A while ago you were picking tarot cards for the cast. I always pictured isa with the empress. the empress represents femininity, wifely duties, and motherhood. it could just be what the fans wanna see but I think he does have all three of those traits. Sideways the empress means dependency issues, domestic problems, and miscarriage (though that last part isn't applicable)
Keywords/phrases associated with the Empress tarot card:
Realms: Domestic life, domestic bliss, the home, the hearth, protector of Rome
Roman goddess of the hearth, Guardian of home and family. In mythology, Vesta was seen as a goddess who was easy-going and amenable – in other words ‘domestic bliss’.
Interestingly, in Luxord’s deck, ‘The Empress’ is part of ‘Champion Gear’. And Saix’s Champion Gear is a pink weapon called ‘Moonset’ which looks like the symbol of the goddess Vesta.
Vesta is an interesting choice of goddess. Axel’s signature weapons are called ‘Eternal Flames’.
And Vesta is known as the ‘Keeper of the Eternal Flame’. The ancient Romans believed that fire burned only because Vesta willed the flames to stay active in the hearth. She keeps the eternal flame going. And in the Persona series, Vesta is part of the Empress Arcana.
I also like this idea because Vesta is the goddess of the hearth--a symbol for one’s home. And Axel was always longing for a real home to return to (Twilight Town was not quite it). I like the idea of Isa representing ‘home’ and ‘domestic bliss’ for Lea and them eventually returning to Radiant Garden to eat ice cream happily ever after.
“Say something. Have you even thought that maybe I can’t erase Roxas?” Axel said, in a playful tone, and Saix finally looked up. “It’ll be all right. ‘Cause I’m tough.” Axel puffed out his chest.
“Saying stupid things,” said Saix, and for just a moment he smiled.
Isa flirts by teasing and playfully insulting the person he likes---which is Lea. There’s this passage from the novels where Axel (IMO) flirts with Saix by bragging about how tough he is and puffing out his chest. And Saix just says that Axel is being stupid, but he smiles. I think that’s the closest Saix ever got to acting like Isa did.
Isa struck me as a shy character. Lea had to work very hard to get him out of his shell. That was the main reason I liked him and thought he was cute and interesting. He’s a tsundere. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. He apparently had a VERY hard time admitting his feelings to himself, so he constantly teased Lea. I think that was an important part of his character.
Saïx WAS putting on an act. But it had nothing to do with Subject X. He was acting like he was totally strong and independent and didn’t need Lea anymore.
Mickey: His eyes couldn't lie.
Sora: Lie? And just who were you trying to fool? Huh? Huhhh?
Riku: Myself.
Riku finally had a moment where he admitted he was lying to himself, and was able to take his blindfold off.
“What’s that mean?!” Sora demanded.
“She doesn’t need you anymore.” Saïx smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes.
That was the world’s most obvious lie, Sora thought.
Saïx was also trying to fool himself. He was the embodiment of the feelings Isa had for Lea---the feelings he couldn’t admit to having. Some part of Isa was ashamed of how emotionally dependent he was on Lea. He saw it as weakness in himself and part of him was always afraid that Lea wouldn’t need him anymore.
I don’t know how the series is going to handle Isa’s characterization going forward, but I am not very hopeful. Saïx was not supposed to be the real Isa. He was Isa’s SHADOW self. Saïx did admit that he was jealous, but he immediately followed it up with “you won’t get it out of me a second time”. Wow, great character development.
And IMO, it’s ironic because he’s still lying to himself. He wasn’t doing it all for Subject X. That’s a flat-out lie. She was shoehorned into Lea and Isa’s story because the game was too afraid to follow through with the original idea for their subplot, which focused too heavily on their feelings for each other.
@Disney and SQ: Make LeaIsa canon u cowards. They had so much chemistry and history it would be make sense.
Saïx and Axel’s Fascinating, Complex, Beautiful and Extremely Well-Written Relationship
Write more about LeaIsa? Don’t mind if I do. YES! It’s such an underrated relationship, probably because of how poorly it was treated in canon. I would pay so much money to see it actually done justice in canon. And I rarely get invested in fictional ships to this degree. You’re right about their history together. It’s another reason I like LeaIsa so much. It’s the only Lea ship that I saw any evidence for. Axel’s relationship with Saïx is so unlike any other relationship in the series. I just found it so complex, unique, compelling, and mature in the way it was written. Seriously, it’s one of the most touching fictional relationships I’ve ever seen. And it’s written with such subtlety.
The writers force you to read between the lines, instead of spelling everything out for you. That made it even better, since it never once felt cheesy or forced. But with almost everyone I’ve talked to outside of Tumblr, the importance of Saïx and Axel’s relationship went right over their head. One person I talked to even said that the introduction of their past friendship felt pointless; simply an excuse to give Axel more “drama” in Days. Which was sad for me to hear.
It’s why I am so bitter that this relationship got shafted by the story as badly as it did. It’s such an insult to everything the writers accomplished. Unfortunately, I know many people in real life who would…not react well if they found out that Axel loved another male.
I can’t help but think that was a factor in why their relationship was handled so poorly, even platonically. It’s just so stupid to me, though. What a waste. It’s such a shame that stuff like this happens when creators try to step outside the box with their characters. There’s a real lack of healthy male/male intimacy in fiction, especially when it’s handled with actual maturity. It’s why I loved the KH2 ending with Sora and Riku so much. But hey, I still give gotta them credit for trying and almost succeeding.
As much as I loved the Roxas/Axel/Xion friendship, it was clear that Axel was the “dad” of the group. He was only half-joking about babysitting them. I feel even more strongly about this now than I did when I first played these games. It’s been 10 years since I first played Days and now I’m a bit closer to Axel in age than Roxas, lol. I don’t think Lea’s story could have ended truly happily unless he had another adult around him that he was close to.
Lea: In memories, you live forever, you know?
Isa: Well, you may be a really small part of my memories, but at least you’ll never disappear.
Lea: I’m SO flattered.
Isa: You’re such a pain.
I agree that they had a LOT of chemistry during their interactions. What I liked about Isa was that he was an equal to Lea. Someone his own age. He gave us an opportunity to see how Lea would interact with someone he could relate to as a peer, instead of as a mentor. Plus Isa was said to be very smart and mature for his age, which is probably why he didn’t seem to have many friends. And Lea was definitely much more on the intellectual/philosophical side compared to someone like Roxas or Sora.
He was a 15-year-old who talked about wanting to live forever in people’s memory, after all. I think that’s why Isa liked him so much. He was outgoing, very friendly, and smart, to boot. He’s the whole package. I used the Japanese translation for that scene since it made them seem even more flirtatious. I found way Lea joked with Isa to be so…cute. He just never smiled or acted that way with anyone else.
And I felt the same way when Isa smiled during that scene. I could tell he admired Lea’s outlook on life. He likes how he wants to make every interaction with others meaningful. He probably feels the same way, though he has a harder time showing it. Isa obviously does not have many people that he feels comfortable opening up to. I always got the feeling that Lea was very special to him. I don’t have trouble believing that Isa was intended to sacrifice himself for Lea. Not at all.
Roxas: I found out about love on today’s mission–that it’s something powerful.
Axel: That’s true. It is. But I’ll never get to experience it.
Besides, you don’t just give a character dialogue like this, and then NOT have them find true love. I mean, come on now.
Riku: Heh, I sometimes envy how simple your world is.
Sora: Is…that a compliment?
Riku: I envy whatever makes you think it could be.
Sora: Gee, thanks.
Isa and Lea had a somewhat similar dynamic to Riku and Sora. One was an introvert and the other was way more extroverted. I loved seeing the effect Sora had on Riku. It was very sweet. But no offense to Sora…Lea and Isa gave me the impression that they were much more intellectual equals, compared to him and Riku. I doubt you would ever see conversations like this between them, for instance. So for me, they struck a perfect balance. They were opposites, but still very similar.
It was such a sincere question that Axel barely swallowed a laugh. The evidence was right there; Roxas wouldn’t be thinking of anything else.
“’Cos you’re relatively simple,” Axel replied. “Well, most Nobodies are.”
Despite being the “cheerful” one, Lea’s world was anything but simple. He’s not unfailingly optimistic and he has a very prominent dark side. He might make friends very easily, but I could tell that he had a strong desire to form very deep emotional connections that are rare and don’t come easily. So Lea and Isa complemented each other very well.
“It’s just… I’ve always wondered why we’re here, on this island. If there are other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?”
Now I think it was because we had to be there to meet each other. And if this really is the end of all the worlds, I don’t mind fading out here.
“If the world is made of light and darkness…we can be the darkness.”
Beside him, Sora looked at the sea and idly stretched his legs. “Yeah. The other side, the realm of light…it’s safe now. Kairi and the king and the others are there.”
Even without us, the worlds will be okay, he thought as he gazed at the horizon. I don’t mind becoming part of the darkness, if I’m with Riku.
I still love Sora, though. No matter how many Disney worlds he went to, he never forgot Riku. I’m sure Isa was envious at times of Lea’s ability to instantly make friends with everyone. Isa only came out of his shell around Lea. He doesn’t get close to people easily. I’m sure he had as many insecurities as Riku had, if not more. He probably was clingy, even. But I doubt Lea would mind. I’m sure that he felt like no matter how many friends he made, he could have deeper conversations with a shy introvert like Isa than he could with anyone else.
Axel: Nothing lasts forever, man. Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies. But you know, we’ll still have each other…even if things change and we can’t do this anymore.
Roxas: Yeah?
Axel: As long as we remember each other, we’ll never be apart. Got it memorized?
Roxas: Ha ha, wow, Axel. That sounded ridiculous.
Axel: What? I thought it was pretty deep.
To me, Axel always came across as extremely intelligent, with a lot of inner depth and complexity. But he always kept his true feelings bottled up inside.
Roxas grinned. “Who are you, and what have you done with Axel?”
“Hey! I tried, okay?” All that effort to cheer them up, and they just turned it into a punch line. Chagrined, he looked away.
Xion burst into giggles, and then, as if it was contagious, Roxas started laughing, too.
“Oh, c’mon, it’s not that funny!” Axel scolded.
They paused, looked at each other, and giggled again.
“I don’t know why I put up with this…”
In the novel, he actually was pretty hurt and embarrassed during that scene, because he was being 100% serious.
Pence: Do you guys think we’ll always be together like this?
Olette: I sure hope so.
Hayner: Huh? Where did that come from?
Pence: Oh, well, you know. Just thinking out loud.
Hayner: Well, I doubt we can be together forever. But isn’t that what growing up’s all about? What’s important isn’t how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other. Right?
Pence: Get that off a fortune cookie?
Hayner: That’s it, no more ice cream for you!
Of course, I found it interesting how Roxas was later put in such a similar position to Axel. All these things happening to him that he can’t talk about with his friends. Being told he was never supposed to existand entering an existential crisis. The time when he would relate to Axel the most is when he doesn’t even remember him.
But to address the main topic of this post, I must say: Axel and Saïx’s whole relationship in the novels is just so excellent. I always liked it in the games, but the novels made me appreciate it on a whole new level. I was reading them for the first time a while ago, and I swear, I couldn’t help but pick up VERY strong romantic vibes between Axel and his memories of Isa. It’s not that I was looking for it, either. I wasn’t. It just really, really jumped out at me.
“Well, I think you can be inseparable, even if you’re apart,” said Axel.
Roxas and Xion shared a look.
“…Even if you’re apart,” Roxas murmured.
They trailed off, and this time Axel finished his ice cream. So he started talking again. “It’s like, if you feel really close to each other. Like best friends.”
Followed by…
“Love is what happens when there’s something really special between people.”
“More special than friends? Like…if they’re best friends? Inseparable?”
“Well, you can care about your friends, but that’s not exactly it…” Axel paused, groping for words that might make sense to Roxas.
“So it’s a step above best friends?”
“No—it’s not about steps.”
