Is Forbidden Knowledge Nibelung considered to be a seperate entity from Nibelung the Sovereign King? (minor 6.7 WQ spoiler)
So the most common theories/interpretations of who the Descenders are is:
- HP > FK Nibelung > Saarelainen> Traveller
- HP > ??? > Saarelainen > Traveller
- HP > ??? > ??? > Traveller (just so you all feel representened lol)
Nibelung being the 2nd Descender is highly contested on here due to the fact that Nibelung is the will of Teyvat himself, and a Descender (according to Rene) is someone who could rival this will.
However, in the recent WQ there might be a little hint soft-confirming the order when the Traveller and Paimon talk about the beings who have landed on the Front Moon in order, skipping the existence of the 3rd Descender:
>Paimon: First, the Heavenly Principles arrived, then the dragon king, and now us!
I think there might be more truth to this small joke Paimon made, since Nod Krai has been heavly hinting to Nibelung being a Descender:
- To preface, Before Sun & Moon declares the Funerary Year to be a battle between the Primordial One and the Second Who Came
- In the AQ, Lauma refers to the FY as a "battle between Descenders"
- Nicole gave us full confirmation the battle in the FY was between the HP and Nibelung
That leads me onto the title of the post, if Nibelung is the will of the world, how does he have a will to rival his own will? I couldn't seem to wrap my head around it, unless Nibelung, who was corrupted by the Abyss, is treated as it's own seperate entity with its own consciousness and will to Nibelung the Sovereign King. Its portrayed in many ways, from the visual difference between white and black,
To names as well (which are very imporant in Teyvat as shown in Natlan). Particularly, the whole conversation where Paimon made the earlier comment striked me as interesting:
The data entries from the Dragon researchers seem to treat Nibelung not as their holy king, but a Dark King, different to the one they had previously known. They no longer refer to Nibelung as the Sovereign King or the Formidable Father (like Neuvillette does) and also treat his will as something seperate to that of uncorrupted Nibelung. Its also quite strange they chose to spell it out like this as it is not the first time Nibelung had been mentioned to be corrupted by the Abyss in a voiced quest. Was it to emphasise the idea the corrupted Nibelung is not really Nibelung?
This brings me onto the way the story portrays the relationship between mind, soul, and body when it comes to the Abyss and Abyssal corruption. We can see characters who struggle with maintaining this relationship to be true to themself, such as the Abyss twin and the Five Sinners; especially Rerir who has gotten the spotlight in the Welking Moon AQ. Another prominent example would be Rhinedottir and her qualms with motherhood. There is also Caribert, who was Caribert in soul but not Caribert in body, and perhaps consciousness but that's debatable. Durin as a character tends to battle this problem too.
In this WQ, there is also something similar with the two mega Kuuhenki which happen to be the dragon researchers Ungien and Maagees-Geti, however instead of Abyssal energy, it was with the ancient moon energy instead:
One issue I take with this idea though is Dvalin. During the prologue he is corrupted by the Abyss, but he is still Dvalin at the end of the day, unless there is a certain limit to which someone can be corrupted by the Abyss and be considered a whole new person/entity? I wonder why we're still skirting around the edges as to who the 2nd Descender is because its not much of a secret so far, unless they're veiling the process in which Nibelung became a Descender.. that might be a nuclear lore bomb.
Anyways, food for thought!
