Xenoblade X split with Klaus and the Ontos Core
Image: Nintendo Life

“This story never truly ends…”

We’ve been waiting almost 10 years to understand what the final words of Xenoblade Chronicles X mean. We’re used to earth-shattering plot reveals from Monolith Soft at this point, but even for Tetsuya Takahashi, the final sequence of Xenoblade Chronicles X drops a metric ton of them, offering more questions than answers.

Fortunately, we might finally be getting some answers. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is coming to Switch, and we’re not just getting the original Wii U game all spruced up. We’re getting “new story elements” to boot. We don’t know what that means yet, but one big question hangs in the air: Will the Definitive Edition tie up with the numbered entries in some way?

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We’ll be going over some fairly spoilery bits from the whole series here, particularly the ending of X and Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s DLC, Future Redeemed. So, you’ve been warned...

New Los Angeles in Xenoblade Chronicles X featuring Cross and Elma
Image: Nintendo

Let’s start with the Definitive Edition trailer – specifically, the end. If you’ve seen the ending to the Wii U game, you’ll recognise the set-up here. Lao – a major character and one-time ally who eventually betrays BLADE, the organisation your character works for – lies unconscious on the beach. He’s approached by a cloaked figure whom we’ve never seen before. The camera zooms in to Lao, who opens his eyes, and the screen cuts to black.

The trailer expands on this slightly. We still get the man in black, and the camera still zooms in on Lao’s face. But now we get a closer shot of the black hooded figure, but this time he starts removing his hood. He even gets a line of dialogue – “Fancy seeing you here.” But of course, we still don't see his face before the cut.

Lao and the Black Knight on the beach in Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition
Image: Nintendo

We’re going to find out who this man is, but we already know a little. He’s The Black Knight, a figure we were only introduced to thanks to the game’s concept art. And looking at that reveals some potential ties to other instalments.

The Black Knight Concept Art Xenoblade Chronicles X
Image: via Creative Uncut / Monolith Soft

The character art is much bulkier, for sure, but the datamined character model does match the art pretty closely, including that rather prominent blue glowing crystal. Is this a precursor to the Core Crystal, a concept introduced in Xenoblade Chronicles 2? The placement is pretty perfect, and there’s no reason Monolith Soft won’t go back and add to that “placeholder” design – just look at what happened to Alvis’ key-shaped necklace in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.

Some people think that The Black Knight in the new trailer has a very familiar voice in English – David Menkin, who voices Malos in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It’s probably not Malos directly, and we think the voice sounds a little different, but if there's any kind of connection, it could all hinge on whether that Core Crystal is Logos, Malos' Core and one part of the Trinity Processor. Think of A, Ontos' discarded consciousness in Future Redeemed, and we could have something similar.

Speaking of Future Redeemed, it's finally time to talk about that radio broadcast. This one single radio broadcast is enough to open the gates of possibility wide open for not just Xenoblade, but the entire Xeno series.

The broadcast plays casually in the background as Matthew talks to his sister Na’el while trapped in the memory version of Earth, right before Klaus’ experiment, which kickstarts the entire Xenoblade series. While it casually namedrops things from Xenosaga and Xenogears, we’ll focus on X here, namely the Earthlife Colonization Project, also known as Project Exodus.

Na'el and Matthew and the radio broadcast in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed
Image: Nintendo Life

These could all just be fun little references, but with the Definitive Edition on the horizon, that seems unlikely. The basis of the ECP is outlined pretty clearly in X’s opening, and one major detail lines up in both the radio and the intro – the month of departure, July.

The implication is that the ECP took place before and during Klaus’ world-splitting experiment. But hundreds of thousands of people were also thrown through dimensional gateways, suggesting there are more worlds and universes than just Alrest and Bionis.

Which takes us neatly back to Xenoblade Chronicles X and the world of Mira. Mira is a beautiful planet. It’s also really weird. The sidequests are the heart of Xenoblade X, and they reveal some shocking things about the planet – none of the species on Mira speak the same language, but everything is automatically translated. Other than the Nopon, who originate from Mira, all species arrived via a flash of light. Professor B, one of the many residents of New Los Angeles, used his car-shaped machine (Great Scott!) to time travel, but it was eventually, and mysteriously, destroyed. He also appears to be an extremely evolved form of human.

A Skell flying around Mira in Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Editon
Image: Nintendo

There’s also the huge dangling thread left in the ending – despite Central Life’s database, where humanity’s DNA is stored, being destroyed, the humans still exist. Elma concludes, “It’s something about this planet…”

Those are just a few things, but Klaus’ experiment could easily have caused these incidents. Nothing is normal about the planet, as the sun rises and sets in the same place, and the planet’s five moons are tidally locked. Mira doesn’t fit in with the equation yet, but it would be easy enough to do – we’ve seen Monolith retcon things in the past to make other games fit neatly into a timeline, and the devs may do it with X.

Elma overlooking New Los Angeles Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Editon
Image: Nintendo

So, some food for thought! We haven’t touched on every single scenario or possibility, but we don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’re getting Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition after that Future Redeemed DLC. The world of Mira has many secrets, and it may all link back to Klaus, Logos, and who knows what else.

Anyhow, what we really want to know is whether we can throw Tatsu out of a window? No more potato jokes, Monolith Soft…

Do you think Xenoblade Chronicles X will be tied into the numbered entries? Do you want it to be? Vote in our polls below and get talking in the comments.

Do you think Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition will tie into the numbered games? (663 votes)

  1. Yep, no doubt about it38%
  2. I think there will be more references, but nothing direct38%
  3. Through some fun new DLC, maybe, but no6%
  4. No way, it should be it's own thing12%
  5. Wait... isn't X the 10th game?6%

What is next for the Xenoblade Chronicles series? (658 votes)

  1. Xenoblade Chronicles 4, please!26%
  2. It's time for Xenoblade Chronicles X235%
  3. Xenoblade Warriors - everyone is here now9%
  4. Hmm, what about Xenosaga or Xenogears port, though...25%
  5. Nothing, leave the series as it is!5%