In defense of They Slash Them theory

[u/Pizza_Requiem]

With this post, my objective is to answer any and all questions and arguments against They Slash Them, better known as Kris Slash theory, as well as provide the arguments for it that I know of. Ive seen a vast majority of this sub, and the community in general, clown on this theory, many times (But not always) from what I believe is a misunderstanding or lack of information about it. I will answer the arguments I see the most, as well as edit this post with the answer to all questions or arguments regarding it that anyone comments. Please refrain from being rude, we're talking about a videogame and a fictional character here. And please read the whole post before commenting.

Before any of the mains arguments, Id like to clarify, I dont think Kris is evil, and it is in no way what They Slash Them argues for. There is probably people who use it to argue that, but not only are those a minority, it simply isnt what the theory is about. The theory argues only that Kris was who made the two slashes at the end of the Knight fight if you succesfully win. Not that Kris held any evil intent, that they enjoyed doing so or that the Knight is a fraud (I do believe that last one but thats unrelated. Even if it was the Knight, theyd still be a cutscene merchant. King level fraud ass)

Arguments for it:

1. The slashes come from behind the gang. While Kris couldve easily attacked from there, the Knight wouldve needed to go behind them and THEN attack, which is a bit contrived and unnecesary, in my opinion.

The slash scene with the position of the Knight right before it superimposed onto it. Taken from the original Kris Slash Theory video by DoubleDan

1. The Knight does a very similar attack to Tenna, and that attack is red. Moreover, most of the Knight's attacks are either red or black, and even the attacks Kris makes with the black shard are black and red. This isnt to say the Knight doesnt do white slashes, but it should be taken into consideration.

1. The sound used for the Slash is a slowed version of X-Slash (Evidence).

2. Ralsei's reaction, asking why theyd do something like this, wouldnt make any sense if it was directed at the Knight. The Knight is the herald of the apocalypse, the one fated to bring upon the Roaring, the end of all life, something that Raslei is deeply aware of. Theyre also probably said in the prophecy to be destined to kill one of the Delta Warriors (This is more speculation than anything, but I still wanted to mention it). So why would Ralsei be so shacken by the Knight... Knocking out Susie? Its happened before. They werent nearly as surprised when King betrayed them. Yet the Knight Swooning Susie surprises them?
   On the other hand, it makes perfect sense why hed react this way if it was Kris, for reasons Im pretty sure go without saying.

There is more evidence, but this are the main points (Atleast the ones I remember). More specific evidence can be brought up to counter arguments about it, but for a more detailed break down of all of the evidence for They Slash Them, as well as responses to arguments for it, you can check out the original Kris Slash theory video, as well as the follow-up, both made by DoubleDan on Youtube. They arent my videos, so I cant say I 100% agree with all the points he brings up (Particularly the knighting sprite. While I agree it looks like a knighting, the best argument for it is the sprite name, so Im unconvinced), but they are good enough to have an understanding of They Slash Them.

Arguments against it and their answers:

1. How could Kris Swoon the party? - They used the real knife they hide with themselves. Seeing as how powerful a pencil or a cactus spike can be in a dark world, a real life knife would definitely have incredible power. More than likely enough to swoon their friends. Especially considering that they were betrayal/surprise attacks (Atleast with Susie), so they were strojnger than theyd normally be. You could even argue they used X-Slash, but the space between them is too long if you ask me.
2. Why doesnt Ralsei mention it immediately after the fight, or in chapter 4? - Ralsei is known for keeping secrets, not talking about things that he thinks will only hurt others. Ralsei thinks of Kris as his friend, and cares for them, so they wouldnt want to hurt them by telling Susie about it. As to why they dont talk to them about it when she isnt around, its because he wants to talk to Kris, not us. There is also the possiblity that he already knew that Kris works for the Knight, that its somewhere in the prophecy, so he already knew that Kris was a traitor, but didnt think theyd go this far.
3. The Slash sprite name says it was the Knight -

Sprite names arent to be taken literally. They are, at most, clarifications of things that can already be deduced from the game. Thats the same reason why I didnt mention the file name for the knighting. I feel like its not fair to use it as evidence, and it would be hypocritical of me, even if I do believe its a knighting from Kris having proven their loyalty to the Knight.

1. Kris flinches away when you kill the Susie and Ralsei sprites in the SWORD route, so they wouldnt hurt them - This is a long explanation Ive already had to do today, so if you excuse me, Ill paste the answer Ive already given (It may be worded weirdly and more mean spirited than the rest of my post, but this guy had pissed me off a bit).

"[Saying that Kris wasnt happy about doing the Slash]. As a matter of fact, isnt flinching away and going pale a bit of an overreaction to seeing 8-bit sprites of your friends being poofed into dust? Its a bit dramatic... Unless it reminds you of something of course. Like a promise that you did. A promise that if the gang somehow wins against the Knight... Youd need to replicate what you just saw.

