Direidyth - a narrative consideration.
It's pretty much old news at this point, but I've only gotten back in playing Genshin recently after a yearlong hiatus.
Here is just a simple example/question:
Why did the traveler never offer Direidyth to leave their cave?
As in, why wasn't it written in the dialogue.
From the traveler's and audience's perspective at this very moment, this young girl is stuck in a cave, with a sprained ankle, out in the wilderness being constantly attacked by wildlife/(invisible) monsters. Which could also be explained by psychological issues (if not for the space time conclusion).
But the traveler never says "Hey for your safety how about we bring to town, and that way we can at least keep you out of harm's way"
And then have the Direidyth say, "no I have to wait here for X reason"
At least it makes it more organic and congruent with what the traveler should be concerned about.
But it's never brought up. Sure, your character has their suspicions about a stranger, initially, but it's a small girl in the wilderness and you're in Natlan. (which mind you, is also in this instance currently a war front with the abyss)
The fact that the character doesn't even consider it, is utterly repulsive. Based on the traveler supposedly representing a hero of conscience, am I supposed to come to the conclusion that the traveler, under normal circumstances is sociopathic, uncaring and dismissive?
Putting aside the entire conclusion, which should be unknown to the traveler at this point, that's what I got from this development.
That the traveler is an ignorant idiot that lacks common sense and only helps people if they are forced to do so.
A simple dialogue change would've shown that they at least give a shit, no?
To me it's like a logic bleed, it doesn't make any narrative sense, I don't even know what the author wants to write. Or is this written by a different author that has no idea what the traveler is supposed to represent?
The game is based on a giant narrative, its primary theme (except the monetization) is story telling but these types of inconsistencies completely invalidate what I'm supposed to care about in a story. If this was a book, I would be thinking the same thing.
Inconsistent or missing common sense still plagues Genshin's main character writing.
Here is just a simple example/question:
Why did the traveler never offer Direidyth to leave their cave?
As in, why wasn't it written in the dialogue.
From the traveler's and audience's perspective at this very moment, this young girl is stuck in a cave, with a sprained ankle, out in the wilderness being constantly attacked by wildlife/(invisible) monsters. Which could also be explained by psychological issues (if not for the space time conclusion).
But the traveler never says "Hey for your safety how about we bring to town, and that way we can at least keep you out of harm's way"
And then have the Direidyth say, "no I have to wait here for X reason"
At least it makes it more organic and congruent with what the traveler should be concerned about.
But it's never brought up. Sure, your character has their suspicions about a stranger, initially, but it's a small girl in the wilderness and you're in Natlan. (which mind you, is also in this instance currently a war front with the abyss)
The fact that the character doesn't even consider it, is utterly repulsive. Based on the traveler supposedly representing a hero of conscience, am I supposed to come to the conclusion that the traveler, under normal circumstances is sociopathic, uncaring and dismissive?
Putting aside the entire conclusion, which should be unknown to the traveler at this point, that's what I got from this development.
That the traveler is an ignorant idiot that lacks common sense and only helps people if they are forced to do so.
A simple dialogue change would've shown that they at least give a shit, no?
To me it's like a logic bleed, it doesn't make any narrative sense, I don't even know what the author wants to write. Or is this written by a different author that has no idea what the traveler is supposed to represent?
The game is based on a giant narrative, its primary theme (except the monetization) is story telling but these types of inconsistencies completely invalidate what I'm supposed to care about in a story. If this was a book, I would be thinking the same thing.
Inconsistent or missing common sense still plagues Genshin's main character writing.
Commentaires
The Traveler does hesitate because Direidyth is clearly *not normal*. Her clothing, her isolation, her situation, and the way the encounter is framed all signal “something is off.” Genshin regularly uses the Traveler’s silence and restraint to indicate caution, not sociopathy. They don’t blindly escort every stranger to safety, especialy when the person in question could be dangerous, since this far into the story countless people shapeshifted or acted as other people to trick us.
The story doesn’t need a hand-holding line like “Want to go to town?” just so the audience feels morally reassured. That would actually weaken the scene by removing tension and mystery. Implicit storytelling ≠ bad writing.
Calling the Traveler “repulsive” or “sociopathic” because they don’t act like a modern social worker in a high-risk, supernatural war zone is honestly just bad-faith reading. This isn’t a logic hole, it’s you refusing to engage with subtext.
If you want every narrative beat spelled out so you can feel comfortable, that’s fine. But that’s not an inconsistency, that’s a preference.
As part of the audience, I immediately recognized a connection to the hilichurl running out of the cave, the Iris shape of Direilyth eyes, her representative clothing (which both represent khaenri'ah), the sibling's key and their unusual situations due to the location and invisible monster attacks.
It's not just "something is off", we as the audience, upon the very first encounter already have a 90%-99% expectation of what this is going to be related too. We've already experienced khaenri'ah - hilichurl events, and by extent that traveler should remember these.
I wasn't blind to the oddity of the situation, and neither should the traveler, that one of my key points.
And yet this isn't even considered in the traveler's discussions or internal monologues. They neither ask to escort them or consider the link to khaenri'ah. As the player we are technically privy to the traveler's internal thoughts, so if they are not shown as having those thoughts, it's as if they didn't have them at all.
They didn't need to actually bring them to the town/city but they could've **offered**, and the author could've a written a refusal that Direidyth doesn't want to be a burden and doesn't want to leave this cave right now. Any excuse would've been sufficient, as the situation is already suspicious, it wouldn't have removed tension or suspense, it would've added to it. It's the gesture that meant more in itself. One can be cautious and still compassionate.
Why make something have such an obvious connection and buildup, that the audience can immediately piece together a most likely scenario, but the character is portrayed as not even having had the thought or consideration of said connection.
If the authors intended for the character to be unable to connect 2:2 together, and yet the audience can, based on other prior narrative experience, this is poor writing. Because the traveler is supposed to mirror the audience, we have experienced what the character has experience, our biases, our thoughts, our expectations are shaped by the stories we experienced through their eyes.
Let's say for argument's sake, this is actually just a normal young girl in the wilderness, the traveler would've essentially left her to potentially die, without even asking.
Unless in this case the author wanted to show that the traveler is sociopathic or generally uncaring in some situations.
This isn't a lack of being spelled out, this is a lack on consideration on how a situation can be perceived from an outside perspective. It's inconsistent with the nature that the rest of the story is trying to convey regarding the traveler. it all comes down to the inconsistency of action.
Edit: grammar
You’re right, they probably should’ve slipped a line in about that. But seriously, we as an audience at this point trust that the story is pretty good even if the storytelling fumbles. Calling out a minor misstep like that is sort of making a “mountain out of a molehill.”
Also, Traveler’s thoughts aren’t always on display. They are also not self insert characters. The Traveler is a clearly defined character with their own thoughts, perspective, and goals. We _can_ trust that the Traveler doesn’t bring it up because they are aware that an anomaly is taking place. _Moving her could put her at greater risk_ or disrupt the anomaly in a way that makes us unable to help.
I think this is a both situation. It’s a small misstep in storytelling, but the story keeping her in the cave is not at all a problem. I’ll add, the whole story here is a paradox to begin with, so it may not even be a consideration that the Traveler can have.
Also iirc it's not the travelr's choice to leave her there but Dierydyth who's says I'll wait here...