I would love to hear your thoughts on this…Riku’s entire journey is shadow work perfectly shown in fiction. Confronts his fears, overcomes his inner demons, and most importantly he finally embraces self acceptance. Through all this not only is he able to use the dark and have absolute control of it but now he’s fully in the light. His inner development is shown in KH 3 when we see the real Riku Replica(the symbolic version of his inner self) isn’t enraged, confused, and insecure like the fake Riku replica they fought at the end of the game. He left Riku’s body to take the fake Riku replica but was completely serene, happy, and ready and willing to assist Riku. Ansem also says before falling to Riku “your strength is now faster than darkness”. Riku has grown so strong he’s in a way now almost immune to falling to the darkness. Young Xehanort even admitted they gave up on Riku due to him developing a resistance to darkness. When we see Riku walking with Mickey in KH 3 he talkes about how confident and empowered he feels. Mickey acknowledges how he feels and says you’ve finally found that strength inside you to protect what matters. If there one single thing I hated was the fact that they did not give Riku the Kingdom Key D(the golden kingdom key) hear me out….Riku was the one first chosen for the kingdom key then gets skipped over due to him falling to the darkness. He then falls deep into it and has to fight his way out eventually becoming the the powerful keyblade master that overcame the darkness. It would have been the perfect icing on the cake when he has a vision of Riku replica before fighting aqua instead of bringing how brave heart(his new keyblade) Riku now self assured and redeemed outstretched his hand and the Golden shimmering kingdom Key D appeared in his hand. Classic kingdom key does has is the keyblade of light and the kingdom key D is the keyblade of darkness hidden at the darkest part of the dark realm. It would be poetic for Riku to not only win back the kingdom Key but his own version being the kingdom key D that shines bright gold finding its way to Riku as not only a strong hearted keyblade warrior but a warrior of light who can truly conquer the darkness.
It is "the Truth is what you See with your Eyes, not what you Hear" or rather, "You should only Trust what you See with your Eyes, not what People/Characters second hand tell you." Now we saw Blue Robes in the scene where we see Baby Xehanort, and we are "told" by Young Xehanort that the Dreams were his. Now, it is true they are his Dreams, but we've Seen Characters can have multiple people's Memories and feelings in their Heart. See Sora. So, if you would have looked deeper, we would see thematically that it makes sense that a person who wants to be Worthy but isn't would be thought to be Us (Worthy) but isn't.
I'm probably overanalizing here, but, kh3 first scene, Sora reaching out for the light (Riku) and a wave, the ocean (Kairi) takes him away from the light, now Sora being alone underwater and light above, water blurs the light, maybe like the sea being a facade, false memory that covers the true light (?) Idk, probably just thinking way too much about it. Great video! I'm so happy there's more videos addressing such interesting topics as this one, ty so much for it
That actually makes a lot of sense. Also according to my knowledge of the classical elements water and air aren’t compatible but earth and air are. And what do Sora and Riku’s names mean respectively? This might be another hint that Soriku is endgame.
Some more interesting points. The Intro scene in Kh1 is shown in the actual game. During that scene, Riku's Darkness opens a Portal to take Riku and Riku holds out his hand for Sora. This causes Riku's Heart to Open. Sora reaches for Riku but gets pulled into Darkness. But then, Sora sees the Light. The Light gives him the Keyblade. It is revealed a Nomura's interview that Light is Riku's Light. The Light Terra saw, which is why Riku was bequeathed in the first place. I also theorized the reason Ephemera appears in the Light when he fights the Demon Tide is because Riku is bloodline connected to Ephemera like Xehanort is. This is why Riku's Light can be so powerful. Because The Master of Master set up Riku through the Bloodlines and made Sora a part of Riku's life. Their persons are Time Transcendingly bonded across their entire timelines.
I love that theory. Sora appears to have a ton of king imagery with his attacks. He wears a crown necklace. His keyblade is also the KINGdom key. BUT remember that the kingdom key was originally supposed to belong to Riku but passed to Sora instead when he fell to darkness. We also all know the theory that the crown necklace was given to Sora by Riku during a meteor shower. It's possible that Riku's light and heritage is so strong that he bequeathed Sora with it too-- and now it's not just Riku but Riku and Sora together. That's why the gayblade when separated as Mirage Split and Nightmare's end don't have a crown but when they combine, we see a crown at the top of it.
This is the reason Riku succeeds where Xehanort fails. Xehanort is not the Child of Destiny because he didn't have a Sora. He got an Eraqus, a person Afraid of the Dark who couldn't accept the way Darkness works. Sora is not like that, and the Master of Masters foreknows this. So, The Master uses Xehanort to put Sora and Riku together, literally.
HELLA!! It's good to have that there's a vid that puts the KH3 Riku is the Light stuff in 1 place. There's more outside of just all the KH3 stuff ofc but this is a good n quick vid for ppl that got confused with the KH3 Riku's True Love Sacrifice stuff!! nice work! =D
Yay!!! That was my goal! I wanted to keep it contained to kh3 (while obv mentioning riku was a light in ddd) and make it straightforward and easy to understand. Thank you so much for commenting and the amazing feedback!!!
I totally agree with you of Riku being Sora's light and of being told half truths and truths that we learn later that were lies. I'm interested of what you said of it being a set up of a big reveal later. :)
I think the line “I believe in you, you won’t give up” is made yet more impactful when you realise those words in Japanese exist as part of a trope in anime where the love interest says “you can do it” (ganbare) or some encouraging words like that to the protagonist or someone who is in a situation where the odds are stacked against them. Like for example, the love interest might shout from an audience above all the other voices “you can do it! I believe in you!” to the person they love or are crushing on, maybe the protagonist or other major character in the middle of some fight… something like that
And Riku's old version of that phrase is "Come on, Sora. I thought you were Stronger than That!". A phrase that, that in KH1, makes Sora fly, in 358/2, makes Roxas cry for the first time, and that Riku uses to make Roxas reveal the Sora in him so Riku psych himself up to "unexist" Roxas for Sora. Which is the Thing that makes Riku turn into the Darkness of "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness". Basically, Riku's belief in Sora is so strong, he is willing to ruin himself for Sora.
I Been Having These Weird Thoughts Lately That When Yozora Defeats Sora, Sora Gets Crystallized And Returns To The One Heart That Has The Special Bond With Him That Is Riku’s And That’s Why Riku Has The Dreams Of Himself Finding Sora In Tall Buildings And Someone Watching Him Up Ahead. Riku Will Be The Key To Restore Sora’s Being. Also When Sora Defeats Yozora, Yozora States That His Power Isn’t Needed Yet (Thinking All Three Sora, Riku and Yozora Will Have A Huge Impact Going Forward) Soriku Forever :)
Idk if anyone’s mentioned this yet but Young Xehanort’s line about Sora already “paying the price” and it “lying in the bottom of the abyss” would make a LOT of sense if it was talking about these memories of Riku. That’s exactly how Namine describes what she did with Sora’s memories in CoM, that they were in a deep darkness, but still in his heart, and she had to fix them and link them back together in the light again (atleast that’s how I interpreted it-). Not to mention the added imagery of the eclipsed sun on one of the buildings in the background in the Young Xehanort scene-
Sora is having a Cloud Strife moment in KH3/RE:Mind: he is an unreliable narrator whose memory of a traumatic event involving someone he loves is scrambled and needs to be pieced back together. Learning the truth of Riku's sacrifice will be his version of the Lifestream sequence
0:46 "Is Nomura trolling us?" yup, he is, he really likes doing it even I didn't really need to be convinced but you pointed out some details that I haven't realized before, and it's nice to have an organized video with all the arguments Thank you for your hard work ♥ Also, Sora was said (in the novel) to be Riku's light, so it would just make sence for Riku to be Sora's heart, to show how important they are to each other
I also want to add that in jp in Jiminy’s Journal of kh3, Riku’s exact words to Sora before his sacrifice are quoted- in actual quotation marks-as being the thing that saved everyone from the darkness (although it’s written in such a way that doesn’t say it’s Riku outright). Off the top of my head it was basically like “The ‘won’t give up’ (Riku’s exact words) will of a heart of light overturned the overwhelming power of darkness.” I guess you could also interpret that as saying it was Sora that saved everyone because he didn’t give up, which is true, but I think it’s clearly indicating that it was Riku and his encouragement to Sora that made it all possible.
