[3.5] Losing my mind over the Primordial One - Genshin Impact Lore/Theory

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Published 2023-04-06
Something's never really sat quite right with me in regards to the Primordial One... "MAY" have been Phanes? Why is there room for doubt?!

Well, in this video let's dig a little deeper and maybe we can answer that infamous question - Who exactly IS the Primordial One? Is it Phanes? Or someone else?

*Related Videos*
Which Witch? A Deep Dive in the Hexenzirkel -    • [3.5] A First Look at the Hexenzirkel...  
Magenta -    • [3.3] Time, Magenta and the Goddess o...  

*Timestamps*

No timestamps. This is one long ramble.

*Sources/Citations/Further Reading*
Nyx - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyx
Nyx - www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Nyx.html
Phanes - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanes
Moirai - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moirai
Orphic Mythology - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphism_(religion)
Orpheus - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus
Before Sun and Moon - genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Before_Sun_and_Moon
Flowers of Paradise Lost - genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Amethyst_Crown
Staff of the Scarlet Sands - genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Staff_of_the_Scarle…
Luminiferous Aether - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether

All Comments (21)
  • @gimbo4025
    “venti looks a lot like orpheus” HEY ACTUALLY THATS REALLY COOL CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT— oh the video’s over
  • There's other colours beyond the light blue for Celestia, the purple for Abyss, Dainsleif's dark blue and gold. There's a red colour used for "inoperable" or "off" like the way teleport points are when you first meet them. There's a red colour for forbidden knowledge crystals. There's the red colour for Durin's blood. His corruption on Dvalin's back is purple and yet the Dvalin's tear is originally red before it's changed to light blue by the Traveler.
  • @phroexx
    I cannot stress this enough. It is IMPOSSIBLE to overstate. NO ONE let Ashikai anywhere near Kingsom Hearts. Ever. She will go insane
  • @TartStan
    this actually makes a lotta sense considering anytime celestia's talked about symbolically, it's never depicted as sun and light, but as the moon. scaramouche in nahida's little fairy tale says he wants to 'engulf the moon and become the new moon', and since we now he wants to become a new god, he might've been trying to take over celestia. and thus, the fact that the primordial one might be nyx, it makes a lotta sense to have it depicted as the moon, rather than the sun, since the sun was only one of it's shades
  • @slushrai
    Wow...As someone who has read a copious amount of Greek Mythology, I'm so glad were getting into Khaos and the primordial ones. After I learned from Ashikai's videos that GI lore is heavily based on Orphism, I finally found a new way of seeing Genshin's main story. This is amazing. I also can't wait when Hoyoverse starts introducing the idea of higher dimensions in GI and how they'll mix the QP with mythology, just like how Marvel and DC did.
  • @GRLDT
    Ashikai will never make me bored of that ONE book, ever.
  • @vahtraleht
    There ain't nothing better to make my day than a new Ashikai lore video <3
  • Stupid idea that just popped into my head because I’m sleep deprived but what if it’s both? What if nix is the primordial one but somehow people got confused and just started believing that nix was another shade instead. Would explain the “may have been Phanes” part.
  • @KingTaltia
    So, I was reading Sun and Moon recently and I think I had an epiphany. They only ever call the second who came "the second throne" they never actually call the first throne such, it's separate than the primordial one, and only is presumed to be the same. So, Genshin's never been fantasy. It's Science-fantasy at best. They LOVE their science inspired magic in this game, as Ashikai said herself in a recent video. Y'know, we've been taking the "First Throne" very specifically this whole time. "The throne" can of course mean the crown heir, as we've been taking it. But what if we take it more literal. The "First Throne" as in the first throne location literally "came" to Teyvat? So a location that can move, sounds an awful lot like a space ship, huh? Y'know another thing that would have a "crown(of light)", "wings" and "androgynous nature"? A ship's AI, taking the form of a holographic person. What I'm saying is Celestia, Celestia could LITERALLY be the "First (ship) who came" or the second, who knows! Not saying we should operate on that logic, just wanted to put that particular brand of corrupt knowledge in your heads.
  • @bananaana1860
    I wonder if genshin is gonna tell one of those “it was for your own good” stories. Where the people of teyvat are forced to be ignorant because there was something wrong. I’m excited for more of your theories
  • @vahtraleht
