Originally uploaded to Bilibili.tv
Hi guys I am Inotia King a youtuber, redditor and gamer who likes theorizing about the story. I actually cobbled together a list of some of my more important theories with respect to the game Genshin Impact and Star Rail that I have been basing all of my newer theories on. I'll be putting more of those up on Hive along with new stuff but if you're impatient I also archived all my theories here. I hope some of you guys are game theorists too. Let's try to figure out these great games together!
(This theory is long and there's much to cover so I've added a summary at the end.)
The Arlecchino Character Quest seems to be a continuation of both things I didn't enjoy about the Fontaine story so far and also things related to earlier regions that fall in line with my poetry theory. Let's talk about that.
One of the things I'm concerned with is the state of miHoYo's finances which I had brought up in their last anniversary. More troubling signs began to appear when the Fontaine Weekly Boss was just some space whale more related to miHoYo's new game Honkai Star Rail than Genshin. We then got a Liben event where instead of talking about the upcoming region like he's done in the past decided to once again talk about Star Rail. So then something even more odd happened for this story. Normally when we get a new character we'll get a teaser to promote the character followed by a Demo and Collected Miscellany once the patch has released. This time though we got a full on anime episode pretty much spoiling the whole plot of the story. We've never gotten this before not even for Archon characters lol. And now? A few days after the update? We have a concert video with a full orchestra, operatic singers and all belting out the battle theme for this story. I don't know about any of you but these moves reek of desperation to me. It's like miHoYo really wanted to make Star Rail more profitable and they really want Arlecchino's banner to perform well.
Ok moving on. So in the story we meet Clervie and her mother Crucabena. I think the Genshin wiki already noted this but these names are actually Irish or Welsh mythological figures. But it's just a reference for now likely because the real story is weird. Clervie is actually fine but Crucabena had a son Mordfran who was ugly so she decided to have slaves create a wisdom potion for him so he could rely on his intelligence over his looks. For some reason though her potion was mostly poison and only the first three drops of it were the wisdom potion. As it happens boiling liquids can cause spill-over and that means the people working on the brew can get burned by random splatters. If you've ever cooked soup before you know what I mean. Anyway Crucabena didn't realize this and so it happened and the person to be burned was Gwion. What's most people's first instinct when they get burned by a little hot soup? Yeah put the wound up to your mouth. Gwion did just that, drank the drops that had burned him and became smart. Crucabena then got pissed and chased him around and somehow wisdom potion meant shapeshifting powers in this story so they did that a bunch and then finally she caught him. The end.
I bring that up not just to say that the story we got only used their names but also that maybe one day we will in fact get a Mordfran or even a Gwion. I mean all we know is that Arlecchino killed Clervie and then Crucabena. It's entirely possible to come up with a follow-up where Crucabena actually trained a previous "king" or maybe she actually did have a son and she showed favoritism to him thus sparing him from the House while bringing Clervie in. One day Mordfran could want to take revenge for his mother or maybe Pantalone and Pulcinella will use him to take revenge on her since she said she'd deal with them if they took Project Stuzha too far. The sky's the limit on what they could do with this.
On the opposite end though is Arlecchino's own name. Peruere just means to consume by flame in Latin. So it's just a really simple reference to literally what Arlecchino's power is.
Which brings me to Project Stuzha. Stuzha or стужа is just Russian for severe cold. This is a one to one translation from Chinese 严冬计划 yandongjihua or "Operation Severe Cold."
Side Note: Cтужа actually comes from the old Russian for just cold which is really funny because it's spelled like "stud" lol. Even funnier when you find out this word came from the Proto-slavic "studen" just one letter off from student. And I mean that's essentially what Arlecchino's kids are to her. Also the Fatui themselves indoctrinate. Pierro enlisted Signora through indoctrination.
