But my point is that there is no indication that Data Riku even knows about any of the information that Data Roxas and Data Namine know about. It's possible that Data Riku was later was told about the information by someone else, but I don't see why the Data Riku would need to be the messenger for whoever told him about the information.
Oh, Data Riku does know...because he IS the Journal. Everything that happened in Coded is inside Data Riku because he is the manifestation of the whole Journal.
He has all that data/information inside him.
That's why the Data Riku would be the most suitable messenger, he has the complete information from all perspectives inside him.
I think Mickey and Yensid will explain all the necessary information from Re:coded to Riku and Sora before they take the Mark of Mastery exam. I can envision Yensid using his holograms to show the different sets of those in torment and describing them to Sora and Riku in a manner very similar to how Yensid described Heartless, Nobodies, and the Organization to Sora, Donald, and Goofy in KH2.
That is of course another possible way to do it...but also a pretty round-abound way for Mickey to first tell Yen Sid and then HE tells it to Sora and Riku.
I personally think that Eraqus is going to have his fate resolved in a positive way too. I was fine with accepting Eraqus as being gone forever, but Nomura for whatever reason decided to have Eraqus' heart go within Terra or whatever, so I think Nomura has some sort of long term plan to undo almost all the damage done in BBS... and perhaps even the entire series. It really does seem like the series is working its way towards a very Disney-like resolution where pretty much everyone gets a happy ending.
Yeah, fact is his essence still exists in some way. However, that he comes back completely in the physical world isn't a give yet. I think the only four people we can be absolutely sure about that will come back as a full physical existence in the Realm of Light are Aqua, Ansem the Wise, Terra and Ventus.
The others, especially the incompletes, may get a chance if there is a way constructed for them to allow it but it's not a sure-fire thing yet.
That Nomura has a sort of long-term overall plan since he finished KH2 has already been stated several times, so I think it's safely to assume that.
Although "undoing" the damage of BBS itself is hardly possible except by reversing time. The consequences of most of it can be remedied and the BBS-Trio given relief, yes, but i.e. Terra being possessed and having to fight for over 10 years or Ventus having his heart shattered twice can't really be "undone".
The impact and memories of the damage done to them will always remain.
Much "damage" done in the series can be indeed lead to a higher purpose that in the end shows us the initial damage was
necessary to get to an overall better solution.
Remember the phrase: "In order to be reborn you need to die/disappear first"?
Eraqus is another reason why I think the Riku Replica will have his fate resolved in a positive way. Eraqus may not be included among those in torment, but Eraqus' heart was clearly kept in the series for some reason. I think if some fans are expecting Eraqus to have a more positive fate, then that would suggest there are characters who will be freed from torment that aren't on the list of those in torment. As for the Riku Replica, I was fine with letting his fate remain unchanged, but since someone as irrelevant as Xion is going to get a more positive resolution, I figured "Why not the Riku Replica too while we're at it?"
Yes, and one obvious reason apparently was in order to help Terra resisting Master Xehanort for longer. Eraqus's heart may even have been a factor in Terra-Xehanort failing to expel Terra's heart at the end of the Final Episode in BBS.
Eraqus not being on the list could have also the reason that he's not connected to Sora though, like Riku Replica.
While connecting your hearts to others is apparently an ability all hearts can do, only Sora and Xehanort exhibit it in such a severe, apparently universal-meaning way.
Well, with Eraqus and Xion there were more or less implicated tidbits of them having further roles by the secret endings while Repliku hadn't that, but this may also stem from the reason that Nomura made the overaching further going plot only after he finished KH2...CoM was before that.
Xion and the Riku Replica are pretty much the same. Sure the Riku Replica didn't have a fake Keyblade or ability to transform, but all that are mostly superficial traits if that makes any sense. Xion and the Riku Replica both have heart. They're both Replicas. They both had tragic fates. They're essentially the same in every way that matters, and Xion being connected to Sora's heart seems like such an unfair determining factor for Xion getting a positive fate and not the Riku Replica.
Superficial? These traits were closely connected to the power of Sora's memories which were the power source of Xion. Their type of being is the same, true, and they both had a fake heart (hey, who says it can't be turned into a true one if even DATA existences can gain a heart?)
It looks certainly the way though that Xion being this close connected to Sora IS what makes the decisive difference in terms of "matters" no matter how unfair that reasoning may sound.
Replicas fade away much like nobodies, so it looks much like the way that the main reasons Xion, Naminé and Roxas are even
able to be saved is because they didn't fade into darkness but came to rest into Sora's and (in Naminé's case) Kairi's hearts.
EDIT:
Uh, it's not
Axel coming back. Axel faded into darkness...it's
Lea coming back actually. And he's not in the RoS but in the RoL where Mickey, Maleficent and co. are.
