#cheese's sethno rambles

[fizzyfishepicgaymer]

Sethno (Sethos & Cyno) relationship analysis pt. 1!

I've been contemplating if I should post it here but it's my job to spread the sethno agenda everywhere so HERE WE GO!!!! I am here to present to u (whoever is reading this) this fairly long in-detail analysis of the relationship between the General Mahamatra, the current vessel of Hermanubis, Cyno and the current leader of the Temple of Silence, the former vessel of Hermanubis, Sethos to explain why their relationship is so interesting and hopefully to get more ppl to understand them better! (and also, bc… well… someone had to do this and since no one else was willing to I decided to take my chance and have a go at analysing their relationship and compiling everything we know about them so far *thumbs up emoji*)

NOTE - Will update this as more content gets released/more parallels are revealed!

Contents:

Comparing their visual designs

Who is Hermanubis and how did he shape the course of their lives?

Oathkeeper (Cyno's 2nd story quest) - Sethos's introduction as a playable character (NPC at the time of release) and his interactions with Cyno

Mirrors/parallels with each other

Sethos’s story and voicelines – finalising their relationship: who are Sethos and Cyno to each other and why are their lives so intertwined/their stories so inevitably interconnected?

Conclusion! (or more like a few last words from me)

Now, to clear one thing up before we get on with this – I AM IN NO WAY OR FORM forcing anyone to ship them or see their relationship in a romantic light, despite the fact that I do ship them myself. U are free to think about them as u wish, I’m just here to give my opinion and vision of them because I feel like many ppl are misinterpreting their relationship or even throwing it out of the window completely bc they just don’t get it (and that rlly hurts to see so I had to do something about it). ALSO btw just so u are aware, English is not my first language and I’m not great at analysing things and so if I word something in a slightly strange or unusual way or if I repeat myself too many times then I apologise, I genuinely tried my best to make this the best that I possibly could make it to be because these 2 and their relationship means a lot to me, and I’ve been having a crazy hyperfixation on them since the day when I finished Oathkeeper and went insane over their dynamic and potential. AAAAAAAND that’s all I have to say for now, so let’s get onto the essay! :3

!!! SPOILER ALERT FOR CYNO’S 2ND STORY QUEST “OATHKEEPER” AND SETHOS’S VOICELINES AND STORY! I recommend u to finish the quest and take a look through Sethos’s character profile before u read this! 

PART 1 - Comparing their visual designs!

As we likely already know (or might have guessed), Cyno and Sethos were designed to be visual counterparts of each other, and their designs use the same/similar colours to different extents! Cyno has medium length white hair while Sethos has long dark brown hair with some white/grey highlights. Their eye colours – Sethos’s bright green eyes and Cyno’s red eyes – are opposite each other on the colour wheel. Sethos’s primary outfit colour is white with dark brown as the secondary colour, while for Cyno it’s the opposite – his primary outfit colour is dark brown with white as the secondary colour. The colour that stands out the most in Sethos’s outfit is orange on his scarf, complimented by dark purple, while in Cyno’s outfit it’s the dark purple that stands out the most, complimented by orange, though of a different shade to the orange in Sethos’s outfit. Both of their designs also include golden accessories or ornaments (and in Sethos’s case, many of them are shaped like an hourglass, the symbol representing his Ba fragment), and another detail I’ve noticed is Sethos’s golden armband on his left arm kind of “matches” the mark on Cyno’s left arm (not sure on what it is called though). So, I guess u can say that their designs complement each other well, as well as “mirror” each other! (Note – THEY LOOK INSANELY GOOD TOGETHER I’M OBSESSED WITH THEIR DESIGNS sorry I just had to add this)

(also - this part was inspired by @ cynoimpact ‘s mini comparison thread on twitter that was made after the 4.6 Special Program where Sethos was first shown!)

As for their drip marketing arts u can also notice some interesting parallels in them – the poses are somewhat similar but Cyno holds his polearm in his right hand behind him while Sethos holds his bow in his left hand in front of him, and their free hands are lifted to be at the same level as their faces or slightly higher.

