So where do we stand on the big remake mystery now?

[jeangl123]

Are you sure? Because he is wearing the belt in Ever Crisis.

 

[OWA-2]

EC Seph is also a time traveller.

No. EC is a faithful retelling of the entire Compilation. No time travelling.

Interesting... But like I said, he uses the belt in EC, and also in one of Cloud's visions/flashbacks in Remake(we see a glimpse of Sephiroth standing in front of Jenova's tank, in Nibelheim).

 

[Golden Ear]

Bedtime? Who needs it!



I think there can be lots of variations between the universes. For example, Cloud visiting Jessie's home in Remake. Whispers didn't stop that because it's not paramount to the future of the planet. But big things, like Cloud meeting Aerith, that's gotta be maintained. Their meeting is essential.

The Whispers might be "stretched thin", which might be why they allow variations.

Terrier Stamp is one of those variations. It's inconsequential! However, I think the storytellers included it to hint that Zack's scenes are happening in another universe altogether.



I agree with the page you linked to wholeheartedly, that the two perspectives could not happen in the same time and place. One is happening in the "Beagle universe" in December, the other in the "Terrier universe" in September.

I don't think that idea is radical. Let's use Into the Spider-Verse as an example. In that film, the universe of Spider-Man Noir, which takes place in New York during the Great Depression, is happening concurrently with the modern-day universe of New York that Miles Morales lives in. One universe is in the 1930's and the other in the 2010's, happening side-by-side. You wouldn't call Into the Spider-Verse a time travel story because the universes are independent. Additionally, Spider-Man Noir will not lead to Into the Spider-Verse. They're different continuities.

Given how Zack's scenes are always presented as happening at the same time as the party's, I think the multiverse in FFVII will function similarly to Into the Spider-Verse.



I think my usage of "time travel" was poor. I don't think anyone believes that Zack time traveled forward or something. When I say time travel, I'm referring to the interpretation that the party's past was influenced by their actions (i.e., Zack survived in the party's past because of the defeat of the Whispers). I don't personally think that's the case because it creates additional questions, like why show a new version of Stamp, but I'm also repeating myself at this point, so I'll leave it at that.



What I'm saying is that before the Whisper's defeat, all universes needed to follow the big events. So there were no universes where Cloud didn't meet Aerith and so on. But after Remake? It's all fair game. I believe this is exactly what Sephiroth wants. He wants there to be universes where events are allowed to be so different that his Meteor scheme succeeds.

Why? Because he wants the opportunity to win? True to an extent, but I think there's more. Look at the Edge of Creation scene. Sephiroth has learned that the planet with join "it" someday, leading to the end of himself and Cloud. Whatever "it" is, it sounds a whole lot bigger than the stakes as we know them from the original game. This is why I feel a multiverse is appropriate.

Alright, let's get real. It's been two years since the release of Remake and we're all solidified in our interpretations. I probably won't convince you or anyone else. However, I do hope I've laid it out in such a way that everyone can see how I came to my conclusion.

To put simply: the existence of two Stamps and the placement of Zack's scenes could imply to some people (only me?) that there's a multiverse. It's wild, it's new, but I think it's absolutely plausible.

I think one of the main points of contention that is tripping everyone up is the idea of their being all these multiple versions of Gaia, multiple versions of are characters, multiple lifestreams, multiple everything in a multiverse scenario.

I'm curious on you point of view on this. If we say that this theory is true, do you think they will show evidence of all these different universes at some point or would they just focus on our main one and Zack's? There could be potentially limitless different versions of our stories events happening simultaneously, how do they portray this? What would be the point of portraying it in context to our main story in general?

I'm not suggesting they wouldn't potentially be doing something like this, but I'm just wondering in which way would they do it.

Currently I can imagine something along the lines of the multiple timelines happening concurrently and ultimately culminating at the end of this whole saga. I imagine that what they want is to take the idea of the OG but make it even more epic and increase the scale beyond Gaia into the cosmos.

So the timeline thing will build up over the course of the next 2 games (characters getting hints, learning more about it as the story goes, getting more and more of Zack' stuff) and by the time we reach the point after the final northern crater after we normally would fight and beat Safe Sephiroth and when meteor is approaching is when things start to ramp up and include all of this buildup. I also think that Cosmo Canyon Observatory have a good point in their theory involving Omega Weapon in all of this (although I don't agree with everything he proposes).

The game (Part 3) could potentially go on for even longer than what we normally played in the OG game. Is this something similar to how your interpreting or imagining it?

 

[cold_spirit]

The game (Part 3) could potentially go on for even longer than what we normally played in the OG game. Is this something similar to how your interpreting or imagining it?

Nomura told Famitsu in July that “The reason we didn’t announce how many parts there would be until now was because we were considering whether it would be a trilogy or a two-part series...”

That would imply to me that the rest of the original game's story after Midgar almost fit into one more game. Which is wild to think about.

