With the release of Intergrade, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is back in the public eye. The game released on PS4 in April 2020 to generally high reviews, along with plenty of discussion by fans. There was a lot of debate as to whether the enormous number of changes to the plot and gameplay were really necessary, and now Intergrade has expanded the discussion into whether recognizing side works in the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 as canon is a good idea. It’s a wild time to be a Final Fantasy 7 fan, and an even wilder time if one is up-to-date on all the reveals and updates in Final Fantasy 7 Intergrade. Of particular concern are the ones involving Zack.
Discussing Zack is something of a minefield, due to the fact that his existence was a world-shattering revelation in the original Final Fantasy 7. That was over 20 years ago, and Compilation materials have assumed that interested parties are at least aware of his presence in FF7’s world. Still, that’s not a given, especially with some people trying to use Final Fantasy 7 Remake to experience FF7 for the first time. So, with Zack entering Final Fantasy discourse once again through Intergrade, it will pay to know who this man of mystery is and why he’s still around. To accomplish that, SPOILERS FOR ALL FINAL FANTASY 7 GAMES must be discussed.
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Zack Fair is a 1st Class SOLDIER and Cloud's best friend during their time working for the Shinra Electric Power Company. He wields the iconic Buster Sword, which he would pass onto Cloud in a similar manner to how Zack had himself received it from his SOLDIER mentor, Angeal Hewley. He’s a big player in the FF7 universe, but his actual role in the series is very small. Zack showed up in a few flashbacks and cutscenes in the original Final Fantasy 7, having died while bringing an amnesiac and barely functioning Cloud to Midgar. His spirit provides some assistance to Cloud, but he’s mostly present as a part of Cloud’s personality and memories, having become an extremely close friend and idol to Cloud before the two of them were captured and experimented upon.
These events are expanded upon in Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core, a PSP action game featuring Zack as the main character. His journey through SOLDIER, and his relationships with Cloud, Aerith, and even Sephiroth, were all expanded upon. A lot of the other stuff that happens in Crisis Core concerning Angeal and the Gackt-portrayed Genesis isn’t terribly important to FF7 as a franchise, but the game definitely gives the impression that Zack was an accomplished individual before he and Cloud escaped their mistreatment under Shinra and attempted to go into hiding. Sadly, once again, Zack was killed by Shinra forces outside of Midgar city limits, and Cloud had to take the Buster Sword and drag himself the rest of the way.
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That's about it for Zack’s tale in the original timeline. Zack’s mind was grafted onto Cloud’s so the latter could cope with his trauma, and Zack’s spirit looked on from the Lifestream. Aside from a couple cameos in Advent Children, and a crossover appearance in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Zack didn’t really do anything else in his home series. All of that is about to change, however, as the ending of Final Fantasy 7 Remake has done the unthinkable and brought Zack back to life as a result of Sephiroth pitting the protagonists against fate itself.
It’s not exactly clear what’s happened as of yet, but the audience has enough clues to piece together a mostly complete picture. Thanks to the Whispers’ defeat at Cloud and co.’s hands, the timeline has been irrevocably altered. Zack, along with some members of Avalanche, are now alive in a period where they would normally be dead. Zack is seen successfully repelling Shinra’s forces in the FF7R ending, and he and an injured Cloud walk past the party on their way out of Midgar, the two groups presumably occupying parallel timelines at that moment. An altered Stamp poster is shown to indicate that Zack’s timeline is different from the party’s, but that doesn’t explain what happens at the end of Intergrade’s DLC.
It looked like the tease of Zack in an altered or parallel timeline was all fans would get until FF7R Part 2 came out, but Yuffie’s INTERmission DLC threw them an unexpected bone. After Yuffie’s plot had concluded and a cutaway to the main party travelling to Kalm played out, players were treated to the surprise arrival of Zack at Aerith’s church. Zack psyches himself up to say hello to his girlfriend for the first time in awhile, and enters — only to be caught completely off guard by the presence of refugees from the destroyed Sector 7. Whether this is happening in the Remake timeline after the events of the first installment or in a parallel world is unknown at this point, although this seems to set up Zack following the main party in future games.
That brings the discussion to what Zack’s future holds. He’s undoubtedly going to be around in some respect, but to what degree is unclear. If Zack is indeed alive in the Remake timeline and not in a parallel one, he could team up with the now-alive members of Avalanche and form a second adventuring party to occasionally show up to help Cloud and co. out. His group could even be playable in some sequences. After all, in story terms, Zack is the prototype Cloud. If he isn’t in the same world, but is still loosely following in the regular party’s footsteps, then he could occasionally show up in a portal created by Sephiroth, the Lifestream, or some particularly mystical location. Eager fans will have to wait until Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 for answers, but two things for sure are that Zack is alive, and that he will be important.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is available now on PlayStation 5.