Kingdom Heartssupposedly ended its Dark Seeker Saga withKingdom Hearts 3, but the Dark Seeker himself, Xehanort, is still sticking closely to the series. Xehanort is the main character ofDark Road, a side story built intoUnion X, and the story revolves around his youthful days as an apprentice. The story ultimately raised more questions than answers, and at this rate, it may be for the best if Xehanort gets left behind altogether in future games.
Union Xcharacters, namelythe Foretellers and the Master of Masters, look to be taking center stage in the story from this point. Bringing back Xehanort would bloat the story even more than it already has been. For all of the convoluted plot turns,Kingdom Hearts 3did close off that plot thread, but there’s one main problem, though: Young Xehanort.
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Xehanort’s Inconsistent Lore
One ofKingdom Hearts' most infamous plot points is the abundance of Xehanort variants. Ansem (Seeker of Darkness), Xemnas, Old Master Xehanort, and Young Xehanort make up a team of separate people all formed from the same person. Each new variant made the Xehanort story more complex, but it was followable.
Xehanort, a native of the Destiny Islands, felt stifled by the tiny world and left to explore other worlds. He became a Keyblade master and eventually became swayed by the darkness. Once he reached old age, he stole Terra’s body as a vessel. After being defeated by Aqua, Xehanort woke up as an amnesiac in Radiant Garden and became an apprentice to Ansem the Wise. He eventually removes his own heart and those of the other apprentices, formingthe Nobody Xemnas and the Heartless Ansem.
Dream Drop Distancethrew a wrench into that storyline with the introduction of time travel, and Young Xehanort as a separate character.Kingdom Hearts 3introduces what appears to be an even younger version of Xehanort, playing chess with Eraqus in their apprentice days. “Chessnort,” as he’s sometimes nicknamed, makes little sense chronologically. He appears to be the youngest version, but has already left the Destiny Islands. Add in the Master of Masters' cryptic conversation with Young Xehanort inRe:Mind, and things start to get frayed.
The Future of Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Heartshas a problem where when more is revealed, less makes sense. This is especially apparent withXehanort’s narrative. The games have hinted that they’re not done with the old keyblade master just yet, but it may be for the best if they just drop him altogether. Enough was done to make the end of the saga finite, and there’s no need to drag it on any longer.
The Foretellers and the Master of Masters have enough story to explore on their own, and they don’t necessarily need to be connected heavily to Xehanort or other major characters beyond what’s already been revealed.Quadratum is another mysterythat’s set to be a major feature in future titles, and that will have its own complex narratives to follow. Now that Xehanort’s story is ostensibly over, it should be kept that way.
