Understanding Kingdom Hearts (and every other story) | Unraveled

Everyone wants to get caught up on Kingdom Hearts' story before the new game comes out. But Brian David Gilbert will do you one better: he'll help you understand EVERY story.
Subscribe to our KZbin channel! goo.gl/D8prdf
Like us on Facebook: bit.ly/PolygonFB
Follow us on Twitter: bit.ly/PolygonTwitter
Follow us on Instagram: bit.ly/PolygonInsta
And for more gaming and entertainment coverage, visit www.polygon.com

[@mejmouse6407]

It’s funny how he said spoiler alert but I still have no idea what happens in Kingdom hearts

[@sevencats4964]

Same

[@daisysmart8874]

Same!

[@finnmarr-heenan2397]

IT doesn't improve when u okay them either

[@wc99man]

That just means you are caught up with the rest of us.

[@Rankurusu777]

You aren't really a part of the truest sense of the fandom unless you recognize that the next game won't be out until you're a great grandfather and that none of it makes sense but you still play it anyways.

[@Verikarma]

him going to the other wall and just casually revealing another conspiracy theory board is great

[@JV-the-Tossh]

And Clayton does a very good job of selling the "Okay I was not aware of this and it scares me"-face.

[@junothedragonslayer2997]

indeed it is

[@WanderingWaystrel]

Clayton’s face is priceless

[@mk0664]

@@JV-the-Tossh Not Clayton! Eh ooh ooh ooh ah! Not clayton!

[@JV-the-Tossh]

@@mk0664 pardon me if this seems blunt, but, from the bottom of my heart: ??

[@Chachoune963]

You know what they say: "If at first you don't succeed, develop an organization to trick a young boy into committing heartless genocide in order to create a new pseudo version of that great power." Words to live by, really.

[@edslushie570]

And then you fail again.

[@CatsMeow_]

My life motto

[@xxxLeromexxx]

I wondered why orochimarus plans sounded so familiar

[@auntvivienne8669]

Also the Uchiha Massacre in a nutshell

[@blueberryiswar]

That is Star Wars, essentially.

[@irishjet2687]

Between Dunkey, ProZD, and Brian David Gilbert, I feel like I've seen three amazingly talented creators give explanations of this series, and I still have no idea what any of it means.

[@SimonWolfie]

It appears to be designed this way.

[@nedcurfman3486]

The most coherent I’ve seen is Barry Kramer’s, and it still manages to break him by the end

[@S0RGEx]

All them plus the Starbomb song for me, still no fucking clue.

[@genericname2747]

The storyline is simple. Darkness Darkness Darkness Light Light BEES Darkness Keyblade Disney Darkness Anime *Donald Duck Gibberish* Goofy Heart Nobody Darkness

[@shadowbanningcommentssucks3551]

@@genericname2747 JelloApocalypse fan I see 🐝

[@debin1775]

I’m sure this video also fits the structure of the monomyth.

[@breadvelvet]

it seems to spend a lot of time on step 8, Enduring the Supreme Ordeal

[@loganisanerd5566]

Damn it I'm busy today and all I'm gonna do now is chart the this video (and potentially the rest) into the Hero's Journey...

[@RockmanRatix]

@@loganisanerd5566 Walking into the sea HAS to be "refusing the call"

[@MisterAppleEsq]

+@@markjordan1454 It looks like grey to me.

[@AbandonedVoid]

1. Normal World - Intro 2. Call to Action - Comments 3. Refusal of Action - Going over the story of Kingdom Hearts 1, and not the series as a whole 4. Meeting with the Mentor - The off-screen voice 5. Crossing the Threshold - Immediately caused by the off-screen voice, thrusting our protagonist down the rabbit hole 6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies - The constant bombardment of the subsequent games 7. Reaching the Innermost Cave - The Villain's Tridecagon 8. Supreme Ordeal - Piecing together the Villain's Tridecagon 9. Seizing the Sword - The Villain's Variable 10. The Road Back - Tying the Villain's Variable to the original Monomyth 11. Resurrection - Embracing both diagrams 12. Returning with the Elixir - Predicting the ending of Kingdom Hearts 3 Yep.

[@kumogate]

"Kairi will continue to not matter" ... your prediction came true. The story keeps 'saying' she matters but continues to fail to actually make her matter.

[@harizwain4969]

It is funny how she has her own cutscene but everything is to get close to axel...

[@solarprogeny6736]

Soriku is the real canon

[@EddieB-ready]

I'm just hoping they actually make her a badass good girl in whatever game's next.

[@billvolk4236]

@@harizwain4969 And then that ended up not mattering. That whole Sora/Kairi/Riku/Axel/Roxas love pentagram went fuck-all nowhere.

[@badflamer]

@@billvolk4236 i think you mean the sora/kairi/riku/axel/roxas/Isa/xion/yet-unnamed-girl-we're-supposed-to-believe-was-actually-part-of-isa-and-axel's-backstories-before-being-shoehorned-into-KH3's-dialogue love octagram? agreed though. Just one of many ways KH3 ended up wasting everyone's time, money, and expectations.

[@goatherder6166]

I finally get that ProZD “Aqua got norted” vine.

[@DeathnoteBB]

Congrats! :)

[@talongreenlee7704]

I legit thought he just made up those words to be confusing for comedic effect

[@Atellas]

"I want her to step on me!"

[@jakoblent4694]

@@Atellas "thats defenitivly dirty"

[@emilysmith2965]

“Those aren’t words; those are just sounds.”

