#missing link theory

[the-au-collector]

Scalan Names

So something I've noticed about Missing Link is the names. It's very interesting that they're Roman myth names when the rest of the times we've seen Scala, we've only seen Scalans having Norse names. Especially since we have characters like Freya, whose name does come from Norse Myth, walking around with characters like Remus (and Neptune). I doubt Nomura did this on accident, so I'm curious about the implications of the Norse vs Roman names in Missing Link.

So I went back through Dark Road and Union X and gathered up all the characters with mythological names (yes this includes Missing Link beta content and theorizing). It's a long post, but stay tuned for the end where I've thrown all my Remus thoughts:

Skuld

So in Norse Myth, Skuld is a Norn. Specifically, the Norn of the future. The Norns also closely resemble the Fates from Greek myth, which is interesting. I find it really interesting that Skuld is named specifically after the Norn of the future when her game takes place in the distant past. Obviously all the Union Leaders travel to the future--so why is Skuld the only one named after a myth figure that specifically has to do with that? I can't wait to see how this all lines up later, since so far we've only had one game with her in it.

Baldr

He's the important guy, both in Myth and in Dark Road. In myth, he's the son of Odin that's deceived and killed by Loki, however it is Hod who deals the fatal blow. I feel like his name lines up with his myth inspiration very nicely--he's tricked by darkness, which ultimately leads to his death. However, one really interesting thing is that Baldr is said to survive Ragnarok, so does that mean we'll be seeing Baldr again someday?

Bragi

So Bragi is interesting. In myth, he's actually a poet who was diefied as the god of poetry. He's also known for his wisdom. The really interesting thing though is that myth Bragi's wife, Idunn, had a tree with the apples of youth, which keep the gods from aging. Really interesting that Dark Road's Bragi is actually Luxu, a guy who does not die... Clues lying in plain sight, really.

Vor

There really isn't much to find about Norse Myth's Vor, other than Vor was a minor goddess of wisdom. I just think it's cool that Vor's name is based off of a goddess of wisdom, since Vor's whole arc in Dark Road is figuring out who's right and what she wants to do.

Hermod

So in Norse myth, Hermod is the messenger god and a son of Odin. He also uses magic. In one particular myth, Hermod tried to rescue Baldr from the underworld, but ultimately failed. He has other myths where he acts like a messenger too. I don't really have much to say about Hermod's name inspiration and how it ties to Dark Road, but it is interesting how Hermod dies immediately after visiting the Underworld trying to find Baldr.

Urd

I... I have the least to say about her (at least about the main DR cast). In myth, Urd is a fate like Skuld, but she's the fate of the past. It's just weird she's named after the fate of the past and not the present. Or maybe not since this game is technically Xehanort's past...

Odin

Can you tell he was based off of Odin? He has the long beard, he's old, he's got a long coat, and a wide-brimmed hat (those are how Odin is usually represented). In myth, Odin is the god of war and also poets. He's got a horse named Sleipnir and was a magician. I know there are also theories floating around about Yen Sid potentially being Master Odin and honestly? Yen Sid fits the description.

Heimdall

In myth, Heimdall is the protector of the rainbow bridge and the entrance to Asgard. He also had heightened senses and didn't need to sleep. He and Loki actually ended up killing each other in myth as well. I have even less to say about the upperclassmen, honestly, especially ones like Heimdall who are only in a few scenes anyways. It is ironic that Heimdall was killed by darkness, though (and darkness, in my eyes, takes up a very Loki-like roll).

Helgi and Sigrun

I'm merging these two since their myths are very connected. So basically, Helgi was a Norse hero figure that is the son of Sigmund. He fell in love with a woman named Sigrun and ends up getting killed by her brother, Dragr. Sigrun eventually dies of sadness, but both she and Helgi are reborn. Sigrun is reborn into a Valkyrie named Kara whereas Helgi gets to keep his name. It's very interesting that their myths have aspects of reincarnation tied to them, which isn't true for any of the other DR characters. It's also very curious that Sigrun got a new name... and DR Sigrun looks like Strelitzia...

But that's just a theory a--

Vala

So Vala isn't an actual mythological figure, though they do show up in myths a lot. Basically, a vala is a priestess/shaman. In myth, they could use magic, see the future, and influence battles. I don't have much to say about Vala despite her being one of the more interacted with members of the upperclassmen, but she does appear to be the most wise/level-headed of the group.

