For example, the "X" that pops up all over the place? Actually very critical to the story.
As in, the plot could very well hinge on which people wear an "X".
Which led me to think about one of my favorite Organization members, Lexaeus.
This scene for starters. Vexen is number IV, Lexaeus is V, Zexion is VI. Vexen claims he ranks higher than Zexion, but shuts up when Lexaeus tells him to stop talking.
There's quite a few little moments like this scattered throughout the series.
When facing Riku, Lexaeus seemed honestly worried about Riku and wanted him to embrace Darkness NOT for power, but for Riku's on sanity and balance. At the end of the game, Riku ends up doing exactly that. As the games move forward, Riku continues to use his dark power in order to serve and help others, something Lexaeus said he should do from the beginning.
In every form of Ansem, (Ansem:SoD, MX, Xemnas, etc) only two people have been killed by him onscreen. One is Lexaeus, the other is Master Eraqus. This is especially interesting for four reasons. First, Lexaeus started to just walk away. Ansem:SoD actively sought out the chance to kill him. At that point, Lexaeus became actively aware of what the Darkness inside Riku WAS, or rather who the darkness was. The second is that MX killed ME as part of a plan to turn Terra to darkness. There appears to be not apart of any immediate plan. Thirdly, SE added this scene in the updated rerelease. Originally Riku beat Lexaeus, who then released his remaining darkness to overwhelm Riku. This caused Riku to turn into Ansem:SoD. So not only was this change one of the largest in the updated rerelease, but is very deliberate.
Back to the battle, while Riku wins, he looks utterly exhausted. He's on the verge of collapsing. Lexaeus? Lexaeus is simply winded and reveals he has enough power left to swing his heavy axe and knock Riku into the ceiling. Which leads to the last part about Ansem killing Lexaeus. Lexaeus was stabbed in either the chest or the stomach. Something like this defies the previous uses of the keyblade (a channel for magic or as a blunt weapon) but also shows that Ansem:SoD REALLY wanted to kill him for as yet unknown reasons.
In Birth By Sleep, we meet Aeleus for the first time.
Finally in Kingdom Hearts 3D, we see him twice.
In the first example, he says nothing but he's the second person conscious after he reforms into a person. You can't really tell from the picture, but in the scene he's trying to push himself back up.
I have honestly no idea where I'm going with this. You can dismiss these little bits individually, something to fill time, to explain, whatever.
But if you ad them up, it's every single time he's appeared on screen, something slightly odd has happened to him/about him/around him. And Slightly odd things in Kingdom Hearts end up in two categories. Either they are just something odd, or they become critically important down the line. (See the X's I mentioned earlier. Also, costume changes and the constant visits to Traverse Town)
I'm putting Lexaeus into the critically important part. Especially as his death scene was changed between the GBA and the PS2 release.
Square Enix has made a point of making Lexaeus/Aeleus be consistently odd, but also in the background. The most up front bit of oddness is him being one of the two people any form of Xehanort has killed, let alone by stabbing.
I have no idea what Aeleus' role will be in the future. Quite frankly, no one thought too much of the brown robed guy in KH1 until KH3D turned everything on it's head. I'm not going to predict anything about Lexaeus.
Except one bit. Lexaeus will probably end up being somehow vital to the series. And we won't see it coming.
I thought KH1 made it pretty clear that Brown-Robed-Guy was Ansem/Xehanort's Heartless without a human form, being voiced by Billy Zane and all. I really DON'T like the "twist" revealed about in 3D...does Square Enix really think it's creditable that Xehanort would visit Destiny Islands in KH1 because he wanted to make sure a part of him was there, so that 2-3 years later, IF these boys became Keyblade wielders and IF Yen Sid decided to test them by throwing them into the Realm of Sleep, assuming that they would even know Yen Sid at that point, then Xehanort would be able to go in after them and sabotage their Mark of Mastery exam? NO. Nobody is that "cunning," Square Enix. That's not "cunning," that's being psychic!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm off-topic. Back to Lexaeus. That's a really interesting point about him realizing who was really inside Riku's heart and also trying to persuade Riku to use darkness for his own sake rather than for power. However, he didn't have the most charitable of intentions either; he and Zexion wanted to use Riku as a tool to stop Sora if Marluxia's plan worked. Note that when it didn't work, Zexion decided to just kill Riku because there was no more need for anyone to fight Marluxia. When Riku was winded from the fight, Lexaeus was presumably going to capture him for their anti-Marluxia plans, so Xehanort's Heartless was probably trying to keep him away.
Idk if Lexaeus/Aeleus is going to prove to be that important because he's mostly been in the background for every game and there are a lot of other major characters who need their storytime and development taken care of KH3. But I would like to see him become more important because I do like his character and how he picks up on things by just observing what everyone's doing.
I know, unless young MX knew that? Honestly, Doctor Who has a better explanation and it's "there's a man who travels in time in a blue police box which is bigger on the inside!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I rewatched and I see the capture, but that doesn't change the other aspects or why Ansem:SoD killed him in that way. He's still one of two people murdered on screen by any Xehanort, and then there's the other stuff going on with him. (The moving while he should be unconcious, Vexen listening to him despite the lower number, etc)
I think he's going to be like the recusant's sigil, something you ignore until they make it critical. But also part of the other's plots. As of right now, he doesn't really have one of his own.