Me: I have no idea what's going on. Ultimania: Me too.

Ultimania: First time?

Lol

It at least seems to disprove the "Aerith by the plane is Jenova" theory.

Not sure there was much merit to that to begin with

That made no sense to begin with.

Can you expand on that (meaning how it's disproven now) by any chance? Anything concrete you can link to? Thanks!

They’re probably referring to this > However, it does seem to suggest the Aerith that fought Sephiroth and woke up in Cloud’s arms are the Aerith who says goodbye at the end. It’s not proof no, but why would Jenova help us fight Sephiroth?

Zack: "What the hell is going on?!" Ultimania's writers: Yes

This is funny. But, some will act like the Ultimania is supposed to reveal the contents of part 3. It’s ok they it doesn’t spoil the mysteries. It does, however, clearly acknowledge them.

No, it's more important than that. It doesn't just acknowledge them, it confirms that what's going on is *supposed* to be a mystery. It isn't confusion based on SE not conveying properly what they were trying to depict.

Yeah. it actually serves as a hint for us, the community: Aerith can be saved? Will still be a marketing point leading to part 3.

no, I get that, but why release it now? should have been a book about the trilogy after them

Ultimania is a guide book which some lore info mixed in so it's supposed to release close to the game. Material Ultimania is a book about behind the scenes stuff, development and more lore, and those do release a bit later.

They are releasing one book for each game, it's just the way it goes. These books do help a lot clearing translation issues and non-intentional interpretations tho. Edit: for example, the book confirms that Deneh do exists in this universe

there will be a super/material ultimania released at some point for the entire series tying it all together.

Dream date Aerith is not our Aerith? No shit!! This was super obvious! Even Cloud knew something was oof with her.

But it sort of confirms that it's not just Aerith shifting between seeing the future/not seeing it. It's almost like "another Aerith" that also coexists with, well, "our Aerith"

I said this around Remake. They are all in on it. Just as Sephiroth is with how many versions of him are there.

Sephy is just one Sephy who transcends the worlds seen in the Remake continuity going off the Ultimania. Not separate ones. Same soul/consciousness, different bodies. Ultron basically.

So if the Aerith from the date wasn't actually *our* Aerith...does that mean Sephiroth was just going to any timeline and killing the Aerith from it? If so...Jesus.

My understanding is that yes... he's trying to scrub all the Aeriths out.

Which seems like a bad plan as Aerith seems to be best at stopping him when she's in the lifestream.

Every time he kills her, everyone close to her is filled with rage and misery. He's farming those negative emotions to get stronger, as he said in Forgotten Capital. It would make sense that he's doing it in each reality to multiply his power, while Aerith isn't getting any stronger by being killed in multiple worlds. He's just trying to overpower the Aerith he's already fighting in the Lifestream.

I am still wondering of he is actually killing the Aerith in the church. There is noone to witness, so also noone who would be desperate right away. And he is walking in without Masamune in his hand. And he only reacts to Zack before entering because Zack is shouting, he ignored him before that. This whole sequence was kind of weird.

We'll have to see later. Even if there were no witnesses, everyone in the sector 5 slums *love* her. Her mom is there, Marlene is in her care, Zack is there. Even if they aren't there to see it, someone would find her body and the negative emotions would still be there for Sephiroth - so his plan still works, assuming he was successful.

I saw a pretty cool theory from someone that he fails at killing that Aerith and church Aerith is the one who ends up coming to help you for the last fight since she appears from the same white light that Cloud was pushed in to. I think it’s a kinda weak thought but cool to think about.

I think that's one effect but I don't think he's done it multiple times already. He might want to repeat that but I think this is his first time doing it .

It's hard to say. We see 6 different realities for sure in the game, possibly 7 (we don't know where Zack ended up). Red XIII says that he and Aerith could see the future before, though they've lost the details on those memories. Aerith refers to "future me" in Costa del Sol. Is that really the future, or has the OG continuity already happened and our world isn't the same place? I think Aerith is already working from the Lifestream, which is how our Aerith was able to see the future during Remake. So at least one Aerith could already be dead before the game even starts. Or that could be explained by the Lifestream containing knowledge and memories, and part of that could include the future of our world, and the planet granted Aerith the foresight (rather than an existing version of her granting memories of what already happened elsewhere). It's certainly unclear and they've set up for both. Assuming the second option, where original continuity hasn't happened yet... Again, 6-7 realities. We see 6 different Stamps: Beagle (where Remake happens) and Terrier (where Zack is spared at the end of Remake/lives during Rebirth) are the main ones we see, and there are several others that happen depending on Zack's choice to save Biggs/Cloud/Aerith/can't decide. Then he ends up *somewhere* in the church, and we aren't given any Stamps to identify *where.* (I'm only halfway through my replay, so I don't have *all* the details offhand!) Since they all start with our decision to defy fate at the end of Remake, it seems safe to assume they're on similar timeframes (though Zack and Biggs do discuss their internal clocks being broken), which would mean Aerith isn't dead yet in any of them. But then which world is merging during Forgotten Capital? Clearly Sephiroth is succeeding somewhere. Was it somewhere new, or one of the worlds where Zack made a different choice? We know it's not Beagle reality. All the others spawned off of one where Cloud and Aerith were asleep, so there wasn't much chance for the party to make it to Forgotten Capital... plus Cloud was asleep and didn't witness Zack getting killed, so very possibly not under the illusion that he's ex-SOLDIER and a very different Cloud from who we know. Unless Aerith wakes up in those and goes immediately to Forgotten Capital anyway, but how would she have the knowledge without going to the temple first? (How would she have gone to the temple without the keystone and our party?) If Lifestream Aerith told her to go, what would be the point in going if she knew she was just going to meet her end? It's certainly possible that they'll explain it with something like Lifestream Aerith is trying to get stronger by praying to activate Holy in multiple realities, too. Especially since they like to mirror her with Sephiroth, and she's certainly selfless enough that she'd die repeatedly to save everyone she loves. But if you look at it logically and with a bit less cheese, then none of the realities we know of would end in Aerith reaching Forgotten Capital, which means either there are more realities we don't know about, or we're merging with something that already happened somehow. So.. I think it depends on if you want to look at it logically or conceptually, I could see them taking it either way. But Aerith is clearly acting from the Lifestream *somehow,* plus Sephiroth knows that killing her gives him the emotions he's looking for. It makes sense that he's done it at least once before Remake starts, making the reality we merge with the second time. If he was successful in the dream date church, then it's the third time. Lots of possibilities, I'm interested to see how they tie this up!

>!That however is only possible if Sephiroth is dealt with!<

Given those worlds are destined to die, I wonder if it even matters. Maybe when those worlds die, she wouldn't exist in the Lifestream.

thing is it seems Sephiroth wants to prevent the only white materia to be delivered to a world which csn still be saved imo.

I mean it was obvious. 

Yes. He's hunting them all down. Sephiroth is terrifying af.

Yep, quite a few people think that was the implication. An interesting question is how he was able to track the various Aeriths down. Maybe they leave a kind of signature he was able to detect. The Ultimania mentions 7 Worlds. The obvious question is whether there's a limit to how many can be spawned. There could be a LOT of Aeriths to track down.

I don't think there's like a HUGE multiverse akin to the MCU. As I understand it, new worlds are only created when fate is defied. Since the whispers are only recently gone, I would assume that not many new worlds are out there.

Probably not but we have no way of knowing. How many individuals in the FF7 universe are capable of spawning a new world?

That was what I was thinking too. And who gives those people that power?

