CatWithBlueHat theory video about traveler's new skin is absolute cinema
Commentaires
Alarming_Narwhal67452026-01-21 01:21
The Genshin to our Impact..
VirtualDoll2026-01-21 09:56
Maybe the REAL Heavenly Principles were the Paimons we met along the way
Ryuunoru2026-01-21 17:45
This but for real
P.A.I.M.O.N.
Thundergod2502026-01-21 11:05
Since Genshin was never mentioned in English (they said that a dialogue that was Genshin for other language was replaced by Allogenes in EN), the moment they title drop will be epic.
DrkSpde2026-01-21 02:05
On one hand, this kinda feels like they're making a bit of a leap.
On the other hand, it is certainly plausible. I don't see much in the line of holes, just not enough supporting evidence.
aiyafem2026-01-21 02:34
Well they're bringing up 1.0 lores in nod krai and it took them 5 years. We prob wont see this mentioned in the archon quest for 2-3 years atleast
DrkSpde2026-01-21 02:52
Cat knows their stuff, no doubt.
CharlesEverettDekker2026-01-21 04:48
I mean, yeah, this is why a theory. Because we don't have all the lore and data and dialogue to support it.
We could probably return to this video like 3-5 years later at see how much of it turned out to be true.
SuperSnowManQ2026-01-21 06:14
So it's closer to a hypothesis than a theory in that case
ngkrinkels2026-01-21 05:58
Then you found something like this in hidden in [collab items,](https://imgur.com/a/m9uHqSX) like the Wings of Delicacies and you think to yourself, "Damn maybe they are cooking"
SuperSnowManQ2026-01-21 06:12
There was a lot of speculation, but it was a fun video nonetheless
GTA942026-01-21 06:37
> this kinda feels like they're making a bit of a leap
Parts of it are, but I think the general theory with the AI and HP is probably correct. There's a *ton* of stuff that would make sense in the context of this revelation - this video doesn't cover a lot of it. For example, there's the K.K. quote on the Traveler's release cards that lines up with this fairly well. A lot of the foreshadowing would fit the general theory perfectly, and it's not even a new theory - HP being an AI is one I've seen for a long time, we've just been getting more supporting evidence for it now.
FWIW I'm kind of hoping the theory's wrong. Not cause I think it'd be a lame twist, but it feels a bit dumb to have this suddenly revealed in a cosmetic item description that most people don't read. It's certainly not the first time they've put major lore in item descriptions, but it'd definitely be the most egregious if the general theory is true and this ends up being a major twist (if not THE twist) of the game's story.
It almost seems too obvious - in one patch they tell us the Traveler's ship went by Teyvat thousands of years ago, and they also tell us the ship has an AI with terraforming capabilities and a will to create a protective, safe world? We can assume *something* left the ship on the ship's first flyby, the quest dialogue points us to the sibling, but that doesn't make much sense and we now know of a third candidate that has an incentive to visit a planet before the twins. Even disregarding the rest of the evidence, these facts almost make it seem like they want lore theorists to believe that the HP is the AI. Or perhaps I'm reading into it too much, guess we'll see how the theory pans out in the next few years
FreeMyBirdy2026-01-21 07:48
>Not cause I think it'd be a lame twist, but it feels a bit dumb to have this suddenly revealed in a cosmetic item description that most people don't read.
especially considering the whole reason for nod krai's existence was that the devs put too much lore in random items/books/descriptions but nothing in actual archon/world quests in the first place. it would just mean the devs learned nothing and we went through a 4 patches long archon quest that is nowhere near as important as a ***skin's description***.
TWOSimurgh2026-01-21 08:03
To be fair, Nod Krai is not over yet.
UmbraNightDragon2026-01-21 09:46
This is nothing unusual, even within Nod-Krai (e.g. Hymns of the Far North), and for what it's worth I quite enjoy reading esoteric descriptions on items and such to get hints of future story content. The difference is that they've started properly integrating plot points that were never explained cleanly into the main story; this does not mean that they have stopped adding interesting details in unexpected or underexposed places, and these new pieces will by necessity *also* be explored later in more prominent content.
Lindsw2026-01-21 11:38
Isn't it that they *only* put lore in those places? They aren't stopping putting lore in books etc, they will also just tell us outright.
This isn't a "hidden lore" theory, it's the literal origin story/endgame theory. Let's say this is the "truth of this world", it won't stay hidden in the places it's been found, they will literally tell us when the Teyvat chapter ends
Redguard123452026-01-21 10:19
One of Hoyo's favorite thing to do when it comes to lore is bury genuine foreshadowing with a bunch of red herrings thrown in the mix. Without proper context, it's impossible to say we can definitively glean meaningfully useful informatiom from the new outfit's description at this time.
vglisten2026-01-21 07:08
if you think this is a leap, you have 0 idea about most of the lore in genshin. HP has been hinted at being an AI since Neuvillette's release. This is simply confirmation. The video is 100% correct except for the last part.
