Re: Seven Guardians of Light and Thirteen Seekers of Darkness.
Yeah I think that is what gave him the strength to pull it off, he knew he didn't need to do it long just long enough for Kairi and Co. to get away.
At time is Nomura such a tease. I can wait until we learn more about the "Terra/Xehanort/Eraqus"-mess.
I'm guessing seeing Ansem was a heartless it was easier for him to connect with the darkness to let it swallow Riku's heart. Interesting enough it seemed Riku had a temp body, similar to Sora's, in the realm of darkness, if I remember correctly.
That theory makes sense, but I don't see Eraqus being able to open a gate to the realm of darkness.
It's the most logical explanation.
Nomura is that rather often I'd say instead of only at times, lol. And that's nicely put. Some of the things Nomura pulls off border even on troll-territory.
Riku's heart projected his physical form like it remembered it in the Realm of Darkness, yep. The heart dictates the appearance, as we can see with Roxas who after being born from
Sora's heart took on the physical appearance of the heart left within the body at that time.
Riku gained his real/original body back though when KH's light offed Ansem after the final battle in KH 1.
I also wouldn't attribute that to any conscious doing on Eraqus' part. Terra-Xehanort stabbed himself, thus unlocking the heart conglomerate inside the body in order to kick Terra's heart out, but if I remember correctly the gate to the dark realm was opened by the Guardian, not Terra-Xehanort.
That makes sense, it would also give him more reason to push for his freedom.
I think the fact that Riku welcomed Ansem might have also been an advantage for Riku, seeing Ansem probably thought that he had already won and that's why Riku could still fight back as well as he did even so long after being possesed. Where Terra was fighting it from the beginning meaning Xehanort didn't loosen up at all making it harder to regain just a little control.
I think that's something darkness tends to do, it breads more darkness within someones heart if it's been nurtured enough. That's what makes it so dangerous, because once it gets it fangs into you really good, it won't let go easily. Though as Riku has proven you can overcome it and live with it as a strength. I'm interested in seeing how Terra will handle his darkness in the future.
No you didn't, but I'm not quite sure if I understood what you meant with less supportive than Sora. Aqua definitely went to great lengths to save both and as you stated she had to save Ven first, which Xehanort used to his advantage. The trio was terribly played. It really just wasn't a possibility that it would have ended well for all of them. Sadly...
Yes, because then Terra saw that not
everything was lost yet and if he could shake off Xehanort, maybe he could set things right together with Aqua. Xehanort had other ideas though...
That's certainly also a factor to keep in mind. Ansem SoD and his power came in handy for Riku at first, so Ansem would be content in believing that he has found an obedient vessel. I recall Ansem even acting surprised when he moved against Kairi and Riku projected himself, stopping Ansem's movements.
Yep, although in order to overcome it most people, even Riku, need help from outside, they can't do it all by themselves. In KH 1 it were Sora and Kairi, in Chain of Memories it were Mickey and Naminé who helped Riku.
Terra will probably create more Braigs by shooting bad guys' eyeballs out with dark bullets, rofl. XD
I meant "less supportive" in terms of circumstances, as Sora didn't have that much on his plate than Aqua had. The forms of distrust and wariness Aqua showed in Radiant Garden were actually shown by Sora too in KH 1 towards Riku, during the Pinocchio scenes in Monstro.
And the irony is that Aqua
also failed in that regard as she couldn't prevent Vanitas from forcefully fusing with Ven, leading in the end to Ven's heart being nearly destroyed a second time.
Seems that way.
The similarities and the differences is what makes it interesting, seeing they are similar but they won't necessarily react the same way to the situation.
Yeah that was one of the few grey moments of the series. I mean he had his reasons and the world needed Sora, but in doing so he ended Roxas' existence in the realm of light. I agree that DiZ was acting just like the organization, but I don't think Namine was working on a private agenda she just knew how important it was for Sora to be awaked.
I really hope Kairi joins Sora and Riku as the Tritagonist someday, seeing I really feel we need a female hero in an very important role and it would make sence for it to be her to focus on her Trio.
Gotta deliver one hell of a show.
With the new information from DDD this gets in retrospect even another layer of "grey" as Sora states exactly that Roxas has as much the right to exist as his own independent individual than he himself has. A right which Riku, DiZ and Naminé ignored by favoring Sora, much like Axel (at first) ignored it too by trying to convert Sora into a Heartless to forcefully get Roxas back.
Roxas' statement about "this could have been the other way around" hits into the same spot as right now Roxas is the one who's forced to sleep trapped somewhere, while if DiZ and co. had not forced events the other way would really have come to pass.
I was also never indicating that Naminé was working on a sort of "private agenda", after all, she is the only one of the party to actually show being uneasy about what they're about to do in Days regarding both Roxas and Xion.
I was only pointing out that she, DiZ and Riku do not have the moral high ground over the Organisation as both parties were just using Roxas as a toy/tool for pursuing their goals without any regard for his own wishes.
The only one who so far has shown to considerate Roxas' own wishes is Sora himself in DDD, Axel might be around that corner too, but many of his decisions and actions were also driven by more selfish goals.
