KINGDOM HEARTS: 358/2 DAYS
While Kingdom Hearts
Coded was the next game released, we should cover the events of 358/2 Days first. These events are
actually the longest, occurring from the point in Kingdom Hearts where Sora stabbed himself, creating Roxas and
Namine, through the events of Chain of
Memories and up to the start of Kingdom
Hearts II.
The game’s story is a little bit of a filler arc at times,
with huge amounts of time passing by with nothing of interest happening. It
tells of the 358 days which Roxas is a member of Organization XIII. At first,
he is a blank slate due to his birth, but Axel helps him develop a personality.
Every day, they go to sit on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town, and eat
salty sweet ice cream. I guess Nobodies don’t have any health problems, minus
the lack of a heart. Roxas understands he can wield the Keyblade, and it is his
duty to slay the Heartless and help strengthen Kingdom Hearts.
Shortly after Roxas’ joining, a fourteenth member appears. A
girl named Xion. Even more of a
blank slate that Roxas, Xion is revealed to also wield the Keyblade, but hides
her face under her black hood. Axel and the rest of the Castle Oblivion brigade
are sent off there, leading to the tragic events of Chain of Memories. Axel is revealed to have been in part of a
conspiracy with Saix to secure their own ranks in the Organization. Saix’s
loyalty to Xemnas, and Axel’s own friendships with Roxas and Xion leads to the
end of their own.
Roxas ends up bonding with Xion, who is revealed to resemble
a dark-haired Kairi, and she, too, has no memories of her origins. Both she and
Roxas can wield the Keyblade, but her ability appears to come and go. Whilst on
a lone mission, she encounters Riku, who claims her Keyblade is a fake, and is
visibly disturbed when he inspects her face under the hood. Axel returns as the
sole survivor of Castle Oblivion, and he becomes friends with Xion.
Over time, both Roxas and Xion are plagued with blackouts,
lost memories, and strange dreams that don’t belong to them. Xion, wanting
answers, goes to Castle Oblivion and learns the truth of her existence. If you
recall, Vexen created the Riku Replica using memories from Riku’s heart. That
wasn’t the first clone made; Xion was. She was created from Sora’s memories of
Kairi, as a backup plan by Xemnas should Roxas be unable to fulfil his role as
the Keyblade owner.
Xion takes this as well as you can expect, but is consoled
by both Riku and Axel. Riku explains that Sora can never wake up as long as
both she and Roxas are separate from him. Xion decides it would be best to
return to Sora, even if it means being erased from existence and losing her
friends. Axel intervenes, dragging her back to the Organization. During this,
Roxas himself turns rogue to find Sora himself. Xion later confronts Roxas in
Twilight Town, Xemnas having altered her to absorb Roxas and become Sora, who
she has started to visibly resemble, being made of his memories.
Roxas and a mutated Xion battle, but he wins. This causes
Xion to start fading away, and she tells him of Xemnas’ plan involving Kingdom
Hearts. To make matters worse, Xion’s death means everyone will forget she
existed (though Namine might remember). The game ends with Riku capturing
Roxas, who is placed by DiZ in the simulated Twilight Town.
...
...
KINGDOM HEARTS CODED
In truth, Coded is
a relatively minor story in the franchise, but still serves an important role.
It acts as a link between the past and the present, and bridges the gap between
Kingdom Hearts II and the road to Kingdom Hearts III. It alerts the main
cast of what is happening to other supporting characters, and serves as an
introduction to Birth By Sleep, and a
segway into Dream Drop Distance.
Jiminy Cricket organizes his journals from past games, but
his one from Kingdom Hearts is blank,
aside from a message reading, “Thank Namine”. He finds another one reading,
“Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it.” Informing Mickey,
Donald, and Goofy, Jiminy and Mickey have the journal’s contents uploaded into
a computer, which houses another world called the Datascape. However, they find
the data is corrupted by black blocks who have a link to the Heartless.
