Just dumping the thread first so y'all can discuss.

I'm too tired to fill out my bingo cards so I'll do it in the real morning when I wake up again.

sweet jesus I should be thrilled but the whole part 2 wait is way too long.

People have posted some really interesting spoilers to the KHUX Reddit. Looks like I completely missed the possibility that some of the union leaders use a different method to get out of the data world than others. Now the arrangement I see there makes perfect sense to me, with the assumption that dreams are important for this, like [USER=262693]@OKP[/USER] suggested in the other thread.

Brain, Ven, Lauriam, and Elrena

Four down...one to go...

[SPOILER="Update thoughts"]Alright so Brain, Ventus, Lauriam, and Elrena take lifeboats out while Ephemer, Skuld, and Player stayed behind but this is just to escape the data world, the real lifeboats that matter are the ones in the real world. Definitely get the feeling that Skuld traveling is being saved as a big stinger of sorts to reveal she is Subject X.

Brain gave Ephemer Master's Defender and the book of prophecies revealing that Ephemer was the intended recipient of both, From a real player perspective this scene is mostly here to tell us Brain's plan to get them out must work somehow or else the keyblade would have fallen into sleep with the data. I guess Nomura wanted to leave the final bit up as a mystery because it seems down to Ephemer and Brain on who will ultimately travel in the second pod set, I can think of lots of ways to make it work.

This definitely appears to strongly imply that the true dandelion was Strelitizia and now we finally have an answer to that artwork, the black coated figure holding the flowere it's Luxu and Strelitzia. Given what we were told it sounds like Luxu brought her back the same Sora would bring back Roxas in KH3. She died, her heart flew off, but she was reconstructed from data both body and heart....and I think the reality is that her heart is inside of Lauriam which is why he can hear her in his head and feel her not unlike Sora. So the end goal long term I imagine is probably going to be to basically get her actual heart into the recreated her thus truly restoring her to life. It would actually be really funny if Luxu just programed to send her to the moment in which her heart can be released from Lauriam or in other words if Lauriam was used as her waypoint.

We got a LOT of interesting Darkness lore! Darkness used to have a physical form but gave it up and now it's struggling to hold onto itself as it fades, not unlike how Xehanort and Sora both lost themselves overtime. In order to maintain its existence it wants to snatch bodies and furthermore 6 darkness exist, 1 is ventus, 1 is with Luxu, and 4 are unaccounted for....but what I find interesting is it sounds like darkness was defeated in the war but ended up in the MoM's data world. This would explain why they had no presence during X/BC, because they've been here in the data, and that means....I don't know really. It's hard to tell what the MoM is trying to gain by throwing the Dandelions into a locked off world with darkness.

This is a grim thought but all of Xehanort and Eraqus's friends ended up dead right? There were 4 of them....and there are 4 unaccounted darknesses. What if the 4 darkness managed to persist and took over their friends forcing Eraqus and Xehanort to kill them. No more darknesses but also no more friends and it would give them both a reason to take the extreme measures they did. [/SPOILER]

Videos are up.

And again, you guys don't need to tag discussions in these threads.

I like how Elrena's selflessness here is displayed, or at least her humility. It serves as an interesting contrast to who she would become. Also, the shippy moment, mhhhm.

We can already hazard a guess as to who the fifth one was. There was no other way Apprentice Xehanort would've known how to build the ark without the blueprint, and that's most likely by probing the memories of a certain black-haired individual. Why draw it out to the next part?

When's part 2 again? June? July?

More questions:

We all saw Strelitzia get fridged, but now her data is being escorted around by Luxu(?). If that were the case, then wouldn't that mean she was already marked for death by the time of her selection as one of the leaders? Why specifically her and not some random dandelion data?

So does that mean the final boss was already darkness in quest 977 and part 2 will be just a cutscene? I don’t mind eitherway We might not get a final boss but the ending is to look forward to.

Has anybody seen Nightmare Chirithy yet, or, you know, the frickin' weapon this game is named after?!

Luxu was kind of beast in that cutscene. Sad they cut before he fights darkness.

Also interested to see the implications of Ephemer getting that keyblade.

Bring on Part 2 come on.

