Great points. I think there's more to MoM other than being a complete psychopath, but I agree he is going to the extremes for a misguided goal when a mindset of Sora or Riku is the proper way of thinking. One of my main issues recently with the overall narrative of Kingdom Hearts is that the concept of darkness not being inherently evil and is actually needed in the world has been sorta absent for a while now. This was a huge focal point in Riku's story in COM and referenced a bit in KH2 and Birth by Sleep, but never really reached fruition. So, I hope the next saga really explores that concept again in full force.
I think the MoM saw darkness at its absolute worst and most destructive at the start of Keyblade War, which scarred him to the point that he created a coat to protect himself and refused to ever take off and embark on plans to destroy the darkness altogether. Meanwhile, there is some form of darkness with more malicious intentions and its own schemes. Like the MoM, I think there's more to this entity than simply being darkness. If we think of the chess metaphor, the whole series has really been between MoM and darkness with pawns in the middle. If MoM is some misguided form of light, then it's even more fitting; light vs. darkness.
I think Sora is stuck in the middle of these forces with other scapegoats being used (Xehanort and Maleficent, etc.) which makes me think perhaps that's where Sora's chess piece lands in KH3's ending; right in between these two forces. You have the MoM and his foretellers wanting to destroy darkness altogether, while darkness may seek to blot out the light for good, and then you have Sora who understands that neither can exist without the other. Even Xehanort knew this, but his methods were just too destructive to go unchecked. Both forces can be used in destructive ways and that's what I think the foundation of the series essentially is; people misusing both darkness and light for their own personal gain or because of a misguided philosophy.
Oh god....I didn't even think about it but maybe the MoM really WAS telling the truth that he's too scared to ever take his off. But not because he's afraid of the darkness but rather in order to eradicate darkness just like Xehanort he'll have to wipe out all the hearts with darkness in them. Maybe his plan won't even allow him to choose who gets wiped out just that if there is darkness POOF they're gone. If that's the case then the MoM's actual reason for the coat can be interpreted "I'm to scared of Oblivion to take off my coat, I have to keep myself pure so I won't be eradicated when I execute my plan".
With the chess game you make a good point but I think it's more than just Sora. We have the MoM and his Foretellers remnants of a time in which darkness was the ultimate evil that needed to be crushed at any cost. Then we have Darkness who comes from a time in which the light created it then fearing what it created tried to wipe it from existence and that's sowed a belief that the darkness will never be safe so long as light persists and thus it seeks to wipe out the light. But then you have Sora's group who has been forged in light and darkness.
Sora is a light who never goes out but isn't above tapping into the darkness and doesn't hate the darkness. Kairi is a strong light as pure as they come but she's never feared the dark, be it hugging heartless Sora or jumping headlong into a corridor of darkness Kairi is light but without a fear and hate of the dark despite having every reason to. Riku is a being who exists in perfect harmony of light and darkness, bringing out the best of both and showing everyone who meets him another way than extremes.
Roxas, Xion, and Namine are beings born belonging to neither dark nor light and are aligned with neither. They are born from darkness but live in the light, they belong to the dark but they are good people who live amongst those of the light with little issue. They are an in between existence and their two other members Axel and Saix while born as people of light, have lived most of their life as in between beings which makes them able to understand both. Neither fear light nor dark they cross an intermingle with both forces. Just as the Sun sets and brings the dark and the moon is the light that lights up the dark.
Terra, Aqua, and Ventus were raised in a very light stringent home but in the end they've all learned the folly of that. It left Terra with deep self loathing issues and anger he could not control. It left Aqua with serious repression issues unable to handle it when her heart started to crack. It left Ventus feeling burnt out on the whole light and dark thing in general and just wanting to be a person of his own choice. Each of them fought against their darkness but it never solved the issue, instead it was their fight against the dark rather than an acceptance and dealing with it that lead them all to their tragedies they needed to be saved from. Now though they leap headlong into the darkest most dangerous realm we know, the realm of darkness, with a smile and almost eagerness.
Our heroes show the full spectrum of bad, good, and the middle area between the two. The follies of light and darkness as well as their strength and potential of unity. They are products of the world where light and darkness co-exist, they don't know another existence other than this one. Which is ultimately why they are a rejection of extremes, they together can create a balanced world where light and dark exist in harmony.
