Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Aerith/Jenova Theory EXPLAINED | Do I Believe It?

Let's talk about a VERY interesting theory regarding Aerith and Jenova. It's a strong theory and I in a way even hope it does happen, but something tells me it won't. Let me know what you think and make sure to subscribe to the channel for more content!! #finalfantasy7rebirth
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[@dream431ca]

Remember in Remake just after the motorcycle battle, you come upon a wall of whispers with a tunnel of light. Through that threshold is a new world (or timeline). Everyone crosses the threshold and continue in a different timeline. In Rebirth at the Forgotten Capital, only Cloud manages to cross the threshold, the others had to keep it open for him. In that timeline, Cloud blocks Sephiroth's sword, allegedly saving Aerith, then the wall of whispers falls, allowing the rest of the party to enter. When the whispers disappear, the timeline that Cloud entered is no longer there, the party will instead encounter their present timeline. Cloud saves Aerith in the threshold. When the threshold disappears, it switches, and Aerith is dead in that timeline, where the rest of the party ends up. Sephiroth mentions of merging timelines. What I think is happening, is Cloud knows he saved Aerith, but since only Cloud went through the threshold, those two timelines merged somehow (where Aerith is saved and not saved). This is why only Cloud can see Aerith. This is also why Cloud can only see the tear in the sky in the end cutscene. Cloud is simultaneously in two timelines that have merged. I believe this will play a role in part 3, where Cloud swears he saved Aerith and the rest of the party thinks he's insane. Sephiroth may also use this to his advantage, turning Cloud against his friends.

[@phantomslay5612]

I think that Sephiroth planned for only Cloud to be able to enter at the time. That way no matter what Cloud did, all Sephiroth would have to do is remove the wall of whispers creating the gateway and send everyone back to the base timeline. Cloud was the only person there so only he’d see the future where he saved Aerith. But that isn’t the right timeline. And Sephiroth intended on this so he could manipulate Cloud and drive him insane. I was wondering how Sephiroth killed Aerith here since we just saw Cloud stop him before

[@facelesshalo5174]

The problem with that theory is that, then the party would not be in the same timeline as that cloud. Thus it wouldn't matter what happened or what they saw. It would be a different party with a different cloud and they SHOULD be experiencing the same thing Cloud in this "Other timeline" is experiencing. But they aren't. Additionally All "Merged" timelines literally merge. Other people do not see ghosts or one thing one group does and another doesn't. They are "Real". So Cloud seeing Aerith and the others aren't doesn't make sense. It's also been repeatedly shown that the other timelines have an entirely separate group of people. There isn't One Zack. There's the Zack that tried to save Biggs, and there's the Zack that went to save cloud. These are 2 Zacks. So if there is a Timeline where Cloud Saved Aerith, where are Aeriths Friends? Where is Aerith's Cloud? Why is this Aerith moonlighting in another timeline where Her cloud and friends are not. Especially an Aerith with the power and knowledge of the lifestream? The answer as far as I'm concerned is, She isn't. This Aerith is the Life stream will of Aerith. There was no other timeline that happened when Cloud "Saved" Aerith. Sephiroth is quite literally deleting them all anyway. So even if there was a Timeline that COULD have been made, I doubt Sephiroth would just let it happen when he was right there. But I digress. We have to wait until the third game or a statement.

[@renegade637]

@dream431ca Agreed, 100%! I've referred to it as a timeline limbo that she's stuck in in other comments. But, this works just as well. Although, slight note to add to this. When Cloud deflects Sephiroth, a rainbow prism effect is created. This same effect occurs every time Zack makes a decision. So, that would seem to mean the deflection created the timeline. On an additional note, when the party is running up to the landing, the camera goes to Tifa shouting "Aerith!" before switching to an angle of Cloud and Aerith switching between her with and without blood. Then the camera goes back to Tifa. The expression on her face could be interpreted as grief over seeing her friend die. But, at the same time, it looks somewhat like she seems confused, Especially since she seems to stop in her tracks.

[@AcappellaGamer]

You not believing it is EXACTLY what JENOVA wants

[@phantomslay5612]

Yes!!!

[@WHIKKEDDDD]

I love how they managed to go back to one of the most iconic games/game endings ever, retell the story in a way that spawns theories and posts like this. Great video man

[@guidopasquetto911]

It is super messy tho. They could do that without doing such a mess

[@MissusFail]

Everyone's confused AF but i love that nobody, no matter how much they read about all other FF7 pieces, can predict what happens next. They can try, but we're only getting bits and pieces and all cards are still available at play. Which is to say, everything is still possible at the moment. They can spin it either way with how vague things were left off. But seriously.. Part 3 when. I can't wait 3 years. I painted my walls and watched them dry ...and now what?

[@elpainto1]

What's if it's both? If there is another world where Aerith exists and can communicate with a Cloud, Jenova could throw a wrench in by showing Cloud a cheap imitation, causing him to react to her the way he reacts to Tifa in rebirth.

[@GodOfAI_]

The trilogy is LITERALLY a sequel to advent children: from the first game you can clearly tell that Aerith and Sephiroth knew what was going to happen in the future and by challenging fate multiple timelines were created so there’s still a chance to see Aerith back in the third game in fact she’s alive in Zack’s timeline.

[@phrofile3613]

Nobody is denying that

[@mbuffalo111]

Also red said in midgar the two of them could see the future and lost it when they left.

[@linkofhyrule6580]

dude are you a bot? i swear i’ve seen this exact comment on like three videos about the ending today

[@mbuffalo111]

@@linkofhyrule6580 I am not but it's an Important part for theory crafting. She could see the future and so could he. He wasn't gifted it by her he was able to see it and lost it with the whispers. So it is better for implying their connection and visions are connected to hojos experiments. Then it's a question of was hojo aware of the visions? And was the experiments on them also Injecting jenova cells in a cetra and red or just maco stuff or maybe they were specifically tied to cetra cells which could have been put in red? Idk lots of significance in the one ferris wheel line most people didn't experience because they went for one of the girls? And maybe didn't go through the rest of them.

[@PinkSakuraBunnie]

​@@mbuffalo111I'm of the impression Red has knowledge bc of Aerith, just like Marlene. When they are in Hojo's lab and Red is growling at them she slowly walks up to him and places her hand on his head, kind of like when she hugs Marlene, and like Marlene, Red looks like he's suddenly been given knowledge, in this case that Aerith and co are friends. But like Aerith, the whispers were touching him at the end, robbing him of that knowledge. Marlene still has it though bc she hasn't been in contact with the whispers.

[@webguy943]

Nah i think the music was more like mystery type music. The devs intentionally want us to be confused n question whether she is alive or dead. Obv they wanted to create a cliff hanger so we're all invested in the next game.

[@LynnyG]

Yeah, for me, the notes (5:13) they chose to change in that particular phrase ask a question or sound confused rather than evil or malicious.

[@phrofile3613]

I feel like the "final goodbye" between Cloud and Aerith was that sector 5 date that ends with her giving cloud the white materia and hugs him. It feels like they never gonna see each other again. But then she returns in the sephiroth fight where sephiroth said "i underestimated you". Im confused 😂.

[@BMLGaming]

I think its just aerith in the lifestream protecting cloud from despair by not letting him see her dead yet. Im sure a timeline split happened where he saved her but main timeline cloud would have broken down and given in to despair and fallen to sephiroths control if she hadnt protected his mind

[@andrewcastro4450]

This could all be in his head or an evil version of Aerith manipulating Cloud to get sephiroth with that black materia. She doesn’t feel like my girl

[@erickreyes7902]

​@@andrewcastro4450I get why some will say theres an evil aerith.. even MAXIMILLIAN believe in that theory... its because of that GLEN scene thats also in the end... but I still believe in my theory... that CLOUD is literally living in both timelines.. thats why he can still see aerith but the others dont... I really cant wait for part 3...

[@stephen8342]

He didn’t save her. Without dying she can’t stop meteor. Any situation where she doesn’t die by sephiroth would be a situation where sephiroth nukes the planet

[@PinkSakuraBunnie]

But in the OG, Cloud seemed okay after Aerith's death. I don't mean he wasn't upset or even devastated, but he doesn't break down, he and the team keep moving. He finally snapped when Tifa couldn't corroborate his Nibelheim story, and he snaps and he finally succumbs to Sephiroth telling him he's just a puppet and a clone. But Aerith's death didn't break him, so why would it this time? They could be changing this, but based on what? What is different this time from OG that would give the reason for a full on mental breakdown of Cloud over Aerith's death unlike OG?

[@stephen8342]

@@PinkSakuraBunnie yea and people are really underestimating how out of reality cloud was at that point as far as the sephiroth influence. Temple of the ancients fucks bro up

[@marbarosi]

It's both. Aerith is alive in another timeline. She pulled a Makaveli. aka 2pac, but Jenova also now posing as her. I think both could be at play.

[@danobra]

Nomura said they would not cheat death in an interview, so Aerith is not alive at all.

[@erickreyes7902]

​@@danobrathe OG aerith is dead... the one you see before you is in CLOUDS head... theres also an Omni AERITH...

[@astraldirectrix]

What does Tupac have to do with multiverse theory?

[@danobra]

@@erickreyes7902 maybe. I'm just saying there's no "alternative timeline"

[@marbarosi]

Both Aerith and 2pac faked their death and both told you about it in their music. Listen to Aeriths song. Tell you about everything really. She pulled a Makaveli, which is to trick you enemy @@astraldirectrix

[@LynnyG]

I think it's really great how Hamaguchi and the whole team have taken a story we know and made us really excited for it. I'm enjoying hearing the theories. Because honestly, they can all be right! It's hard to say what is true because we've been given enough info to build theories or debunk theories. It's all so fun and fascinating.

[@blocksheep4899]

It is interesting that Aerith wanted Cloud to “take care of yourself” vs going after Sephiroth however at the end she wants him to promise to get Sephiroth.

[@rzxwm10]

Cuz she know he is still a puppet. Promise to fight against him and not join him....

