TrickstersOneFan

1. Dottore and relationships – There is more than one truth

Dottore and the Harbingers

First of all, the other Harbingers are allowed to hate Dottore, since he certainly doesn’t show them much kindness. He simply doesn’t know how to.

Sandrone is allowed to hate his guts since she only ever had bad interactions with him, as well as Arlecchino who probably first handedly experienced some of the consequences his deal with the earlier Knave had on the House of Hearth and the children. This has nothing to do with their characters being watered down to appease the traveller.

In return, Dottore is allowed to feel sad and disappointed, that none of his colleagues are on his side. The latest AQ showed his warped sense of human interactions and connections. He is unable to understand why the others despise him, since he is doing everything right according to his past experiences.

Both of these perspectives influence each other and make the matter worse. None is trying to have a conversation and get possible misunderstandings out of the way and neither side is entitled for one. The other Harbingers only see Dottore’s actions and possibly rumours that rose over the centuries and understandably distance themselves from him. Actions speak lauder than words and even they can't justify them. Dottore sees this as validation. He is a monster and unable of connection, without realising, his behaviour is the very reason he drives others away.

Both feelings are valid, both parties are entitled to feel the way they do. They coexist. It is not poor Dottore and evil Harbingers ostracizing him neither poor Harbingers getting targeted by Dottore.

Sandrone was right in joining forces with the traveller. Dottore pose a massive threat, it is one hundred percent reasonable to team up in defeating the bigger evil. Dottore wanting to achieve his own goals, killed Sandrone out of self defence and not out of malice. His words reflect his personal feelings and betrayal which we have touched above, but weren’t the reason for his actions. She stood in his way, as well as he stood in Sandrone’s.

Same goes with Columbina. Sandrone posed a passive threat (we will talk about this later) while for all they knew Dottore wanted to destroy Nod Krai in his ascend to godhood. Of course she also tries to eliminate him, despite having been close in earlier fatui days.

Speaking of them, is Columbina right in silently distancing herself from Dottore since his treatment of her made her feel uncomfortable? Yes.

Is Dottore allowed to feel sad and confused since again, to his knowledge he did everything right and as was taught to him? Also, Yes.

This is not waifuslop Columbina trying to appease the traveller, it is the logical course of action. You can dislike the way she turned out to be and criticise it without resorting to hateful language.

To sum things up, there is always more than one truth. Dottore’s failing to understand human emotion and pushing everyone away while yearning connection and a place to call home is what makes him a tragic character and funnily enough human. At the same time, others perception on him not only helps to flesh him out but them as well. This is how relationships work.

Both perspectives regarding all these situations are valid, and should not be used as a got you moment towards each other. It is part of a bigger picture but a lot of fandom discourse only interacts within their own bubble and doesn't try to understand the complex dynamics of relationships and interactions. You don't have to like a character but you should be able to at least acknowledge said complexity of dynamics.

People can enjoy their favourite characters but should not bring others down to make them shine. We can criticise behaviour and actions without resulting to misogynistic speech or comparing real life criminals to pixels. Additionally, making fun of a characters death or making up and describing ways to painfully kill them is loser behaviour. I am sorry, get a life. Even if you don’t like them, there are people who do. Don’t spread energy you don’t want to receive. Commenting is optional, if you see content that makes you result to the things mentioned, scroll. (This is obv. not only about Dottore but fandom discourse in general in case this wasn’t clear.)

2. Latest controverse narrative decisions

The People he hurt being the one to defeat him

The whole revenge plot might be satisfying to think about but would be terrible from a story telling perspective, at least with how the involved characters are portrayed so far. I will mainly talk about Scara/ Wanderer here but same applies to characters like Collei as well.

Revenge is glorified by the media. In reality, it is far from satisfying. All it does is constantly reopening wounds. You are the person who ended it and thus the person forever cursed to relive every moment leading up to it. In the long run, it hinders your healing process or might destroy it entirely.

Scara is beginning to form a life and bonds outside his hatred. Not his desire for revenge brought him acceptance and a better life but the willingness to let go and heal, choose himself. Yes, he can help in defeating Dottore and help his friends but in my opinion he shouldn’t be the one to hit the final strike. He deserves to live a peaceful life and not be haunted by what happened to him.

I see their relationship similar to Columbina, familiar. Dottore connected to Scara on an emotional level which lead to him projecting his feeling and world view onto him in a twisted sense of showing his care, resulting in ruining Scara’s life. In turn, Scara saw Dottore as a form of mentor or at least felt closeness (he adopted a lot of his habits after all). Killing someone this close to you, segment or not, will always haunt your mind and rip open the band aids you applied.

Dottore the scapegoat

Yes Dottore is a villain. Does this mean he needs to be involved in any major thing happening in Teyvat somehow? No.

Even if well explained, it is a little cheap but okay I guess. The bigger problem is that it takes chances away to create other, complex characters existing ones and possible new ones as well. Every Harbinger is far away from having clean hands. We as the players just don’t feel it, since the game doesn’t touch that subject and rather chooses Dottore to carry the entirety of the Fatui’s evil acts on his shoulders.

Another notable fact, he is the only one who hurts characters we know and newly on screen too. Everyone’s else’s bad actions happen off screen and are easy to neglect and oversee. Especially with them being playable and focusing on their positive character traits, we can simply ignore it.

How interesting would it be to explore different conflicts and allow each character more complexity.

Sandrone - Confront her with the fact she wanted to colonize Nod Krai. Have a few soldiers whisper about some awful protocols she ordered them to follow in case the nation rebelled against their efforts. Have her have a heavy conversation with Columbina or push her to attempt justify her actions.

Arlecchino - Have one of the orphans flee from the House of Hearth because they do not want to be a child soldier. Have them oppose her believes and challenge her moral standing point. Arlecchino can genuinely care for the children but that shouldn’t automatically mean no one questions what she does with them. She has her own trauma shaping her management of the House of Hearth.

Scara - This man has suffered enough, maybe just let him reflect on his own behaviour and acknowledge his own role and actions. It could be done in his healing arc. Dottore dying wouldn’t solve the problems he has himself, it is just a convenient excuse to ignore them (once again, the writing allowing Dottore to take all the blame).

Child(e).

Pierro - This man literally collects traumatised children and adults left and right as if the were Pokemons and enables their violent tendencies. We do not know how far this manipulation lies but I can’t imagine that he (and the Tsaritsa) wants them to heal. Especially Dottore needed to have a deep hatred for the world to fulfil his role in the organisation. If he truly was a teenager when he was recruited, they could have gotten him help and steered him to a less destructive path. This was literally the time were that was still possible. Pierro also was the one allowing Scara to join their ranks and enable Dottores experiments. I can see him and the Tsaritsa fuelling the hatred slumbering in every Harbinger regardless of their mental health status. The Fatui are not a charity, everyone fulfils a purpose.

Pantalone - Already catches strays left and right while only having like 2 voice lines. He is no saint for sure but framing him in such a negative light before he even makes an appearance is a bit sus. Either he is the big bad and the earlier mentions were flattering in comparison or he is used for a future plot twist. Remember how Childe and Scara talked about Columbina and how she turned out to be. If he was just as the character described him to us, it frankly would be a bit boring.

Pulcinella - Does not catch strays left and right and we also only have 2 voice lines. This man is literally responsible for Childe’s recruitment. Childe himself is still, well, a child and not as poisoned yet. The information we have on him seem incredibly biased. With him being the mayor of Snezhnaya, he surly plays a big role in handling international relationships and interest of the nation. He surly is not harmless and merely has himself better under control than Pantalone who we know has some serious anger issues.

I need Hoyo to address and flesh out the Fatui as an antagonistic organisation so badly. Not to evil scale but as to have more complex dynamics and story as well as character growth.

The power of friendship

Was Dottore defeated by the power of friendship? No.

They discussed a plan and worked together. Effective strategy is not the power of friendship. As much as it would be interesting to see the traveller loose for once, it would obviously not happen here. The stakes we know of (possibly planned or just an illusion besides) were far too high, he needed to loose.

Was the whole friends, family and home talk corny and rose some hypocrisy? Yes.

Was it a absolutely ridiculous, that in the last few seconds of the battle Dottore went afk and just watched everyone beat him up in awe? Also, yes.

That was what spoiled the otherwise good story arc for me. Nefer kicking the literal second harbinger who in reaction just let it happen without doing anything against it was a bit silly. It was not necessary that it happened but the build up. Dottore didn’t even brake a sweat in fighting them before, then Columbina comes, gives a moving speech and he instantly evaporates into a million particles.

It made sense for Sandrone to die.

As tragic as Sandrone’s death was, it was a very safe story telling decision. Someone needed to die. You can not tell me a false God wreaks havoc and everyone inside the main cast emerges without a single scratch. Someone needed to die and Sandrone as a mechanical being that could be repaired later and is confirmed playable in the future was a save choice since in the long run, it wont really matter anyway. The situation also deepens the characters (and players) hatred towards Dottore and explains a possible future conflict between him and the Fatui. It also allows more sympathy towards Sandrone and explains her playability (she sacrificed herself after all).

3. Dottore’s future and possible redemption

First of all, I am not hellbent on the idea that he should stay evil for the rest of his life. It would be a 100% acceptable and logical decision I would enjoy too but wouldn’t it be more interesting to allow some growth and shift of perspective Dottore values so much?

Personally, I like redemption arcs, as long as they make sense for the narrative. Redemption is not being the next hero or winning mister nice guy contest but choosing to reflect on the past and move towards a less harmful and healthier path. Most redemption arcs are simply poorly written and rushed, concluding in an ending which is unsatisfactory and makes no sense.

For Dottore, it would indeed make 0 sense if he suddenly turned all friendly and docile but for his own good, I can see him moving to a more antagonistic vs straight up villainous. He will never be a good person but he can be a little smoother around the edges. A teeny tiny bit "better". Really just a little bit. He can still hold some of his core believes but act a little less harmful towards others (either by choice or changing circumstances directly effecting his research).

Lobotomised

Not that far fetched and also not a bad thing per say. Wait, hear me out on this one. As we recently learned, a body can split into multiple parts of itself. So what if OG Dottore either used himself or a new segment as a vessel. He split his self into multiple versions that are all connected. They can individually not only gather perspectives and unique view points but also change his fate. The dead segments could be still connected to the alive ones and freely access the Ley Lines and Irminsul and do some fuckery in there and adjust it idk.

Death can brake a fate in one sense. If you die, your life is finished and you are free. As all those fragments die, they return to their original body. But since they in theory are all dead and hold all the memories, the vessel wakes up without them (Don’t ask me about the logistics, I don’t fully understand the lore and possibilities of this it is super complicated and changes every week). Of course he has taken notes and is trying to regain them through a newly forged connection line to access Irminsul, which was only possible through the segments and their special tasks.

This would open the door to understand Dottore’s past as we discover it with him, as well as allowing him to do some self reflection. Since we build a real connection with him this time, Dottore can reflect on his past relationships and maybe be a little more open and aware of others needs. After this change in perspective and returning to a complete self he stays almost identical to as we know him but takes an effort into embracing what is left of his humanity. It might be interesting to see how someone who rid himself of human emotions by ignoring them for too long, try and do the best with what is left.

He is not a sadist, pain brings consistent results, is a necessary evil or unavoidable. He doesn’t really care for his own emotions and very likely loathes them since they interfere with his work. A true scientist should be 100% neutral, shouldn’t he? How would he react when there is a possibility of containing the same effectiveness but reduce the pain. How would he react when he realises being human is not a weakness but a strength.

This might be a crossroad where he can truly change his fate, decide to refuse to be a heretic any longer and fully embrace his research for research purposes instead. I feel like a Dottore that regains his memory and has a fully new unbiased perspective at first might be the only scenario where he can truly change as a person. Otherwise, he is in way too deep and stuck in his ways. It would need something earth shattering for him to change his ways in the current state he is.

The traveller works as a catalyst here, offering a helping hand but either Dottore does all the important work on his own or his existing social circle (the other Harbingers, Columbina, Pantalone maybe even Scara) challenge his perception and engage in an honest conversation for once.

The other route, were he genuinely has and never will obtain his memories is a huge no. Extra minus points when he helps us defeat himself. That would be not only lazy but a horrible end for his character. Let him finally brake free from his shackles, his inability to change as a person despite constantly praising finding new perspectives. Let him brake free from the fatui (in- or directly) controlling him. Let him realise he is his own person and can now decide a fate he wants to see for himself.

This is what I want to see for him. Not him fulfilling his fate as being a heretic, since most if not all heretics fail their goal and die, but rise above it. This doesn’t need to mean that he "wins" in the end but that he can win himself, choose himself for only once in his life. This can also happen while teaming up with the traveller otherwise but it would be much more difficult to reasonably explain than via this route.

Evil Omega

Omega and the segments strayed from OG Dottore’s will and he is a victim. HELL NO. Everything about that is bad. Celestia nail him before that please.

An unexpected ally

We might meet a form of Dottore that is more friendly or open for honest collaboration. Omega is the segment we interact with the most and especially selfish, vile and cruel but he is a fragment of his overall personality. As much as I like the Omega build and enjoy this characterisation, he is the least likely to be involved in any form of redemption or playable character routes. If a version of the Doctor dies for good it will be him. Nothing can justify or excuse what he is currently doing, him being playable or buddy up with us would make little sense. Everyone (rightfully) hates this mans guts. It can happen though.

Other versions might very realistically be more mature and easier to be around. No redemption here, all the character development happened years before and off screen. Maybe just working together either by choice or to fight a bigger evil. Same as the other Harbingers, we kind of just brush everything under the carpet and ignore it.

Dottore possibly has some information that will make us see him a little bit different in the future. Maybe we need his help or get a new perspective on things that would justify a team up. Maybe the game tries to go a “it was necessary” route, Dottore said he had no problem playing the villain if it meant progress. It might also justify him being able to win (lets be real, he will never win the final fight, at least not against the main character) while staying on his villainous path.

Off topic, it would be so fucking funny if Omega is like "I am the best and most competent version of myself" and OG Dottore or another, older segment just goes "Who?" or badmouths Omega into oblivion.

