- Joined
- Oct 15, 2009
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- 46
For a while I have been trying to make sense of the many unclear aspects of this game’s story. I think most people would agree that out of all of the KH games, the more complex points of this one’s story are harder to follow. My goal with this topic is to provide explanations for some of the hard to understand story points that go unexplained in the game. Very little of what I will say is pure speculation, but I will be sure to mark speculation as such; the conclusions I will make are based on in game information and interviews.
The majority of the issues are linked together, so one explanation may transition into the text. As Time Travel seems to be the area of greatest confusion, I will start there.
The most important conclusion about traveling through time that I have come to is that there is no concept of the “future†in Kingdom Hearts. By this I mean that traveling into the future is not possible; there are only the past and the present. This is another key component to the rules of time travel that Nomura has put in place to prevent time paradoxes and the timeline splitting through time travel. Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort both make clear that, “It is the future which lies beyond my sight, (Master Xehanort says this in the cutscene “Seven Lights, Thirteen Darknessesâ€).
My assertion that there is no concept of the “future†in KH may be difficult to conceptualize. Consider it in this way: the events that we view and play in the games are occurring in the present. Time constantly moves forward and the present progresses onward. The characters in the present cannot travel into the future not only because they will not know where they will be, and thus lack a portal, but also because the future has not been created yet. The future is not set in stone and there is no “destiny†binding the characters to certain events in the future because the future has yet to be determined.
Young Xehanort mentioning that he was “set on his destined path†only refers to him having the events that occurred etched into his heart. As explained in the game, you cannot travel into the past and change the events that are “destined†to happen. “Destined†in this use carries the same meaning as Young Xehanort’s usage. The only things that are “destined†to happen are those that have already occurred; they are destined to happen because they have already occurred and the past cannot be changed. Thus, Xehanort deciding to leave Destiny Islands was not spurred on by his future self. He had his own reasons for leaving and since he did indeed leave, he is destined to leave.
If this is still unclear, I would be happy to explain it further or in another way and provide a diagram if necessary. This point is vital to understand as it highlights the utility of time travel in spite of all of the rules to it. While the past cannot be changed, the present can be influenced by time travel, and thus it can be to create a desired future. Master Xehanort does not know what the future holds, none of the characters do. But his plan to bring his past selves into the present is a viable option to create the X-Blade for his use later.
With that in mind, the concept of time travel fits very well into the KH universe. There are numerous rules restricting it, the past cannot be changed but it can be used to impact the present, and paradoxes are not possible. Further, it is not as if time travel was just thrown randomly into the series with this game. It was first introduced as a plot point in KH2 and was foreshadowed as returning through Young Xehanort’s appearance in BBS. In fact, to a smaller degree, the manipulation of time through spells such as Stop has been present since the first game. It may be a stretch to categorize time manipulating spells along with time travel, but Nomura himself makes that association in the DDD Ultimania Interview:
Those points, along with Merlin and the Three Fairies’ ability to manipulate time for Lea’s training, indicate another key point about time travel: It is not a big deal. Time travel occurs in KH2, time magic has been present from the beginning, and rather than being surprised at the use of time travel in the game, Sora instead finds Xehanort being able to plan ahead so well more ridiculous. There is also the fact that Sora and Riku both time traveled too, but I will get to that later. The point is that while manipulating time may be a big issue to fans, due to the restrictions and other aspects to the system, it is not an issue for the characters. Consequently, once you wrap your head around how restricting it is and that it limits you up to the present, it does not pose a problem for the series.
These restrictions also explain another point that many people have brought up: What prevents Young Xehanort from collecting multiple of the same character? While time traveling, in the interviewers Nomura refers to the characters as “exceeding time†(I am aware that for the interviews we are working with translations. If anyone takes issue with that phrasing from the interviews, if you are willing to provide the Japanese text of it I would be happy to take a look at it myself as I speak Japanese). The past goes undisturbed by time travel and we can gather from Young Xehanort’s words that attempts to alter the past result in the ending of the time travel session. It is likely multiple of the same person cannot simultaneously exceed time as doing so would constitute as too much interference with the flow of time and result in the end of the session.
Some people have also taken issue with Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort being able to exist in the same place despite being essentially the same person. The common explanation seems to be that they must differ enough in some way that it is acceptable for them to be in the same place. Rather than that explanation, I would assert that they are able to exist in the same place for the same reason that Young Xehanort cannot collect multiples of the same people; only one version of a person can “exceed†time at the same time. Even if Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort are constituted such that they are considered the same, only Young Xehanort is exceeding time, while Master Xehanort exists properly in the present.
