#Apprentice Nort started making them to help figure out memories and based them on people he’d get glimpses of in dreams

[blue-eli]

Realised it’s @khoc-week so even though I don’t have the energy to do it daily have this I did a while ago but never posted.

Arxeht my beloved. They came to me in a dream where I was a replica (of multiple people but looked most like Vidar) made by apprentice Nort/Xemnas, who was the fifteenth member of the organisation and also had my knowledge of hit video games Kingdom Hearts and kept getting randomly thrown through space and time.

[kathyrealmstales]

NEW SMP THEORY! (I cracked the plot!)

Hello! I came up with a new theory, but this time I did some real work and I didn't just throw out random ideas. Crazy, right?

But seriously, I think I have a good theory for today.

Disclaimers: to begin with, spoilers for Dream SMP and Kingdom Heart. (Strange to see that game in a warning for the SMP, huh? Well, we will get to that soon.)

Also, just remember this is roleplay, all the actors are friends. If I see you trash-talking the actors you're being blocked. I don’t like hate.

I also wish to thank my sister for her assistance. I don't know much about the Kingdom Heart fandom except with what the Wiki tells me by watching my sister play it, so my sister had to suffer while I tried to find connections in a block game roleplay. Thank you so much, my loving sister.

Under this line is the theory! Hope you enjoy it!

------------------------------------THE START--------------------------

If you are familiar with the tales of the SMP, then you might already know a common theory.

The theory is that the TOTSMP area, "The In-between," is based on Castle Oblivion from Kingdom Heart. It looks exactly like the interior of the castle in the game, as well as the idea of losing memories. It's a cool easter egg.

However, my theory doesn't stop there, because I began to see more connections, making me believe that maybe the latest plot of the SMP is following a bit of Kingdom Heart plot.

Let me try to break it down into evidence and explanations.

In the latest episode of TOTSMP, Karl travels to this new world, escaping the "In-between" and going to this place called “The Other Side.” A strange name, but what is even stranger is that I felt I had already seen the castle before, so of course I did some research.

For starters, I noticed the In-between warned Karl that if he left, he would lose all of his memories, kind of like in Kingdom Heart when Sora went to that sleep state, he lost his memories. I thought there had to be a connection to the Kingdom Heart and this new world Karl was in now since it seemed to be following a pattern.

I tried to do more research by using Wiki and looking up other castles in the game that it could be. I came up with a few ideas, but none of them stuck. It just made no sense, so I went to the only person I know who knows Kingdom Heart more than me, my sister.

My sister and I love playing these games together, but while I'm just trying to figure how the game works (because of my love for coding), my sister listens to the plot and knows way more than I. Sure, we haven't finished all the games, but she knows enough to help me. So we got on the phone to figure out how this new world was connected, and when I left that call, I saw the Dream SMP in a whole new light.

- The Other Side evidence

We have an idea of what the Other Side looks like but that’s it. My sister believes it resembles the Hollow Bastion, which is intriguing. She claims it is linked to Castle Oblivion, but what makes it more interesting is that she said this place is also usually where the Kingdom Heart stories end. This got my attention since Dream hinted that the story’s end might be approaching soon. (I hope it's not-)

I then thought we had a good idea for the theory, a rather small one about the TOTSMP but a good one. So still wanting to talk to her, I told her why I was asking for her ideas, and then I explained the Dream SMP plot to her. The more we talked about the plot, though, the more my sister and I noticed parallels between the stories.

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Eggpire evidence

To begin, we discussed the Egg People. I jokingly said, "Oh, does Kingdom Heart have mind-controlled people?" She replied, "if you count the heartless." Which shocked me because it makes the Egg People’s ability to pick who is controlled or not make so much sense!

You see, the Heartless are people without a heart (Hearts are similar to people's souls in the game, which is strange. But oh well). The heartless follow the rules of the Darkness. I'm not sure whom or what controls the Darkness, but I do know they are subjected to some sort of mind control or animal instinct. The most important aspect to consider is how they multiply. They seek out characters from whom they can steal hearts of so they can turn back into normal people. However, they need their own heart, not just a random one, so this method is ineffective and just makes more heartless.