The wording was just so…intentional. Axel was obviously thinking about Isa when he was talking about best friends being inseparable, even when they’re apart. And he was obviously thinking about Isa when he said that as long as he has memories, he’d never have to be apart from anyone. Then Roxas uses the exact same words when he asks him about love. There was no way it was just a coincidence.
I was like, “Am I crazy, or are the writers trying to imply that Lea was in love with Isa?” Then I read the rest of the novel, and I’m like, “Damn, I guess they really are”. I swear, the novels are what totally convinced me that the writers genuinely viewed them as a romantic pairing. And then when I looked at the 358/2 Days weapons, I was like, “Okay, I guess I’m not crazy after all.”
I am working on a meta about the symbolism of Luxord’s Tarot cards. It’s just…incredible how the Fool’s Journey that’s depicted in those cards, follows Axel and Saïx’s character arcs so perfectly. There was so much care put into that relationship. I’m sure that the Tarot cards had meaning for everyone’s else’s weapons and character arcs, as well. But since we never actually get to learn that much about the other Organization members, it’s harder to interpret whatever meaning they have. There was more than enough with Saïx and Axel to read between the lines and see a whole arc. But Marluxia and Vexen? Eh, not so much.
“You mean I can’t talk to you unless I want something?”
“I didn’t mean that, but it’s—” a hassle. But if I say that, it looks like she’ll make it even more of a hassle. Axel shut his mouth. “Why are you talking to me? There are heaps of other people to talk to.”
“I don’t want to talk to rough old men,” Larxene clearly intoned.
“If that’s so—there’s Demyx, or Marluxia, who joined just before you did. And then there’s Zexion. There’s also Saïx, in a way—”
I found it interesting how Axel related to women. He talks about how you can’t push the wrong buttons with girls. Larxene touches his face in Re:CoM and his reaction is so annoyed. And then there’s the way he reacts when she flirts with him in the novel. Yeah, I know Larxene is a bitch and that really doesn’t prove anything. But those scenes felt like they were meant to show how Axel just isn’t interested in women that way. Also I like how he says, “in a way” when he refers to Saïx. Well, I guess he is young at least. However, while we’re on that subject…
Demyx: Who’s ready for a vacation? I’m ready for a vacation.
Axel: Saïx only gives days off when he’s in a good mood. Which is never.
…I found Axel’s dynamic with Saïx so fascinating due to their shared history. Saïx always has the most dead, lifeless expressions on his face. I think it hurt Axel deeply to see how miserable he was all the time. Axel must have assumed his condition was the result of the trauma caused by the experiments and losing his heart. After all, Nobodies typically have the same basic personality they had as humans. And Isa was not cold and robotic.
Indeed, Axel is all too aware of Saïx’s total emotional emptiness and he’s rather introspective about the whole issue. He reflects on it rather frequently in the novels.
“Shouldn’t you already be out on your mission, Axel?” Saïx interrupted.
Mission? Saïx hadn’t given him his assignment yet. Axel blinked up at him, and Saïx stared back.
Oh. Axel felt a little bit sorry for Saïx and his inability to lie.
Saïx can’t even fake emotion enough to tell convincing lies. At least Axel can do that much. He genuinely feels sorry for him.
In a way, Saïx put more effort than any of them into pretending he had a heart, Axel thought. And yet, he was more lacking than any of them.
Here too. Saïx is more lacking than any of them. He’s the only one who was turned into a vessel against his will, so he can’t just nurture a new heart like everyone else.
After watching them go, Axel stretched and turned to Saïx, expecting to see a scowl. But the expression had left Saïx’s face, leaving him as dispassionate as usual.
Of course, he had been faking it in the first place. Nobodies had no hearts; they only imitated what emotions they remembered. The very proof of their emptiness showed how desperately they each longed for a heart.
Axel probably did the same thing himself without noticing, and yet, for some reason, when Saïx did it—or actually, any of the others—it seemed so out of place.
None of the others in the Organization were that bad, though. They all had personalities and didn’t have to try so hard to fake one. And we know that they could grow hearts.
Saïx had no time for all these deliberately oblique remarks from Xigbar. “Nonsense. I see no problem whatsoever.”
Xigbar only laughed louder. “Pa-ha-ha! No, apparently you don’t!”
“Something you find amusing?”
“Oh, the things you hear from a guy with no heart,” Xigbar said through his hilarity.
None of us have hearts, Saïx was about to remind him, when Xemnas spoke again.
All except Saïx. No, he was unique, even among Nobodies.
He’d never deluded himself that tracking down Riku would be easy, and neither had Saïx. It was just that if he went back and reported that he couldn’t find anything, he would have to deal with those attempts at “personality”—the sneers, the snide remarks, the only trappings of human emotion that Saïx ever showed.
He tries so hard to have a “personality” that it’s actually very unsettling for Axel to witness. Yet, it was the only human emotions he ever showed. Because he’s nothing but an extension of Xehanort, with no heart of his own. He literally can’t connect with anyone or experience any emotion other than flat, numb, dispassionate misery.
“Don’t let us down now, kiddo. Shouldn’t be too much trouble without a heart,” Xigbar told Saïx.
Saix was a very tragic character. He became the way he is when he was just a kid, too. This is thrown in our face time and time again, so I was extremely surprised at the direction they took with his character in KH3. It made absolutely NO sense whatsoever.
In a room made of white marble, a large mirror reflected Demyx as he prepared to leave for the mission. He took particular care with his hairstyle, painstakingly manipulating the brown strands with a comb to make them stand straight up.
Saïx observed him from behind with what appeared to be distaste. In stark contrast to Demyx, Saïx left his long blue hair unstyled. The X-shaped scar on his forehead was all the style he needed.
Instead of responding, the other man simply disappeared.
“Excuse me?!” Demyx shouted at the space where Saïx had been standing.
I doubt Saïx had any clue how uncomfortable he made Demyx. He just didn’t have the emotional capacity to pick up on things like that.
“No… Kingdom Hearts…” He opened his arms, bathed in the moonlight. “Where is my heart…?”
He dissolved into dark mist and faded from existence.
I don’t think Saïx was really Isa, and I think his and Axel’s relationship was very unhealthy, obviously. BUT. Axel thought Saïx was Isa and tried to relate to him as such. And that tells you a few things. Axel clearly thought of Saïx as someone who could understand his pain in a way nobody else could. And Saïx was a pretty miserable character. Even Sora couldn’t help but feel sorry for him when he called out for his heart. And back then, Sora thought Nobodies weren’t even capable of feeling anything. Yet, other than Axel, Saïx was the only Organization member whose disappearance left him genuinely sad.
All of it disgusted him. Saïx looked up at the skyscrapers, tracking Axel’s presence. He wanted a heart more than anything. But what could he do to get one? Here he was, yearning for a heart so badly, while Axel had managed to gain one without doing anything at all.
The blue-haired man had been the very first to join the organization after the founding members. He should have been special. The way number 13—Roxas, wielder of the Keyblade—was special. Axel was not. And yet…He remembered what the witch Naminé had said.
Axel seemed lonely. The man himself had denied it, but she was absolutely right. Axel was lonely. He’d lost Roxas.
Lonely. Didn’t that mean he had a heart? How had he gained one? Why only him? Was it an effect of his contact with the boy, or was there something else at work? He had no idea…
Saïx was jealous of Axel…but not quite in the way KH3 depicted. He was jealous of his ability to grow a heart. He was jealous that Axel even had the capacity to feel the loneliness of losing a friend. Saïx yearned for a heart more than anything. I can’t think of a single reason he would willingly join the Organization after being re-completed. It’s not even possible to describe how out-of-character that was.
Saïx collapsed to his knees. “Ngh— How much longer…?” He groaned through clenched teeth. “Kingdom Hearts… Will your strength never be mine?”
I think Roxas felt sorry for him too, after his defeat. He had the perfect opportunity to take him out, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. There’s no way Roxas was capable of taking out someone so utterly pitiable. Roxas just stares at him for a few seconds, dismisses his Keyblade, and moves on in silence.
“I feel bad for you, too,” she told him.
“What are you talking about?” Saïx towered over Naminé.
“You haven’t even noticed yet…that you have a heart.”
Several Nobodies emerged from a rift out of the corridors.
“A heart? I have a heart? No one wants your nonsense!” Saïx raised his sword over Naminé—but Riku was there with Soul Eater to intercept the blow.
“Hmph. I don’t have time for these games.” Darkness welled from a rift behind Saïx. “Run along and help your dear hero.”
With that, he disappeared.
“Are you all right?” Riku helped Naminé to her feet.
“Now I understand…,” she murmured.
“Naminé…? You understand what?”
She was silent for a moment and quietly shook her head as she stood. “It’s nothing. We have to find Kairi.”
Naminé felt sorry for him, too. Of course, she seemed to realize that his situation was unique and even worse than the other Nobodies. His heart was in Xehanort’s clutches. Saïx was genuinely anguished by what she said, though.
Maybe she had been sent away somewhere on a long-term mission, like Axel at Castle Oblivion.
But…asking about Axel seemed to put Saïx in such a foul mood, Roxas couldn’t bring himself to inquire after Xion.
I think Saïx was still subconsciously influenced by Isa’s captured heart, making him feel even more hollow and empty. I think that’s what forgetting his “true purpose” was all about.
“You made it back in one piece, didn’t you?”
Were you worried I wouldn’t? Axel almost said, but he didn’t want to deal with putting him in an even fouler mood. Disgust and rage seemed to linger closest to the surface of Saïx’s memories.
But ultimately, what we saw in 358/2 Days is this: Axel always empathized with Saïx, no matter how unlikable he was. Especially in the novels, he always exhibits profound empathy, patience, and understanding towards him. Their relationship is nothing like how it was portrayed in KH3. It was honestly so sad to see how badly Axel wanted to connect with him—to have things be like they were before. He was desperate to find any evidence that Saïx still cared about him.
He didn’t look at Saïx, but he did have one thing to say.
“Keep your mouth shut.”
Roxas had never heard him speak so coldly to anyone before.
Saïx made no reply.
The one time Axel loses his patience and confronts Saïx in anger, it hurt him more than it hurt Saïx. Axel couldn’t even look at him. But Saïx never acts hurt or offended after this scene. He’s just angry that Axel won’t listen to him. He couldn’t care less if Axel insults him, as long as he’s compliant and their plans remain unchanged.
But his voice was still oddly low. Running into Saïx had brought out a different side of him—and that side was a little scary.
Something just felt wrong about it—Axel was putting distance between himself and Saïx. Just like Xion did with him.
Axel was certainly deeply affected, though. Even Roxas, who hated Saïx, felt something was wrong about them drifting apart. He actually compared them to Xion and himself.
I just did what I thought was the best thing at the time. For Roxas, for Xion, for the Organization—and for Isa. But most of all for me.
He thinks like this even after he told Saïx to keep hid mouth shut. Even after that, he was still motivated by…well, not Saïx, actually. It was “Isa” who he mentioned. It’s the only time he used his real name as a Nobody, whether spoken or in his own thoughts. He talks about Saïx a lot. But when he thinks about his hopes for the future, it’s not Saïx’s name that comes to mind.
It’s Isa’s name. That’s how much of a distinction he makes between Saïx and Isa. The past and the present. It seemed like he desperately hoped that once Kingdom Hearts was completed, maybe Saïx would go back to being Isa again. And he clung to that hope for dear life. I couldn’t tell who wanted Saïx to get his heart back more—Saïx himself or Axel.
When he woke up after being re-completed, it was like he forgot all about their past conflict. He just wanted his friend back finally. This scene where he used Isa’s real name really stood out to me. It was the clincher. I knew there was no way that Lea did not love Isa with all his heart, when he had one. And after he started to grow a heart again, those feelings never left. Axel still loved him.
“Things are finally right again,” Saïx went on. “Of course, we’re better off this way.”
Axel had no retort for that. Maybe because he didn’t want to alienate Saïx anymore.
