060: Untangling the Kingdom Hearts Saga Part 7 (Union Cross 2)

And we’re back for Part 2 of my trilogy of posts recapping and summarizing the story of Kingdom Hearts Union Cross! If you want to catch up on the series, here are the previous posts:

The War begins. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Where we left off last time, the seeds of treachery had been sown in the Foretellers with the discovery of a Dark Cirithy (who was later revealed belonged to Player as a result of him unwittingly using Darkness) and a lost page of the Book of Prophecies. This lost page was gifted to Master Gula, who attempted to find the traitor. The sixth disciple, Luxu, knew who the traitor was and told Master Ava, the gentle Foreteller who formed the Dandelions to survive the inevitable Keyblade War. Whatever the revelation was spurred Ava to take up arms against Luxu, an act that started the War she was desperately trying to prevent. Player participated in the War only to ask Ava why she was fighting. In the process he faced the Foretellers, earned their respect, but fell to his injuries. Now we head to the world after…

The Leaders meet up. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

At a familiar crossroads in a field of discarded Keyblades (the same crossroads we saw in a critical moment of Birth By Sleep and saw again in Kingdom Hearts III) Ephemer and Skuld meet. They state that they met up in this field once before, shortly after the Keyblade War (see last post when they came to save the fallen Player) but now they’re here for a secret purpose.

The Master briefs Ava. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

There are a couple of flashbacks showing a scene from the movie Back Cover where the Master of Masters first gave Ava her role to create the Dandelions, nurture them, and save them from dying in the War. Here he also gave her a secret purpose, which was not included in the movie. This purpose is to appoint five new Union Leaders from among the Dandelions. These Union Leaders would be the only ones who retain memories of the Keyblade War and the only ones to know the truth about the new world the Dandelions have found themselves in. Ava, in another flashback, relays this information to Ephemer on a hill overlooking Daybreak Town. Master of Masters presents Ava with a list of recruits who will become the new Union Leaders. One of the names is circled in red. This is the lucky Wielder who gets their own copy of the Book of Prophecies, which they’re supposed to keep secret from the others.

Back in the Keyblade Graveyard, the third Union Leader arrives. He’s off scene for a bit but then he’s revealed to be… Ventus. Record scratch. Yes, the same Ventus (“Call me Ven!”) who was one of the playable characters in Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep… the same Ventus who was instrumental in forging the X-Blade and was hidden away from Xehanort only to finally be recovered in Kingdom Hearts III. How is Ventus here? Read on and all shall be revealed.

Ephemer should listen to that feeling. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Player’s Cirithy meets with Ephemer and Skuld, voicing his concerns about the nightmares Player has been having. Cirithy is worried about the effect of lying to Player about what happened in the Keyblade War and the truth of their world. Skuld reminds him this is the best way and to concern himself with Union x [Cross].

Side note time! This is not gone into in detail in the story, but in my post about the game itself I talked a little bit about the multiplayer game mode called Union Cross where you were able to team up with other players regardless of Union to take on powerful Heartless. Its mention here reveals that rather than just being a game mode, it was actually part of the plot, and a way for the new Union Leaders to differentiate the new Unions from the old and foster a sense of cooperation and unity across Union lines. I like that they built it into the story, but it really required a bit more explanation now that the game is offline and unplayable. I felt the need to elaborate because in the story it’s never mentioned again.

Anyway, Ephemer is concerned about the quality of darkness in this new world, saying that it seems different… alive and sentient almost. Skuld doesn’t want him worrying the others until they know more, but he gets a bad feeling about anything that deviates from the world before. Union Cross also gives him a bad feeling. It feels… off.

Brain is awesome. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

The three new Union Leaders talk as they wait for the others to arrive. We get to see how different Ven was back in these days compared to how we saw him in Birth By Sleep. He is shy and soft-spoken here rather than being rambunctious and outgoing. Ventus says that he’s always been on his own and he’s confused as to why he was chosen… he’s never at the top of the rankings of Lux collection. Ephemer says he’s sure Master Ava had her reasons. Ventus wishes he had friends and Ephemer says they’ll be his friends.

At that moment, the fourth member joins the others. His name is Brain and he wears a dapper hat. Yes, a new character, and believe it or not, he will become one of the most important characters we’ve seen so far and will have a huge impact on the future of the series.

Back in the past, Ava discusses the plans with Ephemer, letting him know his role is to prepare the new world for the Dandelions, who will be tucked away there soon. It’s like a sort of alternate reality for them to live in. Their Cirithys will make them forget the Keyblade War. Ephemer is concerned about this, because the past is what makes up who a person is. Ava stresses that the end will be so horrible and traumatic that it’s much better they forget.