Cyno’s default signature outfit is called the “Heart of the Scales” (and according to the wiki, the Chinese name for it is 衡断之心 (Héngduàn zhī Xīn) meaning “Heart of Judgement”) – does that ring a bell? If not then I will tell u that in Ancient Egypt there was a strong belief that after a person dies, they will be judged in the Hall of Maat by placing their heart (conscience) on the scales representing balance and justice and weighing it against an ostrich feather (known as the feather of Maat) representing purity, truth and balance. If the heart balanced with the feather of Maat, then the person would pass the test and gain eternal life. Now, back to the Heart of the Scales, its description reads:

“Cyno's outfit. This garb displays the General Mahamatra's dignity and the just principles he sticks by. It was a rather complicated piece to commission due to Cyno's request for the custom-made head ornaments and requires regular maintenance.”

Meanwhile, Sethos’s default signature outfit is called the “Golden Sandstrider” (again according to the wiki, the Chinese name for it is 金沙行者 (Jīnshāxíng-zhě) meaning “Golden Sandwalker”) and its description reads:

“Sethos's outfit. The lapel is the shade of golden sand, embodying the vast desert that raised him, as well as his faith.”

Not much to say about this but it does go back to the point that Sethos’s design links in very closely to the ToS, SPECIFICALLY his Ba fragment as there is A LOT of hourglass-related ornaments/elements in it.

There’s also imagery related to their Ba Fragments in their designs! Cyno’s helmet has the eye motif at the back, and Sethos’s scarf has the hourglass motif, and I will come back to expand on this when discussing their lore!

And of course, we can’t forget that during their fight in the Rite of Duels in their Hermanubis enhanced states, Cyno’s claws are black/dark purple while Sethos’s claws are white – once again, clearly meant to contrast with each other and compliment their designs! In terms of visions, they are both Electro vision wielders which means that they have certain ideals/traits in common (yep, despite being almost polar opposites in many ways) – I will come back to this at the part discussing their lore!

[fizzyfishepicgaymer]

Sethno (Sethos & Cyno) relationship analysis pt. 2!

Comparing their visual designs

Who is Hermanubis and how did he shape the course of their lives?

Oathkeeper (Cyno's 2nd story quest) - Sethos's introduction as a playable character (NPC at the time of release) and his interactions with Cyno

Mirrors/parallels with each other

Sethos’s story and voicelines – finalising their relationship: who are Sethos and Cyno to each other and why are their lives so intertwined/their stories so inevitably interconnected?

Conclusion! (or more like a few last words from me)

PART 2 - Who is Hermanubis and how did he shape the course of their lives?

First of all, let’s think about this – who exactly is Hermanubis? In real life, Hermanubis is a Greco-Egyptian god composed of two deities – Hermes and Anubis, both of whom similarly were associated with the conduct of the souls of the dead into the afterlife. He is commonly represented with the head of a jackal (reminiscent of Anubis) and the body of a Greek deity. Hermanubis’s role as a deity is concerned with guiding the souls of the deceased from the earthly realm to the afterlife, and combined Hermes’s role as a messenger and conductor of souls into the underworld with Anubis’s role as the guardian of the dead.

Now, let’s talk about the 2 Gods separately!

Hermes is a Greek god associated with the protection of travellers, the cattle and also acts as a guide to the afterlife. He is considered one of the most clever and mischievous of the 12 Olympic gods and came to symbolise the crossing of boundaries as a guide between the two realms of “gods” and “humanity” due to his role as a messenger. He was known for his curiosity and his constant search for amusement and was considered to be somewhat of a trickster. He was credited with inventing fire, the alphabet, dice and musical instruments – in particular, the lyre. His Latin name – Mercury – is the name of the fastest planet to orbit the Sun.

Meanwhile, Anubis (also known as Inpu, Inpw or Anpu) is the Egyptian god of mummification, funerary rites, guardian of tombs and guide to the afterlife, as well as the patron god of lost souls and the helpless. He was essentially the protector of the dead who made sure that they received their rights in burial and stood with them after their death – and also in this role he was associated with “eternal justice”. The most popular depiction of Anubis is that of him standing or kneeling while holding the golden scales on which the heart of the soul was weighed against the white feather of truth. His name’s meaning was “to decay” – signifying his association with death, and he was also known as “the Ruler over the Nine Bows” which is a reference to the phrase used for traditional enemies of Egypt who were represented as nine captives bowing before the king. So… Sounds familiar? Cyno’s 4th ascension passive is called “Authority over the Nine Bows”!

