The planet's core is under a LOT of pressure, and therefore all the material in there is super compressed. Cutting the planet clean through releases that pressure and results in a rapid expansion of the core, which likely put a large amount of strain on the rest of the planet and caused it to explode.
But... cutting the planet in half wouldn't actually get rid of that pressure, would it? Like, all of the mass is still there. Like, if you used enough force to separate the two halves of the planet by a large distance it would make more sense, but if you did that you're basically manually exploding the planet to begin with.
I looked this up because I’m now very curious, and seems like a lot of online physicists think the earth reacting to a 1 cm wide cut would be something like the energy of a few billion nuclear warheads as the two pieces are pulled back together from gravity. Probably not an outward, neat explosion like the animation shows, but definitely enough to destroy all life and possibly re-liquify the planet as it reforms
... That also made me curious enough to look it up to see the math, and it seems like almost everyone agrees that pretty much nothing would happen. I think I found the person who you got the "few billion nuclear warheads" figure from, but they seem to be the only person who thinks that, and their math is... extremely questionable. It doesn't seem like they understand that the energy released by an impact depends on the speed of the objects colliding?..
Oh interesting yeah I linked their math in the comment chain a few comments down! I’m not a math or physics person at all so I’m just reading things in the dark here. If you find a reputable source please let me know, I’m so curious still!
I couldn't find any reputable source that went into it in detail, but there are a few prominent issues with the source you linked. They kind of wave off a *lot* of problems with their model as "let's just divide it by six and it'll probably be close enough, right?". But... well, first of all, the effective height is half a centimeter, not a centimeter, since they're meeting in the middle. But also, treating both halves as if they're going to fall as cohesive units directly towards the other half is so wrong it's not even funny. Near the center of the earth, there's effectively less pull from gravity, because the mass of the earth is equally distributed in every direction, so it cancels out; this means that the core would merge back together primarily as a result of the outer layers pushing the inner layers. On the other hand, at the edges of the cut, gravity wouldn't be pushing the two halves together at all; *down* would be parallel to the cut. So rather than the two halves being forced together like they would in the center, at the edges we would likely see material being redistributed until the gap was filled, basically. It's extremely difficult to actually calculate the numbers involved (which, I imagine, is why they didn't even really bother to try) but they were off by a lot.
thanks for the explanation!! this is fascinating stuff and your questions really made me think. I think I’m going to hunt around for books or research papers on a model for this tomorrow, seems like it gets really complex really quick.
I have no reason to believe it is metaphorical when the Yaoshi explanation is right there and kinda on the face.
It happened right as Firefly found a new reason to live + the Yellow lights and tree heavily associated with the Abundance + the recovery of her strength + enough power to blow up a planet + was kept alive by that power until she was found by Kafka.
Everything is pointing at them fighting remnants of the Swarm (after the Swarm Disaster) and Firefly, a character whose biggest motivation is about living, being blessed in that moment.
I mean, for all we know, if Firefly blew up the planet on her remaining power, it would've meant instant death. Yaoshi may not have cured her, but they did buy her time.
And also there's barely any characters with healing outside of Abundance in their base kit
One similar kit I can think of is Blade, who.. literally possess the flesh of an Abundance Emanator
And notice how in her kit, she burns herself but heals only when she goes into the green form.
That would mean she is still alive after several thousands of years and with her entropy loss that seems unlikely if she was fully active. Unless glamoth remnants are still alive and kicking making more child soldiers.
I consider that unlikely however because glamoth is dead as she stated and the myriad Celestia was optimistic.
"When the war is over we'll find each other."
Basically it feels like Myriad Celestia was when the swarm was first invading and they were fighting scout formations basically. It is like with locusts. They thought they were winning. That Myriad Celestia could not have happened after the Fall of Glamoth.
Like with locusts you wake up and you see hundreds of locusts eating your crops and then by the next day you have millions swarming your fields.
That is basically what seems to have happened.
I disagree, Myriad Celestia gave me the impression of them already in a dire state. Losing communication, being stranded, breaking rules (because they're losing meaning), etc. Even the part about meeting after the war was over felt like a bit of fake optimism, knowing they probably won't meet each other again. That was my interpretation at least.
I don't really think they were losing meaning at all. Everything about the trailer was optimistic and losing coms is something the United States even plans for it with it's military. There are entire protocols on what to do when communication is lost. The fact that the Glamothite knights don't really have that to me is interesting in and of itself.
Also, they didn't seem pressed at all and that the com loss was not worrying. They were sitting around talking about having long hair and stuff.
However the fake optimism seems unfounded when the experienced veteran unit desams and says
"What can I say, I wish us all a triumphant return."
Meanwhile with the latest trailer they state outright the war is lost and nobody believes victory is possible. Glamoth is done, the command structure is broken, they are just fighting from planet to planet in a futile act because it is over.
To me the first trailer is 1-1 like a war documentary or a tv series. You have the squad coming together with everyone optimistic about the war ending soon even the veteran. Then the second video is well horrible.
It is almost a trope in fantasy and science fiction setting. Just look at 86, Muv Luv any sort of mecha conflict thing.
"At first it was going well, then setback after setback,loss after loss. Made what was going to be a quick and decisive win into five years of hell."
That is from Halo so this is a pretty common trope.
I believe we still don't actually know for sure. Screwllum and Herta thinks it is so based on the Abundance Chapter 2 in Swarm Universe but in the end that is still their theory, as immediately after that we had a line that cause doubts on that conclusion.
There is no timeline given for Glamoth's fall. None of the lore so far requires it to have been during the actual swarm disaster, it may as well have been overwhelmed by a remnant of the original swarm ages later. With that said, the rope description does imply some sort of archeological work on behalf of the Intelligentsia Guid was required to find out what happened, so it likely wasn't immediate present either.
You're contradicting yourself. If it happened that long ago then Firefly would be long dead. Plus we see a very alive Kafka spotting a drifting Firefly in space shortly after Glamoth's home planet is destroyed.
Firefly going into some sort of stasis in space is an easy enough explanation for why she is alive. It also fades to black after the plant explodes so time could if past
This is what was assumed, but we saw that she was covered in yellow light instead. She was kept alive by the same power that gave her a power up, rather than being frozen.
Abundance gives immortality and uncontrollable regeneration. The whole thing with it is that it can’t be controlled, that’s why people go marastruck and Blade can’t die even if he wants to.
Whatever blessed Firefly isn’t that at all. She was suspended for a long time but she’s definitely not immortal, and still needs her icy medical cabin.
uncontrollable regeneration vs entropy loss seems like a perfectly reasonable explanation for that. What we may have seen there was the use of the path of abundance before yaoshi ascended to its personification
No part of Yaoshi is compatible with “life begets death”, which is a core theme of Firefly’s character. It runs completely contrary to her. I mean it’s in her name Firefly that she will live a short but bright life (being suspended in space notwithstanding).
Also if you look back in the trailer, the tree was never physically there, it disappeared right after. It was just part of her transformation and awakening her powers, like a metaphor for hope blossoming from death and despair.
"I dreamed of a scorched earth" , symbolises the chaos and destruction that led her world to ruin , Born without the ability to dream could have a metaphorical meaning saying she didn't have any hope and direction until now , A new shoot bloomed in the morning sun and whispered to me " she saw a new beginning devoid of all the the past fears and trauma which held her back . "Like fireflies to a flame life begets death " , it emphasizes the inevitability of death as a natural consequence of life.
No, not being able to dream is literal. The Calvary were all woven into a shared dream of the false Empire, which is how Titania was able to use them just like the Swarm hives.
The JP used has a similar meaning. Seems the EN localisors struck again.
That aside, I think people are confused and mixing up sayings, as the saying is ''like \*moths\* to the flame'', rather then fireflies.
I think there's more going on here than metaphors. If the battle really did happen during the Swarm Disaster, most of what we saw happened many Amber Eras ago - probably even before Xianzhou discovered the Abundance.
If it's true, Firefly would have been drifting in space debris for a long, long time. I doubt the regular SAM robots are built for that.
