Angel of Paradise

        Now that we know of Strelitzia's fate, the giant, winged guardian Marluxia uses in his final form feels a bit eerie, doesn't it? Is there a connection?  We know that the name Strelitzia means "Bird of Paradise", which is the name of a flower, but if we refer back to the mythos of the Bird of Paradise or "Huma" Bird, then we'll find a very interesting factoid: Killing the great Huma Bird results in a curse for the murderer....A curse that will cause them to die within only 40 days. Is there another another death on the way in Union X? Shall dear Strelitzia have her revenge?

Stay Uncanny~

Are Blaine and Master Gula the same person?

       After meeting Union X's Lauriam, my imagination immediately took off with a myriad of ideas concerning the remaining Organization members. Demyx, Luxord, and Larxene have always had unknown backstories, but this recent Kingdom Hearts update has renewed my interest in their true origins and names.  One thing that I really like to do while theorizing about names, is focus on the etymology and how it relates to the character in question. Meaningful names have always been a recurring characteristic of the Kingdom Hearts universe and its people. For example, Sora means "sky" which is fitting, because as the Sky connects many Worlds together, Sora connects many Hearts. Aqua means Water, Vanitas means Pride....And almost every other original character has a name that somehow reflects upon their own existence. Now, the reason I'm mention all of this is that, during my most recent research session, I came across an unusual factoid that could potentially mean something important in regards to the plot of Union X.

       Out of mere curiosity,  I choose the character Blaine and decided to look up the meaning of his name. It took a while to find, due to many resources not recognizing it as a commonly used name, but I finally came across a few resources that did. The name Blaine claims several points of origin, but the most prominent is that of Scottish root, and as I dug further, I found that there are two meanings for this name: thin, and yellow. In some translations, it can also be considered to mean "Little Yellow One". This stumped me. Not only did I not know how "thin" could relate to Blaine, but I didn't understand how a guy dressed in mostly black could be reflective of any bright colors at all, let alone Yellow.  But, the more I thought about yellow, the more it struck me: What if black isn't really this guy's style? I mean, he has a trench-like coat, his face is covered by a hat, his hair is messily tucked into that hat...Sure, this could just be an intentionally messy style, but what if it's actually a disguise?

       In my last article entitled Trouble in Paradise, I questioned the idea of Lauriam being Strelitzia's killer, and speculated over the possibility of it being someone else. Strelitzia was killed in a single strike.  If Blaine is her killer, but is also Master Gula  in disguise, then that would explain how the attack was fatal with just one strike. Fortellers are  much, much stronger than the average Keyblade wielder, and when you fight them in-game, you require an incredible amount of experience just to survive their first attack. Due to her tendency to observe rather than engage, Strelitzia may not have had enough fighting experience to survive against someone like Gula, and he probably knew that. Also, when the "e" from Blaine is dropped, it interestingly enough becomes "blain" which is an animal disease. (link) The Foretellers all represent animals, so Blaine being a corrupt alter ego of the Leopard Gula also fits rather well.

       But, there lies a lingering question....Exactly why would Gula do this? Before she is killed, Strelitzia is seen questioning the rules of the Union, and desperately wants to warn the Player about the oncoming War, despite Master Ava's wishes. If Gula somehow found out about such a thing, he could have seen this as a betrayal the Master of Master's word and killed her to shut her up. Another possibility is that Gula wasn't really satisfied with his performance as a Foreteller. The Master of Masters gave him the task of finding a supposed "traitor" hidden somewhere within the World of Daybreak, but Gula was unable to find one. This failure could have been an unacceptable defeat for a skeptic like Gula, so in order to continue his search, he could have gone undercover as an ordinary citizen. Now, Master Ava specifically stated that after the War,  only Union leaders will have their memories of past events spared, but the rest of the Dandelions will be forced to forget. Undercover Gula couldn't risk this happening to him, or blow his cover, so he killed Strelitzia, and assumed her place as a Union member in order to preserve his mission. This could also explain why Blaine asked so many questions upon first meeting the others. He was underplaying his knowledge of Prophecies and rules in order to seem more authentic:

        He was also assessing their personalities, as well as testing their integrity. His comparing of Skuld to Ava is a prime example.

