4. Ending
Seeing as some fans waited 14 years for Kingdom Hearts III to come out, it’s no surprise that many were unhappy with the downer note the game goes out on. While the day is saved and all the side characters get to have their day in the sun, the price Sora has paid in secret was rather steep.
Sora’s abuse of his “power of waking” to save Kairi and his friends finally comes back to bite him, as he quickly disintegrates into nothingness before the credits roll. The song “Don’t Think Twice” that’s playing in the background perfectly summarises his reckless decision to throw himself away for the happiness of all people he loves.
It seems like he may be well and truly dead, even if just for a little bit, as the secret ending reveals he has entered the world of The World Ends With You. The premise of those games is that the recently dead have a chance to win back their life by completing strange tasks, known as the ‘Reapers Game’. With Sora seemingly joining their numbers, maybe this game will be our next chance to bring a beloved character back from the brink.
3. My Summer Vacation is Over
The start of Kingdom Hearts II is very odd. You’re introduced to a new main character, a new city, and are forced to do homework and odd jobs for spare cash. Not exactly your standard Kingdom Hearts affair, but all this makes sense in hindsight.
All this menial work is a Matrix-style prison, to keep the amnesiac Roxas safe and secure from both the heroes and villains looking to destroy him. As you learn more and more about the limits of this digital world he becomes desperate to learn the truth. After finally making his escape, Roxas finally learns what he is, a ‘Nobody’ the empty husk made when a person becomes a Heartless.
Specifically, Roxas is Sora’s Nobody made when he sacrificed himself to save Kairi. Unless Roxas sacrifices his own life and returns to Sora, Sora will never wake up from the coma he was forced into during Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. While we’ve only known him for a short amount of time, it’s horrible to see all the characters, both good and bad, treat Roxas less than human.
Despite his anger at the situation, and his desire to keep living, because Roxas is a hero he chooses to make the leap, merging with Sora and beginning Kingdom Hearts II properly. What makes it extra tragic, is Sora doesn’t even know he existed until the very end of the game, giving him no credit for the brave act, and treating all nobodies as scum accordingly. As the games have gone by Roxas has been given much better treatment, but back in 2005, this injustice was positively palpable.
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