After six nations and roughly six years of buildup, the Traveler finally stands in front of the Cryo Archon. The throne room scene in Version 7.1 is not a fight or a twist — it is a court session, and the Tsaritsa runs it like one, working through rations, corruption reports, and a stalled weapons program before she ever looks in the Traveler’s direction.
Quick answer: The audience plays during Light and Shadow, Intertwined, the first part of the Chapter 7 Act 3 Archon Quest. It ends with the Tsaritsa halting every investigation into the Traveler and granting free movement inside Zapolyarny Palace.
How to reach the throne room scene
Speedrunning the whole quest takes roughly 25 to 30 minutes; reading every line pushes it closer to an hour.
Who is in the hall
The chamber is full of Fatui Harbingers and government officials, with the Traveler standing well back from the throne. These are the figures who actually speak during the session.
| Figure | Role in the scene |
|---|---|
| Anastasya Feodorovna Snezhnaya | Presides from the frozen throne |
| Pulcinella | Delivers the domestic report |
| Tartaglia | Commended for the Veche |
| Pierro | Submits research findings |
| Mitya | Explains weapon development limits |
| Regrator | Raises the mass deaths |
| Marionette | Proposes relocating research |
| Lumine | Addressed at the close |
What the court actually discusses
Anastasya opens by confirming that the beast responsible for summoning the blizzard is dead, then moves straight into domestic business. The pacing is deliberately bureaucratic, and that is the point — this is the first real look at how Snezhnaya is governed day to day.
Pulcinella’s report and the corruption lists
The Rooster covers Kristall rations and the public discussions taking place at the Veche, and notes that the Audit Office has handed in a list of corruption cases.
Anastasya is not satisfied with that submission. She instructs Pulcinella to cross-reference a second corruption list, this one from the House of the Hearth, with support from the 3rd Company of the Druzhina. Childe privately registers the implication — the Tsaritsa clearly thinks the Rooster’s original list left something out.
Tartaglia’s commendation
Before the corruption business, Anastasya singles out Tartaglia for his conduct at the Veche. Childe thanks her, which is about as much warmth as the scene allows anyone.
Ronova’s curse and the halted research
The session turns heavier once Anastasya reviews the reports from Pierro and Mitya. She agrees to suspend the research outright because of the curse laid down by Ronova, the Ruler of Death. Mitya lays out how far weapon development can realistically go under those limits, Regrator brings up the mass deaths that were triggered, and Marionette asks whether the work should be moved to the Kuuvahki Experimental Design Bureau.
Nobody has an answer. Lumine notes that the entire palace has gone quiet while the court turns the problem over. Anastasya breaks the silence herself, reminding the room that opposing the Heavenly Principles was always going to look like this, and telling them to hold to their duties.
What the Tsaritsa grants the Traveler
Only near the end does Anastasya address the Traveler directly, speaking across the length of the hall. She issues two decisions on the spot.
- All Fatui investigations targeting the Traveler are ordered stopped.
- The Traveler is given unrestricted access to Zapolyarny Palace.
She then closes the assembly and sends the lords and ladies back to their duties. As the hall empties, she walks over to Lumine herself and asks to take the remaining questions somewhere private. Lumine agrees, and control returns to the player.
How to confirm the cutscene finished, and what comes next
You will know the scene is over when gameplay resumes and the objective Speak with the Tsaritsa appears on screen under Light and Shadow, Intertwined, alongside the Press [V] navigation prompt. That is your cue to move.
Enter the room on the right to hold the private conversation, then follow her to the seal left behind by the Third Descender. After that, return to Glupov and go into the Armory Palace for another long dialogue sequence. Stand on the yellow marker and wait while Pierro pulls the memory, then handle two interaction points during the Vesna scene — the suitcase behind Danica first, then the drink on the table near Vesna. Leaving the Armory Palace ends the quest.
The rewards are not handed out automatically. Open the Snezhnaya Adventure Journal next to the minimap, below the Paimon menu, to claim Mystic Enhancement Ore x10, Mora x66,150, and Hero’s Wit x5.
How the Version 7.0 return cutscene set this up
The throne room audience only lands the way it does because of the animation that closed out Chapter VII: Act II, Wraith’s Nocturne. That one opens on a crowd packed into the snowy plaza outside the palace gate, with Aether, Paimon, and Childe standing among the citizens.
The spectators move aside as the Tsaritsa passes in a blue-and-white gown edged with fur, attendants and guards at her sides. A blonde, elf-eared attendant waves toward the crowd, while her dark-haired companion, dressed like a maid, surveys the onlookers much more intently.
The procession moves inside past rows of uniformed guards, Capitano waits at the foot of the throne platform, and she climbs the blue crystal steps to take her seat with an attendant on either side. The scene closes on her glowing blue eyes before the quest completion card and a “To be continued” fade.
Put side by side, the two scenes do very different jobs. The return animation is pure spectacle, the payoff for a character who spent years as a name in other people’s dialogue. The Version 7.1 audience is the opposite — a working meeting where the Cryo Archon handles grain rations and internal corruption in the same breath as a stalled campaign against the Heavenly Principles, and where the Traveler’s sudden clearance is issued as one more line of business before the court is dismissed.
