WMG / Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Pre-Release & 'Act II'-Related Theories

Zack Fair is still dead, there is no Stealth Sequel

Instead it is all Lifestream sheanigans, Zack is a ghost stuck in some sort of purgatory-like limbo following his death in Crisis Core and we were only given half the picture with his supposed Spared by the Adaptation in Final Fantasy VII Remake, which would be revealed to not be a Stealth Sequel at all. The rest of the story for Part 2 of the Remake trilogy proceeds on cue as we know it complete with the Whisperers being an Aborted Arc and Aerith dying at the Forgotten Capital the same way she did in the original game rather than earlier or later, but now with the mystery of how Zack can be laid to rest in the Lifestream tacked on to the story. This also makes comments about connections between the Remake Trilogy and Advent Children a case of Exact Words.

• Partly jossed. Any prospect that the Terrier timeline is purgatory gets debunked by the game itself, with Red XIII being shown to have been alive for a brief moment in Zack's timeline before dying there and Sephiroth claiming that many worlds can be accessed through the planet and is seeking to merge the worlds as part of his plans. However Aerith's fate is seemingly unchanged and it is still possible to argue that, depending on how they handle the situation with her fate in part 3, that the game can still link up with the Compiliation.

Aerith's death is a surge point in Destiny's script and can be used to reawaken the Whispers.

• Jossed. The Whispers first appear at the Gongaga Reactor after being seen by Cissnei and the village previously. These Whispers aren't the grey ones we see in Remake however, as the climax of that game allowed Sephiroth to be able to manifest black ones loyal to him. Additionally, there are white Whispers fighting their darker counterparts, being controlled by the Planet, or possibly a version of Aerith.

Aerith will not die.

• Despite Cloud's intervention, seemingly jossed, through there is room with how the events after her seeming death is presented that it could still be argued that she actually was saved, but something happened causing her to be removed from the timeline to everyone except Cloud and possibly Nanaki.

Aerith dies but later than anticipated.

• At City of the Ancients, Sephiroth uses Jenova to project an avatar, and tries to assassinate Aerith but as he stabs her Cloud destroys the projection, nerfing his attack. She survives but drops the White Materia into the lifestream. Later on they reach the Northern Crater Sephiroth corrupts Cloud and he kills Aerith in the struggle to claim the black materia for his master.
• Alternately she survives past the initial events of act 2, but it's foreshadowed she must be killed inevitably, so that she can command the Lifestream to help Holy destroy Meteor.

Aerith dies in the exact same way as the original.

In interviews the developers have said as much, the main plot points won't deviate, despite there being some new mysteries.

• Ultimately zig-zagged in that Cloud actually tries to save her and actually succeed in blocking Sephiroth as he comes down. However, timeline distortions seemingly cause the original events to play out as they do. However Cloud can see Aerith at the end and Nanaki is heavily implied to feel her even as the rest of the party accepts her death. So it is unknown if Aerith is purely a hallucination of Cloud to cope with failing to save her, or actually was saved, but something happened causing her to be removed from the timeline to everyone except Cloud and Nanaki, or alternatively if she did die, but her spirit continues to exis as a Spirit Advisor for Cloud, only observable by Cloud and Nanaki.

Aerith dies but earlier than anticipated.

Having Aerith die the same way she did would be too expected and the element of surprise that was the whole point of her death is no longer there. Originally Aerith was supposed to die halfway through Disk 2 at the Northern Crater. There are some indications that the Northern Crater and Sephiroth's awakening will happen earlier than expected, which could lead to the devs having Aerith's death happen much earlier to maintain the element of shock associated with her death. Maybe the game will, after her earlier death, culminate in the party chasing the now awakened Sephiroth to the Forgotten Capital both to avenge her death and try to cast Holy without her, only for him to come out on top of the subsequent confrontation and set the stage for Part 3. It is possible that Part 2 could also end with Cloud falling into the Lifestream at the Forgotten Capital instead of the Northern Crater if they go this route, with Shinra forces arriving as all of this is happening and capturing Barret and Tifa as well.

Aerith's fate is left ambigious

For example she is apparently killed, but she wakes up in Zack's world, which is possibly a dream inside the swelling or the convergence of the Lifestream.

• Somewhat confirmed, Cloud seemingly saves her but timeline distortions seemingly cause her fate to revert to the intended course. However Cloud remembers saving her and sees her at the end even as everyone else comes to terms with her seeming death, and it is left ambigious if he was hallucinating, if Aerith lives on in death as a guardian angel of sorts for Cloud, or even if Cloud actually did save her, but timeline distortions removed her from the timeline, with only Cloud being able to see her because he remembers what he originally made things out to be.

The Church in the final trailer is Aerith's pearly gate into the Lifestream.

• Jossed. She was actually a version of Aerith from another timeline (the Chihuahua specifically, as opposed to Cloud's Beagle or Zack's Terrier). What she was doing was giving a powered up white materia to Beagle timeline's Cloud to relay to her counterpart at the Sleeping Forest. This occurs right about at the same time Sephiroth bursts into the Church to kill that timeline's Aerith.

The scene at the beginning where Cloud and Sephiroth are shown walking together is NOT from the Nibelheim flashback, but something that happens in the present.

The trailer framing this scene to Cloud's flashback narration is a deliberate misleading tactic to distract players, especially fans of the FF7 original, from noticing one obvious detail: the state of Cloud's 1st class uniform. He's already in the modified one-shoulder pad and bulky gauntlet look he wears throughout the present instead of having an exact replica of Zack's standard 1st class, which should've been the case if this were a flashback since Cloud is seen wearing that suit during every flashback in Remake, including the scene where he's talking with his mother, Claudia.

Rebirth will have Cloud's Nibelheim flashback end with a Cloud vs Sephiroth boss fight.

While in the original game, Cloud believes he couldn't have killed Sephiroth, here, Cloud straight up states he had killed Sephiroth with his own two hands. Perhaps in here, Cloud absorbed more of Zack's memories, so he may imagine that there was a fight between him and Sephiroth. The fight will, depending on just how much of Zack Cloud absorbed, be obviously either a Hopeless Boss Fight or a Heads I Win, Tails You Lose boss fight: In the former, Sephiroth can hardly take any damage from Cloud's attacks, and will quickly whittle Cloud down to Zero HP before tossing him out of the Reactor like he did with Zack, only Sephiroth may straight up call Cloud weak, displaying clearly that something is wrong as Zack in the Crisis Core had put up a better fight than that. For the latter, Cloud is knocked down below like Sephiroth did to Zack and they can have an extended duel but while it's technically possible to win against Sephiroth in the boss fight, Sephiroth there will be throwing all sorts of lethal spells and skills so the chances of you winning are very slim, unless the game gives Cloud the time needed to level up, and if he does win the boss, the fight will still naturally end with Sephiroth tossing Cloud out of the Reactor after what Cloud assumed was a fight between them. Then Cloud gets his Heroic Second Wind and throws Sephiroth into the Lifestream, explaining why Cloud believes he had killed Sephiroth but is still afraid of him here, because he knows he won only through luck and wouldn't be able to replicate that kind of a success unless Sephiroth underestimates him again.

• With the fact that the Nibelheim Incident flashback shows Cloud at endgame-stats and at least strong enough to keep up with Sephiroth, this is getting more likely. The fight will also probably be more emotional if Cloud has enough emulation of Zack that he might really see Sephiroth as a true friend rather than just a war partner like he did in canon, with Cloud consistently asking Sephiroth how could he have changed so utterly so quickly.

Zack and Aerith will reunite, but it won't be a happy reunion

If the whole point of the remakes is to save Aerith so she can save the planet, then someone has to take her place. That someone could be Zack, who was supposed to die during that encounter with the Shinra army while trying to protect Cloud. Or it could be a situation where the choices made during gameplay will reveal who will die, including it still being Aerith which will trigger a bad ending.

Zack will be a boss fight, and he will fight Cloud and all the party except Aerith

Think about it. Seeing as it's all but confirmed directly they will meet here, it's quite likely that at first Cloud will not recognize Zack, while Tifa may still be bitter at Zack after what happened back in Nibelheim and Barret and Red XII will see him as just another SOLDIER, except he's a First Class. Aerith will be freaked out to see Zack, as here it's clear she will be surprised to see him if the trailer is of any indication.

• Perhaps it was during the fight that Cloud remembers everything and has a breakdown, especially as Cloud was using Zack's memories and skills and hadn't really developed his, meaning he'll be easy picking for Zack, who would almost certainly naturally counter everything Cloud tries. He's bound to realize something's very wrong, and then the memories start coming back until he finally breaks.
• As for the intensity, given Zack's performance, unless the developers nerf down his abilities, he will most likely get the better of the team or at least hold them back if he was holding back. If he's taking the fight seriously, then he'll be using some DMW Moves, his super-strong skills, and magical spells uncommon, but if he's holding himself back, then he may just stick to regular swordsmanship and moves rather than the real SOLDIER 1ST Class level skills he can use. It can be either an unwinnable boss fight that has Zack disarm Cloud after a certain point or a Heads I Win, Tails You Lose where you do push Zack back.... But afterwards Zack wins anyway, either by blasting everyone away except Cloud and Aerith, or he'll push Tifa aside and disarm Cloud in a single swoop.
• Jossed, the opposite actually happens. During the final boss fight against Sephiroth Reborn, he actually links up with Cloud and helps fight Sephiroth in one of the phases.

