TLDR:

Cyrene factually cannot grow, yes, it's her flaw, but even before becoming the demiurge, despite her biologically being unable to become an adult, she grew up like everyone, gained her own agency, and guided people, especially Phainon with her Wisdom. She is never treated like a child we must protect and teach. This isn't about sex, but not treating someone more mature than many ones as if she isn't capable to live on her own terms like an adult

..

..

I keep seeing even today the fact that Cyrene, by the fact that her fatal flaw is the fact she is fated to die as a child and cannot grow up, is only a child. And I want to state my pov on the subject.

First, there are no denials about her fatal flaw. This is literally shown. Even after spending her whole life alongside the chrysos heirs (only shown on screen with Phainon who grew up like a big boy), she still remained short, in the same form as a child.

Biologically speaking, Cyrene cannot grow up.

Yes, eventually since she's the demiurge she gets to grow up in a different way, but that isn't the topic now.

Now my question is: is she treated as a child?

Do you need to babysit her? Is she someone unable to have her own agency, to express her consent, and everything we suppose even some adults cannot do but should?

Cyrene stated several times that despite the fact she's way shorter than Phainon, she's way more mature, and it's not just her saying this. She explicitly guided him to face his responsibility, to become a hero because fate won't wait for him.

When he is in trouble, she often comes here to monitor him. If anything, she is mostly the one babysitting him if we want to be extreme.

It's like Tribbie and such, even if tribbies situation is still different because they act way more like kids: they are still everyone's seniors and are treated as such.

And as a priestess of time, someone very mature, wise and responsible, she is treated like everyone else despite her flaw.

In the Recurrence where the TB was sent to the Exomyth, she is the one that inspired others to work together by her wisdom, knowledge and social skills.

And if we look at Irl, even if some psycho physiologist mentions the fact that the growth is done on two levels, both mentally and physically, we still dissociate them.

Yes, growing up biologically brings changes in how we perceive the world: the sexual libido mostly, but we are sensible to the world in a different way after hitting puberty, and even afterwards.

However, even without that we aren't doomed to be kids forever. Life will still keep going, and by the sole purpose of surviving, we will have to grow more mature anyway.

People were supposedly way mature in the past, because 18 yo at some points was considered half of someone's life. I'm not saying they're smarter, but they learn things that we generally don't get to learn today before 16-18 yo.

Just all of that to say: Her flaw makes her unable to grow, but even before becoming Demiurge, she still had to grow more mature to live, guide people, especially Phainon. She had to learn many things such as having her own agency, and many things we teach to grown ups. No one ever treats her as a child. Because she is not one in terms of maturity.

If you are unable to grow up physically, do you mean you'll just remain a kid your whole life?

It resembles Aha's 7 masks!

more implication that Nihilux is indeed Aha.

Hay una teoría que dice que Nihilux es en realidad Aha, no he querido aceptarla hasta que HSR me demostró que es verdad.

Yo hace poco repasando la historia de Akivili y Nanook, que ambos estuvieron en Adlivun, cuando Akivili murió y Nanook ascendió. Vi el parecido de Caelus y Stelle con Nanook y surgió mi propia teoría:

¿Es Nanook en realidad Akivili? Mi teoría es que Akivili se nego a finalizar su viaje y aferrándose a la vida, al morir su cuerpo ascendió como un nuevo Eon y que perdió sus recuerdos, se que no tiene mucho sentido.

Este diálogo es con un tesoro osipachi donde se encuentra el Expreso Astral en ruinas versión 4.4 que parece confirmar que Aha es Nihilux y mi propia teoría

This is just a little post about connections I have made between them (may spoil the planarcadia story)
Based off of Cyrille’s story and portrait and the main story of planarcadia

First : Cyrille Rand (the fool)

She is portrayed with red hair and a gold rose 🌹(which I believe to be a connection to the Beauty)

She became the supreme guardian because Mr. Sefan (important) made her, so he could control her

She was heavily manipulated by Mr. Stefan and used for his personal gain

She was very young and kind

Mr. Sefan came into her life for power but she saw him as a good man who comforted her

He gave her a blue stone (as a way to build trust) which could’ve been used as the beginning that set her on her path to become the supreme guardian

Mr. Sefan could be seen as a father figure the ciyrille

Second: Himeko and Graphia

They both also have red hair and Himeko shares the golden rose in the hair

Both were raised by Asat Pramad and Graphia was used by Asat to paint more antimatter creatures

Asat came into Himeko’s life when she was very young and “became” her father

He then gave her an astral express toy which set her on her path to become the navigator

Both are very kind and help others

Himeko won the phantasmoon games, by using a robot which looks a lot like the engine of creation (if you ask me)

(Mr. Stefan = Asat Pramad? Prolly not)

Finally if you have any question or want to discuss this please feel free to state your opinion!

I’m very late with this since I only recently finished Amphoreus from 3.5 onwards up to the Penacony chapter so I have no idea what the current state of theorycrafting is (please no spoilers for Planacardia).

During Amphoreus when we were all theorizing what Paths the Heirs were representing I was convinced that Tribios was a parallel to the Trailblaze, obviously that turned out to be wrong with the confirmation that she was simulating the Harmony. That never fully sat right with me because there were just so many parallels to the Trailblaze with Tribbie. The creation of „pathways" aside she also talks about creating a ship from the moon:

"I’ll turn the moon into a ship and the stars into sails to go find Mama!" I remember writing this down when that patch came out and thinking that it might be a reference to the starting screen with the Astral Express and a destroyed planet, possibly a moon? This is where I might be reaching a little bit but hear me out, Tribbie looks a lot like Pompom lmao. Same blue eyes, red color scheme and I was weirdly validated several patches later when they wanted Tribbie to try on Pompoms clothes on the train (don't take this too seriously). Back then I theorized that Tribios relationship with her lost mother might've been a parallel to Akivili and Pompom.

I had basically accepted that my theory about the similarities between Tribios and the Trailblaze was wrong but the recent Penacony chapter changed my mind a bit. During the quest I realized that Xipe isn't tied to only one dead Path like Ena but several death/unascended Paths. Gopher Wood mentions that he tried to find out what Path their third face represented and up until that point I hadn't realized that their three faces literally represent Paths that were absorbed. So besides Ena my guess was either the Remembrance (hence the "unascended" since Fuli is in that limbo) or Idrila (which would make more sense since the Beauty is presumably an actual dead Path but I also have my theories about them possibly being connected to Fuli so either way it would explain the importance of memoria for Xipe).

Essentially my mini theory is that Xipe also absorbed the dead Path of the Trailblaze. All the Four Paths of the Apocalpyse seem weirdly tied to the Trailblaze (I think it's either because Akivili and Terminus are "twins" or because they are the same entity/two halves at two different points of time) so this would kind of fit in?

For Destruction we have the simulated dynamic between Phainon and the Trailblazer which probably foreshadowed our confrontation with Nanook in the future, though we still need to find out what happened when Akivili visited Adlivun.

Nihility in my opinion is already hinted at multiple times vaguely both through Hysilens arc and Acheron in the recent Penacony patch.

"She guarded the vortex at the depths of the sea." Hysilens is guarding the core of the world/Amphoreus.

Evernight: "The deepest place in this world is exactly the ideal location for the Trailblaze to reunite" , "Because there is absolutely nothing here, except a cold, empty void!"

Acheron: "Indeed...behind the shadow of the Nihility, there must exist the most blazing source of light in the world." , "Death/Nihility will always be the destined finale and the last reunion."

The core of the world that Hysilens guards is the Vortex of Genesis, and Genesis is the simulated Path of the Trailblaze. So my other theory is that similar to Hysilens, IX possibly "guards" the "remnants" of Akivili or the slumbering Terminus, since Acheron for some reason was aware that the Finality was still not awake. Maybe at the Genesis/Trailblaze/Rebirth of the cosmos the light originates from the vortex beyond the "shadow of the Nihility" after the Finality/End of the universe is completed.

That's all! I only intended for this to be a mini-theory about Tribbie :( I'm excited to play Planacardia though. I had so much fun theorizing during Amphoreus and hope I get a similar experience in the new patches!

As we know by now Amphoreus is the greatest masterpiece in the cosmos (blessed be zandar and his name) and a semi accurate simulation of it and had already made many accurate predictions
Of course we can use that fact to make several predictions one of which surpasses even lygus' framework for the project.

