FFVII Theory - The Promised Land 

The Promised Land is 40% Off Night at the Honeybee Inn.

I always thought the Promised Land was basically a synonym for the Livestream. All living beings return to it after they die. Therefore it's also the resting place for the Ancients, just like the elder said. Shinra and others have misinterpreted it to be a concrete place, which it is not.

Its a metaphor for the after life for the ancients, seeing as ancients dont truly die when their physical bodies perish. From sephiroths perspective its a means to get Cloud to join the reunion and deliver the black materia due to the level of mako energy on the Northern Crater where Sephiroth is located. For Shinra, its a physical place that they theorize exists by taking the idea if the Promised Land literally and have missed the point of what it actually is due to being blinded by their own greed. Ultimately, the life stream is the promised land, I have come to this conclusion because the Lifestream is the only place where all 3 of these definitions co exist. Ancients are immortal in the Lifestream and have completed their journey, shed their weak vessels and become their highest selves. The Lifestream is a place where Meteor could be summoned 1000 times over if Sephiroth really wanted to. And if Shinra were to build a new city upon the Northern Crater (where mako energy flows the easiest at this time line), they could sustain Neo Midgar for a long time. Given that Shinra is also heavy into weapon development, if they were to figure out the correlation between the Lifestream and Mako energy, they could fuel Neo Midgar even longer through war mongering and destruction of the environment.

I always felt like the Lifestream was the 'Promised Land' The Cetra were nomads, living off the planet for the sake of the planet, and returning to the lifestream to become one with the planet and its lifeblood made sense from a 'happiness' standpoint. Being that it is the literal source of Mako energy, the Lifestream would be a place of great power. Aeris essentially offers up her life to become one with the Lifestream to activate Holy. And the North Crater is a place where tons of Mako energy would gather to try and heal the great wound to the planet. The irony of all of this being that Shin-Ra kept searching for the Promised Land, never knowing that they were sucking it dry from the planet. The idea that they would never find it is due to them not believing in the Lifestream being the lifeblood of the planet, and thus they were unaware of the concepts of reincarnation. This also somewhat tracks with the idea of Sephiroth/Jenova not allowing themselves to disperse into the lifestream. Sephiroth was convinced the Promised Land was a real place, a place of power, that he could harness to become a god. Is that because Jenova wasn't allowed to disperse into the Lifestream, so she manipulated Sephiroth into destroying the planet so she could move on to a new one?

The ultimania guide litterally tells the promised land is the lifestream.

I always thought that the promised land was deep inside the planet, at the heart of the planets life force.

The Promised Land is Course B in the Snowboarding mini game :)

When i first played FF7 I somehow got it in my head that the Ancient Forest was the promised land, given how remarkably out-of-place it seemed. Not only is it abundant with life (a dense forest in the middle of a desert canyon), but Ultimate Weapon is...odd about that place. For his final battle he waits for you there. Not about to blow it up like previous locations, more like protecting it with the last of his life. And by defeating him you gain access to this forest that uses nature as a gimmick. Extremely unusual events and themes surrounding an extremely unusual location.....

Yo i just wanted to thank you for being here for the entirety of my teenage life. Always enjoy the content and streams. This fking guy taught my dumb 10 yr old ass how to play ff 7 lmao

I have interpreted the Promised Land as the Lifestream ever since my first playthrough of the game and think it still holds true in the Remake. It fulfills all your mentioned criteria: it is the final place all souls go, not just Cetra (who we know are made of the same energy as all other things on Gaia (the plants, the animals, mako, etc)); it is FULL of (literal) spiritual energy; and it is accessible via the Northern Crater (it is where Sephiroth's body ended up after the Nibelheim incident). I don't know if it's 100% this, and am willing to hear other sides/theories. Always good to discuss FF lore! 🤘

It seems like for the cetra is metaphorical, like Heaven, but Shinra/Sephiroth took it literally and that resulted in the northern crater. I don't think Aerith ever says that the Northern crater is actually the legit promised land.

You're the first person I've seen do a final fantasy marathon and I've been loving you're content so far. Keep it up man!

I missed this kind of videos, I love every single one of them.

If you think about it, the northern crator is the only place you can physically get to the life stream (until Medeel is sunken below it), so I think the life stream is the promised land, when you die you return to it, and perhaps modern people return there too but they dont know that, or maybe that person at Cosmo Canyon was confused.

