#i also wasn't sure if 'canon' meant only plot things or game mechanic things so i ended up with a mix of both xD
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20, 21, & 22 for choose violence (mxtx stuff is cool but can i poke you for falcom?)
Of course! I've got plenty of Falcom Salt to go around :D
Thank you <3
20. part of canon you found tedious or boring
Side Quests in Sky & Crossbell never felt particularly bad (although the cracks were there in Crossbell too) but in Cold Steel they were an absolute chore to get through, and I especially hated how the game became very formulaic with its designated TIME TO DO SIDE QUESTS and always warning you that you're about to advance the plot.
For Story related things, I just did not really care that much for all of the Thors academy plots. They were more enjoyable in new Thors II but not still not enough to get me invested.
(Also while I do love Gagharv, I don't particularly like White Witch all that much, except this is The One Game that seems to be extremely beloved by everyone who played it ^^")
21. part of canon you think is overhyped
This is going to be a bit of a hot take because the game is generally pretty well liked (by me included) but I have a lot of frustrations about Lacrimosa of Dana's big reset button plot because WE LITERALLY HAD THAT IN YS SEVEN ONE GAME AGO! (and I mean the exact same kind of plot - not just the island being reset which would have made more sense imo... finding out we're literally rehashing Ys SEVEN's plot actually killed all my momentum for this game ^^")
And for Cold Steel.... OH BOY DO I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH MISTER CROW AMBRUST!
I just really feel like nothing with this character was earned. I never felt like Rean was closer to him than everyone else in Class VII that his betrayal would hit THAT HARD. Or that we can set aside all of his actual terrorist activities because HE'S ONE OF US (Rean aside, rest of Class VII why are you like this too??)
I just feel he's way too easily forgiven and I can't help feeling a chill knowing that he (and Rean) are back for Kai >.>
22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores
GAGHARV TRILOGY MY BELOVED! CAGESONG OF THE OCEAN ESPECIALLY MY BELOVED!
I really wish these games were more accessible or at least had better translations because their stories are actually really good!! A Tear of Vermillion is very much as Trails in the Sky prototype in terms of structure and character archetypes and gives a lot of really great character moments and relationships!
And Cagesong feels like playing through a really fun shonen adventure, and its Ch 2 in particular has such a fun mystery island plot! Also music is great!
I also really love Ys Ark of Naphistim but I feel like that's one of the least popular Ys games nowadays (excluding Kefin) xD
Meanwhile for Trails, I feel like I just don't know what people focus on nowadays and especially with all the wasted potential of Cold Steel, but I'll go with Rean's status as the empire's hero and propaganda figure had so much potential and nothing was done with it. Idk if fic explores it much either ^^"
Oh also! I love the two bickering ambassadors in Sky and wish more was done with them! If there was ever a plot line to copy/paste from Gagharv into Trails it was one that could have involved them! :D
#actually a lot of my frustrations with CS are extra felt now because Daybreak is great so far#and I'm also watching Legend of Galactic Heroes which I know someone in Falcom likes#considering Neithardt Mueller haha and I'm pretty sure Osborne and/or Olivier was supposed to evoke shades of Reinhardt#they did SO MUCH with the concept of an artificial hero! CS had the perfect blueprint to study#I'm honestly not sure if any of these are actual hot takes because most people i talk to about falcom games have similar opinions xD#sorry for all of the rambling#i also wasn't sure if 'canon' meant only plot things or game mechanic things so i ended up with a mix of both xD
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Tell us more about the pregnancy stone theory
Okay, don't say I didn't warn you. (╥﹏╥)
My first exposure to this theory was this old post, and since then I've made a lot of jokes and memes about it, although I think it's actually a really valid theory.
If you haven't guessed, this theory relies on the existence of the Pregnancy Stones card in the Greed Island game (left). There are a lot of cards that aren't talked about in canon, and I feel like it's worth noting that this isn't the only card that has some interesting implications for gender in the game (right).
Someone on Reddit has made a really nice high-res downloadable set of all the G.I. cards for all your shitposting needs.
There's a lot of differing theories as to who the other dad is, including Razor and of course, Pariston (mostly because so much of his and Ging's time together is unknown and of course the "hehe they act like a divorced couple" parts of the Dark Continent arc).
But nowhere on the card does it state that sex/another person necessarily has to be involved.
By how it's described, one could carry the stone for a month, and boom! pregnant. I'm not sure if this implies the child would be a clone (as there's no second set of DNA involved) or if there's some kind of nen-based mechanism that's unexplained. Gon doesn't appear to be a clone of Ging, so if this theory is true, I would guess the latter. Gon being born of nen (or in some other unconventional way) could explain a lot of his innate ability.
Per the rules of the game (assuming Ging isn't exempt as the game's creator), you can take 3 cards from G.I. into the "real world" upon beating the game. The panda doll Ging uses as a stand-in in the Election Arc is almost certainly proof that Ging is using/has used at least one of the cards IRL. Note the phrase "they are excellent at taking care of human children"...
So basically, you don't just release a game with untested features, right? So somebody likely had to have used the card at some point. At the very least, the implication here is that cis males can, and at least once probably did get pregnant in HxH 'verse.