No redemption, he dies

Unacceptable, will not happen. It would add to his tragedy, a heretic trying to be everything else but a heretic, only embracing his name and succumbing to his inevitable defeat. His face when he realises his whole legacy explodes into his face... It would make sense and he would deserve it, it is just not something I would like to see.

He either lives or dies in the end of 6.6. You can’t tell me he just disappears into the void after we finish the game and/ or his story arc. If his story does not end in 6.6 (I might be biased but I don't think it will, it will just be a major turning point and end this chapter of his story) it is a foundation for the future.

We bond with him during his and Pantalones wedding

Allowing him to join us would be our wedding gift to him. Jokes aside, I hope they can have retain their "friendship". Let them have each other if the world doesn’t want them (I will cry and die inside, if it turns out Pantalone is just using him too).

Somehow being connected to the Abyss

He sounded as if he knew our sibling or what bigger role they play. Him also never directly researching on it and the Abyss being the second biggest evil in this game... I don’t even know at this point. Everything is possible.

Or a mix of some of these elements or something else entirely. I know it is a bit of wishful thinking but with everything that happened to Dottore it would be amazing if he can have some kind of happy end or at least inner peace. If he should die, he should die in a meaningful way and not as a narrative tool. If he survives, he should be allowed to live in a way that is meaningful to him.

Conclusion

Dottore is a character with so much care and effort going into him, I am positive Hoyo will finish his story arc in a satisfying way. With so many open questions and new characters, very likely before or in early Snezhnaya release (ideally he keeps showing up past this but we will see) Everything else would be a waste of resources and time invested in him.

If anyone made it this far, thanks for coming to my ted talk. Remember, these are my opinions and interpretations, don't haunt me down, thank you. This started with 4 main points but escalated a little…

You can do so much with Narek's character and I would have loved seeing him getting a redemption ark, exploring the cult of the Zhat Vash and interacting with other people than his sister. Dang, let him realise that he has been brainwashed since his childhood, allow him to overcome his prejudice and trauma with the help of Laris or even Elnor and make him a powerful ally through the plot, which could have been so strong and interesting to watch. But no. They literally forgot about him and Chabon’s clarification, or better his planned fate doesn't make sense. Why should he be brought into federation custody?

A) What he did was horrible, yet inside of romulan space and under romulan laws dedicated towards a then illegal life form who has most likely signed a contract agreeing to said laws and possible consequences of conflict with the police/ the Tal Shiar. As a result, they shouldn’t be able to arrest him for anything since he was also way too young to be involved into the destruction of Mars.

B) Moreover, he recognised his mistakes and showed a will to work on himself. Prison will only make him loose that short window of change of mind and harden his believes, since he spends the whole time with himself and we all know how thoughts can spiral into hate and frustration rather than understanding and reflection. His whole world collapsed around him and instead of taking the shot to work with him, they leave him alone with his thoughts and the urge to find someone to blame for his misery?

Even though I am heartbroken to what they did to the La Sirena crew, I felt like they had some sort of resolution inside the seasons and their arcs, not perfect or satisfying but still (we don’t talk about how the writers ripped everything apart in season 3, that is another essay worth of rant). I deeply mourn for what could have been and are beyond mad they threw out Soji and Elnor so fast. It just felt cheap. I can understand why they did it with Elnor, to give Raffi a motive to work through her guilt for manipulating him (which kind of got brushed off and came out of nowhere so idk why you couldn’t leave him in there and work through it alive and together).

For Soji, why give us Core when you don’t plan on doing something more with here than give the actor and Spinner something to do. How great would have been it, if Soji met her look alike and got to understand the origin of her “bloodline” and the reason behind her creation, something she desperately longed for. Let her find acceptance for herself and the confidence in her skin she deserves. Let her be more than some diplomate and a tool to portray the conflict between Agnes and Rios. The money I would give to see both of them coming up the agreement to work together and Soji’s decision to change her job from an anthropologist or doctor (I am not sure what her profession fell under) to an ambassador. SHOW US, please. To be honest, I can’t see Paramount doing a show with the watchers and Core, so why waste that time with a plot you could have given to a character already established in the season before, a whole audience was thrilled for?

And Laris... Cutting her off for nostalgia porn and claiming it was out of budget? How cheap is this please?! She deserved way better and not being tossed in the trash so carelessly by so called fans! If you don’t want her in the main storyline, fine. Just give her an ending. A sentence or brief interaction. She and Picard were literally a couple, so why deny her the interaction with Beverly and her stepson?

You can say what you want about star trek Picard but I think we all can agree on one statement: Picard has been such a massive mess in terms of carrying the plotline, characters and ideas throughout the seasons to a point were it almost felt like they have been completely different series from the beginning. Every season had such an unique idea and character developments, which got tossed aside and completely ignored in later episodes.