I believe that the promised land is synonymous with Nirvana. A State of infinite personal happiness and perfection, not necessarily tied to a specific geographical place.

God dude! It's been 23 years since that games release and people are STILL talking about it like this! Absolutely Amazing! I love FF7

I guess all the options are right. The promised land is the burial ground of the ancients, and a place with a lot of mako, the reason is jenova, she landed in the northern crate, the cetra sacrificed themselves to heal the planet, when you die you became livestream, they all probably died at the northern crate (their burial ground) and that place became filled with make because of that. Sorry for my broken english

The Promised Land is the Lifestream, where every soul returns after their physical body dies. Aerith summoned Holy through the Lifestream while her consciousness was already there. It's implied in OG FF7, FF7 AC, FF7R and some FF7 Ultimanias, that the Ancients consciousness roam freely in the Lifestream while the consciousness of other living beings get dissolved in the Lifestream after a while until they are reborn as another living being. Since the Ancients developed a special bond with the Planet, returning to it after their physical body dies and roam freely inside the Lifestream and the Planet itself, is their Promised Land. Sephiroth on the other hand manages to keep his consciousness from dissolving in the Lifestream cause he has a strong will fueled by hate towards humans (whom he accused of stealing the planet from the Ancients), specially towards Cloud. The Jenova Cells inside him probably have something to do with it as well.

Supreme happiness for each individual Even in ultimania it's said that cloud promised land is where he is happy, with tifa and his family

Apprently Cloud’s Promised Land is taking pictures of yellow flowers and being with his friends and new family.

The promised land is where the spirit world meets the physical world; an entrance to afterlife. That's why Sephiroth (who died 5 years before the main story) is there, and it's his link with Jenova (who is still alive) that keeps him connected to the physical world. At the end of the game when Cloud and Tifa are hanging off the ledge, Cloud says "I think I understand now... The promised land... I think I can meet HER there" he's acknowledging that Aeris is in the promised land/afterlife. Loved this video, I never made this connection before.

Its the Lifestream for me too. It incorporates both the physical and afterlife attributes. In advent children we see Aeris (Aerith) and Zack together, which makes me think that it's their supreme happiness. But also the wound in the North crater is the biggest physical location of exposed Lifestream.

In a way where cloud goes when he has mako poisoning could be seen as at least part of the promised land simply because a lot of what's there has important memories to cloud, however fractured they are.

Reading through the comments has been fascinating. I always took it literally, that the North Crater was the Promised Land since it was rich in Mako. Plus Sephiroth was literally there communing with Jenova and the Lifestream so I never looked harder at it. But this whole thread has really opened some thematic and narrative possibilities I didn't know were there

The promised land is the corel prison. The singing trio even says its Heaven!

My viewer, when I was reacting to this video... "this guy looks like the Ratattouille guy" :P

I always thought of the Promised Land as some sort of ascension.

I always took The Promised Land as just a metaphor for heaven. I took it as an afterlife

I just discovered you channel. I'm loving your videos so far, man 👍

The Promised Land is wherever the most abundant amount of mako is located. It could change over time.

I always though that at the end of the game, when the “apocalypse” event happens, the world became that “promised land” once again. I always thought it was more of a state of the world than an actual place. And the northern crater was where the power was to create the “promised land”.

It is always spiritual, the place she means is when meteor is summoned, that is when the promise land becomes physical

Guess it’s never late for a OG FFVII Theory video B)

I’ve always assumed promised land = lifestream. So North Crater can serve as “the promised land” because you can access the lifestream’s power there

Hey Death, how ya doing? Hope you're fine! I looooove these Vids, man! Looking forward to seeing the next in depth ones, too. About the topic: I think the promised land is just a metaphore for the afterlife. They give us some hints about the actual existence of it in the real world but I think is just there to make us wonder about it. The way Sephiroth talks about it seems like "his promised land" is the Mako energy to make the black materia work. Same for Aerith, which gives me the ideia that she's talking about the lifestream itself in the Temple of the ancients. That's my hint! Keep up with these awesome Vids, Death! Lots of love and have a nice weekend! Cheers!

I think the Promised Land is simply just a mindset. Love thy Planet and be good kind of mindset. Once you reached that you'll have the Promised Land.

