#kh essay

[theblueprincess590]

The Heart of a Toy-An Analysis of KH3

Ever since finishing Kingdom Hearts 2 Nomura has been insistent on including Toy story in Kingdom hearts 3 even going as far as to say in an interview with Jen Simpkins from GameRader’s Edge Magazine, “After we were done with Kingdom Hearts II and were starting to consider III, we started talks with Disney, I remember saying, ‘If we can’t use Pixar, then we can’t have a third game.’ It’s that important to the game series,” (Nomura). And it’s clear to see why Nomura put so much importance on Toy Story once you realize how much its story connects to and reinforces the themes and mythos of Kingdom Hearts.

Toy Box is a magical world. While it appears to be the same of our own it holds a great secret, Toys are alive. When a child looks away a Toy springs to life revealing a heart of their very own, but that begs the question, how does a toy possess a heart? In Kingdom Hearts 3 we learn the answer. A toy is given a heart by the love of children. When a child looks upon a toy they do not see a cheap piece of plastic but instead they see a friend with a heart of its own to be loved and cherished. And it is that belief which truly gives the toys a heart. This is what Woody means when he says the Toys within Galaxy Toys have yet to figure it out. That they have yet to realize the love of a child and thus are empty shells without a heart of their own.

As Young Xehanort himself points out this draws heavily parallels between the toys and Nobodies, both incomplete creatures searching for their missing Half, but this parallel isn't just there to establish why the heartless can possess the empty toys. The point of this Parallel is to answer a question that has haunted the narrative of Kingdom Hearts since the events of KH2, Why does Roxas have a heart?

Roxas, just like his somebody, is an anomaly in the world of Kingdom Hearts. He is a nobody that bears neither the face nor the memories of his original self. He is more shallow than any other nobody, less a body without a heart and more a broken shell. Yet not only was Roxas the first nobody to grow a heart but said heart was his alone. Throughout the events of Days Roxas grows from a barely living husk of a man to one who definitely proclaims his own existence and personhood. And this is thanks to the bonds forged in his first year. Just like how a Toy is given a heart through the eyes of a child Roxas was given a heart by those that were drawn to him. From those he shared ice cream with under the twilight sky, the trio he befriended ever so slightly on a lazy afternoon, the fairy tale heroes his somebody cherished, and even the forgotten longing of brothership from the King of Nothing Roxas began to be shaped by those around him. His soul is learning the rules of the world, the nature of a heart, the simple joys of friendship, the sting of betrayal, and the heartbreak of goodbyes. As Roxas’s newborn heart grew with every day he too gained the ability to see the hearts of others whether it be in the Flurry of Dancing Flames whose false smile became true or the Puppet who became a Real Girl. But perhaps the final proof of Roxas' heart lies with his own “Andy”. Sora at first refused to see his “Woody”, whether it be or out of ignorance or prejudice Sora denied Roxas existence, refusing to heed the clues of the other half or feel his presence in his heart. That is until Roxas forced Sora to acknowledge him. Within the very core of his heart Sora came face to face with Roxas and was forced to acknowledge their connection through the Keyblades in order to win the fight. With Roxas’s tragedy laid before him Sora is at last ready to accept the truth and later on in the realm of sleep acknowledge not only Roxas’s existence but that he has a heart of his own. Just like how Andy gave woody and Buzz hearts by writing his name on them, Sora gives his Nobody a heart by acknowledging him as his own person.

While Toy Box Provides many answers it also raises a new question. If A toy gets its heart from a child’s love what happens when a toy becomes worlds apart from its kid? This question plaques Buzz throughout the events of Toy Box. With every possessed toy they defeat Buzz sees himself in them more and more. He fears that as he continues to drift away from Andy he too will lose his heart and become just another lifeless puppet . Ironically enough it is this very fear of separation that allows the darkness to grow inside Buzz making him another weapon for the heartless. In contrast to Buzz Woody is able to resist the pull of darkness. Woody has already dealt with the fear of separation first through his anxiety over being replaced by Buzz as Andy's favorite toy and second when he became paranoid over the idea of Andy abandoning if he broke. Both events taught Woody something important that yes his time with Andy is not permanent, that someday they will part but that doesn't mean their bond will ever end. Thanks to the events of Toy story 1 and 2 Woody has the resolve to face the hardships of Young Xehanort’s trials and keep his faith in Andy. And this is why Woody is the one to challenge Young Xehanort.