“Xemnas is exasperated from all the ‘fixing’ we’ve had to do. We have to set things right. There is too much on the line…Lea.”
Hearing his old name, Axel glanced up to see Saïx watching him intently. He remembered being human. Memories surged inside him, crowding the space in his chest. For Nobodies, memory had all the weight of a heart.
I remember. I won’t forget. But those sunsets with Roxas and Xion were part of his memory. Axel broke away again from Saïx’s gaze, looking down at nothing.
You can tell how conflicted he is when Saïx also uses his real name a little while later. He desperately wants to think Saïx still cares about him as well, but he’s starting to realize that he’s deluding himself.
“I trust you.”
Axel let out a low chuckle. “Yeah? Because your heart tells you to?”
“Just the memory of it. But if you continue to interfere, I’ll have to overwrite that memory with everything I’ve learned as a Nobody.”
“…Should I take that as a threat?”
“More or less. Keep it in mind.” Finished with the conversation, Saïx walked away.
Axel didn’t move for a while.
This is the first time that Saïx actually threatened to do more to Axel than just end their friendship. He actually threatened to kill him, and he is totally in shock over it. He can’t even move. I found it so telling that Saïx always spoke about his memories in a way that made them sound so foreign to him. His memories of Isa tell him that Lea was once really important to him. But they are so at odds with his personality as a Nobody, that all he ever does is use those memories as a weapon to manipulate and punish Axel.
“We don’t need them both. Just one. And pretending won’t change it.”
We, who? Axel wanted to ask, but he held it in, along with a bitter laugh. He wasn’t sure if that “we” meant Organization XIII or just Saïx and himself.
“Think about that.”
Oh, I am. And I’m sick of it. I’m even desperate enough to ask you if there’s another way.
The words nearly escaped him, but Saïx was already walking toward the Grey Area. The set of his shoulders told him plainly what the answer would be.
Axel realized how great the rift was between how he remembered their past and what he saw now.
Why am I even here? I don’t know anymore. What am I trying to do?
But Axel forgave Saïx over and over and over again. He risked his life constantly whenever Saïx needed someone to do his dirty work. He cared SO much about Isa. But he’s starting to question everything now. What good are their plans if Saïx doesn’t even care about him anymore? If there’s no hope that their relationship can be like it was in the past?
KH3 says that Saïx felt forgotten by Axel, but I just didn’t see that at all. How could he have possibly felt abandoned by Axel of all people? All Axel did was pine for him the whole game. Axel would have been overjoyed if Saïx so much as asked him about how his mission went, or what he ate for breakfast that day. As long as it was something other than the Chamber of Waking. Of course, Saïx knew Axel didn’t forget about him. It’s why he knew calling him “Lea” would be such an effective tactic for his compliance.
“That’s enough.” Saix turned his head, giving Axel a sidelong look over his shoulder. “Traitor.”
Axel scowled darkly.
“I’m going. You know, don’t you, that you won’t stop me except by force? And even if you tried, you would fail.” Saïx went on his way. Memories informed him that he hated this kind of thing.
Here we go again. Saïx is still serious about his threat, and Axel is still deeply hurt. His memories tell him that threatening Axel should make him feel awful, too. In the past, he would be devastated with this situation. But, he isn’t. I really think Saïx simply had access to Isa’s memories, thanks to Ansem’s experiments on the heart. Just like how Xemns had access to Terra’s memories while he was talking to Aqua’s armor and calling it a “friend”. But he was never really Isa.
He had been using the Organization for his own ends from the start. The only thing that had changed in the meantime was who it was all for. Maybe Saïx would call that a betrayal. But his world had changed.
It took until this moment at the very end of the book, for Axel to finally change his mind on who he was doing everything for.
The Roxas that I know is long gone. Fine, I see how it is…
This is the moment where Axel has to finally accept the harsh truth. The truth that he’s known for a long time, deep down, but didn’t want to admit. The Isa he knew is long gone. Which was just so sad to me. Their relationship was SO messed up—it was incredibly damaging to Axel. How could KH3 make Lea and Isa just get over their past so easily? It was ridiculous.
There’s no way that Saïx was planned to be Isa all along. That would be so unfair and insulting to both of their characters. “Yeah, sorry Lea. Your best friend really DID want to kill you all along. So much for healing your pain…Here, have some ice cream.”
“I sent dusks in before you in numbers. Think of failure as leading to immediate erasure.”
“Certainly, sir,” said Axel, and he bowed exaggeratedly.
“Was that supposed to be a joke, Axel?”
“That’s not too far is it?”
“…It’s not at all funny.” Saïx resumed typing on the keyboard.
Maybe, this is the last time I’ll see Saïx, too.
Thinking, Axel looked at the seated Saïx’s back.
“We’ve known each other for a pretty long time, haven’t we?”
Ignoring Axel’s words, Saïx continued typing on the keyboard.
This is during the time of KH2, when Axel is going to infiltrate the data Twilight Town. There was something incredibly moving about the way Axel related to Saïx. It resonated with me on a deeply personal level, in a way few stories ever have. It was so powerful, without being the slightest bit cheesy or forced. In fact, it flies right under the radar unless you really pay attention.
Axel displayed true unconditional love. He just kept trying and trying and trying—even when his efforts got him absolutely nothing in return. He was totally undeterred. He’d just wait longer, and try even harder, until the day finally comes when his friend wakes up and comes to his senses. He was incredibly hurt by Saïx’s indifference towards him…but he never stopped loving Isa. Even when he lost all hope that he’d ever see him again…he never wanted to forget the pain of losing him.
Axel didn’t waste a second grabbing his chakrams. But his body was reluctant somehow.
I don’t want to disappear… But still, it wouldn’t be so bad if I did. Not here.
Regardless of how bad things got, even when Saïx followed through with his threat and tried to kill him…Axel STILL loved him, even if only because of how he remembered Isa. Fighting Saïx killed him inside. I like to think that during that scene, on some level, Lea could sense Isa’s true heart inside of Saïx. And that Isa still loves him, too. After all, they are supposed to be inseparable, even when they’re apart.
I truly believe that in the original idea for the story, Lea refused to take off his Organization cloak because he couldn’t bring himself to be “free” until Isa was. I also think that was why he was always staring off at the sunset, looking wistful. There’s a certain type of bonding people experience during shared trauma, that is unlike any other.
Lea and Isa joined the Organization together. They both lost their innocence and their youth to the Organization. There was no way Lea could be free until he knew Isa was, too. He would never, ever be able to move on from the past. And when Isa was rescued, he and Lea would always have that shared history as test subjects. I think their pain was always going to be something they understood better than anyone else.
Terra: I just– When I really need you, Ven, I know you’ll be there.
Aqua: Ven, I’m sorry…I might not make it back as soon as I thought. But Ipromise I’ll be there, one day, to wake you up.
To me, these quotes felt like foreshadowing. Ven is promising the audience that he’ll use the power of waking on Terra, and Aqua assures us that she will be the one to use it on Ven.
Go on, you just keep running. But I’ll always be there to bring you back!
There’s not a doubt in my mind that Lea was going to use these exact words while trying to use the power of waking on Isa. I think Isa would have been so traumatized that his soul fragments would initially refuse to go back to reality. It would not be easy to convince him to come back. Even Riku needed to pass a “test” to revive Sora.
The sun sank lower and lower as Axel watched, his mind wandering.
If he stared for too long, the image would burn itself into his eyes, visible even after his eyes were closed.
A phantom sun.
Someone had once told him why sunsets were red… Who was that?
First of all, Tomoco Kanemaki’s writing is so beautiful. Secondly, why do I get the feeling that it was Isa who made an off-hand remark one day, informing Lea why the sun sets red?
Axel is lost in thought, staring at the red sunset, before Roxas and Xion arrive. This is just before he talks about how they’ll never have to be apart as long as they have the memories of each other. Which is so similar to what he told Isa all those years ago. “If I can live forever inside people’s memories, then at least Isa can live forever inside mine.” That’s what I believe Axel was thinking that day.
You see, light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest.
The red phantom sun. It burns into your eyes, staying visible even when you close them.
Pandora opened a jar containing sickness, death and many other unspecified evils which were then released into the world. Though she hastened to close the container, only one thing was left behind–hope.
Axel’s Pandora Gear is called Prominence. Solar prominences are large, bright red-glowing loops of plasma extending outward from the Sun’s surface. They can measure many times larger than Earth’s diameter and last for weeks or even months. Saïx’s Pandora Gear is Crocea Mors, or Yellow Death; the one that looks just like his Berserk state Claymore.
Prominence is shaped like a swastika, or manji. It’s a symbol used to represent the harmonious interplay between opposites beyond the limits of time and space. In Hinduism, the arms pointing clockwise (卐) symbolizes surya (‘Sun’), prosperity, and good luck.
I wholeheartedly wish that Lea got to reunite with Isa—the real Isa. Not the watered-down Xehanort clone masquerading as him in KH3. There’s NO way the real Isa could have EVER inspired the type of devotion we saw from Lea, if he was ANYTHING like Saïx.
The Significance of the Red Sunset: Isa’s First Words
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
I’ve been wanting to do a post about Axel telling Roxas why the sun sets red on Day 255 ~The Longest Day~. The summer solstice, or midsummer, is the longest day of the year. Why was this scene so significant that it was chosen to be the very first scene of 358/2 Days? And why was a new scene from KH2FM+ also included in the opening?
The chapter of the novel where Axel first treated Roxas to ice cream was called “The Beginning of the End”. The chapter in the manga where Xion starts remembering her past and runs away is also called “The Beginning of the End”. Xemnas’s report on Day 255 is called “Final Stages”. This is also the day we find out Saïx can’t “see” Xion. It had to do with the fact that he was a vessel, though we weren’t supposed to know that yet.
Axel gazed out at the sunset, as red as ever. That color still looked the same to him now as it had when he was human. Some things didn’t change even when you became a Nobody.
“I hope Xion wakes up soon…,” Roxas murmured.
That would be nice, Axel thought. If only the three of us could just waste our time talking and laughing together again…
It really bothered me that both the novels and manga alluded to the fact that Axel’s routine of watching the sunset while eating ice cream was related to his human memories, but his canon backstory ignored this completely. It’s mentioned on Day 172 ~Sound of the Surf~, after Xion collapsed and Saïx called her a broken failure.
If you stare at the sunset, the image sticks on the back of your eyelids, and it feels like you can see the sunset, even with your eyes shut.
A phantom sunset.
The reason the sunset is red… who was it that told me that?
And also on Day 96 ~Xion’s Keyblade~. Axel recalled that somebody else told him why sunsets were red. The red sunset is no doubt so meaningful of a scene because of the person who originally told him about it. It must have been an extremely important memory to warrant such a prominent scene. This memory might have been a big reason why Axel changed his mind. He said his memories never did him any good the day before he went to Castle Oblivion on Day 118. But the day after he returned on Day 149, he said his memories were too precious to lose.
“You really okay?”
Roxas lifted his face. “This kind of thing is—”
“Hm?”
“It’s nothing,” said Roxas, with a shy smile.
That reaction was completely different from anything else until now.
A smile spread across Axel’s face, too, and it brought with it a strange sensation he couldn’t remember feeling before. “Don’t get too full of yourself there. Okay, since you worked really hard today, you get a reward,” said Axel, and he started walking.
Sunsets are connected to Axel’s fondness for sea-salt ice cream. Axel took Roxas out for ice cream on the day they met, and also on Day 8 ~The Icing on the Cake~, when he first started to remember things afterwards. Everything began on that day.
“I was—surprised, too.” Xion smiled, in a slightly troubled way.
It never even crossed my mind that someone other than me could use the Keyblade.
The Keyblade sparkled in the palm of Roxas’ hand, then vanished as usual. Roxas felt weird. He hadn’t thought that something like this could happen; finding out something, and ending the mission on a slightly fun note.
At a time like this—that’s right.
“Well then Xion, you need a reward.”
