Oddsock's Queries...

[Oddsocks]

Ok hey folks this is my first...or second post here and i've a few questions that have been on my mind for some years regarding FFXII, as the poorly translated script can confuse the best of minds at times throughout the game.

Every time we see Sephiroth are we actually seeing Jenova imitating Sephiroth's form? At which point is the Sephiroth we see actually Sephiroth? Or is he just dead all throughout, as we see him in the ice caves? How did Sephiroth get from dying in the reactor to being frozen in those caves?

The black robed monks all have the Jenova cells in common, as does Cloud, but how is it that Sephiroth has control over them? Or is it again just Jenova that is controlling them?

Jenova crashed/landed on the planet thousands of years ago, killing the Cetra while others hid underground, yes? Jenova manages to fool todays scientists like Hojo into thinking she too is a Cetra, does this mean she is also a shapeshifter which explains her taking Sephiroth's form?

So, ultimately, if I am right in all my thinking, FFVII is about the world coming to an end due to the revival of an alien from outer space and a mad, misinformed scientist going around splicing human cells with that of said alien, even with his own unborn son....awesome haha.

What say you?

 

[FF7Guru]

1. No. That is Sephiroth controlling a clone-like version of himself.

2. Sephiroth has no control over them. Jenova does, but it is a manipulative control, rather than an absolute control.

3. If Jenova was a shapeshifter, then it would have grown a new head? And if Jenova was imitating Sephiroth, then it would go on a big killing rampage, to repeat what happened to the Cetra.

 

[Oddsocks]

Thank you for the interesting points, Guru. I have one counter-statement, however;

1. No. That is Sephiroth controlling a clone-like version of himself.

Why is it that every time we see Sepiroth throughout the game we enter a battle with Jenova? i.e. on the boat and immediately after Aeris is killed.

Also, to what extent is Jenova controlling Sepiroth? Or is she not controlling him at all, and he is only doing what he believes is in his and his 'mothers' best interests?

How is Sephiroth so powerful? I mean, I understand his extraodinary physical abilites through having been introduced to Jenova cells while still in the womb, but how does he manage to survive falling in the reactor at Nibelheim, and how does he use his conscience to control the clones and Cloud?

3. If Jenova was a shapeshifter, then it would have grown a new head? And if Jenova was imitating Sephiroth, then it would go on a big killing rampage, to repeat what happened to the Cetra.

Isn't this what we see 'Sepiroth' doing? For instance, in the ShinRa building and again, on the boat he does indeed go on a killing spree.

 

[FF7Guru]

The way that Jenova controlled Sephiroth is the same as how Sephiroth controlled Cloud. ie. a manipulative control. Cloud went to the Whirlwind Maze because Sephiroth knew he would, on account of the anger within Cloud. Jenova controlled Sephiroth by making him believe that it was what he wanted, just like Kadaj thought that he wanted Mother to be happy. And, by Killing Rampage, I meant whole world killing rampage. The boat was like one of those squeezy red anger balls, but on a Sephiroth scale.

 

[The Bikini Goddess]

the poorly translated script can confuse the best of minds at times throughout the game.

Hey! What's wrong with "This guy are sick?!"

Every time we see Sephiroth are we actually seeing Jenova imitating Sephiroth's form?

That is correct. Jenova's species uses a "mimic" ability. Ifalna explains in her video interviews with Gast that this was how Jenova destroyed the Anicents. Jenova would "mimic" the form of a Cetra's loved ones and then turned them into a monster. Here is her explination from in-game dialog:

"That's when it appeared! It looked like our... our dead mothers... and our dead borthers. Showing us spectres of our past. She approched as a friend, decieved them [the Cetra] and then finally, gave them a virus."

At which point is the Sephiroth we see actually Sephiroth? Or is he just dead all throughout, as we see him in the ice caves?

The real, physical Sephiroth is crystilized in Mako at the Northern Crater for the entirety of the game.

How did Sephiroth get from dying in the reactor to being frozen in those caves?

After the confirnation at the Neiblihem Reactor, Sephiroth's body disolves into the lifestream. His will is so strong that he begins to physically manifest (or attempts to-- this is why he is just a torso when we see him in the crystilized Mako) where Jenova landed.

The black robed monks all have the Jenova cells in common, as does Cloud, but how is it that Sephiroth has control over them? Or is it again just Jenova that is controlling them?

This is where it gets a bit convoluted. Depending on the version, the black cloaked men are either actual parts of Jenova (heart, lung, eyeball etc,) but don't worry about that. In the game as it exists, the black cloaked men are Sephiroth-clones. Sephiroth isn't really controlling them-- as it is their soul, bio-physical purpose to follow the "Reunion" instinct. Once Jenova is released from the ShinRa building the "Reunion" begins. This is why Cloud follows Sephiroth. As heroic as saving the world sounds, Cloud is just doing what he was intended to do-- participate in the "Reunion" like all of the other generic clones. When Hojo refers to him as a "failed" experiment, he is actually confusing Cloud with Zack. Cloud was actually a successful experiment-- Zack was the real "failure."

Jenova crashed/landed on the planet thousands of years ago, killing the Cetra while others hid underground, yes? Jenova manages to fool todays scientists like Hojo into thinking she too is a Cetra, does this mean she is also a shapeshifter which explains her taking Sephiroth's form?

Correct.

So, ultimately, if I am right in all my thinking, FFVII is about the world coming to an end due to the revival of an alien from outer space and a mad, misinformed scientist going around splicing human cells with that of said alien, even with his own unborn son....awesome haha.

Exactly!

Why is it that every time we see Sepiroth throughout the game we enter a battle with Jenova?

Each encounter with Sephiroth is an encounter with a piece of Jenova's body, not the actual Sephiroth. For example, the Sephiroth we see on the ShinRa boat is Jenova's arm taking his form.

Also, to what extent is Jenova controlling Sepiroth? Or is she not controlling him at all, and he is only doing what he believes is in his and his 'mothers' best interests?

For the most part, Sephiroth (encased in Mako at the Northern Crater) is controlling Jenova, who is "mimicing" his form.