This involves the "dream" sequences during Act 2. These sequences likely involve visual metaphors based on memories from the ley lines that are being experienced by the Traveler.

I'm currently working this into a larger theory of mine, as it supports a ton of what I've found so far regarding it. You can find the outline for this work in progress theory here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Lore/comments/1utubce/work_in_progress_theoryoutline_the_origins_of/

Keep in mind that this involves extremely esoteric lore, so if you don't understand any of this, that's completely normal, lol. In fact, I would highly recommend reading this comment I made a couple weeks ago, as this post will touch upon things regarding Celestia's points of interest, the surrounding areas, and the structure of Teyvat's microcosm. This will help provide additional context beforehand: https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Lore/comments/1vb7q1n/version_70_everwinter_without_mercy_livestream/p0xhetd/

And now, for the analysis:

­=========================

The spiral staircase we are climbing is the "divine staircase/ladder":

The divine spiral staircase

• Spiral Abyss - https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Spiral_Abyss

>Rumor has it that people who've ascended to Celestia have also witnessed the same helix-shaped divine ladder that can be seen within Visions. Venturing out into the universe and down into the abyss are the same in that both are braving the dark unknown.

• Beyond Silver and Fine Gold: The Forgotten Lighthouse - https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Forgotten_Lighthouse

>Nicole: ...And so, when their day of reckoning finally arrived, (‍Traveler‍) and Paimon ascended the seven-tiered steps to find a familiar figure awaiting them.

• Aubade of Morningstar and Moon: Moonlit Offering's Opulent Dream - https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Moonlit_Offering%27s_Opulent_Dream

>Above the night sky, the daughters of dreams and poetry kept vigilant, unceasing watch over the mortal world's every change.
In the deep slumber of the Arianrhod Realm, at the foot of the seventy-tiered staircase, beside the gleaming silver vessels.

­=========================

The Black Mist is "Abyssal" energy (more context near the end) that is being pumped upwards through the "divine staircase":

The Black Mist

Athame Artis: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Athame_Artis

>At his invitation, the little witch descended to the deepest level of the castle, where — beyond its fragile boundaries — stretched a sea of pure darkness.
Sustaining this boundary was a massive mechanism that spat out an endless stream of smoke. Countless pipes were continuously drawing thick seawater into its core.

­=========================

This "star" is the "lighthouse":

The light at the end of the tunnel...

• Odette is called "Stars' Envoy" in this scene. Angels are frequently referred to as envoys, and recall where I mentioned above that in the Beyond Silver and Fine Gold: The Forgotten Lighthouse quest, we speak to Nicole at the top after ascending the spiral staircase.
• There is also the "lighthouse" in Simulanka, which exists at the "end of the world", and Durin is found behind a waterfall. Before that, we encounter a "fell dragon scale" that can convert anything it touches into "toy blocks".

­=========================

This rotating central pillar is the "perpetual motion machine":

Round and round and round it goes...

Athame Artis: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Athame_Artis

>At his invitation, the little witch descended to the deepest level of the castle, where — beyond its fragile boundaries — stretched a sea of pure darkness.
Sustaining this boundary was a massive mechanism that spat out an endless stream of smoke. Countless pipes were continuously drawing thick seawater into its core.
"This is the perpetual motion machine, or you may call it the Holy Grail. By burning the seawater, it generates light and heat."
"Since all tangible things on this planet are merely shadows cast by light, so long as we can create a fire that never goes out..."
"But doing this will only make the planet burn out even faster..." the little witch sighed.
"Once the sea's been drained, this place will be finished. There's nothing 'holy' about this so-called grail..."
"Now I know why the planet's been feeling unwell."

­=========================

This is a breach created by the Voyager (as Seutervoinen/The Saint/Anacharsis) during their foray into the "eggshell" of the false sky, in their search for traces of Nibelung:

Voyager did what any sane, morally flexible, body-snatching alien would do... they gathered a party of adventurers, rode a train up the divine staircase, and plowed through the throat of the wormhole in search of their dragon buddy :V

>...The Saint had come to Hyperborea in search of that light from the very genesis of the world, a fragment left behind at its inception. It is a light that is undissipated hope itself, a light that holds the potential to illuminate the entire cosmos. From what I have seen of it projected in that house of ministry, it is also the very same light that brought about my birth...
...He brought down something from the heavens merely to ascertain whether that light was truly extinguished. He then launched that advance which was destined to fail against the "fate" that ruled over the entire world, and was consequently punished...

• This is also foreshadowed in Simulanka, where we ride a train to the "end of the world", and fight Durin behind the waterfall. The same waterfall metaphor is used in The Black Nacre and the All-Devouring Kraken, as "cliffs" are also used as a metaphor for the "eggshell" (e.g. in The Witches' Tea Party teaser): https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Black_Nacre_and_the_All-Devouring_Kraken
• The "Nicole: An Epic Adventure Story" trailer may also be a reference to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8JSKIEGYyo

The above may suggest that Voyager gathered a group of adventurers during their foray, and their party battled Nibelung. According to the Belyi Tsar's note from above - along with the other notes we find from him - the Belyi Tsar was created from a combination of a fragment of Nibelung's soul and the flesh of the Cryo Sovereign. Also, recall the "fell dragon scale" in Simulanka - it has the ability to convert anything it touches into "toy blocks", so it's possible that Voyager also brought back an untainted scale from Nibelung and used it in the creation of the SAMPO, as it essentially functions as a matter-energy converter (Subatomic Assembling Mass-energy Patterning Orb).

­=========================

We enter this area after exiting the breach in the side of the staircase. These extremely high, circular cliffs are the mouth of the wormhole (also recall that the Hexenzirkel sometimes meet at "the edges of cliffs"):

The upper mouth of the wormhole, viewed from below

• It is the cyclone that we see Skirk enter and exit in her animated short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxAubNf3EQQ
• It is the cyclone we see whenever we make a wish.

