#here I am with my usual bs schedule djfhjg

[reginrokkr]

→ Study 𝐗𝐈𝐕: Contextualization of the forbidden knowledge’s sin.

In the recent Sumeru story updates, we’ve been exposed to this so-called sin for being in the possession of forbidden knowledge and what it causes to Teyvat. However, Sumeru isn’t the one place that introduced us to this concept and I find easy to forget lore content from past story updates for multiple reasons (all of them which are completely understandable, it happens to me too). So in this post, I’m going to start from the top as to what is this forbidden knowledge exactly, a contextualization of the moments when this topic is addressed and lastly, a critical reflection as to why it’s considered forbidden. Warning to those who don’t pursue leak contents that this post will contain some, albeit at the very end and under the spoiler mark!

We all know that forbidden knowledge is an abstract term that can encompass a lot if we have a look at what is commonly known and what is not so that even divine entities such as the Archons are hesitant to talk about or outright reject wanting to talk about this, which makes it all mysterious and hard to understand.

So what is this forbidden knowledge?

For this, let’s rewind to the first time this was mentioned and what happened. Enkanomiya used to be a large mass of land said to unify various civilizations rather than putting them apart as it happens in the present until The Second Who Came and Phanes with his Shining Shades clashed and, as a result, Enkanomiya fell into the abyss. Its people wanted to return to the surface, but for reasons they couldn’t understand nor know the path was closed to them and they had to coexist with Vishaps (which previously were kicked by Phanes upon his arrival to the world in order for him to reshape it and make it hospitable for his following creation: humans) in the dark. Thanks to Istaroth’s intervention in her guidance to show Aberaku the way to bring light, Helios was created. After that, someone traveled far and wide until coming across Orobashi, who was asked to be their deity and which he accepted. However, he would commit a sin not by being in touch with these people alone, but for reading about what the world used to be like before the Archon War (from which he escaped) waged.

Furthermore, the Enkanomiya people had a chance to return on the surface as they wished on one condition: to bury the knowledge they have from the times before Helios was created and only then Orobashi would be commanded by the heavens to bring them up to the surface. Which they did. The new people who would form the new Watatsumi Island wouldn’t know about those times, but Orobashi did and that would make him a loose end to be dealt with. Which he, too, was dealt with by being commanded to return to the Archon War and ultimately, be slain by Raiden Ei. 

In this case specifically, «forbidden knowledge» refers to the contents narrated in the book Before Sun and Moon which mainly talks about Phanes’ arrival to this world, the dethronement of the 7 Dragon Kings and the expulsion of the Vishaps, the recreation of the world, the creation of humans and his and his Shining Shades’ (also known as the Saints) deeds up to The Second Who Came’s arrival with what little followed after.

Now, let’s jump straight to Sumeru. Albeit it seems like the «forbidden knowledge» of this nation is for different reasons and thus it could be something different altogether, there are reasons to believe that it is intrinsically tied. I’ll return to this later to explain why. 

At plain sight, what we know is that Al-Ahmar (the Scarlet King) descended from the sky with some knowledge and thanks to it, he was able to build all the infrastructures we see: from pyramids to a whole package of an underground civilization with its own technology. So nothing too bad here except for maybe this correlation with Khaenri’ah and its machinery who was nuked, maybe this civilization had something fishy about it and little more. What one of the 3.1 cinematic cutscenes added into the mix is that in bringing this knowledge, he was also the reason why Eleazar was born and why it brought so much desolation to people both in the past and in the present despite his sacrifice and Rhukkadevata’s help to kind of calm this angry malady. One would think that this would be it, but it is not if we consider the fact that the Scarlet King comes from an era that preludes the three moons’ fall:

Later, time sundered the contract between day and night, destroying the ancient oath. The gentle moonlight sank into the quicksand. The sun shrouded all things in its fearsome gaze.

                                                                                       —Gilded Dreams: Honeyed Final Feast.

And last but not least, we have a new pal of Khaenri’ahn creation whose description sounds oddly reminiscent of a specific era and, once again, it encompasses directly the meaning of «forbidden knowledge»:

This dragon-shaped combat machine is a being that inspires fear, much like the lord who once ruled these vast lands. It is said that the now-destroyed realm once sought forbidden knowledge and attempted to create perpetual-motion machines that could match or even surpass primordial lifeforms. This mysterious, tireless mechanical monstrosity seems to be proof that they did indeed reach heights that mortals should never have attained.

                                                                                                                       —Aeonblight Drake.

As for what these primordial lifeforms are exactly, we have another pal of the same family of automatons as the Aeonblight Drake that has the answer for us:

It mimics the appearance of the beings known as Vishaps, with some functional enhancements. Such machines have an even greater ability to “absorb”— or perhaps the right word is “counteract”— elemental powers than the vishaps.

                                                                                                                                  —Ruin Drake.

Although there is still more content that can fit in this criteria of forbidden knowledge (this based on Celestia’s deeds in destroying past civilizations that don’t limit to Khaenri’ah alone, but civilizations of even further back in time such as the underground palace of the Chasm or Tsurumi Island to name a couple of examples), I’ll be wrapping this up here to some thoughts on where this «forbidden knowledge» is headed at, which so far seems to be addressed at anything that happened before the Second Who Came’s arrival. This includes may or may not include the existence alone of beings that were in Teyvat before them, including those that were born at a later time but still hold some semblance of knowledge belonging to that era. Or as Pierro calls it, should we name it Old World.

Now, under cut a small thing related to leak contents:

The heavenly principles have been silent for many years, but the Gnoses are symbols of their control over Teyvat and all the laws... Will the destruction of a Gnosis attract the attention of the heavenly principles?

                                                                                                                                         —Nahida.

You are me in the new samsara. It's a kind of knowledge that doesn't belong to this world, and a form of “truth” that can't be understood.

                                                                                                                             —Rhukkadevata.

Makes one wonder if one of the potential reasons why Rhukkadevata had to die and she must be forgotten because her existence alone implies that she herself is a «forbidden knowledge», but also because she has knowledge that “doesn’t belong to this world” aka the world that is being currently ruled by Celestia. As for Nahida’s quote, I’ll make a small new post with a discovery of mine in regards of the “laws”.