Okay so, lately I’ve seen a handful of people say that Kairi isn’t going to be important this saga. Personally I don’t agree with this take whatsoever and no it’s not just because Kairi is one of my favorites.

This thread is going to go over the events of Melody of memory and

how it truly sets up for Kairi’s role in this next part of the series.

Before I begin though, I want to state I’m not attacking anyone in this thread just simply sharing my own opinion and thoughts. I’m open to discussing this with people however, if anyone resorts to

name calling or bashing me or anyone else for their viewpoints than you’ll be blocked.

Anyway, to start off Nomura stated in a interview that Melody of Memory was only a peak into Kairi’s past.

He said: “But with Kairi, her childhood is still shrouded in mystery. We haven't

really delved deep into that part of her narrative, so you might be able to see a glimpse of that through Melody of Memory. But that being said, again, it's not meant to advance things significantly through this game.”

He basically is saying that we only see a tiny peak of

what’s to come from Kairi.

I feel some are super quick to dismiss any possible development with her rather this is just some losing faith in Nomura’s writing of Kairi or because of other biased reasons. I can never say for certain.

However, as a fan of Kairi I’ve seen her

show tiny sings of various trauma over the course of the series as well as development. She might not be the center of attention 24/7 but that doesn’t make her not as important to Sora, Riku or the story.

The exciting thing about Melody of Memory was getting to see how

exactly Kairi ended up on the Destiny islands.

A lot of us were already aware that Xehanort sent her away from Radiant garden because he had a hypothesis that Kairi was a princess of heart. Which was stated in the Ansem secret report 11 found in kh1.

It stated:

“If the princesses and the Keyblade are connected, they should resonate. 
I have chosen a girl. I don't know if she holds the princesses' powers, but I will find out. She may lead me to the key bearer.
I shall set her free and observe. “

However, some people seem to forget that

Kairi’s appearance on Destiny islands was actually both coincidence and fate.

“It’s both. I was not able to illustrate it in the story itself. It is a delicate subject whether or not it is okay to talk about her life situation, but Ansem himself sent out Kairi from Hollow

Bastion. “-Nomura KH Ultimania

So basically yes, Ansem/Xehanort sent Kairi away but it was because of charm Aqua placed on Kairi that she ended up on the islands. There’s also some debate rather the light Aqua mentioned was Sora or Riku but at time it was most likely Riku until

the events of kh1 where Riku lost the Kingdom Key and therefore Sora was now the keyblade wielder.

Some maybe asking how does this relate back to MoM. Well, the Kairi story cutscenes start after you’ve completed the world tour.

We see Kairi start in the final world, which was

referenced where she’d be at the end of the limit cut episode.

She looks around the world and stops taking a moment stare down at her reflection. There is sudden pain that shoots through her head as it shows a flashback.

We are in a first person view of a child Kairi running

from heartless. The trembling in her voice as she desperately tries to escape.

There isn’t too much shown other than when she’s grabbed by Xehanort and put into the machine to send her off this world.

Xehanort talks a bit with child Kairi as

he discusses a bit of his plan and how she’s suppose to play a part in it.

The thing is, Kairi is literally a child here. She couldn’t fight back against Xehanort at all. Yes, she was used in his plan but a lot of the characters were used in one form or another by Xehanort.

“If you truly posses the power of a princess of heart your heart will resonate with a keyblade wielders and I believe you can lead me to that wielders world.”

This is again mentioning the fact that all of this was simply a hypothesis on his part. That Xehanort was unsure

rather or not Kairi was a princess of heart.

It’s also at this time that he says “However, if you arrive in a world that’s neither of light or darkness, but somewhere on the other side, your task will be far from easy.”

This is something to keep in mind for later on.

As the flashback ends, Kairi slowly regains composure only to come face to face with what looks to be her heart.

She reaches for it only for the heart to fly out of her reach and scatter around the final world. This is the second song we play as Kairi, another memory

drive sequence where the goal is to collect all the fragments.

