Headscratchers / Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory

• So, why, exactly, is Kairi's training not finished yet? She and Lea were in a place with no time, meaning she had infinite amounts of time to train. Even if she wants to get her Mark of Mastery, they could have brought one of the keyblade masters into that timeless world for that. KH1-Kairi I'd understand getting impatient and wanting to do things, but KH2 and 3 have her much calmer and levelheaded, making it much less likely that she'd make such an impulsive decision.
  • Kairi's fight with the Ghost Memory Master Xehanort reminded Kairi that she still has a long way to go. If she was training for the Mark of Mastery, it probably takes longer than training to be a Keyblade Wielder and she didn't have time to finish because she and Lea were needed for the fight against Master Xehanort. Kairi is still also inexperienced compared to the other Keyblade wielders excluding Lea, so it makes sense she'd want to spend the time waiting for Riku training and getting stronger.
  • That still doesn't answer how training in a place with infinite amounts of time somehow doesn't make her one of the most powerful Keyblade wielders around. And even if we were to accept that she needs more training, she's clearly capable enough to learn "on the job" like Sora and Riku did, so her not accompanying Riku to find Sora is asinine. The sad truth is that there is no logic behind this writing, it is solely an excuse to push Kairi back to the sidelines so that Nomura doesn't have to write for her, since it's pretty clear that - possibly influenced by fans' longheld loathing of her due to being a perceived Damsel Scrappy since we know how susceptible Nomura is to fandom views - any fondness he may have once had for her is long gone. The better treatment she had in Re Mind after the massive outcry over her fate in III was an exception, not the rule.
  • She trained in isolation with Lea. Reality Is Unrealistic in this case. With any physical art, two novices improving together can only get so far without input from a seasoned master. It is worth noting that Lea also not only lost his fight to Xemnas in III, but also had his Keyblade destroyed. Despite the unlimited amount of time, both Lea and Kairi clearly fell short of the mark. It is reasonable for Kairi to seek the direct tutelage of a veteran swordswoman, after seeing the consequences of her shortcomings.
  • There is no justification you can make for this, since seemingly every other protagonist in the series has never needed "training" to be the player character in a video game. Needing to up your power level before playing isn't something Sora, Riku, Roxas, Data-Sora, etc. have ever had to do in Kingdom Hearts, and it never will be. (Even Ventus, Terra and Aqua, who had been training, had only been doing so under Eraqus' sheltering parentage, hence why their "Mark of Mastery exam" was just hitting some balls.) The only real conclusion is that they don't have any intention on Kairi being a protagonist.
  • Another possibility is that Kairi is going to train further in things that she couldn't learn before. She has a fine grasp of basics, but what she hasn't yet learned is her special talent. Sora has his bond ability (Drives/Team attacks). Riku has his mastery of both Light and Dark. Kairi still hasn't figured out her forte, and right now only has the basics of training
• Since Kairi recapped the entire series up to Sora's disappearance. How did she know about the parts she wasn't there for?
  • Maybe the people who were just told her. I'd imagine that the other characters did get to sit down and talk before they started with their plans to find any trace of Sora. Or maybe talked about it hoping it might jog their memories, get everyone on the same page and give them more clues.
• Why isn't Hercules a Guest-Star Party Member during the Underworld-themed tracks from Kingdom Hearts II? Since those tracks are technically part of the Olympus Colosseum world, he should be one there. Same with Peter Pan and "Fight and Away" which is depicted as a Darkened World for Neverland yet doesn't feature him despite the "Squirming Evil", "Desire for All That is Lost" and "Vim and Vigor" levels continuing to include Beast and Mulan.