#spadesking

This theory popped into my head out of the blue, so I thought I’d share it.

So, the Dark World seems to be referenced a lot in the Light World, correct? What with the checkerboards and stuffed toy and playing cards and yada yada.

So, I was thinking: What if Spades King is an allegory for Toriel and Asgore's dysfunctional relationship in Deltarune?

Spades' anger and brutal side is Toriel's animosity towards her husband for reasons unknown, thus why Spades appears to be a 1-dimensional villain with the only motive being "FUCK LIGHTENERS". His softer side at the end of the fight (though it may be a ruse to attack you) is Asgore's wish for Toriel, Azzy and Kris to be a family again (Spades claims he still wishes Light and Dark could co-exist).

As for the Queen, I'm not exactly sure where she comes into this. For all we know, the Queen may never come back. Or maybe he was talking about someone else? I dunno, Jevil's post-battle dialogue needlessly cryptic for the most part. 

I imagine Spades' threat to drop Lancer off of Card Castle was an empty threat to play on your sympathies towards Lancer (as he does tell Lancer he's been "poisoned by their sentimentality"), because he doesn't even move. All he does is pick him and say "yo im gonna drop him if you don’t kneel". He doesn't even dangle him off the edge, which you’d expect. Though I suppose if he moved, Susie would've instantly attacked him. However, there’s a better explanation: He’s not only playing on your sympathies, but also gloating. He’s parading Lancer in front of you because he knows you’ll kneel, because he knows you care about him. Which makes Lancer, in this situation, the Divorce Settlement Trophy.

When divorces are messy, and they often are, the child is often considered a "trophy". For example, a husband hates his wife, so he decides to get sole custody of the kid, so she’ll never see them again. The wife is sad, the husband has his revenge, profit. Toriel has sole custody from what we can tell in Deltarune, because Asgore lives alone, in a building clearly made for one person, and the family doesn’t go to QC’s together anymore, implying Asgore doesn’t get visitation rights, or that Kris and Asgore spend time together behind the scenes.

Rouxls Kaard, on the other hand, could represent Asgore in some ways. He is referred to as Lancer's "Lesser Dad", which isn't so crazy, considering Spades is most likely negligent or rarely around to spend time with Lancer, as he is solely devoted to the Knight. Thus, Rouxls Kaard is Lancer's only father figure for the most part, though he has mixed feelings about it. Kris and Asriel are obviously now Toriel's kids, because she has sole custody. The family used to go to QC's together, but then only Kris and Azzy started showing up. It's implied that Kris and Asgore still have some interaction despite whatever happened between Tori and Gorey, so that could play upon the "Lesser Dad" element.

In short, Rouxls represents Asgore being only a slight part of Kris's life because of Toriel getting custody. Rouxls may be Lancer's only attentive father figure, but I feel that for the sake of this, he doesn't fully represent traits of Asgore's relationship with his children. Just to a slight extent.

Might expand upon this theory. If I can find a way to make Rouxls’ role in the allegorical theory more suited to him, and see if there’s a way the Queen would fit in.

EDIT: Thanks Goldjim for this little titbit:  “Maybe the spade King and Queen represent how Asgore and Toriel see each other. For instance Spade King represents how Toriel views Asgore, while the Queen will represent how Asgore views Toriel.”