[@andimari9194]

Yeah that’s one thing that interested me as well. Unless she knows that’s what needs to happen for her to help in her reality? But who knows

[@magilas8485]

You should watch the video with Maximillian Dood about this. It’s 3 hours in total but theres a comment with timestamps. Youre gonna wanna hear what they have to say to the whole thing, like interpretations and sht

[@m4ur1r4g3]

yea everything she says at the end counters what she said before

[@josebarba4213]

Or it may just be what cloud is imagining what aerith would say to him. I mean he is schizophrenic and is to the point of mentally breaking. So it is just him imagining her. Not jenova, not the real aerith. Just all imagination

[@marcussanchez6005]

Theory 1. Aerith is alive in another timeline, theory 2. Cloud is in denial of Aeriths death, theory 3. Jenova is impersonating Aerith, theory 4. Cloud is hallucinating the sky rift or the sky rift is real. Which is real, I have to go with all of the above for now. It’s impossible to tell what is going on right now because Cloud is so messed up, nothing is going to become clear until Cloud is able to find himself I believe.

[@webguy943]

Red was able to sense aerith. Im leaning towards cloud is in this weird state where he's simultaneously in two timelines. Aerith n the sky tear are in one timeline n the rest are in the other where aerith is dead.

[@marcussanchez6005]

@@webguy943 I agree on that too, I only listed a few theories but there are so many it’s to much to write down lol. I do believe the Jenova/Aerith theory is the least likely but if it does play a part later then it will be a shocker and fuel the audience hatred for Jenova in the next fight.

[@darthangelus2606]

@@webguy943 Maybe Cloud just hallucinating Rex into sensing Aerith. Just kidding

[@awakenow7147]

This seems to be the only correct answer for now. haha

[@FusionRey]

Great video with very interesting insights. I do want to point out at 8:37 when you say that "Aerith does too" in regard to having knowledge of the future and/or events of the OG FF7 - Talking about the "Main world" Aerith (aka the one we play as), If you have the date scene with Red XIII at the Golden Saucer, he confirms to Cloud that, although him and Aerith had this prescient knowledge in Midgar, after they defeated the Whispers there, that both Red and Aerith *lost* this prescient knowledge (according to Red, he directly confirmed this with Aerith at one point during their journey). Now of course we have the issue and possibility of "other" Aerith's existing in the multiple worlds that is set up in this story (or even Aerith regaining this knowledge at the end of Rebirth). Those Aeriths could (and I believe do) still have that prescient knowledge.

[@LoveSeeker81392]

Ignoring the whole video and your thoughts answer this 1 question. How can there be another timeline where aerith lived, if Sephiroth started the reunion beforehand. Everyone likes to gloss over this point. He is literally merging worlds together as you try to save Aerith. You think Sephiroth is laughing and calling Cloud delusional because he failed to kill Aerith? Hes laughing bause it doesn't matter. He even goes out of his way earlier to show you he can already do that. What is the point of showing this and doing this? What is the significance of showing that Sephiroth literally hunts and kills Aerith in other timelines, which can be extrapolated to mean he kills her in every time line. The only point of this is to trick you. Make you believe she can be saved, but in reality not only does she die in the og, and in rebirth, but she dies in literally any timeline that ever gets created, unless she is in a permanent coma which is the same as being dead. To say Aerith is alive in another timeline is the same as saying Sephiroth did not start the reunion, which we know is false. What is the significance of emphasizing that Jenova can copy the dead, their memories, your loved ones, etc. Just because Aerith looks and acts like Aerith in the final scene doesn't mean its Aerith, and Red 13 sensing her, does not mean its Aerith. Red 13 literally gets tricked by Jenova in the OG, so why would it be any different now. Jenova can be as real as any character we know, thats how she killed the cetra. If you can find a way to explain these points, I will give up on the Aerith Jenova theory and the successful impact it will create in part 3. It is my belief these timelines were created as a red herring from the beginning to make you believe things will be different, just so they can destroy you again. Sometimes things are a constant, and Aerith being dead is a constant.

[@Septilliontha3rd]

I do not disagree with anything you said but I need to ask why did Sephiroth say to Aerith that he underestimated her?? Surely Aerith did something which thwarted some of Sephiroth's plans??

[@LoveSeeker81392]

@@Septilliontha3rd i think OG Aerith from the lifestream entered her dead body when Cloud was crying, hence the green particle effects that are shown around her body. She did this to comfort Cloud and prevent him from breaking like the rest of the party. This is why he has no limit break in the following fight. This literally thwarts Sephiroth entire plan at that moment. This is why Sephiroth says you wont see the truth with Clouded eyes. The Aerith who fights Sephiroth also OG Aerith, and the same one at the sleeping scene in part 1 at Aerith house. This allows Cloud to be able to continue in the follow up fights, but also causes Cloud to become delusional, pretend Aerith didn't die, and see her around the world. This is setup for Tifa to help Cloud deal with this and his other delusion in part 3, which OG Aerith would know about. Ideally everyone broke after Aeriths death and Sephiroth used it to corrupt the lifestream.

[@MissusFail]

@@LoveSeeker81392 I mean... "Aerith being dead is a constant" is up to no one to decide but the devs. Everything's still possible at this point. I'm all up for Aerith surviving. I only have 2 braincells active and my memory is extremely bad, i wish i could scratch my brain and remember all the details, make good points and arguments, but that's far from my forte. However, i don't want to believe we are going to get even more emotionally crushed and obliterated than we got in OG. Otherwise... Was the point of this trilogy just disappointment? That's it? We can never save the princess? No good ending available? We made the same journey, through multiple timelines, and ultimately fail every. single. time? I don't want to believe this.

[@airdamien]

Well, I think the attack scene, its obvious cloud saved her. Then there was a shift, I think aerith lived in that version, and sephi shifted it to one where he gets the black materia, so needed the timeline to go as planned.

[@erikfredriksen6583]

So I have a question. How do we actually know that we are still in the beagle timeline at the end of the game? It's the common theory that when Cloud blocked Sephiroth's sword, he created a new timeline. What if we had switched the timeline shortly afterwards. So we didn't play with the same cloud or the same Tifa in the final fight as in the beagle timeline. After all, it wouldn't be the first time we went to a different world and to a different version of a character in a blink of an eye. Not sure if it really matters, but I wouldn't be to surpriced when the first trailer of the third part comes out and there is a completely new timeline dog featured in the background of our party.

[@Foxheimer]

I had exactly the same thought.

[@jaidaniels905]

one dimension's Aerith is another dimension's Jenova. i mean its a little reductive, but if you think about it, if one can only return to their "home" planet, then, any other planet they go to, like in a different dimension or TIMELINE, wouldn't take them into that planet's lifestream. Jenova and The Gi have this problem, and ultimately Cloud and Vincent might, too. They hint at this a lot, there's a lot of similarities of story between Aerith and Jenova, slumbering for instance, being the last part of an ancient race, able to bring calamity to an enemy. I don't know myself, but i liek that they're keeping us guessing. Also, I think its winderful that after 27 years, they finally figured out to do what people have been asking for, and have been modding their games for, and trying to find secret codes to accomplish: they saved aerith.

[@itsdantaylor]

I'm firmly in the 'Aerith is alive and in a AU camp'. I don't think she's a delusion or a hallucination, as she has way too much........i can never think of the right word, 'agency'? to be just a figment of Cloud's mind. As for the Jenovah thing............why just Cloud? I mean yeah Sephiorth LOVES messing with the guy but.........he also has the ability to mess with the entire party if he wanted to make a fake Aerith. Glenn Lodbrok anyone? Dude is being used to manipulate a country to war. If Jenovah/Sephiorth wanted to mess with Cloud by making a 'fake' Aerith they'd have an easier time getting what they wanted by messing with the entire party, not just him.

[@dni33]

Cloud is the only one with Jenova cells so without a "hooded guy" to puppet Jenova can't just appear in front of and influence the other characters. Though there is a more out there theory that Red could have some due to also being a Hojo experiment. Motivation is harder to say. It feels to me like those last scenes are really emphasizing how much Cloud not accepting Aerith's death is driving a wedge between him and the party, especially Tifa. Which Seph has been trying to do all game.

[@fieldsofgold2760]

5:06 isnt that the music that plays at the beginning of Remake where she is in the alley and interacting directly with the mako/lifestream?

[@dni33]

Ignoring the creepy and mysterious sounding background it's the same notes as from the alley but the second to last note in the melody is flat which gives it a more dissonant and "wrong" sound. Like a corrupted version of the song perhaps.

[@BunBun299]

I don't think that Aerith in the ending is Jenova. I think Cloud is either seeing her Life Stream Ghost, or he's seeing her in the time line where he saved her, even if in the one he's in, she'd dead. I think I'd know it if she were Jenova. I knew there was something off about the guy fucking with Rufus from the start, and I didn't even know him before those scenes. That said, in the original game, one of the big plot twists was that Sephiroth was manipulating Cloud, and the player. Almost forcing us to execute Aerith, as any action we take will result in taking one more step towards drawing the Buster Sword and killing her, until the party stops him. It would be an interesting evolution of that, if Jenova is messing with our heads now.

[@vindifference]

Honestly, Aerith feeling like "Aerith" in that last scene is probably exactly why it feels off. No one else is being their usual self because the occasion isn't a normal one. Even Cloud, who thinks everything is fine, is acting weird. And there Aerith is, reflecting his mood, playing into Cloud's beliefs of her being alive, and happily asking for promises. I *hope* it's not really Aerith because that scene made her feel really unlikeable. But the fact that she's only there when Cloud is being mindful of her is already telling.

[@PodcastNow]

Excellent thoughts!!! Love it!

[@DavidZMH]

Sephiroth converged all the timelines at the end. Cloud created another timeline where Aerith lives that Sephiroth doesn’t know about. The Jenova theory can also come into play here as Sephiroth wants to mess with Cloud so he can have him bring the black materia to him. Hence why they are heading north.

[@JustCallMeHoff]

One thing I really believe in is that there are two timelines that Cloud is being torn between. One where Aerith survives and one where she did not. He is not able to tell them apart and it is going to drive him the edge of his sanity.

