setsugekka

You can often say a complete sentence in Japanese without ever using a pronoun. If you understand the context, it doesn't feel confusing, but khux loves to use that ambiguity to its advantage, and that's how we end up with wildly different translations. Maybe he did mean "we" even if he didn't say it. There's no real way to know until we know. lol (Unless he actually DID say "bokutachi" or something. I still haven't looked for it. I feel annoyed just thinking about slogging through tons of videos to look for it... I literally opened a new tab and then closed the new tab. asfjhdgk) I've been dying to see what the official translation does with all the recent updates, so it's probably best to keeeep waaaaiting... ? Tangentially related... Class Zero are summoned to the Dissidia world by Materia as warriors of light, but apparently they possess "negative wills." That's how Machina ends up being summoned by Spiritus, Materia's dark counterpart who summons the villains. I just love how even Materia's like "Listen, Mog, these kids are light, but they're also kinda......... willing to do murderrr and stufff... So we gotta, like, not let them do that." That's why she summons Kurasame, their commanding officer, so he can keep an eye on them. Hmm... I don't really have anything else to add for now. At least it feels like we've answered as much as we can for now with the information we have. You know what would be great? If Dark Road would update. I don't think it's as related to all this Agito stuff as much as khux is (the characters don't seem like anyone in particular to me besides Bragi kind of looking like Lean), but I'd love to hear more about Xehanort's memories. I'm also curious about Odin. He seems like someone important, but...???

It's getting exhausting trying to find all the scenes where these lines come from... But with my knowledge of Japanese, I can make a pretty confident guess that he didn't say "we." I think that was just Everglow's interpretation. I always read Cherrim's translations on the night the game is updated, then I may or may not read khinsider later. I'm pretty sure it was worded as an order directed at Luxu. I'll let you know if I come across it again. Yeah, that's how I think it is, too. Something I've been thinking about is that even though the MoM says "it's all to defeat the darkness", that might just be the objective of the plan. In other words, defeating the darkness is essential for saving the world, but he may not personally have anything against the darkness. I think I mentioned this before, but I don't see the KH3 secret ending as a 1-to-1 depiction of things that are actually happening in Quadtratum. It's more like an artistic interpretation, like how other secret endings don't end up being exactly what happens in the story. The MoM is there to show you that he's going to be there. He may or may not be there yet. I wouldn't take that it to mean anything concrete besides "MoM will be there." lol We saw Sora and Riku walking around on the streets, and things haven't happened that way so far. We saw Sora fight Yozora and get turned into crystal. There wasn't any point where he was wandering around the streets. See what I mean? I think that must have been what Luxu was referring to in his secret report when he talked about the Foretellers' power to send the Dandelions to another world line. Even if it's data, I guess it still counts. That's what I was wondering about, though. I don't think it's the same as the Power of Waking or anything... I wondered if it involved a machine like the one in the Twilight Town mansion, but that wouldn't make sense. It's supposed to be a power that only masters can use... I think he knew that telling her what the MoM had told him to do would emotionally damage her. ("She was silent. Jack had just thrown her into deep sadness. He who always raised her spirits, since that first day, eight years earlier..." Like that.) lbr, Luxu doesn't like her. lol I think he could tell that she was special to the MoM and that makes him jealous, so he wanted to make her self-destruct. ...So, did she? She ended up fighting in the keyblade war which was uncharacteristic for her. But it seems like everything after that is just a mystery for now. While I could still see her associating with Darkness, I know that she's also an adamant, resolute person. She may have finally decided for herself what she believed was the right thing to do. This reminds me of the Loveless poster in FF7R that looks like Yuna. What's weird is that there are actual story reasons for why it could literally be Yuna. I still feel like it's too extreme of a leap to say that all of these recent SE games are connected, but part of me is definitely wondering if we're experiencing the Square-Enix Extended Universe now. I know I'm not the only person who came away from FF7R thinking it could be related to KH, but I also don't want to accuse everything of being KH if it's not. lol That's really funny. lol Sadly, I figure SE isn't known as "Triangle-Enix" in the fictional world seeing as how the box of Verum Rex actually says "Square-Enix" on it. But the thought still gives me a giggle. All the billboards remind me of the Easter eggs that were found in the signs around Insomnia. I don't know if the ones in Quadratum are going to have any connection, but it's still pretty fun to see them. A while ago, Cynical (thegamersjoint) had pointed out a sign in Quadratum that had something to do with Gunslinger Stratos. I ended up watching the whole anime just to see if it was related. I don't think it's literally connected, but it does have some concepts that seem like they could be relevant like alternate realities and time travel. (The show is bad. The game it's based on is an arcade game that barely has any story in it. I DO NOT recommend watching it. lol)

Whenever somebody says "Dandelions", I'm only thinking about the main characters, so I legit kind of... forget... that all the other Dandelions EXIST... Entirely possible that only that small handful made it out of there. Luxu's secret report made it sound possible that another keyblade war could've taken place even in that data world, so history may have repeated itself...? You make a good point. That was the impression I got based on the others' reactions when Ventus told them about what happened. I just... get the feeling that Luxu is supposed to be the traitor... And it fits with Agito, so I can't even be mad about it. lol Luxu's my boy, so I'm just... aghhh... ahhh why'd it have to be him... But... I reeeeally think it's supposed to be him... The passage seems to coincide with everything that occurred. Gula also mentioned that the traitor bore the "sigil", which is the X. Luxu's the only one with an X in his name. It could just be that obvious, I guess. On top of that, the MoM explicitly told him to END THE WORLD. My mind has been trying to reject that line, but it exists. (It was from one of the more recent updates.) Gula refers to the traitor as the one who's trying to end the world. And as we know from Agito, the Judge's Focus includes ending the world. "Words of truth misunderstood as they explore the secret of tomorrow." During his scene with Ava, I thiiink it seems safe to say that Luxu thinks he understands the truth. Ava accused him of twisting the Master's intentions. I think she was right about that, but I don't think that automatically means that she understands. When I think about Jack, I question how much anyone can truly understand the MoM's intentions. In that one dffoo scene I shared a couple days ago, Deuce charitably misinterpreted his intentions: It seems like she's the only one who never gets fed up with him because she always makes excuses for his actions. Sometimes it's over inconsequential things like here where he was just teasing Machina a little. Other times, he's saying things like "humans are barbaric creatures that will always kill each other" and she tries her hardest to pretend like she didn't hear him say that. So, it follows that if Luxu tells Ava the truth, she would try her hardest to reject it. She wouldn't want to believe that the MoM would intentionally do something horrible. Luxu probably just repeated what he was told, though. Whatever he said couldn't have given her the full picture, either. The MoM is definitely already gone, right? So there's no way for her to find out the truth from him. A while back, I was assuming that she may have tried to go looking for him... Hm. We haven't seen her in the data world, right? Weren't all of the most recent scenes with her flashbacks? Pretty sure the last time anyone saw her was at the keyblade war. I'm thinking about how the seventh pod was missing... I wonder if that was gone for a reason. I'm so confused by the way they talk in the KH3 epilogue... If the Foretellers had gone to "another world" like Yen Sid said, then wouldn't they have known that Ava was missing? Was she with them in the other world, but then something prevented her from coming with them when Luxu summoned them? Or had they only been in that other world for such a short time, they didn't even have the time to notice that she wasn't there?? Anyway, somewhat unrelated, but I just noticed another similarity between Ava and Deuce. When Ava started talking about how it's best for the wielders to forget the past, I was like "But Deuce would never-- ...Wait, she HAS said that." Aaaand that one line explains how the Dandelions' memories were erased/suppressed. So... I guess it's not one of the MoM's powers after all. I hate how easy it was to overlook this line. It's literally just one line of text and then it's never brought up again as far as I know. dfkjhgfk There goes my idea of a Crystal controlling their memories... (But there could still be a Crystal in the box. You can't prove there isn't! lol) My brain is about to explode...