Now that we have the issues with time travel out of the way, we can get to mysteries regarding the Realm of Sleep. I have noticed that some people have had difficulty understanding when Sora and Riku were asleep and what parts of the game involved dreams, reality, and time travel. This is understandable as the game does not make it completely clear that Sora and Riku time traveled until the end of the game. Sora’s cutscene “Pleasant Dreams, Kiddo†makes much of this clear, so I will take the information from there and explain it in the context of the rest of the game.
The beginning of the game on Destiny Islands is in fact the result of Sora and Riku time traveling. In order to enter the Realm of Sleep, they needed to be in a world as it went to sleep. Based on that and Yen Sid asserting that Mickey had no means of entering the Realm of Sleep, we can gather that Yen Sid does not possess the ability to enter or send people there. Instead, since Sora and Riku both met the criteria for time travel (both of them have had their hearts released from their bodies) and versions of them existed at Destiny Islands at the time it went to sleep, they returned there via time travel to enter the Realm of Sleep.
It is important to notice that when Sora and Riku interact with the Keyhole at Destiny Islands they were not releasing the world from sleep; the Keyhole at Destiny Islands was not one of the Seven Keyholes of Sleep. The assumption that it was has led many people to be confused and suggest that Sora and Riku’s activities create a plot hole. Indeed, if the Keyhole at Destiny Islands was one of the Seven Keyholes of Sleep, Sora and Riku could not awaken the world without violating the rule of time travel that you cannot change events in the past. However, Sora and Riku only use that Keyhole to enter the Realm of Sleep. To enter the Realm of Sleep they needed to be in a world as it fell into sleep. Since dreams are linked and can affect each other, Destiny Islands was used as a gateway to the dreams of the other Sleeping Worlds.
If that is the case, then how did Sora and Riku still unlock the Seven Sleeping Keyholes and obtain the power to awaken sleeping hearts and enter the Realm of Sleep? It was thanks to Traverse Town, that world had two Sleeping Keyholes. After the return visit, Sora and Riku unlock another Sleeping Keyhole. Thus, the Keyhole at Destiny Islands was only used as a gateway and was not unlocked nor did it count as one of the Sleeping Keyholes. Yen Sid never mentioned the number of worlds that they would have to travel to or that worlds would only contain one Sleeping Keyhole. Traverse Town happened to contain two and that is how the number of unlocked Sleeping Keyholes still totals up to seven.
If that alone does not convince you, also consider that Destiny Islands was not part of the Mark of Mastery Exam. It was explained that Sora and Riku returned to the Destiny Islands in order to enter the Realm of Sleep and that that would be the stage of the exam. Further, the only adversity that Sora and Riku ran into on Destiny Islands was Ursula, who was only present due to Xehanort’s influence, which falls outside the scope of the exam. Also, Sora and Riku’s clothes, which Nomura has explicitly said changed as a result of Yen Sid’s magic, did not change until they entered the Realm of Sleep and began the test.
Based on all of that, it is clear that the events on Destiny Islands did not constitute part of the test, the Keyhole there was not unlocked and was instead used as a gateway into the Realm of Sleep. Once they entered the Realm of Sleep, they entered the present again. As we know, connections can be made through and by dreams, and the Sleeping Worlds’ dreams loop. The Sleeping Worlds operate under different rules from the other worlds, just as all of the Realms operate differently. That is likely why Sora and Riku return to the present upon entering the dreams; for the Sleeping Worlds everything has stopped. In a sense they are encapsulated in time until they are released from their sleep.
Next I want to talk about some of the ambiguity surrounding the events that occur in the Realm of Sleep. It seems unclear at times whether or not Sora and Riku are awake or asleep for the duration of their time in the Realm of Sleep. The Drop system seems to confound this further by showing the characters go to sleep when you switch. It is already clear that Riku is active when Sora is sleeping since he is in his dreams, but it is unclear that when playing as Sora he too is actually asleep (except in parts of The World That Never Was and possibly The Grid). This is hinted at several times throughout the game but Xigbar makes this clear in Sora’s cutscene “Pleasant Dreams, Kiddo.â€
As we know, Sora and Riku do not traverse the actual Sleeping Worlds (except maybe The Grid in Sora’s case). Sora travels through the Sleeping Worlds’ dreams and Riku travels through Sora’s dreams of those dreams. But it is also important to keep in mind that they are both physically in the Realm of Sleep and traveling between the worlds. We can also tell that Sora and Riku are asleep throughout their travels based on Joshua’s explanation that the Dream Eaters only attack “dreamers,†i.e. people who are asleep. This also tells us that physical beings can enter dreams without being asleep themselves, just as Joshua was. Young Xehanort and his crew were likely awake the whole time and were able to travel directly to Sora and Riku via Corridors of Darkness due to them being able to pinpoint Sora, and Riku since they knew he was in Sora’s dreams, thanks to the Recusant’s Sigil.
