Ylime_lemon

All the World's a Stage

I find it curious that Pantalone only grieves Dottore in front of the other Harbingers. Throughout 6.6, he hardly expresses a shred of sadness. In fact, he often appears amused by the events that unfold, and he even goes so far as to imply that he's optimistic about his own future. This doesn't exactly sound like what one expects to hear from a person who is about to lose their partner for the seventh time.

This line is especially strange when we consider that this is Pantalone's response to Dottore's reminder that the Elixir will soon run out. While we know that Pantalone and Dottore's worldviews align when it comes to their scorn of divine rule and their distaste for Teyvat's laws, they still have their own individual goals. And Pantalone hasn't achieved his yet.

According to Cashflow Supervision's weapon description, Pantalone's goal is to replace Mora with a fiat currency that belongs to humanity:

Even if becoming the master of the heart of gold may be an impossible task to accomplish, the control of money should still be given equally to all. [...] "We'll start by creating a new currency to replace the dependence on Mora."

The Fortress of Meropide's credit coupons are his proof-of-concept, but we haven't yet seen Pantalone execute his plan at scale (unless he owns the primogem exchange system but, given that primogems are literally primordial crystals, I don't see him being their purveyor).

Pantalone is far, far too ambitious to go gentle into that good night without first fulfilling his goal. So his optimism here either suggests that he's imminently about to overhaul Teyvat's entire financial system (unlikely) or that he knows Zandik will return before the Elixir runs out.

There's also the fact that, by 6.6, Dottore had already been dead for several months if we understand in-game time to correspond to the real-world time between patches (supported by the existence of annual Lantern Rites). All that was left of Dottore after 6.3 was backup data—memories that could only have a voice once they were uploaded to Irminsul and combined with the other half of his very-dead soul.

So Why is Pantalone Mourning Now?

There's an argument to be made that Pantalone hides his anguish from Dottore because he's reticent to expose the depth of his grief in front of both its cause and subject. But I'm not convinced that the game bears this out. From the Anomalous Tree Marrows I and III, we know Dottore has already watched Pantalone mourn Zandik and the other five Segments through the allusions to his depression and dissociation.

Objectives for Next Phase: The research and development of drugs for antidepressant pharmacotherapy. Of course not, that was just a joke. Because fighting time requires a stronger mind? The clinical data obtained from the autopsy of Zandik has been utilized to its full extent.

Pantalone, too, offered no objection, content to serve as little more than a decorative vase at the proceedings.

The Marrows themselves hint to Dottore's return most obviously in the framing of Marrow III but also through the reveal of how important Pantalone is to Dottore. I talk about this more here, but the fact that Dottore's prime memory is entirely about Pantalone's health and life expectancy makes me think that Dottore's death has, once again, been greatly exaggerated. These schemers have contingencies for their contingencies. Do we really think Dottore will stay dead if it means condemning Pantalone to death as well?

And All the Harbingers Merely Players

Which brings me to my central suspicion: what if Pantalone is playing the part of the grieving widow in front of the other Harbingers to obfuscate their plans to bring Zandik back?

Yes, this theory is fueled by the fact that I can't cope with the tragedy of Pantalone losing his partner of 380+ years at the moment we finally get to see them together. But I don't think my insistence on Dottore's return is entirely delusional.

If Dottore—or, more likely, Zandik—doesn't get his redemption arc, his storyline will fail to uphold the game's moral message. The fact that the "villains" ultimately triumphed in their efforts to overthrow fate in the AQ tells me there has to be some sort of reconciliation on the horizon.

Sure, he technically lost but... did he?

So why the grieving widow act? Because it's too early for Pantalone to play his hand, especially in front of the recently-revived Sandrone. Given what we know of the dynamics between the Harbingers, it would be suspicious if Pantalone wasn't grieving.

Sandrone’s animation was almost heavy handed in the way it showed Dottore and Pantalone as a unit (you know, in case their matching accessories and shameless flirting hadn't made it abundantly clear). But it also tells us that even the other Harbingers see them as a pair. We get this through Sandrone's complaint about their PDA behavior at the opera

as well as through the evocative visual storytelling that constantly places them side-by-side...

... and standing apart from the others whenever they appear on screen.

Seriously, look at the space between the two of them on the right and everyone else.

The Harbingers are stock characters. They're performers who step into different roles. As Dottore so often reminds us, he has never been afraid to play the villain's part. After all, the role allowed him to achieve his goals of creating a god and setting fire to fate itself.

And, with fate burned to cinders, they now have the opportunity to realize the impossible. No one—not even Celestia—could have overheard them discussing memories and soul fragments in the Sanctuary. There's no way that Pantalone will now risk Sandrone catching on to the fact that they're plotting something when she's justifiably pissed about the whole murder thing.

Perhaps, then, the role of grieving partner is one that Pantalone adopts to further his own defiance of fate by bringing Zandik back when the time is right.