[@robertchaney2704]

The most insane part of all this is that he actually made the story make more sense by explaining it from the villains perspective. Like I’ve had people try to explain the story to me as it’s presented in the games, but I never understood l. But by explaining everything from the villains perspective, since the villian is always one step ahead of the hero, it actually clarifies a lot

[@coleG112]

Truth. Having everything explained from Nort's POV is way easier than the time-jumping mess that is Sora's 7 variations lol

[@marioxzzz]

Yeah but the villain plan still made no sense

[@zephyrias]

@@marioxzzz im still confised about time travel. 😂🤷‍♀️ I need to finally finish 3 and watch the complete story if khux

[@jobhunter5090]

@@zephyrias time travel is easy. In kh time travel can change the future but not the past. Also beings with bodies can't time travel. So when each of the bodies die presumably ansem picks up their essence and takes them into the future where they possess a doll some guy made in chain of memories.

[@LoveisStoredInTheLain]

There’s actually a whole game from the perspective of a teenage Xehanort. He’s not really the villain though. There isn’t really a villain. Maleficent is there for a bit and then the rest of the game is a teenage boy going on a rampage because he went insane after realizing that his sister is dead. 10/10 the story begins with seven children getting murdered welcome to Kingdom Hearts

[@edboy484]

"Maybe the sword was a key the whole time, and when you stab someone with it, it unlocks their death"

[@Teadwin]

edboy484 how do i like a comment more than once

[@marys.9367]

ayyyy

[@eliwixson8863]

It’s a sword dude, it’s not a fucking fighter jet. What’s so hard about swish swish stab?

[@danielrabinovitz478]

I can't like this because it's at 666

[@Loreleil]

You have combined by 2 great loves. BDG and RVB. Thank you

[@fidget0227]

How this video incapsulates the Monomyth geniusly: 1. Introduction to the ordinary world: BDG starts with a very tradition video intro. 2. Call to action: BDG cites certain comments that challenge him to explain Kingdom Hearts. 3. Refusal of the call: BDG arrogantly saying that such a task is too easy. 4. Mentor: BDG cites Campbell’s Monomyth as a source and derives the structure of the video from his work. 5. Crossing the threshold: Smash cuts to the clock in the wall. BDG begins explaining the 12 stages. 6. Tests, allies, and enemies: Pat comes in and makes Brian add several separate Hero’s Journies. He begins to panic as several games come to his attention. 7. Reaching the innermost cave: “Alright, assholes, I don’t have any space left, so here’s a data cube! Happy!?” 8. Enduring the supreme ordeal: The Villain’s Tridecagon is unleashed and elaborated. 9. Seizing the sword: Brian finishes the Villain’s Tridecagon. 10. The road back: Brian connects the stories, tying together each aspect perfect. 11. Resurrection: Brian comes across the revelation that Sora will lose. 12. Return with the elixir: Brian concludes, confident he has explained the very basic storytelling of Kingdom Hearts.

[@missybarbour6885]

I was going to go through and do this myself. This deserves more likes.

[@OrangeShanker]

This is perfect

[@blueninja012]

I applaud you

[@RandomTomatoSoup]

you're my hero

[@lackadays_]

*clap clap* we have a man of genius level iq my friends(and this isn’t sarcasm)

[@eric_the_egggremlin]

I can FEEL the Angry English Major Energy through this video when he says "It's that thing that happens on the Hero's Journey" about the data cube one

[@russell1096]

Because the data cube is too overused in storytelling?

[@banann_ducc]

@@russell1096 what the hell is a data cube

[@RED-sl2le]

Banann_ducc I also wish to know

[@eric_the_egggremlin]

@@russell1096 nah, because I, too, am an English major, and the moment one starts to bring mathematical concepts into analyzing literature, my brain shuts off out of Rage.

[@OhNoBohNo]

DBG: Nomura is writing this like a traditional story structure Everyone else: Honey you got a big storm comin'...

[@BigBahss]

Maybe the real hero's journey is the boys we norted along the way.

[@supreme_king_obama1158]

I can drink to that.

[@talongreenlee7704]

That sounds inappropriate and probably illegal

[@genericname2747]

@@talongreenlee7704 What are you, a cop? Mind your own building while we nort boys

[@MisterAwsome1234]

Alright but where does this all fit into the Legend Of Zelda timeline?

[@Funnymanfx]

ChubbiestThread uh, duh. It fits into the TIME BREAK

[@ArtianSetS]

Basketball

[@akaijuinomaha5324]

That's where we unveil the Anti-Hero's Icosahedron

[@raynorsatwika1578]

either way, it gets infinitely funnier

[@FracturedFrames]

Jonathon Cloud and Link are both in Smash!

[@KeyThrast]

“Donald will kill Goofy. Riku will start cutting his own bangs. Kairi will continue to not matter.” One outta three. Not bad

[@ss-ol5br]

In a say riku did cut his hair tho

[@MiloKuroshiro]

He got 2 of 3 right

[@JustOneGlitch]

@@MiloKuroshiro Really!? Donald killed Goofy!? Thats metal.

[@wafflejam9015]

Which one

[@KeyThrast]

MrBowser At the time of base release, he was right about Kairi

[@audoldends6799]

The Anti-hero’s cradle is now an officially recognized literary term. Thank you

[@origami_dream]

Which storytelling offices issued statements of recognition?

[@silversonome5360]

​@@origami_dream me, I'm the office. I will recognize the Anti-Hero's Cradle as an official literary criticism term.

[@peteypablopicasso]

@@silversonome5360can you recognize an official literary term that makes my dad come home

[@scootinand]

Him singing "Simple and Clean" while mildly dancing off screen was truly heart warming

[@Ric_Vicious]

When are we getting the full version!?

[@christopherhale3140]

"Kairi will continue to not matter." Depending on your sense of humor, this line got either much less funny or infinitely funnier after the release of KH3.

[@gaarafan89]

A little of both lol it’s hysterical knowing she was “trained” and it not amount to shit, and equally depressing because she works so hard, and it still doesn’t amount to shit.

[@AlexBSPLUS]

With my sense of humor? Both.

