(SPOILERS) Union X: Breath of Darkness

[kirabook]

Was catching up with the manga. Once more, checkered back.

 

[Any]

Now some might say it doesn't add up with Vanitas' backstory in the BBS novel, but it would not be the first time that something that was in the novels is ignored in favor of a new development.

All things considered, somebody on Gamefaqs said the KH3 light novel indicates Vanitas and Darkness connection, however it’s vague. Though the light novels should be taken as a grain of salt. For instance, Vanitas said the unversed or "dark masses' ' have consistently existed in Ventus before the split. Likely implying that the unversed originated from Darkness. Which could (or would) explain why Vanitas was born with the abilities. Or on the other hand when Vanitas implied that he had ancient memories. He was unable to tell if the recollections belonged to Ventus or someone else. Towards the end of the section, he was aware that he was Ventus' other half yet probably realized he was something beyond Ven's other half as well. It's difficult to tell because of the cliffhanger toward the end.

I'm inclined to believe Vanitas is a hybrid. Lol Darkness and Ventus birthed Vanitas. Sora sprinkled in his creation.

 

[Squood!]

Was catching up with the manga. Once more, checkered back.

Okay, they have some weird obsession with 0.2 Ven having that freakin checkered back.

 

[Sign]

Maybe that explains her interest in Pete's time travel method? It's interesting that Pete was able to open a doorway to: 1) another world and 2) another time from Hollow Bastion (the apparent location of this "Arc" device).

Could there have been something in The World That Never Was that facilitated Maleficent wanting that world, besides it being a "castle"? I'm just thinking that if she knew about time travel, the past and "Darkness", then maybe her new mission started in KH2?

It's not impossible but there's been nothing to suggest that.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

I think so, yeah. Brain's prodding basically opened the floodgates. Ven's even younger at this point; he didn't have any friends until he joined the Union leaders so being told he didn't belong and that he might have been involved with the death of his friend's sister would have been absolutely devastating.

Overlooked this part in my previous post, so it gets addressed now.

Figures, Ven's eleven/twelve in UX which gives the whole situation even more gravitas. He's still a child and one with psychological problems already on top.

No wonder he wakes up bawling like a baby. Nomura really likes to heap more trauma on this poor kid, huh?

I mean that's what I assumed. After all, Ven became a heart of pure light afterwards and judging from the fact that nothing seems to indicate that here in the past, he must have a little darkness within him, much like someone like Sora has darkness. If Ven was Darkness's way of smuggling itself through undetected then all of this is logical thought at this point. It also explains what's up with Vanitas and the Unversed; after all why can Vanitas birth these creature of darkness just by having a heart of pure darkness? I mean a good amount of people just stopped asking that question but now we have something of an answer that makes sense.

The whole issue with the "pureness"-factor is a bit iffy to be honest because in Ux Brain/Blaine, Lauriam and Skuld comment on how kind and "pure" Ven is before the whole heart-splitting crime caused by Xehanort four years before BBS happens.
In KH III Re:Mind when Sora visits Ven's heart it is "Darkness" themselves who mentions Ventus being "too pure", yet that surely can be taken in terms of personality, outlook and/or mindset and not literally mean light devoid of darkness.

Ven's darkness however being "tiny" and barely noticeable like Sora's makes sense in the vein that it would be the perfect hiding place for "Darkness" because others wouldn't notice anything, only if looking really close.

Maybe that is also why "Darkness" refrains from using Ven directly via possession to commit any bad act because doing so would "taint" Ven's pureness and thus compromise its perfect hiding place.

"Unversed" is the moniker given to these monsters by outsiders observing them like Eraqus, Yen Sid and Xehanort. Who knows, maybe they are the "monster forms" Darkness can take and have another, official name.
As if I recall correctly the Master of Masters said that "Darkness" first appeared as monsters but later could imitate people/hide inside people?
And weren't Unversed capable of "possessing" both objects and people in BBS?
They're possible Darkness-spawns that might actually come from the entity "Darkness" rather than be a byproduct of the heart-split done by Xehanort.
Certainly a possibility.

Does "breath" of darkness mean the smell of darkness / stench of light lore lives on?

Catching up on the UX videos I was excited to see Maleficent's sense of smell was still a thing. Seriously. I want to know what the MoM smells like and if Riku will be able to figure out his identity without needing a face reveal!