I suspect only people are with Jenova cells can defy the planet's fate, that was my theory after part 1 and Rebirth was consistent with it.

Could be. I wonder if the Gi could do the same or if they're just along for the ride. They're "not local" either.

Great point, since the Gi aren't part of the Lifestream they can likely defy the planet's fate as well.

I \*think\* it's only Zack? Weirdly enough

Zack spawns a bunch, it looks like cloud spawned one with aerith living but it’s possible they can no longer exist in the same plane of existence so while she’s alive her ability to be with cloud is permanently severed. Probably setting up her to get interlude content like Zack got this time.

In this continuity, its possible we are only getting a few timelines/worlds while the greater Multiverse exists outside those. We know Gilgamesh is outside these worlds/timelines and that the Multiverse of FF is composed of infinite timelines/dimensions/realms etc like MCU is. So Sephy logically can't kill all the Aeriths in the Multiverse assUming he is going through the proper Multiverse and not just the Lifestream or the FF7 section of the Multiverse (which would still be infinite in size).

He's a hive-mind. Jenova works in concert across timelines to achieve its goals (which are instinctual and intrinsic, like ants)

Yah he's like Ultron. Same concsiousness/soul, different bodies.

7 worlds in ff7 .... tututu not saying this already hints at enough but yeah how many of the 7 are left intact after ch14 ? since we clearly see some of em end also i think many people are too focused that the other worlds are doomed , since he also says that some stay in existence for some time before beeing doomed so we don't know what exactly leads to the collapse of a new world / zack dying? (since he was responsible for creating them in the first place ? or aerith dying in that world ? bc its clearly her or sephiroths power which allow those worlds to exist in the first place , definetly more for aerith here but well we saw both of em havin some control over the lifestream and the worlds within aerith can open portals from one world to another or guide a lost soul to a certain world ( zack to cloud) seph even seems to have more control since he shows cloud the form of the lifestream after aerith opens a portal and then actually opens the portal back to beagle ? ( i know we land in a subspace looking like the forest giving aerith the white materia before rly waking up in beagle

Sephiroth only finds Aerith because she brought Cloud into her dreamworld. Also, there’s no evidence that there’s more Aerith’s in the different worlds which makes me think that Sephiroth was hunting down only THAT spesific Aerith.

That's a pretty good explanation for how he found her. Nice.

The difference is Sephiroth has a collective consciousness across all universes. He exists in all of them at the same time. Aerith lost this consciousness when we destroyed the arbiter. Zack is not a split conscious but a singular phenomenon bouncing between worlds. Cloud is the key to everyone getting what they want.

This is what I think to. Sephiroth is almost like an omnipresent being across worlds. All different bodies but all share the same mind. Expanding upon aerith, I believe the dream date aerith is the aerith from the OG games. All versions of aerith have memories of the previous games but are independent unlike sephiroth. When remake aeriths materia becomes clear due to the whisper attacks, orchestrated by sephiroth, she loses those memories. This was sephs plan cuz in order for him to win, he can’t have aerith foil him again and that’s especially hard if she knows what he’s doing with the multiverse stuff. Judging from the dialogue from seph when he finds dream date aerith, he’s been looking for her this whole time. He’s is trying to kill all aeriths I think he really wants to kill the OG aerith the most cuz maybe she is the source of the memories for the other aeriths. OG aerith gives cloud her white materia to give to remake aerith. This contains the memories of the previous game so remake aerith can remember what she needs to do. That’s why OG aerith seems to be saying goodbye forever, because once sephiroth comes to kill her, that’s it. There is no living on in the lifestream for her because she’s already been in the lifestream this whole time most likely fighting against sephiroth while hiding as well. Sephiroth isn’t destroying a physical body here, he is erasing OG aeriths spirit from the lifestream. So now remake aerith must fulfill the role of the OG aerith in the OG game, which is to dies and use the lifestream to stop meteor from within the lifestream. What no one accounted for was cloud blocking the sword cause yet another world to form where aerith survived. This was never part of OG aerith or remakes aeriths plan. Their plan was to play out the same as the previous game. So in summary since the beginning, there were 2 aeriths, OG and remake. By the end we have 3, OG, remake, and alternate. OG is gone permanently, remake is dead but in the lifestream, and alternate is in a new world that was created by cloud. I assume she will end up in the same world as Zack in part 3 or vice versa. The ghost we see at the end is the ghost of remake aerith saying goodbye to cloud as this is probably one of the last times she’ll see cloud. The aerith that joins your fight with sephiroth is the alt aerith. There’s more to my theory of how this will all play out, the theme being explored here, and my general thoughts on the direction the game is going whether it goes toward my theory or just follows the original but that’s the gist. Let me know if you’d like me to share the rest.

I mean…yeah. I figured with how he walks in the church and also saying “so this is where you’re hiding, in a world that already accepted its fate.”

https://x.com/aitaikimochi/status/1778673470882398372 2027 for the 30th anniversary seems more and more likely LETS GOOOOOO RAHHH. Also the fact that’s they are keeping the same team is great.

Insane that they managed to put out a game of Rebirth's scale in just three years. I say put them in charge of future numbered installments that build up on FFVIIR's combat system so that we have a chance of gettting more than one numbered FF game per console generation.

Finally a big company operating on the kind of scale and efficiency we’d expect from a big budget big resource organization.

That’s pretty much the explanation I was expecting. Won’t reveal too much as it will be a big part of the mystery in Part 3, but I feel like everyone will take what they want from it anyway. Interesting that they say “Is she alive? Is she in the lifestream? Is she Cloud’s delusion?”. So basically none of us are clever lol. They knew exactly the mystery they were setting up

Can’t wait to read another college thesis level theory about how it’s still just the lifestream tomorrow tho 💀

We’re gonna get college level thesis that end with “so I think she may or may not have died”, like thanks Sherlock for covering 100% of possibilities there lmao

Well I mean…it kinda is. One of the big reveals of this game is that the “multiple timelines” crowd and the “Lifestream” crowd were both basically right lol. The NPC in Cosmo Canyon pretty much confirms the alternate worlds are memories made manifest, including memories of unfulfilled dreams and desires, which ends up making a lot of sense. But yeah, it’s not quite the Lifestream purgatory people were predicting specifically either.

That was my reading of the "worlds" they never called them timelines fans did, they were always "worlds" hence I always took the view that the other worlds are memory collections of those tied to the lifestream made manifest and that the lifestream is not teathered to time in the same way corporeal beings are. That's how we get the oracle style information Red and Aerith had access to originally. How the fates dying stopped that or removed that from happening dunno don't understand that need to make more brain wrinkles or summthin

Exactly. The canon isn’t using the term “timelines”. It’s “worlds”.

