"Opening" is the intro sequence of Kingdom Hearts III. It is a cinematic retelling of events from the series' past and ones from its future. Apart from one line of speech at its start and a moment of silence at its end, the scene plays over the theme song for the game, "Face My Fears".
Story[edit | edit source]
Set against the symbolism of a chess-like board game, "Opening" artistically retells most of the events from the previous Kingdom Hearts games and hints at some of the events set to transpire in Kingdom Hearts III. Interspersed is footage of the board game being played and the boy controlling the black game pieces, hinting that the board game is a parallel retelling of events past and their orchestration by one person. "Opening" is book-ended by scenes of Sora in a strange expanse of clouds, commenting on Sora's previous resilience and foreshadowing his eventual loss of self.
First shown is a depiction of the fall of the Land of Departure, Terra losing his body to Xehanort, Aqua being trapped in the darkness, and Ventus' conflict with Vanitas sending him into sleep, resulting in him settling in Sora's heart, as seen in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Next we watch Sora, Riku, and Kairi on Destiny Islands and see recreated how the introduction of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness eventually led to the loss of their home, Riku becoming possessed, and Kairi and Sora being separated, as seen in Kingdom Hearts. Then we see Roxas, Axel, and Xion spending time together in Twilight Town, until the introduction of Xemnas leads to their separation, Xion's end, and Roxas and Axel clashing, as seen in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. The next scenes shows Kairi crying as she looks at the Paopu Fruit image of her and Sora in the Secret Place, her tears summoning a light that awakes Sora as he falls. Sora in turn regains his self and uses the Kingdom Key to summon light that opens doors to lead the others out of darkness, alluding to the events of Kingdom Hearts II and events to happen later in Kingdom Hearts III.
Next Sora is battling among the game pieces on a giant version of the board game, fighting first Ansem, then Marluxia (hinting at the events of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories), then Xemnas. Sora defeats Xemnas and gets back to Destiny Islands, where he meets Kairi. But before they can be fully reunited, the Boy in Black is revealed to be Xehanort and the island is rocked by a storm, representing how their happy ending is to be interrupted by Xehanort's final plan.
Xehanort summons a new group of cloaked figures and attacks, but first Donald and Goofy and then Riku and King Mickey arrive to defend Sora and Kairi, hearkening back to the events of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. With Sora's allies at his side, the two groups stand opposed, ready for battle, when Sora summons a burst of light. Master Xehanort looks into the light and smirks as it envelops him, then we see the Boy in Black looking out his window and into the bright sky outside, foreshadowing Xehanort's eventual fate.
The cutscene ends with Sora holding the final black game piece and looking into the sky, where Kingdom Hearts has been summoned. All of Sora's allies appear around him and together the group looks up at Kingdom Hearts, mimicking the eventual climax of Kingdom Hearts III.
Transcript[edit | edit source]
The screen is filled with clouds floating across a pink and blue sky. The Disney logo appears, circled by a trail of pixie dust. It fades and is replaced by the Square Enix logo. This too fades and a circle of thick gold letters flies onto the screen, swirling around themselves before settling into a title:
KINGDOM HEARTS III
The title zooms up to and then past the camera. The screen fades to black. As Sora speaks, his words appear on the screen in gold. Each line fades as the one after it is said.
Sora: "They can take your world. They can take your heart. Cut you loose from all you know."
A bright blue, cloudy sky fades onto the screen. The camera travels forward, revealing Sora in the distance. The surface he stands on looks like water and reflects the sky above, making it look like he is floating among the clouds. Sora's words appear in gold.
Sora: "But if it's your fate..."
For Sora's final words, no gold letters appear. The camera zooms in on his face as he looks pensive up to the sky.
Sora: "then every step forward will always be a step closer to home."
"Face My Fears" begins to play.
