059: Untangling the Kingdom Hearts Saga Part 6 (Union Cross 1)

Welcome back to my obsessively extensive breakdown of the Kingdom Hearts saga! I know it’s been a very long time since my last installment, and only part of that was due to my own procrastination. (Not to mention the extremely exhausting work that went into this post— and the next two— alone. You have no idea.) Part of the reason for my delay was because the finale of Dark Road was delayed by nearly a year. The final chapters were supposed to be released in September of 2021 but the announcement came that they would be delayed an indeterminate amount of time. It wasn’t until recently that the end of the game was finally released. I know I could have at least been working on this post while waiting since it will be a later post that covers Dark Road, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it after the disappointing delays and lack of news.

Anyway, we’re here now. The game is officially over and I can fill in the blanks for you all on the beginning and end (so far) of the epic saga of Kingdom Hearts. You’ll get to learn a lot of the lore of this universe in these three posts and trust me when I say you will not expect where it all ends up. No one could have expected that. I’m still stunned by where the developers took it.

If you want to catch up on the series, here are the previous 7 posts in this series:

016: Untangling the Kingdom Hearts Saga Part 1

017: Untangling the Kingdom Hearts Saga Part 2

018: Untangling the Kingdom Hearts Saga Part 3

021: Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance or That Time Sora Slept In (Untangling Part 4)

042: The Kingdom Hearts Mobile Saga Part 1

043: The Kingdom Hearts Mobile Saga Part 2

046: Kingdom Hearts 3 (Untangling the Kingdom Hearts Saga Part 5)

Aww, baby Cirithy. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

This is the third in my series of posts regarding Kingdom Hearts Union X Dark Road. In Part 1 I talked about the history of the game, its impact on me, and the gameplay mechanics. In Part 2 I discussed the stand-alone game/expansion Dark Road, its mechanics and the game as a whole. In this installment we finally get to the real meat of the topic… the story! There is so much to get through, and as I was writing it up, I realized it was too much for one post. There is a surprising amount of story here… especially as it nears to end. So I made the decision to split it into three posts. There are logical split points, so I will make use of those to divide the story into three more or less equal posts.

A couple of clarifications before I get started. I know I’ve been using the various titles for this game interchangeably and I’m sure that’s been confusing. The game has been sequentially branded as Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, Kingdom Hearts Union X[Cross], and Kingdom Hearts Union X Dark Road. For the purposes of these story posts I will be referring to it simply as Union Cross. This is partly for clarity and partly because the story of Dark Road really doesn’t impact the story of Union Cross at all. (More like the other way around. You’ll understand when we get there.) The other game I will be mentioning is the defunct and now-unplayable Japanese browser game from 2013 Kingdom Hearts X[chi], which was this game’s predecessor. (Don’t worry, it will make sense eventually… if I did my job right, that is.)

If you recall in my previous Union Cross posts, I refer to the main character as Player, as that’s what a lot of guides do. In the game, Player actually has whatever name you give them. (Mine ended up being SoraRab because of the character input limit.) Also I will be referring to Player with male pronouns since I chose a male-presenting avatar. This is not meant to be exclusionary in any way, it was just for ease of writing and reading.

Keyblade instruction manual? (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

The story of Kingdom Hearts Union Cross is a very complicated and convoluted affair that folds in on itself, involves time travel, alternate universes, involves a short animated film, and portions of it take place in memories of a previous (and now unplayable) game. Sound complex? It certainly is! Untangling this mess and getting it into an easy to digest and easy to analyze format was my greatest challenge. Overcoming that challenge is the part of these posts that took the longest. It was also my main objective aside from memorializing a game that has come to mean a great deal to me over the years. The initial seeds of these posts came from my realization that the events of the Japanese browser game Kingdom Hearts X[chi] were actually not only canon, but greatly impacted the story and events of Union Cross. I tracked down videos of the cut scene sequences of that game and started thinking about putting it down in my blog. As the story of Union Cross continually jumped between two timelines and became more and more difficult to follow, I knew it was only a matter of time before I relented and wrote this post. The shut down of the game was the impetus I needed to stop stalling and get to work.

Now, the big problem I was faced with was what format to follow. Do I start with KHX or do I start with Union Cross? I decided on the latter, portraying the story as it unfolded for me. I will start out with Union Cross and add in the events of the Back Cover film where it impacts the story. I will interlude into KHX when I get to that part of the story, jumping back into Union Cross afterwards. (Confused? That’s natural with Kingdom Hearts. It’ll make sense as you read.) (At least I hope it will.)

Popup books are high literature. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

The story of Kingdom Hearts Union Cross opens with a cut scene of a story book. Kairi’s grandmother is telling her the story of the Age of Fairy Tales. (Referenced in Birth By Sleep as the time when all the worlds existed as one before they were separated into their current states.) The story she tells is about a battle over light. This battle caused darkness to be born into people’s hearts. This darkness spread and destroyed the world. Children with light in their hearts rebuilt the world and that is the world they live in now.