I always and still hold to the side that the promise land is a physical place that we still need to discover, as an example seeing Aries return was something I always believed you could do just didn't know how to, my first clue to that puzzle actually lies on directly on the case and book of ff7 where you clearly see Aries next to the flying ship. And now that the answer has been found it's only time before someone finds the path to the promise land, and wouldn't it be ironic if it was somewhere inside the forbidden forest side quest.

I always interpreted "The Promised Land" as being the afterlife, and that Aeirth's death was really more of a sacrifice so that she could save the world by joining the Lifestream. After the Temple of the Ancients she becomes all-knowing and realizes what she must do. Sephiroth follows her because he's connected to Cloud's mind, allowing him to see the dream with Aeirth saying that she 's the only one that can stop him. And then they all go to the Forgotten City. Everyone else thinks "The Promised Land" just a place with a bunch of Mako because using Mako is really all they know about the Ancients.

Final Fantathon Playlist here: ru-vid.com/group/PLyotyCGt7oYBvyPrvlUd8FVaVJs7hPoBN

Sephiroth and Shinra think the promise land is at the North Crater, because that’s where there’s a lot of mako energy. It’s possible the north crater is also the resting place of a lot of the Cetra, since they mostly died fighting Jenova (right?). But at the same time, Sephiroth has a long track record of being wrong about the ancients and Jenova, and unreliable narrators are a common theme in FF7 But if the promise land is really the afterlife, then Aerith was still right - she was able to summon Holy after she died, and returned to the planet. So maybe the Promise Land is the lifestream

I've always believed the Promised Land is the Lifestream.

The promised land was, is not, and will be. As is said early in the game the cetra speak with the planet to reach the promised land. It's a raising of awareness and knowledge which allows the cetra to transform the planet into the promised land.

I always played OG FF7 with the certainty that the promised land was the area of highest Mako abundance. Also assumed that meant the north crater was the promised land due to being young and stupid. The north crater can’t be the promised land, because there is only such an abundance of mako there due to the crater, and the planet trying to heal itself. So either, the promised land was somewhere else, (it’s not), or it’s a state of existence. In so far as, the promised land is that which is promised to all life, to live in the lifestream. My thoughts on this are long and convoluted, but I think, after playing FF7R, the planets promised land is the planet itself, free from Jenova. This “promised land” is the planet itself, living in a symbiotic relationship with all life, allowing the passing of time and life energy to continue unabated by corruption or destruction.

It's the north crater. Because Black Materia was able to be activated there, and the dialogue in the Temple of Ancients. Sephiroth probably wouldn't have been able to locate the promise land himself, however since his physical body was already there, then all what he did was call all jenova cells towards him. Cloud was closest to finding the black material so he got him to bring it.

The Promised Land is enlightenment. It's a state of mind and energy.

I would say the answer is D, all of the above. "The Promised Land," really seems like a name to describe multiple places or things

I always thought the scene at the end showing the overgrown midgar implied that it was the promised land. Where else would you be able to have 8 mako reactors right on top of each other? This makes the whole thing very ironic, which I always enjoyed.

Promised Land is basically a metaphor for the lifestream, but also the burial ground of the Tetra. The crater is the point of a previous disaster that took out the Tetra (or almost all of them). I can't remember if it was a previous summon of Meteor or another similar magical experiment disaster, but it would be the burial place or resting place of the Tetra. Also, since it's a great wound, the lifestream has focused itself there with Mako in attempts to heal the planet. To some degree it must have been (or was still) working because the crater is much smaller and less disastrous looking than a planet-wide "wipe" event, looking more like a volcanic eruption that only ruined or "weathered" the area around it (where all the snowy zones are). Aries' Promised Land is likely the lifestream AND burial ground where she can return to her race and her mother. Sephiroth's Promised Land is likely the crater because since it is a wound in the planet with enough Mako to finish the job and destroy Gaia. Shinra's Promised Land is where ever they can harvest the most Mako for energy production, so also the crater. Cloud's Promised Land is whatever Aries said, but he doesn't understand really, he just wants to help Aries and then later wants his revenge on Sephiroth (who also happens to be at the crater). Aaaaaaand I've gone cross-eyed.

The promised land is in Tifa's shorts

I saw it as the next place over the horizon. A place the cetra would heal and return to a peaceful environment again. It's a place that is created and eventually fades. Since the cetra no longer exist the promised land can no longer exist. My proof was when Aeris was able to make her garden grow in the midgar slums. This land was healed by her influence/actions. In a sense a little plot of the promised land. She even said she could commune with the lifestream better there.

