I just had this thought today, and I'm having difficulty refuting it:Why did Sora and Riku have to do the Mark of Mastery at this point?I understand why they have to go to the Realm of Sleep (to awaken worlds and attain the power to wake up those who are lost like Ventus) and I understand why they would have to take the test eventually (to learn the proper way to wield the Keyblade), but why RIGHT now? Why couldn't Sora, Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy (hey, throw in Kairi for the heck of it) go to the RoS together, get the power they need, and come back. Why put them through a test? It's not like if they fail they would be forbidden from fighting Master Xehanort and protecting the Princesses. It seems like the actual test itself (not the RoS journey) is just a ranking thing and a very much un-needed detour from the bigger problem.Am I missing something here? Please help!

In my opinion I think it was to make them aware of the darkness around and inside of them. I also think it was for Yen Sid to find out more about the Darkness' plan. that's just how i took it.

To see if they're worthy. Maybe the old mage just wanted to see if Sora and Riku have what it takes to becoming true Keyblade Masters, thereby boosting confidence Xehanort will be taken out. Besides; the sooner the better, right?

Fool. Only masters can gain certain knowledge and responsibilities, and by that extension, power.

Because they introduced the idea of the title of Master being a big deal very late in the plot (BBS), and to justify the decision, they had to force it into Sora's story.

 

The title of Master means very little.

Because they introduced the idea of the title of Master being a big deal very late in the plot (BBS), and to justify the decision, they had to force it into Sora's story. The title of Master means very little.

Well, tecnically there are powers and abilities only Masters have, like the keyblade ceremony.

Well , firstly Sora needed to be ready to save the ones that were lost . Secondly , Riku wanted to conquer the "feel of darkness" inside him once and for all . The Mark Of Mastery was perfect for that . Now , the Mark Of Mastery Examination did not help Terra the same way . But I guess it was all Xehanort's doing at that time .

 1- There were several reasons .Yen Sid knew and warned them that there might be MANY Xehanorts to deal with . After DDD we know what exactly he meant.

 

2- Riku was the one who decided he NEEDED to bc he didn't completely forgive or trust himself bc of what happened in the past . He wanted to make sure he was indeed worthy.

 

3- Sora himself didn't feel the need to take it but decided to support Riku by doing it anyways.

 

4- Neither of them were ever formally trained and although they are quite good at what they do even without training, I'm sure there are useful stuff to learn they obviously were never formally taught.. Ironically weilders like TAV were formally trained and you see how well that worked out  

 

5-Like Yen Sid said- they needed to really prepare since MX is supposedly quite the adversary. It was preparation. However, it was only meant to be a test and Yen Sid wasn't aware of the current possibility that MX could try to highjack the MoM. Personally, of all people, he should've known better. Disappointing I must say.

 

 

Fool. Only masters can gain certain knowledge and responsibilities, and by that extension, power.

 

Exactly . BBS and the BBS reports kinda tell us some like how to transfer hearts for example among other things

 

 

Because they introduced the idea of the title of Master being a big deal very late in the plot (BBS), and to justify the decision, they had to force it into Sora's story.

 

The title of Master means very little.

 

Retcons, Retcons, retcons my friend. There is much truth to this but now that it's part of the plot canon we just have to roll with it  

 

 

Well, tecnically there are powers and abilities only Masters have, like the keyblade ceremony.

 

You are halfway right . Yes there are supposedly skills and knowledge only Masters possess. However, when it comes to the ceremony you only need the POWER of a master to perform the ceremony. That's why Terra could still give Riku the ceremony. Nomura's confirmation :

 

This time we saw a "rite of succession"* - is that a required condition for becoming a Keyblade user?

Nomura: That's essentially correct. In terms of the rite itself, the successee* just has to make the successor grasp their Keyblade - if this rite is performed by a Keyblade Master, and if they have suitable power, the Keyblade will choose that person as a Keyblade user, and appear before them. Terra, Ventus, all have passed this rite. Sora is the only exception.

-- The Keyblade succession can only be performed by a Keyblade Master, but we see Terra performing this rite with Riku - does this mean we can consider Terra a Keyblade Master?

Nomura: No. Terra was not awarded that title by his Master Eraqus, so no matter how Master Xehanort flatters him he is not a Keyblade Master. But that's just a matter of whether or not he's achieved the official title. Even Eraqus recognised that Terra possessed suitable power to be a Master, which is why he was able to perform the rite for Riku.

Well, tecnically there are powers and abilities only Masters have, like the keyblade ceremony.

FL is right.  Anyone who touches a keyblade is techically given the ceremony, i.e. Kairi.  It's the keyblade that makes the final choice.

In addition to what Flaming Lea said, I also see it as Yen Sid figuring out just how powerful Sora and Riku are, Sure, he'd heard about their accomplishments, but it's not like he was constantly watching them like he did with TAV. He wanted to see how strong they were to determine weather or not they were ready to face Xahanort and if they weren't up to snuff, give them some additional compressed training in his private Hyperbolic Time Chamber like he did with Lea and as he likely is doing/will do with Kairi. In other words, he wanted to see exactly what they had to work with.

Edited April 23, 201411 yr by Isamu_Kuno