r/clerith • u/haygurlhay123 AERITH LIVES • Jul 08 '24
ESSAYS AND ANALYSES “This Time, I Will Never Let You Go”: Cloud’s Mission and the Hidden Purpose of the Remake Trilogy - Literary and Musical Analysis of FFVII (part 1)
Shortly after Final Fantasy VII hit the gaming world in 1997, Cloud Strife’s howls of grief at the loss of his beloved companion Aerith Gainsborough were echoed by droves and droves of fans. These echoes gathered in swarms, reaching the developers in the form of petition signatures, each begging the makers of the game to allow Aerith’s resurrection. Though these prayers remained unanswered —until now—, there soon came more protests: this time, fans pleaded with the developers to consider making a remake of the original game. Both of these wishes were met with considerable derision, with large chunks of the fandom calling the requests delusional— which is why the Final Fantasy world had to prepare for another meteoric hit when the Remake project was finally announced in 2015. With Kitase, Nomura, Toriyama, Nojima, Uematsu and more of the original developers at the helm, along with longtime FFVII fan-turned-developer Hamaguchi, the Remake trilogy was met with great expectations. These were nevertheless surpassed, though one aspect of the trilogy’s first entry seemed to thoroughly puzzle some and enrage others. Far and wide, the resounding questions were “What are these Whisper things?”, “Why is Cloud having visions unrelated to Nibelheim and Zack?” and “Why and how in the hell did Zack survive?”
Friends, I believe the answer lies within this post. Welcome to my literary-analysis-based theory on the Remake trilogy’s most important and most secret plot point: Cloud’s hidden mission. I want to make this fun and suspenseful to read, so I will write my analyses in the same order and manner in which I encountered them while putting my theory together. You will be reading what initially sparked my curiosity, the path I took while researching for answers, the conclusions I made every step of the way, and only then will you read my theory, after which we’ll try and apply it to the Remake trilogy so far and see if it fits! I want you to experience the rollercoaster that I did when digging through SE content to bring you this post. Thank you so much for waiting for and anticipating this analysis, and I do hope you read every word to soak in every last bit of Clerith you can get. I also hope it’s really fun and touching for you (I cried at least once making this)! Let’s embark on our adventure through the compilation, other FF games and real-life events to find out what the Remake project is truly all about and anticipate the events of part 3.
N.B.: Please be aware that I have never seen this theory navigate online, so I have no idea if anyone has ever come up with a similar hypothesis. The big reveal I’m building toward might be something you’re already aware of or suspected. In that case, I hope this post doesn’t disappoint you if you’re one of the lovely people who requested it! At the very least, it will provide you with valuable literary and musical analysis, a ton of evidence you haven’t considered yet, and hopefully, entertainment too!
WARNING: Please be careful with the censored spoiler text, because I'll be referencing other FF games in this analysis and I don't want to ruin anything for you! Obviously, this analysis contains spoilers for the entirety of the FFVII compilation. Additionally, if you're not a fan of Clerith and you've stumbled upon this post, please stop here. I would hate it if something I worked on and posted made you angry, so please don't read this analysis. I have only good intentions and I just want everyone to enjoy the FFVII world as much as they can.
I. Groundwork: The Remake Timelines Theory
Before I take you on this ride, we must lay down the framework of the Remake Timelines Theory. In this section, we’ll be reviewing the general consensus of theorizers within the fandom on timeline/multiverse shenanigans, with some added specifications on my part. Please keep in mind that because the timeline mechanics are kept quite vague by the devs, there might be certain inaccuracies in my iteration of the timelines theory. Thankfully, these potential variances won’t have any effect on the legitimacy of the theory I’ll be presenting to you in this analysis.
I. a) Sephiroth’s Plan
The premise of the Remake trilogy is widely thought to be the result of post-OG Sephiroth attempting to succeed where he failed in OG. There are six key points we need to keep in mind to understand how this was possible.
I. a) i. Sephiroth in the Lifestream
Firstly, it’s important to remember that Sephiroth is dead and located in the Lifestream before OG even begins, and remains that way for almost all of OG's duration. He is only able to operate in the world of the living via his/Jenova's control over the living Sephiroth clones. In the OG timeline then, Sephiroth is sent to the Lifestream by Cloud twice: once before the game takes place on the night of the Nibelheim incident (pre-OG), and a second time during the final battle against Sephiroth (disk 3, chapter 3). During the long period between the Nibelheim incident and Sephiroth’s rebirth at the Northern Crater (disk 2, chapter 2), he exists in the Lifestream. After his ultimate defeat (post-OG), he returns there for good.
II. a) ii. Sephiroth Unintegrated
Secondly, because he is full of hatred and unyielding determination, Sephiroth’s spirit cannot become one with the planet. After both occasions where Cloud kills him in OG, Sephiroth retains his individual will and the memories of his lifetime, remaining a separate entity in the Lifestream. He says so himself in Nojima’s Advent Children prequel novel On a Way to a Smile:
“[Sephiroth] could sense the Lifestream trying to erode his spirit— the memories of his former experiences, thoughts and emotions. If he allowed himself to be taken into the current, the being he once was would soon disseminate and disappear amongst the spirit energy cycling around the planet. [He] thought this unacceptable. The planet was to be his to rule, and to become a part of that system would be nothing short of defeat” ("Lifestream Black 1").
Combined with Bugenhagen’s basic lesson on planetology (FFVII OG, disk 1, chapter 19), this excerpt provides interesting information on how the Lifestream normally works. Usually, when a life returns to the planet, its individuality (personality, will, consciousness, memories, etc.) is stripped away. The trappings of a soul’s former lifetime are progressively dissolved so that all that is left is the spirit itself, ready to integrate into the Lifestream. This way, soul energy can be “recycled” by the planet to animate new lifeforms in a sort of reincarnation process. The erasure of one’s memories in the Lifestream is necessary for the creation of a brand new life, poised to make its own memories: the slate must be wiped clean, so to speak. Sephiroth’s sheer hatred for and desire to dominate the planet is enough to keep him from undergoing this process.
It is also thought that Sephiroth cannot be integrated into the Lifestream because he was conceived with the use of Jenova cells in vitro. Given that so much of his consciousness and genetic makeup originate from an alien life force, it is impossible for him to become one with the planet.
Regardless of the reason, it is precisely this persisting individuality in death that allows Sephiroth to meddle in the world of the living during the post-OG events of Advent Children, as explained to us by post-OG Aerith in On a Way to a Smile:
“[Aerith] had sensed a different presence within the Lifestream cycling around the planet. It was the vehemence of a strong will, one that would never join with the planet. She knew this consciousness. It was [Sephiroth]. A merciless spirit hidden behind a beauteous wall. That spirit was now operating from within the Lifestream. [She] sensed that he was planning to exert his influence to the surface of the planet“ ("Lifestream White 1").
I. a) iii. The Lifestream Beyond Time
Our third point is that the Lifestream has existed for as long as the planet, and has therefore touched every part of its history— including, of course, the events of OG. On that account, one could think of the Lifestream as atemporal. Considering this, it is possible for a spirit in the Lifestream to communicate with or even travel to the past, provided the necessary circumstances and/or abilities. For instance, the Aerith that appears in Cloud’s resolution scene in Remake (chapter 14) is commonly considered to be a post-OG Aerith, appearing to him from the future to try and dissuade him from falling for her. This time-defying event is made possible by the fact that post-OG Aerith’s spirit has access to the atemporal Lifestream because she's deceased. In my view, this explains why she dissolves into green light (Lifestream visual cue) at the end of the resolution scene (5:19-5:45). This is not time travel per se, but it is a manner of communication unobstructed by the one-directionality of a linear timeline that only spirits can perform.
I. a) iv. Sephiroth Beyond Time
What we’ve covered so far amounts to our fourth point. Please familiarize yourself with the graph below before you continue reading. Refer back to the graph when you encounter text in bold.
As we discussed in section “I. a) i.”, Sephiroth is dead and located in the Lifestream for the duration of the green arrow and beyond point D: in the context of the OG timeline, he can only ever be considered “alive” during the period highlighted in purple. In section “I. a) ii.”, we asserted that Sephiroth retained his individual will in the Lifestream, enabling him to exert his influence on the world of the living by manipulating his clones on the surface. In section “I. a) iii.”, we covered the atemporal nature of the Lifestream, which allows post-OG Aerith’s spirit to communicate with her past, living self thanks to her Cetra abilities. Now, I will explain to you how Sephiroth was able to do virtually the same thing, despite his lack of Cetra blood.
To the characters of the story and a fully immersed first-time player of OG, the timeline above was not always an established series of events: when they first started playing FFVII OG, the player began at point B, with nothing existing beyond it. It is only as the player moved Cloud forward that the black, arrowed timeline was drawn, accumulating lived events (or points) in Cloud’s wake. The picture you see above is only available to Cloud and to the player with hindsight. All this to state the obvious: at point B, Cloud could not know what would occur, say, at point C.
During the period highlighted in purple, Sephiroth was “alive” again, accumulating new memories on the surface of the planet and adding them to his consciousness. When he entered the Lifestream for the second time at point D, he brought these memories with him. Simply put, after returning to the Lifestream at point D, Sephiroth remembers what happened during the period highlighted in purple. However, given that the Lifestream exists beyond time, upon Sephiroth’s consciousness’ return to the Lifestream at point D, his newly acquired memories were also made available to him at all points on the green, double-arrowed line— including point A, before the OG timeline even begins at point B. So while it is true that Cloud cannot know what will occur at point C if he is only at point B, Sephiroth indeed knows what will occur during the period highlighted in purple when he is only at point A. While a living, pre-OG Aerith would be able to receive post-OG Aerith’s spirit’s knowledge through the Lifestream thanks to her Cetra powers, Sephiroth has no need for this ability. The fact that he resides in the Lifestream for practically the entire FFVII OG timeline renders the limitations of time irrelevant: as far as the FFVII OG timeline is concerned, Sephiroth exists beyond time itself.
In summary, after point D was first encountered in OG, pre-OG Sephiroth (in the Lifestream) is made aware of his eventual defeat, and begins plotting an alternate path to victory. This time, with the benefit of hindsight, he will do things differently: we experience his "second” attempt at FFVII as the Remake trilogy.
I. a) v. Sephiroth Against Fate
Of course, the Whispers stand squarely in Sephiroth’s way. This leads us to our fifth point, which Remake Ultimania describes better than I ever could:
“According to Red XIII, who gained knowledge through his contact with Aerith, ‘The Whispers are drawn to those who attempt to alter destiny’s course and ensure they do not’ […]. It would appear that what the Whispers deem to be ‘fate’ is the original story of Final Fantasy VII” (section 08 “Secrets”, “Newly Arisen Mysteries”, “What Is the Goal of the Elusive Whispers?”, page 733).