The Wutai War will be a major plot arc

• Rebirth will have to cover a lot of plot which doesn't create much in story. To tie the act of the story together, Shinra's hostility with Wutai raised frequently in Remake will be escalated into resurgent war. This will bring Wutai in as a non-optional natural climax for the story and bring Yuffie's character into focus. It could also be used to further the environmentalist themes of the game: While the main party are trying to build a coalition to face the existential threat posed by Sephiroth, the rest of the world are mired in meaningless conflict.
  • Played with. The geopolitical arc of Rebirth is indeed about Shinra and Wutai's escalation into a second war, but visiting Wutai is pushed back to part 3. The symbolism is also played with. Rather than the gathering storm being a side conflict, it's actually purposely instigated by Sephiroth in order to distract Rufus from actively persuing him. He did this through cloaking himself as a dead SOLDIER named Glenn Lodbrock, taking control of Wutai's iterim government following its coup d'etat^note It's implied that Rufus orchestrated the coup as part of his make plans to ursurp Shinra's presidency, something that fell by the wayside after President Shinra got killed by Sephiroth., and sparked a general anti-Shinra uprising.

Cloud will be the final boss.

Under Sephiroth's/Jenova's influence. Alternately Sephiroth is trying to pull a Xehanort/Luxu and will steal Cloud's body as his own to escape the Lifestream permanently.

• Jossed.

Cloud will be incapicated in the ending and Zack takes up the Buster Sword in a sequel tease.

• Jossed.

Potential names for the sequel

• 1. Final Fantasy VII Resolution
• 2. Final Fantasy VII Revival
• 3. Final Fantasy VII Revolution
• 4. Final Fantasy VII Reunion
• 5. Final Fantasy VII Renewal
• 6. Final Fantasy VII Reprise
• 7. Final Fantasy VII Resurge
• 8. Final Fantasy VII Reprisal
• 9. Final Fantasy VII Rewrite
• 10. Final Fantasy VII Realign
• 11. Final Fantasy VII Resolve
• 12. Final Fantasy VII Revengeance
• 13. Final Fantasy VII Remnant
• 14. Final Fantasy VII Requiem
• 15. Final Fantasy VII Revelation
• 16. Final Fantasy VII Rechannel
• 17. Final Fantasy VII Revenant
• 18. Final Fantasy VII Redefine
• 19. Final Fantasy VII Reshape
• 20. Final Fantasy VII Recital
• 21. Final Fantasy VII Reclaim
• 22. Final Fantasy VII Rebooted
• 23. Final Fantasy VII Resurrect / Resurrection.
  • Given what happens in the end, and talk of timelines coming together, Reunion seems like a frontrunner for the final game's title. Not to mention, Sephiroth, Aerith, and Zack say this word a lot.
    • Not so sure, Since the remaster of Crisis Core was called Crisis Core Reunion, I'm not sure they'd want to use it again.
  • Another frontrunner for Part 3's title could be Return, given that it has two syllables like Remake and Rebirth, can continue the Japanese wordplay (like re-turning the clock, or returning the timeline) and can be written in the same short katakana as the first two parts. Additionally, the last song on Rebirth's OST is titled "Aerith’s Theme - Return to the Planet". Meanwhile, the title of the Remake OST's final song is "One Winged Angel - Rebirth".

In a surprise twist, Rebirth will reveal Aerith not Sephiroth as the overall villain of the Remake trilogy.

• As the story of the remake trilogy is further revealed, Cloud will discover that Aerith is from the original timeline trying to change the outcome where she and Zack died. It's then Cloud will realize that Sephiroth is trying to restore the original timeline because of something more dangerous happening because of Aerith messing with time itself using her abilities as an Ancient. It's then Cloud must choose to either help his hated enemy restore the original timeline, or help the woman he's fallen in love with prevent an untimely death at the risk of possibly destroying time itself and the planet.

Jessie will appear as an actress at the Gold Saucer.

Somehow if she survived, fulfilling her old dream, or a vision or trip to an alternate reality.

• Seemingly confirmed based on her appearing in trailers.
  • Confirmed, but downplayed as it's actually a projection of Jessie and not Jessie herself.

Chapters

• Nibelheim flashback
  • Confirmed, this is the first chapter of the game.
• Catching a Chocobo
• Mythril Mine
• Lower Junon
• Upper Junon
• Cargo Ship
• Costa Del Sol
• Mount Corel
• Gold Saucer
• Corel Prison
• Gongaga
• Cosmo Canyon
• Cave of the Gi
• Return to Nibelheim
• Rocket Town
  • Jossed. Rocket town is not visitable in Rebirth, with its various elements scattered throughout the game.^note Cid and the Tiny Bronco are introduced when going between Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon, the Materia Keeper fight was moved to the Nibelheim flashback, and the Palmer fight was moved to the Corel Desert, immedialy after the Dyne fight.
• Finding the keystone/Cloud's Gold Saucer Date
• Temple of the Ancients 
• Finding The Lunar Harp, Bone Village/Sleeping Forest/Corel Valley
  • Mostly Jossed. Rebirth moves the Temple of the Ancients from the islands south of Junon to the Northern Continent,^note Instead, Fort Condor is in the Temple's general OG location. leading to Bone Village and the Corel Valley getting cut. The Sleeping Forest remains however as an interlude between the Temple and the Forgotten Capital.
• Forgotten Capital
• The Snowy Areas, Icicle Village
• The Great Glacier
• The Whirlwind Maze
  • These last three are Jossed - the second game is going to end at the Forgotten Capital.

---

Ultimately, Rebirth has fourteen chapters, which cover:

• 1. The Nibelheim Flashback
• 2. Kalm and the Chocobo Ranch
• 3. The Mythril Mines
• 4. Under Junon and Junon proper
• 5. The Shinra-8
• 6. Costa del Sol
• 7. Mt. Corel and North Corel
• 8. The Gold Saucer and Corel Prison
• 9. Gongaga and the Gongaga Reactor
• 10. Cosmo Canyon and the Cave/Village of the Gi
• 11. Nibelheim, Mt. Nibel and Shinra Manor
• 12. Finding the Keystone and the Gold Saucer Date
• 13. The Temple of the Ancients
• 14. The Sleeping Forest and the Forgotten Capital
• Interludes: Zack in the Terrier timeline

Wutai will be moved to game 3

• Confirmed

Sonon will return.

Either Nero or Hojo will raise him as a zombie if he was dead or put him under mind control if he was alive. He could even be turned into a SOLDIER.

• He appears in a spiritual trial Yuffie goes through in the Ancient Temple, as an undead minion under Nero's control.

Crisis Core Reunion will when Future Sephiroth entered the past.

Putting this here for the lack of a better place. The fact that the Crisis Core remaster gets a subtitle that follows the Remake name scheme seems pretty important.

Biggs, Jessie, and possibly Wedge will continue their efforts fighting Shinra in Midgar

Biggs is confirmed alive, We saw a shot of Jessie's glove at the end of Remake, and Wedge is not confirmed dead. There's a chance that they still have a part to play. More likely in either a DLC, or Part 3, though.

• Confirmed for Biggs, Jossed for Jessie and Wedge. Jessie only appears in flashbacks in Rebirth, while the protorelic questiline in Cosmo Canyon confirms that Wedge died after falling from the Shinra Building. Biggs however gets transported to the Terrier timeline because of Cloud's party defeating the grey whispers. There, he goes into hiding since he's the only Avalanche member still wanted, and a couple of conversations with Zack inspires him to go on a suicide mission to bomb Reactor 7. An offshoot reality, the Pug timeline, forms if Zack decided to go after him, where he is shown to get shot and killed by Shinra troopers.

When Zack shows up, he'll wield the Fusion Sword.

It would be a nice Mythology Gag to Advent Children.

• Jossed. He still wields the Buster Sword.

Cissnei will show up.

She'll accompany Zack when he meets the gang.

• Confirmed, at least in regards to her showing up. She is a main character in Gongaga, helping keep the villiage (and Zack's parents) safe and secure from any threat.

Zack will have interlude side story chapters

Like Vito's flashbacks in The Godfather Part II, or Laguna's story in Final Fantasy VIII.

• Confirmed, he has his own side story, but downplayed as they aren't chapters dedicated to him but rather interspersed with the main story chapters.

The final shot of the game will be in Junon, one of the characters looks out of a window and sees the comet

• Jossed, as Rebirth ends at the Forgotten Capital.

New elemental materia will be introduced.

These will include the elements from the original game or may be new ones not present in it, such as…

• Earth Materia, which was available after leaving Midgar.
• Water Materia, a new materia introduced like Wind Materia.
• Gravity Materia, with orb of gravity officially having this element.
• Poison Materia will have now be listed as an element like in the original instead of just a status effect.
• A weaker version of Holy Materia could be introduced.

There will be a new WEAPON battle when one of them awakens in the North Crater.

• Jossed. While Weapons do appear (once at the Corel Reactor, and once at the Gongaga Reactor), they are not fought. Additionally, the party doesn't reach the North Crater as Rebirth ends at the Forgotten Capital.

There will be a new chase scene

Like a buggy chase across Corel Desert with Roche chasing them

• Confirmed. The fights with Dyne and Palmer are followed by Shinra troopers chasing Cloud and the gang on the buggy. Instead of Roche however, the main three persuers are Rude and Elena in a helicopter and Palmer in the Anuran Suppressor.

The Red in the logo is foreshadowing a plot twist

• Aerith's blood?
• The burning red colour of Meteor being summoned?
• Genesis?
• Red is the colour of blood, which can refer to a death or a birth. In the plot of the original game, intergalactic parasite Jenova is the one most related to the physical process of birthing (the blood, the body parts). In this game, it could refer to a literal process of birth: someone will turn into a version of Jenova.

Zack now alive joins the other Avalanche cell

• Zig-zagged. While he doesn't join any actual cell of Avalanche (Barret's clique is mostly dead in the Terrier timeline and with Cloud in the Beagle timeline while the HQ guys in INTERmission are in Cosmo Canyon), he does interact with and helps Biggs, the only clique member alive in the Terrier timeline.

