Well you know how the bit just After The Temple of the Ancients becomes the Black Materia and stuff and after Cloud gave it to Sephy. Well you know how when he says

"Wha... what did I do... tell me, Aerith."

and she trys to Comfort him Well does he start Hitting her? cos i know that she falls to the ground and stuff then there are hitting noises so is he actually hitting her or the ground or something cos i know then that Red (thats who i had in my party) starts to like jump down to the bottom (where Cloud and Aerith are) and then Child Cloud is like Shouting at him.

Well anyway i hope you know the bit i'm talking about its just i think he was Hitting her but i just wasn't sure so thats why i'm askin :D


xxx

From what I could tell, yeah, I think he was hitting her... And I think the reason being, is that Sephiroth wanted him to kill her right there, so he took control of Cloud's body and made him start hitting her... that's what I thought it was anyway...

Yes, there is no actual denial that he was hitting her, even though she doesn't actually seem to care and there are no visible wounds. [ from what we can tell from the polygram. ]

Not that Sephi [ actually Jenova ] wanted to kill Aerith right there and then, but it's more like it was just something that happened BECAUSE she was standing right there and from what I remember, it's probably wouldva happened to any of the party members standing there, regardless of it was Aerith, Yuffie, Tifa or anyone else.

So, yes, Cloud was actually hitting Aerith, simply because Jenova [ if you remember, Sephiorth is actually dead. ]

Ah, yes, that is true... Sephiroth was still dead at the time, and it was Jenova consuming Cloud's body, and making him do that... then he was eventually forced into giving Sephiroth (who was frozen at the top of a tree, or whatever it was...) the Black Materia, which in turn was summoned by Sephiroth. For some reason, I can't remember, but what explains him coming back to life?

From what I've heard from SQUARE during the game when you're chasing "Sephiroth," it's actually Jenova's body, but Sephiroth's mind in controll and hhaving morphed the body to suit his form.

I recall reading that somewhere.

And remember, when don't know how long Cloud was out of it between the time he blacks out while beating her and when we see him waking up next. Could have ben a few days, in time for bruises and stuff to go away... or something.

Actually, I never saw Cloud has hitting Aerith because he was being controlled or forced to by Jenova. Actually I think that the Jenova control was sort of off and on (at least that's how I always interpreted it). Jenova controlled him, forcing him to give the materia to Jenova!Sephiroth at the Temple of the Ancients (well technically the black materia IS the ToA but you know what I mean).

Afterwards, Cloud was so freaked out and beyond frustrated by what he had done (handing the one thing that will help his arch enemy destroy world RIGHT in said arch anemies hands), and of course at the fact that he had completely lost the ability to control his own actions that he just simply temporarily lost his mind. Which is understandable. So beating Aerith, to me, was all Cloud. A very, very unstable Cloud. And like Maiden Aerith said upthread, he really just lashed out at whoever just happened to be near him which was Aerith.

I believe he was basically under mind control at the time he beat her.

Cloud takes less blame for what he does then...a certain superhero in a recent movie does for what he did to a certain love interest.

He was under mind control, but I actually think that it might have been a death threat to Aerith since she just learned about Meteor from the Temple. It could of been long and painful for her to die there, but I don't think Sephiroth knew that Aerith knew that she could stop Meteor with Holy.

And no, it was Sephiroth doing that I believe. He was using Jenova's bodies because his original body was encased in the Mako at the Crater all those years ago. His body may have died but his mind was still certainly alive. I would think of him as being in a coma since he was infused with Mako energy, he would be able to survive being encased in the Mako shell just as cloud did when he was washed up at Mideel.

I'm pretty sure he was beating her under the control of Jenova. In the dream he has of the Ancient Forest right afterwards, he tries to apologize for what happened, and Aerith tells him not to think about it. Besides, he's so lost in that moment between giving Sephiroth the Black Materia and his consciousness all the while wondering what's just happened.

This is the saddest scene.. he was hitting her, but he wasn't realizing it...

Yeah he was definitely hitting her :( ....but he was hitting her against his own free will. Sephiroth had control over his body at the time and Cloud could'nt over come his fears...All in all, this could be the saddest point in the game because Cloud never got to say goodbye to Aeris(although her running off did make it any better) but she wanted to do this to save the Planet and for Cloud's happpiness

It's strange to think that this is the first time I've seen this moment discussed. Thinking about it, I'd expect more C/T fans to jump on a scene like this ("OMG Cloud beats Aeris so he can't really love her, he'd never hurt Tifa, etc etc etc"). It's odd that it's a bit of a forgotten moment on both sides of the pairing wars.

But yes, he's definitely hitting her. Your third party member has to jump down into the pit and physically stop Cloud from continuing, and then he blacks out. Then in his dream, he shows that he was aware of what he was doing, and apologises for it. Afterwards, part of the reason why he's unsure of what to do next is because he's worried about hurting her again ("I might lose it again"), but he manages to fight off Sephiroth's control the second time.

Here's Cloud's dialogue immediately after he stops hitting her and passes out:

I think that this shows that he really wasn't in his right mind when he hurt Aeris, but was being manipulated rather crudely by Sephiroth. I think that because he was on the edge of a major meltdown after giving Sephiroth the Black Materia, Cloud was much easier to control, and all his anger (at both Sephiroth and himself) as well as his frustration were very easy for Sephiroth to manipulate and redirect at Aeris, who had shown herself as a threat to Sephiroth by openly defying him (and I think that Sephiroth was already aware of her potential even before invading Cloud's dream and discovering that she knew what she could do to stop him, too). So I don't think that Cloud had any rational awareness of what he was doing at the time; he was just being used like a puppet.

To me, it's clear that Aeris understood this and seemed to view it as a "there's nothing to forgive" situation. Even though the experience must've shocking and awful, she brushes it off and assures him it's okay. Again, this is a reason why I love her character so much: instead of breaking down and getting lost in confusion and self-pity (which would be understandable after something horrible like that happening), she recognises that something is seriously wrong with Cloud, is concerned for him rather than herself, and takes off by herself to do something about it and tries to take charge of the situation. :aeris: