Escher Theory
[Disclaimer, posting on behalf of my roomie! Questions will be passed on to them at which point if they choose to answer, I will reply to you with said answer.]
Hello, Dottonation. I'm here with one more theory regarding the future of Dottore.
Personal forward: my name is Max, and I was previously a lurker in this sub for a very, very long time. I only recently began to engage with it socially, but after the preload, I got caught up in a pretty bad manic-depressive loop. In the middle of a spiraling session, I deactivated my account. I don't really regret it-- I think it's better for my mental health if I return to just lurking. My roommate has graciously allowed me to use their account as a mouthpiece for this final theory I have and a few connections that I've made over the past day or so. Thanks so much for taking the time to read, and I hope that the future looks a little brighter after this.
I've been thinking a lot about the situation with Escher in Temple of Space. There are a few things about his appearance that have really bothered me, and I've been looking more into him as an NPC and his overall purpose in the story, and there are a few things I've noticed that I think might make him relevant later.
First of all, I think it's prudent to bring up that, well, it's Escher. We all know that Escher is the identity that Dottore assumed during the events of Tatarasuna. It's been theorized that the Escher we meet outside of Dornman Port is most likely the "real" Escher whose identity he stole. However, it's mentioned in the Tatarasuna questline that trying to research into the name Escher yielded no results. The supposed engineer from Fontaine simply did not exist. There was no record of him living.
Second of all, we know very, very little about who Escher was as a person. The mentions of him are left extremely vague. We know that he was from Fontaine. He introduced himself as a painter, and created a few paintings. These paintings are said to have specifically unnerved the other inhabitants of the Temple of Space, but it's never really explained why. When we do finally get to see one of his paintings, it's very reminiscent of Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. But as we know, the name Escher comes from the real-world painter named M.C. Escher
Refer to First Image: Wiki Comment Stars by M.C. Escher
Refer to Second Image: Stars, wood engraving print - M.C. Escher (please include image description to credit artist)
In my little dive, I found that somebody had already made this connection. But as soon as I saw this print, it struck me as very familiar. And that's because we've actually seen it used as one of Dottore's personal effects.
Refer to Third Image: screenshot dottore boss fight phase 1 , polyhedron
This polyhedron here looks strikingly familiar. And we have not seen it again since. The carving also includes chameleons, which we have also seen used during the Nod Krai questline.
So, what does it all mean? Here is my personal theory. It's reachy, but I think it's very important that this polyhedron exists, and I think it's very important that Dottore used the name Escher. Here is my theory.
The Escher we met outside of Dornman Port is not the original Zandik. He is either a segment, or he is a human clone that was purposely abducted into the Temple of Space as a means of preservation. This is an entity that Omega didn't know existed, and was created so that Zandik could preserve some form of his humanity if he couldn't find a way to indefinitely extend his own life.
The marrows we collect from the upcoming quests will signify the three deadly selves. We saw with Zibai what they looked like. One will be wrathful and malicious, one will be calculating and brilliant, and the third will be strikingly human. These three deadly selves represent Ego, Superego, and Id respectively, and when joined together will form the complete consciousness of Zandik. And this leaves one last piece to the puzzle. A human soul upon which to graft these memories.
Maybe that final piece is... Escher.
That's all I have, and this is my final farewell for now. This is only a theory, but I think it was worth bringing to attention. Most people don't even have footage of the phase 1 bossfight with Dottore, so I doubt anybody's looked at it in depth for an extended period of time, but his idle at the beginning has really stuck with me. The connection to Escher is tangential... but I think it could still be something. Thanks for reading, and best of luck to everyone who's still holding out hope. I, for one, am expecting something in 7.x. Only time will tell if there's more planned for our Doctor. The end of Omega doesn't have to be the end of Zandik.