Spoiler warning:

So spake the Sovran Voice, and clouds began

To darken all the hill, and smoke to roll

In dusky wreaths reluctant flames, the sign

Of wrath awaked

— Paradise Lost, by John Milton

STOP STARING AT MILTON'S WORKS ALREADY YOU BLOODY PRAT!!!

Okay, how about:

'Pataphysics Department - Killing Our Gods

That should do it.

Welcome to another entry of something where I make comments on all word choice variations, grammatical differences and versions of interpretations in the text of Hoyo's adverting mythoi outside the actual game, and said thing is... Namely Translamble.

Of course people are extremely hyped up for The God's Limits, especially the loremasters. How can they not? The video contains colossal information that did not dim gravely even after Nod-Krai teasers were released. What's more, seeing that my recent lore post has failed catastrophically, I've decided not to mess with things that I know little such recklessly again, hence the return. You have waited long enough, and it's finally time to cut it open!

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「生」，从不讲道理
Life abides no reason

A perculiar verb choice. "Abide" has a few different meanings when used transtively: to withstand, to wait for, or to accept. (Abide can mean "conform to", but only when you use it with the preposition "by": Production should abide by safety standards.) You can get that two of them don't make sense after some consideration. It should mean Life accepts no reason. Why this? Maybe because Life is a being too high that it distain our reasons. Or because it does not provide a ground for one to prove its rationality. Even though none are born by their own consent, which is kind of bad, we can't judge it by good and evil, for Life transcends beyond normal ethics and rationales which mortals use to judge whether a thing "should" be or not. It goes against our principles, but cannot judge it by the principles because it among others also constitutes the principles themselves, or in other words, it abides no reason. It is really interesting to dig up the deep logic behind this little verb, however with the premise that you can figure out its meaning should be "accept"! You see, it's not that easy, and the viewers are likely to lose themselves in the short transactions of animation.

Now let's see how well does the original text do. 讲道理 means to prove something right through the logic and reason, often in front of other people. It is a phrase of the verb + object structure and can be translated literally as "to talk about reasons/principles". So what does it prove, or in this case, not prove? One can understand the phrase as Life does not prove that itself is justifiable, because it is not justifiable. Again this is not a matter of good and evil as Life is amoral and cannot be evaluated by ethics. On the other hand, one can also understnad it as Life does not reason with us mortals as Life is illogical (or works in a way more advanced to our logic?) and cannot be understood by mortals, e.g. we cannot understand why we are born without our own consent. The point is, 讲道理 naturally has both an inward and an outward connotation, so Chinese viewers can easily catch the twofold transcendence of Life: it's something higher than human, and higher than human's logic. In general, I think the Chinese text is easier to understand than the English localization, though they all successfully convey the subtlety of an esoteric idea.

Furthermore, we have the issues of wordplay. You can see that the Life in English is spelled with a capital letter. It's not entirely required by the fact that it is the first word of a sentence, but because it is a proper noun, as shown by the quotation mark in Chinese text. "Life" here is both a concept and person, and the person is the Ruler of "Life" depicted in the video. (The original text deliberately avoids the use of pronouns.) That's why I say she disdains our reasons, and that's not personification! What's that, a connection to her boss? Yes, one should always watch out for the character 理 because it oftentimes is a reference to the Heavenly Principles. We have established that the Four Shades does not accept our principles, but do they accept the Heavenly Principles? I mean, they should in theory, but do they act according to this doctrine in practice? That is a question for the loremasters.

若娜瓦：做出这种事的应该是莱茵多特女士吧
Ronova: This looks more like Rhinedottir's doing

The original uses the title 女士 "lady". This could be an injoke for Ronova is the Ruler of Death, and Signora can mean "lady" in Italian, and she is dead. I mention it because I have to make the atmosphere happier after too much rambling. Talk about the pacing of an article.

若娜瓦：请你不要在别人的空间内
若娜瓦：创造这些奇怪的造物了
Ronova: Please don't litter other people's spaces with your bizarre creations

The original splits the sentence into two lines for no specific reason. Besides that, there is another weird word choice here: "litter". At first you'll think Ronova is complaining about Rhinedottir throwing her creations around in disorder and make the space a mess, that she sees her creations as garbage. That is reasonable, and perhaps makes their relationship feels livelier through writing a little bickering, but it doesn't match what the original text says. 创造 means solely "create", and 造物 means solely "thing that is created", so the original just asks "please don't create your bizarre creatures in other people's spaces". Wait, creatures? You mean animals? In a way, yes, because litter as a noun can also mean the offsprings of an animal, as in a litter of puppies, and to litter means to give birth to a litter. How wonderful it would be if the localization team decided to make Rhinedottir litter litters, like what the writing team decided to make Rhinedottir create creatures!

