Remember...
*Spoilers*

Okay guys, this is one of my longest theories, and, at times, it may get quite confusing (there is actually only one such place that it may get confusing, and I've tried my best to clarify it by setting variables to words). It does suggest some VERY radical things about the Cetra’s past as well. As usual, email me or post here with questions, comments, etc. I'll continue writing theories - expect my next one sometime later this week.


Picture for clarification:





What is the Yellow Orb?


How many of you guys out there noticed the glowing yellow orb that is depicted on screen for several seconds after Cloud's consciousness is flung through the planet? Do you remember it's strange, yellowish glow emanating from deep within its globular design? Of course, if you don't know what I'm talking about, go back and defeat Savior Sephiroth (his final form). When Cloud emerges from his journey deep into the recesses of the lifestream, he looks and sees a glowing, yellow orb accompanied by two whitish orbs - they appear on a black background surrounded by smaller, white "bubbles." The fixation that the camera presents upon this strange phenomena is not to be taken lightly - nay, several seconds are spent observing it as it floats amongst the darkness in the Planet's core. What is that orb?






Theory 1: It is 'Holy'

There is the strong and overwhelming possibility that this orb is the materia from which Holy can be summoned. Phrased more correctly, it simply is the sphere that hung from the bow of Aeris, the deceased flower girl who sacrificed her life for the Planet. This can be supported by several things.

Cloud states: "Light... A light... Is this... Is this light... Holy?"
Cloud states: "...Holy... Holy... is there... The Holy is shining... Aeris's prayer is shining......!"

Both of these statements are made directly prior to the battle with Bizarro Sephiroth (after the party defeats JENOVA Synthesis [who may or may not be JENOVA herself; we'll get into THAT theory later]). The party floats towards a glowing WHITE orb, that is seemingly alone in the darkness. Then, there is a loud crackle and it is revealed that indeed this orb is surrounded by a red, earthy substance - seemingly, it has been confined by the power of Sephiroth. Form these statements, and this depiction of Holy, we can gather the following:

"Holy is located at the Northern Crater, or an area in that general vicinity. At the very least, it is now in the center of the Planet, where the party may or may not be."

So, perhaps this yellow orb is Holy, now free from the red, earthy prison manufactured by Sephiroth, floating freely in the Lifestream immediately prior to its emergence to combat Meteor (or whatever; see thread "Ending Theory *Spoilers*). However, there are two obvious problems that this theory presents.

1. Holy is green, as we have seen during Aeris' death.
2. Holy was originally located at Aeris' place of death, the Ancient City.

How can Holy change color, AND relocate itself? The only logical theory is that Holy is now yellow as it has been activated. But, didn't Bugenhagen state that Holy was pale green when activated? Well, one can go so far as to say that even though Bugenhagen said that Holy glows pale green (not yellow) when activated, he may be describing the materia that is used to summon Holy, not Holy itself. Holy itself is an entirely different entity, much like Meteor and the Black Materia are different. And how did it get to the Northern Crater by itself? Simple: when Holy fell into the water of the Ancient City, it somehow found a way into the Lifestream and floated to the Northern Crater with the Planet's (and Aeris'?) help. However, this requires a bit of a stretch. A more plausible explanation for its relocation would simply be that the yellow orb is Holy in its physical manifestation, which is inherently located at the Northern Crater. The materia used to summon Holy may or may not still be underwater in the Ancient City (this remains to be seen, seeing as how you can never return there). This is strengthened by the explanation I have provided to allocate for Holy's color change, just a few sentences ago. So, to sum it all up (be careful, this may get confusing):

"'Holy' is not Holy... 'Holy' IS Holy (in terms of the Planet saving 'spell'), but Holy is the materia utilized to summon 'Holy.' They act independently, much like Meteor and 'Meteor' do."

A better way to put this is:

"'Holy' is not White Materia... 'Holy' IS Holy (in terms of Planet saving 'spell'), but White Materia is the materia utilized to summon 'Holy.' They act independently, much like Black Materia and 'Meteor' do."

So, we can say that when activated White Materia (which will be used to denote Holy from now on) glows pale green. Additionally, when 'Holy' is activated (which will be used to denote the spell itself), it glows Yellow.

This is probably the most sensical theory that I'm presenting here.





Theory 2: It is a Vision of the 'Promised Land'

My secondary theory would be that the orb is a holographic (for lack of a better term) depiction of the Promised Land, and that in itself it proves that the Promised Land is a physical place... When observed closely, the orb actually looks cloudy. Materia, however, are transparent. The orb thus bears an uncanny resemblance to a planet. Perhaps this vision is showing the Promised Land as a planet. There is a peculiar hint in the game suggesting that Ancients actually traveled in space before settling Planet. During Cloud's flashback of Nibelheim, Sephiroth discovers his 'heritage' and hisses at Cloud.