Oh yeah, and in jp during the conversation with Nameless Star Sora also quotes that part of what Riku said about not giving up (instead of talking about believing like he does in Eng) but what’s interesting is that the way he talks about who said it is extremely odd in that he actually uses a more feminine leaning pronoun that is quite impersonal, which gives the impression that he doesn’t remember who said it?? It’s very strange. In the novel too when he’s talking to her multiple times he mentions that she reminds him of someone he knows who doesn’t give up, but he just can’t think of who….so it’s like he had immediately forgotten Riku’s sacrifice already by that point. I don’t know what to make of it.
@@CampingforCool41 yeah even in the English line he doesn’t refer to Riku by name, just “a friend of mine”. I definitely think that he forgot the sacrifice upon entering the final world..only to see it again before saving Riku and obv forgetting again.
@@CocoaCatniptv yep, but even so the Eng still managed to give a hint towards Riku being the one, because in that part of the Journal it says “A heart of light, so long as it retains even the faintest glow, will always rise to banish the darkness, as sure as dawn sweeps away the night.” Maybe it was just a coincidence that they mentioned dawn but it works for me :)
Normally I just plan out what I’m gonna say by just talking to my wall like I’m filming and then I’ll film and can obv edit to make things more cohesive. There was so much to say in this video though so I don’t think that way would have worked. 😂 Thank you so much though! Writing everything honestly felt like I was back in college doing some sort of literary paper…but make it KH. 😂
In the scene where sora "thinks" the light is kairi,he found kairi following the light as well, so she couldn't have been the light besides she never confirmed it or denys it when sora say's it she could have said yes but she never does, soo.... basically some people just didn't want to notice the obvious 😭
I'm in the camp that they're encouraging fans to see Sora and Kairi as canon, but just look at the love story they wrote between Sora and Riku, especially in DDD! They're showing us something different than what they're telling us.
I’m honestly not sure they’re necessarily encouraging us to see Sora and Kairi as canon. I mean with kh3 we go the majority of the game with Sora not mentioning Kairi paralleled with her writing letters to him that she won’t send. Then she wants to do the poapu thing and he looks uncomfortable until she confirms it’s just for good luck.(going with the Japanese translation on that one) Honestly I see Sora and Kairi as meant to be friends drifting apart as they get older, their final scene on the paopu tree even oddly resembles Sora and Pooh on the book. (After he reconnects with Pooh) 👀 Like you said though they’ve written a lot of stuff with Sora and Riku and the fact that Riku is the one to go after Sora in Quadratum just has me like… We gonna get DDD part 2 here?
It isn't that They are doing it, but that Darkness the Character is doing it. Darkness is a shapeshifting illusion casting, memory manipulating force that is trying to break down the Child of Destiny to win.
Fun fact: when it comes to these type of topic (queer couples) in Disney games it's better to go for jpn ver Because in the western side they tend to censure and completely changed dialogues to make it more "family friendly" (aka straight) there's another game named twisted wonderland that has a similar problem in which mentions of a character being bi or just not straight in general is changed in the English version of the game ( a good example being a character named cater who has a lot of moments in game in wich he confirms he might be bi but in en he talks about random things that don't even make sense, and recently in ch7 of the game a character was said to be bi and poly but the en ver made it seem platonic) in general we shouldn't trust the English ver as an official source when it comes to these topics
Absolutely fantastic video! I just want to point out one tiny thing, the young xehanort threat of sora being done for and having paid the price doesn't seem to refer to him forgetting Riku's sacrifice, especially when he later says that Sora's "time in this world is -!!", It seems to be just about going to quadratum for breaking the taboo. But Sora having forgotten Riku still fits elsewhere, because he has forgotten the sacrifice even before misusing the power of waking. Before in the final world, he already cant remember who told him to "i believe in you, you wont give up" when talking to nameless star, which is made explicitly clear in the novel too, despite literally happening 10 minutes ago for sora. And the 6 hearts no sacrifice from remind is the literal nail in the coffin since its in the text itself and not just visual clues (which are still just as valid, thats how people figured out the guardian was terra in khddd, just through the camera work), sora has absolutely forgot the sacrifice. Heck, him reseeing the sacrifice before reaching riku to olimpus is kind of needed because he had forgotten riku had died at all, he needed to see it again to save his heart, and then he immediately forgot it again. Either someone we dont know is interfering, or Sora's heart cannot withstand that pain of the event and is constantly blocking it out.
Yeah I’ve seen a lot of theories about his forgetting not being entirely tied to his misuse of the power of waking. I actually intended to have a part in the video talking about how it seemed as though Riku is also the only one brought back by properly using the power of waking..but I worried it derailed the video a bit. Maybe a topic for another video?
I believe it is because Sora and Riku unwound the Timeline where they lost, therefore the Sacrifice "didn't happen" . But the Heart still remembers like the way Sora "remembers" Xion in Dream Drop. They jumped the Tear in Reality. Sora's mind cannot retain the information. The Master of Master probably can, though.
@@CocoaCatniptv It's interesting that you mentioned that. I was talking to a friend the other day about what the power of waking is and why it seems like some people seem to face consequences for it and others do not. At first we took Xehanort's words of how it's for "traversing hearts to reach worlds, not traversing worlds to reach hearts" at face value but we can clearly see Riku traversing worlds to reach Sora's heart in DDD. Yet Riku faced no consequences and Yen Sid actually deemed him a keyblade master who mastered the power of waking after that action. When Sora traverses worlds to reach Kairi's heart at the end of KH3 though, he disappears. I wonder if "power of waking" can be used to symbolize understanding true love-- something Riku understands when he rescued Sora and is rewarded for but is something Sora was punished for when he rescued Kairi.
@@rirururu4697 In Dream Drop, the worlds Riku travels are inside Sora's Heart. Sora's dreams. Therefore, Riku is doing it the correct way. He jumped into Sora's Heart , and the Worlds are in him. In KH3, Sora is jumping through the Hearts of the Real Worlds of Light to find the guardians. He is basically feeding on those World Hearts to defy Destiny and reverse Time and Death, and Kingdom Hearts doesn't appreciate it. He is an anathema now.
In my defense i did write on another soriku vid about the paoupi fruit thing even if sora and kairi ate the fruit riku and him share the Destiny therefore riku is sora's destiny of light in the darkness throught the power of heart and love!!
I have no idea if I'm alone in this, or how accurate what I'm about to say is, but ever since the reveal that the blue cat eyes in the keyblades were from MoM I have believed that Riku was connected to MoM or Xehanort in more ways than just "You were a potential vessel" and "Your darkness is so vast and strong." I truly believe that Riku is somehow related to the MoM and or the Dandelions in ways that the series has not made clear yet. I like your theory too. I really do think there is more to Riku than the games has let on. Not just his fight with his inner darkness but also how he relates to light. Time and Time again Riku could have been ignored or tossed aside as edgy character but he out of Destiny Island Trio has the most writing and the better writing. Why is that? I always asked. Sure, with Disney's influence they didn't have an excuse to give Sora such bleak moments, fighting darkness, giving in over and over, self doubt, and Riku's other flaws, or is it because Riku has been the secret main character? (that's probably the fangirl in me talking honestly) but I always wondered why did Riku get so much time, and effort for his story. More than Sora, the main character, Riku had CoM: Reverse/Rebirth and 3D, just looking at his scenes from those two games alone after KH1 Riku's growth is immense. Mean while Sora did not experience such growth, if any at all. And I always thought it was strange. a few comments down, someone said that their theory is that Riku's heart is strong because it was related to Ephemer and MoM in some way. And I believe that is the case. As I stated above the blue cat eye in the keyblade was always interesting to me and I think Riku is going to be a lynchpin in the Lost Masters (or whatever this arc is called) saga. l And at this point I'm rambling, I'm happy to have heard this theory! It just gives me more proof that Riku is the Best Boi!!!
When will they finally admit that it’s a gay romance story (and that Kairi was just the milk-toast girl love interest without any personality, to cover that up)
Going off kh1, Kairi had tons of personality! Yea she spends a good chunk of the game asleep, but we get to see more of her personality on destiny islands. The thing is..she just hasn’t been given the focus to really develop much. Some of the good things she does get, (like admitting she feels responsible for Sora disappearing or Sora calling her strong) are messed up by the English localization. I think Kairi has so much potential, and I’m hoping now that she’s choosing to stay behind and train maybe we’ll see her develop on her own.
Well In Remind the MOM says “the truth is what you see with your eyes, not what you hear.” Which if you connect that to Riku being the light..I mean we see Sora recognize the light as Riku and it lead him to Riku..vs Sora later claiming it was Kairi which we never actually see evidence of. Unless you’re referring to when young Xehanort asks the mom what his name is and we don’t hear an actual name but the mom is surrounded by light…I don’t think that has any connection with what this video is about though lol.
I theorize that The Master of Masters created the Bloodlines to pass down the Light through the Ages, like the Way Darkness passes through people. I believe Ephermer is One of those people, Leader of The Nexus of Scala. I also believe Xehanort and Riku are of the Same Line. Which Means the Master is inside as part of the Light of both Riku and Sora, as well as Ephemera. This explains why Ephemera is in the Light the Third Time around. He is helping the Lover of his Descendant. After all, the Kingdom Key (The Crown Key) is Riku's Light and Heart inside Sora. And if Riku's Light is filled with Spirit of his Ancestors and whatever MOM really is, then Ephermera can be here, and Sora can have Memories of someone he never met.
I really love your video, and I love Soriku as well. I'm just so negative. I have a super hard time believing any ship will be 100% confirmed. Solely on the fact that KH has always been friendship first. I see so much Soriku support, but it just seems like a lot of digging for clues most people would never notice. I will hold out hope for the next game. But for now ima put a pin in it. I need some kind of concrete evidence and not just translation or interpretation 😭
I mean the main point of this video is arguing that Riku was the light Sora saw in kh3 that lead him to Riku and not Kairi, obv Riku can be the light without it being a ship thing. (Obviously it also totally can add into evidence for soriku as a ship too of course) I totally get you though, it sucks being super invested into a ship only to be let down later. It doesn’t hurt to hope though. Think about it…yeah some things most may not notice…but this is also the fandom that thought people were crazy when they suggested the x on Sora’s outfit in DDD meant something…and then guess what? The x was straight up done on purpose and was actually connected into the plot. So finding evidence in something that some may ignore doesn’t mean that evidence isn’t valid and won’t be brought up later. Anyway! Thank you so much for watching my video and your comment! Let’s hope kh4 provides more SoRiku evidence!
Edit: I had to write this comment 2 times because my dumb brain deleted the first one. I'd love your input on my theory (theory of the 2 lights) and since I had to re write it maybe I missed something so if some stuff doesn't add up just ask me I think BOTH Riku and Kairy are Sora's light in the darkness but in different meaning of the phrase, let me explain A light in darkness can be both a light that guides and a light that protects, both meaning can save a soul from darkness but are different, and usually can't work without the other. We know Sora is both meaning of the term, because he saves those who fell for darkness and guides lost hearts to the light. That doesn't mean the other 2 in the trio are the whole phrase: Kairy is the light in darkness that protects and saves sora, and Riku is the light in darkness that guides and saves Sora And I want to believe this because both his friends are very important to Sora and Sora loves them both basically. The light in the darkness Sora was following in KH3 was always Riku (even if he forgot because of his first price to pay) but that would never have been possible without the light in the darkness that kept Sora from disappearing, so Kairy. They both are the light in the darkness I also want to believe in this because for me, Sora loves both of them(even if platonically, or at least one is platonic) and Riku and Kairy both were always his most important persons Think about it. Riku always guides Sora but never protects him. Same can be said about Sora with Riku, he never protects him from darkness, he saves him from it and guides him away. This doesn't mean they can't save eachother from darkness if stuff goes south or if one gets possessed , just that they can't prevent it from happening, or better protect eachother from it Examples(I'll do only examples from the numbered games because I don't want to be too long): KH 1: Riku was lost to darkness and Sora saved him and guided him towards not being controlled KH 2/(or 358/2): Riku was basically the one who guided roxas to Sora and previously made xion realise she had to go back to Sora, this saving Sora from his "coma" and later on Sora recognised Riku in "ansem's form" because he could feel his light Kh3:Sora saves Riku in the fight from Aqua, how he got there? Guided by riku's light. Riku tries to protect Sora from the heartless but fails in protecting him, instead he ends up guiding him out the darkness (another: Riku can't protect Sora, just guide him) And in the finale he doesn't stop Sora from saving (and protecting from disappearing, more on that later) Kairy's heart, he's the one to say: go. As to guide him to do it. Now Kairy, the light in the darkness that protects and saves, she always protected Sora's heart and saved him from darkness And he always did the same. But neither Kairy nor Sora ever once was a guide for the other I'll tell why the KH 2 last scene is not guiding, but saving in a bit, in theeee... EXAMPLES: Kh1: Kairy protects Sora in destiny island from the darkness, without her light he would have probably been swollen by it. And Sora protects Kairy from the darkness taking her in his heart, also they both save eachother in the end, Sora giving back her heart sacrificing himself and Kairy protecting him from the darkness and saving his heart got him back to human after he transformed in a heartless. Kh2: Kairy saves Sora and Riku from the realm of darkness (so also protects Sora who hasn't yet fought his darkness like Riku did so he would be more vulnerable to the realm) with her letter. But Sora never was guided to the letter because he followed a light or stuff, the letter just got to him, Kairy wasn't guiding him back, she was saving him. Also want to point out: Sora starts "falling" or "using" the darkness with the Anti form in this specific game, COINCIDENTALLY the one where Kairy's heart isn't in him to protect him AND is far away from most of the game. KH3: Kairy protects and saves Sora from disappearing and keeps him alive Sora does the same in the end and then he disappears because of his second price to pay You would notice I mentioned the price Sora Pays for the power of waking right? Why I mentioned them? Because it ties in with my theory of the 2 lights. The prices are inverses to the blessings of the two lights. 1st price: Sora forgets the light in the darkness he was following ang guiding him. And if he forgets it he will probably be unable to follow it if he gets lost again. (So a price that blindes him from the guide) But Riku never paid this price, so he can still follow Sora's guide, that's how he'll find him 2nd price: Sora disappearing from the universe he's in unable to be protected by this fact from Kairy and probably will weaken his natural resistance to darkness in the future (in a similar way to aqua sacrificing her armour to save terra from falling in the realm of darkness with her: she saved him but she's left without a protection. So a price that strips away your high resistance) But Kairy never had to pay this price, so Sora's light can still protects her, like in Melody of memories when Sora's light basically fights the bosses instead of her, protecting her
Since I had to write this comment 2 times because my dumb brain deleted the first one, ask me anything you don't understand or if I left some hole in the theory, I'm sure I forgot something
Hi! Thanks for commenting! Like I said in my video, Kairi has been a light for Sora in the past..however I do not believe she was the light in kh3 that led him to Riku or back to the keyblade graveyard. This of course doesn’t mean she (or really any of his other friends) can’t ever be a light for him. That’s just my opinion though. 😊