It's been said that it's possibly a Red Herring and/or a joke from Togashi (possibly because he'd get a kick out of seeing people propose this theory), but generally that's not how Togashi writes.
While this is not exactly "trans Ging theory" (as much as I wish it was), it would be a scenario in which a dude gave birth and it wasn't (at least so far) treated as a (transphobic) joke. Since obviously Togashi has never shyed away from writing queer characters and/or portraying gender in ways outside the "norm", even outside of HxH, I don't think this is necessary a stretch plot-wise.
Also, this part is very much my own opinion-- I don't see Ging getting a random woman pregnant (through a one night stand or something), much less having a long term partner. Elena describes him as "shy", "stubborn", and "weird", which of course aren't things that make a person "unlovable", I feel like they imply that he's not a lady's man, at the very least.
The tape recording scene doesn't eliminate this as a possibility. While Ging does say, "about your mother...", this isn't necessarily meant literally. Note that he intentionally pauses to gives Gon a moment to shut off the tape. From Ging's perspective, it's easy to see why he might not want to tell Gon about this (and why he thinks Gon might not want to know).
As for Ging's potential motivation for using the card-- I have yet to see anyone propose any reasonable explanation. Maybe it's as simple as "he lost a bet to (W)Dwun(e)" or something. That would be very Ging.
#hunter x hunter#ging freecss#ging hxh#hxh meta#gon freecss#are u guys sorry yet#🐗 txt#pregnancy stones#long post
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Morning! I hope you don't mind if i give you yet another She-Ra thought I'm too damn lazy to post on my own. Also, it's long again. I WILL find that character limit some day.
So, we know the way Shadow Weaver raised Adora resulted, among other issues, in her being selfless to the point of self-sacrifice, which came to a climax in the Heart's failsafe business.
And it's been suggested that this was basically intentional on Shadow Weaver's part. Basically, selflessness is a very beneficial quality for others to have. My theory is that <b>her plan for Adora had always been specifically for her to someday use the failsafe and release all magic</b>.
(i will admit i am also curious how formatting works in this app. thank you for your help with these experiments)
So, evidence. Let's start with her name. I know this is a remake and they were stuck with the existing names, but there's a scene where Scorpia complains about it ("yeah i GET it, everyone LOVES you"), which constitutes the writers acknowledging its meaning, which makes me think it's fair game to analyze.
First, I'm obviously assuming Shadow Weaver choose it, as part of her ongoing parenting plan. It's also possible it was her original First One-given name, we don't know. Neither quite works because either she or Light Hope should have had some issues knowing what the name was and they clearly knew automatically. Really the entire series is weird in that everyone communicates with everyone else way too easily, and i will definitely rant about that someday.
For now let it stand that Shadow Weaver is the parent figure, it makes the most sense for her to pick the name, both in-universe and narratively, so i shall assume so by default. I have two things to say about that choice.
First, as we all have noticed, most of the princesses have names ending in -a. All of them, if you count "Glimma". It's never said to be intentional, but it would make sense. And then IF such a tradition exists among Etheria's royalty, it's not unreasonable for Shadow Weaver, a notable and moderately respected member of the land of knowledge, to know about it.
And then if she knew, of course she would take it into consideration when looking for names. Admittedly it's a little weird with the anti-Princess propaganda that the Horde has, but she doesn't really need to explain or justify this. Hordak has a very [i]laissez-faire[/i] attitude, and everyone else she clearly doesn't care about.
And if she knew or suspected that the princesses' powers were related to the Heart of Etheria, which i will argue for later, then giving her a princessy name is also adequately ironic.
The second name bit is that Scorpia clearly knows some Latin, but not enough. True, <em>adorare</em> means to worship and/or to love, but Latin verbs are more complex than that. _Adora_ specifically is 3rd person singular present indicative active. The translation would be "she loves".
Names aside, i want to talk about how they (we) learned about the Heart of Etheria. Castaspella doesn't know what to do, Shadow Weaver suggests they take a road trip to research, which she's reticent about but concedes is probably the best use of her time, and they find success. We don't know how long it took them, but i had the distinct impression that it wasn't very long.
Naturally, I'm suggesting Shadow Weaver knew all along, and led Castaspella on the trip to have an excuse for the inevitable "how do you know?". Also tricked her into thinking it was /her/ discovery, and maybe even that she was succeeding where Shadow Weaver had failed before, if necessary.
That's why she's so excited to share their results with everybody, and Shadow Weaver cuts her off, apparently just to antagonize her for fun, but I'm suggesting it was also because for her this is the culmination of a decades-long plan, and she wants to Get On With It.
It's also interesting that there was a mural depicting the Spell of Obtainment in the hallway leading to the failsafe. It was a reminder of Shadow Weaver's past, and an opportunity for her to show she regrets her results but doesn't repent from her choices, which i quite like actually. But I'm also saying that, meta-textually, it was a signal that she'd been there before, literally.
And then there is the potential in-universe connection, since we don't know what exactly the spell was meant to be obtaining. Power, for sure, and from what happened we're probably meant to assume it's tapping into some sort of demonic entity or dimension.
