Noli manere, manere in memoria. (x2)

Sephiroth, Sephiroth.

Saevam iram, iram et dolorem. (x2)

Sephiroth, Sephiroth.

Ferum terrible, ferum fatum.

Noli manere, manere in memoria. (x2)

Sephiroth, Sephiroth.

Veni, mi fili. Veni, mi fili.
Hic veni, da mihi mortem iterum.
Veni, mi fili. Veni, mi fili.
Hic veni, da mihi...

Noli manere in memoria.
Saevam iram et dolorem.
Ferum terrible fatum.
Ille iterum veniet.

Mi fili, veni, veni, veni, mi fili. (x4)

Mi fili, veni, veni, veni, mi fili.
(Qui mortem invitavis,)
Mi fili, veni, veni, veni, mi fili.
(Poena funesta natus,)
Mi fili, veni, veni, veni, mi fili.
(Noli nomen vocare.)

Mi fili, veni, veni, veni, mi fili.
(Ille iterum veniet.)

Sephiroth, Sephiroth.

FFVII: Advent Children - Advent: One Winged Angel - Analysis

Jenova's Gift of an Eight Year Old Dirge

Perhaps one of the most remarkable theme songs to ever grace the RPG world, or maybe even the video gaming community would have to be Nobuo Uematsu's Advent: One Winged Angel, the theme song for Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. What makes this theme song so remarkable is not only its uncanny, yet beautiful blend of orchestra, choir and rock, but also because of its wondrous lyrics, its contribution to the ultimate battle scene in the movie and strong resemblance to Sephiroth's character itself.

What one automatically notices about Advent: One Winged Angel is how Uematsu manages to seamlessly blend orchestra, choir and rock instruments together, weaving in and out in cycles that give the corresponding battle scene much power and excitement, yet still maintains a certain evilness to it that illustrates Sephiroth's role as the antagonist quite well. The rock instruments serve as the fueling power behind the violence and excitement of the battle itself, while the choir serves to depict Jenova's words to Sephiroth as we would perceive of his character. This raw combination of rock and choir is rounded out nicely with the use of the orchestra, giving it the flow and smoothness that the rock instruments lack, and where abrupt pauses would normally falter the song. The rock instruments and the choir are the strength of the song as it cycles between choir and rock to orchestra, which trails meekly like an echo behind the choir at the end of each "Sephiroth!". This is also significant on another level in that the orchestra coming and going with the rock and the choir is like the second advent itself; it is weaker than the first.

While the lyrics are sung in Latin, and nobody without any knowledge of Latin would be able to grasp the meaning of the song while it is being sung, there is still a distinct part of the choir that is most memorable. Namely, the calling of Sephiroth's name. Forget that everything that has been sung was in Latin. Forget what the choir is singing, but you will never forget hearing, "Sephiroth!" because it is the defining moment of the song, the one thing that ties this song firmly to that one character, if all other lines in the song fail to do so because of a language barrier. However, the translated lyrics still maintain a meaningful interpretation of Sephiroth's character as a theme song. The lyrics occur in three separate phases. The first is a statement of the second advent itself, while the last two are parts of a summoning phase. In the last two parts, "Come, my son" is repeated throughout the rest of the song, almost as if the second advent is Jenova (who is Sephiroth's metaphorical mother) summoning Sephiroth to reappear. In a sense, this is what happens; with the presence of Jenova cells, Sephiroth is able to reappear from Kadaj and fight Cloud. Because of the repeated emphasis on that phrase, we are convinced that it is Jenova who is speaking to Sephiroth through this song, as if in tribute. The first line begins with, "Noli manere, manere in memoria," which means "Won't remain, remain in memory". The significance of this as the first line is that when it is incorporated into the movie, this same concept is repeated at the end of the song, when Sephiroth says that he will not remain just a memory. It loops back to the beginning, serving to remind us of its original purpose: the refusal to remain in the mental state, and to continue to exist. This line is repeated again for good measure.

