Columbina is too strong but also, too weak lore wise???

In game, her ability is primarily moon related gravity manipulation like tide. In the story, she can travel space and time like Istaroth and Asmoday but not as powerful as them, and she can see people's past memories through Kuuvahki (only in Nod-Krai), which is like a weaker version of Irminsul (which spread all over the Tevyat) because Tevyat actively rejects her and her moon marrow authority.

She is like a jack of all trades but a master of none. I am sure if Tevyat is not under the Heavenly Principle's rules, she could probably be even stronger than a single dragon's authority or one of the four shades. Do you agree with that statement? That she can potentially be more powerful than a single shade in her best or nah?
Maybe, I am just biased be cause I like the
character 😄.

Commentaires

Alpha06Omega092026-01-14 20:24

She has the power of all 3 moons, she is stronger than the shades by the end of the quest by a decent amount. The shades were given to individually rule the moons authorities after the war, she holds all of them at full power. Her moon is inside her firmament so she no longer has any of her powers blocked. Nor is she being rejected by tevyat.

She also has the authority to weave fate which belonged the moons(Ascention 5 voice line) and the only other thing that can alter fate is irminsul(or well be descender), the principles maintain fate through constellations, Bina chose her own which means she has control over her own fate(like nevu). She's weaker than Phanes but she's well above a singular shade by now.

KenBoy222026-01-14 20:33

But didn't she give back the moons to Lauma and Arlechino by the end?

Alpha06Omega092026-01-14 20:34

She does not need the moon marrows by then, she has the trilunar authority, those marrows are not hers. Thry barley do anything for her. She picked these off dottore.

KenBoy222026-01-14 20:40

oh true

Infamous_Gear57542026-01-18 02:02

So I don't see the point in returning them then? She did make a deal with Arlecchino, certainly, and Lauma surely did it out of gratitude since they live "without a goddess." But if we follow the reasoning that she doesn't need them, which also seems logical to me, does that mean the transfer is purely symbolic? But that's also strange because the iridescent and eternal orbs granted powers to Dottore, so even if having authority is sufficient and better than having the powers (orbs, I don't know how that will be translated), these orbs aren't completely useless, are they?
I understand that trilinear authority allows for feats similar to the Shades, for example (resurrection), but what is the lunar power she gave then? It seems incredibly contradictory; it's as if, by obtaining authority, she completely disconnects herself from the "lunar" powers to govern the grand principles of Teyvat.

Alpha06Omega092026-01-18 05:41

It's less of it being dead useless, more of being such a minuscule improvement for her that it's better tomfove them to people who can get some value out of it(religious/energy). You don't need the powercore when you have the actual moons authority, especially when columbina does not use their powers(The goddesses say it's “your” power to columbina so they might have their own powers each). Kuhavaki is exclusively her power which the moons ever had, in 6.1, these marrows barely got her to third harbinger level for a few hours.

The orb helps arle and lauma a lot more and goes into her wish to keep everyone she loves safe. During the dottore fight she easily overwrote dottore powers the second she out him in her domain(going by the archive), he was nerfed in there to the point filins and Nefer could hit him easily.

This is what Nicole said in relation to the moons.
They were shadows of the planet, born to wield Nibelung's authority and oversee the world on his behalf. They were extensions of his will, manifestations of his majesty.

Infamous_Gear57542026-01-18 11:09

Okay, I see, thank you very much.

Neat-Rip7772026-01-14 21:07

Yeah, I figured that's why she is too strong at the end. I also thought her power would be reduced after she gave the two moons to arlecchino and Lauma and didn't know that trilumar power would still have an effect. So, she is definitely the second strongest character in lore if we don't include Nibelung, right?

Alpha06Omega092026-01-14 21:09

Third, Phanes is stronger than her. Or fourth cause whatever the fuck abyss is cause everything seems to be running away from this world consuming force

Neat-Rip7772026-01-14 21:11

Oh, yeah, I forget the abyss. I don't even know what the fuck that is and the origin of it. It is just always there in Genshin's Tevyat world. I am not sure if it can even be regarded as an entity but rather a force of nature.

