Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep - #23 - The Realm of Darkness

[@Halosty45]

"I hope you've enjoyed Birth By Sleep"- Sees 40 minutes of episode left- Well, good thing I do in fact enjoy it :P

[@fourcatsandagarden]

I wonder how many people scrolled down to make this exact comment and stopped and just liked yours instead. I know I did :D

[@WardsROverrated]

This episode was the game basically going full: "But wait there's more!"

[@jafortune]

So we've gotten the Finale, the Finale Finale, and the Finale Finale Finale, all in one episode.

[@isadoracostahamsi163]

“I haven’t been needing the win button” Aqua is the win button.

[@JM-nothing-more]

at least she's a nice win button

[@Ghiaman1334]

The win button with Aqua is X

[@roy4173]

I like how the reports read like what a logician would write. Xehanort is a critical thinker in this world and instead of chasing evil for evil's sake, he's merely seeking out what seems logical to him. He doesn't like to accept anything at face value just because it was indoctrinated into him during his youth. He looks at the forbidden fruit and asks "why?" and "why not?" instead of simply accepting the taboo and avoiding it without question. And his logic trumps any sense of morality which makes him a very nice candidate for an antagonist. But I think we can all see a little of ourselves in xehanort, and that kind of element, however tiny, makes the characters, both good and evil, all the richer.

[@thearcanian5921]

But they also show deep selfishness. He cares more about what he wants then the pain he might cause others. Empathy and logic are not opposites, they are different axis.

[@roy4173]

@@thearcanian5921 they aren't opposites but in xehanort's perspective, his empathy obstructs his goal of knowledge. In the scientific community, there are things we simply do not touch because of morally questionable outcomes, like designer babies. Someone who thinks like Xehanort might not understand this seemingly arbitrary barrier and will cross it without question, thinking he is in fact acting on humanity's behalf rather than against it. Again, the character isn't simply being evil for evil's sake, but his decisions to do evil things are predicated upon a mostly neutral endeavor that would be encouraged in any other situation.

[@DarkinPunk]

I agree. Xehanort is the true hero of the franchise.

[@Xn7000]

It's interesting how he, and the Fairy Godmother, are the only two individuals in the series up to this point that have even attempted to balance light and darkness. (Okay, maybe Terra, but that's an entirely separate argument.)

[@MatthiasPendragon]

@@Xn7000 Riku might also fit in that category. He is obviously on the side of light, but he has a remarkable control of his darkness. He might be the only character in the series who can actually keep his darkness in check, and actually use it effectively.

[@XanathosZero]

The presence of Terra and Aqua in Destiny Islands respectively is for bestowing the right of the Keyblade to Riku, and to tell Sora that if Riku fell to darkness to take care of helping him return to the light (which happened in KH1, as Riku fell to darkness and the ownership of the Keyblade passed to Sora, the purest heart around) In the case of Kairi, Aqua's spell allowed her heart not to be captured but rather to pass it to Sora to protect it (reason for all the other princesses hearts except hers to be captured)

[@Chronos341]

If anyone is interested Aqua's armor appears in a scene in KH2 (episode #28). Scene starts at 19:55 and ends with Zexion and Xigbar discussing Ventus in the "Chamber of Waking" worth rewatching if you ask me.

[@coastersplus]

Makes much more sense now. Tried to post a link but KZbin got mad at me, so I guess everyone will have to look that up for themselves.

[@alexivan8615]

YES 👍 Veryy worthwhile. .. However. U may want to play at double speed til 22:25 its that super long stair walk scene 😶

[@supersonic776]

Then Disney legal came in XD

[@TamTroll]

thank you Carrie for editing down what i can only assume was a 2-3 hour recording into an an hour and a half video!

[@rachelhahn2979]

33:00, Damn Riku, you really were just BORN to be the best-friend-with-a-redemption-arc-anti-hero, weren’t you?

[@jonathanfaber3291]

Okay you win KH you made me feel the feels with these characters. I'm not crying you're crying! Also hello to he finale, where the game trolls Dan for like 20 minutes

[@TheBoundFenrir]

20? it was 40 minutes of recording, and that's including a BUNCH of fight skips...he was probably trolled for a solid hour or hour-and-a-half...

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

@@TheBoundFenrir I've played the secret ending. It's less than an hour.

[@thegustbag]

By the end of this series I fully believe EVERYONE'S heart to piggyback off of Sora's heart for a grand finale. I swear, Sora is KH's Jesus.

[@coastersplus]

Pitch: A KH game where Sora gets possessed or something and then collects every Princess of Light's heart, then someone tries to free him with a keyblade and creates a whole bunch of Disney Princess Nobodies for some reason: Axelic, Lelxeb, Wonxs, Namijexs, Inxderellac, Aroxrau...

[@TheBoundFenrir]

@@coastersplus Well, but the X-in-the-name is specific to Org XIII members: Namine's name seems to be wholy original and independent, even though she worked with Org XIII and so would quite likely have gotten her name from them, like how Roxas did.

[@timothymclean]

@@TheBoundFenrir Yeah, but there aren't any fun quasi-anagram rules for non-O13 Nobodies.

