My Attempt at Kingdom Smart

I write Kingdom Hearts meta's and theories.

[beloved-sora]

KINGDOM HEARTS III RELEASE GRAPHICS CHALLENGE [ ♥ ] {ORIGIN → @CID} | Day 29 - Favorite Piece of Music

♦ CHARACTERS’ THEMES - ONE SKY, ONE DESTINY {sora} | {riku} | {kairi} | {naminé} | {xion} | {roxas} | {terra} | {ventus} | {aqua} composer: yoko shimomura | arrangements cred.: ♦ ♦

[squinoas]

#sora snapped

[rivailles]

But if it’s your fate…

[the-wandering-sun]

Imagine Characters Being Surprised By Sora’s Skills

And i don’t mean fighting skills. Everyone in the cast agrees Sora is a little dim, so I want moments where they realize his adventures have given him a bizarre and varied set of abilities.

Everyone going to karaoke and laughing at how terrible they sound, then Sora goes up and just belts out a ballad in perfect pitch and everyone is stunned and they ask why Sora never said he could sing and he goes “well I was trained to sing underwater and it never quite sounds right to me.”

Sora offering to cook and everyone expecting something like soggy fries and slightly burnt burgers, but they agree anyway. Then jaws hitting the floor when he rolls out a mouthwatering five course meal that he made with fresh ingredients found from around the island. “A little chef used to use my body to cook and I guess some of it just stuck. I don’t really think when I cook and just let my body move.” Everyone decides it’s easier to keep eating than to try and unpack that.

Dancing? Between his time with Ariel and with rapunzel (not to mention learning rhythm to avoid damage from the Dancer Nobodies and get through Fantasia) Sora moves like a dream when music comes on. Everyone agrees it’s borderline hypnotic how well he dances.

Skating and sledding? Be it the concrete roads of twilight town or the frozen mountains of arendel, Sora shreds like a rampaging Berseker.

Bartering? Sora deals with large amounts of munny on the regular and he deals with moogles more than any sane man would. He can talk a salesman out of his own shirt and never pays more than something is worth. All his time in the cave of wonders have also given him a sharp eye for quality. He can spot fake gold or jewels from a mile away.

Sailing a boat? Sora once outsailed Davy Jones AND the Kracken in the middle of a monsoon. Just pull the ropes he tells you to and he’ll get the ship moving.

Stealth? You’d think a kid with such huge shoes would be easy to bear coming. Sadly, no one spends time around Yuffie without learning a few things about sneaking. Coupled with his incredible agility and how light he is on his feet, and Sora has given several people (Riku in particular) near fatal heart attacks. (If he wasn’t so apologetic every time it happened, they would be convinced he enjoyed it).

Piloting? No one can question how good Sora is behind the wheel of the Gummi Ship. (Several people are convinced that there’s simply no vehicle Sora can’t control)

Around the time Sora was hypothetically talking about how he would defend the islands from an invading force and explaining that his know-how comes from time spent serving in the Chinese Army, everyone agrees its better to just stop asking Sora how he can do things.

[projectdestati]

using Break-Time on barrels in kh3 and having crowds cheer for my son really hit that sweet spot 

[thatrandombystander]

The reveal that Eraqus has Brain a Dandelion as an ancestor is so funny to me. Eraqus is the equivalent of a fancy keyblade aristocrat with noble blood and a long lineage of keyblade wielders.

Meanwhile, his best friend Xehanort is the peasant country bumpkin they just picked up after passing through tiny backwater middle of nowhere Destiny Islands

[nyctoheart]

  Kingdom Hearts Original Worlds

[kitsoa]

My Gentle Kingdom Hearts 3: A musing about the End

Alright. Here it goes. I am going to talk about Kingdom Hearts 3.  I will say that I am one to dive impossibly deep into my passions. I read up on lore and work through the challenges of messy retcons and backwards storytelling that these games are notorious for. I reflect and theorize for hours and love every moment of it. Sure it can be frustrating but Kingdom Hearts is a series that pushes my limits and challenges that side of me in a way nothing else does. That, and right along side the thinking part of my brain is the heavy and potent emotions I sometimes struggle to contain. Both sides of me, engaged in a blanket of nostalgia and spectacle. It’s an impossible series to replicate and at this moment, an impossible series to talk about. But here goes.

Kingdom Hearts 3 Spoilers and rambling about human mortality under the cut.