[@bluecat3338]

Honestly, while Sora was freaking out over Kairi, I was just sitting there like an idiot for a few seconds before going “Oh right! I’m supposed to care about her.”

[@moriadine2517]

@@gaarafan89 Kairi was essentially a private straight out of boot camp went into combat against the thirteen most powerful and skilled soldiers on the opposing side; the fact she lasted so long was a miracle, I'm more concerned about how the other Guardians were handled. Let's be real here, no amount of training in a controlled environment would prepare you for the rigors of war; compared to all the other Guardians, Kairi has had nearly zero experience. Tell you what, let's see who Kairi's squad mates were: Aqua: professional keyblader who trained all her life and a veteran of one campaign and survivor of the Realm of Darkness. Ventus: professional keyblader with one campaign under his belt with potential subconscious experience from his time as a Union Leader. Mickey: warrior king with multiple campaigns under his belt and also four confirmed campaigns as a professional keyblader, extensive experience with espionage and subterfuge. Lea: professional assassin and spymaster, well versed in combat and expert pyrokinetic. Riku: civilian-turned war hero of three campaigns, later trained professionally which also doubled as an additional campaign. Sora: same as above, on top of another campaign which comprises most of KH3. Is it really a surprise that Kairi's not up to the same standards as everyone else? If people hate how Kairi didn't stand out much in combat, they might as well conplain how the early Konoha 11 aren't as powerful as the various Kage, how Avalanche isn't as powerful as Sephiroth and his siblings, how Vahn didn't start out as powerful as the Judges, etc.

[@Lunam_D._Roger]

@@AlexBSPLUS "That's depressing. And hilarious." "I call it deprarious."

[@artuno1207]

Plot Twist: BDG actually goes through his own Hero's Journey in this video, as he deals with the trials and enemies involved with explaining the Kingdom Hearts plot.

[@PrimMashups]

Even better: not only does he go through the Hero's Journey, he goes through the same convoluted hellscape of a Hero's Journey that HE CREATED to explain Kingdom Hearts. For example, the explanation of the popularization of the Monomyth is the Historical Background, and the sudden entrance of Pat at 6:08 is like the intersection at the Ventas Diagram.

[@lakers35]

Ya nort a boy

[@bergamt]

BDG is on the Villain's Journey

[@PrimMashups]

That implies that Pat is BDG from the future

[@awkner]

yep. someone went and did the work twitter.com/mothlarvas/status/1089679511619276800

[@valty3727]

"you babe swaddled in the cashmere blanket of ignorance" remains one of the most iconic bdg quotes

[@seanmurphy3430]

"Kairi will continue to not matter" is, I'm pretty sure, the series' tagline at this point.

[@NWolfsson]

I mean... I love her, but any part of her (namely, Naminé) or character holding the same role (Aqua) is more active in the story. She is basically the MacGuffin, tagging along because she is important as a concept because bullshit rather than because she is specifically important as a character.

[@ella_cupcake]

I have never been so offended by something I completely agree with

[@SolarTactician]

"Ventus diagram" as a pun was so casually tossed out there, and yet it's so perfect

[@smulangel2294]

Those are quality puns

[@nitro_dynamite18]

One of the few puns I've ever liked.

[@EinTeufelskreis]

I watched this with a friend and when this pun came up I started laughing and he didn't understand what was going on. So I explained the joke and he started groaning. That are the only two reactions possible to such a pun. 😂

[@trustyrat8632]

@@actionlogan8792 ven diagram Ventus diagram Ventus nickname is ven

[@Flowtail]

@trust the rats Thank you, i always trust the rats :)

[@Detahramet]

I feel like the easiest way to understand Kingdom Hearts is to assume words don't mean anything and only the tone in which they are said matters, and that there are a dozen main characters and they're all Sora

[@lunchbox0668]

And the other half of characters are Xehanorts

[@trustyrat8632]

Or kairi which also makes them kinda sora

[@OhNoBohNo]

assume you will cry and try not to think too hard about why

[@guiltygearalonecompl]

You’re not wrong, really

[@nigelsutton2884]

"bees"

[@haphazardlark1502]

I’ve never played it, but from all the times I’ve been walked through the plot, it sounds like a story based in metaphor got so wrapped up in explaining its own internal logic that it became literal somehow and it’s still growing. I kind of love it.

[@Dee-jp7ek]

A metaphor that accidentally became literal and just rolled with it is probably the best way I've ever heard someone explain the Kingdom Hearts series, and you've never even played it!

[@haphazardlark1502]

@@Dee-jp7ek thank you! (I’ve had enough friends who are big fans of it that I couldn’t help but absorb a lot of it just in bits and pieces)

[@HasegawaRayven]

Quite literally "a meme gained sentience and now can no longer be stopped."

[@yourcollegedebt8384]

I'm not gonna force you or pressure you into playing the series, but I will say that it's way better to understand if you play through it yourself instead of hearing somebody explain it themselves.

[@robertrealrosso237]

14:13 "Kairi will continue to not matter" Well he got one prediction right

[@sasaki999pro]

And riku DID cut his bangs. not because sora got norted mind you. and donald might not have killed goofy by dropping him off a dock, but he DID kill terranort by jumping the shark in the most absurd spike in power scaling in the ENTIRE HISTORY of Square Enix RPG's

[@igor78965412320]

the riku cutting his bangs prediction was so insane wtf

[@lunastreamfreesomebody4911]

I went into this knowing nothing of Kingdom Hearts and I left knowing nothing lmao

[@thevoidlord1796]

I mean, this was pretty comprehensive, so you must not have been paying attention to this very easy to understand explanation.

[@tracyh5751]

It seems to me what you don’t know is basic story telling.

[@ahobbit1273]

LUNA streamFREESOMEBODY same though

[@merezko4339]

One who knows nothing can understands nothing.

