Late night Genshin thoughts and Spoilers for Liyue storyline: The arc ending with Rex Lapis’ retirement and thus Barbatos

Late night Genshin thoughts and Spoilers for Liyue storyline:

The arc ending with Rex Lapis’ retirement and thus Barbatos being the last of the original Seven is so sad to me. Venti’s character is quite tragic, and it’s reasonable to argue that he constantly drinks to stave off the burden of being an archon. Venti took on the role for the bard that could not. To protect the people he loved, past, present, and future.

The small snippets of dialogue imply that Zhongli and Venti were quite close, almost sharing a brotherly relationship. What happens now, with Venti’s oldest friend and the last of his family fading from the picture? Who will take Rex Lapis’ place? What happens when the role of Archon “changes hands”? It’s mentioned in the story, but what actually happens when they step down? Can Zhongli die? Will he go to Celestia, a place in which Venti cannot follow until he too decides to complete his duties? I feel like Venti struggles a lot with his role as an archon, and for him to give up his position now would be premature. Despite now standing alone, Venti has a lot of unfinished business, which I really hope is further developed as the story progresses. My hope is that he can find himself, and find comfort in that the bard would have been proud of him.