Go Team Unicornis! (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

After this, we see a familiar stain glass area— one of the Stations in the Dive to the Heart— where the players get to choose from among the five Unions. (This choice would effect some gameplay aspects later, including your Union Foreteller, the Union rewards you earn through playing, and some of the later boss battles.) Darkness spreads over the pedestal and the Player summons his Keyblade, dispelling the dark aura.

A little cat-like creature introduces himself as Chirithy and fills Player in on the sitch. (He’s a cute little exposition machine.) Player has been recruited to be a Keyblade Wielder and Chirithy was assigned to watch over him. Every Wielder has an identical Cirithy and you see a few of them in the course of the game. (They’re all named Cirithy. They were created in test tubes by the Master of Masters.) The Keyblade needs medals (called Fragments) to unlock its full power and will get stronger as you fight.

My boss is a unicorn. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

In Daybreak Town Player finds himself at what will soon become a very familiar fountain in a place called Fountain Square. (The fountain featured prominently on the home screen of the game and became the hub for many adventures.) Your Union’s Foreteller appears and gives a little lecture about how their goal is to gather light— which is called Lux— but not everyone who gathers Lux has the same goals as them or can be trusted. The Foreteller states that for more powerful enemies, you will need the help of your fellow Union members. They then mention that some among them may walk the path of darkness in secret before teleporting away.

Note that the Union leaders travel through what look like a Corridor of Darkness, like the Heartless and Organization XIII use to move between worlds. Travelling in this way is very dangerous without protective cloaks, and the Foreteller don’t appear to have that sort of protection. (Although it’s possible their masks or robes serve that purpose.) Also the young Keyblade wielders travel in this way and don’t appear to be corrupted by it. This is never explained in the game.

Cirithy explains that darkness has spread to other worlds and Player can travel to them. Player uses his Keyblade to open a portal to Dwarf Woodlands, the world of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

An important side note about the Disney Worlds portions of the story: In Union Cross there is a lot of jumping Worlds. You visit a World and then come back several chapters later to continue the story. To avoid repetition and to keep the story moving along, I’ve chosen to put the World’s adventures together here regardless of when they happened in the overall story. I’ve also summarized them to just explain the overview and the impact on Player. So just know a lot more happens in each World and it’s sprinkled throughout most of the play time of the game. To illustrate better why I chose to relay it this way, imagine reading several dozen pages of me saying “And then Player goes to the White Rabbit’s house. He then goes into the woods, then back to the White Rabbit’s house to talk to Alice. Then he warps over to Agrabah and wanders in the desert, first one way, then to the other end. Then he talks to Aladdin and goes back to the other side of the desert again.“ Yeah. That got tedious just after four sentences. You’re welcome.

A buncha little sad fellas. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

In the World of the Dwarf Woodlands, Player has to defeat Heartless while rescuing the missing members of the Seven Dwarfs. Not long into this task, Cirithy interrupts saying that a great light is about to be enveloped by darkness in the Dark Forest. Player rushes to investigate and meets Snow White. She’s lost in the woods and scared. Cirithy confirms she’s the great light and the World can’t stand to lose her, so tasks Player with protecting her. Player sets about locating the remaining dwarves and escorts them back to their cabin, where they discover Snow White is squatting there. She’s worried that her step mother the Queen will kill her, so the dwarves agree to let her live with them.

While Player is wandering around defeating Heartless, the Witch kidnaps Snow White. Player and his little friends fight their way up a mountain to confront her. Lightning hits the Witch, but the damage is already done. Snow White is in a coma, morbidly encased in a see-through coffin. Thankfully they don’t have to mourn too long. The Prince arrives and kisses her awake. During that evening’s celebration, Player hangs around outside, feeling lonely and left out. Cirithy explains that hearts are connected, so there’s no need to be lonely. Those he befriends will always be near. Player and Cirithy set out to find adventure elsewhere.

The next place Player explores is Wonderland. Quickly there ensues typical Wonderland-esque shenanigans, such as growing and shrinking, talking to cats, chasing the White Rabbit, helping Alice when she’s stuck in a house, and attending the Mad Hatter’s tea party. After all this nonsense, Chirithy reveals Alice to be one of the precious lights in need of Player’s protection. Unfortunately, she’s been captured and is standing trial before the Queen of Hearts. Although Player tries to help, the trial is fixed and Alice is forced to flee, Player trailing behind after fighting a bunch of playing card guards. Cirithy explains that following her heart is what makes her an important light and Player should learn from her. After this, they move on to the next world.