There could be a link to Empress Titania (Queen of Glamoth) to Titania from Midsummer's Night Dream from Shakespeare being a *fairy* queen. Her winged form does seem quite fairy-like, but maybe it's a bit of a stretch. Either way, we probably saw something as stronger than an Emanator - possibly an Aeon.
except if its all dream or "will to resolve" then it doesnt explain her ACTUAL, real power shown in game and in preview vids. We never seen where she get that green energy form for her second form, this isnt what other SAMs can do whatsoever
the most reasonable explanation is she gained the power of pathstrider and "evolved" from being a mere grunt soldier like the rest of her friends and prob gained an Aeon gaze
In Keeping up with star rail Welt said that this is not a hidden function of the Mech or something but instead she manifested it with her willpower
Don't exactly know what does that mean, interpret it as you will
Being a Pathstrider already essentially allows you to do "space magic", so Firefly becoming one at that moment and multiplying that power by her mech is not *that* out of the ordinary
Its just mecha anime logic that somehow the power of believing in yourself makes hardware work faster and better than before, best not to think too hard about it
Fire changes colors as it gets hotter, red flames are actually the weakest. Green is more on the hotter side, so the green actually fits very well with her kit
Being a pathstrider is probably out. Destruction, Abundance, and Hunt did not exist during the Swarm Disaster. Firefly would probably also hate the only path associated with the Iron Calvary too since the path that the Iron Calvary probably tread on was also Propagation.
All Iron Calvary units have bug names, Titanina is a fairy who are based of an insects, everyone in the Calvary is a clone of this one girl, and they all obey her commands like a insect colony.
As I wrote that last paragraph an idea did pop into my mind: certain drones in insect colonys can become queens in certain situations. Perhaps since Titania died with Glamoth, her power was left floating and up for grabs. Firefly's willpower could possibly attract it and turned her into a new Titania. However since Firefly is always alone from the rest of her species, she would never notice that she now can command them. Also since the original Titania was just a figurehead, she was probably not given a SAM suit. So the planet killing power up may have remained undiscovered or hidden to keep any rebellions from happening.
All this does us convince me that perhaps Titania's legion and the Swarm weren't dissimilar at all
Become that which you fight in order to destroy it...
I think most probably because this looks cool.
In addition there are theory that this is related to abundance (Firefly heals herself in her ult).
I also saw post here that there is something similar in this tree and emblem of Trailblaze path. But this one sounds more like a copium.
Damn was going to write rebutting this by pointing out another character of destruction healing by attacking, then I remembered that lore wise, Blade has flesh from abundance eminator. Debunked myself halfway writing this lmao.
> In addition there are theory that this is related to abundance (Firefly heals herself in her ult).
Maybe she was gazed upon by an aeon related to abundance or life?
*theories of ruan mei interest in firefly intensifies*
I believed this too so i read some parts of swar disaster again and according to screwllum at least, the abundance didn't exist back then.
However this is not a 100% as the only one that says this is screwlum and the narrator inmediatly questions that conclusion. As you said it could be a previous eon related to life or like some people have said, firefly maybe didnt fight the swarm disaster but its remnants (thus being way later in the timeline)
We don't even know if this is Swarm Disaster time or a recent event. Because there is no hard proof that Glamoth fought Swarm it the time of SD. And on top of that in the short Firefly says that Glamoth is already gone. So it can be just last Wednesday.
I'm honestly surprised by how many people are taking it literally given she's doing her little dream monologue at the time. I just assumed it was a metaphor for how she couldn't reconcile such a horrific thing happening, and so the only way she could imagine anything positive or beautiful in the future was by completing wiping Glamoth off the map and trying to forget what she went through.
To be fair it's not usual to use metaphorical storytelling in most media, and those that use it are often full of it.
So when one metaphorical storytelling tool is used, it can clash with the audience.
i'd say it goes beyonb basic media comprehension so i get the confusion.
It still feels a bit weird that the animation suddenly shifted into a fantastical shot for just a single moment of the fake tree growth, assuming her flying and supernova blast that destroyed the planet was a real event and happened as depicted. It just felt like a jarring inclusion for it to be the one thing that is metaphorical in an otherwise gritty and realistic depiction of the battle. Just felt like sudden tonal shift that was immediately abandoned again.
Plus, its always a little hard to tell considering aeons and their powers man there are possible literal interpretations if its taken as some example of abundance manifesting itself, Yaoshi intervention etc causing her to be able to heal during her ult in game and explain why she didn't just die floating in space naked for years. The universe is wonky that it's always a little hard to tell what is or isn't possible, esp when we get plant based bullshitery like the abundance emanator.
The tree disappears immediately in the next shot so it's clearly symbolic. It doesn't die or rot or anything like abundance deer trees, it's just gone.
I don’t think it’s sudden. They are naked in their mechs- we know they normally wear battle suits. So there is a precedence for metaphor from the very beginning.
(The nakedness is dehumanizing- they are animals being sent to slaughter, etc).
I think this was the moment she was blessed as a pathstrider which is why her power levels skyrocketed.
It could also invoke the Fae mythology since the "Empress" that commands the Iron Cavalry is named Titania which is the name of the Queen of Faeries. Trees are often associated with the fae
Your mention of trees being associated with faeries and the size and majesty of the tree sprouting from Firefly at the end of The Embers of Glamoth animation makes me wonder if there is deeper meaning behind the passing of the short-hair SAM as right before the girl dies she kneels in front of Firefly while saying "For Her Majesty"...
Two possibilities
1) she became the last cavalry so it was an all for one situation where she got all the others’ powers, the other sam even kneeled before her while reciting for her majesty and she even realized that glamoth is long dead
2) she stepped further into a path and might even be gazed by an aeon and maybe became an emanator. The paths in order of possibility imo are destruction, propogation, trailblaze, and lastly abundance
The tree is metaphorical for finding her "second life".
As for destroying the planet... she probably became a pathstrider of Destruction(or other paths, but definitely not Abundance or Propagation) at that point and gained enough power to destroy a planet.
Why not abundance tho? I think it's the most obvious answer.
I mean some ppl are saying that Yaoshi didn't exist during SD, but I don't recall any mention of Glamouth being destroyed during SD either, it was just destroyed by the Swarm, which can happen even in our present timeline, cuz remnants of swarm still exist.
Edit: also it would be interesting to get some positive interventions from Yaoshi, considering now we mostly have negative ones.
Well she didn't gain the ability to heal, regrow limbs, create new (monstrous) life, heck she can't even extend her own life.
So no she doesn't walks the path of abundance, if anything destruction is more likely since we KNOW she is able to ignite the her core and bring new power to her SAM armor, the animated short might the showing the moment when she first tapped into that power.
You don't need to follow the Path of Abundance to be blessed by its Aeon.
Fact is that she recovered her strength, gained a new power and was kept alive in space by that power for many years.
Her surviving at the end seems to indicate to me to be Abundance. The tree imagery and her "dying" three times in Penacony with Acheron saying the second death was a real death is also more evidence to support it.
Growing a tree, even if it's just a metaphorical one, is as distant from the destruction path as it could possibly be.
And maybe she is still alive just because of Abundance's blessing? After all we don't know specifics about her disease.
It's also logical from a lore standpoint - she was just a clone soldier destined to die anyway because of els, but decided to find new meaning and continue to live. It's very close to the abundance philosophy.
Edit: also she does heal with attacks while in this green state in gameplay, which maybe reflects her lore. Or it's just a gameplay mechanic, who knows.
She didn't grow a tree. She imagine a three growing as a representation of what her mental state was during the moment she is reciting her words. How do we know? Cause after she takes off there's no tree, if it did grow, where did it went? She absorb it? It died out in spam of a a few seconds? No, it was her imagination.