ToyBox is ultimately an encapsulation of the themes of Kingdom Hearts. This can be seen through the many parallels between The World and KH as a series. We’ve already pointed out the connection between the toys and Nobodies but what about how the world is split in two just like in dream drop Distance. Or how about the toy's separation from Andy mirrors Sora’s separation from Riku and Kairi in KH1 with Woody managing to resist the pull to darkness and put his faith in the light because he knows the true strength of a heart thanks to his connections. And lets not forget Buzz’s possession calling back to Riku and Terra’s fall to darkness. Even Buzz’s salvation continues to draw parallels between him and Riku with how they are both saved from the darkness by their friends never giving up on them. Yes Toy Box is a world built up from the ground to parallel the events of Kingdom Hearts, but why is that? Why out of all the other worlds in KH3 was this one chosen to hold a mirror directly to Sora’s journey? Well that's simple because the story of Toy Story is at its core a story about friendship, about how bonds can last forever even if the time spent together is finite.

There is another purpose however for Why Toy Box is set up this way. Toy Box’s main role in the overall narrative of Kingdom Hearts 3 is to be a test trial for his destined clash with Master Xehanort. The main antagonist of Toy Box is Young Xehanort who split the world in two and took the toys away from Andy in order to conduct an experiment. Said experiment was to see whether or not a toy is not only capable of having a heart but if they can carry darkness. This is all done as part of the True Organization's goal to achieve their final vessel but as the world’s story progresses it becomes Clear that Young Xehanort has his own reasons for doing all this. Young Xehnaort wishes to use this experiment to validate himself. Young Xehanort is the earliest version of Xehanort and thus represents his cynical beliefs at their most immature. He believes that not only is darkness the heart’s true nature but that strength comes from isolation. That it is not bonds and connections that make a heart strong but instead the never ending darkness that is born from fighting alone. It is a fundamentally childish ideal not born from understanding but instead self serving cynicism. And that is why Young Xehnort was chosen to be the villain of this world as his childish ideals serve as the perfect test run for Sora, allowing him to confront a weaker version of Xehnort’s ideals and see just how far his own ideals can stand up against him. Ultimately Sora manages to pass the test but not without some help. In the End Woody is the one to ultimately confront Young Xehanort and Save Buzz. Using his maturity Woody is able to shut down Young Xehanort’s childish worldview and break the darkness imprisoning Buzz. So While Sora is victorious in the end it does beg the question, Is Sora truly ready to confront Master Xehanort?

Source

https://www.kh13.com/news/edge-magazine-interviews-tetsuya-nomura-and-tai-yasue-on-pixar-in-kingdom-hearts-iii-the-switch-to-unreal-engine-4-and-more-r2799/

[oliverbluebug]

you want to watch me and @hydrategea 's video essay on comphet in kingdom hearts SO BADLY

[elmocult]

and you don't seem the lying kind / a shame that i can read your mind

(heavily inspired by this post by fungieful i think abt it daily)

[starrieisdelusional]

i love how kh fandom in collectively agrees that the six hour riku is gay video is the best….riku is gay video

[mahikoto]

six rikus...

six hours...

six hearts..

[themistressdove]

Today is the day! To celebrate my birthday and the anniversary of Kingdom Hearts, I present a video on Kairi. I want to thank @/pontiikii on Twitter for this brilliant thumbnail. The video : https://youtu.be/BWcLVPyTDTs?si=Pz45o8bdN9MlT5Ue

[andrewwtca]

Maybe I'm just looking way too deep into this, but I think the reason that BBS uses a command system instead of letting you freely use skills and magic because Masterhood requires you to discipline yourself and do things 'by the book'

And that's why in both BBS and DDD a command system is used, because the primary goals is to become a Master. You want to do things 'correctly' so that you can prove that you really understand how a Keyblade works.