The point here is that when we are playing as Sora we are playing as him while he is dreaming. So when you Drop to Riku, Sora enters a sleep within sleep, similar logic applies to Riku. While not necessary for explaining any mysteries in the game, another point worth mentioning involves the events that occur in TWTNW as Sora falls into multiple layers of sleep. This part of the game can be difficult to understand and rather than explaining each step I want to direct you to a marvelous diagram by Ragnell 37 that explains it visually. Riku suffers the effects of Sora’s decent into the abyss since he is still in Sora’s dreams at that point. This is shown in the cutscene, “Riku Falls Into Darkness†when he is pulled into the darkness. Just as Ragnell 37’s diagram showed, the darkness of the abyss filled all layers of Sora’s dreams.
I understand all of that was a lot to read. I think this explains many of the questions that people had and leaves very little with the story to take issue with (honestly there’s only one aspect I have a problem with now). In case you scrolled to the bottom to see if the topic was worth reading or you want just a quick summary of what I wrote, here it is:
1. There is no concept of the “future†in KH; there is only the past and present. This means that characters in the present can travel forward as far as the present and characters in the present cannot travel any further ahead.
2. Manipulating time has been present from the first game, was a plot point in KH2, and was foreshadowed to become even more important in BBS.
3. Sora and Riku traveled in time to just before Destiny Islands fell into sleep as a means of entering the Realm of Sleep.
4. Sora and Riku did not unlock a Sleeping Keyhole at Destiny Islands. Traverse Town had two Sleeping Keyholes and that is how the total still adds up to seven.
5. Sora and Riku were sleeping for the vast majority of the game. The only exceptions being the short amount of time on Destiny Islands, possibly Sora’s time on The Grid, and some parts of The World That Never Was.
The majority of the issues are linked together, so one explanation may transition into the text. As Time Travel seems to be the area of greatest confusion, I will start there.
The most important conclusion about traveling through time that I have come to is that there is no concept of the “future†in Kingdom Hearts. By this I mean that traveling into the future is not possible; there are only the past and the present. This is another key component to the rules of time travel that Nomura has put in place to prevent time paradoxes and the timeline splitting through time travel. Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort both make clear that, “It is the future which lies beyond my sight, (Master Xehanort says this in the cutscene “Seven Lights, Thirteen Darknessesâ€).
My assertion that there is no concept of the “future†in KH may be difficult to conceptualize. Consider it in this way: the events that we view and play in the games are occurring in the present. Time constantly moves forward and the present progresses onward. The characters in the present cannot travel into the future not only because they will not know where they will be, and thus lack a portal, but also because the future has not been created yet. The future is not set in stone and there is no “destiny†binding the characters to certain events in the future because the future has yet to be determined.
Young Xehanort mentioning that he was “set on his destined path†only refers to him having the events that occurred etched into his heart. As explained in the game, you cannot travel into the past and change the events that are “destined†to happen. “Destined†in this use carries the same meaning as Young Xehanort’s usage. The only things that are “destined†to happen are those that have already occurred; they are destined to happen because they have already occurred and the past cannot be changed. Thus, Xehanort deciding to leave Destiny Islands was not spurred on by his future self. He had his own reasons for leaving and since he did indeed leave, he is destined to leave.
If this is still unclear, I would be happy to explain it further or in another way and provide a diagram if necessary. This point is vital to understand as it highlights the utility of time travel in spite of all of the rules to it. While the past cannot be changed, the present can be influenced by time travel, and thus it can be to create a desired future. Master Xehanort does not know what the future holds, none of the characters do. But his plan to bring his past selves into the present is a viable option to create the X-Blade for his use later.
