Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Theories - What Is The Clear Materia?

Today I'm starting the discussion on the clear Materia and speculating a little bit about what it is and what it could be used for!

[@Sector6UK]

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[@DJChamber]

I'm guessing the clear materia will end up being filled with memories in the Remake Part 3 lifestream sequence, turning the clear materia into the white materia again. The final Cloud Vs Sephiroth battle will end up with Cloud's buster sword's two (visible) slots being equipped with the black and the white materia, making him powerful enough to destroy Sephiroth and 'cleanse' Jenova once and for all.

[@zekiel2533]

The clear materia is most likely going to be a powerful materia for cloud once he fills it with moments and memories. Itll empower cloud to finish sephiroth off and free himself from his influence. Itll be unique to him.

[@changanat]

Ooooo unique to him. I like that

[@maggiebrinkley4760]

I've wondered if the Clear Materia is actually empty or not. I dunno. But I like the idea that Cloud's memories could be stored there, and that it will somehow give him the edge he needs to defeat Sephiroth. Another thought-provoking video - thank you!

[@eduardomacedo8937]

yeah, it's "Cloud" materia in some way. I like to name it "hollow" Materia, and the reason is the most spoilery song of ff7 ost: "Hollow", in the lyrics there's a lot about cloud's mentality and character development, and it's stated "this void to fill" which seams like a link between his state of mind and the materia entrusted to him by Aerith (the main subject of the song that's almost like cloud singing himself) I believe the Hollow Materia is an analogy to both Cloud and the planet, as in the planet being emptied until it's at advent children's state. The mystery is how and what would fill it up. Will it become white materia, or something else? Will it be Cloud's memories or the planet's? And how many timelines will fill it up? In chronological order, or mixed chronology? Will Cloud remember all of his future versions and every alternative reality? Or will it just be a MacGuffin materia to trap Sephiroth and Jenova?

[@Karyusx]

so the Gi's desire to die created the black materia and the Cetra's desire to protect the planet created the white materia... what is what cloud desire the most?

[@lyndsaybrown8471]

Another "hand" massage. 😉

[@MysterEeee]

He desires closure

[@coryc5969]

Maybe it’s clear because he has no strong desires or just doesn’t know

[@MysterEeee]

@@coryc5969 further rumination has me thinking Cloud desiring to "know" himself, or better his "world" within, is my option number one given the materia's inverse reflection when Cloud peers into it. My option 2 is Cloud desires clarity in his identity given the "clear" physicality of the materia. But really this option feels lik option 1 using different lingo. Being that they both relate this materia to the self-enlightenment of Cloud. While my option 3 has me thinking that if the current look of the materia is actually not its final form and it will end up having its own snow globy vibe like white and black do theeeen Cloud desires closure and this "clear" materia's snow globe form will reflect that. My line of thinking that Cloud's ReTri story is a reflection of story/history of the FF7 brand informs that. OG FF7's defining lack of closure brought on by Aerith's death and moreso with the game's enigmatic final scenes has both haunted the franchise as well as gave birth to that very franchise by affecting a large enough audience so deeply as to desire canonical closure. Cloud's story reflects this. His OG ending that lacks closure and has been a lingering Crisis Ever since has its Core Crisis with none other than the Nibelheim Incident all those hazy years ago. With ReTri closure will finally come. For the brand. For Cloud. For us.

[@Sephizen]

