Editing KHWiki:Magazine/Issue 6

*[http://yeoldekeyhole.tumblr.com/post/125616193580/birth-by-sleep-x '''Ansem Report 8'''] from {{c|Birth by sleep|video}}

*[http://yeoldekeyhole.tumblr.com/post/126834550179/waiting-for-kh3-news-like '''The'''][http://yeoldekeyhole.tumblr.com/post/126841705489/come-to-khwiki-social-for-hyping-with-your-fellow '''''Kingdom Hearts III'''''][http://yeoldekeyhole.tumblr.com/post/126842221719/its-time '''hype'''][http://yeoldekeyhole.tumblr.com/post/126843948619/big-hero-six-announced-as-the-newest-kh-world '''begins'''][http://yeoldekeyhole.tumblr.com/post/127421645759/birth-by-sleep-x '''Capes!'''] from {{c|Birth by sleep|video}}

*[http://yeoldekeyhole.tumblr.com/post/128066532720/birth-by-sleep-x '''A tale of truth'''] from {{c|Birth by sleep|video}}. Yeah, we gif-ed the heck out of that video.

The little we know about Xehanort's earlier life is as follows:

*Xehanort's tutor tells him about the uses of Keyblade armour and urges him and the other apprentices to use it while travelling the Lanes Between so as to not be touched / corrupted by the darkness. Xehanort, however, is a naughty boy, and does not heed his master's words, and is presumably touched by darkness for the first time. He seems to like just how much power it gives him, so every time he travels through the Lanes Between, he does not use his armour. Enough exposure to darkness gives him the amber eyes that we now associate with him.

*At some unknown point in time the unnamed Keyblade master holds a Mark of Mastery examination. All three apprentices – Xehanort, Eraqus and Yen Sid – pass and are declared Keyblade masters. Xehanort has the choice of inheriting his master's role of taking care of the Land of Departure or going off on his own and forging a new path: he chooses the latter option. Yen Sid also does the same. Eraqus is left to take care of the Land of Departure.

Children have often been seen in fiction as having an innate ability to determine right from wrong, and Ventus seems to have this ability as well. Despite not having sufficient words to say anything in response to Xehanort, Ventus' actions give away his intentions quite easily. This does raise a point, though: what other forms of abuse was Ventus subjected to under Xehanort's tutelage?

[[File:Magazine Issue 6 KeybladeMaster3b.png|230px|right]] The ultimate form of abuse begins when Xehanort has quite enough of Ventus' refusal. He raises his Keyblade over Ventus' motionless body and splits his heart in two, a process that subjects Ventus to great physical and emotional pain. The darkness in his body emerges to form a new entity known as Vanitas, a chaotic evil being who seeks to destroy and inflict pain by mere impulse. The little light that is left in Ventus still remains, and Xehanort brings Ventus back to his boyhood home of Destiny Islands, where he would watch the boy live out his last days (or last hours).  

Okay, so Xehanort's initial plan didn't work. Time for Plan B. He doesn't say anything, and his emotions don't suggest that it's time for Plan B, and these only serve to show depth of his scheming. He sends Ventus to his former friend Eraqus, as he predicts that Eraqus would be the man to nurture the light within Ventus' heart.

We see Xehanort quite early on; he has been invited by his old friend Eraqus to his pupils' [[Mark of Mastery]] examination (well, [[Terra]]'s and [[Aqua]]'s, really). I don't claim to know how Xehanort is able to see darkness in Terra's heart, darkness that probably wasn't there or had no reason to take effect, but the plot of ''Birth by Sleep'' has indeed revealed that Xehanort himself is responsible for bringing about the darkness in Terra's heart. Terra fails the exam, because of that same darkness, and he is deferential to authority to the point of asking Xehanort (who is a master, after all) what can be done about his darkness.

Xehanort seizes his chance. ''“Darkness cannot be destroyed, it can only be channelled.”'' With that, he disappears and goes incommunicado. He may have accepted Eraqus' olive branch, but he is still shifty enough to not tell Eraqus what is going on, and now everyone knows that something is wrong. Eraqus sends Terra and Aqua off to search for Xehanort, and report back to Eraqus as soon as Xehanort is found.

[[File:Magazine Issue 6 KeybladeMaster3d.png|230px|left]]Terra finds Xehanort's whereabouts several times during his story without telling Eraqus a word – but to be fair to Terra, he probably doesn't know what kind of place Xehanort has called him to, and so cannot say anything. We can safely presume that Terra would never have been there before, not until Xehanort summons him. And it is there that Xehanort's true traits start being shown.

