If you’re a Kingdom Hearts fan wondering about absolutely everything revealed during the panel regarding the next game's story and its connections to previous titles, fear not: we’ve come to the rescue once again. We’ve detailed everything new we know, along with various theories about the game's potential future.But first, we have one matter to conclude. In our article summarizing the complete lore of all the games, We left out one because it's the first game in the new arc to which KH4 also belongs, the Lost Master Arc, and it deserved a more in-depth explanation, as it's more relevant than the previous ones for understanding a concept that will be crucial for understanding KH4 as well. Let us, then, explain the most recently released Kingdom Hearts game.Kingdom Hearts: Melody of MemoryWhat more does a saga that already has 12 games spread across almost half a dozen different consoles (now it's easy with game collections and PC releases; back in the day, those who weren't rich had to scramble to get access to a PS2, PSP, GBA, DS, 3DS…) need, when all the fans are waiting for the next big mainline title? A rhythm-based musical spin-off packed with crucial information needed to understand the next game, of course!In KH:MoM (not to be confused with the MoM), everyone is brainstorming ways to bring Sora back, and we closely follow Kairi's plan: revisiting her memories from KH1 while in a deep sleep to see if she can find anything helpful. She’s monitored by Ansem the Wise—the original figure whose identity was stolen and who blew himself up at the end of KH2, only to return as the group's chief scientist, along with Evan and Ienzo, the men who originated two other Nobodies from the original Organization (Vexen and Zexion), who are now whole again and on the side of the good guys.Kairi unlocks a memory she had forgotten from when she was a child in Radiant Garden, and is captured by Xehanort and placed in a pod inside a machine that has appeared several times in the series, and serves to send people to other worlds, to put it very simply. He does this because he suspects she’s a Princess of Light and that her heart will seek out a Keyblade Wielder (and he was right: she was indeed a princess, and she did end up with Sora). She’s attacked by a memory of Xehanort and easily overpowered by the far more experienced Master, but Sora manages to somehow "take control" of her body and shift her appearance to match his own, allowing him to fight on her behalf and defeat the villain's memory.She wakes up to discover she has been asleep for a year and reunites with Riku. Suddenly, the Fairy Godmother appears and reveals that they already possess the components needed to rescue Sora: Kairi's memories, Riku's dreams (Riku had previously been shown dreaming of Sora in Quadratum), and one final piece. They travel to the Final World for this last thing, and find the Nameless Star, a heart that’s still bound to this final world, whom Sora met and spoke with when he briefly died at the end of KH3, before going back in time and reluctantly participating in the final battle.The Fairy Godmother reveals that the Star came from the other side of reality, the world of fiction, and that this place is possibly where Sora is. The Star hails from Quadratum; she lost her body and name in the process, and her heart cannot return to its original world, or else it will be captured. She awaits someone she says is coming to save her, the mysterious Yozora, about whom we know practically nothing, but who’ll likely be central to KH4. The Star explains that Yozora lost his name and identity and had his heart replaced with another, but that if he manages to reclaim his true self, he’ll certainly save her.The Star helps Riku open a portal to Quadratum; Riku steps through, leaving that universe behind to go after his best friend. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy return to Yen Sid's tower, report what they learned, and the Master concludes that these "parallel" worlds, fictional in relation to the Kingdom Hearts characters, are where the first Keyblade Masters are said to have come from, and also where the Foretellers were between the Keyblade War and the secret ending of KH3.Kairi leaves to train with Aqua, who’s now a Master, and Mickey goes to Scala Ad Caelum to search for clues, linking to all the KH4 teasers shown so far.The PanelWith that last game explained, let’s dive into everything revealed at the Kingdom Hearts panel at D23! To begin with, it was an extremely exciting panel, complete with the revelation of when the game will be released (approximately), conversations with Haley Joel Osment and David Gallagher, the English voices of Sora and Riku, a special message from Miyu Irino, the Japanese voice of our beloved protagonist, and some other people directly involved in the games, including VAs, directors and, an absolute surprise for almost everyone watching, the GOAT, Tetsuya Nomura himself, appeared on stage to grace us with his words.It’s well worth rewatching for fans of the games. Many interesting facts about their creation process were shared and shown, in addition to a completely tear-dropping moment where Haley and David recreated their lines from the final cutscene of KH2 live, rereading Kairi's