Something sorta obvious and really dark I noticed from the demo footage...

[Oathkeyper97]

Chances are everyone else who saw the cutscenes from the 0.2 demo already mentioned this, but I figured I'd make a thread since I found it so interesting.

After reaching the castle, Aqua looks back to the town and wonders where all of the townspeople went. Since they were nowhere to be seen, she assumes that they managed to escape danger somehow, and decides to take solace in that.

For some reason, it only JUST hit me. They didn't escape. When the Castle of Dreams fell into Darkness, that was it. They all lost their hearts and their darkness manifested as Heartless. Which she just slaughtered while looking for a way forward. The thing that I found super interesting about this realization is that Aqua doesn't get it. How could she? She doesn't know how Heartless work. It's similar to how she's still convinced that Terra made it back to the Realm of Light safely. So she turns around to walk into the castle with a smile on her face, when in reality she's wrong about it all.

Looking forward, she's most likely going to discover the reality of the entire situation at some point, say, when someone explains it to her. And it will probably mess her up big time. Like, serious traumatic realizations are gonna go down and it isn't gonna be pretty for our favorite blue-haired Master.

So yeah, this thread might be kinda on the pointless side, but man, that one cutscene really made this prologue way deeper than I originally anticipated.

 

[Muke]

W-whoa. I never thought about that! Oh fuck. I hope this really will happen, I will be disappointed if not.

 

[Dandelion]

Well, to be fair, not all of the inhabitants fell when the world did.

I'm not sure what happens to people when their world falls. All Nomura's said is that time stops for them. It's a sad thought to think that Aqua could be attacking anybody, but, slaying them with the Keyblade is also the only chance they have of being recompleted.

Well, I mean, aside from what Sora did at the end of the first game which pretty much fixed most of what we're talking about, but yeah Aqua wouldn't know that

 

[alexis.anagram]

Not necessarily true, for a couple of reasons. Citizens of Castle of Dreams may have made it to a world like Traverse Town the same way Sora did. Aside from that, the Heartless which Aqua fights there are all Purebloods which occupy the Realm of Darkness naturally, so it's impossible to distinguish which (if any of them) are fallen denizens from the Realm of Light (I'm not even sure if Purebloods form from stolen hearts, that might only be Emblems). Lastly, since Aqua is using the Keyblade to defeat them, their hearts would actually be released from the darkness and returned to Kingdom Hearts where they belong, and most likely restored to Castle of Dreams when it was brought back to the Realm of Light at the end of KH1 after Sora saved the universe, same as everyone on Destiny Islands and so on.

Basically, Aqua has nothing to feel guilty over regardless.

 

[Mirashade]

That is a very likely realization, and I didn't think of that either! I had assumed she was correct when considering that we know Fairy Godmother made it out to Traverse Town, but there were many other people that could've been unable to escape the world and turned into heartless.

Aqua would not know the nature of heartless due to being isolated in the RoD since before Xehanort's experimentation with them. Obviously she shouldn't feel guilty about defeating them, considering the keyblade frees their hearts, but I'm sure learning that the world's inhabitants had suffered such a fate unbeknownst to her would still be quite upsetting!

 

[VoidGear.]

Lol, this thread just gave me some serious Attack on Titan vibes.

I agree that if she found out what the heartess actually are, this might devastate her...sadly though, I fear they won't give it too much note.

 

[Chuuya]

There are two possible ways of what happened to those people. Either you're right and they became the Heartless that Aqua was fighting, or those people made it to Traverse Town.

 

[Deleted member 244427]

Hasn't it been pointed out several times before in franchise that there were many lives and worlds which were lost into darkness and couldnt get out? Although, to think that Aqua is really slaying remnants of those living things trapped in RoD gives this game very dark settings, they propably overlooked it.

 

[Dandelion]

Hasn't it been pointed out several times before in franchise that there were many lives and worlds which were lost into darkness and couldnt get out? Although, to think that Aqua is really slaying remnants of those living things trapped in RoD gives this game very dark settings, they propably overlooked it.

Not really. That didn't start happening until after Birth By Sleep and Sora mostly solved in KH1 and KH2.

