Birth by Sleep Countdown: Plot

Details

Published on August 30, 2010 @ 10:33 am

Written by Smile

Hello everybody!

Welcome to the first segment of KHInsider's Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Countdown! Find out how you can be a part of action here. For now, let's take a look at what the plot (don't worry, no spoilers here!) of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep has in store for us fans:

A sunset painted plain. The breeze blows over the horizon, carrying with it clouds of dust and dirt. Three armored figures approach, each from a different direction to traverse one joined path. They pick their weapons, special Keyblades made specifically for them amongst the sea of blades not unlike a graveyard. They raise them at their enemy, a gloating old man who approaches from the fourth road. One by one, they charge at him and one by one, they fall. The girl holds the youngest amongst them in her arms and looks up in terror as the Heart shaped moon appears - the glorious force that is Kingdom Hearts. The old man smiles in satisfaction as the third youth - a young man, snarls at him and his eyes turn a bright orange. Darkness is gathering...

And that was how the vast majority of us were introduced into what came to be known as Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

The game is set a whole decade before Kingdom Hearts I, featuring a trio of characters the audience is seemingly a stranger to. Terra, Aqua and Ven are three young Keyblade Wielding Apprentices, all training to become proper Masters of their trade and their own Hearts. When their teacher Eraqus, a Keyblade Master, assigns them a mission, they each go their separate paths and onward towards their destinies.

At first glance, we're dealing with what could've been a stand-alone chapter in the series.
With Terra, Aqua and Ven's adventures coming to an end, there is more than enough time over those ten years for Sora, Riku and Kairi to begin their adventure on their own, without any lasting ties to the past.

As this is Kingdom Hearts, however, we must keep in mind that everyone and everything is connected. Be it through bonds of friendship, rivalry, bitter-sweet enemies or forgotten promises, the tapestry which is the series' story intertwines all's fates, bringing them eventually together.

Birth by Sleep is no exception to this rule.

One needs not even look too far before the bonds become apparent. One obvious tie is a character that is in fact present in both stories. That is, of course, King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle. As early on as Kingdom Hearts I, Mickey was an all-knowing being. He knew of the Keyblade in the Realm of Darkness and of its match, the identically designed Keyblade with the opposite colors hiding somewhere within the Realm of Light. Seemingly, this is an unrelated matter to Birth by Sleep's story, or it would've been, had Mickey not have come in contact with Terra, Aqua and Ven himself. Once he finished training under his own Master, Yen Sid, Mickey set out on his own adventuring, and it was then he crossed paths more than once with the trio from the past.

That is hardly the only coincidence that implies the two trios and storylines are connected. One need only have eyes to see the other relation, one even Nomura himself has been awkwardly tiptoeing around in an attempt to not give it all away while at the same time stress its importance. That is, of course, Ventus, the young Keyblade Apprentice who is the spitting image of Roxas, Sora's Nobody. Without Sora's Heart and Memories to shape him, Roxas appeared in Twilight Town, bearing Ven's appearance. Shortly afterward Xemnas himself arrives to pick him up and seems highly interested in Roxas - likely, not only for his Keyblade. And why shouldn't Xemnas, the Nobody of Xehanort whose missing Memories became a second name to describe the story of Birth by Sleep in many an interview, be interested? A special Nobody, one thought to have a Heart of his own and displays the emotions to fit, whose appearance is that of someone from a decade ago. Eventually that very special youth did the unbelievable, when he was the first in the series to Wield two Keyblades at the same time. Could he have received more from Ven than his looks?
The mystery deepens still in the recently released title, 358/2 Days in which another with close relations to Sora displays relations to Ven. Xion, the Replica created by Organization XIII to copy Sora's powers through his Memories. The girl's appearance is dictated based on the Memories inside her the looker relates to - and it was Ven's face that Xigbar saw when he gazed at her. Xion has nothing to truly call her own; then, where did whatever she had of Ven's came from? What could've happened in the past to give Sora enough Memories that related to Ven to create not one, but two lookalikes? And of course the question remains, then - as a possible result of that, whatever happened to Ven, himself?

The blonde hardly seems to be the only one with ties to our present heroes, however. While the visuals seemingly aren't all that telling in Terra's case, that is because he needs not a lookalike. Players who looked up the Final Mix+ version of Kingdom Hearts 2 will be most familiar with he who is known as The Lingering Sentiment.
Donning Terra's armor, Wielding his Keychain-less Keyblade and longingly uttering Aqua and Ven's names, the Lingering Sentiment is rather a phantom-like entity. Knowing nothing about him or where he came from, Sora was forced to battle this being knowing only two things about him - he hates Xehanort more than anything, and Sora isn't the one he chose for the Kingdom Key Keyblade. How is this possible, one may and does ask themselves. Sora has been Wielding the Kingdom Key since the beginning of Kingdom Hearts I - ah, but then one will tell themselves; It was also that very same game that told us the Kingdom Key was originally to be Riku's Keyblade. Can it be, then, that the Lingering Sentiment's words hold more to then than what some nightmarish spectacle's gibberish should? Could it be that Terra, at some point in his journey chose Riku to Wield the Keyblade, with or without knowing the eventual outcome of that choice?
It seems likely enough to have happened, all things considered, and yet while it might answer many ponderings, one mystery remains - why would Terra, a young man with seemingly powerful Keyblade Wielding abilities, choose he who was nothing more than a five year old at the time - as his, dare I say, successor? What times of dire crisis brought him to make such a rash, illogical decision? Or could it be - there was some other, more profound reason?
The Lingering Sentiment keeps to his silence.

