lune @ KHO Yokohama 12/27 · @lunesacree
17th Mar 2019 from TwitLonger
KH3 Ultimania: "Decoding the Story" (Request)
Note: There are a lot of smaller points in here that are really interesting, so please check it out!
As always, it's possible there are mistakes.
With the conclusion of the Dark Seeker arc, many loose ends were tied up. Let's take a look at some summaries of the new mysteries' analysis.
- The Seven Guardians of Light
> As the members were changed halfway through, the total number is greater than seven
Though Sora and the others who fought against the Real Organization XIII are called "The Seven Guardians of Light", in fact, there are more than seven of them. This is because some of the members were switched out partway through. The injured Axel and the kidnapped Kairi were replaced by Terra and Roxas (though Xion temporarily joined as well, you can see the official members in the in-game encyclopedia). By the way, the reason Yen Sid chose to assemble The Seven Guardians of Light was because he learned that the x-blade was born from the clash between seven lights and thirteen darknesses, and if seven hearts of light were not assembled, seven (other) hearts of pure light, the New Seven Princesses, would be used instead, and he meant to keep them out of harm's way.
Caption: Although some of the members were changed, the fact that "the x-blade would be born from seven lights and thirteen darknesses" remained unchanged.
- The Three Hearts Sleeping Inside Sora
> In this fight, all returned to their rightful places
Of the three hearts inside Sora written about in the Ansem Code, two of them are revealed in the story to be Ventus and Roxas, but the third is never clearly stated. If you take a look at the stories of KH Days and 3D, you will understand that the last heart is Xion's. During this adventure, all of them returned to their bodies, and Sora's heart is finally empty. (note: the word here means more like "liquidated" or "back in order")
Caption: Xion's heart returned to her body when Sora faced off against the Real Organization XIII's Xion.
- Real Organization XIII
> Many of the members had their hearts called from the past
By looking at the example of Xehanort, who planned to voluntarily place his own heart into many vessels, you will realize that in the world of the KH series, it is possible to separate one's heart into many parts. The Real Organization XIII members who "are not supposed to exist in this age" had "hearts separated from the past" transferred into replica bodies, which allowed them to exist in the current day. By the way, Dark Riku's heart is that of "the past Riku Replica", not the past actual Riku.
Caption: In this game, the bodies of Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort are all replicas.
CHART OF THE ORGANIZATION MEMBERS' BODIES AND HEARTS
Name / What kind of existence they are / What happened to them after the battle
Master Xehanort / Real Body (Old Man) / Destroyed (Died) (note: the word here actually means "ascended into heaven"!
Young Xehanort / Past YX's heart was placed into a replica / Destroyed (heart returned to past)
Terranort / Past Terranort's heart was placed into real Terra's body / Terra's heart returned to his body and he revived as himself (Terranort's heart was destroyed)
Ansem / Past Ansem's heart was placed into a replica / Destroyed
Xemnas / Past Xemnas's heart was placed into a replica / Destroyed
Vanitas / Past Vanitas's heart was placed into a replica / Destroyed
Xigbar / Real Body (Nobody) / Recompleted (?) Alive
Vexen (Reserve Member) / Real Body (Nobody) / Was not defeated and returned to being a human; Alive
Saix / Real Body (Nobody) / Recompleted; Alive
Demyx (Reserve Member) / Real Body (Nobody) / Recompleted; Alive (?)
Luxord / Real Body (Nobody) / Recompleted; Alive (?)
Marluxia / Real Body (Nobody) / Recompleted; Alive (?)
Larxene/ Real Body (Nobody) / Recompleted; Alive (?)
Dark Riku / Past Replica Riku's heart was placed into a replica / Left behind his vessel and was destroyed (his body was used to recomplete Namine)
Xion / Past Xion's heart from the time she just joined Organization XIII was placed into a replica / True heart received from Sora and memories returned; turned to the side of the Seven Guardians
(note: see how the placement of the question mark is different only for Xigbar)
* Special Case: Terranort
Terranort (in KH3) exists as a combination of the real Terra's body without a heart, plus Terranort's heart called from the past. Originally, since Terranort existed through Terra's heart and Xehanort's heart constantly battling for dominance, Terra's heart continually drifted between his body and that of the Guardian behind Terranort. Terra's body returned together with Master Xehanort when Ansem and Xemnas were defeated, and at this time the Guardian stole his heart, which allowed him to become a vessel for Xehanort once again.
Caption: As Terra's heart was only being held captive, it can't be said that the Guardian is Terra's Heartless.
