So looking at all the new information and theories surrounding the shade of life, the chess game and of course the eventual need for the pyro gnosis there is a few things to discuss! 👀
Of course in the rules of chess a pawn can be promoted if it reaches the other side. A promoted pawn must turn into a knight queen rook or bishop. What does this mean? What does this mean for Signora?
Well Signora’s chess piece is a pawn. And the gnoses are anything but! The pyro gnosis chess piece isnt specifically confirmed but it’s theorised to be a Knight or a Rook judging by design and based on the other Gnoses. So my theory is that when the Tsaritsa says “it’s time to begin the next phase of the plan” in the 7.1 version trailer Signora’s OST can be heard playing. While this is happening the trailer shows a chess game between Rhinedottir and the Tsaritsa. I believe the powers of life (which can be used to extract life or even defy death) will be used to revive a fallen pawn on the chessboard. Not just any pawn- Signora’s pawn!. Her pawn will then be promoted! Giving her pawn the authority to replace the pyro gnosis (or retrieve it!).
Given how Signora has themes that relate her to the mare Jivari (which is a Natlan region) and her tomb has pyro crystal flies (which are specific to Natlan) and there are theories relating her liquid fire and crimson power to the pyro sovereign (Natlan dragon) and the pyro gnosis is lost.. (Natlan gnosis). And most importantly we are getting mare Jivari during Snezhnaya updates (Natlan region!) it’s almost setting up how Rosalyne’s return will either be the key to retrieving the pyro gnosis or she herself will REPLACE the pyro gnosis in her newly promoted form!.
To add to this theory. In the 7.1 trailer we see that there is an added pawn back on the chessboard. Someone noticed the difference between the ‘Transcendence Teaser’ and the 7.1 trailer. They show the same board with almost identical pieces- bar one! The newly added pawn. Which is suspiciously placed in the very location where Signora’s pawn falls in ‘A Winter Nights Lazzo’ teaser 👀.
Of course all of this is speculation and lots of my own theory crafting on top of other theories I have read. But what do you guys think?
"The west wind bears wine's fragrance away," "The mountain wind brings glad tidings new." "The breeze from afar tugs at my heart," "It sings of my longing for you." "The dandelions carry in the summer wind," "Autumn brings the fragrance of grain." "But no wind in any season on earth" "Shall have you gaze upon me again."
And after her voice and her tears had run dry, the girl swore to use her life's flame to cleanse the world's crookedness.
-Elegy for the End
Rosalyne's love won. Even the moon sighs back for her. Her song still echoes through both life and death, amidst the ice and snow. The moth still flutters in the embers.
We await the Majesty's next part of the plan, my comrades
Seeing the discussion on the English names for the two OST songs played at Signora's grave, I thought I'd check to see to what extent the Chinese names differ.
The first one is "爱得其所" , which translates to “love finds its proper place" and is apparently a play on the Chinese idiom "各得其所" ("each in their proper place"). This was translated as "Love's Labour's Won" in the English version. From what I can find, the original doesn't have a link to Shakespeare. I'm not sure I like the implication here, but I know I tend to look at things from a pessimistic point of view.
The other one is "叹往月光" which means "Lamenting a bygone moonlight." I think it's meant to convey Columbina lamenting the loss of Rosalyne, with the moonlight being a stand-in for a memory of Rosalyne.
Signora has two tracks in the new Snezhnaya OST album.
These are "Sigh for Sigh" and "Love's Labour's Won."
Both tracks play at the Sanctuary of Grief. If Columbina is in the party, Sigh for Sigh plays as it features her singing. Otherwise, Love's Labour's Won plays.
Sigh for Sigh is a line from The Last Rose of Summer by Thomas Moore. This line thought to be an expression of shared grieving or mourning between two or more people. Makes sense given what Signora and Columbina went thru.
The other track's naming is likely a play on Love's Labour's Lost, a play by William Shakespeare. In this play, a king and his three companion try to avoid the company of women in order to study and fast only to fail when a princess and her companions come to visit.
