They’re traveling in a medium, so they move slower than in space
Due to the random walk caused by multiple scattering, it can take millions of years for a photon to escape the sun after being produced in the core.
You are right that they don’t gather energy, but they do multiply. What would be a single high energy x ray in the core will eventually downscatter into an army of optical photons.
Photons don’t gather energy and they definitely don’t move slowly through the sun.
It can definitely take millions of years for photons to leave a star due to dense protons causing collisions.
https://futurism.com/photons-million-year-journey-center-sun
I get what you’re saying but taking a long time is not the same as moving slowly
Slowly making their way does not equal moving slowly. It describes the time it takes to exit the sun, not the speed of the particle.
You are right that they don’t gather energy, but they do multiply. What would be a single high energy x ray in the core will eventually downscatter into an army of optical photons.