That Which Waits in the Northernmost Reaches

That Which Waits in the Northernmost Reaches is the twenty-sixth chapter of Final Fantasy VII, and the seventeenth and final chapter of the second act, "Pursuit". After reaching the North Crater, Cloud Strife and his party chased Sephiroth, where they ultimately caught up to him. There, Sephiroth revealed his ultimate plan, while giving Cloud more hints as to the truths behind his past.
== Walkthrough ==
After descending down Crater and heading forward, the party arrives in the Whirlwind Maze. A few enemies are fought around here; the Gigas can be fought to steal Gigas Armlet, an armor granting high Strength but no AP growth, while Grenade should be destroyed before it can self-destruct (best done with Frog Song).
On the screen before Whirlwind Maze, Tifa will appear, either commenting on a desire to fight Sephiroth, or requesting to be in the party, as she is a required party member for this chapter. When the first Sephiroth clone is encountered on the Whirlwind Maze he will drop the Neo Bahamut Materia, a powerful Summon Materia. Past the save point ahead, a quick cutscene occurs, and then the path forward resumes.
Ahead in the Whirlwind Maze (as demonstrated by Sephiroth clones), running through the wind while visible causes the party to be knocked back, and begins a battle with Wind Wing, an enemy that has powerful attacks but relatively low HP, and can use White Wind. Instead, when proceeding it is prudent to run through only when the wind is calm; while it is raging, Cloud can stop, and wait for it to calm before proceeding.
Past the first screen with wind is a screen with a winding road forward containing Sephiroth clones along the way. Halfway along is a chest with Kaiser Knuckle, a weapon for Tifa with relatively weak stats but eight Materia slots, the highest amount of slots of any weapon for her aside from her ultimate weapon. The use for this weapon depends on player preference, though many will favor her physical damage over spellcasting.
The following screen has another wind barrier as well as a green flash running across the screen. This requires Cloud to run both when the wind is calm and after the green flash has passed. Past this screen, the next screen has a brief story sequence followed by a battle with Jenova∙DEATH.
Jenova∙DEATH's attacks are Fire-elemental, meaning Fire Ring, Fire Armlet, and paired Fire and Elemental Materia on armor can be used to absorb its attacks. It will also attempt to inflict Silence, though this can be resisted with Added Effect and Seal Materia on armor, or with Ribbon.
If Jenova∙DEATH's attacks are protected against, the fight is straightforward. Jenova∙DEATH is vulnerable to Paralyzed from Cloud's Cross-slash. With Tifa is in the party, she can equip Powersoul and have Death Sentence cast on her to significantly increase her physical damage output.
Once Jenova∙DEATH is defeated, heading forward, the player can choose to give Black Materia to Barret or Red XIII. However, the choice does not affect the outcome of the following story sequence and cutscene.
Heading forward, MP Turbo is found, a Support Materia which increases the MP cost of an ability but also increases its damage by 50%. This can be useful on powerful spells, but if a party mmeber's MP is scarce, using MP Absorb is a better pairing. Past the save point ahead is a chest with a Poison Ring, which absorbs the Poison element. Around this screen, a few random encounters can still appear before heading forward to the next screen.
The screen after this has another wind barrier with a green flash, and at the end, a lengthened story sequence begins.
The sequence ends leads into the next chapter, "In a World Approaching Its End".
== Citations ==
Category:Chapters in Final Fantasy VII