No, Furina is not a "fake archon" | A look into Genshin Impact fake archon theories

I think it's not too far out there to claim that a great many if not most gentian impact players got into the game knowing that venti and zhongli were archons in Disguise thus being deprived of any surprise Factor when their true identities were revealed in the plot these players myself included never got to experience that feeling of finding them suspicious and guessing why they know so much about their nation's history or why they have such Niche intricate knowledge that so happens to be necessary at this very moment or why they possess such unique powers for many of us who knew about their secret already we didn't need to do any guesswork and I wonder if this is why fake archon theories never stop popping up within the Genji fandom from people thinking yaimiko was the real Electro archon or theorizing that either by Zhu or haitham were the real Daniel archons even some suggesting that one of them may be greater Lord Ruka devata in Disguise but even then those theories were more or less quickly put to rest once the first patches of Inazuma and sumeru respectively were dropped however even after Fontaine had been released with its first region already explored to 100 by some of us players without any form of social life somehow people still can't stop theorizing that Farina is not the true hydro archon and instead a novelette is which is like why well as much as it is easy to dismiss this line of thinking I think we need to explore the underlying biases that people have towards Farina and possibly all new icons that are released and their motivations for casting doubt on them because it's not just one instance but part of a greater pattern hopefully at the end of this video we can gain some insights on what archon ship truly means and what the typical icons Journey towards maturation looks like but before that if you think these kinds of videos interest you I hope you could consider subscribing to the channel to catch more future videos like this one part of the idea for this video came from this one tweet I saw where someone said that the legitimacy of the male archons although I would personally argue that they're actually non-binary but whatever was never questioned whereas the female archons are often theorized to not be the true icons of their Nations which is a somewhat interesting point but it's hard to tell for sure if this is the case and that's because there are way too many things that separate venti and Jung Li from the rest of the archons aside from both of them being quote unquote male presenting they were both the only icons out of the original Seven that are remaining they were both released at the start of the game and they were both also the only Incognito archons we've had so far that latter point is important because you can't theorize about there being a true hidden archon if your archon was already hidden to begin with venti and zhongli themselves brought the surprise Factor so there was no need for any sort of fake Arcon plotline to contribute to shock value what I'm saying is that since there are so many things which make venti and jungli different from the other icons it's very hard to isolate what it is exactly that makes their Authority unquestioned for example let's say if the God of War was Ill presenting which she is not by the way but just for the sake of example and let's say he was also not one of the original Seven and not in Disguise if his authority as an archon is unquestioned despite that maybe then there would be a gender bias involved however in our case all the new archons are female presenting and both the original Seven members are male presenting it's hard to isolate the exact factor which influences fan perception after all people did think yaimiko was the real Electro archon so it's not like the fans were wanting to replace unestablished female Arcon with a male archon all of the time this is not to say by the way that a gender bias doesn't exist at all but that the motivations behind fake archon theories are complex and can't be attributed to one thing alone and that's what I'm gonna attempt to dissect further I did make an old video about why certain unhinged implausible far-reach Engen lawyer theories gain traction or even get proposed in the first place and one of the reasons I cited was that fans are simply hungry for a plot twist which is somewhat reasonable since players do want to gain some sense of excitement from The Game's story and plot twists are very easy way to achieve this so I initially attributed the fake icon theories to this idea only but then I realized that there are likely more underlying motivations Behind These theories Beyond just seeking a sense of surprise for one it could be theorist's way of making sense of confusing plot points like with fontaine's case you have a very very ominous prophecy a weird Justice machine that seems to be malfunctioning fatui presence yet again the solution of people which may or may not be a manifestation of the flooding prophecy thing oceanids a whole old dead civilization it's all quite overwhelming to the point where some might just want to shrug their shoulders and say Hey what if some of this just stems from the icon only being a figurehead what if she doesn't know how the aura cheese operates because she's not the real archon what if she can't solve the prophecy easily because she's not the real archon what if she's horribly arrogant to mask her insecurities because she's not the real archon maybe to some people this is an answer that can unify everything even though it seems like a nonsensical or insulting insinuation it's definitely a solution that's far easier to come up with considering what little info we have because icon Quest lore can be rather detailed and confusing so the outcome is realistically difficult to predict accurately which may be frustrating to some lore enthusiasts who want to get a feel for the plot in advance sometimes fake argon theories don't only attempt to answer questions about the archon quests themselves but also about other parts of the overall lore that seem to not make sense yet for example people were really weirded out by the idea of baiju taking a very incredibly long time to be released and he was the very first danger Vision wielder to ever exist in the game who was gate kept for so long even until sumeru was released it seems to have no logic to it which is why some fans try to make sense of it by theorizing that he could be the real denjo archon instead of nahida to explain why he took a long time to be released and why denjo