Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Ending is DARK

[@LaRayaV2]

This theory make so much sense I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually happens I can’t wait for part 3

[@sanddry738]

I love how we’re back where the ending of Remake left the community. Depending on how much you KNOW about FF7 and its world, so much changes and makes sense. But if you don’t know then you get a whole different perspective which is really cool.

[@PurpleYoshi6942]

That connection you made with his perception of Zack and nibelheim being wrong to his perception of Aerith being wrong was genius. Made me 100% on board with this. I just beat the game for the 1st time 3 days ago and had to see other peoples thoughts and this is the best video on it I’ve seen.

[@Chinorific]

I think it’s a combo of Cloud not accepting Aerith dead but life stream Aerith as well. I think life stream Aerith and Sephiroth are both post Advent Children just playing 5D chess through the new trilogy

[@shaulov10]

Yeah. Like I said. I think the aerith that fights with cloud at the end is lifestream but the one we see now is schizo aerith

[@dr.edwardrichtofen365]

As someone who loved the OG, I am in love with the direction they decided to take with this ending. They made the ending of rebirth darker and even more messed up than the OG. Cloud accepts Aerith’s death when it happened in the OG. He is in denial at the end of Rebirth. And guess what? Sephiroth and Jenova are going to use the fact that he thinks she’s alive to their advantage. Suddenly everyone’s favorite flower girl will start behaving and saying sus dialogue that will make us fear her as the player, but to Cloud, it’s just Aerith being Aerith.

[@shaulov10]

THATSWHATIMSAYIN!

[@WheeledHamster]

Oh yea, I can't wait more doggy multiverse horse shit and another fight with Sephiroth, for the third time again.

[@watchmehope6560]

Its not that hes in denial; its that he can interact with Aerith. Either due to being in two timelines at once (given he sees the tear in the sky) or the fact hes interacting with her spirit the same way Red 9 is, when she touches him and he reacts. Just in a more stronger way for Cloud. Also we see the yellow glow (which we saw with zack anytime he made a choice in the tunnel) meaning Cloud changed the timeline. So something is going on.

[@annabel6038]

I mean is it any wonder Cloud is so mentally messed up? Bro was floating in a tank for 5 years being experimented on, had mako poisoning, has a literal alien entity in his brain and a bucket load of trauma. If he didn't create this false persona and memories, he would have a total breakdown.

[@shaulov10]

THATSWHATIMSAYING!!. I feel this ending makes more sense to people who played the OG

[@annabel6038]

I definitely think you're onto something with this Aerith being how Cloud expects Aerith to act. Many of her lines are things she said in this and the previous game. Of course the 'and if I said I wasn't?' callback to the playground, but also 'It's like a second home', is like when she said 'It's like going back to my childhood home' in the resolution scene before they rescued her from the Shinra building in Remake. ALSO, Aerith wrote and performed a whole song about having 'no promises to keep', but then she ends the game with a promise? Contradiction!

[@shaulov10]

Damn! I didn’t even catch that. The more time goes on the more I’m sure this is not our aerith

[@Alexia-ys6yx]

One thing that I already love about this ending, is how much more broken Cloud's mind is than ever before. Which will make the scene where it finally gets fixed all the more powerful.

[@crashwithkirby6708]

Sephiroth wanted the worlds to merge at the point of Aerith’s death so he could harvest everyone’s negative emotions from across all worlds, but uh… cloud was just kind of ok. I think aerith actually showed cloud an alternative where he saves her to foil sephiroths plan. That’s why he kept trying to get cloud to snap out of it and see dead aerith (see: sephiroth flicking Aerith’s blood in his face; saying things like “you’ll never see the truth with such clouded eyes”, etc) Sephiroth merged the worlds anyway, but it didn’t have the desired effect because cloud didn’t have his limit break, so he gave up and split them again (end of cloud/zack fight). Everyone thinks that cloud is just in denial, but clearly, Lifestream aerith is there talking to him in those first few moments. This is the same aerith that shows up in the space where they 2v1 sephiroth at the very end. But I agree from then on, the aerith we see isn’t Lifestream aerith, it’s a reflection of cloud’s current psyche. That said, aerith had to know that what she was doing was going to leave cloud even more broken than before…

[@Uhoh_itsAshley]

Man yeah I really like this theory too also your right it seems cruel to put Cloud through this I wonder if Aerith thought it would help or if she just didn’t have a choice?