When you said "Sora has never been wrong before" I was totally expecting you to show a clip from the end of KH2 where he tells Xemnas he's a nobody and isn't sad about anything. That was such a slap in the face for poor Roxas and a prime example of just how wrong Sora can be. I enjoyed the video a lot, because I love this series as an unrepentant Riku fan. But I have to admit that I do think Kairi is the one who was holding Sora to the final world. The heartless tornado didn't hurt her a bit because she's pure light, a princess of heart, and darkness couldn't do anything to her. She was floating around in that tornado while Riku killed himself and Sora died, she was the only one he didn't need to save because she was just fine, princess powers and all of that. So she did her princess magic, just like Rapunzel and Elsa and all the other princess, and held onto Sora. Was she the light that Sora saw leading him to Riku? Maybe. If she was, it would explain why Sora looks surprised and then drops his hands right before he enters that light. I think he realized the light wasn't Riku and he stops reaching out for it because it's not Riku and he's trying to reach Riku. He didn't realize at that point that the light was Kairi, he just knew it wasn't Riku and that's why he stops reaching toward it. It's only later that he realizes the light was Kairi, and that's why he says it in a surprised voice. I see no problem with Kairi's light leading Sora to Riku. Kairi was flipping around in that heartless tornado, physically just fine thanks to princess purity, watching while Riku killed himself to buy Sora just a few more seconds of life. Of course she would guide Sora to Riku first. She's a good girl and Sora and Riku are both her best friends. On the other hand, I agree that light when Sora reunites with Kairi is absolutely behind her and something definitely pulls Sora's left hand to bring him out of the tunnel and into the graveyard. So at that point I am on board the "Riku is the light" theory. I just get bothered when people downplay Kairi's involvement. Even if that first light that led Sora to Riku was partly Riku's, I think it was also partly Kairi, and that's why Sora says the light was her - and that's why he reacts strangely when he gets closer to the light. Riku and Kairi can both be Sora's light. Why not? Mickey was Riku's light in CoM and they were perfect strangers when that happened. I don't really understand why people think Sora forgot Riku's sacrifice. When he gets back to the others, they all seem to remember everything. But in the next scene the wayfinder trio act like they don't remember that they already did that - so that's evidence of memory loss. But we know Sora didn't forget losing and saving everyone, because he talks about it to Chirithy. Why do people think he forgot about what Riku did? Is it just because he went from reaching toward a light he thought was Riku's to telling Kairi that she was the light? That's the only evidence I've seen anyone use to show that Sora forgot how he lost all of his friends except Riku, who then died for him. I think people are misinterpreting Sora's "you were the light" line and using that one bit of dialogue to push the idea that Sora forgot about everyone dying and Riku being the last man standing. I didn't get that from the game. I don't agree with that interpretation. But I enjoy these theories so much I'm glad you shared your vid. If there was anything in the game and dlc that made you think Sora forgot about Riku's sacrifice, aside from the "you were the light" comment Sora makes to Kairi, please let me know. I really like the theories and would enjoy them being right. I just can't quite get on board with them if they're based entirely around Sora saying the light was Kairi - because the way he acted right before entering Olympus fit with the light being not-Riku (aka Kairi), in my opinion. And as a Soriku shipper, I enjoy the idea that Sora stopped reaching toward that light when he sensed it wasn't Riku's light, that it was Riku's light he wanted to follow not whoever was providing the light in the tunnel at that moment. The second light, leading to the others, was definitely Riku, though. ;p
Hey! Thanks for your thoughts! I agree that Kairi helped hold Sora together in the final world, but as I said in my video I definitely believe Riku helped as well. I don’t think kairi was the light that led Sora to Riku though. If it was kairi..then why show Riku’s sacrifice a second time right after chirathy tells Sora to “find the light in the darkness” then have Sora following a light that leads to Riku. Also the reason people say Sora forgot Riku’s sacrifice is because in remind when Sora talks to Chrathy he says “I saved 6 hearts before” when in fact he saved 7. I actually have a video going more into it on this channel if you’d like to check it out. ruclips.net/video/FgiduYJl5x4/видео.htmlsi=5AxURjFeNBX6_Cui
@@CocoaCatniptv I just got done watching your other vid, and it is definitely interesting that Chirithy only counted Sora having saved 6 hearts. If Chirithy forgot one of them, it was probably Riku, and that supports the idea that Sora also forgot saving one of those hearts since he didn't correct him. Thank you for making that vid, because I like that as "evidence" much more than simply the "you were the light" bit of dialogue. Because, as I said, I really enjoy how Sora stops reaching toward that light - because in my headcanon he sensed the light wasn't Riku's light. I haven't found anyone in favor of this "Riku is the light" theory who acknowledges how strangely Sora acts right before going into that light.
@@arimina5353Sora does react strangely before going into the light, but this doesn’t necessarily mean he’s realizing it’s not Riku. Actually many I’ve seen do acknowledge his reaction and think it could be more of a soriku hint. Riku basically did for Sora what all of those princesses in the worlds Sora visited did, and what Hercules talked about. I think his shocked look is Sora realizing this.
Few points. Darkness(specifically the Ancient Darkness) can affect the Princess of Light. Xehanort was planning to use the Darkness to destroy them if The Guardians didn't fight. Also, Namine started "existing" again because Kairi's body was destroyed and, therefore, Namine popped out and into the Final World. Also, Riku is the Light in BBS, too. It is how Terra finds him. He followed Riku's Light. From Space . Also, in the Tutorial in Three, we see the Wave sequence in intro of One (Riku, hand out, Sora runs at him in the Ocean). In Three, the same sequence plays, except there is A Light when Riku would be. And we go through it, and end up in the Final World Tutorial. Also, Riku defends against a Demon Tide. Demon Tide=Darkness Ocean Tide. Finally, the Title Scene of the Final World matches Riku attacking the Demon Tide, One for One
@@arimina5353 Sora stops reaching at the Light because the Light start making noise at him, which implies the Light is "Talking" to him. So, He is now absorbing this information with "Shock and Awe".
It is an interesting interpretation and you bring up good points, particularly the scene in the beginning parallelling the KH1 Opening. However, I think you've been ignoring a few details countering this theory. First, Sora and Kairi DID have scenes in which they risked everything for each other before. In KH1 to be exact, where Sora stabs himself to free her heart and she, in return, shields him as a shadow heartless with her own body from a whole lot of shadows trying to jump them. There even was one right before the Final World; Sora jumping in between Kairi and Terranort's blade, mimicking the way she shielded him in KH1. So saying they didn't have a moment like this, just because Riku's was flashier, is simply not true. Second, Riku lost his heart in the moment he protected Sora. He is among the Guardians Sora has to save. The only one who isn't, is Kairi. As Naminé says, she kept holding on and keeps Sora tethered - Kairi's heart, being a princess and stuff, couldn't be taken by the darkness, contrary to everyone else's (or by death itself, as the journal describes the heartless as somewhat special, though this is open to interpretation again). Riku can't guide Sora when he himself had to be saved by Sora. Third, again open to interpretation, Kairi being in front of the light can just as easily be interpreted as her being seen as the light, especially as she takes Sora's hand to guide him towards it. So in my opinion, the scene points more to Kairi being the light than Riku, although Riku's last stand certainly contributed to Sora not giving up. P.S. Yes, I ship Sokai. No, I don't hate Soriku. I think both ships have merit. But Riku has so many great scenes and arguably the most growth of the entire series. DDD is literally a Riku festival. Please leave the few scenes Kairi gets to shine to her.
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Riku is the light! Riku is the light!
He is the brightest light!!!!!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this…Riku’s entire journey is shadow work perfectly shown in fiction. Confronts his fears, overcomes his inner demons, and most importantly he finally embraces self acceptance. Through all this not only is he able to use the dark and have absolute control of it but now he’s fully in the light. His inner development is shown in KH 3 when we see the real Riku Replica(the symbolic version of his inner self) isn’t enraged, confused, and insecure like the fake Riku replica they fought at the end of the game. He left Riku’s body to take the fake Riku replica but was completely serene, happy, and ready and willing to assist Riku. Ansem also says before falling to Riku “your strength is now faster than darkness”. Riku has grown so strong he’s in a way now almost immune to falling to the darkness. Young Xehanort even admitted they gave up on Riku due to him developing a resistance to darkness. When we see Riku walking with Mickey in KH 3 he talkes about how confident and empowered he feels. Mickey acknowledges how he feels and says you’ve finally found that strength inside you to protect what matters. If there one single thing I hated was the fact that they did not give Riku the Kingdom Key D(the golden kingdom key) hear me out….Riku was the one first chosen for the kingdom key then gets skipped over due to him falling to the darkness. He then falls deep into it and has to fight his way out eventually becoming the the powerful keyblade master that overcame the darkness. It would have been the perfect icing on the cake when he has a vision of Riku replica before fighting aqua instead of bringing how brave heart(his new keyblade) Riku now self assured and redeemed outstretched his hand and the Golden shimmering kingdom Key D appeared in his hand. Classic kingdom key does has is the keyblade of light and the kingdom key D is the keyblade of darkness hidden at the darkest part of the dark realm. It would be poetic for Riku to not only win back the kingdom Key but his own version being the kingdom key D that shines bright gold finding its way to Riku as not only a strong hearted keyblade warrior but a warrior of light who can truly conquer the darkness.