To clear the data of the bugs, Mickey creates a digital
version of Sora, Data Sora, to do
so. Unexpectedly, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy are all digitally imported
into the Datascape. A digital Riku appears as the personification of the
journal, to assist in debugging the journal. Maleficent and Pete show up in the
Datascape to conquer the digital recreations of the worlds, but don’t prove to
be much of a threat as usual. The game also takes the time to relive some of
the franchise’s greatest hits again.
Data Sora decides to reboot the system by debugging Data
Riku, but it would also reset his memories too. The debugging process summons
the bug responsible for the mayhem, which takes the form of Sora’s Heartless.
Maleficent and Pete escape the reboot, and plot find a book called the Book of
Prophecies. It is said to be able to predict the future and even conjure what
is to be, including whole worlds. They resolve to find it and the connection
between the Datascape and Jiminy’s journals.
Data Riku accesses extra data that hides the secret of
Namine’s words. Data Sora and Mickey access a digital Castle Oblivion, defeat
Data Roxas, and discover Data Namine. She reveals her message is a nod to those
lost people connected to Sora’s heart – her real world counterpart, Roxas,
Axel, and Xion, and a trio of characters who we’ll meet in Birth By Sleep – the lost Keyblade wielders Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. Mickey then sends this information to Sora
in that message seen at the end of Kingdom
Hearts II.
In a final scene, Mickey speaks with Yen Sid, who reveals
with the destruction of both his Heartless (Ansem in KH1) and his Nobody (Xemnas), this means the original Xehanort
himself could return. To prepare for this threat, Yen Sid orders Mickey to
summon Sora and Riku to his tower to undertake the Mark of Mastery Exam, and
become Keyblade Masters.
...
KINGDOM HEARTS: BIRTH BY SLEEP
And now onto the big one. Birth By Sleep is a prequel to Kingdom
Hearts, taking place ten years ago. It answers a lot of questions about the
mythology, but also leaves a few others along the way. We learn just who
Xehanort is, what his true motivations and goals are, how Sora, Riku, and Kairi
can wield the Keyblade, and what put certain characters on their various paths
in light and darkness.
Numerous years later, Aqua reaches the realm of
darkness’ shore, finds noneother than Ansem the Wise alive and well. He
explains he has been trapped in the realm for around a year, confirming at
least two years passed since the events of Kingdom
Hearts. To make amends for his sins, he transferred data on restoring lost
hearts into Sora’s for a better purpose. He notes Aqua of Sora’s existence,
with the hope he will rescue them. In another scene, Terra and Xehanort have a
metaphysical chat, revealing Eraqus’ heart took refuge within Terra’s. Nobody
dies in this franchise!
Our heroes in Birth By
Sleep are a trio of young Keyblade wielders, who live in the Land of
Departure. We have the feckless Terra, blue-haired maternal Aqua, and the young
Ventus (or Ven) or resembles Roxas. They are under the tutelage of Master Eraqus, a kind man, but somewhat
hostile to the idea of even using darkness as a weapon or tool for good. Terra
and Aqua are too undertake the Mark of Mastery under the watch of Eraqus and
his friend, Master Xehanort. Oh,
yes.
Xehanort, being the master of manipulation, rigs the exam so
Aqua only passes, and Terra looks like he is relying on his darkness too much.
Eraqus is so pro-light, he scolds Terra, and is blind to the fact Xehanort
messed out with the exam. Eraqus learns dark creatures called the Unversed are roaming the worlds, and he
sends Terra and Aqua to destroy them. Xehanort also disappears during this
time.
Ven meets Vanitas,
a Keyblade wielder who dressed like a Psycho Ranger, who convinces him to
follow Terra. Eraqus sends Aqua to bring Ven home. Each of the three Keyblade
wielders all have their own cool sets of armour, and their Keyblades can turn
into modes of transport to travel between the world. Our heroes travel from
world to world, Terra struggling to keep his darkness in check, Ven being
tormented by the cruel Vanitas, and Aqua is just trying to get her friends
home. Maleficent begins her quest to gather the Princesses of Heart.
During the game, our heroes cross paths with the young Sora,
Riku, and Kairi. Terra passes on the ability to wield the Keyblade to Riku.
Aqua unintentionally does the same thing to Kairi, when she touches her
Keyblade. Being a Princess of Heart, her pure light grants her the rite of
passage.
