Wouldnt the caregiver need to be a player/hero tho? a hero's kiss brings someone back to life? at least, thats what im assuming, since the game leans into fairy tale tropes and stuff. The kids guardians never really used game mechanics like that if im remembering correctly

also how does eating register as a kiss? it doesnt make that much sense to me. eating and kissing are two different actions and intentions, so ur second theory sounds a little over complicated to me. Ly'bot and the kernelsprite are there so im sure the bot getting ensouled or exploding is the direction theyre going cus Robot copies in homestuck dont last very long, they either explode or merge with the original