Tough-Guidance-75032026-01-21 09:03
In the winter night lazzo trailer, the chess position in the board looks like the one from Deep Blue (AI) vs Garry Kasparov with the King and Queen pieces swapped. The Deep Blue is the first AI to beat a reigning chess champion. So they might have hinted to it far longer than we thought or is this is just coincidence.
moriz02026-01-21 02:56
Note that the word "impact" only shows up in the English name of the game. In every other official language, the game is called "Original (or Primordial?) God", or "Yuan Shen" in Chinese.
I don't think this undermines the premise of the video, but it does make the last point fall a bit flat.
So why is the game called "Genshin Impact" in the West, when none of the other official languages of the game calls it that?
Well they could have called it "Original God", the direct and most accurate translation, but American fundie Christians might have thrown a fit. They can't call it "Yuan Shen", because that's obviously Chinese and that won't go over well, given world events at the time of launch. So they picked "Genshin" because that sounds Japanese; very beneficial for an anime style game.
As for "Impact": at the time of launch, Hoyo's biggest game in the West was called "Honkai Impact 3rd". "Impact" was likely added to give the game a bit more brand recognition.
So there you have it: Genshin Impact.
DrkSpde2026-01-21 03:17
Another point in favor of the video's theory then.
moriz02026-01-21 03:30
Kind of? What I said undermines the video's final point, seeing the whole "impact" part exists only in the English version, and was only used for brand recognition.
Also, this theory was around a lot longer than this video. The latest AQ gave it a lot of credibility and new information has allowed it to be further refined. But make no mistake: Catwithbluehat didn't come up with this.
TWOSimurgh2026-01-21 08:01
I think "P.O=P.A.I.M.O.N=AI" is at least as old as Winter Night's Lazzo, where Pierro was playing the chess game that was a reference to Kasparov vs Deepblue.
2ndStaw2026-01-21 08:34
I think it truly started with the shogunbot and "eternity is the closest to the Heavenly Principles".
Iffem2026-01-21 04:41
Worthwhile note: Genshin/Yuan Shen are their respective language's words for Vision Wielders
Aozora4042026-01-21 05:44
That is, Allogenes
Iffem2026-01-21 08:42
yes, that's the English version, which was only mentioned ONCE... to the point of many wondering if they've dropped the use of that term completely
PvZGaming12026-01-21 12:36
Tbf genshin and yuanshen were never mentioned again either in the story
AlternaHunter2026-01-21 12:39
I wouldn't be surprised if they did because it's a bizarre translation. It's not *completely* off the wall, Allogenes is the name of a mythological figure within the context of gnostic belief - which Genshin heavily draws from - that embodies the 'nascent divinity' aspect of the original term, but to then try to morph the name into a hypothetical plural of the word 'allogene', which on its own has a specific real-world meaning in the context of medical biology and particularly stem cell treatment is incredibly weird. It also just... *sounds* wrong. It sounds like a medical term, not a fantasy word for nascent deity. The vibes are just completely off.
AEsylumProductions2026-01-21 05:33
>As for "Impact": at the time of launch, Hoyo's biggest game in the West was called "Honkai Impact 3rd". "Impact" was likely added to give the game a bit more brand recognition.
To be more precise, it's for SEO on app stores because there's already an existing brand recognition for "Honkai Impact 3rd".
Freestyle802026-01-21 07:51
same reason why Philosopher's stone was changed to Socerer's stone for 'Muricans
tbonehavoc2026-01-21 09:11
It's been so long since I've seen the title I was confused about which was the American one for a minute 😅
Lazy-Traffic53462026-01-21 11:10
It's still an official game name approved in Hoyo HQ, they are fine with it even if it's different meaning
LucleRX2026-01-21 13:07
Theres translated terms that just couldnt match the original intention. For instance, Ei's Signature meant different thing from EN as compared to all other language.
It is approved and it can just be them letting other language HQ handle their best attempt at the terms they came up with.
Ryuunoru2026-01-21 17:53
> "Impact" was likely added to give the game a bit more
impact.
acrylics72026-01-21 03:44
im still surprised that the ship was less of a ship and more of a life pod.
TeririHerscherOfCute2026-01-21 04:04
or maybe like an... ARK?
DavideN232026-01-21 04:40
Nah, I don't see any dinosaur
Porkfight2026-01-21 05:17
Lmao. They meant it carrying dna of life samples
peppinotempation2026-01-21 05:34
…. With my sister?
Porkfight2026-01-21 05:37
....IN your sister😈
gxxncxrlo2026-01-21 05:40
Just fill the hole, hole filler
Porkfight2026-01-21 06:01
Filling holes, since 1969
GVArcian2026-01-21 07:27
Based
lgn5i20602026-01-21 09:14
Is the ship manufactured in Alabama?
Deshik22026-01-21 09:56
Folgers space project
Alpha06Omega092026-01-21 05:18
But you do see the genetic index, ARK ain’t even a dinosaur game when you look into it
DavideN232026-01-21 10:11
I mean, Ark was never a game only about Dinosaurs.
