He changed Tiwat

Regarding the character of "scattered soldier," where does the great rhythm and contradiction come from?

The malice in the real world is a factor, but not the main one, because those who stir up trouble do so for everyone. If you're a seasoned veteran like me, you should know that every version has its own new trends. But the most and biggest trends only emerge with the "soloists," which is clearly not just due to malice.

Furthermore, the contradiction doesn't lie in the fact that he "has a foul mouth, hasn't repented, and hasn't been punished." These are just excuses for stirring up trouble. If you replace him with a cute girl, those who stir up trouble will only shout, "Keep cursing!" and "Why should he be rewarded?"

What are the root causes of the contradictions among "scattered soldiers"?

The conflict lies in the fragmented "souls-like narrative" and "plot shaping"—to put it bluntly, his plot is not "too much" as some commentators have suggested; on the contrary, there is too little "scattered" plot!

Yes, there are too few scenes featuring "scattered soldiers"!!!

Please forgive me for using three exclamation marks, but that's the biggest problem.

Genshin Impact has too many characters, and too little storyline is given to the "scattered soldiers." The limited space available is insufficient to support the development of its characters and storylines.

Moreover, most of the characterization of "scattered soldiers" is actually concentrated in the world text and artifact descriptions. I believe that many players have not opened the artifact description text in four years. After all, for most casual players, these texts are not as useful as the attribute data of the artifacts.

This has led to the current polarization of the "scattered soldiers" phenomenon.

I can even say this very objectively, without any personal feelings: the "straggler" who gets criticized and the "straggler" created by the Genshin Impact writers are two different people, really.

But in the face of "emotions," "truth" is worthless—just like the sentence I repeatedly said in the novel, "People will only believe what they want to believe."

What the "scatterers" need is a "Thus Spoke Apocalypse" like Otto's.

He needs a storyline like "Thunder and Lightning Collapse: The Tale of the Fall of the Kingdom," to fully reveal everything about him, instead of continuing to hide it. Continuing to hide it will only make his reputation worse.

Unfortunately, he is involved in the essence of the Teyvat worldview, involving the "false heavens" and "reincarnation," which will only be revealed in the finale, just like "Thus Spoke Apocalypse" appears during the character's exit phase.

Therefore, we'll likely only see the full reveal of the "skirmishers" trope towards the end of the game's storyline. In the foreseeable future, the "skirmishers" trope will continue.

I can even predict that the rumor that "the Doctor burned the tree was retconned by the 'new production team'" (which has been repeatedly mentioned in the comments) will continue to appear, because miHoYo will only reclaim the "Doctor Burns the Tree" PV after the Winter Saga.

Huh? You're asking me how I know it's at that time? Because the Traveler in the PV has a "white" pendant on his chest, right? "Burning the tree" only happens after the Traveler collects all seven elements, which is explicitly stated in the Sumeru CM, right?

Unfortunately, even something as obvious as this is something that people blinded by the rhythm of the moment will definitely not see.

In fact, I have had many similar experiences.

For example, during the Fontaine version, a reader asked me in the group about the story of a book in the game—"The Song of Iriye". After glancing at it, I immediately said that it was miHoYo's reference to "The Legend of King Arthur".

The Lady of the Lake and the three returns of the sword are famous passages from "Le Morte d'Arthur." The "Seven Times Noble" refers to Galahad, the son of Lancelot, the Knight of the Lake, who will find the Holy Grail...

But obviously, most players probably haven't heard of this story.

Similarly, for example, the research on reincarnation and Buddhism that I wrote about earlier, I can see "Alaya consciousness" at a glance from the "seed of the mind's storehouse" in the life seat, and "supreme enlightenment" from the "root of right and perfect vision," and I can see Mahayana Buddhism and the Yogacara school.

If you give me a title like "Six Entrances in Pure Clarity, All Phenomena Vanish," I can immediately tell that it refers to the "Twelve Entrances" concept of the "Six Roots" and "Six Dusts," and I can quickly find the corresponding information. Just like if you give me a card pool name like "Pure Rainbow Heaven," I can deduce Ye Lan's profession and background.

Most people probably couldn't do that.

There is certainly a difference in "readership," but what is the biggest problem?

The key is that this hidden setting should be an "Easter egg," and the main body of the story should be something that even beginners can easily understand.

