Resident Evil Village has been out for a hot minute now - certainly long enough for many players to enjoy its jaw-dropping action and thrills and maybe even finish the game. Village is a rollercoaster. From Ethan Winters’ drop into this isolated settlement to overcoming the monsters and masters that infest it to save his daughter, there’s a lot to unpack by the time that you’ve rolled credits in this game. Maybe you’re wondering about Ethan Winters, Mia, or Rose’s fate, the truth about Chris’s activities, or why any of this game’s narrative happened the way it did? We have all of those answers here.
SPOILER WARNING: Obviously, this article takes a deep dive into what happened throughout Resident Evil Village, including most of the major concluding plot points. DO NOT READ AHEAD if you don’t wish to be spoiled on any major points that happen in the game.
What happened to the Village?
So let’s start with the broad strokes of Resident Evil Village’s titular village and how it became the hellhole that it is when Ethan gets there. The village was a remote town of people devoutly faithful to Mother Miranda. Miranda in truth was a scientist who lost her daughter (Eva) to the Spanish Flu. Miranda was ready to commit suicide when she wandered into an underground vein of the village and discovered a living fungal system known as the Megamycete. This fungus or “Mold” is similar to what infected the Bakers and Eveline in Resident Evil 7 and is thought to actually be the source of that same infection. In fact, it is confirmed that Miranda gave samples of this very Mold to the group who created Eveline in Resident Evil 7. More on that later.
In any case, Miranda discovered the Mold could absorb the memories and form of creatures and, in turn, take the form of any living creature introduced to it in a sort of hive mind assimilation. Miranda was infected, took on a symbiotic relationship with the Megamycete, and learned that by introducing her deceased child to it, she could rebirth her little Eva in a new body. She just needed a host. She sought that host by introducing the Megamycete to various villagers and infecting them in various experiments in a parasitic form known as the Cadou. Unfortunately, it turned most of her subjects into mindless monsters and beasts, the Lycans and other creatures seen throughout Resident Evil Village.
A number of subjects showed promise, including Lady Alcina Dimetrescu, Karl Heisenberg, Donna Beneviento, and Salvatore Moreau. They each took to the parasite and developed astonishingly powerful qualities and mutations while keeping their sense of self-awareness and independent thought. As her favored subjects, Miranda granted them each independent control over a section of the village as long as they aided her. However, none of them were perfect for Miranda’s needs, so the search for a suitable host for Eva continued. Miranda took on the form of a deity and protector of the village, seemingly protecting and guiding the villagers even as she experimented on them, seeking her perfect vessel for Eva. The Village became a den of monsters with the truth hiding underneath the idyllic town and protected by Miranda and her “Four Lords.”
Eventually, Miranda was approached by a criminal syndicate known as The Connections (the same group supporting Lucas Baker in Resident Evil 7). They took samples of Mold and Eva’s DNA and created Eveline, which set Resident Evil 7’s main plot in motion, but Miranda still saw this creature as a subpar vessel for Eva’s rebirth. When Ethan and Mia birthed Rosemary Winters after being involved in the Baker Incident, The Connections informed Miranda of the new child, and Miranda sensed in that child a bond to Eva that might make her the vessel she had been searching for. As she began to make moves on the Winters family, she also drew the attention of a certain longstanding Resident Evil protagonist.
Why did Chris shoot Mia?
All of that story on Miranda brings us to Chris Redfield, longtime Resident Evil hero guy and boulder puncher supreme, who begins and ends Resident Evil Village with quite the bang. The prologue of the game sees Chris seemingly taking on a heel turn with his squad of BSAA agents gunning Mia Winters down and abducting Ethan and Rose. Why? Well, as of Resident Evil 7, Chris had been tracking The Connections criminal group and it had led him to become jaded with his anti-BOW organization, the BSAA. Chris gathered a loyal squad under his lead, went rogue to track Connections activity, and that led him to Miranda.
At some point, as Miranda plotted to abduct Rose, she first kidnapped Mia Winters. Miranda then took Mia’s place in Ethan’s household. Reminder: the Megamycete can recreate cells and memories of creatures it has been in contact with. In Miranda’s case, she can use her infection to shapeshift into anyone she’s been in contact with. It would seem that by the beginning of Resident Evil Village, she had taken on the form of Mia Winters and invaded Ethan’s home to steal Rose. What she didn’t count on was being tracked by Chris.
And so it wasn’t Mia Chris shot at the beginning of Resident Evil Village. It was Miranda, disguised as Mia. After peppering her body with bullets and shooting her in the head several times after, Chris thought he had killed Miranda and his team swooped in to try to dispose of her and get Ethan and Rose to safety. He didn’t want to tell Ethan the specifics of what was happening because he didn’t want Ethan to get involved and put the Winters family in even further danger than they were already. It’s something his team tells him was a mistake and one that he himself recognizes later.