(and also, funnily enough, the ones who seem to have the most freedom in this rigid system is Ven and Sora, who only want to be Masters by association of their friends)

And then in KH3, even though Sora was technically trying to be a Keyblade Master alongside Riku, he goes back to the normal action commands menu, because Sora never truly cared for being a master. But.... even then...

The game lets you play as Riku and Aqua, who have become Keyblade Masters, and the combat system doesn't change (and don't you dare stop me here and say, 'Andrew that's because it would be silly to change a combat system for two briefly playable characters' BECAUSE THAT'S NOT THE POINT). They've grown from the games where they achieved Masterhood and they realized the limitations of their teachers and of Mastery itself.

Aqua realized how fragile the balance truly is and Riku, time and time again, learned that doing things 'by the book' entails completely denying the darkness. Both of their struggles stem from darkness - Aqua rejecting it and Riku being unable to reject it. And they learn that the books were wrong: darkness can't be eliminated. They realize how their teachers have failed them, to an extent, and don't hold themselves to their exact teachings.

But, this is only a small example of breaking the toxic cycle their Masters taught them and RIKU IS STILL THE PRIMARY ONE TO LEAD THE CHANGE TO TRULY ACCEPTING BOTH LIGHT AND DARK (ROAD TO DAWN), AND OF COURSE, RIKU ONLY FINDS THE LIGHT BECAUSE OF SORA AND SORA ALSO HAS DARKNESS HE NEEDS TO ACCEPT, SO THEY'RE BOTH THE ONES TO LEAD THE CHANGE, SO THE COMMAND SYSTEM ACTUALLY PROVES SORIKU ENDGAME ANDliterary analysis is my special interest

[skysmadness]

congratulations riku kingdom hearts

[saaltskies]

every once in a while i remember that i wrote a joshneku essay that was a few pages longer than the max length for the final in my senior year english class in high school and honestly i was so right for that

[steampunker134]

Replaying BBS and I am. Insane.

Every time someone (the game) says that Terra is obsessed with power, I want to gouge my eyes out. Haven’t you been listening to him? Seeing the things he’s doing?? The only thing he’s obsessed with is making his dad proud and Eraqus has filled Terra with the concept that, unless he is Light Alone, then he’s worthless and evil. I need everybody to shut up and love Terra Kingdom Hearts RIGHT NOW his only sin was LOVING HIS FRIENDS and BEING A HIMBO

HE IS NOT THE BAD GUY HERE

[gracer222]

when you finally finish reading all of "That Person" essay by the SoRiku Ultimania and you have to just

[theblueprincess590]

The Fading Melancholy of Summer-An Analysis of KH3

Twilight Town is a very interesting world when you compare it to the rest of the worlds in KH3. Instead of being a sprawling fantasy world Twilight Town is a small town filled to the brim with the locals and traditions. You see the children playing through their final days of summer, families visiting the new bistro, and the whole community coming together for Movie night. And this simplicity is all by design, Twilight Town’s main purpose in KH3 is to reexamine what Sora is fighting for and the melancholy that is intrinsic to said journey.

Sora first travels to Twilight Town in KH3 with the purpose of Finding a way to save Roxas with the rest of the world empathizing why this is So important. When Sora first enters the world he is flooded with a sense of nostalgia, feeling as if it’s been forever since he has visited this world despite him only being gone for a week or two. This is because Sora is feeling what Roxas feels, his love and longing for Twilight Town, the only world he considers his true home. And Sora is all too familiar with this feeling as he too was once taken away from his home, making Roxas a mirror of Sora’s past. And this is why Sora is so personally driven to save Roxas, because for him it is the same as saving a long lost brother. 