Sephiroth states: "This Planet originally belonged to the Cetra. Cetra was an itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on... At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness."

Pay particular attention to the phrase "They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on..." This sentence is rather ambiguous in meaning. Sephiroth was either suggesting the Ancients would migrate and settle across different areas of the Planet's surface, or they would migrate and settle entire planets. If Sephiroth was suggesting the Ancients migrated and settled across Planet's surface, he should have said, "They would migrate and settle PARTS of the Planet, then move on to OTHER AREAS..."

Also, the Planet is relatively small, and was globally settled by mankind, which has minimal technology comparative to the Cetra. The Cetra obviously were in possession of vast, powerful technology, as shown by the contraption in the Temple of the Ancients (a puzzle which forced the implosion of the Temple). Obviously, they were around for several hundred years (at the very least, more like several thousand years) if we are to say they spent their entire existence confined to the spacial borders of the Planet. In this extensive period of time, there would have been far more Cetra establishments (we're shown one city and a Temple... ), and they would obviously have found their Promised Land. The only way a race of people's would have had the time to develop such a powerful array of technology and knowledge, while staying in a relatively tight location would be that they had colonies elsewhere among the stars. In the last two thousand years of our existence, we have successfully settled almost the entirety of Earth, as well as established an intricate array of globalized networking; why did the Cetra fail to do so? Simple - the colony on Planet was fledgling – it had yet to be fully established. In this manner, we can suggest the following:

"The Cetra are born of another world. In zealous search for the Promised Land, they have developed space faring technology which has enabled them to colonize various reaches of the universe. One such colony, a new and relatively small one stationed on Planet, was suddenly and viciously attacked by a creature known as JENOVA - the crises from the sky. The Cetra colony manages to contain JENOVA, but they are pacifists and lack the ability to destroy it. Fearing it's awakening, they hasten their research on Planet and conclude that the Promised Land is elsewhere. Existing colonists succumb to a deadly virus, and the Cetra pull out of their colony; leaving only a few isolated pockets of their people remaining, without any means to contact home. Assumed dead by their colleagues, no search party is ever conducted and memory of the JENOVA incident is purged from the Cetra race."

This is a bit of a stretch, but you see where I'm going. It just doesn't make sense to me that there is only one Cetran city, and only one Cetran temple. It also doesn't make sense why there is virtually no trace of their ever existing; why is that? Simple - they had only one colonial city. Why then, though, did they abandon such powerful destructive magic as the Black Materia, and why then do they "return to the Planet" upon their deaths?

Well, they abandoned the Black Materia in their haste to evacuate the Planet. Also, their refusal to develop weaponry of any kind (save for magic using, I suppose), severely downplayed their ability to cope with any attack. Verily, the Cetra decided it best to refuse extraction of Black Materia and instead leave it for the humans to deal with - after all, their warlike tendencies would most likely yield a counter-weapon befitted to destroying Meteor if it were ever summoned. The Cetra knew that White Materia existed, but they also knew that it wasn't target specific and would only attack the greatest threat to the Planet from whence it was born (read: thread "Ending Theory: *Spoilers*") and thus could not depend on its unfocused powers in fighting Meteor.

As to why Cetra returned to the Planet, and why they can logically be reborn of it, my answer is simple: Cetra may have originally sapped the energy of their native Planet, but those born on Planet itself would have utilized Planet's energy for their creation. This gives us the available option of stating this:

"Cetra A arrived with the colonists form Cetra World. Cetra B is born on Planet. Cetra A dies, and her energy returns to Cetra World, because she sapped Cetra World's energy once she was created. Cetra B dies, but her energy is returned to Planet because she sapped it from Planet, not Cetra World."

But I must digress, for I have gotten far off topic (The Cetra Heritage will be covered in a theory some time later). Back on the topic...

Upholding the claim that the orb is a vision of the Promised Land as a planet is the sentence Cloud utters during the ending, "...the Promised Land... I think I can meet her... there." Somehow, somewhere, Cloud saw the Promised Land (as denoted by "there" in his statement). If the Promised Land is anywhere to be seen in the ending, it must be the orb.

Additionally, look at the white bubbles surrounding the orb. Mako is meant to be green, but these bubbles are white. The bubbles and black background make an uncanny resemblance to space. Recall the introduction FMV of the game. We are shown the night sky with mysterious wailing in the background. The wailing sounds as if it is calling out for us. Our eyes wander the stars as we try to find the source of the wailing...

Finally, look very closely at the picture. Look at the yellow orb. It looks sort of like a planet doesn't it? It has two large white orbs around it. This could be because it is the planet in a double star system, the white orbs being the stars. This is highly probable, since scientists have already found and documented many double star systems.

