The Kingdom Key Forums: Land of Departure... Castle Oblivion? - The Kingdom Key Forums

A theory I came upon while browsing. Some people have thought that maybe Land of Departure turns into Castle Oblivion once it's swallowed by darkness. It looks as though LoD may be consumed in darkness based on the most recent trailer.

However, I read over the theory and was like, "wow. That's stupid." But then I looked at images of both Land of Departure's castle and Castle Oblivion, and there definitely are some striking similarities.

An image I threw together in about five minutes...




I'm still not sure if I'm completely convinced this is possible/actually happens, but it's definitely got some ground. Terra and Aqua are DEFINITELY seen in/around Castle Oblivion. I could see this happening somewhere near the end, as they return to their home world in confusion.









EDIT: The more I've been thinking of this, the more I like it as a theory. I didn't read any more of people's speculation other than "I think this happens" and "that sounds cool, I hope it does," so these points may have been thought of elsewhere.

But I was thinking... how does Xemnas KNOW the Chamber of Waking is in Castle Oblivion?

Perhaps it was a room in the castle at Land of Departure. Whoever Xehanort is- if he's Terra, MX, Vanitas, whoever, he likely knows of this room in the castle. True, he may have forgotten his memories from before, other than the name "Xehanort," but perhaps finding the Chamber of Repose jogged his memory, in a sense.

Now, let's say, for whatever reason... the Chambers of Repose/Awakening CAN'T be destroyed. This would explain why, when LoD castle is consumed by darkness, it's not fully destroyed- this was one of my bigger problems with this idea. So instead of being destroyed, the castle is... changed. The exterior looks broken down and changes. The rest of the world WOULD be destroyed, but instead it becomes a sort of in-between world.

Of course, this is a lot of speculation and what-ifs. But the more I think about it, the more this theory makes sense. Any thoughts?

It's certainly interesting, no doubt about that. And while the resemblence(sp?) is striking, I'm not terribly convinced. Curious, but not convinced.

I'm not COMPLETELY convinced either, but I do think a lot of it makes sense, concerning my speculation about the Chamber of Waking. I definitely thought it was worth bringing up for discussion, though.

No doubt, no doubt. I'm glad that you and Strax spend so much time looking into this, I wouldn't know the first place to start on theorizing anything about this series anymore.

Yeah, we've been IRL theorizing a LOT lately. XD

I hadn't noticed. EVAR.

Well this one WAS inspired by me reading people saying "LoD=CO!" on other sites, but I dismissed it as stupid until comparing the pictures, making the shopped picture above, and doing some theorizing with Tristan.

So let's say this is a legit thing, what does that then mean for the rest of the series?

I'm not sure. At the most it sounds like it would say where Castle Oblivion actually came from and how (bear in mind I haven't played CoM, so some of my ideas may be kind of off or already explained). Assuming that the Chambers of Waking and Repose actually CAN'T be destroyed, and assuming that CO is a somewhat destroyed LoD...

Oh you know what. I really don't know how this would affect the rest of the series beyond BbS, other than revealing the origins of CO. XD I mean, I'm sure we'll get more insight on the Chamber of Waking, and it's possible that that Chamber is in LOD's castle.

I really don't know where I'm going with this, and I'm not supporting the theory incredibly well. XD But assuming this is legit, it will definitely be interesting to see HOW LoD turns into CO.

Aside from Saix ordering a team be sent there to flush out traitors and the like, I can't see what purpose that place served.

Well, the Chamber of Waking, which Xemnas wanted so badly to find, for one.

Here's my side of the theorizing now.

If Land of Departure was to be consumed by darkness by the dark portal we see above the castle in the trailer, why would it not be completely destroyed, and instead transform into a deformed monstrosity of a castle?
Well, let's just suggest that the Chamber of Waking was within the castle in the Land of Departure. Some kind of magical property of the chamber does not allow it to be destroyed, so darkness merely ravages the world rather than completely destroying it.
So in the screenshots we've seen of Aqua standing before the castle, she may not be traveling and exploring a new world, she may have actually tried to return home and found nothing but this distorted monstrous castle.

And I thought of another example.
The Chamber of Repose is within the castle of Hollow Bastion.
Ten years ago, darkness consumed the world of Radiant Garden, and the castle was mutated and deformed into the dark spires we see in KH1 as Hollow Bastion.
Why was Hollow Bastion spared by the Heartless, even though it's clear that they had found the Keyhole (We know they had found it because once Sora opens the gateway to the Keyhole, it releases incredibly powerful Heartless, including the Behemoth you fight immediately afterward)?
Perhaps the Heartless were unable to destroy the world through corrupting its Keyhole, thanks to the indestructible properties of the Chambers of Waking and Repose, and it merely transformed into the dark castle of Hollow Bastion we all know and love?

We don't know what the Chambers of Waking or Repose are actually used for, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were deeply tied to the hearts of all worlds. Their destruction may be catastrophic, and that may cause their worlds to be indestructible, only corruptible.

Also... Why is Xemnas so POSITIVE that the Chamber of Waking is within Castle Oblivion?
Perhaps he KNEW that the Chamber of Waking was within the Land of Departure, when he was previously human, before he was known as Xehanort, the apprentice of Ansem the Wise. Therefore, he knows for CERTAIN that the Chamber is somewhere within those walls, because he's someone familiar with the Land of Departure.

IRT to Hollow Bastion not being completely destroyed, maybe it has something to do with Kairi.

What would it have to do with Kairi?

"Ten years ago, darkness consumed the world of Radiant Garden, and the castle was mutated and deformed into the dark spires we see in KH1 as Hollow Bastion."

If I'm correct, Kairi was there ten years prior to KH1, yes? Could her "light" have something to do with Hollow Bastion being spared, and not just this chamber nonsense?

Well, perhaps, but wouldn't the other Princesses of Heart have saved their worlds with their light?

These chambers seem pretty important- I mean, Xemnas was SRS BSNS about finding the Chamber of Waking, and visited the Chamber of Repose to talk to what we see as Aqua's armor (and who knows? maybe her). We see Ven in what we assume to be the Chamber of Waking, based on its similarity to the Chamber of Repose. We don't know what they do, or why they're important... but it really does seem like they will be.

I would like to know why he wanted to find those places so much. He doesn't even care about getting a heart, so what is the deal?

Yeah, I'd like to know that as well.