Me Sobbing On My Knees: Go Watch This Right Now

This is the reason I love this fandom.

The second episode of the Remake, FF7 Rebirth, has proven to be a terrific experience thus far. SE obviously made a few big decisions here and there.

It is seemingly implied now that Jenova wasn't "brain-dead", and it is hinted that Sephiroth was addled during his breakdown.

It all begins with a strategically placed cut, when Sephiroth touches the door bearing the name Jenova and instructs "Cloud" to close the valve. The scene is merely functional for new fans, yet leaves a vacant space that Crisis Core players will quickly fill in with the inferred arrival of Genesis. Smart move that, leaving the interpretation to the player. Whether Genesis exists inside the Remake's continuity or not, the moment reads differently to each fan. Quite frankly, I was half-expecting “Cloud” to come across a banora apple, rolling on the floor, but I suppose that would be telling.

What's remarkable is that they give Sephiroth almost identical symptoms to those that Cloud has in the remake. Glitches and odd headaches superimpose themselves nicely over the original Crisis Core scene. And, as much as I loathe Tyler Hoechlin's acting in the game, he lends a tangible sense of rage to Sephiroth's disparaging remarks about Hojo and his experiments. You can hear the hatred, a touch of pity, and disgust directed at Hojo's work and the creatures he tortured. In Crisis Core, he refers to the test subjects as “abominations” with the same touch of bitterness.

Back to the point: glitches, pupil dilations, and headaches are visual cues for Jenovaroth's influence or proximity, as shown in the first part of the Remake. However, at this point, Sephiroth is still sane — cracking, but still himself — so the only agent who can exert influence on him is, well, Jenova.

Now, a widely established fan hypothesis maintained that Jenova was brain-dead or comatose. Bodily functions sustained, but brain activity plateaued. Rebirth, however, strangely suggests otherwise.

When "Cloud" returns to Sephiroth in the manor's basement for the second time, Sephiroth recites an excerpt from a journal purportedly written by Professor Gast: 

“The specimen, found in a strata dating back two thousand years, smiled with what could only be described as 'ethereal grace'… Though the truth eluded me at first, I later determined that she was an Ancient - or a 'steward of the planet', as they are referred to in legend”. 

Remembering the battles with Jenova Dreamweaver and Jenova Emergent, the creature is far from "graceful" or "ethereal". There is nothing graceful about her figure in the tube either, and she is not smiling. The game goes out of its way to lampshade the glaring contradiction by showing the flashes of Jenova’s fanged skull and grotesque body as Sephiroth quotes the passage. So how could Gast perceive her as such?.. The answer is most likely found in Jenova Dreamweaver's description given in Ultimania: the entity has the ability to induce hallucinations in individuals who come into proximity with it, which is further corroborated by Jenova Emergent description.

An ancient lifeform that Shinra Company has kept under strict confidentiality. Those who come into contact can have their conscience interfered as well as see illusions. Professor Hojo has dedicated half of his life to researching Jenova, and within the Shinra Company building's top floors lies a secret research center called the "Dome," where Jenova's cells are injected into lifeforms or machinery to conduct experiments. (Ultimania)

Gast even writes that “the truth eluded him at first”, but LATER he determined the specimen belonged to the race of Ancients, as that answer was suggested. The implication is chilling: Jenova may have purposefully misled Gast in order to present itself as an Ancient. As Sephiroth later explains in the FF7Rb, Jenova is capable of seeing deep into one's soul and impersonating individuals you fear, love, or hate.

If ShinRA and Gast were determined to unravel the mysteries of Ancients and their Promised Land, it would make sense for Jenova to "scan" Gast and determine the best course of action: disguise itself as an Ancient in order to escape captivity in geological strata jail.

The scene in which Sephiroth reads Gast's notes is possibly the final time he is more or less himself, before Jenova's image intermingles with his for a brief moment. Again, I appreciate Tyler's voice acting in this particular section and the real rage he brought to it. Admittedly, I was concerned that with next-gen visuals, they would take a more gruesome approach, displaying Sephiroth conducting the Nibelheim carnage with sadistic pleasure, but they took a different route. Slow, zombie-like movements, and a glassy expression.

