I have zero clue why there is a 15 minute black screen at the end of this thing, Youtube editor is in the middle of fixing it, my apologies guys xD

Am I tripping or is there 15 minutes of a black screen after the outro? Anyway, I'm happy that your theory got confirmed, I'm sure it feels great😊

A lot of theories being confirmed or denied for everybody in recent patches and it's an amazing feeling to see it happen

Idk about the Irminsul itself, but it was clear since Natlan that ley lines predate the HP. Otherwise why would dragons have ancient artifacts to modify them? Why would Kukulkan explicitly comment of HP's capacity for specifically reweaving the ley lines into a way of protecting the world from the abyss?

Everyone who was right about Irminsul is now shuffling in (everyone who plays Genshin and cares about its lore).

I'm not in big paragraph lore explanation mood today, but since all that is confirmed, my theories about Columbina, heir to Nibelung can be Phanes level in terms of Authority ceiling now.
She holds Reason, Life, Death, Time, Space and Threads of fate in one package.
She have full direct acess to Light realm, thus it's properties- Irminsul(destroyed but its base roots might remain) leylines, elemental currents.
And kuuvakhi, which counters/purifies/ Converts Abyss into more power.

Plus there is a machine in Luna 8 leaks which says "Study Cosmic Lifeform" and HUGE red cracks in the distant. Plus HUGE dragon looking kuuhenkis.

I thought I'd go back and look at my own notes.  From about 4 1/4 years ago I was saying well Irminsul and the Ley-Lines are presumed to be natural to Teyvat, but then by about 3 1/4 years back I was saying the evidence was mounting for an Irminsul created by the Primordial One.  And that's been true ever since as we have had confirmed more and more obvious evidence that the Irminsul was deeply connected with the aims of the Primordial One as far as what they wanted to achieve with Teyvat.  It's connected to the Fate system (from Sumeru AQs), it's connected to the False Sky (I think Layla made that connection the first), it's connected with Dendro which we specifically know is an element that didn't even exist before the PO shows up (as we learned in Natlan), and it's connected to the Ley-Lines which, at least when filled with the new seven Great Elements are another protection against the Abyss.  Against that we had only Azhdaha's complain from v1 that humans had been messing up the Ley-Lines which implied they were natural to the Light Realm (although we didn't get that term until Enkanomiya).

I honestly think the latest lore that the Irminsul pre-existed the Primordial One's arrival doesn't detract at all from saying the PO created it.  I tried to find an early essay where I said the PO probably made the Irminsul, but perhaps they specifically had been searching around for a planet to make their Teyvat project feasible and were looking for some sort of natural resource or proto-Irminsul they could use.  And that seems the best interpretation of the recent lore.  After all what do we know about the proro-Irminsul?  Presumably it didn't handle Fate, or protect against the Abyss.  Clearly it wasn't connected to the Fake Sky.  It circulated some sort of energy but not the right kind to protect against the Abyss.  Did it absorb memories naturally?  Unknown.  Did it absorb the souls of the dead?  Unknown (and we don't even know if the indigenous population of the Light Realm has souls to begin with since they seem to have a quite different relationship with life and death).

In short the PO created the Irminsul as we know it, but they used (and perhaps searched for among many planets) the proto-Irminsul, which being a natural thing may not have served any purpose at all under the dragons.

As for the Primordial Sea that was confirmed pre-existing the PO by Skirk saying (not an exact quote) that feeding the Narwhal was a waste of a planet's Primordial Sea.  She might have also mentioned that other planets have their own dragons?  As a result the Primordial Sea is not something unique that might have led the PO to select Teyvat for it's project.

Apep wasn't always the Dendro dragon because we've been told (3 or 4 times now?) that Dendro as a concept was created by the Primordial One. Apep specifically mentions that the energy in the Irminsul before the PO arrived was not Dendro.  Also Apep does NOT say that the Irminsul was planted by someone, nor does she say it protected the dragons from the Light Realm (which is weird anyway - why would they or anything native to Teyvat need any such protection?).

Apep: That tree was not planted by the Heavenly Principles. Irminsul existed before they ever arrived in Teyvat.
Apep: There was a time when it belonged to Teyvat, to dragonkind.
Apep: Its appearance and function then differed greatly from today. The Ley Lines flowed with an abundance of a familiar, primitive form of elemental energy... You may know it as the power of the Light Realm.

Yes. I was jumping out right. I said this all way before natlan release. Enkanomiya.
COLUMBINA IS LIKE COSMIC TIER NOW

The only thing that COULD suggest Irminsul was created by the HP was the fact that we have a mural of Nibelung burning a silver tree, but that isn't strong evidence since he was corrupted by the Abyss (As far as we know). I've never really thought that Irminsul was created by Phanes simply because the king of Khaen'riah was King Irmin... and the tree that controls Teyvat's information is... named after him as Irminsul? We still don't know WHAT that connection is or what it means, but it doesn't add up.
We also know that Irminsul is canonically underneath Teyvat, growing upside-down... right where Khaen'riah was. What we see on the surface are its roots. This is even referenced in the recent Archon Quest.

