Sora's Memory Loss: A Perfect KH4 Twist

Tetsuya Nomura, in a recent interview with Young Jump magazine, announced that Kingdom Hearts 4 will serve as a story reset for the series. This news initially sparked concern due to the series' extensive and intricate plot, which still contains many unresolved questions. Will these unanswered threads be left hanging to make the next game more accessible to new players?

The reveal trailer for Kingdom Hearts 4, released in 2022, features Strelitzia, a character from the mobile game Kingdom Hearts Union X, alongside Sora in Quadratum. This indicates that the story won't be entirely new. Donald, Goofy, and Riku are also actively searching for Sora after his disappearance at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind DLC. Nevertheless, the new aesthetic, font, and gameplay mechanics suggest a fresh start.

To allow existing plotlines to continue despite this 'reset', the most plausible scenario involves Sora losing his memories. This would enable him, and players, to relearn the context of previous games when the fourth main entry launches.

Sora is no stranger to memory loss. In Chain of Memories, he forgets Riku and Kairi, and his memories of Castle Oblivion are later erased. This pattern suggests that something similar might be in play in Kingdom Hearts 4, especially considering Quadratum's nature as a strange 'fake reality' and Castle Oblivion's resemblance to a liminal space.

Furthermore, Kingdom Hearts 3 and its DLC hint at Sora already experiencing memory loss. Amnesia seems to be a recurring theme for this character.

During the Keyblade Graveyard segment of Kingdom Hearts 3, Riku sacrifices himself to protect Sora from the Demon Tide, after everyone else has been consumed by the darkness. The moment is emphasized; following the chaos and Sora's desperate cry, everything falls silent.

Riku clenches his fist, assures Sora of his belief in him (according to the original Japanese dialogue), and takes a deep breath before raising his Keyblade against the Demon Tide. He stands firm as the darkness engulfs him as well.

There are a few unusual occurrences after Sora saves Kairi's heart, suggesting he may have forgotten the events entirely.

When Sora and Kairi return to the Keyblade Graveyard, he doesn't show any reaction to seeing Riku, which is unusual considering his open emotions, particularly towards Riku.

Their reunion in Kingdom Hearts 2 is very emotional, and Sora was overjoyed to see Riku after he saved Sora's heart in Dream Drop Distance. This makes it even more strange that Sora doesn't acknowledge Riku's sacrifice - surely he'd be grateful Riku is alive?

The ReMind DLC for Kingdom Hearts 3 sees Sora return to the Keyblade Graveyard to retrieve Kairi's heart, and the cutscene from the main game showing everyone being taken by the Demon Tide is played again. However, instead of showing Riku's sacrifice, the scene cuts to a black screen for a short period.

It could have been edited for time, but why show the rest of the cutscene up to this point? Why make the black screen linger longer than a regular transition, if not to imply that this is a gap in Sora's memory?

When Sora wakes up on his Station of Awakening, his eyes are glazed over, as if he was lost in thought. Since we're seeing everything from Sora's perspective, it's possible the sacrifice is cut because Sora simply doesn't remember it happening.

While in The Final World in ReMind, Sora tells Chirithy he's confident about saving Kairi's heart: “Hey, I’ve already saved six hearts. What’s one more?”

Sora saved seven hearts. After saving Riku's heart, Sora traveled to six worlds and rescued a heart in each one.

Aqua, Ventus, Axel, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy… Are you forgetting someone, Sora?

It's possible Sora forgot about Riku sacrificing himself because his subconscious blocked it out. This traumatic event might have been erased from his memory.

However, there's a more plausible explanation. After Sora rescued Axel's heart in San Fransokyo, Young Xehanort appeared and warned Sora about misusing the Power of Waking. This power is for traversing hearts to reach worlds, not the other way around. Sora has already been using it to rescue his friends.

Young Xehanort then told Sora that he had already paid the price. This conversation takes place before Sora fully saves Kairi, suggesting that he lost something before his disappearance.

Besides the possibility of Sora losing a memory, a significant plot point concerning Namine remains open.

In Chain of Memories, Sora promised to thank Namine for her actions. She risked her life for him and restored his true memories, even though she might have preferred him to keep the altered ones.

Sora emphasizes in KH3 that his 'thank you' to Namine is not complete. Although he expressed gratitude in the datascape, he desires to properly thank her in the real world. He even accidentally thanks her again during their conversation, further emphasizing that it’s not the real thank you.

Namine’s ability to manipulate Sora’s memories makes it particularly fitting that her story with Sora remains unresolved, despite KH3 providing an opportunity for closure. Namine might play a role in reassembling Sora’s memories, potentially being the only one capable of reconnecting the chains of his past.

The foundation has been laid for Sora to have forgotten something significant, and the 'Thank Namine' plotline has been deliberately left open. It wouldn't be surprising if Sora experienced further memory loss upon entering Quadratum.

Sora regaining his lost memories could provide him with a much-needed opportunity for self-reflection. His 'alone, I'm worthless' mindset hasn't been fully addressed, and this memory recovery could be perfectly aligned with ensuring new players are not lost upon entering KH4.