Let’s take a look at what the ending of Ethan’s final adventure means for Resident Evil 9 and the future of the series.

Resident Evil Village’s crazy rides have captivated fans of the series, making it one of the most popular Resident Evil games of all time. Capcom announced on Tuesday that the latest installment in the survival horror series has shipped more than 3 million copies worldwide across all platforms.
players who have enjoyed the horror and bloodshed of Resident Evil Village since it was released on Friday for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC have agreed that the game’s plot is reminiscent of Resident Evil 7. Remember where the protagonist Ethan Winters made his debut? Chris Redfield, the protagonist of the series, plays a key role in Resident Evil Village, and his shocking actions early in the game have raised many questions.

There’s a lot to explain, so let’s get started.

What happened in Resident Evil Village?

Ethan and his now-wife Mia were brought from the US to a Transylvanian village in Romania by Chris Redfield for protection. Three years have passed since then, and they now have one child, Rose. On a seemingly ordinary night when Rose is six months old, her night is disrupted when a sniper shoots Mia in the chest. After a volley of shots, Mia lies dead on the floor, and Chris comes to the house and shoots Mia’s body several more times. A confused Ethan is taken into custody by Chris’ team, and Rose is also kidnapped. During the transport, something hits the van Ethan was in, and Ethan must go to the village to look for Rose and Mia.

Ethan meets Mother Miranda, the supposed guardian of the village, and her disciples: Madame Dimitrescu, Donna Beneviento, Salvatore Moreau, and Carl Heisenberg. Taking them out one by one, Ethan learns that parts of Rose’s body were placed in a container for a ritual. After collecting all four, he finds out why Mother Miranda did this (see below) and that she pretended to be Mia when Chris’ team attacked her at the start of the game. In a short segment where the player controls Chris, Mia is found and she explains that Ethan is actually created with the same form of mind control as Eve, the bioweapon antagonist from Resident Evil 7.

After destroying Mother Miranda, the game ends with Ethan once again making the ultimate sacrifice to save both his wife and newfound daughter. However, some questions remain unanswered.

What’s the deal with Mother Miranda?

The game’s main villain lost her daughter Eva to the Spanish Flu, a real-life pandemic that raged between 1918 and 1921, killing an estimated 50 million people. Grief-stricken, Miranda wandered into a cave to die, where she encountered a giant fungus, the source of the mold in Resident Evil 7 and Village.

His regenerative properties made her immortal, and she realized he was absorbing the consciousnesses of the dead. This meant that Miranda could bring her daughter Eva back to life. In search of the perfect vessel, she began experimenting on the villagers.

The “Mia” that Chris killed at the beginning of the game was actually Miranda in disguise. She kidnapped the real Mia Winters, wife of protagonist Ethan Winters, and used her for experiments. Eventually she took her place and kidnapped his daughter Rose. The Winters’ baby, the child of mold-infected parents, was apparently the ideal vessel for Eva’s return.

Is Ethan Winters really dead?

In a move that will probably surprise any player, Miranda removes Ethan’s heart like a Mortal Kombat Fatality. As he lay there dead, a vision of Evelyn, the antagonist from the previous game, appeared before him.

Though she may look like a little girl, she was actually a biological weapon with mind-controlling mold powers. She was created by the crime group The Connections after Miranda provided her with a mold sample. Ethan killed Evelyn, who had mutated into a giant mold beast in the final battle of the previous game.

In the Village, Evelyn shows a brief flashback of Ethan, revealing that after fighting the possessed Mia at the beginning of Resident Evil 7, family patriarch Jack Baker punched and kicked Ethan with a “Welcome to the family, son” punch, killing him in the head. However, thanks to Evelyn’s appearance, Ethan essentially became a “super being” with the ability to heal himself and easily connect his severed limbs to healing items. This power is not as flashy as the abilities of Evelyn’s other victims, but it was enough for Ethan to stop them all.

In the village, we get a hint about Ethan’s status early on in the game. When Lady Dimitrescu sucked his blood during their first encounter, she said it was “starting to get a little stale”.

