(Days spoilers)
I was going to post this in my "Longest Theory" thread, as I felt I could tie this in, but it really deserves its own topic.
So. The Chamber of Repose and Waking. Two peas in a pod. Ebony and Ivory.
Right. We get that.
But, uh, what are they?
Let's start with the one we know more about- the Chamber of Repose (formerly the Room of Sleep).
Honestly, it doesn't take too much brain power to think of what it could be-
Put two and two together. They were trying to perform tests on Xehanort in order to recover his lost memories, and Xemnas made the Chamber.
The obvious answer to what the Chamber of Repose is, then, is that it tries to recover lost or forgotten memories.
But... did Xehanort really lose his memories?
Nomura would not talk about the current condition of Xemnas' memories, but I think it's pretty obvious (considering his knowledge of Ven and Aqua) that he has some awareness of his past.
So he was either lying about the memory loss. Or. He regained the memories. Considering that he uses the Chamber of Repose quite frequently, I'm inclined toward the latter option.
That begs the question, though, of how he lost his memories.
And I think we can answer that with another question. Why are the other apprentices using the Chamber of Repose too?
Easy. They all must have lost memories. Obviously the other five didn't lose the memories of their identities, but there must be memories lost which are shared among them. What memories?
I think you see where I'm going with this- they lost memories of individual people. Like, say, Ven.
It's the classic KH scenario: however Ven (and Aqua, or whoever else) disappeared, it caused those who knew them to forget they ever existed.
On to the specifics. How exactly does the Chamber of Repose recover these lost, or rather forgotten (forgotten, but not lost, mind you) memories?
Examine the Chamber. Notice the Nobody chains everywhere.
I doubt those were painted on there for aesthetics. Rather, they're structures which can channel, you guessed it, the Organization's chain of memories. By drawing out these chains, the Chamber can delve into the deep recesses of their minds and pull out memories which were forgotten or locked away.
The memories that are pulled out can take on a corporeal form like they did in Castle Oblivion, albeit gradually (as prying out those deep memories must take some time). This is why we see Aqua's armor- Xemnas' memory is in a state of retrogression. First he'll retrieve the memory of her armor in the final battle, then of Aqua herself, and of all the little memories going back as long as he's met her.
A side note here. The idea that it's really Aqua's armor, I think, is hogwash. So does Xemnas sneak her armor in past the other apprentices (I didn't see him holding anything)? Oh, he just leaves it there for the others to see?
Yeah, moving on.
So where does the "Repose" come into play? It is as it sounds- the Organization members essentially go into a state of sleep here in order for the process to begin. Sleep and memories have been shown to be inextricably linked in KH (eg Roxas/Xion). Dreams can be memories or abstract representations of them.
But they're not quite "asleep" per se. I mean, Vexen said Xemnas was "sleeping," yet he seemed pretty wide awake to me. So it's no ordinary sleep. More of a... waking sleep, if you will. A dream made into reality (Like how Sora could find Roxas in the Station, which should have been nothing more than a dream, no?).
When Xigbar was listening in on Xemnas, I guess you could say he was sleep talking, lol.
Speaking of Xigbar, allow me to get sidetracked for a moment.
Xigbar says that he's "not so good in that place," meaning that he probably hadn't regained many memories at that point. But one memory I think we all know he has- Ven's stare. He may not even remember his name, but I think Xigbar isn't "so good" in the Chamber is because he was, dare I say it, scared to see what was behind that stare. To go further back and remember what made Ven look at him this way. So when he says "why does he always stare at me like that," he is also referring to the repeated attempts to get past this haunting memory- but that's all he gets (though I'm sure he finally did overcome this, as he was aware of TAV being better heroes than Sora).
Moving on to Chamber Numero Dos, Waking.
This one's a toughie.
We know that this chamber fits in with Xemnas' master plan, that it's the key to it actually. We also know that it goes hand in hand with the Chamber of Repose (though it was NOT made by Xemnas), and has been around... since before Castle Oblivion.
