So there’s been much confusion about what the heck happened in the Darkners world and I think I’ve solved part of it. If you’ve beaten Deltarune or at least reached the chapter’s epilogue then you know the entire Darkner’s world was just an abandoned classroom and a supply closet.
The ‘golden door’ was the supply closet door connected to the classroom. The checked rug was the fields, and the legos were the trees and bushes. You can clearly see Seam, the old shopkeeper without much hope for himself, at the back, and a lone checker piece is waiting to be kinged at the end of the checker board covered in pawns.There’s even dustbunnies next to Seam that become the Rabbicks. I’m sure the cards explain themselves. The ace of spades is considered the highest card in the deck, hence why the spades are in control now.
The entirety of the Darkner’s world is a classroom with Ralsei being put away in a supply closet, left to collect dust with the abandonment of the classroom.
But what is Ralsei, and what’s the relationship between Lightners and Darkners?
Lightners and Darkners
Seam describes Lightners as gods, creators, and protectors who gave the Darkners purpose.
This seems odd at first since Kris and Susie are just normal people even compared to the Darkners. When you consider the reveal about the Darkner’s world and then come back to this, things start to fall into place.
Darkners are toys whose only purpose is to be played with and to bring joy to the Lightners. They feel the most fulfilled when they’re assisting the Lightners, according to Ralsei. This makes sense because a toy’s only purpose is the be played with and to bring joy to those that play with them.
Lightners are children and adults that play with them, create them, and keep them in shape. When the classroom was abandoned, the teachers (Lightners) didn’t bother to bring any of the toys (Darkners) and just left them to rot. To the Darkners, it looked like their gods abandoned them, and they didn’t understand why.
Lightners are called Lightners because they are the light of the toys’ world and they turn on the lights of the room.
Darkners are called Darkners because when they’re not with the Lightners they’re in the dark. There’s also the fact that they’ve been abandoned and in the dark for a long time now.
Ralsei
Ralsei can be found in the tutorial section of the Darkner’s world. This happens to be in the supply closet. This is why that beginning section of your journey is so ominous and why your footsteps echo there. You’re in a small, empty closet with nothing but dust to keep you company. That’s until you run into Ralsei, of course. But what is Ralsei? Simple.
Ralsei is a boss monster plushie that Kris and Asriel used to play with when they were younger. His name is Ralsei because he’s a boss monster and Asriel is as bad at naming things as his father. This is why Ralsei is a prince even though there is no king or queen of his kingdom. You may have noticed that Ralsei, when he reveals his true face, has red horns, something that stands out since every boss monster we know has white horns.
The reasoning behind that?
Kris used to wear a little headband with little red horns on it when they were little because everyone else in their family had horns. They ended up giving them to Ralsei. As for his glasses, those could have been drawn on by Kris and Asriel seeing how the green crayon in the pack upstairs in missing. That’d also explain why they’re not being held by anything when Toriel’s is clearly being held by her ears.
Ralsei was most likely put away when Kris and Asriel grew too old to be in that class. The teacher might’ve wanted to preserve the memories attached to the plushie by keeping it out of reach and out of danger of being destroyed like Seam.
The teacher of that room could’ve been Gerson seeing how he is the only other teacher mentioned besides Toriel and Alphys. It’d also explain why he’d want to preserve those memories. He seemed to be close friends with the Dremurrs. With his death, the class was left the way is was the last time he left it.
Clearly this doesn’t explain everything. We still don’t know who Jevil met, why he lost his mind, or why he has Everyman in his carosel attack. We still don’t know who The Knight is, how we got sucked into this world in the first place, or what Gaster has to do with it. Hopefully, this answers some things though!
Best post I’ve seen on Deltarunes lore yet. Have some stuff to add to it, but I think I want to save it for video form. I’m glad other people are drawing similar connections :B
PTA archive 