#devilrune theory

The Unspoken Inevitable

It is actually CRAZY. How little the Prophecy came up in this chapter. Like, I think it was only alluded to by Ralsei two or three times, and I'm not sure the WORD. PROPHECY. Was even SAID in the whole chapter. Like, correct me if I'm wrong, but the fact I'd have to check frankly says enough.

She tried to hide it, but we know Susie was haunted by what she saw of the Final Tragedy. It should be sticking in her mind, impacting her thought process, weighing on every decision. Instead, the thing on Susie's mind...

...is Noelle. Her love. ...Riiiiiight???

The Final Tragedy

Before Chapter 5, I made a prediction on what I think the Final Tragedy might be, and while I doubt I got it word for word, I think I'm on the right track. If you don't care to read that post, here's the prediction:

THE GIRL'S LOVE MUST MEET ITS GRAVE.

If Susie is "THE GIRL", which... you know, probably, then whoever her "LOVE" is is in narrative danger. Previously, I proposed that Susie is worried it could be Noelle or Kris, but honestly, I was being conservative! Susie just learned about polyamory the night before, it could be Noelle and Kris! Hell, why stop there? For all Susie knows, her "LOVE" could constitute any number of people she cares about! Kris, Noelle, Ralsei, Lancer, Toriel, Tenna? What counts!? Could you define "LOVE" real quick!? 'CAUSE THE PROPHECY SURE DIDN'T!!

So what's Susie gonna do? We know what she's like at this point, she's not gonna let anybody die because of her. So, she hatches a plan...

Susie's Idea (Derogatory)

Now, if you're following my logic so far, it might sound like I'm proposing that Susie is focusing all her "LOVE" on Noelle to pin the death flag on just her, which... no. Not quite.

As I was struggling to put all this together, I remembered an odd thing Susie said to Noelle at the lake. Something that I think is the lynchpin that explains all of her strange behaviour.

...That's weirdly... broad, right? She submitted a blank cheque. FOR A LOVE CONFESSION. That's kinda weird. And I KNOW she can do better than that; did you SEE her rizz at the hammer game!? Girl has an incredible talent for making people feel SO LOVED.

No, Susie had a reason to say that. To declare her and Noelle's feelings for each other as equal. Equivalent.

...Interchangeable.

Do you get it yet? Susie is trying to game the Prophecy, to swap her and Noelle's roles so she'll be the one that dies instead of Noelle.

And she's doing it with Noelle specifically because Noelle is her only "LOVE" that can fill the same roles as her; Kris and Ralsei are already in the other hero roles, and, you know, aren't girls (obviously Ralsei is trans, but Susie doesn't know that), so "THE GIRL" has to be Noelle.

And that means making Noelle a hero. Susie's previous apprehension in telling Noelle about the Dark World is completely gone, and while she missed her chance to tell her at the lake, she's got Castle Town going all out to give Noelle a warm welcome and induct her into the Delta Warriors.

All so Noelle can be "THE GIRL, WITH HOPE CROSSED ON HER HEART.", and Susie can be the "LOVE" that "MUST MEET ITS GRAVE".

Susie's gearing up to sacrifice herself. Because of course she is.

Evidence (20%TP)

With this in mind, a lot of things Susie says, that didn't seem very like Susie to say, take on new, disturbing double-meanings.

As much as she can... however little that ends up being.

Her relationship with Noelle... or her plan to save her? Can someone like Susie fill the same role as someone like Noelle?

As far as I can tell, Susie never fully breaks out the L-word for Noelle. She wants to love her... but she's scared. Scared of putting Noelle in the crosshairs of fate.

Blue likely meant "love" in the normal and cool and gay way (The flowers don't seem to be clued in on the deeper goings on besides Flowery), but all Susie's hearing is how she can best shape herself to take a bullet.

With this framing, what appeared to be uncharacteristic levels of yearning are revealed to be the coded words of a very scared girl. A girl that's scared to mess up, scared to lose someone she loves... and scared to die.

The best days she can have... however few that is.

Susie's sprite does this a LOT in this chapter, even in happy moments like the lake where it otherwise doesn't make much sense. She isn't saying it, but she's really struggling. And she's struggling alone, because she knows if she tells Ralsei or Kris or Noelle what she's planning, they'll probably try to stop her. And she can't allow that. Nobody else is dying because of her.

Bound In Ribbons

Now, one part of Susie's behavioural shift that is notably not explained by this theory's base premise is her trying to wear ribbons.

Ribbons have been a common armour since the start of the game, and are filled with metaphorical significance. They're signifiers of femininity, and how each party member reacts to them tells us more about their relationship to femininity.

Ralsei is shy but joyful, Kris can't object or approve, Noelle gets nostalgic... and Susie refuses them. She doesn't like 'em. That ain't her. And she hasn't been reprimanded for this, by her friends or the narrative. Her gender-non-conformity is representative of her will to defy fate and resist tyranny.

So for her to suddenly 180 on all that and not only accept, but insist on wearing ribbons, through audible discomfort... it's a red flag. And her reasons for doing it... aren't all that convincing.

Like, come on, Susie. Noelle isn't into you for your femininity, and you know that!

