The funny thing about this story Pantalone told it's that, indeed, he is playing the gods' part of it. Of course Dottore noticed the clear parallel but that parallel was more deep than just the idea of being worshiped as a god.
Pantalone was already gaining time for Dottore, gaining time before the inevitable. That was part of his role there and even literally before telling the story, Pantalone was asking about what he has to do, and again it was about gaining time.
This is obvious, but the deeper part, for me, it's about the confession of sins.
That reminded me of the moment Dottore told Pantalone about dividing his soul in two and leaving one in the Northland Bank.
In that moment, Dottore started to tell his story, but Pantalone interrupted, asking for a more "interesting" part: The moment the original Zandik died.
That moment was a sin for Pantalone. It was a sin against him. He had to listen about it again. A moment that affected him, a moment that defined a part of how he sees Dottore as selfish even against himself. His selfish against himself hurts Pantalone.
Pantalone's reaction after hearing again that moment was of sadness, melancholy, a bitter memory.
But something interesting it's that in this frame, he almost looks like he is praying, praying for the original Zandik. He is listening carefully to the sin, and he is trying to focus on what Dottore is asking.
Playing the role of a god, but a god that can't interfere, only is there to listen and to by his side. Even if that person is heretic and dared to sin, Pantalone would still be there, granting him with what he wanted. Still, it was a sin.
The sin of making him lose. He was losing since Zandik's death, and he is still losing. And even accepting the contract was accepting to lose again, to have to go through that sin.
But still, he listened and helped, and he kept helping Dottore to have time.
After all, he became the executor of a will, Zandik's will after the original died, after the segments died too. The will of the relationship they build, of the dreams they shared.
And then, the story goes deeper. Not only he heard Dottore' sins, he was by his side during those sins. Time passed since they met, many suns and moons passed, the season changed, Feofan himself changed. Dottore's intention of speaking until the end of time, until the end of his time.
Until the time to have his own funeral. Repeating the same sin against Feofan. But at least this time, Feofan can say goodbye. At the same time, the funeral is kinda a gift for Pantalone, giving him the possibility to say goodbye, that's what funerals are for.
Zandik's time will stop, but Feofan's not. He has some years left, but he has to carry the will of Zandik, the memories about him. Again and again and again.
But at least, he granted Dottore him with his final request, helping him with his final experiment and his own funeral, helping him with his blasphemy experiment, with his sin against others, and against him. Dottore's last sin, he ended his "confession" to Pantalone.
Indeed, that confession made Pantalone's life more miserable, living in constant loss and grief, but the end made things worse.
So, I'm going to overanalyze Sandrone's voice line about Pantalone bc I think it says something about him.
It's funny but the interesting thing about this anecdote Sandrone tells it's how Pantalone reacted. He just insulted her. But why did he do it? Not only that but it was so obvious he trated her as rude. He did it Bc Sandrone asking Pantalone about why he favored Dottore's research funds over hers was her saying Pantalone is being emotional. It's her saying Pantalone is not doing his work well and he is not being fair, he is favoring someone bc of the relationship they have. And this is an insult for Pantalone, even if it's true, but he wouldn't admit it.
Something, something about Pantalone doing his best to hide his emotions but failing. He is more emotional than he wants to admit. This reminded me of Arlecchino's voice line about him. I know the voice lines are 100% trustworthy, but it says something about how others perceive the other.
And it's interesting how Arlecchino would say that Pantalone despite being mostly rational, he is actually pretty emotional, that his actions are actually governed by his emotions and how he would think he can control these emotions when he can't. And not only his reaction to Sandrone is a proof about this, but his relationship with Dottore is THE proof about it.
Dottore was surprised that Pantalone was physically in Sumeru to help him. Of course Dottore was thinking Pantalone was just doing it bc of the elixir. Pantalone's response is interesting bc it's him saying he doesn't want Dottore to die but then he said that Dottore already had a long life. Pantalone already knows Dottore was going to die, so him being there, it's bc he doesn't want him to die, not bc of the elixir, but bc he truly doesn't want Dottore to die. At the same time, he is there to help, to gain more time with Dottore. It's an emotional decision to be there.
He already talked about how much he is losing with that plan and with the relationship they have. Yet, he is still there with Dottore. Even if he tries to tell Dottore and himself a lie about transactions, his actions show the emotions behind it. He feels he is losing, but at the same time, what he gains from the relationship is just being with Dottore. It's the emotions acting.
"Friends" but he say that their friendship isn't the most sincere. Yet he proceeded to basically say that it's them against the world, that they share a path. Indeed, their relationship isn't the most sincere bc Pantalone tries to mask his feelings with a facade of "transactions". But his feelings are sincere, those feelings he tries to hide are purely sincere. And he acts on those feelings even if he wouldn't want it.
