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Genshin Impact developer HoYoverse released a nearly 9-minute animated teaser for the game's next major story arc, and it has landed like a humpback whale in a swimming pool.
Genshin Impact story and lore spoilers ahead, so be cautious if you're behind on Archon Quests.
"Teyvat Chapter Interlude Teaser: The Gods' Limits" dropped around midnight earlier today, July 9. There are layers to the video, but for a simpler interpretation, it serves as a setup for the upcoming Nod-Krai region – which has been positioned as a bit of a lore catch-up for Genshin, an aside reconnecting or resolving some scattered ideas as the game approaches some sort of climax for much bigger, overarching ideas. We get a preview of the region, and a few Fatui Harbingers appear right at the end to neatly tee things up.
But this teaser also puts faces to a lot of big names found throughout Genshin's main and side stories, most notably the Rulers – also known as the Four Shades, or straight-up gods – of Death, Life, and Time, who sit alongside the Ruler of Space, who separates the Traveler siblings at the very beginning of Genshin's story. The Rulers are described as envoys of the Heavenly Principles, which are discussed as ruling gods – not just in the world of Teyvat – with the Fontaine story offering perhaps the most direct glimpse of them.
The Rulers are joined by Rhinedottir, who's fused with Naberius, the Ruler of Life, and who has come up in multiple storylines attached to various homunculi and other artificial, alchemical lives. Rhinedottir is also part of the circle of witches which includes Alice, the mother of Klee, one of the game's earliest characters, who has also been found tinkering in the backdrop of many major moments.
The Ruler of Death, Ronova, meanwhile, has been pivotal in the story for the newest region, Natlan, and she has important ties to the 500-year-old Khaenri'ah disaster that's become the star so many Genshin story threads orbit.
You could chew on all the lore for a good while if you wanted to. Basically, this trailer simultaneously answers and raises a lot of core questions, and it came out of absolutely nowhere. So, of course the Genshin player base is buzzing like bees, with the official Genshin Impact Reddit account actively stirring them up in various posts.
"Hoyo I demand explanation," one post exclaims, comparing the Ruler of Death to the Electro Archon Ei.
"Ronova did nothing wrong," another declares, quickly forgiving the Ruler of Death after learning she's cute. Plenty of folks are torn between hoping the likes of Ronova become playable, and questioning if that kind of power should be in players' hands to begin with. This extends to Fatui Harbingers like Columbina as well: "Do you think she will be playable?" posits one discussion.
It feels like nothing is off the table right now. This is the time to fling your wildest idea at the wall to see if it sticks. Still-burning suspicions about Paimon, curious overlap with some voice actors, and too many lore entries to recount here are fueling about a zillion other theories elsewhere. This is probably the biggest lore bomb in a storied history of abrupt Genshin lore bombs, and we still haven't even gotten a full-fat Nod-Krai regional teaser yet.