The game will end with Cloud falling into the Lifestream and Barret and Tifa being captured

Structurally speaking, the lowest point of a story is the end of the second act. It makes sense for this one to end with Aerith dying and the party being separated.

• Jossed.

Banora and Modeoheim will be featured (or at least mentioned) in Final Fantasy VII:Rebirth

• Jossed, as there was no mention of either town, plus the fact that both towns' regions (Mideel and the Icicle Inn Area respectively) are only accessable after the timeframe of Rebirth.

Sephiroth is planning on killing the entire party, one by one.

• He showed a vision of Tifa and Barret dying to Cloud in Final Fantasy VII Remake. He might do this so He can have a better chance of winning in the end and/or to cause Cloud more pain.
  • Jossed. Sephiroth kills almost all to all Aeriths in the various timelines (Rebirth's Gainax Ending makes it complicated on what he truly did), but he doesn't lay a finger on anyone other than Cloud and Aerith.

The Marshes will be re-imagined as a new dungeon where the Midgar Zolom hunts the characters.

• Jossed, it's just a location within the Grasslands region, though it is where a mandatory boss battle happens.

The party's materia loadout will be reset and there will be a plot reason

• Yuffie steals them.
• Sephiroth sends some materia keeper monsters after the party and you must battle them to gradually earn them back.
• The trailer shows the gang, sans Cloud, unconscious and being picked up by Shinra soldiers, with a news caster saying a massive tornado ripped through Sectors 1 and 2. Their materia was taken by the cops offscreen. Cloud rescues the gang and game leads into the ending of the last game.

The True final stage will not be the Forgotten Capital or the North Crater (1st visit), but a symbolic, spiritual world representing Cloud's fragile will under the influence of Sephiroth

• Jossed, they've confirmed that this one ends at the Forgotten Capital.

At Junon, Rufus changes his presidential acceptance speech to declare war on Wutai

• Zig-zagged. He doesn't officially declare war on Wutai (in fact, Wutai and the "Shinra Resistance Committee" declares war on Shinra when Cloud and co. visit Nibelheim), but he does violate the ceasefire by firing Sister Ray as a show of force.

Cid's relationship with Shera will be softened but still unhealthy

Cid's treatment of Shera in the game would be much harder for modern audiences to sympathize with, let alone forgive him for, but at the same time he needs a solid character arc. As a result, while he's still an all-around Jerkass, he wouldn't intentionally treat Shera as a maidservant. Rather, her actions are entirely voluntary and self-inflicted out of a misguided desire to be The Atoner for destroying Cid's dreams. Cid actually hates seeing her do this to herself, but ironically, can't bring himself to say it as it would require some brutal honesty to get his point across, thus leading him to quietly resent her Unwanted Assistance.

• Jossed in Rebirth, as neither Shera or Rocket Town are mentioned in the game. TBA for part 3 though.

The battle with Palmer will be regulated to a cutscene, at best.

• Jossed. The fight got moved from Rocket Town to the Corel Desert, and he battles the party using the Anuran Suppressor.

Alternatively, the battle with Palmer will be surprisingly harrowing.

Palmer is still a Dirty Coward and quite a Manchild, and he'll quickly recognize he's in over his head. However, his attempts to keep his distance from Avalanche will cause him to make many clumsy moves that endanger everyone—not just the party—(such as shooting at fuel drums or sending the Tiny Bronco moving at them with its rotors active), which he'll pass off as deliberate combat maneuvers on his part.

• Zig-zagged. All the things regarding the Tiny Bronco are Jossed, but he does put up a formidable fight thanks to him (barely) controlling a giant mech.

Vincent will see Cloud and Aerith at one point and they will remind him of him and Lucrecia.

He will stumble upon them and it will trigger a flashback to a scene with him and Lucrecia and it will make him feel depressed about losing her.

Yuffie will recognize the Buster Sword

Calling back to Crisis Core, Yuffie will recognize Cloud's sword, but will point out that it used to belong to somebody with black hair. Before Tifa can try to intervene, Cloud will assume Yuffie was talking about Angeal. Cloud will falsely remember being under his tutelage and being given his Buster Sword after he died.

Vincent will get his own flashback scenario, with Lucretia as his AI partner

Since the precedent has been set with Intermission, there can always be made a case for Vincent to be a star of his own flashback episode dealing with his time as a Turk, with Lucrecia being his partner character who uses machinery to support him, much like Sonon.

• Jossed. Though this could be a plotline for a future DLC episode.

Part III will involve a Crisis Crossover between the Remake continuity and the original continuity

Sephiroth's plans will cause the plot to go so off the rails, time and space begin falling apart and Meteor will threaten both versions of the Planet. The only way to possibly stop Sephiroth now will be to get help from heroes who have had experience in fighting him, thus leading the party to find a way to access the Compilation-verse and recruit their older selves to Save Both Worlds.

Alternatively, part 3 is a Crisis Crossover of the entire franchise, not just VII

Simply for the sake of awesomeness.

Aerith will still die in Part II, however there will be an "Episode Aerith" DLC for Part III detailing an alternate scenario where she survives.

As often discussed, Aerith's death is too intergral to the themes of loss established in the original game, and a large chunk of players would perfer to keep it as it is even if they accept the other story choices. However, this is only if we consider the Western fandom. In the Japanese fandom, the idea of having an option to save Aerith is extremely widespread among fan polls and fan surveys, so there is an expectation that Square should offer a chance to save Aerith this time around. There is however a way to compromise here. Have Aerith die in part 2 either on cue or later in the story (perhaps in the Norther Crater as originally planned)...however, for Part 3 have an mini-expansion or a long 8-10 hour length DLC where she survives, diverging from the ending of Part II. Square has done this in the past with XV's move optimistic "Episode Ignis" storyline and there were even plans for a even more optimistic scenario that got cancelled but was adapted into the "Dawn of the Future" novel. Not to mention "alternate scenario" what-if DLCs have been attempted in JRPGs in the past (Fire Emblem comes to mind). Having a DLC of this nature would have been would be the best way to give a sort of payoff to the possibility of saving her that was discussed in Part 1 and hoped by Cleriths, Zeriths that also hope both halves of their ship live through the remake with the possibility of Zack's survival at the end of Part 1, and a large portion of the Japanese fandom, but not alienate the Western fandom and those in general that believe that her dying is too integral to the story and the themes of inevitable tragedy and inevitable loss as a part of life.

• Played with. [[spoiler: There is a possibility Aerith cheated death but is now living in an alternate timeline.

Zack will have a playable side plot

While Cloud and the others seek out Sephiroth, Zack and the other Cloud will follow them. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie will be in Zack's party. They finally cross paths at the Forgotten Capital, where Zack sees Sephiroth preparing to kill Aerith and dives in to save her. After Aerith realizes that her death had been prevented, the game ends with her asking Zack "what have you done?"

• Mostly confirmed. Zack does have a series of interludes where he is playable, interacting with characters like Marlene, Elmyra, and Biggs. Wedge and Jessie don't appear though, and while Zack does link up with Cloud during the final boss fight at the Forgotten Capital, everything regarding saving Aerith is Jossed.

Tifa's name, Sephiroth and the Kabbalah

This may be overreaching, but... Sephiroth's name clearly derives from its namesake in the Kabbalah. Aeris's name, meanwhile, has been corrected to Aerith. Further WMGs since the release of the original game have related both Aerith and Sephiroth in some way. Regardless, Tifa's name may be a nod to Tiferet/Tifaret sefira of the Kabbalah, meaning 'beauty'. Whether this means a deep connection to Sephiroth or Aerith is anyone's guess.

A major party member will die

Aerith's death is pivotal to the story, but fans are expecting it. Sephiroth will manipulate events so that someone else dies to prevent Holy from being activated.

• Cloud: How better to show that things are off the rails than to kill off the hero?
• Tifa: The one who helped Cloud pull himself back together after Aerith's death.
• Red XIII: He interposes himself to save Aerith.
  • Another point in this favour is that, in epic stories, the hero's mentor or the more spiritually-aligned character bites the dust to motivate the hero. Just as Aerith, Red XIII serves as guide to Avalanche and takes the team to Cosmo Canyon, where they learn the importance of the Materia and their role in saving the Planet.
  • Technically confirmed in the fact that Terrier-Red gives his life in the prologue to save Aerith, so that Zack can find her.
• Barret is most likely safe because they gave him a Disney Death in Remake. Vincent and Yuffie as well since they weren't in the first game and wouldn't have as much of an impact.
  • Played with. Tifa almost dies at the Gongaga Reactor, but is saved and brought back to life by Weapon of the planet.

There are multiple endings depending on the "High Degree of Freedom" and discovering "Each character's destiny." Tweets

Rebirth will allow the players to play and pick up side-quests as they choose. So perhaps it is still possible to play the Remake Trilogy as though they were playing the OG just in high-definition depending on the actions of the players, so Aerith dies, Cloud give the black materia away etc. But then depending on what happens, and what quests to choose, Zack joins the party, Tifa dies, Barret and Scarlet adopt Yuffie in a weird family. (Okay, maybe that one's a joke) And in yet another depending on what choices and quests the players take, Meteor is still summoned, Sephiroth helps to destroy it and no one dies. Also Wedge becomes mayor of Midgar because that boy deserves something.

• Jossed. Rebirth only has one ending.

Sephiroth is NOT on Jenova's side

Think about it, in the Remake, Sephiroth makes little mentions of Jenova, talking mostly about himself, while in the Rebirth, he straight-up sounds almost... grim when he describes Jenova's powers. Could it be that Sephiroth now understands that Jenova is behind all the suffering he had to go through and is no longer loyal to her? Is Sephiroth seeking to dominate Jenova entirely rather than be used by her?

