SPOILERS FFVII Remake Open Spoiler Discussion Thread

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I don't remember that at all! Well found.

 

[Sephiroth Crescent]

Well, I found it in my first playthrough, and it wasn't very well hidden at all.
I must say that image I stole it from the wiki, though, just to show it here.

 

[Shademp]

The presence of purple energy and a giant dark monster that SEES ALL and stretches its reach across the world definitely has a changed meaning when you know the ending to FFVIIR.

 

[Odysseus]

Given the separated structure of the pyramid and the big cyclops thing, it reminds me of the "all seeing eye" imagery a bit lol. It's like some conspiracy art about the cetra being aliens or something from Spira, obviously.

 

[Sephiroth Crescent]

Time ghost? Nah!

Spoiler: Joke?

Yu Yevon all the way. Nowadays he goes by the name of Jenova, though.

 

[Dark and Divine]

It's Lavos coming in search of his beloved Jenova.

Spoiler: WIFE

in MKX Shao Kahn's voice

 

[cold_spirit]

I've been looking at threads here but don't think anyone said anything about this (and it's baffling to me even to this day).

Spoiler

I like to think it's a reference to the pyramid enemies in FFVII's debug room. These guys give a ton exp, gil, and ap and are fought in a creepy dark void.

 

[LegendarySaiyan]

I've been looking at threads here but don't think anyone said anything about this (and it's baffling to me even to this day).

Spoiler

View attachment 9265

Immediately reminded me of Temple of the Ancients/Black Materia when I met it, I think, in chapter 14.
But those are pyramid-shaped rockets? WTF? And what about that giant cyclop shadow monster?
It is a very unique graffiti (i.e. it's only ever found once), so does it even have any hidden meaning at all?

Actually I remember seeing it as well. I thought of Temple of the Ancients too. I wonder if there is any meaning behind it. Is it a clue or a hint?

 

[Roundhouse]

Spoiler

Hmmm.....

 

[Eerie]

See, this is what I mean when I say "Aerith was forced to let go of Zack at the end of Remake". This Zack may have survived, but he's not here for her, their ways go in opposite ways.

A clerith friend of mine said that falling in love with Cloud is part of her narrative arc - letting go of Zack's memory, being able to move on - and only then can she be reunited with Zack by dying. It doesn't mean that she doesn't love Zack anymore, it means that she's able to move on. It's very important in her narrative arc, and it has been underlined in Remake that she did want to move on but was unable to. And this scene at the very end shows her being forced to let go of Zack, to understand that whatever she did, it has no bearing on how she and Zack are separated now. Cloud is the link between them, so I'm very curious to see how this will play out in the next game(s).

 

[Fiz]

See, this is what I mean when I say "Aerith was forced to let go of Zack at the end of Remake". This Zack may have survived, but he's not here for her, their ways go in opposite ways.

A clerith friend of mine said that falling in love with Cloud is part of her narrative arc - letting go of Zack's memory, being able to move on - and only then can she be reunited with Zack by dying. It doesn't mean that she doesn't love Zack anymore, it means that she's able to move on. It's very important in her narrative arc, and it has been underlined in Remake that she did want to move on but was unable to. And this scene at the very end shows her being forced to let go of Zack, to understand that whatever she did, it has no bearing on how she and Zack are separated now. Cloud is the link between them, so I'm very curious to see how this will play out in the next game(s).

I think there is a lot of scope for character exploration with this.

Zack being around would be very confusing, and upskittling for Aerith. There is this guy who she loves, presumed dead or ghosted her, and has been mourning for some time, just as she’s starting to move on, she’s reunited with him.

On the flip side you have Zack who on being reunited with her, might find that she doesn’t feel the same way anymore.

Another possibility is more Greek tragedy, where after mourning him and finding out he is alive, is rekindled only to lose him again.

You also have the possibility they get a happy ever after.

There are lots of ways that can be explored, and bring in new ways to explore their characters.

 

[Roundhouse]

There is definitely a lot of dramatic potential in Zack being around the gang, so I can understand why some want to see him in the same timeline. It opens up a lot of ground for all sorts of different scenarios between the characters. The biggest problem is how to go down this route while still preserving Cloud's character material from the OG...although that is only a problem if you're completely tied to the remake being true to the OG.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

The OG Ultimanias make it sound like Aerith is kinda lying to herself about Zack. She knows he's dead. But she'd rather he have left her for someone else rather than for him to have been dead. So that is what she keeps telling herself happened.

