Despite what the artistic staff at Square Enix would have us suppose, Destiny and Fate in all probability nonetheless have a significant function to play in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and past. Even although SOLDIER Zack Fair appears to have escaped loss of life and joined the remainder of the solid in a brand new timeline, the most probably final result is a very totally different—however equally tragic—coincidence.
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Spoilers for the unique sport and FF7 Remake observe.
In the unique Final Fantasy VII timeline, Cloud and Zack are wounded by Sephiroth following what’s generally known as “The Nibelheim Incident,” 5 years earlier than the occasions of the principle sport. The mad scientist Hojo kidnaps and experiments on them for 4 years, enhancing Cloud’s power however scrambling his mind. After Zack breaks them out, they journey round for a couple of yr till Shinra catches as much as them on the outskirts of Midgar. Originally, Zack dies preventing Shinra troopers, however as a result of the get together defeats the Whisper Harbinger on the finish of FF7 Remake, occasions up to now, current and future are altered.
Remake’s ending cutscene exhibits that Zack survives the battle and helps Cloud make his method towards Midgar. It’s believable these occasions occur in an alternate timeline distinct from the brand new continuity. However, it’s completely doable that when the get together entered the Singularity on the finish of Remake and destroyed the Whispers, they didn’t return to their unique world. Instead, they have been taken someplace totally different: a timeline created by the destruction of the Whispers by which Zack is alive.
Producer Yoshinori Kitase has confirmed already that Zack performs a much bigger function in FF7 Rebirth than the unique sport.
“Within the unique Final Fantasy 7, Zack Fair doesn’t seem as a lot,” Kitase advised IGN in a September 2023 interview. “As for Rebirth, there will likely be a brand new episode with Zack that may comprise much more of him than the Remake. I’m not in a position to say rather more than this as I would really like for gamers to play and expertise this with it in their very own arms.”
How is all of this going to shake out precisely? Well, Rebirth Creative Director Tetsuya Nomura confirmed on the official PlayStation weblog in September 2023 that the second a part of the trilogy ends on the Forgotten Capital, which is the place Sephiroth kills Aerith whereas she’s attempting to the White Materia to summon Holy.
“The future — even when it has been written — could be modified,” Aerith says within the June 2022 First Look Trailer for Rebirth. The unique timeline has already been “written,” so to talk, which is why the Whispers strove to protect this particular future. In different phrases, occasions can and will play out as they initially did aside from in cases the place characters make totally different selections.
The Whispers is probably not round anymore to make sure that all the things goes precisely in keeping with plan, however it’s all however sure that Aerith will nonetheless attempt to summon Holy herself and be threatened by Sephiroth. Assuming all people exists in the identical continuity, what’s going to Zack be doing whereas Cloud and associates pursue Sephiroth? In all chance, after arriving on the Sector 5 Church within the post-credits scene of the Remake Intergrade INTERmission chapter starring Yuffie, he’ll attempt to observe Aerith down.
A fittingly tragic fruits of all this might be for Zack to lastly catch as much as Aerith on the finish of the sport within the Forgotten Capital simply in time to push her out of the way in which and take the hit himself. The Whispers is probably not round to make sure that Zack dies, however his continued existence within the timeline presents all kinds of cosmic continuity points. This might be the right tragic ending to Rebirth that evokes Aerith and Cloud to proceed their mission to cease Sephiroth in a method that thematically echoes the unique with out getting too convoluted. In this style, Aerith might efficiently summon Holy to cease Meteor sooner than within the unique, however who is aware of what sort of repercussions all of this might have.
Is it honest for him to make the last word Zackrifice? Probably not, however one thing about it feels becoming however.
Pre-order Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop
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