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[kitsoa]

KH3 Spoiler thought

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[kitsoa]

KH3 Secret Ending Spoilers/ Theory-Musings

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[kitsoa]

post kh3 story content

KH3 Spoilers

I keep getting enraptured by the thought of all the trios post-kh3 dynamics. Like… imagine, the Wayfinder Trio is going to be spending their days at the Land of Departure, Aqua’s inherited Eraqus’ role as Master of the Land and together with Terra and Ven, they will take charge in maintaining the cosmic balance as the only active order of Keyblade wielders (giving Yen Sid a proper retirement maybe?). They would probably start their efforts to rebuild their school and find successors to the blade. This trio would end up taking a mentoring role to any future shenanigans and I could see them becoming like… team exposition for conflicts. Ven still has a lot of story left but I could see him breaking away and helping police the worlds.

And the seasalt trio – better yet the New 7 Wonders of Twilight Town. Gahh, they are going to be badasses in retirement for sure. Roxas is going to get his normal life, and go to school with Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Xion. And it’s only when sequel jazz happens that he pulls out two keyblades and bears his claws. And like, Axel and Isa will be like the chaperones to these kids and probably have to get jobs god help them. I would kill for their slice of life nonsense a million times especially when Axel and Isa’s past comes back to haunt their plot line and pulls the group back into the multiverse warfare.

Namine is basically the new princess of Radiant Garden. Like… there is something so beautiful about that I swear I love her. I want all the citizens of this world to like adore her and she could get an arc about coming to her own with that. I still wished she could have swung a trio of her own (oh the demise of all Lost Trios makes me sad Vanitas I had hope for you and Repliku had to up and die for her). I could see Namine serving as a resource for future conflicts. A part of a Big Good coalition to guide the next journey whatever it may be.

The Destiny Trio…?

This is going to be the tragic one but I could totally see Kairi going off the deep end and diving head first with Riku in a journey to find Sora. His disappearance would inspire them to travel around and learn more about what took him. Clearly Riku is successful in getting close because he has the Power of Waking but I would hope for Kairi to be right behind him. I’m imagining a real broken version of her character really (nothing compares to that half second of her crumbling in the final scene). Both of them would probably end up leaning on each other for support. Maybe they grow a little cold and share sad moments together while they journey to find him.

This is the content guys. Post KH3 has so much fanfic material I’m dead.

[kitsoa]

Real or Figurative: Question about the Ending

KH3 Spoilers

I realize I posted this on reddit but not on Tumblr. Feel free to have a dialogue with me:

Reading comments around here for the past few days has me wondering about what the consensus on the ending actually is. When everyone is gathered on Destiny Islands and we are treated to fun time shenanigans while “Don’t Think Twice” is playing, everyone stops to look at the reveal that a certain pair is back but I’ve found a surprising amount of debate on if the moment was happening in a literal sense or if there was a more symbolic idea in the scene’s staging.

So did Sora actually fade on Destiny Island’s at the end or was that just a symbolic visual to Sora fading off-screen to save Kairi?

My take? It’s literal. This depends slightly on the theory that what happened to Sora was the same thing that happened to the Master of Masters (who ‘dimmed’, ‘faded’ 'vanished’ in his words; matching a description of Sora’s fate rather nicely). The Master of Master’s knew before it happened that he was going to fade, and while that could be his future sight at work, it could also come from an understanding of the consequences of his actions (Power of Awakening?) which allowed him a certain respite before it caught up to him. Essentially, it could be the same for Sora. He makes good on his promise that he would bring Kairi back and while the Orchestral Version of Hikari is playing Riku gallivants around the cosmos to pick up the crew for a reunion with Kairi and Sora. It’s a planned little get-together, and one for good reason.

And then it’s only when he’s surrounded by his friends, able to see that Kairi is safe at home that Sora then lets go and actually fades before Kairi– and in front of everyone’s eyes. We cut before any real fallout happens. It’s a good way to explain the happy tone really. The Secret Ending suggests Riku would definitely go after him (wherever he may be) so it wouldn’t make sense to have such a joyous time when they would be so pressed to save Sora. It can thus be ambiguous if Sora knew this was coming told everyone he wasn’t going to stay long. Considering the tone I think only Kairi didn’t seem surprised when he faded. Ultimately the details of the scene don’t really change the fact that it happened either way and it hit like a ton of bricks.

