bambii

Never thought anyone would come close to Nimoy, but then along came Christopher Lloyd. They’re neck-and-neck for me, Lloyd really knocked it out the park and gave Master Xehanort new life and energy IMO. In some ways, I prefer Lloyd’s spin because he dials down the deviousness ever so slightly in favor of whimsy and a hint of levity, which is a dimension to MX’s character that I enjoy. Hauer was OK but slightly disappointing—he lacked the gnarled sense of mischievousness that’s core to Master Xehanort’s character. Made MX sound a tad tired and worn out.

Still no sign of life for Global. Unbelievable.

Yea, I think it's definitely meant to be happening simultaneously with or around the same time as when the Dandelions are fighting Darkness in the data world. The other key indicator here is that flashback scenes in Ux are usually (always?) framed with a vignette effect/dark border, which is not the case in this scene.

Going chronologically: KH1’s Hollow Bastion’s labyrinthine structure and puzzle mechanics stay with me even after 2 decades. Hard to beat. KH2’s environments aren’t particularly noteworthy, but Twilight Town and TWTNW absolutely nail a sense of place-making. They’re both highly believable and immersive locales. I would’ve liked to spend more time in them. Can’t say I remember BBS’s maps well enough, as I haven’t actually played it in some time. DDD’s Symphony of Sorcery may well be my favorite KH world in terms of design and mechanics. It’s an absolute joy to explore, and everything from the musical sound fx replacing normal attack fx, seamless integration of flowmotion into its vast and vertical environments, and the way new areas open make it pretty magical IMO. I also love DDD’s take on TWTNW, it’s so vast and surreal. KH3 - Toy Box takes the cake. Really imaginative, varied, makes you actually feel like a kid in a toy store. ReMind’s Scala also set a new marker for the franchise in terms of sandbox exploration IMO, though I feel like they could have done a little more with it mechanically. The traversal railways are really neat though. EDIT: I just remembered Space Paranoids, that definitely belongs here. The Grid is pretty rad too.

Woah, this is awesome!

I think this makes perfect sense. In truth, what are all the Disney worlds our beloved characters romp through but actual children's storybooks come to life? They can be read over and over, with the same fundamental structures of plot in place but with variations based on who "opens" the book (or, in KH lore, who travels to that "world"), which could be understood as a metaphor for the imagination and the imaginative process. It's no coincidence that many of the same Disney worlds keep appearing time and again, with the same essential stories playing out as though on loop (e.g., Wonderland, Agrabah, Neverland, Enchanted Dominion, Dwarf Woodlands, Castle of Dreams). This idea is beginning to be addressed/confirmed in Dark Road with all the talk of how different worlds have their own temporality and rules/laws. I've always thought that the Book of Prophecies was a variation on that same theme, only at a higher meta/narrative level: treating the story of Kingdom Hearts *itself* as an in-world storybook (hence: Unreality, World of Fiction, blah blah blah). Re:Coded also plays on the same theme with Jiminy's Journal and I think this was clearly meant to be a subtle nod/foreshadowing of the future of the series. Maleficent even directly realizes and makes note of this connection between Jiminy's Journal and the Book of Prophecies. Union Cross makes this all the more explicit by literally imbuing the Book of Prophecies with the power to project these storyworlds (as projection in χ and as data in Union Cross - which Maleficent confirms, saying it's said the Book has the power to "conjure." It's the power of the imagination/fiction, folks!). So yeah, good catch. I think the opening of DDD is 100% a play on this very same idea. It's also no coincidence that in the same game, we have that scene between Young Xehanort and Sora in which YX points out how Sora has relived his visit to Traverse Town time and time again, in many different ways. The fundamental/archetypal "storybook" of Kingdom Hearts itself is opened and closed then reopened over and over - in memory, in data, in dreams, etc etc.

I wrote more above while you were replying lol but gonna read your follow-up post shortly!