Brain is always thinking. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Back at the crossroads, Brain gets to know his new friends. He at once judges Ephemer to be the leader, even though Ephemer is reluctant to take on the role and thinks they should wait for the others. Brain also calls out Skuld as being “the serious one”. He asks if they think the rules they were given are set in stone or just guidelines. They were written by Ava, after all, and she told them all to lie to the Wielders about the Keyblade War, which doesn’t seem right.

This triggers a memory and we finally get to see Player’s fate. Lying wounded on the field of battle, Cirithy arrives, letting him know he’s done enough. Light breaks and Skuld and Ephemer arrive. Tears come to Player’s eyes as he sees his friends. They’ve come to take him to the world after and secretly wipe his memories with Cirithy’s help.

Coming out of the memory, Ephemer says they need to follow the rules to the letter because no one should have to carry the burden of the Keyblade War inside them. Brain agrees and states that he knew Ephemer would make a good leader. Skuld and Ventus agree, but Ephemer says they still have to wait for one more member to show up.

Cirithy feels bad for Player. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Back at the fountain in Daybreak Town, Cirithy watches as Player runs off with his new team (Bandana Girl, Frog Hat, Afro Bird, and Moogle Hood. Seriously, they don’t have names. It’s weird.) Cirithy muses that the heart protects itself by burying traumatic and sad experiences, but he doesn’t believe it’s right to force them to forget. Burying the past doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, and the scars are still there. Cirithy swears that if the time comes when Player needs to remember, he will be right there to help him get through it. (The nightmares he’s been having seem to indicate he’s trying to remember, at least on some level.)

The story of Chi. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

So this is a good place to reveal the truth about Union Cross. As I mentioned in passing in a previous post, this game was preceded by the Japan-only online browser game Kingdom Hearts x[chi]. That game covered all the events that I have already revealed to you, but with the key difference that the Keyblade War was at the end of it. (There was also a secret movie at the end that involved Maleficent, but I’ll cover that later.) The game was never released outside of Japan and is no longer playable, so the only way we can really see it is through videos that players have recorded and uploaded.

A key thing to know from x[chi] is the explanation of how you’re able to travel to the Worlds and meet the same characters as Sora does hundreds of years later. (I don’t know about you, but I was pretty confused about how Aladdin, Alice, and all the others are the same age and going through the same stories.) The reason is because the Book of Prophecies has the ability to create manifestations of future Worlds and people. This is how you travel to other Worlds even though at this time the Worlds were all supposed to be one. It also explains why you get Medals (cards in x[chi]) depicting Sora, Riku, and the rest. This was all hinted at in Union Cross, but not explicitly stated.

So everything we’ve seen— the Disney Worlds, the rising tension, the escalation into War— that all happened in the previous game. (Except Castle of Dreams… that World did not appear in x[chi].) Also, Player did not join the team with the other four Wielders originally. Everything in Union Cross has occurred in the alternate reality of the world after as Player relives his life to forget the events of the Keyblade War. Everything from Ephemer and Skuld meeting at the crossroads to the ultimate end at the end of the next post is completely new ground.

Oh great, this lady again. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

While helping his new team, Player follows a Heartless into the Corridors of Darkness and finds himself in a new World, Enchanted Dominion. (First seen in Birth By Sleep. Also, this World did not appear in x[chi].) The story of Sleeping Beauty plays out here, with Prince Philip and Briar Rose meeting and falling in love. Rose is actually Princess Aurora, cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to prick her finger and die on her 16th birthday. We also meet the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. Merryweather cast a counter spell that the girl would not die, but instead fall into a deep sleep that can only be broken by True Love’s kiss. So, yeah, Prince Phillip and Player kick Maleficent’s ass in dragon form, the Prince kisses the Princess, she awakens, and the ol’ Happily Ever After happens.

Once Player’s new friends in Enchanted Dominion are safe from Maleficent’s evil plan, Cirithy suggests they revisit all the previous Worlds and check on everyone. There are still Heartless in the Worlds, but no great powers of darkness causing problems. All Player’s Disney friends are getting on with their lives and grateful for his help. Returning to Daybreak Town, Cirithy treats Player to some sea salt ice cream. Everything seems to be going smoothly.

Meet Strelitzia. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

And this is when another vital new character is introduced. A girl named Strelitizia sits in her favorite spot on a rooftop overlooking Daybreak Town’s fountain. She muses about the last two years of adventures, thinking about the friends she made and those she lost. The only constant was a fellow Wielder, one who she often saw returning from his missions but never quite got up the nerve to talk to. This Wielder, as you may have guessed, is Player.

The first time she saw him was one morning as she left for a mission. He was waiting for someone at the fountain. And then, in the evening after returning from her mission, she saw him still in the same spot. He seemed sad and obviously whoever he was waiting for never showed up. Tears welled in his eyes as his Cirithy comforted him.

