Hi guys! I am Inotia King a youtuber, redditor and gamer who likes theorizing about the story. I actually cobbled together a list of some of my more important theories with respect to the game Genshin Impact and Star Rail that I have been basing all of my newer theories on. I'll be putting more of those up on Hive along with new stuff but if you're impatient I also archived all my theories here. I hope some of you guys are game theorists too. Let's try to figure out these great games together!
Not long after Zenless released I brought up the idea that perhaps Phaethon had a hidden rival named after a character in Ovid's version of the myth: Epaphus. It was Epaphus that goaded Phaethon into driving the sun chariot which ultimately led to him losing control of it and being struck down by Zeus. Over time I developed this idea alongside my other theories to say that Epaphus may actually have come from the first iteration of the timeline, one where Phaethon never made it out of Eridu during the fall. As such, the prime timeline resulted in New Eridu's destruction and Epaphus realized their mistake and found a way to use the Hollows to create branched time. In this new timeline they set the stage for Phaethon to survive the fall, perhaps even coercing Carole Arna.
Side Note: That said Phaethon may have also spoken to her, potentially suggesting that the game we started off with isn't even the first branch. Wise/Belle seem to recognize them and if they had come from a temporal anomaly within say Hollow Zero (the door that exists in the past) then they would expectedly be doused in Ether, enough to be detected by someone with heightened Ether abilities.
If we look at the newest storyline, Youkai was one of the four AI used by the two people we hear in Where the Miracle Began. Youkai's plot so far has been to push the story forward and raise Phaethon's awareness of not only the Creator but also Lady Sunbringer and now the situation with Intelligent Constructs and TOPS. Why? Season 3 seems to be about delving deeper into the inner workings of New Eridu compared to the expansive storytelling we've seen so far. We're back on Sixth Street and Aria has now gotten our feet wet on the mysteries about life prior to the fall. Late into v2.6, we're told that Youkai must have another partner if it wants to hack the Gilded Carrot Day broadcast and what should happen there?
Based on literally every scene she's been in, it is painfully obvious that the girl is not a cop. She is so suspicious, I'd be shocked if Severian didn't already know. (then again it is Zenless and they do play things in an exaggerated manner) But there's more. In Chinese, Cissia is transliterated as 希希芙 xixifu which could be a homophone for the Chinese transliteration of Sisyphus 西西弗斯 xixifusi. I think we all know that story right? Punished by Zeus for his hubris of defying death? Forced to perform the same task over and over despite never making any progress? It could be a shoutout to the role I suggested for Epaphus. As penance for their role in Phaethon's death during the first timeline, they decided to create branched time to save Phaethon. Following that, they must watch over them from the shadows to make sure they succeed. They are essentially living their lives over again and will continue to do so if Phaethon should fail.
However there's more. Cissia on its own is also connected to the real world. It is the name of a district in the Achaemenid Persian Empire and potentially was previously known as the city of Susa which once served as the capital of Elam. Elam was a state formed by several tribes in order to defend against Sumerian encroachment. Eridu is named after Sumer's mythological oldest city. This could signify the rivalry between Phaethon and Epaphus and even suggest their relative standings which might have led Epaphus to loathe Phaethon. Perhaps they too were part of Helios Academy but could never outperform Phaethon. This jealously led to their not helping them survive the fall and the subsequent realization that only Phaethon could save their world. However there could also something else to this reference. Susa's patron god was Inanna and Inanna is the original Sumerian name for Ishtar or perhaps the name Istaroth would mean more to us Hoyoverse players. While it sounds like a Genshin reference, it doesn't have to be. Inanna being related to Istaroth is also then related to the planet Venus and there have been many references across the Hoyoverse to this planet, usually in the context of a guiding light. (Venus is actually related to Lucifer which means light) If that's the case, Epaphus could have an even larger role.
In any event, it seems like Cissia and her association with Youkai should make her the female voice we hear in the Where the Miracles Began trailer who I suggested were the members of Epaphus and are trying to save New Eridu from behind the scenes. I guess we'll find out as v2.7 gives us our first hints about it.