And her immediate reaction to wearing one demonstrates my point aptly: she was forcing herself to ask to wear the Ribbon, and resorted to a technicality when it turned out she couldn't stomach it.

But why? Why is it suddenly so important to her that she's wearing a ribbon?

Considering all of her other behaviour shifts are explained by it, I think it's a reasonable assumption to propose that something in the Final Tragedy also inspired this. Perhaps the accompanying image featured a collapsed figure wearing a ribbon, or something like that. Something that ties wearing ribbons to being the "LOVE".

A Small Aside

Sharp-brained readers might remember that Ralsei said that Susie is "supposed to wear ribbons". While he might have just meant this in the sense that Susie shouldn't be refusing to wear things she's given by "Kris", it's also possible he meant that Susie specifically is supposed to wear ribbons, which would tie (heh) wearing ribbons to "THE GIRL" role in the Prophecy, instead of the "LOVE".

Now, while I personally lean towards the former explanation, it is possible that I have the roles backwards, and that it's "THE GIRL" that dies rather than her "LOVE". This would require the Final Tragedy panel to also imply that Noelle is the true "GIRL", and while that's a lot more convoluted and might muck up a few of the "evidence" points, it... works. I guess.

Ultimately, though, it doesn't really matter which way around the roles are. The point is that Noelle is in the role that dies, and Susie is trying to swap them so she dies instead.

Beat to the Punch (That Looks Like Blood)

Now, there's a small issue with Susie's little plan, here:

I'm pretty sure Kris is already doing the same fucking thing, because OF COURSE THEY ARE.

As I've pointed out previously, as vigilant as Kris has been in being a good vessel and not expressing themselves, they've had no such restraint when it comes to Susie, and I don't think that's just because of how cool Susie is. No, I think that Kris intends to be "THE GIRL'S LOVE" to save Noelle, and has been actively pursuing Susie to achieve this.

And it's at least somewhat working. Susie doesn't use the same words as she does about Noelle, because she's trying to push her framing, but the way she talks to and about Kris makes it obvious how much they mean to her. Their talk on the way home is just one example.

But Kris's plan has hit a snag, in the form of Susie suddenly being all over Noelle. And they want to be supportive, but...

They can't. Because it's supposed to be them.

Because they promised.

This might be the true purpose of Kris & Carol's conspiracy: to save Noelle from the Final Tragedy by making Kris Susie's "LOVE", and keeping Noelle and Susie apart to keep their "LOVE" from flourishing.

Although, speaking of Carol, if she found out what Susie is planning, I could honestly see her being tempted to switch gears and make Susie "THE GIRL'S LOVE" instead. I mean, then Kris gets to live, too! And Carol likes Kris! Kris is family! Carol loves her family! Now, the only person that has to die is the town delinquent who nobody will miss.

(Wouldn't be the first time Carol's nearly jeopardised the plan with stupid, sentimental decisions. Like seriously, why was the code in that guitar!?)

But even without Carol getting greedy, the conspiracy is now in trouble, because the central piece - Susie - is going off-script. A battle of wills is spilling out over Noelle's fate, threatening to squander all of their efforts.

And you wanna know the worst part of all this?

I Don't Think It Was Ever Going To Work

I don't think Susie or the conspiracy will succeed. I don't think the Prophecy can be negotiated with in this way, and I don't think Noelle's death can be stopped... not anymore. If there is a path where Noelle survives (and I think there is)... we've already passed it.

And that's because none of these bozos have realised why Noelle is going to die, and why her death is what saves the worlds.

...

But that... is an explanation for later, because this post is already way too long. Seriously, I had to start combining screenshots because I hit the image limit, that's never happened before

For now, I invite you to reinspect Chapter 5 with this theory - which I'm dubbing Fate's Crosshairs Theory - in mind. And please, let me know if you spot any glaring holes in my thesis or smoking guns that I missed in the Evidence section.

Join me next time, when I talk about how I think the Normal Route will end and tie all of this back into my DEVILRUNE THEORY.

That's right! This was a DEVILRUNE THEORY post all along! It was all a ploy to support my headcanons! MUAHAHAHAHA!!

(Read DEVILRUNE THEORY from the beginning!)

(Previous/Next)

Normal Route:

Weird Route:

M A R K S

The selection of obtainable trophies in the Playstation versions of Deltarune has been an odd source of Gaster lore, due to the trophy descriptions being written in his cadence and him commenting with curiosity about how much of a freak you are if you manage to dodge obtaining any.

The biggest thing we learned about Gaster from these things is his opinion on the Eggs: Apparently, they're an "ISSUE". Of all the things we can do that Gaster could take "ISSUE" with, collecting some Eggs is where he draws the line.

Beyond it's implications for the Forgotten Man's identity, nobody really knew what to make of this. But now, we have a potential explanation: collecting these eggs and carrying them on Kris's person is risking drawing the attention of some very scary cats that bite very hard.

After all, Kris is "SOMEONE VERY, VERY, WONDERFUL" to Gaster. While it's unclear exactly how, the good doctor does seem to care for Kris, so risking them coming to harm by the paws of a FRIEND would make sense to be an "ISSUE" for him.

