329
edits
Kingdom Hearts Dark Road: Difference between revisions
→Story: episode 8 and ending. Please clarify as needed - this game has tons of time-skips forwards and backwards, so it's tricky to lay out the story in a sequential format like this.
(→Story: episode 7 info; switching "under classmen" to "lower classmen" for easier skimming) |
(→Story: episode 8 and ending. Please clarify as needed - this game has tons of time-skips forwards and backwards, so it's tricky to lay out the story in a sequential format like this.) |
||
| Line 77: | Line 77: | ||
At Hermod's suggestion, the lower classmen inform Odin of Vidar's plan, and ask why defeating true darkness would require such methods. Odin recalls his conversation with Vidar on the balcony, when he was asked how true darkness could be defeated despite having no form. Based on the actions of the Lost Masters, Odin reasons that a true darkness who has taken a vessel could be defeated by sacrificing the vessel. However, Vidar is unwilling to accept further loss of life, and demands another method. Odin speculates that summoning Kingdom Hearts, which requires seven true lights, could possibly defeat darkness - but all worlds would be purged with them, and he is not certain that darkness would actually be vanquished by doing so. Due to the forbidden nature of the summoning, the countless lives at risk, and the uncertainty of whether true darkness is the current foe, Odin discourages the method. Odin relieves the lower classmen of their mission, believing it to be beyond their ability. As they leave the classroom, Odin remarks that the "dark seeker" will finally be upon them. | At Hermod's suggestion, the lower classmen inform Odin of Vidar's plan, and ask why defeating true darkness would require such methods. Odin recalls his conversation with Vidar on the balcony, when he was asked how true darkness could be defeated despite having no form. Based on the actions of the Lost Masters, Odin reasons that a true darkness who has taken a vessel could be defeated by sacrificing the vessel. However, Vidar is unwilling to accept further loss of life, and demands another method. Odin speculates that summoning Kingdom Hearts, which requires seven true lights, could possibly defeat darkness - but all worlds would be purged with them, and he is not certain that darkness would actually be vanquished by doing so. Due to the forbidden nature of the summoning, the countless lives at risk, and the uncertainty of whether true darkness is the current foe, Odin discourages the method. Odin relieves the lower classmen of their mission, believing it to be beyond their ability. As they leave the classroom, Odin remarks that the "dark seeker" will finally be upon them. | ||
The lower classmen are lost as to what to do next, and Bragi jokes about asking the fallen upper classmen for clues. Suddenly, the group is approached by Baldr, who has returned from a task to study different types of darkness. He suggests that the fallen upper classmen could be contacted in the Underworld of Olympus Coliseum. Eraqus lets slip the mission to find the upper classmen, but Baldr reveals Hoder's fate; shortly after Baldr's conversation with Eraqus, he followed Hoder to Enchanted Dominion, where she was then slain before his eyes while protecting him from Maleficent's flames. Baldr lost consciousness and woke in the infirmary at Scala ad Caelum, and shortly after that was when Odin gave the task to find the upper classmen - Baldr was not assigned an alternative task, but instead given time to heal. Baldr wants to know what started this chain of events, and opens a | The lower classmen are lost as to what to do next, and Bragi jokes about asking the fallen upper classmen for clues. Suddenly, the group is approached by Baldr, who has returned from a task to study different types of darkness. He suggests that the fallen upper classmen could be contacted in the Underworld of Olympus Coliseum. Eraqus lets slip the mission to find the upper classmen, but Baldr reveals Hoder's fate; shortly after Baldr's conversation with Eraqus, he followed Hoder to Enchanted Dominion, where she was then slain before his eyes while protecting him from Maleficent's flames. Baldr lost consciousness and woke in the infirmary at Scala ad Caelum, and shortly after that was when Odin gave the task to find the upper classmen - Baldr was not assigned an alternative task, but instead given time to heal. Baldr wants to know what started this chain of events, and opens a portal to Olympus Coliseum. | ||
