What are you’re thoughts on varka during the nod krai quests
I saw some stuff on twitter about how people found varka underwhelming as a story character and easily replaceable which i personally disagree with, i quite like how they used varka, it couldve been better ? maybe but i dont think they “butchered” his character and all the build up, Anyways i just wanted to hear other peoples opinions on it any input would be appreciated.
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Sure, his presence was underwhelming compared to the other characters but we literally saw him >!cash in a favor with the Hexenzirkel to protect Nod Krai and work with Arlecchino to bring down the moon!<. I wouldn't call that having no impact.
I kinda wish he had more on-screen impact, obviously, but it is what it is. He'll have his patch to shine, and hopefully, will remain relevant in future patches.
Cataclysm 2.0 is coming so at very least, he'll get a chance to fight alongside us in the future.
I still like him as a character and I'm totally going to pull for him but I *had* expected a little more action out of him than we got.
Tangent: there is someone called Anorasun on youtube who has a few videos analyzing the cinematic language in the scenes Varka's in and how it demonstrates Varka's leadership style (not a very good summary, I'm afraid, but they're interesting videos!).
Instead I really liked him. He showed again and again how a person could lead and bring others together, without needing to be the centre of attention or to come out wittiest in every exchange. He was the centrepiece of Acts III-VIII and they wouldn't have worked without him. He was a model of exactly how a leader should behave, and how one can be an inspirational figure that others talk about without being a dick.
I was just hoping for a bit more confrontation against rerir instead of just off screen wounding him
They should have just said he died of a severe chill and formally given the leadership position to Jean.
Varka did less in Nod Krai than the Traveler did in Fontaine when Neuvilette was the one solving every problem on his own.
There was nothing going on in Nod Krai that justified Varka's presence there.
Now I could see a contingent of Natlan soldiers traveling to Nod Krai because they are directly south.
However... I was extremely disappointed with his role in the story. I was hoping to see some brutal claymore swings. Instead I got nothing.
I have no issue with Cooumbina being the main focus (duh) but I feel like Nod Krai, despite being like 18 hours long overall focused too much on only her. It felt like Flins, Durin and especially Varka didn't get much spotlight. But at least we get to see Flins in action, we didn't get a SINGLE fighting cutscene with Varka. For a man praised for his fighting prowess, he sure was severely disappointing in that aspect.
I'd think we would get Mondstadt quest continuiation so he cna get spotlight in his release but I'm >! Pretty sure we're only getting his SQ? I didn't keep up with leaks much tbh. !<
Made me facepalm.
The issue is that people want Varka to do stuff beside commanding and staying the backline. But I don't think it is his moment to shine yet. The spotlight should be with Lauma, Flin, Nefer and Columbina as they are important to Nod Krai. Varka is a background character, just like Alice, Nicole and so on. It isn't his moment to shine yet. So as a background character. He really kept the story well structured and doesn't divert the story into a tangent. He has done his job very well.
He will have his moment to shine, but not yet.
Also most people are disappointed because of how was presented in the nod-krai teaser. The varka there and the varka in AQ, there's quite a difference I feel.
Varka is the one who brought us together with Ineffa. Varka was also the one who brought Nefer into the action. Varka already have relation with the light keepers and was the one who contacted and work with the Fatui. He made a feal eith Nicole as well. Can ir be done with others...maybe but that doesn't mean Varka did nothing.
Getting offscreened by a weakened Rerir didn't do him any favors as was sitting out the majority of the big fights in the AQ to "guard" the base. He vomits when Nicole tests him. Then he visibly strains while pulling the moon with Nicole and Arle, while Arle continues aura farming as usual.
His expedition turned out near pointless in the main story and when you do get to them most have already been sent back, there's no cavalry and who's left are drunk, unarmored and kind of lame looking despite the "elite expedition" hype, then he has you kick a barrel to his camp despite more immediate Abyssal dangers closer by that Hoyo could have tied to him.
As a dude who's neutral to him but was somewhat intrigued by Hoyo's plans, Varka feels "ok", not bad but not really good. He's a decent commander, motivational speaker, delegator, is able to ground the other characters and get them to rally, but he feels like reheating Jean nachos than anything else, plus more Venti-like drunk jokes, not the "titan" who equalled Capitano that the lore made him out to be. I hope his SQ can make him shine, but I'm not that optimistic.
Arlecchino, Capitano, Varka, Signora to name a few, I can continue. It doesn't matter if they're playable or not, they are set up both in story and possibly playability in a very misleading way.
It's not always players making head canon or expecting "stuff" out of nowhere. Varka has an extremely long list of being set up as this *strong leader out on a mission* and throwing hands with very powerful fighters. Even before we went to Nodkrai he was the one we had to meet there, at the tavern, he was also regularly teased in mondstadt "chapters". Instead, He was straight up sidelined for 3 patches straight, several offscreen big fight before and after the nodkrai chapter, and the mondstadt mission, which was a long time coming ended up being a generic "there's a storm brewing on the horizon, bro".
This guy was in writing a 1.x - 5 year long buildup. You've got to be kidding me if we reduce this too to "people setting up expectations in their head" and that's it. Hoyo willingly produced this and then didn't deliver in some aspects.
> I thought he did a great job serving as a grounding force
95% of what he did were generic speeches about situation a or b, and not even important or strategic deliveries, just "you go there", "we do this", and the "I would've said the knight of boreas had to be there" had me in tears at how stupidly convoluted a "my banner isn't here yet" that was.
I even don't particularly dislike the carefree attitude dude we got, but definitively, this is not in any shape or form a character of a certain magnitude or lore relevance handled well.
TL:DR; Hoyo does a lot of things well, but character writing isn't one of them, and never was, for the most part.
I see everybody going on about "Oh he had no combat" "Oh he was too in the background" "Oh he was too comedic", but here's the deal...Out of *everyone* assembled, he's the most normal.
He is...a dude. A random guy, in comparison to the vast amount of power and talent everybody else was. Sure, he's the 'Grandmaster', but the thing is...So what? The knights of Favonius have always been on the weaker side in comparison to other factions. I'd have been annoyed if they played him off as this big badass forcing the plot to his demands, when the people next to him were:
\-An angel
\-Two different robots, one built of Khaenrian tech, one built of Fontainian
\-A Khaenrian with Abyssal Moon Powers
\-The head of a cult devoted to the moon goddess the entire nod krai plot was about.
\-Said moon goddess
\-The head of an intelligence agency that actively had ties to pretty much every faction in nod krai, who was also personally threatened by the most dangerous human from Liyue
\-A death fairy who actively was collecting the body parts of a sinner for fun
\-The 'son' of a sinner-turned-life-goddess, who has created life himself
\-The 'son' of a writer mage who rewrote the fate of the greatest calamity to ever befall mondstatd itself, who figured out how to transcend time and space to talk to ghosts
\-A dragontech robot
\-Said dragontech robot's creator, who also built the fuck-off sized cannon that regularly blows up abyssal forces
In comparison to all *that,* Varka might as well be an npc. And even then, consider:
\-Picked a fight with a sinner, survived.
\-Leveraged a debt from the Hexenzirkel in order to ensure that a *god* couldn't ravage the whole nation.
\-Actively ran supply lines
\-Secured us accommodations, which turned out to be critical later on.
\-Wrangled said head of intelligence into helping us, and is actively securing her services later on.
\-Has kept an active outpost on the border of Shneznaya, despite being pretty much surrounded by hostiles
\-Was on good terms with Harbinger No.1 even before he showed up, rather than having their entire group wiped out for being in Shneznayan territory.
Varka doesn't need to have a bunch of flashy fight scenes to be relevant. He was a rock, despite the fact that he's pretty much a normal dude in an entire group of various freaks of nature. The fact that he *survived* in all that is a testament to his abilities.
So for years now he left Mondstadt vulnerable for no good reason and did nothing. What a great adventure.
Varka should have been our anchor in Nod Krai. He should have fought with us and the Knights of Favonius should have helped against the monsters. That was why they were there.(I think?) Instead it felt like they made the Nod Krai plot and forgot that Varka went there years ago and had to squeeze him into the plot somehow. For years we kept wondering why he was there....well Im still wondering.
Hope they still have something cool planned for him because if that was it...than hes basically Godwin that walked a bit further
This is the exact same problem Hoyo has had with Star Rail and Amphoreus. In case you didn’t know, there were **ZERO** 4-stars in HSR 3.X, and **seventeen** limited characters (12 Chrysos Heirs + Cyrene + The Herta + The Dahlia + the Fate collabs Archer/Saber) with one of them being free (Dan Heng Permansor Terrae), and the Fate Collabs getting a pass from the story because they had their own event unrelated to Amphoreus.