I think most of us believe that Castle Oblivion is MX's manor due to its motif and general MX-ish feel.
So, assume that to be true.
It's obvious that MX knew what he was doing when he chose this fine piece of real estate for his castle- he knew the "Chamber of Waking" was there.
But was it really a "Chamber"? If the chamber is a room in CO, and yet its origins stretch before the Castle existed... it wouldn't really be the Chamber that had the special properties, but the ground it resided on. In other words, the Chamber of Waking cultivates a special power based on where it resides.
What's so special about where it resides?
Well, the Crossroads (and I'm going to assume its the same one in BbS as it was in CoM, sans keyblades since MX kinda dug 'em all up. How it was fertilized in those ten years, YOU DECIDE, but it must have been damn good mulch in such a dump) is sort of the axis of the universe in KH, the place where all of the planes (or realms) meet. There's the road to light, the middle road between the two planes, and the road to darkness.
Hold up. Where does CO reside? According to Nomura, in the middle plane, but there's more to it. It's got it's own mo'fuckin road, for crying out loud.
And that road leads... to... what? For lack of a better term, oblivion (hence the name).
Yep. Definitely looks like "oblivion."
So CO may be situated in between light and darkness like Nothingness is- it's twilight in its alignment, but not explicitly "twilight." It is it's own thing, Nothingness/Oblivion.
And the Chamber comes from this oblivion. It's effect comes from this nothing. Something from nothing. Like the big bang.
At this point, let's get into a more taboo discussion. The axiology of the heart.
What is the heart? Where does it come from?
Nomura recently answered what a "heart" is in a Days Famitus interview (look it up, not really relevant to what I'm talking about though), so the very principle of a heart has been brought into question.
And with BbS being about origins (the keyblade, Xehanort, etc), it would seem fitting to include the heart on the list.
We know hearts come from KH and that they are inherently light. Going back to the big bang concept, let's say KH is god.
WHERE DID GOD COME FROM?
Don't give me that timeless horseshit, because a more viable answer is sitting right before you. Quite literally, NOTHING. Something from nothing.
The Chamber of Waking cultivates this power. It can (drum roll), create a heart.
You can read more about this in one of my previous theories: http://forums.khinsider.com/spoilers/136084-truth-about-axel-namine.html
(The capacity to feel implies a heart. I'll leave you to decide on what that implies about Axel and his fate. I don't think Namine fits in here, and you'll see why.)
There's a catch though.
The Chamber of Repose, the Chamber of Waking, they go hand-in-hand (lol KH) remember?
Step one: Regain forgotten memories in CoR
Step two:?
Step three: Get heart in CoW
Step four: profit
Sorta.
So, why would CoW need you to have all forgotten/lost memories in order to create a new heart?
Look at all of the other memory-reflective walls in CO.
If Sora were to walk into CO with all memories in tact and, rather than spreading them out over the floors, they culminated into one entity, what would that being be? Well... himself really. A reflection of his own heart, the memories which give his heart form.
This is what the CoW does- it needs all memories the individual has experienced in order to create a new heart. This new heart is as tangible as the memories manifested in CO (they can be perceived, they exist in the strictest sense of the word), though it's more permanent.
This ties into my Replica=Unversed theory, you can figure it out.
Though, if you think this is just a huge load, need I remind you that:
And as for how it fits into Xemnas' plan. Wellll.... it's almost like he would only need the CoW, but not the KH of people's hearts. Being a resourceful person always with a back up plan (as we see in Days), I think his priority may have been in finding the CoW, though he knew it was unlikely and had resorted to creating a KH. In any case, becoming one with KH, he would gain power that he could not from the CoW, so it wasn't necessarily a "back up plan" but more like "part 2."
I was going to post this in my "Longest Theory" thread, as I felt I could tie this in, but it really deserves its own topic.
So. The Chamber of Repose and Waking. Two peas in a pod. Ebony and Ivory.
Right. We get that.
But, uh, what are they?
Let's start with the one we know more about- the Chamber of Repose (formerly the Room of Sleep).
