Archon Quest

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE THE QUEST TO AVOID SPOILERS!

https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/For_the_Same_Land

This is part two of the analysis on all the errors and missteps Hoyoverse did in the English translation of the Interlude Act in Chapter V of the Archon Quests. SPaG problems are not included.

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伊安珊：[...] 以后没有肉吃了，还要喝苦苦的蔬菜汁，就这样一天饿三顿，一直饿上几个月……
Iansan: [...] "I can never eat meat again. I have to drink kale juice for every meal. I'll practically starve..."

Kale, et cetera. What's more, you have to make your description more detailed to really move a small brain like Paimon's, not just use a simple verb "starve". To quote from the original, "I have to drink bitter vegetable juice, have to eat practically nothing for each day's three meals, have to starve for months after months ..."

伊安珊：但其实，最开始你只要做到「每顿少吃两块火焰炖肉，同时喝一点蔬菜汁来平衡营养」就可以。[...]
Iansan: In reality, all it takes to start is eating two fewer servings of Blazed Meat Stew and adding some kale juice for nutrition. [...]

If I remember correctly, a serving of food basically equals to a whole plate of dish. Two plates of Blazed Meat Stew are a lot even for Paimon, aren't they? The correct saying should be two pieces of meat. Oh, did I mention the translation misses the "per meal"? Don't get too ridiculous.

伊安珊：是你们本身就有「跨过绝望的力量」。[...]
Iansan: You already have that strength within you. [...]

That is, the strength to "overcome despair". In quotation marks. This is important, because it isn't some ordinary strength; because in Act IV, when Despair Engulfs the Heavens, only ones who had such strength could continue to combat the seemingly indestructible Abyss. Hence, in a way, she deemed the Traveler and Paimon as equals to the six named Heroes and many more unnamed fighters of Natlan, who all have that strength to overcome despair. I know Chinese is abnormally good at hiding nuanced information within its word choice, but when something enclosed with big punctuation marks is ignored as well, you know the localization team really isn't paying attention to their job.

“队长”：「清幻剂」。
"The Captain": [...] Draught of Lucidity.

Sire, thou used ye word "draught".

*stops talking like a medieval folk*

This is chiefly British spelling. However, I don't think this is a problem, because the medicine was invented 500 years ago, and the old-fashioned spelling can add a sense of antiquity to it.

穆纳伊：请给我的孩子服下吧。在他的视角里，这个世界恐怕只剩下他一个人了。
Munay: Please, give him the draught. My son thinks he's alone in this world.

"The lone person in this world", or to say, every human being except him had turned into monsters. Solitude by itself can't beat a warrior like Ocotlan!

[I APPRECIATE HOW THE CAPTAIN'S MONOLOGUES ARE TRANSLATED]

伊安珊：[...] 不过从他身上感觉不到第一次见面时的压迫感，现在他应该是将我们视作同伴吧。
Iansan: [...] Still, he doesn't seem quite as intimidating as before. We're basically comrades now, right?

"He basically sees us as comrades now, right?"

希洛宁：[...] 助你……也是帮助整个纳塔，将这场旷日持久的战争划上终点。
Xilonen: [...] so that you, Mavuika, and Natlan as a whole can finally put an end to this endless war.

Mavuika wasn't even there! In the original, Xilonen said "to help you so as to help Natlan as a whole", connecting the Traveler to Natlan's fate. Mavuika is also connected to Natlan's fate, but that's a different connection. She wouldn't mind it if you didn't give her compliment, so don't add something nonexistent in the original text.

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Oh that is a lot! Thank you for reading my rambles! As extra snacks, let's see how Capitano almost revealed his true name in the original:

“队长”：瑟……
"The Captain": Th...

Judging from the Chinese eqivalent, "th" more likely corresponds to IPA [θ] as in thing, not [ð] as in these, I think. In any case, not many language has such sounds, so we can expect a name originated from Icelandic, Old English or Old Norse (Greek? I don't think so). That should get you lore nerds excited ... ?

SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nobody:

Me: By popular(?) demands, My "Notes on Translation" series has been renamed to "Translamble". EHE!

Anyway this is part one of the analysis on all the errors and missteps Hoyoverse did in the English translation of the Interlude Act in Chapter V of the Archon Quests. SPaG problems are not included.