This was a really wholesome update, no wonder Nomura wants to delay the final chapter, he wants to end this with a bang. I loved Elrena's integration in the story as the plot device to reveal that data backups of the Dandelions exist in Data Daybreak Town. It also explains why Strelitzia was killed off, a backup of her would have been pure light, plus, she is a true Dandelion that was chosen for a reason.

What I find equally interesting is the ramifications of Darkness being ethereal beings and that they need a physical host to continue surviving. If Luxu is indeed against Darkness, what made him so antagonistic in the future that he associates with Darkness even as an observer of his Keyblade?

[IMG width="500px"]https://i.gyazo.com/38957bf0c7b83eb7f8a8e5701cf3f9b2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG width="700px"]https://i.gyazo.com/ddf240d15a5fb4c6204911c7492d3099.png[/IMG]

Hmmmm...?

None of these revelations managed to trigger the simplest excitement in me. Am I getting too old? :(
I feel I am watching 5 people trying to explain the plot of their own story with no action whatsoever. Everything interesting happens offscreen.

Wasn't it said beforehand that "the end of the world" only comes when all lifeboats departed?

So leaving one still unused like the Dandy Leaders do right now could at least buy some more time.

It's also somewhat of a clever (if still boring) decision to have Ven sleep the whole time so not knowing about almost all of this stuff does not have to be all amnesia. He simply didn't witness much either so unless Lauriam or Brain fills him in later on he remains unknowing.

Still, it's a bit of a bummer that neither the actual resolution of Darkness vs Ven is shown nor what the actual consequences are.
And it looks like they're going with the same course of action for Darkness vs Luxu.

I also gotta laugh at there being "only" six Darkness beings. Didn't the one hiding in Ven claim that there are many more of them than there are light beings?
Pfft, shouldn't be wondering about weird entities lying, huh?

It seems that writing and properly formatting everything I want to say about this would be several hours of work, so I guess it is better to just post a big list of ideas to get the discussion going:
[LIST=1]
[*]Leaving out the fight between Ven and the Darkness was kinda rude, but I understand they needed to cut some of the less important parts to get the story to fit in these final updates. Let's hope that they show these missing parts in a future game.
[*]It seems to be confirmed that Luxu saw everything in the data world from the computer screen in the real one.
[*]The other way out is through dreams. The dandelions re-lived their past in a dream, altered so that anything involving the Keyblade War was removed. "The same trick" in the secret report refers to this. We ignored it before, because it was not done to the leaders. Or was it? It could have been, just excluding the memory alteration part. On the night after the war, they simply went to sleep in the real world (of the browser game, part of free Internet in a sense), and woke up in the data one (in the walled garden of the mobile game; See what Mr. Nomura did there?). In fact, it may be that some memory manipulation was still needed, since the real town probably went "Break" as result of the war and they don't remember that.
[*]Ephemer and the Player are the two characters associated with dreams, and Skuld refuses to be separated from Ephemer again. But that ends up happening anyway, forced by the circumstances. Am I the only one who wishes there to be a joke about those two trying to go into same pod together?
[*]Six is a very peculiar number of Darknesses. You would expect seven, perhaps with a connection to the deadly sins. Obviously the Master of Masters is the seventh one. I believe they were originally the participants of the first Keyblace War, and MoM was the "winner" of it and the wielder of the χ-blade.
[*]When the real Daybreak Town is turned upside down and becomes the hub of the Realm of Light (or Heaven), the clock stops, and time in the data world, now newly-formed Realm of Darkness (or Hell), ceases to exist. Now, was all this MoM's plan? It seems to fit what he said, but at the same time the symbolism of the tower being under water suggests otherwise.
[*]The True Dandelion being Strelitzia means Luxu's part in the previous update makes no sense. I guess there is nothing unusual here... :rolleyes:
[*]Ephemer being the one who was supposed to get the Book means we were given incorrect information. When he saw the list, he reacted with "You weren't meant to get it?" (or something similar, I don't want to waste time for checking the exact wording right now) rather than "I was supposed to get it?" Also, why didn't Brain reveal the truth to all of them right there and ask them what should be done with the Book now? The way that scene happened makes sense if and only if one of the siblings, neither of whom was present, was meant to get the Book. There are some ways to work around the first problem, like the list could have been written using different alphabet that Ephemer cannot read, but I can't find any for the second one.
[*]We have two loose ends: Who went to Quadratum and what caused everyone who made it to the modern timeline to have amnesia? The answer to the first one seems to be Ephemer and the Player, with Skuld perhaps ending up there later when Xehanort took over Radiant Garden, but I have no idea what is going on with the second one.
[/LIST]

it's fucking 4am and i have to deal with your pessimistic asses already, ffs

They wanted us to wait forever to see the end :cautious:

Too much blablabla and barely anything happened, despite being a long update.

