Gotta love when Nomura's themes and colour motifs go full circle. We know he doesnt plan everything beforehand, but its amazing when his old concepts still apply so many years later. Amazing video man, I see your perfectionism on the editing and I love it, keep it up. Left a reply on your twitter post, though maybe I should write here where I dont have character limits 😅 Can't wait for the next one. Cheers mate!

Perhaps the deal with Ansem and the Guardian are similar to higher nobodies like Xemnas. Unlike every single heartless we have seen which act purely on instinct, Ansem acts with a contious mind. Using terms similar to nobodies, he is a higher heartless whereas the rest are lower. So perhaps the reason heartless can't access the sleeping world is because they just don't have the mental compasity to understand how. Now if that's just nit the case and if Ansem and the Guardian being able to get there simply by their higher intellect. Then atleast it's good to remember that while Ansem is a heartless (and the Guardian being tied to Ansem) he is a special heartless. Unlike how other heartlesses are created, Xehanort's heart was not encompasses and swallowed by darkness which is how a heartless is usually created, but instead he held his form in a way (robe ansem) and traveled back in time. Which he ended up gaining a new body because he possessed Riku. The more I think about this, I'm beginning to think that while Ansem indeed has a heartless emblem, that does not mean he himself is a heartless, but everyone merely thinks he is. Cause the emblem itself was recorded to have been made by Ansem, I do not remember if it was by Ansem SOD or Ansem the Wise. So when he gained his "heartless" form. The Emblem may have appeared due too a mix of his own knowledge of what a heartless is and memory of the emblem. Ansem SoD most likely had no say in what he looked like in his "Heartless" form, and from a question in one of the loading kingstagram screens in KH3, Riku questions if he is part of the reason Ansem looks like he does. So many influences could have dictated Ansem's form: Riku, possibly Riku's own Memories, Ansem's prior state as an unbound heart, his own memories and knowledge of his research earlier in life. Anyways, that was a long rabbit trail, back to the theory at hand. Ansem being in the realm of sleep. Based upon the theory that either Ansem is a higher heartless, or not even a heartless at all. He would have the ability to ender the world of sleep. But if neither are true, perhaps, like how Master Xehabort was a portal to bring his past selves to the future, he himself or possible young xehanort acted as a portal and brought Ansem into the realm of sleep, finding a loop hole in the rule. Now it did cross my mind that perhaps it was because of his tie with riku. However I don't think this may be entirely the case. We know that from Re:Chain, Ansem resided within Riku's heart after he was defeated in KH1, and Riku ultimately bested him at the end of the game. However Riku also states that he can still feel ansem, even if just slightly. This comes to play again in days and kh2 when riku, accepting the darkness within his heart, takes on the form of ansem. Reason why that is is for another theory. Enough getting sidetracked. Because of the explosion of Ansem the Wise's encoder machine, Riku js returned to his original form and as Mackey states at the end of kh2, he is no longer a being of the dark realm. I believe that the ansem that resided in Riku's heart was separated from Riku during that explosion, and that is why Riku took his old form again. So unlike up till this point, the riku in DDD no longer harbors Ansem within his heart, so there would be no connection to draw from and enter the realm of sleep.

I guess the Dark Hide's eyes glow red is because it acts as a guardian blocking Aqua's path to the Realm of Sleep? As for the Rage Form, it only occurs when Sora takes a beating or in the special case of having the light sucked out of him so he might tap into that darkness to rest his heart while his body does all the fighting. That would explain that unlike the other Forms or Formchanges, Rage Form also heals Sora. The Demon Tide on the other hand glows more amberish rather than red in my opinion, so perhaps a diffrent meaning can be construed with red when it is with the heartless. As The Master of Masters said if a Keybearer falls into malice it will reflect on their Chirithy. I found it weird that MOM had to rephrase that, what this could mean is red symbolizes hostility. I mean it would make sense, even in Yozora's case as he literally attacked Sora. As for Dream Eaters only having yellow eyes, Spirits actually change thier eye color depending on the Disposition. Although perhaps you are referring to the default designs. Just throwing my two cents in.

You put alot together, enjoyed the video!

