There's a kind of similar theory by dogshow, but I want to go even further beyond.
This theory exists to make Deltarune theory-crafting WORSE. Don't take it too seriously, I just think it'd be really funny if all of this turns out to be true and there's not a crumb of gaster whatsoever involved in any of this <3. No gaster! shoos WD Gaster out like a misbehaving cat from a countertop
Apologies if my formatting is bad, it's because I'm fundamentally evil for putting this forward in the first place.
Let's review the text of Ralsei's recounting of the prophecy!
For millenia, LIGHT and DARK
have lived in balance,Bringing peace to the WORLD.
But if this harmony
were to shatter...A terrible calamity would occur.
The sky will run
black with terrorAnd the land will
crack with fear.Then, her heart pounding...
The EARTH will draw her final breath.
Only then, shining with hope...
Three HEROES appear
at WORLDS' edge.A HUMAN,
A MONSTER,
And a PRINCE
FROM THE DARK.Only they can seal the fountains
And banish the ANGEL'S HEAVEN.
Only then will balance
be restored,And the WORLD saved
from destruction.Today, the FOUNTAIN OF DARKNESS-
The geyser that
gives this land form-Stands tall at the
center of the kingdom.But recently, another fountain
has appeared on the horizon...And with it, the balance of
LIGHT and DARK begins to shift...
Now let's look at what King says.
Begone!
We have found
fresh
purpose.For the
KNIGHT
has appeared.The KNIGHT
that pulls the Fountains from the Earth.
Holy
Fountains,
whose shadows
are creating
a new
world...OUR world.
Queen's dialogue about The Knight. Once again mentioning the Earth.
* The Knight
* The Roaring Knight...
* Today, It Deigned To Create This World
* Reaching Its Long Hand To The Sky
* It Coursed Its Will Into Its Blade
* And Made
* Thrusting The Fountain From
The Earth
* ...
* Unfortunately The World They Created
* Is Trapped Within The Confines Of The Library
* If Only We Had A Way To Make More Darkness
* We Might Be Able To Cover The Whole World
* ...
* That Is When I Realized
* This Power... This Power Of The Will
* This Power Of Determination...
* Is This Not Something That All Lightners Possess...?
* If One Was Simply
* Determined Enough
* Could Not Anyone Make A Dark Fountain?
Weird Route summarized explanation of The Roaring from Ralsei in Chapter 2:
* If too much darkness is released...
* Titans will emerge from the fountain...
* And destroy everything.
* All Darkners will turn into statues...
* And all Lightners will be lost in eternal chaos.
Ralsei's explanation on a normal route with the story panels:
When the LIGHT is
subsumed by SHADOWWhen the FOUNTAINS fill the sky
All will fall into CHAOS.
The TITANS will take
form from the FOUNTAINSAnd envelop
the land in devastation.
The surviving Darkners,
crushed by the darknessWill slowly, one by one,
turn into statues...Leaving the Lightners
to fend for themselvesLost eternally in an
endless night...Is that your idea
of paradise?
Note 'if too much darkness is released'. People have been assuming this is a 'too many dark fountains created at once' thing due to Ralsei's main route explanation (cups of milk overflowing analogy). I don't that's it, or at minimum that's not the only aspect.
Alvin's description of monster funeral stuff if you talk to him at the graveyard in 2:
* As per the ritual, a hammer is buried in the earth here.
* To symbolize his existence.
* To connect his spirit to the divine.
That's an interesting thing Alvin says, huh. Burying in the earth 'connects one to the divine'.
The song that typically plays when you're sealing fountains is called THE HOLY.
Susie reacts HORRIBLY to Gerson's dusted hammer in its cloche being in Alvin's study, to a degree that is like... extremely weird, from the outside looking in. People in our world have funeral ashes on mantlepieces. Why is it that terrible. So terrible you instantly recoil?
... Unless of course, culturally, not burying stuff in Deltarune's version of monster society is weird and not viewed well? Because burying is supposed to connect you to the divine.
I can see people arguing 'well what about funerals in Undertale?!'
... They're already Underground. If you live in the underground, you're pre-buried. Already connected to the divine. smiles.
Alvin says this as you leave the graveyard in Chapter 2:
* (You heard Alvin mumbling to himself as you walked away.)
* ... were you proud of me, father...?
* And... is it right for this hammer to...
Alvin took the hammer. Despite the lack of sin in Deltarune's religion, Alvin still seems very notably torn up over the idea of doing this, despite it being his own family member.
The Church's version of the prophecy:
A WORLD BASKED IN PUREST LIGHT.
BENEATH IT, GREW ETERNAL NIGHT.IF FOUNTAINS FREED, THE ROARING CRIES.
AND TITANS SHAPE FROM DARKENED EYES.THE LIGHT AND DARK, BOTH BURNING DIRE.
A COUNTDOWN TO THE EARTH'S EXPIRE.
Note the phrasing. 'The Roaring cries'. This aligns with 'fallen star' stuff also:
* And so wept the fallen star, making rivers with its tears.
* Then, slowly, from the bitter water, something grew.
* It looked like glass.
The Earth is getting she/her-ed and from the phrasing of both, is heavily implied to die/already BE dead by the time the three heroes arrive as World's Edge, The Roaring is described in a personlike way in the non summarized by Ralsei version of the prophecy, where The Roaring is crying. Like the Fallen Star.
RIVER is an important word and phrasing here.
In Chapter 5, this is how Asgore describes a Dark Fountain to Flowery.
* This may be a strange question, but...
* ... have you seen anything around, resembling...
* ... oh, I don't know.
* ... a black river, rising out of the ground?
Let's look at Ralsei's talk to Kris in the optional talk about making Dark Fountains:
* I... don't think there should be more Dark Fountains, Kris.
* No, making them... is bad. It's very bad.
* The more darkness gets released, the closer...
* ... the closer the Roaring becomes. And, if it happens...
* ... I believe ... it will mean...
* The end... of the story.
This does not read as glasses of milk. This reads as there being a limited amount of time/amount of darkness Released Into The World before The Roaring STARTS.
Now, a quick diatribe:
The placeholder enemy, obj_baseenemy, was briefly called ECHIDNA, and has been called several other things, including Teru Teru Bozu and Weather Doll (teru teru bozu are used to ward off rain. which, as discussed before, is associated with The Fallen Star making rivers with its tears.)
Echidna in greek mythology is a half snake monster who lived alone in a cave, and had children with Typhon. She is 'the mother of monsters'. Typhon in most myths is the child of Gaia and Tartarus.
... The Earth is a monster.
... It's blood.
Darkness is blood. We're killing The Earth, we're stabbing the earth, the darkness is either plumes of blood from stabbing the earth to death, or the tears of The Roaring watching us stab the earth.
The reason why too many Fountains is bad is because we're literally bleeding her out.
The Earth is a monster, the reason you need determination and to concentrate on what you want is because... well, we already know, don't we? From Undertale.
* Because they are made of
magic, monsters' bodies are
attuned to their SOUL.* If a monster doesn't want
to fight, its defenses will
weaken.* And the crueller the intentions
of our enemies, the more
their attacks will hurt us.* Therefore, if a being with
a powerful SOUL struck with
the desire to kill...* Um, let's end the chapter
here...
The Roaring starts crying because we killed The Earth. The land cracks with terror. Titans formed from darkened eyes. It doesn't just mean 'eyes in the dark', it's because she's dead. Her eyes are darkened because she died.
