This article contains Resident Evil Village spoilers.
While there’s been no shortage of Lady Dimitrescu memes in the months leading up to Resident Evil Village‘s release, it’s funny to think that all of the game’s trailers, previews, and demos barely told us anything about the sequel’s actual plot. We knew it would star Ethan Winters, we knew it involved a creepy village filled with retro horror threats, and we knew the internet was desperate for the attention of tall vampire ladies everywhere, but many of the most important questions about the game’s lore remained unanswered.
Why does Chris appear to shoot Mia in one of the first Village trailers? Why is this town full of vampires and werewolves? Who is Mother Miranda? How does all of this relate to Resident Evil 7? Is Resident Evil Village actually a remake of Resident Evil 4? Despite a host of compelling theories, the answers to those questions (and many more) remained frustratingly unanswered.
The good news is that Resident Evil Village eventually does answer a lot of those questions. You may not like all those answers (and you’ll have to wait a little while longer to wrap up a few of the plot threads it leaves hanging), but if you’re ready to discover the truth, then join us as we take a look at the true meaning of Resident Evil Village‘s ending and post-credits scene.
Chris Tells Ethan the Truth About Mia’s Death
After being knocked down into the underground area of Heisenberg’s factory, Ethan runs into Chris just as he’s building some kind of giant tank (*checks notes*yes, that’s right). Ethan finally asks Chris why he killed Mia, and Chris informs him that the person they killed wasn’t Mia: it was Mother Miranda.
Yes, Mother Miranda can assume different forms, and Chris and his team were well aware of her abilities when they shot “Mia.” What they didn’t know is that Miranda can also assume the form of a corpse, which is how she convinced the assault team they had completed their assignment. After the team left Ethan and Mia’s house, Miranda came back to life, attacked the vehicle Ethan and Rose were being escorted in, kidnapped Rose, and took her to the village.
Armed with the truth (or at least some of it) and a brand new tank, Ethan leaves the underground area to confront Heisenberg.
Ethan Winters Dies (Kind of)
Shortly after defeating Heisenberg (with a homemade tank, mind you), Ethan receives a call from Chris who tells him to not confront Miranda by himself. That plan fails spectacularly as Miranda (in the form of Mia) confronts Ethan shortly thereafter.
Miranda shapeshifts throughout the conversation (and even takes the shape of the crone we’ve seen throughout the game), but we finally see Miranda in what appears to be her true form (or a close approximation of it). She then confirms what has been hinted at all along by saying that Rose is an extraordinarily powerful being and that Miranda wants to claim her as her own daughter. As we’ve seen in the case of the villagers and the four noble bosses, Miranda is obsessed with finding some kind of family. She believes that Rose is powerful enough to survive a ritual that will effectively bond the two and awaken Rose’s true power.
While processing this information, Ethan Winters is seemingly killed by Mother Miranda when Miranda rips his heart out of his chest and drinks his blood. It seems to be the clear end of the line for Ethan, but as we’ll soon learn, the situation is not quite as simple as all that.
Chris and Blue Umbrella Assault the Village During Mother Miranda’s Ritual
After reviewing the circumstances that led to Ethan’s death, Chris leads an assault against the village just as Miranda is beginning her ritual with Rose. The team informs Chris that he should have told Ethan about his plan, but Chris says there was no time.
During this assault, Chris notices that another team of soldiers is invading the area via helicopters. He identifies the invaders as “BSAA,” and seems to believe they may be after the source of power that fuels Mother Miranda and the village.
Before we go any further, let’s talk about the BSAA a bit as they’re a pretty important part of the RE franchise and play a role in some of what happens next.
What is the BSAA?
BSAA stands for “Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance.” They’re a security response group created after the fall of Umbrella as part of a global effort to combat the rise in bioterrorism.
Chris previously worked for the BSAA (he was employed by them during the events of Resident Evil 5), and they’ve long been presented as a force for good. However, concerns regarding their funding, techniques, motivations, and apparent fascination with bioweapons themselves have long led some fans to believe that there may be more to the group than meets the eye.
Chris left the BSAA some time ago in favor of a role with Blue Umbrella, but he has seemingly stayed in some kind of contact with the orginization and has perhaps formed a working relationshiop with them. He seems surprised by their presence in the village, though, and we’re about to learn why.