Now what is this operation and what are the connotations? Well as it involves Regrator or Pantalone I actually have him pegged for a major operation. Now would that be it? I don't know. I highly doubt the Tsaritsa would condone a plan like this considering her as yet unrevealed contract with Morax. However, the Fatui aren't necessarily loyal to her. We already know for sure that Arlecchino isn't. Same goes for Scaramouche. Also with Snezhnaya's own chapter waiting in the wings it would be a good way to raise tensions and send the region into the downward spiral that would work thematically with the Russian Revolution that it's inspired by.
The next thing about this is that Pulcinella is involved and it's already shown that Arlecchino works under him despite being Fourth. In my old Fontaine predictions, that was a driving force for what I came up with. Back then Arlecchino was Tenth and Pulcinella was Fifth so I proposed that despite her promotion to Fourth that it was just for show to ingratiate her to him. That said the story showed that she is already antagonistic towards him and has shown herself to be far more intuitive to be manipulated by him. In my predictions (and then subsequently my Archon Quest revision) I had Pulcinella manipulate her hatred of the aristocracy and fear of the prophecy harming her home. On the one hand I am really impressed. I honestly thought she was a Fontainian and the way they portrayed her desire to resolve the prophecy made it feel genuine (which it still technically was just not in relation to her herself) so I appreciate that level of subterfuge. However, on the other hand the reveal is a little undermined but I'll get to that in my complaints and nitpicks section towards the end.
Next there's this:
Yeah hate to break it to you Lyney but they did already work together. Back in Sumeru, Arlecchino had a few House members stationed to help Dottore's Aranara scheme that didn't end up panning out. He didn't care about them at all of course but that doesn't discount Arlecchino of having directly supported his operation. And we know they weren't directly under Dottore because the only one that was was Oleg and he was trying to claim all the glory for himself, even going so far as to insult his fellow House member Trofin.
Speaking of which there's a really frightening implication this quest brought up isn't there? They still mentioned that Arlecchino and Dottore definitely worked together on another project. Who helped Arlecchino get her flames into a potion? That means there's not a chance in hell Dottore didn't hoard bottles of the stuff himself. I think it's a sure bet he's got those "searing pain" memory wipe potions and he'll definitely use them in the future. I wouldn't be surprised if some horribly maimed person shows up in the future and can't remember what happened to them and as we investigate it becomes clear who was responsible. Also there might be a far future event/quest where Dottore tries to use the potion on the Traveler and that'll expand on their Descender attributes as their memories can't be wiped away even with crazy Abyss-powered Archon Residue human experiment by-products.
The wiki is at it again now making the statement that Arlecchino's not Fontainian but actually Khaenri'ahn! Now of course we do know for a fact that she isn't Fontainian but it's a stretch to state that she's Khaenri'ahn. The only reason and one which isn't even cited is that Arlecchino is afflicted with something that makes her dream of a crimson moon. As we knew from as far back as Dainsleif's reveal teaser from the end of the CBT era, Khaenri'ah was related to a crimson moon and a black sun where the moon would take revenge on the sun. (Black Sun was localized as Eclipse Dynasty but the new information revealed that to be another poor translation. New references keep referring to a black colored sun and not an eclipsed one.) Anyway it wasn't quite clear back then but thanks to the release of Perinheri we know the reason for the specific wording in the Dainsleif teaser. Essentially the Black Sun Dynasty usurped the Crimson Moon Dynasty so supposedly it will take its revenge one day. Now here's the part where Arlecchino doesn't have to be Khaenri'ahn just to have this curse. A "crimson moon" is the moon that was hanging over Khaenri'ah during the Cataclysm. This was when Rhinedottir created an army of Abyssal creatures on the order of the Sinner possibly in an attempt at freeing it. (It was also in service of the nigredo step of her attempt at the Magnum Opus.) All those signs point to the Abyss not Khaenri'ah. Khaenri'ah was just the dupe. So what is this moon really? Well according to Perinheri it's actually some kind of creature but it could also be one of the moon sisters. Either way it's related again to the Abyss. It's the "Abyssal Moon" if you'd like.
