Was apprentice Xehanort a Heartless in Kairi's flashback?

[yamibakura95]

Lets see:

1.Radiant Garden is invaded by heartless

2.The other apprentices are nowhere to e seen and neither is Ansem

Now, lets assume that the event takes place after Xehanort turns the others into nobodies and Ansem is banished. What other information do we have?

In Ansem's report 10, Ansem (Terranort) says that his body is too frail for his journey and he will cast it aside. In the next report he mentions that he found a girl (Kairi) and thinks she migth be a princess.

If we assume that the reports are in chornological order and that Xehanort does as he says in report 10, then that means the Xehanort that takes Kairi and puts her in the capsule was a heartless.

Now, you may ask "But wasnt XH the brown robbed figure?". Well, the rown robbed figure is said to be xehanort reduced to just a heart, not that he is the form he took after becoming a heartless. Heartlesses have a physical form so i see no reason as to why Xehanort wouldnt. Of course, he later casted it aside to time travel.

The problem with this is that if he was a heartless then the event took place after he had sumoned MX's keyblade so it wouldnt make any sense for him to be searching for a keyblade wielder. Why wouldnt he save Radiant Garden himself? Then again, if he was a heartless then he probably couldnt wield it anymore.

 

[bambii (aka foreteller)]

Interesting observations, though I think you were circling the right answer all along.

Yes, in Ansem Report 10 Xehanort writes: "My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness." But at this point it's reasonable to assume he's merely made the plan to have his heart leave his body, which as we know results in him becoming a Heartless. Because the point at which he actually becomes a Heartless is mostly likely not when he wrote Report 10 but around the time he wrote Report 12: "The body is gone; the heart should have returned to the Heartless. And yet, nothing. This one is unlike any other. Its memories remain, and it has yet to take the form of a Heartless."

The report in which he notes having found Kairi is right between the above two, in Report 11: "I have chosen a girl. I don't know if she holds the princesses' powers, but I will find out. She may lead me to the key bearer. I shall set her free and observe."

So based on what we can piece together from these, here's our most likely sequence of events:

• Apprentice Xehanort decides that he will cast off his body in order to find the Keyblade and the princesses (Ansem Report 10)
• Apprentice Xehanort finds Kairi and decides to "set her free" (Ansem Report 11)
  • This is our best candidate for when the flashbacks in Melody of Memory take place, seemingly just after the report is written
• Apprentice Xehanort casts off his body and becomes a wandering heart -- a Heartless with its memories and without the typical form of a Heartless (Ansem Report 12)

Keep in mind that the previous Reports all indicate the Heartless were pretty much already running rampant as early as Ansem Report 4, before he even opened the door to Radiant Garden's heart. So it'd be perfectly reasonable to expect to see Shadows all over the place as we see in the flashback.

The fact that the other apprentices and Ansem are not seen in this cutscene doesn't tell us anything; Xehanort nabs Kairi outside the castle gates and then we cut to his underground lair.

You were close, but based on the Reports it would actually seem that what we see in Melody of Memory probably takes place just before Xehanort loses his body and becomes a Heartless.

 

[yamibakura95]

So based on what we can piece together from these, here's our most likely sequence of events:

• Apprentice Xehanort decides that he will cast off his body in order to find the Keyblade and the princesses (Ansem Report 10)
• Apprentice Xehanort finds Kairi and decides to "set her free" (Ansem Report 11)
  • This is our best candidate for when the flashbacks in Melody of Memory take place, seemingly just after the report is written
• Apprentice Xehanort casts off his body and becomes a wandering heart -- a Heartless with its memories and without the typical form of a Heartless (Ansem Report 12)

this clears it up perfectly.

The fact that the other apprentices and Ansem are not seen in this cutscene doesn't tell us anything; Xehanort nabs Kairi outside the castle gates and then we cut to his underground lair.

we actually dont know the exact location of hi lair in the castle. but underground seems to be reasonable considering the chamber of repose's location.

The fact that the other apprentices and Ansem are not seen in this cutscene doesn't tell us anything; Xehanort nabs Kairi outside the castle gates and then we cut to his underground lair.

I just mentoned that because Dilan and Aeleous were guarding the castle so i find it disturbing that they would let Xehanort with a little girl walk by like that. I doubt Ansem would approve it either. The scene is consistent with the kh1 reports which made it seem like xehanort was working alone.

The body is gone; the heart should have returned to the Heartless. And yet, nothing. This one is unlike any other. Its memories remain, and it has yet to take the form of a Heartless."

what form did it have though? wouldnt it require a physical form of sort in order to actually write down the report?

 

[bambii (aka foreteller)]

we actually dont know the exact location of hi lair in the castle. but underground seems to be reasonable considering the chamber of repose's location.

That's true, we don't know for certain that the room with the Lifeboat is definitively in the basement of the castle. We see the hallway in KH1 End of the World and it's actually quite different from the hallway of prison cells that leads to the Chamber of Repose. Who knows where it is.

what form did it have though? wouldnt it require a physical form of sort in order to actually write down the report?

This point tripped me up too; I think we can make a very educated hypothesis that the form he's referring to is the brown-robed hooded figure. As to how he went on to write Ansem Reports 12 and 13 without a body... ??? your guess is as good as mine to be fair, he's not totally incorporeal in his brown-robed form.

 

[yamibakura95]

That's true, we don't know for certain that the room with the Lifeboat is definitively in the basement of the castle. We see the hallway in KH1 End of the World and it's actually quite different from the hallway of prison cells that leads to the Chamber of Repose

The hallway looks similar to the corridors in Kh2 though and half of them are blocked by debris in KH2 meaning there are other rooms to go to

your guess is as good as mine to be fair, he's not totally incorporeal in his brown-robed form.

but he doesnt even have hands in that form lmao

 

[Zul]

Xehanort in Melody

"Before, when my heart and body were still united as one, I told you about what would happen if we were to fail."

Ergo his kidnapping and speech were given before he turned into a heartless.

 

[The Transcendent Key]

This is an interesting theory, but then, if it were his Heartless, wouldn't he have bore the appearance of his Seeker Of Darkness form from his Heartless side of the equation?