He speared the militiamen as casually as if he were spearing bugs, which is far more frightening from a narrative point. What jumped out was how they emphasized the possessed-like behavior: from snarling and flailing the book like a suffering person to an empty countenance and automaton-like strides, as if he was being beckoned. Which is what "Mother is waiting" implies.

The final segment of the Nibelheim flashback is likely the most essential as well. According to previous developer claims, Sephiroth's will took precedence over Jenova's, and he was in control — whether Jenova was brain-dead or simply of lesser willpower.  However, the Rebirth appears to suggest something different right off the bat. First, "Cloud" shouts, "I believed in you… No… Not you — whoever the hell you are!", highlighting the significant personality change and the resulting lack of recognition. But then "Cloud" sees Jenova's image superimposed over that of Sephiroth in a rapid, glitch-like succession.

In other words, he sees Jenova inhabiting Sephiroth's body as a vehicle to once again escape the confinements. Whatever that means, whether it suggests that Jenova is in control from the start, or whether Sephiroth is literally the greatest functional agglomeration of her cells, and therefore literally “becomes” Jenova. 

If Jenova's original body was severely damaged — either as a result of eons of incarceration or Hojo's tinkering — it stands to reason that, if she wished to carry out her plan, she would need a new body, one capable of moving at the very least. Perhaps Sephiroth, an able-bodied skilled Mako-infused fighter of considerable might, served as a better "vessel" than her original damaged one. 

But the crux of the matter lies elsewhere. The possibility of Jenova being conscious and influencing Gast is very terrifying. With the potential to affect others in close vicinity, she may have influenced the minds of the whole science team behind the Jenova Project, particularly those who had long-term contact with her tissue — Gast and Hojo. It could turn out that the whole idea to revive an “Ancient” was planted by Jenova in order to grow itself a powerful host. In fact, if it could "peer into one's soul," i.e. read minds and memories, it might have easily identified a pressure point to indoctrinate people who could forward her objective. It's one thing to inject tissue samples into an adult body; it's quite another to devise a plan to inject cells into a developing human fetus. Who knows. Perhaps Hojo is such an obsessed Jenova nutcase in large part because he fell under its spell; feelings of inadequacy and being overshadowed by his colleague may have offered a crack in his defenses.

One that Jenova easily took advantage of. After all, as Dirge of Cerberus implies, Hojo ended up implanting himself with alien organic material.

Again, Jenova's power to extract information from an individual when in proximity supports a bleak reading of the events leading up to Nibelheim's ransacking. A person who kept on carrying a photograph of his supposedly late mother and badgered others about his background, as suggested by Ever Crisis episodes, was literally wearing his weakness on a sleeve.

Perhaps the 30-something years of the Jenova Project were supposed to bring Sephiroth there.

Perhaps the chain of events had been nudged in that direction, starting from the very discovery of a derelict non-human lifeform. Nudged by an intelligence both cunning and incomprehensible. And that makes Jenova a much, much scarier presence in the remake than it was ever suggested in OG.

Thought this would be fun to share:

So I recently was researching angelology for a project of mine, and I just realized Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis each represent one of the three highest Angels. Not just design-wise but symbolically.

Sephiroth is a Seraphim. A Seraphim's main purpose is worship, making them the closest to God and the highest level of Angel. Considering Sephiroth's strong devotion to Jenova after Nibelheim, even after he learns that truth about Jenova in the lifesteam. Seraphim are also called The Burnings Ones, and considering fire is a reoccurring theme for Sephiroth it speaks for itself.

Angeal is a Cherubim. A Cherubim main purpose is the protection of sacred places like the Garden of Eden and the Arc of the Covenant. Angeal's whole arc is about him losing his Soldier Pride/Honor, something that he considered sacred to himself, is what lead him to his own demise. Cherubim are the only high level Angel among the three that wield a sword.