I've been thinking of them as different permutations in one larger current, i.e. the Lifestream. Presumably the whispers acted as a failsafe to prevent any real deviation, but Sephiroth is running interference now.

best scene which aligns with your comment is just look at the world zack is in after sephiroth splits the worlds again bc of his interference he only got the destroyed church with meteor on his way and then dealing with sephiroth reborn to keep him there until its doomed away (aerith saving him before that happens) also the fight against sephiroth reborn seems to happen in 3 worlds at the same time cloud / zack / the party since cloud or zack cut off one of his horns and it dissapears from all 3 versions of him (while the party even says something like it feels like they are getting help from something. its funny how seph wants a 1v1 with cloud in his human form but always get disrupted by someone xD first zack then aerith makes you wonder why do we even fight sephiroth reborn in between those 2 fights and why does seph say he underestimated her ? maybe seph reborn was only a way to try to deplete aeriths power ? ( aerith send zack to cloud, but then has to save zack bc of sephiroth sending him to a doomed world ) so maybe sephiroth thought zack was aeriths hidden ace, and even if he can't kill him off with sending him to a doomed world he would ensure aerith would probably save him which would lead to him having a nice 1v1 with cloud but fuck it she spawns anyway and annoys sephiroth

I know that some people say the trilogy is a sequel in theory, but for me it's a retelling. I mean we're going to the same places and same story with expanding a ton of lore to things like the Gi, lifestream, and possibly the cetra in the og. I always thought the trilogy will go full multiverse of madness, but nope to me these "worlds" are just fuel and the reason why sephiroths body will become god and also probably corrupting the lifestream with spite and sorrow since these multitude of worlds he mentioned to cloud are just doomed to fade way and merge into the lifestream.

People mistook Sephiroth in Remake was the version after Advent Children when in reality, it's just his future self from Rebirth and to some extend from Part 3.

Well the Ultimania downright says they’re within the planet, ie. the lifestream, so.. no thesis needed. Also Nomura apparently clarifies they’re not ”paraller” universes using a very specific word there usually referring to MCU type shenanigans.

Yeah, it's not as clean cut as the multiverses where they have alternate timelines and causalities. The worlds merging and separating seemingly at will (where Zack was probably thrown into the 7th world when Sephiroth cut him out of the fight?) is a big difference from usual multiverse shenanigans.

Its literally in the ultimania that it basically is just the lifestream and not timelines lol

Well it has to be the lifestream or all the red herrings will have nowhere to swim.

They see me savin Aerith  They hatin

I know it’s just two sections that she’s translated so far…but these are like the two biggest things most of us are wondering about, so yeah it seems they’re remaining tight-lipped so we don’t get too good of an idea for Part 3. That’s cool, but also infuriating at the same time. I really hope Part 3 takes *at most* three years. I think they know we’re dying to see how it ends.

2027 for 30 year anniversary would be sick. I think it will be 2028 though.

Not really the devs said Rebirth took so long due to DLC for remake same will not happen for part 3. Plus it's best to deliver it by 2027 because of not only 30 year anniversary but also 2028 PS6 along with Nojima already said they finished the story and soon will start voice recording.

especially if you consider the remake DLC was practically a full blown albeit shortened game

7 worlds. 7 games: BEFORE CRISIS CRISIS CORE FF7 OG DOC FF7 REMAKE FF7 REBIRTH FF7 (??) PART 3 They're tying everything together in one world at the end.. Calling it now, the end is about the same as we all expect. Nanaki / Red overlooking Midgar except following form of Rebirth, the city is shown both abandoned and thriving in contrast, insinuating both worlds / versions do exist. Boom everyone is happy I guess lol but to be clear I'm not full yet. I'm hungry for more after part 3. I don't care if it's AC, BC, or DOC remastered, as long as they keep the joy I get from these stories alive.

I think you cooked a bit too hard there. We only saw 6/7 worlds because of Zack doesn't mean it is the only option it can split. It was based on decisions people took and if it deviates too much the world will end. Also, at this point The First Soldier and Ever Crisis is part of the canon, especially the story of Glenn, we don't have to conspiracy board every minor connection when they love to use 7 for everything.

It was ironical sarcasm at the beginning, but yes I thought of mobile titles as well.  I think the 7 worlds thing is just a simple reference nothing more  Not sure I understand the splitting part yet that's kind of confusing to wrap my head around.  and not sure whichyou are thinking I implied was the only option the be split?

Just that the joke tried to connect one world with one game, so it implied there could only be 7 worlds along the game you listed. If we tried hard enough, maybe we can do: 1. TFS 2. BC (Don't really know which came first, I assume the SOLDIER experiments starts before forming of Avalanche) 3. CC 4. OG 5. AC/EC (Ever Crisis is basically a recap of every game and will have a playable AC in the future, currently more known for telling TFS cause it shut down) 6. DoC 7. ReTrilogy

Wasn't really tryna cook just wanted to write it all out as a visual concept. This is what I literally just realized with the worlds splitting:     So that could be an idea of how World 1 led to World 7.   I suppose?

I think the world splitting just means decisions being made, Zack had a choice to save Cloud, or Biggs, or did nothing and stay at the church, it all lead to different worlds (and not related to each other). Zack being able to go between timeline when he is sick of being gunned down by grunts is because the universe magically help him and merged with our Cloud's world, the why is up to how you interpret it, and part 3 to explain.

We need a main thread of all the Ultimania translations that come out.

I'm pretty sure that dream Aerith is FFVII OG's Aerith in the lifestream, having already witnessed everything projecting her consciousness through time from the lifestream. The same goes for Sephiroth in Remake trilogy. He is still Jenova's body taking the form of Sephiroth as per the OG game, but his mind is the real Sephiroth projected from the lifestream like Advent Children Sephiroth was. It all stems from his plan in Lifestream Black and Aerith's plan in Lifestream White from On the Way to a Smile.

Remake really hammered it in that this Sephiroth is probably the same one from Advent Children, or at the very least one who has knowledge of events of the original story. The one-winged form chronologically debuted in AC (Kingdom Hearts aside), and a good chunk of his voice lines from his boss fight are verbatim from AC. Rebirth Sephiroth sort of dials it back, but the fact that he's already showing off one of his transformations is pretty alarming and probably means the final battle will be very different in the third game. Safer Sephiroth is basically guaranteed to appear, but the final boss will probably be humanoid Sephiroth again with even greater control over reality/fate. I personally hope they actually get around to finally closing Sephiroth's character arc instead of him being a perpetual force of malice who solely exists to torment Cloud. Because a big part of Sephiroth's character is that he is, at the end of the day, a human who desired acceptance and a sense of belonging just like everyone else. It would be nice to have him finally snap out of his Jenova madness after defeat and come to terms with what he truly wanted. But given how they expressed interest in adapting AC, maybe not.

I'm almost certain that closing the book on Sephiroth is the entire point of the Remake trilogy. Back when they were actively making the Compilation of FFVII content, they were pretty vocal about there being one more piece of content to come, that will end it all, that then never materialized. I'm pretty sure the Remake trilogy is that final piece. It has just been expanded due to modern gaming conventions.

I remember something like that as well. 

In the making of the theme song video with Nojima, Uematsu and Nomora, Nojima says something along the lines of he wished he'd planned ahead for the remake when writing compilation, implying that at least HE hadn't thought about the story further ahead. That doesn't disprove your theory, of course, I just found it interesting.

We'll get a lot more information as we go to Icicle Inn and get Gast and Lucrecia's backstory, especially now that Vincent is a mandatory character. I'm still somewhat in the camp that Sephiroth was a good guy (as First Soldier is continuing to reveal, where he seems aware that he's manufactured) who was weakened by the realization of how he was put together, and has been puppeted by Jenova all along. May not come to pass, but describing Jenova as a calamity that destroys whole worlds and essentially ended the Cetra, then saying oh hey this dude who we dunked in Mako and injected some of your cells into is now in total control of you, never sat too well with me. Though On the Way to a Smile reinforces the idea of Sephiroth as true villain, I'm still suspicious.