His other critical mistake was apparently having Ethan, Rose, and Miranda’s supposed dead body transported in the same vehicle. Miranda wasn’t dead. Still under the guise of Mia, she mimicked a corpse until being transported, revived, killed the drivers, crashed the vehicle, took Rose, and left Ethan for dead.
It’s also worth reminding that Chris was working independently from the BSAA organization he has been associated with since Resident Evil: Revelations (just before RE5). Disillusioned with the organization’s motives and methods, he took Miranda’s situation into his own hands throughout the whole game. His distrust of the organization was justified when the BSAA learned of his operations and sent agents to act against Miranda and the Megamycete. Upon recovering the body of an operating BSAA agent, Chris and company learned that the soldiers the BSAA sent were human-mimicking BOW mutants. This plot point isn’t resolved at the end of Village and it can be assumed Chris and the team going after the European branch of the BSAA which sent these BOW soldiers will be part of upcoming Resident Evil content.
Does Ethan die in Resident Evil Village?
This is maybe the most interesting part of the entire Resident Evil Village endgame story, because the answer is a no, but also yes, sort of. Yes, he encounters Miranda and she tears his beating heart out of his chest, “killing him.” It kicks off the biggest twist of Resident Evil 7 and 8: Ethan died in his first encounter with Jack Baker in Resident Evil 7. He was infected at that time and the Ethan we know is a Mold memory copy of the Megamycete. That is why Ethan can survive so many horrible injuries and just splash med kits on himself to get better. That was why he could have his hand chopped off and simply shove it against his wrist to return it to functioning form. The Ethan we know had technically been a Mold BOW from the time shortly after he arrived at the Baker residence, fought an infected Mia, and was laid out by a haymaker from Jack following the fight.
So… where does that leave us with the current “Ethan”? Well, he lives after Miranda’s supposed death blow, recovering from his injuries and regrowing his heart through the Mold and Eveline’s infection within him. But he’s not immortal. Even Mold monsters have a limit and Ethan’s was severely tested when Miranda ripped out his heart. His Mold form is dying by the time he meets Miranda for one last confrontation. Knowing this, he defeats and kills Miranda, passes Chris Redfield his child, and takes on the responsibility of destroying the Megamycete once and for all with a remote explosive and detonator Chris set up to irradicate the Megamycete and much of the village. Pushed past a barrier from Ethan and entrusted with Rose, Chris had no choice but to leave it to Ethan and escape with Rose. Ethan pulls the trigger after Chris’s helicopter takes off and blows up the Megamycete, the village, and himself. Mold or not, Ethan dies here and completely.
Do Mia or Rose die in Resident Evil Village?
This question is a bit trickier only because of semantics and certain elements of the story. For one, going by the previous story elements relating to Ethan, it can be safe to say Mia also “died” in the events of Resident Evil 7 and the Mia we know is a Mold copy created by Eveline. Moreover, Mia is abducted by Miranda and seemingly not killed. Chris finds Mia (the supposed real Mia) locked up in Miranda’s underground lab, woozy, but seemingly alive. The weird part is Mia says Miranda experimented on her, but she never reveals what these experiments were and we never find out elsewhere. There’s a lot of interpretation left up to players here. Mia could just be a reworked Mold copy of Miranda, but whatever the case, we’re told that this is the real Mia and she makes it out on the helicopter with Chris at the end of the game.
Then there’s Rosemary Winters. Again, technically speaking, if Ethan and Mia were Mold copies, likely so is Rose. Further complicating the matter is that little Rosemary was dissected into multiple parts and given to the Four Lords for safekeeping. One could say that even as a Mold baby, she definitely “died” then. But by the end of the game, Miranda uses the parts of Rosemary along with the Megamycete’s memory copy abilities to create another Rose/Eva. Sidenote: it's seemingly implied that Rose’s bond to Resident Evil 7’s Eveline conflicts with Miranda’s connection to the Megamycete and this allows Ethan to attack and kill Miranda.
Nonetheless, Chris boards the escape helicopter with this version of Rosemary Winters, reunites her with Mia, and they all escape by the end of the game. There’s a lot going on with Rose though. Is she a real baby? Is she a Mold copy? Is she a reincarnation of Eveline? Is she Miranda’s ideal recreation of Eva? Does Miranda live on through her or is she still Ethan and Mia’s child? The only thing we truly know for sure is that this version of Rose lives long enough after the main events of Village to become a teenaged girl who seems to retain a large amount of the Megamycete power from Eveline and/or Miranda’s influence on her, as shown by the post-credits scene.
What comes next for Resident Evil?
And that covers the entirety of the ending in Resident Evil Village. Based on how the game ended, the series is definitely going to continue either in DLC, another full game, or both. We’ve got Chris Redfield going after the European BSAA as a major plot point to pursue. Then, Capcom has a grown-up and powerful Rose Winters to address, so it will be interesting to see where they go with the franchise next. Hopefully this clears up confusion about the plot and ending. Be sure to check out our full review of Resident Evil Village as well for our thoughts on the quality of the overall game.
