Announced at Capcom's 2022 Showcase last month, Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose was announced as DLC and will be released later this year with Resident Evil Village Gold Edition. After the events in Resident Evil Village, Shadows of Rose will pick up following Ethan's supposed death and will instead center on his daughter, Rose. It will feature a new story as she attempts to rid herself of her strange powers. Thanks to a story trailer, a decent amount of details have already been learned or deciphered about what players should expect from the upcoming DLC.
One key element about the upcoming DLC that hasn't yet been completely pinned down is who will be the main antagonist. With Miranda presumed dead along with all the other bosses of Resident Evil Village, the trailers seem to indicate that The Duke will play a larger role as the villain. However, whether this is true is debatable, as there are plenty of questions still left hanging that might suggest The Duke is just a red herring from the real antagonist.
The Duke Could Be The Villain
Without anything else to go on beyond what players have seen so far in the trailers, it seems a fairly obvious prediction that The Duke will be the main threat in Shadows of Rose. Between various voice lines heard in the trailer indicating he will be hunting down Rose to a fleeting clip of the morbidly obese merchant donning some kind of mask reminiscent of masquerade balls, The Duke appears to have abandoned the friendly disposition that he'd once shown to Ethan. Seemingly, this same clip demonstrates that The Duke will have some ability to control monsters that pursue Rose. Since Capcom has confirmed that the DLC will be harder than the base game, the hunting allusion The Duke makes could be far truer than fans realize.
One huge factor though that complicates things is that theoretically none of what happens in Shadows of Rose. A story trailer has already informed players that the events of the DLC will occur within the megamycete's consciousness, meaning that The Duke may not be a real person, but rather it's a form that the megamycete has potentially chosen to counter Rose's invading mind. This could indicate that The Duke may have a deeper connection to the megamycete and mold than players were first led to believe in Resident Evil Village, as he was the original guiding hand to Ethan when it was revealed baby Rose had been dismembered. The DLC may reveal more about the history behind The Duke and his real intentions, but ultimately this won't be the same version of The Duke that players have met previously.
Rose Could Face Another Villain
If The Duke's role as antagonist is to serve a higher power, then the question is who or what that higher power might be. Not much is known about the megamycete besides what players have been able to glean across both of Ethan's games. It seems that Shadows of Rose is going to delve into this further, and if won't at least answer some of the player's questions about the mold then it will at least hint towards the possible future games. For instance, the trailers demonstrate that someone known as "Michael" is communicating to Rose within the megamycete. He appears to want to help Rose in getting rid of her powers, but he could very well be a malignant force attempting to mislead her so that he can escape the megamycete, take control of Rose herself, or worse.
Another possible contender for the main antagonist is the "clone" Rose meets while inside the megamycete, who may be a dark reflection of Rose herself manifesting within the realm of consciousness. Even less is known about this duplicate Rose, but this wouldn't be the first Resident Evil game to feature an evil doppelganger, such as Carla Radames and Ada Wong in Resident Evil 6.
However, there could be other explanations for why the copy exists, including the likely possibility that this version of Rose is the afterimage of Mother Miranda's attempts to use the megamycete and mold to revive her dead daughter. In truth then, it seems that the real villain of Shadows of Rose has yet to be confirmed at this point. Perhaps Capcom is withholding this revelation for the DLC, leaving fans still unsure about how involved The Duke will be as a villain and what this could reveal for future games.
Resident Evil Village Gold Edition will release on October 28 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
