Birth by Sleep Brain Things
So I've played Birth by Sleep (duh), rewatched old KH vids (like the special stuff from KH2 Final Mix), and now my brain is working in hyperdrive and won't shut up from excitement. Therefore, I've decided to make a post about my findings and interpretations, using pictures, videos, and links.
So this will be broken down into approximately three sections, each having to do with the conclusion that I draw at the end. Hope it'll make sense. XD
For this to be easiest, it's best to be familiar with all the extra vids available in KH2 Final Mix. You can view them all HERE. I will be referring to each video by the name that KH-vids.net gives it. Dur hur. :B
There are also a few things that I'm just going to assume you know, if you've unlocked or watched all of the extra scenes in BBS including 'Last Episode', 'Where the Heart Goes', and 'Blank Points'. If you'd like to see them, click HERE.
I. Xemnas's true goal
In the video 'An Old Friend' Xemnas is seen going into a room he had, as an apprentice, constructed under the castle in Radiant Gardens. This is referred to as the Room of Sleep by Xigbar in 'The New Headquarters.' In this room, there is a pile of old armor that is now easily recognizable as Aqua's armor- the one she lost when saving Terra/Xehanort at the end of the Last Episode and Braig has Dilan carry into the castle for him.
Xigbar also states that Xemnas is talking to someone (despite the fact that there shouldn't be anyone else in there) and that perhaps that other person is in the matched room called the Chamber of Awakening. Which just so happens to be the name of a cutscene in Last Episode where Aqua places Ven in a closed-off room somewhere in Castle Oblivion. Oh ho ho. This can only mean that Ven is in this Chamber of Awakening. This is also supported by the appearance of both rooms aesthetically:
Then finally, Xigbar says that there is a reason they are using Castle Oblivion as their new headquarters, one that hasn't been revealed to any of them by Xemnas.
Now to conclude this first section, there are a few ideas that I had about it. Xemnas is talking to either Ven or Aqua in that room, for whatever reason. Perhaps he is trying to get Aqua to tell him the secret of Castle Oblivion, knowing on some instinctual level that it is actually the Land of Departure and has some sort of great power locked away. Or perhaps the part of him that is still Terra, because I do think Terra is in there somewhere, misses his friends and is trying to save them. I'd like to think the later, but knowing Square's penchant for evil-doings, I wouldn't be surprised at the former in the least.
II. Braig Vs. Xigbar
The first time you meet and fight Braig as Terra, he is obviously human. Brown eyes, normal ears, etc. He admittedly has some odd teleportation powers that the fandom had previously chalked up to Xigbar being a Nobody. Now it seems it was just something that is potentially common in the KH world, seeing as there are other characters that can utilize similar moves (such as Aqua's Ghost Drive command style).
When you see him again as Aqua and Ven, however, he suddenly has Xigbar's characteristic yellow eyes and pointed ears.
Does this mean he has already lost his heart? It's certainly very possible, considering Master Xehanort's claim to having the knowledge of being able to remove and safekeep hearts. And while Braig does not have the mastery over space (modifying the playing board around him) that Xigbar 10 years in the future has, it's pretty obvious that he's had a major power-up. I wonder how this effects the events between when Xehanort arrives at Radiant Garden and the apprentices loose their hearts? It's certainly not as straight-forward as the fandom had thought it was.
