Vol.09: Furina and Focalors - The Trompe l'Oeil of "Justice". A 500-Year Lonely Stage to Deceive Even The Heavenly Principles and Destroy the Divine Throne of the Hydro Archon.

Introduction: The Irreversible “Fate” Binding Fontaine and the Origins of “Original Sin”

In the continent of Teyvat, “history” is an accumulation of memories flowing at the roots of Irminsul, resting on a fragile foundation that is sometimes altered by The Heavenly Principles. However, in Fontaine, the nation of water and arts, history was synonymous with inescapable “fate” (Fortuna). This article unravels the full picture of the atonement for the “Original Sin” passed down from the previous Hydro Archon Egeria to her successor Focalors, the unprecedented plan to separate divinity from humanity, and the trompe l’œil of “justice” performed by a single human, Furina, for 500 years, exploring these themes through mythological and philosophical contexts.

At the root of the story lies the “Original Sin” borne by the people of Fontaine. According to explicitly stated records, in ancient Fontaine, Oceanids yearned to live on land like humans. In response, the previous Hydro Archon Egeria used the “Primordial Seawater,” the source of life in Teyvat, without permission, injecting it into the blood vessels of the Oceanids to create pseudo-humans.

The Heavenly Principles deemed this a grave arrogation of divine authority, namely the “Original Sin,” imprisoned Egeria, and cast an absolute prophecy upon Fontaine. The prophecy stated: “One day, the sea levels of Fontaine will rise, and the sinful people will be swallowed by the sea, dissolving in the Primordial Seawater to revert to Oceanids. In the end, only the Hydro Archon will remain weeping on her throne.” This prophecy was not a mere prediction or warning; it was the very “Laws” of Teyvat engraved into Irminsul. To defy the prophecy meant rebelling against the causality of fate decreed by The Heavenly Principles. After Egeria transformed into the Amrita and perished during “The Cataclysm” 500 years ago, Focalors, an Oceanid chosen as her successor, was forced to confront this inescapable fate.

According to a prominent theory within the community, The Heavenly Principles (or The Primordial One, Phanes) monopolized the act of creating humanity as their absolute privilege. It can be inferred that Egeria’s creation of life using the indigenous power of Teyvat, the “Primordial Seawater,” was a taboo that threatened the very ruling system of The Heavenly Principles, an extraterrestrial Descender. The conclusion Focalors arrived at was not to physically prevent the prophecy itself, but to execute a deception on a cosmological scale: feigning the “surface facts” of the prophecy’s fulfillment while rewriting only its “outcome.”

1. The Echoes of Ancient Remuria and the Absoluteness of “Fortuna” (Fate)

To understand the rigidity of “fate” in Fontaine, it is necessary to decipher the ancient Remurian Empire that existed before Egeria’s rule and the concept of “Fortuna.”

1.1 The Loom of Fate and the Gravity of Causality Indicated by the “Lightless Silk String”

The drop materials from the “All-Devouring Narwhal,” which symbolizes the echoes of Remuria and the threat of The Abyss, strongly reflect the fatalistic cosmology of ancient Fontaine. According to the text of the boss drop material “Lightless Silk String,” it was believed in ancient Fontaine that “Fortuna” (fate), which rules the world, is woven from countless fibers and possesses a structure akin to the strings of a lyre. If these strings resonate with majestic music, they bring happiness to all, but dissonance is said to possess the power to destroy the very fabric of the universe.

Furthermore, the records of the “Lightless Eye of the Maelstrom” and “Lightless Mass” suggest that causality gathers around “heavy fate,” and just as light cannot escape a dark vortex, this too is an irreversible Law. This fact that “fate is inescapable like gravity” is the greatest basis for Focalors’ realization that the prophecy could not be averted through mere martial prowess or divine power.

