I want to talk about a character that has heavily intrigued me lately, and that is Gerson. I believe he's an important character, despite being dead. His name gets a reaction from Gaster, unlike Alvin's name.
In Undertale, Gerson is the character who explains to us about the Delta Rune. He seems to possess far more knowledge about the Delta Rune than most. Not only that, he's full of wisdom, having been a veteran of the war between humans and monsters.
In Deltarune, Gerson is dead. He passed away a few years before Chapter 1.
He was a smith, author, teacher, and historian throughout his life. He was also very popular, even to the point of Toriel having a book with his name signed on it. Just like in Undertale, he has a great amount of wisdom, and knowledge. Do note that Alphys is his replacement teacher, and in Undertale, Alphys was the replacement of the former royal scientist, who was Gaster. And GERSON is an anagram of GONERS. So maybe, Gerson and Gaster have some sort of a connection that we just do not know yet.
So, what about Gerson? Well, there's a quote from him that is very intriguing.
Not only is this clearly a reference to the fact that the ending of Deltarune is based on a fever dream that Toby had (or maybe the whole idea of Deltarune is based on a dream), but I also believe that Gerson may have been the first Lightener to visit the Dark World, or at least he has visited the Dark Worlds years before Kris and Susie have.Before I get into more about Gerson's potential history in the Dark World, I feel this line of dialogue is also intriguing.
I believe this dialogue from Alvin is also a reference to how enormous Undertale and Deltarune have become. Gerson's connections with Gaster, and Gerson being used as a reference for Toby's ideas about Deltarune is very intriguing. I believe Gerson was a very powerful character.
Anyways, the Darkners (I finally said it right!!!) seem to have had a history with Lightners. King and Seam remember their interactions with the Lightners, and the Addisons apparently seem to imply that Spamton attempted to sell items to Lightners, with no success, until becoming a big shot.
The fact that Seam describes their own dark world as a "prison" seems to imply that the Card Dark World was not the original home of the Darkners. In fact, the unused classroom that the Card Dark World is located was completely dark, as the light was turned off before completing Chapter 1, which explains King's dialogue.
What I believe may have happened is that apparently, the Darkners apparently were conscious, when the Lightners used to play with them as toys. Then, the toys were abandoned in the closet, which was shut away, and never saw use until Kris and Susie entered the closet.
For the Chapter 1 and 2 Dark World locations, they are rather intriguing.
The Card Dark World took place in the unused classroom, which has a drawing of Gerson by Alvin. The Cyber Dark World on the other hand took place in the library of the closet. Berdly works in the library, and his boss is named Ms. Boom. Gerson and Alvin are both members of the Boom family, so Berdly's boss related to Gerson and Alvin. We can go even further and look at the very speculated Dark World locations, Toriel's house, and the church. Toriel has a signed copy of The History of Humans and Monsters by Gerson Boom in her home. Meanwhile, Alvin is a priest of the church, and Alvin is the son of Gerson.
It seems that the Dark World locations have something in common with Gerson. The theme of the fountains are also "THE HOLY", and the Knight has their share of connections with holiness as well. For example, Spamton mentions a "Communion" when talking about the Knight, which is related to the church.
Onto something that has stumped me. As we all know, the Darkeners have had history before Chapter 1. However, Queen and King have met each other before. Even Seam and Jevil know about Queen.
Seam is even aware of history beyond the Knight's actions, and Seam claims that we don't need to know about a time beyond the Knight's appearance that was chaotic.
Onto the closet Dark Fountain. Apparently, Ralsei is the only one who inhabited the closet Dark Fountain. Also, judging from what Ralsei says, the closet Dark Fountain has existed for a long time, way before the Card Dark Fountain.
In fact, you proceed into the Card Dark Fountain through a giant door, which leads to the unused classroom. And here are more interesting instances of Ralsei and the closet Dark Fountain.
When it comes to escaping the Card Dark Fountain, or the Library Dark Fountain, Kris needs to use their SOUL in order to escape the Dark World. However, this removes the world in the process. Meanwhile, for the closet Dark Fountain, Kris and Susie can just float in and out, without needing to use their SOUL. Also, Ralsei can freely move and teleport to other Dark Worlds, without turning to stone. While characters such as Lancer and Rouxls Kaard turn into stone in the Chapter 2 Dark World. As a result, I believe whoever created the Dark Fountain in the closet, was incredibly powerful. More so than the Knight themselves, who created the Card Dark Fountain, and the Library Dark Fountain. As Lancer and Rouxls Kaard turn to stone in other Dark Worlds, but not Ralsei.