"Is Nomura trolling us?" Considering he made us believe that we were Xehanort in khux, I think so
It is "the Truth is what you See with your Eyes, not what you Hear" or rather, "You should only Trust what you See with your Eyes, not what People/Characters second hand tell you." Now we saw Blue Robes in the scene where we see Baby Xehanort, and we are "told" by Young Xehanort that the Dreams were his. Now, it is true they are his Dreams, but we've Seen Characters can have multiple people's Memories and feelings in their Heart. See Sora.
So, if you would have looked deeper, we would see thematically that it makes sense that a person who wants to be Worthy but isn't would be thought to be Us (Worthy) but isn't.
Ngl true tho
I'm probably overanalizing here, but, kh3 first scene, Sora reaching out for the light (Riku) and a wave, the ocean (Kairi) takes him away from the light, now Sora being alone underwater and light above, water blurs the light, maybe like the sea being a facade, false memory that covers the true light (?) Idk, probably just thinking way too much about it. Great video! I'm so happy there's more videos addressing such interesting topics as this one, ty so much for it
Noooo!!! That’s such a galaxy brained theory! She also eclipses the light when Sora finds her in the dark tunnel too…so it is def a valid idea. 👀
@@CocoaCatniptv KH makes me go so feral, I want answers so baaaaaad but theorizing is so much fun too
That actually makes a lot of sense. Also according to my knowledge of the classical elements water and air aren’t compatible but earth and air are. And what do Sora and Riku’s names mean respectively? This might be another hint that Soriku is endgame.
Some more interesting points. The Intro scene in Kh1 is shown in the actual game. During that scene, Riku's Darkness opens a Portal to take Riku and Riku holds out his hand for Sora. This causes Riku's Heart to Open. Sora reaches for Riku but gets pulled into Darkness. But then, Sora sees the Light. The Light gives him the Keyblade.
It is revealed a Nomura's interview that Light is Riku's Light. The Light Terra saw, which is why Riku was bequeathed in the first place.
I also theorized the reason Ephemera appears in the Light when he fights the Demon Tide is because Riku is bloodline connected to Ephemera like Xehanort is. This is why Riku's Light can be so powerful. Because The Master of Master set up Riku through the Bloodlines and made Sora a part of Riku's life. Their persons are Time Transcendingly bonded across their entire timelines.
I love that theory. Sora appears to have a ton of king imagery with his attacks. He wears a crown necklace. His keyblade is also the KINGdom key. BUT remember that the kingdom key was originally supposed to belong to Riku but passed to Sora instead when he fell to darkness. We also all know the theory that the crown necklace was given to Sora by Riku during a meteor shower. It's possible that Riku's light and heritage is so strong that he bequeathed Sora with it too-- and now it's not just Riku but Riku and Sora together. That's why the gayblade when separated as Mirage Split and Nightmare's end don't have a crown but when they combine, we see a crown at the top of it.
This is the reason Riku succeeds where Xehanort fails. Xehanort is not the Child of Destiny because he didn't have a Sora. He got an Eraqus, a person Afraid of the Dark who couldn't accept the way Darkness works.
Sora is not like that, and the Master of Masters foreknows this. So, The Master uses Xehanort to put Sora and Riku together, literally.
I like your theory!
RIKU IS THE LIGHT!!!
Yessssss!!!!!!
I didn't need to be convinced, but it was still so worth a watch. Thank you for putting things so concisely and organized!
HELLA!! It's good to have that there's a vid that puts the KH3 Riku is the Light stuff in 1 place. There's more outside of just all the KH3 stuff ofc but this is a good n quick vid for ppl that got confused with the KH3 Riku's True Love Sacrifice stuff!! nice work! =D
Yay!!! That was my goal! I wanted to keep it contained to kh3 (while obv mentioning riku was a light in ddd) and make it straightforward and easy to understand. Thank you so much for commenting and the amazing feedback!!!
@@CocoaCatniptv I thought so! >w< & ofc! We gotta spread the word that Riku is the light >w
@@Rose-SunG524 absolutely agree!!!
I totally agree with you of Riku being Sora's light and of being told half truths and truths that we learn later that were lies. I'm interested of what you said of it being a set up of a big reveal later. :)
Yes!!! More great KH analysis videos! I didn't need much convincing on this topic, but your video is really concise and well made! Nice work! :)
I think the line “I believe in you, you won’t give up” is made yet more impactful when you realise those words in Japanese exist as part of a trope in anime where the love interest says “you can do it” (ganbare) or some encouraging words like that to the protagonist or someone who is in a situation where the odds are stacked against them. Like for example, the love interest might shout from an audience above all the other voices “you can do it! I believe in you!” to the person they love or are crushing on, maybe the protagonist or other major character in the middle of some fight… something like that
And Riku's old version of that phrase is "Come on, Sora. I thought you were Stronger than That!". A phrase that, that in KH1, makes Sora fly, in 358/2, makes Roxas cry for the first time, and that Riku uses to make Roxas reveal the Sora in him so Riku psych himself up to "unexist" Roxas for Sora. Which is the Thing that makes Riku turn into the Darkness of "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness". Basically, Riku's belief in Sora is so strong, he is willing to ruin himself for Sora.
Bless you, just,,,, bless u
I Been Having These Weird Thoughts Lately That When Yozora Defeats Sora, Sora Gets Crystallized And Returns To The One Heart That Has The Special Bond With Him That Is Riku’s And That’s Why Riku Has The Dreams Of Himself Finding Sora In Tall Buildings And Someone Watching Him Up Ahead. Riku Will Be The Key To Restore Sora’s Being. Also When Sora Defeats Yozora, Yozora States That His Power Isn’t Needed Yet (Thinking All Three Sora, Riku and Yozora Will Have A Huge Impact Going Forward) Soriku Forever :)
Idk if anyone’s mentioned this yet but Young Xehanort’s line about Sora already “paying the price” and it “lying in the bottom of the abyss” would make a LOT of sense if it was talking about these memories of Riku. That’s exactly how Namine describes what she did with Sora’s memories in CoM, that they were in a deep darkness, but still in his heart, and she had to fix them and link them back together in the light again (atleast that’s how I interpreted it-). Not to mention the added imagery of the eclipsed sun on one of the buildings in the background in the Young Xehanort scene-
Sora is having a Cloud Strife moment in KH3/RE:Mind: he is an unreliable narrator whose memory of a traumatic event involving someone he loves is scrambled and needs to be pieced back together. Learning the truth of Riku's sacrifice will be his version of the Lifestream sequence
Always nice to see more people talking about Riku being The Light! Subscribed! 💖
Thank-you so much!!! ❤️
0:46 "Is Nomura trolling us?" yup, he is, he really likes doing it even
I didn't really need to be convinced but you pointed out some details that I haven't realized before, and it's nice to have an organized video with all the arguments
Thank you for your hard work ♥
Also, Sora was said (in the novel) to be Riku's light, so it would just make sence for Riku to be Sora's heart, to show how important they are to each other
I also want to add that in jp in Jiminy’s Journal of kh3, Riku’s exact words to Sora before his sacrifice are quoted- in actual quotation marks-as being the thing that saved everyone from the darkness (although it’s written in such a way that doesn’t say it’s Riku outright). Off the top of my head it was basically like “The ‘won’t give up’ (Riku’s exact words) will of a heart of light overturned the overwhelming power of darkness.”
I guess you could also interpret that as saying it was Sora that saved everyone because he didn’t give up, which is true, but I think it’s clearly indicating that it was Riku and his encouragement to Sora that made it all possible.