"Released from their fate" Sounds like sephiroth wants to make the promised land happen for himself in remake by defying fate.

Man I absolutely love these videos. Really well done.

That final scene in final fantasy 7, where cloud witnesses Sephiroth disintegrate into the life stream, where he sees that bright area and then the hand reach out for him. I always thought that was the promised land. Where it’s the souls of the dead in the life stream flow freely and can maintain their conscious individuality. Occasionally some (Alive) people can access it. This is backed up when Cloud and Tifa visit clouds subconscious mid game. I think that was an interpretation of the promised land cloud saw while being in the life stream. as did Tifa. Conditionally can be a physical place if you end up there, but not a place if you seek it out. My 2 cents.

3:43 in the clip, promised land is in quotes. He's referring to North crater and dubbing it the promised land. Its like a place being referred to as 'heaven on earth'. No need to get confused, it's just a metaphor that shinra and aeris got confused over and part of it all is the miscommunication or misdirected belief that they're one and the same.

He always has the best t shirts 😂

Always thought the Promised Land was just the lifestream and the supreme happiness attained was when the spirit of an ancient decided to rejoin the planet and be released from their fate, its even mentioned in a novella that Aerith's spirit can travel the lifestream as a Ancient but could also choose to join her kin and disperse into the lifestream at any time. To me it was just a saying for passing on and rejoining the planet that Shinra took too literally.

Aeris realized the promised land is the planets energy. That's why she knew she had to die. I nevere thought of that before. Great vid thanks man.

The promised land is kinda like the “secret ingredient soup” in Kung Fu panda, it isn’t an absolute object per se, but it’s relative to the mindset of the beholder

Agree with the promised land being the Cetra afterlife, which is again becoming one with the lifestream. As Sephiroth is not able to join with the lifestream by death, he seeks the northern crater as the entry point for which he can fuse with its power. I would consider the northern crater to be a place of significance to the Cetra as it is not far from the Forgotten Capital and a place in which the lifestream is abundantly visible. Those things considered, the promised land is both the northern crater AND the lifestream afterlife.

The promised land is the livestream. It is a physical place but also the afterlife. You can reach it via the Northern Crater. So that fits. And when Cloud goes there it allows him to process his trauma and achieve happiness. So it hits all three criteria. The life stream is the promised land.

I thought the promised land was the central lifestream that Omega was going to take everyone to, Since it required a person capable of maintaining their consciousness in the life stream to pilot Omega. And before Cloud and Sephiroth only the Cetra could do this.

When Sakurai did the Sephiroth Super Smash Bros DLC presentation, he said that the promised land was the northern cave, so that's what I take it to be personally

For me, the Promised Land was always the place only Ancients would go to rest (ie what happened to Aeris) but now I'm agreeing to it being the place where you'd find total happiness. It makes a lot more sense and it would explain not only why everyone is looking for it but also why it fits everyone's narrative, scrapping the inconsistencies between places. That being said, I hope we never get know what the developers fully intended because without a definitive answer, it can be whatever we want (and believe) it to be. FF VII's lore is our Promised Land :)

Judging from what we can read in the canon novels, Aerith didn't quite find the Supreme happiness in the afterlife. Though i always thought that it was just a metaphor for cetra afterlife. Now i think that it's a combination of A, C but that remake is gonna implement something more. Maybe Cloud being a critical element to achieve C. Both romantically and plot wise 👍

I really love your voice and narration style. Good job as always.

The game that keeps on giving. I’m 43 and when this game out I was 17 Still too this day I think about it

I’ve missed this series 🙂thanks for the video.

To me, The Promised Land was the Lifestream. It's a flux of souls after all, basically a field of souls ( paradise ). The northern crater was the "Promised Land" because it was the point where Jenova striked the planet, and the planet was still trying to heal itself by using the souls from the Lifestream. So, the point where there's the most concentrated Mako pool. Also, Sephiroth is a fallen angel, with dna from Jenova "the calamity from the sky" ( Lucifer? )

is a valley wth rivers of soy sauce, trees and flowers are all different kind of batteries, and the only person around is goblin princess :)

There are several interpretations, for me, the most plausible is to say that Promised Land is a spiritual happiness, I interpreted it that way after seeing the end of Advent Children, where Cloud after forgiving himself for his past failures, can see the faces of Aerith and Zack, symbolizing that what Cloud said at the end of the original game about him being able to see "She" (Aerith) again, but maybe in Remake they rewrote a final definition for the Promised Land, as a "paradise", just time will say...