Something Weird About This, Though

That said, there is still the glaring fact that Gaster apparently has no such problems with the Weird Route. You know, the one where we throw two of his blorbos into a lake.

I can think of two three possible explanations for this discrepancy:

First explanation: Gaster's moral compass could be on a funny axis, and he actually buys into all the "getting stronger" stuff in the Weird Route. He never seems to object to our use of violence, encouraging us to persist in the Violence-only Knight battle and to "augment our power" in one of the aforementioned trophies.

Actually... that trophy specifies "in Chapter 2", so you'd naturally get it if you...

...Okay, second explanation: Is the Weird Route part of Gaster's plan!? This was a possibility I was going to float for DEVILRUNE THEORY, but I didn't have any actual evidence for it, besides ch5_inversion_lake_chant apparently being made from the Wonderful motif part of Festival, and that's anecdotal at best. Now, though... I don't know, there might actually be something there... I'll come back to this some other time...

And now, the second third, scarier explanation: The FRIENDs are so dangerous that the entire Weird Route doesn't even register as a threat by comparison. This could tie into the second explanation, but could also play on it's own, and would imply the FRIENDs and their master are powerful, dangerous and terrifying enough to strike fear into what is essentially a god.

And considering a lot of people already think FRIEND has the Tail of Hell... he might be right to be afraid.

This one.

And also this one, I guess

That symbol isn't the DELTA RUNE we know. And I think that matters.

DEVILRUNE THEORY

First off, the wings. Those don't look like a simplified version of the fluffy angel wings on the typical DELTA RUNE. They look more like bat wings.

Devil wings.

We know, to my knowledge, three characters associated with Devils.

First, Kris, through the Horned Headband, as well as their reputation as a prankster, trickster and shenanigan causer.

Secondly, Eram, through the fact that they're literally hiding behind this door, with a Horned Headband archway. In fact,

Eram Tangent

I believe that Eram IS the Horned Headband, incarnated as a KNOCKOFF. They speak like they're very familiar with Kris, specifically, and Kris apparently wore the Horned Headband for months, so they would have seen plenty.

Their sprite scans to me as the Horned Headband with the Shadow Mantle draped over it, along with a disembodied mouth for flavour. They also have fire attacks, connecting them to the Dreemurrs, and therefore to Kris. Their battle theme, BURNING EYES, features the Power of NEO lietmotif, which, in the absence of Undyne or Mettaton, could represent Monsterkind as a concept, the Power of NEO being the greatest raw power that monsters can achieve in Undertale.

As for why they're a KNOCKOFF and not a Darkner, I have two guesses.

The Horned Headband would have been an equippable item in the Dark World, but Eram was like "I ain't nobody's bitch" and became a KNOCKOFF instead.

This KNOCKOFF is being controlled remotely by the true Eram, likely located in the Shelter if the third secret game segment is anything to go by.

I think thematically, Eram represents Kris' complicated feelings about their humanity and their personality. Eram claims that part of Kris enjoys the grim "play" of the Sword Route, AND the Weird Route if you've done it. And that's with them seemingly knowing about the player's control; they accuse Kris of enjoying the fact that it's "not really them" doing that to Noelle.

Eram seems to think that Kris is, on some level, "evil" by nature. And it's possible that, despite them NOT being at all okay with the Weird Route, Kris believes this about themselves as well. That despite their guilt, for whatever probably Dess-shaped reason, they're irredeemable.

Okay, Tangent Over

The final character associated with Devils is, of course, W. D. Gaster, via his association with the number 6 (and probably some other bullshit that i'm forgetting). Gaster is also associated with the second change to this DELTA RUNE.

I've seen a few people argue about whether the central symbol here is a key hole or a circle and fourth triangle, but i think it's both.

The keyhole interpretation is about secrets, tying it to Gaster, and the dungeon behind this door contains three huge secrets: Eram's hiding place, the Shelter Key, and some of our only in-game hints towards the Weird Route's existence.

And the other interpretation is a fourth triangle, connected to the circle. A fourth hero, connected to the [[Angel]], [[Angel]].

Noelle. The secret finder. Gaster, the secret to find.

Now, this could all just be flavour for the Weird Route, considering the instructions for it inside, but I don't think that's necessarily the case, for a few reasons.

Gaster has nearly no connection to the Weird Route, that's on us (not me, I ain't doing that shit)

Eram's primary concern is the Shadow Crystals and the Shadow Mantle. By shining doubt on the idea that they'll "get us what (we) want", they're pointing out that that's part of why we're collecting them, in hopes of subverting the Prophecy and whatever grim fate awaits our heroes.

Noelle is my favourite, I reeeeeealy don't want her significance to be constrained to the Route Where Everything Sucks For Noelle Especially, and I'm coping I'm coping I'm coping pleeeeeease Mister Toby let Noelle do something badass she's been such a good girl she deserves it

*ahem*

Instead, I believe this altered DELTA RUNE, which I've taken to calling the DEVIL RUNE, could represent another path. One defiant of the Prophecy, that circumvents its dark ending with a game-breaking trump card. Not one written in legend, but carved out of it by The Man Who Speaks in Hands, with Noelle at its center, and perhaps, a Kris freed from their self-doubt, their promise, and our imprisonment within them.