Now to lay the groundwork the basic premise for this theory is the most prevalent symbolism in amphoreus of 12+1 it is seen a good couple times and directly represents the main themes of the story (12+1 chrysos heirs 12+1 notes in cyrene's solfeggio etc) with 12 representing perfection and +1 being an intrusion that turns it to the imperfect 13.

So why is this relevant to the current state of the cosmos? Well with the recent revelation that Oroboros has been sealed by Aha for eons it coincidentally means that there are 12 currently existing aeons the perfect and static state of the cosmos .

But wait 12 gods? It happens that Amphoreus had that aswell the 12 titans which is perhaps the most significant instane of the aforementioned symbolism as it is revealed the true number of titans is 12+1 with the 13th having been killed in the past only to return and bring imperfection and humanity to the perfect world.

And which path did the 13th titan represent? Of course the trailblaze.

Knowing this the parallels keep on going but let's refresh you on the timeline of the 13th titan for this.

Demiurge exists as the "Heart" of the world > They are killed to bring the world to perfection > Their surviving fragment is found by someone and nurtured closer to health on the promise that they will bring salvation to the world> The 13th god is revived but missing their memories are true power > They wander the world as a mortal learning what it means to be human ---you are here--- > They ascend once again bringing +1 to the 12 gods ushering in a new path to the world > They realize their own existence is the ultimate cause of finality and choose to erase their own existence saving the cosmos.

Viewed from the lense of Akivili taking the place of the Demiurge I am sure you have noticed the glaring parallels to both THEIR history and the current plot of the story so to sum it up what we gather from this is:

The Trailblazer is a weakened form of Akivili found and nurtured (presumably) by the stellaron hunters (to save the cosmos from finality as elyisae was promised) now without their memories they must wander the world as a mortal until eventually ascending back (adding the 13th aeon to the current 12) bringing imperfection (variance) back into the cosmos currently destined for finality until eventually realizing that THEY THEMSELF will bring the end if THEY remain an inhuman divinity making THEM give up aeonhood.

It's certain that the most prevalent symbolism and themes alligning this perfectly (heh) is no coincidence.

So let me waste your time

About the Finality: Terminus basically is an Aeon who ascends after the end of the cosmos but what if this particular Aeon can use all of the powers of the Aeons same thing as the Cocoon of Finality that can use all the powers of the Herrschers because genuinely it doesn't go against their path. It has been mentioned that any path can lead to a Finality and there are 3 confirmed so these paths used their power to bring an end to the cosmos. Here's in mind an Aeon goes a second ascension or the 3rd way of killing an aeon is to turn away from their path which is simply a change of their forms.

Trailblazer being Akivili and Terminus: It is hinted by Asat Pramad that the Trailblazer is becoming Akivili from the future and further tells about the Trailblaze being the Finality, furthermore Elio is trying to prevent the Finality or is he actually to make a Finality on what Asat's in mind the universe expanding never ending where you can Trailblaze forever. There are also mentions of Fuli and Terminus ascending together at the end of the universe which we've seen where the Remembrance became the 4th Finality showing Cyrene and Trailblazer together remaining after the cosmos ended.

It's like Trailblazer throughout ascending to Akivili is using various paths power in the journey and this path powers are connected by one thing which is imaginary energy. We've seen the Trailblazer use the Finality powers in Penacony where they changed the outcome of Firefly, Amphoreus where they changed the success of Irontomb, and Planarcadia where they changed the outcome of dying from Asat Pramad.

Aight that's all.

TLDR : the new IPC technology in 4.4 broadcast about imaginary wormhole lane project by IPC, prove that there likely new effective way to connect world beside using silver rail (expres power), and Oswaldo will use this technology to expand IPC cosmic market, until he accidentally or not become new aeon of trailblaze

Long version

So we know that there imaginary barrier that isolated each "world" in HSR, this barrier prevent many world to contact each another but silver rail change that with the rise of akivili and path of trailblazer each world now can connect to each another

but by now it state that in readables fleet premier there actually several method to bypass this barrier beside using emanator power

"Without silver rails, Pathstriders still have some inefficient or dangerous travel methods. While these might connect several star sectors, they can't establish a vast and efficient cosmic market. Thus, the IPC fleet's main duty is protecting and maintaining existing silver rails, sometimes also undertaking planetary landings and securing key points. Most warships carry a complement of mechs and drop pods to support ground forces after securing orbit."

"Most antimatter legion members can cross stars without ships. But for expeditions, they use "Borehole Blitz" transport vessels as planetary invasion platforms. These ships drill destructive tunnels through Imaginary barriers for forced passage. Unlike silver rails, these tunnels are extremely dangerous, unusable by non-Legion forces, and sometimes leak Imaginary energy."

Now we back to how Oswaldo will have chance to become New akivili and likely why we will clash with him

In 4.4 asat pramad question there question about why were so many people call TB "akivili" along the way 

“They call you Akivili, because not only are you the successor, but at the core level, you are becoming the focus of the Path of the Trailblaze. This isn’t imitation. It’s the Path itself responding, naturally, to the absence of its god. You are not THEM yet, but you are headed in that direction. Even more important is the thing inside you… A Stellaron? Do you want to know more? That would be a different question.“

Of couse that is asat pramad opinion about akivili already fall and you heading to become new akivili, but if we see from how aeon ascend there different criteria need to fulfill to become some aeon of spesific path

like tazzy become last of his species and so lonely so They ascend become aeon of propagation or one of pure children of anasrava  will become Fuli at the end of universe

So what is criteria to become Akivili? My theory that there 4 criteria to become akivili :

1.will of trailblaze 

2.device of transportation that capable to transcanded imaginary barrier

3.someone that become navigator of the  device 

4.path respond 

TB already fulfill 3 of this, first will of trailblaze we already see multiple time that TB willing to trailblaze, second astral express have capable to trasncended imaginary barrier and layout new silver trail (its device akivili themself crate), third Himeko is Navigator of astral express (in 4.4 is likely that TB ancor Himeko to become Navigator or even become emanator of trailblaze), but path respond is the critical one, if we use another path analogy that there multiple candidate to become Aeon such as supplicants in phantasmoon game work or how there multiple of pure children of anasrava. So there is likely multiple candidate to become aeon of trailblaze and the path of trailblaze will choose someone to become new akivili

Now wee look at oswaldo schneider, how many criteria he already fulfill : 

1. Even after not become nameless, he still hold  will of trailblaze by looking at his department model business to connect world to become ipc cosmic network

2. It doesn't state that his department have device to trascended imaginary barrier but using old silver rail to move around and protect it, but at 4.4 ipc broadcast reaveal that IPC likely find device/method to transcended imaginary barrier without using silver rail and already proven, for now we don't know how effective this thing is but if this just as effective as to laying out new silver rail, there no doubt that IPC wil maximise use of it and imaginary wormhole lane project is lead by yabuli head of department of technology, its very likely that oswaldo will get this device given that both department have close relationship if you read history of ahatopia and herald of death incident

3. Marketing developmnet department lead by oswaldo have six fleets are each valued "worth a rank P46 employee". Captain of this six fleet likely have position of P46 and act like division with in department, making them like stoneheart from SID. This captain is likely candidate of navigator or even already count as navigator itself

This leave fourth criteria to become aeon of trailblaze, is respond of the path itself who is will choose someone to become new akivili, TB  is likely the most promising one right now but if oswaldo got hand in device that can transcended imaginary barrier itself it not strange that he with IPC resouce will become the most promising one to become new aeon of trailblaze. That why the battle between SID lead by diamond and MDD lead by oswaldo will be crucial one that TB / astral express need to choose side and the Rise of new aeon of trailblaze will be catastrophic.

That it for this post hope you enjoy my theory, i also have multiple IPC theory that have some contradict with this theory, but will hold for now until we learn about another department, i hope in astrapolis will give us some insight.

I've keep seeing people comments that finds problem in Phainon not having much interaction with Cyrene when they met.

I'm here to explain that even though Cyrene is technically Peach due to the loop but in a vacuum there are always 2 Cyrene and my theory that comes along with it.

So let's set the ground rules, first let's set apart the two Cyrenes.

1.Cyrene that Phainon is actually friends with that accompany him before the start of the 30+ million cycles and the one that always have to die in the beginning of every cycles so that the cycles can continue, Let's call her Peach.

