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Spoiler Metroid Dread Spoiler/Story thread (OPEN SPOILERS)
- Thread starter Skittzo
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He wanted an army of Metroids
Samus became a Metroid
He wanted an army of Sami
That was Big Bird's plan.
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Use the Metroids as a bioweapon to conquer the galaxy.
Lure the last Metroid, Samus Aran, and test her throughout ZDR to unlock her Metroid abilities.
Clone Samus Aran and form an army of Samus Aran Metroids.
Don't get infected by the X-parasite (oops)
OP
OP
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But why impersonate Adam? What does that accomplish? Why does he let Samus get stronger? It's not like her DNA is changing as she gets more upgrades, right?
The dormant Metroid genes are coming to the surface but if you're cloning Samus why would it matter if the genes are activated or dormant, that wouldn't make a difference to the clone.
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He presumably wanted to test Samus to prove that she actually possesses the abilities that he believes she does. It's not like anyone has been injected with Metroid and Chozo DNA before.
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The impersonating Adam bit is fucking hilarious, I will admit. It was so goofy that I actually rolled my eyes. But I don't think that's any sillier than Darth Vadering Raven Beak. I think Metroid is best when it leans into camp.
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I dunno, that feels like a cop out. Like, wouldn't you want her to avoid unleashing the X parasites that eventually do you in? Why let her in there?
Doesn't make sense to me. Unless he like needed the X to somehow activate the Metroid DNA?
Also I'm pissed they didn't go back and X-ify all of the bosses, X Kraid would've been amazing.
Yeah I thought it was funny but I'm not sure why it makes sense, story-wise.
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I think that is a part of it. At the very least fighting all those X after her Metroid DNA had awakened served as a catalyst for further growth/evolution. Wasn't the first enemy Samus actually used her Metroid draining abilities on an X-infected Chozo Warrior?
I think the answer is just to assume this is incorrect, even if it doesn't really make all that much sense. We don't really know how their cloning process works; perhaps he can skip straight to the Metroid phase with a sample from an awakened Samus.
Given Adam is an AI at this point, my assumption was that he copied the program from Samus' ship while she was out and tweaked it to lead her where he wanted.
Part of me also wonders if it was really Raven Beak every time or not. Quiet Robe actually interferes pretty hard by disabling the E.M.M.I., and if it's actually Raven Beak Samus is reporting to he's 100% aware and does nothing about it.
As far as I can tell, the only thing releasing the X accomplished for him was reanimating Quiet Robe and forcing him to activate the E.M.M.I. But Quiet Robe still doesn't seem to be on Raven Beak's side after this, so I'm not sure I buy that he predicted that.
I thought Raven Beak impersonating Adam was just pre-final fight scene; not since the moment Samus woke up. Nothing seemed off with "Adam" since he was still leading Samus to all the relevant powerups.
Now it feels like a missed opportunity gameplay-wise. Would have been more interesting to have Adam/Raven Beak be an unreliable narrator and lead Samus to "safe" areas that would lead to shenanigans like falling into E.M.M.I. areas.
Now it feels like a missed opportunity gameplay-wise. Would have been more interesting to have Adam/Raven Beak be an unreliable narrator and lead Samus to "safe" areas that would lead to shenanigans like falling into E.M.M.I. areas.
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Why I think Birdman let Samus go through the entire world - increasing her powers along the way before clashing with him?
I'm thinking Birdman was very power hungry, after all.. not once but twice I think, he mentioned "Power is Everything" which his entire persona seems to be based on.
His DNA in Samus with very strong and powerful Metroid DNA probably makes him very excited for a clone - the thought of having a clone army of a Mawkin warrior and a super powerful Metroid probably is unresistable.
I'm just spitballing, who knows what's right.
It's a weird story :>
I'm thinking Birdman was very power hungry, after all.. not once but twice I think, he mentioned "Power is Everything" which his entire persona seems to be based on.
His DNA in Samus with very strong and powerful Metroid DNA probably makes him very excited for a clone - the thought of having a clone army of a Mawkin warrior and a super powerful Metroid probably is unresistable.
I'm just spitballing, who knows what's right.
It's a weird story :>
The plot of the game is basically his plan C. All of his other fans fail and then he finds out about Samus being half metroid somehow so then he makes one last plan.
In the scene, fake Adam says something like "do as I say, just as you have been" implying it's definitely not the first time.
There is a noticable shift in tone for that scene though, even before he gives it away. I do wonder.
They already pulled this in Fusion. It's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure it's one they should've revisited for Dread - especially since Samus' trust in Adam is rather important here.
Raven Beak is pretty arrogant and thinks Samus can't possibly beat him, as evidenced by the fact he keeps telling Samus that while impersonating Adam.