From a figurative standpoint, I can see why the scene can be read as Kairi sitting alone, feeling Sora’s presence and having it fade away to represent his physical absence. Especially since we don’t understand the nuance of this strange penalty Sora’s suffered from. Wouldn’t this consequence happen immediately after the act of saving Kairi was complete? We have no point of reference really. But it’s not like he took her place somewhere, preventing his escort home. We just have Mickey’s “you might not come home to us” line to say that he wasn’t really there. But Sora promised otherwise. I like to think he made good on that.

So what did you think while watching it? Did it actually happen or was there symbolism at play?

[kitsoa]

@khnpostskh3 This was my take! Some comments in the Figurative camp claim that if you look at the tree in the shot where they are playing Frisbee you don’t actually see Kairi but that could easily be for the sake of the reveal shot.

And another idea that struck me a couple days ago (though i have NO hard evidence for this so take this with a grain of salt, just throwing the idea out there) is that perhaps if Kairi actually did die, and her heart went the Final World, which is a place Sora can actually go to on his own without dying as we know from KH3, it’s possible he went there to retrieve her. But maybe he could only do it if he switched places (a life for a life), or maybe he did abuse the power of waking like Young Xehanort warned him against and his fading is his punishment, idk! But that is a possibility if that scene is more abstract and not as literal.

I actually think you are on to something there. I get real confused because when Sora went around saving everyone the first time, he didn’t actually save Kairi from the brink– she was just there, guiding him through the light. My assumption is that Kairi didn’t die the after the slaughter scene (because it was technically heartless that ‘killed’ her and she’s a PoH?? Maybe??) and she was just left to keep Sora’s form together in the Final World. That being said, when she was shattered (by a Somebody if that makes a difference) she probably was as dead as they come and therefore in the Final World like those stars… Sora had to get her out using the Power of Waking but it was the abuse of that which folks are citing his fading to… So it might not necessarily be a life for a life (because we don’t know exactly how the power works just that it’s breaking the laws of the universe and that’s bad??)

I don’t know. I have so many questions…

[kitsoa]

Ultimania info is coming out 

I am in a state of frozen awe and im going mad

1. Sora is not in TWEWY Shibuya. Like. Not only does that debunk a massively popular idea but the fact that Nomura is clear to mention this fallacy just proves that he’s doing some intentional misleading. But this is extremely interesting to me because in my meta catastrophe musing I talk about how, even though there’s the “104″ Building in the Secret Ending shot that aligns with the one from TWEWY’s Shibuya, I thought there were too many other factors that told me it wasn’t Neku’s. Namely, the realism factors. Not to take the concept too far in one direction but this world does not have the same style as Neku’s Shibuya and if Sora really was in it, there would be some clear attempts at replicating that style. The proportions and lighting are also just too realistic. It invokes our Shibuya. And while assuredly not the “109″ Building, it feels close. 

This is as close as I’m gonna get to a confirmation that Sora’s in a worldline… or our world. Just different enough to make a point. A place where stories are just stories. As a side note I am so happy because I didn’t want the transition game for kh4 to be a Reaper Game plot. I would feel like I know too much.

2. “People might assume that Verum Rex is the same title as a game I was planning in the past (Versus XIII), but says it isn’t.”

This is wild in a similar way as the previous point. The fact that Nomura is mentioning this popular theory shows that he understands the confusing and potentially intentional misleading he’s got here. We have to remember Verum Rex is initially received as a joke that is intentionally referencing this very fact. That is a truth and we can tell from the comedic framing in the Toy Story world that this was by design. So when it gets revealed as pivotal aspect, we get sober real quick and start re-framing the joke as something legitimate and serious. Verum Rex= Versus13 become synonymous. And that’s what Nomura is wanting to dispel here. Clearly Verum Rex is independent from Nomura’s lost project… So if it’s something new, while clearly founded on something in the directors past… we have a similar situation to the TWEWY confirmation. These are some kind of replications of Nomura properties, just off enough to fit this new narrative. 

3. Demyx’s absence will be explained. 

This is unrelated to the other points potentially but I do lament the Demyx is MoM theories that are fueled but this ominous reporting. Or it could be mundane… but I wonder. I for one am not a fan for multiple reason but I am curious about our boy. 

