How DID the organization find out about Sora and Riku's exploits?

[Soldier]

Hello,

After watching KH retrospectives at 11 PM at night (as one does). a thought popped into my head. Did we ever really learn HOW the organization learned of the events of KH 1 that made Sora and Riku people of interest? The way I see it, there are three possible methods:
Option #1: Xemnas: the first interaction Organization 13 had with Sora was in Hollow Bastion in KH 1's final mix. He references Roxas and his connection to Ansem before fighting Sora in a battle that suggests he was holding back in KH 2 (or Sora grew in mastery of the keyblade during KH 2). Easily the most likely option.

Option #2: Namine: She's the hostage at C.O, connected to Sora with abilities to manipulate his memories. Why wouldn't she squeal all she knows about the boy in red and his duck and dog companions in an effort to stay alive.

Option #3: Roxas: would this even really work as the way they found all of this out? Like, I get it, Roxas knew his original self's name, and told Xemnas that on their first meeting, but correct me if I'm wrong on this, Wasn't most of SDG's exploits in the first game limited to a few worlds? When you think about it, The only people that are aware of their exploits are the ones they met on their first journey, and said people are returned to their worlds with the barriers restored around them. There isn't a newspaper circulating the worlds with news on what occurred at the End of the World. MAYBE people with seer like knowledge such as Yen Sid can figure that out, and I know that Mickey informed Minnie of Sora's exploits through letters, but that's about it. Maybe I'm missing something, what do you guys think?

 

[Zettaflare]

Maybe they were just spying on Sora and Riku secretly and subtly in the background of the Disney worlds in the first game. As for how they discovered them, maybe Ansem informed Xemnas that a new wielder was running around for the first time since BBS

 

[AdrianXXII]

I mean like Ansem, Xemnas was probably aware of Riku and his potential to one day wield the Keyblade. I wouldn't put it past him to have sent Dusks to Destiny Island to keep an eye on the potential wielder and princess of heart. I also feel like he probably took note of Sora sleighing Heartless and him being able to harvest those released hearts.
Also I have no doubt that the Organization was Keeping track of Maleficent and her groups actions.

 

[Deliverance]

Plot, baby. It’s all the power of plot.

 

[Face My Fears]

I think this begs an even larger question: what was the Organization doing before CoM? They had no way to harvest hearts for Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts, so were they just focusing on recruitment and/or waiting to see what Ansem did? Speaking of Ansem, I don't think it was ever clarified if they were actually working together to assemble the 7 princesses of heart and the 13 darknesses. It seemed like they did those two separate tasks on their own accord (maybe encouraged by their inner Xehanort).

With that said, I believe they had to be aware something big was happening in the worlds. For example, if Xaldin was scoping out Beast's Castle prior to KH1 and heads back... it's just gone. So he must have been able to report to Xemnas that something's happening and knowing Xemnas, he had them go do research. I mean, Mickey (probably through Yen Sid) and the Final Fantasy characters realized something was going on, so Xemnas becoming aware just by existing in that universe isn't that hard to buy.

 

[Soldier]

I think this begs an even larger question: what was the Organization doing before CoM? They had no way to harvest hearts for Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts, so were they just focusing on recruitment and/or waiting to see what Ansem did? Speaking of Ansem, I don't think it was ever clarified if they were actually working together to assemble the 7 princesses of heart and the 13 darknesses. It seemed like they did those two separate tasks on their own accord (maybe encouraged by their inner Xehanort).

With that said, I believe they had to be aware something big was happening in the worlds. For example, if Xaldin was scoping out Beast's Castle prior to KH1 and heads back... it's just gone. So he must have been able to report to Xemnas that something's happening and knowing Xemnas, he had them go do research. I mean, Mickey (probably through Yen Sid) and the Final Fantasy characters realized something was going on, so Xemnas becoming aware just by existing in that universe isn't that hard to buy.

See, that's the thing, KH Days potrays the organization as just now beginning to collect hearts to feed to kingdom hearts. And all the worlds that are visited (beasts castle for instance) are unknown to the organization until Roxas explores them and gathers intel on what he sees. After that, the visits are routine enough for them to know who's in what world and the heartless density/population. The recruitment theory works, as in KH 2 we see Xigbar talking with Zexion and Vexen shortly after recruiting Marluxia, implying that this is before the events of CO . But how can they be talking about the chamber of repose where Aqua's armor is housed if the castle is under the control of Maleficent and warped to a degree that Ansem's computer room is inaccessible. Either this means that the organization at LEAST knew about Hollow Bastion's fate and what occurred there (which makes sense, as most of the founding members originated from there. or we're supposed to put this shortly before Roxas joins the organization.