letter together. But what matters now is the future; after all, we've already discussed all the important story elements needed to understand the current state of Kingdom Hearts in our previous article on KH.Confirmed informationRelease DateFans speculated that the game could be released between mid-2027 and the end of 2028, judging by the apparent timing of production, and we were right! The day before the official KH panel, what was believed to be just a trailer for the sequel to the animated film Coco caused unprepared fans in the audience, both in person and on YouTube, to have a minor meltdown when heartless began to appear in the middle of one of the scenes, followed by the appearance of Sora and the revelation of a date: late 2027.It’s only an estimate, and some mishap could still cause a delay, but we already have a date to soothe our anxious hearts.MundosWe got confirmation of just one more world for KH4—something that was likely already obvious based on the topic above. The Coco world makes a lot of sense for the story, and not to brag, but we had actually predicted that this world would be part of the next game back in our [link]https://umgamer.com/en-us/articles/kingdom-hearts-iv-everything-we-know-so-far-theories-possibilities}{first theories}, in March 2024! Not just the world itself, but even how it could be used. So, keep an eye out for our theories.To reiterate what we said back then, the film's plot revolves around death and the worlds of the living and the dead. Given everything we discovered in Melody of Memories about reality, unreality, dream worlds, fiction, etc., this theme of different worlds and realities will be very present in KH4, but we'll talk more about that later.The characters in the teasersIn our first article about the latest teaser, two mysterious characters appear whose identities weren’t confirmed at the time, but this confirmation finally came during the extended trailer shown at the panel.Based on the characteristics of each character's appearance, mainly analyzing details of their clothing, it was my guess that they were Vali and Sigurd, the first a schoolmate of Xehanort when they both trained to be Keyblade masters in Kingdom Hearts Dark Road and the second a mysterious character about whom we know almost nothing, who only appears at the end of Kingdom Hearts UnionX solely to serve as a guide for another character in the game.The similarities in their outfits were quite striking, and in the new trailer we had confirmation of their names when Sora shouted them out, as well as the name of the third character whose identity we already knew, Strelitzia.Strelitzia, Sora and ValiAs for Sigurd, it’s worth noting that we still know nothing about him beyond what Nomura himself has revealed: that "Sigurd" isn’t his real name, and his true identity is that of another character who remains hidden. None of these concepts are new to anyone familiar with Kingdom Hearts, so we'll wait to see who he is. Any guesses? Could he be Demyx in disguise?Regarding Vali, there isn't much to say. He studied at Scala Ad Caelum, in a class above Xehanort, and died in the original game, like almost everyone else, apparently ending up in Quadratum at some point. It’s worth mentioning, however, that the artwork below is largely responsible for the fact that so many people figured out Vali's identity before it was officially confirmed; it was a fan drawing imagining what the Dark Road upperclassmen would look like in a style other than the mobile game's graphics. Judging by everything we’ve seen so far, the artist must’ve been blessed with the gift of prophecy by Apollo at some point in their life, because they came impressively close to the mark.GameplayBeyond minor reveals, such as gameplay clips from the world of Coco, which features magic and effects centered on musical themes but offers nothing groundbreaking, one detail really caught the fans' attention: for the first time in the series' history, Donald and Goofy will be playable! The trailer shows a gameplay segment featuring them in the Underworld, presumably during their journey there in search of Sora.In other words, for the very first time in the 25 years of Kingdom Hearts, Donald will heal, whether he wants to or not.History and theoriesDisney Worlds ThemesAs previously mentioned, the Disney worlds featured in each Kingdom Hearts game weren’t chosen by chance or based on the order of Nomura’s favorite films. At least one element of each film's story or central themes shares a connection or parallel with a broader theme, which is, in turn, intrinsically linked to the game's own story.In Kingdom Hearts 1, for example, the overall theme is connections, friendships, Sora beginning his journey and learning that his true strength comes not only from himself, but from his friends, making several new friends, learning to trust Donald and Goofy, and vice versa, and reconciling/reuniting with Riku and Kairi. The worlds featured include Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland, Hercules, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and in all of these it’s possible to find at least one connection, in the way that the bond between Jack and Sally and that between Hercules and Megara play important roles in resolving