Did Master Xehanort and Terra Return Separately?

Last week, we discussed the possibility that Master Xehanort as we see him in Dream Drop Distance is still using Terra’s body. This week, let’s discuss the alternate explanation for Master Xehanort’s appearance: when Ansem and Xemnas were destroyed, Master Xehanort and Terra returned separately.

Terra-Xehanort is the combination of two hearts, Master Xehanort’s and Terra’s. Although Master Xehanort attempted to completely extinguish Terra’s heart, he failed.

When Terra-Xehanort’s Heartless was destroyed, it’s not much of a stretch to think that their hearts separated again.

If they separated, Terra’s heart would reunite with his body once his Nobody was destroyed. But what about Master Xehanort? Well, his body faded away when he removed his heart. Maybe, although his body never became a Nobody, his heart still reunited with it upon being separated from Terra.

What does this mean for Terra?

Unfortunately, it still doesn’t look good. If he and Xehanort re-formed as humans separately, he should have been free… but in Dream Drop Distance, when Mickey speculates that 6 of the 7 Guardians of Light are himself, Riku, Sora, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, Master Xehanort says:

“But Sora and another on your list belong to me now.”

Of course, he intends to claim Sora as a vessel right there, but who is the other? We know it’s not Mickey, Riku, or Aqua. Some believe Master Xehanort would have gotten Ventus along with Sora, but even though Ven’s heart is inside Sora, his body is safely hidden in Castle Oblivion and only Aqua can find him. Making Sora the 13th darkness would not have made Ventus a vessel.

That only leaves Terra.

But how? As the secret ending of Re:coded and the beginning of Dream Drop Distance show us, when Nobodies re-form as humans, they seem to appear at the same spot the Heartless/Nobody split occurred.

For Terra, this means he would have awoken in the lab with the other apprentices. While it seems like he disappeared before Braig awoke, Master Xehanort would know exactly where to find him and turn him into a vessel once again.

On the other hand, since a vessel remains a vessel even after being turned into a Nobody, maybe a fraction of Xehanort’s heart remained in him, and even though Master Xehanort’s full consciousness returned to his own body, the Terra who awoke in the lab was still Terra-Xehanort.

What do you think happened? Is Terra one of the 13 darknesses? Did he and Master Xehanort return separately? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and come back next week for another Kingdom Hearts theory!

Tags: master xehanort, seekers of darkness, terra-xehanort, xehanort