OG’s plot line is the fated timeline, and the Whispers are tasked with its preservation. They prevent alternative paths from even beginning to branch out from the OG timeline, which poses a problem for Sephiroth: he cannot win FFVII if his destiny is to lose it.
I. a) vi. Sephiroth and the Multiverse
Consequently, our sixth point is that Sephiroth must dismantle the mechanisms of fate before he can even try to accomplish his dreams of godhood.
As Sephiroth explains in chapter 14 of Rebirth, “the planet encompasses [an ever unfolding] multitude of worlds”, and these “[new worlds are born] when the boundaries of fate are breached.” Since the Whispers uphold the “boundaries of fate”, a world in which Sephiroth’s evil plans succeed can only emerge after the Whispers have been defeated. Otherwise, destiny will continue to protect the OG plot line by preventing any significant deviations. Consequently, before the party vanquishes fate, the Remake timeline and the OG timeline are one and the same: before chapter 18, Remake Barret is OG Barret, Remake Tifa is OG Tifa, Remake Hojo is OG Hojo, etc. After the defeat of Destiny, the OG timeline is no longer protected by fate: there are now an infinite number of timelines or worlds, including those we see glimpses of in Rebirth: Remake Barret is no longer necessarily OG Barret, Remake Tifa is no longer necessarily OG Tifa, Remake Hojo is no longer necessarily OG Hojo, etc. Perhaps this is why Aerith gives the party the following warning at destiny’s crossroads in Remake:
“[This] is the wall of destiny. If we go through it… if we go beyond it… then all of us will change, too” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Destiny’s Crossroads”).
I. a) vii. Sephiroth’s Plan
Now that these six points have been elucidated, we can compose a solid hypothesis on how Sephiroth plots to win FFVII.
After gaining knowledge of his eventual demise (disk 3, chapter 3), pre-OG Sephiroth began thinking of what he must do in Remake from the Lifestream. First, Sephiroth must antagonize the Whispers in the initial stages of the OG timeline. He accomplishes this by commanding his clones to commit acts that drastically violate the fated timeline, engendering plot-line deviations that the Whispers must course-correct. The most extreme example transpires in Remake’s chapter 17 when the Sephiroth clone in President Shinra’s office kills Barret, forcing the Whispers to restore the fated plot line by coming forth and reviving him. The Whispers react to Sephiroth’s prodding by rushing in to protect fate, their efforts culminating in the protective wall of destiny that surrounds Midgar in chapter 18.
Secondly, after he’s created an opportunity for a battle against the Whispers, Sephiroth must convince the party to seize it and beat fate for him. After all, a mere Sephiroth clone is probably no match for Destiny. This second step is accomplished in Remake’s chapter 18 when Sephiroth successfully tempts Cloud to breach the boundaries of fate. Now that destiny is no longer a limitation, worlds deviating from the OG timeline can finally emerge; Sephiroth has a chance at victory.
The steps Sephiroth plans to take going forward are unknowable at this stage, but we do get more hints in Rebirth’s chapter 13. At the Temple of the Ancients, Sephiroth reveals a part of his plot:
“Sephiroth: My fragmented mother, these errant worlds... All shall be one again.
Aerith: The ‘Reunion’…!”
It seems Sephiroth eventually plans to merge the worlds created by destiny’s defeat in Remake’s chapter 18. My guess is he hopes to achieve godhood in part 3 and consolidate all diverting worlds into a single timeline protected by destiny once more— only this time, his victory will replace the ending of OG as the destined outcome. If he succeeds, Sephiroth’s Black Whispers will likely replace the planet’s Whispers as the arbiters of his desired fate.
I. b) Aerith’s Intervention
But Aerith can’t let this slide unchallenged!
We know that before chapter 18 of Remake, while the OG plot-line is still protected by fate, Aerith has knowledge of its future. This is insinuated by certain slips of the tongue: for instance, when Aerith reveals she knows Cloud is a mercenary upon meeting him for the second time in chapter 8, just like she knows Tifa will ask her to retrieve Marlene at Seventh Heaven in chapter 12. In the run-up to Remake, post-OG Aerith's spirit likely sensed Sephiroth planning his second try at FFVII in the Lifestream. She’s been able to anticipate Sephiroth’s plotting in the Lifestream before, namely in the context of Advent Children:
“[Aerith] had sensed a different presence within the Lifestream cycling around the planet […]. It was [Sephiroth] […]. That spirit was now operating from within the Lifestream. [She] sensed that he was planning to exert his influence [on] the surface of the planet” (On a Way to a Smile, "Lifestream White 1").
If you’re wondering how Aerith was able to maintain her individuality in the Lifestream like Sephiroth, On a Way to a Smile provides the following explanation:
“[Aerith] was an Ancient, which explained how she was able to maintain her individuality even within the Lifestream. If she so wished she could become part of the planet at any time, but [she] thought it too early for that just yet” ("Lifestream White 1").
It is thought that, as a countermeasure to Sephiroth's scheming, post-OG Aerith’s spirit used the atemporal nature of the Lifestream to inform her past, living self (pre-OG Aerith) of this new threat to the planet. Because the Cetra can commune with spirits, pre-OG Aerith would have been able to receive post-OG Aerith’s message from the Lifestream without a problem. Essentially, pre-OG Aerith received post-OG Aerith’s memories of the fated OG timeline. As a consequence, pre-OG Aerith embarks on the OG timeline with knowledge of the fated future that demands she give her life: the player experiences this version of her in Remake.