Another point of interest worth mentioning is that Terra's is not the only armor that made an appearance throughout the series. Yet another of the Final Mix +'s adittions to the plot and the ties to Birth by Sleep relates to the third member of the trio, showing us Aqua's very own armor and Keyblade. It appears in the ever elusive Chamber of Repose in the basement of Ansem's laboratory, and who visits there if not Xemnas himself. Word has it the room changes according to whomever enters, and it is of small wonder then that Xemnas sees Aqua's armor. He does, after all, refer to those broken remnants as a friend... the fate of whom is clouded in even more mystery than anyone else's.

The relations between the past and the present hardly begin and end with these four characters, however. A short glance at the timeline will tell much about the events that took place about a decade before the series as we know it began.
Ten years ago, Ansem the Wise found a young man, washed onto his world without his Memories. He took that young man in, and was in turn betrayed by him.
The young Apprentice began conducting research on the Darkness of the Heart, along with the rest of Ansem's Apprentices. These six eventually became Heartless and cast off what we know today as the founding members of Organization XIII.
In the chaos, Radiant Garden was overtaken by Maleficent and her army of Heartless, becoming the Hollow Bastion we've always known. Leon, Cid, and the other residents of Radiant Garden had to flee, eventually reaching the city of outcasts known as Traverse Town.
It is also at that time a young girl called Kairi is thrown out of her home and reaches the Destiny Islands where Sora and Riku are waiting, along with the Keyblade that drew the Princess of Heart to it.

Indeed, as befitting a title in the Kingdom Hearts series, Birth by Sleep makes a worthy effort of bringing everything together. Answers are bound to be found as well as more answers, and excitement and anxiousness are plentifully abound.

This is what our fans had to say as they chew on their nails at the edges of their seats:

destiny seeker
I'm so excited for Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep because of it's super cool story. I love how its about three charaters that who will have to find out their fate and how everthing is connected.

The true Areku23
the game ties up a lot of the loose ends that are introduced since the first KH game, such as how and why Sora and Riku and maybe Kairi can use the Keyblade.

keyblader007
I always loved the franchise for reasons like this, they make prequels that help fill in the games that everyone wants to know! I always enjoyed the Organization XIII and wanted to know everything about them. I hear this game shows the original 8 in the past with important details of how they came to be and the whole reason behind a second Xehanort.

I am most excited for Ventus's scenario so I can find his relation to Sora and how he plays a part in this story.

Twilight93
When I first heard about Birth By Sleep, I wasn't too thrilled about it, being a little disappointed with Kingdom Hearts II. However, as more and more details were revealed to the public, I regained my faith in the game and its emerging storyline. The idea that it was set 10 years before the original game made me gitty like a schoolgirl, but once I learned that the game's plot was heavily influenced by the Star Wars film, I nearly passed out.
Without giving away possible spoilers, the theme of a fallen hero and redemption of the films is just the thing that Square Enix needed to prove to audiences that even with the lovable Disney characters, a strong and excellent story can still be present in the game for both the young and old.

Tanloxd
I've always wondered how the KH universe all started, Nomura was leaving breadcrumbs but it was like some stupid crow was eating them leaving no visible signs other then, yah the keyblades and there masters have a past, just a shame there's no concrete info on them other then hints and clues dropped by characters every other world or so. BBS is like the long awaited, THIS IS HOW IT GOES, of the series and ever sense its release in Japan I've been anxiously dancing around KHinsider and the like while trying to avoid plot points and other spoilers that would otherwise ruin my fun.

ShadowXemnas
This is where it all began. The Keyblade War is another matter, but here is where everything begins for Sora...the cause. And everything from KH1 through Re:coded has been the effect. The story continues, everlasting as ever...

Everything begins with Birth by Sleep...

Lynne Strife and Takushi Rena chose other means of outlet for their excitement -

Truly, this is a title one cannot overlook if one is to know anything at all about that which is Kingdom Hearts. And what more could one ask for in a series that excels in leaving unanswered questions from title to title, if not an all spanning prequel game to tell us the beginning of everything, and foreshadow how it will end, as history repeats itself?
The Keyblades and their stories, and the untold tale of the forgotten war.
Those who gave their Hearts up for their desires, preferring to live in the Darkness.
The youths who struggle despite it all, wishing for nothing more than to safely return home.
Only the name Xehanort knows the truth behind it all...
And soon so will we, in 7 more days.

Countdown the days until September 7th on our Forums!