Memories are always shown with a dark filter. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

After this, she found herself seeing Player everywhere she went, even in the other Worlds. She was even there when he spoke against Master Aced. She could tell that he was different from the other Wielders, not just taking everything that he was told as truth, but questioning even the Foretellers, seeing that there was something they weren’t being told. But she never got up the nerve to talk to him, which is something she always regretted.

When she was recruited to be a Union Leader of the Dandelions and learned of the end of the World, she discussed it with her Cirithy. Her Cirithy told her not to worry because all her friends were Dandelions and so would be fine. Strelitizia realized that Player was not a Dandelion, and so he wouldn’t survive with the rest of them, a thought that saddened her. She decided this was her only chance to talk to him, to warn him about the end of the world and use her power as Leader to recruit him into the Dandelions.

Sadly, she never got this chance. Not knowing who he was or where he lived, she had to wait until the next day. She waited at Fountain Square, knowing she would see him there, but this time she didn’t. At this time he was at the storage house with Skuld and Gula, learning all about the lost page. Strelitzia learned from her Cirithy where they were, so she rushed off to find him.

When she entered the storage house, it was dark and seemingly empty. She turned to leave and was attacked from behind by a shadowy figure. Her attacker took her rulebook and left her to die. Mortally injured, Strelitiza struggled to carry her Cirithy to the light of the entryway, thinking about how now she’d never get the chance to talk with Player. She wished she had had the courage while there was still time. As she stepped into the light she and her Cirithy disappeared, her heart floating up to join the others in Kingdom Hearts.

Hey, I know that guy. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Back at the Keyblade Graveyard, the fifth and final member finally arrives, and this is also someone we know… after a fashion. A well-dressed pink-haired gentleman arrives and introduces himself as Lauriam. He apologizes for being late. He was held up looking for something. Does he look familiar? Maybe the name rings a bell? That’s right… this is the original form of Marluxia before he lost his heart and became a member of Organization XIII. Marluxia ruled over Castle Oblivion and was the final boss of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Player gets a pet! (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

All five of the new Union Leaders have assembled in the Foreteller’s Chamber, but are they all truly Leaders? After all, Strelitiza had her own rule book and referred to herself as a Union Leader, didn’t she? This is the mystery I referred to in the previous post. We’ll get there.

As everyone is trying to get situated in their new headquarters, the first order of business is to divide the Dandelions among them to form the new Unions. Ephemer suggests they wait on this for a bit to avoid people getting too loyal to just their Unions, since that caused problems in the past. They also decide not to let the others know just yet that the Foretellers are gone. Brain, who’s been reading a book this whole time, announces that they should start by creating a Spirit companion for every Wielder. (So this explains why in one of the game updates you got your own pet to help you.) They don’t have as many powers as Cirithy, he explained, but could still devour Nightmares. This will help them forget the past quicker.

Another Cirithy approaches Player in Fountain Square and plucks a strand of fur from the Player’s Cirithy. He uses this as the archetype to create Player’s new companion.

And now we meet Darkness. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

But unknown to everyone else, there’s more going on in Enchanted Dominion, and it has repercussions across the rest of Union Cross and into the later games. Believe me, it’s big. Also, this is where an old Kingdom Hearts unexplained mystery is finally solved and the true danger is revealed at last.

After her defeat, Maleficent is weak and angry. She wonders why she failed a second time to defeat Prince Phillip and capture Aurora’s heart. Despite knowing how it would turn out, it still ended the same. How would she remember what happened in Birth By Sleep? See, the Maleficent that Player encountered was not a reconstruction from the Book of Prophecies. No, this is the real Maleficent.

As I mentioned before, Kingdom Hearts x[chi] had a secret movie at the end. There really wasn’t much to it, but it shows Maleficent arriving in Enchanted Dominion and being greeted by her raven. She wonders where someone went off to, but she realizes that this World is closed off from the others and so Sora can’t meddle with her here. She laughs and walks towards her castle. And that’s all there was to it. Back to our story, already in progress.

Anyway, the grumpy Maleficent is approached by a shadowy form that introduces itself as Darkness. He says that the Master knew that Maleficent would travel to the past from her own timeframe. When she died in the first Kingdom Hearts game, stabbed by Riku while he was possessed by Xehanort’s Heartless, she remembered what she’d learned about the secrets of time travel from Xehanort. To travel in time, you must leave your body behind and your heart must be able to inhabit some form of yourself. Even an illusion. When she was defeated, she left her body behind, intending to inhabit the body created as a projection from the Book of Prophecies in the Union Cross time period. Little did she know, the Master of Masters laid a trap for her. Only six pure lights were summoned from the Book of Prophecies… Enchanted Dominion was never created in order to prevent her from gathering the Princesses and trying her plan again. He did, however, create the World in data so that Maleficent would be stranded there. (The Master thought of everything.)