[@coastersplus]

I think I read somewhere that Kairi meant sea and Namine meant sea foam. So running of of vaguely related words (in English since I don't speak Japanese): Bob, Clocke, Sleet Gray, Chai, Emberella, and Borealis ... I think the X's worked slightly better

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

Well, it explains why his dad(who supposedly came to get them from the island) is invisible.

[@rmsgrey]

Who's where: - Ventus's body is in the Chamber of Waking in CO, where the Organization has searched for it without finding it. His heart is resting inside Sora. Aside from a question mark over his location during Days (with Roxas or with Sora) he's been with Sora ever since. - Aqua's in the Realm of Darkness. 0.2 is her story, though, as has been shown, some time after KH2, she and Ansem the Wise are together at the Dark Margin. - Terra's a bit more of a mess. His armour, in the form of Lingering Will, haunts the Keyblade Graveyard. His body, possessed by Xehanort, serves as Ansem's apprentice, apparently with no memory beyond the name Xehanort, eventually leading the other apprentices to overthrow and banish Ansem, before taking the name Ansem for himself, and discovering (or remembering) a way to separate heart from body to become Heartless and Nobody. Following that, Terra-Xehanort's Heartless (which definitely has Xehanort's heart, and may or may not have Terra's) keeps the name Ansem, and is the ultimate villain of KH1, behind Maleficent and her band of Disney Villains. The Nobody, Xemnas, formed from Terra's body, but Xehanort's mind, founds Organization XIII and is the villain of KH2. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, also has a mysterious Guardian, first manifested when Terra-Xehanort fought Aqua in the first bonus episode. When it comes to Disney trivia, Dream Drop Distance has several new Disney worlds to share trivia about. Back Cover has no Disney content. 0.2 does have Disney worlds (kinda), but they're returning worlds from BBS. X/UX has plenty of Disney worlds in gameplay, but not a lot in the story cutscenes (I can think of one scene set in a Disney world off the top of my head, and a second that might well be). KH3 introduces some Disney worlds for movies that either didn't exist or weren't yet Disney properties back when KH2 came out...

[@1protun1]

Thanks Carrie.

[@rmsgrey]

So say we all

[@asrieldreemurr1988]

@@rmsgrey exelscior

[@Namadu7]

48:14 Shimomura deserves a lot of credit, but she hasn't been doing it herself! She did do *most* of the music, but ever since Birth by Sleep, Takeharu Ishimoto and Tsuyoshi Sekito have been on board. Ishimoto is known for The World Ends With You, and Sekito for being part of The Black Mages as well as composing for various Final Fantasy games and Advent Children (though I best remember his work on Brave Fencer Musashi).

[@bookfan1239]

21:00 Me: *hears distant screaming* Yeah, same. 26:58 What is this, Jojo’s?! Terra’s a stand user now, I guess.

[@daracaex]

Dream Drop Distance off the rails? Really Dan, I don't know how much more complicated it can get. It's not like there's time travel in this series or anything. ...Oh.

[@finnyfinn27]

I really genuinely have watched every episode and I still don't understand what's happened. Dont tell me theres time travel

[@daracaex]

@@finnyfinn27 Ok, I won't.

[@AoiAesuithiel]

33:08 Sora's response to Riku actually giving him good advice 😂 They are adorable.

[@eliavrad2845]

I thought aqua's magic on kairi was the reason for the whole "disappear into sora's heart"

[@aradraugfea]

That was my reading.

[@seanrea550]

Some aspect af that may have been the star fruit as well.

[@aradraugfea]

They never actually ate the Star Fruit together, though. Wanted to, talked about it, never did it. Also, if you read the exact wording of Aqua's blessing while thinking about the early events of KH1, it's pretty heavy post-shadowing.

[@coastersplus]

I kind of hate whenever these games force some character name dropping the title. Though KH2 would probably be improved by Xemnas saying "Look at what we've created. A second Kingdom Hearts. A Kingdom Hearts.... 2!" because I'll listen to that voice saying anything.

[@timothymclean]

I only hate it when it doesn't make sense. If the writers manage to include a title that fits seamlessly into the dialogue, sweet, it was probably the right title. If the writers give the story a title that _doesn't_ fit neatly into dialogue, or worse, if they give it a title that doesn't make much sense anywhere...

[@AM-we1es]

@@timothymclean so what do you think of this one?

[@timothymclean]

@@AM-we1es I'm not sure how "birth by sleep" fits either the situation Ansem was describing or the game as a whole.

[@VGInterviews]

@@timothymclean well, when hearts are damaged or lost either from people like Ventus, or worlds like we learn in DDD the body tends to get into that hybernation state so "asleep" so waking those sleeping hearts could be like a rebirth, so the first step into that new birth, is sleep (either damaged hearts or hearts trapped in darkness, like Ansem and Aqua)

[@aliyahshoulders60]

Dark Terra speaks, " Why? What is still your reason to fight on?". He continues, "Terra, your brother, is gone his body is mine now". Aqua replies, " I need to punish Terra for one the lost of our childhood home, but mostly for the lost my stuff animal collection". "Please, don't let Aqua rescue me you don't know what she capable of!", said Terra.