While "breath" can smell I think the whole "smelling darkness" thing introduced in CoM was more about darkness-related beings exonerating a certain "aura" or otherwise "magical" signature that can be picked up/noticed by others who are sensitive enough.

I would propose the title having a more symbolic meaning in a two- possibly even threefold manner:
1) Darkness is literally breathing down Ventus' neck because it is hovering right behind him before striking out to commit the crime on Strelitzia.
2) It is now figuratively breathing down the neck of all the Union Leaders and the entire data world which holds all the other Dandelions including the [Player].
Considering this being the finale we can expect things going down the gutter pretty fast.
Who knows? If Darkness becomes a boss, maybe it has a Godzilla-like destructive breath attack too?
3) the whole incident happens before the Keyblade War in Browser-Chi and thus in the old original world. Darkness was already breathing down the neck of that world too and working towards its destruction possibly the entire run of Browser Chi's story.
The creation of Dark Chirithy and the whole scenario with the bangles collecting Dark powers might actually have been their doing.

All things considered, somebody on Gamefaqs said the KH3 light novel indicates Vanitas and Darkness connection, however it’s vague. Though the light novels should be taken as a grain of salt. For instance, Vanitas said the unversed or "dark masses' ' have consistently existed in Ventus before the split. Likely implying that the unversed originated from Darkness. Which could (or would) explain why Vanitas was born with the abilities. Or on the other hand when Vanitas implied that he had ancient memories. He was unable to tell if the recollections belonged to Ventus or someone else. Towards the end of the section, he was aware that he was Ventus' other half yet probably realized he was something beyond Ven's other half as well. It's difficult to tell because of the cliffhanger toward the end.

I'm inclined to believe Vanitas is a hybrid. Lol Darkness and Ventus birthed Vanitas. Sora sprinkled in his creation.

The thing is that both variants are equally possible at this point.
Vanitas could be a hybrid of Ventus and "Darkness" or he could be indeed Darkness themselves yet possibly influenced by their connection to both Ven and Sora and affected by amnesia.

The only thing that I think has to be buried is the notion that Vanitas is solely the dark part of Ventus' heart alone.

 

[LoneFox]

Maybe that is also why "Darkness" refrains from using Ven directly via possession to commit any bad act because doing so would "taint" Ven's pureness and thus compromise its perfect hiding place.

Maybe, but wouldn't Ven also be unusually resistant rather than vulnerable to such things? It is a person's own darkness that makes them vulnerable, as seen from Ansem/Riku and Maleficent/Terra. What the pureness makes Ven vulnerable to is deception, because it makes him unable to think like a bad guy.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Maybe, but wouldn't Ven also be unusually resistant rather than vulnerable to such things? It is a person's own darkness that makes them vulnerable, as seen from Ansem/Riku and Maleficent/Terra. What the pureness makes Ven vulnerable to is deception, because it makes him unable to think like a bad guy.

Of course, that's also a valid reading of it. Good point!
Probably even more likely than just Darkness "holding back" is that it simply can't take direct control yet still likes it because it is such a perfect place to hide.

 

[kirabook]

The unversed being a byproduct of Darkness rather than from Vanitas/the split makes a lot of sense. Obviously, that's not what Nomura intended when he made BbS, but it kinda fits way better if he has that power as a result of this Darkness figure.

 

[Chie]

Maybe relevant thread of mine where I came to similar conclusions https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/the-unversed-symbol-comes-from-theory.223263/

 

[Hirokey123]

The unversed being a byproduct of Darkness rather than from Vanitas/the split makes a lot of sense. Obviously, that's not what Nomura intended when he made BbS, but it kinda fits way better if he has that power as a result of this Darkness figure.

It may be more intended than you think.

You can look at the earliest screenshots of BBS, they absolutely were called unbirths and we know the story was dealing the heart before birth originally. There is this constant idea of darkness = sleep = death and talk of how hearts are born from darkness and return to darkness. I don't have the link anymore but during BBS era Nomura ran a Q&A site asking/answering random stuff like asking us if we would like to see a game set in RG's fall. On this site he said roughly word for word "there is more to the unversed than we know".