Imagine trying to fit a good story for Amphoreus while being forced to focus on a different specific character at a very specific time each act. Yeah, that doesn’t work. It was okay for the first few characters, and Phainon was done well (but he was with us since the start of 3.0!). But after that the character really started to feel shoehorned into the plot.
Genshin’s was not nearly as bad as this, but they started to fall into the same holes when they replaced Story Quests with integration into the AQ. Granted Durin had his own SQ and looks like Varka will have his, but it takes a lot away from the characters because they don’t get a chance to shine in the AQ.
It’s not like Hoyo can’t write good characters that aren’t the main focus though. Jahoda really captured a lot of people’s hearts just from her character writing and presentation. Sandrone was also done pretty well. Even Wanderer got his moments in the AQ. But the way they shafted Varka and the Knights is just sad.
First off, I’d like to say that I generally agree with the sentiment that his characterization is good + his storytelling is butchered. That said…
>He took most of Mondstadts military to go to Nod Krai
He took a large portion of Mondstadt’s military to go north. Not to Nod Krai specifically. That’s just where they ended up when paths intersected with the Traveler.
>Apparently he had no plan, no tangible reason to be there and barely did anything on screen. The favonius army did even less.
Here’s the quote from the meeting point quest (italics are mine for emphasis).
>But when we marched, all "knew" was this: *An Abyssal storm was brewing up north, one that threatened to scour all of Teyvat. I*t took us some time to mobilize, but where would the enemy appear, and what form would they take? That was all a complete mystery to us when we set out. All we could do is gather intel as we marched, preparing for every contingency. \[Traveler Option\]. Ha! Quick study aren't you? Alas, the enemy won't sit around twiddling their thumbs while we finish preparing. Every hour we hesitated, the *Abyss was devouring the lives of countless people*. The sooner we marched, the sooner we could change their fates.
Sure, they didn’t have concrete plan. But they did have motive (fight abyssal storm, gather intel, foster international connections). And Varka explains why that motive warrants a lacking plan. To me, it kinda reads like a generic reason (aka the devs don't have anything further planned), but it could also be a "we can't share more now without spoiling the 6.4/Mondstadt story". Regardless, it is a reason and hopefully one that will be expanded on later.
>So for years now he left Mondstadt vulnerable for no good reason and did nothing
I wonder if we overestimate how vulnerable Mondstadt truly is. After all, most vision holders remain in Mondstadt. And Diluc exists. And aside from Dvalin (special issue that needed Venti) there haven’t been any massive issues (that I’m aware of).
As for the "did nothing". Well, we know they've been fighting the abyss/wild hunter. That's *something.* We also have an inkling that some abyssal threat will be coming to Mondstadt. I hope they're linked and these storylines/motivations will be tied together, but that's all speculation.
I agree with your third paragraph. He **absolutely** should have been fighting with us. Only point I would add is we’re *told* that Varka and the Knights have been fighting monsters/wild hunt. We’re *told* that Varka and his forces were holding off Rerir’s emergence (+ they fought Rerir). Major problem with all of this is: we’re not *shown* any of it. That’s an issue.
>Hope they still have something cool planned for him because if that was it...than hes basically Godwin that walked a bit further
This…this is just not true. Godwin abandoned his duties and has continuously lied about his participation in the expedition. Varka and the Knights have done stuff. We just haven’t *seen* that stuff.
TLDR: Varka was underutilized in Nod Krai. A hallmark of good storytelling is "show don't tell". We're told (somewhat shallowly/generically) that Varka does stuff. We're not shown any of it. Unfortunately, this does make it seem like he was squeezed into the plot. Like you, I hope that they have something cool planned for him. I'm generally an advocate for waiting til 6.4 (his patch) before making any final judgement about his story/character. I really, really hope that's warranted.
To me the "abyssal storm brewing in the north" is too wishywashy. Why werent they led to Natlan were the abyssal apocalypse happened way before. That should have had higher readings on a fantasy-abyss-radar. That means they would have had a reason that they are specifically drawn to Nod Krai.
I think its absolutely this:
>To me, it kinda reads like a generic reason (aka the devs don't have anything further planned
but they also apparently never came up with a better reason. Also Mondstadt having Moon in the name and the military is in the land of the Moon goddess, there has to be something there.