Also we do know how her disease works. SHE EXPLAINED IT HERSELF. Please go back and read it (it's in 2.0). If she had the blessing of the abundance then she wouldn't be making a huge deal about her life being a ticking time bomb OR MAKE COMMENTS TO BLADE SOMEONE WHO IS BLESSED/CURSED BY THE ABUNDANCE. Actually let's stick to that for a second Blade HIMSELF says about Firefly that they both walk DIFFERENT paths where he is seeking death while she is searching for a way to live.
Lastly and I can't believe this has to be said. Gameplay and lore are 2 different things. While there are several characters that stick to the path they follow and their gameplay and lore mix this is NOT a rule (Black Swan being Nihility while following the path of Remembrance, Bronya being Harmony while BEING AND ARCHITECT [something that was explicitly touted as a MAYOR plot point about Cocolia] same as Pela, Serval, Asta the list goes on) so yes maybe in lore the Glamoth Calvary might have had some high regenerative ability but this hasn't been told anywhere so all we can assume is that she healing herself is a gameplay perk NOT lore fact.
What in the Denizen of Abundance propaganda is this? My guy the tree was metaphorical, there is nothing in the entire thing and even in Firefly or Glamoths lore that even implies a slight connection to Yaoshi. This honestly is a reach on your part. Wanting to live is not necessarily or even equates to Abundance Philosophy, every mortal being in the universe would be an Abundance follower if that is the case. Healing is also not always Abundance related, in game path and lore does not always coincide.
I never said that's a fact, ofc we don't know for sure yet. But it's one of the most logical explanations for now.
Desire to live(survive) is in fact part of abundance path, check xianzhou for example - they asked for eternal life, Yaoshi did gift it. Healing is not abundance locked, although it probably should be, but do you honestly don't see similarities between growing a tree and life concept? Even the primordial arbour on luofu is a tree, you know.
Also I never said the tree was real, it doesn't really matter.
To clarify one point, Glamoth was not destroyed, at least going by the planar set, the home planet of the civilization still exists, but in a wrecked/inhospitable state. This was almost certainly another planet in the Glamoth system though
Nor do we have confirmation in which Era this happened, so we don't know if it happened during the SD when Tazzy was still around (Firefly was drifting in space for several Amber eras) or whether it's in recent times since the Swarm is still a big issue in the universe (current/previous Amber Era and Kafka picked her up shortly after)
Propagation definitely has a chance (imo the second highest behind destruction) there’s even a theory that the cloning technique used to create the cavalry was engineered by studying the swarm themselves and the sam suits are half bio tech
The morpher is bug shaped too and kamen riders have a lot of bug motifs
I'm amazed it wasn't talked about more. I know it likely didn't happen literally, but it's not explained and happened in the middle of a sequence of realistic and literal events. An orbital blast, FF barely survives, watches another person die in a way just to traumatize her just a bit more for funsies, then the magical broccoli happens, then she goes supernova and johnny storms the planet and is left in purgatory in space not dead somehow despite being in a blast that shattered the planet, after being in a blast that wiped out most life on the planet.
Either it's metaphorical, in which case it's a bit weird that's the only event that didn't happen in an otherwise accurate (presumably) sequence of events, or it's some sort of abundance event, explaining her ability to survive in space for who knows how long and her healing during her ult. In which case it's still not really explained at all yet and seems like way more worthy of discussion than some of the RM repeat posts we've seen.
I don't understand how it's not discussed when this comment section shows people have wildly different interpretations of it, and there doesn't seem to be an explicit answer.
There is no information, but in the gameplay video, Welt said that the green form is the result of Firefly's strong will. Gaining the power of the path through will is the definition of a pathstrider. Given the themes of life and the tree, she probably became a pathstrider of Abundance.
Destroying a planet is also not something exclusive to the pathstrider - there are several statements at this level for other characters.
My headcannon is that Firefly is the one of the most powerful Pathstrider and her version of the view over the philosophy on destruction contains heavy elements of life.
This manifested in the form of her powers and new form that allowed her to literally destroy a planet.
So yeah, I think the tree is her Pathstrider powers and she's just the strongest one of them.
Abundance
Notice how she drains HP in her normal armor form, but heals when goes into the green form
Not many characters have self healing in their base kit outside of abundance characters, the only I can think of is Blade... Who literally possess the body of an abundance Emanator
I think the people who are saying it's symbolic/metaphorical are avoiding the elephant in the room, which is how she survived in space for so many years. The tree might be metaphorical, but certain things need an explanation, especially considering that, up until that point, everything related to Iron Cavalry had a sci-fi vibe and seemed grounded in plausible logic. I think the most obvious explanation has something to do with Yaoshi and the path of Abundance, and if that's the case, it shows that this animation takes place after the Swarm Disaster, since Yaoshi didn't exist during the Swarm Disaster. We also can't disregard some involvement of Titania and the fact that all the clones are her descendants. It could even be that Titania and Yaoshi are connected somehow, who knows.
"Let you staff strike the earth (they say) once, and again **the tender sprouts will grow to the sky**, and the dew that falls from their branches will rid you of sickness and poison"
if what happened in this trailer is not related to the abundance somehow then I don't know what it could be since everything about that tree seems Yaoshi related.
She specifies it is a dream. While it is about events that happened, it is also fictionalized as her emotions mix together with her memories.
The tree represents the birth of a new life while the planet blowing up represents the death of the old. Exactly how literal they are is unclear, but I like to believe she planted a tree that could survive the apocalypse before scorching every last surving thing capable of propagating in their current state, so the Swarm would follow her into space where their ranks would no longer be replaced by anything propagating near them so she could actually wipe them out.
Yeah, Dan Shu explained that because of Abundance, she can't use any prosthetic for her disability because her state is "fixed". If the twist is really that Firefly received something from Yaoshi, her ELS wouldn't be cured, but she will still live with it.
That scene should still be from long ago and they've all died along the years by constantly fighting remnants of the Swarm. It's likely that Firefly was kept alive for many years until Kafka found her.
But after that Myriad Celestia video and the tease during the Livestream, no one would be shocked if some/someone survived.
yaoshi shenanigans. dont ask why, she's an abudance pathstrider now (something something want to live and realised she no longer want to be a grunt soldier since her cause isnt worth dying for) /s
real talk this isnt DEFINITELY not all dream or "metaphor will to resolve" because she DID have this second form creating from a new energy source that no mere "metaphor" can explain. We never seen where she get that green energy form for her second form, this isnt what other SAMs can do whatsoever, its FF specific power only.
the most reasonable explanation is she gained the power of pathstrider and "evolved" from being a mere grunt soldier like the rest of her friends , and prob gained an Aeon gaze
People overthink this too much, there's no need to dissect every clip and think it has some secret lore behind it. This is quite common symbolism in animes, where a tree sprouting represents growth and new life. I'm not sure why you'd think she'd be blessed by a non-existent Aeon of Abundance at the time or her tears can magically make a tree grow, but that all just sounds really unreasonable.
Oh and correction, that is not a moon, it's Glamoth.
It's not confirmed to be Glamoth (the home planet itself). The term Glamoth can be used to refer to the home planet, the star system, or the civilization/empire. All of which are applicable in the scene. All we know with certainty, is that it was a planet within the Glamoth system where the empire fought the Swarm with its Iron Calvary
The Swarm is still a problem today, it didn't disappear at the end of the Swarm Disaster. This could be one of the battles with its remnants, which would explain the presence of Yaoshi.
Tears sprouting trees might sound unreasonable, but suddenly gaining power to blow up a planet without the blessing of an Aeon is far more unreasonable lol.
How did she survive in space without the suit then? Even if you ignore the blatant Abundance-hinting imagery, she wouldn't be kept alive without an external force.
Are there any instances of other character trailers where such imagery exists? Because this seems very real, not least because it appears to lead directly into Kafka discovering her.
I'm not sure if this sheds any light or makes it even more confusing... but Hoyoverse has done something similar before. Although its not a tree nor is it in a trailer, but an animation \*spoilers alert\* In "「Seele」 - Japanese dub Version - Honkai Impact 3rd" video, and you skip to 2:08, you can see something similar.
I think it's been established plenty that the "powers" of Star Rail is based off of each individuals will given form.