Fair enough, except that it never comes up again. And it's kind of a big plot point that Etheria is isolated from the rest of the cosmos, which may or may not conflict with it having a contactable "hell". Meanwhile there's the Heart of Etheria Project collecting all that magic, which Mara's allies (and their descendants) would know something about, have access to at least one backdoor to, and may well have tried to tap into its power at some point.
And then what went wrong may well be one of the defense mechanisms of the Project, though I'm admittedly veering into unfounded speculation.
So, a rough timeline. Light Spinner was always motivated to excel and craved power. She was probably always envied the princesses, who command greater magic than most sorcerers with apparently none of the study and practice.
She took to researching everything she could that might lead to power, eventually discovering the chamber with the failsafe, and presumably other information left by Mara's Friends, either in other chambers or in documents she's since removed. She would have learned a lot of things from this.
As i suggested, i believe she knew there's some connection between the princesses at large and the Heart of Etheria. Incidentally, i don't know exactly what that connection is, and in particular whether princesses were created by the Project or an existing phenomenon that the First Ones co-opted. But it doesn't matter, exactly.
What's important is that there's clearly a connection, more specifically a control system for the princesses and their magic, which is presumably related to how Shadow Weaver was able to tap into the Black Garnet's power. With Hordak's help, obviously, since she clearly believed it when he claimed he could cut her off at will, but he's later shown to have basically no understanding of First Ones' tech, so the knowledge must have come from her.
For the record, i would guess she thinks princesses are artificial, empowered both magically and politically to keep the planet in check, and that they would be depowered once the failsafe was fired. I also think that may be true, actually, since it almost happened when Entrapta was messing with the system, and if i recall none of them were shown to use any magic after Adora did fire it, while she clearly used Perfuma's power. But anyways!
Back to what Shadow Weaver learned, she would know some of what the failsafe does, namely disrupt the system that's hoarding most of the planet's magic, thereby spreading magic to all (most notably her), and some of how to use it, and the fact that she couldn't do so and hope to live, and some of the criteria for who can. That part is important.
But first, she also learned the Spell of Obtainment, deemed it more likely but didn't think she could do it herself, despaired of getting help until she thought Hordak's rise to fame would give her #casus belli#, lost her patience when the Mystacor leadership disagreed, etc etc etc. Pretty uncontroversial in this part, i think.
After she'd joined the Horde, when Hordak showed up with baby Adora and wanted to lump her with the rest of the orphans they have, Shadow Weaver pleaded to have her get special treatment. She even said that she's special, and it couldn't have been her leadership skills or good heart, since she didn't have either yet. It's heavily implied she could recognize her as a First One, but it's not clear why she would care, since they were known for leaving behind advanced technology, which a baby also doesn't have. Unless, of course, she knew there are devices only a First One could use, and maybe has plans related to that.
So I'm pretty sure she learned the criteria that the failsafe requires, devised some spell or technique to check people for them that she pretty much used all the time, just in case, and was very surprised when a newborn tested positive. She was also surprised when Hordak made her personally responsible for the raising of the kid, but her reaction is pretty much "ok, that could work, i guess".
Also also, i suspect she can read First One script. Not perfectly like Adora, but better than Bow's parents probably. Mostly because when she puts Adora's hand on the crystal and says "i think you know the password", that seems like a very transparent attempt to pretend she knows it too when she doesn't. But that seems irresponsible at such a crucial moment, she and Castaspella should really have researched it earlier. Or at least her line there should have been "you can read this, right?" or somesuch.
So I'm thinking it's a double bluff, hoping everybody assumes she doesn't know so she doesn't have to reveal how and why she knows, again.
And that's all i have, i think? This is not nearly as well laid out as i would like. But then, nothing ever is, right?
Also it's not even close to morning anymore. Thank you if you even got this far, and have a good evening!
hi!!! this took me a while to answer, i'm so sorry about that <3
i'm very low on energy today so i cannot summon up the brain energy to respond properly to this, as much as i want to, i'm really sorry for that as well
i love this theory!! it actually fits in really well with canon and makes, like, a LOT of sense now that i think about it. i definitely wouldn't have thought of this on my own, so thank you for sharing this with me!! :D
#asks#leo answers stuff#IM CLEARING OUT MY INBOX#CAUSE I FINALLY HAVE THE TIME#long post#spop meta#shadow weaver
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Hi! I love all your theories so much! They were a saving force for me after finishing KH3 and being frustrated at how little sense it all made. Thank you so much for taking your time to write all your theories down! I also want to ask your thoughts about Xehanort's story. Since he's THE villain of the story he is extremely important, yet I feel he wasn't explored much (v flat). I think, like you said in BBSV2 theory, writers in a way just didn't have a chance to. (1/2)
What do you think his story was meant to be like? His supposed fall to darkness? They tried to make him sympathetic in KH3 ending and it felt really undeserved and out of nowhere. (2/2)
Xehanort was a Member of a Secret Society
Nomura: At first, I did want to use a next game to dig down into how Xehanort went from that simple boy playing the chess-like game to an admirer of the darkness. But, if I do that, then the Dark Seeker Chronicle wouldn’t have ended with KH3 after all (laughs.) Some ideas had solidified to a degree, but it’s shelved for now.
