Part 64: Recap

Recap


Because FF7's plot is huge and there's been a lot of content so far, I've decided to make a little recap on what we know and what we don't know:




On Sephiroth:

It turns out the Sephiroth we've been chasing wasn't actually Sephiroth - rather, it was an illusion caused by Jenova, who broke away from her cell and started roaming towards Sephiroth, who was controlling her from afar.

Some people think Sephiroth was a "Sephiroth clone", one of the many we see, who stole Jenova. Either way it wasn't the original Sephiroth and the Jenova bosses we've been fighting were parts of Jenova being thrown away, either by the clone or herself.


Will the real Sephiroth please stand up?

The real Sephiroth, who was declared dead by the Shinra after going M.I.A., has been frozen in the center of the Northern Crater this entire time...


Mako's Paradise

The Northern Crater was apparently the original site of Jenova. After she crashed into the Planet, a lot of energy (Lifestream) was sent there to "heal the wound". This energy is still being sent to this day.

Because of the wound and a lot of Lifestream flowing freely there, the more capitalist minds of Shinra see it as the "Promised Land", although Hojo disagrees. Indeed, it doesn't make much sense that the Promised Land as the Cetra saw it is a physical wasteland caused by an Alien's crash.

I think it's more likely that the Promised Land was the return to the Planet, since that's what the "end of the journey" was like - Lifestream itself.


The Reunion Conspiracy

As it turns out, Hojo's theory on the "Reunion" - an event wherein all of Jenova cells would gather together - was proved true, albeit not entirely the way he predicted.

Indeed, due to Sephiroth's call, everyone bearing Jenova cells followed to the Northern Crater, towards him. This was also Cloud's motivation, as regardless of his conscious thoughts ("Settling a score with Sephiroth") he was ultimately being another victim of the Reunion call.


What's your Damage, Cloud?

As if that wasn't enough, Cloud finds out his entire life was a lie. His memories are fabricated and Tifa has been playing dumb all along. We knew something was off. Apparently, Cloud incorporated into his own memories those of a black-haired SOLDIER. No one knows what happened to him or to Sephiroth during the Nibelheim event. No one knows what happened to the original Cloud either.

Hojo considers Cloud as the entity we know a "failed" clone of Sephiroth. Unlike all the other copies, Cloud is the only one without a number.


Recent Events

As Cloud and his crew of misfits approached the Northern crater, they were tormented by illusions caused by Jenova, who was being manipulated by Sephiroth.

At the center of the crater the crew finds the real, original Sephiroth missing half of his body, frozen in a coccoon made of lifestream. Sephiroth manages to break Cloud's will and acquire control over him. He then fools Barret into delivering the Black Materia to Cloud, who proceeds to insert the Black Materia into Sephiroth's coccoon, unleashing what is expected to be an apocalyptic event.

Rufus and the Shinra crew decide to save our party by taking them into their airship. As the group flies away, the Weapons - sensing the Planet is in danger - are awakened and the five of them start flying all over the world.


What's next?

Well, Cloud's MIA, Sephiroth has the Black Materia, our crew was saved by Shinra, Hojo's theory was right for once, a gigantic release of Lifestream occurred at the Northern Crater and five gigantic Japanese-Standard-Issue Monsters have been released by the planet.





Everything's fucked up.