Theory: We were in the Black Box

[Deleted member 252753]

I've been having these weird thoughts lately... Like is any of this for real, or not?

I will try to argue my theory without it getting too long or confusing so here goes.

The Theory​

The Black Box contains the KH universe we've been in since the Keyblade War in KHX up to the end of KH3. The Box is a computer and the world we know has been a datascape generated from the Book of Prophecies.

My expanded idea is that the MoM knew the world would soon be ended by darkness. He also knew that summoning Kingdom Hearts could restart the world but there wasn't enough time to fulfil the conditions to forge the X-blade before the world's end.However, if some hearts of light were saved and put into a simulated data world, time could effectively run infinitely (or at least at a much greater rate), so after many eras passing in the data world the X-blade could be forged, and Kingdom Hearts used to remake the real world.

This data world is contained in a computer, the Black Box. When the Dandelions crossed over into the UX worldline, they unknowingly entered the Box. Obviously, I think Darkness hasn't actually just led Maleficent to the real world in the latest update. The UX worldline will be led to its demise by darkness (Luxu's Secret Reports), and so the Five will escape into a new Worldline made from the 'master data' in the Book of Prophecies.

This Book of Prophecies data world is where most of the series takes place. It's a simulation with the aim of doing the impossible: stopping darkness destroying the world, making light prevail and summoning Kingdom Hearts to bring back the one real world. This finally happens in KH3 and this opens the Box from the inside allowing its inhabitants to move to the remade real world.

[The simulation might loop back on itself, but I still want to think about that more and look for clearer in-game evidence]

Supporting Evidence
​

Clues about the Box.
- It explains why the Box disappeared (which was anytime after the Keyblade War in KHX from what we know) and was made to reappear by the Keyblade War in KH3.
- It also gives a reason why Maleficent would think the Book of Prophecies is in the Box (she could simply be wrong but I hope there's an interesting explanation).
- The Box contains 'Hope', according to Luxord, and this could be the hope of remaking the world.
- So this theory makes sense of the clues to its contents and its disappearance in one go.
- The Box has 13 locks on it, and 13 keys are forged in the Keyblade Graveyard.

Other evidence
- The mechanics are established. Using the BoP to make a datascape is essentially just like the Journal in Coded.
- Even the possibility of the UX Five going using the BoP 'master data' to escape their world's demise was explicitly raised by Brain in The Ark to the Future update.
- Darkness and Maleficent crossing over into the real world doesn't fit with what the MoM said to Luxu in the Cornerstone of the World's Rebirth. He says that everything in the world will be 'erased' by the Keyblade War and the wielders in the other worldline will recover the scattered light and 'thus, the world will be reborn', which doesn't seem to have happen in UX so there's some deception from someone here. Plus Luxu's reports talks of this worldline being destroyed by darkness and the Five going to another worldline, which also doesn't sound like going to the real world.
- Wherever Sora woke up in the Secret Episode wasn't the real world

Hidden/ tinfoil hat evidence
- Wreck-it Ralph is a Link in KH3, despite never having met Sora and apparently being in a separate data world to the main games. This is odd because the Heartbinder is specifically said to enhance Sora's ability to connect with the hearts of other, implying and existing connection between him and the Link, as is the case for all the other characters summoned. And we know Wreck-it Ralph's world is connected to the UX data world.
- Hidden computer terms. The initials of the side game titles being the same as computer terms is well known. It can also be applied to most three word phrases in the series: POW, MOM, SOD, GOL, BOP are all initials of computer terms (the last two specifically to simulation).
- Some words have computer meanings too, one being Scala, a programming language. Sigil is a more interesting example. In some languages, a sigil is a symbol used to mark a variable's data-type (e.g. a '$' sigil marks a variable as a string in BASIC). So, the Recusant's Sigil, marking out those who refuse to comply, sort of fits the computing definition, maybe better than the other definition (a magical symbol).
- And the theory fits some of the themes in KH3: the deterministic overtones ('It has been etched', 'May your heart be your guiding key' etc); and the separate world stuff in most worlds, especially Toybox where you never find out if you are in the real world or the copy.

