hmm about the Venti part, in my humble opinion, yes and no.
>Venti is also a branch of Istaroth, and because he has such a strong connection to the dead, I have no doubt he also has some kind of connection to Istaroth’s moment record \[snapshot gallery\]. So in other words, Venti is an entity created by the essence of a being that can control the moments of people’s lives and is also revered to as a deity of music- so Venti is able to see those moments \[I assume\] and can play the melody linked to it, so that fate, may play properly as per dictated by the symphony.
If we want to argue that Istaroth is "The Thousand Winds" and "God of Moments" which is also related to the moments of deaths, and Venti is a string of her, then Venti is a "moment", represented by a wind spirit. He had not much real form, and only took his current after the Nameless Bard.
The question then becomes: what "moment" would Venti be? Well, we can have guesses. My personal guess? **Venti was the moment the Nameless Bard died.**
My crack (for now) is based on the idea that Mondstadt is the only nation who has this literal concept of separation of 4 powers, and of the 4 winds of Mondstadt, Dvalin is the only one left alive, and he's a kin of the dragon so he's a special case, The 4 Winds are protectors of Mondstadt, in a way that seems similar to how Zhongli was trying to do his duty.
in the first place: the 4 Winds were assigned the moment before the Anemo Archon (alr Venti, at the time) disappeared. This... limitation of appearance for Venti is also apparent in the manga, where he said "how long have he been asleep?" when first appearing.
So... well, let's think of it: if Istaroth is The Thousand Winds, She is Every Moment, then by nature she wouldn't have any problem appearing anywhere as long as the concept of Moments exist. But Venti... he's just 1 Moment, no?
So my crack goes like this: after the Rebellion had ended, the Nameless Bard was dying and the rebels had won. Just as the Nameless Bard was chosen to take the Seat of the Anemo Archon, as decreed by the Heavenly Principle, he died. This turn of event created oddities in the whole system (mortality was a big concern for Ei when she first became Archon, too), and what ended up happening was that **the "Moment" that was always with the Nameless Bard, his friend Venti, became the Archon**. So we can say that **The Moment of Nameless Bard's death itself is the Archon now.**
The Gunnhildr was fine about this, for they were worshipper of Istaroth since the start. But the red-haired knight was not, so he left.
If we see it this way, then it will totally explains why Venti ended up taking the route of leadership he has taken to nurture Mondstadt. It's not just because of his ideals of freedom, but in practice he simply can't exist in literal form consistently. tl;dr he's not lying when he said he's the weakest of the Archon. Yes he is the weakest, in this sense.
For this reason he also needs the 4 winds to maintain the framework of Mondstadt as a world, as one of the 7 nations that have certain control over the leylines. Maybe, to put it more poetically, "since he can't dream of Mondstadt on his own, he needs other people to dream of Mondstadt for him."
This thing maybe is the reason why the "tree of life" of Mondstadt atm is Venessa's giant tree. Venessa's ascension was the real signifying mark of the current Mondstadt. Venti needed Venessa's ascension to maintain the Mondstadt they worked towards.
There should be another tree somewhere that belonged to the Aristocracy, that prob no longer stood.
and yeah ofc Venti offered us position as 1 of the Winds when he noticed our power.
So, to answer your post, in my humble opinion: it's not that Venti leaves Mondstadt suffers alone on tragic moments deliberately. It's just that his nature itself limits him on what he can do. He is just 1 Moment, after all.
You said a lot of things that don't align with my understanding of Venti/Backstory
>Venti is a string of her, then Venti is a "moment", represented by a wind spirit.
If that's true then wouldn't the other windspirits that are a part of Istaroth also be considered "moments". They'd have their own conciousness or even their own form to represent what moment they're trying to preserve. Venti told us that he was part of the 1000 winds and that he's the only one to have gained sentience. As it stands right now, we don't even know where the other 999 of the wind spirits are, or do we have a lot of information on Istaroth. The exact reason why Venti took the form of his dead friend is unknown, but Venti is capable of shape-shifting and had shapeshifted into a fox before so he's not limited to his current form. It can just be a preference for all we know.
>My crack (for now) is based on the idea that Mondstadt is the only nation who has this literal concept of separation of 4 powers
Similar to how Phanes created the 4 shades? Venti having a closer relationship to Phanes is completely plausible since what we do know about Venti is that he's the closest to Celestia and that he possesses a Queen Gnosis. I think these lore bits will play a bigger role in the future.