Then look at BBS's plot there was a weird energy represented by red and black in the plot. Aqua first senses it in Cinderella from the stepmother and stepsisters, red unversed eyes looking out from blackness, and Aqua described it not as darkness but "something very wrong" then later talked about sensing darkness in their home. Later we had the Evil Queen and she "turned her magic mirror into an unversed" and it was done by a black and red energy coming off her. Then they changed the idea of Sora's heart being from before birth, unbirths became unversed...but still talk about being things not versed in life, and they left the tremain sense in BUT they retconned Evil Queen turning her magic mirror into an unversed with a potion?

My thought is that Nomura may have been setting up the idea of the original darkness species as being representation of death/anti-life, something old and primordial, life born from death, light born from darkness. And that by Sora connecting to Ventus BEFORE his birth, rippled into Vanitas and connected Vanitas to the dark abyss all hearts are born from. That Vanitas became a portal allowing the sentient darkness, this opposite of life, manifest in the physical world.

But once they changed plans they had to rewrite a lot of these concepts. So instead of being because of Sora connected before birth, as now it's right after birth, he's introduced Darkness to fill in the same idea. By making him part Darkness he's connecting him to a being that has come from the dark abyss that life spawns from, and that's where Vanitas spawns unversed from.

Which also lets me think that the MoM and Darkness are both villains but on opposite spectrums. The MoM seeks to tear apart the world, of time itself, wiping away darkness but in doing so I think he may be aiming to wipe away death itself. To create a stagnant immortal world he will "guide" forever, a world that never sleeps nor dreams. While Darkness is the opposite, a creature that seeks to bring about the end, the end of light, of life, of existence, a world that sleeps forever dreaming endlessly. And we are supposed to be in the middle protecting the passage of time, the balance of life and death, of waking and sleep.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

(wall of text)

I dig it, especially that last paragraph.

 

[SuperSaiyanSora]

1. How did the killer know that Strelitzia is a union leader? We have gone through this many times. Only MoM, Ava, Strelitzia herself, and her Chirithy had that information.
2. How did the killer know that Strelitzia would go into the building at the time she did? Only Strelitzia herself and her own Chirithy knew that, and Elrena's Chirithy could have guessed it. And even they knew it only a few minutes before it actually happened. But Ven was invited to the scene beforehand, which tells us that there was some kind of planned plot going on.
3. Why was the murder and swap necessary at all? If the Darkness needs one of the union leaders as his vessel, why not use Strelitzia for that? Note how similar personalities she and Ven appear to be, both full of potential but lacking self-confidence.
4. Why invite Ven on the murder scene? The logical thing for the Darkness to do would be committing the murder in secrecy, picking up the book, and then going to find Ven. Having him on scene creates an unnecessary risk of him remembering the murder, which in fact is exactly what has happened now.
5. How does the Darkness have access to the Book of Prophecies, and how does he know the inside of the clock tower? It seems that for this, the Darkness must be one of the known characters: MoM, Luxu, one of the foretellers, or one of the union leaders. And of those, looks like everyone but the union leaders can be ruled out by other things we know about the

I'll take a few shots in the dark with this.

1.) I don't think it's the MoM, since he's supposed to be "Gone" at this point, and his speech patterns are different than Darkness's. Not to mention, Strelitzia was one of the chosen, so it wouldn't make sense for him to kill someone he hand-picked himself. And we know that it was Ava's job to gather the Dandelions together in order for them to be the hope for the future. I've said this often, but Darkness knows things most people shouldn't, like the tower and the machine.

Strelitzia wouldn't have known these things yet, because she was still a regular Dandelion Keyblade wielder at the time. Chirithy can pop in and out of locations at will, but if a Keyblade wielder who owns a Chirithy ends up passing away, that Chirithy does as well. It'd be against its own interests, and we see it disappear with Strelitzia. Let's not forget, Darkness also talked about "acquaintances" too, and there's only a couple people this could apply ot.

If it's not Ava herself, then it's somebody who was able to figure out the layout of the Clock Tower, knew where the machine was, how it functioned, and is well-versed in time-travel to know that Maleficent didn't belong in their era... As well as knowing the method of how to return Maleficent to her original era. It's either that, or Darkness had been lurking in the shadows the whole time and knows everything because of how elusive a literal shadow is.

