Honkai Star Rail V2.2: The End of a Dream

If you haven’t played the Trailblaze Quest in Version 2.2 yet, what are you doing? All jokes aside, this article will break down the entirety of the Trailblaze Quest, so beware: spoilers up ahead! While 2.2 brought another spectacular continuation of Penacony’s story, it still had some plot points that left players with more questions than answers. With 2.3 right around the corner, let’s take a look back at the Trailblaze Quest of 2.2 in its entirety.

Previously in 2.1

The end of 2.1 left us with heart-wrenching goodbyes and a cliffhanger to die for. At the end of the fight with Aventurine, Acheron unsheathed her sword and slashed through him, sending him to the plane of IX, the Nihility. There, Acheron confronted Aventurine about his plan and the two briefly exchanged their ideologies regarding their different outlooks on life. Aventurine wavered, hoping to find a cue from someone to tell him to keep living/moving forward despite all his struggles and losses. Acheron essentially told Aventurine to keep moving forward, and upon reading the note that Dr. Ratio left for him, Aventurine committed to striving forward and braving the Nihility after saying goodbye to Kakavasha, the mirage of his childhood.

Concurrently, on the other side, Trailblazer was stuck in the realm between the dream layers and was greeted by Sam. Before Trailblazer could react, Sam depowered to reveal that they were actually Firefly all along. Shortly after, Gallagher was revealed to have been controlling the “Death” meme, as he referred to it as his “pet”. The cliffhanger left us on the edge of our seats as the “Death” meme stabbed Sunday, leaving the fate of several characters hanging in the balance.

Deep Dive into 2.2

Introduction

2.2 started off on the Astral Express, with Dan Heng held at gunpoint by none other than Boothill himself. The Galaxy Ranger’s objective was to get to Acheron, who was on Penacony, and he needed the Express’ help to do so. Dan Heng proved his credibility as a Nameless by showing Boothill the Jade Abacus the Express had received from Jing Yuan, and the two came to a deal. Concurrently, Acheron was confronted by the Dreammaster after slashing through the Golden Hour with her blade and was threatened to leave Penacony. Acheron essentially responded that she would do as she pleased, and from there, we got switched over to “Robin’s” point of view. For a short moment, we were tasked with completing Sparkle’s objectives under the guise of Robin, as she passed out her remote control bombs to the people in the Golden Hour.

Truth Behind Firefly/Sam

At last, we picked up at the cliffhanger we were left off on in 2.1 with the Trailblazer and Firefly. Firefly explained to Trailblazer what happened to them, as well as the Astral Express after Acheron slashed through the Golden Hour. She assured Trailblazer that she was on their side, given that she was following Elio’s script and for her mission in Penacony, the Stellaron Hunters’ objective aligned with the Astral Express’. Additionally, she briefly touched upon what happened after her “death”, and we get a flashback of a conversation that transpired between her and Blade regarding her mission in Penacony. We learned that Firefly was projected to “die” three times, according to Elio’s script. Following these brief revelations, Firefly transported Trailblazer out of the realm between the dream layers and they found themselves in “The Land of Exiles”.

Dreamflux Reef

Through Welt, Trailblazer learned that the “Land of Exiles” was known to the local residents as the Dreamflux Reef—the “real” dreamscape beneath the Golden Hour. After parting with Firefly, who went off in search of Gallagher, Welt and Trailblazer unexpectedly encountered Misha in the Dreamflux Reef. Misha explained that the meme known as “Death”, which was actually referred to as "Dormancy", didn’t actually kill people but served as a means of transportation between the Golden Hour and the Dreamflux Reef. When Welt mentioned their search for Robin, Misha offered to guide them, revealing that Robin had been in the Dreamflux Reef for quite some time.

As they searched for Robin and the rest of the Express Crew, an NPC they met along the way shared bits and pieces of Razalina’s story, an ex-Nameless that was one of the pioneers of the original Penacony. During this process, Welt and Trailblazer found March 7th, then Himeko, who introduced everyone to Micah, the leader of the Dreamflux Reef. Micah briefly explained his role as the Gravekeeper before they finally encountered Robin.