Vali

I could have sworn Vali was a girl but Vali is, indeed, a guy in Dark Road. Anyways, in myth Vali is the son of Odin who was born to avenge Baldr and killed Hod. Vali does survive Ragnarok as well. It's just interesting how he has a reverse to his myth inspiration, considering be dies to Baldr and Darkness, though he does try to avenge Hod's death.

Hoder

The blind god of the night in Norse myth and son of Odin. Hod was actually tricked into killing Baldr and so was told by the other gods to avenge Baldr's death by fighting Vali. Vali won, Hod died, but when Ragnarok happened, both Hod and Baldr returned and survived Ragnarok. Very interesting implications when it comes to Kingdom Hearts...

Vidar

In myth, he's the son of Odin and was also fated to survive Ragnarok. He killed the wolf Fenrir, who's Loki's son who ate Odin. That's about all that's known about Vidar from myth. I do think it's very ironic that DR Vidar died to a Heartless when his myth inspiration killed Fenrir. Also interesting that his is the name of someone fated to survive Ragnarok despite him dying in DR...

Sigurd

I nearly forgot him but here he is! His name in myth is Siegfried. He's a hero figure who fought a dragon and awakened a valkyrie from sleep. In some stories, he's of noble blood but was an orphan. He's also associated with the ancient Germanic princess, Brunhild, who had Old Norse origins. Basically the story of Brunhild is that she vowed to marry the man who could beat her in strength, and Siegfried was able too, but he won her for another person. Brunhild got vengeful, and Siegfried died. Not every story of Brunhild leads to his death though.

He's a lot more interesting than I thought, especially for a character who shows up for like 2 lines in Union X's secret ending lol. Likelihood is, he's from another Society or the people in charge, and he welcomed Brain in Scala ad Caelum (this we know). Judging from his myth and what we already know about him, he's likely of noble or blue blood and is probably a Keyblade wielder. I wonder if we'll see any grand feats like fighting a dragon or if he'll die in Missing Link, though?

Freya

I can't really say much for Freya either since she's so new and her game isn't even out yet. She is the sister of Freyr in Norse Myth and is the goddess of love, fertility, battle, and death. So just keep in mind that she's an option for the tragic siblings trope.

Now for the really interesting guys!

Nept

I've decided to start with Neptune since Remus is a whole can of worms. So Neptune is the Roman god of the sea, and used to be just the god of freshwater until the Romans identified him with Poseidon. His myths are the same as Poseidon's: get eaten by his dad, get vomited out, draw sticks to see which realm he gets, yada, yada, yada. He was loyal to the Roman Zeus, Jupiter, and married Salacia, though he had many affairs. He also created horses and bulls!

We really don't know much about Nept since he only has a few released scenes so far, but the fact that he's probably named after the Roman god of water is interesting (i've said it before but Aqua's ancestor??? Perhaps???). I'm a little worried about the loyalty aspect though...

Remus

This. This fucking can of worms. Remus do you even know the implications of your own name?

So the myth of Remus and Romulus! Their mother, Rhea Silvia, was the daughter of the king of Alba Longa, Numitor. Numitor got removed from the throne by his brother, Amulius, who forced Rhea to take a vow of chastity by becoming a Vestal Virgin. Well she ended up having the god of war's, Mars', twin children: Remus and Romulus. They were cared for by Mars' sacred animals (she-wolf and woodpecker) and taken in by farmers, Faustulus and Acca Larentia. When the twins grew up, they killed Amulius and restored their grandfather to the throne. The twins then went on to found a city, and after Romulus built some walls around it, he killed Remus, and the city was named Rome after Romulus.

So this myth is interesting for a number of reasons. First and foremost: the siblings thing. Tragic siblings being a staple of the KH mobile games and all leaves Remus and Romulus perfect candidates for being the tragic siblings. This is also why I'm so worried about Remus being late to showing Player the Astral Realm because--is he already dead? His mythological self dies! It's practically written in the Book of Prophecies at this point!

However the second most important thing about the Remus and Romulus myth is how Remus and Romulus are the grandsons of a king who got overthrown. What if, somehow, the Baroque Society is the very last remnant of Ephemer's line/society? Somehow, what if Ephemer's line gets usurped and its last remains of his society dwindles down to at least 4 people (the question is if there's 5 members considering Freya's "another one" line)? After all, the scientists do say the founders' societies. Who are these other founders? Are they even real? What is going on with Scala ad Caelum's governing situation? We already know that it can't be good, but we don't know how bad it is.

