"Believing light and darkness must remain in balance, Master Xehanort seeks to spark war against the tyranny of light to restore equilibrium. In an effort to undermine Xehanort's plot, Sora, Donald and Goofy search for seven guardians of light and the Key to Return Hearts, while King Mickey and Riku search for previous Keyblade wielders. Kingdom Hearts III features a mature Sora as the main protagonist who sets forth on an adventure with Mickey, Donald and Goofy through new and legendary Disney worlds. Kingdom Hearts III will make full use of next generation console technologies to showcase a stunning universe packed full of worlds based on Disney properties."

 

KH1 introduced the Keyblade of Peoples' Heart. BBS Introduced the X-Blade. Now, KH3 introduces the next plot device of the series: The Key to Return Hearts. Based on its name, we can speculate that it's integral to the salvation of the tormented ones and, by extension, the data that AtW hid within Sora. There's clearly more to it than that, though (assuming that it's what its name implies); what exactly is this key, how will Sora obtain it, and what could it be used for in KH3?

 

My own idea is that it's meant to restore bodies (as unusually straightforward as that sounds). It may have been used when Kairi restored Sora's body in KH1; AtW would then discover the Key after studying the body that the Key gave to Sora. If the Key's true purpose is exactly that, then I can see it being used to recreate not only protagonists like Roxas and Xion, but also Vanitas, if put into Xehanort's hands.

 

What intrigues me is that this is the first time that such an important key isn't also a keyblade.

i have a theory that it might help that person pass on, but i may be wrong

Well it's name implies that it has the power to return hearts. I believe that combined with Sora's ability to make hearts real it is the key to returning those who have lost their hearts or return a heart lost in darkness to the Realm of Light. Remember in BBS Ansem said there are those waiting for their birth by sleep(this included Aqua) and that Sora was the key to saving them. In 3D he elaborates that Sora's pure heart has the ability to make the hearts he see's in others real. It's seems to me that it could be a way to save the hearts within Sora, rescue Aqua, and possibly rescue the hearts that have been drowned in the darkness of Xehanort's heart (Aka Terra, Isa, etc).

Edited June 21, 201312 yr by devereauxr

I figured, by implication, it was meant to do the thing you suggested.  People having their original bodies restored, or just manifesting a physical body, isn't new to the series.  I figured if Sora is supposed to save everyone, then the plot device of the game would enable him to specifically do that.

It could be a Keyblade. That way it could allow Sora to dual wield without Ven's heart, if it is a separate physical entity like Mickey's Kingdom Key D*, but I don't think it is either. I do think it will be different from what Kairi did because the Journal said she was able to do so because of a combination of her powers as a PoH and her feelings for Sora. In reality she probably did something similar to what Sora did for Ven. By sharing her Light with him she allowed him to regain a physical body.

 

 

*Even though we've never seen him use it at the same time as his Star Seeker, so it could just be a Keychain but I'm not sure a keychain obtained in the RoD would work with a RoD Keyblade. Although the Xehanort reports said the only difference between the two was their place of origin so keychains could be interchangeable between the two.

Well it's name implies that it has the power to return hearts. I believe that combined with Sora's ability to make hearts real it is the key to returning those who have lost their hearts or return a heart lost in darkness to the Realm of Light. Remember in BBS Ansem said there are those waiting for their birth by sleep(this included Aqua) and that Sora was the key to saving them. In 3D he elaborates that Sora's pure heart has the ability to make the hearts he see's in others real. It's seems to me that it could be a way to save the hearts within Sora, rescue Aqua, and possibly rescue the hearts that have been drowned in the darkness of Xehanort's heart (Aka Terra, Isa, etc).

 

I don't think it's a matter of recreating hearts (if that was what you were implying) so much as it'd be about bringing them back to the RoL. Wherever the heart exists freely, the body is sure to follow, hence "body restoration." Worked with Riku in the RoD (at least after his body was freed), and maybe even AtW in the RoD as well.

 

Furthermore, "pure heart" implies that Sora is special inherently, which shouldn't be the case; up until the middle of KH1, every miracle that he's pulled off should have been purely because of his own doing, and no outside forces/special powers.

 

 

It could be a Keyblade.

 

I doubt it, otherwise it'd be called "Keyblade to Return Hearts."

Edited June 21, 201312 yr by Gogo

I don't think it's a matter of recreating hearts (if that was what you were implying) so much as it'd be about bringing them back to the RoL. Wherever the heart exists freely, the body is sure to follow, hence "body restoration." Worked with Riku in the RoD (at least after his body was freed), and maybe even AtW in the RoD as well.

 

Furthermore, "pure heart" implies that Sora is special inherently, which shouldn't be the case; up until the middle of KH1, every miracle that he's pulled off should have been purely because of his own doing, and no outside forces/special powers.

 

 

I doubt it, otherwise it'd be called "Keyblade to Return Hearts."

Still could be a keyblade. We can't really say for sure at this point. The name could mean just a regular key and it could also mean a keyblade.

Just saiyan, I'm leaning more towards it not being a keyblade. "Blade" tends to imply the "weapon-aspect" (for lack of better wording) of a keyblade, or at least the special keyblades. Keyblade of Peoples' Heart, X-Blade.

 

Not saying that it can't be a keyblade; it's just that I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.

It could be another type of keyblade or perhaps an ability that can be unlocked and then be used by Sora to return people to their existences. If the last was the case i'd imagine he could channel this power through his keyblade. But a component of the lost heart must be used to restore it fully. For example Xion's memories that are hers. While everybody forgot her because she died and was a memory based replica the memories themselves are still there and are within Sora. He could unlock them somehow and use the power to restore her heart and she magically pops to the realm of light like Sora did when Kiri restored Sora from his heartless state.

Then Sora could find the components that correspond to Roxas and Namine within himself and Kairi and pop them into existence again. As for Ventus he needs to extract his heart and place it within Ventus's body. Then he use these powers to restore his heart and wake him up from his sleep. I'd imagine he could point his keyblade and shoot terra-xehanort with a beam of light to restore terra somehow. Just imagining.

Edited June 22, 201312 yr by geocenter

i have a theory that it might help that person pass on, but i may be wrong

Dear firetrucking Nomura God, I hope you are indeed wrong.  He would piss off so many fans if Namine, Xion, Roxas and others were to pass on instead of becoming their own being.  And the whole point of KH3 is for to Sora to save the sleeping hearts, their birth by sleep.  I don't think being born entail passing on.

 

It could be a Keyblade. 

Hm, I think it could be a Keyblade because "the key" can entail a Keyblade or an inherent ability that Sora has.  Both of which can overlap with each other.  His ability maybe to produce a certain Keyblade that no one else can, hence explaining how he is at the level of a Master and that is why he was able to wield the Master Keeper.

Edited June 22, 201312 yr by Sky Heart

Is not Master Eraqus Keyblade the "Key to return hearts"?

Is not Master Eraqus Keyblade the "Key to return hearts"?

That's Master Keeper. It's not the same keyblade.

Edited June 22, 201312 yr by Megaman X

No. It could be, as a plot twist, but there's nothing that indicates that Master Keeper is a keyblade that does anything that could be described as "returning hearts."

That's Master Keeper. It's not the same keyblade.

I guess so, It's just a theory 

I guess so, It's just a theory 

Just think of it this way. Riku and Mickey are going to find the past keyblade wielders. That would most likely mean Terra Aqua and Ven. We know Aqua has the Master Keeper. So what would be the whole point of sending Sora to look for the, "The Key To Return Hearts" if Aqua already has it?