Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose DLC ending explained

Made it to the end of the Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose but still confused by the ending? Here’s a breakdown of what we think it all means.

The Winters saga of the Resident Evil series has drawn to a close (unless Resident Evil 9 brings Rose back) with the Shadows of Rose DLC, but the ending of this expansion left us with more questions than answers. However, we think we’ve got enough pieces to work out what it all means until the inevitable sequel arrives.

Be warned though, as we’ll be openly discussing the Shadows of Rose ending, lots of spoilers will be lurking below – including spoilers for Resident Evil Village and earlier entries, as Resident Evil Village and its ultimate ending have ramifications for the wider RE universe.

Ethan Winters was not what he seemed

The DLC is set within the Megamycete, a living database with mutagenic properties that records and stores the DNA and consciousnesses of all infected by it – and those who die in its vicinity. Miranda (RE Village’s villain) realized that her dead daughter’s consciousness is stored in the Megamycete and dedicated her now mutated and long life to bringing her back.

This is where the Winters family comes in, as Ethan’s wife Mia was working with Miranda and a bioterrorist organization called The Connections to bring back Miranda’s daughter using the mold. The mold comes from the Megamycete, but it’s also likely infused with some of the other mutagens from the RE universe such as the T-Virus or Las Plagas. These experiments led to the events of RE7 and the creation of Eveline who would infect both Mia and Ethan with her mold before being destroyed.

One of the big twists of RE Village is that Ethan has been dead since RE7, killed by Jack Baker at the start of the game. However, the mold allowed his consciousness to form a new body, defeat Eveline, and rescue his family in both games. Ethan learns this after being killed by Miranda and entering the world of the Megamycete where the consciousness of Eveline – still salty about being killed by him – mockingly reveals his true nature to him. Evie may be dead, but she’s now trapped in the Megamycete, her personality and malice living on.

Ethan then reanimates again and rescues Rose from Miranda, killing the villain and causing her to be absorbed into the Megamycete. Miranda wanted to use Ethan’s daughter Rose as a vessel to house her dead daughter’s consciousness. This is because Rose was the perfect host, being conceived by a human mother and a father who is essentially living mold. Eveline was the first attempt, but the bio-weapon was considered a failure, then escaped and infected the Baker family in RE7.

Chris Redfield destroys the Megamycete at the end of RE Village, unaware of Ethan’s true nature, which causes Ethan to crumble into dust and die as the Village is destroyed around him. This devastates Chris and Mia but Ethan dies satisfied that his family is safe.

Shadows of Rose final confrontation

Shadows of Rose picks up fifteen years later and deals with Rose hating her mold-like abilities and wishing to be rid of them.

As she is technically a bioweapon, Rose has been under Redfield’s supervision for her whole life and struggles to fit into society. Rose views Chris and his Hound Wolf Squad as surrogate parents, having grown up without Ethan and being estranged from her mother Mia Winters.

In the DLC, Canine, a member of the Hound Wolf Squad tells Rose that she may be able to use a recovered chunk of the Megamycete to rid herself of her powers. To do so, she’ll need to enter the world/database and study Miranda’s memories to find a way. As a carrier of the mold, Rose is able to do this and eventually fights her way through the nightmare world of the Megamycete and recovers a crystal that allows her to shed her powers.

Along the way, Rose is guided by a mysterious figure known as Micheal and also fights and destroys the still bitter consciousness of Eveline before coming face-to-face with the consciousness of Miranda. Miranda reveals that she manipulated Rose into entering the Megamycete and is still obsessed with resurrecting her daughter using Rose’s body.

Now vulnerable without her powers, Rose is forced to battle Miranda until Micheal arrives to help. Micheal is revealed to be the consciousness of Ethan, still living within the Megamycete battling both Eveline and Miranda. To save Ethan from disappearing completely, Rose restores her powers, and the father-and-daughter duo destroys Miranda for good.

After a warm conversation with the father she never knew, Rose leaves the Megamycete, her powers intact, and becomes more accepting of them after finally getting to speak to Ethan. The DLC then ends with the same cutscene RE Village ended with, showing Rose visiting Ethan’s grave.

Is Shadows of Rose really the end?

This is where things get confusing and slightly unsatisfying as far as endings go, Rose is then seen getting into a car with one of Chris’s men. The car drives into the distance towards what looks like the figure of Ethan Winters walking towards it before apparently stopping. It’s the exact same scene from the ending of RE Village – without anything extra to explain it.

As Shadow of Rose was intended to be the final chapter of the Winters saga, we may never know what’s going on here. Of course, the story could continue in RE9. While it was nice to see Rose and Ethan finally get to meet, and for Rose to make peace with her powers, this ending seems to suggest that the Winters family story is not over.

The figure of Ethan walking towards the car could simply imply her father is watching over Rose or is always with her, but as Ethan technically still exists in the Megamycete, it could also suggest he’s found a way to return. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time Ethan has come back from the dead using the mold to make himself a new body.

Capcom may leave both interpretations up to the player, and if the Winters family is never seen again in Resident Evil this could work. However, as Rose still has her powers, coupled with the revelation that a portion of the Megamycete stills exists, this could be fertile ground for future stories in RE9. If various dead characters still exist there, who else could come back from the dead?

Chris is also likely to be involved in RE9, set to investigate the BSAA for using bioweapons against Miranda. It’s also possible that the Megamycete makes a comeback now that the DLC has made a point to do so once before. A database that houses the consciousness of all beings ever infected by the mold – with the ability for them to come back from the dead could be a very interesting plot device for future RE games.

Who else could be lurking within the database? And if the mold is revealed to be an ingredient of the many viruses we’ve seen across the Resident Evil universe, then pretty much anyone could come back in future stories. The main takeaway from the Shadows of Rose ending could be that nobody in Resident Evil is ever truly dead and gone…

For even more Resident Evil guides, check out some of the content below:

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