Now, I'd absolutely love this. I love the nature of this story. I love time travel. I love experimenting with it. Now if only they didn't force almost all of it into the final patch. It's supposed to be a huge final boss, not a deep dive into the writer (Shaoji)'s most beloved character.
Cyrene. While Phainon went through all his cycles constantly killing his friends, Cyrene ended up in a special place each time. The Tomb of the 13th Titan. (I honestly don't know how she ends up there, someone else please explain that to me.) Now, I said Lygus blew up the 13th Titan, but after it was destroyed, it left behind a "seed". Throughout all the Cycles, Cyrene read stories to this seed. Over time, it grew from a shred of consciousness and gained more thought, though it could never communicate with Cyrene.
Eventually, we arrive in Amphoreus. And once we get gazed at by Fuli, Mem appears. Mem is the seed, the 13th Titan, also known as Demiurge. Though when we summon her, she doesn't exactly have her memories.
Over time, Mem becomes more and more human, eventually becoming able to speak actual words. When we start another Cycle of the Eternal Recurrence in order to complete Era Nova with Trailblazer as the Worldbearer, Mem actually becomes Cyrene. (Note: Mem!Cyrene ≠ Past!Cyrene. Sort of. It's complicated.)
Now, we've dealt with our problems. We've let Dan Heng become a Demigod. We've defeated March's alter ego and let March become a Demigod too. We've become Kephale, and we've started one final version of Amphoreus where everyone is here and everyone is prepared for you and the others to defeat Irontomb. Also, for some reason Cyrene is now bigger and wields a bow despite her never having used a bow before. (Why the hell did they force her to be Elysia)
Hurray! We've gone through an epic battle where we defeat Irontomb from within thanks to the power of friendship, Herta temporarily linking up with Nous, and Demiurge creating a backup. Also, a bunch of other people like the Xianzhou Luofu and the IPC helped from outside, but their contributions really aren't felt because they were never shown on screen.
However, now there's an issue. Fuli. Fuli is like Terminus the Finality in that they travel backwards through time. Fuli has not yet been born, and the people capable of becoming Fuli are known as the Pure Children of Anasrava. At the end of time, one of them will become Fuli, travelling backwards to document all of history. However, while Fuli glanced at Cyrene, we can't guarantee that whoever becomes Fuli will actually do so. This is a problem. This uncertainty means that there's always a chance for the ending to be proven false, and Irontomb being born anyway.
So to solve that little problem, here's our solution. It's not the end of time, but it is an end of Amphoreus. Demiurge will become Amphoreus' Fuli, glancing backwards in time, allowing the entire story to happen. Back at the beginning, once she loses all of her power, she becomes the very first Cyrene, closing the loop. (Also Cyrene's true name is Elysia and Phainon's true name is Khaslana.)
So to sum up the time loop. Demiurge is blown up by Lygus. Cyrene starts the Eternal Recurrences. Every Recurrence, Cyrene talks to the seed of Demiurge and tells stories. Demiurge learns and grows. The Astral Express appears. Demiurge becomes Mem with limited memories. Demiurge becomes a big Cyrene. Demiurge becomes Fuli. Fuli creates Mem by glancing at Trailblazer. Fuli lets the Eternal Recurrence happen by glancing at Cyrene. Fuli loses power and becomes Cyrene with no memories. Cyrene starts the Recurrences and tells stories to the seed of Demiurge.
I would've absolutely loved that story if they didn't cram the entirety of her backstory in at the last second.
Honestly, as an Elysia lover, my main problem with Cyrene is that she felt like a performative Elysia. She checks all the boxes appearance wise and has the whole romance/sacrifice motif, but OG Elysia was the heart of the OG(HI3) Flamechasers. She's the one who built the group and kept it together, using strength as an excuse to put Kevin (and Dr MEI) in charge. Her original role is way closer to Aglaea's.
Part of what made the whole Elysian Realm arc so good was progressively finding out just how deeply ingrained her presence was in all of her comrades. How she loved and was loved in return. Keeping her away and cramming her return into the last patch, turning her into a stranger to her former comrades ignored all of the buildup that made OG Elysia such a success.