   

        Referring to her as "kid" could allude to him feeling older or more experienced than the rest of them...which would, once again, make perfect sense if he is indeed Master Gula.

        And, that concludes my latest theory! There's still more yet to come, so stay tuned, stay hyped, and  most of all, Stay Uncanny! ~

Trouble in Paradise: 3 Reasons Lauriam May Not Be Strelitzia's Murderer

Drawn by VhazzRhossze

      
           Well! Unless you’re utterly aloof, or blind from staring at the Eclipse, you might have caught wind of the internet’s recent reaction to the latest Union X update. I’d prefer to jump straight to the case this time around, but for a recap: Unchained Key/ Union X is a Kingdom Hearts mobile game that details the events of the great Keyblade War and it’s aftermath. Along the way, a group of special individuals called the Dandelions are spared from participating in the War, and among their number, 5 unique young people are selected to be the designated leaders of this new movement. The first four leaders were introduced as Skuld, Ephemera, Blaine, and Ventus ( who may be recognizable from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep), and for the final leader we were given Strelitzia, whose shy personality, frilly white dress, and peachy pigtails earned her a few thousand Waifu points within the KH community. Yes, everything was going quite well, and for  the following two weeks it seemed as if the true story of the 5 leaders was about to begin....

        Upon the recent update however, it’s been revealed that this little chicklet’s involvement in the story of Union X was short lived...Not only was she brutally attacked by a hidden assailant, but she succumbed to the wounds and perished alongside her assisting Chirithy. If witnessing such an unexpected turn of events wasn’t shocking enough, we were met with her “replacement”, who appeared to be none other than the Graceful Assassin himself, Marluxia, in all of his teen-hood glory. Of course, in this state, he is in possession of his Somebody name, which is revealed to be  Lauriam.

Now, the internet’s reaction to this reveal can be divided into two main reesponses:

Group A:

"How the @$#% is Marluxia’s Somebody in a setting that’s supposed to take place hundreds  of years before he was even born?! That’s crazy!!!! "

Group B:

"OMG, DOES THIS MEAN THAT HE MURDERED STRELITZIA?! THAT FRILLY  PINK  &$%@#!!"

       Since we still know nothing about the “Time-Rules” of Union X, (and I’d love to avoid the countless hours of mental torment, and  broken windows that would result from trying to figure out Nomura’s end game here), I’m going to stick with reaction B, and compile a list of three reasons why Lauriam is most likely NOT Strelitzia’s murderer.

(1) It’s Just Too Obvious

       This one speaks for itself. Throughout the series, Nomura has implemented a considerably healthy dose of twists and turns, and continues to do so, even with the mobile game of Union X. It’s never really been in his nature to be completely “forward” with important plot points, and if there’s an intentional secrecy surrounding a certain character or event, then the truth is almost NEVER what we think it will be. He always chooses the strangest option; such as Xion being a clone of Sora, when she actually looks like Kairi. The fact that Nomura intentionally kept Strelitzia’s murderer in shadow, and then revealed Lauriam literally moments later, feels too much like a red herring. He’s banking on the fact that we’ll immediately paint him to be the killer, just because of  his reputation as Marluxia.  In all actuality, it’s very possible that he could have been one of Master Ava’s chosen ones. How could we really  know otherwise?

(2) The Motive is so Inclusive, That It Could Literally Be Anyone

       Out of all the motives for this murder, there are four possibilities that stand out the most : Before she vanished, Master Ava stated that only Union leaders will have their memories of past events spared, but the rest of the Dandelions will be forced to forget. I'm thinking that one of these "common" Dandelions found out that they were going to lose their memories, and was angered by this. They then killed Strelitzia, took her book, and pretended to be a Union member in order to be spared. A second motive concerns the Book of Prophecies. Of all the members, only one child was to be specially selected to receive the Master of Master's original copy. If Strelitzia happened to be this chosen person, then an eavesdropping Dandelion would literally have every reason in the World to kill her. Become a Union Leader, AND the boss? Who wouldn't want that? A third could be that Strelitzia was killed by an existing member so that her Book could be given to someone else. Perhaps this person was deemed a more acceptable choice in the killer's eyes, and they felt a need to resolve Ava's "error" themselves. Or, the killer was being threatened or manipulated into doing the act.