A similar thing happened when Xion became more aware. She spoke to Roxas for the first time, he was able to see her face, and she used his Keyblade to save him from a giant Heartless. They both laughed. He took her to the special spot, and they ate ice cream together. It was the beginning of their story.
“…Thanks.” Terra and Aqua looked at each other in shock. That was the last thing they expected to hear. No doubt about it—the voice was Ven’s. It was the first word he’d spoken.
“Ven!” In near-perfect sync, Terra and Aqua both peered into Ven’s face, and the boy glanced back and forth between them with a surprised look of his own.
“…What’s wrong with you guys?”
“Ven…!” Aqua hugged Ven tight. And Terra, beside them, kept mussing the boy’s hair.
“Cut it out, Terra, Aqua. What gives? Stop treating me like a little kid!” Ven grumbled. Laughter spilled out of Aqua, then Terra, and finally Ven joined in as well. For the very first time, the Land of Departure echoed with the laughter of all three apprentices.
Terra and Aqua were just as surprised by Ven’s sudden awareness. They even described his first words in the novel. Aqua fed Ven sweets all the time, and they also sat under the sunset when Terra gave Ventus the wooden Keyblade. Terra had a hard time pronouncing Ventus’s name, and Roxas mispronounced Axel’s name in the manga. Axel’s red sunset line is just as important as Ventus’ first words. The WINNER popsicle stick had just as much sentimental value to Axel as the wooden toy Keyblade did to Ventus.
Day 300: No Words
For the first time in a while, the three of us met up on the clock tower. None of us really knew what to say. We used to talk each other’s ears off, but I guess those days are gone.
In KH3, the scene where Saïx arrived on the clock tower was framed to look extremely similar to the scene of Roxas’s first day eating ice cream with Axel, as well as Day 255.
Day 300: Us and the Sunset
Author: Xion
We watched the sun set today. The three of us. I didn’t think we’d ever be able to do that again. It’s like that dream I had—the one where I was by the shore with Roxas and Axel, watching the sun set over the water. I just want to stay with them. But how? What should I do?
The symbol on Isa’s jacket was a waning crescent moon, the final phase before the darkness of the new moon. Day 321 is called “Waning Power”.
Day 352: Us and the Sunset
Me and Xion and Axel had ice cream. The sunset was beautiful. I don’t have to write anything else down, because I’ll never forget this day.
If Day 8 could be called “the beginning”, and Day 255 “the beginning of the end”, then Day 352 ~Sunset~ would be “the end”. It was the final day Roxas, Xion, and Axel gathered on the clock tower to watch the sunset together.
Axel stared at him as if trying to figure something out and then grinned. “Right, that first week you could barely form a sentence. But come on, you’re still kind of a zombie.”
Sitting in silence with anyone else would be unbearably awkward, Roxas thought, but with Axel and Xion, he didn’t mind. It was nice, actually, sitting side by side and not saying anything. Because they were inseparable. It gave him the feeling that whether they were together or not, whether they talked or not, everything would be fine.
“Hey, Roxas…”
“Hmm?”
There’s also this idea of not speaking while watching the sunset that seemed to be important. Day 300 is called “Shutdown”. The novel also emphasized that talking wasn’t always necessary when you are very close to someone. You can sit in silence and enjoy their company without it being awkward. Knowing that they are there is the only thing that matters, even if you’re apart. That’s what it means to be best friends who are inseparable.
Axel’s face was limned with the sunset’s glow, his red hair shining crimson.
“Bet you don’t know why the sun sets red.” He eyed Roxas mischievously. “You see, light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest.”
He finished with a boastful grin.
“Like I asked! Know-it-all,” Roxas retorted, and Axel let out a low laugh.
Axel wasn’t quite himself today, though Roxas couldn’t have said exactly what had changed about him. But, that was fun too, and Roxas began to laugh out loud.
The scene where Axel told Roxas about the red sunset is actually quite similar to the scenes where Roxas, Xion, and Ventus became more alert and started to talk like normal people.
Axel: Ha ha! I dunno if I want a blindfolded zombie on the loose. All right, smart aleck, you did good. And no successful mission is complete without a little icing on the cake. C'mon.
It was an unexpected comment, Axel was a kinda smug about it, and it caused them both to laugh and have fun. In the manga, Roxas even bought Axel ice cream. But he wasn’t his usual self that day. He was hiding his real feelings from Roxas. He knew it was the beginning of the end.
Secret Report 3: Experiments of the Heart – Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 1
Secret Report 3 is obtained after clearing Battlegate 3 at Twilight Town: The Neighborhood / The Old Mansion.
Subject was found in the central square shortly after dawn. Female, approximately fifteen years old. After seven days’ observation, she spoke her first words, but could not provide a name. Subject exhibits signs of profound amnesia, and displays concern for which world this is. Her words suggest that she departed her home world with others, though she cannot recall the names of her erstwhile companions. All efforts to explore those memories have met with a rejection response.
After his initial experiments on me, Ansem the Wise ceased his research into the heart, his hand stayed by some fear I cannot fathom. Yet this new subject is like me: devoid of memories. She is the perfect sample upon which to continue my master’s work. She, too, could benefit from it; by traversing the heart, we have a direct path into memory. I myself have begun to reclaim my lost past thanks to these very experiments. Who is she? Whence has she come? These are questions no scientist could ignore.
Subject X took a week to speak their first words. I think Twilight Town might have been where Isa was taken after Ansem the Wise found out about the experiments and released the remaining subjects. Maybe after he delved into Isa’s heart, the apprentices banished him and took Isa back.
Day 277 ~Searching~
While visiting a world on a mission, Roxas met the always cryptic Cheshire Cat. Before disappearing, the Cheshire Cat responded to Roxas’s questions by saying that he must follow his heart and decide what to believe in. Would having a heart resolve everything, including Xion’s predicament? Roxas was left pondering over what he could believe in when he doesn’t possess a heart. Roxas and Axel continued their search for Xion.
I think somehow, Lea was able to reunite with Isa in Twilight Town at a later time. This might have been when he awakened his ability to open dark corridors. He was looking at the words “Door to Darkness” when he said he’d bring Isa back in KH3D. Maybe he arrived in Twilight Town simply because he believed, like the Beast. He had already been released from being a test subject, but he wanted to find Isa so badly it opened a dark corridor. When Lea finally reunited with Isa, he probably had amnesia and wasn’t very lucid.
He hadn’t breathed a word to Saïx that Xion was probably with Riku. But he couldn’t have said why he was keeping his suspicions to himself. But that had allowed him to suggest looking for her with Roxas. It was a choice, a resolution toward a certain path, and it was also…what? Friendship? Axel made a wry grimace at the word. His doubts still remained, and he agonized over what would be the best course of action. Would he ever find the answer?
In KH3, when Saïx came to the clock tower to discuss Subject X, he treated it like a special place, and even knew Lea already bought an ice cream for him. But there was never any prior indication that he felt that way.
“I’ve decided! No matter how many times you guys run away, I’ll always be there to bring you back!” he wished—he shouted, he wailed, he vowed.
“When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter the cost. I believed I would find her.” The Beast’s low, rumbling voice rose. “I will have her back!”
The Beast had a ferociously strong heart—its strength of will alone had taken him to Hollow Bastion to save one of the princesses, Belle.
Instead of discussing Subject X, we probably were supposed to get a flashback of Isa being Subject X while they both watched the sunset. Maybe they even took the train to the beach and watched the sunset there.
Hearing his old name, Axel glanced up to see Saïx watching him intently. He remembered being human. Memories surged inside him, crowding the space in his chest. For Nobodies, memory had all the weight of a heart.
I remember. I won’t forget. But those sunsets with Roxas and Xion were part of his memory. Axel broke away again from Saïx’s gaze, looking down at nothing.
Then while they were looking at the sunset together, Lea might have been thinking out loud (pun intended), wondering why it was red. And Isa surprised him by actually telling him why it was red. The scene would be just like when Roxas started bragging out of nowhere. It would have come as a shock to Lea, who thought that his friend was “broken” and couldn’t speak. Isa was known to make witty quips. Lea would be so happy that he still had his personality that he celebrated with ice cream, which Isa liked to eat. After that day, Isa started remembering things. Lea wished that they could have stayed like that forever. It was one of the happiest moments of his life and a very special memory. But it was the beginning of the end.
Day 193: Dreams, or Memories?
Author: Xion
I finally wake up, just to pass out again? Why? Because I’m a failure? I dreamt the whole while I was out. It was something nostalgic, but what? Why can’t I remember? It could be a key memory from my human life. All I can remember is the sound of waves, gentle, in the distance.
One of Sora’s “key” memories he needed to wake up was the one Xion had experienced when she collapsed again on Day 193 ~Memories~. It was a memory of Sora sacrificing himself for Kairi.
They sat side by side, eating their ice cream. The sunset was the same beautiful crimson as always.
“It’s…just something I heard about on the mission today. Um…” Roxas screwed up his face in concentration. “Do you know what love is?”
“Love is what happens when there’s something really special between people.”
“More special than friends? Like…if they’re best friends? Inseparable?”
“Well, you can care about your friends, but that’s not exactly it…” Axel paused, groping for words that might make sense to Roxas.
358/2 Days focuses heavily on dreams. There’s not a doubt in my mind that Nomura was inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the story of the game. The crimson red sunset was there “as always” on Day 171 ~Love~. I definitely think that Nomura had the idea while writing the story that Axel cherished his memory of Isa and the red sunset so much, because he loved him.
Xemnas: Our experiments creating Heartless were attempts to control the mind, and convince it to renounce its sense of self.
Lea was the key who helped Isa awaken to self-awareness.
Naminé: But what...what if he needs those memories in order to wake up? What if they're the key?
That key memory helped awaken Axel’s heart.
Xehanort's Report XII
Vanitas can feel some of what Ventus feels, and he says Terra is the key. Ventus has loved Terra like a real brother ever since he let him keep his old wooden Keyblade. It seems we have found a loose thread at which we can tug to unravel Ventus's heart.
And it was able to overwrite whatever bad memories Saïx caused, because love is blind.
But then…
It happened as soon as she stepped into the station plaza. The world…tilted. Everything spun and swam and went dark.
What’s happening? What is this? I don’t know…
“Promise.” Who are you?
“It’s my lucky charm. So you have to bring it back to me!” Lucky charm…? The seashells……?
“Xion!” That’s Roxas. I can hear his voice. What’s happening to me?
Subject X was found in the “central square”. Xion collapsed as soon as she entered the station plaza (called Central Station), which is where Axel’s special hangout spot is located. I think that day Axel was remembering one of his key memories as well. The memory of Lea vowing to find Isa, even using the power of darkness. And Isa speaking lucidly to him for the first time after he was thought to be “broken”. I think this memory is why he was so upset at Saïx. It was one of his most precious memories.
“Hey, still got it memorized? When we first met, the day you got your name—we watched the sunset from here just like this.”
Roxas gave a tiny nod. He hadn’t thought he would get to have ice cream here with Axel one more time at the end. He hadn’t expected they would get to watch the sunset together.
The sea-salt ice cream tasted just like he remembered. The setting sun over Twilight Town was always so serene.
When Roxas met Axel again after they both disappeared, it’s similar to the other scenes. Roxas didn’t expect to eat ice cream and watch the sunset together again. In Days, Axel brought up Roxas’s first week as a zombie, and it seemed to remind him of being told why sunsets were red. In KH2FM+, Axel mentioned the day they met, and Roxas got his new name.
Xemnas had no scoldings for him, though. Just an order. “This is our newest member. Take him back to the castle and get him ready, then bring him to me.”
“Huh?” But a dark portal was already swallowing Xemnas up.
Why don’t you bring him back yourself? Axel had wanted to say, but that wouldn’t have gone over well.
Meanwhile, the boy didn’t move a muscle.
Axel sighed. “Well, come on.” He opened the Corridors of Darkness, but the kid was as still as a zombie.