Long story short, Arlecchino's Balemoon Bloodfire is likely just some other manifestation of the Abyss and has nothing to do with Khaenri'ah. The other much more obvious sign that she's not Khaenri'ahn is her eyes. Not sure how the wiki missed that but she's got unique X-eyes not the primogem eyes of every single Khaenri'ahn, pure blood or not. No primogem eyes, no Khaenri'ah. (But in terms of the Dainsleif prophecy X-eyes works well. Look at Arlecchino's drops. There's one where a red X is placed over a gray primogem shape. "The eclipse is swallowed by the crimson moon." This drop is also called "Denial and Judgment.")
Going back to her affliction though it's curious right? This isn't the first time we've seen a fire that would burn its user if they lost control of it. Signora also had this problem. And as I had pointed out a long time ago, so did Collei. Isn't it also curious that the Character Quest brought up the Doctor and making deals with the orphanage? What was Collei again? Orphaned. Why did she have that black fire ability again? Dottore experiments. So in the story who helped Arlecchino bottle up her Bloodfire? Dottore. And finally, though it might just be aesthetic if you look at Signora's pose in her Ember Witch form and then Arlecchino's second form they are both facing the same way, same red motif, they have wings, open chest outfit and one has ember in her name while the other cinder.
I have a sneaking suspicion this is miHoYo trying to beat us over the head that Arlecchino, Signora and Collei were all in the same boat. They are orphans that were tossed out by their families, sent to the House of the Hearth under creepo Knave and experimented on by Dottore while he was still on his Delusion Project kick. Collei was probably his last "class" of experiments because her case got the attention of both Mondstadt and Sumeru and the Fatui couldn't be having that. The manhua itself showed the diplomatic repercussions Snezhnaya paid for Collei. But before that was Arlecchino and before her was Signora. (we can see Signora's already an adult by the time Perrie killed Crucabena) But wait, didn't Collei get her fire powers from the Archon Residue in Crystal Marrow? Well I have this theory right? Now if we take that theory and add it to this theory then the Abyss connection becomes clear. All you'd need is to use Archon Residue specific to those fallen during the Nibelung conflict and they'd be afflicted with the Abyss too. And I'm sure god remains make for some readily accessible "Archon Residues."
Side Note 1: There's a little interesting note too between Arlecchino and Signora. I brought this up when I was theorizing about Arlecchino back in her first mention in The Very Special Fortune Slip World Quest. Signora is not a normal character in the commedia dell'arte. She was developed by combining the physicality of Capitano with the sex appeal of Columbina. (This is why I didn't predict that we'd get a Columbina Harbinger too and instead thought the final one would be Brighella. Scara is also a form of Capitano.) Anyway Arlecchino is supposed to be smitten with Columbina and who was the only Harbinger to feel bad for Signora's death? That's now expanded to be due to Arlecchino's sympathy for orphans but even so their many parallels are interesting.
Side Note 2: Another interesting connection between those two is that while they both have Delusions their true powers come from their experimental ones. Signora needed her Delusion to dampen her Pyro abilities and while it's not really clear, Arlecchino cherishes her Pyro Vision over her Delusion and is shown to be making use out of her Bloodfire curse instead of anything to do with her Delusion.
And that brings up another connection between the Harbingers. In some of Signora's drops it's shown she doesn't have clear memories of her past. She had a friend once but they didn't survive the experiments. This was also the case for Collei. And now Arlecchino has a unique power that erases memories. Finally we have Scara who erased all memory of himself in the world to be reborn as the Wanderer. A long time ago I theorized that every Harbinger mentioned in the Pale Flame Artifact Set would be killed. That's so far been true. Both Signora and Scara were mentioned in the set and while Scara is reborn it was seen in-game that the Wanderer was for all intents and purposes a different person from Scara. The ones remaining are Dottore, Pierro and Pantalone. I've already got an ending for Pantalone and Pierro based on their backstories and with zero redeeming factors I don't see a way for Dottore to survive either. Something else all of these three have in common is they are on the wrong side of Arlecchino. Dottore experimented on her kids, Pantalone is running Project Stuzha and Pierro has a direct line in her Character Stories stating he has no interest in her or her kids. With her memory wiping, shadow creating abilities it wouldn't surprise me if she played some role in some if not all of their deaths to set them in line with Signora and Scara.
