#this plot is so convoluted

KHUX, KHIII, and BBS SPOILERS AHEAD

Okay so I’m going to finally sit and write this all out so I can try and make sense of -gasp- the Kingdom Hearts timeline. At least part of it. 

So we know that Ventus is 15-16 in BBS. For less confusion in this, we’ll say he’s sixteen. We know that he’s spent 4 years in the Land of Departure after Xehanort ditched him and before BBS:

“Four years before Aqua and Terra take their Mark of Mastery exam” (link) 

So Ven was roughly 12 when he came to the Land of Departure. 

Which okay 12 year old keyblade wielder, sure that’s okay (the grown ass adult in me is screaming that he should be at home drinking a juice box while doing homework). Sora was 14 and, while I have issues with the fate of the world in the hands of babies, KH has a precedent for around this age.  

The question is, how old was Ven during Kingdom Hearts Union Cross? 

This is where things became more muddled but to break down my theory of his age, we’ll have to go a little off tangent. 

So we know Ven was Xehanort’s apprentice. For how long though? Did Xehanort stumble on this kid with amnesia that could somehow summon a keyblade (try and tell me he won’t have amnesia after KHUX, do you see where that tragedy is going???) and was all like “Ah here’s a good sacrifice to use for my nefarious, convoluted plot that will only come to a head in almost twenty years and be defeated pretty much by the power of friendship”? 

More so, did Xehanort find him instantly wherever Ven appeared (Scala ad Caelum? Radiant Gardens? Destiny Island?) or was Ven wandering for an unknown time as a lost kid? With my theory, I think Xehanort found him instantly, possibly even knew when Ven would appear (MoM told him maybe? You decide).

More so, Ven’s name is the same in the “present” as the KHUX plot during the Age of Fairytales, so we can presume two possibilities: that Ven had just enough memories that he could remember his name OR he had all of his memories before losing them somehow. So beyond the issue of this child needing so much therapy from repeated memory loss, let’s explore these.

First up: Just enough memories. 

We know Darkness can manipulate memories, so it’s possible that Darkness, when he somehow got back into Ven in KHUX (since he’s in Ven’s heart by the time of KHIII), could alter Ven’s memories. With the pods and time travel, we don’t know how long it takes for the hearts to travel. Is it light speed? A blink of an eye? Thousands of years but for the body it was like 5 minutes? For my theory, I like the thousands of years travel but for the body it was only like five minutes idea. This would give Darkness plenty of time to bury all those memories and leave Ven practically a blank slate. The one thing he couldn’t erase was his name, the core of his being. I also like to think that Ven is aware of Darkness at the time of him going in the pod and is fighting with every fiber of his being to hold onto whatever bits of himself that he can. Ultimately that’s his name and a key personality trait (his strong belief in friendship “my friends are my power”). 

For the other theory we’ll have to go a little out there. From what we know involving the pods and time travel in KH, it causes the person to lose their memories when they come through UNLESS it’s a Maleficent situation. Girl had all of her memories of the past because the three fairies -coughmerryweatherdammityouhadonejobcough- remembered her, she could come back. But who in the future would know Ventus to let him keep his memories? 

Theory Time: Xehanort did. How do you ask? The story of the Dandelions and the New Union leaders has been passed down alongside the story of the Keyblade War in Scala ad Caelum. We know from conversations in KH3 with Young Xehanort and Young Eraqus that their Master’s favorite story was about the Keyblade War. My idea is that the Dandelion’s were a side story about the survivors and who was one of the new Union Leaders of the Dandelions? Ven. And as long as someone in the time you are going to knows your name and something about you (I guess, KH doesn’t go into details), you can come back. But then how did the story pass on so Xehanort could hear it? Well Eraqus bears a very eerie resemblance to one Brain from KHUX. My guess is that Eraqus is a descendant of Brain, which means somehow Brain got out of the Data Daybreak Town at some point in KHUX and passed on the story of the Dandelions. Maybe the reason Xehanort knows it as well as he does is because it’s a story that Eraqus knows like the back of his hand because of his family. Maybe Brain even had photos of the leaders that he kept with him so Xehanort knew what Ven even looked like cause they were heirlooms Eraqus showed him. If none of that pans, maybe MoM told Xehanort something. Who knows. 

All of this to come to the idea that Xehanort, and Eraqus too I am positive, knew that Ven was a lot older than his actual physical age and possibly even knew he was a Union Leader. This is hinted at in Ven’s short story:

“Maybe the Master knew more about the real me than he ever let on, all the things I don’t know about myself. But now he’s gone, so I guess we’ll never know.” (link)

Now Ven could have been talking about Vanitas, but since he already knows about Vanitas and his past with Xehanort, I personally don’t think that’s what Ven’s talking about here.

