#x-blade

Finally getting around to re-uploading some of my old posts that got deleted when I nuked my blog a while back. I will not be hiding any text behind a "read more" just in case...

You know, now that I’m thinking about it…

How is Elsa able to be a princess of heart? We know that princesses of heart lack darkness whatsoever, and the whole plot of Arendelle was about Elsa’s struggle between finding her light or accepting her darkness. Even Larxene couldn’t tell what Elsa was going to choose.

“Okay, I’ll admit Elsa is a person of interest to us. Maybe she’s one of the seven pure lights we need — the New Seven Hearts. Gotta make sure though. Fortunately, we’re in the best position to tell. Can’t pick out that ‘special glimmer’ unless you’re standing in the shadows. And maybe…Elsa doesn’t have it. I mean, just look how icy her palace is — made of magic she forced herself to keep hidden until now. What if it’s dark magic?”

[Sora: Elsa would never rely on the darkness!]

“Actually, it’s still too early to call. Depends on how she sees it. If she believes her magic is darkness, that’s what it will become. Accepting her power, whatever it is, is the only way she can set her heart free. So what will Elsa accept? Light or darkness? I know I wanna know!”

[Sora: Well, good for you, but guess what? I won’t let her fall to darkness!]

“It’s her choice to make, not yours. You know, I’m starting to understand why she gave you the cold shoulder.”

[Sora: Larxene!]

“You wanna help her? Then stop trying to be her hero! Let her figure things out her own way!”

Going off of the lore that kh has provided thus far, a princess of heart shouldn’t even have a struggle between light and darkness, since princesses of heart are maidens born with hearts of pure light. Belle, Snow White, Alice, Jasmine, Aurora and Cinderella never had to struggle with their “darkness,” because they have none. Negative emotions are different from darkness, because even though their hearts are pure, they’re still human and experience sadness, frustration and fear.

Both Rapunzel and Anna fit the description of a princess of heart, but Elsa? No, not entirely. She’s the first princess/queen in kh that we’ve seen have this kind of dilemma. Had the OrgXiii stepped in and manipulated her, she more than likely would’ve fallen to darkness. Or, alternatively, had Sora successfully stepped in to try and help her (even with good intentions), that would’ve just pushed her further into isolation and further into the dark.

The phantom pain Sora shared with Anna when she was struck in the heart by Elsa’s ice magic? That very same thing could’ve happened to him in a timeline/worldline beforehand where he was successful in confronting Elsa, only to get injured in the process. Which… would’ve probably sent Elsa into a downward spiral and eventually end in her giving into the darkness of her heart. Darkness that shouldn’t even exist inside her if she’s actually a princess of heart.

I mean, Larxene was surprised that Elsa chose light, and was even more surprised to find out that there were two princesses of heart in one world.

“So, love has filled both their hearts with light.”

[Sora: Larxene!]

“Two in one world… Definitely didn’t see that coming.”

Larxene seems to be suggesting here that “love” (true love in the context of the movie) awakened Elsa and Anna’s light and their powers/status as princesses of heart.

To think… that love in its purest form (true love) has the ability to “awaken” the power of the x-blade (rather, a piece of it really, since each princess of heart holds a piece of the x-blade within her heart). Not only that, but love being able to take what darkness is there inside the heart, and either drive it away or return it to the light…

Ah. There it is. The themes of pure/true love, as well as returning the darkness to light — but this time, there’s the possibly of it being connected to the x-blade; love may be required to unlock the x-blade’s true potential and summon the true Kingdom Hearts from within the darkness.

Love being necessary to wield the x-blade and unlock its true potential actually makes sense if you think in terms of Ventus-Vanitas and Xehanort.