I think its north crater and the elder himself didn't know about the promised land

Shouldn't the Promised Land just be the lifestream? The Ancients return to the planet, i.e. unite with the lifestream, so that's their Promised Land. For Shinra the lifestream is just a place overflowing with mako, so going to the Promised Land for them is going where they can drain Mako the easiest from the lifestream, which is of course the northern crater. Similarly, for Sephiroth/Jenova the Promised Land would be where they can unite with the planet or whatever Jenova wants to do with it, also at the northern crater. The Promised Land Aerith refers to regarding the black materia is also the lifestream: It's the spiritual energy of many which would be required to activate the black materia so at this point Aerith's understanding of what the Promised Land is is that of an Ancient. All of this is confirmed by Sephiroth activating the black materia when Cloud hands it to him in the northern crater. The Promised Land as the lifestream is both the metaphorical Promised Land for the Ancients, but also a real physical thing, since the lifestream is a real physical thing. The northern crater is just where it is the most exposed and where both the metaphorical and physical meanings happen to overlap best.

My thought is that not everyone knew. The elders in cosmo canyon could have had the wrong info or misinterpreted stuff. Example, they thought only ancients could go to the promised land, probably due to their literal ghost basement filled with pissed off ghosts and spiders. They probably observed what happened to people who die with grudges and thought that, that applied to anyone who wasn't an ancient. It is weird that there are so many ghosts around though.

I think that the Lifestream is a metaphysical projection of an incomprehensible extra dimensional force. I always interpreted it as, I want to go to the promised land, so I have to go to the North Crater, where Lifestream Energy gathers.” I think that Sephiroth is saying that he’s discovered that he can tap more deeply into the Lifestream energy (not the Lifestream directly; he’s drawing on power we can’t physically control ourselves or perceive) thanks to his status as, technically, undead. He may exist in that extra dimensional space, and have figured out how to interpose himself back into normal space, to come back to the land of the living. Shinra wants that extra connection; they’re looking for the North Crater too, only they don’t know it just yet. That’s because the North Crater is a planetary wound, one that is still healing. If Shinra knew, all they would have to do is damage the planet with a nuke, then kill the WEAPONs and try to draw directly from the wound. The Cetra, of course, understand how to persist on after death, and maintain their individuality. This is basically giving them full access to reality, as opposed to the limited scope they’d entertained when they were alive. So, they will simply die and go on to the promised land, no strings attached.

Fun story im replaying New threat mod. And another note to add, when you nab palmer right after the Prez is killed by Sephiroth. Palmer states that Sephiroth tells the President he can't have the promised land because the reunion is being held there.

There's a quote from Aeris where she says, "Someday I'll get out of Midgar... speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. ...That's what mom said." Which I interpreted as a metaphor for finding her purpose in life, through which she would achieve supreme happiness-which for Aeris, was saving the Planet from Meteor. This fits with Sephiroth claiming he found the Promised Land, because he believes his purpose in life is to summon Meteor and become one with the Planet. He refers to the North Crater as the Promised Land because that's where his physical body is, where the Reunion will take place, and where he will summon Meteor. But again, "the Promised Land" isn't really an actual place so much as a metaphor. But that doesn't explain certain details, like the part where supposedly only the Ancients can find the Promised Land. So I dunno.

i always took it as A. a metaphorical place. interesting ideas to think about though! love the channel!

I think it's both. When Sephiroth says he's going North, Promised Land is in quotes ('Promised Land'), like he knows it's not right. Just calling it that because that's where there's the most Mako is, and maybe using that so the player recognises the name, instead of calling it the crater before you've been there.

I think C was the best sounding solution. It makes it feel like the original meaning was lost or twisted and now everyone is interpreting their own way.

Since the northcrater was created by a previous summon of meteor it could also be, that in the place of the northcrater was the original burialground of the cetra. This would combine all three talked-about theories.

