Kingdom Hearts III
Terms and lore
The game board. The entry opens and closes long before everything else in it, on two boys at a game board in a classroom in a white city: Xehanort, who was sure the future was already written ("The Gazing Eye sees the fate of the World"), and Eraqus, who thought light might prevail. At the end Eraqus wins by refusing to put his king down, and sets out a new game: seven black pieces against a single white one.
The seven guardians of light. The seven Keyblade wielders Yen Sid gathered to stand against Xehanort: Sora, Riku, King Mickey, Aqua, Ventus, Kairi and Lea. "Perhaps you might say that we have nine guardians, with Donald and Goofy." Terra joined them at the end.
The thirteen seekers of darkness. Xehanort's real Organization XIII, gathered from across time. Most of its members travelled from the past as hearts and were placed in replicas made ready for them. Among them were Master Xehanort and his younger self, Ansem, Xemnas, Xigbar, Saïx, Luxord, Larxene, Marluxia, Vanitas, a man in Terra's body, a Riku from the past, and a girl in an Organization coat. Vexen and Demyx were members too, though Demyx was "benched." Xehanort sees them all as vessels to hold his own heart.
The power of waking. The power Sora failed to master in his exam: the power to free a heart from its sleep. Yen Sid sent him to find it again, and it came to him when Ventus needed it: "You never lost it. It sleeps, until someone needs it. Call to it." Mickey warned that it is not for chasing hearts, and that whoever does so might never come home.
Replicas. Vexen's vessels. The first was a prototype, and the one made from Sora's memories was real enough to join the Organization. The newest are human in every way. "With hearts, the replicas will become people." Vexen, recompleted and wanting to atone, made one vessel for Roxas and sent it to Ienzo through Demyx.
Three hearts in Sora. From Ansem the Wise's research: "I have discovered three unique hearts inside of Sora's. One is Roxas. The second has been with Sora for nearly as long. And a third has resided in Sora's heart for even longer, most of his life." Sora keeps their memories, each in its own box. Unite a heart with its memories and give it a suitable body, and the person can be made real again.
The New Seven Hearts. The Organization's fallback, in case the guardians of light fell short: seven people who inherited the princesses' light after the princesses' role was fulfilled. Marluxia and Larxene watched over Rapunzel, Elsa and Anna as candidates.
The Final World. Where Sora woke after the tide of Heartless took the guardians: the end of everything, in Chirithy's words, where hearts go when heart and body perish together. Some persist there as stars. Sora arrived with his body scattered and had to gather himself back together, and from there he reached out and brought the others back one by one.
Chirithy. A small creature waiting in the Final World for a friend who "doesn't remember the past" and is surely happier with new friends. Ventus was reunited with it at the end.
The Keyblade Graveyard. The fated place, where the seven lights and the thirteen darknesses clashed. Xehanort's own account of its keys: "The thirteen darknesses and seven lights have clashed nine times, yielding these nine keys." When Sora came back with Kairi to the moment the guardians first fell, Terra's empty armour met the blow meant for them, the Keyblades of wielders from long ago rose out of the dust, and Yen Sid held back the tide.
The χ-blade and Kingdom Hearts. Xehanort struck Kairi down to give Sora "motivation," and the thirteenth key came from the clash that followed; with it he forged the χ-blade and called on Kingdom Hearts to open and show him the World to come. His aim, in his own words: a purge. The World would be returned to where it started, "an empty World, pure and bright," made new by the first light of Kingdom Hearts.
Scala ad Caelum. Where the guardians trapped Xehanort, using his own power to move through space and time against him. By his account it was once the seat of power for all Keyblade wielders, "the nexus from which all worlds spring."
The black box. What Maleficent and Pete spent the whole entry digging for, world after world, along with the Book of Prophecies. At the end Maleficent decided the box does not exist now, but that once light and darkness clash in a Keyblade War, whoever wins, it will be revealed. In the epilogue a black box stands beside Xigbar.
"May my heart be my guiding key." What got Sora's Gummi Ship moving, and what led him to the Keyblade that opened a door into the realm of darkness. Chirithy sent him off with it too.
Re Mind. After the story ends, two more episodes follow it: a year of searching for Sora, and Sora waking in the Final World by night. The terms below come from those.
Nothing left to teach. When Xehanort was gone, Terra sent for Riku at the Land of Departure. "You're a true Keyblade Master, not to mention a great leader to those around you." Then Terra, Aqua and Ventus put on their armour and went into the realm of darkness to look for Sora. This time, Aqua said, she was not alone.
A year of searching. What everyone did while Sora was gone. Mickey, Donald and Goofy searched every world Sora had been to. Terra, Ventus and Aqua searched the realm of darkness. The Twilight Town gang studied Roxas and Xion's memories. Kairi slept in Ansem the Wise's lab while he, Even and Ienzo searched her heart. Nobody found anything.
