A Dream Within a Dream

I’m pretty sure by now most of you have read multiple posts and theories on FF7R’s ending, but here’s my take on it - based on my limited knowledge of Crisis Core, my faint memories of the OG, and Max Dood’s playthrough (I’m waiting for the PC version of the remake).

The overarching theme in this first part of the remake is ‘destiny’. The Whispers exist to ensure that the events of the OG play out in the exact same way, because that’s what’s best for the planet. They were not there before, so why are there here now? If things were going according to plan, there would’ve been no need for them to try and keep things intact. What, or who, could possibly be a threat to destiny itself?

First choice, Aerith. The last of the Cetra. The bubbly local florist who’s also an adept mage and healer. She’s known as a compassionate and kind person among the Sector 5 slums residents. What could she possibly gain from altering destiny’s course? Well, that’s easy - her life. But it’s her death that ensures the planet survives. If there was no other option, she’d let the OG timeline events unfold in the same way. She couldn’t possibly be deemed a threat by the Whispers, right?

Here comes Sephiroth, the bad guy who just can’t be stopped, can he? Now that’s someone who’d want the OG timeline destroyed and erased from the history of the world. After all, he failed. He has much to gain from the whole ‘destiny altering’ business.

So on one hand we have someone who’s hellbent on changing the course of the story we know and on the other, someone who’d be interested in preserving the original timeline. Yet the one who has more to lose should destiny remain intact is Aerith. Sephiroth somehow always finds a way to come back around. Aerith’s got just one shot at experiencing life with all its ups and downs.

Maybe that’s why she fought against the Whispers.

She fought for the freedom to choose her own course of action.

It’s a popular theory that both Sephiroth and Aerith are aware of the OG timeline. If that’s indeed the case, and I do think it is, Aerith knows what’s coming for her. There were a few instances in the remake that made me go, “Yeah, girl wants to experience life in the best way she can... while it’s still possible.” I don’t think she’d go as far as putting her friends in danger just so she could live a while longer, but maybe, just maybe, if there was a way to get her happy ending AND still beat the bad guy, well, why not give it a try?

Speaking of her happy ending, you saw her at the end of the remake, right? The bubbly girl was gone. Her tone was serious, she looked a bit confused, and she mentioned missing “the steel sky”, which is quite possibly a reference to her love story with Zack...

... the man who lived - whether in this timeline or another. It was a glimpse of what could possibly be a huge part of Aerith’s happy ending. Yet she wasn’t happy. Even if we assume she didn’t see what the players saw, although it did look like she was aware of Zack walking right past her and the gang, they still beat Sephiroth and the Whispers. It’s a victory, isn’t it?

Having the freedom to choose comes with bearing the responsibility for the choices you make. By fighting off the Whispers, Aerith made a choice that put her and the gang on an unknown path with an unknown outcome to the conflict with Sephiroth. It’s a lot of pressure and if she made the wrong choices on this new path, she could put the whole planet in danger - and that just isn’t who she is.

So while I do think the next part of the remake will be an unknown territory for the most part, the main plot points will remain the same - it’s just that this time our heroes will have a little more control over the situation.