The wormhole

• The only mention of a wormhole in the entire game is this line from Paimon, who associates it with a whirlpool: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Illusion%27s_Finishings

>Paimon: We'll go with you... Wait. Look over there! Is that...
Paimon: A red... whirlpool? Wormhole? What is that?

...which is all the more interesting now that we know she is a creation of Celestia who was summoned by Pierro. Also recall that Paimon was fished up by the traveler after being caught up in a whirlpool: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Soloist%27s_Prologue

>Huh? Me!? Before Paimon ran into you, Paimon never ran into any trouble! At most, when she was super tired, Paimon got caught in some strange whirlpool and sucked out to sea! And even then, you fished Paimon out!

The "lighthouse" and the "rainbow bridge" (wormhole):

The wormhole connects Teyvat to the interior of the \"eggshell\"

­=========================

Conclusion

And now, to bring this all together:

During my lore investigations, I have found several things that suggest the possibility that Nibelung never actually "returned" - but was rather captured by Phanes in deep space, imprisoned within their "eggshell" (which we know there is a precedent for, as one of Zibai's deadly selves was imprisoned in the false sky - specifically the Shadowmoon), and used to power a "perpetual motion machine". The idea goes like this:

• Teyvat's system of fate is designed to intentionally create Abyssal energy as a waste byproduct.
  • We learn from Alice that "The essence of the Abyss lies in the hatred carried by all the fates that will not come to pass."
• The ley lines absorb souls when they die, and dumps their "unchosen fates" somewhere deep underground.
  • We learn in 7.0 that ley lines can both guide, but also "devour" souls. Ronova states that if souls linger for too long without entering the ley lines, they become a "bomb". I suspect this may involve the "unchosen fates" of that soul manifesting as Abyssal energy.
• The "perpetual motion machine" pumps these "unchosen fates" upwards through the "divine ladder", and deposits the energy in the bottom of the "eggshell", where it eventually manifests as Abyssal energy. This may be "the Abyss" as a location, such as where we train with Skirk in her story quest.
• This energy is absorbed by Nibelung's scales, which convert the Abyssal energy into light realm energy, which is then further processed into elemental energy by Phanes. This process is what eventually led to his corruption. Recall the "fell dragon scale" in Simulanka mentioned above that converts anything it touches into "toy blocks".
  • We also learn from Athame Artis that this machine is unsustainable, so it's also possible that the energies it produced were sustainable at first, but later began to outpace Nibelung's ability to convert the energy, which led to a runaway effect that may have led to his Abyssal corruption.
• At some point, Voyager decides to search the interior of the "eggshell" for traces of Nibelung. They gather an adventurer party, and create a "train" (which may or may not be a metaphorical train) to ride up the "divine staircase" in order to outpace the energies being pumped through it. Near the top, they break through the wall of the staircase and the throat of the wormhole, and into the eggshell where they eventually find and battle Nibelung. It's possible that the consequences of this battle may have allowed Nibelung to eventually break free in the future, but Nibelung's "return" didn't occur until after Voyager's host died.
  • Also keep in mind that from the perspective of everyone on Teyvat, Nibelung emerging from the interior of the "eggshell" probably would have looked no different from him coming from outside the false sky, as both would involve him rending that part of the shell open. Lacking all of the information may have led to the universal conclusion that he "returned".

This cycle creates an "endless" supply of energy, but as suggested by Athame Artis, it isn't sustainable, and ultimately causes more harm in the long run. This "terrible" process of fate is alluded to in the notes left by the Belyi Tsar:

>...As for the truth about "Heimarmene," I fear that the conclusion I have reached may be far too terrible to put to paper...

Recall that Rene's notes also associate Heimarmene with fate:

>To receive a Vision is to sell oneself to the "fate" of this world — to Heimarmene, and to evermore lose the chance to walk the correct path.

­=========================

Other notes:

• The Shadow Realm exists within the "eggshell":

>Eye of Graeae: Correct. We are now inside what is known as the Shadow Realm — the darkest space in the shell, where even the most high is loath to cast its gaze.

• Ungien's circle and the areas above and below bear a striking similarity to these structures:

A \"perpetual motion machine\", a \"false sky\", a \"divine staircase\", and \"Celestia\".

• Teyvat's "eggshell" may lie both "above" and "below" Teyvat's microcosm, meaning that the Abyss and Celestia within the "eggshell" can be accessed by venturing either "upwards" or "downwards". "Ad Astra Abyssosque - to the stars and the Abyss!", as they say. See this image from Nicole: An Epic Adventure Story for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8JSKIEGYyo

Ad Astra Abyssosque!

I created this speculative diagram of Teyvat's microcosm based on this new info. Keep in mind that there is also a dimensional aspect to these layers, so they may cover a larger "area" than what's visually represented here. They are presented as "layers" for the sake of simplicity, as the structure of Teyvat's microcosm is an absolute nightmare to interpret, and me brain hurty after spending several hours making this:

Highly speculative diagram of Teyvat's microcosm

So a few weeks ago, I saw someone point out that there is only a single star that is visible in the login screen during dawn or dusk. Since then, I couldn't get it out of my head that perhaps this could be the Pale Star. Being the only visible star during dawn or dusk would fit, because the Pale Star is also referred to as the Morning Star / Dawn Star. In the real world, the "morning star" is a name for Venus, and is also called the "evening star" - so this tracks with it being the only visible star at those times in the login screen.