- ***

Copyright (c) 2002-2003
Please ask permission before using this theory!

[EDIT: I just fixed two spelling errors]
[EDIT: Fixed a citation (thread name for my previous post was incorrect)]
[EDIT: Fixed a grammar error]
[EDIT: Changed "Earth" to Planet... sorry about that mix up!]
[EDIT: Fixed yet ANOTHER grammar error]

theory 1 may be right cause Bugenhagen is always lieing about something :rolleyes:

My opinion is that the orb is Holy, Theory 1. For one they say, "This is Holy" which gave me a little hint to what it is. But anyways. I might be wrong so tell me if I am.

But isn't Holy white magic and the materia is green because it is a magic materia. And just because she summoned Holy from the City of Ancients doesn't mean thats where Holy is. Sephiroth summoned Meteor from the Northern Crater, and it attacked Midgar. So I dont think it was rellocated at all. I may be wrong.

Anyways great theory, maybe the next one will be on a different FF. Love your theories PTM, keep them coming.

PS: Was it yellow? I thought the whole orb was white. :confused:

Responses in Bold:



My opinion is that the orb is Holy, Theory 1. For one they say, "This is Holy" which gave me a little hint to what it is. But anyways. I might be wrong so tell me if I am.

No no no... the orb that I'm talking about isn't the one surrounded by the red, earthy structure (or talking about "specifically" rather). I'm talking about the one in the Planet's Core after Cloud "teleports" down to fight Sephiroth (AFTER DEFEATING SAVIOR SEPHIROTH). The one encased in the red, earthy substance is most definately Holy - but the one shown later is not White, as that orb is, but Yellow. It is also cloudy, like a planet.

But isn't Holy white magic and the materia is green because it is a magic materia. And just because she summoned Holy from the City of Ancients doesn't mean thats where Holy is. Sephiroth summoned Meteor from the Northern Crater, and it attacked Midgar. So I dont think it was rellocated at all. I may be wrong.

True, but Materia isn't cloudy, like the orb was. And besides, the orb isn't green to begin with - its YELLOW, as stated before. True, Meteor was summoned to Midgar using Black Materia in the Northern Crater, and true Holy was summoned to the Northern Crater using materia from the city of Ancients - this does indeed support theory 1. Good eye.

Anyways great theory, maybe the next one will be on a different FF. Love your theories PTM, keep them coming.

Thanks! Dunno if it'll be on a different FF - FF7 is my favorite and I absolutely (not to offend anyone) detest FF8. FF9 seems too straightforward for me to make theories on, and I haven't played 10. FF 4-6 are just not my type, even though I've played them, to write theories on.

PS: Was it yellow? I thought the whole orb was white. :confused:

Yes, the orb was YELLOW. The one surrounded by the red, earthy substance almost definately is Holy, but the Yellow one surrounded by two white orbs is ambiguous in nature. This can be, once again, seen when teleporting to fight Sephiroth in the Planet's core.



PS: I'm gonna see if I can upload a picture of it (I have one) to help clarify what I'm talking about!

- PTM

i think its holy i like the theorys keep them up :)

You have WAY too much time on your hands . . . o.O

I think it's the Lifestream's main body, and the two other orbs around it might be Aeris and Bugenhagen's souls. And since holy does to the opposite of what it's supposed to those 3 are there to bring the lifestream up from the crater to stop meteor.

Well, It took me half an hour to write that - that's not that much time 'on my hands.'

And nice theory about the souls btw, but it seems a tad 'incomplete' - why is holy yellow? why did aeris and bugenhagen retain individuality, while others in the lifestream do not? why did...? I mean I could go on forever with "why did's" and "what if's". Could you explain more? (not like you will *scratches head*). Oh well.

- PTM

I'm not THAT lazy . . .

I never said the yellow orb was holy, I think it's the Lifestream 'soul', and that everyone has their own little orb in the middle of the earth or around the world. (and materia, especially summons are made from these) And since Bugenhagen and Aeris fought until death to bring the world to peace and unpollution (blah) that they got a spot on the Lifestream 'elite team.'

I know I have alot of holes, but who cares. I am lazy to somepoint. :p

Ultimecia said in closed thread "Not Bad":
Theories are fine but maybe you are reading too much into the game...

even the developers probably didn't create the game to be in this much depth and detail.
I think its very interesting that hardcore fans read into these things and create new philosophies and even can create explanations and put physics and laws into the final games.

You doing good jobs but dont forget that the game is not possibly meant to be read into.





Remember...
*Spoilers*




My reply:
Reading to much into the game isn't necessarily a bad thing - it exercises the minds of people and helps explain things to the less quickwitted. Games like Final Fantasy 7 are meant to be read into - that IS INDEED the creator's intent my friend. Great games tend to spark theories, debates, etc., and Squaresoft realizes this, so they purposely manufacture games that intentionally contain great plots with small holes in them. Why? Because those holes make it so the fans can appreciate the game long after it has been beaten.