as an element itself took a long time to be playable despite his presence as for high thumb another candidate for the real Dental archon theory he also seemed very mysterious at first with him seeming to know more than he should making people attempt to crack the truth behind him since they wouldn't have guessed that he'd just be a regular guy who wants to go home at 5 PM every day because of how Elusive and extraordinarily insightful he seemed at first and I think in connection with that people might also conjure up theories about someone else being the true icon to hopefully open up more lore possibilities which seem exciting for example in baiju's case I think part of why people like the theory is because we haven't had an archon hiding in a different Nation before so if he were the true denjo Arcon it could mean that the lore of the various nations are more interconnected with Clues to the issues of one nation requiring the involvement of another and it could Point towards larger International Connections in the future as if the fatoui doesn't have those already so while it does come across as honestly very stupid I think what some fans are genuinely looking for are a broader range of scenarios for a future lore extending the boundaries of what's possible or not in the world of tevat if it's possible for an archon to be fake then what about the Heavenly principles right I think for the case of nouveaulette being theorized as the true hydroarcon perhaps people are interested in a plotline of an icon preferring to submit to a figurehead if that happens then is it possible for future characters to reclaim Ark on ship Thrones to claim Celestia itself but aside from that I think the case of nouveaulette being the real Hydro icon also brings to light this one last motivation for fake archon theories in general which I hadn't considered before and that's the idea that fans don't like the Korean archon's attitude and are looking for someone more stereotypically fit to be a leader to take their place that honestly might have been a thing that happened to nahida as well since some fans had a level of distaste for an archon who looks like a child because perhaps a child is more difficult to trust or impossible to Simply for honestly maybe at the end of the day fake icon theories are just a self-serving way for certain fans to write a sort of a u with your favorite character is the archon rather than some breath they don't like except they make the argument sound more legitimate than it really is little do fans realize that although fake argon theories help them make sense of strange lore occurrences open up new possibilities for a future storyline to even give them an opportunity to imagine a quote-unquote better archon in the rightful position at the end of the day that kind of plot line is cheap and comes at the cost of much better storytelling especially for the case of the new generation of archons as in those that weren't part of the original 7 many of them have had their legitimacy doubted by fans but the process of an archon maturing by readjusting their values standing their ground or taking charge of the situation contributes to large amounts of character development that can't be replicated by a user patient Arc while of course Rebellion can be very powerful in real life and Revolution did fuel a lot of structural changes in leadership during the archon war having abrupt changes in leadership in the current ERA of tivat can be very unsettling for their constituents especially with how it resembles the events of the cataclysm also this process makes it harder for the current icons to be accountable for their actions because if they are just straightforwardly replaced they will no longer have the opportunity to atone for their mistakes or do the work they were supposed to do before with that in mind it is a more powerful message to send to players that leadership is something you work towards improving at rather than just being born capable and besides some fans really have a narrow idea of what competence looks like because they think the only people who are capable of leading are those who are serious in terms of this position as a rather passionate venti fan I know exactly how annoying players can be when it comes to undermining the very palpable merits of a specific icon just because they appear fun loving and I already made a video on that before so I hope players can understand that there are varied approaches to leadership and judging competence is a more complicated process than just basing it on a character's seriousness and regardless of all of that doesn't it just feel like a waste of time to engage with a fake icon like for me good plot twists tend to challenge our assumptions which is why plot twists in the mystery detective genre are engaging because they make us rethink our initial line of logic but in the case of genshin and the archons it's not about checking assumptions because the icons being who they are is presented as a fact we didn't guess that Farina was the archon we were told that so it just feels like a sloppy rewrite instead of something that's thought provoking if she were to be replaced we can't always doubt out whether an icon presented to us is real or fake because then that makes the rules of the World building too messy and opens up too much red conning instead of actually trying to make something interesting within the confines of established rules in farina's case her being the actual archon makes it so that her struggles are more nuanced rather than just simply resulting from her insecurities about being fake or something now to be honest Farina is just not my type of character I'm not super into the flamboyant types and I do genuinely prefer the strong-willed intelligent responsible types however I do think there is a certain value in having her as the archon of Fontaine even though she behaves in that manner for one she provides us with a unique icon personality type which engages many fans allowing them to see her as an enjoyable person who can bring them lots of laughs this attitude of hers also represents fontenyan sentiment in a more accurate way because although chief justice novelette symbolizes the ideal of Justice fontenions are people who love drama extravagance entertainment and arts which is something reflected in their own icon and more than that of course her character allows us to anticipate future plot developments more because if she was just capable from the beginning it would diminish our curiosity in terms of wondering how the hydro archon will address the prophecy of course Farina is far from perfect