![The Forbidden Gifts of the Scarlet Moonlight: Analysis of the Power and Authority of the Death and the Crimson Moon [spoilers 7.1 ]](https://preview.redd.it/lam4gkdskath1.jpg?width=140&height=78&auto=webp&s=385263b3d6eeea8ae5ab50adb93b232ff60d5f4f)
The Forbidden Gifts of the Scarlet Moonlight: Analysis of the Power and Authority of the Death and the Crimson Moon [spoilers 7.1 ]
I had some doubts about the powers and authority of Death and its relation to the Crimson Moon for some time. However, the new lore about it may reveal some interesting perspectives.
Ronova was straightforward about her authority. She uses her power to oversee deaths in Teyvat and carry souls to the leylines. When there are problems due to leyline damage, she acts personally to fix them, as we saw in Natlan with the Night Kingdom, the Ode of Resurrection, and the Power of the Six Heroes.
Her power seems to be characterized by the ability to exchange life for more power, even if only symbolically, as we saw in the deal between Xbalanque and Ronova.
>Ronova: My domain is death, and its power comes at a great price... The question is, are you prepared to pay?
Xbalanque: I need that power. Only a hero can truly wield it, and heroes are not afraid of dying.
Ronova: No, a fear of death is ingrained in all living things. If the wielder of this power cannot conquer their fear, countless innocent lives will be claimed in their stead, for only then can the price be paid.
Considering that Ronova's authority seems limited to death and souls, her deal with Xbalanque seems more like an exception than something she is permitted to do. In fact, she was punished for it.
But if Ronova has only part of Sonnet's original authority, what is the real domain of the lunar power? What mystery is hidden behind the Iridescent Moon?
The Primordial Authorities
We know from multiple sources that the Authority of the Shards once were of the Three Moons, with Sonnet having the highest share of that of Death.
I believe that the Moons held different authorities that got spitted in 4 different concepts by the PO. If we comprehend the original concepts behind the Moon Authorities, we could understand the true power of the Crimson Moon.
Looking to Simulanka as a model of Teyvat, we see that its creators are in fact three.
In Simulanka, Alice, Barbeloth, and Anya played the roles of the Goddess of Creation, Prophecy, and Fate, respectively. I would guess that these are also the original functions of the three Moons. We can tentatively pair the mages with the goddesses.
Let's start with Barbeloth and Canon. Canon, like Barbeloth may be the goddess of prophecy. In fact, we know that Canon and Istaroth conversed about the nature of gravity and the metric tensor, which is reported as the law of time. In Simulanka, the Goddess of Prophecy gave the tracks that rewind time and connect to the sky. Aria may be the goddess of fate. In the Unnamed Vessels quests, she laments the fate chosen by the PO for the sake of order, even if it came at a great cost. If she is the Goddess of Fate, like Anya, then she determined the fate of all creatures in Teyvat. Therefore, she had to accept the new order to ensure the survival of life itself.
Finally, by exclusion, Sonnet should be the Goddess of Creation. The Moon dialogues do not reveal much about Sonnet's duties, but the concept of "morphological isomorphism" may refer to the mathematical concept and allude to the similarity between the structures of various living beings.
>Canon: ...Since Zbai has no objections, I have nothing more to say. However, Sonnet, as The Will of the Moon, you must not forget the basic formulae that keep the world running. Canon: Prepare yourself. I will set you some foundational problems on verifying morphological isomorphisms. You are not to go back to the surface until you have solved them all.
It's also worth noting that the Moons and their respective Mages share the same color motif in their clothing. Barbeloth and Canon are characterized by deep blue, Aria and Anya by light blue and pale yellow, and Alice has some pink elements like Sonnet.
My guess is that Creation, Prophecy, and Fate are more complex than the authority of the Shades. This could mean that some of the original power of the Moons has been lost, except for the Crimson Moon.
Cursed Death...
If Sonnet was the holder of the Authority of Creation, then Simulanka gives us another hint on what this means. In fact Alice, as the Goddess of Creation, gifted to the forest of blessing the magic tonic:
>Almond: Magic Tonic. It was gifted to the forest by the Goddess of Creation herself — a special potion that helps us maintain our vitality. T: What happens if you stop drinking it? Almond: Well... Our bodies will gradually crumple and become brittle, until they eventually disintegrate entirely. Our colors will fade, and we'll start to lose our memory, until we can't even remember our own names...
The equivalent of the magic tonic in Teyvat is the life force. Like the magic tonic, the life force is connected to memories and fuels the vitality of mortals. Authority over Creation means authority over the planet's Life Force.
We now know that the Abyss manifested the possibility that the Authority of the Crimson Moon was never taken away. The Abyss's power is to make impossible outcomes "real." As Alice said, the Abyss is formed by fates that will not come to pass. However, there is something interesting to add to this.