Because of this information, I came up with a theory that may be the reason why the egg only works on certain people. I think it is the same reason why only some turn heartless. People with weak souls are usually turned, while people with more light in their souls are typically more difficult to turn to a heartless, implying that while Puffy and Sam had weak souls at the time, they are becoming stronger, making it more difficult for "darkness" or the egg to mind control them.

Also, this would explain why Tommy can't be mind-controlled at all; he is mostly made of light, and everyone sees him as the hero. It would just make sense; it’s really hard to control him.

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Pandora’s box evidence

There seems to be a correlation with the prison. This one is probably my favorite because it makes the most sense to me.

Most theories believe the prison is similar to Pandora's Box, owing to the prison's name. However, Kingdom Heart had its own Pandora's Box, and no, I'm not referring to the one in Hercules' world. I'm talking about the box that was told to never be opened.

I don't know everything about Kingdom Heart, therefore, I can't go into great detail about this box like I did with the Heartless theory, but basically, the main dude who started the plot of Kingdom Heart had a bunch of apprentices, and he left them with a box that they were never supposed to open. Of course, the bad guys got the box and opened it, only to discover that it contained some time-traveling stuff, which caused some of the apprentices and The Keyblade of all Keybladeds to appear.

If we take that information and put it in place with Dream SMP characters, it looks like where the plot might be going. Dream is the main bad guy who opens the box with whatever he has. What emerges is Wilbur Soot, a man from the past, he takes the place of the apprentices and Tommy is the Keyblade of Keyblades.

What makes me believe Tommy is the Keyblade? I mean, It could be someone else, but the thing is, Dream keeps referring to Tommy as "the Key," and in Kingdom Heart, Sora is also referred to as "the Key." It's also possible that it could be Ranboo, since the key is made of both darkness and light, and Ranboo appears to look as if he is both, but this is all just speculation at this point.

Either way, I think we as a fandom were on the right track, thinking evil black boxes, just not Pandora’s box.

-

Organizations evidence

This is only tangentially related, but Kingdom Heart did have their group of evil bad guys whom, based on what I saw in the cut scenes, didn’t care if you show up to meetings or not. (basing this off of all those empty chairs. Then again, those chairs were really high up, I would miss meetings too if I had to sit in those things.)

Another thing to note about this organization is that they disliked higher authority, but this one opposed them because they were all about good and needed the princess's light, whereas the anarchist syndicate in the SMP were more anti-government. Nonetheless, both are going after government officials.

(The organization also had code names that were their real names, but with an X in them and scrambled around. They weren't as cool as the Anarchists Syndicate’s nicknames, but there was a connection.)

-

Now we'll look at the improbable evidence, as well as thoughts that might not make much sense.

-

Bad guys with correlations

The antagonist in Kingdom Heart had a bunch of copies of himself, procured with the help of time travel. I find this amusing, especially given that we know there are multiple Dreams in canon, including Dream, DreamXD, Mexican Dream, Girl Dream, and (possibly) Drista. It's almost as if he's the main antagonist, especially when considering the-- Norted thing, (that's what my sister called it. I'm not sure about the name, so we'll go with Norted Thing for now) The point is, he can control some people if they are willing, but they can rebel if they have strong hearts (again, I believe this is the case). This reminds me of Ranboo and his enderwalking state in which he hears Dream’s voice in his head. Again, just a hunch.

-

The plot is the same

This is the last piece of evidence I have, and it is the main fact from which I derived all of the connections. After my sister and I discussed the possibility of it being linked, I jokingly said during our call, "There are so many connections between the latest plot of the SMP and Kingdom Heart, The only difference I feel like they have is that the Dream SMP is all about how there is no bad or good, just greyscale, while Kingdom Heart is about dark vs light."

My sister responded, "It's the same thing. Most people believe it is dark vs. light, but the more you play the games, the more you realize it isn't. The majority of the characters begin as good or bad and gradually reveal their true selves. Nobody in the story is completely light or dark."

This shocked me because I always thought Kingdom Heart was about bad versus good. So now we've matched the main ideas as well!

Ohhh boy!