Robin recounted her investigation into the “deaths” in Penacony as well as the reason behind the discord in her voice. She explained that the discord was related to elements that clashed with the Harmony and exhibited signs of the sweet dream’s collapse. Robin expressed her determination to uncover the truth behind Mikhail’s decision to sever ties with The Family, and to identify the traitor within. In pursuit of these answers, she had abandoned her role and resolved to never step foot on the Charmony Festival’s stage again until these mysteries were resolved.

Following this, we were shown a flashback from Sunday’s memory regarding a Charmony dove that he and Robin saved as children. Before the flashback could fully unfold, Sunday awakened in front of Gallagher, realizing he wasn’t dead. Sunday’s first question was about Robin’s whereabouts and Gallagher’s intentions. Gallagher told Sunday that he wanted to uncover the traitor and essentially save Penacony. Sunday insisted on ensuring Robin’s safety first, but Firefly stumbled upon their conversation and informed Gallagher that Robin and the Express Crew were all waiting for his explanation. From there, our perspective shifted back to the Express Crew.

Penacony’s Trailblazers

Micah led the Crew to the graves of Razalina and Tiernan, former members of the Express Crew who chose to settle in Penacony. Micah explained that Penacony was once a frontier prison until Razalina and Tiernan saved it and made it their home. He recounted their heroic deeds and tragic deaths before allowing Gallagher to reveal the creator of the Dreamflux Reef— Mikhail Char Legwork, also known as the Watchmaker. Gallagher referred to himself as a History Fictionologist, and admitted to being the one responsible for sending out all the invitations to various factions to uncover the Watchmaker’s Legacy. He disclosed that a Stellaron was being used to power the dreamscapes after the deaths of Razalina and Tiernan, as a third party that is now known as The Family swooped in with knowledge about the Stellaron, pretending to assist Mikhail under the guise of the Harmony.

The Crew learned that in order to preserve the dream, the lavish dreamland consumed people’s lives. The Dreamscape was designed to tempt people to indulge and let their spirits decay, which in turn, nourished the sweet dream. By inviting all the major factions, Gallagher aimed to force the traitor within The Family to reveal themselves. Gallagher then directed the Crew to Sunday, who supposedly knew the whereabouts of the Stellaron. Sunday revealed that it was in the Penacony Grand Theater, where the first dream materialized. Sunday and Robin agreed to confront Gopher Wood, the Dreammaster, with Welt, while Trailblazer, Firefly, Gallagher, March 7th, and Himeko visited the final resting place of Penacony’s first and last Nameless.

Mikhail Char Legwork

The Astral Express was presented with a dream bubble left behind by Mikhail, which Gallagher admitted was something he couldn’t decipher because it appeared empty to him. He speculated that only the Nameless could discern its meaning, but Himeko, along with the rest of the Crew, also found nothing significant in the dream bubble. Later, they brought in Misha to see if he recognized its contents. Misha guided the Crew through the dream bubble, identifying specific rooms and uncovering a diary that was left behind. The diary belonged to Misha’s grandfather and spoke of the ocean planet Lushaka, his adventure-seeking spirit, and the birth of Clockie, who was actually supposed to be a compass but was mistaken for a clock.

Eventually, Misha remembered he was instructed to stay in the dream bubble until he heard the whistle of a “train” – the Astral Express. It was here that the Crew realized that Misha was actually a memory meme created by Mikhail. Misha and Clockie had unconsciously left the dream bubble upon hearing the Express’ arrival, making the bubble appear empty. Upon this realization, Misha recalled his true purpose and reintroduced himself as Mikhail Char Legwork, which was shortened to Misha. He briefly shared his backstory and mentioned that while there was no true “Watchmaker’s legacy”, he wished to pass down his pocket watch and hat, which carried the will of the Trailblaze.

Following this, Misha walked down one last corridor, revealing a sequence of his lifetime, the choices he made, including his decision to stay with Razalina and Tiernan to fight for Penacony, and his last words before reaching his final resting place. After witnessing his final discussion with Clockie, the scene transitioned to Trailblazer inheriting Mikhail’s hat and declaring the decision to continue the will of the Trailblaze left by Mikhail and many others. Impressed by the Trailblazer’s resolve, Xipe the Harmony blessed them, granting the power to wield the path of Harmony.

