Honkai: Star Rail Beauty and Destruction choice outcomes
How to answer Sunday's questions about three key decisions that led to the formation of his philosophy.
During the Honkai: Star Rail Penacony mission Beauty and Destruction, Mr Sunday will task the Astral Express crew and their new friends with completing a rather strange quiz of sorts. Presenting the group with three moments from his own life when he was forced to make a difficult choice, Sunday wants to know if the crew would have done the same as him in the circumstances, or whether they would choose a different course of action, especially if they knew some of the outcomes that came to pass despite his best intentions.
It's not the kind of quiz with right and wrong answers exactly, but still, you're probably eager to make the best possible choices under the circumstances. Read on to learn about the different outcomes when answering Sunday's questions in Beauty and Destruction.
What are the different outcomes in Beauty and Destruction?
Like most missions in Honkai: Star Rail, Beauty and Destruction doesn't actually have any significant branching options — certainly nothing that will carry consequences later in the story.
However, choosing the different options for some of Sunday's questions will result in unique dialogue.
Question 1: Decide the little Charmony Dove's destiny
Choice: "Build a bird nest on the spot?" or "Build a cage for the little Charmony Dove?"
You've already seen the real-life outcome of this one in a flashback cutscene. You know that Robin and Sunday decided to keep the bird in a cage by the window in Robin's room. The day she left Penacony, Robin set the bird free — but despite Sunday's attempts to save it, it later died, unable to learn to fly or live as a wild creature following its long domestication.
Sunday asks if he and his sister should have caged the bird, or should have attempted to build it a nest on the spot where they found it injured, in the hopes that it could have successfully returned to living free.
You have the option to ask Firefly, Himeko, and/or March 7th what their opinions are. All three unanimously agree that it was the better choice to remove the injured bird to the safety of a cage, since it would surely have been killed by predators if left where it was.
Outcomes:
- Build a bird nest on the spot: Sunday lists the predators to be found in the garden where the bird fell, and concludes that leaving it defenceless could only have resulted in its death.
- Build a cage for the little Charmony Dove: Sunday is pleased that you came to the same conclusion that he and his sister did. He recalls how they cared for the bird for a long time, but how it ultimately died when set free. He concludes that by caging the bird only to set it free later, they were unwittingly responsible for its death.
Question 2: Decide the Dreamchaser's destiny
Choice: "Remain silent and enforce the law?" or "Convince the Bloodhounds to cease pursuit?"
You've seen this one in another of Sunday's flashbacks, although this time the long-term outcome remains a mystery — the only information he'll give is that he chose to call off the Bloodhound Family's pursuit of the fugitive, but that ultimately the man's life ended in tragedy anyway.
Sunday's question is whether, under the circumstances, he should instead have simply allowed the Bloodhound Family to perform their duty and arrest the stowaway.
Consulting with your companions reveals a split in opinion this time. Firefly and Himeko both fall on the side of sympathising with the stowaway and believing that he should be given the chance to rectify his mistakes, while March 7th feels that his crimes were too great to be forgiven and that he deserves to be exiled as punishment.
Outcomes:
- Remain silent and enforce the law: Sunday notes that he, like you, ponders whether different choices would lead to better outcomes. However, he believes that either possible new path would be equally tragic: eventual capture and persecution at the hands of the Bloodhound Family, or an unstable life and inevitable death from delirium as a permanent fugitive in the Dreamscape.
- Convince the Bloodhounds to cease pursuit: The true outcome, as relayed by Sunday, saw the Dreamchaser given a second chance and rise to prominence as a respected citizen of Penacony. However, not only did he never attempt to locate and help his children, but he was eventually exiled anyway for conspiring to overthrow the head of one of Penacony's ruling families. Thus, Sunday concludes that his attempt to do good actually resulted in far more harm in the long term.
Question 3: Decide Robin's destiny
Choice: "Support Robin to go on her journey?" or "Stop Robin from going on her journey?"
Finally, Sunday recounts an incident in which his sister Robin was badly injured — shot in the neck while delivering medical aid on a battlefield where she'd gone to entertain the troops with her singing performance. While she ultimately recovered and was even able to continue her singing career, he reveals that her fondness for elaborate neckwear is to cover her scars. His last question is whether, with the benefit of hindsight, he should have prevented Robin from making the journey.
Your companions are truly split on this issue: Firefly believes that to preserve Robin's happiness it would have been right to stop her; Himeko, as befits a follower of the Trailblaze, asserts that a life of exploration always carries unknowable risks; and March 7th is conflicted, as an adventurous spirit who nevertheless wouldn't want to risk injury and loss if it could be prevented by changing course.
On this occasion, whichever decision you make, Sunday will react in the same way, drawing the mission to a close with his final monologue: explaining that his experiences have taught him that Penacony needs to be a gilded cage under his control in order for its inhabitants to truly live blissful, worry-free lives.
This isn't the only time that Honkai: Star Rail has surprised players with a pop quiz; see our guide to Honkai: Star Rail's Mr Cold Feet questions and answers for more multiple-choice missions.