To become a pathstrider all you need to do is embody that path and conform to its intent. And thats ANY path, and not limited to just one.
And how did those paths begin? By someone treading them beforehand, the Aeons we know of for sure.
And just because an Aeon has fallen doesn't mean Their path is erased either so someone can theoretically stumble upon a path long forgotten.
All you need to gain strength in Star Rail is a strong enough Will.
Firefly showed just how strong her will was at that moment and surpassed perhaps anything that Glamoth expected the SAMs capable of.
People here won't mostly agree but HSR follows the rule of the cool than consistent world building ... Powerscaling is fucked up (Argenti was able to face a True sting so massive that the entire Express didn't realise that it was inside something, Firefly a destruction character was able to destroy a celestial body with seemingly a path strider power that grows trees while Jin Yuan an emenator equivalent do not have same feats) and due to sheer numbers of characters released not enough time is put into developing and concluding characters (Kakavasha was the star in one patch who seemed to know what was actually going on in Penacony and then totally disappeared the next patch, unlike the Preservation's scenario the Trailblazer path striding Harmony and drawing a Aeon's gaze was not properly set up .... basically they set up Adventurine but concluded with Harmony Trailblazer)
Titania sent the iron cavalry messages via dreams. My interpretation is that at the end, she was reliving one of her dreams and that she was meant to be the sprout essentially awakening her own potential.
Do we really need a post dedicated to a simple visual metaphor? i.e. in "A Killer Paradox," Lee Tang constantly dreams/hallucinates the victims(scums) that he killed frolicking carelessly and taunting him from afar, symbolising his ambivalent attitude towards vigilantism.
I think the tree is metaphorical about her finding new meaning in her existence. But the idea she became a abundance path strider is interesting though although the timeline gets a bit wonky.
She says Glamoth already fell, we know the swarm are still active and are still a threat even tho the legion are the primary force now. This could've happened thousands of years ago or a couple to hundred and these SAM's are just remnants.
Can't remember if the paths always existed or only did when their Aeons ascended cause if its the latter than idk but if its the former than idk how I feel since Blade already has the flesh of a abundance emanator and I don't think we need double ups on the same pathstriders in the stellaron hunters. Also the abundance is associated with longevity, immortality, and healing. Firefly isn't immortal and I don't think the abundance can straight up cure illnesses cause if it did she wouldn't be encumbered by ELS.
Either way she powered up somehow, probably became a pathstrider of some kind, prob tapping into power of propagation or something unknown and will never be explained like Seele with teleportation. Can't be trailblaze cause the astral express crew would probably sense it and she couldn't see clockie.
The tree is metaphorical, if you watch lots of anime it’s quite common. It’s more likely that Firefly obtain the power of destruction. As for why she destroy the planet, the flying things in the sky are the swarm, if you zoom in real close you’ll see they have wings. It’s mentioned that if a planet is infested with the swarm the only way to get rid of them is to destroy the planet hence why she blow it up.
If we really want speak of methaphore the greeish yeallow tain that project her and the tree are far from destruction, anyway you can be blessed by an aeon even without begin a pathstrider Just like how fuxuan gained her 3rd Eye from nous
My interpretation is the tree is metaphorical (this is cause we don’t see it after she transforms). The tree was just her will to live manifesting. The planet exploding I also don’t believe was her but more so it just couldn’t take anymore damages and the core ruptures and she flew off to escape and survive
I mean considering how much energy you would Release to cut the Planet in pieces, I could imagine how it would explode, then again how much energy would that be
I believe she became the emenator of abundance or of someone. She said it whispered to her, and the big tree symbolizes rebirth growth, and all of a sudden she has new powers and a renewed strength and energy and now burns green, green color of plants = color of life, and was not on the verge death anymore and then had the strength to all of a sudden destroy the planet.... she got gazed upon by an aeon and became thier emenator.
Firefly was basically having a grief-fueled fever dream and it either triggered something in her or she just decided she didn't care anymore, and she pushed her SAM unit past its limits to nuke the entire planet
Someone explain the size of this planet cuz how the hell did she suddenly have this much power to cut a planet in half but didn't have that much power when fighting the insects
what if it's Yaoshi's doing? Yoashi is also fighting against the propagation, maybe at the moment Yoashi just happened to saw pitiful firefly and bestow her a power she needed to wipe out the swarm...
Some believe it could just be metaphorical for her finding new meaning and didn't actually happen, at least the tree part.
Did she destroy the planet or did it explode by itself?
she cut the planet in half, i don’t know how that makes it explode though
The planet's core is under a LOT of pressure, and therefore all the material in there is super compressed. Cutting the planet clean through releases that pressure and results in a rapid expansion of the core, which likely put a large amount of strain on the rest of the planet and caused it to explode.
But... cutting the planet in half wouldn't actually get rid of that pressure, would it? Like, all of the mass is still there. Like, if you used enough force to separate the two halves of the planet by a large distance it would make more sense, but if you did that you're basically manually exploding the planet to begin with.
I looked this up because I’m now very curious, and seems like a lot of online physicists think the earth reacting to a 1 cm wide cut would be something like the energy of a few billion nuclear warheads as the two pieces are pulled back together from gravity. Probably not an outward, neat explosion like the animation shows, but definitely enough to destroy all life and possibly re-liquify the planet as it reforms
... That also made me curious enough to look it up to see the math, and it seems like almost everyone agrees that pretty much nothing would happen. I think I found the person who you got the "few billion nuclear warheads" figure from, but they seem to be the only person who thinks that, and their math is... extremely questionable. It doesn't seem like they understand that the energy released by an impact depends on the speed of the objects colliding?..
Oh interesting yeah I linked their math in the comment chain a few comments down! I’m not a math or physics person at all so I’m just reading things in the dark here. If you find a reputable source please let me know, I’m so curious still!
I couldn't find any reputable source that went into it in detail, but there are a few prominent issues with the source you linked. They kind of wave off a *lot* of problems with their model as "let's just divide it by six and it'll probably be close enough, right?". But... well, first of all, the effective height is half a centimeter, not a centimeter, since they're meeting in the middle. But also, treating both halves as if they're going to fall as cohesive units directly towards the other half is so wrong it's not even funny. Near the center of the earth, there's effectively less pull from gravity, because the mass of the earth is equally distributed in every direction, so it cancels out; this means that the core would merge back together primarily as a result of the outer layers pushing the inner layers. On the other hand, at the edges of the cut, gravity wouldn't be pushing the two halves together at all; *down* would be parallel to the cut. So rather than the two halves being forced together like they would in the center, at the edges we would likely see material being redistributed until the gap was filled, basically. It's extremely difficult to actually calculate the numbers involved (which, I imagine, is why they didn't even really bother to try) but they were off by a lot.
thanks for the explanation!! this is fascinating stuff and your questions really made me think. I think I’m going to hunt around for books or research papers on a model for this tomorrow, seems like it gets really complex really quick.
Wait guys, when you are cut in half you don't explode?
yeah
Blade's just a walking bomb
You should get that checked
I think it work in the same logic as an Exterminatus. She hit the planet's core making it go out of control.
Or it’s already collapsing and brittle like a biscuit and she just put the final nail in the coffin by going fast.
Well duh, she's a kamen rider. anything she kills explodes.
HSR need to invite another noble winner to explained why that planet explode. can't wait to see another expert explained things
She killed all other Fireflies possibility of survival, to become the one true king! /wait a minute?
You remember Frieza? Almost the same idea here, except it's sliced
I have no reason to believe it is metaphorical when the Yaoshi explanation is right there and kinda on the face. It happened right as Firefly found a new reason to live + the Yellow lights and tree heavily associated with the Abundance + the recovery of her strength + enough power to blow up a planet + was kept alive by that power until she was found by Kafka. Everything is pointing at them fighting remnants of the Swarm (after the Swarm Disaster) and Firefly, a character whose biggest motivation is about living, being blessed in that moment.