The second line, "Saevam iram, iram et dolorem", which translates to "raging anger, anger and misery (or pain)" is a true statement of Sephiroth's character. Ever since the burning of Nibelheim in the game, his anger and misery have been quite apparent, and he wastes no time in expressing them. While the song's melody itself is already raging in anger, it may not be necessary to include them as lyrics, but doing so reinforces and emphasizes the anger and misery that we see in Sephiroth. It is as if Jenova is acknowledging Sephiroth's pain and raging anger. The next line, "Ferum terribile, ferum fatum" for "fierce terror, fierce fate" could have the interpretation of a cycle-like relationship wherein Sephiroth is always being defeated, only to resurface once again, in which the second advent would describe the second time he resurfaces. In this case, Sephiroth faces the pain of never being truly put to rest, but never being allowed to live long enough to fulfill what he plans to do. Alternatively, the terrible fate that Sephiroth faces is in not knowing who he truly is and, not being able to find out, he is deceived and becomes the fated terror this way.

The first part of the summoning phase is a mixture of the first phase and the last one, containing elements of "Come, my son" and the repetition of the lines from the first phase. It acts as a transition between the beginning of the second advent and the final summoning phase. In addition, "Hic veni, da mihi mortem iterum" meaning "Come here, give me death once more" is often misinterpreted as a request to kill Jenova, when in fact, Jenova's request is to ask Sephiroth to cause destruction and destroy the living, most notably, humanity. This is backed up comfortably by Jenova's initial goal to infect and destroy the living, so it would be quite suiting for Jenova to ask this of Sephiroth, her son. It could also be argued that Jenova is requesting this of Sephiroth because she herself is braindead and incapable of doing it alone. Thus she requires Sephiroth to do it for her, while he failed to do this completely in the game.

The second repeat of this line is cut off at "Hic veni, da mihi...", which fades away like death. Despite the fact that this does not mean Jenova is dying, the symbolism of death here could be a statement of Jenova being braindead or the weakening of the second advent as compared to the first. The final summoning phase consists of repeated lines of "mi fili veni, veni, veni, mi fili" or "My son, come, come, come, my son", which seems very typical of a summon, or call to someone, which, after the fourth repeat, is accompanied by "Qui mortem invitiavis" for "By death's invitation", "Poena funesta natus" for "Painful tainted birth", and "Noli nomen vocare" for "Won't call the name". "By death's invitation" could imply an invitation to live and exist again in order for Sephiroth to narrowly escape death. Death, the end of existence is in contrast to birth, the beginning of existence, as in "Painful tainted birth", wherein we perceive Sephiroth's beginnings as a rather horrible and cruel start to life, vaguely knowing who his parents are, and being raised as an experiment, but not being explicitly told anything about it. In this sense, we say he is fated because of the way he views life and the world. It almost sounds like death's invitation is an acceptable means to a horrible start, only to be summoned back by Jenova. "Won't call the name" could be an ambiguous reference to Jenova herself, while her name isn't mentioned in the song at all, but we imply that it is her gift to Sephiroth.

If Jenova is referring to Sephiroth, this is verbal irony in itself because throughout the song, Sephiroth is being called out to, and in that way, he is being summoned. At the end of the song, Sephiroth is called out to three times, thereby ending the second advent.

The lyrics portray Sephiroth's character very well. They describe his raging anger, misery "fated terror", and "painful tainted birth" as a part of him, perhaps the part of him that makes him either pitied or hated by fans and other reviewers alike; his raging anger and misery is a consequence of him being a fated terror, fated by his "painful tainted birth". He is brought up unappreciatingly, in a most horrible way of living without knowing his parents and without coming to understand humanity, social interaction and love. These characteristics make him fated and his path can only lead him to his raging anger and misery, as he attempts to learn more about himself. The ordering of the lyrics makes us ask about his raging anger, which soon leads to his fierce fate, and finally, the "painful tainted birth". The song itself is also very much like Sephiroth, with violent tones, angry, yet strong, just like Sephiroth and his will. Throughout the whole song, from beginning to end, the music is very strong and pronounced, dying at no point; there is no real pause in the music. If either of the choir, orchestra or rock instruments are pausing, the other instruments are contributing. Just like in the battle, Sephiroth holds his end very well, and his will is very persevering. Therefore, the strength of the song speaks for Sephiroth's strong will, and does not go away, even as the music remains a memory in the listener's mind.

