Timeless River
First Appearance: KINGDOM HEARTS II (2006)
Origin: Steamboat Willie (1928)
At a time of great peril to Disney Castle, the Wizard Merlin sends Sora, Donald and Goofy through a strange silver door. That door leads them to a bizarre world, where even they themselves are deformed, the only colors available are shades of black and white, and a constant static noise fills the air. That world is Timeless River, the world of the past from before Disney Castle was built. They must stop a disaster from happening back then in order to protect the castle of the present.
Immediately upon stepping past the door, the trio takes a short while to adjust to their new surroundings but before long a familiar face shows up. It's Pete, who was so villainous King Mickey had to exile him in the present. While they're ready and willing to take him on, the black and white Pete doesn't seem to recognize them. They decide to follow him, reaching the all too likely conclusion that he is the one responsible for the mayhem in the present. Believing him to be an enemy, the group engages him in battle and manages to stir up Pete's back problems, but eventually reach the conclusion that the Pete before them and the one they know aren't one and the same. This one is the captain of the steamboat who's busy searching for his boat which was stolen. To express their regret, the group agrees to find the culprit - after they give the captain a nice back rub.
On their searches, the trio runs into more than just boat thieves and doors. They come face to face with floating windows, hovering in midair without any walls to hold them up. Ever the curious duckling, Donald pulls the ropes and undoes the curtains covering the windows, thus revealing before them more than they bargained for. The window shows what happened not too long before they reached there. There are four windows like the one Sora, Donald and Goofy are looking through, and groups of Heartless jumped into each and every one of them! The odd flashback ends with the trio themselves reaching the place, only after both windows and Heartless have already vanished.
With the windows appearing again, the party decides to follow the Heartless and exterminate them from within the windows. King Mickey, or rather, Mickey Mouse appears to help them fend off the Heartless, but seems unable to utter a word. He takes off soon after each brief encounter, leaving the party to look through more windows. The first one shows the present, from the point of view of someone speaking to none other than Maleficent. As befitting the witch, she mocks the person and casts him away, leaving him distressed.
The second window shows the poor thing's reaction, displaying him in a rather defensive mood. He reminiscents over the good old days, and how he misses his old steamboat. As though answering that heartfelt wish, a silver door appears before him, much resembling the one Sora, Donald and Goofy used to reach Timeless River. The third window reveals Maleficent approving of the discovery, and understanding the door's nature of being a portal to the past. She gives the poor soul another chance to redeem himself through making use of him in her plan to harm the past's Cornerstone of Light.
The trio finally pieces together where they are, and understand the warning Merlin gave them before they reached that world. They are not to lose to temptations - of changing the present by changing the past they were sent to.
That also includes protecting the past, it seems, as the fourth and last window reveals Maleficent's plan. As the castle still hasn't been built, the Cornerstone of Light is unguarded. That leaves present time's Pete free to move in and fill the past with Heartless, Darkness, and to smash the Cornerstone.
The group suspects Captain Pete lied to them as Pete is the one responsible for the havoc, but something doesn't sit too well with them. They understand soon why as present day's Pete shows up to continue his evil doing, and to steal the Cornerstone of Light. They give chase, along with Captain Pete who wants his boat back.
It's a race against time to stop Pete from sailing downstream with the Cornerstone on the stolen boat. The party succeeds without too much difficulty, and after a final battle of Pete vs. Pete, Pete runs away back to the present, leaving Sora to lock the door he used behind him.
With the boat back in his possession, Captain Pete feels extremely generous. The gang not only gets to ride on his steamboat, but Sora also gets to pilot it down the river instead of Pete's deck-hand, Mickey. That one's actually on the back of the boat, resting after helping Sora fight the Heartless.
With the Cornerstone properly secured and back where it belongs, and the door Pete and Maleficent were using locked tight, the gang heads back to their own time, even if it means Sora and Goofy have to drag Donald back to keep him from altering the course of the past further.
Notice a problem on this page? Let us know and we will fix it right away!
