Paimon

So, I've been doing some art of Sonic the Hedgehog characters dressed up as Genshin Impact characters. First of all, here's Sonic as Aether:

Next, here's Tails as Paimon:

Finally, here's Rouge as a Fatui Electro Cicin Mage:

Im at the part in the newest quest where ineffa reacts to the flower, but then she mentions the "danger risk" she poses to the ffc, so traveler and paimon say they could help maintain her.

But then, she scans them both. Traveler, saying, "Risk mitigated"

But with paimon, she says the words, "analyzing relative Combat capabilities... Paimon: approximately one fifth."

Now, the scenes played for, "ha ha, paimons weak funny moment", and paimon responds, "1/5 of what!?"

...but Ineffa doesnt really understand comedy and jokes that much. And while it still could be totally for laughs and giggles and just a fact that paimons not strong, it made me realize...

Phanes split himself into 5 pieces. Exactly.

Life, Death, Time, Space, and Logic.

Honestly, this is the only other thing in the game that i can think of relating to the number 5. And its the fact that she says "approximately 1/5". When, logically, wouldnt paimon at least have gotten a little stronger on our journey just from growing up?

Unless, by "relative combat capabilities", its meaning paimons true form. 1/5 of her true self.

I’ve had many things to say before about the kind of discussions that go around in the Genshin community, and I think it goes without saying that they’re not pleasant. However, there is one particular discussion that makes me feel ashamed to even be associated with Genshin players to begin with. For some reason, there are people out there who have genuinely deluded themselves into believing that they’re game will end with Paimon betraying the Traveler, even going as far as to suspect that she is the unknown god. Are we serious right now?

Anyone who has ever paid attention to the interactions between Paimon and the Traveler will realize just how idiot it is to even consider this a possibility. For one thing, Paimon is the only character the Traveler seems to act casually with. Sure, they get along well with most other characters and don’t mind indulging in their quirks every now and then, but they only really actively engage in playful discussions with Paimon. Even when the Traveler is friendly with other characters, it really doesn’t usually amount to anything more than a quick breather in the middle of a serious discussion. At some point, Traveler even went as far as to hug Paimon after experiencing a nightmare. The Traveler has never once given Paimon a single reason to turn on them whatsoever.

This also wouldn’t suit Paimon’s character at all because Paimon genuinely loves the Traveler. In the Sumeru quests, she literally had a panic attack just because they were away from her for a few hours. Not to mention that in the Interlude Chapter, when Paimon thinks they’re all going to die in the Chasm, she turns to the Traveler and shouts “Paimon wants to stay with you.” Even as early as Inazuma, when Ei rendered Traveler unconscious, Paimon immediately attempted to wake him up in spite of a literal goddess looming over her with a polearm in hand. She was literally willing to risk her own life just to save them. In what way does this indicate that she was planning to betray them?

I will admit, there probably is more to Paimon that we don’t know about. There’s absolutely no way that Hoyoverse gave her the most enigmatic design in the game only for it to not mean anything, but every interaction she’s had with the Traveler so far shows that her friendship with them could not be further from fabricated.

What if the Traveler was so blinded by the love for their sibling and not wanting to be separated again joining them in the Abyss Order even if it was wrong?

Ciel, my Traveler OC's twin brother would definitely try to convince his sister to join him so it wouldn't be separated.Cielle would be tempted to but would reject the idea because of her moral compass and try to pull a "no u" on her brother but it doesn't work or consumed by her feelings of missing her brother would join him so they wouldn't be separated and wouldn't have to fight.Cielle hates the idea of having to fight the people she loves and avoid fighting in general in less necessary.

This would be such an interesting concept to explore and I have no idea if this concept has any fan art or fanfic!

Just imagine the drama in the angst for the ones Yhe Traveler called friends especially Paimon!

When I get a bit deeper into the story, I might write a fanfic involving this concept since I don't know a lot about the story and characters yet since I just started playing last night.

Anyway feel free to take your own take on this idea and I would love hear your ideas about this and how your own traveler would react and their reasoning!