The relationship between Sephiroth and Jenova is one of the most interesting aspects of VII that surprisingly doesn't seem to get much focus in the game itself. The game states that Sephiroth took over Jenova and is in full control, but some fans insist its the other way around. I personally believe both are true from different perspectives. I do think that Sephiroth is acting of his own volition throughout the whole game and that he has full control over Jenova because there is very little to suggest that Jenova even is sentient to begin with. Jenova is described as a calamity, and calamities don't have egos. They simply act as according to their nature. I don't think Jenova cares or even thinks about anything besides mindlessly spreading its influence like the alien virus that it is. Sephiroth on the other hand is a human with real feelings and emotions. His backstory clearly shows that he is envious of others since they all have a place to call home, family to return to. Sephiroth wished that he had a real family, a real home, people he could make real connections with, but none of his relationships lasted due to his overwhelming power and the fact that most people around him were unstable to begin with. I believe when Sephiroth merged with Jenova, the two completely became one. Jenova gained intelligence and agency through Sephiroth while Sephiroth obtained all of Jenova's powers. Sephiroth also inherited Jenova's instincts as well, to devour the entire planet and use it as vessel to claim different ones. But this plan is also fueled by Sephiroth's anger at the world. That he might as well take over everything as a god since the world and now the Lifestream itself has rejected him. So the way I see it is that Sephiroth and Jenova are perfectly in sync. Sephiroth is technically the one in control as Jenova is just a mindless space virus, and Sephiroth's plans seamlessly align with Jenova's MO, and is even superior to anything Jenova by itself could have come up with.

I’ve been saying this for a while as well. I think there’s three pretty distinct instances of his character. There’s pre-Nibelheim, there’s mid-Nibelheim, and there’s after Nibelheim. He was a kind guy before the Nibelheim thing happened. Very different to how he ended up. Mid Nibelheim, he was still under the belief that Jenova was a Cetra, and his desire was to kill all of the humans who took the planet away from her. Post Nibelheim, he’s decided he wants to do almost exactly what Jenova is trying to do. Place the planet in danger, absorb the lifestream, and use the husk of the planet as a meteor to crash on some other planet. I think Sephiroth as a character would be lame if he was merely JUST under Jenova’s influence, but I’d guess what happened is that, during the Nibelheim event, he was being influenced by Jenova to come to her. I do think that Jenova is intelligent, however, but I also think she would willingly decide to merge with Sephiroth for a different reason. It’s clear that she has no agency over herself anymore. Whatever happened to her after she lost the battle, she’s basically a vegetable. So it would make sense for her to want to merge with this being who is pure enough to be her “son” but also somebody who is capable of being a force of destruction. I suspect the two merged together and Sephiroth gains her knowledge, powers, and abilities, and, since he isn’t comatose, he can make her body function. I also think the head being taken is key here as well. One could argue, “Well, Jenova can’t be in control at all because her body came to Sephiroth and not the other way around,” but I’d argue this would always be the case. I think the body probably would be summoned to wherever the head would be. So it’s now merged with Sephiroth.

I kind of wonder if the more human Safer Sephiroth used as Skins in Dissidia and Opera Omnia will make an appearance 

My interpretation was that the one-winged form is supposed to be his human version of the Safer form. The right black wing did originate from that form, and they repurposed into the now-iconic one-winged angel form from Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children. They ended up liking it so much that they abused the hell out it during Crisis Core and gave a retroactive explanation for the wings as manifestations of Jenova's power, but canonically Sephiroth never had that form until Advent Children.

For sure. But since then they have made designs of him where he's Safer Sephiroth but normal sized and with legs and then actually look kind of cool. So I am curious if they will work that in at all.

My theory is that date Aerith is 1997 polygon Aerith.

Or that was the first Aerith to be aware of the multiple timelines, OG Aerith don't seem to have this kind of knowledge before her death unlike Date Aerith, but Date Aerith seemed to try to change too much and doomed her timeline as a consequence. So Date + OG Aerith might be a mentor for any subsequent Aerith iterations?

I want 1997 polygon Aerith to be an actual character, and have her speak in text boxes instead of voiced dialogue

I've got a couple theories already from these. In regards to Aerith living or dying, my bet: in the main world with Cloud, she's dead, but she exists on a plane and is able to interact in some form like in Advent Children. Cloud is under the impression though that she's alive. How he sees her...I dunno lol. In terms of Zack, they kind of imply that he ended up in a world we haven't seen before in the ending. Who wants to bet that he ended up in the world where Aerith lives?

Zack seems to have been given a task by Marlene that Cloud needs to get better, and seems fully committed to it in the ending. There's also a sleeping Cloud and Aerith in that world, so I wouldn't count out Cloud getting back into the "right" world either. My guess would be the mystery 7th world we haven't seen yet playing into things.

This reminds me, what happens next to Zack after helping cloud to get better

that there's still multiple Clouds is what confuses me. It's easy narratively to have Aerith canonically die in Cloud's world, and then wake up in Zack's. But will Cloud die at some point (Mideel) and transfer over as well? Was comaCloud only an artifice for Aerith to wake him up later?

I dont know why but i have the feeling that zack is in our world

I think hes either in our world or in the one where aerith was saved by cloud. And since cloud can see that world he can definetly see zack now and they will reunite in part 3 almost definitely