1.2 The Defeat of King Remus and the Pursuit of Immortality through “Ichor”

As a matter of fact, God King Remus, who founded the Remurian Empire, also took measures to escape the prophesied destruction (Fortuna). As told by the artifact set “Golden Troupe,” King Remus civilized the barbaric lands with the “melody of harmony” and dreamed of eternal prosperity under his golden majesty. To overcome fate, he created golden “Ichor” by mixing Primordial Seawater with imperishable stone, and transplanted the souls of his subjects into golems immune to Erosion.

However, this attempt became a second arrogation against The Heavenly Principles. As a result, Remuria, swallowed by arrogance and madness, sank beneath the waves at the end of a rampaging grand symphony. The “Plume of Death” (Golden Bird’s Feather) of the Golden Troupe records a bloodstained history where the progress of civilization eventually morphed into arrogance, violence, and exploitation, oppressing the indigenous tribes (the people of old).

Remus’s failure demonstrates the strict fact that one cannot escape the heavenly laws (Fortuna) through material immortality or brute force. To avoid repeating Remuria’s mistakes, Focalors chose a completely different approach: not physical resistance, but “deception of perception.”

2. The Separation of Divinity and Humanity: “Narzissenkreuz” and the Alchemical Transmutation of the Soul

If the prophecy cannot be averted, the only option is to slip past the surveillance network of The Heavenly Principles and destroy the preconditions of the prophecy the moment it is fulfilled. The specific method Focalors took was to completely sever the “divinity” residing within her from her “humanity” (Furina), which comprised her spirit and body. This unprecedented self-deconstruction is deeply connected to the philosophy of the “Narzissenkreuz Ordo,” which exists in the dark underbelly of Fontaine’s history, and the esoteric secrets of alchemy.

2.1 The Sword of Narzissenkreuz and the Four Elements of the Soul

The Narzissenkreuz Ordo, led by Rene de Petrichor, attempted to melt individual wills together to create a transcendent being (one comparable to a Descender) in order to survive the fulfillment of the prophecy (a global great flood). The “Sword of Narzissenkreuz” was used in the Ordo’s rituals to sever the body from the spirit. The philosophy behind this sword deconstructs the soul into four elements: “Memory,” “Wish,” “Soul,” and “Persona,” defining their integration as “Reason.”

In community theories, it is believed that Focalors’ division of herself also adhered to this alchemical and mystical anatomy of the soul. She concealed her memories and authority as a god (divinity) within the Oratrice Mecanique d’Analyse Cardinale, and placed the surface of her soul and persona (Furina) on the throne, casting a curse of agelessness upon her. While Rene forcibly stripped others of their egos and attempted to integrate them into a single will through water, Focalors chose the exact opposite vector: “dividing and deconstructing herself” to save the world.

2.2 The Metaphor of the “Magnum Opus” in Alchemy

This process of separation and integration corresponds with extreme precision to the four stages of the “Magnum Opus” in alchemy (such as Khaenri’ah’s Khemia), which is deeply rooted in the worldview of Genshin Impact.

Focalors’ plan can be evaluated as a magnificent alchemy of the soul, where the god herself became the crucible to transmute all things, leading the entire nation of Fontaine to “Rubedo” (true humanity).

3. The “Fall of Sophia” in Gnosticism and the Rebellion Against the False God (Demiurge)

The existence of a Gnostic cosmology as the mythological structure forming the foundation of Genshin Impact’s lore has been pointed out numerous times in community research. Focalors, Furina, and the previous Hydro Archon Egeria’s story reproduces this Gnostic metaphor with exquisite precision.

3.1 The Tragedy of the Demiurge and Sophia

In Gnosticism, the material world we live in was not created by the supreme god (The One / Monad), but by an ignorant and arrogant false god called the “Demiurge” (Yaldabaoth). The Demiurge and his kin (Archons) attempt to trap the “true light” (Pneuma) residing in human souls within a material cage, binding them in ignorance. In the context of Teyvat, the prevailing theory is that The Heavenly Principles, who manage Irminsul and lay down the cage named “fate,” occupy this Demiurgic position.