Same. lol I think about this stuff way more than any person reasonably should. I've been enjoying these conversations and appreciate your help, btw. We're getting closer to becoming unchained...! To be honest, I'm not sure if anyone knows why she crystalized like that. It doesn't feel the same to me, but I don't think we have the ability to say that it's entirely unrelated... Xion turned to crystal and disintegrated because the memory of her was being consumed. In Sora's case, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with memories; no one forgot him. His crystal also didn't shatter. Since Yozora said that he would save him, that's what makes me think that Sora's crystallization was for his protection, though the exact cause of it is unknown. If Yozora caused it, I can't tell how he did it. When Sora lost, it almost looked like he was dying, right...? I'm not going to say that Sora is a l'Cie, but when a l'Cie dies, they turn to crystal. If that's the case, I wonder if that could also explain why Kairi looked like she turned to crystal when Xehanort struck her. Heck, you could even try to explain Xion's crystallization that way; she did "die" in a sense that time. I don't know if this is the right train of thought, though. There are a lot of inconsistencies. Each instance feels different in their own way. I hope these are the Foretellers' and Verum Rex guys' bases. It'd be cool if we could actually explore these buildings. (For legal reasons, I expect they wouldn't be allowed to replicate the inside of the buildings, though.) Now, back to my earlier thoughts about Player and Ephemer... I'm really feelin' it. After rereading their khx scenes together, I'm amazed I never paid attention to how close they were. I guess I kept thinking that Player was just an unimportant filler character, especially because they never spoke. But the first time he spoke was to talk about how important Ephemer was to him. I already can't remember how much I've said about this here, so I might be repeating myself a little, but here's the thought process... Ephemer broke his promise to meet Player and left him waiting for him in the fountain plaza. After the keyblade war, Ephemer made it up to him by returning for him to bring him to the other world line. That's where he says the line "We'll go together." THIS LINE TASTES IMPORTANT. Thinking about where things could go from here, I don't think there's any way Ephemer would leave him behind again. If the new union leaders start debating who's going to take the pods, I feel like there's a very strong chance that Ephemer will let the others take the pods so he can go back for Player. The most essential part of Ephemer's characterization is his curiosity and his questioning of the world they live in. After meeting Ephemer, Player helps him with his investigations of the world. THE DOTS. I'M CONNECTING THEM. When Xehanort wakes up on the beach, it's after having a dream about Player's adventures. His dreams specifically included the moment when Ephemer told Player that they would "go together." Xehanort mentions feeling like he was "falling through the sky" as he was laying on the beach which reminded me of the KH1 opening. It immediately brought Sora to mind. Why does Xehanort seem to share so many things in common with Sora...? tbh, it had me thinking "Xehanort is Sora!" for a hot, stupid second. lmao At the beginning of KH1, Sora says the line about having "weird thoughts lately" and questions whether anything is real or not. *I point at Ephemer questioning the world* The dreams are what led Xehanort to believe that there had to be more outside the island and gave him his desire to go out and see other worlds. Sora wakes up on the beach and questions whether his dream (about the Darkside) was real. He asks Kairi about where she came from and he talks about wanting to see other worlds. *drums my nails on my desk* Ephemer's importance wouldn't be restricted to one measly scene where he helps Sora in the keyblade graveyard... Due to the way that Xehanort and Sora are connected, if Xehanort and Player are connected, it almost seems impossible that Sora and Ephemer wouldn't be connected in the same way as them. THE CONSISTENCY. IT'S WEIRDLY CONSISTENT. I could be suuuuper wrong, but I've reached a point here where what I'm seeing looks... correct. I don't want to get trapped in this train of thought if it's wrong, but... There sure are a lot of pieces here that feel like they were made to go together. Like, this actually makes Xehanort=Player look like something extremely intentional? I thought it seemed random, but......... *stares into space* The fact that Ava also began to believe that they should question things makes me wonder what the pursuit of the truth could mean for her. I don't get the sense that it led to the same outcome as what happened to Player and Ephemer, though... Her chess piece was on the board, so I assume she must still be around. At one point, I seriously believed she could be Luxord in disguise. (I'd like to believe that my brain has improved since then.) You know how Darkness appeared to be taking the form of Ava when he led Ventus to steal Strelitzia's rule book? Darkness seems to be a plural being. So there could be more than one. "They" probably all share the same consciousness. Unless they explicitly disproved this anywhere and I'm just unaware or forgetting, I feel like Darkness could have possessed Ava. After she clashed with Luxu, she may have had some darkness in her heart or she was in a vulnerable state that made it easy for Darkness to take control of her. She seemed different when Player encountered her during the war. By that time, it sounded like she must have become aware of some secrets. ...I wonder if Darkness spoke to her. HM. HMMM. That's a lotta conjecture, but it's the best guess I can muster at the moment. Jeez... Makes me think of Deuce's one kizuna event where she talked about not being as kind as people think. ........Hey, if Ephemer is Sora and Sora is Agito, then the way that Deuce sounds when she talks to the Agito Player in this kizuna event sounds A LOT like Ava and Ephemer. That's amazing... Anyway, this makes me wonder if she ended up embracing Darkness in a way that even Luxu didn't. Tragic. I see your new comment, btw. This comment is long enough. lol

You probably already know this, but it's just fun to see it So the building Yozora's sitting on is the one that Noctis's actual home, the Citadel, looks like. It's also where the Crystal was kept. I think that might be important. (idk, something just tells me that we'll be seeing some crystals, considering the fact that Sora was crystalized.) I'm pretty sure it's the same building Noctis steps out of to fight the guards in the first Versus XIII trailer. There are numerous videos out there of people going out of bounds to explore Insomnia. I haven't watched any yet, but I might. I'm just terrible with things like maps and directions. You seem pretty savvy, so you might get more out of those videos than I would. For instance, I know that Insomnia is like Tokyo, but I'm not sure to what extent. Again, I don't think that Quadratum is Insomnia. It's just that all of these places are based on Tokyo. lol

Intereeesting. Thanks for finding it! I went to look up the name. Mobile phones... I wonder if that's a wink and a nudge at khux being a mobile game. The "NTT" stands for "Nippon Telegraph and Telephone", but seeing "NT" made me think of Dissidia NT. That stands for a few things: "The NT in the title was confirmed to have multiple meanings such as "New Trial", "New Tournament", and "New Tale"." This is really interesting. What I wonder what the significance is supposed to be. I mean, obviously, it's a building with a clock on it, so it's probably supposed to make us think of the clock tower (and Type-0, imo lol) but there could be more to it than I realize.

There's actually six visible cloaked figures lined up together. (The two in the middle kind of blend into the building, but they're there. lol) It's probably Luxu, Invi, Ira, Aced, Gula, and either MoM or Ava since the two of them are unaccounted for at the moment. The gargoyle looks like a Darkling. I'm not sure what the star means... It could represent lux, seeing as how lux is also shaped like a star and Darklings crave lux. But the star feels so strongly associated with the star girl in my mind now, it makes me wonder if it has to do with her. It's glowing with a gold color like it's alive. Lux is usually a light blue color. I haven't heard anything about where that building with the clock is supposed to come from, but I'm glad you brought it up. I can't say I've thought about it. I wonder if that's supposed to be the new Foreteller home base. Also, the cat in the picture is apparently Nomura's own cat. lol Fun fact.