[@samuelturner6076]

38:18 - Terra-Nort has big amnesia, which is useful for the entire KH universe because if he didn’t then game over man, the knowledge to destroy the world in a well trained body with no other heroes to oppose him, Nort would breeze though his plans. All Terra-Nort remembers are a name (Xehanort) which he takes for himself, the longing to seek other worlds from Xehanort’s life, and a hazy bond to Aqua and Ven, that’s why he’s constantly looking for anything related to them. Terra at this point is amnesiac and taken over by Xehanort, so yes technically Terra will be back because of the defeat of Ansem SOD and Xemnas, but the one pulling the strings will be Xehanort. (Or I’d assume, I haven’t finished KH3 but I doubt that defeating them will make Terra Terra again).

[@Mozumin]

There ARE some optional bosses left TECHNICALLY but I think this should do it for BBS. Just to let ya know.

[@lucianodebenedictis6014]

Are there somewhat meaningful cutscenes after that?

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

@@lucianodebenedictis6014 Nah. And only one optional boss has any story significance, much like Terra's Armor in KH2.

[@patdes19]

honestly i find that realm of darkness part was better than most of the disney worlds simply due to verticality in the world

[@ciary]

Thank you carrie!!!! Also, while I'm not super stoked on long episodes, I do enjoy following the whole playthrough so I don't mind that much ^_^ Thank you Dan for giving us the full experience of what it is like to finish a kingdom hearts game "Ya Done! ... oh no wait ... NOW Ya Done! ... no? ... now? .... now then? ... is this ever gonna end?"

[@SlackwareNVM]

26:35 Woah, Master Aqua indeed, Destroyer of Worlds

[@damrod]

Just time travel you say? Sure, lets forget the dimensional traveling that also got added in besides just the time traveling...

[@raupy_prince]

loved this chunky episode! the Blank Points ending where everyone hopes for Sora always gets me close to tears... thanks for sticking with this series, both of you! you don't know how comforting it feels to watch

[@Kram1032]

53:31 I think this arguably also explains why Sora got a key blade. He didn't touch Ventus' key blade, but with Ventus' heart, he probably got a similar effect going on.

[@christianschmid1440]

I just thought of something, concerning your question from last time. (And I pretty sure a lot of people thought of the same thing before, so i do not take credits for it). About this camera shot which moves towards the sky -> Sora means 'Sky'. Think about the dialog Riku and Sora had standing on the beach, about this 'all are connected by a one big sky' this pretty much describes what Sora does to all of the,. He travels the worlds and connect them by touching their hearts. Maybe showing the sky somewhat references Sora?

[@VoilaTadaOfficial]

It does but it's also a Japanese cultural thing. I forget the word for it, but there's a single word in Japanese for moments where one takes some time to think things over seriously and with a large amount of introspection to try and find out what those somethings may mean to themselves.

[@timothymclean]

15:00: Jog my memory, did that stated lust for power manifest itself in any way beyond studying under Master Xehanort? 26:36: ...Did Aqua just DDR Xehanort to death? Erm, transformation? 31:50: How is this place worse than the darkness-places you've been Key-whatever-that-is-ing through this entire time? Sure, Terra's going to suffer from not having armor, but that just means _he'd_ be lost, not _both_ of you...did you give Terra your Keyblade Armor somehow? And did you give _Xehanort_ your Keyblade? 35:15: Wait, didn't you give your Keyblade and Keyblade armor to Xehanort? Did it just poof out of Radiant Garden and into the Shadow Realm? And is it just me, or does it look like those Heartlesses were attracted to the one thing that can destroy them? 36:00: Wait, are Keyblades just part of the Shadow Realm wildlife? Is each world's Keyblade a different species of Keyblade that people capture to be the best there ever was? Are the Keyblade Wielders just Pokemon trainers? Why didn't Eraqus set up a contest to catch them as his real test? ...Okay, most of those are just jokes, but seriously, _what?_ 40:10: I bet it was Luxord. 1:03:55: _How do you know who he is?_ Okay, Ven makes sense, he's been sleeping inside him for a while, but Terra? Also, why isn't Terra possessed by Xehanort? 1:11:50: ...What did Dan think that would accomplish? "I'll set up mines outside this stationary swirly darkness thing! As soon as it steps foreward, it'll be blown to smithereens! Brilliant!" 35:55: On one hand, it's nice that just quietly giving into death without even considering alternative solutions is framed in a negative light for once. On the other hand, _why is that enough to be a positive?_ It seems like it should just be basic human decency, but KH has established a trend of characters quietly going into the night for stupid excuses. Ugh. _Why is death always the solution people try to go with?_ That's easily the biggest problem I have with this series, and not just because it's at the core of why I hate Ansem and Master Eraqus. As I think I've mentioned a couple of times , I've struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts, and it's _really_ hard for me not to view people deciding they should die through that lens, _especially_ when they seem so drained leading up to that decision. Speaking of Ansem... 1:01:50: I'm kind of interested to hear who you're thinking of. I hope it includes Roxas, Xion, and Axel, but I'm not getting my hopes up. 3:14: That detail-Xehanort suggesting the Mark of Mastery-has all sorts of new implications, now that we've seen the path that lead Terra down. 5:30: Wait, was Deep Space one of those worlds-in-the-World? How does that work? Or do spaceships fly through the Lanes Between? Is Gantu's ship taking a hyperspace shortcut through Kingdom Hearts? 14:00: Those Islands were well-named. What's next, Mickey was a normal mouse on the Destiny Islands before getting mutated by some sewer ooe in Twilight Town? 20:40: "All who visit this land will be lost to oblivion...except Nobodies, they come and go without any real issues. And anyone who sleeps in those weird eggs on the top floor. You know, maybe we should just bet on nobody finding this place." 22:50: How about "You can only use it for one boss fight"? 32:40: When did a were-expositor bite Riku? 39:30: Wait, crap, didn't Castle Oblivion fall apart at some point? What happened to Ventus? (Or am I confusing it with some other castle that was destroyed in some climax?) 42:42: Dang, Carrie beat me to it. 49:10: Wait, how do Mickey's positions as King and Keyblade-padawan intersect? ...Probably not much, given how rarely he does king stuff... 1:09:20: I would have suggested adding a post-commentary outro and splitting this into a Finale and an Epilogue, but this works. 1:17:00: "We are the Secret Gems; we keep Darkness at bay. And if you look for us, we'll always hide away." 1:29:10: Maybe you need save data for a bonus thingamabobber in one of the later KH games on the same console? 10:45: "But only Sith deal in absolutes! That's not possible!" "Search your heart, you know it to be true." "Do you mean my literal Heart, or is that a metaphor?" "When you say 'literal heart,' do you mean the physical or metaphysical one?"