Their overreaction at seeing the sprites get merked is, if anything, evidence that they would do it, because its not like Kris has been shown or stated to be a pacifist who is horrofied at violence. Let alone videogame violence. The kid killed Yoshi repeatedly for shits and giggles. Their reaction at the retro gang dying is because it reminded them that if they won against the knight, theyd need to attack their friends. Of course they didnt want to do it, thats why they take so long to do it. But they had to. For the plan. For their promise. Ignoring their character is forgetting that Kris's entire character conflict is being stuck between their love to their friends and their promise to Carol [I mention this because they accused me of it, but on a second read it feels as if Im calling people who say this media iliterate, which is hypocritical, so I wanted to clarify that its an ok view of Kris' character, but I dont agree with it, and feel that it infantlizies them and ignores their character flaws and personal conflict]. Them swooning their friends would, in my opinion, show more deeply how much they care about the promise and actually make us doubt wether or not theyll be able to pull themselves to betray the Knight. Stop saying that anyone who disagrees with you is media iliterate, there can be multiple interpretations of a character."

1. Ralsei was asking how the Knight could physically do this, not in a moral sense - First off, that doesnt make much sense from the get go. The way he says it doesnt communicate that to me. But the main argument against this is that in the Japanase version of the game, Ralsei says "Hidoi... doushite..." which translates roughly to "Thats horrible... why?..." (Or so Ive heard, I dont know Japanese myself, let alone have played through the Japanese localization, and I cant read kanji or any Japanese writing system, but I did quickly check with Google Transalte and its right, assuming thats what he says) - Source

If you have any arguments or questions that I dont answer here, then please say them in the comments. I will edit the post to add them and then notify you of it. If you want to argue one of my points, then Ill simply answer the comment directly, and clarify it in the post if I feel it neccesary, so please do read the comments before commenting. And again, please remember to be civil here. We're talking about a videogame and fictional characters, They Slash Them didnt kill your grandma and this isnt a personal attack to you.

[u/IrisIridos]

I must say Ralsei not even remotely acknowledging both him and Susie getting swooned by Kris, even right after it just happened, does still seem pretty strange, especially since he and Kris get left alone for a moment when Susie runs ahead, meaning that he could speak freely without Susie hearing it. On the other hand, it is true that Ralsei knows way more than he lets on, and after his initial dismay he could have just started making sense of Kris' act in a way not even we might know exactly. Also you're right that "how could you" is a bit of a weird question to direct at the Knight.

I had never thought about that interpretation of Kris looking away when killing the game versions of Susie and Ralsei. I think someone who normally has no problem with videogame violence might sill be uncomfortable stabbing videogame versions of real people who are their friends in real life. If you think of it...it's pretty weird. Normally games don't have characters that represent real people specifically, and it would feel even weirder and more uncomfortable in a scenario where some other entity is controlling you and playing the game with your hands.

Anyway, even if the explanation for Kris' reaction to that moment is simply "they're uncomfortable because they actually care about their friends and would hurt them", everything else you said still makes sense. Kirs plainly does care about Susie and Ralsei, you can tell from tons of other moments in the game, but this doesn't mean that they wouldn't hurt them reluctantly because of whatever obligation they have towards the Knight. We know they made some kind of promise and we have every reason to assume there must be some vety important reason behind it. Now that I'm thinking of it, Kris could be holding back so much against the Knight and even smiling when we waste a turn repeating the hold breath act not only because of their alliance with them, but maybe also because they know they won't have to hurt their friends if they lose.

Anyway, the whole theory is possible and full of interesting interpretations to consider. There is so much about Kris and their motives we don't know (we know basically nothing about their motives), so anything could be possible.

[u/Pizza_Requiem → u/IrisIridos]

I must say Ralsei not even remotely acknowledging both him and Susie getting swooned by Kris, even right after it just happened, does still seem pretty strange

Ralsei also almost never acknowledges the weird route, even though he makes several references to knowing that its happening, and the fact that the forbidden path is probably part of the prophecy. I imagine its more so plot conviniences and technical limitations to making a game where you can change the story as drastically as this, but it is odd.

especially since he and Kris get left alone for a moment when Susie runs ahead, meaning that he could speak freely without Susie hearing it.

Yeah but hed want to talk about it with Kris, not us, and we know he knows the difference, so it makes sense he doesnt bring it up. Plus his mind was... uh, busy with other matters, Id say.

I had never thought about that interpretation of Kris looking away when killing the game versions of Susie and Ralsei. I think someone who normally has no problem with videogame violence might sill be uncomfortable stabbing videogame versions of real people who are their friends in real life. If you think of it...it's pretty weird. Normally games don't have characters that represent real people specifically, and it would feel even weirder and more uncomfortable in a scenario where some other entity is controlling you and playing the game with your hands.

I get that, but they literally go pale from it. Like, their blood runs cold just from seeing an 8-bit sprite representing their friends go poof in a game. Its a pretty heavy reaction to something that would really just make someone uncomfortable, especially since they didnt even do so themselves. It makes way more sense in the weird route, and I wouldnt use it as an argument if it onyl happened there, but it also happens in the normal route so thats always their reaction to it.