Wow. So this morning, I finally finished Reverse/Rebirth of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. On the bright side, this means I can get back to my life and start being productive again. But being the obsessive fan that I am, I have to stop and speculate on what happened in Chain of Memories and what will happen come Kingdom Hearts 2.

**WARNING: CONTAINS 'CHAIN OF MEMORIES' SPOILERS!**

In many ways, I had more questions coming out of CoM than I did going in, but I was basically expecting this. I was also expecting a very circular nature concerning Sora's journey, and that's what I got: in the end, Sora and his friends forget everything that happened in Castle Oblivion, putting him back at square one in terms of their search for Riku and King Mickey. What I find *very* interesting is that Riku *does* remember what happened to him in the castle, and heard of a lot of Sora's story from Namine. This could mean that in KH2, Riku may have some information vital to Sora if he gets in a pinch with the Organization.

My main questions are thus:
1) Who, and what, are the Organization? What is their ultimate goal?
2) Who is Namine? How did she get to where she is now?
3) How did Riku and King Mickey also arrive at Castle Oblivion, considering they were on the other side of the door the Kingdom Hearts?
4) How does this relate back to what was seen in Another Side, Another Story/Deep Dive? Who is the blond-haired kid?

So, trying to answer them one at a time:

1) I'm gonna have to do some fanart of these characters, they're so twisted. Contrary to its name, the Organization seems anything but organized, considering how many people are double- and triple-crossing each other. I can easily see Axel being an important character in the next game; he's really the smartest of the bunch. Considering the fact that Larxene, Vexen, Marluxia, Lexaeus (and Zexion?) were all offed by Sora and Riku, the other half of the Organization will be the foes in KH2. That is, unless none of those members actually died in their respective battles, which is not outside the realm of possibility.
- The Organization members don't appear to be from the same plane as Sora, or else are quite hyped up on dark powers. This is evidenced by their ability to move through solid objects, use strong elemental powers and have a finely-tuned sense of smell (which, interestingly, Riku also seems to have.) They appear to answer directly to Ansem, as they refer to Riku as "having the same scent as the Superior." But if Ansem was supposedly destroyed by the light of Kingdom Hearts; they are either speaking of a different Ansem, or the same Ansem was restored.
- It's quite possible that the Ansem they answer to is merely another copy; just as Vexen cloned Riku for his own purposes. However, considering the reverence they hold him in, it seems more this is an actual Ansem. What *I* suspect is that the Organization is following an Ansem from another "universe" seperate from the normal one. This is suggested in Ansem Report #12 from Final Mix:

(begin report) I have transcended to an existence of only the heart. I should have come back as a Heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation.

My body has surely perished. However, I am different from the other Heartless, keeping the memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a Heartless. It is clear that there are still many things to be studied.

In order to cross over to the dark side, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the place connected to the world's heart.

The innermost part connected to the world's heart, the place connecting to the world of darkness. (I will record the details in another report...)

There are still so many unknown worlds.

The present world.
The world of darkness.
The world of light.

And, The world in-between.

Where does the true paradise lie, I wonder? (end report)

and in Report #13:

(begin report)
Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears.

However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there?

If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere.
(end report)

(A bit more on this report will come in later...)
This Ansem, and the Organization, may come from a parallel dimension; possibly the one of darkness.
- So what are they after? Considering the division within the group, Ansem hasn't even made what he wants clear. However, they have a strong interest in both Sora and Riku, both because they have a connection to Ansem. Riku's connection is obvious: a part of Ansem still exists within him, although Riku proves that he can master that part at the end of his journey through the Castle. Sora's connection is more subtle: he and Ansem are the only ones that became Heartless, but still managed to keep their memories and feelings with them. Aside from him being the Keyblade Master (and perhaps related to it) this is highly unusual. Mostly, the Organization wants Sora (and Riku) because they are untapped sources of immense power. So what the Organization really wants is power, and they'll fight each other over it. To what end they intend to use that power hasn't been made clear at all.

2) Namine was a fascinating and confusing character. I was never quite sure whether to like her or dislike her, even by the end. My first inclination was that Namine was essentially Kairi's double from the parallel universe; the same dimension the Organization was from. However, it was clear by the end of Sora's story this wasn't the case. I believe that she is from the same universe as Sora and Riku, but is a being that is more than human. How or why she received her powers, and why she's spending her time alone in Castle Oblivion I have no answers for. The Organization was after Namine for the same reason they wanted Sora and Riku: she possessed immense power. However, for being a person that could manipulate memories, she seemed rather unable to support or defend herself (until she took care of Larxene, of course.) Unfortunately, I don't really see her being developed in KH2, and was rather just the means by which Sora lost and then regained his memories. What would be *very* interesting is a relationship between Namine and Riku; especially considering their conversation at the end of Reverse/Rebirth. This conversation did have one confusing element: Sora, Donald and Goofy are clearly on the 13th floor, as that is where Namine could restore their memories. However, Riku was making his way through the castle basements, and didn't reach the end until he got to the ground floor. So how did he get up to the 13th floor suddenly? Either it was another trick from Namine, or I wasn't paying close enough attention. T_T