I wish I had treasure for a head. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

In the world of Agrabah, Aladdin and his monkey Abu are under attack by the city’s guards. Aladdin battles a Heartless named the Red Bandit who knocks him out. Abu jumps on the Bandit right before it teleports away. The Heartless has a treasure chest on his head, so that’s likely why. Abu likes his treasure. The monkey is like me in that way. Player hits the scene and quickly becomes friends with Aladdin, and interestingly enough also makes friends with the city guards. Talk about playing both sides. After a lot of running around and false alarms, Aladdin and Player finally defeat the Red Bandit and save Abu.

Later, Aladdin saves Princess Jasmine from Heartless. Jafar continues his plan to get the lamp, ultimately tricking Player and Aladdin into the Cave of Wonders. There they find the Magic Carpet and the Genie. Aladdin pretends to be a Prince, Jafar gets the lamp, that whole thing. Jafar, in an attempt to get more power, ends up wishing himself to be a bad Genie and has to be defeated. Aladdin and Jasmine get to be together and they get their own Happily Ever After.

Accessorize for power! (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Now, remember, all these adventures were spread out throughout the series. After Player’s first visit to each of these three worlds (or at a certain Player level I believe), he returns to Daybreak Town where we get our first hints of a deeper plot. Cirithy appears and tells the Player that due to how well he’s doing at collecting Lux, he’s gifting the wielder a rare item called the Power Bangle. Gameplay-wise, this allows you to unleash a powerful Nova attack once per battle, with the attack powering up as you max out your medals. (I talked about that in a previous post.) Story-wise, the Power Bangle becomes important to the plot later. You see, after the Cirithy teleports away, another Cirithy appears, wondering who that other one was.

Oh lord, these guys again. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

And then something odd happens. Something crashes near the waterfront and Player rushes to investigate. It turns out to be a Gummi Ship, piloted by none other than Donald and Goofy. Player wanders the Worlds defeating Heartless to gather the missing Gummi blocks to reassemble the ship. This story also introduces the Moogle Shopkeeper, a greedy but helpful character that recurs in the game. As they work on piecing the ship back together, King Mickey appears with Chip and Dale and what the hell? These five characters shouldn’t be alive way back in the Age of Fairy Tales, right? Also they’d never heard of the Foretellers or Cirithys. You’d think that would be pretty big news seeing as how they’re already familiar with Keyblades and all. Mickey already has his own! We know from KH2 and DDD that Mickey had all sorts of adventures before even becoming a Keyblade Wielder. So what the heck is going on here?

This brings me to another strange point, which I’ve mentioned previously… most of the medals you equip to the Keyblades are of Sora and friends or Disney characters outside of the three Disney Worlds we’ve visited so far. (Some medals, like one related to Zootopia or Moana have never been in another KH game.) These facts are a big hint that things are not quite what they seem in the world of Union Cross. Keep reading, it will become clear.

Anyway, Mickey didn’t come on the Gummi Ship, he was brought to Daybreak Town by his Star Shard, which we’ve seen him use in previous games. He’s confused as to why it brought him here, though, to this unknown World. As if in answer, we see a mysterious man in a familiar black coat watching him from in hiding. This man is Luxu, the missing sixth apprentice. More on him later. After the Disney characters fly off and the Moogle Shopkeeper realizes building Gummi ships is tougher than he thought, Cirithy decides Player has become strong enough to know at least some of what’s going on.

The last page. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Cirithy explains that the Master of Masters (which I will sometimes abbreviate to MoM) gave his five apprentices names and copies of the Book of Prophecies. They become known as the Foretellers. The final page of that book details a great and devastating Keyblade War that brings about an end to light. To help their young Union members collect Lux, the Foretellers harness the powers of the Book of Prophecies. One of these powers allows them to generate medals that draw on light from the future (Sora’s timeframe) to unlock the true powers of the Keyblades.

Following these revelations, Cirithy sends Player on a journey across all the Worlds he’s visited so far to destroy a particularly strong type of Heartless called a Darkball. (We’ve seen these in multiple KH games.) Doing this, Player also journeys to a new world Olympus. This is where the Darkballs are originating from. In Olympus the story plays out as expected… Hercules convinces Phil to allow Player to join the tournament in the Colosseum and Player fights his way to the top. Not much to say here. Cloud has entered on Hade’s orders and Player has to fight them both. He storms the Underworld and defeats Cerberus, withstanding the temptations of darkness. Standard stuff.

Poor Cirithy. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

After visiting the other Worlds again to fulfill plot I talked about earlier in this post, Player shows signs of loneliness. He hasn’t made friends with the other members of his Union yet. Returning to Daybreak Town, he does meet three unnamed Wielders and joins their party. A new breed of Heartless— the Neoshadows— have been sighted around town and they’ve all decided to split up and take them out, meeting back at the Moogle shop later. While Player is busy with this, his Cirithy meets with the Cirithy that belongs to the leader of the new party. That Wielder is indifferent and doesn’t care about gathering Lux.

