Time Travel Explained

[The_Echo]

Isa was called Isa in DDD. Lea called him that (and no one said otherwise) when he was revealed to be a vessel during that scene in the throne room.

He is actually called Isa in the game.

Of course Lea will call him Isa, especially in that moment. They called each other by their human names in Days as well.
I invite you both to load up your copies of DDD and check his entry in the game's Reports.

Note that in DDD Jiminy is not present to record things, hence not actually being called a journal. These entries are free of canonical knowledge constraints by the author, and his entry makes specific note of his real name.

One of Organization XIII's members. He expired after an epic clash with Sora. In his human years, he was named Isa and was Lea's close friend.

There is no entry for Isa.

There are separate entries for Braig and Xigbar, using his separate models.

His job this time has been to vex Sora and lead him further into the abyss of sleep.

Meanwhile, Braig's entry...

The human form of Xigbar, one of Organization XIII's members. He became a Nobody during a certain experiment.

This makes it clear the character in DDD is indeed Xigbar, not Braig.

Lea and Axel's entries have similar wordings to make it clear who has appeared in-game.

 

[Deleted member]

Lea calls him Isa because it's the recompleted Isa, as set up by the game earlier on in the story. Has no one considered that maybe these recompleted selves are referred to by their Recusant name because they are still in the Organization?

Xigbar is listed as Braig in the credits of KH3D for what it's worth.
And Braig is listed as Xigbar in the credits of Re:Coded so lol.

It may just be that there is one individual who can safely go by both names because the names, at this point in the story, are interchangeable.

 

[Launchpad]

Lea calls him Isa because the writers felt it would invoke a more emotional response from players if Lea refers to him as his childhood friend instead of his evil co-worker. You guys are seriously overthinking this shit.

 

[Dandelion]

We just gonna gloss over my point about Isa being called Saix in re:coded, then?

I guess it really doesn't make so much of a difference to me, I think the point has just been that aside from the characters whose arcs centered around them forming their own identities, the Nobodies/Somebodies didn't make much of a distinction about who they were vs who they are, so it didn't matter so much. Even Lea gives into the futility that is the name Axel.

Though this is one of the many reasons why I didn't like time travel, but I can't deny that it does open up speculation.

 

[Deleted member]

Honestly, I think it is pretty simple. They are their recompleted selves who can simply go by both names because the names are interchangeable [and are still referred to by their recusant names because they are still in cahoots with Xehanort]. There is only one Xigbar/Braig post-KH2 and there is only one Saix/Isa post-KH2. That's my stance until revealed otherwise anyway.

EDIT: As Tinny points out, the recompleted Isa is called Saix by Xehanort. The recompleted Braig is called Xigbar in the credits. They are called by their recusant names because they are still a part of the Organization. It doesn't have to be this complicated with doubles of every character running around lol.

Spoiler Show

 

[BlackOsprey]

Eh, let's not forget that the Realm of Sleep apparently does wonky things to certain people's appearances. Which went... more or less unexplained!

Lea calls him Isa because the writers felt it would invoke a more emotional response from players if Lea refers to him as his childhood friend instead of his evil co-worker. You guys are seriously overthinking this shit.

Aw shush. I can break my head by over-thinking this if I want to. =w=

 

[Deleted member]

Let's also be real here guys~

A third of the new Organization is not going to be made up of Xigbars and Saixes. Like, c'mon.

 

[The_Echo]

Now, I don't mean to be a nitpicker, but Young Xehanort never calls him Saïx.

We don't know what he says at the end of that scene.
It's easy to believe that it's "Saïx," but I have to wonder why they would cut him off if that's the case?
By all evidence it's an obvious conclusion, so there isn't much of a tease if that's the answer. Y'know?

A third of the new Organization is not going to be made up of Xigbars and Saixes. Like, c'mon.

If I'm correct, I don't expect Braig to be palling around with Xehanort when he has his own plans to work on.

I would posit that Braig is hiding behind his Nobody in order to escape Xehanort's sight.
His Nobody from the past would have no idea of that plan, so if Xehanort "saw into his mind," there would be nothing incriminating there.
And Xehanort would never distrust his very own original body past self.

And we all know that Axel and Saïx had some sort of vague "plan" while they were in the Organization.
If Braig brought Isa along for the ride...

 

[Deleted member]

Now, I don't mean to be a nitpicker, but Young Xehanort never calls him Saïx.

We don't know what he says at the end of that scene.
It's easy to believe that it's "Saïx," but I have to wonder why they would cut him off if that's the case?
By all evidence it's an obvious conclusion, so there isn't much of a tease if that's the answer. Y'know?