Sephiroth "spoils" Aerith's death.

At the end of the Summer Games Fest, Tifa tries to stab Sephiroth only to have the sword yanked from her and sliced, Sephiroth voice overs "Do you know I killed her? Then who is she?" He's not talking about Tifa at all, but is referring to the OG's biggest twist, the one that everyone knows. What we see in the trailer is an absolute misdirect.

• Jossed. Actually, Sephiroth spoils Cloud saving her by changing the timeline to still make it happen.
• Also Jossed in the way that Sephiroth was talking about Tifa trying to get into Cloud's head that his memories aren't what they were and that he really did kill Tifa at the Nibelheim incident, trying to separate Cloud from Tifa.

Tifa will die instead of Aerith.

Aerith's death in the original game is pretty much the video game equivalent of Vader revealing the truth to Luke. Bottom line is that if you're a gamer, you KNOW she dies. By the time Rebirth is released, the original game will be over 27 years old, so it's a scene that just doesn't have the same impact anymore.

How do you recreate that impact 27 years later?You kill Tifa instead. In turn, this leads to.....

Aerith's survival and Tifa's death is ultimately Sephiroth's master plan.

Think about it. Aerith's death and becoming one with the Lifestream is what ultimately saves the planet at the end. Tifa is the one that manages to help Cloud finally regain his memories and break away from Sephiroth's control and suggestions.

If Aerith lives and Tifa dies, the two biggest things that stand in the way of Sephiroth's ultimate victory are averted. Plus, with the Whispers/Arbiters of Fate out of the way following the events of Remake, there's no way to safeguard the timeline from going completely off the rails if a role reversal of this level were to occur.

Time has been fractured and two timelines are now in play.

The defeat of the Arbiters at the end of Remake somehow fractured the timeline: one with Cloud as the main character, and the other with Zack.

Cloud's Timeline:This includes the events of Remake, which then spill into Rebirth. Ultimately, while Rebirth will seem to follow the events of the original game, the defeat of the Arbiters will allow several key moments to ultimately go off the rails.

Zack's Timeline:The fracture in time combined with the Arbiters being defeated allowed Zack to actually survive what would have been his last stand. This one change causes a massive chain reaction in the timeline.

• Following his battle with Shinra, Zack is initially out of commission and recovering from his injuries.
  • This will keep him out of the chain of events that start with the first bombing mission.
• Cloud remains semi-comatose as it was Zack's death that snapped him out of it.
  • Ultimately, this leads to him being more susceptible to being controlled by Sephiroth and Jenova and he becomes another hooded "Sephiroth Clone."
• The events of the original game up until the highway escape still happen, but without Cloud present.
  • Somehow, things manage to move along the same path without Cloud, but everything ultimately ends in a disaster.
• The entire Midgar party dies during the highway chase.
  • The most recent trailer starts with a news broadcast that mentions a massive tornado tearing through multiple sectors. We then see everyone dead with their bodies being collected by Shinra as part of a "recovery effort."

Best guess I have is that the Singularity at the end of Remake somehow tore into Zack's timeline likely at the exact moment Cloud and company defeat the Arbiters in the main timeline. What will ultimately put Zack on the path to tracking down Sephiroth will be heading to the church (like we see at the end of Intergrade) and realizing that Aerith died. As Cloud would be Sephiroth's puppet in Zack's timeline, Zack would be trying to recover his friend and potentially be seeking revenge on Sephiroth if he manages to somehow connect the dots and realize that Aerith's death is somehow tied to Sephiroth.

There will be another dancing mini-game.

During the State of Play Trailer, we catch a glimpse of Andrea Rhodea at the Gold Saucer dancing. One of the minigames of Remake was for Tifa to do pull-ups and Andrea mentions that he will take the stage in the best shape of his life and invites Tifa to dance with him. A mini-game for dancing will have Tifa accepting his invite to bring that mini subplot full circle.

• Confirmed. However, the dancing minigame is during the military parade in Junon instead of at the Gold Saucer.

Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine will not be playable characters in Rebirth.

With Red XIII, Cait Sith and (technically) Yuffie being new playable characters in Rebirth and according to this interview by Nomura, it is likely that Cid Highwind who wasn't even featured in the State of Play Trailer, and Vincent who does appear, will at best be support characters much like how Sonon played during Intergrade. They will become playable characters in the third part of the Remake Project.

• Confirmed.

The Materia Keeper will be fought on two separate occasions.

In the State of Play Trailer, we see Sephiroth and Cloud fighting a creature that looks like the Materia Keeper from the OG. Kind of like how Abzu was fought in two occasions in Remake, it's feasible that the Materia Keeper will be fought as two bosses in Rebirth. Whether it is the same creature that's in the Nibel mountains, or two separate ones is unknown.

• Jossed. Rocket Town is not visitable in Rebirth, and the Materia Keeper is only fought once, during the Nibelheim flashback. It was moved there as part of various plot points in Rocket Town being scattered along the rest of the game.

Part 2 will not culminate with Aerith's death, but alternate timeline Zack's.

Most likely Taking the Bullet for either Aerith or trying to save alternate timeline Cloud if Sephiroth gets his hands on him and makes him a meat puppet. A total Everyone Lives Golden Ending is somewhat implausible since Kitase did hint that the theme of "loss" was still present in some way to the core of FFVII as a setting. However, Aerith's death no longer has the same surprise element that it had in the past, and even some non-JRPG fans are aware of what goes on at the end of Disk 1. Also if you look at what Sakaguchi intended for Aerith, she was never meant to be this martyr who HAD to die to stop meteor, rather, her death showcased the randomness as much as the permanence of death (she was explicitly compared to a car crash victim). In addition, there tends to be a segment of the fanbase whom are alright with Zack surviving the whole way but not Aerith, or are preparing themselves for the "expected" outcome as far as Aerith is concerned. If you look at what Square Enix had been doing marketing wise and with other games (ie: Ever Crisis, Crisis Core Reunion), they have been really hyping Zack and his role in the story up. It was said by the developers they tried to make Aerith as endearing as possible so the Player Punch would pack an actual punch. There was a ResetEra leak that, while off regarding the release date by a month, hinted Zack was playable. So it does look like they are trying to make Zack, already an Ensemble Dark Horse in many circles, endearing or relatable to the player to make his death sting if he takes Aerith's place at the end. His death being only delayed and not averted could also, in addition to re-igniting the shock that was the whole point of Aerith's death, be used to drive home a "sometimes you can't save everybody" plot point especially since it arguably had more plot relevance than Aerith's death.

Northern Crater, despite appearing after the Forgotten Capital, will be visited in this game as a location before the Forgotten Capital.

There are some implications of this, such as the Hooded figure saying "Re..un..ion" implied to be alternate timeline Cloud standing in a location similar to the Northern Crater. Perhaps Sephiroth in this game awakens much earlier than anticipated due to the alternations in the timeline, forcing Aerith to put into her actions to cast Holy, which may or may not result in her second and final death. Alternatively Sephiroth kills her then and there, and the climax of the game will be the party chasing the now awakened Sephiroth to the Forgotten Capital both to avenge her and try to activate Holy without her.

Icicle Inn will be visited before the Forgotten Capital.

• This is especially if Aerith is still going to die there (or alternatively if she is to die at the Northern Crater this time around, it would be before the Northern Crater). Icicle Inn as a Breather Level was already seen as a mood killer after the bleak ending of Disk 1 in the original game, to the point where Final Fantasy VII: Machinabridged cut out the location entirely and had the party head straight for the Northern Crater. This is in part because their purpose as breathers are redundant due to the year between seasons, and to preserve the dour mood and Cloud's Tranquil Fury. If Aerith's death is completely unchanged, then players will have three to four years to process her loss in the waiting period for Part 3, which would make starting Part 3 at Icicle Inn a extreme mood killer. In addition, there were some cut lines from the original game indicating that Aerith was at one point supposed to make it to Icicle Inn, and her backstory is actually explored there despite her being dead at that point. Having her there this time around to see her backstory for herself would be a great way to round out her character and provide some closure if she is still going to end part 2 dead.
  • Jossed. The only places accessed on the Northern Continent in Rebirth are the Temple of the Ancients, Sleeping Forest, and the Forgotten Captial.

Cloud will have to give Yuffie CPR instead of Priscilla.

Based on some gameplay, When you get to Lower Junon, Priscilla leads Cloud and company to a dock where you fight Bottomswell (now renamed as Terror of the Deep) where Yuffie is being attacked. This in turn could possibly knock Yuffie unconscious and will get into a situation where Cloud will have to administer CPR to Yuffie instead, and could also possibly lead to Yuffie developing something of a crush on him, which could justify the possible date scene being with her depending on Relationship Values.

• Confirmed and jossed. Cloud is asked by Rhonda after the boss battle to give Yuffie chest compressions while she gives her mouth-to-mouth, but Yuffie wakes up before Cloud's able to do anything.

Cloud will die instead of Aerith, and Zack will be the protagonist for part 3.

The Villa in Costa del Sol will still be acquirable, but also customizable.

Going by the entire scope of the game increasing so much, such as accessorizing chocobos, you'll be able to get the Villa if you grind enough cash, and there will be methods to purchase or win furniture pieces for it. Maybe some knick-knacks you can win in crane games of the Gold Saucer, or the infamous 1/35 scale soldier figures ("Collect all 12!"), or trophies from the Battle Square, and you'll be able to find the party lounging around and chat with them or accept sidequests like a standard RPG base camp area.

Vincent will not join the party.

Piggybacking off of an above entry, Vincent will be a guest member like red 13 was in remake. About to go a step further, he will not travel with the party. Rather, he will decide to go his own way, and will periodically intersect with the party where he assists them before moving on again.

