In 2010, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
released for PSP, giving fans the very first prequel in the Kingdom Hearts series.
After years of anticipation and speculation, we would get our first story focused not on
Sora, Riku, or Roxas but an entirely new cast of Keyblade wielders: Terra, Aqua, and Ventus.
Over the years, these characters have gained both fans and detractors along with
many misconceptions, but of the three, it is Terra who has gained the harshest
critics. Many act as though Terra is stupid, trusting every “obvious villain” he meets without
question. They say that the plot of Birth by Sleep is Aqua cleaning up after the boys’ messes.
Some complain that he’s Riku done wrong. Others adore him, but still claim he’s a big dummy
while Aqua is this flawless, wise badass. Now, Aqua is great, but I think this assessment of
their characters is unfair to Terra. In general, I feel the people who claim he’s too gullible
do so from the perspective of the player, with all the knowledge of Disney villains and
Kingdom Hearts villains past. Thus, in this video, I wish to present a simple counterargument:
No, Terra is not stupid. He is simply insecure, duty-driven, and desires to do good. Birth by
Sleep begins with the Mark of Mastery exam, where Terra and Aqua compete to prove their worthiness
as Keyblade Masters. Even within the first few minutes of knowing these characters, it’s
incredibly clear that this test means everything to the duo. After years of dedicated training,
Terra and Aqua are going to prove themselves not just to their own Master, Eraqus, but to Master
Xehanort as well. This test was also rigged. If you look at Xehanort’s letter, it reads thusly:
"And on the topic of darkness: we must speak of another matter that concerns me, one related to
the upcoming ceremony. When I visited several years ago, your pupil Terra drew my attention.
His power is immense, to be sure, but within his heart I could see darkness just waiting to be
awakened. I know this is none of my business, but I have reservations about welcoming Terra
as a true Keyblade Master without taking certain precautions. The traditional examination,
perhaps, to see if he has the Mark of Mastery? The choice is yours, and I will
humbly respect your decision." Now, Terra shows darkness during the combat
phase of the exam. But you know what else does? That's right, the orbs. Xehanort planned this
out carefully. He planted seeds of doubt in his letter. Interfered with Eraqus’ test. It’s
entirely possible that Terra did slip into darkness during that moment, but everything
about this setup was already out of Terra’s favor from the onset. So who's to say that
Xehanort didn't tamper with his heart as well? And when Terra fails, he is heartbroken. This
test meant everything to him. He wanted to make his master proud, and he failed not only
him, but the other Keyblade Master present. Terra is at one of his lowest points here, and
this is after a night of laughs, stargazing, and friendly spars. So, where am I going with
this? Well, after Terra’s failure, he’s left pondering his own weakness. Then, in walks Master
Xehanort and the first of many Terra criticisms. So often, I see people complaining that Terra is
too trusting. That Master Xehanort is blatantly evil and manipulative here. But, two things.
First, Master Xehanort is Eraqus’ trusted peer and a fellow Keyblade Master. He was an honored
guest, thus Terra has no reason to doubt him. Second, Terra is at his low point, hurt,
insecure, and desperate for validation. So when Xehanort gives him praise, tells him that his
darkness is not a curse but a potential blessing, of course it’s gonna matter. Because Xehanort is a
Master. He’s what Terra aspires to be. And unlike the players, he does not know that Xehanort is
a villain in the Kingdom Hearts series. There’s something else, too. Sometimes I see folks bring
up Eraqus’ words in the subsequent scene- how Terra is allegedly obsessed with power. But is
he really? Terra is strong, but not once in the game does he actively seek power in and of itself.