Just going to point out 358/2 days Xion’s armor form is pink/magenta, Based on your theory their are 2 reasons: 1. Sora is asleep and Xion’s power is derived from machines meant to capture memories of both him and the world’s his been too. Hence why the machines are placed in areas where the world’s keyholes were sealed. 2. When Xion is turned into shaved ice cream everyone’s memory of her slowly melts away until nothing is left. Only to be seen again in DDD near the back of the group. Which paraphrasing Naminé “The links are still there in your heart, they just need to be reconnected.” As for how everything is connected. The realm of light and dark I believe should be back to back and both should be connected to the world of sleep. This would leave room for a potential “Daydreaming theory” as Xion and Naminé are awake when accessing their powers of memory. Which as your theory states can only (or at least most cases) be accessed through the realm of sleep which is connected to the realm of darkness. Though of course this leaves the question “Is Castle Oblivion a sleeping world, a world between the light and darkness, or simply a world in darkness?” My opinion is it is a “Daydreaming” world between Light and Darkness, since Sora could get there by foot, and Riku could return from the realm of darkness, but it can be considered “sleeping” because of the security measure put in place in the land of departure.

Same dude. Caught me off guard.

we know it's true tho

SAME 🤣

A friendship always eventually becomes gay in the eyes of KH fans. That is just absolute in the KH fandom.

His tone did not fit that statement AT ALL 😂😂😂

It all makes sense now!

Who said this? I'm blanking

​​@@ArdynSol12:14

Every night of my life since my 15 y/o I've been having this saga.

@@theseekerofdankness959 The World of the VERSUS EPIC shall return. To be "Unchained" is to have the power of Chaos, the power of the goddess Etro, the goddess of death. Through the power of Chaos, one can visit any world, any timeline, and have the power to control monsters. And the red eyes to see the "light of expiring souls". VERSUS is the endgame of all of KH, Verum Rex, all of it. Everything leads back to VERSUS Noctis, the MoM himself.

yozora also said "but this isnt what i really look like " so that means the yozora sora seeing and fighting was from sora's memory interpreting what yozora looks like based on what he saw from the verum rex video game in the toystory world

@@estaveler3288 WHa??? can you explain what you mean?

@@Ucatty2 like in the video aqua sees terra in the realm of darkness but she sees him as his normal form despite being a heartless because of her memory of terra So it would make sense that if sora met yozora in a dream the form yozora would take would be created based on how sora remembers what the person named yozora looks like which is the verum rex yozora So thats why yozora says he doesnt really look like that is because thats how sora's memories interpreted how yozora would look like

@@estaveler3288 ohhh, ok. Thank you for explaining. That makes sense, as much sense as anything else in KH. Spaghetti lore

Hm... was there a Sora in final fantasy exvius?

So Riku just imagined Ansem in the City of the Bells?

If that were to be the case, we'd see them in DDD. Nomura going out of his way to make the rule "Heartless cannot enter the Realm of Sleep" would be made redundant if they could just be dreamed up

What if Heartless could be there all along but the friendly Spirits eat them like they do nightmares to get rid of them??

Heartless can enter dreams, they just don’t naturally spawn there. It’s kinda like how Heartless can’t enter the Realm of Light, unless someone summons them, or if the Keyhole to the world has just been unlocked. We’ve seen heartless in the Station of Awakening in KH1, When Sora was in the Final World in the beginning of KH3, The Lich in KH3, and in DDD whenever we seen Ansem SoD. *Spoilers for Union X if you haven’t been keeping up with the recent updates:* Darkness also confirmed that their goal is to expand to every conceivable reality by infecting people, so narratively it’ll make sense for Heartless to appear in any reality. I wouldn’t be surprised if Darkness finds away to colonize Unreality as well since Sora, MoM, and Riku have all seem to make it there. Maybe that’s what Karma is??

@@SonnyNovus Ansem Seeker of Darkness is a Heartless. Even if this Ansem is a Replica, the Guardian (Terra) is also a Heartless. Hmmm wasn’t he a boss fight in... DDD? Boom. A dream within a dream. Darkness within Darkness awaits you.

Yeah, Xehanort totally knew about the other side. Not only the rules surrounding it, but also how to transport people to and from. This might have been taught by MoM when they met. We know that Eraqus said the story of the lost masters was Odin's (their master) favourite story, so perhaps they received the knowledge from him. Most likely passed down throughout time via Brain as Eraqus is his descendant. Luxu must be around somewhere too. (Odin being Luxu is just too obvious for me to believe it lol) YX makes copies of Traverse Town in DDD and also Toy Box in KH3 where he separates people. Braig and YX were conspiring in Re:Coded's secret ending, which is odd because we never see them interact in the series ever again as far as I know. This leads me to believe that MoM gave him knowledge before he time traveled, and Braig (Luxu) gave him EVEN MORE to etch into his heart before he went back in time.