As you might suspect, Master Xehanort is the chessmaster
behind the whole game’s events. He believes the universe is out of balance, and
light dominates darkness. Long ago, an event called the Keyblade War occurred,
which was a clash between light and darkness and caused great changes to the
universe. All of the combatants had Keyblades. The most powerful was the χ-Blade, capable of summoning Kingdom
Hearts. Growing old, Xehanort realises he must forge the χ-Blade soon, and must
transfer his heart to a younger host’s body to see his plan come to fruition,
to restart the Keyblade War and, in his view, put the universe back into
balance.
At first, he chose Ven to be his vessel. Ven refused to
embrace his darkness, so Xehanort extracted it, creating Vanitas. Ven nearly
died as a result, but Xehanort, in a surprise move, takes his former apprentice
to Destiny Islands to at least die a peaceful death. But, Ven’s heart touches
that of another person, causing him to revive. Xehanort takes the amnesiac Ven
to live with the others, whilst he rearranges his plans. The heart that saved
Ven belong to Sora.
While Xehanort has another host in mind for his heart, he
split Ven and Vanitas apart to use them to forge the χ-Blade. Xehanort had also
previously pitched his plans to Eraqus, leading to a fight, that left his
friend scarred and paranoid. Realising Xehanort’s plans for Ven, Eraqus
reluctantly tries to kill him, but Terra intervenes. Xehanort then murders
Eraqus, and destroys the Land of Departure, sending it into darkness.
Terra, Ven, and Aqua travel to the Keyblade Graveyard, the
remnants of the Keyblade War, and battle against Xehanort and Vanitas. A young
Mickey, who has appeared throughout the story, appears to aid his friends.
Vanitas captures Ven, revealing the Unversed come from his darkness. He removes
his helmet, revealing he resembles a black-haired, yellow-eyed Sora. While this
baffled many fans, it was explained he resembles Sora because of Ven’s
connection to his heart. Yeah, it’s a little vague. Vanitas then forcefully
bonds with Ven, reuniting the light and darkness in their hearts, and forge the
χ-Blade.
Terra, who is kicking Xehanort’s wrinkled ass on a mound, is
distracted by the χ-Blade’s creation. Xehanort takes this opportunity to stab
himself, releasing his heart, which launches itself at the startled Terra –
creating the Xehanort we all know and loathe. However, while it looks like
Terra is gone, his discarded armour springs to life, controlled by Terra’s
lingering will. It defeats Xehanort. Ven has a metaphysical battle with Vanitas
in his mind, while Aqua and Mickey have to fight his possessed body. Ven
sacrifices his own heart and destroys the χ-Blade, Vanitas vanishes, and Ven’s
heart floats away into darkness. It later finds shelter within Sora’s heart,
and would come to be freed and reborn as Roxas.
The destruction of the χ-Blade blasts Mickey, Aqua, and
Xehanort right out of the world, while Terra’s animated armour remains. Aqua,
the comatose Ven, and Mickey are saved by Yen Sid. Aqua takes Ven back to the
ruined Land of Departure, picking up Eraqus’ discarded Keyblade along the way.
Following her late master’s words, Aqua uses his Keyblade to transform the land
into a new fortress, and hides Ven in a secret room to rest until she returns
to wake him up. It is revealed the Land of Departure has transformed into
Castle Oblivion.
Aqua confronts Xehanort/Terra in Hollow Bastion (once called
Radiant Garden). When Terra tries to regain control of his body, Xehanort stabs
himself with his own Keyblade, sinking into the realm of darkness. Aqua rescues
Terra, launching him through a portal back to Hollow Bastion with her Keyblade
and armour. Aqua herself sinks into darkness, where she shall wander for the
next ten years. But, because time is irrelevant in the realm of darkness, she
is unaware of how much time has passed.
Xehanort develops amnesia and is taken in by Ansem the Wise,
becoming his apprentice. Braig,
Xigbar’s original self, quickly puts him on the path to forming Organization
XIII, having formed a partnership with Master Xehanort earlier in the game.
