#ch tag: xeh

[lightandfellowship]

[lightandfellowship]

Absolutely. Especially if Luxu interacts with Brain in KHML (and if Brain is truly Eraqus' grandfather), which might give us more context for Bragi's friendship with Eraqus.

I think in addition to wanting to observe Eraqus, he wants to observe Xehanort as well. Since Eraqus is best friends with Xehanort, being close to Eraqus means being close to Xehanort too, but in a way that's more casual and less suspicious. Xehanort may be good friends with everyone in his class, but I feel like he's the type of person who'd be very picky about who he chooses to be very close to. Meaning if Bragi wants to keep a close eye on Xehanort in a way that looks natural, it's more advantageous for him to do so by "proxy" via his friendship with Eraqus (see: the first screenshot in your post). And we know for sure that Bragi is interested in Xehanort due to Bragi's official bio stating:

"He often asks Xehanort for his opinion on various matters, whether out of respect or to gauge his intent." <- though of course the reasons given here are probably just to hide his true motivations as Luxu.

Rewatching the KHDR cutscenes and it really is fascinating how obvious the Bragi/Luxu thing is on a second playthrough. Like we all know the Brain/Bragi/Braig name similarities and stuff but it is very interesting how close Bragi seems to Eraqus.

It makes a lot of sense if you’re thinking of Luxu, of course he’d want to stay close Eraqus, he’s the living legacy of the keyblade masters of old, it’s a sure bet he’d be important, and isn’t it his role to keep an eye on anything that looks like it matters?

idk just something I’ve been thinking about

[lightandfellowship]

Some nice attention to detail

In Episode 6 of KHDR, Xehanort notices Jafar's darkness/greed after shaking his hand. The implication is either that (1. physical contact is required for Xehanort's empathy powers to work, or (2. physical contact just enhances Xehanort's empathy powers.

And then in the end credits scene, when Player asks Xehanort to describe his dream friends to them, Xehanort is seen holding Player's hand, potentially making it easier for him to recall what those friends looked like. (After all, dreams are difficult to remember with perfect clarity once you wake up, right?)

[lightandfellowship]

[lightandfellowship]

[lightandfellowship]

Personally, I'm betting my money that the crown symbol is being retroactively recontextualized as a signifier of a Child of Destiny candidate, not necessarily something that represents Ephemer and his bloodline. Thus why Xehanort and Sora are both seen wearing that symbol, since it's implied that Sora might be the Child of Destiny.

This interpretation could still involve Riku, though. Pair all the discussion about Riku maybe being the Child of Destiny (or maybe used to be them until Sora took the role?) with the necklace theory and it would make sense that Riku once owned an object with this exact same crown imagery.

Granted, when I say that I think the crown = Child of Destiny candidate I'm mostly talking from a meta perspective. I'm not sure if the crown has an established in-universe meaning, like this particular imagery popping up around these characters might just be intended as a coincidence or something. Kind of like how the Kingdom Key has a Mickey head keychain but literally no one in the games ever addresses it or mentions it, with the implication being that it has nothing to do with Mickey in actuality. The audience knows why the symbol is there and what it represents even if the meaning of said symbol only exists outside of the narrative and can only be perceived by the audience.

That being said though, Riku having white/silver hair could definitely still be an indicator that he's related to Eph. Especially if you're right about necklace theory and the crown being a symbol of Ephemer's bloodline. It would be neat if KHML gives us a definitive yes/no answer to that, like if we suddenly see crowns everywhere whenever Ephemer is brought up then that would be some solid evidence.

Would Xehanort’s armor having Sora’s crown necklace imagery be more evidence towards maybe Riku being part of Ephemer’s bloodline? (Of course it all depends on if we’re saying necklace theory is correct)

Also side note that probably means nothing(?): Ephemer, Xehanort, and Riku are the only characters with a combination of white hair and black eyelashes [with white hair and white eyelashes being a thing with Hoder and Baldr]

[lightandfellowship]

[KH3] Young Xehanort: But if the light of friendship is a form of power...the darkness of being alone is a power...even greater.