After stopping the Neoshadows, Player returns to the Moogle shop but meets the leader’s Cirithy who says no one will be there to meet him and they’re sorry for breaking the promise. Later, the same Cirithy is seen lying on the ground, weak and dying. His Wielder fell to darkness and so the poor little kitty is fading away. Their lives are linked to that of their Wielder. After it’s gone, the Player’s Foreteller appears and lets Cirithy know that even though the Wielders are gathering Lux quickly, darkness is spreading even faster. It’s possible there is some truth to the rumor that one of the five Foretellers is a traitor.

It’s impossible to tell the Cirithys apart. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

The Player has a dream about the clock tower in Daybreak Town. He sees the Foretellers and Master of Masters, but when he tries to approach them, the dream is swallowed up in darkness. Cirithy is sitting by the bed, seemingly aware of the dream. A second Cirithy (the one who appeared after Player got the Power Bangle I suspect) is outside the window. The Player’s Cirithy declares that they’re enemies and that he’ll protect Player. What was the dream all about? Let’s just say for now that it could be a memory…

A new friend! (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Next we meet one of the most important characters in Union Cross. Player is sent to the waterfront by the Moogle Shopkeeper to stop an Invisible Heartless. Once Player gets there he sees another Keyblade Wielder, Ephemer defeating the Heartless. Ephemer introduces himself to Player saying that he’s a part of a different Union. (Which one is dependent on the Union you chose.) He drops a bombshell on us… the Worlds Player’s been visiting are only holograms, projections of the real worlds made by the Book of Prophecies. The Unions aren’t just gathering light from these worlds, they’re fighting over it, with each Union having its own goals. Ephemer is on a quest to gather information and figure out how it works and asks Player to help out. Player reveals his dream and Ephemer wants to investigate the clock tower from the dream. As the two run off, Player’s Cirithy is approached by the enemy Cirithy, who won’t reveal if he belongs to Ephemer. Also this other Cirithy is a darker gray than before.

After wandering around looking for a way into the tower, the pair locate a sewer system that leads inside the tower. Ephemer talks Player out of entering, saying they should come back later so they’re not missed by their Unions. Ephemer declares that even though they’re in different Unions, they’re still friends. However, that night we see Ephemer sneaking in through the sewer. The next day when Player goes to meet Ephemer at the fountain like they agreed, he doesn’t show up. Player waits all day, looking depressed and rejected. Cirithy tells him not to be sad, but to give his new friend the benefit of the doubt. Player assures Cirithy that they’re friends and picks him up, and this is where we first learn that Cirithy is a Dream Eater, because he has the Dream Eater symbol on his back covered up by his cape. (Remember, the Dream Eaters are the magical Pokémon-esque creatures from Dream Drop Distance.)

To take his mind off all this, Player does some more stuff in the Disney Worlds for a while. We see Ephemer after he met Player and before he snuck into the clock tower, sitting on the fountain with Ava, Foreteller of the Vulpes Union. She is down about something but won’t talk about it and is happy Ephemer made friends with someone from another Union. She wishes they could all work together. After Ephemer leaves, she says she wants to leave the future to kids who see the world as he does. She sees a dandelion seed float by and tells it to let the wind carry it far away. Note that this scene also appears in the short film Back Cover as a slightly extended sequence. In this film Ava talks about how she’s concerned about the other Foretellers and worried that they may be about to turn on each other. She will follow the Master of Master’s orders but believes they should never stop questioning things and thinking for themselves. This is a conflict within her that will become important as the story continues.

Player has a dream where Ephemer showed up for their meeting and they travel back to the sewers. Player hesitates before entering the clock tower. Ephemer says Player is not ready yet and disappears in a poof of dandelion seeds. Player awakens and worries that Ephemer went without him and so plans to go find him. Cirithy warns him not to… only the Foretellers are allowed in the clock tower and without going into detail says this is a bad time because they’re not in good moods. Still, Player asks around and learns that Master Ava is recruiting Keyblade Wielders for some mysterious purpose and that she was the last one to see him. Against Cirithy’s protests, Player heads for the clock tower but first runs into Master Ava.

Getting attacked by a fox lady in the sewer. Just another day in Kingdom Hearts. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Ava demands to know what Player is doing in the waterway and he explains about his dream and Ephemer’s disappearance. He’s concerned that she had something to do with his new friend’s disappearance. She admires his honesty and says he’s not entirely off-base but she can’t say more. Then she draws her Keyblade and tells him to demonstrate his skills. She defeats Player but says he has great potential. He also has great sadness in his heart and so has to be careful. Those things can lead to darkness. But she suggests he rely on Cirithy to help keep him on the light side. She sends Player home stating the clock tower is off limits. After he leaves, she notes that this must be the friend Ephemer mentioned.