Obelisks were there since day 1, and with each map, that became more apparent, ending with the Colony ship as a playable map
bluedragjet2026-01-21 05:32
Because your dinosaur are the robots in Natlan
temptillbday2026-01-21 06:43
(Constantly looking at the suspiciously purple saurian who seems to always mutter "_yessss~_" behind my back when I'm not looking)
Thundergod2502026-01-21 07:54
Vin Diesel will be Genshin's first bald playable character
4ThatWin2026-01-21 06:41
*subtle* lens flare begins to shine
TheUltraGuy1012026-01-21 12:00
And Aether's outfit looks more like a KNIGHT... Not to mention he's already an honorary KNIGHT...
Ambitious_Jello2026-01-21 05:25
It's a terraformer. Would have been enough to send just a probe
Nuka-Crapola2026-01-21 07:39
Actually, I’m pretty sure terraforming is the one thing it *can’t* do. Otherwise it wouldn’t have needed to specifically search for a habitable planet— it could’ve just parked itself on a “close enough” rock and started pumping out atmosphere.
Ambitious_Jello2026-01-21 07:41
It is supposedly able to make an entire solar system. I'm not sure what criteria it was looking for but one consideration is apparently distance from abyss
Nuka-Crapola2026-01-21 08:00
That’s… strange, because Lumine’s outfit description mentions it visiting planets with unfavorable atmospheres and moving on. Though that could also mean Abyssal contamination, I suppose.
zacman05102026-01-21 08:18
To be fair, it does also say that those unfavorable atmospheres are a trivial manner to deal with.
Nuka-Crapola2026-01-21 08:30
I guess I misread, I thought it was dismissing the planets’ beauty as “trivial” because they weren’t usable.
Z000Burst2026-01-21 09:46
given how it turn phlogistion into element energy by splitting it to use again Abyss
it probably was looking for a planet that was resistance to Abyss to settle on instead of picking a random one that was good enough
Captain_Jackson2026-01-21 15:43
?
It's said to be able to "reshape terrain, adjust the air and rebuild the ecosystem" What falls under your definition of Terraforming if not that?
fast_stillness2026-01-21 07:10
Maybe it's just scaled down?
Idainaru_Yokubo2026-01-21 03:58
Genshin Impact premise kinda reminds me of a certain Playstation 1 game
There are also MANY worldbuilding/lore parallels to the Chrono series, particularly Chrono Cross. It's clear that their story lead(s) are fans of Masato Kato, which probably tracks as I suspect their leads are about the same age as I am (early millennial).
chronofreak2026-01-21 06:36
Chrono Cross, my most favorite classic JRPG
-JDV-2026-01-21 07:30
I thought the same thing. About halfway through the video I paused and was like "wait, this is VERY Xenogears."
Stetscopes2026-01-21 04:05
Whats fun about this theory is that it leaves *just* enough room to explore stories outside of Teyvat. Just as devs intended when we finish Snezhnaya.
What exactly is the abyss? Where are the travelers origins? How is the traveler the only survivor left? What technology is the ship if its before Khan'reiah?
metalsonic19072026-01-21 04:36
This is why current story is called "Teyvat Chapter", implies that will be another chapter beyond Teyvat
LandLovingFish2026-01-21 08:48
Off to the next planet!
...
Aether, do not answer that call from a random civilization that is trying to prove they don't need an archon-
Pan1512026-01-21 10:36
>Off to the next planet!
"Countless shooting stars streak across the night sky... If you can pick the right one, it will carry your wish to thousands of distant worlds."
TaxevasionLukasso2026-01-21 11:29
"Wow, what is this, ancient Rome? I love my 12 new friends!"
Pikachu87522026-01-21 06:09
Traveler is from the Astral Express
Warcrimes022026-01-21 07:32
You gotta wonder how powerful the twins’ civilization was if some terraforming AI was able to square up against nibelung and win.
And they still got folded by the abyss
TWOSimurgh2026-01-21 08:02
Abyss they were contending with was likely more on powerscale of Honkai rather than the rags on Teyvat.
Thundergod2502026-01-21 11:08
I'm pretty sure that was the case.
Like you can't even leave Skirk and Surtalogi's story with just Teyvat without knowing what's their life outside Teyvat. You can't leave Nibelung's and Seutervoinen's story without knowing what is beyond the stars.
And lastly, Teyvat Villains feels like insects compared to whoever destroyed Skirk's homeworld as well as the Twin's homeworld. They are the real villains.
Supreme-Machine-V22026-01-21 11:26
Isn't khaneriah meant to be the last "region" we explore tho?
KhadaFeathers2026-01-21 13:15
It is.
Kinda crazy to know that we'll be there next year.
lizzywbu2026-01-21 14:45
I'm sure Genshin will continue after Khaneriah. It makes far too much money to end. I suspect we will either go to a newly discovered continent or a new world.
vonsett2026-01-21 04:27
Very awesome theory. For a while many players have been speculating that Heavenly Principles has a connection to the Travelers, so this only adds to that idea!
