The Mystery of FFVII's ending

by Daniel Wilkenfeld 

After reading pretty much everything everyone here has to say about FFVII's ending, the one thing that comes to mind is (to quote The Princess Bride) "I do not think it means what you think it means." I think this is perhaps the most simple possible elegance ever to come from a video game ending (the only exception being MMV for computer where they managed to summarize hundreds of hours of work in a single line): Namely that it actually makes you put it together yourself. FFVII is simply amazing in that you put some of yourself into it every time you see the ending.

"What on Earth is this guy talking about?" would be the logical question, yet think about it for a moment. Every editorial here which talks about the ending has a different take on it. For example, a recent editorial quoted without flinching that the symbolism teaches the lesson that "all humans from everywhere in the world are equally important in death as in life, and will accomplish more if they work TOGETHER" (Thomas Lipschultz). That's very nice, and makes perfect sense -- to him. I don't buy that. I believe the Lifestream represented nature, finally stepping in to fix the mess up the humans and Cetra had left for it. I believe the human race was wiped out there, which was the entire point of that ending sequence: Midgar was defeated by shrubbery, the laughing of children lived only in memory, and out of the original conflict there was only one survivor, Red XII, the NON-HUMAN. Nature was saving it own, of which the humans and Cetra were no longer a part. I also believe that that's why you see Aeris's face so soon after killing Sephiroth; they were symbols of the forces of dark and of light, in the end both were destroyed by hatred leaving behind only the purity of nature. The key here is more literary symmetry. In the end, the confilct between the races results in mutual destruction, rather than ideological principles (though I suppose you could draw quite a few morals if you so chose).

And you know what the beauty of it is? I'm entitled to think that. I've had arguments with a good friend who thinks I'm completely nuts. He might be right, maybe my idea isn't what the designers intended at all, but I'd still be right also. FFVII, due largely to the triumph of emotional story telling over the detriment of a linear story line, feels when it's all said and done like MY game, MY story. I can say how it ends, and not give a damn who cares, because to me, Aeris died to allow ME to defeat Meteor, not some obscure collection of polygons I control on the screen. And the ending only aids this. By leaving the final call to the player, they allow the story to be, in all ways, truly his.