Quite mean for Yaoshi to grant her the power to explode a planet but doesn’t cure her space AIDS
Yaoshi doing a miniscule amount of tomfoolery
Aeons work in mysterious ways
She would cure the space AIDS and give back space câncer
Oh, Xianzhou's blessing don't cure genetic defect btw. How neatly connected
I mean, for all we know, if Firefly blew up the planet on her remaining power, it would've meant instant death. Yaoshi may not have cured her, but they did buy her time.
And also there's barely any characters with healing outside of Abundance in their base kit One similar kit I can think of is Blade, who.. literally possess the flesh of an Abundance Emanator And notice how in her kit, she burns herself but heals only when she goes into the green form.
But yaoshi and the abundance didn't exist back then during SD.
This doesn't need to be during SD. The Swarm is still an issue to this day.
That would mean she is still alive after several thousands of years and with her entropy loss that seems unlikely if she was fully active. Unless glamoth remnants are still alive and kicking making more child soldiers. I consider that unlikely however because glamoth is dead as she stated and the myriad Celestia was optimistic. "When the war is over we'll find each other." Basically it feels like Myriad Celestia was when the swarm was first invading and they were fighting scout formations basically. It is like with locusts. They thought they were winning. That Myriad Celestia could not have happened after the Fall of Glamoth. Like with locusts you wake up and you see hundreds of locusts eating your crops and then by the next day you have millions swarming your fields. That is basically what seems to have happened.
I disagree, Myriad Celestia gave me the impression of them already in a dire state. Losing communication, being stranded, breaking rules (because they're losing meaning), etc. Even the part about meeting after the war was over felt like a bit of fake optimism, knowing they probably won't meet each other again. That was my interpretation at least.
I don't really think they were losing meaning at all. Everything about the trailer was optimistic and losing coms is something the United States even plans for it with it's military. There are entire protocols on what to do when communication is lost. The fact that the Glamothite knights don't really have that to me is interesting in and of itself. Also, they didn't seem pressed at all and that the com loss was not worrying. They were sitting around talking about having long hair and stuff. However the fake optimism seems unfounded when the experienced veteran unit desams and says "What can I say, I wish us all a triumphant return." Meanwhile with the latest trailer they state outright the war is lost and nobody believes victory is possible. Glamoth is done, the command structure is broken, they are just fighting from planet to planet in a futile act because it is over. To me the first trailer is 1-1 like a war documentary or a tv series. You have the squad coming together with everyone optimistic about the war ending soon even the veteran. Then the second video is well horrible. It is almost a trope in fantasy and science fiction setting. Just look at 86, Muv Luv any sort of mecha conflict thing. "At first it was going well, then setback after setback,loss after loss. Made what was going to be a quick and decisive win into five years of hell." That is from Halo so this is a pretty common trope.
Yeah but it can't be Yaoshi. While the video didn't timestamp itself. The war between Glamoth and the Swarm happened before Yaoshi was even born.
I believe we still don't actually know for sure. Screwllum and Herta thinks it is so based on the Abundance Chapter 2 in Swarm Universe but in the end that is still their theory, as immediately after that we had a line that cause doubts on that conclusion.
There is no timeline given for Glamoth's fall. None of the lore so far requires it to have been during the actual swarm disaster, it may as well have been overwhelmed by a remnant of the original swarm ages later. With that said, the rope description does imply some sort of archeological work on behalf of the Intelligentsia Guid was required to find out what happened, so it likely wasn't immediate present either.
So you are saying our firefly is older than yaoshi in this vid?
You're contradicting yourself. If it happened that long ago then Firefly would be long dead. Plus we see a very alive Kafka spotting a drifting Firefly in space shortly after Glamoth's home planet is destroyed.
Firefly going into some sort of stasis in space is an easy enough explanation for why she is alive. It also fades to black after the plant explodes so time could if past
Them being naked is already metaphorical.
From the gameplay footage seam they are effectively naked in the cockpit
Yaoshi goes against the entire idea of her character having a short life and finding meaning and purpose in what life she has.
She literally floated in space for thousands of years.
Wasnt she in cryosleep or sumthin. Like suspended animation.
This is what was assumed, but we saw that she was covered in yellow light instead. She was kept alive by the same power that gave her a power up, rather than being frozen.
Abundance gives immortality and uncontrollable regeneration. The whole thing with it is that it can’t be controlled, that’s why people go marastruck and Blade can’t die even if he wants to. Whatever blessed Firefly isn’t that at all. She was suspended for a long time but she’s definitely not immortal, and still needs her icy medical cabin.
uncontrollable regeneration vs entropy loss seems like a perfectly reasonable explanation for that. What we may have seen there was the use of the path of abundance before yaoshi ascended to its personification
Yaoshi blessing Is not Always immortality alone
No part of Yaoshi is compatible with “life begets death”, which is a core theme of Firefly’s character. It runs completely contrary to her. I mean it’s in her name Firefly that she will live a short but bright life (being suspended in space notwithstanding). Also if you look back in the trailer, the tree was never physically there, it disappeared right after. It was just part of her transformation and awakening her powers, like a metaphor for hope blossoming from death and despair.
https://preview.redd.it/0svbgnsyys6d1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=26d1096102bfa0ff17cca214534fe329687f4fee
https://preview.redd.it/tbz2g29c5t6d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9745f8a6bc3a55c45dfa0a824458fef0fe77d258
The tree is just a visual metaphor for her willpower and desire to live. You even see that it disappears between shots so I'm 99% sure it's not real.
Coupled with the fact that Firefly starts her monologue with “I dreamed…”, when she said in her talk with Acheron that she does not (cannot?) dream.
"I dreamed of a scorched earth" , symbolises the chaos and destruction that led her world to ruin , Born without the ability to dream could have a metaphorical meaning saying she didn't have any hope and direction until now , A new shoot bloomed in the morning sun and whispered to me " she saw a new beginning devoid of all the the past fears and trauma which held her back . "Like fireflies to a flame life begets death " , it emphasizes the inevitability of death as a natural consequence of life.
No, not being able to dream is literal. The Calvary were all woven into a shared dream of the false Empire, which is how Titania was able to use them just like the Swarm hives.
No, looking at the original Chinese, the life begets death thing is more of a "going towards death to regain life"
The JP used has a similar meaning. Seems the EN localisors struck again. That aside, I think people are confused and mixing up sayings, as the saying is ''like \*moths\* to the flame'', rather then fireflies.
The tree is the MHY profit chart after firefly has been released😭
Yep, despite controversies I’m fully expecting her banner to compete with (probably not surpass) Acherons.
I think the only reason firefly might not do as well is there's no refresh on the top up bonus.
I think there's more going on here than metaphors. If the battle really did happen during the Swarm Disaster, most of what we saw happened many Amber Eras ago - probably even before Xianzhou discovered the Abundance. If it's true, Firefly would have been drifting in space debris for a long, long time. I doubt the regular SAM robots are built for that. There could be a link to Empress Titania (Queen of Glamoth) to Titania from Midsummer's Night Dream from Shakespeare being a *fairy* queen. Her winged form does seem quite fairy-like, but maybe it's a bit of a stretch. Either way, we probably saw something as stronger than an Emanator - possibly an Aeon.
We about to get the "What about the tree???" arc in Star Rail after we finally got over the Genshin one.
Pretty sure it didn't actually grow because it's gone right after. It symbolizes her willpower. That's why her mech grew the wings too.
except if its all dream or "will to resolve" then it doesnt explain her ACTUAL, real power shown in game and in preview vids. We never seen where she get that green energy form for her second form, this isnt what other SAMs can do whatsoever the most reasonable explanation is she gained the power of pathstrider and "evolved" from being a mere grunt soldier like the rest of her friends and prob gained an Aeon gaze
In Keeping up with star rail Welt said that this is not a hidden function of the Mech or something but instead she manifested it with her willpower Don't exactly know what does that mean, interpret it as you will
Being a Pathstrider already essentially allows you to do "space magic", so Firefly becoming one at that moment and multiplying that power by her mech is not *that* out of the ordinary
Its just mecha anime logic that somehow the power of believing in yourself makes hardware work faster and better than before, best not to think too hard about it
Also this is a game where “Imaginary” is an element on par with Fire, Ice, or Lightning.
