If some of you are still in denial over this, maybe try sifting through dialogue of the last couple chapters, and how many times characters mention "not bound by fate", "story isn't written" etc.; or maybe the fact that the penultimate boss is literally an arbiter of fate/destiny; or maybe that every character had visions of events from the other games and even Advent Children, and make several mentions about needing to change it; or maybe that the game literally ends with the words: 'The Unknown Journey Will Continue'.

If the Whispers don't rear their head in the next parts thats already one big improvement. Having an unknown actor constantly changing events,undoing death and triggering scenarios just because "fate" isn't particularly compelling story telling. Hopefully now the will of the characters alone will shape events.

Well the whispers were trying to correct events to stay in the line with the original story. If anything, the unknown actor suddenly changing events is actually Sephiroth (this new version who suddenly is heavily involved early on, and apparently knows more than he should).

The Whispers being gone has now opened the door for all manner of surprises. Or at least that's how they're selling it.

Whispers being involved in the game as a literal representation of destiny, was just their heavy-handed way of acknowledging the original storyline as still being relevant, while also showing they don't plan to completely follow it.

Well the whispers were trying to correct events to stay in the line with the original story.


It seems to be the case. But a lot about it don't make much sense. The whispers are needlessly introduced in some events when things are changed without any reasons other than to forcefully make them interfere. Why would they need to interfere at first when Cloud meets Aerith? Why wouldn't they have met if they hadn't been there? Why did Cloud try to finish off Reno, when in the original he didn't? Many events are changed first, and then the Whispers interfere. Things don't play out like in the original first, and then they shove the plot ghosts down our throat. Why kill off Barret, just to bring him back minutes after that? What does it achieve from a story-telling point of view? They want us to believe that Barret, having been saved by the Whispers, and the party clearly witnessing this, would go out minutes later to fight against them and get rid of them? How does that make any sense, from a character motivation point of view?

It doesn't. So my guess is that there's more to the Whispers than we and the game's seemingly knowledgeable characters like Red and Aerith are lead to believe. And we'll be fixed on all of this in the sequel.

At first glance, it seems to be a lame meta-commentary gimmick and whathaveyou. But there's so many inconsistencies involving them that I am lead to believe they are not going to be what we're lead to believe so far.

I already answered your question: Sephiroth.

I'm not sure if Sephiroth is also the one giving other characters future visions, or if he's just receiving visions from the same source and happens to see them more clearly, but he clearly knows a lot more than he should. Aerith probably does too.

The first scene you mention, where Cloud and Aerith have their fated meeting, is also just after Sephiroth visits Cloud the first time. Doesn't take much of a leap from there to say that Cloud probably had Sephiroth on the mind, and if the Whispers didn't make Aeirth stand out he might not've noticed her.

There's no reason to think there's more to the Whispers or anything else than what we've been shown, when they've already given us enough clues on that front. And how could the Whispers have some bigger part in the future, when the end of this game literally involves erasing them, and makes a big point of it?
The biggest overlaying plot point of this game was the Whispers and getting rid of them-- a ham-fisted metaphor for breaking free from the original story, as far as the finer details go.