What is Shinra's true motive ?

[S.L.Kerrigan]

You're hypothesizing something beyond what is confirmed or stated in any material, so you really won't get far trying to prove it, as it is unprovable. The only thing that will happen is when your theory rubs against established material, it'll be debunked. It's a nice thing about bringing a concept here, it'll get tested against the canon again and again.

Yes I agree with you, a theory only exists if it is challenged.

I see why you're using "ship." We should be careful though not to mischaracterize what it is.

Lucrecia compares Omega to an ark, it reminds me of a ship.

To be very clear, something like this could be "Rufus is actually a gay character. He lost his love early on." Nothing ever states one way about this stuff, but it's unprovable until proven by the creators essentially.

If it appears so clear that there is only one promised land, that it is for the Cetras and that it is the equivalent of paradise.
Why in the final chapter of this tale would the writers decide to give life to the idea that it might ultimately be something else and that it might be necessary for the entire Lifestream to travel physically to reach it?

Could you provide some sort of quote stating the Lifestream has a promised land? I don't think I've ever come across that, only individuals *not* in the Lifestream saying as such, really.

I have never found a literal statement that reads "the Lifestream has a promised land", some elements lead me to interpret it that way.
But a detail of the Remake seems to go in this direction:

Spoiler: Remake

We who are born of the planet, with her we speak.
Her flesh we shape.
Unto her promised land shall we one day return.
By her loving grace and providence may we take our place in paradise.

A poem about the Cetras

How do you interpret the third stanza?

Yeah... it's something created by the Planet as a failsafe, from what we can tell like all the weapons. Why are you expecting it to be adapted to an environment? It has a function, it's a tool as much as it is an organism, if not moreso.

Omega must protect life from dangers that may threaten it by allowing escape. These dangers will probably come from its environment. Life is installed on a rock. The environment of this rock is the cosmos. If Omega is supposed to be able to protect life on a planetary scale, it seems logical to me that it is also designed to resist the dangers of the cosmos.

There's literally no reason in the first place to think of there being a singular Promised Land that is a specific place -- whether on this planet or elsewhere.

Final Fantasy VII incorporates many references to the Jewish religion. That's what makes me think that there is potentially a reason to believe that the Promised Land may be a place, or at least that there is a physical journey to be taken.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Final Fantasy VII incorporates many references to the Jewish religion. That's what makes me think that there is potentially a reason to believe that the Promised Land may be a place, or at least that there is a physical journey to be taken.

There isn't though. Like, it's not even ambiguous. They've literally explained it quite clearly that the "Promised Land" is the concept of one's own paradise. A state of mind. You don't actually "find" a tangible location labeled "The Promised Land."

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

How do you interpret the third stanza?

More relevantly, how are you interpreting the first two? "We who are born of the planet" and "shall we one day return" are plenty clear in their meaning about the Lifestream and the Cetra relationship with it and view of it.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

The very first mention of the Promised Land by a Cetra is here... and it's very obvious it's not a physical place but a metaphysical/religious concept/idea.

Tifa
Does the Promised Land really exist?

Aeris
...I don't know.
All I know is...
The Cetra were born from the Planet, speak with the Planet, and unlock the Planet.
And...... then...
The Cetra will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness.

Tifa
...What does that mean?

Aeris
More than words...... I don't know.

Cloud
...Speak with the Planet?

Tifa
Just what does the Planet say?

Aeris
It's full of people and noisy. That's why I can't make out what they are saying.

Cloud
You hear it now?

Aeris
I, I only heard it at the Church in the Slums. Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That is... my real mother.
Someday I'll get out of Midgar... Speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land.
...That's what mom said.
I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but...

Aerith wasn't told to find *the* Promsied Land. She was told to find *her* Promised Land. Everyone's "Promised Land" is different and specific to that person's wants/needs.