Xehanort’s influence stretches even into the past. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Following the Keyblade War, the Foretellers vanished. Without them, the Book of Prophecies no longer had the power to summon the future Worlds. So instead, the Dandelions and the new Union Leaders have been visiting simulations, the future Worlds recreated from the Book of Prophecies in Data. Even two new Worlds that didn’t exist prior to the Keyblade War were able to be created— Castle of Dreams and Enchanted Dominion. So Maleficent wasn’t able to inhabit the body of her illusion, she was instead sent to her body created in Data. (Yes, they’re in a Data World, like in re:Coded. Told you that installment was way more important than we ever would have expected.)

As for the reason she was defeated again, the Data was coded to only play out in the way it originally did. And besides, the seventh World and the seventh pure light was never created in the Book of Prophecies or the Data World. Who was that seventh light? Kairi, living with her grandmother in Radiant Gardens, far in the future. Maleficent is angry at these revelations, realizing that she can never fulfill her goals and will remain trapped in the Datascape, since there is no body for her to return to either in Daybreak Town or in her own time period. Darkness teases that there is a way.

So now we know where Maleficent went between the first and second mainline title. This gives us some insight as to how she knew about the Book of Prophecies in re:Coded. We also know for sure that the World after the Keyblade War was created by Data. The Dandelions are in the Data Worlds, gathering Lux from the future’s Heartless in order to rebuild the Worlds. Interesting, huh? I mentioned at the start that the story of Kingdom Hearts folded in on itself, and this is what I was talking about. The Worlds inhabited by Sora and friends could not exist if not for the Heartless from their time being defeated in the past to convert into light to create those Worlds. It’s a really unique paradox that was set up here.

Another old friend! (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Ephemer calls a meeting of the Union Leaders, but Laurium doesn’t show up. He’s still looking for something. Ephemer wants to discuss Shift Pride, something mentioned in the rule book where Wielders fight each other as a friendly competition. (This would have been the PvP game mode… I like how there are story-related reasons for everything in the game… companions, Union Cross mode, and now PvP.) Ventus speaks up, saying he doesn’t like the idea of Wielders fighting each other. He seems shocked by this, despite having a copy of the rulebook. He claims that he didn’t understand that part. Skuld, remembering the tensions leading up to the Keyblade War, agrees. Since Brain and Laurium will side with Ephemer, it’s all up to him. He says they’ll follow the rule book, but it will be data battles. See, the Dandelions were all recreated in data along with the Worlds as a sort of back up copy. This will keep the Wielders safe.

Ephemer got the idea from a conversation with Laurium, where he learned the fifth member has actually been looking for a someone this whole time, not a something. Someone who should have become a Dandelion. He doesn’t want help though, saying it’s personal. The other Leaders decide to respect his privacy. If he wants help, they know he’ll ask.

In the present, though, we see him approaching a blonde girl named Elrena. Yes, another familiar face. Elrena, after losing her Heart in the future, becomes Larxene, the lightning-wielding female member of Organization XIII. We learned in Kingdom Hearts III that she was one of the members who had a past as a Keyblade Wielder.

Laurium knows that Elrena was team mates with the one he’s looking for… Strelitzia, his sister.

Unfortunately, Elrena doesn’t know anything… the two weren’t friends, just team mates. All she knew was that Strelitizia would wait on the rooftop for someone every day. The last time Elrena saw her was after Master Ava gave that speech about Unions fighting each other. Elrena says nothing came of that, so their memories must have been overwritten starting there.

She’s touched by how much Laurium cares about his sister and wishes she could help. It turns out that her Cirithy and the Cirithy belonging to Strelitzia were friends. Asking Cirithy, they learn that Strelitiza was determined to recruit someone quiet to the Dandelions and that the last place she was seen was the storage room where Gula hung out. During their last conversation, two Wielders and a Cirithy arrived to the storage room and Cirithy recognized the female Wielder as Skuld.

Since a fellow Union Leader was involved somehow, Laurium decides to reveal what’s going on to the other four. Skuld says she had no idea who Strelitzia is. Laurium had trouble convincing his sister to join, amd Brain is quick to point out that it’s strange that not only did she decide to join after all, but really wanted to bring someone else along. It was like something made her sure the end of the world really was happening. Laurium is worried that maybe she did end up in the Keyblade War as she searched for this mysterious recruit. Ephemer figures out who Strelitiza was looking for right away… Player. He arranges a meeting and Player admits he has no idea who Strelitzia is. Laurium, happy they at least have a lead, thanks Player and asks him to keep her in his heart. Player says he will.

