Why you can't be a double agent for Dottore
I’ve been thinking about a dark "What If" scenario for this scene.
Imagine if the protagonist actually agreed to kill the two thieves to gain Dottore's trust. The idea is to sacrifice a few guilty people now to stop his evil plans later (the "double agent" strategy).
But I think this is a trap.
If you kill the thieves, you don't fool Dottore—you just become his tool. He creates a slippery slope. Today, he asks you to kill two bandits. Tomorrow, to "prove your loyalty" again, he might ask you to kill a friend or even Paimon.
You can't outsmart someone like him by playing his game. Eventually, you would lose yourself before you could ever strike back.
What do you think? Would Dottore ever actually trust a double agent?
Imagine if the protagonist actually agreed to kill the two thieves to gain Dottore's trust. The idea is to sacrifice a few guilty people now to stop his evil plans later (the "double agent" strategy).
But I think this is a trap.
If you kill the thieves, you don't fool Dottore—you just become his tool. He creates a slippery slope. Today, he asks you to kill two bandits. Tomorrow, to "prove your loyalty" again, he might ask you to kill a friend or even Paimon.
You can't outsmart someone like him by playing his game. Eventually, you would lose yourself before you could ever strike back.
What do you think? Would Dottore ever actually trust a double agent?
Commentaires
as for traveler, they proved their "morality " when he backstabbed dottore (what was mc expecting? Him to die??? Get a headpat?? Mc wouldve gotten their ahh beaten if wanderer hadnt saved them in time) ., dottore turned his back on mc for a reason afterall , everything he does is calculated . , every experiment he conducts, he has already calculated all possible outcomes. Theres no hope to be a double agent for dottore- you're either loyal to him or you're not
But what strikes me is the abruptness of his test. Why jump straight to kill them if he already calculated the outcome?
Do you think he was just bored and wanted to force an ultimatum (become a tool or be discarded)? Or was he specifically testing if the Traveler/Descender had any darkness in them that he could exploit later?
It feels like he turned his back on purpose because he knew exactly that the MC represents "moral justice" and would try to attack him instead of the thieves.
you can see how many times he tries to negotiate with mc, even after killing sandrone, its clear he wants mc on his side and for everything dottore is, he's not someone who will back down so easily.
another explanation i have for why he turned his back on mc, imo while he was negotiating with the traveler , he let himself be vulnerable and try to ally with them (we know where mhy is going with his characterization) . mind you he gave mc many chances. he also mentions he has no problem in playing the villain as he's been doing that for along time already.
so when mc refuses to even acknowledge him and the bossfight starts, he has confirmed negotiating wont work so he dives back into his role as the villain that fate has assigned to him.
It’s a tricky balance. True, Childe literally tried to wipe out Liyue (and would have if not for the Adepti/MC), but he’s accepted. Dottore needs a similar narrative workaround. But whatever they do, they absolutely must keep his charisma and arrogance. Without that superiority complex, he just wouldn't be Dottore.
Though yes, the only reason we survived was good timing but I think at that point the Traveler decided it was "do or die" considering they just found out Nefer peaked through them.
For me it was s demonstration that, for all his claims of Godlike omniscience he was still "Dotorre", a Sociopathic Scientist with a very human, if brilliant mind that going by his examples had a very alien value system to normal people.
It validates the idea that he still has very human flaws (pride and rage), no matter how much he tries to transcend humanity.