the story of Halloween Town and the Coliseum, or how the friendship between Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian is vital for everything to turn out well in Atlantica.In KH2, the theme is identity, emotions, and how to deal with these issues within oneself, reflecting the internal struggle of all the original characters, raw emotions, and the fragmented nature of the characters divided between Heartless and Nobodies. Worlds such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Mulan, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Lion King all feature characters who, in their respective films, deal with crises or questions regarding identity, belonging, or conflicting emotions, prime examples being Mulan/Ping and Elizabeth Swann. Even the repeated worlds now have some counterpoint, some other version or area that reflects this issue, such as the Olympus Coliseum, which now has the Underworld part, the world of Hades, and Halloween Town, which now has Christmas Town.Straight from the Chinese ArmyIn KH3, we arrive at the attempt at redemption, at correcting past mistakes, connecting to the theme of Sora's journey, in search of recovering the Power of Waking to save the people lost along the way, fixing the errors of his own journey. The worlds include Frozen, Tangled, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, and Big Hero 6, with similar themes, all involving some mistake made in the past, or something a character would like to change in the past to modify their present for the better, highlighting Elsa's entire journey of redemption and reconciliation with her family, and Rapunzel's journey of self-discovery and expansion of her understanding and knowledge of the world, as well as Hiro's desire, in Big Hero 6, to change the past and bring his brother, Tadashi, back to life.All the worlds are on the brink of destruction. Meanwhile, Sora:Each Kingdom Hearts game has its own theme that makes sense for the game, some simply revisiting the same worlds from a previous game for plot reasons. However, beyond the three we’ve already discussed in depth, the worlds in Birth by Sleep feature a powerful, well-explored theme of friendship and loyalty. In Kingdom Hearts 3D, the worlds explore themes of self-acceptance and responsibility, and in 358/2 Days all the worlds visited have very strong themes of humanity and inevitable tragedy, involving several characters questioning their own humanity and their view of themselves and others around them in the face of this and the tragedy inherent in the story of their worlds or their character arc, further contributing to Days being the most emotionally heavy game in the entire saga.Now, let’s get to our theories for Kingdom Hearts 4! We officially know of three worlds: an original one called Quadratum and two Disney worlds. One of them is Coco, and the other is the Underworld, the World of the Dead at the Olympus Coliseum.The Coliseum is a world that’s always present in all mainline games and several others, usually serving not only as a story world, but also as an arena, literally, for the Cups, the games' competitions where you battle waves of enemies and/or bosses to unlock achievements and secret powers. Its inclusion comes as no surprise from a gameplay or logic standpoint, nor from a narrative one; we already knew Donald and Goofy would visit Hades to uncover Sora's whereabouts, a logical move when trying to find a friend who happens to be dead.As for the world of Coco, as mentioned above, it has themes related to different worlds, more specifically the world of the Living and the world of the Dead, and it can even be used in the game as an attempt to cross between the two and reunite Sora, Donald, and Goofy, since we see the three of them in this world, albeit at separate times for now.My guess is that the theme of KH4, or at least one of the themes, will be the journey between worlds, yes, but not just in a literal sense. It might focus more on crossings in a broader context: breaking down barriers and overcoming obstacles. Worlds that are heavily speculated about, such as Moana, also have themes from different realities, and even the ancient Atlantis - The Lost Empire, about which there are theories that it’ll make an appearance.As a small Easter egg, in addition to the numerous theories and connections that strongly suggest the world of The World Ends With You may appear in KH4, Nomura wore a t-shirt on stage during the panel that read Black Honey Chilli Cookie, a clothing brand featured in NEO:TWEWY. Could this be another clue? The original game deals heavily with themes of death, making the thematic connection easy to draw as well.Trailer crumbsThroughout this trailer, a great deal is revealed through the small lines, shouts, and reactions of the characters in the short scenes shown, such as the identities of Vali and Sigurd, which we've already talked about, revealed simply by Sora shouting their names to warn them of some danger, giving the impression that they’re part of the same group in Quadratum. But proper names weren't the only things mentioned.DandelionsRemember the Dandelions? They were the Union led by Ava, of the Foretellers in UnionX, who was ordered by the MoM to, instead of participating in the