[kitsoa]

Explaining Terranort in KH3

In which I track down all the pieces, and come to some vast conclusion about how the metaphysics of KH function. KH3 Spoilers

Terranort’s existence in KH3 is never completely explained. If we are to use the logic applied to the other time traveled Organization members then it’s as simple as: Terranort is the version of Xehanort possessing Terra’s body, plucked from time and placed in a Replica. But this would get dicey quickly (and in multiple ways) because that would suggest A.The Guardian (aka Terra’s Heart), presumably conjured by the Xehanort in time transit, is bound by the same time travel rules and B. The body post-KH3 Terra is inhabiting is thus not his real one leaving us with the exact same mystery posed when the Somebody Reformation split was introduced: Where is Terra’s body post Xehanort’s reformation? And additionally, who is actually possessing the body? 

So my best reasoning of this situation actually makes an interesting conclusion about the metaphysical laws of the KH universe. But it requires us following the Terra’s heart, Terra’s Body, and analyzing a similar anomaly in KH lore.

Terra’s Heart

The Guardian is Terra’s Heartless– a special breed of Pureblood made when Xehanort took over Terra’s body, overwhelming the darkness in his heart. Unlike other heartless though, The Guardian never lost its body in the strictest meaning of the word, it’s body instead thrived on as the Somebody Terra-Xehanort. This created an inextricable link between Xehanort’s heart and Terra’s heart that would draw them together and place Terra into silenced servitude.

He would immediately serve Terra-Xehanort, until his amnesiac evolution Apprentice-Xehanort willing gave his heart over to the darkness. It is only when his true form is achieved through the catalyst of Riku’s body, that the Guardian is summoned from presumably the dark realm to do Ansem SoD’s bidding. That incarnation is destroyed with Xehanort’s released heart now waiting for completion.  We don’t see the Guardian appear until Riku encounters it through the remnants of Ansem, faint but just enough to maintain Terra’s Servitude. Riku would understandably use this power to take Roxas down, unknowingly asserting control over the Keyblade Wielder who Bequeathed him.

We can assume from here on that any manifestation of Xehanort’s heartless in any location or realm is thus able to call the Guardian to his side.  So when comes time for Time Travelled Ansem using the Guardian against Aqua in the RoD or Terranort using him in his boss fight, we can assume that the Guardian is being shared between these incarnations. It is not a feature carried through time.

TL;DR: Guardian is never destroyed with Ansem SoD and the one we see at every point in the plot is the real Guardian shared between incarnations, drawn into servitude by his special bond to Xehanort.

Terra’s Body

As for Terra’s body– it’s easy to follow at first, sticking with Terra-Xehanort until it’s lost to darkness and becomes the Nobody Xemnas. When Xemnas is destroyed, this Somebody Reformation process happens and due to some universal law, attempts to right the Terra-Xehanort mix up. But while Master Xehanort has all his pieces destroyed to properly reform him– Terra’s heart hasn’t actually been released (see: Guardian Heartless). But as we see in KH3, this doesn’t stop Terra’s real body from reforming anyway, presumably without a heart. It’s from here that we can assume a time traveled heart of Terranort from BBS time was then placed in this non-Replica, empty vessel.

TLDR: Terra’s Body is reformed without a heart due to a cosmic glitch and then possessed by a time displaced Terranort heart in the same vein as the others members.

Formation ‘Glitch’

This is a very blatant lack of the rules of Conservation of (Metaphysical) Mass that we as viewers expect in our flow of logic. A+B=C. C-B=A. Etc. Terra’s body should not have formed because it was missing key parts of the formula. But this is not the first time in Kingdom Hearts where such logic is defied. It’s a familiar conundrum that we see in the formation of none other than Namine. Namine is born from Kairi’s heart being released from Sora’s. She is not composed of Kairi’s Body like Roxas was composed of Sora’s Body, therefore defying a supposed conservation of materials by creating the product despite this pivotal absence. So the product is solely a result of the Process of Formation alone. 

Namine is born from the interaction of Kairi’s Heart with the Nobody Formation Process through Sora. Kairi’s Nobody happened in sympathy with the creation of Sora’s Nobody because of this cosmic stipulation, creating this ‘glitch’ of sorts.

Similarly, Terra’s re-completion occurred in sympathy with the re-completion of Xehanort’s Somebody, regardless of if all the materials were present. It be argued that the Terra body was essentially a Nobody (lacking a heart) that Xehanort immediately takes advantage of for his Real Organization. It’s only when Sora releases the Guardian’s heart in the Keyblade Graveyard that the Process is complete and Terra repossess his body.

