Ok. The part in which Riku became a Dream eater in Sora's dreams, à la Inception style, that part I could get it. It wasn't too far-stretched.
But that doesn't answer the questions as why there were together at Destiny island as their young selves (ie. they were both dreaming at that point), where they supposedly encounter young Xehanort ("thank you" game for being composed of flashbacks and missing scenes), and that would be when Riku entered Sora's dreams. At that point, before Ursula's fight, shouldn't Riku already be in inception mode ? Meh.
All that, I could take.
But freakin' time travel ? Are you kidding me ? Come on... If at least there was some lampshade hanging, I "could" have accepted it, but no, this won't do.
And, no, bonus bosses who are only available in the Final Mix versions don't count.
On that note, Young Xehanort boss battle was awesome, but I digress.
So, let's recap: there are 7 lights and 13 darknesses which are required in order to forge the x-blade which will allow MX to reach Kingdom Hearts, the "original" one (since there are more than one Kingdom Hearts... God, my head hurts).
The 7 princesses of Light can be used to fulfill that objective (and, back in KH1, Ansem did create a keyblade which could open people's hearts thanks to them), but 7 keyblades wielders of Light can also do the trick, am I correct ? That's why Yen Sid is gathering them, in order to face the 13 darknesses (but doesn't that only indirectly help MX to fulfill his plans ?).
I wonder if the 3rd game will allow to play different protagonists... So, we have :
- Sora, though there is a trick : he's also the 13th receptacle of darkness (oh boy). Unless MX finds someone else fitted for the job, I highly doubt Sora's goind to be OK in KH3's final hours. Will be playable in KH3 (it's a given).
- Riku, now Keyblade Master (let's be honest : after everything he went through, he deserves it, let the dog have his bone). Nearly immune to darkness corrupting effects. All in all, badass. Probability of being playable in KH3 : High, I guess.
- Kairi, who also is a princess of light. Playable in KH3 : probable. I mean, Yen Sid didn't call her for nothing. She'll face Xehanort along with her friends.
- Ventus, who is still comatose (come on, I was hoping we would FINALLY awaking him in 3D, I thought for months the whole purpose of the game was that). Playable in KH3 : Unknow. He needs to be awakened first, which leads me to...
- Lea : well, I didn't really expect this. Talk about a breakout character. I can guess that if there is someone who will retrieve Ven's body, it's him. But since Ven is hidden in a room in Castle Oblivion, no one expect the creator of this world can enter it. Playable in KH3 : Unknown. I guess I can vision him as a support character, not a playable one. But, well, if when scans of KH3 will be released we see him with a new outfit suitable of heroes, I guess we can expect this.
- Aqua : in order to rescue Ven, she needs to be rescued first (at least, that's what I think : if Xemnas was unable to locate him during KH2:FM, her presence may be mandatory in order to access Ven's room). Playable in KH3 : Unknow, but she has to be. Come on, it's MASTER Aqua, I like this gal.
- Mickey : ... and in order to rescue Aqua, who's better than Mickey, who allegedly already went to the realm of darkness. To be honest, I don't think he will be playable, since he's probably the most powerful keyblade wielder of KH world at this point (I mean, come on, Stop Z/Stopza ? Badass).
And now we have 13 Xehanort... Come on... >.> Oh well :
- MX
- No-heart "Ansem"
- Nobody "Xemnas" (how come they still exist ? MX is recomposed, they shouldn't exist anymore...)
- Young Xehanort, aka Terranort
- Braig
- Isa
- 6 unknown bodies
- Potentially Sora
The scene was supposed to happen in the real world/present, but for unknown reasons, MX only had this one opportunity to make Sora his receptacle... Will the 4 Xehanort (Master, No-Heart, Nobody and Young) still exist after that ? Because, come on, it makes no sense. I just wish that Nomura and co. don't rewrite the rules of their universe at every game release.
Who are the others candidates ?
- Possessed Riku from KH1. He was possessed by No-heart Ansem, but does that possession count as a "body" ? That's a little far-stretched.
- Xion. Technically, she's Sora, she could be used as a receptacle if she happened to come back. Though, like nobodies, I guess we can say she developped a heart of her own. The thing is : does that heart melded with Sora's, or does she joined the prison alongside Ven ? I liked her character, so I hope she will come back in KH3 for more than 2 scenes.
Talking about rewritting rules, I could also talk about the complete retcon about nobodies who don't have hearts... But, oddly, I'm okay with that one.
And I almost forgot the scene at Destiny Island, in which Ansem the Wise reveals that he hid data inside Sora during Sora's sleep in KH:CoM/KH2... Gah.
Gosh, talk about mindscrew.