A Peculiar Prologue | Making Sense of FFVII Rebirth - Part 1 | GA#32
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth contains many open questions & mysteries, and we aim to provide answers for as many of them as we can. Part 1 deals with the rather unexpected and quite bewildering prologue.
Table of Contents
The Nature of the Terrier World
Introduction
Greetings fellow Scholars of the Lifestream! It’s me, Vyzzuvazzadth, the king of RNG1 hiatuses! I apologize for the long absence, the reasons for which are manifold. Those only interested in the analysis may jump forward to the next section and skip learning about the context of this hiatus.
Previously on CCO…
As mentioned in the article about my experience with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I most likely burnt myself out when cramming the 135 hours it took me to finish the game into a mere three weeks of planned time off-work. I also barely consumed anything related to FFVII ever since—besides a couple of podcasts and Let’s Plays respectively, as well as interactions, discussions, and (some) content shared on our Cosmo Canyon Observatory Discord server. While I did write down a stupid amount of notes in the meantime, I was never able to muster up the mental energy to actually write an analysis. Until now, that is!
And what is this analysis about? All the mysteries lurking within the game, of course! I initially planned to tackle each topic at a time, like the Black Materia, the Worlds and Stamps, Aerith in chapter 14, and so on. However, none of them really gripped me enough to focus on. I also noticed a lot of overlap between those topics and I would have had to cover the whole game again and again each time. That, as well as other reasons, kept me from actually sit down and diving into writing an article about any one of these topics. So eventually, I just said “screw it!” and decided to go through the whole game once and in smaller parts to finally talk about all those mysteries screaming in our faces, just asking, nay begging to be dissected.
Let’s Go!
This format consequently requires leaving many answers for a later article, but it’s about the journey, not the quick reward and continuous dopamine hit. So, strap in and prepare for a long ride through many landscapes, biomes, and sights stuffed with intriguing discoveries!
…and spoilers. All of them.
In this opening article in our Game Analysis series, we will solely cover the prologue which is already chock-full of questions that are sorely in need of answers, be it the completely different resolution of the expressway chase, the fallout of a tornado, or why the game even starts off this way.
Summary & Honorable Mentions
Before chapter 1 tells the story about the Nibelheim incident that started it all, we are tossed into the cold water basin labeled “Terrier Stamp world” with a not-so-dead Zack. The first teaser and first full-length trailer already showed several scenes from this prologue which we covered extensively in the following two articles, so please have a read if you want a deeper dive into the details.
For the purposes of this article’s mysteries, we will focus on the bigger picture and some details not discussed in the above two analyses.
To start things off, let’s summarize the important parts of this prologue before we dive into the juicy bits and end in answering the question why Rebirth does not start with the Nibelheim flashback.
The entire prologue revolves solely around Zack and this twisted world he ended up “surviving” in. A world in which Midgar had been devastated by a tornado that claimed countless victims, among which our party from Remake, i.e. Barret, Tifa, Aerith, and Red XIII—Except for Cloud, who has magically disappeared and is now in Zack’s care. This devastation is shown in the context of a live news broadcast that shows and describes the fallout, in addition to factoids about Midgar’s mayor describing the catastrophe as “weather warfare” perpetrated by Avalanche accompanied by recordings of a train flying through buildings and Shinra troops being sucked up by the tornado.
Afterwards, the scene changes to Zack who arrives in Midgar’s sector 5 undercity, sees that same live news broadcast and eventually Aerith, then immediately runs off to save her after noticing the very same helicopters from the broadcast fly past overhead. Red XIII manages to wake up and attack the pilots, leading the helicopter with him and Aerith on board to crash, which provides Zack an opportunity to get her out of Shinra’s clutches. However, while in hiding from reinforcements, Aerith goes limp and her white Materia slips out of her braided ponytail ribbon, then bouncing off of the ground, mirroring her death scene in the original game.
If that’s not overt foreshadowing, I don’t know what is. In any case, before we dissect certain aspects, there are a few noteworthy details to mention:
Reactor Shape Revisited
Midgar’s reactors bear their usual round designs. None of that bulky rectangular2 Elfadunk turd of an atrocity seen in the background of Remake’s ending scene of Zack surviving.
