Can someone who actually played through it confirm whether only the crown of Irminsul burned while the roots underneath remained intact?

Because honestly, if Datattore functions anything like malware, then this man absolutely feels like the type to gain root-level persistence and quietly hide himself somewhere deep in the /root directory of Irminsul like the world’s most cursed backdoor xD

Like seriously - anyone who works with websites stuff knows this type of nightmare. You think you removed the infection, everything looks clean, and then three weeks later the bastard respawns from some hidden garbage buried five layers deep in the server.

Imo that’s still a pretty massive loophole.

Though at this point, like 90% of the fandom, I’ve probably developed bipolar disorder from constantly oscillating between “they’re intentionally misleading us” and “holy shit, this script is an actual flaming pile of garbage.”

I have a theory regarding his playability.

(Human beings truly are stupidly naive creatures.)

Though let’s be honest - considering he doesn’t have tits, it’s probably already less likely.

For the record: I haven’t actually played through most of Nod-Krai myself. At this point I’m basically going off materials posted here and on X.

Anyway.

So Dottore created an immortality elixir, but apparently it didn’t work on him.

Was that ever actually explained anywhere in the game?

Because I saw a theory claiming it was tied to his fate as a heretic - that death and rejection were inevitable for him no matter what he did. Meaning Dottore already knew he couldn’t change his fate in the current system no matter how hard he tried.

And honestly? Life never exactly made things easier for him either.

He lacked empathy already at the age of eight, meaning he fundamentally couldn’t understand other people - while other people couldn’t understand him in return. Even when his actions ultimately led to something positive, society still perceived them as monstrous.

Collei survived?
Yeah, but Dottore was still treated like a horrible asshole because the girl ended up traumatized.

Columbina regained her divine powers?
Yeah, but Dottore was still apparently the villain because he dragged her through portals, fought with her friends, and temporarily shut down the annoying, grouchy doll.

Arlecchino got the chance to spare traitorous kids instead of turning them into knife-board decorations?
Sure. But Dottore is still the evil pig because the memory-erasing elixir came from EXPERIMENTS™.

People bring up the “experiments on children” with this massive dramatic outrage when we were never even told HOW those experiments were actually conducted.

Honestly, despite Dottore’s psychopathy - in the sense of lacking empathy - I’ve always had the impression that cruelty was more of a mask or a tool for him rather than something he genuinely enjoyed. In reality, he seemed to despise waste above all else.

If I remember correctly, one of Zandik’s notes criticized an experiment (Eleazar or withering) where a female test subject died after going into shock upon seeing her deceased partner. Zandik specifically suggested calmer conditions for future subjects because her death was considered “an unnecessary waste.”

Even those anomalous tree marrow records - the ones describing acute toxicity experiments on four subjects - don’t necessarily prove we were dealing with random people. It’s entirely possible they were all individuals already discarded by society and doomed to oblivion, just like him.

The first subject might’ve been a drug addict or alcoholic since the toxicology report mentioned additional substances in his system.

The second subject was physically robust but psychologically unstable and described as “uncooperative” (oh, I wonder why 😅). But maybe some violent criminal, murderer, or aggressive outcast. Though obviously that part is speculation.

The fourth subject was a woman in a coma, completely unresponsive to external stimuli.

And then there was Pantalone. Pantalone was relatively healthy, intelligent, functional. Maybe Dottore simply looked at him and thought: “this one still has potential.” So instead of condemning him to a fatal experiment, he stitched him back together and offered him a job.

The orphanage children could’ve been a similar situation.
Knowing those children would likely die anyway - since severely injured or too sick kids were apparently sent on deadly missions as disposable failures - maybe he made some sort of arrangement with Crucabena so she wouldn’t “waste still somewhat useful but doomed to oblivion material.”

And the thing is - nobody actually knows what he did with those children. Maybe he genuinely tried to “correct” the fate of some of them by treating their illnesses or conditions, especially considering his obsessive attachment to medicine. The ones who survived could’ve later become his subordinates.

And before anyone grabs pitchforks: I’m not defending him.