TLDR: The KH Universe does not follow a Conservation of Mass law. Products result from the process regardless of complete material as long as it’s in association with a legitimate process. That is the glitch that causes Namine and Terra’s body to come to formation

[blowingoffsteam2]

That anons analysis was great though I've seen a lot of people who believe Sora's probably closer to an ENFP in personality. I'm an INFJ myself and I just thinks Sora's a lot more outgoing and excitable than someone like me. I believe people have also listed Peter Parker from the MCU as an ENFP and him and Sora share a lot of similar characteristics so I guess I just see that as making more sense. That's just my opinion though of course!

Actually yeah, now that I looked into it more I think that might be closer.  Sora definitely seems like he gets his energy from being around other people, so “E” fits.  I think it’s debatable whether he’s an N (Intuitive) or S (Sensing)- Riku strikes me as much more of an N than Sora but I see those traits in Sora too.  F (Feeling) absolutely fits Sora, and so does P (Perceiving).  Hey @nikutsuneart  this is your kind of topic, jump in if you want ;)

[nikutsune]

*cracks my fuckin knucks* okeydokey babies lets rip this one open. WE’RE BREAKIN THE SILENCE cause i’ve been too lazy to post things n thoughts when steam here usually says everything i would’ve said or wanted to say, anyway. Plus, there are a few things i’m pretty thoroughly versed in and two of those things happen to be Kingdom Hearts and the Myers Briggs system.

Also, disclaimer of course it’s important always to keep in mind we can only understand so much and as we’re not creator, nor character, so it’s always up for interpretation. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So kicking this off i’ll say that in this one’s humble but educated opinion, Sora is an ESFP. This kid is a sensor thru n thru and i’ll prove it to ya. (as well as talk about this typing in general)

ESFP is not far off from ENFP, which is a common typing for him, but there are huge differences that come from what i think is a fundamental misunderstanding either of Sora himself (which isn’t uncommon, he’s not as easily read and is often stereotyped) or the system which is rife with its own stereotypes. Or both. Oftentimes both. But I’m here to clear this up a bit.

This post gets long n thorough, boys, so i’m putting it under the cut. (good luck mobile users, lmao)

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[neni-has-ascended]

Hi so as a person with like 2 kingdom heart knowledge points, doesn't it seem *really* weird how Riku turns all of his darkness into light in what I think is Drop Dream Distance??? I recall Riku accepting both Light and Darkness as huge key points in earlier installments, and him abandoning one to become Light seems extremely odd.

I think this is a bit of a misunderstanding. Riku isn’t *abandoning* his Darkness. Rather, he’s using it to fuel his light; which is precisely how a healthy psyche is supposed to work.

As you may know, I tend to interprete Kingdom Hearts through a Daoist & a Jungian lense, which means that what the series calls “Light” is the Yang principle and the conscious part of the mind, which people consider “desirable”, while “Darkness” is the Yin Principle and the unconscious, unknown part of the mind, which frightens and disgusts people. Neither is inherently “evil”, but they’re two halves of what contributes to keeping one’s life running, in what Jung described as a circulation of energies.

What is described as Riku’s “Darkness” are his jealousy, his supressed urges to put Sora down so he can protect him and Kairi forever as their ultimate “Big Bro”, creating a sense of stability that allows Riku to feel secure in his perception of the world. This jealousy also leads to some very horrible subconscious thoughts, for example, the Novels describe a dream he has, which strongly implies he sometimes wishes either Sora or Kairi would just die, so he could have the remaining one all to himself.

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[khstoryanalysis]

Chapter 2: Themes and Structure

I have seen many Kingdom Hearts fans pointing out that the series shares a lot of similarities with Star Wars. Most notably, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is pretty similar to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I will say that is true. Since I am a Star Wars fan, I also love Kingdom Hearts when I learn to understand its story, which is pretty similar to Star Wars. After all, Master Eraqus is voiced by Mark Hamill who plays as Luke Skywalker.

Star Wars is like a fairy tale. It is hopeful, optimistic and “it’s a film for 12-year-olds” as said by George Lucas in Star Wars Celebration 2017. He also said that Star Wars was designed to be a film like mythology. “This is what we stand for… you’re about to enter the real world.”

Star Wars, as a romantic fantasy, has the potential to serve as a metaphor for many aspects of life. Time and time again, what society needs to hear is simply love and compassion. A compassion-based love benefits both parties in a relationship and allows them to spread compassion towards others. Even though life is full of ups and downs, when you learn about compassion, you will discover a connection with others around you that you never thought possible.

