Alice is a mysterious character in Genshin Impact. Various voice lines mention her, mainly from Klee and Albedo (who are closer to her than others). Players heard her voice during the first midsummer event, an elaborate plan to get those closest to Klee to rest and have fun. Since then, she’s been mentioned off-hand by a few different characters. Now, with this year’s Windblume celebration, she sheds more light on a mysterious gathering of mages.
Here’s everything we know about Alice.
She’s Klee and Albedo’s Mother (Adoptive, in the Case of the Latter)
This is primarily how you’ll first know about her. Of course, being her child, Klee’s voice lines feature her prominently. From being taught explosives to mentioning that she’s traveling with her father, Klee’s lines and character stories are peppered with mentions of her. It’s appropriate, as the littlest knight is still a child (about 9-ish years old). It’s no wonder Alice is all over her profile.
As for Albedo, his creator and mother (and teacher) asked him to search for the ‘truth of this world’ and sent him to Alice. The latter took him under her wing, adopting him as a big brother for Klee before leaving on her journey.
As a little-known aside, she also adopted Diluc as a son (unofficially). It’s because he treated Klee well after the Ragnvindr tragedy. This was revealed during the event of his skin’s release. One of the letters addressed to Diluc was from her. In it, she saw how kindly he treated Klee even as she ruined a portion of the vineyard. She then says she adopts him as a son even if she can’t replace his father.
She Wrote the Teyvat Travel Guide
It’s an eccentric piece of reading, with many tangents diverting from being a good travel guide. Still, it’s a look into the nations in the not-so-distant(?*) past. Still, there are interesting tidbits about the countries between her ramblings about experiments and other related topics.
During these explorations, she was accompanied by all kinds of characters. The Knights were a default in Mondstadt. Zhongli accompanied her in Liyue, where she described him as a stern but knowledgeable man. In Inazuma, she hung out with the Naganoharas and ‘accidentally’ blew up the Imperial Palace’s kitchen.
*It isn’t apparent when she explored and wrote the guide. It’s recent enough that many playable characters are referenced but also long enough that some things have changed in the interim. Jean may not be the Acting Grand Master, but Rex Lapis is already in his Zhongli guise. Also, you can meet the stuttering Liyue guard who mentions her, so it couldn’t be that long ago.
She has a Long Lifespan/isn’t a Human
It’s a characteristic she shares with the Traveler. The latter has a vague age but has to have been asleep during their sibling’s exploits in Khaenri’ah. Their twin woke them up as the ancient kingdom fell into ruin and then fell unconscious again due to the Sustainer of the Heavenly Principles preventing their escape. They woke 500 years afterward after a troubled sleep filled with nightmares.
Now, a case could be made for the sleep to have put them in stasis, but how would you explain the sibling looking like nothing had changed? The Traveler is noted to be older than they look, enough to argue about being allowed to drink alcohol.
Alice has a similar lengthy lifespan, as she is one of the oldest members of the Hexenzirkel. The human members have all died or passed on their positions to their successors. However, Alice is still active and youthful-sounding (as we haven’t seen her in person yet). Klee is noted to have inherited this longevity though we don’t know her father’s constitution.
Alice has seen more of Teyvat’s history firsthand, not just through the Ley Lines. She might’ve witnessed the fall of Khaenri’ah, but we don’t know her opinions on it or that her friend ‘Gold’ is one of the factors that caused it.
She is Part of the Hexenzirkel
It’s a mysterious gathering of mages. Lisa mentions it in her line about Mona, referencing the latter’s apprenticeship to ‘B.’ It’s also mentioned in one of Barbara’s character stories, which explicitly says Alice is an elder of the organization.
Lisa mentions that they do Irminsul exploration and formal tea parties. She was invited to participate, but considering her reasons for leaving the Akademiya, she refused. This was all we knew about this gathering until the 2023 Windblume event.
The last quest of the mentioned event, ‘Joy Above the Clouds,’ shed more light on the group. Alice describes it as a gathering of her best friends she spent her youth with, and they often gather together for tea parties. The Hexenzirkel consists of eight mages (though there are only seven seats at the table):
- Alice (A), the ‘one who would never lie’
- Barbeloth (B), the one who teaches Mona and a master Hydromancer
- I. Ivanovna N. (J), a human long dead, Scarlett is one of her distant successors
- Andersdotter (M), ‘a legend that never ends,’ a human fairy tale writer
- Nicole (N), the ‘guide that will never get lost’
- Rhinedottir (R), ‘a flower that is not of this world,’ the alchemist ‘Gold’ and Albedo’s creator and mother
- Two other unnamed members
The Irminsul exploration part of their activities is linked to Spantamad’s area of research. This influenced Lisa’s views about the organization and why she didn’t want to join. At any rate, they’re knowledgeable about many things but are secretive about them.