Nonura also sayed Sora is still connectet

We only state facts and sources on this channel :)

Well... isn’t using “the power of waking” just shy of becoming “unchained”? Perhaps they are the same power outright...?

I'm not very familiar with Homestuck, so the meanings lost on me.

What does that mean?

@@user-cv6to2vn3m Homestuck has had some similar dimensional shenanigans to Kingdom Hearts, though awakening one's dream self in Homestuck is probably slightly less shenanigans than in KH, but... the similarities exist: mspaintadventures.fandom.com/wiki/Dream_self#Awakening

There is also the Ultimate Self. Certain Ultimate Selves are Narrative Aware. I think the Master of Masters and Luxu to certain degree are like that.

HMK is a joke. People like this are Order of Etro level. These are my kind of people. Those who think in the deep waters. Those who see the whole, final picture, and Nomura's endgame -- the return of the VERSUS EPIC.

@@SquareInsider Same, I personally cannot stand HMK. Channels like these actually keep me interested

Real lore 🤟

You can't forget damos279 and even Waterkh who dabbled in it for a little bit ^^

I’d also humbly like to add The Heart’s Dissent to this list

I would say that Namine’s ability only extends to Sora’s memory and those closest to him… however, In KH3RM, Sora learns to trace the connection of the other Guardians of Light’s Hearts because, All Hearts Are Connected. Essentially, no matter the person, they can be linked to everyone exponentially. If Namine can tap into this potential, then Yes, I could absolutely see Namine becoming much more powerful as a Memory Witch. (Nomura withstanding)

The projection of Shibuya we see in the Yozora boss fight is strikingly similar to how Scala and Toy Box are desolate and empty. Same thing with the Lich trails as we fight through empty versions of worlds we've already been to. YX made a "copy" of Toy Box where he separated the toys from Andy. He did the same thing in Traverse Town (a sleeping world) where he made two versions of it and separated the TWEWY gang. Pair this with how we access Scala via dream portal and something fishy is definitely going on here. I think the secret ending shows Riku during his dreams as he describes them to Fairy Godmother, being watched from above in a city. Sora wakes up in an empty version of Shibuya, too. Yozora totally connects to others via dreams somehow. It's pretty obvious why with Sora, but as for him connecting to Riku's dreams, that might need to be saved for another video lol

I figured the reason why Quadratum is seemingly empty is because it could be that it was created by the dreams/hopes of the people from the χ-era. Like Ansem says it's a fictional world and lat. fictiō means to shape/to form. And since they're all either dead or asleep in the data (and "data cannot dream" - YX, DDD) there are no citizens anymore. Maybe it was a sort of refuge for them with all the darkness and hate stuff going on, a better place in their minds. Similar to how Traverse Town is a refuge for people who's worlds where lost to darkness but not that the χ people went there after the war but as in how in dreams one is in a "different" world.

@@maryscary That's a really interesting take! MoM also says something similar to Luxu in the control room where he says the hearts of children create worlds or something to that effect.

lol It's like what I said in the end: "I think Dream Eaters will play a huge role in the upcoming saga. The nightmare is not over. It never was. My friends -- the nightmares has only just begun."

@@SonnyNovus bro I'm literally still watching ahahahahha I'm in the final 2 minutes

This honestly seems plausible lol. Antagonists have often noted the power/knowledge of Disney characters like Maleficent, Yen Sid, Merlin etc. With Fairy Godmother taking Riku/Kairi to the Final World, it isn't entirely impossible. Merlin even conjures a place that isn't affected by time so Kairi and Lea can train, so we know he has some sort of control over time. The only strange thing is that a version of the door to the Timeless River appears for Pete too. We see through his eyes how it happened. Regardless, it isn't very well explained.

@@SonnyNovus It is the Power of Imagination combined with wishing. Fairy Godmother both provides Magic for dreams as in sleep dreams (Subconscious fantasy) and goals ( willing of the Heart). Imagination is also used by the TWEWY gang.

Best nazi

Xehanort's natural silver eyes could symbolize neutrality too. Ansem the Wise's natural eye color is amber, which could symbolize someone on the border of darkness. Ephemer and Eraqus' eyes look like they could be a dull blue or silver depending on the lighting...I really can't tell. And Braig and Apprentice Xehanort's eyes are brown, symbolizing how full of shit they are.

