True Moon
Last updated 2026-09-10
True Moon is the eighth act in the Song of the Welkin Moon chapter of the Archon Quests.
Quests
Summary
- The First Sliver of Moonlight
Back in Dottore's realm, Dottore asks the Traveler if they would agree to his offer. The Traveler refuses to kill innocents, not wanting to become like Rerir, so Dottore lowers the requirements. The Traveler refuses and attempts to backstab him, but Dottore survives and finds their decision disappointing. He overwhelms the Traveler, but the fight distracts Dottore enough for the Wanderer to crack the dome with an alchemical signal and come to the Traveler's aid, rescuing them from the Doctor's clutches. The Traveler asks him how he managed to find them and is surprised he gave up his chance to get revenge on Dottore to save them. He admits that everyone needs them, and they return to the curatorium with them in tow. Everyone is delighted to see them, and the Traveler fills them in on what they learned from Dottore.
Nefer then informs them that Columbina was still alive, and the group decide on how they could rescue her from a space that flowed backwards. Nicole then appears and tells them about the origins of the Moon Sisters.
Back in the moon's reflection, Columbina remarks on how long she had walked before she discovers Rerir. As he stands up, she erects a barrier, but Rerir, now sounding quite sane, insists that he has no interest in fighting. He admits that her plan to siphon his power was ingenious, and he managed to recognize an old friend. Although he recalled the first time he entered, his second visit was one where he found himself still intact, which he believes was a result on his new body and the kuuvahki he absorbed. She asks if he was responsible for the abyssal energy, which he partially refutes, as some of it was already here when he came. He rejected it, and by doing so, the voices in his head disappeared. He managed to spot Tholindis, but assumed she was an afterimage as she was an ordinary person and must of surely died long ago as he did. He then asks why she came, knowing it was a dead end, and she explains that she did so to protect her friends. He then asks about her powers, telling her that the person who resurrected him told him as such, which Columbina realizes is Dottore. Dottore had revived Rerir and had long planned his revival to coincide with Columbina's weakness.
Rerir asks Columbina to send a message to Tholindis on his behalf, as unlike her, he was unable to move as freely. Columbina agrees to send the message, and Rerir removes the obstacles in her path, admitting that he was sick of running away from everything and covering it up with lies. Columbina then tells him that Dainsleif was remorseful for not understanding what he went through, which Rerir appreciates, and he asks her not to die. Columbina heads to Tholindis and tells her everything about Rerir, which she agrees to hear. Tholindis admits that she wanted to stop Irmin from meeting the Traveler's Sibling, though she was too weak to do it herself. She explains her past as a moon marrow researcher and had theorized that the moon's reflection could allow her to go back in time and change her past mistakes, but her body was immediately torn to shreds when she entered, only leaving her soul behind. She tells Columbina that the golden threads would allow her to travel faster, and as Columbina departs, Tholindis forgives Rerir and hopes they could spend time together once more, such as it was, even as they were separated by their positions in time.
As Columbina continues trudging towards the past, she finds herself unable to continue. Suddenly, a strange woman appears before her.
In the curatorium, the group decides on their next course of action while hoping Columbina would be able to return to them, as she would be the only one who could stand up to Dottore despite him having overpowered her earlier on. As the group dismisses, the Wanderer beckons the Traveler for a private conversation. He wonders why Dottore had not made a move and has two theories; either he had to learn the extents of his power, or he wanted to see how the group would react. He also tells them that Nahida would inform the rest of the Seven of his threat and could help contain part of his chaos for a time. Finally, he asks them how much they trust Sandrone, and the Traveler states that she's a part of the group. He believes there's a way to stop him but there would be a huge cost, and he decides to speak with her about it.
Inside, Sandrone gives Albedo some notes to analyze before Durin asks where the Wanderer went. Sandrone brings them to another room, where the Wanderer is in a hibernating state. She reveals that he and the Traveler approached her earlier with him offering his core to help compute her equation straight into the Ley Lines. While dangerous and possibly resulting in him being reset or even lost forever, he was aware of the risks and agreed to help nonetheless. While Sandrone and Albedo return to their discussion, the Traveler and Durin watch over the Wanderer's body.
Columbina recovers and discovers the person before her is Sonnet, the youngest of the Three Moons. Sonnet in turn states that she has a similar power to Canon, and Columbina introduces herself to her. Sonnet then asks about the future, which Columbina is hesitant to answer, though Sonnet admits that they knew what was coming and were prepared for it. The other two sisters, Canon and Aria, look at Columbina, who asks them where they were. They tell her it is the prison in which Nibelung imprisoned them in and explain about their creator and the Heavenly Principles. Columbina tells them what happened to them after the war, and while they accepted it, they resolved to help Columbina rather than talk about regrets.
