noelle is strong (weird route spoilers)
i see some ppl talk as if noelle drowns in the weird route, but i feel like there's a lot of evidence to the contrary that makes it hard for me to believe.
first the reasons as to why one would think noelle drowns in chapter 5 (lmk if im missing smth). 1 because her and kris go underwater for an extended period of time with no apparent resolution, and 2 because in one of the boards in chapter 3 you "discard" the white cloak, which sounds like foreshadowing and would fit her drowning in chapter 5.
but, i feel like the game has since chapter 2 been insisting on the idea that noelle is uniquely strong:
the queen captures her and mentions explicitly that she wants noelle because of her strength, meaning something about noelle is already special over any other member in their circle, even kris.
in addition, the dark world seems to manifest people's "essence", and for whatever reason noelle has distinctly dangerous ice magic innately.
i think these two facts are clearly relevant, and they lead to the question of what strength means in deltarune. well, based on the themes of the game, i think strength is just a vessel for freedom, i.e. being strong means you can do things others can't, it means you can defy fate, it means you can change...
the way noelle speaks in chapter 5 weird route supports this idea. she finds it remarkable that kris changed, and clearly understands that the process of making her strong throughout the entire game might let her change and defy fate too. i think this is the whole basis for why the weird route focuses on noelle. it's cause she has a visceral desire to be free, and is therefore very attracted to the idea of strength. that's why she has dangerous magic, and that's why we can tell her to do awful things in the first place. it'd never work on susie or anyone else because they lack that underlying desire.
going back to chapter 5 weird route... noelle has become stronger, knows it, and wants to exercise that strength due to her desire to be free. with all this in mind, doesn't it seem almost non-sensical narratively if noelle just ends up drowning? we insisted on making her strong, just for her to fail to exercise that strength in the first hurdle and die? i dunno, just feels weird.
ofc i could be wrong about all the strength interpretations etc., and i'd be happy to hear if others have other contradicting evidence, but just sharing my current feelings on what's going on with noelle.