 

[Elysium]

As @AdrianXXII said, they doubtless were watching Maleficent, which probably let them find out about Riku fast and then Sora since he was stalking Sora at Traverse Town and Monstro. My guess is Xemnas testing Sora at the end of 1 happened after they'd known about him for a while (say, at least midway through Sora's trek through KH1's worlds).

 

[MATGSY]

They rented the first game from Blockbuster. None of them could get past Rikunort however so they had to look up the ending online.

 

[Soldier]

As @AdrianXXII said, they doubtless were watching Maleficent, which probably let them find out about Riku fast and then Sora since he was stalking Sora at Traverse Town and Monstro. My guess is Xemnas testing Sora at the end of 1 happened after they'd known about him for a while (say, at least midway through Sora's trek through KH1's worlds).

But there's a bit of an issue with the midway through Sora's journey theory, namely, what Xemnas says to him at the castle chapel in Hollow Bastion."You remind me of him" seems to refer to Roxas, who at this point in the story had only recently been born after Sora sacrificed himself after the Ansem Riku fight. I guess that Invalidates them knowing about Sora through Roxas as he'd be X hours old at that point.

 

[Face My Fears]

But there's a bit of an issue with the midway through Sora's journey theory, namely, what Xemnas says to him at the castle chapel in Hollow Bastion."You remind me of him" seems to refer to Roxas, who at this point in the story had only recently been born after Sora sacrificed himself after the Ansem Riku fight. I guess that Invalidates them knowing about Sora through Roxas as he'd be X hours old at that point.

He definitely didn't know about Sora through Roxas, since Roxas knew nothing.

I feel like Xemnas was probably following Ansem's activities (and through him Maleficent's). That's how Xemnas became aware of Riku and subsequently Sora. I would go as far as to guess that through process of elimination Xemnas assumed that Roxas was Sora's nobody, as Riku fell to the Realm of Darkness. Maybe it's through that assumption that Xemnas becomes aware of Sora himself. I think it's more fitting to the story and characters that Xemnas, like Ansem, was only interested in Riku and happens to stumble across Sora because he created Roxas.

 

[Dandelion]

Does this really need more elaboration?

Terra bequeathed a Keyblade to Riku. Terra was split with Xehanort into Ansem and Xemnas. Ansem and Xemnas were communicating as they formed separate plans and they came to fruition. Ansem waited on the Destiny Islands a lifetime and then some after time-traveling to the past, and went about his merry way when the island fell.

There are multiple plans at work that insured they'd know about Sora and Riku's exploits.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

Organization XIII run a stealth operation and are masters of recon missions where they stay out of sight, as shown in Days avoiding candelabras, clocks, card soldiers, and Pete by staying out of their pink colored field of vision, even when they are right in front of them. The truth is the Organization were in KH1 all the time, but were just really good at their stealth recon because they didn't have Roxas yet constantly asking questions and getting caught.

Also what the others have said. Anyone who is watching the worlds must have known about Sora and Riku. Sora being the hero that saved the day, and Riku the under Ansem's control. They were keeping tabs on Maleficent too.

 

[Soldier]

Organization XIII run a stealth operation and are masters of recon missions where they stay out of sight, as shown in Days avoiding candelabras, clocks, card soldiers, and Pete by staying out of their pink colored field of vision, even when they are right in front of them. The truth is the Organization were in KH1 all the time, but were just really good at their stealth recon because they didn't have Roxas yet constantly asking questions and getting caught.

Also what the others have said. Anyone who is watching the worlds must have known about Sora and Riku. Sora being the hero that saved the day, and Riku the under Ansem's control. They were keeping tabs on Maleficent too.

Masters of recon eh? then how does Axel keep getting sea salt ice cream from twilight town without drawing suspicion? Stealing them from the shop? what a good role model.

 

[AdrianXXII]

Well I mean in a world where everyone looks human going to a shop to buy ice cream barely will raise any flags... if he weren't wearing the coat.

