Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth ENDING EXPLAINED (In-Depth Analysis)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has a wild and controversial ending to say the least. Exploring the concept of multiple universes - the story of Rebirth significantly deviates from the original plot - while also timeline switching frequently in some pretty jarring ways. It’s a lot to digest and keep track of, so if you’re looking for some clarity - don’t worry - I got you covered.
In this video, we’re going to break down the ending of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and what it means for the story going forward. I’ll also tie-in some lore from the original game to help make sense of everything.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth explores the concept of a multiverse. So before we proceed, it’s important to recognize that there are three separate timelines (or worlds) we get a window into during the ending. Most of the time, it will be clear which timeline we are dealing with, but sometimes the game flips between timelines mid-cutscene. It can get a little confusing. So to help you out I’ll put a little note on screen during these parts so it will always be clear which timeline we are witnessing.
BECOME A CHANNEL MEMBER
/ @bigdangaming
DONATE TO BIG DAN
streamelements.com/bigdangami...
0:00 Introduction
0:42 End of Chapter 13
2:59 Multiple Timelines
10:34 Final Chapter
17:55 Zack's Fate
21:18 No Promises
23:08 Conclusion
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
/ bigdanhere
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM
/ bigdangaming
FOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK
/ bigdanhere - Ігри
So I've seen a lot of comments suggesting that Aerith did actually die in this ending. And after rewatching the cutscenes, yeah I can see that interpretation. Cloud seems to be the only one who can see her so I guess he's just coping / interacting with a ghost.
Honestly, I feel like this makes the ending worse. One of the frustrating things about the reboot series is that the writers are simultaneously trying to "preserve the original" and change the story at the same time. You can't really do both without resorting to cheap tactics (*cough* multiverse *cough*). If you're going to preserve the original, then do a faithful retelling. If you're going to change the story, then change it. This fence-sitting narrative is so lame.
I might do a follow up video critiquing FF7 Rebirth as a whole because there are A LOT of massive problems with this game. And it's absolutely baffling to me that anyone is calling this game a masterpiece. Thanks for all the feedback on the vid. Hope you enjoyed it.
you are pretty right about the many problems this game has, sadly I am totally with you on this :(
This fence sitting narrative has sparked incredible amounts of conversation and theory crafting. In the larger scope of the ff7 games, a lot of what happened makes sense. They have been following the pre established rules of the world and forming a new experience based around them. They’ve done a great job so far. I think what could make this 3 part story worse is if Aerith must die in every timeline for it to not be doomed or something along those lines. But the writing seems very clear that that is a possibility.
Before Rebirth came out, I thought we were gonna follow Cloud going through original 7s story and Zack would be the new story. This was wildly different than what I was thinking would happen in terms of new content. I was more surprised than not, and I think it’s reductive to say that the narrative is lame if it can spark such a wide array of emotions from its audience, even if it’s adjacent to a retelling. A genuine retelling couldn’t have that. And people would be upset if it was outright different. This is a nice middle ground where there is still tension around what will happen.
Also remember, good or bad publicity is still publicity.
Dan this MIGHT NOT BE TRUE.
The multiverse could have been created exactly for a purpose that is easy to guess: bringing Aerith back in the third game.
Because the trilogy as a whole is LITERALLY a sequel to advent children.
This is so obvious and makes so much sense but why is no one talking about it online?
SERIOUSLY I WANT TO KNOW.
SPREAD THE WORD ONLINE!!! FOR REAL IT’S SO OBVIOUS!!!
Aerith is not a ghost. I have not finished this vid but I had to check the comments as soon as you said 3 timelines. There are more. Cloud did save aerith. And he didn’t. There are more timelines That’s why we cut between scenes of her being dead and talking to cloud. Cloud was transported through worlds just as zack was, the aerith we see at the end is from the universe where cloud DID save aerith. Cloud says “You gonna have trouble getting back?” He means TO HER WORLD.Him being the only one able to see the crack in the sky confirms this, it seems Zack,cloud, aerith, and sephiroth all have the ability of KNOWING this multiverse exists and being apart of it. So I think they can see things differently, as Zack could also see that crack in the sky when you play as him in Midgar.
i think Aerith died as in the original, there's no reason for her not to go w/ cloud & the gang. She's a Lifestream Vision only Cloud can see
Aerith, like Cloud, Sephiroth, and Zack, she can travel between timelines. She still alive in the other timelines. Zack is the one you have to keep an eye on.
@@timothymoore6341the one that helps cloud fights Seph is OG/advent Aerith I believe. The one in white lifestream fighting Sephs black lifestream
Nope she is alive in a different timeline that’s why Sephiroth tells her I underestimated you, even Red Xiii felt her presence
Cloud can see both timelines now for some reason. It’s merged into his brain !
this was my takeaway too. no one interacts with aerith after she dies except cloud. and it shows the same scene where aerith is there and then gone when it switches points of view. also when aerith touches red, red can sense aerith when he says "aerith?" but doesn't look at her because he's close to the life stream too. Tifa and yuffie aren't sad because they got cucked, they're mourning the loss of their friend.
The last part is incorrect. Aerith is dead. The part with the tiny bronco confirms it. No one can see Aerith! When Aerith touches Nanaki he mentions; Aerith? He faintly feels her being 'there'. Tifa isnt sad because shes cock blocked, but she mourns her friend.
Exactly, don’t what this dude is talking about
right?? i mean tifa and aerith basically bff they share gossip and talked about cloud and zack both of them being their crush idk why he said tifa cuz she got cockblocked lmao dude probably skip the story
Aerith is in a different timeline. She is both Alive and Dead
@@mysteryace2129 no. Because in every timeline she dies. Wether the doom timeline where shes braindead, or the timeline where she pushes cloud away. Seph always comes for her.
Its how it should be btw. She should be in the lifestream...
@mrsgamer9218
Except that isn't what happens as Zack is clearly alive in one timeline. Although I really don't have time to argue this multiverse mumbo jumbo as that's the problem with timeline and multiverse stories as it's hard to decipher details of the story as too many plot points conflict with one another.
One can argue that it makes no sense for OG Sephriroth(in this Remake its OG Sephriroth who is time traveling) to even kill Aerith as it's basically sealing his loss.
This game's ending was a mess and others can't argue otherwise as I've never seen a game who spent 40 hours on a story but throw out a bunch of random ideas towards the end with no buildup and lie in its own premise of changing fate and makes this multiverse mumbo jumbo pointless. It's bad enough they retcon Cloud's past but that's another discussion for another time
Sephiroth is trying to create the Smash Bros universe
He's trying.... really hard. But he knows cloud will eventually give in.
And he does. Saphiroth is actaly a hero to this story!
Ah, yes. The reunion. Where worlds merge.. from different franchises
@@Jammineyeonlineagreed, i like him waaay better than cloud
*No Promises Await at Journeys End* ... If this doesn't scream foreshadowing I don't know what does at this point
Agreed
May I ask whatvyour theory is I'm curious to know what people think
@@steffanoboin5060 me? Uhm let's see then... Obviously Cloud mind has gone down abysmal to the point where Barret and Tifa are being cautious of him, Sephiroth has been up North this whole time which has been stated, Zack may reunite with the main party of the main timeline half-way through Part 3, Cloud will soon come to the truth which will break his pysche so bad the world will stand still for him, I'm hoping Hojo gets some justice to what he has done, Shinra Wutai clashing seems to be unavoidable so the party will be in the crossfire and lastly for me the line at the end suggests that Cloud may break the promise to Aerith as he has done to Tifa in the past. So yea that's my take on it but hi it's just a theory...
Part 3 cloud doesn't keep his promise and the world ends?
Wait...does that mean we might get a different ending?
You missed very important detail in your DOOM timeline.
There are actually at least 4 timelines. Pay close attention to the Shinra mascot, "Stamp.
1. Rebirth timeline
2. Zack survived and chose to find Hojo and try to save cloud timeline 5:07
3. Zack chose to save Biggs, and he still died timeline (Biggs was eating chips with a different looking Stamp on the bag) 7:07
4. Aerith and Cloud finally woke up, went shopping, and visited the church timeline (different looking Stamp on the Stamp's Champ at the shop)
5. Jonny walked past Zack when he was sitting in front of the church timeline (Jonny was holding a different looking Stamp plushy)
I might be reaching with the last one, but there are definitely 4 different timelines that I can confirm.
There were 5 timelines at minimum, and should be another one created when Cloud 'maybe' saved Aerith in one? Beagle, Pug, Corgi, Chihuahua, Terrier, these are the 5 Stamps that I know of. As for Zack dying? In the Pug timeline with Biggs, he jumped over the railing to avoid the shootout with the Shinra soldiers, so he could be anywhere and still alive. Also what makes you think the timeline where Cloud and Aerith wake up is the same timeline where they were both out of it? If so, where was Marlene? Zack was in the Terrier timeline with Marlene, Cloud, Aerith and Elmyra, and the dream date was in the Chihuahua timeline, so it can't be the same comatose Aerith and Cloud. These are two separate timelines. So in that timeline, Aerith is alive. Maybe Aerith is moving not only Cloud through the timelines, but also Zack, this is possibly why we see Zack with the different Stamps.
