It isn't against all evidence, though. I pointed out last night that the original event has been inarguably changed -- the evidence of that being that Zack is still fine when the rain begins, and that he was seemingly healed from his last battle by the same gold "snow" that appears to have healed Biggs.
I should probably clarify that I meant "changed" in reference to fundamentally altering the inevitable conclusion Zack will face down. He saw the Whispers, and his walk to Midgar changed but nothing indicates that he doesn't meet his inevitable end. Yes, the depiction and stuff has been altered but we're not shown a fundamental, drastic 180 of Zack no longer meeting his end.
Now, the existence of this evidence does not definitively mean he didn't end up dead anyway two minutes later, but you need to stop acting like someone would have to be a fucking moron to take what was shoved in their face at face value. =P
Well here's the thing I'm going by. If we are to assume this time-travel scheme Sephiroth endeavored could have drastically altered the present to his aims, that would require that the consequences of the temporal meddling be manifested within the present. So any change in the past that would fundamentally alter the
present, would be
visible in the present. Because Sephiroth, as he showed to Cloud, and fought him over, wanted to fundamentally change what would happen in reality. Destiny's crossroads. "Let us defy destiny" etc etc.
If something such Zack living were to
happen, Cloud couldn't come back and be the same person. That Buster Sword couldn't be on his back, and Aerith would carry a
very different expression, than she did. I think those are highly significant details that speak to the situation.
There's no explanation given for anything Sephiroth is trying to do in the ending, so this isn't a relevant point. But let's also not pretend the words "timeline" and "present day" don't come up in the Whispers' data.
That's what I'm referring to, actually. The Whispers came from the
future to protect it. Presumably from Sephiroth.
Well, he doesn't act like someone who lost -- he seems quite pleased, in fact, both in the instant before Cloud's final blow in the real world and during their conversation/humiliation bout in the astral realm.
This would be one of those things folks are making reasonable inferences from.
Sephiroth hardly ever acts like someone who lost, to be fair. It takes a lot to ever make him crack his stoic poise.
However, what I'm referring to is...We don't see the vision of his intended "destiny" was, made manifest in reality. The whole crowd of people running in fear, dying, Meteorfall, etc. None of that comes to past; Cloud remains, and the progression of FFVII is allowed to happen.
If we're to assume, as Sephiroth clearly dictates to us, he wanted to change the present, defy destiny, and the stakes of that fight in that temporal space were as stated... If the past had been altered, we would be aware of it in a huge way. Especially in reference to Zack.