re: previous post, i do have some more notes on the sanctuaries.
the first sanctuary is a "thin" fountain, while the other two sanctuaries are normal-sized, which i guess could allude to how, in real life, "the original game" was never "realized" in that form. it was an idea that toby didn't even make one room of before he started making undertale, and it can only really be "seen" through deltarune, which is also in conversation with its subversion (undertale) and can thus never be the platonic ideal of the original... i don't know how much i believe this given that we spend most of our time in chapter 4 in the first sanctuary, but maybe that's a way to "make up for" us never getting to see the first iteration of utdr as a whole? idk. see also: the "original MANTLE" we see backstage in ch3 potentially being a "restoration" of the actual original MANTLE, the old man in this fountain being a revived version of a dead guy. "piano that may not be played that well," which i've always taken as an expression of both kris and toby's feelings regarding not being able to express themselves as they used to, could also be relevant as a motif of nostalgia/something from the past that was lost. at the risk of getting too parasocial, in toby's case, if undertale's development is what caused or worsened his chronic pain as i've heard, it was literally something lost to undertale.
alright enough doylist analysis let's do watsonian lore bullshit. the second sanctuary being ≈ undertale... hmm. the prophecy itself is mixed up from its order in the files, and the panels shown are different, which parallels how the DELTARUNE prophecy itself differs in undertale (?). the knight themself is also not in undertale, but would be in the other two iterations, just as how the knight does not appear in the second sanctuary. also, isn't it weird how in the fountain made by susie, the panels are about the heroes and specifically about her ("love finds its way to the girl" etc.), but tucked off in a corner are a bunch of gasteresque weird-route-alluding poems about one-eyed men and angels crying and girls who snow? followed by the ROOTS fallen star poor children room where you Get Egg? like, if anything i would expect that from a knight fountain, or a kris fountain. there are two other knight fountains in this very chapter, but nope, it's in susie's. the character arguably most sidelined by the weird route. why would this happen. unless her fountain gained access to that information when she metaphorically assumed the role of "the girl," who also initially transformed the original game into undertale... ok that's fanfic but you get me right. if susie is to some extent knight metonymy here then, yeah, her fountain would have a bunch of stuff about the weird route, and the angel, and even The Incident if you subscribe to that theory of "the poor children." you can also Get Egg (learn things about gaster) from undertale easter eggs. it works. so in this fucked up parallelism i've devised, susie is the knight, and the knight is... actual author toby fox? diegetic deltarune author... gaster??? wow knightster real we found it pack it up everyone.
Ok But Like Actually this does have a few implications. let's stop doing watsonian lore bullshit and go back to doylist analysis. the third sanctuary incorporates elements from both other sanctuaries, with both sets of prophecy panels present. even though the authors of both (susie and the knight) are enemies and in conflict throughout it, through the means of competitive storytelling, they've created a complete narrative. not every original idea should be subverted, but by taking into account the lessons imparted by a deconstruction while also seeing where it itself was flawed, you can create something much better and more polished, even if it differs from your original vision. of course, it depends on whether those elements are integrated cohesively or whether they exist in tension. that itself depends on the skill and/or cooperativity of the author(s), as well as the view of the reader(s) (i think toby's said before that the mercy system feels tacked on to deltarune, although imo it is arguably more varied and interesting than in undertale). basically, if deltarune is the "third sanctuary" authored by "susie and the knight" in this analogy, it would make some sense for there to be multiple diegetic deltarune authors with opposing views, whose actions contribute to the overall story, but perhaps require some work to reconcile and integrate. or some bullshit like that. deltarune, according to the bluest flower in chapter 5, is "a tale written in feathered pen, clashed by feathered sword." maybe there will be some characters with something to directly say about that, eventually.