I look forward to creating a new future with them all.

What the Heck Happened Last Night

Chapter 3 has, to me, cemented itself as the big pattern breaker chapter of DELTARUNE. There is. SO MUCH. going on here:

There isn't a clear Secret Boss, the signifiers being split between like four different guys (Ramb, ERAM, The Knight, Small Mike), one of which isn't even in the chapter

The Egg has a very different and convoluted series of steps to obtain, which then features hints to find the rest, and the first and possibly only dialog from the Forgotten Man

We've got the Sword Route, which is currently the only hint in-game to the Weird Route's existence, and has its own share of mysteries surrounding the realness of the Game World and ERAM

You can climb into a gacha machine and clip into the freaking backrooms (seriously what the fuck even was that)

The Chapter’s thumbnail is the only one to change after completion, from Tenna's smile to the Knight's visor

Tenna is the only main boss so far to not play GALLERY before his battle

Shuttah talks about a different world that predates Tenna's theater that we never see, the description of which - "A frozen waste, watery basin, a metal desert" - alludes both to the kitchen and to Undertale's Underground

And let's not forget, The Roaring goddamn Knight showed up, chapters earlier than expected

TV World is FULL of secrets and intrigue, to a degree that only Cyber World can even begin to measure up to. But to what end? Why this one? As a result, I can't shake the feeling there might be something else to this chapter. Some... unexplored avenue that we might get a chance to return for.

Now, with the pretense out of the way...

Let's Adress the Goat in the Gacha Ball

Chapter 3 of Deltarune is super weird for a LOT of reasons, but one particular facet of that weirdness is the role of Toriel, or rather, the lackthereof.

(Images Source)

Toriel spent the whole damn Chapter fast asleep in a giant "gotchy ball thing[sic]", and even after she was released, she managed to sleep through The Prophesised Duel of the Three Heroes and the Roaring Knight Forspoken in Legend happening, like, maximum ten feet in front of her. Girl is a heavy sleeper.

A lot of people were disappointed by this aspect of Late Night, calling it a waste of potential, and while I mostly agree with this sentiment (It kinda needed to happen to keep the plot on track, as I doubt the "Just a dream" trick would've worked on Toriel), I think that missed potential might not be a mistake. I think it's a Checkov's Gun that has yet to be fired.

The GRAND PRIZE Winning Question

You see, there's a question that keeps getting asked, both by the chapter itself and multiple characters within it, that never quite gets paid off.

What would have happened if Toriel woke up early? And how would it have been more dangerous for her than a plan that, at best, involved pretending to ransom her off to the harbinger of the apocalypse?

It's hard to say what the exact consequences would be, but it definitely would have thrown the story off-course in one way or another. For one thing, whatever act Kris and Carol are trying to put on would be in major jeopardy. Toriel would certainly have questions regarding how a reality-shifting pillar of shadows got in her house, why she was being kept in a ball by the door and why that guy with the glasses kinda looks like her son. And you'd bet she'd throw herself into the fray to protect her children* once the Knight showed up, which might indeed be very dangerous for Toriel; depending on how in control of itself the Knight turns out to be or whether they're in on the conspiracy, Toriel could get SWOONed, or even be the one to get kidnapped this time.

*Susie counts as one of her children in this situation, and honestly Ralsei could end up the same pretty quick

Dark Heritage

Another factor that could either amount to nothing or tear the lore of the whole game open, is that we would learn if Toriel knows anything about Dark Worlds.

I mean, come on. What are the odds that the events we see in-game are the first and only time this town has dealt with Dark Worlds? Carol had to get her knowledge from somewhere, and the Shelter has been paranormal and bizarre since AT LEAST before the Dessappearence, so there kind of has to be some history there. Noelle and Berdly's reaction to the Cyber World demonstrates it isn't common knowledge, but if Carol knows, odds are she isn't the only one, and Toriel is as much a pillar of this community as she is. 'Course, Toriel doesn't seem to know Dark World shenanigans are currently underway - otherwise she would be on higher alert, even if she was trying to hide it from Kris and Susie. Like, she probably wouldn't have been comfortable getting drunk as shit with Sans, for instance.

But even in the unlikely scenario that Toriel has never seen a Dark World before, she's an authoritative voice in Hometown that could stand up to Carol and a powerful fire mage in the making if Undyne is any indication; a valuable ally for the Delta Warriors and a death knell for the conspiracy staying under wraps.

Okay But How The Hell Does Noelle Factor Into Any of That

Okay, so. The exact mechanics of Kris's possession (this is relevant I promise) are tricky to nail down, as Kris hasn't exactly been forthcoming with that information. There are two aspects I want to inspect here:

The restrictions on the host's own freedom of movement are unclear. In some scenes, Kris seems to struggle to move, but in others (usually with some preamble from other characters or the narration) they can act smoothly. In addition, Kris and Ralsei are actively trying to hide the separation of player and protagonist, so it's possible Kris could fight against our commands more and has just been choosing not to to maintain the facade.

