Baal's Motivations and Inazuma's Histroical Parallels | Genshin Impact Lore, Theory & Speculation

[Music] in this video we'll explore the inspiration and parallels that innozuma has with real world history as well as look at limited in-game accounts we have about the region this will help us theorise on the events and the motivations of those involved we know inazuma is governed by the bakufu a former military government that was present during feudalism in japan another way to refer to it is the shogunate headed by the shogun where all that throughout feudalism evolved as it gained power so to start off a brief history so we can define our terms and set the stage for the specific period we'll be exploring the title saitai shogun which means a general that subdues or quells barbarians was first obtained by termo no atamaro given to him by emperor kamu in 794 ce during this time the emperor would have control over what would become the shogunate the shogun's jurisdiction was limited to military forces however as the feudal nature of japanese society grew military control became paramount to the control of the country as a result the shogun gained more and more influence causing the emperor to take a more symbolic role of sovereignty minamoto yoritamo established the first shogunate in kamikura in 1185 ce on top of their military powers they gain administrative and the judicial ones the shogun's position was hereditary meaning it would often be passed down to family or on the rare occasion to close acquaintances you could say it's comparable to a king which was common in the west at this time they appointed military governors to head each province these were originally known as shugo which means governor protector these governors then would assign stewards to supervise the estates of which these provinces were then divided into establishing a hierarchical network which proved to be an effective way of governance the kamakura shogunate collapsed in 1333 the current emperor godiga desired a return to a time where his position held a monopoly on power he attempted to go against the shogunate but ultimately failed as a result he was exiled but with time he managed to sway some of the warlords who were unhappy the status quo amongst them was ashikaga takayuji the commander within the shogunate he launched an attack on hyenkyo while another warlord by the name of nitai yoshida attacked kamakura with both of them coming out victorious ashikaga wished to become the next shogun but godaigo refused as his desire was to hold on to his dominance unfortunately for him he was overthrown and exiled for a second time replacing him with another emperor and started ashikaga's reign as shogun for the next 150 years i share this example to give you a clear idea of how the power of the shogun has grown by this time the shugo from the previous area became increasingly independent but the 16th century they're more commonly known as daimyo land-holding warlords this led into a period known as the sun goku where multiple clans fought for control over japan the ashikaga shogunate was later dissolved by oda nobunaga at the end of the century his motives for waging war was for political unification this was later achieved by his successor through a reformed system but his reputation was damaged when he led failed attempts to invade korea as a result eventually a feudal system was reestablished under the takigawa shogunate which brings us the start of the e-day period so what does this all have to do with inazuma but the point we've stopped at is the point i believe is the inspiration for the region but i also wanted to introduce the power dynamics within this feudal system the electro archon is known as the ride in shogun this could suggest that she has more of a hands-on approach when it comes to control over her domain when compared to our previous two archons barbatos and morax with that said i believe most of the control will be carried out by her military and the daimyo this will not entirely be a unified system so in order to maintain control the shogun must exert restrictions accordingly [Music] from the early 17th century up until the 19th was a period of time where japan adopted an isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku which means closed country a series of edicts were issued these edicts often didn't last a long time but there were many another word for edict is a decree these included japanese ships were strictly forbidden to leave and travel to foreign countries the native population was prohibited from going abroad any that attempted to leave would be executed if caught those who were returning from overseas after residing in another country will be put to death a notable one was the restrictions on catholicism some priests were even tortured until they renounced their faith these restrictions triggered the shimabar rebellion during the start of the period where christian rebels and masterless samurai known as ronin fought against the daimyo of the shimabara domain this ultimately failed and greatly hurt the christian movement within japan it's also worth noting that this rebellion was the largest conflict during the edo period and the time under the takagawa shogunate was relatively peaceful with very little conflict in years proceeding trade also saw significant restrictions and it was mostly done through a centralized place the port of nagasaki trade with china and korea was allowed there was also trade with a few ethnic groups indigenous to japan and there was a series of islands to the south west the most notable trade partner however were the dutch as they were the only europeans permitted and their trade was done at the jima an artificial island built originally to trade with the portuguese in the bay of nagasaki part of the trade agreement required the dutch to report to the shogunate on world affairs especially when it came to europe they also aided them in keeping up with the times when it came to the technological front so that isolationist mindset didn't entirely hinder their progress before we finish up on