Oh yeah, and in jp during the conversation with Nameless Star Sora also quotes that part of what Riku said about not giving up (instead of talking about believing like he does in Eng) but what’s interesting is that the way he talks about who said it is extremely odd in that he actually uses a more feminine leaning pronoun that is quite impersonal, which gives the impression that he doesn’t remember who said it?? It’s very strange. In the novel too when he’s talking to her multiple times he mentions that she reminds him of someone he knows who doesn’t give up, but he just can’t think of who….so it’s like he had immediately forgotten Riku’s sacrifice already by that point. I don’t know what to make of it.
Yes!!! I believe that’s mentioned in the sleeping realm theory! Apparently the eng localization didn’t include it.
@@CampingforCool41 yeah even in the English line he doesn’t refer to Riku by name, just “a friend of mine”. I definitely think that he forgot the sacrifice upon entering the final world..only to see it again before saving Riku and obv forgetting again.
@@CocoaCatniptv yep, but even so the Eng still managed to give a hint towards Riku being the one, because in that part of the Journal it says “A heart of light, so long as it retains even the faintest glow, will always rise to banish the darkness, as sure as dawn sweeps away the night.”
Maybe it was just a coincidence that they mentioned dawn but it works for me :)
@@CampingforCool41 The "dawn sweeps away night" line is definitely very Riku-coded
Thank you so much for your time and effort and putting all of this in one place! ♡
I am so late to your channel omg I'm going on a Soriku binge now 😍😍
Is this really your first time writing a script? Wow! I wasn't able to tell with how well-put-together everything was. You did a fantastic job :)
Normally I just plan out what I’m gonna say by just talking to my wall like I’m filming and then I’ll film and can obv edit to make things more cohesive. There was so much to say in this video though so I don’t think that way would have worked. 😂 Thank you so much though! Writing everything honestly felt like I was back in college doing some sort of literary paper…but make it KH. 😂
Fantastic video!!!
Thank-you so much!!! Your KH videos are amazing so that means a lot coming from you!
In the scene where sora "thinks" the light is kairi,he found kairi following the light as well, so she couldn't have been the light besides she never confirmed it or denys it when sora say's it she could have said yes but she never does, soo.... basically some people just didn't want to notice the obvious 😭
Amazing Video :) Excellent Job :) I Love Riku So Much :) He's Always The Light In The Darkness For Sora :) Love Their Relationship/Friendship :)
I'm in the camp that they're encouraging fans to see Sora and Kairi as canon, but just look at the love story they wrote between Sora and Riku, especially in DDD! They're showing us something different than what they're telling us.
I’m honestly not sure they’re necessarily encouraging us to see Sora and Kairi as canon. I mean with kh3 we go the majority of the game with Sora not mentioning Kairi paralleled with her writing letters to him that she won’t send. Then she wants to do the poapu thing and he looks uncomfortable until she confirms it’s just for good luck.(going with the Japanese translation on that one) Honestly I see Sora and Kairi as meant to be friends drifting apart as they get older, their final scene on the paopu tree even oddly resembles Sora and Pooh on the book. (After he reconnects with Pooh) 👀
Like you said though they’ve written a lot of stuff with Sora and Riku and the fact that Riku is the one to go after Sora in Quadratum just has me like… We gonna get DDD part 2 here?
It isn't that They are doing it, but that Darkness the Character is doing it. Darkness is a shapeshifting illusion casting, memory manipulating force that is trying to break down the Child of Destiny to win.
Fun fact: when it comes to these type of topic (queer couples) in Disney games it's better to go for jpn ver Because in the western side they tend to censure and completely changed dialogues to make it more "family friendly" (aka straight) there's another game named twisted wonderland that has a similar problem in which mentions of a character being bi or just not straight in general is changed in the English version of the game ( a good example being a character named cater who has a lot of moments in game in wich he confirms he might be bi but in en he talks about random things that don't even make sense, and recently in ch7 of the game a character was said to be bi and poly but the en ver made it seem platonic) in general we shouldn't trust the English ver as an official source when it comes to these topics
Agreed.
At the very least we shouldn't take the english localisation of japanese games as gospel and always be open for the original source material.
Your energy is so infectious haha Great video!
Thankyou so much! 😊
Absolutely fantastic video! I just want to point out one tiny thing, the young xehanort threat of sora being done for and having paid the price doesn't seem to refer to him forgetting Riku's sacrifice, especially when he later says that Sora's "time in this world is -!!", It seems to be just about going to quadratum for breaking the taboo.
But Sora having forgotten Riku still fits elsewhere, because he has forgotten the sacrifice even before misusing the power of waking. Before in the final world, he already cant remember who told him to "i believe in you, you wont give up" when talking to nameless star, which is made explicitly clear in the novel too, despite literally happening 10 minutes ago for sora. And the 6 hearts no sacrifice from remind is the literal nail in the coffin since its in the text itself and not just visual clues (which are still just as valid, thats how people figured out the guardian was terra in khddd, just through the camera work), sora has absolutely forgot the sacrifice. Heck, him reseeing the sacrifice before reaching riku to olimpus is kind of needed because he had forgotten riku had died at all, he needed to see it again to save his heart, and then he immediately forgot it again. Either someone we dont know is interfering, or Sora's heart cannot withstand that pain of the event and is constantly blocking it out.
Yeah I’ve seen a lot of theories about his forgetting not being entirely tied to his misuse of the power of waking. I actually intended to have a part in the video talking about how it seemed as though Riku is also the only one brought back by properly using the power of waking..but I worried it derailed the video a bit. Maybe a topic for another video?
@@CocoaCatniptv maybe if you wanna! and yeah DW I totally understand not going into it to overly complicate this even more
I believe it is because Sora and Riku unwound the Timeline where they lost, therefore the Sacrifice "didn't happen" . But the Heart still remembers like the way Sora "remembers" Xion in Dream Drop. They jumped the Tear in Reality. Sora's mind cannot retain the information. The Master of Master probably can, though.
@@CocoaCatniptv It's interesting that you mentioned that. I was talking to a friend the other day about what the power of waking is and why it seems like some people seem to face consequences for it and others do not. At first we took Xehanort's words of how it's for "traversing hearts to reach worlds, not traversing worlds to reach hearts" at face value but we can clearly see Riku traversing worlds to reach Sora's heart in DDD. Yet Riku faced no consequences and Yen Sid actually deemed him a keyblade master who mastered the power of waking after that action. When Sora traverses worlds to reach Kairi's heart at the end of KH3 though, he disappears. I wonder if "power of waking" can be used to symbolize understanding true love-- something Riku understands when he rescued Sora and is rewarded for but is something Sora was punished for when he rescued Kairi.
@@rirururu4697 In Dream Drop, the worlds Riku travels are inside Sora's Heart. Sora's dreams. Therefore, Riku is doing it the correct way. He jumped into Sora's Heart , and the Worlds are in him.
In KH3, Sora is jumping through the Hearts of the Real Worlds of Light to find the guardians. He is basically feeding on those World Hearts to defy Destiny and reverse Time and Death, and Kingdom Hearts doesn't appreciate it. He is an anathema now.
Where everybody's being saved I am going to be doing myself up to the darkness completely
Smash the like button, everyone! :)
In my defense i did write on another soriku vid about the paoupi fruit thing even if sora and kairi ate the fruit riku and him share the Destiny therefore riku is sora's destiny of light in the darkness throught the power of heart and love!!
I have no idea if I'm alone in this, or how accurate what I'm about to say is, but ever since the reveal that the blue cat eyes in the keyblades were from MoM I have believed that Riku was connected to MoM or Xehanort in more ways than just "You were a potential vessel" and "Your darkness is so vast and strong." I truly believe that Riku is somehow related to the MoM and or the Dandelions in ways that the series has not made clear yet.
