I was under the impression that someone basically sat down with him and asked him these and he had to answer them right on the spot. If he actually had time to think about the questions, then I recant that part of my post.
There is no way to see how these interviews are conducted (not like we're going to ever get a video of them- and with good reason). Still, there are several things about them that lead me to believe they are set up.
First, just the format and the way the answers are worded is very mechanical. It runs more like a Q&A (
especially the "plot mysteries" sections) than it does a genuine interview with answers made on the spot. From the depth Nomura goes into his answers on such minute details, it's pretty clear that he has these things in mind. And second, it isn't just Nomura that you ought to be paying attention to. Even the interviewer provides subtle hints by asking blatantly leading questions for the reader to ponder about.
Just for example:
Is that to say that there's a possibility that within Xehanort's Heartless, the darkness that sleeps in Riku's heart, there might remain something of Terra...?
Nomura: That's also a riddle connected to the next story, so everyone please use your imagination.
The interviewer jumped to this conclusion from a rather large gap, which seems to suggest that they may know something (ie Nomura told them beforehand). Note that the question, not the answer, is the important part here.
So, yeah, that's how I've always seen these, especially for Ultimania interviews. They are, after all, "official," so I can only imagine that Nomura wanted them to be set up to answer certain questions and bring up others.
I mean I don't find any sort of direct evidence towards Terra hating MX's keyblade to that extent, or seeing it as representative of him so much.
There's not really any time in BbS where it would make sense for him to. The hate of MX's keyblade would stem, obviously, from his hate of Xehanort. And we see plenty of hate for Xehanort by the end of BbS.
There's no time in BbS where we get to see Terra isolated from Xehanort with his keyblade (other than that one quicktime event in the final battle, which as I've talked about is irrelevant). So there's no reason for Terra to direct his anger at MX's keyblade when MX himself is there. We don't get to see much of Terra's hate at all, for that matter, because things are revealed to him fairly late in the game. And when all is said and done with that keyblade, with its last appearance, Terra has already been taken over by MX, so there isn't much room to show his reaction to MX's keyblade.
We know Xemnas went to great, borderline absurd lengths to secure the use of a keyblade. I simply find it hard to imagine that his hatred towards MX's keyblade was so great that even when he was a nobody, which supposedly either has super-suppressed emotions or no emotions at all, would simply refuse to use a keyblade he could summon for that reason.
Notice, though, how that could be spun both ways. I could also say that he went to "borderline absurd lengths" to ensure he had other keyblade wielders to fulfill his plans since he did not want to use MX's keyblade.
I have already addressed the issue of emotion in the op.
I felt that, if he really did refuse to use it willingly, it was because using it would have some other unintended consequences. I pointed out a possible example, that using the keyblade will make Xemnas's memories lean way more towards Xehanort than he intends to, and basically the Terra in him was stopping him from doing that.
And that's a perfectly reasonable explanation, it could work with this theory or work on its own.
All I'm concerned with is how Nomura said he may intentionally choose not to use a keyblade.
That Xemnas would NOT want to use MX's keyblade, and yet still wants a keyblade to be used in order to enact his plans (hell, he would want to use someone else's keyblade, ie "were it only in more capable hands"), it leads to the belief that there was something specifically about MX's keyblade that he did not like.
That and with Xemnas more representative of Terra, it gives him a bit of a more active role in the plot, even if it isn't really the same Terra we know. When Terra throws around things like:
- "You think you can just come in and take over?
I'm not gonna sit by and let that happen."
- "
You'll never sway me from the one cause that pushes me to keep on fighting. Whatever the cost, I'm ready to pay it."
- "Aqua, Ven... One day
I will set this right."
It projects an active character. For me, to suggest that both Ansem SoD and Xemnas are more or less Xehanort and that Terra was a nonfactor for 11+ years really hurts that image they're trying to portray.
There is something else I'd like to mention. Aqua does not summon her own Rainstorm keyblade into the RoD.
Assuming she can, she seems to have intentionally left it for Terra and refused to summon it. Perhaps she was communicating to Xemnas through that blade(Days..keyblade telecommunication..except for the fact that Aqua wasn't 5/8ths dead or whatever ridiculous condition Xion was in at the moment.)
Assuming she can't, and assuming Xemnas knows that he is capable of using a keyblade, I wonder why he didn't at least attempt to pick hers up.
He may have attempted to, the CoR scenario is one where we really don't know most of the details, we have one scene of that room and an implication from Braig that Aqua was talking back to Xemnas somehow in another scene.
I touched upon this in the op, without directly referencing Aqua's keyblade:
Well, first, there are three keyblades that they could potentially use: Terra’s keyblade, Eraqus’ keyblade, and MX’s keyblade. The first two cannot be used. Terra’s keyblade is with LS (or flying around the RoD) and Eraqus’ keyblade is with Aqua. In any case, just as the KK can switch owners, I believe Xemnas/Ansem lost the ability to wield those keyblades. The keyblades rejected them.
While Secret Report XIII says Keyblades can act for either the light or darkness, I still believe they have some sort of sentience and a moral compass (ie they may be able to use light and darkness, but they can pick a side, good or evil, which is an entirely different dichotomy). Neither Eraqus’ nor Terra’s keyblades would obey Ansem SoD because he is evil, and those keys are “good.” They would not cooperate with Xemnas either because, while not evil per se, his motivation has been warped. He utilizes negative emotion rather than positive ones, and is willing to hurt others. He is more amoral than immoral, but those keys are moral.
The same would apply to Aqua's keyblade.
You should be a scenario writer. But I see a problem. If Xemnas didn't use the keyblade because of his hatred for Xehanort, why did he use his keyblade armor?
That isn't Xehanort's armor. At best, it is similar to his armor, but it's not like Terra would know that anyway. And the armor simply wasn't used against them, there was nothing about it that could reflect Terra's grudge.
