[2.3] A Tale of Three Albedos - A Genshin Impact Event Analysis and Theory

Holiday Season Deal! Go to nordvpn.com/ashikai to get a 2-year plan plus 1 additional month with a huge discount. *VIDEO NOTES* - Windflowerlia over on Twitter has an excellent thread breaking down the questline. She has a different take on the ending conversation that I think is really worth reading. twitter.com/windflowerlia/status/14674062980776140…

The fact that Joel's dad may have been kept alive by Durin's remains is actually scary because that could give Mihoyo an opening to do something to Joserf later... poor Joel.

Whopperbedo sounds as if albedo got a job at Burger King, a little way out there, but it made me laugh.

While Traveler's ability to tell the real Albedo and Susbedo apart seems to be emphasized in this event, it is worth noting that when Traveler and Paimon first met Susbedo outside of the cavern, there was no indication of Traveler feeling anything off about Susbedo. In fact, as players, we probably felt suspicious due to Susbedo's attitude, but Traveler showed no suspicion at all. That one moment stands out a lot and I feel like it could mean that Traveler isn't as good as telling Albedo and Susbedo apart as we think.

You know, everyone seems to brush off the fact that the Festering Desire Sword (which is basically just a small chunk of Durin forged into a sword) has the ability to take AND GIVE life energy freely, to the point where it actually can revive the dead and even evolve them in some way.

lol no one noticed that little “to be continued” at the end of the quest also, all of this happened just because some weird pet wanted some fruit juice

With the Albedo event concluded, I believe that the continuation for this will be on Albedo's story quest part 2. If Joserf is still on the Dragonspine settlement after the event is over, this will all the more convince me that Albedo's story quest part 2 will continue the Susbedo story.

I like the theory that says that Albedo and Susbedo have reconciled and switch places as they please. Albedo shows empathy for the Susbedo saying he would do the same thing if he was the failed subject instead of Susbedo. Albedo is the Gardner who will grow many more Altbedos starting with Susbedo.

The conversation with Albedo at the end about the sunsettias was actually kind of sweet. It was a really nice bit of character development for him and I'm very fond the of the dynamic he has with the Traveler and the Mondstadt cast. Even though him joking (or warning) about his mark threw me off at first, I am firmly in the camp of there's no way emo 'humans throw out worthless rocks' susbedo would have the emotional intelligence to have a conversation about why Paimon was so invested in the sunsettias that was simultaneously an analogy about himself.

We’ve seen traveler purify dvalins tears as well as being able to use the festering desire without being corrupted and I feel like this ties into why traveler can tell the different albedos apart. Not because albedo is innately more human than his clones but rather he is physically different. Because traveler can both purify dvalins tears and wield the festering desire along with fact both of them relate to dragons, which we’ve seems have strange properties relating to life, I feel like this is because all life has some kind of energy or force to it, and traveler is more sensitive to this force than others, allowing the traveler to be able to sense albedos life force to differ him from his clones that may have a different amount or unpure amount of life force/energy in them. Which might also explain why he could purify dvalins tears as he might have the power to control or redirect this force. It also makes sense that traveler is more sensitive to this life energy than anyone else because they are most likely gods that have the power to control these things.

I had ending Albedo = SusAlbedo BUT NOT that he replaced him, rather that after Albedo felt guilt at killing Whopperbedo, he went and did the smackdown with SusAlbedo but de-escalated and talked it out, offering to share his identity with his brother until he learned about humanity and built his own. (weird I know but so is Albedo) One thing Albedo hypothesized is that the removal of SusAlbedos scar is subconscious. I posit that the ending Albedo was SusAlbedo, who was there with Albedos blessing to practice some interaction, and accidentally let his scar slip away until it was noticed. Oh and Joels dad = Joels dad, it just did not intersect or time with the Albedo story to be related at all.