Ok, I'll make this as long as possible:

A TL;DR for you:

• Paimon = Moon Goddess. Nod-krai = Fake Moon vs Real Moon.

• Paimon = Heavenly Principy (backup theory; based on her design alone)

• Asmoday's Master: Sibling. (Princess, have a sinner being a shade, kaenri'ah being "the opposite side" of HP, creating spaces and tell stories of the sibling...)

• Andersdotter was a joke. It's just a ref of Rhine to her friend.

• Oh and Tsarista being the first seelie I guess? Resurrect her dead 3th descender/husband and get revenge (yeah, not sure about this one)

• Columbina could be the seelie or the moon goddess (fake or real)

For those who wants to read, go ahead:

First of all: Paimon is NOT Asmoday. It can't be. Now that you've acknowledge that, we can continue.

I'll start with Paimon:

First of all, I'll go back to a "proof" paimon is Asmoday:

Canotila:"But to my eyes, Paimon is just like a little rainbow balloon floating in the air, and her string seems to extend upward, to somewhere above the sky itself..."

"above the sky itself"

"ABOVE the sky itself"

"ABOVE"

Shades are in Celestia. Celestia is IN the sky, not above it. A shade is linked to Celestia, so if someone is a shade, it's attached to Celestia, not ABOVE the sky.

Hey, but guess what is ABOVE the sky? The Moon.

I wanted to point this "proof" out because it prove Paimon's identity just right... but not in the direction you intended.

Oh and she also said about Traveler:

Canotila: "What I see... If I really must say, then I see a monster that looks like it could swallow the whole world in a single bite."

So I guess Traveler is the Narwal? Don't take her word per se.

To conclude on Paimon, who is she resembling the most? Welking moon blessing lady or Asmoday? Oh yeah, because I bet you forgot about the Welking moon. And speaking about the Moon: Isn't Columbina an attempt a recreating a god? (theory I heard somewhere, may not be true) Creating a Fake Moon Goddess? And, since we're at the end of the main story (Kaenri'ah is still there I know), it would make sense to reveal Paimon is the Moon Goddess and she gets the leading role there. Followed by Cryo archeon taking revenge for her lost love and resurrecting her dear, also loom of fate and recreating kaenri'ah in Teyvat... Anyway, that have a lot to do with gods and moons.

Edit: Things to add: People pointed out Paimon has elements of ALL shades on her. Not one, ALL. This alone is closer to HP theory than Asmoday.

BUT they overlook something!

Paimon have Celestia elements (or teyvat entrance gate-like/statue of the seven-like) where NONE of the shades possess! Therefore, Paimon CAN'T be Asmoday!

Anyway, now, Asmoday's Master:

So, I was joking about Andersdotter being her master (but some didn't get the joke, guess who? The ones who believe the nonsense I debunked just now. Open your brain, stop being brainwashed by hoyo or your favorite genshin content creator!.) but let's think a bit:

First: The "MC story" syndrome: Since we all know MC story (because we literally follows it from the start), it seems like people always connect anything a character say to the MC. So "oh they talk about someone being attached to someone else? It has to be MC-related!" is a good example of it. Near the end of every patches, we always had hints about the plot of the next major patch, such as Nahida talking to us, Oceanid related stuff for fontaine, dragon-related events for Natlan etc. So it's OBVIOUSLY connected to snezhnaya, especially when it's near the end of the main story, that we have some god-related things (and moon related), an archeon with no love left (that may even be the first seelie, that tries to collect the gnosis to resurrect her love, who knows? I'll drop this here) and harbringers with a deep connection to their master. So it's WAY more likely Asmoday is connected to THAT part of the story than the MC.

So now, who is Asmoday master?

The Tsarista? Maybe, maybe not. There's some harbrigers we don't know yet, maybe one of them is Asmoday in disguise?