We see more of what happened with Ephemer the night he disappeared. As he makes his way alone through the waterway, he sees someone but we’re not clued in on who it was. But Back Cover implies it was Ava who appeared to him and recruited him into a group she calls the Dandelions.

That night, Player is sleeping and Cirithy is impressed that he fought a Foreteller. Ava appears in the room and says it wasn’t a fun fight. She asks if Cirthy showed him the dream of Ephemer. Cirthy says no, so Ava realizes it must have been Ephemer himself. She says that Ephemer is currently in an “unchained” state and in a different realm. Since Player was able to see into that realm, he may be close to becoming unchained as well. Whether or not he will is all up to his heart. She asks Cirithy to protect him from nightmares so one day the wind can carry him far away. (As a Dandelion, is the unspoken implication.) Cirithy worries it’s not strong enough to do this, but will try.

The “unchained state” is never explained in the remainder of the game. It’s mentioned one more time, but that is in the context of moving beyond the Unions. Since Ephemer was communicating through a dream and Ava said he was in another realm, we can assume the unchained state has something to do with the Dream Realm. She mentions later in passing that she sends her Dandelions to a “place made of dreams” to train. Again, this is just speculation. But since in Dream Drop Distance, Master Yensid sent Sora and Riku to the Dream Realm for their Mark of Mastery Test, there is precedent for this.

Beast and his crew. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Next up Player is sent to a new World, Beast’s Castle. I won’t say much about this because it’s the story we’ve seen before. Beast has his rose and he’s an asshole because he hates being a furry. He kidnapped Belle, who’s gone all Stockholm Syndrome on him and it’s romantic for some reason. Yadda yadda the furniture sings and stuff. You know the story. In the end the bad guy Gaston succumbs to darkness, shanks the Beast, and falls off the castle. Beast is saved because of love, turns human, and they all live happily ever after except Gaston who’s a splat on the ground.

Another friend. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

After helping the Beast, Cirithy grants the Player a new artifact, the Bracelet of Light. This will protect him from darkness so that he can defeat Heartless in the Corridors of Darkness, but only for a short time. (Maybe that’s what protects the Foretellers?) We later see that Cirithy is concerned about the difficulty of the missions, but Ava states that they need to get Player resistant to darkness quickly, as it’s drawing ever more near. These missions take a toll on Player, but Cirithy says that they have to keep their Union ahead of the others.

This is when Player meets another important character, Skuld. She pops in through a portal and questions why the Unions are in competition if they have the same goal. It’s a good question. She explains that she was in the same Party as Ephemer and she’s also looking for him. He told her all about Player. When Player reveals he’s been dreaming about Ephemer, Skuld announces they need to go to where Ephemer said to meet up, even though Ava said to stay away. Before they can do anything, though, the ground shakes.

The quake turns out to be two Foretellers— Invi and Aced, battling on the rooftops. What could have happened to set the Foretellers against each other?

The Foretellers! (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

And with that graceful segue, here is a quick recap of the short film Back Cover. This appeared on the Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue and showed the Foretellers getting their assignments from the Master of Masters. For extra context, I will briefly recap the events as they relate to the environment Player has found themselves in.

The Master of Masters gave five of his apprentices a copy of the Book of Prophecies (with one page missing) and warned them about an upcoming and unavoidable Keyblade War. He sent off his sixth apprentice Luxu off with a special Keyblade to observe everything so that the Book could be written in the first place. This is the No Name Keyblade which has a blue eye set in it, which the Master claims is his own eye. It is the Keyblade we later see Master Xehanort using. Luxu is also given a large black trunk which he is told to never open.

The others get their own roles. Ira, the unicorn masked Foreteller was set the task of leading the others after the Master disappeared. Aced, the bear, was tasked with being Ira’s second in command, to support and guide him. Invi, the snake, was to watch the others and report back to Ira. Ava was told to find strong Keyblade Wielders, regardless of Union, and recruit them to keep the light alive in her group the Dandelions. Gula, the leopard, was secretly given the missing page and told to find the traitor among them.

None of the others were outright told about the missing page or the Dandelions, which only served to sow mistrust among the Foretellers as the secrets started coming out. Ira finds and captures a dark Cirithy and suspects that it is proof that one of the Foretellers is a traitor. He also worries because this was not in the Book of Prophecies, and he’s realized a page is missing. The usually wise and fair Ira is getting paranoid and his judgement is compromised.