Cram2502026-01-15 02:51

Nah they weren’t torn those authorities after the war of funerary flame because of everything that the shades did before (the shade of life and heavenly principles created humans and other animals and stuff and they’d probably need that authority as they were definitely not using alchemy which also implies Phanes either has personally or can access all the authorities and also copied the authorities of the moons, which would not be surprising that he could do both those things as Nibelung created those authorities for the moons when he was in charge of Teyvat and Phanes suppressed Nibelung’s order with his own)

kaystared2026-01-15 08:47

The only confusing thing about this is that the moons were stripped of these responsibilities before they were imprisoned and Columbina only ever even finds them in the prison. The shades rose to power technically before the moon sisters were killed, but after they were stripped, during the war of funerary flame. So it feels like at best the Trilynar authority would be much weaker than what they were during Nibelung’s time, because HP cursed the moon goddesses to be rejected by Teyvat’s rules forever?

Otherwise it makes her strong enough in the life that we end up with like comically stupid plot holes. Hey Columbina can you just remove the curse of immortality so the Mhaenrians can chill? Maybe drag Asmoday over and interrogate her? Like if Columbina genuinely was as strong as all the shades the game could not justify going on for more than another patch

Alpha06Omega092026-01-15 08:55

No, they were put with their powers in the time prison, it was meant especially to hold their powers. That's why when they gave it away to Columbina, the prison no longer had any reason to hold them, they even say this. That's why Bina could sent them back. If they were stripped of their powers before, they won't have the golden markings on them which were erased when they gave up their power. They won't have to be put in prison without powers cause then they are just 3 random women who just know a bit too much,

And we only sorta end up with the plot hole cause asking Columbina, she's pretty much moon god dottore on super steroids by now. But game can't dues machine her into everything just like game didn't make nahida Insta solve the samsara issue. Devs will likely just ignore Columbina is that strong and move on lol.

kaystared2026-01-15 09:34

Nevermind, her character story Trilunar Convergence it says she gave up most of the power to imbue Nod Krai and only kept whatever power she felt she needed for her new life

“So she offered a portion of her power, that it may continue to protect this beautiful home as it always had. The part she kept for herself needed only to allow her to live happily with her friends, as before, and to guard what she cherished when necessary.”

So she just voluntarily dumped it which is why Nod Krai is imbued with so much moon power and why it responds to her uniquely.

At a certain point she was that strong but it seems like that ended in the cutscene. By the time she’s done with the archon quest she’s not all that. That seems to explain things much more nearly than the “pray we forget” option

Alpha06Omega092026-01-15 09:36

She said she only gave up what's necessary tho? I don't think that's all of her powers in nod karai, also pretty easily recoverable

she offered a portion of her power, that it may continue to protect this beautiful home as it always had

kaystared2026-01-15 09:42

She said she only KEPT whats necessary, so pretty heavily implied that most of it is gone. I’m not sure it’s recoverable without catastrophic effects for Nod Krai given the entire country has been built on access to that power, so I would not call it easily accessible unless she lowkey wants them all dead and defenseless lmfao

Alpha06Omega092026-01-15 09:48

From the archon quest

Columbina: I am only returning to Nod-Krai the part of me that it needs.

She's only returning the part that's been it needs to be safe while she's not there, she still has most of her power and her direct connection to ther new moon. She fought and nullified all the lunar powers of the doctor just fine and it didn't have any effects on nod karai.

In the story voice line for trilunar, it also say she only offers a portion of her power. Not most of it. And it is recoverable, cause she did it in the fight against dottore. She also still had the power to override the worlds ristrction on traveler, that's stuff made by phanes himself

kaystared2026-01-15 09:55

No idea what the context of this quote is but given the literal explicit answer in her character story I’m not sure this warrants further interpretation. She has whatever power is necessary to protect her friends and live happily. The whole “being equal to a shade” thing is comically overkill for that. The rest of her power is dispersed across Nod Krai given

Idk how strong that makes her, probably above Archon level, maybe about Sovereign, but sure as shit not close to the shades. She even says if she kept the power and used it to shape the world to her liking she’d be no better than the Doctor in the same story.

Which is also the only sense in which her playability would make sense. The strongest character playable up to this point would be Neuv. If she was a bit above Soveriegns that would be coherent, the whole full potential trilunar goddess would make her stronger than every playable character combined and we would enter into “moronic fever dream” territories of world building narratively.

So she’s much weaker than she was in those cutscenes bur much stronger than she was when we met her, which seems to fit quite nicely into the narrative

Bl_nk72026-01-15 11:31

What you’re referring to is literally just a rephrasing of what Columbina told, Traveler in the AQ it’s not two separate instances it’s still the same instance, she literally assures Traveler that she is still the Trilune Goddess, she doesn’t aim to rule this world with her authority but to protect it. And it’s not described as “most of her power” it’s just described a portion of her power.