@@AShroudOfTruththere are actually infinite timelines because that’s how the theory works. How many they show us is irrelevant. This is why you don’t introduce time travel into your story, especially when you’re not a good writers sadly, remake employed the creators of FFXIII trilogy and kingdom hearts, two projects that made a compete hash of the same time nonsense in this trilogy. Only SE could miss the open goal that is a FF7 remake by doing this instead
@@ItsSVO It's a fantasy game dude, not based on reality, or science.
I really do hate the shippers being unable to see past the romance war crap.
Tifa is upset because she has lost the one friend she had that could help her recover Clouds memories and help her not feel insane herself. Now she's facing it all on her own. All those moments where she had someone to talk to about it are now gone and she is now facing it alone with a Cloud that is further gone then we have ever seen him. Honestly when you factor in how much of a relife Aerith must've been to Tifa when talking about the past and to then lose that support she is probably just as heartbroken as Cloud.
Fr, he kinda pissed me off at 20:52 like brooo that’s her BESTIE. Forget anyone getting fucking “cucked” THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. SHE’S CRYING OVER HER BEST FRIEND ☹️
The shippers are the ones making me hate every single ship in this shit. I stopped watching the video at that part because I was more than baffled that someone could see this freaking scene with Tifa -and all the others - being sad and instead of noticing what was amiss and thinking logically about the reason why they would be sad based on the scene, they immediately thought it was because of shipping garbage! Shipping is messing with their minds more than any Jenova cells could!
@@chibistarzzShippers are a scourge to all franchises.
Just thought also Tifa cant even see aerith when she's upset by the water lmaooo this dude def was experimented on by hojo
Shipping is fine if its a fair & honest take on the story. But some of these shippers (it was always tifa, etc, tifa cucked, aerith living is fanservice, the fake neutrality). Yikes.. the only ppl ruining the story is you. It’s obv some of these manipulated info to influence gamers to play a certain way or to hate the game, throwing tantrums when they dont get the story they want.
Supposedly hates changes except thosw they want
Thank you for the analysis. Here's some more details:
3:06 By the end of the game there are at least six observable timelines (OG, Remake/Rebirth, Zack x 3, Aerith "dream date" x 1). We can track them via the Stamps (Shinra mascots). Possibly, seven (branch of Rebirth with Aerith alive), assuming it does not merge with some other.
5:24 - it is important to mention, that while this indeed doomed timeline, it has different Stamp (spitz), than the one Zack was originally in (terrier). We have no clue if it's entirely separate, or Zack's first timeline "transitioned" into this one.
7:10 - more like "after", than "instead". Previously, when Zack was at Shinra HQ, there was a sign with the terrier Stamp, saying "closed". We have no clue, if Zack's presence in it is closed, or the timeline itself is closed.
7:42 - another Stamp (shiba-inu toy), another timeline.
11:12 - the path was not carved by the White Whispers. It was carved by three Sephiroth's Whispers, who responded to Cloud calling Aerith's name. Seems like he was able to exert some measure of control over them (perhaps, without realising it). And what is missing here, it's that it's not just a small path trough the barrier, it is entrance to the "Destiny Crossroads/Singularity. Barret directly mentions, how everything is similar to the expressway in the Remake. It is important, as well as the fact, that Cloud enters it alone this time.
12:08 - color-coding (colorful light barrier) hints at Rebirth reality branching, because Cloud is defying Aerith's intended fate.
12:21 - rest of the party enters the area, but they were not at the "Destiny's Crossroads".
12:41 - the angle, at which Sephy takes his sword. Does he perceive the reality, in which he killed Aerith, and is unaware about the new one?
12:47-13:03 - color-coding suggests, that this is a branched Rebirth reality.
13:24-13:40 - again, branched Rebirth reality.
When we see Cloud talking, while hugging Aerith's body, it looks like he again experiences vision of her death in the OG, but this time it's full version, not some glimpses of it.
14:38 - the party is in Rebirth non-branched reality.
I think the only time we actually see the OG reality, is when we see Cloud talking over Aerith's body
17:40 - "I saw what you did there". OG Aerith (she would fit the role of the external observer)? Also would explain, why it looked like she returned to the Lifestream after the battle.
18:50 - Zack becoming full playable character is very possible, and the most obvious time to do it, is when Cloud breaks at the Northern Crater. But that's just speculation for now.
19:08 - it's Rebirth timeline. Only Cloud was at the "Destiny Crossroads" so only for him Aerith's fate was changed, and new reality exists.
19:30 - for Cloud, Aerith appears to be lying in different position. Also, dimension barrier.
What I personally think, is that Cloud saved Aerith in the Rebirth timeline, but because he was the only one at the "Destiny's Crossroads", only he has access to the newly branched Rebirth timeline. The rest of the party is in the original Rebirth (not the OG) timeline, where Aerith still dies. After the final boss fight he is sent to the original Rebirth timeline (he does not see Aerith at first), but receives the ability to interact with the branched Rebirth timeline, in which Aerith is alive.
State of "Coma" Aerith in different Zack's realities (if first two persist, and don't transit into the final one) is unknown, but the words "Aerith... Wake up" may hint at something.
so basically her death means nothing. cool.
@@Deimos1739 It might still happen, but it didn't happen yet.
@@netfan7117 even then, it would just be a death in one timeline, not all. And there is no reason to believe that the Rebirth timeline is any more important than any other timeline. Thats why it "means nothing" or at least looses impact even if the Aerith Cloud is able to see now dies.
ah yes pay attention to stamp
Regarding 19:30, the position is the same, the angle just makes it out not to be, compare it and you will see the lines on the floor are the same ones, that is not to say it's the same timeline though
For 30 years I've tried to understand this story... no luck yet.
@@vjfxtheoryto be fair, the original game's English translation was pretty poor in places. At least on the Playstation version.
@@andyukmonkeytranslation was ok, the localisation was poor.
@@andyukmonkeyAt least I can follow the story in the original just well. Unlike whatever there doing in the Remakes.
Some fans are saying Cloud is hallucinating at the end but what I got from it was that it was that Aerith gave Cloud the ability to see the timeline where she still lives
Despite appearing to save Aerith at the altar, the timeline reverts back to the events of OG timeline where she dies. However, while Cloud is holding her body, Aerith reaches out and touches his face and from then on, Cloud acts like she is still alive. This is where I think Aerith gives Cloud the ability to see the other timeline, similar to how she shows visions to Marlene and Red in Remake by touching them. Therefore, despite the fact that everyone around him is seeing Aerith die like in OG, Cloud acts like she is still alive because that in that timeline she is.
This can't be just a hallucination as when the rest of the gang arrive at the altar, they see Aerith's dead body with her hand on Cloud's face, so he wasn't imagining it.
Also you forgot to point out the fact that Cloud repeats to the gang what Aerith told him about the rift in the sky, but only he can see it. This shows that he can see another doomed timeline unlike the others, so it's conceivable to think that he can see both the OG timeline where Aerith dies and the doomed timeline where she lives
Yeah cloud hallucinating is a good theory, but seeing multiverse timeline shits it just feels like it doesn't fit the narrative
@@godspell. yup, im still on board with og 1997 story where cloud is a schizophrenic loser who hallucinates 80% of what he sees.
fk timelines and alternate dimensions.
@@user-or4ct5ow6b this could still be the case. I mean maybe when tifa helps cloud fix his head in mideel in part 3 he will realize everything was in his mind. Still though, hard to think this will happen since they've gone balls deep in this multiverse bs.
I think you got it, I like your interpretation
Sephiroth even said to Aerith, "I must admit. I underestimated you." Aerith is playing 3D chess, and is alive and well.
I like your interpretation of different timelines. Except for aerith being alive in current timeline . You can clearly see she is dead and isnt with the party and everyone is mourning her except for cloud.
Cloud can see both realities now. Which is apparent by seeing the tear in the sky and other aerith. I can’t wait for sora to join the group next game
@@omensoffate If Sora falls from the sky next game I would be so tickled and pissed all at once LMBO
@@omensoffate i hope they give us something good in the last part, to pay off this confusing ass two games which spans half a decade.
It won’t be Sora tho it will be a cutscene with wakka saying that sin destroyed Midgar and all the makina cities 1000 years ago ya. With wandering flames music playing the camera will pan out to besaid island and Tidus and Yuna will question Midgar?? Then the game ends with FF7 remake and FFx remake logos side by side. I have foreseen this. 🤣
The ending is not absolute. Meaning, the ending could be one, or a mixture of the timelines (the original+another one). There are others timelines that Aerith is alive. They just showed us one outcome
She will never laugh, never cry or get angry. How did we not get that line
We got it but just not vocalised
I think Sephiroth will force those memories at Cloud to mess with him in the next chapter. So we will get the full scene but at a different time.
Yea...I was disappointed in that. Her death was not near as impactful as it was in OG....They showed her too much after she "died" for me to be sad. In the OG they actually showed Sephiroth's sword going through Aerith. Cloud and the party's reaction to her death was way more emotional in the OG which is crazy when you consider it was all done via text and low quality lego models.
