After Kalm

In this chapterIn the Corel Prison, Dyne, Barret's former friend, who lost his wife Eleanor and went mad with grief, tries to kill Barret and dies in a fall.

The journey passes through North Corel, where Barret is reunited with the people who were hurt by Shinra's reactor. In the nearby prison, he faces Dyne, who has lost everything. At the Gold Saucer, the party has a break from the chase. Cait Sith joins them, and the player takes a date with one of the party members.

Barret's story makes him more than a loud revolutionary. His fight with Shinra began when his town was destroyed, and Dyne's tragedy shows how that loss can destroy a person. The Gold Saucer is the game's most colourful place, built with Shinra money, and it shows how the company keeps ordinary people entertained and distracted.

Cait Sith is operated by Reeve, who works for Shinra, which means a spy has joined the party. His motives turn out to be more complicated than that.

In this chapterAt Cosmo Canyon, Bugenhagen explains the Lifestream, Meteor and Holy, and Red XIII tells how his father Seto died defending the village.

Cosmo Canyon is a place of philosophy. Bugenhagen teaches the party that life returns to the Planet after death and that Meteor is a calamity and Holy a possible answer. In Nibelheim, Tifa remembers events differently from Cloud, and in the mansion basement they find Vincent. In Rocket Town, Cid and his rocket complete the party's travel tools.

The Lifestream explanation is the game's theology: every living thing's energy returns to the Planet, and every drop of mako Shinra uses is a piece of that cycle. The game's ecological theme is expressed through a spiritual one. The Nibelheim return is where the story begins to turn. Tifa corrects Cloud's account, and the player starts to suspect that his memory cannot be trusted.

Cid is a pilot whose dream of space was stopped by Shinra's priorities, and his sharp temper hides regret. The airship he provides opens up the world.

In this chapterIn the Temple of the Ancients the party finds the Black Materia, a stone that can summon Meteor; Cloud, under Sephiroth's influence, hands it over.

The party chases Sephiroth to the Temple of the Ancients, and there Cloud loses control and gives him the Black Materia. Aerith has realised what is happening and leaves to go to the Forgotten Capital to pray for Holy. At the Forgotten Capital, Sephiroth kills Aerith in front of the party. Her White Materia falls into the water, and the game moves into its second half.

Aerith's death is one of the best-known scenes in video games. Her prayer is not completed, but the story shows later that it did not fail. Cloud's loss of control is a result of the Jenova cells in his body and Sephiroth's influence. The scene shows that he is vulnerable, which the later Lifestream sequence explains.

The mourning scene has no combat, and it lets the player feel loss before the story speeds up.

In this chapterSephiroth uses the Black Materia to summon Meteor, and Shinra's Weapons, giant creatures born from the Planet, are awakened.

With Meteor in the sky, the Planet is in danger and Shinra's headquarters is attacked by the Weapons. Cloud, who has lost his sense of self, is helped by Tifa inside the Lifestream. There they find the truth: Cloud was never a SOLDIER. He took on Zack's memories after Zack died protecting him. With a restored identity, Cloud returns to lead the party.

The Lifestream sequence is a psychological story told as a journey. Tifa is both guide and witness, and her gentle questions let Cloud rebuild the 'self' that Sephiroth had broken. Zack's role gives the love triangle a tragic dimension, since Aerith's first love and Cloud's best friend are tied through Cloud's borrowed memories.

The Weapons are the Planet's response to Meteor, and Shinra's attempts to stop Meteor reveal that even the villains fear the Planet's destruction.

In this chapterThe party travels to the Northern Crater, where Sephiroth waits in the Planet's core.

The party descends into the Northern Crater to face Sephiroth. After defeating Jenova and Safer Sephiroth, Holy rises, but cannot stop Meteor alone. The Lifestream rises to join Holy and the Meteor is destroyed. The epilogue jumps five hundred years to show that life continues.

The final battle is a battle against a god in the making, and the game explains that Sephiroth wanted to merge with the Lifestream and rule it. Holy was released by Aerith's prayer, which means her death was not in vain. The story is built so that sacrifice and renewal are connected. The five-hundred-year epilogue shows Midgar overtaken by nature, a symbol that the Planet has survived Shinra.