• Jossed. While he initially stays in his coffin underneath the Shinra Manor after his encounter with Cloud and co, he joins them when they leave Nibelheim for the Gold Saucer.

The Final Boss will be either another manifestation of the Whispers or a version of Jenova-LIFE empowered by the Whispers

The closing shot of the Games Awards trailer is Aerith, moments before her death, with Whispers surrounding her as Sephiroth comes down at her. It is likely that the party is aware of what is going to happen and will attempt to save her, while the Whispers will make an attempt to stop them from doing so, leading to a battle with yet another manifestation of the Whispers as the party fights to save Aerith from her original fate.

• Jossed. While Jenova-LIFE (retranslated to Jenova Liveclinger) is the first boss in the end game's boss rush, no Whisper boss fought during so. The other bosses fought at Rebirth's end game are an early appearing Bizzaro-Sephiroth (now retranslated to Sephiroth Reborn) and a Sephiroth fight like at the end of Remake.

The Biggs that supposedly "survived" the end of Remake is the Biggs from the Terrier timeline

He is seen talking to Zack, which indicates that he is in the Beagle timeline. As for the other two members of the Avalanche trio....

Wedge from the Beagle/Main timeline is still alive

His survival is the easiest to justify, since he was never seen dying and the defeat of the Whispers may have allowed him to survive their attempts at killing him.

• Jossed. He was confirmed dead during the protorelic sidequests in Cosmo Canyon.

Jessie is dead in both timelines

The woman that looks like her as Rosa is a legitimate Red Herring. There is already some mentions by various articles describing the Game Awards 2023 trailer that the Gold Saucer uses Holograms and virtual reality, perhaps this could be an audition by Jessie back when she wanted to be a singer that was recorded and sent to the GS, and it would likely play if Barrett is selected as the date as there is no way he could dress the part of Rosa.

• Confirmed. All three of Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie died in the Beagle timeline during the events of Remake (with Wedge's death being explicitly shown during the protorelic questline in Cosmo Canyon), while the Terrier timeline has all but Biggs of the Midgar Avalanche splinter cell (including Barret and Tifa) getting killed by the time Zack shows up. Even with Biggs it's a weird case, as it's actually the Beagle timeline's Biggs that finds his way to the Terrier timeline after his death at the Sector 7 pillar. Additionally, the appearence of Jessie at the stage of the ''Loveless" play is indeed a hologram/VR simulation, although the spirits of the trio do briefly appear during Aerith's performance of "No Promises to Keep".

The Gold Saucer Date will culminate with a Big Damn Kiss.

At least if the chosen date is Aerith (which is already hinted strongly at in the gaming trailers), Tifa and ''maybe'' Barrett. Yuffie is just...ugh.

What's funny is that this Yuffie kissing Cloud is a case of Older than You Think because it actually happens in the OG if Yuffie is chosen. It's more implied in the OG, but it could actually happen in Rebirth.

• Confirmed, Yuffie still kisses Cloud on the cheek like she did in the original, albeit it's one-sided. Cloud and Tifa kiss in this version as well.
  • Jossed for Aerith and Barret however. Red XIII is added in as another platonic option, and Cait Sith also invites Vincent and Cid into the Skywheel for a group ride.

Both Aerith and Tifa will have different songs if they are selected for the role of Rosa in the Loveless play

• Jossed. Aerith is always the singer in the Loveless play, regardless if Rosa is played by her or Tifa (or Yuffie).

Sephiroth will not kill Aerith but banish her to the Terrier timeline

Assuming that Sephiroth has indeed sent his consciousness back from after his defeat in Advent Children, he knows that if Aerith is in the Lifestream, he's toast, and that if Aerith is alive, he's toast. Rather his plan is to sent Aerith's consciousness somewhere where she can never interfere with Meteor. He will allow the party to defeat both Jenova-LIFE and the Whispers that are there to ensure Aerith still dies, only to swoop in and do something to remove Aerith from the story that could make it look like she's died in the Beagle timeline but in reality had her consciousness banished somewhere else. The Stinger for the game will be Aerith waking up in the Terrier timeline, with all her memories intact.

In relation to the above, Aerith in the Terrier timeline is dead, likely alongside that timeline's Barret and Tifa

While she is presented as being in a coma in the Games Awards trailer, she very likely died due to Platefall or would die over the course of the story from her injuries, leaving a shell for "Beagle!Aerith" to possess once Sephiroth banishes her consciousness to the Terrier timeline.

Terrier!Zack and Terrier!Marlene will play a role in saving Aerith from Sephiroth in the Beagle timeline

Terrier!Marlene tells Zack that she fears that when Terrier!Aerith wakes up, the "Scary Man" will kill her, indicating she knows of Aerith's fate to some extent, this might indicate that they would both play a role in saving Beagle!Aerith from Sephiroth, but not Beagle!Aerith being banished to the Terrier timeline if they go that route.

"Seven seconds until the end. Time enough for you, perhaps."

Cloud uses the time that Sephiroth gives him to save both Zack and Aerith from their respective fates, but in doing so, Cloud is specifically responsible for the Time alterations.

All three Avalanche Members will get their Episode that focuses on them.

This is likely just wishful thinking, but since Jessie got hers in Remake, and it looks like Biggs is getting his in Rebirth... and since Wedge is not confirmed dead... then perhaps the next game will feature him prominently in some way.

Cloud will meet the alternate Zack due to the timelines merging, and they will save Aerith together.

The three of them will then fight off the Whispers and Sephiroth as a team for the final boss.

The remaining Whispers are being controlled by Sephiroth.

The party destroying Whisper Harbinger essentially put Sephiroth into a position where he could exert control over the rest of the Whispers and use their power to change his fate and ensuring that he comes out on top.

There will be crossover collectibles with Final Fantasy XVI.

Clive Rosfield's Invictus sword or gauntlets for Tifa inspired by Hugo Kupka's semi-primed form will appear as collectibles.

If the Turks kidnap Marlene, she'll escape on her own, possibly by stealing a gun.

I know it's a crack theory, but not only would it be a nice reference to Final Fantasy VII: Machinabridged, it would play into her increased importance and knowledge of Aerith's fate.

• Jossed, she never gets kidnapped. Instead, Cait Sith simply isn't with Cloud and the gang during their exploration of Temple of the Ancients, and only reappears to sacrafice himself (or rather, one of his bodies) to prevent the temple from collapsing after the other eight members retrieved the black materia.

Cloud Saves Aerith but is separated from her anyways due to one of them having to stay behind in Zack's timeline

In the State of Play 2024 trailer there is a scene where Aerith hands the White Materia to Cloud in an area similar to Aerith's Church AND a scene where Cloud and the party sans Aerith are getting ready to fight Sephiroth as he descends down onto the Forgotten Capital. There is no way that the first scene could happen at all in the OG. They have already left Midgar and Aerith would need the White Materia to summon Holy and would not have a chance to give it to Cloud. When Aerith dies the White Materia falls into the water and is not retrived by Cloud. So all indications are that it would have to be somehow after the Forgotten Capital despite the fact that if the story follows the flow of the original game, there is no logical way that could happen as Aerith would have been laid to rest already. Unless...

What I think happens is that this scene is one of the clear instances pointing to the direction of the Remake project as a Stealth Sequel. Chapter 13's title heavily implies that it is set in the Forgotten Capital as it alludes to Cloud's "I'm..no we're here for you" quote to Aerith, while Chapter 14 implies more multi-timeline shenanigans. My idea is that Cloud and the Party find out Sephiroth's plan to kill Aerith and defeat Sephiroth and the Whispers, potentially killing him and seemingly preventing Meteor from being cast in the first place. Only for the post-Advent Children Sephiroth to pop up and use the death of his past self to further his own plans. This will result in BOTH Cloud and Aerith being sent to Zack's timeline, there Aerith gives Cloud the White Materia, and likely one of them having to stay behind most likely due to future!Sephiroth's machinations. Which also means....

Post-AC Sephiroth effectively pulls a Hijacked by Ganon on himself

Potentially he pulls some strings using the Cloud from the other timeline to get his past self to awaken from the Northern Crater earlier. Aware that Aerith is casting Holy, past!Sephiroth will, rather than use JENOVA, head there himself to kill Aerith, likely with the help of Whispers, only to be outright killed by Cloud and the party, now well aware of what he plans to do. However, all that does is further future!Sephiroth's plans.

This time, Tifa will die instead of Aerith

Tifa will reveal she was only able to heal from Sephiroth wounding here by having Jenova cells interposed into her, this also explains how she has borderline superhuman abilities and at one point Sephiroth or another villain will activate these cells and she will become a clone of Jenova reborn, thus the title "Final Fantasy Rebirth".

• In this light, makes sense that the Tifa-Jenova roomed Cloud with the Sephiroth clone in the Midgar slums all the way back in the first chapters of the Remake: she was, consciously or unconsciously, leading Cloud on Sephiroth's trail.
• Jossed.

Aerith will survive her death scene, but at the cost of pretty much everyone else being killed by Sephiroth just to traumatize Cloud.

Thus, the third game will involve Cloud, Aerith, and potentially Zack trying to find a way to bring the party back to life so Sephiroth can be stopped once and for all.

In the scene from the Final Trailer where Cloud impales Sephiroth, only for Sephiroth to congratulate him and tell him to fill his heart with rage...

If it is not just a hallucination, either Sephiroth will turn out to be another robed Sephiroth clone, or an illusion will drop and Cloud will be horrified to find he had just impaled an innocent person.

• It turned out to be a hallucination and Cloud ended up killing a Sephiroth clone.

Who are they adding to the Gold Saucer date?

In the state of play, the devs mentioned that "even allies who weren't available in the original game can accompany you." Who could that be? Vincent? Cid? Red XIII?

