Okay sorry for this word vomit but I just need to tell someone about this theory
Ralsei Knows the player exists. There's no way he doesn't know from what we've seen. (Him distracting us or literally looking directly at us in a chapter 3 segment where Susie tells Kris why they made her wear a bowtie)
There's also signs that us, the player, are The Angel, but we exist OUTSIDE of deltarune, how could the prophecy effect someone outside of the universe the prophecy depicts- It doesn't. We dont SEE the last prophecy, but I assume its something akin to "The Angel emerges victorious."
Ralsei telling us to spare every enemy is a self-preservation attempt, because We, the player, are Absurdly powerful (We can edit the files and look at every possible scenario), him telling us to spare everyone would hopefully result in the player when (or if) we actually fight the Delta Warriors, we don't immediately kill them. They cant change their fate, but we can.
In deltarune, you 'win' a battle by either sparing or defeating the enemies.
We would "emerge Victorious" if we SPARE or KILL the Delta Warriors.
The ending is the same, we win. but HOW we win is different.
your mind is so powerful oh my god. also thank you for sending me my first ask ever :)
i 100% agree with you that ralsei is aware of us the player, and he's also aware of a lot of the specific mechanics of the way we interact with their world, even telling us what buttons to press on occasion. (that part is insanely interesting to me because...is ralsei aware that we are playing a game or does he think our method of control is some kind of magic??)
there's no way to know exactly how the prophecy ends at this point in the story, but the idea that the win state for the player can be achieved by sparing OR killing characters is a critical aspect of the story and this ending of the prophecy would be very interesting.
if i can continue rambling a little,
i'm a believer in the theory that the player is the angel, so that's my reasoning as to why ralsei seems to have an attitude of deference, going along with whatever the player wants to do even if that means killing everyone we come across. i think the players real power and the reason ralsei seems to be so terrified of the prophecy is the near absolute control over the story and characters that we have. the player killing everyone isn't the worst case scenario in ralsei's mind as he's stated before that he doesn't think his life matters, this idea even extending to every other darkner and telling them that their lives don't matter in any way other than serving lightners. if the lightners want you dead, you die. (he's definitely growing out of this idea as kris and susie encourage him and get closer to him which is so sweet.) but more terrifying than death is losing control over your life.
the player is such a terrifying figure because we have the power to control the characters in deltarune like puppets. this idea comes from the control we have over kris throughout the story and also the snowgrave route where we force noelle to do things against her will. this would also allow the players actions to mirror gaster's in a cool way. we make noelle and kris into our puppet in the same manipulative way that gaster manipulates jevil and spamton.
another interesting parallel is the absolute control that FATE seems to have in this universe. even the smallest details are recorded in the prophecy and will come to pass (seemingly) no matter what choices anyone makes. violence and kindness both lead to the same destination. the end of the prophecy is unavoidable.
other characters also have the ability to make meaningful changes to the narrative, namely susie. she teaches ralsei and herself the "r-action" and "s-action" moves and ralsei reacts with absolute shock, insisting that's not how things are supposed to go. she also seems to be able to just blow past puzzles without solving them. she frequently overrides the players choices enforcing her own will, like when she drags ralsei off leaving kris alone in the city portion of chapter 2's darkworld. and that moment she has in chapter 4 where she literally shatters the prophecy, assuring ralsei that they'd never let that happen feels like VERY heavy foreshadowing, either for a super sad ending or a fate defying ending (or both).
however the story ends up shaking out though, i'm sure the ending will be very interesting :3
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