Sunday’s Philosophy

Following Himeko’s plan to reach the Stellaron in the Penacony Grand Theater and force the Family’s hand, the Astral Express crew, along with Firefly, participated in the Charmony Festival auditions. After navigating through numerous puzzles and challenges, they finally reached the end, only to come face to face with Sunday.

Sunday revealed to the Crew that during his audience with Gopher Wood, Welt had forced his hand in revealing that he and the Dreammaster were both followers of Ena the Order, under the guise of Harmony. With this revelation, Sunday imprisoned Welt and Robin, eliminating any chance for collaboration between the two parties. He denounced natural selection, the foundation of humanity’s creation, and stated that he and others who follow the path of Order are committed to ending the struggle of the “weak.” To emphasize his point, Sunday transported the Astral Express party into his inner consciousness so they could experience the memories and events that shaped his ideals.

He first recounted the story of an injured Charmony Dove that he and Robin nursed back to health as children. After releasing it into the wild, the bird soon died, its fate seemingly predetermined. He then talked about aiding an illegal stowaway who turned out to be a criminal exile and about the time Robin sustained a gunshot wound during a morale-boosting tour on a war-ridden planet. These experiences shared a common theme: the Harmony’s ideal of “the strong defending the weak” is wishful thinking, as those destined to face hardship and suffering will do so despite external intervention. Because of this, Sunday believed the only way to salvage Penacony was through a paradise established by the Order, where the “strong” govern the “weak.” Only then would a life free of suffering—a luxury naturally exclusive to the “strong”—be accessible to everyone, even if it meant forsaking reality.

At the end of his proposition, Sunday invited the Astral Express to meet him at the Penacony Grand Theater if they disagreed with him, offering them a fair chance to challenge his philosophy.

Acheron and the Galaxy Ranger(s)

Before the Express headed over to the Penacony Grand Theater, we were redirected to the perspective of Dan Heng and Boothill, who eventually met up with Black Swan and Acheron on the Astral Express. Acheron very nearly got into an altercation with Boothill due to his volatile response upon seeing her, but she explained the urgency of the situation and the need to leave the Asdana star system. To ease Boothill’s hostility, Acheron revealed that she posed as a Galaxy Ranger to gain the attention of another Galaxy Ranger, as she needed to return a relic that belonged to them. We later learned that this relic was a special bullet given to Acheron by Tiernan, with whom she had spent some time with during her journey. Dan Heng proposed a solution to their predicament by using the Jade Abacus to call in the Luofu, and then our perspective shifted back to the Trailblazer’s.

Penacony the Frontier Prison

Before heading to the Penacony Grand Theater, Firefly parted ways with the Express to address her own objectives, but not before wishing the Crew well and confirming that everything in Elio’s script had manifested in reality, including her “deaths.” The Express Crew bid Firefly farewell and proceeded to the theater, only to discover that Sunday had set up a maze for them. They had to navigate through “acts” of a play, witnessing mirages of events from when Penacony was still a frontier prison. These scenes depicted chaos that only subsided under a “leader’s” guidance. After enduring multiple instances of Sunday propagating the philosophy of the Order, the Express Crew finally confronted Sunday as the Harmonious Choir. Trailblazer declared their final decision to oppose his beliefs, leading the Crew into battle.

False Ending + The Final Fight

After an arduous back-and-forth battle, Dan Heng, joined by Jing Yuan, arrived just in time to aid the Astral Express crew, delivering the final blow to Sunday. Everything then faded to black. When the Trailblazer regained consciousness, March 7th guided them to the lobby of the Hotel Reverie, reuniting them with the others. The Trailblazer reassured the Crew and their allies that they were alive and well. It seemed the Penacony ordeal had a happy ending: everyone survived the battle, Sunday was set to be tried for his crimes, and the IPC surrendered their ownership of Penacony, extending support to the Family for rebuilding efforts. At long last, the Crew could retreat to the Express for some well-deserved rest. As the Express prepared to depart, the Trailblazer began to close their eyes, but in their subconscious, they heard... Black Swan?

