You ever think about how Aqua knowingly lied to Ventus about his origins, saying he's always been with her and Terra?
Aqua (and Terra, but Aqua more so) has always been protective of Ven, but this seems a bit too much for her to come up with on her own. Eraqus probably had something to do with this, most likely ordering them to say as much.
So not only was Ventus chained to his home physically, he was also mentally chained, fed a falsehood about his past. Maybe this is just because Ven had reacted so poorly to questions about his past, back when he first met Terra and Aqua. But it's awfully convenient, isn't it? You want to keep Ven at home no matter what, so why not lie to him and tell him he's always been here, just in case he might get curious about where he really came from and venture out?
OP, OP, I think about this a lot.
This is one of those things that sits with me, alongside how quick Eraqus is to point his Keyblade at one of his pupils. How he doesn't flinch, how his "forgive me, but you must exist no more" is just, flat, it's determined. Remorseless.
And then he thinks he'll have to kill Terra with Ventus, and he cries about it.
Eraqus... knows there is something wrong with Ven. He knows he's not naturally Pure Light. You don't create a cage for someone without having a suspicion that they need to be caged-- either for their own good, or for the good of everything else. It's upsetting and it sits hard because it is, in essence, why I can sit here and say "Eraqus kind of treated Ven like the sick puppy his ex got him for christmas".
Because if he always knew this, no matter how indulgent, and happy, and spoiled Ven might have been, all of that came with the understanding that one day, Ventus might have to be put down. Eraqus was prepared to put Ventus down, in a way he was not prepared to do to Terra.
That's heartbreaking.
Oh god, I didn't even realize that until you said it- I knew that Eraqus was trying to kill both Ventus and Terra for what he believed to be the greater good, but you're right! He was *prepared* to kill Ven, but he only started crying when he thought he'd have to kill Terra too, and... oh god, that hits even worse...
Do you think Eraqus knew on some level that he was only delaying the inevitable and that's why he was so mentally prepared to kill Ven? He didn't want to, he tried his best to prevent it, but Ven wouldn't be happy living in a cage forever...
It's all so fucked up! The more you look at Ven's story and the circumstances surrounding him it just gets more and more, augh... he never really got the chance to truly live, did he? One of the people he should have trusted the most always had an axe above his neck, ready to come down at any moment, but going outside meant he'd eventually get turned into the X-blade, a weapon and not himself...
Ven exemplifies something we see in this canon over and over and it is- every character is let down by the people who are supposed to be leaders and mentors. KH actually has a really bad relationship with the elder generation and how they affect the current generation in terms of like... them acknowledging these let downs, facing consequences for these let downs.
And for this particular tiny blond, he's got- a Master that ripped his Heart in half when he would not summon the X-blade for him, and then another Master who fully planned to keep him locked up in Departure for his whole life, and, upon failing to keep him locked up and ignorant, immediately decides killing him is the easier route than seeking to turn those consequences on the man who actually caused Ventus to become what he is.
I do think that Eraqus basically treated Ven like a coin flip. He wanted to believe so, so badly, that Ventus being sent to live with him was a genuine sign of remorse from his old friend. He wanted his friend back. Eraqus is a lonely, traumatised man who views the world through a very boxed lens of Light bias because of what he's been through and the amount of people he's lost and-- Ven was the chance that maybe he could get one of those people back.
And then, when it's proven that no, he did not actually get one of those people back... Ven suffers for it first. Eraqus aims his blade at the victim, because he's right there, an easy fix to stopping Xehanort from summoning the X-blade. Just. Kill the one you already knew you might have to kill anyway. Save the universe.
He gave Ven a good life. He was happy. It's just his time.
"He gave Ven a good life. He was happy. It's just his time." That's so... chilling to me, because that's exactly what Eraqus thought. Just so... callous about Ven's life. Ventus deserved a chance until it became too dangerous to keep him around, and then Eraqus could just... dispose of him, then pat himself on the back for saving the universe.
Nevermind the fact that Xehanort likely had backup plans for if Ven didn't work out. Taking care of Xehanort? The root of these issues, the only reason Ven might become a threat to the universe in the first place? Of course not, that's too hard, and Xehanort is his friend!
...It seemed that Eraqus cared more about Xehanort than he did Ventus, and honestly, probably more than he cared about Terra or Aqua either, huh.
I mean, with the way you described it- I'm sure that Eraqus cared about Ventus for his own sake at some level, but to be used as a coin flip for either bringing Xehanort back, or to just kill him? Sounds a little like Ventus was a pawn of some sort in Eraqus's mind too.
Attachment to the past, extreme attachment for what once was, at the expense of the living breathing people around you in the present.
Yeah yeah yeah you feel me you get me you feel me!!! This isn't about Eraqus not caring at all, this is about there having been an element to his relationship with Ven that inevitably allowed him to see Ventus as something he could sacrifice if (when) the need arose.