[@callowguru2611]

She's using Master Eraqus's blade. Hers is gone with Terra. You actually can't switch off of the Master's Defender in the secret chapter. The save data is for updating the timeline and data in the Trinity Archives. That's about it.

[@callowguru2611]

Also re: her talking about fading into darkness, it's implied pretty heavily that being in the realm of darkness with no armor really wears on your mental state. I don't think it's unreasonable that after a long enough time, people would get close to giving up. Even that one reminder of her friends, with Terra and Ven's keyblades flying by to save her, was enough to give her the strength to keep going.

[@rmsgrey]

Terra kept failing to learn the lesson that sometimes it's okay to accept being beaten if the alternative is to reach for dark power (to be fair, the series as a whole is a bit inconsistent on that) - like when his response to a lecture about how it's okay to lose sometimes was "I promise I won't fail you"... The metaphysics of the lanes between aren't entirely clear - one possibility is that it's more fallout from the original Keyblade War - that that conflict flooded the Realm of Light with Darkness, and the worlds are the surviving sparks of Light in the vast sea of Darkness that didn't used to be there. At any rate, whatever you call it, Gummi Space, or the Lanes Between, or Corridors of Darkness, traveling unprotected through the Realm of Light and/or Realm Between means being exposed to Darkness, which is generally corruptive. Meanwhile, the Realm of Darkness is where Darkness belongs - a realm with little light (or Light) and not a lot of form or substance. Somewhere in the deepest depths of the Darkness, the true Kingdom Hearts supposedly resides, and when people or worlds fall to the Darkness, their hearts enter the Realm of Darkness - when a world falls, that's also one of the few times it's possible to enter or leave the Realm of Darkness (and that's probably what we saw in the Secret Episode - what it looks like in the Realm of Darkness when a world falls). That also explains why Ven's and Terra's Keyblades could come to Aqua's aid - their hearts (particularly Terra's) were in the Realm of Darkness. As for Castle Oblivion, I suspect Eraqus was speaking in excessively poetic language in order to get the name-drop in. The way it seems to work is that, rather than seeing the true structure, instead what people find when they explore the Castle is illusions based on their own memories (Sora losing his memories is adequately explained by Namine's interference, which also avoids having to explain why Riku, Mickey, DiZ, and the Nobodies weren't affected). My working theory prior to KH3 was that Aqua would be the only person capable of finding the Chamber of Waking because she was the only person who had memories of it in order for it to appear.

[@Overhazard]

Regarding Heartless and the Keyblade: Early on into the first game, it was established that the Heartless deliberately seek out Keyblade wielders to try to get rid of them. I think it's because they're the only ones able to stop them, but I forget. As for Deep Space, it looks like this is a separate but related concept to the Darkness in between worlds. Deep Space appears to be a world in and of itself but one that can be traversed in the same way as the Darkness. As a result, the Wayfinder Trio can use their vehicles and armor to travel through space, and Stitch can use his spaceship to wander between worlds. (This may be one reason a world based on Treasure Planet or Star Wars might not work--but their characters could still make cameo appearances in other worlds.)

[@isaacseavello6708]

Timothy McLean I hope you know I specifically search for your comment on every video because I enjoy your commentary

[@mr.fluffyface431]

"Dream Drop Distance is when the story really starts going off the rails" Wait wait wait... you mean this has still been on the rails this whole time?

[@Kitashi1618]

“Long dang episodes”? My favorite! :D This has been so much fun to watch! Thank you for doing all of this! Even for people who have played nearly all of the games (like myself), this has been a blast to watch. Dan & Carrie, you both are the best ^^

[@puddingball]

I'm so glad that you're doing this out of passion and not stopping it because of the little amount of views. I so enjoy every episode and really (re) living all of these experiences

[@DennerBob]

That really just kept going, more false endings than Return of the King. Many thanks to Carrie for her excellent editing!

[@liamwhite3522]

Here's a fun thought experiment: Nobodies are the body and will of the somebody they were. Terranort, who becomes Ansem SOD and Xemnas, is Terra body, but Xehanort heart and will. So Xemnas is as unique as Namine, where Namine is a fusion of sora and kairi stuff, and Xemnas is a fusion of Terra and Xemnas.

