The Thirteen Seekers, Revisited

[Zettaflare]

As much as i hate to admit it, Demyx could actually be a vessel based on Baymax's post. I cant think of who else would fit a Princess and the Frog world. Which sucks since I actually wanted Demy to be redeemed.

 

[AdrianXXII]

It may have to do with people interpreting Xemnas' statements wrong as while he was rattling down categories no one knows which criteria and conditions were actually applied for anyone to fall into one of these categories.
The fanbase just took their own (and the most obvious) interpretations of it and ran with those, but Xemnas' (and Xehanort's) own conditions as to when a potential vessel candidate turns out to be "weak of body" or "weak of trust" might be totally different than the common fan interpretation.

Lexaeus/Aeleus and Zexion/Ienzo are as far as we know confirmed to be NOT norts so they have to fall somewhere in those categories of Xemnas.
If Xaldin/Dilan and Vexen/Even are the same one should do the same speculating for them, not in the usual interpretation of how we would see these categories but how Xehanort would see them.

For example, Marluxia and Larxene were treacherous, as was Saix implied to be yet it is said that doesn't concern Xehanort as he apparently has confidence enough in his own powers, mind and skills to prevent that trait to become a hindrance for him.
What other traits and properties were displayed by people like Marluxia, Larxene, Saix or Luxord which could be potentially interesting for Xehanort and make him considering them worthy vessels?

So being loyal and generally strong are obviously not highly important criteria Xehanort has for considering someone a worthy vessel.

In his BBS reports, he also dismissed Ventus as an "unworthy vessel" because the boy's "too frail" and "too benign" to be of use, yet when he sees the Darkness potential in Terra and that he's well-meaning, yet "seeks power single-mindedly.", he deduces to have a potential good vessel.

Or in short, the fanbase simply applies criteria and conditions to those statements which may not even hold importance for Xehanort himself.
He might use different conditions to decide who's an adequate vessel and who not.

Yeah I think it's pretty save to assume that Xehanort has different interpretations of those criteria then most of us fans did, if were not dealing with a retcon. I assume he probably looks at them more from the point of view of how the person deals with darkness and how much they can be manipulated by him, their own impulses and ambitions.

There's obviously a reason why Even, Ienzo, Aeleus, Dilan and Axel were deemed unfit, but it's unclear in which way and who was what.
It'd be interesting to know, why Dilan and Even had a harder time than the other three did, with dealing with being recompleted. Interestingly those two were also the ones that really drank the Organisation koolaid, so maybe it was an aftermath of a failed nortification?

As much as i hate to admit it, Demyx could actually be a vessel based on Baymax's post. I cant think of who else would fit a Princess and the Frog world. Which sucks since I actually wanted Demy to be redeemed.

Just because he's been norted, wouldn't really rule out the possibility or a redemption, either in this game after he's been freed of the influence or in a future game.

 

[Nayru's Love]

Demyx only really works as a vessel if the lazy attitude is really just a facade, meaning his cold demeanor would be his true self; at least then I could understand what Xehanort would find in him. Otherwise, he's just way too much comic relief for the new Organization. He really would fit in better with the Radiant Garden Squad; maybe he could take over Braig's job or something.

Interestingly those two were also the ones that really drank the Organisation koolaid, so maybe it was an aftermath of a failed nortification?

That was my understanding, as well; I bet Nomura toyed with the idea of them being vessels and left their cases open.

 

[Nayru's Love]

Double post :v

 

[DarkosOverlord]

It may have to do with people interpreting Xemnas' statements wrong as while he was rattling down categories no one knows which criteria and conditions were actually applied for anyone to fall into one of these categories.
The fanbase just took their own (and the most obvious) interpretations of it and ran with those, but Xemnas' (and Xehanort's) own conditions as to when a potential vessel candidate turns out to be "weak of body" or "weak of trust" might be totally different than the common fan interpretation.

Again, yes. One cannot stress upon this too much.
Fans developed this ironclad commitment in making the Xemnas monologue the cardinal rule to filter vessel candidates to the point of making it the only rule that counts and ignoring all the rest.
Problem is, that wasn't even a rule per se, but merely him commenting on their past endeavors. It's him handing to Sora the result of their elaborations, without disclosing the procedure.

But considering Xehanort's own mind will eventually take over theirs and the fact that he apparently can just step up and possess them, all flaws pertaining character should be nigh nonexistant.
That's obviously not going to be the case, but it still underlines how all the weaknesses aren't just as simple as Xemnas made them out to be.

 

[Luminary]

Everything in that world was playing out exactly like it did in KH1 until the confrontation of that other Riku. Riku wouldn't have said what he said if he didn't know what was going on. It was just a dream of events being replayed. Even Riku leaving the world through the black corridor happened. It came off as just a dream. The black coat could have just been added due to dream shenanigans and Sora getting some of the events mixed up. Sure not a strong argument but with everything we know about the dream world and that specific dream world, it points to that Riku being part of the dream at least to me.


And who's to say Riku didn't meet up with this "other me" in the RoD? We've literally only seen trailers and that's not enough to come to any conclusions at all. We need more context and the full scene to understand where Riku got to the point of knowing about "another him" being around for him to leave his keyblade behind for him. So no it's not likely at all that the Riku we saw from DDD is the same exact Riku from KH3. Possible, yes but not likely without anything concrete to back it up with.

If they were pursuing the idea that it was just a dream and felt the moment important enough to include in trailers, the situation would’ve been more of the focus of that world. Instead, it was only a brief scene at the very start. They could have had the other Riku in his KH1 garb and had OG Riku save Pinocchio from him later on in the story like Sora did in KH1. Instead they wanted the moment to be brief and ambiguous. With the additional fact that the scene was teased in trailers, it shows that this was an important moment to foreshadow KH3, something DDD does as a whole.

The chances of him meeting the other Riku in the Realm of Darkness are slim because Mickey does not know to whom Riku is referring when he mentions him. From what we’ve seen and the events in the Realm of Darkness seemingly taking place during the events on Olympus, it doesn’t appear that Riku and Mickey have separated since leaving Yen Sid’s tower. So Riku would have needed to learn another him was in existence prior to that.

Of course, this is my reading and not fact. But I definitely think it is more plausible than that scene being a one-and-done situation, which is rarely how this series operates.

 

[Graceful Schemer]

In any interpretation, it is still not most. About half are seemingly adequate. Either this is a translation liberty or Xemnas was possibly referring to the founders, 2 out of 6 (3 out of 8 for Radiant Garden Originals) would fit the most description.

 

[Recon]

#Norted