@toulor895 ??? 'Useless' and ''''weird''''? How so, and be speciifc.
@@tarutso Remember what Sephiroth said to Aerith, "I UNDERESTIMATED YOU." Aerith is playing 3d chess with Sephiroth.
I enjoyed your analysis so much, thank you.
Around the end, I got the feeling that Cloud was gaining the multiple-timeline awareness as Aerith and Zack do. That was why he didn't grieve over her "death" as others did. To me, Aerith definitely lived on in a timeline, but whether it was the current timeline remained ambiguous.
Also, the "No promises at the journey's end" kind of relates this part of Aerith's song, "Know that you'll find me
Promises to keep We won't ever need". It suggested the level of certainty that they will meet even without having to promise. In one timeline or another...
I like this interpretation better than mine I saw it as pretty ominous since Cloud just finished promising Aerith(, whether it's actually Aerith or a figment of his imagination) he'd beat Sephiroth and then that pops up? Cloud's probably not going to be playable for a good chunk of part 3 (perfect time for Zack to show up in the party since they also play similarly.)
I got the feeling that the rebirth timeliness split Into 2 realities one where Aerith died and one where she didn't because no one apart from cloud can see her they are all mourning her when they are on the verge especially as she is there sometimes and disapiers at others in clouds view; it's like his perceptions is switching between rebirth a n b and every1 else is stuck in A where Aerith died.
They did and I think cloud is the only one who can see it, because he was the only one there when the timelines actually split. The other party members were blocked from the scene by the black whispers. I‘m pretty sure that the new timeline only cloud can see is the one Aerith is hiding in from Sephiroth until the time is right for her to merge the two branches of the Rebirth timeline back together and defeat Sephiroth. I’ pretty sure he still needs her dead to become the God he dreams to be.
@@lisaeschenbach-nd3bp It's weird, but I'm getting some Persona 5 vibes from this, where Akechi is made to believe a completely different reality from what actually happened, and the tables get turned on him.
The problem I see is how Sepheroth can remain unaware of the time-split. He has to know there is an Aerith he failed to kill, because he was there when Cloud stopped him.
A lot of this is right but Aerith dies in the rebirth timeline. I don't know what Cloud is seeing but the group does see her body with blood on it. Tifa is sobbing over losing her not for being cucked. So is Yuffie and Barrett. The Aerith who fights with you is only her spirit. In the final scene Aerith can only be seen by Cloud. She is gone. Red feels her when she touches him but he can't see her. This raises so many questions about Clouds behavior and why he is stupidly smiling on a grass hill while everyone else is mourning. That's how they did Tifa badly. I wouldn't be surprised if Aerith will be able to be seen again by everyone sometime towards the end of the last game but she did die here.
What do you mean tifa not being cucked in so confused lol
I'd like to point out that you're forgetting something important. Remember what Sephiroth said to Aerith, " I MUST ADMIT. I UNDERESTIMATED YOU." Aerith is playing 3D chess with Sephiroth.
She DIDN'T die in one universe and had to stay behind in order to protect the world. In the OG version she DID die, so Cloud is basically in between two worlds like Sephiroth said.
The trilogy is LITERALLY a sequel to advent children: from the first game you can clearly tell that Aerith and Sephiroth knew what was going to happen in the future and by challenging fate multiple timelines were created so there’s still a chance to see Aerith back in the third game in fact she’s alive in Zack’s timeline.
this gives me Khan dynasty vibes but with Sephiroth
Devs have already said it'll tie into advent children
@@thegeekygrappler So I guess the whole fucking change destiny shit that they were giving since remake was just an advertisement? Or did they start the project with NOT connecting to AC and then feared the original cult fandom would destroy SQX headquarters if Aerith didnt die?
I think since devs are stating it connects to AC, they don’t literally mean the end will be AC, probably there will be an addition after the events of AC that will be in the game
@@aggiel8775 This. The trilogy is LITERALLY a sequel to advent children.
It’s confirmed. Square Enix is going to revive Sakaguchi’s dead mom. Rendering the whole point of OG FF7 worthless.
Best comment lmaoo
Lmfao 😅😅😅😅
This is not a remastered game, its a remake version. Meaning, the OG still exists on its own and they can do whatever they want in this version of the story. If somebody wants to play the OG, they can buy it and play it. If somebody don't like this version, they can just not play it anymore 🤣🤣.
Good. Change it ALL. The OG ending feels like a bad ending anyway.
I think you explained the 'timelines' fairly well, but the ending section is totally incorrect. They are clearly grieving Aeriths death, all except Cloud who appears to still see a version of Aerith (presumably Rebirths version). As you explained with Sephiroths goals, he is attempting to merge the timelines, both in which he kills Aerith AND Meteor hits the planet. He asks Cloud to defy destiny(the OG story) together at the end of Remake. This is AFTER the gang purposefully DEFY destiny by entering the portal and defeating the Arbiters and allowing Sephiroths control of them (we see them now as the new whispers with the purple orbs in the face) he now clearly has some control over fate as shown in the Aeriths death scene. Cloud is able to block Sephiroths sword, but Sephiroth ultimately switches Aeriths fate to the one he needs (Aeriths dead). I think you got most of this right but if you watch the end scenes again but with the context that in the minds of our gang Aerith is dead it should be pretty clear that Aerith is not there and Cloud is seeing things. Personally I think that the first 95% of Remake IS the OG timeline and only deviates from that when they enter the portal before fighting the Arbiters.
Nah tifa is a cuck 😂
@@omensoffate you would know.
Basically aerith is a force ghost at this point
Red XIII can sense Aerith's presence. He is not seeing things, but he is losing his mind.
@@godspell. In a sense yes. Its more to show the audience what's happening in Clouds mind without actually having the characters tell us through exposition.
I wish I live in a timeline where we got a non multiverse remake, just going deeper with lore and characters instead of the marvel avengers bullshit
Remake is the OG timeline the whispers job was to make sure key events stay on track. In the beginning Aerith is harrassed by Whispers, because she hears the evacuation warnings and wants to leave and she has to meet Cloud there. When she makes contact with them "because she is an ancient" she gets knowledge of the timeline. when cloud comes into contact with the whispers he also starts getting flashes of the timeline we see the visions during his episodes throughout the game, but because cloud has Jenova cells this also gave Jenova and Sephiroth information on the timeline. This sets the stage for Sephiroth to see if he can make changes cuz you know he wants to win this time around, and he finally does it he Kills Barret in the presidents office and the Whispers need to open a door to the inbetween because they have to draw power straight from the arbitor himself to undo what has been done. Sephiroth lacks a Physical body we have yet to fight sephiroth a single time it is always one of the men in cloaks that Jenova Controls. Sephiroth's Body should still be in the Mako Crystal near the Northern Crater. Sephiroth manipulates us into crossing into the inbetween to deal with the Arbitor becuase the bodies of the cloaked men aren't strong enough vessels to deal with a being like the Arbitor. So we do and we Fracture the Arbitor's power and we get Arbitor Aerith the last Ancient, and Arbitor Sephiroth/Jenova. Aerith caught on to what Sephiroth was doing and absorbed as much of the arbitors power as she could before he got it all. Just like in Loki when they kill He Who Remains the timeline starts branching. the OG arbitor's whispers are working tirelessly to to keep the branches in check. Aerith's whispers scoured the branches for pieces she needs to defeat Jenova once and for all. which is why we get a saved Zack who if you recall said he felt the touch of a whisper when he ended up in the Doomed timeline branch. the Game starts with Aerith saying her memories are missing and she has no white materia its simply clear. Aerith Sealed her Memories in the doomed timeline which she put a saved Zack to watch over her and protect. "that's the Aerith in the coma" cut to the Temple of the Ancients Aerith knows that black materia is fake because she swapped it with the keystone she made so sealed memories Aerith could make it back to the doomed timeline with Cloud. Now we play the part of the good couple while we wait for Sephiroth to find us so Arbitor Aerith can put her full plan in motion. she gives Cloud the white materia, and the black materia(which she hides in is inventory before he wakes up in the Wheel chair) and pushes us back to the Rebirth timeline where we give Aerith the real white materia and she gives us the clear orb. Arbitor Aerith uses Coma Aerith as a body double she created a Fracture bubble right there Cloud Stops Sephiroth from killing Aerith but Sephiroth and our friends are on the outside of the bubble so they all see Sephiroth Stab Aerith clean through it switches between the scenes like that not between timelines but from Clouds perspective in the bubble and everyone elses perspective outside the bubble. In the end fight when Aerith comes to help us duel Sephiroth he comments on the fact that she fooled him. Coma Aerith just lays there as body double everyone but Cloud Watched her die. Cloud can interact with Aerith becuase he has the Clear Orb of Materia. Aerith could interact with everyone becuase SHE had the clear orb of Materia the whole game. so Aerith is Both Alive and Dead at the same time.
Thanks for the explanation. How did you figure this out?