But there's another thing I noticed. It's still there during the night, and there are several other stars that also stand out like it, rather than being part of the skybox's texture. But this particular star is the only one of those stars that has a pulsating glow around it:

https://preview.redd.it/tjgb1i5htuih1.png?width=115&format=png&auto=webp&s=ebc05215a9823f435bbe8dd1174fc0a1515cd5b9

Here's the location for reference:

https://preview.redd.it/vo67j1tktuih1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=3990c3cf447e15870767f5c72a824418b4071001

=========================

Preface

=========================

(Notice: This theory contains references to and images from the 7.0 livestream and trailers. This is also one of the longer theories that I've posted - sitting at around 26,000+ characters / 4,400+ words, so I would recommend setting aside enough time to read this in its entirety. Something, something, "Several cutscenes..." This post was also formatted for "new" Reddit so I could use image embedding, so some of the formatting may look a little weird on old Reddit.)

"The Grand Unified Theory of Teyvat" is something I've been working on for a solid half a year now. It is a collection of interconnecting theories that heavily involves analyzing allegories, metaphors, parallels, visual symbolism, and some of the game's most hidden and esoteric lore. I'm now (finally) at the point where I'm confident enough about certain things that I can start assembling these into proper theories and analyses - and I've been wanting to start this series before Snezhnaya's release. And since we're less than a week away from 7.0, I felt like having the first part be Snezhnaya-related would be the perfect way to kick off this series.

This first part involves something I came across a little over three months ago when I began investigating the story of the King of Midsommar Oak and the King of Winter Icelea. That alone deserves its own post, but the gist of it is that this story seems to be "encoded" within Teyvat's cyclical nature of fate. You can find several stories - fictional, non-fictional, and intentionally allegorical - that all involve extremely similar events and descriptions repeating throughout the game that appear to be related to this. So far I have found over 20 stories that are potentially connected.

With that being said, let's begin!

=========================

Part 1: The Story of the Kings of Midsommar Oak and Winter Icelea (Summarized)

=========================

As mentioned above, this would require its own full theory to fully explain. I will be providing a "brief" summary in order to provide enough context. The most relevant part involves how several of these stories have repeating themes of either the main character or their opponent involving some combination of:

• Having black hair and being "mountainous" in stature.
• Living a life of bloodshed and having lost something.
• Having made a pact, oath, or debt with someone.
• Engaging in combat with either a "guardian" or a "nemesis".
• Events occurring on a windy and rainy night (or mentions of "wind and snow"), along with taking place on terrain that is described as mountainous, plains, barren, or desolate.
• Mentions of being a "headless" or "crownless" king.
• Mentions of shapeshifting, especially regarding the "nemesis", or the main character turning into a cat.
• Striking their opponent in the head with an object that is frequently (but not always) described as some combination of stick-like, broken, drained of energy, or associated with fire or "wealth" in some way. In some cases, this object is not used as the weapon that strikes the opponent in the head.

That last one in particular is the most important part. Here are some examples of this that I've found so far:

Golden Frostbound Oath: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Golden_Frostbound_Oath

>Until the knight's blade rose in a final arc and struck the crown from the fae king's brow.
[...] the Golden Bough, now emptied of its former divine grace [...]

The Headless Coquitao: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/The_Headless_Coquitao

>Then headless Coquitao raised Makana on high and struck, the blow shattering the traitor's skull like the illusory Mexicali oracle.

Legend of the Lone Sword: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Legend_of_the_Lone_Sword

>And in a flash, the incense burner had struck the chief of Tupi Village on the forehead, sending him tumbling into a wall where he then collapsed, immobile.

New Chronicles of the Six Kitsune: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/New_Chronicles_of_the_Six_Kitsune

>Suddenly, Itaru yelled "take this!" and threw a bag full of Mora directly at Dozaemon's face. Dozaemon didn't react in time, and took the full force of the impact square on the nose. [...] Without a word, she hit Dozaemon so hard it felt like a Liyue martial arts tournament was being hosted on his face. [...] Itaru noticed and landed another ferocious blow to his head.

A Brief History of the Pale Starborn: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/A_Brief_History_of_the_Pale_Starborn

>King Miscislav was eventually slain when the Emperor's spear pierced through his head.

That last entry is particularly interesting, because that is the only story that is an actual historical account that involves real characters, and many of the events and descriptors in these stories fit with the Belyi Tsar. Additionally, the way it is described as being "broken" or "drained of energy" reminds me of the SAMPO (the "Subatomic Assembling Mass-energy Patterning Orb") - however, the main issue with that is that the SAMPO is an orb, and not a stick-like object. Additionally, it was in the possession of the Frostmoon Scions since the fall of Hyperborea around 6,000 years ago, up until the Cataclysm around 500 years ago. And so piecing all of that together led me to suspect that this stick-like object may have been the SAMPO's Collaborative Control Module (CCM).

Other objects that are used as "SAMPO-analogues" in these stories that I have found are:

• Turnfire from Fang of the Mountain King
• The Scepter / dragon's infinite hoard of gold in Ballad of the Fjords
• Laevatain in Legend of the Shattered Halberd
• Note: Laevatain and Mistilteinn are sometimes considered to be the same weapon in Norse mythology, especially regarding the mistletoe used to kill Baldr.
• The SAMPO itself in Legends of Reed Miller

Here is a very outdated image of most of the stories I was investigating regarding this. While outdated and incomplete, it should help provide further context for the similarities I have found between these stories:

Lore brainworm levels: Unprecedented

=====

To conclude this section, when you involve many of the repeating themes throughout these stories, there is only a single instance of an actual historical account that involves many of these things - The Belyi Tsar in A Brief History of the Pale Starborn. In it, he uses his spear to pierce King Miscislav in the head. Because of the Belyi Tsar's connection to Hyperborea, Hyperborea being the SAMPO's origins due to being created by the Voyager, and the fact that the SAMPO's CCM has been missing, there is a strong possibility that the "Emperor's Spear" is the lost CCM.

...But now the question is... where did he acquire it?

To answer this, we will need to proceed to the next part.

