Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is here and by now, it’s likely many of you will have finished the main story. In typical JRPG fashion, the final few hours of the story can get a little complicated, especially here, where we’ve already seen some tweaks to the original story and expansion in other areas.
We’re here to help you make some sense of the ending and some of the scenes preceding it. We’ll answer some of those confusing questions you might have, too. Suffice it to say, this article is chock full of spoilers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. You have been warned.
Spoiler warning: This article contains major spoilers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
What is Zack’s purpose and what’s going on with the timeline?
The finale of Final Fantasy VII Remake revealed to the audience that there were two timelines running alongside one another: one that follows the original game’s story, and another in which Zack Fair isn’t killed by Shinra. As we get a large dollop of Zack in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, we also learn from the ending that there aren’t just two timelines, but many.
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Zack Fair has had a mixed-up life. His original role in Final Fantasy VII was as the best friend of Cloud and the love of Aerith. In Rebirth, he is still those things but also so much more. He is the tool of the multiverse. When we reach the end of the game, Zack is given the option to save either Cloud, Aerith, or Biggs. But what he doesn’t realise is that these actions create more timelines and universes.
You can tell which reality is which via Stamp, a dog mascot within the game. For example, if Stamp is a beagle in a helmet, then you’re in the main reality; if Stamp is a terrier with a cap, you’re in Zack’s reality; there’s also a bulldog version of Stamp where Biggs is alive; lastly, in the reality that Aerith creates, Stamp is a corgi.
Zack is, essentially, creating each reality as he acts upon his wants. He shows that each person has their own version of destiny and that each of these timelines runs alongside each other - which we see as Zack sits atop his bike deciding which road to take. It wasn’t the whispers changing everything, which we thought could be the case after Remake, instead it’s Zack.
Sephiroth’s plans
In the original game, Sephiroth wanted to smash a meteor into the planet releasing the lifestream which he would then absorb, becoming a God. In Rebirth, given we have all these different realities, the catalyst is still the same - the meteor - however, now Sephiroth wants to command over all of infinity.
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Essentially he wants to merge the different timelines and rule over them all because he’s aware that in some realities he ultimately loses the war. By taking over everything and absorbing the lifestream which, in this scenario is the universes entwined, he believes he can’t possibly lose.
What is Aerith’s fate?
She dies. Well, kind of. As you might have guessed, it’s not at all simple. We see Sephiroth attempt to kill Aerith, though Cloud swoops in to block the downward stab that killed Aerith in the original game. So she survives? No.
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Aerith is the only one who can stop Sephiroth in his mind as she is the last of the Cetra. She holds the white materia - given to her by her mother - which is used to cast Holy over the planet and protect it from Sephiroth. However, throughout Remake and Rebirth, the materia has been drained of its power by the whispers, who we know do the bidding of Sephiroth to some degree. So, she needs a new white materia, and the only way to get this is to use the multiverse. With this in mind, an alternate Aerith pulls Cloud into her timeline (suggesting Aerith is already aware of other universes), one destined to be torn apart, and she gives Cloud her white materia before he travels back to the ‘main’ timeline keeping destiny in check.
If you’re already confused, it’s not going to get any easier.
When Sephiroth attempts to kill Aerith, Cloud stops the blade, however, she still dies. It’s likely that Aerith has the ability to end her own life voluntarily, knowing that without her death, destiny will not run its course. Ultimately, she doesn’t need to be stabbed by Sephiroth because, and this is a bit meta, we all know she dies. Even people who haven’t played Final Fantasy VII know that Aerith dies, it’s unavoidable. So Cloud saves her, showing his love for her and that he will always protect her, but she dies anyway because destiny wills it.
It’s not made any clearer by the fact that we see Aerith appear at the end of the Sephiroth fight to help beat him, before seeing her take the form of a spirit that only Cloud can see - although it’s hard to take anything Cloud sees as gospel given his brain is degrading. This likely means that she will continue to help Cloud and the party from her place within the lifestream.
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In the final moments of the game, Aerith promises Cloud that she will “put everything I’ve got into my prayers. I’ll stop the meteor.” And Cloud has promised to defeat Sephiroth, echoing the ending of the original game where Aerith protected Gaia using the lifestream while Cloud fought on.
What are Cloud’s intentions?
Well, this is hard to say. After Cloud speaks to Aerith while the party is prepping to move on, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the black materia. This leads to his brain glitching as we’ve seen throughout the game, speaking the word ‘reunion’.e then fixes the orb into his sword,thus keeping it safe for Sephiroth who still has a mental connection to Cloud.
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It’s likely that Cloud will continue heading north as he knows that’s where the robed men are going because it’s here that Sephiroth aims to reunite Jenova’s cells which are found in the robed men, as well as Cloud. This doesn’t mean that our spiky-haired protagonist is on a path to betrayal, but we can’t be sure how his actions will play out. In the third part of the trilogy, Reunion will play a big part, it will likely be the subtitle for the game in fact.
What’s happening with Shinra and Wutai?
The last of the big reveals at the end of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is that Glenn Lodbrok is a puppet of Sephiroth and is attempting to reignite the war between Wutai and Shinra, which will keep the head of the company, Rufus Shinra, occupied. This is because both Rufus and Sephiroth are after the same thing - the promised land of the Cetra. Both are attempting to utilise the lifestream for their own gains and if Shinra is at war with Wutai, then Sephiroth can slip in and take the lifestream for himself.
However, Rufus works out the ruse and, in the final moments of the meeting with Glenn, he guns down the puppet, but it’s too late to stop any war as the news shows the conflict between the two.
Featured Image Credit: Square Enix, SonyTopics: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 7, Square Enix, Sony, PlayStation, PlayStation 5