It's just to end it dramatically. It's not meant to be a tease.
We know that he says Saix because Saix is the only one missing lol

 

[The_Echo]

It's just to end it dramatically. It's not meant to be a tease.
We know that he says Saix because Saix is the only one missing lol

We don't even know that he's saying a name!

 

[Deleted member]

We don't even know that he's saying a name!

C'moooooon, you're playing devil's advocate to the point of absurdity.
Xigbar goes "Who should it be?" you really think Xehanort is not responding with a name to that question?
What could possibly be your evidence or reasoning for that?

 

[The_Echo]

C'moooooon, you're playing devil's advocate to the point of absurdity.
Xigbar goes "Who should it be?" you really think Xehanort is not responding with a name to that question?
What could possibly be your evidence or reasoning for that?

All I'm saying, is that we factually do not know for sure​ what he says.

 

[Deleted member]

All I'm saying, is that we factually do not know for sure​ what he says.

(lol i'm tapping out)

 

[Xblade13]

(lol i'm tapping out)

I figured he was saying Sora, considering DDD takes place after this, in which we know that Sora becoming the XIIIth Darkness is the plan. And since 2.8 is the next game, anybody who hasn't played the 3DS version will be going into it for the first time

 

[Deleted member]

I figured he was saying Sora, considering DDD takes place after this, in which we know that Sora becoming the XIIIth Darkness is the plan. And since 2.8 is the next game, anybody who hasn't played the 3DS version will be going into it for the first time

Xigbar asks the question and the camera pans out to show all the bodies lying on the floor, making it clear that he is talking about them.

The plan to get Sora is already underway at that point (as made clear by the start of the scene) so they're not talking about Sora.

 

[Squood!]

Xigbar asks the question and the camera pans out to show all the bodies lying on the floor, making it clear that he is talking about them.

The plan to get Sora is already underway at that point (as made clear by the start of the scene) so they're not talking about Sora.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious they were meaning Saïx during the "who should it be" thing.

 

[Muke]

We don't even know that he's saying a name!

Oh, come on!! What else should he say?
"Sorry bro, idk"??

Like, really. Wth

 

[Nazo]

As much as I hate time-travel, because it seems to always ruin a story if the plot wasn't already based on the concept to start out with (like Back to the Future), I do have to say that I'm very glad that Nomura at least was smart enough to not let the time travel screw with the already established story. The added rule of "You cannot change events that are destined to happen" was a very smart move. Had the time travel made it possible to alter events, the entire thing would have just collapsed.

And yet, even with that safety net, it still doesn't help make the time travel any less confusing. Mainly because the ways in which Xehanort and Sora/Riku time traveled seem to contradict each other. For example, Xehanort has to cast his heart off to time travel, Sora/Riku are sent back by Yen Sid. Or, Xehanort forgets everything from his time traveling, Sora/Riku don't. I don't get it. Xehanort clearly establishes the rules of time travel and yet Sora and Riku seem to break half of them. Is it because Yen Sid sent them back through his magic, so it negates some of the restrictions?

Plus, if Xehanort has to cast his heart off to time travel at all, then how is he able to transfer his power to Young Xehanort? Because Ansem is just a heart, thus can time travel. But, YX is a body-inhabiting human, yet he can suddenly time travel upon meeting Ansem. So, does that mean you only have to cast your heart off once and then you and all your various time-incarnations can all travel through time, as long as one of you is currently using the ability (like, Ansem was time-traveling, therefore YX could do it also, and then YX was time-traveling so Xemnas could do it also, etc)?

That's what keeps confusing me. They establish the rules at the end of the game, after the game's events have already contradicted a lot of what is stated to be the rules of time travel.

 

[Deleted member]

Or, Xehanort forgets everything from his time traveling, Sora/Riku don't. I don't get it. Xehanort clearly establishes the rules of time travel and yet Sora and Riku seem to break half of them.

You only forget if you move forward through time because eventually you have to return to your proper time. If you move backwards in time, you simply resume the natural flow of time and live out the time you traveled. Ansem moved backwards in time and thus has all the memories of his time travelling. Young Xehanort moved forward through time and eventually had to return to his proper era and lose his memories. Sora and Riku moved backwards in time so they did not lose their memories.

So, does that mean you only have to cast your heart off once

Essentially, yes. It's just that you must "first" cast off the body to gain the ability. Technically Xehanort gained the ability in BBS when he casted off his body and possessed Terra. Ansem meeting YMX led to him being able to pass on the ability to him. It's doubtful that Xemnas and Ansem in KH3D are time travelling though.

 

[redcrown]