Ok, based on the ending many people believe that humanity was wiped out from the planet (I'm not taking AC into account). However I don't think this is the case. If you pay attention, after the scene of Red XIII running with his cubs, you can hear nature sounds like birds but also laughter from children. Humanity wasn't wiped out and I have an explanation as to why. If you also remember, there's a part when Bugenhagen talks about how it's up to the planet to decide what's good or bad for it and he says: "I wonder which one we humans are." I believe that the planet decided that humanity is essentially good, even if there are a few rotten cases, like Hojo for example. Even though Shinra's and Sephiroth's actions almost destroyed the planet, there were quite a bit of people who fought for the planet, like Cloud and Co. Humanity after the disaster of Meteor went back to living in harmony with the planet. That's why we don't see any high tech metropolis in the ending with Red XIII. I think humanity started behaving like the Cetra (not saying they had the same powers as the Cetra, although it's possible they could have developed them in the 500 years that ellapsed). Even if humanity was still using technology it's not in a way that's harmful for the planet. Humanity, in short, has rediscovered itself.
So this is my interpretation of FFVII's ending. Feel free to disagree or agree. Thanks for reading it, though.

Nice post, Summoner, and I'm glad you're not taking Advent Children into account.

I'd want to agree with you, but there are so many ways to take the ending that it's hard to pinpoint one and say "This is it,". My initial reaction was "Oh my god, Meteor hit!" and humanity was wiped out. And I still think that may have been a valid thought. It would explain why Red takes his cubs to see it, as it was humanity's last great city, and it would also explain why Midgar is STILL THERE, in ruins.

Or, you could say that humanity opted out of the earth-draining lifestyle, and went "green", so to speak. They might have left Midgar in the condition it was in because they wanted to remind themselves of what they are capable of, and what to avoid.

It just seems to me that humanity was wiped out. In my opinion, Midgar stands because there is no one left to clean up the mess, and the shot of it there with green growing over it shows that even at what humanity would consider the worst time, the world will still go on. And I think there's some truth behind that theory, because the entire game was really about the planet, not about humanity. Save the planet was the motto, and maybe humanity had to sacrifice itself in order to do so.

I don't agree that the planet deemed humanity to be "good", however. The Weapon (it is without an "s", correct?) was summoned by the planet not just to wipe out Sephiroth, but to wipe out humanity as a whole. The only thing is that the planet didn't succeed.

To me, that's what makes the game so great. If my initial thought was correct, then the good guys didn't win in the end. The planet did, which was the reason they were all fighting in the first place.

I don't think humanity was wiped out either. I just think people went back to the ways that made the world work to begin with and just abandoned the city.

Though wanting to know what really happened when I beat the game and then being forced to think for myself kinda pissed me off...argh FFVII, argh!

xD

It probably wasn't that they got wiped out. But maybe 500 years later, they did? Maybe the designers were taking a shot at the dire nature of our own world. You know, one crisis averted, another one over the horizon?

I'm probably reading WAAAAAAY too much into this. I wonder if the developers ever did any explaining about the ending.

And I DON'T mean Advent Children. Ugh.

I always believed that humanity was wiped out and the only character that we knew survived for sure was Red XIII. It wouldn't necessarily mean that humanity was wiped out. They would have been reabsorbed into the life stream and then be reborn as a different life some other time.

But poor Red. It must have been quite a traumatic event when he found himself to be the only surviving party member on the Highwind.

Some people think that FFVII is stronger if you believe that humanity gets wiped out by the Lifestream and Holy, because it adds to the theme of the Planet's power overcoming man's attempts to harness nature with machinery. But by only showing the ruins of Midgar 500 years later, this theme gets a buffer whether or not you believe humans disappeared or not.

If Holy decided humans were evil, the Planet reclaimed the land and healed it. If humans didn't disappear, they learned their place in the greater scheme. Either scenario shows the Planet being able to heal itself and dominate man's hubris.

One thing to take into consideration is Aeris' last words to Cloud about how she will see everyone after everything is over. Possible interpretations for this in context of the two ending scenarios are: humanity is reabsorbed by the Planet and the party meets Aeris in the Lifestream, or humanity survives and Aeris acts as guardian angel.

I personally like the notion that humanity survives but learns its place and must live in conjunction with the Planet. I also think that Aeris' sacrifice, as well as her presence in the end video as someone influencing the Lifestream, is a stronger element of the story if everyone survives.

But I can't deny that in some ways, I feel like the scenario with humanity disappearing is an extremely fitting viewpoint, especially in terms of the tragic nature of the game. And if there truly is the sound of children's laughter in the 500 years later video (though I can't remember any), one could hypothesize that it's either Red's cubs laughing, or the sound represents ghosts/memories of humanity.