=====

^(Fun fact)^(: In) ^(Legend of the Lone Sword)^(, the main character's name - Jin - is Chinese for "gold". Additionally, he is called "Jin the Seventy-Second", as he was "the last of the 72 members of their school". Being the last of "72" is interesting, because there are exactly 72 demons in) ^(Ars Goetia)^(, whom many of the gods in Genshin are named after. The 72nd demon in) ^(Ars Goetia) ^(is Andromalius, so this could be a hint that the Belyi Tsar's demon name as the Cryo Archon was based off of Andromalius. If all Archon demon names are inherited like with the Pyro Archons, then the Tsaritsa may also have "Andromalius" as her demon name.)

=========================

Part 2: The Shattered Halberd - Lævateinn. Mistilteinn. Gungnir.

=========================

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

Legend of the Shattered Halberd (LotSH) - yet another story written by the mysterious Mr. Nine, who we only recently found out is a Seelie - a former angel. Not only that, but we also recently learned from both her and Nicole that Seelies are capable of possessing people. The fact that this story involves a character named the "Celestial Emperor's Daughter" who is capable of possessing people means that this story can be seen in a new light with this additional context - on top of Mr. Nine also being the creator of the character Fischl - who is likely an allegory for Koitar - the First Angel.

(Note: I would recommend giving this analysis by u/Jesyka_ a read. It's related to much of what I have to say in this section: https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Lore/comments/1vgqil9/parallels_between_the_celestial_emperors_daughter/ )

As this story has been in the game from the start, there has been no shortage of theories regarding it. Many of them involve the "Shattered Halberd" being the Third Descender, but I would like to propose a different idea:

The Shattered Halberd is the SAMPO's Collaborative Control Module, "Mistilteinn".

Before we begin, let's assume two things:

• One, that the Celestial Emperor's daughter is Koitar, possessing someone ("Weiyang") after she regained her memories and returned to Hyperborea to wait for the Voyager.
• And two, that Mir is the Belyi Tsar. His full name is "Mi Mir", and since this book is filled with references to Norse mythology, this means that his name is certainly based off of Mímir. We can infer that he is likely a stand-in for the Belyi Tsar due to what we learned in Part 1, especially regarding references to being "headless" or "crownless" - as Mímir in Norse mythology was beheaded.
• Piecing those assumptions together and combining them with what we learned in Part 1, we can infer the possibility that - in some of the stories that involve the main character fighting a "guardian" - they may be about the Belyi Tsar entering the ruins of Hyperborea (we know from Disenchantment in Deep Shadow that he has done this countless times over the course of thousands of years) and encountering Koitar after she regained her memories, who is awaiting the Voyager near the Irminsul tree where they first met in Finale of the Deep Galleries. This would be how the two of them first met and began their adventures together as seen in LotSH.

In LotSH, the Divine Halberd had been broken into nine pieces in the past - the "Ominous Swords". If we take that number literally, there is actually a very simple explanation as to what these pieces could have been.

• First, we know that they were associated with the elements, due to names such as "the Sword of Mist", and "the Sword of Flame". There are seven elements. On the Tsaritsa's spear, we can see several diamond-shaped symbols on the upper ring - of which there are at least six - which have colors that presumably correspond to the elements. These are the "runes" mentioned in LotSH.
• Second, the other two pieces are the two halves of the spear itself - just as depicted on the cover of the book:

The \"runes\" of the Tsaritsa's Spear and Legend of the Shattered Halberd

=====

There is also at least one instance of this potentially being mirrored in Teyvat's history in the form of a "staff" with two halves - Shadow of the Sand King: https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Sand_King

The most important line is here:

>The royal regalia and divine scepters are scattered across the land like jujubes [...]

The royal regalia and divine scepters refer to the Key of Khaj-Nisut and the Staff of the Scarlet Sands.

https://genshin-impact.fandom.com/wiki/Key_of_Khaj-Nisut

>One of a paired set of scepters fashioned from obsidian. They say that this can be used as a key to open the gate to a paradise that lies at the end of the ocean of sand.

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

>One of a paired set of scepters fashioned from obsidian. Legend has it that these staves grant the right to lead the people of the desert, but no retainer now lives who can verify the proper appearance of these regalia.

=====

Back to LotSH, we next have Laevatain:

>In the chaos, Mir had brought out the sword his father had left him as inheritance. It was intended as more of a gesture of defiance than a genuine attempt to fight back. But unbeknownst to him, this was the greatest cursed sword of all, that had once burned the entire world to cinders: Laevatain. If the fire-realm runes constituted the mystery of the fire realm, Laevatain was its pure unadulterated, unquenchable reality.

This is based off of Lævateinn from Norse mythology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A6vateinn

>It is glossed as literally meaning a "wand" causing damage by several sources, yet some of these same sources claim simultaneously that the name is a kenning for sword. Others prefer to regard it as a magic wand (seiðr staff), can be considered the mistletoe dart that killed Baldur.

In that article, it is referred to as a wand, sword, twig, dart, arrow, staff, or cudgel - which aligns with the stick-like objects described in Part 1. Not only that, but the quote above states that it "can be considered the mistletoe dart that killed Baldur". There's another name for the mistletoe weapon that was used to kill Baldur in Norse mythology: Mistilteinn.

^(()^(Note)^(: Interestingly, Mistilteinn originally belonged to Thrain in Norse mythology - which also happens to be Capitano's name.))

=====

Next, there is another famous spear from Norse mythology - Odin's spear, Gungnir. And this one just so happens to have also been split in two in one of its versions. But not just any version... the version in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, which Genshin takes much inspiration from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gungnir

>Wotan's (Odin's) spear is made from the wood of the world tree, the ash tree Yggdrasil [...] When he later tries to bar Siegmund's son Siegfried from awakening Brünnhilde from her magic sleep, Siegfried breaks the spear in two and Wotan flees. [...] In the concluding opera Götterdämmerung Wotan is said to have returned to his stronghold Valhalla with the broken spear and withdrawn from worldly matters.

