Five years after its release, Metroid Dread continues to resonate, particularly for its powerful and haunting ending. The game, which revitalized the dormant Metroid series in 2021, delivered a tightly designed Metroidvania experience marked by challenging combat and a narrative that has left a lasting impression.
Metroid Dread's story begins with Samus Aran dispatched to Planet ZDR by the Galactic Federation to recover lost EMMI robots. These robots were sent to the planet to locate the last living X parasites, a threat to Samus given her near-fatal encounter with them in Metroid Fusion. However, the mission takes a disastrous turn when Samus is attacked by a Chozo warrior named Raven Beak, leaving her stranded and stripped of her power-ups.
What unfolds is a horror-tinged escape. The reprogrammed EMMI robots now hunt Samus, driven by a directive to extract the Metroid DNA within her. This DNA, integrated into Samus at the start of Fusion to save her life after an X parasite attack, inadvertently made her a target.
While the game explores various plotlines, the core of Dread's narrative lies in Samus's evolving relationship with her own body. Beneath the surface of Chozo lore is a deeply personal horror story about a woman gradually transforming into the very entities she has dedicated her life to destroying.
Samus's connection to the energy-draining Metroid species has always been complex. Initially depicted as straightforward antagonists, the series later introduced nuance. Metroid 2: Return of Samus concluded with a baby Metroid imprinting on Samus, leaving the player to contemplate the implications of eradication. Super Metroid further emphasized this by having the baby Metroid sacrifice itself to save her, framing Samus not just as a hero, but as a weapon.
Dread amplifies this internal conflict. In one of the game's most striking moments, Samus instinctively attempts to drain an enemy's energy, mirroring a Metroid's behavior. She catches herself, averting the action and instead blasting the foe with her cannon. The terror on her face as she realizes her near loss of bodily control underscores the war raging within her, symbolized by her two distinct arms.
This internal struggle culminates in Dread's unsettling conclusion. During a climactic battle with Raven Beak, Samus loses full control of her body. The Metroid DNA takes over, manifesting in a Kafkaesque metamorphosis into a monstrous green suit. While this transformation unleashes her ultimate power against Raven Beak, it remains a deeply disturbing moment. Samus literally becomes a Metroid, the species she helped drive to extinction, raising questions about her agency and the nature of this power.
Even after returning to her normal state, Samus departs as a hunted individual. This ambiguity sets the stage for the forthcoming Metroid Ravenous, which appears to lean even further into these themes. Its initial trailer suggests Samus has been reduced to a more primal, animalistic state, with her Metroid-like instinct to drain enemies now a core survival mechanic and the Metroid Suit playing a more significant role.
Whether this represents the loss of the Samus players know or her embracing the power of a species historically marginalized by humans, Ravenous has the potential to add an exciting new dimension to Samus's long and complicated relationship with the Metroid species, provided the narrative is handled with care.