From our perspective, his actions are cruel, unethical, and absolutely unacceptable. But this is fiction, and I’m trying to interpret him not as some cartoonishly evil sadist who gets off on causing pain, but as a man completely stripped of empathy and driven by brutal pragmatism because he perceives everything as systems, theories, and mechanisms. He won’t hesitate to hurt people. But he also won’t waste lives unnecessarily if he personally sees no reason for it. And if there is a possibility of help, he will give it (Arle or the patched Pantalone, when he was still his subordinate). In the end he even experimented on himself and intentionally waited for the “Prime” to die because, in his eyes, the original had already outlived his usefulness.

So to summarize:
Dottore lacked empathy, was constantly rejected by the people around him - and not always through his own fault either (looking at Thoth) - while the few people who actually got close to him either abandoned him (Columbina, the villagers, the Akademiya, the Fatui) or ended up suffering horribly themselves (Torfin and probably a lot of other examples). And honestly, even Pantalone wasn’t an exception considering how many times he apparently had to be treated or surgically patched back together. He could not even count on mercy from those who presented themselves as merciful. The fate of a heretic, that does not allow for development.

Dottore understood that he HAD to play the role of the villain because there simply wasn’t another option for him. He even emphasized that himself at times (Moonttore). No matter what he did, he was destined to lose anyway.

So he stopped fighting against the current because resisting fate would’ve changed absolutely nothing.

Through all his schemes he ultimately caused the burning of Irminsul and, in doing so, placed his fate into the hands of the only friend he ever truly had - Pantalone.

Meaning the man who trusted nobody - not even himself - ended up trusting his friend in the end.

And honestly?

That would be SUCH a good setup for playable Dottore.

After the burning of Irminsul, Dottore would finally be free from the “fate of the heretic.” It could become a genuine second chance for him. Maybe even the removal of the metaphorical simlock that forced him into complete emotional detachment in the first place - assuming that lack of empathy was itself part of his cursed fate (when something happened when he was 8 years old).

The actual “technical” details are secondary because the writers could literally use ANY fantasy mechanism to explain them.

For example - everyone believes Pantalone uploaded the second half of Dottore’s soul into Irminsul (is this confirmed somewhere in the game?), but maybe Pantalone already knew that wouldn’t work and secretly used some substitute instead (even in the tailer with the chibittore they questioned it). Maybe something resembling a Wild Hunt specter. Maybe a defective copy. Maybe some incomplete reconstruction. Or an echo of obsessive memories like Rerir's. Or maybe there’s even a third soul fragment. Hell, insert literally ANY fantasy trope here.

And Pantalone is a banker, but he’s probably cunning as hell too.

And if Dottore's reconstructed personality were built from Pantalone’s preserved memories, then “Zandik” could return in a much fuller form - not just selfish Omega, but all of his segments (including a child, teenager) combined together with the original self that lived all the way into old age.

The REAL issue is whether Hoyo is actually capable of going in that direction.

They’re sitting on an incredible narrative opportunity right now.

But judging by the level of writing in Nod-Krai - which feels like it was assembled by a random emergency team where one person can’t write, another is terminally horny, the third mentally stopped at the stage of Moomin fairy tales, and the fourth went on sick leave - it’s genuinely hard to expect anything good anymore.

Also, slightly unrelated, but while watching that Pantalone and Dottore conversation, in the scene where dead segments were presented - one thing immediately stood out to me:

WHERE IS LAZZOTTORE?

There’s 8, 18, 26, 35 (Omega), and 63.

(Sorry if I mixed up the exact ages.)

https://preview.redd.it/1vsdksp3dc2h1.jpg?width=644&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ebfdc09fd63b3a9cd16c37dc0dc8000fc0aa125

https://preview.redd.it/h16wcjt4dc2h1.jpg?width=667&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc64b35c81caf098857ef67bf1c31fa608c3caa2

https://preview.redd.it/1k04ey56dc2h1.jpg?width=677&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6eeca830b660bc57466eb7d97bc5d5490d2af2aa

https://preview.redd.it/e5famrj7dc2h1.jpg?width=658&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb75cf2a75f06cac10d0cbc9789636b4fff87a54

I genuinely don’t understand how anyone could call Nod-Krai “filler” after the sh*t they pulled there. Absolutely pathetic.

