Where the body was doesn't take away from my point that it was the return of the "body" and the re-completion of heartless and nobody that lead to Xehanorts return
Though whether that's what your referring to or not I'm not really sure as you bringing up the body confuses me here since I dont know what your pointing out.
Which pretty much exactly bleeds into the part of my post saying an "Ansem" could be made from splintered parts.
Agh, sorry, I didn't spill out the whole issue. That was actually meant as another proof towards that Ansem couldn't have grown a heart, as Xemnas states in DDD that in order to give birth to a new heart there is at least a vessel needed, and Ansem didn't have one save for the last third of KH 1.
Since I write my reponses in notepad and then copy them over (in case of a possible browser- or forum crash), I might have not copied over everything the first time.
If Xehanort still somehow "has" Ansem's essence and mind (if he has a separate one that is) like i.e. Sora has Xion's and Roxas' (and Kairi Naminé's) this is entirely possible and may even play into account with the Key to return Hearts, as who is to say that it can only be used by the good guys?
Whether Ansem was his own fully separate mind or not, to me, depends on if he truly lost his memories or not in bbs.
If the memories was lost then naturally a new sense of self would form within the heart to fill the void making "Ansem" just a messed up and convoluted personality in a heart that already had three.
If he didn't forget then he'd be essentially an extension of Terranort who was himself just Terra being controlled by MX.
Though in the end I dont think the exact nature is important as both Xemnad and Ansem obviously operated under MX's influence whether directly or indirectly.
Nomura was once asked how it was all divided but he never gave a clear cut answer so who had what and how each exactly operated as a being will likely always be a mystery to us.
No matter what each held all the memories held in Xemnas as well as the body+soul would've been returned along with whatever Ansem possessed as Xehanort reformed.
Though I do think it may be possible to copy or share memories. Think about it, throughout CoM they made cards shaped from Sora's memory and Xion herself was created by copying said memory. (as Sora didn't truly lose any memory until CoM)
Roxas also seen Sora's memories as dreams in kh2 even though they were also being restored to sora.
So I think it may very well be possible for a memory to be duplicated or even remembered by more than one version of yourself.
Meaning I find it possible that both Ansem and Xemnas remembered things and had the same sets it's just that distinguishing between the three sets they had left them confused at times. (at least in the case of Xemnas)
Correct, so in the latter case, if there wasn't really a memory loss, Terra-Xehanort from BBS and and "Ansem" would practically be the same thing/same consciousness only in a different state of being with MX sitting in the MX/Terra/Eraqus-mess of a heart and directing a figurehead/puppet named "Ansem".
It could become important though if the question comes up if Ansem and Xemnas can be treated as own individuals separate from Master/Terra-Xehanort like Roxas and Xion are in regards to Sora, and of course how much (if any) influence Terra and/or Eraqus had.
Yea, and he also stated that it is a mystery that would become a key in later parts of the story, however, it doesn't get much later than KH III since DDD also kept silent on the issue on purpose.
As would their true essences if they have any. So Xehanort would technically have the "true" Ansem and Xemnas sleeping within him while the two seen in DDD are versions taken from the past.
Copying memories is definitely possible, as those were used with the Riku Replica, but they needed Naminé to do something with them.
That Roxas had these dreams in KH 2 was
because they were restored to Sora. As Sora regained them, they flowed through Roxas and he experienced them in dreams. That's also the second reason DiZ placed Roxas in that digital Twilight Town as it was connected to Sora.
Which makes the issue even more confusing, especially on the issues of the current status of Terra and Eraqus.
The reason I dont count it is due to how Roxas and Sora merged. Rather than destruction Roxas simply returned the body+soul which caused his heart to go with it.
While in the case of Xehanort his two halves were destroyed and the components that made them reassembled into the whole.
Even though Xemnas and Ansem were special they reformed like Lea/Axel who seems to have fully assimilated with his nobody self.
Xehanort also dominates and makes the heart of who's bound to him a part of his own which makes me wonder that perhaps Ansem and Xemnas became a part of Xehanorts.
Sora in contrast only shelters he doesn't forcibly merge.
Of course, at the core, we'll likely never know the full mechanics and all we can really do is throw possibilities around. (which makes debating it all a bit moot)
Granted, that's a severe difference so that comparison may not work.
IF Ansem and Xemnas are truly individuals of their own and not just puppets directed by Master Xehanort's consciousness, the whereabouts of their "present" essences should indeed be within Xehanort's main heart.
In that case, if Terra and Eraqus are also still there, it would become quite crowded in there just like in Sora, with the huge difference though that Sora's heart is a hospital/hotel while Xehanort's is a prison.
Yea, that's why we probably should go back to the main topic of the thread, that being the proposal of (again) using the reset-button on everything and if it's even possible.
Time is something they don't have, not to mention: wouldn't time hurt the progress? If every replica grows their own heart and gets their own sense of self there's no guarantee they'd be good or compatible candidates. Hearts being unpredictable is also a major piece of the mythology of the series.
Only if the Replica is allowed to roam free and form connections. If Xehanort keeps it/him/her isolated and only exposed to himself or one of his heart seeds, it should be not such a grave problem as with Repliku and Xion.
He wouldn't really need time. The other cases were of things that were based on data and over time grew to be their own self.
In Xehanorts case, who has the power to splinter his heart, could just make a replica body, put a part of his heart in and without resistance that his other vessels usually have could take immediate control making a true replica of himself that he controls like all the other vessels containing his heart seeds.
Exactly, they would have to reconfigure the way to "raise"/activate the Replica in question.