Just like when I wrote the storyline related to Ye Lan, I know that most people haven't read the "I Ching" and won't be able to find the Easter eggs in the original work, but I can do my best to use the simplest and most straightforward narrative style so that people who haven't read the "I Ching" can understand how Xiao Han and Ye Lan overcome difficulties through "divination".

Not having read "The Legend of King Arthur" won't prevent you from reading "The Song of Illyra"; not having studied the "I Ching" won't prevent me from completing the Taiwei Yipan quest.

The problem with the plot of "The Scatter Soldier" is that, to put it bluntly, the reading threshold for understanding the character of "The Scatter Soldier" is too high, so high that even I find it difficult.

Please don't think I'm being arrogant by using my own reading volume as a benchmark, but if I find it difficult to understand, it's probably difficult for most people, really.

The theme of "Scouts" is "Transcendent," and the relevant text about "Transcendent" is hidden in the artifact "Cup of Transcendent." However, the plot related to "Scouts" does not mention this. Instead, it creates a chuunibyou, foul-mouthed brat.

You have to find the connection between the word "transcendent" and Nietzsche's "UHM philosophy" by looking at Nietzsche's books, such as "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", "On the Genealogy of Morals", "The Gay Science", and "God is Dead"... Only then will you know what the "transcendent" is, what the "straggler" wants to do, and why he has such a personality and behaves in this way.

The writers assume that players are all literary youths who understand Nietzsche, and are unwilling to give the main storyline much development. They think that by labeling the character as "Transcendent," players will know that the "scatterers" are undergoing "three spiritual transformations" and are in "eternal reincarnation"... But most players who have finished their classes and work have come home and turned on their computers have never even heard of Nietzsche!

Not everyone reads "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" when they're in their second year of middle school. I read "The Legend of Wukong" when I was in my second year of middle school.

Think about it, which is easier to understand: Nietzsche's "God is dead" or "I want the sky to no longer obscure my eyes, I want the earth to no longer bury my heart, I want all living beings to understand my will, I want all Buddhas to vanish into thin air"? — Obviously, the latter is easier to understand.

Literary youth can also be divided into "down-to-earth" and "out-of-earth" types, and the screenwriter who wrote about "scattered soldiers" is clearly the "out-of-earth" type.

Give another example.

After "The Scatter Soldier" becomes "The God of the Machine," he has a line that says, "Barzebu, I have ascended to godhood," attempting to prove his "transcendence" by negating Barzebu (Ray's film).

But in Nietzsche's philosophy, his saying this precisely proves that he has not yet "transcended" it.

This line is meant to illustrate that the "straggler" is still in the stage of "surpassing others" rather than "surpassing himself," and his values ​​and meaning in life are based on the recognition of others rather than self-affirmation. The "transcendent" in Nietzsche's philosophy is someone who "transcends himself."

Therefore, he was destined to fail in his attempt to become a god.

—If I don't explain it this way, how many people can understand this line?

The root of the problem with the "scattered soldiers" lies here.

The purpose of this research is to help everyone understand "scattered soldiers." I wouldn't dare say I fully understand Nietzsche's philosophy, but my understanding is only superficial, enough to explain the game's character design. So, let's move on to the discussion of "transcendent beings."

2. "The Transcendent"

The concept of "transcendent" or "superman" was proposed by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".

This book was written in 1881, a time when the Western capitalist world, including Germany, was experiencing a severe intellectual and moral crisis.

What happened in that era? In 1859, Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," proposing that humans evolved from apes and were not created by God—in other words, "God is dead."

As a result, the new morality of society (or rather, capitalism) replaced the old morality, and many national concepts, social order, and moral concepts (Christian morality) that were once considered sacred were abandoned by people.

Nietzsche later wrote in "The Will to Power": "We have been Christians for two thousand years, and now the time has come for us to pay the price: we are losing the burden that sustains our lives—for some time we have been at a loss."

People used to believe in God and Jesus Christ, but since the theory of evolution came into being, more and more people have stopped believing in God.

After losing faith in God, many ordinary people do not become materialists, but instead fall into a state of "not knowing what to believe," which is "nihilism," feeling that "everything is illusory."

In this context, Nietzsche, through the fictional figure of "Zarathustra" (the name of the prophet of the ancient Persian Zoroastrianism, also known as Zoroaster), proclaimed to the European world the crisis of this spiritual civilization and called for the emergence of a vibrant human being—the "Transcendent."

