#spoilers on wriothesley sq!!

[keep-on-trying]

Oh one thing on Wriothesley Story Quest:

What did Paimon see upon touching the black gem thingie?

What did she see?

Answer me Hoyoverse!!!

[erithdrafts]

(Spoilers ig? Wriothesley)

Just finished playing Wriothesley's Story Quest and boi do I have a lot of thoughts about him. In my opinion, Hoyoverse has succeeded in showing us who Wriothesley is, even all the way back when we first met him in the archon quest. Actually, they succeed a lot in telling the stories of their Fontaine characters in general.

It's just that his SQ, it really wrapped his character as a whole. He's witty, observant, and calculative. But the star of his SQ is that he knows how to people, you get me? It's almost scary how much grasp he has on human psychology, people in general and knows when to use that advantage when needed. He understands how complex an individual is and from time to time, he explains to us why some people act the way they are.

And we are proven again that despite these convicted are "sinners", he's willing to put in the effort and protect those who wanted "redemption" meanwhile he doesn't hesitate to put down his foot with those who are arrogant. He cares, only for those who deserve his compassion.

"No matter what it is, it will no longer be able to hurt you. I swear this on my name and honour as Duke"

"Those who use fear to lead others astray must pay for that crime"

"Just as people are free to give in to the darkness within their heart, they're also free to seek redemption and a new beginning."

"Wriothesley spends much time with each member, comforting them and extending his personal apologies" I cried at this line, he's so genuinely kind..

He went through a lot as a child, he even told us his past on the surface level as if it's just a fact in his life. Because it is just a fact, it's just a part of him. He kept improving himself, "redeeming" himself. Literally, he is not letting the past define him. It's just a catalyst to shape into who we have met right now.

He even confided that he still has a hard time trusting people and sometimes wishes to have a happier childhood.. For him to admit that vulnerability, shows he's such a strong person to come into terms with his past even if it still hurts him sometimes. He embraced his imperfections.

Wriothesley is not a Saint trying to fix everyone. He's just Humane, doing in his power to support who needs it.

P.S imo!! genuinely Wriothesley is one of the characters that has the most depth among the cast in genshin.

[dustofthedailylife]

Okay excuse me, I need to yell again for a second, cause I'm going insane over the Wrio SQ-

[spoilers UTC]

This entire cutscene just... *drops to my knees*. The way he just casually dodges the bullet - I folded.

Then the way he just effortlessly lifts him up by the neck and sajdkhakjs. He is too cool, I can't handle this.

And then there is the entire thing with his backstory about how he killed his adoptive "parents" a teen and he ended up in the Fortress? Just wow! someone hold me this SQ was so good!

Also what is it with my favs being without parents istg... Ayato? Parents died. Alhaitham? Parents died. Wriothesley? Parents are dead.

[zhongscara]

OK SO i can confidently say wrio is at least in his 30's, most likely even older, according to hints in-game.

!! contains spoilers for all 4.1 content !!

the fandom wiki (lol) assumes he's in his 20's because neuvillette has wriothesley's case out on his desk when he reviews cases from the last decade that are connected to kiara

Neuvillette: I've been looking through the case records. Specifically, inspection reports submitted by Kiara and major cases I've judged over the past decade. (Neuvillette SQ - A Familiar Threat)

BUT i think that's not an accurate metric. this is because callas was familiar with wriothesley as the duke, and callas died 3 years before the story started/we came to fontaine. (all italics in quotes are my emphasis.)

Callas: Navia, do you remember when I refused the title of 'Baron' bestowed upon me by the Palais Mermonia a few years back? Well, that's beside the point. Today, I finally met the Administrator of the Fortress of Meropide. I had always assumed that 'Duke' was simply a hollow title too... But it turns out that Wriothesley is far more worldly than he looks. (source)

Navia: Three years ago, he was accused of murdering his own friend, but he chose a duel to defend his honor instead of standing trial. He died in the Duelists' Ring. (Act II - Like the Faint Moonlight of Yesteryear)

if we assume his case happened within the last decade, that would mean that wriothesley killed his parents, got sent to the fortress, became duke, and gained a lot of people's trust within that time, which doesn't make sense, even for a fantasy game.

BUT we'll come back to this later since i think this still helps us figure out his age, just in a different way.

according to wriothesley himself, he was a teenager when he got sent to the fortress. his character stories add to this, and say that he got his vision just as he was about to register at the fortress.

Wriothesley: My methods were extreme, yes... Wriothesley: But I was still a teenager at the time. I'd been betrayed by those I trusted most, and I didn't think that more "moderate" ways would solve the problem. (Wriothesley SQ - It's What He Deserves)

Standing before the registration counter at the Fortress, Wriothesley reached into his pocket to produce the sheet of paper that had his name and the length of his sentence on it. But out with that sheet also came a glass ball about the size of his palm. No, wait, this wasn’t just some random glass ball. Wriothesley blinked. When had he come into possession of this? (Profile: Vision)

this same story tells of how much time had passed by the time he was summoned to be given the title of duke.

... This persisted until a time when his age had nearly doubled, and he received an official invitation from the Palais Mermonia. (Profile: Vision)

now THIS is probably the clearest hint to wrio's age. at first i ran it through my head like "ok so (teenage age) x 2..." but i think it'd match the wording more if we just added 10, since it says nearly doubled, not exactly doubled.

either way, this would make him 23 at the bare minimum when he was given the title of duke. this is assuming he got sent to the fortress at 13, which is a bit draconian but maybe fontaine is just like that. a more modern assumption would have him be like 16-19, which now puts him 26-29 at when named as a duke.

but that still puts him in his 20's, you say! now we can go back to the files neuvillette was looking over in his story quest.

Neuvillette: I've been looking through the case records. Specifically, inspection reports submitted by Kiara and major cases I've judged over the past decade. (Neuvillette SQ - A Familiar Threat)

(note that neuvillette says reports submitted by kiara and cases he's judged over the past decade, so it could be that wrio's case fell under the former.)

during neuvi's story quest, we learn that kiara was being threatened by domenico. domenico is currently in the fortress, and we go there to ask wrio about him. wrio is familiar with domenico, and speaks about him like he was already in power by the time domenico was arrested.

Wriothesley: I do remember a thing or two about Domenico. He once attempted to round up the other inmates and instigate a protest. Paimon: Who does this guy think he is!? Paimon hopes nothing came of it. Wriothesley: He "once attempted to," I said, meaning that it was over before it even started. And now he's threatening Melusines, is he? (Neuvillette SQ - A Familiar Threat)

so we can instead assume that wriothesley has been duke of meropide for the past decade, more or less, which would make his current age 33, at the bare minimum.

if anyone has any info from the original chinese text (either corroborating me or going against me LOL) feel free to let me know!

edit: in the original chinese, neuvillette describes the files as from "over the past few decades" (近几十年) with the original text in full being:

那维莱特 : 我正在看审判记录。这里面有基娅拉提交的调查报告，也有我最近几十年间判过的重点案件

so that pretty much confirms that wriothesley has been in the fortress for longer!

calculating wriothesley's age despite conflicting information in canon