Out of each of the Seven Archons that rule over Genshin Impact‘s Teyvat, Sumeru’s Dendro Archon is the most mysterious of all of them. Not only is the Dendro Element yet to be revealed as a Vision within the character roster, but there is only one official character with a Dendro Vision as seen in the game — Dr Baizhu from BuBu Pharmacy in Liyue Harbor. Dendro Visions (in comparison to all others) appear to be extremely rare outside Sumeru, that is, if they are common within Sumeru at all.
Sumeru was once under the guidance of The God of the Wood, a previous iteration of the Dendro Archon who has since passed. The God of Wisdom spoken of by Dainsleif in the Story Preview only came into power 500 years ago, after the war with Khaenri’ah. Across Teyvat, Sumeru is known for its Academic Institute where many NPC and playable characters have studied. With the 3.0 patch update hopefully coming this summer, Genshin Impact fans are desperate to find out more about this mysterious element and its leading Archon.
The God of the Wood Was the Previous Dendro Archon
The previous iteration of the Dendro Archon was known as The God of the Wood, though it is unknown what their true name was while they were alive. It is known that they perished in the Cataclysm brought about by the destruction of Khaenri’ah. He was one of the two Archons who were killed as a result of the war, Raiden Makoto of Inazuma being the other casualty. This ultimately led to both nations gaining new Archons in the form of the God of Wisdom and Makoto’s twin sister, Raiden Ei, respectively.
From the artifact set descriptions such as the Viridescent Venerer, The God of the Wood was known as a powerful archon who could communicate through plants with those outside of Sumeru. He made contact with Viridescent, owner of the battle-pass weapon, The Viridescent Hunt, who also battled in Khaenri’ah after straying from her past beliefs of only killing for survival. It is mentioned in the Viridescent Venerer’s Determination Timepiece that after The God of the Wood passed, the grass and trees never spoke again to Viridescent.
The God of Wisdom Took Over as the Dendro Archon
Shortly after the events of the Cataclysm, The God of Wisdom took on the mantle of the Dendro Archon and began to rule over Sumeru. Through translations, the current Dendro Archon has also been referred to as the Flower Archon. They were first mentioned by Zhongli in Archon Quest, “Chapter One, Act Two: Farewell, Archaic Lord,” who got a kite in order to commemorate the God of Wisdom in the Rite of Parting. However, it is Ganyu that gives more information on this mysterious Archon in “A New Star Approaches.” She tells the Traveler that the God of Wisdom is the youngest of the Seven Archons, being only 500 years old. It has also been confirmed that the God of Wisdom uses she/her pronouns as corrected in a 2.1 revision.
Very little is known about the Dendro Archon’s personality and how she is received by her fellow Archons. In the Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview, Dainsleif comments on how “The God of Wisdom’s enemy is wisdom itself” and how they do not take action against the injustices that take place within the fight for knowledge. In Sumeru, knowledge is widely accepted as a resource that can be utilized — something which has turned many away from their walls. Yae Miko also comments on how she finds that the treatment of using knowledge as a resource is “truly inexplicable” and hints that the process might not have been started by the God of Wisdom, but by the sages in their company.
The Dendro Archon has not only been named the Flower Archon but by another title. Lesser Lord Kusanali is a fond title that the people of Sumeru have given them. However, it has raised suspicion and confusion within the fanbase. Due to the different titles, many have theorized that Lesser Lord Kusanali is not in fact the Dendro Archon but a lower ranking God (similar to Venti when he was only a wisp in the Thousand Winds) and that the true Dendro Archon is hiding behind the scenes or even is a collection of lesser Gods.
Sumeru Academia Is Seemingly Outside the Dendro Archon’s Purview
One of the characters with the closest ties to Sumeru is Mondstadt Librarian, Lisa. For two years she studied at the Sumeru Academia. However, she became disillusioned by the students’ unrestrained thirst for knowledge and returned to Mondstadt. Lisa was highly regarded in Sumeru and was acknowledged by scholars as being someone without equal in the Academia for 200 years. She could see the descent into injustice and madness that endless knowledge gave and wished to be no part of it. In one of the archived books available in Genshin Impact, “Customs of Liyue, Vol. 2,” the sages are described to have become hysterical in their pursuit of academics.
It is unknown how involved The God of Wisdom is with Sumeru Academia, as there is no mention within character voice-lines or the lore that they govern the Academia. However, what is known is that the Sumeru Academia was already a highly-sought-after and established institute by the time of The Cataclysm. Hence, it was not created by The God of Wisdom within their time of leadership.
The idea of having more than one Archon to govern a nation is not new to Genshin Impact as, prior to the Cataclysm, both Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei ruled over Inazuma, albeit in differing ways, and it certainly would be another interesting route for the game to take. Considering the potential influence of Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures, especially alongside references to Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, having a nation with not only two, but numerous deities, could be a fantastic storyline for the release of Sumeru.
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