And in Gnosticism, the cause of the Demiurge’s creation is attributed to the blunder of “Sophia” (Wisdom), the lowest Aeon (divinity). As a result of Sophia attempting to imitate the divine principles alone without her consort (syzygy), she gave rise to the tragedy of the material realm. The act of the previous Hydro Archon Egeria creating “pseudo-humans” using the Primordial Seawater without the permission of The Heavenly Principles is a perfect imitation of the mistake of “creation by arbitrary decision” caused by Sophia.

However, Sophia is also an entity who repents for her sins and attempts to bring salvation by granting the “divine spark” to those trapped in the material realm. Focalors, who inherited Egeria’s will, is positioned as the entity who fulfilled Sophia’s role of atonement by sacrificing herself to grant people “true life” (existence as complete humans).

3.2 Pneuma and Ousia: The Breath and Essence of God

The concept of Arkhe, which exists only in Fontaine—“Pneuma” and “Ousia”—also belongs to this theological context. In Greek philosophy and theology, Pneuma means “the breath of God, spirit, soul,” and Ousia means “substance, essence.” The “true blood” ultimately granted by Neuvillette to the people of Fontaine, who were composed of false blood (water), was the very spirit of God (Pneuma) that severs the chains of the material realm.

As a religious metaphor, Focalors can be likened to Christ (God The Son). Just as Christ incarnated and atoned for humanity’s Original Sin by willingly taking to the cross, Focalors also lived through the fleshly vessel (incarnation) of Furina and washed away the Original Sin of the people of Fontaine by willingly receiving the sword of execution. In this regard, her “justice” transcends legal judgment and is sublimated into ultimate “grace.”

4. The 41st of the 72 Pillars of Solomon, “Focalor”: Deceived Hope and Reversed Salvation

It is a known fact that the true names of The Seven in Genshin Impact are derived from the 72 demons of Solomon recorded in the “Goetia,” the first part of the grimoire “Lemegeton.” By unraveling the source material of the Hydro Archon’s true name, “Focalor” (or Forcalor), the paradox of her fate is brought into sharp relief.

4.1 The Duality of the Demon Who Rules the Wind and Sea

In lore, the 41st Great Duke Focalor appears in the form of a man with a griffin’s wings and possesses the power to rule the wind and sea. His primary office is “to slay men and drown them in the waters,” but he simultaneously possesses a duality in that “he can also save people from drowning if commanded by the conjurer.”

This duality corresponds terrifyingly well with the actions of the Hydro Archon Focalors in the story. According to the prophecy, the people of Fontaine were fated to “drown and dissolve in the water.” To deceive the eyes of The Heavenly Principles, Focalors superficially manifested a situation where “people drown in the water (the prophecy is fulfilled),” while simultaneously executing a miracle beneath the surface to “save people from drowning (turn them into true humans).” The conflicting mythological attributes of “slaughter” and “salvation” inherent in the demon Focalor are brilliantly incorporated into the scenario.

4.2 Deceived Hope and the Rebellion Against the “Seventh Throne”

Furthermore, what is important in the mythological context is the episode where the demon Focalor “hoped to return to the Seventh Throne (Heaven) after 1,000 years, but ultimately that hope was deceived and never fulfilled.”

When applying this to Focalors in Genshin Impact, it becomes clear that the narrative structure is vividly “reversed.” The demon Focalor yearned to return to Heaven and was deceived. In contrast, the Hydro Archon Focalors completely abandoned, by her own will, her personal hope of surviving to remain on the “Divine Throne” (the power structure of Heaven) or reaching a happy ending together with Furina.

She did not have her hopes dashed; rather, to save the world, she willingly “rejected” returning to Heaven (the Divine Throne) and “deceived” The Heavenly Principles. This can be said to be a fierce existentialist rebellion against mythological fatalism.