[@Xeronoia]

One who knows nothing, can understand nothing - Xehanort (Haunted Potato Sack Edition)

[@safabekr]

“that’s venitas” “why?” is just the funniest possible answer to that answer

[@DarkQueenHelba]

SarahFBK ! I actually know this! Miyu Irino wanted to voice a villain! So they let him voice a villain using the same voice as his hero from the same series. (They talked about this after BBS came out in the JP gaming magazines)

[@rzezzy1]

Reminds me of "Are you Tony Hawk?" "yeah" "Why?"

[@crazydo1phin11]

answer to that answer

[@O_Ciel_Phant0mhive]

so sad :')

[@tahamoukhliss8420]

I still don't understand why they chose to make him a sora lookalike

[@door5443]

yo as a writer I genuinely love how this is a breakdown of how everyone assumes that everything is the heroes journey but that’s far from true

[@toastedt140]

As an editor, this sentence disgusts me.

[@HappyLarry.]

as a 'writer', you should know Kingdom Hearts is the last fucking example you want to use as proof the Hero's Journey is outdated or not a universal truth

[@teathesilkwing7616]

@@HappyLarry. universal truth means it is always true. Giving even one example of an exception means it isn’t a universal truth.

[@HappyLarry.]

@Tea the Silkwing the Hero's Journey involves a story that makes sense, coherency is required for a series of events like the Hero's Journey to work.

[@teathesilkwing7616]

@@HappyLarry. then it isn’t universal

[@levilukeskytrekker]

I love how this video casually demonstrates how overly analytical trope theories usually only "work" because they overgeneralize story concepts and then apply them to a comparatively narrow band of literature.

[@supremeoverlord0]

Right? It's kind of an interesting study in that way. KH is more of a story of parallels and (who would've thunk) connections, and how each of these more miniature journeys tie into a whole, so it's hard to tie such an anti-physical story into something as solid as the Hero's Journey.

[@Canadianroadvirus]

I'm starting to think that the series title, "Unraveled," is more about Brian's mental and emotional state than it is about whatever he's talking about.

[@lilhades9484]

Too true

[@SpookyDeerArt]

its the new polygon deep lore

[@calamitysangfroid2407]

he can join pat after please retweet

[@thedevicebook]

It's truly like Onion Film Reviews in this way.

[@artnerd3727]

i always assumed it was bc of his mental state lol

[@braxtonkatz5726]

Key componets to an unraveled .elegant start •putting stuff on wall •explaining things •MENTAL BREAKDOWN

[@jeanetten.s.8557]

Mental meltdown

[@randomenvelope]

Melting

[@adarkaplun9457]

You missed the volume escalation

[@BirdRaiserE]

You forgot -Brief moment where Brian sang Simple and Clean and it was lit

[@CornerstoneMinistry316]

Kingdom hearts lore in a nutshell

[@krd24551]

"The Dream Drop Bucket, where you put the Dream Drop Distance until you need it; hopefully, you won't" Kingdom Hearts 3 picks up immediately after and fully relies upon DDD more than almost any other game.

[@HappyLarry.]

STORYTELLING 101 BABY, if you confuse all of your audience by throwing in as much bullshit as possible, they can't critique you because they're so confused

[@Vesta_the_Lesser]

@HappyLarry …ala episode 8

[@Silver_Phyrexian_Praetor]

yeah, I mean DDD is where they introduced both the power of waking, and explained the concept of time travel. I also have theories that there are links to Quadratum hidden in there somewhere

[@Maphteah]

Even funnier is that it also relies on you having actually played Union X, both with Ephemer showing up with no explanation in III, and Strelitzia in the trailer for IV

[@SilverCraft15987]

11:41 "This was *NOT* in the script" "Dude seriously this was *NOT* IN THE SCRIPT"

[@nah4437]

SPOILERS Pretty accurate prediction. Sora fails, Riku cuts his hair, and Kairi continues to not matter

[@patatapatosa]

can someone tell me if this is legit?

[@cherubin7th]

@@patatapatosa Yes totally

[@ZhongliArchonofSwag]

Patata Patosa I mean there’s some time travel shit that goes on? I think? Sora fails, his heart gets banished to some weird mirror realm, then he pulls his heart back together, and undoes the failure, then succeeds but at a harrowing cost. He doesn’t get norted tho

[@mateuscarvalho3870]

@@patatapatosa Sora doesn't fail, but he dies, so he fails at having a life I guess

[@julypow]

@@mateuscarvalho3870 why am i laughing so much lol

[@emmav2224]

The slow descent into madness as KH's plot gets more and more convoluted is both terrifying and hilarious.

[@jeanetten.s.8557]

I'm cracking a rib watching this

[@shebehere2452]

Emma V I know

[@dekaidoku]

Don't you mean... Kingdom Hearts Versus XIII?

[@mattneese8571]

And an accurate depiction of what it is to play the series.

[@connorschultz380]

And yet kingdom hearts 3 actually has a simple summary. Which, is..odd actually, there much better then most of the ones online

[@CHEESEPUFF_7]

Birth By Sleep. "Is Sora in it?" "No" Well that's a lie.

[@conic2721]

and it's the best KH change my mind

[@frozenlizard3370]

@@conic2721 what about Melody Of Memory?

[@JerryMcB3rry]

@@conic2721 it's not my favorite gameplay wise, as I'm more a fan of just the normal menu set up in the base KH games, but the plot and characters make it my favorite in that regard

[@Morzansdaughter]

I went into this video knowing a bit about kingdom hearts and left knowing significantly less than I did in the beginning

[@jameshart2622]

And thus you achieve enlightenment.

[@HappyLarry.]

you've finally realised how little you know

[@Aeroductile1]

did he make this just so he could make the ventus diagram joke

[@Quiggs939]

larvitarse Lol, I hope so

[@taakotuesdays]

Looking at everything Brian has ever done, yes.

