SPOILERS FFVII:R Chapter 7 Spoiler Discussion
- Thread starter Lex
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Theozilla
Kaiju Member
Another interesting change was that when President notices and acknowledges Cloud’s SOLDIER eyes, instead of going on about how great Sephiroth was (since the Remake is doing plenty of set-up/foreshadowing elsewhere), he mentions that apparently most SOLDIERS have shortened life-spans. IIRC this is a new addition for both the OG and Compilation. I wonder if this going to be “fixed/cured” over the course of the Remake or if we’re just supposed to assume that Cloud is going to be like Solid Snake post MGS4 after Dirge of Cerberus?
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
Considering the fact Cloud has his Jenova cells removed in Advent Children, whatever shortened lifespan he would suffer would be rendered moot.
Ironically, a shortened life span was his fate had Aerith not intervened.
Ironically, a shortened life span was his fate had Aerith not intervened.
Theozilla
Kaiju Member
Is that actually officially/explicitly confirmed? Because I actually asked about that subject a few years ago, and there wasn’t clear agreement on whether Cloud (and other Geostigma) had their Jenova cells removed in AC/C
https://thelifestream.net/forums/threads/jenova-cells-cant-be-erased.3861/page-10
I was asking about specifically in regards to the Dirge of Cerberus plot point of what constituted a “clean/pure” that DeepGround was abducting.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
I mean, Geostigma is stated to be caused by "Jenova's mimetic legacy" lurking within the Lifestream. And we know through OTWTS, and "The Kids Are Alright" that Jenova is theorized by Rufus as being the primary cause of the disease. And we know through Case of Lifestream Black, Sephiroth is using his memory and will through Jenova's cells within the planet and people, to create the disease and kill people.
Cloud ends up healed of his Geostigma on contact with Aerith's healing water. And upon Sephiroth's revival, he says to Cloud "Your Geostigma is gone.. That's too bad."
So through this synthesis of events and understanding, yes. Jenova cells are the physical cause of the disease.
Anyone still carrying Jenova's cells may carry the stigma, but due to Sephiroth's malevolent will no longer exerting influence from within the Lifestream, the disease has been halted. They're now merely carriers.
Cloud ends up healed of his Geostigma on contact with Aerith's healing water. And upon Sephiroth's revival, he says to Cloud "Your Geostigma is gone.. That's too bad."
So through this synthesis of events and understanding, yes. Jenova cells are the physical cause of the disease.
Anyone still carrying Jenova's cells may carry the stigma, but due to Sephiroth's malevolent will no longer exerting influence from within the Lifestream, the disease has been halted. They're now merely carriers.
Theozilla
Kaiju Member
I understand that, but being cured of Geostigma doesn’t automatically mean that the Jenova cells are gone. Another interpretation could be that curing Geostigma just renders the Jenova cells inert/benign, and that Sephiroth/Jenova’s will can’t influence them anymore. An interpretation which can be argued is supported by the DeepGround scanners in DoC, as it would be strange that there would still be people who registered as having Geostigma despite a cure being known, unless being cured didn’t mean the cells were removed, and thus would be considered “impure” by the DeepGround scanners.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
If it merely rendered the Jenova cells inert, why would Sephiroth state that the Geostigma was gone from Cloud? Think about the confrontation in Advent Children. If Cloud carried those Jenova cells within him while fighting Sephiroth, Sephiroth would have been able to influence him because those are his cells. Cloud carries not just any ordinary type of Jenova cells, but S-cells. Jenova cells cultivated from Sephiroth himself. Cloud did not however, and Sephiroth laments that he's no longer carrying Geostigma.
Pure Lifestream, the kind that Aerith uses to create her Healing Rain, is able to eradicate Jenova. This is shown in "The Kids Are Alright" when Evan kicks the piece of Jenova's arm into the pure Lifestream at the Northern Crater and it dissolves, along with Kadaj when he jumps after it. Furthermore, when Evan and Kyrrie make it to the Aerith's Church to heal Bits of his Geostigma, they sense the same warmth and benevolence they felt when they were at the Northern Crater and saved by the Lifestream from Kadaj. The Lifestream, the pure, benevolent portions of it that seemingly connect to Aerith, are able to heal Geostigma, and destroy Jenova.
However, the corrupted Lifestream that's black and is filled with those steeped in hatred and despair is connected to Sephiroth and carries Jenova cells. The Negative Lifestream.