After Evelyn’s revelation, Ethan comes back to life and defeats Miranda. With his body weakened, he makes a final sacrifice to ensure the safety of Mia and her daughter Rose. He destroys the giant fungus, cutting off Miranda’s power source and seemingly ending her forever.

So is Ethan really dead? He’s about as dead as a character in a game about zombies can be. It seems like Capcom actually killed him off, as an adult Rose visits his grave and his final message reads “My father’s story is over,” but with so many organizations developing biological weapons, it’s possible the faceless hero could appear in Resident Evil 9 or a future game.

What will happen with Rose?

If Ethan doesn’t return for the next Resident Evil game, it looks like his daughter could take his place.

The final scene shows Rose as an adult, suggesting that she has become a new Umbrella Corporation agent under the tutelage of Chris Redfield. She has some kind of power, which is what caused her to be kidnapped by her mother Miranda. Rose’s powers most likely correspond to Evelyn’s use of the mold in Resident Evil 7, as the agent who was pursuing her mockingly calls her “Evelyn”.

It also seems that a sniper was ready to shoot Rose if she were to lose control, but the agent told her to stand down.

It remains to be seen whether we will see her in Resident Evil 9. There are still plenty of Resident Evil characters we haven’t seen in a while, except for the remake, such as Claire Redfield, Leon Kennedy, and Jill Valentine.

Who was in the final scene?

As Rose and the agent who found her drove off into the distance, someone appeared to be walking the other way down the road. A car then pulled up next to them. In the game’s photo mode, we can see that this person is Ethan, as we can see from the scars on his hands.

There are two theories on this. One theory is that Ethan survived and continued his 15-year journey to his grave. The second and most likely theory is that Capcom just reused the character model to troll players. The truth will only be known when DLC and Resident Evil 9 are released.

What happened with the BSAA?

When the player briefly controls Chris near the end of the game, the BSAA (Bioterrorism Safety Assessment Alliance) is mentioned several times.

Long-time Resident Evil fans will remember the organization’s appearance in Resident Evil 5, where Chris returns as a member of the BSAA. The UN-backed group tracks and destroys bioweapons, but for some reason the BSAA has begun using them as soldiers, as evidenced by the zombies sent into the village dressed in military uniforms.

Just as Umbrella went from bad to good in Resident Evil 7, the BSAA may have changed its mind. The BSAA could also be the focus of future downloadable content for Resident Evil Village, though Capcom has yet to announce any such plans.

What’s with the Umbrella logo?

One of the big questions raised in the early trailers for Resident Evil Village revolved around the Umbrella logo found on a stone structure. At the end of the game, we learn that Ozwell Spencer, one of the founders of the Umbrella Corporation, visited the village when he was a medical student, several years before the Umbrella Corporation was founded.

Spencer was inspired by the umbrella-like design of a giant chalice in the village and decided to make it the company’s logo.

After watching Miranda infect the villagers with mold, he gets the idea to use the virus to evolve humanity. Her plan to bring her daughter back to life was not ambitious enough for Spencer. He broke up with Miranda and discovered the Progenitor Virus in Africa (see Resident Evil 5). This led to the development of the T-Virus, which was the beginning of the zombie plague in the original Resident Evil.

The use of this logo has little to do with the story of Resident Evil Village and is more of an Easter egg for longtime fans. However, his presence is full of symbolic meaning, as Spencer’s encounter with Miranda during his formative years is what inspired him to research the virus. Miranda’s attempts to bring her daughter back to life indirectly trigger the events throughout the series and are the reason why bioterrorism is a constant threat in the Resident Evil universe.

When did Miranda replace Mia? Didn’t Ethan notice there was something up with his wife?

It’s hard to say when the change happened. Rose is still a toddler, so Miranda probably took over Mia sometime in the last few weeks or months.

The reason Ethan didn’t notice is because he’s a little slow. His brain may be made of mold, but he’s still a tough guy.