Thank you. When I get responses like yours, it makes writing it all out worth it. I feel such a strong compulsion because it is so heartbreaking to see how badly the story got butchered. Definitely have to agree about Xehanort. I was so confused by how he was portrayed. Whatever they had going was obviously half-baked.
A lot of things in KH3 really made no sense at all. It seems like they had a complete story planned at one point. They altered a lot of things, but left other stuff in. They removed Xehanort’s past, but instead of altering his character accordingly, they left the sympathetic ending in. Same with the power of waking. Instead of changing the story, they left all the scenes of the characters being unconscious. I’m glad they did, because it is pretty good evidence for my theory, but it’s still really weird.
Until a few short years ago, I’d known only my own world, a speck of land surrounded by sea. But how I’d dreamed of, yearned for the World beyond… And, granted guidance from the future, I left that nest behind.
As for Xehanort…where do I even start? There are so many plot holes. In canon, Xehanort’s ability to time travel makes absolutely NO sense. How did he even leave his home world to begin with? How did he get that No Name Keyblade? Young Xehanort could not use the Keyblade as a secret boss in BBS. Why is he able to time travel in the first place?
Young Xehanort: Yes. This was where it started. At this point, I still had no idea that I was talking to myself. He cast away his bodily form just to set me on the appointed path. To move through time, you must leave your body behind. Ansem first sent me on my way, and then placed himself here when the time was right. That was what set all these events in motion.
In canon it just seems like Young Xehanort got the ability to time travel from… his future self? Um, what? But…how? That doesn’t even…
Joshua: If he is, Riku’s on one side of the Portal, and you’re on the other. He might be by your side–he might be a million miles away. You can’t measure the distance in time or space. Even without the wall between you, it’s hard to say.
It probably has something to do with portals, which were NEVER properly explained. Riku used one when he entered the Realm of Sleep to use the power of waking on Sora. And it was the key to beating Xehanort at the end of KH3, though I had no idea why. Because it’s never elaborated on.
Joshua: Hello there, Riku. Portals are like gateways that link up our worlds. Apparently, the world you and I are standing in right now–well, there are two copies of it. It’s been sort of split in half. Portals are what let folks like us cross between them.
Riku: There can be two of a world?
Joshua: The world is as many things as people need it to be. The concept that we all live in the same world–that’s just in our heads. Surely you knew?
According to the Xehanort timeline from the series Memorial Ultimania, Sora acted as a portal because he had the Recusant’s Sigil on him. And it suggested that Isa was able to be tracked due to his scar. I’m guessing he was the portal that allowed Young Xehanort to show up in the 2.5 secret ending. The “X” was SO important. And it was not mentioned at all in KH3.
Were the 13 Seekers of Darkness, who were meant to be in different times, gathered by transcending time with magic?
Just as it says in the story, to transcend time one must “first” discard their body. As a result of the actions of the Robed Figure, they all were in a state where they had gained the power to transcend time. The Robed Figure explains these facts. The thirteen were summoned at the same time, this time thanks to the Young Xehanort who borrowed that power. However, apart from Young Xehanort, that does not mean that all the members left their own time.
Apparently, anyone can travel through time if they discard their body. But that doesn’t explain how the Robed Figure could pass the ability on to Young Xehanort, who didn’t give up his body.
In other words, Ansem and Xemnas were simultaneously existing in the time-space of KH3D as well as their newly recompleted human form after being destroyed?
Yes, it does turn out that way. However, as I said before, The World That Never Was–where the thirteen all met–is a special space. The mechanics behind how they were all able to exist at the same time is a mystery. From KH1 on, Ansem has returned no matter how many times he has been defeated, perhaps the same sort of thing happened.
I think that the time travel ability was supposed to get waaaay more explanation in BBSV2. There was so much more to delve into. Like how it works and why Xehanort could visit his past self in the first place. And why TWTNW was special. Those special circumstances were no doubt supposed to allow the other Xehanort’s to exist simultaneously outside of TWTNW. Xehanort had some ability to transcend time.
Xemnas cannot exist in the present because there is already a Xehanort here: the old man in charge. The old man’s humanity prevents his Heartless and Nobody, others vanquished in the past, and his younger self from being denizens of this time. To circumvent this, Xehanort is using the prototype replicas I created in the past as containers, plucking his other selves’ hearts from the time they existed. Xehanort ordered me to refine the prototypes, to make them closer still to the real thing. Perfecting my creations so they may house true, flesh-and-blood human suits my own purposes as well. All that remains for my atonement is to devise a way to pass on as many of the vessels as I can to those who truly deserve them. -Vexen’s Report
This whole idea came out of NOWHERE. YX didn’t need a replica to time travel. And MX didn’t need a replica for Terranort. He has a special Keyblade with a clock and an hourglass keychain. That’s the real reason he can do what he does. The Replica program was NOT originally the reason for all this. There was something special about the Robed Figure. He gained some type of special ability when he cast aside his body, and it was connected to YX’s special Keyblade.
