Ahead of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's apparent release in 2023, Square Enix has confirmed that the Whispers, a key part of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's story, won't be able to "maintain the desired timeline" following the events of Remake.
One of the most controversial parts of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake was the Whispers, ghostly spirits that popped up during key events in the game to try and make sure that what was happening in the story matched the original Final Fantasy 7, such as making sure that Cloud and Aerith meet and preventing the deaths of certain characters. The importance of the Whispers came to a head in the game's final chapter, where Cloud and the team fought massive versions of them and seemingly defeated them for good, changing their fate for good.
Over the past few months, Square Enix has been celebrating the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy 7 by going through each chapter of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and interviewing the developers about it, revealing some interesting details like how Tifa was the most difficult character to implement in terms of gameplay. The revisit has now concluded with the game's eighteenth chapter, Destiny's Crossroads, and the development team behind Remake has talked a bit more about the Whispers and their role in the future.
Motomu Toriyama, the scenario design co-director on Final Fantasy 7 Remake, confirmed that the Whispers will no longer be able to change history in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. He said, "As it says at the end of the game "The Unknown Journey Will Continue", and Cloud and his friends will be on that journey for a while yet. From here on in the Whispers cannot act to maintain the destined timeline, so fans can look forward to seeing what kind of future awaits the team."
Toriyama also seemed to confirm a fan theory that Rebrum, Viridi and Croceo (the three Whispers the player fights in this chapter) are meant to represent Advent Children's Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo. When asked about the theory, he said, "The Whispers are capable of forming monsters from all the memories in the flow of time, and I think that includes the characters who exist or will exist in the timeline as well.