It almost feels strange to have Metroid's plot moving forward again after so many years. Metroid Dread was announced as an installment in the classic 2D timeline, and soon Metroid Prime 4 should be re-revealed for its own release. Dread is no small event in comparison; during the lead-up to the game, series producer Yoshio Sakamoto stated that the game was intended to be the finale for 2D Metroid's story up until that point. It certainly wasn't going to be the last game, especially if Nintendo's marketing efforts succeed in making Dread the most popular Metroid title yet.
However, this game marks a significant shift in what Metroid might be in the future. Not only that, but it also fills in some blanks regarding Metroid's lore. While this is gradually doled out over the course of the game, a lot of it can be found in the ending, which means that this article contains major spoilers for Metroid Dread.
Setting Up Metroid Dread
Metroid Dread focuses on Samus Aran's exploration of Planet ZDR. After the events of Metroid Fusion, in which Samus supposedly wipes out the dangerous X Parasites, the Galactic Federation receives a video transmission from an unknown source indicating that the X are still alive. They dispatched a special unit of seven EMMI robots (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier) to ZDR, the source of the transmission. The unit vanishes, and Samus travels there alongside Adam to investigate. By this point, Samus had reclaimed part of her original Varia Suit from the SA-X doppelganger but was still carrying Metroid DNA from her anti-X vaccine and Fusion Suit.
Unfortunately, this position of power doesn't last. Shortly after Samus arrived on ZDR, she encountered the Chozo warlord Raven Beak. This surprising face proved to be far too much for Samus to handle, levying greater battle experience and the most advanced Power Suit Chozo technology could produce. Samus loses most of her armor's functionality and is separated from her ship, but ends up being spared when Raven Beak notices her beginning to manifest a strange power. Samus is left to fend for herself against the rogue EMMI, Chozo warriors, wildlife, and whatever machinations this sinister Chozo has in store.
The Hidden History of the Chozo
Fend she does, and eventually, Samus encounters a second living Chozo named Quiet Robe. Robe expands on the Chozo lore partially revealed in Samus Returns, having been a part of it. His scientific Thoha tribe had created the Metroids to destroy the X Parasites on SR388, but after they escaped containment, the warrior Mawkin tribe led by Raven Beak sealed the Metroids underneath SR388’s surface. However, when the Thoha proposed destroying the planet to prevent the Metroids from escaping or being exploited by forces such as the Space Pirates, Raven Beak and the Mawkin massacred the Thoha so that they could use the Metroids to conquer the galaxy, coercing Quiet Robe into aiding their plans.
The Mawkin forces, and Planet ZDR at large, were promptly devastated by X Parasites that had infiltrated the Mawkins. Raven Beak managed to seal them away, but as Dread's events demonstrate, that seal didn't last. These Chozo abandoning the Metroids on SR388 for the Federation and Space Pirates to find ironically set the whole Metroid franchise in motion. On top of that, Dread reveals that one of Samus' Chozo DNA donors was Raven Beak himself, giving the two a, however impersonal, biological relationship. Raven Beak ends up offing Quiet Robe, continuing his efforts to test Samus with ZDR's many dangers. Samus and Raven Beak's final encounter is preceded by Samus realizing that Adam, her ship AI, has gradually become more insulting and demanding towards her. Destroying a communication terminal, it is revealed that Raven Beak had been the one speaking to her since she landed on ZDR.
The Bird Behind It All
The final boss fight shows two of the Chozo's last and greatest warriors squaring off for the fate of the galaxy. Raven Beak reveals that he has still not given up on his plans of mustering a Metroid army, and has set his sights on cloning the strongest Metroid to ever live: Samus Aran. The reason he spared Samus at the beginning of the game was that he saw she was gradually becoming a true human/Metroid hybrid, and wanted to clone her at max strength. The two fight, with Raven Beak proving to still be a match for Samus despite her new equipment. He even exhibits a flying phase, a power not normally attributed to Chozo that recalls the absent Ridley. Despite being injured, Raven Beak gains the upper hand and is only disabled when Samus awakens her full Metroid abilities.
Samus manifests a spiky green and red suit, evoking the image of a classic Metroid. With it, Samus regains the Hyper Beam the Metroid hatchling had conferred to her at the end of Super Metroid, as well as incredibly strong energy-draining abilities, affecting both Raven Beak and his airborne ship. A weakened Raven Beak is jumped by an X Parasite on the planet’s surface, which transforms into an amalgamation of all the game's bosses in an effort to overwhelm Samus. She easily guns it down and prepares to escape Planet ZDR before it explodes, taking the X with it. What follows is a functional recreation of Super Metroid's escape sequence, with the Metroid Suit easily blowing away anything in its path.
Farewell To Planet ZDR
However, upon arriving at her ship, Samus is faced with one final obstacle: interfacing with it while wearing the Metroid Suit would drain its power. Fortunately, the day is saved when Quiet Robe appears, having cheated death by hijacking the X Parasite that absorbed his corpse. This could be in reference to Metroid Prime's Chozo Ghosts but likely originates from the same line of thinking regarding the Chozo being a spiritual race. Quiet Robe allows himself to be absorbed and reverts Samus' suit to an earlier form. This may have something to do with his tribe apparently having the ability to control Metroids and him passing that trait over to Samus.
Regardless, Samus takes this one last gift from the Chozo and departs from the exploding planet, her latest mission complete. It's a little unclear where the Metroid storyline is going from here. Now that every relevant antagonist seems to be dead, it appears the only way forward is to have other factions compete for Samus’ DNA in future 2D games. Regardless, there's no doubt that Samus Aran will find new threats to face in the name of galactic peace.
Metroid Dread is out now on Nintendo Switch.