Ralsei and Noelle parallels in Chapter 5
I've talked about this before, but seeing as more and more people are picking up on it, I figure it's a good time to mention it again. Did you notice that Ralsei and Noelle have a lot of parallels in Chapter 5?
For example, Ralsei's outburst to Flowery is directly comparable to two scenes with Noelle:
Firstly, you've got this scene here, with Ralsei mirroring what happens if you push Noelle to cast SnowGrave. True to form, everything falls apart as Ralsei says it will happen:
As an aside, Noelle "casting a spell she doesn't know" is some pretty big foreshadowing there to her dissociation and memory loss.
But secondly, you've also got Ralsei's follow up comments:
Ralsei is pretending to be something they're not. Which is directly compared to how Noelle is pretending to be something she's not.
Noelle is just a Noelle, pretending to do Noelle things. Marching down her path. Staying quiet. Getting good grades. Feeling like she's watching herself through glass. Watching someone else move her through life. A Noelle that is just Noelle.
Lastly, both Noelle and Ralsei don't like this aspect of themselves, and want to change it:
They're not happy with the status quo. Neither of them want to follow the path set before them, and both of them feel trapped by it. In the Weird Route, you offer Noelle a chance at that freedom to break free of it, and it terrifies but also excites her. In the Normal Route, Flowery seems to break through to some degree to Ralsei, given that they defy Kris's orders in the final battle, will start asking if Kris is holding back, and will directly call Kris out on opening fountains.
There are other parallels with Ralsei and Noelle as well. They have a Fire and Ice style theming going on with their magic, they're both the healers of the party with nearly identical spells, they're closely connected with music and singing, and they're both closely tied to Kris in a "joined at the hip" kind of way. It's an uncanny level of comparison that was present before, but really brought out with Chapter 5.
Pay close attention to these parallels. Toby does these things intentionally, and I have no doubt they'll come up to be relevant in Chapter 6. A lot of people have speculated that Noelle will be playable in that chapter, and that the Holiday Manor will be the location of the Dark World. I don't think that's a coincidence either.