The original Idea of a "promised land" came from the ancients, so it's probably the afterlife. The Elder from Cosmo Canyon made a good point, we don't know when or where we're gonna die, but we can find supreme happines in life, falling in love, having friends, doing something we love. With this done matter where you will fisically die. The Shinra took this as mundane as possible, so for them, the North crater is the promised land. That wound means money, and this is the only happines they know

I think it's B. The Lifestream may as well be a layer of the planet like the crust or mantle, and the Northern Crater is like a volcano of it. And since the Lifestream is basically the afterlife in this world, the "lymph node" at the nc, the greatest concentration and manifestation of it, would be the Promised Land.

I guess perhaps the promised land originally was the lifestream and specifically returning to it. It seems the lifestream is actually where the afterlife happens. The lifestream would also be the place with the most abundant mako energy since mako energy IS the lifestream. But the mako energy lies beneath the planets crust so perhaps, people and Shinra and Sephiroth interprets the promised land as being an actual place where access to the lifestream is the most easy ("infinitely abundant mako").. Then the great crater might be a good place as it seems to lead straight down into the Lifestream. This would make both interpretations connect in a way that makes sense somewhat. Shinra's idea of the promised land is the place where they can suck up the most mako, like a tick locating the largest and most accessible vein on your body. But the Cetra are talking about actually becoming a part of the lifestream and finding supreme happiness in doing so. They are both talking about the lifestream, however Shinra think it's an actual physical place where they can make a business. And the Cetra think of the promised land as afterlife and a place for them that the planet itself provides them. Aerith has knowledge from both sides, so she can put 2 and 2 together. So she realise that you basically have to be in the lifestream (aka the promised land) to use the black materia. Well that's my interpretation anyway and I could very well be wrong. I always though that Shinra was chasing something that didn't exist in the way they expected.. But still was in a sense real.. We have seen the white scenes with Aerith and Zack talking to Cloud in Advent Children. I think that White place is the afterlife within the lifestream. Perhaps it looks all white because Cloud is still alive and can't yet see it for what it really is. But for the souls who resides there, perhaps it's nice and beautiful. A place of supreme happiness perhaps. The Promised Land

The promised land is likely the lifestream, which contains the memory of the planet and the ancients. As Aeris could hear the “voice of the planet” as well as muddled words from the ancients, especially at the temple of the ancients, it makes sense that the so-called promised land is the active memories and experiences of the Cetra inside of the lifestream. This makes further sense that it would also be a tremendous source of spiritual energy for Sephiroth to use, or for Shinra to condensed into mako. Remember in the flashback scene where Zack/Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth see the Materia cave and cloud asks if it is “magic?” I believe Sephiroth says something to the effect of the natural condensing of mako into Materia and that it’s properties provide people with the spirit power of the planet and the Cetra, granting abilities that seem like magic, but are really a poorly understood physic of nature. This kind of ties together every motivation and concept of the promised land. It’s an afterlife, spiritual energy, and crude mako for the taking.

I think the biggest clue is when Bugenhaagan is telling everyone about how Mako works. People, plants, and animals die and become part of the Lifestream. That energy flows through the planet and becomes new lifeforms. I think the Promised Land isn't a place, but that ideal state: the Cetra have spent their lives nurturing the planet and when they die, they have the satisfaction of knowing that now they will become part of that circle of life. The Promised Land is the act of being one with nature and perpetuating the cycle. Since Shinra blocks the cycle and Sephiroth is trying to end it, they can never find the Promised Land because the way they participate in the cycle ensures their participation will end with their death. That which is finally dead and its energy lost is no longer part of the Lifestream. Only those who nurture it and make sure it is healthy will themselves continue to be a part of it, even after death, because that's not really death; it's another step in the cycle.