There's a lot to take away from that. First, the spear is made from Yggdrasil. If we look at the Tsaritsa's spear, it very much looks like it was made from an Irminsul branch due to its silver-white color. Additionally, it was split in two - just like the Shattered Halberd being split into two halves during Mir's encounter with the "Crown Prince":

>Mir: "I will give you half of the Divine Halberd. The Dharani of the fire realm, I will offer to father. Mostly to avoid another situation where we have remnants trying to stir up trouble."

And then at the end of that quote from the Wikipedia article, it says that "Wotan is said to have returned to his stronghold Valhalla with the broken spear and withdrawn from worldly matters". Now, where have I seen a similar description before in Genshin... Ah!

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

>The White Emperor, who ruled the fae from the lofty throne of the Pale Star, had been silent since returning from the ruins of the far north. He lingered in the birch forest, deep in thought [...]

There is a strong likelihood that the King of Midsommar Oak was the Third Descender - the "younger twin brother" of the Belyi Tsar. This is a massive theory in and of itself, so I won't go into a lot of detail here, but the pieces I laid out in Part 1 should provide enough context. Combining Hymns of the Far North, Bloodsoaked Ruins, Ballad of the Fjords, and Rene's notes on Ajax provides a fairly concise and clear picture of this, if you wish to investigate further.

And so if we assume that this line is after the death of the Third Descender and the events of LotSH, it aligns perfectly with Gungnir's depiction in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

And finally - to add the final cherry on top - look at the depiction of the Tsaritsa on Snezhnaya's Statue of the Seven.

She is holding a scepter and a sphere. Half of "Mistilteinn" and the SAMPO. The SAMPO's location has been unknown for around 500 years, ever since Rotwang used it - so there is a possibility that the Tsaritsa acquired it since then.

^(Fun fact)^(: The scepter and spear are also related to this:) ^(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_cruciger)

A possible depiction of the SAMPO and half of the CCM

=========================

Part 3: "Spirals", "Cecilias", the Voyager, and the nature of the Collaborative Control Module, "Mistilteinn"

=========================

^(()^(Note)^(: This section will draw parallels between the name of a certain character and their weapon from Ho­nkai Impact (HI3). H­oyo frequently repeats thematic and visual symbolism across their games in very consistent ways, so these parallels will be used to help draw connections between between similar things in Genshin - no direct connections are being made between the two games, so I'm hoping that this is minor enough to not violate the Wednesday-only rule. If it does, I can always just wait to post this on Wednesday (although 7.0 will release the night before), or I can also move this section to a comment in this post.))

The Spiral Abyss. Cecilia flowers. The Arrow of Terpikeraunas. The Voyager. You may be wondering how all of those are related. To understand this, we need to take a brief look at a certain character and her weapon from H­onkai Impact:

Cecilia Schariac and The Abyss Flower. Cecilia is arguably the most famous user - aside from Duranda­l - of The Abyss Flower. It's a type of weapon called a "Divine Key", created during humanity's Previous Era 50,000 years ago. It was created from the core of a He­rrscher (the closest analogue in Genshin would be an Archon). The Abyss Flower was known as the 6th Divine Key - Key of Creation, and it was created from the core of the He­rrscher of Death.

The Abyss Flower has the ability to disintegrate matter at a subatomic level, along with reconstructing matter, such as creating large plant-like structures. It can also be used to revive a person, heal fatal injuries, or extend one's life. But it also has another feature - it can be separated into two halves. "Black Abyss" and "White Flower".

If this is all starting to sound familiar... it should. Recall that the SAMPO stands for "Subatomic Assembling Mass-energy Patterning Orb". So if the SAMPO "assembles" things on a subatomic scale, then presumably its CCM might do the opposite - it might disintegrate matter at a subatomic level for the SAMPO to reassemble. We also know that in the absence of the CCM, there is a "theoretical bypass protocol" where the SAMPO is capable of using light or void realm energy to activate. However, this was "deemed too risky to attempt" by the survivors of Hyperborea, which explains the need for an additional component that is used in conjunction with the SAMPO to control it - a "Collaborative Control Module".

And so if this weapon is truly capable of disintegrating matter at a subatomic level, that could explain how the Tsaritsa plans to kill the Heavenly Principles, and why she pulls it out when facing Ronova in the Transcendence trailer.

But you're probably still wondering... how does all that other stuff about "spirals" and "Cecilias" tie into this?

=====

First, we have to explain how the Spiral Abyss was likely created by the Voyager:

In Finale of the Deep Galleries (CN: Finale of the Deep Corridor), Skirk is searching the ruins of Hyperborea for traces of the Voyager. In this artifact set, both the "golden tower" of Hyperborea and the Spiral Abyss are mentioned as part of these ruins. Therefore, the Spiral Abyss exists either in or near Hyperborea's golden tower. In the description for the Spiral Abyss, it states that:

>Its structure is divided into the "Abyss Corridor," which connects worlds, and the "Abyssal Moon Spire," which leads to the unknown.

In other words, the Abyss Corridor in the Spiral Abyss contains gates to other worlds - the "fractured mirrors" mentioned in Finale of the Deep Galleries. We know from the Celestial Gift artifact set that the Voyager was from a civilization called the "Chroniclers", and they were capable of creating "gates of stars".

The login screen doorway and the Gate of Stars (Simulanka furniture item)

So because the Voyager was a Chronicler, she presumably knew how to create these stargates. The Voyager ruled Hyperborea as "Seutervoinen", which contained the Spiral Abyss, which itself contained gates to other worlds, so we can infer that she - at the very least - most likely had a hand in its creation. There is also a very high likelihood that the stargates within the Spiral Abyss' Abyss Corridor are the "Gates of Pohjola" where the Third Descender was killed, considering that combining the stories of Hymns of the Far North, Bloodsoaked Ruins, and Ballad of the Fjords shows that the Gates of Pohjola exist within the ruins of Hyperborea.