That seems to be a biased observation from Eraqus. And keep in mind, Eraqus is extremely prejudiced
towards darkness to the point that he would try to kill his own pupil if it meant “protecting the
light.” But Eraqus’ words here serve to further feed Terra’s insecurities. His own master is
giving him a second chance, all while pointing out his alleged fear of losing. And now the journey
has stakes- if he can overcome his darkness, he’ll get another chance at being a Master- his
ultimate dream. This desire fuels Terra throughout the rest of the game and directly correlates with
his actions as the story progresses. But wait, you might say! What about all the Disney villains
Terra 'blindly' trusts? Well, let’s just see… When Terra enters Enchanted Dominion, he’s on
a mission to a) defeat the Unversed and b) find Xehanort. Upon spotting Maleficent, he’s cordial,
but curt. Yes, she may have a dark aesthetic and horns- but she is the first person Terra meets
in this world. Who’s to say that this is not the norm of all its inhabitants? It’s not as though
he’s bffs with her- he asks her about Xehanort, and she delivers cryptic information. He goes
to investigate that information because he has a mission to fulfill. In Aurora’s room, he actively
acts against Maleficent. He remains guarded, questions her actions and motives, and refuses
to bend to her will… until she asserts herself upon him and seemingly makes him take
Aurora’s heart. She says it’s just his heart’s inner desire acting out- but just
like how the Mark of Mastery was rigged, it’s incredibly likely that this is
a lie. Maleficent did meet Xehanort, after all, and is a rather wicked manipulator
herself as seen by Riku in the first game. Terra tries to fight her off, and she simply
escapes, and rather than pursue her, he tends to the giant Unversed wreaking havoc in the castle.
By the time he’s through, Maleficent is long gone, and while he could seek her out, there are still
many worlds and Xehanort remains out of sight. In short, Terra never fully trusts Maleficent nor
agrees to do her bidding. In Dwarf Woodlands, it’s true that Terra approaches the evil queen
for information, but that’s after he cautiously listens in, sees the magic mirror, and with it,
an opportunity. There’s a lead on one of the pure lights and also a potential chance to find
Xehanort. Terra’s very calm and contemplative- and this holds true for the majority of his worlds.
Note that while the evil queen gives him a task, he never completely agrees to it. He acts
as though he’ll comply so he can find Snow White, see who she is, and possibly find out about
Xehanort. He never antagonized Snow White- merely frightened her due to the abrupt appearance
of his Keyblade upon the Unversed's arrival, and outright states that he chose to ignore the
Evil Queen’s orders. In short, he tricked her. She did not trick him. Thus, that’s two worlds
where Terra does not blindly work for a villain. And in Castle of Dreams, Terra remains calm,
grounded, and tries offering Cinderella words of encouragement during her darkest hour. Here, he
shines bright, defending her against the Unversed and leading her to the dance of her dreams. No
villainous plot. No darkness rearing its head. This is one of Terra’s brightest moments, and
between his conversation with the Fairy Godmother, his interactions with Cinderella, and the meeting
with Aqua that follows, he’s learned the value of hope. All is well. And then comes the fallout
in Radiant Garden. I’ve seen people cite that Aqua was in the right here. That Terra was brutal
and abusive, but, uh… did we play the same game? "I'm not so sure. I've been to the same worlds
as you, and I've seen what you've done." Yes, Terra tricked an evil queen, escorted a girl to
the ball, and Aqua took Maleficent’s words at face value instead of letting Terra explain himself.
Granted, Terra would have likely blamed himself- he’s still insecure, and Aqua’s words only serve
to bring those insecurities back to the forefront. Suddenly, it feels like Eraqus had no faith
in him and that Aqua was sent to spy on him. Of course he’d push them away. Which leads him
right back into Xehanort’s hands. At this point, Terra’s darkness has finally manifested- but it
was all a calculated setup. Between Aqua bringing him to another low and his fight with Braig
pushing him to his limits and possibly even due to Maleficent’s meddling, Terra’s faced with
the fear that he’s losing himself. And once again, we have Xehanort swooping in, telling Terra the
things he wants to hear. And Terra listens because Xehanort is a Master. Xehanort knows way better
than him. Thus far, Xehanort has shown no reason to distrust him- he’s acted truly regretful with
the creation of Vanitas, ‘supported’ Terra where others would not. Insecurity coupled with
gaslighting is a pretty devastating combo, and as has been demonstrated many times by this
point, Terra is desperate for validation and to please his idols. He views Keyblade Mastery as the
highest honor and wants to be the model example. Still, Terra’s left doubtful, and come Olympus
Coliseum he meets Hades. Now, Hades is another example people use for the gullible Terra
argument, but listen to what he’s saying here. "Okay, stay with me here--darkness
is inside...everybody. Nothing to be ashamed of. You play nice with it, and
darkness will be your best friend. But if you go and get all self-conscious and refuse
to face it, the darkness will run over you like a debutante at a toga sale. And then where
are you? Nowhere." He’s not wrong. This is literally the resolution to Riku’s arc- to face
the darkness but not fully give into it. True, Hades has ulterior motives, but Hades’ words
do mirror what Xehanort had said prior, and Hades is a god. Terra up to this point has
viewed authority figures like Keyblade Masters in high regard. He constantly seeks the guidance of
people like Xehanort and Yen Sid. But even then, Terra’s reactions and the tone tone show that he
doesn’t fully trust Hades. He’s extremely guarded. Willing to listen but not going in blind. During
the Games, he doesn’t rely on darkness, and as soon as he sees what’s become of Zack, he stands
up to the kid on his own terms. And Terra’s fully aware that the situation was rigged and is ready
and willing to stand up to Hades in the aftermath. I’ll make a quick aside for Disney Town- this
world shows Terra at his most impulsive, willing to go chase Unversed on a dangerous race track.
It also shows how hyper focused Terra gets on his mission. But once he learns what’s up, he abides
by the rules and takes on the Unversed within the grounds of Rumble Racing. He’s very polite, and
gains a greater appreciation for rules… though honestly, this arc always felt kinda shoehorned
in when up to this point Terra was shown with such regard for authority and protecting order. But
I digress. I’d say Deep Space is the one place where there’s grounds to argue that Terra’s a
bit too trusting. He is quick to free a prisoner, BUT… keep in mind that Jumba, like Xehanort,
Hades, and those before him, does appeal to Terra’s insecurities and his sense of empathy.
Terra desires to help others. If there’s even a chance this Experiment 626 is wrongly accused and
imprisoned, then isn’t it worth seeking him out? Once it becomes clear that Jumba is malicious,
Terra changes his tune- both in defending Stitch’s desire to make friends and also in standing
against the mad scientist. But through it all, he remains kind, valuing Stitch’s desire to learn
and grow, no doubt because he sees himself in the small blue creature. With Captain Hook, it's
important to look at context. When Terra first encounters him and Smee, they're under attack
by the Unversed. So Terra defeats those Unversed and remains cordial and asks for information.
Terra misunderstand Hooks words about light and Hook does use it to his advantage by tricking
Terra into believing that the chest contains literal light, but as a Keybearer, it
is Terra's duty to protect the light, and if the Unversed are attacking Hook, then
it's doubtful he works for or with Vanitas. And even with the lie… it's not like the act of
protecting treasure itself is villainous. Peter Pan is known to antagonize Captain Hook for fun
all the time and even cost the man his hand. He and the lost boys wanted to steal that treasure.
They are children, and Terra does eventually stand down once he realizes he's been tricked and even
apologizes to Peter. He only did this because he thought it would protect the light, and as
soon as that's not the case, all bets are off. Once it's clear that Tinker Bell is in danger,
Terra switches sides, protects the Lost Boys, and even swindles Hook by playing nice until he
gets the chance to free Tink. This shows that Terra is adaptable and fairly clever. Then,
after Hook flees, Terra reassures the Lost Boys by suggesting they use the empty chest for
their own treasures. This shows a deep emotional intelligence and a gentleness to Terra that's
consistent with his earlier appearances. And, what's more, just like at the end of Deep
Space, Terra still holds a deep bond with his friends regardless of any gaslighting on
Xehanort's part. Xehanort’s final and greatest act of manipulation comes when he urges Terra
to hurry home and protect Ven from Eraqus. But here’s the thing- this is, without question, the
right thing to do. If Terra had not intervened, Ven would have likely died. Yes, Terra plays into
Xehanort’s clutches by battling his Master. Yes, Terra’s darkness reaches its peak here. Yes, by
weakening Eraqus, Terra leaves him vulnerable to Xehanort’s killing blow. But just like the
Mark of Mastery exam, this was all rigged. And just like before, Terra had no reason to distrust
Xehanort… until he finally showed his true colors. And the worst part of all of this is that this was
completely avoidable, had those with the knowledge and seniority actually seen the red flags and
communicated. Yen Sid, despite his suspicions of Xehanort, still told Terra to go find him. He had
the opportunity to warn Ventus and Aqua, too, and failed on all fronts. Then, when he told Aqua that
Terra and Xehanort had killed Eraqus, he failed to mention his own guilt in leading Terra to Master
Xehanort earlier. His overall passivity in this game enabled terrible things to happen, as it did
in future titles… And no, being retired doesn't justify anything when he has all this cosmic
power and just sits there in his chair. Though that's a subject for another video, perhaps. Let
me know if you'd like to see it in the comments! Eraqus is just as guilty, too, though. He should
have known from the day that Xehanort scarred him and hatched grand ambitions for the χ-blade that
something was amiss, yet Eraqus took Xehanort's letter at face value and invited him back to the
Land of Departure to oversee the exam. And yes, it's true that they used to be quite close,
and he perhaps wanted to give an olive branch, but at the same time, he had seen Xehanort embrace
darkness, yet Terra was the one to worry about? Even if you consider Xehanort as the reason why
Terra's darkness flare up worried Eraqus in the first place, that still doesn't change the fact
that he failed to arm either of his students with the knowledge of Xehanort's previous behavior.