The novel goes into more detail about what Roxas’s first day was like. Xemnas came to Twilight Town, asked Axel to get Roxas ready, then bring him back to the castle. Roxas didn’t really talk. The only thing he said was his name. He was staring at Hayner, Pence, and Olette, and Axel noticed they had ice cream. He remembered that he liked it when he was a kid, so he took Roxas to the clock tower before bringing him back. In the opening movie of 358/2 Days, we see the day Axel first met Roxas. He watched him eat his ice cream, but he was reluctant to eat it himself. When he finally bit into it, he recoiled. It was too salty and he didn’t seem to like it.
If he went back and reported that he couldn’t find anything, he would have to deal with those attempts at “personality”—the sneers, the snide remarks, the only trappings of human emotion that Saïx ever showed. Not that Saïx was even capable of annoyance or disappointment, of course, what with the lack of a heart and all.
Heading up the slope to the station, Axel bit into the ice cream bar. “This stuff is so salty,” he murmured to himself, as he often did.
I think Axel was crying because, just like on “The Longest Day”, he was remembering the old Isa who couldn’t talk, and suddenly made a witty remark telling him why the sunset was red. It was a happy moment where Isa proved that his charming personality was still there. He was a playful smart aleck.
Roxas: It's really salty...but sweet, too.
Axel: Ha ha. Roxas, you said the same exact thing the other day.
Roxas: I did? I don't remember that.
Axel: Hey, what has it been, a week since you showed up?
Roxas: Maybe.
Axel: "Maybe"? C'mon, you must remember that much. Well, that's okay. Today's where it all really begins anyway.
That personality was gone. Roxas had someone waiting for him. A place where he belonged. He felt like he had somewhere to return to when he disappeared, and he would be reborn in the next life. Axel didn’t. The person who was supposed to be waiting for him, so they could disappear together, wasn’t there. He was going to disappear all by himself, with no next life, either. And that’s the real reason he was crying.
Isa-- A quiet and cool-headed youth. Though he does come out of his shell when talking to his best friend Lea, toward others he is distant and untalkative.
Oh, I absolutely think he was. A quiet boy who is always alone, has no friends, and doesn’t smile much? Of course Lea would be drawn to him. Given their personalities, I can definitely picture Lea viewing Isa as a stray puppy at first and being the one to approach him. And after that, Isa started following him around like a lost puppy. Then they became best friends.
“You have your own mission, Roxas,” Saïx told him before Xion could answer.
“I can’t trade with Xigbar or something?”
“What an extraordinarily childish notion. Do you need Axel to walk you everywhere now?”
And I think Saïx had quite the inferiority complex over his past. It’s definitely hinted that the icing on the cake started with Lea and Isa long before it involved Roxas and Xion. Roxas was acting like a zombie following Axel mindlessly, then he surprised Axel by acting more alert. And Xion was mindlessly following Roxas around, then she spoke normally and saved him by using the Keyblade. This surprised him so he took her out as a reward.
Xigbar, standing and watching their exchange with his arms folded, opened his mouth. “You’ve been working really well lately haven’t you, Poppet.”
“…Thank you,” Xion replied in a small voice.
“Thank you? Why do you have to say thanks?
“Well, you were praising me, weren’t you? Was I wrong?”
“Haha… Yeah, I guess you could see it like that.” He pressed his hand to his mouth and snickered.
“Did I say something funny?”
“No, no. You’re fine.”
Xion looked up at Xigbar, anxiously. Beside them, Saïx didn’t show any notable reaction. He just watched.
Xion insisted on tagging along on the day she collapsed again. She was more interested in spending time with her friends and getting ice cream later. She passed out and Axel blamed himself because he was supposed to look out for her.
Long ago—I remember, I didn’t hate fighting. Saïx flung his claymore at Roxas.
And so, Saïx remembered things from a long long time ago.
It might have been the same for Isa. He might have liked fighting, but only with Lea.
“So, Saïx, what am I doing to—? Oh, boy. Awfully early for such a bad mood, don’t you think?” Saïx had whirled to face him with a rather pronounced scowl.
“…Nobodies do not have ‘moods’ to be ruined,” he said at length.
“Well, sure, technically…”
“It’s just that the failure was functioning better than expected until recently.”
I think Isa was probably careless one day and Lea got hurt while protecting him. Axel was angry remembering that. And Saïx has a complex about being a useless failure.
If I’m trying to get away from Saïx—from the organization itself—what am I doing here? The truth struck home—Nobodies had no place where they belonged.
“Now what do I do…?” he muttered, his face still upturned to the distant moon. A heart. Maybe the answer was closer than he thought. Suddenly he felt something brush his leg.
“Wh—whoa!” Axel jumped. It was a big yellow dog.
This scene from the manga takes place on Day 117 ~Secrets~. This is the day Axel was asked to work with Xion and observe her, then she talked about her memories. In the novel, it was hinted that Axel remembered praising Isa while he was praising Xion. Presumably that’s where the icing on the cake tradition started. In the manga, they referenced Axel’s memories of the past in a different way. Pluto showed up.
“Hey, what’re you doing here?”
The dog looked up at him, tail wagging wildly.
“Are you all alone?” As if in reply, the dog made a single tiny bark.
“Look, I don’t have time to play.” Axel gave it a pat on the head and began walking away between the buildings.
Xion really liked him and wanted to bring him home. Axel was annoyed that she was getting too attached to him, because Saïx would never allow her to keep him. Although Isa might have seemed like the “cold” one and Lea the “nice” one during the scene with Ventus, I doubt that was the whole truth.
“Hey, don’t follow me, okay?” He turned and shook a warning finger in front of the dog’s nose. It barked again. The animal almost seemed to understand him.
“Get off me already!” Axel shouted as he tried to stand, but this left him open to a slobbery attack from the front.
“Ugh! Quit it…!” Eventually Axel noticed Kairi watching this exchange with mild astonishment and finally shoved Pluto away. Sand covered his black cloak, red hair, and face.
It was probably framed that way on purpose so that when we saw Isa’s real personality, it would have been more of a twist. The manga characterization is often more humorous and not meant to be canon per se. But that doesn’t mean it’s arbitrary or that it isn’t meant to be true to the characters in some way.
“Look, I gotta go.” Axel opened up a dark rift in space and plunged into the blackness. The dog tilted its head again and plopped down in front of the closing portal as if to wait for him.
And Saïx actually DOES let Xion keep Pluto because Isa was fond of dogs. Sure, Saïx letting Xion have a pet is out of character. But the purpose of the scene with Pluto was to tell you something important about Isa and what type of person he was compared to Saïx.
All of it disgusted him. Saïx looked up at the skyscrapers, tracking Axel’s presence.
He remembered what the witch Naminé had said. Axel seemed lonely. The man himself had denied it, but she was absolutely right. Axel was lonely. He’d lost Roxas. Lonely. Didn’t that mean he had a heart? How had he gained one? Why only him?
Axel was amazed and happy that Saïx still had some memories from the good old days. The manga probably didn’t mention that Isa liked dogs for no reason. Anyways, Axel’s happiness didn’t last. Saïx brushed him off and told him that he had to go back to Castle Oblivion soon, then went back to being his usual cold self.
Saïx’s searching gaze fell on a yellow dog, and he paused. The dog turned to him with a full-throated bark. He scowled, crinkling the scarred skin between his eyebrows, and lifted his hand to open a Corridor of Darkness behind the dog. If something was in his way, he would just get rid of it.
The next day is the vacation and Saïx told Axel that he was getting too attached to Roxas and Xion. It’s very similar to the way Axel told Xion that she was getting too attached to the stray doggy. When Axel reacted sarcastically, Saïx told Axel that he changed. Axel looked sad, and almost like he was smirking at the irony.
“She doesn’t need you anymore.” Saïx smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. That was the world’s most obvious lie, Sora thought.
Axel said Saïx had changed and looked up at the heart-shaped moon. The scene is also made to look just like the scene where Sora confronted Saïx after Kairi escaped with Pluto. Saïx said she didn’t need him anymore. This made me think: they created the situation with Pluto to emphasize that when Saïx and Axel said the other had changed, it was specifically referring to getting attached. What Saïx said about Axel was probably very true, especially after he became a Nobody. But it was probably not limited to him as Nobody, either.
The two of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. Ven was just a tad jealous. “Already?” Ven asked, a little lonely.
He turned around. “I’ll see ya when I see ya. After all, we’re friends now. Get it memorized.”
“Okay, Lea.” Ven nodded with a smile. He hadn’t thought he would make friends here of all places.
If you think about it, who is more likely to become easily attached to others? A sociable extrovert who interacts with every person they meet? Or a quiet introvert who only opens up with one person? Definitely the introvert. Lea was very warm and quick to help other people, but he probably didn’t get attached to the stray puppies he picked up very often. He was probably just happy creating memories with new people (or animals). He seemed satisfied to play with Ventus for a few minutes, then move on. He’d see him whenever. Ven was the one who didn’t want him to leave, because he was lonely without Terra and Aqua. Then their situations became reversed.
“Sora and Riku are best friends.” Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.
“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”
“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.
Axel was very friendly, but he was also cool and detached. Roxas laughed at him when he they’d never be apart as long as they remembered each other. And in the manga, he was embarrassed when Roxas called him his “best friend” out loud. But over time, he became desperately lonely and needy. It was a core aspect of his character. No one was called “lonely” more times than Axel. And he became VERY attached and clingy with Roxas and Xion, which was unusual behavior for him.
“What?” The irritated furrow between his brows deepened.
“You seemed lonely,” Naminé repeated, raising her eyes.
“Lonely? Me, a Nobody, lonely? That doesn’t even make sense!”
And I just loved how in the KH2 novel, Axel was simultaneously trying to avoid both Pluto AND Saïx, who always showed up at exact the same time. It was like escaping the two of them was...the same thing, in a way. Not only Saïx’s stalking, either. Axel’s stalking of Kairi was parallel to Pluto’s stalking of Kairi, too. When Axel was trying to see Roxas again, he was acting like an abandoned stray puppy. Ironically, Axel was so clingy with Roxas because he felt abandoned by Isa. He missed how emotionally attached Isa was to him and was very desperate for his affections once more. Then he transferred that neediness onto Roxas. But as a human, it probably wasn’t Lea who got overly attached.
As he watched Ven go on his way, Isa commented to Lea in a frosty tone, “What is it with you and picking up stray puppies?”
Lea just shrugged. “I want everybody I meet to remember me. Inside people’s memories, I can live forever.”
“I know I won’t forget you. Believe me, I try all the time,” Isa replied with a bit of humor in his tone.
It was probably Isa. That’s probably why he kept his distance from most people. I bet this was a pretty important aspect of their characters. Saïx was always utterly cold and detached towards everyone. But deep down, Isa was nothing but an abandoned puppy. He was being sarcastic in BBS. But in KH2, that was exactly what was going on. He wanted nothing more than to forget Axel and tried ALL the time. But he couldn’t. And that was probably the main reason they included so many more Pluto scenes. The real stray puppies were Isa AND Lea.
Axel had seen Pluto jump fearlessly into a portal to the Corridors of Darkness. And Kairi had done the same. This was no time to hesitate, then.
He gave Pluto a good hug and pressed his cheek against his fur. “Okay, let’s go.” Pluto woofed in reply. Axel got to his feet and headed deeper into the bowels of the castle.
After reading the novels and the manga, I think Isa might have been talking literally about an incident with stray puppies. It would have been funny if the dogs were actually Disney characters like Lady and the Tramp. Isa was the one who wanted to keep them, but then they got adopted. Ironically Lea was the one who was chiding him for becoming too attached. And that’s why he sounded annoyed with Lea picking up another stray puppy.