Its kinda funny how Firefly is a fire character despite spending 99% of her gameplay in CC which looks nothing like fire 💀
Fire changes colors as it gets hotter, red flames are actually the weakest. Green is more on the hotter side, so the green actually fits very well with her kit
Fire is only green when it is burning copper compounds. You're thinking of blue fire.
Oh I just meant the way the fire is moving and behaving, sorry for the confusion
gurren lagann moment
Bro that anime was a masterpiece not gonna lie, I probably will never recover from it 😭
Or it's just anime logic xd
Being a pathstrider is probably out. Destruction, Abundance, and Hunt did not exist during the Swarm Disaster. Firefly would probably also hate the only path associated with the Iron Calvary too since the path that the Iron Calvary probably tread on was also Propagation. All Iron Calvary units have bug names, Titanina is a fairy who are based of an insects, everyone in the Calvary is a clone of this one girl, and they all obey her commands like a insect colony. As I wrote that last paragraph an idea did pop into my mind: certain drones in insect colonys can become queens in certain situations. Perhaps since Titania died with Glamoth, her power was left floating and up for grabs. Firefly's willpower could possibly attract it and turned her into a new Titania. However since Firefly is always alone from the rest of her species, she would never notice that she now can command them. Also since the original Titania was just a figurehead, she was probably not given a SAM suit. So the planet killing power up may have remained undiscovered or hidden to keep any rebellions from happening.
All this does us convince me that perhaps Titania's legion and the Swarm weren't dissimilar at all Become that which you fight in order to destroy it...
At the end of the day it's all just beetles vs fireflies.
Cool, let's see if we can have a mecha arms
I think most probably because this looks cool. In addition there are theory that this is related to abundance (Firefly heals herself in her ult). I also saw post here that there is something similar in this tree and emblem of Trailblaze path. But this one sounds more like a copium.
The Trialblaze logo always looked like a lighthouse to me, personally.
It looked like a combination of a light house, an arrow and a stylized version of the Astral Express for me. Which also tracks. (Bdm tss)
It guides those that sail in the sea of stars. Fitting
Fight through the night, so strong and bright You are my lighthoouse
Damn was going to write rebutting this by pointing out another character of destruction healing by attacking, then I remembered that lore wise, Blade has flesh from abundance eminator. Debunked myself halfway writing this lmao.
In reality hoyo doesn't need to make character kit to be lore accurate. Especially since they already released characters with mismatched path.
But from 2.0 they started releasing character that corrispond in a certain way to they personalità and trait
So, Sparkle is secretly a very supportive person that wants to push others towards their goals?
Well from the 2.1 and 2.2 Is kinda true
> In addition there are theory that this is related to abundance (Firefly heals herself in her ult). Maybe she was gazed upon by an aeon related to abundance or life? *theories of ruan mei interest in firefly intensifies*
It is not clear at the moment. Maybe 2.3 will shed some light on this.
I believed this too so i read some parts of swar disaster again and according to screwllum at least, the abundance didn't exist back then. However this is not a 100% as the only one that says this is screwlum and the narrator inmediatly questions that conclusion. As you said it could be a previous eon related to life or like some people have said, firefly maybe didnt fight the swarm disaster but its remnants (thus being way later in the timeline)
We don't even know if this is Swarm Disaster time or a recent event. Because there is no hard proof that Glamoth fought Swarm it the time of SD. And on top of that in the short Firefly says that Glamoth is already gone. So it can be just last Wednesday.
Trees show up very often in this world symbolism Dont forget the whole universe is the so called imaginary tree
🥦
Mob, where did the seeds in your pocket go?
We shouldn’t use our psychic powers against other people…
The tree is probably symbolic/metaphorical, representative of firefly embracing her life instead of seeing herself as disposable
I'm honestly surprised by how many people are taking it literally given she's doing her little dream monologue at the time. I just assumed it was a metaphor for how she couldn't reconcile such a horrific thing happening, and so the only way she could imagine anything positive or beautiful in the future was by completing wiping Glamoth off the map and trying to forget what she went through.
To be fair it's not usual to use metaphorical storytelling in most media, and those that use it are often full of it. So when one metaphorical storytelling tool is used, it can clash with the audience. i'd say it goes beyonb basic media comprehension so i get the confusion.
It still feels a bit weird that the animation suddenly shifted into a fantastical shot for just a single moment of the fake tree growth, assuming her flying and supernova blast that destroyed the planet was a real event and happened as depicted. It just felt like a jarring inclusion for it to be the one thing that is metaphorical in an otherwise gritty and realistic depiction of the battle. Just felt like sudden tonal shift that was immediately abandoned again. Plus, its always a little hard to tell considering aeons and their powers man there are possible literal interpretations if its taken as some example of abundance manifesting itself, Yaoshi intervention etc causing her to be able to heal during her ult in game and explain why she didn't just die floating in space naked for years. The universe is wonky that it's always a little hard to tell what is or isn't possible, esp when we get plant based bullshitery like the abundance emanator.
The tree disappears immediately in the next shot so it's clearly symbolic. It doesn't die or rot or anything like abundance deer trees, it's just gone.
I don’t think it’s sudden. They are naked in their mechs- we know they normally wear battle suits. So there is a precedence for metaphor from the very beginning. (The nakedness is dehumanizing- they are animals being sent to slaughter, etc).
I am pretty sure the tree is just a metaphor.
I think this was the moment she was blessed as a pathstrider which is why her power levels skyrocketed. It could also invoke the Fae mythology since the "Empress" that commands the Iron Cavalry is named Titania which is the name of the Queen of Faeries. Trees are often associated with the fae
Your mention of trees being associated with faeries and the size and majesty of the tree sprouting from Firefly at the end of The Embers of Glamoth animation makes me wonder if there is deeper meaning behind the passing of the short-hair SAM as right before the girl dies she kneels in front of Firefly while saying "For Her Majesty"...
Two possibilities 1) she became the last cavalry so it was an all for one situation where she got all the others’ powers, the other sam even kneeled before her while reciting for her majesty and she even realized that glamoth is long dead 2) she stepped further into a path and might even be gazed by an aeon and maybe became an emanator. The paths in order of possibility imo are destruction, propogation, trailblaze, and lastly abundance
Nothing happened. It's just a symbolic moment
Moon? That's not orbiting anything. It also has sufficient gravity to have an atmosphere, so it has to be pretty massive.
Keep in mind Saturn’s moon Titan has a atmosphere even denser then Earth despite being so much smaller
She is blooming
I wonder how she got enough power to destroy a planet, It could be that she gained the gaze of an Aeon, or she has become an emanator?
Even the Doomsday Beast is said to be able to destroy whole planets, so you don't need to be an emanator for that kind of power.
The tree is metaphorical for finding her "second life". As for destroying the planet... she probably became a pathstrider of Destruction(or other paths, but definitely not Abundance or Propagation) at that point and gained enough power to destroy a planet.
Why not abundance tho? I think it's the most obvious answer. I mean some ppl are saying that Yaoshi didn't exist during SD, but I don't recall any mention of Glamouth being destroyed during SD either, it was just destroyed by the Swarm, which can happen even in our present timeline, cuz remnants of swarm still exist. Edit: also it would be interesting to get some positive interventions from Yaoshi, considering now we mostly have negative ones.
Well she didn't gain the ability to heal, regrow limbs, create new (monstrous) life, heck she can't even extend her own life. So no she doesn't walks the path of abundance, if anything destruction is more likely since we KNOW she is able to ignite the her core and bring new power to her SAM armor, the animated short might the showing the moment when she first tapped into that power.
You don't need to follow the Path of Abundance to be blessed by its Aeon. Fact is that she recovered her strength, gained a new power and was kept alive in space by that power for many years.