At Olympus Coliseum, Hades assists the lower classmen in reaching the Underworld, but splits them into two groups. Xehanort, Eraqus, and Bragi request to talk to Hoder, even though she died in a different world. Hades finds the proposition ridiculous, but still complies, with the stipulation that one of the lower classmen must stay in the Underworld as his pawn. Hades finds Hoder along with a group of others, and directs Xehanort's group on where to find them. On the way, the group is obstructed by Cerberus, but Baldr appears and suggests that Xehanort and Eraqus go on while he and Bragi fight the beast. Xehanort agrees and runs with Eraqus past it, where they find Urd and Hermod just regaining consciousness. The latter two go to help Baldr and Bragi, while Xehanort and Eraqus continue down the path. There they find Hoder alongside Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigrun. | At Olympus Coliseum, Hades assists the lower classmen in reaching the Underworld, but splits them into two groups. Xehanort, Eraqus, and Bragi request to talk to Hoder, even though she died in a different world. Hades finds the proposition ridiculous, but still complies, with the stipulation that one of the lower classmen must stay in the Underworld as his pawn. Hades finds Hoder along with a group of others, and directs Xehanort's group on where to find them. On the way, the group is obstructed by Cerberus, but Baldr appears and suggests that Xehanort and Eraqus go on while he and Bragi fight the beast. Xehanort agrees and runs with Eraqus past it, where they find Urd and Hermod just regaining consciousness. The latter two go to help Baldr and Bragi, while Xehanort and Eraqus continue down the path. There they find Hoder alongside Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigrun. | ||
| Line 83: | Line 83: | ||
The upper classmen had been investigating Enchanted Dominion, but determined that they could not offer help, as doing so would upset the world's order. Despite this, Hoder splits off from the group in the night to fight Maleficent alone. Vali informs the group, and Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigrun go to investigate. They find Hoder just as she fades, attempting to tell them that Baldr needs help. The three face Maleficent to avenge their fallen friend, but are slain themselves, and their hearts end up in the Final World. Heimdall suggests that light and darkness are a matter of perception, and conflicting beliefs - he wonders if finding a middle ground would be better than sticking to a divide between light and darkness, but Xehanort and Eraqus disagree with this advice. The upper classmen start to vanish, and Hoder asks Xehanort for a favor. | The upper classmen had been investigating Enchanted Dominion, but determined that they could not offer help, as doing so would upset the world's order. Despite this, Hoder splits off from the group in the night to fight Maleficent alone. Vali informs the group, and Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigrun go to investigate. They find Hoder just as she fades, attempting to tell them that Baldr needs help. The three face Maleficent to avenge their fallen friend, but are slain themselves, and their hearts end up in the Final World. Heimdall suggests that light and darkness are a matter of perception, and conflicting beliefs - he wonders if finding a middle ground would be better than sticking to a divide between light and darkness, but Xehanort and Eraqus disagree with this advice. The upper classmen start to vanish, and Hoder asks Xehanort for a favor. | ||
Xehanort and Eraqus return to where Cerberus was, and discover Urd alone while Hermod is searching for Baldr and Bragi. Hades suggests that one of them will be staying in the Underworld, but Urd rejects the deal and starts a fight with Hades. Hermod arrives to aid his friends, leading Hades to get angrier and ready a strong attack, but the four lower classmen | Xehanort and Eraqus return to where Cerberus was, and discover Urd alone while Hermod is searching for Baldr and Bragi. Hades suggests that one of them will be staying in the Underworld, but Urd rejects the deal and starts a fight with Hades. Hermod arrives to aid his friends, leading Hades to get angrier and ready a strong attack, but a dark portal suddenly appears and pulls the four lower classmen into a corridor of darkness before he can do so. Hades is stunned by the development, and sees a familiar entity nearby. | ||
Inside the corridor of darkness, Xehanort locates Eraqus, and the two quickly put on their Keyblade Armor to buy time while they search for a way out. Urd and Hermod do the same, but Hermod is overwhelmed by the darkness and collapses. Urd sees someone who she thinks can help, but it turns out to be a shadowy figure, and she and Hermod are slain. Eraqus and Xehanort collapse in a similar manner, but Odin arrives, and his light prevents the shadowy figure from finishing them off. With the Master's Defender in hand, Odin opens a | Inside the corridor of darkness, Xehanort locates Eraqus, and the two quickly put on their Keyblade Armor to buy time while they search for a way out. Urd and Hermod do the same, but Hermod is overwhelmed by the darkness and collapses. Urd sees someone who she thinks can help, but it turns out to be a shadowy figure, and she and Hermod are slain. Eraqus and Xehanort collapse in a similar manner, but Odin arrives, and his light prevents the shadowy figure from finishing them off. With the Master's Defender Keyblade in hand, Odin opens a portal to rescue his two surviving students. | ||