莱茵多特：都会沾染空之执政的气息
Rhinedottir: Tainted by the Ruler of Space

So all life here are marred at the hands of the Ruler of Space, like, intentionally? You're saying Asmoday is a jerk? Now don't get me wrong. This is a version of interpretation, one that can't be proven correct or wrong unless referring to the original text, and it's totally plausible for an average English viewer to think Asmoday is actively tainting life. I blame the localization team for not eliminating the possibilities. In the original Rhinedottir says "tainted by the SCENT of the Ruler of Space", and that is critical. It tells us that there is a mysterious aura around Asmoday that can render lifes unstable. It is a natural phenomenon devoid of purpose, which fits the theme of transcendence I expressed with an excess of words earlier.

莱茵多特：现象已观测
莱茵多特：这种毫无延展性的实验我不可能再做了
Rhinedottir: I have seen enough to know that repeating this experiment would be fruitless

Another thing I have expressed with an excess of times before is that I am a veteran translator for the SCP Foundation. Although I only translates, watching newbies throwing their drafts to the forum asking for suggestions is always a pleasure to me. One of the most frequently appeared critiques is about "clinical tone". What does it mean? It means the writer should use a language that is precise, analytical and above all, dispassionate, because all SCP files are written by scientists and/or bureaucrats in-universe and we have to imitate how those kinds of people talk in real life.

What the localization team showcase here is the same problem of many newbie writers for the Foundation. Rhinedottir is a scientist, and the writing team is clearly trying to make her sound like one through the use of clinical tone. In the original, she doesn't say "I have seen enough", because the quality of being enough is subjective and cannot be determined by mere observations, so she says 现象已观测 "phenomenon is observed" instead. Likewise she doesn't say "fruitless", because all experiments must have a result, and to see if a result is desirable is an obvious value judgment, so she says 毫无延展性 "lacking all extensibility" instead, which means extending to other test subjects is likely to yield exactly the same results as before, known via the method of induction. The original does use the first-person pronoun, as in 我不可能再做了 "I reject any further (experiments)". Makes sense, because it expresses a personal wish unrelated to scientific methods, plus she is talking. The original writing is clinical yet with a touch of human! The localization goes the completely human route, killing much of her character and makes this line a dull compilation of words.

纳贝里士：虽然「我」已经被你融合
纳贝里士：失去了立场
Naberius: Although merging with you has stripped me of agency

Fuck, we're talking about THAT kind of thing now? Although "agency" means an establishment for doing a specific affair in 99% of occations, in philosophy it refers to the capacity of an actor (that is, a person who does a thing) to exert their power. This basically tells us that Naberius can't determine what she does by herself. Quite easy once you know its philosophical definition, isn't it? Now let's see how the original renders it... Wait, what? 立场 "standpoint", the basis of your judgment? What do you mean you are stripped of standpoint? You just agree with Rhinedottir on everything? Then how could you voice your disapproval right after this line if you are so submissive to the point you can't have your own standpoint? (One can argue that it means "point of view", but that would be 视角 in Chinese.) I guess we are faced with a conundrum here: either you write something sensible but difficult, or write something easy but preposterous. It just can't be both easy and sensible because both teams just can't think of 自主性 "autonomy". Naberious has lost her agency, and the writing team and localization team have lost their proficiency. That's nearly rhymed, you people grimed.

Oh the "I" in the original is quoted for... Some reason. Maybe Naberious is talking as herself to her other self? Because she and Rhinedottir exists as one person in a way? I don't know.

莱茵多特：你的唠叨的确是世间罕有能令我动摇之物
Rhinedottir: Your nagging is one of the only things that can get under my skin 

动摇 means to move one's emotion, posture, etc. Hmmmmm...

get under someone's skin IDIOM: to affect someone positively even though he or she does not want or expect to be affected that way : grow to like something. (Merriam-Webster)

I always thought get under someone's skin can only mean to make people upset! This video really makes full use of all sorts of lesser-known meanings of words.

若娜瓦：你又为何要赋予「它们」历史？
Ronova: Why did you bestow history upon "them"?

Keep in mind that 它们 in Chinese refers inanimate things only.

伊斯塔露：那些徒劳无用的时间…
伊斯塔露：总要想些办法来打发
Istaroth: I had to find some way to pass the time, did I not?

