The other day I was lost in thought, pondering lots of things. One of them was “how would a hypothetical KINGDOM HEARTS III, without the existence of Days, Birth by Sleep, DDD, coded and KHx function?â€. I was wondering this myself, and decided to try and answer this question.
One of the obvious differences would be the characters. Through the Secret Ansem Reports we learned that, after you banish the Heartless and Nobody of an individual, there’s a possibility that person can return as a whole person (or as a “Somebodyâ€, as we used to call them back in the day). With this in mind, we knew that Ansem’s apprentice, Apprentice Xehanort, was going to make a comeback in the imminent KHIII because we banished his Hearltess, Ansem Seeker of Darkness, and his Nobody, Xemnas. It is to my belief that, if Xehanort would have returned as the simple individual that challenged his master’s orders, the series’ narrative would have concluded very simplistically. It would have been a third game of “the hero Vs. the villainâ€.
Which is why Birth by Sleep introduced Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Eraqus, Vanitas and Master Xehanort. To expand the series’ lore. After those games, we learned Xehanort’s true identity: a Keyblade Master possessing a younger body in order to live on and utilize the power of the xblade and Kingdom Hearts. But he failed. Terra stabbed himself to try and separate Xehanort’s heart from his body, but ended up locking both their memories, and creating an amnesiac Terra-Xehanort, giving birth to the persona of “Apprentice Xehanortâ€. BBS also ended tragically. Aqua stuck in the Realm of Darkness, a comatosed Ventus, and Eraqus dead, but living on in Terra’s heart.
Now KH3’s tension changes from “hero Vs. bad guyâ€, to rescuing those that are in need of our saving, to mend the suffering of the hurt.
This brings me to Days. Even though Days was utilized as a means to develop the relationship between Axel and Roxas, it also introduced the character Xion. Days adds to KH3’s tension the fact that Sora now has to rescue both his Nobody and a replica of himself, for both deserve a chance in existing after all they’ve been through.
As to coded, with the ReMix II.5 new ending, it means that the Datascape will play a key role in KH3, and will make Maleficent and Pete relevant again.
DDD is the obvious tip of the iceberg. It revealed Master Xehanort’s true intentions behind the Organization: to gather thirteen worthy vessels for him to divide his heart to in order to fulfill the prophecy surrounding the xblade: on that land where Seven Guardians of Light and Thirteen Seekers of Darkness shall wage war and summon the xblade. He will try to do this by utilizing his time traveling powers.
As for KHx, we’ve yet to see how it will relate to the present time tension, but as the other games have done, it will definitely add to the general story.
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In conclusion, we can say that the games before KH3 have diversified the plot. I personally think this has transformed the series’ narrative into something less simplistic.
But what about you? What are your thoughts? Should we have skipped from 2 to 3, or do you like how the series’ story has been managed?
One of the obvious differences would be the characters. Through the Secret Ansem Reports we learned that, after you banish the Heartless and Nobody of an individual, there’s a possibility that person can return as a whole person (or as a “Somebodyâ€, as we used to call them back in the day). With this in mind, we knew that Ansem’s apprentice, Apprentice Xehanort, was going to make a comeback in the imminent KHIII because we banished his Hearltess, Ansem Seeker of Darkness, and his Nobody, Xemnas. It is to my belief that, if Xehanort would have returned as the simple individual that challenged his master’s orders, the series’ narrative would have concluded very simplistically. It would have been a third game of “the hero Vs. the villainâ€.
Which is why Birth by Sleep introduced Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Eraqus, Vanitas and Master Xehanort. To expand the series’ lore. After those games, we learned Xehanort’s true identity: a Keyblade Master possessing a younger body in order to live on and utilize the power of the xblade and Kingdom Hearts. But he failed. Terra stabbed himself to try and separate Xehanort’s heart from his body, but ended up locking both their memories, and creating an amnesiac Terra-Xehanort, giving birth to the persona of “Apprentice Xehanortâ€. BBS also ended tragically. Aqua stuck in the Realm of Darkness, a comatosed Ventus, and Eraqus dead, but living on in Terra’s heart.
Now KH3’s tension changes from “hero Vs. bad guyâ€, to rescuing those that are in need of our saving, to mend the suffering of the hurt.
This brings me to Days. Even though Days was utilized as a means to develop the relationship between Axel and Roxas, it also introduced the character Xion. Days adds to KH3’s tension the fact that Sora now has to rescue both his Nobody and a replica of himself, for both deserve a chance in existing after all they’ve been through.
As to coded, with the ReMix II.5 new ending, it means that the Datascape will play a key role in KH3, and will make Maleficent and Pete relevant again.
DDD is the obvious tip of the iceberg. It revealed Master Xehanort’s true intentions behind the Organization: to gather thirteen worthy vessels for him to divide his heart to in order to fulfill the prophecy surrounding the xblade: on that land where Seven Guardians of Light and Thirteen Seekers of Darkness shall wage war and summon the xblade. He will try to do this by utilizing his time traveling powers.
As for KHx, we’ve yet to see how it will relate to the present time tension, but as the other games have done, it will definitely add to the general story.
---
In conclusion, we can say that the games before KH3 have diversified the plot. I personally think this has transformed the series’ narrative into something less simplistic.
But what about you? What are your thoughts? Should we have skipped from 2 to 3, or do you like how the series’ story has been managed?
