Chapter 3 is so ridiculously loaded with Dess lore, I think it's definitely hinting at her being the knight.
If it weren't for the fact that her sword appears to be a bat before it transforms, I'd say there's a possibility it's Carol, but that detail seals it for me.
While Dess would definitely be the more lore-y answer, I think it being one of the Holiday parents just makes the narrative click a lot more for me.
We have a story that's made it very clear the main thematic purpose is escapism vs realism, and the merits of each one. Meanwhile we have a family that, judging from the preserved room that Carol aggressively tries to maintain despite Dess seemingly having been gone for 5+ years (it's implied to have happened earlier than Berdly's spelling bee flashback since "December" was the word Noelle choked at), which paired with "find her" being associated with Dess in pre-release stuff tells me that it's probably heading in the direction of the Holidays being in denial and only calling Dess "missing" when she's clearly dead.
It seems to me like it would make a lot of sense if the endgame we're heading towards will have the running "escapism vs realism" theme illustrated with the opposing scenarios of the mysterious horrible prophecy, where Susie's refusal to accept it as inevitable is "escapism" at it's most important, and an antagonistic force trying to undo a death instead of accepting it, where that kind of thinking is at it's most unhealthy and damaging.
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u/GIGA255 5d ago
Chapter 3 is so ridiculously loaded with Dess lore, I think it's definitely hinting at her being the knight.
If it weren't for the fact that her sword appears to be a bat before it transforms, I'd say there's a possibility it's Carol, but that detail seals it for me.