I have tried for so long to find a way to explain the story of Kingdom Hearts without the explanation lasting an hour or so. However, I think I found the best way to give the bare bones summary of the story of Kingdom Hearts: explain Master Xehanort's plan. If you do that, you have basically covered the reasons behind everything. Here's how I do it:
Long ago, there was a Keyblade War that almost consumed everything in darkness had it not been for the light within the hearts of children. A man named Master Xehanort believed that starting a second Keyblade War would tear down the tyranny of light so that he could use the power of Kingdom Hearts to create the Next World, a world equal in light and darkness. However, in order to accomplish this, he needed to forge the χ-Blade, a weapon (and Kingdom Hearts' counterpart) that was destroyed during the Keyblade War.
Master Xehanort has attempted to forge the χ-Blade several times.
Attempt #1:
1. Have a heart of pure light clash with a heart of pure darkness to forge the χ-Blade (since the original χ-Blade was made of an element of light and an element of darkness)
2. Find a vessel (since he was getting old)
It looked like Xehanort had succeeded in this attempt. He extracted the darkness from the heart of a boy named Ventus, creating a being of pure darkness named Vanitas, and the two of them ended up clashing with each other and forging the χ-Blade. He also got a boy named Terra to succumb to the darkness and possessed him. However, thanks to Terra and Ventus' friend Aqua, the χ-Blade was destroyed. After Ventus defeated Vanitas within his own heart, it looked like his heart was going to vanish, but Sora welcomed him into his heart. Aqua, after finding out that Ventus' heart was sleeping, created Castle Oblivion and put Ventus' unconscious body in the Chamber of Waking, where she planned to keep him until he woke up. Terra then summoned Aqua to put an end to him. She tried to free Terra from Xehanort's control, but Terra-Xehanort turned his Keyblade on himself once Terra started fighting back, causing him to fall into darkness. Aqua saved Terra, but at the cost of falling into darkness instead. Xehanort was still in control of Terra's body, although he seemed to forget everything except the name "Xehanort". Ansem the Wise took him in as his apprentice. Xehanort (under the guidance of Braig, who had previously teamed up with Master Xehanort) then began to prepare for his new plan to forge the χ-Blade. During his time as an apprentice, Xehanort (under Ansem's name) and the other apprentices performed experiments that were an attempt to control the mind and convince the body to renounce its sense of self. Eventually, all of the apprentices were consumed by darkness and became Nobodies. Xehanort, on the other hand, willingly gave up his heart, which allowed his Heartless to retain his selfhood.
Attempt #2:
1. Have Ansem (his Heartless) oversee Maleficent as she collected the seven princesses of heart and attempted to use them to open the door to an artificial Kingdom Hearts of Worlds (a Kingdom Hearts created from the hearts of worlds consumed by darkness)
2. Have Xemnas (his Nobody) form a group of thirteen Nobodies called Organization XIII and use an artificial Kingdom Hearts of People (a Kingdom Hearts created from the hearts released from Emblem Heartless when they are slain by the Keyblade) to fill all of the members with Xehanort's heart and mind
When the χ-Blade was destroyed during the Keyblade War, it shattered into twenty pieces, seven of light and thirteen of darkness. Xehanort figured that having seven lights clash with thirteen darknesses was the true way to forge the χ-Blade, which was why he had his Heartless oversee the collection of the seven princesses of heart and his Nobody attempt to create thirteen Xehanorts. However, Sora defeated both Ansem and Xemnas, but Xehanort anticipated this failure and had already set another plan in motion.
Attempt #3:
1. Send Ansem back in time to give Xehanort's younger self the ability to time travel and send him on a mission to collect other versions of himself from throughout time (Ansem could time travel since he was just a heart)
2. Highjack Sora's Mark of Mastery exam and make him the thirteenth Xehanort
Once a person's Heartless and Nobody are destroyed, the original person returns. Since Sora destroyed both Xehanort's Heartless (Ansem) and Xehanort's Nobody (Xemnas), Master Xehanort would soon return a complete person, and he planned to have his other twelve selves present on that day. After Young Xehanort had gathered all but one of his other selves, he and some of the other Xehanorts highjacked Sora's Mark of Mastery exam and sent him down a path deeper into darkness without him even knowing it. With Sora's heart in the deepest abyss, Master Xehanort attempted to make Sora his final vessel, but he was thwarted by Sora's friends. However, this did not concern Master Xehanort. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before his thirteen seekers of darkness were completed and they would clash with seven guardians of light, forging the χ-Blade.
While this summary leaves a lot of details out, specifically regarding the heroes of the story, I think that this is the best way to summarize why everything is happening the way it is. I may have included a few too many details, especially regarding the fates of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, but I felt that I couldn't talk about the failure of Xehanort's first attempt to forge the χ-Blade without including their fates. What do you guys think? Am I right that explaining Xehanort's plan is the best way to summarize the story of Kingdom Hearts or not? Is there anything that you would add or take away from my summary?