[@WTFPr0m]

If "norting a boy" doesn't become the canonical phrase, Square-Enix and Disney are both cancelled

[@tehn00bdude]

WTFPr0m Nort boy redux

[@jeremyhester4268]

I laughed at "Ya Nort a boy" for longer than I care to admit.

[@bankobandz93]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWmbqWimiq92l5I😂

[@Dragonk116]

Aqua isn't a boy

[@sleauxbreaux]

You have Barry Kramer to thank for that phrase.

[@mattkeflowers]

I love that this is not only a deconstruction of the overly complex kingdom hearts story, but also the a deconstruction of how reductive and simplistic the hero with a thousand faces story can be

[@Dabednego]

Clayton's face at 11:43 is the emotional keystone of this entire video

[@R3mnantPlus]

Clayton's Inner Thoughts: Oh God, we lost him again...

[@daisyjoy242]

@@R3mnantPlus *again* what do you mean by again

[@R3mnantPlus]

@@daisyjoy242 Brian does this breakdown of his content often and on many different videos, so I feel Clayton has seen this happen many times already.

[@OhNoBohNo]

just like clayton is the key to kingdom hearts, actually... in this essay, i will

[@mystaee2914]

I want a shirt that says " 'Nort a boy"

[@watson483]

Mystaee . Heh the front saying 'what do you do then' or whatever the exact quote is, and have you 'Nort a boy written in massive text on the back. Incredibly confusing, 10/10 would wear in public.

[@pharaohbubbles1547]

The Catholic Church will buy up the whole stock 😂

[@genuineinterest]

"Time to get real into Unethical Science!"

[@chronotrigger3919]

You'd probably get arrested

[@ikanhazw1n]

You are the only person I’ve ever seen correctly name Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as “Kingdom Hearts Three-Five-Eight Days Over Two” which is the official canon way to read that title. I’m thoroughly impressed with your due diligence.

[@flamefangstar]

Th... that's how it's pronounced?

[@taakotuesdays]

Why the FUCK would you name a video game like that

[@tracyblanchard7663]

@@flamefangstar It's supposed to be the 358 Days shared by 2 people. Yes, it is still very dumb.

[@cjboyo]

It's not Kingdom Hearts 179 days?

[@CaleyWarrior101]

Does no one reduce their fractions anymore?!?!

[@seymourbuttz6419]

You know, the further he got into the villains tridecagon the more i realized he's a low key genius

[@exodunes]

"It's where you put the Dream Drop Distance until you need it later, and hopefully you won't." With the recent additions to the lore from the mobile games... I'm entirely unsure if Brian is not a time traveller.

[@JM.....]

"This is the Simarilion, or JK Rowling's Twitter" had me dead

[@JoeX92]

i don't understand but still laughs xD

[@devdanferguson7616]

@@JoeX92 Simarilion was a background to the LOTR/Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, and JK Rowlings twitter makes everyone gay.

[@roguepsykerhaaker4813]

@@devdanferguson7616 you're only supposed to make everyone gay in the fanfiction, and the headcannon

[@birdrocket]

Devdan Ferguson more importantly, she tried to get brownie points from liberals for LGBTQ+ representation without actually putting in any representation.

[@alalalala57]

@Skitarii Scribe k

[@morton_slc]

Dear Polygon upper management and corporate overlords, This man here, this magnificent man, is the reason I subscribed to the KZbin channel. His videos are great. I think he deserves a raise. Best wishes, A white male between the ages of 18 and 40.

[@johnanimelord9976]

Lol, that's a out pretty big range

[@alexajeanne9]

Same wishes from a female age to be determined

[@joy411ful]

Also a nerdy black female between the ages of 18 and 35

[@morton_slc]

@@johnanimelord9976 Well gotta make it easy for the advertisers ;)

[@sonicmeerkat]

I agree. Kind regards, a British 20 year old.

[@PerfectBrom]

Y'know, overall he actually got really close. Kairi DID continue to not matter and Riku DID cut his hair. Sora also didn't seal the darkness, and had some weird fuckery happen to him. Didn't get norted but he did get screwed over

[@DinoJake]

Man, you gotta feel bad for Sora throughout all these games. He just wanted to build a boat with his friends. He never asked for any of this.

[@jakoblent4694]

Blame the mouse

[@Kaunte]

Instructions unclear, accidentally norted a boy.

[@Yal_Rathol]

was this boy above the age of majority? because if not, that's gonna be a write up.

[@Deep_phobias]

@@Yal_Rathol that's gonna be a foul, you norted a boy over the line, go back 3 spaces.

[@BriIsTheFinestCheese]

i love reading the comments before watching the video because they're so confusing. i laughed out loud at this and i have no idea what you're talking about yet

[@yuvalsela4482]

instructions unclear, getting norted

[@JackSpad3s]

Okay but why doesn't Donald wear pants but covers himself with a towel? Unravel that BDG

[@JackSpad3s]

You make me blush ❤

[@KidCop2011]

Nice profile picture

[@Fluicor]

easy,water makes feather stick to the body,thus revealing donald's dick.

[@alexbutler4428]

Pantsless magic is incredibly powerful

[@SamanthaLaurier]

6:43 All I can think of now is "Aqua got norted!" "Those aren't words..."

[@HereticalHorus]

"Aqua got norted...." "That sounds sexual" "I want her to step on me" "That was definitely sexual"

[@lucystarlight8887]

I think it's worth noting that the steps of the hero's journey that Campbell came up with were less of a guide for how to write a story and more of a pattern that he noticed consistently appeared in stories and folklore. It's not how you're supposed to write a story, it's just how a lot of people have written stories.