>we can't share more now without spoiling the 6.4/Mondstadt story
I really hope so
>This…this is just not true. Godwin abandoned his duties and has continuously lied about his participation in the expedition. Varka and the Knights have done stuff. We just haven’t seen that stuff.
yeah but they are so irrelevant. If you drop Varka and the Knights of Favonius from the story, you can replace Varka with a leader-type npc from the Voynich Guild and nothing changes.
You can argue he made a deal with Nicole for the defense of the city...but why were they even defending it. The people got evacuated and Dottore just walked in anyway. This was probably only done so Varka used up his deal with the Hexenzirkel...which imo would be a bad way to get rid of his Hexenfavor
Varkas story quest is still coming. Dormant Port is still coming. Venti and his status still have some secrets. Some other apparently superstrong Favonius dude got teased. So not all hope is lost and I do really hope they have something planned. But at this point in time its not looking great
With posts like this, it can be difficult to tell when someone is being intentionally hyperbolic vs misinformed. And in this fandom -- where it's frequently said "Genshin players can't read" -- I tend to jump to the worst possible conclusion.
Definitely agree with all your points here.
Only thing I'll add: I agree that his deal with Nicole is pointless. But I don't think the issue is its use to protect the city. IIRC the deal with Nicole is to protect the city and provide the "divine intervention" that helps Varka/Arle bring the moon down. That second part was essential for their success against Dottore.
Rather, I think the issue is the use of the hexenfavor in general. The hexenzirkel was going to help regardless. They care about Teyvat and not helping would mean it's "doomed". So, with or without the hexenfavor, Nicole was going to help. I think hoyo was trying to give Varka something to do, but nothing changes with his involvement. All of this just results in Varka using the last hexenfavor for no meaningful gain. As you said, it's a bad way to get rid of his hexenfavor.
Oh interesting. Hmmm yeah you are probably right. If that was part of the favor that actually improves the whole thing a bit.
thanks for the reply :)
His role in the story is to actually be a decent leader and keep the morale up so the actual people who live in Nod krai can properly save their nation and not look pathetic becuase someone else had to do it.
Bros a decent leader and stuff but I much rather he not overshadow a story where he's clearly not meant to be a main character.
Hopefully the Varka story will do him justice.
Despite getting so much hype from NPCs and stories about how strong he was and how he was on par with the upper ranks of Harbingers in strength, we have yet to really see him fight at all. We just hear about him and his knights keeping the Wild Hunt monsters at bay. The Knights of Favonius stationed in Nod-Krai were only ever talked about or were on their way but never really showed up and participate in the main story.
He's replaceable in that he could have just been replaced by any generic character for most of the Nod-Krai questline up to this point and there really wouldn't be much of a difference. He did help pull the moon down with Arlecchino and Nicole so there was that but that was only for a brief cameo really.
What Hoyo wants to do with him came into clear focus as I did the Favonius Keep quest. He's a smart, effective, involved, and personal leader and it's really obvious why Mondstaters respect him the way they do, as opposed to if he was just a big muscle guy who wins fights.
*"He's powerful but not imposing — he leaves people feeling calm and safe. He's the sort of knight who can crack a joke while fighting off the Wild Hunt" - Durin*
*"Well, you are my second-in-command, so helping me out is part of your job description. This way, I can focus on the really important things, wouldn't you agree?" Varka, Jean Character Story 3*
*"After joining the Knights, Mika honed his cartography skills while investigating dangerous locations as a Front-Line Surveyor while receiving pointers on how he might improve his other skills from Varka." - Mika Character Story 3*
The scene where he's sitting off to the side sober so that all of his men can safely enjoy the wine they've all been waiting for is perfectly emblematic of why he's such a more interesting character for subverting those expectations. He's the best type of leader - he's people first, down in the mud with his men, always trying to lift them up, and that's a quality that's always been present through the lines of the playable characters related to him (Razor, Noelle, Rosaria, Mika etc..)