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胡里约：行吧，希望明天不会见到你浑身酸痛，躺在车上哭天喊地。
Hueliyo: Fine, as long as you don't wind up too sore to move tomorrow. I don't want to hear any complaints from you!

"Complaint" is a word too prosaic and unspecific for me; it expresses more of dissatisfaction, not pain by muscle cramps. The original is much more vivid: "just hope you wouldn't wind up too sore tomorrow, lying on the cart moaning and wailing". In addition, "哭天喊地" is a fixed expression in Chinese that describes extremely heavy cries, literally meaning "to cry ahead of heaven and six feet under". Maybe such word choice is too much, but I'd prefer the original sass than the translated dullness.

... And sass is the noun form of sassy. English is weird sometimes.

伊安珊：（旅行者）、派蒙，这么巧，你们也来了？
派蒙：我们也很意外呢，没想到会在这里碰到你。你来「花羽会」做什么？
Iansan: (Traveler)! Paimon! What are you doing here?
Paimon: We were just about to ask you the same thing! We didn't expect to run into you in these parts. [MISSING TRANSLATION]

First they change Iansan's "you came here too?" into "what are you doing here?". Then they find out that Paimon said "what are you doing here in the Flower-Feather Clan" right after. They know if there're too many "what are you doing here" the dialogue would sound silly. So they just delete Paimon's "what are you doing here". How clever, creating a new problem to cover up another problem that could've been avoided if they just stick to the original meaning. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE AGAIN?

伊安珊：[...] 你们要是对什么运动感兴趣，也可以来找我。
Iansan: [...] If you're interested in a particular sport, I'm happy to whip you into shape!

I believe the Traveler is in pretty well shape already, thank you. I don't particularly appreciate the forcefulness in the phrase "whip into shape" either. You should just say "feel free to seek me" like in the original and leave your whip to Paimon alone.

伊安珊：[...] 改天我特调些苦味蔬菜汁给你。
Iansan: [...] I know just the thing — kale juice! I'll make you some soon.

You say kale? That kind of plant, Brassica oleracea var. acephala, originating from Greece, exists in Teyvat? No, not necessarily. She just said "bitter vegetable juice" according to the original text. I started this series partly because I want to help you loremasters avoid misunderstandings of the lore due to translation discrepancies, and this is a case: Iansan's words cannot justify the existence of kale or other similar species in Teyvat.

阿图科：我快沉底了，这里好像有什么东西在游来游去……
派蒙：奇怪，他明明躺在地上，为什么一副落水的样子？
Atoco: I'm drowning... And there's something in the water...
Paimon: He's on the ground, but it almost looks like he's trying to... swim?

Two things about swimming here. First, There weren't just something in the water, but something swimming in the water, which is more intimidating. Movability is the key difference. There can be many idle things in the water, e.g. rocks, seaweed, corals, and they are not scary. Moving things however, make one feel a presence of unknown underwater creature, adding more mysteriousness to his delusion. Second, "swim" requires proper movement of your limb and rhythmic breathing. I don't think Atoco can legitimately swim in the imaginal water, and "struggle" might be a better word.

库阿勒：姐姐，清醒一点呀！
Cuallee: Come back to me, Cochitta!

(COPIUM) What? Someone really read my "Notes on Translation" of Nahida's event and got a decent translation for "姐姐"? aaaaaaaaaaaaaadgbrarerstmlh;eytewgrgq

伊卡力：那是一只和阿图科一起长大的龙。[...]
Izcalli: Duarte was the name of Atoco's saurian companion. [...]

Not just a normal companion; he literally grew up together with Atoco. It's both implied and said in the original text.

穆托塔：那时候柯奇妲不过十一二岁，她弟弟更小，才刚到记事的年纪。
Mutota: She was only eleven or twelve at the time, and her brother even younger still. [MISSING TRANSLATION]

How young was his brother? From the original we know that he was "just began to be able to memorize things", which is about 3 to 4 years old. An infant witnessed his parents slaughtered by monsters! You don't ignore such impactful information!

伊安珊：也许是她认为，如果不能战胜对深渊的恐惧，总有一天会再次体会到失去亲人的痛苦。
伊安珊：对后者的恐惧压过了前者，让她看上去变得很坚强。[...]
Iansan: Maybe fighting the Abyss was her way of making sure she wouldn't lose anyone else.
Iansan: Maybe the thought of experiencing that pain again scared her more than the Abyss. On the outside, her choice to fight made her seem strong, [...]