Afterwards Sora is reunited with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Upon hearing Roxas’s story and seeing the photo of him with their data doublegangers They are driven to help Save Roxas. But why is that? Why does the Twilight Town Trio wish to save someone they only meet once? Well that simple, in Kingdom hearts connections exist beyond just one version of a person. As shown by Rinzler in Dream Drop Distance Bonds of friendship are so powerful that they not only transcend worlds but time and space. Sora had never met the original version of Tron as the one Sora befriended was a copy, and Rinzler himself isn’t even the original version of Tron, just a dream copy made by the sleeping world. And yet Sora still felt a connection to Rinzler, still saw him as a friend, and so did Rinzler in turn as he gave his life to save Sora’s. The same thing happens with both the real and data versions of Twilight Town. To Roxas the days spent in the Data Twilight Town was the best time of his life. For the first time ever Roxas got to act like a real kid, play with his friends without worry, and enjoy a summer vacation. Though his life there might have been fake his feelings weren't. The friendship he felt with the data copies of Hayner, Pence, and Olette was as real as any other connection, allowing those feelings to transcend the data world and into the real world. Roxas is for more than just Sora’s Nobody, he is his own person who not only has bonds of his own but a place in this world.

Sora’s need to save Roxas is perhaps the most important part of Sora’s motivation in Kingdom Hearts 3 as it exemplifies why Sora fights. Sora is a hero but not in the traditional way of being a great warrior who takes down a giant monster or archives something extraordinary. No Sora is a hero in that he is someone who sees the value in all hearts and constantly fights to save them. Sora does not give up on people, he does not accept the tragic fates of others, nor does he believe people are beyond saving. To him every heart has a light that will never go out and as long as that light still shines Sora will fight for them. This is why Twilight Town’s story is built around empathizing the importance of saving Roxas, because saving people like Roxas are the entire Reason Sora fights. It’s why when confronted by Xemnas and Ansem Sora whole heartedly rejects the idea that Saving Roxas is an act of darkness

Though Roxas isn’t the only reason Sora fights the forces of Darkness. Through Kh3’s depiction of Twilight Town heavy focus is placed on the people and their simple joy. The world is covered head to toe with also sorts of different people just living their lives. You see children playing through the streets, adults gossiping about the latest trends, people enjoying a nice cold sea salt ice cream in the summer heat, families eating at the Bistro, or the entire community coming together to watch movies. Even the gameplay mechanics feed into this sense of community. Twilight town is designed to be a place for you to come back to after every visit and just enjoy some downtime. It's where you go to cook with a little chef, synthesize items with the Moogles, and mail in your prize postcards. It’s also the world that introduces you to the lucky emblems and Classic Kingdom, the only parts of Sora’s journey that are not entangled in the conflict between Light and Darkness.

Twilight Town is a place of peace for Sora, Donald and Goofy, The embodiment of community. These carefree summer days and simple bonds are what Sora fights for, and when they heartless attacks it makes it all the more apparent why Sora can not refuse Xehanort’s call to action. Sora’s return to Twilight Town in Kingdom Hearts 3 is marked by an attack of The Demon Tide. One of the most powerful of Heartless. This monster represents the true horrors that lie within the darkness. A faceless hivemind whose body consists of nothing more than tangled legs that scample around in both pain and pleasure. More soulless than any other heartless The Demon Tide seeks destruction alone, like an avatar of gluttony it consumes not just hearts but all it sees. And as soon as it lays its ghastly tendrils upon the world Twilight Town goes from peaceful suburbs to a battlefield, where the people have vanished and their culture is erased. When the heartless appear, Twilight Town is rendered nothing more than a corpse that is only spared from its fate by Sora’s efforts. Though it is only a temporary victory. The Demon Tide was not vanquished and can always return as long as those that beckon the darkness continue to impose their heart on others.

Sora soon learns what brought The Demon Tide to this world when he comes face to face with two old enemies. It Was Xemnas and Ansem’s mere presence in the world that drew the Demon Tide to it. Xehanort’s return through off the balance between light and darkness, and as he other selves travel between worlds they bring the heartless with them. No world is safe as long as Xehanort continues to spread his heart like plague. As The King of Heartless and the king Nobodies stand before him Sora is faced with a terrible truth, he can not escape his own destiny. Sora must face the 13 seekers of Darkness. If not they will continue to endanger worlds and strip the people of their smiles.

