OG FF7 was the defining game of my childhood and reliving it through Remake and Rebirth and expanding upon the original story and world is everything my younger self dreamt of ever since seeing the FF7 opening trailer teased during the PS3 era. For me Rebirth in particular is a phenomenal achievement and comes across as a true labor of love from the team who developed it. I think I\u2019d go as far as saying that Rebirth is my new favorite game of all time; I\u2019ve played it for 120+hours and still want to keep playing, which in my adult life is completely unheard of given how much less time I have to play games these days vs my youth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ending of Rebirth was intriguing, if a little overly-convoluted. It also seems to be quite polarizing but I was ok with it. It has obviously been designed so that it is ambiguous and open to interpretation. I can see why they thought they had to go down this route so that there can be a big reveal in part 3 to compensate for almost everyone knowing the truth about Cloud\u2019s backstory; thus ruining the big plot twist from the OG game.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve enjoyed reading the theories surrounding the ending and in the time I’ve had to read them my perception is that it is generally agreed upon that in the Main\/Beagle timeline\/world Aerith is dead from the perspective of everyone except Cloud. For completeness I define the \u2018main\u2019 world as the one which shows them all flying away in the Tiny Bronco against a sky with no rift in the final scene of the game. There are then various theories about why Cloud can see Aerith but the one that seems to make the most sense is that Cloud’s mind is a complete mess and he is refusing to believe that Aerith has actually died. The classic unreliable narrator which matches up with Cloud’s OG story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve never really engaged in any theory-crafting, FF7 is the first story I’ve been passionate enough about, but I have a few thoughts that I thought would be fun to share and discuss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the prevailing idea that Aerith is dead and Cloud is unable to process this death makes a lot of sense and I could very well see it being proven true, however, this has been discussed quite a bit already and I think it’s more interesting to explore alternative ideas to see where the ideas could lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this spirit I am going to conduct a thought-experiment that goes against convention; starting with the following hypothesis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I have a defined starting point my reasoning plays out more like a journey than a theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My basic understanding going into Rebirth was that there used to be a single fate that the planet attempts to follow and our actions in Remake (defeating the arbiters of fate) have meant that things aren’t now kept along that singular, inevitable path and that \u2018fate\u2019 can be changed. During my play-through of Rebirth, and after subsequent reading of theories, I roughly followed along with the different Stamp breeds marking out different “worlds” but I haven’t really got a clue how all the various worlds that are depicted throughout Rebirth slot together beyond this. Some characters see rifts in the sky whereas others do not. Throughout Rebirth it also seems that we see a rainbow\/white aura depicting a splitting off of a new world after certain fate altering choices are made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll first share the series of events I noticed from the end of the temple of the ancient section through to the ending of the game as this makes it easier to refer back to specific points of interest when discussing theories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final sequence of fights then plays out to us follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult to know where to start as a lot of the final scenes heavily imply she can only be seen by Cloud, however, having gone through them a few times I think they\u2019ve been made ambiguous enough to allow for the possibility of her being visible to the whole party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In order to account for Aerith sometimes not being present when she should be we have to start by taking the same idea used in the conventional theories and say that Cloud is an unreliable narrator. I\u2019ll expand on this point later but for now let’s flip the conventional idea on its head a little and rather than saying that \u201cshe\u2019s only present when Cloud is looking at her\u201d let\u2019s instead frame it as \u201cshe\u2019s only missing in scenes where Cloud is also in them\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next we can say that none of the direct interactions between Aerith and the party completely disprove that she is physically present. If you watch the final cut-scene through the lens of them all being able to see Aerith it still broadly makes sense. It all looks a bit weird from a character interaction point of view, but that is equally true in the scenario where we say \u201conly Cloud can see her\u201d – I\u2019ll expand on this later too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of the interactions in the final cut scenes could be interpreted as her being present:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As far as the final cut-scenes are concerned the only other thing that isn\u2019t accounted for is the demeanor of