Wait, so if the data Daybreak Town was created to be a back up of the real Daybreak Town before the war happened and that it's being theorized in-game by the Dandelion leaders that Strelitzia and themselves have data versions, wouldn't that imply that there's data of everyone in Daybreak Town, including those that didn't end up being Dandelions?

Several things.
1. The ability to take another's body involved Darkness in BBS, so it kind of makes sense that it was originally a technique of the Shades (faster to type out than Darknesses and refers specifically to these six.)
2. The Lore that originally Darkness was originally a multitude of physical beings was already established, but now they clarify that they came together in an attempt to win the war as formless beings and now there are six Shades, two of which are already introduced to us. Also they are quickly losing sentience and need bodies to maintain their sense of self.
3. Someone said earlier that "six is an odd number, so maybe there are actually seven and MoM is the Seventh Darkness" which is personally too much of a jump to make over a thematically mismatched number, for all we know the Shades have 111 units in them and then that would be a thematic tie. Or it could just be a number without much weight behind it for once. While that might be a bit out of character for the series, I wouldn't say that it is unlikely.
4. Scala could have been populated by the refugees from Data Daybreak, but I won't go too far down that logic simply because I want to focus on other things.

I really enjoyed this update. Seeing as the team that upkeeps the game and does the animations are so small I'm happy with getting the level of detail we are getting in things like the consoles correctly displaying things that happened to the pods and such. I also feel kind of bad for them because it's probably more trouble to animate the big scenes than it seems. Actually as someone who has some knowledge and experience with game making; even with pre-baked assets in 2d it's pretty frustrating to make cutscenes the exact way you want them.

So, Brain already has some kind of plan and decides to leave behind his KB, apparently just for the sake of it. Yea sure Nomura, as if I'm going to buy it.. a KB that we know ended up in the real world, plus the "4 friends and a key" sentence.

So how does Sterlitiza end up in the Real Daybreak Town? There are 5 pods in the Data Daybreak Town (one destroyed during fight between Maleficent and Lauriam, and another used by Maleficent.) I think there must be another way to get to the real world that is not shown to us, and the pods in the Data Daybreak Town shouldn't be as prized as we think they are.

Ok, I'm awake now. What I've taken away from all this. The mOST IMPORTANT thing, Laurium is everyone's big brother. For some reason, they flock to him like chicks and their mother hen. It's canon.

Greatest update ever. Loved seeing Luxu walk around with the swagger of an ancient Keyblade Master. Seeing him twirl No Name like that made me literally freak out. I can't wait to see what his battle style is like.

The game's final boss:

omfg the only and main thought I have right now is WHO THE FUCK IS ELRENA AND WHY IS SHE LIKE INSECURE???? The BEST thing about Larxene that made her a great villain was her sass, but I don't see even a hint of the trait of personality in Elrena. I REAAALLY HOPE they do her chronology right or develop this correctly, cuz Larxene and Elrena seems completely opposite and different characters for now.

Really liked the Darkness and Luxu scene, tho. I'm starting to see hints of his Xigbar future self

.... Elrena in no way gave the impression she was some trickster or vulgar though? I thought it's pretty clear by now that nobodies don't always match their somebodies and can change distractedly? Isa turned from the nagging friend to the murderous jealous ex-friend for example.

The core of Elrena seems to still be there in Larxene (teaming up with Marluxia no matter what), but clearly whatever she went through has changed her. Same with Marluxia, Mr. I'm a sweet big brother to using a child to turn another child into his puppet.

Guess May is the final update, eh?

Hopefully it's not near the end of the month.

I still don't get the connection between the Keyblade Graveyard (or Badlands), Daybreak Town and Scala ad Caelum.

During the Keyblade War segment of [chi] the badlands are simply the location where the union war takes place. There are no ruins of Daybreak Town to be seen and it's kinda implied it's actually another world by the game.