@@MysterEeee Disagree with you if you're implying the clear materia is just about Cloud getting closure. Why would Cloud desire "closure" the most over just saving Aerith and not needing closure in the first place because he's been given a chance to save her in this trilogy, the one he canonically "cherishes most" per Cait Sith's fortune. They've introduced the mechanics for things to change. They have us kill fate in Remake, defying fate is one of the biggest themes this trilogy keeps repeating, the back of Rebirth's cover literally says "DEFY DESTINY TOGETHER" in big bold letters... only for it to ultimately mean "nah Cloud let her go" in a game called "Final Fantasy" with major deviations from the original already. Also, I think you're underestimating how much Aerith means to Cloud, he will never be truly happy if she doesn't survive. They have the man hop around in other Square Enix games looking for a way to reunite with her like Tactics and Dissidia, the topic of reuniting gets brought up in Remake when she gives the flower to Cloud, the whole shtick of Loveless is lovers finding their way back to each other eventually without needing promises and that gets focus during the Gold Saucer Loveless play + the final cutscene of Rebirth (made even more apparent in Japanese because they don't actually promise each other anything), No Promises to Keep has Aerith say "still I know someday you'll come and find me" and all that foreshadowing means literally nothing? They give us a FF7 Trilogy with new worlds being able to spawn, the literal embodiment of fate getting destroyed and a question mark on Aerith's status at the end of the second game with Kitase talking about how he wants these characters to have a happy ending after so long... but none of that matters and she dies? I can't get behind that vision, seems a little pointless and a lot of work for nothing on adding all these whispers and knowledge of the future and all that stuff. On a related note, did you know Cloud says "Wait for me" (in Japanese) to Aerith before setting her down at the altar in Rebirth, not "I got this"? That line changes everything, there's so much being setup. Marlene saying if Cloud's sick, he can't save Aerith hasn't had any payoff yet either. Zack telling Cloud to save Aerith AFTER she's supposedly "died" also wouldn't make sense if she cannot be saved. Sure, Zack doesn't know what happened, but the devs having him say that as his parting words likely means she's out there to be rescued simply from a meta perspective. My point is, there's so much grand scale foreshadowing being setup that this clear materia has to be ultimately related to something Cloud can use to get a better outcome than the original game. Sephiroth/Jenova manage to persist and Aerith dies by the end of OG FFVII, at least one has to change.

[@maggiebrinkley4760]

I've just watched your interview with Prof Noctis and Evan. It was excellent, so thought-provoking. Thanks!

[@anderson47247]

I always thought it wasn't clear but a reflection wether this means the alternate worlds are inside materia

[@novachikun]

I think that the White Materia and Black Materia are largely the same in FF7. All that we are learning now is how they were made. We were never told how these two materia were actually made. But now we are being told that they contain the powerful memories and hopes of people for a specific outcome. White Materia summons Holy, which FF7 explains will act in accordance to powerful hopes and prayers that align with the Planet's will. And it is easiest for Cetra to use it because of their direct connection to the Planet. Cetra prayers are the most powerful, hence why Aerith was so important in FF7. Rebirth shows us that the Black Materia is also created out of powerful desires for destruction. It was crafted from the despair of the Gi Tribe's spirits, which are also Stagnant spirits. Similar to Chaos, the Black Materia was crafted from the collection of hateful, destructive memories and desires. I think Aerith gave Cloud the "empty" materia because he and the team need to fill it with their hopes and dreams, to craft the Holy Materia of the Beagle world. As we remember from FF7, toward the end, Cloud tells the team to find their ultimate motivation to confront Sephiroth. The fully White Mareria that Cloud delivered to Aerith may very well be the one from the original FF7 world, where FF7, AC and Dirge already happened. Perhaps due to Sephiroth fracturing the Lifestream and creating the many worlds to presumably acquire the power of multiple Black Materia, this forced Aerith to try and acquire multiple White Mareria? It's ridiculously convoluted, but just keeps convincing me that this is all a sequel taking place after Dirge of Ceberus.

[@Sector6UK]

We do actually know, the Cetra were gifted the materias by the planet, both the White and Black. Not the most pleasing of answers as far as how those materia came in to existence but thats what we got and it fits with how materia generally forms in the world of FFVII. But I do prefer us getting some actual lore and altered origins for these materia.

[@eduardomacedo8937]

I like to name it "hollow" Materia, and the reason is the most spoilery song of ff7 ost: "Hollow", in the lyrics there's a lot about cloud's mentality and character development, and it's stated "this void to fill" which seams like a link between his state of mind and the materia entrusted to him by Aerith (the main subject of the song that's almost like cloud singing himself) I believe the Hollow Materia is an analogy to both Cloud and the planet, as in the planet being emptied until it's at advent children's state. The mystery is how and what would fill it up. Will it become white materia, or something else? Will it be Cloud's memories or the planet's? And how many timelines will fill it up? In chronological order, or mixed chronology? Will Cloud remember all of his future versions and every alternative reality? Or will it just be a MacGuffin materia to trap Sephiroth and Jenova?

