Is Marluxia a Xehanort?

Welcome back to Marluxia May! Last week we discussed Marluxia’s motivations and potential betrayal, so this week let’s turn our attention to an important question that only makes sense in a series like Kingdom Hearts:

Is Marluxia a Xehanort?

From Dream Drop Distance, we know the new Organization XIII is made up of Xehanort’s various incarnations as well as new vessels gradually turning into Xehanort. How this “Nortification” process works isn’t entirely clear, but Braig/Xigbar and Isa/Saix are both part-Xehanort now.

They share a physical sign of this change, and Xigbar’s revelation draws attention to it.

The yellow eyes are a sign that someone has become a vessel for Xehanort. We even see Braig’s eyes before and after the change in Birth By Sleep.

Getting back to Lauriam/Marluxia, he clearly still has blue eyes despite being part of the new Organization.

As I mentioned when we first analyzed the D23 trailer, we can’t say for sure if this means he isn’t a vessel yet or if the eye change just hasn’t occurred yet.

Braig is our best example of the process, but since we don’t know exactly when Xehanort put part of his heart into Braig, his change occurring in Birth By Sleep isn’t a guarantee that the eyes change immediately.

(Terra is a special case, because Master Xehanort fully took over his body right away.)

I’ve seen some speculation that because Marluxia uses the pronoun “watashi” to refer to himself, which is also the pronoun Master Xehanort uses, this means he is a vessel. However, I looked around, and it seems like Marluxia always used “watashi.”

Once again, Terra-Xehanort is a special case, since his pronoun use switched after Xehanort took him over. It doesn’t seem to apply to characters who are “half-Xehanort.”

So, is Marluxia a Xehanort or isn’t he? Regardless of his condition in the trailer, it seems unlikely Xehanort would allow anyone to be one of the thirteen darknesses without becoming a vessel. Either Marluxia is part-Xehanort already and his eyes haven’t changed yet, or Xehanort will try to make the change soon.

What do you think about Marluxia’s eyes and his status in the new Organization XIII?

Tags: braig/xigbar, lauriam/marluxia, terra-xehanort