It would be chaotic and I think he should do it. Unleash the madness. When it came to the topic of which Final Fantasy characters would be in KH3, I remember seeing a lot of people acting like Noctis could never be in KH because Nomura had "salty feelings about what happened to FFXV." Now that we know about Verum Rex, that turned out to be kind of ironic. In a sense, Noctis IS in the game now, but he's represented by Yozora. I don't think that totally eliminates the possibility of FFXV Noctis showing up, though. The Dissidia display in Toybox still gives me the unshakeable feeling that any Final Fantasy world could appear in the future along with any of the actual characters. I think that's because Quadratum isn't part of Yozora's world. He wakes up in the car and he's somewhere else which seems more like Insomnia. Quadratum mirrors Shibuya which has more to do with TWEWY if anything. They both look like metropolitan cities, so I think it's easy to get the two confused. I often find myself thinking of Quadratum like it's the Verum Rex world, but... I think it's a space between worlds, like the unreality equivalent of something like The World That Never Was. Speaking of Insomnia... Noctis was originally supposed to have some kind of dream powers. Even the name of his home, "Insomnia", was part of the theme. Can't wait to find out what Yozora's "powers" actually are. Huh, I think you might've misread the quote. "I think this is also possible to figure out for yourself if you look at all the secret reports, but yes, they are characters who have already appeared in the series." This is referring to Subject X (Skuld.) "You will find out who 'Nameless Star' if there is a next time." This is referring to the Nameless Star, and he meant that you'd have to wait for the next game (KHMoM) to see who that was. And now we know that it's Yozora's girl. So, I don't think we've seen a different version of Yozora yet. We're running out of characters who can be other characters anyway. It's getting a little silly. That's an interesting train of thought. I'm not sure if I can imagine Joshua and Yozora being friends, but it's something I'll keep at the back of my mind.

idk how I would go about finding it now, but I definitely recall seeing that in an interview that came out after KH3. I think it was still before Re:Mind. I remember this because it made me disappointed when it destroyed one of my theories. lol It's not often that Nomura clarifies something like that. I had that part at the back of my mind since it does look similar, with Sora staring up at the sky. I don't remember Nomura saying that one, though. lol (There's truly too much information to keep track of!!) Regardless, even if he did say that, I wonder if it's literally supposed to be the same. I don't think of the openings as taking place at any particular time since they're always montages. Reminded me of the scene with the strange Darkside again, but I don't think it's connected. They both take place in the Final World, but I can't picture the one scene flowing into the other... So now we have two scenes that seem "extra" and unaccounted for in the known timeline. Yeah, and I think that's all they told him. lol What's interesting is that all he says is "I was told to save Sora." Don't you love how vague all of the wording in this series is? (That's sarcasm.) For all we know, it could've been a Crystal that told him. The only people who seem possible to me would be MoM, Ava, uhhh... Joshua, I guess??? Maybe??? Or possibly someone we don't know yet. (Edit: Or Skuld! We still don't know where Xigbar sent her. I don't know how she would know about Sora, but the sky's the limit with Quadratum right now.) I just watched the scene again. He also says "Why are you using Sora's name?" Which also... doesn't tell us whether or not he knows who "Sora" is. I still think it could be the same as the name "Agito." That answer satisfies me for now, but I know it's probably not the right answer. I'm not sure if we can figure this one out without more information. I'm keeping Verum Rex in the corner of my eye, but I'm willing to not think about it too hard for now.

Noctis is referred to as the true king! The Re:Mind secret movie with Yozora is also called "Falsus Rex", false king. (In the context of FFXV, I'd say that Ardyn ends up being the one who's considered the false king, but I don't sense him anywhere in KH. Well, there's Magia, Yozora's red-haired friend who looks like a combination of Prompto and Ardyn, but I doubt it's referring to him.) Unless they come out and tell us if someone's specifically supposed to be the "true king" and "false king", I get the feeling it's one of those things that might always be up for interpretation. Beyond this, I don't feel confident even making any guesses about it. tbh, there are some things about Ardyn that remind me of the MoM. But the more I think about it, the less it fits... And then I look back at Jack and Type-0 and I'm once again reminded of what perfect harmony looks like~ ...I wouldn't be surprised if the MoM takes some inspiration from Ardyn in the future of the series, though, especially in regards to how the MoM will interact with Yozora. Have we ever heard if both endings are supposed to be considered canon? I heard that one of the Japanese novels followed the ending where Sora was turned to crystal, and it seems like that's the route they took in KHMoM, seeing as how they couldn't find Sora in the Final World. I'm just not sure if the other ending is outright considered non-canon, but I hesitate to think of it like an alternate timeline or something. That just doesn't make sense, especially when we already saw an actual divergence happen in the keyblade graveyard. Sora and the others fell to darkness, but he used the Power of Waking to overwrite that time. I believe Nomura even said that it didn't create an alternate timeline. The situation with Yozora seems totally different. Hmm... I don't want to completely discredit it because it could come back and slap me in the face later, but I don't know what to do with it for now. Remember when the star girl said that Yozora's heart had been "replaced by another's"? Yozora claims that his appearance isn't really how he's supposed to look. I kinda think he meant that literally. Even though they look very similar, part of me wonders if the star girl is referring to Noctis. I mean... If you wanna be cynical, you could say that FFXV's Noctis took the place of Versus XIII's Noctis. They really do feel like different characters, tbh. If you look back at the first Versus XIII trailers, Noctis seemed a lot more severe and serious. FFXV Noctis has his serious moments, but I'd say that he's a fundamentally lighthearted person underneath the serious-looking exterior. In contrast, Yozora acts more like what I expected from the Noctis I saw in the first Versus XIII trailer. Do you think Nomura would go there? Because that's just how it sounds to me. There's also the fact that Yozora seemed surprised that Sora could recognize him as being Yozora despite his apparently different appearance. So here's what I think might be happening... Sora thinks Yozora is a character from a game, so he's surprised that he exists. Similarly, Yozora thinks that Sora is a character from a game or a mythical figure like Agito, so he's surprised when Sora claims to be Sora. Currently, we haven't seen anything to suggest that Sora looks different in Yozora's world. Yozora's surprise ("YOU'RE Sora?") suggests to me that he's surprised that a person named Sora exists at all, like Agito. "I've heard of you" sounds like a vague answer, but it leaves open the possibility that Yozora didn't know what to look for. Anyhow, I assume that this is why they both say the line about having strange dreams and being unsure if things are real or not. In the Toybox world, Yozora - in his current form with the name "Yozora" - is depicted as a character of Verum Rex. For some reason, the fictional depiction of him in Toybox matches Yozora's current reality which he claims is incorrect. ...Honestly, this whole thing could be about the FNC characters resisting the changes that were brought upon them in development. That was a lot of Verum Rex thoughts. Mostly confusion. ...Can nothing stop me from going on tangents no one asked for? lol

I managed to watch the video before bed. lol That's interesting. I don't know if it really adds or changes anything for my theories, but still. Neat! Hearing him mention the orange light that seems to surround the side of the city that Sora and the MoM are on, that reminded me... Have I ever shared this? I know I've shared it elsewhere, but not here. Behold~! MoM is on the Type-0 side. Naturally, Yozora is on the FFXV side. That was the keyart that was used to promote Type-0 and the FFXV Duscae demo. You had to preorder Type-0 in order to get the demo. Most people preordered it JUST FOR THE DEMO and then didn't care about Type-0... And I was one of those people. dfkjghf But you gotta wonder what the thinking was behind that strategy. Was it just to sell more copies of Type-0? I'm sure it worked. lol But part of me wonders if they wanted to make sure that people would play both of them. For Kingdom Hearts reasons. Real Tinfoil Hat Hours.