In all explanations and adaptions that define what causes Geostigma, they state it's Jenova. The cells or the "mimetic legacy" of Jenova.
So it makes no sense to assume that Geostigma is cured by any other means but removal of the Jenova cells which is shown to happen when Aerith's will and healing water comes into contact with someone carrying those cells. If someone living outside of Edge, like those in Kalm, do not make their way to the spring to get healed, they simply carry the cells.
Pure Lifestream, the kind that Aerith uses to create her Healing Rain, is able to eradicate Jenova. This is shown in "The Kids Are Alright" when Evan kicks the piece of Jenova's arm into the pure Lifestream at the Northern Crater and it dissolves, along with Kadaj when he jumps after it. Furthermore, when Evan and Kyrrie make it to the Aerith's Church to heal Bits of his Geostigma, they sense the same warmth and benevolence they felt when they were at the Northern Crater and saved by the Lifestream from Kadaj. The Lifestream, the pure, benevolent portions of it that seemingly connect to Aerith, are able to heal Geostigma, and destroy Jenova.
However, the corrupted Lifestream that's black and is filled with those steeped in hatred and despair is connected to Sephiroth and carries Jenova cells. The Negative Lifestream.
In all explanations and adaptions that define what causes Geostigma, they state it's Jenova. The cells or the "mimetic legacy" of Jenova.
So it makes no sense to assume that Geostigma is cured by any other means but removal of the Jenova cells which is shown to happen when Aerith's will and healing water comes into contact with someone carrying those cells. If someone living outside of Edge, like those in Kalm, do not make their way to the spring to get healed, they simply carry the cells.
Theozilla
Kaiju Member
Hmmm, if you say so, I will take your word for it.
But a lot other people in the other thread seem to think otherwise (that Geostigma is just the negative symptoms of Sephiroth exerting his will over the Jenova cells, and that being cured of Geostigma does not remove/destroy Jenova cells from the body).
But a lot other people in the other thread seem to think otherwise (that Geostigma is just the negative symptoms of Sephiroth exerting his will over the Jenova cells, and that being cured of Geostigma does not remove/destroy Jenova cells from the body).
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
That presents the conundrum of how you remove a "will" from something, especially when said possessor of the will is still present and capable of exerting their influence 
Sephiroth's "will" wasn't able to be removed from Holy to allow it's escape from within the planet. The heroes had to kill/destroy the possessor of the will so as it would cease influencing the spell and allow it to burst forth. Likewise, you can't remove an intangible thing like "will" from Jenova's cells. You have to either destroy the source of the will, or destroy the cells entirely in order to treat the disease. Aerith and the Lifestream can destroy Jenova and its cells. Cloud with his sword can destroy Sephiroth. It's why we see Aerith's rain cause the black marks on Cloud's skin to dissolve in Lifestream-like energy. And it's why Evan and Kyrie are saved from death by being gently carried by the Lifestream to safety, and the Jenova arm-piece gets eradicated by the same benevolent Lifestream energy that is similar to what's found in the church.
Therefore Geostigma no longer exists, symptomatically and biologically.
Sephiroth's "will" wasn't able to be removed from Holy to allow it's escape from within the planet. The heroes had to kill/destroy the possessor of the will so as it would cease influencing the spell and allow it to burst forth. Likewise, you can't remove an intangible thing like "will" from Jenova's cells. You have to either destroy the source of the will, or destroy the cells entirely in order to treat the disease. Aerith and the Lifestream can destroy Jenova and its cells. Cloud with his sword can destroy Sephiroth. It's why we see Aerith's rain cause the black marks on Cloud's skin to dissolve in Lifestream-like energy. And it's why Evan and Kyrie are saved from death by being gently carried by the Lifestream to safety, and the Jenova arm-piece gets eradicated by the same benevolent Lifestream energy that is similar to what's found in the church.
Therefore Geostigma no longer exists, symptomatically and biologically.
- AKA
- TresDias
Particularly now, in light of the scene from "The Kids Are Alright" that Mako mentioned, I'd say we have to conclude the cells themselves are destroyed. That doesn't necessarily give us a contradiction with those folks in DoC, though.
Obviously I'd agree that anyone living close enough to Midgar as Kalm would go and get a proper cure post-AC even if their condition was no longer worsening once Seph was put down, but -- as Lex recently talked about in reference to COVID-19 -- viruses permanently alter the cell structure, even the very DNA, of their host.
