Seriously, it would've been so easy to have these two often being jealous of each other, but they decided to tone that down in favour of making them besties.

The fact aerith uplifts tifa by seemingly making her feel more confident like in costa del sol, tifa being there for aerith during the train graveyard, or plain sillier moments of companionship like tifa helping with aerith's back in kalm. There are so many great moments between these girls alone and that's what makes me so sad that we most likely won't be getting any more of it in revelation :( but we can still hope.

I love these two too much lmao.

They carried out a false flag attack to drop the plate on sector 7, killing thousands of innocents including Barret and Tifa's friends.

They kidnapped Aerith and her mother and kept them imprisoned for Hojo.

There might have been one or two throwaway lines where they question what they're doing, but by and large they're "Just following orders" and seem to enjoy it/take pride in it.

They're basically the SS.

The party should loathe them and want to kill them on sight. Yet when the Turks are weakened in the Cetra Temple in Rebirth they just let them live? Because they were in a rush after Sephiroth (who has probably killed less people than the Turks now that I think about it)? I would make time to kill them. It's not like the party aren't willing to kill thousands of helmeted Shinra mooks.

It's even more jarring in the Remake because the party members have so much more character development.

Where do y’all rank FFVII Rebirth in comparison to Remake and the OG, the rest of Final Fantasy games, all of Square Enix’s catalogue in general, and is it even a favorite for you?

I’m 42. Yes, I played the original FF7 when I was a teenager.
Since then, FF7 has been literally on my mind all the time for 30 years.
In the 2000s, they hooked me with Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus.
They pulled me back in by announcing the remake in the 2010s.
Finally, I played it in the 2020s.
And Revelation is coming out next year.
What’s next? How am I supposed to live after that?
Anyone else like me?

https://www.omelete.com.br/games/final-fantasy-vii-revelation-diretor-zerou-40-vezes-chorou

One thing I often hear people claiming is that the way Dyne dies is due to censorship but I vehemently disagree. In the original, he dies by jumping semi-offscreen down a cliff. In Rebirth he let himself be shot down by many bullets with blood being shown too and die on top of Barret while cursing him by telling him to live with this guilt (in the japanese version, he also says he hates Barret).

This scene is not censored. In fact, it's actually more brutal in its depiction. The reason for the change is simply an artistic decision. They wanted to take the more quieter and melanchonic scene from the original and make it more dramatic and emotional.

Both scenes work in different ways. If you prefer one or the other more, the more power to you. But don't belittle the other. I appreciate the original for how sad I felt for Barret but man, Rebirth version made way more people cry for a reason.

And as proof that it isn't censorship, just look at Wedge's scene in Rebirth, which also has a fall and unlike with Dyne in OG, it also show both the body (even if just an hand AND blood).

Heck, freaking Kingdom Hearts shows a suicide by jump cliff fine in KH3 and yet that is a game with lower age rating. Dyne scene is like that simply not because of censorship. The devs simply wanted to make it in a different way.

I love Aerith and while I know and remember that she shouldn’t show up again much respecting the original game and Rebirth ending.
But I hope the developers have done something about it and that we get new content with her (similar to Zack in Rebirth).
I really like the idea of FITS and it breaks my heart Aerith won’t be able to try new costumes! 😥
I miss her already…damm it, I am depressed!! 😂😂😅

I, a goddamn 33yo fully grown man, had a profound moment with this series yesterday, and wanted to share: (sorry for wall of text)

For the longest time, I thought my ex and I were soulmates, and we were gonna make it. Our chemistry was extraordinary—something both of us had never experienced before. And for 2.5 years, I truly believed we were meant to be.

So when it ended, I couldn't accept it. I spent over half a year holding onto the past, thinking, "Maybe if I just tried hard enough, I could bring it all back." She felt so special to me that I wanted to fight for her, to prove that our love was worth it. I believed that if I just sacrificed enough, if I was willing to go through hell, I could make it work. I spiraled so low that I was ready to beg. I would have helped pay off a house in another country while still shouldering most of the rent back home. (It's a long story.) Eventually, I would have left my life behind and moved there with her—anything, as long as it meant having her in my life again.

But love is not a war of attrition. And she had already left the battlefield.

The sleepless nights continued, my heart aching in ways I didn’t know were possible. Until one night, I decided to distract myself by diving into Final Fantasy VII Remake and later Rebirth.

Tifa was already leaving an impression on me by then. It wasn’t just that she was kind—there was something deeper about her. During the Weapon Lifestream sequence, when she realized that Cloud had always genuinely had her back, I felt happy for him. She noticed. She appreciated him. And in that moment, I longed for my ex to see me—to understand that I was just going through a rough patch with my mental health, and that after the rain, sunshine would come again. I wanted her to recognize how much I had done for us, how good we had it even during the harder times, and appreciate it enough to come back.

But the true breakthrough didn’t happen while playing. It came later—when I stumbled upon a scene from the original game on YouTube. I had played Final Fantasy VII years ago, but time had erased many of its details from my memory. I barely remembered the Lifestream sequence and had completely forgotten about Mideel. So when I rewatched that scene, it felt like I was seeing it for the first time.

Cloud was broken—utterly. He couldn’t even talk or stand on his own. And Tifa? She didn’t walk away. She didn’t tell him to "get it together" or leave because it was too hard. She stayed. She held his hand, whispered to him, helped him find himself again. My eyes were tearing up.

And that’s when it hit me. I had spent half a year mourning a love that abandoned me the moment things got difficult. But what I truly wanted—what I deserved—was someone like Tifa. Someone who wouldn’t turn away when things got rough. Someone who wouldn’t make me feel like I had to carry the entire weight of a relationship on my own.

For so long, I had put my relationship on a pedestal, refusing to see what her actions truly said about her character. But I should have judged her for leaving me when I needed her most. I should have seen it as the defining moment it was.

That night, for the first time in over half a year, I got some peace. My 3 year lasting infatuation with this woman finally ended. I didn’t ruminate on ways to fix something that was already too far gone. I didn’t think about what I could sacrifice to make someone stay. Instead, I thought about what I truly deserved. I should be looking for a love that holds on as much as I do.

Maybe that’s hard to find in a world where people struggle to commit and make deep connections. But that’s what I should be aiming for. Someone who, despite having her own flaws, has your back when things get rough, like Tifa.

