Warning: Final Fantasy 7 spoilers below.
World of Warcraft has long paid homage to Final Fantasy 7's beloved Aerith Gainsborough with an in-game character named Aerith Primrose, who wears the same reddish-purple clothing and typically sells flowers next to a church-like building. Now, that same Aerith can be found underneath a large sword.
World of Warcraft's surrogate Aerith has lived happily in Dalaran for years, but the chaotic new expansion The War Within lives up to its name, bringing destruction to the floating city. It also forces Aerith to live up to her own destiny, as you can see her impaled by a longsword in the video below.
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It's kind of funny (and twisted) that Aerith's death in Final Fantasy 7 is so iconic, that it would be hard to find an Easter Egg related to the game that didn't somehow mention the scene where Sephiroth descends from above and breaks all of our hearts (and, I assume, Aerith's spine).
However, unlike her iconic death in Final Fantasy 7, World of Warcraft's flower vendor can survive the confrontation with the great, sharp sword if players choose to save her.
That brutal scene has also been the subject of much discussion in the recent remake/sequel/alternate timeline Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Fans were left “confused” and divided yet still engrossed when the scene was remixed for the JRPG’s ending, leaving many wondering what this meant for the third part of the trilogy. Even the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth explainer book failed to adequately explain what was going on.
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