After all the changes to the original Inazuma story it was really nice to see MiHoYo managed to bring it back to normal. And they even managed to fit the new add-ons and alterations too which only contributed to it.
So originally it would have been simpler. Pretty much her first Character Quest was Ei unable to conceive why her Eternity failed. Even though we did defeat her in battle she still didn't understand. (The duel to determine who's belief is correct is a Japanese trope and very common in anime. Pretty much the reason a person loses is because the path they chose is weaker. Think about it in terms of when a superhero fights a villain who is an even match so they only win because they are fighting for something "bigger" like love or justice or something.) So we show her around this modern Inazuma that has still changed even with the Shogun doing things that should have prevented it. As she sees more of her region she comes to understand that change isn't a bad thing and it's her fixation with Eternity that has been the root of the problem. So then we have the Tenryou cr**** which gives Ei the chance to atone and that's when she would decide to go on her own journey to see the wonders of impermanence because she still has much to learn from what the original Archon had tried to teach her. That's why the quest ends at the hill instead of back in Tenshukaku.
And that's why we meet Ei out on the road in the new quest. She's still on her journey to figuring things out. But now there's a problem because she'd created the Shogun to oppose all change including changes happening to Ei herself. Changes to Ei in Ei's mind from back then had to be the result of erosion. After all "eternity is nearest unto heaven" right? So the Shogun refuses to allow Ei to continue. So just like in the Archon Quest to prove that erosion isn't the cause of Ei's change and it's just her realizing she's wrong we have to have another duel. To show her growth Ei fights the Shogun. If Ei's Eternity was actually correct then the Shogun should have won. But in her travels she's come to an understanding and maybe reconciles Yae's Impermanence with her Eternity pretty much how it's described in the quest: Dreams are eternal but to achieve them people have ever changing ambitions that get them closer to it. Ei wins and the Shogun is destroyed or sealed like Azhdaha.
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But with the changes came the character Makoto who was pretty much meant to displace Yae in case they couldn't reconcile it. This adaptation actually adds more layers to the story. So in this new version both Makoto and Ei believed in Eternity but they were still trained under the original Electro Archon who was still the God of the Moment. Now we can see Ei is a very stubborn person. Yae calls her so many names in all these quests it's really funny. (So that's likely to hint at Ei being a very bad student and Yae still being bitter about it.) On the other hand Makoto was more open to new ideas. Neither of them really accepted Impermanence but at least Makoto was able to adapt it into her concept of Eternity. This we can see from the tea master. My guess is Makoto probably used him as a good listener while she worked it out. Eventually when Khaenri'ah happened it is likely the original Electro Archon was able to contact Istaroth and they helped Makoto see what she needed to do to protect Inazuma and her sister. This is why Ei couldn't figure out why she suddenly went there especially since she wasn't a fighter at all. The plan was for Makoto to use her life similar to Marchosius to become the Sacred Sakura to connect to Teyvat's Ley Lines which could absorb the Abyssal energy that was infecting Inazuma. If anybody including an Archon tried doing it themselves well we know what happened to Kitsune Saiguu.
But there was a second effect to Makoto's sacrifice. So once she died Ei decided to commit to her "pig-headed" approach to Eternity and that's when she stored Makoto's consciousness at the base of Mt. Yougou, built the Raiden Shogun, created the failsafe inside Makoto's realm and then headed for Euthymia. So the pieces were in place. Makoto probably under the guidance of the Electro Archon and Istaroth was planted as a seed (not the literal one) inside of the failsafe of the consciousness realm to wait for Ei to eventually reach her. This is why Yae's whole deal during the Archon Quest was to coerce us into intriguing Ei enough inside Euthymia to pull us in and force Ei to start down that path towards enlightenment. So when Ei finally figures out enough of what Makoto had already realized that's when the failsafe was triggered and the Shogun challenged Ei to prove she wasn't changing because of erosion. Once Ei won that meant she was ready to understand the rest and Makoto spoke to her. Is it convoluted? Of course it is. It's very anime. Also this is why Yae says to us way in the beginning of Ei's first quest that she and Ei being immortals have very different concerns compared to those of mortals who have such short lives. It took 500 years to get Ei to see the error of her ways.
So then the time travel. There was no telling how long it would have taken for Ei to figure it out so this is where Istaroth comes in. In time travel if something was going to happen in the past then it always happened in the past so the rest of time afterwards plays out accordingly. So it wouldn't have matter when in the future Ei figures it out and then gets the seed Makoto becomes because no matter what she'd plant it at the same point in the past so that's why the Sacred Sakura was always planted back then and grew. But because Ei herself is an Archon with a higher sense of awareness her memories don't work like humans. So that's why when she returned to Inazuma she noticed the change since she'd have come back at the point in time where all this was being set up - Makoto needed to be planted as a consciousness at Yougou to set up the events leading to when Ei could get the Sakura seed to plant it even further back in time.
And this is why Makoto can't be the one to plant it because she's not the one doing the time travel. She's I guess you can call it a catalyst for Ei's eventual time travel.
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Ok also I'm using this topic to reply to other issues about these quests so here goes:
The Shogun was always built as a tool by Ei. She's something that shouldn't erode because she can't change. This is also why it's very difficult to reprogram her. She doesn't really have the options to do that. It's like trying to get your calculator to order you a pizza.
Now about the disabling her functions. That's a little different but it was also tricky territory. The point of the puppet was to work for Ei so she could temporarily disable her if necessary but doing stuff like that also probably got her closer to hitting the failsafe's conditions. I'm going to guess the reason the storm was messed up in the older quest is because Ei shouldn't really be able to disable the Shogun either so fiddling around with those limited controls caused additional problems. And if we see Ei's reaction to it she reacts like one of those anime schoolgirls that did something dumb.
Yae Miko for all the playfulness and sass she presents herself with is just as responsible as any of the original Archons. Granted she's more of a retired Archon so she goofs off sometimes but play through her Character Quest. Even if she's playing tricks or pulling the wool over people's eyes she gets the job done. Now I'm not sure why Ei would leave her in charge. I do have a theory that Ei might have been affected by her time in Euthymia. Yae alludes to the idea that maybe locking yourself in your room for 500 years is an erosion too. So if it is erosion then Ei is leaving her in charge as her closest friend not to mention she's essentially the second in command as the head of the shrine. See Kokomi. Yae also alludes to her old role as Archon at the end of Ei's quest when she jokes that she should be allowed to play Shogun once in a while and then takes it back by claiming it's more effort than it's worth. As the deposed Archon who originally trained Ei and then got deposed by her yeah I would call that more effort than it was worth.
Ok and I think the last thing is the Shogun or Ei allowing someone against the concept of Eternity in charge. Well the Shogun for sure wouldn't but she's busy fighting Ei. She can't do anything. Ei on the other hand was learning that her Eternity was wrong. But also if she's affected by Euthymia then the Yae we meet claims to follow Eternity too just with a different perspective.
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Anyway which version of events do you guys prefer? Do you like what MiHoYo came up with in the end or would you have preferred the original story? I personally really like the new stuff they came up with. It adds more layers to it which enriches the experience.
Tips and Tricks from a Super Casual Genshin f2p