>Eye of Graeae: In fact, these special fluctuations appear to be caused by the condensation itself. You seem to be able to give form to some unobservable "possibility" through this step. The "condensation" you perform here... Has resulted in the chance that many worlds across the realm of possibility will also feature a "Prime Ice Construct" in that location.
Eye of Graeae: It is fine if you do not understand. No one can see the realm of possibility, as this is little different from directly beholding the Abyss.
With the presence of the traveler, the Cryo energy during condensation is capable of altering other "versions" of Teyvat. The similarity between the Abyss and the realm of possibility may have specific implications.
Returning to Crimson Moon and her authority, we can understand the relationship between the authority of Death and Creation that was tainted by the Abyss. The latter not only has the power to take life force, but also gives life to dead things, curses the souls of the living with unnatural lifespans, and allows beings cursed by the Balemoon to purge memories. It also allows death beings to linger in a state of apparent death and regenerate their bodies given enough time. These are just the known examples. There may be even deeper secrets hidden.
Let's start with the confirmed case: Arlecchino. She is cursed with the Balemoon Bloodfire, which may be a remnant of the Sonnet's resentment exploited by the Crimson Moon Dynasty. In addition to having power over these flames, Arlecchino can create afterimages of things consumed by them.
>The Knave: You see, a certain power runs through my veins. It's not unlike a curse. My flames leave behind shadows of anything they consume. Of course, the chances of those shadows morphing into a sentient entity are exceedingly slim
During the experiment testing the new delusion, she had to fight an afterimage of herself that persisted even after the experiment stopped. This means that "she" is a creation of some sort.
>The Knave: Something's changed... Has the experiment stopped? No, "she" still exists...
Afterward, the researcher confirmed that another authority had been triggered.
>Researcher: Hmm... From what I observed, I would surmise that the new model of Delusion inadvertently drew upon another of the Crimson Moon's authorities besides Death alone, introducing an unstable variable into the equation...
I think Pierro used the full authority of the Crimson Moon in his fight with Ronova. This is visible in the change in color of the energy flow, which shifts from purple to red (Authority of the Death) to magenta (Authority of the Crimson Moon).
As reported in the comment of the cutscene, to harness the full power of the Crimson Moon, one needs the soul and the life force. During their conversation, Hroptatyr tells Pierro that to overcome the authority of death, one must not fear it. This is consistent with what Ronova said to Xbalanque.
>Hroptatyr: If the ultimate goal is to raise your status enough to achieve rule-level power, why waste so much energy on something like mitigating side effects? How can you hope to reject death and seize authority over it at the same time?
Before we continue, I want to propose a hypothesis. The "elements" of the Iridescent Moon may be Pyro and Electro. There is a connection between life so Hydro and Dendro and the other two elements. Pyro triggers the scorching state in a Dendro-based life form, while Electro triggers the activated state.
...Forbidden Creations and Impossible Life
Now, we know that we should look for things in Teyvat that are red or magenta and have an unnatural relationship with death. I hope you won't refuse a field trip for an alchemy lesson.
Our next destination is Dragonspine, where Durin's corpse lies. Dragonspine mountain was partially corrupted by Durin's poisonous blood, but the presence of the Divine Nail probably helped to mitigate its effects. The original Durin possessed an unlimited life force that was slowly regenerating the dragon, even considering the presence of the nail. In fact, Durin's heart was still alive. It's possible that Durin was created using the Authority of the Crimson Moon. One thing that suggests this is the case is that the Frostbearing Tree bears a special fruit in the form of a catalyst after its regeneration.
The color pattern of the Frostbearer resembles that of Ronova, meaning that the authority over death may linger in Dragonspine in some form. My guess is that the original authority used to create Durin was purged by the Nail with the Abyss, being it a simulated thing, only to left what works under the current rules of Teyvat.
Another hint is that, after using the festering dragon marrow on the Festering Desire, the sword changes color from purple to a deep magenta. Furthermore, the marrow is obtained after Durin's blood is purified.
Elynas, another of Gold's creations, shares many similarities with Durin. However, some of Elynas's physical features may provide interesting insights. Both are in an apparent state of death, but Elynas's heart is inactive, moreover the predominant color of Merusea village is deep red, similar to that of the Durin Core's cave. Additionally, Elynas's body contains many red crystals, and his blood forms reddish-pink stones.
The conversation between Albedo and Alice reveals some details about how Gold may have created Durin and Elynas.
>Albedo: First would be the flesh of that immortal monster from the Mare Jivari.
Alice: Interesting...What else?
Albedo: The other is a portion of the "embryo" left by my mother, Rhinedottir.
Alice: Ah, the raw material from which she created her monsters in the past... There's not much of it left. Dragon blood, monster flesh, and embryo... Sounds to me like a formula for creating life?
