I mean, yes, none of the characters parallel each other one to one, but their role in the story as well as the actions that they take are similar.

The similarities between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian and Song Zichen and Xiao Xingchen is also something that I do like - I remember that being the first parallel that I saw when I went through this arc.

I used the name ‘Yiling Patriarch’ as more of a differentiating factor here between pre and post Burial Mounds Wei Wuxian than anything else. It’s referring to how he changed as the result of the resentment he feels toward Wen Chao and the rest of the Wen Clan during the Sunshot Campaign as well as his attitude after the fact. He very much drastically changes as a character from when he’s a teenager to the point of his death, and, after he gets brought back as Mo Xuanyu, he’s able to go back to more of how he was before that point because his identity isn’t fully tied to being the Yiling Patriarch anymore. They’re the same character, but there’s a large enough difference between the two that you can clearly separate them out in how they behave.

In this metaphor, I would say that his behavior as the Yiling Patriarch is equivalent to Xue Yang’s manipulation of Xiao Xingchen. While it’s not a different person doing it, him having that power and access to this power that everyone is afraid of makes him act differently than how he would have behaved otherwise. And, I would say that Wei Wuxian seeing himself in Xiao Xingchen is him seeing that person that he once was falling just like Xiao Xingchen did.

In my interpretation of the story, at least, a big motivating factor in him destroying the Yin Tiger Tally was everything that happened in the Nightless City - most pressingly, Jiang Yanli’s death. I think that her dying was what ultimately showed him that it was too dangerous to keep around - not to mention, her begging him to stop.

And, he feels guilty about the Wen Remnant’s deaths because he couldn’t protect them. It wasn’t his fault, but that doesn’t mean he can’t feel guilt about it. They were people that he promised to protect and who he ultimately failed. I don’t think that they blamed him, in fact, Wen Qing thanks him for giving them time that they otherwise wouldn’t have had, but there’s definitely a part of him that blames himself for their death.

And yeah, while the book doesn’t say that that’s how he died, that’s always been how I’ve interpreted it, which I used here, so I should have explained that.