This is Paimon. And whether you find her adorable or flat out annoying, there’s one thing we can probably agree on. Everything about her existence is very suspicious. We have no idea where she came from and
Paimon doesn’t seem to know either. But what if I told you that throughout our journey, she’s essentially leaked her very existence without anyone realizing? Learning about her identity would be pretty cool.
After all, if we knew who she was it might give us an idea of what’s going on in the story. And because of this curiosity,
we would often ask questions like: Is Paimon the Unknown God? The God of Time? Or perhaps a descendant of the Seelies? Unironically, if we take all her suspicious
dialogues and characteristics, and trace them back to the source of origin,
her identity can finally be explained. So make sure to watch this entire video, because
it will not only explain who Paimon is, but also why the world of Teyvat was basically
a prison from the beginning. The genesis of this video began with my initial
curiosity that maybe Paimon was connected to the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. You know, the same thought that probably everyone
had at one point or another. But then, I became so obsessed with this copium
idea that Paimon is linked to the God of Time because she can technically freeze and fast
forward time inside the game. Then, it all spiraled out of control because
it became very clear that Paimon was infatuated with treasures and her identity as a self-proclaimed
tour guide resembled more to a Seelie. While none of these ideas are yet conclusive,
it’s fair to say that I was pretty much going insane. And that’s because I always had a gut feeling
that if we can just figure out who Paimon was the entire story should reveal itself on its own. And from this frustration, I had a crazy idea: What if Paimon isn’t the Unknown God, God of Time or the Seelies at all? What if it was backwards? If all these entities resembled Paimon, wouldn’t it be possible that Paimon is actually the point of origin? And if that’s true, then theoretically speaking,
the Unknown God, God of Time, and Seelie Race could simply be different versions that stems from Paimon herself? Maybe this was a stretch. But, sometimes, a gut feeling can result in
something quite spectacular. So with this information rooted in my mind, I did exactly what any other Genshin Impact player would do. Completely ignore it and just go play the game. So, I journeyed through the deserts of Sumeru
without much thought. Coincidentally, during my playthrough of the World Quest, Paimon dropped yet another random ass dialogue: “Oh no… If only there were ten Paimons…!” Which was then followed by Jebrael stating that: “It’s like the branches on a tree…
same roots… endless division…” Then it hit me like a truck. This was exactly the idea that I was thinking of earlier! Was this yet another random ass dialogue or
a potential hint regarding Paimon’s identity? Once again, I dove deep into insanity. and would spend next several days
trying to make sense of this information. Hypothetically speaking, if Paimon is indeed
the point of origin and there are multiple versions of herself, there’s only one logical conclusion: The Primordial One. But to make sure that I dot all my I’s and cross my T’s, I dove even deeper into the lore. Which is where I learned that Paimon being
the Primordial One was not only logical, but it essentially explains the entire structure
of this world and all its secrets. Inside the world of Genshin Impact, there
an entity known as the Primordial One. Also known as Phanes. And Phanes is the creator of the human realm. This is a very good starting point, because
Phanes also exists within Greek mythology. And we can use this as a reference for possible
clues that might explain Paimon’s identity and perhaps the story. In Greek mythology, Phanes creates the world
and all the gods within it. By extension, all beings that exists, reflects
the attributes of Phanes itself. What this basically means is that if we were to add up
all the characteristics of different gods and beings, it ultimately represents Phanes. Funnily enough, this description aligns really
well with my initial hypothesis that if we were to add up all the characteristics of
perhaps the Unknown God, God of Time and the Seelies, it should represent Paimon as the point of origin. It’s also mildly suspicious that Phanes
in both Greek mythology and in the game are depicted with wings and a crown. Features that are blatantly obvious in Paimon’s appearance. Suspicious. So, in hopes to learn something from this possible clue, I did more research behind the Primordial One. In Genshin Impact, the Primordial One creates
four shining shades of itself to bring forth the human realm. Now, while we can only assume who or what these four entities are, Phanes in Greek Mythology gives us a direct answer: When Phanes was born, it simultaneously creates
space and time to materialize the world. But because this world was bound by the constraints
of time, it also introduces life and death. From this information, it’s possible to
deduce the core ideas of the four shades: Life and Death, which are synonymous with Beginning and the End, And of course, the dimensions of time and space. It’s funny, isn’t it? Paimon essentially signifies the beginning
of our journey, and at the same time, the game constantly hints towards
her separation from the traveler. And for some reason, she seems unaffected
by time when we pause the game, and has the ability to disappear into thin air,
as if she can bypass the concept of space. Now, of course, all this could simply be circumstantial
evidence and have no meaning whatsoever. But how can we ignore the fact that
throughout the entire game, Paimon seems to constantly hint at her own
existence and saying things like: “Paimordial Wrath” on multiple occasions