I should have prefaced the comment with these are just my thoughts and feelings on how i interpreted the events of both games. I don't know if any of this will be close to true but to me I'm content with thinking about the story in this way. It will be interesting to see where they take the story from here there is still a lot left to cover. I'm interested to hear what other people think I haven't had the time to watch many videos like this one.@@lukewilson624
I'm pretty sure Cloud has a hallucination of Sephiroth before he meets Aerith and sees the Whispers for the first time. I think Sephiroth from Advent Children traveled back in time which would explain his obsession with Cloud when in the original he didn't care about Cloud at that point in time.
I think you pretty much nailed it mate, great job.
I read it as Cloud couldn't accept Aerith died and deleted it from his memory and she's a figment of his imagination. Big thing that makes me believe this is there's no logical reason for her to stay behind and they chose not to show her funeral since to the others she died Red could sense her since shes part of the Lifestream now. Maybe that's not it and Square is trying to keep us guessing and put us in Cloud's shoes for the upcoming mindbreak in part 3.
The original game still exists. They can do whatever they want with this one as far as I'm concerned. The more weird the better.
You say that. But in 10 years the original will be a relic only played by old people, and this will be the standard. And the original will die in darkness
@toulor895 who was this game for? Fans of the original are the only ones that would understand the references and changes that were made, as they are compared to the original when discerning what happened.
I frankly cannot imagine how confused a new player would be when playing this game. There are things that make absolutely no sense if you haven't played the original.
The weirder the better is such a lame Nomura type mindset. This whole game is style over substance
@CDHunter345 did you put your sunglasses on after you said that? No shit it's my problem we're expressing our opinions in this comment thread.
The game is a bloated, non sensical mess that tries to fanservice while making something "new" they didn't have the balls to fully change it so they made 3 different timelines and tried to have their cake and eat it too.
And yeah, since they marketed the game as a remake when it's actually a reboot it is my problem. I don't live for these little marvel movie moments with Cait sith saying things like "I wish i didn't skip leg day"
@CDHunter345 😘
The fact that i dumped 100 hours into rebirth and the og game was 40 at best says a lot
I'm happy with remake and rebirth. I don't want stuff EXACTLY the same. It's boring then
For me as it stands right now it's simple. There are three major worlds that need to take place in the so called 'reunion' in the third game, which will bring aerith back from the world where cloud saved her, as well as bring zack back from the world he survived in, as well as the main world in which the majority of the 3rd game will take place.
Aerith is certainly coming back, I mean we haven't even seen her final limit break yet lol.
If you played the last 5 seconds of the scene at 21:07, you will see that Tifa CAN NOT SEE Aerith! Therefore, I believe Aerith is dead Rebirth but due to the timeline shenanigans of Aerith and Cloud, they are the only ones who can see one another.
Good job on the analysis but I think you mis-interpreted that the whole party except Cloud experienced Aerith' death.
Nah I think cloud can see 2 realities as one now.
Whatever the case, I don't think he understands or has processed that Aerith has died from the party's perspective.@@omensoffate
@@ryanharrison3118I think he explained it perfectly about the death, watch the death scene again, when Cloud sword hits Sephiroth it glows green, the planet heard Aerith prayers, she dies in the original timeline but lives in another.
I'm not even addressing the timeline situation here. All of saying is that the party sees that Aerith has died and Cloud sees that she has lived. @@vaasmontenegro3728
@@ryanharrison3118how can he process it when he saved aerith in one timeline ?
So you are saying in the final scene everyone one know aerith is alive and can see her? Tifa is crying because she is screwed as cloud’s love interest? This is the funniest interpretation i literally lmao lol-ed😂😂😂🎉
Aerith lives on as a voice in cloud’s head
Best out of season April fools joke no 🧢
I think it’s pretty clear that Aerith is dead in the main timeline.
You got most of the of the plotlines entirely wrong.
Then care to explain yours?
I knew it was going to be something nuts like this when they let the director of KH take over
That honestly ain't a good thing. Much as I like KH, the story is absolute tripe.
@@clarencewalters338 Tbh Final Fantasy is more popular than KH and idk what they are thinking of having a KH director in a Final Fantasy
You do know that Nomura was always director of 7 right?
@@ShikiHisashiif you meant the OG, then no. He wasn't.
@@ShikiHisashithe director of OG7 was Kitase. Nomura was not a director or anywhere near it.
As many other people are saying, i feel as though there are more than 3 relavent timelines.
Cloud saving Aerith caused a timeline split where Aerith was saved, and cloud and Aerith faught Sephiroth off, before cloud returned to the main timeline.
The Aerith Cloud date in midgar is also a seperate timeline. One where Elmyra wasnt there to stop them from leaving. Why would she not be there when Zack told her to be there?
There are also at least 3 Zack timelines, one where he goes to Biggs, one where he goes to Hojo, and one where he goes to the church.
We can assume the date timeline is destroyed, which is potentially the one that Zack fights Sephiroth in where we played as him. But it is still possible that a timeline exists where Aerith never woke up, and Marlene said Sephiroth wouldnt find her if she didnt wake up.
There are also multiple white Materias spread throughout these different timelines, one that the alive Aerith has, and one that rolled into the water at the temple after her death.
All we really know for certian is that there is an alive Aerith SOMEWHERE, and also a dead Aerith that is on the lifestream. It seems they are setting up Aerith to be able to freely move in and out of the lifestream and across timelines the same way Sephiroth can, which is why he said "i underestimated you" after the fight. It would not surprise me if part 3 turns into a multiverse battle royal where Sephiroth gathers an army of evil across multiple timelines and Aerith gathers an army of saviors for a final battle for rhe planet
Honestly it's painful. There are scenes and aspects of the Remake that I really, really like. There are added elements that really flesh out the main characters and there are moments that hit it out of the park, especially when they stick to the writing as it was.
But it doesn't make up for the sheer nonsense of the time ghosts and, just as they did in the first game, they ruin every major scene they're a part of, sapping out the impact and emotion to fill it with confusion, or in my case, annoyance. All because Nomura, Kitase, and the company can't put their egos aside to just deliver a good story as it was meant to be told. And the worst part to me is, with every entry, they just spit in Sakaguchi's eye a little more. This story about coping with loss has being polluted to where you can't be sure if anyone's dead or not, and even if they are, it doesn't matter because the scene where it happened was so confusing and unclear that it ruined all weight and feeling you might have had in that moment. Nothing matters because you don't know what the hell is going on and need an "ENDING EXPLAINED" video to make sense of it. But we all know the reality, everyone's gonna live in the end. It's gonna be a happy ending! Isn't that what 13 year olds always wanted with Aerith-- clearly that's the way to go. After all we're fighting fate and isn't that what FF is about!
Sakaguchi was clearly wrong with his theme of learning to live with and accept loss. Nah, Tetsuya Nomura's here to show you how it's done, Guch! That mother you loved died? LOL what a loser, you should have fought reality itself to make it not happen. The woman you want to romance gets killed? LMFAO just keep denying the truth and switch to a timeline where she's alive. This is clearly a message that people can take away into the real world-- I mean I guess it worked for Nomura since that man seems to live in his own world at every moment so what the hell do we know right?
But regardless, I just want to reiterate, even if the next or last episode somehow puts everything back to the way it was (an implication regarding fate which would also be just as ridiculous and proves why bringing destiny and time travel into this story was a dumb idea in the first place)-- Nomura's distortions have so effectively confused things that it's ultimately muddied any impact the original message was trying to convey. Death is now a fluid concept and byy the time the next game comes out, people will have had 3-4 years to justify, argue, and rationalize away any potential negative event as not having happen, including Aerith's death, so that even if they're proven wrong, the blow won't hit with any later reveal. And I just keep coming back to the question: how was this is any way better than just playing things straight without all this timeline bullshit?
It's all so tiresome.
The games great but it’s not perfect the only issue is they should have really went balls to the wall with the theme of Defying Destiny/Fate thats a beautiful compliment to Life/Death. Defying your fate,making your own choices and going out on your own terms is great. But the ending isn’t bad/nor is it good because I get what they are trying to do it’s just man you could’ve just saved Aerith or let her tell the party she has to go to protect planet from metor etc etc etc story beats we get it.
Oh also before I forget, they could be cooking up because Clouds mind could be rejecting Aeriths death by assuming she is just on some “higher than life mission as a Cetra but she’ll return when they win” hence why he sees her, his mind just hasn’t realized what’s actually happening. We know Aeriths actually there in spirit because Nanaki senses her. Zacks timeline/his role might be a way in the future to help fix Cloud whenever his mind breaks so in combination with whatever Zacks doing that could help Tifa restore Clouds mind not like she needs the help that’s literally her love interest 🤦♀️🤦♀️. Idk Zack living the only thing that doesn’t make sense story wise. It’s like Bardock coming back to fight Black Frieza. Or it could be the lifestream gets so corrupted by Sephiroth that Zack is a rebound to Clouds “true self” helping Tifa restore Clouds memories??? Only time would tell.
