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Idk if anyone else is getting this vibe.

But i feel like the themes of freedom in deltarune span beyond JUST freedom = good, control = bad

Like. theres another aspect to it where i feel like the game is implying that friendship is another form of control or limitation and that ‘freedom’ also implies just not giving a shit about other people.

connections & bonds keep coming up in the narrative, and chapter 1 really places a lot of emphasis on how “Yeah, you can be free and just do whatever you want without regard for others, but that comes at the consequence of harming friendships” (jevil and spamton’s quests also reinforce the theming around how the pursuit of freedom comes at the cost of losing connections.)

(Hell, a preview of some of the stuff from the Chapter 5 Mike room implies that Spamton forming a contract with Tenna in exchange for his secret is the ENTIRE reason why his benefactor abandoned him. Ans sure you can argue it was spamton being willing to reveal the secret that made him get abandoned, but Tenna seemed really intent on saying that the main problem was him signing the contract at all. Him forming a contract is representative of him being okay with giving up some of his freedom in exchange for something else, Spamton’s benefactor likely viewed that as a betrayal of whatever initial deal they made, since him becoming a big shot came at the cost of all his prior friendships being broken and his new friendships (like Swatch) being relatively shallow. A lot of Spamton’s side quest is about how he’s actually extremely reliant on other people and outside help in order to achieve his goals— anyway back to my main point—)

the trailer to 3 & 4 emphasizing how deltarune is a story of friendship, and that one tweet talking about “i just hope you can be friends with everyone someday” and the gaster on twitter going “isn’t it beautiful to need each-other in this way?” really makes me feel like theres more to this whole theming than how it appears on the surface.

a mutual agreement, a contract, a connection, a bond, a friendship, an alliance, a relationship, and love, these are all limitations, and thusly are also forms of control. It’s a self-imposed limitation so as to prevent yourself from unintentionally hurting the people you care about.

conversely, being abrasive, not caring about other people, disregarding order, intentionally causing harm and inciting chaos, is also a form of freedom. If freedom means not being limited by the rules and not being beholden to what other people want, then that implies freedom can also just mean being an asshole on purpose for no reason (other than pursuing even further power so that you can maintain your freedom.)

“The bonds you break may make you stronger”

on this point, i feel like theres a connection between the idea of power, broken bonds, strength, and freedom in contrast to the idea of connections, friendship, bonds, and control.

Jevil and Spamton emphasize this.

Jevil’s entire backstory is about how his friend was forced to lock him up, severing their connection. And the first thing we hear from Jevil is about how “Lonely” his freedom is. Yes, Jevil is completely free now, but that came at the cost of literally everything. He cant interact with anyone anymore, and the people that did think fondly of him in the past, like Seam or King, miss interacting with him.

Spamton wanted to break his strings, and we help him with that. He even emphasizes that the greatest treasure was actually friendship just before we cut the last string, and when we DO cut his last string, he falls to the ground limp. Unable to do anything anymore.

[side tangent] Theres also kinda this vague implication that the ‘pinnacle’ of freedom is either death (Gerson), or that death is a ‘failed’ pinnacle (Spamton.) that theres something beyond death that would allow someone to attain even further freedom. As no longer being tied down by anything left behind in the living world is seemingly the path to true freedom (Gerson and Jevil) Like. idk. erasing all memories of your existence or something. Like… if you died and nobody remembered you, yet you were still able to see and influence reality, only then would you actually truly be free from the ties of the mortal world. To have power and wield it without any consequence whatsoever. Of course, the ULTIMATE freedom would be to not be beholden to fate in any way whatsoever. To be able to ignore causality and the natural order of events, such as ‘before’ and ‘after.’

Like- disregarding that side tangent lets go back to the chapter 1 thing. Susie’s rudeness stat was at the max back then, and she disregarded everything you asked her to do. then when it drops after she actually joins the party for real, you’re able to actually give her commands.

and i think that might be the entire crux of it.

The dichotomy between freedom and control is feels like a facet of a larger dichotomy between Chaos and Order.

We already know that Rudeness and Chaos are connected, due to Jevil’s item reducing the TP needed for rude buster, and King’s words (Battle theme name: Chaos King) being a parallel to Susie’s. We can also intuit that Chaos is connected to freedom, due to the Shadowguys & Pippins being partly Chaos element. Shadowguys seemingly get the chaos element due to their connection to “Musical freedom,” the desire to not be restricted by tenna’s contracts, as well as them being associated with the idea of gangsters and organized crime. Pippins seem to be connected to Chaos due to their propensity for being cheaters. “Cheating” (violating the rules) is connected to Chaos. Toby in the Chapter 1 livestream said that all chaos is ordered. Ofc, this was referencing the pirouette act and how its effect is determined by the turn order, but i cant help but wonder if it’s also referencing the Chaos element just in general. Like, at its core, Chaos represents the idea of there being a “Method to the madness” of sorts. That real Chaos cant just be random, it has to have direction behind it. Chaos is part of the prophecy

The pun with order is that people that represent order are more willing to take orders. more willing to be commanded and uphold the rules, and more likely to be part of the establishment. Characters associated with the Order element are consistently associated with Authority. An example of this dichotomy is Susie and Undyne. they’re both similar types of characters, but Susie is an outcast with few connections, while Undyne is part of the establishment. This results in many differences between them.

So i feel like Chaos/Order is an elemental pair and also that things like freedom/control, rebellion/authority, rudeness/politeness, loneliness/connection, independence/servitude, cheating/rules, are associated with it.

Lets not forget

“Free” has two meanings in Undertale as well.

The monsters in Pacifist Route saying: “You’re going to be free.” just before we face Asgore.

Flowey in the no mercy route saying: “Chara, Lets free everyone” just before we fight sans.

‘Free’ can also mean death.

Holy shit this has been a long tangent/rant.

God.