CoM + Sora’s Necklace, pt 2
Sora’s Necklace Theory: x | When & Why Riku gave the Necklace Theory: x CoM Novel quote: x | CoM + Sora’s Necklace, pt 1: x
The CoM novel does a lot to emphasize the fact that Repliku gets implanted with all of Riku’s real memories and his experiences during that process. Just to refresh, when Repliku is first created, he knows he’s not the real Riku even though he still shares some memories with him- he is made from Riku’s data after all. Then Axel gives Vexen a card that will help him give Repliku ALL of Riku’s memories;
Axel: “That card holds the memories of Sora and Riku’s home”
Larxene: “With that and a little help from Namine, you’ll have all the real Riku’s memories. We can even get her to make you forget that you’re nothing but a fake. In other words, we’ll remake your heart so you can be just the same as the real Riku. ‘Kay?”
Also keep in mind that after Sora and Repliku see that they have identical memories of Namine and Repliku drops his false lucky charm, it turns back into that card containing the memories of Destiny Islands.
But enough beating around the bush, let’s get to the juicy stuff.
Bombshell #1: We have confirmation that the lucky charm was worn as a necklace. In this scene, Repliku is having Riku’s real memories and Namine’s fake memories implanted as he sleeps, and he is experiencing them as though he were the real Riku, though the memories keep shifting, leaving him disoriented:
“Riku… I’m scared.”
They were standing on the island’s little dock- him and Namine- looking up at the sky together.
That sky was full of shooting stars, far too many to count, falling like a deluge of light.
“Just now, were you…?”
“I’m scared…”
The boy tried to tell Namine that something was strange, but seeing her so afraid, he clammed up. Was I only dreaming?
“It’s all right… I’ll protect you,” he said.
“Really? What if a falling star hits the island?”
“If any falling stars come this way, I’ll protect you!” He grinned at her.
“…Promise?” Namine said in her tiny voice.
“I promise,” he told her steadily.
Then, at last, she smiled… and held out a star-shaped pendant for him. “Here… So you don’t forget our promise.”
It was a charm made out of a paopu fruit.
“They say that if you wear this kind of fruit, you’ll never ever be parted from the one you love,” she said.
“That’s just…,” the boy started but took the pendant and looped it around his neck.
“So, no matter what happens, we’ll always be able to find each other again.”
Remember from part 1, in the memory Repliku experienced immediately prior to this one, he literally switches places with Sora in the memory halfway through it, seeing what Sora would have seen in the true memory. Here it is Namine that gives Riku the good luck charm, but if this were a real memory it would make more sense for Riku to be giving the good luck charm as reassurance that he will keep his promise. Essentially, Sora and Repliku would be remembering this memory from the correct perspective for half of it, switching for the other half to the other’s perspective; Sora is remembering receiving the good luck charm as he should, and Riku (Replica) is remembering making the promise, as he should if the memory is rooted in a real one shared between them.
Why bother at all mentioning that it was worn as a necklace in that memory when nowhere else is the false lucky charm shown or mentioned as being worn that way? In every other instance Repliku and Sora just carry it around. It was not necessary to show it as a necklace, seeing as neither the game nor the entire rest of the novel shows the false lucky charm in such a way. This inconsistency makes it interesting to say the least.
Bombshell #2: The confirmation that Riku wants to remake a “forgotten promise” he made to someone. Is it the same someone he stated he wanted to see more than anyone else in Castle Oblivion, and apologize to him- to Sora? When Riku finally finds Sora and he decides to not have the darkness/Ansem in his heart locked away, he asks Namine to look after Sora:
“Okay. It’s a promise.”
Riku looked up again at Sora’s sleeping face.
See you, Sora.
Keep that in mind as the last thing Riku says to Sora before leaving to face the darkness in his heart. After fighting Ansem again, the epilogue and very last scene of Riku:
“What are you making me choose now?” Riku asked.
“Between the road to light…and the road to darkness,” DiZ told him, looking at the paths that split off to the right and to the left.
“Neither. I’m taking the middle road.” Riku began to walk past DiZ on the path between.
“Do you mean the twilight road to nightfall?” said DiZ.
“No.” Riku looked back at him with a faint smile. “It’s the road to dawn.”
Riku kept on walking, and Mickey ran to catch up.
What lay ahead of them was the daybreak path- the road to dawn. And a new journey would begin.
Walking the path without you, so that we might remake our forgotten promise. So that I can find you on the road ahead.
One of the biggest themes in Chain of Memories is promises; the false promise Repliku and Sora are made to remember- to protect Namine- , the promise Sora made Kairi to return to her-with the Oathkeeper charm serving as a reminder-, the promise Sora, Donald, and Goofy make to each other to always be friends, Sora promising Namine he’ll be okay, and that he’d find her when he woke up, and finally, Namine promising Riku she’d look after Sora. Until the very end, it seems the only protagonist who hasn’t made a promise is Riku.
What would be the point of teasing a forgotten promise Riku made if we never learned in this book or any future books what it was? Unless…we were told what that promise was. The promise we’ve been hearing about for half the book; the promise to protect Namine, with a lucky charm necklace given to serve as a reminder. Take away Namine’s illusions, and you are left with the truth. Riku promising to protect Sora on the night of the meteor shower that brought Kairi to the islands, and giving Sora a lucky necklace, a reminder that he’d always protect him. Ever since, Riku has been trying to do the one thing that drove him to seek out other worlds in the first place, since he was 5 years old, “Protect the things that matter.”
And if that’s not enough, where else have I been talking about a “forgotten promise”, a promise that was broken (that Riku spends the rest of the series trying to “remake”)? The meaning of the Oblivion/Passing Memories keyblade:
“Oblivion” means “a state of forgetting or having forgotten”, and the Japanese name is literally “Passing Memories”. What could this “forgotten” memory possibly be referring to? Well maybe, just maybe, if we view the keychains of both these keyblades as significant objects given to Sora by Kairi and Riku- the wayfinder star from Kairi and the crown from Riku- then perhaps this forgotten memory refers to the memory of an “oath” given in association with the crown (just as an oath was given in association with the wayfinder), but an oath that was broken or “forgotten” (perhaps not literally forgotten, but cast aside).
“Walking the path (the daybreak path) without you (Sora), so that we might remake our forgotten promise (the promise that I broke when I failed to protect you). So that I can find you on the road ahead (See you, Sora).”
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