The Traveler’s Role as the Fourth Descender

Summary

The Traveler's role as a descender is crucial in Genshin Impact, as they possess a powerful will that rivals an entire world, making their mission to reunite with their sibling significant.
The Traveler's composition and ability to absorb elements raise questions about their connection to the third descender and the possibility of being turned into a Gnose by Rhinedottir/Gold.
The Traveler's journey in Teyvat is not just about rescuing their sibling, but also understanding the truth of the world and potentially having a significant role in the fate of Teyvat, including the possibility of ascension to a position in Celestia.

In Genshin Impact's world of Teyvat, there are outsiders who descend into the world, appropriately named "descenders" by the Fatui. There are four known ones in Teyvat, and players travel throughout Genshin Impact as the fourth descender, the Traveler. However, the Traveler's role as a descender isn't often discussed in the community. But understanding and speculating why they've come here and why they're stuck chasing after their Abyss sibling who isn't considered a descender is imperative.

With the recent lore drops coming out of 4.2, players know much more about descenders as a whole than they ever have before. While some of this information came out of the Archon Quest, some of it comes from the final Narzissenkreuz quest line. Not only are descenders those who've come from outside Teyvat, but they're individuals whose wills can rival an entire world. This new information puts the Traveler and their sibling in different lights.

Genshin Impact: Explaining the Traveler's Complicated Role as the Fourth Descender

The Traveler and Their Sibling

Now knowing that a descender is one who comes from beyond and possess a powerful enough will to rival an entire world, the Traveler being considered one shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. They're persistently traveling Teyvat with the goal of reuniting with their sibling and potentially confronting the god who took them away. However, their sibling belonging to Teyvat throws things off course. It would be one thing if they weren't a descender because their will wasn't enough to rival a world - still strange considering their yearning to bring back the destroyed nation of Khaenri'ah.

Players have witnessed the Traveler lose their power in the first cutscene of the game and slowly regain some of their strength over the course of the story. However, with the final Fontaine chapter revealing that the third descender's corpse was made into Gnoses, this leaves questions surrounding the Traveler's composition. Especially since they are able to absorb each element from the Statues of the Seven. This makes players curious about the Abyss sibling, though, and if they could do the same and were the third descender, turned into the Gnoses and then cloned by Rhinedottir/Gold. This would explain why the Traveler isn't of this world, but their sibling is.

Though the descenders have all come from beyond, it's unclear if the descenders all have their own missions or if fate has a grander plan for them all. After all, the Traveler wouldn't have the time to get swept into yet another subplot when all they wanted was to rescue their sibling and leave in the very beginning. But ever since their first encounter with their sibling alongside Genshin Impact's Dainsleif, where they were told to go through Teyvat and realize the truth of the world on their own, they've been dragging their feet when it comes to asking about their sibling from the Archons. There isn't a point when they're meant to go through the motions of the world on their own for answers.

The Traveler's Endgame

But then, players are left to wonder what is the truth of the world that only a descender could realize. After all, Nicole of the Hexenzirkel says that the Traveler should trust what they see and that Teyvat's fate cannot be easily changed. Everywhere the Traveler goes, however, they become a huge part of the story and end up saving the nation or the god in one way or another. Fans have begun speculating that if all this is set in stone, as implied by the Abyss sibling, what this might mean for when players reach Snezhnaya.

After all, if Genshin Impact's Tsaritsa has been collecting Gnoses--the corpse of the third descender-- and the Traveler likely has a similar power and capability within themselves, fans worry about what will happen once the icy land is available. Common theories include:

The Traveler being used as an 8th Gnosis, walking into a trap they cannot overcome.
The Traveler being swayed to the Tsaritsa's side as whatever she's doing is justifiable and challenging Celestia alongside her.
The Tsaritsa and Abyss sibling being allies in one way or another, leaving the Traveler conflicted on how to continue their journey.

The Teyvat Chapter Preview trailer also implies that the Abyss sibling will need rescuing, be it from the Traveler or from Dainsleif. Dainsleif also asks if the Traveler has understood "the meaning of [their] journey." For fans who've made it all the way to the recent region of Fontaine, surely there should be hints of what the meaning is already. However, this remains foggy and blurred, as it is hard to conclude what the reason could be behind the journey. It had originally been to reunite with their sibling, but if their sibling themselves advised that they continue throughout Teyvat, fans are left to wait and watch for the point of it all.

The in-game text for the Traveler also implies an ascension, possibly even to a seat in Genshin Impact's Celestia. Whether this would make them a god or an Archon, or something else yet to be seen, is up in the air. However, an ascension for the Traveler would have heavy implications for what they've been through and will continue to go through. It was stated that those with visions have the chance to ascend, but the Traveler has no such thing. Moreover, they aren't eligible to receive a vision at all as a being from outside Teyvat. This leaves many pondering for what is to come in Genshin Impact's future.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 87%

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Released: September 28, 2020
ESRB: Teen / Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
Developer(s): HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
Publisher(s): HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
Engine: Unity
Multiplayer: Online Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play: All platforms