war like her companions, lead her own apprentices to flee to another world, a date version of Daybreak Town, where their sleeping hearts have remained ever since, protected by the Dream Eaters, except for a few main characters who escaped.But in the trailer, we see Sora and Strelitzia in Quadratum holding devices that resemble cell phones, and Sora declares, "They're asking for Dandelion dispatch", followed by the appearance of the ships we mentioned here, resembling the airships seen in Final Fantasy XV, and the appearance of various soldiers wearing uniforms that are definitely very similar to those of the Crownsguard in Final Fantasy XV: Kingsglaive.The armor from FFXV on the left and from the KH4 trailer on the right.The soldiers might be the aforementioned Dandelions, or this could be a deliberate attempt to throw us off the scent. Personally, I don't believe they’re the Dandelions themselves; rather, given the numerous design similarities, I suspect that Final Fantasy XV is the specific entry chosen to appear in the game. Speaking from a more metagame perspective, it’d be extremely interesting if Final Fantasy XV and its numerous references to the defunct Final Fantasy Versus XIII became canonical with each other, specifically within the Kingdom Hearts game, whose main theme is parallel realities and worlds.As for the Dandelions, it's possible they were rescued from the Data world and will appear in some other form, or perhaps only their hearts were removed and are now inside other characters, maybe even the soldiers, who knows? At this stage, anything is possible. However, knowing how Kingdom Hearts trailers work and the importance of the Dandelions to the story, their true identities will likely be revealed to us in a different way.King Mickey's MissionAs mentioned at the end of the Melody of Memories recap, Mickey heads to Scala Ad Caelum, the city built directly on top of the ruins of Daybreak Town, where the MoM and his apprentices lived and where the entire UnionX story takes place. It’s the perfect place to find answers and shed light on much of the mobile games' lore. In the trailer, we see Mickey reading a book and exclaiming that he has uncovered a wealth of new information; he’s confident he‘ll find a clue to save Sora.We don't see the cover of this book, since it's lying on a table, but there’s one book in particular that’s very important to the entire saga's story, and Scala Ad Caelum is the perfect place for it to be, or one of its copies: The Book of Prophecies, written by the MoM, which tells everything that has happened and will happen. It’d be a perfect source of "a lot of new information" and a clue to saving someone, wouldn't it?Furthermore, we also see him interacting with a book on a shelf, which may or may not be the same book on the table; we don't know yet. We can see the cover of this one, confirming that it isn't the original Book of Prophecies. However, its color and design are highly suspicious, and it could easily be one of the copies.The Book of Prophecies on the left and the mysterious book from the bookshelf on the rightThe King interacts with the book and ends up in a world that clearly represents his inner self, a realm made entirely of paper, filled with minigames and short segments featuring diverse graphic and gameplay styles. We’ve seen instances in the series before where you "enter" an object and, by playing within it, restore it to its original state. In fact, we've already seen this happen with a book, in the equally loved and hated world of Winnie the Pooh, the book of 100 Acre Woods where you complete various minigames and story sessions and restore the book and the memories of the characters. It’s quite possible that Mickey is doing the same thing here: restoring a copy of the Book of Prophecies to gain access to the full picture.New confirmed character appearancesAnd to wrap up the trailer's reveals, two characters we were reasonably certain would appear in Quadratum have been confirmed to be there. The first is the Master of Masters himself, who’s very little lost for an arc called the Lost Master Arc, and appears only to call Young Xehanort, probably the nicest and only still fully surviving version (if, given his presence in Quadratum, one can say that) of an old man. A curious detail is that we see Young Xehanort twice across the teasers and this trailer: in one instance, while speaking to the MoM, the umbrella is intact; in the other, when he covers Sora with it, the umbrella is more wrecked than Riku’s heart upon losing Sora yet again. Did he use it to beat the stuffing out of the MoM? That would certainly make for an incredible scene.And the second, one of the most beloved and anticipated characters by a large part of the fandom, is our favorite bad boy: Riku himself, with his silver locks and his car key Keyblade. The final scene of the trailer shows him appearing before Sora in Quadratum, likely right after entering the portal at the end of Melody of Memory, and you can bet that the reunion of these two will be more than exciting. Following that scene, the trailer concludes with Kairi’s voice asking Sora to wake up.Sora also has a vision of Donald and Goofy, as if they were ghosts in a bluish and transparent form, appearing only to