Squall of SeeD
06-22-2005, 05:40 PM
Read about sephiroth and other things here: http://www.ffshrine.org/ff7/ff7_theory.php
It answered almost all my questions.
Go there, but don't accept what you see as fact. There's quite a few errors in there. I'll list them all here:
-Sephiroth Section-
Locked outside, Tifa wasn't there to see what happened, and Cloud wasn't there either - he was guarding her. His memories of the event stem from his time with Zack as their consciousnesses intermingled in the pods underneath Shinra Mansion.
Their psyches didn't intermingle. Zack simply told Cloud all about
what happened after their during their imprisonment or after their escape, and Cloud soaked up what he was told:
Cloud
"I never was in SOLDIER."
"I made up the stories about what happened to me five years ago, about being in SOLDIER."
"I left my village looking for glory, but never made it in to
SOLDIER......"
"I was so ashamed of being so weak; then I heard this story from
my friend Zack..."
"And I created an illusion of myself made up of what I had seen
in my life....."
"And I continued to play the charade as if it were true."
Note that Cloud didn't adopt anything of Zack but his status as a
member of SOLDIER and his role in the Nibelheim mission. Not his
hometown, not his parents, not his girlfriend. Just those two things.
In every other respect, he remembered himself as being Cloud Strife of
Nibelheim.
"Shinra's ultimate success story would soon become their ultimate nightmare, as Sephiroth's body was transported to the Northern Crater through the Lifestream and sealed in a Mako chrysalis. His psyche, powerful enough to actually coalesce into physical form, began to travel the land, searching for his "mother," JENOVA. This is why Sephiroth can fly and appear transparent and almost ten times normal size at some points in the game. He can also travel through the ground at points as well. His true body is in the Northern Crater; his mind was so strong that he can move around mentally in a physical state he fashioned for himself to retrieve the Black Materia and summon
Meteor."
In all likelihood, those were pieces of JENOVA and not astral
projections. JENOVA's Cells can change their form ("Sephiroth:
'Cloud... Don't blame Tifa. The ability to change one's looks, voice,
and words, is the power of Jenova.'"), so it would be simple enough
for its pieces to appear as Sephiroth.
For an explanation of this, look below:
(From Final Fantasy VII Analysis (http://www.geocities.com/ff7analysis/JENOVApieces.html).)
Often confused to have been astral projections or transformed Sephiroth Clones being controlled, the majority of the Sephiroth forms seen throughout the game are pieces of JENOVA -- as well as JENOVA's entire body -- in Sephiroth's form. We know that JENOVA's pieces took on Sephiroth's form for the following reasons: JENOVA's Cells can change their form ("Sephiroth: 'Cloud... Don't blame Tifa. The ability to change one's looks, voice, and words, is the power of Jenova.'"), so it would be simple enough for its pieces to appear as Sephiroth. When the forms of Sephiroth fly off into the air those times they're encountered on the Shin-Ra cargo ship and in the City of the Ancients, boss battles against parts of JENOVA follow, and in the case of the form flying away at the City of the Ancients, something falls, it being a piece of JENOVA. Many have taken this to mean that Sephiroth, a Sephiroth Clone with an altered appearance, or an astral projection of Sephiroth capable of physical interaction flew away and dropped the pieces, due mainly to Cloud's statement on the cargo ship that Sephiroth was carrying JENOVA ("He was carrying Jenova with him"). However, no rendering of Sephiroth carrying anything at that point was placed into the game, even while JENOVA's head was rendered during the scene in which Sephiroth carries it. The validity of Cloud's statement can further be called into question as, perhaps, having been an assumption on his part; AVALANCHE had just been knocked to the floor -- as they would be later in the Whirlwind Maze -- as the Sephiroth form flew away, and possibly wouldn't have had a good look at the Sephiroth form as it ascended into the air in the first place, so with a piece of JENOVA falling and transforming before them, he may have simply assumed Sephiroth must have been carrying JENOVA's body.
Despite Cloud's statement, there is evidence that bosses were actually the Sephiroth forms themselves, transforming to face the party. First, in regard to the real Sephiroth having been present, his real body had been encased in Mako in the Northern Crater all this time, and could not have been off doing those things seen in the game. Further, of his own body, only the torso remained. In regard to the possibility of transformations, when Aerith is murdered, the Sephiroth form that killed her rises into the air and vanishes in a flash of light, followed by something falling to the ground from the spot where the Sephiroth form had been, commencing the battle against JENOVA-LIFE. At the end of the battle against the creature, JENOVA-LIFE finishes the sentence that was previously being spoken by the Sephiroth form:
Cloud
"My fingers are tingling.