Glitch ghost. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Meanwhile, Elrena and her Cirithy Scooby Doo the situation and see what looks like a ghost (a g- g- ghost!) in the storage house. It looks like Strelitiza, but is all glitched out. She was carrying her Cirithy and clearly wounded, limping towards the door. So it appears her last moments were recorded in the data and something is causing it to replay, albeit in a glitchy fashion. Learning this, Laurium rushes into the storage house, but there is no sign of the glitch. Elrena said that she wasn’t able to get it to replay either. Her Cirithy remembered, though, that Strelitzia’s Cirithy mentioned a War in that last conversation. Laurium thought this was strange… how could she have been so sure the War would happen? From his point of view, his sister shouldn’t have had that info. Remember that he and the other Union Leaders don’t know that Strelitzia was supposed to be a Union Leader too. Laurium remembers what Brain said in their meeting and wonders if his fellow Union Leader knows more than he’s letting on.

Remember there is a murder mystery unfolding here… someone among the Union Leaders was not selected by Master Ava and killed Strelitzia to take her place. So far the only ones we know for sure didn’t do it are Laurium and Ephemer. Ephemer because we saw Ava appointing him to his position, and Laurium because he’s desperately searching for his sister.

Brain’s got a plan. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Back in the Foreteller’s Chamber, Ventus asks Brain what he’s always reading. He doesn’t answer. Instead he says that he has a plan. Although they overwrote the Keyblade Wielder’s memories, they’re all still on a path for destruction. He intends to make himself into a virus and overwrite the program.

After this cryptic declaration, Brain leaves. Skuld and Ven wonder what to do now. Before they can decide on anything they see their own glitch— this one an impression of the conversation between Ava and the Master of Masters when he gave her the list of Union Leaders and revealed one would get their own copy of the Book of Prophecies. They can’t make out most of this though, as the dialogue keeps cutting out. Ven runs to find Brain, who is seeing his own much more serious glitches. He’d hoped he would have more time to institute his plan, but it seems the Data World is falling apart more quickly then he suspected.

And here’s where Player enters the fray. While all this was going on, Ephemer had been spending the day adventuring with Player, defeating Heartless like they used to. He’s been having fun, but knows he has to get back to his duties. Before he can, though, they’re attacked by strange winged Heartless that look like Data cubes from re:Coded. There is static around the clock tower.

Player joins the fight. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Epehemer and Player enter the tower, which is infested with Heartless. They come across Ven, who was surrounded by the Flappy Bugs (the glitch Heartless). He was looking for Brain, who’s in the control room. The trio are set upon by Darklings, which we haven’t seen since the beginnings of the Keyblade War. These don’t demand Lux like the previous Darklings. Instead, these say “Not you.”

The control room. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

The control room is interesting. There are computers and several monitors showing the various Worlds. Brain meets Player and lets them know he managed to stop the infestation for now. He explains to them what’s going on. See, all the Worlds were connected before the Keyblade War. They could have gotten to them in person, the present versions of them of course, but the World was immense so that it could contain all those different places. Besides, the Heartless only existed in the future. The Book of Prophecies allowed them to instead visit projections of the future versions of those Worlds. After the War, the World broke apart and the other places became inaccessible. To visit them now they had to be recreated using Data. The Book of Prophecies lost its power when the Master and the Foretellers disappeared.

In order to visit these Worlds and continue collecting Lux to rebuilt reality, the Wielders have been going through a portal to the digital Daybreak Town so they could visit the digital Worlds. Or at least that’s what Brain thought was happening. The appearance of the glitches proves that they’ve been in the digital world ever since the Keyblade War.

And that’s not even the whole problem. The glitches were caused by an entirely new World— one that never existed in the Book of Prophecies or in the simulation— which is now connecting itself to the Data Worlds. To figure out why and how to stop it from destroying their simulation— as well as to determine if it was a part of Ava’s plan— Brain wants someone to explore this new World. Ephemer volunteers but Brain says he should stay behind. He’s their leader, after all. Instead he suggests Player go. Ephemer and Cirithy protest, but Brain leaves it up to Player, who readily agrees. Ephemer convinces Brian to let him go along too, as back up. Their mission is to scout out the new World and open a path so they can visit it easily.

Video game inception. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

And now we get the final Disney World of Union Cross. This is one that has never appeared in any of the Kingdom Hearts games before (except as a summon in KH3.) Well, I say World, but it’s actually four connected Worlds, each with their own section in Theater Mode. The Worlds are: Game Central Station, Niceland, Cy-Bug Sector, and Candy Kingdom. all put together, these comprise the World of Wreck-It-Ralph. As before, I’ll just throw all the significant story threads here in a brief summary, but the missions spread out across much of the remainder of the game.