After Xehanort and Eraqus have recovered, Odin confirms that they are the only ones who came back. Eraqus mentions that they crossed paths with Baldr, much to Odin's surprise. Before he can elaborate, the building shakes, and Scala ad Caelum is under attack. Odin summons the No Name Keyblade from its display overhead, and leaves the room to evacuate other students. Xehanort reasons with Eraqus that the attacker is likely Baldr, overtaken by darkness at the loss of his sister, and that Baldr likely killed Bragi. Eraqus is determined to purge the darkness from Baldr's heart, and he and Xehanort run outside, where they witness conflicts across the city. Vidar, Vala, and Vali arrive through a portal, and Eraqus immediately lashes out at them for not protecting Hoder. Eraqus calms down after a battle, at which point the group is approached by Baldr, hovering and shrouded in darkness. Xehanort feels Baldr's pain sharply in his heart, confirming his suspicions of where Baldr's darkness originated. Baldr ridicules the group for failing to gather the seven lights, and Eraqus declares that he will bring Baldr back, only for the darkness to tell him it is too late. Vidar raises his Keybalde to fight, but Baldr quickly leaves for the tower to take Vor's life. | |||
Xehanort and Eraqus hurry to ascend the tower, while Baldr approaches an unsuspecting Vor. Baldr recounts his descent into the darkness: over the course of seven days, his grief turns to self-blame, and eventually anger. A growing darkness goads him to purge the world by plunging the thirteen lights into shadow. Baldr reveals his darkness to Vor, explaining that this darkness killed Hoder, and once it had taken Baldr's body, killed Heimdall, Helgi, Sigrun, Urd, Hermod, and Bragi. Baldr taunts Vor, saying she makes eight. Vor raises her Keyblade to fight Baldr and is almost overwhelmed, when Vidar, Vala, and Vali come to her aid. Xehanort and Eraqus finally reach the room to find the group locked in fierce combat. Baldr responds by summoning a massive Heartless, which slays the three upper classmen in one fell swoop - "eight, nine, ten". Xehanort and Eraqus fend off the Heartless while Vor attempts to strike Baldr, but he pierces her with darkness, taking her life - "eleven". Baldr taunts the two survivors and escapes to the roof, deeming it more worthy for the occasion. | |||
On the roof, Baldr explains that thirteen lights must be given to the shadows to summon Kingdom Hearts - his ultimate goal, as the world would be reborn in darkness. His initial plan was to kill Hoder, goading Vidar to seek revenge, then Heindall, Sigrun, Helgi as additional incentive. When Vidar would find out he had to kill Baldr, he would be unable to, and turn to gathering the seven lights to summon Kingdom Hearts. However, Vidar eventually abandoned that goal, so Baldr appeared before the lower classmen to slay them, summoning Kingdom Hearts with the thirteen darknesses instead. | |||
Baldr takes the form of the giant Heartless, and battles Xehanort and Eraqus until both sides are exhausted. Eraqus deflects a finishing strike from Baldr, knocking them both down, and tells Xehanort to purge the darkness in Baldr's heart. Xehanort begins to gather energy in his Keyblade to do so, but stops and raises his Keybalde to end Baldr's life instead, to Eraqus' protest. Baldr takes advantage of Xehanort's hesitation, and shrouds the area in darkness to speak with him. Baldr's darkness asserts that it is neither an ancient darkness, nor born from Baldr's heart - instead, it was born from the darkness of the people Baldr met. Suddenly, Hoder's spirit appears from Xehanort's heart, and attempts to speak to Baldr. Baldr's serious composure is broken, and he explains that he could feel what was in others' hearts for most of his life. He felt only light from Hoder and Eraqus, but felt darkness in most of the other people he met. That darkness frightened him, but slowly gathered in his heart and began to become his own. He felt safe with Hoder due to her pure light, but once she was gone, he fell further into his own darkness and finally submitted to it. Baldr asserts that there are two kinds of people: those with pure light in their hearts, untainted - and those with darkness, among whom that darkness would grow. Hoder and Baldr reach out to one another, but both suddenly summon their Keyblades, still distrusting one another. Baldr's darkness seizes control of his body and attempts to strike, but is suddenly held in place by glowing chains. The darkness shrouding the area is dispelled, and the chains are coming from Odin's No Name Keyblade. | |||
Odin commands Xehanort to rid Baldr of the darkness, but Baldr can still fight - he clashes Keyblades with Hoder, knocking them both down and causing Hoder to fade away. Baldr pleads with Xehanort to understand his cause: that those with pure light will unjustly condemn those who have darkness, and that Xehanort must seek answers to the darkness and ways of the world. Xehanort points his Keyblade at Baldr, as if to purge his darkness, but swiftly changes his mind and strikes Baldr down instead. Odin laments the loss of one of his students: "destiny can be so cruel". | |||
=== 1 Month Later === | |||