One initial observation is the mention of an embryo left by Gold. Now, Eitr is an acronym that stands for Embryonic-Ichoric-Telluric-Rudiment.
>Pavlina: Within it is not only some peculiar... flesh, but also the power of the Light Realm that has been modified to specialize in acts of creation, as well as...
Pavlina noticed that the Light Realm Power had been modified to specialize in the act of creation, suggesting that it may be a type of Moon Power. We know that the Hyperboreans experimented with the Frostmoon and the Cryo sovereign's flesh to create the Primordial Human, the same project that led to Albedo's birth.
>Turning to forbidden methods, artisans forged countless fae spirits upon the bones of giant beasts. Having spun fallen Frostmoon light into flawless flesh and blood, they clad it to forms once frail and weak. Such authority to create was once the lord of the firmament's divine prerogative, yet it was handed to mortals by the rebellious envoy, Who dreamed that one day, these little creatures might create a perfect being that could merge with the world.
Furthermore, there is a third element in the mixture that we don't know. I believe that the Telluric in the acronym may refer to the Abyss. We know that Gold worked with different kinds of "soils" in her experiments and we also know that she worked with the abyss. The Eitr may be the same as the Rebis of alchemy: a combination of two opposite natures. For this reason Ronova address it as "the mother of all forbidden creations". Rhinedottir may have succeeded in recreating the Eitr.
The second observation is about Bakunawa's flesh. The note about Bakunawa reports:
>Lacking in intelligence, its actions are solely devoted to an instinct to devour. It is capable of infinite growth and is functionally immortal. However, unlike Gold's other creations, its immortality does not stem from the power of "Life," but rather a more transcendent form of Abyssal power that may be beyond even our Order's understanding.
Gold's other creations are made with the power of life. Since Albedo knew Rhinedottir before her fusion with Naberius, I suspect this power came from the Crimson Moon Authority. Bakunawa may have been another experiment to utilize more of the Abyssal aspect of the moon's power. I'm tempted to say so because of this comment Albedo made:
>Albedo: The corrosive nature of the dragon venom and the heightened vitality of the monster remnants will offset each other, keeping the constructed body in perfect balance. A powerful side effect can be triggered when festering forces and life energy collide.
Finally, considering the annotation in Perinheri, we can conclude that the Hyperborean knowledge was preserved by the Crimson Moon Dynasty:
>The black wolves of the first edition. Archaeological work on Khaenri'ah indicates that this must have been a type of warbeast created using alchemy. Alchemy and the Beastmaster Knights were a mainstay during the Crimson Moon Dynasty, but interest in mechanical engineering during the Eclipse Dynasty would cause it to fall behind.
Mystery Under Moonlight
We saw that Gold's creations a have infinite life force, the power of adapting to their environment, to resurrect themself from their remains and "resurrect" beings that came in contact with them. If we consider all these behaviors, we can see an uncanny similarity between Durin, Elynas and Rerir. Apart the predilection for the purple, red, and magenta dress code, we saw that Durin and Elynas's hearts are crystallized like that of Moon Hunter, as Flins reported.
While it isn't strange that Rerir shows powers connected to the authority of Death it is puzzling that these abilities don't come from Ronova's authority but from the Crimson Moon. This may explain also his title, Blasphemy against death, because what could be more blasphemous than an unyielding will to live in the face of death? Although this makes Rerir and Sonnet thematically similar, he shouldn't have a direct connection to moon powers.
Another strange thing is how Rerir's fragments ended up in Nod-Krai in the first place. If the Moon Reflection has no way out, his fragments should be found there. Instead, they have plagued Nod-Krai since the Cataclysm.
>The Damselette: The tale of his final fate has it that he fell into the "moon's reflection," from which there can be no return.
After the 7.1 story I remembered an interesting book of fairy tales: Tales of a Snow-Winged Goose. One tale is called "Mr. Fox and the Clockwork Guardsman." The Clockwork Guardsman is becoming forgetful and laments his long long life. His good friend suggests that it may be time for the Guardsman to die, so they start searching for death. The following paragraphs are really interesting:
>"But, my fluffiest of friends," the Clockwork Guard said, removing his alloy guard's cap and sighing, "didn't you steal Death from Ms. Toad's dressing table in that heist many years ago? It caused quite the commotion, as I recall. The living things of the world all forgot how to die."
As, we all know, Ms. Toad is Death's envoy, the queen of all that is ugly, cold, and annoying. She guards that coldest jewel, Death itself.
>
>"Ah, I was so young then. I remember I was madly in love with Ms. Jackal, and I wanted to bring her the most expensive treasure I could find."
"And?"
"I succeeded. But she died."
Death slipped from Ms. Jackal's hand and shattered on the ground. The fragments melted into the earth, never to be seen again. And as that happened, the creatures of the world started to die as normal once more, with all that should have been dead now being so. Except, that is, for Mr. Fox, who should have died, but didn't.
