Summary

• The Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy changes the game's story, with characters who died in the original game still alive.
• The game defies fate and follows a new timeline, making it a fresh story despite its nostalgic feeling.
• The butterfly effect and the role of the Whispers may lead to unexpected consequences for minor characters like Biggs and Wedge.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, has been officially revealed, and Square Enix shows that it has no qualms in continuing to change the game's story. This has resulted in characters who died in the first part of the original game still being alive going into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. If FF7 Remake followed the original story, then both Biggs and Wedge would be dead at the start of FF7 Rebirth, having been crushed by the falling Sector 7 plate. However, that's not quite how things go in Remake.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Remake.]

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth continues the story of the remake, picking up immediately after Cloud and his party escape Midgar and decide to fight against fate. Although it's called a remake, FF7 Remake is closer to a reimagining of the classic story of FF7, and it's made a lot of FF7 Rebirth won't follow the order of FF7. Because of this, there are many questions left unanswered by the first part in the trilogy, some of which pertain to certain characters' fates.

FF7 Remake Is About Fighting Fate

How FF7 Rebirth Needs To Address Biggs & Wedge's Ending

One of the biggest differences that causes story issues between FF7, its remake, and Rebirth is the different characters who have lived and died. In the original FF7, both Biggs and Wedge die when the plate falls on the Sector 7 slums, sacrificing themselves to buy more time for residents to evacuate. But going into FF7 Rebirth, at least Biggs is shown to still be alive. While injured, Biggs and Wedge both survive the plate collapsing in Remake, even though Biggs' survival wasn't shown clearly until after Cloud's party defeated the Whispers.

After they leave Midgar, Biggs is shown waking up as he's recuperating. Wedge, however, has a more ambiguous fate, and his status isn't clear at the end of FF7 Remake. As Avalanche storms the Shinra Building at the climax of the game, the Whispers push Wedge from the 64th floor of the Shinra building, and he isn't seen again. The clear implication here is that Wedge dies from his fall, but that's not confirmed - and it's not the only time FF7 Remake pulls off a similar fakeout. The other time happens to involve Biggs.

Biggs and Wedge are both of Avalanche, a group working to save the planet from Shinra, a company that drains Mako from the ground with enormous, power-generating reactors. In the original timeline, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge all die when the Sector 7 plate falls. However, much like Cloud and his party, Biggs and Wedge defy their fate in FF7 Remake, narrowly escaping the plate collapse while Jessie is (apparently) crushed under debris. Biggs is seen during the ending sequence, injured but alive, and Wedge survives at least long enough to fall out of the Shinra Building.

But defying fate once doesn't mean that Biggs and Wedge are in the clear. The Whispers are persistent, as Wedge later experiences firsthand when they throw him out of an elevator window on the 64th floor of the Shinra Building. Wedge isn't seen again after this point in FF7 Remake, leaving players with the impression that he might be dead. Still, this is ultimately unconfirmed, leaving Wedge's fate a question for FF7 Rebirth to answer. He may be gone, but he could just as easily return with a bigger part to play in the wider FF7 saga.

The Butterfly Effect Could Play A Role In FF7 Rebirth

Whispers are a new addition to FF7, having been introduced in the remake. They appear when the timeline begins to diverge from the original, attempting to correct whatever elements are deviating from the norm. This is why Whispers often attack Aerith in FF7 Remake. Similarly, this is why the Whispers attack Wedge at the end of FF7 Remake - because his being alive deviates from the original timeline enough for the Whispers to feel they need to kill him. This might mean that Wedge and Biggs could have bigger consequences in the later story of FF7 Rebirth than expected.

The term "butterfly effect" refers to a chaos theory term that describes how the tiniest, least significant-seeming events, like a single beat of a butterfly's wings, can have reverberating consequences. With how much is being changed in the new timeline, it isn't far-fetched to assume that the fates of even minor characters like Biggs and Wedge deviating from the original will have consequences in FF7 Rebirth. Considering two divergent timelines, it's not unreasonable to think that other characters will be dealing with similarly strange results from the timeline changing.

Wedge is a pretty minor character in the original FF7, but the Whispers' frantic attempt to kill him suggests that Wedge in particular might have a bigger role in this new timeline, especially if he manages to survive his fall from the Shinra Building. While it's unlikely he'll the adventuring party full-time, Wedge may still be around. If he's still alive, he could very well swoop in at an opportune moment to save a major character from a grisly fate, or lend his strength to an important battle they would've otherwise lost.

But at the same time, the Whispers could very well increase their attempts on Wedge's life as they grow more desperate to correct the timeline. The Whispers are ostensibly defeated as of the ending of FF7 Remake, but they're not guaranteed to stay that way. It's still not clear just where they come from. The Whispers could return just as easily as they were defeated, or whoever summoned them could take a more direct role in enforcing the canon sequence of events. This could put Wedge in danger, but also give him a more prominent role and more screentime.

Biggs, too, may fight against the Whispers, now that he's been shown to be alive as well. Perhaps they held off on attacking him because he was injured, or perhaps he doesn't play as pivotal a role in the FF7 Remake timeline as his buddy Wedge, but that could change. With Biggs and Wedge alive, they might end up being playable characters in FF7 Rebirth, or even temporary, AI-controlled guest characters. Much like Yuffie stars in Episode INTERmission and Zack is confirmed to have his own playable chapter, Biggs and Wedge could undertake their own daring side mission.

Biggs & Wedge May Offer A Midgar Connection In FF7 Rebirth

Otherwise, Biggs and Wedge might be able to tie FF7 Rebirth back to Midgar. The original FF7 largely leaves the big city behind after the climactic motorcycle chase at the midpoint of the first disc, in which the core party ventures outside Midgar's walls in pursuit of Sephiroth. This is precisely where Remake ends, so as a result, the part of the story told by FF7 Rebirth isn't likely to revisit Midgar unless something significant changes. The surviving of Avalanche in Midgar could get their own chapter, or try to catch up with the rest when they're all healed up.

Biggs has been the luckiest among the Avalanche trio, with regard to defying fate. Of the three, he's the only one who is confirmed to still be alive going into FF7 Rebirth. However, it's possible that Wedge and Jessie managed to survive, and they may return as one of the many ways in which FF7 Rebirth's story could change. Having the characters of FF7 fight against their own fates is a big task with some serious, wide-ranging implications. Therefore, the potential of Biggs and Wedge returning is an interesting possibility to explore in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.