Cloud.... *Facepalm*

[tilinelson2]

Well, the creators of FFVII wanted so badly to make her death scene as something you didn´t see it coming that the things could not be any different. When the are building your expectations about a possible future Cloud and Aerith pairing, they take her out of the story in a bizarre way: she disappears, Cloud finds her and almost kills her without a reason and while the player is thinking "WTF, Cloud?", Sephiroth comes and kills her.

You can´t blame him for letting her be killed. In the real world, it would be impossible to avoid. You can blame him and the rest of the party completely forgetting her after she dies. It is so ridiculous how they are remembered about her as if the old guy (don´t remember his name) had said "Remember that key you received 5 years ago?" and then everybody "Key... Oh yeah, that key...".

 

[The Witch]

Yeah i agree with this post. Cloud was shocked, not shocked, petrified. Sephiroth is walking nightmare fuel, he burnt Cloud's village and killed his neighbors and parents. Plus everytime Sephiroth comes around, most of the time we get this heartbeat sound, that's Cloud's heart pounding. He's scared, scared of Sephiroth.

You don't chase after someone if they scare you. Cloud was looking for Sephiroth and that's not fear.

The only reason for why Cloud didn't stop it is
a.) SE wanted the

Spoiler

tragic amore

tragic death scene that came out of nowhere
b.) he wasn't looking above her, he was looking into her eyes
c.) he was still shocked from almost killing her himself
d.) mesmerized by her after stopping their journey to find her


Seriously, Cloud even regretted not saving her, hence his two year guilt run for her. But, he didn't know. He had no idea Sephiroth was dropping down on them. He probably thought that since he wasn't going to harm her that that was the only threat to be worrying about. To Cloud, HE WAS the threat. He wasn't expecting anyone other than himself to have been a threat to her. Why would he be standing guard if he thought the only threat(himself)was gone? :/

It was a surprise to Cloud, and if he had known I'm pretty sure he would have done something.

 

[Dragon Mage]

You don't chase after someone if they scare you. Cloud was looking for Sephiroth and that's not fear.

Well... you can still be scared of someone and chase after them for revenge, as in Cloud's case. Whole art forms have been dedicated to 'facing your fear' and 'overcoming your fear'. FF7 has got so many themes in it already, friendship being the foremost... maybe there's something to be said about relying on the support of friends to overcome the greatest fear? :\

hence his two year guilt run for her

I don't think it was a full two years. CoT and CoD imply that all was fine for a while -- at least the better part of a year -- before Cloud was sent to deliver some flowers at Aerith's watery grave (don't quote me, it's been a long time lol) and that sent him into Angst Overdrive. But it wasn't just Aerith's death, but Zack's also, that he was guilting over.

Seriously, Cloud even regretted not saving her, hence his two year guilt run for her. But, he didn't know. He had no idea Sephiroth was dropping down on them.

This. QFT. It was meant to be a surprise for both the characters and the player. Which it was.