And if you need any further convincing regarding "mirrors", "gates", and "other worlds" - remember the "Looking Glass" from world quest Book of Esoteric Revelations? It leads to a zone called "???", which we now know to be the Shadow Realm.

The Looking Glass and \"???\"

Alright, now we can move on to "spirals" and "Cecilias". This can be simply explained with these short bullet points and an infographic, now that we have the necessary context:

• The Abyss Flower in HI3 features a double triquetra on it, and is wielded by Cecilia Schariac.
• Cecilia flowers in Genshin are shaped like a double triquetra, and are found in Mondstadt.
• The portal to the Spiral Abyss is found in Mondstadt, and features a double triquetra on its entrance.
• The Voyager created the Spiral Abyss.
• The Arrow of Terpikeraunas is a rebuilt prototype of Hyperborea's "great arrows", whose creation likely involved the Voyager due to the advanced technology involved.
• The projectile fired by the Arrow of Terpikeraunas is called the Spiralblade, and looks extremely similar in design to the Abyss Flower in HI3. Thus, we create a little lore ouroboros.

And finally, the "tip" of the Tsaritsa's spear has this same spiral design.

Spirals and Cecilias

It seems that the Voyager reeeeally likes spirals, spears, and arrows! (I personally enjoy lore spirals myself, haha...ha... ^(please send help) )

^(Fun Fact)^(: Did you also know that the background for the Spiral Abyss is a Golden Spiral?)

Golden-Spiral Abyss

I would also like to shout out this post by u/Breakoutofyourshell, which made me aware of the "Cecilia" connections. With that, I was able to piece together this section of the theory in order to further support it: https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Lore/comments/1uzw8gy/the_true_identity_of_istaroth_is_the_voyager_and/

I also have my own "Voyageroth" theory that I'm working on, and as "out there" as the idea might sound, there's actually mountains of things that support this idea. Even more than what's in this post. But that's for a future part of the Grand Unified Theory of Teyvat. Stay tuned!

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Conclusion

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So to recap:

• The Tsaritsa's spear may also be the SAMPO's Collaborative Control Module, also known as "Mistilteinn".
• The spear may have remained in the ruins of Hyperborea after the destruction of the city. It was later later recovered, broken into pieces, and eventually reassembled once more.
• The spear may have the ability to disintegrate things - the opposite of the SAMPO's function - in order to provide the SAMPO raw subatomic matter to transmute.
• The SAMPO and its CCM may be inspired by the two halves of Abyss Flower from H­onkai Impact.
• This subatomic disintegration may be the method that the Tsaritsa plans to use against the Heavenly Principles and Ronova. Presumably, not even Teyvat's gods are immune to disintegration via sci-fi death-rays built by body-snatching, morally flexible ancient aliens who can't mind their own business.

And there you have it! Hopefully that was a convincing enough theory regarding the SAMPO's Collaborative Control Module. This theory has been over three months in the making.

I did want to add some additional related lore tidbits and speculation, but much of it is a bit outside the scope of this theory, and I've already been working on this for over 15 hours straight today, so... I kinda just want to be done with this already, lmao. My brain is deep fried, and I am absolutely zonkered.

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The Future of The Grand Unified Theory of Teyvat

=========================

And that's Part 1! If you enjoyed this first entry, here is a sneak peek of some of the other parts that I (tentatively) plan on releasing in the future:

• Part 2: "The Owl, the Peacock, and the Raven: The Wings of Descension"
  • Investigating the bird-related symbolism of the first three Descenders.
• Part 3: "Teyvat's Back Doors: The Gates of Stars, the Spiral Abyss, and the Gatekeepers"
  • Investigating the various "stargates" (DHD not included) found throughout Teyvat and their potential connections to the Chroniclers - such as the login screen area, the Gates of Pohjola, and the Abyss Corridor, along with those who guard the gates.
• Part 4: "Celestia's Landmarks, Surrounding Points of Interest, and the Structure of Teyvat's Microcosm"
  • Investigating the "Lighthouse", "Forest", "Tavern", "Port", "Bridge", "Cave", "Church", "Cliff", "Theater", "Lake", and "Whirlpool" by using the city of Mondstadt, the Sea of Bygone Eras, and Simulanka as parallels.
• Part 5: "The Kings of Midsommar Oak and Winter Icelea"
  • Investigating how the Third Descender may have been the Belyi Tsar's "brother" through analyzing a scattered story encoded within fate itself.
• Part 6: "The Origins of Phanes and the Genesis Pearl, their Capture of Nibelung in Deep Space, and the Perpetual Motion Machine"
  • Investigating the possibilities of Phanes' origins as the silver-haired Gnostic Chorus twins, their "eggshell" and its origins as a stellar blackbody, Nibelung's capture and imprisonment by Phanes within the eggshell before their arrival on Teyvat, and the Voyager's failed attempt to rescue Nibelung with a group of adventurers - which led to acquiring one of Nibelung's scales, which was used to create the SAMPO.
• Part 7: "The Divine Plan and the Eternal Dream: Phanes' Sacrificed Descender Status, Their Need for a Successor, and the Arrogation of the Divine Throne by Phanes' "Golden Harp" - The Heavenly Principles"
  • Investigating similarities between Phanes and Remus, their inspiration from The Gods of Pegana, the Narzissenkreuz, Archons, and the possibilities involved, such as:
    • Phanes sacrificing their status as a Descender to "annihilate" Nibelung.
    • Phanes' plan to have the Traveler succeed them by turning them into a Descender, by forcing them to experience Phanes' own history through using fate to recreate the conditions that caused them to become a Descender.
    • Phanes being usurped by their "golden harp" and imprisoned in an eternal dream.
    • How the "harp" stole Phanes' identity, suppressed ancient history, and currently masquerades as them as "The Heavenly Principles".
    • Phanes' brief awakening during the Cataclysm, their creation of Paimon to guide the Traveler along their plan, and Ronova's true loyalty to the "harp".
    • The possibility of the "harp" being fashioned from Koitar (or a fragment of her), the AI from the Traveler's ship, or potentially the fusion of both.
• Part 8: "The Curious Case of Istaroth"
  • Investigating Istaroth's potential connections to the Hexenzirkel as a possible eighth member, the Chroniclers, the Voyager, and Khaenri'ah.