 

[Soldier]

Well I mean in a world where everyone looks human going to a shop to buy ice cream barely will raise any flags... if he weren't wearing the coat.

Ah, but he DOES wear the coat, as a matter of fact that's the only thing the organization seems to wear. And if they're so concerned with stealth, why not incorporate world forms to blend in better? Maybe doing that in worlds like Halloween Town would make gathering intel easier as they can blend in with the populace. SDG do it to protect the world order, what's their excuse when it could benefit them in so many ways.

 

[Grey Skies]

I think Axel is just a hedonist with little regard for his job. I doubt the Organization is aware of RAX's constant ice cream breaks and mixing with the locals beyond what is necessary.

As for how Sora became a person of interest before CoM, the Organization was already spying on many worlds to find heartless levels, potential candidates for new members, and most of all, strong keyblade wielders to turn into nobodies. They hit the jackpot when they found Sora, and continued to monitor him and the people he knows. Riku was likely on their list already if Terra-Xehanort managed to keep the memory of giving Riku a keyblade, so Sora too may have been on their list already, considering he knew Riku. Alternatively, they may have discovered and spied on the Disney villain club and found Sora that way.

I think the answer closest to canon is just that the Organization spied on them with no explanation as to why they were doing that. Canon KH often doesn't make sense, is poorly explained, and is self-contradictory. It's just the fans piecing things together that lets us understand it.

 

[Light’s Master]

They rented the first game from Blockbuster. None of them could get past Rikunort however so they had to look up the ending online.

this brought back memories of frustration of being 8yrs old and trying to beat Rikunort on expert ;_____;

 

[Xickin]

So a quick time-travel question: We've long since confirmed that Ansem SoD spent over 75 years on Destiny Islands so Young Xehanort could at some point travel back and forth at will. However, I thought you had to have a version of yourself AT the spot you wanted to go to. So Ansem SoD was there on Destiny Islands at all times, so it makes sense that YX could go back to Destiny Islands, but does that mean he was also able to traverse the worlds to pick up worthy candidates for the Real Organization XIII? Like at CO and TWTNW?

PS Now I'm remembering that since you need to discard your physical form to time travel, how did YX interact with appropriating the necessary candidates? It's probably been explained to me, and I probably made sense of it at one point in time, but I completely forget.

 

[zerossoul]

I think this begs an even larger question: what was the Organization doing before CoM? They had no way to harvest hearts for Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts, so were they just focusing on recruitment and/or waiting to see what Ansem did? Speaking of Ansem, I don't think it was ever clarified if they were actually working together to assemble the 7 princesses of heart and the 13 darknesses. It seemed like they did those two separate tasks on their own accord (maybe encouraged by their inner Xehanort).

I think it very unlikely that they were working together. If you read the Ansem reports from KH1, Specifically 12-13, He vaguely acknowledges that there might possibly be a 'nobody' of sorts. But from the way it's worded, it's a complete solo act to complete his goals.

Now Xemnas on the other hand, He's completely aware of Ansem. We know this because he's holding report 13 when we fight him in KH1. That's also a clue as to when he started getting info on Ansem. Why else would he have that report? He likely found it while snooping around Hollow Bastion.

 

[Face My Fears]

I think it very unlikely that they were working together. If you read the Ansem reports from KH1, Specifically 12-13, He vaguely acknowledges that there might possibly be a 'nobody' of sorts. But from the way it's worded, it's a complete solo act to complete his goals.

Now Xemnas on the other hand, He's completely aware of Ansem. We know this because he's holding report 13 when we fight him in KH1. That's also a clue as to when he started getting info on Ansem. Why else would he have that report? He likely found it while snooping around Hollow Bastion.

Well that's the mystery about Xehanort's whole "plan". I wrote threads about this before, but basically it wasn't really "Xehanort's plan all along" because Ansem was seemingly working on his own goal and Xemnas too - both of them without any memories of their past.

The only explanation could be that either the parts of Xehanort inside them or Xigbar guided them towards their goals that would initiate the Keyblade War. Otherwise, it's just convenient coincidence that Ansem and Xemnas separately worked towards goals that would accomplish what Xehanort wanted all along.

Xemnas was probably aware of Ansem's actions, which means in turn that he was aware of Sora and Riku. I feel that if Ansem was successful in possessing Riku, Xemnas would have made himself known to Ansem at that point and worked with him to collect more hearts to summon Kingdom Hearts.