[@barisaxman2]

We know that materia can store memories. I feel like the clear materia will be used to trap/cleanse Cloud's memories of Sephiroth as a means to get rid of him. It would be ironic because at the end of Advent Children Seph says that he will never become a memory.

[@lajazziamacklin8418]

Why do I get the feeling that the Clear Materia might HOPEFULLY, be the KEY to bringing Cloud's memories back, restoring him to the Cloud we all know and love? I was thinking about it all night. I'm even beginning to actually believe that the reflection that's showing us an upside-down location inside of the Materia, judging by the upside-down tree in the background, just might be an entirely BRAND NEW world we haven't explored yet. I was even thinking that this mysterious Materia may end up being the answer to hopefully kill Sephiroth for good. I don't know. I even had a CRAZY theory that Aerith might trap Sephiroth in the clear Materia. OR...instead of killing Sephiroth, Aerith might send the evil part of his soul into the White Materia and send it somewhere else so that it won't corrupt the Lifestream again.

[@jesse1381]

After the latest Ever Crisis episodes my own theory is leaning towards that they're possibly going for a Sephiroth redemption arc. The clear materia might have something to do with Sephiroth regaining his humanity. I also believe that there's a chance that Jenova might not necessarily be all that evil. It's possible that Jenova gained human intelligence and emotions after encountering humans and that after observing Sephiroth as a child and getting to know his feelings that she genuinely grew to see herself as Sephiroth's mother.

[@lajazziamacklin8418]

@@jesse1381 I was thinking about that exact same theory, too, about the Clear Materia regaining Sephiroth's humanity back, but I didn't want to post it on here for fear of being judged. But thank you for sharing that theory with me! I just don't want to see my favorite character killed because I know that'll eat me up inside. I've been PRAYING for my favorite character to come to our side {the good side} and not get killed off, so I find comfort in your statement saying that they're leaning toward Sephiroth getting redemption. We'll just have to see if that happens in Part 3. The Edge of Creation Sephiroth is also a HUGE interest to me, so I hope we get to know what he's all about.

[@TheDrWes]

The clear materia could be a way to contain jenovas/sephiroths influence.

[@SteveOfWarr]

Has anyone come out with a theory about the clear materia being used as a means to trap Sephiroth to stop him coming back? I know it makes him sound like a Pokémon here but it could tie into the whole "I will never be a memory" line from AC, and the irony could be that's ultimately what he becomes. A distant memory trapped in a materia.

[@eddstrife241]

I reckon the clear materia will be refilled by Cloud and Tifa in the Lifestream and this new materia will be used to send the Gi tribe back to their own lifestream or maybe that’s for the sequel.

[@nathanstruble2177]

I'm still not 100% sold on the idea that the Gi we saw in ReBirth aren't all an illusion created by Sephiroth/Genova.

[@chrisdillon8376]

Your editing skills are impressive

[@Sector6UK]

I'm getting there, having a bit more fun with the editing and testing things out a bit more!

[@Kean_Bean]

The Gi tell us: “The purest materia made black by spite” “We went to the planet and stole its greatest treasure, pouring into it our desire for freedom” Implying that the black materia was once white. Made black by pouring a dream of Oblivion into it. (The Gi describe their desire for freedom as hopes, dream, prayer). Sephiroth also pulls its contents from “between worlds”, the location of the “dream worlds” we visited. A dream of Oblivion fills the Black materia. There is most likely a dream world containing a living Aerith after Clouds attempt to parry the blade. I believe that dream will fill and empower the white materia. A dream of hope vs a dream of oblivion. I posted a short video to my channel that gathers up a tone of evidence from the game that supports this.

[@jesse1381]

This is a solid theory based off of what we know from Rebirth. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out!

[@Uhoh_itsAshley]

So a lot of people seem to think Clouds memories are going to fill the clear materia when the LS sequence happens and the clear materia is gonna turn op asf. Also there’s this new theory that Sephiroth has been helping Cloud get stronger all throughout Remake and Rebirth and grooming him to save Aerith in the second world so that he can offer Cloud a world where Aerith is alive so that Cloud will join him. I saw like two videos on it. This new theory doesn’t really pertain to the clear materia but it’s a possibility.