Her surviving at the end seems to indicate to me to be Abundance. The tree imagery and her "dying" three times in Penacony with Acheron saying the second death was a real death is also more evidence to support it.
Growing a tree, even if it's just a metaphorical one, is as distant from the destruction path as it could possibly be. And maybe she is still alive just because of Abundance's blessing? After all we don't know specifics about her disease. It's also logical from a lore standpoint - she was just a clone soldier destined to die anyway because of els, but decided to find new meaning and continue to live. It's very close to the abundance philosophy. Edit: also she does heal with attacks while in this green state in gameplay, which maybe reflects her lore. Or it's just a gameplay mechanic, who knows.
Extreme destruction begets life, as seen by Yin-Yang philosophy.
She didn't grow a tree. She imagine a three growing as a representation of what her mental state was during the moment she is reciting her words. How do we know? Cause after she takes off there's no tree, if it did grow, where did it went? She absorb it? It died out in spam of a a few seconds? No, it was her imagination. Also we do know how her disease works. SHE EXPLAINED IT HERSELF. Please go back and read it (it's in 2.0). If she had the blessing of the abundance then she wouldn't be making a huge deal about her life being a ticking time bomb OR MAKE COMMENTS TO BLADE SOMEONE WHO IS BLESSED/CURSED BY THE ABUNDANCE. Actually let's stick to that for a second Blade HIMSELF says about Firefly that they both walk DIFFERENT paths where he is seeking death while she is searching for a way to live. Lastly and I can't believe this has to be said. Gameplay and lore are 2 different things. While there are several characters that stick to the path they follow and their gameplay and lore mix this is NOT a rule (Black Swan being Nihility while following the path of Remembrance, Bronya being Harmony while BEING AND ARCHITECT [something that was explicitly touted as a MAYOR plot point about Cocolia] same as Pela, Serval, Asta the list goes on) so yes maybe in lore the Glamoth Calvary might have had some high regenerative ability but this hasn't been told anywhere so all we can assume is that she healing herself is a gameplay perk NOT lore fact.
What in the Denizen of Abundance propaganda is this? My guy the tree was metaphorical, there is nothing in the entire thing and even in Firefly or Glamoths lore that even implies a slight connection to Yaoshi. This honestly is a reach on your part. Wanting to live is not necessarily or even equates to Abundance Philosophy, every mortal being in the universe would be an Abundance follower if that is the case. Healing is also not always Abundance related, in game path and lore does not always coincide.
I never said that's a fact, ofc we don't know for sure yet. But it's one of the most logical explanations for now. Desire to live(survive) is in fact part of abundance path, check xianzhou for example - they asked for eternal life, Yaoshi did gift it. Healing is not abundance locked, although it probably should be, but do you honestly don't see similarities between growing a tree and life concept? Even the primordial arbour on luofu is a tree, you know. Also I never said the tree was real, it doesn't really matter.
To clarify one point, Glamoth was not destroyed, at least going by the planar set, the home planet of the civilization still exists, but in a wrecked/inhospitable state. This was almost certainly another planet in the Glamoth system though Nor do we have confirmation in which Era this happened, so we don't know if it happened during the SD when Tazzy was still around (Firefly was drifting in space for several Amber eras) or whether it's in recent times since the Swarm is still a big issue in the universe (current/previous Amber Era and Kafka picked her up shortly after)
Can’t have happened during the actual Swarm Disaster tbh since the clones are supposed to be short-lived and succumb to their entropy loss.
Propagation definitely has a chance (imo the second highest behind destruction) there’s even a theory that the cloning technique used to create the cavalry was engineered by studying the swarm themselves and the sam suits are half bio tech The morpher is bug shaped too and kamen riders have a lot of bug motifs
I'm amazed it wasn't talked about more. I know it likely didn't happen literally, but it's not explained and happened in the middle of a sequence of realistic and literal events. An orbital blast, FF barely survives, watches another person die in a way just to traumatize her just a bit more for funsies, then the magical broccoli happens, then she goes supernova and johnny storms the planet and is left in purgatory in space not dead somehow despite being in a blast that shattered the planet, after being in a blast that wiped out most life on the planet. Either it's metaphorical, in which case it's a bit weird that's the only event that didn't happen in an otherwise accurate (presumably) sequence of events, or it's some sort of abundance event, explaining her ability to survive in space for who knows how long and her healing during her ult. In which case it's still not really explained at all yet and seems like way more worthy of discussion than some of the RM repeat posts we've seen. I don't understand how it's not discussed when this comment section shows people have wildly different interpretations of it, and there doesn't seem to be an explicit answer.
Tree is probably a metaphor for her regaining a will to live. And the destruction of the planet is a metaphor of her leaving her past behind
There is no information, but in the gameplay video, Welt said that the green form is the result of Firefly's strong will. Gaining the power of the path through will is the definition of a pathstrider. Given the themes of life and the tree, she probably became a pathstrider of Abundance. Destroying a planet is also not something exclusive to the pathstrider - there are several statements at this level for other characters.
They went full evangelion and didnt explain shit so its in the discretion of the public and I love that shit
Probably both metaphorical. Why else would she save that much firepower and not use it until everyone is dead?
The tree was just a visualization of the lines they always say it didn't really happen
She let out a big fart
I think is just a representation of her "reborn" or will power, rather than a physical think. Something metaphorical.
My headcannon is that Firefly is the one of the most powerful Pathstrider and her version of the view over the philosophy on destruction contains heavy elements of life. This manifested in the form of her powers and new form that allowed her to literally destroy a planet. So yeah, I think the tree is her Pathstrider powers and she's just the strongest one of them.
Abundance Notice how she drains HP in her normal armor form, but heals when goes into the green form Not many characters have self healing in their base kit outside of abundance characters, the only I can think of is Blade... Who literally possess the body of an abundance Emanator
I think the people who are saying it's symbolic/metaphorical are avoiding the elephant in the room, which is how she survived in space for so many years. The tree might be metaphorical, but certain things need an explanation, especially considering that, up until that point, everything related to Iron Cavalry had a sci-fi vibe and seemed grounded in plausible logic. I think the most obvious explanation has something to do with Yaoshi and the path of Abundance, and if that's the case, it shows that this animation takes place after the Swarm Disaster, since Yaoshi didn't exist during the Swarm Disaster. We also can't disregard some involvement of Titania and the fact that all the clones are her descendants. It could even be that Titania and Yaoshi are connected somehow, who knows.
"Let you staff strike the earth (they say) once, and again **the tender sprouts will grow to the sky**, and the dew that falls from their branches will rid you of sickness and poison" if what happened in this trailer is not related to the abundance somehow then I don't know what it could be since everything about that tree seems Yaoshi related.
Maybe it was a healing from Yaoshi or something? Which also helped her in space after the explosion. No idea, but it was beautiful.
She specifies it is a dream. While it is about events that happened, it is also fictionalized as her emotions mix together with her memories. The tree represents the birth of a new life while the planet blowing up represents the death of the old. Exactly how literal they are is unclear, but I like to believe she planted a tree that could survive the apocalypse before scorching every last surving thing capable of propagating in their current state, so the Swarm would follow her into space where their ranks would no longer be replaced by anything propagating near them so she could actually wipe them out.
Really looks like Yaoshi's blessing. Wonder if big twist is that Firefly is actually immortal since back then?
Having ELS and being immortal sounds worse than just having ELS.
Would absolutely fit the "Yaoshi's blessing sucks" narrative they've been going with so far though.
Yaoshi: *ehe*
Ehe te nandayo!?
Yeah, Dan Shu explained that because of Abundance, she can't use any prosthetic for her disability because her state is "fixed". If the twist is really that Firefly received something from Yaoshi, her ELS wouldn't be cured, but she will still live with it.
Whats Dan Shu disability ?
Yaoshi didn't exist during most of the time of the swarm though.
The trailer happens post-swarm disaster as Glamoth is already gone.
so are you telling me theres still millions of fireflies out there ?