Honestly, it doesn't take too much brain power to think of what it could be-
SAR said:If I explore Xehanort's heart with psychological test, I may be able to recall the past locked away within. My apprentice Even has also shown great interest in Xehanort's memories.
[...]
Spurred on by my youngest apprentice Ienzo, I constructed a massive laboratory in the basement of my castle.
Xigbar said:The "Room of Sleep"... the underground laboratory where we were studying the darkness within people's hearts, the place which Ansem ordered us to seal-away... The first thing Xemnas did when he got rid of our wise yet bothersome leader was to release the seal and make that room in the depths of the laboratory. After that he frequently went down there and I could hear him talking with someone. Isn't that odd? Xemnas is supposed to be in there alone.
Put two and two together. They were trying to perform tests on Xehanort in order to recover his lost memories, and Xemnas made the Chamber.
The obvious answer to what the Chamber of Repose is, then, is that it tries to recover lost or forgotten memories.
But... did Xehanort really lose his memories?
Nomura would not talk about the current condition of Xemnas' memories, but I think it's pretty obvious (considering his knowledge of Ven and Aqua) that he has some awareness of his past.
So he was either lying about the memory loss. Or. He regained the memories. Considering that he uses the Chamber of Repose quite frequently, I'm inclined toward the latter option.
That begs the question, though, of how he lost his memories.
And I think we can answer that with another question. Why are the other apprentices using the Chamber of Repose too?
Easy. They all must have lost memories. Obviously the other five didn't lose the memories of their identities, but there must be memories lost which are shared among them. What memories?
I think you see where I'm going with this- they lost memories of individual people. Like, say, Ven.
It's the classic KH scenario: however Ven (and Aqua, or whoever else) disappeared, it caused those who knew them to forget they ever existed.
On to the specifics. How exactly does the Chamber of Repose recover these lost, or rather forgotten (forgotten, but not lost, mind you) memories?
Examine the Chamber. Notice the Nobody chains everywhere.
I doubt those were painted on there for aesthetics. Rather, they're structures which can channel, you guessed it, the Organization's chain of memories. By drawing out these chains, the Chamber can delve into the deep recesses of their minds and pull out memories which were forgotten or locked away.
The memories that are pulled out can take on a corporeal form like they did in Castle Oblivion, albeit gradually (as prying out those deep memories must take some time). This is why we see Aqua's armor- Xemnas' memory is in a state of retrogression. First he'll retrieve the memory of her armor in the final battle, then of Aqua herself, and of all the little memories going back as long as he's met her.
A side note here. The idea that it's really Aqua's armor, I think, is hogwash. So does Xemnas sneak her armor in past the other apprentices (I didn't see him holding anything)? Oh, he just leaves it there for the others to see?
Yeah, moving on.
So where does the "Repose" come into play? It is as it sounds- the Organization members essentially go into a state of sleep here in order for the process to begin. Sleep and memories have been shown to be inextricably linked in KH (eg Roxas/Xion). Dreams can be memories or abstract representations of them.
But they're not quite "asleep" per se. I mean, Vexen said Xemnas was "sleeping," yet he seemed pretty wide awake to me. So it's no ordinary sleep. More of a... waking sleep, if you will. A dream made into reality (Like how Sora could find Roxas in the Station, which should have been nothing more than a dream, no?).
When Xigbar was listening in on Xemnas, I guess you could say he was sleep talking, lol.
Speaking of Xigbar, allow me to get sidetracked for a moment.
Xigbar says that he's "not so good in that place," meaning that he probably hadn't regained many memories at that point. But one memory I think we all know he has- Ven's stare. He may not even remember his name, but I think Xigbar isn't "so good" in the Chamber is because he was, dare I say it, scared to see what was behind that stare. To go further back and remember what made Ven look at him this way. So when he says "why does he always stare at me like that," he is also referring to the repeated attempts to get past this haunting memory- but that's all he gets (though I'm sure he finally did overcome this, as he was aware of TAV being better heroes than Sora).