[@22Vnnami]

1/12 Introduction into the ordinary world: Brian comes into work on a fresh, quiet Monday morning, as if himself a spring babe, ignorant of the mammoth task about to be set before him. 2/12 Call to Adventure: “Brian, the fans are clamoring for a recap of the Kingdom Hearts storyline, and we’d better strike while the iron’s hot with only days before the release of Kingdom Hearts 3!” 3/12: Refusal of the Call: After sorting through countless fan theories and KH wiki pages Brian has a meltdown and realizes the story is completely absurd and that there’s something missing from his understanding. 4/12 Meeting the Mentor: Brian meets with his most battle-hardened Kingdom Hearts fan-friends to seek clarification for the mess that is the KH story. He only becomes more confused. 5/12 Crossing the Threshold: Brian begins making his heroes’ journey outline for the KH franchise, a task he’s all too eager to get over with. “How bad could a story full of Disney characters be,” he thinks as if to comfort himself. 6/12 Tests, allies, enemies: Brian begins to layout the heroes journey through Kingdom Hearts which seems almost a simple task, at first. 7/12: Reaching the innermost Cave: Brian rediscovers that the prequels and interquels and presequels and pre-interquel-sequel-sequels are a thing. 8/12 Enduring the Supreme Ordeal: Trying to connect all the nonsense together almost brings Brian to his knees as he discovers he is still missing a piece of the puzzle. 9/12: Seizing the Sword: Discovering the villains tridecagon; norting a boy; hilarity ensues. 10/12 The Road Back: Brian feels confident he’s finally found the variable he needed to have true understanding of Kingdom Hearts and all its lore, though truly deep down he realized he had only sunk lower into the hellish pit of madness. 11/12 Resurrection: Brian returns to work and finds a simple message on his desk, “let your heart be your guiding key.” He immediately burns it, understanding the implications it could potentially boast and his near final descent into his own world of darkness. 12/12 Return with the Elixer: Kingdom Hearts 3 is released with a 4th on the way. Brian knows they’ll want a new video when they release it after the inevitability of dozens more sequels, interquels, prequels, and prequel-interquel-sequels. But how will he respond to the call?

[@ikkue]

Why isn’t this pinned

[@SmoothTurtle840]

ikkue You’re so right

[@Aulumos42]

This is as crazy and convoluted as Brian David Gilbert himself. It is Perfection

[@tubeuser2222]

This was so perfectly written ahahahah omg

[@xGNEPx]

What a fucking legend.

[@silvervase]

Looking at fanfiction and legit read "sora gets norted" as a description. I'm so done with this fandom

[@Platina_Leaf]

sora doesnt get norted. he almost does tho

[@dirgenmeister4018]

@@Platina_Leaf he does in the fanfic

[@elijahharmel8450]

@@Platina_Leaf i don’t think you understand fanfictions buddy

[@jennytulls6369]

The fact that "Sora gets norted" makes perfect sense is an acid trip

[@branastasia8013]

Ah, one of my favorite tags in the fandom. Give me some more delicious angst

[@scatterbraindonor]

The energy behind and delivery of "ALRIGHT ASSHOLES" will never fail to get a chuckle out of me.

[@jakeb4569]

I love that he somehow managed to predict Riku getting a haircut in KH3

[@Jaconian]

"You nort a boy" is now going to be my go-to response for anytime anyone asks me about what to do next. It'll be an inside joke with myself. It'll be hilarious!!

[@foooooof]

That sounds like you are going to do highly inappropriate things with a minor

[@Alex-ci1nt]

@@foooooof especially if he follows it up with the explanation that it’s for “unethical science”

[@featherycoffee1401]

That's sounds like an awful inside joke that nobody think will he funny, do it.

[@Jaconian]

@@Alex-ci1nt Followed by, "I saw it on KZbin, it's fine."

[@harrisonlichtenberg3162]

He tried to unravel kingdom hearts. But kingdom hearts unravelled him.

[@Platina_Leaf]

i completely agree

[@Platina_Leaf]

lol

[@swirlingsun]

welcome to this series

[@SomeGlasses]

Yeah that seems to happen a lot

[@drawberry_jam]

It was quite a simple and clean unravelling

[@ssomethingorother5493]

11:43 I love how confused, concerned and terrified this cameraman looks

[@brianstephens8337]

"or like jk rowling's twitter" well then I simply choose not to consume historical background

[@ChristopherMoom]

Yeah understanding Kingdom Hearts lore is hard, but what about *_Kirby Lore_*

[@NessAmiibo]

Kirby lore: Kirby a good boy, loves to eat and loves his friends. Also the strongest being in the universe.

[@2Eliishere]

@@NessAmiibo I would add also eldrich gods keep killing children and resurrecting their corpses.

[@kingpopaul]

WoolieVs has got you covered.

[@wadespencer3623]

@@kingpopaul Woolie talked Kirby lore? Link me, I need this.

[@awesometown1000]

Wade Spencer kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3quk2NnpK13gtE

[@citizenchris2455]

4:05 Alright, I’m with you so far “You fight Riku who is actually possessed by Ansem, who is the heartless version of Terra-Xehanort, who was originally Terra but was then posssessed by Xehanort”. Okay.

[@TimBagels]

Okay, I believe you.

[@cinnamonkittamon]

A doublt nort, or as I like to call it, a Norton update

[@quinngaines389]

The Dream Drop Bucket be hitting different now

[@akiradkcn]

Aaaaaaaaaaaa

[@ChrisTrenary]

Brian please come back I need to know how Smash fits in to all this

[@IanqueParker]

I dont give a good darn about Kingdom Hearts. But man, you BLEED charisma and could get me to care about chartered accountancy.

[@chosentonessournotes]

He could tell me all about the incredibly boring and detailed history of Limburger cheese and I would be so down.

