Resident Evil Requiem’s Canon Ending, Explained

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Resident Evil Requiem is a horror game that many players have been eagerly awaiting. It brings back Leon S. Kennedy, a popular character who originally appeared in Resident Evil 2, and also features a new playable character from the 2003 game Resident Evil Outbreak.

There was a lot of anticipation for Requiem, as it’s the first game in nearly 30 years to return to Raccoon City, and it didn’t disappoint. RE9 delivers a moving story, introducing a compelling new female lead and revealing previously unseen sides of Leon Kennedy. The game features two possible endings, though only one is officially considered the true conclusion.

Resident Evil Requiem Tells a Shocking Story About Hope & Redemption

These games have clear, single endings. Unlike many survival horror titles, they don’t offer multiple endings based on player choices or achievements. While franchises like Silent Hill are known for having as many as eight different endings—all potentially considered part of the story—Resident Evil has always stuck to a more straightforward approach.

Requiem takes place in a secret Umbrella Corporation facility called the ARK, hidden within the ruins of Raccoon City. The ARK holds Elpis, a mysterious substance created by Oswell E. Spencer, the founder of Umbrella. Throughout the game, several people become interested in Elpis, including Grace Ashcroft, who appears to have a connection to it.

Two main antagonists in the game are also seeking Elpis: a shadowy figure named Zeno, who resembles Albert Wesker, and Victor Gideon, a researcher from Umbrella Corporation who previously worked on the Tyrant Project with Spencer. Throughout the game, the true nature of Elpis itself remains unknown.

Gideon thinks it’s a crucial item Spencer, his former boss, left behind, something he can use to carry on Umbrella’s research. Zeno, on the other hand, hopes it’s a cure for the illness affecting those who survived the Raccoon City disaster—the same illness that’s slowly killing Leon. But Leon fears it’s just another dangerous virus created by Umbrella and believes it should be destroyed.

Grace faces a crucial decision near the game’s end. Players must choose between destroying Elpis, fulfilling Leon’s last request, or unlocking it, which could unleash Spencer’s dangerous final creation upon the world. This is a high-stakes choice with significant consequences, so players should be ready for potentially negative outcomes if they make the wrong decision.

Requiem Has Two Endings & One of Them is Absolutely Heartbreaking

The game has two different endings based on Grace’s choice regarding Elpis. If she destroys it, the ARK facility starts to fall apart around them. Grace and Leon escape just in time, but Grace is left to helplessly watch as Zeno attacks Leon.

Leon was already fatally ill with an infection that couldn’t be cured, but Zeno still attacked and killed him with a close-range gunshot to the face. With his last breath, Leon heartbreakingly whispered, “At least I could save you.”

After everything that happened in Raccoon City, this feels like a fitting end for Leon – a chance for him to find peace knowing his efforts mattered, despite feeling like he let so many down. The story closes with Grace leaving the facility and sadly admitting she wishes she could have saved him.

Although it’s shocking and upsetting to see Leon, a fan-favorite character, die, the scene is very short. The game ends almost immediately after Zeno kills Leon, implying the player made a poor choice. This death is considered the ‘bad ending’ and isn’t the true, official conclusion of the story.

After the credits finish, players can immediately revisit Grace’s pivotal decision and change the story’s outcome. This convenient feature lets you jump right back to the moment she chooses to destroy or save Elpis, so you don’t have to reload an earlier save and replay parts of the game.

Capcom included a helpful feature that lets players see both endings without needing to start the game over after the impactful scene of Leon’s death.

Resident Evil Requiem’s Good Ending Puts a Whole New Spin on Umbrella’s Founder

The ‘good ending’ of Resident Evil Requiem is considered the official story conclusion, and will probably be important in future Resident Evil games. To get this ending, players have to go against Leon’s wishes and choose to release Elpis. Throughout the game, there are clues suggesting Elpis could be a cure for the virus affecting Leon and other Raccoon City survivors, such as Sherry.

The game’s true ending reveals that Elpis isn’t simply a cure for the T-virus – the one responsible for the Raccoon City outbreak. It’s actually an antiviral that works against all viruses created from the original ‘progenitor’ strain. These progenitor viruses, including both the T-virus and the G-virus, were developed by the Umbrella Corporation under the direction of Oswell E. Spencer, with the intention of being used as biological weapons.

In the climactic battle against Victor Gideon and Zeno, Elpis demonstrates its ability to heal Leon from the deadly Raccoon City Syndrome he’s been suffering from. More broadly, it can reverse the mutations caused by bio-organic weapons, effectively turning monsters and super-powered individuals back into normal people.

Players witness the antiviral drug quickly heal Zeno, who, like Leon, is suffering from the Raccoon City Syndrome. Zeno hopes Elpis will be his cure, and it works faster than anyone anticipated. However, Zeno is surprised to find that the drug doesn’t just heal him – it also reverses all of the physical changes he’s undergone.

Zeno is a puzzling character in Requiem. He’s introduced without much explanation, and players never even get to battle him. But clues – like his appearance, incredible speed and strength, and Gideon calling him an “imitation” – strongly suggest he’s a clone of Albert Wesker, the main villain from the Resident Evil series.

Although Albert Wesker seemingly died in Resident Evil 5, fans have wondered if he could still be alive for nearly twenty years. Given Umbrella Corporation’s history of cloning important people – as seen with multiple clones of Grace in Requiem – it’s plausible that they also cloned Wesker.

Ultimately, he demonstrated that people could actually evolve thanks to the T. virus. Unlike most who were transformed into monsters, he mutated into someone with extraordinary abilities, almost like a superhero.

Zeno shared the same genetic mutations as Albert Wesker, but Elpis completely removed them, leaving him as a normal human. Grace uses Elpis to heal Leon, saving his life and giving him the power to confront Victor Gideon. Gideon wants to control Elpis because having the cure for all viruses would give him control of the world. He might eliminate Leon, Grace, and Zeno in the process, and no one would ever know.

Okay, so Leon totally takes down Gideon, and it’s wild because Gideon transforms into something straight out of the Nemesis fight from the original Resident Evil 3 and the newer remake! Thankfully, with Gideon gone, Leon and Grace manage to get out of the ARK facility with Elpis. They’re hoping to use Elpis to create a cure for the Raccoon City Syndrome – which means they might finally be able to help everyone affected, including characters we love like Jill, Chris, Claire, and even Carlos!

Elpis isn’t simply a weapon against the viruses created by Umbrella Corporation. Surprisingly, Oswell E. Spencer—the founder of Umbrella—was the one who originally developed it. It was his final act before Albert Wesker killed him. Realizing the devastation caused by his life’s work, Spencer created this antiviral cure as a last attempt to offer the world hope.

This offers a fresh perspective on Spencer’s character. Previously, he’s been seen as the one who initiated the events, almost destroyed the world himself, and equipped others to finish the job if he failed.

In Requiem, Spencer is shown as a more understanding and ultimately regretful character, striving to correct the errors of his past. While Elpis can’t eliminate every Bio-Organic Weapon, and these creatures are evolving to overcome it, the Resident Evil universe finally offers a glimmer of hope for a better future after decades of struggle.

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2026-03-06 21:46