2. We know that Darkness can change form. Strelitzia went in, thinking it's the Player, but we were nowhere to be seen. So I think it's safe to say that Darkness was the one who masqueraded as the Player, in order to lure Strelitzia into the house. If Ven was there prior, then it'd probably mean that the same thing happened to him, only in his case, he ended up being possessed. If we see Darkness change into Ava as Darkness and Ven leave, it's not a stretch to think that they may have entered the house the same way as well. It wouldn't be strange at all for a Foreteller and a Keyblade wielder to enter a house together, especially with Ava's mission of collecting Dandelion wielders. Nobody would suspect a thing.

Darkness could theoretically masquerade as Ava, lead him to the house, "hijack" him and leave him in a semi-conscious state. As Ven is currently in possession, Darkness then changes into Player, and then leads Strelitzia into the house where it kills both Strelitzia and Chirithy.

3. This one really is going to require some Gomu-Gomu levels of stretching, but here's what I think could be a reason: Maybe Ven's special in a certain regard. Xehanort found him one day and made him an apprentice. Ven refused to use darkness, so Xehanort split his heart in half and planned to leave him on Destiny Islands to die. It's not until Sora comes around as a newborn and saves Ven. But Xehanort didn't give this up, he then brings him to Eraqus in order for Ven to eventually become strong enough to be used again as a tool.

Something that sticks out to me is that Xehanort said to Ven "Eraqus knows what you are." That's a really weird sentence to say, because that makes it sound like Ven is a monster instead of a victim by happenstance. But what if it's both? Going by ReMind, it's evident that Darkness is still within Ven. What I'm thinking is, maybe there's certain mental barriers that prevent Darkness from influencing Strelitzia, but it allowed to override Ven perfectly fine.

Not to mention, if Strelitizia was chosen to be a Union Leader by the Master of Masters, it's implied that she was strong enough of a wielder to handle her own. Ven apparently wasn't particularly remarkable, Ephemer didn't know who he was at all prior to the meeting. That's the only thing I can think of -- Darkness needed a host, and Ven happened to meet the requirements.

4. I'm wondering this too, but... Maybe there's a reason why Ven was necessary to be present in that room. It was behind Ven, leapt and cut Strelitzia and Chirithy down, and went back to Ven. It's clear that it can move about freely without Ven being around, so it's not as if they're one in the same (at least at this point in time). Darkness can also stand around in Daybreak Town in the sunlight, and can transform into different people as well. Maybe it was meant to cause discord between the Union Leader. If Ven feels guilty that he "killed" an Ex-Union Leader that happened to be the sister of another current Union Leader... What's Ven gonna do? He's gonna confess. How will Lauriam react to the knowledge that his sister was murdered in a dark room, and Ven is the one who has her book?

The Master of Masters said that the Keyblade War is a war that's fought between Darkness and Light. This is a stretch, but what if this is just all done in order to sabotage what the MoM set out to do? Of course, the MoM knows everything that transpired so he has to have known that this is all taking place. But it seems like Darkness is opposing what the Dandelions are doing. After all, why kill a Keyblade wielder in the shadows and hide your identity if your intentions are pure? Although... Maybe "Darkness" isn't evil just to be evil, maybe it too is doing this to protect something important. Idunno lol.

5. Exactly. It has to fit in with one of those people, it doesn't work if it's someone like Demyx showing up all of a sudden and he's Darkness, unless he used to be a Foreteller or someone that's privy to Foreteller knowledge. This is why there's a lot of evidence leading to Darkness being Ava, but there's still a whole lot that can change. I don't think a gender has been assigned to Darkness yet, has it? I think they don't say anything about it because if they did... It'd be a pretty big giveaway. Or, I might just be mis-remembering things lol. Who knows. It has to be a Foreteller though.

Anyone who views the Master's teachings with a critical eye would know to observe, watch, observe and act only whena bsolutely necessary. But the Clown Squad and all the kids therein chose an early demise

This is true, but I guess to be fair, this is their Master. Even as I say that though, I'm pretty sure at least Ira, Aced and Ava questioned him, but they just followed their role as they were told. Gula and Invi kinda did too, but just went and completed their task regardless. Luxu consistently questions the Master of Masters, but I guess that's just due to the nature of the relationship there.