The real Organization, in data. Cid merged the data from his computer, the one in Twilight Town and the one in the castle, all on the same network, and rebuilt Sora's fighting data and the real Organization XIII in a copy of a hall called the Garden of Assemblage. Their data was too strong to read until Riku defeated all thirteen through Sora's data. It held no sign of the boy.
Riku's dream. "It was dark. And I was surrounded by tall buildings. I was looking around for Sora, when I felt someone watching me from way up high." The Fairy Godmother, sent by Merlin and Yen Sid because dreams are her specialty, believed the key to finding Sora was in it, "and the other two."
The Final World by night. Where Sora woke under a night sky, whole this time, and where a young man answered his shout: Yozora. He had wandered in, gone through some trials, and been told to "save Sora," and then he doubted that this was Sora at all. He took them both to the top of a tower in a city of towers, and they fought. Sora won, and woke in the Final World by day. Yozora woke in the back seat of a car, where his driver called him Commander. Neither was sure it had been real.
Characters and where they stand
Sora. Cheerful, stubborn, and short of the power he had lost in his exam. He travelled world after world looking for a way to wake his friends, and found the power of waking when Ventus needed him. He rescued Aqua from the realm of darkness, pulled the guardians back from the Final World, and defeated Xehanort with everyone beside him. Then he went alone to bring Kairi back, and did. On the beach at the Destiny Islands, with everyone there, he faded away beside her: the price of using the power once too often. In the Final World by night he met a young man called Yozora, fought him and won, and was left in the daylight unable to make it add up: "None of this. Makes sense to me."
Riku. A Keyblade Master now, easier with himself: "It's more fun to just listen to my heart. Which is Sora-esque." He searched the realm of darkness for Aqua with Mickey, faced a copy of himself from the past, and beat Ansem one last time. When Sora went after Kairi alone, it was Riku who told Mickey to let him go. A year later he fought the real Organization's data at Merlin's house, and told the Fairy Godmother about a dream of a dark city of tall buildings.
Kairi. Trained as a Keyblade wielder with Lea under Merlin, and became one of the seven guardians. She shared a paopu fruit with Sora before the battle. Xehanort struck her down to make the last key, and Sora brought her back. Naminé, once inside her, has a body of her own again. For a year since Sora faded she has slept in Ansem the Wise's lab while they search her heart for him.
Aqua. Rescued from the realm of darkness by Sora, after the darkness had corrupted her and she had turned on Mickey. She kept her promise to wake Ven, and her promise to find Terra. Terra told her: "You never stopped lighting my way back."
Ventus. Woke at last in the Chamber of Waking, when Sora called on the heart that had slept inside him since he was a child: "You were my second chance." He stood against Vanitas one last time, and helped bring Terra back. He remembers Lea as a friend from long ago, and he was reunited with Chirithy.
Terra. His body was used by Xehanort until the very end, and his Lingering Will kept watch at the Graveyard. He won himself back ("One day, I will set this right"), stood with the guardians in Scala ad Caelum, and carried Master Eraqus inside him to face Xehanort. He is reunited with Aqua and Ven. Afterwards he told Riku there was nothing left to teach him, and with Aqua and Ventus put on his armour and went into the realm of darkness to look for Sora.
King Mickey. Took Riku into the realm of darkness to find Aqua, and was caught there by her in a tower of Heartless while the darkness had her. He worked out, with Riku, how to trap Xehanort through his own power over space and time, and warned Sora that the power of waking is not for chasing hearts.
Donald Duck and Goofy. With Sora every step, and among the guardians Yen Sid counted. At the end Sora left them behind to go after Kairi alone.
Lea. Trained with Kairi, summoned his Keyblade, and asked her to call him Axel. He remembered a boy named Ventus from his childhood, who looked just like Roxas. Xemnas knocked him down and called him useless. Roxas and Xion came back for him, and he said goodbye to Isa as a friend. "See you, Isa."
Roxas. Came back in the vessel Vexen made, with help from Ansem the Wise, Ienzo, and Sora, who helped him find his way back to his friends. "Hands off my friends." He is reunited with Lea and Xion, and with Isa.
Xion. A girl in an Organization coat fighting beside Saïx, whom Lea almost knew, until a voice reached her through a connection she did not yet remember: Roxas, saying her name. She turned on Xemnas. She is with Roxas and Lea again.
Naminé. Woke in the Final World after a great darkness struck Kairi, and helped Sora there by tracing Terra's connection to the realm of light. Sora finally thanked her, sort of. She has been restored in a body of her own.
Master Xehanort. Patient to the end. He forged the χ-blade and opened Kingdom Hearts to purge the World and start it over. Defeated in Scala ad Caelum, he saw in Sora an old friend, yielded to Eraqus, and departed with him. "Ready, my friend?"
Young Xehanort. Set a Heartless loose in a copy of Andy's world to learn how hearts connect, and learned that a heart can be placed in a vessel of the Organization's choosing. He warned Sora that the power of waking has a high price, and went back to his own time with a last word: "Your journey ends here."
