New theory: I think Aqua is the one who casts Reflect to keep Vanitas away from Ventus while Sora dives to Ventus’s heart to awaken him.
That’s why in the background there’s an intense bright light at the center throne where we saw Ventus sitting earlier. There are cracks on the Reflect barrier from Vanitas trying to break through but Aqua is in his way. So Vanitas fights her and prepares to kill her to take down her Reflect.
Not sure when this^ part comes in though but I assume it’s before the Vanitas versus Aqua bit. I think the grab hands scene is when Sora breaks Aqua out of her possession.
It looks very plausible but I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be enough for Vanitas to knock Aqua out, if he wants to take down her Reflect? I think that if Aqua had put it up the barrier would’ve shattered once she was knocked unconscious.
Also I might be wrong but it looks like the hexagons closer to the sides of the barrier are turned toward Vanitas and Aqua’s part of the room, which makes me think that Aqua and Vanitas are the ones surrounded by the barrier.
To me the Reflect wall looks like the border of a battle area. Maybe Vanitas trapped himself and Aqua in the Reflect barrier and initiated a fight that ended with Aqua unconscious, or Aqua put it up to keep the fight away from Ven’s body. Probably Aqua since we know she’s gifted at casting barrier-spells.
(random thought: could Aqua vs. Vanitas be playable? If this is an actual fight between them it seems strange to simply show it in a cutscene. Why not let us beat Vanitas up?)
Honestly, though, I can definitely see Vanitas putting up the barrier and knocking Aqua out cold before attempting to stab her in the heart. He might be trying to use her as leverage, to force Ventus to give himself up. Or maybe he’s simply going to murder Aqua. But why would he want to kill her? What does he or Xehanort gain with her death? IMO if she’s meant to take part in the final battle then she’s more valuable to Xehanort alive.
The bright light in the throne outside the barrier is probably Ventus (and Sora?) trying to break through it and save Aqua. Nomura said that only the player will be able to save her from ‘him’, so I wonder which character we are meant to be playing as during this section of the game?
I’ve always thought that it’s Aqua who casts the Reflect just because she is the only known character capable of projecting 360 barriers.
I’d like to believe there’s going to be a round 4 fight between Vanitas and Aqua and we get to play so it’s not just a cutscene fight. But it could be like when Sora and Riku fought Xemnas and there were bits of cutscenes throughout the battle.
Some people say Vanitas isn’t trying to murder Aqua but is actually trying to split her heart to create a light and dark version of her like Ven and Vanitas. Other people say he truly is trying to kill her to finish what Xehanort ordered him to do all the way back in BBS (“take Aqua’s life”).
It’s possible Ventus might awaken in time to intercept Vanitas’s strike and save Aqua. Just like how Ven stopped Vanitas from killing an unconscious Aqua in BBS when they were at the Keyblade Graveyard. Man, Aqua has had too many close calls now that I think about it.
I agree that Aqua was most likely the one who cast that Reflect. It’s just that I don’t understand why the barrier hasn’t fallen apart since she is unconscious.
Xehanort only wanted Aqua dead so that he could pull Terra into the darkness. Since it looks like Terra is either under his control or not one of his Seekers, I’d say that there’s no real reason for Xehanort to want her dead now. I’m more inclined to think that Vanitas is trying to split her heart or Nort her.
And yeah, it’s likely that Ventus will stop Vanitas from striking Aqua down. But I also agree that Aqua has had a lot of close calls and maybe this time will be the one that finishes her. It would also be interesting to see Ven sacrifice himself to save her, since she sacrificed so much while trying to protect him and save Terra. I think that a sacrifice would fit here, since there seem to be a lot of Disney world story endings involving protagonists making sacrifices for their loved ones.
I must say, I would love to see more of Dark Aqua or Aquanort so I honestly would be interested in having her heart split. I can already imagine the amount of fanfics shipping Dark Aqua with Vanitas or Xemnas.
As sad as it is, I was also thinking Ven would sacrifice himself to save Aqua. It’d be even better if Terra was involved too. That way it comes full circle. Aqua did her best to help Terra and Ven. It’d be nice to see Terra and Ven do their best to save her now.
When you think about it, wouldn’t Ven sacrificing himself for her break her probably still-fragile mental state? I mean, it seems like she just got out of the Realm of Darkness and mental illness doesn’t go away that easily.
Maybe Ven sacrifices himself and Aqua breaks. Discovering what really happened to Terra might also add to her distress. I can imagine Ansem SoD (or maybe even Xemnas) telling her about Terra’s fate in order to break her.
I would also like to see more of Darkqua. It feels like a waste to only have her appear in the very beginning of the game. I hope they do something more with her.
I can’t see Terra sacrificing himself tbh. Maybe because he’s already in such a shitty situation. Ven otoh was just chilling in Sora so him doing it doesn’t seem as unfair. But I can see Terra trying to save Aqua after he is restored, if Aqua still needs saving at that point in the game.
Aqua: “No matter how much I’ve been through, at least I can stay strong knowing that I saved Terra and Ven in the process. So long as nothing happens to nullify the sacrifices I made, I can live with this.”
Terra and Ven: *die, rendering all of her sacrifices and suffering completely and utterly pointless*
I made this because people haven’t played or watched the games beside KH1/KH2 (and questionably CoM) and I wanna help fix that problem 🙂 If anyone has anything else they think is necessary to add, go ahead.
Another helpful resource, for both old and new fans: KINGDOM HEARTS TIMELINE by Everglow, which is essentially the entire series in chronological order in episodic format. Please also read the description of each video, as he includes notes as clarification for certain changes and whatnot.
I kept watching the trailer again and got this idea.
Aqua gets taken by Terranort
Vanitas shows up and they make her bring Land of Departure back to get Ventus
Aqua isn’t just gonna give up so she uses Master Defender to create a barrier and sends the keyblade the to the only place she can think of (destiny island) but now she’s defenseless and gets attacked.
Vanitas and Terranort are now both pissed they can’t get Ven and have to make up the difference for the plan somehow so they use Aqua.
Sora finds Master Defender because of Aqua
Goofy says “May your heart be your guiding key again so Sora tries opening a gate and Ven’s heart makes one to his body.
Sora uses the power of waking he mastered to wake him up and now they have one more guardian.
Or I’m completely wrong and nothing like this happens 😅.
omg this is a great theory! 😀 Only problem is that Aqua doesn’t seem to have Master Defender when she’s fighting the Guardian (something which I assume takes place before Mickey and Riku find her). But other than that I like this a lot.
Tumblr Backup 