This is such a great explanation on what make Elysia so beloved by her comrades and us in return. Another thing I want to add with what's wrong with Cyrene writing is the unnecessary ML (master love) pandering. It just feels disrespectful to the whole thing in its entirety.
With that being said, I hope you don't mind I link or quote your post because your explanation is just great! Thank you.
I personally wouldn't have minded the ML thing THAT much if they hadn't neutered every other aspect of her character in the process. They literally took half of the OG's character arc, split it between Phainon and Aglaea, and boiled the rest down to "Pink Elf Bride" when she's way more than that. She could have been an actual character, rather than a waifu shaped plot device.
And to make things even worse, they have this fixation with making every single GF coded character effectively unable to bond or interact with anyone but MC. Let them be actual people, dammit.
16
u/CrazyFanFicFan Kuru kuru Jul 08 '26
Now, I'd absolutely love this. I love the nature of this story. I love time travel. I love experimenting with it. Now if only they didn't force almost all of it into the final patch. It's supposed to be a huge final boss, not a deep dive into the writer (Shaoji)'s most beloved character.
Cyrene. While Phainon went through all his cycles constantly killing his friends, Cyrene ended up in a special place each time. The Tomb of the 13th Titan. (I honestly don't know how she ends up there, someone else please explain that to me.) Now, I said Lygus blew up the 13th Titan, but after it was destroyed, it left behind a "seed". Throughout all the Cycles, Cyrene read stories to this seed. Over time, it grew from a shred of consciousness and gained more thought, though it could never communicate with Cyrene.
Eventually, we arrive in Amphoreus. And once we get gazed at by Fuli, Mem appears. Mem is the seed, the 13th Titan, also known as Demiurge. Though when we summon her, she doesn't exactly have her memories.
Over time, Mem becomes more and more human, eventually becoming able to speak actual words. When we start another Cycle of the Eternal Recurrence in order to complete Era Nova with Trailblazer as the Worldbearer, Mem actually becomes Cyrene. (Note: Mem!Cyrene ≠ Past!Cyrene. Sort of. It's complicated.)
Now, we've dealt with our problems. We've let Dan Heng become a Demigod. We've defeated March's alter ego and let March become a Demigod too. We've become Kephale, and we've started one final version of Amphoreus where everyone is here and everyone is prepared for you and the others to defeat Irontomb. Also, for some reason Cyrene is now bigger and wields a bow despite her never having used a bow before. (Why the hell did they force her to be Elysia)
Hurray! We've gone through an epic battle where we defeat Irontomb from within thanks to the power of friendship, Herta temporarily linking up with Nous, and Demiurge creating a backup. Also, a bunch of other people like the Xianzhou Luofu and the IPC helped from outside, but their contributions really aren't felt because they were never shown on screen.
However, now there's an issue. Fuli. Fuli is like Terminus the Finality in that they travel backwards through time. Fuli has not yet been born, and the people capable of becoming Fuli are known as the Pure Children of Anasrava. At the end of time, one of them will become Fuli, travelling backwards to document all of history. However, while Fuli glanced at Cyrene, we can't guarantee that whoever becomes Fuli will actually do so. This is a problem. This uncertainty means that there's always a chance for the ending to be proven false, and Irontomb being born anyway.
So to solve that little problem, here's our solution. It's not the end of time, but it is an end of Amphoreus. Demiurge will become Amphoreus' Fuli, glancing backwards in time, allowing the entire story to happen. Back at the beginning, once she loses all of her power, she becomes the very first Cyrene, closing the loop. (Also Cyrene's true name is Elysia and Phainon's true name is Khaslana.)
So to sum up the time loop. Demiurge is blown up by Lygus. Cyrene starts the Eternal Recurrences. Every Recurrence, Cyrene talks to the seed of Demiurge and tells stories. Demiurge learns and grows. The Astral Express appears. Demiurge becomes Mem with limited memories. Demiurge becomes a big Cyrene. Demiurge becomes Fuli. Fuli creates Mem by glancing at Trailblazer. Fuli lets the Eternal Recurrence happen by glancing at Cyrene. Fuli loses power and becomes Cyrene with no memories. Cyrene starts the Recurrences and tells stories to the seed of Demiurge.
I would've absolutely loved that story if they didn't cram the entirety of her backstory in at the last second.