[@Kitth3n]

Im not sure if the convergence happened or not, but if it hasn’t, maybe Sephiroth will tempt cloud into helping him initiate it with the hopes of bringing that other aerith into the convergence, thus the conundrum for cloud as he will have to decide whether to willingly let her go or give in to sephy to bring her back?

[@JustCallMeHoff]

@@Kitth3n Sephiroth could push Cloud to think that he needs to help him in order to keep Aerith alive or something to that point. I don't think much of it is going to make complete sense until the 3rd game......which gives us years to think of different theories lol.

[@stephen8342]

Cloud doesn’t even think she’s alive, or it’s certainly never confirmed. Cloud may be crazy but he can literally hear the rest of the party talking about her being dead. People are really reaching to try to disprove the obvious jenova aerith

[@JustCallMeHoff]

@@stephen8342 I just keep my mind open to all theories and possibilities. There is a chance that Jenova is appearing as Aerith to mess with Cloud. I'm excited to see how things play out in the third game.

[@stephen8342]

@@JustCallMeHoff given that cloud and aerith are comatose in the alternate timeline I don’t think they are all happening simultaneously. I think there’s only one active at a time. We never see two of the same characters together at any point

[@BIoodwrath]

Something I haven't seen anyone bring up (and maybe it doesn't deserve to be brought up, but here we are) is how the song Aerith sings to Cloud at the Gold Saucer is called No Promises to Keep. It felt to me like when she sang to Cloud, it had a couple different meanings. First off, that they didn't need to make promises to each other. Their understanding of each other didn't require something like a promise, that hope was enough. It also feels like it was hinting towards the promise Cloud made to Tifa, to come save her when she was in trouble. Tifa made him promise, and Cloud and Aerith would never need a promise like that. "Promises to keep, we will never need". However, last scene of Rebirth right before Cloud gets on the Tiny Bronco, Cloud tells Aerith (or if you think it's Jenova, I won't argue...I'm about to make a point that lends itself to possibly being Jenova) that he will stop Sephiroth. Aerith asks him to promise...which feels contradictive of the song she had sang. I'd be interested in hearing different thoughts on this, and I've been listening to different opinions on the ending for awhile, and hadn't seen this brought up once.

[@MissusFail]

I also thought that the promise at the end was really odd. Especially with a full-blown song about no promises to keep... Hmm. Actually you know what? The song is about no promises to keep. But to make is a different topic. Doesn't mean you can't break the promise and there's no shame if you break it if you at least tried. Kinda shifts its meaning when you try to interpret it differently huh?

[@linkofhyrule6580]

that music is like a minor key version of the bells from the opening of the game/the lifespring themes. i could see the aerith in that moment being jenova. but NO SHOT they put Aerith’s theme and then NPTK over the CG scene with her at the very end where she says goodbye and meant for it to be jenova. it’s obviously aerith.

[@aaronw6195]

I definitely think Cloud saved Aerith, but Sephiroth being very much in control of the "fate" if you will, corrects that action with the whispers and kills her. This is why we don't see the stab directly in my opinion. We just see Cloud blocking Sephy's blade. Aerith is now in a new thread sort of like what happened when the old arbiter of fate put Zack and Biggs in one, but this one is of Cloud's making as he defied Sephiroth who is now in control of the whispers(at least the black ones, as it says as much if you assess the reborn boss). Cloud was the ONLY one who was let through the Whispers who formed a wall around the Cetra ruins, and the only one outside of Sephiroth and Aerith to witness this, so he's the only one who can see Aerith out of the party. Even more interesting though is there is the scene in Gongaga, with TIfa in the lifestream, and she's trying to get Cloud's attention but he's walking away with Sephiroth and ignores her. I think we're in for a wild ride here with the whole Mideel sequence, and probably in the crater as well. I think what exactly the developers were showing everyone here, and WHY they included that Gongaga sequence early is that Tifa is NOT going to be able to save cloud this time around. It's going to have to come from this new Aerith, and what seeming to be a romance that is forming between her and Cloud. How Zack fits into all this? I dunno? I have a suspicion that he's been moved into Beagle by Sephiroth to pull Tifa away from Cloud who clearly has taken on his personality via his Jenova cell exposure. Cloud has already tried to kill Tifa and knocked her into the Mako by being manipulated by this new Sephiroth, and if Zach is brought into Beagle (who he thinks is dead. and told the whole party is dead) and is shown to be alive to cloud and the party, that is going to crush is psyche. I also think that would push Tifa away pretty hard as well. That's where I think things are going....

[@TypicallyUniqueOfficial]

The first event where Cloud very well happens. There’s no trickery there, so it’s hard to argue that she’s not alive in that timeline. Then the rainbow shows up and shows the alternate timeline that’s created where she dies. Akin to the way they show Zack making each of his 3 decisions and each of them leading to different outcomes. So multiple theories could be true at the same time. But Aerith is 100% alive in that first universe.

[@TheBf666]

People are saying this dumb crap about jenova aerith at that end scene because they believe the theories of that clown maximilian. There was no hint that it was jenova. She pat red xiii, she talked about stopping the meteor, but she doesn't know that cloud hid the black materia in his sword, and that was one of the reason why people think she was talking "nonsense" about stopping the meteor. The whole party still believes that sephiroth has that materia and cloud lost it to him. She also said goodbye with a heavy emotion when she was all by herself alone, and that was the perfect opportunity for "jenova aerith" or whatever some people believe her to be to smirk like "i've got you, haha...", but it didn't pan out like that. People should stop believing that goofball, maximilian and his whack theories.

[@MrLightlike78]

Having a hard time organizing my thoughts XD the final scene just feels off to me. Cloud and Aerith have this seemingly sweet moment where she says she'll stop the meteor- the materia for which was hidden in the Buster sword like a minute ago? Furthering my confusion is Aerith being ok and even encouraging Cloud to go after Sephiroth- When earlier she was saying "Hey bro, you're not well and you need to take care of yourself" it conflicts with her big speech in Temple of the Ancients- Where she says using our anger and rage will only get us so far and all that forgiveness jazz.....now she wants to send a plane full of mostly angry sad people to the bad guy? Which is..what he wants. I feel like lifestream Aerith would know this is a BAD idea.

[@mfl-ghost6752]

In terms of the music @ 5:30 it has a jingle from the opening of bombing mission. Where you see Aerith before the title screen.

[@Silverfish-qv8ig]

I think that's her ghost with the 'lifestream theme'. SE use two very clear identifiers when representing ghosts. The 'white out' and the slowed movement. The Aerith with the creepy music is slowed. But the Aerith at the end is almost certainly from a different universe where she was saved. Her movements are fluid, she's impacted by the wind, she's herself.

[@GorillaSki99]

Love the Theories! More please!

[@Sctn187]

Cloud knows shes dead in his timeline but she's okay because he can see her. I think clouds just seeing her since he can see. The crack in the sky just like aerith could always see. Like hes awakened. She is just able to maintain her form in the lifestream. There are points in the story where tifa and aerith are wispering. One of the main ones is in gongaga where tifa is talking to cloud in the bedroom saying its her turn to save him in so many words. When the door opens aerith is there and mouths something which imo is them working together to get cloud in the right mindset to be able to carry out the ending of rebirth where he breaks through and saves aerith in a timeline which i think will be the new timeline zack is in now. Zack went to a different timeline because he was in a dead one before waking up with flowers growing in the church. Also another sign of aerith and a healthier planet. Another big point was marlene knowing that cloud is the one to save aerith. Aerith showed her. Sending zack to save cloud instead of the other choices he had which we seen alternatives to. When cloud and aerith go on their little endgame dream date they're in a 3 rd or 4 timeline at that point. We are shown i think 4 different dogs between the rebirth timeline, zacks timeline, the dream date with the good holy materia timeline, and the zack and biggs timeline, and the new mystery timeline zacks now in...

[@TheSehroyal]

I think we can pretty much ditch the timelines except the one where he saves Aerith. The point of "reunion of worlds" was making all worlds meet the same end by killing Aerith, that's why if she woke up on Zackverse, Sephiroth would kill her. And that's why all the other worlds were always on the verge of ending. The last time we see Zack he's even on a world about to end before being pulled into the rainbow portal, winch I think is Aerith pulling him into the timeline Cloud created, the only other timeline left, bc Sephiroth succeds in killing her in all others, reuniting most of the worlds. Further, I think "dead Aerith from the original timeline" is the one who edits her own death to be "canon" to the main timeline because of how the direction hid his reaction uppon taking the blade back: There's a nasty blur on his face and he looks confused, then the blur is removed as the focus goes back to him from the blade and he smiles. So to me, having Aerith "safe" in another timeline only makes Jenova more likely to be the one to be popping around because Aerith wants things to go like they did before, so not showing up and influencing things would be it.

[@CASSIUSATBESTWV]

The music when he looks at Aerith is the same music that plays when Aerith first appears and the end of the OG. It’s always been a theme connected to her mystery, but great point with the Glenn scene.

[@rzxwm10]

I am with you, Podcast

[@kaizakiarata5628]

Aerith before she died: Anger from losing someone could make you strong but true strength is in forgiveness Aerith after she died: You going after Sephiroth? PROMISE?! #sus of course because she (Jenova) wants Cloud to go after Sephiroth to bring him the Black materia.

[@Space_Ache]

I rewatched the ending. It isn't Jenova. Her actions do not fall in line with someone pretending. Why would Jenova say a heartfelt "goodbye" to the crew?

[@StevenZJ]

I hated to say this but the fact is simple and cruel: Cloti shipper first came up with this with the intention of diminishing her character and stripping away the emotional impact of this farewell moment between them. It never became a thing in the community until Max Dood finished the game, saw this theory in chat and quickly bought into it. Then it became popular within the streamer/content creator circle and many sheep just followed. Ironically I found the overall Japanese fanbase quite surprised by the popularity of this theory. I’m not saying the theory is baseless itself, but bad overall. Imagine you’re the writer and knows what happens in the next game, would you create this scene so when ppl revisit it and feel disgusted by how one of their favorite characters is distorted this way, with all the emotional setups, the theme song, the recall of their separation moment at the playground, etc.? This is against the basic logic of writing. I heard some streamer saying “she was repeating her lines in Remake so she must be some sort of AI or Jenova.” That cracked me up so hard.😂

[@niklassoderberg2168]

@@StevenZJ i have nothing agains maxi-dood guy but i aggre, itslike ONE person vs many then because he was popular now its 50/50 lol. Nah this theory is false. We saved that girl

[@LynnyG]

@@StevenZJ Ahh, so you're one of those people that was shooting darts at Max. It's just a theory. You're making it seem like the basis of the theory is to tarnish THE Aerith (YEAH RIGHT) but it's not at all. It's just one way to interpret what the ending was, because there was a lot to interpret. Also, if you think about it, what Max is saying is that Aerith is so special, so important, so beloved to Cloud, so trusted by Cloud, Jenova/Sephiroth would be ABSOLUTELY DUMB to not pull this card to control Cloud.