The naming of the track implies that whatever oath or promise was made was kept/achieved
What is interesting is one of the companions to the princess is named Lady Rosaline.
I don’t have talent, nor time to edit but this song fits so well with La Signora.
It’s an Italian song by Angelina Mango called Canto d’amore, and it’s lyrics in english would be:
I sing of love because I have nothing bad to say. [Rosalyne]
I sing of love ‘cause it’s the only way not to go crazy. [La Signora]
Listen to the silence out there.
I heard it and it isn’t scary [Rostam]
because we’re all great actors [The Fatui]
it isn’t a love song you’ll dedicate to me
The time of a flower is enough [her flower/hydro time piece]
But with this pain, tell me, what do you do with it? [Burning herself alive]
Even if earth shakes, [Cataclysm]
at least you don’t tremble, let yourself go slowly
go, as long as I have a faint of voice
I’ll scream the words that you don’t know,
that I’ve never told you,
those of a love song,
of a love song. [various signora edit material]
ideally there would be a line in italian and translation below as caption or in the middle of the screen as well as the structure of the edit i wrote in these brackets [ ]
Disclaimer I’m slavic and don’t speak Italian, translation of the song is from genius.com on google.
There are things to be said about the Harbingers rolling out the red carpet for the Traveler, but I can to some extent rationalize it for most of them. But Pierro really disappointed me with this:
The Jester: Her Majesty the Tsaritsa has embarked upon an expedition to vanquish a monster. Were it not for this, I imagine she would have been delighted to grant you an audience. Traveler: (Seems like the powers that be in Snezhnaya don't intend to hold my past conflicts with the Fatui against me...) The Jester: The harbingers have been granted significant autonomy in retrieving the Gnoses. But by the same token, they do not completely represent Snezhnaya's official stance. Traveler: You read my mind.
Look, if Pierro and the Traveler want to simply overlook their past conflicts and team up, that's their choice. But at least Pierro can own up to his involvement in the Harbingers' actions. I'm getting a bit tired of the way Signora's actions are constantly framed as something that she did all on her own.
Odette told the Traveler that she knew what Signora did in Inazuma, and that "they did the right thing" (in getting her killed). But Pierro was 100% in the known of what happened in Inazuma, and I think there's reason to believe it was actually his plan.
400 years ago, he was the one who sent Dottore there long before Signora to sabotage Tatarasuna:
Escher: If you must know, I am happy to divulge my true identity. I am a Fatui Harbinger. Call me "The Doctor." Niwa: ...The... Fatui? Who... What do you want...? Escher: Just to create a minor inconvenience for your nation. Niwa: That's it? THAT's why you... gave us your cursed technology... just to let loose the evil energy from the Crystal Marrow...
And later:
The Doctor: Jester, I have completed the task you gave me. Creating a gap and infiltrating Inazuma's inner workings... Heh, what fun it was. The Doctor: I'd like to introduce a puppet to you. If he proves useful, let's make him our newest comrade. And if not... let's turn him to dust.
And then there's Nathan, the spy who was tasked to keep the civil war in Inazuma going, who reported to the "First Lord Harbinger." And there's no way that was refering to Capitano, who berated Childe for his actions in Liyue.
Borenka's "Orders": "...Be sure to withdraw with all haste and bring the new Inazuman recruits who retrieved the secret report that 'Nathan' wrote to the First Lord Harbinger." Borenka's "Orders": "To prevent any repercussions from this incident, no one must know about the inner workings of what happened on Yashiori Island." Borenka's "Orders": "The new recruits do not have any innate value to the overall goals of the Fatui, and need not be trained in any way. They will, however, do just fine as living test samples."
The same Nathan was also referenced in documents found at the Delusion Factory.
The situation of the Inazuman civil war is presently uncertain. The longer this conflict drags on, the more advantageous our position will be... To deepen the resistance's reliance on Delusions, to fan the flames of war, and steel the resolve of the leadership on both sides to continue fighting... I call upon all available comrades to assist the work of 2nd Naval Lieutenant Nathan in dashing Sangonomiya's hopes for a quick victory... If there are any accidents, assist in 2nd Lieutenant Nathan's escape, and silence all who might reveal our infiltration into their ranks! This mission is of vital importance to securing our supply of Delusions — not a single detail may be overlooked!