My mouth is dry.
My eyes are burning!"
Sephiroth
"What are you saying? Are you trying to tell me you have feelings too?"
Cloud
"Of course! Who do you think I am!?"
Sephiroth
"Ha, ha, ha...... Stop acting as if you were sad."
"There's no need to act as though you're angry either."
Sephiroth
"Because, Cloud. You are..."
::The battle with JENOVA-LIFE commences; when the battle ends, the screen fades to black::
Jenova
"Because, you are...... a puppet."
Also consider that the Sephiroth form seen at the Northern Crater -- who slaughters the Sephiroth Clones that had been Hojo's experiements from Nibelheim -- descends upon the party, lands near them, turns to face them in a battle ready position, just as AVALANCHE stands and prepares to fight, and before the battle against this being begins, the form of Sephiroth is seen on the environment map as being AVALANCHE's opponent, yet when the battle begins and switches to the battle map, JENOVA-DEATH is in the Sephiroth form's place. The scene further shows that Cloud had realized that it had not been Sephiroth that AVALANCHE had been chasing at all:
Cloud
"Sephiroth!!!"
::AVALANCHE runs toward Sephiroth and stands behind him; he doesn't turn to face them::
"This is the end!"
Sephiroth
"You're right. This is the end of this body's usefulness."
::The area goes dark and Sephiroth vanishes, leaving only a plume of dark smoke::
Cloud
"He disappeared!?"
Tifa
"He might still be nearby......"
...
::Later, Sephiroth reappears, hovering above the party as the light returns to the area, with his sword drawn. He descends upon AVALANCHE, knocking them to ground as he had done back on the Shin-Ra cargo ship. He then lands and slowly turns to face them and assumes a battle ready position as AVALANCHE gets back to its feet; the battle with JENOVA-DEATH commences::
Cloud
"Jenova's cells..."
"...hmm. So that's what this is all about."
"The Jenova Reunion..."
Tifa
"Not Sephiroth!? You mean all this time it wasn't Sephiroth we were after?"
::Cloud shakes his head::
This scene also shows that -- with the Reunion complete by killing Hojo's experiments and some falling down into the Northern Crater where their Cells could be reclaimed -- that piece of JENOVA would have no longer needed to go about in Sephiroth's form, thus, the line "This is the end of this body's usefulness."
Also notable is that when JENOVA-DEATH is defeated, left behind in its place is the Black Materia, which Cloud had handed over to a Sephiroth form earlier in the game.
At this point, one could argue that this only proves that the Sephiroth forms are what transformed into the JENOVA bosses, and not that they are pieces of JENOVA. However, referring back to JENOVA-BIRTH, when it is defeated, it reverts into a tentacle of JENOVA that the party recognizes as having been part of JENOVA's body back in the Shin-Ra headquarters:
Tifa
"I've seen this somewhere... before."
Cloud
"...Jenova. The arm of Jenova."
Aerith
"Jenova... With this thing?"
Just for clarification, it should be noted that the Sephiroth form on the Shin-Ra cargo ship was more than likely the entirety of JENOVA's body which had escaped from the Shin-Ra headquarters. In the instances of the slaughter of Shin-Ra personnel in both cases, either Red XIII or a Shin-Ra employee makes note that the perpetrator isn't human, and back in the Shin-Ra headquarters, JENOVA's containment vessel appeared to have been blasted open from within. Further, Palmer makes no note of the Sephiroth form that killed President Shinra carrying JENOVA with it. This is because it was JENOVA. Also notable is that the Sephiroth form on the cargo ship doesn't recognize Cloud, whereas later forms of Sephiroth that show up do.
With all this in mind, the Sephiroth forms encountered throughout the game were most certainly pieces of JENOVA -- or its entire body -- in Sephiroth's form, the exceptions to this, of course, being those seen after JENOVA-DEATH was defeated. Both of the Sephiroth forms seen after that point were astral projections. It should be noted that neither of these performed any kind of physical interaction (the picture that the one inside the Crater lifted was also an illusion), and both vanished, though not in the same manner as did the one in the City of the Ancients, which emitted red light with JENOVA-LIFE falling from its position.
