Headscratchers / Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Why would Cloud let Aerith stay behind?

• From his point of view alone, Aerith merely suffered a Near-Death Experience at the Forgotten Capital. So why would he agree to let her stay behind? Wouldn't he be worried about Sephiroth attempting to kill Aerith again in his absence?
  • Possible answer: Cloud is unconsciously aware that Aerith, in her current state — whether that of a transcendent entity or an imaginary one — cannot die.
  • Possible scary answer: Cloud's decision making is not entirely his own, as shown by what happens as he handles the Black Materia.
  • Cloud still isn't in a great state mentally, as seen when he hides the black materia in his sword. Sephiroth's influence over him could mean he just doesn't care about what might happen to Aerith, similar to his attitude in the Temple of the Ancients where he coldly demands Aerith's help. Aerith has a job to do and in his current state he doesn't care about the potential risks.
  • As Cloud himself mentions multiple times, you can't really talk Aerith out of something. If she says she's going to stay, there's not going to be any changing her mind.

Airfields

• Why are some airfields in places right next to hills or even cliff faces that force pilots to have to pull up immediately after take-off or risk a crash? Even with an STOL capable craft like the Tiny Bronco, we see the take-off be really close.

Hot Potato Black Materia

• So Cloud has the Black Materia, which Barret takes off him. Cloud petulantly demands it back, which causes Barret to throw it along the ground, where it lands at Sephiroth's feet. Sephiroth picks it up, hands it back to Cloud, then compels Cloud to hand it straight back to him. Aerith snatches it away but is cornered by Cloud. Rather than throw it down the vast chasm below them, Aerith willingly gives it back to Cloud, who then hands it to Sephiroth. What the hell is going on here? Sephiroth wants the Black Materia, then he doesn't, oh no wait yes he does, Aerith can't let Sephiroth have it, oh wait yes she can? Honestly this whole sequence gives me a headache...
  • The first Black Materia is a fake, something Aerith reveals while they're still in the Temple. Cloud, being all but fully possessed by Sephiroth by this point, refuses to believe her and goes after the fake Black Materia anyway. Once Sephiroth has it, he determines that Aerith was lying, From a Certain Point of View: the fake Black Materia was the key to summon the real Black Materia that was hidden between dimensions. This is the one that drops at Cloud's feet and Sephiroth forces Cloud to give to him as a demonstration of fealty. As for Aerith giving it to Cloud, by the time that she does so, he's cornered her at the edge of a cliff and he's clearly not about to snap out of Sephiroth's control without seeing her in mortal danger. Based on events both here and elsewhere, one of Sephiroth's goals with the new timeline is for Cloud to never break free of Sephiroth's control and instead join him as his right-hand man, so many of his actions are about driving Cloud to even further depths of insanity than in the original. Based on how Cloud behaves in the epilogue, Sephiroth is succeeding.
    • I thought Aerith claiming the Black Materia was a fake in the temple was because she saw how Cloud was reacting to it and tried to distract him from touching it. Honestly though if it was fake and your explanation above is correct, it just makes the ending to this game even more convoluted, confusing and pretentious…

Dinner with the Mayor?

• As Cloud is telling the Nibelheim story, he mentions how Sephiroth locked himself in his room after returning from the reactor. Tifa mentions how the mayor was expecting to have dinner with “two SOLDIERS” and was annoyed at being rebuffed. Cloud reacts with a “huh?” as if this doesn’t fit with his recollection of events. But why would this confuse him? In Zack’s or Cloud (as the Shinra Trooper’s) memories, why would this description not match up with reality? Surely neither of them would have been present to see the mayor’s reaction either way?
  • Presumably there is an inconsistency between his recollection and Tifa's that'll come up next game. It's possible that his confusion is because, in his recollection, the mayor never expressed interest in wanting him to come to dinner - Because he never saw the mayor express that interest to Zack.

Loveless Play Logistics

What precisely are the party members doing during the Loveless play? Cloud is seen to put on VR goggles at the beginning and end suggesting he hasn't left his seat at all and the entire thing is a VR simulation, but several sections make zero sense if this is the case:

• If everyone sees a unique play, how would the VR goggles know to show say Barret as the bad guy in Cloud's play? The closest other technology in the combat simulator has to be programmed in with specific enemies and conditions, it's not some magical mind reading technology that relies on telepathy.
• Aerith is implied to have actually performed her song on the stage, and multiple party members can be seen reacting in the audience (seen without goggles), exactly as if they were physically watching her perform in person. If it is still a VR simulation, why would there be a VR simulation of the audience sitting in their seats, while they are sitting in their seats? Aerith also makes numerous aside glances to Cloud standing off stage while she's singing, which makes no sense if he's in the audience.
• If Aerith is not performing her song physically on stage and it's being broadcast onto the stage from elsewhere, then what or who is she looking at, since Cloud is sitting in his seat in the theatre? For that matter, Cloud is the only member of the audience with a romantic connection to Aerith, so it makes no sense to show everyone that "feed" with Aerith giving them longing romantic glances. We're then back to "how does it know to show Cloud standing off stage"?

This all would make sense if Cloud and the party were chosen to physically perform the play on stage similar to the original game, and the VR goggles are used by the audience to show special effects, but this is explicitly shown to not be the case.