@@realjoemavro Perhaps I should've left Green as just *Mixed.* Just change Vexen from "largely cold" to "ethically dubious". The brown eyes would be categorized as a dulled amber on the color scale. Anyway, new theory for Xehanort's original silver eyes (spacer for those not finished with Union Cross and who aren't up to date on Dark Road): Xehanort is the reincarnation of "Player" (whatever that entails), the closest thing to a true blank slate protagonist in the series since they're meant to represent whichever irl person is playing that account. Sure "Player" has at most a handful of lines across all of X, Unchained X, and Union Cross and they do have to follow the events of the story but who they actually are as a character as they do so is almost entirely left for us the player to self-insert or roleplay. I say "almost" only because of those rare instances when "Player" speaks. To quote part of what Young Xehanort said as he traversed the Corridor of Darkness to leave Destiny Islands: "That was the moment *something began to grow in my Heart.* I'd soon learn that in keeping to this path, this Corridor of Darkness, *no Heart could help but become drenched in Darkness.* Regardless of where these foul emotions were coming from, they gave me comfort. *They helped me realize that my Heart could still feel."* So my theory is that Silver eyes represents having no affiliation since Xehanort had none until Darkness eventually swayed/corrupted him. Before somebody says "But the original Organization members were all Nobodies which are Nothing not Light and/or Darkness and their eyes weren't Silver" I'll point out that not only is Nothing also an affiliation which may or may not share the Silver eye coloration of having no affiliation but also that their Somebodies did have an affiliation and what made the Organization members special was that they retained their original form as Nobodies due to their strong Heart. Every single Organization member whose Somebody we've seen (except Saix because of Xehanort) shares their Somebody's Eye Color so they can't count as a counter example to my theory.

Yeah, Sora's misuse of the Power of Waking might have something to do with all of this. However, as stated in the video, YX says "You nearly buried yourself in the dark of sleep, and now you're at it again?" which is a callback to the events of DDD, but the line implies Sora is going dream by dream again, much to his confusion. The Lich is described as not being like other Heartless, and if the Final World is where sleep and death touch and the Lich ushers hearts from the realm of death into darkness, then it seems like the Lich is just a grand exception, much like Ansem SOD. I've heard of the "Malice" theory quite a lot recently and I think it's something worth looking into for myself. It is very odd how the MoM abruptly corrects himself and rephrases his statement in a way which his students can understand clearly, which means that the MoM is more comfortable referring to it as "Malice" rather than "Darkness". Although the word malice in his statement isn't capitalized, which could mean that it isn't referring to anything/anyone specifically, but that's just playing devil's advocate. But addressing your point about Nightmares; the MoM is specifically describing Nightmare Chirithies, not Nightmares in general. Regular Nightmares have nothing to do with Keyblade wielders, whereas Chirithies are special Nightmares specifically chained to their wielders, which is why one being tainted by darkness would effect them. This is why I think Ventus' Chirithy is in the Final World in KH3. We now know that Vanitas is inside of Ven, which means his heart is tainted by darkness. All it takes is for Vanitas to take over and Ven's Chirithy is a Nightmare, so it could be the final battle in UX and the Dandelions have to put it down which would explain it being in the Final World. Just a thought. Or perhaps Luxu does it for them, which is the origins for Ven's "angry look". Who knows? lol

​@@SonnyNovus That last part about Luxu taking down the chirthy, just made me remember Xigbar's line to Xion in days when she appears as ventus to him: "Of all the faces... Why do I look at her and see yours? Do you always have to stare at me like I just drowned your goldfish?"

Yeah, I've seen that theory floating around that "Darkness" and "Malice" are different things, and I'd like to see where that goes. The fact that MoM says "If a wielder is overcome by malice -- or rather if their heart is tainted by darkness" is an odd way of retreading and correcting yourself

@@SonnyNovus i agree, kinda seems like malice isn't the primary source, but Darkness. could be a translation thing also

This is exactly why Yen Sid is one of the most detested characters in the series. He has these long exposition dumps and is built up to be this master who bestows deep wisdom to his pupils, but he is conveniently written to only know enough to a point where it's only convenient to the present plot at hand. As the audience, we rely on Yen Sid to explain story elements and plot mechanics because Xehanort and other antagonists are vague and cryptic. So for him to be wrong and contradicted by basic things a "master" should know is just awful lol

@@SonnyNovus l didn't even know he was detested XD. I just see it as the plot bending to Xehanorts will. I mean, all this stuff is said, remember time travel? You talked about it a bit. Timeless river isn't really a "WORLD", its the past, and changing it can effect the future. But suddenly Xehanort has his dollar store, l can't believe its not quantum physics time travel, where you absolutely CANNOT change what will happen, and plus you need to give up your form. Honestly, l watching YX explain time travel and all the stuff you can't do, while looking at Merlin dancing around with his actual travel to the past and change stuff time travel, which Yensid also didn't talk about while in 3DS. Its like a LOT of 3ds was meant to dismiss a lot of 2, but a lot of two put in ironclad facts.