It would explain why the Traveler's ship, waypoints, and the celestial nails all look like similar technology too. Also why only the Traveler can use waypoints, but humans from Teyvat can't. It would make sense if all of that technology (as well as HP and the Travelers) are all from the same world
[deleted]2026-01-21 08:13
[deleted]
RDFencer2026-01-21 08:27
Waypoints are in a bit of a weird position in lore as they definitely canonically exist and can be seen by others as evidenced by GAA 1 and the lore of portable waypoints. Why they don't question it? No one really knows but from the lore of portable waypoints some are at least trying to learn what waypoints are.
_ASM3_2026-01-21 08:55
The same can be said for the Statues of the Seven and Oculi, nobody else seem to be bothered by them lying or hanging around, it's like only us as the Traveller can see it.
Dobrowian2026-01-21 09:21
At first time when you offer Oculi Paimon explains that people with a Visions collect and offer them to statues for blessings (pretty much what you can do in game)... problem is that is the only time **anyone** ever touches this topic.
Ambitious_Jello2026-01-21 08:53
They don't even wonder about what manner of thing paimon is.
J_Clowth2026-01-21 10:26
them not noticing Isn't really a plot problem since we have a floating chibi besides us with really specific appearance similar to HP/celestia and no one, even archons or kaenriah ppl, mention It.
vonsett2026-01-21 11:08
As other comments said, waypoints are acknowledged within Teyvat but we don't know much about them apart from that. I'm not sure whether they're considered canon or not, but even when you remove waypoints from the equation, there's still the matter of the celestial nails. They come from HP, and bear a striking resemblance to the ship's color palette
mrheosuper2026-01-21 10:38
If teleport point is canon, it would change a lot of thing.
For example in latest Archon quest, it makes more sense for the traveller to teleport to Sumeru to warn Nahida. It's way faster and takes almost no time.
Also in game, we can teleport without going to waypoint, so if Traveller was imprisoned by the Doctor, he can simply just teleport away.
REMERALDX2026-01-21 16:14
It has been like that for 4 years almost, Chasm archon quest mentioned how abyss's portal network is similar to how teleport waypoints work
HerrscherOfMagic2026-01-22 02:58
The game's been real washy with how TP waypoints actually work and how many of them there are. AFAIK there's only been two canonical references to TP waypoints: once in the GAA and once in the Chasm, and the former was in an event (first GAA event) while the latter was the only one to be in an Archon Quest (and it was an interlude quest at that, not even a nation quest).
I think the safest assumption is that in canon the Traveler has to be at a TP waypoint to use it, as well as there being much fewer TP waypoints in Teyvat than what we see in-game. In-game we can use them from anywhere and they're plentiful but that's easily explained as being purely for gameplay reasons, and not representative of canon (just as the in-game map is drastically smaller than Teyvat's canonical size)
Fortessio2026-01-21 04:41
With there being some reference to Evangelion in Genshjn, I can help but draw some parallels with this theory and Eva’s moons. I just hope we won’t have to fight Paimon to prevent the people of teyvat from turning into paimodial goo
certifiedGooner762026-01-21 04:44
Very interesting theory but the part about irmin crashing the spaceship sounded far fetched to me, also idk how the concept of time manipulation would fit here, it could've just reset the whole thing instead of going forward with such a messy timeline filled with abyssal corruption
kazuyaminegishi2026-01-21 04:47
Watched this earlier and while the broad strokes make a lot of sense there are little things that I think don't add to the theory.
For example speculating that Khanreiah (I just know that isnt spelled correctly) was punished for putting the Abyss Twin in danger doesn't make much sense.
Its also a bit silly to make the point of "Paimon has AI in it" cause so does Raiden in the exact same place in the word lol. That doesn't mean anything.
What I find more meaningful is that Paimon, the archons, and the shades all use names from the Ars Goetia while the moon sisters who pre-date the Archon system do not. This does indicate a connection between Paimon and the Archon system.
Another small issue is that the theory doesn't provide a good reason for the Heavenly Principles to enter a rest until the cataclysm. I suspect it wasn't resting at all really. And I think the theory speculates on stuff that doesn't matter while ignoring much more obvious plot points.
For instance, the Heavenly Principles tended to drop nails on societies that were becoming too technologically advanced. We can tell the tech from the spaceship is highly advanced so one implication is that the progression of technology caused an extinction level event on the twins home world. Another interesting aspect is that the previous Hydro Archon was punished for making a new human race. If we believe the Heavenly Principles wanted the humans of teyvat to only be descendants of the vault then it makes sense why this was not allowed.
Overall, I do like the theory and agree with it by and large. But, there are some reaches. I also don't really think the "hence genshin impact" line hits that hard tbh.