Goofy: We defeated Ansem and Xehanort—every last one of ‘em. But still they all came back anyway, right? So, maybe this Riku “came back” too, from the time when Ansem possessed him.
Donald: Yeah, from the past!
Sora: What? How?
Riku: Unlike a certian wizard you know, I had to play by the rules to travel through time. Which meant leaving my body behind.
I don’t believe for one second that Riku Replica was always going to be relevant in KH3.
From KH1 on, Ansem has returned no matter how many times he has been defeated, perhaps the same sort of thing happened.
Goofy’s quote sounds so similar to Nomura’s quote when he was asked about TWTNW and all the Xehanorts existing at the same time. It makes WAY more sense if they were going to use time travel with young Riku. That’s why he was already a Seeker of Darkness in the Sleeping World. I think that’s KH1 Riku, but in an alternate timeline.
If replicas were the key to travel to the future, wouldn’t YX have taken a LOT more interest in Vexen when he retrieved Saïx? But no, they just left him there when he was recompleted. Heck, Xemnas didn’t even seem to care that much about Vexen getting snuffed out at Castle Oblivion. Why didn’t Vexen get an X-shaped scar so they could always track him, like Isa did? Why did he have to volunteer to join in the first place? It’s SO stupid.
Xemnas: But then, through Roxas, Sora himself began to shape “it” into “her,” giving Xion a sense of identity. I was ready to scrap the whole project…
Xemnas didn’t seem to value the Replica Project too much after Xion developed a sense of self. And I always thought Xion’s appearance was an illusion, since it differed from person to person. She’s a robot infused with memories (ie. data). So she only has an appearance in the eye of the viewer. Riku replica was probably the same. But now all of a sudden the replicas can turn into flesh and blood people when they get hearts? That’s quite the technological leap there, but…okay.
The Heartless come from people’s hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world’s heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.
Why did Apprentice Xehanort suddenly decide to cast away his body?
Pureblood or Emblem, these Heartless act only to fulfill their instinctive needs. They single-mindedly detect hearts and swarm around them. A human’s commands would be ineffective: the Heartless would easily steal the human’s heart and use it to increase their own ranks. But what if an even stronger Heartless was giving the orders? If he cast aside his own soul and body and became a Heartless, wouldn’t he be able to control the otherwise intractable Heartless? Furthermore, wouldn’t he be planning to make use of the creatures’ instincts? If the heart-seeking Heartless have their sights set on a larger, more powerful heart, their ultimate goal is crystal-clear. The largest heart in existence—the heart of the world.This is all conjecture, but it would seem he is utilizing the Heartless in his search for a path leading to the heart of the world.
He was actually commanding the Heartless.
When a person’s heart is stolen, a Heartless is born with no sense of self, and the body and soul left behind give rise to a Nobody. But what if one willingly releases one’s heart from one’s body? Sora and Xehanort retained their selfhood even after becoming Heartless.
And the reason he retained his sense of self was because he chose to become a Heartless. Just like Braig was the only one who retained his sense of self at the end of KH3D. Because he was the only one who chose to be a vessel.
Axel: There was a time he became a Heartless. And if one becomes a Heartless—
Larxene: They lose their minds and their feelings… They’re consumed by the darkness.
Axel: Right. But not Sora. He held on to his feelings, even as a Heartless. And there’s only one other man who’s been able to do just that.
Apparently Axel witnessed Xehanort become a Heartless.
Lea: I guess Xehanort doesn’t count, but where are Braig and…Isa?
Why didn’t Xehanort count? I’m sure this was important. It sounds really interesting. Too bad we’ll never learn about it.
Yen Sid: For that to work, a version of himself would have had to exist at both source and destination. Not even Xehanort can transport his whole body across vast reaches of time.
Young Xehanort: There are restrictions to movement through time. First, you must leave your body behind to do it. Then, there must be a version of you waiting at the destination. Upon arrival, you can only move forward as per the laws of time. And you cannot rewrite the events that are destined to happen.
You can time travel if you leave your body behind. But that doesn’t explain how Young Xehanort got that Keybalde. He was clearly the main “portal”.
Nomura knew this all didn’t make sense. It’s why he wanted to explain it in the next game, but that plan got shelved. Everything about Xehanort’s backstory appears to be heavily inspired by Freemasonry and other secret societies. The all-seeing eye, the goat, the chess board and even the coffin with the X on it. Freemasonry was derived from what were known in ancient Egypt as “mystery schools.” So, it fits with the Egyptian origin of the Recusant’s Sigil and the Eye or Ra/Horus. If I had to guess, I’d say Xehanort got inducted into some kind of secret society after meeting Eraqus. I think he was being manipulated by a force greater than himself.
As I treaded the path to my master’s side, I came in contact with darkness in many forms. I knew even then, as by instinct: terrifying as its power was, it could be harnessed. Mastered. Eraqus is a blueblood, descended from the very first masters in the age of fairy tales. But I did not come this far to indulge in adulation. I will be his peer. His equal. And to do that, I must learn to wield the power born from both darkness and light in proper balance.