Though to be fair, when looking closely at the reactors from sector 5’s outskirts during gameplay, especially when moving above the fog layer by using free-camera mode in the PC version, you notice that each reactor’s very back looks “cut-off” for the lack of a better term and the reactor number is also missing, though the rest of its body still follows the usual round design. Since you can barely make this out during normal gameplay, I suggest we ignore this discrepancy. Everything that plays an important role in the story, world building, or mysteries is usually shoved right into your face, like the Terrier stamp mascot when Zack survives in remake’s ending.
Funeral Pyre
The reporter foreshadows either Aerith’s death or this world’s encroaching demise—or both—with the following line:
Reporter
The smoke rising from the rubble is... reminiscent of a funeral pyre.
Given how the photographer in Aerith’s dream in chapter 14 accuses her and Cloud of looking like they’re “at a funeral” instead of on a date, the former interpretation is more likely.
Photographer
You don’t look like you’re on a date… More like “at a funeral”
Hidden Message?
When the camera zooms away from the reporters and through the wreckage of the Shinra building’s top 10 floors, we fly past two advertisement panels. One depicting Banora White, most likely a mere reference, and another Terrier Stamp’s Champs chips3 bag. However, something looks off about it. Instead of Stamp’s Champs, it merely says “pote pote“ and “Original” has been replaced by the number 303. Maybe it means nothing, though I find it curious how 303 matches the HTTP status code4 for “redirecting the client to another resource“ and “pote pote” is a Japanese onomatopoeia for "(walking) slowly; with soft-footed steps (of toddlers, small animals, etc.)"5 which sounds like little Terrier Stamp casually leading a lost soul to the correct location. As if this world is not the one you’re looking for...
Update from May 13th 2025: deltasyn on Twixter proposed that 303 may stand for Remake’s original release date on March 3rd 2020 and pote pote may simply refer to potato chips sold in Japan, one of which is branded My Pote, which is also short for the Japanese way of pronouncing potatoe: 「ポテト」as in po-te-to.
Let us know which interpretation you prefer or if you have a different one entirely!
White Feather, Again
The white feather floating towards Zack and disappearing off-screen right after is never seen again in the whole game, which leads me to believe that it really is just a reference to the white feather that appears at the very end of Crisis Core after Zack dies before the credits roll. Or to Angeal6 in general, who is also dead. Another indicator for Zack and this world not being real.
Interrupted by Vehicle
There’s a short interruption during the reporter’s commentary when a Shinra vehicle drives past.
Reporter
Multiple reactor bombings, followed by the fall of the—
This can be seen in the scene itself and later on the big screen in sector 5’s undercity with Zack watching. Keep this in mind for Kalm in chapter 2 where we talk about this report and the state of Midgar again.
The Nature of the Terrier World
Right off the bat, we experience multiple differences from the main continuity as summarized earlier. However, several details which transpired before the depicted fallout are not new occurrences. Let’s rewind to the final chapter of Remake to remind ourselves what happened within the Singularity.
Two tornadoes appear, make copies of chunks of the expressway, close in on our party, and fuse together as one to suck them up into the sky. This is where Cloud is separated from his friends and ends up running and jumping across floating debris by himself until he meets Barret and Tifa, and later Aerith and Red XIII. After defeating the Whisper Harbinger, Meteor pushes through what looks to be Holy’s core and starts ravaging Midgar7 before Sephiroth appears floating in mid-air to suck it up. During that, we notice that the sector 2 plate is the most affected by Meteor’s destructive power.
Finally back and in control, Sephiroth uses some sort of memory telekinesis to toss debris at our group, specifically the top of the Shinra building, followed by a train and other debris. Feels familiar, doesn’t it?
Furthermore, the first scene shown after starting the game contains a quick summary of Remake’s chapter 18 including Cloud and the gang’s escape from the Shinra building by bike and car, the purple tornado, and facing Sephiroth in the Singularity including the floating top part of the Shinra building. As if to show that this summary video and the world in the prologue are connected.