Now the localization team really fuck it up with such twaddles, don't they? The whole comprehension of the original texts is simply wrong. I can't really analyze such great mistakes, so I'd just show my more truthful (hopefully) version here:

Iansan: Maybe she thought that if she couldn't conquer the fear of the Abyss, then some day eventually she would again taste the agony of lossing her loved-one.

Iansan: And that fear toward lossing her loved-one overwhelmed her fear toward the Abyss, so much to a point where she had appeared to be a fearless person.

伊安珊：[...] 她现在已经找回了战斗的意志，只是对深渊的恐惧依然根深蒂固。
Iansan: [...] Her fear of the Abyss runs deep, but she still has the will to fight.

She hadn't had the will to fight. She recovered it, which connects to the previous mistake I just talked about. Gosoythoth put her fear toward the Abyss back to the surface for a moment, until the fear of losing her family again subjugated the other fear and urged her to stand up and fight. What Iansan tried to do was to go further, to not only subjugate but utterly exorcise her mind from dread — both kinds of it.

柯奇妲：（然而我清晰地记得火光划破黑夜时，他们栽倒在我的面前。[...]
Cochitta: ([MISSING TRANSLATION] But, I can still see the image of them collapsed at my feet that night — [...]

But, she could still see the image of them collapsed at her feet at that night, with sparks of fire spiking the night. Don't ignore the environment! Especially a scene so prophetic from Natlan culture's perspective!

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Meet Capitano in Part Two! Hope they do him better than Iansan! See ya!

Remember when Genshin fan artists making fun of Capitano face reveal...

From these:

©️ @illa_ohara on X

©️ @kamiiart_ on X

To THIS:

... now, that was a horrible face of yours, Cap. 😰

My thoma is c3 and my dori is c1

©️ @LittleRedhoodd on X

...the day when it became one of the best Archon Quests in Genshin Impact. 🌧️🎞️🥺🤌

WARNING!!!! This post contains spoilers for the Natlan archon quests.

Alright, I love Capitano and want him playable just as much as the next person. However, in this case I believe the the evidence is stacked against him and we won’t be seeing the 1st Harbinger join the playable roster. Quite the opposite actually. Sadly, I do believe Capitano will die.

Now I know what you’re thinking. “Pulsar, why would you say such a thing?” Well, let’s back up. We know Capitano is from Khaenri’ah, and was bestowed with the immortality curse by the Gods. His body is falling apart from erosion though- hence the mask. “But he’s immortal, he can’t die Pulsar.” Well, not normally. But we know that Ronova, AKA the Shade of Death is involved.

Shortly after the Cataclysm, Capitano was sent out on his journey by Ronova, and while the exact content of this journey remains unknown, it is stated that it will soon be coming to an end. He has, and I quote, “One final foe to face.” This “foe” is likely something from the Abyss, as they seem to be the main antagonists of the Natlan archon quests. Now who else has one final foe to face? Who else is preparing for a final battle with the Abyss? Who is stated to die in this conflict? That’s right, Mavuika.

We know from Citlali that Mavuika is intending to sacrifice herself in order to fully cleanse the Abyss from the Night Kingdom. And considering Capitano knew about the Pyro Gnosis, he likely knows that this is something she is capable of, and has probably guessed that it’s her final plan. But there’s one hole with this sacrifice. And that’s Mavuika is all but confirmed to be playable. Considering how all of the previous archons have been playable, that sequence where you walk around as her in her memories, and the lack of another character who could take the place as archon and be playable, Mavuika has been blessed with plot armor. So, knowing what we know about the Lord of the Night, the Night Kingdom, and Ronova, somebody has to die in her place. And considering Capitano also has a deal with Ronova, and the fact he’s super honorable and stuff, he seems like the perfect candidate to take her place.

But why? Well, Capitano has been living for 500+ years, and his body is rotting away. It’s entirely possible that he finally wants to be put to rest, and Ronova being the Shade of Death, would likely have the power to end his curse, which will probably cause him to die. So, in summary, Capitano will take Mavuika’s place as the “Price” for calling upon the power to destroy the Abyss Corruption. Or at least that’s what I’m thinking. It all makes sense, I can’t think of another explanation that is nearly as plausible. But, and although this is unlikely, there might be a way for him to live despite this. After all, we know from the Travail trailer that the final chapter of Natlan is called Incandescent Ode of Resurrection.