Moving on to Chamber Numero Dos, Waking.
This one's a toughie.
We know that this chamber fits in with Xemnas' master plan, that it's the key to it actually. We also know that it goes hand in hand with the Chamber of Repose (though it was NOT made by Xemnas), and has been around... since before Castle Oblivion.
I think most of us believe that Castle Oblivion is MX's manor due to its motif and general MX-ish feel.
So, assume that to be true.
It's obvious that MX knew what he was doing when he chose this fine piece of real estate for his castle- he knew the "Chamber of Waking" was there.
But was it really a "Chamber"? If the chamber is a room in CO, and yet its origins stretch before the Castle existed... it wouldn't really be the Chamber that had the special properties, but the ground it resided on. In other words, the Chamber of Waking cultivates a special power based on where it resides.
What's so special about where it resides?
Well, the Crossroads (and I'm going to assume its the same one in BbS as it was in CoM, sans keyblades since MX kinda dug 'em all up. How it was fertilized in those ten years, YOU DECIDE, but it must have been damn good mulch in such a dump) is sort of the axis of the universe in KH, the place where all of the planes (or realms) meet. There's the road to light, the middle road between the two planes, and the road to darkness.
Hold up. Where does CO reside? According to Nomura, in the middle plane, but there's more to it. It's got it's own mo'fuckin road, for crying out loud.
And that road leads... to... what? For lack of a better term, oblivion (hence the name).
Yep. Definitely looks like "oblivion."
So CO may be situated in between light and darkness like Nothingness is- it's twilight in its alignment, but not explicitly "twilight." It is it's own thing, Nothingness/Oblivion.
And the Chamber comes from this oblivion. It's effect comes from this nothing. Something from nothing. Like the big bang.
At this point, let's get into a more taboo discussion. The axiology of the heart.
What is the heart? Where does it come from?
Nomura recently answered what a "heart" is in a Days Famitus interview (look it up, not really relevant to what I'm talking about though), so the very principle of a heart has been brought into question.
And with BbS being about origins (the keyblade, Xehanort, etc), it would seem fitting to include the heart on the list.
We know hearts come from KH and that they are inherently light. Going back to the big bang concept, let's say KH is god.
WHERE DID GOD COME FROM?
Don't give me that timeless horseshit, because a more viable answer is sitting right before you. Quite literally, NOTHING. Something from nothing.
The Chamber of Waking cultivates this power. It can (drum roll), create a heart.
You can read more about this in one of my previous theories: http://forums.khinsider.com/spoilers/136084-truth-about-axel-namine.html
(The capacity to feel implies a heart. I'll leave you to decide on what that implies about Axel and his fate. I don't think Namine fits in here, and you'll see why.)
There's a catch though.
The Chamber of Repose, the Chamber of Waking, they go hand-in-hand (lol KH) remember?
Step one: Regain forgotten memories in CoR
Step two:?
Step three: Get heart in CoW
Step four: profit
Sorta.
So, why would CoW need you to have all forgotten/lost memories in order to create a new heart?
Look at all of the other memory-reflective walls in CO.
If Sora were to walk into CO with all memories in tact and, rather than spreading them out over the floors, they culminated into one entity, what would that being be? Well... himself really. A reflection of his own heart, the memories which give his heart form.
This is what the CoW does- it needs all memories the individual has experienced in order to create a new heart. This new heart is as tangible as the memories manifested in CO (they can be perceived, they exist in the strictest sense of the word), though it's more permanent.
This ties into my Replica=Unversed theory, you can figure it out.
Though, if you think this is just a huge load, need I remind you that:
AR said:This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing.
And as for how it fits into Xemnas' plan. Wellll.... it's almost like he would only need the CoW, but not the KH of people's hearts. Being a resourceful person always with a back up plan (as we see in Days), I think his priority may have been in finding the CoW, though he knew it was unlikely and had resorted to creating a KH. In any case, becoming one with KH, he would gain power that he could not from the CoW, so it wasn't necessarily a "back up plan" but more like "part 2."
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