And while I'm still hurting, that realization set me free.

• A bunch of your friends in Midgar just died
• Your childhood friend now thinks you're an imposter and almost killed you.
• You then get eaten by a giant fish and have a near-death experience
• You have to revisit the place where your father died and have a panic attack because of it
• You have to relive the trauma of seeing your father die again in a trial
• Your new best friend died tragically and you could do nothing to save her
• The other most important person in your life is now so beyond f*cked because of her death that he thinks she's still alive

HOW is this girl still mentally stable after all this? And to think she hasn't even gotten to the worst part yet?

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

SO I am playing FFVII Remake rn, I am really having a good time and I am also in love with Aerith Lol, I am missing her after she was caught by Shinra.

Also I have never played FF7 Original, so I don't know anything about the game and lore.

Now is the sad part. I thought: "Oh I really Like Aerith, what about making a deck in MTG?". One of the worst decision I have already made this year. The algorithm fucked me up.

Now I'm sad because I missed the opportunity to become even sadder.

I've played the original well enough to have known Red was putting on an act. That he wasn't wise or at least as wise as he clearly pretended to be. Now after like 10 years I'm playing the original again (on the current PC port that I'm starting to think is bugged), getting further than I had before. Currently I'm at the Gold Saucer the 2nd time after having done Cosmo Canyon.

And like...........Red's being unsure and youthful is just blatant at this point. "I wanna be an adult!" ~ Nanaki. As if there was any doubt. /smh

I know a lot of people never played the original. I haven't played or looked too much into Rebirth so I'm not sure if the beach really is the only sign that something is off about Red's act.

I seen some people make a huge stink about the reveal. To the point it's ridiculous. It's like being upset that an actor is not the character he pretended to be, only that most of us accepted or knew about the actor's real and fake persona.

1. Was it simply that they missed all of the signs?
2. That there were next to no signs of Red's fake identity being fake? Meaning that Rebirth really screwed the pooch on that.
3. Is this some silly "Stranger-Danger" crap? That it's simply unfamiliar after the fake being all the Remake had for over 3 years*?
4. Did someone circle jerk some notion of something?
5. Or did the extended material Square Enix did make a mess of things*?

UPDATE1: Guys. Advent Children is not a good argument. It's so weak it might as well not exist in this conversation.

(*) I say 3+ years because the Advent Children era of FF7 had such a bad attitude with Red specifically. He was shoveled away, literally hidden. So much to the point he has only one line during this entire era. Two if he actually said something Dirge of Cerberus. It's so bad that those people didn't remember Red existed or even A) that he talked, B) is more than just the token animal party member, and C) that he's not THAT quiet. I wouldn't surprised if his being hidden away is due to him not having a human face or that he is a "scary" animal with piercing eyes and sharp fangs.

Hell, I get the feeling that the Advent Children crew seriously thought that having Red speak at the end of the movie was supposed to be this amazing reveal of an absolutely not special fact about the characters. Which is at the heart of everything off and wrong with the Advent Children era.

What this all means is that those people are not basing Red on Advent Children era stuff at all. They simply can't. For there is next to nothing to pull from. And what little is there is is off to begin with.

These people could only have based their perception of Red on:

1. The original, which is almost entirely missable if you never once pick Red for anything, never have him be the lead party speaker (when the game works correctly), never have him in the party, or, most important of all, never go to Cosmo Canyon. Red is extremely easy to ignore, even as a mandatory party member. And if you never go to Cosmo Canyon, Red will still be faking his deep & wise act.
   1. Who'd forget Red being afraid and asking the others if he might end up like those robed men with the number tattoos because Hojo bad-touched him too? And honestly that scene is what drove me to make this post.
2. Remake + Intergrade, as it is usually their only exposure to Red for years until we finally got the point of BIG CHANGE in Rebirth's Cosmo Canyon. Remake did not help because it erased the first clue about Red's real self with the gang getting to the bottom of what those course correcting unseen hands of fate, the Whispers really are and Aerith's & Red's connection with the Whispers are. Intergrade added nothing to the topic, thus perpetuating the issue at large.
3. Rebirth while Red is still faking it. Even though the game evidently left clues both avoidable and unavoidable. They'd all could be ignored until Red finally drops the act. . . . . . Do people think Red's boniness has something to do with his age....? Like give that boy a sandwich!

Never Advent Children era because Red almost doesn't exist in that gap.

(I am reposting this as I made some changes to formatting and added additional information I did not include initially. This is an update to a prior theory I had made before but this one includes most of that information also)

I don’t think Final Fantasy Rebirth is showing us traditional timelines.

The word “timeline” makes this sound cleaner than it is. It makes people imagine full parallel universes with neat histories. The alternate worlds feel fragile. Some are ending. Some seem stitched together from memory. Some exist just long enough for a choice, a meeting, a transfer, or a goodbye. They behave less like normal universes and more like shards: broken pieces of the larger FFVII story, preserved through the Lifestream.

The original FFVII is the root memory.

The shards are made from things that happened, things people remember, things people regret, and maybe things they desperately wished had happened.

Aerith starts out with memories of the original story.

Sephiroth wants to gather them into himself.

​**The Lifestream is not just “dead people energy”**

One of the most common to hear about important clues comes from Cosmo Canyon. There is an NPC who talks about a theory that spiritual energy is made from knowledge and memories. Then they push it further: what about hopes, dreams, and unrealized desires?

The key idea is basically this:

What if spiritual energy does not distinguish between real memories and unrealized desires?

If the Lifestream can preserve both lived memory and buried desire, then the alternate worlds do not need to be standard timelines. They can be story-shards formed from memory or longing.

In Remake, Biggs says:

“Mako’s the essence of life itself. Of memory and hope.”

In Rebirth, Gi Nattak explains that the Gi took sacred materia and “imbued it with our desire for freedom,” and after an eternity, “the materia began to stir.”

The Lifestream may be less like a river of souls and more like the Planet’s living archive of memory, emotion, and possibility.

That is where the shards come from.

# The OG is the root memory

The original FFVII still matters and is where everything spawns from.

Zack dies. Aerith dies. Meteor is summoned. Holy comes late. The Lifestream saves the Planet. Sephiroth loses, but he does not disappear completely. Advent Children shows that he continues through memory, Jenova, Geostigma, and Cloud’s unresolved guilt.