The camera travels over the clouds. Gradually the sky darkens, until the clouds dissipate to reveal a starry night sky. Cut to a Boy in Black sitting on a windowsill, a game board in front of him. He looks out the window, into the stars. One of the stars is bright purple and larger than the others. Cut to a shot of it in the sky and then a shot of it reflected in the boy's pupils in a close up of his upper face. Switch to a shot of the game board as the boy lifts a game piece. Where he places the piece on the board a vortex of black smoke forms, enveloping the screen.
The smoke turns into purple trails and the camera follows as they zoom over the Land of Departure, swarming the castle. Cut to the grounds, where Aqua, Terra, and Ventus watch as their home is swallowed by darkness. A smoke trail plummets into Ventus and the three of them are surrounded by darkness. Smoke swamps Terra and he transforms into Terra-Xehanort. Aqua reaches for him but is blown away by a smoke trail. Ventus reaches for her but she disappears. He looks up at his home once more and then suddenly he is standing in the center of a Station of Awakening that depicts him and Vanitas. The station shatters and Ventus falls. As he plummets down he closes his eyes and begins to glow, turning into a ball of bright light. The ball rockets through the sky and collides with Destiny Islands. On Destiny Islands the night turns to a beautiful day and we see Sora, Riku, and Kairi--all of them in their Kingdom Hearts attire--start to race each other along the beach.
Sharp cut to the Boy in Black placing another game piece down. An image of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness flashes on and off in front of the piece.
Return to the beach. The sky turns black and Sora is surrounded by smoke. He gasps as the smoke surrounds Riku. As Riku turns to Sora, he transforms into Ansem, who gives a wicked smirk. Sora yells and reaches for his friend, but the smoke blows Sora back and he is sent flying into the air. Kairi is being blown around too and they reach out for each other, fingers barely out of reach, before being sucked away and separated for good. Sora spirals wildly and the game board spins onto the screen as he is thrown out of sight. The Boy in Black tosses a game piece in his hand and smiles to himself. Another shot of Sora, unconscious and plummeting through dusty clouds. He opens his eyes and the camera zooms in on the shine of his pupil.
The scene changes to Roxas, sitting atop the clock tower in Twilight Town. He smiles and Axel and Xion are sitting either side of him, eating sea salt ice cream and laughing together.
Cut to the game board and another piece being placed, this one with Xemnas flashing over top.
Return to the clock tower. Roxas looks up as shadows flood the sky. In his distraction, he drops his ice cream and looks down in shock to watch it fall, only to look back up and realize both his friends have disappeared. He looks around in panic and suddenly Xion is floating in front of him, her hood pulled over her head and her back to the tower. Roxas runs across the air, reaching for her desperately, but before he reaches her she begins to glow, and when he grabs her arm she bursts into gold glitter, leaving only a pink shell in Roxas' hand. A memory of her smiling flashes briefly and then Roxas looks up at the glitter as it floats away, his mouth agape in horror as darkness surrounds him. In the darkness Xemnas walks behind Roxas, but when he senses Xemnas' presence and turns, Roxas is suddenly transported to a gigantic version of the game board. The world is grey and raining and Axel stands across from him. Roxas yells and summons his Keyblades. Axel summons his chakrams and a ring of fire. The two run at each other, posed to strike, but before they collide the camera zooms in on the ground, traveling down into the point where four tiles of the game board meet.
Zoom down a tunnel, passing gold and black game pieces on the way. At the end is a white piece, the camera pausing for a moment on the shiny star marker on its top. The star fades away, becoming the paopu fruit in the drawing of Sora and Kairi that can be found in Destiny Islands' Secret Place. Kairi appears on screen, placing a hand on the drawing and smiling. A single tear falls down her cheek and drips past the camera, changing the scene to darkness. The tear fall into the distance and hits something, sending a glowing ripple across the darkness that spreads and becomes light. Cut to Sora, still falling. He opens his eyes and sees the light above him. He reaches for the light as it rushes up and he is enveloped.
The screen flashes white and then fades in on Sora, spinning in the air to land on his feet. A blue glow is fading from him and he now wears his outfit from Kingdom Hearts II. He summons the Kingdom Key, twirls it, and slashes across the screen. A giant white schism forms before him and he flies off into its light.