 

[BlackOsprey]

Hasn't it been pointed out several times before in franchise that there were many lives and worlds which were lost into darkness and couldnt get out? Although, to think that Aqua is really slaying remnants of those living things trapped in RoD gives this game very dark settings, they propably overlooked it.

From what I can tell, if you're still on your world when it gets swallowed by the darkness, you don't turn into a Heartless or whatever, you just kinda vanish with the world and go into a state of sleep (or become a summon gem if you're a main protagonist). The Heartless running around this smashed-up world amalgamation are mostly stolen hearts.

 

[kirabook]

Yes, I noticed this too. I'm not sure if it's true or not (that the inhabitants have turned into heartless), but my logic is telling me it's very likely? Yeah, they're purebreed heartless, but purebreed take hearts too, and they are in the realm of darkness. When your heart is stolen, do you not turn into a heartless? (save the Princesses of Heart?)

Not EVERYONE fell into darkness like the world did, but I'm pretty sure they stated only a lucky few manage to make it to a place like Traverse town, and even fewer end up in summoning stones.

When I first saw the scene... I thought it was particularly interesting that they had Aqua point out where all the people could have gone. My first instinct was to joke about how Aqua didn't notice the empty coliseum, but then I thought... "Hey wait, they're having her bring this up. They're going to address this situation."

Of course, Aqua has no idea what the heartless are. She doesn't even know they're called heartless but she knows they aren't unversed. If the game decides to go in a direction where Aqua feels like she's slaying people (though she's actually freeing them from darkness), it would fulfill my fanfic dreams of watching my favorite character going through trauma. A little.

 

[BlackOsprey]

Yes, I noticed this too. I'm not sure if it's true or not (that the inhabitants have turned into heartless), but my logic is telling me it's very likely? Yeah, they're purebreed heartless, but purebreed take hearts too, and they are in the realm of darkness. When your heart is stolen, do you not turn into a heartless? (save the Princesses of Heart?)

Yes, you do, but going down with your world doesn't necessarily mean that you lose your heart.

Of course, Aqua has no idea what the heartless are. She doesn't even know they're called heartless but she knows they aren't unversed. If the game decides to go in a direction where Aqua feels like she's slaying people (though she's actually freeing them from darkness), it would fulfill my fanfic dreams of watching my favorite character going through trauma. A little.

Ah thank god, I thought I was the only one like that. xD

 

[TheAuronSavior]

I'd expect that, as soon as all this comes to light to her, she starts having some sort of breakdown. It's either that, or any sort of mental notion of that is disregarded and nothing changes ( except for Terra, though )

 

[alexis.anagram]

Yes, I noticed this too. I'm not sure if it's true or not (that the inhabitants have turned into heartless), but my logic is telling me it's very likely? Yeah, they're purebreed heartless, but purebreed take hearts too, and they are in the realm of darkness. When your heart is stolen, do you not turn into a heartless? (save the Princesses of Heart?)

While I think there might still be some ambiguity surrounding this IIRC the games indicate through Ansem Reports and other material that Purebloods form through naturally occurring darkness-- so when a heart is so full of darkness that it can't be contained or, like Sora/Ansem SoD, when a person unleashes the darkness in their heart willingly (I think Purebloods can also be just pure manifestations of darkness with no heart involved whatsoever?). Emblems form when an otherwise healthy heart is forcefully corrupted by another Emblem. I think both Heartless are affected differently by the Keyblade: the hearts from Emblems would be restored by the Keyblade in the Realm of Light (unless artificially diverted in some way as the Organization was doing) whereas Pureblood hearts get sent to the Realm of Darkness and rejoin Kingdom Hearts, or something.

Regardless, when a world which has fallen to darkness is restored, the indication is that everyone who was present when it fell is restored along with it. So it's unlikely that they become Heartless of any sort, instead they just kind of exist in a state of suspension. The mechanics behind it aren't really clear.

I guess it's possible that those whose hearts were stolen by the Heartless prior to the heart of the world actually succumbing might be trapped as Heartless in the RoD but, even then, Aqua would be releasing their hearts with the Keyblade and enabling them to exist again.