A member of Hexenzirkel? Andersdotter? A joke. Alice? Could be. Maybe Alice is the Heavenly principle! ... Oh wait, but that wouldn't make sense. Also Alice isn't really "against" the shades, and seems to be able to create spaces on her own. Oh, maybe SHE is Asmoday! Klee have that golden part on her eyes, on the bottom.... Okay, that makes as much sense as Paimon's theory.

The sibling? Could be! The loom of fate, the thingy that need a SPACE to exist (wait, did you said god of SPACE?), the fact one of the shade is literally combined with a sinner of Kaenri'ah which have the Princess as former "ruler"? Talked about changing side when Kaenri'ah is literally the one which went on war against Celestia and the shades and don't have gods? Which fit EVERY CASES that could make sense in Shades conversations, and the fact that the granny who get killed is literally a creation of Rhine (and a ref to andersdotter, her friend), telling the story of the traveler sibling against the shade, in a space created by Asmoday.... Oh and the fact that of the two characters present when Asmoday spied, one of them was the sibling!

But nah I guess? Paimon has to be Asmoday somehow.

I don't know why you're all stubborn with that.

What are y’all’s thoughts? As awful as the person voicing the OG paimon was, do you prefer her voice or the new one?

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First, don't tell us something really important. (Prior to the new AQ, what we'd heard about our arrival in Teyvat was we travelled as stars (initial scene with Paimon at the start of the game), that we tried to leave the world with wings and got stopped by an unknown god (intro cutscene), and that we were summoned to Khaenriah (iirc)). You know what none of these things mentioned? A spaceship. That would really have changed the character of the story from the very start of the game.

Second, pretend we actually told Paimon about a spaceship when we never did. (We all saw the explanation Traveler gave paimon. There was no spaceship. And this is something Paimon should have literally no concept of - surely we should have seen Traveler's explanation of what a spaceship even was).

Third, reveal you've been carrying a key around for the last 5 years that you never told us about, which is pretty plot significant.

Fourth, lampshade the fact that you completely forgot to even mention such a thing the entire time.

This is a master class in how not to do storytelling.

I know I'm probably not exactly near the end of the quest, but am i the only one that feels like Paimons really kicking Dereidyth while Shes down😭

(might have used that wrong, so I'll just explain what I mean)

It feels like every time Dereidyth is just being a normal human being, Paimons kind of constantly viewing her suspiciously and criticizing her for it. Like how she was LITERALLY STARVING and Paimon commented on how fast she ate. Or how when Shes blatantly flustered due to Traveler, Paimon immediately tries acting like a detective and asking why Shes acting strangely, when its FAIRLY OBVIOUS yet it was a threat somehow.

IDK, this isn't hate to the voice actor, Paimon sounds better than ever, my problems are more with the lines themself, but she just is acting so hypocritical and rude at times that its slightly irritating. Like how She was criticizing the guard for being nervous and audacious for wanting to challenge traveler to a fight. THE TRAVELER HAS FOUGHT GODS. WHY WOULD SOMEONE NOT BE NERVOUS? It makes perfect sense for a warrior to challenge such a strong foe; you can only get stronger by challenging those above you?

I love every other part of the quest so far but that's really rubbing me the wrong way for some reason. Because she just feels less empathetic. Iansan at least makes sense to be paranoid; Shes a literal warrior. Paimon hasn't seen anything hostile or bad to this person and the traveler directly told her that they don't think at least at this point that Dereidyth has any bad intentions.

Spaces to add spoiler covering

Imo. This is the best Dainsleif quest we've had so far. While Paimon felt extremely immature and insensitive at times, i do think it added to the emotion of the quest. I Also particularly love how bittersweet yet cruel it is. Fun fact i learned; no matter what you do, Dereidyth will still end up with the key, and cause the fall of khaenri'ah. And will become a hilichurl, remembering the promise she made to traveler and waiting for the sibling to give the key to them. The only difference in the choice is whether you keep the item or not. To me personally at least, that's heartbreaking to see how unable to change fate traveler was here.