Foreteller fight! (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

The tensions continue to rise among the Foretellers as Aced forms an alliance with Gula to find the traitor. Alliances among Unions are forbidden by the Master’s teachings and so Ava and Invi refuse. Invi reports the alliance back to Ira. Gula begins to suspect Aced as the traitor because he’s going against the teachings. (The Master implied that anyone who breaks the rules or goes against their role could be suspect.) Gula drops out of the alliance and and reveals his missing page that speaks of a traitor among them. Aced, furiously thinking that Gula is the traitor nearly kills him before Ava intervenes. He hides her friend away in an abandoned storage house. Invi confronts Aced, causing the battle our friends witnessed.

Ira, knowing that there are so few lights that they cannot spare any of them, forgives Aced for the alliance and the fights. But then Aced reveals that Gula has the missing page, which plays on Ira’s growing paranoia. Gula, worried about all that’s happened, wants more than anything to ask the Master of Masters what’s really going on. Ava points out that their Master disappeared just like Luxu and no one knows where he is. Gula realizes that the only solution, the only way to bring their Master back, would be to collect enough Lux to open Kingdom Hearts.

Noticing that Gula’s Union is gathering more Lux than anyone else, Aced and Ira up their own collection to prevent him from gaining too much power. Concerned about keeping the balance between the Unions, Ava and Invi do the same. All the Foretellers have now begun to gather Lux for their own selfish reasons instead of for the good of everyone, which sets them on the path of the Keyblade War.

These aren’t friends. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Okay, so that was Back Cover and now we’re caught back up, with some insight as to what was going on with the Foretellers behind the scenes. Where we left off, Player and Skuld watch as Invi and Aced fight each other, starting to destroy Daybreak Town. They decide it’s even more imperative for them to rush to the clock tower. Along the way they battle new Heartless called Darklings. They look humanoid and can speak, demanding Lux. The two defeat the Darklings, but before they can get too far they’re stopped by a Dark Cirithy.

Dark Cirithy! (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Dark Cirithy is the same one who spoke with Player’s own Cirithy a few times. (He could also possibly be the one captured by Ira.) He’s now been tainted by darkness. He invites the others to embrace it as well and reveals the Darklings are Wielders who have succumbed to darkness. They can no longer use Medals, but they have greater power now. He refuses to reveal who his Wielder is and disappears.

Side note here: It appears that the Darklings are Pureblood Heartless, but it’s interesting that they can talk. Remember that Xehanort’s Heartless was able to speak, and when Sora was a Heartless he did keep some of his memories and personality… so these appear to be Heartless born from strong Hearts that keep some of their identities after transforming. Since they sought Lux in life, they continue to crave it as Heartless. Also, they appear to bear the Recusant’s Sigil (the “X” mark) that played a part in Dream Drop Distance. But since that is associated more with Nobodies, it’s likely just a design similarity.

Moving on through the sewer and into the clock tower, the three face more Darklings and find themselves in the Foreteller’s Chamber. They’re faced by Master Ira of the Unicornus Union.

Boss fight… literally! (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Ira is upset at the Wielders for being in the Chamber against the rules. When they state they’re looking for their friend, Ira claims that Ephemer was a spy, after Lux for his own reasons. Ira states that he eliminated Ephemer, which understandably upsets the group. Although Cirithy tries to take the blame, Player steps forward and gives his longest speech yet. He explains that although he didn’t know Ephemer for long, they were friends regardless, even though he broke his promise to meet in Fountain Square. Learning of his friend’s fate hurts him. He suggests that maybe it means he has darkness in his heart, but he doesn’t care. He can’t let Ira get away with what he did. Even though Player knows he cannot defeat the Keyblade Master, he has to avenge his friend because Ephemer would have done the same were he there.

Player faces Ira and loses. But then we see that Ira was actually an illusion created by Master Ava, and the confrontation was a test. She apologizes for tricking them and heals Player’s wounds. (Using Curaga? Possibly.) Ava explains that Ephemer is fine, and what he warned them about the World coming to an end was the truth. Player and Skuld have earned their spots on her Dandelion team.

Ava created the Dandelions on orders from the Master of Masters to keep some strong Wielders who are averse to darkness from participating in the Keyblade War so that they would survive to protect the world that comes after. Ephemer was chosen to lead the group. Skuld accepts the offer but Player hesitates, worrying about what would happen to everyone who wasn’t chosen. Ava admits that they would all disappear when the Keyblade War ends the World. Player asks for time to think about her offer. Ava says of course, but swears them to secrecy.

Ava and her Dandelions. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Skuld and Player part amicably and later Ava addresses the Dandelions at Fountain Square. Skuld is now among their number. (This scene was also at the end of Back Cover, but Skuld was not seen there.) Ava reveals that they are the hope for the future and that they will all be training in a place made of dreams. She reveals to them that soon a Keyblade War will start, Union against Union. She warns that they must not fight, they must fly away, to the World outside. They are the seeds of hope.