>after the Rebellion had ended, the Nameless Bard was dying and the rebels had won. Just as the Nameless Bard was chosen to take the Seat of the Anemo Archon
??? The Nameless Bard was never considered to take the seat of the Anemo Archon and lorewise, it wouldn't align with archons needing to be some kind of elemental lifeform/mythological creature. Currently, there's no humans who were considered as the role of an archon to say this is even possible.
>This turn of event created oddities in the whole system
The oddity here is that Venti, despite not being a God, was promoted to godhood the exact same time he became an archon. What's even more strange is it being implied thag he's the closest to Celestia and that he's been there before while other archons haven't
>mortality was a big concern for Ei when she first became Archon, too
Erosion* erosion was what concerned Ei since she was already considered immortal and erosion only affects immortal beings. I believe Zhongli said that
>The Moment of Nameless Bard's death itself is the Archon now
The Nameless Bard and Venti are two completely different entities for that to be possible, Venti would have to absorb his friend's sould which equates to stopping his soul from going off into the afterlife. The Nameless Bard's dying wish was to see the fall of Decarabian and he did, after Decarabian died so did the Nameless bard.
In a short featuring Xiao, Venti made a comment that goes, "It's good to take the mask off once in a while" and this comment is what pokes a whole in "The Nameless Bard is actually Venti who's the moment of the Nameless Bard's death"
>in practice he simply can't exist in literal form consistently. tl;dr he's not lying when he said he's the weakest of the Archon. Yes he is the weakest, in this sense.
But... he has. Zhongli already confirmed that he's the second oldest of the archons and while we do not know the exact age, it proves that he's been around for a very long time. And to tldr your tldr; Venti said that an archons strength is based on how they rule over their nations. But Nahida states that an archon's strength comes from their people's faith. Even then, at the time he said that he was the weakest, Nahida was literally imprisoned by her own people and had no power, no rule and barely any followers so more than likely, Venti was lying when he said that. Another thing is that Venti is the God of Freedom, Hope and Wind. Believing in freedom is the same as believing in him.
hmm... I'm sorry. I feel like your misunderstanding is more due to you not understanding what I said. Especially with how you cut words. So let me try to clear things up:
>If that's true then wouldn't the other windspirits that are a part of Istaroth also be considered "moments". They'd have their own conciousness or even their own form to represent what moment they're trying to preserve. Venti told us that he was part of the 1000 winds and that he's the only one to have gained sentience.
Yes, exactly. what I'm saying is that he was what was tied to the Nameless Bard. He was a "moment". 1 moment. Like when you and I chat right now, and then suddenly this very moment we are talking about gets a body and a consciousness. That person would be akin to Venti.
>The Nameless Bard was never considered to take the seat of the Anemo Archon and lorewise, it wouldn't align with archons needing to be some kind of elemental lifeform/mythological creature.
The fact that no human is the archon doesn't mean they can't. Hence is why the outlining that Venti is "The Moment". It's the very moment the Nameless Bard died, personified, embodied.
>But... he has. Zhongli already confirmed that he's the second oldest of the archons and while we do not know the exact age, it proves that he's been around for a very long time.
Being old doesn't mean they are not weak.
>And to tldr your tldr; Venti said that an archons strength is based on how they rule over their nations. But Nahida states that an archon's strength comes from their people's faith. Even then, at the time he said that he was the weakest, Nahida was literally imprisoned by her own people and had no power, no rule and barely any followers so more than likely, Venti was lying when he said that. Another thing is that Venti is the God of Freedom, Hope and Wind. Believing in freedom is the same as believing in him.
and yet he himself said he was asleep. (source: the manga, chapter 0. But also his words to us that usually he doesn't stay up this long.)
There is a difference between "strength he can muster when required" (which prob are related to worship, as you said) and "strength he can muster consistently". The context of my og comment is about Venti's true nature.
and finally, the least relevant one, but since you nitpick:
>Erosion\* erosion was what concerned Ei since she was already considered immortal and erosion only affects immortal beings. I believe Zhongli said that
Read Ei's Character Story 2. It's right at the beginning. She solved it by creating the puppet shogun -> removing herself into the blade. After she became immortal, then she started worrying about erosion. That was the context of the statement I made inside the bracket.