5. The 500-Year Solitary Stage: “Marechaussee Hunter” and the Philosophy of Trompe L’œil

The core of Focalors’ plan was the deployment of a magnificent “trompe l’œil” against The Heavenly Principles. Trompe l’œil is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that a two-dimensional object exists in three dimensions.

5.1 The Torturous Play Named Furina

“Furina,” as the separated human, possessed neither the memories nor the authority of a god; she was merely an ordinary person given only the premise that “she is the Hydro Archon Focalors.” She was forced to flawlessly play the idol demanded by the people of Fontaine—an “arrogant god of justice who loves theater and is brimming with absolute confidence”—for 500 years without breaking character even once.

Her struggle, continuing to stand on stage while enduring mental Erosion and solitude in a situation where she could trust no one, is beyond imagination. The purpose of her acting was twofold. One was to reassure the people of Fontaine and continue gathering their faith. The other was to deceive the watchful eyes of Celestia (The Heavenly Principles). If the truth that Furina was not a god were exposed, the surveillance network of The Heavenly Principles would activate at that moment, and the plan to avert the prophecy would come to nothing. Her very existence was the most tragic and perfect “trompe l’œil” in the world, directed at the absolute audience known as The Heavenly Principles.

5.2 The Oratrice Mecanique d’Analyse Cardinale and “Indemnitium”

While Furina bought time on the center stage, Focalors’ divinity resided in the core of the “Oratrice Mecanique d’Analyse Cardinale,” advancing the plan beneath the surface. At the Opera Epiclese, Fontaine’s court of law, trials themselves were consumed as a form of entertainment, but that was exactly the god’s aim.

The faith of the people, who were enthralled by the course of the trials and believed that “justice” was being executed, was converted into physical energy called “Indemnitium” through the Oratrice. In the context of scientific research, the Arkhe system of Pneuma and Ousia developed by Alain Guillotin also supported Fontaine’s power supply, but fundamentally unlike those, Indemnitium was the materialization of “faith in the god and the thirst for justice” itself. Ostensibly, it was considered a power source to sustain urban functions, but its true purpose was to accumulate a massive amount of energy over 500 years, preparing a single strike powerful enough to destroy the indestructible “Divine Throne of the Hydro Archon.”

5.3 The Price of Bloodstained Justice: The Sorrow of the Marechaussee Hunter

Why were the people of Fontaine so obsessed with trials and justice? Behind this lies a bloodstained history of defense. The records of the artifact set “Marechaussee Hunter” engrave the sorrow of the heroic spirits who fell to protect justice and peace during the Siege of Poisson and the desperate battle against the giant sea monster Elynas.

The retired hunter Emanuel Guillotin was entrusted with the siblings Alain and Mary-Ann by his friend Basil Elton, but ultimately, they too met a tragic end. The journalist Karl Ingold had the flames of the Siege of Poisson and the gruesome fate that befell the children of the Narzissenkreuz Ordo burned into his memory. The Marechaussee Hunter’s ideal to “banish and hunt down the dark phantoms” was an earnest prayer for peace, and at the same time, the flip side of the fundamental fear harbored by Fontaine. Focalors and Furina forged these countless past sacrifices and the “thirst for justice” into a giant sword to kill a god over the course of 500 years.

6. The Destruction of the Divine Throne and Grace: The Existential Turn Indicated by the “Splendor of Tranquil Waters”

500 years passed, and the fulfillment of the prophecy began with the awakening of the “All-Devouring Narwhal.” At this climax, the true essence of the “causality hacking” set up by Focalors is revealed.

6.1 The Judged Hydro Archon and the Superficial Fulfillment of the Prophecy

The final clause of the prophecy was, “In the end, only the Hydro Archon will remain weeping on her throne.” Focalors succeeded in completely swapping the substance while presenting this “visual” to The Heavenly Principles.

At the Opera Epiclese, Furina is brought to court on charges of being a “false god.” Simultaneously, the energy accumulated in the Oratrice reaches the time of its release. Focalors confronts the Iudex Neuvillette in a mental space and reveals the full picture of her plan. While confessing the “fear of death”—the only fundamental emotion shared by gods and humans—she dropped the giant sword of execution upon her own head.