Secret societies and fraternal orders have a philosophy of “get them while they’re young”. Usually they recommend students belonging to well-bred families for special training. And Eraqus was a blueblood. Xehanort had to be exceptional to fraternize with the likes of him.
As a Keyblade Master, Xehanort had a gift like few others. But such great minds are often plagued by a single great question. What is the essence of the human heart that weakens us, or empowers us? The answer, he believed, would be found in the “Keyblade War.” What if the challenges of our past were, in fact, a map to the light and darkness that battles within us all? Xehanort had to know, so he renounced his duties as master and chose the seeker’s life. Since then, in many a guise, he has clashed with protectors of the light–Keyblade wielders like yourselves.
These groups are convinced that men of special ability and brains have the RIGHT to rule those less gifted. They use hidden knowledge to gain power and control over those ignorant of the whole truth. Many of them consider almost all of humanity to be cattle or spiritually dead. It reminded me a lot of the way Xehanort just branded Isa with the “X”. He truly believes he is superior, and has the right to control him. Because he’s ignorant. He’s not enlightened. He’s dead anyways, so what does it matter?
Much time has passed since I left the home of my youth behind, and in the myriad worlds I have since visited, I have gained much knowledge. On these pages, I intend to record a portion of that knowledge, and put the course of my life to paper. Upon reflection, my life underwent the most considerable sea-change when I arrived at that place. Yes, it began when I found a Master, and another I would later call my brother—when I found a new home.
Scala ad Caelum is Latin for “Stairway to Heaven” which is a big theme in Masonry.
Then there was the Keyblade. For what purpose was it begotten, and by whom? During my training as one of its wielders, the precepts offered a clear answer: the Keyblade existed so that we who watched over the light could protect the world from the shadows. But was that the TRUE answer? Could there not be more to it than that? My heart sought knowledge, and so I sometimes visited other worlds—though such travel was forbidden unless duty required—and found what my heart sought.
Xehanort didn’t know about the X-Blade when he was training under his master alongside Eraqus.
I have uncovered the Keyblade’s ultimate mystery. You see, besides the three families of Keyblades, there is another “Key Blade.” While it may sound the same when spoken, it is notated uniquely: “χ-blade.” And make no mistake, while it resembles a normal Keyblade, it is something altogether different. Keyblades are said to be man-made counterparts to Kingdom Hearts. The χ-blade, however, coexists with Kingdom Hearts. It is only forged when two hearts of equal power intersect—one heart of pure darkness, one heart of pure light. At the time of its forging, Kingdom Hearts appears. It must be noted, though, that this Kingdom Hearts is special. Unlike the Kingdoms brought about forcibly and artificially through the collection of hearts, THIS Kingdom Hearts is a perfect and complete union of ALL the worlds’ hearts. Surely it was over this that the ancient Keyblade War was fought. If so, the walls that divide the worlds today are of little consequence. With the χ-blade, all their hearts could be instantly reunited—and the Keyblade War, refought.
He only found out later. Somebody taught him about it. Now, I think all of this might have been intended to tie into Union X lore. I didn’t play that game and I’m not fully versed on all its lore. But I think more importantly, it had to do with “Cable Town”, which we now know is named Scala ad Caelum.
In KH BbS, Master Xehanort’s goal behind opening Kingdom Hearts was to “create a new world.” But in this game, he says it is to “reset the world.” Why the difference?
Nomura: What was revealed in this game was another piece of the truth: his goal was “this world is no longer any good, and we have to recreate it from scratch.”
In 2014, Square held a launch event for KH2.5 HD Remix. They showed a new trailer to the people in attendance. In that trailer, Sora was shown in a brand new world that we have never seen. It looked similar to The Land of Departure, which was probably based off of it. It was taken out by the time KH3 released.
This trailer was shown off to the audience, then Square acted like it never existed. It was never released publicly. I think this is because they retconned Cable Town, and turned into the ruins of Daybreak Town. I truly don’t think that was always supposed to be the case. Even if it was, it was still supposed to be way more important than that. One of the attendees who saw the trailer drew a picture of what he saw in the trailer. Sora actually traveled there. Xehanort’s past was a “piece” of the truth. No doubt one of the fragments that was supposed to be covered in BBSV2. I bet Scala ad Caelum was supposed to be KH3′s equivalent of Traverse Town, Radiant Garden, and Twilight Town.
I think Xehanort started off with pure intentions. He genuinely wanted to rebuild the world. He didn’t always have pointy ears and yellow eyes. I think he started off as an innocent resident of Scala ad Caelum. Then he became involved with a secret society. And you can see the checkerboard theme and even a Recusant’s Sigil on the chalkboard to far-right of this room. The black and white checkerboard pattern is in all Masonic lodges. It represents duality - that good (light) cannot exist without evil (darkness).
Light and darkness are two sides of the same coin; without darkness, there is no light. The Keyblade wielders’ great war over Kingdom Hearts was fought by defenders of the light, servants of darkness, those who sought to reconcile the two, and those motivated by nothing more than lust for power. A whole spectrum of thought was swept into the conflict, and the worlds that did not go to war found the war brought to them. In the end, the whole World was cast into darkness.That was how the ancient Keyblade War drew to a close. To this day, no one has ever managed to open the door to Kingdom Hearts. Some time later, the little light that remained in the hearts of the few gave rise to the World we know today: one made of many worlds behind just as many walls, so that the Keyblade War would not be repeated.