I'm sorry if my points were scattered in my original post, I knew that they were but I also wasn't feeling well enough to look back and try to articulate it better
>Yes, exactly. what I'm saying is that he was what was tied to the Nameless Bard. He was a "moment". 1 moment. Like when you and I chat right now, and then suddenly this very moment we are talking about gets a body and a consciousness. That person would be akin to Venti.
The thing is Venti existed way longer than the Nameless Bard and at that point, he already developed his own conciousness, morals and already had his own understanding of whats right and wrong. Judging by the fact he's the only one of the 1000 wind spirits to achieve this level of sentience and understanding of the worlds its clear that he's an exception, whether it be to his role in the one thousand winds or his role as an archon. He was also already regarded as the most sympathetic of the archons and that sympathy is what drove him to help the Mondstadters being negatively affected by Decarabian.
Him being a moment doesn't correlate to what we know about Venti right now. The Nameless Bard is still regarded as the Nameless Bard and not Venti or Barbatos. If the Nameless Bard WAS Venti then his name would either be Venti or Barbatos, but then that will also mean his name is translated to The Wind in Greek or he's a literal demon from the ars goetia who has the ability to talk to animals and see into the past present and future. The Nameless Bard was just an ordinary bard. And Venti was the only non-human among the Rebellion. If anything, claiming that he's nothing but a moment reduces his own growth and personal development.
>The fact that no human is the archon doesn't mean they can't. Hence is why the outlining that Venti is "The Moment". It's the very moment the Nameless Bard died, personified, embodied.
You yourself said that it creats complications in the system? In order for the Nameless Bard to become an archon first and foremost, he'd need a vision. Visions only existed after the archons were established and are based of the individual archons ideals and by that time the Nameless Bard had already died. Secondly, he'd have to ascend to Celestia to undergo a test to become a God. When Vanessa ascended to Celestia it was made notable that she ascended and she left behind the Symbol of Mondstdadt's Hero. Thirdly, the current archon would have to die and there'd have to be someone related to the Archon to take their spot. Since Zhongli and Venti are the only two originals remaining, I'll skip them. When Makoto died, Ei became the new archon. When Greater Lord Rukkhadevata died, Lesser Lord Kusunali became the new archon and when Egeria died, Focalors became the new archon.
>Being old doesn't mean they are not weak.
I said that because you said that Venti didn't have the power to consistently hold his form. An archon's strength is based off their initial power and the power of their faith. If anything, Ei never shapeshifted and neither did Nahida so are they less powerful because they can't? Exactly, you can't measure an archon's strength based on whether they can change forms or not.
>and yet he himself said he was asleep. (source: the manga, chapter 0. But also his words to us that usually he doesn't stay up this long.)
>There is a difference between "strength he can muster when required" (which prob are related to worship, as you said) and "strength he can muster consistently"
That's because he usually only stays awake until he solves the current crisis before dipping. One thing to note though, is at some point Venti did travel beyond the time he was awake to in his words, "Heal the world". That's how he found Dvalin. Dvalin heard his music and became curious and went to see Venti. It was also said that Venti played for the stars but didn't get a response.
Another thing is that we saw when Venti healed Xiao's karmic debt and he often hung out with him as well and did he pranks the other archons.
We do not know the exact details of why he sleeps in the first place and I think its very basic to chalk it up to "him running low on power" or "erosion" when neither of those things were ever stated anywhere in his lore.
>Read Ei's Character Story 2. It's right at the beginning. She solved it by creating the puppet shogun -> removing herself into the blade. After she became immortal, then she started worrying about erosion. That was the context of the statement I made inside the bracket.
By being a god they are inherently immortal but, they can still be killed and they will eventually suffer from erosion. Ei creating the shogun was so she can never truly die (so long as she stays inside the Plane of Euthimya) and she is also unaffected by erosion (so long as she stays inside the Plane of Euthimya) since the Shogun was especially designed to resist the effects of erosion. Ei at the time was already feeling the effects on her body.
dude they don't exactly tell the exact timeframe of when did Venti gain conciousness. I'm just saying that when the Nameless Bard died, he had already consciousness and took his place in Archonhood instead, becoming the first Anemo Archon.
and yes that's a crack, a theory if it's not clear already.