[@StevenZJ]

@@LynnyG Well I'm not saying Max = those shippers but I do think it's only fair for others to challenge his theory considering his influence and the theory is meh. He came up with some sound reasons but he also overcooked too much. And again the theory itself isn’t groundless but if true bad writing (to me) and I said why. I agree it would be clever for Jenova to fool him with Aerith’s appearance (And she did with others in OG), but not at THAT ending. This is Final Fantasy it’s intended by the devs to be emotional not 100% dark foreshadowing.

[@LynnyG]

@@StevenZJ I don't think Max has a problem with others challenging the theory, it's just how they decide to challenge it. Like, insulting him and accusing him of dumb shipper stuff. That's probably the only real issue. Because he knows, I know, you know, we all know, it can honestly and truly be WRONG. The devs put enough info but not quite enough to tip the scale in either direction; they obviously want the game to be discussed and theorized about until part 3. It's fun and healthy for gaming communities/fandoms to do so and disagreements are natural. What we don't need is toxic discussions and accusations.

[@skymaverick7315]

The music cue that plays when the camera shows her is a bit more ominous in that post-funeral scene

[@TheOfficialNewb]

the MAIN REASON why it could be jenovah is because at the very end of the game aerith talks about how she doesnt want to fight and wants cloud to take care of himself and let her take care of sephiroth. Unfortunately for your "not jenovah" theory at the very end aerith seems to WANT cloud to go find and fight sephiroth and is excited to see him so focused on going up north to fight him. That SINGULAR LINE is the defining point that breaks her entire character in those last lines. That line to me is the reason this theory makes sense.....besides the super creepy scenes in the city of the ancients. Also in the game when sephiroth is explaining jenovah he says she can be people you 1. Hate 2. Fear 3. Love Sephiroth being the person cloud hates glenn being the person Rufus fears(since hes confused since he should be dead) Aerith The ones you love the scenes are IN ORDER from how sephiroth said..... lots of evidence to prove it and not alot to disprove it. Ohh and since you went heavy with the timeline stuff at the end of the video i have an explanation for that as well. Sephiroth also said HIS reunion happened at the end of rebirth where a Confluence of worlds was happening at the alter. seemingly meaning he fused most if not all timelines. Could he have missed 1 or 2 sure im not saying that but you saying the only way the jenovah theory works is if we ignore all that makes no sense man. In the original game aerith is working inside the lifestream after her death and thats proven at the very end of OG. It could still be happening her in the lifestream but i dont believe that is aerith at the end shes too different. Shes too convenient.

[@zackkeogh3515]

She says leave the meteor to me. She fights Sephiroth alongside Cloud at the end of the game. She specifically asks Cloud to end this together. She shows zero hesitation to fight Sephiroth directly. What are you talking about?

[@ElPsyKongroo]

Might be on to something! We literally have only just seen for certain 2 different impersonations, but those were with Sephiroth clones. Cloud having Jenovah cells completely can bypass this requirement tho as he's so messed up in the head any false memory can fill in the gaps. Cloud can just simply hallucinate and he already has. There might be some audio ques to look for as every time Jenovah/Sephiroth mind fucked with cloud there's a demonic sound that plays very faintly.

[@ElPsyKongroo]

Also Aerith interacting with red had no physics effects from the wind, when cloud sees Aerith his mind might be filling in the gaps and it appears that her clothes and hair are affected by physics. This could just be stylistic to make the scene pretty tho idk.

[@TheOfficialNewb]

@@ElPsyKongroo it's simply the fact that clouds mind is trying to preserve and imitate aerith image. Whether it's jenovah or just clouds mind suppressing the memories that is the case she's not there

[@LynnyG]

@@zackkeogh3515 But that all happens after she "died". She told Cloud to take care of himself and concentrate on finding himself before that.

[@Ash-Arashi]

Why would the ending play "No promise" song and "No promise awaiit at journey's end" text after making a Promise cuz it's Jenova all along

[@Ash-Arashi]

Just in case, Our Aerith is the one who say good bye to the crew but as Yellow lillies This is my theory

[@RyanOstrowski-eh6ft]

i really think this aerith that cloud was talking to is actually jenova messed with his head at the end

[@scittfyrmeged9882]

One thing is that cloud did have a trial. When you walk thru that corridor them you have a memory with sephiroth talking about all those lives lost in the bombings. If you go into the quest screen, it says clouds trial. Just thought I'd mention this as I noticed the same thing initially.

[@scittfyrmeged9882]

Also I reckon aerith is the lifestream aerith at the end when she sends them off, although the jenova aerith is likely before. Maybe they are both using her memories and body thru the lifestream?

[@drowzzz3365]

the rainbow stuff we see here is similar to what we see at destiny’s crossroads when aerith cast the spell on the portal sephiroth opened. If she did cast holy on that bridge it would explain why we’re seeing something similar at the alter. I honestly feel it’s something to do with holy and the rainbow we see with Zack are two different things they are slightly different. I think aerith is dead I don’t think what clouds seeing is another time line I think it’s something she is doing to protect cloud at the moment.

[@cathygrandstaff1957]

I’m one of the earlier people to question if the Aerith we see at the end is really Aerith. I do think Jenova is impersonating her at the pool and that much of the weirdness and lack of burial is that Jenova has rewritten his mind so that he thinks he saved Aerith and that she’s still alive, and consequently he couldn’t see the burial or has no memory of it. At first I thought there were two timelines, and honestly with timeline shenanigans in full effect there still could be. But I remembered the Nibelheim sequence and how when we see Cloud’s house burning his fake memories, where he never reaches his mother, are crystal clear while his real memory, of having his mother tell him to run and save himself, is blurry and staticky. I think that’s what we’re seeing in the sequence where Aerith dies, the real memory is Sephiroth killed her as he did in the original, the fake is that Cloud deflected his sword. I also think this is what the earlier sequence where Sephiroth tried to convince Cloud that Tifa was Jenova is building towards, that it’s not Tifa but Aerith who Jenova will end up mimicking. The thing that pushes me towards thinking the Aerith in the ending is fake is I can’t think why she would basically lie to Cloud by making him think she’s still alive. That level of deception feels more like something Jenova would do. For Nanaki I think it depends how good Jenova’s mimicry is. But I do understand what you’re saying, it would be harder than fooling Cloud. I also would like if she is alive in another timeline because part of me is hoping they figure out how to merge the timelines in a way that everyone lives, Zack and Aerith are brought back, maybe there’s a timeline with a good Sephiroth who never went crazy. Actually the whole sequence where Aerith gives Cloud the white Materia and then a different Aerith takes it from him and gives him the empty materia feels off. Like why does Aerith need Cloud to carry the White Materia to herself? Probably because it feels like it’s mimicking the sequence with the Black Materia from the original where the party retrieve the Black Materia from Jenova-Sephiroth then carry it a short distance to the Northern Crater before handing it over to real Sephiroth. I don’t think Cloud will hand over the Black Materia in the same way he did in the original. If I’m right the fact that he’s fused it with his sword means that Sephiroth is going to bait him into stabbing Sephiroth with the black Materia blade. That might involve Jenova mimicking Aerith and tricking Cloud into thinking she’s in danger, or it could involve a reenactment of the Nibelheim sequence which culminates in Cloud stabbing Sephiroth with the Buster Sword, the sword that’s now become a giant Black Materia. Then again that could be why Aerith is telling Cloud to stop chasing Sephiroth, if Cloud gives up the Black Materia never gets delivered and Sephiroth can’t summon Meteor. However Cloud’s mental state would continue to degrade until he becomes just another of the black robes and no one defeats Sephiroth.

[@HealRD]

- Cloud loses Buster Sword to Sephiroth and it's converted to black materia. Kill two birds with one stone. - Resurfacing Cloud's repressed memories of Aerith's burial, realizes that she was dead all along - Jenova Aerith starts fighting against him (bonus point if she holds her staff in Sephiroth's stance), then transforms to Jenova Death - (optional) Cloud completely loses himself and attack Tifa again, confirms that no one would be able to save him from breakdown. Man, Cloud's breakdown in part 3 would be some good shit.

[@laithamekir5778]

I explained this in another comment section. Clouds in the middle of returning to the lifestream... But we know that the planet will never allow Jenova to enter, and Jenova is trying to manipulate Cloud, to find a way to get into the lifestream, and Aerith and the gang are trying to remove the memory of Jenova and Sephiroth from Cloud. Hes basically at the edge of creation, aka heaven, and hes about to have his reunion with everyone in a world where they all are alive and happy. But the Jenova cells inside Cloud are Jenovas last hope to enter the lifestream. So in every prime game OG, Remake, Rebirth, we are pulled to the edge of creation. This is Cloud returning to the lifestream, but Jenova can never enter. So i believe this is all about Saving Cloud and having a finish to Advent Children where Cloud wakes up in the waters, and he sees that there were always so many possibilities but in the end everything that everyone has ever thought is valid and possible! Not sure but I believe the seven seconds is how long Cloud has before the end, where his friends step through to help him defeat sephiroth. The end where Cloud and Aeris (i do this to show OG timeline and a funny rib to the english translators) are fighting sephiroth, Sephiroth says "I must admit I underestimated you" because Aeris is fighting to destroy Jenova and she found Jenovas last hope, something she would have possibly over looked. Imitating a loved one like always Jenova was trying to just use cloud to enter the lifestream. But because they are all in the lifestream together with no Jenova eveything will be alright and that will be the true ending the last battle to kill Jenova is happening each and every game to get here. Clouds returning to the life stream and I'm sure it sill be a true reunion amongs all his old friends.