Which is of course, what Xehanort believes.
Where did the Organization’s coat and mark come from?
Xemnas remembering his human years. One year after BbS, Xehanort as well as five other apprentices toss aside their hearts. Then the Nobody Xemnas was born, and the Organization which he creates takes a lot of things from his memories as a human. But as Xemnas had two people who he was, Terra and Master Xehanort, he takes from both of their memories.
Master Xehanort wore the black robe when he left Ventus on Destiny Islands. Xemnas wears it due to him remembering his human days. In modern strands of Satanism, black robes are often worn in magical rituals and initiation ceremonies. Various Satanic/Luciferian spells and rituals have strong Saturnian elements in them.
Saturn always had a negative, if not evil significance to the ancients. In ancient times, it was called “The Greater Malefic” which was opposed to Jupiter, “The Greater Benefic”. Saturn is esoterically associated with man’s limitations, restrictions, death and decay. His Greek name was “Chronos”, the ruler of time, which was seen as the main factor inevitably leading to the death of mortals. He was also often depicted…eating children.
It is believed that the Grim Reaper is based on the Greek god Chronos, also known as Father Time. Traditional representations of the Grim Reaper originate from the attributes of the god Saturn, who held the sickle. Chronos’ ties to time and the harvest spawned the symbolism of the Reaper’s hourglass and scythe. Perhaps this was what inspired Xehanort’s usage of “planting seeds,” when he was referring to his plans to make vessels. Then he could harvest them, by turning them into another Xehanort, which is akin to killing them. It seems Xehanort wore the black robe while disposing of Ventus because it was a sort of death ritual for him. Organization XIII is literally a death cult. To join, you have to change your name to one with an “X” in it.
Young Xehanort: Every Keyblade master is bequeathed a Keyblade of his very own. With the passing of time, as you can imagine, more and more Keyblades were forged to be handed down. But of all the Keyblades in existence, Master Xehanort’s is the most ancient. That is my destiny. But it has yet…to become a reality.
In Greek mythology, Chronos is said to have emerged from the primordial Chaos. He hatched from the world-egg at the beginning of time. Saturn has also been associated with Satan for numerous reasons. First, many authors argue that the word Satan is derived from the word Saturn. Second, Saturn is associated with the color black, like Satan. Third, Ancients considered Saturn to be the farthest planet from the sun. Saturn is consequently the celestial body that is the least exposed to the sun’s divine light and thus associated with the principle of Evil. The god Pan, the horned deity, represented Saturn in ancient paganism. This half-man half-goat creature is considered the ancestor of our modern depictions of Satan.
Saturn is also associated with a black cube, which might possibly be associated with the Master of Master’s black box. The cube represents earth in Pythagorean, Indian, Egyptian (Pharaohs sitting on cube thrones), and Platonic traditions. It’s even recognized as a sacred symbol today by the Freemasons when they stand on an oblong square during particular rituals to the “Worshipful Master”. But who knows.
Xehanort: But darkness did cover the world once, in legend. We know so little about the Keyblade War–only that it was just the beginning. Amidst that crisis a precious light was found. It is a curious tale–and one worth exploring. They say ruin brings about creation. So what, then, would another Keyblade War bring? When the darkness falls, will we be found worthy of the precious light the legend speaks of? I must have these answers. The X-blade needs to be forged, and with it, the door to the Keyblade War unlocked!
These secret groups believe in a system of dualism that cyclically repeats as synthesis results. Chaos begets order, but chaos ensues again, followed by order, and so on. The conflict of opposites finally leads to equilibrium, but it’s disturbed once again by renewed conflict, and a new, temporary stage of equilibrium is achieved. So, there’s a never-ending cycle of chaos, followed by order. Order is always temporary.
Like Ying and Yang, death and rebirth, Order and Chaos follow from and give birth to one another, in an ever-renewing cycle. It’s all about opposites coming together. Which I like because Lea and Isa had the same theme with their relationship. But instead of being a clash of opposites, it’s a union of opposites. It’s like a big “Fuck you” to Xehanort. It’s probably why the writers designed them to be that way. It’s very clever, honestly.
Eraqus: Fool… You would risk an apocalypse out of sheer curiosity? I will never allow it, Xehanort. Not while I live!
Xehanort: But once again you have it all wrong, Eraqus. Darkness is a beginning, you see, not an end. At birth, every one of us emerges from darkness into a world of light, do we not?
There’s a Latin expression, Ordo ab Chao, meaning Order out of Chaos. It’s a motto of the Thirty-third Degree, and has the same meaning as Lux e Tenebris, or “from Darkness to Light”. It is believed that through the doctrine of Chaos, one could attain higher wisdom by upending the naturalized routines of everyday life. As Chaos ensues, old orders are broken down to allow new ones to emerge.