Another really interesting thing is that Player specifically, very weirdly, reaches out to Remus when they're by Ephemer's statue. That scene was all shades of odd. Which begs the question--is Remus somehow connected to Ephemer? Is Remus is the descendant of Ephemer, and all these silver-haired characters are just there to throw us off? Did Ephemer's bloodline somehow get usurped? Is Missing Link going to be about reinstating his family line, or watching it all fall to ruin? Is Remus going to get killed by his own brother?

It's just. It's all shades of interesting and worrying at the same time. And I'm not even mentioning Remus' similarities to Lea!

Conclusion

Remus nearly made me forget this post had a point: the differences between Roman and Norse names. I thought maybe there was a connection between the "sons of Odin" thing going on, but no. Baldr and Hermod both are sons of Odin, but Baldr has a gold Master's symbol and Hermod doesn't. Even for the non-sons, Heimdall has a gold Master's symbol but Bragi doesn't.

It's also too early to really tell anything distinct about the new Missing Link characters, since a) we don't see much of them and b) the naming doesn't differentiate them either. Freya is a member of the Baroque Society alongside Remus and Nept. There's no distinction there either. There is no visual disctinction between Freya, Nept, and Remus except for their underclothes, and I'd say those design choices are more geared toward their personalities than anything else. They also don't have Master's symbols (which is another interesting thing. Sigurd doesn't have one either. Do they not exist yet? Are they the symbol of another society?). Even if they did, we still don't really know the difference between silver and gold ones, though one theory is gold = blue blood, silver = non-blue blood.

There is definitely a naming convention going on here, though. It's no coincidence that all of Dark Road's characters have Norse-inspired names, but not all of Dark Road's do. I just really want to crack why there's this distinction. I'm betting it has something to do with these noble houses/blue blood families, though (I'm willing to overlook Xehanort and Eraqus as they existed long before these concepts were even thought up.). For now I'll leave it at that and post this so that we have a bit of a collection of all the name inspirations for our myth-inspired Kingdom Hearts characters in one place.

Also, if anyone knows more about ancient myth than what Google could tell me, please let me know! I absolutely could have missed something!

[timetomarvel]

Ok guys. About the necklace theory.

This picture made me spiral (again).

Am I seeing things, or is Mickey in a room full of crowns exactly like Sora's?

Does that mean, we will finally find out more about the necklace's origin? Will we find out right here??

Will it confirm, that it is an heirloom from a special bloodline of Keyblade wielders from Scala? Will Mickey and the others think, Sora is the descendant? Will Sora be confused when they ask him where he got it from and will Riku be there to tell them that he gave it to Sora? And will that finally trigger the memory of the promise??

I could go on for hours, thinking about their reactions when it all comes out. Is Riku sad or disappointed that Sora forgot? Does Sora finally realize why Riku is his most important person? 👀 And what is so special about Rikus bloodline?

I can't wait to see if any of those things get confirmed.

I can't imagine that Sora is the descendant, since he is meant to be the one we can identify with. Just a regular person that tries his best. No princess of heart, no long lost prince of a magical royal bloodline. Just an ordinary guy with a good heart in extraordinary circumstances.

It has to be Riku's.

I think a room full of those crowns definitely means we will find out more about it! 🤩

[little-robin-h00d]

Happy Zexion Day!

HOO BOY I managed to finish this just in time! I am a firm believer that Ienzo is Nept's little brother <3 so have him being adorable in the Baroque Society!

[luxuriainash]

The Missing Link cancellation is just propaganda created by one of the other Societies to make you all turn on the Baroque Society for being the only people you got to meet in the closed betas. Trust me. Source: I work at. Baroque Society

[undertalethingems]

May i ask what papyrus’s “fun quirks” are after the accident? Or at least what you have them as in unexpected guests? Or is that something we might find out in future updates?

(I know him ‘floating’ is a big one, but i also know of the other headcanon stuff that I’m wondering if he’s got aswell haha, but then again i don’t want to spoil anything so no worries if ya can’t-)

haha, well, they're not really spoilers because most of them are just directly from canon, or things I extrapolate from canon--but here are the main ones:

As you mention, he cheerfully ignores physics when he wants

Like Sans, Papyrus knows about things that happen in the game ahead of time, before he has any reasonable way of knowing about them; this is what I have Sans term 'premonitions' in chapter 7.

He seems to be able to see from the player's perspective, at least sometimes...

As for things not supported by canon--while it's not a headcanon I came up with myself, I do like the idea that Papyrus can also shortcut, he just doesn't like to because it's lazy.