The amount of control we have over a secondary host when Kris projects us away is especially unclear, as the only solid example we have is Susie, who is uniquely willing and capable of ignoring our commands compared to any other party member. She heard "Kris" in Chapter 1, but our choice of direction didn't influence her at all. It's possible she was even selected by the conspiracy for this property, acting as the baby cage for us whenever Kris needs privacy in the Dark World. Meanwhile, a different secondary host could be any degree more influencible, ranging from "obeys commands" to "Kris-style total override".

In the last part of DEVILRUNE THEORY, I briefly mentioned that a potential way to subvert Kris's grip on us would be to influence or trick them into projecting us to Noelle instead of Susie, something that Chapter 4 of the Weird Route proves is possible. There are ways that this could tamper with proceedings in previous chapters - she's in class nearby to Card Kingdom in Chapter 1, and she could be pushed to call out Susie's "just a dream" bluff in Chapter 2, but Chapter 3 is where the Fun (Value) really begins.

Noelle is presumably asleep in her room during the events of Late Night, when Kris and Ralsei are waiting while Susie talks to Tenna. On the lower end of influence, we can simply nudge her awake and hope she checks her window and sees the clouds of darkness pouring out of Kris's house, and on the higher end, we could sleepwalk her out of her house, through the town streets and up to the door ourselves (Which would be a crazy sequence, like wowza). In either scenario, she ends up entering TV World. And where in TV World would she be deposited?

Bingo! Right next to Goat Mama! And unlike with our heroes here, Tenna is preoccupied talking to Susie and can't interrupt Noelle from popping that ball open and waking Toriel! Operation Fuck Everything Up is a go!

And that's about all I have to share in terms of solid predictions. What will happen? Will Noelle and Toriel unravel the conspiracy under Kris's nose? Will we see the old lands beyond the purple cliffs? Will Noelle get to play Legend of Tenna and immediately clip into a wall somewhere? Will Tenna and the Knight get hilariously 5-v.-1'd, or will Toriel be stolen into the night as was (maybe) originally planned? Will Noelle or Toriel recognise the Knight? WILL NOELLE GET A CUTE MOUSE ONESIE!?

Only time will tell. After all, HIS DELTARUNE is still waiting.

Noellen't

I'm pretty proud of this one, because in most of the discussion I saw before Chapter 5 dropped, a lot of people seemed convinced Noelle was gonna be in the Flower Kingdom Dark World, so correctly predicting that she wouldn't be is pretty satisfying.

That said, I was wrong about why exactly she wouldn't get there. To rehash, I predicted Noelle would performatively reject Susie under pressure from her mother, but oddly, Carol spent the whole chapter off-screen, "investigating" the bunker. A lucky break for our heroes, but... keep a pin in that "performative rejection" thing. It comes back later.

No, Noelle was pulled away from the dark by the other hanging Damocles sword in her life finally dropping: Rudy has fallen down. And considering we see him still conscious at sunset in the Weird Route, I don't think Carol meant "off the ladder".

The possibility of Carol lying about Rudy to get Noelle to leave Susie briefly crossed my mind, but that'd be a pretty short-sighted move, so I'm doubtful she did that. No, Rudy's ailing health and gung-ho attitude does seem to have finally caught up to him, because this guy has the self-preservation skills of an actual deer in headlights. Like, dude. Somebody else could have put those lights up. What are you doing.

But the way this all played out in the Suselle lake scene actually still fulfilled the same narrative purpose as my prediction, so I'm gonna take this as a W. Now, this is complicated, but... bear with me.

Out of Line

Okay, so Carol calls Noelle while she's at the lake with Susie and Kris, and Noelle reasonably assumes that Carol's just calling about Susie, so Noelle brushes Carol off, once from Susie's "encouragement", and then again on her own, doubling up as her finally confessing her feelings to Susie. Looks like a moment of character growth; she's finally standing up to her mother, great job!

But, oh no! Whilst Susie is getting ice cream, Carol calls one more time, and the truth is revealed: Carol was calling about Rudy the whole time, and Noelle had inadvertently brushed off a family emergency for her own wants. Hell, depending on how quickly a "fallen down" monster loses consciousness, Noelle might have missed her last chance to speak to her father.

Noelle pursued her own desires, and was almost immediately punished for it, seemingly by the universe itself.

We don't know much about the Deltarune religion, but while sin and damnation don't seem to be part of it, there seems to be a major focus on destiny and fate, and one's path in life. They worship a Prophecy alongside the Angel, and Alvin speaks about the Angel making a "difficult path" for Asgore in Chapter 4, so the Angel itself is considered to govern fate.

I can't be certain if this correlates to "defying your path" being bad in the religion's eyes, but as a young Asriel's inexplicable Catholic Guilt demonstrates, Hometown is not a cultural bubble (even if it might be in a literal one), and also, to an extent... it doesn't matter. Like most things, religion is not immune to being bent to support any belief or world-view with enough cognitive bias.

Noelle is a choir girl, and has lived in this town her whole life. These lines of thinking are ingrained in her mental development.

So when every attempt Noelle makes to romantically pursue Susie - inviting her to the library, inviting her to her house, asking her out to the festival - seems to lead to disaster in inexplicable ways - a dream world she's forced to reject, her mother appearing to stop her out of nowhere, and now, her father's illness resurging... an illness that Rudy had been downplaying in the first place... to support Noelle with pursuing Susie...

