I want Axel to play a role in reviving Roxas and Xion, and I don't care if they have to change history to do it. I've been rewatching DDD and seeing Lea get his Keyblade, while out of nowhere, I wish they had followed through on that he actually saves his friends. It would have given his Keyblade more meaning and a actual reason to be a wielder other then the artificial reason why they gave him one (because he's a main character and all trio members must have one) I love Axel but have been quite critical on Lea in how they handwaved his flaws that made Axel such a compelling character that was neither on the hero or villains side but his own.
I wish he had played a role in getting Roxas a body and then helping to wake him up and snap Xion out of her factory mode setting. It would be that coming full circle moment of Axel the guy who drove Roxas away with lies and brought Xion back to be "reprogrammed" by Xemnas, is now the one who helps bring them back to life. HOW DARE THEY NOT GIVE ME THAT RAX MOMENT!
I know they wanted to do some redemption story with Saix being the one to technically do it, but they could have done something else with him to redeem him with that group. And what's the point of it if we never see Saix do it himself anyway? But yeah, I just wanted to say that since I'm rewatching Lea get his Keyblade. Despite how random it was, if they had used it right Lea could have been one of the most worthy Keyblader wielders since Sora and Riku, if he was able to make amends for his part in the RAX fallout and actually bring back the friends he always says he will save
Yeah, the whole narrative purpose of Lea getting a Keyblade and joining the GoL was to bring Roxas, Xion, and Isa (to a lesser extent back). In the end he held no role to play in those events other than being Roxas' damsel, and he could've served that function
without having a Keyblade anyway. It really does suck how they just dropped his storyline right at the moment of truth.
But your comment reminded me of another problem. I know I've given my issues with Roxas' return in the past, but this might just be the thing that kills it for me.
Roxas just... hops out of Sora's heart the second his friends are both in mortal danger. Like, his heart
physically exits Sora's body entirely of it's own accord.
No one needed to use the PoW. No one needed to help guide him out. No one needed to take the time to reach his soul. No one needed to do ANYTHING for him to finally gain his spiritual freedom. Why is this a problem? Because Roxas, during KH2, DDD, and KH3 was framed and outright referred to as a "prisoner." A
victim who was "trapped" in Sora's heart. He was so certain that his life was over that by the time we see him again in DDD, he's resigned himself to that fate. He held NO AGENCY, no VOICE, and
that was the tragedy of his circumstance. He lost the things he yearned for the most. We can all agree on this right?
That's why Sora and Riku had to search for a new power in DDD. One that would allow them to awaken and release dormant, trapped hearts like his own. That is the
sole reason the PoW was introduced as a concept, and the very thing that they use to free Ventus' heart. But when we get to KH3, now Roxas can suddenly eject himself from Sora's "prison"
at will?? All this time he just needed to see his friends in danger (even though the Org Xion wasn't even the real one up until he intervened)? Yes, he was "awoken" and able to project himself to Sora after Axel died in KH2, but he could only
project himself. He wasn't physically able to just exit Sora's body on a whim. That directly contradicts every element of set up that had to with his return, and throws a lot of it's thematic symbolism and metaphors out the window.
I wanted Roxas to finally claim the agency and freedom he was constantly denied as much as everyone else, but having the blonde just arbitrarily leave Sora's body (even somehow calling a replica that he shouldn't know existed) because he feels like it, implies that Roxas
always had the ability to free himself. Body or not, voice or not, Sora didn't really need to do, learn, believe, or "wish" for anything in order for Roxas to come back. And it's
so backwards that he's empowered in that way, only for him to have no real role in the plot afterwards. That newfound agency doesn't even carry past one scene, and it's freaking jarring as hell. Not to mention the most underwhelming "conclusion" to his arc they could've made (especially when he doesn't even bother speaking to Xion, Axel, Namine, or Sora on-screen).
*Edited for Grammatical Errors*