    While watching a certain thought struck me. As we know hoyo likes to tease future concepts by releasing characters beforehand (for example Yoi representing Makoto with their "love for the moment" and transience or kaveh being a representation of deshret/irmin if you follow that theory) So what if Layla's "other self", the being that lives inside and takes control of her body at night is somewhat representing the Nightmother. Although I'm not sure of it at all, because we don't have a Layla hangout atm, but it may come soon so it would be nice if my random thought would hold for anything later
  • @KurtacusRex
    Honestly i love mihoyos subtle misdirection in storytelling. They deliver the events i expect, but the delivery is always an awesome suprise. (nahida vs scaramuche, like we all KNEW who would walk away from that fight, and i SHOULD have seen the HOW coming, but didnt. the foreshadowing for how that played out was timed just far enough away for me to remember it in retrospect but not expect it in that moment.
  • @lunamiko9536
    All genshin theorists be like "Venti is sus, we'll talk about him later" AND THEN THEY DON'T HE GETS MORE AND MORE SUS EACH NEW VERSION AND THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM AAAAAAAAAAA
  • @Rafael57YT
    The keeper (Sustainer) is fading away; the creator (Primordial One) has not yet come. But the world shall burn no more (next cataclysm), for you (traveler) shall ascend. This is what I think. I believe that the results between the fight of the two thrones were kept hidden for a reason, the primordial one is away and the sustainer is the second throne. She was theorized by Nahida to be the first descender, so that fits perfectly since she literally descended on the world "soon" after it was created, when its first civilization was thriving. For some reason she is unwell (cataclysm?) and she's been silent for all of this time (she's fading away). Adding to this, her powers are really weird for a goddess from celestia, they're red and almost corrupted, like on her arm, and they don't really fit with the blue celestial nails, teleport waypoints and statue of the seven that Celestia created. Notice how she calls herself the SUSTAINER of the heavenly principles, since she's not the one that created them and the world itself. She's the keeper. Obviously we don't know why she invaded just to protect the world afterwards, but I'm not changing my mind until the game proves me wrong >:3
  • Honestly, the one detail that I think is the biggest red herring/twist on the source material is the egg. I think the nature of Teyvat is going to turn out to be highly unusual. The egg in mythos is supposed to be a higher order creation concept but I suspect that in Genshin, due to the preexisting nature of the Light and Void Realms, that the egg is a nested, lower order concept. It's really tough to say. The fact that traditional creation mythos are being referenced by a retelling that's occurring within the usurpation of an existing creation is 🤯
  • @sharkygum2221
    12:58 you mention that someone could use the expression “genesis pearl” to ‘poetically’ describe an egg, and i think it adds up very well because, as you mentioned, it was stated in the battle pass which is told by Venti/Barbatos who takes the form of a character that’s a very poetic bard.
  • I agree with Ashikai but also have some weird/crazy theories: The 1st who came is the Primordial one. The 2nd who came is the Sustainer. Nahida calls the Sustainer the 1st Descender because she doesn't know about the Primordial one. Celestia is empty. The twins meet the Sustainer..somewhere that isn't Celestia. The twins are linked to Phanes (maybe shades or halves of him - since Phanes was Light and so are the twins) and that's why they've been sent to get the Genesis pearl (Phanes egg). I think the 3rd Descender is the 1st twin and the 4th is MC. Irmensul has been tampered with and that's why the 1st twin is not listed as a Descender. Remember that when Scara erased himself, there was still a number 6 seat in the Harbingers but no one held that rank. Same with the twin, they were the 3rd Descender but since the data was modified, it's like an empty "seat". It can also explain how the 1st twin was corrupted and made to believe they were not a Descender but the ruler of the Abyss, as shown in the Battle Pass. I think the snake is Nyx, the Primordial one who lost some of their powers. One more thing about the Primordial one and Phanes (the shade).. what if the Primordial one didn't intend to create 4 shades but just 3 and Phanes was an unexpected result when the "creation egg" hatched. OR what if Phanes is not the shade the Primordial one wanted to make, since Phanes is a Light creature, unlike the Moons and Nyx (the Primordial one)? What if the 2nd who came allied themselves with Phanes against Nyx? It can explain the dodgy "Phanes MAY have been the Primordial one" and that "the Primordial one was victorious against the 2nd who came". Maybe both the Primodial one and Phanes kinda lost (their power) and only the Sustainer was left to be the Keeper until the Creator (Phanes) would find a way to return. Maybe with the Genesis pearl which is supposedly what MC should be doing according the Battle Pass.
  • what if the twins are the primordial one. like the sustainer was talking to the twins about the arrogation of mankind so maybe the primordial one didnt care what humans did but sustainer was like nope im kicking you out. the primordial one who may be androgenous could have split into a male and female twin
  • @Ali-cya
    Poor Ashikai, lost her mind trying to interpret the lore.