Ok the nitpicks!
Again normally this twist would be pretty cool. Thinking this whole time that she was a Fontainian only for her to pull the wool over our eyes now after the whole story already ended would have been perfect for her character.
But just like so many other cool things miHoYo had with the Fontaine story they didn't have all their bases covered. It was great when we found out Fontaine had zero human people and everybody was actually an Oceanid. But then you run into the problem of how did people have normal human illnesses then? And how did they keep having those illnesses even after Neuvillette changed them from Oceanids to real humans. In the same way Arlecchino's lie wouldn't have worked in the context of Fontaine's story. Neuvillette's been in Fontaine for four hundred years. That's far longer than Arlecchino's been alive. If she wasn't a Fontainian and claimed to be one why wouldn't a dragon realize this? Yes we had the dialogue from him that he can't read Arlecchino's emotions. (also weird since he claimed to be attuned to emotions for some reason when even by Act II he didn't know Callas and Vacher's motivations which were brought on by the most primal of human emotions lol) But regardless of whether or not he can read her emotions there's no way he wouldn't be able to remember her for the twenty some odd years she's been alive if she was a Fontainian and if not then he wouldn't know her and her claim would be debunked that way. But let's just say Neuvillette was asleep at the wheel for the duration of Arlecchino's life. (I mean given how Arlecchino rose to power I'm shocked it didn't make front page news at the Steambird. There's only so many times you can blow up a whole building with a skybeam of fire and not have anybody notice lol) And that was before he got his full dragon powers and with them he was able to change all Oceanid Fontainians to human at once. He's told us he has full control over water including that of the Primordial Sea. There is not a single chance he wouldn't have detected that his move didn't do anything to Arlecchino. (but that is also why I took serious issue with making Neuvillette a full dragon with full control over even the Primordial Sea)
Great idea. Not the best delivery. But in this case I call it a nitpick since most of this story was far and away better than the Fontaine Archon Quest.
This is another little nitpick.
I get what they were going for. They wanted a way to show that Arlecchino wasn't murdering her children. But holy coincidences Batman how many things had to play out just right for that to happen? I mean we had to have seen the Horrer mugshot meaning Lyney just had to happen to give us the stack of people with him in it. Otherwise if anybody else had that stack they would have just flipped through it without paying attention. Also in regards to paying attention, Paimon needed to take interest in that scar. Otherwise if she for example took interest in Lapouyade's name then say bye bye to that reveal. Out of all the times we've gone to the Palais Mermonia why today of all days at this time did we encounter Horrer? And also why was he a klutz? Also why was he a klutz and just happened to run straight into us out of all the other people there at the time? So many stars had to align just right to give us this clue about Arlecchino's endgame.
So like I tend to do, there was a way for miHoYo to have this reveal without needing this much Deus Ex Machina. Just have an insider working behind the scenes. We see by the end that Arlecchino was fine revealing her flame memory wipe potion thing. Given how there was an Execution List it should mean somebody was present for it. You could even just make Freminet that insider given what we see of him in the late stages of the quest. Let's say Arlecchino was trying to convey these secrets to both the Traveler and to Lyney, Lyney as more training to set him up as her replacement. Freminet would be more than willing to help with that so everything we see of him could still play out exactly the same (except in hindsight Lyney would eat his smug words about Freminet being bad at lying) and then it would be revealed that Freminet had coaxed Horrer to deliver papers around the Palais Mermonia at the right time and staged his and the Traveler's collision course. Boom, not only do you get the same reveal but Freminet gets some juicy character development on top!
Also, "O the Horrer!" Come on you know you were all thinking it when you saw that.