Xemnas later builds a hidden chamber deep beneath Hollow Bastion’s castle,
resembling the room Ven sleeps in, where he talks repeatedly to Aqua’s armour
and Keyblade.
...
KINGDOM HEARTS: DREAM DROP DISTANCE
Sora and Riku return to the spotlight to undertake that Mark
of Mastery Exams to become Keyblade Masters. With Master Xehanort’s return
imminent, Yen Sid has Sora and Riku venture into a dream realm to awaken
slumbering worlds that were previously destroyed by the Heartless. These worlds
can be freed by unlocking their Keyholes of Sleep. Occupying the worlds are Dream Eaters, which are split between
the benevolent Spirits, and the evil Nightmares. Sora and Riku are aided by a
cat-like and a bat-like Spirit respectively.
The duo find themselves separated from each other on different
plains of existence, and encounter characters from The World Ends With You in Traverse Town. Throughout their
journeys, Sora and Riku are stalked by Xehanort’s various revived incarnations
like Xehanort’s Heartless, Xemnas, and a mysterious young Xehanort. Sora
completes his examine, meeting Xigbar, who reveals he has been chosen to be the
thirteenth member of a revived Organization XIII. Or more specifically, he will
be a vessel for a piece of Xehanort’s heart and be possessed by him, the same
way as Terra.
Sora learns from the Young Xehanort that his Heartless
travelled through time via a complex plot device, recruiting various versions
of Xehanort to form a new Organization. Yes, really. This was the original goal
of the first Organization, with Xemnas plotting to turn the Nobodies into
vessels for pieces of his heart, but found most were unsuitable candidates,
save Xigbar, Saix, and Roxas. Most shockingly of all, Xemnas reveals that the
Nobodies will regrow their hearts over time, and he lied to his comrades about
it. Sora’s heart is encased in darkness, but Ven’s armour protects him.
Riku and Mickey arrive at The Castle That Never Was, where
Master Xehanort materialises. He still plans on recreating the χ-Blade, but
will now be doing things differently. He explains that during the Keyblade War,
the χ-Blade was shattered into twenty pieces – seven of light, and thirteen of
darkness. The seven pieces of light would become the hearts of the seven
Princesses. He plans on creating the thirteen pieces of darkness via thirteen
copies of himself. He then explains seven Guardians of Light, i.e. Keyblade
wielders, are needed to recreate the χ-Blade. But with Sora and Terra in his
possession, the heroes are three Keyblades short.
Sora is rescued by Lea, the original self of Axel, along
with Donald and Goofy. Xehanort’s vessels vanish, promising to return once all
twenty pieces of the χ-Blade are
gathered. Riku ventures into Sora’s dreams to revive him. He finds himself on a
digital version of Destiny Islands, meeting Roxas, Ven, Xion, and then a
digital replica of Ansem the Wise, who informs him of the research he left for
Sora.
Riku awakens, finding Sora is up and about already. With the
Mark of Mastery shanghaied by Xehanort from the start, only Riku is granted the
rank of Keyblade Master. Sora, being Sora, is completely fine with this.
Needing to gather Guardians of Light, plans are made to locate Ventus and Aqua,
while Axel is taught to wield a Keyblade himself. Sora departs to visit the
Dream Eaters, while Riku brings Kairi into the fold to train her properly to be
a Keyblade wielder.
...
KINGDOM HEARTS χ
Also known as “Unchained χ” or “Union χ”, this game was
released on mobiles, which is quite a strange choice for an installment that
has such important plot information. Or at least on paper. Kingdom Hearts χ serves as an origin story for the franchise,
telling the events which led up to the Keyblade War. However, it still asks
many questions with no answers, setting up more mysteries to solve in Kingdom Hearts III.
One scene also hints Maleficent has obtained one of
the Books of Prophecies.
The story is set many years, possibly thousands, before the
events of Birth By Sleep. Since this
takes place before the Keyblade War, we assume it takes place on the original
world of lore. However, it is later stated that numerous worlds currently
exist.