Regardless of if a message is being sent, Noelle is sure gonna receive it.

A Noelle Has To Do Noelle Things

...And this is where we bring back that "performative rejection" thing from earlier. I originally proposed that Noelle would deliberately cut herself off from Susie for three key reasons, and these still mostly hold:

Fear of what Carol would do to Susie's life in retribution - Originally I thought this would be the primary reason, and while I think it'll still feed into it - I can't imagine Carol's gonna change her tune regarding Susie now - I no longer think the whole thing will be quite that simple.

Resentment for being lied to about the Dark Worlds - This works with or without the extra sting of withholding a source of healing from the girl with the sick father, because Noelle already has a problem with everyone she cares about keeping stuff from her anyway, and... I'm kinda doubtful healing magic even could help Rudy. Even ignoring the issue of the Dark World's limited impact on the Light World, the monsters of Undertale had healing magic and that world's Rudy died years earlier, so Rudy's condition must be something that cannot simply be healed. 'Course, Noelle doesn't know that, so she might get super mad anyway.

Resignation to her predestined life and lack of autonomy - This used to be just an extension of the Fear of Carol thing, but it now seems to be a much bigger issue between the aforementioned "punishment by fate thing", and the reveal from Chapter 5's Weird Route that Noelle has already felt this way for a very, very long time.

But unlike that Noelle, who's become untethered enough from reality to just fuck off about it, this Noelle is still invested in this world, and has been "taught", over and over, that not only is escaping her predetermined path impossible, but she'll be punished if she even tries - if not by her mother, then by sheer circumstance.

So in Chapter 6, when Susie welcomes Noelle to Castle Town and tries to induct her into the Delta Warriors... whether immediately or after an adventure, whether calmly or angrily, Noelle... is ultimately going to decline Susie's offer. Because Noelle has to be a good girl, and good girls don't hang out with the weird kids.

Oh, and on her way out, Noelle's gonna say some shit like "It was wonderful to be your LOVE, Susie" and Susie is going to fucking lose it.

* And Shineth Light, On Her Unusethed Dialogue, To See If She's Noellen't 2

Alright, we need to step back from the character analysis for a moment so I can address something on the gameplay side of things. Ever since her time in the spotlight in Chapter 2, Noelle has been steadily accumulating response dialog for every item we've encountered since, despite the fact that, as the game stands, we can never use them on her. Take the FrayedBowtie, three variants of TVDinner and Scarlixir as examples.

(dialog sourced from Deltarune Wiki)

The Scarlixir even has a unique interaction programmed in, where 5 of the 160 restored HP is given to Kris when Noelle uses it, and it's the cutest shit ever I love her so fucking much you don't understa

*ahem*

People took these lines as evidence that Noelle would rejoin the party in a future chapter, but in a reblog of one of these posts, I argued that Noelle having dialog for items she'd never normally see was completely in character for our resident Gamebreaker Weirdgirl, citing her dialog for the unused Trefoil item - where she's briefly baffled by either the sword's unused status itself, or something Kris says about it - as evidence.

But while this argument held true for Chapter 5, some of the dialog Noelle's accumulated in Festival Day is painting a picture of Chapter 6 that doesn't leave room for DEVILRUNE THEORY. Specifically, the FlowerySoda. Another reason for me to hate that guy

This dialog only makes sense if Noelle appears in a chapter after 5 without ever appearing in Chapter 5 itself, as she appears unfamiliar with Flowery.

There's actually a similar piece of dialog for the JusticeAxe, back in Chapter 4, but in that case I could imagine a scenario where Noelle only makes it for the back half of Chapter 4 (for Carol-shaped reasons) and misses Gerson entirely. For the FlowerySoda, she'd have to miss the guy that was in all of the chapter, so that ain't gonna work.

So that's it, right? Theory's dead, pack it up? ...Not quite. There's a few details that make this slam dunk not so clean.

First, the FloweryScarf. This item transforms into the BrokenScarf at the end of Chapter 5, as Flowery's fake stat powers fade from its threads. The two scarves have separate equip dialog, including for Noelle, despite there being no circumstance in which Noelle could interact with the former.

(Above: FloweryScarf. Below: BrokenScarf. Note that, despite their similar wording, none of these Flowery Item dialogs are identical, so none of them were likely to be copy-pasted just to fill a box.)

For Noelle's FloweryScarf dialog to play and make sense, she would have to be given the Scarf before Flowery's death in Chapter 5... and somehow never encounter or learn about Flowery, a guy who's all over Flower Kingdom, at any point while she's there... and also getting his scarf.

So. The ONLY ways for this dialog to function as-is are either restoring the BrokenScarf to its Flowery glory in Chapter 6 - unlikely, as its stats are overpowered and fake anyway - or Flowery just... not showing up in the DEVILRUNE version of Chapter 5, but also his stuff is still there... which, uhh...

Well, I suppose if somebody other than Kris opened that Dark Fountain, and that Lightner's will was incompatible with Flowery and petrified him before anyone showed up, I... guess that could work, but I'm writing fanfiction at that point.

