Following the events of Resident Evil 7, the franchise had a fairly open-ended approach to whatever it wanted to explore. The next installment could have been a completely new entry once again, following new protagonists in a different setting. Instead, while the setting certainly changed between Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village, Ethan Winters managed to cling onto the franchise. Mia Winters takes a backseat in Resident Evil Village as a prisoner whose whereabouts are unknown for almost the whole game, while Ethan encounters fantastical lords and rescues his daughter, Rosemary.
Resident Evil Village’s post-credits cutscene reveals a flash-forward 16 years into the future, where Rose is a teenager. This cutscene connects to the post-launch Shadows of Rose DLC, in which Rose is the sole playable protagonist. Locations are reused in the DLC, such as Resident Evil Village’s Castle Dimitrescu and House Beneviento, but its enemies and narrative are original in order to tell a story unique to Rose’s character. Rose’s character development is fantastically portrayed, and it is therefore a shame that fans may never get to see her again as she is inherently tied to the franchise’s future.
Rose Winters is a Worthy Resident Evil Protagonist
Purist fans may advocate for the classics, but the narrative in Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village arguably outshines the narrative threads in any previous Resident Evil games. That is not to say that the franchise typically has bad or uninteresting storylines, but its original entries are much more emphatic about gameplay and character beats, rather than having through-lines that are fully comprehensible or have emotional weight.
To be fair, the narrative in Resident Evil 7 is largely bolstered by Resident Evil Village as its sequel, which profoundly explains why Ethan could be maimed so severely and put himself back together with ease. Ethan himself was far less sympathetic in Resident Evil 7 as well, with many fans disliking how verbose and bumbling the new protagonist was. However, Shadows of Rose rounds him out in an incredibly sympathetic father figure, while still allowing Rose to shine.
Rose is stubborn much like her father. Her abilities are intriguing, but only a backdrop to what makes her a great character who finally gets to meet her father in the most bizarre circumstance imaginable. Having accepted who she is and what power she has at her fingertips, it is unfortunate that Shadows of Rose may be the last fans see of her.
Rose May Be Abandoned Now to Resident Evil’s Future
Because Shadows of Rose takes place so much further ahead in Resident Evil’s canonical future, it is unlikely that she will appear again anytime soon. Likewise, since Resident Evil's Capcom confirmed that Shadows of Rose concludes the Winters saga, it is assumed that Rose’s narrative has ended too. This means that a lot of questions may be left unanswered, such as what Rose will be up to and how her powers may manifest again, as well as why she and Mia are apparently estranged. It makes sense why Resident Evil may not want to toss itself 16 years into the future, since all of its legacy characters would be much older and potentially unfit to appear again.
Instead, it seems that the franchise will remain in its present day and abandon Rose for nearly two decades. It is possible that the franchise could eventually catch back up to when Resident Evil Village’s Shadows of Rose DLC takes place, where it is made clear that Chris is still alive with his own operation at the time. But in the meantime, this may be the last fans hear or see about Rose, and that is sad news, considering how interesting her character development was in only a single DLC expansion.
Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