As soon as they get there, Ephemer and Player find that not only have Heartless already invaded this new World, but also Darklings. Just like the ones in the clock tower, the Darklings say “Not you”. They find themselves in a sort of train station and the enemies go into different entrances. The heroes split up, with Player following the glitches into Niceland, where he battles a riled-up Wreck-It-Ralph and learns from Fix-It Felix Jr. that they’re in a video game world where certain rules must be followed. If anything weird is noticed by those who play the games, they’ll be put Out Of Order. Ralph may be the Bad Guy, but they need him. Ralph plays the role of the Bad Guy in the game, but he’s frustrated with this role and lonely. He really wants to be a Good Guy and win a medal to prove it. To this end he escapes to another game, Cy-Gor Sector, where Player follows. Cirithy and Player suspect that Ralph, since he was labelled as the Bad Guy must be connected to darkness in some way and would know about the glitches.

Mission briefing. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

This World is a first-person shooter game where Ralph poses as a soldier serving under Sergeant Calhoun to fight alien bugs called Cy-Bugs. They’re supposed to help the player (not our Player, the player of the game) get to the top of the tower so they can win a medal. Ralph, of course, wants that medal. Felix also wanders into the World. Ralph finds his Hero Medal (and amusingly, the Olympus theme plays because that place was all about becoming a Hero) and then gets attacked by a baby Cy-Bug and launches off in a ship. Player is surrounded by newly-hatched bugs and is saved by Ephemer. He was chasing the Darkling, who led him right to Player. The Darkling again says “Not you” and is eaten and absorbed by a Cy-Bug, which transforms. They chase and defeat it with Sergeant Calhoun’s help.

The threat dispatched, Ephemer decides to return to the other Union Leaders and let them know about the Darklings and asks Player to keep tracking Ralph.

Calhoun, Felix, and Player follow Ralph to the next World, Candy Kingdom. This World is made up of a kart-racing game called Sugar Rush. Calhoun describes the Cy-Bugs as viruses who don’t know they’re in a game. They’ll devour and kill until nothing is left. (Sounds a lot like Heartless.) Player finally meets up with Ralph and learns he’s not the one causing the glitches. They also meet Vanellope, a glitchy character in Sugar Rush. Her dream is to win the kart race and be like all the other characters. Ralph identifies with wanting to be more than your ordered role, so he helps her. With the help of her new friends, Vanellope builds her own kart, learns to drive, and wins the race. It turns out Vanellope wasn’t a mistake like King Candy had claimed. He tried to delete her code, which caused her to become glitchy. During the race, the Cy-Bug that Ralph accidentally brought with him multiplies and attacks. One merges with the King and they have to defeat him to stop the Heartless from destroying the World.

We have a title… well, three of them. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Now for an important flashback. Master of Masters is with Luxu in the control room. MoM starts off by explaining that when he was a boy there was a Keyblade War. Luxu excitedly interrupts him, asking questions about if he had his own Master and if the Heartless existed then too. Telling Luxu to quiet down, MoM explains that when Darkness took on human form, the Keyblade War began. And Darkness (as well as light) can never be destroyed, just take on other forms or hide away in people.

He explains his plan is to use the upcoming Foreteller’s War to destroy the World, then use the Dandelions to collect Lux and rebuild the Worlds. His plan has three phases: x[chi], Unchained, and Union Cross.

This means a few things. For one thing, they’re the three phases of the mobile games. x[chi] was the original lifetime ending with the Keyblade War. Unchained was the Dandelions reliving their lives with the Keyblade War overwritten in their memories. And Union Cross is everything after with the new Union Leaders. Another meaning to this relates to something Master Ava said in regards to Ephemer being “unchained”. So in this definition, the phases could refer to any Wielder. In x[chi] they are recruited to join their Union. In Unchained they are recruited as Dandelions by showing they can set aside their Union loyalties. And then in Union Cross they help each other regardless of Unions to gather Lux just like in the game mode of the same name.

MoM reveals that after this is completed and the Worlds are rebuilt, he plans to call a truce with Darkness. The Wielders will become the cornerstones of the new reality. Luxu asks if that means they can return home. MoM replies “Maybe not all of them.”

This is a very foreboding answer for us, knowing what we know about the rest of the series. We’ve seen some characters later on: Ventus, Laurium, and Elrena… even Ephemer appeared to Sora in a key moment in Kingdom Hearts III. But where are the rest of them after all this is over? Player, Skuld, Brain… are they lost at the end of this story? Keep reading and you’ll see.

Plot twist. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Back in the present, the Union Leaders meet in the control room and everyone gets up to speed about being in the Data version of Daybreak Town and what’s happening with Player and the glitches in the new invading World. They wonder if the real World still exists and Brain is sure that it does. They were in it before the glitches started happening so someone— one of the few people who know about the Data Worlds— had to have moved them there. For what purpose, he’s not sure. He leaves the meeting to think alone about this and pulls out a familiar book… his copy of the Book of Prophecies.

