The Planet Unveiled

by Matt Blackie 

A while into Final Fantasy VII, Bugenhagen remarks that the Lifestream, the Planet, would do whatever it could to keep itself alive, even if that included harming humans. When I first read this, I thought to myself, "Well, it really ought to get rid of those Shinra guys; they're hurting the Planet." That was when I thought that Shinra was bad.

There were many heroes in FF7, and many villains. Don Corneo was a villain; JENOVA was a villain; Sephiroth was almost a villain, had be not been controlled by JENOVA. On the other hand, Barret, Cid, and even the Turks were heroes. I'm willing to wager that most people, if not all, also placed the Planet in the "good" category. I refute that claim.

Yes, you heard me - the Planet wasn't good. The Planet was evil. Blasphemy, you say? Not so, if you believe what I have to say to that effect. As stated before, Bugenhagen remarked that the Planet would do whatever it could, no matter what it was, as long as it kept itself alive. What is one of the greatest traits of evil? Selfishness. Any way you wish to put it, the Planet was undoubtedly selfish.

Cloud was a hero. He fought to stop Shinra from draining the Mako resources of the world, having been led to believe that Shinra was totally wrong in their actions. After Aeris' death, he fought to stop Sephiroth from committing any other more heinous crimes. Aeris was a heroine. She ultimately gave her life for Cloud, so that he would be able to stop Meteor and live out his life.

Before clashing with Sephiroth in the North Cave, Cloud said (paraphrased), "We say we're fighting for the Planet. That's well and good...but what is it we're REALLY fighting for? Unless you answer that, you shouldn't continue." Cloud fought for Aeris; Barret for Marlene; Cid for Shera; Red XIII for Bugenhagen and his father; Tifa for Cloud; Cait Sith for all his friends in AVALANCHE; Vincent for Lucrecia; Yuffie for the honor of Wutai. Each of them fought for something in which they believed; something that was dear to them.

What did the Planet fight for? Itself.

The Planet didn't care who it hurt as long as it got its way. Holy, buried within the ruins of the Ancient City, could only be activated through Aeris' sacrifice. There could have certainly been an alternative to this requirement, but the Planet didn't care who died for it as long as it was saved.

In the end, once Sephiroth was defeated, and the party was flying through the sky on the Highwind, Holy came shooting across the terrain to intercept Meteor. What a suspenseful moment...Holy will finally destroy Meteor once and for all! What..what's this?

"Holy is amplifying Meteor!" Red XIII states. Holy did not, in fact, stop Meteor from destroying the earth. It amplified its power to wipe out Midgar - millions and millions of innocent lives lost. Why would it have done a thing like that? "After Sephiroth, Midgar was the greatest threat to the Planet," Red XIII explained. No matter that millions of innocents were massacred as a result: all that mattered was the destruction of Midgar and its Mako reactors.

Cloud fought for something other than himself, as did every other member of that nine person party. But the Planet, thought of as the great sufferer in the story, did not care one whit about humanity.

I believe I can safely say that Cloud was a hero; the Planet was not.

Author's Note: In light of my previous editorial, "Death of the Opinion," I would like to say that the information contained herein is indeed only my opinion; I am not trying to state this as if it were an irrefutable fact.