[@Valtharr]

12:05 Oh! That's very important, considering a certain revelation in KH 3...

[@pegasBaO23]

It's my fault for wandering the comments, but uhh spoilers! From this comment and bit of logical consistency (may not be right to apply to KH) I gather that: this special gift is used to rid Terra's heart of Xehanort.

[@GeminiTasiri]

@@pegasBaO23 I can put you at ease there, this is nothing relating to Terra. And it's not really that much of a spoiler anyhow considering you've already seen Xehanort using this gift to body-snatch Terra in the first place. And you've seen Sora use it to free Kairi's heart in KH1. This just makes it clear that all Keyblade wielders can use this, it's not tied to certain keyblades. (The fandom originally thought only Ansem-Riku's keyblade had this special ability)

[@jon9828]

45:55 I want you to know that I've never facepalmed as hard as when I heard "time travel is introduced" in relation to KH story. The only way I've seen it work is when it's the central point of the story (hello Stein's gate). To introduce into a story that is ALREADY HARD TO FOLLOW makes my, and a lot of others', head spin.

[@ThelemaAndLouise]

I think the blessing on Kairi was meant to explain how she ended up in Sora's heart along with literally everyone and everything else

[@JereduLevenin]

Honestly, if you think about it... the Guardian (that beefy heartless that Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, likes to summon to whack you) is TERRA'S heartless. And Lingering WILL is TERRA'S Nobody. Nobodies are created from people with strong WILLS who lost their hearts, and their form is shaped by the will and the body (and most of them like Dusks don't even look human!). Since, Namine has proven to us that a Nobody is created when a heart gets yeeted out of a body, regardless of the ownership of the body...

[@liamwhite3522]

Aqua: I'm going to sacrifice myself and save the main villain of the series. What could possibly go wrong?

[@timothymclean]

I've never understood why people criticize Aqua until now. I mean, I get that she was trying to save Terra, but...that seems like a good situation to assume he'd want you to save yourself, you know?

[@bdk336]

So Sora is basically a metaphysical safety deposit box.

[@FeyDarkwood]

I have to say, I Always look forward to the readings of the full reports.

[@Klex2603]

Thank you for the edit Carrie!!! And your inserts always make me laugh. I look forward to the return of Story Mode later.

[@mysterchick1689]

No optional boss fights? :( Also, Dan, I highly, HIGHLY, suggest you include Union Cross in Story Mode. Back Cover does not cover all of the content, although UX's story is still being updated.

[@struanpeat5116]

Honestly i think they'll drag UX story out for another few years at least, a whole decade if people let them

[@rmsgrey]

@@struanpeat5116 Maybe. I suspect the main reason for having dragged UX out was so that they could time certain reveals around KH3 - it wouldn't surprise me if UX ends with the reveal of Scala ad Caelum, something happening to the current Union Leaders, and maybe, though possibly not, a brief reappearance by the Foretellers.

[@timothymclean]

@@rmsgrey I imagine it was more like "People are still playing Union Cross...hey, I bet we could integrate some lore reveals with the launch of our new game somehow! That sounds _awesome!"_

[@rmsgrey]

@@timothymclean However it happened, Back Cover actually covers most of what you need for KH3 - there's a reference to the hidden history of the key (or some such) that appears to make more sense if you've followed UX, and there's a link between two characters in KH3 that's only confirmed in the ending, but if you aren't aware of UX, would be a shock. Other than that, the characters who might otherwise tie things back to UX are either suffering from convenient amnesia, or keeping things secret. Or, of course, there's that one big (but missable) mystery that a lot of people think ties back to UX in the obvious way, and the one mystery that also probably ties back to UX but exactly how has yet to be confirmed... So whatever the process behind it, recent UX details are mostly gen 5 plot. By my reckoning, gen 1 is KH1; gen 2 is CoM and KH2; gen 3 is Days, coded and BBS; gen 4 is DDD, 0.2, X/Back Cover and KH3; gen 5 is whatever comes next after KH3.

[@jon9828]

Clearly the concept of spin-off does not exist in KH. If it did the plot might actually be easy to follow since it would have to practice restraint. It wouldn't sprawl uncontrollably onto a dozen different platforms and into equally many unresolved and/or poorly explained plot points. I do not go to KH for plot, I go to KH for the earnest character moments that make me smile, cry and laugh. Sometimes all at once. Watched a video on UX btw. I think I learned most of the necessary context and I feel no need or want to play it. Like ever. Mobile gatcha games, miss me with that thanks. Edit: Some typos and sentence structure.

[@pyrosianheir]

51:00 Wait... I haven't seen this before.... *gasp* I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS BEFORE!! WHOO!! And literally everything after it is new to me, too! Sweet! 1:06:25 - Given that that scene was setting up Dream Drop's start? No, no she isn't. She's not remotely ready to do... What they're about to do (is how I'm choosing to say it to avoid spoiling things for the others in the comments).

[@RiddleAnim]

27:19 "Ow. What happened?" The Guardian just SUPLEXED YOU. Like a goddamned Deathclaw.

[@maby191]

The realm of darkness is kind of reminiscent of something from dark souls. When those four giant heartless appeared I was half expecting to see a four kings boss health bar show up at the bottom.