That's what I'd assume, too. Again, since the MoM mentioned them becoming "unchained", I assume that this was something he wanted to happen. But that doesn't explain why the Chirithy would think that was a good idea... Maybe it wanted him to know the truth in order to make him avoid fighting in the keyblade war? They don't tell us what the Foretellers were talking about, so it's kinda confusing. For the sake of clarity, I even looked at the same scene in the novel and it's nearly identical. Dark Chirithy implies that the Player's Chirithy is the one who showed him the dream, and then he accused the Dark Chirithy of being the one who interfered. (So hard to talk about these Chirithies when they're all called Chirithy...) There is one thing in the novel that adds a little more detail... Now seems like a good time to mention that "Agito" means "to put actions into motion." (That's the definition given in the Re: book.) I'm not saying that Player/Xehanort is supposed to be Agito (I still think that's Sora, strictly speaking), but it reminds me of the MoM's conversation with YMX and how he goaded him by asking whether he could really allow the future to be dictated by a false light, like he wanted YMX to think of himself as the one who deserved to serve that role. In a certain sense, he did. I'd say that Sora and Xehanort are both responsible for changing the future. And, you know, "good and evil" don't really exist and all that. Exactly, Dark Chirithy. That also happens to sound like that one quote from Trey I shared a while ago about how light and dark are synonymous existences. He also says another thing I've been thinking this whole time. Right. And that's why the MoM couldn't simply give answers to YMX. I was thinking about that scene while watching a video where a yogi was talking about enlightenment. It's impossible to tell someone how to become enlightened. The truth of reality is something each person has to find for themselves because the truth is indescribable. Words are just illusion. I may have gotten a little emotional while watching this one scene. I'll just give you a link so you can see for yourself. (15:53) I think this was the first time Player ever spoke, and it was to talk about how important Ephemer was to him. Ephemer's investigations of the clock tower were probably a lot more important than I ever realized. His relationship with Player was more important that I realized. I was a fool... lol Ephemer seems to have become unchained shortly after joining the Dandelions. I think I have the order of events correct here... He was going to sneak into the clock tower, but he was stopped by a dark figure. I'm pretty sure we found out later that that's when Ava recruited him. (So the figure was just Ava.) Part of the reason she recruited him was because he was getting close to the "truth." I don't think Ephemer ever succeeded in entering the clock tower...? But in one of the dreams he shows Player, he's inviting Player to sneak into the clock tower with him. Player hesitates, so Ephemer says "you must not be ready" and disappears in a little cloud of dandelions. It seems like he knew that he couldn't simply show Player the truth, he had to wait for him to grasp it on his own. Anyhow, different topic. I didn't get the impression that the Dark Chirithy was created by the bangles. He was the one who gave the wielders the bangles to begin with. Then it was the consumption of darkness from the bangle that turned him into a Dark Chirithy. The bangles were actually collecting large amounts of lux, but it was achieved by fighting even more powerful Heartless, so they were absorbing darkness along with the light. Ironically, the Chirithy even warned Player not to go too far or something bad would happen. I saw your next comment, but now it's getting late for me, so I must retire my brain for now. This has been very enlightening~ lol

Ha, I posted one second too soon. See my above comment now ?

Okay, I found the part. Assuming Everglow's translation is correct, this makes more sense. This takes place after Ephemer had been sent to the other world line. So he WAS reaching out to Player from another world, but he was doing so from within their dreams. Ava says this in Everglow's video: "The truth"? Kinda sounds like what I've been talking about. Y'ALL BECOMING ENLIGHTENED OVER THERE? Y'ALL ABOUT TO TRANSCEND? btw, I thought this was obvious. (idk if it's TRUE, but it seems like an obvious assumption nonetheless.) idk if other people have thought of it, so I'll mention it just in case. I'm pretty sure the Dark Chirithy belonged to Xehanort. That would explain why the Dark Chirithy also claimed to belong to Player. He told him that they would meet again in a dream or whatever. The fight vs the Nightmare Chirithy had the same boss music as the Anti Black Coat. So there you go, maybe. That doesn't really explain how the Dark Chirithy got there, but I guess I can handwave it for now by assuming that Chirithies are just special, especially if their wielder has another heart in the future. Anyway, considering what the MoM told Luxu about "becoming unchained", I'm not sure if he expected all of the Dandelion leaders to become unchained or just these two. Maybe the others are, also? But Player and Ephemer seem special in this regard. Edit: In an earlier scene, Player's Chirithy was showing him a dream of a meeting between the Foretellers. In the dream, Player tried to enter the room. When he did, darkness appeared under his feet, causing him to wake up. The Player's Chirithy accuses the Dark Chirithy of being the one who interfered with the dream and remarked that they were going to become enemies. Apparently Player's Chirithy was trying to "protect" him. God, it's so hard to figure out when scenes take place, but I could've sworn the Player's Chirithy was showing him those dreams because Ava told it to... Am I misremembering? In any case, it seems like his Chirithy was trying to literally show him the truth by giving him insider info. Edit of an edit: Yeah, I think I misremembered that part. lol

I shall explain how hearts and souls work in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series! (If you already know, I'm still going to explain it for anyone else~) I've been referring to them separately so far because I think it's the same type of thing going on here. I could be wrong, but that's how it looks. When a person dies, their soul persists and is reborn in a new body with a new heart. The heart is like a container for the soul. The soul is the "essence of humanity" (the thing that carries their memories and the weight of their life's actions/karma) and the heart is "the essence of the person" (the thing that gives them personality and makes each life unique.) Yeul from FFXIII-2 is a prime example. She was continually reborn. Although she always looked the same and generally acted the same, there were differences in her personality that made each version of her unique to Caius, her guardian. He acknowledged that they were all Yeul, but they each had their own lives that made each of them their own person. Again, I'm not going to say that this IS the case, but if we assume that Xehanort is a reincarnated Player, then they would be two hearts that possessed the same soul. Huuuuh? I knew I remembered hearing that, but........... That isn't quite the way I remembered it, huh... Well, I guess I was wrong to refer to that whole world line as the "unchained realm." My points about the world line still stand, though, seeing as how the name has little to do with it. lol Hm........ So there's some other realm? Man, I'm really confused again. I'm going to have to find those scenes. Big thanks for finding that. We're going to solve this! Nomura can't stop us!! I would try to examine these comparisons more deeply. I've heard of this idea before. The comparison of Ira to Riku is the worst for me. Assuming Gula to be any form of Roxas or Ventus when Ventus was RIGHT THERE feels very strange. I think that when people make these comparisons, they forget about Luxu because they assume "Well, we know he's Xigbar", but who is he supposed to "be" here if everyone else is supposedly someone else we already know? I think they're just supposed to share some similarities as a way to compare the two groups. Parallels don't have to be perfect. For instance, I think Xigbar is supposed to be like Riku. He's the one closest to the MoM. Ira isn't like anyone and that's okay. It's good to have a character with unique behavior and a unique personality. I agree that Aced is supposed to be compared to Terra with their gullibility. Invi could easily be compared to Aqua with their adherence to rules. You could compare Ava to Kairi for their belief in MoM and Sora respectively. Gula also isn't really comparable to anyone based on personality, but his color-coding does suggest that he could end up having a relationship with Roxas or Ventus, possibly as a rival. So, see, it doesn't have to be perfect if you're just making comparisons. Which is to say, in some respects, Sora and his friends are LIKE Jack and his friends from Class Zero. Replace any of the names of the Foretellers above with the names of the cadets and it's the same comparison because their characterization is that similar. lol I think it's easy to compare Trey and Queen (Ira and Invi), so maybe that means that they would both be contrasted against Aqua who has grown and learned where she went wrong in BBS. There's something each of the Foretellers could learn from Sora and his friends. Speaking of characterization, I don't think I've shared this yet. I really enjoyed Jack's lost chapter from DFFOO. I like how other characters recognize him as a genius for his level of laziness in this universe. Also, the way that he and Deuce tease Machina reminds me of how Ava and the MoM teased Aced. Adorable stuff!