The simpler explanation is that in the event of a DEVILRUNE-esque Route being added to Deltarune, appropriate dialog would just be patched into these chapters after the fact... and that honestly makes a lot more sense. If Toby was planning a plot twist anywhere near this scale, he wouldn't give the game away in unused dialog, he'd save that stuff for whatever game-wide patch he'd need to do anyway.

Which brings me to the second counterpoint: Toby added in new dialog for old items in this chapter. After the RedRibbon scene in the Garden, Susie will now wear ribbons, totally willingly and definitely not for any self-sacrificial reasons you guys, she promises, and she now has new responses to all of the existing ribbons you've picked up through the game. For example, behold: The White Ribbon, TwinRibbon and PrincessRBN, respectively.

This reveal, that Toby will just stick new dialog onto old items to suit new contexts, kind of makes this whole thing... kind of a nothingburger, as far as DEVILRUNE THEORY is concerned. Not evidence for, nor evidence against.

So why was I worried about all this to begin with? Why was it so important that Noelle be left out of the Normal Route's proceedings? (pun not intended)

Because I believed that Noelle's conspicuous absence from the Dark Worlds of the Normal Route was meant to tug at our brains, to make us wish "Oh, if only Noelle was here, if only she got to see this, to share in this adventure". And although it really looks like Noelle might join the party this time in Chapter 6... I don't think that feeling's gonna go away.

Too Little, Too Late

While I like that Susie's trying to get Noelle in on the Dark Worlds, I don't think it's going to be enough at this point to divert the downward trajectory of this plot. In fact, especially on a gameplay level, I don't think it even can go well.

These are Kris, Susie, and Ralsei's stat increases between chapters (Pacifist runs will mostly be dealing with the minimum amounts); while Attack and Magic are wavering between Chapters 4 & 5 (in accordance with the team's wavering hope, perhaps?), HP levels are on an unambiguous upward slope. Every sealed Dark Fountain has boosted the survivability of our heroes substantially.

Now, here's Noelle's stats from the same chart. Gulp.

You see the issue here? Even if we assume a stat increase from being present for the Cyber World's Fountain's sealing, that'll only get her HP to around 150-ish. Meanwhile, Susie's about to pass the 300 mark, and even Ralsei is beating Noelle's best prospects by at least 100. And that's not even accounting for potential stat-drops from Noelle's spirit getting shattered by all the stuff I talked about earlier.

Noelle is under-levelled as hell in the Normal Route, she's not gonna fare against these ramping up Dark Worlds. And I don't see a training montage or something being able to make up the difference at this point; the game's almost over, and we've had our allotted "one last fun adventure" already. Chapter 6 is gonna beat the shit out of her, and it'll only feed into her belief that she doesn't belong in Susie's world.

As for Aborted Weird Route/Twisted Route Noelle, she's about to find out that she actually did, maybe, kill Berdly in a trance, so she'll either completely lose her mind (and maybe turn into the chapter's Secret Boss), or, potentially more eerily, it could not affect her at all, because she's just that dissociated from everything at this point.

Now, with Suselle's fate assuredly sealed, I think that'll do for now. Second half of this shouldn't be far behind, as I made the choice to split the post partway through writing it.

Join me next time, when I explain how the yuri is actually so doomed that it's gonna take the entire setting with it.

When Gerson asks Susie what ending she wants in the Hammer of Justice fight, Susie quickly lands on no ending, things just going on forever.

You'd expect an answer like this to be discouraged, because, let's be honest, "eternity" is a very dangerous cheque to cash, trope-wise. The pitfalls of striving for eternity is, like, Baby's First Cautionary Tale at this point.

But Gerson doesn't do that.

He encourages this line of thinking in Susie, asking her to hold on to going on forever. Kind of weird advice, especially coming from a guy who is literally dead already.

He then talks about upcoming fates, and while it's unclear if he's talking about The Roaring, the final tradgedy, both or something else, the message is clear: bad stuff is coming that will devastate everything that came before.

But he doesn't despair. Gerson believes that Susie's hope holds the power to "overwriting" this fate, and may in fact be uniquely vital to doing so.

The wording here is also interesting. "Overwrite". not "prevent". And in a video game about video games, "overwrite" has BIG connotations.

We don't know what the final tradgedy entails, but we know it's something so bad that it immediately makes Susie 180 on the Prophecy, that offends her enough to drop all that validation without hesitation, and she assumes the same would "obviously" be true for Kris and Ralsei (which... hmm), so we know it's really fucking bad.

I have the feeling that when it comes down to the wire, when there's truly no choice but to either complete the Last Prophecy or face the Roaring, Susie... will refuse. She just won't do it. She'll have no hand in saving a world that demands such a heinous act to survive, and will let it all burn down just to prove her point. It might even come to blows, but Susie won't back down. That isn't what Susie does.

She won't let the Prophecy progress. She won't let the proper chain of events take place.

Susie is going to softlock Deltarune.

There's only going to be one ending, because the alternate path of the DEVIL RUNE will be the only one she'll let have an ending, holding completion hostage until we put in the work of finding another way.

Speaking of which... Noelle.