According to higher Masonic dogma, the New World Order will result after a period of choreographed chaos. Man could shape history and achieve ultimate peace only through repetitive episodes of controlled conflict between opposing forces. The idea is that men must create, manipulate and manage the inevitable conflict of Chaos in order to create a pre-determined outcome – the controlled change, the synthesis.
And when Kingdom Hearts is complete, it is said the one who opens its door will bring about the creation of the Next World. Such a feat is above any human. Or, to put it a different way: whoever opens that door will be reborn as something far greater than human. Light and darkness are two sides of the same coin; without darkness, there is no light.
This is what Xehanort wanted to do. He wanted to start over by initiating a high dimensional clash of polarities, forge the X-Blade, then open the door to Kingdom Hearts.
If I become the first to open Kingdom Hearts’ door, I can create a Next World in which light and darkness exist in perfect equilibrium.
He thinks that if light and darkness are perfectly balanced, then he can create a world where there is no more chaos. So no more wars or anything. Ever.
We Keyblade Masters have a special gift. We can extract a heart, be it our own or that of another. By continuing this cycle, it is possible to remain in the world of the living forever.
I highly doubt that Xehanort invented this technique. Somebody taught him how to do it. Personally, I think Xehanort became involved with some kind of extra-dimensional entity during his involvement with the cult, and it attached itself to him. That’s why we see the giant black demon-looking thing coming out of all the Seekers of Darkness in KH3. He probably was not fully possessed like Terra was. But it definitely infected him. If I had to guess, I’d say the entity was something inspired by Pan, who is associated with Saturn. Pan can be considered a much earlier representation of other deceptive horned gods, most notably Satan. The prefix “-pan” meaning “all” originates from him.
“Don’t believe your dreams are just fantasy. If you can imagine a world, believe in it and dive in.”
Pan was said to be void of any spiritual essence, instead causing imaginative visions – stepping inside oneself and into the unconscious dream world. Like a nightmare, Pan evoked the deepest and darkest forms of ones own psyche, and its fantastical creations. Pan forced people to cross over into the unconscious world, a world distorted by repressed sexual desire, and primitive fear. A good example of this is shown through the character Puck (who is Pan) in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and his fascination with the themes of sleep and distortion.
In addition, the story of “Peter Pan” also represents the same form of escapism, crossing over into a world of fantasy. Interestingly, the word “pant” comes from the Old French for Pantasier, literally meaning, “gasping for breath during a nightmare.” It even traces its roots to the ancient Greek word Phantasioun, which gave rise to the word Phantasia, meaning “fantasy.”
Another significant relation between the prefix “-pan” and the theme of evil is found in the myth of “Pandora’s Box,” a name that means, “all-gifted.” As the first female on earth, Pandora was given every characteristic, from beauty to cunning, as a gift from the gods. Yet, all that was released from her box were conflicts, and evils that plagued humanity. In 358/2 Days, one of the gears is called “Pandora’s Gear”.
The word “pandemic” holds this same meaning, as it is formed by the word pan- “all” and the word demos, “people,” yet is defined as an outbreak of disease, and sin among society. Pan was the daemon that disorders the intellect. He represents magic and chaos. He is associated with the idea “Order out of Chaos”. The idea is that the natural world is an evil place, or far too chaotic to be considered any good. In human nature chaos is found everywhere, from the unconscious mind to the waking unrest of emotion. It culminates, inevitably, by spreading out into nature as a whole, like a contagious disease.
Were the members of Organisation XIII that grew hearts unsuitable as vessels for Xehanort?
That’s not necessarily the case, however the details are a secret.
I have NO idea if this was intentional or not, but you can see Saturn-looking rings around the artificial Kingdom Hearts. I always wondered where Xemnas even got the idea to make an artificial Kingdom Hearts?
Xemnas: 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.
What even IS an artificial Kingdom Hearts?
Xemnas: 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.
Why would completing it allow him to turn all the members into Xehanort? This is all just theoretical, but there have been books written by people who claim that the moon is an interdimensional, interdensity portal for entities and energies from other dimensions.
It is suggested that these beings called Archons, use the moon as a home base for hijacking signals from the universe so that our bodily forms that are experiencing this reality on Earth, can’t fully experience what it was meant to by the Creator. Basically, the moon is capable of blocking certain abilities of the pineal gland, which is our “third” eye that connects us with our consciousness. They feed off of the negative emotions of humans. I can’t help but suspect that ideas like these influenced Kingdom Hearts lore.
Xigbar: Xemnas and Xehanort formed the Organization for a specific reason—round up a bunch of empty husks, hook them up to Kingdom Hearts, then fill them all with the exact same heart and mind. Translation–they were gonna turn all the members into Xehanort.
God, I can’t get over how the story in KH3 makes NO sense. The whole reason Xemnas was creating an artificial Kingdom Hearts was to turn everyone into vessels. Yet KH3 is so casual about it. Everyone treats being in the New Organization like it’s a party or something. Lea was so nonchalant about fighting Isa at the Keyblade Graveyard. He wasn’t concerned about Isa, himself, or his other friends dying. Or even the possibility of the APOCALYPSE happening. All of these ideas regarding Xehanort and the secret society he joined were left on the cutting room floor. It really is such a shame.
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