This world is called Daybreak Town, home to countless
Keyblade wielders. Each one is a member of one of five Keyblade Unions, run by
a Foreteller. The original founder
of these Unions is an anonymous man called The
Master of Masters, implied to be the original Keyblade Master. He has great
power, respect, knowledge, and even has an eye which can see into the future.
As such, he created the Book of Prophecies, which foretells the future.
However, it also reveals he will disappear, and the Keyblade War shall occur.
Each of the five Unions are led by the Foretellers, who are
named after the seven deadly sins, and wear animal-themed masks. They include Ira (unicorn), Aced (bear), Invi (snake),
Gula (leopard), and Ava (vixen). The Master of Masters also
has a sixth apprentice, Luxu, who
lacks his own union. Both the Master and Luxu wear black hooded coats to hide
their identities. Friendly Dream Eaters called Chirithy, which resemble Moogles, accompany their Keyblade
wielders. However, if a Chirithy turns into a Nightmare, it means a Keyblade
wielder has turned to darkness. Each Foreteller also has their own Book of
Prophecies.
The Master, anticipating the war, assigns his six
Foretellers different roles to prevent it. Ira is to lead in his absence. Aced
is to aid Ira, or replace him should it be necessary. Invi is to act as a
mediator between the group. Gula is to consult the Book of Prophecies, using a
torn page handed to him by the Master, which predicts a traitor shall lead to
the war. Ava must recruit gifted Keyblade wielders into a new union called the Dandelions, who must survive the war,
and protect the light. Luxu is given the Master’s Keyblade – which will become
Xehanort’s – and a large black trunk to care for. The Master warns Luxu to
never open the trunk, and to watch the other Foretellers and the Keyblade War
from afar without interference.
The player’s character is depicted as a new Keyblade wielder
who must choose a Union and collect Lux from Heartless and Nightmares. The
Master vanishes, and Ira produces a Nightmare, revealing the foretold traitor
(which only Gula is aware of) has turned to darkness. This quickly causes
paranoia and distrust between the Foretellers, eventually leading to the
Keyblade War.
In the end, only six characters are confirmed to have
survived the war, one of them being Luxu, who, presumably, would pass on the
Keyblade to Xehanort. The others would form the Dandelions – Ephemer, Skuld, Brain (who
resembles Zexion), Lauriam (the
original self of Marluxia), and most mysteriously of all, Ventus. These five
will serve as the next generation of Foretellers. Interestingly, another
Dandelion member, Strelitzia, is
introduced, but is implied to have been murdered by Lauriam to steal her place
as a Foreteller.
Unanswered questions include what happened to the Dandelions
and Luxu are left unanswered, along with what happened to the Master, who the
traitor was (if there was one), when Xehanort obtained his Keyblade, and what
is in the black trunk?
...
A FRAGMENTARY PASSAGE
Returning to the present, A Fragmentary Passage focuses on Aqua’s time trapped in the realm
of darkness. Mickey reveals to Riku and Kairi that he actually found Aqua
during the events of Kingdom Hearts.
Aqua had been wandering through the darkness for ages, finding worlds she had
visited now destroyed. She encounters Terra’s heart, who warns her that
Xehanort is looking for the chamber Ven is sleeping in. Aqua is dragged into
darkness by a Heartless, but is rescued by Mickey. Together, they reach Destiny
Islands, where Mickey obtains his Keyblade, hoping to seal the door to Kingdom
Hearts with help from Sora and Riku. However, the Heartless attack, and Aqua
once again sacrifices herself to save her friends, winding up in darkness,
where she eventually meets Ansem the Wise.
Riku is angered by Mickey’s deceit, but Yen Sid explains
that it isn’t easy accessing the realm of darkness (even though half the cast
can open portals to it), and he didn’t want Sora and Riku recklessly trying to
save Aqua. The plans are made: Riku and
Mickey will breach the realm of darkness to rescue Aqua, whilst Kairi will train
alongside Axel to master their Keyblades. Sora, Donald, and Goofy later arrive,
Yen Sid assigning them to also search for Keyblade wielders, but to restore
Sora’s lost powers by visiting Hercules in the Olympus Coliseum.
In part three, we'll go over the chronological timeline, and answer some major questions in the franchise.
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