You’ve beaten the final boss in Metroid Dread and watched the ending cutscenes, and now you’re left scratching your head about what just happened. The story is told with only a small amount of dialogue throughout the game, so you may be left feeling confused if you didn’t pick up on everything that happened. If you need some of the missing pieces filled in, we’re here to help. Here’s the ending explained in Metroid Dread.
***This guide contains spoilers about the entire Metroid franchise, including events leading up to Metroid Dread as well as (obviously) Dread’s ending. Continue reading at your own risk if you haven’t played the games and would like to experience the stories on your own.***
Ending Explained in Metroid Dread
Important Backstory
Before we can fully explain Metroid Dread’s ending, it’s important that you understand the backstory of what happened prior to the events of the game. The opening cutscene gives a brief overview of the events of Metroid Fusion, but by the end of Dread, you might not totally remember all of it, or maybe you didn’t even fully understand it when they did explain it.
Samus was infected with a parasite called X during the events of Metroid Fusion. This nearly cost her her life, but she was saved after being given a vaccine containing Metroid DNA. By the end of Fusion, both Metroids and X Parasite were believed to be extinct, with the only known Metroid DNA remaining being inside of Samus.
At the beginning of Metroid Dread, the Galactic Federation received supposed footage of the X Parasite on a remote planet called ZDR, meaning it’s not actually extinct as previously thought. Samus decides to investigate, but upon arrival, she is attacked by a Chozo named Raven Beak, who ultimately lets her go. This is where you start playing in Metroid Dread.
About halfway through the events of Dread, Samus meets another Chozo named Quiet Robe, who is friendly. He shares information about Raven Beak’s plan to use Metroids to rule the galaxy, and that since Samus is the last remaining lifeform with Metroid DNA, that he wants to capture her for this purpose.
Quiet Robe also states that he and Raven Beak are the last two remaining Chozo on ZDR. Samus then watches Raven Beak kill Quiet Robe for being a traitor. Near the end of the game, we see an X Parasite infect the lifeless body of Quiet Robe.
Dread’s Ending
Immediately before the final battle against Raven Beak, we learn through a cutscene that Raven Beak was imitating the voice of Samus’s computer, Adam, in order to trick her. He wanted her to be at her full ability before leading her straight to him.
Raven Beak wanted to use the X Parasite in order to clone her at her strongest and make an army of the most powerful Metroid to ever exist due to the Metroid DNA in her body.
Before the battle, Raven Beak also drops the bomb that he was Samus’s Chozo DNA donor as a child when she was orphaned and raised by the Chozo race. This creates a biological connection between the two, which is why he refers to her as “his daughter” before the fight starts.
After Raven Beak and Samus battle, a cutscene occurs in which Samus’s true powers are awakened: she becomes a full Metroid, with her suit transforming to fit the look. We then see Raven Beak become infected by the X Parasite, but he is no match for Samus with her full Metroid powers. She defeats him using a powerful hyper beam, which is a result of the temporary ability granted to her from the baby Metroid at the end of Super Metroid.
Samus, still transformed as a Metroid, escapes the collapsing planet of ZDR with seconds to spare. She hops into her gunship and is about to blast off, but the real Adam in her computer warns her that attempting to start the ship as a Metroid will drain it of its energy, dooming her to perish on ZDR.
If you’re confused about this, think about how actual Metroids latched onto Samus to drain her of her energy in previous games. The Metroids were originally engineered as a natural predator to combat the X Parasite, draining them of life.
When all hope for Samus seems to be lost, Quiet Robe appears behind her on the ship. At this point, you probably thought, “How is he alive? We watched him die!”
Well, Quiet Robe was infected by the X Parasite too, so this is actually his clone. Because the X Parasite also retains their hosts’ memories, Quiet Robe remembers her and acts benevolently towards her at this moment.
The Quiet Robe clone sacrifices himself, allowing himself to be absorbed into Metroid Samus. The X Parasite DNA basically counterbalances her Metroid DNA. This lets her return to her normal form and fly her gunship to safety. Samus escapes ZDR as it explodes in the background behind her, in traditional Metroid fashion.
And that’s the end of the game! Hopefully that clears things up for you now that you have the ending to Metroid Dread explained. Be sure to check back with Twinfinite for more Metroid-related tips, tricks, and guides, and let us know in the comments if you need help with something else in the game.
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