Now in the Union Cross finale we saw that the original Daybreak Town wasn't leveled but is still kinda disintegrating (somewhat similiar to Destiny Islands in KH). So it can't be the graveyard. Yet in the Keyblade War segment finale we see Ephemer and Skuld rescuing the player, taking him to another world. Back then it was implied that this is the world of the dandelions Ava spoke of but now we know that this world is actually a data backup of Daybreak Town and the Union Leaders didn't even know they weren't in the real Daybreak Town.

In KHIII there is this labyrinth that has Scalean symbols on the walls but that's about it. Maybe it's purely a creation of Master Xehanort and has nothing to do with both worlds.

Also in KH3 we learn that Scala ad Caelum was built on the ruins of Daybreak Town.

So what and where is the Keyblade Graveyard? Was it created during the very first Keyblade War when the χ-blade shattered and Kingdom Hearts disappeared? Did it house some sort of proto Daybreak Town?

In KHUX it's said that the world is still one, which wouldn't make any sense at all if the Keyblade War already happened.

This is really confusing and I don't think part two of the finale will make it any clearer.

So does this make Ephemer Eraqus' family? (I highly doubt that) Or that he eventually handed down the Master Defender and willed it to be given to Brain's bloodline?

This update is making me think Strelitzia is Subject X instead of Skuld. She seems to not be as gone as we were led to believe.

So six darknesses trapped in the data world one escaped with Maleficent and five left for the other five pods? Does that mean Lauriam, Elrena, and Brain could also be infected too?

also if these events are happening simultaneously aren’t they going to arrive to see the Luxu vs. Darkness fight or at least the aftermath... yikes

Keep in mind we also see a Darkness manifest behind the Queen of Hearts in Dark Road. And I wouldn’t be surprised if DR goes in the direction of revealing multiple other instances of Darkness, which is what sets Xehanort off on his path.

This begs the question of whether Darkness will continue expanding and multiplying in the future, or whether what we see in DR is in fact one of the six Darknesses referenced here.

I don't really need to see any fights here, and I think people are off base if they think that's what's missing from the story, that seeing the battles would make everything worth it. At this point the only thing I care about or have any attachment to is the plot of Lauriam and his sister, as well as seeing just how Elrena undergoes such a drastic transformation from a kinda boring, bland character right now to the delightfully entertaining Larxene. Those are the only catchers of my interest, because it's relatable. It's human.

All these other shenanigans, digital worlds? People data backups? Real world vs computer worlds + time travel? My only reaction to these elements from the start has been, whyyy? Why, Square? Where are you trying to go with all this Nomura, and what does any of it have to do with the human experience that connects us to stories?

Are we going for a sort of artificial intelligence, synthetic life, issues of identity angle? Cause we've had all that already, with the replicas, and I'd hope they wouldn't just rehash the same material. But otherwise, it just seems like the primary interest is in The Lore™, in exposition and technical world mechanics. And KH deserves better than that.

I'm not liking this talk about the data world going into slumber. They're kind of setting things up in a way that implies that the Daybreak Kids don't go one to form Scala but instead are waiting to be saved, this would explode the number of current day wielders.

I remember the possibility of a Data-Strelitzia being floated around for a when we saw Luxu send the "True" dandelion, while I entertained the thought, I never really expected it. It also seems that Luxu has a means of entering and leaving the digital Daybreak Town without the use of the lifeboards. I'm also surprised Data-Strelitzia was awake and moving in a white coat. This kind of makes me think that Lauriam's dreams of her might actually be something closer to how Player and Ephemer were interacting before the Keyblade War.

My feeling is that in Part 2, Brain end the others will encounter Luxu and he'll tell them how to get Ephemer and the others out of the Digital World without the lifeboats. No idea how or why they'd go into the real world Lifeboats though.

There being 6 Darknesses kind of baffles me, with how obsessed this series has been with 7 and 13 for so long, the darknesses' falling short one of a significant number seems odd. Perhaps one of them isn't being counted for some unknown reason. I do find it interesting that the number matches the number of apprentices. Though seeing one of the Darknesses merged with Ven it seems unlikely the others jumped on with the Foretellers. I assume that everyone that ended up using the lifeboats was infected so that they'd bring a Darkness back from the Dataworld with them.

I totally went bonkers with this update. The idea that Strelitzia could be resurrected (in a way) through her data never came across my mind. Nomura will never cease to surprise me! The fact that there are six Darknesses is also very interesting.