 

[S.L.Kerrigan]

There isn't though. Like, it's not even ambiguous. They've literally explained it quite clearly that the "Promised Land" is the concept of one's own paradise. A state of mind. You don't actually "find" a tangible location labeled "The Promised Land."

More relevantly, how are you interpreting the first two? "We who are born of the planet" and "shall we one day return" are plenty clear in their meaning about the Lifestream and the Cetra relationship with it and view of it.

The very first mention of the Promised Land by a Cetra is here... and it's very obvious it's not a physical place but a metaphysical/religious concept/idea.

The idea I have developed here is that there are two Promised Land, you are only considering the one for the Cetra people.
I agree with your interpretation that the Promised Land of the Cetra people is a concept of paradise. The Cetras travel the planet and then die and their energy joins the Lifestream.
Concerning the concept of Promised Land, what interests me most is the notion of travel which can obviously be associated with it.

Spoiler: Remake

We who are born of the planet, with her we speak.
Her flesh we shape.
Unto her promised land shall we one day return.
By her loving grace and providence may we take our place in paradise.

Here's my take:
The Cetras are born from the energy that constitutes the Lifestream.
The Cetras talk with the Lifestream (Lifestream is feminine apparently maybe like a mother)
The Cetras help the energy to take shape (they themselves come from one of the definitions of shapes available in the Lifestream).
The Cetras will one day return to the Promised Land of Mother Lifestream.
The Cetras return to the Lifestream (their paradise) because that is the fate she holds for them.

If the Cetras are part of the Lifestream it is in my opinion normal that they travel with her and return to where she must go.

If Aerith has faith in the Lifestream and accepts her fate. If she is to take an active part in triggering the next migration then she has every reason to try to manipulate and bullshit.

How do you interpret the poem ?

 

[Lestat]

Pretty much interpret the poem as it's already been established.
You live, you die, you join the lifestream, you live again as something else.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

We who are born of the planet, with her we speak.
Her flesh we shape.
Unto her promised land shall we one day return.
By her loving grace and providence may we take our place in paradise.

This is all a reference to things we already know from the OG and other Compilation entries. (Granted, some of it was botched in the OG due to it's really bad translation.)

It's also worth pointing out that this entire poem is from a piece of propaganda made by Shinra to make them out to be inheritors of the Cetra's legacy, which they certainly are not. It's a very blatant example of appropriating a dead culture for someone's own ends. So YMMV of how much of this is what the Cetra actually thought vs what Shinra thinks they thought vs something Shinra is making up that fits people's idea of what the Cetra were like.

We who are born of the planet, with her we speak.
We know the Cetra speak with the Lifestream from Ifalna in the OG. It's called a "Planet Reading". Every living thing on the Planet is also born of the Planet... except Jenova.

Her flesh we shape.
We know the Cetra can "open up" the Planet's physical shell/earth (think tereforming!) from both the OG (this is what Aerith actually means when she says "unlock the Planet"; it should really be like "open up the Planet" in the way someone opens up a box) and later CC cites that the Cetra opening up the Planet is *why* Shinra was interested in recreating them in the first place. They wanted the Cetra to open up the Lifestream so Shinra would have an easier time making mako reactors in the holes the Cetra made.

Unto her promised land shall we one day return.
The people of Cosmo Canyon are of the *opinion* that the Cetra saw dying as returning to the "Promised Land". Given what Ifalna actually tells Aerith in the OG, ("find *you* Promised Land") I'm thinking there might be some... drift... and a lot more nuance to what "returning to the Promised Land" really means. It's kinda like trying to piece together what the Roman Empire thought about their own religion after all...

By her loving grace and providence may we take our place in paradise.
This gets funny when we have a least one blatant example of the Planet healing someone on the cusp of death (or flat out making sure they *don't* die when they should (Genesis in CC). Cloud himself is brought back from almost certain death in ACC through Aerith's intervention. Interestingly, both of them are given what they actually want by the Planet when it brings them back. CC's Ultimania's directly say the Planet approved of Genesis' desire to protect it. Cloud's "Promised Land" is with Tifa and his adoptive kids and the Planet sends him right there more or less. Even Aerith is with Zack in the Lifestream, one of the most important people to her. This line also assumes the "Promised Land" is some kind of "afterlife", which is based on... people's opinion of what the Cetra thought. If there's any line I think was made for the sake of propaganda, it's this one.