[@Sector6UK]

That is a very interesting thought! Might put a bit of thought into this for a video myself!

[@mucks44]

The clear materia will be used to hold the souls and memories of the Knights of the Round. So they can be summoned in final big battles.

[@LordFoxxyFoxington]

Aerith didnt get her ultimate weapon during Rebirth, and ther Temple of the Ancients would have been the perfect place to get it, so the idea of Aerith coming back makes a lot of sense, at least to me.

[@Clink2000]

I agree. The fact she didn’t get her ultimate limit break, and weapon tells me that we will def somehow see it in the next game. They wouldn’t just NOT have it happen.

[@Nigel222]

I'm expecting her to come back as playable but playable in the same way Zack was in Rebirth so not a full regular party member.

[@Clink2000]

@@Nigel222probably right. Also dont read on if you dont want any spoilers people!! But maybe she does her final limit break at a pivotal moment or something for the rest of the party at some point. I cannot WAIT to see how this goes. It can’t end the way the original did. During the end of Remake, while fighting the large Orbital of Fate - they kept getting glimpses of the original ending and when the party asks “What did they just see?”, Red 13 says “it’s what will happen if we dont succeed here today.” So the final ending HAS to be different than the OG.

[@jesse1381]

I'm expecting Aerith to come back as well. I don't know if it'll be just increased screentime or actually coming back to life in the main world but I'm definitely expecting Aerith to be highly involved in the next game.

[@hunterac45]

Literally just realized Cloud wears an earring lol

[@edmilsonjunior3916]

I like how open minded you are for the direction the story seems to be going. Not the usual moaning we see around, like "bruhhh, we wanted a remake to be a remaster, no story changes BLA BLA BLA!" I'm looking foward to see the end (?) of the remake trilogy, the best remake of all time of the best game of all time. got a like and a sub

[@lyndsaybrown8471]

Maybe he'll be able to summon himself lol. I wonder if we'll get Advent Children Cloud fighting alongside us in the final game.

[@gabbiness]

Awesome video! I've always liked the theory that Aeriths in all worlds use the white materia to connect to each other and the lifestream, and maybe it's the reason she can travel between worlds (and move Cloud and Zack across worlds). I hope more than anything that it can somehow help our Aerith reunite with her friends. I think that Cloud will fill the white materia with new memories somehow. Maybe it will be connected to the lifestream part, because I think the lifestream section will be expanded in some way, showing a lot of things that he's forgotten or suppressed (Nibelheim, Zack, Aeriths death etc). In the end, I would LOVE to see Cloud use the white materia in his sword, just like he used the black materia at the end of Rebirth. Becoming a Holy paladin. (I'm making art of that, haha)

[@Sector6UK]

Cloud in Holy Paladin mode would be wild!

[@enjolraslechimiste]

One of my favorite (if not my favorite) videos of yours is your “Whose in charge” video about Jenova/Sephiroth; OG never made this clear, and it is fun to discuss. Do you think Rebirth gave any new information on this question? I don’t see that it did.

[@Sector6UK]

Nothing that stands out to me too much or changes my thoughts that it's mainly Sephiroth running the show, but I'm always on the lookout! Thank you as well, glad you enjoyed the video!

[@Ranechannel77]

I think Holy is now a empty materia, Cloud was wondering why its empty, they never showed Aerith get put in the water at the end of rebirth after she died, I think being as she's a Cetra she can really embody the materia much more than the other party members can especially Holy, so Sephiroth actually took her body with him to the northern crater before she died you can see a white glow in her eyes, later Sephiroth still has to block Holy, like from the original game. I think the empty materia will somehow be filled with Ultima magic, and become Ultima materia that will also help the party defeat Sephiroth at the end,changing where the original game found Ultima, and then they will give her body the burial from the original game after they beat Sephiroth, I think the Aerith he see's is a illusion like the rift in the sky, Jenova, and Sephiroth will probably say it was them to cause more confusion to Cloud, I think there will be less timeline junk in the last game, , cause the rift itself is a Jenova illusion, all this story is from Clouds perspective.