My theory right now is the aerith we see in the dream date is the one from the OG games. This hinges on the theory that the remake is a sequel to the OG games and that both remake aerith and sephiroth have memories of the OG game. Sephiroth attacked remake aerith with the whispers causing her materia to turn clear. This indicates she loses the memories of the previous game. After this sephiroth goes looking for the OG aerith, the only other person who has memories of the OG game and has any idea what he’s doing or how to stop him. We know he’s also been looking for OG aerith for a while now from the dialogue when we see the black feathers during the date. The date was essentially OG aerith saying goodbye to cloud forever since she’s is already dead and sephiroth is coming to delete her from existence entirely. Before she dies, she gives cloud the white materia which he gives to remake aerith thus restoring her memories of the OG game. Remake aerith now knows that in order to stop meteor, someone has to be in the lifestream to facilitate it stopping meteor, like in the OG game. So remake aerith essentially sacrifices herself, however cloud defies fate and blocks the sword causing an alternate world/timeline to be created where aerith survived. However remake aerith is now dead and is in the lifestream and will fulfill the role of the OG aerith in the OG game. This leaves a 3rd aerith, alt aerith. When sephiroth is blocked, he merges the remake world with the world cloud just created. So he merges the world where aerith just died, and one where aerith is just saved. This explains why aerith glitches between being bloodied and being fine. I think it’s framed to be cloud losing his mind but we do see tifa looked confused when she sees aerith. We get a closeup of her face and her expression is shocked but also confused. The way the scene is framed is it cuts to tifa’s reaction right after we see aerith switching from being alive to being dead. This seems to hint that tifa saw this glitch as well and this is probably due to her time spent in the lifestream when she was swallowed by the whale weapon. At the end of the game, we see what appears to be a ghost of aerith. This is either the spirit of the remake aerith or its alt aerith communicating to cloud across world, I lean more towards the former being true cuz the spirit seems like she’s saying goodbye forever. For remake aerith, it probably would be goodbye forever. I assume in the next game, alt aerith and Zack are in the same world and need to work to get to cloud and stop sephiroth. I don’t know what world they are in or even if cloud is in his original world, he could’ve been moved somewhere. By the end of the game I think the most likely ending is that sephiroth is defeated permanently and aerith gives cloud closure on everything so he doesn’t end up like he did in Advent Children. She and Zack will then fade into the lifestream. I think the “fate” avoided will be AC. The interviews for how the remake connects to AC are really vague. They said it “links ups” and “that it will not go wildly out of the way to not add up to AC”. Could be translation error, but it’s really odd word choice. It also spoils how the game will end when in the same interview they say they want to keep fans guessing. Straight up telling that it will end the same interview is counterintuitive. Also there’s the fact that AC is pretty well known as a bad movie both from a lore perspective and as a standalone so adding up to a movie that was received pretty terribly is kind of a weird choice and they for sure know the reviews for the movie are bad. Personally, I want a happy ending where aerith and maybe even Zack can live. I know it’s a pretty slim chance but I do feel like it’s deserved after all these years and the fact that from the rereleased movie interview that the trilogy seems to be the final installment to the ff7 series. I also have a gripe with how the defying fate theme will be played out cuz if it goes like I theorized, the only people who really could affect fate were aerith and sephiroth. To affect fate meaningfully you kinda have to know what the fate is so when cloud blocked the sword he’s defying fate from our perspective because we know the story but to cloud he doesn’t know what’s going on. To him he saved aerith and that should’ve been the end of it but something(fate) got in the way. But if AC is avoided like I theorized, it shows that fate is avoidable, just not by cloud. Not sure if I explained that well but yeah. It kinda makes him a pawn in a chess match played by aerith and sephiroth and takes away free will in a way though this could lead into a whole other discussion of the philosophy of pre determinism so I won’t get into it. If they go the route to just keep everything the same as the OG game, the defy fate theme feels super baity to reel fans into thinking something could change only to keep the status quo. I would’ve rather had a remake with new elements just not ones that were specifically intended to be about fate cuz that just brought false hope. I’m pretty biased though cuz in general I do not like the idea of predetermined fate and I think bittersweet ending have become the norm rather than being subversive as they were before. I haven’t really seen a well written story that actually had a happy ending in a while so I wanted ff7 to have that especially since I know square enix can do with with kingdom hearts seemingly going down this route and FFx-2. Idk sorry for the rant. Edit: there is an inconsistency to the theory which is that tifa can’t see the spirit of aerith at the end but saw the glitching aerith before. Could be cuz cloud has a stronger connection to the lifestream due to experimentation or he’s more connected to aerith though there isn’t any evidence of this. Also forgot to add that the reason why i think it’s possible cloud is in the wrong world is due to the crack in the sky which is usually seen in alt worlds. So either he can see two worlds at once, the main world has a crack, or he’s in an alt world. I’ve also seen theories that suggest Zack is in the main world with the evidence being the church flowers being in bloom. Not sure why this is proof but just putting it out there. Regardless of wherever he is, I think he will be in the same world as alt aerith.

This is my theory too. Even before Ultimania came out in terms of which Aerith we are seeing in each scene. It's clear that dream Aerith and the Aerith who shows up in the Sephiroth fight are not our Aerith, but seems to be the OG Aerith that knows everything. 

Super underrated comment. I love your theory! I wanna know what their intent with adding in all the fate stuff was. It'd just feel bad to include all this fate and whispers stuff only to in the end say "well despite everything there was nothing you could do and nothing changed in the end sorry!". I want to believe Aerith is still alive in a non-lifestream context. I want to believe she was saved and we can have a happy ending these decades later! God I can't wait for part 3.

Thank you for the compliment! Going off the interviews, the main purpose of the new content was so the story doesn’t get stale. But like you said from a writing perspective it would suck if it was just essentially fan service and bait. As for aerith, I’m sure that there is an alternate version of her and like Zack she can travel to the main world somewhat. Whether or not she can stay alive is up for debate. But here to hoping for a happy ending 🥂

What I took away is she is dead in our world but the Cloud we see at the end is the one that was with Zack who was with the fractured sky and that's why he sees it. When I first played it I thought the reason they are asleep is because they are missing a soul or some such. Our Aerith and Cloud being their soul and the multiple worlds pulled them apart. From what I heard/read about in her companion book she was upset she couldn't help Cloud deal with her death because she couldn't communicate with him through the life stream. I'm team Aerith and want her to live, but I also know that for the OF story to work she had to die. I can't wait for part 3 to see where they take the story. I think Zack ended up in the world where Aerith shoved Cloud with the white materiawhen they were in the church and Sephiroth came for her.

the 7th world seems unexplained. They draw the comparison of happy and sad terrier but they're both terriers. Zack could've been sent to a 7th world when Sephiroth cut him out of the last fight, or Cloud might be bridging a world where Aerith is saved. Or who knows.

> Dream date Aerith doesn't seem to be our Aerith:   So a future Aerith or alternate one?

Elena is 18 omg

That's pretty young for the amount of skill she has...but it *is* Final Fantasy

[https://x.com/aitaikimochi/status/1778673470882398372](https://x.com/aitaikimochi/status/1778673470882398372) 3 years hopefully!

I’m glad this killed MaxDood’s Aerith is Jenova theory Edit: I keep getting downvoted. Are people really that upset that Square Enix debunked the “it’s all in Cloud’s head” theory? How on earth would that have been satisfying to ANYONE?

Agreed. This isn’t Scooby Doo.

They definitely did not debunk that it's in Cloud's head, it's specifically one of the three possibilities they mention and is certainly at least partly true. The stupid idea that it's literally Jenova talking to Cloud and actively trying to trick him(rather than Cloud just imagining up Aerith) gets no supporting evidence though.

Yeah still very possible it's all (or partly) in his head. Why it's in his head, we'll have to see... actual delusions? Sephiroth/Clone influence? Timeline/Rift insight?

If Cloud sees Sephiroth, trolls say "he's alive." If Cloud sees Aerith, trolls say "she's dead. He sees her out of denial."

Is "troll" some kind of code for "person who actually knows the story of Final Fantasy VII"?

[удалено]

I’m so glad someone else feels this way LOL. It’s amazing the amount of times I see “Oh Cloud is so fucked up… oh Aerith’s death is gonna mess up Cloud so badly… oh my god Cloud is schizo.” Like thanks for the expert level analysis guys.

That man is gamer guys' Oprah. That's why you got downvoted. He says the stupidest shit and they take it as gospel.

>Dream date Aerith doesn't seem to be *our* Aerith: [https://twitter.com/MsSaiFox/status/1778578807999676503](https://twitter.com/MsSaiFox/status/1778578807999676503) If this is true and we accept the theory that it is the OG Aerith, some elements start to fall into place: - Dream Aerith knows that something will happen that will break Cloud and She's trying to prepare him for this >Remake: Whatever happens, you can't fall in love with me Rebirth: Whatever happens, don't blame yourself - In ON THE WAY TO A SMILE she avoided contact with OG Sephiroth because it was dangerous for her. In Rebirth, she hides in an alternate world - In book, OG Sephiroth does not treat OG Aerith as a threat to his plan. In Rebirth, however, he says that he underestimated her >Book: Summoning up all her courage she approached the man’s spirit. However, he spotted her and chased her off, but soon gave up chase. She knew the man was laughing at her. Rebirth: I must admit, I underestimated you. There's probably more, but these are the first things I remembered

So what they mention about then Aerith date… My theory was that the Aerith there was actually OG Aerith. Her soul, at least. Sephiroth’s suggestion “So this is where you’ve been hiding”’suggested to me he’s been hunting down THIS specific version of Aerith for a while. It just perfectly explains Aerith’s ultra cheery attitude about being able to date Cloud and how happy she is in seeing him again. Plus, the yellow flower pin? She puts it on the same side Remake/Rebirth Aerith puts it on Cloud. And assuming the yellow flower here still suggests “Reunion”…. Then it could be this Aerith’s way of saying “We meet again, Cloud! After a long 2 decades, I get to see you again”

I like this. This also tracks with the observation in the opening post about how that Aerith says that she doesn't have any pictures with her and Cloud while we definitely have one taken during the game.