So Ven would awaken with all of his memories but how would he react to the new time and people and Xehanort? I think this will rely on what happens at the end of KHUX but something tells me Ven will be in a very vulnerable, easy to manipulate state. Maybe Xehanort would convince him that it’s because light grew too powerful that Darkness appeared and was trying to restore order that way. Maybe he convinced Ven that he was his apprentice and dreamed the events of KHUX from his stories. Either way, Ven became his apprentice. He would lose his memories though, minus his name because Xehanort knew it and would tell Eraqus, when his heart was split to create Vanitas. 

It’s a wild theory but you know what, Kingdom Hearts is chock full of random events and plot lines so who knows, I might be totally right on that idea. 

With either theory, I believe that Xehanort knew no matter what that Ven was a keyblade wielder from the Age of Fairytales.

Now back to Ven’s age. Xehanort, knowing that using the keyblade is like riding a bike (tell me it’s not, once your body is taught how to swing or throw something it becomes muscle memory) and that a heart never truly forgets (he’s been studying the dark, the light, and has an interest in hearts by this time), would probably not waste much time in taking Ven under his wing. It would probably take a bit of time to convince Ven that he can use the keyblade well, since we can see Ven lacks confidence in KHUX, but not as long as a full apprenticeship. Being a Union Leader, I imagine that Ven, back in KHUX, was probably counted in the same rank as a Master, if only because of his position. My guess is, this was six or so months, just long enough to get the sacrificial lamb ready for a slaughter. For clarity’s sake, let’s say six months even. 

If Ven was exactly 12 years old on the day of him arriving in the Land of Departure, this would make Ven 11 years and six months old when he first arrived in the future as well as at the end of KHUX. 

So we know how old Ven roughly was at the end of KHUX, cool. How old was this poor kid during KHUX? We are never told in KHUX how long the Dandelions have been in the datascape. We know a few time things though:

It has been a while, from conversations the New Union Leaders have had, but not long enough for them to want to separate the Union back into five groups.

It was shown in Brain’s flashback with Ava that this particular event with her took place four years ago. 

Relying mainly on the latter of the two, since we’ve got a specific year length on it, let’s make a few guesses. 

We know Strelitzia was told of her role to be a Union Leader shortly before the war started. Let’s say that Ava had a plan to tell each leader in a certain order. Strelitzia was last, Skuld joined the Dandelions sort of late so we’ll say she was right before her, Ephemer was told before Skuld, so that leaves Brain and Laurium. Since Ava is going against the MoM, I think she would tell Brain his role first.

Let’s say that Ephemer was told four months before the war his role and that’s when he disappeared. Skuld would be told two or three months after him. Then Strelitzia last right before. Let’s guess Laurium was told 2-3 months before Ephemer (6-7 months pre war) and by this pattern, Brain would be told 2-3 months before that (8-9 months pre war). That would mean the Dandelions have been in the datascape for roughly 3 years and 3 months at the time of the flashback beginning. I presume this is only a month before the conclusion of the Dandelions because things are starting to come to a head in the current update of KHUX. 

So let’s do the math with this: 

Ven is 11 and a half years old at the conclusion of KHUX.

Ven is maybe 11 and 5 months old at the time of the flashback. 

This would make Ven roughly 8 and 2 months old when the Dandelions were put in the datascape and he became a Union Leader in the aftermath of the Keyblade War. 

Let that marinate in your thoughts.

Just like an eight year old. A fucking baby. Who let this baby bean have a keyblade at 8 years old?!?!?!?

This makes KHUX have so much more sense though. I always wondered why Ephemer and co were surprised that Ven was a Union Leader, it wasn’t like they were well known or high gatherers of lux that we know of. But in this context it makes sense. A group of 14-16 year olds in charge with one random 8 year old in the mix would totally surprise you. 

Now of course this is just a guess. Maybe Ava told Brain super early to throw off the MoM’s plans and the Dandelion’s were only in the datascape for a year or two. We also don’t know when Ven became a wielder. My guess is at 7 or 8 years old in the original theory but with this latter idea, maybe Ven was closer to 10 or 11 at the time of the war. 

Still, it kind of throws me off that Ven was possibly as young as 8 when he was used by Darkness to kill Strelitzia (or was a witness to this traumatizing event at the very least). 

My conclusions: 

Ven needs so much therapy. Like, so, so much therapy. I will chip in, just someone get this kid to a therapist. 

The Kingdom Hearts timeline is a mess and trying to unravel it leads to so many issues.

I spent way too long on this.