"Adam" doesn't call Samus "lady" even once after the opening cutscene. It's pretty heavily implied that it's 100% Raven Beak from the moment gameplay actually starts.
Forgot about that from Fusion. I should dig out the 3DS and play through Fusion again.
"Adam" was really helpful up till that point he reveals himself; Raven Beak should have dropped the galaxy domination scheme and looked into a career as a galactic dispatcher.
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Bad Bird? More like, Dad Bird
Yeah not too sure what his plan was besides "Metroid" and just kinda going with the flow. Maybe having the Metroid genes activated meant that he wouldn't have to activate them in any potential clones, which would probably save time, which is why he had Samus go through the whole ZDR to get them to activate them.
Of course maybe having one of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy get even more powerful before coming to face you wasn't the best plan, but Dad Bird didn't get to where he was by thinking through his plans.
"Hadar sen olmen. So yeah you'll want to turn on the power first before trying anything else"
Yeah not too sure what his plan was besides "Metroid" and just kinda going with the flow. Maybe having the Metroid genes activated meant that he wouldn't have to activate them in any potential clones, which would probably save time, which is why he had Samus go through the whole ZDR to get them to activate them.
Of course maybe having one of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy get even more powerful before coming to face you wasn't the best plan, but Dad Bird didn't get to where he was by thinking through his plans.
"Hadar sen olmen. So yeah you'll want to turn on the power first before trying anything else"
He was helpful because he needed Samus to evolve her Metroid DNA. It's why he leads her to where the X are and sets them free.
He's also talking up Raven Beak constantly, making it clear it's just him being arrogant.
His initial plan was to just extract the Metroid DNA. But when Samus shows Metroid skills in her first fight he decides to let her live and have her evolve her Metroid DNA before cloning her. It's why he has her fight the X parasites cause Metroids are their natural enemy so it would help in evolving that.
how did i miss this
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Not exactly story related, but can I just say I'm really glad the 7th Emmi was a non-event like the first? Don't get me wrong, I like them, but after having dispatched of 5 of them already, having to do yet another one would have been old news at this point.
I assume he thought he had a chance of winning Samus over somehow. He was just very overconfident in his ability to overpower her if that didn't work.
I also didn't realize it until after the reveal. In hindsight it really should have been obvious something was off.
I think Raven Beak is definitely the most evil Metroid villain because he had the technology to remove Adam from the story and instead of letting us be in nice, quiet isolation he decided to impersonate the boring AI and make us sit through long conversations again.
He wasn’t as bad to listen to than Adam in Fusion at least lol.
He wasn’t as bad to listen to than Adam in Fusion at least lol.
OP
OP
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So what you're saying is Metroid Dread is a cinematic sad dad Nintendo game.
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I'm not sure Raven Beak can ever be described as "sad". Even when he's turned into an X he just seems pissed
Maybe a Bad Dad or a Mad Dad game
Edit: Wait Quiet Robe is also probably Dad so maybe it qualifies
OP
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Samus having two dads is the exact kind of modern plot twist that Nintendo needed.
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Also, "why can't Metroid crawl" is now a valid question
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At least Metroid can now slide and doesn't afraid of anything.
No, Gray Voice is the other Chozo whose dna Samus has.
He didn't. Samus has two human parents. They died. She was saved by Chozo, two of which (Gray Voice and Raven Beak) then donated some of their DNA to Samus so she could better survive on their planet Zebes. So she has four parents, I guess.
I agree. It was cool to see Kraid again for a change.
Jimmy Joe
Good ol' Jimmy Joe
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I assumed that Raven Beak's plan was to put Samus through the ringer in specific hopes that the trials would further awaken her abilities. In fact, he kind of says as much in his last speech as Adam, right? Everything up to that point was according to his plan, and her going Metroid on the final E.M.M.I. was the realization of it
It's also why he bothers fighting her instead of just using his overwhelming, superior power (because his suit draws power directly from his starship, rather than being self-contained like Samus's suit)—he wants to see if she'll awaken even furhter. Whoops!
The reason he did this is that he needed to see what kind of stimulus is necessary to awaken her Metroid powers. Once he did that, he could replicate that stimulus for her clones. It's why he didn't kill her right at the jump and take her DNA then—she was an invaluable test subject who would teach him how to train and raise his invincible army
It's also why he bothers fighting her instead of just using his overwhelming, superior power (because his suit draws power directly from his starship, rather than being self-contained like Samus's suit)—he wants to see if she'll awaken even furhter. Whoops!