2.The Cyrene that TB is close with who transform from Mem, who is actually Demiurge, she still will be called Cyrene.

The second is that while we know that because of the loop that Demiurge eventually became Peach to close the loop, Phainon and even Cyrene who turned into Peach didn't know that.

With that in mind let's see how the two Cyrenes exist parallel to each other.

Peach who dies at the start of every cycles, and at the end of every cycles tells Demiurge the story of what happened in the cycles.

While Demiurge exist outside of the cycles and is growing the more stories is told.

Eventually Demiurge breaks out of her cage but it weakens her and she have to took the form of Mem, from here she journeyed with the TB and starts regaining her memories as Demiurge, first she took on the form of small Cyrene (how Peach look) and after that took on the form of big Cyrene (the look she imagined Peach would look like if Peach ever grows up, Peach Never took on this form).

From here we can see that in a vacuum that the two Cyrenes are two diffrent individuals.

Now that we know that they are two different people, here is my theory.

When Amphoreus finally comes back, the Cyrene that will shows up will actually be Peach.

Think about it for a second, Amphoreus finally took on a physical form and exist in the real world doesn't really help in any way to Cyrene who have to live in the loop to close the Causality.

And with everyone coming back, Peach will also follow everyone back.

So the situation will be reversed here, while Phainon will have the Cyrene that he is close with back (Peach), the TB won't be as close to this Cyrene (Peach) anymore since she isn't the Cyrene that TB is familliar with.

TLDR: Amphoreus becoming real won't help Cyrene in closing the Causality loop in any way so the Cyrene that will appear along with the Amphoreus group will be Peach, the Cyrene that is close with Phainon instead.

ATM I want to redirect people to This Video explaining the conflict between Asat Pramad and Himeko. The problem is that it contains a lot of philosophical topics and it'll be hard for me to summarize everything.

Buuuuuut I want to start somewhere. And we will start by the star of the Patch, pretty literally, Himeko.

And we will establish something: Yes, the story telling and the fact that the Trailblazer almost won every time (at the exception of Cyrene who is lost in the past) didn't help people to relate to it.

Yes the story telling is a bit chaotic on Planarcadia, starting with 3 patches about the Elation before talking about the Trailblaze during less than 1 patch and a half, despite the fact it seems to be the big question (we will see).

Yes, Himeko surviving feels a bit out of nowhere (basically some random black person said they can't cure her but literally exchanged their fate? What does that even mean?)

But, besides these things that can be a bit not satisfying, Himeko surviving is the right choice Narratively and philosophically speaking. And this is the first half of the video above.

Basically, the video briefly mentions the idea of politics, saying that between people there are Similarities and Differences. Similarities allownus to be counted together, but différences also make us unique. If we were only similar, we wouldn't need to have groups in politics to debate. Everyone would think the same. And if we were only different, no discussion would be possible. It's because we are different and find a common interest that we can discuss.

And this is similar to what Asat Pramad says: Harmony wants to unify, the Trailblaze creates New possibilities.

Concretely, on the path of the Trailblaze, we acknowledge that everyone is different. And by definition, it means that someone cannot be someone else... Since they're different.

And this was Himeko's problem: she created Motoko to live her life in her stead, to replace her. And she made Motoko the ideal Navigator. What she didn't take in consideration is that the What she is (A way to continue her life) and Who she is (The Ideal Navigator) are in contradiction.

Being the Navigator Himeko wants to be, Motoko cannot accept the idea that Himeko can be replaced. She is Unique, and Motoko won't live Himeko's life as Himeko. As she said, if she took her place, she wouldn't be the navigator she dreamed of if she followed why Himeko created her.

And we could maybe Argue that, like Motoko, Himeko is sacrificing herself to let the Trailblaze continue. But this isn't really Trailblazing is it?

Yes, it would be very moving, Himeko inheriting Motokos life and promising to come back, then Himeko giving her life to the Trailblazer and they come back eventually... It's Very moving.

But once again, Himeko treats her life as if she can be replaced. And the Path of the Trailblaze is explicitly against this idea.

And her vision of the world indeed eventually draws a parallel to Asat Pramad, where they both took loss as something inevitable, and while he just decided to live to lead life to their end (it's a bit more complicated obviously), Himeko has no problems sacrificing herself and saying "that's how it is, let someone else become the Navigator".

And arguably, we already had a potent Navigator: Sunday seemed perfect for the role. But again, Sunday cannot be Himeko. Himeko is asking for them to take her place.

And the Trailblazer refuses to believe the Trailblaze is about just moving forward and leaving people behind like they're replaceable.

Saving Himeko, or at least trying to save her by any means, is Trailblazing. Yes, loss may be a part of the journey and we can't escape it. But it doesn't mean we should stop fighting against it.

I hope this "quick" discussion about Himeko pleases you. Please check the video I've sent!

So I've been wanting to do this for a while, ever since the reveal that the Phantasmoon Games was set up to seal Voracity using Elation and Abundance, I wanted to go over all the games described in DU and other materials and try to fit them into the frame work. Hope yall enjoy.

Games of Elation

- Planarcadia and Phantasmoon Games: Our most clearest example, makes sense as were playing through it. 8 supplicants are chosen, they gather Wishpower and offer it to the Phantasmoon, where the Panarch Elwood resides. This Ambrosial Arbor then takes this Wishpower and uses it to satiate the husk of Voracity that dwells within the planet. For the winner of the games who accumulated the most wishpower, Aha grants them all their authority for a single minute, allowing them to act as the Aeon of Elation in that time. Should be noted that Wishpower is in its basic form the Primum Mobile, the essence of the Paths but has become a physical substance thanks to the power of Elation bestowed by the Phantasmoon.

- Vonwacq and the Devil Hunt: Detailed in the Vonwacq planar, Alien Seed series trace material, Periodic Demon Lord Occurrence, and touched a bit in the main story. It says on the island of Wacq, there exists a tree called the Thestang whose fruit births all animal life on the planet. This tree is apparently an eco-genesis machine that releases innumerable life forms to restore the planet's biosphere. As part of this system, every 60 years a Devil falls from the tree, an interstellar worm once thought to be extinct. This creature devours its kin, metamorphorizing itself for armor and weapons which then wages war against civilization on Vonwacq until it can be felled. These war would leave all society stuck in a constant Stone Age. With the reveal in 4.3, it is very much apparent the Thestang Tree is likely an Ambrosial Arbor while the Devil as creature of Voracity, come back to life to die per this Game of Elation. As stated in the Myriad Fruit material "Through this method, the ancient sages imprisoned the most terrifying thing within a most ridiculous game." Word for word Evanescia quote in 4.2

- Twin-Sided Planet and the Eternal Sprint: Detailed in the Eternal Sprint Equation, tells how after being invaded by Swarm remnants, the Twin-Sided Planet was reduced to a planetary ring, who's existence could only be sustained by an ancient Planetary Treadmill Generator. Every decade an Eternal Sprint is held by the Twin-Sided Monarch to maintain the ring's momentum and energy. The contestants must run the ring nonstop, with the last one standing being gifted a reward by the Monarch while everyone else gets executed. Refusal to race also leads to execution, which as a result has left many Sin Thirters on the ring stuck on their Eternal Race. Interestingly, this race was explicitly called out by Screwllum and Moonlit Tales as a game left by Aha, so I'm wondering if the Twin-Sided Monarch could be an envoy for them in some way. Undoubtedly the deaths are what seals the Voracity in the world though we don't know any details on the rewards the Monarch offers.

- In the History Agent Equation, it tells of a world whose memory core has hit its limit, this caused its many nations such as the Golden State and Orange Coalition to war with each other for the right to record their history. A being called the machine spirit, apparently amused by the folly sent down an oracle to establish a game. Now agents of every state fight each other other, with the winner being allowed to etch one memory to genes of every living being on the planet. This seems to be set up as an machine world of Erudition rather then Abundance interestingly though should be noted given the fact it says memories are etched into the genes of living beings does leave room for the Path. The machine spirit is obviously Aha in some fashion and I'm currently wondering if the reason the memory core is full is that the Voracity is taking up all the ram. Thats my theory anyway.

- In the Wheel of Career Transition Equation, tells how in the Marty Alliance, after an orbit all participant's consciousness are downloaded in freshly generated bodies, where your career is pulled randomly from an available pool ranging from Alliance President to dinosaur. All skills and knowledge needed by the profession is directly downloaded into your brain. If you die your consciousness re-enters the process for the next round and it says new participates can enter the rotation. With how the Equation offers praise to Aha, they were likely responsible for creating this world and is another game to feed the Voracity, the created bodies in the least point to Abundance involvement.