Arghhhy2026-01-21 05:17
If I recall from the traveler skin lore, the HP likely struck down Khaenriah and other civilizations like them due to power capable of transgressing their rules, more so than technology. Although technology was definitely a factor. For instance, Khaenriah delving into the abyssal power, which seems to be from outside Teyvat as described by Alice if I recall correctly, got them destroyed to our best assumptions. This is also supported by the Moon sisters' speculations on the HP's motivations, but that's just speculation by the sisters.
Also, I do agree that the Paimon and AI point is pretty weak. I'm assuming it only came up because I heard someone else point out something that happened in HSR. Philia had numbers attached to her codename that spelled out Ego and she turned out to be the Ego of Irontomb and Amphoreus or whatever. So, someone just said "well hoyo could do it again" and mentioned Paimon and AI. I'm under the assumption the creator heard this and ran with it, but it holds little weight or evidence to actually back it up.
Otherwise, I agree with your points.
Haxodius2026-01-21 05:33
Paimon has AI in it isn't weak at all it comes from a very important detail in the game.
It comes from the fact that system messages have all sender "PAIMON" which is an abbreviation because all letters are capitalised. And "AI" is in the abbreviation.
Plus the game menu as a whole is called "PAIMON" menu. They didn't need to do that they could have just called it menu. Genshin never puts things like this into the game without a purpose.
Edit: To support this fact Paimons's birthday messages have sender "Paimon" which here letters are not all capitalised.
Arghhhy2026-01-21 05:36
I won't lie, I did forget that it's called the Paimon menu. Additionally, I did see a couple of minutes ago that a character actually mentions Paimon having strings that extend beyond the sky. As in puppet strings I'm assuming, I don't recall the moment myself. This would imply these strings are then attached to the ship which is on the moon and thus beyond the sky.
ErenIsNotADevil2026-01-21 05:45
The "strings" don't matter as much as "to the sky" here; its just to establish a link between something beyond the sky to Paimon.
In the present context, its likely data.
Haxodius2026-01-21 06:01
Ok let me make a shot in the dark here. Whenever Paimon introduces herself she always says "Paimon is Paimon". Even though i think Paimon herself doesn't now truth and just says it instinctively but the sentence actually makes sense when you write it like "Paimon is PAIMON".
Paimon imo isn't the HP themselves but a sub-system or a node they haphazardly casted away before they shut down after the cataclysm. If that is the case Paimon might be a way for PAIMON to be aware of every detail about traveler's journey when they manage to wake up.
Which also explains why there is a data stream from Paimon to the sky. The link carries data about the traveler's journey to PAIMON.
zacman05102026-01-21 08:30
The one I saw a bunch in the video comments is that Paimon is the 'Idea Association Module' that got disconnected. She is literally the emotional core of the now purely reason driven HP.
ErenIsNotADevil2026-01-21 05:52
Not exactly "too technologically advanced." More like, "pose a threat to Teyvat's seclusion from from forces outside." The two have an incidental relationship.
Technology itself is clearly fine. The tendency of highly advanced civilizations to entreat power from beyond the firmament (per Nicole), which is explicitly mentioned to be in place to hide Teyvat from the rest of the universe, is what gets a civilization nailed (or worse.)
Captain_Jackson2026-01-21 16:16
> Its also a bit silly to make the point of "Paimon has AI in it" cause so does Raiden in the exact same place in the word lol. That doesn't mean anything.
Not the best example seeing how Raiden is literally a puppet AI programmed to follow rules set by Ei haha
Ambitious_Jello2026-01-21 05:27
Whether the theory is correct or not, the amount of foreshadowing in the game is just mind blowing. It makes the game feel so well thought out when most media nowadays seems like they're coming up with it as they go along. And because of that Genshin Impact will be an all time best piece of media for me
LandLovingFish2026-01-21 08:49
I think Genshin raised the level of storytelling in gaming. So much lore...
Z000Burst2026-01-21 09:49
meh, no one care is the sad thing
the casual people are bitching about having to do the story or listening to 8 people in a room talking about how to shank a college drop out
Megawolf1232026-01-21 11:29
Those arent the casuals.
Those are the primogems addicts that just want the sound effect whenever you recieve a rewards for quests
Ryuunoru2026-01-21 17:52
Those are gacha addicts. Casuals may be less interested in the story as dedicated players, but at least they're still more interested than those pathetic primoslaves.
Faedwill2026-01-21 12:59
As someone who love the Kingdom Hearts series but wholeheartedly agrees the plot has become somewhat akin to misconstrued nonsense, it's so refreshing to find a long-running series with tons of planning and foreshadowing in its continued story.
MrsMel_of_Vina2026-01-21 14:49
I stopped playing KH after KH3. The pacing was just abysmal and the whole thing with Kairi needing to be saved again right at the end was just upsetting and unnecessary, imo. Especially because she spent the whole game training with Axel -and yet she was still captured? Really? That easily too.
Xehanort should have captured Riku.
Faedwill2026-01-21 15:50
Xehanort: "It seems you need more..... motivation."
\*captures Sora's BF*
Soft-Gold-79792026-01-21 05:30
Cat really cooked with this one
Davidddsss2026-01-21 05:47
all of his videos are absolute cinema
nivelixir2026-01-21 06:14
I saw the video after coming across your post and it actually makes so much sense!