Now this part is about to get highly theoretical. So bear that in mind for the rest of this. Natlan has the Ode of Resurrection. We all know how that works. But, it doesn’t work on people without an ancient name, and as far as we know Capitano doesn’t have one. But the rules can be bent, we know that with the Traveler. So, what if the Lord of the Night and Ronova or something secretly made Capitano an ancient name. Yeah, it probably didn’t happen, but if it did, the rules would still apply. Capitano would’ve likely died in the Night Kingdom, but victory would’ve been achieved with his sacrifice. That fulfills the other 2 conditions of the Ode. Hey, somebody is getting resurrected at the end, I’m sure of that. Maybe Mavuika will sacrifice herself and we’ll resurrect her instead. Maybe the Traveler will take her place and get resurrected, after all we are getting that ancient name. But ultimately, I think Capitano will be the one to die, one way or another. Oh how I want to be wrong.

Anyways thanks for reading my essay, and please stay sane in the comments. I don’t want this getting locked, as I want to hear your opinions on this. And as I stated, I do want him to be playable, so please don’t target me for ‘hating on your favorite’.

I still can't get moved on from this Archon Quest. 😓

In every archon quest chapter (not counting Natlan), there’s an act with the same name as the chapter name.

EXCEPT IN SUMERU.

Mondstadt: The outlander who caught the wind

Liyue: Farewell, archaic lord

Inazuma: Omnipresence over mortals

Fontaine: Masquerade of the guilty

Sumeru is “Truth amongst the pages of Purana” but none of its acts have that name. Anyone know why? I think it might be because of the stuff about Irminsul, but idk.

"I cried on Natlanese locals died"

"I cried on a baby Yumkasaur"

Me what I cried at:

©️ @G3 on Facebook

Some spoilers, and about how i feel about some characters

Citlali: when i first saw her design i liked her, and after the archon quest i like her personality and that she has a old soul despite not being that old, hopefully she comes out soon so i can pull for her

Ororon: i was 50/50 on his design, but after seeing, him in the quest i like him alot more and i dont mind his design as much, he is just a kid that likes to farm and is trying to find his place in the world while feeling a sense of guilt for not fixing the problems that are out of control, and i respect him for that

The captain: i dont know why but i feel like he might die to save natlan, because of the last scene, maybe i wrong but i feel like he is looking for a place to die with honor, and saving natlan and its people to pay back when they took him in after the cataclysm of 500 years ago. I dont know i could be wrong

Chuychu: i wasnt expecting her death and it got me of guard, i was holding out hope that the ode of resurrection would work on her, but sadly it didnt, still sad about it

[⚠️ 5.1 MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD]

Looks like The Doctor was right... ☠️

Still missing 17 hydroculus😭

✨Overall Thoughts✨

Truthfully I don’t even know where to begin. Everything about Fontaine was a masterpiece. The Archon Quest was just beautiful, and seeing the whale come out of the floor, right after Furina was declared guilty was INSANE. AND THEN I GOT MY HEARTS BROKEN BY FOCALORS. AND THEN REPAIRED BY NEUVILLETTE. IT. WAS. AMAZING!!!!! Not to overshadow the world quests of course. The Narzissenkreuz quests were without a doubt my favorite world quests in the game, and I had so much fun piecing together all the lore in my head. The underwater exploration was really cool also, and it has my 2 favorite characters, Furina and Arlecchino. Also, Remuria was beautiful, and the ending of Canticles of Harmony was also a masterpiece. Rip Osse, you are missed. This just scratches the surface of my thoughts though, and I hope we return with mount esus or something, I need more Fontaine.

Now to actually go finish Tsurumi island. (IM AT 90%😭)

Lowkey most of Natlan Act 3 felt like a prologue for Citlali's story quest/tribal chronicle and I'm all for it I loved that scene to bits dude

So I just started the new archon quest and did smth happen to Kachina’s voice?? All the attack and voiceover stuff is still there but what about her quest dialogue? Is my game broke

I don’t hear Kachina’s voice in the act 3 of the Natlan archon quest, at the beginning, I try to reproduce it again but it just didn’t work,Like, it’s all Kachina’s parts, not just one dialogue. is it just my problem, bc I haven’t seen anyone talking about it.