle. This is also the first time we have seen Dainsleif unleash his power on a large scale in battle... The sibling once commented that for Dainsleif, who bears the title of "Twilight Sword," even sending thousands of troops to surround and attack him would be futile, which shows how formidable Dainsleif's combat power is. But if the opponent is an enemy at the rank of Shadow, I am afraid he cannot fight against it with his own strength alone.

Of course, we cannot forget our old man Pierro. In the PV, the roar that Pierro let out at Ronova could be said to shoot straight through the top of one's head—extremely shocking. He delivered a strike full of resolve against the god who sits high above. In the Version 7.0 story, we already saw Pierro use Electro power to block Ronova's attack on Paimon. Now, we can see him take out an item with a shape never seen before—whether it is a Delusion or something else is unknown—shrouded in Electro light, as the key to confronting Ronova.

This item's appearance is the iconic "Eclipse eight-pointed star" shape of Khaenri'ah. It is speculated that it may be related to research from the Khaenri'ah era. After all, in the hidden Sumeru storyline, there was already a story of Khaenri'ahn scientists who resisted the Abyss route and fought desperately to protect the "Azosite Energy" technology that represented the painstaking work of several generations. As a scholar who once opposed the Wise, Pierro may have also promoted research toward the great achievements that human intellect could accomplish, and he has preserved and carried it on ever since.

As for what exactly this power that Pierro commands is, we will have to wait for the upcoming story to reveal the answer. Personally, I am quite interested.

「...The gods are untrustworthy and the demons, ineffable. If there is one thing that can pry open the corners of this hollow world, then it can only be human will...」

「...To this end, if you can petition the King to allow some machinery manufactured according to the old standards to be preserved under your ministry's purview, perhaps it may light a spark under the latent wills of countless future generations to devote themselves to exploring technology...」—— Someone’s Abandoned Letter

「...Not relying on some dogma from beyond the heavens, but only upon the wondrous achievements brought about by human intelligence. If we continue to explore this path, perhaps we shall one day be able to create a true perpetual machine...」—— Ancient Engineering Notes