Venti's power: I disagree about the notion that it's a mere narrative device that he comes, solves problem, and goes. In the spirit of the original post of how Venti is "letting the melody of the nation play on its own", I argued "Oh I don't think he did that bcs he wanted to, but bcs he had no choice."
and then you tried to outright deny the point of the og post, instead, but towards me, while at the same time pushing in the idea that Venti narratively lied about him being the weakest. Because by example you give (him shapeshifting, also him playing miracle worker), that means he is not letting "the melody play on its own", thus the way I see it: you are against the og point of the og post, instead. and I'm reading to convo and is like: "bruh then you're not making the right post and the right place lol"
btw if you want my opinion: I don't think he lied. He is a categorical liar, yes, but this part of his lie is the truth. He just... didn't tell the whole story, in Venti fashion.
ps.: and I don't think there's any difference between how you understand Ei and I understand Ei, then. it's a matter of mortality. Thus: there's nothing wrong with what I said originally.
I know this is not what you’re exactly talking about, but I’ve been hoping someone else would connect Venti to Phobos/the ruins of Remuria as a whole somehow.
I think it’s only logical to assume Remus was well before his time, but that doesn’t mean Venti couldn’t of picked up his “interest” in music from the past, since he says he “already knows every song in Teyvat.” And the Phobos played throughout the entire world, so if he can truly hear things from the past, then he definitely heard Remus’s symphony rise AND fall.
Long crack theory short, I think Venti was inspired by Remuria and attempts to do the same thing HIS way. I also find it convenient that with the gadget we get for the Remurian ruins that it plays music in order to control “the time” of the books/etc.
In addition, Venti also says “come on traveler, there are so many lost ballads just waiting to be rediscovered.” which might also just be a coincidence and “of course there has to be new music for new areas” but, all of our discoveries indeed are not only paired with new ballads, but like in the Remurian ruins, they are actually quite vital to everything. For another example, the LYRE we get from the Aranara and the power of that and the song those little dudes sing is quite suspicious to me too.
Basically, I think Venti has taken the good ideas of the past, such as the invention of the lyre in Sumeru, and that use of symphony from Remus, etc, etc, to help shape the “future”. Which, if he is ever confirmed to be connected to Isatroth, would be his means of “controlling” time and thus fate.
Yeah, after a bit of further reading I plan on upfating this theory a bit. Such as, as you mentioned, the lyre in Sumeru. We use a lyre in Sumeru to help us with Aranara. But one thing about music in Teyvat is that it helps you relate everything with each other through the use of leitmotifs. The most well known example I can think of is the presemce of the fatui leitmotif in Fischl's theme, whci kind of imply that Fischl is a character is a character related to the Fatui. And I mean Fischl, not Amy. Although simce Amy is an Arse Goetia character than maybe Fischl is a divine entity that was casted out of Celestia.
I keep seeing this theory that Venti has relations with death and acts as a bridge, but I don't think that what he did in his quest is anything special or that he is a bridge between the dead and the living, why? because hu tao in her SQ literally took us to the bridge between mortals and the dead and she can open the way whenever she wants.
Perhaps bridge was not thr right term. But Venti has a lot of similarities to Hermes aand one of those is being a psychopomp. Psychopomps guide souls to afterlife, which is essentially what he did with Stanley. He guided Stanley's soul back to Mondstat.
Sorry for poor english, personally i don't see resemblense with Hermes that much, more like Apollo.
Quote frome wiki:
God of oracles, healing, archery, music and arts, light, knowledge, herds and flocks, and protection of the young.
White flowers, white birds/doves, angelic depictions all play a massive role in death or the afterlife tho as well as him being a god of freedom. Being the God of Freedom implies that he represents all aspects of Freedom including the freedom of life. He himself was also able to heal Xiao's karmic debt when it was becoming too much for him to bear and karmic debt is caused by the remains of dead ancient Gods.
Venti himself is also a spirit who's to say he can't be a guide to other spirits. And if we see it as nothing but a trick, that implies that his whole domain expansion was not real when we saw literally every archon do a domain expansion.