But......uhhh...is that KHIII Secret Report 11 ever gonna make sense? This update made it all the more confusing.

I have already expressing my feeling on youtube and now please excuse me for being self-embarrassed again here, but the moment "Link to All" began playing, I feel so happy and full of positive about the future of the series. It may be because of now we are all moving to the new saga with new plots revolving 6 Darkness beings (4 unknowns) and Brain gave Ephemer his Master's Defender.

Lauriam carried Ventus is the cutest big bro thing (Unless they are ages different away, I can imagine time travel of Lauriam getting older while Ventus still remain as his X's age will create a few meme) I have seen in the entire series tbh.

I'm excited to learn the mysteries of where the other darknesses turned up. It's safe to assume that the Riku on Xehanort's side in KH3 had one of the Darknesses within him, if we are to trust Maleficent's words about recognising a friend but unsure of from when and his unusual expulsion of darkness at the Keyblade Graveyard, and Vanitas is another. But both characters "died" so where would Darkness go?

And somehow one was around in Young Xehanort's time, the one behind the Queen of Hearts, so I'm interested to see how one wound up there (and still without a physical form?)

I'm keen for part 2 of the final to continue this story, giving us insight into what potentially we'll be facing in the next KH games.

Do you think we’ll get some sort of a secret ending or a CG video which gives us a glimpse of what to expect (like the console games would do)?

That moment when the real Daybreak Town's arks and the KH method of time travel via leaving your body behind in general actually has roots in IRL physics

I simply cannot fucking believe the medium that's being used to tell this story right now. Which is silly, it's not like they'd suddenly change gears and use 3D animation or make a movie, it'd be horrendous for the amount of space the app would take up.

I have been trying to catch up and understand Union X through cutscenes, but I keep getting that feeling where you read two pages of your textbook, and suddenly realize you weren't paying any attention. The story being told is actually really starting to cook, outside of some overly confusing (for me) stuff, but this flash-animation-looking 2D style is just.. Not grabbing me. COM on GBA worked for me, but for some reason, this makes my eyes glaze over.

Anyway, that Xigbar personality can be seen shining through Luxu every now and then.

I was so bummed Skuld didn't get a pod or No Name. Maybe in part 2. I haven't given up on her yet! Her time will come!

As for the conversations about Lauriam and Elrena's personality shifts, Elrena has literally not been in this series. For all we know she could have a mean streak that doesn't come out very often, but when she becomes a Nobody it becomes her dominate personality. When it comes to the Nobodies and their personalities from when they are human only the original Braig, Lea, BBS-Isa, and Aeleus feel like the same person as their Nobodies, before KH3 decided how they want them to act from now on. Everyone else either didn't get enough screen time to see before KH3, haven't been shown yet, or are basically different characters with fake/new personas. The Nobodies and Organization members have been changed so many times that they don't have a definitive lore anymore. I'm hoping Luxord and Demyx aren't drastically different characters whenever they show up again.

Elrena is perfect. These tiniest bits of dialogue already make me love Larxene so much more. I mean, that's one way to overcome feelings of worthlessness, right? Make a persona for yourself that is 100% dominant at all times. And then keep that up until you start to believe it. What a good girl who has never done anything wrong in her entire life

You know, what if the reason Luxu summoned Ira, Gula, Aced and Invi was not because he and MoM need their help, but because they need vessels for the remaining 4 Darknesses that are running around, so they can have physical forms and be destroyed. Now I don't think MoM would be so twisted but it's not like we haven't seen what his plans can do...

From what I understood, 'Dark Riku' was only labelled so to remain ambiguous about his identity during KH3, because it wanted to misdirect us until the end. And calling him 'Riku Replica from the time when he thought he was the real Riku' would be a bit clunky. He ultimately was Repliku, and I don't think there's any mystery there.

I also had the thought that maybe Strelitzia is Subject X after all. Which would be a little disappointing cause it means that Skuld would remain along with Ephemer an expositor rather than a meaningful character. On the other hand, it'd be funny to see Axel and Saix's secret friend be the sister of the guy they betrayed.

I've been thinking about Data Daybreak Town and how it goes to sleep, and I was wondering if the theory that the black box contains the 'key' to Data Daybreak Town has been put forward? At this point, it would make sense, as it would bridge KHUX with the future of the series.