To summarize, we have the following parallels between Remake’s chapter 18 and Rebirth’s prologue:
The tornado ravaging Midgar in the prologue feels like a mixture between the purple Singularity tornado and one of Meteor’s burning tornado arms. The flaming tornado moving towards the Shinra building to dislocate and break off the top 10 executive floors is also a parallel to Sephiroth’s encore show in the Visual Entertainment Hall’s Cosmos Theater presentation on the Shinra building’s 61st floor in Remake.
Left: Terrier tornado — right: Meteor in the Cosmos Theater presentation Sector 2 being the most affected in the prologue as well as in Remake chapter 18 when Meteor appears to destroy Midgar before Sephiroth absorbs it all. Though this could as well just be a coincidence.
Sector 2 is the most affected in both instances Cloud being separated from the others in the Singularity and not present in the prologue when the others are salvaged from the wrecked expressway.
Cloud meeting Barret and Tifa first before later meeting up with Aerith and Red XIII in the Singularity, while Barret and Tifa are wheeled into one helicopter first, and Aerith and Red XIII into the other afterwards.
Identical pairings in the Singularity (left) and the Terrier world (right) Sephiroth flinging the top ten executive floors of the Shinra building towards Cloud and the party in Remake’s Singularity (middle) while the same building part is now lying in the sector 5 plate wreckage, clearly flung off of the main building beforehand by the tornado (left), similar to the end of Sephiroth’s Visual Entertainment Hall presentation where time stops right on impact (right).
The toppling of the Shinra building's executive floors seems to be a running theme... A train being tossed across Midgar’s remains in the Singularity along with other debris, courtesy of Sephiroth, while a similar train is also flung around between and into sky scrapers in the prologue.
Train tossing in the Terrier world and the Singularity Cloud and gang are sucked up by the purple tornadoes before it transitions to Cloud in the air high above Midgar in Remake while Rebirth’s prologue shows many Shinra troops and trucks experience the same fate before the feed is cut off and the aftermath is shown again.
The party is sucked up by the Singularity tornado similar to Shinra troops in the Terrier world And finally, Zack lives and is dragging an unresponsive Cloud towards Midgar in both Remake’s ending and Rebirth’s prologue opening. Plus, Terrier Stamp is seen in both of those instances—on a Stamp’s Champs chips/crisps bag and on a billboard respectively.
Above: Remake's ending — below: Rebirth's prologue
Long story short, we gathered enough evidence by now to conclude that the Terrier world is the result of events in the Singularity. For one, defeating “Destiny” is what allowed a fictitious scenario to materialize as a tangible world within the planet’s memories8 and for another, certain events which transpired in the Singularity found their way into this new fictitious world, and the result is a world where Avalanche was caught in a natural disaster, Zack survived Shinra’s onslaught, Cloud is now in Zack’s care instead of conspiring with Avalanche, and Biggs was brought to the Leaf House, alive.9
To retain internal consistency and prevent multiple instances of a character, Cloud is deemed on the run and unaccounted for when in “reality” he’s with Zack. However, since this world represents a mere what-if scenario and is the result of a patchwork of multiple possibilities disconnected from each other, a golden rift10 in the sky denotes its unreal nature. It bursts at the seams, so to speak.
Of course, we just scratched the surface of this whole topic, so we’ll talk more about it when we reach the respective points in the story.
The Fate of Avalanche
As mentioned before, Avalanche experiences a vastly different fate compared to Remake. But why? Keeping the conclusion from before in mind we can paint a clearer picture.
Firstly, they were caught up in a tornado, similar to what happens right after entering the Singularity. Speaking of, right after doing so, everything around them looks still the same, as if they entered a mirror version of their original world. Thinking further, that’s exactly what the Terrier world represents. A world which builds upon what happened in Remake up to the end of the unfinished expressway but diverges afterwards with the tornado and Zack coming into the picture. First mirrored, then altered.11
We can tell that this is true based on evidence found in the game. When exiting the sector 5 undercity through the wall and continuing towards the helicopter’s crash site with Zack, we run past the crashed wreckage of M.O.T.O.R., the expressway chase’s end boss. Cloud and co. at least reached the end of that unfinished expressway in this continuity. Furthermore, Marlene is still living with Elmyra12 and Biggs remembers Cloud and Shinra’s assault on the sector 7 pillar.13 Even Kyrie is still around.