The creators themselves are very clear that the "Promised Land" isn't the afterlife, or a physical place or even the same situation. It isn't even necessarily the Lifestream. It's the place an individual finds fulfillment. Which for most people isn't in some nebulous afterlife but in the hear and now.

One of the things about FFVII is that *who* says what information is really important. Shinra is a *bad* source of information on the Cetra because they have an agenda. They want to be seen as the successors of the Cetra and therefore care a lot more about the "image" of the Cetra rather than the actual Cetran philosophy. Otherwise, they'd know it was in their best interests to not use mako energy. So take everything Shinra says about the Cetra and the Planet with a large spoonful of salt.

The only *really* good authority on the Cetra is Ifalna from the OG. And she talks a lot less about the concept of the "Promised Land" as a place the Cetra want to be and a lot more about... helping cultivate life so the Planet has more energy to heal itself with. It sounds a lot more like being an ecologist who has really good statistical data about the environment than being some mystic race with magic powers.

 

[S.L.Kerrigan]

Thank you very much for sharing your interpretations with me.

I like the way your interpretation fits @Obsidian Fire but I don't see any compelling evidence that the poem is a piece of Shinra propaganda. Aerith seems to welcome Barret's recitation, doesn't it make sense as well that Ifalna taught her the poem?
@The Twilight Mexican Do you think this poem has a chance of being of Cetra origin? Why else comment on it.

This is all a reference to things we already know from the OG and other Compilation entries. (Granted, some of it was botched in the OG due to it's really bad translation.)

It should not be forgotten that the Remake is also intended for players who are not familiar with the universe. It would be interesting to know what they understand when they read "Unto her promised land shall we one day return". Maybe when they come back to those lines after finishing the whole Remake they will think that this sentence is the equivalent of a "This guy are sick" but for now the wording seems clear to me.
Whatever the nature of what is promised (but perhaps the concept of promise is also problematic), if what is promised was intended for the Cetras it would have read "Unto OUR promised land shall we one day return. " don't you think?

We know the Cetra can "open up" the Planet's physical shell/earth (think tereforming!) from both the OG (this is what Aerith actually means when she says "unlock the Planet"; it should really be like "open up the Planet" in the way someone opens up a box) and later CC cites that the Cetra opening up the Planet is *why* Shinra was interested in recreating them in the first place. They wanted the Cetra to open up the Lifestream so Shinra would have an easier time making mako reactors in the holes the Cetra made.

The details you present raise a question for me. How does the Lifestream that arrives on a new rock manages to dive deep under the earth's crust?

The people of Cosmo Canyon are of the *opinion* that the Cetra saw dying as returning to the "Promised Land". Given what Ifalna actually tells Aerith in the OG, ("find *you* Promised Land") I'm thinking there might be some... drift... and a lot more nuance to what "returning to the Promised Land" really means. It's kinda like trying to piece together what the Roman Empire thought about their own religion after all...

Yeah, so there is room for interpretation here.

I would love to have the interpretations of @waw @The Twilight Mexican @Makoeyes987 about the third Stanza.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

The Planet (the Lifestream) *can* do massive damage to the Planet (the rock). See when it physically breaks apart the Planet in the OG to stop Meteor. Or how it made the Weapons in the first place and how much they can tear the land up. Or just... Omega's shear size. The Lifestream swarming around an uninhabited rock to turn into it's new outer shell... I don't think it would need someone else to help with that.