Sora is a hero because he is always fighting for the sake of others. Whether it be for those that share his heart with or strangers he’s just meant. Sora will continue to travel, continue to fight, and continue to risk his life for the sake of others' smiles. Just like when he does tricks on the barrels to make the people of Twilight Town laugh, Sora accepts his cruel fate for the sake of protecting the joy of others. Even if that means he can never truly partake in that happiness himself. 

[soratsuart]

I am normal about Riku Kingdom Hearts

[autumn-may]

love thinking of sad traumatized edgy characters in normal situations but not in a ‘how do you think X event affected the way they handle everyday life’ kinda way but in a ‘what do you think 358/2 days rikus hair care routine is like’ kinda way

[dreamsy990]

so it all comes to this.

to say i was excited to play 3 would be wrong. actually i was sort of dreading the game. i went in with expectations for the worst and was pleasantly surprised. which is not to say that its good. but its certainly a game! that i played! and now you get my thoughts. unfortunately a lot of my thoughts about the end of the game are kind of hard to separate so. if youre wondering where my thoughts on endgame stuff is. its at the end.

(also i havent played remind so theres no remind thoughts here. its all just base game kh3)

combat (with some other gameplay notes)

so. im not a big fan of the combat. to preface, i played the rest of the series on standard, but with kh3 i was told it was easy so i did proud! and yet it was still the easiest kh game.

kh3 is the first game in the series where i feel as though 'mash x to win' is a valid criticism <- thats not entirely true at the start, but later in the game it does feel a lot like that. almost every fight is mindless because of how easy it is. you can see it in the enemy health bars, theyre absurdly large because of how easy it is to take them down. they need to have that high of health so the fight isnt over in under a minute.

i dont think the base combat is bad. unsatisfying, maybe. But not bad. except for attraction commands.

attraction commands feel like part of a pattern in kh3, where they try to recreate what made the other games so good without understanding WHY it was good. what theyre recreating ofc being reaction commands. technically its the same as some reaction commands, sure, being a giant dramatic attack, but it doesnt work because theres no situational awareness in them.

attraction commands dont feel cool because theres nothing in them that requires use of your surroundings or that is tailored to the enemies youre fighting, since theres only a couple that can be used at any time. there's nothing strategic about using them either- reaction commands normally would give you a specific advantage, or could be used to avoid attacks, only sometimes dealing damage on their own. in kh3, all attractions do is deal damage. they are impersonal and often obtrusive- if youre like me and hate attractions, youll still often accidentally use one, since theres no way to disable them.

this is more abstract than anything, but something about attacking feels unsatisfying. the combat feels like it lacks any real sense of impact or weight to me. but thats all personal and not exactly good criticism so. i digress

also the bosses in 3 suck. you know its bad when the most memorable boss fight in your game is the tutorial. most of the boss fights in this game are so unmemorable that ive literally forgotten them. except of course demon tide. i despise demon tide. it was fine in 0.2 but not here. every time you fight it feels like a missed opportunity for something cooler.

i think flowmotion is worse now. i get that it was a bit too overpowered, but with how much it was limited i ended up hardly using it. i didnt like flowmotion because of the attacks, i liked it because of the movement. so to me, it ended up being a reminder of how kh3 failed instead of a fun feature.

also i know a lot of people like being able to switch keyblades in fights, but honestly i feel like it removes an element of strategy the other games had

the ui (and other visual things)

this isnt something i talked about in my other reviews. but in kh3 i must bring it up. if you follow me you may know my hatred for kh3s ui. so im going to talk about it again! this is the abridged version though. heres my whole rant if you want my full thoughts on it. but the short version is that i dont like it. i am someone with terrible vision and i can play every single kh game without glasses because the ui is just big enough that i can read it. most of the time i can read subtitles too. but in 3? i struggle even WITH glasses to read anything. the ui is too small to make out anything almost all the time. its really only by muscle memory that im able to play. my glasses broke while i was playing, and i literally couldnt play until i got new ones because i couldnt make out a single word on screen. its bad design.