Moreover, after salvaging the other four party members and bringing them into custody, Shinra troops are still scurrying about searching for a highly dangerous Ex-SOLDIER with a buster sword who’s working with Avalanche. They are clearly looking for Cloud as Zack hasn’t been in the picture for over two months14 and Cloud was the one in cahoots with Avalanche for the past week. Naturally, when Zack appears at the crash site matching the description of the fugitive to a T, Shinra thinks they found the target and immediately engage in combat.
When you think about it, this alternate reality would just be that, if it wasn’t for an anachronistic Zack being thrown into this world. However, since his fate had been changed by someone for some reason at the same time this alternate world was created through the events in the Singularity, it was weaved into this new world somehow.
But why is Cloud with him and not with the others? Well, Zack remembers having Cloud with him so he would return to Midgar with Cloud in tow. However, since the other four party members are unconscious or dead, they wouldn’t care about a missing Cloud or just think he made it out unscathed if they miraculously came to. This is how the fabric and continuity of this made-up world remains intact. Memory has its ways to maintain consistency. It’s the same mechanic which lets us believe that our dreams are real as long as we reside within them. No matter how crazy or discombobulated, it all seems to make sense!15
Speaking of dead or unconscious, which one is it? We already combed over this question in the Critital Condition segment of Game Analysis #30 so I won’t elaborate on the tiny details, especially since we now have the full context at hand instead of a short trailer. Let’s therefore look at the prologue as a whole.
Barret, Tifa, Aerith, and Red XIII all appear unconscious. Even Tifa’s arm limply gives in to gravitational forces after being wheeled over uneven ground and experiencing random vibrations. All four are covered in soot and grime, indicating they may had to be dug up from under rubble and debris, despite no external wounds being visible. At this stage, whether they’re dead or alive is unknown.
However, the reason for why the second helicopter falls out of the sky is not a technical failure. Red XIII somehow woke up to attack the two pilots and force the helicopter down to the ground. Unfortunately, when Zack arrives and deals with Shinra’s military forces, Red XIII has fallen unconscious again and his fur is littered with cuts and bruises. The chance of his survival is slim.
Still, despite the game trying to goad us into believing that Aerith didn’t make it and even briefly re-enacts her original death scene with the white Materia falling out of her ribbon, we learn later on that she’s still alive but unconscious and sleeping.
When looking at the bigger picture, only Aerith’s quasi survival is pertinent in this parallel world. Whether or not Barret, Tifa, and Red XIII somehow make it is utterly irrelevant. They’re out of the picture and never appear again in this world besides on crossed-out mugshots on a wanted poster and a brief mention by Marlene and Biggs. In the latter cases, both insinuate that their family and friends are dead.
Marlene
Biggs isn’t coming back, Tifa isn’t coming back,
Daddy isn’t coming back!Biggs
Their luck runs out but mine doesn’t?
I’m the only one who gets a pass?
But then there is this short segment in the live broadcast that spells out their condition, calling them “survivors” and asking for the SAR (Search and Rescue) team, which you won’t do for deceased victims.16
Reporter: “The survivors are being taken away!“
Security Officer: “Contact the SAR team.“
Apparently, Avalanche is still alive, even though this fact doesn’t matter at all after the prologue, and Marlene and Biggs even give off a different impression as mentioned above.
In conclusion, this new Terrier world is based on the Events in Remake17 combined with the result of defying fate like Zack and Biggs’ survival. Actually, this very change might be the trigger for the calamity befalling Midgar here. Biggs, and especially Zack were not meant to survive. The existence of Zack and an unresponsive Cloud in another temporal and spacial context is what led to the appearance of the tornado that ensures a logical consistency within this new fictional world. A butterfly effect, if you will.18 This is similar to our party’s entry into the Singularity and how it was met with tornadoes and the Whisper Harbinger as a defense system. Our interference with fate has enabled Zack to survive in a newly created what-if world and our interference is also what caused the correction in the form of a tornado to transpire in said world.
