Hope has always been dangerous. The ancient Greeks understood this, which is why they buried it at the bottom of a box full of plagues and called it mercy.
In Resident Evil Requiem, Grace Ashcroft stands before a console that could either save the world… or end it. Let’s unpack what’s going on with the endings of Requiem and what those endings mean for the franchise.
Destroy Elpis is the Bad Ending
The final arc of Requiem takes place inside the research facility Ark, hidden under the ruins of Raccoon City. You’ll switch between Leon Kennedy and Grace until you hit a segment where Leon has to wait for the elevator. After that, you regain control of Grace who takes Leon to the Pandora section of the underground facility, where the duo face one of the game’s antagonists, Zeno.
If you decide to destroy Elpis, Grace will hear the voice of Umbrella’s co-founder Oswald E. Spencer expressing his regret in the role he played in the destruction the T-Virus caused, followed by Leon’s voice saying Elpis needs to be destroyed. This emboldens Grace to type in the wrong password “Destruction” in the console.
The Elpis device only has one correct password and any incorrect entry will trigger its self-destruct mechanism. It doesn’t take long for the explosions to rock the control room, as the platform everyone is standing on starts to collapse. Leon is able to get Grace back on the bridge then makes a final stand against Zeno.
Unfortunately, Zeno’s mutated form is no match for Leon, who is weak from a disease caused by the latent strain of the T-Virus called Raccoon City Syndrome. Zeno takes out his pistol and shoots Leon in the head, killing him. A guilty, grief-stricken Grace makes her way back to the surface when rescue helicopters arrive to retrieve her.
And that’s it. The game ends without giving the player any clue of what Elpis is or what the consequences of destroying are. The credits roll and the game ends with real resolution, just unease at the possibility you made the wrong choice.
Thankfully, you can restart the game from your last autosave. This puts you back in control of Grace right before she finds Leon.
What is the Release Elpis Ending?
If you decide to select “Release Elpis,” Grace has a flashback of her mother Alyssa Ashcroft and Spencer respectively calling her their “hope.” In Spencer’s case, he viewed Grace as the key for salvation. This gives Grace the strength to type “Hope” as the code for the console.
The console releases a cylinder filled with glass vials of Elpis. Grace tries to explain to a confused Leon that Spencer actually regretted the destruction the T-Virus unleashed. Before she can finish talking, Zeno pushes her aside and injects himself with Elpis believing it’s a new virus that will amplify his powers. Instead of getting stronger, he’s wracked with pain as his powers begin to fade.
That’s when Grace reveals that Elpis is actually an anti-viral agent capable of killing any Bio-Organic Weapons and viruses based off of the Progenitor virus.
Victor Gideon appears, fascinated by this turn of events. The existence of Elpis renders all virus-based weapons useless, throwing the world order into chaos since the global Bio-Organic Weapons market would crash. While a furious Zeno confronts (and is soon killed by) Victor, Grace injects Leon with a vial of Elpis.
Victor takes a sample of Elpis and enters the code to activate Ark’s self-destruct sequence. The platform collapses and plummets to the ground. Cured and back at full strength, Leon seemingly kills Victor, who falls off the edge. However, he emerges moments later as a Nemesis, one of the most dangerous mutants in Resident Evil. After an intense battle Leon eliminates Victor for good, along with any remaining remnants of Umbrella.
What Happens After You Get the Good Ending in Requiem?
Realizing they’re both trapped, Leon and Grace sit down and wait for the end until agents from the BSAA Alpha team arrive at the scene.
Grace is sitting in the back of a vehicle in the containment zone, Leon approaches her. He tells Grace that the nightmare is finally over. He also mentions there’s a chance Elpis can save Emily, Grace’s clone. The young blind girl was transformed into a mutated creature that Leon seemingly killed, though he states he didn’t hit any of her vital organs.
Before the credits, we learn that Emily is still alive and has been rescued. The knowledge of the underground Ark facility becomes public knowledge. The government renews investigations into Spencer and the defunct Umbrella Corporation for their role in creating virus-based weapons. The US government is now in the awkward position of distancing themselves from Umbrella as rumors of their connection swirls. Also, Alyssa Ashcroft is posthumously credited for her part in exposing the corruption.
Post-credits has Grace back at her job as an intelligence analyst for the FBI. Not only is she friends with Leon now, but it’s implied she adopted Emily and is now her guardian.
The game ends with the hint that a new villain will rise in the future, which ties into the Pandora Box themes Resident Evil Requiem has incorporated. There will always be terror, fear, bad actors willing to do unspeakable things to achieve their goals. But there will always be an Elpis of some sorts, a hope that everything will be made right in the end.
