Howdy. I recently became a fan of Kingdom Hearts despite being familiar with the name for a long time, so I'm still learning about the franchise and awaiting the release of KH4. One thing I wanna know is: Was Yen Sid's determining of Sora' assessment of the Mark of Mastery Exam fair? I've seen a lot of debate on this, with mostly the blame going to Sora for easily letting himself get manipulated by Young Xehanort and his own Darkness, which is true to some extent but still. What do you think?
Oh nice, hope you've been enjoying your KH journey!
You bring up a really interesting question. I've seen a lot of debate about it as well and I kind of wonder if it's because the concept was good but the execution was bungled.
Because Sora failing to pass the exam? And all because of his pride/hubris leading to overconfidence and risky behavior? That's an interesting concept, especially after KH2 where he won, where he succeeded.
And his temptation in DDD was handled very well too--I find it just as compelling for a character to be tempted by good things obtained the wrong way, as it is for a character to be tempted by bad things. It was the way Sora was trying to reach Riku and Kairi that wasn't good, not wanting to reach them that wasn't good. And that is why he was led astray--his heart and love for his friends wound up being his downfall in a way that mirrors Luke's downfall in Empire Strikes Back. Xehanort very cunningly exploited a deep-seated fear Sora has that stems from past trauma thanks to all the times he's been separated from his friends and took advantage of how much he loves them:
Again, really good stuff. I do think the writing could've more strongly established that Sora's arrogance led to his downfall because that part of the execution is a bit weaker (though he does have a brief line at the beginning of the game alluding to this), and I wonder if it's because Nomura and/or Disney didn't want the protagonist going too dark, but I digress.
I think the part of the execution that's really bungled is Yen Sid's explanation for why Sora failed.
First of all, when Sora asks about the results, Yen Sid tells them they both performed admirably. Maybe it's to spare Sora's feelings or whatever, but it's already kind of setting up a discrepancy between his words and what actually happened during Sora's exam:
Then, he talks about how he's glad Sora and Riku are both safe and grateful for Lea's help. He also apologizes for what happened which hey, I'll give him credit for that, but if the test was rigged against Sora, why would you still count it? Your pupil was set up for failure and you're just... gonna... roll with it? He doesn't strike me as a very good teacher lol:
Then he talks about how the test revealed truths about the future clash etc. and says he wants a Keyblade Master who will have a useful power for the future battle. Again, no problem with that, but a good teacher would've revealed the parameters of the test ahead of time and not after the fact. It's just wildly unfair to switch how you're evaluating students after they've taken the test, and I think this is where people started to get irritated with the explanation. Everyone's had a crummy teacher who graded them unfairly on an assignment, and that's how Yen Sid comes across here:
Then, he says this. If Sora had truly failed, Yen Sid should not have said this. It would've been better if Sora didn't deserve to be made a Keyblade Master yet than for Yen Sid to say, "You deserve to be one but because Riku got an A+ and you only got an A, he passes and you fail." Again, I think people got irritated by this because it's just so blatantly unfair and doesn't track with Sora failing:
Again, I think most people would've had no problem with Sora failing and Riku passing if Yen Sin's explanation had been handled well and if either Sora's arrogance had more directly tied to his downfall OR if Yen Sid had clearly spelled out that Sora's greatest strength is his greatest weakness, he needs to temper his heart's urges with the wisdom of experience, and he needs to grapple with his darkness and master it like Riku has.
As it is, we see Sora show a little cocky arrogance at the start of DDD, he's tempted by his good side, and then... he's ambushed, sabotaged, and kidnapped, nearly losing himself and control of his own heart to the villain in the process. And he fails, not because of his own choices which led to his heart getting captured, but because... he got an A and Riku got an A+? It just doesn't make sense, and that's what bothers me about it.
Hope that helps explain where I'm coming from more. Of course, all of this is my own interpretation, but it's definitely why I didn't really buy what happened at the end--the reason Yen Sid gives for Sora failing doesn't track with what we actually saw happen in the game.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Yeah, what you explained made sense. I did see a comment that talked about more of Yen Sid's negligence and incompetence regarding the exam and it's main objective. I'm glad that Sora didn't get it in one go because like you said, he needed to learn how to be more cautious and master his dark half, but it brought up a element from Sora and Riku's backstory: Riku is once again ahead and Sora needs to catch up. It also did another thing: Highlight the similarities between Sora and Terra.
(I think the final ask(s) got eaten, sorry about that!)
I agree that the similarities between Sora and Terra are really interesting, and I'm always a sucker for meta and stories that explore that potential. Wish we could see the two of them interacting more in canon though because I think they could have some interesting discussions.
I often wonder if Nomura wishes he had more time for moments like this too, but deadlines and budgets mean he can only include the most vital moments (especially for fully rendered cutscenes) in the games themselves. I do think that's why he writes extra stuff that's included in supplementary material and at KH events (like for the concerts where Naminé spoke with Lingering Will, Kairi talked about her training with Axel/Lea and we first heard the "there's no smile your heart won't reach" line iirc, Aqua talked about her resolve, Xion discussed her bond with Axel and Roxas, etc.)
So even if we don't get a scene in-game with Sora and Terra talking to each other, there's a chance we'll get some extra tidbit here or there in supplementary materials. And if not there's always the fandom to fill in the gaps.
as sort of the creators saying “Hey, remember that demon armor hellspawn that gave you a lot of hell in KH2? Well, now he’s your best friends and you can team up against the person that was the cause of that childhood torture!”
You're fine! I always thought it was interesting how Sora and Terra shared that too. In a way Terra was like a cautionary tale for Sora, what could have happened to him if things had gone differently. By knowing what happened to Terra, it really upped the stakes for Sora in Dream Drop Distance.
(I still kind of wonder what would've happened if Sora had been made a vessel and we had to spend part of KH3 rescuing him, but that's what fan theories and AUs are for, right? And I guess we'll be spending most of KH4 attempting to rescue him anyway lol, albeit from a different set of circumstances).
Yeah, I read about about the proof rule, my apologies. I’ll get proof and send it to you when I find some.
no worries! when you’ve got it you can go ahead and either tag this blog in it or you should be able to submit it as a link, otherwise tumblr will eat the ask if you try to send a link through the ask system.
Hey if you are still doing requests for ship names I got a few. First, since the Z-ARC pairings with Yuya and Yugo are named after their dragons, how about naming Z-ARCxYuri and Z-ARCxYuto Starving(Starve)Venomshipping and DarkRebellionshipping respectively.
And for Ray and the Bracelet Girls, just like with the Yu Boys, Z-ARC and the Dimension Dragons, how about naming each pairing after each girls respective Natural Energy Card, like RayxZuzu(Yuzu) EnFlowersshipping and EnMoonshipping, EnWindsshipping, and EnBirdsshipping for Celina, Rin, and Lulu.
Thank you
We do still take ship name requests here, though our previous rules do still stand; I can put these on the list if you can share with me some proof that these ships are actually being shipped, and you have permission from the creator to use those words or you made the proof yourself.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Top Posts Tagged with #division9scientist | Tumlook