And look since I know Terra is your boy can I... can I just say that Eraqus also messed Terra up a bunch too. Not intentionally, and with so much love behind it, but as much as Eraqus was scared for Terra he was also scared of Terra. Of his Darkness.
Eraqus dealt with Terra's Darkness the way his Light rigidity told him to. Darkness is something to repress. Eliminate. We see it in the Mark of Mastery and we see it all throughout Terra's story; Terra sees the fact that he has Darkness as a weakness and proof that he is weak. He learned that somewhere.
He learned to be afraid of himself. To repress himself. Not accept himself. And it kind of backfired in an insane manner, the second Terra had another adult figure in his life that seemingly accepted and even praised him for all that he was. Unintentionally, with love, Eraqus shattered Terra's sense of self-worth until he was basically served to Xehanort on a silver platter.
You'd think Aqua was safe from this too but she's basically the prodigal student, she's inherited all of this. Aqua's biggest struggle is ripping herself out of everything Eraqus has taught that would allow her to hurt others, hurt Ven and Terra, exactly like that.
Was it all because Eraqus loved Xehanort more than them? No. But he didn't help.
"Since I know Terra is your boy-" What gave it away? :P
Anyways, yes! I am always thinking about how deeply Eraqus messed Terra up. Being scared for, and of Terra- that's such a succinct way of putting it! And then when Xehanort was seemingly not scared of Terra, and even saw his darkness as a strength, Terra latched on to the hint of a promise that he wasn't inherently dangerous, inherently *wrong*...
Of course Terra would! Of course Terra would be so easy to lead around! Because Eraqus was so hostile to a fundamental part of him! Because Eraqus didn't trust that Terra could be good, with his darkness, because of how Xehanort turned out with his.
AND YES EXACTLY AQUA WAS HARMED TOO! She doesn't want to hurt her friends, but everything she was taught would only continue to hurt Ven and Terra. I always get so emotional when I think about how Aqua is continuously pushing Terra and Ven away from her, and she only starts to actually help, when there's only the broken pieces of her friends left to try and gather up and keep safe, is after... Eraqus is dead. Is when the chain around her neck, of everything Eraqus taught her to be, is loosened.
The proof of Terra's darkness is staring at her in the face, and the first time she ever invokes the title of Master as something she is, is not to condemn or attempt to erase Terra, but to free Terra from Xehanort's control. She cares about Terra, above the light (it would be easier to just kill Terranort, killing both Terra and Xehanort simultaneously, but she doesn't want to do that!), something Eraqus could never fathom of doing.
If it's okay for me to contribute, the fact that Eraqus's inaction towards the root of the problem, Xehanort, and basically letting him do whatever he wants without a hint of scrutiny also harmed Vanitas?
Like what was mentioned earlier, Eraqus probably had at least an inkling that there was a dark half and that Ven's existence was no accident. He knew Xehanort was extremely suspicious, but ignored it and resigned himself to killing Ven if he feared the Xehanort was gonna use him to forge the X-Blade. If Eraqus had investigated, hadn't ignored the signs because he trusted Xehanort. Because Xehanort was his friend. Then Vanitas may not have had to be abused by Xehanort.
But then Eraqus might have just killed Vanitas right then and there. Would it matter that Vanitas- that Ventus never asked for that? That neither asked to be killed and then resurrected as Frankenstein's monsters? Because if you really think about it, regardless of all the UX true Darkness stuff, that's what Xehanort did. He shattered the original Ventus's heart, shifted through the shards, and created Ven and Vanitas with what was left over. Xehanort killed a kid, and when basically being given the kid's resurrected corpse Eraqus ignored all the red flags just to use Ven as a test to see if he can get his old friend back
I got extremely away from my original point, but Eraqus ignored the very concerning implications of Ven's existence and even made exceptions in his whole ideology for Xehanort (He couldn't accept Terra having a repressed darkness, yet Xehanort actively using his was just fine). I feel like there can be a parallel drawn to real life of people ignoring abuse because they don't want to believe their friend/sibling/cousin/spouse/etc. could do such a thing. Something something inaction harms more than just those around you or something.
None of the BbS characters who had Masters ever got a break.
Of course it's okay!
And that's another really good point too... Eraqus must have suspected than Ventus's other half was out there, but never made any attempts to find him...
And why would he? If Ventus is just a dog, then Vanitas- someone whos pure darkness instead of light, is something beneath even Ven- a bug, a parasite, something to be eleminated- oh. If Eraqus did care to seek Vanitas out he would have just killed him wouldn't he, like you said.
Would Eraqus have even cared if he found out Xehanort was abusing Vanitas, if he likely wouldn't even see Vanitas as a human being? Would he only care on account of Xehanort trying to create the X-blade through Vanitas?
As for the parallels... Terra really *is* the child that is left alone near an authority figure that has shown a lot of concerning behavior, that Eraqus just ignores because Xehanort is his friend :).
