God Has Much To Answer For

Specifically, I have one serious theory and one more out there and unlikely one.

First, as other people have pointed out, when Kris and Noelle enter the lake, it not only takes place before the Flower dark world, but Kris also never goes to Castle Town. This means it’s possible that they still have Lancer in their inventory during that scene. And what that means is that during the weird route, the people who enter the lake are: A Human. A Monster. And a Prince from the Dark. So not only is it possible and likely that we won’t see Susie again during the weird route since Noelle would replace her as the monster, we might not see Ralsei again either as Lancer could be the replacement prince. This could also explain why Ralsei is seemingly extra happy to see Kris in the aborted weird route for chapter 5, because they know that if the weird route continued that Kris wasn’t going to come back. So in summary, theory 1: Kris, Noelle, Lancer party, Susie and Ralsei removed from the narrative.

Alternatively, the much less likely option. Kris and Noelle are crossing the lake, and *they’re* the two who leave the narrative, not going off on their own to continue the narrative without their friends. And there are crumbs of justification for this theory, because you could consider Side B to be a backup vessel rather than a backup story/map/chapter, because Kris has exited the confines of the story, and therefore we’d be using the discarded vessel from the start of the game, which exists on a save file even if you skip that part of the game so it likely has some function in the game, as a Kris replacement to continue playing the game. So in this scenario the party would be: Vessel, Susie, Ralsei, Kris and Noelle removed from the narrative. While this is much less likely, I think it would be a fascinating choice for the story, as it would go against expectations and create an interesting shift in the arrangements with Susie and Ralsei and between the player and two of them.

“It’s TV Time!” By Toby Fox

“Uptwon Funk” by Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars

“Poker Face” by Lady Gaga

“7th Element” by VITAS

“Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga

“Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles

The MST3K Theme

“Evening News” by Chamillionaire

Announcer from Super Smash Bros

“Bonfire” by Childish Gambino

“Milkshake” by Kelis

shadow the hedgehog hanging out with me in the parking lot: