ONTD Original™ – A Detailed Guide to Getting Into the Kingdom Hearts Series Part 3

We're almost out of the woods, and we're about to hit a few branches.

This one is harder to explain because the story of the game Unchained/Union Cross is still going, but I will say this: Back Cover is just an hour long and covers what you need to know.

There is one element Back Cover does not mention, however: Ventus and Marluxia somehow exist at the time of this game. Ventus's backstory was not mentioned in Birth by Sleep, and Marluxia's motivations as the villain of Chain of Memories were not fully explained. This game will answer both those questions which will be relevant to both characters returning in Kingdom Hearts III.

But now that you are aware of that, you should be fine. if you'd like to keep up with the game's story updates, someone has compiled a summary here.

Things you should know:
– Watch Back Cover.It's only an hour long.
– You don't need to play it. It's just supposed to be a fun mobile game. The story doesn't even really start until like 300 quests in.

– The Book of Prophecies.The book contains all the events of the future, and has the ability to create "projections" of people and places that don't exist yet. That's how you, the player, are able to travel to different worlds that happen far in the future. All the fortellers and the Master of Masters possess a copy.

– Ventus (and Marluxia, maybe) exist at the time of this entry.Ventus was chosen as one of the five successors of the Foretellers to lead Keyblade wielders after the events of the war. Marluxia assassinated one of the five successors to take her place, likely to get access to one of the books. For what sinister purpose, or how that would connect back to his motivations in Chain of Memories to control the Keyblade via Sora and overthrow the Organization, has yet to be revealed.

– It's very likely that the events of this game take place in a sleeping world, or the "Unchained" realm.Meaning the events surrounding and leading up to the war are on repeat in the lost world of Daybreak Town, or a "time loop", similar to the sleeping worlds in Dream Drop Distance. Whether Marluxia is truly from that time period or he's just interfering with the events of the Keyblade War in a sleeping world has yet to be seen.

This would explain how Ventus and Marluxia can exist at the time of the game. During the Keyblade war, they would have hidden in the sleeping realm with others, allowing them to avoid the destruction. It could also explain the time displacement, and how Ventus ended up being trained under Master Xehanort a very long time after in Birth by Sleep, and why he even chose him as a pupil (Ventus's memories were wiped after Vanitas was created).

Also, Pete and Malificent showed up in this. At the end of Coded, Malificent resolved to find a copy of the book, and so this would've taken place after that. The game taking place in a sleeping world is the only explanation. It's very possible we will see or even visit this world as Sora in Kingdom Hearts III.

– The Master of Masters, teacher of the five foretellers, gave his sixth apprentice Luxu a secret assignment.Check out "The Box" cutscene below, which is the most important part of Back Cover. Nomura said the MOM won't show up in KH3, as the material in Unchained/Union Cross is mostly being saved for the games that come after, but don't trust him because he is a lying liar.