[@biz0586]

Jenova is technically already in the lifestream because of Sephiroth’s stasis real body is in the lifestream. Sephiroth fell into the mako in Nibelheim’s reactor. The reunion is all those that were apart of the Hojo’s Jenova project (insert a part of Jenova into a body) comes together as one piece at the promise land. The black robes and human victims in the Nibelheim’s reactor tanks are apart of the J project, which is why they’re at Nibelheim marching north in the ending of rebirth. The whole party were only able to see Sephiroth and Jenova when a physical body was possessed or black robe. Cloud was only able to hear him when the black fate ghosts are present. The party would see the ghosts but never hear Sephiroth. Jenova’s goal is to destroy planets and move on. Sephiroth’s goals is to badly damage the planet and absorb the lifestream. The planet/lifestream want to kill them both to remove the threat of being destroyed via original story party or the ultimate weapons (gray ghosts or original story ghosts). Wedge’s death is an example of the gray ghosts correcting itself to the original story. It’s to keep Barrett and Tifa motivated to not head back to Midgar and possibly give up on saving the planet. Aerith/Cetra goal are to protect the planet and lifestream (white ghosts). If Sephiroth can haunt Cloud along with just black ghosts without alerting the party of his presence, then Aerith can do the same via white ghosts, which surrounds her allegedly dead body and Aerith and Cloud beating Sephiroth.

[@laithamekir5778]

@@biz0586 he's in the Mako, not the lifestream. Poor translations. His body was thrown into the Mako that surrounds the planet. However spiritually no he's never entered the planet. 😉

[@biz0586]

@@laithamekir5778 Mako is the byproduct of the lifestream. The game said it plainly. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGbYaZZpepp2gZosi=0qixiOijIXuR0hwM

[@biz0586]

@@laithamekir5778 Not sure if my other post went through technical issues. But, Sephiroth is dead and his body is mako waiting in the promised land. Mako and the lifestream are the same. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGbYaZZpepp2gZosi=0qixiOijIXuR0hwM Tifa started having mako poisoning effect like Cloud after being swallowed by the Ultimate Weapon. She experienced her past like it was supposed to happen later in the original game. She almost drowned in the mako when Sephiroth stabbed the Weapon belly. This mean if Sephiroth fell in alive, then he drowned to death. Materia are created by mako/lifestream concentration. Sephiroth is inside a crystal like the lifestream well we’ve searched for in the open world.

[@laithamekir5778]

@@biz0586 that's a valid point, and sorry about your previous comment. KZbin likes to censor people, as does Fakebook. They don't like having real conversations about anything, politics and video games for sure 😂 Anyways those are indeed valid points. But I believe he's floating on the lifestream but never entered it. Though it could go either way. I've just barely been working on this hypothesis for a week but in the end, it would make more sense having this be Cloud returning to the lifestream. I don't know but I do know I'm down for the next installation and can't wait.

[@turtlepowerr]

Okay watching I this I have a observation: does anyone notice that before the fight Cloud lays her down straight on her back, then after the fight when the party runs up she’s on her side and there’s zero blood surrounding her ?

[@Disconn3cted]

There is no promise at the end. The line from Aerith is きっとだよ in Japanese which means "surely" and isn't a question. A more accurate translation would be "duh." Cloud replies playfully by throwing the line back at her. The promise line was made up by the English localization team.

[@granturismo-megaspeed8988]

In Japanese you wouldn't always literally say "you promise?", just as you wouldn't literally say (childishly) "give me / gimme!". You would say [kitto] "きっと" (just as you would say [choudai] "ちょうだい"). Several expressions that are expressed with verbs in English are in contrast expressed with adverbs/adjectives in Japanese. "You promise?" "I promise!" 『きっと？』『きっと！』 This is not a mistranslation. The English localization team knows what they're doing.

[@Disconn3cted]

@@granturismo-megaspeed8988 You do use the word 約束 (promise) when making promises in Japanese, and it's done at numerous points in this game. If the writers wanted Cloud to make a promise to Aerith, they would have been explicit about it. きっと isn't usually used for making promises, especially not in a sentence that ends with よ without a rising tone. It's usually used for guesses, encouragement, or affirmation. in Japanese she's telling Cloud that she knows he's strong enough to beat Sephiroth.

[@granturismo-megaspeed8988]

@@Disconn3cted Yes you do use the literal term (as it is not unheard of); just not every single time, and especially not when it is for affectionately asking for further affirmation when another expression (きっと) already suffices. (in Japanese) Will we meet again? Yes, we will! (hyperliterally) Surely? Surely! (paraphrased in English) Promise? Promise! (Even though the literal word 'promise' 約束 is not used, the meaning thereof is unmistakably there.) You can't say that the English localization team made it up.

[@bachelorsensei9437]

I don't see anything.

[@dandandan8686]

I was watching a livestream podcast and some person said "Aerith that gives cloud the white materia is the same Aerith that cloud saves in the Forgotten capital" and that shit blows my mind, because Sephiroth REINFORCE that shit when he said "I must admit, i underestimate you!". So you as cloud help aerith to save her for the purpose of win the 4D chess with sephiroth. Just for remember that fact, the worlds are not parallel like the devs said in ultimania, so the worlds have not the same time passing, like "here is friday and in that world is friday too", you know? That Theory make me crazy, i can forget this anymore lol.

[@johnpettiford6547]

That music that you focused in on is the lifestream theme that was heard in the intro of Remake before we see Cloud on the train. It doesn’t seem ominous at all, at least to me. The Lifestream partnered with Aerith to guide Cloud to doing the right thing while Sephiroth is guiding him to do the wrong thing. Hence, “you’re a puppet”. I think people are overthinking this.

[@dreamphoenix]

Great thoughts and video. Thank you.

[@MyPisceanNature]

It's possible for Jenova and Aeris both to be part of the things Cloud is seeing. If Jenova wants to manipulate Cloud, it would be pretty stupid NOT to use Aeris's form, as it would probably be even more effective than Sephiroth's.

[@ImaFknLegend]

If you look at the Hollow and NPTK lyrics....they line up really well with Jenova/Clouds relstionships.

[@kelele]

I just think it is setting up for part 3 and there is no where else to slot in the Glenn/Rufus scene because we get the Zack and ending scene immediately after that.

[@mbuffalo111]

I wish someone would explain who is changing stamp in the past for it be be changed in the different time lines.

[@MysterEeee]

Feels like this Meta Aerith is keeping secrets of truth from Cloud/Us similar to how OG Tifa kept a big secret of truth from OG Cloud. What could this new secret about Cloud's identity be.....? ⚰️☁️? I feel like were not dealing with canon vs non canon timelines or alive vs dead "worlds" but instead the FF7 mythos is built on conscious vs unconscious dimensions of the human psyche.

[@Francita__C]

what makes me anxious (because I want it to happen) is if they eventually show the Zack who defied its fate in other timeline with the Aerith that Cloud saved, like, this is one of the things I'm looking forward in part 3

[@AruLily]

Her dark face from Clouds perspective reminded me of Aerith from Advent Children, just matches her face look from there, was kinda spooky, i got that vibe. The thing about Rufus scene about ''manipulation''. What stories like to do is show you a ying and yang, so if you were to compare sephirot's scenes with Rufus, with Aerith's scenes with cloud, that only means Aerith's cutscenes meant good, because there is no way Sephiroth would be that image. There is always a balance between good and evil. We've always been told of Jenovas abilities, so it wouldn't be much of a wink, unless the audience was sleeping through part 1 and two when they kept repeating it to you. So it would only be boring to those who have grown tired of hearing the obvious, so i doubt that's it. It's like a friend asked me. Why doesn't Tifa tell Cloud he's wrong about certain events? Because of various reasons, but the main ones would be his confidence, trust in his knowledge, if he feels like he doesn't know something, he will begin to lag and distrust himself, hesitate, panic etc. he will only become a weakness within the party, he's like a mentally ill person, who must be guided by his loved ones, slowly towards recovery. Aerith helps Cloud to keep it together, while Tifa will heal the mind that Aerith is keeping together. It's a nice idea to get across that the audience is Cloud and we have gotten it into our heads that Aerith is or will be okay, but the ending might just be her dying and us along with Cloud needing to accept her death. I just don't think it's Jenova ^^ It really is just Aerith protecting him from Jenova and Sephiroth, that part is simple. The rainbow and changing outcomes does not mean life, it might only mean outcomes, people can still die, but at different moments, different reasons, they'll live long enough to achieve something that was required last time but didn't. Zack is definitely not alive, the way he treated Biggs when he died, like an npc, the soldiers, keep finding him and keep trying to kill him the same way he died, because he is avoiding death to help with the cause, he was brought back for these few moments.