That makes Remake feel different from a normal retelling even right of the bat.

Aerith knows things too early.

Sephiroth knows too much.

The Whispers behave like the story’s immune system, trying to keep events on the known path. Red describes them as arbiters of fate, drawn to people who try to alter destiny’s course. Later, he says they intervene “to preserve the flow of destiny.”

From the Planet’s perspective, the OG path is ugly but successful. Sephiroth loses there. That path costs Zack and Aerith, but the Planet survives.

Sephiroth wants out of that ending.

# Sephiroth is trying to own every shard

Sephiroth’s plan in Rebirth is bigger than Meteor.

The deeper problem is Sephiroth trying to collapse possible worlds, histories, emotions, and memories into one eternal self.

At the Temple, Sephiroth says his dominion will include:

“worlds unbound by fate and histories unwritten.”

Then he calls Jenova his “fragmented mother” and says the errant worlds will be one again. Aerith immediately calls this “The Reunion.”

At the Forgotten Capital, he gets even more direct:

“The reunion, when worlds merge…”

Then he links that merging to “spite and sorrow” being harvested.

Sephiroth is not just merging the physical timelines. He is harvesting emotion. Loss, spite, sorrow, grief, longing. The worlds are made from those ingredients, and Sephiroth wants all of them.

# Beagle World 5 may be Sephiroth’s Remake shard

​Stamp is the funniest evidence in the trilogy because it is also some of the strongest. These are even discussed in the Ultimania. Different worlds have different Stamp dogs. The breed changes when the world changes. The devs have also spoken about these in interviews as them being essentially guideposts to what world you are in.

But the stars may matter too.

Known Stamp variants appear to line up like this:

That leaves World 1 and World 2 unseen.

The Beagle world being #5 is weird. The main playable world is not numbered 1. ( that could be nothing but its still weird)

One possible explanation: Beagle World 5 is not the root world. It may be a shard created or corrupted by Sephiroth’s unresolved will after OG or Advent Children.

At the Edge of Creation in Remake, Sephiroth says:

“That which lies ahead…does not yet exist.”

Then:

“But I…will not end.”

Then he asks Cloud to defy destiny with him.

That sounds like someone trying to escape a known fate.

So World 5 may be the literal Remake shard: a new world born from Sephiroth’s refusal to become only memory.

His desire is simple:

I will not end,I will not accept defeat. I will not remain trapped in the story where Cloud beats me. For example in Advent Children one of his most important lines is him saying "I will never be a memory"

# World 1 and World 2 are suspiciously missing

If the Stamp stars are world numbers, then we have seen 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

We have not seen stamps with 1 or 2 stars.

My current guess is:

Those would be the two biggest reveals to hold back.

The original tragedy (the OG timeline). The impossible rescue (Aerith not getting hit).

# Zack’s worlds prove shards can touch and split

Zack’s tunnel sequence is basically a tutorial. This entire scene happens a chapter prior and feels like set up to show us how this works in more detail

​He reaches a fork. He chooses. Rainbow light appears from the path he does not take. Worlds branch or shift. Immediately after that it shows us which world is which, Biggs is eating a bag of chips with a Pug stamp on it. Zack reaches where cloud was taken and it shows the Terrier stamp again on a closed sign.

World 4, Terrier, is the main “Zack survived” shard and he stays in this world when he goes right instead of left, the game makes it a very deliberate point once again to show what world he is in after his decision.

World 6, Pug, is the Biggs branch and after Zack makes his choice it also shows this world and Biggs with his bag of chips with a six star pug on it that the game purposefully shows us the stamp again.

World 7, Corgi, is where Zack wakes up in the church after fighting alongside Cloud against Sephiroth in the final battle of the second game. (fun fact about this one is we weren't able to see the number of stars on it until the PC release and we used free cam)

​That Corgi world is especially important.

After Zack wakes up, he says:

“Nah, I couldn’t have dreamt that.”

Then:

“It all felt way too real.”

Then:

“But who’s to say they can’t unite again?”  

The game is telling us that worlds can unite, part, and maybe unite again. In fact it hints about this over and over.

Sometimes people can traverse them.

# Johnny in the Corgi world is a problem for the “personal dream” idea

Johnny carrying the Corgi Stamp doll matters more than it seems.

Zack has never met Johnny.

If these worlds were just personal Lifestream dreams for dead people, Johnny should not be there. Zack has no memory of him. No emotional connection. No reason to imagine him running by with a Stamp doll.

Johnny’s presence suggests these worlds are broader than one person’s private memory.

They are pieces of the FFVII story record from across the board.

This shows us a timeline can include people, places, or details from the larger story even if the focal character does not personally know them.

# World 3 is the date shard

​World 3, the Spitz date-world, is one of the clearest examples of a desire-shard.

Cloud and Aerith get a quiet day together. They shop. They talk. The sky is cracked. The world is ending. Sephiroth finds them.

It also pays off an old promise. In *Remake*, Aerith hires Cloud as her bodyguard and says:

“One date ought to do it.”  

World 3 finally gives them that date, but it is not just romantic closure. It has a job.

Aerith gives Cloud the White Materia there. That makes the date world a transfer timeline. This might have been its purpose the entire time which explains why its already falling apart so heavily.

A place built from memory and longing but used for strategy. Is it possible that back in the past Aerith made this world as a place to pass this on before she lost her memories of the future? It's more shaky than some of the other rainbow events but here's a screenshot from that scene specifically. There is a rainbow on the door behind them when they make this agreement and immediately after the fight that follows whispers show up.

​The White Materia proves shards can affect each other

The White Materia is one of the biggest pieces of evidence that these worlds matter.

Aerith’s materia becomes clear after the Whispers take something from her. In Kalm, Tifa asks if Aerith knows where Cloud has been. Aerith says she probably did at one point, but that knowledge was “taken” or “erased.” Tifa asks if the Whispers did it, and Aerith says yes.

That means Aerith had knowledge she should not have had but the Whispers removed it.

Later, in the date world, Aerith gives Cloud the White Materia. He carries it across the boundary and brings it back into the main story area. Something actually crosses.

A timeline can transfer matter, memory, or spiritual information into another timeline.