the party as they are all clearly distraught about something, particularly Tifa. There\u2019s a more potentially damning bit of dialogue we need to tackle first though; one which could yet doom Aerith. This lies in one of the final battle sections against Sephiroth Reborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the first fight with the party (minus Cloud and Aerith) against Sephiroth Reborn (B8) Barret clearly says \u201cThis ones for Aerith\u201d. So that\u2019s it right? Game over. The only thing that\u2019s getting around this is a Gameshark code. Perhaps, but what if we keep trying to push past those pesky white whispers? Defying fate ain\u2019t easy y\u2019know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final sequence of battles after Schrodinger’s Aerith scene are difficult to follow, let alone piece together any coherent narrative for the events that play out. It does seem there is an overarching sense that the Sephiroth Reborn fight is taking part across multiple worlds simultaneously; fitting into the theme of there being merging worlds as mentioned by Sephiroth in 5, 13 and 27. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most direct indications of this are where we see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lets fully run with the merging worlds idea and say that each section is a different world fighting against a single Sephiroth. That gives us Cloud\u2019s world, Zack\u2019s world and the rest of the party\u2019s world – implying 3 groups fighting at the same time. Unfortunately this idea doesn\u2019t yet help Aerith\u2019s life expectancy, however, there\u2019s something weird about the main party sections of the fight that we can dig into. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fight as the party in two sections; B8 and B12. Look at the environments in both – they are completely different. An obvious reason for this could just be that we\u2019re in an epic final battle sequence and all kinds of shit is kicking off; \u201cdon\u2019t worry about it\u201d, \u201cmove along\u201d, \u201cnothing to see here\u201d – this isn\u2019t going to fly here though as we\u2019re fully committed to saving Aerith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the B8 environment we can see markings on the floor that resemble those on the floor of the altar in the Planets Sanctuary so I think we can say that the location of this fight is in the Forgotten City. We also see a bunch of dark purple columns rising up with skeletons and other Jenova-esque remnants; we can potentially say that time-wise this is after the Jenova Lifeclinger fight. Anything related to Jenova could mean we\u2019re being messed with but this is the best we can do for now so let\u2019s say that B8 is the Forgotten City after the Jenova fight<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The B12 environment is completely different; the flooring is just stone with no markings, the Jenova remnants have gone and we now have whirlwinds of what looks like the lifestream. There\u2019s a chance that we\u2019ve just moved out of the Planets Sanctuary into another section of the Forgotten City during the course of the battle but I\u2019m going to propose that there are enough differences to say that B8 and B12 take place in different worlds. I\u2019ll ignore where\/when B12 is for now as just the notion of these being different worlds is enough to resuscitate the theory (and Aerith) for now. We can now say that we have 4 worlds fighting Sephiroth and that means that the Party in B8 isn\u2019t necessarily the same Party as B12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going back to the original problem of Barret\u2019s line \u201cthis is for Aerith” that occurs in B8 – if we\u2019re saying that B8 happens in an independent world then this means that Aerith could be dead to the party in this world but it doesn\u2019t mean that this world is the one we later see in the final cutscene i.e. the party we see in the final cutscene is from B12 so we can disregard Barret\u2019s line and Aerith is saved! Though admittedly on life-support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So with a bit of effort\/blatant delusion we can refute the major roadblocks that would otherwise disprove that Aerith is alive in the final scenes of the game. It\u2019s not particularly compelling though and there are a lot of loose ends left over from our mental gymnastics so far. The most obvious problem being that the party are clearly distraught about something at the end; if Aerith isn\u2019t dead then what are they upset about? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What if I said that the idea of Aerith being alive isn\u2019t the most controversial part of this theory? The price of freedom sure is steep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the altar scene we apparently see two outcomes; one where Aerith is dead and one where she is alive, however, what if we are looking at the wrong character?