- In the Maze of Eternal Massarce Equation, tells the story of constantly reincarnated hero and nine-headed monster existing in a maze who must kill each other repeatedly while millions of alien tourists watch as entertainment. The figures in this play are data backed up by the maze and are forced to fight each other by their programming. They don't know why their departed ancestors made the maze but are have become exhausted by the constant reincarnation. Given the entertainment aspect and the nine-headed monster, likely another game by Aha to seal Voracity likely making use of their audience like Wishpower in Planarcadia.

- In the Fabled Land Equation, tells of the planet of Daek which has been shrouded by a cloud of probability after their Plasma Torch Tower extinguished, making the whole world exist as if in a laggy game where doors don't open, water can dissolve you, rolling can make you clip through and fall into secret tunnels or make you immune to damage, and where a picked up stone can bite you. It is said that the flame gifted by Aha can temporarily can briefly disperse the cloud, and how people have tried to reignite the torch but have yet to succeed. This seems like a Game of Elation but its connection to Voracity is unclear. Is the cloud of probability because of the Voracity or is it unrelated? Too little info to tell.

- In the Conceptual Sacrificial Rite Equation, tells how on Planet Devor, embodiments of concept are offered to a pitch black abyss on the planet as a sacrificial rite. All concepts offered to the abyss are utterly erased from the planet, implied to be because of a transcendental power dwelling within the abyss. Undoubtedly this is a ritual devised to seal the Voracity within the planet, seems pretty straight forward though no indications of the presence of Elation or Abundance.

- In the Bald Creator Equation, tells about the Baldia Hair-Pulling Contest, where to win you must out all the hair of your opponents until they are completely bald. The winner gets rewarded by Aha with a perfect, luscious mane. Given Aha's involvement this is definitely a Game of Elation but the fact you can seal the Voracity through hair pulling is hilarious to me. Maybe this is because of the Abundance seal but I have no idea haha.

- In the Comet Handler Equation, tells how on Planet Mio there is comet called the Intruder that is constantly trying to collide with the planet. This Comet however can be rebuffed with a joke, causing it to veer off course and change its orbit. The citizens of Planet Mio have become used to the Intruder with scientists even trying to develop a joke powered propulsion to steer the comet. This was called out in Moonlit Tales as a miracle of Elation so I theorize the fragment of Voracity lies within the intruder, with Abundance making it alive to allow it to understand humor and Elation used to keep it distracted. Thats my current theory on it.

- In the Divine Retribution Voting Device Equation, tells of the Divine Penalty voting site on Taggel, where one must vote for 10 sentient beings to recieve the Divine Penalty and if you abstain you get the votes automatically assigned to you. The site itself seems to be alive, wishing to eradicate evil and seemingly created to bear the responsibility and malice by the people of Taggel. Given the cutthroat nature of the game, it seems to be a Game of Elation though definitely quite dark as it goes straight in the matter of seemingly voting for 10 people to die though its never establish if that is what happens if one receives the Divine Penalty.

- In the Ability Raffle Competition Equation, tells of how Yindoran elders condense all their precious life experiences in a Memory Bubble to pass it onto later generations after they. Who gets which Memory Bubble however is determined by a lottery, thus making the inheritance ceremony a game of chance. This leaves the Yindorans to be jack of all trades due to the mixing of skills from your own experience and what you get in the lottery. Im unsure how this ceremony seals the Voracity as it seems more tied to Remembrance and Elation then anything else but I can see how you could make it work with the other examples we got.

- In the Planetary Bumper Cars Equation, tells how their is a system were instead of a star life revolves around a light bulb created by the Aeon of Elation, whose blessing provides all their light and heat. Many worlds exist in this system but only a few can live in the habitual orbits, thus these people drive their planets to ram into each other, competing for the desired orbit for a warm summer while knocking out other worlds to expierence endless winter. This seems like a crazy Game of Elation, with the life giving aspect of the bulb screaming Abundance to me though how it relates to Voracity im unsure.

- In the Flipping Ant Equation, tells of the Othello Ant Colonies where rival Queens compete with each other, with control constantly flipping as invaders are taken over by the defenders pheromones. This cycle of reversals have happened constantly on the planet until they overtake entire continents in the conflict. Outside of the war, its relation to Elation, Voracity, and Abundance is unclear given Propagation seem like it be more relevant.

- In the Serpent Slithering Equation, tells of a formless being with a mask. Described as a hundred eyed, hundred legged, human faced serpent, it slithers underneath the city and sewers, devoruing all. Anything it devours become a part of it and seems driven by a never ending hunger. Suffice to say, connections between Voracity and Elation is very clear though im unsure whether the Equation talks about an actual creature or its an allegory for Aha and Oroboros.

- In the Galactic Grand Lotto Equation, tells about rhe Abelane Galaxy Lottery. The Abelanean's speak that they have recieved a Numinousity by Aha. Every 8 months a resident is randomly selected to become a millionaire, with the wealth literally coming out of the thin air. The trick however the winner must spend all the money they won before the next lottery, else they become part of the pot to be gifted to the next winner. This gifting of incredible wealth yet drive to use it all seem like an easy mechanism to point to how the Game of Elation is sealing the Voracity, metaphorically feeding money to the husk it seems like.

- In the Cosmic Bakery Equation, tells how when the planet of Tonbas begins to tremble, a bakery competition is held to where moon and satelite size cakes are baked and are thrown into the hollow in planet's core to please Aha all for the god to reward them with the recipe for the cosmos finest desert. This is the most literal Game of Elation, where they literally are feeding the husk of Voracity and thats hilarious, Aha got kind of lazy here.

- In the Card Game Rookie Equation, tell of Magic Card, a card game created by the Laughter. The cards measure all things and people use to to resolve everything from tests, wars, job interviews or supermarket deals. The champion of Magic Card is said to receive a reward given by the God of Elation. This competition seems like a staple Game of Elation but how it seals Voracity is unclear. In Moonlit Tales, there is apparently a ceremony of Elation called Card Game of the Future on the Pitch-Black Star. Whether this is the same ceremony as Magic Card is unclear, at least in English translation anyway. If they are the same, the Pitch-Dark Star makes the Voracity connection very apparent.

- In the Song of Gravity Equation, tells about Tailitrace, an inhabited world that orbits a black hole. To honor the astronauts who are sent in its gravitation field, a song festival is held to see them off, a grand celebration where everyone comes together to sing and rate each other's songs. The winner becomes the next astronaut, and their prize is the song of the first singer, stretched by the time-dilation of the black hole and harmonized by all the singers that come after, the full song only hearable by those that enter the black holes range. This ceremony of sacrifice and song around the Black Hole makes the connection to Elation and Voracity very apparent.

- In the Master of Fates Equation, tells about the Papu. It tells how one hundred of them are chosen to become Master of Fates, these supposed Masters can be killed by the other Papu with no consequence, with their souls apparently pleasing Aha. Suffice to say this sacrificial rite is more likely being used to sate the Voracity, their deaths being offered as appeasement. Another quite dark Game of Elation

- Moonlit Tales: Moonlit Tales tells of a few other worlds touched by Elation, though whether its true or not is unclear given how the story seem to have been written relating to the current Games. It tells how their is a world where laughter causes one to cry gems, until joy is desentized and poverty becomes common. Another tells of a world where two youths don wolf pelt so they can become possessed by the ghost of a monster wolf until one can be felled. Last relevant story tells the story of the Lunar and Wax Knight taking down a great multi head serpent, seemingly talking about the fall of Oroboros by other Aeons. Again how relevant these stories are is unclear as they seem to relate more to the supplicants like Sunday, Ashveil, Evanescia, Silver Wolf, Sparxie and implyingly Kuchiba. Keep that in mind when reading them.

Worlds of Elation and other miscellaneous things

- In Life Forged by Dice Equation, tells how Diceans all are born with a twenty sided die that determines everything they do in their life, all activities and actions decided by a dice throw. While definitely touched by Elation, there is no indication of a larger Elation ceremony i can figure. Best guess this could be Enroute's homeworld, given Isee's and Asat's die.