He is accessing the power of Chaos, the power of the Goddess Etro, and the ability to see the light of expiring souls. The same reason Versus Noctis' eyes glow red when he activates this power. Death and dreams both overlap one another and are considered a hair away, practically a part of the same realm.

Correction, Dream Eaters are the Chirithy, not the Keyblade Wielders. They protect the hearts of their wielders in them tho

@@GIRru11technically speaking they are both. The chirithy took their hearts into themselves, and that’s what turned them into the other dream eater forms. So really, they are much the chirithy as they are the key blade wielders.

and adding on to that, because the wielders perish, so do their Chirithies who share the same fate so while they protect their wielder's hearts, they bodies perish and become Dream Eaters :)

Yeah for sure, since Memory and Sleep are connected, it would make sense for Namine to have powers that coincide with both. I think she'll play a big role in the next saga too

I really appreciate it! The KZfaq algorithm must be doing something right lol

@@SonnyNovus fr fr

Just like how Riku uses black/purple light that symbolizes his twilight heart 💜

Thanks for the kinds kind words!! I'm glad you enjoy them. Also yeah, there are three heartless that don't appear in KH1, so that's a good point. In this game it is stated that "In the castle, everything Sora's and his friends' encounter will be based on their memories. As they lose memories, they will uncover new ones in the process.". We know that Twilight Town is a world in the game, but that isn't Sora's memories, those are Roxas'. So it could be that some Heartless are from his adventures later in the series rather than Sora's. Still a good point, though.

Doesn't Days happen roughly at the same time as CoM? And if I remember correctly, you encounter the plant enemies (and one as a boss) before Axel and the CoM Nobodies head to Castle Oblivion, which means, since Roxas and Sora are (understandably) connected, could explain how they got there in CoM. Right?

Well thank you for the kind words!! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I don't make these to disprove or discredit, but rather to promote ideas and get the gears moving for people, so I'm glad it had that effect on you. 1. When researching what entities had red eyes, I found a few interesting cases. Dark Hide, for example, the secret episode boss in BBSFM. Even though it's a Pureblood Heartless, it's eyes glow red which is EXTREMELY rare for any other Heartless. It also has chains dangling on its ankles. When defeated, Aqua then finds herself traversing worlds fallen to darkness. Sleeping worlds. A small handful of Heartless have chains, but that's usually due to world motifs such as anchors of a pirate ship and whatnot. The Search Ghosts from Halloween Town were an interesting example; they have a single eye dangling from a chain out of its socket. When they spot you, their eye glows red. When we're introduced to them for the first time, they submissive and only respond to the Mayor and Jack Skelington... who is the King of Nightmares. Again, a lot of this is cool to point out and all but it kinda just ends there and doesn't lead anywhere, so I decided to leave it out. Nomura definitely made it apparent that Rage form and Anti form are two different things; Anti form is darkness (yellow eyes) and Rage form is negative emotions (red glow). However, when looking at Rage form, it appears to me that the eyes are still yellow but they definitely have a red glow. I don't think Vanitas is inside of Sora, but I still don't know what it means other than it being a stylistic choice. If it were related to sleep, they would've straight up given him Nightmare eyes, so I don't think they're related. 2. That's on the right track! However, we know that "dreams hold our memories", so I think data and memories are connected rather than data and dreams. This is all a technicality of course, they're all related, but I think your description is more indicative of data and memories being together.

@@SonnyNovus Thanks for taking the time to respond! 1. Interesting, so would you say that the yellow eyes with a red glow is more symbolic of Sora using his negative emotions to access his darkness as Rage form rather than just using his darkness alone in Anti-form then? Of course, like you said, it could just be a stylistic choice but it's something to think about. 2. Data and memories being together. Hmmm, so would that mean Ansem the Wise stored the data in Sora's heart as a memory or, with how its told to us in KH3, a journal log? Journals/diaries are technically physical forms of memories, which would tie back into Re:Coded as they use the journal of Sora's first adventure (Aka Memories of Sora's first adventure). And they used part of Roxas's data from the digital Twilight town, aka his Memories of the digital Twilight Town, to make up part of Roxas's replica body before his real heart entered it. Actually, yeah! Data and Memories being similar or even the same makes a ton of sense like that!

That means a lot to me, thanks a bunch

and I look forward to showing you! Thanks for jumping on board