MapleNekoNyan2026-01-21 06:30
Did they mention how this is now almost the exact same Ark plot from Honkai Impact? Lol
Delicious-Ad-97222026-01-21 06:48
Original god's journey : Genshin Impact
idk_my_name1232026-01-21 06:54
We are Genshin Impact.
PieRevolutionary64062026-01-21 06:56
CAT🐱🧎♀️🧎♀️WITH🙏🤌🙂↕️THE 😱😤BLUE 🔵🥶HAT 🎩 🔥🔥
_AmaShigure_2026-01-21 07:17
Thousands of years in Cryo sleep. My Sole Survivor is jealous.
Ryuunoru2026-01-21 07:18
Not a chance it leaked the complete story. Outta here with that clickbait BS.
hechiiimakooo2026-01-21 07:48
i still remember the day when people were tearing him up for the "raiden and scaramouche are related" video with the thumbnail pointing out the similarity in their eyes designs (right on this sub too) just for him to be so correct. ever since then, his theories have been so on point and he's pretty much up there as one of the best lore channels for genshin. my goat fr.
noi3asyh2026-01-21 08:03
So forbidden knowledge is knowledge about AI?
MaitieS2026-01-21 08:30
Wow thanks for the recommendation. A few of my theories popped out there, so I'm happy that it's not just my own headcanon, or that I misunderstood something.
Also is Heavenly Principle really unjustifiably regarding their paranoid about the Abyss? Like what if the Abyss is the very thing that destroyed Twins's home planet? So far Abyss pretty much just means doom. So far, I don't remember HoYo trying to convince us otherwise like they did with Fatui. I think by the end of the journey that HoYo will explain the whole picture of Heavenly Principles's motives.
Just imagine a little Heavenly Principle standing in the Sea of Flowers, waiting for the Twins to wake up so they could show them their new home. The fact that they even remembered Lumine's wish ಥ_ಥ
edit:
But this might be just me... I always loved a higher power like e.g. Dr. Ford in Westworld, or the ultimate AI knowing all, calculating all the possibilities, and so on. Like I do not believe that AI is doing this without a good reason. I feel like Heavenly Principles might be like GAIA from Horizon Zero Dawn.
ScreechingPizzaCat2026-01-21 08:53
It made so much sense but I still wonder why did the sustainer of heavenly principles stop the twins from leaving?
arshesney2026-01-21 09:26
Or calls them "outlanders". Perhaps because the abyss sibling isn't recognizable anymore, being integrated with Irminsul?
Could aslo be that since intro happens during the Cataclysm there could be a lockdown going, no exceptions.
TheSynthian2026-01-21 09:24
I would like to know why is that everyone is so on board with Phanes being an AI, when there is no real reason to believe so.
Shades are said to have hearts, and even emotions. They are very much organic higher lifeforms. They are shadows of Phanes, so Phanes is likely to be like that.
And archons and other gods are said to be fragments of Phanes too, and they are also organic (elemental) lifeforms not artificial.
And despite Phanes and celestia being so efficient, they don’t have true AI efficiency, they act more like humans and beings with emotions. For an example an AI driven government won’t be waiting for random point to stop a threat especially when they already know really well about that threat.
They should have likely dealt with civilizations like Khaenriah and King Deshret way before, how celestia currently act is no different from a human (organic) gods, they wait for things to happen and very dismissive until that. All AIs do is doing their job 24/7 hours and these big issues usually should be fixed way earlier.
Apart from that we have seen already Shades aren’t exactly just doing a job and following rules, they have emotions and bend and break rules according to their feelings. That’s way too humans than AI, AI can replicate that but it’s not their default especially if the AI’s job isn’t to roleplay as humans but to govern and protect a government. We saw Ronova bending rules, Asmoday breaking them, Istaroth acting indifferent and bored, Naberius tolerating and being inefficient at her job.
For an example look at Ultron in MCU, he is not a rigid AI and have “emotions” but he is always doing his job and focused on improving it because that’s what AI has to and programmed to do.
WonPika2026-01-21 10:42
I wish this guy would do a voice-over. When it's late at night, I like to listen to theory videos, among other things.
bartowski19762026-01-21 14:39
Did I miss why Asmoday attacked the twins? Also why is the sibling trying to bring Khaenri'ah back? Why is the sibling in Irminsul and MC not in there? There seems to be a lot of holes here.
Commentaires
P.A.I.M.O.N.
On the other hand, it is certainly plausible. I don't see much in the line of holes, just not enough supporting evidence.
We could probably return to this video like 3-5 years later at see how much of it turned out to be true.
Parts of it are, but I think the general theory with the AI and HP is probably correct. There's a *ton* of stuff that would make sense in the context of this revelation - this video doesn't cover a lot of it. For example, there's the K.K. quote on the Traveler's release cards that lines up with this fairly well. A lot of the foreshadowing would fit the general theory perfectly, and it's not even a new theory - HP being an AI is one I've seen for a long time, we've just been getting more supporting evidence for it now.
