#janus needs help

So, there’s been a question looming in the Sanders Sides fandom.

Who is the orange side?

Will it be Roman?

Will it be Logan?

No one’s asking if it’ll be Patton, which is kind of interesting...

Anyway, here’s my hypothesis! (@chaoticemopidgeon and anyone else who hasn’t seen all of Sanders Sides, be warned. Spoilers abound)

For starters, it’s not Roman or Logan. Let’s just get that settled. Not that Roman or Logan won’t go darkside (maybe that’s the wrong term, given the actual dark sides in this universe. How about Brightside? It works better for a light side burning out), but there are going to be 8 individual sides (yes, I said 8, not 7). 

Brightside Roman and/or Logan doesn’t change the number of existing sides. There would still be six sides.

(By the way, here’s the explanation for the 8 theory:

https://xechoecho88x.tumblr.com/post/620578064105111552/this-is-a-theory-ive-wanted-to-talk-about-for-a )

So, what are the Orange and Pink sides?

I think that Orange will be Logan’s dark side. But what’s the dark side of cold, hard logic? 

There are several options, such as ignorance, for example

But all of the other dark sides have had a positive flip side to their effects.

Virgil keeps Thomas alert and out of danger

Janus makes sure Thomas takes care of himself

Remus is just as important to creativity as Roman

Does Ignorance have a positive flip side?

I think not.

And so, I think that the Orange Side is (drumroll please)...........Faith.

Not necessarily in the religious sense. More in the sense of blind trust of anything, and being convinced of things that aren’t backed up by logic. Faith (or hope, trust, whatever you want to call it) is in direct opposition to Logan’s reasoning. Faith is, however, a side that Thomas will need to accept as well as have caution for, as a life without any hope is dull and bleak.

I hope that it’s Faith because there could be some cool costuming choices (an orange blindfold because of the expression “blind faith”???), as well as a cool potential opening number, power, and relationships with other characters.

Their introductory song could be called Pandora’s Box, since Thomas has opened a figurative pandora’s box for the other dark sides, letting them into his mind, but in the myth, hope was left in the box. Which makes sense, given that every other dark side has left them behind to have a redemption arc. Plus I just like the sound of the idea.

Every dark side canonically has a voice related power. Janus can make the other sides cover their mouths and stop talking, Remus can muffle the other sides to speak directly to Thomas, and Virgil can make his voice louder so Thomas will pay attention to him.

I think that Faith’s power will be forcing the other sides to say what Faith wants them to, effectively “telling Thomas what he wants to hear”. Faith will be able to use them as mouth pieces (which again, is great for the opening song thingy)

And as for character relationships?

Oh boy

First off, Janus. Faith/Trust and Lies would make a heck of a combo. Janus is still dealing with his redemption arc, meaning that a dark side calling him back would be interesting and perhaps needed. It isn’t interesting if the person switching to the heroes side doesn’t have a villainous side to go back to.

Roman has lost faith in his abilities and himself, lacking in confidence and esteem. If someone offered him those things again, who knows what he’d do? Just because Roman isn’t the orange side doesn’t mean he won’t fall.

Anxiety and Faith don’t necessarily mesh well. This means that Virgil will either be just as antagonistic towards Faith as they are with Janus or, on a more interesting note, Faith could have been a sort of mentor figure for Virgil when he was still in the dark sides. After all, they probably would have been one of the few things that could get him to calm down.

I don’t know how much Remus connects to this matter. He has his own character arc, sure, but I don’t know how much it ties into Faith.

Of course, Logan would hate them. And maybe the lengths that Logan will go to to get rid of them could be a sign of a downward spiral?

And Patton. Poor Patton. Patton doesn’t know what to trust anymore. His morals are shaken, he’s indecisive, simply put, he’s lost his faith. If someone told him that morality WAS black and white and he WAS doing his job right, and he just needed to trust them...

Yeah. They’re all screwed.

One final question remains:

The Pink side.

Now, I don’t know what their function is, but I know one thing:

They were Virgil’s light side.

But why did they leave? And what are they going to do now that every dark side is redeemed (because Faith will be redeemed)?

In fact, the people who painted the Orange side as wrath, a warrior sent to destroy, might not have been far off.