Isa’s TRUE Personality: The Beautiful, Tortured, Selfless Moon Goddess of Love (Part 1)
Saix’s weapons are an absolute goldmine of esoteric symbolism. There’s no way I can cover it all in one post; there’s just too much. But I want to do a series analyzing everything, to show just how differently his character ended up in canon, compared to how it was originally conceived. I think the original idea for Isa’s character and his relationship with Lea is extremely unique and utterly fascinating. According to the symbolism, Isa’s TRUE personality is exactly as the title describes. A tortured, beautiful, selfless Moon Goddess of Love who was clearly intended as a love interest for Lea.
Part 1: The Tortured Moon Goddess
Cool, collected, and mature beyond his age. He’s good friends with Lea.
— Jiminy’s Journal (Kingdom Hearts Union χ)
Saix’s title, Luna Diviner, is a reference to Selenomancy, named after the Goddess Selene. It is a specialized form of divination that examines the various aspects, phases, and appearances of the moon. According to diviners, moon phases are associated with certain personality types at the time of birth. There are several specific moon phases used as names for Saix’s weapons. Gibbous represents someone who is a healer and humanitarian. They care about other people; sometimes more than themselves. The pain and suffering of others is something that they are not only highly sensitive to, but also want to help transform.
Balsamic Moon, is the waning crescent that is the trademark symbol on Isa’s jacket. It’s the final phase of the moon. This is a phase of decline and darkness—a rich opportunity for your soul to experience. It is considered the most Yin or Feminine phase. Balsamic means soothing or restorative. If you are born under this Moon, you will be aged and mature in some way. Balsamics are quiet, retiring and resilient; they are often seen as “old souls”. They are complex and wise beyond their years, as well as loners who usually only enjoy the company of a select group of people.
New Moon is also known as the Dark Moon. It is the phase where the Moon’s energy is weakest. Even though the New Moon is invisible in the sky, those born under it are cloaked in darkness. They tend to lack self-awareness. They may be known for being selfish, callous, or unable to see things from other people’s perspectives. This weapon has the same shape as Berserker and Werewolf.
Saix’s Pandora Gear is Dichotomy. This word has several definitions. It means “a division or contrast between two things that are entirely different.” Or, “the phase of the moon in which half its disk appears illuminated.” It represents the clear division between the past and the present, Isa and Saix.
Many of Saix’s weapons incorporate ♐︎ the astrological symbol of Sagittarius into them. I believe ♐︎ is meant to represent Lea. Sagittarius is a part of the Fire Trigon of the Zodiac. As an archer, he is said to never fail in hitting the mark. Sagittarius represents the centaur Chiron, an immortal centaur, who was renowned for his gentleness. After being accidentally shot by a poison arrow, he was in agony, but unable to find release in death. So he decided to offer himself as a substitute for Prometheus, who was punished by the gods for giving fire to man. Zeus saw the kindness of Chiron and immortalized him in the stars.
Axel’s weapon Prometheus is a combination of ♐︎ and the symbol of Mars ♂, and ALSO ♋ the Cancer symbol. Mars was known as the Roman god of war. He was said to love the violence and conflict. He carried a spear that was often depicted as covered in blood. He was the patron God of soldiers and was worshiped prior to battle. Soldiers in the Roman Army prayed to Mars before battle, hoping that he would protect them and lead them to victory.
Selene is shaped like a torch combined with ♐︎ the symbol of Sagittarius. In ancient Greek mythology, Selene is the Titan goddess of the Moon and is said to drive her glowing chariot powered by beautiful white horses across the sky each night. Her symbols were the crescent moon, a chariot, and a torch. Selene was very well known mostly because of her beauty. She was a very peaceful goddess and did not approve of war. Her personality was said to be secluded and timid.
Most Ancient Greeks looked to her for healing. Selene also had many powers that you would not think a moon goddess would have. Mythology states that she had powers surrounding dreams, she could harness the ability to awaken intuition and she could also catalyze psychic visions. As the patron of femininity, she was known to have the power to ease childbirth, to inspire love, to mask reality, and to pierce illusion.
Artemis has been commonly associated with Selene. She was the goddess of the Moon, the ruling planet of Cancer, and the daughter of Zeus. Her personality was individualistic and free-spirited, yet kind. She was a patron goddess of hunting and childbirth, and she was also the protectress of little children and baby animals. In Greek mythology, Artemis was usually portrayed as a very tall, beautiful young maiden with a hunting bow the shape of a crescent moon and golden arrows. She is often accompanied by either a stag or a dog. One of her special talents is calming animals, meaning that when she walks near them they come towards her and become calm.
Artemis is one of the ‘virgin’ androgynous goddesses, along with Athena and Vesta. Due to her well-integrated masculine energy and independence, she possesses an introverted temperament, preferring solitude. She was also known to be friends with mortals. Her assets were courage, confidence, and strength (both mental and physical). Her weaknesses were vengeance, impulsiveness, and being quite aloof. She was afraid of men, which is why she used to live in the woods and only went for walks at night. She rarely had any male companions; she only loved one person, Orion, but she ended up unintentionally killing him due to trickery. In her pain she appealed to Zeus to immortalize Orion in the stars so she could be with him.
A quiet and cool-headed youth. Though he does come out of his shell when talking to his best friend Lea, toward others he is distant and untalkative. Often scolds Lea and his contrasting personality.
— description from KHBBS Light Novel 2 (Best Friends)
The design for the weapon Astrologia incorporates ♋, the sigil of Cancer into its design. Cancer is associated with Artemis, who is similar to people born under the sign of Cancer. They are very modest, shy, and extremely emotional individuals who love children and pets. Artemis exemplifies the caring, nurturing and protective qualities of the mother. Deeply intuitive and sentimental, Cancer can be one of the most challenging Zodiac signs to get to know, but they are sympathetic and very attached to the people they keep close.
Being ruled by the Moon, they are mysterious— they can struggle with sharing their innermost feelings. Cancer was known as the “dark sign” because of the obscured visibility of its constellation in the night sky. They have a tendency to brood and can be very moody and pessimistic. They often don’t have enough coping and defensive mechanisms for the outer world, so they can be prone to introversion and slow to warm to strangers. Cancers are quick to retreat into their shells if it suits their mood. The crab is a perfect symbol for the Cancer sign, symbolizing how a sensitive soul hides beneath a tough exterior.
A Cancer is caring and vulnerable, however callous they may appear on the outside. They are introspective and serene folk, who love solitude yet care gently for the people surrounding them. This receptive nature, however, makes them easily hurt. Cancer is the most emotional sign of the zodiac but at times they might appear icy and separated. Empathy for others is likely to be strong, and they will have an intuitive ability to sense what others need. They have a tendency to be quite clingy. Cancer’s shyness comes from their insecurity and deep fear of rejection. They are a cautious and shrewd people.
Moon Rabbit is known as the Jade Rabbit in China. The Jade Emperor disguised himself into a poor, starving old man and begged for food from monkey, otter, jackal, and rabbit. Rabbit could only gather grass. Knowing well enough that grass can’t be offered as food to humans, rabbit decided to offer its own body, sacrificing itself in the fire the man had started. Somehow, though, rabbit wasn’t burned. The old man suddenly revealed himself to be the great Jade Emperor. Touched deeply by rabbit’s selfless sacrifice, he sent it to the moon to become the immortal Jade Rabbit.
More than just cute, fluffy, and white, the Jade Rabbit is a sign of selflessness, piety, and sacrifice. The Jade Rabbit is on the moon so that no matter where we are on Earth, we always have the ethics of righteousness and self-sacrifice to look up to. In East Asia, the Jade Rabbit is a widespread cultural symbol. When the bunny isn’t busy making immortality elixirs, it keeps the beautiful goddess Chang’e company in the Moon Palace.
Saix’s weapon Crescent is based on the Phoenix’s wings. This weapon represents the albedo stage of magnum opus. Following the chaos of the nigredo stage, albedo involves the washing away of impurities. In this process, the subject is divided into two opposing principles to be later coagulated to form a unity of opposites during rubedo. The aura is light blue, meaning truthfulness and serenity.
Psychologist Carl Jung equated the albedo stage with “unconscious contrasexual soul images; the anima in men and animus in women”. Jung described the animus as the unconscious masculine side of a woman, and the anima as the unconscious feminine side of a man, with each transcending the personal psyche. This makes albedo a phase where insight into the shadow side of the self is gained, while inflated ego is removed from the psyche.
So, that makes it VERY interesting that the weapon has a similar shape to ⚸. Even if they never planned to actually show it explicitly, the writers seemed to be inspired by Black Moon Lilith. Which raises very disturbing (though very interesting) implications about what happened during the experiments on the “darkness of the heart”. It would certainly explain how Axel’s personality became so warped. It would also explain why he didn’t find Saix’s personality change that unexpected, either, and why Axel seemed to always give him the benefit of the doubt no matter how cold he was.
Astronomically, Lilith is considered an asteroid. Yet, some astrologers identify Lilith with the “Black Moon”. It’s the mathematical point that’s exactly in between the earth and the moon–essentially, empty space. Astrologically, it represents the cosmic void; the very energy Black Moon Lilith embodies. Psychologically, it is a point that represents how we react to emptiness and isolation. It brings up deep and primal issues like repressed feelings of rejection, rage, and the refusal to give in. This particular archetype is associated with sex, death, obsession, addiction, transformation, resurrection, magic, the occult and the taboo. These things are seen as the entry way between the spiritual dimension (or the underworld), and life on the physical plane.
Put simply, Lilith is the dark side of the moon. She represents animus, the feminine shadow side—What society rejects as appropriate for the feminine, Lilith takes up. The vilest manifestations of sexuality like pedophilia, rape, and satanic ritual abuse are all the domain of Lilith. She was actually said to be a hermaphrodite, so she could act as both a succubus and an incubus. Trauma based mind-control, through the use of sexual torture is another area connected with Black Moon Lilith. She symbolizes the transformation that occurs after going through a dark night of the soul. Usually, the trigger is great suffering, mourning, pain or torture. I can only imagine what poor Lea and Isa must have gone through.
Astrologically, Chiron (Sagittarius) stands in total opposition to Black Moon Lilith and all she represents. He is a symbol to remind us to look at the vulnerabilities we face in light of our connection to Divinity. Through the exploration of our wounds, we are called to heal all that creates a rift or disconnection with our Spirit.
How do you think Lea and Isa went from lab rats to Organization members? It makes sense that Xehanort would recruit Isa if he had already become a vessel, but why would they keep Lea around instead of just disposing of him like they presumably did to countless other test subjects?
Fear: Axel’s True Weakness
I would say there were three main reasons. The first is that Lea was Isa’s weakness. If they kept Axel around, they could control Saïx better. He may be another Xehanort, but he still wanted revenge, and genuinely teamed up with Axel. He’s more complacent if he thinks he’s working towards his own goals.
The second reason is that Axel didn’t train himself to be an assassin. He may not have been vessel material, but there’s no reason to believe Isa was the only one subjected to mind control. Females are said to be better at dissociating, so since Isa was more feminine, perhaps Axel was not deemed worthy and was given another role.
You can’t do a proper mind control plot without researching the subject first. I’m sure Nomura and his team did their homework. In my opinion, Axel was inspired by Delta programming.
Slaves are threatened with fire, like the Scarecrow. They also see people dismembered like the Scarecrow was dismembered. For them it is not an idle threat. The front alters also have hearts full of pain like Scarecrow.
The Wizard of Oz is a very popular movie used in mind control programming. A subject can be Dorothy: lost in a tornado, stuck in chaos, perpetually spinning out of control. Or the Cowardly Lion: Living in fear and the inability to act, making decisions based on fear. Or The Tin Man: only able to react in certain situations, frozen in others. These are just a few of the many characters that are used.Subjects are threatened with fire.
Pg. 38 Book 1 The Wizard of Oz: “That is true,” said the Scarecrow. “You see,” he continued, confidently, “I don’t mind my legs and arms and body being stuffed, because I cannot get hurt. If anyone treads on my toes or sticks a pin into me, it doesn’t matter, for I can’t feel it.”
They are told they can’t feel anything.