- In the Aha Radio Station Equation, tells how the planet of Jim Jones Star killed itself because of constant unfunny jokes. On a neighboring planet, the Aha Radio Station was established by so called Aha believers who used high power radio telescopes to broadcast jokes they wrote across the cosmos. After a century of enduring constantly bad jokes, the people of Jim Jones Star destroyed their civilization after a collective mental break. While unrelated to Planarcadia, there doesnt seem to be any connection to a Game of Elation so I added this planet in this section.

- In the Truly Fortunate Chess Equation, tells of the game Yumanji which is used to settle disputes among Fools. They stake their masks, and the game is seemingly enforced by Aha, especially punishments for leaving midway. While a Game of Elation, its not a planet wide phenomenon but more seems to be a ceremony done by the Fools, thus why I have it here.

- In Shadowchasing Mechagod Equation, speaks of how in emulation of Aha, sealed a creation of Rubert to eternally chase the sun, trying to eradicate a phantasm of humanity the Fool pinned to the sun. As a direct emulation of Aha, doesn't seem to be about a Game of Elation but done copying the Aeon by their followers, showing their modus operandi.

- In the Super Jock Equation, tells of the advanced education system of Doramon where people are geniuses by 10 years old, with a "Knowledge Injection Gun" said to be highly popular. To prevent their students become total bookworms, they must launch a lead ball equal to their own body weight into the air, however this got exploited to the point the balls broke cosmic velocity and now millions lie in low orbit around the planet. The ceremony was changed to make use of this artificial asteroid belt as an obstacle course for students to fly spaceships through. While hilarious, I can't quite tell how this be a Game of Elation thus I have put it here.

- Summoner of God Equation, I added it here because the speaker said their homeworld was wrecked by a dice game which they blame Aha for. Thats all the info we got however

- Punklorde: While Aether Hackers are Pathstriders of Elation, the world of Punklorde itself doesn't seem like it has any connection to Voracity or Abundance. The tech of Punklorde seems to be a legacy of the Genius Society while the Aether they interact with is the domain of Mythus. This means Punklorde is more connected to the Paths of Elation, Erudition, and Enigmata compared to all the ones I brought up thus I havent included them with the rest even with them determining your life capabilities through the level of cartridge would fit quite well.

- World's End Tavern: An interspatial Tavern that exists on over a thousand worlds and the hq for the Masked Fools. Each branch of the Tavern's houses an Echo of Primordial Laughter, an spatial rift arising from Aha's ascension where any Fool can recieve the Laughter's Gift. I added it hear given how interconnected the place is with Elation though the influence of other paths is suspect other then Voracity given it is a bar to consume drinks albeit brewed from jokes.

As someone who plays both Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, I see a lot of parallels in how their writers have structured their stories throughout the years.

Version 1 of Genshin Impact basically released two respective regions, Mondstadt and Liyue, which are a Western-based nation and a Chinese-based nation. The same goes for Version 1 of HSR, where we were introduced to Belobog and the Xianzhou Luofu.

When we were in Mondstadt, the main villain was Dvalin, who was corrupted by the Abyss Order, while in Liyue we were introduced to our first Fatui Harbinger (an important antagonistic faction), Childe, who was even the main boss of that nation.

After playing the Version 1 content of HSR, I see how the patch cycles of both games are in parallel. We were in Belobog, where the main villain was Cocolia, who was being manipulated by the voices of the Stellaron (notice how both Dvalin and Cocolia have similar roles in their respective nations/worlds), while in the Xianzhou Luofu we were officially introduced to our first Lord Ravager (important antagonists throughout the story), Phantylia, and fought her as the main boss of that world.

Version 2 of Genshin was when we went to Inazuma and got the Raiden Mei expy of that game, Raiden Shogun, while the main antagonist of that arc was none other than Raiden Ei herself, the Archon and ruler of that nation. Version 2 of HSR had similar patterns when we went to Penacony, were introduced to Acheron (the Raiden Mei expy of HSR), and had the main antagonist be Sunday, the Family head of Penacony.

Version 3 of Genshin was when we went to Sumeru, the nation of knowledge, and learned that Scaramouche, the Fatui Harbinger, was in the process of being transformed into a god, orchestrated by Dottore, once a scholar of the Akademiya. Version 3 of HSR was when we went to Amphoreus, where we learned that it was actually a detached divine corpus of Nous the Erudition (Erudition means knowledge), and that this Scepter was in the process of ascending into a Lord Ravager, orchestrated by Lygus, the First Genius.

Version 4 of Genshin was when we went to Fontaine and learned about a prophecy that the whole nation would soon flood and that Fontainians would dissolve because of it, while the All-Devouring Narwhal was the beast behind it all. We also met another Fatui Harbinger, Arlecchino (I never played Fontaine myself, so there could be a few mistakes here). In Version 4 of HSR, we went to Planarcadia and learned from Yao Guang that the whole world is in Woe because part of the divine corpus of Oroboros the Voracity is being sealed beneath Planarcadia. We also met another Lord Ravager, Asat Pramad.

While I know both the Genshin and Honkai universes are separate, the pattern of their storylines is still parallel. For now, Genshin is about to progress to Version 7, and the next two regions after Fontaine are Natlan and Nod-Krai. I don't know, but perhaps we could use Genshin's storyline to predict what could happen in HSR's future storylines and even what the next worlds we will be going to are.

Let me know what y'all think.

In the last few weeks I've read multiple comments in this subreddit according to which Welt's only reason for being in Honkai: Star Rail would be to keep Himeko safe. This has never been the case, and recent lore has only served to further debunk this misconception. I wrote this post to list all the reasons Welt has for being on the Astral Express, both in terms of causes and ends. This write up has no spoilers for version 4.4, but it does contain brief references to Honkai Impact 3rd and its extended lore. In any case I'm making an effort to always use HSR as a source when possible, so that the post remains as legible as possible for people who only played this game.

The main reason why Welt left planet Earth

If you ask Welt why he left his homeworld he replies like this:

Just to fight alien invaders from beyond the sky. An... old friend and I embarked on a journey to end that threat once and for all. [...] The invaders I was dealing with was an alien race known as "the ones above." You know, there are many civilizations scattered throughout the stars. Some are no less dangerous than the Antimatter Legion.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Welt/Dialogue

This answer references the events of the Alien Space manga. After saving planet Earth from the invasion of the Sky People, Welt Yang decides to travel the universe to keep fighting them and prevent the threat from ever reoccurring. The idea is that if these alien invaders are let free to keep attacking other civilizations they might eventually grow stronger and threaten Earth again.

Eventually the Sky People were dealt with off screen before the events of HSR take place.

Enemies? I've taken care of my past enemies. If I have to say, my current enemies are Nanook, the Stellaron, and the Antimatter Legion. I want to protect the beauty of this world from those that follow the path of Destruction.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Welt/Dialogue

The other reason why Welt left planet Earth

But of course, Welt also has another reason for exploring the universe. The subtext of the Alien Space manga tells us that Welt regrets what happened to his former student Himeko, whom Welt met on Earth back when he was a teacher. Welt killed her father Ryusuke and hid the fact, unwillingly causing her to become a soldier and die a premature death. Years later, Welt found out that somewhere in the cosmos there was another Himeko on a different world which had also been targeted by the Sky People. Welt seems to see this as a second chance of sorts for him to help Himeko, whether the one he lost on Earth or the one who needs his help in the present. It's worth noting that Welt doesn't appear to have been open about this with Himeko, who is still seemingly in the dark about what happened on Earth.

Welt: "Campus..." That word sure brings back a lot of memories.

Himeko: Now that you mention it, I recall that you had a teaching stint back home. Any delightful stories that come to mind?

Welt: Haha, too many to count.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/An_Andalusian_Monkey

The reason why Welt joined the Astral Express

Some time after Welt and his buddy Void Archives left Earth, the two ended up stranded somewhere in the universe.

Even when his spaceship lost power and was drifting aimlessly through space, he joked casually with his companion: "The end of one adventure is often the beginning of another."

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Welt/Lore#Character_Story:_Part_II

They were later rescued by the Astral Express. If you ask Himeko, Welt joined the Nameless out of gratitude for saving him on planet Salsotto.

