u/Just_a_captain_III

(forgot to post this here as well.)

I think one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding Capitano's story is the idea that bringing him back would somehow "ruin" his character when the exact opposite is true. The real issue that it's obvious that it barely begun properly.

I liked the idea behind his sacrifice. A Khaenri'ahn with immortality choosing to use that curse to save another nation is one of the more poetic concepts Hoyo has written. It's fitting for someone repeatedly described as honorable and someone who refused to compromise his ideals even after 500 years. That part works.

What doesn't work is everything surrounding it. Capitano spent years being built up. Ever since A Winter Night's Lazzo, he was treated as this legendary figure. Childe admired him. Wanderer acknowledged his strength. Varka outright described him as someone possessing overwhelming power while also emphasizing his John Honor sthict. Even before Natlan released, every piece of dialogue surrounding him built the expectation that this wasn't just another Harbinger. As the first Harbinger you viewed him as THE Harbinger.

Then Natlan arrives and somehow almost none of that payoff actually happens. The biggest problem is that his role shifts incredibly fast. He starts as someone opposing Mavuika's methods, then reveals his own plan to restore Natlan's Ley Lines, then shortly afterwards agrees to support Mavuika once he believes her plan has the best chance of success. That progression itself isn't bad, in fact it fits his character, because Capitano has always been someone who values results over pride. The issue is how quickly it happens and how little time is spent exploring his motivations.

For someone whose past stretches all the way back to Khaenri'ah, we surprisingly learn very little.

We know his real name is Thrain.

We know he served as a commander.

We know he witnessed Khaenri'ah's destruction.

We know he fled alongside surviving soldiers into Natlan.

We know he carried a lotta souls.

And that's honestly about it.

This is one of the more older living human characters in Teyvat. Someone who witnessed the Cataclysm. Someone who knew figures connected to Dainsleif and the Traveler's sibling. Someone who lived through five hundred years of history. Someone who rose all the way to become the First Fatui Harbinger. But almost none of those experiences are actually explored.

His relationship with Pierro is brely touched. His relationship with the Tsaritsa is brely touched thus far. How exactly did he become the First Harbinger? Never explained. Why did the Tsaritsa trust him enough to place him above everyone else? Never explained. What exactly happened during those five hundred years? Almost nothing apperantly.

That's what frustrates me, not that he sacrificed himself. That he sacrificed himself before his own story was ever properly told.

People say "his arc is complete." But that's a bit of stinky hogwash. Capitano is a character with a lot of loose ends.

For example, his Cryo powers. Where do they actually come from?

He's a pure-blooded Khaenri'ahn. Is it a Delusion? Is it power granted by the Tsaritsa? The game never answers that despite making his Cryo abilities central to his combat. Theres also the Abyss parlor trick thing but I can't recall the name.

But back to the point there's also his strength. We know he's absurdly powerful. But why? Is it just Khaenri'ah genes that make a person God tier? Some other blessing? We don't know, hell Hoyo doesn't either.

Then there's Khaenri'ah itself. This is the biggest missed opportunity for him. Capitano is one of the major characters alive who experienced the Cataclysm firsthand. He could've told us more about Khaenri'ah. About its military, maybe the Eclipse Dynasty or the Sinners. About the Traveler's sibling too considering he met them or about Pierro before the fall. Instead we barely scratch the surface of anything.

For someone like that he ends up explaining surprisingly little.

Then people say bringing him back would cheapen his sacrifice. I don't really understand that argument because, Genshin has never treated sacrifice as meaningful only if someone stays dead.

Xiao survives.

Nahida survives.

Furina survives.

Scaramouche effectively gets a second chance.

Even the entire premise of Natlan revolves around death, resurrection and preserving souls.

The emotional stuff comes from the choice a character makes, not necessarily whether they're permanently gone. Capitano willingly gave up everything. That decision doesn't suddenly disappear if he returns. He still made it and he still proved the kind of man he was.

If anything, having him live with the consequences of that decision could create an even better story. Death isn't the only ending that provides closure.

Then there's the ending itself, people often say "he's dead." Except even that's not entirely straightforward. The story explicitly has him merge his existence with the Lord of the Night in place of Mavuika's death, and his body is left dormant upon the Throne of the Primal Fire. Ronova's intervention also leaves the state of his immortality and existence more complicated than a normal death. It's intentionally unusual rather than a simple confirmation that he ceased to exist.

That's a very strange way to write someone if your only intention is to permanently remove them. Especially considering Hoyo usually gives very definitive deaths when they want there to be no ambiguity Immortality still being discussed.

I also think people underestimate just how much marketing and narrative buildup surrounded him. He wasn't introduced as some one-patch NPC. He was one of the most anticipated Harbingers for a long tine and his design became iconic long before Natlan.

Players waited through Sumeru and Fontaine, only for his actual active role to be surprisingly brief compared to the anticipation. That's why so many people felt unsatisfied. It was not because the sacrifice itself was inherently bad. But the execution was dogwater

Ultimately, I think people confuse a good ending with a complete story. Capitano got an ending but his story is very lacking.

His sacrifice gave closure to one aspect of his character, his desire to save his men and finally use his cursed immortality for something meaningful. But it didn't resolve the overwhelming majority of mysteries that made him interesting in the first place.

So no, I don't think bringing Capitano back would automatically ruin him.

If anything, bringing him back only becomes a problem if Hoyoverse has nothing meaningful left to say with him.

But looking at how much of his life remains unexplored, I'd argue the opposite is true. His sacrifice concluded one chapter of his journey, yet almost everything that made him fascinating still hasn't been told. That's why many players don't want him back simply because they like him. They want him back because, from a storytelling perspective, it still feels like one of Genshin Impact's most important characters left the stage before his own story was truly finished.

I do think we'll get more crumbs in ice nation (can't spell the name) but I still stand by this point.

First off there's no such thing as Archon tier. It's an executive position basically, and not every Archon is combat orientated. Saying Traveler is Archon tier means little, that ranges from Nahida to Ei.

Traveler simply has never shown output on par with an combat orientated Archon, you don't have him dropping spears the size of mountains or cutting an island in half. Now sure, big boom isn't always the sole indicator for power but it's the clearest one. Traveler has like maybe a statement from Paimon (their biggest glazer.) about being able to destory a mountain. Even taking that seriously he doesn't scratch the surface.

People would use him keeping up with Mavuika as justification and admittedly he was a big help, but keeping up with someone is very different from fighting them. I feel likes it's vibe scaling most of the time or just overestimating the Traveler. Also he's like anti Abyss.

He's definitely God tier but that's also a vague scaling, even with some of his seals released he hasn't shown anything impressive that goes 'Hey this dude could merk a Archon.'

Last slide is the original I traced over. Credit to spicytrashyrats

This hurts me a lot more than it hurts you Dottore fans. But for that Capi slander I need to slander back, Childe is next.

This is clearly high effort cause I drew Mavuika over some soyjack dude, trust. Full image on second slide.

That goofy ass hat is impossible to put in. Original is in the second image. And rip my grammar.

Lazy slander just wanted to spread this image of some fine handi work by yours.

Bfr the majority of Mavuika fans don't even care about her lore, (not much to care about.) I mean mid design, mid story, mid personality. Only reason she relevant is cause of meta. And cause she has Hoyo's balls in her purse.

There's obviously somone in Hoyo HQ that cares about the lore instead of promoting new characters vehemently. I doubt Collei's involvement is just there to have a cast. Do you think Hoyo think Hoyo would give another character some decent spotlight when a new character is running?