Back on the Ground
-Zack and Cloud get off the truck and hide behind some rocks.
-Nice going, Zack. It looks like he ran into the ENTIRETY of Shinra’s army chasing him.
-ZACK, to himself: “Whatever happens. Embrace your dreams. And protect your honor… as SOLDIER!” He draws his sword. He charges.
-AND SUDDENLY I’M PLAYING AS ZACK IN COMBAT AGAINST THE ENTIRE FRIGGING ARMY. OK.
It goes okay for a few waves, but Zack gets a DMW cinematic that’s super blurry, just a montage of Cissnei, Sephiroth, everyone. It’s hard to make out. Feels like a fight I’m meant to lose, and that this cutscene is a life-flashes-before-your-eyes moment.
-WAIT
-I SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING
-This is AMAZING. Okay. That first DMW roll, Zack got memories of Sephiroth, Cissnei, and… Tseng maybe? And after the cutscene, their faces rolled on the DMW itself. Remember that the DMW is the Digital Mindwave, what’s zapping through Zack’s head.
This next time, their faces are GONE from the DMW roll. Just a blank white silhouette where they used to be. He’s dying. This time, Angeal, Aerith (her voice, “Hellooo?”) and Cloud.
-Fade to black.
-Zack is hurt but not dead. Three soldiers advance. He can barely move in combat.
-Another hail of gunfire. He falls.
-Zack PoV now: One of the soldiers walks up to him. Points the gun in his face. Fires.
-Final DMW roll. A montage of Aerith. Everyone else is gone.
-The DMW is FUCKED. UP. It’s creaky, staticky, broken. After all, his mind and body are in bad shape. Death’s door.
---
Church in the Slums
-Aerith’s in the flowerbed when it starts to rain. She senses what happened.
-The scene quickly transitions from Aerith to Zack’s eyeball. Same rain is falling on him.
---
Deathbed
-Cloud crawls out from behind some rocks. He’s awake! Crawls over to the nearly-dead Zack, whose torso is absolutely riddled with bullet holes.
-Oh god. Zack’s dying words to Cloud:
“You’re gonna live. For both of us. You’ll be my living legacy.” Well… yes, Cloud did that well.
ZACK: “My honor. My dreams. They’re yours now.” Passing of the legacy, and passing of the sword.
-Cloud screams out in agony. Zack dies.
-Montage of Zack, all seen through Cloud’s eyes. Zack encouraging him, ribbing him, laughing.
-Cloud walks off. Buster Sword in hand.
-A mysterious figure who we don’t see, but must be Angeal (or Angeal’s spirit), flies down from the sky.
Zack opens his eyes. Grabs the figure’s hand. They take flight together.
-Cloud trudges on alone.
-A feather falls over Midgar.
ZACK’S VOICE: “Hey. Would you say I became a hero?”
Roll credits.
-That. Was. Wonderful.
(Still super weird though to hear lyrics in a Final Fantasy game other than “SE-PHI-ROTH.” The music over this final scene has been fully voiced.)
-I’m not sure how this gets to the Cloud of FFVII who had no idea who Zack was, but maybe that’s covered in Dirge of Cerberus.
[Later edit: my best guess is that the trauma of his friend’s death, the walk through the desert and the aftermath of the mako withdrawal all combined to make Cloud take his friend’s final words literally, assuming Zack’s life literally.]
-Well! That was Crisis Core.
---
It Was Not the End of Crisis Core Yet
OH WAIT THE END OF CREDITS SHOW THE BEGINNING OF FFVII THIS IS AWESOME
IT ALSO ECHOES THE BEGINNING OF CRISIS CORE WHICH ECHOED FFVII
BUT NOT ZACK ON THE TRAIN
IT’S CLOUD.
“My name is Cloud. SOLDIER First Class.”
FUCK YES
---
Next time: final thoughts on Crisis Core.