him in Quadratum. Many fans theorize that Hades will somehow make this communication possible, given that he has previously helped other characters speak with deceased friends. However, since Hades claims he can only "call back" the souls of those in the Underworld, I have a theory that might seem a bit crazy.One of the worlds that many people theorize will appear, for various reasons, is the world of Star Wars. And how do people who communicate via the Force appear in Star Wars? Translucent and bluish. Could it be that some Jedi Master will somehow help Donald and Goofy reach Sora on the other side of reality through the Force? It’d be a fascinating way to explore that concept by blending it with the lore of the film franchise.Looks like, doesn’t it?QuadratumThe main concept to understand here, and the most important one explained in Melody of Memory, is the existence of different worlds. It’s established that the Kingdom Hearts universe consists of three realms: the realm of Darkness, the realm of Light, and the Reality Between. Within this reality, sub-realms can exist, such as the Realm of Sleep, the Realm of Memories, and the Data World. Quadratum, the place where they speculate Sora ended up, is the Non-Reality, the complete opposite of the Reality where all the Kingdom Hearts games take place. To the KH characters, it’s fiction.Nothing is explicitly stated beyond that, but I have a theory, and it’s that this concept will be taken literally, completely breaking the fourth wall and further expanding on this idea of different worlds and realities, present in KH from the very beginning. For us gamers, our world is reality and the Kingdom Hearts games are fiction, video games that don't really exist, right? So, for the characters in these games, their reality is, well, real, while our universe is the fiction.This theory makes sense given some of the game's design choices, such as Quadratum being an exact replica of Shibuya in Tokyo, Sora wearing "normal" clothes and shoes without the wonderful extravagance of Nomura's designs in the rest of the series, the characters using weapons, cell phones, and other modern devices from our world, the apparent "normality" of the city, and even rumors like the one that two "extras" saved by Sora in the second teaser were modeled after important figures who worked on the games in real life.And since Kingdom Hearts characters are appearing in "our world," why not characters from other media? This would explain the presence of elements from Final Fantasy XV, if that's really the case and not just an extreme similarity, Verum Rex, and even Donald and Goofy using the Force (that's a phrase I never thought I'd say). It’s worth noting that all the worlds mentioned in connection with Quadratum place a strong emphasis on science fiction.The Animated SeriesAnother announcement from D23, which excited some fans and terrified others, was the announcement of a Kingdom Hearts animated series, which will be released on Disney+. It’s been described as a new story that will expand the Kingdom Hearts universe, immediately raising much speculation, including whether some part of the story from the canceled game, Missing Link, ended up being transformed into another form of media, but we have absolutely no confirmation of anything yet.Except for a single detail: the character on the poster.Looking again at the details of the hair and clothing, it’s very likely that this is Helgi, Vali's classmate and Xehanort's veteran in Kingdom Hearts Dark Road. He’s one of the characters who dies in the game and later appears in the Underworld; his spirit is briefly retrieved by Hades so he can communicate with his still-living classmates before vanishing again. Not much is known about Helgi, either his history or his personality, so it will be interesting to follow this animation which, it seems, will also be heavily influenced by the history of mobile devices.ConclusionThere’ve been many new developments, emotions, tears, and thankfully, new information for us to digest in these last few days, and the general feeling of the community as a whole is one of joy at experiencing the hype of a new Kingdom Hearts again. We can now say with certainty that news is coming soon, so we’ll be keeping a close watch to bring you even more lore and theories.I’d also like to take a moment to express our sorrow and offer our condolences for the passing of Hayden Panettiere, our eternal voice of Kairi in Kingdom Hearts 1, 2 and Birth by Sleep, which occurred the day after the panel, in a tragic and painful coincidence. She was an incredible actress who shone not only in Kingdom Hearts but also in other games, such as in the role of Sam in Until Dawn.Thinking of you, wherever you are.It's impossible to think of Kairi and not remember her iconic performance in KH1, with lines like the famous "wake up, sleepyhead", one of the first lines we hear when we press play on the first game and embark on this journey. The touching reading of Kairi's letter in KH2 by her voice acting colleagues serves as a beautiful tribute, and our eternal love and longing for her as a fandom remain. Rest in peace, Hayden.Thanks for reading, and see you next time, Keyblade Masters!
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