With the arrival of Version 3.5, Hysilens and Cerydra have officially joined the main storyline. We believe all Trailblazers must be eagerly looking forward to experiencing the new story! How will Hysilens and Cerydra help us clear the mist before our eyes in the storyline? Today, let us explore the true core of the Amphoreus storyline - the philosophical metaphor.
Hysilens welcomes the feast in the ocean, and Cerydra's unfulfilled dream together weave the main storyline of Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.5. Lycurgus is even more shocking; it not only reveals its true identity but also unveils the core philosophical concept of the game Honkai: Star Rail.
With the reconstruction of the timeline, the stories of all characters and even the worldview have changed due to variables—Oronyx replaces Kephale as the new oracle, and all people now know the existence of the world beyond.
The demi-god authority of Time changes hands to Evernight, and Evernight also facilitates everyone becoming the "second-cycle players" of Amphoreus; Phainon still resists the Black Tide alone; in the new cycle led by the Trailblazer, we take over from Phainon to become the savior. Honkai: Star Rail needs to seize the fire seed of Kephale and independently re-create the world; find the demi-god Cerydra to activate the ultimate protocol of the Imperial Scepter and break through the administrator's blockade; Screwllum and The Herta assist in the battle throughout. The Herta mentions that Cyrene's Path diagram has issues, indicating she may have other Paths.
In this PV, the Great Cyrene that appears perhaps contains the entire memory of Amphoreus, and we also learned that Zephyro and Celenova are descended from humans. According to previous information, Zephyro is a self-destructor of Nihility and thus will directly face Acheron; Celenova is a tuner of the Family and thus needs to confront Harmony; Irontomb, on the other hand, is an algorithm that exists in any high-tech civilization.
Lycurgus opened information vulnerabilities in an attempt to exchange for Cerydra's cooperation, but instead increasingly filled the information gap for people. If relying on one person alone, it is impossible to defeat the first seat of the Genius Society, but this time, all Chrysos Heirs united with everyone, using the chains that imprisoned prisoners to forge a staircase leading to the star sea. However, Lycurgus also prepared a countermeasure: cutting the Trailblazer outside the myth, making them a true spectator. The assistance for the Astral Express to break free came from the intervention of the Garden of Recollection and the appearance of Evernight in note-based language; the Path of Remembrance will be the key to the upcoming storyline.
Due to the extreme difference in time flow outside the myth, when the Astral Express returned to Amphoreus, thousands of years had passed. Phainon still resists the Black Tide, making this Black Tide very weak, allowing the Chrysos Heirs to free themselves to face other problems. In this cycle, people's destinies also underwent subtle changes: Aglaea sacrificed herself; the artisan, the holy city guard, and the cleanser, together with Aya, ushered in the outcome of a romantic demigod. The line whispered by Castorice: 'When the ice melts and the snow vanishes, flowers will bloom, and you will find me.' Actually originates from the words on the ring.
Without the Black Tide, Nikador could return to normal, and Mydei also gained complete family affection. In the previous cycle, Trianne and Mydei met in the netherworld; this time, the two made it to the end. Mydei, like the former Nikador, split himself into five parts, making the blades of the whirlwind fight the enemies to the world's end. Just as in the storyline of Calypso and Gnaeus, where rationality presided over the soul-splitting ritual of strife, this time it was Anaxa who presided over the ceremony. As the most narcissistic man in Amphoreus, Anaxa still chose to refine himself into the Philosopher's Stone in this life.
The Astral Express was a thousand years late, so everyone used their lives to buy the protagonist a thousand years of time. A millennium of resistance from everyone culminated on the Rainbow Bridge, forming a major climax of this storyline: "Sky shall rain rays of dawn for you... May Romance be with you on your journey... And may Reason grant you enlightenment... Let Strife bestow you with inspiration... Trickery ensures your success... Allow Death to protect your soul... And at last, let Passage point the way forward... While Time will remember Trailblaze's journey."
All the Chrysos Heirs advanced wave upon wave, working together to imprison Lycurgus and buy time for the protagonist. All fire seeds were in place, awaiting only the return of the savior. This scene also vividly recalled the moment in Honkai Impact 3rd when Mei received the Origin power from Elysia, paying homage to the path once traveled.
In this storyline, Lycurgus also revealed his true name: he is the founder of the Genius Society, its chief member, Zandar One Kuwabara, and he still has eight other avatars.
A note was made beside his name: Entelechy is a philosophical concept proposed by Aristotle, representing him as the prime mover of the world. Furthermore, the BGM accompanying his entrance faintly contained the sound of Morse code, which, when converted, reads "42"—the ultimate answer of the universe.