*SPITS OUT MY COFFEE* EPHEMER'S NAME. His name is "Ephemera" in Japanese. Which is a plural word, meaning things that are transient. That's a word my Type-0 brain is very familiar with! Until now, I've been kind of assuming that his soul stayed in the keyblade graveyard or something, but something about that has always felt off. He is legitimately similar enough to Sora to make me believe that he's Sora now. I feel like that makes sense, but there isn't enough to make me feel confident about it... I don't believe that Ephemer would've stayed in the keyblade graveyard and that he's just plain dead now, though. I guess there's a chance that he could come back as someone else, but when would THAT happen? I don't see any indication of that at the moment, so that feels unlikely, too. I'm trying to think about where this could go in the future. When Skuld is back and when the others have their memories, they're going to wonder what happened to Ephemer. They might remember leaving him and Player in the other world line. It seems like the only person who could actually tell them about Ephemer is Sora. Also, like, consider who they are. Imagine if Ephemer and Player became Sora and Xehanort, the main hero and antagonist of the series so far. There's a strong connection between both pairs. There's something tragic and poignant about the idea of them being reincarnated as enemies who change the world through their conflict. That also adds possibly the greatest significance to Player and Ephemer that they could ever be given. If I'm allowed to just start throwing out wild theories now, I'm starting to wonder if Demyx is supposed to be the Nataraja to the MoM's Shiva. Nataraja is called "the lord of dance" and he's another form of Shiva, the three-eyed god of destruction. This isn't to suggest that MoMyx is a god, just to say that if he were based on any particular figure, I think it would be Shiva Nataraja. It fits TOO well, though. When I find something that fits this well, I feel like it can't be true. But I enjoy it. So I want you to enjoy it with me. lol Shiva is known as a contradictory, paradoxical figure who appears to be both fearsome and benevolent. Reminds me of the duality of Jack, MoM, and Demyx. This also reminds me of a quote... From Versus XIII, actually. This post is about to go on a tangent, but follow me here. It's a quote from Shakespeare. I just got the "Re: [riplai]" DKE3713 preview book which features Versus XIII and Agito XIII, and that quote's on one of the Versus XIII pages. What's interesting to me is that that's also a major theme of Type-0 and Agito. Here's a translation of something from one of the Agito XIII pages: Wow, it's almost like... Versus XIII and Agito XIII were supposed to share the same themes or something. Speaking of the Re: book... Have people realize that's where Re:Mind probably got its name from? The index of this book includes sections titled: report, remember, recollection, re-act, recapture, and reply. In addition to the FNC games, it also features 358/2 Days and Birth By Sleep. btw, I feel kinda weird and worry that I might be offending someone whenever I start talking about religious symbolism to support theories about video game characters, so I'll clarify that all of the terms I've used so far are also utilized in Type-0. I'm working with what that game has given me. No offense intended. Hopefully we're getting somewhere with this.

When Luxu says "home", I assume he's referring to the world the khux war took place in. He's just asking if they can come back from the "unchained realm" when it's safe. After Lauriam's fight with Maleficent, there were five available Ark pods left for them to take. We know that Ventus, Skuld (Subject X), Lauriam, and Elrena were able to escape. I think that Brain was the one who used the last pod. Originally, it sounds like the Ark was designed to function like the gummi ship, to traverse the space between worlds, ie world-to-world travel. That's how it functioned when Apprentice Xehanort sent Kairi to Destiny Islands. There doesn't appear to have been any time travel or world line hopping involved. This is proven by the fact that she met Aqua when she still lived in Radiant Garden. When they met up again, Aqua remembered her. Basically the same as using a gummi ship but it gives you memory loss. However, the Ark also had the curious, seemingly accidental function of sending people to different world lines (alternate timelines/cycles.) I think that when Brain got in the pod, it took him to the same world line as the others, but it didn't time travel. It basically just put him in a parallel world. The world he arrived in was probably nearly identical to the world line they originally came from, so he may have assumed it was the same. A war had happened there. The worlds were scattered. That's where he builds Scala ad Caelum. I could be wrong on any part of this, but the part I really question is whether or not he lost his memories. It seems like amnesia was a side-effect for everyone else who used the pods, so it would be unusual if he used the pod and then didn't suffer any memory loss. If he didn't travel very far, maybe it didn't affect him as strongly. We'll just have to put a pin in this whole thought and remember it for later. It seems like Ventus and Skuld were sent to the same world line, too, but they might have arrived at a time that came a little earlier than Lauriam and Elrena. (Or they all arrived at the same time but were just separated.) That means that Player and Ephemer got left behind in the "unchained realm." It was Player's mission to investigate the glitches that were coming in from Game Central Station. The glitches were what made them all believe that they were in a data world, but I'm not sure if that's entirely true. After all, Ephemer resisted the idea that they were in a data world - he believed they were in the "real world." The two of them probably continued to investigate GCS and discovered the multitudes of other "outside worlds" that were connected to it. Aaand that would probably explain why Xehanort is aware that there's another reality. Now, mind you, Luxu probably didn't know where any of them went when they used the pods. It sounds like he traversed MANY other world lines before he finally discovered Xehanort. This is part of the reason why I don't believe that they were sent back to the world line they originally came from. I just remembered this line from one of Luxu's KH3 secret reports. This is confusing. When he says "We're talking about the same trick that allowed the Dandelions to transfer to other worldlines after the Keyblade War", what do you think that means? Please stop and think about it for a second before I taint your thoughts with my own. lol I'd like to know. He's talking about the unchained realm, right? The one the Dandelions were sent to? (Wasn't that BEFORE the war, though? I think they're getting confused, too.) Instead of referring to it as a data world, he's calling it another world line. He makes it sound like it was a power held by the Foretellers that allowed them to go between worlds. tbh, I'm still unclear on what the Power of Waking is totally capable of, but something tells me it doesn't include sending dozens of kids to another world. So here's what I propose based on this: All of Kingdom Hearts is a "digital world" (*cough*because it's a video game*cough*), within which there can be "data worlds." The unchained realm appears to have data world-like qualities (glitches) because it's receiving outside interference from GCS. Having another reality connected to their world is literally causing glitches in reality. ...tbh, the glitches might just be a visual metaphor for interference, but since it leads them to think that the world is data (I think Darkness even calls it that when talking to Maleficent), I think it's more than just a metaphor. I tried to think about where the Foretellers have been. I need more info. Still confusing af. Oh, so, Player and Ephemer. Yeah, I still think I might be right on that. Like, they either lived out their lives in that other world line or something allowed them to transcend it and be reborn in another world line. I rewatched the opening of Dark Road, and Xehanort really does refer to the others as his friends. It sounds like he's talking about himself, that's how much he seems to be identifying with his dreams about Player. There's one of Cater's entries from the Rubicus in Type-0 that feels relevant. I don't think I've shared it yet, so here it is: Kinda like Young Xehanort, right? Of course, in Cater's case, it definitely IS metempsychosis. That's just a fancy word for the migration of the soul, aka reincarnation. It's hard to imagine anything else being more likely than this. Thinking about this has taken up my whole night. I'm sure that I'm wrong in places and the culprit is all of the unclear terminology and ambiguous, metaphorical writing. See, listen, this is why I prefer looking at Agito. I look at that and I go, "Ah, the Foretellers. There they are. Now I can sleep without any thoughts in my head." When I think about Kingdom Hearts, it's all car crash noises. tl;dr: I think we can assume what happened to all the Dandelion leaders, but I can't tell you whether the world the Dandelions were sent to was data and I don't know where the Foretellers have been.