Speaking of Freminet development
it was a nice detail to have Freminet intentionally use the flat of his claymore for a non-lethal strike on "Father." See this is why I believe Freminet would not only be privy to the memory potion but also go along with any hidden agenda by "Father." He was brought into the House months before the usurpation. He saw the wretched conditions of Crucabena's House. And you can even see from his Character Stories how much he cherishes Arlecchino, more so than Lyney or Lynette. This was then shown clearly by Lynette going all out against Arlecchino while Freminet used his flat. (She might have even been directing her insult at Freminet alone because she would have preferred it if he went all out too. I mean it's not like he would have hurt her lol) This could even set Freminet up as something like Lyney's Tom Hagen, someone resolutely loyal to the House. (Hot take: I only liked Godfather I so the man was unconditionally loyal and you can't convince me otherwise lol)
Final nitpick. In this quest we're told that Arlecchino views losing memories as being no different than death. That's great. That really fits with how Genshin works as I've brought up many times already. But in the context of this story that's definitely not how it's played out. While Arlecchino states that she values memories as the same as a life what she actually uses it for is to save the lives of her disobedient children. We're shown this as her mercy and that she's allowing these kids to go off on their merry way and lead new lives. So problem. Yes it's nice that she's doing this. I'm sure all of us have seen this trope in fiction before. "I just cut off your ponytail. That ponytail represents the version of you that killed my family. Now that person is dead" that kind of nonsense to prop up a protagonist. But in the context of Genshin what she said is much more true. Memories include our experiences and under Gnosticism those experiences allow for the possibility of attaining gnosis one day. Removing those memories is actually like damning a person to death because it removes their progress. I brought up the hylic classification of people under Gnosticism before. These people are wholly physical and can't conceptualize anything meaning they can't ever attain gnosis. In Genshin those are the hilichurls, cursed to be "hill people" and unable to even return to the natural cycle of rebirth. They are condemned to exist in ignorance slowly eroding into dust. Think about it from the opposite end too. Allogenes in this game represent the pneumatic people or those closest towards attaining gnosis. But in Inazuma we saw that once a Vision is stripped from these allogenes they lose their memories of what gave them that Vision, what gave them their chance at gnosis. So yeah, what this is is the same as my first nitpick with this story. It sounds nice on paper in any typical fiction but in Genshin it really is a horrible thing.
But on the flip side what this also does is ruin Arlecchino's intimidating stature. The thing is she's a push over. If you read her Character Stories there's one about how some of her kids grow up and want normal adolescent things like jewelry. Sometimes they screw up and get caught because their jewelry got in the way. The story goes on to make it sound like Arlecchino would punish the kid but it turns out she just went out of her way to further train them to be careful of their jewelry on future missions. When you have stuff like that and what we saw in the story, it makes you wonder why anybody in the House would be afraid of her. Sure the youngest who had never seen her use her memory wipe potion thing might be under the impression she kills them but then what about the jewelry thing? It just wouldn't make sense for anybody to fear her to the extent we saw unless she had done something severe but then that might tarnish this protagonist image miHoYo's fostered with the Archon Quest and this Character Quest not to mention her backstory anime. In this case I don't even think I could come up with a way for them to have their cake and eat it too. If she's meant to be fearsome then she needs to do fearsome things and if she doesn't then it doesn't make sense her kids would fear her as if she does.
**Side Note: **I suppose I should bring up my version then. Well she's much more antagonistic. While she lied when she said she only used Lyney and the children as tools she'd still be harsh on them and punish accordingly which produces their fear. Again my version is flawed; she honestly wants what's best for her kids but her methods are unusually cruel. This is based on her own experiences. It's like Batman (I keep going back to that example) and Robin. While any psychologist could tell you training up a ten year old to fight crime is a bad idea, Bruce Wayne saved his sanity by doing it so he believes it's a good way to nurture traumatized kids like himself. And we have Jason Todd when it comes to him. Therefore my Arlecchino would have had her own Jason Todds as well.
So the last thing is taking Pierro's advice. I mean I referenced it already. Let's see what details Pierro was talking about with Perinheri.