I wonder if MX decided to use people like Ven and Marluxia (who were supposed to be his dream friends) because he genuinely thought that seeking their friendship was a weakness and would be an active liability to his greater goal.

Like, "regardless of how much I desire connection, being alone is the only way I'll be strong enough to accomplish my goals."

Not just a situation of "I stopped caring about them over time/they're only useful to me as tools now" but instead "I care about them still but I can't and shouldn't and won't by sheer force of will."

Vor also abandoned friendship to seek greater inner strength...and died after changing her mind and returning to her friends.

I wonder if Xehanort ever thought that Vor was weak, too.

[lightandfellowship]

Really hoping that Xehanort being heavily paralleled with all three of the Destiny Trio (Sora, Riku, Kairi) is a hint that all three of them are Children of Destiny and the prophecy was never actually about just one person carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

[lightandfellowship]

On the subject of Xehanort… and Quadratum Xehanort… and Keyblades…

How cool would it be if he used his Dark Road Keyblade in KH4? I’d be excited if he got a brand new Keyblade too, especially if it was visually distinct from the other Keyblades he’s wielded—to sort of symbolize a change of heart.

I'd really love that honestly, as a way to acknowledge KHDR in the mainline games. Maybe he starts off with the KHDR Keyblade (to represent currently un-achieved potential/possibilities—it's a training Keyblade after all) but then gets his own Keyblade later once his path is more set in stone. And I agree, if this Xehanort ends up experiencing a change of heart, I'd like his new Keyblade to be something fresh and unique to him, divorced from the influences of his past that molded him into the perfect scapegoat.

[lightandfellowship]

Eraqus. Slacker. Class clown. Awful sense of humor. Jokes about being a coward despite never backing down from a fight. Picks fights. Vents his anger with violence. Resorts to force when he thinks he’s out of options. Gripped a Keyblade for the first time because that’s simply what was expected of him. Found meaning and purpose beyond just upholding a family tradition.

Can’t cope with change. Refuses to change. Fails at every turn to re-evaluate his beliefs.

Collapses like a tower of cards when his friends leave him behind. Weeps every night when they die. Dreams of being a savior to those lost to the darkness. Falls short of that dream time and time again, by his own hand.

Lived long enough to grow up but never matured in the the ways that mattered.

Welcomes his terrible best friend back into his life, again, and again, and again, even when he shouldn’t. Trading his own pain for the pain of those his friend hurts. He forgives. He forgets. Water under the bridge. He’s lost so many friends already, he can’t stomach losing the last.

But their paths are always destined to diverge. He sticks to the road well-traveled, well-lit. The sole inheritor of his Master’s legacy. There was no one else. Process of elimination. The darkness of the grave, the darkness of the heart. The last one standing in the light of day.

Lives in a far-off, isolated world, with only his two students for company. Three students. Raises them, shelters them, instructs them, but his flaws shine with such blinding intensity that they bleed into his teachings, breeding flawed knowledge, breeding flawed students.

Recognizes history repeating itself, tries to avoid the mistakes of the past, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Half the key to summoning Kingdom Hearts stands before him and he knows what he must do. He’s prepared himself for this exact scenario, hardened his heart to the notion, because he can’t let the numbers of the fallen tick up like they did before.

Eight, nine, ten. Eleven.

He battles the young man he calls his son. Is killed by the man he called his best friend.

Waits, and waits, and waits, for over a decade, until he’s face-to-face with that same friend again. It’s time to stand down. It’s time to stand up. He pulls his best friend up, gives him a shoulder to lean on. He had a dream once, made a promise, and better late than never, right?

[lightandfellowship]

Was Odin testing Xehanort here?

I’m starting to wonder if the Child of Destiny is supposed to have the ability to banish darkness/dark entities from people’s hearts.

I say this due to Odin’s wording in the scene where Xehanort strikes Baldr down:

Odin: This is our only chance.