Once that is done Kairi seems to be deep in thought until she senses someone else there. She turns and comes face to face with someone in a organization coat.

A lot of people believed this person was the master

of masters but it turns out to be Xehanort.

Some people want to push this entire sequence off as being unimportant considering it’s in Kairi dream but the thing to keep in mind is that her heart made this Xehanort. It’s reflecting the fact she truly feels weak.

Plus we do learn that Kairi is one of the keys to finding Sora, so everything that happens is important. I do want to take a moment and just say how happy I was to be right about her being one of the keys.

Some want to say well they could’ve found Sora without Kairi’s memories.

However, you need to keep in mind what Xehanort told her in the past. Without that hint they literally wouldn’t have been able to piece together where Sora is so, therefore it is important.

All three keys were needed not just one or two.

The main point I want to get at is

during the part where Kairi summons the kingdom key. This was surprising on so many levels because of the fact that she’s the third person who could use the kingdom key.

Xehanort looks shocked to see this and than says “ah, look who decided to join us.”

Slowly Kairi stands

and turns into Sora.

This confused so many people when this moment happened but Xehanort makes a point to say “your voice can’t reach us here. Now I’m certain of where your heart is.”

I’ve had a theory for awhile and it doesn’t seem too far fetched. I’m thinking because

Sora and Kairi shared the Papou fruit that his heart found a safe place inside of her. A parallel to the first game when Kairi’s heart found refugee inside of Sora.

Now I know some will dismiss this but take a second and think about it. There was no reason for Xehanort to say

he knew were Sora’s heart was if he already said the first part about his voice not reaching them.

Also keep in mind Sora is in a place of neither light or darkness. A fictional world so it is possible his heart could be inside Kairi or he sensed she was in trouble and came to

her aid.

It could also be possible Kairi simply changed into Sora during that fight because she
feels stronger with him but another part of me truly believes there’s more to it than that.

Nothing seems impossible when it comes to Nomura and how he literally can take things

and make them connect to each other. I’m just saying don’t dismiss something too quick because like I said this is just a theory and I’m not saying it’s true.

I do also want to state that this moment wasn’t bad for Kairi. I feel many people think it was weak for her turn Into

Sora and not fight the final boss herself.

The thing is Melody of Memory isn’t a Kairi game. She’s a narrator yes and it’s explaining where she was but Nomura stated that this game was only a peak into her overall past. It was never described as a Kairi game. Yes, she was on

the cover and the new story cutscenes have her as the main focus but all that is doing is officially wrapping up the first saga and showing us peak of what’s to come.

Anyway, after the battle and everything Kairi wakes up and it’s this time that Riku shows up to visit her. I

want to take a second and point out how happy the two were to see one another. They legit smiled and ran to one another with such excitement. It seems like some people are so dead set on trying prove these two don’t care about each other. However, that’s proven to be quite

incorrect given the amount of times these two have either protected one another or simply been there for the other. I’m going be making a thread on all the examples that prove this soon.

Anyway, they discuss what they’ve learned and suddenly the fairy godmother shows up. She

explains that she knows who the third key is. This surprises everyone since it was out of nowhere that she says this.

The three than head for where the third key is and end up in the final world. Kairi looks around and remembers coming here with Sora.

“But no one is here..”

Kairi says with almost a bit of defeat in her voice. The girls been through a lot so it’s understandable she’s sad. The fairy godmother taps on her shoulder and asks her look again. It’s than that they see all the stars that still linger in the final world.

They approach one

star in particular and we see it’s the nameless star. A lot of fans knew she’d be popping up again sooner or later, turns out she’s the third key to finding Sora.

After the four talk for a bit, they piece together the place Sora is. It turns out it’s a world that’s neither

light or dark. It’s world of fiction that exists on the other side called Quadratum. Riku than uses the power of wakening to summon a portal to take him there.

Just as he is about to leave, Kairi stumbles forward a bit and asks to go with him. Riku has a sad expression as he

starts to say she can’t go. This wasn’t done out of malice intent or to push Kairi to the side. It’s literally not possible for her to go with Riku at this time. If you truly think about it the power of awakening can’t carry two people. It requires a wielder to know how to use

the ability. Kairi currently doesn’t have the power of awakening.