Well, that's a lot of writing and I have put the best arguments and then some. If anyone has any comments, criticisms or anything I would be happy to read them

 

[Deleted member 252753]

I know Xigbar's Character File may not be canon, but I think it does drop hints about the Black Box and is worthy of analysis. Plus it's fun!
So, the story talks about the Black Box and other strange stuff for a while before retelling Xigbar's Olympus scene so I'll just look at the first part. Xigbar throws out a lot of vague, seemingly random thoughts, making it tough to see what he's on about. I'll try to pinpoint some ideas and make connections between them. So it opens with this:

This is a story from long, long ago... People lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. But then, people began to fight over the light, and as a result everything returned to the void. But... If you're asking me when this happened, it's an old legend so who knows? I mean, it's possible that this very moment could have been set long, long ago.

So, people fighting over the light, the Keyblade War, destroyed the world. But when that happened, relative to the present, is not certain. Then he brings up the Box:

You understand it's dumb to judge a book by its cover, right? Well, maybe we shouldn't judge a box by its color. I mean, is a "Black Box" actually black? What kind of black? Was it ever black at all? These fools are just blindly searching for a box that happens to be black. They don't understand what the Black Box actually is or what's inside, and there's a big difference between "understanding" something and "knowing" it.

So, looking for a normal black box help you find the Box, like those 'fools', who must be Maleficent & Pete ( and I guess Luxord, whom Xigbar took for a useful idiot). These fools don't 'understand' what the Box's nature or what's inside. Then he says that 'knowing' something is different than 'understanding' it. We know that Maleficent thinks the Box contains the Book of Prophecies, so this line suggests that she is technically correct that the BoP is in the Box; but she doesn't understand what that means. Then he teases about the Box's disappearance:

Now then. Do you want to know why the box went missing in the first place? Anything else you want to know? Take that offer with a grain of salt. There are limits to what I can say right now. Remember what I said about the difference between "understanding" something and "knowing" it. Plus, there's always the chance that there's a big secret that nobody knows, just like the content of the box. Leave room for surprises.

In the end he gives almost no clues, only reminding us about the difference between 'understanding' and 'knowing' something. This suggests Maleficent's misunderstanding of the Box qnd its contents (the BoP) is linked to the Box's disappearance. Then he suddenly changes topic to the end of the world:

Question: if I told you the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do? Would you accept it as inevitable, or would you try to stop it? Remember what I just told you about the Black Box. No one really understands what kind of "black" it is. And what is the end of the world in the first place? No one understands what will actually happen.

So he asks us what we would do if we knew the world was about to end, and if we would try to stop it? Then he returns to the Box, suggesting a connection between the Box, and avoiding the end of the world. Then we move to uncertainty of what will happen at the end of the world, leading into a surprising reference to the end of KH2:

Now, remember what happened when the man known as Xemnas opened the door to Kingdom Hearts. When and where did that lead to? For a while now, I've wondered whether this time we're experiencing is really moving forward. Or if time is even going by at all.

Unfortunately I still haven't got round to deep-diving into the end of KH2, but my guess is that the final battle with Xemnas triggered the end of the world but somehow the end was averted by some non-linear time effect (This links to my thoughts on a simulation loop which I still need to clarify). Xigbar does ask whether time is moving forward, or even if no time is passing, at least 'this time we're experiencing', raising the possibility that there is another 'time' one might experience; as though in a different world. Xigbar's final lines before the dialogue suggest to me that he/Kanemaki wants us to link everything he is just said and draw a conclusion:

Heh, you look like you don't believe me. But what other explanation is there?

Well, my explanation is we're in a Black Box simulation generated from the Book of Prophecies, in which 'time can be made to loop infinitely, and the impossible becomes possible' (KH3 glossary entry for Datascapes), with the purpose of cheating the end of the world.

 

[Deleted member 252753]

So, I'm adding to this old theory because it would make sense of some stuff in the first chapter of Dark Road. In DR we're apparently in the real world, which is made up of individual worlds that are in the process of being restored, where the buildings and scenery are restored before finally people pop back into existence. This reality sounds a bit Datascape-y, at least.