Obviously I'd agree that anyone living close enough to Midgar as Kalm would go and get a proper cure post-AC even if their condition was no longer worsening once Seph was put down, but -- as Lex recently talked about in reference to COVID-19 -- viruses permanently alter the cell structure, even the very DNA, of their host.
- AKA
- The Engineer
I'd say it really depends "why" SOLDIERs have shortened life-spans. If it's due to the mako in them, then the entire party is screwed by the end of the game as they all end up going into the Lifestream at the end of the game. If it's Jenova's DNA mucking up the works... then it's a lot more variable. There's also the problem of Jenova's influence being very random depending on the individual. So who knows how that figures into things.
I don't think it' the mako though. You've got characters like Vincent who have just been exposed to mako and are doing the opposite of aging too fast. Plus, mako is more or less pure life-energy. So I have a very hard time seeing that being the issue.
Although... I'm not sure "shortened lifespan" is how we should read "cellular degradation". "Cellular degradation" is exactly how Genesis' issues in CC are described. And that was definetly caused by Jenova's influence. But it was less about "fast aging" and more about his body breaking down on him too fast. Only... that got fixed in the end of CC by the Lifestream somehow. In a very similar way to how geostigma is fixed now that I think about it...
Edit: Oh hey!
So yeah... unless we hear otherwise, I'm thinking it's Jenova Cells messing with things.
I don't think it' the mako though. You've got characters like Vincent who have just been exposed to mako and are doing the opposite of aging too fast. Plus, mako is more or less pure life-energy. So I have a very hard time seeing that being the issue.
Although... I'm not sure "shortened lifespan" is how we should read "cellular degradation". "Cellular degradation" is exactly how Genesis' issues in CC are described. And that was definetly caused by Jenova's influence. But it was less about "fast aging" and more about his body breaking down on him too fast. Only... that got fixed in the end of CC by the Lifestream somehow. In a very similar way to how geostigma is fixed now that I think about it...
Edit: Oh hey!
So yeah... unless we hear otherwise, I'm thinking it's Jenova Cells messing with things.
Theozilla
Kaiju Member
Though I also wonder how much individuals uniqueness/variation affects things. Similar to how some former SOLDIERs became Sephiroth copies while other didn't (or showed only a little influence like the Junon ex-SOLDIER). Or the surviving SOLDIER character in the Turks Side Story novel.
Wonder if that means Zack was like one those exceptional candidates, since he didn't really suffer any detrimental effects from being Hojo's additional experiments/tests.
Wonder if that means Zack was like one those exceptional candidates, since he didn't really suffer any detrimental effects from being Hojo's additional experiments/tests.
- AKA
- The Engineer
Zack ironically... has a Jenova ability none of the other SOLDIERs have. At least in CC. His entire Limit Break system seems to be based on copying other people's physical and mystic abilities and pulling them off when he remembers people strongly enough. Which sounds like it could be linked to Jenova's abilities to copy memories.. At the very least, we don't see anyone else with that ability. And Genesis and Angeal's copying abilities seem to be limited to DNA, not intangible stuff like abilities. Sephrioth can't copy any of his DNA or abilities; all of the beings with his DNA in them got it through Hojo's involvement.
One of the themes running through CC is that Shin-Ra passed over people who do have crazy Jenova abilities over because they don't have the traits Shin-Ra thinks they should have. But honestly... I kinda wonder what Hojo thinks a "Jenova ability" really is. Since it was only after Sephrioth was born that he found out Jenova wasn't an Ancient at all. I can imagine a whole slew of abilities that are linked to Jenova, but aren't... "weird" or OP enough for Hojo to consider looking into them. He's been wanting to prove Reunion Theory for a while now... I can see him ignoring anything that didn't fit with Reunion Theory.
I'd say either the Reunion experiments didn't work on Zack, or he has enough willpower that Sephrioth didn't effect him. Goodness knows Zack had enough willpower to become a SOLDIER in the first place, and then he watched Sephrioth go downhill to boot (not to mention all the other shit he went through in CC might have happened). So I'd say he's got a pretty good chance of at least not letting the mental stuff effect him.