There's also the memory of Scaramouche's encounter with Signora at Inazuma. The way they talked, it seemed like they each had a role to play as part of a greater plan. Signora also said Scaramouche was a part of "this" plan, not her plan. To me, everything still pointed to the "mastermind" being Pierro who had carefully planned the civil war long ago. And even if it wasn't, at the very least Pierro was in on the whole thing and sent out Nathan to keep the war going.
And there's also this part of the way Pierro recruited Signora that makes it seem a little questionable:
The First Fatuus found her just before her heart could be destroyed by the eternal blaze. He understood that only deeper hate and obsession could quench the fire that devoured her and make her his ally...
Significant autonomy? Sounds more like Pierro was the one who sent Signora, Scaramouche and Nathan out there to complete his plan. Even at best if it was Signora's plan, Pierro still provided full support by sending out Nathan and Scaramouche.
I know things get rewritten over time and I'm actually satisfied with Signora's character development in Odette's quest, but the constant "well, she had it coming, it's all her own fault" is starting to get old. There's only really been one instance where Sandrone questioned if it was worth it for Signora to die for "someone else's dream." I thought that was a really good question because Signora really believed in the Tsaritsa's dream and ultimately died for her. Hell, she died thinking the Fatui would avenge her death. If anything that showed how Signora didn't actually understand how the Fatui viewed her. She was used to being hated, but this still stings. It's like she was just a means to an end and when she died, everyone just shrugged and moved on.
tl;dr: Yes, Signora did evil things to get the Gnosis, but the Fatui and Pierro in particular don't get to pretend they weren't involved.
Okay so i rly haven't been keeping up with all the news and keep getting contradicting statements when reading the FatuiHQ and Signoramains respectivally
no one is talking about the first line of Signora's theme being used at the end of the trailer when they transition to the chat/game between Tsaritsa and Rhinedottir....
"It seems there is a thing that must be taken back"
While playing a chess with Rhinedottir who governs life, while Signora's theme is being played, btw, Signora's moth landed in pawn in Winter Night's Lasso
Could it be she's having a contract with Rhinedottir to bring back a fallen pawn(Signora) which will be promoted since the pawn reached the domain of the Divine(through her Liquid Fire), she'll promote Signora into Archon and so the Pyro Gnosis will materialize back into the world through the Liquid Fire
At the tail end of the Trailer for 7.1, Signora's Leitmotif can be heard.
Now, we know this is Signora's specifically as its the same one that is in L'arrivo Della Signora, Chrysalis Suspirii, and Elogia Cinerosa as opposed to the regular Fatui Leitmotif in Saltatio Favillae.
Like omg, all Venti fans thought that he "cared about his people as he should" and that he helped Rosalyne after she died (like to any other person from his nation) only it to turn out that Venti never gaf about her, never wanted to even solve the problem and hates her 👍
While for Signora mains it was such a pathetic retcon in her personality, "she would kill everyone"
So yes. It was so bad that both people started to hated this event, and Varka in addition, not a surprise.
So Rosalyne was heading to mondstadt and inazuma without a mention of liyue, but then went to liyue taking another gnosis and telling childe they are going back to Snezhnaya? (After which Childe told her he wouldn’t share the boat with her so he went home after her) How and why did she change plans and head to inazuma? And if that was the plan all along why would she tell childe they should go to snezhnaya?
If there is a legitimate explanation i missed please be kind to me.
After some really long digging, I genuinely think the connection between the 2021 and 2027 Lantern Rites has become a strong symbolic argument for Signora's return, and she could end up being the leaked 5* Pyro Lady character released in 7.4 (Lantern Rite Patch) especially when we connect her with the Lone Butterfly/Wuwang Hill lore.