[@MrDezokokotar]

SOME SPOILERS FOR OG GAME, Remake/Rebirth-only players, dont read. Cool video. I also think "Jenova is Aerith" theory is very interesting. I think its pretty plausible, moreso than you. A small rebuttal/questions: You mention that Aerith at the pool acts weird. Conversely, in the ending CG, you say she acts normally. I dont think so. Aerith is bubbly and goofy, sure, but not all the time - not in inappropriate situations. She acts very serious at the Temple of the Ancients, in the scene were she gives Cloud the white materia etc., right? At the pool, everyone (except Cloud) is sad and grieving. It makes a sense she wouldnt act bubbly there. So her behaviour there doesnt seem that weird. (The creepy music and visuals do though :D) But conversely, in the CG scene with the Bronco, people are still grieving - Yuffie and Tifa are crying. While the scenery LOOKS kinda cheerful, but the atmosphere is somber and tense - they just "buried" Aerith and are going after Sephiroth with a very clearly ef'd up, even unhinged Cloud, who they dont really trust. (Barret says they do but his body language and looks say otherwise - not to mention Tifa who absolutely doesnt feel comfortable around Cloud.) Why would bubbly and cheerful behaviour at that time seem normal? Seems weird. Aerith acts very strange. Like she doesnt care that people are grieving for her, she acts as if nothing happened most of the time. (apart from the one short shot where she comforts Red/Tifa - and btw looks a little odd/slightly sinister looking down at Red - though that could just be accidental animation thing.) Now, the possible explanations? We know she cant be just in Clouds head because Red senses something. It could be lifestream Aerith acting like nothing happened in order to make Cloud believe nothing happened for some reason. OR, it could be Sephiroth/Jenova deceiving Cloud, also trying to make Cloud believe nothing happened. The reason why i lean more toward the Jenova explanation is this - if it was lifestream Aerith, she acts inconsistently with her previous behaviour (telling Cloud to leave Sephiroth to her, to take care of himself, etc.). She knows the future, she would warn Cloud of the danger of going to the Crater. She knows Sephiroth will control him, make Cloud free him from his 'stasis' by giving him the black materia. She doesnt re-iterate he should take care of himself, despite clearly being on the verge of breaking down/being very vulnerable to being puppeted by Sephiroth. (which i presume lifestream Aerith could sense). Instead, she cheerfully sends him off to do all that... If its not bad writing, i cant really see that being the omniscient Aerith. That doesnt seem like a helpful strategy in any way, unless there is some 5D chess shes playing that we dont see :D It does seem very much consistent with Sephiroth's wishes, indeed that's what hes been trying to achieve this whole time. I dont know, am i missing something here? Anyway, good channel, keep at it.

[@collinoliva2262]

**SPOLERS** I REALLY thought Tifa was going to be the one to die there at the end. Sephiroth's mistake in the OG was not only killing Aerith where she could then give the big assist from the Lifestream, but also not knowing about Tifa since she is the one that brought Cloud back. So killing Tifa would ultimately fix both of those things. That would surely piss off every fan in existence, but if we're looking at it from a "future Sephiroth" perspective, I think that would make the most sense?

[@stephen8342]

Sephiroth never specified that he was talking about tifa, he just said you saw “her” die. He could easily be talking about aerith

[@andakin117]

To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if Jenova was taking the forms of both Aerith and Sephiroth. This game starts with with Barret commenting on how Sephiroth was such a stand up guy only for him to make a full 180. During the Nibelheim flashback Sephiroth begins acting suspiciously like Cloud does whenever we see "Sephiroth" begin exerting control over Cloud in Rebirth, so I wouldn't be shocked at all to find that Jenova has exerting control over Sephiroth the entire time. It would also explain why there are now white and black whispers instead of the grey whispers that were for a fact were fighting to protect the set future of the planet, and why the white whispers moved to protect Tifa at the Gongaga reactor in the lifestream, why the whispers saved Zack from the bullet that should have claimed his life, and why the Whispers both did what they could to keep the party from reaching Aerith. We often see the White whispers accompanied by a white feather, I originally thought that it represented Aerith, or perhaps the lifestream or even Holy, but none of those things have ever been associated with white feathers. The only character to my knowledge associated with white feathers was Angeal. A product of the Jenova project alongside Genesis and Sephiroth. Genesis we see having a black wing, (Evil) Angeal a white wing, (Good) but before falling into the lifestream Sephiroth never manifests a wing. I speculate that Sephiroth is actually fighting against Jenova all though this trilogy. The Sephiroth we interact with throughout the games is some form of Jenova taking Sephiroth's form. At the start of rebirth "Sephiroth" tells Cloud that Jenova can take the form of loved ones and enemies. That was repeated again in the Temple of the Ancients. I'm betting that Sephiroth is controlling the white Whispers after all the whispers were absorbed at the end of remake by Jenova, which is so intimately tied to Sephiroth that he is also able to manipulate at least some of them. If Aerith and Jenova have some clue as to what the future holds then I see no reason why Good Guy Sephiroth wouldn't either. It would go a great deal to explain why the white Whispers protected Tifa since Good Guy Sephiroth knows how integral she is to saving Cloud, it would explain why the White Whispers prevented the party, (Except Cloud) from saving Aerith, Sephiroth knows that Aerith needs to die in order to stop Meteor. Zack Survives because he was Sephiroth's friend and perhaps believes that his help will be needed. It's not a redemption arc for Sephiroth by any stretch of the imagination. It's just bringing an old and beloved fan fiction theory into reality. I personally never liked the idea that Sephiroth just went nuts by reading a few books and learning that he was also an experiment of the ShinRa science division. Something that He learns about both of his best friends and then suddenly surrenders to madness and decides to wipe out all of humanity and become the next Jenova? BTW, Sephiroth also drops the whole, "I am the last of the Ancients. I am the inheritor of this world. We will make humanity pay for what they've done to the Cetra!" stuff altogether after Nibelheim. the whole thing reeks of Jenova exerting control over Sephiroth and playing into his doubts just as we see done to Cloud in Rebirth at least at twice. Once with Tifa at the Gongaga reactor, Once at the Temple of the Ancients when taking the Black Materia with both Aerith and Barret. A last thing that makes me believe this and it's lost in English translations, are Sephiroth's self identifying pronouns change dramatically after coming into close contact with Jenova. Once Sephiroth looses his marbles he begins using the self identifying pronoun "Watashi," (A gender neutral pronoun and also used in more formal situations such as at work or when dealing with relative strangers.) and continues to use that through the rest of the game, Last Order, Advent Children, and through most of Remake. Whereas in most of Crisis Core, (Before "Insanity") and once at the very end of Remake Sephiroth uses the self identifying pronoun "Ore," Which is considered masculine and also from my understanding, somewhat prideful, arrogant, and much less formal. You wouldn't use it when talking to your boss or teachers, only with friends or if you were particularly rebellious or conceded. The only reason I bring this up is that this was given a direct reference in the FF7 Ultimania just a few years ago and in that it is also pointed out that there are multiple Sephiroth's at work in Remake, so I see no reason why that wouldn't happen now.

[@OGBabygurl]

There's could very well be alternate timelines, but that doesn't mean Aerith and Cloud have access to each other through them outside of special points in time and space. This could very well be Jenova masquerading as Aerith. If this is the case, it's obvious Aerith would already have known and Sephiroth too. The best trump card they have is waiting until Tifa and Cloud hopefully get to the Lifestream to repair. That access point would give Aerith and Zack some freedom to help more. Jenova and Sephiroth are doing their best to keep Cloud away from Tifa and the group so that this does not happen. Tifa is the catalyst to getting him to that point where the game can change I think! But this makes it very hard for her to have Cloud let her in.

[@BlazeRothschild]

Well, one thing I am genuinely wondering about the paralle-timelines theory where Aerith survived and Aerith dies. If that is the case, why did the Aerith who survived fall over into Cloud’s arms after Cloud deflected Sephiroth’s attack? Because she wasn’t actually hit at all then. Under the Jenova theory, it makes sense, in that Cloud did indeed deflect the attack, Sephiroth “converged” the worlds to eliminate all realities of Aerith surviving, and Cloud is playing mental gymnastics and hallucinating “surviving” Aerith falling over. If there really is a timeline where Aerith survives and one where Aerith dies though, I still don’t know why the surviving Aerith basically fainted in the first place.

[@party_boy69]

The worst part about this theory is that it might not be true. In every way possible it would elevate the games original story. JENOVA tears apart what little is left of Cloud's mental state and pushes the parties faith in each other further and further apart. If they directed it well, the emotional triumph and relief that the player would experience following Cloud's recovery in the lifestream would be so incredibly powerful. OG devs always said that they wanted to make a different game but time and hardware constraints limited their scope. I'd love to see them take this compilation and go crazy in the final part.

[@mituskey]

Every line that Aerith says at the end are lines that have been said in this game and the previous one WORD for WORD. Thing is is that Jenova uses the memory of those you love, hate, etc. Which would explain the dialogue choices that Aerith uses at the end.. I would love to believe that Aerith is alive and Cloud is living in 2 timelines at once... but that evidence is Damning.. I'll hold on to my copium though and say she's alive but I somewhat feel like the latter is the most likely possibility.

[@Alaskanhomegrowncannabis]

I don’t think Cloud could be fooled by a Jenova Aerith just bc whenever he met the other Aeriths in the different worlds at the end in the “dream” he knew it wasn’t her and could sense she was different then the Aerith from his timeline. He even told her on the date she was “Acting weird” and it “Wasn’t her”. Maybe he would go along with a Jenova Aerith bc he is in denial rn but I don’t see it. Good theory tho.

[@mellotofer]

you should add the context of other cutscenes talking about how jenovah took over the spirit of mothers, fathers, brothers, etc...... that's why people actually think that. because that statement withh that scene is creepyyyyy

[@rippedtidegaming1349]

I still think the multiverse still makes the most sense. I think one “verse” Aerith did survive (Cloud blocking) as well as another “verse” with Zack alive. Part 3’s convergence of worlds will pull them both into the “main world.” I think that’s the only endgame that justifies not doing a basic remake

[@rzxwm10]

I think there is no main world, as all worlds are marked for doom and will merge into the "one" world that does not yet exist. Remake's world is the main one we are playing in, but it is marked for doom, and it is another split of lifestream multi verse.

[@Kitth3n]

@@rzxwm10is it though if only cloud can see it? Not saying it’s not but how do we know for sure

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

I see a lot of people getting hung up on what Sephiroth says about Jenova appearing as anyone. The problem is, with the exception of Glen, that never happens once in the entire game. There is no confirmed scene where Jenova appears as anyone Cloud knows. Except for Sephiroth himself. Rufus obviously has no love for Glen. So I think Sephiroth is just messing with Cloud when he says that. I wanted Aerith to live, but I'm pretty sure she's dead and Cloud is engaging with a ghost. The evidence is when he's holding her and her eyes open, you can see the lights of the lifestream rising up around her. If she is engaging with him, it's not a very smart move. To everyone else, she's dead and he's talking to himself. I can't imagine that filling his party with confidence at his mental stability.

[@OhHeyMarc]

Worth noting that all of Aerith's dialogue from the moment Cloud sees her by the lake onward is recycled. It's all stuff she's said before. It is Cloud not only refusing to accept the reality that she's gone, but create a version of her based on his memories of her.