(Note: Thus Spoke Zarathustra is an obscure and poorly written collection of prose poems. Nietzsche submitted it to publishers but no one wanted it. He self-published it, selling forty copies and giving away seven, but no one appreciated it. It wasn't until years after his death that the book began to become popular in Europe, because... well, a failed art student was a huge fan of the book, and the student extracted parts of Nietzsche's philosophy that he found useful for his lectures.)

This book was actually written to combat nihilism. Nietzsche's concept of the "transcendent" refers more to spiritual transcendence, helping people find meaning in life amidst nihilism. Although his original intention was not to write a "chicken soup for the soul," many readers in later generations have indeed regarded this book as such, or even as "toxic chicken soup."

The emergence of evolutionary theory raised a question: "If humans evolved, then why should evolution only stop at the human stage?"

Darwin said that humans will continue to evolve to adapt to their environment, just as monkeys evolved into humans.

Nietzsche said that it's not just about adapting to the environment; you've forgotten the "spirit."

He emphasized that humans have free will and are able to guide their own "evolution".

He refers to ordinary people as "the last man," comparing them to apes—"humans are the rope connecting apes and superhumans." In the eyes of the "superhumans" who will appear in the future, the current "last man" is just an animal.

Therefore, the "stragglers" would often spout those cringeworthy lines, such as "How dare a tiny insect look at a god?"

The "Übermensch" or "transcendent" figure that Nietzsche refers to can be roughly summarized as follows:

1. A “transcender” is someone who transcends himself and the weak; he can fully express himself and dominate the mediocre.

2. The "transcendent" is the standard of truth and morality, and the creator of norms and values;

3. The "transcendent" is free, selfish, and self-sufficient;

4. "The transcendent" is the one who faces humanity's greatest suffering and greatest hope;

5. "Supermen" grow up in adverse environments; hatred, jealousy, stubbornness, doubt, harshness, greed, and violence can only make Supermen stronger.

If you compare this character with the character of the "straggler," you should be able to see many commonalities in the plot development, such as a tragic background, being misunderstood by others, and having different values ​​and morals from ordinary people.

In Nietzsche's philosophy, the "transcendent" is used to echo the idea that "God is dead."

Therefore, the "scattered soldiers" eventually embarked on the path of "ascending to godhood" or, in other words, "killing gods."

That is, "Heavenly principles are dead, I am Heavenly principles."

Tragically, because "the stragglers" had no one to supervise them from a young age and relied mainly on self-study, they ended up studying Nietzsche, but their learning went astray...

Nietzsche's "God is dead" does not mean that you should actually kill God, but "scatterers" clearly understands it that way.

According to Nietzsche, how great is God and how insignificant is humankind?

But from whom did the conception of God originate? From humanity itself. In Nietzsche's view, God's power stems from the projection of the human spirit; God's greatness originates from the greatness of humanity. Why do followers of Abrahamic monotheism attribute their achievements to God when they themselves have performed numerous feats?

So he said, "God is dead."

There is no a priori, higher being (god) who controls human destiny. People should not be complacent weaklings, nor should they use so-called weakness and morality to coerce the strong. Instead, they should dare to resist the strong, continuously improve themselves, become their own "superman," and take control of their own lives.

This is what "killing" God truly means.

Because once a person makes their own decisions, nothing beyond can bind them, and they transition from "nothing is true" to "everything is permitted".

Humanity no longer relies on gods, but moves forward on its own, confronting all suffering.

In other words, humans themselves are gods.

This concept echoes the worldview of Genshin Impact, shifting from divine rule to human rule, where humans are the "Genshin Impact."

As a control group of "scattered soldiers," the academic school of Fontaine, René, the "transcendent" of the "Narcissistic Cross Society," took a more correct path. At least René's interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy of "transcendent" was correct.

René later commented on Marianne, who had merged with the water spirit, saying: "Your current state transcends that of humans and water spirits; you are in the form of transcendent beings. Just as humans are to apes, and superhumans are to humans. You are now the meaning of Fontaine."

What he said here is entirely Nietzsche's original words. This is also one of the pieces of solid evidence that the "Transcendental" in Genshin Impact comes from Nietzsche's "UK philosophy".

"Evolve into a new kind of human," "Master your own destiny," "Be your own god"—this is what it means to be a "transcendent."

However, the uneducated "soldier" misunderstood; he could only grasp the literal meaning, not the metaphor. So he blindly went to ascend to godhood.

This is the tragedy of an illiterate, immature teenager encountering a pretentious, philosophical intellectual.

