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Resident Evil Requiem has two endings: a good one and a very bad one, and each involves Elpis and whether you choose to release it at the end of the game. This all comes down to one decision that Zeno forces Grace to make. The villain will demand that Grace release Elpis, and she can either agree to do so – or defy him and destroy Ark instead.
However, Elpis isn’t what Zeno thinks it is, and the final twist at the end of Resident Evil Requiem dictates which ending you unlock, whether there’s a final boss fight, as well as who lives and who dies. Naturally, spoilers lurk below.
How to unlock the best ending in Resident Evil Requiem
To unlock the best ending in Resident Evil Requiem, choose to release Elpis when pressed by Zeno.
While some players may want to defy Zeno and do the opposite of what he says, those who’ve been following the story will know that Elpis isn’t another nasty virus – it’s a cure for any T-Virus-based infection, so releasing it actually saves the day.
Not only that, but it means Leon will survive the game and not be killed by Zeno. Instead, Zeno and Gideon will begin to bicker, only for Gideon to kill Zeno and mutate into a big monster. After this, Leon will take the villain down, and he and Grace will be rescued by Chris Redfield’s Hound Wolf Squad.
If the player chooses not to release Elpis, then the cure will be lost. Leon, now doomed by Raccoon City syndrome, will give his life to save Grace, who’ll then escape to a sad ending. There will also be no final boss fight, no satisfying Zeno death, and no closure on Emily’s fate. And presumably, Sherry Birkin and everyone else infected with Raccoon City Syndrome will also die.
Resident Evil Requiem ending explained
Both Gideon and Zeno believe that Elpis is a new super virus, and each wants to exploit it for their own ends. Gideon is a devoted follower of Oswell E. Spencer, Umbrella’s founder, and seeks to continue his vision. Zeno, however, is strongly hinted to be a grown-up member of Project W and one of “the Wesker children”.
These were genetically altered children whom Spencer raised as his acolytes, including Albert and Alex Wesker. Zeno is working with The Connections, who were responsible for what went down at the Baker house in Resident Evil 7 – something Alyssa Ashcroft, Grace’s mother, was investigating. The Connections had worked with Lucas Baker and Mother Miranda from Resident Evil Village, developing bioweapons to sell on the black market.
Unlike Gideon, Zeno wanted to forge his own path, like Albert Wesker, and be free from Spencer’s shadow, believing Elpis was the way. The Connections would have Alyssa killed because they believed she knew too much and also thought that her daughter, Grace, was the key to releasing Elpis, but they misunderstood what Elpis really was.
In reality, Oswell E. Spencer felt crippling guilt after the destruction of Raccoon City and the fall of Umbrella, especially after bioweapons started popping up all over the world. Sometime before Resident Evil 5, Spencer gave up his ambitions to “become a god,” accepted his mortality, and agreed to an interview with Alyssa Ashcroft. He was aware that she was a survivor of Raccoon City and not among the various forces hunting for him, as by now, Spencer was an international fugitive.
Elpis is hope
Spencer revealed to Alyssa that he had developed a vaccine for the T-Virus that could be used against all strains and could effectively neutralize the threat forever. This is what Elpis really was, and it was hidden in Ark, underneath Raccoon City. Spencer also told Alyssa that he had adopted a baby named Grace, whom he called his “hope,” and that he had given the child a home to make up for the terrible things he had done.
Sometime after this, Grace was given to Alyssa to adopt, as Spencer suspected that the BSAA would soon catch up to him, or worse, Albert Wesker would. Spencer then fled to one of his mansions (also infested with bioweapons) and awaited his inevitable fate. Wesker would arrive and kill Spencer, learning the truth about Project W, before Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine could take him into custody, sparking the events of RE5.
After seeing Alyssa’s interview with Spencer, Grace would type “hope” into the computer in Ark, releasing Elpis and giving the world a cure for all of Umbrella’s wrongdoings. This allows Leon to cure himself and Sherry Birkin of their illness and defeat Gideon after he murders Zeno. The pair would then be rescued, and Leon would receive a message from Chris Redfield. The BSAA also recovers Emily, and, as she was adopted by Alyssa, Emily is adopted by Grace.
Finally, the truth about Raccoon City is revealed to the world, something the late President tried to do in Resident Evil 6, and The Connections are exposed to the public. However, a squad of them kills some BSAA agents in Raccoon City and escapes with an unknown prize, leaving the door open for a possible Resident Evil 10.
FAQs
Yes, the game essentially gives you a binary choice: release Elpis or not. You only have to choose to release it to unlock the good ending. There are no other stages or conditions you need to meet.
Zeno and Albert Wesker (along with Alex) were test subjects in Project W, also known as the Wesker Children Project. They are essentially manufactured agents created by Umbrella to be the next form of human evolution. Spencer created them to see if he could create superbeings, transfer his consciousness into one of them, use the T-Virus to accelerate human evolution, and then rule over it as a god.
Albert Wesker and Zeno are effectively twins, or possibly clones of each other. Albert became a researcher and troubleshooter for Spencer before betraying him. Zeno’s history is a mystery, but he too likely worked for Spencer before Umbrella’s fall.
In the end, Elpis was a cure for the T-Virus. Now, there have been many vaccines for viral agents in Resident Evil, but Elpis is the building block for creating more of them and containing any future viruses that stem from the original. It’s the Holy Grail in the fight against bioterror.
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