Yeah, true that. I liked how the RXA and TVA was presented in their own way and well, SRK just kind of fell off the wagon so to speak. :/
To be completely honest though, RAX was the only trio to be really presented in a
somewhat balanced manner with all three characters getting to interact more than once. The Aqua-Ventus "side" of the TAV-Triangle is very sparsely addressed just like the Kairi-Riku side in SRK.
I heard that, too.. I think it's from previous series. Maybe Vanitas and the other Org.13 members?
Then you heard more than me, as Nomura never indicated anything about new characters. The interview snippets Chaser posted show his statements on the matter.
Not sure about Aeleus, but I think Dilan and Ienzo have a decent chance. Dilan (as Xaldin) adopted Xehanort's douchebag personality, whereas Ienzo (as Zexion) may have grown as a result of Xehanort's influence.
Vanitas isn't confirmed to be a current SoD; that one scene in the cathedral isn't sufficient enough evidence. In fact, I'd be willing to argue that it's likely that he'll be the 13th.
Unless you're going off his yellow eyes?
Well, Dilan was reported by Aeleus as still being unstable, but Ienzo didn't seem to have any malice left in the short screentime he had in DDD.
Even is also unstable, and while he may not be the strongest fighter, he was in the Ansem Reports noted as the apprentice with the greatest interest in Xehanort's memories, the master and creator of the Replica Project, somehow knew in BBS that Ventus has a heart of pure light (and that this state was created artifically) and his practically KH's equivalent of Professor Hojo.
So Even being a darkness is not completely out of the question.
That one scene in the cathedral is very surreal anyways. Nomura only spoke about Ventus' heart reacting inside Sora, and Vanitas "reacting" somehow to Ventus inside Sora, but it is not even confirmed that Sora even "saw" Vanitas at all (his reaction indicates only confusion/irritation at Young Xehanort's words, not surprise of there being a second figure (with his features no less) beside YMX). Right after Sora's reaction, we see only Young MX alone standing there.
The golden eyes (which are very similar to Xehanort's) are a dead give-away though that Vanitas had/has a Xehanort-seed in his heart.
Then there's also to keep in mind that Vanitas was together with Xehanort for four entire years, so Xehanort had enough time to nurture this particular seed by himself.
Neither was KH1 Riku but I don't see you making a case against that.
Besides, why else would they have shown Vanitas there? Like with KH1 Riku, it seemed to be foreshadowing.
I would make a case for Vanitas even more likely than KH 1 Riku, solely because of the golden Xehanort-seed-eyes. KH 1 Riku did not have Xehanort's golden eyes and Ansem's possession was, in comparison to say, Terra's, relatively short.
Well for one, that can't be KH1 Riku because he was bound to fail as a SoD. YMX made that clear when he explained how Riku was the original 13th candidate. Second, that could've been Repliku or Data Riku. Hell, maybe, by some chance, he isn't even a SoD. All we know is that he has the iconic black cloak, which in itself isn't concrete evidence.
Also, him disappearing wasn't at all similar to Vanitas' disappearance. Vanitas vanished as if he literally wasn't there, or as if he was a construction of Sora's mind. The Riku in question used a CoD. Thus, their existences are very different in nature
Believe me, I also think he's one of the SoD's. Well, more like, the future 13th one. The most important thing to note about Vanitas is that he doesn't have a physical existence in the present, so his ability to time-travel to the present is up for debate.
Right, YMX was going through all the candidates they considered for the 13th position. First Riku, who developed a resistance, then Roxas, who became uncontrollable before anything could be done and then Sora.
That "Riku" disappeared through a dark corridor though, much like Ansem and Xemnas do throughout DDD in the dream world, so maybe it is really the Replica, as he
was a product of the Organisation after all.
Vanitas only flickered there beside Young MX for a few seconds. Based on Sora's reaction I'm not even sure that Sora actually saw him. Nomura stated that Ventus' heart inside Sora was reacting to Young Xehanort and Vanitas in turn reacting to Ventus inside Sora, so it's entirely possibly that Ventus' heart "saw" Vanitas while Sora only saw Young Xehanort:
DDD Ultimania said:
— Why did Xehanort and co. word things as if to try and wake Ventus who is inside Sora?Nomura: They did so in order to tempt Sora’s heart and have it fall to the darkness. In the story it also talks about how abandoning the self leads to losing the heart. When you see Vanitas (the dark half of Ventus who appeared in KHBBS) overlay Young Xehanort for a moment, that represents Ventus’ heart reacting inside Sora.
This together with Adrian's Famitsu-snippet of Nomura speaking about Vanitas makes the whole scene very iffy and tells us nothing about Vanitas except that his sense of self apparently still exists and that he is capable of reacting "somehow" to Ventus when his heart inside Sora stirs.
How could all the other Xehanort-vessels travel to the present? For this there needs to be a version existing, and it DOES: The revived Saix and Xigbar can count as "Xehanort", so Young MX, Ansem and Xemnas can travel to them into the present. Seeing that Vanitas has pretty likely an advanced Xehanort-Seed, he could be counted more as a "Xehanort" and therefore being present at the meeting in TWTNW.