Odin: Xehanort, rid him of the darkness!

I used to misremember this scene as Odin encouraging Xehanort to deal the finishing blow on Baldr, but no, judging by Odin’s phrasing here, he was actually asking Xehanort to save Baldr from the darkness.

But isn’t that a strange thing for Odin to ask of Xehanort? Odin is no doubt a much stronger Keyblade wielder than Xehanort due to his experience and age, so if banishing the darkness from Baldr’s heart via a Keyblade was ever a viable option, wouldn’t Odin have done that himself? Either here and now or before everything went wrong? Why is he entrusting that to an underclassmen who’s still in training? Especially when the spirit of Hoder, an upperclassmen on the cusp of graduating into a Keyblade Master, is standing right there? (I have to imagine he can see her there the same way Xehanort and Baldr can, especially when you consider similar scenes from KH1 and KH3.) Like, it makes sense for Eraqus to ask Xehanort to banish Baldr’s darkness, because Eraqus is desperate and doesn’t know any better, but Odin?

Instead, it almost seems like Odin was hoping for a miracle, hoping that Xehanort would, somehow, have the ability to banish Baldr’s darkness. If Odin secretly knows who Xehanort is, knows that he’s the chosen child who was sent away to Destiny Islands, then maybe the prophecy states somewhere that the Child of Destiny is supposed to be able to save people from the darkness, and Odin was hoping that Xehanort would demonstrate that ability here and now. Both as a means of saving Baldr and as a means of proving that Xehanort is, in fact, the chosen one as they suspected. Keep in mind this detail from the finale Q&A where Nomura says that Odin was entrusted with a task that aligns with the Blue Robed Figure, implying that Odin is somehow involved in all of this Child of Destiny stuff (excerpt taken from KHInsider, translated by Goldpanner):

Q9: What did Master Odin mean at the end when he spoke of a "teacher" and a "cruel fate"?  A9: Master Odin himself once had a master who taught him, naturally. His master entrusted him with a certain duty - parts of this align with that of the blue robed figure. This will be revealed in detail in Missing-Link, which depicts a later period.��

(Odin mentioning his teacher during this scene is exclusive to the Japanese dialog, as far as I know.)

But of course, Xehanort is not the chosen one, didn’t have the ability to banish Baldr’s darkness, and thus couldn’t save Baldr in the end despite his best efforts to do so, instead choosing to just kill Baldr when he ran out of options. So when Odin responds to Xehanort killing Baldr with “Destiny can be so cruel.” maybe he was referring to how unfortunate it is that Xehanort wasn’t the Child of Destiny after all like they were hoping. Because if he WAS, then maybe all of this could have been prevented.

Of course, this then begs the question: "Why didn’t Odin try to get Xehanort’s help earlier in the story?", but maybe it’s like the Power of Waking where you have to learn it through your experiences and it’s not something you just inherently have access to. Maybe a high-stress, high-stakes situation like this is the only way to manifest the ability. I don't know.

I think this might also give more context to Xehanort removing Vanitas from Ven in BBS. If Xehanort thinks he’s the Child of Destiny, and discovered that the chosen one should have the ability to remove the darkness from people’s hearts, that might have motivated him to try and demonstrate that ability to prove himself. But since he probably doesn’t actually have that ability, the separation process was flawed and resulted in two imperfect halves of a whole, with Ven falling into a coma and his heart becoming fractured.

[lightandfellowship]

When the Master of Masters told Xehanort that “Human emotions are complex. For example, what you feel toward someone you love isn’t always good or well-meaning. It can be a false kind of light. Which begs the question: are these messy feelings that emerge from love still light? Or are they darkness?”, and then Xehanort responds with “Whoa, where did that come from?” I think the MoM was perhaps talking about Eraqus here in an effort to manipulate Xehanort. (Perhaps an obvious observation to make, but I have stuff to say about it.)