However, the Planet (the Lifestream) is... operating on a huge scale. We never really see it do anything "small scale". And... it's not in the best interest of the part of the Lifestream that is currently in living organizims to just cause global changes all the time. So it's not hard to see how the Cetra would have been the ones doing small-scale changes to the Planet (the rock) so that the Planet (the Lifestream) wouldn't have to do "big scale" changes instead.

I don't see any compelling evidence that the poem is a piece of Shinra propaganda. Aerith seems to welcome Barret's recitation, doesn't it make sense as well that Ifalna taught her the poem?

This is where the differences between the OG and the Remake aren't known. In the OG, Barret never knows any Cetran philosophy. He's learning it from Aerith the same as everyone else it. And Aerith cites what she learned from Iflana *after* Ifalna was dead and in the Lifestream already. This was shifted around for Remake in a few key ways.

We do know from other parts of the Compilation that Shinra *does* have access to Cetran literature. But all the ones we know of had to do with Omega in DoC. And the translators *didn't* know what Omega was. Some even thought *Omega* was the Promised Land! Some thought it was a Weapon! And Lucrecia, who *did* have the right interpretation of what Omega was (that it was a Weapon) had her thesis disbeleived by the other scientists at Shinra.

So do I know if this *exact* poem is Shinra propaganda? Not exactly. But I do have hard evidence of Shinra not liking someone's (correct) thesis about Cetran Lore because other Scientists at Shinra thought it was ridiculous. And I have a pretty good understanding of how IRL archeology on 2,000+ metaphiscial texts works... Which is to say... missing tons of context that simply can never be found at times...

The Omega Reports from DoC are worth looking at as they shed light on Shinra Archeology in the era when Jenova was found. And it's... very haphazard in a lot of ways.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I would love to have the interpretations of @waw @The Twilight Mexican @Makoeyes987 about the third Stanza.

Eh, between Elder Bugah's musings in the original game and the line in "Maiden Who Travels the Planet" where Aerith refers to the Lifestream as "our Promised Land" while speaking with the planet, I've always had the understanding that the Lifestream generally is the Promised Land for Cetra.

Addendum:
I realize the canonicity of "Maiden" is ever in contention, but at least when it comes to lore I have always felt it should be recognized. We know the story details discussed elsewhere in the Ultimania Omega were provided and supervised by some of the Compilation staff, including Nomura and Nojima (per the book's credits), so I don't see any particular reason to think Benny Matsuyama's understanding about the Cetra at least (or Meteor and Holy, for another example) didn't come from somewhere authoritative.

 

[S.L.Kerrigan]

The Planet (the Lifestream) *can* do massive damage to the Planet (the rock). See when it physically breaks apart the Planet in the OG to stop Meteor. Or how it made the Weapons in the first place and how much they can tear the land up. Or just... Omega's shear size. The Lifestream swarming around an uninhabited rock to turn into it's new outer shell... I don't think it would need someone else to help with that.

However, the Planet (the Lifestream) is... operating on a huge scale. We never really see it do anything "small scale". And... it's not in the best interest of the part of the Lifestream that is currently in living organizims to just cause global changes all the time. So it's not hard to see how the Cetra would have been the ones doing small-scale changes to the Planet (the rock) so that the Planet (the Lifestream) wouldn't have to do "big scale" changes instead.

Yes perhaps the ark lands gently and then the Lifestream spreads over the surface of the rock before embedding itself under the crust, it does indeed seem to be capable of moving rocks. I would find it more effective if Omega used its prodigious speed to pierce the crust and reach underground more effectively. I imagine it could leave a trail comparable to the North Crater.

Do you think that the rock is a kind of living organism and that it could also have some kind of consciousness?

This is where the differences between the OG and the Remake aren't known. In the OG, Barret never knows any Cetran philosophy. He's learning it from Aerith the same as everyone else it. And Aerith cites what she learned from Iflana *after* Ifalna was dead and in the Lifestream already. This was shifted around for Remake in a few key ways.