Sandrone initiates her array and from the discoveries, realizes that she might've gotten it all wrong by accounting for the moons to be alive or dead. Despite her efforts, the array continues to provide three moons, and she wonders what was going on. While the rest of the group was wondering how to bring Columbina, Sandrone informs the rest of her discovery, telling them that she did something inconceivable in the past, but the moon in Teyvat's sky would provide the clues they needed.
Columbina asks her elder sisters if they had ever tried to leave; Sonnet tells them they did, but they were always brought back to the prison no matter what they tried. She then asks if they used kuuvahki, though none of them knew what that was. She demonstrates, though they are still confused and tell her that the power must've not existed during their time. The sisters then realize that Columbina not only wants to escape, but also borrow their authorities in order to stop Dottore. They caution her against it, as it could tear her to pieces, and even then, the prison would not let her leave alive. Columbina then asks if she could leave while dead.
Nefer realizes that through Luonnotar, they could see Columbina's past, but Lauma warns her against it, as looking so far into the past would leave her blind with no way to cure it. Nefer accepts the risk and entrusts the curatorium to the reluctant Jahoda, according to a past agreement. Lauma makes preparations, and Nefer delves into Luonnotar's mind, while in the past, Columbina affirms her plan to return to the present with the help of her sisters. She tells them that she left a part of her soul in the future and would "die" in the prison, dispersing her physical body into moonlight across the Nod-Krai of the past, to be reconstituted at a signal back into reality in the future. The three sisters agree to help Columbina, reassured that the people of the future live in prosperity. Before they start, Canon asks Columbina why her eyes were perpetually closed, as the sisters hadn't wanted to pry beforehand. Columbina explains she did so to avoid the lies that she'd seen everywhere she looked, from the false moon to what others only wanted from her. Canon tells her that doing so might have spared her from the false truth, but she also missed out on genuine truth at the same time. She makes her swear to open her eyes in the future to see the world and the true smiles of her mortal friends as they transfer their powers to her. Doing so makes them mortal, so at their request, Columbina transports them back to the real world so they could face the end together at their point in the timeline, before she "dies" to send herself back to Nod-Krai.
Jahoda is shocked to view the memory while Nefer was spared from the cost, which Lauma attributed to Columbina taking it on her behalf. Arlecchino informs them that all civilians in the area were evacuated, so they could fight Dottore without any repercussions. Outside, Varka speaks with Nicole and asks if their agreement could be changed to Nod-Krai, as they needed to stall Dottore to bring Columbina back. Nicole admits that she and Alice were willing to help them and tells him of their plan, which Varka is pleased with.
- Descending Moon
The Traveler catches up with Sandrone, who adds an additional channel to the Dodocommunication Devices that will track her progress towards completing the world-formula that'll be used to bring Columbina back to Teyvat. They then talk to their friends in Nasha Town, who wish them luck for the upcoming battle. Dottore's minions arrive to besiege the town and the group separates to handle them. The attack is repelled and Dottore confronts them, pleased to see they were still alive to witness the power of Teyvat's new "creator-god" firsthand. He then assumes a new form as the "Heretic of the False Moon", before tearing open a large gash in the false sky and teleporting everyone to a massive arena in the clouds.
He then turns his newfound power on the Traveler, Flins, Lauma, and Nefer. While the four put up a good fight against him, Dottore transports all but the Traveler to separate extradimensional spaces, one by one. After musing on their futile attempts to bring Columbina back and the connections between him, her, and Sandrone, he offers the Traveler a final time the chance to work with him, giving them a count of ten until he blasts them to oblivion.
But before that can happen, Pulonia attempts to dropkick him from behind, forcing him to teleport away. Dottore laments that Sandrone wasted her one chance to charge right into the lion's den, deciding to finish her quickly and put a stop to the formula she's in the middle of calculating. Pulonia charges at Dottore again, but is quickly outmaneuvered before being disabled by a hail of pillars. As Dottore insults Sandrone's work, she and the Traveler launch a joint attack, only to be summarily overpowered and left at his mercy on the ground. Getting no volunteers for the first to be executed, Dottore launches multiple spikes at the Traveler, disarming them, before using a final one to deal the killing blow.
However, Sandrone intercepts the attack, and the weapon instead impales her through the abdomen. A surprised Dottore pulls the weapon and Sandrone with it back to him, and, grabbing her by the neck, asks for any last words. She remembers how Alain once asked her if there was anything she wanted, to which she thinks that she's always been sure of what she didn't want. Smiling in response to Dottore, she simply tells him to "go to hell" before the mad Doctor fries her heart and throws her corpse behind him.