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two worlds appear to split in 19 where we first see a flash of rainbow light that indicates this. From this point onwards everything about Aerith is the same in both worlds; closing her eyes, ribbon and materia falling from her hair, her hitting the floor and being held in Cloud\u2019s arms – the first time we see any difference in Aerith is at 25 when she opens her eyes and talks to Cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What if we look at Cloud over the same period from 19-25? At 23 we see that Cloud behaves differently in the two worlds – talking vs crying. So in 23 and 24 the only character differences between the worlds we see come from Cloud which could imply that his fate has altered in some way. So far we\u2019ve only focused on Aerith\u2019s fate; what if we instead focus on Cloud\u2019s fate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fate of Cloud hinges on the actions in 24, in the world where Aerith lives. It starts with Aerith lying in Cloud\u2019s arms while he is crying. Sephiroth\/Jenova says \u201cDon\u2019t weep, your tears are empty. Just like you\u201d and then makes a slashing motion – it is only after this slashing motion that we hear the faint sound we usually hear when someone is returning to the lifestream and we see the familiar green particles to go with it – before this point we don\u2019t see any of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once we start seeing the particles we see Aerith open her eyes, telling Cloud that \u201cit\u2019s ok\u201d and puts her hand up to his face. Cloud then places his hand on Aerith\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This could all be interpreted as Cloud dying. Or is at least injured enough by Sephiroth\/Jenova to start entering the lifestream at this point with Aerith trying to soothe him through it. So instead of talking about worlds where Aerith lives\/dies we can instead look at it from whether Cloud lives\/dies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do things still make sense if we look through the following sequences from the perspective that Cloud is dead?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the party rush up to the altar (26) they see Aerith with her eyes closed. Tifa then seems to have visions of Cloud and Aerith with more flickering between there being blood present and there being no blood – though notably Aerith\u2019s eyes are closed both times. The closed eyes could be explained by Aerith only speaking to Cloud in the lifestream and there\u2019s nothing indicating that the blood isn\u2019t Cloud\u2019s – we would just naturally assume this would be Aerith\u2019s because of our expectations of what happens in this scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After this we go into the final boss sequence, we\u2019ll leave out the details about the actual fights for now and revisit them later but after the Jenova battle we see Cloud surrounded by white, as Zack would say \u201cwhite as far as the eye can see\u201d which is another indicator that Cloud is now in the lifestream. Cloud being in the lifestream also neatly explains why Zack can see him and interact with him. This happens again after we defeat Sephiroth with Aerith in the final fight – we see Aerith fading away but Cloud remains surrounded by white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whilst there are a few events that Cloud being dead explains quite nicely we do have a couple of sticking points. The first being the Jenova fight (B1) where Cloud is clearly present and the second being Cloud\u2019s direct interaction with the party before boarding the Tiny Bronco in the final scene. How are we getting ourselves out of this? The short answer is \u201cwith difficulty\u201d but I\u2019m in far too deep to give up now. Now would be a good time for us to go over that battle sequence I skipped over; or perhaps I should say battle sequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re still with me then I can only congratulate you on your commitment; it\u2019s right up there with getting through the Cait Sith section of the game in the Nibelheim Mansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no getting around the fact that Cloud is present in the Jenova battle, we fight as him and he is talked to by the party at multiple points. To explain this we have to revisit our old friends who\u2019ve already done a bunch of heavy lifting in this theory – the Sephiroth Reborn battle sequences B8 and B12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve already identified that B8 happens at the Forgotten City and follows the Jenova fight; we haven\u2019t yet elaborated on where\/when B12 happens and there\u2019s a very good reason for this\u2026 I don\u2019t know. The best I can do is fill in a gap left by the story at 2 after Cloud and Aerith fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Sephiroth picks up the black materia after we\u2019ve collapsed the Temple, he rises into the sky and says \u201cThe time has come\u201d and we see a rift appearing – a rift which looks remarkably similar to the one Sephiroth Reborn comes through at the Forgotten City; you can see where I\u2019m going with this can\u2019t you? What if B12 happens for the main party in \u201cour\u201d world at the Temple of the Ancients before we get to the Forgotten City? It seems unlikely that Sephiroth would just disappear at that point in the story so perhaps he starts merging worlds at this point? There appear to be the remains of Cetra buildings in the background so this is the only other place it could realistically be. It also fits that Cloud and Aerith aren\u2019t there for the fight since Sephiroth made them both fall at this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most helpful implication of this is that we can’t now trust that the final battle sequence plays out in a single chronological ordering; even though it is presented to the player as such. If we roll with this idea then the final battle sequence could actually be multiple battle sequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sequence from the perspective of the \u201cmain\u201d party in our world where Aerith lives goes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sequence