* Special Case: Xion
During the time of KH3D, the Real Organization XIII was one member short. Its last position was filled by Xion. As her heart is that of the replica doll Xion, she has almost no memories of Roxas or Axel. However, with Roxas's heart inside of Sora calling to her as the spark, Xion's heart inside of Sora was absorbed by her body, which has the power to absorb the powers of Sora and Roxas, and the real Xion was revived with her memories intact. As a result, the memories of Axel and those connected to her were reborn.
Caption: During the scene where Sora says Xion's name, as you can tell by his voice, it is actually Roxas speaking.
- Those Who Atone
> The ex-members of Organization XIII who atoned in their own ways
The ex-members of Organization XIII who once faced Sora as enemies walk their own paths, whether they were recompleted as humans or became Nobodies once more. The situations of three of them who acted in the name of atonement are summarized.
SAIX:
From the moment Saix was revived as a member of the Real Organization XIII, he thought about how to best save Axel and Roxas. Saix, who Vexen called "the mastermind", considered Vexen, the leader of the Replica Project, indispensible to reviving Roxas and invited him to the Organization.
Saix and Axel originally had the same goal, but Axel made new friends, Roxas and Xion. Displeased with this, Saix acted strictly towards Roxas and fell out with Axel as a means to vent his frustration. However, he was simply jealous, and this time worked for the sake of Axel, and his new friend, Roxas.
Caption: The marks that were once under Axel's eyes (the upside-down tear "good luck charm") were something taught to him by Saix.
VEXEN:
The reason Vexen joined the Organization was said to be so that he could continue his work on the Replica Project, but his true aim was to create lifelike replicas for use by Sora and his friends for the sake of atonement. Though at first he followed Xehanort's orders, once he learned that Ansem the Wise had been captured by Ansem (SoD), he at last began to act for the sake of his first goal. In order to personally atone, he delivered the rescued Ansem the Wise and the materials for the replicas to Ienzo in Radiant Garden.
Caption: As he (Vexen) was actually a traitor, he pulled off some fine acting when Luxord accused him of being disloyal.
IENZO:
Ienzo, who undertook research as a human, walked the simplest path of atonement by cooperating with Sora and his friends from the start. Once tricked by Xehanort and hurt by the betrayal of his master, Ansem the Wise, he worked to decode the data left by his master and atone by reviving Roxas and Namine. The reason the vessel delivered by Vexen was able to be used to revive Roxas was because Ienzo had gotten so fired up about heart restoration research thanks to his work analyzing the Ansem Code.
- Reversing the "Defeat of the Light"
> The power of connections, starting with Namine
At the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora and his friends were, for a while, defeated by darkness. However, during their second attempt, Lingering Will and the ancient Keyblade wielders came to lend their strength, making the first attempt seem like a completely different chain of events. Just as she says in The Final World, thanks to Namine's power following the connection to Terra, Lingering Will appeared and the Guardians of Light were not defeated.
Captions: Since Terra and Namine spoke in the past, Namine was able to follow that link and spur Terra's will into action.
Since Sora's friends remained undefeated, Sora's heart remained unbroken, and in response to his heart that refused to give up, the ancient Keyblade wielders answered.
- The Ancient Keyblade Wielders
> Another clue to the Keyblade War which Xehanort pursued
In KH3, Xemnas explains that the reason ex-Organization members No. 9-12 were invited to the Organization was to search for (the ancient Keyblade wielders). (note: this could mean a specific ancient Keyblade wielder, which we now know Ansem SoD was searching for, or that one or all of those four members are also ancient Keyblade wielders.) The reason they were called together was because Xehanort thought that the ancient Keyblade wielders held the secret to the past fight of light and darkness—the Keyblade War. Currently, the way Marluxia and Larxene are related to the past is depicted in KH Union Cross.
(The captions for this section have already been translated.)
- The Awakening of the Lost Masters
> Those who crossed time from the Age of Fairytales
In the epilogue of KH3, it was revealed that Xigbar's true identity was that of Luxu, a Keyblade Master from the Age of Fairytales who continued to live by changing his body and name, and four of his comrades, the Foretellers, appeared. They are the "Lost Masters" who disappeared from the ancient age. However, one of the Foretellers, Ava, who appeared in Back Cover, is missing. Xigbar says it is because she has completed her role, but in actuality the truth is unknown. It seems that the Foretellers' leader, the Master of Masters, is somehow related to the coming story...
Caption: Pete and Maleficent watch Xigbar's Black Box from afar. Their actions are also curious.