In general, aside from karma effects, I like to think Papyrus can do all the same things his brother can--he just usually chooses not to. :>

[keykidpilipili]

Coping with KHML's cancellation by imagining the most horrifying ways Scala could have made themselves descendents of Ephemera:

Norting themselves with tiny fragments of his heart stuck in a bottle on a shelf;

Founders are just Ephy clones/replicas routinely switched out every decade or so with the original kept unaging in a timeless pocket world(a prison surrounded by water);

Ephy's chosen successors/children being replaced with his memories altered Namine style. Of course you always wanted a blood caste system dude don't you remember?

[zelda-of-hyrule-tloz]

Some thoughts on Link's mother in Ocarina of Time:

In Ocarina of Time, we're told very little about Link's mother. All we know in-game is that, to escape the civil war, she escaped with an infant Link to the Kokiri Forest, gave her baby to the Deku Tree, and presumably died soon after.

If anyone could ride in and take shelter in the Kokiri Forest, how come she was the only one? How come the woods, specifically all the way to the Deku Tree, was her first thought? I don't believe many NPCs in Ocarina of Time refer to spirits (besides poes) much. Maybe everyone who would've known died, either in the war or during the coup?

Well, I think I have a slight idea.

We know the Kokiri do not leave the forest because, if they do, they "die." This either refers to becoming Stalfos or Skull Kid if one is lost in Lost Woods, or the fact they start to age if they go anywhere else. The Deku Tree's magic is what keeps them children forever, isn't it?

So, what if Link's mother was one of the Kokiri who left? She left the woods, grew up, and married a Hylian knight. Perhaps she even became one herself. When the war was at its peak, the only safe place she knew of left was one where death was null... And she wanted a safe childhood for Link.

(Not to mention, I'm pretty sure Link's mother becomes a tree in one of the Nintendo Power comics...? The German one?)

She definitely wasn't the first Kokiri to leave the woods, but she may just have been the last. Link doesn't seem to have any recent memory of something like that actually happening. Really, I imagine none of the Kokiri really understood what the warning of death meant until Link's mother returned. They finally saw her again after all that time, and she was different. Not only was she different, but her time ran out at the Deku Tree's roots. Though her growing up proved she truly lived, it was still cut short in only a matter of moments. Was it worth it? Did she think it was worth it? Maybe that's why Saria seems to be the most bittersweet about Link leaving. She probably allowed herself to understand what it meant.

All of this considered— Maybe the reason the Deku Sprout says Link isn't a Kokiri, but Hylian, is because he doesn't possess all of the same connection to magic and the forest? Because his mother gave up that life in the woods to become Hylian?

Still, it's quite funny to think of how this affects Link. Hyrule Historia isn't a reliable source for the lore whatsoever, but if OoT Link really is the Hero's Shade (I like to imagine he is), the reason he didn't stop growing until he died could be a Kokiri thing. Perhaps the only part of him that is "Kokiri" by then. Aging Kokiri still once were children of the Deku Tree, so maybe they always grow like one too. (I'm loving the idea that his mom was super tall now).

SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE I JUST COULD NOT GET THIS OUT OF MY HEAD!!! I'm probably missing some details somewhere, I'm sure, but I think this is the headcanon I'll lean towards for now. :)

[aurieeeeeenyx]

time travel mechanics in link click — intentional inconsistencies? closed loops and parallel timelines (theory)

Back in 2021 or so, I wanted to make a post about the time travel mechanics in Season 1, and how they seemed to be inconsistent in certain episodes. I never ended up making that post, and the idea slowly faded from my mind, but I want to make that post now (armed with all the new information we've received since then) before Bridon/Yingdu arc episode 4 comes out because of the episode preview when Lu Guang says this:

In Season 1, the time travel seems to operate on the principle of a closed loop. This is especially evident in the Doudou arc, when Cheng Xiaoshi sees himself in the past (while he's in Doudou's body) and realizes that he was always there; the "changes" he inflicted weren't really changes, because by the time he dives back from the future his actions in the past have already happened. This is also demonstrated when Xu Shanshan walks into the photo studio and interacts with Cheng Xiaoshi in S1E8, and we later find out that it was in fact Cheng Xiaoshi in Xu Shanshan's body interacting with himself. And again, with the ploy to use Xu Shanshan in order to lure Liu Min/Red Eyes to the photo studio. We also see this closed loop phenomenon happen in Season 2, for example when Cheng Xiaoshi possesses Lu Guang's body to go save himself in the past.