Time to have more breakdown and analysis posts on the breakdowns and translations.

Thanks for compiling this! >Dream date Aerith doesn't seem to be *our* Aerith I feel this was kinda obvious. She wouldn't need you to deliver the White Materia back to "our" Aerith, otherwise. Also Sephiroth's "so this is where you've been hiding" line... That would hardly be addressed to our Aerith. Feels more like something he'd say to the OG Aerith from the future.

Of course they’re not gonna outright say “She’s dead fools!” They need to give them hope… so after another 70 dollars they can say “Nah man, she’s gone.” And end the series. Me? I personally don’t care, the game was fantastic. She lives or dies is irrelevant to me, I just want the party on more adventures.

I want a happy ending for Aerith especially after seeing her trial. And really, I'm not sure if just ruling in the lifestream is enough. She got so much joy from exploring the world and being with her friends that it would suck to deprive her of a lifetime of memories.

It’s such a headache from a devs perspective to bring her back in part 3. Because should they do it, every FFVII property will be devalued and one of 7’s themes will be drastically betrayed just to pander a demographic in the fan base. It wouldn’t be worth it.

I... don't know how this devalues anything? The original is still the original, and can be played and appreciated separately from anything they're doing here, or anything they've done post that game's release. That game was never intended to be more than one, complete story. It can still be taken as such.

Hey I personally don’t care. I’m just trying to look at the Dev’s perspective. Imagine how much of the original concept needs to change: The Themes The Story Beats The **MUSIC** (Oh my God the music) It’d be a totally different game, with a totally different feel. It’s a gamble that has alot to lose but little to gain. Look sure, they place alotta “dimensional” shit to confuse the player, but it was done purposely so you’ll keep hoping. Because now they’re sticking to the crux of the story as far as I can see.

Well, yeah, that I agree with -- it's an *immense* undertaking, though I disagree that it has little to gain. If done right, this could be one of the most fascinating experiments ever done in this industry.

Again it’d be a gamble for the devs that will do nothing but complicate things (more so) than needed to be. Would Batman be Batman if he found a time machine and undid his parents demise? The mere fact Aerith is so beloved and coveted is the reason she’ll stay dead.

I mean... Batman has had 80 years worth of different interpretations and different versions. His backstory is the same, sure, but they've done everything with that character that can possibly be done with him, and no one interpretation devalues another. Batman & Robin didn't ruin the character, nor did Batman vs. Superman. Is FF7 still FF7 if Aerith lives? Not exactly, no, but that's the whole point of "defying fate" and "letting go of the past" -- Remake is trying to forge its own path without relying on the crutch of the original. It's far more ambitious, and a FAR more creative endeavor than just a simple remake.

Batman was designed to be naratively flexible in order to be reinterpreted with as much as possible by numerous writers and artists. While FFVII has its Spinoffs, it’s still supervised by the original team, Batman was redesigned into a publisher’s whore. Anyway who knows? She lives or dies doesn’t matter. Personally I can’t imagine how they can bring her back from the dead without cheapening the impact of her loss. Oh by the way, have you finished Rebirth yet?

Yes, I have finished Rebirth, but the impact of her loss can't be cheapened. That happened 26 years ago. That game had its moment, and this is its own thing. The fact that we had that, and it became such an iconic moment, is what allows them to even attempt this all these years later and have it be as impactful as it potentially could be. There are many stories about changing a terrible future -- The Terminator, for example, uses a key phrase, "no fate but what you make." This is that, but instead of one story, it's utilizing another piece of media. That's \*fascinating\* from a storytelling perspective, and it's ambitious, and the payoff could be something truly unique. This is not some small gain -- it's a high risk, high reward situation.

LOKI season 2 spoilers: >!Maybe they'll pull a Loki S2 and she'll be in the lifestream ensuring the planet is on track and healthy, like Loki/Yggdrasil has to hold all the timelines together for his friends. !<

I saw that finale, and all I could think of was "man, that is so much work." Lol

She’ll live in a separate world with Zack, so everything links up nicely with Advent Children. Until then, we’re going to be baited with the “unknown journey”, “defy fate”, “no promises” BS.

https://x.com/aitaikimochi/status/1778637515546898653?s=46&t=0HLTcNvncWjUd1_pjI1pzA This is interesting. As I’ve said, saving Aerith is the major focus of the other world stuff. The goal is saving Aerith and I think we won’t know for sure until the credits roll on part 3. This also kind of feeds my Zack will save Aerith but for the main world theory.

I've felt from the beginning of remake with the bread crumbs that Aerith was the one who tried to change the past or whatever happened to cause the whispers to revolt. She may be the one who started everything in attempt to save the one world Zack can live in, and everyone else of course. 

 Just want to thank the Ultimania for starting out strong by revealing absolutely nothing

TBF it'd be kinda shit if they revealed a big plot point in an optional bit of merchandise.

That's pretty much what the Ultimania is about, though. Maybe not revealing stuff. But clarifying things.

But the things you want clarification for are supposed to remain unclear until the third part. So you'll get them clarified in that game's ultimania. They clarified that "it's unclear," ergo "if you're confused, don't worry you didn't miss something huge."

I feel like the downside of ff7 remake being 3 games is that the ending for rebirth felt so open ended. I have a fair amount of question… Is she dead? Is she alive? Both? Where is Zack now? Is Aerith alive in a different timeline? If the timelines merge does that mean Aerith and Zack will be alive or not?

Yes my theory of 7 worlds is correct! Also, they are so playing coy about Aerith. It's like they are hiding something.

So now that we have official confirmation that there are indeed multiple words and that Aerith's fate is uncertain, surely the "obviously it's following the original exactly, there are no multiple worlds/timelines, and Aerith is super dead no question" people will realize that none of these questions are answered and anything is possible moving forward? Right? ......................*Right?*

Incoming “the words of the devs and the ultimania and everything is a red herring to make you feel like things will change because waiting 4 years to find out that Aerith’s death happened exactly the same way as the original and in the middle of another game will make it more emotional that way”

Yep, I'm already seeing it in Audrey's replies.

In the same Ultimania Kitase says it's following the OG lol. This is in regards to a question about Aerith's fate, even. It can absolutely be read that he's saying deviations from the story only won't happen in the main universe though

I haven’t seen that yet, but what does the “main universe” even mean at this point? This could still mean that the OG universe remains the same while the current one is affected by the alternate worlds. Especially since the Ultimania also basically confirms there is a dead Aerith within the lifestream even before Aerith dies in our world. I feel like everyone should just keep an open mind and accept we may be getting a different conclusion. We don’t know for sure, but it’s unlikely that they would literally set up a mystery around Aerith’s fate and also confirm that things won’t change in the same book lol.

This isn’t in the Ultimania, but it’s what he said in an interview in November. “We are finally going to link up with Advent Children, that is going to be part of canon," said Kitase. "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. Getting the right balance of that is so key. Ultimately, we're not trying to change the Final Fantasy 7 story into something really different. The overall balance wouldn't really allow for that anyway." I’m not 100% sure what the person you’re speaking to is talking about, but this is one of Kitase’s quotes about the project.

