Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26006155-20200107155350/@comment-26907577-20200116205748

Alright, let's talk Flowey.

Flowey remembers events when: Flowey forgets when: You remember when: And it's established Frisk has more Determination than Flowey.
 * You start the game
 * You close the game
 * You SAVE the game
 * You Load the game
 * You die in the game
 * He SAVES the game
 * He Loads the game
 * You start the game during his boss fight
 * He dies at the end of his boss fight
 * He lives at the end of his boss fight
 * You Reset the game
 * He dies at the end of Genocide (or when the world gets deleted at the end of Genocide. Take your pick. Not the SOUL-selling, though, because that doesn't happen on repeat playthroughs.)
 * You perform a True Reset following his lecture to the fourth wall
 * Any or all of the above

So how does this fit into your human-SOULs-remember theory? Because if it doesn't, we have a contradiction. And that might disprove the whole thing.

Fortunately, that question isn't rhetorical. We don't have a definite "no" yet.

The only way this is possible is if
 * Flowey doesn't lose Chara's SOUL when he dies in Neutral (and turns into a battered flower)
 * Flowey loses Chara's SOUL between leaving the Underground in True Pacifist and the True Reset
 * Flowey loses Chara's SOUL when he gets attacked into nothing in Genocide, or when Chara destroys the universe.
 * Flowey doesn't lose Chara's SOUL during any ordinary game functions, such as SAVING, Loading, Resetting, or auto-loading upon death.

How does that work?

I'll take my best shot at it. And even my best shot is conspiratorial.
 * 1) When killed in Neutral, Flowey turns back into a flower that still holds Chara's SOUL and his memories. And that SOUL gets sent back when you Reset.
 * 2) When killed in Genocide, nothing remains. Chara's SOUL is destroyed, ironically by their SOULless self.
 * 3) After Frisk leaves the Underground, Asriel realizes he hasn't faded yet. Looking deep within himself, he releases the last SOUL and turns back into Flowey.
 * And then doesn't tell the player during his lecture in the Black Void. That's the conspiratorial part.
 * 1) Normal SAVE functionality doesn't impair the ability of humans to remember, as demonstrated by us remembering during the Photoshop fight.

So can you explain that?

Oh, yeah. And it isn't the Barrier, 'cause Flowey gives that lecture after it breaks.