I like your theory too. I really do think there is more to Riku than the games has let on. Not just his fight with his inner darkness but also how he relates to light. Time and Time again Riku could have been ignored or tossed aside as edgy character but he out of Destiny Island Trio has the most writing and the better writing. Why is that? I always asked. Sure, with Disney's influence they didn't have an excuse to give Sora such bleak moments, fighting darkness, giving in over and over, self doubt, and Riku's other flaws, or is it because Riku has been the secret main character? (that's probably the fangirl in me talking honestly) but I always wondered why did Riku get so much time, and effort for his story. More than Sora, the main character, Riku had CoM: Reverse/Rebirth and 3D, just looking at his scenes from those two games alone after KH1 Riku's growth is immense. Mean while Sora did not experience such growth, if any at all. And I always thought it was strange.
a few comments down, someone said that their theory is that Riku's heart is strong because it was related to Ephemer and MoM in some way. And I believe that is the case. As I stated above the blue cat eye in the keyblade was always interesting to me and I think Riku is going to be a lynchpin in the Lost Masters (or whatever this arc is called) saga. l
And at this point I'm rambling, I'm happy to have heard this theory! It just gives me more proof that Riku is the Best Boi!!!
When will they finally admit that it’s a gay romance story (and that Kairi was just the milk-toast girl love interest without any personality, to cover that up)
Going off kh1, Kairi had tons of personality! Yea she spends a good chunk of the game asleep, but we get to see more of her personality on destiny islands. The thing is..she just hasn’t been given the focus to really develop much. Some of the good things she does get, (like admitting she feels responsible for Sora disappearing or Sora calling her strong) are messed up by the English localization. I think Kairi has so much potential, and I’m hoping now that she’s choosing to stay behind and train maybe we’ll see her develop on her own.
Didnt the master of master show that he is the light. I am not sure if coincidence or a pt 2 to this theory lol
Well In Remind the MOM says “the truth is what you see with your eyes, not what you hear.” Which if you connect that to Riku being the light..I mean we see Sora recognize the light as Riku and it lead him to Riku..vs Sora later claiming it was Kairi which we never actually see evidence of. Unless you’re referring to when young Xehanort asks the mom what his name is and we don’t hear an actual name but the mom is surrounded by light…I don’t think that has any connection with what this video is about though lol.
I theorize that The Master of Masters created the Bloodlines to pass down the Light through the Ages, like the Way Darkness passes through people. I believe Ephermer is One of those people, Leader of The Nexus of Scala. I also believe Xehanort and Riku are of the Same Line. Which Means the Master is inside as part of the Light of both Riku and Sora, as well as Ephemera.
This explains why Ephemera is in the Light the Third Time around. He is helping the Lover of his Descendant. After all, the Kingdom Key (The Crown Key) is Riku's Light and Heart inside Sora. And if Riku's Light is filled with Spirit of his Ancestors and whatever MOM really is, then Ephermera can be here, and Sora can have Memories of someone he never met.
I really love your video, and I love Soriku as well. I'm just so negative. I have a super hard time believing any ship will be 100% confirmed. Solely on the fact that KH has always been friendship first.
I see so much Soriku support, but it just seems like a lot of digging for clues most people would never notice. I will hold out hope for the next game. But for now ima put a pin in it. I need some kind of concrete evidence and not just translation or interpretation 😭
I mean the main point of this video is arguing that Riku was the light Sora saw in kh3 that lead him to Riku and not Kairi, obv Riku can be the light without it being a ship thing. (Obviously it also totally can add into evidence for soriku as a ship too of course) I totally get you though, it sucks being super invested into a ship only to be let down later. It doesn’t hurt to hope though. Think about it…yeah some things most may not notice…but this is also the fandom that thought people were crazy when they suggested the x on Sora’s outfit in DDD meant something…and then guess what? The x was straight up done on purpose and was actually connected into the plot. So finding evidence in something that some may ignore doesn’t mean that evidence isn’t valid and won’t be brought up later. Anyway! Thank you so much for watching my video and your comment! Let’s hope kh4 provides more SoRiku evidence!
Edit: I had to write this comment 2 times because my dumb brain deleted the first one. I'd love your input on my theory (theory of the 2 lights) and since I had to re write it maybe I missed something so if some stuff doesn't add up just ask me
I think BOTH Riku and Kairy are Sora's light in the darkness but in different meaning of the phrase, let me explain
A light in darkness can be both a light that guides and a light that protects, both meaning can save a soul from darkness but are different, and usually can't work without the other. We know Sora is both meaning of the term, because he saves those who fell for darkness and guides lost hearts to the light.
That doesn't mean the other 2 in the trio are the whole phrase: Kairy is the light in darkness that protects and saves sora, and Riku is the light in darkness that guides and saves Sora
And I want to believe this because both his friends are very important to Sora and Sora loves them both basically.
The light in the darkness Sora was following in KH3 was always Riku (even if he forgot because of his first price to pay) but that would never have been possible without the light in the darkness that kept Sora from disappearing, so Kairy. They both are the light in the darkness
I also want to believe in this because for me, Sora loves both of them(even if platonically, or at least one is platonic) and Riku and Kairy both were always his most important persons
Think about it.
Riku always guides Sora but never protects him. Same can be said about Sora with Riku, he never protects him from darkness, he saves him from it and guides him away.
This doesn't mean they can't save eachother from darkness if stuff goes south or if one gets possessed , just that they can't prevent it from happening, or better protect eachother from it
Examples(I'll do only examples from the numbered games because I don't want to be too long):
KH 1: Riku was lost to darkness and Sora saved him and guided him towards not being controlled
KH 2/(or 358/2): Riku was basically the one who guided roxas to Sora and previously made xion realise she had to go back to Sora, this saving Sora from his "coma" and later on Sora recognised Riku in "ansem's form" because he could feel his light
Kh3:Sora saves Riku in the fight from Aqua, how he got there? Guided by riku's light.
Riku tries to protect Sora from the heartless but fails in protecting him, instead he ends up guiding him out the darkness (another: Riku can't protect Sora, just guide him)
And in the finale he doesn't stop Sora from saving (and protecting from disappearing, more on that later) Kairy's heart, he's the one to say: go. As to guide him to do it.
Now Kairy, the light in the darkness that protects and saves, she always protected Sora's heart and saved him from darkness And he always did the same. But neither Kairy nor Sora ever once was a guide for the other
I'll tell why the KH 2 last scene is not guiding, but saving in a bit, in theeee...
EXAMPLES:
Kh1: Kairy protects Sora in destiny island from the darkness, without her light he would have probably been swollen by it. And Sora protects Kairy from the darkness taking her in his heart, also they both save eachother in the end, Sora giving back her heart sacrificing himself and Kairy protecting him from the darkness and saving his heart got him back to human after he transformed in a heartless.
Kh2: Kairy saves Sora and Riku from the realm of darkness (so also protects Sora who hasn't yet fought his darkness like Riku did so he would be more vulnerable to the realm) with her letter. But Sora never was guided to the letter because he followed a light or stuff, the letter just got to him, Kairy wasn't guiding him back, she was saving him.
Also want to point out: Sora starts "falling" or "using" the darkness with the Anti form in this specific game, COINCIDENTALLY the one where Kairy's heart isn't in him to protect him AND is far away from most of the game.
KH3: Kairy protects and saves Sora from disappearing and keeps him alive
Sora does the same in the end and then he disappears because of his second price to pay
You would notice I mentioned the price Sora Pays for the power of waking right? Why I mentioned them? Because it ties in with my theory of the 2 lights.
The prices are inverses to the blessings of the two lights.
1st price: Sora forgets the light in the darkness he was following ang guiding him. And if he forgets it he will probably be unable to follow it if he gets lost again. (So a price that blindes him from the guide)
But Riku never paid this price, so he can still follow Sora's guide, that's how he'll find him
2nd price: Sora disappearing from the universe he's in unable to be protected by this fact from Kairy and probably will weaken his natural resistance to darkness in the future (in a similar way to aqua sacrificing her armour to save terra from falling in the realm of darkness with her: she saved him but she's left without a protection. So a price that strips away your high resistance)
But Kairy never had to pay this price, so Sora's light can still protects her, like in Melody of memories when Sora's light basically fights the bosses instead of her, protecting her
Since I had to write this comment 2 times because my dumb brain deleted the first one, ask me anything you don't understand or if I left some hole in the theory, I'm sure I forgot something
What’s great is that we can all have differing opinions. I honestly don’t agree with this, but thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me. 😊
I think that Riku and Kaori are both Sora’s light
Hi! Thanks for commenting! Like I said in my video, Kairi has been a light for Sora in the past..however I do not believe she was the light in kh3 that led him to Riku or back to the keyblade graveyard. This of course doesn’t mean she (or really any of his other friends) can’t ever be a light for him. That’s just my opinion though. 😊
When you said "Sora has never been wrong before" I was totally expecting you to show a clip from the end of KH2 where he tells Xemnas he's a nobody and isn't sad about anything. That was such a slap in the face for poor Roxas and a prime example of just how wrong Sora can be.