history and start to discuss inazuma i think understanding the rationale behind sukoku policies could give us an idea to the archon's motivations the shogunate wanted to separate japan from influence primarily coming from portugal and spain they were not in favor of the colonial and religious aspects of these countries and they were considered untrustworthy and a threat to the stability of the shogunate it would not found that catholicism was spreading in the southern parts of japan so by stopping contact with these countries the spread could be quelled but this wasn't the sole reason for the isolationist mindset the policies also act as a mean to restrict other lords within the country the tozuma daimyos for example these trade links to a huge profit during the shangaku period bolstering themselves and their military prowess while limiting their axis the shogunate could ensure dominance that the daimyos would no longer have access to such revenue streams to bolster themselves by funneling the majority of their trade through nagasaki and away from other parts of the country the bakufu were able to impose taxes to bolster their own treasury this was important as a lack of wealth had proven to be a limited factor to the governments that had preceded them we know that inazuma has become isolationist within the last year of in-game time a series of edicts or decrees have been issued by the archon but the one that specifically is outlined is the vision hunt decree it declares vision should be in the sole hands of divinity but the reasons for this aren't exactly clear youngly states that visions are magical foci bestowed upon those who have been acknowledged by the gods and that the shogun precedes them as divine blessings that should be under the sole dominion of divinity she is stated as the god of eternity and that she is trying to eliminate any unstable element that could pose a threat to her eternal realm this parallels the takigawa shogunate attempting to maintain their foothold on their dominance it could be that baal sees vision holders as a threat to her supremacy and the idea they should be under the sole dominion of divinity could well be a cover-up for her true motivations of eliminating any threat that could topple her established hold on the region so if baal parallels takagawa could there be a parallel for vision holders they could be a representation for the daimyos but i believe they actually represent christians and the catholic priests or maybe more specifically the visions themselves are representation for christianity what is interesting is the symbolism and terms used around celestia visions and gnosis all appear to take heavy influence from christianity seizing and controlling visions could be seen as an act against celestia itself her true motivations for such an act could be beyond maintaining control of inner zuma and i believe it is something we will not be seeing until much later where we finally discover the truth but more on the shogun later so does innozuma have daimyos well i believe the kamisato house is one example of this in leo you will find a character known as atsuko originally from inazuma she escaped aboard a raft she comments how restrictive her homeland has become and how to simply leave you need to go through a long approval process with the kanjo bugyo in the eido period there was something known as the sambugyo which means the three administrators these included the kanjo bugyo who were responsible for finances now the role of the gentian equivalent is not clear besides them having ties to border control their duties could extend to finances and maybe even trade atsuko describes innozuma as a very restrictive place and she escaped because she had desire for freedom by though a man from leo harbor was the one who rescued her he enforces the point by saying it's nigh impossible to get into inazuma and the border is impenetrable which reflects strict policies similar to sukoku other administrators include their g-shot bugio and the mashi bugio the jisha bugyo was associated with management of shrines and temples ji shah being a compound of ji representing buddhist temples and shah representing shinto shrines we know that ayaka's brother ayato holds the position of shibugyo in the kamisato house so he appears to be a close equivalent to the jishabugyo if there is a jebugia that oversees buddhist temples this is still a moan but it could be that they split the jeet and the shah into two different houses or that an equivalent of buddhist temples will not be present in inuzuma the mashibugio is kind of the odd one out of the three it covers all kinds of roles pertaining to the public these would include positions such as chief of police judicial positions firefighting or tax collection what makes it unique to the previous two is it was extended to anybody whereas the other two were limited to daimio's what this can tell us about ayato is it could well be a daimyo a feudal lord that owns land and may have his own small military it could even give us hints towards the relations with the shogun herself he could for example have close ties to her and be complicit in her plans alternatively he could be against the actions of the shogunate but have his hands tired as they've stripped him of his opportunity to gain power to oppose it this concept could lead to some interesting dynamics within in the zuma if there are more daimyos which there will be most likely we could see a range of views on policies at the bakufu and see an unified network i know if i don't cover this people will scream in the comments about it so i'm doing it alright to those unaware there are a series of bottled notes you can find through our dragon spine these letters appear to be sent between two old friends from the text it appears they have met in person in the past so the receiver may well have traveled to innozuma prior to becoming sealed off one year ago his description reads a hefty bottle that came drifting from the waves carrying tokens of an old friendship and hopes of being reunited these bottles appear to come from