The MoM almost NEVER volunteers information about himself (unless he's talking to Luxu), and he’s way too much of a smooth talker to ever do it on accident either, so I don’t think he was referring to some event of his past or speaking from personal experience here. And since the MoM is a master manipulator who effortlessly turns people’s confidence and comraderie into insecurity and distrust, this means that the “example” he provided here was likely very specific, very targeted, and very intentional.

Think about the scene where Eraqus tells Xehanort that his dream is to be a beacon of light that can lead people out of the darkness, and then proceeds to use Xehanort as an example of someone who might need saving one day. Think about how Xehanort responds positively to this, saying it’s the perfect dream for Eraqus and then thanking Eraqus for always being there for him. For someone who’s supposed to one day dive into the darkness on purpose, he seems perfectly content with the idea of his friend coming to his rescue and pulling him out of it. So what happened? What changed Xehanort’s mind?

(Keep in mind that this scene takes place in Xehanort and Eraqus' classroom where No Name is hanging on the wall. The Gazing Eye would have witnessed this conversation, and thus the MoM likely knows how much of a threat Eraqus is.)

If the MoM’s goal is to ensure that Xehanort sticks to his “dark road” no matter what, then extinguishing the light that threatens to guide Xehanort off of that path would be essential to his plan. And his first step in doing that would be to sow seeds of doubt in Xehanort’s heart about Eraqus’ true intentions by subtly manipulating Xehanort’s worldview, using what Xehanort witnessed between Hoder and Baldr as the soil. Small, little doubts that would lie dormant in Xehanort’s heart until nourished by some major event.

Doubts like: maybe your friend’s love for you isn’t pure. Maybe it’s tainted by some dark emotion. Maybe you can’t trust him. Maybe he’ll never understand you. Maybe he’s destined to stand in your way. Maybe he never wanted what was best for you. Maybe he has some ulterior motive for being your friend. Maybe he’s deluded himself into thinking he’s a good person. Maybe he would grow to hate you if he knew of the darkness in your heart. Maybe he’s only holding you back. Maybe you should leave him behind. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if you took his life one day.

Think about the conclusion Xehanort arrived at after his "world tour". "[People] believe themselves to be moral and virtuous, but it's all an act. Darkness lurks in the pit of everyone's heart. Their light is a total farce."

Seven years after the events of the game and five years after Eraqus and Xehanort’s discussion about their dreams, the two turn their Keyblades on each other for the first time, and Xehanort asks “Do you stand in my way as a true Keyblade Master?” to which Eraqus corrects him “No. As a true friend.” Despite Eraqus doing exactly what he said he was going to do all those years ago (become a beacon to lead Xehanort out of the darkness), Xehanort fails to recognize Eraqus’ opposition as an act of love, almost as if he no longer believes that Eraqus is truly doing this for his sake—no, Eraqus is merely performing his duty as a Keyblade Master.

I imagine this clash is the moment when all of those doubts that the MoM planted in Xehanort’s heart begin to sprout, and over time will grow, and grow, and grow, until Eraqus’ light can no longer reach Xehanort’s heart through all the thorns.

“Are these messy feelings that emerge from love still light? Or are they darkness?” And if you think about it, Eraqus’ general mentality of “I’m the righteous one and I know what’s best for you and you shall conform to my beliefs or suffer the consequences” is a sort of twisted, not-pure-darkness-not-pure-light kind of love, isn’t it? A “false light”, like the MoM says. Someone so blinded by the light that he can’t see the shadows falling on his own heart.

One last thing, as well. Recall that Baldr tells Xehanort that when their lights (Hoder and Eraqus respectively) disappear, they lose their purpose and are swallowed by the void. So the game draws a direct correlation between Xehanort losing Eraqus and Xehanort falling to darkness. And sure, perhaps Eraqus never straight up dies like Hoder does, but Xehanort still lost Eraqus in a way, didn’t he?

(To clarify, this isn’t to say that Xehanort and Eraqus WOULDN’T have naturally drifted apart on their own if it weren’t for the MoM’s meddling, I’m just saying that if there WAS a chance that Eraqus could have prevented Xehanort’s fall to darkness, then the MoM made sure to stamp out that possibility ASAP before it had the opportunity to derail his plans.)