[@Oleus]

Didn't Sephiroth spoke about the Clear materia, saying it did not belong here ? "Very poor form" did they make him say in the English version, or something like that.

[@Sector6UK]

He's talking about the White Materia at that point, it's just before Cloud gives it to Aerith and receives the Clear Materia in return.

[@Oleus]

@@Sector6UK Oh yeah, right.

[@sparkydoodle696]

If material is compromised of memories and it’s clear, wouldn’t that mean it’s a symbol for an unwritten future, in other words, the fate of characters might be changed, and it’ll fill in its color later?

[@dalegleneagles5072]

This is going to sound corny, but there's the possibility that the clear materia becomes white when filled with *loving* memories, in which case, Cloud will fill it as he comes to know who he is - something contingent on his love for the people in his life. This kind of parallels with us knowing Aerith got the white materia from her mother and it could have been filled with similar "knowledge"/emotions, memories, etc. The symbolism works. It's "clear" and void of these memories because he thinks he is right now as well. Plus if we think to AC and OTWTAS, it's basically Cloud's hatred (black materia parallel) that keeps Sephiroth perpetual. Similarly, the Gi created the black materia from malice/hatred. Although who knows, maybe it becomes the proto materia (which we see in the OG ending scene). And doesn't the black materia look like it has a smaller materia inside it? What's up with that?

[@vincenzocosetti4908]

Regardless of how, why, or what fills the clear materia, if it does so, then it'll need to be cast. Makes me think that Sephiroth's escalation/near-win comes in the form of incontestably defeating the white materia, only to have Cloud pull out No.2 at the last second and it'll summon Aeris andit'llcastGreatGospelandthegloriousAeriththemefromSmashllplayandandnand- (breathes into paper bag). But something like that. Also, dude, the endgame is that you get so big that you couldn't feasibly have time to respond to us as individuals. Nobody worth having'll leave 'cuz you're too busy making content we enjoy. 'Sides, you're about to be a dad. You're ego-scrolling minutes on the toilet are numbered. Thanks for the work. Cheers.

[@Sector6UK]

Love the theory, love the vision of the future as well! Thank you!

[@rowanmorris2187]

Great vid.

[@kameshell]

i find it interesting that both black and white material in the remake world are in a sense 'fakes' and both the black and white were given to cloud outside of the remake world. Does that mean the remake world is not the 'based' world like people think it is? Why do you see the white materia in Zack's world not empty? A lot of people mention that the white materia is the memories of Aerith but what about when Aerith's mom gives her the materia and it's white. Maybe the white materia is the memories and future memories of the planet? So by Cloud having the empty materia and we know the white materia is filled with memories - does that mean Cloud can create a new world with new memories? Cloud believes Aerith is alive, so will he create a new world where Aerith is a live or will the party convince him that she is dead? I really hope they are changing the Lifestream sequence to tap in on some of these questions, because that is one of the themes in that part is Cloud's memories.

[@kameshell]

also thanks for talking about this subject. I feel not a lot of the English speaking audience is discussing this. I see more of the Japanese fandom exploring this theme.

[@Sector6UK]

I've personally been thinking the Remake is not the OG or main world since Remake, it makes sense to branch off from the OG to leave it untouched so they can explore what they want to here without feeling too restricted!

[@sparkydoodle696]

Wasn’t the clear materia just the white one that hadn’t been blessed or powered up by aerith?

[@Sector6UK]

Nah it's a completely new thing. My gut feeling is it's the materia the Gi describe as the sacred materia they stole and filled with their hate to create the Black Materia. Which means it isn't just a one off thing.

[@materiahunter8443]

@@Sector6UK The clear materia used to be the white materia before whispers took her memories in Remake. I believe she alludes to it when Aerith is talking to Red in Costa del Sol.

[@stenpod9368]

that's what i was thinking it was, just the white materia that aerith gave to cloud, instead of falling into the temple water. so dead aerith can't summon holy, and there's no other cetrans. meaning sephiroth manipulated time so holy could not be summoned. he was there 7 seconds early, no holy today boys.

