[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the endings of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Crisis Core.]

Summary

• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth hints at Zack being alive in a separate universe from the rest of the characters.
• Zack may play a significant role in the FF7 Remake's future installments, possibly aiding Cloud in the final battle.
• The White Materia, crucial in the battle against Sephiroth, may be wielded by Zack in the FF7 remake trilogy finale.

Zack's fate is left somewhat ambiguous in FF7 Rebirth - even becoming a playable character - than in the original game.

Zack stars in his very own spinoff, the PSP original Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, which was remade into Crisis Core - Reunion in 2022. At the ending of FF7 Remake makes this pointless by hinting that Zack might still be alive. Further information revealed in FF7 Rebirth offers additional insight into Zack's ultimate fate, and hints at his role in the wider remake trilogy.

FF7 Rebirth Implies Zack Is Alive In A Separate Timeline

The ending of FF7 Rebirth suggests that Zack is still alive - however, he's stuck in a separate universe from the rest of the FF7 team. At the end of the game, Cloud confronts Sephiroth at the Forgotten Capital. As the two former SOLDIERs fight in a one-on-one duel, Zack emerges from a misty void. Cloud sees him and interacts with him - they quip at each other, and players can offer commands or even directly control Zack during this fight. However, their time together is limited. Once the two back Sephiroth into a corner, he splits their worlds again.

Zack then appears in a version of the Midgar church where he first met Aerith, only this time, the roof is missing and a mutated Sephiroth is rampaging. Zack and Cloud engage in parallel battles against Sephiroth Reborn, while the rest of Cloud's party does the same. So it would appear that, while Zack may have died in Cloud's canon timeline, he survived in another. It's implied that they can interact across worlds, as they help each other in the same battle.

How Zack Could Factor Into The FF7 Remake's Finale

So Zack clearly found a way to cross between the two worlds, even if he did so unwittingly. That could have major implications for the next installment in the FF7 remake trilogy. When the dust settles, one of the last images of FF7 Rebirth features Zack waking up in the church yet again. He first believes the fight against Sephiroth was a dream, but concludes it felt too real. He resolves to find a way back into Cloud's world, in an effort to help him in the final battle against Sephiroth, but just how he plans to do that will have to wait until part three.

Zack's timeline woes may also intersect with another character who didn't survive the original FF7 continuity: Aerith. Aerith still dies in FF7 Rebirth. However, much like Zack, it's implied that Aerith is still alive in a timeline of her own. She appears out of a similar cloud of mist, and briefly helps Cloud in another stage of the fight against Sephiroth. However, Aerith's involvement doesn't end there. She follows Cloud out of the Forgotten Capital, and even offers him some advice before he sets out on the final leg of his journey.

Only Cloud can see Aerith, though - the rest of the party is unaware of her presence, and Cloud doesn't share it with them. Despite Aerith's choice to remain in Cloud's world, the two part ways in the end, but they probably haven't seen the last of each other. Aerith is likely to act as an unseen advisor to Cloud in the final chapter of the FF7 remake trilogy, perhaps with Zack's help, from her own timeline.

The unique circumstances of Zack's universe suggest a future role for Zack to play. The first chapter of FF7 Rebirth - Zack's playable section - features him trying to rescue Aerith from Shinra's clutches. He eventually catches up with her, but the helicopter she's on crashes.

The White Materia falls out of her hair, just as it does when she dies in Cloud's universe. But in Cloud's universe, it rolls off the platform she's standing on and into a pool of water, escaping everyone else's notice. When Aerith dies in Zack's universe, the White Materia lands right in front of them on the ground outside Midgar. Zack will almost certainly have access to the White Materia in the final part of the FF7 remake trilogy, and may help Cloud and company use it in the final battle.

The White Materia is an important item in the original FF7. Used to summon Holy, it's a major boon in the party's final fight against Sephiroth.

That's about everything FF7 Rebirth tells players about Zack's story, though - the rest will have to wait for the sequel. While it's pretty clear that Zack is still alive in another universe, whether he'll get back to Cloud and Aerith, and how he intends to do that, remains to be seen. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth raises as many questions as it answers; thankfully, there's a whole other game on the way to explain it all.