The Forgotten Mystery of Deltarune
In Chapter One, after fighting through the entirety of Card Castle, we arrive within the Throne Room of the Spade King - the ruler of this dark world - and come upon to a sight most strange... The entirety of his Throne Room is in ruins. Something that the narrations confirms to be the result of a "Struggle", one exclusive to this room.
And stranger yet, when we DO meet Spade King right after this whole room he seems... Entirely OK? But also seemingly standing off to the side of the "Gallery" arena.. Why was he just standing there?
He is wholly unaware of the Fun Gang's arrival, so it couldn't have been him "guarding" the fountain (Which he could've done in the throne room regardless) and the way he is positioned, removes the likelihood of him merely "Appreciating the Holy Fountain".
To me, it feels like he is here as a direct result of the Struggle within the Throne Room, leading to him exiting the room and wandering off into this area... Until Lancer arrived. BUT the mystery of the Struggle is never answered or solved - Not a single character even comments on it, not even as a joke - Thus having left this mystery entirely impossible to answer... But 5 chapters later, maybe we've learned enough to finally be able to answer it?
So, let's give it a shot!
It bears repeating, but the two most likely candidates - The other Card Kings or the Roaring Knight - Are directly deconfirmed, both by the torn banners being exclusively of spades, meaning that this happened AFTER King took power, along with Seam's dialogue placing their imprisonment as something that happened a while ago in the Dark World's history.
Whilst the Struggle within the Throne Room seems to be something that happened WHILE the Fun Gang's adventure was underway (Unless we want to argue that King forbade anyone from cleaning up his throne room for an exceedingly lengthy amount of time). And of course, Spade King never met the Knight given his ch4 dialogue, no less that the Knight would have no reason to attack someone that is constantly professing loyal to It.
So if not them, who else in the Dark World could?
Let's start off with dismissing all regular darkner enemies for obvious reasons, we see how a rebellion from them looks in the pacifist ending of ch1, after all.
With that we're left with NPCs and the other main antagonists and starting out way from one who was not only within the Castle BUT also the one character we see right before the throneroom...!
And of course same goes for the likes of other Castle residents such as Lancer (Don't even need to explain) and Jevil (Still locked in the basement), nor even characters beyond the castle like Mr. Elegance and Mr. Society (Their resistance against the King is not THAT intense) and of course, characters like Seam are clearly very neutral on King's reign to bother doing anything this ridiculous.
So- was this entire segment a waste of time? YES! :3
But it is important to make it clear how nobody in this entire Dark World that we meet would have the motivation or even capability to do something like this... Except.. What if it is someone we DIDN'T meet but WAS present in this chapter?
THAT'S RIGHT! THIS IS AN ERAM THEORY!
For those not in the know, during the chapter 1 anniversary stream we were treated to this fascinating "odd" mention by Toby Fox, by calling King's "cape" a Mantle, not even as part of a joke, he just says "Cool Mantle Bro" as if wanting to clarify that it is one, on the stream that reveals ch2's launch in which the mystery of the Shadow Mantle is revealed.
And upon inspecting the Mantle Holder's sprite in ch3, we see that there's a VERY clear similarity between the two, with the Mantle Enemy's "Horns" infact being the shoulder pads of the cape and Its mouth being exactly in the same spot where King's own second mouth is located, as if to further drive the similarity between them.
And timeline-wise, this checks out! Seam's Shadow Mantle could've only been stolen in ch1 as after that ERAM would've needed to somehow enter Castletown and smuggle it out through the entire city as opposed to the far more remote location of Seam's shop in Card World.
So In Chapter 1: ERAM possesses the Shadow Mantle akin to a vessel and has It fly out of Seam's Shop, It then flies off into Card Castle, enters King's Throneroom by flying to the top of the castle where the Gallery Arena is and entering from the north entry way and A STRUGGLE ENSUES.
After that we DO see the aftermath of the fight; ERAM as the Mantle is being worn by King who seems to have wandered off the throneroom and seemingly standing inert in the Gallery Arena... Before Lancer arrives.. And after the Battle... Well.
The second that Spade King has been defeated in the eyes of everyone, we're given a brief moment of TOTAL SILENCE as the only moving thing in view is the Mantle removing itself from King and literally flying off like a butterfly... It was a living piece of black cloth that ditched King the second he was no longer of use and then 2 chapters later we fight another living piece of black cloth.
We were looking for another character that'd be along with King after the Struggle and here we have it.
WHY did this happen? WHY to Spade King?
ERAM's motivations are a mysterious thing, I won't lie, but without getting too much into it, the SWORD ROUTE is very clear that its plans are centered around the Weird Route becoming a reality and is seemingly a being that exists entirely outside the Prophecy's control.
Along with ERAM being the ONLY CHARACTER besides Seam, to say the words "Shadow Crystals", no less displaying an extremely clear awareness of the "hunt" for them. And both the Weird Route and the Shadow Crystals are pathways to fighting against the prophecy, so if we have anything, that's gotta be their motivation for meddling with King in chapter 1.
SO: How does ERAM messing with King achieve that?
For starters, I think we can rule out the Shadow Mantle empowering King in his fight. It is after all a protective item specializing against DARK/STAR attacks and nobody in the Fun Gang has such attacks. No less that all offensive attacks are exclusively coming from King and his fight ends because he gets tired... So not that strong, tbh
A different idea is that by virtue of being worn, ERAM was able to quite literally whisper words in King's ears and give him all manner of thoughts. ERAM has after all been cleanly characterized as a manipulative entity with an extraordinary capability of dragging out the worst impulses and darkest thoughts of others into the forefront... And well...