I believe Noelle's inquisitive mind and unique gamebreaking abilities will be the key to achieving the true and only ending, but not as she is now. Years of trauma and abuse have rendered her terrified and vulnerable, to the point that you can set her on the Weird Route and she'll do half the gaslighting for you. Girl's real messed up right now.

And obviously, Susie can't fix all that. But what she can do is give Noelle the tools to recover and grow herself.

Susie and Noelle's whole dynamic is filling the gaps in each other's arcs. Susie encourages Noelle to stand up for herself and say when she's unhappy with her lot in life, and Noelle cuts through Susie's rotten reputation to find the kind, sensitive and loving girl inside (Kris kind of does this too, but they're very busy being manipulated by a heart and an old woman right now, so). They enable each other to be their best selves, which then allows them to better the world around them.

(Am I saying a lesbian relationship is weight-bearing for the universe? Yes, but this is a Toby Fox game, you didn't need me to tell you that.)

Noelle may be the one to change the script, but Susie will give her the pen to do so. All we have to do is give them the chance to pull all that off.

Only then, will the worlds be saved.

As I've noted in the past, a major dilemma in Noelle's arc is that she's being left in the dark by everyone she loves; Rudy downplays his illness, Berdly leads her on, and Carol, Susie AND Kris are ALL concealing the crazy paranormal stuff unfolding around her. She doesn't even know her sister might be alive.

They all do this out of kindness - Rudy doesn't want Noelle to worry, Berdly doesn't want to hurt her feelings (that she doesn't have lol), and so on - but in denying Noelle information, they are also denying her agency. And I don't think that trend's gonna pivot overnight.

Instead, I think Chapter 5 will feature the consequences of this isolation. You see, I think Noelle already knows - or at least suspects - that the Dark World she visited was real, and is intentionally playing dumb on the matter.

For one thing, Noelle is textually Smart (It's her primary character trait after Gay and Lonely) and openly questions aspects of the dream, such as Kris's behaviour, the presence of Ralsei and how strange it is that the real Susie seems just like the one from her dream.

Secondly, Susie is a freaking terrible liar. In their conversation about Noelle's dream, she slips up repeatedly, and Noelle definitely notices. After all, if Susie doesn't have a tail, what's wagging behind her?

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Noelle is a habitual liar. She lies to Berdly/Carol on the phone about being alone, she lies to Kris about how much she misses them, she hides the massive embarrassing crush she has on Susie (To the best of her ability). it almost seems like instinct; one she likely picked up living under Carol, learning what she, and many others, don't like to hear. Playing along with Susie's lie wouldn't even be hard, especially if she isn't certain it even is one.

So why would she pretend to believe Susie's lie, or at least not directly question her on it if she isn't sure? Well, she's a chronic people pleaser - She likely fears alienating Susie by calling her out.

And finally, Noelle was present for Ralsei's explanation of The Roaring. If the dream was real, she would intuit that Susie lied to her to keep her safe.

But this still kinda sucks, right? How much can you trust someone who demonstrably doesn't trust you? I know I'd be resentful...

People have imagined the duo espionaging their way through the town to enjoy the Festival together, but... Noelle and Susie aren't on the same page. They can't coordinate, they can't work together, they aren't true peers. And I think this tension could come to a head at the Festival, with Noelle either quietly telling Susie to leave her alone - or worse, performatively rejecting her - out of a mix of resentment, fear of what Carol could do to Susie's life, and resignation. After all, trying to grasp her own happiness has only made things worse so far; between the world-ending price of the Dark World and... WHATEVER Carol did to Noelle after kicking everyone out, the message is clear: give up, give in, play along. It'll hurt less.

Now, this all might sound super dark, aaaaannnndd... Yeah. It is. It's continuing on from Chapter 4's ending as the game's darkest hour, and it doesn't stop there; the Flower King Dark World is likely gonna center on the Dessappearence and the Conspiracy, so Susie will likely learn, or at least start to cotton on to, Kris's true allegiances. I'm envisioning all of this as parts of a negative character arc for Susie, the support network she's gained over the first half of the game being slowly torn away, piece by piece, until finally, when she's asked to do something terrible to stop the Roaring and save a world that's done nothing but taunt her with happiness and rip it away, she'll turn around... and say no.

A N D T H E W O R L D

W A S C O V E R E D

I N D A R K N E S S .

That's how the story ends. That's why we're here to change it. The purpose of the DEVILRUNE.

Gaster brought us to this world to "create a new future" - to stop this eternal nightmare before it begins. The Weird Route is an attempt at this - making Noelle "stronger" without nuance - that will ultimately fail to truly empower her, but I believe there will be another way. Less "Alternate Route", more "New Game+".

And I believe it starts with getting Noelle involved; her presence in Chapter 3 alone would throw so many spanners into the works that things would have to unfold differently.

Kris, under Carol's command, has us on a tight leash, but I might have spied a potential chink in their armour. Consider: What if, when Ralsei encouraged them to think of Susie and put us in Gay Baby Jail, Kris accidentally thought about Noelle instead? I imagine she'd react quite differently to our suggestions.

We get all four of these sad kids on the same page, we tear down all the lies and fear that separate them, and then they save the world together. Easy!