One of the themes running through CC is that Shin-Ra passed over people who do have crazy Jenova abilities over because they don't have the traits Shin-Ra thinks they should have. But honestly... I kinda wonder what Hojo thinks a "Jenova ability" really is. Since it was only after Sephrioth was born that he found out Jenova wasn't an Ancient at all. I can imagine a whole slew of abilities that are linked to Jenova, but aren't... "weird" or OP enough for Hojo to consider looking into them. He's been wanting to prove Reunion Theory for a while now... I can see him ignoring anything that didn't fit with Reunion Theory.
I'd say either the Reunion experiments didn't work on Zack, or he has enough willpower that Sephrioth didn't effect him. Goodness knows Zack had enough willpower to become a SOLDIER in the first place, and then he watched Sephrioth go downhill to boot (not to mention all the other shit he went through in CC might have happened). So I'd say he's got a pretty good chance of at least not letting the mental stuff effect him.
- AKA
- Tets
I like how this Mako reactor looked the same...just blue. Just like the OG 
Discarding components of the Airbuster was a neat concept. I liked this whole slow buildup to the inevitable boss fight. Like "oh shit this thing is powerful gotta prepare and trash as much of it as we can before they deploy it"
Really heightened my anticipation for the whole thing.
Boss fight itself was fun too. I recorded it if anyone wants to see me struggle to stay alive and pausing to comment on the music, totally forgetting I'm on a timer
Discarding components of the Airbuster was a neat concept. I liked this whole slow buildup to the inevitable boss fight. Like "oh shit this thing is powerful gotta prepare and trash as much of it as we can before they deploy it"
Really heightened my anticipation for the whole thing.
Boss fight itself was fun too. I recorded it if anyone wants to see me struggle to stay alive and pausing to comment on the music, totally forgetting I'm on a timer
dunkindonato
Rookie Adventurer
- AKA
- AC Lover
That presents the conundrum of how you remove a "will" from something, especially when said possessor of the will is still present and capable of exerting their influence
Sephiroth's "will" wasn't able to be removed from Holy to allow it's escape from within the planet. The heroes had to kill/destroy the possessor of the will so as it would cease influencing the spell and allow it to burst forth. Likewise, you can't remove an intangible thing like "will" from Jenova's cells. You have to either destroy the source of the will, or destroy the cells entirely in order to treat the disease. Aerith and the Lifestream can destroy Jenova and its cells. Cloud with his sword can destroy Sephiroth. It's why we see Aerith's rain cause the black marks on Cloud's skin to dissolve in Lifestream-like energy. And it's why Evan and Kyrie are saved from death by being gently carried by the Lifestream to safety, and the Jenova arm-piece gets eradicated by the same benevolent Lifestream energy that is similar to what's found in the church.
Therefore Geostigma no longer exists, symptomatically and biologically.
I was wondering though, since Cloud got his SOLDIER strength from Jenova cells, wouldn't having them removed also affect his abilities as well?
New guy here by the way.....
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
It was never just Jenova cells, Mako played a heavy part. And Cloud had an innate talent for sportsmanship too. So as seen in AC, Cloud doesn't lose anything.
- AKA
- TresDias
And also his cellular structure should remain altered permanently at this point anyway.
- AKA
- Alex T
I'm keeping a log of my thoughts after each chapter. Here's Chapter 7!
- Happy to see that sliding down a pipe in the Sector 5 reactor was retained in the remake
- Just like the original, Mako Reactor 5 uses the same assets as Mako Reactor 1, even down to the blue hue over everything
- I can't believe the button pressing minigame has been expanded on in the Remake. It's funny to me that some things didn't make the cut, like seeing 7th Heaven's secret basement, but yet this minigame is now a full-fledged feature
- I was hoping for some sweet materia after disposing all of Air Buster's M-units, but alas, I only got common items. Will remove the other components in my next playthrough
- Interesting how Shinra is manipulating public opinion of Avalanche. In the original, I could probably count the number of times the war with Wutai was mentioned on one hand, but now you can see how it lingers in the populace's consciousness
- President Shinra reveals that the process to create SOLDIERs deteriorates a candidate's cellular structure. They will eventually die. Wow. The ramifications of this are far-reaching. First of all, Cloud's plot armor is weakened, so that's exciting. Just pondering Cloud's death is difficult for me on a personal level. This may be the biggest reason for the addition, to add a sense of insecurity for returning players. How will this effect Cloud's relationship with Tifa and Aerith? How can Cloud be saved, by the planet? Also, it wouldn't surprise me if Shinra purposefully caused the deterioration as an insurance policy
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- AKA
- The Engineer
I hope this gets... expanded on later. Since this was added specifically to Genesis and anyone he copied his genetic material into. It specifcly wasn't happening to Angeal or Sephrioth which is a big reason why Hojo thought they were "better" than Genesis was. The plot changes of this are... interesting indeed.
dunkindonato
Rookie Adventurer
- AKA
- AC Lover
President Shinra likely came to this conclusion because of Genesis. Both Angeal and Sephiroth being dead. I'd also think that Hojo might have kept the fact of his son's lack of degeneration because, well, he does have his own agenda after all.