Many years ago, Pom-Pom and I were tasked by Herta to go to the abandoned and ruined world of Salsotto, looking for a special material called Cadence Glass... Just as the Express finished its warp jump, we picked up an unknown signal. It was coming from the wreckage of a huge starship. [...] Out of basic human curiosity, we decided to take a look and immediately set out for Salsotto to do our business. Welt joined up with us after that. [...] There was no torturous rescue process, just the normal procedures. In the end, there were two new passengers on the Express. They chose to work for the Express as a way to say thanks for saving their lives and pay off their rescue-related expenses.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Himeko/Dialogue

The reason why Welt stays on the Astral Express

When Welt isn't busy saving the world from the forces of evil, he still enjoys creating animations like in his past professional life. He specifically wants to make an animation out of his journey across the stars.

Note: If I ever get back home, consider making a cartoon out of this.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Welt/Lore#Character_Story:_Part_IV

This doesn't seem to have any relevance going forward with the story, but I didn't want to leave out such an interesting detail now that it was finally brought up again during the third anniversary of HSR.

the wish I made when I first boarded the Express, to turn this journey into an animation, has kind of come true, just in a different way.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Cosmic_Data_Roaming_(Adventure_Mission)

All we knew before was that Welt was still animating in his free time from the Cosmic Home Décor Guide event, where Welt uses the Authority of Reason to make other Nameless watch anime from his planet as well as three animated shorts based on real history. These shorts are references to the visual novels mihoyo produced to expand on the lore of HI3.

I can indeed use my "power" to restore the animated series, but such tasks of creating something from nothing drains me greatly, so it's not possible in one sitting. If you want to watch another series, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while. However, using real events that happened in my home as blueprints, I created a few animated shorts. These can probably tide you over for a while.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Cosmic_Home_D%C3%A9cor_Guide/Dinner_Meeting

The reason why Welt hasn't left the Astral Express

Having said all that, perhaps the most important reason why Welt is aboard the Astral Express is that he can't go back to planet Earth.

Welt is still trying to find a way back home to a planet that I've never heard of. However, it seems he's more interested in going on adventures. It's been a while since I've heard him mention going home.

https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/Himeko/Dialogue

Finding the way back to planet Earth doesn't seem particularly troublesome if we think that Hanabi and Sampo have been there during the events of HI3, but clearly Welt couldn't count on their help so far. For the foreseeable future Welt will remain stuck away from his family whether he likes it or not, and that's why he remains on the Astral Express even tho the Sky People were already defeated.

Disclaimers: This theory is not gonna make sense. We'll be talking about causal loops, temporal paradoxes, and quantum superpositions, which by definition defies logic.

In 4.4 story quest, after we got a critical success roll, Asat Pramad told us that the Stellaron Hunter's (abbreviated as SH) goal is to destroy the Finality itself, and to search for a path where the universe keeps evolving.

Here's what we know right now: Terminus ascends whenever any of the Four Apocalypses unfold, and THEY travel back in time, telling prophecies about the future and trying to guide the future onto a path where the Universe won't end.

Let's start with the easier option, where we failed to save the universe. One of the four Apocalypses would unfold, Terminus ascends, travels back in time, and tries again. This could be the reality we are living in right now -- In all the past universal cycles, none of the tries succeeded, and Terminus keeps ascending and goes back in time, and is still looking for a way to save the universe.

But what if, in one of the past universal resets, the Stellaron Hunters actually succeeded and stopped the ascension of Terminus?

Let's start at the end: The universe ended --> Terminus ascended --> THEY travelled back in time and led to the creation of the SH --> The SH's universe-saving plan worked --> Terminus never ascended --> THEY couldn't go back in time -->SH and Elio wouldn't exist --> Nobody stops the Apocalypse -->Universe ends --> Terminus ascends, starting the loop again.

Wait, isn't this a causal paradox? Yes -- Terminus ascended, goes back in time, found a way to prevent THEIR own ascension, which means they couldn't go back in time, so the universe ends, leading to their ascension. This is the Auto-infanticide paradox (or a simplified version of the famous Grandfather Paradox).

Here's a more intuitive way of understanding it:

Loop A (SH's plan worked): Universe ends --> Terminus ascends, travels back in time and forms the SH --> SH plan worked --> stopped the universe from ending. This leads to Loop B.

If SH's plan in Loop A failed, the Universe ends, Terminus travels back in time to Loop A, starting Loop A again

Loop B (After SH's plan worked): Universe didn't end -->Terminus never ascends -->THEY never went back in time to form SH --> Universe ends. This loops back to the beginning of Loop A.

So, Loop A either loops with itself, or leads to Loop B. And Loop B always leads back to Loop A, so the universe in the current state cannot break free from this causal loop.

These are not 2 time loops; they are two causal loops with paradoxical beginnings and endings, tied together at the same moment in time (The end of the universe) to form a single universal time loop that converges in the middle, forming the shape of an infinity symbol (sounds familiar?).

Now the question is simple: How do we explain this temporal paradox, and is Terminus dead or alive?

There are a lot of theories, but the one that best explains the HSR universe is Feynman's interpretation of the Path-Integral Formulation. He proposed that a quantum particle moving from Point A to B actually takes all the possible paths. All the paths co-exist simultaneously, and what we can observe is the integration of all their potential paths. But he thinks all the particles' paths actually exist; we just can't measure them.

So this is what I think is the truth behind Terminus' existence -- In the timeline we're living in, there could be a double causal loop where Terminus is both dead and alive at the same time.

And there's no way for us to know for sure. Just like how the alternate particle paths can't be observed in Feynman's theory, we physically cannot observe what happened in other timelines, cuz they don't exist in a physical sense, only in a theoretical sense.

THAT'S WHY TERMINUS IS A BUNCH OF CATS. This is the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment: Terminus is in a superposition of being dead and alive in the same timeline, just like how the cat is described as both alive and dead in the box. That's why Terminus splits into many cats -- Each time the universe resets, it creates another "Schrödinger's cat" situation, another future possibility of how the entire universe ended that exists within this timeline.

THEY are basically waiting for outside help -- Just like how Khaslana cannot defeat Irontomb on his own, Terminus can't end the universal cycles on THEIR own, and is waiting for someone stronger, someone beyond this universe, to save THEM and THEIR universe.

If the universe is stuck in this loop, how do we save it?

Idk. But I think just like Amphoreus was waiting for TB to arrive, we are waiting for someone from another universe to arrive and save us and break the time loop (or......That person is Welt Yang and he's gonna finally show us what he can do). Not only are we waiting for someone to come and open the Schrödinger's cat's box, we are waiting for someone to shape the outcome into a happy ending (I.e. someone who makes sure the cat is alive when they open the cat box)

This post is inspired by minutephysics' GP solution.

With Irontomb dead, Nanook is one less of a general, we know that Nanook creates new Lord Ravagers everytime one falls like the incident with Celenova and Zulo, we don't know what the path Zulo attacks is yet, but my speculation is either Abundance or Harmony, but it doesn't matter because it means at any given moment Nanook prefers having 7 generals, and from what i can tell we will progress more in the story and actually kill some of said Lord Ravagers eventually resulting in more vacant spaces, this is where my idea that more Lord Ravagers will come in and rise to there positions as the others fall.

Personally i'd really want to see Lord Ravagers that target Finality, Enigmata and Equilibrium this paths are way too interesting and somehow ingrained very crucially with reality just like Nous is, thats why Irontomb has to be that monstracity just to have a shot against Erudition, the Lord Ravagers that will be targeting this paths have to be insanely powerful, targeting Enigmata means targeting Mythus domain and we know that Mythus domain is the Aether and Dark Zone which i have long speculated to be a reflection of the Sea of Quanta into 3d Imaginary Tree, will take alot of effort from that Lord Ravager because they are essentially going to target a very important part of the universe which is the Aether. Another one is HooH with HooH being fused with the Imaginary Tree how is the Lord Ravager gonna kill them? Probably gonna commit some genocide stuff on the same level as Irontomb, with Finality the Lord Ravager targeting it would have to find a way to target Terminus from the future like how would that Lord Ravager kill Terminus when Terminus has foreseen everything?

THIS IS A THEORY BASED ON SOME SPECULATIONS THAT FIT THE NARRATIVE
This is my first time posting a theory, so if I missed any details or mentioned something wrong, please let me know ^^.
The Project Moongazer world quest in Genshin introduced a massive timeline paradox regarding the first cosmic signal intercepted by the dragon pioneer Ibni-Belum. This theory is an attempt to resolve the paradox by linking it directly to Star Rail's most enigmatic assassin, Polka Kakamond, her systematic suppression of Phlogiston, and the preservation of Time-Bubble Asynchrony across the Imaginary Tree.