The Role of this Prologue
We talked about a lot of details and answered many lingering questions about this bizarre prologue and the Terrier world it depicts. But what is the purpose of this prologue in the first place? Why start with this made-up world? Why show the Rebirth logo over Zack and Cloud reaching Midgar?
In my very first CCO19 video back in November 2017, I tried to predict how many parts this FFVII remake project would consist of and where the splitting points would be. If you’re interested in reading or watching it yourself, feel free to do so below:
If you don’t have the time or already read/watched it but need a refresher: based on the 3-act structure—a narrative structure used in many stories across all types of media—I predicted that the first installment would end when the party leaves Midgar and the second one when Meteor is summoned at the Northern Crater. This makes sense story-wise since the Nibelheim flashback in Kalm is a partially fabricated story told by SOLDIER Cloud, the partial truth of which is revealed by Sephiroth at the Northern Crater. It also depicts Sephiroth’s decent into madness, the Black Materia and Meteor are introduced later on, and all of that culminates at the Northern Crater where Meteor is summoned and the characters reach their lowest point in the story.20
In my opinion, and apparently that of many others, this would have been the perfect story arc for Rebirth. Additionally, Aerith’s death and thus her absence would have been felt in gameplay as well, at least for a little while longer. Now, we have three to four years to come to terms with it and nothing the third installment may bring to the table will hit as hard as the original story could. If you want to know more about my thoughts regarding this topic and haven’t done so already through the link provided in the introduction, have a read of my postmortem article below:
A Different Story Arc
With Rebirth ending at the Forgotten Capital and Aerith’s Death and bringing the setup in this very prologue to a conclusion, this middle segment of the complete story receives a different meaning.
Instead of summoning Meteor after being given the Black Materia by Cloud, Sephiroth manages to perform the reunion of worlds.21 Instead of completely breaking down, believing his life had been a lie, and then handing over the Black Materia willingly, Cloud still believes in his own fabricated world which now includes a still living Aerith and leads him to see a golden rift in the sky. Instead of being and remaining dead, some form of Aerith helps Cloud fight Sephiroth and says goodbye to everyone before having one last talk with Cloud. Instead of… you get the point.
It seems like the Nibelheim flashback is not necessary anymore for this new arc’s resolution. It merely serves as a backstory for how Sephiroth became who he is now—sort of—and as a setup for Cloud’s not-so-accurate retelling of that incident which is being slowly dismantled and patched-up again with duct tape over the course of the story. It also sets the basis for Sephiroth’s deception regarding Tifa not being the real thing to drive her and Cloud apart.
Instead, this alternate Terrier world is established as a setup for the multiple worlds shenanigans in chapter 14, multi-world Sephiroth Reborn, Cloud’s cope world where Aerith lives, and provides the creators a vehicle to shove Zack into a story he previously hasn’t been a part of.22 This story arc is not about Meteor, nor is it about Cloud’s total mental breakdown—although they both are important plot elements which are bound to play a major role in the third installment. It is a newly conceived and constructed arc which ends with a Schrödinger’s Aerith.23 We will dive deep into this topic at the very end of this series of articles, so let’s consider the following for the purposes of this first part: Aerith seems to pass away in an alternate world at the end of the prologue while being perfectly healthy in the main world. Then, at the end of the game, Aerith is killed in the main world whereas she appears to be still alive in Cloud’s cope world. Thus, until one of those “realities” is set in stone and becomes the actual truth, or both are merged at some point to realize one of those two fates, Aerith is both dead and alive at the same time.