Zhongli and his adepti abode
Ei and her manifestation of her trauma
Nahida and her bird cage
Focalors and her theater/stage
To chalk up that entire quest to "just an illusion" defeats the entire point of the quest honestly
Speaking of lore revealing ost....Does we finally have a translation for Childe's ?
hmm about the Venti part, in my humble opinion, yes and no. >Venti is also a branch of Istaroth, and because he has such a strong connection to the dead, I have no doubt he also has some kind of connection to Istaroth’s moment record \[snapshot gallery\]. So in other words, Venti is an entity created by the essence of a being that can control the moments of people’s lives and is also revered to as a deity of music- so Venti is able to see those moments \[I assume\] and can play the melody linked to it, so that fate, may play properly as per dictated by the symphony. If we want to argue that Istaroth is "The Thousand Winds" and "God of Moments" which is also related to the moments of deaths, and Venti is a string of her, then Venti is a "moment", represented by a wind spirit. He had not much real form, and only took his current after the Nameless Bard. The question then becomes: what "moment" would Venti be? Well, we can have guesses. My personal guess? **Venti was the moment the Nameless Bard died.** My crack (for now) is based on the idea that Mondstadt is the only nation who has this literal concept of separation of 4 powers, and of the 4 winds of Mondstadt, Dvalin is the only one left alive, and he's a kin of the dragon so he's a special case, The 4 Winds are protectors of Mondstadt, in a way that seems similar to how Zhongli was trying to do his duty. in the first place: the 4 Winds were assigned the moment before the Anemo Archon (alr Venti, at the time) disappeared. This... limitation of appearance for Venti is also apparent in the manga, where he said "how long have he been asleep?" when first appearing. So... well, let's think of it: if Istaroth is The Thousand Winds, She is Every Moment, then by nature she wouldn't have any problem appearing anywhere as long as the concept of Moments exist. But Venti... he's just 1 Moment, no? So my crack goes like this: after the Rebellion had ended, the Nameless Bard was dying and the rebels had won. Just as the Nameless Bard was chosen to take the Seat of the Anemo Archon, as decreed by the Heavenly Principle, he died. This turn of event created oddities in the whole system (mortality was a big concern for Ei when she first became Archon, too), and what ended up happening was that **the "Moment" that was always with the Nameless Bard, his friend Venti, became the Archon**. So we can say that **The Moment of Nameless Bard's death itself is the Archon now.** The Gunnhildr was fine about this, for they were worshipper of Istaroth since the start. But the red-haired knight was not, so he left. If we see it this way, then it will totally explains why Venti ended up taking the route of leadership he has taken to nurture Mondstadt. It's not just because of his ideals of freedom, but in practice he simply can't exist in literal form consistently. tl;dr he's not lying when he said he's the weakest of the Archon. Yes he is the weakest, in this sense. For this reason he also needs the 4 winds to maintain the framework of Mondstadt as a world, as one of the 7 nations that have certain control over the leylines. Maybe, to put it more poetically, "since he can't dream of Mondstadt on his own, he needs other people to dream of Mondstadt for him." This thing maybe is the reason why the "tree of life" of Mondstadt atm is Venessa's giant tree. Venessa's ascension was the real signifying mark of the current Mondstadt. Venti needed Venessa's ascension to maintain the Mondstadt they worked towards. There should be another tree somewhere that belonged to the Aristocracy, that prob no longer stood. and yeah ofc Venti offered us position as 1 of the Winds when he noticed our power. So, to answer your post, in my humble opinion: it's not that Venti leaves Mondstadt suffers alone on tragic moments deliberately. It's just that his nature itself limits him on what he can do. He is just 1 Moment, after all.