“It’s because I don’t have a heart,” Axel went on. “I don’t want to disappear, but I’m not upset or sad about it.”
Naminé tried to say something and failed.
Nobodies aren’t supposed to exist. Nobodies don’t have hearts, so they can’t feel anything.
It sounds just like Axel.
Pg. 79 Book 3 Ozma of Oz: “I am only a ma-chine, and can-not feel sor-row or joy, no mat-ter what hap-pens.”
That type of mechanical dissociation also coincides with Tin Man programming.
Certain alters are not given courage and most have their hearts taken from them. The alters who are programmed not to have hearts are hypnotically told the same thing the Tin Man says, “I could be human if I only had a heart.” …..Some alters are taught they are stupid and have no brain.
They are told they have had their hearts taken from them, and that they would be human only if they had one.
How is a man-made puppet any less worthy than a Nobody that was never meant to exist at all? They’re both ambiguous. Tenuous at best.
Just like Axel.
On page 38 is a poem about a Mr. Nobody. The programmers like to have alters identify themselves as “nobody”. On page 39 is a poem/story about “someone” who comes tapping…but it is “only the cricket whistling”.
They are literally told they are a “nobody”.
Axel: We are just Nobodies who have no one to be, yet we still “are.” But now you can be nothing instead of just being a Nobody. You’re off the hook.
Sounds just like Axel. When he kills Vexen, he says he has “no one to be”.
Learning ‘Over the Rainbow’ in Oz is for the slave to be in a trance, and into a certain area of the programming. To be fluctuating at both ends as an observer and not a participant or to go to the other extreme and become a participant. The theme song of the movie goes, “Somewhere over the Rainbow…there’s a land where the dreams that you dare to dream really come true.” These lyrics are a method to hypnotically confuse the brain to perceive that the “over the Rainbow experience” (which is usually horrible abuse) is a “dream”.
In Delta programming, the trainers will record delta waves on an EEG, and try to get the subject to always stay in delta state. They will do this using drugs, hypnosis and trauma. The trainers will often flash a cue, or delta (triangle) symbol on a projector overhead, and “grind in” the delta imprinting. They will wear robes with delta signs on them, and clothe the subject in robes imprinted with the delta sign.
As you can see, Delta brain patterns involve the unconscious mind and sleep. And that is one of the biggest themes of the Dark Seeker Saga. It’s what the whole Realm of Sleep was based on. The Delta trainers will teach the subject under hypnosis what deltas do, and how they act. They will be given delta jobs, and they will watch high frequency films that show delta functions. They may use a computer-like structure, showing pictures while the subject is under a deep trance. This is after creating a clean slate through trauma.
Delta programming was originally designed to train special agents and espionage agents’ minds for becoming terrorists devoid of fear and basic self preservation instincts. They are trained to be capable of incredible feats of physical endurance and murder. The Delta program was interested in training a new breed of man—one who kills and, if caught, self-destructs. This is why Axel is so fucked up, in my opinion. And I really don’t blame him one bit for it. He’s fucked up, but he’s still a saint considering what he must have gone through. I don’t blame him for killing Vexen or Zexion, or for having so much hatred. Who wouldn’t? It’s only natural.
The trainers will reward the subjects when they comply, and shock or otherwise traumatize them if they do not act like “deltas”. And all of this ties into the third reason I think they kept Axel around. As you can see, Delta programming is only effective to the extent that you can traumatize the person. And if they have something they can’t bear to lose, it makes it so much easier to do just that.
“Don’t let us down now, kiddo. Shouldn’t be too much trouble without a heart,” Xigbar told Saïx.
I think there is little doubt that Braig was Isa’s main abuser during the experiments. He all but taunts Saïx about it. Then there’s his weapon called “Cupid’s Arrow”. Cupid shoots people with arrows and they fall in love. His gold-tipped arrows are what link people in love. However, he can fire lead-tipped arrows, which cause people to feel indifference or hatred. This side of Cupid is not very well-known.From Axel’s point of view, that would be a very accurate description. I think all of this was implying that he was the main person who turned Isa into Saïx.
One day, a man came to take me from the prison. I could not see him for the darkness, save that he wore an eyepatch.
And it JUST SO HAPPENS that he was Subject X’s main abuser, too. Hmmm, fancy that. What a coincidence, huh? Well, I think Xaldin was Axel’s main abuser. The story goes out of its way to parallel him to Axel. Notice how Axel never interacts with him in Days, and how he’s conveniently not present in 3D. And it doesn’t just say that he looks down on emotions or the heart. He is good at manipulating the hearts of others. This implies actions. This is Dilan, not Xaldin. So it’s not talking about the Beast. They describe Aeleus as NOT good at manipulating the hearts of others. Xaldin was different. There was definitely something planned with this.
Roxas: You remember the castle’s master, Xion?
Xion: Yeah, the beast we saw.
Roxas: Well, you were right. He does have something he wants to protect. Something he cares about.
Xion: Really?
Roxas: Yeah, but Xaldin says that’s a weakness.
Xion: Why would caring about something be a weakness?
Roxas: I dunno. I didn’t get it either.
Xion: I hope Axel comes home soon.
Caring about something is a weakness according to Xaldin. And 358/2 Days made a pretty big deal out of this idea. I think the story was hinting that Xaldin had a connection to Axel’s weakness. And that’s why they were given parallel stories like that.
Axel: Huh… I think you have a point there. So you don’t need a heart to have something that you can’t bear to lose then. If that’s true, then I guess the closest thing that we Nobodies have would be memories of our past. It’s the memories that create the things that we don’t want to lose.
Axel says his memories of the past are what he can’t bear to lose. Axel is ALL about memories, especially the ones of when he was human.
Xaldin was standing there.
“Is it too hard to at least knock before barging into people’s rooms?” Demyx stated, displeased, and strummed the sitar again.
“What will you do with those human memories you cling to?”
“Hah? What are you saying, old man?” Demyx’s hand stopped, and he turned just his face towards Xaldin. “What about you?”
“Nothing at all. But I’m interested in how you guys let your human memories influence you.”
“Hmm,” Demyx responded, disinterestedly, and plucked the sitar three times.
While Xaldin is the exact opposite. I can’t help but feel like Xaldin’s disgust stems from actually witnessing how Axel in particular was affected by his “weakness”.
“That which we treasure has power over us, Roxas. His heart is captive to it. And that makes it his weakness.”
“Captive…? I don’t get it.”
Everything Xaldin said only got harder and harder to follow.
“Nor should you. You have no heart to love with. Let’s not linger here.”
Xaldin says that anything you can’t bear to lose is your weakness. He calls that weakness “love”, even before he learns that the Beast loves Belle.
Roxas: Love is a power?
And all this happens on Day 150, which is called “Fear”. The whole idea is that having something you can’t bear to lose causes you to feel FEAR. This fear controls you and makes you captive to it.
Roxas: It’s scary.
Axel: You can’t be scared without a heart!
Roxas: If my friends… If you or Xion were to disappear… It’s…scary to think of what it would be like without you guys.
Axel: “Scared” is not an emotion that can exist inside us.
Roxas: Well… I am scared right now, for sure.
Axel: Maybe it’s just that you remember what it’s like to be scared, you know? Somewhere deep inside your memories.
The whole idea of Delta subjects is that they are supposed to be devoid of fear. The only way that happens is to traumatize the subject so much that they become desensitized to fear. Why bring all of these ideas up if you are not going to do anything with them? There was originally a subplot about Axel’s weakness and the fear caused by it.
Roxas: Love? What’s that?
Axel can’t bear to lose his memories of the past, from when he was a human. But that is only relevant for him now, as a Nobody. It wouldn’t have been something that would cause him fear in the past, during the experiments.
Axel: You know, memories of the stuff we couldn’t bear to lose, back when we couldn’t bear to lose it.
The memories he refers to are about “stuff” he couldn’t bear to lose. He had something in his past that he couldn’t bear to lose. Not just memories. Something tangible. Something he treasured that made him afraid of losing it. So what could make him so afraid?
Day 150: Too Precious to Lose
Axel and I talked for a while about the things we can’t bear to lose. Axel thinks that for Nobodies, it’s our pasts, because that’s all we have to remember the pain of losing something.
Why are Axel’s memories too precious to lose? Because that’s all he has to remember the pain of losing something. He must have really treasured that thing if he never wants to forget the pain of losing it. His heart was captive to it. He considered that thing too precious to lose, and it was his weakness.
Saïx: There’s something I’ve meant to ask.
Xemnas: About Axel? The poor fool. How long will he keep chasing the illusion of friendship, when he himself lacks emotion? Trying so hard to retrieve what he has lost, when it may never have existed in the first place. He deserves nothing more than our pity.
Xemnas’ comment was about Axel trying to retrieve what he lost. And Xemnas spoke as if Axel had been chasing something he lost for a very long time. LONG before he lost Roxas. Also, Xemnas said it never existed in the first place. But Xemnas knew Nobodies had hearts. He also considered love to be a weakness, but he didn’t deny that Nobodies were capable of it.
Xemnas: Weakness has the power to awaken that which is dormant. It is clear that through his actions, however foolish they may have been, Axel has touched Sora’s heart. Perhaps HE will soon awaken.
He even said that Axel had the power to wake Ventus because he touched Sora’s heart. He knew Axel was capable of emotion, but he had to keep the script going. He also knew Roxas was not a normal Nobody, and that he had Ventus’ heart. Xemnas knew that Roxas’ friendship with Axel DID exist, and was genuine. That’s why he kept getting sent to Castle Oblivion. He was close to Roxas, and perhaps he would lead them to the Chamber of Waking.
So, I think there was a hidden meaning in his statement when he said that what Axel was seeking was something that never existed in the first place. It was not referring to Roxas. Axel had something else he lost, and was trying to recover. His memories of the past were his weakness. He was so desperate to recover something he lost that Xemnas never considered him a threat. He knew how to control Axel by using his memories of the past against him. And I think that’s why Xemnas never got rid of him.
Axel: As long as we remember each other, we’ll never be apart. Got it memorized?
Roxas: Ha ha, wow, Axel. That sounded ridiculous.
Axel: What? I thought it was pretty deep.
The sunset is a symbol of wanting to recover something important that was lost. Axel was always looking into it, long before Roxas or Xion left. He was looking at it all by himself on the day “Xion’s Keyblade”. The day Saïx acted like an asshole to Roxas and Xion. And the day Axel said he’d never have to be apart, as long as he had memories. Roxas and Xion had to be inseparable for a while, because Xion couldn’t use her Keyblade. Thanks to Roxas, she got it back, and they were happy. But Axel wasn’t. He didn’t laugh along with them that time.
Roxas: I found out about love on today’s mission–that it’s something powerful.
Axel: That’s true. It is. But I’ll never get to experience it.
Roxas: Nobodies can’t love?
Axel: You need a heart, man.
Roxas: Right…
Axel is the polar opposite of Xaldin. He wants love. Just like the Beast. It’s not the rose he can’t bear to lose. It’s Belle. She makes him feel more human than he did as a physical human. Because she taught him how to love. In my opinion, all of this was implying that Axel had more than just a weakness. He had something he loved. Like the Beast.
Axel: Love is what happens if there’s something really special between two people.
Roxas: You mean, like, if they’re best friends?
Axel: Well, you can care about your friends, I guess, but that’s not what I’m talking about.
Roxas: So then…love is like a step above friends?
Axel: Yes… Well, no. There aren’t “steps.”
Roxas: I don’t get it.
Axel: What does it matter? We’ll never know the difference.
The subtext is extremely strong. Lea was in love with Isa.
Axel: Well, I think you can be inseparable even if you’re apart.
Roxas: Really?
Axel: Sure, if you feel really close to each other. If you’re best friends.
Roxas: What’s it like having a best friend, Axel?
Axel: Couldn’t tell ya. I don’t have one.
And Isa was what he couldn’t bear to lose. Isa was his weakness.