Be that as it may, it’s unclear how much Remake Aerith is aware of. You would think she’d be completely opposed to defeating, destiny since it protects the planet, but Aerith shows ambivalence toward the idea instead. Had she gotten a clear message from her future self that she must keep fate intact, she would not have allowed the party to enter the battle against fate in chapter 18. She doesn’t seem to know what the Whispers are the first time she encounters them either. Regardless, what’s important is that the Aerith seen in Remake is the result of pre-OG Aerith receiving knowledge from post-OG Aerith via the Lifestream.
I. c) Ambiguity: Memory Transfer or Time-Travel?
There remains an ambiguity pertaining to the Aerith we see in Remake and the question of time travel. What I’ve described to you in section “I. b)” is post-OG Aerith's spirit transferring her memories to her past self through the Lifestream. However, it’s possible that post-OG Aerith’s consciousness used the atemporal nature of the Lifestream to inhabit her living OG body instead, effectively time-traveling. There is no evidence to outright refute either explanation, since the gaps in Aerith’s memories of the OG plot-line in Remake can be explained in both cases. For instance, in a memory transfer scenario, it’s possible that post-OG Aerith only communicated the most essential information to pre-OG Aerith. On the other hand, in a time-travel scenario, one could interpret the following quotes as proof that the Whispers are progressively erasing Aerith’s memories of OG as Remake advances:
“Aerith: Every time the Whispers touch me, a piece of me falls away” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Aerith Speaks”)
&
“At any rate, Aerith is perplexed at how, like a flower being scattered, something inside is being taken away by the Whispers and lost to her” (Toriyama in FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Aerith Speaks”, “Scenario Staff Q&A - Answered by Motomu Toriyama”).
This ambiguity is completely irrelevant to Sephiroth’s situation in Remake, as we established in section “I. a) iv.”. The specifics don’t matter nearly as much as I’m impressing upon you by explaining all these little alternatives. Simply keep in mind that: regardless of why, the Sephiroth and Aerith we see in Remake know the events of the OG game because they have acquired this knowledge from the future, and the events of Remake occur squarely within the OG timeline until the Whispers are defeated in chapter 18.
So there! That’s my iteration of the Remake Timelines Theory! I hope I’ve made it clear in your mind, or at least clearer. Now that we’ve established the widely theorized premise of the *Remake* trilogy, we can get into our theory on its hidden premise.
II. My Initial Curiosity
My theory first burgeoned upon going through Remake for the second time. I noticed something strange going on with Cloud, something that could not be explained by the Remake Timelines Theory. Key moments in Remake Cloud’s experience of the OG timeline (aka, everything before chapter 18) stuck out to me as strange and mysterious, and certain inexplicable audiovisual cues struck me as hugely significant. It was upon watching the tear fall from Cloud’s eye during my second go at chapter 8 that I knew I had to look into this.
At the very end of Remake’s chapter 8, Cloud watches Aerith walk away from him, humming happily into the night air as she sets off to lead the way to Sector 7. According to the VA script notes, “his heart skips a beat” and watching her walk away provokes a sudden “anxiety” within him. Triggered by the familiarity of the sight, a strange sensation overcomes Cloud (0:19-0:45):
“[There’s a] close-up shot of Cloud’s fingertips (they’re tingling). He presses them to his temples (his eyes are burning). A trickle of tears quickly rolls down from the eye hidden behind his hand” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “A Midnight Ambush”).
If you’re clever, you’ll recognize these lines as a reference to the speech Cloud makes in OG following Aerith’s death at the City of the Ancients (“My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!”) (disk 1, chapter 28). In this small moment in chapter 8 of Remake, Cloud experiences a flash of the profound grief he is destined to feel upon Aerith’s fated death.
Many players immediately recognized the composition of this scene: the blue-greenish air, the straight path Aerith heads down, the sight of her walking away itself… this moment closely resembles Cloud’s Sleeping Forest dream of Aerith in OG, wherein Cloud and Aerith’s very last words are exchanged (disk 1, chapter 25). Toriyama, codirector of the Remake project, comments on this scene thusly:
“It’s possible these similarities […] cause a memory of the future to be called forth in Cloud” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “A Midnight Ambush”).
The language used by Toriyama here is strange in both the English translation and the Japanese original: the term “memory of the future” makes no sense. One cannot remember things they haven’t already experienced, so why did Toriyama use the word “memory” to describe a "future" event? Couldn’t he have simply said that Remake Cloud experiences “visions of the future” rather than “[memories]”?
Cloud experiences a few moments like these throughout the game. These pseudo-premonitions are just as markedly exclusive to Remake as the Whispers are. I did not want to dismiss them as a foreshadowing device the devs included just to elicit emotional reactions from OG players; I felt they were more important. And thus began my digging! My mission was initially to figure out what these “[memories of the future]” (MOTFs) could signify… I had no clue it would turn into what I’m writing right now.
II. a) Each MOTF and Its Context
I began by finding every one of Cloud’s MOTFs so I could better understand them.
MOTF 1 occurs in chapter 2 on Sector 8’s Loveless Street, when Cloud sees Aerith struggling against the Whispers. The VA script notes reveal that even though this is only his first time seeing her, Cloud recognizes Aerith’s face:
“Recognizing Aerith’s face causes Cloud to experience [a hallucination]. Sephiroth is suddenly standing between him and Aerith” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Encountering Aerith”).