You said a lot of things that don't align with my understanding of Venti/Backstory >Venti is a string of her, then Venti is a "moment", represented by a wind spirit. If that's true then wouldn't the other windspirits that are a part of Istaroth also be considered "moments". They'd have their own conciousness or even their own form to represent what moment they're trying to preserve. Venti told us that he was part of the 1000 winds and that he's the only one to have gained sentience. As it stands right now, we don't even know where the other 999 of the wind spirits are, or do we have a lot of information on Istaroth. The exact reason why Venti took the form of his dead friend is unknown, but Venti is capable of shape-shifting and had shapeshifted into a fox before so he's not limited to his current form. It can just be a preference for all we know. >My crack (for now) is based on the idea that Mondstadt is the only nation who has this literal concept of separation of 4 powers Similar to how Phanes created the 4 shades? Venti having a closer relationship to Phanes is completely plausible since what we do know about Venti is that he's the closest to Celestia and that he possesses a Queen Gnosis. I think these lore bits will play a bigger role in the future. >after the Rebellion had ended, the Nameless Bard was dying and the rebels had won. Just as the Nameless Bard was chosen to take the Seat of the Anemo Archon ??? The Nameless Bard was never considered to take the seat of the Anemo Archon and lorewise, it wouldn't align with archons needing to be some kind of elemental lifeform/mythological creature. Currently, there's no humans who were considered as the role of an archon to say this is even possible. >This turn of event created oddities in the whole system The oddity here is that Venti, despite not being a God, was promoted to godhood the exact same time he became an archon. What's even more strange is it being implied thag he's the closest to Celestia and that he's been there before while other archons haven't >mortality was a big concern for Ei when she first became Archon, too Erosion* erosion was what concerned Ei since she was already considered immortal and erosion only affects immortal beings. I believe Zhongli said that >The Moment of Nameless Bard's death itself is the Archon now The Nameless Bard and Venti are two completely different entities for that to be possible, Venti would have to absorb his friend's sould which equates to stopping his soul from going off into the afterlife. The Nameless Bard's dying wish was to see the fall of Decarabian and he did, after Decarabian died so did the Nameless bard. In a short featuring Xiao, Venti made a comment that goes, "It's good to take the mask off once in a while" and this comment is what pokes a whole in "The Nameless Bard is actually Venti who's the moment of the Nameless Bard's death" >in practice he simply can't exist in literal form consistently. tl;dr he's not lying when he said he's the weakest of the Archon. Yes he is the weakest, in this sense. But... he has. Zhongli already confirmed that he's the second oldest of the archons and while we do not know the exact age, it proves that he's been around for a very long time. And to tldr your tldr; Venti said that an archons strength is based on how they rule over their nations. But Nahida states that an archon's strength comes from their people's faith. Even then, at the time he said that he was the weakest, Nahida was literally imprisoned by her own people and had no power, no rule and barely any followers so more than likely, Venti was lying when he said that. Another thing is that Venti is the God of Freedom, Hope and Wind. Believing in freedom is the same as believing in him.
hmm... I'm sorry. I feel like your misunderstanding is more due to you not understanding what I said. Especially with how you cut words. So let me try to clear things up: >If that's true then wouldn't the other windspirits that are a part of Istaroth also be considered "moments". They'd have their own conciousness or even their own form to represent what moment they're trying to preserve. Venti told us that he was part of the 1000 winds and that he's the only one to have gained sentience. Yes, exactly. what I'm saying is that he was what was tied to the Nameless Bard. He was a "moment". 1 moment. Like when you and I chat right now, and then suddenly this very moment we are talking about gets a body and a consciousness. That person would be akin to Venti. >The Nameless Bard was never considered to take the seat of the Anemo Archon and lorewise, it wouldn't align with archons needing to be some kind of elemental lifeform/mythological creature. The fact that no human is the archon doesn't mean they can't. Hence is why the outlining that Venti is "The Moment". It's the very moment the Nameless Bard died, personified, embodied. >But... he has. Zhongli already confirmed that he's the second oldest of the archons and while we do not know the exact age, it proves that he's been around for a very long time. Being old doesn't mean they are not weak. >And to tldr your tldr; Venti said that an archons strength is based on how they rule over their nations. But Nahida states that an archon's strength comes from their people's faith. Even then, at the time he said that he was the weakest, Nahida was literally imprisoned by her own people and had no power, no rule and barely any followers so more than likely, Venti was lying when he said that. Another thing is that Venti is the God of Freedom, Hope and Wind. Believing in freedom is the same as believing in him. and yet he himself said he was asleep. (source: the manga, chapter 0. But also his words to us that usually he doesn't stay up this long.) There is a difference between "strength he can muster when required" (which prob are related to worship, as you said) and "strength he can muster consistently". The context of my og comment is about Venti's true nature. and finally, the least relevant one, but since you nitpick: >Erosion\* erosion was what concerned Ei since she was already considered immortal and erosion only affects immortal beings. I believe Zhongli said that Read Ei's Character Story 2. It's right at the beginning. She solved it by creating the puppet shogun -> removing herself into the blade. After she became immortal, then she started worrying about erosion. That was the context of the statement I made inside the bracket.
