nenilein:

the-terranort-report:

Alright so I said I’d look into it a few days ago and now here it is, the analysis of the mysterious figure at the beginning of KH2.

On the third day of Roxas’ story he awakens to the power of the Keyblade while living his artificial life in DiZ’s simulated Twilight Town. He dives into his heart and finds himself on Sora’s Station of Awakening. The Stations of Awakening are a physical representation of one’s heart as shown in BbS with the crumbling of Ven’s or when Vanitas appears on his Station after they “join”. So when Roxas reawakens to the power he’s actually using Sora’s Keyblade which previously was being borrowed by Xion I believe (correct me if I’m wrong, the succession of he Keyblade between Roxas, Xion, and Sora has always been tricky for me to keep straight). So this scene occurs inside of Sora’s heart, not Roxas’. At the end of Days, Xion returns to Roxas and Sora, as she is an imperfect replica of Roxas created from memories of Kairi belonging to Sora, her entire identity is borrowed.

I know that this figure it Xion because of the obvious fact that the two of them are in Sora’s heart, but also by her coat. Each member of Organization XIII has a slightly customized coat.

Axel’s coat has tightened sleeves while Roxas and Xion’s can be seen to have no modifications to the chest, shoulders, or sleeves, so they both wear the same base coat. And the figure that appears behind Roxas has no special modifications to the sleeves.

Now look at where Xion is standing, not only behind him but in a position to where even after turning around and craning his neck, she would only appear in the corner of his eye. And for only a split second. When Roxas turns around to see her a Twilight Thorn is there to greet him. Now, I love this part because with the new development of Xion being there it works on a whole other level. The obvious parallel is that of Sora fighting his Darkside heartless on his Station in KH1, Sora becomes a heartless later on in the game and in the beginning faces off against one, Roxas is a Nobody and faces of against one. But this also recalls the end of Days where Xion pulls down her hood to reveal her face is now that of Sora, and right after that she walks off of the clock tower and unleashes her final form, an armored monstrosity.

Xion was supposedly forgotten by everyone after her death, but that doesn’t mean she was never there, and her actions created a ripple effect. By no means was she inconsequential.

Very good, I like this!!

If I could add, Roxas facing a Twilight Thorn instead of a form of Xion herself could be an effect of the state Roxas is in at the time: Xion’s appearance reflects different in everyone’s eyes, based on their memories, and as Roxas currently lives with fake memories, having all his memories erased before, he sees a representation, of his sealed-away memories of the Organization XIII: A big, fearsome Nobody trying to destroy him. 

P.S.: Another hint at it being Xion… Look where the figure is standing.

On Kairi’s image.  

HOW DID I MISS THAT SHE’S STANDING ON KAIRI.

Yeah, that just confirms it.

Alright so I said I’d look into it a few days ago and now here it is, the analysis of the mysterious figure at the beginning of KH2.

On the third day of Roxas’ story he awakens to the power of the Keyblade while living his artificial life in DiZ’s simulated Twilight Town. He dives into his heart and finds himself on Sora’s Station of Awakening. The Stations of Awakening are a physical representation of one’s heart as shown in BbS with the crumbling of Ven’s or when Vanitas appears on his Station after they “join”. So when Roxas reawakens to the power he’s actually using Sora’s Keyblade which previously was being borrowed by Xion I believe (correct me if I’m wrong, the succession of he Keyblade between Roxas, Xion, and Sora has always been tricky for me to keep straight). So this scene occurs inside of Sora’s heart, not Roxas’. At the end of Days, Xion returns to Roxas and Sora, as she is an imperfect replica of Roxas created from memories of Kairi belonging to Sora, her entire identity is borrowed.

I know that this figure it Xion because of the obvious fact that the two of them are in Sora’s heart, but also by her coat. Each member of Organization XIII has a slightly customized coat.

Axel’s coat has tightened sleeves while Roxas and Xion’s can be seen to have no modifications to the chest, shoulders, or sleeves, so they both wear the same base coat. And the figure that appears behind Roxas has no special modifications to the sleeves.