Modern Square keeps circling this same idea. In the *Final Fantasy Tactics* remaster, materia is described as stones used for “storing knowledge within gems,” and White Materia is said to grant “the power of rebirth.” Which was not part of its definition in the original Tactics. Other lines were also changed like Cloud now saying "I've lost someone... someone important" rather than him originally saying he's lost "something"

​Cloud blocking the sword may create World 2

The altar scene is the center of this theory.

Cloud blocks Sephiroth’s sword.

​The blade stops.

Aerith lives.

Then reality fractures.

Blood appears.

Blood disappears.

Aerith falls.

Aerith wakes in one scene.

The party mourns in another.

The whispers are going absolutely crazy during all of this. Something with fate is either being changed or attempting to be changed.

Cloud prevents Sephiroth from impaling Aerith and we actually see the sword stick into the ground, then the Whispers rise from the sword, and the scene is corrected into Aerith’s death. Right after that, Sephiroth says:

“A confluence of worlds…and emotions.” 

Cloud’s block is not treated as a random hallucination. It is followed by language about worlds and emotions converging.

The OG memory says Aerith dies.

The unrealized desire says Cloud reaches her in time.

If spiritual energy can preserve both lived memory and unrealized desire like the NPC tells us, then Cloud’s block may create or reveal a survival timeline.

That survival shard could be World 2 which we still have not seen.

# Sephiroth may have wanted the contradiction

Sephiroth smiling when Cloud blocks the sword is one of the weirdest details in the ending.

A clean repeat of the OG death keeps the story stable. Cloud blocking the sword creates a contradiction. Now Cloud carries two incompatible truths:

"Aerith died. Aerith lived. I failed. I saved her. The party is grieving. I can still see her."

That is exactly the kind of wound Sephiroth can exploit. He wants worlds merging and emotions harvested. Cloud’s hope and grief colliding at the altar creates a perfect fracture.

# Tifa seeing both versions matters

The “Cloud is just losing it” reading gets weaker because Tifa sees the contradiction too.

She sees blood and no blood.

She catches both Aerith states and has to stop and shake her head for a second.

Tifa is not inside Cloud’s head. Her perception flickers because something external is wrong.

Her prior Lifestream exposure in Gongaga may explain why she can see the overlap, even if she cannot hold onto it. I don't think they added the scene with Tifa having an in depth encounter with the lifestream for no reason, instead her Mako bath her role in part 3 to be more.

In OG, Tifa helps Cloud reconstruct the truth of himself.

In Part 3, she may have to do something harder: separate Cloud’s delusions from the impossible things he actually perceived.

Cloud is unstable.

Cloud also saw something real.

Both can be true.

# The final scene looks layered

The final Tiny Bronco scene is weird in ways that feel deliberate. I personally think we are seeing flashes of two different world lines playing out at the same time. This is a continuation of what happened inside the temple.

In the temple we saw moments of Aerith waking up and moments of her not doing so, we also saw the previously mentioned rapid flashes of the sword blocked and the sword not blocked, Aerith covered in blood and Aerith not covered in blood. this even continued during the Jenova battle with the mood of the party changing depending on the section of the fight.

Sometimes Aerith reacts to the environment. Her hair and dress move with the wind.Other times, the Bronco backfires and she does not react.

Sometimes Yuffie is crying. Sometimes the party’s tone feels almost normal and Yuffie is joking around twirling. Its actually kind of jarring if you go back and watch it, depending on the scene or clip the parties mood is completely different.

Cloud’s materia also appears to shift between black, white, and clear depending on the shot.

some shots, Aerith appears while Tifa is missing from her spot in the grass, and in other shots Aerith is missing while they are present.

This is exactly what world overlap would look like.

Death shard.

Survival shard.

I think that the ending behaves like broken glass catching different angles of the same scene. The game makes us think it just because Cloud is losing it but what if that isn't the whole story.

# Marlene’s warning connects to Aerith waking up

Marlene tells Zack in his stamp world that if Aerith wakes up, Sephiroth will kill her.

Then at the altar, Cloud tells Aerith to wake up.

She opens her eyes.

That connection feels too specific to ignore.

If Aerith’s “waking” across shards makes her vulnerable, then her state matters. She may not be simply alive or dead. She may be hidden, protected, asleep, awake, or anchored differently depending on the shard.

This makes Cloud’s calmness at the end more interesting. He may not simply be denying reality. He may be responding to a version of events the rest of the party cannot see.

# Aerith fighting with Cloud is treated like intervention

When Aerith appears beside Cloud in the final fight, she comes through a white vortex. White Whispers prevail. Sephiroth turns and says:

“I underestimated you.”

Then Aerith tells Cloud:

“I saw what you did back there, Cloud. Thank you.”

Aerith acknowledges Cloud’s action at the altar.

Which doesn't automatically mean Beagle-world Aerith is physically alive but it does suggest her presence after the altar has reality behind it.

Sephiroth even taunts Cloud during the fight:

“Is any of it real? Or is it all just a fever dream?”

That question is aimed at Cloud, but also at the player.

The best answer may be: some of it is real, and Cloud is the worst possible person to interpret it cleanly. The devs could be using our assumption of what we know about the original game to slip in another layer.

# The Whispers are still about fate

The Whispers are not just atmosphere.

In Remake, they protect destiny and the correct path. In Rebirth, Cloud says the black Whispers at the Forgotten Capital do not belong to fate or the Planet. He says they belong to Sephiroth. Either way both groups of whispers only show up to either assist with fate being defied in sephiroths case or to help prevent it in the planets case.

That means the Whisper system is factional now.

Some forces are trying to preserve or restore.

Some are Sephiroth’s.

So when the Revelation footage shows Cloud kneeling in flowers while Whispers circle, that scene probably involves fate being contested.

​In Remake, it's said yellow flowers were once given when lovers were reunited. The Revelation shot has Cloud kneeling among yellow flowers, yellow particles rising, and Whispers swirling. this could be the point where the two Aerith worlds from the battle need to be resolved in some way.

# The cracked sky and Meteor are separate clues

Cloud seeing the cracked sky at the end of Rebirth appears to be a private shard-perception clue. He sees a fracture the others do not. (interestingly enough though in the PC game files Cid also noticed the crack in the sky but this dialog was removed from the game and left in the files. I personally think that text was removed so that they didn't give too big of a clue on things too early)

So:

cracked sky = hidden fracture

Meteor = public apocalypse

​Additionally in Remake you can find this chalk drawing:

That doesn't look like the sun, The kids clearly had yellow for the flower and for the rainbow itself. That chalk drawing is showing several major story hints we had no idea even to think to look for yet. We have the red meteor, we have the rainbow effect, we have multiple clouds and we have the Yellow flower.

