Traveller IS the third descender
Traveler = Third Descender Theory
What the theory is
The theory is that the Traveler and Saarelainen, the Third Descender, are actually the same underlying being in some way.
During the Traveler’s first passage by Teyvat thousands of years ago, some part or version of them may have stayed behind and became Saarelainen. Saarelainen then lived in Teyvat, had descendants, and eventually died, with his body being split into the seven Gnoses.
The Traveler we play now could therefore be a remaining, revived, reconstructed, or reincarnated version of Saarelainen, which is why Teyvat sees them as the Fourth Descender.
This could also explain why the Traveler spends the whole game collecting all seven elements: they may actually be slowly recovering parts of what originally belonged to them.
1. The Traveler’s ship was already near Teyvat thousands of years ago
The twins’ ship passed Teyvat thousands of years before the current story, left, and later returned.
This means the Traveler was already around Teyvat during roughly the same ancient period when Saarelainen appeared.
2. Saarelainen came from the stars during the same ancient period
Saarelainen arrived from the sea of stars around 6,000+ years ago.
So we basically have:
Traveler’s extraterrestrial ship passes Teyvat
↓
An extraterrestrial Descender appears in Teyvat around the same period
That timing is pretty suspicious.
3. Saarelainen and the Traveler both have a strange connection to all the elements
The Traveler can use multiple elements without a Vision.
Saarelainen also had an extremely unusual elemental nature, considering his body was later turned into the seven Gnoses.
Both the Third and Fourth Descenders sharing this rare elemental ability could point to them being connected, as this doesn't seem to be an ability that's common to all descenders.
4. Saarelainen was split into seven Gnoses while Traveler collects seven elements
Saarelainen’s body was divided into the seven elemental Gnoses.
Meanwhile, the Traveler’s entire journey is basically:
Anemo → Geo → Electro → Dendro → Hydro → Pyro → Cryo
Under this theory, Traveler might not just be gaining new powers. They could be recovering the seven parts of their original elemental power.
5. The ship’s return to Teyvat is still unexplained
The ship passed Teyvat, left, and then came back aeons later.
We still don’t really know why it returned to the exact same world.
One possibility I'd suggest in favour of my theory:
Saarelainen dies
→ the remaining Traveler or ship senses something happened
→ the ship returns toward Teyvat
This could explain why the Traveler ended up coming back after such a long time.
6. Traveler does not remember everything about their ancient past
The Traveler remembers their sibling and their original world, but their memory of the ancient journey is clearly incomplete.
There are still gaps involving the ship, the first passage around Teyvat, and what exactly happened before the crash.
This gives room for the Traveler to have had an earlier existence in Teyvat that they no longer remember.
7. Something weird happened to the sibling too
The sibling woke up before Traveler without remembering them at first.
They later spent years in Khaenri’ah, slowly recovered their memories, and even searched Teyvat for Traveler without being able to find them.
That suggests something much stranger happened to the twins than one simply waking before the other.
8. The sibling is recorded in Irminsul while Traveler isn’t
Both twins came from outside Teyvat.
But Traveler is still considered an outside Descender, while the sibling somehow became recorded inside Irminsul as if they belonged to Teyvat.
Scaramouche even suggests Khaenri’ah may have had something to do with it.
This could connect to whatever happened to the twins after their return to Teyvat.
9. Saarelainen is an ancestor of Khaenri’ah
Saarelainen and Anastasya’s descendants eventually became connected to Khaenri’ah.
If Traveler = Saarelainen, then Traveler would basically be one of the ancestors of Khaenri’ah.
That could explain why the Traveler’s entire story keeps becoming more and more connected to Khaenri’ah.
10. Khaenri’ahns often share the Traveler’s blond/golden features
A lot of important Khaenri’ahn characters have blond, golden, or very light hair, like Dainsleif and Rhinedottir.
The Traveler twins also have very noticeable golden/blond hair.
Anastasya does not.
So if Saarelainen eventually gets revealed with similar golden hair or eyes to Traveler, it could suggest that these features in Khaenri’ah came from Saarelainen’s side of the bloodline.
11. Saarelainen was noble-born, while the twins are connected to the crowned heirs
Saarelainen is specifically described as noble-born and nobly raised.
Meanwhile, Aether and Lumine are connected to the prophecy about the two blond crowned heirs and the Genesis Pearl.
This could mean Saarelainen’s noble background is connected to the Traveler’s original identity outside Teyvat.
12. Venti says “we meet again — you don’t remember me?”
Venti’s greeting to Traveler is:
“Ah, Traveler, we meet again! What? You don’t remember me?”
This becomes way more interesting when you remember that Venti is extremely ancient and directly connected to Istaroth and the power of Time.
He also knows the story of the two crowned heirs.
If Traveler had another existence in Teyvat thousands of years ago, Venti could be one of the few people who actually remembers them.
Under this theory:
Venti knew Saarelainen.
Traveler doesn’t remember being Saarelainen.
Venti sees Traveler again and recognizes them.
I really think Hoyo could pull this off given what we've seen they did with Columbina