The orbs projected for the exam just 'randomly' got corrupted, and Eraqus, a much older and more
experienced adult and Master, failed to connect the dots. And that's not all. Eraqus' harsh black
and white worldview molded Aqua just as much as it did Terra. For everyone who calls Terra gullible
and impulsive, let's not forget that Aqua was so adamant that darkness must be destroyed that she
was willing to draw her weapon as she approached the Tremaine household and had to be talked
down by Fairy Godmother. And as mentioned, any distrust she showed Maleficent hardly matters
when, in the end, she DID take the witch's word at face value, putting Terra on the spot and scolding
him without giving him a chance to defend himself. And she doesn't apologize- she merely tries to
justify Eraqus' actions. When she learns that Terra was involved in Eraqus' death, Aqua blames
Terra for falling into Xehanort's clutches and going astray. Because darkness, to her, just as
it is to her Master, is nothing but anger and hate. Even though Terra outright stated that
Eraqus tried to hurt Ven in the first place. If there is one thing I've realized while
revisiting BBS, it's that Terra and Aqua are both subversions of their archetypes. Terra, for
all his brute strength, is a deeply introspective and gentle young man who is refreshing in his
emotional vulnerability and sensitivity. Aqua, meanwhile, may possess a gift in magic,
but she is impulsive, often short-sighted, and incredibly self-righteous to a fault,
however good her intentions may be. And both of them, in their own ways, have
suffered from Eraqus' teaching. Both are victims of generational trauma, in a way, as it is Eraqus'
own previous trauma with Xehanort and the darkness that shaped him as a Master, made even more tragic
if you consider Kingdom Hearts Dark Road and all the friends he lost by Baldr's hand. So rather
than blame Terra for alleged stupidity, I think it's important to consider the context. His is not
a tale of idiocy, but a tragic journey of a young man, crushed by insecurity from a mentor with a
toxic mindset, and fueled with hope granted by a wolf in sheep's clothing, and desperate to do
what is right. Time and time again, Terra tries to uphold the ideals of the Keyblade even when
those ideals are born from a bleak, black and white worldview… One that harms his friends just
as much as it harms him, which in turn causes them to harm each other, all while Xehanort plays them
all like pieces on the chess board because the adults in their lives failed to adequately prepare
them. So rather than blame Terra for not seeing the 'obvious signs', it's important to consider
the in-universe context. What may seem obvious to players who grew up immersed in Disney and Kingdom
Hearts games may not dawn on characters who lived in a small world, following the teachings of
the Keyblade without knowing the tragedy on the horizon. So I hope this video will paint Terra
in a new light or at the very least give you an alternative perspective on Birth by Sleep. And if
you made it this far, thanks so much for sticking to the end! I realize this is different from the
Undertale and Deltarune content I usually put out, but rest assured, that isn't going anywhere! Next
video will be a discussion on Mayor Holiday from Deltarune and her worrying relationship with
Noelle. But if you'd like to see more Kingdom Hearts content, please feel free to suggest
characters or topics in the comments below! Likes, shares, and subscriptions would mean the world
to me, as the algorithm hasn't been too kind this last month. I've certainly got a few ideas,
such as a video on Riku and Kairi's friendship, a Ventus analysis, a Riku Replica video, and perhaps
more of that Yen Sid salt. I actually have several Kingdom Hearts fanfics, too, and if you'd like to
check out some of my non-Undertale work. The links can be found in the description and in the pinned
comment! As always, a huge thank you to my amazing patrons for their continued support. If you liked
this video and would like access to early scripts, audio recordings, WIP video cuts, and concept
art and music for my various other projects, head up to the link onscreen and in the cards.
Every pledge helps me continue making content like this full time. I hope you all are enjoying
the holiday season! I'll see you all next time.