We do know from other parts of the Compilation that Shinra *does* have access to Cetran literature. But all the ones we know of had to do with Omega in DoC. And the translators *didn't* know what Omega was. Some even thought *Omega* was the Promised Land! Some thought it was a Weapon! And Lucrecia, who *did* have the right interpretation of what Omega was (that it was a Weapon) had her thesis disbeleived by the other scientists at Shinra.

So do I know if this *exact* poem is Shinra propaganda? Not exactly. But I do have hard evidence of Shinra not liking someone's (correct) thesis about Cetran Lore because other Scientists at Shinra thought it was ridiculous. And I have a pretty good understanding of how IRL archeology on 2,000+ metaphiscial texts works... Which is to say... missing tons of context that simply can never be found at times...

I find your idea that this poem is derived from Shinra propaganda very interesting. It makes me wonder if Cosmo Canyon isn't also intended to promote that same propaganda. Or if Aerith isn't also a propaganda tool (Tsunamods recently presented a hypothesis which proposes that Aerith is suggested in a SOLDIER uniform in the church at the end of Intergrade).

I am indeed trying to find a way to involve Shinra as a stakeholder in triggering the potential interstellar migration (hence the title of this thread). I think Shinra could be some sort of tool developed by the Lifestream to enable the journey to continue (reference to Shinra from FFX). Yes, because I think a good part of the Lifestream went on board the meteor at the end of Final Fantasy VII.
----------------
Edit 08-25-2022 :
To refer to the Remake (Edge of Creation). Considering that Cloud and Sephiroth are seen in the future, standing on the meteor, between the dying universe and the one about to be born. I find that the meteor would fit quite well as a vehicle on the way to its destination.
----------------

Eh, between Elder Bugah's musings in the original game and the line in "Maiden Who Travels the Planet" where Aerith refers to the Lifestream as "our Promised Land" while speaking with the planet, I've always had the understanding that the Lifestream generally is the Promised Land for Cetra.

Thank you very much for your reply. I haven't read "Maiden Who Travels the Planet" but I also always understood that death and return to the Lifestream was the Promised Land of the Cetra. I also really like the interpretation that the Promised Land is actually for a human being to find happiness or fullfilment in life.

The Omega Reports from DoC are worth looking at as they shed light on Shinra Archeology in the era when Jenova was found. And it's... very haphazard in a lot of ways.

Omega Reports #7 - Chaos

Only to be left with the burden of bearing
the discarded remnants of a dying world.

Wouldn't that look like Vincent's post-meteor burden?

 

[Obsidian Fire]

At some point, you really just need to read the material for yourself. Half the reason I know as much as I do is because at one point I sat down and watched playthoughs of the games and tracked down game scripts to read and re-read and searched for the ultimanias and lore books. That's how I got on this site in the first place.

I will say, just about everything you've posted in the above post is rampant speculation and is nowhere to be found or supported by our current knowledge of canon. If you want to discuss what is *canon*, I can do that. It just... will be a lot of me posting stuff from canon that disproves what you're suggesting or a lot of "canon doesn't say anything about this, so I can't comment on it".

If you want to discus what-ifs, or headcannon, you're not going to get as much traction here. Most of us are interested in *canon* rather than fan-fiction ideas. Anything can happen in fan-fiction. Canon is... a lot narrower and a lot more black and white. Especially when it comes to what happened at the end of the OG with Meteor. We know *a lot* about what was going on there.

Out of everything you've written above, this is the one that goes against what we know of canon the most.

I am indeed trying to find a way to involve Shinra as a stakeholder in triggering the potential interstellar migration (hence the title of this thread).

There is nothing in the OG or Compilation or Remake that suggests Shinra wants to leave the Planet (the Rock). Everything they want to do involves using the Lifestream as fuel or their utopia. They want to make their *own* heaven on earth, not follow some metaphysical ideas they don't even believe are true to a an ecological lovers idea of what heaven is. They are die-hard capitalists that want what they want and don't care about anyone else.

I think Shinra could be some sort of tool developed by the Lifestream to enable the journey to continue (reference to Shinra from FFX). Yes, because I think a good part of the Lifestream went on board the meteor at the end of Final Fantasy VII.

It didn't. We *know* it didn't. Case of Lifestream - Black has *Sephiroth* sacrificing his memories to make an energy shield around Meteor as it comes down on the Planet. The Planet (the Lifestream) is trying to *keep* Meteor from crashing into it. All the Lifestream the Planet (the Lifestream) is using to do this goes back to the Planet afterwards. Where it *wants* to stay.

On a fundamental level, the Lifestream *does not* want to leave the Planet (the Rock). It wants to stay there and get more and more energy for itself via making new life and then that life dying. The only reason why the Lifestream would *leave* is if something caused a huge number of it's population to die all of a sudden (think a global extinction event like oh... the mega-meteor that caused Earth's megafauna to go extinct). Omega and Chaos are *last ditch* efforts to keep itself alive. They're the Planet's nuclear option to keep itself alive not it's *goal* to use as soon as it possibly can.

This is part of why Chaos has the Proto-materia in the first place. It's a safety-catch on Omega so Omega doesn't run rampant when there's no reason for the Lifestream to leave the Planet (the Rock). The Lifestream *wants* to never have to use Omega... but it's keeping Omega around so that if it *does* need to leave, it's not caught on the wrong foot.

So yeah... If you want to discuss canon... I'll be happy to do that. If you want to discuss what *could* be happening regardless of what canon says... I'm a lot less interested in doing that because I find it really boring and probably won't participate. It usually ends up being a discussion of what people personally find interesting rather than anything objective about what canon says is going on. Which is the topic most of us here like discussing.

 

[S.L.Kerrigan]

Yeah, I guess this is the end of our discussion.

 

[waw]

While I'm waiting for some tweets, I came back to the thread to finally respond, sorry for ducking out. I see it's mostly over now, but I figured I'd share a few things anyway.

If it appears so clear that there is only one promised land, that it is for the Cetras and that it is the equivalent of paradise.
Why in the final chapter of this tale would the writers decide to give life to the idea that it might ultimately be something else and that it might be necessary for the entire Lifestream to travel physically to reach it?

Right so all the characters both can have their own Promised Land, but the characters also interpret the Promised Land differently, right? Again, it's like if we're talking about a Abrahamic "Paradise" and trying to reach said "Paradise, we might find some mystics that think it's an inward journey, archaeologist who think there's a fertile valley/garden that humans originated from, others who think it is a residence of the soul, and so forth. All the characters in FF7 also interpret their own universal mythology a bit differently. Part of why this is important here is yes, there's something to what you're saying. That said, we don't have an end goal for the Lifestream yet, there's nothing saying the Lifestream wants to travel somewhere, only that it may need to as a last ditch effort.

Some youtuber (i can't find the fellow now) posited that all planets in the FF7 universe did this and their Omega returned them to a cosmic lifestream just the whole thing on a bigger scale. It makes sense, if one Planet exists, we can probably posit others. Heck, we know FFX's Farplane was a similar, right? So there may be a belief here that all planets have this (and ideas in FFIX and Spirits Within probably support this line of thinking on behalf of the creators). So while people/humans/Cetra have a paradise/promised land, yes, the planetary Lifestreams might too, but it is speculation. If we go this route, we should probably post that "riding Omega" is akin to death in FF7. Yeah, your spirit doesn't die, it changes and gets absorbed into the Lifestream. So if that's happening, the Planet probably doesn't want to do that, just like folks don't want to die despite such great promises of afterlife! But again, we're really just speculating beyond canon sources here.

We who are born of the planet, with her we speak.
Her flesh we shape.
Unto her promised land shall we one day return.
By her loving grace and providence may we take our place in paradise.
A poem about the Cetras

How do you interpret the third stanza?

