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What if the Recusant Apprentice isn’t evil?



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Yordis

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What if the Recusant isn’t evil?


(Heads up, this isn’t a theory so much as a plausible series of events. To my knowledge, everything fits, but the point is more to present some ideas I’ve been considering with the hope that it might start off other ideas to other people. If it is not actually plausible, then by all means, please let me know.)


What if we’ve been looking at this the wrong way, and the Recusant was actually the good guy all along? Think about it—the Old Master and the other apprentices were obsessed with the future, so the Recusant left to do his own thing. The Books of Prophecy are written, and everyone overreacts. The Old Master, meanwhile, notices that one of his apprentices is missing and goes to find him.


So the five Foretellers are left alone to be greedy over who has how much light stored up for the apocalypse, and Black Coat takes advantage of that and encourages it. They are all eventually corrupted, such that when the Old Master returns with the Recusant in tow, Black Coat is running the show. Black Coat and Old Master fight, bam, Chi-Blade from opposing opposites, and Kingdom Hearts pops up and the War begins.


But the Recusant is angry because Old Master is gone and his peers have been corrupted, so he adopts Chi as his personal symbol—the symbol of death, new beginnings, and Kingdom Hearts which can presumably fix all of this. No one is ever really lost when there’s Kingdom Hearts around.


However, he’s not around for the climax of the Keyblade War, because the player character is taking care of that. Instead, the Recusant is looking into Black Coat and misses out, leaving him with the question: What even happened after the end of the Keyblade War, anyway? This guy trained under the Old Master, though, so he simply tries to look back in time.


For some reason, it’s impossible. The Recusant rebuilds Daybreak Town as Radiant Garden and goes down in history as Master Ansem, because he helped rebuild and didn’t die in the Keyblade massacre. Master Ansem has the last Book of Prophecy and puts it in his library. He imbues his Keyblade with the impetus to find out what happened after the Keyblade War, and time passes.


———


Many, many years later, the king of Radiant Garden takes on the name Ansem, because he likes its folk hero connotations—the legends have diluted the Keyblade War by this point down to a fairy story.


Ienzo is adopted by Ansem and discovers the Book of Prophecy in the library. It sticks out because it’s volume VI and doesn’t fit anywhere. (Like a certain puzzle in KH1.) He reads it and likes the cool characters. Even catches his reading it and is surprised to see pictures of himself and some other people around the castle in it.


Then Ventus appears and Ienzo, full of hero worship, runs out of the castle to meet him but is then too shy to say anything. Even, noting that they are both in the book wearing black coats, tries to sound smart by alluding to their shared destiny. Ven and gamers everywhere are confused.


Still later, Apprentice Xehanort remembers his Keyblade. Master Xehanort was able to (mostly) overcome Master Ansem’s will through the strength of his own, but Apprentice Xehanort has no such protections. Apprentice Xehanort begins to think that he’s Master Ansem. And, as you might recall, Master Ansem has a vendetta against people who are wearing or are going to wear Black Coats. Many apprentices are killed and things get out of hand.


They are so very out of hand that, even though Xemnas can summon a Keyblade, he is reluctant to do so again on the possibility that he might be overcome by Master Ansem’s will. Xehanort’s Heartless, on the other hand, has taken a passage from the Book and is lauding it as a Heartless Prophecy. He posts it in the laboratory.


———


When things have calmed down, there are six Nobodies. Their weapons are made and powered by their memories. Zexion’s weapon is that book he was always reading, which is convenient because Xemnas is bringing up Kingdom Hearts, and so does the Book of Retribution.


Thus, while Vexen is off making replicas and the others spend their time exploring other worlds, Zexion scans his book into a computer to refresh his memory on Kingdom Hearts. Only, as it’s his weapon and made from his memories, the contents are a little off. King Mickey visits Daybreak Town, there are Emblem Heartless before they should exist, the six Foretellers are apprentices that fell to darkness—or was that part there before?


———


*The one objection I thought of is the problem that I’ve always had with the Organization, which is: Everyone but Vexen did nothing for nine years, waiting around for someone to find a Keyblade with no guarantees that Kingdom Hearts would restore them beyond Xemnas’ say so. Granted, that can be fixed by saying that they knew Kingdom Hearts had the power to rewrite the world through the Book, and they knew that Sora was coming through the same.


…That also means they knew that the Organization cards were dark, and that Black Coats are bad news, right? Maybe not, since the Foretellers certainly didn’t see Black Coat coming. Maybe they just figure that of course Nobodies show up dark—Zexion specifically identifies them by the scent of their darkness. Maybe this is the whole reason Zexion suspects that other plots are afoot.


Actually, when he’s speaking with Xigbar, he mentions that there are not enough members, so who knows. Maybe he’s in on Real Organization XIII and is totally okay with it.


======
And that’s it, that’s what I’ve been thinking about all day. It ties up some loose ends, so at least some of this is in the right direction. Cheers.
 

Gram

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I find the bits with them seeing ven and hero idolization iffy but the idea the 6th wasn't truly evil is interesting. If the other fives war was the cause of the war then it certainly leaves room for it since we don't know how the 6th was.
 

Yordis

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Fair enough; that bit grew out of a dissatisfaction with Even’s foreknowledge, more than to explain Ienzo’s actions. It bothers me that Even knows he and Ven will meet again, and for Even to have seen a prophecy of it happening is the easiest resolution I can think of right now. But as this is a mash up of ideas, it’s a notion that can exist independently of the rest, so long as a prophecy is available to him prior of meeting Ven.

As far as the Recusant being goodish goes, it’s an interesting thought exercise, though it doesn’t explain the original Black Coat. It does give some grounding for AX’s “My name is Ansem” freak out, and builds on the theories that MX’s Keyblade came from the Recusant and carried an ancient will.

Mostly I just liked the idea of loading his symbol, Chi, with overtones of revenge, since it’s a symbol of death and endings. I wanted it to mean more than the death of the world or those who interfere with his plans, which is what people are expecting. It’s a speculation that explains why Zexion’s book is one of Retribution, and to me it’s a little less predictable.

Edit: Another perspective--the Chi Blade is meant to protect Kingdom Hearts, and if Black Coat had the Chi Blade, then the Recusant taking up the Chi sigil could symbolize his dedication to protecting Kingdom Hearts against a weapon whose purpose has been twisted.
 
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Gram

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Well it could be possible Even was already in on Xehanort's plans via Braig....I guess....it one really wanted to find a reason for his BBS behavior.

Not a bad perspective. Destroying the Xblade would also fit to that since that'd be the ultimate revenge. When the Xblade was lost KH vanished with it and anyone who's played BBS and seen the massive Keyblade Graveyard can gather that a many a wielder followed suit.
 

Yordis

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Well, I don't know... If Even was already with MX, then it's weird for him to expect to meet Ven again. Because if MX had succeeded in BBS, there wouldn't have been a need for thirteen darknesses, and it greatly invalidates BBS if MX didn't take his plan to use Ven and Vanitas seriously. It's somewhat like saying "we'll meet again because MX's plan is doomed to failure."

Thanks for reading all the way through, by the way. It's not that elegant an OP, but I wasn't sure how to format it more attractively.
 
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