Birth by Sleep (video)



"Birth by sleep" is the secret ending video to Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ and a follow up to "The Gathering", the secret ending video to the original Kingdom Hearts II. The video centers around three armored warriors wielding Keyblades and an unnamed foe and is meant to introduce Tetsuya Nomura's newest Kingdom Hearts project, the details of which are still scarce. However, it is a trailer for one of the newly confirmed games Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (for the PlayStation Portable) and will obviously deal with the characters mentioned here. Birth by Sleep will take place ten years before the original Kingdom Hearts.

Synopsis
The video begins with an old man approaching three armored individuals (seen in "The Gathering") picking up Keyblades stuck in the ground which resemble Sora's Kingdom Key from the Realm of Light, Riku's Way to Dawn from Realm of In Between, and King Mickey's Keyblade from the Realm of Darkness. It is set in a desert area as the sun is setting, and the characters are surrounded by countless Keyblades stuck in the ground that form a four-way crossroads. The actual reason why these Keyblades are there has been speculated as being a graveyard for Keyblades after their respective Keyblade wielders died. The old man is named Master Xehanort (his clothes like those worn by Xehanort's Heartless) and has slightly pointed ears, and bears a malevolent expression. He is joined by another entity wearing a muscular suit of red-and-black who appears to spawn from the essence of the old man. He is commonly referred to as the Darkness Soldier.

The two are charged by Terra, and Master Xehanort responds by shifting the earth beneath them to create a rising plateau that carries Terra above the rest. Master Xehanort then lifts the ground beneath himself as well, creating a cliff much higher than the surrounding terrain. It becomes apparent that Master Xehanort and his companion have great power; while his apprentice engages the three knights directly using magic and his own Keyblade, Master Xehanort is able to manipulate the Keyblades on the ground into a winding cyclone, which he uses to aid his apprentice and attack his three adversaries.

As the three armored warriors attempt in vain to overcome their enemies, their faces are revealed one by one. The first is a blue-haired female, whose name was later confirmed as Aqua in an interview with Nomura ; she discards her helmet after being thrown to the ground by the Keyblade cyclone. The next is another young knight whose name was later revealed to be Ven (Ventus), who attacks Master Xehanort from behind. Ven's face is revealed when the old man vanishes, only to reappear behind him and grab him by the head. Master Xehanort shatters Ven's helmet in his hand before freezing his body solid and dropping him off the makeshift cliff. As he falls, his frozen Keyblade hits the cliff and breaks in half before he is caught by Aqua, after which his face is seen close-up, showing a striking resemblance to Roxas. Though frozen, Ven's eyes move very slightly, indicating he's still alive.

The last face to be shown was Terra's. His name was later revealed in an interview with Nomura. After disposing of Ven, Master Xehanort's Keyblade reverts into a purple and blue ball of flame-like energy. Master Xehanort then raises his hand to the sky while holding the sphere, and the ball of energy promptly shoots upwards to part the gathering dark clouds, revealing what appears to be Kingdom Hearts by means not fully explained, and Terra, having been thrown to the ground by the old man's Keyblade cyclone, takes off his helmet to look up at the blue Kingdom Hearts as his eyes turn yellow (hinting a potential 'Anti-Form', which is also supported by trailers indicating that Terra gave in to the darkness).

The video ends with a young King Mickey looking at the supposed Kingdom Hearts in the same area but from a distance, holding the Star Seeker Keyblade, which appears to be a gift most students of Yen Sid receive after some form of training.

Characters

 * Terra
 * Aqua
 * Ven
 * Master Xehanort
 * Master Xehanort's Apprentice
 * King Mickey

Commentary by Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura, the head storyline designer for the Kingdom Hearts series, originally gave very few details about the secret ending. Originally, the only information he disclosed was that all the characters in the video were new to the series, despite any physical resemblances. The time and place of the video were all left ambiguous as well. However, Nomura stated in a Famitsu interview that this video is the non-playable ending of the PSP game, and that the game might take place ten years before the first Kingdom Hearts game.

In a May 2007 interview dubbed the "Scenario Mysteries Interview", Nomura revealed more insights into the video and its implications for the series. He confirmed the names of Aqua and Ven and introduced the name of the third Keyblade knight, Terra; however, he also stated that Ven was only a nickname for the young male knight, and that the full name is "a little bit longer" (his full name is Ventus).

Nomura had this to say of Ven's resemblance to Roxas:

He also gave no details regarding the change in color of Terra's eyes from blue to yellow, saying "I think everyone's imaginations are pretty capable so please try and anticipate a lot of things." His final comments regarding the three warriors' names were that the names of Sora, Riku, and Kairi are meant to signify Sky, Land, and Sea, while the names of Ven, Terra, and Aqua represent three different properties of the world : Wind, Earth, and Water.

Trivia

 * Master Xehanort's apprentice's uniform is similar to that of Riku's in Darkness form;
 * Master Xehanort wears clothing very similar to Xehanort's Heartless;
 * In the video the following keyblades are shown: "Follow the Wind", a recolored version of "Sleeping Lion", "Fenrir", "Circle of Life", "Wishing Lamp" and "Star Seeker", held by King Mickey.
 * Interestingly, in "The Gathering", Terra, Ven, and Aqua picked up Sora, Mickey, and Riku's keyblades, but they do not appear in "Birth by sleep".

Video
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