She’s Likely a Descender, Too (Spoilers for Archon Quests)
If you’ve finished the quest ‘Inversion of Genesis,’ you know that the Descenders are not native to Teyvat. They exist outside of the world’s laws and are unaffected by them. The primary marker that differentiates the Traveler is that they’re not affected by the edits to the information in Irminsul.
They could remember Rukkhadevata even after information about her was purged to clear the corruption in Irminsul. Also, they could remember who the Wanderer was after he tried deleting himself. Conversely, even Nahida wasn’t able to remember those two, having had to rely on obfuscation to remind herself after the fact for the latter.
(Spoilers end here.)
One thing that points to Alice’s status as one is Barbara’s Idol Magazine story. In it, Alice gives her a magazine with idols, and Barbara doesn’t seem to recognize it. The elder did so, introducing her to the concept of stardom, which didn’t exist in Teyvat before this.
Considering this, it is probable that she knows about the first two characters mentioned, who have since been forgotten by Teyvat. She’s likely aware of it, as they are connected to the Ley Lines and Irminsul.
She narrated Aloy’s (an Outlander) and Wanderer’s (for spoiler reasons) Collected Miscellany videos. It’s strong evidence that she’s a Descender because Dainsleif wouldn’t know about the latter, and Aloy currently has no place in the story. While she also narrates Dori’s video, that’s because Alice supplies the merchant with unusual wares.
It differs from Nicole (the guide) because N doesn’t know what changed, only that something did. Alice is aware of what exactly happened.
Also, her role as the guardian of Teyvat’s Borders means she interacts with the world’s boundaries. She could also bring back items from other locations beyond those lines (Idol Magazine, the Rubicon was quoted by Zhiqiong). She’s been bringing ideas from various worlds that if you see or hear something that confuses regular citizens of Teyvat, it’s probably from her.
Why is Being a Descender a Big Deal?
Descenders play a significant role in Teyvat’s long history. According to legends, the first (the Primordial One) was the one who made the human world separate from the darkness realm (Abyss) and the elemental realm (Vishap/light realm). Then came the ‘Second Who Came’ who challenged the Primordial One’s ‘reign’ over the Human domain. It’s unmentioned who won, but the first Descender had to split into four shades.
Judging by these two Descenders, they have the powers of ‘gods,’ enough to create whole new realms and split into four powerful beings. When we recognize the Primordial One, the Second who came, and the Traveler as Descenders, all have the potential to become powerful beyond belief. The Traveler isn’t there yet, but you already saw inklings of it.
They can use the elements without a Vision, and slowly they’re learning to use two or more of them in battle. The latter is most evident in their fight against Childe, where they used both Geo and Anemo at a specific moment in the cutscene. Besides that, they had actual wings, and their powers (before being taken away) glowed white.
Of course, we can’t do this (yet) due to gameplay limitations. Still, as their power grows, they will match the other Descenders in power.
Alice matches the others in power in the hypothetical but likely scenario that she is a Descender. Venti describes her as nigh-omnipotent, implying she’s more powerful than an Archon. Okay, the elder isn’t doing anything world-changing. Still, she has enough power to make mechanisms in the Golden Apple Archipelago that could drain the ocean or raise the islands. Also, despite being away, she somehow keeps watch of the events in Mond to supervise her child. It’s how she knows who Klee is closest to and all her friends.
Look Forward to Meeting Alice!
Her presence in Teyvat means many things for the lore, and she could be a treasure trove of information. Besides her research in Irminsul, she has seen and experienced many things in her long life in Teyvat, and that’s something lore enthusiasts would want to pick at.
Besides, if the recent patterns of character releases are anything to go by, she could eventually be a playable character. Granted, her only ‘About Alice’ is from Dori, who she supplies with unusual wares, but even one is enough to foreshadow an eventual release. That doesn’t mean it’s 100% definite, though.
Still, the Traveler being able to talk to her should be a gold mine of lore tidbits. She’ll be cagey and won’t give information straight, but anything from her will be valuable. Also, meeting this mysterious mage and mother would finally be a relief.