[@OrangeToadGamer]

Glad to see you've recovered from your last Rebirth stream, bro was an emotional mess at the end 💀

[@shaulov10]

I’m still recovering

[@patrickstrahm05]

What I don't understand is why does Cloud think Tifa wasn't cut by Sephiroth and she showed Cloud her scar. Yet Cloud doesn't have one in Coasta Del Sol.

[@annabel6038]

Good point, he was totally skewered. He would have an even worse scar!

[@dalejones6248]

Experimentation by Hojo if I had to pin it onto something, Tifa wasn't mako infused or treated by scientists - just doctors - whereas Cloud was, & I'd wager Jenova cells having some form of healing factor given the entire Reunion thing

[@patrickstrahm05]

@@dalejones6248 That makes sense I guess. Playing Crisis Core and I'm still trying to figure out how Tseung doesn't reconize Cloud as a Shinra troopeer when Cloud takes his helmet off for two chapters of the game fighting with him

[@dalejones6248]

@@patrickstrahm05 in Crisis Core - pre-Nibelheim - Cloud was a little smelly nobody pre-experiment, at that time Tseng would have given 0 fucks about some random infantryman in the scheme of what was happening with Genesis & Angeal etc

[@sjneow]

Well regarding Aerith’s “you promise” line. The Japanese version of that line is a lot more ambiguous. The Japanese word きっとused here can have a few translations

[@shaulov10]

Yeah. Again. A lot can be lost in translation

[@_MaximusM_]

I really love this theory. I think it resonates with everyone based on the fact that we don't want to lose our loved ones... And I can already imagine the scenes of the gang thinking who tf is bro talking to lol

[@FreeFlow__]

Red13 sensing her presence dismantles this theory. I hope this is what's going on, but i dont think so. Also, why showing aerith waving goodbye to the party if she is only in clouds mind? Now, it would make sense that red can sense "her" if thats jenova imitating her. Either way, i hope this is not just bad writing and turns out to be lifestream aerith but all indicates this is the case just by what cloud says and sees, the crack in the sky and him saying "are you gonna be ok going back?"

[@bjornironsides6474]

These games added so much depth to characters and locations. So good!

[@bjornironsides6474]

I have no clue for sure if she lived in one world and died in the og timeline, and exists only to cloud because he can see glimpses of the other worlds now OR his brain is still so damaged that he thinks he sees her to cope with it. Just like he thought he was SOLDIER 1st class. Since we know Aerith, Sephiroth, and maybe Cloud can now transcend time in the existing worlds (dimensions), I think it is possible she is alive in one of them. She does help him in the original game from the life stream. Cloud's Jenova cells should give him Sephiroth's ability to exist anywhere always. The reason I think she could still exist in one of the worlds is because Zack does from our perspective, not Cloud's. We use Zack. We see Zack crossing worlds and returning to his doomed world. Maybe Zack is alive in one split of fate (defeating fate in remake) and still dead in the og. Can't wait to find out! We know for sure that there are 2 or 3 timelines (worlds) crossing now and cloud can still see the tear in the sky when nobody else can. What I can't figure out is if Sephiroth has seen this before (original ff7) and lost, but now has multiple worlds to combine and suck the life stream from.

[@dreamphoenix]

Great analysis and ideas! Thank you.

[@SuperSonicUltimate-YT]

Damn The Ending Goes Hard!!❤

[@victoralanhernandez6894]

Damn thanks for educating me about ff7 since I want to get in the ff series

[@shaulov10]

YOU GOTTA GET IN BEFORE PART 3 DROPS

[@victoralanhernandez6894]

@@shaulov10 ight bet "proceeds to buy a copy of the game

[@Chris-xv4cj]

Cloud can hear and see Aerith in Advent Children. I think the issue here is Sephiroth is making it hard to distinguish which one he's talking too. I think he does and doesn't see her. I think Sephiroth is deliberately trying to make him doubt the spirit Aerith by making him see a fake one too.

[@ary2000]

I don't think that Cloud is imagining Aerith. I think Sephiroth wants to control Cloud through Aerith. That's why he glitched right before he saw her. Every time he's glitched it was because of something related to Jennova.

[@shaulov10]

Not every time. Clouds head glitches also happen when his memory is not working like when tifa asks him about Nibelheim or where he was for 5 years

[@ary2000]

@@shaulov10 Could be. I just wonder if it was the same if Cloud didn't have any Jennova cells in him. Anyway, great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@AspieGamer1986]

What if the projection of Aerith at the end of the game is actually all in clouds' mind as Sephiroth used her ghost to trick him in order to get some information about what their gonna do next.

[@NoNamex1412]

They forgot endless possibilities in the ending

[@Natezilla_2]

They forgot Cloud resting on some nice green grass

[@shaulov10]

This is NOT SONIC

[@NoNamex1412]

@@shaulov10 you're right, it's worse

[@TheOneAndOnlyJanitor.]

You who else is dark???

[@ourfamilyaccount]

Cloud is mentally drained, that I agree with. I can see why others would think Cloud is daydreaming about Aerith as an imaginary friend but it doesn't explain the weird rift in the sky that only Cloud can see. Sephiroth mentioned that new worlds ((timelines)) can be created if you alter from fate, the developers put that into the game for a reason. Aerith even thanked Cloud.. "I saw what you did back there, thank you" she was thankful for him not standing by.. he might've truly changed her fate we just have to wait for part 3 to learn what occurred. I will acknowledge that the music's tone when (ghost-like) Aerith appeared was spooky but I believe it's to hint to players that never played the 1997 game, 'this is new and be mindful of this'. How I approach the ending is yes, the Aerith from the main timeline died. The Stamp dog, Beagle.. Aerith indeed passed away but Cloud somehow created a new branching timeline when another Aerith exists. Cloud can simultaneously see both worlds together in view. It's messed up but that's the only thing that makes sense to me from the information I have. The reason Cloud can see the rift is it's from Aerith's new world, her world even created recently is going to end soon so we have more motivation in the next game. I recall NPC's pointing to the sky rift and mentioning how they thought it was the end for them. As for Aerith's dialogue she could've changed how she feels. Maybe after seeing how Cloud battled, she does want him to defeat Sephiroth. Her dialogue to me anyway seemed to fit her character. If I'm wrong I'll accept that. My spouse mentioned that this whole ending might force the audience to go through the real life stages of loss and maybe I'm too optimistic right now about this flower girl's fate.

[@thebrigade7684]

The reason why there's such a big riding on this concept is also related to ultimania when they say: "Rebirth strives to depict the inability to accept the loss of someone important to you. Cloud's psychic interference reflects this state of mind while the original they tried to make him a bystander who can't do anything. Aerith being alive is practically put on a back burner after all of this still she's never truly dies in the og either just enters the lifestream

[@rayp526]

1:40 "Sephiroth, talks some shit. Which will be important later." Kind of the crux of every main and subplot in all of FF7, dontchathink? Haha great vid!

[@shaulov10]

Yeah true tbh lol

[@persiajuliet5480]

Its Aerith we see in the remake , who told Cloud not to fall in love with her

[@GF-mf7ml]

Remember Sephiroth is like player who had played the original, he knows how the story end.

[@shaulov10]

Yeah the sequel theory. I thinks that’s what’s going on here

[@GabrielParr]

Dark? You mean Nomurark

[@iNsOmNiAcAnDrEw]

Jenova isn't able to take the form of someone like Cloud because he hasn't died, it's just not possible. She uses the appearance of dead people. But I don't think she's using Aerith's appearance because I think the planet is keeping her safe from Jenova. And that might be what Cloud sees, the planet's avatar. Sephiroth isn't Sephiroth anymore either, he's just Jenova's avatar. The reason it's/she's so often taking the form of Sephiroth is because she has access to him and because it's a great way to mess with Cloud's head since he meant so much to Cloud.