This moment is another interesting example. Pantalone just blames Dottore for his actions. But what he said is the interesting part: He said he hardly can defy Dottore's demands. Of course, he said it to play the victim, but maybe there is some truth in his words. After all, he is there helping Dottore with something he asked for. And it's helping him with something he doesn't like at all. He also approves Dottore's research funds over others, he also let him do experiments, even on himself; he didn't argue that much when he eliminated the other segments, he didn't even argue that much when the segments dissected Zandik. Maybe he can't defy Dottore at all when he asks or expects something for him, but not bc he can't, it's bc he cares for Dottore enough to want to help him and to decided to be by his side. And to respect what Dottore wants. Not as a victim, but by his own decision that it's born from his feelings about him.
It's not that he doesn't argue, he talks to Dottore, he talks to him bc he cares about him. That's why he would point out things like how Dottore' selfishness also affects himself.
His emotions slip in certain moments, like in this moment. It was his way of saying "you don't have to do this". It's a mix between trying to respect Dottore's desires and also holding his own emotions, yet they slip.
Everything he does for Dottore is him being emotional.
There is something so ironic about Pantalone when it comes to his relationship with Dottore.
The man who always adds a loophole in the contracts to have the advantage, the man obsessed with fair exchange, it's the same man that accepted a relationship where he isn't the one with advantage over the other, Dottore. He can have benefits, and he is the one in power of the money for Dottore's proyects, but that power is nothing compared to Dottore's power over his life. A power close to the divine, unlike his mundane power.
But Pantalone was fine with it, he decided to be in a relationship despite losing a lot, and it's not about money. It's about the loss of Zandik and his segments. He would endure it, bc the benefits of the relationship are bigger for him than how hurt he can feel. The benefits are more than the elixir of immortality or having Dottore as some scapegoat for him, the true benfits are emotionals, the benefit of being alongside someone he feels connected to.
Arlecchino's voice line about him seems pretty accurate. She would say Pantalone lacks "clarity", that his actions are governed by his feelings. She talks about how people like Pantalone, rational people, would believe they're capable of controlling their emotions and that confidence is actually their greatest weakness. Then we have Pantalone talking about his relationship with Dottore in transactional terms, only for him to have acts and certain dialogues that obviously suggests more, acts and phrases that show his emotions towards Dottore. He would go to Sumeru despite field work being risky for him, despite the whole decision of going there to help Dottore being risky. He would remind Dottore of the human he is, he would express he doesn't want him to die. His emotions slips between his words and actions.
The irony of choosing a relationship, a contract where he is at disadvantage in a certain way, where he could loss something important (and he did) But he trusted Zandik, trusted him enough to let him have the power over his life and death. He has to pay for it, he would do it, he is paying for that with the painful grief. That wasn't a totally rational decision, that was an emotional decision.
But why he wouldn't trust Zandik? After all, when the gods ignored him, Zandik was the only one that looked at him, and gave him an opportunity the gods never give despite how much he desired it.
Having a vision is to be special in some way, it's a divine power. Just like Feofan could see the human in Zandik, Zandik could see Feofan as special. That's a benefit, how Zandik makes him feel is his most precious benefit. And that's why Feofan would choose to be with him, because he truly likes Zandik, even if Zandik himself can't believe him.
Me: I like the last name Veksel for Feofan because it sounds like "Wechsel" and that's such an on-the-nose and cute name for a banker. I wonder what it means in Russian though--
While I am completely convinced that Pantalone and Dottore were, in fact, toxic enablers whose like-minded disdain for Teyvat's laws turned their relationship into a dangerous echo chamber that likely drove them both to extremes over the last 400 years, I think one thing I really appreciate (and which I haven't seen much talk over) is that Dottore's care for Pantalone's well-being was absolutely not one-sided.
Despite not having a single thought for his own health or safety, Pantalone clearly knows Dottore's mental state is a trainwreck, and we get to see Pantalone try multiple times to confront Dottore's (well, Omega's) unhealthy mindset and negative self-image.
In particular, Pantalone seems fixated on reminding Omega of Dottore's humanity--he insists that Omega is Zandik, the person, not just a Segment, and repeatedly refuses to accept that Omega is incapable of human feeling.
Putting aside the potentially very dark reason here (claiming that Omega is Zandik could simply be a way of avoiding the grief of losing the original Zandik--if he's still there, Pantalone doesn't have to mourn him), I think this is actually an incredible degree of kindness to Dottore.
It is clear, and not even particularly subtle, that the Segments (especially Omega) struggled with issues of self-identity, of not knowing whether to think of themselves as "Zandik" or as separate entities, unable to move on from the mindsets they were locked into upon their creation, unable to differentiate into their own people over time, unable to surpass the creator to become "real." Omega makes it particularly clear that he disdained this lifestyle and the other Segments, refusing to see them as anything but extensions of "himself," rather than their own individuals (because his egoism is a poorly projected mask he uses to hide his own struggle to see himself as an individual and not "the one who should be Zandik but isn't"). Omega ultimately craves to subsume the other Segments, becoming "the only Dottore" so that he can finally achieve a whole identity and personhood for himself. There's so, so, so much existential horror in this concept that it's hard to even conceive of how miserable a life it would be--mentally understanding yourself as someone while knowing that you are actually a something instead.