When I first saw the scene... I thought it was particularly interesting that they had Aqua point out where all the people could have gone. My first instinct was to joke about how Aqua didn't notice the empty coliseum, but then I thought... "Hey wait, they're having her bring this up. They're going to address this situation."

Of course, Aqua has no idea what the heartless are. She doesn't even know they're called heartless but she knows they aren't unversed. If the game decides to go in a direction where Aqua feels like she's slaying people (though she's actually freeing them from darkness), it would fulfill my fanfic dreams of watching my favorite character going through trauma. A little.

This part is interesting, I imagine Mickey might fill her in on some of the details but I don't think it's going to be especially shocking for Aqua (although it would be nice if we got some clarification out of it, too). I think she already has a grasp on the Heartless as being creatures of the dark: with the added knowledge that they're the corrupted hearts of people, I imagine she'd only be more resolute in her desire to defeat them and free those hearts. Maybe that even has something to do with why she chose to stay in the Realm of Darkness?

 

[kirabook]

Yes, you do, but going down with your world doesn't necessarily mean that you lose your heart.


Ah thank god, I thought I was the only one like that. xD

100% guilty pleasure. Probably 95% of the reason I liked DDD. 'Bout time ma boy gets some hurt.

While I think there might still be some ambiguity surrounding this IIRC the games indicate through Ansem Reports and other material that Purebloods form through naturally occurring darkness-- so when a heart is so full of darkness that it can't be contained or, like Sora/Ansem SoD, when a person unleashes the darkness in their heart willingly (I think Purebloods can also be just pure manifestations of darkness with no heart involved whatsoever?). Emblems form when an otherwise healthy heart is forcefully corrupted by another Emblem. I think both Heartless are affected differently by the Keyblade: the hearts from Emblems would be restored by the Keyblade in the Realm of Light (unless artificially diverted in some way as the Organization was doing) whereas Pureblood hearts get sent to the Realm of Darkness and rejoin Kingdom Hearts, or something.

Regardless, when a world which has fallen to darkness is restored, the indication is that everyone who was present when it fell is restored along with it. So it's unlikely that they become Heartless of any sort, instead they just kind of exist in a state of suspension. The mechanics behind it aren't really clear.

I guess it's possible that those whose hearts were stolen by the Heartless prior to the heart of the world actually succumbing might be trapped as Heartless in the RoD but, even then, Aqua would be releasing their hearts with the Keyblade and enabling them to exist again.


This part is interesting, I imagine Mickey might fill her in on some of the details but I don't think it's going to be especially shocking for Aqua (although it would be nice if we got some clarification out of it, too). I think she already has a grasp on the Heartless as being creatures of the dark: with the added knowledge that they're the corrupted hearts of people, I imagine she'd only be more resolute in her desire to defeat them and free those hearts. Maybe that even has something to do with why she chose to stay in the Realm of Darkness?

Maybe we'll learn more about the purebloods in Aqua's journey. She's coming at this problem from an entirely different perspective, before the emblems were even made. And then I guess, Mickey will show up and fill in all the blanks. I guess this adds to my theory that Aqua stayed in the dark realm willingly because she felt there's something she had to do there.

And, I've always had the theory that the purebloods are the fallen warriors of the keyblade war and the people of the original, it kind of feels like chi is leading into that a bit at times? That's why I guess I felt some of the people who got sucked into the Dark Realm met a similar fate.

 

[sixra]

People, Aqua doesn't know the true nature of the heartless, she has only knwon the unverse in Birth by Sleep.

 

[Sorakh212]

It's tough to say because while they very well may have been these aforementioned townsfolk or people you mentioned they may just be hearltess in the realm of darkness that reside there or that devoured the world to begin with. Either way I don't really think it will have all that much of a lasting result or effect on Aqua because I doubt it will be all that significant really. I mean sure it was interesting to see what happened to that one person in KH when you see them fall down and then they disappear and their heart ascended but it hasn't really been all that relevant since. Plus I mean they're random NPCs potentially or people we've never even seen so I doubt there will really be any sense of guilt or emotional impact. It's certainly an interesting perspective or observation you've noticed. I just don't think it will be all that significant or impactful but I may be wrong.