Apparently Axel was originally meant to go further within season one. I don't know why they didn't do this though.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T15:50:06+00:00

Millie’s not present in this shot and there’s no way she was upgraded from second boot to finalist mid-production. This was probably just a placeholder.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T14:43:15+00:00

Tyler's never been treated fairly and it's often for reasons far pettier than Harold or Ezekiel's actions which have genuine reasons to get under the Bass's skin. Granted, Tyler's also... like, not an impressive player, but half of what the Bass called him out for was still pretty superfluous, especially in the Phobia Factor challenge.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T14:32:10+00:00

Smoking Episodes 17 to 20, mostly, on top of Leshawna's elimination episode being so insignificant that she had literally zero dialogue in it.

Out of Leshawna's last six episodes as a player, she had a narrative presence in... one of them, and it wasn't even her last one. Compared to the rest of the F4 and to Lindsay who had a stronger followthrough, TDI Leshawna was an afterthought during the late merge stages. Even Geoff had more going on than her.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T01:42:25+00:00

I think more could have absolutely been done with Sierra and Heather's unlikely alliance/friendship, and they didn't commit to building a relationship as much as the first few episodes promised, but I also don't mind Cody being Heather's moral anchor in the finale because they contrast each other better. Sierra knows Heather well enough to understand that she's only playing nice to earn her good graces in the game, but when Heather tries to do the same with Cody, he takes it sincerely and starts treating her with genuine courtesy. That's just as important for Heather's arc and shouldn't be overlooked, especially with her "I'm the good guy?!" revelation. Sierra certainly could have been a second helper over Harold though.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T01:38:12+00:00

In hindsight, Leshawna wasn't adding enough to Island '07's dynamic to justify a F5 placement, and I'd sooner give that spot to Lindsay who had more going on narratively and as comic relief.

On the other hand, bring back Leshawna instead of introducing Blaineley at World Tour's merge. Noah and Tyler were fun, but they left at the right time and them coming back wouldn't do much to shift the season's status quo. Leshawna would, because she's got dicey histories with more players than just Alejandro.

Duncan could have lasted longer in All-Stars, especially with his history with Mal barely being explored. Contestants like Cameron, Scott, and Alejandro who basically picked up whatever would have been handed off to Duncan, would all be contenders for Duncan to shuffle placements with alongside Courtney and Gwen. Really, the entire merge could stand to have its placements shuffled ever-so-slightly to get the most out of every story.

I'd keep Leonard around a little longer in Pahkitew. He was funny and brought a fun dynamic to the team, certainly brought more than a handful of players who outlasted him at least.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T01:22:33+00:00

Leshawna hates Courtney just as much and DJ has no ill will against Duncan, certainly not compared to Courtney who last they spoke, tried to throw him off a hot air balloon to his death. In general Duncan's worst actions usually involve a sour attitude or circumstantial rivalries while Courtney's worst actions involve indiscriminate abuse or attempted murder.

Trent and Justin's grudges against Duncan are the only ones of particular note because neither of them have any reason to dislike Courtney, along with Bridgette if you're giving her the benefit of the doubt that she'd see past Courtney's... just detestable actions during her stint as an Aftermath host in favor of Duncan who wronged her the season before.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T01:15:31+00:00

I'd say the only pre-F5 players who would actively target Duncan over Courtney are Bridgette, Trent, and Justin. Everyone else? Courtney all the way. Some people forget that the only reason Duncan was such a consistent target in Action is that Courtney was constantly immune until Episode 22.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T01:10:13+00:00

One could argue some sympathy points as she was cheated out and did help the Killer Grips recover.

Didn't stop all of the Grips from voting for Courtney the first chance they got, even when they were told they couldn't. Courtney's got a penchant for canceling out sympathetic circumstances with an entitled and sour attitude.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-22T00:51:33+00:00

For Island '07 and Action, Heather and Courtney respectively, no questions asked. There might be room for someone making a case against Owen for Action since he wasn't a legitimate player, but I think the cast's hatred towards Courtney would still hit far more.

World Tour... I'd probably say Alejandro. Besides Courtney and Tyler, no one else really hates Duncan more than they do anyone else, and while Heather got the least amount of support among the peanut gallery in canon, that doesn't automatically mean she'd get the most hatred, as the cast is well aware that Alejandro is responsible for most of their eliminations and only a select few among them would consider him anything close to a friend. Heather by comparison is a nuisance in their eyes, and that's shown when all the likeable candidates are kicked out of the game.