Let’s not forget that Kairi still has a lot to learn as a keyblade wielder and going to a place they do know hardly anything about would leave her at a huge disadvantage. Even the Fairy godmother told Riku to

come back if he ran into trouble and let’s not forget Xehanort stated that their task would be far from easy.

I love Riku too but I’ve a feeling that things aren’t going to go smoothly and he wouldn’t be able save Sora on his own. He’s strong yes but even Riku needed help to

save Aqua so, it’s possible that Kairi and others will need to join him later to help.

To be honest, It was so strong of Kairi to admit she needed to finish her training. A lot of people can’t admit when they need to work on improving themselves because it’s such a vulnerable

side to show to someone. Kairi manages to slowly smiles up at Riku, making a promise to join him and Sora soon. I want to point out a arrangement of dearly beloved plays as she says this. This is her promise to Riku, to get stronger and finally join Sora and him as equals.

Anyway, Riku leaves and after it cuts to the epilogue of the game. Kairi is seen at the mysterious tower explaining all that happened to Yen Sid, Mickey, Donald and Goofy. It’s here that Kairi brings up how she wants to finish her training but wishes for Master Aqua to be the

one to teach her. Let’s be honest, Merlin can only teach her so much and with Aqua it gives Kairi a change to possible recover her suppressed memories along the way.

The way I look at it is the fact Sora and Riku didn’t really have a teacher. The two of them learned how to

wield the keyblade on their journeys so keeping that in mind I feel Kairi is only going to get better from here. This is a choice she made for herself. It wasn’t forced on her and the girl truly does want to improve and be strong enough to protect the people she cares for.

If

you really think about it, Kairi didn’t need to fight in the final battle. She could’ve easily stayed behind and just accepted her role as a princess of heart but that wasn’t want Kairi wanted. The girl wants to do her part to help and in a way she did help Sora and the others.

Without her being there, everyone would’ve perished after the demon tide attacked. It was Kairi’s strong belief in Sora that kept him alive. Which in turn allowed him to save the others. Some may argue but truth is that Kairi is a strong light for Sora. She’s guided him through

the darkness multiple times and that isn’t something that can be twisted.

I’m not saying she’s going to get stronger than Sora or Riku but it does give her a good chance to catch up with them and fight on equal ground. Something that Kairi has wanted for the longest time. To

protect them like they’ve protected her.

The last point I want to make is If you do look at Kairi’s moveset in Remind, she has every spell Sora has and almost at the highest form. Nomura even gave her a teleport ability that looks similar to Noctis warp strike ability. Let’s

also not forget her Shotlock, Heart of a Princess, is literally created to take out multiple enemies at once. It’s clear that once she trains more that Kairi will definitely be a balanced keyblade wielder being able to get up close and attack but also having magic to back her up

if she needs to retreat and put space between her and the enemy she’s fighting.

Kairi training more doesn’t make her less important to the overall story or push her to the side. It’s a point in her development where she knows that staying behind and finishing up her training

is important because she doesn’t want to get in the way or not be strong enough. She has a lot of trauma and doubts which I might do another thread on in the future. They’ve shaped her character and impacted her journey thus far.

It’s important to understand that even though

her past before the islands is still largely shrouded in mystery, that she has gone through things too. I don’t think she’s perfect, Kairi has flaws like any other character but I truly feel like melody of memory sets it up for her to grow more.

I do feel like the next game is

going be one where we switch between Riku, Kairi and Mickey. Having Kairi training opens up the possibility of her traveling to other worlds too. If you really think about it that’s exactly how Aqua got a lot of her training. Most of it was spent traveling to new worlds and

improving on her skills she already had. I’m just keeping my opinions open in terms of what to expect next.

For now all we can do is enjoy the games we do have and continue to think about the endless possibilities of

the future of Kingdom Hearts. I do hope you guys enjoyed this!