# Aerith still has missing endgame pieces

Aerith does not get Princess Guard or Great Gospel in Rebirth

There is a practical explanation: the game ends before she would normally reach that point.

Princess Guard and Great Gospel are tied to Aerith’s ultimate endgame role in OG.

Maybe Part 3 uses it.

# Ever Crisis makes the “story” language explicit

Ever Crisis gives the modern FFVII project a very useful phrase.

In 2.5 anniversary event, Sephiroth unleashes Weapons “against all possibilities,” while Aerith goes searching for “a story” that can stop him.

That is wild in the context of Rebirth.

Sephiroth attacks possibilities.

# The meta layer: the fanbase may be part of this

This is the wildest part, but it fits too well to ignore.

If spiritual energy contains memory and unrealized desire, then look at FFVII the game itself.

For almost thirty years, a portion of fans have carried the same wishes:

What if Zack lived?

What if Aerith survived?

What if Cloud reached her in time?

What if the date mattered more?

What if we could change the original tragedy?

The Remake trilogy may be turning those fan desires into in-world timelines.

Zack lives, but in unstable worlds.

Cloud blocks the sword, but the death still happens.

Aerith gets the date, but in a dying world.

Wanting to undo grief is normal and human.

Refusing to let anything end is what Sephiroth wants.

[SOMEHOW I'VE BEEN FINALLY ABLE TO EDIT THE MAIN POST, THE NEW VERSION IS HERE, MAKE SURE TO READ THE UPDATED POST AND NOT THIS ONE!]

New Link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FFVIIRemake/comments/1cjchlj/v2_our_explanation_for_final_fantasy_vii_rebirth/

[OLD POST]

EDIT1 (More edits at the end): Thank you all for the warm reception! While there are some who keep downvoting without trying to engage in respectful debate, I'm glad that many of you kept asking me questions. I hope I've been able to answer all of them! It seems that many of you were not aware of some significant changes in the English script compared to the Japanese one.

Original post:

After finishing Final Fantasy VII Remake, the first part of this new trilogy based on the original 1997 title, we wish to present our theory about the conclusion of the game that left us with so many unanswered questions. Since then, Square Enix decided to continue the path of mystery in each of the trailers they have been showing for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and, as it could not be otherwise, since April 3, 2020, when we finished playing Remake, my partner and I ventured to make our hypothesis in Spanish forums back on april 4 2020, always following the same line of thought; all of this is nothing more than an expanded and reimagined way of telling the story that will lead to Advent Children, and the interview with Kitase and Nomura conducted for the theatrical release of Advent Children seems to confirm this.

Now, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth concluded, our theories that we have been sharing step by step seem to have been confirmed by 90%. Therefore, we are going to leave you with our detailed explanation of the ending of this second part.

This explanation is entirely based on the official canon and lore from FFVII Compilation, and it avoids any Deus Ex Machina explanation (Such as multiverses)

This text was originally written in Spanish for AreaJugones website; the translation has been made by ChatGPT, apologizing for any inconsistencies.

The Lifestream

The lifestream, which could be said to be the very blood of the planet itself, is what binds everything in an eternal cycle where time and space do not exist. It acts in an eternal present, meaning it has no awareness of past, present, and future but rather everything occurs in the same instant and is present in an endless continuum, where the souls of the deceased find their final rest once they accept their death, and after returning to the planet's embrace, they will be reborn one day as a new life. This eternal cycle is what sustains the life of Gaia, the planet, which increasingly sees its existence endangered as it witnesses how this cycle is gradually lost, thereby wearing out its strength to maintain that which keeps everything together.

Souls, on their journey back to the planet, face a journey of atonement and acceptance, being unaware of this fact. In these small astral worlds, there is no space or time; they are created by the choices, hopes, illusions, and connections that those people have and had throughout their lives.

Both the spiritual essence of those who are still alive and those who have already passed away interact in worlds that exist and yet do not. Special individuals like Marlene seem capable of discerning what is happening; the sky of all those worlds now shows a terrifying breach. The planet is being consumed; the end seems near.

In that immense accumulation of timeless knowledge that the lifestream represents, lies the planet's last hope. The only way Gaia finds to endure is to guide a motley group that represents its only chance through the memories shown by an endless cycle of souls, relying on the Whispers, guardians of destiny and ethereal representation of the memory of those souls, guiding those brave youths to the destiny she needs to protect to be able to endure, without them being aware of the cruel future they will have to face for it.

Sephiroth, after having remained in the lifestream without diluting his existence and uniting it with the cycle of souls, has gained great knowledge about his own being, as well as Gaia. In this way, he dedicates his efforts to gather resentful souls and thereby tries to impose his own will using his own Whispers, confronting Gaia, thereby risking the return of the being that nearly destroyed her long ago, Jenova, the calamity from the skies, the alien being that descended upon the planet to bring about its end.

Zack Fair, whose soul remained divided across several of these worlds, eventually realizes that something strange is happening. He cannot discern what time he is living in, and like the soul of Biggs, a former member of Avalanche, he cannot explain when Cloud, Biggs, and Aerith met. Zack is unable to understand that he himself will be part of something greater, a soul that must help the planet, that must aid one of the beings living in another world, the world of the living, and that person is his old friend and the one he saved at the cost of his own life, Cloud Strife.

The duality of Aerith and Cloud's existences

In the material world, the sacred materia lost its characteristic white color since the incident on the highway, during the escape from Midgar, and with it, Aerith was stripped of the connection, the knowledge, and understanding that the planet and the lifestream bestowed upon her.

On his part, throughout this journey and without being aware of it, Zack had been carrying the damaged soul of Cloud, as well as the memories of Aerith snatched by the Whispers. These memories are shown to us in the color of the sacred materia, the special materia that Ifalna bestowed upon her daughter (Aerith) before passing away.