So I've always been a little bothered by the earthquake arc in Season 1. If the dives into the past have already happened, why does Chen Xiao come to the photo studio in the first place? If Cheng Xiaoshi (in Chen Xiao's body) won the basketball game and gave those kind words to Chen Xiao's loved ones, why does Chen Xiao remember otherwise?

I've wondered before what happens to the clients when Cheng Xiaoshi is possessing them—do they just not remember anything? Are they even aware of themselves being possessed? Why is no one concerned about missing memories for hours at a time or not being in control of their own body? Emma sort of skirts around this when she tells Cheng Xiaoshi, "So you were the one who sent that message" in S1E11, implying she's aware it wasn't her who sent it. For the sake of argument, though, I'm going to pass the general non-reaction of the clients to being possessed as a handwavey "the brain justifies it somehow later" thing and ignore it.**

That brings us again to the question: Why does Chen Xiao remember the past differently to the one Cheng Xiaoshi experienced/changed? Maybe the past isn't set in stone after all? Maybe, instead of just being a closed loop, the time travel in Link Click is operating on multiple systems?

In 2021, right after I watched Season 1, I was going to dismiss this as just an error. The writers slipped up and bungled their time travel mechanics a bit, and therefore the earthquake arc is different on accident. But we've learned since then that nothing is unintentional in this show, so why is that arc different from the others? (Also, I want to note, there is that moment in S1E4 where Lu Guang's face does that weird warping thing; coincidence? Maybe, but maybe not...)

My theory is: the time travel abilities that Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang have operate differently.

DISCLAIMER: My knowledge of photography and film is extremely limited, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

There's always been a lot of film imagery in this show—obviously, since the whole premise is based in photography—but as early as the Season 1 OP, "Dive Back In Time," we can see the repeated use of rewinding film rolls as a metaphor for going back in time.

Note also: Lu Guang dropping the photo and it transitioning into a film roll, and Cheng Xiaoshi being tangled up in film rolls and being "inside" the film in the background/trapped in the frame. I'll get to this later.

The thing is, once you record something on film, you can't change it; you can only rewind and play it again. This tracks with the closed loop theory: no real changes can be made, because they have already happened. So how is it possible that "changes are still happening," as Lu Guang says in the YE4 preview? It's likely that Vein (and Liu Xiao and Xia Fei) are involved, but I don't believe that's the root of the issue. And, I don't think it's just the ever-nebulous "butterfly effect," because in YE1 Lu Guang says this:

I used to think that even a flap of a butterfly might cause a hurricane strong enough to ruin the world. I was wrong. The power of time is still far beyond our imagination. The future may not change due to a ripple of the past. Not at all...

(Yes, Lu Guang is a notoriously unreliable narrator, but I've decided to trust him on this one. Not to mention, butterfly effect shouldn't exist in a closed loop system.)

I've seen lots of excellent analyses illustrating the discrepancies this season, from the very first scene of YE1 (different furniture positioning, cracks in photo frame glass, bloodstains, presence of curtain, etc) to the changing positions of clothing, buildings, time of day, food, and so on in YE2 (go check out hyperfaexation's excellent YouTube video on their Shattered Memories theory for more details). The fandom is constantly theorizing about how many timelines there are. But while we've been asking ourselves how many timelines exist (five, ten, more?), we forgot to stop and ask: why do they exist?

The existence of multiple timelines doesn't fit into Season 1's time travel premise. In Season 1, it was always Cheng Xiaoshi that we were watching. Whereas Cheng Xiaoshi could be said to live "in" the film when he dives, perhaps Lu Guang is cutting the roll short at the point which he dives back to and splicing a new roll onto it. This could explain the scene from "Dive Back In Time" that I referenced earlier, with Lu Guang outside the film and Cheng Xiaoshi in it. It's not exactly that Lu Guang is diving back in time; it's more like he's diving out of time, into a parallel timeline and leaving this one behind. Maybe this season, we'll get to see more complicated time travel mechanics that result from the intersection of different powers. (And, while we're at it, maybe we can get an answer to why Cheng Xiaoshi has golden eyes for a few frames in YE1 when they're running away, because seriously what's up with that?)

**Another explanation for the non-reaction to the clients' possession could be the interaction of different timelines, but I'm not really sure how this would pan out so I'm not going to elaborate too much.