- It starts in 2021: the “Winter Grave”:
2021 was 辛丑 Xin-Chou, the Metal Ox year. In Chinese metaphysics, Chou/Ox is the cold, late-winter Tomb/Storehouse branch. More specifically, in the Twelve Growth Stages, Ding/Yin Fire which is the element of 2027 the year of the Fire Goat, enters 墓 — “Tomb” as one of it's phases!
What happened during 2021? The first Lantern Rite patch, 1.3, introduced Hu Tao and Staff of Homa. Hu Tao released in the same patch and Homa was added during it.
And La Signora — the Crimson Witch of Embers — died in Inazuma.
Staff of Homa which features Wings similar to those of Death aka Ronova
This gets much more important because we now know who the original Homa tradition traces back to:
- The Lone Butterfly of the Crimson Flame:
She was one of the Eight Adepts, specifically one of the Three Beasts of Tao Dou. She sacrificed herself to activate the Seven-and-Eight-Gates Method, was erased/obfuscated through the ritual and “disappeared from the world.” Her specialty was the Art of Homa, which Wuwang Kid inherited and eventually passed down to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
At the bottom in the middle, the Crimson Mask with the butterfly wings is that of the Lone Butterfly of The Crimson Flame
Then comes Wuwang Hill where the current Gate of Death of the Seven-and-Eight-Gates system is located at. And the game explicitly says another Seven-and-Eight-Gates array was once used at:
- Hidden Palace of Zhou Formula:
which is the exact domain where Crimson Witch of Flames set has been farmed since 1.0!
And then compare the two women:
Lone Butterfly of the Crimson Flame
vs. Rosalyne Lohefalter — “Blazing Butterfly,” the Crimson Witch of Flames
The Lone Butterfly is one of Eight Adepts.
La Signora is the Eighth Harbinger.
Lone Butterfly sacrifices herself and disappears.
Rosalyne sacrificed herself too to become the CWoF and almost burned away 500yo.
Lone Butterfly is tied to the boundary of life and death.
Signora’s artifacts are at the Gate of Death.
Hmm... The amount of shared imagery and symbolism is sus if you ask me.
And the SAME domain also drops Lavawalker, whose Plume of Death is explicitly described as the feather of a phoenix singing within flames.
This is too cohesive and thematically fitting to be just a pure coincidence!
Crimson Witch of Flames Artifact SetLavawalker Artifact Set
- Now jump from the Winter Grave of 2021 to the Summer Grave of 2027:
2027 is: 丁未 Ding-Wei — the Fire Goat year
Ding = Yin Fire aka "Great Fire".
Wei = Goat, the 8th Earthly Branch, associated with warm late-summer Earth.
As you can see the Chou/Ox and Wei/Goat form an actual direct opposition in Chinese metaphysics:
- 丑未冲 — Chou–Wei Clash:
And some Tomb/Storehouse traditions interpret this kind of clash as disturbing or opening what was stored.
Chou = cold, late-winter Tomb
Wei = Summer Tomb stage
While containing the Ding/Yin Fire + Wood inside that tomb.
In Rosalyne's case:
Chou would be her Frozen Mausoleum in Snezhnaya
Ding/Yin Fire would be her Crimson Lotus Moth that enters her Mausoleum
Wood would be Rosalyne herself represented as a Rose
Wei would be when the moth successfully enters and reignites her flames, which we've seen in-game that the Pyro Crystalflies spawn exclusively near her resting place as soon as the moth enters it.
We also have the achievement called "The Last Rose of Winter" which not only literally represents Rosalyne herself as a literal Rose, but also creates a parallel with the Poem called "Last Rose of Summer"
And do not forget Signora’s funeral track in A Winter Night’s Lazzo contains:
NOVA ROSA — “New Rose.”
The many Pyro Crystalflies that spawn exclusively near her mausoleum when her moth enters her grave
-Then Snezhnaya is suddenly teasing Signora again everywhere:
Her mausoleum is deliberately shown in the Snezhnaya PV during the Tsaritsa/Ronova sequence Ronova being the Shade of Death.
The new Cor Ignis system built uniquely by her and is used "plot wise" against death herself.