Whew...

https://preview.redd.it/zxz15vks4aih1.png?width=1325&format=png&auto=webp&s=aee33a1f600c1c02cfd9355f4666e319f67f6ec8

So this is the outline of a major theory that I'm working on. The outline is more or less finished, however I wanted to make sure there aren't any major kinks with it before I begin working on the complete version. I figured I would share this in the meantime, and see if anyone here might have any further ideas that could relate to this, or if there are any glaring errors/conflicts that I may have overlooked.

To keep this from being overly long, I won't be providing comprehensive sources for specific lines, but this theory largely involves interpreting the following as potential foreshadowing and parallels:

Moon Gazing, Remuria/Sea of Bygone Eras, The Black Nacre and the All-Devouring Kraken, Wings of Delicacies, Gnostic Chorus teaser, Athame Artis, and Simulanka. There are several other smaller things, and some of those I mention in the outline for additional context. If anything needs further clarification regarding sources, please let me know and I'll do my best to provide the exact lines I'm using as a source, along with my reasoning/interpretation.

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With that being said, here is the outline for this theory:

• Phanes is both of the "crowned heirs" seen in the Gnostic Chorus teaser, and Aether and Lumine are supposed to be parallels of them.
• The "glorious kingdom" at the beginning is Celestia.
• The "Genesis Pearl" is a planet-sized stellar blackbody entity (foreshadowed in Moon Gazing), also known as Phanes "eggshell".
• The first "crowned heir" seeks out the Genesis Pearl, only to be "devoured" by it.
• The crowned heirs' homeworld is destroyed, and the second heir uses Celestia as an ark to find a new world for humanity and search for his lost sister.
• He comes across the Genesis Pearl, somehow manages to subdue/tame it, and discovers his sister within.
• At some point - while inside the entity - these two heirs fuse together into a single being, whom we know of as "Phanes" ("birthed from an egg, androgynous in nature" -Before Sun and Moon).
• After taming the entity, they use Celestia's central spire as a "lighthouse" (see: Simulanka, "The Moon" Lunar Arcana, and Nicole's Beyond Silver and Fine Gold quests).
• The "lighthouse" is used as a lure to attract beings for the entity and Phanes to "devour", in order to become stronger - like a cosmic anglerfish. Surtalogi and his "pet" All-devouring Narwhal act as a parallel in some ways.
• Nibelung is attracted to the "lure" (his "recklessness" described in Hymns of the Far North), and is captured and imprisoned within the entity's "shell", AKA the "false sky".
• Phanes learns of Teyvat from Nibelung's memories, and begins heading there.
• The dragons witness the approach of the entity:

>Records Left in the Terminal: "...Observations of the intermittently visible celestial body indicate a tenuous atmosphere on its surface... No signs of life activity have been detected so far, though parts of its surface structures do not appear to be naturally formed..."

• Decades later, Phanes and the entity arrive during the dragons' test of the lunar veil on the Frost Moon. Their impact pierces the veil, destroying Lusalim's Lunar Veil Laboratory and creating the Moontide Sea.
• The entity "devours" Teyvat and its moons by enclosing them within its body (Before Sun and Moon).
• Lusalim hands over all of the research that has been done on the Frost Moon to Phanes.
• Phanes modifies Irminsul with the Lunar Veil technology, causing it to generate a veil around the entity (the second "barrier"/"layer" -Celestial Gift and Aubade of Morningstar and Moon).
• Phanes used the research involving "cognitive hazards" to apply one to the veil, causing those who see the entity from outside to perceive it as a barren, lifeless planet (seen in the Miliastra Wonderland trailer).

https://preview.redd.it/5dli2jruvnch1.png?width=3166&format=png&auto=webp&s=676157bc96d17336c200cb4028ff3b30f602564a

• Phanes constructs a mechanism to drain the Primordial Sea and use it as fuel to expand the range of the cognitive hazard's effects.
• Nibelung - who has been imprisoned within the entity's "shell" the entire time - is used by Phanes as a crucible, using his body to turn light realm energy into elemental energy.
• The Traveler twins' ship makes its first pass over Teyvat at some point between the arrival of Phanes and now. The Traveler's sibling presumably disembarks for unknown reasons, and Phanes removes the AI from the ship along with samples from the genetic vault, and uses the ship's capabilities to terraform Teyvat. Phanes alters the logs on the ship to show that it only briefly passed over ("Some of the data is corrupted" -Aether). The ship then enters orbit around Teyvat for the next few thousand years.
• Phanes fashions the ship AI into their "golden harp" to control Teyvat's newly implemented system of "fate". (Etherlight Spindlelute)
• This new system forces "fate" down a single, controlled path, which creates additional Abyssal energy as a "waste" byproduct. (Alice's lines regarding "unchosen fates" and the Abyss)
• Phanes feeds this Abyssal energy back into Nibelung, which is then converted into usable energy for Teyvat, which continues to produce more Abyssal energy from its system of fate, which gets fed back into Nibelung, and so on...
• And thus, Phanes creates a "perpetual motion machine" capable of producing an infinite amount of energy.
• Phanes uses this infinite energy to expand the range of the cognitive hazard's effects to the entire universe.