Brain is recruited. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Here we get a flashback of Brain being recruited as a Union Leader by Master Ava. At first he wants nothing to do with it because it seems like a lot of work and he doesn’t want to be a pawn in someone else’s game. Master Ava entices him to reconsider by explaining that their fates are already set and that he is the one the Master told her to give his own copy of the Book of Prophecies. Master Ava wonders aloud what would happen if what’s written in the Book were to not come to pass… would what’s written there by overwritten, or would they end up in a completely new future? She claims to just be speculating, but against the Master’s orders, she tucks the list of Union Leaders between the pages of Brain’s book where the fate of him and his team was written. (Remember the Master said no one but her was to read that list.) Brain catches her hints and accepts the book, agreeing to his new role. He promises to only open the book when he knows the time is right… when he needs to.

So now we know that Brain was on the list and also that he has access to the names of the others who were really meant to be Union Leaders— including Strelitzia… whose name was originally on that list. The mystery is inching close to being solved. And the other important thing about this flashback… while we still don’t know exactly what Luxu said to Ava which caused her to attack him, we can now speculate that it could be because of this action… blatantly going against the Master’s plan in an attempt to protect her new Union Leaders… that she was the traitor who began the Keyblade War. (Of course this is all speculation. You’ll have to read Part 3 to have the traitor finally revealed.)

Maleficent looks out of place in Daybreak Town. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Laurium follows Brain to the Foreteller’s Chamber and talks about his suspicion that something convinced his sister the Keyblade War was going to happen, hence her desperation to get Player to join. Brain remembers the list in his copy of the Book of Prophecies and asks Laurium to give him time to think. He’s clearly deduced that the only reason Streitzia could have had to decide to become a Dandelion and be so concerned about the Keyblade War is if she was one of the Union Leaders. He consults the list and finds out which of the Union Leaders was not supposed to be one of them. This information cases him to summon his Cirithy (who wears an identical hat to his, which is honestly adorable) and asks him for a favor.

Meanwhile, Maleficent and Darkness arrive in Daylight Town. Darkness directs her to infiltrate the clock tower. From there she can go to the real Daybreak Town and use the “lifeboat” to get to her own time. The lifeboats are pods intended to help Wielders escape the World in case of disaster. See, the virtual lifeboat can take her to the real lifeboat. Sending the real lifeboat forward in time will tear apart Maleficent’s body, leaving her as just a heart so she can time travel again. When she gets there, of course, she won’t have a body since it was destroyed during the events of the first Kingdom Hearts. But all she needs is a medium to serve as a channel and someone with memories of her. With those her heart can grow a new body. She’s doubtful about all this, but Darkness tells her that it’s read the Book of Prophecies and knows for a fact that Maleficent is still around causing trouble in the future.

Side note time: We know this worked because in Kingdom Hearts II, Maleficent’s raven helped her to reclaim her old cloak. Using the memories from the three fairies (triggered by the speaking of her name), her new body grew from her cloak.

Brain and Ephemer meet up. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Brain calls Ephemer to the hilltop outside Daybreak Town that we’ve seen in many of the flashbacks with Master Ava. They remember their individual talks with Ava at this spot when she promoted them and gave them their rulebooks. Brain gives Ephemer the list and explains that according to the list, not only was Brain not supposed to be the one who got the copy of the Book (more of Ava’s rule breaking), but Strelitiza was supposed to be one of them. He doesn’t think this substitution was part of Ava’s plan because otherwise she would have mentioned it when she slipped him the list. Since everyone sees Ephemer as their leader, Brain wants him there when he confronts the imposter.

The only two possible suspects remaining are Ventus and Skuld. They’re sharing a moment as it starts snowing in Data Daybreak Town, but before they can build a snowman, Brain’s Cirithy appears and asks them both to come with him.

Brain’s Cirithy is cute. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

And the moment of truth has arrived. They didn’t invite Laurium to this meeting because they wanted to know more before filling him in. They didn’t expect Cirithy to bring both Ven and Skuld. Ephemer starts questioning the two of them but both claim to have been given their roles directly by Master Ava. Always the thinker, Brain comes up with the right question. Where were they when they spoke with Master Ava? Skuld says right here at the outskirts of Daybreak Town, while Ven says it was near the clock tower. This proves what they learned from the list.

Worried that something bad is going on, Skuld demands to know what the questions are all about. Brain reveals that he has the Book of Prophecies and that Ava gave it to him against the Master’s order in hopes they could change the future. He reveals the list and that Strelitiza’s name was on it. Logically he knows Ava wouldn’t have given him the list if Strelitiza’s replacement was part of her plan, so something else is going on here. (Plus Ava wouldn’t have “disappeared” Strelitiza. Wasn’t her style.) Strelitiza must have been given the title last, which spurred her to look for Player, which resulted in her disappearance. Since no one but Ava and MoM would have known who was on the list, whoever took Strelitiza’s place couldn’t have done so knowingly, which is why they’re asking so many questions. They don’t want anything to change in the team even with the knowledge that one of them wasn’t meant to be there.