-

This is all I have for now. If you have anything to add, please send it to me as a comment or a submission, or simply make your own post and let me know so I can see it! (I know as I wrote this I found more connections, but I’m saving them for later.)

But, in any case, I believe you can see the idea--Dream SMP has some connections to the Kingdom Heart plot, assuming my theory is correct. It wouldn't be the first time. Dream SMP has loosely copied the Broadway show, Hamilton during the L'manburg war, and I know the writers like Disney at least for right now, so it makes sense.

I'm also going to leave you with this: Our Fandoms are the same, We get information that makes no sense and we have no idea where it fits in the puzzles, and we know (sometimes) the writers don't know either, so we just have to accept and enjoy it.

THAT IS ALL! GOOD DAY!

[nadziejastar]

KH3′s Poor Retconning of Isa and Lea’s Relationship

So, first things first. Lea and Isa are my absolute favorite Kingdom Hearts characters. And that is saying something, since I love so many characters. I loved their scene in Birth By Sleep. I have seen some people say Isa was a douche, and that’s why Saix was evil and did not deserve redemption. I couldn’t disagree more. Only the closest of friends can bond thorough sarcasm that way. Underneath the sarcasm, it was obvious how much Isa was fond of Lea and vice versa. And yes, I do ship them for many story-related reasons, which I will get into. The novels describe Lea and Isa as “complementary opposites”, which is how I see them.

I truly thought that Isa was going to play a much more pivotal role in Lea’s character arc, like Roxas did. I was so excited to see him get saved. The set up was ALL there. I will be perfectly honest that I was disappointed in the way Isa was “redeemed”, as well as the sudden revelation that he became a villain all for the sake of a mystery girl that was never even once hinted at before. Most likely Skuld. Well, disappointed would be an understatement, really. And I want to write a detailed meta explaining why I was disappointed, why I thought that Isa’s character and backstory was heavily retconned and had SO much more potential, and why I LOVE the relationship between Isa and Lea so much. I really want to go into detail to do these characters justice that I feel canon didn't.

Roxas: What's it like having a best friend, Axel?

Axel: Couldn't tell ya. I don't have one.

When I first played 358/2 Days, the former friendship between Axel and Saix piqued my interest. It was surprising to me because they were nothing alike whatsoever. I had a hard time imagining how they could have ever been friends. Axel was so friendly and cool and Saix was so cold and mean. What did Axel see in Saix, I wondered. Whatever the reason, it was clear that the broken down friendship was a source of great pain to Axel. Although the game centered on Axel's friendship with Roxas and Xion mostly, the amount of attention Saix and Axel got led me to believe their relationship was important, too.

Talking to Roxas and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It's a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saïx, but I just don't feel like it anymore. It's strange, but I'm content with just missing what's gone. I'm not the one who changed. You did. -Axel

I could tell that Axel struggled to come to terms with what happened to his friend and his feelings about him. He clearly dislikes his change in personality, but doesn’t seem to know why it happened. He still tries to help him get to the top of the Organization, but questions why he even bothers. It left me interested to learn more and what impact this relationship would have on the story. But I still doubted whether Saix was going to switch sides or anything. I figured Saix was the foil to Roxas and the other "good" guys.

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. 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.

After playing Birth By Sleep, I was shocked at how different Isa was from Saix. Axel’s lamenting suddenly made perfect sense. No wonder he felt so confused and lonely. Saix is a completely different person from Isa. Compared to all the other Nobodies, he was by far the most different as a human. It completely changed my opinion of his character. After BBS, it was obvious to me that Saix had been Norted and was under heavy-duty mind control, like Terranort. When Axel said he did not have a best friend in Days, it was obvious that at one point he did. 

Isa was not just Lea’s friend; he was his best friend. All of Axel’s quotes about friendship and love suddenly seemed a lot sadder with this context. I felt like Isa deserved to get saved and have his old personality and friendship with Lea back. And I figured this was going to be a crucial part of Lea's character arc. In hindsight, a lot of the things that Axel said to Roxas and Xion felt like they were about Isa as much as they were about Roxas and Xion. Summer vacation, laughing with friends, memories being baggage that never did him any good. And about being together when things change, even if it’s only in memory. 