What does this have to do with the earthquake arc? Why would Lu Guang have a (slightly) different power than Cheng Xiaoshi, if he inherited it from Cheng Xiaoshi as we are led to believe? What happens to the discarded film, the abandoned timelines, when Lu Guang casts them away? Can Cheng Xiaoshi ever be saved? I don't have answers to any of these questions, and maybe I'm overthinking (ha) all of this and it really is just a writing inconsistency after all, but I want to believe Link Click's writers know what they're doing with this and all we can do is wait for the reveal.

[hexxter]

What if Luxu and Player encounter each other with each of the player’s reincarnation

Luxu who is stealing bodies vs the kid that keeps coming back to life

[ar-mage-ddon]

she sounds like a descendant of ephemer that's for sure

[fennysstuff]

DO YOU SEE MY VISION

[mundane-herta]

So, Ratio is totally definitely somehow related to titankin, right?

His codex is very similar to that of the furiae philosopher, and he holds it pretty similarly to that of the furiae philosopher.

The titankin even turn into statues of themselves when idle! You know who has a bunch of statues of himself? Dr. Veritas Ratio!!!!!

Not only that, but they have the same color palette! The same blues, whites, and golds are used!

(And there's the idea of Ratio being really old -- discussed more in-depth here -- that comes from the simulated universe, which would align with theories of Amphoreus being a world being replayed within remembrance crystals, which might explain March's reaction to being in proximity to Amphoreus)

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

hi there! You may have seen my lil idea post of Player2 potentially being Player’s Nobody. Thanks to some friends and a fun powerpoint night, I had the chance to craft that idea into more of a solid theory.

I’ve included some slides below, but you can see the entire powerpoint and text document where I go into more detail about it HERE!

* Spoiler warning for khml’s May 2024 beta *

[toiletghostie]

Making your friend watch Link Click is so fun cus I get sent glorious messages like these:

[luxuriainash]

MoooooM, LUXU'S ON ABOUT HIS THEORIES AGAINNNNN

(re: mirage siblings, loose infodump post here // re: link rot, wikipedia page is here)

[stunnedswallow]

What if this isn’t Xehanort?

I know this may sound crazy but just hear me out.

Nomura drew this for the post Dark Road Q&A where he answered not only questions regarding DR itself but also questions that DR posed that he hoped to answer in ML. He even mentioned the possibility of Xehanort returning in the future, and alongside the mention of Xehanort’s 14th lifetime mentioned in the story, it just made so much intuitive sense that this artwork was a cute little nod to how he had already come up with ideas to write him into the Quadratum storyline.

However, something about this drawing is just a bit unusual. Xehanort’s completely different bangs, shorter hair, peaceful gaze… I initially thought it was just a matter of him looking more realistic to fit the Quadratum aesthetic and because he had achieved peace of mind while living in Quadratum. But what if we were supposed to take these as hints that something is not what it seems like?

Okay, if Nomura intentionally made Xehanort stand out with respect to these qualities in this drawing, who on Earth were we supposed to take this person to be then?

I think this is Xehanort’s father. More specifically, Sigurd.

Think about it. Isn’t it completely random that Nomura specifically made us solve a puzzle to find out that he had picked Sigurd to voice Kingdom Hearts 4 and Missing Link’s reveal trailers? A character with a few minutes of screen time, who we knew little to nothing about. Yet, Nomura made a deliberate decision to get us to think more about this character. I believe it was because he was going to be the character that would show up in both games.

Nomura says he specifically asked for the VA to deliver the two narrations differently. The delivery in 4 is a lot more somber and dark, which to me was supposed to clue us into the fact that he’s older in that period. When I first heard the narrator, I thought it was Young Xehanort’s voice! I recall a lot of other people thought he sounded very similar to Xehanort too. We know how much Nomura cares about the casting in his games and I wouldn’t be surprised if he made sure that the father and son duo sounded similar.

I believe Sigurd dies/disappears a bit before Xehanort is born, and that’s why he doesn’t look very old in Quadratum. Which reminds me, if this is the Xehanort we know, there’s really no explanation for his youthful appearance.

It’s also curious that Sigurd needs to have a face reveal at all, as if his face would immediately give away something crucial about a mystery. Very suspicious.

Not to mention, Nomura never ever explicitly comments on this drawing! He never calls attention to its contents or identifies it as a drawing of Xehanort. Which is arguably, a bit suspicious.

I don’t know, I just think it’d be a super cheeky way for Nomura to introduce us to a character that’s central to the new arc right under our noses by relying on the “anime character looks exactly like of one of their parents trope”

What do you all think?