Even though Zandar is already a dead person, he still resists Nous. Just as the Amphoreus album is named "Allegory of the Cave," he is also a philosopher in the cave. Why say "also"? As the lyrics in the "Nameless Faces" OP go: "The prisoner laughs and asks the puppet, who is more absurd?"—these were Phainon's words to Lycurgus. But in truth, Lycurgus is not only a puppet; he is also a prisoner, and so is Nous.
For Zandar, within the cave of this universe, he once saw the light outside the cave because he created Nous. Yet now, Nous has become the shackle of the Knowable Domain. He mentioned the concept of the Imaginary Tree, a theory that compares different spacetimes and worlds to a tree-like structure. What Zandar wants to explore is the infinite possibilities of the sea of trees.
He borrowed Phainon's words: "Destruction is not a process, but a result," also hinting that the birth of the Irontomb is the result. We can also see that The Herta's threatening words truly left Lycurgus unable to refute, perhaps also hinting that Polka Kakamond's actions were instructed by Nous.
When The Herta attempted to calculate the answer through the simulated scepter system, the simulated Polka Kakamond data created the Knowable Domain within the Simulated Universe and began hunting The Herta and the Trailblazer. The Silent Lord's suppression of the starting point of knowledge is also blocking the possibilities of knowledge, so he calls himself an awakened one returning to the cave, wanting to lead everyone towards the light. But wanting to eliminate an Aeon is an incredibly distant goal. Thus, Zandar staked the entire universe, which also reveals the most core philosophical question of Honkai: Star Rail—is the Path ultimately a blessing from the Aeons or the cave of the prisoners?
Zandar denies not Nous, but the concept of Path. Here, the Ω he mentions is the 24th letter of the Greek alphabet; Alpha symbolizes the beginning, and Omega represents the end. At the same time, it further reveals the nature of Amphoreus: if everyone's Fire Pursuit was already written into the program as a setting, then whether the sacrifices of the Chrysos Heirs are real, the answer actually lies within everyone's stories.
In the past, Phainon continuously killed himself, placing hope in the next life; in this life, Phainon still resists the Black Tide; in the past, the Chrysos Heirs jointly fought against the black evil; nowadays, the Chrysos Heirs relay the Fire Pursuit to blockade Lycurgus. They are clearly not at the level of Emissary-grade combat power, yet time and again they overcome higher-dimensional beings with the power of unity, which is why we are gnashing our teeth in anger. They are not shadows on the wall; Screwllum, however, states that while Zandar's ideal may be grand, as thinking beings, they choose to fight for survival. Perhaps in the future, the Trailblazer will use the Path of Remembrance to reshape Amphoreus, elevating them from virtual life to real existence.
Facing the first seat of the Genius Society, everyone devised a method—employing a DDoS attack. Since Lycurgus enjoys tormenting Phainon in endless cycles, they would make him enter a dead loop until he collapses, finally arriving outside the myth alongside Cyrene. However, this also planted the most fatal hidden danger: if the protagonist briefly forgets Cyrene, she will disappear into the realm of memory. This "flag" has a high probability of being triggered later.
Furthermore, a foreshadowing buried as early as the Version 3.0 storyline, where The Herta detected traces of Harmony, has now culminated: Sunday finally took action, using his tuning ability to assist the two geniuses. Zandar also mentioned that Amphoreus is not a place entangled with three Paths, but a battleground for a deathmatch, where Remembrance will inevitably seize the opportunity to intervene.
He also stated that those in the world who understand the power of the Stellaron are few, and he is one of them, signifying his knowledge of how to unleash the Stellaron's true power. Perhaps in the future, under Lycurgus's guidance, the protagonist's abilities will become stronger. Moreover, when experimenting with the Path, if the protagonist is willing, he can bring forth an endless army of destruction, indicating that Nanook has always been waiting for the planet to fall into destruction.
The guidance of Black Swan and Evernight's declaration of reclaiming memories hint that while the "mantis stalks the cicada," the Garden of Recollection's countermove has already been set in motion. The Version 3.5 storyline stages a "family ethics drama," after all, Zandar is the creator of Nous, essentially its father. If we try to see things from Lygus's perspective, we can understand his desperation: external threats include two geniuses, The Herta and Screwllum, watching intently; internal troubles involve getting his head chopped off by Phainon from time to time. Crucially, bound by the ultimate protocol, he cannot erase the factors, and furthermore, the Garden of Recollection under Remembrance waits for its opportunity.
This concludes all the main storyline content of Honkai: Star Rail Version 3.5. The philosophical metaphors within are truly thought-provoking. Our journey continues, and the future of Amphoreus remains a variable. Let us look forward to future developments together. Remember to keep following our articles and in-site merchandise. See you next time!