Sea Salt ice cream. The biggest sign of enduring friendship in Kingdom Hearts.

Both Lea and Isa had been trying to sneak into Ansem the Wise’s castle, and I always imagined that their involvement with Organization XIII was related to the Heartless experiments the apprentices were doing. It was a dark and intriguing implication that simply made too much sense. Not to mention quite tragic. It would explain why Axel talked like such a normal person in Days. Summer vacation, homework, and going to the beach. He didn’t seem like he joined the Organization by choice. I think this WAS the original idea, but was clearly changed by the time KH3 finished. Maybe it had to do with the cancellation of Birth By Sleep Volume 2. I don’t know. But here is why I think Isa's character got really butchered.

Xemnas: Our experiments creating Heartless were attempts to control the mind, and convince it to renounce its sense of self.

If there was any Organization member who seemed mind-controlled or lacking a heart, it was Saix. Bar none. Even Xigbar points this out. And of all the Nobodies, it was Saix who seemed the most desperately longing for a heart. Braig has been part-Xehanort for quite some time, and he was more than happy to become so. It almost sounds like Saix is also part-Xehanort in Days, but he doesn’t realize it. But Braig does and he’s mocking him over this fact.

It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:

– Extract the darkness from a person’s heart.

– Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.

– Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.

The experiments caused the test subject’s heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle. -Ansem Report 2

After Ansem’s initial experiment, Xehanort started to regain his memory. He then attempted to gain 13 dark vessels to make the χ-blade. Not only do we know that the experiments were for mind control, but we also know that most subjects could not endure these experiments. If there were a subject who could actually endure them without collapsing, they would be very valuable to Xehanort. Perhaps that person would be labeled “Subject X”? The description of the failed subjects sounds kind of familiar, too.

My pilot studies used a handful of subjects, but none possessed the fortitude to endure them. Ultimately, all suffered mental collapse. I knew it would be a heavy blow to lose a subject as unique as she.

-Experiments of the Heart – Notes on Subject X, Excerpt 2

Strangely, there is a Subject X in KH3 who could endure what others couldn’t, although this subject apparently has naught to do with being a vessel for the χ-blade. This female subject was being experimented on before Xehanort regained his full memory. It’s most likely Skuld. But I would argue that "Subject X’“ was originally not Skuld, but Isa.

In addition to story reasons, there’s also symbolic reasons why I think Isa was originally supposed to get Norted during the experiments. Some may accuse me of reading too much into it, but I disagree. KH does like its symbolism. Sora, Riku, Kairi. Sky, land, sea. Terra, Aqua, Ventus. Earth, water, wind. The Greek letter χ is hugely symbolic. Saix and Isa are unquestionably symbolized by the moon. The moon symbol on Isa’s clothing is a waning crescent. I don’t think this is random, for reasons I’ll get to later. The reason I think it’s significant is this: It is the final phase of the moon, which wanes until the light is completely gone -- a new moon. In other words, it is the phase right before the moon is swallowed by darkness and the light disappears.

Axel: 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.

I personally think that Lea and Isa had a Sun/Moon symbolism motif going on. I always wondered if this specific quote had a significant meaning. It always seemed just a little too random to me. But now I think I get why Axel says it. Axel loved watching the sunset in Twilight Town. It was his idea to hang out there all the time. The sunset symbolism is similar to the waning crescent moon in a way. As the sun sets, light fades, which is symbolic of the forces of darkness. 

As we know, there are 7 colors of the rainbow, as well as 7 Guardians of Light. If each of the characters correspond to a specific primary color, then Lea would definitely be red. So, he is actually foreshadowing himself with that quote. Red is the color which travels the farthest. He is basically saying that he is the one who will go the furthest for his loved ones. The Sun sets red which is Axel’s color. He is claiming the sunset as himself. The sun is the source of life, light and energy. Or I guess that’s how he sees himself, anyway.

Furthermore, many of Axel’s weapons in 358/2 Days are Solar based or relate to the Sun in some way. Corona and Prominence are Solar phenomena that only are visible to the naked eye during an eclipse. Prominence is one of his strongest as well. Ashes (relating to the Pheonix) and Prometheus are also associated with the Sun. 