Side note before I continue: What follows in the story jumps between five new characters meeting at a crossroads, with the mystery of their identities and roles revealed slowly over the course of several month’s updates. In between these sequences, Player continues his adventures. And somewhere in there the Keyblade War happens. The order of things are a little unclear and the timeline gets a little hazy here… but after some consideration I have decided to order things in this way to cut down on confusion.

Fairy Godmother at work. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Darkness continues to spread and the Foretellers have upped their Lux gathering. Player enters a new World, Castle of Dreams. Player delivers a letter to the home of the Wicked Stepmother, her two daughters, and Cinderella. The girls have been invited to the ball. You all know the story of Cinderella, I trust? Anyway in this retelling, Player teams up with the mouse Jacque and gathers material to make Cinderella’s dress. After the dress is destroyed by her vengeful housemates, the Fairy Godmother comes to save the day. Player has to protect her from Heartless since she’s been identified as one of the precious lights. She dances with the Prince, runs away, and afterwards the Prince has her try on the glass slipper. They live happily ever after.

Player joins a team. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Helping out the Moogle Shopkeeper, Player meets four other Keyblade Wielders. It’s not specified which Union they belong to, just that they work in a team. They’re also not given names. They’re just the leader (the one with the bandana), the girl with the frog hat and jetpack, the weird boy with an afro and bird beak, and the kid in the Moogle hood. Player follows them on various quests to defeat difficult Heartless, becoming friends with them. Although Player finally has friends and a team to belong to, he always seems detached from them, just tagging along. (I think that’s why they weren’t given names. They were stand-ins for anyone you could team up with in the game.)

Master Aced has a badass Keyblade. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

And now it’s time for the main event… they Keyblade War. The Keyblade War has been alluded to ever since Birth By Sleep, but here we only get to see a small portion of it. It starts with an image of the Book of Prophecies flipping to the last page… the page that worried all the Foretellers, which foretold the Keyblade War. We see Player lying injured in the Keyblade Graveyard, thinking about how the World has ended. It flashes back to a few days ago to show how he got here.

As Player and Cirithy return to Daybreak Town, they encounter Wielders arguing. Cirithy tells Player to stay out of it, but when they are about to attack each other, Player intervenes. Cirithy and a newly-arrived Skuld try to convince the Wielders that they’re both on the same side. Skuld says their real enemy is the darkness and the Keyblades weren’t meant to be used on other Wielders. The Wielders disagree, both thinking the other Wielder and their Union are traitors, stealing Lux for their own purposes.

A crowd gathers and Master Aced (the grumpy bear guy) arrives to make things worse. He says that they’re right to mistrust each other. He says that fighting over Lux is meaningless, though, and they should be fighting for victory… a strong Union is proof of strength and the strong decide what justice is. Skuld argues with him but he shrugs it off, knowing that Skuld is a Dandelion. He believes that the Dandelions are tools of Master Ava’s power. Player, however, has not aligned himself with the Dandelions and still agrees with Skuld, so that makes Aced take notice. He asks what Union he belongs to and challenges him to a duel.

Master Ira berates Aced. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Even if you win, Aced defeats Player, declaring that he is not worthy of his Keyblade. Master Ira arrives and says that he should not be fighting a Wielder. Aced claims it was a test and points out that every Union is in direct competition, each one trying to gather the most Lux. This is causing the Wielders to come into conflict and the War has begun. Aced has decided the time for Unions has passed. He will assemble a Legion, banish the other Foretellers, and will rule over all, maintaining the world’s balance. (That’s some real super villain shit right there, Aced.) Ira says he’s overestimating his power and Aced challenges him to battle before leaving. The crowd disperses, and Ira tells Skuld and Player that the War is inevitable. No one wins in a War… now they must fight to ensure there are no winners.

A glimpse of the future. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Recovering from the battle, Player has a vision of the future with two shadowy and unseen sides facing each other at the Keyblade Graveyard. It’s not explicitly stated what this vision means, but there are thirteen on one side and seven on the other, which clearly means Player is seeing the final battle of the seven Lights against the thirteen Darknesses in Kingdom Hearts III. The silhouettes disappear and light pours from the sky, from Kingdom Hearts.

Player awakens to find Skuld in his room. She’s worried because Master Ava has disappeared and the Dandelions are unfocused without her guidance. Player and Cirithy go off with her to find Master Gula, who they believe should know where Ava went.

They find Gula in the storage house where he was hiding in Back Cover. He doesn’t know where Ava is either, but suspects she’s off looking for Luxu, who may know where the Master of Masters went. The Wielders don’t know who Luxu is, but Cirithy does.

The turning point. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

On the hilltop at the outskirts of Daybreak Town, Ava finds Luxu, just sitting and watching. He explains that that’s his role… to watch and make his way into the future. He will witness the end of this World and move on to the next. He implies that the Master intended for all this strife and for the Keyblade War to happen and lets Ava know that what’s written on the lost page must come to pass. Ava asks what’s on it and also demands to know if Luxu is the traitor, the cause of all the problems. In response, he summons his Keyblade.