*He says that Ventus' heart has been split in two as a result of an “accident.” He does admit that he did Ventus grievous harm, but does not disclose the real circumstances for Ventus' heart being split.

*He tells Terra to find [[Vanitas]], the incarnation of Ventus' darkness – basically putting Terra on a wild goose chase, since Vanitas' target is not Terra, but rather, Ventus and Aqua. Finding Vanitas would inevitably mean finding Ventus or Aqua, because let's face it, Xehanort does not want Terra to be close to Ventus and Aqua. Their lights are strong, and Terra's darkness needs feeding by any means – and Xehanort spins this tale of Vanitas just to throw Terra into a chase he knows he'll never conclude on his own.

It is presumably Xehanort who orders Vanitas to get rid of [[Mickey]], which would prompt Ventus to seek his whereabouts, because by some deus ex machina (honestly, see me repeat this phrase a number of times throughout this article), Xehanort can somehow read Mickey's mind and know that Ventus is friends with the mouse. Mickey being knocked out already makes Ventus troubled – a chink in his otherwise strong heart. Xehanort comes in for the kill; the very sight of him makes Ventus intensely traumatised.

Knowing that Ventus would return home to question Eraqus, he has all his cards laid out. He would summon Terra and tell him that Ventus is in trouble, prompting Terra to go after Ventus. Terra would discover that Ventus is about to be killed by Eraqus. Terra would clash against Eraqus and weaken him, basically doing all the dirty work for Xehanort so that he could land the killing blow – because there's no way he would dare do it himself, not after Eraqus had previously extended an olive branch to him. He attacks from the back, too – a fitting form of murder coming from a treacherous bastard. What's even more unsettling is that Xehanort knows that all these things are going to happen. And by the time all this is over, he drops the charade and shows himself for what he truly is: a master manipulator, a traitor and a murderer.

[[File:Magazine Issue 6 KeybladeMaster3e.png|280px|right]] As soon as I knew of Xehanort's actions in this game, it made me draw parallels with Satan or the devil in Abrahamic faiths. Being Christian (Catholic, to be precise) makes it easier for me to draw said parallel, but such a parallel can be drawn regardless of one's beliefs. Xehanort is comparable to an entity with god-like power, knowing past, present and future, and being at one with the passage of fate – this entity uses his power to draw people away from the light and into darkness. Even if darkness is not explicitly mentioned, his actions suggest his alignment to the dark: his scheming, his treachery, his multiple lies, and his desire to further his ambitions at the expense of other innocent people. The story ends with Xehanort possessing Terra's body, thus turning Terra into his new vessel so he could live to bring about the cataclysm of the Keyblade War without having to worry about his body becoming frail anymore. Aqua notices that Terra is no longer himself, and any effort to save him results in her falling into the Realm of Darkness, and Terra still possessed by Xehanort regardless. A person being possessed has long been associated with demons, ghosts or evil spirits of any kind, and it would be easy to compare Xehanort to one such evil spirit. And not just any evil spirit: the devil himself.

Such a possession would need an exorcism- a long and painful one. Would Xehanort truly be summoned out of Terra's body, ever? Terra says he's ready to do whatever it takes until Xehanort is expelled from his body. But if there's anything, anything at all, that I've learnt from real-life exorcisms, it's that expelling an evil spirit from one's body cannot be done by willpower alone, and Terra most certainly cannot do it alone. He would need the help of someone outside to set him free.<br>

|divetotheheartgametutorialtitle=Tips for levelling up Sora's Wisdom Form

I have been requested to write a second guide for levelling up another Drive Form, and I thought Wisdom Form would be a good next piece. It is unclear to me whether Wisdom Form is one of the least favourite forms among ''Kingdom Hearts'' fans, but it most certainly comes in handy for magic users. With the introduction of new magic-intensive bosses in ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix'', it is almost imperative that we players level up Wisdom Form all the way in order to reap its benefits, especially Quick Run and MP Hastega. I hope this guide may come in handy. If there is anything missing from it, please feel free to share your levelling tips and suggestions to [[KHWiki talk:Magazine/Issue 6|the magazine's talk page]].

Therefore, if you're looking to level up this drive form, do not go for Heartless with high hit points. Instead, go to areas where there are many Heartless, especially those with low HP. There are a few such areas throughout the game, but they do not always remain ideal training spots for this form. Therefore, when levelling up Wisdom Form, do take note of which point of the game you are.

The Fragment Crossing is a winding road of sorts, surrounded by skyscrapers. There's a sort of sewage or electric generation system halfway through, and the odd few treasure chests can be found on the generators or on the sides of the road. I mention this place here because it is one of my tried-and-tested places to defeat scores of Heartless. The Heartless to be found here are Shadows and Neoshadows. They have a low to medium amount of HP each, and scores of them can be defeated at once with a well-placed Magnet and Thunder.

In the original ''Kingdom Hearts II'', the Fragment Crossing is always infested with Heartless. There is no lapse of time if you're looking to use this as a training ground.

But if you're playing ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix'' like most of us currently are, with the not-so-recent release of the ''HD 2.5 Remix'', then take note: this place will not stay a training ground for Wisdom Form forever!

Now this method only works during the first visit to Agrabah. When Sora and company arrive in the treasure room, they are tasked with defeating 50 heartless. 47 of these Heartless consist of [[Icy Cube|Icy Cubes]], [[Fiery Globe|Fiery Globes]], and [[Silver Rock|Silver Rocks]], which have low HP, so they can be dispatched quickly. However, been warned that after the 47 smaller enemies are vanquished, 3 [[Fat Bandit|Fat Bandits]] will appear. After defeating 50 enemies here, it will get you 50 steps closer to your next level! If you have yet to level wisdom form at this point, you'll automatically make it to level 2 and be halfway to level 3! Even if you have already started levelling this form, using this strategy will give you a significant boost to your next level.

If anyone has any more methods of levelling up this drive form, feel free to add them to the magazine's talk page, they would be much appreciated!

For our first Intro to... We're going to talk (in a mostly spoiler free capacity) about ''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|series}}''. The game. The series. The ever-expanding universe. Our reason for being. We kid, we're not that obsessed. *thinks about account on ''Kingdom Hearts'' encyclopedia* *thinks about being co-admins on a [http://yeoldekeyhole.tumblr.com/ ''Kingdom Hearts'' based tumblr]* *thinks about ''Kingdom Hearts'' posters on bedroom walls* *thinks about ''Kingdom Hearts'' [[:Category:Merchandise|figurines and books]] on bedroom shelves* *thinks about ''Kingdom Hearts'' in general* Okay, we're a little obsessed.

'''''{{c|Kingdom Hearts|game}}''''' (KH for short) arrived in an explosion of soap opera-worthy dialogue and umpteen references to darkness in 2002. We open on three friends who live in a little place called [[Destiny Islands]].

Explaining KH2 will make no sense to those unfamiliar with the series, which, since you're reading a beginners guide to KH, I will assume you are not. So I'll keep this brief. Sora's still out in the world, fighting to get back home, to Kairi, just as he always is. Riku's having an identity crisis, as he always is. Kairi's standing around looking pretty with her unutilised potential, like she always is. Then in walks...

The big Xehanort reveal gave way for the 2012 sidegame, '''''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance|Kingdom Hearts 3D]]''''' aka '''Riku gets a haircut and everything you know is a lie'''. This game tells us that Organization XIII's whole plan from KHII was just a cover up to find 13 different versions of Xehanort, each with their own hairdo, so they could find the secrets to the big heart-shaped moon in the sky. Yeah, it got weird.

But if you're here for the ''Kingdom Hearts'', then we hope you enjoyed reading our ramblings about things you probably already know. At the very least, one thing we have all learnt from this Intro to... is that FinalRest is not quite eloquent enough to handle an entire column in this magazine, and Chainoffire doesn't have the sanity to keep doing this sort of thing. We're kept behind the scenes for a reason.

'''<font color=maroon>Chainoffire:</font>''' Hey Hey! It's your friendly neighborhood Ch- HEY! NEZZY TOOK MY LINE! Well, it's Chain! I was “coded” onto the Keyhole back when ''Re:coded'' was the latest game to hit the shelves in April 2011. I became an admin back in December 2013, and have been going back and forth between The Keyhole and the KHWiki ever since. When I heard about the podcast, I happily decided to volunteer my efforts to get more acquainted with some of the other users. Thus… here I am!

As far as I am aware (correct me if I am wrong), there isn't an entry in the soundtrack for the music to the secret ending of ''Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix''. That secret ending, called “Birth by Sleep,” is the fan favourite for a good reason: there is a lot going on visually and musically. In fact, in the last issue of the Twilight Times, Birth by Sleep was voted our favourite secret ending of all time. It is my favourite too, mainly for the music. All of us who have played ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'' have found that this secret ending has been promoted to an actual in-game event.