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Chris Discovers The Connection Between Umbrella and Mother Miranda
While working his way through the village, Chris eventually goes underground (literally) and discovers a very old laboratory filled with photos of a young woman and a few companions. He also finds a letter written by Oswell E. Spencer: the founder of Umbrella.
In fact, this letter (which is addressed to Mother Miranda), reveals that Spencer met Miranda years ago and spent quite a bit of time with her discussing the logistics and implications of resurrection. In that note, Spencer says he believed that resurrection could (and perhaps should) be performed in large numbers whereas Miranda seemed more focused on the resurrection of select individuals.
Due partially to their differing views, Spencer eventually left Miranda and took what he learned (as well as a few samples of the material that Miranda drew power from) to help him form Umbrella. In fact, Spencer confirms that he got the idea for the company’s name and logo from the shape of the symbol that we’ve seen multiple times throughout the village. That symbol seems to correspond to the area’s four noble houses, though the exact meaning and history of its design are somewhat ambiguous.
It’s a pretty shocking revelation that Chris doesn’t have time to dwell on as he soon runs into a surprisingly very much alive Mia (the real one). Chris tells Mia that Ethan is dead and that Miranda has Rose. Mia then surprises Chris by saying that Ethan can’t be dead as there’s something about him that nobody really knows.
How is Ethan Alive? Is Eveline Still Alive?
After Mia tells Chris that she thinks Ethan is alive, we cut to Ethan as he rises from his grave (so to speak) and starts crawling through what appears to be a frozen wasteland. Ethan then runs into Eveline who suggests to him that the reason he’s able to survive so much punishment is that he’s technically been dead for years.
Based on Evelin’s story and a few context clues, it seems that Ethan was killed by Jack Baker at the beginning of Resident Evil 7. From there, he was infected by the mold and became something between human and monster. This would certainly help explain Ethan’s incredible regenerative abilities as well as some of his apparent hallucinations. It doesn’t really answer a lot of questions regarding why Ethan has been able to retain so many elements of his humanity (and how he had a child that seems to have inherited some of his abilities), but it seems that these are all questions that weren’t meant to be answered (or are just old fashioned plot holes).
What about Eve, though? So far as I can tell, she’s just a figment of Ethan’s imagination. She’s something buried in his subconscious to help him understand this thing that he’s been ignoring for a long time. It does not appear that she’s actually still alive.
In any case, Ethan is properly resurrected shortly thereafter and soon finds himself in the back of The Duke’s carriage. The Duke is already taking him to Mother Miranda (who is trying to complete her ceremony with Rose). Ethan asks The Duke who, or what, he is. The Duke doesn’t give a clear answer and even suggests that he isn’t entirely sure he can answer questions about his origins. The debate between missing plot point and intention ambiguity rages on.
Soon, Ethan arrives at the village where he is finally able to confront Mother Miranda just as she’s performing the ritual on Rose.
Miranda’s Ritual and Ethan’s Final Sacrifice
Miranda’s ritual takes a strange turn when she completes at least a part of it and suggests that the ceremony is somehow draining her powers from her. Is Rose absorbing that power? Ethan gets the drop on her soon thereafter and distracts Miranda long enough for someone (presumably Chris) to shoot Miranda from a distance. Miranda then morphs into a grotesque creature that certainly seems to be closer to her final form than anything we’ve seen before.
Her banter with Ethan confirms that she’s been desperately seeking a family that shares her corruption and perhaps could even stay alive as long as she’s able to. She also refers to Rose as her daughter at several points, but that reference seems to be based on how Ethan’s abilities (and Rose’s birth/powers) can be traced back to Ethan’s “mold” infection (which in turn can be traced back to Miranda) and how Miranda disguised herself as Mia for a time. It doesn’t seem the game is suggesting that Miranda was Mia at the time that Rose was conceived and born, but the timeline of that ordeal isn’t entirely clear.
In any case, Miranda is soon defeated by whatever magic causes the most powerful being imaginable to be beaten by Ethan’s bullets. Ethan finally rescues Rose, meets up with Chris, and starts walking away from the village. It’s then that a giant creature (another of Miranda’s many forms) emerges from under the village. Chris informs Ethan that they have to run away as the entire area is rigged to explode as soon as Chris activates the detonator he’s carrying.