It's also debatable as to whether or not Sephiroth was manipulating
things or if JENOVA was manipulating things (including Sephiroth), but
that's not a discussion for this matter.
"Sephiroth's true mother was Lucretia, the woman Vincent secretly loved, and his father was Hojo. Hojo, impregnating Lucretia (rather or not rape occurred is unknown), injected his own unborn son with JENOVA cells while he was still in the womb. He then subjected him to artificial aging to accelerate his growth."
This is incorrect on most every count. It's fully known that rape did
not occur in regard to Lucrecia, as she is shown in Vincent's
flashback hugging and kissing Hojo. She even rejected Vincent for him.
Also worthy of note is that Hojo was not the only one to inject
Lucrecia as is so often suggested. It's forgotten quite often that the
JENOVA Project was Gast's project. He and Hojo both carried out the procedure, as Hojo and Lucrecia were his assistants. They willingly
offered up their child and Lucrecia herself to experimentation:
Cloud
"Sephiroth is your son!?
Vincent
"......!"
Hojo
"Ha, ha, ha..."
"I offered the woman with my child to Professor Gast's Jenova
Project."
"When Sephiroth was still in the womb, we took the cells of
Jenova..."
"HA, HA, HA!!"
Something else that needs to be pointed out is that Sephiroth was not
subjected to accelerated growth. He was roughly 25 years old at the
time of the experimentation. If you'll recall, Gast was killed after
being discovered by Hojo only 20 days after Aerith was born (the name
of the tape at Icicle Inn states that his and Ifalna's daughter was 20
days old; in the game's present, Aerith is 22 years old).
Further, Elder Bugah of Cosmo Canyon states that it has been some 30
years since Professor Gast discovered JENOVA:
"You can't talk of the Ancients without mentioning Professor Gast. He used to come here sometimes. He was a ShinRa scholar who spent his life studying the Ancients. He was a serious person, never would've figured he'd be with the ShinRa. Must've been about 30 years ago, when he found the corpse of an Ancient. He was elated! If I recall.. he named it 'Jenova' and was doing a lot of research.. One day, he showed up here, looking real distressed. He was mumbling something about Jenova not being an Ancient and that he'd done a terrible thing. He's been missing since then. I heard that he never went back to ShinRa."
Obviously, the terrible thing Gast was accusing himself of was
Lucrecia's apparent death. He would have left Shin-Ra after that, it
seems, later met and married Ifalna, and then was killed only 20 days
after their daughter's birth.
"The JENOVA cell mutation idea has one major flaw in it, glaring to even the most unlearned eye. Nowhere else in the game did JENOVA cells lead to an actual physical mutation. They instead seem to have a focus on the mental aspects of their host/victim. Only Hojo mutates through three forms as you fight him, but this is probably more a result of his scientific experiments than of JENOVA's influence."
There's no flaw in such a theory. Hojo's scientific experiments on
himself were JENOVA Cell injections. Immediately after stating that he has injected himself with the Cells, he states that he is going to
show AVALANCHE the results:
Hojo
"I've injected Jenova's cells into my own body!"
"Heee, hee, hee!"
"Here are......"
"Heee, hee, hee!"
"...my results!!"
Also recall the mutated creatures in the pods outside of
JENOVA's Room. Those were also JENOVA mutations, most likely, as they appear to be hooked up to feeds from JENOVA's Room.
"Vincent's limit breaks probably function in a similar manner, seeing as Hojo not only injected him with JENOVA but with the cells and
physical properties of various monsters."
In all fairness, we don't know what Hojo did to Vincent. It's never
touched upon in-game.
"And, within those injections, were other agents, probably responsible for his damaged left arm and his limit breaks."
There's no implication that Vincent's left arm is damaged. He's
wearing a gauntlet. For that matter, he's wearing a different gauntlet
in Advent Children, so he can obviously take that original guantlet
off. Further, in Dirge of Cerberus screenshots, the gauntlet has
spaces between the joints showing what appears to simply be a leather
glove beneath, meaning the metallic yellow parts are simply grafted
onto the leather:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/VinnysGauntlet.bmp
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/VinnysGauntlet2.bmp
For that matter, when looking at a large version of Nomura's design of
Vincent for VII, the black leather can be seen between the joints of
Vincent's claw:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/VincentValentine.jpg
"If this is not the case then I ask why Cloud does not change physical appearance at any point in the game."
