The climax of Genshin Impact Version 7.1 does not end when Ronova falls. It ends with what she leaves behind. Moments before her defeat in Snezhnaya, the Ruler of Death calls her final act a parting gift, and the consequence shows up thousands of miles away, in the sky above nearly every nation in Teyvat at once.
Quick answer: Ronova’s parting gift is the Celestial Nails switching back on. After her downfall in Snezhnaya, the Nails of Retribution begin glowing across Dragonspine, The Chasm, Inazuma, the Sumeru desert, and Natlan.
What Ronova’s parting gift is in Genshin Impact 7.1
In her final cutscene, Ronova emerges from a purple void in front of a towering celestial pillar and reflects on what death feels like. She then releases a mass of dark, feathered energy directly into the nail. That single action is the gift she refers to, and it is what reactivates the ancient pillars scattered through the world.
Ronova is the Ruler of Death among the Four Great Rulers and the Arbiter of the Heavenly Principles, one of the Four Shades created when the Heavenly Principles first arrived in Teyvat. Her authority over the laws of death lets her define, or refuse, how any being in Teyvat dies. That is the same authority she used to place the Curse of Immortality on the pure-blooded Khaenri’ahns during the Cataclysm.
The nails themselves predate her involvement. Celestial Nails, also called Nails of Retribution, divine nails, needles, pillars, or spikes, are enormous broken crystalline pillars that the heavens drove into Teyvat. They were used to punish civilizations that defied Celestia, and later cast down after the Funerary Year to purge widespread Abyssal corruption. Every known nail affects the Ley Lines in the area where it landed.
Where the Nails of Retribution are glowing, region by region
After the battle, the Traveler and Paimon travel between nations and speak with a familiar face in each one. Every conversation covers the same event from a different angle.
| Region | Who reacts | What they note |
|---|---|---|
| Snezhnaya | Alyosha | Links the glowing nail to Ronova’s defeat |
| Dragonspine | Albedo | Tracks the Skyfrost Nail’s ecosystem effects |
| The Chasm (Liyue) | Xiao | Monitoring the anomaly on Rex Lapis’ orders |
| Inazuma | Yae Miko | Her fortune slip read Great Misfortune |
| Sumeru desert | Candace, Dehya | Focused on keeping the region protected |
| Natlan | Mavuika | Ties the sudden activity to Snezhnaya |
Snezhnaya is the closest to the source. Standing in the snow, Alyosha talks through the nail cast down by the Heavenly Principles and wonders aloud whether its new glow is connected to what just happened to Ronova. It is the only conversation where the link is drawn in real time rather than inferred from a distance.
In Dragonspine, Albedo takes the researcher’s approach. He observes the lit Skyfrost Nail alongside the Traveler and Paimon, points out that its behavior departs from what ancient accounts led people to expect, and starts watching the surrounding ecosystem for changes.
The rest of the world responds according to its own priorities. Overlooking The Chasm, Xiao explains that Rex Lapis assigned him to watch the anomaly while the Millelith and the adepti investigate. Yae Miko brings up the ominous light visible across Inazuma and mentions that her fortune slip came back as Great Misfortune. Out in the Sumeru desert, Dehya and Candace treat the glowing pillar as a security problem first and concentrate on keeping the region safe. From a lookout in Natlan, Mavuika connects the nail’s sudden activity straight back to Ronova’s downfall in Snezhnaya.
Why a glowing Celestial Nail matters to a region
The alarm across Teyvat is not superstition. Celestial Nails carve out huge craters on impact and then permanently reshape the land around them. Dragonspine was once a lush mountain before the Skyfrost Nail landed over the ritual site at the Peak of Vindagnyr, froze the climate, and shattered the local Irminsul tree. The Chasm was created by the impact that destroyed the civilization of Lang-Gan.
- They alter Ley Lines in the surrounding area.
- They force extreme weather, from Dragonspine’s snow to Tsurumi Island’s fog and the Desert of Hadramaveth’s sandstorms.
- They change what grows and what spawns, including The Chasm’s Lumenstone and Lumenspar.
- According to Nahida, they can purify and stabilize powers that should not exist in Teyvat, such as forbidden knowledge.
Celestial Nails have a dual history. Legends credit them with healing the land after the Funerary Year, but the same objects were used as instruments of destruction and retribution long before the Abyss arrived in Teyvat. That ambiguity is exactly why a nail lighting up unprompted worries everyone who sees it.
Is Ronova dead after the Snezhnaya battle?
Defeated, yes. Confirmed dead, no. Once the fighting stops, Dainsleif asks Pierro outright whether his final strike killed the Ruler of Death, and Pierro does not claim it did. He concedes she may have slipped off the battlefield without being seen. He also judges that even if she survived, the damage would be devastating and beyond repair, and he warns against writing off the possibility that she comes back for revenge.
Her line about a parting gift sounds like a goodbye, but a goodbye is not evidence of death. And a later scene featuring Ronova does not settle the question either, because nothing in it fixes when it takes place. It could sit after the battle, before it, or somewhere else entirely. Treat theories about an escape, a stripped-down Ronova, or a future return as speculation rather than established plot.
Ronova as a Version 7.1 Weekly Boss
Version 7.1, titled “A Rekviem for the Underworld,” launched on September 23 and builds its Archon Quest around the Snezhnaya crisis. Ronova uses her authority to obstruct Snezhnaya’s plans, the Traveler finally meets the Tsaritsa and learns the real purpose behind her Gnosis collection, and Rhinedottir’s arrival complicates everything further. The quest ends with the Traveler fighting alongside Snezhnaya against the Ruler of Death, and completing it grants Primogems ×620.
Ronova is also added as a new Weekly Boss in this version, so the fight can be repeated. That repeatability is a gameplay convenience and says nothing about whether she is alive at any given point in the story.
For now, the glowing nails are the clearest evidence of what Ronova did on her way out. Every nation can see them, none of them know what the light means yet, and the people watching most closely, Albedo in Dragonspine and Xiao above The Chasm, are still gathering data rather than drawing conclusions.
