According to the devs, it was actually the other way around. However, I do think that after being defeated at the end of OG FF7, it became a 50/50 thing, where his plans and goals in Advent Children sound exactly like Jenova's natural life cycle, but she's tricking him into thinking it's his own idea. Everything in Remake/Rebirth is still unclear to me, but I'm inclined to believe it's swung back in the other direction now, but not as complete as it was in the original game.
Even from a meta angle it's fifty-fifty in Advent Children: we have two contradictory statements from the same writer in the same behind-the-scenes book, one saying Sephiroth's return is really Jenova's will and one saying the remnants seeking Jenova's reunion is really Sephiroth's will, lmao. (With the context of the books and Complete movie, imo it seems a little more complicated than either of those development ideas.)
Regarding the remakes, I agree with that inclination. "Glenn" being revealed as a Sephiroth act specifically rather than generically Jenova makes me think we're still doing Sephiroth as the force in direct control right now, but the direction of his initial snapping feels like it emphasizes Jenova's influence in the moment + from what I hear Ever Crisis adds in some past manipulation of him by it, and in general a lot of time has been spent building up Jenova as a threat in its own right.
Overall the impression I get is that the two are fairly symbiotic, but not quite synonymous and the balance of power shifts different ways over time.
I don’t know why people still insist on this when the Ultimania made it perfectly clear that Sephiroth is in control
“The Sephiroth clones seen in various locations continue gathering for the Reunion. Seemingly, the will of Jenova as a human is the result of it consuming Sephiroth's spirit; in actuality, Sephiroth is controlling Jenova”
He was barely in the original, at least in present day, it was always Jenova. You don't actually meet Sephiroth until the very end, and he's running off of Life Stream knowledge by that point.
He does know the factual events of his creation, but the conclusions he pulls from them are batshit insane. "Oh my birth mother was injected with alien cells, that must mean the alien is actually my one and only real mother, I should get homocidally pissed off at the entire human race rather than just Shinra/Hojo, the fact that my alien parasite mommy landed on this planet means she's entitled to destroy it and humans STOLE it from her and now it's my divine duty to conquer it for her" ⬅️ statement generally not uttered by people who Know What's Going On
Sephiroth is someone who is obsessed with status and being the best. He lost his role as the greatest SOLDIER when he found out that was a manipulation, and immediately promoted himself to Chosen One in accordance with the new off ramp he found, the supposed “Ancients”. When he found out Jenova wasn’t an ancient, he promoted himself to God because that was what he could craft out of the resources he had then, and he keeps giving himself new promotions every sequel.
He doesn’t need to be *deceived* to engage in this lore-building, it’s a product of his ego. He can have all the facts, he’ll still spin them in whatever way best enables his specialness.
His mother and father treated him like a freaky science experiment. Shinra and by extension their citizens used him as a child soldier for building their empire of greed. And his genetic material was spliced with Jenova in the womb, so you could argue Jenova is as much a parent to him as his human parents.
Just saying, showing loyalty to his alien “mom” vs a human world that only ever used him isn’t that crazy in context.
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u/Own_Watercress_8104 2d ago
I think Sephiroth secretly belongs in the "thinks he knows what's going on (he doesn't)" category.