Alright, so here’s a thought for you: I’ve gotten a couple messages about the True Lab entries being written by Sans/Alphys, and I agreed. But lately, I’ve been buying into a different set of scientists writing the entries:

Alphys and Gaster.

Let’s take a look at the entries, separated by writing style; Capitalized, formal entries as Gaster, and the lowercase entries as Alphys (Put under the cut for length).

Entry 1 - Gaster:

This is it… Time to do what the King has asked me to do. I will create the power to free us all. I will unleash the power of the SOUL.



Entry 2 - Gaster:

The barrier is locked by SOUL power.. Unfortunately, this power cannot be recreated artificially. SOUL power can only be derived from what was once living. So, to create more, we will have to use what we have now… The SOULs of monsters.

Entry 3 - Gaster:

But extracting a SOUL from a living monster would require incredible power… Besides being impractical, doing so would instantly destroy the SOUL’s host. And, unlike the persistent SOULs of humans… The SOULs of most monsters disappear immediately upon death. If only I could make a monster’s SOUL last…



Entry 4 - Gaster:

I’ve been researching humans to see if I can find any info about their SOULS. I ended up snooping around the castle… And found these weird tapes. I don’t feel like ASGORE’s watched them… I don’t think he should.



Entry 5 - Gaster:

I’ve done it. Using the blueprints, I’ve extracted it from the human SOULs. I believe this is what gives their SOULs the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living… The resolve to change fate. Let’s call this power… “Determination."

Entry 6 - Gaster:

ASGORE asked everyone outside the city for monsters that had "fallen down.” Their bodies came in today. They’re still comatose… And soon, they’ll all turn into dust. But what happens if I inject “determination” into them? If their SOULS persist after they perish, then… Freedom might be closer than we all thought.



Entry 7 - Gaster:

We’ll need a vessel to wield the monster SOULs when the time comes. After all, a monster cannot absorb the SOULs of other monsters. Just as a human cannot absorb a human SOUL… So then… What about something that’s neither human nor monster?

Entry 8 - Gaster:

I’ve chosen a candidate. I haven’t told ASGORE yet, because I want to surprise him with it… In the center of his garden, there’s something special. The first golden flower, that grew before all the others. The flower from the outside world. It appeared just before the queen left. I wonder… What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?



Entry 9 - Gaster:

Everyone that had fallen down… … has woken up. They’re all walking around and talking like nothing is wrong. I thought they were goners…?



Entry 10 - Gaster:

Seems like this research was a dead end… But at least we got a happy ending out of it…? I sent the SOULS and the vessel back to ASGORE. And I called all of the families and told them everyone’s alive. I’ll send everyone back tomorrow. : )

Entry 11 - Gaster:

ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN DARK DARKER YET DARKER THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER PHOTON READINGS NEGATIVE THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT SEEMS VERY VERY INTERESTING … WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?



Entry 1 - Alphys:

things aren’t going well. none of the bodies have turned into dust, so i can’t get the SOULs. i told the families that i would give them the dust back for the funerals. people are starting to ask me what’s happening. what do i do?

Entry 2 - Alphys:

experiments on the vessel are a failure. it doesn’t seem to be any different from the control cases. whatever. they’re a hassle to work with anyway. the seeds just stick to you, and won’t let go…

Entry 3 - Alphys:

now that mettaton’s made it big, he never talks to me anymore. … except to ask when i’m going to finish his body. but i’m afraid if i finish his body, he won’t need me anymore… then we’ll never be friends ever again. … not to mention, every time i try to work on it, i just get really sweaty…

Entry 4 - Alpyhs:

nothing is happening. i don’t know what to do. i’ll just keep injecting everything with “determination.” i want this to work.

Entry 5 - Alphys:

one of the bodies opened its eyes.

Entry 6 - Alphys:

no No NO NO NO NO



Entry 7 - Alphys (Cut from the game, still present in the code):

monsters’ physical forms can’t handle “determination” like humans’ can. with too much determination, our bodies begin to break down. everyone’s melted together…



Entry 8 - Alphys:

the flower’s gone.

Entry 9 - Alphys:

the families keep calling me to ask when everyone is coming home. what am i supposed to say? i don’t even answer the phone anymore.



Entry 10 - Alphys:

ASGORE left me five messages today. four about everyone being angry. one about this cute teacup he found that looks like me. thanks asgore.



Entry 11 - Alphys:



i spend all my time at the garbage dump now. it’s my element.

When the entries are separated in this way, each set not only forms its own narrative, but seem even more like they were written by different people. Whoever wrote the first set seems to be much more professional and objective, listing their discoveries and important notes. Whoever wrote the second set uses the entries more like personal logs rather than actual scientific notes.

(Also, just a side note probably not of importance, splitting them like this gives an even 11/11 entries. I just find that satisfying.)

The narrative of Gaster’s notes seems to read that he was the one tasked by the King to harness the power of the Soul. And while he failed, he did actually succeed in reviving monsters - and we’ve even seen evidence that this is possible.



Undyne revived and became The Undying - And although we see her melt after being killed, this likely is just the result of her being even more determined that the world will prevail because of her sacrifice. If you hadn’t killed her, she likely would’ve survived so long as she kept that level of determination. In essence - if a monster has just the right amount of determination, they can beat death and not melt.

So Gaster succeeds in reviving the monsters, and finishes those experiments - His brilliance once again shown off to the world. But then there’s a noticeable difference between the last entry of the DT experiments and the final entry. Well, take a look at the beginning of Gaster’s last entry - “ENTRY NUMBER 17″. We’re missing 5 lab entries. Somewhere, in these final 6 lab entries, something with Gaster went horribly awry (perhaps some reset tests…?), and then he vanished - killed by his own experimentation.

So then where does that leave Alphys? Let’s start with the first of her entries - she seems to have just picked up where Gaster left off with the Soul research. The only trouble is, she’s so focused on making the experiments work that she neglects to think of the repercussions of too much determination - obviously the previous scientist just didn’t go far enough, this has to work!

Thus, the amalgamates are created. Alphys seems to be the one responsible for Flowey, as well - likely from, again, irresponsible wielding of Determination. Which isn’t to say that Alphys is dumb, by any means - she simply pushed things just a bit too far. With the vessel gone and everyone melted together, Alphys has nothing to show for her experimentation. She failed. She would feel even worse knowing that she couldn’t even pull off what the Scientist before her did and resurrect the Fallen.

And so, Alphys falls into self-doubt and depression, something that would take a very very long time to begin to get out of.



Reading the entries like this paints a more complete picture of both scientists. It gives insight into both their experiments and where exactly they went wrong. And arguably most importantly - it gives some more solid insight into Gaster’s past as the Royal Scientist.