We don't know that the same dose of JENOVA's Cells was given to Cloud as Hojo gave to himself. For that matter, JENOVA/Sephiroth never
attempted to force him to transform, nor did he ever attempt to do so
himself.
Further notable concerning JENOVA transformations are Sephiroth's final forms, which only consist of torsos, just as only his torso remained:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SephirothsTorso.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SephirothWithNoLegs.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SephirothWithNoLegs2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SephysTorsoEdited.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SephysTorsoEdited2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/BizarroSephiroth.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/SaferSephiroth.jpg
I would consider this a rather glaring case of mutation.
-Holy and Meteor Section-
"Holy may have interpreted the real threat to the Planet not as Meteor but as humanity itself."
Had that occurred, there would have been no reason for Holy to even
interfere with Meteor in the first place. It could simply have done
nothing and allowed Meteor to impact. Sure it would have caused a
wound to the Planet, but without JENOVA/Sephiroth coming to asborb the Planet's Spirit Energy, it may not have been fatal. In any event, Holy tries to stop Meteor and this should be taken into account. Further, Nanaki states that it was "too late" for Holy.
We need to keep in mind that Holy had been summoned weeks before this point in time, but had been held back. Some of its power may have
diminished. That would not only fit with the "It's too late for Holy"
statement (rather than a "Holy's turned against us" statement), but
would make sense in regard to Meteor apparently converting Holy, as
its blue-ish white changed to red. That would also fit with the
Lifestream's arrival, coming to add more power to Holy. If you'll
recall, it converges beneath Holy, in the spot where Meteor was
passing through. The flash that follows is Holy's colour returning.
"Perhaps we are overstating the power of Holy. When it emerges from the Northern crater and moves underneath Meteor it seems to resemble a shield, rather than some kind of magical force."
Holy emerged simply as a beam of energy. It gathering beneath Meteor
was simply the only logical thing for it to do. If it had slammed
straight into its side, it would have simply knocked it off course and
caused it to plummet into the Planet in another spot rather than on
top of Midgar. Getting beneath it and then forcing its way up would be
the only logical course of action.
"We also know that Meteor has hit before. This of course isn't really touched on in the game but that's irrelevant - it doesn't have to be. Anybody who knows anything about FF7 knows what I mean when I say "Northern Crater." Northern Crater was created by Meteor's summoning, and we know this is true for two facts. One, what else could have created such an impact? JENOVA falling to the Planet couldn't have created such a gaping wound because her mass is simply not large enough, especially as compared to Meteor. Two, in the Temple of the Ancients we see a mural depicting past events in an Egyptian style art form. Painted by the Cetra (who else?), it clearly shows somebody using the Black Materia (JENOVA, perhaps?) and then Meteor striking the Planet."
There's a few points you forgot to consider:
1) The rate of speed at which an object descends toward a Planet's
surface affects the potency of the impact. We don't know how fast
JENOVA was falling.
2) JENOVA can shift its mass at will. It very well could have been
larger than is seen in the JENOVA-SYNTHESIS battle, especially
considering that the other JENOVA creatures fought before that point
were taller, and in the case of at least one (JENOVA-BIRTH), it was
just a transformed tentacle of JENOVA.
3) The gigantic fissure that we can fly the Highwind down into later
in the game wasn't always that size. At one point, the hole was only
slightly larger than the Highwind, whereas Meteor was the size of
Midgar. There was merely a hole within a large bowl-shaped recess in
the Planet. When the WEAPONs awakened, however, the area surrounding the hole caved in (you can see pieces of rock falling as Sapphire WEAPON and Diamond WEAPON make their way out of the hole), leaving that entire bowl-shaped recess as a giant hole, large enough for the Highwind to descend into easily:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/NorthernCrater.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/NorthernCrater2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/NorthernCrater3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/NorthernCrater4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/NorthernCrater5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/NorthernCrater6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Final%20Fantasy%20VII/NorthernCrater7.jpg
As far as the mural in the Temple goes, the Temple itself was the
Black Materia. That there would be a mural depicting what it could do
should be little surprise, especially with the obvious Mayan architecture of the Temple. Mayans often use hieroglyphics to simply explain things or to record prophecies. Those murals are not necessarily recordings of past events.