I have tried for so long to find a way to explain the story of Kingdom Hearts without the explanation lasting an hour or so. However, I think I found the best way to give the bare bones summary of the story of Kingdom Hearts: explain Master Xehanort's plan. If you do that, you have basically covered the reasons behind everything. Here's how I do it:
Long ago, there was a Keyblade War that almost consumed everything in darkness had it not been for the light within the hearts of children. A man named Master Xehanort believed that starting a second Keyblade War would tear down the tyranny of light so that he could use the power of Kingdom Hearts to create the Next World, a world equal in light and darkness. However, in order to accomplish this, he needed to forge the χ-Blade, a weapon (and Kingdom Hearts' counterpart) that was destroyed during the Keyblade War.
Master Xehanort has attempted to forge the χ-Blade several times.
Attempt #1:
1. Have a heart of pure light clash with a heart of pure darkness to forge the χ-Blade (since the original χ-Blade was made of an element of light and an element of darkness)
2. Find a vessel (since he was getting old)
It looked like Xehanort had succeeded in this attempt. He extracted the darkness from the heart of a boy named Ventus, creating a being of pure darkness named Vanitas, and the two of them ended up clashing with each other and forging the χ-Blade. He also got a boy named Terra to succumb to the darkness and possessed him. However, thanks to Terra and Ventus' friend Aqua, the χ-Blade was destroyed. After Ventus defeated Vanitas within his own heart, it looked like his heart was going to vanish, but Sora welcomed him into his heart. Aqua, after finding out that Ventus' heart was sleeping, created Castle Oblivion and put Ventus' unconscious body in the Chamber of Waking, where she planned to keep him until he woke up. Terra then summoned Aqua to put an end to him. She tried to free Terra from Xehanort's control, but Terra-Xehanort turned his Keyblade on himself once Terra started fighting back, causing him to fall into darkness. Aqua saved Terra, but at the cost of falling into darkness instead. Xehanort was still in control of Terra's body, although he seemed to forget everything except the name "Xehanort". Ansem the Wise took him in as his apprentice. Xehanort (under the guidance of Braig, who had previously teamed up with Master Xehanort) then began to prepare for his new plan to forge the χ-Blade. During his time as an apprentice, Xehanort (under Ansem's name) and the other apprentices performed experiments that were an attempt to control the mind and convince the body to renounce its sense of self. Eventually, all of the apprentices were consumed by darkness and became Nobodies. Xehanort, on the other hand, willingly gave up his heart, which allowed his Heartless to retain his selfhood.
Attempt #2:
1. Have Ansem (his Heartless) oversee Maleficent as she collected the seven princesses of heart and attempted to use them to open the door to an artificial Kingdom Hearts of Worlds (a Kingdom Hearts created from the hearts of worlds consumed by darkness)
2. Have Xemnas (his Nobody) form a group of thirteen Nobodies called Organization XIII and use an artificial Kingdom Hearts of People (a Kingdom Hearts created from the hearts released from Emblem Heartless when they are slain by the Keyblade) to fill all of the members with Xehanort's heart and mind
When the χ-Blade was destroyed during the Keyblade War, it shattered into twenty pieces, seven of light and thirteen of darkness. Xehanort figured that having seven lights clash with thirteen darknesses was the true way to forge the χ-Blade, which was why he had his Heartless oversee the collection of the seven princesses of heart and his Nobody attempt to create thirteen Xehanorts. However, Sora defeated both Ansem and Xemnas, but Xehanort anticipated this failure and had already set another plan in motion.
Attempt #3:
1. Send Ansem back in time to give Xehanort's younger self the ability to time travel and send him on a mission to collect other versions of himself from throughout time (Ansem could time travel since he was just a heart)
2. Highjack Sora's Mark of Mastery exam and make him the thirteenth Xehanort
Once a person's Heartless and Nobody are destroyed, the original person returns. Since Sora destroyed both Xehanort's Heartless (Ansem) and Xehanort's Nobody (Xemnas), Master Xehanort would soon return a complete person, and he planned to have his other twelve selves present on that day. After Young Xehanort had gathered all but one of his other selves, he and some of the other Xehanorts highjacked Sora's Mark of Mastery exam and sent him down a path deeper into darkness without him even knowing it. With Sora's heart in the deepest abyss, Master Xehanort attempted to make Sora his final vessel, but he was thwarted by Sora's friends. However, this did not concern Master Xehanort. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before his thirteen seekers of darkness were completed and they would clash with seven guardians of light, forging the χ-Blade.
While this summary leaves a lot of details out, specifically regarding the heroes of the story, I think that this is the best way to summarize why everything is happening the way it is. I may have included a few too many details, especially regarding the fates of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, but I felt that I couldn't talk about the failure of Xehanort's first attempt to forge the χ-Blade without including their fates. What do you guys think? Am I right that explaining Xehanort's plan is the best way to summarize the story of Kingdom Hearts or not? Is there anything that you would add or take away from my summary?
Edited by Dagesh Lene