Hmpf. You obviously haven't paid attention to your literature class. If you weren't so busy sleeping you'd realize that there is nothing done in that class EXCEPT reading (as you would put it) "too far into the book." Ever read Shakespeare plays? I doubt it, but if you did in your Lit. class you'd realize just how much "between the lines" reading your teachers make you do. All great works are analyzed beyond what the author(s) included in the original writings, and that is why literature is so great. It is BECAUSE there is the ability to do what I'm doing that makes me feel like FF7 is one of the greatest games ever.

Think: if the creators didn't want people (or didn't intend for people) to create things like I do, they wouldn't have made so many loose strings that demanded to be pulled on. They'd completely explain what happens to Cloud when he's in the Northern Crater, what happens to Cloud after Zack is killed, What the Orb was (read thread "Orb Theory *Spoilers*," which I'm sure you did), etc. No, they don't do these things out of fun - they leave holes so people like me can fill them in for them.

It's cheap labor, and that's all there is to it. I know what you're thinking - "It's because Squaresoft has (a) not enough time and (b) not enough money that they leave holes." This is true too, but it only SUPPORTS what I'm saying. I'm used by them to continue the story where they left off (satisfying time issues) and to do it for FREE (satisfying monetary issues). They count on people like me to do what they could not (because of fiscal and temporal restrictions) what they could not. They depend on us to make sure the game keeps its appeal for years to come, and to make sure (especially for the likes of you) that the game makes sense. Of course, I'm in no way affiliated with Squaresoft or any of its subsidiary or parent companies, but you understand the analogy I'm making, right?

"[E]ven the developers probably didn't create the game to be in this much depth and detail. " You said this in your post. Well, of course they didn't - if they did CREATE the game to be this in depth and detailed, then there would be NO POINT in me even writing these theories - they'd have "written" them for me. But they didn't, so the strings lay waiting for a pupetteer like myself to jolt into life. However, they did INTEND for in depth approaches to explaining it - we understand that they did by their massive story line (which is, in itself, in depth to an extreme degree) and (yes I'll say it again) the holes that accompany it. Additionally, we know the game is meant to be very detailed and in depth because it is inherently detailed and in depth - my theories didn't make this so. JENOVA, Sephiroth, Mako, Lifestream, Cetra, etc... all these subpoints in the story line offer clarification on the story itself - they are called "DETAILS." Again, you shoulda been paying attention in Literature class.

I'd wager my life that you are one of those guys who just plays through the game without even bothering to study the storyline. You're probably also one of those guys who uses Sparknotes to get by in Lit. rather than reading the book. Don't say that the game is not meant to be in depth and detailed because it obviously was. If you don't think so, than you either are slowwitted to an extreme degree and, as a result, don't understand the story (even though you may think you do), or you simply are too lazy to ponder the meaning of the things that happen in-game. You're probably one of those guys who sits there waiting for the Boss Music to start playing. I play for the storyline man, I don't know about you.

Look at the genre this game is in. RPG. What does that stand for? ROLE PLAYING GAME. You play the role of a character in a storyline, which is inherently complex (at least in all GOOD RPGs, and FF7 certainly was a good one - even you thought this or you wouldn't be reading my theories [unless, as usual, you got the Sparknote version of it... hehehe]). If anything, FF7 wasn't detailed ENOUGH, and it didn't live up to the creators INTENT.

And, even IF, in some WEIRD turn of events, Squaresoft comes out and says "You are exactly right Ultimecia, PTM IS reading too far in," Who really cares? Who cares if FF7 IS being read too much into - that doesn't mean that this theory is in anyway nonsensical, or "bad." The theory(ies) still hold the meaning they do, and they still serve to explain events in the game that others do not understand. It serves as something fun to write, and it helps other people get into the game and figure things out that they wouldn't previously been able to figure out from the information presented in game alone. It doesn't discredit it, and it certainly doesn't discourage me from writing more. These forums are designed for talking about FF7 - why not start posting on the polls about RED XIII being a dog or a cat, or the polls about what's in the Kalm Chest? I really think you need to take a look at your surroundings before posting things like this in an FF7 forum.

The wooden marionette that is FF7 doesn't stop dancing when the creators leave the stage, nor was it ever inteded to - people like me are utilized to keep the show going. As they say in Hollywood, "The Show Must Go On."

- PTM

I figure out you enjoy writing PTM. anyways I love the theories and love exploring the deeper meaning in something. Just like the Rinoa is Ultemicia theory. Anyways I saw the picture but now I will have to play the ending again to get the whole meaning. So I will reply with my theory after I go do that. Dont overwork yourself "Theory King"