This is just like Terra and how people called him out for believing in Xehanort until it was too late -- As far as Terra was concerned, Xehanort's a respected figure and a brother to Eraqus and most likely has zero idea on the context of their relationship beyond that, so he won't think much of it. Blind adoration can have very grave consequences is the lesson here.

To be honest I am still on the impression that Gula is involved somehow although I don't have a tangible theory yet on how.
I do have a hunch that Gula and Ven might be connected somehow, perhaps another sibling pair with Gula being the older brother?

You know, if those two are related and Ven started to essentially "lose" his older brother, it would explain why he took to Terra so well. He's close with Aqua too, but he looks up to Terra as a big brother, and while it's not strange at all... Maybe there's more to it. Who knows?

I hope not. If the hope that was inside the box turned out to be a sleeping megalomaniac, I’d rather just throw myself into the bottom of the Caribbean.

The only problem with that though was that he was seen some 70+ years ago talking to YX, so he seems to be moving about with complete autonomy. Luxu seems really eager to bring him back though, although I don’t know why since the man seems to come and go as he pleases. Bring him back from where? What on earth is he doing?

That's why even Luxu isn't an authority on what the Master of Masters is doing, unless he just somehow knew he'd leap all the way through time and suddenly reached 75 years prior to the next Keyblade War. Which of course, there's no way he could've known. Maybe since the Gazing Eye has existed through time, it allows him to jump to different eras as well. We see that eye in many different Keyblades, and we know that No Name had to be passed down, so maybe that eye was also seeing things that No Name couldn't have seen. Like in Way to Dawn and Void Gear. Idunno, just a possibility.

Aha... I knew there was something about the location in which Ven got his book. He said "near the tower", which yeah, is where Strelitzia got hers. Ava seems so consistent about where and when she hands off the books, why does Strelitzia seem so rushed?

That's something that's gonna need to be explained too, because that's the contradiction that would've existed if Strelitzia lived. It could simply be a matter of convenience on Ava's end, but... Since we know it's a big deal because nobody else got their book that way, something's off there.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

The unversed being a byproduct of Darkness rather than from Vanitas/the split makes a lot of sense. Obviously, that's not what Nomura intended when he made BbS, but it kinda fits way better if he has that power as a result of this Darkness figure.

Nomura also did not intend for the "true" way to create the X-blade being a 7 vs 13 clash when BBS was originally made so there's nothing that stops further "tweaks" and additions.

Ansem also wasn't really Ansem so this isn't exactly new, lol.

3. This one really is going to require some Gomu-Gomu levels of stretching, but here's what I think could be a reason: Maybe Ven's special in a certain regard. Xehanort found him one day and made him an apprentice. Ven refused to use darkness, so Xehanort split his heart in half and planned to leave him on Destiny Islands to die. It's not until Sora comes around as a newborn and saves Ven. But Xehanort didn't give this up, he then brings him to Eraqus in order for Ven to eventually become strong enough to be used again as a tool.

Something that sticks out to me is that Xehanort said to Ven "Eraqus knows what you are." That's a really weird sentence to say, because that makes it sound like Ven is a monster instead of a victim by happenstance. But what if it's both? Going by ReMind, it's evident that Darkness is still within Ven. What I'm thinking is, maybe there's certain mental barriers that prevent Darkness from influencing Strelitzia, but it allowed to override Ven perfectly fine.

Not to mention, if Strelitizia was chosen to be a Union Leader by the Master of Masters, it's implied that she was strong enough of a wielder to handle her own. Ven apparently wasn't particularly remarkable, Ephemer didn't know who he was at all prior to the meeting. That's the only thing I can think of -- Darkness needed a host, and Ven happened to meet the requirements.

Considering how multiple beings already pointed out how "pure" and kind Ventus is there might be indeed something special about him, yet when it comes to Strelitzia and comparing the two one thing I thinks stands out despite their similarities in terms of personality is that Strelitzia got something young Ven apparently doesn't: A stable support network of friends and family.

Despite being shy and also somewhat lacking in self-confidence Strelitzia did have friends and support already from others, be it Elrena (even if only barely) and her brother Lauriam.
We don't know much about Ven's life before he meets the other Dandelion leaders (during the timeline of Browser-Chi), only that he was a "loner" and apparently very lonely despite wishing to have friends and other connections with people.
On top of this Ventus seems to be younger than most if not all the other keykids who all seem to be between 14 to 16 in age while Ven is 11 or 12.
Darkness choosing Ven over Strelitzia might have been just because it was easier for them to slip in.

