RE Village: Chris Redfield’s Plan After RE7 Was Either Stupid or Genius

Things do not exactly go smoothly for Ethan Winters and his family throughout the course of Resident Evil Village. After the events of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, the Winters’ are moved to Europe by Chris Redfield. This is meant to be the chance for them to start a new life, without the shadow of Eveline and the Baker estate incident hanging over them. However, was this cross-continental move really a smart plan from Chris Redfield?

[Warning:  Major spoilers for Resident Evil Village below.]

Resident Evil Village starts off with a bang. After a brief moment of peace in Ethan and Mia’s new home, tragedy befalls the Winters family. Mia is shot through the window, before the power to the house is cut and bullets rain down around Ethan. What follows is the catalyst for the entire game. Ethan awakes in an isolated and snow-covered location, as the remains of the convoy that was mysteriously transporting him lays in ruins. From here, Ethan has one goal – to find his missing daughter, who was last seen in the arms of Chris Redfield. But this whole Resident Evil Village ordeal of Ethan’s could have possibly been avoided.

Within the opening scenes of Resident Evil Village, there are several hints to where Ethan and Mia’s new location within Europe is. First of all, it is clearly cold, as Ethan promises Rose that “once things warm up” he will take her out in the pram for a walk. Then, Mia shares with Ethan that she is making a local dish, “ciorbe de legume.” This is a sour soup traditionally made in Romania. Finally, the baking products that Mia uses in her kitchen are the same brand that can be found within the game’s titular village. This all alludes to Ethan and Mia’s new house being close to the village itself, which many have guessed is somewhere in Romania. This begs the question: Why did Chris and the BSAA, who were meant to be protecting Ethan and Mia, place them so close to the terror going on in the village? Given that they all knew of Mia’s connection to Eveline and Ethan’s exposure to the mold, surely they must have realized that Mother Miranda may take a specific interest in the Winters family.

RE Village: Was There More To Chris Redfield’s Location Choice

Within Resident Evil Village, Chris Redfield and his motives remain mostly a mystery until the game’s final few chapters. After seemingly being untrustworthy, having killed Mia and taken Rose away from Ethan with no explanation, it is easy to assume that Chris has changed sides and is now working for Mother Miranda and the four lords. However, it is finally revealed that the Mia that Chris shot at the start of the game was in fact an impostor, and that he was working to defeat Miranda and destroy the village’s Megamycete.

This really makes one wonder if Chris and the BSAA were using the Winters family as bait to draw Miranda out in Resident Evil Village. Even if their location to the village was coincidental at first, as Mia and Ethan had apparently lived in Europe since the events of Biohazard, Chris still became aware of Miranda roughly three years prior to the events of RE Village – so there was plenty of time to move the family away to a new and safer location before things escalated out of control.

If the plan was in fact to use the Winters family as bait, it certainly worked, but at a heavy price. However, toward the end of Village, Chris does appear to be repentant of his actions, and feels remorseful. Perhaps the rumored Resident Evil 9 will address this guilt and offer the chance for Chris to redeem himself from his actions (or lack of early action) in Resident Evil Village.

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Victoria Phillips Kennedy
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