I love these videos of yours. To answer your question I would actually vote option "D". I think that the promised land is everything that is said in the game all together. I try to explain my idea. We know that every life form is born through energy obtained from the Lifestream, so it makes sense to say that the promised land is believed to be some sort of spiritual status when a person dies and their energy returns to the planet. However, on Gaia there are several places where naturally the Lifestream reaches the surface in some way. A small source can be found within Midgar in the church where Aerith likes to spend time. Other places naturally reach with Mako are the Temple of the Ancients and the Forgotten Capital. They are places where you can "speak" with the Planet and where you can "hear" its voice more clearly. So, I think that the "natural" places where the Lifestream comes to the surfaces could be seen as physical representation of the heavenly promised land described by the Ancients. On the other side, Sephiroth is always wrong in his beliefs. Because his knowledge is limited or biased even after he felt into the Lifestream. In fact, lastly we have the Northen Crater which is not a "natural" source of Mako but more like a wound of the Planet unable to heal itself. He thinks that the promised land is where he can simply find the most abundant direct source of Mako, but since it is not a "natural" source I think that it does not represent neither the spiritual nor the physical representation of "heaven on earth". It is quite the opposite, a way where the sacrality of the Lifestream is defiled. I always thought that there was a profound reason why among all the places on Gaia Sephiroth's body ended up right there after falling into the Lifestream. As if the Planet was trying to seal his evil presence into the Northern Crater on purpose as a defensive mechanism of some sort. I might be completely wrong of course, but I do not like the idea that the promised land simply implies any place where people can be happy with their desires. And to me, the spiritual and physical representations can coexist easily and still make sense.

The promise land is the center of the planet where the lifestream flows and all of the souls go to become part of it. And yes, It is accesible trough the North Crater.

I think it’s A. Only the Ancients knew about the location of the promised land, nobody else did. I think Sephiroth, Shinra, and even Aerith (due to being half human) misinterpret it into something other than the metaphor. At least that’s what I think.

My interpretation is that the promised land is the afterlife and since every living thing after it dies goes to the livestream, it could also be interpreted as the livestream is the promised land. The reason Sephiroth say the promised land is at the north crater is because that is the place he knows his death will be. Therefore that's where his promised land is. But this interpretation assumes Sephiroth planed his death all along by the hands of cloud. Which means the ending of the game happened as he wanted. I don't know I'm probably wrong

I didn’t even think the Promise Land was specifically on the FF 7 planet. Not necessarily only a metaphor for the afterlife, but a physical plain in the Cetra mythology. For the Shinra anywhere full of Mako is the Promise Land and there could even be multiple overtime... like “the mother load” for miners or whatever.

The promise land to me is returning to ur channel for vids like this 🖤❤🖤

I think it's the lifestream, like others have said. Sephiroth only goes to the northern crater because its a wound on the planet and that's where the most abundant lifestream energy is, it's gathered there to heal itself. I've always considered the lifestream to be a sort of afterlife or heaven if you like, for the souls of the planet.

I figured it was the Lifestream… abundance of Mako, only the Ancients know it (as in they’re the only ones who have any control and/or understanding of it’s true nature), and everyone seeks it. It’s not a Land per se, it’s a bit of a metaphor, but also a very real manifestation of something that can provide a better life. Unfortunately, it’s manipulated. Shinra drain it for utilities, Sephiroth seeks it for power, Aeris seeks it to reunite with the planet.

Quality content for us FFVII classic enthusiasts!

I always thought I loved ff7 more than anyone else until I found your channel

I'll go with C. It sounds like the Promised Land is a metaphor for a subjective place of happiness and peace for that particular individual.

This game is absolutely brilliant.

I believe that during the conversation after the temple that Aeris knows it's the afterlife/returning to the lifestream, but Cloud believes it to be a physical location. As does everyone else. I believe that everyone else is just confused and thinks that "place with lots of mako" is the promised land, but Aeris knows better. I've always felt like Aeris knows she has to die to return to the lifestream in order to activate the holy materia. I've also always wondered if it was actually Aeris "controlling" cloud when he is almost about to kill her at the alter in the forgotten city. Again, because she knows she has to die, and also because that instance of him being controlled is quite a bit different to the other instances.

I think it is where the final battle took place, between Cloud and Sephiroth. Cloud was chosen by the planet to defeat him. For eternity their battle wages forth until Jenova is eradicated from existence along with Sephiroth, if that is even possible. I think the remake is declaring Cloud and Aerith the Saviors of the world over Sephiroth but Jenova's powers are overwhelming. Jenova could be the soul of a whole other planet or the expelled remnants of destruction and war from another galaxy or even universe. The idea that time has recreated itself and the arbiters of fate directly impact the real-world alongside sephiroth's seemingly immortal powers is quite interesting. I wonder if Gast ever injected himself with Jenova cells before having procreated with Ifalna. I feel like this would have been hinted at by now but it's just a thought.

In the original kingdom hearts during one of Sephiroth's attacks he say he will take you to the promise land