Genesis is a Ophanim/Throne. Ophanim or Thrones main purpose is to guard the Throne of God. This shows itself more in Genesis resolution at the end of Crisis Core, with him finding a new purpose after seeing Minerva.

- Crisis Core Ultimania:

- So as result, Minerva/the lifestream stops his degradation and allows him to live on in order to complete his duty. He then later vows to aid the planet when it needs him in the future. So I guess one could say that Genesis's connection to Minerva/the lifestream/planet is to serve as it's sentinel or guardian.

I never thought of it that way before! There's a lot of symbolic layers to these characters for sure! I always learn something new about them every day!

More Information I found about the Angel Symbolism in FF7 (Part 2):

I believe Zack Fair is an Angel in a traditional sense. An Angel is a being that becomes the bridge between Man and God, they have many responsibilities but the most important is the protection of the righteous.

- Zack's story has all of these aspects, he is the bridge between Shinra and the everyday person (his missions in crisis core being a prime example, and his most notable actions are in the protecting Cloud (a kid caught up in the cross fire).

Finally there Cloud Strife, who I believe without a doubt symbolizes as an Archangel (An Archangel is Leader of the regular angels within the Lord's heavenly Army). But I don't believe Cloud is just any Archangel I believe he is the Archangel Michael for two reasons, one Michael is prophesy to rise up at a time of great tribulation like the world has never seen, and two Micheal is the Angel who defeated Satan during his rebellion and cast him out to the Earth.

-Cloud the leader of the party, and he is the one at the end to rise above the circumstance & defeat Sephiroth during the Meteor Crisis.

Extra: Also many believe Satan or Lucifer was a Seraphim before his fall (fits Sephiroth's fall), and so Cloud being an Archangel is Poetic for their endless battle.

Dude...

These are so interesting! You've really got an eye for imagery. I need to replay everything to pick up on some extras...

Why is the last scene giving Edge of Creation, like besides the music, the way he looks up is very similar to the way he looks at the dying universe (ultimania).

New Teaser

Normally, I don't post often, but I'm really proud of this cake design!

LADS is really making me post/reblog more often huh, but i love this event so why not.

Reva (meaning rain) & Rainyblobbu 🌧

🌸lemme see y’all’s mc and blobbus!!! here’s mine

daisy and daisyblobbu 🌸🌼🪷

This is going to cause some serious brain rot for me.

Final Fantasy

VII

Rebirth

This is why I love the tragedy that is Sephiroth.

"You are too weak to save anyone."

"Not even yourself."

Beautiful

ITS DONE. Abbey by Mitski with Sephiroth

Things you can watch for in this video: Sephiroths hair and bangs getting bigger over the course of the vid.

I know this is a crazy theory but I thinkSephiroth Goal in the Re trilogy isn't to be a god but to finally Die.

In-game he uses the pronoun "Ore" more often than "Watashi", but it seems in both cases they are still aligned with his OG goal. However, what makes me think this is the Executioner symbolism with Cloud, every time Cloud strikes him down he never fights it. At one point he even gives him his Blessing. What also helps me think this is the whole new lore with the gi tribe and Sephiroth being there but not saying a word (all the while the gi are chanting their one true desire "freedom in death".

I would be game for seeing Sephiroth having a definitive end. So long as it's done tastefully, of course. It would actually be pretty cool if one of these versions of Sephiroth is a Seph from a universe in which he actually wins and just...wants to end himself at long last after figuring out godhood is lonely and meaningless. That said, I don't think they'd be that profound, especially if this supposedly leads into AC. Sephiroth will keep coming back again and again in new convoluted ways, never learning his lesson.

I've said it before--the best (and kindest) conclusion you could take Sephiroth's character is to put him out of his misery. Both to avenge the lives he's taken and also to end the existential grief and tragedy that began with his birth. Sephiroth has to accept the pull of the Lifestream and dissolve. And if not that, then just cease to exist entirely. It sounds harsh, but it's an end to everyone's pain, Sephiroth included.