Wrong. You don't pass all the time, but pass the 徒劳无用的 "worthless" time. Amateur mistake, bad localization. Anyhow, conspiracy: Istaroth bestowed history upon "them", and by "them" I mean alcohol, that's why Venti loves drinking so much!

若娜瓦：我准备宣告这个空间的「死亡」咯？
Ronova: It's time I put this space out of its misery

If you put an animal out of its misery, you kill it so that it won't suffer from sickness or injury any more. So what does this expression imply? That this space can feel pain? Does it have soul? I don't think so, and this is yet another case of localization team think using idioms can make the language more natural, but end up creating out-of-character lines that just feels wrong. What's up with the euphemism here? Keep in mind that Ronova is the Ruler of Death. She should not be worried about using the word "death" and "kill"! Nay, she should be using those words even to lifeless things, like space, as in the original, "it's time I declare the 'death' of this space"! If you don't have 110% confidence, don't make shits up.

伊斯塔露：她只是叛变了呢？
Istaroth: She just switched sides?

Maybe you should learn how to use language better from Venti! I switch sides many times when I play chess. It's not that serious. However in the original, 叛变 "commit treachery" signifies a very serious crime. Keep in mind that a serious crime isn't necessarily a complicated one. Asmoday can betray the other Shades easily, as "just" in the English textsuggests, but the consequence can be grave. Moreover, the improper translation also affects our understanding to the next line:

若娜瓦：不要讲得好像是那么轻而易举的事
Ronova: You make it sound like such a trivial affair

By "trivial", do you mean easy or not serious? If you have read the original you know that the former interpretation is correct; you'll be not so lucky if you haven't. The seriousness is already established and acknowledged by all three Shades present, the dispute is only on the difficulty: Istaroth thinks the betrayl of a Shade is an easy task, but Ronova considers it as an unthinkable feat as Shades are the projections of power of the Heavenly Principles, and it's hard to convince one part of their will to go against the others, unless it ceases to be a part, or at least ceases to think it's a part of the whole. That conforms to again the following, "She loves her new master more than her own self".

若娜瓦：我记得这个眼神…
Ronova: I remember those eyes...

Eyes, plural? Listen to what Istaroth has said, because you clearly don't know that you are being watched by an one-eyed man — Okay it is revealed that Pierro had two intact eyes in the past, but isn't it weird to look at one eye at present and remember two eyes from the past? Right after the camera gave a close-up shot to the singled one? You could've change it to "I remember that stare", a direct translation from 眼神 — not so direct as "look", but that word can also mean "appearance".

若娜瓦：即便目前无法收到任何指令
若娜瓦：也是时候进行干预了
Ronova: For lack of a direct order
Ronova: I say it's time we intervened

You mean because you can't receive a direct order, you should intervene? Isn't that finding reason from nowhere? I mean, "for" can mean "in spite of", but it's certainly a much rarer meaning than "because", and if I remember correctly, the former meaning must appear alongside with "all" to avoid confusion: for all the lack of a direct order, we should still intervene. The original says clearly 尽管 "in spite of" without ambiguity. It seems that the localization team is getting a Dictionary Syndrome today, that they browse a dictionary in the search for weird shits but forget to check how one should use them.

皮耶罗：有人说
皮耶罗：人类直视神明会引来神明的愤怒
皮耶罗：招致责罚
Pierro: It is said that when mortals look directly upon the gods
Pierro: They invite their wrath and retribution

It is said that when mortals look directly on the thesaurus of English, they want to put their wrath and retribution on someone else. The nightmarish phrasal verbs! Even though "on" and "upon" means basically the same idea, but they are used in different places. To look on means to look at something without getting in touch with it, while to look upon means to consider something as another thing. The latter can be written with "look on" as well. Nevertheless, "look upon" here is absolutely wrong. Maybe you mean "look up on the gods"? Then I suggest you to look up the dictionary! If that is done carelessly, you are inviting my wrath and retribution.

女皇
Her Majesty the Tsaritsa

Two things. First, the original doesn't contain the majestic bit, in other words, he just calls her "Tsaritsa", not "Her Majesty the Tsaritsa". The downgraded formality might be due to Pierro's past as a royal mage of Khaenri'ah. He may be more willing to call the Khaenri'ah king with the full style instead of the ruler of Snezhnaya. Second, according to Wikipedia, a Tsar/Tsaritsa should be called "His/Her Imperial Majesty". However, I don't think Snezhnaya is an empire, so with only Majesty it can still pass.

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And that concludes this time's Translamble! See you next time in whatever story!