In essence, the main story arc of Rebirth is about new mysteries and plot points, with the creation and reunion of worlds at the forefront. That includes the Whispers, Aerith in chapter 14, the empty Materia, and everything related to Zack. All elements from the original game, despite having been lovingly recreated at a much grander scale, feel like mere flesh around the bones.24 Many original plot points like the Black Materia and Cloud’s mental state are not even resolved by the end. Even this new impostor Tifa thread has not found any conclusion yet. And if we’re being pedantic, this new many-world concept introduced in the prologue also does not quite find and end point, despite being the main narrative mechanic in chapter 14. Rebirth feels like one huge setup for the third installment.
Answering Questions
So, let’s pose the questions again: why start with this prologue? The simple answer would be that the final chapter wraps up the story in and about this alternate world and its multiple permutations, and it’s possible that we won’t see them again. But that’s also what we initially believed about the Whispers in Remake. Boy did this notion age poorly.
But why show the game’s logo over Zack and Cloud reaching Midgar? We surely will get back to this point in the future but my personal preliminary conclusion is that the title is shown in this alternate world because this game’s main purpose might be the rebirth of the main world. It was remade at the end of Remake leading into the Unknown Journey, and is now reborn after the reunion of worlds even if the morrow is barren of promises… I mean even if No Promises Await at Journey’s End.25
Anyway, why end with the allusion to Aerith dying? This is probably the most hamfisted setup in recent memory. It directly foreshadows what is meant to happen in the main continuity. However, knowing that Aerith only fell into a coma in the Terrier world begs the question whether she will truly die at the end of this game. And lo and behold… it became complicated, as mentioned earlier. Still, the Prologue ends with Aerith’s “death” and the final chapter also ends with Aerith’s “death.” If this is the only real conclusion in this middle arc, I guess we can consider Rebirth the Aerith arc like Remake was the Shinra arc? I refuse to call this the “Reunion of Worlds“ arc since we still don’t know what exactly this reunion entails and to what degree Sephiroth was successful. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This discussion shall continue in articles about chapters 13 and 14.
A Big Bridge
That being said, if the plot points set up in the prologue don’t really lead to a satisfactory conclusion at the end, is there any merit to its existence? Well, before chapter 14, this Terrier world is the only one we get a glimpse of every now and then. And it is also the only one teased at the end of Remake where Zack miraculously survives and witnesses the Whisper dome’s explosion. This prologue thus neatly connects to the previous game if you consider the creation of alternate worlds one of if not the main element of this remake project.
With this in mind, we can regard this middle installment of three as one that connects the first and last one in terms of new plot elements. It builds upon and provides context for the new mysteries teased at the end of Remake and leaves enough loose ends to set up the third installment. In the end, we can consider this second installment as a bridge26 between the beginning and the end. Which is fine, but doesn’t quite hold up to the promise that each installment would be its own independent game and unique experience, and that you could play them out of order. Unless I’m being too pedantic and Rebirth still works as an individual game for most players. You can be the judge of that.
So, in conclusion, the prologue doesn’t just set up a plot point and concept for the end of the game as it lacks a clear resolution, it rather builds upon new elements that were teased at the end of Remake. Consequently, the ending is not really there to wrap up the narrative and previous set-ups (as it clearly does not do a good job with that) but to act as a jumping-off point for the final installment.
Wrapped Up or Not?
“But Remake also didn’t wrap things up!” I hear you complain. While it did leave many points open for the next game, as it should, it did wrap up the Midgar arc and the initial fight against Shinra. The intro establishes Midgar as the location the game takes place in and chapter 1 is about fighting back against those who leech off the planet and cause it to slowly wither away. With the party leaving the dystopian and oppressive megalopolis and its president killed by the protagonist’s nemesis, this part of the story is done. The focus has shifted to Sephiroth instead.
