Question for people who think Zack and the party are occupying the same timeline: Do you think the party's past was changed? That the party jumped to an alternate timeline where Zack survived? Or that Zack somehow crossed over to the party's timeline?
Here is my dumb asshole explanation for how a single timeline could work without drastically changing anything about what happened in Remake before the singularity despite Zack being alive.
Zack drags Cloud to Midgar. Since he is on the run, and Shinra is looking for the guy who wiped out their whole platoon, he lays low for a while. He doesn't go to Sector 5 straight away since Shinra would know about his relation with Aerith, and as such they'd look there first. So let's say Zacks living with Cloud in a hovel in Sector fuckin 3 or something, doing odd jobs to make money while keeping a low profile. One day, Cloud, either of his own volition or spurred on by Sephiroth's will*, leaves Zack's home and begins stumbling his way to Sector 7. There he would meet Tifa, and things would happen exactly as before from there, except this Cloud would not have the Buster Sword. His false persona would still develop because reasons. Meanwhile, Zack would notice his buddy has mysteriously gone missing, and would begin looking for him. He's all the way in Sector 3, however, so he's searching far from where the plot is happening. Midgar all in all lasts four days, do he wouldn't expand out far enough to catch wind of Cloud's involvement with them yet. After Cloud and co had left Midgar would be when he goes and looks in Sector 5 finally, and hear talk of Aerith going around with a blonde merc who kinda looks like Zack. This is when he'd go to the church to speak with Aerith, only to find her missing. He'd learn that Avalanche had fled Midgar, maybe from Elmyra, and head out to follow them. Meanwhile, this alternate version of Avalanche would be overwritten with the version of them we actually played as after they leave the singularity, difference being they remember the old timeline and Cloud has a Buster Sword as well, because from his personal history Zack still died. This revelation would serve as the backbone for a new twist moment down the line.
*(Crisis Core complete guide states Cloud regaining partial consciousness from his Mako poisoning was because Sephiroth was awakening as well)
This scenerio avoids confusing things like Reno not knowing who Cloud is, Rufus not becoming president, and any other awkward things that might result from the Midgar scenerio happening differently in the rewritten timeline. I've seen theories go as far as saying Sector 7's plate didn't fall in new timeline, but then you'd really start fucking with pre-established character motivations and relationships. Also you'd have to throw out a lot of what Yuffie experienced because she wasn't in the singularity, and as such a new Yuffie would be introduced from the one we played as in that case. I don't think it'll get that complicated. Frankly, I expect everything besides "Zack is alive now!" to be brushed aside with little explanation.
On "the party's past was changed": Why is Stamp's breed is different? If the storytellers wanted simply to show that Zack survived, then why complicate things with another version of Stamp?
My thinking in this scenerio is that it's like the mall in Back to the Future. Before the past is fucked with, it's the Twin Pine mall. Afterwards, because Marty ran over one of the pine trees, it's the Lone Pine mall. Before history is changed, Stamp is a Beagle. Afterwards, he is a Terrier. As for WHY the breed changes, I have no idea lol. Guess the whispers weren't around to influence Shinra's PR anymore. I can imagine a scene in Kalm where someone notices that Stamp looks different, but brushes it off.
On "the party jumped to an alternate timeline where Zack survived": What happened to the versions of Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, and Red XIII already living in that alternate timeline? Am I to really believe that they were "overwritten"?
Explained above. Yeah. But outside of Cloud having a different sword and Zack in his true memory being dead, they are functionally identical.
On "Zack crossed over to the party's timeline": What happened to the mako-poisoned Cloud travelling with Zack? Why did the crossing over occur after Zack walked by Aerith in Remake's ending?
Not part of my scenerio so I don't have an answer. In any case, as you can see in the Ultimania page I posted, the other Cloud is supposed to be an element that makes this confusing lol.
However, if one assumes for a moment that Zack is in another timeline from the party's, then none of the above issues exist. Why is Stamp's breed is different? It signifies that an alternate timeline exists with a slightly different history. What happened to the versions of Barret, Tifa, Aerith, and Red XIII already living in that alternate timeline? They're going about their lives. What happened to the mako-poisoned Cloud travelling with Zack? Well... he's with Zack!
My thing with this is that this implies the alternate reality already existed, but my take away from the ending is that our actions have created the universe Zack is alive in. I genuinely believe the whispers only exist as a plot element to
A) get Zack back on the table
B) Excuse any changes they make going forward
But what you're saying is that there was always a terrier timeline, and all we did was somehow nudge that one into having Zack live. Possible, but I think it overcomplicates what I view their objective as being since you'd need to introduce another plot device to drag that alive Zack over to where our characters are. Not out of Square's ball park, but again, I think the one and only point here is "Zack's alive now!" and don't think too hard about the implications beyond that lol.
By assuming there's an alternate timeline, or a multiverse as I call it, the only question remaining is "how will Zack's survival affect the party?" Though it should be noted that none of the other theories answer that either.
Yeah there's no telling, which is why I'd appreciate it if a certain someone would stop demanding people write him a plot synopsis of a game that's not out yet to justify the change to him lol. That's what we'll see, one way or another. Zack's gonna get involved. It be happening.
Or, you know, ZACK'S STILL DEAD IT WAS ALL A PRANK IT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING LMAO *starts just gobbling down all this delicious red herring* FUCK I LOVE FISH! *smashes wine bottle*