for the party in the world where Aerith dies goes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So similar to the way we could save Aerith by dismissing this world and the \u201cThis is for Aerith\u201d line we can also doom Cloud by saying that the Jenova battle happens in that same world. There\u2019s still a bigger problem we are yet to resolve however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is still that part in the final scene where the other party members are directly interacting with Cloud by the Tiny Bronco, and our theory currently doesn\u2019t have a Cloud to account for this – which is less than ideal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where we have to start delving into characters switching worlds and I\u2019ll freely admit that I\u2019m not sure how all the worlds we see in the game are interconnected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To narrow the scope down to something more specific I\u2019m going to only consider world switches where Aerith seems to send a character between worlds. There are two instances of this that I\u2019m pretty sure of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a common visual cue that occurs both times; a rainbow area appearing and seeing white whispers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With this in mind let\u2019s re-look at the end of the Jenova Fight (B2); there\u2019s a white area on the ground and white whispers! We\u2019ve already decided that this battle plays out in the world where Aerith dies but Cloud lives and in the subsequent battle against Sephiroth Reborn (B8) Cloud is conspicuously absent and we get the following interaction between Barrett and Red:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barret: \u201cAny sign?\u201d
Red: \u201cMaybe the whispers got him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The theory that Aerith takes Cloud out of this world, where Cloud is alive, back into our world would solve our missing Cloud problem. This may also account for Cloud seeing a rift in the final cut scene in the same way Zack does (note on this later). In addition to this Cloud will also have all of his memories from that timeline and so will have seen Aerith die – perhaps also explaining why we flick between multiple outcomes during the Schrodinger’s Aerith scene? We are looking back at it through a very confused Cloud. We can\u2019t be shown the iconic Cloud lowering Aerith into the water scene because no world exists where there is a living Cloud and a dead Aerith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We could also use this to explain why he can\u2019t see Aerith at certain points in the final cut-scenes. Aerith is only missing in scenes where he isn\u2019t looking at her and he\u2019s from a world where she is dead – perhaps he can\u2019t acknowledge her being alive unless he sees her directly. Furthermore we could go further with this and say that we aren\u2019t able to hear Aerith unless Cloud can hear her – this explains the weird one-sided interactions with silences we see between the rest of the party and Aerith. In reality Aerith is talking back to the party; but we don\u2019t hear it through Cloud. He\u2019s still the good old unreliable narrator we all know and love.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still following? To quote Barret \u201cThere ain’t no stopping this train we\u2019re on\u201d. I still don\u2019t like this sky though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we have Cloud back but something is still not right, if Aerith is alive in the main world, and Cloud is also back, then we still need a reason for the party, particularly Tifa, to be devastated at the end. We’ve taken one step forward and two back. To resolve this we need to play our final card; the Shadowblood Queen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 6 we see Cloud having visions of himself as a black robe. We know that Cloud has Jenova\u2019s cells (S cells from Crisis Core) in him and it\u2019s these that allow him to be controlled by Jenova\/Sephiroth at various points in the story. We also know that the \u201cBlack Robes\u201d appear to be those with Jenova cells that have \u201cdegraded\u201d to the point where they are almost mindless and are following some kind of call. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An interesting scene involving one of these Black Robes is the second fight against Roche in Nibelheim – after he has been experimented on by Hojo. When we defeat him he turns into a black robe directly in front of us. Perhaps something along these lines happens to Cloud? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cloud\u2019s character up to this point is defined by his identity crisis, knowing things he shouldn\u2019t and not knowing things he should because his mind is fragmented. Perhaps when Cloud is killed it\u2019s the \u201cReal\u201d part of Cloud that passes into the lifestream and all that remains is a black robe, or instead, Jenova\u2019s shallow representation of Cloud given that Jenova cells cannot enter the lifestream. This would fit well into the OG narrative for part 3 where Tifa has to find and repair Cloud\u2019s mind in the lifestream after they fall into it in Mideel. In the OG game the process is represented by different parts of Cloud merging into a whole to \u201cfix\u201d him, one of these parts of the \u201creal\u201d Cloud is now in the lifestream and that could be how he later returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think the demeanor of the party could be as a result of seeing Cloud