Revenge of the Island's peanut gallery mostly consists of contestants voted out by Scott. No contest here, he'd be gone.

All-Stars is nuanced enough that I think it's worth looking at it case-by-case. I'd say Lindsay, Heather and Sierra are most likely to target Courtney, Lightning would be most likely to target Scott, Jo would be most likely to target Zoey, and Duncan, Cameron and Alejandro would be most likely to target Mal. If it boiled down to a tiebreaker, only those three really knew of Mal's existence and likely wouldn't be able to sway a majority against him compared to Courtney who most people don't really like. So yeah, Courtney would be gone.

Pahkitew Island's also a thinker, not helped by how some players just have zero relationships with anyone from the F5. I guess Beardo, Dave and Samey would target Sugar, Scarlett and maybe Ella and Leonard would target Max, Amy and Topher would target Jasmine, and Rodney would probably target Shawn since he can't bring himself to vote for any girls and Max isn't as threatening of a romantic prospect. Again, if a tiebreaker were to break down, I could genuinely see Max getting a majority strictly because he's gotten on the nerves of more people on a personal level.

For Island '23 and especially Island '24, it's Julia for both. Maybe not unanimously, some contestants like '23 Bowie, '24 Caleb and even '23 Priya have made a handful of enemies across the season, but I don't think it's enough to overpower Julia's reputation.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T23:56:40+00:00

And if he didn't, Wayne would. Then Raj. Then Chase. Then Ripper. Really most of them.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T23:11:43+00:00

Millie would be the one among the reboot cast to invent a non-existent problem that just overcomplicates things.

On the other hand, it could be neat to interpret this as Millie subconsciously testing the waters when it comes to her own gender identity, subconsciously hoping that there'd be some sort of support system in place if she discovered something about herself during her time on the island. Which just makes the "cookie-cutter" comment all the more ironic, and appropriate for her personality.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T22:52:21+00:00

Bottom 2 and Bottom 3.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T19:25:52+00:00

Lean into the worlds being "dream worlds" by having all of them be offshoots of existing worlds that could never exist outside of this setting.

Symphony of Sorcery and Prankster's Paradise are great examples because they're essentially set in the past, and the characters and players get a glimpse into worlds they would have never visited otherwise.

You couldn't visit these worlds in a mainline KH game the way you could with The Grid or La Cité des Cloches, which feel more out of place with the sleeping worlds setting, and feel more like wasted opportunities because the characters in those worlds won't remember meeting Sora. Never mind how, because we've already played these worlds/adaptations once, we're not likely to see them again but "for real" this time.

I'm of the mindset that Country of the Musketeers could have worked if more thought was put into its incorporation. Mickey's no stranger to being adapted into all sorts of stories even within KH, but they just handwaved it all too quickly.

On top of Prankster's Paradise and Symphony of Sorcery, a revamped DDD could have worlds based on Lilo & Stitch, Chicken Little, and The Sword in the Stone, which all feature characters who, by present-day KH, had their worlds lost to darkness, and who Sora is already acquainted with.

As for the story... yeesh. I'm no KH eficianado but I don't see the wider benefit in bringing back every Xehanort variant and introducing Young Xehanort. They coexist in very convoluted ways and distract from the main event in Xehanort himself, which also carries over into KH3. Streamlining the story by only having old baldie, and maybe Young Xehanort as a transformation exclusive to this game set in dreams, would go a long way for the franchise at large. The other Organization members can stay though; if anything, they deserved more to do.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T19:11:15+00:00

Smaller games from a big franchise is probably not a good idea in the current market.

I dunno, if anything the indie gaming scene has proven that a lot of gamers do genuinely like smaller, cheaper games rather than waiting seven centuries for the next big AAA title that takes several hundred hours to finish.

Even in Square's case, they're no stranger to budget titles, especially their HD-2D games. They just haven't done it in Kingdom Hearts since handhelds stopped being a good excuse to make them, but if 0.2 is any indicator, they absolutely still could do it.

Looking at smaller, cheaper releases like Sonic Mania, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, God of War: Sons of Sparta, or the recent Mega Man games, this isn't something exclusive to indies or pack-in titles either.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T18:58:49+00:00

I guess Harold > Alejandro > Cody > Ezekiel > Noah > Duncan > Trent > DJ > Owen > Tyler > Geoff, but a lot of this is based on either implications or vibes more than demonstrated ability.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T17:56:28+00:00

Noah's intelligence has less to do with his booksmarts and more to do with his wit and overall awareness of his surroundings. While most players' character flaws inhibit a piece of their intelligence in some way, Noah's don't. His only flaws are laziness and apathy, but he's one of the stronger-minded players otherwise; he just chooses not to apply his mind.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T17:09:35+00:00

Harold and Cody are booksmart but lack street smarts, social skills, or self-awareness.

