Spyret's Blog

What’s the opposite of “I miss Tenna”?

EXTREME SPOILERS for DELTARUNE Chapter 5 below. Please proceed with caution!

DELTARUNE Chapter 5 came out five days ago. That’s enough of a cushion to share my thoughts, right…?

Well, I started out thinking it was going to change the game, the way Chapters 3 and 4 did. When all we had was Chapter 2, I thought I could predict the way the game was going and how it was going to end, but Chapter 3’s ending made me realize I knew nothing, and even after Chapter 4 exceeding even more of my expectations, it got even harder to tell. Upon hearing that Chapter 5 is a “fun chapter”, I did expect more gameplay elements, Toby’s brand of comedy, and the festival being the main focus.

Boy, was I in for it. (By the way, you’re listening to my cover of a new song from Chapter 5. Hope you enjoy!)

Since I was 12 (so, around 7 years ago) I’ve had the theory that Sans and maybe Papyrus made their way to UNDERTALE’s universe at some point during the story of DELTARUNE. It didn’t quite make sense to me how, but I knew it had something to do with the machine in Sans’ lab, the drawing of three smiling people, how he keeps mentioning wanting to go “home”, and blood seeming nonexistent to everyone except Sans, and that one off-handed line from Susie in Chapter 1. Chapter 4 did confirm this for me, and I did cry for a very long time listening to The Place Where It Rained… actually, it was just the first chord that did me in. I could finally say I was right, and it made me both excited and fearful for the next installment.

So, you can imagine how I reacted to the festival in Chapter 5. There, no matter what route you’re on (I’ll get to that later), Susie draws her, Kris, and Noelle or Ralsei on a card and gives it to Sans, so he remembers them. I have video proof of me crying, stuck on it for about 10 minutes, because the past year before then had been me trying to convince everyone I spoke to that Chapter 4 really was proof of my theory. But now that the drawing exists, we like the clue board now. And I hate everyone on TikTok.

My excitement about Sans was short-lived, though, because despite him and Alphys being my favorite characters, Susie and Noelle were the focus of my attention when they confessed to each other at long last. However, this chapter did give rise to a few other ships being validated… Kris seems to be jealous of Susie. We’re not going to act like I know how messy teenage romance can be firsthand, but how awful must it be to watch your crush get everything you want, and you can’t say anything? Not to mention, it’s very possible that she is friends with us, the player, and not Kris. Devastating.

Ralsei’s revelations as a character really took the cake for me this time around, though. This was absolutely a chapter for him, as Chapter 4 seemed to center Susie and Chapter 3 for Kris. He deserved this one! I don’t want to talk about our past, because I used to not like him, but he showed his feelings and his identity this time around. In Chapter 4, I started to notice his reluctance to hurt others around him the way he had been hurt with his knowledge, and it smacked me in the face in the end…

(In the middle of writing this, I had a dinner of potato soup and ham. It was really good)

But once Ralsei understands he can be honest, and should be above anything else, I began to notice that he was willing to unwind. Even if the prophecy scares him, he still has time to maybe think about being a girl, love and care for his friends, and being the biggest hater Hometown has ever seen.

Flowery. What a man. He really is the opposite of “I miss Tenna”.

Before Chapter 5, it was irritating to me when people would start theorizing that Flowey would be back, as the character he always was. Maybe a little more than irritating. Do you know how many universe-specific variables went into Flowey being Flowey? He will NEVER be in DELTARUNE. And I was right, but… well, I miss Flowey a lot. Especially now. He was such an intriguing character, a representation of how trauma and a nihilistic mindset can change a person, and how everyone needs love… anyway. My first impression of Flowery started when I noticed his catchphrase. I thought that, since Toby was saying it a lot, a character would say “Sorry to keep you waiting!” an inordinate amount of times. I was correct. I wish I wasn’t. The animation that introduced him was masterful, but looking into those golden twink eyes, I felt a shiver of disgust roll down my spine. I couldn’t tell you what he reminded me of, but it was BAD. It’s like if Flowey was always pretending to be your best friend, and all you had as a reason to hate him was the saccharine kindness that rubbed you the wrong way. Maybe it was my own fault, because in that moment, I hadn’t separated him from Flowey yet. Flowery did have Asgore’s best interest in mind, and he does love his family, and he is nothing like Flowey. …Well, those stats… just a little. He could have beat the Knight if it didn’t go cutscene mode.

As the chapter went on, I realized that Ralsei strongly disliked him because he was jealous. A big theme in this chapter. The jealousy had a lot to do with Flowery’s exhibition of freedom, how he could shape his life into anything he wanted, how he didn’t have a prophecy he needed to follow, how he was free to be anyone at all. Ralsei was stuck being Ralsei, and he didn’t quite know who “Ralsei” was. But Flowery helped him understand he doesn’t have to wait for someone to tell him who he is, especially not a prophecy, and while I predict Ralsei has a long road to walk down until he’s able to be that “princess” Flowery was talking about… I’m excited to see him grow. He is more than a placeholder, or a representation of a missing brother.

So, Asgore is gone just as Undyne is. I’m worried about the implications of only UNDERTALE characters, especially the main six, being in danger of kidnappings so far… but in the end, Chapter 5 really was the fun chapter we were promised. Yes, the stakes are slightly higher, and we can expect the last two installments to mean more than ever, but the ending was so sweet. I expected it to end horribly, on an awful cliffhanger, with a certain device theory being confirmed as two children sunk to depths never before seen…

…the machine could never be fixed in that world. But maybe, we have a chance to understand it in this one.

I enjoyed my Chapter 5 to the fullest.

Until next time. ❤