I just got really confused about this, too... The realm the Dandelions were sent to in order to protect them from the war was referred to as the "unchained realm." It's a data world. I can't remember if it was Player or Ephemer (or both?) but I recall someone else referring to someone as being "unchained." I think it was when Ephemer was reaching out to Player through their dreams. Might've been one of the Chirithies who said it. This is where it gets SUPER CONFUSING AND IT HATE IT. If the wiki's telling me the truth, then there was something called "Union χ", which sounds like it's exactly what you said, the new union(s). If true, I haven't heard anyone in the story mention that by name in AGES. The title of the game is "Union χ [Cross]." The PVP is called "Union Cross." But in the story, what seems like it's meant to be the PVP is referred to as "Shift Pride" and I don't think the characters ever renamed it. All of this makes me angry. I think the MoM was literally referring to the games. But, at the same time, the titles mean things in the story. It feeeels to me like he's talking about these things as if they're stages of enlightenment. They went from knowing nothing (X) to realizing the truth that they were in a data world (Unchained) to liberating themselves from that world. (Union Cross.) But this is still just a metaphor. It doesn't tells us much. I'm probably not even interpreting it correctly. skjhfgjhk

Hm. That's possible. It's really hard to figure out what it means. I remember seeing someone assume that the wave represented Riku because of the waves that appear in the other openings. But I think that the light Sora started chasing after was probably supposed to be Riku and/or Kairi, not the wave itself. Sora reached out for Riku's hand in the other openings, but then the wave tore them apart. It feels like there's something antagonistic about it. In general, water has been used a lot of ways throughout KH, so I can't say that it has one meaning above all others. One could say it's flexible... Ever-changing... As ambiguous as the MoM himself. (I rest my case. lol) If it was just a tutorial, that would be a lot less confusing, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the "tutorial" part really is something that actually happened. But the question is... WHEN did that scene happen? In another world line? On a tangentially-related note... I can't wait to find out what happened to Ephemer. I heard someone suggest that Sora might be Ephemer, and, like, I... can't... say that they're wrong?? I'm curious what it means to "become unchained." Does it have something to do with reincarnation? Did Ephemer and the Player just... transcend?? Is that what the MoM did, too? Did he really go "Time to take a break!" and yeet himself into his next life???

Well, I still think I could be wrong in a number ways, even if I end up getting the overall idea right. lol Type-0/Agito just seems like a solid place to start from. I keep correcting myself every time we learn something new. Can't discard or discredit anything. Speaking of which, there are some things that make me go "Hm?" but I don't know what to do with them. One is Young Xehanort referring to the black coat as "familiar." That's weird. (Possibly deja vu as a result of non-linear time?) Another is the unusual Darkside at the beginning of KH3. What is that?? It kind of looks like a water clone and a wave preceded it, so I feel like it might be related to MoMyx, but... All I can do is keep it at the back of my mind because I can't figure out a way to satisfactorily explain it. Demyx was a Nobody, so maybe that was his Heartless? Or maybe it's a new type of Heartless that comes from Quadratum, seeing as how it was encountered in the Final World which is like the bridge between realities. Or... Maybe it's both...? I'd sure love to know what's up with that. lol

It's time for me to decode more things. *poses* I promise this is relevant to everything I've been talking about and you're going to enjoy it. When Luxord shows up in Re:Mind and starts talking about goats and letters, he's making a reference to the children's song Yagisan Yubin. Translated, the song goes like this: A letter arrived from Mr. White Goat, But Mr. Black Goat ate it. Mr. Black Goat had no choice but to write a new letter. "What did the previous letter say...?" A letter arrived from Mr. Black Goat, But Mr. White Goat ate it. Mr. White Goat had no choice but to write a new letter. "What did the previous letter say...?" It's a song that never ends. Yes, it goes on and on, my friends. Each letter asks for what was written in the previous letter, so they're eternally getting farther and farther away from the contents of the first letter. When you read Xigbar's character file story, it becomes a little clearer what Luxord was probably implying with that analogy. (Translation from Cherrim.) First is the almost word-for-word repeating of Demyx's line from KH2. But secondly, and most importantly, it sounds like Xigbar's talking about "maya." In Hinduism, maya is the illusion that prevents people from seeing the truth of reality. The illusion encompasses everything from physical form to sensation to consciousness itself. Dispelling the illusion is necessary to reach enlightenment. Xigbar seems aware that there are things he doesn't understand. He knows that he lost the box, obviously, but he doesn't understand why or how. Since he doesn't understand, telling anyone else to look for it is pointless. It's the blind leading the blind. Xigbar's like Mr. Black Goat sending the worthless return letter. I was watching Jujutsu Kaisen and I heard one of the characters use the phrase "black box" to mean "something we aren't even equipped to understand." Pretty sure that's what "black box" means here. Will this help us figure out what's IN the box? Probably not. lol Just thought it was interesting. Moving along. I became curious about how music might be related to this. After all, Nomura said that the abbreviation of "Melody of Memory" is supposed to make us think about the MoM. (But the MoM wasn't IN the game...) In the context of the game, since the game is like one big recap episode, I think it might be implying that the series itself was "composed" by the MoM. (The characters are literally running along a music staff, so the metaphor seems a bit on the nose, imo.) But I wanted to figure out what significance music holds for the MoM himself. Basically, why does Demyx have a sitar? It always seemed like an odd choice of instrument to me, but maybe it's not that strange anymore. The sitar is a classical Hindustani instrument used for meditation. Here’s a quote from one of the world's most renowned sitar masters, Ravi Shankar: That fits so perfectly, it makes me suspicious. I still feel like the Gazing Eye is connected to darkness, so I think it may have come from Darkness, but there's another possibility I have in mind. (And I guess it's also possible for the two possibilities to coexist.) If there's anyone who can look at the box and "understand" what it really is, I'd expect it to be the guy who's been vibing out this whole time. Also, I just gotta say, Demyx has a lot of forehead real estate. Perfect place for a third eye. Like Vexen said in his own story, there's a difference between being smart and being wise. There are limits to knowledge. Vexen was held back by the limits of what he could learn from books. That was another type of illusion. He thought he was wise, but he only knew a lot of facts. He discovered that "fools" like Sora and Demyx are the ones who are actually wise. When Demyx's line from KH2 appears in Xigbar's story to characterize the black box, that seems like a metaphor to me. You can't judge the box by its appearance the same way you can't judge Demyx by his appearance. Which is to say, "Demyx" is an illusion. He's like the black box. The fact that Demyx knows that you can't apprehend the real truth of a thing by using your eyes is a big flag to me. At this point, that seems like a "This guy knows things even if he doesn't know that he knows things" flag. Like the MoM said, he could be so many things. If he (metaphorically???) embodies the illusion that veils reality, then of course it's impossible to tell anyone who he is or what he's like. Each person's eyes will determine their own truth. Speaking of which, I feel like the English translation was a little Eh on that one line from Re:Mind, so here you go: 自らの目で見た事実だけを真実とすればいい。 "The truth doesn't have to be more than the reality each person sees for themselves." Or like, "It's okay if the truth is just the reality each person sees." Orrrr, "Only the facts each person sees with their own eyes needs to be the truth." Wow, I just looked back at what the localization was and that's actually way different. rip. But basically... Most of the time, you aren't questioning reality, right? And that's fine. I think that's what he was saying. Then again, I've thought of multiple interpretations for this line, so it could be a self-demonstrating line. lol "Let it go, Xehanort-kun. Not everybody needs to understand the crippling truth of reality~ Whatever you think is true right now is sufficient~" Will we ever know what MoM/Demyx is really like...? Of course. Sora's a fellow fool, so he'll be able to see the truth. He already did. He called out Demyx's ruse. I find it Quite Interesting that Sora hasn't encountered him since then. Hasn't even heard about him. (tbh, I don't think Sora even knows Demyx's name. LOL) Time is another illusion. In Xigbar's story, he also asks the reader to question when certain events happened throughout the history of the series. There's a good story in this video (53:58) about maya that seems to illustrate the same point. This could be how the MoM performed that trick where he suddenly "warped" behind Luxu without visibly moving. I think they both perceived time differently. Seeing through the illusion of time, the MoM probably calmly moved himself behind Luxu. Fooled by the illusion of time, Luxu was unable to perceive the moment between point A and point B. Xigbar more or less states that time isn't linear??? I try not to think about that because... it's exhausting. I just tried to write an explanation of what I think it means in context, but... *shakes head in confusion* Anyway. If nothing else, I hope everyone appreciates the fact that I found a way to make sense of this nonsense whether it's correct or not. lol