Brain finally reveals that Ventus’s name was not on the list.

Laurium is outclassed here. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Darkness shows Maleficent the way to the clock tower and she questions exactly who it is and how itknows so much about what’s going on. Darkness just says she can think of it as an “old friend”. It further reveals that the reason it’s helping Maleficent escape is so that she can act as a “waypoint”. As it already established, the only way to travel forward in time is to have someone there who remembers you. Maleficent can serve as that vessel for it. Darkness opens a Corridor of Darkness to bypass the door to the lifeboats, which are in a hidden lab deep in the clock tower. This room has fantastic machinery that is reminiscent of that in the lab where Ansem the Wise kept Sora in a similar pod to rebuild his memories in KH2. Before she can leave, however, Laurium arrives, demanding in a cheerful way to know who she is and why she’s there, where she wasn’t invited. They clash, Laurium showing a flower-themed Keyblade that is very fitting with his rose aesthetic in the later games. The battle ends with Lauirum wounded on the floor and the lifeboat smashed.

Back at the outskirts, the four Leaders are trying to sort out what happened. Ephemer suggests it could be Darkness attempting to sabotage the Dandelions and Brain agrees, speculating that maybe the Master Ava Ventus spoke with was Darkness in disguise. It promoted Ventus and then hid within him. They try to get Ven to remember what happened and his memories change, becoming hazy. There are gaps in his recollection but he thinks he remembers meeting Ava at an abandoned house and leaving with her. He recalls a storage house and then has a vivid flash of Strelitzia lying on the floor. Ventus is traumatized by the returning memories.

So many flowers. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

Injured by Maleficent, Laurium is unconscious and remembers a talk with his sister in a field of flowers. Laurium finds fighting Heartless easy but it’s more difficult for his little sister. Even though her magic is stronger than his, she doesn’t have the confidence. She wants them to team up, but he says that won’t help her learn to fight on her own. She just has to be brave, calm, and focused. Once she’s strong enough to protect him, they can be a team. He asks if she’s decided yet whether or not she’s joining the Dandelions. She doesn’t want to because there is someone she’s interested in getting to know and he’s not a Dandelion. He teases her a little about having a crush, but advises that she needs to be brave, calm, and focused in this case too. Laurium tells her that she needs more confidence… she brightens everyone’s life. Although he refuses again to team up with her he promises to be there for her when she needs him. In turn, she promises to become stronger than him so she can protect him.

But then the memory changes. Laurium gets distracted for a moment and when he turns back, Strelizia is gone. She reappears wearing what looks like an Organization XIII coat, but white instead of black. She tries to tell him something as she floats into the sky, but before she can, Laurium awakens to find the lab trashed and Maleficent gone. The dream leaves him worrying that Strelitizia is more than just missing. He failed in his promise to be there for her.

Maleficent, back in the real World, is told by Darkness to take one of the real lifeboats back to her time. She asks if it’s coming with her but it says no. It still has something to take care of here.

Back at the Foreteller’s Chamber, Ven has blacked out from recovering the repressed memories. Brain is certain that Ven didn’t kill Strelitiza… it was Darkness who did it.

The truth is revealed. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

In a continuation of the earlier flashback, Luxu laments to the Master of Masters that he doesn’t feel right about what they’re doing. You can’t destroy Darkness, so they’re just going to run. He fears that they will never stop running and as Keyblade Wielders they should stand and fight. MoM tears him down as having little foresight. As long as you keep moving forward you’ll get somewhere. Just because you can’t see the answer doesn’t mean there isn’t one. There is a way, he says, to defeat the Darkness. But it won’t be easy and it will take more time than there is in a lifetime, or even two lifetimes. They will have to end the World and bypass their understanding of time in order to succeed.

Ventus, asleep in his room, dreams of the events of Strelitiza’s murder. We see her enter the storage house like before, but this time we see Ventus standing there with an aura of Darkness, seemingly in a trance. Darkness flies from him and strikes down the girl and her Cirithy. Darkness orders Ventus to pick up her rulebook and leads him out of the house. As the shapeless Darkness touches the light from outside, it takes the form of Master Ava so it can give Ventus his promotion speech. As they leave, Strelitizia comes to and says Laurium’s name, calling out to him for help. Ventus awakens from the dream, tears running down his face. His repressed memories have fully returned.

Ven has it rough. (Credit: SquareEnix, Disney)

And that’s where we break one last time… with the bombshell that it was Ventus who killed Strelitzia. Well, not Ventus, but the Darkness inhabiting him. One more installment to go and we’ll be through the epic story of Union Cross. Thank you for bearing with me this far. Join me next time for the final stretch!

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