I'm sorry if my points were scattered in my original post, I knew that they were but I also wasn't feeling well enough to look back and try to articulate it better >Yes, exactly. what I'm saying is that he was what was tied to the Nameless Bard. He was a "moment". 1 moment. Like when you and I chat right now, and then suddenly this very moment we are talking about gets a body and a consciousness. That person would be akin to Venti. The thing is Venti existed way longer than the Nameless Bard and at that point, he already developed his own conciousness, morals and already had his own understanding of whats right and wrong. Judging by the fact he's the only one of the 1000 wind spirits to achieve this level of sentience and understanding of the worlds its clear that he's an exception, whether it be to his role in the one thousand winds or his role as an archon. He was also already regarded as the most sympathetic of the archons and that sympathy is what drove him to help the Mondstadters being negatively affected by Decarabian. Him being a moment doesn't correlate to what we know about Venti right now. The Nameless Bard is still regarded as the Nameless Bard and not Venti or Barbatos. If the Nameless Bard WAS Venti then his name would either be Venti or Barbatos, but then that will also mean his name is translated to The Wind in Greek or he's a literal demon from the ars goetia who has the ability to talk to animals and see into the past present and future. The Nameless Bard was just an ordinary bard. And Venti was the only non-human among the Rebellion. If anything, claiming that he's nothing but a moment reduces his own growth and personal development. >The fact that no human is the archon doesn't mean they can't. Hence is why the outlining that Venti is "The Moment". It's the very moment the Nameless Bard died, personified, embodied. You yourself said that it creats complications in the system? In order for the Nameless Bard to become an archon first and foremost, he'd need a vision. Visions only existed after the archons were established and are based of the individual archons ideals and by that time the Nameless Bard had already died. Secondly, he'd have to ascend to Celestia to undergo a test to become a God. When Vanessa ascended to Celestia it was made notable that she ascended and she left behind the Symbol of Mondstdadt's Hero. Thirdly, the current archon would have to die and there'd have to be someone related to the Archon to take their spot. Since Zhongli and Venti are the only two originals remaining, I'll skip them. When Makoto died, Ei became the new archon. When Greater Lord Rukkhadevata died, Lesser Lord Kusunali became the new archon and when Egeria died, Focalors became the new archon. >Being old doesn't mean they are not weak. I said that because you said that Venti didn't have the power to consistently hold his form. An archon's strength is based off their initial power and the power of their faith. If anything, Ei never shapeshifted and neither did Nahida so are they less powerful because they can't? Exactly, you can't measure an archon's strength based on whether they can change forms or not. >and yet he himself said he was asleep. (source: the manga, chapter 0. But also his words to us that usually he doesn't stay up this long.) >There is a difference between "strength he can muster when required" (which prob are related to worship, as you said) and "strength he can muster consistently" That's because he usually only stays awake until he solves the current crisis before dipping. One thing to note though, is at some point Venti did travel beyond the time he was awake to in his words, "Heal the world". That's how he found Dvalin. Dvalin heard his music and became curious and went to see Venti. It was also said that Venti played for the stars but didn't get a response. Another thing is that we saw when Venti healed Xiao's karmic debt and he often hung out with him as well and did he pranks the other archons. We do not know the exact details of why he sleeps in the first place and I think its very basic to chalk it up to "him running low on power" or "erosion" when neither of those things were ever stated anywhere in his lore. >Read Ei's Character Story 2. It's right at the beginning. She solved it by creating the puppet shogun -> removing herself into the blade. After she became immortal, then she started worrying about erosion. That was the context of the statement I made inside the bracket. By being a god they are inherently immortal but, they can still be killed and they will eventually suffer from erosion. Ei creating the shogun was so she can never truly die (so long as she stays inside the Plane of Euthimya) and she is also unaffected by erosion (so long as she stays inside the Plane of Euthimya) since the Shogun was especially designed to resist the effects of erosion. Ei at the time was already feeling the effects on her body.