So… what does that have to do with either of them? If u look closely, u can see many resemblances between Sethos and Hermes, and Cyno and Anubis respectively. In Sethos’s drip marketing post, it is said:

“Inexperienced travelers often find themselves trapped by the vast, boundless sea of sand. Were it not for the timely guidance of a kind soul, their journey of exploration might have come to an untimely end, cruelly cut short. Many of those who were lost and returned to their companions on the road all had the same name upon their lips: Sethos.”“As a desert-dweller, Sethos knows the paths between the various oases like the back of his hand, and his mastery of using techniques of navigation – such as using the sun’s position to calculate direction – runs even deeper. As a personal interest, Sethos enjoys traveling by foot between desert and rainforest, and the navigational skills he’s acquired are a product of his personal experiences doing so. As for being enthusiastic and talkative, by speaking with Eremites chance met on the road or listening to the fascinating anecdotes of hapless scholars rescued from swamp and marsh, not only can he broaden his knowledge and horizons, but also have a lot of fun. For Sethos, that is where the joy of the journey lies.”

As for Cyno, let’s take a look at his lore entry in the Genshin Wiki (since I couldn’t find much in his drop marketing post): 

“Notably, Cyno idolizes "justice" above all; though this predominantly manifests in his pursuit of suspected criminals, Cyno will also protect criminals from any danger that arises during their escape attempts until they can, in his view, be properly judged by the Akademiya. Although he is often viewed by the Akademiya's scholars as an obstacle or a threat to their research (complaints to which Cyno is indifferent), Cyno views his role as that of a protector, preventing seekers of knowledge from being led astray and becoming dangers to both themselves and the world.”

So… thinking about it, this would mean that essentially Sethos represents the “Hermes” part and Cyno represents the “Anubis” part of Hermanubis and that is kinda neat!

Now, in the Genshin universe - According to the Genshin Wiki, in the lore Hermanubis was a priest in the Great Red Sand during King Deshret’s reign and was known as “the greatest of all sages” due to his wisdom. He was also the founder of the original Temple of Silence in the long-gone ancient city of Tulaytullah. Although Hermanubis has now been long gone, fragments of his power, known as the Ba Fragments, still remain. 2 of those fragments were kept in the Temple of Silence and at the beginning they were planted into different people as a part of the experiment to bring back Hermanubis’s glory and find suitable vessels for his power, however the fragments rejected adult bodies (and many people likely died as a result of their bodies’ reaction to the fragment), so the ToS had to change their tactics and instead find 2 children that were most suitable to become Hermanubis’s vessels.

In the end, 2 children of the same age were chosen for this – Sethos and Cyno, with Sethos being a legitimate heir to the ToS and the adoptive grandson of Bamoun (so he was considered a part of the community at the temple) and Cyno being a child who was bought from his parents for a small sum of mora in order for the experiment to take place. After undergoing through the process of the first stage of the experiment, Sethos and Cyno had different reactions to the fragments, and Cyno’s reaction was remarked to be far more severe, and he ended up losing most of his memories of his early life and the time he spent at the temple, while Sethos only lost a portion of his memories.

In “Oathkeeper”, when talking to Tighnari, the Traveller and Paimon in the temple while discussing what deal they should accept with the ToS members, Cyno mentioned that as a child he suffered from constant headaches and fevers which were likely linked to the overbearing power of the Ba fragment, but despite that he had a strong will in his mind to keep going – which was likely a way of Hermanubis’s spirit to give him strength despite not being to communicate with him directly. Unfortunately as of now, not a lot is known about Sethos’s connection to Hermanubis or whether he attempted to connect with him at all like he did with Cyno (but I do hope that at some point Hoyo will expand on this, as well as Sethos’s life as a vessel prior to the Oathkeeper events because a lot has been left unclarified).