The free-to-play sequel to Overwatch prime, Overwatch 2, is arriving in just over two weeks much to many fans' excitement. Several announcements of new maps and additional heroes, such as the support hero Kiriko, have been officially revealed in anticipation of the launch of Season One, but classic characters like Ana and Widowmaker still deserve the spotlight.
It is clear that September will be a month of many lasts for the original game, but there is still plenty of content for Blizzard to explore within Overwatch 2. The story of Overwatch has been told through comics and a series of beautifully rendered cinematics. While many characters' origin stories have been established, there are still many loose threads that should be tied up, such as Widowmaker and Ana Amari's tragic storyline.
Widowmaker May Not Be Fully Reprogrammed
Overwatch 2 will add a PvE story-mode in 2023, which may be the perfect time to answer fans' questions about Widowmaker and Ana. For those unfamiliar with Widowmaker's background, her real name is Amelie Lacroix, and it is believed that she was once an innocent civilian before becoming a cold-hearted assassin. She was married to Gerard Lacroix, an agent of Overwatch who was in charge of operations against the terrorist organization, Talon. Widowmaker's official Overwatch biography states that, "after several unsuccessful attempts to eliminate Gerard, Talon decided to change its focus to his wife."
Widowmaker was then kidnapped and subjected to neural reconditioning that rendered her a sleeper agent with a broken will and suppressed personality. When she was rescued by Overwatch agents, they thought she was in normal condition but two weeks after her return she murdered her husband and returned to Talon to continue as an assassin. Voice lines in the first Overwatch and the comic storyline "Retribution" in which Amelie leaves flowers at Gerard's grave have led many to question whether or not Widowmaker is slowly emerging from the brain-washing. The agent's storyline is quite dark and sad, especially if Amelie is aware of what's been taken from her underneath the conditioning.
Ana Knew Widowmaker Before She Was With Talon
When Ana was first introduced to Overwatch, people had already suspected she had a history with other characters since she had already been featured in art and videos. A voice line in the first game confirms this somewhat, with Ana saying that "Gerard was a fool to love someone like you," followed by Widowmaker responding, "You don't know anything about him." The second line does leave the implication that Widowmaker may still have an attachment to her late husband because she is defending him.
Fans speculate that Ana knew Gerard because she was an operative and co-worker at the same time and therefore knew Widowmaker as his wife by extension. The Overwatch comic "Legacy" explains that Ana had the opportunity to take out Widowmaker during a mission, but hesitated when she recognized the person she was aiming at. This mistake cost her dearly, as Widowmaker then shot Ana in her eye and left her mortally wounded. The older sniper then retired herself, allowing people to believe she was killed in action, before rejoining Overwatch in a mission regarding Jack Morrison (Soldier 76), and Gabriel Reyes (Reaper).
There truly is much left to explore in this relationship, as Widowmaker could have the opportunity to regain her personality and perhaps deal with the repercussions of killing her husband and going after the Overwatch agents that he worked with. There is also potential to see Ana forgive Widowmaker for her actions or even an entirely unexpected twist. After all, Overwatch is no stranger to implementing tragedy into their character's storylines, and it could be that Blizzard has no plans of redemption for Talon's cold sniper.
Overwatch 2 launches in early access on October 4 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.