III. Ven, Roxas, Sora, and Axel
Back to the Final Mix videos. In 'Remembrance', Axel says that he thinks that Roxas is different because he has a heart. With the obvious similarities between Ven and Roxas, and the fact that Ven has pretty much taken up residence in Sora, I think it's safe to say that Roxas is actually housing Ven's heart for this period of time. He is a Nobody- he was created from Sora's empty shell- but he is both Sora and Ven at the same time. Two keyblade wielders in one body = two keyblades. Even Roxas's keyblades (Oblivion and Oathkeeper) seem to lend to this theory. One represents the promise with Kairi, which is innately Sora, and the other is named Oblivion and has chains on it. Doesn't this strike a familiar chord? *cough*CastleOblivion,ChamberOfAwakening*cough*
Let's move on to Axel. When Ven met Lea in Radiant Gardens, Lea was already obsessed with people remembering him ('Got it memorized?'). He wanted to know as many people as possible so he could, in his own words, be immortal. Ven and Lea forge a D-Link, using the 'circle of friends' idea that's predominant throughout all of BBS. Then Ven goes and looses his heart, gets stuck in Sora, blah blah blah.
In 'The Conclusion' the remaining Org members are discussing Axel's betrayal and his 'false feelings'. Xemnas points out that when Axel was with Sora, he touched his heart. That perhaps when he was with Sora, he was awakened. However, Xemnas was not looking at Axel's chair, but Roxas's (recognizable by being the shortest in the room and immediately opposite Xemnas's in the circle). Perhaps 'He' was actually Roxas and/or Ven.
My thoughts on this all are: When you forge a friendship with someone you give them a piece of your heart. Lea had done so with Ven when he was still human, thus guaranteeing a piece of his humanity lived on. Because Roxas was actually a combination of Sora and Ven, the reason Axel felt 'like he had a heart' when he was around Roxas (and by extension, Sora) he was actually feeling a piece of his own heart. It's why his emotions- real emotions, not ones that were remembered- made him want to do things that he normally wouldn't have done just by himself as a Nobody, such as spare Roxas's life when commanded to take it in 'The Orders'. It's why he was able to cry in 'Rememberance' when Roxas disappears.
~~~
DAMN THAT WAS A LOT OF RAMBLING. So to wrap all of that up, I really think way too much about Kingdom Hearts. This was kind of, mostly, an exercise in organizing all my stray thoughts that came up when rewatching the old Final Mix stuff with new eyes. Hopefully this will draw some of my old Kingdom Hearts peeps out of the woodwork too, with thoughts, opinions, and modifications to what I've said.
Bah, I'm going back to RPing.
Edit'd for some word flow.
So this will be broken down into approximately three sections, each having to do with the conclusion that I draw at the end. Hope it'll make sense. XD
For this to be easiest, it's best to be familiar with all the extra vids available in KH2 Final Mix. You can view them all HERE. I will be referring to each video by the name that KH-vids.net gives it. Dur hur. :B
There are also a few things that I'm just going to assume you know, if you've unlocked or watched all of the extra scenes in BBS including 'Last Episode', 'Where the Heart Goes', and 'Blank Points'. If you'd like to see them, click HERE.
I. Xemnas's true goal
In the video 'An Old Friend' Xemnas is seen going into a room he had, as an apprentice, constructed under the castle in Radiant Gardens. This is referred to as the Room of Sleep by Xigbar in 'The New Headquarters.' In this room, there is a pile of old armor that is now easily recognizable as Aqua's armor- the one she lost when saving Terra/Xehanort at the end of the Last Episode and Braig has Dilan carry into the castle for him.
Xigbar also states that Xemnas is talking to someone (despite the fact that there shouldn't be anyone else in there) and that perhaps that other person is in the matched room called the Chamber of Awakening. Which just so happens to be the name of a cutscene in Last Episode where Aqua places Ven in a closed-off room somewhere in Castle Oblivion. Oh ho ho. This can only mean that Ven is in this Chamber of Awakening. This is also supported by the appearance of both rooms aesthetically:
Then finally, Xigbar says that there is a reason they are using Castle Oblivion as their new headquarters, one that hasn't been revealed to any of them by Xemnas.
