Firstly, the fact that he's sitting on the clock tower with three of his victims (especially Xion as he was
horrendous to her in Days) made me emotionally ill to witness. Then later he's even included in the Destiny Island scene. My issue is that he had
no redemption arc to get to these points. It was just instant forgiveness from the narrative as well as RAX. Also Xion (of all people) and Roxas actually looked visibly sad at his 'death'. I'm like wtf are you doing Noruma?! Ugh.
Riku, and even Lea, had to slog through a redemption arc spanning several games to made amends for their evil, but Saix gets his handed to him on a silver platter.
Also the reason they gave to try to make him sympathetic came off like a gigantic asspull. If there was ever a perfect rendition of a retcon that was definitely it. Since KH
ays was about the organization that was the
perfect game to go into Saix and Axel’s backstory as well as to
humanize Saix. At least when he was by himself, with Axel, or in his secret reports so that when we get to this game it wouldn’t feel so jarring to see this evil character trying to pull a sympathy play at the last minute. It just all felt like bs to me to try to make a character sympathetic without doing the actually redemptive leg work to get there.
I know some people are going to say but that’s Isa in those end scenes so it’s fine, and sure that’s
technically true, but it’s still very unnerving to witness because his Nobody was just so disgusting.
Saix behavior was very abusive towards Xion and Roxas so it’s just hard to take their main antagonizer sitting cool as you please with them like they're friends now.
When I see the guy who emotionally abused two 15 year old children for an entire year, as well as trying to get them to kill each other,
now eating ice cream with them then I need more than a clocktower scene convo, and a 'I was jealous love me' while I die in your arms sympathy play.
The tower and then the destiny island montage is a redemptive reward that could have happened a game or two later,but
not in this one. Before the ending clock tower scene they could have showed something like Saix waking back up as Isa in RG, and Lea could be waiting on him. He smiles at Isa and says Welcome Back. Then Isa gives a slight smile in return before the scene fades to the RAX scene with HPO. This way atonement can be a true possibility, but it's a slow burn instead of the off the grid one we got in this game.
Vexen/Even's and Ienzo’s redemption's were more bearable because we were
shown theirs, but we’re only
told Saix's, and there lies the problem. All his supposedly good deeds are done
off screen. Nomura erred with this because Saix was too much of horrible person for all of his sympathy plays to be in the background where we the viewer can’t even see it go down.
I’m not saying he shouldn’t get to make amends at all, because that wouldn’t be fair, but that he should
earn it and this game failed pretty strongly at that.
I can accept that he's the Riku of he and Lea's possible Trio, but it's just he pretty much gets a slap on the wrist for being a garbage pail in every game he's been featured in, and said wrist slap came from his victims no less. It all just rubbed me the wrong way.
Also is just me or does Vexen's report, as well as Saix and Axel's clock-tower scene, imply Saix gave his heart up of his own free will both times?
The only saving grace Saix had in the sympathy department were the initial implication that he and Axel were victims of Ansem and his apprentice's experiments, and that's how their hearts got taken hence him begging for his back at his 'death' in Kh2. Also in Re:Coded we see him getting kidnapped so that it looks like his humanity is snatched from him against his will yet again.
However, if the implication in the clock tower scene and reports are true then they both gave their humanity up
willingly to somehow save a girl they met
once, and who we didn't even meet in a flashback. It further hurts Saix case when the implications are also that he is the one whose idea it was to become walking nightmares so they could somehow save this missing retcon, and Lea just went along with it.
Further implying he wasn't heart napped against his will is that not
once at any point in the game or secret reports does he ever talk about having his heart back, but then having it taken away again in the span of moments. Nor does he say anything about what's it's like serving this monster again or that he and his old friend are forced to be on opposite sides. However, we do get him waxing poetic about a retcon girl because that's more important than your lost humanity, your lost friendship, and being forced to bring about the end of worlds.
Also the perfect time to make Saix sympathetic was through his human-self, and they couldn't even do that.
Isa was a little jerk in BBS. All he did was make me wonder why Lea was friends with him in the first place. Which leads me to...
Lea doesn't mention Isa, and his nortification predicament, even
once throughout the entire game. However, he stayed having visible sadness for Roxas and Xion. This just ties into something I've
always thought, and it's that Axel and Saix being best friends came out of nowhere. It seemed like it was only added to give Axel's character more angst in KH
ays.
Also I’m already making the prediction. Watch Isa get a keyblade in later installments. His asspull reason for being trash
now makes him part of a trio of two wielders so yep he’s getting one to so just watch.
Why does he still have Xehanort's X shaped mark on his head as a human? Honestly it just gives more credence to me that he willingly became a Nobody.
Furthermore while he looks nice in it (I mean Saix/Isa was never ugly) what is he wearing in the ending? Is it a tracksuit? That’s really cheesy and doesn’t really seem like something his character would wear.
On another note I love that the two people Axel gets lambasted for ‘murdering’ in Re:Com are the
very two that are responsible for his friends coming back to life. Not only that but he is also the reason his ‘victims’ are back as humans to.
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