The Zack timeline diverged too I thought. One he went to Shinra and the other the reactor. He had on Aerith’s ribbon on his hand when he was at Shinra and then at the plant he didn’t . I think that shows that decision split that timeline as well.
Aerith's ribbon was one of the first things that I noticed Zack didn't have on him when he went for Biggs, all the details are sending me into a spiral
As much as id prefer you're interpretation to be true Aerith is not 'alive' in the end, well at least Aerith prime isn't. Tifa etc are grieving her death not the things you mentioned and none of them see the Aerith Cloud is seeing at the end. Now is there an alt universe Aerith still alive? hopefully, the one you mentioned waking up in Zack's doomed timeline isn't actually the Aerith from that timeline but a different one completely going off of the stamps which means that the one Zack has been looking after (he is now back in his doomed time not the main timeline) should still be 'alive'. For me the thing that throws the most doubt on her still being alive is the gut wrenching 'Goodbye' at the end.
He definitely was sarcastic about that part.
He’s being funny
I get that the reason for Tifa being sad was obviously a joke but assume the conclusion that Aerith is alive was not but could be wrong
In my theory is that Aerith is 100% dead in all universes. In the OG timeline she just dies, in the Doomed one she is caught by Sephiroth in the church. The fact that she is seen by Cloud in the end is probably because Aerith is manifestation of lifestream/she is one with the force (like Qui-Gon Jinn lol). Cloud is infused with mako which causes him to see things from other realities - like tear in the sky, materia changing, actually his dead girlfriend, etc. There is also one interesting thing - only characters that are in some way connected to lifestream/mako energy can travel between realities. Im talking here about Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth. For other characters everything is "normal", linear. Also it seems like devs made a big change to Cloud character - in the remake he seems to be sick because conjuction of realites not mako poisoning and trauma.
@@Mikkel1182 If that is the case that fks Sephiroths plan on a multiverse scale doesn't it, doesn't matter what timeline she is at, Sephiroth will always hunt her down, which is the biggest load of pile of st ever. It's all cringe bs!
The thing is, Nojima, Nomura, and Kitase haven't been able to write a good storyline for 20 years. The well has truly run dry. No wonder the "unknown journey" is 99% the same as the original one since deep down they knew they could never come up with story beats as good as the original.
Whether Cloud is even more deranged and seeing a ghost, or he's stuck between timelines, it doesn't matter, because it's still a convoluted mess.
Holy shit, this ending is even more of a cluster fuck than I realized. Nojima, Nomura, Kitase and the rest of the team all took a massive dump on Sakaguchi's original vision for FF7.
Sad but I agree. It's almost like they completely misunderstood the theme of the OG FFVII. Death is like a minor inconvenience in Rebirth. Avalanche is dead? Nope they're okay in another timeline. Zack died? Nope pull him in to help Cloud fight. Aerith sacrificed herself to pray for Holy? Nope she's back to help Cloud fight Sephiroth. Also, she's a force ghost watching over Cloud.
@@Stevan_275 plus all these huge anime hype moments all over the place, sometimes less is more. We didnt need to see Seph every 5 min
@@sillylittlesheepjax6009 This EXACTLY! It's like the gang is saying "Ohh no, can we really beat Sephiroth?" You mean...... for the third time!?
Get Nomura's name of out of your mouth, he was the only one who wanted a 1:1 faithful remake but got forced into it by Kitase and Nojima.
I think its sad for everyone that played the og. I really wanted the plot to be followed. 95% of the story was great, but the ending really turned me off. Idk if they are appealing to new players or what.
It will be a convergence of the three timelines to make Aerith Zack alive.
I suggest going through the ending again and redoing this video there is quite a lot of misinformation
It was mentioned in the game that its not a timeline swap, it was her dream within the lifestream.
So it's actually not a reboot, but rather a continuation of the FF7 extended story.
This is why Aerith knows about her death, why Sephiroth knows about his loss and why the whispers exist.
My theory about the final cutscene with the crew is that, in some weird way, either our Aerith died and the Aerith "in-between worlds" is the one we see at the end, but no one except Cloud can see her, or the crew is stuck in one specific timeline or world while Cloud and Aerith can freely see through every timelines
Or Cloud is crazy but also is correct like someone with mental problems given the real power to see realities yeah what he is seeing is real but no one else can see it and also his mental problems are distorting what he sees
I agree, the whispers kind of ruin the story. Also Aerith is dead in Cloud's world but she exists in this 'other world' where Zack also resides. Cloud having traveled to both worlds can see Aerith in his own world (as well as the ripple in the sky no one else can see) despite her having died.
Here is my prediction on how this will end, let's see if I am right when the next installment of this FF7 comes out:
1. Aerith will be alive in the Zack timeline, she will wake up.
2. Zack timeline's Cloud, the one SEATED ON THE WHEELCHAIR, will be merged together with the Cloud with rebirth's timeline. I want to articulate further, but well, no spoilers, but remember that part where Cloud sits on the wheelchair being pushed around by Tifa in Mideel?
3. Those 2 weapons gobbling Tifa will come into equation later and will take part in Cloud's memory restoration with Tifa. Another plot hole fix that I hope will come out at least solid.
@@OskarReyAllenoptional date just to keep Tifa’s fans happy because No Promises Awaits at the Journeys End.
@@vaasmontenegro3728 dafuq...I gotta date Tifa then, I dated Aerith!! lol
She’s dead AND alive my dudes it’s not that hard to get. They did the same thing with Zack, he deifed fate but is still dead in beagle universe. Cloudy defied fate (somehow, with the lifestream coming out of his sword, Y’all can’t convince me otherwise it straight up looks like it. I thought Aerith is the only one who can manipulate it cause she’s a cetra,) and saved aerith but she still died in beagle universe, so now Aerith is in another world where she is indeed alive AND survived being killed by Sephiroth. It seems in other worlds like in Zack’s she is fated to be killed by Sephiroth no matter what just like we see in her final date with Cloud she dies but not like in OG. Thanks to Cloud her fated death at the hands of Sephiroth was broken. Trust in SE y’all they threw in the multiverse plot for a reason. The devs obviously are going to follow the “og” plot to keep the fans happy but throw in new twists to it. I knew we were still going to see her die and how it went down in Rebirth makes SENSE based on what we saw back in remake
From what i got: aerith is dead, sephiroth is heading north, cloud has the empty white materia and the black materia, zach is in another reality, wutai and shinra are on the verge of war, sephiroth is glenn, aerith is a ghost and has the white materia from another reality to stop the meteor. Sephiroth killed her physical form in all realties. The white whispers seem to be controlled by aerith, the black ones by sephiroth. The robed soldiers are also heading north
Cloud put dark material in his sword just to pair it with magnify materia , a true psychopath!
Na, the magnify are in aeriths staff with cure and Tifa’s gloves with barrier 😂
Chadley: Cloud, we’re getting some really good data from all the universes you’ve spawned in the combat simulator!
My theory: Sephiroth kills Aerith on all timelines except one, the one when Cloud saves her. Meanwhile, all AVALANCHE members died on other doomed timelines because they never manage to leave Midgar.
She will be back when Sephiroth successfully summons Meteor and merge all realities, making this Aerith to reunite with the others.
This could be Aerith's plan all this time, that is why Sephiroth says he underestimate her during the final boss fight.
The OG was not afraid to let the gamer feel the inevitable hollow loss of death and finding the strength to overcome it.
Uhhh tifa didn’t get cucked everyone is grieving over aerith death but cloud is the only one seeing aerith and still thinks she’s alive
This Cloud is suspect. Should have smashed Jesse and Tifa already
So Aerith is like Shroedinger cat. Interesting
Cloud seems to be in flux between the two timelines, she lives in one, and dies in the other. At the Tiny Bronco, no one can see Aerith because they are in the reality in which she is dead, and the sky is normal, but while Cloud is interacting with everyone in their reality, he is still somewhat in the reality in which Aerith is alive with the torn skyline.
While I am a fan of the CloudxAerith pairing, I don't think they are canon because the game still gave you the choice on which girl to romance, though taking the Aerith choice does add more weight to the last few hours of the game.
I see nobody really understood the ending.Aerith died ppl.Zack is dead too as Biggs too.These "worlds"are worlds of the dead,created by the memories of the spirits that have returned to the lifestream.Its portrayed is such a convoluted and idiotic way just cause Squeenix priority at this point is NOT to tell a coherent story but to keep ppl with the guessing game.Smokes and Mirrors.A shame really that such an already masterpiece of a story have been drag down to this level.Its not even good writing
Almyra and Marlene arent dead yet they're in that world
Does anyone know if Rebirth explains the following (I finished Rebirth but am none the wiser on the following point), At the end of Intermission Zack is outside of the church, rehearsing what he's going to say to Aerith, then enters it and finds the church filled with people who are in pain.
Yet, at the beginning of Rebirth Zack enters Midgar, (he already has injuries on his face whilst the Intermission one did not), hands Cloud over, and then races after the helicopter, it crashes, he fights the troops, then finds Aerith.
Was the Zack from Remake the same one we see at the beginning of Rebirth, or the one we saw at the end of Intermission? If the Intermission one was different, then they just showed us another version of Zack for...anyone know the reason?