Kingdom Hearts is the same – it is like a fairy tale and it aims for 12 years old children. Although most of the endings of the games are tragic, the story still remains hopeful and optimistic as the characters wait for their “birth by sleep”. They know one day, they will be freed from the hurt and suffering they are enduring, and be given a second chance to start over.

Kingdom Hearts also talks about love – not much of a romantic one, but a platonic one, which is friendship. It teaches you that friendship can strengthen one’s self and other people. For example, Sora is able to strengthen his heart through his ties with people. He treasures those memories with them and perceives them as friends. This allows him to wield a Keyblade despite he is just an ordinary child. Moreover, his connection with many people has also spread to others, teaching them to treasure friendship.

Star Wars has themes of love, forgiveness and redemption throughout the series. Kingdom Hearts has those themes too. The main difference is that the love in Kingdom Hearts is mainly referred to as platonic love (friendship), but it can be familial love (Master Eraqus and Terra).

Like Star Wars, the Kingdom Hearts lore is also a story that is finally becoming an adult. The first Kingdom Hearts game talks about a child setting off for an adventure, which is like a childhood dream. Starting from Kingdom Hearts 2, the story has entered the adolescence stage with the introduction of Roxas, whose personality is different from Sora. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded are also placed in this stage. The four games highlight issues of existential crisis, emotional distress, a teenager’s stubbornness, confusion in life and one’s self, relationships with old and new friends, and curiosity of the outside world. The games also tackle on issues regarding responsibility and ways to understand pain and how to deal with it.

The series enters into adulthood starting from Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance when the heroes are going through trials to prepare for the upcoming war. The decision in leaving your home, your family and your friends who are not involved in the war is a pretty mature decision as there is no way for sure to confirm that you would survive in the war. The stories in Kingdom Hearts X [Chi], Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover, Kingdom Hearts Unchained X and Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross] focus on the Keyblade War. We see how a united land became divided due to different ideologies of the Union leaders, which ultimately led to its demise. The main victims in the Keyblade War were Keyblade wielders who were just children and teenagers. Moreover, the world was destroyed as well. The games show us the devastating effects of a war and we must learn from the past to prevent it from happening again.

Kingdom Hearts has a story that can be served as a metaphor for many aspects of life. The Age of Fairy Tales, when the world was one and full of light referred to the past where the first humans lived together in one land. It was peaceful and harmonious. The Keyblade War refers to the battles and wars carried out by humans. The Keyblade wielders fought for ownership of light, while humans fought for ownership of land and sea. Those battles and wars led to a dark age. The Dandelions represent the survivors of the battles and wars, and they were the ones who rebuilt the damage caused to the world. The rebuild world is the world we currently live. The world that was once a united land is now split into different countries. The countries are separated by borders, similar to the barriers of light separating the worlds in Kingdom Hearts. Each country has its own rules and we are obliged to obey them regardless of our origin. Chaos may ensue if outsiders meddle with the rules of other countries. This is similar to the action in forbidding Keyblade wielders to meddle with the rules of other worlds.

But is there any way to unite the worlds and its inhabitants? In Kingdom Hearts, Xehanort wants to forge the X-blade, and with it, he will take down barriers of light and force the worlds to be united with darkness. With the worlds being united, Keyblade wielders will gather to fight for Kingdom Hearts, perhaps in hopes of saving their lands from darkness, which will create the second Keyblade War. Upon the death of the worlds and living beings, Xehanort believes that he will find Kingdom Hearts that is swallowed by darkness, and uses its power to create a world that has equal light and darkness.

We know Xehanort wants balance, and he is not wrong about it. But is his method in bringing balance to the world even right? He resorts to violence, fear and deception to get what he wants. He wants to destroy the current system of light and establishes a new order. But has he considered about the minds of the people? What if the people cannot change their minds and perspective of light and darkness? The conflict between light and darkness will be eternal and the war will continue to wage on. Even when Xehanort tries to threaten the inhabitants with his weapon the X-blade, there will still be headstrong people who will continue to rebel him. There will be no harmony and peace in the world.

The phrase “I don’t need a weapon. My friends are my power!” already hints that the way to achieve balance is through friendship. It may sound cheesy but that is what society needs to learn – to love each other. True friendship is to accept one another regardless of their social background, social status, gender, sexuality, race, religion, ethnicity and ideology. The borders and distance are not obstacles in making friends and maintaining the friendship. When people can accept one another unconditionally, their friendship can become a power that can change the world. A world filled with unconditional love brings harmony and peace. There is no need to use force to make others accept you as you learn to respect one another. By respecting each other, you have learned to accept one another, establishing a connection that you never thought possible.