“I am only returning to Nod-Krai the part of me that it needs, I am giving what I can…because my home is worth it”

“So she offered a portion of her power, that it may continue to protect this beautiful home as it always had. The part she kept for herself needed only to allow her to live happily with her friends, as before, and to guard what she cherished when necessary.”

Same meaning, same instance but different phrasing. It’s not just so she can live it’s so she can protect Nod Krai both indirectly and to guard it directly when necessary. What she cherishes is the world itself and her friends on it.

“In that moment, Columbina suddenly understood the choices her three elder sisters had made. Rather than seeking to "rule," what they had wanted most was simply to "protect" this world beneath the moon.”

I’m sure she knew she still needs a pretty hefty portion of her power in order to protect the world.
which she still has Trilune Authority over space, life, death, and time. After this in her recent Selenic Chronicle she is shown capable of completely altering the space around her in the Silvermoon Hall with a simple raise of her hand(space), recreating the Luonnatar out of a drawing without needing to use a fragment of her soul anymore(life) She can auto resurrect a fallen party member at least once(death since Ronova used her power over death for resurrecting and death), Bina’s idle animation has her manipulating time around her accidentally slowing down a dove that flew by her(time obv). So yea she probably isn’t as strong as when she fought Dottore but her Trilunar authority and raw power should still put her well above most of the characters we’ve encountered right now. As 3rd rank Harbinger her power was already on par with the Archons(as Nahida told us), Now she the Trilune Goddess with full Trilunar Authority. That’s doesn’t change just because she gave a *portion* of her kuuvahki back to Nod Krai. And if she needed to reclaim her full power there really isn’t any reason she couldn’t temporarily regain it if it was to fight a world ending threat, considering when they’re on the Frost Moon she hasn’t given the Kuuvaki back yet but Nod Krai is no worse off or anything during this time.

kaystared2026-01-15 17:07

Yes but her full power now is locked comfortably behind bod krai. Thats it. She can only do those things in Nod Krai. Even the party resurrect is only for nod Krai

VictoryOk24602026-01-19 10:25

You can basically say that she took a glass of water from a lake (her power) and watered a plant (Nod-Krai). To use an analogy.

darlinlinq2026-01-17 11:04

One thing that confuses me is if Phanes gave the Shades the moon goddesses’ authority how could Columbina’s sisters then give over their authority to her in the moons reflection? Like if it was already taken from them how could they make Columbina the trilunar goddess? That authority can’t be in geo places at once and if Columbina now holds it doesn’t that make the Shades weak? If just doesn’t make sense. Doesn’t it make more sense to say that Phanes made the shades in the image of the moon goddesses to replace them as the ruler of Teyvat’s laws etc. and that they took over the role of the moon sisters?

Alpha06Omega092026-01-17 11:13

Uh your right tho? That's exactly what happened. Phanes mde the shades in the image of the moon goddesses, just like how he made missions based off moon wheels and the elements derived from the primordial sea and phlistogen. After nib trapped the moons, there was no one to control tevyrafs functions, what's why pahnes made identical authorities and gave them to the shades. And like every other creation, its less pure than the things created by nib.

The shades still have their authorities while columbina has her+ the other benefits of being a moon goddess(weaving fate, controlling the oceans and everything else)

dede02072026-01-17 23:53

Is she though? Power ≠ Authority. Even if Columbina has authority over all 5 concepts (yes, including HP's Reason), she might not be as powerful as them. Or maybe she's as powerful as one Shade alone.

Truth to be told, we have no idea and no way to confirm this yet.

Alpha06Omega092026-01-17 23:58

The moon is an direct extension of ninelungs will and the moons were born to wield his direct authority as per Nicole in the AQ, All that is directly focused on Columbina. I doubt a singular shade is stronger than the combined authority granted to the moons to oversee All of tevyat in his absence. I don't think anything that not Nibeluing/phanes/4 shades comming together is stopping her right now.

Boethiah_The_Prince2026-01-18 08:12

But the authorities were taken from the Moon Sisters and given to the Shades, so we don’t know the extent to which Columbina can still govern those things in the present day. Can two different authorities over the same thing even exist at the same time? And from a marketing perspective, it doesn’t seem to make sense for Hoyo to build up HP and the Shades as the endgame for essentially the whole of Genshin’s existence just to release a character that is more powerful (than the Shades if not HP) before the players have even reached Sznezhnaya.