While King in ch2 reveals this was a bluff as Lancer is infact a "Bouncy Boy", It does feel like King is acting extremely more aggressive, erratic and downright cruel in his chapter 1 appearance as opposed to all the chapters following after, something that is once more commented on by Toby, even if he placed the culprit being the "Fountain" itself.
King remains as an EXTREME ODDITY compared to every other Dark World Ruler after him. The other Rulers are VERY clear in their love of Lightners and wishing to do nothing more than to make them happy, any conflict with them naturally emerges from said dynamic.
Queen wants to force everyone into a Dark World so they can exist in bliss. Tenna wishes he doesn't get forgotten and the Flowers are attempting to create a world to make Asgore happy. But Spade King by comparison?
He wants them DEAD. To be slain and to have the Light World covered in darkness (under the flawed belief) for darkness to rule them instead! Both as revenge for the classroom having been forgotten and abandoned but also to ensure that they never again return to said "dark" times. It makes him extremely jarring compared to all other Dark Worlds that come after him and it is fascinating!
Suffice to say, ERAM isn't a character that is attempting to make people "Evil", in their talk with Kris they instead drag out the dark and subconscious thoughts of theirs already was there.
So when applied to King, ERAM would merely make him act upon his worst impulses and validate his worst thoughts perhaps?
But, this feels like a crude argument if we're honest. Spade King was already vowing his war against Lightners and as late chapter 5 is still preaching of his hatred of them for how they abandoned him and his fellow darkners. ERAM would've essentially being preaching to the choir if their goal was to "corrupt" the already pretty bloodthirsty King, no less that the Struggle in the throneroom would've absolutely not helped.
If anything, ERAM's presence only put Spade King in a massive disadvantage and was a key aspect of him loosing... WAIT WH-
WHY is King so easy to Tire?
I may have glossed over it and We may have all joked about King being a "fraudulent bum" compared to other Rulers that came after but... This entire post is literally detailing the mystery of the Struggle that King was the victim of. Wouldn't THAT be the reason why he's the ONLY boss in the entire game to ever be beaten through... Literally not doing anything?
What would've happened if King wasn't weakened by needing to fight the Heroes right after the Struggle in the throneroom? Well for starters, It would be impossible spare him. The only other character to have ACTs like King in Deltarune - Where we're given the choice to ACT and then we get instantly shut down by the enemy - is the Roaring Knight who can only be defeated by attacking them.
The Struggle has seemingly allowed us to be able to defeat King through pacifist means... No less that in a non-pacifist playthrough of Chapter 1, King is only defeated through Ralsei's Pacify if the residents of Card World don't come to save us.... In which we get this exclusive dialogue..
If King wasn't so utterly tired from both the Struggle in the Throne Room and the battle here, he would not have been viable to be pacified by Ralsei. And if that didn't happen...
Well, it goes without saying, but Ch1 of Deltarune remains amongst the only chapters in which not being a pacifist doesn't results in a character getting seriously injured if not outright slain. Berdly burning his wing in ch2, Tenna being cleaved apart in ch3, Jackenstein falling to his death in ch4 and Flowery in ch5...
Flowery isn't beholden to our will or the prophecy for it to determine his Destiny... So he dies whether or not we're nice to everyone because he acts independently of Us and his will is his own.
And I think something very similar happened here, ERAM in an extremely strange twist of expectations seems to have actually saved King's life by messing with the Prophecy?
This would perfectly fit in with ERAM's motivations and capacity to mess up the prophecy as a rogue element, but why Spade King?
Spade King has spent the past 4 chapters being comically inactive in everything as he has (willingly) remained imprisoned within his cell in defiance of the Fun Gang... So it's not like him remaining alive has changed anything..
Buut, the same could be said of every single other person in Castletown we recruit.. It is literally the "Retirement Home" for the characters we meet and who have played their part in the story. They cannot go anywhere else, for their story has concluded.
And King on the other hand isn't "playing along". He refuses to let go of his hatred of lightners and acts like he'll actually manage to have his revenge... But that is impossible, King's story ended in chapter 1, he is no longer a part of the prophecy, he is quite literally optional content now and therefore non-vital to the story, he is redundant in its eyes.
That is.. Assuming King is still subject to the Prophecy.
That is assuming that King didn't have his "original" story altered by the Struggle born of a Being whose actions seem to be a rogue element within the Prophecy and whose actions cause its instability.
That is assuming that King didn't have ERAM directly in his ears for a prolonged period of time to peerhaps whisper certain secrets?~
And a way to alter his destiny. A way in which he can fight the heroes on his terms with no Prophecy dictating his inevitable appearance and his inevitable defeat.
Without a Prophecy to dictate him as the "Bad Guy" for the "Heroes" to defeat..
At least that's what It could've told him to make him agree to follow along, not like he has another choice in his current state. As for ERAM's actual motives, IT MUST have a plan in the main route, after all not every timeline is going to be the Weird Route or Secret Bosses and banking on the cosmic lottery of "Being in the right timeline" feels weak.
And well, given everything we've seen, King being forced into a meeting with ERAM through the Struggle seems to be an integral part of the setup by It for whatever Its "default" plan ends up being in the Main Route, for what may await us next!