[@pegasBaO23]

Since I'm watching Bleach, to me it also reminds me of Hueco Mundo, which for intends and purposes serves the same purpouse

[@kneau]

I find both your comments amusing due to the fact “going hollow” exists within both Dark Souls & Bleach.

[@callowguru2611]

Re: Secret Episode. This is why I suggested you play on Proud.

[@bwminich]

I love the song that plays during the reports/in the Keyblade Graveyard. It's so somber and sad and grand, perfect for the Keyblade Graveyard.

[@pegasBaO23]

Thank you Carry for editing, also Aqua is indeed awesome!

[@almostirrelevant9181]

Edit for spelling 51:56 Am I seeing this wrong, or did Ventus just become part of Sora’s heart?

[@DisneyLover258]

That is exactly what happened. Ventus was the first heart to be sucked into the cage that is Sora's heart. Then Kairi, then Xion, then Roxas...it's pretty crowded in there.

[@Valtharr]

this good boy can fit so many hearts in him

[@callowguru2611]

@@Valtharr omg lol

[@rmsgrey]

Ventus's heart now sleeps inside Sora. It's not exactly part of his heart, but it's not exactly separate from it either.

[@optimus2200]

Thanx editor wifu for editing a plot twist within a plot twist of a secret within a secret inside another secret XD and wowzy ..... why let that moment where ven goes inside sora be in a secret ending ? something so pivotal about how sora got a keyblade and roxis and xion hidden like that ?

[@timothymclean]

So pivotal that it doesn't make much sense to keep hidden...and also so straightforward that it doesn't make for much of a reveal.

[@SlackwareNVM]

Dan, thank you for keeping this all one video. It would feel awful to split the ending in parts.

[@sannaenmark9300]

Thank you so much for editing this Carrie! Cant imagine how long this would be otherwise

[@jordanbrown8662]

Bless Carrie for doing the editing for this one, with all of its additional surprises.

[@jon9828]

41:25 hol up a second. The voice credits have a credit for Roxas. When did he appear in BBS? Also, everything's connected by one big SKY, Riku?? As in, one big SORA like you would say in Japanese? Real sneaky there Riku. Something else I've been wondering. Does Riku mean something earth related in Japanese? Last time I checked Sora means sky and Kairi means ocean. It would really hammer home the parallel between the two trios.

[@lemmingrad]

1:02:53 - Here is where Roxas appears in BBS. That’s it. Basically the voice credit appears before the post-credit.

[@qwerty77772]

I give all my thanks to Carrie for the editing. Really thought this would be split in two. Please tackle the superbosses! This game is tied with KH2 for hardest optional fights.

[@fionnagatechronicler1088]

"Y'all still awake?" How can I not be! I look forward to the report readings every game! ☺️ Aside for the opening cinematic it's my favorite part!

[@startracings]

So I know you mentioned Back Cover, are you planning on only including that, or finding some way to include Union / Union Cross, the browser / mobile game? I'm sure there are story summaries around you could include, or do like Days and see about collecting others' footage of it. But it does have at least some impact on the story as a whole, particularly in 3. ( Not going to say how, but it does. )

[@justinshullick6872]

Especially because Back Cover doesn’t cover much of the actual story of Union Cross and is more of a companion to it.

[@startracings]

@@justinshullick6872 Exactly, there's info in it that comes up that isn't in Back Cover. It's great to integrate so much, and to let those who played those installments feel validation, but boy does it make this kind of endeavor very difficult. Hopefully a plan can be made- I'd wager it'll be a condensation of some kind, there's a lot of fluff in the early stuff of UX.

[@Mikesean45]

To be fair, you basically just need the gist of KHUX to get Back Cover, you don't need to go through the whole game. Especially since the story isn't even finished yet.

[@startracings]

@@Mikesean45 Yeah. It's why I assume that a summary would be best. The main stuff doesn't even really happen until what, mission 330? I'm only 130 in and there hasn't been a lot of what I'd call "story" content. That wouldn't exactly make great Story Mode content.

[@Mikesean45]

@@startracings Yeah, somewhere in the 300s. Though now they let you have a bunch of powerful medals from the get-go. And they let you skip missions without cutscenes now to help people catch up. (I played all 900-something missions. Don't be like me. Skip the missions when they let you.)

[@Overhazard]

Wow, those Darksides of ten years ago were really weak. One hit form a Keyblade kills them. I guess Aqua didn't need to worry about them after all. "And someone decided it was real fun playing cards there." Considering Organization XIII would come to control Castle Oblivion, I must wonder which one was responsible for everything becoming card-based... Corey Burton became the stand-in for Ansem the Wise, huh? I believe Corey did a lot of miscellaneous voices for Disney and still does. I know he's been the voice of Professor Ludwig von Drake for a while. That guy ought to show up in a Kingdom Hearts game eventually. Aw, we don't get to see Experiment 626 land on Hawaii? So it looks like Sora is a heart hoarder. We can now confirm that at least at one point, Sora has his own heart in addition to that of Kairi and of Ventus. Whose other hearts did Sora carry at that point? Xehanort has no canines or molars in his jaws. They're all incisors. So does this mean those who wind up in the Realm of Darkness do not need to eat, or sleep, or emit waste products, or even age? It sounds like Ansem the Wise has been in the Realm of Darkness for at least a year, which means Aqua has been traveling it for 11 years, and yet she looks exactly the same. With everyone saying Sora's name, and them cutting to Sora, I thought he was going to say his own name too. That last boss at the very end looks awfully familiar.