And almost all of Isa’s weapons are Lunar based and named after feminine things like the Goddess Artemis and a specific flower. One is also named Horoscope and incorporates the Cancer symbol in it. Only Axel and Saix have weapons named after two deities associated with the Zodiac. Prometheus represents Aquarius (which is Yang, or masculine) and Artemis represents Cancer (which is Yin, or feminine). I think this was definitely the inspiration for their personalities.

Xemnas: As your flesh bears the sigil, so your name shall be known as that of a Recusant.

According to Master Xehanort, χ is "a most ancient letter" that represents death and endings. The letter χ lends its name and form to the χ-blade, which features two Kingdom Keys crossed in an "X"-shape on the blade and Keychain token. Does this quote prove Xehanort/Xemnas marks people with the sigil, on their flesh, then gives them new names? Why is Saix the only character we see who has this mark on his flesh? 

This sounds like the most obvious reason for Isa’s scar, in hindsight. He is marked as a vessel for Xehanort; a mark to signify the death of his old self as Isa. According to Nomura, people who have had Master Xehanort’s heart implanted in them will gradually be swallowed by it. The planted parts of the heart are captured rather than disappear. But Master Xehanort plans to control them completely. This was obviously very significant for Isa.

I have to give the series credit for its symbolism. The symbol x IS used as a symbol of death, among many other things. You see it in Egyptian pyramids and temples, where we find pharaohs buried with their arms and legs crossed in devotion to the sun god Osiris. It's also seen in the skull and crossbones imagery, and is a symbol of Nimrod. 

In Christian art, the Keys of Heaven, are a pair of keys that overlap and interlock, creating an "X." The crossed keys represent the metaphorical keys that Jesus promised to St. Peter, empowering him to take binding actions in leading the institution of the Catholic Church. In short, they are a symbol of the Pope's authority. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says to Peter: "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven". The crossed keys form an "X" which is the first letter of Christ's Name in Greek. Kinda looks like the X-blade, huh? So, Master Xehanort is only partly correct. X represents death, but also new life, depending on the circumstances. I bring this up to show why I don't think I'm THAT crazy for reading too much into certain symbolism. I think more thought is put into the imagery than people think.

Braig: "Which poor soul will it be?”

The Secret ending of Re:Coded made it clear that Isa was retrieved and taken to become part of the new Organization XIII without his consent. He had not even regained consciousness yet. Young Xehanort uses a name that starts with an "S", but it's kept it a mystery at first who is chosen. It is revealed later to be Saix. YX uses his nobody name, even though at this point in time he is recompleted as a human. It is also curious that Lea and Isa are wearing Organization robes, while the rest of the apprentices are wearing their normal clothes. If people are recompleted wearing the clothes they had on when they lost their heart, this is interesting. When did the writers decide that Lea and Isa were “apprentices”?

Lea: What a drag... Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?

After dreaming about Roxas, Lea wakes up, and the first thing he does is wonder what happened to Braig and Isa. The mention of Isa’s name is rather dramatic, as Lea hesitates and the music stops for it. He is clearly concerned about his absence with Braig. It seems like Lea is wondering if he will go back to the old Isa now that he has a heart. But they are nowhere to be found in the castle. In order to search for his friend he needed the power to move between worlds, and there is no way to do that other than to become a Keyblade Wielder. He saw a message recorded by Ansem the Wise in the past and, knowing it was dangerous, used the Corridors of Darkness once more to go talk with King Mickey and the others. Lea became a Keyblade wielder to search for his missing friends. Even after everything, Lea still seems to value his old friend and has some hope that he could go back to being the person he remembers.

He is quite shocked to see that his friend is now part of the New Organization XIII. Saix and Axel were not loyal to Xemnas. They had secret plans to take over the Organization, and Saix wanted to find out about the secrets Xemnas was keeping and why he was so interested in the Chamber of Waking. Moreover, Saix wanted a heart more than any other Organization member. Why would he then choose to become a Nobody again? It makes sense that Lea would be confused by this. Saix’s behavior is quite interesting, too. Master Xehanort smiles, glances at Saix, and he immediately leaps to attack Lea. It was like Xehanort knew that seeing his old friend would cause Lea to be startled and let his guard down. Saix stared blankly at Lea and no words were exchanged. Master Xehanort seemed to be in control of him, honestly.

