Intro
I believe that many players already know about Danheng’s background. It turns out that the cold and reticent youth is actually the Imbibitor Lunae of the High Elder. However, will Star Rail really take him away from the past? What unknown stories are hidden behind it? Next, let me analyze it for you based on the background story～
Background Story Interpretation
Character Story:Part 1
The story mentions that soldiers escorted him to the port and unlocked his last pair of shackles. In the dark, there were a few pairs of eyes full of hatred watching him. It can be seen that Danheng is not welcome in this city. According to the plot of Xianzhou “Luofu” , this city is also Luofu, and Danheng also stated that he was banned from entering for unknown reasons.
Until the spacecraft took off, he also realized that it was indeed a magnificent giant ship as described in the book. He also said on the Star Rail that he had only seen it a few times, but it was still very magnificent.
Character Story:Part 2
In fact, Danheng has not only seen Luofu a few times. The “hometown” mentioned in Story 2 undoubtedly reveals Danheng’s previous life—he used to be a Xianzhou person and was a member of the “Cloud Knights”. In his trace materials, Danheng’s skill is called “Cloudlancer Art: Torrent ”, and in the historical records of Xianzhou repelling Abundance people, there is also a description of the “Cloud Knights”: Many people on various Xianzhou responded to the hero’s dedication and chose to make the same deal with the hero. They joined the death squad, marched with Sui Yang, vowed to shield Xianzhou like clouds covering the sky, and never fell to the ground. This is the origin of the name “Cloud Knights”.
At the same time, Jing Yuan, one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou Alliance, is the “Divine Foresight” in charge of Luofu’s “Cloud Knights”. In the previously released “Nightmare” plot pv of “Honkai: Star Rail”, Danheng’s long spear and Jing Yuan’s weapon also appeared in the ruins of the same battlefield at the same time, implying that they had fought together in the past.
However, someone will find that there is a broken ancient sword on the far left of the ruins, which is Blade’s weapon. In Xianzhou Luofu’s plot, when Danheng learned that Blade was also in Luofu, he realized that things were not good, so he risked violating regulations and went alone. The man mentioned in Story 2 who “still couldn’t get rid of that man with beast-like eyes” refers to Blade.
It can be said that Blade has been running around in interstellar space just to kill Danheng. If other people in his hometown feel hatred towards him, then that man only has killing intent towards him. So from being a Cloud Knight with outstanding military achievements to being expelled from Xianzhou Luofu and finally being hunted down by Blade all the time, what kind of heinous crime did Danheng commit?
「Sedition of imbibiter Lunae」
Danheng’s previous life was called Danfeng, who was the High Elder “Imbibitor Lunae” at the time, and all this has to be traced back to the “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae”. There are currently two clues about the “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae”. The first is from Bailu’s character story four, which mentions the cause of the “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae”—caused by the loss of control of the power of successive High Elders, so the craftsmen in the clan made a set of locks to restrict Bailu’s actions to prevent further disasters. The plot can also see that Bailu’s daily actions are very limited, and she has to report to the elders of the same clan every time she goes out for a consultation.
Danheng, who was also a High Elder in his previous life, must have been watched by his clan all the time. When talking about his hobbies, Danheng said this: Reading books…is not a hobby, just a habit from the past. Perhaps the scope of activities does not leave the forbidden residence, and reading books has gradually become a habit. But that energy on Danheng is always there, even if he has changed his appearance, he still cannot get rid of the hidden energy, making him unable to get rid of the past.
The second is from Yanqing’s character story three, revealing the result of the “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae”. After the “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae”, the legendary swordsman who left thirteen feats (here refers to Jingliu, collectively referred to as “High-Cloud Quintet” with Imbibitor Lunae, Jingyuan, Blade and an unknown woman) also lost their fame and fortune. Obviously, she is also one of the victims of this disaster. Combined with this, the “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae” is also the main reason for the disintegration of “High-Cloud Quintet”.
So let’s talk about it. What exactly is “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae”? Although there is no complete introduction in the data bank and bookshelf, but in the story of the hand part in the relic “Passerby of Wandering Cloud”, it roughly introduces this process. A person holding a long spear (that is, Imbibitor Lunae) turned another person (that is Blade)'s beloved into a monster and plunged everyone into an abyss of endless regret. This led to Danheng and Blade being in a hostile relationship for a long time.
The deep reasons behind the disaster are unknown, but through some clues it can also be inferred that it is related to Abundance Aeons’s power. Danheng’s character story two also describes Blade like this: The man once died in front of him, but soon after that man would appear again. Combining with Xianzhou’s history, Abundance Aeons once ruled Xianzhou for a long time. Although it was later overthrown by The Hunt Aeons, Abundance’s power still remained. After this disaster, Blade suffered from an immortal curse and Imbibitor Lunae’s hidden energy was activated, which caused tragedy.
