Sorry if this topic has already been discussed!

*possible spoilers*

I have come to wonder what exactly Aerith’s church has to do with AC? I do understand that this place was special to her in FFVII because she grew her flowers there; she met Cloud there, etc. Now in AC though she is dead and Cloud has taken refuge in the church, most likely to be closer to Aerith’s spirit, to be close to the things that she cherished in her life.

But why the emphasis on the church and not to mention her resting place by Kadaj and the others? Firstly, we see the trio in the forest where Aerith was buried, Kadaj preaching to the children about the planet. Why does it have to be the forest where he gathers the infected children and why not, let’s say the crater where Sephiroth was defeated? Especially, if I’m not mistaken, that is where the first reunion took place.

Secondly, why Aerith’s church? Why does Kadaj ride his motorcycle in there screaming “mother.” Again why does it have to be the church that he rides into to open that box that he is carrying so carefully? A place that is special to Aerith and thus to Cloud? Does Kadaj know of Clouds journey two years ago, and knows that the woman he loved was killed by Sephiroth, so he goes to the church in order to torture Cloud? Or is there a connection between Jenova and Aerith’s memory/spirit that I am missing? :unsure:

Sorry if this doesn’t make sense, but I hope to hear your thoughts on this topic!

Mrrm...wow, this is tough! :lol:

Aeris's church is ... well....you know it's actually strange. We don't learn much about Aeris's church, not even in FF7 except that she plants flowers there. We don't see people coming for prayers or masses being held. It's sort of abandoned. I don't think it belongs to Aeris - she probably just thought it was a shame that it was abandoned and decided to take over it.

As for Kadaj and his group, they gathered the children in the forest...hm...yea, good point. I wonder why....perhaps because of it's close vicinity to the temple of the ancients that's why it has some, I dunno, hidden power? Ahahaha. The forest was shown in FF7 as well, so it must have some sort of significance.

As for Kadaj riding into Aeris's church, I always assumed he destroyed the church to anger Cloud as he knew the church was important to him. I suppose there would be a deeper meaning behind it though. If Kadaj is associated with Sephiroth somehow, I'm pretty sure he knows what happened to Aeris. After all, Aeris had such an important role in FF7. I'm not sure how he knows about the church though...maybe he just knows Cloud is living there and is hunting Cloud down??

I dunno...oh gosh, this is hard...
I think I'll wait for someone else to post and see what they have to say. :P

We've seen several places associated with Aerith brought up in the trailers and Film Festivals - the Church, the Sleeping Forest, and the Forgotten City. But these places aren't just associated with Aerith - they're also associated with the Ancients. I've always thought that the SHM were interested in these places because there's something tying in with the power of the Ancients rather than with Aerith herself.

Perhaps the SHM still think that Jenova is an Ancient? Was it ever publicly disclosed that Jenova wasn't an Ancient? :unsure: Or is Jenova wanting to use the power of the Ancients in some way?

That's not to say that Aerith won't be involved. If the SHM and/or Jenova are wanting to use the power of the Ancients in some way, then Aerith will understand that and let Cloud know about it. That's why I think that Aerith may be the key to defeating the SHM.

I wonder if they want to use the power of the Ancients to revive Sephiroth.. :ermm:

lol it never even occured to me about the Ancients...I guess that is because there is no mention of them in the trailers that I am aware of.

I'm unclear about that one. Vincent says "If they wanted to, they could make another Sephiroth" and in one of the earlier trailers something about the SHM obtaining the head of Jenova..I always assumed that the SHM were going to use the powers of Jenova for reviving Sephiroth...man, this is confusing lol :ermm:

Which is why I stopped speculating awhile ago, I'm just gonna wait for the movie and THEN see what it's all about*twiddles thumbs*

The church has always been associated with sanctity. SE chose to make Aerith's 'hangout' a church instead of say...a courtyard or a garden?...just to emphasize that there's some sort of 'holiness' surrounding her. I believe Cloud has adopted it as a sort of sanctuary while he grieves. You know when after someone dies, people go into the place where they feel closest to the dearly departed? Well, I think that's what Cloud's doing here. He can't go into the Sleeping Forest or the Forgotten City...those places aren't exactly peaceful and anyway, they're more likely associated with painful memories(she died after she passed through 'em). The Church was where she grew her flowers, where he first met her...happier memories of Aerith's life and not her death.
Kadaj riding into Aerith's church? From what we've seen, Kadaj is made out to be some sort of chaos perpetrator...and seeing him trash such a holy place, plus such a special place to Cloud...it's an interesting contrast. I'm not sure if it will have any kind of significance on the overall plot, though.

Well, the Ancients are associated with the Forgotten City, and the SHM seem interested in it as well as the Church for some reason. Aerith is associated with both places, but so is the power of the Ancients. The consciousness and power of the Ancients is contained within the Lifestream, and that's what the Jenova cells are fighting to produce Geostigma. The power of the Ancients has to be drawn into it somehow.

That's why I'm not sure that Sephiroth is revived. Vincent said that the SHM could make another Sephiroth if they had Jenova's head, meaning that they could make another one with Sephiroth's powers. He didn't say that they could revive Sephiroth. Revival and the creation of another Sephiroth are two different things.