As for Xehanort's statements, applying Occam's Razor I would say this was about Ven being literally the light side ingredient of the X-blade at BBS times and nothing pertaining to past issues.
Furthermore, Darkness also does not possess Ventus as they perform the murder themselves instead of controlling Ven to do it.
When Maleficent controlled Terra to steal Aurora's heart, Terra's body moved and did the deed himself. In this case Darkness does all by themselves while Ven is just standing there in trance, his body not taking any action as if he was really just the "Taxi" Darkness used to move around.
He also only starts to move when "Darkness" orders him to, not unlike the flashback when Xehanort first brought Ven to Land of Departure where his heart was still partly damaged.

You know, if those two are related and Ven started to essentially "lose" his older brother, it would explain why he took to Terra so well. He's close with Aqua too, but he looks up to Terra as a big brother, and while it's not strange at all... Maybe there's more to it. Who knows?

Good point and observation. Sometimes during BBS Ven truly acts like a little puppy when it comes to Terra and it does seem like he needs/wants a sort of older protective figure.

In UX times Ven is still a child and from the few statements we got of his life before he met Ephemer and the others there are hints that he might have been a sort of abandoned kid.
And in all honesty Gula is not someone I would imagine to be well-suited to look after a child even before the stress of his role drove him ever deeper into depression.

 

[Deleted member 252753]

Something that sticks out to me is that Xehanort said to Ven "Eraqus knows what you are." That's a really weird sentence to say, because that makes it sound like Ven is a monster instead of a victim by happenstance. But what if it's both? Going by ReMind, it's evident that Darkness is still within Ven. What I'm thinking is, maybe there's certain mental barriers that prevent Darkness from influencing Strelitzia, but it allowed to override Ven perfectly fine.

Whatever that meant originally, it's possible that Eraqus and Xehanort could know something about Ventus if they are seeing visions from the UX era in DR. Fwiw when I played BBS I did get the impression that Ventus was even then meant to be more important later on. In Xehanort's report he says they were 'destined to meet'.

 

[Eonstar890]

Another thing darkness knows that they shouldn’t is how and why Maleficient Time travels in the first place. They know about Xehanort, they know the MoM purposely left out certain worlds, they even know that Riku stabbing Maleficent is what gave her the idea to time travel in the first place.
So either darkness is an extremely omnipotent being, or they are working in tandem with the MoM who has seen the future and is helping to act out his plan.

 

[AdrianXXII]

Another thing darkness knows that they shouldn’t is how and why Maleficient Time travels in the first place. They know about Xehanort, they know the MoM purposely left out certain worlds, they even know that Riku stabbing Maleficent is what gave her the idea to time travel in the first place.
So either darkness is an extremely omnipotent being, or they are working in tandem with the MoM who has seen the future and is helping to act out his plan.

yeah this is the feeling I'm also getting they seem to be more in the know than most of the Foretellers seemed to be. I mean it's possible they know this stuff because they have access to the Book of Prophecy, but their dialog implies they don't have access to it and have a long running relationship with the MoM.

 

[Deleted member 252753]

yeah this is the feeling I'm also getting they seem to be more in the know than most of the Foretellers seemed to be. I mean it's possible they know this stuff because they have access to the Book of Prophecy, but their dialog implies they don't have access to it and have a long running relationship with the MoM.

Darkness specifically says that they know Maleficent exists in the future because of the Book of Prophecies, though they haven't read 'everything' in it.

 

[AdrianXXII]

Darkness specifically says that they know Maleficent exists in the future because of the Book of Prophecies, though they haven't read 'everything' in it.

Oh right, for some reason I remembered it as them having read bits of it, but not really having access to the book. But that's not what was stated. So they just haven't read and memorized all of it, which considering how much must be in that book makes sense.

 

[SuperSaiyanSora]

Considering how multiple beings already pointed out how "pure" and kind Ventus is there might be indeed something special about him, yet when it comes to Strelitzia and comparing the two one thing I thinks stands out despite their similarities in terms of personality is that Strelitzia got something young Ven apparently doesn't: A stable support network of friends and family.