Cut to show Roxas, Axel, then Xion standing in the darkness. One by one, the light schism opens behind them, taking form as a blindingly bright door. Shots of Terra and Aqua as they are bathed in light, then Ventus as he stands in front of his door. Ventus walks forward and then cut to Riku, also in his Kingdom Hearts II outfit, walking out of the darkness.
The screen flashes white again, then cuts to Sora standing on the giant game board. He charges forward, his Keyblade raised, and two bright purple orbs fly at him. He slashes one orb and Ansem is shown watching from up ahead. Sora slashes the other orb then attacks Ansem, but Ansem dashes out of the way. Marluxia appears and swings his scythe at Sora, but Sora flips out of the way. The two clash blades and Sora jumps back, landing on the side of a game piece. When he jumps back into battle his opponent is now Xemnas, fighting with his blades. They clash and Sora jumps back. Xemnas spirals in the air, changing into his white battle cloak, and flies at Sora. Sora jabs his Keyblade forward and a jet of light bursts from its tip, piercing Xemnas through the middle.
Cut to Kairi, now in her Kingdom Hearts II attire, standing in white emptiness. Sora steps into frame, and as Kairi turns to him, Destiny Islands fades into existence around them. Kairi runs into the water to meet Sora, but before they reach each other the sky cracks with lightning and becomes a roiling storm. The camera spirals above and away from them and the scene turns back into the game board, this time showing two white pieces placed next to each other. A black piece is slammed onto the board and we span up to see the Boy in Black. He looks into the camera and lightning flashes as he turns into Master Xehanort, who smiles.
Return to the beach, where Sora and Kairi huddle back to back as giant walls of mountain rise around them. The mountain forms a cluster of square platforms, all at different levels and each one topped with a dark corridor, within which cloaked people can be seen. The corridors fade and on the tallest platform Xehanort now stands. He throws his hand out and Ansem and Xemnas are shown on the platforms beneath him. They both zoom to attack. Ansem summons more purple orbs and throws them at Sora, but before impact, Donald and Goofy appear, jumping up to shield the orbs away. Sora and Kairi smile, grateful, but they do not notice as Xemnas looms behind them, summoning electricity to strike at their backs. Before he can attack, two projectiles shoot down from the sky, forcing Xemnas to zip away before the weapons strike right where he had been standing. Sora and Kairi turn to see the Way to the Dawn and Kingdom Key D stuck in the ground, having been thrown to save them. Riku and King Mickey step forward to retrieve their Keyblades. Sora and Kairi summon their own Keyblades and together the group steels themselves for battle.
Xehanort smiles as he pulls his Keyblade from the shadows and the cloaked figures--all of them with their hoods up, save Xemnas and Ansem--flash into formation behind him. Suddenly Sora's Keyblade begins to glow and without hesitation Sora aims it upwards, shooting a beam of light into the sky. The beam forms a burst of light and the light grows, slowly enveloping Xehanort--who looks into it with a calmness--and the screen.
Return to the windowsill, with the Boy in Black looking out the window. This time, however, the sky outside is sunny and bright. The boy smiles softly to himself and looks down at the game board, where one white piece--one with a crown as its marker--remains in the center of the board.
The screen fades to white and then onto the cloudy place from the beginning of the cutscene, where Sora stands in a new outfit. The clouds are darker now, but a beam of light shines down from above, bathing Sora in warm yellow. Sora looks down and cut to a close-up of his hand, where he holds a black game piece with a two horned marker. Zoom back out and Sora closes his palm and looks up into the light, which is revealed to be coming from Kingdom Hearts, glowing bright and high up in the sky, half hidden by the clouds.
The camera pans out and around Sora as flashes of sparkly white light form around him, fading away to reveal his friends. The camera stops, hovering above the group, the floor reflecting a brilliant blue sky and Kingdom Hearts beneath them. As the group stares resolutely at the sky, the screen transitions to the logo for the game. After a moment, the screen fades to black.