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The recent story update's got my noggin joggin' and late last night I think I hit the jackpot.
I want to answer just a few questions in this theory:
Who is Darkness?
Who killed Strelitzia?
Why does Ventus harbor such a strong darkness as Vanitas?
Where is the χ-blade?
What do the Union Leaders' names really mean?
Let's tackle that last one first:
Ventus, as we're all aware, means "wind" in Latin.
Ephemera is an English word meaning "things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time."
Skuld is Old Norse for "debt" or "future," coming from one of the three Norn who are said to decide the fates of people.
Lauriam is of course the anagram of Marluxia without the X.
And Blaine traces back to the Gaelic word blá, meaning "yellow."
This theory will incorporate all of the above, save for Lauriam which kind of has no real narrative purpose.
Next, I want to bring us all back a ways to the Rebirth theory. The idea was that the matching color schemes between the Foretellers and our main heroes in the present signified a link between the two, interpreted as a cycle of reincarnation.
I'm going to use the same color scheme starting point, but steer in a very different direction.
And it's all about Gula.
Since Ventus originates in the age of fairytales, Rebirth is well and truly out of the question. But, that doesn't mean there can't be a connection between these characters.
I posit that Gula is Ven's older brother. There isn't any hard evidence, but I'm going somewhere with this, trust.
Gula at the end of χ[chi] becomes disenfranchised, but upon meeting him in the War, seems much more high-spirited, while also being careful not to get "sketchy." After fighting him, he bids the Player farewell, specifically saying "Well, maybe we'll meet again somewhere." Gula implies here that he intends to survive the War.
What could have brought this change in him?
Well, perhaps a certain newly-appointed Union Leader stumbled into his dark storehouse, and he saw an opportunity.
Oh yes. Gula killed Strelitzia, and took her rulebook to pose as a Union Leader. But who?
Blaine. Yellow. SENA will never take this name from me.
One of the first things Blaine does is produce his rulebook, an attempt to establish his legitimacy before anything else. Then, he follows up by likening Skuld to Ava, something Gula had said once before.
These are big hints, especially the thing about Ava. She was the easiest Foreteller to talk to as she told Ephemera, but how many wielders would actually know her that well? Ventus says earlier, "I never really spoke with Lady Ava much either. I don't actually know what she was like."
But why is he doing this?
What did Gula want in χ Back Cover, a goal he wanted to meet regardless of the means?
To summon Kingdom Hearts. To force the Master to come back.
Upon returning to the Foretellers' study, Blaine(Gula) makes a beeline for the Book of Prophecies, presumably the Master's copy which contained information not found in the others'.
From this, he quickly discovers and recommends the use of Dream Eaters, to snuff out the tragedies of before (conveniently erasing his crime in the process).
But what else can Blaine find in the Book?
Let's run it back to this interview shortly after 2.8 came out. "The Master is aware about [the χ-blade's] existence."
It stands to reason that somewhere inside the Master's Book is a passage describing the χ-blade.
I imagine Blaine found this passage, and subsequently endeavors to forge the χ-blade to summon Kingdom Hearts.
Do you remember how Xehanort thought he could forge the χ-blade using two components (equal halves light and darkness)? Well that certainly didn't come from nowhere, and it would have worked had Ventus and Aqua not fought so hard to stop it.
I think Gula will attempt the same recipe, and poor Ventus is once again the requisite Light.
Which makes Gula... the Darkness.
I believe the union will be completed this time, and it will be up to Ephemera, Skuld, Lauriam, Elrena and Player to put a stop to Gula's madness.
This clash with shatter the χ-blade, tear the World asunder, likely kill both Player and Ephemera, and leave Lauriam and Elrena heavily injured and their memories wiped.
(This is why Ven is "scared to death" by just the thought of the χ-blade in BbS, despite not even knowing what it is.)
Skuld and Ventus will take on the responsibility of repairing as much of the World as they can, but as the future becomes unclear, Ventus will volunteer to enter the Realm of Sleep with the Dandelions to protect them for the future, though this will ultimately lead to Ven's own memories disappearing (likely because of Dream Eaters).
Gula, meanwhile, is stuck inside of Ventus, a festering and terrifyingly strong darkness that an old Master will eventually recognize and release.
In Kingdom Hearts III he'll regain his memories and once again call Ventus his "brother."
Anyway that was me piecing together a lot of admittedly disparate elements and clues.
But I think it checks out for the most part.