innozuma this is suggested through the lion we once believed that war was something that only happened in fairy tales and legends but now each and every one of us trembles under her excellency's thundering wrath the beach that we used to go to has been sealed but i found a way to get this letter out nonetheless thundering graff being a huge hint towards her excellency being baal the bottles themselves don't really give as much information besides confirming increasing restrictions and tension in the zuma it also suggests there is some sort of conflict within but we'll go into what that could be later first i want to speculate on who is sending and receiving these bottles i've seen people theorize that the receiver is their luke the reason being the mention of dandelion wine and a mark of an insignia hinting they are somebody from a prestigious household it is stated that the receiver had stopped replying to the letters at some point though so why would the luke stop replying i think this somewhat hurts the case the other theory is that it is dilutes deceased father must decrepus the problem is he died when dialect was 18 and he's supposed to be 22 now that means he died four years prior to the game the letter talk of restrictions from the shogun that only started happening within the last year this in my opinion discounts him as well so who do i think the receiver was i believe it is a character known as varka who is the grand master and knight de boris of the knights of vivonius and monstat but wait grandmaster that's jean right wrong she's the acting grandmaster in varka's absence as grandmaster it makes sense for him to have his own insignia and his absence because it is stated that he departed an expedition half a year ago before the traveler arrived in monstat vaca is extremely well traveled he often leaves jean to perform his duties in his absence while he is galavanting off on expeditions at some point he may have been to inazuma and met with the sender this would also make sense as the sender wants to hear his stories which is perfect for somebody who is well traveled is likely as much older than other characters and more of a veteran they are described as old friends suggesting it may have been a while since i last spoke and that they go a long way back i've seen a lot of people jump to the conclusion that the sender is ayaka i personally don't believe this is the case though as ayaka is quite young and i think the sender is somebody a bit older as far as voice lines go when it comes to ayaka she barely mentions the shogun i really get the impression she's wrapped up in the camisato house arts and festivities and is somewhat sheltered from what is really going on but this is just speculation based on the information we have she could well be concerned with the direction that inazuma is going so we can only take a step at the dark who the sender is we may well meet this person ourselves at the restaurant mentioned here that i have no idea how to say and i won't even attempt to the restaurant is an existing game at the moment so i'd say it's safe to assume that it's in a zuma the bottled letter mentions war up until now we were given the impression of higher tensions but not outright war this could be hyperbole or we could actually suggest there is conflict in inizuma right now considering we're in the early stages of inazuma's isolationist policies this could align with a conflict between the christians and the daimyo at the shimabara rebellion this conflict wasn't widespread just a specific location in the southwest of japan inazuma could be seeing a similar situation and the war isn't as widespread but contained to a small location probably where the center is located this could explain why we're not hearing about war in inazuma from multiple sources but just hearing about type restrictions instead ayaka's voice lines give the impression she is isolated from this conflict she talks about passing her time through arts he may be aware of edo period r as a result of the sokoku policies in japan culture was emboldened this had a huge positive effect on the country's wealth and culture through the very restricted trade with the dutch this gives me the impression this is not a war-torn country as many may suspect but it is just a small pocket of conflict while there is still prosperity and peace for the most part there appears to be a lot of assumptions from people on the outside when it comes to nizuma as ourani suggests i'm not sure if people without visions would be worse off i think the information we receive from such npcs must be taken with a pinch of salt as it is hard for them to know exactly what the situation is due to the type restrictions now if we take this parallel to its extreme there is one big key to the sokoku policy and that is the dutch we know that monstat and leo are currently cut off from inizuma so who could be taking the role of the dutch what faction has eyes and ears in every crevice of tevat that is the fatoui so what information do we have to suggest that the fatoui still have access to unizuma first of all tartaglia has a letter that he sent home to his family in it it states this letter should come with two kites from liua a rattle drum two porcelain dolls from inner zuma and a crate full of various snacks telling us that at some point he had been to inazuma on his travels most likely within the same trip that brought him to lyowa furthermore he has purchased goods from there which tells us they may well be in trade scaramucci introduces himself as the vagrant of inazuma a vagrant being somebody who travels from place to place with no real home or regular work essentially a wanderer his familiarity with inazuma suggests he may be taking the role of the antagonist during the act and it further hints at the fatoui having access in and out of inuzuma so could the future be acting as eyes and ears feeding information to the shogun in exchange for access and trade similar to how the dutch work with attack a girl with shogunate i'd say it seems likely but there are other roles that the fatoui could