Now look at where Xion is standing, not only behind him but in a position to where even after turning around and craning his neck, she would only appear in the corner of his eye. And for only a split second. When Roxas turns around to see her a Twilight Thorn is there to greet him. Now, I love this part because with the new development of Xion being there it works on a whole other level. The obvious parallel is that of Sora fighting his Darkside heartless on his Station in KH1, Sora becomes a heartless later on in the game and in the beginning faces off against one, Roxas is a Nobody and faces of against one. But this also recalls the end of Days where Xion pulls down her hood to reveal her face is now that of Sora, and right after that she walks off of the clock tower and unleashes her final form, an armored monstrosity.

Xion was supposedly forgotten by everyone after her death, but that doesn’t mean she was never there, and her actions created a ripple effect. By no means was she inconsequential.

And I’m talking about from the very beginning. I remember when I was a kid playing KH1, I would take forever to start the game because I was too busy being mesmerized by Dearly Beloved playing in the title screen. When I first beat the game I didn’t turn the TV off that night, I left it on and had Dearly Beloved lull me to sleep, needless to say, my mom was not pleased. It was Kingdom Hearts that taught me to appreciate game music, because the depth that it brings to the game is astounding. Many of the songs by themselves are so heartwrenchingly beautiful by themselves, but when placed in context and perfectly timed, it delivers a powerful scene in a world you only wish you could be in. So in no particular order, I’m gonna gush about my feels for various songs from across the KH series.

Dearly Beloved
The most beautiful melody ever conceived. I want this song played at my funeral and everyone will bawl. It is rearranged slightly for every game release and I’d have to say the KH2 and BBS versions are my favorites. The KH2 version sounds like something out of a dream, and true story, I once was playing KH2 in the spare room of my house and it was raining that day, when I booted up my PS2 and Dearly Beloved began playing, coupled with the sound of the rain hitting the roof, I had never been more relaxed in my life.

Destati
This song never fails to send chills up my sounds. Just the overall tone of it, the ephemeral nature of this song. It sounds like it would be playing in an old cathedral, but inside the Dive into the Heart works just as well. It works wonders to create the surreal and beautiful world. I never want to leave the introductory stages of KH1 & 2 because I am so engulfed by the Stations of Awakening and Destati in the background. 

Hand in Hand
This is such an upbeat and triumphant song, a perfect anthem for saving the world hand in hand with your best friends. When this plays I feel invincible, a great contrast to Night of Fate where it feels like the world is closing in on the player and there is only a matter of time until it runs out.

Musique pour la Tristesse De Xion 
Music for the sadness of Xion, there could not be a more accurate title for this song. I have so much to say about it and Xion that I’ll be sure to make a full length post about it soon. But Xion’s theme is just as tragic as her character, nothing of her is original and her theme is a musical chimera made up of bits and pieces of the themes of Roxas, Namine, and Kairi. The song almost sounds empty if you listen to it.

Ven’s Theme
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ven’s theme is what clinical depression sounds like. Listen to this song on a cold and rainy day and your heart will break. It is the most tragic and beautiful song of the series, listening to it almost feels like tears are trying to be forcefully pulled from my eyes. It bears a resemblance to Roxas’ theme but such a stark contrast to Sora’s upbeat and cheery theme. 

And that’s it for now. I’ll probably do a part 2 sometime in the future.

Naminé is drawing a picture of him and the camera pans on to her sketch book. As it slowly zooms in on the picture we hear her say “Sora”.

Roxas, Axel, and Xion are on top of the Twilight Town clock tower eating sea-salt ice cream as they always do. They look up and in unison hopefully call out “Sora”.

Ven is taking a nap in a chair in the Land of Departure, Terra then comes up and places his hand on the chair. Ven wakes up, looks at Terra, and then the both of them look up at the sky and say “Sora”.

Back in the realm of darkness Aqua is brought to tears at the name. The boy she met on the Destiny Islands, the one who she decided against granting a Keyblade, found one anyway and is now the hope for her and her friends. Everything is coming back to her, the boy who was the spitting image of Ven is going to be the one to rescue her friends. She looks to the sky, over the dark shore, and calls “Sora”.

Anyone who has played Re:Coded will notice that these are the people that Data Naminé told Data Sora and King Mickey the real Sora must rescue, and that his heart is connected to them all.