With Sandrone's world-formula permanently stuck at 90%, Dottore mocks his opponents' failure. He then reiterates his offer to the Traveler, but is met only with furious silence. Dottore, believing himself to have all the time in the world, decides to shift the topic to Sandrone, and how her inability to trust had become her downfall. The Traveler, knowing what she had contributed to their cause, refutes him and throws his line of thinking back at him, but Dottore simply shrugs it off, knowing it would change nothing about their predicament.
But to his shock, the formula continues to advance, and the Frost Moon appears beyond his opening in the false sky. A flashback reveals that Sandrone's formula would handle establishing a connection to Columbina, approximately 90% of the work. Then, she'd bring the output to the Traveler, with the remaining 10% simply requiring that the moon be brought down by any means necessary.
Despite Dottore's best efforts, Arlecchino, Varka and Nicole successfully pull the moon into Teyvat, shattering the false sky and finalizing the formula being processed by Wanderer's Irminsul core hidden inside Pulonia. Columbina's corpus (the moonlight over Nod-Krai) and spirit (transmitted to Luonnotar) merge with the Trilunar Authority hidden on the Frost Moon, and the Trilune Goddess unfurls her wings and opens her eyes for the first time, before descending to the battlefield.
Together, the Traveler and Columbina slowly overpower Dottore, before reclaiming the Iridescent Marrow from him. Columbina uses it to free Flins, Lauma and Nefer from their containment, and the five launch a final assault on Dottore, knocking the Eternal Marrow out of his grasp. Finally, Columbina launches a massive beam of lunar energy on Dottore, overcoming his artificial Moon Marrow as it cracks and shatters, vaporizing the heretic.
With the long battle finally won, Columbina, the Traveler, and their friends gaze triumphantly into the orange sky in front of them. However, Columbina sees her friend Sandrone's body at the edge of the arena, rushes over and somberly cradles it in her arms.
- Welkin Moon's Homecoming
In the aftermath of the battle, the Frost Moon remained within Teyvat, while the people slowly return to Nod-Krai. A new League is established as a joint effort between the many factions of Nod-Krai.
As life returns to normal in Nasha Town, the Traveler and Paimon get some food before being greeted by Jahoda. At the town plaza, Aino and Ineffa volunteer to help distribute food on behalf of the Frostmoon Scions, while Flins speaks to Illuga about the new League, the former encouraging the latter to take up a position as the Lightkeepers' representative. Tarno gives the crowd a speech before everyone parts ways, with Nicole wanting to speak to the Traveler. She tells them that the disturbance at the border was handled, but the disaster has caused Teyvat to become more easily detectable by the Abyss. Before she leaves, she tells them to head to the port to see their friends off.
There, they find Arlecchino and the Wanderer, who were waiting to return to Fontaine and Sumeru, respectively. They iterate that Sandrone had fooled Dottore by placing the real formula in Pulonia and a false one in herself, even though it meant her death. After Columbina had mourned alone with Sandrone's body for a long time saying her goodbyes, Arlecchino tells the Traveler that per Sandrone's verbal will to her long ago, Arlecchino would bring both her and Pulonia's cores to the Fontaine Research Institute so the people there could set her affairs in order, while she would inherit some of her personal effects -- her notes included -- that she'll store at the House of the Hearth, with a single book delivered to the Traveler's room at the Flagship. Sandrone had also mentioned that Columbina was not to know of the matter, which Arlecchino would not speculate on, only that it was her final wish to be carried out. Arlecchino adds that to her surprise, Columbina offered her words of comfort even as she was grieving herself, and credits the Traveler's friendship with the goddess's personal growth. On a lighter note, the Tsaritsa revoked the Palestar Edict, Columbina's arrest warrant, now that the truth of Dottore's intentions was revealed to her. Arlecchino's ship arrives, and she bids farewell to the two, while the Wanderer asks the Traveler if they were going to meet with Columbina. He tells them that no matter what happens, their friends will support them. He then leaves for Sumeru to help Nahida handle the havoc Dottore caused.
On Hiisi Island, the Traveler meets up with Columbina, while Paimon remarks that she usually doesn't meet with them outside Silvermoon Hall. Columbina has taken Lauma's suggestion to live with the Frostmoon Scions, and while the older generation is a bit timid around her, the children are less so and are curious. She hopes that such relations will be much more normalized by the next Moon-Prayer Night, and she'll be able to openly attend as herself. The Traveler takes the time to return her friends' greeting card that she left behind while escaping into the moon's reflection. As Columbina opens a portal to their ship, she reveals that it was placed on the Frost Moon by the Heavenly Principles, either because something was incompatible with Teyvat or something they did not want known. The two head to the spaceship, during which Columbina remarks about the people she met on the way.