Ethan soon gives Rose to Chris and steals the detonator from Chris’ hand. He asks Chris to guard Rose for him and indicates that he’ll destroy himself in order to ensure the bombs go off. Chris reluctantly agrees, runs away, gives Rose to Mia, and the three of them fly away as a massive explosion seemingly confirms both Miranda and Ethan’s actual deaths.
The BSAA Bioweapons and a “Storybook” Ending
Chris, Mia, Rose, and one of the Blue Umbrella soldiers are escaping via a helicopter when the soldier informs Chris that the troops that the BSAA was sending into the village were actually advanced bioweapons. Sure enough, we soon see the hollowed-out body of a soldier in a BSAA uniform. It appears to be “zombie-like” and certainly something other than human.
Chris is shocked by this information and informs the soldier to take them to the BSAA HQ in England so that someone can answer for this. The game then cuts to credits shortly thereafter.
There are a couple of ways to read this whole thing. It’s possible that BSAA could have been partially responsible for this situation, but based on what we know about Mother Miranda’s story, it seems more likely that she’s the one responsible for all of the village’s woes over the years. Maybe the BSAA played a small role in certain events, but it doesn’t seem like they’re “responsible” for the events in either Resident Evil 7 or Village in any meaningful way that would make them the ones pulling the strings.
The more likely explanation here is that Chris is upset that the BSAA are using bioweapons and may have invaded the village in the hopes of securing Mother Miranda’s power source (or possibly Rose) as Umbrella’s founder once did years ago. Chris certainly seems like he’s still looking for someone to fight, and the idea that the BSAA may be morphing into a kind of reborn Umbrella would certainly give him the enemy that he’s been looking for.
It’s also worth noting that Resident Evil Village’s credits feature a retelling of the fairy tale from the game’s opening (in the form of a song), but this time, we get an extra scene in which the fairy tale girl’s father fights off the demons while her mother carries her to safety. That storybook was always meant to tease the events of Village, and this ending either suggests that the end of that story (which we didn’t hear when it was told at the beginning of the game) always echoed what would eventually happen in the story. It could also just be a stylish way to conclude the adventure. I’d vote for the latter.
Then again, that scene isn’t the “real” ending to Resident Evil Village…
Resident Evil Village’s Post-Credits Scene Sets Up Rose’s Adventure and Resident Evil 9
Stick around until the end of Resident Evil Village’s credits, and you’ll see a short scene starring a young girl on a bus. She’s alternating between watching a mother read a book to her child and staring out the window on a sunny day.
She gets off when the bus stops and makes her way to a headstone with the name “Ethan Winters” etched into it. It’s clear that this is a grown-up version of Rose, who appears to be a teenager, though it’s possible her abilities make her true age hard to determine. She apologizes to her dad for visiting so late and mentions that she’s been busy with “tests.”
Rose soon walks away from the grave and towards a black truck guarded by a man in a suit. The man seems to indicate that Rose has escaped them, and even calls Rose “Eve” in a mocking way. Rose pins him against the vehicle and tells him to be careful as she has powers that even “Chris doesn’t know about.” Someone on the man’s radio mentions they have a shot on the target, but the man says not to worry about it as Rose is “only a child.”
As the man drives away, he mentions to Rose that she’s a lot like her father. Rose says she’s more like her father than even he knows. They fade into the distance shortly before a screen appears that reads “The Father’s Story is Done.”
It’s unclear how much time has passed since the scene in the helicopter and this sequence, but Rose is certainly much older than she was before. Chris is clearly watching out for her (as Ethan requested), though it seems that he’s worried about her powers and whether or not they will be able to control them. There’s no mention of where Mia is (if she’s still alive).
As for the final screen, it certainly seems to suggest that the next Resident Evil game will focus on Rose. That could be quite interesting as she not only has the same regenerative abilities her father possessed but may have additional abilities similar to the ones we saw Eve utilize in Resident Evil 7. If I had to guess, I’d say that BSAA’s use of bioweapons in the field inspired Chris to use Rose as a weapon of sorts, despite the fact that Ethan indicated he was against the idea of using Rose in that capacity whatsoever.
Will Rose actually be the star of Resident Evil 9? Where is Mia? What happened between Chris and the BSAA? Are Mother Miranda and Ethan truly dead? Who is The Duke? While we wait for the answers to those questions, be sure to let us know what you think about Resident Evil Village‘s ending in the comments below.