While the song starts and ends strong, the battle does not start with the music. In fact, there are no rock instruments playing at the beginning of the song, taking away the feel of the violence and excitement. Only the orchestra initiates the song with powerful beats of drums, indicating a strong beginning that will lead into something even worse. Of course, it is a lot worse, and rather ironically because we do not expect the rock instruments upon hearing the song for the first time, and even before the action begins, we are jolted out of our seats by the first blaze of rock. But by the time the choir joins in, the battle begins in full swing; the instruments prelude the choir in order to offer us foreshadowing into what must become one of the biggest, baddest battles of all in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and hence, the second advent. As the battle intensifies, so too does the song. At the line, "Saevam iram, iram et dolorem", the song rages on, with the orchestra joining in, in addition to its trailing role. We are then lead to a brief pause in the choir, letting the orchestra and rock instruments take their toll on the song, marking the end of the first phase and the beginning of the summoning phases; here the choir shouts in unison twice, but the battle continues. It is at this brief moment that we know something will happen, and that we will arrive at the climax of both the battle and the song itself. And indeed, we are lead to exactly that: First, Sephiroth's gift of a crumbling roof of an old building on top of his adversary, and then the ending of the second advent with Omnislash. And with the crumbling of the rooftop, the instruments rock on and the song continues its ascent towards the end of the second advent and the summoning phase. The transition between the summoning phases is short and rather than being a momental pause, it is fast paced and consists of only orchestra instruments, continuing the build up of the song into the final summoning phase.

It is also here that Sephiroth asks the important question, perhaps his only fatal flaw. We see the tension here is also increased because we want to know what happens to Cloud. With each repetition of "Mi fili veni, veni, veni, mi fili," the tension builds up until the addition of the whole choir in full blast in four lines, until finally crashing down on "Sephiroth!" twice, and once more, then no more, all while Sephiroth is being pounded upon by Omnislash. The final "Sephiroth!" purges all the tension, spelling out doom for the second advent, ending the battle, and Sephiroth, having been completely summoned, disappears again.

While we can see Advent: One Winged Angel as a gift from Jenova to her son, it is also a window into the spirit of one of the greatest characters of Final Fantasy VII, in which without it, the game and movie would invariably suffer, despite Sephiroth having only a miniscule time frame of appearance. Because this theme song is so well integrated into the movie, has a perfect blend of instruments and choir alike, as well as its well portrayed lyrics, it gives us a great impression of what Sephiroth has become, while certainly enhancing his character and what we expect from what we already know about him. Very few theme songs match the level of power, expression and depth that Advent: One Winged Angel inspires. Because of that, it is truly a theme song to be recognized.

This other one only applies to FFVII, the game.

The Heroic Cynic

This was spawned from an ongoing analysis and discussion of Sephiroth over at ACF.

The ominous villain of Final Fantasy VII. The one winged angel. The top ranking soldier of Shinra with the Oedipal complex. However you want to call him, and like him or not, he is Sephiroth. There is certainly more than meets the eye to what Sephiroth appears to be. As a villain and antagonist, he is distinct because he actually has a reason to be evil. He is motivated by his burning, violent anger and hatred, which manifests itself in both the game and the movie. But most importantly, Sephiroth is the father of the heroic cynic.

At first, we see Sephiroth superficially as some evil villain, who tries to destroy the world and rule what's left of it. But if this is all that is required to explain a villain, why do we learn of Sephiroth's backstory and the flashback of Nibelheim? One could argue that the flashback was shown to us because it was Cloud's story. However, the significant events of that flashback that give it meaning are Sephiroth's transformations; it is there that he experiences a reversal in his perception of humanity, gains his worldview and becomes the heroic cynic. In the flashback, it is revealed that Sephiroth's reversal comes about from learning that his mother, who he believes to be Jenova is not a human. He then realizes that he no longer has to relate to humans. When he learns that he is only a product of their measly hands, but is much more than that, he justifies that humanity must be destroyed, and the planet, saved. The most basic interpretation for this is that he sees himself as a Cetra, and so by destroying the "traitors", he believes he is doing his own race a favor. But looking into Sephiroth's character, one must see that his own upbringing plays an important role in who he is, and how he perceives humans. From a more personal perspective, it could be seen that he was very traumatized to learn that he was just the product of an experiment, and as such, does not have to relate to humans.