Also something that I have recently learned about Ralsei. Note how Ralsei pushes the Player for pacifism, and does not approve of the Weird Route, which is all about going against the prophecy. What I mean is that Ralsei is worried in the Weird Route, as he expects the Player to be given an option to see Susie and Noelle interact, but Kris denied the Player the opportunity. Ralsei also claims our choices do matter, but he's not entirely submissive to the Player, as he forces the Player to accept the prophecy as their destiny. I believe Ralsei wants the Player to use pacifism and recruit as many Darkeners as possible in order to return the closet Dark Fountain to its glory, whcih Ralsei could have gotten from Gaster.
Please let me know if I missed anything else, or any additional thoughts. Anyways...
So, what is all of this leading to? I believe with all of this evidence, I can attempt to piece the history of the Dark Worlds, before Chapter 1.
The Closet Dark Fountain was created. Now, who created this fountain is a mystery, obviously. One thing I am certain about is that the Knight did not create this fountain. I believe the candidates are Gerson, and Gaster. However, if Gerson made this fountain, then this will contradict the next points I am about to make. I believe it would make sense for Gaster to create this Dark Fountain, because he literally has the power to connect the Player to the game. It could have been someone else, but whoever created the Dark Fountain, is likely ancient. So I doubt someone like Kris, Susie, or Noelle created this fountain.
Gerson discovered the Closet Dark Fountain. It must have completely surprised him, and left him in awe. The Closet Dark Fountain may have been completely different in the past.
Gerson learned about the nature of Dark Fountains, and how to create more. He created a dark fountain in his own classroom, then in the library, then in Toriel's home, then in the church, and so on. I believe the Dark Worlds that Kris, Susie, and Ralsei explore are going to have already been explored by Gerson.
Gerson learned about the difference between the fountains that he created, and the Dark Fountain in the closet. For as to how Gerson could have escaped, maybe he brought a Human SOUL with him, or a human. Anyways, Gerson had to use a SOUL to escape the fountains he created, while Gerson could simply hop in and hop out of the Closet Dark Fountain.
Despite Gerson removing the fountains after his adventures, he awakened the Darkners. Lancer, King, Queen, Seam, Spamton, Jevil, etc. They were all brought to life by him. However, they also gained memories as to when they were objects in the Light World. For example, King gained memories of being played as a game in the Light World by schoolchildren. Spamton gained memories of constantly being sent into the trash by the Lightners on their computer, searching through emails. Gerson eventually took his Darkner allies to him in the Closet Dark Fountain, where a thriving town was built. This is how the Darkners from different Dark Worlds, such as King and Queen, met each other.
Gerson wrote about these incredible adventures, and became a very famous author as a result. For example, these adventures inspired his famous Lord of the Hammer series. However, Gerson failed to realize that these adventures were in fact real. He always assumed they were vivid dreams.
Eventually, Gerson passed away.
The closet Dark Fountain fell into complete ruin after Gerson's death. Of course, Gerson had to return the Light World items that were Darkners back where they belonged, so he did just that. The closet Dark Fountain was eventually completely abandoned, where everything fell into decay.
Gaster creates Ralsei, who was designed to guide the Player in the right direction, and to ensure the prophecy is fulfilled. Ralsei is completely unique from the rest of the Darkners, where he can teleport into other Dark Worlds and belong in any Dark World. Gaster and Ralsei keep on waiting for their big day.
The toys that were in Gerson's classroom were left abandoned, where the Lightners shut the door in the classroom for a long while, leaving the Chapter 1 Darkners in the shadows. Another possible explanation is that maybe the Darkners used to have a different home, but they were all donated to the school, where Gerson used them, and they were left in the classroom that became unused.
Then, the Knight springs into action. The Knight opens a dark fountain in Gerson's former classroom, where he completely changes the balance of the old monarchy. There has been no other dark fountain since Gerson's times in the dark fountains. Three of four kings are locked away, and the Knight chooses King and Lancer to rule the new Dark World.
Finally, Gaster connects the Player onto the SOUL. Deltarune begins.
Huge thanks to u/Gl00balS and u/TheQueen0fNowhere for influencing this theory!
