I've seen people be mad that Genshin is calling Dragonspine Durin both an Evil Dragon and like that of an innocent child (usually complaining of the villainization of the later than the woobification of the former, especially when referring to how Storybook Durin essentially replaces him) and.
He can be both. Guys, he is both.
He was an innocent child who thought a battle to the death was just playful dancing. He thought he and Dvalin were friends right as Dvalin killed him. He wished for a better future without him because he realized in death that his very existence was a calamity upon the world.
He wasn't evil and malicious by nature, but he was destructive in nature--which isn't his fault! But he still hurt so many lives just. By existing. It doesn't matter his intentions or perspective. Living things died because of him. The nation most hurt by his calamity is going to be angry and upset about it.
Just because someone accidentally broke your arm doesn't make that arm any less broken.
Also: Dragonspine Durin's coordinated attack on Mondstadt makes total sense when you remember that he thought a battle to the death was just a dance. To him, he was likely just playing a game! That or what the game is calling "Dragonspine Durin" in that storyline is actually the malice of the Abyss, which would absolve DS Durin of that completely if it was just abyssal malice mistakened to be DS Durin.
Either way--Genshin is notorious for conflicting information because of its many unreliable narrators. The witches say DS Durin was like that of an innocent child, Mondstadters claim he was an evil dragon--we don't actually know the truth here because every party is biased for one reason or another.
We'll only ever get to know the truth if we actually see things from DS Durin's perspective.
Also, to touch upon SB Durin replacing DS Durin--I think it can be viewed as a tragedy, sure--but the heart of DS Durin still resides on SB Durin's new body, and I think that means something.
The most alive thing about DS Durin, taken and placed into the body of a self that was created solely to experience what he couldn't--I think it's tragic that he couldn't experience this in his own life, but he is still a part of SB Durin's new body--in Durin's SQ, destroying DS Durin's heart leads to SB Durin following his footsteps and becoming "Evil" just like him. I think that's important to consider--and to remember that SB Durin and DS Durin, both inside of Playable Durin, are fighting their fate.
And Tragic or not... there's hope in that. DS Durin, SB Durin--they get to experience writing their own story as Playable Durin. Maybe one isn't as conscious about it as the other, but both are, inherently, there.
(Goes without being said, but spoilers for 5.6 Paralogism quest ahead (and inversion of genesis quest))
I'm seeing a lot of confusion related to the Durin-merging-madness of Paralogism, and since I failed to write any sort of Albedo analysis for Paralogism or Wanderer analysis for Inversion of Genesis, I will at least try and explain away some of the confusion around the Durin situation (based on my potentially flawed understanding, so. don't jump me if I get somethings wrong.)
(ac @lic_617_)
The fate of names
The first concept to understand is that Mini-Durin's entire existence is a parallel to his real-word counterpart. Written into a fairytale yes, but simply by virtue of sharing the same name he will share the same fate. This was explored in Simulanka and is a prevalent theme in Genshin as a whole - names are inextricably linked with fate.
The fact that Mini Durin was created as a part of a fairytale world allowed that fate to be altered somewhat, with the aid of everyone's favorite fate-defying maniac, Wanderer. (I love this, by the way, he really is the perfect person to play that particular role of subverting and saying stick-it to fate.)
Now that Mini Durin has subverted fate to some degree and had a happier ending re-written for him, it's possible to use his pure soul as a means of subverting the fate of the Dragonspine Durin. Now here's where things start to get a bit muddy, so I will use Wanderer as an example and a parallel since we have a post-fusion example ready in him.
Wanderer as a Durin parallel
(ac @chencuya)
Wanderer is a parallel to Durin's story in many ways, from the obvious start as an innocent being who is then mistreated by the world and turns "evil", down to the merging of an innocent form with an "evil" form to create a new whole.
If we look at what Wanderer went through in Inversion of Genesis, we can compare Mini Durin to the form of him that remained after Scaramouche was erased from the Irminsul. A being who is innocent and has a peaceful life, yes - but also someone empty, someone lost, seeking a purpose that he doesn't know how to find. Mini Durin exists in an idyllic fairytale world, but ultimately he hungers for something more, something real, something to give meaning to his life.
The way the empty Wanderer found his meaning was by reuniting with his past, with his sins, with his "evil self". Does this mean he "lost his innocent version" in the process? Sure, maybe. That innocent false-image of Wanderer is certainly gone, but he found what he was seeking even in that form - a purpose, a goal, something meaningful. At the same time, it's not like that existence is overwritten entirely, because he didn't become the person Scaramouche was at the time of his erasure.
His desire for atonement and to rewrite a new fate for himself are stemming from the "clean-slate" version of himself who could see his own past actions from an outside perspective, as someone who has broken free from the blinds of Scaramouche's pain and rage. This is what allowed him - along with the realizations that erasing himself cannot fix anything - to strive to atone for his evils and become someone new.
In the same way that the current Wanderer is neither wholly Scaramouche nor the blank-slate Wanderer, the fusion of Durins is somewhat similar.
Mini Durin is fundamentally not a different entity than the Dragonspine Durin, he is merely an alternate reality of Durin's fate. A version of him who has seen a different perspective, and that will allow him to view Dragonspine Durin's life and actions freed from the blinds of his pain and rage. Mini Durin isn't any more erased than the empty-wanderer is post-fusion, and he himself found what he was seeking for by fusing with his real world counterpart. Saving him, reclaiming the fate of the name Durin, and achieving a higher purpose.
(An aside, but I don't think "becoming human" was Mini Durins higher goal - it was to make a difference in the world, save Albedo's brother - a once-innocent soul, do something meaningful. That he became a human was a byproduct of his initial goal. But this part is merely my own opinion and also wholly unrelated. It just irks me to think of "becoming human" as a way to achieve greatness and I don't think that was what was meant.)
After all, he and the real world Durin are both written from the same fate, and while Dragonspine Durin's past actions are not directly Mini Durin's past actions, there are still two parts of the same fate. Their lives - past, present, and future - are intertwined, and that's why Mini can be the salvation for Dragonspine's Durin. He is the same being with a different perspective, the Wanderer to Durin's Balladeer. The blinds of pain and rage can be lifted by an outside perspective, hope of a better ending can be introduced by one who has lived the better ending, the alternate reality.
It never was about who is more or less in the Fused Durin, because they are one and the same - two shards from the same fate, two angles of the same story, two facets from the same gem. One has seen the light and brings it to the side which remained in the shadows.
(ac @NeytiRv)
Ultimately, I have complete faith in Durin-the-being's ability to live his new life, aided by one who understands where he's coming from entirely and another who is there to teach him the ways of the human world. Durin - the lost, lonely child - finally has friends and family and understanding, and a true chance to live his life the way he's always wanted to. He can fight for the things he believes in, carve for himself the life he always wanted to live. He has a chance to rewrite fate the way he himself wants to. Sounds familiar... but if I yap anymore about just how similar Wanderer and Durin are, I'll be here for another few hours...
imo i still think what would have been an easy way to fix mini durin's plotline would literally have been for the witches to somehow transport og durin's soul into simulanka (which i'm sure they could do somehow. magic fuckery, man) and then just slightly altered the whole plotline so that og durin's shell was the threat (mindless abyss monster) and simulanka-og-durin was our little guy. and he still got to have complicated feelings about rhinedottir and dvalin and everything else
and i really only ascribe to this whole situation anyway bc i really like andersotter's fondness for her son and the way they explored the whole "overwriting fate" concept they introduced through his quest and all, but it's just. either keep durin as a tragic character or actually do RIGHT by him
