RE Village: Mother Miranda’s Important Umbrella Connection, Explained
Capcom's Resident Evil Village drops players into a deadly village filled with horrors, with a story that takes place three years after the end of Resident Evil 7. Ethan Winters is searching for his daughter Rosemary, who's been kidnapped by an enigmatic villain named Mother Miranda.
[Warning: Spoilers for Resident Evil Village below]
The entirety of Resident Evil Village's story sees Ethan fighting to survive against Miranda's "children." However, the villain's true role in the larger Resident Evil franchise isn't revealed until near the end of the game, when she confronts Ethan face-to-face.
Outside of her appearance in Resident Evil Village, Mother Miranda actually has an important role in the Resident Evil series at large, and a direct connection to the iconic Umbrella Corporation. It's easily missed in the game, so here's an explanation on how RE Village's Mother Miranda is connected to Umbrella.
Oswell E. Spencer is a hugely important character in the Resident Evil series, as he's one of the founders of Umbrella Pharmaceuticals. Of course, this also means he's one of the key members in creating the infamous T-Virus and starting a deadly trend of bioweapons. The Spencers were one of the most prestigious, and wealthiest, families in all of Europe, and this allowed Oswell a lot of freedom to travel and explore. At some point in his exploration of Europe, Spencer stumbled upon the village and met Mother Miranda.
Near the end of Resident Evil Village players control Chris Redfield as he infiltrates Mother Miranda's lab. Inside the lab are a bunch of different notes that shed light on the story, including correspondence between Spencer and Miranda. Apparently, Spencer became Mother Miranda's apprentice and learned all about viruses and using them on humans. This inspired him to start researching things like the T-Virus, but his goals were quite different from Mother Miranda's.
All Miranda wanted was to resurrect her daughter Eveline, who died from Spanish Influenza in the early 1900s. Spencer, on the other hand, wanted to use this knowledge to create a "utopia" and control the evolution of humanity. Their differences in vision would eventually cause Spencer to leave the village and seek other partners, but he remained in contact with Miranda.
This is a huge revelation for the Resident Evil franchise, as without Mother Miranda it's possible Umbrella never would have been created. In the same way, The Connections from Resident Evil 7 was formed in the wake of Umbrella's fall, and that led to their experiments on Eveline and the involvement of Ethan and Mia Winters. It creates a loop of cause and effect that ties Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village to the series at large.