Lea: You know, I was gonna come swooping in, Keyblade in hand! But I just couldn't get mine to materialize. Must be in the snap of the wrist or something.

When he gets back to Yen Sid’s Tower, he is brooding by himself. He seemed rather depressed at learning his friend was still on the enemy side. Later, he awakens to his Keyblade. I thought it was interesting that his Keyblade was named Flame Liberator. A liberator is someone who releases someone else from a state or situation that limits freedom of thought or behavior. It seemed to fit perfectly with the situation with Isa. Of course, Lea would be looking for Roxas /Ventus as well, but it sounded more applicable to Isa’s situation.

I was disappointed that there was almost no emphasis on Lea trying to save Isa in KH3. It felt like an afterthought when Saix randomly decided to switch sides. Not only that, but it was revealed that Isa simply chose to join the dark side and sacrifice his heart because of a girl. Which felt rather out of character. It was Isa who was reluctant to pick up “stray puppies”. And Saix hardly seemed like the type to carry a torch around for someone he only spoke to in the shadows, especially as a Nobody. 

It seemed like the writers were desperate to shoehorn in a female character or something. It just felt so strange and totally inconsistent with all the previous storytelling cues. While we may be told that Isa and Lea did everything for this girl and that's that. But I still think the story was building up to something totally different originally: Lea liberating his friend from Xehanort’s control, and the emphasis on their friendship with each other. Not a girl who was never even slightly alluded to.

One of the final scenes we see of Isa shows him as a recompleted person with a brand new outfit. And he sports a new symbol on his clothing. And while it might seem all too obvious that the star is for Skuld, I see it much differently. I don’t think it was always supposed to be for Skuld, nor do I think it is just a random symbol to look pretty. 

Most people today associate the crescent moon and the star as a symbol of Islam, but that is only a relatively recent development within the past 200 - 300 years and mainly used in countries that were part of the Ottoman empire. The symbol itself is much older than that and has been used in countries that are not Islamic at all. The conjoined representation of the crescent and a star has a long prior history in the iconography of the Ancient Near East. It represents either Sun and Moon or Moon and Morning Star, Venus.

Sun and moon joined together in a design symbolizes the union of opposites. Nearly in all the cultures throughout the world, the sun is a masculine figure and signifies strength and power. On the other hand, the moon is considered as a feminine figure and represents calmness and unflappability. The sun is the active principle whereas the moon is the passive principle. Therefore, the coming together of the sun and the moon is similar to that of the yin and yang or the good and the bad. They are complementary opposites, like Lea and Isa.

They also represent the fact that everything has a dark and a light side. Nothing in the world we have created is perfect. The essence of being human is the lack of perfection. There cannot be only good or bad in any person’s life. As the sun rises and sets everyday, every person has his days of glories and nights of darkness in life. Some people also believe that the union of the sun and the moon represents unity in diversity or the feeling of oneness. 

It is also a romantic symbol of love, symbolizing an emotional and physical union. There is a beautiful quote that goes, "Tell me the story about how the sun loved the moon so much he died every night just to let her breathe". It is a quote not just about romance, but also about the sacrifices we are willing to make for those we love. Furthermore it represents a deeper expression of unconditional love. It is easy to love the qualities that reside in the light; our greatest challenge is also being able to love and accept those that reside in the darkness.

Lastly, I want to point out that the symbol Isa wears in the ending is not the waning crescent from before, but is now a waxing crescent. This is the first phase of the new moon cycle after a period of darkness. The waxing crescent phase is the moon's first step toward fullness. And it's a very visible shift — the moon is completely invisible (while it's new) until a tiny sliver is illuminated. Thus, a fresh start begins anew. So, I think the symbol on Isa's jacket is meant to symbolize the special bond he has with Lea. I don't think KH3's writing handled this well, at all. But that is how I see it.