P.S.: There's still some content left, but you know how tiring it is to translate philosophical terms that don't speak like human language into plain language... Please allow me to continue.

This is the cyclical fate of the world (Q)

(The title refers to the Q in QED, and is a tribute to the final Evangelion movie, "Q: Resurrection." This final chapter is very long, about 15,000 words, and I will post it slowly.)

V. What is hidden within the "scattered soldiers"? — "Three Spiritual Transformations," "Will to Power," and "Eternal Reincarnation"

Here we must discuss the most obscure part of the characterization of "the stragglers," which is also the most obscure part of Nietzsche's philosophy.

In fact, the character of "the stragglers" is basically "both made and broken by Nietzsche".

To put it bluntly, if you're a Nietzschean enthusiast like the miHoYo writers, then the "Scatter Soldier" vibe is authentic and genuine. Every struggle and growth he experiences is very Nietzschean. The writers not only brilliantly integrated these Nietzschean philosophical ideas into the Genshin Impact worldview, but also used a narrative trick related to "time" to allude to "eternal reincarnation."

Honestly, purely from a technical standpoint, as a former mystery novelist, I can appreciate this level of technical skill.

...But as a player, it's a different story.

The most unfriendly aspect of the character "Scout" for players is that his storyline is not only fragmented, but also "non-linear in time".

Because Nietzsche's "eternal recurrence" is about this very thing.

It has a very authentic Nietzschean flavor, but it's very unfriendly to players, especially those who don't have the time and energy to do the research like I do.

Before I explain these concepts, let me tell you a true story.

I once met two PhDs in philosophy, one from the University of Sussex in the UK and the other from Peking University. They argued about Nietzsche, specifically about the concept of "eternal rebirth."

A British PhD student stated that Nietzsche's "eternal recurrence" is a mental experience, while a Peking University PhD student stated that Nietzsche's "eternal recurrence" is clearly an ontological concept in the strict sense.

Then the two started exchanging foreign language terms. The Peking University PhD student said, "You haven't even mastered German, what kind of mental experience are you talking about? You can only read secondhand English literature, what do you know about transcendence? Show me the original text from KSA." The British PhD student said, "I'm Nietzschean, you can't use 'Hominem,' you're shallow. We're both Dr.s, you can't just open your mouth and expect me to run my legs off to provide references! If you have any complaints, write a paper!"

Ah, after reading the above paragraph, did you not understand what they were talking about? Well, that's the general feeling when reading Nietzsche's philosophy or watching the plot of "The Scatter Soldier".

(Note: mental experience; ontology; transcendence; KSA, Kritische Studienausgabe, Nietzsche's Complete Works; Nietzschean; ad hominem; shallow; ref. Also, a Peking University PhD student later actually wrote a Nietzsche research paper to refute this…)

Even academic PhDs don't speak fluent, human language when they argue, and the same goes for the "scattered" 985 screenwriters—Hark listens to Humphrey and Bernard chatting.JPG.

I had a similar experience while researching Nietzsche's ideas for "Skirmishers," because I couldn't find any clues to prove "eternal rebirth" by just looking at the Chinese game text. I found the narrative tricks in the English version of the dialogue... Yes, the writers even played tricks with the English words.

After years of systematic academic training in the ivory tower, being steeped in academic conferences and papers, this is how it is. I can only say I understand, with a wry smile.

1. "Three Changes in Spirit"

First, let's look at the "three changes in spirit".

The concept of “three spiritual transformations” was proposed by Nietzsche in Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

He uses three creatures—camel, lion, and baby—to illustrate the transformation of the human spirit. The spirit transforms from a camel to a lion, and then from a lion to a baby. The camel represents the burden of traditional morality, the lion symbolizes the spirit that dares to break traditional norms, and finally, the baby represents the power to create new value after destruction.

I wrote about this "Teyvat version" of "Psychic Triple Change" in my update a few days ago. I used "Beast" and "Long-haired Tiger" as examples, which I believe you should remember.

Clearly, the "scattered soldiers" have only reached the level of "lions" and are still only "destroying" rather than "creating".

In the game, the "three mental transformations" correspond to the famous line from the "Skirmisher"—"I have been betrayed three times."

Camel: An unnamed doll, a charlatan.

The camel represents submission, bearing heavy burdens, suppression, and obedience. This stage is one in which the spirit loses its self, burdened by traditional morality, bearing heavy burdens without choice, enduring humiliation and suffering willingly.