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dunkindonato
Rookie Adventurer
- AKA
- AC Lover
Yeah, but President Shinra probably didn't know Sephiroth and Cloud didn't suffer degeneration. Cloud being a product of a different experiment.
Gotta echo everyone else in loving that they kept the pipe slide in and the button-pressing mini game. It's just the little things that really shine and show the love in all of this. Yet another great chapter. It was great to re-tred the Reactor layout and loved the development of the degradation aspect added to all SOLDIERS and the framing of the war against Wutai.
Sabotaging Airbuster was a pretty cool concept, one that really increased the fear and dread for the upcoming boss battle. Even though I had taken out I think 2 of his Big Buster armaments, the guy still packed a massive punch and I had to re-raise Tifa and Cloud respectively. Barret's steel skin and Barrier / Manaward protected Cloud from another near death escape as well, but I was chugging Potions and casting Cures like no one's business. It definitely wasn't an elegant battle on my part, but I should perform better on another playthrough lol.
The addition of using the grappling hook to try and save himself / slow his fall was a really nice touch as well.
Sabotaging Airbuster was a pretty cool concept, one that really increased the fear and dread for the upcoming boss battle. Even though I had taken out I think 2 of his Big Buster armaments, the guy still packed a massive punch and I had to re-raise Tifa and Cloud respectively. Barret's steel skin and Barrier / Manaward protected Cloud from another near death escape as well, but I was chugging Potions and casting Cures like no one's business. It definitely wasn't an elegant battle on my part, but I should perform better on another playthrough lol.
The addition of using the grappling hook to try and save himself / slow his fall was a really nice touch as well.
Note to self: Don't shut down the PS4 before gameplay has stopped recording. Lost my recording mid-Air-Buster battle and onwards to Ch8 because of this.
- Remixing the battle music into a slow, creepy, uneasy tune (for when you are not in battle) in mako reactor #5 was a neat choice.
- Tried to equip a Fire materia to Tifa, then the game told me that Cloud had it equipped. "Alright, that's cool, he can use Fire in the next battle instead of Tifa" I thought to myself, only to enter the next battle and find the Fire magic missing.
And that's how I learned that the Fire materia was equipped to the Iron Blade, not to the Buster Sword which Cloud was currently using. That's so counter-intuitive when you are used to the original FFVII. Now I gotta keep track of not leaving behind materia in currently non-equipped weapons. On the plus-side though, this will be good for when you have lots of materia to spare. Since Tifa's Sonic Knuckles (or whatever they were called) could be upgraded to have increased elemental damage output (for particular elements), it'd make sense to have Elemental materia combos setup AND convenient to not have to switch materia every time you switch to the Sonic Knuckles.
- Was reminded in this chapter that the slums are euphemistically referred to as the "undercities" on occasion. Just one of many examples where FFVIIR expands the world that we've become so familiar with.
- If you've listened in on all the NPC dialogue in sector 7 (in FFVIIR, that is), you know that plenty of people are aware that sucking up mako is bad for the planet. The daycare teacher telling the children about the lifestream also shows that this part of planetology is fairly common knowledge. In the original game I got the impression that more people didn't know or really didn't want to know. An NPC in Gongaga even says the following if you visit there on disc 2:
You will also know in FFVIIR that plenty of NPCs would prefer continuing to use mako, despite the consequences, because of how much easier it makes their lives. So President Shinra's lines about the people willingly turning a blind eye resonates really well with the rest of the game's script. The game just keeps reminding me how consistent its writing is.
- On the same topic of consistency, people throughout chapters 2-4 just keep on talking about the Wutai war, some wondering if war could break out again. I hope all this talk of tensions (not to mention the deal Avalanche has made with Wutai, as mentioned by Biggs in Chapter 4) will have consequences all the way into later installments of the Remake series, even after Rufus Shinra comes into power. I'm expecting this will make a visit to Wutai in part 2 being either mandatory or postponed to part 3, depending on the butterfly effect these changes/additions to the FFVII script will have.