[@shaulov10]

I’m not a big believer in the Jenova aerith theory either but to play devils advocate. Jenova was able to take the form of dead cetra back in the day so aerith may not be exempt

[@Kean_Bean]

She appears as Tifa in OG to deceive Red. However…. They may have changed her lore a little? I just interpreted it as she prefers to use the dead to manipulate.

[@Att.jackson89]

Sephiroth isn't Sephiroth anymore he's just a Jenova avatar?? It was always Jenova in the OG game, you don't interact with the real Sephiroth til you give his body the black materia which is when the weapons release. Sephiroth makes several remarks that he doesn't know Cloud he even goes as far as to ask who he is when Sephiroth knew who cloud was but Jenova doesn't.

[@Valentien23]

Im glad u compared cloud to a ‘CRACK’ fiend; if anyone know about the drug( cloud was in line with that addict behavior towards the black materia. People say gollum; but crack is darker because its real; its likely the devs for LotR was inspired by the same obsession with drug

[@Kean_Bean]

I’m with you on this but I believe Sephiroth planned it. Nothing occurred here by accident. He has buffed Cloud through his S cells and made him stronger than in OG as is evidenced by Clouds Finishing Touch killing the Midgar Sormer. “7 seconds to the end, time enough for you perhaps?” He needed a version of Cloud strong enough to parry the blade and create a splintered world within worlds where Aerith survived. The black whispers lead us to the Forgotten Capital. The White Whispers try to stop us. He smiles as Cloud parry’s the blade. The results of the parry being: 1: This really screws Cloud up as he felt his alternate self save her making him vulnerable to manipulation. When the truth is revealed to him at the Northern Crater it will be even worse. 2: It gives Sephiroth leverage when he asks Cloud for help in creating Eternity for the 3rd and final time. This will be the first time that there has been a living version of Aerith past this point in the story. If Cloud helps Seph then she gets to live forever when he creates eternity and they all get to be together. Cloud will say yes this time.

[@shaulov10]

Yeah I believe that sephiroth, especially in the remake universe is playing 4D chess but so is aerith. You can tell that towards the end aerith kinda ruins his plans. Like when she gives cloud the full white Materia he gets a little annoyed about it. And for the first time in the series we see him lose his cool after the final fight. So while yeah he may be in control. He’s starting to lose his grip a bit

[@Kean_Bean]

@@shaulov10 yes, fully agree. His plan required a living Aerith, but she was not supposed to have the knowledge of the White Materia, this is how the party fights back and his plan begins to unravel. I love that at the end of the fight, we forced him to take a knee. I have 2 other points I would like to ask if you vibe with as I haven’t seen any major discussion of them online. 2 things I think were hidden in scenes. 1: The Weapons Battling with Whispers in the lifestream at the end of the game. Did you notice the location in the background? They appear to be fighting above the Lifestream reconstruction of Tifas Nibel memories. You can see Her house and the rope bridge. I haven’t seen any discussion of this detail yet. 2: I think there is further evidence of a World where Aerith survived in the 3rd & 4th phase of the Jenova fight. I think we play as the party who saw her survive in these phases as evidenced by their really weird dialog. They don’t seem to be mourning, they sound like they are celebrating. At the start of the 3rd phase We cut to a close up of Jenova, she fires her lasers, fragmenting the screen from corner to corner like visual shorthand for fragmenting worlds. Then we begin to fall through the lifestream as the confluence of worlds really kick in. Then over the course of the fight we get the really odd dialog. The performances even sound upbeat. I think we switched parties during a hidden cut.

[@Uhoh_itsAshley]

Ohhhh love thatttt. Got chills with the last sentence. 🫨

[@vergozero9806]

I miss the scene where Cloud let go of Aerith to be one with the lifestream

[@tomvanwuytswinkel]

Based on reviews that i've heard, that specific scene is probably gonna take place in part 3

[@bjornironsides6474]

Yeah I think you'll get it when Cloud's mind goes to partly sunny.

[@bjornironsides6474]

hahahaah "Sephiroth talks some S$HSt..."

[@xxxxxx-cz1yo]

Cloud killed Aerith, that's why it caused him to glitch out completely vs OG.