@lukywinata
I see. So Yuffie in Intermission is the same one in our party in Rebirth. But the Zack in Intermission is not the same one we control at any point in Rebirth? Square just showed us a different Zack in Intermission. I don't like that decision, just don't show him in Intermission, if he's not the same one shown in Remake, and is not really in Rebirth, but if that's it then fair enough. Thanks for answering.
lazy explanation, its ff13 all over again don't let square do timelines, they cant write them with the crayons they use (and eat)@@lukywinata
I’m loving all this timeline converging. Can’t wait to fight emerald weapon with Wakka and Rikku! 🤞
Don't forget Sora and Mickey too!
God, what a mess. The game was a masterpiece until the end.
Not looking forward to the Blitzball mini games 😪
Aerith definately dies at the church, the game definately hinted it, by giving Aerith Noble Sacrifice ability at the Temple of the Ancients, and this scene right here is exactly how he does it in combat
it looks like Cloud is the only one that can see Aerith, and that the rest of the team is sad that she is dead.
Let's tell it like it is the team behind the remake (Creative Business Unit I) has never ever been able to tell a coherent story, that isn't filled with multiple BS time lines and hamming on to smarmy themes like "fate".
Part of me feels good for the simple fact that this game is performing much lower than what Square-Enix were expecting. And it's all on them, they didn't give the fans what they wanted, they censored the game, they released an end product with muddy textures and dubious image quality, made everything regarding the story unnecessarily convoluted instead of telling the much better story experience once directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi.
I hope this brings the arrogance of people like Nojima and Nomura down a peg or two.
I think you're woefully misinformed. But go ahead..
ratioed bro@@renoslash1890
Thanks for the analysis. I’ve been watching lots of them and it’s seems like most agree on the travel between different multiverses but at the same time not everyone thinks Aerith is alive. Not sure what I think about it either. If she survived I’m super happy (not because they changed the OG plot) because I like her as a character a lot. From the perspective of a writer I would kill her off but from the perspective of a fan I want her to live so bad.
First, this is incredibly well done and thank you for doing it. That's the biggest takeaway from my comment. The longer part I'll contribute is that I think we did save Aerith, but she is in a separate timeline (or operating between timelines). I think the Aerith Sephiroth kills was the comatose Aerith in the Doomed timeline. As Marlene says, "Once she wakes up she's going to die". That is the version everyone but Cloud sees. Everyone but Cloud thinks she's dead. But Cloud, who in the Rebirth timeline has had the ability to see different timelines dating back to Remake, can see Rebirth Aerith. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point of the third installment of the Remake series we see Aeriths, Zacks, and Clouds from multiple timelines ban together to defeat Sephiroth. But to summarize, I think Rebirth Aerith is alive, Doomed Aerith was killed by Sephiroth, and Rebirth Cloud is the connection between the worlds.
Aerith did state that you’d meet her future self & you’re going to like her. Plus, in the Temple of the Ancients, Sephiroth said he’s going to bring all of the worlds together before the end. That means that eventually all of the worlds will combine & we’ll have multiple Zack’s. I bet we’ll have one Zack survive & he’ll fight with our party.
I don’t think tifa is upset bc cloud loves aerith. I think she’s upset aerith died. I also don’t think it’s 2 timelines going on at the end, but instead clouds messed up brain. I think aerith is dead but cloud thinks he saved her which is why he can only see her
This is scary AF 😮
I just spent 3 hours on this end sequence and I have a sore head. Wtf
Cloud doesn't cry in the original game, in fact he has no emotions, which is why he is frustrated.
Now Cloud can cry, we don't know if Cloud has accepted Aerith's death, especially they have skipped the scene of her sinking body. Tifa seems visibly confused by Cloud's apathetic reaction to Aerith's death.
A Cloud who can see Aerith and seems to understand that Aerith must stop Meteor is very different, which implies that he must revive Sephiroth and that is why Cloud uses the black materia to search for Sephiroth's whereabouts.
I don't think we are switching between realities, we just see the characters reacting to the changes that occur between what should happen and what is happening.
The change of the final line in Remake for the English dub confirms that Aerith can see the same sky as Cloud and that is why she hates looking up. Cloud says it's just an illusion, so Aerith is an illusion too.
Cloud says he will stop Sephiroth, but he can't really promise that to her, because Cloud and Sephiroth are the same person, which is why he carries the black matter. But the most curious thing is that Aerith will not keep her promise either, perhaps the Aerith that we see dead is the Aerith of the Remake and this other Aerith that is a vision (Sephiroth has said that she has hidden in another reality), could be the one who gives us her white materia and it is possible that she wants to create a world where she and Cloud are both together, it would not be crazy for Aerith to change objectives to ones similar to Sephiroth's but for her own benefit, this seems to me because Aerith knows about Meteor, something that only the other Aerith could know because the remake version has lost her memories, she only knows that she must pray.
The white materia turns black due to a rendering problem, in several gameplays it can be seen transparent.
I think there is another timeline that both the out-of-time Sephiroth and Aerith are from, where Sephiroth realizes he's destined to lose so he uses Jenova to break the timeline. And the Aerith who is out-of-time is from his original timeline and is the only one who survived. She speaks to the Rebirth Aerith and sends her visions.
After they beat the Whisper Harbinger in Rebirth, it splits into 2 timelines where Zack survives and the Rebirth timeline following the original. When Cloud blocks Sephiroth from killing Aerith, he uses Jenova's powers to correct the timeline and kill her. And all of Aerith's appearances afterwards are from the out-of-time Aerith who is still pulling strings in the background to stop the out-of-time Sephiroth.
The beginning of the next game will probably be called "Reunion" and will simply follow the rest of the original game. They will travel to the Northern Crater and find the regular Sephiroth trapped in a Materia cocoon, Cloud will give him the Black Materia and he will call Meteor, which releases the Weapons and then he spends the rest of the game holding back the Holy Spell from stopping Meteor. It will just have out-of-time Sephiroth and Aerith show up along with Zack at some point.
They. F'd. Up. The. Story. End of story. Square should've kept the story like the original and never done these timeline fuck@ry. Period. Res 4 remake is the best game remake of all time. Capcom for most part, kept things the same but expanded on what was already there. That's all what Square should've done. I read somewhere that the younger guys at Square wanted the game FF7 remake to be like the original. While the older guys wanted these changes. I knew Square was going to f this up when they said that the game is going to be done in parts.
Disagreed.
I just got robbed of over 20 minutes wtf
And tifa got cuckold
His video that bad?
@@AndrewMiEyeah he legit says the entire party is sad and depressed because Yuffie is thinking about Sonon and he says Tifa is crying because she got cucked by Cloud I have no idea how the hell he came to that conclusion
@@thebrigade7684 That is absolutely wild. He has to be trolling. Ima give it a watch.
Aerith is dead in the game’s current timeline but the reason cloud can see her is because he can see both timelines now, the one where she is alive
I mean, Aerith seems to be directly interacting with him a lot, which makes it seem like she's very much there. Also Red sensing her reinforces this idea.
Everything you’ve said except up to the end was accurate. I think Tifa is sad because in that timeline(rebirth) Aerith is dead. I think the Aeriths between “original” and “rebirth” somehow switched places. Also Cloud is now somehow sitting in between timelines. He can see the living Aerith that is now in “Oringal” timeline. But, that Aerith also sits in between timelines now. Thus why she kind of came off like a spirit wondering around among the group at the end. They didn’t seem to acknowledge Aerith was there next to them except Cloud.
I absolutely love this game!
I think quite a bit of this is wrong or off a bit...but the most notable part is that Aerith is dead again in all timelines we've seen into (died in the doomed one as well after pushing cloud), though idk how her consciousness went between them to start with...and I'm really disappointed that a "Tifa fan" thought it was a cucked situation...Tifa is sad at the end because A) her latest best friend died yet again, B) Cloud is now acting like suuuuuper WTF, and perhaps a distant C) would be cloud seemingly instantly switching over to liking Aerith majorly after very little indication of it even if you do the Aerith dates. Tifa barely had any dialogue, that is intentional and I believe Cloud's infatuation with Aerith that came out of nowhere has something to do with a certain BLESSING he got...or the reunion. Aerith is somehow alive somewhere at the end since Nanaki can sense her briefly, but in what way? Who knows, probably just some sort of lifestream mastery like her mom did with her after she died (see Tale of Two Pasts).
correct me if im wrong here. But if Sephiroth can now switch anything between timelines at will, hasnt he already achieved some kind of godhood?
For the most part I’d say you’re correct. What you seem to be getting wrong is that Aerith didn’t survive in any of those timelines. Cloud sees her, but no one else does. Notice how they also skipped the laying her to rest in water scene as well. This was to really screw with Cloud’s mind when the time comes to truly break him down. He’s going to have to deal with his memories being scattered, Aerith being dead and him not remembering/dealing with it, all while Tifa loses faith in him. I can’t stress it enough, no one sees Aerith, but Cloud, and Red senses Aerith, but we also know that he was experimented on as well and is the very one to bring the black Materia in the Northern Crater to Cloud who hands it over to Sephiroth.