Out of everyone in the game, the only character we see actually affirming Omega's identity, telling him that he is a person, he has a name, he is entitled to the very identity he was born with... is Pantalone. Whatever his reasons--selfish or twisted as they may be--Pantalone is the only person treating Omega like a real human being, and the only one we see over and over trying to remind Omega that, deep down, he still has a human heart.
Even that final statement:
Is a powerful exercise in recognizing agency, allowing Omega to decide for himself what identity he wants to finally, finally lay claim to.
Pantalone doesn't just care about Dottore's intelligence or the benefits he's reaped by being Dottore's financial backer. He cares about Dottore's sense of self, his identity, his very existence.
And the game goes out of its way to make it clear that isn't just a one-off thing--Pantalone's been prodding at Dottore's mental issues for years, trying to get Dottore to work his way through some of his distorted thinking since well back in their relationship. The Anomalous Tree Marrow notes:
In this case, "selfishness" seems to refer to not only the idea of being literally self-centered (i.e. Omega wanting to value his own existence above the other Segments or even the original Zandik), but also to Omega's clear self-hatred. If all the Segments are Zandik, then viewing Zandik as weak, pathetic, or in need of replacement means seeing yourself as weak and pathetic; believing you are "better" than the others means first admitting that "you" were never perfect.
Omega's desire to kill the other Segments, to claim Zandik's identity, to elevate himself to the position of godhood, to fight with everything he has against the fate the heavens assigned "him", all ultimately stem from an inability to accept himself, a constant selfish refusal of reality, an all-consuming desire to achieve more, to learn more, to be more.
Pantalone, in fact, implies this with his metaphor about the praying criminal:
Dottore misunderstands and takes the metaphor literally, but Pantalone's point is clarified later for the viewers:
Over and over again, Pantalone tried to warn Omega that his views and behaviors towards himself were utterly self-destructive, that his self-centered fixation with being "Dottore" stems from an inherent disgust for "Zandik" [himself] and his very human limitations. Quietly, if perhaps too gently, Pantalone has been trying for years to help Omega rethink his fragmented self-identity and reconsider the value of his life as a person.
And it seems that he almost, almost made it through to Omega sometimes:
To an appropriate degree, of course.
Omega can never reflect too deeply on himself or his course of action, because doing so would force him to confront the gaping abyss that lies between the inflated, narcissistic front he projects and the significantly more fragile sense of inadequate "self" that lies below it.
It even seems that Pantalone was able to understand Dottore's mental needs much more than anyone else, being also the only character we see to deliberately, clearly, and repeatedly give Omega the validation he so blatantly fishes for, over and over:
Make all the jokes you want about Dottore giving the Traveler 16578698 chances to join forces, but the reason he did that was because--even while insisting he doesn't remotely care--he obviously desperately craves understanding, acceptance, and respect from others. There's a reason the very first thing he asked Pierro was "Are you going to reject me like everyone else?"
Pantalone knows that Omega--well, all versions of Dottore most likely--needed acceptance, admiration, and confirmation of respect from others, and he went out of his way to repeatedly reassure Omega, giving his praise and accolades wherever it was due, while literally every other character in the game--even Dottore's other Fatui allies!--have not a single positive word to say.
While everyone is busy talking about how much Dottore cared for Pantalone's physical well-being, I think it's incredible just how obviously that care was returned. Pantalone cared! He really did. Dottore tried to protect Pantalone's health despite all of Pantalone's attempts to self-sabotage, but Pantalone tried to protect Dottore's absolutely fractured mental health despite every action leading Dottore closer to total self-destruction.
The irony, of course, is that Pantalone's own mental health is clearly a disaster too, and Dottore has no regard for life that isn't Pantalone's, so this was one of the most obvious (and frankly sad) examples of "the blind leading the blind"--neither one of these characters is remotely healthy, but they still tried their best to help each other. Clearly neither one of them knows how to fix the incredibly broken people that they are, but they were trying! Even as their convictions and goals dragged them both further and further into the dark, they still saw each other's suffering and tried to alleviate it, where no one else in the entire world bothered.
It's really amazing to me how much Hoyo managed to pack into just one little patch. In terms of using the narrative to convey tons of information about characters' relationships, mental states, and personal narrative arcs, I really can't think of another patch that did it quite as well as this one.
I love that it's canon Dottore really genuinely loved Columbina and Pantalone hated her guts from the moment they met. The idea of Dottore trying to bring Columbina home like a stray cat and Pantalone putting his foot down is so funny to me.
Dottore: "But—"
Pantalone: "NO. And that's FINAL. Put that thing back where you found it, you don't know where its been, it could have rabies!"
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