So I looked into Deep Dive, and other stuff, and dear god, what did I get myself into? Tons of things I'm still making sense of, so I apologize if this is disjointed or unclear. Gonna be more, it's just a lot of thangs XP It doesn't exactly change a whole lot per se, but my perspective has shifted greatly, and now I have to look at things differently. It mostly just adds... more levels to what's going on. Pretty sure I killed my own MoM theory XD But I do like where this is going even better.
The scene in Days/KH2 and the scene in Deep Dive aren't the same scene. 1) The conversation is different 2) In KH2/Days, Roxas appears through a dark portal, this doesn't happen in Deep Dive, and 3) again, Roxas doesn't have yellow eyes. The differences and similarities are intentional however.
Before going into yellow-eyed "Sora" in Deep Dive, I have to talk about the other buddy. This is something I had never considered being... a thing, but I'm pretty sure, he's Riku's Nobody.
... I know right? I suppose I should start with logistics and why exactly I think so.
I believe he was created right after Sora defeated Ansem-possessed Riku. There were two hearts in Riku's body until this moment, signified by their overlapping voices. This is when they separated. Riku's body seems to just sink into the ground, and his [extremely bright white] heart vanishes.
Sora then stabs himself with the Keyblade of Heart that Riku forged, creating Naminé, Roxas, and his Heartless.
Ansem then manifests from a Dark Portal as his physical self, completed by Riku's darkness (since all a Heartless's body is, is the darkness of the heart made physical), and Riku's heart momentarily manifests to prevent him from pursuing Kairi and the others. After they escape, Riku's heart then goes to "a place of darkness where hearts are gathered." And Mickey tells him it was "too late for his body."
By this point Riku's body and soul had already become his Nobody, and his heart couldn't return to it, even though his heart had overpowered Ansem's. Riku's heart "won the battle against darkness", so he wasn't taken over permanently by Xehanort like Terra was, which is why Terra never created a Heartless or a Nobody. His heart remained in the Guardian, enslaved by Xehanort, and his body was taken over. His spirit went into Lingering Will.
So then, the nature of Riku's Nobody's birth, and that of Ansem SoD, is unique. Riku and Xehanort's hearts were merged, and Riku's body held both of them simultaneously. After Sora defeated his body, Riku forced Ansem from his heart, succeeding in taking it back, but his body was already occupied. Not by Ansem though, because his body is Riku's darkness made physical, wrapped around Xehanort's heart. [So like Riku asks in his Kingstagram post, he is indeed the reason Ansem looks the way he does.] This is where Terra failed, his heart couldn't overpower Xehanort's.
This "place of darkness where hearts are gathered" is Kingdom Hearts. The Door to Darkness was the door to Kingdom Hearts. Everything Ansem said about Kingdom Hearts in KH1 was true. He just doesn't understand the other side of it, what it is that creates light in the heart. KH3 immediately references KH1 because it turns out KH1 is like... everything.
Kingdom Hearts is the conglomerate of all hearts, and is therefore connected to all hearts. The darkness in every single heart, is the realm of Kingdom Hearts. "All hearts begin in darkness, and all so end." Truth bro.
The light doesn't come from Kingdom Hearts, the light comes from us and our bonds to the things we cherish.
When the Door to Darkness opens, you can see darkness start flooding from it. But when Sora states his belief that Kingdom Hearts is light, light floods from the door. Not because this was really the Door to Light, but because that light behind the door was created by Sora's belief in the light. His belief in Riku. Their bond.
When Sora believed in the light, and it consumed Ansem, it returned Riku's physical body back to him, like Kairi's belief in Sora returned his body when he became a Shadow ["Consume the darkness, return it to light."]. And like Sora and Kairi, Riku returned to his human form without destroying his Nobody. This is also exactly how Riku got his body back from "Ansem" in KH2. Being bathed in the light of Kingdom Hearts, after protecting the others.
From Ansem/Riku's KH2 journal entry:
“Riku began calling himself “Ansem”, perhaps as a sign of resolve. He would live in darkness if that’s what it took to wake Sora.”
“He had clad himself in darkness in order to wield it, and had even changed in appearance. But when the real Ansem’s Kingdom Hearts Encoder exploded, Riku returned to his old form. You could say it was a miracle -- worked by a heart no darkness could eclipse.”
Ansem was shocked to see light flood from the DtD, because he was not expecting Sora and Riku's bond to create such light, given what had just happened between them. He knows the darkness in Riku's heart, it's what he's made from. And he knows exactly where it comes from. The desire to possess Sora’s heart, and his fears about telling him so.
Riku admitted on two occasions after this, to feeling like a "nobody." (ie: Like he had no heart, no emotion, no purpose. As if he didn't matter.) First to Xion, and then to Sora and Kairi during the Reunion.
Castaway - Lost or unclaimed person or thing; Person who is unwanted, not accepted; Thrown away; Abandoned
Out of all the characters, I think Riku's situation embodies most what it means to feel like a nobody. He gave up everything, including his own emotions [his heart], even his form, so that Sora could be happy, which he believes Sora will be, with Kairi. So he hides his own feelings for Sora, resolving instead to keep him safe. "He would live in darkness if that's what it took to wake Sora." Literal and proverbial darkness. [This is why, in the KG after everyone else dies, he reached out his hand, about to comfort Sora physically, but he decided against it. Instead, he protected him. I actually started bawling while writing this, thinking, Of course Riku would have a Nobody.]
Xehanort's heart was within Riku's body when his Nobody was created, like Ventus was within Sora when Roxas was created. So I think he looks exactly like Young Master Xehanort, but his skin, hair, and eyes are the same colour as Riku's. The body and soul he was made from however, are Riku's, and he would therefore identify with Riku. Even though I believe he looks just like YMX. This is why both Terra and Sora have had visions of Riku becoming young Xehanort and vice versa. Not Ansem, YMX specifically.
In DDD, YMX straight up told Riku that he wanted him as a vessel. So, in the added scene with Xemnas in KH1.5FM, I don't think he was comparing Sora to Roxas. He was comparing him to Riku's Nobody. Whom I believe he fought and attempted to recruit into the Organization, but failed. Sora was later their target as one of Xehanort's vessels, because, like YMX said, they moved down the list. Riku’s Nobody doesn’t have the air of hopelessness that Roxas did when he was created, because he knows that his “heart”, his purpose, is the same as his Somebody’s: protecting Sora.
In -Another Side, Another Story-, a heart appears around Roxas, seemingly at Riku's whim, creating a barrier between him and the Neoshadows. This is the same heart from his Dark Mode, the Heartless symbol without the X inside. This is the symbol used on his chess piece in KH3, and it's also Way to the Dawn's token. The symbol we most associate with Riku. Granted, you cant see the bottom three points, but you can tell its elongated at the bottom, and therefore must make the symbol. This isn't associated with Roxas, it's associated with Riku, so he must have made it appear.
In Deep Dive, this symbol also appears. In light, of all things. Riku made the symbol appear around Roxas, Sora's Nobody, and he made it appear here too, on... yellow-eyed "Sora".
"Even in the deepest darkness, a light always shines through." A connection.
Then there's the framing of this shot. The light. There's a similar shot in Yozora. [Almost looks like the bright white light of his heart]
He also sits at the Dark Margin, the shores of which touch that of the Destiny Islands. Even though hes a Nobody, rejected by the RoD and the RoL, he sits right in the center. Twilight and dawn, the middle road.
Riku was pretty down to chill at the Dark Margin in KH2 too, and this is where he and Sora saw the door to light.
Gotta stop here though cuz no more room for pics and I neeeeed them XD
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