FWIW I'm kind of hoping the theory's wrong. Not cause I think it'd be a lame twist, but it feels a bit dumb to have this suddenly revealed in a cosmetic item description that most people don't read. It's certainly not the first time they've put major lore in item descriptions, but it'd definitely be the most egregious if the general theory is true and this ends up being a major twist (if not THE twist) of the game's story.
It almost seems too obvious - in one patch they tell us the Traveler's ship went by Teyvat thousands of years ago, and they also tell us the ship has an AI with terraforming capabilities and a will to create a protective, safe world? We can assume *something* left the ship on the ship's first flyby, the quest dialogue points us to the sibling, but that doesn't make much sense and we now know of a third candidate that has an incentive to visit a planet before the twins. Even disregarding the rest of the evidence, these facts almost make it seem like they want lore theorists to believe that the HP is the AI. Or perhaps I'm reading into it too much, guess we'll see how the theory pans out in the next few years
especially considering the whole reason for nod krai's existence was that the devs put too much lore in random items/books/descriptions but nothing in actual archon/world quests in the first place. it would just mean the devs learned nothing and we went through a 4 patches long archon quest that is nowhere near as important as a ***skin's description***.
This isn't a "hidden lore" theory, it's the literal origin story/endgame theory. Let's say this is the "truth of this world", it won't stay hidden in the places it's been found, they will literally tell us when the Teyvat chapter ends
I don't think this undermines the premise of the video, but it does make the last point fall a bit flat.
So why is the game called "Genshin Impact" in the West, when none of the other official languages of the game calls it that?
Well they could have called it "Original God", the direct and most accurate translation, but American fundie Christians might have thrown a fit. They can't call it "Yuan Shen", because that's obviously Chinese and that won't go over well, given world events at the time of launch. So they picked "Genshin" because that sounds Japanese; very beneficial for an anime style game.
As for "Impact": at the time of launch, Hoyo's biggest game in the West was called "Honkai Impact 3rd". "Impact" was likely added to give the game a bit more brand recognition.
So there you have it: Genshin Impact.
Also, this theory was around a lot longer than this video. The latest AQ gave it a lot of credibility and new information has allowed it to be further refined. But make no mistake: Catwithbluehat didn't come up with this.
To be more precise, it's for SEO on app stores because there's already an existing brand recognition for "Honkai Impact 3rd".
It is approved and it can just be them letting other language HQ handle their best attempt at the terms they came up with.
impact.
Obelisks were there since day 1, and with each map, that became more apparent, ending with the Colony ship as a playable map
it probably was looking for a planet that was resistance to Abyss to settle on instead of picking a random one that was good enough
It's said to be able to "reshape terrain, adjust the air and rebuild the ecosystem" What falls under your definition of Terraforming if not that?
I guess this will be Genshin's final boss theme
[https://youtu.be/5E4Xz3EzUu8?si=F-haJ6H4SMxECeD\_](https://youtu.be/5E4Xz3EzUu8?si=F-haJ6H4SMxECeD_)
What exactly is the abyss? Where are the travelers origins? How is the traveler the only survivor left? What technology is the ship if its before Khan'reiah?
...
Aether, do not answer that call from a random civilization that is trying to prove they don't need an archon-
"Countless shooting stars streak across the night sky... If you can pick the right one, it will carry your wish to thousands of distant worlds."
And they still got folded by the abyss
Like you can't even leave Skirk and Surtalogi's story with just Teyvat without knowing what's their life outside Teyvat. You can't leave Nibelung's and Seutervoinen's story without knowing what is beyond the stars.
And lastly, Teyvat Villains feels like insects compared to whoever destroyed Skirk's homeworld as well as the Twin's homeworld. They are the real villains.
Kinda crazy to know that we'll be there next year.
It would explain why the Traveler's ship, waypoints, and the celestial nails all look like similar technology too. Also why only the Traveler can use waypoints, but humans from Teyvat can't. It would make sense if all of that technology (as well as HP and the Travelers) are all from the same world
For example in latest Archon quest, it makes more sense for the traveller to teleport to Sumeru to warn Nahida. It's way faster and takes almost no time.
Also in game, we can teleport without going to waypoint, so if Traveller was imprisoned by the Doctor, he can simply just teleport away.
I think the safest assumption is that in canon the Traveler has to be at a TP waypoint to use it, as well as there being much fewer TP waypoints in Teyvat than what we see in-game. In-game we can use them from anywhere and they're plentiful but that's easily explained as being purely for gameplay reasons, and not representative of canon (just as the in-game map is drastically smaller than Teyvat's canonical size)
For example speculating that Khanreiah (I just know that isnt spelled correctly) was punished for putting the Abyss Twin in danger doesn't make much sense.
Its also a bit silly to make the point of "Paimon has AI in it" cause so does Raiden in the exact same place in the word lol. That doesn't mean anything.