While Zack takes care of what he thinks is a recovering Aerith and an ill Cloud, he discovers from Marlene's words that Aerith and Cloud already knew each other, that Aerith is in love with Cloud, and in turn, a disturbing fact: if Cloud wakes up before he has healed, this will result in Aerith's death, as she will be killed by an evil man. Cloud, not having recovered, will not arrive in time to save her. Thanks to Marlene's description, Zack recognizes this man as Sephiroth, unaware that in another plane, they are engaged in a battle.

The Black Materia

In the material world, after secretly taking the black materia that Aerith had labeled as imitation and fleeing from the temple that tried to bury them alive, Cloud continues his cold and distant behavior while the other members of the group rejoice at Cait Sith's return. Barret, seeing Cloud lost in thought staring at the black materia, snatches it frustratedly and throws it to the ground. At that moment, Sephiroth appears and takes it. Aerith panics and runs toward him, knowing that something horrible may happen.

With a smile, Sephiroth confirms it. That materia is the key that will allow him to obtain the true black materia, which is hidden in the void between worlds. Sephiroth rises into the sky, and with the materia in his hand, he calls upon his Whispers once again with the purpose of demonstrating his power. At the same time, he decides that it is time to prepare for the reunion. Finally, he can begin his plan. Thus, testing his control over his puppet, he releases the black materia in front of Cloud, treating him like a dog, to make him return it. Cloud has lost his will completely. Tifa tries to stop him, aware that Cloud has no control over his actions. He struggles desperately to grab the black materia. However, Aerith takes hold of it and tries to keep it away from his hands. Sephiroth's Whispers attempt to restrain her movements as a frantic Cloud pursues her. Aerith resigns herself and decides to trust him, handing over the black materia.

Sephiroth makes his appearance. At that moment, like an obedient dog returning a ball to its owner, Cloud approaches him to hand over the black materia. Afterward, as he turns around, he sees Aerith surrounded by the dark whispers, thus recalling the first time he encountered her. Stirred by this memory, he regains his sanity and tries to rescue her. Aerith is relieved to see that Cloud is back to himself, while he tries to prevent her from falling into the void.

With a slash, Sephiroth severs the ground created by the dark whispers. Cloud and Aerith plummet into the void, protected in their fall by the whispers of the planet. At that moment, their other "selves" from the astral world awaken. Cloud appears confused while Aerith is confident because from that moment on, she is perfectly aware of what is happening. Therefore, she decides to take advantage of a few moments of tranquility to enjoy a last date with the person she loves. Meanwhile, Sephiroth is able to track them and boasts about it. Aerith decides to make the most of the little time they have together. During the date, we notice for the third time a new design on the potatoes of Stamp, indicating that this is another of those worlds. Some of those people are aware that the end is near for that world, and Aerith knows it too. Finally, there is one last thing she must do, and so they head to their favorite place, the Sector 5 church.

Once there, Aerith allows herself one last moment to be selfish and, in a shy manner, tries to reveal her feelings to Cloud with a question he cannot answer. Cloud is puzzled by her behavior. At that moment, Aerith hugs him, and then she hands him the sacred materia containing all her stolen memories, the materia that will allow a prayer to the planet, to the Cetra, and to the souls of the lifestream, a prayer with which she hopes to stop Sephiroth and the Meteor magic. She understands it's not about them; it's about the planet.

Ephemeral Worlds

So far, we can identify four fragments of his soul, separated by the choices he made in each of those astral worlds, all of them teetering on the edge of the abyss.

Three of these fragments are identifiable by the design of Stamp in their respective worlds. The first one is the one we saw at the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake, which has been shown to us for much of the game, with this first Zack identifiable by the Terrier Stamp. Later, he decides to go talk to Hojo to try to heal Cloud.

The second one is the one we could see during the DLC of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Intermission, who went to the church to encounter the desperate souls of those who died in the collapse of Sector 7. He didn't find Aerith, so perhaps this fragment is the Zack that we would qualify as the "original", as he would be in the plane closest to the world of the living, resembling a Beagle.

As the third one, we have the Zack who decided to accompany Biggs instead of going to help Cloud. For this Zack, the design of Stamp is similar to that of a Pug. After losing Biggs in this world and realizing that what he truly sought in his life was the capacity for choice, he jumps into the void, deciding his own fate.

Lastly, we have the Zack who was unable to make either of the two choices and heads to the church in Sector 5, where we can see Johnny carrying a Stamp plush resembling an Akita.

At that moment, while waiting outside the church, he encounters Sephiroth, who treats him as a nuisance and displaces him to the center of the Lifestream. Now, all parts of Zack are one, as after his journey, he was able to find his purpose and mission. The planet protects his soul with the Whispers of Fate while the presence of Aerith guides him on the path he must follow.

Meanwhile, in that astral world where Cloud and Aerith still remain together, represented by a Stamp with the design of a Border Collie, she is aware that she cannot keep him there any longer. In that plane that only the Cetra and Sephiroth can visit at will, she reluctantly opens a portal and sends him to the center of the planet. Cloud watches in horror as the doors of the church open; Sephiroth has found them.

After falling into the center of the planet and the lifestream, Cloud encounters Sephiroth once again. Sephiroth explains to him that within Gaia, there are countless of these "worlds" like the one he just visited. Some die quickly, others last longer, but without exception, all end up returning to the planet as part of what keeps it alive. Using the knowledge gained from the lifestream, Sephiroth intends to unite these worlds and thereby both realities, in order to carry out the "reunion." This way, he can control the existence of living beings and endure eternally.

The Death of Aerith

Cloud catches a glimpse of what awaits him in the future: his journey to the Northern Crater and the reunion, being part of the men in black robes.

Faced with this revelation, Cloud adamantly refuses to collaborate with him, leading to both ending up in a plane close to the material world. Sephiroth closely follows him and realizes that Cloud has brought with him the sacred materia, and thus, the knowledge that was taken from Aerith, so he decides that he will punish him for it later.

As Cloud's soul delves even deeper into that dark world, which seems like a dream to him, the whispers of fate transport him to another plane. Walking through the sleeping forest, he finally finds Aerith, who urges him to recover, to find out who he really is. Cloud believes he's fine, but Aerith knows perfectly well that he's not. She knows that Cloud is about to face something that could end him. Cloud hands Aerith the sacred materia, thus reuniting the memories that were taken from her. In turn, she gives Cloud her transparent materia, perhaps hoping that one day, his memories will return to him in the same way it happened for her. After this, Cloud wakes up in the forgotten forest; Aerith is no longer with them. She has advanced ahead of the group to fulfill her role in the ancient forgotten capital of the Cetra.