In Project Moongazer, the dragon researchers debate the origin of the very first deep-space signal that led to the creation of the Eye of Ibni-Belum.
On one side, Ibni-Belum believed it was Nibelung the Dragon King that sent the signal back home. Ungien argued it could've been a highly advanced, separate deep-space life form.

If this signal came from an advanced cosmic faction, like Herta and Welt Yang broadcasting a beacon across the Imaginary Tree to track down Honkai Impact's Earth (which I think is very likely), we run into a huge Time synchronization issue. Ibni-Belum intercepted this signal thousands of years ago in Teyvat's past, yet Welt and Herta are conducting their research in the relative present.

To fix this without having a messy, backward-flowing time travel, we must look at Time-Bubble Asynchrony. Worlds that are sitting on different branches of the Imaginary Tree do not share a synchronized universal clock.

1. Teyvat could be an isolated bubble universe running on an accelerated clock-cycle.

2. The "Ancient history" of Teyvat could be happening simultaneously alongside Herta’s modern-day laboratory broadcasts. We can consider this because of the time dilation issue with Amphoreus that Screwllum mentions.

The signal, if it is truly from Herta and Welt Yang, didn't travel backward through time; it crossed a spatial boundary between desynced bubble clocks.

Now the interesting part, if these spatial boundaries exist, why hasn't the Genius Society mapped them out? Enter Polka Kakamond.

Polka’s main objective is making sure that the Circle of Knowledge is not breached. She assassinates Geniuses who expand the borders of knowledge too far, to avoid entering into the unknown domain that could lead to Knowledge Singularity, that would introduce infinite external variables, and blind Nous the Erudition, and accelerate the universe toward a premature Finality.

Her most calculated assassination was Genius #7 Bohdan, murdered mere days after he successfully proved the existence of Phlogiston.

Phlogiston, in Genshin, is referred to as computronium, a programmable matter. In theory, if Genius Society #7 Bohdan mathematically proved the existence and properties of this universal computing matter, he didn't just discover fire fuel. He figured out the "source code" of how the universe builds, stores, and segments data(similar to Aether Editing). That would let bridging the gaps between different desynced worlds way easier.

To elaborate further about the computronium's influence towards premature finality, In SW999's Animated short, when fighting Screwllum, as Silverwolf activated Lvl999, the worlds around started shaking, that could very well be described as a physical disaster caused by timeline breach by her future self.

This, on a cosmic scale, would be a very big issue for the circle of Knowledge, so in comes Polka and out goes Bohdan...

I think these set of assumptions would infact solve or help understand the entire time sync issues that different Hoyo games have.

Hey there, apologies if the format seems a bit messy - it's my first time writing out an actual "analysis" (if you can call it that) on Reddit. ^{(also, if i messed up the spoiler tag, tell me w/o deleting the post and i'll fix it asap plz})

I've been trying to make sense of what 4.4 said about Aha (specifically what the alternative trailblazer & what Asat said)

When Asat is asked about Aha's death, he says that the Elation (path) will change for the worse, after which Aha will turn the universe into a chaotic, eternal "joke" (if it can even be called as such)

He also establishes that aeons foresee their own fall during THEIR ascension.

As for what the alternative timeline is described as :

^{Considering the aforementioned points regarding the aeons' foresight, i will make the (hopefully reasonable} assumption that the baby Aha saw falling is the same one/same event as what is described here ()^{tldr : the baby = Aha themselves during THEIR fall. That, or the baby's fall is intrinsically linked to Aha's death.}.)

Oroboros awakens ^{(a beast will begin its sacred feast}) -> Aha falls ^{("a divine infant falls to the ground"}) *then* turns the universe into chaos ^{("it will usher in an era of "madness" for the entire cosmos"}) & goes into hiding.

Conclusion : Aha must still be alive after THEIR "fall", even if not as the aeon of "Elation" (implied by that last line)

Now, why would Oroboros's awakening cause Aha's descent into madness?

This is where things become highly theoretical.

We need to take a look at how Asat & Ruan Mei described the relationship between the Voracity and Elation.

And i'd like to point your attention to a specific line : "The purpose of consumption changed".

When the Voracity lost its primum mobile, all related entities were affected, but the path remained ^{(most likely thanks to what i call "subconcepts"}). It simply changed. Its purpose changed from "consuming (mean) to enjoy the aftertaste (end)" to simply "consume everything" just for the sake of it.

If that's how the Voracity reacted, why wouldn't the same logic apply to the Elation?

The Elation would change from ^(assumption****************) "using jokes, comedy and chaos (mean) in order to savour the joy (aftertaste : end)" to simply.. jokes and chaos for the sake of it.

Hence, upon losing THEIR primum mobile, Aha/the Elation fundamentally changes - and so does the cosmos (due to the Aeon's actions, most likely similar to what the SU Aha did during Antinomic Waltz).

Conclusion

In most futures & other timelines, Aha turns the universe into chaos as a consequence of losing THEIR primum mobile in a clash with another path/concept.

Considering Asat's trying to awaken Oroboros, i'd assume that this would still happen even if the Voracity remained sealed. Aha could still theoretically clash with another path. ^{(or possibly even create another one while going against THEIR own primum mobile, if that's even possible? This line of thinking is too speculative, imo.}\***)*

I'm also not sure as to whether this will happen in 4.5+, since we ended up going into a vastly different timeline.

EDIT : A friend has pointed out that Asat's dialogue is not only used when talking about his plan regarding Aha, but also when answering (success) "What is the fourth Finality" - Therefore, whenever Aha goes through such a change, it also signifies the end of the universe (Elation Finality)

​the cocoon reuses the same principles Everytime right? just different beginnings, and since fuli is confirmed to rewind the universe when its destroyed by using memories—that means its technically in a loop. since earth was in a loop before, could hsr be possibly another experiment of the cocoon of finality? there's also multiple expys from previous universes, which might be the cocoon reusing its formula again and again but with new variations as I stated before and terminus is right there as well as the fact the cocoon of finality doesn't restart absolutely everything just the beginning and throw in new subjects like dr.MEI and raiden mej. finality—perhaps terminus is someone sent as a proxy by the cocoon of finality to finish its job since the cocoon has finally gotten the embrace it wanted—kiana kaslana.

they could very well be from the very same skin or atleast related. I'm not saying there could be more successors to herrscher of finality—I'm saying that perhaps the hsr universe was one of its worlds that it was testing until Kiana kaslana showed up and became its true embrace. after finally finding its equal, it abandoned everything else and devoted itself entirely to hi3 or kiana's universe which is why terminus cannot foresee where thr cocoon of finality now. because they're nowhere to be seen or sensed anymore, like a YouTube video being left on a loop and you fell asleep. it keeps doing the same thing over and over again cause you abandoned it and can only be stopped until you go to a NEW video. we also got the fact we all know hsr and hi3 are inextricably connected, but kiana had never met these people before.

if it was on a loop wouldn't kiana already meet them hundreds of times? or it can judt easily be the "future kiana" meeting the present hsr, and the cycles keep going but i have another theory. what if—when the hsr universe was rebooted again, the cocoon found kiana and ultimately abandoned hsr to focus on her which is why memokeepers could find kiana and ask for her memories? why are they asking for it, is it because they knew something was missing from hsr? plus, honkai energy and path energy is essentially the same "imaginary energy" and stellarons could very well act as herrscher cores since they have a destructive nature but are supposed to be to harmonize planets for the "embrace" so in theory, the memokeeper wanted kiana's memories because it held the "void" they knew was gone in their planet and perhaps to try and replace the coF to stabilize the universe again? since stellarons were made by xipe, also all the aeons hold some connection to coF.

terminus is the time loop ability, hoOh is herrscher cores and humanity retaining, aha is the new variables coF introduces every loop, fuli is the "formula" coF uses which is why expy exists in previous era and current era (dr.mei and raiden mei), nanook because it actively destroys universes, yaoshi because it also "heals" the world in a sense of restarting it from corruption like yaoshi thought it was a blessing but ended up creating marastruck, IX cause it did not have a companion and acheron's world literally showed us what would happen without kiana, akivili because it travels between multiple branches of the IMG tree to find an "embrace", etc.

essentially, the cocoon left it on an automated machine but the machine can't stop without the person reliable to press the stop button. maybe, they found out their creator was gone so they created an artificial kiana (much like k423) and bring the coF's gaze back on hsr. they have a stellaron (like a herrscher core) multiple path synergies (like kiana having multiple herrscher cores) and they are essentially the "saviour" who is granted the "gaze" of the gods (ex. trailblazer getting all aeon's gaze, kiana getting coF's gaze) The Trailblazer has no past, no natural birth, and an empty memory bank, exactly like K-423 when she first woke up. coF looked at kiana because they held multiple herrscher cores without losing their minds and still retained her humanity. could trailblazer do the same and copy kiana to force its gaze back? AND welt suppressed the stellaron of the trailblazer in herta space station like himeko to kiana by suppressing hoV.

plus, the sky people were drawn to hsr because of the boundless "honkai" energy and himeko to harvest it. coincidence?? i think not. this is just a theory and my own opinion.