The other thing is the presence of Emblem Heartless, which belong in the future. That they shouldn't be there is brought up in the game so Nomura must have an explanation in mind and if these worlds were actually generated from the Book of Prophecies, it could explain it.

Anyway, I am sorry if I shouldn't have bumped this thread. I get a bit confused on the rules about it.

 

[templeofhylia]

i honestly really dig this theory! i don't know the specifics, but i think some extra evidence for this case might be the fact that the clock-thing that depicts scala and daybreak town uses the term "break" which is used in coding to terminate loops...
my only concern though is when exactly was the world remade to allow the box to re-appear? i can admit my memory of kh3+rm is a little hazy, but i don't recall xehanort doing anything godly after opening kingdom hearts. he opened it, floated menacingly, then fought sora in scala and died, right?

 

[Deleted member 252753]

i honestly really dig this theory! i don't know the specifics, but i think some extra evidence for this case might be the fact that the clock-thing that depicts scala and daybreak town uses the term "break" which is used in coding to terminate loops...
my only concern though is when exactly was the world remade to allow the box to re-appear? i can admit my memory of kh3+rm is a little hazy, but i don't recall xehanort doing anything godly after opening kingdom hearts. he opened it, floated menacingly, then fought sora in scala and died, right?

I am glad you like the idea That 'break' thing is really interesting, thank you.

Yeah, I am a little fuzzy on how it exactly would work but we know that Xehanort had started a 'purge' in Scala and that Kingdom Hearts would 'return the world whence it started', but then he gives up the X-Blade to Sora and Sora apparently closes Kingdom Hearts, causing it to stop the purge. So, maybe that this isn't totally true and Kingdom Hearts does remake the world at that time.

It's a all a stretch but we can be pretty sure that the clash of 13 and 7 made the box appear somehow and that summoning the true Kingdom Hearts was a key part of the MoM's plan. This theory tries to explained both those things. Maybe it'll be disproved soon in UX but I'll keep pushing it as long as I can lol.

 

[bobgoesw00t]

I've been having these weird thoughts lately... Like is any of this for real, or not?

I will try to argue my theory without it getting too long or confusing so here goes.

The Theory​

The Black Box contains the KH universe we've been in since the Keyblade War in KHX up to the end of KH3. The Box is a computer and the world we know has been a datascape generated from the Book of Prophecies.

My expanded idea is that the MoM knew the world would soon be ended by darkness. He also knew that summoning Kingdom Hearts could restart the world but there wasn't enough time to fulfil the conditions to forge the X-blade before the world's end.However, if some hearts of light were saved and put into a simulated data world, time could effectively run infinitely (or at least at a much greater rate), so after many eras passing in the data world the X-blade could be forged, and Kingdom Hearts used to remake the real world.

This data world is contained in a computer, the Black Box. When the Dandelions crossed over into the UX worldline, they unknowingly entered the Box. Obviously, I think Darkness hasn't actually just led Maleficent to the real world in the latest update. The UX worldline will be led to its demise by darkness (Luxu's Secret Reports), and so the Five will escape into a new Worldline made from the 'master data' in the Book of Prophecies.

This Book of Prophecies data world is where most of the series takes place. It's a simulation with the aim of doing the impossible: stopping darkness destroying the world, making light prevail and summoning Kingdom Hearts to bring back the one real world. This finally happens in KH3 and this opens the Box from the inside allowing its inhabitants to move to the remade real world.

[The simulation might loop back on itself, but I still want to think about that more and look for clearer in-game evidence]

Supporting Evidence
​

Clues about the Box.
- It explains why the Box disappeared (which was anytime after the Keyblade War in KHX from what we know) and was made to reappear by the Keyblade War in KH3.
- It also gives a reason why Maleficent would think the Book of Prophecies is in the Box (she could simply be wrong but I hope there's an interesting explanation).
- The Box contains 'Hope', according to Luxord, and this could be the hope of remaking the world.
- So this theory makes sense of the clues to its contents and its disappearance in one go.
- The Box has 13 locks on it, and 13 keys are forged in the Keyblade Graveyard.