*"The Grand Master said that I need to set higher goals for myself, and strive to achieve them." - Mika*
*"It made me so happy to hear how much he values me! ...Okay, so apparently he said the same thing to a lot of people. But that doesn't change the fact he prizes me too!" - Noelle*
*"Although, he does really care for those around him, doesn't he?" - Rosaria*
*"Grand Master Varka did say to me: 'Jean, there is no better candidate for this task'..." - Jean*
*"Grand Master Varka had nothing but the highest praise for her, even declaring once that she was the Dandelion Knight's equal on the battlefield." -Eula Character Details*
(Part 1)
This is also well showcased in the Nod-Krai Archon Quest, where he most often *elects himself* to play supporting roles. He saves the gang from Rerir and devises the strategy that beats him. He stays back to **evacuate Nasha Town** **and** **protect** **the public** **by himself** in preparation for that battle since literally everyone else was occupied. He's always boosting morale in somber and uncertain moments. He stays behind to **protect Nasha Town** ***again*** while the Nod-Krai gang assaults Dottore's base. Helped **evacuate Nasha Town** ***again*** before the final battle with Dottore. He even gave up the favor the Hexenzirkel owed Mondstat because the people of Nod-Krai needed the help more.
That's not him having anti-feats or no relevancy or whatever, that's the Genshin writers deliberately making him a great leader, a team player, a protector, and the most dependable ally you could ever have.
A fight scene for him to shine in would definitely be an improvement to the storyline and I would love to see that. But the lack of that is far from a blight on his otherwise amazing presentation.
Also, he's SUCH an uncle. And very funny.
Everyone should absolutely go back and read Mika's Character Story 4. It's a VERY accurate and complete preview of the Varka we ended up getting, and that was released during Sumeru. In doing the research for this, it actually surprised just how consistent all of the older material is to what we have now. He was constantly described as aloof, helpful, trustful, and uplifting by basically everyone.
The core mistake is pretending this hinges on one Childe voiceline, so you can wave it away with “Childe is biased.” Even if we grant you that Childe has biases (he does, like everyone does), that’s irrelevant because of triangulation. Triangulation means you don’t rely on a single narrator, you check whether independent sources converge on the same claim. Here they do. Mika calls Varka his personal combat instructor and describes the training in practical terms. Varka (jokingly) compares himself with the Captain in his letter. The writers wrote that part in specifically because they knew what would get the players talking, which means they knew what expectation they set up for him.
Flins, whose job is literally fighting Abyss threats, says crossing blades with Varka is “no contest.” Those are different characters, different contexts, different incentives, yet the messaging aligns: Varka is not just respected as a leader, he’s feared/respected as a combatant. Once you have that convergence, your “unreliable narrator” escape hatch dies. You don’t get to declare the whole thing invalid because one speaker might be excited or biased when multiple sources independently reinforce the same conclusion.
Also, notice what you’re doing rhetorically: you’re not actually disputing the text, you’re trying to disqualify the audience for taking the text seriously. “They expected aura and feats.” No. they expected the story to cash checks it spent five years writing. When a game says “Titan,” “Knight of Boreas,” “no contest,” “combat instructor,” and flirts with comparisons to Harbinger-level opponents, that isnt just some “vague legend.”
1/2
Your other dodge is the false dichotomy: you talk as if giving him a real fight scene would reduce him to a “big muscle guy,” as if depth and competence can’t coexist. It is basically shallow criticism dressed up as sophistication. Action IS characterization. How he fights would tell us who he is: does he protect first, does he take risks, is he brutal or precise, does he laugh under pressure, does he end fights quickly to prevent collateral damage? You’re acting like the only kind of combat portrayal is empty “aura farming,” but that’s just you limiting the storytelling tools to make your defense easier.
So lets be honest about what your framing does socially: “people are upset because their headcanon didn’t match.” It basically strips agency from the audience and belittles their media literacy, because it implies the player imagined the setup rather than reading it. The players didn’t make up “Varka is a monster in a fight.” The writers did. So when you praise the commander portrayal as if it answers the criticism, you’re missing the point. Nobody is saying leadership scenes are bad. They’re saying leadership scenes don’t pay a combat-based promise that was made repeatedly and explicitly.
Think Chasca in Xilonen's trailer; it's later revealed she can ride a gun, but until then, she carries a bow around, Ororon as well. Or Navia just wielding a longsword until she was revealed to use a projectile-launching umbrella. Or Iansan emitting Electro when summoned as part of the 6 Heroes of Natlan. All of that, but not anything to demonstrate Varka in combat except emitting Anemo near the 6.3 Archon quest finale.