Here we see Ansem the Wise in an Organization coat, sitting alone on the dark shore, the very same one we saw Roxas talk to Xemnas at in his dream sequence in Kingdom Hearts 2, and where Sora and Riku where stranded at the end of the same game. Soon Aqua approaches him and he remarks “It is not often that I get visitors”. Could this mean that there was someone else to visit him on the dark shore before Aqua, or could it have been the last time he was banished to darkness, or could it just be his speech pattern?

As old men do, Ansem begins to tell a story. He tells Aqua that this is not his first time in the realm of darkness, that occurred some time after the events of BBS and before KH1, because when his apprentices rebelled against him by conducting the forbidden research on the heart’s darkness, they knew he would not approve so they took it upon themselves to banish him to the dark realm. While he was in there he wrote the Secret Ansem Reports and detailed his situation and escape, it was his hatred for his apprentices that manifested itself into a dark power which he harnessed, taking the form of DiZ.

This time around he is a calmer, emptier man, he does not remember much, perhaps not even his own name. Aqua, who at this point has been wandering the dark realm for at least 11 to 12 years has grown weary. For in the realm of darkness it seems there is no flow of time, just a continuous flow of endless hours leading to nothing. She looks exactly the same as she did when she first arrived, despite the enormous time gap. So she sits, and shares a little about herself. And of course, like a true Keyblade master, what is most important to her is her friends and the promise she made to them. 

Ansem proceeds to babble on about a boy he once knew, whom Aqua reminded him of. Heroic, true to his friends, and selfless, the boy who would always arrive in the nick of time with Keyblade in hand to save the day. Now, Aqua has been lost in darkness for 11 years, she has no way of knowing the status of the outside worlds, she had no idea the worlds almost fell to darkness, all she has seen is the Enchanted Dominion castle, and she probably isn’t even sure what that means. 

But when she heard the man mention a boy with a Keyblade her face lit up and she was so lively in asking. Maybe it was one of her friends. maybe Ven had woken up, his heart restored and he was out saving the worlds and looking for his friends. Maybe Terra had returned to his old self and had embarked on a journey of redemption. If only for a moment, her heart rested in Ansem’s hands, could something have gone right for the three and one of them was out doing good?

Sadly, Ansem does not know a Ventus or Terra, Terranort doesn’t count because he is under the influence of Xehanort, and what little hopes Aqua had sink back into the darkness. Ansem goes on to express his remorse for his actions, for the way he used the boy and his friends to further his own goals, his own selfish ambitions for revenge. So what did he do to redeem himself? He hid the results of his research inside of the boy while he slept his year long slumber.

So let’s take a look at what’s going on in this conversation. Ansem was a scientist researching the nature of the heart and the effect darkness had on it, the results of this research where the creation of Emblem Heartless and the near collapse of the worlds. If this is the research he talked about and it was inside Sora, it could hold the key to unlocking the hidden memories in his heart that Naminé mentioned in Re:Coded that were so painful they could actually break his heart. It could reveal some shocking revelation about Sora that will change him forever and guide him on the path to repairing the wrongs that Ansem wrought. And when he says “all the lives I managed to ruin”, could there be other characters who have yet to be revealed that he stepped on to get his way? While Ansem the Wise may be MIA in the realm of light, the effects of his actions continue to ripple.

“So many are still waiting for their birth by sleep, even me, and even you.”

This cryptic line still puzzles me, obviously it is a metaphor for rebirth, and in the Kingdom Hearts universe does does not truly exist, only sleep. Aqua and Ansem’s hearts could be considered sleeping in the darkness, awaiting rescue, awaiting rebirth. Or everyone could be asleep, and it is not until they find a meaning and purpose that they are born from their sleep and awoken to their new lives. Either way there are many ways to interpret this line. But like everything else in the series, it ties back to a single boy.

All we do know, is the boys name…

Now we see Terranort, or rather Apprentice Xehanort walking down a hallway in the Radiant Garden castle when Braig suddenly throws his arm around him and starts acting all buddy-buddy with him. He refers to him as “Mister Master” and once he realizes that he does not in fact have any idea as to who he is, asks just to make sure if he’s not Terra.

If you pay attention to Xehanort’s body language, it is easy to tell that he is a completely blank slate. He feels his personal space is being invaded by this one-eyed stranger and the entire time Braig is talking to him, Xehanort’s eyes are narrowed in annoyance and he even tries to push him off of him at one point. When asked if he was Terra, Xehanort’s eyes narrowed further and he let out a light grunt that sounded slightly like a growl, perhaps due to a small part of Master Xehanort’s influence through to the surface.