The version of the name he went with is a reference to a real world story which is pretty much the whole thing of Vol.2. And remember how I've been talking about facts vs fiction? At the end of Vol.2 we find out that a writer came up with this ending and not the archaeologist on hand. So yes, the Angelica stuff is probably the part Pierro said was specious. The details come in Vol.1 where we get our titular characters. Hleobrant is comprised of Proto-Germanic words hleo and brant which mean shelter and towering so Hleobrant could symbolize a defensive tower. So while accurate maybe Pierro was trying to say they were allegorically accurate. Remember why the gods got angry at humanity? They were questioning them and had started building a tower to reach the heavens just to see if it was there. That is one to one with our real world's Tower of Babel which also pissed off our version of god and also got humanity in trouble. This was when our real world's "unified human civilization" was broken apart into scattered nations. Hleobrant could be an allegory for the degenerate humans who defied the gods.
And his rival would then be on the side of the gods, Perinheri. (not necessarily the Celestia gods or even the Archons but possibly the higher power of Ananke, the Imaginary Tree) I couldn't find the meaning of Perinheri though. I tried looking into the original Chinese and as far as I can tell the name might reference a Ming Dynasty official named 裴纶. Perinheri uses 裴伦 for the Perin part and 伦 is a homophone for 纶. 裴纶 was dissatisfied with the government and we might be able to relate that to the "world order" of the time. And so he wrote the "Seven Principles." That one caught my eye. Then the heri part of the name is 埃里 which on its own would actually be the Chinese transcription of the Hebrew name Eli which means ascended. Just like the issue of Vol.2 possibly being fictional, the names being inaccurate was also noted at the end of Vol.2. It could be that Perinheri is an intentional mistranslation in English to throw us off. (but let me know if you guys found anything about what Perinheri could be instead) If this is the real reference well, for Khaenri'ah to be dissatisfied with the current world order and seeking out a Descender or maybe an "ascended" child, it makes sense for "Perinheri" to just be a placeholder name for a Descender. (I think there are already theories suggesting Perinheri is a stand-in for our sibling, a "false Descender.")
The revelation about a Crimson Moon Dynasty preceding the known Black Sun Dynasty could also imply something new about the Cataclysm. We're told that the Rifthounds, Rhinedottir's Rifthounds that up until this point were said to be accidental creations by her, were actually around since the Crimson Moon Dynasty and then fell out of favor by the time of the Black Sun Dynasty which preferred technology, tech like the "Field Tillers" Dainsleif told us about. King Irmin was the last king of that dynasty which means that Rhinedottir's group might have been a cult loyal to the previous regime. Rhinedottir herself could be even older than we were told previously or she could just be an avid follower of the old order. Thus the "crimson moon" that's supposed to swallow the black sun could just be the Abyss Order. This would also mean Dainsleif is even more justified for his disdain of the gods because his Khaenri'ahns had been trying to repel the cult yet were still cursed alongside them by Celestia.
Ok so what did we learn?
- miHoYo seems to have taken extra care with promoting Arlecchino in order to improve sales. Could this relate to their recent loss of players and lower revenue?
- Crucabena and Clervie could be a launching point for miHoYo to create a Mordfran or Gwion enemy to Arlecchino.
- Project Stuzha could be a way to raise the stakes as we get closer to the Snezhnaya Chapter. The Fatui might be running the Pantalone operation in Liyue.
- Arlecchino and Dottore previously worked together in Sumeru. They are confirmed to have worked together to create Arlecchino's memory erasure potion which likely means Dottore has some as well. This opens up another path of stories for Dottore.
- Arlecchino is not Khaenri'ahn. Even Black Sun Khaenri'ahns are almost extinct never mind some even older dynasty of yore.
- Arlecchino, Signora and Collei likely gained their powers from the same source: Dottore. They all play out in similar ways as well with Arlecchino having the additional effect of burning memories.