Xehanort places flowers on eleven graves, naming his fellow lower classmen as he does so. Eraqus arrives soon after with his own flowers, and does the same. Xehanort asks about Odin, who has grown glum over recent events, but wishes for Xehanort and Eraqus to take the Mark of Mastery exam as his final students. Afterwards, Odin wishes to have them replace him, and then retire to a world other than Scala as Caelum. Eraqus suggests playing a game of chess to lighten the mood, and the duo leave the graveyard together. | |||
Shortly afterwards, Luxu arrives in the graveyard, disappointed that he has not found a chosen one, though optimistic that Xehanort may be useful. He recalls an interaction between Bragi and Baldr in the Underworld: Baldr threatened Bragi's life, though Bragi counters that Xehanort's suspicions would be confirmed if Baldr returned without him. Bragi also ponders aloud about how taking Baldr's body would be inconvenient, due to the undesired attention it would bring. Baldr, confused and seething with rage, swings at Bragi but is easily disarmed. Bragi concedes that he does not want to obstruct Baldr, and says he will simply disappear before casually walking away. Baldr summons his Keyblade back to his hand and rushes at Bragi before the scene fades. Luxu removes his hood, revealing Bragi's face, and laments how he cannot show his face around Scala ad Caelum, if he is supposed to be buried in this graveyard. | |||
=== 1 Year Later === | === 1 Year Later === | ||
| Line 118: | Line 133: | ||
After dropping off Ventus, Xehanort walks along a hall and speaks to Vanitas, who was supposed to wait at the Badlands. Vanitas is glad to be rid of Ventus, but Xehanort asserts that bringing Ventus to Eraqus was done for Ventus's sake, not Vanitas's. The two walk together down the hall, as Xehanort recounts the whereabouts of the thirteen ancient darknesses: seven are trapped within the Lost Masters, four are trapped in the data world, and two were supposedly destroyed when the world collapsed - but one survived, disguised as Ventus. Xehanort asks if Vanitas is that ancient darkness, and if he might know where the other darknesses are, since the darknesses were all once together as a whole - but Vanitas denies Xehanort's accusations at every turn. Xehanort wonders why a darkness would need to hide, and reveals that he knows Vanitas was not born from Ventus's heart, but was an outside entity that hid within him. This finally breaks Vanitas's façade, and he asks how much Xehanort knows. Xehanort returns the question, but Vanitas is unwilling to elaborate on the matter. | After dropping off Ventus, Xehanort walks along a hall and speaks to Vanitas, who was supposed to wait at the Badlands. Vanitas is glad to be rid of Ventus, but Xehanort asserts that bringing Ventus to Eraqus was done for Ventus's sake, not Vanitas's. The two walk together down the hall, as Xehanort recounts the whereabouts of the thirteen ancient darknesses: seven are trapped within the Lost Masters, four are trapped in the data world, and two were supposedly destroyed when the world collapsed - but one survived, disguised as Ventus. Xehanort asks if Vanitas is that ancient darkness, and if he might know where the other darknesses are, since the darknesses were all once together as a whole - but Vanitas denies Xehanort's accusations at every turn. Xehanort wonders why a darkness would need to hide, and reveals that he knows Vanitas was not born from Ventus's heart, but was an outside entity that hid within him. This finally breaks Vanitas's façade, and he asks how much Xehanort knows. Xehanort returns the question, but Vanitas is unwilling to elaborate on the matter. | ||
=== Child of Destiny (9 Years Ago) === | |||
<!-- Base -9 years, but it's the after-credits scene, so I'm putting it here. -->During a night on the Destiny Islands, Xehanort and his blue-hooded mentor rest at a bonfire on the beach. The mentor says that Xehanort is the child of destiny, who will save the world from darkness, but he must stay hidden on the islands until he is strong enough to oppose the darkness. Xehanort expresses that he wants to meet the people in his dreams, and accurately describes Ephemer; Brain; Lauriam; Ventus,; Skuld, who he compares to his mother; and Player, who he compares to his mentor. The mentor notes that Xehanort can feel what is in others' hearts, and re-affirms their belief that he is the child of destiny. | |||
The mentor describes how they have led two lives: one where the Book of Prophecies was given to a friend, but its contents were kept secret; and one where they learned that darkness would prevail and light expire, but that the child of destiny would change that outcome. This child would be able to feel, share, and embrace the feelings in the hearts of others; combine hearts with another to become one; and would be a boy hailing from the isles of destiny. | |||
Several years later, Xehanort has grown into a young man, and his mentor looks on at him with pride. The mentor reveals that Xehanort's dreams are in fact the mentor's memories as Player, and the mentor believes that Xehanort will become light's master, after connecting with hearts good and bad, and being tested many times by the darkness. The mentor is confident in this belief, as Xehanort is a descendant of Player's dear friend Ephemer. With this, the mentor collapses and fades away, leaving only their walking stick. | |||
==Gameplay== | ==Gameplay== | ||