(3) The Other Union Leaders Lack An Alibi

       Anyone can be friendly, but even the most friendly of people can kill with  proper motivation.   Although we’ve come to know and even appreciate Ephemera, Skuld, Blaine, and Ventus, that doesn’t mean they’re completely ruled out. Despite how they act, or what they say, we didn’t actually see everyone speak to Ava or receive the book from her, so there’s plenty of suspects.

       For me personally, Blaine is at the top of the list. This boy has had bad news written all over him from the get go. When he first meets up with the others, he's shocked to learn that there's another member arriving after him, since he assumed that he was the last one. The fact that he automatically assumed that he was the last one, and breathed a heavy sigh of relief upon learning that he wasn't, almost sounds like the fear of a guilty gonzo. It comes across as the kind of relief one would have if they barely miss the school tardy-bell after sleeping in, or dodge a ticket because the cops didn't see them intentionally run that red light. If you were specifically chosen to be a member, why does it matter if you're the last to arrive? It's not like the others can take off without you. However, if Blaine is the true killer, then he has a very good reason to be worried about being too late- Keeping the others waiting for too long would have made them question exactly what he was doing that whole time. (And let's be honest, murders aren't usually the quickest or easiest things in the world to pull off) But by him arriving as the 4th leader instead of the very last, it doesn't really make his arrival all that unusual. Killing Strelitzia quickly enough to arrive as the 4th person is a tricky task in itself, but Blaine got even luckier when the 5th member turned out to be a very late Lauriam (aka Marluxia). Most players were automatically going to assume that Lauriam was the culprit, due to their familiarity with his villainous Nobody.  In other words, it's the perfect cover.

       My second guess is Sculd. Her amber/ goldish eye color has always struck me as suspicious,  due to it being a defining character trait of most Darkness-associating people. And with her equally dark attire,  I've been almost begging for something wicked to come out of her- Just to validate the blatant coincidences.  I also find it weird that after all the time they've spent together, Ephemera acts like he's genuinely shocked that she's a member. He even straight up tells her that he can't believe she is one. To be her friend, that's a very weird reaction to have, and implies that he knows something about her character that we don't. Even when Blaine compared her personality to the upright nature of Master Ava, Ephemera retorted that she isn't really like her at all, which is eventually implied to be only a joke. But, I can't help but wonder...what if he really wasn't joking?

      Next on the list is Ven.  He claims to have spoken to Ava, but we have no proof that he was actually given a Book by her. We don't even see a flashback of that. He's also still one with Vanitas at this point, so there's definitely a Dark side of him to look out for. I do give him a teeny-tiny benefit of a doubt, though, because  I’m not sure if Nomura would suddenly paint him as a bad guy after portraying him as a protagonist for this long, but it's definitely not something I’d put past him.......

        Now, the the least likely of all to be the killer may be Ephemera who, surprisingly, actually does have something of an alibi, since we actually saw him being appointed by Ava in a flashback. However, this doesn’t completely exclude him from suspicious activity….There’s still an earlier time in the events of Unchained X in which Ephemera is approached by a mysterious entity, and declared as “missing” for a long time afterwards, so there’s no telling what this creepy stranger could have blackmailed or coerced him into doing. This "Shadow Person" could have tasked Ephemera with the duty of killing Strelitzia, and giving the Book to them, so that THEY could become a Union member. He  could also have been requested to steal it, and give it to a specific person. The Shadow might have even approached Strelitzia, and murdered her themselves.

        Another thing that never sat well with me, is that Ephemera’s  hair is white. Within this series, every boy with white or silver hair has turned out to be a traitor and/ or pawn of Darkness, so this being the point in which he betrays one of his own by killing her, and giving her book to another person wouldn't surprise me. Actually, the more  I really think about it, the more I think that he should probably be higher up on this list....

       Well, those are my thoughts! I intend to keep you all updated as more and more is revealed about this murderous scandal, and of course, I will be posting more juicy theories to go along with each revelation. Stay tuned, stay hyped, and most of all, Stay Uncanny! ~