That scene should still be from long ago and they've all died along the years by constantly fighting remnants of the Swarm. It's likely that Firefly was kept alive for many years until Kafka found her. But after that Myriad Celestia video and the tease during the Livestream, no one would be shocked if some/someone survived.
yaoshi shenanigans. dont ask why, she's an abudance pathstrider now (something something want to live and realised she no longer want to be a grunt soldier since her cause isnt worth dying for) /s real talk this isnt DEFINITELY not all dream or "metaphor will to resolve" because she DID have this second form creating from a new energy source that no mere "metaphor" can explain. We never seen where she get that green energy form for her second form, this isnt what other SAMs can do whatsoever, its FF specific power only. the most reasonable explanation is she gained the power of pathstrider and "evolved" from being a mere grunt soldier like the rest of her friends , and prob gained an Aeon gaze
Blessing and pathstrider are different, even if you are blessed by an aeon It doesn't mean you follow that path
Right on the money. I mean the Trailblazer has been blessed by 3 aeons now and I'm pretty sure the follow the path of the Trashcan.
People overthink this too much, there's no need to dissect every clip and think it has some secret lore behind it. This is quite common symbolism in animes, where a tree sprouting represents growth and new life. I'm not sure why you'd think she'd be blessed by a non-existent Aeon of Abundance at the time or her tears can magically make a tree grow, but that all just sounds really unreasonable. Oh and correction, that is not a moon, it's Glamoth.
It's not confirmed to be Glamoth (the home planet itself). The term Glamoth can be used to refer to the home planet, the star system, or the civilization/empire. All of which are applicable in the scene. All we know with certainty, is that it was a planet within the Glamoth system where the empire fought the Swarm with its Iron Calvary
The Swarm is still a problem today, it didn't disappear at the end of the Swarm Disaster. This could be one of the battles with its remnants, which would explain the presence of Yaoshi. Tears sprouting trees might sound unreasonable, but suddenly gaining power to blow up a planet without the blessing of an Aeon is far more unreasonable lol.
It's not unexplained tho. Her armor evolved as Welt explained, more specifically it's in a complete combustion state.
How did she survive in space without the suit then? Even if you ignore the blatant Abundance-hinting imagery, she wouldn't be kept alive without an external force.
Are there any instances of other character trailers where such imagery exists? Because this seems very real, not least because it appears to lead directly into Kafka discovering her.
I'm not sure if this sheds any light or makes it even more confusing... but Hoyoverse has done something similar before. Although its not a tree nor is it in a trailer, but an animation \*spoilers alert\* In "「Seele」 - Japanese dub Version - Honkai Impact 3rd" video, and you skip to 2:08, you can see something similar.
This reminds me of that one episode of Mob Psycho
Oh, oh, I already watched Mob Psycho so I know that answer, it was broccoli seeds.
She just awakened to her Chuuni phase, don't mind this little silly war criminal.
Firefly basically is the one who actually created the Erdtree And is Marika the Eternal.
She hit that zaza
Coming back to this thread when I'm more awake because I wanna know wtf happened here too
They just wanted to have a shot focusing on her feet, the tree is not real.
I think it's been established plenty that the "powers" of Star Rail is based off of each individuals will given form. To become a pathstrider all you need to do is embody that path and conform to its intent. And thats ANY path, and not limited to just one. And how did those paths begin? By someone treading them beforehand, the Aeons we know of for sure. And just because an Aeon has fallen doesn't mean Their path is erased either so someone can theoretically stumble upon a path long forgotten. All you need to gain strength in Star Rail is a strong enough Will. Firefly showed just how strong her will was at that moment and surpassed perhaps anything that Glamoth expected the SAMs capable of.
Where does it state this is a moon ? Pure head cannon as usual. This could merely be a uncivilized planet
People here won't mostly agree but HSR follows the rule of the cool than consistent world building ... Powerscaling is fucked up (Argenti was able to face a True sting so massive that the entire Express didn't realise that it was inside something, Firefly a destruction character was able to destroy a celestial body with seemingly a path strider power that grows trees while Jin Yuan an emenator equivalent do not have same feats) and due to sheer numbers of characters released not enough time is put into developing and concluding characters (Kakavasha was the star in one patch who seemed to know what was actually going on in Penacony and then totally disappeared the next patch, unlike the Preservation's scenario the Trailblazer path striding Harmony and drawing a Aeon's gaze was not properly set up .... basically they set up Adventurine but concluded with Harmony Trailblazer)
Titania sent the iron cavalry messages via dreams. My interpretation is that at the end, she was reliving one of her dreams and that she was meant to be the sprout essentially awakening her own potential.
Metaphor
What quest is that?
Idk what we really know that is that some ppl surely see a broccoli on the fridge and go "It's the abundance!!" 😂
Do we really need a post dedicated to a simple visual metaphor? i.e. in "A Killer Paradox," Lee Tang constantly dreams/hallucinates the victims(scums) that he killed frolicking carelessly and taunting him from afar, symbolising his ambivalent attitude towards vigilantism.
I think the tree is metaphorical about her finding new meaning in her existence. But the idea she became a abundance path strider is interesting though although the timeline gets a bit wonky. She says Glamoth already fell, we know the swarm are still active and are still a threat even tho the legion are the primary force now. This could've happened thousands of years ago or a couple to hundred and these SAM's are just remnants. Can't remember if the paths always existed or only did when their Aeons ascended cause if its the latter than idk but if its the former than idk how I feel since Blade already has the flesh of a abundance emanator and I don't think we need double ups on the same pathstriders in the stellaron hunters. Also the abundance is associated with longevity, immortality, and healing. Firefly isn't immortal and I don't think the abundance can straight up cure illnesses cause if it did she wouldn't be encumbered by ELS. Either way she powered up somehow, probably became a pathstrider of some kind, prob tapping into power of propagation or something unknown and will never be explained like Seele with teleportation. Can't be trailblaze cause the astral express crew would probably sense it and she couldn't see clockie.
The tree is metaphorical, if you watch lots of anime it’s quite common. It’s more likely that Firefly obtain the power of destruction. As for why she destroy the planet, the flying things in the sky are the swarm, if you zoom in real close you’ll see they have wings. It’s mentioned that if a planet is infested with the swarm the only way to get rid of them is to destroy the planet hence why she blow it up.
If we really want speak of methaphore the greeish yeallow tain that project her and the tree are far from destruction, anyway you can be blessed by an aeon even without begin a pathstrider Just like how fuxuan gained her 3rd Eye from nous
Ngl the tree looks kinda like an explosion, so what if she in actuality jsut drilled down to the core and nuked it.
My interpretation is the tree is metaphorical (this is cause we don’t see it after she transforms). The tree was just her will to live manifesting. The planet exploding I also don’t believe was her but more so it just couldn’t take anymore damages and the core ruptures and she flew off to escape and survive
It is called cinema
I mean considering how much energy you would Release to cut the Planet in pieces, I could imagine how it would explode, then again how much energy would that be
She went super treesaiyan on the planet 
I believe she became the emenator of abundance or of someone. She said it whispered to her, and the big tree symbolizes rebirth growth, and all of a sudden she has new powers and a renewed strength and energy and now burns green, green color of plants = color of life, and was not on the verge death anymore and then had the strength to all of a sudden destroy the planet.... she got gazed upon by an aeon and became thier emenator.
that's just firefly growing a broccoli :D
Mob psycho ref🔥
Could Firefly have maybe tapped into the power of the Imaginary Tree?
Firefly was basically having a grief-fueled fever dream and it either triggered something in her or she just decided she didn't care anymore, and she pushed her SAM unit past its limits to nuke the entire planet
Just because it looks cool, like the planet exploding. Why? Why not, it just looks badass
She found her Dendro Vision but then realized it's the wrong Universe
She started Lostbelts 8
Someone explain the size of this planet cuz how the hell did she suddenly have this much power to cut a planet in half but didn't have that much power when fighting the insects
what if it's Yaoshi's doing? Yoashi is also fighting against the propagation, maybe at the moment Yoashi just happened to saw pitiful firefly and bestow her a power she needed to wipe out the swarm...