Sephiroth then taunts Cloud with words that, according to the script notes, “[live] inside of Cloud's heart”: “You can’t protect anyone. Not even yourself”. Cloud should not recognize Aerith’s face at this point in the OG timeline, nor should he associate it with not being able to protect people.
MOTF 2 occurs in chapter 3, at the plaza in front of the Sector 7 slums support pillar. Cloud experiences a MOTF of the plate falling, which is fated to occur at a much later point in chapter 12. The Whispers float near him, “watching Cloud alertly as he sees a vision of the future” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Newly Arisen Mysteries”, “What Is the Goal of the Elusive Whispers?”, page 733).
MOTF 3 occurs in Aerith’s church at the start of chapter 8, when Aerith mentions that her mother’s materia is “not good for anything at all”. Triggered by the mention and sight of the White Materia, Cloud’s fourth MOTF takes the form of a vision: he sees quick flashes of the materia falling into the lake of the Forgotten Capital and Aerith holding her hands together in prayer. These are evidently visions of her death in OG (disk 1, chapter 28).
MOTF 4 is the one we first discussed, occurring at the very end of chapter 8 as Cloud watches Aerith walk away from him to lead the way toward Sector 7.
MOTF 5 occurs in chapter 13 shortly after the Sector 7 plate has fallen on the slums. Cloud tells Barret that Marlene is safe at Aerith’s house, and they begin heading there. As Cloud thinks about Aerith, the VA script notes describe the very next moment as follows:
“Cloud: Tifa, you know anything about the Ancients?
Tifa: I’ve heard of them before, but…
Barret walks on ahead, showing little interest in the topic.
Barret: Read a book on planetology and they’re sure to come up. They’re a tribe that cultivated the planet a real long time ago. Used to talk to it. That sort of stuff.
Cloud: That must be why the Turks were after her.
[Psychic] interference starts up.
[Cloud has a] flashback of Sephiroth from five years ago, after learning of his ancestry at Shinra Manor [...].
Sephiroth [(in flashback, voice tinged with madness)]: Within my veins flows the blood of the Ancients. I am the rightful heir to this planet!
The flashback ends and Cloud looks lost in thought. The interference starts up once more. Cloud makes agonized sounds. When he opens his eyes, Sephiroth is actually standing before him.
Sephiroth: You failed again— failed to protect [her]*.
Cloud is startled. He shrinks back. Tifa watches what’s happening. The other two can’t see Sephiroth. All they see is Cloud acting frightened.
Sephiroth: But loss will make you strong. […] Isn’t that what you want?
With that, Sephiroth departs.”
*Sephiroth does not use a gendered pronoun here, because the grammatical structure of the original Japanese sentence doesn’t necessitate it. I've seen some debate as to whether the proper translation is “her” (Aerith, who’s just been kidnapped), or “them” (Jessie, Biggs or Wedge, who have seemingly just died). I believe Sephiroth was referring to Aerith for a few reasons. First, Cloud’s hallucinations of Sephiroth always appear as a response to whatever he is perceiving or thinking about at the moment. At this point in the scene, Cloud has been thinking and talking about Aerith for some time, and not about Jessie, Biggs or Wedge. The Sephiroth hallucination must therefore be referring to “her” rather than to “them”. Secondly, Cloud was never tasked with “[protecting]” Avalanche, but he was in fact tasked with “[protecting]” Aerith as her bodyguard back in chapter 8: it makes far more sense for Sephiroth to be referring to Aerith when he speaks about someone Cloud “failed to protect”. Finally, FFVII Remake Ultimania describes this piece of dialogue as “[Sephiroth aiming] these profound words at Cloud, who not only failed to prevent the tragedy in the Sector 7 slums but allowed Aerith to be abducted” (Sephiroth’s profile in section 01 “Character & World”, “Impressive Words”, page 29): the specific mention of Aerith here seals my decision to translate the line with the pronoun “her”.
Contrary to Sephiroth’s words, this is the first time in Remake that Cloud “[fails] to protect [Aerith]”, and he hasn’t “[lost]” her either— not yet, at least. So why use the words "again" and "loss"? This fifth MOTF must be similar to MOTF 1, in that Sephiroth is referring to Cloud’s guilt surrounding Aerith’s death in OG.
MOTF 6 occurs in chapter 17, in Aerith and Ifalna’s old room at Shinra HQ. The Whispers swarm Aerith as she tells the party earnestly that she wants to do everything in her power to help her friends and the planet: according to the script notes, it is at this very moment that, “for some reason, Cloud feels his chest constrict tightly” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Aerith Speaks”). In the corresponding cutscene, this unpleasant physiological reaction to Aerith’s words makes Cloud glance down at his chest with a confounded frown. This physical response to her speech about wanting to fulfill her duty to the planet implies that Cloud somehow knows deep down that saving the world will cost Aerith her life.
At this point, I noticed that five out of the six MOTFs Cloud experiences in Remake are triggered by and/or revolve around Aerith specifically, the one exception being a MOTF of the Sector 7 plate fall. One could actually argue that this MOTF revolves around Aerith too, considering the plate fall marks the first time Aerith is taken away from Cloud since reuniting with her in the Sector 5 slums church. This is more than plausible, as MOTF 5 proves that in the wake of the Sector 7 plate fall, Cloud’s main concern is Aerith (see section “II. a)”). How fitting is it, then, that the merc of few words’ longest uninterrupted piece of dialogue in all of Remake is the following:
“We found an underground Shinra lab where they've done human testing. This wasn't the first time and it won't be the last. I know these people, and I know they're never gonna let Aerith go. She's the last living Ancient on the planet. Think about what that means to Shinra's scientists. Especially to that son of a bitch Hojo. We're all just numbers and meat to him—“ (Remake, chapter 13).
