Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory Ending Explained

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory collects over 140 songs from across teh franchise into one rhythm-based experience. It’s all about looking back on the franchise and reliving its biggest moments through memorable music.

Melody of Memory definitely emphasizes gameplay over story, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything new narratively. The end of the game features a string of cutscenes that help contextualize Kairi’s role in the series and sets things up for where Kingdom Hearts goes next.

There aren’t a ton of concrete details, but Melody of Memory does have some interesting tidbits for longtime fans. Here’s a full breakdown of Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory’s ending.

Kairi’s Childhood in Melody of Memory

The ending puts into context that throughout Melody of Memory Kairi is searching through her memories, hoping for a clue that will help find Sora. The ending starts with a flashback memory of when Kairi was a child in Radiant Garden. As the heartless swarm over the town, Kairi is captured by Xehanort, who at that time is the Terra-Xehanort version that lost his memories after the end of Birth By Sleep. Terra-Xehanort performs an “experiment” by putting Kairi in a machine that will send her to another world, the Keyblade Master’s world. Kairi’s abilities as a Princess of Heart allows her heart to resonate with that of a Keyblade Master, which seemingly is what sends her to the Destiny Islands and Sora. It’s worth noting that the machine

This suggests Xehanort is the one that has messed with Kairi’s destiny at every turn, and as she snaps out of the flashback a hooded figure appears before her. The figure is a version of Xehanort created by Kairi’s mind, and the two battle it out. As Kairi is put on the ropes she summons the Kingdom Key to block Xehanort’s attack. Strangely, Kairi transforms into Sora with Xehanort saying “As I thought, your voice can’t reach us here. Now I’m certain of where your heart is.” This makes it seem like Sora’s heart reached out to Kairi’s to lend his power to her, but his disappearance has put him in a place where he can’t communicate with Kairi, despite their strong bond.

After beating the memory version of Xehanort, he provides a hint for Kairi by quoting what he told her as a child. “If you arrive in a world that’s neither of light nor darkness but somewhere on the other side, your task will be far from easy.”

How Melody of Memory Sets the Stage For the Future of Kingdom Hearts

Kairi wakes up in the laboratory at Radiant Garden, talking to Ansem the Wise and his protoges. Now things dive deep into Kingdom Hearts weirdness, as Ansem ponders how Xehanort meant the other side of their world, the other side of reality. It seems like Xehanort was referring to the city seen in the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts 3, the city where Yozora lives. Ansem describes this place as “unreality” or fiction. A “fictional” world would fit the bill, as Yozora’s world is based on Verum Rex, the fictional video game in the Toy Box world of Kingdom Hearts 3. At the same time, this other world could simply lie out of their understanding, and be another dimension entirely.

As the group is discussing things Riku shows up, followed quickly by the Fairy Godmother. According to the Fairy Godmother there are three people that hold “keys” needed to travel to where Sora is; Riku’s dreams, Kari’s memories, and a third piece that the Godmother knows about. Fairy Godmother takes Riku and Kairi to The Final World, where they meet the mysterious voice that Sora talked to during the ending of Kingdom Hearts 3. The Final World is described as a place where “strong hearts gather after death, before they’re ready to move on.”

The voice still doesn’t have a name, but it’s revealed she’s someone from the world on the other side, a world called Quadratum. As Fairy Godmother explains the voice’s form was stolen from her, and if she goes back to her own world, her heart will be stolen. She goes on to say that they’ll be able to make the voice’s dream happen “very soon.”

It’s still not clear exactly who the voice is, but despite previous fan theories it seems like this may be an entirely new character from Quadratum. With the voice’s knowledge of Quadratum and Riku’s Power of Awakening, Riku can travel to Quadratum and investigate. This is the same power that Sora and Riku used in Dream Drop Distance to travel to the sleeping worlds.

Some fans have speculated that Quadratum could be a world where unformed ideas reside until they’re given proper form. This would thematically fit with the secret ending of Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind, and how Yozora mirrors the teaser trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Because Versus was canceled and turned into Final Fantasy XV, it’s technically an “unformed idea” that was never fully given shape. The voice in the Final World is likely a reimagined version of Stella, who was going to be the secondary female protagonist of Final Fantasy Versus XIII. This would directly link her to Yozora, and deepen the connection between the two characters and Sora.

In Kingdom Hearts ReMind Sora uses the Power of Waking to go back in time and save his friends, but Chirithy warns that he could cease to exist if he uses the power too much. Sora disappears at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 by literally ceasing to exist, which is what explains his presence in the “unreality” of Quadratum.

The final scene after Melody of Memory’s credits gives a little more info on what all of the characters will be up to moving forward. Yen Sid surmises that Xehanort studied Quadratum extensively, and the master tells a story about when he was still training and how the Ancient Keyblade Masters, somehow, crossed over into another realm. Yen Sid sends Donald and Goofy to contact the various allies around the universe that are searching for Sora, while Kairi announces she’ll continue training under the tutelage of Aqua. Perhaps the most interesting thing, however, is that Mickey is sent to start investigating the other world that Riku traveled to, and he’ll start in the ancient city of Scala ad Caelum. At this point it seems like the series will likely head to Quadratum next and put a larger role on Riku. However, only time will tell what Tetsuya Nomura has in store.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

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