Despite being shy and also somewhat lacking in self-confidence Strelitzia did have friends and support already from others, be it Elrena (even if only barely) and her brother Lauriam.
We don't know much about Ven's life before he meets the other Dandelion leaders (during the timeline of Browser-Chi), only that he was a "loner" and apparently very lonely despite wishing to have friends and other connections with people.
On top of this Ventus seems to be younger than most if not all the other keykids who all seem to be between 14 to 16 in age while Ven is 11 or 12.
Darkness choosing Ven over Strelitzia might have been just because it was easier for them to slip in.

As for Xehanort's statements, applying Occam's Razor I would say this was about Ven being literally the light side ingredient of the X-blade at BBS times and nothing pertaining to past issues.
Furthermore, Darkness also does not possess Ventus as they perform the murder themselves instead of controlling Ven to do it.
When Maleficent controlled Terra to steal Aurora's heart, Terra's body moved and did the deed himself. In this case Darkness does all by themselves while Ven is just standing there in trance, his body not taking any action as if he was really just the "Taxi" Darkness used to move around.
He also only starts to move when "Darkness" orders him to, not unlike the flashback when Xehanort first brought Ven to Land of Departure where his heart was still partly damaged.

Yeah, I think it was just easier for Darkness to choose Ven too. By all accounts, the kid just doesn't stick out at all. If it had chosen Ephemer, it'd be predictable but understandable because the Foretellers know about him and he seems to be one of the more known Keykids hanging around. But Ven was a loner and wanted friends, he's basically the kid in high school who was in the back of the room and read manga the whole time. Him not having any friends, on top of the possible lack of connection with Gula (if there IS a connection there at all)... It probably was the right opportunity, despite Ven being pure. At least with Strelitzia, you can see how headstrong she gets when it comes to Player.

True, but you also gotta wonder why Vanitas was so strong after being ripped from Ven. The theory up until recently was that Ven's original self was probably darker, but if anything, his UX-era self seems even more chipper than how he was acting in BBS. Going off everything we know in KH, Ven's darkness should've been equivalent to a regular Shadow Heartless or something of that nature, Ven should've been the strongest of the two. But Xehanort thought to split his heart in two and knew there was a powerful darkness inside him... How? Something had to tip him off, unless the circumstance in how the two met involved Darkness being present and was also controlling Ven. Who knows?

Either that, or Eraqus and Xehanort had continuous flashbacks to the UX era, remembered Ven all these years later, and BBS plays out the way it does. Only now, we know there were deeper motives at play. But I do think it also ultimately comes down to Eraqus wanting to stop the X-Blade from being forged, although now because he knows what really happened to Ven, that's the drastic decision he concluded to. Idunno, it could very well be left alone, but I thought I'd mention it because you never know with Nomura.

Good point and observation. Sometimes during BBS Ven truly acts like a little puppy when it comes to Terra and it does seem like he needs/wants a sort of older protective figure.

In UX times Ven is still a child and from the few statements we got of his life before he met Ephemer and the others there are hints that he might have been a sort of abandoned kid.
And in all honesty Gula is not someone I would imagine to be well-suited to look after a child even before the stress of his role drove him ever deeper into depression.

Gula seems like the kind of guy who has his own M.O. and while he's probably not an evil guy, he'd rather not have to play babysitter the whole time. Meanwhile Ven is a little kid, and who knows where his parents would be (seriously, where are the parents in all of this lmao), so Ven is gonna wander and do his own thing without guidance. I'm glad the kid has friends now, cause jeez, but if Gula and Ven are related... No wonder he felt the way he did.

And y'know, despite Terra's shortcomings and all that, at least he's a good big brother to Ven. Or tries to be, at least.

 

[Violet Pluto]

@SuperSaiyanSora Remember that Xehanort can feel Darkness coming from people. Also "Eraqus knows what you are," still could be Xehanort referring to Ven being a heart of pure light, which is an anomaly since Ven isn't a Princess of Heart. It's pretty obvious that he's a part of Xehanort's plans even if Eraqus didn't know about the pure light versus pure darkness thing.

Also didn't someone reprimand Terra/Aqua for not realizing that Ven was a Pure Heart after being by so many Princesses of Heart? I might just be misremembering but I do recall a scene like that.