There are some keywords that deserve to be dissected. I'm still working on what "guilt" could be referring to, but I feel pretty confident in the meaning behind some other words. Let's talk about cards! The character files labeled three people as "fools"; Xigbar, Sora, and Demyx. Xigbar's character story is actually called "The Fool." Vexen's story is about Sora's foolishness and how the unexpected actions he takes leads to the kinds of outcomes Vexen wouldn't have been able to come up with by using cold, logical thinking. That seems to be why he approached Demyx, because he realized that the most foolish one among them could probably be the one to turn the tides for them. I'm like 99.9% sure that when they say "The Fool", they're referring to the archetype that represents the Fool arcana. There's a lot going on with that card, and it's all very interesting. It's seen as the "protagonist" of the tarot. The Fool goes on a journey through the whole tarot, experiencing what each card represents, concluding with The World. The Fool also gave birth to the "trickster" archetype. So, if you've played Persona, you get what I'm talking about here; Yu and Adachi, Ren and Akechi - that sort of "protagonist vs the character who's like a dark parallel of him." This is where I believe "upright" and "reversed" come into play. Assuming that Sora is represented by the Fool in upright, what are Demyx and Xigbar? Are they not the same thing, but reversed? As far as medals go, I'm pretty sure Sora has always had upright medals, and Demyx and Xigbar have always been reversed. (There are some situations where a "good" character has a reversed medal, such as Xion when she was with the Organization. So it seems to reflect their alignment at a given time.) Fun fact: The Jack and Joker are trickster cards. That's because they can change and act like other cards when played. Needless to say, you can see how that's relevant to Jack and Lean Joker. They're both very unpredictable, two-faced characters. Jack is basically whoever he needs to be depending on the situation, and Lean is sometimes literally pretending to be a whole different person in order to sneak around and perform his role. It's the same deal for Demyx and Xigbar. That's what makes them tricksters, and it's just one of the things that makes them Fools. If you're as intrigued by this as I am, here's a good video about The Fool. Listen to that. Then read Vexen's story if you haven't. *chef kiss* ? Next is the word "wildcard." I'm STILL trying to pin down what exactly Nomura was going for with the card Luxord gave to Sora. I mean, this isn't Persona, but I know that at least in Persona, the "wild card" ability is something unique to the protagonists. In Type-0, Ace has a move called "Wildcard" that works a little like Noctis's warp-strike. That's the only instance of the word in Type-0 I can think of, but it seems unrelated. Literally-speaking, a wildcard is a card that can act as a substitute for another card. So... That's a connection to the Jack and Joker. It may represent Luxord's acknowledgement of Sora as someone important. But it probably also does something funky. *shrugs* Maybe I'm missing something. BUT ANYWAY. I just enjoy how the character files were like Hmm yes Sora is a fool... But Demyx is also obviously a fool, too... HMMM, have you ever considered that they have things in common?? Have you thought about that at all? Well, now you're thinking about it~ And that's, like, not even a weird comparison. It's not coming from out of nowhere. I think that Demyx and Xigbar are supposed to be like the dark parallel of Sora and Riku. (I think that's what the Foretellers are supposed to be in general.) And I'm... actually kinda willing to question if this was always meant to be the case... Do you remember that time in the Land of Dragons where Sora was chasing after Riku? Later, he cornered someone in a black coat and reached out to them, thinking that it had to be Riku, but... It was actually Xigbar! At the time, that moment served no purpose beyond being a fakeout. But if you look back now, it seems like Nomura might've been trying to compare Riku and Xigbar. But ~why~? (Because he's the MoM's "Riku." Good boy who goes down a dark path?? Here you go.) Okay, so... Let me blow your mind with this one. ...What was Demyx actually doing in the Underworld? Doesn't it seem like he was there to do the same thing that Sora was doing? When you first see him, he's running away from the depths after having tried to fight Hades. He ran off and stole the Hero Stone. The next time you see him, he's standing in front of the door where Hades was keeping Meg captive. Yes, recovering Roxas was part of his mission, but I don't think that explains anything else he was doing while he was there. Regardless of why he was going to fight Hades, the point is that he was doing THE SAME THING SORA WAS DOING. The fact that he's always one step ahead almost makes it feel like he might be better at it, too. When Phil chased after Demyx, it wasn't because he knew that Demyx was the thief. He didn't even know that anything had been stolen until Sora caught up with him and told him. Phil tells Sora that he chased after Demyx because he was looking for *AHEM* another hero who could be backup for Hercules. He didn't consider Sora who was right there. He saw Demyx and was like "Him. That's clearly the guy for the job. I gotta go get him before he leaves!" He chased him all the way into the Underworld! But then Demyx unexpectedly "turned on him." In the novels, they describe a little more about what happened and make it sound like Demyx attacked because he thought that Phil knew that he was the thief. That makes sense. But I think that part of him also wouldn't have liked the thought of being anyone's "backup." That's part of why he agrees to help Vexen - because he's told that he won't be anyone's substitute. There are a number of ways you could ultimately look at this, but I think the simplest interpretation is that Demyx has what it takes to be a hero, but something about him prevents that from happening. I love Demyx's part in the Underworld because it makes it feel like a whole separate version of KH2 is playing out in the background, but with Demyx as the protagonist. He does all the same things as Sora, but for not for heroic reasons. It's almost like, idk, maybe in another lifetime, Demyx HAD been in Sora's position. I bet that if Demyx had been the main character, the world would've ended or something. Haha. Ha... Hm..... Even the fact that you meet him in the UNDERWORLD and not Olympus is interesting. You could look at the Underworld as being the "reverse" of Olympus. *more chef kisses* ?? I think this is also why Olympus came back in KH3 and Xigbar kept going on and on about heroes. It's not just about Sora becoming "Agito", but probably also because "heroes" (read: "fools", protagonists) are going to have a certain significance going forward. That probably also includes Yozora.