die, perhaps briefly seeing a black robe, and then separately seeing another version appear again when Aerith switches the living Cloud into this world. All of this is of course unseen by us for now. We don\u2019t know the full implications of Aerith bringing Cloud back from the world where he lives into our main world after his death but presumably it would mean that Jenova would have access to Cloud\u2019s memories from both versions and so this could further explain the Schrodinger’s Aerith situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think Tifa in particular believes that this is Jenova and so she is mourning the loss of \u201cher Cloud\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cloud is by no means the most expressive character in the game but he seems even more monotone than usual in the final cut-scene; seeming to speak in short sentences and twice asking \u201cTrust me\u201d – this could point to Jenova.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When falling through the \u201ctrue nature of reality\u201d (6) Cloud has a vision of being a black robe in what looks like the whirlwind maze; going from the OG series of events that would occur pretty early on in the next game and this may be related. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other things to consider are, rather than Cloud being \u201cfull Jenova\u201d, he\u2019s just gone from \u201cCloud with a sprinkling of Jenova\u201d to \u201cJenova with a sprinkling of Cloud\u201d. Which would represent the downwards spiral of his mental state that we saw in the OG game quite well. I\u2019d also suspect that Cloud doesn\u2019t know he\u2019s dead so this will further complicate the Cloud we see at the start of the 3rd game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that is the journey which, 26 years later, saves Aerith from Sephiroth. At least for now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As mentioned previously I think a lot of the final sequence has been left open to interpretation so I wouldn\u2019t claim this to be the definitive version of events but I had a lot of fun with it and I\u2019m really looking forward to the final game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saving Aerith was the main aim of my thought-experiment but there are few other less well formed ideas that have come out of that process which I\u2019ll give their own sections below. The fact that the final cut-scenes may not be playing out in chronological order opens up so many permutations that my head hurts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I initially thought that a rift was a \u201cworld\u201d thing but I\u2019m now of the opinion that it is a \u201ccharacter\u201d thing. We only know that 3 characters (I think) definitely see the rift: Cloud, Zack and Biggs. There\u2019s no direct evidence that any of the other characters see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other characters in the Stamp Terrier world don\u2019t specifically say they see a rift – just that the \u201cworld is ending\u201d so maybe they don\u2019t actually see the rift and instead they see meteor? There is a scene where Marlene asks if they\u2019ll see \u201cDaddy and Tifa\u201d soon and Elmyra replies \u201csoon enough\u201d. During this we see the camera pan to the sky and we don\u2019t see a rift which would support this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I think that a character seeing a rift means that the character is either dead and a part of the lifestream or it\u2019s some side effect of Aerith moving them between worlds. Given that the rift pattern matches with a similar pattern from the OG game when Tifa and Cloud are in the lifestream the former seems most likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that the timelines of events being shown to us could be all over place I think there is a good chance that Aerith saves all of the characters who see a rift as part of the answer to her prayer at the altar in the Planets Sanctuary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She asks \u201cAll I want is one thing\u2026 to keep the others safe. They mean so much to me. So please\u2026 tell me how to do that\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that Sephiroth is able to harvest the souls from worlds that \u2018disappear\u2019 or \u2018merge\u2019 – he alludes to this when the party enters the Forgotten Capital (13). This harvesting would presumably prevent them from entering the lifestream (maybe explaining the missing mako Biggs mentions in the Pug Stamp world) and so Aerith is moving all the people she cares about, Cloud, Zack and Biggs out of collapsing\/merging worlds and into safe ones so that they can\u2019t be harvested by Sephiroth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps this is the reason why she has to stay behind at the Forgotten Capital to help manage the souls in the lifestream and keep them away from Sephiroth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This may have been obvious to everyone else but it occurred to me that Biggs has been saved by Aerith because he was one of her friends from the Leaf House growing up – this is brought up in the \u201cTraces of Two Pasts\u201d book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only has Aerith lived but I think she\u2019s played an absolute blinder against the calamity from the sky. I believe there are a number of scenes which show her trying to fool Jenova\/Sephiroth which elicit the line \u201cI must admit, I underestimated you\u201d from Sephiroth in the final battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we\u2019re