I'm still wondering if Irmin was Nibelung all along.
Nibelung told the Voyager: "If the tide of oblivion must come, then let my bones be the bulwark that shields this realm."
What is it that protects Teyvat from Abyss invasion? The ley lines! So shouldn't that mean the ley lines are Nibelung's... bones? That he was telling the Voyager about the ley lines, back BEFORE the Heavenly Principles came along?
The ley lines that are... the ROOTS OF IRMINSUL?!
A tree that shares the same name as King Irmin of Khaen'riah?

So this suggested to me for a LONG time that Irminsul had a strong connection to Nibelung the original ruler of Teyvat. Not the HP.
We need to find out what connection Khaen'riah has to the OG dragon civilization, if any, let alone what connection it has to Hyperborea. The true nature of WHAT Khaen'riah is will reveal a lot of answers, I'm sure of it.


However, I must clarify: No, Apep DID NOT say that Irminsul was protecting Teyvat from the light realm. This sounds like a translation error.
Memories would not make Irminsul more vulnerable to the Abyss, either. Memories are power. They most likely made Irminsul stronger.

I have a mental image about Irminsul and the ley lines-

HAVE A VISUAL WITH ME REAL QUICK:
Ever heard of a living root bridge? Literally a bridge between trees made of tree roots. My mental image shows Irminsul and it's roots being pulled and manipulated by countless strings into various shapes and directions (threads of fate, anyone?? Loom of fate????)

The tree is native, the roots are native, the strings are not. The tree keeps trying to grow freely, but the more it tries, the harder the strings pull. The tree grows the way the strings want in some places, but the tension snaps branches in others. The tree is hurting, but I don't think the strings pull out of maliciousness, but because it's trying to avoid a poisoned water source or somethin, ya know? But at the same time...I feel like broken off branches may be adding to the poison, raising the water level and rotting themselves.

To simplify what I think are the intentions/functions of different parties:

Phanes and The Shades: Complete strings pulling and yanking branches and roots, trimming whatever deemed 'necessary'

Travelers twin (with Loom of Fate): intent is to Overwrite previous root systems on top of current ones somewhere, thus the mention of needing a place for New Khaenri'ah. Overwriting data will delete what's currently there.

True Loom of Fate function (THIS IS A HYPOTHESIS): a method to help GUIDE the roots to grow in a specific way, such as like a living root bridge ✨️✨️✨️

Do I have a mandela fx or wasnt this already confirmed on Natlan? somewhere, maybe a book or something. Im remembering something something ley lines were repurpose by the usurpers and we did know before Natlan that ley lines are Irminsul roots.
Well, now that we are reminding  what we said years ago, I still believe Sucrose is a Fox of the dandelion sea. That Dainsleif power is "eclipse" and... I can't remember what did I say... What I do remember I say and I was wrong was that the beast on the Mare Jivari would be a Jaguar gg  too bad it would have been perfect witht the references and stuff they did on Natlan

6:53 I don't think we've ever been told that "fates" are stored in the Ley-Lines / Irminsul.  Just memories, elemental energy and souls.  Plus it just doesn't make sense that the HP who has taken all the efforts they have, to stop the Abyss in Teyvat, would create a system of Fate that accumulates unchosen fates.  Much more likely is that the Fate system eliminates unchosen Fates and thus prevents Teyvat from creating the Abyssal essence -- at least until some idiots messed things up recently.  We have been told in-game (by Skirk) that Teyvat, even after it was invaded 6000 years ago, has significantly less Abyss than other planets.  Presumably that is because the HP took steps to minimize the production of Abyssal essence, ie unchosen fates.

Saying that the HP took a system that was working and messed it up just seems bizarre and contradicts what we know.  For one thing we know the Ley-Lines did not use to protect against the Abyss until the PO modified them.  And again it's simply false to say the HP didn't create Irminsul if by "Irminsul" we mean the operating and functional defense against the Abyss.  That would be like saying someone didn't build a bridge because they didn't produce the iron for the bridge -- and then saying a dying star's nuclear reactions actually built the bridge.

As for Apep she's honestly full of shit when it comes to this topic.  She still supports Nibelung who was the guy who became corrupted by the Abyss and tried to destroy the entire planet.  At no point does she recognize that she owes her life to the Heavenly Principles.  At least she's consistent when she also fails to thank Nahida for saving her.  In fact all the dragons owe their lives to the HP.  They should all be thanking the HP and cursing Nibelung.

And what's with the weird criticism of the HP being "asleep" when presumably this means they are recovering from the damage they took in the war?  The war where they saved everyone's life at their own expense?  Even Apep doesn't actually criticize the HP for saving her and all life on the planet.

15 minutes of blank screen at the end of the video ....  I had a hunch you were going to say "Phanes" 2 seconds from the very end :)