Look at Apprentice Xeanort’s appearance, he has longer hair than Terra, indicating that some time has passed since he was taken in by Ansem, he has tanned skin and pointed ears, from MX’s influence, yet he has brown eyes. When a person’s hear is tainted by darkness their ears get pointed and their eyes turn gold, we saw this transformation occur with Braig. Though, if enough darkness seeps into a person’s heart their skin begins to tan, so the fact that Apprentice Xehanort has tanned skin and pointed ears shows that there is darkness inside him, as hinted in the Ansem Reports, but the brown eyes show that the influence is dormant.

Now let’s examine Braig, he goes up to Xehanort running and throws his arm around the man. I don’t believe MX would be the kind of man to get buddy-buddy and be light-hearted with the likes of Braig, most likely if he had retained his memories he would have kept his calm and calculating demeanor, this means that Braig was either informed that something like this would happen, which I find very likely, or he has assessed the situation and making sure it is playing into his hands, which is just as likely. Early on in Terra’s story, after Braig loses his eye, he loses his cool and begins shooting madly at Master Xehanort yelling that this “wasn’t part of the deal”, but after MX points his Keyblade at him Braig says “You still need me? And what’s a scratch in the grand scheme of things?” So Braig has a motive that promises great rewards, though what it is, is unknown. 

Next we see Ansem the Wise and Ienzo walking down this same hallway but going the opposite direction, they are holding hands and eating sea-salt ice cream. This is a small glimpse into the life of Ansem the Wise, it has always been blatantly obvious that he loves sea-salt ice cream and that he had to play some part in taking Ienzo in after his parents died. So here we see just how close he is with the boy and it can be safely assumed that he cares for the boy deeply, if not all his apprentices. This is significant because it was only after Ienzo spoke up that Ansem agreed to build a laboratory underneath the castle to perform experiments on Xehanort.

Ienzo was the first to  notice the two and to turn around, prompting Ansem to do the same. The boy simply stares as they walk by and the camera zooms in on Ansem’s eyes, perhaps to show that his suspicions may be beginning to take root about the two.

Blank Points is the secret movie at the end of Birth By Sleep, it is unique because it is not only the longest and possibly the easiest secret movie to unlock, it is also the first to not be a teaser about the future of the series but an actual bridge into upcoming events. In twelve minutes this movie provides countless hints and plants various seeds for events that will soon come to light in the series.

In this scene we see Terra and Xehanort, both of whom are dormant inside of the memoryless body that they share, Xehanort is baffled by the fact that Terra is still even there, that his influence should have drowned all traces of Terra and extinguished his light forever. Terra retorts that it is still his heart, and even though there is a foreign presence forcing control over it, it still belongs to him and he will never stop fighting until his heart is completely his once more.

Terra reveals that he has an ace up his sleeve, something that will one day allow him to permanently expel Xehanort from him. Xehanort, always the cool and collected one realizes what he’s talking about and comments “Eraqus, you sly fox.” This is because when Eraqus was struck down, he hid his heart inside of Terra. When he faded into light, his light found its way inside Terra, like how Ven’s heart found its way inside Sora, or a better Example would be when Kairi flew through Sora at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts 1, by passing through him her heart was able to hide inside while her body was lost. The last thing that the master passed on to his student was himself, somewhere deep inside of Terra, Eraqus sleeps, to one day awaken and help his pupil destroy the darkness.

Xehanort responds by revealing a secret of his own, “You are just one of many roads I might choose to take”. Now, pay attention to the wording, “One of many roads I might choose…”, that means that Xehanort’s plan has most likely not yet been implemented, as his words hint to a plan to be executed in the future. This also links back to the secret movie of Re:Coded when Yen Sid asks “would one Keyblade Master be enough for more than one Xehanort?” 

The mysterious figure in Birth By Sleep that is fought in the Land of Departure is no doubt another incarnation of Xehanort, and it seems that he is the same young man shown in the Dream Drop Distance trailers, but who he is exactly remains a mystery. The even bigger mystery however, is if there are any other Xehanort’s besides Terranort and who I will call D-Nort, who seems to have some connection to the Dream Realm and of course ties to dark entities.