like for one I really didn't like her handling of her role as a prosecutor because she was levying false accusations against lynnae and she took rebuttals as a personal attack which makes her even more adamant to prove her Point even at the cost of someone's life and reputation it shows that she doesn't understand the law very well even though she's supposed to provide better guidance to the nation of Justice however she is also someone that seems to to be concerned about the prophecy in some way and is just overwhelmed about how to go about it so her finding her way can provide us with inspiration for how to find our Direction and sense of self in life and maybe this is just my approach to argon ship but if your archon isn't doing a good job then isn't it up to the people to help run the show instead of Simply relying on another powerful figure yes archons are imperfect which is why strong institutions to support them are required but the point is not that icons need to know how to do everything by themselves with 100 capability because that also defeats the purpose of human agency in nation building although don't be mistaken about My Views I'm not necessarily defending Farina because I think she needs to feel the negative consequences of her irresponsibility which was something that was honestly kinda lacking with Ace Arc but this understanding of her actions such speak is meant to contribute to self-awareness and self-improvement on her part moving forward telling Farina about her mistakes shouldn't be done to put her down but rather to guide her appropriately because I think a shift in farina's Attitude can lead to a shift in fontenyan sentiment more than a replacement of her wood if novelette is the real icon so to speak and takes over the show it might make fontenions complacent but if they notice that even a light-hearted figure like their National mascot of an archon can take action to inform the justice system then maybe they should be part of that effort as well by the way this is not to say that Farina should become serious but that even silly characters can find a way to harness their true leadership potential and that's what the lesson of archon ship should be also what I find interesting about this theory of nivelet being the real Hydro archon is that while it sounds like it's incredibly it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of his character and the lack of respect for his current role I personally like nouveaulette more than Farina because I enjoy his management of the legal system his reasonability and his fairness which make him perfect for the role of Chief Justice it's like he was made for this position with how much he exemplifies the qualifications associated with it that Niche is carved out for him and he has served in this position almost flawlessly for hundreds of years presumably so it really makes me wonder why people would rather he be an archon instead of the judge that he is who might also possibly be an entire mythical entity of his own while he initially seems to be more competent than furina is that's simply because he's incredibly well matched for his current job and it doesn't necessarily mean mean that he'd now be perfect if he were to take a new job as an archon of course you might argue that he's actually more powerful than Farina but chose to let her lead so that he can have his position of Judge which is more suitable to him but then that also makes him seem oddly manipulative while avoiding responsibility which doesn't seem like something he'd do I think people who are theorizing that he's the true archon want him to hold power and give directives since they're probably convinced that the nation of Justice should be led by a judge but as I mentioned in some previous videos he already possesses too much centralized Authority which isn't ideal for National governance so at the very least him not being the archon allows for a situation where there's at least some minimal form of separation of powers that creates a two-way accountability so that nivulet is as accountable to Farina as Farina is to movelet it also feels less overwhelming to have a third party judge you rather than a literal God since Gods may have the tendency to be rather punitive plus politics aside isn't it kind of cute and relatable that nouveaulette has a boss not many of us are self-employed or CEOs of our own company so most of the time we're subject to orders and supervision from higher ups whom we have to deal with very carefully in order to ensure a harmonious and productive working relationship this concept is known as upwards management which is a soft skill that we need to ensure that working with our boss is actually tolerable seeing the valet engage in something we likely have to do daily makes him seem closer to us humans and also demonstrates to us that his Effectiveness when it comes to handling delicate situations stems from his natural skills rather than just his position of power it's a really entertaining Dynamic to watch and I hope that people can find Value in it rather than force him to be the true archon all this time because having to serve a boss doesn't make him weaker it can actually make his character seem more nuanced and more adaptive with that I don't see a need to promote him from his current job and position considering how well it suits him already so with all that said I do acknowledge the motivations behind theorists wanting to question the legitimacy of someone that we're told is an archon because skepticism can lead to more inquisitiveness and critical thinking sometimes however in this case it's often overdone and lots of the people fail to see how these fake icon theories come at the expense of both logic and character development all for the sake of novelty this is not to say that theorists should stop cooking up wild theories because that's really up to you at the end of the day but I think it's worth also examining them critically and speaking on behalf of Farina likers who are just so tired of excessive slander at this point anyway I do hope you found this video enjoyable and sensible enough if you like the way I dissect character arcs and lore through video essays like this one I hope you could consider subscribing to my channel if this kind of content appeals to you recently I've been very interested in Fontaine character lore so do expect more of those to come out in the future and I hope to see you in the next one

Channel: taro birb

Views: 24,126

Keywords: #furina, #genshinimpact

Id: rG1vj3KO_n0

Length: 21min 13sec (1273 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 25 2023