Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has some explaining to do. Not only did its predecessor, FF7 Remake, change a ton of story beats from the original game, but it’s already promised to include a number of brand-new surprises and shake-ups. And the original FF7 didn’t explain everything perfectly, either. Between the questions raised by what connections already exist, and the further wrinkle created by Crisis Core‘s now-pointless ending, there’s a lot that FF7 Rebirth has to account for.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the original FF7, FF7 Remake, and Crisis Core.]
And in the meantime, player speculation has run rampant, with any number of fan theories popping up online. Sure, some of them have a basis in evidence from other games in the FF7 Remake project, but others seem to have risen out of the ether. One way or another, FF7 Rebirth will have to address it all. Here are some of the biggest questions it still has to answer.
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10 Will Aerith Die?
Can Cloud Save Her? Can She Save Herself?
One way or another, FF7 Rebirth will have to settle the question of Aerith’s fate. Aerith dies near the middle of the original FF7, during the party’s first visit to the Forgotten Capital. Based on how the FF7 Remake project is paced and where the second game is liable to end, what was originally Aerith’s final scene is guaranteed to appear in FF7 Rebirth.
But it doesn’t have to end in tragedy this time. Since the party has defeated the Whispers and gained the right to determine their own fate as of the end of FF7 Remake, there’s any number of ways that Aerith’s visit to the ruins could go down. Will Sephiroth appear, and if he does, will Aerith survive?
9 How Are The Whispers Connected To Sephiroth?
What Is Sephiroth’s Plan This Time?
In the original FF7, Sephiroth’s grand plan was to destroy the planet’s crust by summoning Meteor, becoming one with the Lifestream and effectively ascending to godhood in the process. However, in FF7 Remake, he seems more invested in the Whispers, mysterious beings whose role is to stop anyone from diverging from FF7‘s canon version of events. The thing is, FF7 doesn’t end so well for Sephiroth; he’s defeated by Cloud. So what does Sephiroth want with the Whispers? Did he create them, or is he just goading the party into destroying them? Does he control them? And what is he going to do now that they’re gone?
8 Is Zack Alive?
How Does Crisis Core Tie Into The Remake Trilogy?
At the end of Crisis Core and its remake, Zack Fair appears to die at the hands of Shinra SOLDIERs, using his last breath to save Cloud. However, Zack appears briefly at the end of Remake, alive and well. So which version of these events is canon? Did Zack narrowly escape with his life, or was his scene at the end of Remake a red herring? It could have been a peek into an alternate universe, or a flashback. Now that the Whispers are gone, he may have a second chance at survival. But will things turn out better this time?
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7 How Does Aerith Know The Future?
How Much Does She Know?
Aerith repeatedly has visions of the future in FF7 Remake, and she’ll probably continue to do so in Rebirth. It’s likely that this has something to do with her connection to the Lifestream as the last surviving Cetra, but just how far ahead she can see is never explicitly addressed. So it’s up to FF7 Rebirth to explain the particulars of her prescience, and just how much of the future she’s privy to. Does she know of the threat to her own life? And now that she’s taken more control over her own life, can she save herself?
6 What Is The Promised Land, Really?
Can Anyone Ever Get There?
The concept of the Promised Land exists in the background for much of the FF7 story. It’s an ancient Cetra myth, but one that everyone interprets differently. To the Cetra, it’s a place of total happiness that the righteous can reach at the end of their lives. To Shinra, it’s a place of nigh-infinite Mako deposits, one that will make whoever finds it rich beyond their wildest dreams. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the Promised Land doesn’t exist; it could simply be a religious metaphor invented to describe the joy of living in harmony with the planet.
5 Does FF7 Have Multiple Timelines?
How Can Characters Cross Between Them?
At the end of FF7 Remake, all the main characters look out toward a seemingly infinite horizon, musing on their departure from fate and what’s next for their future. The most obvious implication here is that the compilation of FF7 consists of multiple timelines: the original canon and the Remake trilogy being two of those. But is that really true, or is it another red herring? Perhaps they’ve irreversibly changed the timeline by destroying the Whispers, or perhaps their original fates are still inevitable. And if it is true, there must be some way for people to cross between timelines.
4 Is The Remake Trilogy Actually A Sequel?
Is This FF7 Fan Theory True?
A common fan theory holds that the FF7 Remake trilogy isn’t just a retelling of the original game – it’s actually a sequel. If this were the case, it’d mean someone effectively rewound time after the events of the original FF7, giving everyone the chance to try things again in hope of a better outcome.
But who, and why? The most likely candidate is Sephiroth. He does seem to have become part of the Lifestream at the end of the original FF7, and could exert some control over it. He could be using the Whispers to draw Cloud’s attention to the diverging timelines. Whether it confirms, debunks, or simply passes over this theory, FF7 Rebirth will have to address it one way or another.
3 Why Is It Called “Rebirth”?
And What Will The Next Game’s Subtitle Be?
The FF7 Remake trilogy seems to be following a naming convention in which each game’s subtitle begins with the letters “re.” The meaning of “Remake” is obvious enough, but why “Rebirth” for the second game? Perhaps a particular character will be reborn, like Sephiroth becoming one with the Lifestream and returning as a god. Or maybe it’s the universe itself that’s being reborn, changed from its original, seemingly immutable shape into a more ideal world created by Aerith and Cloud.
And if this trend continues, what will be the third game’s subtitle? “Reunion,” referencing the process by which Sephiroth’s clones are drawn to him, would make sense, but there’s a dictionary’s worth of other words that have an equal chance.
2 Where Will FF7 Rebirth End?
And Where Will The Third FF7 Remake Pick Up?
It’s already been announced that FF7 Rebirth will end with the Forgotten Capital, but which part of which visit? In fact, the party travels there twice in FF7: the first time, when Sephiroth appears and kills Aerith, and the second with a new lead provided by Bugenhagen. Trailers have already suggested Bugenhagen will factor into Rebirth, so the game could conceivably end with either of these scenes. And it doesn’t have to include the entirety of the final scene, either; FF7 Rebirth could have a cliffhanger ending.
1 Will Genesis Be In FF7 Rebirth?
Will The Crisis Core Character Return?
With the various timeline acrobatics that are currently being performed on the compilation of FF7, it’s very possible that Genesis will reappear in FF7 Rebirth. Genesis is the main antagonist of Crisis Core: he’s a fellow SOLDIER to Zack, who learns that his body is deteriorating due to Shinra’s infusion of Jenova’s DNA. He composes an army of his own clones, attempting to convince Sephiroth and Angeal to join his side. However, Genesis remains alive at the end of Crisis Core, so there’s every possibility he’ll show up again in Rebirth. Just what role he’ll play remains unclear, but he may factor into Zack’s playable chapter of Rebirth.
Rebirth doesn’t necessarily need to answer all these questions directly. Some answers will certainly be provided during the course of the story, but others will be implicitly debunked by omission. Still others may yet remain unclear until the third game in the Remake trilogy, whenever that may be. For the time being, players will have to wait until Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s release on February 29, 2024, to get some answers.