Alpha06Omega092026-01-18 08:21

Where was it said that the authorities were taken from the moon sisters? You do know if they were taken.. They won't have them to give to Columbina, and they will never be stuck inside the prison at all cause the prison was meant to hold their powers. They were imprisoned with their authorities and by the time the war was over and the moons were destroyed, Columbina already had the authorities combined

HP made his less pure version of said authorities and gave them to the shades after the war, just like he made vision based off moon wheels and elements based off phlistogen(spelling). Columbina has nibelungs direct authorities which were never taken from the moon sisters. Heck the whole shade system is a rip off of the moon goddess system lol. (Also story parallels between Bina representing a pure Nibelung and dottore trying to become Phanes/ master of the authorities with his boss theme lyrics)

This is what Nicole said in relation to the moons.
“They were shadows of the planet, born to wield Nibelung's authority and oversee the world on his behalf. They were extensions of his will, manifestations of his majesty”

Might not make sense but it is what hoyo did, and the only limiting factor on her is her not wanting to become a dottore, and this is not something new? Hoyo released Nevulette who is on a higher authority than the archons before all archons are released. Hoyo does not go in some linearly power increasing scale in their story. Columbina io shades is what Nevulette was to archons release.

Boethiah_The_Prince2026-01-18 10:28

The Shades were already mentioned as having existed and helping the HP before they were vested with authority over life and death and so on on Teyvat, whereas the Moon Sisters were created by Nibelung specifically to control those elements with their authorities, which means that the Shades have power beyond their authorities. Hence, if the authorities over life, death and so on weren’t taken from the Moon Sisters, then the only other alternative explanation for why the Shades were able to subsume those authorities is that they were powerful enough to “take over” those functions even without taking the authorities from the Moon Sisters. All that to say, it is still not a given that Columbina is more powerful than the Shades as the Shades have powers other than their authorities over life and death and so on due to them originating from outside Teyvat, whereas those same authorities are the main reason behind the Moon Sisters’ very existence. There is no source to say whether an authority is “purer” than another in the game.

The comparison with Neuvillete being stronger than the archons is not applicable because the HP and the Shades have been set up as being the final confrontation of the game, whereas the archons have always been always portrayed as being people that the players help along their quest.

Alpha06Omega092026-01-18 10:38

What do you mean by shades have powers beyond their authority? The moons had them as well… controling the tides, weaving fate, messengers of dreams and madness, preventing disasters. They didn't take over those functions, phanes made a worse version of those functions for them to take just like he made the elements and just like he made visions. Shades didn't just get authorities randomly. The shades do no eoginate from outside tevyat, they originate from phanes. Them being from outside tevyat has no relevance here.

Also as far as power is concerned, and you want to take statements. Dottores theme already popurs him above shades, and columbina dogwalked him 2 minutes after appearing.

Mi mama chaturdeva [Our limits are the four gods]

Nu nanu pada pada [Now, aren't they under my feet?]

Avishya, dhi [Life, Reason]

Maranaha [Death]

Chid Akasha [Space of consciousness]

Adi kala [The beginning of time]

Mi mama chaturdeva [These four gods are under mel

Punarapi jananam [Being born again]

Punarapi maranam [Dying again]

Punarapi jananam [And being born again]

Mi mama chaturdeva [| have the four(authorities) under my control]

Mulya tumane pashupati [l want to be the same as Heavenly Principles]

Tu ekam Atharva da [But, only I will give you knowledge of/from the beginning]

Yet to be given a solid answer on why shades are above the moons when there is at least 5 statements in game saying the moons authority is stronger.

darlinlinq2026-01-17 10:58

In my opinion she’s a little weaker than or equal to the Shades. She gave up part of her power to Nod Krai and we do see her manipulating the 4 powers of the Shades but not on the same level as them. She also cannot bypass Phanes too much who created the Shades. I may be wrong but the Shades never took the moon goddesses’s authority since if that was the case then Columbina’s sisters would never have been able to give it over to her. I’m pretty sure Phanes created them to be like copies of the moon sisters and replace the moon sisters (as Archons replaced Sovereigns) hence why they have powers similar to Columbina. But I don’t think this means they’re weaker than her it just that she was their inspiration. She has all their powers but we don’t know to what extent so power scaling is a bit iffy here.