[@itsdantaylor]

3:58 in retrospect, that flash he gets, I could also see it that, the Cloud WE were following in the earlier chapter saved Aerith but now Sephiorth is gone, the world's are seperating and Cloud is still in the 'regular' timeline. So I think what is happening is not him 'blocking out' what happened but what happened basically being like ZAPPED into his mind. Possibly as a result of him experiencing a timeline split or it could also be who/what was feeding him the flashes of the future in the original. Remember how those 'spoiler' flashes didn't really happen that much in this game.......come to think of it everyone's 'future' knowledge and their lack of it was attributed to the lack of a 'full' white materia..........but then Aerith had a full white materia back at temple.........could that be the reason Cloud is getting 'OG TIMELINE' information again?

[@travisparks9289]

It’s imported to note that the static before Cloud sees Aerith is sepia toned not the green static that usually shows up when he’s going crazy and getting manipulated by Jenova.

[@josephstrouse6369]

He saved Aerith (rainbow glow), but Seph merged those realities imo (its stated some universes last long and others just moments) So in main (our) universe you know have lifestream Aerith and Cloud's head Aerith, which some say is Jenova Aerith, which it could be... But I think that Aerith at the end is just the version in Cloud's head and he's projecting her, just like he's projecting the sky tear. Cloud doesn't handle losing a loved one well and has weird coping mechanisms. The lines Aerith says at the end while waiting for the plane to leave are lines she has said before in Remake. She also reacts differently/delayed to the engine backfire/starting up so she's clearly not there but in Cloud's head.

[@Mehrk]

he copes by forgetting, he doesnt project things himself, it's always after his green static headaches that are always indicitve of being under the influence of sephiroth/Jenova.

[@michaellindley2292]

Ok off topic I really would like an answer to this. Where the hell is Minerva? Isn't she supposed to be the protector of the lifestream or something, I mean Jenova and Sepiroth are running around doing all kinds if BS and this Godlike chick is nowhere to be found. Is she dead? Does she not care? Is she not canon?

[@m4ur1r4g3]

Wasn't minerva kind of the bouncer of the lifestream? She didn't let genesis enter because it wasn't his time yet, could be the same thing with aerith. Not sure about sephiroth because he has alien cells, he could be like jenova and the gi. He messes with the lifestream but can't enter?

[@NorGlace]

I made a video on this , and I believe infact its not her if you compare the eyes they are same, so its something fishy going , the hole aura of her and the way she acts is just out of place she does not feel like Aerith either, its a different person you know this if you play thru the game and watch each cutscene you will see shes way more " bubbly and alive " her she just feels lifeless and cold. This is what I feel and many does to but we wont know until next game but the I will be one of the persons that says Told you so :D

[@s7aceman127]

During the last cgi cutscence, after aerith says she will stop meteor, she turned her back toward cloud and for a split second, you could see her sad face. Why would Jenova be sad if she's really jenova? Remember, her back is against cloud so cloud cant see her face, but we can.

[@stephen8342]

Because jenova is a master of manipulation. If she was that obvious she wouldn’t have been such a threat

[@LeonBlade]

There's no good explanation that would support this being Jenova against this argument in all honesty. I think it's really weak to just assume that Jenova is messing with Cloud here at the end because it serves no purpose whatsoever.

[@stephen8342]

@@LeonBlade it serves a huge purpose. Weakens cloud in a way the rest of the party is unaware of and unable to address and ensures cloud keeps pursuing sephiroth thus ensuring he can give him the black materia

[@OrangeJuicePapi]

It’s 100000 percent aerith. They would destroy the impact of losing her this game if this was Jenova. It would disrespect the weight of that final scene.

[@stephen8342]

@@OrangeJuicePapi no it wouldn’t, the weight of aerith dying this game is that it is inescapable as it is a requirement for holy. Sounds like the game went right over your head

[@RippahRooJizah]

I think it is strange that people are so fixated on Aerith not acting like herself given the situation. The situation which also incuded her actual death.

[@DeadlyBeast205]

I finally beat the game and the ending had me confused. It's been a while since I've played the original so I don't remember everything that happened lol

[@hjk3351]

Its crazy to much how much the purists hate this game meanwhile in terms of quality its easily one of the best games to release of the last 5 years or so. Outside of GOW, Doom eternal, GOW ragnarok, DMC5, idk games havent been as good as even say ps3 era i have like 25 ps3 exclusives that were all awesome. Maybe stellarblade and Ronin will be awesome. But either way Rebirth is definitely one of the higher end quality games that have released recently its just baffling to me how much purists hate it

[@DeadlyBeast205]

@@hjk3351 true

[@rzxwm10]

Aerith dies is the main takeaway from the OG. Everyone is sad, including Cloud. Rebirth twist a few things, and now Cloud is not sad. He seems calm and is aware of Aerith's fate (death and life)

[@DeadlyBeast205]

@@rzxwm10 interesting

[@ourfamilyaccount]

I kinda like this theory but I share the same thoughts as the KZbinr, I think Beagle Stamp Aerith is dead.. but when Cloud madevthe decision to block Sephiroth' blade it created a new world (new Stamp dog, yet unknown) and that Aerith is alive and well. The only real mystery from FF7 Rebirth that keeps haunting me is when Cloud and Aerith fell from the heights into Aerith's dream date. When Cloud awoke up by Aerith during the middle of her dialogue trying to wake Cloud, we hear a mournful cry that sounds like Aerith. I'm really baffled by that.

[@forsetigodofjusticeexcelle7506]

9:04 In the original "The good guys win" isn't too accurate. They beat Sephiroth's physical body yes, but he persists in the lifestream anyway, people start dying of geostigma. Holy alone wasn't enough to counter meteor and the lifestream was used as well (at least according to Dirge of Cerberus omega reports) in 2005 an interview with Kitase also said that humanity went extinct within Red's lifetime and that scene 500 years later with Red and his cubs is showing a world without humans.(doesn't need to be accepted as 100% canon, could just be his personal take, but it holds a lot of weight cause of who he is) And a world where humans go extinct would be a future Aerith probably doesn't want to keep either so she's not strictly going to be working towards the original timeline events.

[@niklassoderberg2168]

The most logical theory is that we saved Aerith, and tht is also what I believe. But this theory is still interesting and possible.

[@someoneelse9680]

She’s dead. Clouds head is just splitting. During the static scenes of her death you literally see Sephiroth fling her blood off his sword into Cloud’s face. Cloud was super broken through the game, now Sephiroth put into his head what jenova can do and we saw how Zack’s death broke cloud to the point he took his personality to cope. Aerith is dead

[@PaulJohnson-zv3hl]

Don’t forget Aerith was being “weird” when they had their dream date. I don’t think Sephiroth would bust into a church if weird Aerith was Jenova. I’m going with Aerith has survived in a timeline and Cloud had to do something with that blank materia and bring that Aerith and Zack into the world physically like Biggs was able to do in Zack’s story.

[@cathygrandstaff1957]

Yeah but we never actually see what kind of interaction Sephiroth has with weird Aerith in the church, because she pushes Cloud into the portal as he enters. While we’re lead to believe he’s there to kill her, absorb her or at least put a leash on her absolutely anything could have happened after Cloud left.

[@danielle810]

But the theory of Max is not that the Aerith in the church is Jenova (or the other Aerith in the rest in the game) but the last Aerith we see through Cloud's eyes after she died. Jenova will take the form of those you fear, hate and love. In one of the final chapters its also explained that Jenova took the faces of the people who died. Why would they explain that? I think one Aerith is still alive somewhere, but its not the one Cloud sees at the end of Rebirth. When I saw Aerith for the first time in those scenes, I had a very uncomfortable/eerie feeling. Max wasn't even at this point of the game yet. But I couldn't pinpoint why I had that feeling. I understood him immediatly when he said that she looked weird. When he came up with that theory I didn't find it strange. However, I do think the real Aerith will also appear in game 3, helping Cloud.

[@PaulJohnson-zv3hl]

@@danielle810 sure we’re all speculating and I think people are over complicating things which are already convoluted. I just don’t see Aerith’s big farewell to cloud with her huge outro music being Jenova. As I kinda said earlier her being weird had been seen before.

[@phrofile3613]

That "weird" Aerith is omni Aerith aka the one from the future. So maybe omni aerith is the one in the ending as well?

[@PaulJohnson-zv3hl]

@@phrofile3613 I dunno man. Remake suggested that there were those from the future fighting to protect it and keep it in place (last whisper boos fight). So it’s entirely possible a version of Aerith or at least the knowledge Aerith had is from the future and she is spreading it amongst all realities.

[@m4ur1r4g3]

Cut the jenova part out and let's say it's cloud having massive poop head, because everything she said in the last CG sequence does not fit what she said before. It's definitely not lifestream aerith. Also aerith and cloud already had a very emotional goodbye scene + there is novel stuff that explains how seph and aerith act as their lifestream personality. And I think the timeline/world stuff is also done. Sephiroth merged all worlds at the moment he kills aerith to get them all, the last other worldly stuff we see is some remnants of a world where zack fights sephiroth. After that he appairs in "our" world, the last existing.

[@Chop2NV]

I just think Cloud is insane. I think Aerith was there in the ending CGI cutscene, but the scene before by the water, I think that was a pure hallucination.

[@ereoleon]

5:14 that fucking smirk is Sephirot! he can become anyone as well using Jenova.

[@seansluder4806]

I feel like the music sounding creepy is focused on Cloud's mental state. I dont think its trying to make you feel that its an imposter, its trying to make you feel that Cloud's mind is so fractured that he can not accept that shes dead and is still seeing any interacting with her

[@seansluder4806]

I also feel like the story is setting up for some kind of reveal of Aerith herself having manipulated Cloud. Obviously Sephiroth/Jenova are, but the game goes out of its way to make us feel skeptical of the image of the Cetra that has been the default up to now. That they were this pure people who could do no wrong. Everyone is always talking about how the remake trilogy is some kind of proxy war between future Aerith and Sephiroth without considering that if that's true, Aerith is using/manipulating the party, and *especially* Cloud, just as much as Sephiroth is. Now, do the ends justify the means? Sure. Maybe. But I feel like there is going to be a point where a kind of "two sides of the same coin" moment is going to come up in the story.