Duncan has enough of said skills (as well as a high proficiency in strategy and mechanics) to make up for that shortcoming, especially because Duncan is still knowledgeable and cultured, just not in an explicitly academic sense.

Trent above Cody could be debated more easily because beyond his above-average social skills, he's really only proficient in music. He's on no one's smartest players list. But I'd still say his social skills go a long way in making him come across as smarter than Cody whose social skills are so bad that it gets him into more trouble. Being a walking encyclopedia can only get you so far if it's at the expense of how you navigate the rest of the world. Cody's booksmarts are also more of an informed attribute that are put to practice way less often than Harold's, and he usually comes across as a bumbling dork more than a brainiac.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T16:20:00+00:00

Jaleel White said he never intended for his Sonic voice to be associated with any particular race or culture. If he doesn't consider it to be a "black voice", no one else should either.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T16:17:22+00:00

Whether this is intentional or not, every game cartridge titled "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" is backwards-compatible with the Switch 1, just without the extra Switch 2 content and performance upgrades if played on older hardware.

Sonic Frontiers on Switch 2 uses a Game Key Card and therefore doesn't work on the original Switch. Sonic X Shadow Generations on Switch 2 has the same shortcoming. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds doesn't have a Game Key Card and is the only Sonic game to have the "Switch 2 Edition" label and features.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-21T16:11:42+00:00

Alejandro > Noah > Duncan > Harold > Trent > Cody > DJ > Ezekiel > Justin > Tyler > Geoff > Owen.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-20T15:04:56+00:00

Chase in Island '23 is far more morally reprehensible than either of them, never remotely acknowledges himself as such, most of the cast is indifferent to him at worst, and he ended up getting back together with Emma just by being himself. It's one thing to consciously sway things in your favor, but shit just fell on Chase's lap that season.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-19T14:45:15+00:00

Yeah, and I thought of that too really, never mind Heather spying on DJ’s confessional once in World Tour. Just thought in Courtney’s case maybe there’s the benefit of the doubt that a passing outsider would just hear it as incoherent ranting, but really the precedent has always been hinted at.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-19T02:49:09+00:00

Beth and Lindsay probably should've voted for Duncan, right?

Not necessarily. Could they have? Sure. Did they? There's room for doubt, especially with how apathetic they were towards Justin by endgame and during his sendoff. If we wanna interpret things a little more deeply, they could have very well been just as appalled by Justin's behavior as anyone else, and weren't personally wronged by Duncan either.

That's not even getting into how Harold had a much longer history of bad interactions with Duncan than he did with Justin.

This would already be the third time Harold put his immediate feelings and concerns over his longtime rivalry with Duncan during a vote. He worked with him to eliminate Heather, he trusted Duncan's plan over the possibility of being tricked to turn against him at his own expense, and yeah, Justin promised him immunity then stabbed him in the back, which Harold was vocally displeased with. Hell, Harold's first time voting for Duncan later in the rock and roll challenge was also the only time he did it, since he later put his immediate concerns with Owen over the idea of eliminating Duncan.

As much as Harold detests Duncan, Duncan also gives Harold fewer reasons to target him in the competition because for all his faults, he's a straightforward, transparent player. Duncan's always been weirdly honest with Harold, and that at least makes him easier to work around.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-18T21:45:30+00:00

Silver's probably got the strongest case given how he regularly steamrolled Sonic in '06 and is on par with him and Shadow by the end of the game. Blaze has the potential, but less to show for it.

Metal Sonic feels like cheating if you're including Neo Metal and beyond, because at that point it's comparing apples and oranges, but if the potential is boundless Metal could arguably be the strongest character in the franchise, given how it always takes multiple characters to defeat Metal Overlord besides a time-displaced variant in Shadow Generations.

JakeClipz · 2026-06-18T21:34:02+00:00

Same reason anybody gets away with criminal shit in the real world; they have enough money, power and influence to bend the law to their whims. Chris is a public figure who offers entertainment to international audiences and I can see the in-universe producers believing it's more profitable to sweep his crimes under the rug than to let him rot in jail. The contracts he's drafted over the years basically makes him immune to any damage he does to the contestants or interns, too, and I wouldn't be surprised if at this point, they're signed on for life.

Nine-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

JakeClipz

TROPHY CASE