Curate, connect, and discover
Here are some of my theories of what I think is going on in this game and what it means for the FF7 franchise moving forwards.
-The Lifestream is a river of souls, emotions and memories, yet sometimes these threads branch off and create new alternative universes/timelines, like light shining through a prism. Think of the lifestream and its different worlds as the roots of a tree.
-Like how the lifestream connects all lives and how it represents the cycle of life and death, so does the tree of life in various mythologies.
-Now that I look closely at Rebirth's ending I think Aerith is both alive and dead. She's entangled with the physical world and the spiritual world (Lifestream) and can hop between them at will.
-Which is why Cloud and Sephiroth see her as alive, but to the rest of the party, she's dead. She's in a fluctuation of states due to her ancient abilities and uses this to her advantage. (Schrodinger's Aerith lmfao)
-I dunno but I still think there's two Sephiroth's. The evil one who wants to merge all the worlds, become a god, and rule the planet alongside Jenova, and the one from the original OG timeline who's trying to stop this from happening and the one who shows Cloud the multiverses in the first place
-Cloud is slightly aware of what is going on regarding the different worlds/timelines, but the dude has to regain his true self first