Conceptualizing this piece was actually pretty straightforward. I spent lots of weeks just playing the track in my head, imagining how it would sound in grand fashion. I found myself subconsciously tapping out different kinds of rhythm ideas to replace the drum pattern of the original. After it was a couple sessions of hammering out my percussion ideas inside Studio One. This track uses about 20 percussion instruments total. If this was played by a real orchestra, they'd probably have to perform this in a warehouse!

This track is split into the obvious three acts. In the the original track, the motif in each act was repeated quite a few times before moving on to the next part. I wanted to avoid having my version have any noticeable repetition, so I layered counter-melodies on top of the original, and extended them out with some transformations. This along with the instrumentation allowed the "story" of the music to really come out. This is how I would interpret it in the context of the battle.

The first act is jumping straight into the battle. I treat Undyne as the "True Hero, as she draws on her DETERMINATION for newfound strength, in order to battle you, the murderous player. The opening starts out focused on intensity. Both of the player and Undyne are jumping around, trading blows, with little time to think. As the battle progresses, we reach the second act, the escalation of the battle. The original tune here has a more distinct melody. It is also the same tune used in the pacifist/neutral run to encourage the player not to give up. Ironically here in the genocide run it now applies to your opponent, who is the one fighting for good. I imagine for the player character to go on a rampage, she must be dead inside and void of compassion. Therefore, the emotion here all comes from Undyne as she fights bravely.

Obviously the battle does not go in Undyne's favor, and as she slowly succumbs to more attacks, we see the desperation in her eyes. Perhaps both the player and Undyne remember in some alternate universe where they shared some good memories together. They were actually besties, and went on adventures together. What happened to that reality? Instead here they are fighting to the death. Kinda tragic, I would think. I thought it would be fitting to have the strings soar above the original rhythmic melody, as if Undyne was crying out from the depths of her soul. But alas her end has come. At the very least, her sacrifice served a purpose in helping the others of her kind escape you, the evil player.

Overall, I drew heavily on Hiroyuki Sawano and Hans Zimmer's style, most notably Zimmer's Mombasa track from Inception. I made a couple callbacks to my previous Undertale tracks, including the one motif I added in "An Ending." This is the last boss/battle music I'll arrange from Undertale. From now on, any future arrangements I'll do will be the more soothing and serene tracks. That'll balance out my entire musical reinterpretation from Undertale.

MP3 and FLAC available for Patrons. ►   / thesecondnarrator  
Includes both looped and non-looped versions.

Original Song composed by toby fox
Arrangement by Jeremiah Sun

Undertale is available on Steam