in Nibelheim, Cloud has the revelation that he knew Zack and that he was killed – he shares this with Tifa who promises she will tell Aerith the truth about Zack as they\u2019re close. We find out later that Tifa tells Aerith about Cloud knowing Zack but Tifa denies that she\u2019s told her when asked about it by Cloud – I think this is one of a number of instances where Aerith is deliberately trying to trick or withhold information from Jenova<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think that in this world Sephiroth\/Jenova don’t specifically want to kill Aerith, seeing as they managed this in OG and they were still stopped. Instead I believe their focus is on the White Materia. I think they believe that, at the conclusion of Remake, the main world doesn\u2019t have a functioning White Materia and so there\u2019s nothing that can stop them destroying the world with meteor after they get hold of the Black Materia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a scene when Cloud returns to the world in the Sleeping Forest where Sephiroth\/Jenova remarks – \u201cthat doesn\u2019t belong here\u201d and in the English translation says \u201cVery poor form\u201d when noticing the white materia. An interesting point about the line \u201cvery poor form\u201d is that the Japanese dialog is closer to \u201cYou must be punished\u201d – which potentially gives us a motive for Cloud\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continuing on in this scene there\u2019s another interesting bit of dialog between Cloud and Aerith when Aerith retrieves the white materia from him:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cloud: \u201cSephiroth\u2019s here. I can feel him watching us\u201d
Aerith: \u201cYeah\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Aerith retrieves the materia and says:
“Thanks for returning it to me Cloud, I really appreciate it. But now it belongs to you”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And makes a clear point of placing the empty, clear version back into Cloud\u2019s hand before disappearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wonder if this is another attempt to trick Jenova? A way of sneaking the white materia into this world whilst giving Cloud a memory of him still having it that Jenova can pull from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is going to make my head hurt as we have time-loop shenanigans to navigate but what if the full white materia sequence goes something like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given that we think that Sephiroth Reborn is fought across space and time let’s revisit the assess description of the White Whispers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201c”A unique arbiter of fate that opposes all who attempt to defy the inevitable. Intrinsically connected to the planet’s destiny across all of time and space\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Which I interpret as saying \u201ctime doesn\u2019t apply to these guys\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To satisfy the line \u201copposes all who attempt to defy the inevitable\u201d I think that they try to prevent Cloud from stopping Aerith\u2019s inevitable death but at that moment, because Aerith wouldn\u2019t cast Holy, they then have bigger problems as they need to stop Sephiroth from defying fate and destroying the world(s) with meteor and so all of the above can happen without time mattering or having to worry about any looping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This all culminates in Aerith walking into the final battle against Sephiroth with Cloud and Sephiroth saying that she underestimated her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To round off this mind-fuck we then have Aerith\u2019s final dialog with Jenova Cloud where she says \u201cI\u2019ll put all my effort into my prayers – I\u2019ll stop Meteor\u201d. As far as we know Meteor hasn\u2019t yet been summoned but perhaps this is more deliberate manipulation of Jenova.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marlene\u2019s prediction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I think Marlene\u2019s prediction is referring to an event that will happen in the 3rd game. I think Cloud\u2019s sickness in this context will refer to Cloud after the events at the Northern Crater and we\u2019re going back to the Forgotten Capital at some point. I fear for Aerith\u2019s fate in the 3rd game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
*** Contains spoilers for OG FF7, Remake and Rebirth *** OG FF7 was the defining game of my childhood and reliving it through Remake and Rebirth and expanding upon the original story and world is everything my younger self dreamt of ever since seeing the FF7 opening trailer teased during the PS3 era. For me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"wide-content","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-31","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sykology.dev\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sykology.dev\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sykology.dev\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sykology.dev\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sykology.dev\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sykology.dev\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52,"href":"https:\/\/sykology.dev\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions\/52"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sykology.dev\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}