[@superfiver]

Seeing all these fake out endings and Dan falling victim over and over again is the best! lol

[@yakurbe7039]

Question, Was Ventus a 'princess of heart' during his story line? Cause he had a heart devoid of darkness. Could Xehanort have unlocked a kingdom hearts by finding 7 randos and splitting them into light and dark? damn Aqua is op

[@the11382]

During an earlier episode, Vanitas implied that Aqua is capable of forging the X-blade. This was in radiant garden during Aqua's run, I think?

[@MatthiasPendragon]

"Eraqus, you sly fox." No spoilers for KH3, just a word of advice for those playing along at home. I just recently beat KH3, and going back and watching this series has cleared up a LOT of things. Basically, all these dominoes they are setting up here matter, and this game is insanely important for the future of the series. So take notes. Also, thanks Carrie! The super long episode is appreciated.

[@kazarisato5607]

Kingdom Hearts is a lot of things. Simple and Clean isn’t one of them.

[@DragonxFlutter]

I think it's rather fitting to be over-leveled for this fight. Just goes to reinforce how powerful Xehanort really became while using Terra's body.

[@almostirrelevant9181]

Okay, I’ve accepted a lot of things that don’t make complete sense in this story, but what the heck was that whole ending. What the actual heck was that ending! I’m so confused. All the pieces of information we were given and I somehow understand even less.

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

Simply put, Sora has to rescue a lot of people.

[@Ninjinhah]

Oh no! Dan, you've missed some secret bosses!! I think there's one in the Keyblade, and the most important one waits at the Land of Departure (prior to being turned into Castle Oblivion) I BELIEVE you can face them with any of your character in their original, completed save files... However, I won't judge you just give up after a few tries - for me, one of those guys is tougher than Lingering Will!! :o

[@Dot-yj9tj]

Oh no! Someone should tell Zack what happened to Aqua! .... Oh, right. Oh no! Aqua will never find out what happened to Zack!

[@timothymclean]

I bet it would be a bit cathartic for her. Not as much as if it happened to Phil, of course.

[@tzisorey]

"Well, that's it for this..... _what?!"_

[@Lukz243]

1 hour and a half of finale of Birth by sleep after Cuphead on the Switch trailer, I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER THAN NOW

[@liamwhite3522]

Wasn't that already announced? Has that jar lady playable.

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

Well, that "friends" montage took, like, 45 seconds.

[@JanceSoltero]

1:18:45 MEGA FIGHT SKIP!🤩🫨

[@ijl007]

Going on this KH journey has been really fun but this has definitely been the most fun game so far. The story, characters, the execution of the build up from previous games. Its been super cool to see. With 358/2 Days being second favorite so far in terms of story.👍

[@oakenshadow6763]

There can not be darkness without light. And the keyblade users of the past are no slouches. 36:00 "Then Dream Drop Distance." No. I'm just going to watch ti now. I'm a few years behind you. >XD 43:58 That is so sweet. 57:38

[@julieheinz9067]

Ahhhh watching this just makes me want to write "Happily Ever After" fan fiction Terra and Aqua but money is preventing me from playing KH3...oh, by the way, have I mentioned that I ship Terra and Aqua like FedEx? Because I now I ship them EVEN MOOOORE

[@Artista_Frustrado]

-I forgot the extra long playable trailer for the surprisingly long tech demo of KH3's engine was there (but yeah BBS Volume 2 is the Fragmentary Passage demo) -Thanks, Carrie, you're a fantastic editor & you did a great job

[@Artista_Frustrado]

Sekiro is gonna be hype

[@haryesidur]

Hey Dan, 0.2 Birth by Sleep a Fragmentary Passage comes with a sort of recap of events up to KH1 in it and also continues Aqua's storyline from where you left it in this game. It connects so well I was surprised you weren't going to do that next after this one as it's basically a very short game that adds into this one so well.

[@ndJssFlurt]

31:38 Did Aqua die?

[@jjstarA113]

I have had lengthy nightmares that play out similarly to this game's 17,000 endings. The bizarre, endless nature of it all; that scarier-than-usual Realm of Darkness boss; that loud, abrupt teaser for Birth by Sleep 2.0 that caps it all off - this finale was a fever dream.

[@shadeknight6537]

I feel so bad for Aqua. She's the most competent of the Wayfinder Trio, and her apprentice is the word "useless" personified as a human being.

[@timothymclean]

If only Aqua blessed her with main character status instead of the ability to hide in other characters for games at a time.

[@theophrastusbombastus8019]

The only explanation to the staggered start of timelines of Ven after Terra and Aqua after Ven is that the armoring up which edited for us takes only seconds is in reality an half day process.

[@hadriennogueira3726]

Maybe aqua's glider is just real slow

[@theophrastusbombastus8019]

@@hadriennogueira3726 Or there are space road rules that Terra ignores and Aqua of course follows strictly.

[@unversedhero6028]

Time is relative, each world has its own set of rules and time doesn't flow the same in all of them.