So, in the black box are the other remaining darknesses? Since Nomura stated im some interviews before he'd like to reveal whats inside.

And what about the traitor who "bears the sigil"? Could it now mean its the darkness or still referenced as "X"?

Subject X can only be Skuld, she is beside Xion the only character who has black hair in the series.

These are for me the biggest questions right now. How Ventus and so came to the future... Is not really important to me, I just wanna know what these Foretellers look like and why it has to be complicated like this mobile game mumbo-jumbo. Hope the next update has a real climax. And not just talking chibi figures talking to each other.

As always, my biggest issue with KHUX is how they decided to spread out the content (and I just hate gatcha games in general). The plot has always been fascinating though I kinda wish this story was separate from the original Chi game (I appreciate when ancient history is written in stone, even if it's playable rather than ever changing like the current plot)

In a different world, this plot happening at the same time as Dark Road would've been interesting. Would even explain why Xehanort and Eraqus are so weird about Ven if they knew him previously and then 70 years in the future he shows up again with amnesia and looks no different than he did when they were children. (especially if they were present when he turned into a glow stick)

Hm. That would make a very interesting fanfic. I should write this down. All the main KHUX gang were in Scala instead.

Oookaaayy... There is A LOT to process:
• The Worlds plunging into Darkness since the era of Ansem's Apprentices has a new meaning: it's Darkness
• Formless Darkness makes them lose their will
• Darkness had form and then sacrificed it in order to win back when the MoM was younger
• Darkness still need a form, so it's the reason as to why they possess bodies
• Six Darkness remained after the War; there are five now; one is in the Data World and the other is speaking with Luxu in the Real World, meaning the other three are with the other one in the Data World
• Brain has an alternate method to save the Dandelions that stayed in the Data World
• Huh, Masters' Keeper stayed behind with Ephemer in the Data World... "It was meant to be yours" Brain told Ephemer, concerning the Masters' Keyblade. Could this be another Keyblade the MoM had a specific use for?
• So if Brain, Lauriam, Ventus and Elrena used the Pods, does this mean Subject X is Streritzia?

Speculation:
• the original Keyblade War was back during the MoM's era. Seven Guardians of Light and Thirteen Seekers of Darkness clashed out. The Seekers won the War because they sacrificed their humanoid form in order to spread easier and win, but at the sacrifice of losing will.
• The Pureblood Heartless are Seekers of Darkness that lost their will and turned more savage
• The requisite of sacrificing your body in order to travel through time seems similar to what Darkness did: sacrificed their form
• I think the Keyblade Masters created body hopping in order to counteract Darkness, like a: do what they do in order to beat 'em
• I presume the MoM's grand scheme has to do with keeping Darkness formless and then unleashing enough light to get rid of it, and said light has to do with nurturing the Dandelions

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I haven't actually played Union X myself and am mostly going off of spoilers online. That being said the past 2 updates have been very interesting. I wasn't expecting a few of the crazy twists. That being said, who are the 2 confirmed members of the 6 Darkness'?

Also Metal Gear might be one of the few game franchises as confusing as Kingdom Hearts is ...

There are many complicated stories told using video games. I would say that Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear are relatively low on this scale, outside of the X/UX stuff which is actually ascended on another level for being almost nothing but ambiguities and very alarming casual implications. I've honestly been worried that the story will eventually try to "simply explain" all that stuff and all the mysterious presentation will have been posturing - I'd rather have no answers than boring answers.

That's what we already knew about darkness though, as a force of nature. These darknesses are just aware enough to describe that to us in words. But what actually were these things, before they were 'darkness'? Whatever they were, they're from a time that the MoM would prefer people to not even know existed.

I think it would be both difficult and ill-advised to make a character who lies about who he is to everyone, manipulates people who are emotionally dependent on him in order to cause the end of the world, and positions himself as the literal author of all reality, and then have him not be the main villain.

Would a darkness infiltrating Elrena explain a personality change? I also wonder, if two did attach themselves to Riku and Vanitas, what happened to them when their hosts were murdered in cold blood? This series presents so many questions and I love having a series to follow with questions posed - The Leftovers is my favourite TV series of all time and all it is is questions - but with KH I'm desperate for answers.

I've actually got some theories that seem very likely. I could start a few threads about them but it'd be better to post them here.