With the “tears shed by the Hydro Archon at the moment of death” or the “tears of Furina, who endured solitude as a human” left on the throne, the visual conditions of the prophecy were completely fulfilled. However, what Focalors destroyed was not only her own life, but the very “Divine Throne of the Hydro Archon” created by The Heavenly Principles to maintain the Laws of Teyvat.

6.2 The Pure Grail and the Reclamation of the Hydro Authority

The text of the weapon “Splendor of Tranquil Waters” records a beautiful myth that suggests this process of execution and forgiveness. Once, the singer Erinnyes, who ruled the high seas, agonized over her own sins and pleaded with the “Mistress of Many Waters” (Egeria) for her “own banishment (judgment).” The goddess was moved by the poignant wish and granted it. It is said that the sword of purity sank like the light of the lake, and the knight disappeared.

The journey seeking the “Pure Grail” in this myth and the figure of the knight disappearing in search of judgment perfectly overlap with the figure of Focalors judging herself and fading away. The authority of The Seven was originally stolen by The Heavenly Principles from the Sovereign Dragons, the indigenous inhabitants of Teyvat. Focalors, by executing herself and destroying the Divine Throne, returned this stolen “Hydro authority” to Neuvillette, the complete reincarnation of the Hydro Dragon.

Here, Focalors strikes at the deception of The Heavenly Principles. The Heavenly Principles condemned Egeria’s use of the Primordial Seawater as a “sin,” but The Heavenly Principles themselves are “usurpers” who robbed the Sovereign Dragons of their authority, and their system itself is built upon sin. Focalors destroyed this hypocritical legal system from the inside.

Having regained his complete power, Neuvillette exercised his god-like authority to convert (forgive) the “false blood imitating the Primordial Seawater” flowing within the bodies of the people of Fontaine into “true human blood.” Immediately after, the entirety of Fontaine was swallowed by a flood just as prophesied, but the people no longer reverted to Oceanids (dissolved) and floated to the surface of the water. While the physical processes of the prophecy—“a flood occurs,” “people sink into the water,” and “the Hydro Archon weeps”—were all executed, only the outcome of “people dissolving and dying” was completely nullified by the new Laws (rewritten by the dragon’s authority).

Conclusion: The Justice of “Existing” — Tears That Sever the Loom of Fate

It is said that at the root of the “justice” established by the previous Hydro Archon Egeria lay the profound philosophy that “Existence is justice.” Egeria granted the Oceanids life as humans, but it was a transient existence bound by the shackles of fate, constantly side by side with the fear of dissolution.

Focalors inherited this philosophy of Egeria and completed it in its ultimate form. For her, justice was not about abiding by the ruthless laws or fatalistic Determinism decreed by The Heavenly Principles, but about affirming and protecting the “existence” of the people of Fontaine living right there, at any cost.

To that end, Focalors cast away her eternal life and throne as a god. And her other half, Furina, endured 500 years of torturous days that nearly broke her mind, completing a miraculous play that would be praised by no one. The words Focalors directed at Furina in the final moment of her execution—“I want you to live happily as a normal human. Just as I wished to”—contain boundless love for her creations (humans), a heartbreaking Ressentiment of wanting to live freely as a human herself, and an existentialist prayer.

The trompe l’œil of “justice.” It was the grandest and most beautiful false stage in the history of Teyvat, painted upon the heavy and cruel canvas named fate by the death of the god Focalors and the resilient will of the human Furina. The destruction of the Divine Throne signifies that, for the first time in the history of Teyvat, an irreparable fissure has been made in the ruling system of The Heavenly Principles. What remains in Fontaine, now a godless nation, are true humans liberated from the heavenly laws, and the footsteps of a single girl who has begun to walk on her own two feet. They will no longer be bound by the threads of prophecy, and by their own Free Will, they will pluck the strings of a new history.