- It was interesting to have Arlecchino say she's not Fontainian but her reason for doing so before is undermined thanks to Neuvillette's presence. He would have known she was lying and given the stakes would have acted on it.
- Too many coincidences had to occur to reveal that Arlecchino hadn't executed anyone. All that needed to be changed was to have Freminet in on the operation and helping Arlecchino the whole time which would also develop his character.
- Arlecchino's non-lethal execution is played as a mercy but in the context of Genshin Arlecchino's stated opinion about it rather than her actual belief holds true. It really is an execution to destroy a person's memories. Those memories made them who they were on their path towards the gnosis.
- However in context of general fiction this actually makes the imposing Knave look more like a push over. She hasn't actually committed to any strict punishment despite all her talk about enforcing the rules of the House.
- Perinheri could be an allegorical account of Khaenri'ah's tradition of waiting for and then following a Descender.
- Rhinedottir could have been a survivor of the Crimson Moon Dynasty of Khaenri'ah or just a follower of the old traditions and the Abyss Order would then be the dynasty's indirect legacy and thus the "crimson moon" from the Dainsleif prophecy.
- In this case it would mean Rhinedottir's forces were only a cult of extremists and the contemporary Khaenri'ahns would have all been opposed to them. Therefore it further justifies Dainsleif's anger at the gods for cursing all Khaenri'ahns indiscriminately.
PS: I didn't know where to fit this in. It didn't quite fit with the flow when I brought up commedia dell'arte characters. Anyway Hotel Bouffes d'ete. This is the public face of the House of the Hearth. I looked into it and it's pretty interesting. So bouffes is a French word for a comedy play. Commedia dell'arte of course is also a comedy play. Now the Fatui was established sometime after the Cataclysm meaning it predates modern day Fontaine and the House's move to the Hotel Bouffes d'ete. The commedia dell'arte goes as far back as the 1500s so right around the downfall of Byzantine which could be used to reference the Greco-Roman inspired unified civilization which did exist up until the fall of Khaenri'ah. On the other hand the word bouffes was first popularized in France in 1855 by Jacques Offenbach who set up the Theatre des Bouffes-Parisiens. 1855 is a little late in the timeline but it technically still falls into the space of the French Revolution because of the Long 19th Century which plagued France with revolutions and upheavals leading all the way to WWI. Yeah this was a rough time for France. So going back to the commedia, when Napoleon occupied Italy you had rebels use the theater to spread anti-French propaganda to incite criticisms of his regime. As such Napoleon banned the commedia dell'arte from being performed and the art form wouldn't be revived until 1979!
Where am I going with this? Well sadly we all know what a trainwreck the Archon Quest was. So many things were set up only to be left hanging by the end as they threw in tons of pointless filler. But after the drama on reddit I decided to put my money where my mouth is and come up with my own version my adaptation of the Archon Quest, in honor of Furina's own words when she did the same in Roses and Muskets. Back when I was writing my version I hadn't found out any of these connections between the Hotel Bouffes d'ete and the Theatre des Bouffes-Parisiens. Yet it would totally work. Just like the commedia was used to spread negative information about Napoleon's France, my Fatui operation set out to discredit Furina setting up for the final trial where Pulcinella attempted to usurp her throne by proving her failings as a leader. Arlecchino's House was also set up in recent times. According to the quest it's likely she's only been in charge for the last five years, when she destroyed all the old records and started her own "Execution List." And finally as recompense for her role in Pulcinella's plan (which coincidentally enough plays out in this quest too for different reasons) Arlecchino would agree to stop all Fatui operations in Fontaine something similar to Napoleon shutting down the commedia in Italy after it promoted anti-French propaganda.
I have no doubt miHoYo's devs themselves could have come up with these tie-ins and that they likely were going to which is why they threw in the Furina line about adaptations. I still have a feeling they were forced to change the story they wanted to tell last minute and so they cobbled together something bad on purpose just to then point it out to us in the following patch, hoping we fans could notice and come up with our own versions that might line up better with their original vision.