My interpretation is that Cloud hallucinated saving Aerith and is hallucinating seeing her now. He traded guilt over her death for denile. He has a pattern of this by blocking out seeing his mom when she died, Tifas scar, and memories of Zack. It's a clever way to also depict his mental deterioration and retain the theme that Aetiths death messes him up BAD.
You notice everyone is grieving but Cloud and we are following Clouds POV and his unreliable narration so the audience sees what Cloud sees. There is a chance he is seeing Aeriths actual spirit and the rift in the sky is real because he doesn't glitch when doing so.
yea it astonishes me the amount of people who think Aerith is alive in the rebrith timeline. Why is everyone sad during the tiny bronco scene if she's there alive? Literally makes zero sense.
I think you are right that she dies because even though, Cloud intercepted Sephiroth, the timeline reverts back to OG where she dies, which is what everyone sees. However, what I think happened is that as she dies, she gives Cloud the ability to see the timeline where she lives by touching him, like how she shows Marlene and Red visions in Remake. We see this ourselves when Barrett and Tifa see Aerith lying dead in Cloud's arms, with her hand on his face.
This is why in the final scene, Cloud is the only one that can see a rift in the sky, because he can also see the doomed timeline where Aerith lives unlike the rest of the gang.
That's why for me it doesn't come across as simple as he is just hallucinating because you can tell when the Jenova cells kick in to protect Cloud's superimposed memories, but him acting like Aerith is still there with them feels different
@@troyloveless4446it makes sense because of the green glow that appears every single time an alternative timeline is created, and which is also present when cloud attempts to save Aerith
If SE is going to make it some pointless BS as they did with Zack’s resurrection, we will not know until the next game
@@troyloveless4446what they mean when they're saying aerith is alive is that aerith isn't truly dead as cloud can actually see the rift of multiverse in the ending credits,. Think about it, the rest of the party can't see the thing in the sky and can't see aerith either, while cloud can see both, this implies that the multiverse rift is connected to aerith. Honestly the theory where aerith just died and cloud hallucinating is kinda interesting, but it doesn't fit the narrative.
Aerith dead in remake timeline my guy, she just a lifestream ghost n cloud huffin copium
Aerith is dead, yo. That’s why everyone is sad. Cloud is living in a fragmented reality because he’s still losing his mind. When he enters the lifestream in part three and has to piece himself back together I think part of that will be contending with the reality of aerith’s death. An article I read recently stated that Cody Christian voiced the lines cloud says right after sephiroth kills her, which are inaudible in rebirth. Apparently they will be played in part three. I hope we’ll get a less fragmented depiction of her death and the scene after where cloud lays her in the water.
My take is that Cloud only sees Aerith because Sephiroth wants him to. I think Sephiroth is using multiverse shenanigans to trick Cloud into bringing the party up to North Crater, and we'll see Tifa take Cloud through all the real memories in part 3. I think there's a Lifestream timeline (Zack) and a real timeline (Cloud). Zack (and now Aerith) will be our allies fighting Sephiroth in the Lifestream, and Cloud and the gang will be going through the mostly original story beats.
I appreciate the take but I think you wrong on too many things in this video
The reboot seems more like a fanfic fever dream than a proper story, honestly.
Because it been written by somebody who has no talent for writing, that’s why. This is what Hubris looks like and exactly why SE are so far behind other companies. Because they love the smell of their own farts.
My three major gripes outside the ending:
- Cid being a bitch. Cid is supposed to be fearless, and take no BS Character. He doesn't fear Shinra, the sky, the sea, or even space. They make him want to assist Aerith in any way.....then when you get to the temple. He literally goes " I'm not going in there." Why? Just because he's not Playable yet? You couldn't have him just guard the entrance from preventing more Shinra entering or something?
- Censorship. I saw this coming from certain things being changed in the remake. Purple Jenova blood. Tseng not slapping Aerith, etc. Now what really came into play here, is Dyne not self deleting. Dyne was a minor character who did a whole lot with a little bit of screen time in the original. It was the finale that fitted a lost soul who believed he was beyond redemption. To me, it was the most powerful part of the original outside of the main storyline. In rebirth, though not done horribly, it did not hit anywhere as hard, and neuters Barret's grief a bit.
- No one realizing Shinras most top wanted at the Jeunon Airstrip. Cloud and gang just casually walking among countless Shinra soldiers before they got their disguises was baffling. Small part of the game, but literally every other soldier I'm the game attacks you on sight. Yet no one here sees you despite you passing by.
the original had the junon problem too tbh
The Number Cloud what does it mean?
Loved the game, hated the ending
I’m pretty sure Aerith will still die at the end of part 3, there’s no other way
(And it is still unclear if she is actually alive at the end of Rebirth by the way)
I kinda like the idea of Cloud being the vilain in part 3, but that would very much kiss goodbye to the events of the original game, which I don’t like that much
Also, even though I love Zack, maybe even more than Cloud actually, it really feels like he has been jammed into this story just for the sake of it, and I really don’t understand his role in Rebirth, and I would argue the story didn’t need him
And my dude didn’t desserve to be cucked like that by Aerith 😢
By the way I also dislike how the game forces the Aerith love story on us, despite giving us the choice to romance who we want (meaning Tifa obviously)
First because, Tifa, always
Second because I actually loved how the og game never really made it clear who Cloud was into, which made that love triangle much more interesting and subtle
Here I have been going Tifa all the way during the entire game, doing all the romantic bits with her and showing no interest whatsoever for Aerith, and yet we still end up with her, being a complete asshole to Tifa right in her face in the process 🤷🏻♂️
Anyway, my feelings are very much mixed after that ending
I loved the game, in fact I would even say it is one of the best games I’ve played in years, and I loved every piece of it from chapter 1 to 13, but that last chapter really threw me off
I guess we’ll have to wait and see, again
I understand your POV the ending is really makin everyone bamboozled at this point haha. As for how the game forces the Aerith love story on us I think it's due to the fact that Cloud memories is merged with Zack's from hojo's experiment cus throughout the game Cloud is basically sharing his POV based on Zack's memories with him as the center of attention but truth to be told it is not what happened based on what tifa told Aerith in the beginning of Rebirth. In the next game I think they will explain this more and Cloud will finally knows what really happened 5 years ago as well to find out how will they end this Remake trilogy cus the ending is so confusing as there's lots of jumping from timeline to another timeline. Until then all we can do is theorize and wait for the part 3 in 2 or 4 years xD
@@horu2344
Regarding Cloud’s memory, I still don’t understand why Tifa refuses to tell him the truth at this point, it just doesn’t make sense
Even when he finally remembers Zack, but he thinks he’s the one who felt in the river at Nibelheim, why doesn’t she tell him the truth?
Just because she thinks it might upset him?
Come on…
@@Ed_Crane Well imo I think she's worried about his mental state cus remember the rest of the group thinks Cloud is degrading and telling him the truth right now and then will make it worst to the point they're afraid they might turn Cloud to one of those mindless black robe folks.
@@Ed_Crane In my opinion the reason why Tifa is not telling him the whole truth is due to the fact that everyone in the group thinks Cloud mental state as of now is unstable, like they're worried that he is degrading. So she's worried that if she told him the whole truth it'll fasten the degradation process thus turning him into one of them mindless black robe folks but in reality he's a special case which will be explained in part 3 that's for sure
Amen. 🙌
Square pls explain the ending
When they show the frame with the Masamune embedded in the floor, you can see the classic "distortions" he experiences when he distorts reality, such as when Zack is mentioned, and you hear the famous three notes of the intro, the same ones you hear when a tear escapes in the Remake. In the third part of the game, they could show the same scene with Sephiroth actually pulling the bloodied sword from Aerith's body. In fact, upon closer observation, there are two angles and two different floors. One is just in Cloud's head where he deflected the attack, and another with the sword impaled THROUGH Aerith's body and blood starting to flow. Sephiroth smiles, pulls out the sword (from the body), and we see the classic scene of Aerith falling as the music starts. Even when the rest of the team approaches, you see the classic disturbances with a bloody scene and a clean one (in Cloud's head). Although it's intentionally done to confuse and mislead, we simply see what actually happened and what Cloud sees from the moment his psyche begins to deny Aerith's death, including her telling him "it's all right" and him laying her on her back. After defeating the boss, we see Tifa and the others looking at the deceased body lying on its side, while when Cloud approaches, he only sees her lying on her back, even opening her eyes and responding to him, obviously only in his head. I mean, even him rejecting Sephiroth's sword is all a product of his imagination. In the end, this guy literally saw Zack die before his eyes and removed it all from his memory. Obviously, what really happened, including him laying Aerith's body in the lake, will be revealed in the last part when Cloud, fallen into the lifestream, regains control of his memories and himself 😢
Except the devs confirmed that Cloud deflected the Masamune in the Ultimania. Also, the visual distortion/flashes are not just unique to Cloud. For example, we see the same thing happen to Marlene when Aerith gives Marlene knowledge of Aerith's death in Seventh Heaven. I don't think there is any possibility that Aerith is actually dead. It would make the entire plot of both games redundant, and make Sephiroth look entirely inept.