• Anyone can accompany Cloud at the Gold Saucer, though only Tifa's and Aerith's (and Yuffie's, sort of) are romantic. Barret's, Red XIII's, and Cait Sith's (who brings Cid and Vincent along for the ride) are purely platonic.

Aerith will still die, but it will be a willing Heroic Sacrifice instead of a sudden murder by Sephiroth.

• After spending most of the story trying to defy her fate, she'll come to the conclusion that she needs to die so she can join The Lifestream and stop Sephiroth's plan. This is how the developers will reconcile the Stealth Sequel and Alternate Timeline aspects of the first game with their claims that the trilogy will remain faithful to the plot of the original.

Aerith will still die, but it will be from Cloud's hands, not Sephiroth's.

The end of the final trailer shows Cloud swinging to deflect Sephiroth's sword. It will turn out to be a mind trick from Sephiroth, and Cloud is actually swinging at Aerith. This will cause Cloud's Heroic BSoD and be the big shock ending Nomura is nervous about fans' reactions to.

• Jossed.

Roche and Cloud's rivalry

Roche is Wrong Genre Savvy and sees himself as something of a rival to Cloud. One could even look a bit deeper into their names: Roche from French roche, meaning 'rock', while Cloud refers to the weather phenomenon that happens in the *sky*. He could become an Ascended Extra, since the main conflict is between Cloud and Sephiroth, and as a subplot a revived Zack and Sephiroth, and Roche could play a role in the subplot, as soon as he is pushed aside from the main storyline.

Related to the previous, Roche's side of the rivalry will become unhealthy.

Seeing that Cloud has defeated him in Midgar, and then (probably) a second time. The third time that Roche and Cloud duel, Roche's side of the rivalry will become obsessive and self-destructive that he will be willing to go to any lengths to best Cloud, up to and including death or a possible Taking You with Me type of mentality. He will get rid of any kind of redeeming qualities that he may have had, just to get the victory.

• Confirmed. Roche allows Hojo to experiment on him to become powerful enough to beat Cloud. He starts to die from the enhancements and angrily refuses Cloud's attempt to help him, saying he want a final battle. After he loses, he expires and becomes another Sephiroth clone.

Adaptation Expansion in the third Act for new party members?

In Remake, Red XIII becomes an unplayable party member. In Rebirth, Cid and Vincent are also such (described as "Accompanying" by one developer). Are we to expect Rule of Three in effect, and someone else will join Avalanche/the party in Act 3? If so, then who?

Post-Release & 'Act III'-Related Theories

Vincent and Cid will get Promoted to Playable

• Since the same thing already happened with Red XIII in this game, this is practically a given.

Likely fate of the Great Gospel Limit Break

• With Aerith seemingly dying depending on how you interpret the ending before she even gets an opportunity to get her ultimate Limit Break, and no side content in Rebirth offering her ultimate limit break it raises questions about if it will even be implemented in any capacity in the Remake trilogy. Here are a few possibilities:
  • It is cut from the Remake trilogy completly owing to the fact that a large chunk of players likely won't get it or Princess Guard at all in the original game.
  • It will be part of a DLC for Rebirth. While the devs have seemingly ruled out DLC, potentially sales and the potential offered by the open world might cause them to change their minds.
  • One of the theories that Aerith actually manages to live(namely the theory that Cloud did briefly warp to another timeline and saved that timeline's Aerith and said timeline's Aerith will replace Beagle!Aerith in Part 3, or he did save Beagle!Aerith only for time distortions to remove her from the material world for everyone except for Cloud and Red XIII) is proven correct in Part 3 and she eventually rejoins the party and will be able to earn that Limit Break in the third game.
  • Aerith is revealed to have died, however Cloud's connections to the Lifestream alluded to in certain interpretations of the ending(mainly the idea that he can see Aerith as a spirit and communicate with her spirit) allows him to channel her spirit in times of need for the party, making Great Gospel a spell Cloud can cast if the party is in danger, albeit one with a long cooldown/recharge time.
  • Aerith is revealed to have died, however Cloud did really see her spirit assist him against Sephiroth in the end and it was not a hallucination. She will appear once more in the end of Part 3 to assist the party against Safer/Sefer Sephiroth, complete with her ultimate Limit Break.

Twisting timelines leads to unlikely alliances

• As the timelines merge, characters such as Genesis from Crisis Core and Teenage or pre-Heel–Face Turn Sephiroth will join Cloud and Zack in opposing the main Sephiroth.

To make sure Sephiroth is Out of Continues

They'll have to either kill all the Sephiroth clones or purge the Jenova cells from them, eradicate all traces of Jenova, then purge the Jenova cells from all the SOLDIERs, including Zack and Cloud. It would awesome if in the final battle with Sephiroth's last body, he mocks Cloud for giving up his powers, only for Cloud to pick up the Buster Sword anyway and remind him that he was already strong enough to lift it back in Nibelheim before kicking his ass.

Safer Sephiroth will (still) be the Final Boss of game three

Probably the most conservative WMG that will ever be on this page, but it isn't confirmed yet, so in it goes. The final boss of the first game in the remake trilogy was Sephiroth in his base form. The final boss of the second game was Sephiroth again, but this time he spent most of the fight as Sephiroth Reborn, the former Bizarro Sephiroth. For the sake of keeping the pattern and avoiding redundancy, the final boss of the trilogy will skip directly to Safer Sephiroth (likely also getting a corrected name), skipping Reborn in the process.

Safer Sephiroth will summon Whisper Bahamut ZERO as an ally

The first game had the Whispers combine into a copy of Bahamut, the second game has Sephiroth Reborn summon a Whisper-formed copy of Bahamut Arisen, escalation demands that Part 3's final boss will include a Whisper clone of whatever the main Bahamut form of the part is called.

This Sephiroth is aware of the Kingdom Hearts timeline

If Sephiroth’s goal was to merge the timelines, then he would have to be aware of the Kingdom Hearts versions of himself and Cloud.

Rocket Town's diminished relevance to Rebirth

The Rocket Town section was excised from Game 2 in order to remove Cid's original characterization (as shown in FF7), and to be slotted into the plot thread about searching for the Huge Materias. This allows for a one-time trip to that place and removes the need for a revisit (which happens in the original), while also allowing to develop Cid, if/when the party goes there.

The Zack seen at the end of INTERmission is from another timeline

His circumstances are different from the Zack that appeared here, since he went to the church expecting to find Aerith instead of having to rescue her as soon as he arrived. He might appear in the third game.

Wutai's plot relevance in Part 3

The developers are saving Wutai for Part 3: instead of being an optional sidequest, it will be integrated into the main plot, possibly during the arc about searching the Huge Materia around the world. Yuffie will probably steal the party's strong materias (harking back to her role in the original game) and bring them to Wutai as an offering to her father, with the justification of trying to give Wutai a fighting chance.

Tifa can somewhat see into the alternate timelines

After falling into the Lifestream and being carried by a Weapon they conferred some of its power onto her so she can understand what is going on with Cloud. As Cloud holds Aerith, she sees the blood disappear and reappear and never looks at her face to see her looking at Cloud. Later on, she has a confused reaction to seeing Cloud looking at empty space where he sees Aerith. It's not explained if the anomaly is Cloud seeing Aerith or Tifa seeing nothing. As the rest of the crew are in somewhat better spirits at the Bronco its implied that they think Aerith is still alive, while Tifa can sense that Aerith or at least a version of her just died. Notably we don't see if she reacted to the tear in the sky that Cloud sees.

The Aerith that survived will join the party in Part 3 in some form.

Assuming that the Aerith we see in the ending isn't just a hallucination of Cloud's rapidly deteriorating mind, and there is a timeline where she did indeed survive, she'll be back at some point - possibly sacrificing herself to the Lifestream in the conclusion to stop Meteor (as the creators have said that the events of Advent Children are supposed to happen in this continuity).

There are actually four potential timelines at work by the end of Rebirth.

Hold onto your butts on this one.

We (possibly) see 4 total timelines during the last chapter. 2 with Zack, and 2 with our main crew. After you retrieve the Black Materia and Sephiroth sends Cloud after Aerith the pair both fall. They're establishing here that like Sephiroth, Aerith's consciousness is able to perceive the different timelines that were created at the end of Remake. This explains why she sort of 'senses' Zack at the end of Remake. Since Aerith was reattuned to the Lifestream at the Temple of the Ancients, she's able to use some of her powers that she lost when you fought the Whispers at the end of Remake. Aerith brings Cloud's mind with her over to Zack's world, causing both of them to wake up in their other bodies. Continuing...

Zack from that timeline is leaving to go find Hojo with the hope of curing Cloud, but Zack has a choice to make. He can either pursue Hojo or save Biggs' life. We see different Zacks make each choice. One goes for Hojo, encounters a Shinra army at HQ and is killed. The other reaches Biggs and saves him temporarily, but Biggs gets gunned down and Zack decides to run rather than fight, which ends up saving his life. The Zack that escapes from the Reactor where Biggs died returns to look for Cloud and Aerith, and because they're now missing from Elmyra's house, he goes to the Church to see if Aerith is there.

Aerith takes Cloud out on their 'date' where he gifts her the pin and they share the candy and try to get the photo taken of them. She does this because she knows from the Lifestream that she's basically 'doomed' and wants to spend a few more moments with Cloud before it happens. Aerith takes Cloud to the church and tries to help him there by telling him that she doesn't blame him. She gives him Zack's world's version of the White Materia. Sephiroth arrives at the Church because he knows that Aerith in this timeline has awakened from her coma. Sephiroth finds Zack outside the Church and beats him, but doesn't kill him. Sephiroth then enters the Church. Aerith pushes Cloud's mind back into his real body in Timeline 1 that is comatose and being carried around by Barret. Sephiroth in Zack's timeline then kills that world's version of Aerith in the church.

