Just my random thoughts. TL;DR of the points I made:

• Fontaine Archon quest reveals gnoses are remains of the 3rd descender, which draws parallels with Norse mythology, specifically Ymir.
• Theory suggests a connection between descender sacrifices and the progression of Teyvat through root races.
• Tiara artifacts and Samsara Cycles align with stages of human evolution in the root races.
• The Traveler might be eyed as a sacrifice for the current cycle.
• The Archons' guilt (Neuvilette wanting to judge them) is possibly tied to the death of the 3rd descender.
• Pale Princess and the Six Pygmies story. There are parallels between pygmies and archons. More about this theory here.
• Tsaritsa's (and Traveler's) goal may involve reviving the 3rd descender, based on Pale Princess prophecy.

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Ok so since the Fontaine archon quest, with the revelation that the gnoses are actually remains of the 3rd descender, I immediately thought, "hey, that's seems like a similar concept from Norse mythology" (I actually thought of Attack on Titan first).

And so after a reading I came to think that the 3rd descender is based on Ymir. A short summary is that:

Odin, Vili, and Ve took Ymir's corpse to the middle of Ginnungagap and made the Earth out of it. They made the lakes and seas from his blood; they used his flesh to form the Earth; and his bones and teeth became rocks and stones.

In Genshin's case, 3rd descender (I'll call them Ymir now) was killed, and his body split up to make the gnoses system. I think furthermore for the current cycle, through the archons (no confirmation yet but I'm sticking to this, I also know that they are not the direct giver but archons are some sort of "path" to go through to be granted visions), the gnosis can then further "give" the elemental powers to humans by granting them visions. It goes like this:

• Celestia giving out Gnosis > Archons gaining a portion of the power of the elements (from sovereigns)
• Archons giving out Visions > Humans gaining a portion of the power of the elements (through archons)

Explaining this furthermore will branch out away from the main topic I'd like to discuss but basically, the 3rd descender was sacrificed to further improve the human race, which is the goal as to why Teyvat goes on a loop/cycle as revealed from the Tower of Ipsissimus.

I can't find the thread but I first saw this on twitter, on how it was based on the Root Races. We have, basing from the Tiara artifacts and the note left in the tower, and as well as the line when we open the crafting table:

• Crafting table: " Earth and water, wind and fire, craft for me what I desire" aligns with the first 4 stages of the seven root races below, but reversed (Fire > Air > Water > Earth)
• The Tiara artifacts cycle tell of how Celestia used to communicate with humans, but eventually stops, thus the need of High priests that communicates with Celestia for humans. Here's the theory from an old reddit post if you want to read more. But the summary is that:
  • Tiara of Frost: They say that, Once upon a time, the people of the land could hear revelations from Celestia directly. The envoys of the gods walked among benighted humanity then. In those days, life was weak, and the earth was blanketed in unending ice.
  • Tiara of Flame: The eternal ice had just begun to thaw, and the first fires were still new.
  • Tiara of Torrents: ...and the ancient flames were extinguished amidst the first falling rains.
  • Tiara of Thunder: ...and the waters ran dry as thunder first pierced the skies.
  • Extra: There's actually a fifth tiara that never got into the game (Tiara of Gales)
• The problem in the Tiara artifacts cycle (Ice > Fire > Water > Thunder) is that it doesn't correspond to the Root Cycle.
• The Samsara Cycles from the Tower of Ipsissimus correctly corresponds to the tiaras .Read more from this theory (it's really good, and also fleshes out more the connection with the tiara)
  • Hyperborea
  • Natlantean
  • Remuria
  • Khraun-Arya (current cycle we are experiencing as we play)
• While in a different order, the Samsara cycle actually correspond to some of the root races below. Only Natlantean (Atlanean) and Lemurian (Remuria) was interchanged.

Root Races

So what is the Seven Root Races? These are evolutionary cycles through which humanity evolves. So how does that connect to the descenders being sacrifices for each cycle?

Going back to the genshin manga, as pointed out in this theory, Venti mentioned several mythological figures from real-life mythology:

• Pangu gave his blood to form the rivers and seas
• the gods sacrified Purusha and cut his body to pieces and then fashioned all living beings with those parts
• the brain of the giant Ymir became clouds.

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That's where I started thinking, what if for every cycle, there's actually a descender sacrificed to contribute to human evolution, or at least Teyvat's progression?

1st cycle - Pangu - chinese mythology - Phanes creating Teyvat

Upon his death, his body parts were transformed into various elements of the natural world, such as his eyes bocming the sun and moon, his breath becoming the wind, body the mountains and earth, blood the rivers and seas.

> Phanes sacrificed Pangu to create the "human-realm" Teyvat

2nd cycle - Purusha - Hindu myth - Phanes creating the 4 Shades

Purushua was offered at the primordial sacrifice. The four classes (varnas) of Indian society also came from his body. The priest (Brahman) emerging from the mouth, the warrior (Kshatriya) from the arms, the peasant (Vaishya) from the thighs, and the servant (Shudra) from the feet.

