Does Aerith die in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?

The falling blade, the flying ball of materia, and the piano leitmotif as it hits the ground.

The narrative merges with the gameplay as Aerith (Aeris to Brits thanks to a translation error) leaves both story and party, and the protagonists and player mournfully carry on without her.

And now that the story is being retold in the Remake trilogy, we'll have to suffer it all over again. In modern graphics.

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Or will we?

We learned in 2020's Remake that these games aren't remakes in the traditional sense, but more like sequels.

Cloud and the rest of Avalanche are going through the same motions of the original, but the appearance of mysterious creatures called Whispers (or arbiters of fate) reveal that they're in a different timeline.

So they're not necessarily chained to the "fate" of the original game.

Does this mean Aerith won't die this time?

Does Aerith die in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?

Speculation about the fate of Aerith in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been intense since the twist in Remake.

So, what happens at the game's climax?

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Aerith technically still dies in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

We used the word technically for a reason, because things aren't quite as they were in the original. Let's take a closer look at what happens.

There are multiple timelines in this story, and as Aerith dies, Cloud's consciousness seems to split into two of them. In one, Aerith survives. And in the other - the one we're in - she dies.

After her death in this universe, however, Cloud is still in touch with her in the other one - the universe in which she survives. They communicate and part ways, promising to stop Sephiroth in their respective timelines.

None of the other characters are aware of this, though. Only our spiky haired protagonist.

So, what does this mean for Aerith in the next game? Your guess is as good as ours!

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