The Version 7.1 Archon Quest ends the Snezhnaya arc with a two-part showdown against Ronova, the Ruler of Death, and closes on one of the most open-ended finales the story has delivered. Ronova is beaten, but the game never states outright that she is dead, and her final act reshapes the sky above six nations.
Quick answer: Ronova’s death is not confirmed. She is defeated, loses her divine authority, and is gravely wounded, but Pierro admits she may have slipped away unseen and could return for revenge.
What the ending confirms about Ronova
The finale becomes clearer when you distinguish confirmed events from unanswered questions. Ronova is defeated; whether she dies remains unknown.
| Confirmed in 7.1 | Left open |
|---|---|
| Ronova is defeated in a two-phase fight | Whether she is truly dead |
| She loses her authority as Arbiter of the Heavenly Principles | Where she went after the final blast |
| She is severely and possibly permanently wounded | What her “parting gift” will ultimately do |
| The people she killed are brought back to life | When her separate, undated scene takes place |
The clearest hint comes after the fight: Dainsleif asks Pierro outright if the final blow killed the Ruler of Death, but Pierro gives no confirmation. He says she could have slipped away from the battlefield unnoticed, though a survivor would have suffered catastrophic, permanent wounds, and cautions that she might return. Pierro still bears the Curse of Immortality when the version ends, another sign that her power may not have been completely undone.
How Ronova loses her divine authority
Ronova’s power depends on following a rule. Because her killings violated the Heavenly Principles’ terms, she and Rhinedottir brought her victims back to life before the monitoring cycle ended, preventing her authority from being taken away.
The Tsaritsa exploits that vulnerability. As the battle continues, she faces Rhinedottir; the six Gnoses she had gathered flare to life, enclosing Rhinedottir in a cubic barrier. Cryo power makes time crawl within the prison, leaving Rhinedottir unable to return the dead in time. With that lifeline severed, Ronova is stripped of her divine authority and exposed to a fatal blow.
The Ronova boss fight, phase by phase
The finale unfolds across three parts: a battle, a platforming section, and a brief second battle alongside an ally. Character swaps are disabled during the sequence, so take a team that can stay alive. The health bar’s name shifts from one phase to the next, indicating whether the Fatui’s plan has succeeded.
| Phase | Boss name | Ronova’s state |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Ronova, Arbiter of the Heavenly Principles | Full divine authority |
| Interlude | None | Traveler pulled into the afterlife |
| Phase 2 | Ronova, Paralogion’s Outcast | Authority stripped, Pierro fights alongside you |
Ronova’s parting gift and the Celestial Nails
Ronova appears once more, wounded and coughing blood, at a Celestial Nail above eastern Snezhnaya. She says she understands the sensation of dying now and describes what comes next as “my parting gift.” It sounds like a goodbye, but that alone does not confirm she is dead.
Next, she produces a Hyperborean artifact known as Eitr, charges it with dark energy, and merges it with the Celestial Nail. A Celestial Nail usually stabilizes the atmosphere, preventing the Holy Soil Phenomenon from reaching inhabited areas. Holy Soil is the land dragons occupied before humanity existed, and humans cannot live there. When infused with Eitr, a Nail removes that protection: Holy Soil and Light Realm power can pour into settled lands, making them dangerous for humans.
With that, Ronova activates the Celestial Nails across Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Natlan, and Snezhnaya. The game does not spell out the full outcome, but the intent is vengeance on the world that stripped her authority. The Nails begin glowing, pulsing, and emitting sound across Teyvat.
The epilogue: checking the Nails across Teyvat
After the ending, a set of short follow-up quests sends the Traveler to observe each glowing Nail and talk to a familiar face in that region. Every character notes the same thing: the Nails, cast down by the Heavenly Principles, have changed for the first time since anyone can remember.
| Location | Character you speak to |
|---|---|
| Snezhnaya, near the train tracks | Alyosha |
| Dragonspine, Skyfrost Nail | Albedo |
| The Chasm | Xiao |
| Inazuma | Yae Miko |
| Sumeru desert | Dehya and Candace |
| Natlan | Mavuika |
The details vary by region. Albedo decides to stay and study the Skyfrost Nail’s effect on Dragonspine. Xiao confirms Rex Lapis and the adepti are investigating The Chasm, with extra Millelith deployed. Yae Miko drew a fortune of “Great Misfortune” and plans to consult Kokomi. Mavuika acknowledges that the Traveler took out Ronova and criticizes the Heavenly Principles for using Natlan against the Abyss. Alyosha reports that the local Nail began acting strange right after the Ruler of Death fell, prompting alerts to the Druzhna, the Tsaritsa, and the Fatui.
The epilogue itself runs on a schedule and closes at 14:59 (UTC+8) on November 3, 2026, so complete the check-ins before then. The Ronova Weekly Boss stays available permanently after that date.
How to reach the fight and confirm the quest is done
The confrontation takes place in Chapter VII Acts III and IV, released together on September 23, 2026 during the first phase of Version 7.1. These acts unlock in sequence, not as parallel choices, so use the Archon Quest marker rather than searching for an independent entrance in the open world.
- Adventure Rank 18 or above.
- Chapter VII Act II, “Wraith’s Nocturne,” completed.
- Access to Act 4, “A Rekviem for the Underworld,” becomes available after you clear “White Night, Like A Dream Upon Waking,” the Act 3 story.
When Act 4 is absent from your quest list, you have most likely yet to finish Act 3. Act 4 contains three subquests: Delusion, Etched in Time, and Black Feathers Scattered at Parting. Ronova is fought at the climax of the final subquest. Allow about two and a half to three hours to complete Act 4 at a regular pace.
You know the quest is finished when the closing conversations with your companions and Paimon end, the entry disappears from your active Archon Quest list, and you receive 620 Primogems. Ronova then joins your Weekly Boss roster.
Does the Ronova Weekly Boss mean she survived?
No. Trounce Domains sit apart from the story timeline, so her presence as a repeatable boss says nothing about her canonical status. If you want to farm her, the basics are straightforward.
- Claiming her reward costs 60 Original Resin; the first three Trounce claims each week across the shared roster cost 30 instead.
- Weekly reset falls on Monday at 4:00 AM server time.
- Condensed Resin is not accepted on this boss.
- Rewards cover talent materials, Adventure and Companionship EXP, Mora, ascension gems, artifacts, and a chance at Dream Solvent or weapon billets.
Keep any talent material you do not need right away. Once the recipes are unlocked, Dream Solvent lets you exchange Ronova’s boss-specific materials for one another at the Crafting Bench.
So the honest verdict stands: Ronova is beaten and stripped of her divine authority, but her death is never spelled out. Pierro leaves room for an escape, the Curse of Immortality still holds, and the glowing Nails she left behind hang over every nation as a thread the story has yet to pull.