[@LeonardoDaVinci_1452]

What if there is 2 Aeriths. 1 who is the real Aerith and the other being Jenova. And throughout Part (which is probably going to be called Final Fantasy 7 ReUnion) you have the real Aerith trying to help cloud and then at the same time you have Jenova/Aerith breaking him and this goes on until they both appear at the same time and Cloud doesn’t know what to believe or maybe he has to pick one. And then maybe have Zack show up towards the end, sees Aerith and can almost immediately tell which one’s real and which is fake (idk I just kind of came up with that possibility) One thing I will say is with the line “She can become those you hate. Those you love”. It would infer that Jenova would take the form of someone Cloud loves. Otherwise, what’s the point of the line?

[@HealRD]

If they had decided to give some clue (the one that has a Golden Flower pin = real, otherwise = Jenova), the ending would be so much be less confusing.

[@matheusgoncalves4090]

I respect your opinions a lot, but I do lean more towards the Aerith-Jenova theory. I do not think that Aerith lives in another timeline. I believe she is now dead in all timelines. Sephiroth was literally hunting her down through timelines to kill all versions of her. We can understand that from the church scene, at Aerith's and Cloud's "farewell date" in Sector 5. I believe that Sephiroth wanted Cloud (and the players) to believe he could somehow save her, so he purposely created a fake scenario where Cloud actually counters his sword and "saves" Aerith. But then right after that, he shows that, in reality, nothing of that happened, and Cloud indeed wasn't able to save Aerith. This was all Sephiroth's plan to completely destroy Cloud's mental, because Sephiroth turns fear and dispair into power. He thought that, by doing that, he would finally break Cloud. BUT. Cloud, being the delusional f*** he is (lmao), actually creates a fake scenario in his head where he thinks HE DID save Aerith, and that she's fine. Maybe hurted herself a little, but it's alive. And we all know this is VERY Cloud, right? Cloud has previously proven that he can create very delusional scenarios in his head (*cough* Zack *cough*). And then Sephiroth's like: "Dude... seriously? Are you seriously that delusional? I literally swinged my sword with her blood in your face". He says like "you have such clouded eyes" or something about those lines lmao. So, in my opinion, Sephiroth and Jenova, seeing as their plan to break Cloud didn't work, decided to actually play by his game. If they continue to play by his game of thinking that Aerith is alive for a while, later, upon realizing that she IS actually dead, this would destroy Cloud even more than before, at a point of no return. Pretty dark. But I do think it would be such an interesting development to the plot. And truly shows how evil Sephiroth and Jenova can be. When Cloud is holding Aerith in his arms, I believe that's just him being delusional and seeing her in his head only. I do not think it's Aerith from another timeline, or Aerith from the lifestream manifesting herself to him. And then, when everybody is grieving at the lake, the Aerith that shows up, in my opinion, IS already a Jenova manipulation. "Aerith" only shows up when Cloud is paying attention, and the way she is portraited from this point on is VEERY suspicious. In the final CG scene, in my opinion, she acts like a caricature of Aerith. Like someone (Jenova) is trying to act like Aerith. She wants to be seen like Aerith on the surface. But, on a deep level, she acts complety opposite to Aerith's character and to the things she had said previously. Like when she almost seems happy that Cloud said he'll fight and defeat Sephiroth ("You promise? :D"). When she has literally previously stated that Cloud actually needs to forget about fighting Sephiroth and start to focus on himself, and getting himself straight, deal with his trauma first. So, in this way, Sephiroth doesn't have means to fight them, because nobody fears him anymore. And that SHE would take care of Sephiroth, with the help of the Cetra and the planet. And also the fact that she mentiones the Meteor, like??? Dude... it's very sus. Veeery sus. But anyways. I lean more towards this theory. But respect all other theories. And also acknowledge that we all could be completely wrong lmao. Square knows what they're doing. They WANT us to be theorising and discussing about this game for the next three or four years :D

[@LeonBlade]

Even if she's dead, she still exists in the Lifestream which means she still can reach out to Cloud.

[@HealRD]

If Aerith pops out and works as a "ghost guide" in part 3 and repeats all of her dialogue in Remake and Rebirth in her conversation word for word, I'm going to lose my shit.

[@Disaster_Dan]

My big thing about the meteor comment is based off what we know of sephiroths new plan just "dealing with meteor" is the bottom of the issues. Lifestream Aerith, the one that knows the events of OG, knows there's a bigger problem with sephiroth and jenova to deal with, so why worry about meteor in this exact moment? It feels to be that because aerith has been vague with what she is doing behind the scene Jenova doesn't know what her actual plan is so it is defaulting to the one thing it knows about Aerith, that she cast holy to stop meteor. Also the entire plot with Tifa until the gongaga reactor was sephiroth saying Jenova was tricking him and it wasn't true, so with cloud now believing he can't be tricked that way again, it's easier for Jenova to actually do it and him not question it. I'm also in the idea that if it isn't Jenova then that Aerith from the point of the water burial scene onwards is just in clouds head. The biggest thing people say against this is red senses her but I think this could be in clouds head still. We are shown in nibelheim when he is trying to figure out who Zack is that his mind will change his actual perception of reality to fit a narrative(since he now believes Zack drowned instead of a shinra soldier). So while cloud is looking and thinks aerith is there, he could think red may have seen her.

[@paulo6456]

Aerith and Zack are projections of the planet (like the weapons) trying to help the protagonists on they're demand against Sephiroth

[@rafael82x]

I think there is 3 alternative worlds Original, cloud saves Aerith, the new one is remake and rebirth being manipulated by the whispers and sephiroth, 🤔 so many theories 🙌😂 it’s fun to think about it

[@Majeika1976]

Is there a reason why there is not an Aerith and a Jenova Aerith in the final scenes?

[@MrDezokokotar]

You mean like in some shots its one and in other shots its the other? Technically that could be the case but i dont think they would do that - because its too confusing/bad as a storytelling device. It would most likely be one or the other, not both.

[@syahmioziar5290]

Some popular twitch mention Aerith is acting weird the moment she show herself in the lake with Jenova theme. However, he dismiss No Promises to Keep playing once Aerith said goodbye.

[@stephen8342]

@@syahmioziar5290”no promises to keep” almost like aerith never promised cloud to save the planet and cloud didn’t promise aerith to stop sephiroth. They are putting it right in front of your face with everything in the game

[@hotelyugoslavia]

Maybe Aerith controls the white whispers in death, who can bear her likeness

[@elcraneo3d]

I think that some Aerith’s in the ending are actually Jenova. Principal for the lack of logic in her acts. She gave us white materia and it’s a painful moment (she literally gave us the memories of her mother!) just to make Cloud deliver those memories back to another Aerith… and she return to Cloud her own empty materia??? I only see two options or this is terrible wrong writing or it’s Jenova (remember Sleeping forest Aerith care not for Sephiroth but we know Sephiroth is there). Jenova could try to act like Aerith for the same reasons Sephiroth being acted against Tifa, to break them. Tifa is without a doubt the most affected character for the death of Aerith so far, so in a point she could break like Aerith is death, this could influence en Sephiroth like: Tifa would never talk about Aerith being death, she must be Jenova… Tifa is attacked by Cloud but this time the attack actually made the damage on her and that’s why she is in “coma” after Cloud breaks completely. She is recover for 7 days and Cloud with the guilt Sephiroth show him: He killed Aerith (it’s an option, Cloud being the one that killed her this time) Almost kill Tifa (or Cloud thinking he killed her) This completely breaks him leaving only the path of becoming one with Sephiroth since he destroyed his two most important links to the cast.

[@mootytootyfrooty]

it's interesting to think they might go for a more dissociative narrative but it's hard to imagine them having enough maturity as writers to pull it off

[@theredpriest]

Jenova can literally mimic anyone. So it's not impossible. Also, why isnt she talking to other people? Like, TIFA for instance? Tifa's been in the Lifestream now.

[@garrykearns2316]

Not sure if she’s jenova at the end. Wouldn’t mind it but… I do not think when cloud deflects sephiroths sword was him creating a new timeline. Colors are very important to FF7. The rainbow is not representing timelines. It’s representing spirit aerith or aeriths traversal threw time or the life stream. When you see the rainbow it’s aerith using her powers to change things. She made cloud think he saved her from him falling to deep into despair. Which is what sephiroth wants. She soothes him in the moment to save him. Which is why sephiroth tells him he can’t see the truth threw clouded eyes. There’s tons of things I’ve found that further prove this idea. To many but I do not think she’s alive and I do not think she’s alive in another timeline. She’s only in the lifestream. I think Zack is in the main timeline now. But we will see but I think the multi verse stuff is over

[@m4ur1r4g3]

Damn besides the aerith saving cloud from despair part, I had the same thoughts. I think and hope the whole timeline stuff ended with her death, sephiroth merged all worlds to kill all existing aeriths.

[@garrykearns2316]

@@m4ur1r4g3 yeah who knows, but cloud wasn’t sad. His crazy ass was smiling when he seen aerith looking at him. So he definitely lacked the sadness and anger that sephiroth wanted. But I am 99.9 percent sure that there was no timeline being created by what he did. Not sure why everyone is on that idea so hard.

[@Locustskies]

SE shut-down Mobius FF shortly after the release of Remake in 2020. Coincidence? There are some Mobius and Rebirth ending similarities- the Holy needing recharging and black materia controlling a shadow Cloud as a Sephiroth/Jenova puppet… It’s not a good business move for SE to deceive the divided fan base. I would hope that they make the outcome different for players depending on your choices and character bonds. I want Aerith to survive after nearing three decades.

[@zekidan8284]

I think Sephiroth needs to win in every time line in order to win because in what ever time line he looses that will become the default reality and all other timelines will merge into that. in order for sephiroth to absorb the lifestream he must do it in all possible realities held with in the planet.

[@RyanOstrowski-eh6ft]

is tifa going to save cloud from his mental state in part 3?

[@AnthonySmith-bj9mo]

hi Podcast Now