> Phanes sacrificed Purusha, creating the 4 shades - the artifacts pieces theory

3rd Cycle - Ymir - Norse myth - Phanes creating the Gnoses system

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There are flaws to these thoughts though:

1. This assumes Phanes isn't the First descender, which is the currently accepted theory as Phanes allegedly came to Teyvat as well.
2. It doesn't really add much to the current lore we know, just that the descender may be based on how some figures are "sacrificed" to create the world in mythology stories.

And this opens up a few questions as well.

First, does that mean the Traveler — being the fourth descender, and as mentioned by Neuvilette, the traveler's body could possibly also possess similar properties — is currently eyed by Celestia / Phanes as a "sacrifice" for the current cycle? What is actually the goal of the story considering "Genshin" could actually mean "god candidate"?

Second, Neuvilette and Skirk's discussion mentioned how the gnoses are "misfortunes". That's why I also brought up the Ymir theory thing as well. I think the death of the 3rd will play a big part in the story. And currently, I'm thinking that the revelation actually connected a few more things.

The Archons being guilty of something, what is it about? That's when I remembered another old theory. This one tells of how the story of the Pale Princess and the Six Pygmies could be about the death of the 3rd descender, and how the archons are guilty of it.

TL:DR, the six pygmies refer to the six archons (minus the Tsaritsa), and they are guilty of killing the prince (3rd descender who helped them). The narrative of the story actually starts becoming disturbing once you realize we really can connect it to the current story: (some of these are directly taken from the theory I linked above, I italicized them and added my notes in bold)

The deformed pygmy is the one who makes a deal with the Princess. This represents Zhongli as the God of Contracts.

They save a blind pygmy who wanted a better view from a mountaintop. This represents Baal, the God of Eternity who believes herself to be of supreme importance. The recent Inazuma tease highlights that her residence is located on the highest point in her realm.

The foolish pygmy was stuck in the muddy wetlands. This represents the Hydro Archon as the God of Judgement, who is proud of her purity and says her ideals have no stains. (Yes, I’m equating mud with stains, we don’t know much about her lmao). This tells of how Egeria was lost in finding a solution to the propechy of Fontaine.

The timid pygmy was stuck in a cave after looking for a fight against the Night Mother's minions. This represents Murata, the God of War, looking to prove her strength. Feels like something connected to the Endless Ring of War in Natlan

The shrunken pygmy was stuck in quicksand after looking for his garden. This represents the previous Dendro Archon, who was the God of the Woods and died 500 years ago.

The carefree pygmy was threatened by carnivorous mushrooms. This represents Venti, the God of Freedom bumbling around without a care in the world.

The pygmies hatch a plan to poison the Prince:

The blind pygmy wants to "keep the Prince's sunlight forever", representing Baal's quest for eternity and her current theft of visions which she places in the statue of the Hundred-Eyed God.

The foolish pygmy wants to use the Prince to become smarter, And Focalor did so to trick the heavenly principles

The timid pygmy wants to challenge him to a duel, mirroring Murata's thirst for proving herself in battle.

The shrunken pygmy wants to use the corpse as fertiliser for his garden And Rukkhadevata utilized the gnosis to create the Akasha system to combat forbidden knowledge.

The carefree pygmy goes along with their plan, and blames the Princess and the Prince for putting evil thoughts into his head. This represents Venti as the God of Freedom, getting involved mainly so he can get back to simpler times.

The deformed pygmy is silent, not because he's opposed to the plan but because he feels guilty over a broken promise. This of course represents Zhongli struggling to uphold a contract he made. It's possible that he was torn between his promises to the Tsaritsa and his contract with Celestia which he made when he became an Archon.

This one sounds like the gnoses were cursed in some ways, hence it being called a "misfortune" by Skirk:

The Prince uses up his remaining power to curse the pygmies, making them feel like being cooked alive for all eternity.

And now that we know that the gnoses are the remains of the 3rd descender, the story is much clearer now: The Tsaritsa wants to revive the prince (3rd descender). From the end of the Pale Princess story:

"In thousands of years time, my greatest foe will descend. He wields a sword that heralds the dawn and wears armour that can reflect the shining sunlight. He shall destroy my kingdom and bring the Prince back to life. The Princess will then be free from her eternal torment. Until then, I fear not a single soul in the Land of Night, for nothing will bring an end to my kingdom except for the catastrophe foretold by the prophecy. As for you, the treacherous slave that poisoned his master… fate shall see that you get what you deserve."

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That's all, just really a few jumbled thoughts on how some things are starting to make sense in genshin but at the same time we still don't have clear confirmations. We can really just speculate and theorize.

I recommend that you guys read the theories I linked. Special mention to the last one about the Pale Princess because that theory is 3 years old already and from Fontaine's revelations it's starting to sound like the pygmies in the Pale Princess is really about the Archons.