[@callowguru2611]

@@theophrastusbombastus8019 I like this

[@samuelturner6076]

The timeline isn’t wrong, the size of each chunk isn’t an exact representation of how long they spent in there, its meant to show when they got to each world and when they left. So it clearly shows Terra left first, then Ventus, then Aqua.

[@supersonic776]

I really enjoyed the extra long episode! Thanks, Carrie and Dan!

[@llamapajamas821]

Been watching the entire series as a companion show alongside my play through of the PS4 all in one package prior to Kh3. Loving it, gotta be the best KH play through on KZbin for sure! Onto DDD!

[@fisherdotogg]

The Kairi necklace charm retcon to me seems to be trying to explain why Kairi vanished into Sora when she was killed by heartless in KH1

[@ThePortableTornado]

Shit... I never found this ENTIRE SECTION OF THE GAME when I played it last. No wonder I had no clue what was going on with Aqua and all of them.

[@darter9000]

Kind of weird that Master Yensid’s place has never seemed to be critically compromised, yet it seems to never be brought up as a safe haven...

[@unversedhero6028]

The tower moves from place to place so it isn't an easy place to find.

[@vel0xraperio]

Also, Unversed, Heartless, and Nobodies appear inside and around it in every game it appears in. Maybe it's not as safe as it seems.

[@unversedhero6028]

@@vel0xraperio They can appear everywhere, Yen Did can just use his magic to banish them anytime he wants.

[@darter9000]

Unversed Hero Still... can’t be any harder than Castle Oblivion and the Organization XIII crawling all over it. I haven’t seen any indication that Org XIII has special ability to detect Ven and is exploring the Castle Oblivion because that is where they concluded Ven would be

[@unversedhero6028]

@@darter9000 They only know that Castle Oblivion has a secret, Xemnas being Terra-norts nobody knows that Castle Oblivion is where the Land of Departure should be. So if he goes there and sees the world changed into something new, wouldn't you think he would conclude that something might have been hidden there for the world to be changed so much? Or maybe, he was just looking for the Land of Departure itself and how to change it back. The only one who ever mentions or at least hints at the possibility of Ventus being inside of Castle Oblivion was Xigbar and he only did that to mess with the members of the Organization. I won't say anymore to avoid possible KH3 spoilers. Also, Yen Sid was a Keyblade Master AND a Master Magician, just how powerful do you think he currently is? He could easily escape from the Organization without trying.

[@timothystamm3200]

After Dream Drop Distance is X, Union Xross, and Fragmentary Passage. Back Cover is a highly imperfect summation and addition to X. I would recommend Damo's summary for X and Union Xross. I find it with a search of Kingdom Heats X's story explained.

[@FalkaRiannon]

So the conclusion of BBS is "daoism bad" and Keyblade wielders are Vampires? Not what I was expecting.

[@NotaWalrus1]

Thank you Carrie for editing it.

[@starlight_circuitry]

Good for Aqua, finally owning her Masterhood! Go Aqua!!! I can't believe she singlehandedly cleared the entire Realm of Darkness of heartless. Also I got to play a little of KH3 at GDC yesterday (no ps4 at home :( ) and it really feels like they've been upping the spectacle, which I am absoLUTELY for. I can't wait till I get a ps4 and get to do all of that flashy bullsh!t Aqua's always doing, it looks like so much fun.

[@fionnagatechronicler1088]

I have to say, there's something beautiful about them using the song that played when Sora faught that big heartless when the islands were being destroyed (and in his dream at the beginning) here in this fight. It's hard to explain why, but it's still oddly beautiful. Almost poetic. ...Or I could just be overthinking it. But whatever. I like it!

[@Ninjinhah]

55:50 this is relevant at the very end of KH3

[@yingosensei]

Aqua's blessing on Kairi makes her a keyblade wielder just as Terra's blessing on Riku.

[@timothymclean]

If only Aqua had given Kairi a blessing that made her a main character...then maybe she could _do_ something with the friggin' key.

[@samuelturner6076]

Nope, Kairi got the Keyblade upon touching Aqua’s Keyblade, it was “through the simple act of taking” not the blessing.

[@callowguru2611]

I always assumed the blessing was what let her nestle into Sora's heart.

[@samuelturner6076]

callow Guru Yep, that’s right I think, but I know for sure it’s definitely not the blessing that gave her the Keyblade.

[@amateurgoldfish523]

Thanks for editing Carrie!

[@brockmckelvey7327]

I normally watch these at 1.5x speed, but as soon as Simple and Clean started I immediately had to bring it back to normal. Sped it back up after the credits, because I certainly don't have time for everything at normal speed.

[@0MidnighttheDragon0]

"Ah. Nargacouga is here!" ...Dan, I love you XD

[@DisneyLover258]

1:15:50 ZETTA FIGHT SKIP!

[@soulpiece1]

I was honestly surprised you didn’t knew about the secret episode haha. It was added to the final mix version of BBS

[@capterson4]

I think the Aqua thing was to explain why her heart went to Sora in KH1.

[@liamwhite3522]

Aqua's spell guided Kairi to Destiny Island when she was thrown out into the lanes between. It might also have made the heart thing happen.

[@timothymclean]

Why did they feel the need to explain that but not how Kairi turned a Heartless into Sora? Is that just a Princess of Heart thing? Why don't they do it more often?