[@shaulov10]

I don’t fully agree with this theory. I do think though that the gang may suspect cloud because they weren’t there to see her death unlike the original

[@goat2601]

I don't get how you can acknowledge that Red senses Aerith (he doesn't "maybe" sense her, he definitely does, it would not be in the script otherwise) but completely ignore it to keep your theory from crumbling. Not to mention, Cloud himself acknowledges that Aerith is dead in their final conversation. How can he think she's alive and then leave her? I appreciate that you're not on the Aerith = Jenova nonsense but Occam's razor says this is just Lifestream Aerith helping Cloud cope with the loss. Remember when Sephiroth says "Maybe you need a little.. push"? The "push" is meant to be Aerith's death, the goal is to fully break Cloud so he can completely control him. Aerith is trying to combat that. That's why she shows herself to Cloud -- the others can deal with their grief on their own. Re: Meteor, they know about it from Temple of the Ancients, not to mention Shinra tower and the Remake Sephiroth fight.

[@shaulov10]

I think that it is clouds mind playing tricks. Cause again it’s the way she acts at the end of the game. And sephiroth even acknowledges that cloud is denying her death. And the bomb shell at the northern crater is gonna hit twice as hard

[@goat2601]

So is Cloud imagining that, 200 feet away and facing the other direction, Red has a vague sensation that Aerith is nearby and reacts to it?

[@FreeFlow__]

​​@@shaulov10You are still ignoring red's sensing her in your argument.

[@thegoatishere5079]

Bro I wish I showed up to the streams more

[@shaulov10]

You gotta lock in mane

[@elowei9919]

You ignored some key facts though. Firstly, the rainbow effect that happens around cloud and Aerith the moment he deflects sephiroths sword, we know from rebirth the rainbow effect means a new timeline is being created. Also everyone holds a white portal which ONLY cloud walks through, meaning cloud went into another timeline. (We know the white connects timelines to each other as we see Zack travel this way, and it’s where sephiroth tells cloud all multiple timelines when Aerith pushes cloud into it after their church date) Once cloud saves Aerith that portal fades away, and the team carry on. Then the black whispers fade and cloud is returned to the timeline his friends are in. Cloud is also only able to see the crack in the sky. Cloud is stuck between 2 timelines. One where he saved Aerith (when he stepped into the white portal the team held open for him) and the timeline where Aerith died (rebirth timeline)

[@shaulov10]

I don’t believe so. Sephiroths reunion was the merging of worlds. So if he succeeded, than yeah I would understand. But they stop the merging of worlds. also the way aerith acts in the end is just really weird to me and out of character for her. And I feel like it makes no sense why only cloud can see the rift. And that portal I DON’T think is an alternate timeline but rather just a blockade.

[@thebrigade7684]

The game has about 250+ rainbow effects it doesn't feel relevant to use that. The portal and the timeline stuff well we didn't see loyal little stamp at the end but in remake we had a similar situation with the entire party and it was beagle stamp all the way and after doing everything in Rebirth we are still in the beagle stamp world

[@RyanOstrowski-eh6ft]

i have a question is tifa going to save cloud from his mental state in part 3 ?

[@shaulov10]

Yeah. There probably gonna do the Lifestream part where tifa goes into the lifestream to save cloud. And that’s where we find out that Zach and aerith really died and cloud has to come to terms with both of there deaths

[@RyanOstrowski-eh6ft]

@@shaulov10 ok and why is tifa not saying or talking to cloud at all in the end of rebirth

[@bjornironsides6474]

If she would just show cloud her gongagas, he'd snap out of it immediately.

[@311Bambino]

@@RyanOstrowski-eh6ft cuz she's still mourning Aerith's death?

[@RyanOstrowski-eh6ft]

@@311Bambino and do you think that this aerith at the end of the game is jenova?