Conversely, nothing set up in Rebirth has been wrapped up. We’re still after Sephiroth, multiple worlds are most likely still a thing, Zack is still around albeit his current location unclear, Cloud’s mental state is as unstable as ever, we still have to deal with the Black Materia and Meteor, the renewed war with Wutai is still ramping up, Shinra is still after the Magnus Materia, the Whispers are still roaming about, and many other parallel stories are still ongoing, too. Though we at least wrapped up Aerith’s story, right? Depending on who you ask, she’s either dead or believed to have stayed behind to pray and deal with Sephiroth. Just like the Whispers were defeated for good at the end of Rema… ke… oh no.27
Zack’s Importance & Bonds
And on that note, back to Zack. Why make him such an important part of this new multiple worlds mystery? Naoki Hamaguchi states that Zack will be an integral element of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth during an interview at the Thailand Game Show 2023 and that Zack "will play an important role as a major character." Furthermore, Kazushige Nojima mentions Buddhism’s Yogachara and Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious as two concepts he researched for writing the story.28 We’ll go into those two concepts in much more detail in a future article. For now, just remember that Zack is apparently important and the reality of this alternate world is in the eye of the beholder while all those different worlds may be a part of a unified entity.
Regarding themes in Rebirth, Naoki Hamaguchi revealed that, in order to align everybody under the same vision and enable a seamless working environment, they chose “bonds” as one of the central themes for Rebirth which permeates narrative and gameplay alike.29 If we look at the prologue, the ending, and everything in between through this lens, we can certainly see a bright red thread throughout the whole game. Zack and Cloud share an important bond, Zack and Aerith share a special one as well, Sephiroth and Cloud are intrinsically linked, it’s complicated with Cloud and Tifa—especially with Sephiroth making a mess of things now—but their bond remains a strong one nonetheless.30 Then we have every permutation between everybody else for good measure, especially in combat with synergy skills and abilities. Though the specifically named bond pairings are of high importance for the narrative. The bonds of Zack and Cloud as well as Zack and Aerith are visibly established in the prologue and play a role throughout the game in the Terrier world and chapter 14. Although I would still argue that nothing is resolved at the end, just changed, for better or for worse.
But again, why choose Zack specifically for this alternate world? For one, he seems to be the most beloved Final Fantasy character in Japan, according to a poll held in 2012. For another, he is important to both Cloud and Aerith, the two characters who struggle the most against Sephiroth. But whether Zack’s inclusion was truly warranted or just fan service remains to be seen. We will make a definitive statement at the end of this article series.
That’s it for now. I yapped enough about the prologue alone. It’s time to move on. In the next article, we will take a step back from this flustercuck of worlds and tackle the question “is it Cloud or Zack?“ for each story beat in chapter 1.
Until then and take care!
RNG stands for Random Number Generator and this time, it spat out a very large one…
We already talked about this weird and nonsensical “redesign” of Midgar in Game Analysis #27 (timestamped) and I’m glad we were proven correct. I personally very much dislike the bulky rectangular design in that scene and in The First SOLDIER. Reference images below:
Or “crisps” if you’re Bri’ish.
HTTP response status codes indicate whether a specific HTTP request has been successfully completed. Source: mdn web docs. The code 303 specifically is returned when the requested resource—like a web page or an image—has been moved to a different address. A 303 response therefore also includes the new address allowing the web client to automatically request the desired resource at the correct location.
For more information, see the White Feather segment in Game Analysis #28.
This is very reminiscent of the original game’s ending sequence where Holy appears and tries to fend off Meteor but fails and the latter manages to push through until the Lifestream emerges all around from the ground to help and repel Meteor for good.
We will delve deeper into this concept once we reach Cosmo Canyon because one seminar attendee has an interesting theory to share.
Biggs wakes up in a bed in the Leaf House’s upper floor at the end of Remake and appears alive and well later in Rebirth.
While this rift cannot be seen in the prologue, it is a predominant element of this Terrier world—and others—in later parts of the story. That’s why I opted to briefly mention it here. We’ll talk much more about it in later parts of this article series.
This mirroring and altering happens again at the beginning of chapter 14 with Aerith’s so-called dream, but that’s for a future article.
We see/hear them in Remake’s ending scene compilation and both appear in later Terrier world segments.
We will talk more about Biggs and his memory when we reach that part of the story.
Zack dies at the end of September in [ ν ] – εуλ 0007 (or [μ] depending on the source) while the main story starts on December 9th of the same year. For reference: check out the timeline on either TheLifestream.net or the Final Fantasy Wiki, or alternatively the official shorter timeline found in the Final Fantasy VII Remake World Preview book on page 65 (excerpt below).
Unless by chance or after some training you realize that it really is just a dream and transition into the lucid dreaming state, often gaining the ability to control your dream to your liking until the lucid state slips away again.
The Rescueman’s Creed
”It is my duty as a Rescueman to save life and to aid the injured. I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things we (I) do, that others may live.”
The fall of the sector 7 plate as mentioned in the live broadcast, the escape on the expressway including the defeat over M.O.T.O.R. as seen by its wreckage in sector 5’s outskirts, and some events transpiring in and elements from the Singularity.
Incidentally, the term originates from a weather prediction model where rounding an initial number led to a prediction of vastly different weather conditions and the conclusion was that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil may end up causing a tornado in Texas (see the second paragraph in the section “Lorenz’s contributions“ at https://www.britannica.com/science/butterfly-effect).
In Rebirth’s case, the “flap of Zack’s wings” may have caused the tornado in Midgar.
CCO stands for Cosmo Canyon Observatory, if you’re new here and didn’t pay attention to the page header ;)
Similar to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back which is generally regarded as the best entry in the movie continuity, if I remember correctly. Incidentally, like FFVII Rebirth, it is the second installment in a trilogy.
To be fair, A reunion also happens at the Northern Crater: the Reunion of Jenova cells brought there by black hooded figures, Jenova’s body steered there by Sephiroth’s will, and Jenova’s head which ended up in the depths of the Northern Crater via the Lifestream after falling into the Nibelheim reactor’s Mako pool 5 years prior. The Reunion of Worlds is therefore a substitute for Jenova’s Reunion, although the ramifications and the completion rate of the former remain unclear.
Zack is the most important element in Cloud’s identity crisis and the revelation of the truth behind it, but was never an active part of the original game’s story or plot. Crisis Core managed to shove Zack into every facet of the FFVII canon which made it impossible to not include him in this remake trilogy, one pillar of which consists of including as much compilation material as possible. So, the only way to include a character that is integral to the backstory and development of the story’s main character but was never part of the story itself is making him the main character in an alternate world separate from the one telling the main story.
“Schrödinger’s cat argues that, […] until an observer opens the box and reveals the cat’s fate, the cat is both alive and dead“ — Source: https://www.britannica.com/science/Schrodingers-cat
It seems like our interpretation of Rebirth’s first teaser trailer’s direction was spot on when applying the same logic to Rebirth’s story arc. Expanded content from the original game wrapped in the new mysteries.
We’ll get to the significance of LOVELESS another time. I just couldn’t resist.
And since we fight an innumerate amount of battles in this massive game in addition to Jenova and Sephiroth, especially in Chadley’s VR space and the Gold Saucer’s Musclehead Coliseum in its Battle Square, you could call this game the “Battle on the Big Bridge“ …oh.
See you in Final Fantasy VII Releasemefromsuffering…
Relevant entry from the FFVII Rebirth Ultimania as translated by the Shinra Archaeology Department:
Story and Scenario
Stellavista Ltd.
Kazushige Nojima
Noteworthy Works: FFVII, FFVII Remake, FFVII Advent Children, FFVIII, FFX, Kingdom Hearts
A Secret About the Game Only I Know
“In writing the scenario for this game, I studied things like Buddhism’s Yogachara and Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious. I think referring to these should make it easier to understand how the world of this game is set up. They may even give you a hint as to how the story will conclude.”
Relevant Quote: “For "FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH", we chose "bonds" as one of the central themes. Upon reviewing Kazushige Nojima's script, I was struck by the meticulous attention given to the characters' relationships. Given that the story experience centers around these bonds, I made it clear to the team that every aspect of the game – from the narrative to the battle systems – should be designed with this concept in mind.“
See their make-up scene in Gongaga village after the disaster in the reactor. However, after Aerith’s death, Tifa acts very distant towards Cloud and cannot look him in the eyes during the ending…