3) First off, I thought the relationship between King Mickey and Riku was *very* interesting. It started as a mentor/student relationship, with Mickey acting as the one voice in Riku's life that trusted and believed there was still good in him. It ended as a more personal friendship: with Mickey accepting the fact that Riku has a darkness in him that is both indestructable and nonthreatening, and Riku recognizing that Mickey values his life even more than he does. I really liked how their relationship developed, and I want to see more of it in KH2. That, and Mickey kicked serious ass in battles.
- How they got there, though, was explained almost less than Namine. DiZ seems to be the main hand behind Riku appearing in the castle, as he is the one that gives him the first world cards and then offers the choices of darkness and light at the end of the game. Considering that the Organization wasn't expecting Riku in the castle, DiZ appears to be working seperately from them and Ansem. However, it's quite possible he's from the same universe as them, and is working with an entirely different agenda.Through his power, he pulled Riku out of the realm of Kingdom Hearts and into Castle Oblivion, with Mickey later following through force of will and the card he found. Why Mickey seems to vaguely recognize DiZ is beyond me...the only thing I can think of is that DiZ visited Mickey long before the first Kingdom Hearts took place, or at least observed him from a distance.
- For all intensive purposes, DiZ is acting (for now) as an observor of Sora and Riku. It's clear that he has a particular interest in Riku (as Sora never meets him), and a fascination with choices, and he keeps bringing it up over and over. If DiZ is using Sora and Riku for his own purposes, it's not as blatant as with the Organization.

4) Not owning Final Mix makes me all kinds of angry; so most of what I can speculate comes from what I've seen on Another Side, Another Story, and only what I've read about Deep Dive. Both ASAS and DD have only limited shots of the blond-haired kid (BHK from now on...), shown in the Unknown robes and weilding two keyblades; the Oblivion and the Oathkeeper. The very end of Reverse/Rebirth is when we finally get a frontal shot of him...and DAYAM, he does look a LOT like Sora. He's even wearing a similar outfit. The fact that his outfit is mostly white, while Sora's in KH2 is mostly black makes things even more interesting.
- As mentioned in the Ansem Reports and above, the BHK would seem to be Sora's double in the alternate dimension. This would explain why they look and dress very similarly, and why he is weilding keyblades. As he is seen hanging out in Twilight Town at the end, and since Vexen tells Sora that Twilight Town is from the "dark side" of Sora's heart, this means Sora and his double may be more connected than they are even aware. While the BHK doesn't appear to be an adversary in KH2 per se, I could easily see the two as a contrasting "light" and "dark" Sora, with color schemes a la Dark and Krad from D.N.Angel. This raises some other questions: would the BHK be the Keyblade Master the same as Sora, but merely of different universes? Does the Organization know that this "Sora opposite" exists? It would seem unusual, especially if they were from the same dimension.
- What about the other figure in ASAS, who looks suspiciously like Riku? Unless this movie is supposed to take place after CoM, it seems very unlikely that the cloaked Riku-like figure actually is Riku. This also blows the "blindfold" theory out of the water (the idea that it is Riku, and is wearing the blindfold because he was blinded by the light of Kingdom Hearts.) Instead, this figure could easily be Riku's double in the alternate dimension. This explains why he and the BHK were together in a place that looked a lot like Twilight Town at night.

...Man, now I think I'm even more confused than when I began. @_@ To make things simple, this is what I believe will happen in Kingdom Hearts 2:

- Sora and Riku, while still having the occasional squabbles, will be on the same side in this fight. King Mickey will play a large role in proving to Sora that Riku has reformed, with Kairi backing him up.
- Namine will not appear, but Riku will mention her to Sora. This will trigger all of his memories of Castle Oblivion.
- The Organization and Ansem (whether the real Ansem or his double) will be the prime adversaries. However, one member will end up betraying the others and joining Sora's team...my guess is that it'll be Axel.
- One of Vexen's clones, probably of Sora, will make an appearance.
- The blond haired kid will either begin as an ally and end as an enemy, or vice versa. He and Sora will cross paths and have conflict. This could be over who is the true keyblade master, or over Sora's friends. It doesn't seem the blond haired kid has companions the same way Sora has Donald and Goofy. On the flipside, The blond-haired kid may get along much better with the Riku look-alike.
- DiZ will act as an impartial (and of course cryptic) observor for most of the game, then suddenly appear as a villain towards the end.

Geh. Still confused! I suppose we'll never truly know until next year...and probably not even then. Until then, I'll just go insane. And do fanart, as those two are quite closely related.

I'll write again soon on other things that happened during the break *GASTHP...OTHER THINGS?!* and hopefully get to work on the many things I need done. I've got to start work on Van Helsing puppets, the rest of the website, and RSOM 5. That, and I need to get some cleaning done. Le sigh, I'm not ready for vacation to end yet! But it was fun while it lasted. I did exactly what I planned to do: play video games for weeks. Go me. ;P