Though I have to admit, the ratings in my region are at least somewhat lifting my spirits.

https://preview.redd.it/h67lv4mcd52h1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16d65ca73a226b3268c3d27b0c632db4468d8583

Everyone’s dropping their essays, so I’ll throw mine into this burning dumpster fire too.

Honestly? After 6.6 I expected this exact turn of events considering how they practically dehumanized Datattore into being a sacrificial punching bag ready for slaughter. Still, there’s a difference between expecting disaster and emotionally getting hit in the face with it.

Right now I see two possible scenarios, and I’ll go over both because apparently HYV’s writing philosophy is just “throw random bullshit into a blender and see if the fandom starts a civil war.”

The obvious scenario based on what we currently know - Dottover.

What supports it?

- Dottore doesn’t have a pu*sy, so naturally he won’t function as bait for male gooners, who are a huge chunk of this game’s target audience.
- They overused Dottore way too hard as the embodiment of absolute evil. Most players have the moral depth of a plastic soup plate, so obviously they’ll hate him because the game told them to.
- There were two scientists in the Fatui. Too many. Better keep one. Which one? Oh wow, I wonder 😛 The one with tits.
- All the recent content with him feels like “closing his chapter” and some deranged consolation prize for fans. Like: “You don’t get the toy, but we’ll beautifully describe it to you for hours.” A middle finger wrapped in prettier packaging.
- The leakers aggressively denying his playability. HYV never really had a problem confirming playable characters before. But with Dottore? Suddenly everybody develops an allergic reaction to the word “playable.” Totally not suspicious at all.

The “he survives - maybe even becomes playable” scenario.

Which is where the fandom enters industrial-grade copium territory.
- Winter Lazzo still exists. Dottore talks with Columbina there and there’s the line about “the prime of his life” participating in a “little experiment in blasphemy.” Plus Dottore reacts negatively when Columbina says he “looks young.” A segment probably wouldn’t react like that considering their appearance was likely tied to age. Assuming this happens AFTER the segments were erased (which Dottore’s line about Scara making his “next move” by obtaining the “Divine Gaze” - Vision? - kinda suggests) maybe there’s still another version of him in Snezhnaya. The original? A genetic clone? An older segment stuffed into a younger body? Some third fragment of Omega’s soul? Who knows. At this point we’re all just assembling lore theories out of scraps found in a roadside ditch.
- The Irminsul purification burn. I’m guessing it referred to burning Datattore away. Does that mean people forget him? Someone once suggested it might become his “redemption” arc. Like Scara: first amnesia, then conveniently recovering memories later through plot magic.
- Tons of content as “chapter closure” could simply mean they wanted to explain him in Nod-Krai because Snezhnaya won’t have room for it. Even if playable, he could still get a side quest exploring his past - Sohreh, losing empathy at eight years old, Akademiya exile, etc.
- The ally thing. One ally isn’t much, but it’s still something. Maybe Pantalone will preserve memories of Dottore. There’s also that line in side-quest: “If the organ that governs memory has taken too much damage and cannot be healed, then bring another old friend and dwell in dreams of the past together…”
- The leakers denying playability works both ways too. If HYV wants a huge reveal later, aggressively killing hope beforehand would actually make sense.
- Better animations/models in Snezhnaya. Maybe they just want to release him later with higher quality polish.
- The dramatic ending argument. Corporations can be unbelievably stupid despite having mountains of money, but from a marketing perspective it makes more sense to keep fans hopeful. Because as long as people still believe, they keep playing and waiting for content involving him. So such a sad ending wouldn't benefit anyone. But short term drama sells. Drama creates engagement. Drama fuels fandoms. You can literally see it happening in our mains community right now.

Honestly I don’t even know what to think anymore because all I see are extremes. On one hand, I think the current writing quality is embarrassingly bad. On the other hand, maybe that’s intentional. Some people get pudding, others get habanero peppers.

Either way I’m exhausted with this constant treatment - endless drama, endless baiting, endless leading fans around by the nose. So I dropped this game into the abyss and left a one-star review making my stance crystal clear. At this point the only thing that can hurt them is public opinion, because good PR is what attracts new players.

I’ll come back if Dottore becomes playable.
If not, they can duck right off.

And if anyone actually made it through this entire essay, congratulations on having the mental endurance of a goddamn war veteran.