I want to talk about Albedo and Subject Two. I like one and dislike the other, lol, but that's the beauty of this drama.
Yeah, I don't like Albedo, but I don't mind if others like him, because that's what it means to have your own tastes, lol. I only care about my opinion here and now, not anyone else's, so this isn't about trashing him. My topic is Subject Two's death and the implications of that event. Albedo clearly said, "I didn't kill a _human_," even though they're literally almost the same thing, and I think that says a lot about Albedo as a character. He's started talking a lot about his species and how unique he is, and it would be strange to deny his interest in that topic.
Now I'm going to stop being polite and avoiding harsh criticism and say that, before my very eyes, Albedo has transformed from a timid young nerd into an arrogant psychopath who views life through inhuman standards, despite being convinced that he himself is human. The way he views Durin's creation and existence as just another experiment, the way he views the world, makes him a truly deranged scientist. But that doesn't mean it makes him any less of a character, lol, a _character_, even if as a _human_ he's terrible. Actually, I like this real touching on gray morality this time and it’s important, because in Genshin they like to whitewash such ambiguous personalities (but this is not even so much a problem of the Hoyo themselves, because they are afraid to make someone a little more evil, because the fandom will react very violently and indignantly in any case. Now the relationships between the Harbingers are reduced to sugar, their past is retconned, moments of their “badness” are removed, so that they are simply misunderstood and innocent. But there is a real difference between “gray moral characters who can do both evil and good, who can treat subordinates, enemies, even colleagues terribly, but at the same time can still treat someone well” and “everything they do was of a good nature, and their dark side is only that they are on the side of an incomprehensible organization.” So in fact, it is so logical and natural that the creation of a great sinner, a scientist without any particular moral principles, starts behaving in a similar way? It's just that if we say, "Rhein is so cool, she's a scientist with shady principles, and Albedo is also cool with his potential, he said he could destroy Mond," then perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that from time to time these traits actually manifest themselves — unpleasant traits. Albedo is quite unpleasant. And here I want to quote words that are not mine (!) (I can't say it better myself, lol, but if you suddenly see it and don't like it, I'll of course remove it), but describe it very clearly:
"Albedo and Dottore may be similar, but unlike Dottore, Albedo doesn't show it until later. Dottore immediately makes it clear he doesn't give a shit about people, that he puts himself above all else and considers himself the center of the universe. Albedo seems like a normal guy, kind and positive, until you question the exceptional nature of his position. He'd never have bothered with Durin if the only thing at stake was Mond's safety. The entire arc on the Dragonspine is that his status as a perfect creation, the only experience in the series allowed to survive by Rhein, was challenged. That's why he's been sharpening knives all this time. You bitch, you dare create DOUBLES! Now you'll get it, a fucking dragon flop. And from that perspective, his revenge is twisted— _he replaced Durin with his best double_. Dottore saws himself into pieces, multiplies, he doesn’t give a damn, Albedo needs to be great and unique."
Well, yeah. I just don't understand the point of turning characters originally created for gray morality, who are literally "scientists who transcend reality," "creatures with their own vision of the world," into just a nice guy... just a good older brother for Klee... just someone everyone likes because he's so polite and courteous — he'd deliberately lull you into not thinking too much about his experiments in a closed lab, because his goal is to imitate the ideal person — to imitate, but he doesn't fully embody that. I don't buy all these cutesy family headcanons
(Also, these ideas about Albedo having to kill the Subject and even feeling sad about it. The leitmotif of this story is "I didn't kill a human")
these headcanons about Albedo, Durin, Subject Two, because their canonical relationship isn't about that at all. Yes, they are a family of sorts, but not an idealized one, dysfunctional, everyone pulling in their own direction, everyone resentful of something. This entire trio is literally squabbling over the right to exist here and now as a "good, cool human person," so Subject Two is jealous and mimics! That's why Durin tries "not to be like that evil dragon" to fit in! That's why Albedo doesn't call any of them "relatives," and even says about Subject Two that he's _not human_. I can't perceive this as some kind of special level of tsundere or misunderstanding that can be easily resolved with some conversation, and Albedo suddenly begins to see a _relative_ in an _object_, a reject of the system. "I am a special representative of my kind, and this uniqueness lies in the fact that I am one of a kind." I don't care what he added after that. Some say he cleanly solved the problem of the original Durin by fusing him with a toy one, because that's the easiest way. Well, that's not important. I just said all this to say it, because these are my thoughts, so don't argue with me if you're a fan of the good Albedo and the warm family relations between them all — I didn't say this to _prove_ anyone that they're wrong, but just for my own pleasure. As if one statement from me will immediately change the entire climate of the fandom, it's ridiculous, and that's the point, no, so what difference does it make who says what?
Leading up to Subject two, his story simply seems so tragic, and his very existence actually reveals the relationships between the Rheindottir creatures. I always prefer the "unlucky twin," lol. He'll survive and begin Klee's arc of realization 🙌🏻 "Why do you look like Albedo and what does it mean that you hate each other?"