The touch added at the end where Iansan tries to comfort traveler by inviting them to a feast at the CoP to only be told. "Not right now." is honestly a really nice way to handle it to me at least. I'm not saying the travelers always happy, because they're NOT. But to show how deeply this affected them and to rebuff the invitation and give the silent treatment to Paimon as well is perfect.

The visuals in the quest were also surprisingly stunning, seeing how it looked 500 years ago with the sustainers cubes was honestly shocking yet cool. Especially with how its implied the sustainer was listening to the conversation and watching the siblings. (Since, there was a small portal made by TSoHP that only closed when the siblings looked at it)

Despite how I can already tell how people are going to hate on Dereidyth, I think I personally liked how she was done much more than Caribert, because I feel as if Dereidyth was a much more tragic situation.

The lore potential and knowledge that the traveler and their sibling had their own spaceship which they ran by themselves, the sibling had memory loss in khaenri'ah which likely is related to, if not the reason for why they lost their descender status; they lost the will to rival the world when they forget their beloved sibling. As well adding to the fact that dainsleif helped the resurrection of new khaenri'ah which means it's likely for sure going to be its own map location in some way in the future. I do find it interesting that Istaroth somehow caused or influenced The twins running into Dereidyth from when Traveler in the future ran into the past Dereidyth. and either Traveler would give her the key, or cause The twin to give her the key, making fate cause the event regardless of travelers choice.

And that's not even to get into the fact that the only reason Dain's body is in good shape is because his brother gave him a ring to constantly reset his body. That could possibly be a key to bringing back Capitano? But i digress, the part that interests me more about that is the fact that its his BROTHER, one of the "Bad guys" that seem "evil" gave him the ring.. For no other reason? No drawbacks, no cost, just a gift to his brother who's fighting against him?

And the fact he also acknowledges that Surtalogi actually has a sense of chivalry and once TRIED To do the right thing only for his limbs to be severed truly makes me question if the abyss order and sinners really are...Evil? I mean, yeah, they work with the abyss and worship it, and Dain wants to kill them, but that just seems oddly...Honorable of Dains brother and Surtalogi. And with the twin's plan, they don't seem to want to destroy OR harm Teyvat. LOTN even agreed to let them do it causally and determined it would cause no harm to Natlan. Their goal doesn't seem as horrible now as it might have initially seemed.

Although I do find it interesting how LOTN had a condition that The Twin had to agree to, that they wouldn't tell Citlali? Not to bring up Cap again, but I'm not sure what else it could be except about him if their having a discussion about bringing the nation of Khaenri'ah and its people back through the Ley lines? The only other thing I could think of that could fill the condition would maybe to promise not to attack Natlan Again? But I doubt it because why wouldn't she just tell Citlali that?

Although I was disappointed how Dain actually wasn't playable in the quest and was only a call-in move. None the less, it was cool to see him attack! Maybe the moves he used will be incorporated with his actual kit?

Quest rating imo: 10/10. i honestly can say this is my favorite Natlan archon quest by FAR. The way how there was minor mistakes and slipups by each character felt so much more genuine and less flat, so to speak. If Citlali and the masters of the Nightwind just finished off the abyss, the loom of fate would have been completely pointless as they all would be gone. Paimon was going a bit over the top with Dereidyth. Iansans hesitation to wait for Mavuika truly would have cost everyone involved, both sides. Subtle character flaws really added to the feeling of the quest.

My sweetest, dearest Itto!

Of course, since it's also a monthly reset and I was at pity...

It's incredible that I finally, after more than two years and a half playing, C6'ed my mainest of mains, the bestest of the best!

Part of me was frustrated of loosing that 50/50 when the banner launched and of not getting him to C6 day 1 of the chronicled... But getting his C6 ON HIS BIRTHDAY?! In a way that's all the more significant.

It has been such a long journey and I'm so happy!

Also, did you notice how Gorou's and Itto's 2025 birthday mails are linked? I was wondering what was going on with Itto when reading Gorou's mail. And today's was the explanation!

And let's not forget, two people have their birthday on Children's Day!

So happy birthday to Paimon too!