Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth explained: How the trilogy could end

Though the game hasn’t been out for that long, it’s time to talk about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the shenanigans that occur towards the end of the game. This is a space to break down some possibilities for the third entry in the trilogy, but also to examine how pop culture has shaped this part of the Final Fantasy VII canon.

Before we go any further, you will need to have completely finished the main story of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and reached the credits. This takes around 35 hours if you mainline the core adventure.

Spoiler warning: This article contains major spoilers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

FF7

Now, you might want to read our explanation of the game’s ending to understand everything. I’ll be looking at the multiversal properties of the remake project and how this could impact the trilogy and the series as a whole.

I wanted to title this article something along the lines of “Square Enix owes Marvel Comics some credit” but that would be slightly disingenuous. The idea is that Marvel, specifically through the MCU films and TV shows, is leading the way when it comes to using the concept of a multiverse but, of course, we’ve seen this mechanic used in various areas of popular culture. However, since Marvel pushed the multiverse button, ushering in an age where the idea already feels a bit stale, it has become more of a trope brought into other areas, and Final Fantasy VII is not immune.

Zack the Harbinger

As we near the end of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for PlayStation 5, we discover something very important about Zack Fair. He is a harbinger of the multiverse. It began at the end of Remake where we saw the traditional timeline split into two, with Zack surviving his battle with Shinra in one timeline, while the other carried on as we know it. Interestingly, this made Zack a tool for spawning more splits and producing more universes.

While we’ve nursed both Aerith and Cloud back to health throughout Rebirth’s story, we’ve also grown close to Biggs who wants to carry on the mission of Avalanche. At one point, Zack sits astride his motorcycle and must choose whether to find a cure for Cloud, nurse Aerith to health, or save Biggs from destroying himself and more reactors.

Biggs

Without realising it, Zack tears the timeline into three because there’s a possibility he can go in each direction. This wouldn’t be important normally, we’ve all had our own ‘Sliding Doors’ moments, but it’s important for Final Fantasy VII because of Sephiroth. In Rebirth, Sephiroth is aware of the alternate timelines and their outcomes. He’s done the Dr Strange tactic of looking at all the timelines. He knows his role is to destroy the planet and absorb the lifestream within, to merge all timelines into one where he rules over it.

This brings into question, what will happen in the third part of the remake trilogy seeing as Zack is left in Aerith’s church at the end of the game, and Aerith herself has died and lives on only as a spirit Cloud can see and talk to? Will Zack be able to interfere with the timeline any further? More importantly, will Aerith? Seeing as Aerith pulls Cloud into a separate timeline to give him a working white materia orb, what’s to say she can’t have an impact on the outcome in the future, as more of a guiding hand?

Reunion

It’s difficult to do more than speculate, but we’ve been given some glimpses of ideas that could manifest into solid plotlines for the third part of the trilogy. One word comes up a lot towards the end of Rebirth - ‘Reunion’. Now, it’s likely this will be the subtitle for the game as the series sticks with the letter ‘R’ - Remake, Rebirth, Reunion - but it could also hint at several possibilities.

As the game ends and Cloud talks to Aerith - the only member of the team who can - they make promises to each other. She promises to use her prayers to protect the planet, while he promises to defeat Sephiroth. A ‘reunion’ of sorts could happen in the third part which brings Aerith and Cloud back together, perhaps with her guiding him when Sephiroth’s control over Cloud’s mind becomes too strong.

Jenova

Of course, ‘reunion’ could mean the timelines coming together in one epic moment and giving us a definitive timeline that encompasses not only this trilogy and the original game but also the many spin-offs we’ve had to date. This word is mostly spoken by Sephiroth as he longs to reunite the Jenova cells found within himself, Cloud, and the robed men who were once SOLDIERS. So, it points to the culmination of the Jenova story and the carriers of Jenova meeting in the north.

The meeting of two loves

But I feel like we could be going elsewhere with this word. To Zack and Aerith. It’s no secret that Aerith is in love with Zack, and we hear of Zack’s love in return while he tends to Aerith throughout Rebirth. Before Zack falls into the church at the end of the game, he is separated from his love due to his death at the hands of Shinra, but now he exists within a new timeline, or perhaps the one where Aerith finds herself. Zack is a fan favourite and Square Enix knows this. They’re sure to want to give him his happily ever after and they can do that by reuniting the couple in whatever timeline they find themselves in, especially given that Aerith can seemingly traverse different universes.

Zack and Aerith

The concept of a multiverse can allow Final Fantasy VII’s trilogy to follow the original story, but bring new possibilities or new outcomes, tying up plots that have been left open for decades. We could also see this simplifying things - though that’s hard to tell, Square Enix loves complex storylines, I’m talking to you Kingdom Hearts - as the original game spawned so many spin-offs and even a film where it made things kind of muddy.

Perhaps this ‘reunion’ is more about unifying and establishing one true vision for the classic RPG, which was the ultimate goal of the development team going into this project. As the team mentioned in an interview about Remake, they had “An overarching goal [...] to make the game feel both "new and nostalgic" for players of the original game while exemplifying the idea of Final Fantasy VII for new players.”

Unifying

When I first saw the use of a multiverse in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I felt a little saddened and annoyed. It felt like Square Enix jumping on a train that was already running off the rails. While the concept is always cool, the success can be a little spotty. Thankfully, after completing the game two weeks ago, I've had time for the idea to sit and percolate, and I’m confident that this could be exactly what the series needs.

While companies like Marvel and DC use the multiverse to expand, by bringing in new versions of classic characters, it feels like Square Enix is using this trope to give fans the ultimate experience. They’re showing everything the original team and the new team want to achieve, using the popular multiverse idea, and therefore reuniting the different timelines to meet that goal and bring us the definitive Final Fantasy VII experience.