Maybe spend a bit more time with Abrahamic texts. They talk about "his grace" and "his bounty" and all this for the Abrahamic god. So while it could be "his paradise" as in God's own perfect paradise for himself, it can also be the paradise that God owns. So when we see "her promised land" it doesn't necessarily mean the Lifestream's destined promised land, rather, the promised land over which it presides/has dominion/owns/creates.

If Omega is supposed to be able to protect life on a planetary scale, it seems logical to me that it is also designed to resist the dangers of the cosmos.

Yeah but like, saying it should be able to resist a black hole or something is a stretch. Parents should protect their young, why the heck aren't the Kryptonian yet?! Omega is freakishly powerful and we probably only saw a fraction of what it can do in DoC, so I'm not sure what your concerns here were.

If the Cetras are part of the Lifestream it is in my opinion normal that they travel with her and return to where she must go.

Not necessarily as Cetra. Remember Bugenhagen's OG cutscene. All living things are part of the Lifestream and return to it when they die, so they are going with it. If the Lifestream hitches a ride in Omega to another planet, yeah, the Cetra go to... but not as Cetra sitting in a cockpit. Probably as little green pyrefly like things.

If Aerith has faith in the Lifestream and accepts her fate. If she is to take an active part in triggering the next migration then she has every reason to try to manipulate and bullshit.

If we're tossing out a claim that Aerith (especially in OG) is lying and manipulating the party, we have to have a whole other discussion here. Her character was all about innocence and barely knew what was going on. She knows more in Remake it seems, yes, but I don't know if we can call it manipulation (yet). Implying a sinister end for her character is... well it conflicts with everything in the saga so far.

The details you present raise a question for me. How does the Lifestream that arrives on a new rock manages to dive deep under the earth's crust?

Yeah, the Lifestream breaks out of the Planet's crust, so breaking in shouldn't be hard. In the post-FF7 short stories (the Cases) there's commentary about the Lifestream having retunneled and changed its flow around the Planet. Pretty sure this won't be a problem.

I am indeed trying to find a way to involve Shinra as a stakeholder in triggering the potential interstellar migration (hence the title of this thread). I think Shinra could be some sort of tool developed by the Lifestream to enable the journey to continue (reference to Shinra from FFX). Yes, because I think a good part of the Lifestream went on board the meteor at the end of Final Fantasy VII.

This is actually why I wanted to respond at all. So, you may have noticed a trend that started in Star Wars fandoms some time ago, right? "The Empire did nothing wrong." "The Rebels are terrorists." So these memelords flipped the script to discuss how the Empire were the good guys... making a joke. But people started taking it seriously and now many actually side with Space Nazis and see the Rebels as bad guys. Actually there's some Alt-Right dudes that have been bombing some SW Meme subs on reddit recently with this very argument. I bring this up because I think you're getting close to this here:

You've hinted a sinister edge to Aerith.
You want to justify Shinra as the good guys.

Shinra isn't a good company. They're the villains, they're everything wrong with the world in FF7. They were killing the planet and doing bad things and the planet doesn't want Omega to trigger... remember independent actors were trying to force Omega to trigger in DoC, it wasn't something the planet wanted to do. Creating a conspiracy theory that it was the Planet's Plan all along is a serious stretch from what we know and have and it flips the meaning and themes of so much of the game that it actually really isn't very FF7 anymore. I'd caution this line of thinking. If you're going down fan theory lane, please, please, try to ground it within the mindset of the creators as much as possible.

Visit some of their other projects developed around the same time to gauge their mindsets, then return to theorizing.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Yes, because I think a good part of the Lifestream went on board the meteor at the end of Final Fantasy VII.

I can settle this right here:

"She used a portion of the Lifestream to stop Meteor’s descent."

https://thelifestream.net/lifestrea...aerith-gainsborough-character-profile-p48-51/

 

[S.L.Kerrigan]

"Those who look with clouded eyes see nothing but shadows."
"All born are bound to her."
"Should this world be unmade, so too shall her children."