What I find more meaningful is that Paimon, the archons, and the shades all use names from the Ars Goetia while the moon sisters who pre-date the Archon system do not. This does indicate a connection between Paimon and the Archon system.
Another small issue is that the theory doesn't provide a good reason for the Heavenly Principles to enter a rest until the cataclysm. I suspect it wasn't resting at all really. And I think the theory speculates on stuff that doesn't matter while ignoring much more obvious plot points.
For instance, the Heavenly Principles tended to drop nails on societies that were becoming too technologically advanced. We can tell the tech from the spaceship is highly advanced so one implication is that the progression of technology caused an extinction level event on the twins home world. Another interesting aspect is that the previous Hydro Archon was punished for making a new human race. If we believe the Heavenly Principles wanted the humans of teyvat to only be descendants of the vault then it makes sense why this was not allowed.
Overall, I do like the theory and agree with it by and large. But, there are some reaches. I also don't really think the "hence genshin impact" line hits that hard tbh.
Also, I do agree that the Paimon and AI point is pretty weak. I'm assuming it only came up because I heard someone else point out something that happened in HSR. Philia had numbers attached to her codename that spelled out Ego and she turned out to be the Ego of Irontomb and Amphoreus or whatever. So, someone just said "well hoyo could do it again" and mentioned Paimon and AI. I'm under the assumption the creator heard this and ran with it, but it holds little weight or evidence to actually back it up.
Otherwise, I agree with your points.
It comes from the fact that system messages have all sender "PAIMON" which is an abbreviation because all letters are capitalised. And "AI" is in the abbreviation.
Plus the game menu as a whole is called "PAIMON" menu. They didn't need to do that they could have just called it menu. Genshin never puts things like this into the game without a purpose.
Edit: To support this fact Paimons's birthday messages have sender "Paimon" which here letters are not all capitalised.
In the present context, its likely data.
Paimon imo isn't the HP themselves but a sub-system or a node they haphazardly casted away before they shut down after the cataclysm. If that is the case Paimon might be a way for PAIMON to be aware of every detail about traveler's journey when they manage to wake up.
Which also explains why there is a data stream from Paimon to the sky. The link carries data about the traveler's journey to PAIMON.
Technology itself is clearly fine. The tendency of highly advanced civilizations to entreat power from beyond the firmament (per Nicole), which is explicitly mentioned to be in place to hide Teyvat from the rest of the universe, is what gets a civilization nailed (or worse.)
Not the best example seeing how Raiden is literally a puppet AI programmed to follow rules set by Ei haha
the casual people are bitching about having to do the story or listening to 8 people in a room talking about how to shank a college drop out
Those are the primogems addicts that just want the sound effect whenever you recieve a rewards for quests
Xehanort should have captured Riku.
\*captures Sora's BF*
Also is Heavenly Principle really unjustifiably regarding their paranoid about the Abyss? Like what if the Abyss is the very thing that destroyed Twins's home planet? So far Abyss pretty much just means doom. So far, I don't remember HoYo trying to convince us otherwise like they did with Fatui. I think by the end of the journey that HoYo will explain the whole picture of Heavenly Principles's motives.
Just imagine a little Heavenly Principle standing in the Sea of Flowers, waiting for the Twins to wake up so they could show them their new home. The fact that they even remembered Lumine's wish ಥ_ಥ
edit:
But this might be just me... I always loved a higher power like e.g. Dr. Ford in Westworld, or the ultimate AI knowing all, calculating all the possibilities, and so on. Like I do not believe that AI is doing this without a good reason. I feel like Heavenly Principles might be like GAIA from Horizon Zero Dawn.
Could aslo be that since intro happens during the Cataclysm there could be a lockdown going, no exceptions.
Shades are said to have hearts, and even emotions. They are very much organic higher lifeforms. They are shadows of Phanes, so Phanes is likely to be like that.
And archons and other gods are said to be fragments of Phanes too, and they are also organic (elemental) lifeforms not artificial.
And despite Phanes and celestia being so efficient, they don’t have true AI efficiency, they act more like humans and beings with emotions. For an example an AI driven government won’t be waiting for random point to stop a threat especially when they already know really well about that threat.
They should have likely dealt with civilizations like Khaenriah and King Deshret way before, how celestia currently act is no different from a human (organic) gods, they wait for things to happen and very dismissive until that. All AIs do is doing their job 24/7 hours and these big issues usually should be fixed way earlier.
Apart from that we have seen already Shades aren’t exactly just doing a job and following rules, they have emotions and bend and break rules according to their feelings. That’s way too humans than AI, AI can replicate that but it’s not their default especially if the AI’s job isn’t to roleplay as humans but to govern and protect a government. We saw Ronova bending rules, Asmoday breaking them, Istaroth acting indifferent and bored, Naberius tolerating and being inefficient at her job.
For an example look at Ultron in MCU, he is not a rigid AI and have “emotions” but he is always doing his job and focused on improving it because that’s what AI has to and programmed to do.