Final Fantasy VII Rebirth opts for a less clear and complex conclusion than the 1997 original, as its ending diverges in some fascinating and puzzling ways. Here’s the FF7 Rebirth ending explained after spending weeks sitting on it.
What happens in the FF7 Rebirth Ending? – Recap
Editor’s Note: This feature contains MAJOR story spoilers for the ending of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. If you don’t want to be spoiled, please click away now.
Before we dive into this, it should be stated that this is based on our experiences and interpretations of the ending, which is important because the conclusion isn’t exactly super clear. This is very much intentional to likely keep players busy and guessing until the third and final game in the future. That said, the ending begins immediately following the Temple of the Ancients dungeon in which Cloud and Aerith find themselves awoken in their bodies in different worlds.
This confirms the multiverse nature of this Remake trilogy with multiple worlds, including the one Zack is alive in, the branches Zack creates when he doesn’t save others, and the main world with the Avalanche group. Sephiroth appears before Cloud and tries to kill Aerith, but he stops her. This results in an intriguing sequence of events in which Cloud sees Aerith alive, but the others do not. The final boss battle lends credence to Cloud now being able to see and potentially visit other worlds. This seems to happen during this sequence through Sephiroth’s seeming reunion.
We see this in him fighting alongside Zack and Aerith alike. At the end, the party mourns Aerith’s dead. However, Cloud continues to talk to her and sees the scar in the sky. This, presumably, confirms that Cloud has access to other worlds, including possibly one where Aerith lives, but the others can’t. At the same time, Sephiroth indicates he separated the worlds once more, such as when Zack and Cloud go their separate ways.
This leaves us on an intriguing cliffhanger, with Cloud saying goodbye to Aerith. He puts the Black Materia in his sword despite already handing it over to Sephiroth earlier. This could be a new Black Materia, possibly from the empty Holy Materia Aerith gave him before. This Black Materia could be instrumental in Meteor’s summoning in the final game or whatever Sephiorth’s plan is. We also think the crack in the sky indicates a similar fate for the “canon” world as the doomed one.
What Does FF7 Rebirth Ending mean for the future of Final Fantasy VII?
This ending may not be clear, but there are some possible ideas for the third and final game in the trilogy. For one, it seems the focus will be on the war between Midgar and Wutai in the main story. In addition, Zack will likely return given his alive status, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Aerith is with him alive in that world. We could see a third game where the bulk of the adventure takes place in the core world with the group where Aerith is dead.
But there could be the occasional interlude moment with Zack or Aerith in another world. Before that, we wouldn’t be surprised to see DLC for this game. It could focus on shedding some light on Zack or follow the group with a new side adventure. We hope this happens, as it could explain the FF7 Rebirth ending even better.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is available right now exclusively for PS5.