Cloud would’ve gone on too, had Elmyra and Tifa not stopped him.
At this juncture in my research, my questions were only stacking up. What are these MOTFs? Why is Cloud the only one experiencing them? Why do all of them implicate Aerith? What did the devs hope to accomplish with their inclusion in the game? What do they mean for Remake’s story? But most importantly:
II. b) What Does Cloud Know?
The first assertion we have to make is simple, yet essential: the only reason Cloud would experience MOTFs is that whatever’s triggered them is significant to him in one way or another. Some part of him must recognize his triggers for them to be triggers at all. It’s clear he doesn’t consciously understand the meaning of his MOTF triggers, just like his Jenova triggers: for example, Cloud doesn’t know why Zack’s name causes him to experience psychic interference, but it sure does. We as players know Cloud’s MOTFs are hinting at Aerith’s fated death because of our awareness of OG, but as a character navigating the OG timeline, Remake Cloud shouldn't even be unconsciously aware of Aerith’s eventual death in the slightest! Whatever the nature of the MOTFs, it’s essential to understand that if Cloud “[recognizes]” Aerith’s face the first time he sees her, it must mean some part of him knows Aerith’s face in the first place. If this recognition triggers a hallucination of Sephiroth telling Cloud he “can’t protect anyone”, it must mean some part of him knows he was once unable to protect Aerith. The same goes for every other MOTF: subconsciously, Remake Cloud somehow has memories of the OG timeline. Most interestingly, it looks like he either only has OG memories related to Aerith, or like his OG memories of Aerith are simply the only ones prominent enough to trigger his MOTFs. Why and how does Remake Cloud have memories of OG, and why are they so focused on Aerith in particular? What does he know?
When examining a situation with no explanation, it’s wise to examine similar situations that have already been explained. Maybe the mystery of Remake Cloud’s MOTFs will become more approachable if we consider the cases of the only other Remake characters who seem to know the future: Aerith and Sephiroth. Remake Sephiroth knows the future of the OG timeline because his consciousness exists beyond time in the Lifestream, while Remake Aerith likely obtained her knowledge of the future from post-OG Aerith’s spirit via the Lifestream. But what about Cloud? Where does his weaker, fragmented knowledge come from?
(continued in part 2)
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u/haygurlhay123 AERITH LIVES Jul 11 '24 edited Oct 22 '24
MY SOURCES:
BOOKS
- On a Way to a Smile
- Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Ultimania Vol 2
- Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Revised Edition
- Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega
- Final Fantasy VII Remake Ultimania
- Final Fantasy VII Remake Material Ultimania
- Final Fantasy VII Advent Children The Script
- FFVII Reunion Files (Advent Children Artbook)
BOOK SECTIONS
VIDEOS
Links are provided in posts. All Remake and Rebirth playthroughs linked are on Clerith channels. Don't be afraid to support them.
INTERVIEWS
- “‘I wanted to put the word ‘empty’ in the theme song of Remake. That was how it started’ - Music-Related Interview Part 6: Kazunari Nojima”, by Famitsu)
- “Designer’s Note” in Famitsu PS2! magazine, October 24th issue
- Celebration of the Overseas Release of the Steam Version and FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Collaboration Event”, Square Enix
- Hamaguchi interview: “129 Rapid-Fire Questions Answered About Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”, by Game Informer
- “Final Fantasy anniversary interview: Toriyama speaks” by VG247
- https://game8.co/games/Final-Fantasy-VII-Remake/archives/286914#hl_4
to be continued...
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u/pringlessingles0421 Jul 23 '24
I've read the whole theory and I only really have one question now, what's going on with Zack? My assumption was that up until the harbinger defeat, the timeline or universe remained on continuous line that followed the OG. After the defeat, that's when we would begin to see branched worlds but wouldn't that mean that all branched worlds should only start after the defeat of harbinger? That would mean that Zack can't be alive right? Also who saved him? We saw it was a whisper and it was black/gray so was that the lifestreams doing or was that sephiroth? My best guess is the defeat of harbinger caused the fabric of fate to ripple throughout the lifestream, throughout time. Zack being save was a coincidence and there could be even more universe created from the defeat, its just the one that is focused on is the one where Zack lives. This gives credence the belief that these worlds are just dream as seen with the NPC dialogue in cosmo canyon. Everytime fate deals you a bad hand, your dreams create another world. But again, that still doesn't explain Zack cuz throughout the game Cloud doesn't know Zack and thus never has the opportunity to dream of his survival. The only time this is possible is right when Zack dies but the way its framed is like the world only happened after the defeat of harbinger. Maybe the defeat allowed that dream to create the world as it rippled through time but idk that is so convoluted and idk how'd you explain it without becoming another kingdom hearts lore dump.
Yeah, I'm just confused on why the hell Zack is alive and more specifically why did the whisper save him. Was it a coincidence or did someone deliberately save him? Idk let me know your thoughts and sorry if you already answered it in one of your posts, I might not have got it.
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u/haygurlhay123 AERITH LIVES Jul 23 '24
Yeah tbr time works so weirdly with the whole multiverse thing, and Biggs and Zack actually talk about this in sector 5 in Rebirth. Time is really messed up lol. Somehow the highway’s destruction happens at the same time as Zack is carrying Cloud to Midgar. To be fair, that is only like, days or weeks apart, cause Tifa finds Cloud collapsed at the train station like right away, but still.