Today, many of us would recognise a good bit of this piece to sound like [[Terra]]'s character theme, while the calm point is [[Aqua]]'s character theme. Recognising these bits would perhaps make us appreciate this piece of music a lot more.

I bet a lot of us remember how Birth by Sleep goes. In ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep'', this secret ending was promoted to an actual event in the game, and we will have seen the progression of events at some point. Now, let's tie the music to the story.

We are then treated to a slew of Keyblade-wielding theatrics: Xehanort has immense power and we immediately see him as the antagonist. Terra rushes to Xehanort before anyone can stop him. The solemn introduction fades into a battle theme with little extravagance. Things are getting serious, and the gloves are off. There is little time for talking. Xehanort summons a cliff, and then another. Before Terra can attack him any further, Xehanort freezes Terra's right arm. Ventus attacks in Terra's stead.

Vanitas rides upon the many lifeless keys, effectively desecrating the memory of the many Keyblade wielders who fell on these grounds. The music flourishes into a lush fragment of Terra's theme, and then repeats. At this point, Vanitas knocks Ventus over with a great many keys before concentrating on Terra.

We are treated to more Keyblade-wielding theatrics: Vanitas attacks Terra with the lifeless keys upon which he rides. Aqua casts Barrier on Terra but it is still not enough to protect him: the keys deal significant damage to him anyway. And then, halfway through, Ventus, hoping he could gain the upper hand, tries to attack Xehanort from behind. Xehanort cracks Ventus' armour and freezes him, and sends him falling off the cliff. Ventus' Keyblade snaps in half as he falls off the cliff – a detail absent from ''Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep''.  

[[File:Magazine Issue 6 TopMusic1.png|left|250px]] Aqua, who is still on the ground, rushes to hold Ventus' body in her arms in a sort of Pietà pose. Those of you who do not know what the Pietà is, it is Michelangelo's sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary holding the crucified Christ in her arms. Aqua holds Ventus in this sort of fashion. The music is mournful.

Is he dead? Is he still breathing somehow? We see an instance of tender, almost motherly, compassion, in the midst of a battleground. It is here that Aqua's theme plays, and that musical section, in my mind, heightens the feeling that Aqua is willing to show compassion, even in the face of death. Of the team of three friends, it seems as if Aqua is the medic, even though theoretically, each can heal the other due to knowing the Curaga spell. Aqua has a particular affinity for magic, and would fulfil that role best. In many stories of the past world wars, we have heard of the heroic acts and sacrifices of medics; this particular section (and the music for it) suggest to me that Aqua might indeed do the exact same, with the amount of silent resolve that she has… except that she does not know if Ventus is dead or alive.

Then we see a slight glimmer of hope: Ventus' eyes are moving! He is alive!

And then, the music gets louder, once again to ready us for battle. Xehanort parts the clouds above him. To everyone's shock and horror, Xehanort summons Kingdom Hearts.

It becomes clear, with the visuals and the increase in drama in the music, that this is another one of Xehanort's many forms that need to be defeated. And as the music builds up into a crescendo, once again playing Terra's theme fragment, and reaches its dramatic climax and resolution, we see just what happens to Terra.

''Fate of the Unknown'' starts off solemn and sinister, telling us that the approaching enemies are of a calibre beyond what anyone has faced up to this point. Then, it builds up to a sense of urgency, and stays there up to about halfway through. At that point, it becomes calm and solemn once more, playing Aqua's theme, showing a great deal of sadness and the possibility of imminent loss. Then the music builds up, it climaxes very quickly, showing that the change that has happened to Terra is so quick, that Xehanort could probably have a stranglehold on how fast things progress. There is a whole mix of emotions in this piece of music, and it fits, as we find out in the actual story of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep that Terra, Aqua and Ventus enter into battle with Xehanort and Vanitas with mixed emotions.

Seriously, don't tell me this thing isn't memorable at all. The many people who voted for Birth by Sleep as ''KHWiki'''s and ''The Keyhole'''s favourite secret ending speak for themselves.

Besides the fact that they're one of the only Nobodies that don't have a reaction command, their kicks knock off quite a large chunk of HP, and they have a move that cannot be reflected or blocked. Once you're trapped in said move, you have no control over Sora, and you lose an even larger portion of your health than their normal kicks. These enemies are especially tedious if you're doing a level 1 critical mode playthrough, any of their attacks signify a certain death! Also they look stupid. Ugh.