They made him the leader and it was fairly done for Genshin, however I didn’t feel like his presence was decisive I guess. In the sense that even if he is not here Nicole could have took his role or Nefer. He didn’t give me the feeling of « his presence put everyone at ease/is crucial» or some like that. Nefer did
Now as what he actually brought in Nod Krai AQ, most of his feat are off screen and thus makes him seems irrelevant. This is a game not a novel, you can’t just tell us thing you gotta show them. Every damn time he speaks « I am the grandmaster Knight of Boreas » aight we get it show us knightly thing/code/fight. His first showdown against Rerir off screened and the injury he got made him a side char for the whole AQ while Nefer and the traveler fought him and recovered faster than him. What’s the point of Flins telling us the audience damn Varka is strong if we never see it.
During the 6.3 AQ Lauma even tells him to not come with them. He is the number one fighting expert in Monstadt could be stronger or on par with Arle and he just gets sidelined ? Does he even try to make a case or argue that he has among the most fighting experience, no he just says alright. The moon pull down is a shared feat only possible with Nicole so tbh more impressive on Nicole’s part.
To summ it up, I do not think his presence had any impact from 6.0 to 6.3 AQ if he was not there the story would have unfolded the exact same. If people don’t agree I don’t mind having a civil debate or if I misunderstood something feel free to point it out.
1) Varka target Rerir with his squad but gets offscreen. No cutscene or anything?
2) Varka save the gang from some wild hunt fodder but couldn't join rerir fight because he still injured?
3) Nicole doesn't know Varka because Alice never mention him in any of their tea party.
4) Doesn't participate in Act 7, assaulting Dottore base. How long is his injuries? They have healer on the team
5) He pull the moon yeah. We all know Nicole carry. Varka get something to do while Arlecchino gets to stay back instead of engaging Dottore so she can't lose
6) His expedition is just wild hunt hunting
People say "Varka is a great commander/strategist, he bring everyone together". Other faction already team up in Act 2 even Sandrone. His strategy in Act 4 gets countered by Traveler giving better strategy. Act 5/6, he keep skipping dialogue
Varka was completely redundant, scrap his role in the story and give them to Traveler and you would have a better story and Traveler would actually have some character development by coordinating a group.
Well I know why, it’s because the characters involved in that fight are all currently playable and they probably didnt want to put his playable form in for us to play with.
But that just made the fight weirder because Varka is supposed to be the strongest of the lot (as far as assumptions go) and we’re going up against not only the second harbinger but a person that we *know* has already outplayed and outgunned us before, and somehow the plan *doesn’t* include throwing the strongest fighter at him?
And if they *really* didn’t want us to play as Varka then all they needed to do was just put him as a friendly NPC that fights beside us just like how Dainsleif did previously??
Or maybe the simplest reason is that if Varka threw hands that early on then we wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped to have a date with Dottore idk 🤷🏻♀️
Like, I don't have anything bad to say about him. But "he is just there" is probably a bad thing to say about a character that's been hyped up for 5 years.
All they had to do was add 1 or 2 cutscenes and people would be dying for release. Like a cutscene where he fights and actually defeats Rerir. But since Rerir is immortal, he comes back stronger and manages to injure some of the knights. Varka takes him down a 2nd time and sees him getting up again. So he realizes that it's not gonna work. He has to come up with something different. So he retreats with his knights.
That's all they needed to do honestly. That 1 cutscene would've carried him until 6.4. After that scene, people wouldn't have complained if everything else remained the same. Like him bringing down the moon with the help of Nicole would still be more than enough.
I do disagree with the people that are labelling him a himbo, he clearly is smarter than he lets on. He seems to be similar to Kaeya in that both act very approachable and friendly (although Varka is more boisterous for sure) on the service but are usually forwarding their own agendas, albeit for ultimately the greater good. Also he'll definitely be getting more screentime, at least in Luna V.
And the salt in the wound, so far we have 0 clue as to why he took the strongest forces from mondstadt and have been in an expedition for years, it even double sucks because when we get there most of his forces have left for mondstadt. Like nod krai was supposed to tie loose ends, not make more of them.
If there isnt an archon quest in port ormos later where there an actual crucial story thing happens and we get to know what was all of this for, i am sorry but it would be the greatest fumble genshin has done to a story so far.
“Let me get this straight…” then he repeats what everyone else just said. Biggest contribution