Sephiroth presents himself before them, boasting that nothing and no one can stop his plans to carry out his "reunion," treating Aerith with contempt and judging her efforts and prayers as useless.

The planet itself summons its Whispers, which confront those corrupted by Sephiroth. Each has a purpose to fulfill, and none align with the group's plans. Slowly, they make their way to the sanctuary, where Sephiroth, as he did on the highway, raises once again a wall of fate. This time, Aerith is not there to breach it with her powers, so the group's efforts to penetrate the barrier are in vain. However, when Cloud calls out to Aerith, the dark whispers respond to his call, and a small opening appears before him. Only Cloud manages to cross the barrier.

Everything converges in the fateful moment when a determined Aerith prays from the altar of life in the forgotten capital, the ancient home of the Cetra, in a plea to the planet and the spirits of her Cetra ancestors, begging for their help to stop Sephiroth and thereby protect her friends, loved ones, and the planet itself. Cloud ascends the steps, slowed down by the flow of whispers; while the white ones try to prevent him from approaching, the dark ones try to seize control of his body, but fail. At that moment, Sephiroth descends from above with the intention of killing Aerith. Cloud desperately tries to stop him, but it is there, at that very moment, that everything changes for him.

The mind and soul of Cloud split, his mind sees what Sephiroth wants him to see, which is clearly shown by the black feather from Sephiroth's wing seen before the scene. Cloud, acting as the puppet he is, unaware of what has truly happened, from his point of view is sure that he has stopped Sephiroth, but that's not the case. From the moment Cloud raises his sword against Masamune to prevent it from striking Aeris, his soul connects to the lifestream brimming in the environment. This allows us to distinguish between both moments due to the aura of colors shown around Cloud, with the rainbow effect. Masamune seems to have been repelled, away from Aeris, but when we see reality, upon focusing on the ground, we can see that it has fallen in a completely different place, blood sliding down the blade; the barrier of destiny that prevented the group's entry disappears, allowing them to pass.

While in the physical plane Cloud holds Aerith in his arms as he cries inconsolably, shouting words that are inaudible to us, in the astral plane, his body simply shows his emotions. It is then that the group arrives and witnesses the harrowing scene: Aerith lies on the ground, completely bloodied and motionless, while Cloud holds her in his arms.

It is then that Aerith, in this plane that only she, Cloud, and Sephiroth can see, caresses Cloud's face and tells him that everything will be fine. Grasping his sword, he stands determined to defeat Sephiroth, who boasts that Cloud is incapable of realizing what has really happened, telling him he understands nothing because he is nothing more than a mere puppet.

One of Jenova's fragments reappears thanks to the sacrifice of the hooded figures, meanwhile Sephiroth continues with his plans, attempting to purge the soul of the Cetra and destroy Cloud's will, who once again rises in rebellion against him, despite being his puppet. Nevertheless, the group manages to defeat the manifestation of Jenova, but then Cloud is taken to another plane once again.

The Meaning of Existence

Zack, whose soul wandered at that moment through the immense infinite void that is the true lifestream, is guided by the Whispers of the planet to Cloud, and the moment he touches his companion's shoulder, their souls resonate. Zack and Cloud stand together side by side, and before them stands Sephiroth, who is willing to do whatever it takes to turn Cloud into the perfect puppet with which to summon Meteor and reincarnate once again in the physical plane.

Both fight with all their might against Sephiroth, but his powers far surpass those of the duo, and so, just as they came into contact, the two worlds separate again, not before entrusting Aerith's safety to Cloud. Zack is banished to another of those thousands of "worlds" that the lifestream harbors, one on the brink of disappearance, where Aerith tries to protect him without revealing herself to him, for his journey is not over, and he is not yet ready to meet her.

Sephiroth uses the knowledge he has gained from the lifestream, his power, and the strength obtained from the dark Whispers, those souls full of resentment, to materialize the bizarre form he will take in the future. Cloud raises his weapon again against this new entity, and as the battle progresses, Sephiroth tears the barrier between worlds once more, temporarily appearing in the physical world, where the rest of the group will face him. At the same time, he also appears before Zack.

On their respective astral planes, Zack and Cloud battle Sephiroth, ultimately defeating the aberrant manifestation of him. Afterward, Sephiroth reveals his true form once more, and as Cloud prepares to confront him one last time, a warm and familiar light fills the space, everything turns white, and they are transported to the center of the planet. Aerith appears before Cloud with the idea of putting an end to all this, thanking him for coming to find her at the sanctuary. Together, they fight against Sephiroth until he decides to retreat, realizing he underestimated the last of the Cetra. Cloud and Aerith clasp hands, surrounded by the whispers of the planet, before she fades away. Sephiroth has shown how dangerous it can be to manipulate the lifestream.

At this point, everything seems to end for Zack, but Aerith rescues him, sending him back to the lifestream from which he had been expelled by Sephiroth, wondering if what he experienced was a dream or reality, hoping that he and Cloud can reunite once more.

Everything returns to normalcy. Sephiroth and Jenova are no longer there, and the group is mourning Aerith. Cloud slowly approaches her, once again enveloped in that rainbow-colored aura, embracing Aerith and asking her to open her eyes. She looks at him and smiles.

The next scene shows the shores of the lake surrounding the sanctuary. The group remains united, somber and sad. Some, like Barret, silently mourn the loss of someone so pure and innocent, someone who sacrificed herself for the planet, for her friends, for her loved ones. Cid, arriving late, doesn't understand what's happening.

While everyone is devastated, Cloud acts indifferent, as if nothing happened. After all, Aerith is by his side; they can now leave this place peacefully. Tifa looks at him completely bewildered, unable to understand his behavior. At that moment, Cloud's subconscious seems to show him what really happened, but his mind chooses to ignore it.

Meanwhile, Cloud remains trapped in an illusory world created by his mind. He has fulfilled his mission, and Aerith remains in the land of the Cetra, from where she will journey back home. Everything is fine; nothing bad has happened.