But regardless of whether or not he believes himself to be Cetra, his view will remain a cynical one because of the way he was raised. In the paramilitary SOLDIER, he must have been raised to develop no emotions that would interfere with what he does. This would mean that he could not have any feelings of love or attachment to anyone. He may have worked with teams, and interacted with other fellow soldiers, but only as necessary. Because Sephiroth was raised to develop no connections of love with anyone, it is easy to see why he should turn against humanity. His reversal can be seen as his revenge against Shinra for what they did to him and humans as traitors, as the Cetra's story goes. So even after realizing that he was not a Cetra, Sephiroth's choice to continue the destruction of mankind is driven by not only his will, but also his cynical worldview.

Furthermore, his cynical worldview is backed up by his emotions of burning, violent hatred and anger at humanity for what they did to him. This was illustrated in his burning and destruction of Nibelheim, which certainly complements the lyrics of the One Winged Angel. This is what makes the burning scene in the game so powerful. But despite not relating well to being human, it is only these few emotions through which Sephiroth projects himself, and makes him human. It is unfortunate that Sephiroth could never fully experience the entire spectrum of human emotions that makes life so colorful. It is because he could not express love, or was conditioned not to feel love that he is the way he is.

In considering his character, should Sephiroth be blamed for his actions? Can he truly be evil then? Since Sephiroth becomes disconnected from humanity, despite having a select few emotions, he views humans as being the enemies. We can clearly see the motivations for his actions, and so some people may certainly feel sorry for him, also because of the way he was raised. Those that can relate well to Sephiroth's cynicism and his suffering that was the way in which he was raised and learned about himself will not be able to blame Sephiroth. But on the other hand, those that see only Sephiroth's destruction of humanity, but do not wish to see his motivations will place all the blame on him. This is the way Cloud and Tifa see Sephiroth because Sephiroth took everything that they held dear to them away. He took away their hometown, their parents and their friends, and in the end, they had nothing. Because of this, both Cloud and Tifa cannot forgive Sephiroth, and it is their suffering that prevents them from seeing Sephiroth's own suffering. In a way, their sufferings are in conflict with each other. Most of the other characters also see Sephiroth in a similar light because they see him immediately destroying the very environment in which they live, and they want nothing more than to survive. But because there are reasons why Sephiroth does what he does to destroy the world, and that clearly, he is not disposing of humanity for the sake of it, he cannot truly be evil.

Which brings us to the point of Sephiroth's heroic cynic stereotype. First, the cynic should be considered. The cynic is seen as a kind of person that feels apathetic and unattached from the rest of humanity because they see humanity as being worthless. There could be many reasons that influence a cynic to feel this way, but it could often be from humanity's mistakes or abuse of the world, which includes the use of science. As Sephiroth also becomes disconnected from humanity, he is easily seen as a cynic. But what separates him from other cynic stereotypes is that he is a heroic cynic. The consideration of a cynic is that they are often intelligent people. It requires much intelligence and acceptance to realize that the world one lives in is not always going to be alright. Nothing in the world has to be. Most normal people fail to realize this, so they are special in that regards, but what the usual cynic lacks is the ability to fulfill his worldviews. The problem with his worldviews is that it often holds all people in question and involves drastic measures to perform. It is certainly like the task of a god. But a heroic cynic, on the other hand, has the ability to fulfill his worldviews, no matter how daunting or impossible it seems. This gives the heroic cynic god like qualities, where he is able to use his immense powers and greatness to fulfill his own cynical worldview. This is definitely true of Sephiroth because not only does he have a cynical view of humanity, he actually has the ability to destroy humanity. Up until the release of Final Fantasy VII, there has been no other video game or piece of literature that features such an interesting stereotype as the heroic cynic. And so, as the defender of his less accepted worldviews, and hero of his cynicism, Sephiroth becomes the father of heroic cynicism.