Apologies, some very late replies:
What would be your dream epilogue scene? I really just want more confirmation of Tifa and Cloud Post Dirge. The whole gang celebrating and chatting at the bar, and maybe Cloud speaking at the church beside Zack and Aeriths grave again
Honestly, I just want some finality for the series so I can finally be free, lol. I would be perfectly happy with what we had post-ACC/Reminiscence, just expanded. Cloud and Denzel bringing Zack's sword to the church, and then a nice family picnic/tea party. Something ordinary and low-key feels like a fitting, full-circle moment for them.
For part 3, how do you think they should handle the ZA reunion? Is one scene at the end enough? (kinda like AC)
I think they'll reunite at some point in the 3rd act, but then have a couple more scenes where they try to help stop Sephiroth from the Lifestream or whatever. I suppose they could also reunite earlier and take some time to resolve all the unanswered questions still lingering, but it would feel like delaying the inevitable.
I just hope we don't spend
too much time on them as it'll diminish their deaths, plus we have so much fucking plot left to cover in part 3 (all of disk 2 & 3 plus the much expanded Wutai arc). Zack/Aerith having the amount of screentime in part 3 that Zack had in
Rebirth feels about right.
Some questions --
1-What's your analysis or theory regarding the reunion pin that the vendor gives Aerith and why Cloud seems displeased by it?
2-Regarding Marlene telling Zack that Aerith has feelings for Cloud, did Marlene misunderstand what type of "like" or "feelings" meant? Cause in a previous scene, Marlene tells Zack: "Aerith really likes Cloud, so she is glad he came" What do you make of that?
3-Its interesting that he does not "die" when he sitting at the church in the 3rd choice. Is it cause he didn't make a choice?
4-Aerith's expressions turns kinda sad, despite the LA/HA dialogues slightly differing. Is it because Cloud rejected her (romantically) or because she knows she will die, therefore can't continue to make memories?
1 - I haven't thought about this too much, but I think the fact that Cloud never touches the pin is pretty damning. There's no promise of a grand reunion between Cloud/Aerith. The reunions being foreshadowed are Aerith/Zack and Cloud/Tifa -- the latter made even more obvious with the Leslie trying to reunite with his fiance sidequest being one of Tifa's last sidequests in
Rebirth. I'm sure that subplot will be resolved after Cloud and Tifa's true reunion in the Lifestream.
2 - I think other people have answered this already, but Marlene is 4, lol. I don't think she understands those nuances yet, but having her convey Aerith's feelings to Zack is a nice callback to the OG, and the only way to add some angst/doubt before the inevitable Zerith reunion in part 3 since Aerith and Cloud aren't conscious in Zack's world (and also if they were, there would be 0 doubt, lol).
3 - We technically don't see him die in the other two timelines either (even though Biggs does), just face the same thing he sees before his actual death. But yeah, it could be because he's not there out of his own volition, per se. So why is he there? Could it be because of Aerith's hope/wishes? Idk, but there's definitely something else at play here not present in the other branches, because somehow he also ends up in the same "world" as Sephiroth.
4 - I honestly don't think she went into the church with any expectations that Cloud would reciprocate her romantic feelings, mostly because her feelings for him aren't neccessarily romantic in the first place. This Aerith knows she's going to die, and she knows their time together is about to come to an end so she's been delaying their inevitable goodbye, but she can't delay it anymore.
I don't think Cloud's HA/LA dialogue choice is meant to be read as a rejection because it's not like Aerith had confessed anything? They're both affirmative responses to Aerith's question of if he wants to spend more time with her. She's happy that he wants to but then gets sad again because she knows that they can't.
I think the fact that she seems a bit surprised by the fact that Cloud would even want to spend more time with her makes it pretty obvious that they're a long ways away from being in a romantic relationship? And she knows that.
It's only after this that she "confesses" that she doesn't know what kind of like she has for him. This is the last conversation they'll ever have so she is clearing the air for the two of the them, and also for the player. She is defining exactly the kind of relationship that they have. She likes him a lot, but not necessarily in a romantic way. She gives him the opportunity to respond, to "confess" if he actually feels that way. He does not. He deflects. That's enough of an answer for her. That should be enough for us.
Also, not use my own WacDonald's degree, but isn't the goodbye that Aerith says to Cloud in Japanese ('sayonara'), a very definitive/final farewell? She says this at the Church and also at the very end of the game. She knows it's over, but
Rebirth is giving us the kind of closure we never got in the OG. The only real closure she lacks is re: her relationship with Zack, someone else who is also conveniently dead, so that's what's left for her story in part 3.