"Indeed, I would wager that Holy isn't as powerful as Bugenhagen made it appear to be. Holy's purpose was essentially a Meteor counter, not a giant reset button for the Planet.
...
And of course we know Holy cannot be the metaphorical reset button
Bugenhagen makes it out to be, because, once again, of the Northern
Crater's existence."
If you'll recall, Bugenhagen learns of Holy in the City of the
Ancients from their knowledge that was floating around in there.
Concerning Aerith:
Aerith had to go to the Ancient's City because she didn't know about
Holy yet. If you'll recall, she says that she felt like she was being
led by something, and that the secret was waiting for her there. Now
recall that Bugenhagen learned of Holy from the knowledge floating
around in the City. Likewise, so did Aerith. She didn't have to be
there to pray for Holy. She simply chose to perform the prayer right
away once she learned what the White Materia did.
Also, her death wasn't pointless. While Holy failed to stop Meteor on
its own (and it didn't turn against humanity), the implication offered
by the ending is that it was Aerith that sent the Lifestream to
strengthen Holy. Her theme plays while it rises and she appears in the
wake of Meteor being negated. This certainly suggests that her spirit
guided the Lifestream into action. While her death seemed as though it
was going to avail nothing, in the end, it proved a stroke of fortune
on the party of humanity, because she saved them in death.
By the way, Square's intent for Aerith's death wasn't intended to appear as self-sacrifice. In fact, the whole point was that it not be self-sacrifice, and, instead, feel like it waspointless, because they felt that that is how death feels in reality and that the dramatic self-sacrifice cliche was unrealistic and sent the wrong message to people.
In the May 2003 issue of EDGE magazine (issue 123), there is a
six-page "Making of..." feature on Final Fantasy VII in which
Yoshinori Kitase (Director and Co-Scenario Writer of Final Fantasy
VII) and Tetsuya Nomura (Character Designer of Final Fantasy VII) were interviewed and asked about various points concerning Aerith's death. During the course of this interview, Nomura says the following:
"Back at the time we were designing the game, I was frustrated with
the perennial cliche where the protagonist loves someone very much and so has to sacrifice himself and die in a dramatic fashion to express
that love. We found this was the case in both games and movies, both
easter and western. But I wanted to say something different, something realistic. I mean, is it right to set such an example to people?"
Kitase follows that up with this:
"In the real world, things are very different. You just need to look
around you. Nobody wants to die that way. People die of disease and
accident. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad
attached to it. It leaves, not a dramatic feeling, but a feeling of
emptiness. When you lose someone you loved very much you feel this big empty space and think 'If I had known this was coming I would have
done things differently.' These are the feelings I wanted to arouse in
the players with Aerith's death relatively early in the game. Feelings
of reality and not Hollywood."
(For proof of this magazine's existance, the "Making of..." feature,
and the dialogue in the interview, refer to these images:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/NomurasIdeas.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/NomurasIdeas2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/NomurasIdeas3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/KitasesThoughtsonAerithsDeath.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/KitasesThoughtsonAerithsDeath2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/KitasesThoughtsonAerithsDeath3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--May2003Issue123.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--May2003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--TheMakingofFFVII.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--TheMakingofFFVII2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--TheMakingofFFVII3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--TheMakingofFFVII4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--TheMakingofFFVII5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--TheMakingofFFVII6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/Edge--TheMakingofFFVII7.jpg
(Note: Just for the hell of it, while on the subject of this issue of
EDGE magazine, it should also be noted that here Kitase stated that
reviving Aerith was never intended:
"The world was expecting us to bring her back to life, as this is the
classic convention. But we did not. We had decided this from the
beginning. There was a lot of reaction from Japanese users. Some of
them were very sad about it, while others were angry. We even received a lengthy petition addressed to our scenario writer asking for
Aerith's revival. But there are many meanings in Aerith's death and
that could never happen."
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/AerithWasSupposedToStayDead.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Edge%20--%20May%202003%20Issue%20123/AerithWasSupposedToStayDead2.jpg)
With Kitase's words about death being unexpected in mind, consider
Cloud's dream in which he speaks to Aerith in the Sleeping Forest.
Aerith intended to handle JENOVA/Sephiroth on her own, and then come
back:
Aerith
"And let me handle Sephiroth."
Aerith
"And Cloud, you take care of yourself."
