Did you not look at the opening subject? It's A SURPRISE LIKE NO OTHER, meaning Sora may very well lose and Riku wins.
Also even Yen Sid pointed out Sora was WAY too off from actually BECOMING a Keyblade Master.
Lastly, you do need to not just slaughter everyone to be a Keyblade Master, but you do need to know when something is just too hopeless. Ex. Sora trying to get through to EVIL Riku (it works out but only after Sora fights him), talking with Xemnas, talking with Maleficent. Meaning his kindness and light blinds him from the truth and what needs to be done, which may lead Sora to not complete the Mark of Mastery. Riku on the other hand does a little of both, and reminds me a lot of Eraqus (but he does have the lieness of Terra which may lead to his downfall).
That first sentence only shows that you didn't get what the Mark of Mastery truly is...
there are no winners or losers!
And a SURPRISE LIKE NO OTHER (to keep that all-caps-writing) sounds clearly like something way bigger than just the petty outcome of a mark of mastery exam.
The MoM is only a small part of the game Dream Drop Distance, the main point is the data Ansem the Wise hid in Sora which is said to be the key to save all the suffering people in KH III.
The whole "Realm of Sleep", the Dream Eaters and the worlds submerged in sleep are a very big mystery up to now, especially the fact that some of those worlds were among those destroyed by the heartless. Why weren't those restored at the end of KH 1 with the others?
What about Ansem SoD and Xemnas...the multiple Xehanort's?
We have much more stuff which is deeper than just "fail Mark of Mastery" and, in combination with stuff we already know (or
think we know) from earlier games we might be in for a
real surprise that shakes the very foundation of the series.
When did Yen Sid ever said that? The only thing he mentioned to Mickey is that both Sora and Riku aren't true keyblade masters yet.
Did you even fully read my last post?
Sora did
not try to argue and redeem Maleficent or Xemnas, in fact he saw right through Xemnas's acting charade in KH 2.
Several Org-members, Shan-Yu or Jafar were struck down by him without any hesitation at all.
Riku is Sora's best friend...it's natural for Sora to try to bring him back to his senses, anyone would do that for a friend who isn't a complete jerkass.
Going by your interpretation Aqua would be also unfit for Master because she tried to reason with Terra-Xehanort in Final Episode at first.
