#ive wanted to recreate the soup time meme with this for ages

[firestorm09890]

The entire backstory regarding Ansem the Wise, his apprentices, and how they fell into darkness is kind of a mess. We’ve been retroactively getting new information about it that changes the perspective of it all for ages. But there’s one specific part I want to talk about: the losing of the apprentices’ hearts, and whether or not it was by choice.

Our first glimpse at what happened comes from Secret Ansem Report 3 in kh2.

Did Xehanort pass through that door in an attempt to contact that dark realm? No, not only Xehanort. It appears my other five apprentices, believing it was for the sake of research, stared deep into the darkness and were pulled into it. Even, Ienzo, Braig, Dilan, and Aeleus... They have ceased to be human.

Okay, so with that info alone, they probably fell to darkness like all those other evil bitches we saw in kh1. Given that in kh2 we also learn about the Heartless Manufactory, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to assume that the apprentices were torn apart by the Heartless they created. However, it’s also worth mentioning that Ansem the Wise probably isn’t the most reliable narrator, considering a lot of his secret reports are about him being blinded by his emotions.

Then, in the secret report “Day 119: Hearts and Emotion” authored by Xaldin in 358/2 Days, we get this (bold added by me):

Watching that foolish beast flail about only deepens my disdain for humans and their incessant need to be pinned down by feelings. We became Nobodies precisely to avoid the shackles of emotion. It was only later that we realized the scale of that loss: that some things simply cannot be done without a heart. Nonetheless, I see nary a pleasant thing about it.

Implying that the apprentices had intentionally rid themselves of their hearts. So far, things can be regarded as consistent, kinda.

And then, not canon since it’s from a novel- Days novel specifically- but I wanted to bring it up anyway since it’s relevant (bold added by me again):

When Zexion thought back on their erstwhile research, the “plan” seemed to him like a contradiction in terms-- trying to reclaim what they had lost through their own actions. He didn’t believe they had done anything wrong by studying and producing the heartless. It just so happened that in that process, they had forfeited their own hearts.

The language here places an interpretation of this somewhere between what Ansem said and what Xaldin said- it may have been an unintentional consequence that they lost their hearts, but it was intentional enough that Zexion doesn’t understand why the goal suddenly became getting those hearts back.

Novel segment over

And THEN at the very beginning of Dream Drop Distance we find out that nah Xehanort just fucking stabbed them all (or, we see him stab Braig, at least; it can be assumed that the others met the same fate)

So that’s it, right? It wasn’t through their own actions at all, everything from before can be written off as having been retconned- NOPE HOLD YOUR HORSES

IN KH3 IENZO SAYS THIS

“We cast off our hearts by choice, make no mistake, but we didn't know that Xemnas-- or rather, Xehanort-- was deceiving us.”

Which is VERY notable because usually in KH when we get new info on this (pre-fall post-bbs radiant garden backstory) front, it’s always like oh. so we were wrong about this before and this new take is true. and then it doesn’t get contradicted again like this

WHY would you say something incriminating like that if it wasn’t true? The answer is Ienzo probably feels a need to overshare due to overwhelming guilt, but that’s not the point. If it was just as simple as Xehanort stabbing everyone without consent, Ienzo wouldn’t have said it like this.

the headcanon zone (warning: such deep speculation that I’m making shit up at this point)

okay here’s what I think:

Xehanort pitched the idea that the apprentices would be able to more effectively study hearts if they removed their own. Some (Even and Aeleus) thought that was stupid and dangerous, while others (Dilan and Ienzo) thought the idea had merit (I have no idea what Braig thinks, and Lea and Isa were not invited to this conversation). Xehanort did the same thing he and the other apprentices did to Ansem the Wise earlier: pretend to drop the idea, but continue pursuing it in secret.

He probably discussed it with Ienzo more than Dilan, because this kid likes him (and is, yknow, a kid) and is thus a lot easier to manipulate into doing whatever to help him. So one day Xehanort goes “hey Ienzo can you help me test my theory :)”, and Ienzo agrees. Xehanort did Not tell him he was about to get stabbed

And then for the others I also have ideas about how it went down but I kinda want to make a whole separate post about that- basically, Even and Braig were stabbed without warning, Dilan and Aeleus agreed to getting stabbed

So! Yeah! That’s my thoughts on this! Thank you for reading