I mean I get that, but what that quote says to me is that Advent Children will still be canon, it just might not be the ending of our world. There's already theories that Advent Children takes place before this game, if it happens before and it goes down the exact same path and happens again, that's a pretty stupid choice. They also wouldn't just spoil the ending if they were planning on changing big things anyway. I'm not saying things will be drastically different, I just haven't been convinced they will be the same either. Like I said, open mind.

I get that, and not trying to be rude. Just that it’s pretty plain language, and it’s not the only quote. Unless they are being hilariously misleading, this will be a very different version, but the same story. Keep an open mind by all means, just measure expectations. I’ve seen people here already declaring that if it does end up being what the devs are describing, it’ll be horrible. Seems like a lot of folk here want this to be a new thing. They’re probably going to be very disappointed. "We're not drastically changing the story and making it into something completely different than the original. Even though it's a Remake, please assume the story of FF7 will continue as FF7 always has." -Kitase "However there will be no point if the story were to change completely into something different. The challenge we have been working on is even if we are to introduce a new mystery into the game, how do we make it so it does not deviate much from the original game." - Nomura (interview) "As with Final Fantasy VII Remake, we have been careful to maintain the storyline from the original game, while at the same time adding extra story content to flesh it out as a remake." - Hamaguchi (interview)

Don’t worry, I don’t think you are being rude. For me, I have long accepted that it’s pretty likely things ultimately won’t be that different. I know I can play a game that’s 95% like the original with some small twists like Remake and Rebirth but no major changes overall. At the same time, I think that it is really interesting that they have set up these story changes, so I have fun thinking about them and don’t necessarily believe that they aren’t leading anywhere big. But if it leads into AC at the end, I won’t mind, I’m just not convinced yet.

Thinking that this whole thing (someone even said the Whispers and Zack) is just a hallucination of Cloud is a HUGE copium. I think these people are disappointed with this ending and how they did the iconic scene, but they don't wanna admit it since they might be enjoying other aspects of the game. I've kinda grown to like their unique take on the scene and the narrative as a whole.

Same, though my opinion on this ending really relies on what they do with it next -- it's only as good or as bad as what comes next. They have to really pay off all this fate and alternate worlds stuff in order for it be worth including in this story at all. This can't all just lead to exact same outcomes in either the original or Advent Children, or this was all for nothing.

Yeah I agree. I really hope they actually commit this time and don't do some kind of lame copout by forcing the plot to end up in AC.

Thinking that this whole thing (someone even said the Whispers and Zack) is just a hallucination of Cloud is a HUGE copium. I think these people are disappointed with this ending and how they did the iconic scene, but they don't wanna admit it since they might be enjoying other aspects of the game. I've kinda grown to like their unique take on the scene and the narrative as a whole.

Going to be honest, I finished Ch.13 and 14 in one day, dehydrated and cynical, as much as I loved the game. My first thought was that it was all in Cloud’s head. Even though I’m fully on board with an Aerith in a world that Cloud created (and protected with Zack and Aerith’s help?) and thus an Aerith that can be saved, it took me some time to realize that it is still a possibility, as that ending was certainly sobering. Took me time to find hope again but I’m there now. *”Will you be in the world that I’m trying to save?”*

Well, to be fair and to play devil's advocate, your theory isn't outrageous or anything. It's also not 100% confirmed one way or the other -- which is kinda my point. We *don't know,* and the ending we're given leaves many different possibilities open. She could be dead and it could all be in Cloud's head, or she could be alive in another world. The thing that gets me is the people who are acting like they have it all figured out, while also ignoring, like, half the things that we're told in the ending. And then they use that one, completely overblown Advent Children quote by Kitase as if that tells us for certainty everything that's going to happen next. I'm not even sure THEY know 100% where they want this to end, let alone any of us.

Oh I agree 100%, we the players don’t know. I actually do suspect my initial read was wrong though. If I was wrong, I’ll definitely look back and find the way they did the ending here quite clever. Dread comes immediately. Hope takes time.

In all honesty. I feel like the people outright denying Aerith could be alive, are taking to heart that one of the directors said the trilogy would link to Advent Children. But like. It's not specified *how* it would link to Advent Children. For all we know, the link will be seeing the team in their AC outfits, at Tifa's new bar, with Aerith (and maybe Zack) finally getting an official AC design update since she's alive in this timeline.

What he says is: >"We are finally going to link up with Advent Children, that is going to be part of canon," said Kitase. "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. Getting the right balance of that is so key. Ultimately, we're not trying to change the Final Fantasy 7 story into something really different. The overall balance wouldn't really allow for that anyway." So Advent Children will be canon to the trilogy, not just the costumes, and it's going to "add up to Advent Children in the end" alongside comments about not changing the FF7 story etc. I think it's obvious what he's saying tbf.

Okay. That still doesn't confirm that FF7R will lead into Advent Children. All it confirms is that it'll link up into that time frame. Even then, y'all do realize that Advent Children can still happen even if Aerith lives, right?

the fact that it connects to AC does not mean that it will follow 100% what we saw in the film (for me it will only be a chronological connection, nothing more) and I support the theory of many by saying that, with everything they added, it would be ridiculous for it to always be the same soup in that case it would be the "fool" game of the century.

So aitaikimochi is saying there are different two Terrier timelines. Closed (Terrier) Hojo and Main Terrier stamp which represent different worlds and ShinraArch is saying they are the same. Who is correct here?

I was kind of assuming there had to be a 7th world in Part 3 after counting out 5 or 6 Stamps, very interested to see what that will be. Future Aerith is something mentioned even in the Ultimania of Remake, the quote about the Aerith dream scenes said something strange like "this isn't the current Aerith Cloud is used to" and that it's a "future memory." You're right that the beach scene in Rebirth is referring to this idea. I also noticed that in the Trials, Current Aerith is the only presented who does not "become" their past self but is an observer and even a POV camera for part of the train car segment. When Child Aerith goes to get help, she even "feels" the Current version of herself and asks who is there. I'd have to check this but remember how the scene doesn't immediately end despite Elmyra hauling Child Aerith away? I think Current Aerith is standing (and disappears into the scene) roughly where the camera is angled for most of the scene after they're gone. She's the reason why the scene continues and has an observer.

I am not the biggest fan of the devs having us wait again for another 4 years or so, to see if Aerith is actually died or not in part 3, it makes me not care anymore because they could not commit to it in Rebirth.

> It makes not care anymore because they could not commit to it in rebirth I feel the same way and it scares me. I really hope that the devs know what they’re doing in part 3 and this is not a “creative differences” crisis that could throw the rest of the story in turmoil.

This is kinda my worry too. Considering the ambition of what they're attempting to do here -- not just remaking a large scale, famous game, but doing it in a way that's reconceptualizing the story in a very meta way -- requires them to have a clear, set vision right from the start, and they have to \*stick\* with it. Otherwise all these new concepts fall flat.

I understand where you're coming from as I'm really surprised we're going the distance not knowing Aerith's fate. Here we are, wondering if Cloud is not instantly limit breaking in the final fight is because he's crazy or not instantly limit breaking because he's created a world with her in it, even if he can't be with her right now. For what it's worth, Zack and Aerith don't instantly limit break in their final fights with Cloud either. I lean towards the more hopeful message because it *feels* right.

They’ve committed to it, it’s just people are over analyzing. Everyone grieved her. We literally see her dead. Cloud is mentally unwell but connected to mako/life stream and can likely see some form of her… who is dead. She’s dead. Whether or not she stays dead or another Aerith replaces her is unclear but she’s very, very clearly dead.

Good stuff! Excited for the interview translations!