By splitting the remaining story into two parts, we can expect events to be expanded, but it also allows room for new content. I think that the Remake Project's mysteries will continue to build until the very end and, as you suggested, the finale will receive the greatest expansion.

As for how I think they'll approach multiple universes in their storytelling (I prefer to say "universes" instead of "timelines" to avoid confusion with time travel), I think they'll confirm the existence of a multiverse, but we'll really only follow the events of the Beagle and Terrier universes as they're the most important.

I find the question of "how is there more than one planet, more than one sun, more than one lifestream" to be an interesting one. I wonder, did the Spider-Verse face a similar question at some point? I have no clue if the Remake Project will provide a lore reason for why there's multiple universes, or if it'll just be presented a fact with no further elaboration, but I do know how I'd approach it.

(The rest of this post is just stuff I've said here before)

There's a cyclical theme of "life and death" running throughout FFVII. The original game presented this on a planetary scale, Dirge of Cerberus expanded it to include the cosmos, and I think the Remake Project will stretch it further to include reality itself. Much like how humans are part of the planet, and planets are part of the universe, I think it'll be revealed that the universe is part of something even greater.

And like humans and planets, universes are born at different times. This could be how the party's escape from Midgar in December is happening simultaneously with Zack's last stand in September. I don't know why the Whispers are working to ensure the big events of the original game are followed in each universe, but that's the conclusion I've come to after reviewing Remake many, many times. Even the Ultimania presents the goal of the Whispers as one of four new "mysteries" for players to ponder. Only time will tell.

Finally, and I've shared this before and will continue to do so, the Material Ultimania names the universes shown during the Edge of Creation scene as the angelic "dying universe" and red "universe that will be born" (translation by TurquoiseHammer). We can see that cyclical theme of "life and death" right there. For me, that was the final piece of evidence I needed to be truly confident in my theory.

 

[Eerie]

From what I remember the more games was rather a Nojima thing as he wanted to add locations feom the compilation. But definitely it’s going to leave them more space to polish the games.

 

[Ryushikaze]

My thought is that the Zack we see is alive and from an alternate timeline, and while we will get an interaction from him, he's not going to cross over, or if he does only partly. I figure there's going to be more scenes of him and if we interact with him it'll probably be in one of the nexus points like from the end of Pt 1.

Time travel and a multiverse are already things that exist in the greater FF lore (FF1, FFTactics, FFTA1-2, etc. etc. etc.), I suspect that while the main plot of Remake will be the same, we may get more of a metaplot explaining Sephiroth of the Nexus's actual plans and how Whispers and Terrier!Zack tie into it.

 

[jeangl123]

No. EC is a faithful retelling of the entire Compilation. No time travelling.



Interesting... But like I said, he uses the belt in EC, and also in one of Cloud's visions/flashbacks in Remake(we see a glimpse of Sephiroth standing in front of Jenova's tank, in Nibelheim).

EC also has Angeal wearing the buster sword wrong so I'm not sure how important those designs might be.

 

[AerithLives]

They are butchering this remake series. First the fate ghosts flying around running every moment in the original remake then that utterly moronic ending. All so they can shoe horn Zack in the game. Personally, I have never liked Zack. I think he was more powerful that a dark secret you discover in the bottom of the Shinra Mansion.

 

[Roundhouse]

The outcome of this poll is very interesting. Almost an even split between alternate timeline and main timeline...

 

[LNK]

I'd like to add. Even though I think he's dead, and in the lifestream, that also would mean he's in the same timeline

 

[Eerie]

Interesting theory I saw the other day: Zack is indeed dead, but what we see in the trailer is Cloud hallucinating. That would be interesting - imagine if he hallucinated Zack helping him to go to Midgar until the last moment; the feather represents him who has ascended to the sky like at the end of CC and watches over Cloud. To her, the church moment Zack is in the Lifestream and when Aerith sees him, he's about to be shot by 3 troopers who followed them like in the OG.

Anyway, I thought I'd share because I do think it could fit.

 

[Odysseus]

Behold and despair at Ody's long-form opinion

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1594823470721933312

 

[Makoeyes987]

We only have to wait one year.

Just one year, and all of our questions will be answered

 

[Odysseus]

What an agonizing wait it'll be lol.

I guess trailers could spoil some stuff.

 

[Roundhouse]

What if they use Rebirth to keep teasing and save the reveal for the final one, Resurrections...

 

[Tetsujin]

We only have to wait one year.

Just one year, and all of our questions will be answered

Except the ones that will not be answered until part 3 and of course the dozen new ones we'll have for the next 3-4 years after

 

[Makoeyes987]

There will always be questions and cliffhangers but I imagine there will be greater clarity of what the story's direction is during the second act.

Part 3 will be the conclusion.

 

[Roundhouse]

Nomura: Clarity?