Now to conclude this first section, there are a few ideas that I had about it. Xemnas is talking to either Ven or Aqua in that room, for whatever reason. Perhaps he is trying to get Aqua to tell him the secret of Castle Oblivion, knowing on some instinctual level that it is actually the Land of Departure and has some sort of great power locked away. Or perhaps the part of him that is still Terra, because I do think Terra is in there somewhere, misses his friends and is trying to save them. I'd like to think the later, but knowing Square's penchant for evil-doings, I wouldn't be surprised at the former in the least.
II. Braig Vs. Xigbar
The first time you meet and fight Braig as Terra, he is obviously human. Brown eyes, normal ears, etc. He admittedly has some odd teleportation powers that the fandom had previously chalked up to Xigbar being a Nobody. Now it seems it was just something that is potentially common in the KH world, seeing as there are other characters that can utilize similar moves (such as Aqua's Ghost Drive command style).
When you see him again as Aqua and Ven, however, he suddenly has Xigbar's characteristic yellow eyes and pointed ears.
Does this mean he has already lost his heart? It's certainly very possible, considering Master Xehanort's claim to having the knowledge of being able to remove and safekeep hearts. And while Braig does not have the mastery over space (modifying the playing board around him) that Xigbar 10 years in the future has, it's pretty obvious that he's had a major power-up. I wonder how this effects the events between when Xehanort arrives at Radiant Garden and the apprentices loose their hearts? It's certainly not as straight-forward as the fandom had thought it was.
III. Ven, Roxas, Sora, and Axel
Back to the Final Mix videos. In 'Remembrance', Axel says that he thinks that Roxas is different because he has a heart. With the obvious similarities between Ven and Roxas, and the fact that Ven has pretty much taken up residence in Sora, I think it's safe to say that Roxas is actually housing Ven's heart for this period of time. He is a Nobody- he was created from Sora's empty shell- but he is both Sora and Ven at the same time. Two keyblade wielders in one body = two keyblades. Even Roxas's keyblades (Oblivion and Oathkeeper) seem to lend to this theory. One represents the promise with Kairi, which is innately Sora, and the other is named Oblivion and has chains on it. Doesn't this strike a familiar chord? *cough*CastleOblivion,ChamberOfAwakening*cough*
Let's move on to Axel. When Ven met Lea in Radiant Gardens, Lea was already obsessed with people remembering him ('Got it memorized?'). He wanted to know as many people as possible so he could, in his own words, be immortal. Ven and Lea forge a D-Link, using the 'circle of friends' idea that's predominant throughout all of BBS. Then Ven goes and looses his heart, gets stuck in Sora, blah blah blah.
In 'The Conclusion' the remaining Org members are discussing Axel's betrayal and his 'false feelings'. Xemnas points out that when Axel was with Sora, he touched his heart. That perhaps when he was with Sora, he was awakened. However, Xemnas was not looking at Axel's chair, but Roxas's (recognizable by being the shortest in the room and immediately opposite Xemnas's in the circle). Perhaps 'He' was actually Roxas and/or Ven.
My thoughts on this all are: When you forge a friendship with someone you give them a piece of your heart. Lea had done so with Ven when he was still human, thus guaranteeing a piece of his humanity lived on. Because Roxas was actually a combination of Sora and Ven, the reason Axel felt 'like he had a heart' when he was around Roxas (and by extension, Sora) he was actually feeling a piece of his own heart. It's why his emotions- real emotions, not ones that were remembered- made him want to do things that he normally wouldn't have done just by himself as a Nobody, such as spare Roxas's life when commanded to take it in 'The Orders'. It's why he was able to cry in 'Rememberance' when Roxas disappears.
~~~
DAMN THAT WAS A LOT OF RAMBLING. So to wrap all of that up, I really think way too much about Kingdom Hearts. This was kind of, mostly, an exercise in organizing all my stray thoughts that came up when rewatching the old Final Mix stuff with new eyes. Hopefully this will draw some of my old Kingdom Hearts peeps out of the woodwork too, with thoughts, opinions, and modifications to what I've said.
Bah, I'm going back to RPing.
Edit'd for some word flow.