So I read this somewhere which instantly starts making sense when you start thinking about it and which I'm gonna expand upon here.
This post is kind of a copy-paste that I originally posted on Dottore Mains but since it directly connects with Capitano, I've decided to repost it here as well, and gives us all new POVs to look at things. Here it is below:
We know both Dottore and Capitano are coming back. We know both of them have received tons story and lore points setting up their return, especially Dottore in 6.6, but the question is "when will they return ?"
Just like Columbina, they both are among the "Big 3" harbingers, and as part of the Big 3, they are bound to received SUPER special treatments when they release - What I mean by that is, when Mihoyo's getting ready to release Capitano and Dottore, they both will receive their own dedicated patch cycles, their own exclusive Nations/Sub-Nations, GREATLY Expanded lore and story in the form of massive Archon Quests, and the likes
Because people need to realize one thing - The Tsaritsa is the last of the 7 Archons. After her, Mihoyo needs another "Big hype Archon-level faction" to sell. Columbina was a big social experiment in seeing if they can do that and they succeeded with big numbers
Meaning that after 7.x, we can either receive Archon level treatment for both Capitano and Dottore as main patch cycles, or they can just jump straight to Khaenriah with 8.x and then jump to Capitano and Dottore Sagas with 9.x and 10.x. Maybe even combine the Dark Sea together with their inclusion, just like how they combined Kod-Krai with Schneznaya.
Ofcource, this is one of the many theories we have, and is a direct objection of the Theory of Capitano releasing around 7.4 to complete the whole 3 Year Theory and the Lunar Cycle Theory, and Pantalone eventually finding a way to resurrect him in 7.x., and while I would ideally want that so that we can get our playable men ASAP after waiting all these years, there's also a 50/50 chance, that Mihoyo will gatekeep these 2 and drag there hype as much as they really can before they can sell them, like how they did with Columbina, so if these 2 don't release in 7.x, then expect Archon-Level marketing for them with future dedicated main patch cycles
Again, we know Capitano and Dottore are coming. We know they'll be playable, but either they're becoming playable within the next 12 months from now, or a good few years, probably for when Da Wei would need the money to buy his 69th Yacht.