Hopefully I don't look dumb a month from now.
I want to answer just a few questions in this theory:
Who is Darkness?
Who killed Strelitzia?
Why does Ventus harbor such a strong darkness as Vanitas?
Where is the χ-blade?
What do the Union Leaders' names really mean?
Let's tackle that last one first:
Ventus, as we're all aware, means "wind" in Latin.
Ephemera is an English word meaning "things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time."
Skuld is Old Norse for "debt" or "future," coming from one of the three Norn who are said to decide the fates of people.
Lauriam is of course the anagram of Marluxia without the X.
And Blaine traces back to the Gaelic word blá, meaning "yellow."
This theory will incorporate all of the above, save for Lauriam which kind of has no real narrative purpose.
Next, I want to bring us all back a ways to the Rebirth theory. The idea was that the matching color schemes between the Foretellers and our main heroes in the present signified a link between the two, interpreted as a cycle of reincarnation.
I'm going to use the same color scheme starting point, but steer in a very different direction.
And it's all about Gula.
Since Ventus originates in the age of fairytales, Rebirth is well and truly out of the question. But, that doesn't mean there can't be a connection between these characters.
I posit that Gula is Ven's older brother. There isn't any hard evidence, but I'm going somewhere with this, trust.
Gula at the end of χ[chi] becomes disenfranchised, but upon meeting him in the War, seems much more high-spirited, while also being careful not to get "sketchy." After fighting him, he bids the Player farewell, specifically saying "Well, maybe we'll meet again somewhere." Gula implies here that he intends to survive the War.
What could have brought this change in him?
Well, perhaps a certain newly-appointed Union Leader stumbled into his dark storehouse, and he saw an opportunity.
Oh yes. Gula killed Strelitzia, and took her rulebook to pose as a Union Leader. But who?
Blaine. Yellow. SENA will never take this name from me.
One of the first things Blaine does is produce his rulebook, an attempt to establish his legitimacy before anything else. Then, he follows up by likening Skuld to Ava, something Gula had said once before.
These are big hints, especially the thing about Ava. She was the easiest Foreteller to talk to as she told Ephemera, but how many wielders would actually know her that well? Ventus says earlier, "I never really spoke with Lady Ava much either. I don't actually know what she was like."
But why is he doing this?
What did Gula want in χ Back Cover, a goal he wanted to meet regardless of the means?
To summon Kingdom Hearts. To force the Master to come back.
Upon returning to the Foretellers' study, Blaine(Gula) makes a beeline for the Book of Prophecies, presumably the Master's copy which contained information not found in the others'.
From this, he quickly discovers and recommends the use of Dream Eaters, to snuff out the tragedies of before (conveniently erasing his crime in the process).
But what else can Blaine find in the Book?
Let's run it back to this interview shortly after 2.8 came out. "The Master is aware about [the χ-blade's] existence."
It stands to reason that somewhere inside the Master's Book is a passage describing the χ-blade.
I imagine Blaine found this passage, and subsequently endeavors to forge the χ-blade to summon Kingdom Hearts.
Do you remember how Xehanort thought he could forge the χ-blade using two components (equal halves light and darkness)? Well that certainly didn't come from nowhere, and it would have worked had Ventus and Aqua not fought so hard to stop it.
I think Gula will attempt the same recipe, and poor Ventus is once again the requisite Light.
Which makes Gula... the Darkness.
I believe the union will be completed this time, and it will be up to Ephemera, Skuld, Lauriam, Elrena and Player to put a stop to Gula's madness.
This clash with shatter the χ-blade, tear the World asunder, likely kill both Player and Ephemera, and leave Lauriam and Elrena heavily injured and their memories wiped.
(This is why Ven is "scared to death" by just the thought of the χ-blade in BbS, despite not even knowing what it is.)
Skuld and Ventus will take on the responsibility of repairing as much of the World as they can, but as the future becomes unclear, Ventus will volunteer to enter the Realm of Sleep with the Dandelions to protect them for the future, though this will ultimately lead to Ven's own memories disappearing (likely because of Dream Eaters).
Gula, meanwhile, is stuck inside of Ventus, a festering and terrifyingly strong darkness that an old Master will eventually recognize and release.
In Kingdom Hearts III he'll regain his memories and once again call Ventus his "brother."
Anyway that was me piecing together a lot of admittedly disparate elements and clues.
But I think it checks out for the most part.
Hopefully I don't look dumb a month from now.