Other evidence
- The mechanics are established. Using the BoP to make a datascape is essentially just like the Journal in Coded.
- Even the possibility of the UX Five going using the BoP 'master data' to escape their world's demise was explicitly raised by Brain in The Ark to the Future update.
- Darkness and Maleficent crossing over into the real world doesn't fit with what the MoM said to Luxu in the Cornerstone of the World's Rebirth. He says that everything in the world will be 'erased' by the Keyblade War and the wielders in the other worldline will recover the scattered light and 'thus, the world will be reborn', which doesn't seem to have happen in UX so there's some deception from someone here. Plus Luxu's reports talks of this worldline being destroyed by darkness and the Five going to another worldline, which also doesn't sound like going to the real world.
- Wherever Sora woke up in the Secret Episode wasn't the real world

Hidden/ tinfoil hat evidence
- Wreck-it Ralph is a Link in KH3, despite never having met Sora and apparently being in a separate data world to the main games. This is odd because the Heartbinder is specifically said to enhance Sora's ability to connect with the hearts of other, implying and existing connection between him and the Link, as is the case for all the other characters summoned. And we know Wreck-it Ralph's world is connected to the UX data world.
- Hidden computer terms. The initials of the side game titles being the same as computer terms is well known. It can also be applied to most three word phrases in the series: POW, MOM, SOD, GOL, BOP are all initials of computer terms (the last two specifically to simulation).
- Some words have computer meanings too, one being Scala, a programming language. Sigil is a more interesting example. In some languages, a sigil is a symbol used to mark a variable's data-type (e.g. a '$' sigil marks a variable as a string in BASIC). So, the Recusant's Sigil, marking out those who refuse to comply, sort of fits the computing definition, maybe better than the other definition (a magical symbol).
- And the theory fits some of the themes in KH3: the deterministic overtones ('It has been etched', 'May your heart be your guiding key' etc); and the separate world stuff in most worlds, especially Toybox where you never find out if you are in the real world or the copy.

Well, that's a lot of writing and I have put the best arguments and then some. If anyone has any comments, criticisms or anything I would be happy to read them

Knowing how much of a huge troll Nomura is, I wouldn't put it past him to have this actually be the case. HELL, the amount of trolling he did with FFVIIR even tops his trolling with all of KH3 xD

 

[Grey Skies]

It sounds plausible. I won't be surprised if it turns out to be canon. I also won't mind if it do turn out to be canon.

 

[AegisXIII]

I would agree with anything except for Scala which is named after the stairs of the university it got created. Pure coincidence.

But I never realised that each game initials were computers acronyms. This is crazy! Good catch!

 

[Deleted member 252753]

I was hoping the last UX scene with Darkness and Maleficent would clear things up more. The fleeting scene in the real world does seem a little odd to me, what's out there beyond the Ark chamber? The MoM scene is interesting too, as there is more talk of the world ending and particularly this bit.

Master: But it won't be easy. It would need a lot of time, and a whole lot of set up.

It would take more than several lifetimes.

That's why we are going to leave this world.

We will end the world.

We will discard time, and cast away the borders of the world.

So the purpose of ending the world and sending the Dandelions to the data world was to somehow break the laws of time and I guess allow Luxu to live many lifetimes. For me it's easier to understand this being possible in a simulation than the result of something happening in the data world that causes time to break in the remade real world but we'll see. I am trying not to rile myself up over the theory as if it's the answer lol.

 

[Clue.Less]

I was hoping the last UX scene with Darkness and Maleficent would clear things up more. The fleeting scene in the real world does seem a little odd to me, what's out there beyond the Ark chamber? The MoM scene is interesting too, as there is more talk of the world ending and particularly this bit.


So the purpose of ending the world and sending the Dandelions to the data world was to somehow break the laws of time and I guess allow Luxu to live many lifetimes. For me it's easier to understand this being possible in a simulation than the result of something happening in the data world that causes time to break in the remade real world but we'll see. I am trying not to rile myself up over the theory as if it's the answer lol.

You're not the MoM's apprentice, so you wouldn't be failing him... Unless?

Yeah, I'm intrigued by that "breaking time" line - also by the abolishing the borders between worlds (something which is made possible by digital networks, apparently).

 

[Genocide]

Interesting. I would wager that any game with a yellow Kingdom Hearts is either a fake world or fake KH.