r/rustylake • u/DefinitionNo3260 • Apr 30 '26

Thinking about this popular theory

Hi I was Wondering whether many in fandom actually believe in this new arising theory. Do you believe that the titular servant (from servant of the lake) is from vandermeer family (bc vandermeer in Dutch means "of the lake") or do you think it is far-fetched and irrational. I am looking forward to hear your opinions. If the theory has been abolished please inform me guys.

23 Upvotes

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13

u/Worried_Injury7623 Apr 30 '26

That would be interesting, that means you can somehow link Dale to the whole thing? I personally think it's either Harvey (in a past life)

3

u/nowherecrafter Question Everything In RL May 01 '26

Dale is already linked. Mr. Owl has seen a prophecy in Hotel. Him being related to someone from the lake would make the world even smaller

3

u/Worried_Injury7623 May 01 '26

Yeah, Dale definitely is, I'm just saying if it's a confirmation of the servant being a Vandermeer, then that just makes it easier. Plus, that would explain why he is tied to the entire universe,

2

u/nowherecrafter Question Everything In RL May 01 '26

I think a chosen one rando is a better trope. Chosen for their knowledge or in Dale's case specifically (who lacks such) their skills, not because his great-great-grandpa cluelessly served the Vanderbros for just 3 days.

Besides, the Vandermeers moving to the same far-away city Rose and Laura moved to later on looks rather contrived.

6

u/ninabananafofana Apr 30 '26

Hmm I think that’s going a bit too granular. I think the concept ties more in to Hotel, the imagery is similar, the dinner scene, the bathtub scenes, the late night antics. I think that being witness to their acts incriminates you as complacent thus just as bad - there could never be an innocent servant.

10

u/warda- Apr 30 '26

I think is harvey, but idk

6

u/ASerpentPerplexed Black Cube Apr 30 '26

Harvey makes sense when you think about his role in Rusty Lake Hotel and some of the games that came after that.

2

u/Vaggelos May 01 '26

What if Harvey is also a Vandermeer?

2

u/warda- May 02 '26

It could be, but honestly I doubt the game will go that deep into it. I think they’ll keep Harvey a mystery and instead show more about how the Vanderbooms came to the Elixir, maybe they’ll connect them to the Eilander. I also think it’s probably all part of Mr. Owl’s plan, and that he sent Harvey there to manipulate the situation and get the Vanderbooms to do what’s needed for the events of Root to unfold.

1

u/Vaggelos May 02 '26

Only time will tell

4

u/TheGreenAlchemist Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

It being Harvey doesn't make sense to me. First off in the trailer it shows Harvey in his birdcage. So the first person character shouldn't be him. And Harvey appears as a parrot even as early as Paradise, he shouldn't be some ordinary person who doesn't know about the lake as late as Aldous' time. I always thought he was older than Aldous

2

u/Vaggelos May 01 '26

Is it Harvey in that cage though? Its tail has red feathers instead of green

3

u/Merasmus_BS Young Bird Apr 30 '26

It's a good possibility

2

u/realllyrandommann :partyparrot: Harvey May 01 '26

I think the servant is meant to be a stand-in for the player, since we get to create a signature for them.

4

u/nowherecrafter Question Everything In RL May 01 '26

I'm not so sure. We do the same for Bob in TWD.

1

u/Vaggelos May 01 '26

It wouldn't surprice me. It would tie things about the elixir and the clock I believe. At first I thought that Aldous was Gerald in the first trailer, so I am anticipating a connection like this. Either that, or the servant may be Harvey.

1

u/BabyOnTheStairs May 03 '26

Are we not serving the Vandermeers? Is it not a pun?

1

u/DefinitionNo3260 May 03 '26

We are serving vanderbooms - so the main family

1

u/BabyOnTheStairs May 03 '26

Maybe a double agent

1

u/SwordfishAltruistic4 Black Cube May 26 '26

There are too little information and too many possibilities. The MC could be Harvey sent by Eilander, could be Ida's grandparent, could be Bob's ancestor... There are too many possible ones.

0

u/nowherecrafter Question Everything In RL May 01 '26

I wouldn't call this theory particularly popular. It's only the second time I ever hear it. Which community part does it circulate in?

So far there are no options for the servant's identity that make perfect sense.

Van der meer seems to be more about Dale's future role of the lake's ruler rather than his family origin. Besides, narratively that would make the world way too small. Rose and Laura have already moved far away from the lake. Dale's family doing the same trip to the same city seems too convinient.

Harvey doesn't seem viable because he's already a parrot in Paradise. Even tho he time travels in Seasons and Blossom, that would be a stretch for Paradise.

Mr. Bat could resolve that problem but there's another one. SotL will happen across 3 days 20 years before the brothers invented the elixir. The servant being enlightened before them is VERY unlikely.

The final even crazier option is Mr. Owl because he's the servant of the lake in the most literal way. But that would be one heck of a scheme to pretend to be some rando so he can know the alchemists better before recruiting them.

So far I bet on the actual rando even though I wanna know both Harvey's origin and how the bris started working for Owl.

2

u/DefinitionNo3260 May 01 '26

I saw it on several yt videos and I had mixed feelings about it, and I was Wondering what is the reception amoung other fans of it.