Firefly and Robin in Honkai: Star Rail - What really happened to them?

WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Honkai: Star Rail's Trailblaze and Adventure Missions in Penacony released in version 2.0. If you haven't finished those missions yet, finish those first before reading this article to avoid spoilers. You have been warned.

Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 really delivered quite the positive and wholesome story as soon as we arrived in Penacony. Not only were we treated to the delightful dreamscapes of the Planet of Festivities, we also got to meet a colourful cast of new characters to join us in our adventures... and watch two of them get unceremoniously murdered.

Hearts that could not be stopped from breaking

Yep, you read that right. Unless you've been living under a rock or have yet to finish the Trailblaze Missions for version 2.0, two fan-favourite characters in Firefly and Robin were both dead at the end of the mission.

Let's quickly recap what happened first. The Trailblazer first meets Firefly in the Golden Hour dreamscape, saving her from being apprehended by members of the Bloodhound Family who were looking for a silver-haired stowaway.

To thank the Trailblazer for saving her, she showed her around Golden Hour and its many amenities... so basically a date. Firefly even took them to her "secret stronghold" in a scenic rooftop at the Dream's Edge dreamscape, where she confessed that she was indeed a stowaway and is actually afflicted by the Entropy Loss Syndrome that is slowly but surely erasing her from existence.

And to cap off this heartfelt moment, the Trailblazer and Firefly even took an adorable selfie together that was nothing more than a treasured keepsake of their time together and not at all a portent of doom (copium). If you didn't fall in love with Firely after this moment (and then got really nervous because of that), then I don't know what to tell you.

Afterwards, the Trailblazer and Firefly found themselves in a mysterious dreamscape where they had their first encounter with the monstrous Memory Zone Meme "Something Unto Death" and are saved by the Memokeeper Black Swan.

When the Trailblazer later investigates the closed-off dreamscape of the Hotel Reverie alongside Black Swan and Acheron, they also found that Firefly was also investigating something within it. Firefly and the Trailblazer then come face to face once again, only for the "Something Unto Death" to swoop in and stab skewer Firefly.

Firefly could only let out a tearful apology before dissolving into a puddle of blue fluid in the Trailblazer's arms... I thought I took this scene badly, but after my partner got to this part of the story, he listened to "Regression" non-stop and kept mumbling about how he finally understood Otto Apocalypse.

Not even given a moment to breathe, the Trailblazer then gets into a fight with the fearsome Stellaron Hunter Sam. Not only that, they also realised they have been tricked by Black Swan into getting involved in Aventurine's schemes.

And to cap it all off, Aventurine then reveals to the Trailblazer that Robin, the intergalactic popstar who is set to perform during the Charmony Festival, has also been killed. Robin's body, which had been lying in a bathtub with an otherworldly wound through her body, then dissipates into bubbles and nothingness.

But even as the Penacony Trailblaze Mission is put on hold until the release of version 3.1, a mystery persists and a question begs to be asked...

Are Firefly and Robin actually dead?

Well, the answer may be found during the Trailblaze Mission's epilogue, where we see Sunday confront Sparkle (initially disguised as Robin). During their dialogue, Sunday mentioned that "a nightmare called 'Death' has descended upon Penacony, striking indiscrimately, bringing spiritual death to all equally".

While it is unclear if the 'Death' being referred to by Sunday is the "Something Unto Death", Acheron, or something else, it does clarify that those killed by this entity only suffer spiritual death and not actual, physical death.

This is further evidenced by a line of dialogue by Black Swan during her Companion Quest, where she said "there is no death in Penacony's dreamscape. That is the promise of the Family and the blessing of the Harmony. Not even a Memokeeper can break this barrier".

Let's also not forget that the Trailblazer found themselves in Golden Hour after falling from a height that would have normally killed them, but they got up with barely a scratch.

So, with the Xipe the Aeon of Harmony herself ensuring that no deaths can happen in Penacony's dreamscape, it's safe to assume that both Firefly and Robin are still alive. However, if they are indeed rendered spiritually dead by the 'Death' mentioned by Sunday, then they might just be as good as dead.

But what does spiritual death mean in the context of Honkai: Star Rail?

The answer may very well lie with the entity that renders this very spiritual death to people: the Memory Zone Meme "Something Unto Death".

This fearsome dreamscape monster has a special attack where it unleashes a guaranteed killing blow on its target and inflicts them with the 'Morbid Dream' debuff.

When afflicted by Morbid Dream, characters will have their HP set to zero, are trapped in the Sombrous Sepulcher, but will still have any abilities they have used (Ruan Mei's ultimate, for example) still take effect. They can only be freed from Morbid Dream after their allies destroy the Sombrous Sepulcher.

This could very well be what happened to Firefly and Robin. While their physical bodies remain intact in the real world, their 'deaths' in Penacony's dreamscape may have rendered their consciousness unable to return to reality, thus rendering them spiritually dead. Perhaps ultimately defeating the "Something Unto Death" will be what can free them from this apparently catatonic state.

As sound as this line of reasoning is, we can only wait until the next installment of Penacony Trailblaze Missions to be released in Honkai: Star Rail version 2.1 in late March.

Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 was released on 6 February and features a new planet in Penacony, three new characters in Black Swan, Sparkle, and Misha, as well as tons of other new content. To find out more about what's in version 2.0, check here.

After version 2.0 comes version 2.1 in late March, which features three new playable characters in Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher.

Yan Ku is a full-time dog parent, part-time (gacha) gamer, and part-time writer.

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