Aerith
"So you don't have a breakdown, okay?"
Cloud
"What is this place?"
Aerith
"This forest leads to the City of the Ancients... and is
called Sleeping Forest."
Aerith
"It's only a matter of time before Sephiroth uses Meteor."
"That's why I'm going to protect it. Only a survivor of the
Cetra, like me, can do it."
Aerith
"The secret is just up here."
Aerith
"At least it should be. ...I feel it. It feels like I'm being
led by something."
Aerith
"Then, I'll be going now. I'll come back when it's all over."
Also consider Tifa's insight into her friend's intentions:
Tifa
"I wonder what Aerith felt... when she was on that altar...?"
Cloud
"I'm sure she wanted to give her life for the planet..."
Tifa
"Really? I wonder? I don't think that's it at all."
"I think she didn't think she would die at all, but that she
planned on coming back all along."
"She always used to talk about the 'Next time'."
"She talked about the future more that any of us..."
Further note that in Aerith's dialogue with Cloud in his dream, she
didn't know what she was going to find when she got to the City of the
Ancients. She only knew that something was awaiting her there and
that she could feel herself being led there. Based on Bugenhagen
learning of Holy when he got there from the knowledge floating around
in the City, it's logical to assume that Aerith did likewise:
Bugenhagen
"This is..."
Bugenhagen
"Yes...... exactly..."
Cloud
"Are you getting something?"
Bugenhagen
"...Give me a moment."
Bugenhagen
"The knowledge of the Ancients swirling around here is telling me
one thing."
Bugenhagen
"The planet's in a crisis..."
Bugenhagen
"A crisis beyond human power or endless time."
"It says, when the time comes, we must search for 'Holy'."
Cloud
"Holy?"
Bugenhagen
"Holy... the ultimate White Magic. Magic that might stand against
Meteor. Perhaps our last hope to save the planet from Meteor."
Her sudden death was as much a surprise for her as it was for many
players of the game. Kitase intended this to be so.
"Whatever the case, nobody can deny that she didn't have to die because no sane person can say to himself that Holy was a requirement in the Planet's salvation."
The Lifestream was doing nothing on its own. Had Holy not shown up and held Meteor back, the Lifestream would have been too late even if it were taking action on its own. In any event, again, the implication
offered is that the Lifestream was adding strength to Holy.
Even if one considers Holy pointless, Aerith still needed to be within
the Lifestream in order to cause it to act. For whatever reason, the
other Ancients that were part of it had done nothing.
Also noteworthy, the image that appears in Aerith's church likely isn't a
ghost at all, but just a glitch. Aside from the fact that it only
appears whil the screen is loading, there's the fact that it is
visible on Disc One when she is still alive.
-Lifestream Section-
The article mentions 12 Mako Reactors, but there were actually 13. There had been one on Fort Condor, as well:
"It appears you have a problem with Shinra, too. After all, you
climbed up here."
"Why not listen to what I have to say for a moment?"
Cid
"All right, talk on!"
"Do you know what's at the top of this mountain?"
Barret
"Huh? Something's up there?"
Cid
"No matter how you look at it, that's a reactor. And on top of
it, is that the Condor?"
"I can see you're very perceptive. Yes, it's a reactor and a
condor."
"Looks like there's a special materia up in the Mako reactor."
"Then came the condor, so Shinra dispatched the troops to get rid of it."
"Their plan is to get rid of the condor and the people on this
mountain and to get the materia from the Mako Reactor."
Something else to note is that the way the Lifestream replinished its
lost energy was from the memories of those who died. Memories = Spirit
Energy/Pyreflies = Lifestream = Materia/Spheres in Final Fantasy. In
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, we're told that it is the
experiences (memories) of an individual's lifetime that add to the
Gaia/Lifestream and help it to grow:
"All life is born of Gaia and each life has a spirit. Each new spirit
is housed in a physical body. ...Through their experiences on Earth
each spirit matures and grows. When the physical body dies the mature
spirit enriched by its life on Earth returns to Gaia bringing with it
the experiences, enabling Gaia to live and grow."
That should pretty much cover everything wrong with the article. Destai, as noted in the analyzation of it, the Sephiroth forms seen throughout the game were most likely JENOVA and then pieces of JENOVA, with only the last two seen before Meteor is called being astral projections. Note that neither of these two forms conduct physical interaction.
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