Once again floored by your encyclopedic knowledge and astute observations. Thanks for the responses. This is pretty much the most empirically convincing speculation on where KH is going that I’ve read to date - this really needs more exposure amongst the fandom. Alas, I don’t know any of the Youtube Men myself. But damo279 and The Secret Reports both seem pretty approachable and would probably eat this up. In any case, while I await your elaboration on the other points, a few thoughts/reactions: I think the broader question this raises for me is what really is the nature of the cycle and how does it actually manifest in Kingdom Hearts, the series? And could Type-0/Agito help answer this question? We’ve heard MoM *talk* about the cycle of ends and new beginnings, and Master Xehanort has also referred to it (in the singular) - the “precious light that was found” at the end of the Keyblade War from Unchained [x]. However, we never actually see this event taking place. What actually *precipitates* the end of one world and the beginning of the next? In KH, we’re vaguely told that it relates to 3 things: A Keyblade War Darkness “prevailing” Kingdom Hearts opening The order and actual details of these events is left fairly ambiguous. The last one in particular (Kingdom Hearts opening) leaves many questions unanswered; particularly puzzling is Vanitas’ statement in BBS that the X-Blade will “open a door, one that leads to all worlds. Then, Keyblade-bearing warriors will flock here from each and every one of them, to battle for the light within Kingdom Hearts! And just like the legend says, the Keyblade War will begin!” Unless Nomura is treating this statement like it never happened, given the new context from Melody of Memory, the implication is that opening Kingdom Hearts is literally a fourth-wall breaking event which is cross-temporal in nature - all realities/cycles converge, or at the very least, become accessible. A singularity, in effect. But which is it that actually causes the start of a new cycle? Darkness prevailing following a Keyblade War, or Kingdom Hearts opening? Seems it must be the former (and Type-0/Agito would probably corroborate this). You mentioned Tempus Finis, which looks like some kind of Ragnarok event (fitting with all the Norse terminology in Dark Road, hm?) - the “fall to darkness” event. The machine in Scala certainly does seem to indicate that Daybreak Town befalls this fate; presumably, however, this takes place *after* the Keyblade War itself, after all’s said and done, since there are no red skies to speak of in what we’re shown, nor do we even see the world engulfed in darkness. Just waking up in a Data Daybreak Town (presumably in a new world? Here, your idea of cycles = worldlines would certainly make sense). But the closest thing we actually see to a full-on apocalypse event is… the End of the World in KH1, which … certainly raises some questions which I’m not equipped to answer right now: However, a Tempus Finis-type event following a Keyblade War marking the end of a cycle puts the function of actually opening Kingdom Hearts into question. KH3 is the only time we ever actually see Kingdom Hearts open, and this is after Sora uses the Power of Waking (the first… 7 times) to re-write the fall to darkness and, as you’re suggesting, finally end the cycle. Maybe that’s more of a parallel to the whole Unseen World thing, or maybe it doesn’t have a parallel in Type-0/Agito at all. I really need to just hunker down and play Type-0. To go back quickly to your cycles = worldlines idea, I can certainly see your reasoning, but the other contender for worldlines is “other realities.” However, we then have Luxu in Secret Report 11 to contend with: "The virus has begun a strange undertaking: a reckless plot to allow the Five to escape into another worldline. Surely such a thing can't be possible? We're talking about the same trick that allowed the Dandelions to transfer to other worldlines after the Keyblade War.” This is especially interesting when we consider So I continue with the Secret Reports quote: “But these children are no Masters. They haven't the means.” …implying that the Masters themselves *may have* crossed over into another worldline themselves. So post-Keyblade War in Unchained [x], 1 of the following 3 things must be true: Dandelions emerge into a new cycle (worldline = cycle) Dandelions escape the cycle into a new reality (worldline = reality) New cycles are new realities (worldline = cycle = reality) As for the Foretellers, who the heck knows. At this point I’m assuming the same would apply for them. Last question - is there any Omnipotent Author stand-in type figure in Agito/Type-0? I see all the parallels you’re drawing between Jack and the MoM and they are indeed convincing, but MoM is also the author of the Book of Prophecies (i.e. meta-fictional author of the story of Kingdom Hearts, at least in one reality), and plays a unique role in that respect. Oops, totally just rambled. Sorry! Hope I made some kind of sense.

This is... pretty incredible. I've yet to play Type-0 myself, but from the little I've known about it I've had the sense for a while that there are some secrets there relevant to the future of KH - especially since the Ux update in which the MoM describes the never-ending Keyblade War. Lo and behold. Anyway, great work, my mind is blown. I do have a few questions for you if you feel up to it: How do you see Scala ad Caelum playing into all this? MX calls it the "nexus from which all worlds spring," which could mean many things (especially post-Melody of Memory), and it certainly does seem to stand apart from the normal cycle of time. It also, however, carries on in the lineage of Daybreak Town's class-system of Keyblade Wielding which, as you say, has obvious parallels to Agito/Type-0 etc. The question of the upperclassmen is of particular interest, though To clarify, is your proposition about Xehanort that he is, in effect, the Judge (working consensually with the Darkness/Gala entity), whose self-aware task is essentially to either end the world/start over or find the Agito (Sora) who will end the cycle of war? (Also would explain Master Xehanort's keen interest in Ventus, I suppose...) Speaking of the Agito/hope concept, so far we've seen this idea pop up in reference to 2 other things in KH: as being what's inside the box (Luxord), and Do Type-0/Agito provide any clues as to what these might mean? Based on everything you've observed, who do you think is the most likely candidate amongst the Foretellers to be the traitor? (And what even is the significance of being the traitor, in KH?) Sounds like you're saying Type-Next was meant to head in a similar direction to where the KH series is headed now, but was there ever any indication in Type-0/Agito of Finally, what do you think the odds are of the events of Agito/Type-0 actually being *canon* in a broader multiverse sense to Kingdom Hearts? By the way, I'd be very keen to read any of your expanded thoughts on Darkness, Ven, Laurium/Strelitzia, and anything else you think relevant. EDIT: Also, please link to said blog of yours with Agito translations!

This is awesome and really informative! Look forward to more episodes.

I feel like Ven needs more love here; laughs, mild adventure, and lotsa hugs

Oblivion. Love that one.

Agreed

Ha. If I could ever write for video games, that would be pretty cool. But I think, for now, I'm just gonna keep pursuing my history major....