Cloud gets the vision of Aerith in the Forgotten Forest and the events of the original game start to play out that lead up to her death. As the gang rushes to save Aerith, you see the White Whispers who fight for the Planet try to stop them, meaning that the Planet itself needs Aerith to die. The main universe Cloud ultimately fails to save her again, but you get a glimpse of another world where Cloud did stop the blade and save Aerith. We don't know much about that world, but it seems like it's doomed to be destroyed by Meteor because Aerith's presence in the Lifestream is the only thing that can successfully bring Holy.

Finally, we get the scene of the gang around the Lake with the fixed Tiny Bronco. Cloud is the only one that can see Aerith. He had both the hollow White Materia and the Black Materia. One he imbues into the sword. Nanaki can sense Aerith there, but can't hear her or see her. Presumably, Cloud can see her still and can see the new rift in the sky because Aerith took him to the other world and gave him that power by handing the White Materia over to him. Aerith is dead in every timeline where she opposes Sephiroth, which introduces the idea that Sephiroth will always kill Aerith if Cloud isn't strong enough to prevent it.

We see Zack back in the other world alone now because Aerith in his timeline was killed by Sephiroth also and Cloud has disappeared. Zack gets pulled into the Lifestream, likely by Aerith, who now exists as the spirit like presence that we see her as in Advent Children. It's Aerith's Lifestream spirit that talks to Cloud at the end and makes the promise with him.

Sephiroth will drop a materia after the final boss.

The materia he will drop is the Bahamut Sin materia which you will be able to use in a new game plus.

Cloud saved Aerith, and the timeline distortions dumped her body from the timeline where she gave the White Materia to Cloud while banishing Aerith herself to limbo

Sephiroth killed Aerith in that church in that timeline and Cloud did save Aerith in his timeline, only for the timeline distortions to "overwrite" the Aerith he saved with the Aerith that died.

Tifa will gain an Aerith-mode

It's implied that Tifa was imbued with a piece of the Weapons power, but she doesn't know about it or how to use it. Cloud still has Aerith's now dormant holy materia and at the whirlwind maze he will drop it when Sephiroth takes control of him. Tifa will pick it up and Aerith will use the materia and the Weapons power to transmit herself into Tifa's body. This will allow the developers to give us Aerith's kit without dropping the ambiguity regarding whether Aerith is alive or dead a while longer.

Regarding the Knights of the Round Materia in Part 3

In Rebirth, some of the traditional FF summons (e.g., Titan, Alexander, Phoenix) are more integrated into the lore of the world this time around. Considering that the "Knights of the Round" Materia is very powerful and nearly inaccessible in the original game, how can they insert them into the background lore of Part 3?

• A possibility would be to enlist some of the Weapons into their ranks.
• Otherwise, the developers will establish a game-long quest that involves defeating the Knights one by one, up to their leader, and their respective Summon Materia will only be available very late-game.
• As a variation on the above, in part 3 Avalanche will have to defeat 12 summons throughout the game, plus their leader, the 13th one. The assembly of Summons of part 3 will be, in a way, the 13 Knights of the Round.
• As yet another variation, they will include some of the previous summons as part of the Knights. Viable candidates could be Ramuh, Odin and Alexander.

Aerith's further role in Part 3

Drawing on the previous WMG about the Knights of the Round, and expanding on the role of Shiva, as established in Remake, it's proposed that Aerith (or at least her spirit, if she is indeed dead) will become a Summon Materia herself, since Shiva is described as having encased "The Calamity from the Skies" (Jenova) in ice and implied to be a Cetra, and Aerith, being the last surviving Cetra/Ancient, could parallel Shiva and help in Sephiroth's ultimate defeat in part 3.

Fenrir will be a summon in Part 3.

Fenrir's materia will appear after Part 3's version of Cloud's subconscious sequence after Cloud accepted the truth. It will contain Zack's spirit still helping his friend after his death in this timeline.

Midgar's Seventh Infantry will join Cloud as crew members for the Highwind in Part 3.

The prediction goes that Cloud's camaraderie with the Seventh Infantry will cause them to defect against Shinra at some point and provide aid to the party in various ways. The lategame sidequest "Beneath Still Waters" reveals the unit and their commanders know Cloud and the gang's true identities, but this fondness allows them to stay free off the hook. Additonally, the sidequest reveals that they were ordered to stay stationed in the Junon area rather than return to Midgar. These sets of circumstances, combined with what happens in Junon in disc 2 (Barret and Tifa getting captured, Sapphire Weapon's attack, et cetera), could allow a window of opportunity for the Seventh Infantry. While Cait Sith and Yuffie spearhead the rescuing of Barret and Tifa from their executions, the troopers could help Cid in taking over the Highwind to be used by Cloud and the party.

Roche will become Jenova Death.

Roche has been the boss of both Chapter 4 in Remake and Rebirth. Looking at the plot of the original, there is likely 4 chapters till Cloud goes missing in the Northern Crater, getting to Icicle Inn, Icicle Inn itself, Great Glacier and the cliffs, and then the Northern Crater. Adding to that Hojo is implied to be continuing his experiments on Roche in the ending, they will use Roche as a guide to find Sephiroth after giving him more Jenova cells and he will fully transform at the crater.

Vincent's "Unfinished business" with Sephiroth will involve more than just trying to kill him

With Ever Crisis going out of its way to show that Sephiroth has a photograph of Lucrecia (but also that Hojo lied and said his mother's name is JENOVA, which is technically true but not in the case of the photograph) and Vincent mentioning someone heavily implied to be Lucrecia, it's very likely her story will come up in part 3 (as it did in the original). However, it's possible that Vincent and Lucrecia's backstory will be given more Adaptation Expansion and part of Vincent's 'unfinished business' with Sephiroth is to tell him about/reunite him with his real mother. He may not be sentimental enough to think he can stop Sephiroth, but it's likely that he at least wants Sephiroth to know about Lucrecia and that she never got to hold him. Alternately, his unfinished business could be stopping Sephiroth for good so this time when he tells Lucrecia in the cave that "he's dead" he won't be lying to spare her feelings.

There will be DLC between parts 2 and 3

As well as being a bridging unit for the wait between games, it will give the developers the chance to make Vincent and/or Cid playable and work out any issues with their playstyles ahead of part 3. It's also nice symmetry that the two optional characters in part two both have playable episodes of their own, potentially with a more limited cast of characters. Possible plotlines could include:

• Rocket Town and some of Cid's backstory (unlikely since this troper suspects it will just be integrated into the huge materia subplot)
• Vincent's backstory, possibly with a playable section of Vincent as a Turk (contrasting the somewhat lighthearted Yuffie DLC by having a much darker tone) - could set up The Reveal that he knew Sephiroth's mother, is much older than he looks and was involved (adjacent to) the JENOVA Project at the time it happened (though this might be a lot of important plot points just to confine to a DLC)
• A plot entirely contained to the DLC, possibly involving Deepground and acting as a stealth remake to Dirge of Ceberus, again likely starring Vincent and Yuffie and tying off any plot threads regarding Sonon and Nero

Hojo will be looking for Lucrecia.

He is after her to see if impregnating her again will produce a child as powerful as Sephiroth or would the child be weaker or stronger. Regardless it would give him new data for his experiments.

There will be more regions in part 3.

A rather conservative one, but a prediction nonetheless. It posits that in addition to the six explorable regions in Rebirth^note The Grasslands, Junon, Corel, Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, and Nibel. There's also a seventh location, Northwoods, but entering that area is a Point of No Return from visiting the other six regions., there will be more added throughout Final Fantasy VII's world. Some potential possibilities include:

• Icicle Area: the two big visitable locations could likely be Bone Villiage and the Icicle Inn, with the Great Glacier and some connection to Rebirth's Northwoods area being possibilities. Seeing as Cisnei appeared in Rebirth in Gongaga, Modeoheim could also be visitable to tie in more things introduced in Crisis Core.
• Mideel Area: featuring Mideel Villiage, as well as potentially the ruins of Banora from Crisis Core. Perhaps there can also be an entirely new settlement in the area where survivors relocate to after Ultima Weapon destroys Mideel.
• Wutai: this one likely depends on Wutai town's scale. If it's a smaller town like in the original game, then it could be a central settlement to an explorable area. If it's made bigger to account it being the capital of an entire country, then it could be a more linear location like Midgar in Remake and Junon in Rebirth. Either way, it has been confirmed that it will be visited thanks in part to Yuffie now being an integrated party member.
• Rocket Town: as Rocket Town was relegated from being visitied in Rebirth with its various events getting spread out,^note Cid and the Tiny Bronco are first introduced in Gongaga, the Materia Keeper is fought in the Nibelheim flashback, and the fight with Palmer is in the Corel area. its visitablility is most likely reserved for part 3. Whether or not it will have side content is another question: while its absense in Rebirth only makes it have one event in the original game remaining (the Rocket Launch), it could be expanded upon drastically in order to tell Cid's story, and meeting characters like Shera. The environment could also be made into a full-fledged space center a la Cape Canaveral, Baikonur, or Kerbal Space Center, complete with hangars and abandoned R&D facilities. It could also be where the cave Lucrecia rests in can be, in order to help expand Vincent's story.

Regarding Cloud's eventual Tomato in the Mirror moment

Part of it will involve him realizing he doesn't have a number tattoo like Roche and the robed men do. If he's lucky, someone will point out that Zack didn't have one either.

Marlene will be able to sense Aerith.

In the ending cutscene, Nanaki can potentially sense the Aerith seen by Cloud, despite him seeing that she was killed. As both him and Marlene both recieved bits of clairvoyance through their encounters with Aerith, one can put two and two together and say that she would also be able to sense what Cloud sees.

