Spoilers for Resident Evil Village
On Friday, May 7th, my wife and I commenced our plans of exploring the world of Resident Evil Village. As longtime fans of the “not really zombies anymore but the creatures are still horrifying” survival horror franchise, we’d been looking forward to this release for a while. We haven’t gotten that far into the game yet, but enough has happened to make me blink at the screen, then blink again, then exclaim, out loud, “WTF ETHAN???”
Ethan Winters, for those who don’t know, is the main protagonist of Resident Evil Village. He was also the main protagonist of the previous game, having gone on a terrifying adventure to rescue his wife, Mia. The trials and tribulations Ethan faced in the last game were very stressful, like, I believe in true love and all that but I dunno if I’d be brave enough to continue to chase after my wife if she’d just cut off my hand after stabbing a screwdriver through the palm of it.
TO MIA’S DEFENSE, she wasn’t in her right mind thanks to the big bad of the game. It’s not like she wanted to cut her husband’s hand off with a chainsaw. Sometimes, brain manipulation really do be like that.
Lady Dimitrescu, on the other hand, most definitely DID wanna slice through that hand like slow-cooked meat. She’d already licked the blood for a taste in an earlier scene, even going so far as to insult the flavor.
Now listen, I’ve been a Lady Dimitrescu stan ever since I first bore witness to her towering figure, but even I have my limits. Like. You’re gonna insult how we taste after all we’ve been through? You gotta let us marinate, first! We just escaped certain doom from Lycans, give us a minute!
(Yes, there are Lycans. We’re dealing with multiple supernatural creatures this time around).
Lady Dimitrescu isn’t the most patient woman, though, so she cuts Ethan’s hand off on sight. Sigh. I can respect being impatient about a meal, I guess.
After that, I watched my wife (she’s the one playing the game) run around trying to figure out what to do. At some point I realized, hey, it’s prompting you to do something at the door Ethan had been trying to open before the Tall Queen in Waiting came along.
Sure enough, my wife was able to grab Ethan’s hand like an item, and then?
Um.
This happened:
Yes, I know, I know, there have been plenty of observations made about the ridiculous healing power of the herbs and first aid sprays in the Resident Evil series. You just gotta believe that you can rub an herb on that rabid zombie dog bite or whatever blob monster is slow-moving through a train or wherever the final battle is taking place. Suspension of disbelief and all that.
But to see it played out in a scene where Ethan splashes himself with what could only be the bottled nectar of the gods so he can stick his hand onto the stump of his arm like hot glue to an action figure?!
Okay so honestly this isn’t the first time Ethan’s been able to use the almighty healing item to attach a limb. It also happened back in Resident Evil 7 with his leg:
You may have missed out on this scene since it was an optional encounter in Resident Evil 7. This nifty GameSpot article by Alessandro Fillari breaks down how this is possible:
Throughout RE7, we learn more about how the Baker family turned into horrifying monsters and the source of the mysterious mold growing throughout the backwoods of Louisiana. As it turns out, Ethan and Mia had contracted regenerative powers from their exposure to the spores, which explains why both of them-along with the menacing Jack Baker-can recover from wounds.
In Ethan’s case, his regenerative powers are boosted with the use of First Aid, which will seal up his wounds and reattach some missing limbs quickly. During the early portion of your escape from the Baker mansion, players can have an optional encounter with Jack, with the stalking patriarch using his shovel to sever Ethan’s leg completely. Once the deed is done, Jack will taunt Ethan with a bottle of First Aid and tell him to fix his leg so that they can continue the chase. Ethan will quite literally put his leg back and use the first aid to heal from the wound. It’s a particularly gruesome moment, and unfortunately, many players who finished RE7 missed out on this extra bit of context.
Yep. There is actually a reason as to why this kind of, let’s call it what it is, SORCERY works. I’m kinda amazed that we got an explanation instead of just being expected to shrug it off because “healing aid.”
(There’s also this Screen Rant article by Cade Onder that has MAJOR game spoilers that add more to this GameSpot piece, but yeah, Ethan’s constant recovery from injuries is a legit plot point that dates back to his original game).
they shouldn’t have revealed what Ethan looks like in resident evil because the games have become less “what if you were stuck in the midst of a wild supernatural scenario” and more “what if you gave griffin mcelroy a loaded firearm” pic.twitter.com/SWzYalUtgX
— Ammnontet! (@ammnontet) May 8, 2021
In the past Resident Evil games we’ve played we’d see our characters limping around to indicate injury, but I can’t recall a time where the game took the time to show vivid, first-person POV perspectives of Lycans gnawing through your fingers and being strung up by hooks through your hands (which is what Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters do to you when they catch you in the castle). Magical water and regenerative abilities aside, Ethan is just so nonchalant about, well, EVERYTHING, from casually pulling his hands through them hooks, to reattaching his hand with a simple declaration of, “Good,” followed by, “Man screw this castle!”
But I guess, after a while, you just learn how to grab your hand and keep moving.
You know? If I were one of the four houses serving Mother Miranda, I’d make sure there weren’t any bottles of this mystical goop juice in the vicinity.
Or I’d just, I dunno, find a new target? Might not be worth going after a guy who sticks his hand back on like silly putty.
Still … why the hands, Capcom? Why always the hands?
(Image: Capcom)
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Published: May 10, 2021 03:42 pm