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File about the Promised Land |
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The Promised Land was first discovered when Professor Gast, head scientist of the Shin-Ra Company, interviewed the last known Cetra, Ifalna. She told him that when the Cetra die, they are taken to a Promised land, a place of extreme pleasure and happiness, becoming one with the Planet in the process. Shin-Ra became very interested in this legend and later discovered that this Promised Land was supposed to be a haven for life. This further attracted their eyes, since such a place would contain a large amount of Mako, which the Planet's society thrived on. Thus, if Shin-Ra could find the Promised Land, they could produce much more Mako than before.
Shin-Ra later capture Ifalna and her newborn daughter Aerith from Gast and kill him, taking them to Midgar to perform various experiments on them and attempt discern the location of the Promised Land. Ifalna later died escaping Shin-Ra several years later, but succeeded in getting Aerith to safety. Shin-Ra attempted to convince Aerith to come with them many times as she grew up and make her aware of her heritage, but Aerith refused. By the start of Final Fantasy VII, the effects of Mako extraction on Midgar's surrounding land and the efforts of the terrorist group AVALANCHE had hastened Shin-Ra's efforts to the extent they resorted to kidnapping Aerith instead of negotiating with her. However, Aerith revealed to Cloud and Tifa while imprisoned that she didn't know where the Promised Land was, and that she knew only what had been passed down about it being a land of eternal bliss.
Later, once Shin-Ra had destroyed Sector 7 in Midgar to defeat the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE, plans to rebuild the Sector were scrapped. President Shinra now planned to dump the capital city, and build a new one in the Promised Land. This new city would be christened "Neo Midgar". Rufus Shinra and his men later chase the rogue SOLDIER Sephiroth to the Northern Crater. Due to the massive amounts of Mako around them, Rufus originally assumes the area to be the Promised Land. However, thanks to collapse of Shin-Ra following the attack of the Diamond WEAPON, no Neo Midgar is ever constructed.
Sephiroth in turn also came to believe the Promised Land lay at the Northern Crater where large amounts of Lifestream gathered to heal the wound caused by Jenova centuries ago. Thus, as this was the place where the Lifestream was abundant and he could become one with it and ascend to Godhood, Sephiroth assumed the crater was the Promised Land. The fact that Jenova, whom he believed was an Ancient, had been found at the crater likely only strengthened his deduction.
The Cetra believed that the Promised Land was not really a real location at all. Rather, it was what the Cetra referred to as the Lifestream. The Lifestream was a sort of spirit river that traveled under the planets' crust, supplying plants and animals with life. The Cetra possessed a certain bond with this Lifestream, and could control and, to some extents, harness its powers.
It is also speculated that the Promised Land means something different to each person. Described as a land of happiness, this meant each person would inevitably have their own interpretation of where the Promised Land was. Thus, the Promised Land may not be an actual specific location, but a state of mind to find "eternal happiness" wherever possible.
From Final Fantasy Wiki
 Flower Seller Aerith · Sun Oct 12, 2008 @ 02:59pm · 0 Comments |
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