Master Eraqus. Lived on inside Terra all these years. At the end he spoke through Terra to Xehanort, asked his three students to forgive their foolish teacher, and went with Xehanort.
Xigbar. Needled Sora from the start of the entry to the end, and claimed the old coot had promised him his Keyblade. After the war he called four people back, holding Master Xehanort's Keyblade ("Finally, back where it belongs") with a black box beside him, lowered his hood, and answered to an old name, Luxu. His role, he said, is done. One of those he expected, Ava, did not come back. "I hope you like long stories."
Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, and Xemnas. Guided Sora down the path they were told to lay, and would have destroyed him if he strayed. Both fell. Ansem told Riku to go forth and seek. Xemnas, at the end, felt his first surge of emotion in years, and it was loneliness.
Saïx. Once Isa, Lea's best friend. They once apprenticed themselves to Ansem the Wise to rescue a girl they had met in the castle, and he followed Xehanort's Nobody to find her, and never did. He admitted he had been jealous, and faded as himself.
Luxord, Larxene and Marluxia. Back in the Organization, though none of them trusted why. Luxord lost a last game to Sora and hoped to play again someday "when we're just guys." Larxene lost and kept her secret. Marluxia's heart began remembering how to feel as he fell.
Vanitas. Rebuilt his heart from the Unversed's harvest of fear and sadness, and came for Ventus. He called himself Sora's shadow, "the piece of Ventus that was taken away," and faded accepting what he was: "What I am is darkness."
The Riku from the past. A Riku who travelled forward as a heart into a replica, and insisted to the end that he was the real one.
Riku's replica. The replica from Castle Oblivion, broken in the realm of darkness, who saved Riku there and followed him home inside his heart with one last thing to see through. At the Graveyard he drove the heart of the Riku from the past out of its vessel and gave the empty replica to Naminé.
Ansem the Wise and Ienzo. Master and apprentice again. Ansem the Wise apologised for failing Ienzo, and refused to help Xehanort find a girl from his old experiments. Ienzo worked through his teacher's research to find the three hearts inside Sora and a way to bring Roxas back.
Vexen and Demyx. Vexen rejoined the Organization to atone from the inside, freed Ansem the Wise from Xehanort's Heartless at the Twilight Town mansion, and sent the vessel for Roxas to Ienzo. Demyx, "benched," carried it. The whole thing had been Saïx's idea.
Maleficent and Pete. Still searching, world after world, for the black box and the Book of Prophecies. Maleficent is content to wait: once the war comes, the box will be revealed.
The four called back. Four figures summoned back by Xigbar with no idea why. They knew him as Luxu. One wanted to know his role; another wanted to know if it was really him.
The girl in the Final World. A star who remembers nothing, not even her name, waiting for someone who has been "changed beyond recognition, his heart replaced with another's." She told Sora his name, and asked him to keep it secret.
Yozora. A young man who knew Sora's name, doubted he was Sora, and was told to save him. He says the form he wore there "isn't what I really look like." He woke in a car, called Commander by his driver, wondering whether any of it was real.
Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid and Merlin. Still in Radiant Garden, and still looking. Cid spent a year on the data; Aerith held on to the idea that if they still remember Sora, he must still be with them.
The Fairy Godmother. Sent to Merlin's house by Merlin and Yen Sid, because dreams are her specialty, to look into Riku's dreams. She believes the key to finding Sora is there, "and the other two."
Questions
Where did Sora go when he faded, and will he come back?
Who is Yozora, and who told him to save Sora?
Who was watching Riku from high up in his dream, and who are "the other two" the Fairy Godmother spoke of?
Who was the girl Lea and Isa tried to rescue from the castle, and why did Xehanort want her memories?
Who is the girl waiting in the Final World, and who is she waiting for?
What is the ancient Keyblade legacy that Xemnas said slumbers within the Organization's members nine through twelve?
Who are the four Xigbar called back, and what was his role as Luxu?
Who is Ava, and what was her mission?
What is in the black box, and what does Maleficent want with it and the Book of Prophecies?
What is the new game Eraqus set out, seven black pieces against a single white one?
Fun facts
A long wait. Kingdom Hearts III was announced in June 2013 and came out in January 2019. Part of the delay came from moving the game to Unreal Engine 4.
Your name in the game. A 2018 campaign with Kingdom Hearts Union χ, the game the later entry The Book of Prophecies comes from, put the names of 300 of its players into Kingdom Hearts III.
The biggest team. It was made by the largest development team in the series' history.
An original Toy Story. The Toy Box world tells an original story, set sometime after Toy Story 2.
What fans asked for. Star Wars and Marvel were among the most requested worlds, but could not be included for legal reasons.
A download first. The two Re Mind episodes at the end of this entry come from Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind, announced in June 2019 and released on January 23, 2020: the first major downloadable expansion in the series.