Axel: Does it hurt, Naminé? Watching your two childhood friends fight all because of you? You have my sympathies. From the heart. But don’t waste your time. We Nobodies can never hope to be somebodies.
Axel uses similar words to Naminé that he used with Vexen. He talks about having no one to be. His coldness was due to her causing a rift between childhood friends. Axel took this very personally. There’s only one person that Axel could possibly be referring to. These two things are connected with him. Childhood friends fighting, and not having anyone to be.
Roxas: I don’t get it.
Axel lost Isa, the one thing he couldn’t bear to lose when he was human. And it was unbearably painful for him. It’s why he took so much pleasure while killing Vexen, and why he hated Naminé. He didn’t care if he killed her at all. And I can’t say I blame him for for feeling that way.
Day 119: Hearts and Emotion
Watching that foolish beast flail about only deepens my disdain for humans and their incessant need to be pinned down by feelings. We became Nobodies precisely to avoid the shackles of emotion. It was only later that we realized the scale of that loss: that some things simply cannot be done without a heart. Nonetheless, I see nary a pleasant thing about it.
Not only was Lea in love with Isa, but I’d say Isa was his weakness in a very concrete way. Isa was Lea’s weakness that was used to traumatize him so effectively during the experiments. Because Lea cared so much about his friend, he was probably the most “foolish” subject Dilan experimented on. If there was anyone who would have inspired Lea to get the teardrop tattoos, it would have been Dilan. Isa would have been the last person to do that. Lea was very easy to control due to his strong emotions, and thus made a good assassin. He’d follow any orders to protect Isa. That was true during the experiments, and I think it’s true for when he was a Nobody.
Day 71: The Traitors’ End
Saïx had a hand in what went down at Castle Oblivion—well, more like a whole arm. Which means Axel was in on it as well. It’s a fact that Xemnas ordered Axel to take out the traitors, orders which went through Saïx. No specific names were given, but naturally Xemnas knew who the turncoats were right from the get-go.
When Xehanort possesses someone, he can see their experiences in real time. Axel told Saïx all of his secrets. All the schemes, and the gossip about the other members, etc. Having Axel around provided a ton of valuable information to Xemnas. He knew everything they were plotting and then some. Xemnas had no reason to get rid of him. He was useful. He was well-trained, followed orders, and because Xemnas knew everything he was plotting, he was not a real threat.
They only ordered him to be eliminated after he finally left and went after Roxas. Because then he became unpredictable. Xemnas thought Axel was a fool who was pitiful. I think it was because he had no idea that Saïx was NOT Isa. And he played right into Xehanort’s hand. Like Xemnas said in KH3, he was a pawn, knocked from the board early in the game.
Axel’s memories of Isa were the reason why he was kept around in the Organization. They knew he was totally loyal to Saïx, who was another Xehanort. So he’s technically not a traitor. Saïx was nothing but another Xehanort, and Axel’s friendship with him never even existed in the first place. But Xemnas knew that Axel’s memories of Isa were too precious to lose. They knew Axel’s weakness. Even as a Nobody, he had something that he couldn’t bear to lose—something that he loved. So he could be controlled by the fear of losing it.
Axel: Hey, Roxas. Bet you don't know why the sun sets red. You see, light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest.
All the characters had their development ruined in KH3, but Lea and Isa’s subplot was handled the worst BY FAR. It’s really sad because it had the potential to be the most beautiful of them all, since their relationship was the most in need of a rebirth. I was very impressed with the amount of emotion Axel’s Japanese voice actor put into this scene about the sunset. Axel was clearly remembering his past when he was saying this to Roxas.
Mickey: There's something real strong that binds us to each other. Even in the darkness, you can reach him. All you gotta do is follow that connection!
Isa was lost in the darkness, but Lea’s light could reach him, since red light travels the farthest. And whaddaya know, Lea also got randomly knocked unconscious about the same time Ventus did, right before the Demon Tide swallowed everyone up. Well, that’s because Ventus and Lea were supposed to be using the power of waking on Terra and Isa.
Xemnas: The time has arrived. Look to the skies! There hangs the heart of all hearts--Kingdom Hearts--shining down on us at last. See the countless hearts that have gathered? Hearts full of rage...hate...sadness...and bliss. There, in the sky, hangs the promise of a new world. My friends! Remember why we have organized--all the things we hope to achieve. The strength of the human heart is vast. Soon, though...we will have gained power over it! Never again will it...have power over us.
Lea’s light was the sun. Isa’s light was the moon, but that light has been corrupted. Xemnas was using the moon’s light to have power over people’s hearts. And Isa was one of those people. Isa was NOT Saïx. That was the ENTIRE POINT of Lea’s character arc.
Chirithy: The edges of sleep and death touch, and one can’t help the occasional crossover. Something is holding you here---refusing to let you go. You’re hanging by a thread.
The power of waking is, at its core, the power to bring a person back to life. The edges of sleep and death touch. Isa did not need to atone. He needed to be resurrected.
Axel: So you don't need a heart to have something that you can't bear to lose then. If that's true, then I guess the closest thing that we Nobodies have would be memories of our past. You know, memories of the stuff we couldn't bear to lose, back when we couldn't bear to lose it.
Isa was originally written as a character who was extremely important to Lea. Axel cherished his memories of him more than anything else. He wanted to save him so badly it led to him summoning his Keyblade. He couldn’t bear to lose him. In Luxord’s deck, both The Sun and The Moon are shaped like the Four of Pentacles. This card shows a man desperately clinging to a coin, as if his life depended on it. It represents that you are holding onto something tightly and have an inability to let it go. This could be money, possessions, or relationships. It only makes sense that Isa was not present in Saïx. He was in the Final World. He was just barely clinging to the Realm of Light. He almost passed on to the other side for good. Lea was the only reason he didn’t.
Rabbit in the Moon Legend
Three immortals reincarnated themselves into three poor old people and begged for food from a fox, a monkey and a rabbit. The fox and monkey both gave food to the immortals. However, the rabbit did not have any food. It then said to the immortals: “you can eat me” and jumped into the fire. The immortals were so moved by the rabbit and sent it to the moon to become an immortal jade rabbit. Ever since, the Chinese jade rabbit stayed in the Moon Palace to accompany Chang’e and pounded immortal medicine for those living in heaven.
After it was decided that Lea would become a Guardian of Light, his entire character arc---from the ground up---revolved around ISA. That’s why both of their characters featured the themes of “immortality” and “rebirth”. That’s who Axel’s line about the red sunset was written for. Even the waning crescent on Isa’s jacket fits this theme. It’s the final phase of the moon, representing the end of a cycle, before a new one begins. The sun dies and is resurrected every morning. By taking the focus off of Isa, you totally RUIN Lea’s character development. No Isa, no character arc for Lea. Period. End of discussion.
The Phoenix Myth
The phoenix is a legendary bird mentioned in Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology. According to ancient writers, the phoenix lived for 500 years, then died and was reborn. It had brilliant golden and scarlet feathers and grew to the size of an eagle. Just before dying, the phoenix built a nest of fragrant herbs and spices, including cinnamon and myrrh. Then it burned itself on a funeral pyre ignited by the sun and fanned by its own wings. It then rises from the ashes with renewed youth to live through another cycle. The phoenix is associated with immortality and resurrection.
Isa was the one who Lea was supposed to be trying to save in KH3. Not Roxas. Not Xion. Not anybody else. ISA. That is the entire reason he was created. Roxas (Ventus) was going to be saved by Aqua. Lea needed someone to give HIS character arc emotional depth. The setup was SOOO perfect. These two characters---more than ANYONE else---had their entire relationship revolve around the power of waking. Nobody in their right mind would just throw all of this away on a whim to make them apprentices. No fucking way I can believe that. This was all thrown away because the story got botched beyond repair. I’m sure it broke Nomura’s heart.
Lea: I want everybody I meet to remember me. Inside people's memories, I can live forever.
Isa: I know I won't forget you. Believe me, I try all the time.
Lea: See, I'm immortal!
The Phoenix is a symbol of the Philosopher’s Stone. Many don’t realize that the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone is also represented by the union of the sun and moon. The White Stone actually becomes the Philosopher’s Stone when it turns red. Lea didn’t just need to be reborn. He needed to resurrect someone else, too. That red light needed to reach them and grant them new life and immortality.
Ansem the Wise: So many are still waiting for their new beginning, their birth by sleep. Even me...and even you.
The Moon represents “rest, retreat, anticipation, preparation, and dreams”. It really was too perfect for the Realm of Sleep, Final World, and power of waking subplot. If there was a single character who personified the idea of “birth by sleep,” it was Isa. No contest. Again, you would be out of your mind to throw this away and make him an apprentice.
Stage 1: Nigredo (Black)
Axel: Nothing lasts forever, man. Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies. But you know, we'll still have each other...even if things change and we can't do this anymore.
Roxas: Yeah?
Axel: As long as we remember each other, we'll never be apart. Got it memorized?
The Philosopher’s Stone is created in four stages. The first stage is death. That’s what Lea and Isa’s entire story was about. Their relationship DIED. The Recusant’s Sigil means “death” and “endings”. Lea happily said he wanted to live forever. But Axel sadly said that nothing lasts forever. And he had his friendship with Isa in mind when he said it.
Stage 2: Albedo (White)
Naminé: We don’t disappear… we’re only reborn.
Axel: I’m not like you and Roxas.
Naminé: But—but you…
Axel: It’s because I don’t have a heart. I don’t want to disappear, but I’m not upset or sad about it.
The red and white opposites have to undergo a greater separation before they can achieve their final union.
Saïx: He won nothing and is nothing. He couldn't stand the emptiness of being without a heart, and that led to his demise. He was foolish and weak.
Axel and Saïx’s relationship in KH2 was all about driving them as far apart as possible, so that when Lea and Isa eventually come together again, it would be that much more rewarding.
Stage 3: Citrinitas (Yellow)
Axel: Love is what happens if there's something really special between two people.
Roxas: You mean, like, if they're best friends?
Axel: Well, you can care about your friends, I guess, but that's not what I'm talking about.
Xemnas wanted the light of Kingdom Hearts to enslave people in darkness. Axel wanted the light of Kingdom Hearts to experience love. I absolutely think that Lea and Isa were envisioned as having romantic feelings for each other. And I definitely think Axel was speaking from personal experience here, because he was in love with Isa. This probably would have only been subtly hinted, and never overt. But the reconciliation between Lea and Isa was not supposed to so...casual, like it was in KH3. It was supposed to be magnificent and glorious, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes.
Stage 4: Rubedo (Red)
Roxas: You made us a promise.
Axel: I did?
Roxas: That you'd always be there...to bring us back.
Axel: Yeah...
Roxas: Got it memorized?
Axel: Best friends forever.
All the games leading to KH3 had Isa as the foundation of Lea’s character arc. BBS showed how their friendship was alive and thriving in the past. Re:CoM was when Axel’s sleeping memories started to awaken. Days showed how their relationship was dead, existing only in memory. KH3D showed Lea trying to resurrect it. Axel went out in a blaze of glory at the end of KH2 and was born again as Lea. As soon as he was reborn he went to look for Isa. He promised he’d always bring his friends back. Then out of nowhere, Isa became a total afterthought. That’s...not how humans operate.
A promise…
We’ll meet again…in the next life.
We did say that.
I remember.
I remember our promise.
I also think Lea made Isa another promise, which was to be the cornerstone of their shared subplot, which revolved around the themes of rebirth and immortality. The Phoenix symbolizes the liberation of the spirit. Isa’s heart was captured, and Lea needed to liberate it. His Keyblade was called “Flame Liberator”. Isa was waiting for Lea in the next life, in the Final World. But Lea couldn’t let him go, and brought him back to the Realm of Light. They kept their promise. Giving Isa a birth by sleep would have given Lea an incredible character arc. It greatly saddens me that he didn’t get that. Practically all the emotion was sucked out of his story. Lea is mostly remembered in KH3 for...breaking the fourth wall. That is a damn shame.