If I were to speculate, I'd say the other Avalanche cells WANT a war between Wutai and Shinra, ironically enough. Since Wutai didn't want a mako reactor built on their soil, you could assume that Wutai are against mako reactors in general. But they would not mind profiteering on the spoils already created with mako reactors, like materia. Indeed, acquiring huge amounts of materia may be the only way for Wutai to reasonably win a war against Shinra and doing so AWAY from their homeland, to boot. Ergo why Avalanche allegedly promised Wutai "all the materia in Midgar". And if Wutai wins that war, mako reactors may be dismantled and Avalanche will get what they want.
There are multiple ways this could affect how Yuffie is written into Remake Part 2 as well. Once again, I'm enjoying all this setup and I hope it won't all just be forgotten in the next game.
Finally, on this tangent, I hope that we'll meet the high leaders of Avalanche in part 2 and that they will turn out to be Elfe and Veld.
- Remixing the battle music into a slow, creepy, uneasy tune (for when you are not in battle) in mako reactor #5 was a neat choice.
- Tried to equip a Fire materia to Tifa, then the game told me that Cloud had it equipped. "Alright, that's cool, he can use Fire in the next battle instead of Tifa" I thought to myself, only to enter the next battle and find the Fire magic missing.
And that's how I learned that the Fire materia was equipped to the Iron Blade, not to the Buster Sword which Cloud was currently using. That's so counter-intuitive when you are used to the original FFVII. Now I gotta keep track of not leaving behind materia in currently non-equipped weapons. On the plus-side though, this will be good for when you have lots of materia to spare. Since Tifa's Sonic Knuckles (or whatever they were called) could be upgraded to have increased elemental damage output (for particular elements), it'd make sense to have Elemental materia combos setup AND convenient to not have to switch materia every time you switch to the Sonic Knuckles.
- Was reminded in this chapter that the slums are euphemistically referred to as the "undercities" on occasion. Just one of many examples where FFVIIR expands the world that we've become so familiar with.
- If you've listened in on all the NPC dialogue in sector 7 (in FFVIIR, that is), you know that plenty of people are aware that sucking up mako is bad for the planet. The daycare teacher telling the children about the lifestream also shows that this part of planetology is fairly common knowledge. In the original game I got the impression that more people didn't know or really didn't want to know. An NPC in Gongaga even says the following if you visit there on disc 2:
“Life Stream?
Never heard of it.”
“The Planet's structure?
…Who cares about that?”
“Why don't you go ask
Bugenhagen of Cosmo Canyon
hard questions like that?”
You will also know in FFVIIR that plenty of NPCs would prefer continuing to use mako, despite the consequences, because of how much easier it makes their lives. So President Shinra's lines about the people willingly turning a blind eye resonates really well with the rest of the game's script. The game just keeps reminding me how consistent its writing is.
- On the same topic of consistency, people throughout chapters 2-4 just keep on talking about the Wutai war, some wondering if war could break out again. I hope all this talk of tensions (not to mention the deal Avalanche has made with Wutai, as mentioned by Biggs in Chapter 4) will have consequences all the way into later installments of the Remake series, even after Rufus Shinra comes into power. I'm expecting this will make a visit to Wutai in part 2 being either mandatory or postponed to part 3, depending on the butterfly effect these changes/additions to the FFVII script will have.
If I were to speculate, I'd say the other Avalanche cells WANT a war between Wutai and Shinra, ironically enough. Since Wutai didn't want a mako reactor built on their soil, you could assume that Wutai are against mako reactors in general. But they would not mind profiteering on the spoils already created with mako reactors, like materia. Indeed, acquiring huge amounts of materia may be the only way for Wutai to reasonably win a war against Shinra and doing so AWAY from their homeland, to boot. Ergo why Avalanche allegedly promised Wutai "all the materia in Midgar". And if Wutai wins that war, mako reactors may be dismantled and Avalanche will get what they want.
There are multiple ways this could affect how Yuffie is written into Remake Part 2 as well. Once again, I'm enjoying all this setup and I hope it won't all just be forgotten in the next game.
Finally, on this tangent, I hope that we'll meet the high leaders of Avalanche in part 2 and that they will turn out to be Elfe and Veld.