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No video game in existence is universally appreciated. There are folks who abhor The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Super Mario Galaxy has probably made at least ten people swear off their hobby. Someone out there detests Tetris. But overall, the reception to Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been quite strong. From its fist-pumping soundtrack and in-depth battle system to all those charming little moments that expand upon beloved characters, there's a lot to enjoy. One aspect of the game that has often bewildered people, however, is its somewhat perplexing ending.
"What the heck did I just watch?" is, perhaps, a more common refrain than the writers intended. Or maybe it isn't. Either way, the head-scratching is real. Let's jump into it, no holds barred, and clarify all those murky moments.
Needless to say, major spoilers from here on out.
Who Are The Whispers?
We'll begin with something that pervades the game's plot from very early on. The Whispers' introduction occurs simultaneously with Cloud's first bump-in with Aerith. She sees them when no one else does, panicking as they swirl around her like so many ghosts. As soon as she reaches out to touch Cloud, he begins to see them, too. The gist here is that people who haven't made physical contact with someone who is capable of perceiving them won't notice a thing.
The Whispers are essentially manifestations of the planet's will. One thing that's in need of mentioning right off the bat is that throughout the duration of FF7 Remake, a very real manifestation of fate is trying to "correct" the story's events to the timeline of the original game. This is perplexing, to say the least, for anybody who hasn't played the 1997 epic.
So, why all the run-ins with them for Cloud and the gang? Simply put, Remake seems to represent something of a narrative paradigm shift. The planet is none too thrilled about it and works tirelessly to steady the course. More on this in a bit, but the perpetrator of that shift is Sephiroth. His interactions with Cloud during Remake's Midgar-centric chunk of the original Final Fantasy 7's story are entirely unique to this timeline. Aerith senses this rupture to some degree, although it's not wholly clear just how aware she is on a conscious basis.
There are moments as the game progresses in which Aerith seems to be taking it in bit by bit, piece by piece. By the time the ending rolls around, she's downright terrified of the change, referring to Midgar's "steel sky" wistfully, but likely referring to the unknown future that awaits them all as well. Things come to a head in Remake's climactic confrontation when the party destroys Whisper Harbinger, the ultimate expression of the will to keep things nice and neatly synced. The future is now unwritten.
Regarding Sephiroth(s)
With all the Whisper-related preamble out of the way, the remainder of the ending's explanation will no doubt go down more smoothly. The story event changes that the Whispers attempted to prevent, and the openness of what the remaining games in the Remake series can do, leads us to how exactly all of this came about.
While it's presently unconfirmed, there are many clues throughout Final Fantasy 7 Remake that the Sephiroth who Cloud sees on a recurring basis, and who factors into the ending significantly, is not the same one that fans of the original FF7 are familiar with. Even that one is a magical manifestation of a guy who's basically asleep at the Northern Crater until later in the game, but still.
Remake's primary Sephiroth definitely knows how things are "supposed" to play out. His very presence in Remake is one of active defiance against that outcome, which makes a lot of sense when you consider that all his god-like ambitions were met with incredible failure. In many ways, Remake's main Sephiroth comes across as the one who is resurrected in Advent Children, the 2005 film sequel.
One of the reasons FF7 Remake's ending can be so confusing is that it can be hard to parse why Sephiroth seems to stand in the party's way even if they've presumably played into his hand by defeating Harbinger. This is where it helps to remember just how much of a troll Sephiroth can be. All throughout FF7 Remake, and indeed the bulk of FF7, Sephiroth's appearances are handled by way of clones. Many of his actions in Remake reflect this, such as using a clone named Marco to kill President Shinra and then transform into Jenova Dreamweaver.
Seven Seconds Before the End
In the ending's opening moments, Sephiroth brings Cloud into a metaphysical dimension which he refers to as "the edge of creation." He asks Cloud to join him in defying destiny, presenting his shrouded plan as something that is good and noble. Cloud, understandably, declines. Sephiroth bests him in cinematic combat, but spares him, claiming that Cloud has only "seven seconds before the end."
It might feel like a letdown to learn that the meaning behind this strange phrase is not yet known. We can only speculate right now, and it doesn't help matters that rather than asking what Sephiroth is even on about, Cloud just sort of grunts. In fairness, the guy's had a heck of a day, but a little inquiry could have gone a long way.
One possible connection to this can be found during a conversation the heroes have just before Final Fantasy 7's final dungeon. Red XIII states that he believes they have seven days to stop Sephiroth before Meteor, the planet-crushing celestial body Sephiroth infamously summons, makes landfall. How "seven days" relates to "seven seconds," if it even does relate, is currently unknown. But considering that the so-called edge of creation's starry backdrop portends total destruction for the planet and its inhabitants, the ties are there to bind the two together should the writers make it so.
Why is Zack Back?
The biggest question fans of Final Fantasy 7 almost invariably ask after completing Remake pertains to a key character who is supposed to have perished prior to the start of the game. Zack, a war buddy of Cloud's from before our spiky-haired hero's arrival in Midgar, dies at the hand of pursuing Shinra troops shortly before the pair reach the city. This tragic sequence was even remade into the ending of a prequel spinoff called Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake's final scenes show a version of Zack who has — to his own surprise! — survived the Shinra showdown and carries forward with the wounded Cloud. The more immediately obvious theory is that, somehow, the Whispers' destruction has altered the timeline in such a way that Zack still exists.
But there's more going on than first meets the eye. Stamp, a Shinra mascot dog whose face is printed on all sorts of in-universe merchandise, has a completely different design here. The fact that the writers make such a point to demonstrate this in the ending lends serious weight to the notion that we're seeing things through the looking glass of an alternate dimension.
Remake's sole but substantial post-launch DLC, Episode INTERmission, takes things a step further. We watch as Zack visits Aerith's church in Midgar's Sector 5 slums, stunned to discover that not only is his girlfriend missing but the place is chock full of refugees who have suffered from tumultuous events that aren't unlike the ones we see take place over the course of Remake.
Has Zack somehow traipsed into "our" dimension as a result? Is the wave of light that passes over him when the Whispers are slain a sign that his reality has been melded into the reality that the Remake cast is familiar with? And why is Biggs, a member of Avalanche who perishes bravely in the original Final Fantasy 7 and should by all rights have suffered the same fate in Remake, recovering from his wounds elsewhere in Sector 5?
More Questions, Fewer Answers
To simply say that these are "important questions" and leave things at that might seem to go against the spirit of this piece. In truth, this is precisely what the writers want us to say right now. All of us, players of Remake and especially players of both iterations. We even see fellow ill-fated Avalanche member Jessie's signature bandana beside Biggs, inferring the chance that she's out there as well.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake's ending is purposefully enigmatic. Yet it can be helpful to have the full context of as much as possible, especially as the game itself is not always as crystal clear about various plot details as some would prefer. It's a murky thing, and follow-up installments will likely paint a more thorough picture. In the meantime, and as the game's very last scene concludes by saying, "the unknown journey will continue."