I briefly mentioned the Nox Suzaku before (aka, "the Darkness of the Dominion" or however you want to translate its original name), but there's a lot more I could say about it. The Nox Suzaku is exclusive to Type-0. I mentioned that it's an entity from another world. It seems like it was attracted to the world of Orience because of its war - particularly, because of the amount of death it causes. When a living creature dies, it releases "phantoma", which is like soul energy. The average person doesn't know about phantoma, but Class Zero know about it and are able to harvest it... Kinda like Lux. So whenever you kill any living person or creature, you can extract the phantoma from their corpse. Eventually, the Nox Suzaku will start stealing ALL of the phantoma before you can collect any of it. At which point, you either have to find it with the airship and fight it or... Keep feeding it phantoma until it's satisfied. So, that........... gives me some thoughts... Like, what IS the importance of Lux? Class Zero collect phantoma because Mother can use it to repopulate the world after it starts over. At the end of the world, the Rursus slaughter everyone because (short of acquiring Agito), Gala intended to use the influx of soul energy to reveal Etro's Gate. The latter sounds very keyblade war. I'm not sure what's what here... But I'm feeling something. Anyway, LOOK AT THIS! (Name is "The Extinguished (Jack)") Here's a better look at the model. There's one for each cadet. I'm just using Jack as an example. The aesthetic makes me think of the Anti-Black Coat and the Darklings combined. When you engage the Nox Suzaku, you're sucked into its void. Inside the void are the souls it's consumed, and some of them appear to be the souls of the cadets from previous cycles. (Well, that's just a theory. But what ELSE would they be??) In the game, they look like transparent SP units, but the Ultimania shows the unused models that were supposed to be there along with all of their stats. Kinda freaky to think about there being cycles where the Nox Suzaku captured the cadets and turned them into those things... You can only fight the Nox Suzaku on your second playthrough. It shows up at the beginning of the game in the first playthrough, but then it kinda disappears forever... But then it comes back in your second playthrough and becomes a constant menace where it's always trying to steal phantoma. And it's all unexplained!! There's no explanation for this thing!! It has NOTHING to do with the plot!! In Terra's character file story, he talks about what happened to him after Xehanort took over his body... (Translation from Cherrim.) Sounds like the Nox Suzaku's void if you ask me. The game calls the area inside of it "Abyssal Darkness." I forget what it was called exactly, but the water in the Realm of Darkness where Aqua fell in and turned into Dark Aqua has a similar-sounding name, though it's only mentioned in the Japanese version. YMX seems to be talking about the same place when he tells Sora what will happen to him if he abuses the Power of Waking. *Petscop clap sfx* "A void that only takes in grief and suffering"... *looks at Demyx's story where he talks about only wanting to do things he finds enjoyable* ...Hm. If nothing else, I would say that the natures of Demyx and Vanitas are diametrically opposed. Not sure if there's something else there... Suspicious. There's this one interpretation of the Nox Suzaku that I really enjoy, which is that it's called the "Darkness of the Dominion" because it's literally an accumulation of Rubrum's own darkness. The reason it's so powerful is because it's been feasting on the souls of all the people killed by Rubrum. It's not called "the Darkness of Milites" or "the Darkness of Concordia." Regardless of its origins, it's RUBRUM'S own personal darkness now. It won't leave them alone and it's threatening the whole world now because tHEY JUST CAN'T STOP KILLING PEOPLE. tbh, fighting the Nox Suzaku is so hard, I personally find it easier to just let it keep stealing phantoma from me. When I did that, it made me think about the MoM's "truce" with Darkness again. Like, should I feel bad for letting it take these souls? lol I got tired of fighting it, though. It always comes back. You can't permanently defeat it. I feel like the Nox Suzaku would start calling me its "friend", too, if I started willingly feeding it souls to keep it away... I'm not even kidding when I say that the game suggests this as a VIABLE COURSE OF ACTION. Go ahead! SEE WHAT HAPPENS! lol The thought of the MoM sacrificing kids to Darkness to appease it is both terrifying and kinda hilarious. Maybe it started with Lux from Heartless and then got out of control...? So, idk if this one is just a coincidence, but I could see KH's Darkness being a combination of Gala and the Nox Suzaku. Hey, speaking of darkness, there's this one quote I found from Agito. I don't think there's more to it. Pretty sure this is it. But it gives me serious questions. Haha whaaaat... What do you MEAN they're of "synonymous existence"...? You can't just drop a line like that on me and shut the game down!! Anyhow, I'm a little hesitant to believe that the Nox Suzaku is involved in the khux recipe because it's not in Agito. But I'm also not going to count it out, especially when it seems SO suspicious. It's helpful to have all the pieces even if some of them don't end up fitting the puzzle. (Sorry, that metaphor doesn't make sense, but you get the idea.) Now if we find out that the MoM has been sacrificing kids to Darkness to maintain the status quo or something, you won't be surprised. The possibility is there~ I can't really end this without showing you what the Nox Suzaku looks like. Its heads look like phoenixes because Suzaku is a phoenix. Its legs are spiderlike. Its, uh, interior?? is filled with eyes... And the whole deal is held together inside a cage made of red gears. I don't remember if this was just a theory or something official, but I remember hearing that it might look this way because it was trying to mimic something familiar to the world of Orience. It tried to look like Rubrum's phoenix, but.......... Good Lord. IN CONCLUSION...

I feel like sharing a curious observation. If you've played Final Fantasy VII Remake, you'll be familiar with Leslie and Roche. I'm not sure if the two games are necessarily connected, but I gotta say... This is weird, right? LOL Yozora and Leslie have the same voice in Japanese. I'm guessing that Roche might've been voiced by SuzuKen had it not been for the fact that he already voices Zack. I think it's probably just a Neat Thing For People To Notice. A friend suggested that it's like Tezuka's star system, so Nomura's making the "same" characters play different roles in other games like they're actors. That makes sense to me. That was the idea behind Axel looking similar to Reno. I think that's probably what's going on here, but it still makes me go ??? Minor spoilers... Leslie is a sullen guy who's looking for his fiancée who left him with a pendant of a flower. Tifa told him that she's sure he'll see her again because the flower is a symbol of "reunion." So, you can see the parallel between him and Yozora pretty easily. Right down to the design of his clothes, he is the boy. Meanwhile, Roche is like... The weirdest, most cartoonishly over-the-top Soldier ever??? (He defies physics with his motorcycle...) Even in a game like FF7 full of weird characters, he's ESPECIALLY WEIRD and leaves Cloud quite bewildered. It's hard to understand how he even keeps his job when he clearly doesn't take it seriously. He becomes obsessed with Cloud after racing him and seems to think of himself as his rival now or something. I'm really curious about where this is going... And what this might be suggesting about Demyx and Sora. There is some more I could extract from him... Like the fact that he's a legitimate Soldier, unlike Cloud, but he's............ uh. Not... very good... at being a Soldier? Right? He's kinda........... just doing his own thing?? He's definitely not what Cloud was imagining a Soldier to be when he was younger. Roche makes being a Soldier look like a joke. I don't think Sora is ever going to have the title of keyblade master, and that's because he doesn't need it - like how Cloud doesn't need to have the title of "Soldier" to exemplify what a Soldier should be. I think Demyx is going to do for "keyblade master" what Roche does for "Soldier." That checks out, right? Roche and Leslie don't seem like bad guys, so I think that's something else to think about. Roche is a bit of a nuisance, though. lol

Ah, you're asking the real questions now. This is my favorite. lol I think Demyx might've felt familiar to him, but I don't think Xigbar had any reason to suspect that he was the MoM. I think his reaction would be like "IT'S YOU?! I can't believe-... No, I can. I can believe this. Goddammit... You got me again." Everything the MoM does leaves Luxu exasperated, so this would probably be no different. It's the ultimate prank.