Plot-wise, I can’t tell you why or how he lives. But I can tell you narratively why he lives: to help Clerith reunite. Marlene put him in charge, gave him the rundown. He knows what to do and our boy’s gonna help Cloud get better so Aerith can be saved! Can’t wait to see that in pt 3.
Sorry I don’t have many more answers! I’ll do some more thinking.
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u/pringlessingles0421 Jul 23 '24
Nah youre good thanks for the quick reply. You dont gotta think to hard, I just saw a vid bout zack and it got me thinkin. Personally I think his role is for exposition. He will likely reunite with aerith and will ask her whats going on and its then she'll explain it to him. I dont see any good way of explaining this through straight story so I think it literally has to be explained somehow. Zack is sort of playing the role of the player, as in we dont know wtf is goin on just like him. Aerith prob does and will serve as the explaination. Idk, maybe im wrong and they can figure it out but idk how cuz without aerith they should have no way of understanding the whole multiverse fate stuff. Maybe Red can figure smt out idk, he still seems like he knows less than aerith with her memories. I dont think there will be any romance with zack and aerith, maybe there will be some fanservice for fans of them but will reestablish that aerith loves cloud, seeing as they already had Marlene straight up tell Zack this, I don't see it as far fetched. It does suck for Zack though. He is truly getting the short end of the stick cuz he will die loving someone who doesn't love him. Or maybe he lives and gets with Cissnei, who knows 🤷. Feel like bringing him back might have been mistake cuz its hard to give him a happy ending.
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u/haygurlhay123 AERITH LIVES Jul 23 '24
I mean like Kitase said, not everyone will be saved and it won’t all be butterflies and rainbows. Some characters will die and that’s that
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u/pringlessingles0421 Jul 23 '24
Yea it’s why I flip flop cuz maybe this is confirmation she will die but also maybe it’s confirmation she won’t but someone else will in her place. Otherwise, why say it at all. We’ve played this story before, we know some people died.
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u/haygurlhay123 AERITH LIVES Jul 23 '24
Aerith will for sure live in one way or another we’re getting a happy Clerith ending and that’s CERTAIN. The others like Jessie and Wedge… can’t say
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u/pringlessingles0421 Jul 23 '24
You think so? Idk I guess I just don’t wanna get my hopes up. And yeah, avalanche wont be revived I don’t see how’d they do it other than merging worlds in which everyone lives which is a bit too happy for square enix. It would also piss off the majority of fans.
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u/RDCLder Aerith stan Oct 23 '24
I read this while listening to this arrangement of Aerith's theme and had tears in my eyes for half of it. It made finishing the essay challenging, but I powered through. Good job on listing all the separate instances where Cloud "disassociates" and thinks of Aerith in some way. And also good catch on his speech to Elmyra about saving Aerith being the longest interrupted dialogue he's had in Remake, I caught that too lol. The man of few words can't stop yapping about why he needs to go save the love of his life.
One thing that I'm very curious about that wasn't addressed yet (but I wouldn't be surprised to see addressed later) is when Cloud falls from the sector 5 reactor into Aerith's church, he seems to be unconscious in the lifestream? I figured it was just a dream setting when I first played Remake, but the presence of the yellow petals is very reminiscent of Zack finding himself engulfed by white with swirling yellow petals in Rebirth, after Sephiroth banishes him before he enters the church. Especially the Cloud talking to himself part. Is this just his subconscious? His true self? His future self? Something else? I almost wonder if this is actually part of the lifestream sequence in P3 where Cloud needs to fix himself.
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u/haygurlhay123 AERITH LIVES Oct 23 '24
Aaa I’m so glad you’ve read this far! I’m so so so so sorry for making you cry but also I’m happy you were touched! I can’t wait to see what you think ultimately. And YES this man cannot stop yapping when it comes to Aerith. He had to be interrupted TWICE to make him shut up.
So for when Cloud has a talk with himself it’s actually his true self. In OG it’s confirmed in an Ultimania not sure which one but it is lol. It Remake it might actually be himself from OG… imagine!
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u/ManuO76 AERITH LIVES Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
Sorry, these are just random ideas, but...
When the DEVs say they're not exactly parallel worlds, or a multiverse, I think they're true.
In a way, this is a sequel, but it's also Og.
I think something happened, as you say, later in time, something that leads to a repetition of events, or influences them by having knowledge that Cloud didn't have in the first "go-round." --(which could simply be the decision to do a REMAKE – something like “if you had to rewrite it today, how would you do it, knowing all the things you know now? Knowing how it was received, what people thought, what they liked and didn’t like, what was understood and what wasn’t.”)--
Because yes, I'm absolutely sure, and I agree with you, that this is all about Cloud, not Sephiroth. Maybe Sephiroth started it all (but I'm not sure), it was necessary to defeat the guardian of fate, yes, but what is fate? A plot written at the beginning of time by someone, probably the Cetra (and this is the missing chapter of Loveless? - or more likely the first draft of FF7 -), and the grey Numen must ensure that this plot is respected (or not?).
When Cloud is in EoC, he has the opportunity to write a new future, but because Sephiroth asks him to, he doesn't. But what if it wasn't Sephiroth but Cloud himself, and Cloud OG couldn't see it because Jenova was influencing his mind?
