Does Aerith die in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?

Aerith’s death in the original FF7 was a shocking moment, but does Aerith die in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth? Here’s what you need to know.

Lots of Final Fantasy 7 fans have been waiting to see if the FF7 Remake series will repeat the tragic and earth-shattering moment from the original PS1 game where Sephiroth brutally murders Aerith to ensure his plans are not interfered with. It’s a moment that echoes through gaming history and one that took some players many years to accept. Now, attention is turning to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, where many expect to see the scene play out again.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth does indeed continue the story from the FF7 Remake and it does feature Aerith’s fateful trip to the Lifestream to pray to the planet. However, do events play out like they did in the original with Aerith being killed by Sephiroth? Or does everyone’s favorite flower seller manage to defy her fate this time? After all, FF7 Rebirth is set in a new timeline and several characters have already cheated death.

Square Enix

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: Does Aerith Die?

Okay, prepare yourselves. Yes, Aerith is killed by Sephiroth in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

However, events don’t play out exactly as they did in the original. This time, Sephiroth faces a true sense of urgency as he tries to kill Aerith, charging towards her at great speed. The killing is very different from Sephiroth’s casually cruel murder from the original.

Sephiroth is likely already aware that he’s destined to kill Aerith, due to his knowledge of the other timeline, but very nearly fails. Cloud intervenes at the last moment and seemingly saves Aerith from the katana-wielding villain, only for Aerith’s fatal wound to then become apparent and her eventually succumbing to it.

Interestingly, the scene also appears to show Sephiroth’s sword without Aerith’s blood on it in several flashes, indicating that there’s a parallel world where the One Winged Angel missed his target. As we know Rebirth takes place in a parallel timeline to the original FF7, this is a clear tease that Aerith may yet defy her fate somehow. However, we’ll need to wait until part three of the Remake timeline to see how or if this pays off.

For now, though, we can confirm that Aerith was once again killed by Sephiroth, with the party mourning her, united in their grief, and galvanized to put a stop to Final Fantasy’s most iconic villain as the story barrels towards its inevitable final chapter.

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