Promised Land (Final Fantasy VII)



The Promised Land, in the world of Final Fantasy VII, was a quasi-mythical location believed to hold infinite amounts of Mako deposits.

Legend
The Promised Land was part of the Cetra legend. The Cetra were a race who travelled The Planet, healing and cultivating it, and at the end of their journey they would find the Promised Land, a land of supreme happiness. Shinra Electric Power Company, having found a way to harness Lifestream's power by condensing it into Mako energy, became attracted to the Cetra legend. A land of such fertility, to Shinra, meant a land full of Mako energy, where President Shinra envisioned to build a new city, the Neo Midgar. To find the mythical Promised Land, Shinra needed a Cetra.

Looking for the Promised Land
Shinra's head scientist, Professor Gast Faremis, led Shinra's research on the Cetra. At some point, he discovered a live organism from a 2000 year old geological structure and misidentified it as as a Cetra. Shinra took the body and began vigorous scientific experiments on it, however, sometime after this Professor Gast left Shinra. He went to Cosmo Canyon, a place that was the centre of the study of Planet and the Lifestream, and spoke to the local elders, all knowledgeable to the legend of the Promised Land. Gast had started thinking he had done a terrible mistake. Eventually, he met Ifalna, a true Cetra, and the race's last survivor, who told him what he had found was no Cetra, but an extra-terrestrial being known as Jenova. Gast stayed with Ifalna and they had a daughter, Aerith.

Jenova Project continued under Professor Hojo, but they were unable to produce a specimen with the powers of the Cetra who could lead them to the Promised Land. Hojo eventually tracked Gast down and killed him taking Ifalna and Aerith hostage, in an attempt to use them to find the Promised Land, however, Ifalna refused to co-operate and their efforts were fruitless. Eventually Ifalna managed to escape, but passed away soon after, and Aerith was adopted by a woman living in the Midgar slums. At this time Shinra was at war with Wutai and the Neo Midgar plans were put on hold and they stopped pursuing Aerith though they knew of her whereabouts. After many years, AVALANCHE is terrorizing Midgar after the city has finally been completed. President Shinra decides to restart the Neo Midgar project and abducts Aerith. They want to use her powers to find the Promised Land, but unexpectedly, Sephiroth resurfaces and Jenova goes missing from the Shinra Headquarters. The night President Shinra is murdered Sephiroth appears at the headquarters and was said to have spoken of the Promised Land, saying Shinra should never get it. The company's new president, Rufus Shinra, under the false suspicion that Sephiroth is a Cetra, suspects he is heading for the Promised Land with Jenova, and sets out to hunt him out.

At the Temple of the Ancients, Aerith tells Tseng the Promised Land isn't what Shinra imagines it to be, and when the party suspect that Sephiroth is traveling the world looking for the Promised Land in order to find the best location to summon the Meteor, Aerith says that Sephiroth can never find it. At this point Sephiroth appears and claims he has already done so. Sephiroth later elaborates that the Promised Land awaits across the snowy fields.

Shinra and the player party eventually find Sephiroth at the Northern Crater, a place where the Planet's Spirit Energy concentrates, and a place full of crystallised Materia. Rufus is awed at the findings saying that the place really is the Promised Land, to which Professor Hojo retorts that the Promised Land is just a legend and doesn't exist. Their joy is short-lived, however, as Sephiroth summons the Meteor which unleashes the Weapons and Shinra is forced to flee. This marks the end of Shinra's search for the Promised Land, as the rest of the game is spent trying to prevent the Meteor's collision and fighting against the Weapons, a battle which ends in the company's collapse. After the Meteorfall the world stops using Mako energy and Neo Midgar is never built.

The True Nature of the Promised Land
At first Aerith claims she doesn't know what the Promised Land is, and whether it even exists.

However, she appears to have come to a conclusion after the party's visit to Cosmo Canyon where she spoke with the elders.

It appears that the Cetra's Promised Land, in fact, isn't a physical location, but what the Cetra called the act of returning to the Planet at the life's end. Joining the Lifestream and becoming one with the Planet, was viewed as a state of supreme happiness. At the end of the game it appears that Cloud has also made up his mind of the Promised Land's nature; after having seen a vision of Aerith in the Lifestream, he tells Tifa that he finally understands and that they can meet "her" in the Promised Land.

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. As told from Aerith's perspective in Hoshi wo Meguru Otome, Sephiroth's Promised Land was the Northern Crater because he could become a God there, while the Cetra who worshiped the Planet saw the Lifestream as the Promised Land. Thus, the Promised Land may not be an actual specific location, but a state of mind to find "eternal happiness" wherever possible.

Trivia

 * If the player goes to the Honeybee Inn and looks through the keyhole of one of the rooms, they can witness a role-play that mentioned the Promised Land: A legend has been passed on through generations...the sought after Promised Land...One with Blue Eyes...and a Great White Sword on his back...Will not lead to the Promised Land...
 * A music piece in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is titled "The Promised Land", and is played during the film's opening narration, and near the end of the film when Aerith calls down healing rain, reinforcing the thought that the Promised Land is the Lifestream.

Etymology
The Promised Land, as well as its concept, was derived from a location promised by God to the Israelites in the Hebrew Bible.