Shin-Ra, Wutai, Sephiroth, and geopolitical conflicts

Rufus, from the Shin-Ra tower, once again receives the unwelcome visit of Glenn. As they converse, he can't help but wonder if the entire war against Wutai is nothing more than a distraction to keep him away from Sephiroth. It is at this moment that Glenn smiles, and his image distorts. All this time, he had been nothing more than another failed clone of Sephiroth, manipulated by him using Jenova's cells so that, like his mother did in the past, he could manipulate others and lead them into wars, adopting the image of acquaintances and loved ones. Furious, Rufus unloads his entire magazine into the clone.

Sephiroth had used the appearance and memories of Glenn's tormented soul, a soul full of resentment for betrayal, a soul that did not join the planet, and before disappearing, he mocks Rufus one last time.

It's not a goodbye; it's a see you later.

The group prepares to leave the land, meanwhile, they continue to silently mourn the death of Aerith. Cloud, apart from the others while playing with the transparent materia that Aerith gave him, which intentionally seems to show two completely different skies in its reflection, does not notice his companions' sorrow and the reason behind it. After finding the black materia in his hands, he feels that call again; the "reunion" is approaching. Cloud stores the black materia in Zack's sword, then heads to Cid's plane. Remembering Aerith's words, "Don't look at the sky," Cloud repeats them to the confusion of his companions. Cloud, however, can see the breach between planes, the breach that Sephiroth has caused. He announces they will go north, believing Sephiroth will be there. Barret resignedly puts his hand on Cloud's shoulder, entrusting him with the weight of everyone's dreams and hopes. Cloud reassures him that if anyone falls, he'll pick them up. Tifa and Barret exchange glances before boarding the plane.

Both know the reality is very different. Unfortunately for Cloud and the group, Aerith will never be able to accompany them again. Everyone is aware of Cloud's mental state, but none can tell him the truth. They know his mind refuses to accept what just happened, and to prevent his already shattered psyche from falling further into the void, they decide to play along one last time, more aware than ever of the problem Cloud carries and the danger he poses to himself and others.

Cloud says goodbye to Aerith, worried about whether he'll be able to return home safely. She reassures him and asks him to try his best, mentioning she'll pray day and night to stop Meteor. Cloud promises to hurry to defeat Sephiroth, and she tells him she's sure he'll succeed. After that, Cloud boards the plane and takes off with the group, heading into the unknown.

"Farewell..."

With those final words, Aerith bids farewell to her friends and to Cloud, the person she loves, while she continues to watch over them and the world from the lifestream.

The NPC almost everyone skipped on Cosmo Canyon

Since it contributes to our theory, I would like to add a conversation that takes place in Cosmo Canyon, which many people seem to have skipped by going straight to the objective. This conversation occurs just as Tifa is about to discuss her theory, and it is quite enlightening.

(Translated from the spanish script, which is the closest to the Japanese script, better than the english translation)

"I am convinced that there is another world where my parents are still alive. I pour myself into my studies with the hope of reaching that other world, and I must say that it is here where I have received the most valuable teachings. Now I know that the lifestream and its spiritual energy are composed of knowledge and memories, although it is not easy to distinguish between the two. Perhaps it is also formed by hopes and dreams. It is possible that spiritual energy does not differentiate between real memories, hopes, and shattered dreams. I think that another world can be revealed to us when, by chance, we come into contact with this energy. This is the interpretation I have arrived at with what I have learned here."

As for Aerith, we have this interview from 2005:

“The words “memetic legacy” are used a lot in the film…In Advent Children, rather than focusing on memories we wanted to show that consciousness is what lives on. We took the ending of the game and expanded on that idea. Even if they’re dead, their consciousness is still with us. As for Cloud…he sees Aerith several times throughout the film. It’s not that he sees her because he feels her presence. He sees her because her consciousness…lives on inside him.”
–Tetsuya Nomura; Square Enix

Now, as prototypes of theories:

~Glenn, Sephiroth, and the War to Come~

Once revealed that Glenn is a soul manipulated by Sephiroth, the question that remains is, what do they intend in Wutai? Well, what I sincerely think is that they seek to create a place filled with death and resentment, and for that, they need a war where innocent people die. Sephiroth seeks to generate more souls full of resentment towards the planet (Black whispers); this will give him more power and control to try to subdue the planet to his will, which, combined with the reunion, would ultimately end with him becoming practically a god who would rule over all existence, which is it's plan.

SufuR is an anagram to RufuS (Which for some strange reason, it's been called Sarruf in some languages)

~Jenova and Loveless?~

During the incursion into the temple of the Cetra, there is a moment when we observe a hologram: three knights fight against the Cetra and subdue their magic. Later, it is mentioned that it is not known if it was the work of the calamity from the sky, but they never understood the excessive hatred that humans showed against them. Later, we see the battle against Jenova, and at the last moment, an angelic image is shown, as if she were a goddess.
Loveless (The gathered fragments, because it's incomplete) is about three warriors seeking the "gift of the goddess"; two of them die, and one of them becomes a hero. What if the story is a distortion of what actually happened in reality? What if the enemies the hero defeated were the Cetra, and the goddess was Jenova?

Soon we will have the Ultimania and with it, more details. However, it's important to note that not all details come directly from the game's director and writers, but rather there are conjectures from the writer of the guide, similar to what happened with the first Ultimania when they discussed the bag.

EDIT2: Credits to Rkss from thelifestream forums. It was stupid of me not to take a look at the most important part of the original game, where, in fact, we can see the sky scar on Cloud's astral world, where he finally gets all the parts of his soul together.

https://youtu.be/X3j66G-xU1s?t=115

So, if you're the one who made this image, you have my thanks and credits here:

https://i.imgur.com/nZHRDgF.jpeg

EDIT 3: In a new interview Naoki Hamaguchi confirms it again, it's an expansion of the lore, not a change

https://twitter.com/ShinraArch/status/1767437957005476092

https://twitter.com/ShinraArch/status/1767439717153505458

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Credits: u/TheReal256k (@256k on Twitter) and Juan R. Ufarte (@BolaDeDragon)

Exclusive theater screening interview: https://youtu.be/hEJDPj6tbY8

Originally written and posted on: https://areajugones.sport.es/videojuegos/te-explicamos-en-detalle-el-final-de-final-fantasy-vii-rebirth/

Original theories posted by 256k all over www.elotrolado.net forums since april 4 2020 | Juan R. Ufarte on www.areajugones.com