SEASON FOUR
Every episode our team provides travelers with visual and video aids to help better understand comparisons, learn more about topics, and follow what we’re discussing. While we strive to include links to official Genshin Impact resources, some may also be to third-party channels.
Below are some resources surrounding this episode about the Narzissenkreuz Saga that may be helpful to better understand the talking points and lore:
We’re just not over the physics of how Fontaine flooded when they are elevated in comparison to the surrounding areas. Is it a fishbowl? And let’s not talk about Wriothesley’s big boat that saved what seemed like a whopping three people.
We talk about a lot of characters in this episode. And many that we never actually see during the quests. Luckily we’re giving a nice family portrait of the friend-group from back during their time at the Narzissenkreuz Institute.
The Narzissenkreuz Ordo, at its core, was created to overcome the prophecy of the flood. Now, would the residents prefer to be saved over turning into goo and being implanted in mechanical beings, of course. But beggars can’t be choosers, amirite? And what says “end of times” more than a giant doomsday clock in the center of your headquarters. Talk about working under pressure.
Seymour is everyone’s favorite robot pet. He may give us a scare now and again with his annihilation mode, but in the end, he’s just looking out for us all. Seymour was the invention of Alain after being inspired by Carter’s idea of an automatic Kamera device. He’s also the prototype for the Ordo’s ultimate goal of transferring consciousness into mechanical beings.
Elynas is an area southwest of the Court of Fontaine and named for the giant dragon skeleton that makes up 99% of the landmass. Feens gives a comparison to our old frozen buddy Durin up on Dragonspine, who looks like a toddler in comparison. In case you’re having trouble making out Elyna’s remains, we’ve made a little animation to help show you the general shapes.
Tif didn’t want to commit to whether Jakob was “the” Inquitious Baptist or just “an” Inquitious Baptist. But looking at them side-by-side, these fellas have to be the same rude dude.
Mamere is one of the adorable little Melusines that live in Merusea Village. She’s a painter, and more importantly for our story, a friend of Seymour. After the big battle that ended with a literal bang, Mamere took him in and was helping fix him up when we met them.
At the end of the saga, we fight Narzissenkreuz in the form of a Hydro Chalupa – I mean, Tulpa. This is just one of the forms that the “Master” presents himself as. And while during the episode we were pretty sure the actual Tulpa in the western side of Fontaine is actually Narzi, we now know they are two different Tulpas. This redaction is powered by Taco Bell.
Lyris, an Oceanid, was the OG Director of the Narzissenkreuz Institute. She worked with Basil Elton to raise the kids of the orphanage and eventually merged with Mary-Ann after seeing her killed in the battle at Elynas. She is part of the Mary-Ann we meet in Annapausis.
The “Real Annapausis” is a storybook-looking cottage buried at the bottom of Annapausis. It’s the home of the merged Mary-Ann, who is taking a break from reality and living in peace. We spend some time there during the Ann quests while we are searching to learn about her past. Note, don’t tell Mary-Ann, but her snacks taste like water.
The Narzissenkreuz Adventure Team is a group of water mimics trying to save Princess Lyris from the evil dragon Narcissus at the start of the Ann quests. As the story unravels, we find out that each of them represents the people in the real story. Al, a duck, is Alain. Petit Chou, a finch, is Mary-Ann. Colonel Kate, a squirrel is Carter. Jak, a frog, is Jakob. Mori, a boar (or dog if you ask him), is Seymour. And not present because he was lost before we met them, is Ney, representing Rene.
Lanoire is a child we meet and help in Meropide. Orphaned when her mother, a prisoner, passed away; we learn that Lanoire doesn’t exist according to the Meropide registry since she never actually entered the prison as a criminal. From her, we meet Caterpillar – another child, or so we originally thought.
Caterpillar is trying his best to help break Lanoire free and reunite her with her maternal Grandfather. We help him see this through and learn along the way that he is actually a Hilichurl Rogue. An early experiment of Rene, Caterpillar has two forms – a metaphor for IRL caterpillars that become butterflies and moths.
Little itty bitty Ann is an adorable little Oceanid who doesn’t remember where she came from. She does know she had a friend named Mary-Ann and we help her find her way. This lil sweetie isn’t a regular Oceanid it turns out. She’s the by-product of the merge of Lyris and real Mary-Ann. By the end of the saga, she learns her true origin and decides to go out on real adventures with Mary-Ann, Seymour, Mamere, and Caterpillar. We really need a follow-up on this unlikely crew.
The Master. Narzissenkreuz. Rene. Carter. Goo. Whichever name you want to give him, in the end, we get… justice? Is it really justice? At least Jakob got squished by the doomsday clock. We just give the blob a stern talking-to and move on. Is it a fair ending, what do you think? Let us know your thoughts!
While she makes a point to say it’s not actually the sword, Feens brings up a good point, the Sword of Narzissenkreuz we use to beat Narzi – and ultimately get in our inventory – looks a lot like the swords the siblings have in the beginning of the game when they first meet the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Coincidence??? Probably, but it’s still fun to imagine the possibilities.
In case you’re not familiar with the couple movies we mentioned during the episode, we wanted to give you links to their trailers. We talked about Poltergeist (1982) and Poltergeist 2 (1986) when referencing building the orphanage on a ruin. We also brought up Inglorious Bastards (2009) when Tif got tongue-tied saying Iniguitious Baptist.
Artist Spotlight
There are so many talented & creative people in the Genshin community, and we’d like to spread some love to a wonderful artist – St.Ella.R (@st_e11a_r). They are a talented illustrator with the best version of a gender-fluid Caterpillar we’ve seen! Their art style includes a lot of whispy eyelashes and hair that add great dimension to the characters.
See more work from St.Ella.R on Instagram.
Artwork posted with permission of the artist.
Letters from Afar
Questions and comments delivered weekly by Kirara and the Komaniya Express
Elliot on Instagram asked about our thoughts on the Arlecchino anime short that recently dropped and whether either Knave was donning a Vision. While we also did not see any Visions on them, they were definitely harnessing elemental powers. We hope for more of these shorts in the future!
Watch on YouTube: “The Song Burning in the Embers” Full Animated Short
In the first part of Amathyst’s letter, they asked which element and weapon type we would be if we were in Teyvat. The ever-spicy Al chose Pyro with the Talking Stick claymore. Bee channeled his inner-Ningguang and chose Geo along with the Solar Pearl catalyst. Feens, much like Amathyst, said she would be a Dendro sword. More specifically, the Fleuve Cendre Ferryman pipe sword. And to no one’s surprise, Tif went with two of her loves – purple and birbs – with Electro and Crane’s Echoing Call catalyst.
In the second part of Amathyst’s letter, she asks Feens for permission to write her own OC into the world Feens has created for Nat. We cannot wait to read this crossover collab!
Don’t forget, you can read Feens’ OC story, Tales of an Ex-Snezhnayan, right here on the site.
Extras
Follow @thefeenster & @talesoftif for fun Genshin TikToks and more.
