The Past Can Be Changed

The Past Can Be Changed

Some theories I feature on this site are personal favorites of mine, like my belief that Young Xehanort will change sides or that both Xigbar and Braig exist right now, but other theories aren’t such favorites.

That’s the case today, where we’re going to discuss a thought that occurred to me after the latest Japanese update to Union X. If you don’t want KHUX spoilers, don’t read any further.

Still here? All right.

If you’ve been following news about the story, you probably have the basic gist of it eventually, but here is a video with English subtitles from KH Insider.

In short, Master Xehanort told Maleficent how to travel through time. When Riku stabbed her with his Keyblade in the first Kingdom Hearts, she lost her body, which is the key requirement.

This allowed her to travel to any point in time where she previously existed. She intended to undo her own defeat.

However, the Master of Masters anticipated this and did not use the Book of Prophecies to create a projection of Enchanted Dominion before the Keyblade War. After the Keyblade War, the worlds were reconstructed from data.

Enchanted Dominion was also included, so when Maleficent traveled back in time, she ended up trapped in the data world version.

The fact that you can travel back through time to data worlds is huge, but let’s focus on some of the odd things the mysterious figure says to Maleficent here… specifically in regards to time travel.

In Dream Drop Distance, Young Xehanort explains the rules of time travel:

There are restrictions to movement through time. First, you must leave your body behind to do it. Then, there must be a version of you waiting at the destination. Upon arrival, you can only move forward as per the laws of time. And you cannot rewrite the events that are destined to happen.”

This suggests that the events that have already occurred are unchangeable, so a time traveler can’t actually change the timeline. That on its own would prevent Maleficent from rewriting her defeat… but that isn’t what the mysterious figure tells her.

The unknown person has three key quotes on this subject:

“However, changing the past is not so simple that any ignorant person can do it.”

“This is a data world that was prepared in advance, and its story has already been decided. You have been locked out from rewriting anything at all.”

“This may only be data, but one of the worlds of the seven hearts has been left out. It would be inconvenient for us if memories of what happens in that world were to transcend time.”

First, they indicate that changing the past is possible, just not simple. Second, they claim the only reason Maleficent can’t change her world is because it’s a data world. And third, they imply that her memories of the future could change things if she was in the real world.

What does this mean for Young Xehanort’s claim that you can’t change the past?

Option 1: Only certain events are “destined.”

Young Xehanort doesn’t directly say you can’t change the past. He says “you cannot rewrite the events that are destined to happen.”

It’s possible that some aspects of the future are set in stone and can’t be changed, but not all are.

Option 2: Young Xehanort lied.

Xehanort lying is always a viable possibility. He might have said that to intentionally give the false idea that the past can’t be changed, when it actually can.

Option 3: The mysterious figure is lying.

We still don’t know who Maleficent is dealing with here. It’s possible that the mysterious figure who claims to be “Darkness” is lying to her about her ability to change the past, in order to manipulate her in some way. That person’s goals and their plans for Maleficent are still unclear.

Option 4: Xehanort is wrong.

Both of them could be telling the truth as they know it. Young Xehanort might simply be under the false impression that the past can’t be changed, much like Master Xehanort is obsessed with this notion of unchangeable destinies. In fact, this would fit quite well with our previous theory about the chess symbolism, that Xehanort believes in certain rules that don’t actually exist.

It’s also curious that Maleficent thinks it’s impossible to travel forward through time, even though 1) Young Xehanort did, and 2) Young Xehanort made it sound like he would automatically return to his own time eventually.

Did Master Xehanort leave out a few details when he told Maleficent about time travel, or does this mean something else was going on with Young Xehanort?

One way or another, the discussion of time travel in the latest Union X update contradicts the rules of time travel as presented by Young Xehanort in Dream Drop Distance. The implication is that time travelers can change the past after all, which opens up the potential for paradoxes and other unfortunate possibilities, although it isn’t entirely clear yet.

What do you think? Can the past be changed and will this play a role in Kingdom Hearts III?

Tags: maleficent, young xehanort
Share this article:

Support

Like this content?

You can support the site to keep it active and help it go ad-free with a purchase of The Book at Dernier or another story by the author.

One Reply to “The Past Can Be Changed”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.