These scenes with Ava and Luxu are interspersed with those of Gula are the others, but to make it more simple, I’ll just put them all together. When we cut back to Luxu and Ava, he’s told her off camera who the traitor is and she’s shocked. Luxu suggests to her that the Master wasn’t concerned about the future of this World, but rather how his disciples would let their hearts guide them. Ava accuses Luxu of misinterpreting the Master’s words, twisting them. She attacks him and as their Keyblades clash, the bell on the clock tower chimes.

While this is going on, back at the storage house, Gula recites to Player, Skuld, and Chirithy from the contents of the lost page. “Imbalance observed, strength misplaced, a future filled with sorrow. Words of truth misunderstood as they explore the secret of tomorrow.” This seems to refer to the discovery of the Dark Cirithy, the Unions gathering Lux for their own reasons, and the general misinterpreting of either the last page of the Book of Prophecies or the lost page itself. "With a single strike, toll the bell and herald the end. Bring war upon us as fate did intend." After he reads this passage, they all hear the bell on the clock tower heralding the beginning of the Keyblade War. Nothing can stop it now. Gula tells them to head back, because their Union Leaders will soon call on them.

Dark Cirithy’s bid for freedom. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Skuld and Player part, with one last request for him to join the Dandelions. He still can’t bear to leave the others behind. Player learns that if he dies, Cirithy would disappear, which makes him doubt his resolve. Player asks Cirithy what he should do. Cirithy states that they were probably never meant to become friends, but they are. And as such, he doesn’t want Player to fight and die. They hug and Player seems to have decided against fighting in the War.

The touching moment is interrupted by the return of Dark Cirithy. We get more revelations as Dark Cirithy reveals the bangle that was gifted to Player was not transforming dark energy into light as they thought, but rather harnessing the darkness to give him power. He was born of Player’s darkness, and so he is the Nightmare form of the Spirit Cirithy. (If you recall Dream Drop Distance, every Spirit has a Nightmare form. Spirits keep the bad dreams away and Nightmares plant them. Both Nightmares and Spirits are collectively known as Dream Eaters.) He also states that this is what the Master wanted all along. Dark Cirithy’s original plan was to let Player die in the War, which would release their bonds and set the Nightmare free. But since he’s decided against fighting, D.C. will kill Player himself.

Nightmare Cirithy. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

He summons three Darklings for Player to fight. After he beats them, Dark Cirithy absorbs the Darklings into himself becoming Nightmare Cirithy. After Player bests him, Dark Cirithy fades away, stating that their bond is severed and promising to see them again in another dream.

The War begins. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Days later, the Keyblade War begins, Wielder facing Wielder, not questioning why they no longer fight the darkness, but each other. Player is not there to fight, but because he learned that Master Ava is also battling and he wants to know why. He avoids fighting the other Wielders, but sees them dying and vanishing all around him as he races through the battlefield. The hearts of the fallen Wielders float up to Kingdom Hearts and their Keyblades stick into the ground where they fall, forming what will forever after be known as the Keyblade Graveyard.

I would have liked to have seen this battle. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

One by one Player faces the Foretellers on the field of battle, earning their respect after clashing with them, and getting more and more hurt with each duel. (Side note time, the game has scenes of each Foreteller, but you don’t get to battle your own Union Leader. So, in my case, I didn’t fight Master Ira.) In a scene mirroring the previous battle with Aced, he deems that Player is actually worthy of his Keyblade, but that makes him a threat. He tries to actually kill Player, but Master Ira intervenes, and the two go off to fight. One by one the Foretellers face Player. By the time Player reaches Master Ava, he is so wounded and exhausted that he can’t hardly stand anymore.

The last Foreteller battle. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

Player asks Master Ava why she’s fighting and not leading the Dandelions away to safety. She refuses to answer, still upset over her confrontation with Luxu, and demands that Player fight. After the battle, Player is wounded and as he falls to the ground, Ava tells him her reasons are her own and that he must go with the Dandelions to the next world.

Player loses consciousness as the battle rages around him, hearts continuing to drift upwards to Kingdom Hearts, Keyblades falling all around to act as grave markers.

Player awakens days later, after the War is over and the land has become the Keyblade Graveyard. Cirithy comforts him and it seems his time has come. But then there’s a flash of light before Skuld and Ephemer appear.

After the War. (Credit: Square Enix, Disney)

And that’s where we will leave this story for now, with Player lying defeated on the field of battle, awakening to the sight of his friends, who have arrived to take him to a new world… the world after.

The next post will pick up at the meeting of five very important characters and weave an intricate story of mystery, treachery, murder, false identities, and ultimately the end of the Age of Fairy Tales. See you soon for the epic continuation!