I enjoyed the video a lot, because I love this series as an unrepentant Riku fan. But I have to admit that I do think Kairi is the one who was holding Sora to the final world. The heartless tornado didn't hurt her a bit because she's pure light, a princess of heart, and darkness couldn't do anything to her. She was floating around in that tornado while Riku killed himself and Sora died, she was the only one he didn't need to save because she was just fine, princess powers and all of that. So she did her princess magic, just like Rapunzel and Elsa and all the other princess, and held onto Sora. Was she the light that Sora saw leading him to Riku? Maybe. If she was, it would explain why Sora looks surprised and then drops his hands right before he enters that light. I think he realized the light wasn't Riku and he stops reaching out for it because it's not Riku and he's trying to reach Riku. He didn't realize at that point that the light was Kairi, he just knew it wasn't Riku and that's why he stops reaching toward it. It's only later that he realizes the light was Kairi, and that's why he says it in a surprised voice. I see no problem with Kairi's light leading Sora to Riku. Kairi was flipping around in that heartless tornado, physically just fine thanks to princess purity, watching while Riku killed himself to buy Sora just a few more seconds of life. Of course she would guide Sora to Riku first. She's a good girl and Sora and Riku are both her best friends.
On the other hand, I agree that light when Sora reunites with Kairi is absolutely behind her and something definitely pulls Sora's left hand to bring him out of the tunnel and into the graveyard. So at that point I am on board the "Riku is the light" theory. I just get bothered when people downplay Kairi's involvement. Even if that first light that led Sora to Riku was partly Riku's, I think it was also partly Kairi, and that's why Sora says the light was her - and that's why he reacts strangely when he gets closer to the light. Riku and Kairi can both be Sora's light. Why not? Mickey was Riku's light in CoM and they were perfect strangers when that happened.
I don't really understand why people think Sora forgot Riku's sacrifice. When he gets back to the others, they all seem to remember everything. But in the next scene the wayfinder trio act like they don't remember that they already did that - so that's evidence of memory loss. But we know Sora didn't forget losing and saving everyone, because he talks about it to Chirithy. Why do people think he forgot about what Riku did? Is it just because he went from reaching toward a light he thought was Riku's to telling Kairi that she was the light? That's the only evidence I've seen anyone use to show that Sora forgot how he lost all of his friends except Riku, who then died for him. I think people are misinterpreting Sora's "you were the light" line and using that one bit of dialogue to push the idea that Sora forgot about everyone dying and Riku being the last man standing. I didn't get that from the game. I don't agree with that interpretation. But I enjoy these theories so much I'm glad you shared your vid. If there was anything in the game and dlc that made you think Sora forgot about Riku's sacrifice, aside from the "you were the light" comment Sora makes to Kairi, please let me know. I really like the theories and would enjoy them being right. I just can't quite get on board with them if they're based entirely around Sora saying the light was Kairi - because the way he acted right before entering Olympus fit with the light being not-Riku (aka Kairi), in my opinion. And as a Soriku shipper, I enjoy the idea that Sora stopped reaching toward that light when he sensed it wasn't Riku's light, that it was Riku's light he wanted to follow not whoever was providing the light in the tunnel at that moment. The second light, leading to the others, was definitely Riku, though. ;p
Hey! Thanks for your thoughts! I agree that Kairi helped hold Sora together in the final world, but as I said in my video I definitely believe Riku helped as well. I don’t think kairi was the light that led Sora to Riku though. If it was kairi..then why show Riku’s sacrifice a second time right after chirathy tells Sora to “find the light in the darkness” then have Sora following a light that leads to Riku. Also the reason people say Sora forgot Riku’s sacrifice is because in remind when Sora talks to Chrathy he says “I saved 6 hearts before” when in fact he saved 7. I actually have a video going more into it on this channel if you’d like to check it out.
ruclips.net/video/FgiduYJl5x4/видео.htmlsi=5AxURjFeNBX6_Cui
@@CocoaCatniptv I just got done watching your other vid, and it is definitely interesting that Chirithy only counted Sora having saved 6 hearts. If Chirithy forgot one of them, it was probably Riku, and that supports the idea that Sora also forgot saving one of those hearts since he didn't correct him.
Thank you for making that vid, because I like that as "evidence" much more than simply the "you were the light" bit of dialogue. Because, as I said, I really enjoy how Sora stops reaching toward that light - because in my headcanon he sensed the light wasn't Riku's light. I haven't found anyone in favor of this "Riku is the light" theory who acknowledges how strangely Sora acts right before going into that light.
@@arimina5353Sora does react strangely before going into the light, but this doesn’t necessarily mean he’s realizing it’s not Riku. Actually many I’ve seen do acknowledge his reaction and think it could be more of a soriku hint. Riku basically did for Sora what all of those princesses in the worlds Sora visited did, and what Hercules talked about. I think his shocked look is Sora realizing this.
Few points. Darkness(specifically the Ancient Darkness) can affect the Princess of Light. Xehanort was planning to use the Darkness to destroy them if The Guardians didn't fight. Also, Namine started "existing" again because Kairi's body was destroyed and, therefore, Namine popped out and into the Final World.
Also, Riku is the Light in BBS, too. It is how Terra finds him. He followed Riku's Light. From Space
. Also, in the Tutorial in Three, we see the Wave sequence in intro of One (Riku, hand out, Sora runs at him in the Ocean). In Three, the same sequence plays, except there is A Light when Riku would be. And we go through it, and end up in the Final World Tutorial.
Also, Riku defends against a Demon Tide. Demon Tide=Darkness Ocean Tide.
Finally, the Title Scene of the Final World matches Riku attacking the Demon Tide, One for One
@@arimina5353 Sora stops reaching at the Light because the Light start making noise at him, which implies the Light is "Talking" to him. So, He is now absorbing this information with "Shock and Awe".
Honestly I hope Sora turns completely dark I hope is Darkside completely take some over to the point where he destroys Riku and Kairis heart.
It is an interesting interpretation and you bring up good points, particularly the scene in the beginning parallelling the KH1 Opening. However, I think you've been ignoring a few details countering this theory.
First, Sora and Kairi DID have scenes in which they risked everything for each other before. In KH1 to be exact, where Sora stabs himself to free her heart and she, in return, shields him as a shadow heartless with her own body from a whole lot of shadows trying to jump them. There even was one right before the Final World; Sora jumping in between Kairi and Terranort's blade, mimicking the way she shielded him in KH1. So saying they didn't have a moment like this, just because Riku's was flashier, is simply not true.
Second, Riku lost his heart in the moment he protected Sora. He is among the Guardians Sora has to save. The only one who isn't, is Kairi. As Naminé says, she kept holding on and keeps Sora tethered - Kairi's heart, being a princess and stuff, couldn't be taken by the darkness, contrary to everyone else's (or by death itself, as the journal describes the heartless as somewhat special, though this is open to interpretation again). Riku can't guide Sora when he himself had to be saved by Sora.
Third, again open to interpretation, Kairi being in front of the light can just as easily be interpreted as her being seen as the light, especially as she takes Sora's hand to guide him towards it.
So in my opinion, the scene points more to Kairi being the light than Riku, although Riku's last stand certainly contributed to Sora not giving up.
P.S. Yes, I ship Sokai. No, I don't hate Soriku. I think both ships have merit. But Riku has so many great scenes and arguably the most growth of the entire series. DDD is literally a Riku festival. Please leave the few scenes Kairi gets to shine to her.
Kairi is and always will be his light
Nope, Kairi.
Nope, Riku