Yeah. If not a cameo, then some level of an explanation for their absence is definitely in order. I find it hard to believe they would just... leave the castle empty/unguarded, or just hand it over to the newly restored apprentices, considering what they've done in the past. Weren't they essentially the ones leading RG in AtW's absence?
They were.
And what gets me the most about this is it'd take very little time to explain. Just having Ienzo talk about the restoration, the committee, and, say, he heard they left for the mainland (that road we see in BBS has to go somewhere) before the apprentices returned. All of that can easily be done in under a minute.
Honestly, that's a whole discussion all on it's own, but is all the more reason they really shouldn't have been entirely absent from KH3. Regardless of how Nomura feels about there being "too many" characters in the game as it is (even if most of them were barely in it, barely said anything, didn't do anything, or in some cases didn't even say anything), it damages the believability of the story if you just go cutting out entire important groups of people without a trace like that. I doubt he fully thought out how such a decision would affect the story, so much as he just looked at the numbers and went like: "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't we have enough already?! Besides, the fans care more about the original characters anyway, right?" Gotta work smarter and not harder I guess..
I wish Nomura could see that how many plotlines/characters there are doesn't equate to how much time those things actually take to address.
An extended interaction between Riku and the apprentices would definitely be in order too. This might also give an opportunity for Dolan
and Aeleus to speak and actually voice their own thoughts for once in the game. I'll never get over how they kept entirely mute, despite clearly being in emotional shock at their Master's return. Aeleus' Nobody may be the "Silent Hero," but he's not so closed he doesn't speak when spoken too, or when prompted. Even moreso with Dilan.
Then it pans to Aeleus like he's gonna say something but Ienzo speaks and I'm just like "kid, I know it's you. Your Aeleus impression is horrible."
What's kinda funny specifically about Dilan is Nomura could have just left him sleeping throughout KH3. He was unstable and resting in DDD, so Nomura had an excuse ready if he really didn't want to use him. I'd rather him wake up during the credits confused over all he missed.
Also, Lexeaus knocking Riku out cold is one of the most brutal moments in the series, and is probably the only time I legitimately thought a character might've gotten their bones shattered, lol. I wonder.. is it even
possible for Riku to forget something like that?
Riku
did pass out from hitting the ceiling, so it's possible he could legit not remember it happening.
I still don't even fully understand what a worldline is in it's most basic definition, so I hope that's not shoved into KH3, lest it's narrative become more cluttered with nonsense than it already is. I'm not expecting much at this point, but if nothing else, please just let it be some sort of rewrite.
Ugh, I know... Nomura just introduces a new term that could mean who knows what to the plot, and it's infuriating.
When I hear the word "worldline" my mind immediately jumps to parallel/branched timelines shenanigans and I'm so not down with that.
The best case scenario would be Nomura's being a dick with terms and "worldline" actually just means different eras.