The Traveler and Columbina then arrive at the Frost Moon, where the Traveler inspects their spaceship. The Traveler is hesitant to enter, but does so with Columbina's guidance. While she sits down on the hull and gazes at Teyvat, the Traveler looks through the flight logs and discovers that the ship had passed by Teyvat once thousands of years earlier and continued on its way until it returned, and they were forced to crash-land at Nod-Krai. From what their sibling told them, they believe that they might not know what happened either. After telling Columbina all this, The Traveler recalls an outfit they left in a cabinet and dons it to show to Columbina. She then asks them if they thought of Teyvat as their home, which they confirm, even if it ended up being different from what they knew.
Columbina thanks the Traveler for showing her what a true home meant and reveals to them that she gave the Eternal Moon Marrow to Lauma and the Iridescent Moon Marrow to Arlecchino. She would give part of the Frost Moon back to Nod-Krai in the form of kuuvahki before giving the Traveler a special gift by removing some of Teyvat's restrictions on them, allowing them to use the elements more freely. Columbina gives them a special Moon-Prayer Blossom before deciding to gaze at Teyvat for a while longer.
The Traveler asks Columbina a few questions about Snezhnaya, the Fatui, and the Tsaritsa before they return to Teyvat. Columbina explains that Snezhnaya is not just a land of natural frost; every major city is built around a massive heat source known as Kresnik's Torch. She describes sensing their "grand and distant" energy, which powers the nation's advanced infrastructure and keeps the population from freezing. She warns the Traveler that they need to be careful with other Harbingers like Jester, Regrator, and Rooster. Both Regrator and Rooster despise each other despite getting along in public, and she is unsure how power is split amongst the three. Columbina describes the Tsaritsa as being crystal clear yet unfathomable, like ice atop a frozen lake. She also mentions the term 'Mistilteinn' often used in conjunction with Project Stuzha.
Meanwhile, at the Speranza, Varka writes a letter to Jean telling them what happened in Nod-Krai, while informing her that the expedition would be returning to Mondstadt in waves in order to make his own return home a surprise. He expresses his concerns towards the Tsaritsa about her grand plan, even though he managed to form a temporary alliance with a more benevolent Harbinger, Varka still remains vigilant about Rooster, Regrator, and Jester because he is aware of the Fatui's disunity.
Characters
33 Characters appear in this Act:
- Aino
- Alain Guillotin
- Albedo
- Alida
- Aria
- Arkhyp
- Arlecchino
- Canon
- Columbina
- Dottore
- Durin
- Flins
- Illuga
- Ineffa
- Jahoda
- Koski
- Lauma
- Luonnotar
- Mahla
- Maika
- Metta
- Nefer
- Nicole
- Paimon
- Rerir
- Sandrone
- Sonnet
- Tarno
- Tholindis
- Traveler
- Varka
- Vesa
- Wanderer
Achievements
There are 5 Achievements obtainable from True Moon:
| Achievement | Category | Description | Requirements | 
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonlight From Ages Long Past |  Wonders of the World
|
Meet the Three Moon Sisters of the past in the prison once used to confine the moon goddesses. | Earned during The First Sliver of Moonlight. | 10 |
| When the New Moon Returns | Wonders of the World
|
From the ashes, the "New Moon" rises, its ascent spinning the wheel of fate anew... | Earned during Descending Moon. | 5 |
| Sailing Toward Tomorrow | Wonders of the World
|
Witness the alliance forged between Nod-Krai's factions. | Earned during Welkin Moon's Homecoming. | 5 |
| To the Moon | Wonders of the World
|
Reach the moon's surface. | Earned during Welkin Moon's Homecoming. | 5 |
| True Moon | Wonders of the World
|
Complete "True Moon." | Complete Welkin Moon's Homecoming. | 10 |
Soundtracks
Gallery
Other Languages
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | True Moon | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 真实之月 Zhēnshí zhī Yuè | The True Moon |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 真實之月 Zhēnshí zhī Yuè | |
| Japanese | 真実の月 Shinjitsu no Tsuki[!] | The True Moon |
| Korean | 진실의 달 Jinsirui Dal | |
| Spanish | La verdadera luna | |
| French | La lune véritable | The True Moon |
| Russian | Истинная луна Istinnaya luna | True Moon |
| Thai | ดวงจันทร์ที่แท้จริง | |
| Vietnamese | Mặt Trăng Thực Sự | |
| German | Der wahre Mond | |
| Indonesian | Bulan Sejati | True Moon |
| Portuguese | Lua Verdadeira | |
| Turkish | Gerçek Ay | |
| Italian | Luna vera |
Change History
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