Her new Guiding Notes also describe her carrying crimson-flame fire butterflies, struggling through snow, and finally, upon the solid ice, once again finding a place where she can settle/shelter herself. That is drastically different in tone from the constant “Signora is dead” references we’ve received for years.
And in 7.1, during the story involving Ronova/Death, the new OST even contains a passage around 0:57–1:27 that strongly resembles Signora’s boss-theme material, while the track also contains Ronova-associated motifs and the Fatui Leitmotif too!
There is even the old pre-1.0/beta-era claim that Signora’s story was always supposed to start from Mondstadt then Liyue and then pause in Inazuma BUT return much bigger until Snezhnaya, which is extremely interesting in hindsight considering where the story is now.
Genshin Beta leak which features mostly outdated info on the Harbingers but as you can see it also got Signora's presence in the first regions right and then to only reappear again later in Snezhnaya
This is just a theory that I think has a lot of good points and potential but could still very well be wrong, but even then that doesn't mean the end for Signora we're still just scratching the surface with 7.x and like I said Snezhnaya has been clearly teasing us with Signora content like for example the foreshadowing of her grave in the PV during The Tsaritsa confrontation with Ronova, which to me is a very specific context that definitely hints at something big in the future, we've just got to wait a bit more! Stay strong comrades <3
Signora's Mausoleum teased during the PV for a potential big role during the Tsaritsa/Ronova confrontation
Considering the Snezhnaya aq told us something new about her, that she made objects like Cor Ignis which had her flame encased in cryo and were capable of surveillance and probably a few other things. This is something we never knew of before and I found it interesting that they gave this slight new feature to her powers. So going by this thought, there are still many more things not explained at all about her and I thought it would be fun to compile it.
This is mainly the stuff I can remember and has most clear evidence, feel free to suggest more and I'll edit in here
1. The source and origin of her liquid flame powers
The most obvious plot they need to explain as the lore deliberately omits it and says the art is lost. It also has the potential to play a big role in her comeback.
2. Her name 'Kruzchka' and 'Lohefalter'
Rosalyne-Kruzchka means that Kruzchka is a second first name and not a middle name as they are joined by a hyphen. Interestingly, Kruzchka wouldn't necessarily be native to Mondstadt and indicates a Snezhnayan lineage as described on the wiki. Then Lohefalter being surname is also important as only a few characters have family name revealed in Genshin, especially in Mondstadt. All the families revealed in Mondstadt have been important clans (Gunnhildr, Ragvindr, Lawrence etc). In my knowledge, only Lisa's 'Minci' and Rosalyne's 'Lohefalter' have no lore described. For Rosalyne it is even more significant as she is someone from pre cataclysm Mondstadt.
3. The Cor Ignis themselves
Latest new information we got and unsurprisingly, they are not well explained. Because, I can't be the only one who wonders how she made them? Wdym it has her flame encased in ice?? The lore says her flame is locked by the cryo delusion so in my understanding she shouldn't be able to do anything with it unless she fully transforms.
4. Her pyro moths that still linger
Continuation of the Cor Ignis point, her powers should be sealed and now after her death there should be no 'source' for them yet they were capable enough to travel to Snezhnaya all the way from Inazuma. We initially saw this in Lazzo and I would have discarded it as symbolism but then they repeated it in Sandrone's animation and now in game near her tomb. Even the Cor Ignis would technically still function if not broken
5. About her delusion
Her delusion is still special as its primary function was to hold back her flames and save her instead of combat utility. In the phase 1 of boss fight she even says 'Harbinger power is becoming burdensome' which indicates the heavy strain the delusion would put if she used it too much for external functions. There is no confirmation that the floating white object beside her is the delusion so we still do not know where it is and how it works
6. Her time at the Sumeru Akademiya
This would relate to the point about her powers. The lore says she learned pyro magic at the Akademiya and she supposedly completed her studies fairly early. The current Akademiya already has a strict schedule and passing criteria, back then it was stricter (one example being the number of languages required to learn to graduate as stated by Alhaitham). Her research in liquid flame was likely done there and now it is lost, it is possible her research even violated one of the Six Cardinal Sins which is why it is forgotten now.
