So, since Inazuma, the idea of Ley Line Disorders, Memories, Filth, and Ghosts has been brought up again and again,

So, since Inazuma, the idea of Ley Line Disorders, Memories, Filth, and Ghosts has been brought up again and again, steadily becoming more important. First with the Sacred Sakura Cleansing Ritual and Kazari, then it’s expanded a little more with Tsurumi Island and Ruu, then it’s expanded a little more with Enkanomiya and the Sin Shades, and now it’s been brought closer to the main story’s spotlight than ever with Ei and Yae Miko’s story quests. 

But the idea of Ley Lines preserving memories has actually been around since the very beginning of the game. Not only is it how the ley line outcroppings we get xp and mora from work, it’s how we have rematches against Stormterror, Childe,  Azhdaha, Signora, and now Raiden Shogun. If you look at each of their domains, each is labeled as ‘Memories’, and then their fight’s title. Andrius is the only one we actually, physically challenge again and again– and even he is stated to be more of a spirit than the god he once was. 

The Ley Lines and the idea of Memories are becoming more and more important, as is the goddess of time, Istaroth, who seems to have something to do with the Sinshades, and through that, the Ley Line Disorders and memories. She’s also connected to our first genuine instance of time travel. 

One of the ways Genshin Impact stands out from other mobile games is its incredibly rich lore and worldbuilding in regards to the past, especially around the time of the Cataclysm. A number of extremely well-developed and known characters have never appeared on-screen, their arcs and stories told solely through the descriptions of artifacts and weapons… 

I’ve seen it wondered once before if a few chapters were going to take place in the past. Now that we do have an instance of something being sent back in time, and not just the flow of time being different between two areas… I could see it as possible? Especially with how Memories and Ley Lines are becoming really important, and how both seem strongly connected to plants– and where are we heading next? 

Sumeru! Country of Wisdom and Dendro! Maybe we’ll travel through time, or some ley line/memory-involved experiment will grant us further glimpses of the past? I think it’d be really cool, too, if we finally got to meet some backstory-exclusive characters via memory too, like Guizhong, Rostam and Arundolyn, etc… Or if when we finally meet the Tsaritsa and get answers about what happened 500 years ago and how she became this way, it was conveyed to us as the Traveller was totally surrounded by memories, watching the chaos unfold around them in 3D, like they’re back there again. 

Of course, those last parts specifically are pure speculation, but it cannot be denied they’re really building up the past, and the importance of ghosts and memories– perhaps have been in plain sight since the very beginning!