I'd compare The Darkness to Nightshroud (Yugioh GX). Both are imposing but polite villains who embody darkness. They also seem to be able to predict the future accurately. They can't be killed but probably can be defeated (Nightshroud lost to Jaden). Both seem to be more of a force of nature as opposed to a malicious evil.

Second, I believe Vanitas will serve as The Darkness' second in command. He was born from a piece of The Darkness and Ventus' will. I think he'll be as a more openly evil supporter instead of a force of nature. With Ventus' bigger role, it's inevitable that Vanitas will return.

Finally I believe The Darkness has ties to both Riku and Xehanort. Both seem to have mastered The Darkness' power. We don't know if Xehanort worked for the Master of Masters, The Darkness , or possibly (not that likely) both. However Riku seems to use its power without being corrupted and stays heroic (for most of KH).

Subbed version with translations by goldpanner are now available.

Feels like people just forget Vanitas' new revelation to Ventus in KH3RM about who he is.

Maybe the foretellers simply become the Darkness's new bodies??
Actually, 7 black pieces as a symbol for the lost masters appeared in KH3 epilogue chess scene.
These clearly represent new 7 darkness.
It is clear that the foretellers will be the main villain as 7 darkness in the next saga.

However, it is strange that the number is only 6…Hmm.

For the record, demiurge is synonymous to god, not devil.

I can’t exactly quote it, but the character files imply some sort of trauma that pushed Elrena’s personality into becoming like that, at least by the time she became Larxene and lamented the fact that she actually didn’t want her heart back/grow a new one.

The end of the world never looked so dull and boring until they showed it in flash animation. I have to agree with a few people here. Storytelling such a major event on a franchise that relied on 3D animation (CoM not withstanding) for most of their games feels off.

I wonder what theory would show up if the guy that made the Reincarnation Theory was still here.

i actually had a theory that the Master of Masters is the KH version of Lucifer. I posted said theory at the bottom of this thread.
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/master-of-masters-identity.226565/[/URL]

I think The Darkness will definitely be the main villain but might share the role with MoM (provided that's where this is going).

What if MoM was actually 3DO/Gnosis? If you played Xenosaga this may sound familiar

I think this next Phase's finally will focus on how to get rid of Darkness and the opposing views will be:
• MoM wants to sacrifice people in order to get rid of it
• Sora has another plan
• Riku could suggest to just embrace it as part of nature

In the last scene you can see how Brain pulls his hat closer to the eyes. Looks like he's hiding something but maybe I am just imagining things.

Now there are only Player, Skuld and Ephemer left. To stick to the phrase "Four friends and a key" would mean that the fourth person just needs to appear - Could be Ava, the Key Masters Defender. But how did he got out?

That leaves one of the four who were sent to the real Daybreak Town, get No Name. It can only be Brain.

TBF that lone comment about Subject X is not really featured prominently. It's in a tiny blurb beneath Axel's KH3 render. Most people wouldn't notice it.

For perspective, Ephemer hadn't even been introduced when gelandporn first posted the Rebirth theory.

Maybe I missed something, but are we really sure the figure Luxu put in the pod is actually Strelitzia?
I feel like Ava is a more likely candidate because she's the only foreteller with a completely unknown fate.
Luxu being able to freely enter and leave the data world wouldn't really jive with the whole pod business too, so I'm not 100% convinced the black coat we see with white coat Strelitzia is him.

This would be a whole lot less confusing if we could tell which black coat figures are which, though lol
For all we know, the black coat could be anyone, even a data MoM.

Edit: Also I'm 100% convinced that Castle Oblivion is related to Data Daybreak Town and the Book of Prophecies in some form. Betting the Book of Prophecies ultimately ends up hidden in the Land of Departure and Castle Oblivion is a failsafe to protect it, since it requires Brain's keyblade to set up.

Plus Castle Oblivion is basically the same kind of thing as the datascape, which itself is the same kind of thing as Data Daybreak Town and the data worlds created by the Book of Prophecies.

All I'm taking from this is Brain is a really young grandpa

Edit: and dammit, I still prefer Blaine

Yesterday, I feel down a hole again getting emotional about Lauriam carrying Ven around. And Ven's little booties by his bed. And how Ven is adopted by everyone he meets.

Really wish they'd give us a preview earlier...