[lightandfellowship]

Things that really get my gears turning with regards to Xehanort visiting La Cite des Cloches pre-DDD:

Xehanort visiting it directly after the MoM's speech to him about "false light" and misguided love, and this causing him to finally grapple with his conflicted feelings towards Player. Specifically when observing what Frollo has been doing to Quasi all his life (aka imprisoning him away from others with claims of "it's for your own protection.") Maybe it's after visiting this world that Xehanort starts to refer to his childhood home as a "prison". <- Also could tie into YMX telling Sora his heart is a prison in DDD. Like I know it was Sora or someone else who said the line first but when YMX repeats it back to Sora I gotta imagine he's also thinking about his own relationship to "prisons".

The dramatic irony of Xehanort looking at Frollo and not realizing that he himself is going to become a Frollo later in life. "Judge Claude Frollo longed to purge the world of vice and sin / And he saw corruption everywhere except within."

Also my god the Frollo + Quasi, Master Xehanort + Vanitas parallels. "Even this foul creature may yet prove one day to be / Of use to me."

I'm also thinking about how Frollo was the one to name Quasimodo and his name means "half-formed". Xehanort's name can be an anagram of X and "no heart". And also there's Xehanort giving Vanitas his name, which is a word associated with death and futility. Just a bunch of characters being given demeaning names lol.

Going back to the "false light" stuff, I feel like Frollo is one of the best examples of that among the Disney villains. As Xehanort says to the MoM after his world tour: "They believe themselves to be moral and virtuous, but it's all an act." So if you needed Xehanort to see "false light" in action, this world is just perfect for that.

Please. Imagine. One-on-one Xehanort vs. Frollo boss fight (Frollo can wield the sword from the end of the movie). And then maybe in the second phase Frollo summons a Heartless minion to fight alongside him like the Clayton + Stealth Sneak boss in KH1 (depending on if the Emblem Heartless are still inexplicably around after KHDR, I guess. If not, we can just have the first phase and nothing else). Xehanort is like "Look, okay, yes, maybe I am partially beating you up as a means of venting some of the complicated feelings I have towards my guardian, but also you in particular just suck, you're a danger to everyone around you, and I want you gone from this world forever." And then this marks the second time that Xehanort has just straight up murdered a guy who also happens to represent what he'll become later in life (he is, unfortunately, starting to grow numb to the sensation).

Honestly, realistically, it would probably make more sense for Xehanort not to interfere with the worlds at all, but...I just really want more one-on-one Disney villain boss fights in these games.

Like, seriously, in a theoretical KHDR sequel, this world would probably be my #1 pick just because there's so many layers to its relevancy.

[lightandfellowship]

I feel like if Xehanort and Eraqus reunited with their classmates in the afterlife Bragi would definitely be there but like. The real one.

Bragi's like "Hey, it's nice to finally meet you." and Xehanort's like "What? What does that mean? Are you pulling my leg?"

Bragi shakes his head. "Oh, I guess you never found out, huh? Yeah the Bragi you knew wasn't the real me. This random dude I ran into one day kicked me out of my own body and I've been here ever since."

Xehanort is dumbfounded. He's like 90 years old (time-wise) and he thought there was nothing left in life to surprise him.

Eraqus has to try really hard to resist the temptation of intentionally making Xehanort's afterlife more difficult by blurting out, "Oh, so like what Xehanort did to my apprentice."

[lightandfellowship]

Making young Eraqus a silly little guy + young Xehanort someone who actually desired and sought out relationships was a really good choice by the KHDR writers. It really puts into perspective just how much the characters changed over such a large period of time, from youth to old age.

Eraqus losing a lot of that silliness and lack of discipline to become someone more serious and strict. And then Xehanort's motivations doing a complete 180 as he begins to champion loneliness and sacrifice over forming meaningful personal connections.

[lightandfellowship]