How did Tifa get cucked Aerith is dead in the main timeline . Hence why no one can see her but cloud.
You got a lot of things wrong in this video. Aerith is not alive in rebirth timeline. Cloud is hallucinating. Also, the devs are mostly cloti shippers. There's no way they will canonize clerith.
More like she is in the lifestream. Remember everything is connected But you are right about everything else
og 1997, advent children, remake, rebirth, everything points rather strongly at clearith lol.
@@user-or4ct5ow6b Not really. Cloud and tifa were practically married in AC.
@@drakethesnek6429 lol delusional much?
@@user-or4ct5ow6b no, that's the canon. Cloud and tifa are literally endgame.
I'm a relatively new Final Fantasy fan. I only played X and watched Advent Children as a kid, but didn't really get it. When 7 Remake came out during the lockdown, I watched my friend play it and I got hooked! I dived into the franchise and played the older games including 7 OG. I was so hyped for Rebirth! There were so many opportunities SE could take the story after we defeated fate in Remake. Could we save Aerith? Would someone else die in her place? Would our choices in the game impact this? What would the consequences for the planet be? Why is Zack alive? What will his role be? The trailers also seemed to hype this up by teasing us with titbits of info that left us wanting more.
And then i played the game. Ladies and gentlemen, this takes me back to 12 years ago when Bioware released Mass Effect 3 with it's nonsensical ending that came out of nowhere, rendering all our choices throughout the trilogy useless. It reminded me of Game of Thrones where the writers butchered their narrative in the name of shock value instead of creating a fitting conclusion that tied up loose ends. Rebirth's ending is right up there with those: it's a confusing wtf moment designed for shock value and leaves with more questions than answers. Did we save Aerith? We don't know! Is she a ghost or is Cloud hallucinating? We don't know! What was Zack's role in the story? Complete fan service for not even five minutes. It completely butchers what made the original way back in 1997 so emotional and iconic.
Hilarious to see ppl in the comment section gatekeeping for the original timeline still not changing. It’s CLEAR from the rainbow prism narrative that cloud saved Aerith in a branching timeline while still failing to save her in the current timeline. What we’re seeing is Cloud is experiencing both realities simultaneously, one where she lives and one where she dies.
“Oh but she’s a force ghost from the lifestream” lol it’s like stop watching advent children. You really think they’d introduce all these new narrative points just to say “oh gotcha it’s the same outcome actually.”
I mean they just said that whoever dies won't get ressurected and the fact that and also to quote them from word to word “The overall storyline, the developments, will not go wildly out in a way that will not add up to Advent Children in the end. I don’t think anyone wanted that, that’s not what we’re looking to create here. [But] to make sure it doesn’t become stale and people know exactly where it’s going, [that it] doesn’t just follow the original word for word, we add in extra elements which add that little bit of doubt.” - Kitase .
Unless they are intentionally lying here then sure you have a point
Aerith surviving in a branching reality though is not the same thing as resurrecting her so it doesn’t break any promises necessarily. Also I know the interview you’re talking about with AC and the way I interpret what he said is not that it “leads to” but “ties in”. In part 1 we already defeated the 3 sephiroth variants from AC when they in their whisper form so I’m pretty sure that’s what they mean. I don’t think this is “leading to” advent children at all and I do t think that’s what they meant.
When you step back and take an honest look at all the bread crumbs they left here it seems pretty clear to me what their doing and where their going. Aerith is perma dead but zack is still alive makes no sense narratively, both their fates have always been intertwined.
And do t forget there’s actually a lot of us OG fans who never wanted a remake at all and were perfectly happy with what we got in the original. If we were to go back to this world I woulda rather see something different and I’m happy we’re getting it with this.
@@theonecalledlamorak6446I mean they can just use the remake trilogy to why cloud is seeing Aerith and Zack in AC not gonna say you're wrong but at the same time AC can't be a thing either with an alive Aerith+Zack neither on the way to a Smile. I honestly don't think even they know fully how to explain their direction
Not gonna lie, I always thought AC was complete trash; completely ruins the tone and atmosphere of OG. AC was all dark and emo while the original was very upbeat and goofy and more bright.
I think ppl get a little too fixated on ff7 being about loss and death because AC sorta put that in their heads, I mean in OG Aerith dies and 10 mins later their all snow boarding down a mountain and chocobo racing lol. To me it’s always been about companionship, adventure, and group a weirdos and losers who have a history of failure but who come together and beat the worlds greatest military force and save the world, that’s how it’s always resonated with me at least. From what I can see it seems like this triliogy wants to reinstall those aspects about the original and if that means sidestepping AC a little I’m totally ok with that.
It’s not really erasing AC since we already explored those themes in part 1, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be its end point this time either.
Thanks for explaining, now I realized in the scene where Aerith lies on the ground we can see 'two versions', one with blood on her body and the other without it.
Thank you Sir Dan for this in depth explanation
Fucking hate this kingdom hearts style story telling. I was afraid of this…
I just audibly groaned as soon as I heard alternate timeline. There's a vague curiosity for the games solely based off the fact I was a rabid fan of the original but I think that yeah I'll be better off possibly just watching spoilers and skipping through pretty cutscenes on UA-cam. I just can't get into these remakes but I'm glad so many people can and so many new fans came around. It's wild to me to think a game I was so hype on when I was 14 and dropping my jaw at the original Ifrit and Shiva summons is still going on over 2 decades later.
This ain't even the end of the story. Yet you've said ending so many times it's like you're sick of it and want it to stop
Personally i loved the end of Rebirth, simply doing a straight remaster of OG with better graphics wouldve been boring and doesnt expand the story since we all know how it ends. The multi-verse thing is confusing. Rebirth is bold and makes you sit on the edge for part 3 which is exactly what SquareEnix wants to sell the game 😛
13:50 Areith Died in the rebirth timeline but cloud saving cause a new timeline, just like Zack making decisions to save Cloud or Biggs created two different timelines
So for next game we have 2 timelines? One in which everyone is alive (including Aerith and Zack, the one with the rip in the sky); and one without Zack and Aerith (the OG one, not doomed yet?)
FF7 Remake/Rebirth: Aerith and Sephiroth play 5D chess while using poor Cloud as a chess pawn, and the Planet as a board.
The inaccuracies are crazy. Nowhere did they show the OG timeline in this game (Remake did but not Rebirth). If anything Cloud possibly split the Remake/Rebirth timeline in two but what’s shown is mostly the main Rebirth timeline with Cloud have mind breaks & Aerith using the Lifestream to contact him. Also it’s hard to say where Zack is exactly so it’s too soon to say he’s in the main Rebirth timeline. Plus Tifa is very much supported as a love interest, it just matters on what you chose as far as dialogue & quests.
Yeah they did. The cloud talking when he holds a dead Aerith, and you don’t hear it is clearly the OG cloud giving his famous speech straight after Aerith dies “Aerith is gone, Aerith will no longer, laugh, cry or get angry, what about us? What are WE suppose to do?”
You clearly didn’t pay attention.
@@elowei9919 That’s still Remake/Rebirth Cloud. Aerith is clearly dead in the Rebirth timeline, he’s just getting his mind messed with and he’s also denying her death.
@@DarkMagicGamerIts so clear from how the rest of the party is reacting too. They skipped over the burial part because cloud is clearly blocking it out like he does with so much else.
5:23 This cloud is not the cloud from Doom universo btw, is the cloud from the rebirth time line, and this happen with Zack away they never say or you get to know if Zack back or not...your explication is not correct here.
I think the last part is something like this:
Zack is on rebirth time.
Aerith is alive on rebirth time but for some reason can travel betwin worlds in spirit mode or something like that.
Cloud from rebirth is on original time, thats why hes not sad from aerith death, he didnt see that happen.
All the team is from the original game sad becasue aerith die.
Hey but im crazy maybe im totally wrong
Great cideo men
Video*
i think ur onto something, i started to think the whispers cant actually change things but move things from one timeline to another so there is a timeline where cloud did save aerith. so i think a bunch of ppl just did swap places after the death
18:08 how do we know this is the current timeline?
I agree with everything except for Aerith being alive in Rebirths timeline. Cloud is the only one who acknowledges her because he's in denial, yuffie and tifa are crying at the end because she is gone. That being said I think bringing Zack back and creating multiple timelines really just convolutes things for the worse, it would have been much more impactful and less confusing if they just kept it the way it was in og. Still love this game though
But.....Red can also sense her
This was so good...I thought the white whisper's were Aerith's but being the planet's makes alot more sense as "it" wants Aerith to use the White Materia so it blocks Cloud from helping. This game continues to hurt my soul for decades lol!
what in the Spiderman multiverse was that!?! hahahah soooo glad i didnt get the game yet… but I guess would be silly to assume it would all be based on the OG game. but man…. this new story.. the writers mustve been on some good mushroom trip to come up with that lol kinda killed the game tbh >_>…