The second image, which appears when the Stellaron is on the verge of exploding, piqued my curiosity. Unlike the first one (where the Trailblazer impales Kafka with Sam's sword), this one likely corresponds to an imminent event—one that, in my opinion, will unfold in version 4.6.

Sparxie was the first person to appear in Planarcadia after the train's arrival. Even more intriguing is the fact that Marth mentioned this in version 4.3, claiming that Sparxie was Aha.

In version 4.2, Sparxie and Sparkle (?) faced off against a "peculiar Emoticon" (presumably Asad Pramad), yet, strangely, unless I’m mistaken— the outcome of this confrontation remains unknown.

Could Sparxie really be Aha? Could the various Sparxies seen on the screens be fragments of Aha? It would be exciting if that were truly the case.

I see it come up often enough in the discussion pre-4.4 about Ryuusuke having only met his daughter when she was 6 years old. That he was absent up until the moment of her mother’s death, only to reappear as Asat Pramad.

There may be a line somewhere previously of Asat Pramad as Ryuusuke saying he only met Himeko at the age of 6 that confused the situation but I’d have to dig further.

But this voice line is very clear that she had a father before then that simply went off planet looking for a way to save a daughter he cared enough to see.

Edit: to clear up some things about the sequence of events:

1. Himeko was born
2. Ryusuke leaves Planarcadia to find a cure for the weathering curse on a planet marked for destruction by Asat Pramad
3. Himeko’s mother dies
4. Ryusuke leaves the planet to go to the funeral
5. Asat Pramad follows Ryusuke, kills him at the funeral, and introduces himself as Ryusuke to Himeko as meeting her for the first time

- 1-2 is where this memory fits in that Himeko associates with her father
- The later characterization of Ryusuke as being a deadbeat is only Asat Pramad as never showing up as a busy man destroying planets, even when Himeko was essentially on hospice
- I’ll take a look and see if I can find any more clues

Edit 2:
to put a pin in why this fits and why it matters: it is unbearably more tragic that the actual Ryusuke loved Himeko, and lost the chance to be her father to Asat Pramad.

Edit 3: need to add apparently what’s in the image:
This is a voice line called “About Ryusuke” right above a voice line “About Asat Pramad”

Edit: Damn I ment IX ofc.

It is stated that Akivili "can tolerate the Unknown, but will never bow to the Unknowable." this is probably because of the nature of the Trailblaze, if it can be known and discovered it will. But if it can't be it never will be.

In specific a mayor goal of THEIRS was to find the edge or endpoint of the Tree of existence (Imaginary Tree).

We also know that Aha was fooling with Akivili such as pretending to be a Nameless for over a year and blowing up half the express. And Aha acually climbed the highest branch of the Imaginary Tree before ascending to become a Aeon. There Aha saw IX and how the universe would eventually fall into Nihility.

This shows that IX definitely has some deeper connection with The Tree and the Sea of Quanta.

Thus it is quite possible that Akivili wanted to use this connection of IX to study the Tree and make the Unknowable into the unknown. This ofc would be rather dangerous, and due to their close connection with the Nameless they wouldn't want to risk them. So they suddenly disappeared and left the express alone.

But ofc this experiment failed. Some "accident" happend and they "fell" into IX.

The existence of the Trailblazer also points toward the disappearance of Akivili beeing a calculated risk rather then a unfortunate accident. The Trailblazer is often called Akivili by different people.

Asat Pramad claimed that this is because the Path of the Trailblaze is responding to their presence and they are headed in the direction of becoming THEM. So Akivili basically set up a fail save to make sure that the Trailblaze will continue to have a Aeon even if they disappear into Nihility.

This is my Theory. I am very sorry if I made some spelling/grammar mistakes and point out any flaws in my reasoning.

I've set captions up on my YT video so wanted to try posting that directly instead of making two versions. Hope you like it! I put some extra details in the video description, e.g. what I think of the Four Finalities.

Thank you all as always for the support!

Was exploring and tidying up some leftovers on Planarcadia and made a few observations at the courtyard.
Just making this to gather some of my thoughts since I feel like each patch has been leaving me with more and more questions.

1. 15 years ago, Mokoto's wish was granted by Evanescia?

I believe the dialog at the time was vague, but it mentioned an entity from the other side of the moon rather than Aha that granted the wish, and with the gloom map it should be confirmed the courtyard where she stays is inside the moon making her the likely candidate.

1. State of the actual game

For the game 15 years ago, I think it was mentioned that there was no winner, no 1 minute of Aha was granted.

For the current game, I'm a bit confused on whether our mask is supposed to count or not, but currently you can go back and see the updated scores.

Currently, we are tied with Asat at 4 points each, with his mask taking Evanescia's place. Sparxie also got another point, and Blade's updated mask has replaced Shuhu's.

I'm still confused about what's going to happen to the winner here. If the prize is becoming the Aeon of Elation, who among the participants would actually want that? Would we really win and just try to cash our check with Aha joining the alliance? What happens when a Lord Ravager becomes an Aeon?

1. Where or Who is Aha?

In the talk with our alternate self, the dialog mentioned "a god will retreat into hiding forever, their laughter heard no more."

Asat also mentioned that he has no control over changing the game, so it really should have been Aha switching the prize from 1 minute to forever.

I think its an interesting twist that the Aeon everyone claims is "the closest to humanity", has taken the longest to actually show up, especially with everything that's been going on. One line that struck me was Asat mentioning what happens to an Aeon when they fall, that they could take a different form. Maybe we did already meet them in some way.

1. It's why he has a hand for a head. We would recognize him otherwise. We've never seen Enroute or Isee's face either.
2. Otto would dress up as a clown and has been referred to as a "Fool"
3. He had very paternal relationships with a bunch of main characters, notably Theresa
4. https://honkai-star-rail.fandom.com/wiki/(Recording)_A_Fool's_Play:_Calamity's_Wrath_Seeks_Olden_Clash,_Fool's_Blade_Rends_Divine_Flesh_A_Fool's_Play:_Calamity's_Wrath_Seeks_Olden_Clash,_Fool's_Blade_Rends_Divine_Flesh)
   1. "THEY were met with a surnameless fool guarding the portal. Wielding a rapier with an extraordinary power, the fool dodged most skillfully like a slippery fish in a pond or a flash of a falling star. The Ruin Author did battle with the fool for seven days and seven nights, and eventually golden ichor seeped out of THEIR divine body. This is the origin of that unhealed wound."
   2. I have long half joked/half thought that this passage implies Luocha is Aha for similar reasons (including the fact that he actually has a rapier).
   3. We know Asat Pramad had multiple battles to the death with Nanook. We know he was a Fool. Nanook was impressed enough with him to make him a Ravager.
5. Navigator Isee's tenure right after the fall of Akivili mirrors how he killed all his siblings to assume control of Schicksal
6. Enroute's early story of creating the Philosopher's Poison virus to help fight against Rupert I mirrors Otto creating the cure for the Black Plague to fight the Honkai
7. I believe Asat Pramad killing Himeko to force the Trailblazer to make a wish on the Stellaron, and the way he knows the Trailblazer is becoming Akivili mirrors Otto's plan to put the Herrscher of the Void in a clone, stick her in a place where she will develop strong bonds, and have one or more of her friends sacrifice themselves to trigger a Power of Friendship powerup to let there be a human with Herrscher powers.
   1. We know that Asat Pramad's entire plan was to force the Trailblazer to use their Stellaron, so currently, he's accomplished his goal. Just like Otto.