Remake makes her outright ask Cloud if he knows where Zack is. And then she makes several huge references to how she and Zack talk about the sky in Crisis Core when Cloud and Co. finally leave Midgar. Specifically about how it takes people she knows and loves away.

Aerith in Remake very much feels like she hasn't gotten over Zack yet and is *still* looking for him. Zack in Crisis Core was heading to Midgar to find Aerith. The idea of them not being happy to find each other at this point... feels very off for their characters.

I can understand them being concerned about each other. Especially once Aerith finds out that Zack and Cloud were with Hojo for four years. In fact, I almost expect it. And Zack is going to be *really* concerned with Sephrioth being around. But the only thing I can really see them doing when they finally meet each other is being so relieved that the other is still alive and is okay. And being almost giddy that they finally found each other again.

 

[Fiz]

The OG Ultimanias make it sound like Aerith is kinda lying to herself about Zack. She knows he's dead. But she'd rather he have left her for someone else rather than for him to have been dead. So that is what she keeps telling herself happened.

Remake makes her outright ask Cloud if he knows where Zack is. And then she makes several huge references to how she and Zack talk about the sky in Crisis Core when Cloud and Co. finally leave Midgar. Specifically about how it takes people she knows and loves away.

Aerith in Remake very much feels like she hasn't gotten over Zack yet and is *still* looking for him. Zack in Crisis Core was heading to Midgar to find Aerith. The idea of them not being happy to find each other at this point... feels very off for their characters.

I can understand them being concerned about each other. Especially once Aerith finds out that Zack and Cloud were with Hojo for four years. In fact, I almost expect it. And Zack is going to be *really* concerned with Sephrioth being around. But the only thing I can really see them doing when they finally meet each other is being so relieved that the other is still alive and is okay. And being almost giddy that they finally found each other again.

Yes, and to me this is far more interesting character story than “she’s met Cloud and moved on”.

Bereaved people rarely “move on”, even if they fall in love with a new person and start new relationships. They tend to learn to cope.

Excluding older people, who ofc I know who have been bereaved, I know two younger people who have and have found new partners. They still love the person they lost as they did before, and one goes to her grave with their new partner. They more learn to cope and continue living their lives than “move on”.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I was thinking about this very trauma earlier today. I can understand the distaste for phrasing it as "move on," as that may not fully offer an appreciation for the fact that you never heal from such a wound. Grief permanently alters your brain, so you literally can never get back to who you were before. Even if you try.

You can resolve to let yourself continue growing in new, unavoidably different directions than before, and see who you then become; or you can stay in the same anxiety-ridden system-shocked state of being as when you were wounded; but you can't go back to who you were before you received the injury.

 

[Clement Rage]

Aeris' superpowers mean that she knows whether the people that are close to her are dead or not.

So she knows Zack died, but almost more importantly, she knows he didn't die in Nibelheim. As someone who was raised in Hojo's lab, it would not be hard to make the leap. So 'I hope he's dead, because the alternative is worse' is a very possible mindset.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I think there isn't just one Chadley moving around from location to location.
I think there are innumerable Chadleys scattered all over Midgar, sharing access to a single AI processing core. They are fixed in their location, like a vending machine. There's a bio-mechanic whose job it is to travel around and service them.
I wouldn't be surprised if this theory had been suggested many times before and I simply missed it.

 

[Odysseus]

Well, in chapter 5 he is both by the neighborhood watch building and by the train station simultaneously.

 

[Mayo Master]

^Same observation for Chapter 14, where he's in Sector 5 and 6 at the same time.
That's Quantum-Chadley for you.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Chadley is the ultimate time cop.

 

[Eerie]

I thought you were going to say 'the ultimate running gag' for a moment.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

And with all that... he's also been in Deepground at the same time!

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Far beneath Deepground is the deepest of underground vaults where Shinra keep their stock of Chadleys.

 

[KindOfBlue]

He literally has the name “Chad” in his name, that should tell you everything you need to know about him

 

[Shademp]

Once all of Sephiroth's schemes have been thwarted and Shinra is no more, Chadley will be there to reshape the world in his own image. Nothing but an army of obnoxious robot kids obsessed with gathering data sets by projecting people into hellscape holographic battlefields. It will be like the Matrix except instead of squid bots it's all Chadley bots.

All the signs were there...and nobody did anything to stop it.