>>716439525
It's not genius. I fucking hate it

>>716439368
So it comes down to Sephiroth's TotA speech and what the Dream Worlds are supposed to be. Sephiroth's goal is the same as OG, absorb the Lifestream. His intentions however are more altruistic. In Sephiroth's head, he's going to invent Eternity. Everything has to die one day, including the Planet itself. But if Sephiroth can wrest control of the Lifestream from the Planet, he can undo death as a concept. But as Aerith says, this is not the way it's supposed to be. I know that stupid ass final battle was flashy nonsense but it established the point that Sephiroth can already join the Dream Worlds into himself using despair as a base. The problem is that Sephiroth accidently allowed a dead Aerith and a dead Zack to just wander in and help Cloud.

So what's the theory? Sephiroth has just displayed the ability to bring back dead people. So when the bubble pops and Cloud understands that Aerith is dead, he will NOT get better. Rather he'd get worse. Why not help Sephiroth? He can undo the worst tragedies of everyone's lives. Aerith can come back. Zack can come back. Tifa's Dad. Myrna. All the stuff from that flashback in the Temple can be undone. But Aerith wouldn't want that. And Cloud has to accept that. So Cloud will have to fight against Sephiroth.
Which means knowingly let Aerith, Zack, and his mother go forever. And accept that they're gone. It will be an active decision on his part this time.