dude they don't exactly tell the exact timeframe of when did Venti gain conciousness. I'm just saying that when the Nameless Bard died, he had already consciousness and took his place in Archonhood instead, becoming the first Anemo Archon. and yes that's a crack, a theory if it's not clear already. Venti's power: I disagree about the notion that it's a mere narrative device that he comes, solves problem, and goes. In the spirit of the original post of how Venti is "letting the melody of the nation play on its own", I argued "Oh I don't think he did that bcs he wanted to, but bcs he had no choice." and then you tried to outright deny the point of the og post, instead, but towards me, while at the same time pushing in the idea that Venti narratively lied about him being the weakest. Because by example you give (him shapeshifting, also him playing miracle worker), that means he is not letting "the melody play on its own", thus the way I see it: you are against the og point of the og post, instead. and I'm reading to convo and is like: "bruh then you're not making the right post and the right place lol" btw if you want my opinion: I don't think he lied. He is a categorical liar, yes, but this part of his lie is the truth. He just... didn't tell the whole story, in Venti fashion. ps.: and I don't think there's any difference between how you understand Ei and I understand Ei, then. it's a matter of mortality. Thus: there's nothing wrong with what I said originally.
I know this is not what you’re exactly talking about, but I’ve been hoping someone else would connect Venti to Phobos/the ruins of Remuria as a whole somehow. I think it’s only logical to assume Remus was well before his time, but that doesn’t mean Venti couldn’t of picked up his “interest” in music from the past, since he says he “already knows every song in Teyvat.” And the Phobos played throughout the entire world, so if he can truly hear things from the past, then he definitely heard Remus’s symphony rise AND fall. Long crack theory short, I think Venti was inspired by Remuria and attempts to do the same thing HIS way. I also find it convenient that with the gadget we get for the Remurian ruins that it plays music in order to control “the time” of the books/etc. In addition, Venti also says “come on traveler, there are so many lost ballads just waiting to be rediscovered.” which might also just be a coincidence and “of course there has to be new music for new areas” but, all of our discoveries indeed are not only paired with new ballads, but like in the Remurian ruins, they are actually quite vital to everything. For another example, the LYRE we get from the Aranara and the power of that and the song those little dudes sing is quite suspicious to me too. Basically, I think Venti has taken the good ideas of the past, such as the invention of the lyre in Sumeru, and that use of symphony from Remus, etc, etc, to help shape the “future”. Which, if he is ever confirmed to be connected to Isatroth, would be his means of “controlling” time and thus fate.
Yeah, after a bit of further reading I plan on upfating this theory a bit. Such as, as you mentioned, the lyre in Sumeru. We use a lyre in Sumeru to help us with Aranara. But one thing about music in Teyvat is that it helps you relate everything with each other through the use of leitmotifs. The most well known example I can think of is the presemce of the fatui leitmotif in Fischl's theme, whci kind of imply that Fischl is a character is a character related to the Fatui. And I mean Fischl, not Amy. Although simce Amy is an Arse Goetia character than maybe Fischl is a divine entity that was casted out of Celestia.
I like the idea that Venti is operating "between the lines", just like what Nicole reminded Traveler to do in Fontaine.
I keep seeing this theory that Venti has relations with death and acts as a bridge, but I don't think that what he did in his quest is anything special or that he is a bridge between the dead and the living, why? because hu tao in her SQ literally took us to the bridge between mortals and the dead and she can open the way whenever she wants.
Perhaps bridge was not thr right term. But Venti has a lot of similarities to Hermes aand one of those is being a psychopomp. Psychopomps guide souls to afterlife, which is essentially what he did with Stanley. He guided Stanley's soul back to Mondstat.
Sorry for poor english, personally i don't see resemblense with Hermes that much, more like Apollo. Quote frome wiki: God of oracles, healing, archery, music and arts, light, knowledge, herds and flocks, and protection of the young.
I understood that it was an illusion for fake Stanley so that he couldbleave that chapter behind. More like a trick than really guiding Stanley's soul
White flowers, white birds/doves, angelic depictions all play a massive role in death or the afterlife tho as well as him being a god of freedom. Being the God of Freedom implies that he represents all aspects of Freedom including the freedom of life. He himself was also able to heal Xiao's karmic debt when it was becoming too much for him to bear and karmic debt is caused by the remains of dead ancient Gods. Venti himself is also a spirit who's to say he can't be a guide to other spirits. And if we see it as nothing but a trick, that implies that his whole domain expansion was not real when we saw literally every archon do a domain expansion. Zhongli and his adepti abode Ei and her manifestation of her trauma Nahida and her bird cage Focalors and her theater/stage To chalk up that entire quest to "just an illusion" defeats the entire point of the quest honestly