Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-82.43.138.194-20140707202022/@comment-3250527-20141213022537

Some AW fans speculate that Graphite Edge is more closely related to Asuna/Kirito by the fact that he knew Starburst Stream, The Eclipse, and Vorpal Strike (then later teaching those skills to Kuroyukihime).

But, despite these similarities, Reki insists on the fact that SAO and AW are in completely separate timelines. Only time will tell...