The Honkai: Star Rail 2.4 story dropped a lot more serious lore on us than expected – what was supposed to be a fun tournament arc for the summer turned into a full-blown opening salvo of a war between The Hunt’s Xianzhou Alliance and the Borisin following The Abundance, which are being manipulated by The Destruction.
Table of Contents
- HSR 2.4: Ruan Mei, Tingyun, and Leviathan fossils
- HSR 2.4: Phantylia is back
- HSR 2.4: Jing Yuan and Feixiao’s goals
In the middle of all this we have the introduction of several new characters with their stories and crucial hints to one of HSR’s oldest mysteries – the fate of Tingyun, the friendly diplomat whose body was used by Phantylia to infiltrate the Xianzhou Luofu when we first arrived there.
Let’s go over everything we learned in Honkai: Star Rail 2.4.
Ruan Mei made an early appearance in update 2.4 – at least by name. The Astral Express has apparently agreed to help her transport some Leviathan fossils, which is why Pom-Pom, Welt, and Himeko are staying on the train while Trailblazer, March 7th, and Dan Heng accept Jing Yuan’s invitation to the Xianzhou Luofu.
Leviathans are created associated with The Voracity – and going by Ruan Mei’s unethical work on Herta Space Station with the bugs of The Propagation, her gaining fossils of these massive monsters isn’t exactly reassuring. Ruan Mei has shown an absolute disregard for ethics in her efforts to become an Aeon that controls all life, so this job may backfire on the crew later.
What’s really interesting, though, is Ruan Mei’s second mention in the story – this time by none other than Feixiao during her chat with Yukong. Feixiao mentions that her scouts had found a ship belonging to the Whistling Flames, the merchant guild Tingyun was representing, and that they found no cargo or people at the crash site. However, they established that Ruan Mei may have encountered the ship first.
Obviously, this is pure speculation at this point, but there might be some hope for Tingyun fans that Ruan Mei found her real body on the ship, saving her from death. Of course, this also has one worrying aspect to it: If it’s Ruan Mei who found her, there is a non-zero chance that sweet Tingyun is currently undergoing some form of experimentation. Playable Leviathan-Tingyun hybrid, anyone?
In any case, Chekov’s Ruan Mei has been placed – expect that to pay off in the future.
HSR 2.4: Phantylia is back
Bloody Phantylia – she just can’t stop meddling with the Xianzhou. After we kicked her out during the Ambrosial Arbor Crisis, it seems like she’s been busy manipulating the Borisin, masking her true identity as a Lord Ravager of The Destruction by playing an “angel” of The Abundance and uniting their disparate groups with a common goal – freeing Hoolay from the Shackling Prison.
During the story, someone remarked that the infiltration of the Luofu was not the way the Borisin usually go about things – it is, however, a strategy we already know Phantylia to favor, so it’s not unlikely that she’s the mastermind behind the details of freeing Hoolay. As an aside: That guy? Seems like big trouble: The writers went out of their way to tell us how tough he is, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was close to being an Emanator of The Abundance. Luckily, Jiaoqiu had the good idea to plant the seed of revenge against Jingliu in Hoolay’s head (if you read the guide about visiting Hoolay’s cell Xueyi gives you, it says to never mention Jingliu in his presence), preventing him from going on a rampage.
As Feixiao remarked at the end of this part of the story, this is essentially a challenge to war by The Abundance and The Destruction – and The Hunt is not one to back down.
However, one important question currently remains unanswered: Who exactly is behind those mechs on the IPC ship that kicked the whole prison break episode off? The Intelligentsia Guild clearly did something unethical – using Borisin genes or something similar to create cyborgs. But was the Intelligentsia Guild – and its sponsor, the IPC – fully in on the plan or were these mechs somehow manipulated by another party, such as the Borisin? Smells like a conspiracy.
If the IPC were to move openly against the Xianzhou, that whole War between Aeons vibe that’s been coming up in the story more recently would certainly get kicked into overdrive.
The Xianzhou Alliance is not as united as it may seem on the surface: Some suspect Jing Yuan to be disloyal – or simply appear doing so because they’re jealous of his position, as Huaiyan at one point says.
While Jing Yuan is trying to dispel those suspicions by being open and honest with Huaiyan and Feixiao, who’ve been sent to investigate his conduct, he’s trying to root out the final remnants of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus on the Luofu by hosting the Wardance. The prison break that happens during 2.4 may still have been a surprise to him, but it’s exactly what he wanted – all of his enemies teaming up and taking the stage, so that he can crush them all with one hit.
We have no idea what Huaiyan really wants on the Luofu at this point – the man said he had no ulterior motive, but let’s be honest: Anyone who says that makes themselves suspicious.
As for Feixiao: Aside from her official business with Jing Yuan, she definitely has a personal goal – finding a way to cure the Moon Rage she’s afflicted with. That’s why she went to see Bailu and that’s why she keeps Jiaoqiu around as her doctor. It’s also why she wanted Hoolay transferred to her own ship – as Jiaoqiu remarked, the Warhead’s lupitoxin and regenerative powers could hold the key to cure the general.
Altogether, version 2.4 felt like a strong opening to a new story arc and sowed some seeds that will certainly come into play later.
