How Pela’s Age Threw a Wrench in Honkai: Star Rail’s…

Summary

Honkai: Star Rail is set in a vast universe with multiple planets and revolves around the Astral Express Crew who battle Stellarons.
The game has several mysteries, including the ages of the characters, which players have to speculate about due to the lack of character birthdays and unclear timeline.
The character Pela's age has caused confusion among players, as she is revealed to be 16, but her involvement in a band and military school at a young age doesn't seem to fit the game's timeline. Possible explanations include her being a child prodigy or planetary rotations affecting time.

The Honkai: Star Rail universe is elaborate. Set in multiple planets, Honkai: Star Rail is centered around a group of intergalactic travelers known as the Astral Express Crew, who visit worlds plagued by Stellarons. The game only came out in April this year, but many players can already see just how deep its lore goes based on the main story missions and side quests. Still, HoYoverse manages to keep a lot of things under wraps to surprise its fans in future updates.

That being said, Honkai: Star Rail has a number of mysteries. The most noticeable being the characters' ages. While the game does give an estimate on how old certain characters are, such as some of the Xianzhou natives being centuries old, many players usually have to fill in the gaps for majority of the characters. It's also difficult because there are no character birthdays in Honkai: Star Rail yet, and when it did reveal a character's age, it complicated the game's timeline. This was what happened with Pela.

Pela's Age in Honkai: Star Rail Explained

Pela in front of a book store in Honkai: Star Rail — Honkai Star Rail Pela Idle 1

Pela is a playable Ice-type character following the Path of Nihility. She was introduced as the Intelligence Officer of the Silvermane Guards in Jarilo-VI, who works closely with the Supreme Guardian. Her backstory was explored further in the Lynx companion mission "Farther Than the Snowplains," where players got a glimpse of the characters' friendship. Towards the end, it was revealed that Pela's mother passed away "16 years ago"—around the same time Pela was born.

Not only did this reveal a sad detail about Pela's past, it also confirmed that she's in fact 16 years old. However, this confused many Honkai: Star Rail players because it allegedly didn't make sense based on the game's timeline of events. For one, many assumed she was already an adult because she was a founding member of the rock band Mechanical Fever, along with Serval, Lynx, and Captain Dunn. The band was formed when Serval was a teen attending a military academy with her bandmates and soon-to-be Supreme Guardian Cocolia. This would've meant that Pela was around the same age as Serval or a few years younger.

It's also important to note that Mechanical Fever was formed more than 10 years prior to Honkai: Star Rail's events. It would mean that Pela was only be six years old around that time. That age might make it impossible for her to be in military school or play in a band.

Despite objections from Honkai: Star Rail players, there are two plausible theories as to how Pela's age could still fit the timeline. The first is that Pela enrolled in the military at a very young age, and was a child prodigy. It's possible that she was an excellent student, which would explain how she got the Intelligence Officer position at just 16 years old. This would also mean that she was already a talented drummer as a child, which led to Serval recruiting her to join Mechanical Fever.

The second theory is that Jarilo-VI years are different from Earth years; the planet's rotation around the sun could be slower. This meant that a year could take longer, which would make Pela older than she seems. The potential difference in calendar years per world could also explain why Honkai: Star Rail hasn't revealed its characters' birthdays yet. Perhaps this same principle could also work on the Xianzhou Luofu and the upcoming world Penacony.

As of now, there's still an ongoing debate online surrounding Pela's age and how it's affected the Honkai: Star Rail timeline. HoYoverse hasn't provided a detailed explanation as to how time works in the game, but it would be creative if the developer considered factors like planetary rotations while crafting this game's universe, as well as the entire HoYoverse multiverse. Players will just have to wait to see how the rest of the game lore unfolds.