>...To make something's existence pass for common sense within a world, and thus stifle any curiosity to look deeper, the foundational laws of reality must first pervade that world. Scaling this boundary up to the entire universe, however, would require those laws to span the entire cosmos. Naturally, the latter is utterly impossible.
- Nu-Ur-Gestug, Index: Researches Concerning Cognition

• An "inverse cognitive hazard" is applied to the interior of the entity itself in order for Phanes impose their "rules" (their "Reason") on the world. This may be related to the "fog of reason" (Men of Lithin), and may be why Teyvat is described as "inverted", and why the Shades "abide no reason". (Regarding the Four Shades: "Inverse Cognitive Hazards: A Comparative Study of Four Types of Interdiction and Countermeasure" -Index: Researches Concerning Cognition)
• Over time, Nibelung became corrupted by having Abyssal energies constantly fed into him.
• Nibelung eventually broke free (or was freed by someone -Simulanka, Athame Artis). He tore through the eggshell, destroyed Celestia's "lighthouse" (see: "The Moon" Lunar Arcana, Simulanka), and began the War of Funerary Flame. From the perspective of those on Teyvat, Nibelung would have appeared to have "returned" from beyond the false sky - when in reality, he was simply imprisoned within it.
• Nibelung was "annihilated". Phanes returned to using the Primordial Sea as a power source. ("But today, the Primordial Sea no longer exists on the planet's surface" - Neuvillette)
• Visions may be a new potential energy source:

>...the Seven Archons still had to impart a shattered shard of their mastery to that person. And when one so gifted completed their duty... the gift the gods would receive in return would be more abundant still.
- Neuvillette

• At some point - possibly around when Aether awoke in Mondstadt - Phanes (who if you recall is the merged "Phanes twins") separated their female half from themselves (or a fragment of her), whom we know as Paimon. Remember the first crowned heir in the the Gnostic Chorus trailer?

https://preview.redd.it/zvob3z2bonch1.png?width=1240&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf84534436c30078f6cfd711e3fc985bf7289f11

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Additional notes:

• The planet-sized blackbody entity may have been the world these "black stellar entities" originate from. This world may be Throgg, and Ysna'qurel may have merged with the world and became its will. (Moongazer's Engraving)
• Regarding cognitive hazards, an alternative scenario may involve Phanes using the perpetual motion machine to apply a cognitive hazard to the entire universe itself rather than the veil, with the Four Shades serving as the "Four Types of Interdiction and Countermeasure", creating an "inverse cognitive hazard" within the microcosm, preventing those within from being affected by it.
• Phanes may have used the research involving turning Ungien and Maagees into "artificial kuuhenki" to create angels, which may be a fusion of blackbody matter and dragons. For example:

1. Angels who keep their wisdom become seelie, which look extremely similar to Kuuhenki.
2. Angels who keep their power become dragons, like Ursa.
3. The black Kuuhenki are called "messengers". The word "angel" is based off of the Greek word for messenger, "angelos".
4. Angels have frequent associations or references to "silk". Blackbody matter is described as "variegated, filamentous". In other words, iridescent and stringy. Like silk. And the false sky is made of this matter, of which the constellations are a part of. Which control the "threads" of fate. Etherwing moths were also "...born from the feathers of angels..."
5. Additionally, the part of Skirk's emotions that she severed from herself looks very similar to Kuuhenki/Seelie, and it even has a symbol on its back that is extremely similar to the one on Nicole's back. Skirk also has little "wings" on her back. Perhaps Skirk's people had fused with blackbody entities at some point in the past, and could potentially explain how Skirk's people could adapt to any energy source, including the Abyss.

https://preview.redd.it/oseu6c0dqnch1.png?width=1746&format=png&auto=webp&s=237df444c26873386e51bf22b04cb985c45d3e93

• Genshin features several "gold" and "silver" character pairs, which would make the the "Phanes twins" "silver", and the Traveler twins "gold". Note their hair colors, which is the strongest evidence that the heirs in the teaser are not Aether and Lumine, like many suspect.
• The fate of the universe itself causes the Traveler twins to parallel the actions of the Phanes twins, similar to what we see on Teyvat with fate repeating itself through character "archetypes". Both pairs of twins are destined to interact with the same "eggshell-entity", with the first twin destined to arrive thousands of years before the second. Both twin pairs presumably lose their homeworld to the Abyss, and travel the universe in an "ark", searching for a new world for humanity.
• Dainsleif acts as a narrator in many videos, and he may be quoting Phanes in the Travail teaser. If this is the case, then this line could be the male half of Phanes (the second heir) referring to Paimon (the first heir) - especially considering how it's being implied/foreshadowed a lot lately that something bad is going to happen to her in the near future:

>Defeat me, command me to step aside, show me that you are worthier than I to rescue her.

• The structure of the Frost Moon acts as a microcosm of Teyvat's microcosm:

Frost Moon:

Archeolune core --> Generator --> Elevator --> Surface --> Tree (of which the elevator is inside) --> Veil --> Space station, which connects to the elevator

Teyvat:

Primordial Sea --> "Perpetual Motion Machine" --> 7-tiered steps/helix-shaped divine ladder --> Surface --> Irminsul --> False Sky/"eggshell" --> Celestia (the central spire is the "lighthouse" that connects to the steps/ladder. The Celestia we see is likely a projection, and the real one is probably outside the false sky)

And regarding the space elevator in the tree (which had circuit-like patterns on it, like Irminsul's heart) in Ungien's Circle, remember what the inside of Irminsul looked like as we were falling through it?

https://preview.redd.it/8cm4ubusnnch1.png?width=3074&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ca00407a65dac68f972360881b3fa5a8b6251f1

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Anyways, that's everything. Please let me know what you think, and if you have any feedback I can use for the final version!