Brandon Collins 
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is coming and heartbroken gamers are once again asking themselves “does Aerith have to die?”
The death of Aerith, or Aeris at the time, at the hands of Sephiroth is a core memory for many gamers and stands as a landmark in the history of the medium. The shocking and sudden loss of the beloved party member was a defining moment in a game full of memorable scenes. It was so powerful that it’s regarded as a standout moment of the era, and spawned a variety of false rumors about ways that a player might resurrect or save the Cetra healer.
Following the Sony State of Play, creative director Tetsuya Nomura and several of the games’s key staff participated in a roundtable with PlayStation where they answered some burning fan questions. During the final question of this roundtable, Nomura addressed what players might see in the remake of that fateful moment in the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
Will Aerith die in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?
It is unknown if Aerith will die in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. However, it has been confirmed that players will reach the area where she dies in the original game and the suggestion is that something big will happen.
Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that Rebirth will end at The Forgotten Capital, where “the greatest fate of Final Fantasy 7” awaits you. Those who have played Final Fantasy 7 are well aware of what this “greatest fate” actually means.
At the conclusion of the dungeon, the party finds Aerith in her final moments beseeching the White Materia to stop Sephiroth. He infamously falls from the sky and impales Aerith with his sword. This is a pivotal turning point in the story, with consequences that rippled throughout Final Fantasy 7 and into the entirety of gaming. During the roundtable, Nomura coyly hints that Aerith will be killed but doesn’t fully confirm it.
The finale of Final Fantasy 7 Remake makes a major point of breaking the continuity between the original and the new timeline. Biggs and Wedge are confirmed to be alive at the end of Final Fantasy 7 Remake when they died in the original game. The developers also confirm that major events from the original won’t happen in the order established in the original, which is seen with major story moments from after Aerith’s death appearing in the FF7 Rebirth trailer.
This suggests Aerith may yet defy her previous fate. It seems to many that the broken timeline has been crafted specifically to allow for Aerith’s survival, though it could also set up someone else to be killed.
Will someone else die instead of Aerith?
No concrete evidence exists that a different character might die in Aerith’s place, though it has been a heated topic of discussion.
Should Aerith survive in the new timeline, it would mark a major departure from the plot of the original game. Nomura previously held firm on the decision to kill Aerith and offer no opportunity for the player to resurrect her.
Speculation has centered around Tifa and Barret a characters who might die in Aerith’s stead. The deaths of either of these characters would significantly alter the timeline, with a variety of possible repercussions. It’s also possible that nobody will die and the whole party will make it to the end.
Nomura is certainly aware of the impact Aerith’s death had and may be plucking on players’ heartstrings. Fans ultimately won’t know until the game comes out.
