BaeWulf95 39 Posted October 16, 2017 (edited) Alright, so I've searched the forums and haven't found anything like this, but I do apologize if it has been posted here before. I know the topic has come up before about why Vanitas was shown beside Young Xehanort in DDD as well as where he may be now, but I think I may have an idea/theory to answer this. Ok, so we know from Nomura in one of his interviews he states that Vanitas showed up because it was Ventus' heart reacting inside of Sora. Now, I still see some confusion here from other fans, so I just want to clear one thing up. Sora did NOT see Vanitas, only Ventus did (and us as the audience, of course). What Sora saw and heard was YX saying, "Hypocrite, you are the one that has made your heart a prison... Even if you are not the prisoner." Ventus (from what we can gather) saw and heard the same thing but with Vanitas saying it instead. That is why after it was all said and done, Sora asks, "My heart's a prison? :huh:" instead of questioning why there was another boy standing beside YX that looked exactly like him. He didn't see Vanitas; he saw YX and that was it. Now continuing from this, I think there could be a double meaning behind the line "Even if you are not the prisoner." YX said it to Sora and was talking about Ventus being the 'prisoner' inside his heart. But what if the same could be said about Vanitas? What if Vanitas said the same thing because it was also true that HE himself was also a prisoner inside of Ven's heart? Looking back at the end of BBS with the resolution of Ven and Vanitas' fight within their dive to the heart, Vanitas fell into his pillar. Now, I was with a lot of people in first taking that as a way of saying the two finally joined back together, but obviously that's not the case since Ventus went into a state of suspended animation like a Princess of Heart would when they lose their hearts. Meaning, his heart still only consists of light. Going off of this, could it be said that Vanitas fell into Ven's heart and got stuck there still as a separate entity and became his 'prisoner'? If this is the case, then Vanitas is trapped inside of Ventus' heart which is trapped inside of Sora's heart. And this kind of matches up with what YX said from the newest trailer featuring the Toy Story world. YX states, "There is a darkness we are missing and must reclaim." Now, it's really just an opinion here, but I think he's talking about Vanitas-which is why I said it kind of matches up. If he is talking about Vanitas, then them [the seekers] trying to find clues as to how hearts connect... this could be why: If they want Vanitas, they'd first have to get Ventus out of Sora's heart and then get Vanitas out of Ventus' heart. That's some crazy heart extraction going on there. Anyway, that's pretty much all I have to offer. Let me know what you guys think. Edited November 4, 2017 by BaeWulf95 7 Charlesreery, DarylTrect, Meighepics and 4 others reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hero of Light XIV 2,381 Posted October 16, 2017 Only thing I disagree with you on is that Sora didn't see Vanitas. That wasn't simply a visual nod for the audience only, it rarely ever is in this series, like how Terra received a premonition of the end of BBS from his own Darkness during his second conversation with Master Xehanort right before visiting Radiant Garden. Sure it worked as a narrative tease for us the audience, but Terra reacted to that, like Xehanort's speaking snapped him out of some deep thought. There's nothing else we can assume he was thinking about, that vision is already a visual cue of what he was thinking about. I bring it up because it's essentially the same thing happening with Sora in this particular scene in DDD. Vanitas standing there wasn't simply a visual tease to us as an audience, it WAS what Sora was seeing. Yes Vanitas' presence there was due to Ven's heart reacting within Sora, but that doesn't mean that Sora doesn't experience it. There have been multiple times where people within Sora show reactions and feelings through Sora. Sora cried when Ven could feel Terra and Aqua suffering in BBS, he saw Kairi speak to him multiple times while her heart was within his in KH, he cried Roxas' tears when he had to leave Twilight Town in KH2, and I don't think I need to point out all the obvious things that happened to him in Organization XIII's nightmare trap. He's already shown the ability to be directly affected by Ven and to see those who are directly connected to his heart, so why is it any less of a possibility that the same thing happened here, that Sora saw Vanitas just as Ven was? Like with Terra, it's not just a 4th wall-only moment, it's an actual indicator of what Sora is seeing, thus why he's so confused right before YX disappears. He's not just reacting to his statement, he would have just snapped back at him if he was, "What's that supposed to mean" and all that. He looked shaken by something, it would only make sense if it was seeing someone he'd never met or known before, but clearly felt something upon seeing him, a feeling that didn't belong to him. Like I said, it wouldn't be the first time. He likely only focused on what YX said because he probably brushed it off as a trick. If anything, YX was counting on something like that to happen, saying the right words to trigger him, in more ways than one, in order to make him more susceptible to further trappings down the line. This all comes to a head when the nightmare trap happens, meaning that the whole test was used as a way to temper both Sora and Riku for the plan Xehanort had for them, only Riku was able to make himself beyond his reach prior to the final execution. What I'm getting at here is that Vanitas' manifestation acted as one of several essential gears in Xehanort and YX's plan to lure Sora deeper into their clutches, and it wouldn't have been nearly as effective if Sora didn't feel those effects.Just having Ven react to something without Sora also experiencing said reaction is essentially the same as having two friends go to the same movie but one of the friends looked away for a second while the other witnessed a dramatic reveal in the movie, the impact is lost on one of them and they won't reach the final climax with the same level of investment. The plan works better if Sora did see Vanitas, was equally confused by his appearance as well as with YX's words, and with everything else he witnesses later. Yeah he doesn't recall back to that moment again later in the game, but then again Riku never brings up seeing his doppleganger in Pranksters' Paradise again later in the game either, so I'd just chalk it up to a minor lapse in writing (on that topic though I'm almost convinced that it was Riku Replica, seeing as how a past version of Riku wouldn't make any sense if present Riku is still untouchable and Xehanort can't just "conjure up" a fake dark Riku out of nowhere, and Riku doesn't have the same set of circumstances as Sora does in order to see people who aren't physically there...plus this Riku was able to physically interact with Pinocchio and could be seen by everyone, so yeah he's corporeal). Apart from that though, yeah I agree with you, Vanitas is likely coming back (why tease his appearance at all if they weren't gonna bring him back?), and the way you described might be a pretty accurate idea. Either way, I hope we do end up seeing him make a true return so that more can be done with his character, especially if there's also the chance that Riku Replica might come back as well, I really would love to see an evil Sora-Riku tag-team battle against OG Sora and Riku. Guess we'll have to wait and see. 2 BaeWulf95 and KHUndertaleFan25 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingdomHearts3 2,591 Posted October 17, 2017 The apparition of Vanitas was, as confirmed by Nomura and said by him, a reaction of Ventus to seeing Young Xehanort. Nothing more than that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites