Does DoC's opening cutscene take place before or during Meteorfall?

Legend

Legend

Rookie Adventurer
Hi, I'm new here. Have a few questions about the timeline of certain events.

According to FFWiki (https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII_timeline), the "Raid on Midgar" event takes place on January 14, εγλ 0008 - AVALANCHE returns to Midgar after Weapon attacks the Shinra Building and Hojo seizes control of the Sister Ray. Rufus is presumably killed from the attack. Meteorfall takes place one week later, on January 21, εγλ 0008 (the chosen day).

In the opening cutscene of DoC, Yuffie and Vincent are in Midgar evacuating the citizens, presumably during Meteorfall (Jan 21). The cutscene also shows Rufus on a stretcher. But Rufus was injured during the Raid on Midgar (Jan 14). Does this mean he was missing for seven days?

In OtWtaS: Case of Shinra, Rufus uses an escape tunnel after Weapon attacks and is found by Reno and Rude. The novella doesn't mention how many days passed by between Weapon's attack and Rufus' rescue. But it does mention that he didn't know how long he was in the room, so maybe it was actually seven days. It's hard to believe he survived after no one was able to find him for that long. (What did the Turks do during that time?) Then again, there was also still life in Hojo.

But it gets more confusing:

The timeline at https://squareenixmembers.webs.com/Timeline.htm (not sure if how "official" it is) states that the evac and rescue occurs during the Raid on Midgar (Jan 13, not 14, oddly enough, but whatever). It's more believable that Rufus was found on Jan 13/14 than 21, but then what was the point of evac? The timeline on TLS (https://thelifestream.net/lifestrea...omplete-timeline-of-the-compilation-of-ffvii/) states that "AVALANCHE works together to evacuate civilians from damaged parts of the city" and "Vincent catches what appears to be a momentary flicker of life in Hojo before losing sight of him". The exact day of this event is not mentioned but the evac wasn't because of Meteor. It's also listed under the section before the chosen day and final battle with Sephiroth (Meteorfall).

In short, my question is: Does DoC's opening cutscene (and Rufus' rescue) take place during the Raid on Midgar (Jan 14) or Meteorfall (Jan 21)?
 
Odysseus

Odysseus

Ninja Potato
AKA
Ody
When the scene was originally made, it was to explain where Yuffie and Vincent had gone off to at the end of FF7 beause they aren't in the closing cinematic. HOWEVER, the more you think about this placement, the less sense it makes. Rufus could not have survived for a week without food or water, and neither could Hojo who was seemingly just finished uploading his brain to the internet when Vincent finds him. Kitase seems to have realized the issue, and moved the scene to take place shortly after the fight with Hojo, rather than a week later. Evacuating citizens from the plate would probably be better to do early rather than immediately prior to impact anyway.
 
Tetsujin

Tetsujin

he/they
AKA
Tets
The real question is why was Yuffie put in charge of search and rescue operations in that scene
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Legend

Legend

Rookie Adventurer
Thanks for the clarification, guys. Definitely makes more sense that it took place on Jan 13/14.

Though I now have to wonder, the Turks were also helping with evac according to OtWtaS: Case of Shinra and the epilogue of BC. I'm not sure if those two events are actually linked and happen on the same day.

In OtWtaS, it's stated that the Turks run into Tifa and Yuffie at some point of the evac (further confirming that it happened at least a few days before Meteorfall). But it also mentions that their reunion with the former Turks occurs not long after Rufus witnesses the "fated day" (Meteorfall) in Kalm.

In BC, the Turks mention how close Meteor is to the Planet so the reunion probably does happen during Meteorfall (Jan 21), and a final evac is necessary. However, the timeline on Square Enix Members (link above) has this event placed under Jan 13, during the Raid on Midgar. Is this placement incorrect?
 
Sephira

Sephira

That Silver-haired Lady
AKA
Sephiravania
I have to agree with the fact of the timeline being confusing, but it pretty much happens before Meteorfall.

Rufus was presumed dead but escaped through that secret tunnel and was later found by Reno and Rude (according to the Wikia) on January 13. This makes more sense than him being found by Vincent and Yuffie on January 21, who should be fighting Sephiroth in the Northern Crater along with Cloud and the others that day. Also, the timeline on Square-Enix Members state that Vincent went back to the Sister Ray feeling that Hojo was still alive after they had presumably defeated him, and this is what we see during the Dirge of Cerberus opening cutscene, with the explosion that forces him to retreat and all.

So, Hojo uploads his consciousness to the Internet on January 13, the party defeats Sephiroth seven days later on the Chosen Day (January 21), then Advent Children happens and then Dirge of Cerberus, two years later according to these timelines and three years later according to DoC itself, as there is a screen displaying "Three years later" after the cutscene with the evacuation and Hojo and all.
 
C

Clement Rage

Pro Adventurer
I'm not fluent in the intricacies of Cookie Monster, but that's a shot of a man in a white coat, where we don't see his head. There's room to maneuver.
 
Rydeen

Rydeen

In-KWEH-dible
You can tell that there is a black turtleneck underneath. You can also tell that the first half of his body is dressed with a double breasted jacket, while the latter half has only one set of buttons, indicating two jackets that match Rufus' unique apparel.
 
Teioh

Teioh

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Teiocho
Maybe he's the decoy who was said to have taken Rufus's place as mentioned in The Kids Are Alright :monster:

Btw I do believe that we are seeing Rufus in that DoC cutscene, the above statement was made in jest :P
 
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