Darkner Knight can be narratively satisfying, actually

I've seen too many people claiming that Darkner Knight isn't a good theory because it's "narratively unsatisfying" or "ruins the mystery" or whatever and I disagree so I need to explain why

To preface, this is really just going to describe the narrative and thematic ideas around Darkner Knights, explaining why none of the usual narrative or thematic "debunks" actually work. I won't really get into logistics since they aren't super relevant to themes, but do note that most logistics make the connections to other characters even stronger

Also, the Darkner Knight that I'm using as the assumption here, is that the Knight is a lookalike of either Noelle or Dess, and probably similar to Ralsei or ERAM in existence. The specifics aren't really all that important, I do explain certain possibilities that are stronger or only work with a specific lookalike

# "the mystery would be unfair if we aren't able to guess its identity"

This is fair, but it also isn't just someone entirely new. It looks like someone we know, and logistics usually tie it even closer to Noelle or Dess, using their lost dreams or determination to make Dark Fountains (but this isn't about logistics!)

It's also not like there's just nothing to suggest it isn't a Lightner



Ralsei and the Knight might even share the ability to "watch" the player's perspective, Ralsei has plenty of evidence for this and the Knight knows the exact time to call Kris (or to tell Carol to call Kris) before they jump out their window in Chapter 4, and in Chapter 5, they of course do the "frame perfect fountain opening". Additionally, Ralsei's identity being hidden from us and continuing to be considered something out of the ordinary implies that it'll be related to a big reveal later on.

there's a lot of other foreshadowing too, Spamton "I know something about the Knight" NEO brings up the possibility of Darkners entering the Light World, for example

# "Kris hides their face from us, that means we would be able to recognize them!"

That isn't the only thing that could mean. Like, especially if it's the Noelle lookalike, seeing that it looks like Noelle, but not quite, and knowing that Ralsei looks like Asriel, but not quite, figuring out exactly what the Knight is from there isn't exactly a challenge.

But also, there's a lot of evidence that narration and dialog choices are, at least partly, given by Kris themself. They gave us the "think about the Knight" option. They're just fucking with us, it doesn't need a better a reason, it's a joke scene with the dogsong playing lmao

# "but Susie said it was a Lightner, this was a hint"

not really what she said, the full dialog was:

Gerson \* ... what do ya reckon that Knight fellow is, anyhoo...?

Susie \* I don't... really know, I guess... \* Last night, in the Light World... I saw them. \* Was too dark to see much, but guess they're a Lightner. \* Who they actually are, I have no idea.

There's a couple things to note about this. First, her assumption for guessing it's a Lightner is just that it was in the Light World, which was based purely on her simplified explanation literally the day before. Additionally, she doesn't even seem confident in her guess, because, again, it is based on a single piece of evidence

Second, Gerson's question isn't "who do you think is the Knight," it's *"what* do you think the Knight is," highlighting that the Knight's existence likely isn't super simple

# "but why would Kris/ Carol want to work with it?"

^((this whole section is pretty badly written, I think. oh well.))

Starting with Carol, I don't think she's actually fully working with the Knight. She's investigating the Shelter in Chapter 5 and funding Asgore to defeat the Knight, neither of which she'd need to do if she was actually the Knight's ally. Obviously, Carol, Kris and the Knight are doing a little bit of teamwork, so Carol's goal (finding Dess, most likely) probably involves the Knight

Kris is similar in that they'll probably betray the Knight later too (also probably will betray Carol and also us) but the Knight has a much deeper connection to Kris: a promise. I don't think there is a single promise that could work for every Darkner Knight theory but my take is that: The Knight is obviously connected to the Dessappearnce and their trauma, and are being blackmailed by it. Kris does not like the Knight. at all. they're having a panic attack during its battle, they are terrified of it. Given this and the context of the promise call, I'd guess they watched the Knight kill Dess and it threatened to kill more people they cared about if they didn't submit to it

As for the Knight itself, it's working with Carol simply out of convenience. She's rich as hell, and because the Knight shares an appearance with one of her daughters, it might think that makes her easier to emotionally manipulate (especially if its a Dess lookalike!) I doubt Carol is actually getting manipulated that badly though, in fact Carol might even be manipulating the Knight into following her plan

# "why would the party members care?"

Ralsei. It all ties to Ralsei. The whole game, Ralsei has been pushing the idea that "Darkner must serve Lightners" and "Darkners aren't as important or real as Lightners", and the Knight would be the complete antithesis to this. A Darkner that became more real, real enough to enter the Light World, and even plays with Lightners like they do with Darkners

Ralsei clearly doesn't know who the Knight is, but because it likely came to exist in a similar way to him, he would probably recognize them when their helmet comes off. He also almost certainly knows the logistics that the Knight would use, on some level, but doesn't connect the dots because his ideology forbids him from accepting that this is truly possible. He doesn't know who the Knight is because he doesn't want to.

For Susie, it's also related to Ralsei: she may become slightly distrusting of him, since he said he'd tell her everything important back in Chapter 4, but conveniently left this out ("if you KNOW something, why don't you just-- TELL us") Also, depending on how similar Ralsei and the Knight are, and what exactly they are, there may be more conflict there, especially if their existence is strongly tied to the Prophecy (Susie "I HATE THE PROPHECY" Gaster)

Additionally, if the Knight is the Noelle lookalike, this could have some implications on Suselle if Noelle isn't there at the Knight reveal (even if she is there, there could be minor ones too!)

Speaking of Noelle, she'd obviously have major connections to the Knight. If the Knight looks like Noelle, then considering Kris' lookalike's behavior towards them (and the two's general similarities) it's safe to assume the Knight might be especially aggressive towards Noelle, on top of its normal aggression, which could very well be warranted since Noelle is *the* strongest party member by a significant margin

If it's the Dess lookalike however, it would be very different. Unlike Carol, I can completely imagine that Noelle could be manipulated into believe that really is Dess, especially with Kris on it's side. Also, the Dessappearance is what caused Noelle to fall into the cycle of being "just a Noelle," so we might even see a little bit of WR Noelle insanity

# conclusion

I don't expect this to have changed any minds. It probably didn't, since, at the end of the day, what's "narratively satisfying" differs from person to person. What I do hope, though, is that you can understand why people do like theories similar to this on a narrative level. After all, every theory is narratively bad if you don't think about why it might be good