Highlights

  • Loveless in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is not just background - it's intertwined with the plot and foreshadows the game's ending.
  • The Loveless play follows the Hero, Prisoner, and Traveler seeking the Gift of the Goddess - a parallel to key characters and events in the game.
  • Pay attention to the Loveless performance during Chapter 12 with Aerith - it holds special significance and foreshadows the heartbreaking finale.

Warning: This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Proceed at your own risk.

A recurring element of the Final Fantasy 7 saga is the play Loveless, and it is once again significant to the series in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Throughout the Final Fantasy 7 games, Loveless takes on two major forms: the original poem and the stage production based on the poem. Although Loveless tends to only appear as a background world-building element, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth makes it apparent that the play is more than just a background detail and is more intertwined with the game's plot than players might think.

Fans who have played Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion are likely familiar with the symbolism of Loveless in that game, with Genesis frequently quoting the poem throughout it. While the story of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion could be seen as a parallel to the poem version of Loveless, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth can be seen in many ways as a parallel to its stage adaptation. These parallels become apparent under specific circumstances in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and aren't fully revealed until the game's finale.

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Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s ‘Loveless’ Play is More Significant than Players Might Think

The main story of Loveless follows three men, known as the Hero, the Prisoner, and the Traveler, as they seek to find a treasure referred to as the Gift of the Goddess. In Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, the three primary SOLDIERs at the center of the story, Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth, represent the Hero, the Traveler, and the Prisoner, respectively, while the Gift of the Goddess refers to the Jenova cells they have been bestowed with. In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, players have the chance to see the play version of Loveless performed at the Gold Saucer during Chapter 12, wherein Cloud and his date take on the roles of the Prisoner, Alphreid, and his lover, Rosa.

To see the most symbolic version of Loveless, players will want to ensure that their Gold Saucer date is with Aerith, putting her in the role of Rosa during the play's performance. The use of Loveless throughout the original Final Fantasy 7 and its remake project is largely representative of Cloud and Aerith's relationship, given that they meet on the street in Midgar named after it. As such, seeing the two perform in the leading roles during Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Chapter 12 holds a special significance to the greater plot, and even foreshadows the game's ending.

How ‘Loveless’ Foreshadows Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Finale

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While it may not seem significant at the time players experience the Loveless performance during Chapter 12, there are some surprising ways it mirrors the game's finale, foreshadowing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's heartbreaking ending. During the performance, Cait Sith delivers a line of narration that claims that all tales that begin with a chance encounter are fated to end with a tearful farewell. While this line refers to Alphreid and Rosa in the context of the play, it also parallels Cloud and Aerith's chance meeting that ends with Aerith's death during the climax of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Aside from this ominous line of dialogue, this performance of Loveless is also significant in that it provides imagery of Cloud and Aerith that will come up again in the game's finale. The embrace shared by Alphreid and Rosa on stage almost exactly mirrors the embrace shared by Cloud and Aerith in the alternate universe version of the Sector 5 church at the beginning of Chapter 14. To solidify the parallels between Loveless and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's finale, the play ends with Alphreid and Rosa teaming up to fight Varvados and Garm, much like how the final boss fight of the game sees Cloud and Aerith teaming up to fight Sephiroth.