Every FF7 Rebirth Character Able To Interact With Timelines (& Why)

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth continues right where FF7 Remake left off with Cloud and his group having left Midgar. At least, in the main timeline, that’s where the group starts off in this section of the trilogy. But with the existence of multiple timelines, and more being created with even the smallest choices, the story can get a bit confusing, especially when it looks like some characters have varying levels of awareness of those alternate timelines.

[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.]

There’s an overall theme among the main characters about fighting Fate and taking their future into their own hands, leading to battling Sephiroth and the Whispers that seem to follow him. However, it looks like most characters aren’t aware of the alternate timelines that exist alongside their own, and that the decisions they make continue creating more. That means the true fight against Fate is in the hands of those capable of interacting with multiple timelines, letting them see other possible futures.

1
Dark Whispers Are Trying To Keep The FF7 Timeline Intact

Arbiters Of Fate

There are two types of Whispers in FF7 Rebirth: Dark and Light. Of these, Dark Whispers are seen far more, and they take more drastic actions to adjust the primary timeline. However, it seems like Sephiroth has some level of control over at least a portion of Dark Whispers, which makes it tough to figure out how many of their actions are due to keeping the timeline in check versus how many are due to Sephiroth’s will.

2
Light Whispers Aren’t Opposed To Changing Timelines

Open To New Fates

Although they aren’t seen as often, there are Light Whispers as well. These don’t seem to be under the control of Sephiroth, but they also look more willing to change the set Fate of the original timeline, which is seen when they lead Zack to help Cloud fight Sephiroth. It’s difficult to tell what their motivation is, but at the very least, they don’t seem to agree with Sephiroth’s plan or his use of the Dark Whispers. The effects of their actions also sometimes have white feathers falling into the area, which is the opposite of black feathers that are related to Sephiroth’s presence.

3
Sephiroth Tries To Control Timelines Through The Whipsers

He Controls Whispers

Even in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, it becomes obvious that Sephiroth at least has knowledge about how the original timeline plays out. He’s then seen controlling Whispers, having the ability to summon them when needed, which he does to keep Zack away when he comes to kill Aerith at her church. However, why he has this ability isn’t explained, and it’s not clear if he’s trying to keep the timeline the same or change it, especially since he would know that Aerith has stopped his plan to destroy the world with Meteor.

4
Aerith Is At The Center Of FF7 Rebirth’s Multiple Timelines

Attacked By Whispers

Some of the biggest FF7 Rebirth story moments revolve around Aerith, and she’s aware of this. In FF7 Remake, she’s constantly being attacked by Whispers, and she says that it feels like she loses a part of herself each time they come in contact with her. Then, other characters like Cloud only start seeing the Whispers after making physical contact with her. This ability could be part of her heritage as an Ancient, and she uses it for the sake of the planet, letting herself be killed in the main timeline because she knows that she needs the power of the Lifestream to stop Meteor.

5
Cloud Can See Multiple Timelines In FF7 Rebirth

Sees Overlapping Timelines

Unlike Aerith and Sephiroth, Cloud’s knowledge of alternate timelines isn’t as clear. Instead, it seems like he can’t tell the difference between timelines, and they overlap for him. This is seen in particular at the end of Rebirth, when he looks at the sky and sees the signs of world destruction from an alternate timeline into the main timeline, which isn’t visible to the rest of his party. The same is true for when he sees Aerith alive and well, but her being invisible to the rest of the group. His ability might be related to Sephiroth, since it looks like Cloud has a stronger connection to him in Rebirth.

6
Zack Exists In Multiple Timelines

Jumping Timelines

Zack being alive is one of the biggest story changes in FF7 Rebirth, but he also knows that there are multiple timelines because he keeps his knowledge of them every time he dies and ends up in a new timeline with the help of the Light Whispers. This makes him one of the biggest variables going into the last part of the remake trilogy, especially since he seems set on rejoining the timelines so that he can get to the primary one where he originally died.

However, it’s harder to explain why Zack is able to interact with timelines to the extent that he can essentially jump between them. The best reason would be that he’s been influenced so heavily by Mako from being a SOLDIER and experimented on by Shinra, since there seems to be a link between Mako, Ancients, Jenova cells, and those who are able to interact with timelines in any capacity. However, there’s one character left who doesn’t fit with that theory, but still has knowledge of alternate timelines.

7
Marlene

She Sees The Future

Marlene shows that she has knowledge of what is happening in the future of certain timelines, but can also see them overlapping like Cloud, since she’s shown talking to an empty room as if somebody is there. But as far as it’s known, Marlene isn’t descended from the Ancients, doesn’t have Jenova cells, and hasn’t been exposed to Mako or the experiments of Shinra. The only reasonable explanation for Marlene’s ability right now seems to be her use as a plot device to point Zack in the direction of what he needs to do moving forward.

As of the ending of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, those are all the characters who can interact with alternate timelines in any capacity. However, it seems like timelines are increasingly overlapping, and Zack is on a mission to purposely reunite the timelines, so he can be in the original one, where his fate was death. Hopefully, won’t be a long wait before answers are revealed to the questions raised in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.