With that in mind, the concept of time travel fits very well into the KH universe. There are numerous rules restricting it, the past cannot be changed but it can be used to impact the present, and paradoxes are not possible. Further, it is not as if time travel was just thrown randomly into the series with this game. It was first introduced as a plot point in KH2 and was foreshadowed as returning through Young Xehanort’s appearance in BBS. In fact, to a smaller degree, the manipulation of time through spells such as Stop has been present since the first game. It may be a stretch to categorize time manipulating spells along with time travel, but Nomura himself makes that association in the DDD Ultimania Interview:
Spoiler Show
Those points, along with Merlin and the Three Fairies’ ability to manipulate time for Lea’s training, indicate another key point about time travel: It is not a big deal. Time travel occurs in KH2, time magic has been present from the beginning, and rather than being surprised at the use of time travel in the game, Sora instead finds Xehanort being able to plan ahead so well more ridiculous. There is also the fact that Sora and Riku both time traveled too, but I will get to that later. The point is that while manipulating time may be a big issue to fans, due to the restrictions and other aspects to the system, it is not an issue for the characters. Consequently, once you wrap your head around how restricting it is and that it limits you up to the present, it does not pose a problem for the series.
These restrictions also explain another point that many people have brought up: What prevents Young Xehanort from collecting multiple of the same character? While time traveling, in the interviewers Nomura refers to the characters as “exceeding time†(I am aware that for the interviews we are working with translations. If anyone takes issue with that phrasing from the interviews, if you are willing to provide the Japanese text of it I would be happy to take a look at it myself as I speak Japanese). The past goes undisturbed by time travel and we can gather from Young Xehanort’s words that attempts to alter the past result in the ending of the time travel session. It is likely multiple of the same person cannot simultaneously exceed time as doing so would constitute as too much interference with the flow of time and result in the end of the session.
Some people have also taken issue with Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort being able to exist in the same place despite being essentially the same person. The common explanation seems to be that they must differ enough in some way that it is acceptable for them to be in the same place. Rather than that explanation, I would assert that they are able to exist in the same place for the same reason that Young Xehanort cannot collect multiples of the same people; only one version of a person can “exceed†time at the same time. Even if Young Xehanort and Master Xehanort are constituted such that they are considered the same, only Young Xehanort is exceeding time, while Master Xehanort exists properly in the present.
Now that we have the issues with time travel out of the way, we can get to mysteries regarding the Realm of Sleep. I have noticed that some people have had difficulty understanding when Sora and Riku were asleep and what parts of the game involved dreams, reality, and time travel. This is understandable as the game does not make it completely clear that Sora and Riku time traveled until the end of the game. Sora’s cutscene “Pleasant Dreams, Kiddo†makes much of this clear, so I will take the information from there and explain it in the context of the rest of the game.
The beginning of the game on Destiny Islands is in fact the result of Sora and Riku time traveling. In order to enter the Realm of Sleep, they needed to be in a world as it went to sleep. Based on that and Yen Sid asserting that Mickey had no means of entering the Realm of Sleep, we can gather that Yen Sid does not possess the ability to enter or send people there. Instead, since Sora and Riku both met the criteria for time travel (both of them have had their hearts released from their bodies) and versions of them existed at Destiny Islands at the time it went to sleep, they returned there via time travel to enter the Realm of Sleep.
It is important to notice that when Sora and Riku interact with the Keyhole at Destiny Islands they were not releasing the world from sleep; the Keyhole at Destiny Islands was not one of the Seven Keyholes of Sleep. The assumption that it was has led many people to be confused and suggest that Sora and Riku’s activities create a plot hole. Indeed, if the Keyhole at Destiny Islands was one of the Seven Keyholes of Sleep, Sora and Riku could not awaken the world without violating the rule of time travel that you cannot change events in the past. However, Sora and Riku only use that Keyhole to enter the Realm of Sleep. To enter the Realm of Sleep they needed to be in a world as it fell into sleep. Since dreams are linked and can affect each other, Destiny Islands was used as a gateway to the dreams of the other Sleeping Worlds.
If that is the case, then how did Sora and Riku still unlock the Seven Sleeping Keyholes and obtain the power to awaken sleeping hearts and enter the Realm of Sleep? It was thanks to Traverse Town, that world had two Sleeping Keyholes. After the return visit, Sora and Riku unlock another Sleeping Keyhole. Thus, the Keyhole at Destiny Islands was only used as a gateway and was not unlocked nor did it count as one of the Sleeping Keyholes. Yen Sid never mentioned the number of worlds that they would have to travel to or that worlds would only contain one Sleeping Keyhole. Traverse Town happened to contain two and that is how the number of unlocked Sleeping Keyholes still totals up to seven.