Black Swan bluntly revealed that everything that happened that was supposed to be the story’s “happy ending” was, in fact, false. The key point was that Misha should never have been able to appear in the Hotel Reverie in reality because he was a memory meme that couldn’t exist outside of the Dreamscape. Supposedly, the moment the Astral Express warped into the Asdana system in Version 2.0, they were already in the dream. In actuality, there was no victory, no peace, no justice for Sunday, and certainly no uncharacteristically humanitarian IPC decisions. The Express Crew was still trapped in the Dreamscape, but there was still time to set things right. When the Trailblazer woke up in their hotel room in the Dreamscape, they were received by Black Swan and Acheron, who informed them they were in the rift between dream and reality, a place reserved for those who had awakened from Ena, the Order’s dream. Sunday planned to use the power of the Stellaron and the desires of everyone in Penacony to usurp the Harmony, resurrect Ena the Order, and blend the Dreamscape with reality, submerging Penacony into an eternal dream.

Together with her awakened allies, Robin hatched a plan to use Acheron’s power to destroy Penacony’s Dreamscape. Meanwhile, Boothill, now able to call for help from the Galaxy Rangers using the relic Acheron gave him, would convince everyone to save themselves from the dream. The group dispersed, and emboldened with newfound resolve, the Trailblazer closed their eyes as Acheron transported them back to the waking world. There, the Astral Express Crew, guided by Harmony’s voice, brought an end to Sunday the Harmonious Choir’s dreams for good. Throughout this quest, Sunday constantly asked, “Why do people sleep?” The Trailblazer’s answer: “Because someday…we will wake from our dreams.”

Unanswered Questions + Final Thoughts

With how lengthy the 2.2 story quest was (about 7-8 hours), there were still quite a bit of questions that have been left unanswered. For example, what was truly real? If we had "lost," how could Black Swan "turn back time"? Additionally, the main goal was to resolve the Stellaron crisis, but we never saw the Stellaron at the Penacony Grand Theater. Sunday’s philosophy and intentions were also somewhat confusing. One of the reasons for his philosophy involved Robin catching a stray bullet while doing charity work on another planet. Submerging Penacony into an eternal Dreamscape wouldn't help other planets outside the Asdana system, so if Robin continued her tours, Sunday’s actions wouldn't affect her livelihood at all. Regarding Sam/Firefly, there had been speculation that they could exist independently, based on memory mirages seen in version 2.0 alongside the investigation of Firefly’s "death." However, in Version 2.2, it seemed that Sam could not exist independently of Firefly, yet no explanation was given for what we saw in 2.0.

Version 2.2 definitely had many impactful moments; namely the “passing of the torch” from Mikhail to Trailblazer, and the final battle where everyone in Penacony fought to awaken from the dream, even if it meant having to suffer. However, there were definitely a few aspects that could have made this story quest even better. Honkai Star Rail has a history of lacking "show vs. tell" in their lore. In comparison, Version 2.1 had more flashback illustrations to accompany the text, rather than the heavy text we encountered in 2.2 while progressing through the maze at the Penacony Grand Theater. While the story of the Penacony Nameless brought tears to many eyes, some parts felt disjointed and randomly placed within the quest. Additionally, 2.2 somewhat undermines the impact of 2.0 and 2.1. Throughout the entirety of 2.0 and 2.1, we tried to solve the mystery and uncover the "truth" of Penacony by ourselves, but in 2.2, Gallagher simply revealed everything to us. Furthermore, Aventurine returned in the epilogue, but we never saw what he experienced or what transpired. Players who owned Aventurine received a text after completing the Trailblaze Quest, in which Aventurine briefly mentioned how he escaped the Nihility with Argenti’s help. Given the significant lore drop, it would have been much better to see what had transpired rather than being told through text.

As for the final conclusion to Penacony’s story and whether or not these questions will be answered, we’ll be finding out very soon! Version 2.3 goes live on June 18, 2024 PST. Strap in with us as we embark on the final leg of Penacony’s journey!