The twist in Resident Evil Village is that the main character does not escape from the explosion. There isn’t a timer this time either, as the explosives that blow up in Resident Evil Village are remote-detonated. What happens is that protagonist Ethan Winters is mortally wounded in the final fight against Mother Miranda, and so he volunteers to stay behind to push the button, blow up the village, and kill himself in the process.

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While plenty of other Resident Evil games ended in fiery explosions like this, this is one of the only times where the game’s main character was killed in it. It’s also one of the only main series Resident Evil games that doesn’t end with a timed sequence where players have to escape before the timer runs out. These are quite the departures from other games in the series, which have established a pretty firm pattern for how Resident Evil games are supposed to end.

However, this definitive ending for Ethan Winters does a good job of giving fans a better idea of what they may be able to expect from the next game in the Resident Evil series. With Ethan Winters dead, it’s likely that the inevitable Resident Evil 9 will follow a new playable character instead. Who that is remains to be seen, but the other events in Resident Evil Village hint at who the next protagonist may be.

Resident Evil Village’s ending features an after credits scene that shows a teenaged version of Ethan’s daughter Rose. With Ethan dead, the logical conclusion is that Resident Evil 9 will feature Rose as the playable character, though that has yet to be confirmed. There are numerous other Resident Evil projects expected to arrive prior to Resident Evil 9, so it’s safe to say fans of the franchise may be wanting for quite some time before they learn more about the next game in the series.

Whenever Resident Evil 9 does arrive, it will be interesting to see if it continues to buck franchise trends or if it features a more traditional finale.

Resident Evil Village is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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