Is Kadaj associated with chaos or with evil? The SHM are associated with Sephiroth and Jenova, who represented evil in FFVII. The power of evil is destroying a holy place when Kadaj attempts to destroy the Church.

The flowers growing in the Church makes me think that the Church must be in contact with the Lifestream. Aerith was able to hear her mother easily in the Church, too, which would also indicate that the Church is in close contact with the Lifestream. The Lifestream opposes Geostigma, so it also opposes Jenova's overall plan (whatever that might be). The power of the Ancients is also associated with the Lifestream.

Kadaj thought that he brought Jenova's head there. Why would he bring it to the Church? The Lifestream has to be present for a Reunion. Did he intend for the Reunion to take place there? :unsure:

In every Final Fantasy, the main hero, and main heroine, have always had some sort of strong conection, with themselves, with almost every bit of the plot of the story, and also the story has some sort of conection with them as well. Aerith was, and still is FFVII's main heroine, so as Cloud is still it's main hero.

I think that all those things, that has been shown, like the Church, the Sleeping Forest and the Forbbiden Capitol, just shows Cloud & Aerith's conection with each other, their conection with AC's plot, and AC's plot conection with them.

We've seen him trying to rile up some sort of revolution with the children, right? I think he's also a figurehead for disorder

Could be...but there are also flowers in the garden near Aerith's house and she didn't even feel Zack's death there... :unsure:

From what we've seen there are flowers almost everywhere in AC - there are even flowers near Midgar (or temple of the ancients, i'm not sure which one it is) where Cloud strikes his sword into the ground and says he will continue living for her.

For all it may be, the flowers might not even have any sort of connection with hearing the voices, though there is a huge possibility they could be as they are featured so prominently throughout the movie.

What I think about Kadaj riding into her church is, he thinks that he can get to Cloud that way. Cloud was always in the church after her death. We see him walking in it in the trailers. But you never know. Kadaj could possible think of reviving Sephiroth there. Someone said that they thought that the church was closer to the lifestream. When you enter there in the game, you can see her ghost taking care of the flowers (even though it is a glitch), but I think that she is still there, taking care of her flowers and waiting for Cloud to return. The lifestream is one of the elements of the planet that helps is supposedly.

I think Kadaj does know what happend to Aeris 2 years ago. That's why he's hunting Cloud. He wants to know more information about the Ancients and what they were about. Atleast, that's what I think. Anyone care to dissagree?

About the forest where he takes the children... Couldn't it be because its the Sleeping forest? It has the magical power to trap anyone that enters there without the Lunar harp. So, they'd be safer there than somewhere else. And we don't know what they plan to do after that... They may need the Forbbiden capital for something.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see :D

wow, this is a complicated subject. :huh: i suppose that the church has quite a significant meaning, and that it will have a big mark in the moie. after all, alot takes place in it in the trailers, cloud walks down the isle, he lives there, tifa and loz fight there, and as some of you said, kadaj trashes it. i dont keep track of stuff aswell as some people in here(i have a brain like a sieve!! >_< ), but there are some things i can remember! if i go wrong anywhere, some body tell me. -_-

Lol I love that statement!!! Cloud living in Aeris's church.. :fangirl:

But yeah, guess we'll just have to wait till the movie comes out to know for sure what importance the church holds. For all we know, it might not be anything major after all~!

i hate all this waiting. i guess it teaches us to be patient. its a real shame, that i dont know when its coming out in europe. *sarcasm*

Lol, I feel your pain. I don't know when it's coming out in Australia either. :cry:

SE has already said that the Church will be significant in the movie. Specifically, Kitase said this in an interview with Famitsu:

The church in Midgar could be the center of the story, since memories of Aeris lay hidden there.

Nomura also said this in another interview:

The Church in Midgar will be important to the story of AC.

Both of those quotes came from SquareNet, but the links don't work anymore. :(

I remember it being said somewhere that the European release would be about six months after the Japanese + NA release.

really? yay!! :D right, no spoilers til 6 months everyone! kidding. :P

I was wrong... it's even better! :P This is from Eurogamer:

Square-Enix has confirmed to Eurogamer that Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the feature film sequel to the hit 1997 game, is slated for a European release by the end of the year.

A Squenix representative told us that the movie will go on sale - both on DVD and UMD - "by the end of 2005". That's providing everything goes to plan, apparently, but the representative promised: "We're doing our best to get it out this year."

Source: Eurogamer

anastar, you dont realise how happy youve made me. i love you!!!!! thankyou, bringer of good news!! :wub:

Ooooh!! That might mean it could come out in Australia around the same time as Europe too!!! *jumps for joy*

yay!!

*waves thankyou banner*

You're welcome! :huggle:

Haha, I've got a multi regional DVD player so I'm just gonna order it from America and have it shipped over to the UK! :P

I would say that the reason of the church is that it is has some connection with the Reunion somehow. As you know, Kajah is bringing Jenova's head there, could the rest of her body be buried there or something? Or could it just be to lure in Cloud to destroy this place which is dear to him.