The ending is definitely Susbedo. Let me convince you! ~ Albedo says we can go down to be with Eula and Amber because he's got some experimenting to do up in his lab. So we go to Mondstadt and for some reason... Albedo.. is there? Even though he just told us he had work to do in the mountains. He had just wondered aloud about how arrogant it is to create, now the albedo in front of us is implying that he's perfectly ok with gardening/creating life. I think this is a big distinction because their personalities are very different. Susbedo sees himself as a creator. He is! He's bitter that he was the discarded one. If a gardener discarded him, then he'll become his own gardener! Possibly, Susbedo's drive to create was also the reason he was discarded. This conversation also implies that Susbedo was listening in on Albedo's conversation with us up in the mountain, that he's watching and listening which is creepy and it even alarms the traveler when he brings up gardening. Another distinction is how inviting he is for the traveler and Paimon to stay on the mountain, to plant their roots there literally and metaphorically when the real Albedo was always careful to not impose. Several times in this event and in the past, Albedo pays us the respect of asking if we're available to help or saying things like "I'm sure you have other things to be doing." Albedo warns us about how dangerous the mountain is but Susbedo has us visualizing a long-term plan to stay there. Susbedo has no problem creating more life with Durin's corruption; trees, fruit, and possibly corrupting Paimon and the Traveler. Albedo told us that his mark was from his master and how important flaws are to life. I think SusBedo in Mondstadt took off his star to signal to the traveler only that he was Susbedo. He put the star back on to keep appearances but (importantly!) has no trouble taking away this flawed mark. I think Susbedo wanted to have the last word with us. Talking to us and seeing if he can really deceive us or at least if we are willing to listen to him. Just because he's not Albedo doesn't mean that he's not as intelligent. It just means he has a different perspective on life and creation. The conversations between the real albedo up in the mountain and the Susbedo down in Mondstadt were for us to see their stark differences in philosophies and attitudes.

I agree with the "albedo erased mark on neck to check whether traveller would realise smt off or not" bcs albedo does have a playful side. Golden arpilego and his voice lines hint at it- plus klee would call him "weird grown up no.2" if he didn't lol

I wonder back in V1.2 when Albedo said the "if one day I'll destroy mond..." line, who was he refering to? Himself or Susbedo?

What I found sus was the Joel situation, sus Albedo was bringing him to a cliff, Joel‘s father was saved by Pallad near a cliff, did I read it wrong or is it just me that Sus Albedo was bringing Joel to his father… well I can‘t really remember now as I tried speed reading/skipping Pallads dialogue. Must be my imagination.

Albedo is indeed playful, i remember that back in 1.2's event Albedo did the same smug face when he asked the traveler about the stolen Festering Desire lol.

That transition into the sponsor was smooth. Also, I am glad that you brought up the discussion about the gardener. I agree with your analysis and think there is a strong probability that that is the real Albedo.

daaaamn, the connection of paimons fruit problem and albedo's story went totaly above my head... the gardener being able to tell the rose's apart and albedo becomeing the gardener at the end (for paimons sunsettias) .... HOW CAN I NOT GET THAT WHILE PLAYING IT LMAO. Thx for showing me such an important part of the event story! awesome video like always (>^.^)>

The turnaround Albedo shows between his last conversation on Dragonspine and when you meet him in Mondstadt is strange. On Dragonspine, he's rather negative about the whole gardener metaphor, but he's super positive about it in Mondstadt. Either something changed his perspective on it or he himself changed. I agree that events won't suddenly have lasting consequences, so both are the real Albedo, so we have to know why his opinion changed. Early on, we heard about Susbedo taking Joel somewhere. That's really weird and suggests to me that Susbedo found Joserf (or Joserf's body). Albedo's line of being content when one's pockets are filled I see as clearly being about Joserf and his familial connections, indicating that something strange happened there. Joserf is either Susbedo in some form (the foxes could maybe be explained by the Traveler mentioning them first in the conversation) or that Joserf was artificially revived/remade by Albedo (if remade, the memories could come from the original and, in this scenario, dead Joserf). His negativity about the gardener story on Dragonspine was because he's nervous about the consequences of bringing back/creating a human like this and, seeing that it all worked out, has a more positive perspective at the end of it all.

Thank you my anxiety over this event needed someone to come and tell me everything is fine and dandy