Kingdom Hearts 3: Olympus and Pandora’s Box
More Symbolic of the Xehanort Saga Than You Think
Okay, I know that KH3 is... what... almost 5 months old at this point? And recently I’ve been thinking about something recently. I know it’s probably been talked about a thousand times already, but I just started thinking about it.
Now as you know, in Kingdom Hearts 3 you don’t necessarily HAVE to go back to all the worlds if you don’t want to. Sure, you might go back if you want to level or just mess around. Or maybe you’re looking for the Lucky Emblems so you can get the secret ending. Maybe you’re even going back to do the photo quests that the moogles will give. It doesn’t matter. They give you the ability to go back, but you’re not required.
That being said, something that happened in one world - specifically the FIRST world - has been bugging me. And until now I never really put two and two together quite like this.
In the world of Olympus, Maleficent and Pete are looking for that world’s “black box” - if you paid attention to Re:Coded and/or Dream Drop Distance, you know what this is. Anyway, Hades, almost confused, thinks that they’re talking about Pandora’s Box. He sends them that way. They find the box, but it’s not what Maleficent wants and they just leave it there. Out in the open. By the time we come across the area, mind you, the box is gone.
But that’s it. End of that story. Move on to the next world, only to maybe come back to get Lucky Emblems or pictures. But that’s it, we don’t really get more of a continuation of the story.
So why would Nomura-sensei include that? Specifically why would they include the infamous Greek box of horrors, illnesses and evils but do nothing with it? Let alone near the end of your adventure to that world?
If you’ll give me some of your time, I believe I’ll be able to tell you why.
Now, anyone who knows their Greek myths (and even for some who don’t really), the legend of Pandora’s Box (originally Jar) is very well-known. To sum it up, the gods created Pandora and made her extremely curious (as a sort of revenge to humanity). Then they gave her a jar (later translations changed it to a box) and told her never to open it ever. She became Prometheus's sister-in-law (remember him? The one who gave man fire?). Eventually her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the jar. All of the evils, illnesses, disasters and horrible spirits left the jar before she could close it. This left only Hope within (as Zeus had intended).
So why include the small detail?
Supposedly a long time ago (though, we’re getting more information that it wasn’t THAT long ago) there was the legend of the X-Blade (read: kai or key) the (original) Keyblade War. Involved with the war was the 13 Darknesses and 7 lights. It destroyed nearly all of those who would wield the key-based weapon, along side most of humanity. The X-Blade was eventually destroyed. Humanity was dispersed among the worlds, hopefully to forget what had happened (though some still... “remembered” to a degree).
As time passed, one man - Xehanort - became curious. He wanted to know more about the Keyblade War and the legendary X-Blade. The more he learned, the more obsessed and darker he grew. He studied and studied, eventually being able to wield a Keyblade himself, but he wanted more. Upon learning what needed to be done, Xehanort made a plan. So he went and tried (sometimes succeeding) to corrupt people to join him in creating the 13 Darknesses.
As he went about the worlds, chaos, darkness and evil would enter each, causing mayhem and destruction wherever he would go. Heartless, Unversed and Nobodies started to make their way between worlds, making their paths available for each to follow and move to their next world to invade.
He wanted to recreate the war. With darkness reigning over the worlds, he knew he would eventually be able to see it once again. It would only be a matter of time before chaos would rule over all. (Organization 13 anyone?)
However, there was the one thing that he forgot as his curiosity consumed him. For within the legend, within the chaos that he wanted so much, there was one thing he missed.
Hope.
For the worlds, the 7 Lights would be the hope to end the war before it started. And if it did start, to keep the war and the casualties to a minimum. They would be there to bring light and hope back to the worlds. (Aqua, Ventus, Terra, Lea/Axel, Kairi, Sora, Riku)
TL;DR?
The nod to Pandora’s Box/Jar in Olympus was acknowledging the connection between the Greek myth of Pandora’s curiosity releasing evils onto the land, Xehanort’s curiosity bringing chaos and darkness into the worlds and how hope - and light - still remains.