[@MishrasFactory]

I think the White Materia is a universe that contains the souls of all the Cetra, including the Aerith. It became clear when Aerith passed through the portal at the end of Remake. Aerith was initially reluctant from letting the team pass through, but then she transformed the portal from black to white. When Aerith went through, she split into normal Aerith and Omni Aerith. Omni Aerith then went into hiding with the charged White Materia in the alternate world. In the final fight of Rebirth, Omni Aerith brings Cloud and Sephiroth into the White Materia, which is why the arena has all the white glitter, and why they were able to defeat Sephiroth. The function of the Clear Materia is now just a memento for Cloud, and might be used to help him out of his mental breakdown by remembering Aerith.

[@jesse1381]

It's nice to hear these crazy theories. Keep up the good work guys!

[@Josh2k24]

Spitballing, I’d guess that whatever its function it begins to activate when cloud is in the lifestream restoring himself. Or maybe cloud and aerith meet in another dreamworld and she activates it and it could end up becoming the ultima materia (fuelled by controlled emotion), hell it could become knights of the round summon and become a symbol of Clouds strength aided by Zack and aerith memories. I have no idea 😂

[@TravaillesDuChanson]

Bonsoir Monsieur Six, Eggplant guy (I'm not sure that's his name on here) but he did a very interesting theory involving Rufus and Elfe from Before Crisis which I think could be highly likely if they are truly trying to include everything from the compilation. I do think there could be multiple endings which is why i think part 3 may be twice as long as Rebirth.

[@kevinbonin6173]

Clear = white whispers black equals black wispers. Cloudy = no wispers.

[@svsps]

CLOUDy…heh heh. I get it

[@elpainto1]

WARNING: Ridiculous idea/tangent: If corrupt lifestream is a thing (it's established, yeah?) can corrupt materia be made? Has the series described anything like that(maybe just the black materia)? As far as I know all materia is made from pure lifessteam, so the idea of corrupt materia raises a couple questions. 1: What is corrupt materia like and what does it do? 2: If corrupt lifestream can be harvested, can it be used to clean up the lifestream? 3: Would Shinra do that on purpose? It brings to mind the idea that Rufus actually wants to do good, so I wonder if this would be his way to turn Shinra into something good.

[@sh4d0wfl4re]

so terrible FF pun here, what is the school of magic in between White and Black magic? Red Magic. Cloud is gonna fill the clear materia with the Gi's souls and become a cosmic Red Mage capable of double casting Meteor and Holy at once. But seriously, I think Cloud will likely have a hybrid ultimate Red Materia, fitting his grey position in between between Jenova and Aerith, as some manifestation of redemption and self acceptance of the messy reality he lives in/journey he is on

[@Sector6UK]

Holy Meteor, just a giant ball of light that smashed Sephiroth into the shadow realm lmao I like the idea though!

[@madambutterfly1997]

Well there's already a theory out there that the black materia was originally a white materia that was corrupted by the Gi

[@Alecup06]

I want the pc version to release already 😢

[@LelanWellz]

I think one of the main objectives of FF7 Part 3 will be cloud restoring the memories to the materia. I think one pinnacle moment will be when he actually remembers Aerith is truly gone…. Which will break him Tifa will have to finish the restoration of clouds memories which is cannon. And he’ll become this powerful Omni cloud. It is the finale so naturally this is the time for cloud to be OP (over powered)

[@chrisdillon8376]

This isn't a very clear topic. If only it were black and white.

[@NickEBN79]

Could Sephiroth have a redemption and all of them fight and destroy Jenova?

[@jesse1381]

Yes it's possible after what's happening in Ever Crisis these days. I'm not sure that Jenova is even the real big bad going forward. I don't have much tangible evidence to prove it but I just get the sense that Jenova is moreso willingly supporting Sephiroth and letting him be in the driver's seat. I don't think Jenova is all that hellbent on destroying the planet as much as she is being Sephiroth's mother and supporting him. I think of Jenova as kind of a virus that originally was just doing what it was programmed to do or what it knew, and at a certain point after developing a mental link with Sephiroth when he was born she could have developed human intelligence and gained emotions that include motherly feelings towards Sephiroth.

[@philiphall6351]

It's another world

[@danieljames7605]

its obvious the clear materia can only be used by saying mayor is the best

[@nahbeez2258]

ultima.