From this account seems that someone stole Death (it's authority, probably) from the death emissary to gift it to his loved one, only to see her die and then become immortal. I don't know how relevant this is, but it seems oddly specific to be just a coincidence. Anyway, even if this is an account of an alternate version or future event, it still doesn't explain how Rerir obtained the power of the Crimson Moon.
However, we may have overlooked specific information about his past. From his memories, we learn that Rerir is an orphan, and the most important orphanage in Khaenri'ah was the House of the Hearth. We don't know if the orphanage was still operating during the Eclipse dynasty or if it maintained its traditions. If this is true, then Rerir may have undergone the orphanage's ritual.
>The Knave: The Knave: The Crimson Moon sages looked beyond this world for beings with powers that surpassed the gods — but fearing they might lose control, they subjected these children to a process of "refinement." The adults embraced the children who passed the ritual, telling them: "Within the fireplace, you have traversed the flames between two worlds. Here and now, you are born anew."The book leaves much unsaid, but I suspect that this was their way of "branding" the children they had enrolled — leaving an indelible mark upon them, so that they would forever live in the Crimson Moon's light.
This brings us to another mystery that has been hinted at in many places, but no one has elaborated on it. I'm referring to the concept of the "two worlds."
>The Knave: Those burned away by such flames leave behind a kind of ghostly "afterimage" in the world. In the days of Khaenri'ah, people believed they could be used to bridge the gap between the "two worlds" of life and death.
This implies the existence of a 'World of the Dead', accessible through the power of the Crimson Moon. Those who pass the orphanage's ritual symbolically cross the border in opposite directions and this makes them reborn under the light of the Crimson Moon.
>Voice of the Abyss: I sense your presence, and grant to you death and rebirth...
Voice of the Abyss: Wait, you're... Why are you...
Voice of the Abyss: You have crossed over from another world... transcended fate itself... I have no right to...
Lastly, one final observation: in the Age of the Moon Sisters, the border didn't exist. As the Nod-Krai trailer reports, "In that era, there was no boundary between life and death. Willpower flowed freely among countless beings."
Addendum: Reported Appearance of the Crimson Moon and Additional Speculations
This section provides a brief overview of the appearance of the Crimson Moon in Teyvat. It seems that it may appear during mayor calamities. It is unclear whether it is an atmospheric phenomenon or the literal Crimson Moon.
Liyue:
- Solar Pearl report the appearance of the Crimson Moon after Kunwu completed the Catalyst.
- Blackcliff Agate: It seems that the Cor Purum appeared after a major calamity. Cor Purum is the red variant of Cor Lapis. It is said to wax and wane like the Crimson Moon.
Fontaine
- The Fall of the Faded Castle reports on some ominous phenomena in Fontaine that are linked to the Faded Castle in Petrichor, as well as the appearance of a Bloody Moon.
Khaenri'ah
- Appeared during the Cataclysm. According to the Crimson Moon Semblance, it is fated to reappear:
>"Until the last shadow of the ashen sun burns away the old world, until the Crimson Moon witnesses the immaculate dawn"
Inazuma:
- Red Moon of Yore: A lantern decoration from several centuries ago. A red moon may have appeared during the Cataclysm.
Additional speculations on Moon Lore
Children of the Moon: In Moonlit bamboo forest, one of the Zibai mortal selves says:
>"The wolf packs are children of the moons, they remember the calamities and the tragedies that ensued. Hence, they lament the fate of their mother with each new moon... It is also why those who live among the wolves call the morning stars, the surviving love of the moon, the grievous stars."
Interestingly, Rerir's chess piece (and probably constellation) is a wolf on a crescent moon. Moreover, in the Nod-Krai trailer, the narrating voice says, 'Beyond the moonlight's reach, an ancient shadow brandishes its hunting claws, taking aim at the stars...'
Lord of the Crossroads: In the Columbina weapon, she is referred to as the 'Lord of the Crossroads'. However, in Natlan lore, this entity appears to have both male and female aspects, which are linked to death and sleep respectively.
During the "Dreamy Paititi" quest, a mysterious voice says:
>???: O Syrup Mother, o Phlogiston Father! Let us meld together like sweet honey, and burn like flames...
...The Lord of the Crossroads raises their baton, and onward floats the boat of the golden moon...
The smoldering treasures lie at the crossroads, beneath the silver moon...
The scalding treasures lie beneath the light of the false moon... ...
...
"Farewell, child of the stars! Should we not meet again in this nation... I shall await you in another..."
If the Silver Moon is Columbina and the Frost Moon, then the 'False Moon' could be the Crimson Moon. In any case, we still don't understand what these lines might suggest, even though the false moon projection disappeared after Zibai's resurrection.