Part 3 will deviate more from the plot of the original

Since Part 2 has already used some plot points from Disc 3 (i.e. a cutdown version of Tifa putting her memories back together, mirroring the lifestream sequence, and Cloud remembering Zack early), part 3 will deviate from the second disc - and the original - far more than any part has thus far, especially because the alternate timelines with Zack need to be resolved.

• The Remake continuity is set for 3 games and by Rebirth's ending we've only reached the end of the original game's first disc. as such plus Rebirth ending with Cloud secretly now carrying the Black Materia instead of Jenova or the actual clones plus the remaining possibility that the Sephiroth from the original timeline passing his knowledge to his past self this sets things to go vastly more different like Shinra trying different tactics or somehow holy being uninterrupted to Cloud character evolution happening without the breakdown or Meteor being abandoned for a very different doomday-style action.

The Weapons that we know (Ultima,Emerald,Ruby,etc) are the Planet's last resort to save itself

They will be treated as the oldest and most powerful of the weapons the planet has created, and have only one purpose:

Once they awaken, they will kill EVERYTHING living on the planet to return it to the lifestream, allowing the planet to recreate life once again, effectively being the emergency reset button for the planet itself.

The Weapons in part 3

In keeping with the theme of 7, the Weapons will number exactly seven, but with a catch: Ultima and Omega may be amalgamated with each other, to avoid a blatant redundancy (Ultima = the Ultimate Weapon; Omega = a letter meaning 'ends, conclusion'). This gives an opening for a new Weapon, exclusive to part 3.

• In this light, Ultimate Weapon may be renamed "Obsidian Weapon", to keep the mineral/gem name motif, and Omega may be retitled "Ultimate".

The empty Holy materia fills up and helps summon some help

What with alternate timeline shenanigans, who isn't to say that the empty materia gets "filled up" by Cloud's experience throughout Part 3, and somehow eventually helps bring forth Advent Children Cloud during Remake Cloud's lowest point to help boost up his low self-esteem?

During the Lifestream sequence, Tifa will learn about the alternate timelines, as well as Cloud's interactions with Zack and Aerith during the ending of Rebirth.

Throughout Rebirth, Cloud and the gang in the Beagle timeline have no clue that the events of Remake spawned the other timelines with Zack surviving his final stand. In fact, the only times they cross over is in Chapter 14: once where Chihuahua timeline Aerith gives Beagle timeline Cloud the white materia at the Sector 5 churchs, and the other where Terrier timeline Zack teams up Beagle timeline Cloud in fighting Sephiroth. As such, the rest of the party has no clue of Cloud's experiences during the fights with Jenova Lifeclinger and Sephiroth Reborn, most of all including him percieving an alive Aerith.

The prediction as such goes as follows: when Tifa and the vegetative Cloud fall into the Lifestream in Mideel, you'll have your usuall stuff with her helping Cloud sort out that he was never a SOLDIER and how the Nibelheim Incident truly played out, probably plus adding the cutscene of what happened to Cloud between then and the start of the game. In addition, Tifa will learn that the defeat of the Arbiters of Fate caused the timelines where Zack lived, as well as Cloud fighting Sephiroth alongside him and a still-alive Aerith (as well as her Batman Gambit). In regards to how the Aerith that Cloud only sees comes into play, it depends on the theory. If she's just the visions of a delusional Cloud, Tifa will help him face the truth that Aerith was killed by Sephiroth. If there are timeline shenanigans involved, then Tifa will learn of Aerith's (or Cloud's) limbo-esque state in terms of who's alive and who see's who is alive.

The possible theory behind the ending of the original Final Fantasy VII will be expanded upon

The one in which Aerith is able to cast the holy materia in time to save the planet from Meteor will still happen. Only in Part 3, there will be detailed missions where Aerith is playable in her alternete timeline, showing how she eventually becomes powerful enough to save everyone. Making the ending more complete than the original game, which left many confused and unsatisfied.

How the Highwind will mechanically work in Part 3

Seeing as the airship is gonna be the party's de facto headquarters in part 3, various questions arise with how it'll function. While there's a chance it will be a fancy form of fast travel (think the Fahrenheit from Final Fantasy X), the way Rebirth's modes of transportation function imply that the Highwind will also be controlable. My gut feeling is that it'll work just like the Tiny Bronco, where it can fly throughout an interconnected overworld, but Cloud and the gang can only disembark at select places, much like the Tiny Bronco with the various docks. As for where those places would be, odds are that's the reason why Rebirth has the various airstrips.^note Junon, Corel, Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, and Nibelheim all have astrips as locations (albeit Junon's is a one time visitable location), and it's not to big of a stretch that places like Rocket Town and Wutai would have runways. Besides that, I think the Highwind is gonna be explorable and have all the bells and whistles of amenities, such as Chadley and his VR missions, merchants, a resting area, a place to fight (especially in regards to the fights with Ultimate Weapon), and probably more.

Yuffie will learn that Glenn is a Sephiroth clone, and that he wants Shinra and Wutai to massacre each other.

Considering that Yuffie here is much nicer and more selfless than she was in canon, learning that Wutai has been manipulated by Sephiroth will be what truly finalizes her change. At first, she'll be horrified that she was supporting the very same man that brought Wutai to it's knees, and her character arc will be about her finally realizing she was wrong to be so scornful of her father's desire for peace with Shinra and coming to the same conclusion as Tifa and Aerith did that War Is Hell. She will thus play a much bigger role by helping her father and the elders of Wutai fight back to free Wutai from Sephiroth's influence, and share a talk with Godo where he, in a manner that will perhaps be cathartic after she previously spoke all about wanting Wutai to war with Shinra and looking down on Godo, delivers a speech that finally forces her to truly mature and realize the importance of seeing the difference between knowing when you have to fight and wanting to fight, thus causing her to start listening to the people around her more.

Zangan will be revealed to have had some type of connection to the Turks.

Given that the Turks currently do not have any lore surrounding it, it wouldn't come as much of a shock if their origins get explored in part 3. At the very least they're one of Shirna's older organizations, since Vincent was a member around the time Professor Gast discovered Jenova. On the other end of the discussion, Zangan has been stated to have a mysterious origin, wandering the world training students and having a disdain for Shinra. Admittedly it's not exactly putting two and two together, but it's not too much of a stretch for Zangan to have been a former Turk, and that he left the company on messy terms for an unknown reason. It would explain where he learned the various marshal forms of combat, something that would be spread to his various students like Tifa. As for his potential place with the Turks, I'm not entirely sure. One of the more flavorful ones I can think of was if he was the actual founder of the Investigation Sector, and that he left once Shinra started becoming more militaristic and started using them as secret police. You could also potentially link up some connections to Before Crisis if this avenue gets explored.

Reeve arranged for Aerith's big song to be played on stage

While likely just the series usual Rule of Cool, one explanation for her actually getting the chance to sing is that since he was already consigned to betraying the group on Shinra's order, he wanted ensure they all had one last good memory together, so he pulled some strings for them all to partake In the Loveless play after he saw her write her song.

Act 3 will have new playable characters

Aside from Cid and Vincent joining full time. Cloud's party will have, Terrier Zack, Shelke, and Cissnei.

The Shinra Middle Manager still has a part to play, and possibly becomes a martyr for the Avalanche gang.

Seeing how in Remake he was pro-Shinra and in Rebirth he certainly has waning loyalty (to include an emphatic "Screw You, Shinra!"). The Shinra Middle Manager has arguably one of the best character arcs of the Non-Player Characters. There's a chance that he renounces his employment right to Rufus or one of the Directors and has a small but very important part to play in Part 3.

The names of Jenova are important to know the strength of Sephiroth, or at least his mindset.

The first in Remake is Jenova Dreamweaver. While this type of Jenova never appeared in the OG, she would have likely been named Jenova-CONCEPTION. As it would have been the beginning of Sephiroth's rise to power. Then we fight Jenova Emergent, within the Shinra-8, while the OG called this one Jenova-Birth. Which is Sephiroth gathering his power and testing the mental and physical strength of Cloud and the others. Then the one we fight at the end of Rebirth called Jenova Lifeclinger is Sephiroth at his strongest. This is Sephiroth who believes that he is untouchable.

Part three will have (at least) one more Jenova fight against Jenova 'something death related' which corresponds to Jenova-Death, which will signify the waning power of Sephiroth and the final barrier of Sephiroth's nigh-invincible fortress like power.

Possible sidequests/focus chapters in Part 3

Given this game put far more emphasis on the bonds within the team, the sidequests will need to balance giving everyone a time to shine with fleshing out the members who've had no sidequests yet - Vincent, Cid and Cait Sith. They will likely get focus chapters of their own, also. Possibilities could include:

• Cid: focus chapter is whenever Rocket Town happens, with sidequests potentially involving repairing his relationship with Shera, assuming they're still on slightly fractious terms
• Vincent: focus chapter is potentially when Hojo is killed, which may be a much more involved affair than the original, a return to Shinra Manor since the setting was underutilised or maybe even when the group steals the sub and comes across Lucrecia's cave, which is itself a setting that could be expanded on. Sidequests likely involve getting to grips with his monster forms - possibly Chaos - or puzzling out the world 30 years in the future once the others clock his true age, since the origins of the JENOVA Project are important enough to be worked into the main story.
• Cait Sith - focus chapter could be the return to Midgar or the story beats around Reeve's arrest being expanded, with his true self being upgraded to official party member. Sidequests could involve Reeve trying to help the victims of the platefall or use his intel skills to protect as many people from Shinra/Meteor as possible

Yuffie's reason for stealing the group's Materia will be more sympathetic

With Yuffie being an Adaptational Nice Guy, it'd be out of character for her to steal the Materia without a good reason. With another war on the horizon, Glenn will use that to emotionally blackmail her into stealing the Materia.