Full agreement, that's also what I was thinking.
I understand people seeing him losing RtD as losing a part of himself (the part that made Riku "Riku" in their eyes), but to me it would be a nice finishing touch on his redemption arc.
Part of Riku's lesson in KH II and DDD was to let go of the past, and when he says Darkness still has a hold over him he materializes Soul Eater.
If well made and meaningful, I support his decision of leaving the whole thing here, keychain included.
Correct, we certainly think alike in this topic.
For me it's less Riku "losing" a part of himself but more like his personal weapon now taking a shape that fits the destination of the journey his heart has made.
In KH 2 in one of the speech bubble statements Riku says this to Sora:
Not bad, Sora. You've grown stronger. You don't need my weapon, Soul Eater, or the power of the dark yet.
Note this being in TWTNW when he already has Way to the Dawn but that's not the main reason I brought this up.
Riku sees Soul Eater (and by extension WttD) as "his weapon" but also as a symbol of his divided allegiances/between-status, something that doesn't apply anymore after the last stretch of his own redemption journey in DDD.
The moment he can confidently say to Ansem the Wise "I'm Riku" he's firmly back there in alignment where he was as a child when both Terra and Aqua were drawn to Destiny Islands by his
light.
Even the admittedly cringy worded assessment made by Kairi in 0.2. where she notices he has changed reflects this too.
I dunno why some people cling so stubbornly to the state of being Riku was in by the end of KH 2 when he has definitely moved past that state and is now not only a Keyblade Master but also fully completed his redemption arc, being now someone worthy to be called a "Guardian of Light".
And now all I can picture is Aqua saying "And now, Riku! It's time for the final union!"
Yea, and then a Dark Corridor opens with Master Xehanort stepping out and shouting "Quit stealing my lines, Blueberry-bitch!" towards Aqua.
One awkward moment later she and Riku immediately proceed to shotlock his ass back to Nortville while Mickey forgets this incident happened like 5 minutes later.
I completely forgot about the Wayward Wind scene, that's true. I didn't consider that.
It would make sense. If something isn't bound to you, and it takes damage, it wouldn't make any sort of sense if it still hurts you in any way. It seems like once you're a Keyblade wielder, if you come across a Keyblade that was recently used by somebody but the master in question is incapacitated in some form (or I suppose relinquishes ownership of that particular Keyblade), you'd be able to use said Keyblade. Eraqus was killed, and Aqua currently has ownership over his Keyblade. So maybe unless a Keyblade has a heart it's connected to, that Keyblade eventually becomes nonfunctional, like the ones in the Keyblade Graveyard - devoid of life. At least, that's essentially what Xehanort seems to be saying in that quote.
I think an antithesis for a Keyblade would be a pretty cool concept. Because from KH1, King Triton told us that Keyblades have the potential to bring ruin and shatter peace. I still to this day wonder how he knows that (or even moreso, how much he knows), but it wouldn't be a stretch to think that precautions and certain measures were taken to keep the Keyblade in check. Whether that's an ability or another special weapon type in itself, I'd say it's possible. Whatever happened in the RoD, something weird went down, because we're essentially taking a near-indestructible seemingly sentient incredibly powerful magical weapon, and breaking it. That can't be normal.
It's easy to miss because the Keyblade splinters into thousands of tiny light sparkles and most people are focused on Ventus' facial expression in that scene.
It's also different from what is shown in the Trailer with Way to the Dawn as this one is "only" missing a third of the tip (including the teeth).
It would at least explain how the Keyblade can get lasting damage without harming its designated owner as well.
The blades in the Keyblade Graveyard are explicitly stated to be "dead" and have no keychain anymore, but Way to the Dawn still has its keychain so the situation isn't exactly the same.
It is also possible that Riku
was somehow negatively affected by WttD getting damaged but by the time that scene we see in the trailer happens he has already recuperated fully, most likely with Mickey's help who might have been able to help this time around directly.
That concept has been theorized more than once already so yea it is a pretty intriguing case, especially since besides King Triton Yen Sid in DDD states too that the Keyblade was in its very first original incarnations a weapon designed to "conquer the light" aka an "evil" purpose and that it was only after the Keyblade War that a group of surviving wielders decided to use it for good purposes instead.
Agreed, and it is so typical for Nomura to throw yet another mystery to the pile of already existing ones, lol.
I had the same thought, lol. The Fenrir look alike isn't terrible, but KKD seemed to make a lot more sense from a narrative standpoint.
Well, if we go by
thematic sense I'd say another Keyblade that would fit Riku to a T as a replacement for WttD would be the Divewing from DDD: