the artic defrosts

Okay, so, for starters, what physically happened in Chapter 5 Weird? This is really speculative and up for debate, and if you disagree with this, you'll probably disagree with the rest of this post (but, hey, please hear me out...) but here goes: I think we entered the Shelter. We skipped into Chapter 7 somehow. I think that means we ended up in the Shelter. I think the Shelter connects to the Lake somehow (something that people theorized back in the 3-4 days) and I think we used that connection to get into the Shelter.

So, we're skipping ahead in the story, thus why we need Chapter 7B to continue, because, we skipped to Chapter 7 territory.

Alright? Cool. So, hear me out.

Consider Susie's POV.

Kris and Noelle just vanished out of nowhere. Oh shit. Panic Mode.

I do not think she would immediately assume they went into the lake. She def didn't see it happen, judging by aborted weird.

She has no clue what happened, and I don't think Susie is following the breadcrumb trail.

So... WTF does she do. Kris and Noelle are both gone, the two people she felt she could maybe rely on, and Berdly, the only other person she knows knows about the DW, is hospitalized.

I don't think Ralsei would have good advice either. He would be supportive but I kind of don't think he'd really know what to do either.

…So... what does Susie do? The more I think about it, the more I feel there's one true answer.

She does the thing that she keeps saying she wants to do- Tell Someone. She keeps bringing this idea up. She mentions it at the end of 3, and a few times in 5. She suggests we could get someone to tell us how the Shelter works, she suggests finding someone to keep watch at Flower King when we get kicked out, and at the very end, she resolves to tell Noelle. Kris manages to keep her from enacting that plan in 5 by mentioning the back door, but, clearly Susie was willing to do it.

So… I think in this situation, completely alone, she would make the same call. Something serious is happening, she needs help. So, who, precisely, does she tell?

Not Toriel.

Toriel is, well, I don't exactly think Susie wants to see Toriel right now, and I think Susie would reason that there's not much Toriel could do. She would just worry. It'd be a shame to make her bury her child. She wouldn't put that pressure on Toriel, and Toriel is a known target of the knight. Off the table. I do not think Susie is going to her.

Also, not Carol.

Carol is… well, Susie doesn't know Carol that well, and maybe they're on… slightly? better terms on weird, but, I suspect that Susie would not really "trust" Carol, especially since she might be blamed for whatever happened to Noelle. Carol is extremely intimidating. So not Carol either.

So. Who. Who can she go to.

You see, the realization I had, that dawned one me, the horrifying truth.

There is one person in town that I think Susie could conceivably decide to tell.

Motherfucking.

Asgore. Dreemurr.

She does not know him well but at minimum seems to know he's Kris' dad, and she at minimum would probably have met him during the festival, where he would have seemed a nice person. She also, conveniently, met him during weird at Holiday Manor, where he inadvertently interrupted her attempts at getting the Guitar Code.

She does not know his past, and so has no reason to distrust him.

So she goes to him, as like, the one adult she maybe can confide in who is close to Kris/Noelle who might be able to have advice. It's not... perfect, but, who else does she know that she might even remotely trust?

So, she goes to Asgore, and attempts to explain her story, that, well, okay, you're not going to believe this, but, there's a really weird alternate world, and...

...Well, in that moment, everything changes.

Because Asgore Dreemurr just so happens to be the one motherfucker in this town who would not only immediately believe her, but also have information of his own. He would, obviously, IMMEDIATELY take interest in Susie's story, add it to his existing notes, and they would both probably conclude that The Roaring Knight must have taken Kris and Noelle, like it tried to take Toriel, like it took Undyne, and like it (as far as Asgore would conclude, at least) took Dess all those years ago.

Given that Ralsei would not sense any Dark Fountains, the only conclusion is that they're in the shelter. And luckily, Asgore Also happens to be the one motherfucker in town who can actually get Susie into the shelter.

He has the Police Code. He may even know the other codes. Even if he doesn't, he has the capacity to act on Susie's knowledge of the guitar code and get himself, and probably at least knows where the DELTA RUNE code would be.

Maybe Asgore would also go to Carol, and I do think Carol is part of the knightspiracy as the Caller... but at this point, Asgore has basically the evidence he needs to prove the Dark World exists, nothing Carol could say or do would really matter and I don't think she'd try and physically fight him. Even if he couldn't get the codes himself for whatever reason, I straight up believe Asgore would kick the door in somehow. If he thought Kris was down there, in danger, that Undyne was down there, in danger, I think there would be nothing anyone in hometown could possibly do to keep him out of that shelter. Maybe he rams his truck against the doors or something, I don't know, He's Getting In.

And this... is how Susie is going to get into the Shelter.

This is how Susie comes back into the story.

I realized this all in a moment of horror when I tried to consider what Susie would realistically do with the information she has, and the realization that she probably would try and tell someone hit. And then I realized that the person that she probably would tell, given everything that happened, is probably Asgore... and that Asgore also happens to be the one person in Hometown who would not only immediately believe her story but would also have the means necessary to immediately get her into the shelter... it just feels perfect.

This line in Chapter 4 has mystified theorists for the 3-4 era, because, it kind of seems like the person she is describing here is Asgore. We know he goes to church late at night, he def has something to do with the cops, and he knows the mayor pretty closely... but why? Why is it phrased like this? Why??

I think the Why is because this is Weird Route Foreshadowing.

In weird, he is the key to getting in, and the key to Susie following us.

Trust in the plan.

Susie is coming back.

Also, maybe Asgore will get some aura.