im also upset that there ui art has been replaced with renders. its just a shame honestly. i loved the art in the older games. the renders feel bland in comparison.

and thats generally my take on the look of modern kh. sure its pretty, but its bland. kh has always had a certain cartoonish vibe to it thats starting to die out, and i think the shift to unreal engine was the first marker of that change. i like the look of old kh. its not too technically impressive but its incredibly charming. kh3 is anything but. the characters feel far less expressive, the worlds are realistically rendered, it feels unfitting for a series like kh. its hard for me to find kh3 as charming as the other games. the only word i can think of to really describe it is corporate.

i dont know if this is a rare take, but i think technically impressive visuals are far worse than distinct ones. kh used to have a unique look! now it just looks like every other semi-realistically rendered rpg.

story (featuring: more gameplay notes)

my problem with kh3's story was unavoidable really. dream drop distance set this game up for failure and so im not going to complain about dream drop distance. ANOTHER TIME ill talk about dream drop distance. i dont have time to make a post that long. i do have a lot of problems with the story that werent a result of ddd being terrible so i guess ill just bring up those.

one of my biggest issues with the game is how unimportant the roxas plot is. youre led to believe the game will revolve around it but then sora does nothing to further it. at all. at the start he CONSIDERS doing something, and then hes told by ienzo "no its fine ive got it. go do something else" and its barely ever mentioned again until the end.

this relates to my overarching problem with the plot: it feels aimless. in every kh game theres a REASON theyre going on a journey. soras looking for his friends, roxas is working a 9 to 5, the wayfinders are all following each other, etc. but in kh3 sora is looking for "the power of waking". what is the power of waking? i literally have no clue. thats how poorly defined it is. its an abstract goal, its not tangible or even really achievable. its just a macguffin. when the plot suddenly decides to happen at the end the whole journey feels pointless. you could skip every disney world past twilight town and you would probably be fine. it's not a journey, you're not exploring for a purpose, you're just killing time until other people handle the plot.

i also really hate the new organization (i refuse to call them the real organization. theyll never be the org). theyre painfully boring and poorly put together. the old org had structure, they had very specific goals, every member had a purpose. you knew how they worked and why they did what they did. the new org is just completely lacking in that. calling it an 'organization' is stupid because there's nothing organized about it. and even disregarding all that, the new organization also lacks any real personality. the members feel so boring, which sucks, because almost all of them are returning characters who used to be really fun. and why are most of them even there? no one except maybe xigbar seems to actually care about their mission. the old organization had a common goal and a reason everyone was there. they were nobodies, they wanted their hearts back. there's no reason for any of the new members to stick with xehanort. and if you say "well they were norted!" i then must ask. what exactly is norting? like really. it hasnt been possession since birth by sleep. norting is whatever nomura needs it to be in the moment. its not clearly defined, its just another macguffin.

also because i dont know where to put it, the battle of 10,000 heartless is just a terrible successor to the original fight. there's no stakes, no buildup, no friends fighting by your side, no reason to care. they just throw thousands of heartless with no ai at you. literally no ai, if you stand still they wont attack you. its a drag if anything, an homage to a better game done absolutely no justice.

back to what i was saying about the roxas plot, roxas' return is just such a nothing scene. theres nothing about it thats cathartic, his lines are impersonal and bland, theres nothing 'roxas' about it. roxas' defining feature has always been how emotional he is, and there's none of that here. its nothing. and then he does nothing afterwords. he has seven whole lines in this entire game, six of them are in this scene, and the last one is an inconsequential jab at sora at the very end. and then he fades into the background.

the writing in this game in general is actually weirdly worse than normal. it feels a lot less, idk, human? the older games were weird and absurdly cheesy but this is just. strange. look at the scenes with riku and mickey in the realm of darkness and youll see what i mean.