[@BriIsTheFinestCheese]

i've never played a video game and im watching this entire series. he reminds me of jenny nicholson (another youtuber who does this sort of thing but mostly about movies i've also never seen)

[@AvisSapiens]

This video is a physical representation of man's hubris

[@6slade]

genius

[@temporalCaster]

This unironically helped me understand the concept of the monomyth better

[@vita_stinky]

The BDG Journey: 1. Start video with funny/fun intro and idea 2. Explain the concept and building blocks you need for the idea to work 3. Continue until you reach a middle-of-video conclusion 4. Show a plot twist 5. Existential crisis time :3

[@DjCutman]

Great tutorial Polygon i finally understand how to nort a boy

[@fanguchiha194]

Xehanort was originally created by someone explaining the plot of Kingdom Hearts to a person, inadvertently norting that person who then went back in time to create the series. The for realsies plot is to nort the entire universe and then commit seppuku so everyone goes to Kingdom Hearts together, turning it into Kingdom Xehanort. Immediately followed by the infinite nort circle jerk.

[@consensusg9226]

Agreed. Btw, I miss ya, and my channel was partially inspired by you! Even painted my living room green so I could key-out and rock-out.

[@KibbyCreekwood]

Genuinely, best line in this.

[@mistamemewide]

“Nort a boy” is now a term among the KH Community

[@Heebie-Deebies]

First part: Brian David Gilbert being my English Teacher and explain the Hero's Journey. Second Part: BDG freaking out that Kingdom Hearts is too complicated to fit into the Hero's Journey

[@Patrick-bu2uh]

You misspelled convoluted and melodramatic as "complicated".

[@DaEdsta]

LeMoose You misspelled stupid as convoluted and melodramatic.

[@kimetsunomama9092]

BDG slaps a student for even mentioning Goofy and Donald. 😂

[@FirstnameLastname-kn5sw]

@@DaEdsta You misspelled 'insane' as 'stupid'.

[@PyroNebula]

"That's Venetus." "Why?" Pretty much summarises why I called it a day after playing KH2.

[@LadyGrayce]

*Vanitas

[@SuperLuckynumber007]

Damn. The “tall task” part in the beginning gets me every single time. 😂😂😂

[@Thegameslayer2yt]

It's ironic that the main theme of kingdom hearts is called simple and clean

[@zanderlaitinen7109]

It's just the theme for KH1 and is sometimes used to pinpoint the events surrounding it. KH2 and KH3 have different themes.

[@subtlegong2817]

The theme for most of the series is “Sanctuary”, which is what you will want when you spend all of 2020 playing every Kingdom Hearts game on your game play channel. The amount of claims from Disney alone may have given me an ulcer

[@OliverSachgau]

Brian’s hair is getting more luscious with each video and it’s filling me with so much joy

[@themsv89]

His nails too

[@soverytired6152]

Eventually his hair will turn white and he’ll lose all his hair brushes and before you know it, he will have crazy mad scientist hair.

[@Daemon487]

he's becoming jesus

[@pizzapasta4090]

dude is it just me or does Brian's existence bring light into my life

[@DrFrankenMax]

Your.... villain tridecagon... has just PERFECTLY described my villain's plot in my homebrew DnD world. You... you fucking cracked it. You madman.

[@oshahott2532]

I dissociated throughout most of the video and I feel like I understand it as much as someone who was listening intently.

[@oriongurtner7293]

A cursory read through the comment section would tell you that you probably understand it _more_ by having not paid attention Which is the typical Kingdom Heats experience: you'll understand it better if you don't pay any attention

[@spiritreacher]

Ventus Diagram - best wordjoke I've ever heard.

[@Silas_MN]

SpiritReacher I came to the comments to say this very thing.

[@ez8314]

I've never even played kingdom hearts, but bdg is hella engaging

[@Amaraofficial]

E Hill this is me with half of these videos

[@bar0nv0nstrubel57]

Same. Dude's hilarious

[@niallgraham9487]

Same here he still shows you what's so ridiculous about the world in a way you can relate to it's great

[@ez8314]

Y'all this is my 1st KZbin comment that's gotten more than 5 likes 😍

[@Azure-Flame-Bee]

"Union Cross isn't important" Nomura: Hahahahahahaha. Yes it fucking is!

[@ToaArcan]

"Kairi will continue to not matter." Well, he certainly got one thing right.

[@natalie7851]

this is both a great example of why the Hero’s Journey works and a great example of why the Hero’s Journey DOESN’T work. you managed to fit a complex literary thesis and its converse in a single video about a Disney game series. how.

[@PupDeLaTart]

By completely glazing over all the stories and focusing on the least interesting character: Sora. But it works :)

[@EddieB-ready]

@@PupDeLaTart Because he's the hero of the story

[@Banjeoin]

The stress of making this video briefly caused Brian's heart to separate from his body, birthing his Nobody who's named "Evil Radiant Bird BXG". The BXG stands for "Brian Xehanort Gilbert" 'cause that's a boy who's been Norted.

[@mickaelfrimann]

Baxrian Dixvad Belxgert*

[@MikoSquiz]

Surely you mean Vain Girdled Rabbit X.

[@ajcrush]

I love how in most of these videos we see Brian’s sanity go on a downward spiral, only to restart and repeat this cycle in the next one.

[@neonal18]

13:01 “And now that you’re jazzed and ready to go, time to fail.” Me sending in job apps I’m particularly optimistic about

[@haroohi8839]

Brian singing "Simple and Clean" is something I never thought I ffffFUCKING NEEDED-

[@losfell18]

He needs to do a full cooovvvveeeerrr

[@PinTal_]

BRUH HOLY FUCK YES

[@garnetgarcia3287]

please

[@josephThaPimp]

@@losfell18 a cover in that same mumble

[@kamilee4123]

I love this video because A) People trying to explain the plot of Kingdom Hearts is always entertaining to me and B) It actually works really well as a deconstruction of the Hero’s Journey and how people try to shoehorn it into everything when not all stories work that way. Idk if the last part was intentional but I choose to read that into the video.