Ventus and Vanitas’s fusion was by force, controlled by Xehanort and his obsession to see the end of the Keyblade War and to unlock Kingdom Hearts. Ventus-Vanitas never experienced a “complete” fusion of their hearts. The x-blade appeared complete on the outside, but within Ventus-Vanitas’s heart, it was incomplete. Xehanort’s corrupt desires return again in kh3. His reasons for forging the x-blade have remained the same since bbs. There never was love behind his actions. What he wanted was control. Power. He wanted a world that could be shaped to his ideals. He wanted to play god. His reasons were selfish and devoid of love (and that’s putting it lightly).

Yet… What happens to Xehanort at the end of kh3?

The love from an old friend was enough to push away the darkness in his heart, making him realize that his time was finally up. That it was the end. No more fighting. He failed. Checkmate. And Xehanort, a seeker of darkness, was content to return to the light.

Some afterthoughts…

Elsa is a special kind of princess of heart, just like Riku is a special kind of Keyblade Master; one who walks between light and darkness and uses his powers for good. They both learned that love was necessary to unlock their heart’s true potential and grew stronger from it. To have a world with a character that’s similar to Riku (and in game parallels to Riku) also reveal that true love is the power behind the ability to “consume the darkness and return it to light,” as well as awakening the light within the x-blade… Not to mention, Riku once wielded a blade that was powered by the darkness it consumed; Soul Eater (which happens to be an ability of the Dark Knight class in Final Fantasy, using souleater sacrifices HP to strengthen attacks… like Sora’s rage form).

There’s a possibility that Riku, who has control over his darkness, who once wielded a sword of darkness, could actually resonate with the darkness half of the x-blade already. I mean… Riku wasn’t the one to touch the x-blade. Had he, there may have been a surprising result. But now that Sora’s wielded it, it’s not too far out of his reach. However, Riku still hasn’t learned how to utilize light… yet. What do you think Braveheart symbolizes? It’s proof of his evolution; Soul Eater turned into Way to the Dawn, which broke to give life to Braveheart. He is still learning and growing. Braveheart isn’t the final form of his Keyblade. I believe it’s temporary. This is the first Keyblade Riku has wielded that was properly forged from his heart. And as the wielder changes, so does their heart, and by extension… their Keyblade.

The keychain of Braveheart is a Mickey head, just like the Kingdom Key Light, Kingdom Key Darkside, and Kingdom Key White (also known as Star Cluster), yet I don’t think anyone has questioned why.

Imagine having full knowledge that these children are being used and beaten into completing you, but it’s not *right* and you haven’t had complete sentience in centuries and you have no control over your own actions even when partially complete

I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet, but I was recently watching a BBS play through when I noticed- Hey. The particle effects for the X-blade looked REALLY similar to Riku’s Way to Dawn. Like. Pretty much EXACTLY THE SAME, besides the color as they are fading.

I’ll post some images here for comparison

X-Blade effects, Vanitas fight BBS:

(Sorry for the awful image quality lmao)

Riku’s Way to Dawn, Kh2:

I can’t be the only one who finds that really really weird, no?

The end part of the animations does have some differences, but really only in color. Even the shape they form as they fade away is exact.

X-blade, Vanitas:

(Sorry Ven- it’s for science-)

These ones are an orange/yellowish color

Then for Riku’s Way to Dawn:

Kh2:

His start out a bit yellow at the center then fade to blue

They are also like this in Kh 3D

Some bonus images:

Vanitas Fight, BBS:

This is how I originally noticed the effects, because I got a good look at them down on the attack command panel in the corner.

And here’s Xehanort’s in kh3, when he has the X-blade:

I feel like his are a bit more red?

Anyways, yeah. That’s that. It’s pretty odd in my opinion. I also don’t think any other keyblades share these effects, either, but if anyone else finds anything then please post it lol

I had originally posted this in a discord server I’m in, and a few of the people there (including myself) theorized that it could be related to how the X-blade isn’t truly the final form of it’s“X-blade series”. That it’s like the “Way to Dawn” of its respective line, not having arrived at its final evolution yet, still on the path to get there. That’s just one interpretation, but I do quite like it.