WHILE IM ON THAT SUBJECT. RIKUS KEYBLADE BREAKING IS BULLSHIT. remind me to rant about that another time though im not gonna go on a tangent about that here

also i would give my thoughts on the ending but i literally couldnt care less about xehanort. so i dont really have any! the final boss was alright though

i have more specific thoughts, but generally, the game feels aimless and underwhelming.

positives

i love axel and kairi! theyre a fun duo and ill never shut up about their parallels so seeing them together is nice. i wish they did anything but thats BESIDES the point im being POSITIVE here

also. the music is great. i love the music sm. its nowhere near my favorite kh soundtrack, it feels a lot more grand which isnt my thing but its still some of yoko shimomuras best work. also hearts as one. its the PERFECT conclusion to roxas' theme and arc. the progression of it from melancholic (roxas) to desperate (the other promise) to triumphant (hearts as one) is just so good. i wish the rest of this scene was as good as the music so i could compliment it more wholeheartedly yknow?

its actually funny also! kh isnt the funniest series, most of the time when it IS funny its completely on accident. but kh3 is like days in the way that it just. actually has funny writing. the jokes intended DO land and its just a breath of fresh air.

oh also riku being well adjusted is the funniest possible conclusion to his character arc. 10/10 im so happy hes normal. never give that boy an emo arc again nomura

conclusion

over all, kh3 is exactly like how my teachers described me in elementary school: it has a lot of potential, but doesnt apply itself. this couldve been a decent game but it simply doesnt do most things very well. i give it a 5.2 / 10. its not an actively bad game but its a game i have trouble enjoying. sidenote im retconning my opinion on bbs to say its 4.7 / 10 because a: my opinions have changed and b: i think 3 is better but i dont want to give it a very high score.

[goldensunset]

share ur theories abt khml pleaseeeee im dying over here

ok ok i’m thinking. i’m thinking ummmm

so as pointed out in this post it’s odd that master’s defender is on freya’s weird conspiracy board/wall. seems like she’s gathering and analyzing important things to try to figure something out, right? so what’s particularly and immediately relevant about the founder’s keyblade?

i’m feeling like master’s defender is either 1. missing (even stolen), like that post was talking about or 2. they know exactly where it is but there’s something weird going on with it lately. like is it really just a regular keyblade? surely not

basically i can easily see this item as being central to whatever the conflict of this game is about. it is The Missing Link™️. like it’s clearly culturally very important to the people of scala bc their founder wielded it and he’s been immortalized in a statue holding it, and we know its history (having come from brain, who got it from ava, who may or may not have gotten it from MoM bc of the insignia) is a plenty interesting one. so there’s a lot they can do with it here

we also know its future is clearly an interesting and relevant one because eraqus inherits it. we can be absolutely certain without a doubt it was a nepotism thing as opposed to merit bc it’s been pointed out that he’s a blueblood and also there’s no way that doofus earned it by his own right or whatever lol. so like… khml is surely gonna feature the themes of bloodlines and inheritance, right?

but it’s super interesting bc (presumably) eraqus’s ancestor is brain, right? i mean he could possibly have dual lineage and also be related to ephemer at this point but like i feel like what they’ve been going for all along is that it’s brain. but then you consider how if master’s defender is associated with ephemer then surely his (main) bloodline would be the ones inheriting this keyblade right? assuming they don’t like have it in a museum being treated like a relic or whatever. (also assuming the one ephemer’s statue is holding isn’t literally the keyblade itself baked in there but that’s a thought tangent for another time)

my point being. it seems odd that eraqus would end up with it. that his ancestors would have it. and therefore i’m thinking possibly part of the plot of the game is that brain takes it for himself or something. i mean like it was his first and ephemer himself was like ‘ok i’ll take it but in my mind it still belongs to you’. would it really be in character for brain to steal like that? dunno. but there are a multitude of ways it might go down

like maybe it’s a national treasure-esque situation where he steals it to prevent someone else from stealing it. like he’s just holding onto it for safekeeping and ends up keeping it. alternatively he takes it bc there’s something weird happening with it and he wants to solve the mystery. basically this is how ‘brain gets arrested’ becomes real

much to think about