[@shawnjavery]

The first game at least works pretty well for the heroes journey, but the other games don't really fit into it.

[@mrchaos831]

So the problem is coherent stories DO tend to follow the basic outline of the hero's journey. KH, God bless it's soul, is an incoherent mess. That's what the video was communicating. That it's a dumpster fire of coherent storytelling.

[@Brian-tn4cd]

I also love to see people try to explain KH, at this point i dont even know how i understand what i know

[@hunterwillis3775]

The heroes journey is pretty universal breakdown of most stories, that's what makes it so useful. Really it leaves a lot of leeway to do whatever you want, so it shouldn't get in the way of anything you are doing. it just highlights the handful of important things a story needs to really work from beginning to end.

[@darekun46]

@@shawnjavery This is honestly pretty standard when they don't plan for a series from the beginning. The Monomyth doesn't fit well into itself, as BDG demonstrated, so when the first entry in the series was designed as the only entry, you kinda have to use another structure. For example, when a sequel starts by making big changes, but without any dislike and kinda even returning to the first story without having its own point to make, they're using the Monomyth as the Ki and Sho of the Kishotenketsu structure. The sequel shakes things up, then reconciles the changes with the first story. As TVTropes put it: Introduction (ki) establishes the main characters and the setting they live in. Development (sho) deepens the reader's understanding of and emotional attachment to the characters. Twist (ten) introduces an unexpected and major change to the setting and to the characters' lives. Conclusion (ketsu) brings together and reconciles the first two acts with the changes of the third. However, I say "kinda" have to because KH *didn't* use another structure. That would've been too logical. Thus - ignoring the side games, which are part of the chronicle but have their own plots instead of advancing the series plot - they embedded KH1's Monomyth as the first part of the larger Monomyth for KH2. They then did the same thing again, embedding KH1 and KH2 together into a yet-larger Monomyth, at about the same point KH2 embedded KH1(since that's the least-bad fit for a Monomyth into itself). The Monomyth doesn't lend itself to this sort of "rocket staging" approach, but that's what they did.

[@aaronstreet1054]

10:07 favorite part. 🤣 the sheer frustration that there’s even more ridiculous story to uncover. ‘Is it over?’ ‘No.’ ‘F%#*’

[@saltefan5925]

Dream Drop distance is literally just an extension of "Seizing the sword" Sora and Riku go to sleeping worlds (one of the timelines are also inception material) in order to gain even more powerful in the face of an enemy that is also gathering more might.

[@Violetcas97]

BDG's hair is my favourite Kingdom Hearts character

[@OKieYoSHigHhost]

Facts.

[@AndrewFallows]

It's also the hottest enemy in Castlevania

[@lastbutnotleon]

Shane's Book Corner saaaameee

[@emily-re5jo]

"Kiari will continue to not matter" this HURT

[@oKuma5335]

and still so accurate

[@Inter_Tidal]

But she really doesn't it. She not only does not matter but she has no personality either. You can't even like her if you wanted to

[@jo-bn9992]

I bought this game for my son when it came out. I had never played the other ones. It seemed like a simple idea when I first had it to go on KZbin and watch a recap of what I assumed were just two games. Those recap videos were all long. But. I decided to try one. By the end I was WAY more confused then when I started and really wondered about my decision to buy the game.

[@zanderlaitinen7109]

It's okay, the games are all on the systems that KH3 came out on. The games make sense if you play them in order just know that Kh3 is the 10th game in the series and this video is from the perspective of someone who's played 2 of them. BDG is acting, he knows more about the series but this is for entertainment and not analysis.

[@snakshak9061]

its funny how i learned more about the monomyth in this video than in hour and a half of my english class

[@queerboy8370]

about once a week, my first thought of the day, as soon as my alarm goes off, is "you nort a boy". some days, like today, i'm haunted by that sentence and the silence that follows it. i've never played a Kingdom Hearts game. I still don't know what any of it is about and how Disney characters factor into it. But that one sentence has played through my mind fourteen times so far today, and it is only 2 pm. Someone help me.

[@La-PetitMort]

Get a job

[@joelman1989]

It is generally haunting because it sounds absolutely ridiculous but you just know it’s a part of this story in a very serious way. It embodies everything this story is, ridiculous, confusing, contrived, yet somehow still magical and magnificent. It makes you wonder simultaneously what it is that is so captivating about it while also dreading the ever approaching realization that you are intrigued by kingdom hearts, and that once you give way to that intrigue, you will never be the same.

[@coldfrost3]

I'd recommend the the full 1.5+2.5 package

[@AliciaRainbow]

Have you tried Norting a boy? Might help.

[@poligarf3]

don't worry, because Kyrie will continue to not matter

[@BrokenWingman]

"You sweet summer child, you babe swaddled in the cashmere blanket of ignorance, you ask too little of me." 00:28 Knew it was gonna be another great video right away. haha

[@Beaniboi]

Caleb Howard yes. haha

[@1rainbowstrike426]

I recently got into KH, and after every game I would review this video. And honestly, it’s a little horrifying how much this video starts to makes sense the further I go

[@fortunatesoul12]

I know the Star Wars mention was a joke bit, but between the attempted Time Travel in Rebels, the multiple failures across the franchise and trying to nort a boy (and girl) in Rise of Skywalker, it seems Palpatine follows pretty much the Villain's Tridecagon

[@RashidMBey]

"You nort a boy."

[@mattparsons6813]

I kind of thought this would end with the camera dude going "You forgot 2.8" and the other dude internally melting down.

[@kilovwdude6457]

Dude

[@charlesbowyer5455]

Why was the beginning of his cover to "simple and clean" so angelic

[@missilelaunched]

9:38 atlas forced to hold up the sky on his shoulders as punishment by zeus after the titans are defeated during the titanomachy