Kingdom Hearts III stands out from other entries in the series in many ways, but there is one I want to focus on today, and that is the fact that it begins not with an original world, but a Disney world, and that Disney world is Olympus.
Do you see what I did there? That sentence above? That, just to refresh what you learned in third grade English class, is a thesis statement.
Here is the first paragraph from the Wikipedia article on thesis statements:
Something expressed near the beginning of a work that is synonymous with one's argument. This is why Kingdom Hearts III begins, atypically, with Olympus. To state the thesis of the work.
"Do you remember the last time we were together? You were feeling down and out. How did you get your strength back? When you jumped in and saved Meg?"
"Huh... That's tough. All I know is that she was in trouble. Suddenly, I wanted to save her with all my heart."
Now, those familiar with both Kingdom Hearts and the 1997 film Hercules will already know that the event where Hercules loses his strength and regains it by rescuing Meg are rather different.
In Kingdom Hearts II, Meg is used as bait to convince Sora to unlock the coliseum in the Underworld. But in the original film...
Meg dies.
And Hercules charges into the Underworld...
...to rescue her soul and bring her back to life...
...willing to sacrifice himself to do so.
Now, the reason I want to focus on the film's version of events rather than Kingdom Hearts II's is that Hercules' answer to Sora's question is rather vague.
"All I know is that she was in trouble. Suddenly, I wanted to save her with all my heart."
That statement is equally true for the film's events and the game's. This was likely intentional, because while, from a Watsonian perspective--that is to say, for in-universe purposes--Hercules needs to be talking about the game's events, from a Doylist perspective--beyond the fourth wall--what is important is the film's.
Because they are remarkably similar to the start of Kingdom Hearts III's final chapter.
Riku dies.
And Sora charges into the "Underworld"...
...to rescue his soul and bring him back to life...
...willing to sacrifice himself to do so.
And isn't it peculiar that, out of all places, Riku's soul was found in Olympus?
The similarities don't even stop there, either. How did Riku and Meg both die in the first place?
By taking a blow meant for their hero. Something else discussed at the start of the game in Kingdom Hearts III's Olympus.
"I don't admire one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him. You're all just lining up to lose out. Dooming others to take the fall with you."
From the moment Kingdom Hearts III begins, it sets the stage for Sora's final sacrifice, tied to a film from 1997, like a silk bow on a noose, all hanging from a key idea. A key line.