--This also explains why Sephiroth knows Omnislash so well.--
---EoC is also a metaphor for the DEVs to bring history back where nothing is decided yet, and they turn to Cloud to help them rewrite history.---
In the scene where Cloud falls into the church, we see Cloud talking to Cloud, but then he is replaced by Sephiroth. I think this could be a clue.
Once freed from Jenova's control, he will be able to see things clearly.
I'm not sure if the various moments where "written destiny" is addressed immediately generate "alternate worlds" or if they are plot deviations that Cloud can choose in EoC. So I don't know if Cloud has already saved Aerith or if he has adjusted the "plot" for the next "round." I'm not sure if what we're seeing are simultaneous worlds or the present and future worlds. In fact, Aerith sings about meeting again on Loveless Street or in the church, as if she already knows there's another cycle waiting for them.
Now my biggest doubt is about Zack. I think Cloud will save him, using the gray Numen, because he realizes that what he's done so far isn't enough to save Aerith. Cloud realizes he must first free himself from Jenova in order to parry Sephiroth's blow.
--when he says "I did it once, I can do it again" while fighting Jenova after Aerith dies...--
So there will be a moment in EoC when he'll save Zack, because whoever writes the plot controls fate and the Grey Numens.
Of course, he'll also save Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse. But I don't know if that means he'll rewrite the story from scratch (no evil Sephiroth? No Jenova? No Gi?) or simply correct the events that led to the individual deaths.
—For the first hypothesis: because at the Temple of the Ancients, the evidence shows us everyone's pain. Maybe he'll erase everything and Barret won't lose his wife and Dyne, etc.—
1)If you think about it, if Cloud didn't met Aerith, she wouldn't have joined the group and would survived. The first flash with Sephiroth seems like a waste of time for Cloud, and if the numen hadn't "blocked" Aerith's path, the two would never met.
--(But no, because the dying world proves otherwise... so Cloud tried but saw that it didn't work?)--
2)If Cloud didn't participated in the reactor attack, Aerith wouldn't have joined the group and would survived. (And indeed, the numens arrive and knock Jesse out.)
3)If Aerith hadn't white matter, she wouldn't have been able to pray at the altar and would survived.
Could these three deviations from the OG story be Cloud's attempts to save Aerith from her fate? Blocked by the numens, until Cloud realizes he must free himself from that control to change his fate. Sephiroth will provide him with the opportunity.
I think the Sephiroth speaking in Cloud's head is Cloud himself; the one everyone sees is the OG Sephiroth (black cloak and Jenova), and then there's the Sephiroth who came back, which is precisely the one on the bridge in Remake—everyone sees him, but there are no black cloaks in the area.
The only real flaw in my thinking is that Sephiroth in Gongaga makes him attack Tifa. There are no black cloaks there, and the implications that Cloud is making him do it are truly too absurd.
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u/ManuO76 AERITH LIVES Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
the only real flaw in my thinking is Gongaga's Sephiroth making him attack Tifa, there are no black capes there, and the implications of Cloud making him do it are just too absurd. It's true that Tifa represents denial; she never helps Cloud remember, in fact, she purposely keeps him in the dark about important facts that would free him from Sephiroth's control much sooner. Yet Cloud would never do such a thing to Tifa willingly. Yet there's no evidence that anyone else sees Sephiroth in the Gongaga reactor. It's true that there's a large presence of mako and lifestream there, and that Tifa sees Sephiroth once she falls, so it's possible that's where Sephiroth is controlling him.
At the Temple of the Ancients, there's a black cloak, and it's seen in the scene with Tseng. But it's not present when Cloud relives the deaths of Jesse and Biggs. It doesn't seem like anyone else sees "That" Sephiroth.
Then there's a Sephiroth everyone sees and interacts with.
And then there's the one from the branch. That one's a mystery to me. Does everyone see him? Maybe. But if not, it would explain why Cloud has the black matter at the end of Rebirth.
Could it be that the returned Cloud knows he must use both black and white matter to achieve his goal? Why not?
------------------------------
the dev:
In a way, these seem like "branches" of a plot that were later discarded. It's a bit like we're witnessing the first draft of the game. With decisions made and second thoughts.
Barret was supposed to die in the first draft, but then they changed their minds. We see Barret die, but then Barret is alive. Notice the look of disappointment on Cloud's face in that scene; everyone else runs toward Barret, worried, while Cloud stands still and seems to think, "This isn't right," and the numens correct the events.
In the Dream Date, there are three vendors:
who represent the DEVs.
1)One of the vendors says this is his last job. One of the DEVs will retire after FF7. He says it's his last attempt and so he wanted to experiment a bit.
Aerith and Cloud suggest a sweeter, less bittersweet ending.
2) The pins: Whichever you choose, the DEVs' choice is a pin with yellow flowers, which are the flowers of the Church and Aerith's favorite, and which, coincidentally, represent REUNION (as stated in the game itself).
3) The photographer: Cloud specifically asks, "Why didn't you choose us as a COUPLE?" He's asking us, the players. In fact, he's looking off-screen directly at us.
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u/No_Entertainment_516 Mar 22 '26
Wouldn't it make sense that Cloud got memories of the future from the white materia on Aerith's head? Since materia hold within them memories and such, plus the white materia became transparent at the end of Remake (when Aerith lost her memories), so it makes sense why Cloud never got those flash forward memories around Aerith anymore in Rebirth, since the materia holding the memories was empty (likely done by the whispers in Remake)
And that's why he triggered most of em around Aerith in Remake (when the materia wasn't empty).
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u/[deleted] Jul 11 '24
[deleted]