fill [Music] as the story goes each archon has submitted their noses to the saritsa so it makes sense that the shogun follows suit what we don't know is the nature of that submission will it be taken by force or will it come willingly if the parallel i am putting forward continues to act as a guide for the story of inizuma i believe the outcome will be somewhere in the middle an unwilling submission as a result of shown force the takagawa shogunate didn't fall to a major conflict the americans practically forced a treaty known as the convention of kanagawa through what is described as gunboat diplomacy in classic american fashion they arrived at japan's shores and flex their naval biceps basically saying yo bro we're peaceful if you don't agree we'll smash your face in okay knowing the shogunate was a match by this show of strength they agreed to meet and a treaty was negotiated soon followed contracts with the english russians and french which came to be known as the unequal treaties as they benefited the opposing parties over japan this was ultimately the driving force that took them from a feudal shogunate into imperialism there was some conflict between the pro-imperialists and the shogunate but they were defeated decisively so could we witness a very similar event and the fall of the ride in shogunate ultimately resulting in her giving over her gnosis as she has no other choice if this is the case the role of the fatoui may well be akin to the americans rather than the dutch but they could well take on both these roles the future are often quite manipulative and subversive in their approach so they may well be acting allies within a zuma while they are plotting to take over through a great show of force to close off i want to talk a bit about the electro archon herself is a common theory she will be a depiction of ryden may from hong kong impact this theory is still unconfirmed but i believe it is very plausible the themes with the character mag could be considered parallels to what we're seeing within a zuma she becomes the herscher of thunder and attempt to take away the burdens from her friends by becoming a herscher she obtains the power to crush their enemies before kiana has a chance to use her own powers that will eventually kill her but in an attempt to preserve kiana's life she has to isolate herself from everybody else and she has a shift in demeanor what is clear is the ryden shogun is not eternal despite being called the god of eternity as there has been electro archons before her and she has been the archon for a shorter time than venti the eternity she wishes to sustain is an impossibility like how the prevention of death for may is also impossible i showed this earlier in the video but did not address it for a reason i believe this could hint towards the shogun's true personality not as a tyrant but somebody who is extremely caring this body is the noblest and most eminent of all in this world the word noblesse could pertain to a few things in the context of the shogun and the feudalistic system they are one of if not the highest hereditary rank in the system but noblist is also a word that can be used to describe one's character somebody with high moral standing courage generosity and honor the word eminent also means renown and highly respected the second line it should hold absolute control over this world this does not suggest that she strives for such power but is deserving of it one who strives for power gains it through conquest whereas isolationism tends to preserve and bolster the power you already have you could make the argument she is simply building towards something before she attempts some kind of conquest and that could be the motivation behind the vision hunt decree but i do not think our archon is somebody who strives for domination the final line it once promised his people a dream the never changing eternity the shogun has the interests of her people in mind promising a never-changing eternity one that does not result in death and destruction a dream that avoids a cataclysm this is what i believe the shogun's motivation is she knows something about this world about celestia and visions so if this description is talking about the shogun why is she deserving of absolute control are her actions in the best interest of everyone everybody describes her as self-serving and selfish the line between selfishness and selflessness is narrow in the case of may her actions on the surface are selfless taking the place of her friends to protect them but keanu is happy to sacrifice her own life for others and mae is preventing her may wishes not to see her friends die so she has taken matters into her own hands serving her own selfish desires so it begs the question is baal really a tyrant isolating in inazuma in order to sustain her eternal rule or is she doing what she truly believes is in the best interests of her people has she became something else in order to protect them just like may became the hersher of thunder could we argue that the motivations go beyond inazuma to the rest of tevat mai isolates herself from kiana and her friends baal also lights herself from the rest of tayva could the vision hunt decree be in the interests of everyone could her true motivations be to prevent cataclysm and break the cycle to te that she's selfish but she believes this must be done and this is why she's the noblest and most deserving to hold absolute power over this world [Music] [Music] you

Channel: FacepalmeThe3rd

Views: 93,628

Keywords: Genshin Impact, The Electro Archon, The Raiden Shogun, Raiden Mei, Kamisato Ayaka, Ayaka, Ayato, Inazuma, Baal, Genshin Impact Lore, Genshin Impact Theory, Vision Hunt Decree, Sakoku, Inazuma Sakoku, Japanese history, Grand Master Knights of Favonius, Valka, Jean, Knight of Boreas, Genshin Impact Inazuma Lore, God of Eternity, Genshin Impact Raiden, Herrscher of thunder, Bakufu, Raiden Shogunate, Genshin Impact Honkai Impact, Honkai Impact the 3rd, Diluc, Master Crepus

Id: 7fsfIBpt6fA

Length: 23min 6sec (1386 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 28 2021