makes everything even more suspicious. Is it just a coincidence? Or are they actual hints from the developers
themselves? Whatever the case may be, I’m sure you’ve
already noticed. The four shades of life, death, time, and space are
directly reflected in the game through the artifacts. The Flower of Life, Plume of Death, Sands of Time
and the Cup of Emptiness or Space. But, what about the Circlet of Logos? The final artifact? If we try to define the meaning of Circlet of Logos
at face value, we’ll get something like... The Crown of Reason. By itself, it means… well... absolutely nothing… Reason of what? Why the Crown exists? You see, without proper context, it’s impossible
to figure out its meaning. But if we go deeper into the origin of the
word Logos, we can start to make an educated guess. In Greek philosophy, Logos quite literally means: The divine reason implicit in the cosmos,
ordering it and giving it Basically... Heavenly Order and its law. Now, logos also derives from the word Lego and Legus. Which means the act of speaking with authority. Something like: “I say the law.” Greek philosopher Aristotle gives us an
additional meaning as well, as he defines it: “reasoned discourse” or “argument.” If you’re confused, let me condense all
this into a simple explanation: The Circlet of Logos represents
The Divine Law connected to discourse. Now, we know that there are only 4 shades. So you might be wondering:
“What represents the final artifact?” Believe it or not, there is a fifth entity that comes from
Phanes that a lot of people often neglect. The eggshell. And this eggshell is the representation of
the Circlet itself. Phanes was initially born from a cosmic egg. And uses it’s eggshell to separate the "universe" and the "microcosm of the world." Basically, the eggshell separates the heavens from earth. Think of it as a barrier. Now, what does this have to do with the divine
law of discourse? From this description, we can take away few
important details: There was a form of contract or law that humans
were expected to live by. As long as they didn’t give into temptation,
or stay oblivious to a certain secret, mankind would continue to receive blessings
from the gods. And this secret was sealed behind the
False Sky or the eggshell. But why does this law exist? The stars and the sky are all a gigantic hoax. A lie. Famous words spoken by Scaramouche. Understanding what this lie is, can be quite
difficult because of the lack of context from the game. But if take the divine law associated with
the Circlet of Logos, the barrier between heaven and earth created
by the eggshell, and cross reference them to Gnosticism,
we can come to an interesting conclusion. Now, because learning about Gnosticism is
actually really dry, I’ll try to break it down step by step so
it’s easier to understand. In Gnosticism, there’s a true god named Monad. Think of Monad as the light of purity or enlightenment itself. From Monad spawns an Aeon known as Sophia
who was imperfect. And because of her imperfections, she splits
the purity of god into light and darkness. And from this instance, Demiurge was born. The creator of the human realm. Now, it's important to understand that Demiurge
is not pure or enlightened. While Demiurge is still considered as a compassionate
deity within Gnosticism, because of his own insecurities and imperfections,
he doesn’t want humans to achieve enlightenment. Afterall, he’s the one that created mankind
and doesn’t want them to ascend above his world Interestingly, a Greek Philosopher Plato attributes
the word Logos to Demiurge again. Giving us another meaning: “The underlying order that is hidden beneath appearances.” Which mirrors the concepts of the False Sky and its lies. As well as the Eggshell that separates mankind
from divinity. And from this entire story, we can notice
a direct parallel within the lore of Genshin Impact. Demiurge is the one who created the human realm. This would mean that Demiurge represented as Phanes. And Phanes holds mankind hostage through the
constraints of life, death, time, space, and the law. Keeping human bounds to the material world
of Teyvat in a repeated cycle. Now for humans to achieve enlightenment and
ascend above this world, they require greater knowledge and power from
“beyond this world.” Which are constantly shut down by the structure of Teyvat. The law forbids humans from learning the knowledge
of true divinity. Essentially making all of mankind a prisoner
of the material world. Now if this interpretation is accurate, what
does this mean for Paimon? Is she an evil god pretending to hide the truth? Well, not necessarily, because regardless
of whether Paimon is good or evil, it’s very clear that she really doesn’t seem
to remember who she was. Her characteristics and suspicious dialogues
could simply be habitual fragments of her memories from her former self. Maybe Paimon also got Guobafied! I mean, at this point, we can’t ignore this
possibility because of her loss of memories as well as her small figure, not to mention,
it seems to be a reoccurring theme in the game. It’s also extremely suspicious that every
time we make fun of how useless Paimon is, she gets visibly upset and tries to prove
to everyone that she’s very important. Which could possibly resemble the inferiority
complex of Demiurge. If Paimon is indeed the Primordial One and the world of Teyvat is in fact a prison
that stops humans from ascending, it actually gives us more questions than answers: Why do the Visions exist? And what does any of this have to do with the Traveler? Also, who are the four shades and the eggshell of Phanes? What about the powers of the Abyss Order and Dainsleif? In my future videos, I will try to theorize
on all these topics so make sure to subscribe to the channel
and if you enjoyed the video, don’t forget to press like and let me know your thoughts
in the comments below. Thank you for watching and I’ll see you next time!