And Light Cone “Nowhere to Run” further confirms Blade’s immortal body. You can clearly see Danheng and Blade fighting desperately, but no matter how many times Danheng’s long spear penetrates him, he will always appear again safely. He won’t lose but he can’t win; he wants to escape but there is nowhere to run. Obviously this is an endless battle. On Luofu, when Blade and Danheng first met each other with swords and soldiers, but in fact Blade didn’t want to do this. It was just that he fell into “mara-struck” and was deeply trapped in “Anger”, constantly producing resentment mentality and emotions began to fluctuate violently between sadness and anger. Perhaps seeing Danheng would remind him of the tragic situation during “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae”.
Character Story:Part 3
The story mentions that he was almost robbed of his memory. From the data bank, it can be inferred that such people are “The Cremators”. Unlike the memory keepers who are committed to preserving and sharing memories in “The Garden of Recollection”, “The Cremators” mainly steal the memory banks collected by memory keepers, divide the stolen memories into different levels, and completely destroy and abandon content that has no value. They also believe that they bear the obligation to screen memories of the Star Gods.
The word “almost” also indicates that Danheng was not robbed of his memory. However, why does Danheng have no impression of the past? Through the official explanation of the Vidyadhara lineage, we can easily find the answer. The Vidyadhara lineage has a rare longevity mechanism. They will return to the ancient sea to lay eggs and be reborn to obtain a long-lasting life. This process is similar to reincarnation, but after rebirth, they will lose most of their past memories. In the new task, Jingyuan also mentioned that Danfeng had committed a serious crime in the past. Forced to give an explanation to the Ten-Lords Commission and Sky-Faring Commission, the Vidyadhara elders still forcibly performed the descaling technique on Danfeng, which led to Danheng who lost part of his memory today.
(Image source: “Honkai:Star Rail” Palm’s Newspaper | Xianzhou Luofu Race Special - translated)
In the story, Danheng repelled giant beasts more than once, so it can be seen that he is not an ordinary person. In the end, a red-haired woman called back Danheng to thank him for repelling the giant beast and invited him to board the train together. This woman is Himeko, “We need a guard here…and a recorder”, and the official description of Danheng also said that this silent passenger served as a guard on the pioneering journey and helped Pom-Pom manage the train’s detection data and data bank. Combined with this, Danheng also accepted Himeko’s invitation.
（Image source: “Honkai:Star Rail” Travelogue | Star Rail Guide）
Character Story:Part 4
Since boarding the Star Rail, Danheng has long been accustomed to living in the data room. It can be seen that everyone on the train takes good care of this silent youth. In Hemiko’s interactive voice, there is also an evaluation of Danheng, pointing out that he is a very cautious child who does not like to trouble others and is afraid of involving others. He is dedicated to doing a good job as a guard and maintaining the data bank.
Combined with his background, Danheng’s worries are not unreasonable. After all, Blade’s pursuit is always there, so he is afraid of involving people on the entire train. In Xianzhou Luofu’s plot, Hunter Kafka launched communication through image hacking. When he learned that Blade was also in Luofu, Danheng risked violating regulations and went alone to Luofu to find the protagonist group. It can also be further seen that Danheng is afraid of involving anyone because of himself.
Danheng, who has lived on the train for a long time, did not reveal too much information about himself, nor did others ask too much. Just like Welt, although it seems that there are many questions to ask, but in the end nothing was said. Light Cone “Only Silence Reamains” also well reflects Danheng’s inner feelings at this time.
In addition, the background story of Light Cone also describes an interaction between Danheng and Hemiko. Danheng updated the content of an entry in the data bank but did not save it in the end. When Hemiko went to ask him, he was still drawing a tragic scene related to him in his previous life. It can be seen that although Danheng has experienced reincarnation, he still remembers Imbibitor Lunae’s mistakes in his previous life and has been guilty until now, which corresponds to Vidyadhara lineage’s reincarnation will only lose most of its memory.
In the new plot, Danheng who found High Elder’s power also made many achievements in battle. Faced with Jingyuan who was deeply trapped and almost injected with “Destruction” power by Lord Ravager “Phantylia”, Danheng also stabbed with a long spear to help him successfully repel “Phantylia” and save Xianzhou Luofu from the crisis. Perhaps he understands that since “Sedition of Imbibiter Lunae”, he owes Jingyuan too much and is even more ashamed of Xianzhou as a whole. At this time he should also contribute his own strength regardless of personal safety and accompany Train group along with Xianzhou as a whole.
Summary
Overall, as described in Danheng’s character profile, he is deeply secretive about his past and is a cold and reticent youth who chooses to travel with the Star Rail to avoid his enemies. So, after a long journey of exploring the galaxy, will the train really take him away from the past?