The physical borders do not always need force to bring them down. Love is what unites people and makes the world whole, even when we are physically separated. The saying “One sky, one destiny” in Kingdom Hearts fits in our world as we all look up at the same sky that we share. The land and sea may separate us, but the sky always connects us. We all share the same destiny – to be present in this world and later to leave from this world. If you look through all the differences, you will realize that we are not so different after all.

In Kingdom Hearts, Sora makes a lot of friends and treasures his friendship with them. He still accepts Riku even though he did succumb to the darkness. He forgives Namine and is willing to protect her even though he isn’t happy with her messing up his memories. He remains loyal to Neku even though Neku initially is not fond with him and plans to hand him over to Young Xehanort. He even wants Roxas to be his own person despite everyone says Nobodies should not exist. Sora is optimistic, forgiving and always sees the good in people first. Sometimes, he even wants to help the antagonists. Ansem the Wise says that Sora can save the people from their pain and suffering. He is connected to many people and he understands them well. Once he learns to understand pain and how to handle it, he can save them all. All Sora needs to do is to be himself and follow his heart.

There are rumors talking about Riku being the other playable character in Kingdom Hearts 3. There are fans that are unhappy about it as Riku has been the other playable character in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. They want to play as other characters such as Lea, Kairi, Aqua, Ventus, Master Eraqus, etc. If it is confirmed that Riku is the other playable character in Kingdom Hearts 3, I won’t be surprised or disappointed.

In Kingdom Hearts 3, the other playable character would give us a different perspective from Sora during the game play. Sora, Donald and Goofy are on an adventure to complete the seven Guardians of Light, save the people from suffering and forge the “Key to Return Hearts”. Meanwhile, Riku and King Mickey search for previous Keyblade wielders who are strong enough to face Xehanort. The previous Keyblade wielders are probably the ones that Sora needs to save: Aqua, Terra, Ventus, Roxas and Xion. Their story perspectives have a connection with each other, which would make Riku as a possible second playable character in the game.

The theme in Kingdom Hearts is friendship. There are many friendships being depicted in the series, but the friendship between Sora and Riku is the main focus. Sora and Riku are very different from each other: Sora is cheerful and easy-going, while Riku is calm and collected. Although they compete and even fight each other, they manage to reconcile their friendship. They do admit that they are jealous at each other and want to be like each other. However, they realize that there is something that they can never imitate: to have each other as a friend.

Sora is known by many as the Hero of Light. Riku is known as the Hero of Darkness by Vexen in Kingdom Hearts re:Chain of Memories. Sora is Riku’s light while Riku is Sora’s Darkness. They complete each other. Moreover, it is their friendship that has managed to foil Xehanort’s plans. In Kingdom Hearts, Sora and Riku work together to seal the Door to Darkness, and foil the plan of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Later, in Kingdom Hearts 2, Sora and Riku work together to destroy the Hearts of Men and foil Xemnas’s plan. The theme of friendship is pretty consistent throughout the games, not just the numeral games. Could this mean that Sora and Riku would work together to defeat Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts 3? Well, we will find out soon enough.

[nyctoheart]

yo i wonder if nomura is trying to hint at the fact that maybe ventus hasn’t just been doing nothing since for the past 10 years of sleeping. what i mean is he may have been exploring sleeping worlds, like riku and sora did during their time asleep. maybe that would explain why ven smiled at the end of DDD when sora was hugging the dream eaters- maybe ven reacts more to the realm of sleep because he is asleep.

or maybe nomura is trying to hint at the fact there’s a reason xehanort felt a draw to ventus in the first place, maybe his origin is tied to the keyblade war. and perhaps thats a legit reason he was able to form a cheap version of the x-blade? the xehanort reports said any pure light and pure dark heart could form it, but there’s been a couple of ansem reports of the past that nomura has twisted later on before, so this wouldn’t be anything new.

ventus is around the same age of the khx keyblade wielders. and perhaps there’s a reason why sora as a brand new heart was able to connect with ventus in the first place. there’s just so much mystery about him that i just accepted because it seemed like there wasn’t ever going to be an answer. but the fact that nomura acknowledged how ventus was on that khx anniversary art is strange really makes me wonder again after all these years.