[@rsoxboy]

Hey guess what I'm about to ruin everyone's theory about Aerith at the end of Rebirth.... Yea fully 100% confirmed, certified, and undeniable. Can't possibly be disproven otherwise. Take all the other theories and throw them in the gutter. Are you ready? Aerith in the final fight with Sephiroth has the same materia equipped as the Aerith from the primary timeline of the whole game. Unmistakable proof that Aerith survived and came to fight with Cloud. Take that check to the bank and cash it. I win all the theories wars. AHAHAHAHAHA HAHA haha ha haaaaaaaaaa

[@ShirouBrando]

Yeah its the same Aerith.... who died shes just manifesting herself through the lifestream thats why she fades away with the lifestream if it was another world Aerith would have left like how Zack/cloud did through the portals And before you mention the bow/ the matera she has In Advent children Aerith has her bow back in the lifestream so whats to say she can't manifest her materia either I do think there is a Aerith that lived but its not this one its safe to assume that when Aerith went to the lifestream she got all her memories that the whispers took back shes back to being her Advent children Aerith

[@rsoxboy]

​@@ShirouBrando In case you could not tell, I was joking. Tbh Square will do whatever they want with Aerith in part 3 to try making the story as dramatic as possible. They made the ending like this to keep the players guessing, and try building excitement for part 3. It's a fictional story at the end of the day. Aerith's purpose for part 3 just needs to tell a compelling story and keep Square's customers satisfied. I don't want to get sucked in the theorizing trap because if you want to be right you need to try reading the writer's minds.

[@ShirouBrando]

@rsoxboy yeah I could not tell it was a joke

[@Intel_the_dude]

When will final fantasy omens come out mane. They teased it half a year ago

[@ASAPDEROZAN]

Hello shaulov hows your day

[@shaulov10]

Drake is cooked

[@ASAPDEROZAN]

@@shaulov10he is Kendrick got on his ass twice

[@NoNamex1412]

Lebron james, scream if you love sonic the hedgehog

[@ASAPDEROZAN]

@@NoNamex1412 i smacked that blue fodder sonic guy

[@NoNamex1412]

​@@ASAPDEROZAN ☹️

[@lolololol7573]

I have the theory Sephiroth and Aerith are 'at war' in his mind. And he's somewhere in there too. Let's not forget Cloud got Jenova's cells, the same as Sephiroth - and Sephiroth can control all those cloaked men, and there are clear examples he and Jenova control Cloud too. But Aerith holds the power of the Cetra. The Lifestream. Life. And when people die, they 'return' to the Lifestream. There have been suggestions Aerith quite literally have controlled Cloud's life, saving him from death. The Aerith we see so often that feels out of character is, to me, definitely Lifestream Aerith. The fact that Red is acknowledging her not in Clouds vicinity tells us her spirit might be real, and she's communicating through the Lifestream. I hope they reveal WHY she chooses to keep it secret however what she's capable of and what she's doing. I'm not sure if acting like she's alive and fine will help Cloud at all, compared to just giving him the truth. I hear many people talk about timelines but I look at it more like just the Lifestream as a spirit world. In the original FF7 the goal is to take and merge himself with the Lifestream, to take control over it. I think Cloud fought with Aerith against Sepiroth in this spirit world, in the Lifestream. That's why we also found Zack. Because that's where he is even though Zack doesn't know it himself yet.

[@shaulov10]

Will I do think that lifestream aerith and sephiroth are fighting. I still don’t believe that the aerith we see at the end is her. The way that she acts isn’t even in line with lifestream aerith. She would never encourage cloud to got fight sephiroth especially with how his mental state is. It’s just unnerving. Also Zach and cloud fighting is due to sephiroth merging the worlds togeather. That’s also why everyone is fighting the same sephiroth in different dimensions

[@ALegendaryBlueHedge]

Didn't ask lil bro 😃👍

[@Natezilla_2]

🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@shaulov10]

Banned

[@shaulov10]

@@Natezilla_2 banned aswell

[@Natezilla_2]

@@shaulov10 Make me mod

[@WheeledHamster]

So the doggy multiverse horseshit is more interesting. Sure!

[@Natezilla_2]

Hi Tifa

[@ASAPDEROZAN]

💀

[@shaulov10]

“Hi tifa” in a video about aerith

[@eldeadkilljohnkennedy3946]

Imagine in part three Final Fantasy seven remake cloud Does it injustice Superman on Sephiroth Killing him then before he dies, he said something Tifa She knows what you’ve did and then it cuts to her horrified cloud being twisted and evil and laughing like the Joker.