So there seems to be a common consensus amongst folks here that giving Tenna to Mettaton in Chapter 4 is the "good choice," and people feel guilty about wanting to go back and keep him in Castle Town now that we know about the chapter 5 cutscene. So I kinda just wanted to share a bit of my thoughts on that, because honestly, giving Tenna to Mettaton never really sat right with me??
(Just as a heads up, this is a Tenna character arc analysis, and it has NOTHING TO DO with shipping content in any capacity - this is exclusively about Tenna and Deltarune's larger narrative. I am putting this in the spamtenna tag though because, let's be honest, it's 90% spamtenna shippers who are having this internal struggle rn)
Okay so at the end of chapter 3, Tenna tells us that his motivation for working with the Knight is so he can be watched by the lightners again. He sees the connection he has with the lightners and his usefulness to them to be his entire purpose, and without it, he is nothing.
And of course, Ralsei immediately backs him up on that. Which mirrors perfectly with the conversation him and Susie were having at the beginning of the chapter.
And Susie swoops in and tells both of them that they're being stupid. That what matters is that they find people who care about them.
The conflict of whether darkners are REAL and whether their thoughts and feelings matter outside of the context of the lightners is CLEARLY a very important part of the overarching story and themes within Deltarune, and will probably also be a huge part of Ralsei's story arc as well. While there is a chance that Ralsei will be proven right, I personally think that a confirmation that none of these characters are real and none of this shit matters would be wayyy too heavy for a Toby Fox game, and if I think about it too long then I might cry. So I am going to assume that this interaction is paving the way for a potential thesis - darkners MATTER, and their thoughts and feelings MATTER outside of what they can provide to the lightners.
If we lean into that, then we can see how Tenna can be used as a case study for this. This seems to be lining everything up for his post-chapter character arc. What he WANTS is to be watched by the lightners. But what he NEEDS is to find closeness and connection with the people who are actually around him, and find meaning in his life outside of his intended purpose.
So, when the game prompts you into giving Tenna to Mettaton, the whole thing felt a bit... Off to me. Too easy. By giving Tenna to Mettaton, aren't you basically just swapping out lightners Indiana Jones style? He will still EVENTUALLY become obsolete. And, yes, you could argue that him getting thrown away is equivalent to death for him (which very well could be true), but you could also argue that Susie and Kris didn't exactly bother to plug Tenna in while he's in the Castle Town closet and turn him on. And yet, he still exists.
So as long as he isn't crushed by a freaking trash compactor, he is still a living darkner. Which means that, EVENTUALLY, he will need to go through this entire song and dance again. He will need to either find a new lightner, or bite the bullet and learn to live without one.
In my reading of this character, I think that leaving Tenna in Castle Town is actually GOOD for him. Even if he never again speaks to or interacts with any of his potential waifus, he can make friends and grow connections and HAVE A LIFE outside of being a watchable TV.
Knowing how Toby develops his characters, I doubt that either option will be explicitly BAD for him, especially since the potential dynamic between Tenna and Mettaton has hella good vibes. I have no doubt that he would be happy there. But I am interested to see how the character diverges depending on your choice! Maybe it has no consequences at all and just opts you into or out of additional story content. Or I could be completely wrong and we can all traumatize the TV together ♥️
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