Keyblade Ceremony and 'True Masters'

Originally posted by keybladeheroes

My issue with the ‘Keyblade Ceremony’ and ‘True Master’ inclusions of BBS
Kinda surprised I never did this one, eh. I’ll warn you up front, this one will be a bit ranty. I usually try to keep these more analytical, I do rant but I do more to try and point out a logical hole or something that my mind is mulling over that day. Anywho~

My issue with these two concepts honestly boils down to one word, superfluous. I don’t like them, they are pointless, add nothing and add what doesn’t need adding, etc.

Many will point to the argument that it “cheapened” the keyblade, which to some extents it did. Up till then we had been told the keyblade chooses people. We knew only one requirement for it’s preference (a strong heart) and this power of choice gave the keyblade an air of sentience combined with it’s moments of autonomy over KH1 and KH2.

Going back and saying that a master chooses a person rather than the keyblade takes away from the keyblades, then, built up autonomy. It’s not so much what the keyblade chooses as it’s what some old person chooses.

And in turn many will counter this by listing the “recommendation” argument. That they just show the keyblade to a candidate. This is also partly true, we know that being chosen by a master actually is a requirement.
Even if the keyblades still chooses them, it’s still partly dictated by someone else which cheapens the aura the keyblade had up till Birth by Sleep.

There is however a huge hole in this argument, Sora.


Originally posted by onlythosewhosurvive

Sora is the exception. If you wish for the validation I will pull it but I’ll sum up an hour of image grabbing and interview digging and tell you, Sora was never chosen by a master. The Kingdom Key also doesn’t belong to Ventus. It was originally Riku’s, something said in various places, even the KH1 Journal.

The reason this matters is because Sora proves that the concepts of a Ceremony and Master aren’t needed. Before BBS we just assumed the keyblade chose people and older masters like Yen Sid just found them to train, keeping the profession alive.

There was nothing wrong with this, we even saw the keyblade react on it’s own with Sora, almost giving this vibe of growth between him and it. It wasn’t so much about being “properly trained” or being a “true master” to unlock the keyblades full power-no.

It was more akin to a symbiotic bond or one built on synergy. The keyblade would abandon Sora on a dime as it showed in KH1 however once he was proven truly worthy in it’s eyes it went back and they grew in almost subtle ways.

Sora’s power with the keyblade was such that by KH2 he was a one man army against Nobodies, Heartless, Disney Villains and any other being in this shared universe. (for better or worse in terms of writing)


Originally posted by kingdomheartsgifs

Skip to Birth by Sleep and this is basically spat on. It’s not about growing with the keyblade, it’s about being “properly trained”, it’s not being chosen by the keyblade but by a “true master”.
The keyblade wasn’t a sentient force but a tool, one that’s basically a “magical swiss army knife” thanks to the introduction of transformations in KH2 Final Mix.

This was even worse in KHDDD I feel, Sora and Riku who have been self taught and very successful series wise to that point are told to forget it all and learn it the “proper way”.

I know part of that is an excuse for the KHDDD/Command system but meh.

It also doesn’t help that KHDDD reminds us that Sora “wasn’t chosen” when he’s probably the most chosen one there. Others were picked by some older teacher, Sora was chosen entirely by the weapon itself.

“You’re ranting, what’s the point here?”
Sorry, sorry. This went on longer than intended. My point is that I dislike these concepts because they are pointless. They didn’t add anything to the mythos. If anything, they’ve kinda cheapened it.

And yes, it’s true any mythos will be elaborated on as a story goes but it’s also true that this can be done without sacrificing the mysticism of it.
A key example is story telling. In many stories, something is introduced as a myth or legend among the characters. It introduces this concept but never elaborates on it. It leaves you to wonder.

A master of this was Tolkien in his legendary story, ‘Lord of the Rings’. Leaving your reader to wonder makes them think about your fictional world more, it enriches it by not knowing which is the root of the issue with KH.

You’re told what isn’t necessary while denied what could be elaborated on. What we once wondered about it answered in sub-par fashion.


Originally posted by fleur-drae

Summarizing
Basically these two concepts equate to what my friend @blackosprey called “midoclorian lore”.

Much like the lil midoclorian-whatevers in the Star Wars Prequels, they don’t really add anything. It tries to science what was magical and thus cheapens it.

And, honestly, the biggest issue I have out of all this is that they serve as a plot device. A thing that was invented to make the meeting of Terra-Riku and Aqua-Kairi seems special or unique.

They are forced interactions and connections. KHBBS was a prequel, Riku, Kairi and Sora are the original characters of the first game, they were gonna be in this story no matter what.

We didn’t need some reason for them meeting, it didn’t need to be some clandestined event, they just had to meet and interact.
Just a brief meeting, nothing grand, just a nod to BBS in the stories placement. Buuuuuttt I guess this just ties back into a previous tangent of mine about how Nomura feels the ridiculous need to make everything deeply rooted and connected.

Honestly, the simplest ties, the purest encounters, hold more weight than saying it was destiny