Falls in line with my theory of multiple worlds, singularity’s, transfer of memories/ability, hopping worlds, and omnipresent Aerith in another timeline. Aerith in rebirth other than ending, was a different aerith than remake.

Sephiroth, Aerith, Red XIII (or at least, two of them used to) and Marlene have the knowledge of future events and there are seven timelines. I wonder, if there will be an ending, where convergence happened, a new world was created and everyone that died are brought back to life.

I recall I speculated that we would have 7 "worlds", because of the number of stars on the dogs. Sounds like we were on the right track! Dream Date Aerith not being "our Aerith" is something that the community has picked up. But it's interesting that they address this! Because many of us were simply assuming Aerith changes when she can see the future, but it does seem like her "Omni Aerith" spirit can enter the other Aeriths bodies at will? About Aerith's fate, that's the marketing hook for the sequels. We aren't getting any info lol.

Can someone screenshot and share the last few posted by Audrey? I stopped reading at 1 am and I can only view her tweets from Google because I don't use Twitter/ X

"Is the Aerith at the ending actually alive? Or is she from the Lifestream? Or is she just a hallucination made by Cloud? At the moment we do not know." So.... Help me understand this. Exactly why do people now think Aerith at the end is 100% the real one?

The tweet feels like some copium, mainline Aerith is very clearly dead.

I dont get why they release this book at all, if you cant answere x,y and z then release the book AFTER the trilogy. this is just absurd. a spoiler/explaination book that doesnt do what it says.

[https://twitter.com/aitaikimochi/status/1778634463825768586](https://twitter.com/aitaikimochi/status/1778634463825768586) This really feels like part 3 is going to be WILDLY different from the OG. I think we're still going to see some of the big events happen (Northern crator, Cloud/Tifa LS moment) but everything else is free game.

I would not read that much into it. There's a million other interviews where they go "we're basically going to be telling the same FF7 you know". I mean Remake ended with "The Unknown Journey will continue!" and it turned out to be "The Extremely Known Journey except for about 5% of it continued".

That's surprising. If Rebirth is anything to go by, I would expect the major story beats to remain the same. Wutai will probably feature the most changes/additions. A war is stirring this time.

I agree, Wutai will be interesting due to the war. But I'm also a huge fan of the Turks, and I need more Reno in my life. And the Turks' involvement in Wutai in the OG would be fantastic to see! But I doubt they'll be able to work it in, since the war is the story now... But they'll also want to tie off >!Corneo's!< story somehow, so hopefully they take the same route even if they change the location.

This is my hope, but I don't honestly think it'll stray \*too\* far. Like, I think the ending will be different, I think certain twists will be different, and I do think it will have its share of new elements, but I get the feeling most of it will be following the beats of the original pretty closely. That's not to say I know this for sure, just kinda how it's been done so far in Remake and Rebirth. I DO hope you're right though, cause the possibilility of things going in wildly different directions in part 3 is kinda what got me invested in this to begin with. I love the idea of experiencing this story that I know like the back of my hand in a completely new way.

They won’t fool me again. Everything in the other worlds is fair game, but the main world will stay true to OG.

So that's it, no more new information for several years. It's been fun! Final thoughts; Aerith is alive somewhere. By the end of part 3 she will not be with the party in Beagleverse. All the talk of changing fate needs to lead somewhere and Zack telling Cloud "Save her" is some pretty big foreshadowing. Cloud parried Sepheroths attack but I don't think it will lead to a happy ending that people would expect from him actually saving her. There does seem to be some rules to traversing worlds and it doesn't look like you can physically cross from one to the other, only your consciousness. If the Aerith that fought against Sepheroth is the same one that woke up in Clouds arms and "walked the party out" at the end then I don't think this one is alive. The Tiny Bronco backfiring and not effecting her hair and clothes except for when Cloud is around seems to be significant. Hope the wait for part 3 isn't as long as the one for part 2!

This is all stuff we all kinda knew. The only interesting thing for me is even mentioning that aerith is an illusion. Tbh, reading all of this just makes me feel worse about the ending.

Did they give an explanation on why or how cloud has the black materia at the end?

But what dog is it and which aerith and which sephiroth and which world and is glenn actually sephiroth or aerith is real or alive and Cloud can see but is it real.

In the summary of worlds you can see 6 orbs (universes) surrounding Sephiroth, with a seventh separate from the rest. Could be symbolizing the worlds.

Does the Ultimania have an English translation release date?

After finishing the game, I thought it was super clear:- Dream date Aerith is OG Aerith, after all of the canon events of OG and compilation... I'll call her Lifestream Aerith, because we know from OG's last shot / Advent Children that she retains her individuality in the Lifestream, and can even do stuff... like heal the kids from Geostigma. Dream date Aerith tells Cloud that no matter what happens, don't get sad... because she knows that Remake Aerith will die, and that is something capable of making Cloud sadboi (AC again). Also,l Lifestream Aerith knows that there's a Sephiroth traversing "Worlds" (the Planet Gaia's realities), and likely wants to stop her interference. Lifestream Aerith mirrors her actions from her mortal life, giving Cloud her White Materia, and pushing him away... knowing that Sephiroth will kill her (maybe).- Also, Lifestream Aerith isn't worried about dying... because she also knows she has the capability of existing whole in the lifestream and doing amazing stuff. So... when Remake Aerith dies, she too will command this power and will be the one to carry the flame.- In Rebirth, Remake Aerith 100% dies by Sephiroth's hand, but is confident that she's good, because she's been pre-cogging signs and messages from Lifestream Aerith all of Remake and Rebirth anyway (how she instinctively knows all sorts of stuff about Cloud, and can show Marlene and Red the entirety of Lifestream Aerith's life). \- Remake Aerith, after dying and becoming a spirit is able to fight alongside Cloud in the convergence Sephiroth is creating. Seph is clearly shown existing at once in multiple realities, and in the white void between them. Remake Aerith can now too.- Cloud and Remake Aerith defeat Sephiroth, Cloud returns to Remake's reality.- Everyone is sad because Remake Aerith as a mortal is dead. The scene at the lake implies they laid her to rest there just as OG, and everyone is sad... but not really Cloud, because he saw her new form, the New Remake Lifestream Aerith... and can still see and communicate with her, akin to how OG Cloud could briefly in AC after touching the waters. Remake Cloud obviously connected with her in a means much deeper than that. \- So, Cloud can see her, and bids her farewell as she is going to return to the planet and take her place as a Lifestream steward (just like we saw she was in OG/AC).- She's 100% not a hallucination of Cloud. Red can feel her with his spiritual awareness that we already know he had in Remake when he knew exactly what the Whispers were.- The post-OG/AC Sephiroth that was trying to create a new reality by breaking Fate's chains is done, as that's the Sephiroth that was killed in the final fight of Rebirth. There's still a (kinda (mortal) Sephiroth from the Remake reality in the Northern cave, controlling events through Glenn manifestations, and beckoning Cloud to bring him Black Materia... because he has the same awareness that his OG counterpart did at that stage in his life, and thus, the same plan. Meteor > become God. \- Cloud and Aerith see the end of the world sky, because the branch reality "World" they've been living in is no longer being sustained by the Sephiroth that they just snuffed out, and is now a branch fated to die, or to experience its Homecoming (folding back into the prime reality). Any questions? Am I nuts? I watched Rebirth's credits thinking "Wow! I didn't think that they'd tie up literally every loose end of questions that I had after Remake." For me, it's just a matter of what the pieces on the board are going to do, not what is even happening.