If that alone does not convince you, also consider that Destiny Islands was not part of the Mark of Mastery Exam. It was explained that Sora and Riku returned to the Destiny Islands in order to enter the Realm of Sleep and that that would be the stage of the exam. Further, the only adversity that Sora and Riku ran into on Destiny Islands was Ursula, who was only present due to Xehanort’s influence, which falls outside the scope of the exam. Also, Sora and Riku’s clothes, which Nomura has explicitly said changed as a result of Yen Sid’s magic, did not change until they entered the Realm of Sleep and began the test.
Based on all of that, it is clear that the events on Destiny Islands did not constitute part of the test, the Keyhole there was not unlocked and was instead used as a gateway into the Realm of Sleep. Once they entered the Realm of Sleep, they entered the present again. As we know, connections can be made through and by dreams, and the Sleeping Worlds’ dreams loop. The Sleeping Worlds operate under different rules from the other worlds, just as all of the Realms operate differently. That is likely why Sora and Riku return to the present upon entering the dreams; for the Sleeping Worlds everything has stopped. In a sense they are encapsulated in time until they are released from their sleep.
Next I want to talk about some of the ambiguity surrounding the events that occur in the Realm of Sleep. It seems unclear at times whether or not Sora and Riku are awake or asleep for the duration of their time in the Realm of Sleep. The Drop system seems to confound this further by showing the characters go to sleep when you switch. It is already clear that Riku is active when Sora is sleeping since he is in his dreams, but it is unclear that when playing as Sora he too is actually asleep (except in parts of The World That Never Was and possibly The Grid). This is hinted at several times throughout the game but Xigbar makes this clear in Sora’s cutscene “Pleasant Dreams, Kiddo.â€
As we know, Sora and Riku do not traverse the actual Sleeping Worlds (except maybe The Grid in Sora’s case). Sora travels through the Sleeping Worlds’ dreams and Riku travels through Sora’s dreams of those dreams. But it is also important to keep in mind that they are both physically in the Realm of Sleep and traveling between the worlds. We can also tell that Sora and Riku are asleep throughout their travels based on Joshua’s explanation that the Dream Eaters only attack “dreamers,†i.e. people who are asleep. This also tells us that physical beings can enter dreams without being asleep themselves, just as Joshua was. Young Xehanort and his crew were likely awake the whole time and were able to travel directly to Sora and Riku via Corridors of Darkness due to them being able to pinpoint Sora, and Riku since they knew he was in Sora’s dreams, thanks to the Recusant’s Sigil.
The point here is that when we are playing as Sora we are playing as him while he is dreaming. So when you Drop to Riku, Sora enters a sleep within sleep, similar logic applies to Riku. While not necessary for explaining any mysteries in the game, another point worth mentioning involves the events that occur in TWTNW as Sora falls into multiple layers of sleep. This part of the game can be difficult to understand and rather than explaining each step I want to direct you to a marvelous diagram by Ragnell 37 that explains it visually. Riku suffers the effects of Sora’s decent into the abyss since he is still in Sora’s dreams at that point. This is shown in the cutscene, “Riku Falls Into Darkness†when he is pulled into the darkness. Just as Ragnell 37’s diagram showed, the darkness of the abyss filled all layers of Sora’s dreams.
I understand all of that was a lot to read. I think this explains many of the questions that people had and leaves very little with the story to take issue with (honestly there’s only one aspect I have a problem with now). In case you scrolled to the bottom to see if the topic was worth reading or you want just a quick summary of what I wrote, here it is:
1. There is no concept of the “future†in KH; there is only the past and present. This means that characters in the present can travel forward as far as the present and characters in the present cannot travel any further ahead.
2. Manipulating time has been present from the first game, was a plot point in KH2, and was foreshadowed to become even more important in BBS.
3. Sora and Riku traveled in time to just before Destiny Islands fell into sleep as a means of entering the Realm of Sleep.
4. Sora and Riku did not unlock a Sleeping Keyhole at Destiny Islands. Traverse Town had two Sleeping Keyholes and that is how the total still adds up to seven.
5. Sora and Riku were sleeping for the vast majority of the game. The only exceptions being the short amount of time on Destiny Islands, possibly Sora’s time on The Grid, and some parts of The World That Never Was.