The reason he did this is that he needed to see what kind of stimulus is necessary to awaken her Metroid powers. Once he did that, he could replicate that stimulus for her clones. It's why he didn't kill her right at the jump and take her DNA then—she was an invaluable test subject who would teach him how to train and raise his invincible army
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Really all of them were X ified except Kraid and Drogyga.
Kraid should’ve been a cool optional fight or something
Jimmy Joe
Good ol' Jimmy Joe
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The X that eats Kraid's corpse is the same X that infects Raven Beak!
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So I was very curious about this! Is there a video or a clip that shows that? I totally missed it while playing!
Jimmy Joe
Good ol' Jimmy Joe
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It's never shown or said explicitly
But the X monster that Raven Beak turns into? That's Kraid! Then its head splits open and it's Raven Beak!
Heron
Koopa
I thought the story worked well in one way, poorly in another.
As a sequel to Fusion after 19 years, it was so good. Picked up where Fusion left off, and actually dealt with its plot threads. Samus's metroid DNA, what happened to the X parasites etc. Samus was a silent, competent badass as she should be. And we finally got to see Chozo in action, which was a treat for Metroid fans. The story beats were well placed throughout the story - just one or two here to keep you going, because story is not really the point here. The balance was good. The X escaping was a great moment - never expected that. Quiet Robe getting killed and X'd was another good one.
But as a standalone story it was just too silly. All of this scienc-y nonsense about DNA awakening secret powers and battling for supremacy inside Samus - it's more spiritual than science. "Oh you had Thoha genes, and they were like, good with Metroids so that's why the DNA inside you was repressed." It's nonsense, and the whole game is full of this nonsense, right up to the very last moment when Quiet Robe is somehow able to act as himself despite being an X - something that nothing in the series has ever suggested is possible.
Look, I don't need my Metroid games to be serious, hard sci-fi. But I need them to be a little more serious than this. Just a mild whiff of Other M to this one. Not much - and it wasn't until thinking about it after beating it that it bothered me, but you can tell that it's by the same guy as Other M at the end of the day.
As a sequel to Fusion after 19 years, it was so good. Picked up where Fusion left off, and actually dealt with its plot threads. Samus's metroid DNA, what happened to the X parasites etc. Samus was a silent, competent badass as she should be. And we finally got to see Chozo in action, which was a treat for Metroid fans. The story beats were well placed throughout the story - just one or two here to keep you going, because story is not really the point here. The balance was good. The X escaping was a great moment - never expected that. Quiet Robe getting killed and X'd was another good one.
But as a standalone story it was just too silly. All of this scienc-y nonsense about DNA awakening secret powers and battling for supremacy inside Samus - it's more spiritual than science. "Oh you had Thoha genes, and they were like, good with Metroids so that's why the DNA inside you was repressed." It's nonsense, and the whole game is full of this nonsense, right up to the very last moment when Quiet Robe is somehow able to act as himself despite being an X - something that nothing in the series has ever suggested is possible.
Look, I don't need my Metroid games to be serious, hard sci-fi. But I need them to be a little more serious than this. Just a mild whiff of Other M to this one. Not much - and it wasn't until thinking about it after beating it that it bothered me, but you can tell that it's by the same guy as Other M at the end of the day.
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I mean, I'm pretty sure the "Oh you had Thoha genes, and they were like, good with Metroids so that's why the DNA inside you was repressed" bit can be explained by the fact that the Thoha did, in fact, create the Metroids. It's not unreasonable to assume the Thoha literally genetically programed in a way for them to control the Metroid, and if fact Quiet Robe much says that's what happened.
Heron
Koopa
But that doesn't affect how Metroid and Thoha DNA would interact within Samus, though. The Thoha would have genetically created the Metroids to obey them, sure. But created their genes to be somehow subservient to Thoha genes if used as a vaccine... in a human? Why? They couldn't have forseen any of that. Nah, it makes no sense. It's just something you see a lot in pulp sci-fi - genes "battling" inside a character no different than if they had swords and spears. It's silly.
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I'm...not entirely sure why the vaccine bit or the human bit is so important here?
Heron
Koopa
Because the Thoha would have genetically engineered Metroid DNA to make Metroids obey Thoha.
They would not have engineered Metroid DNA to somehow be subservient to Thoha DNA if ever combined in a third party species. Which is what is occurring in Metroid Dread. And they certainly wouldn't have made it so that the Metroid DNA could overrule that if it just discovered its "killer instinct" (lol)
Heron
Koopa
Oh come on, silliness was a huge problem in Other M! MB, Melissa Bergman? A cute blond woman as Mother Brain? I mean... a cute blond woman... turned out to "be" Mother Brain. It defies all belief!
Ridley as a pokemon? The absurdity of forcing Samus to go without her heat insulation? The thumbs down gestures?!?!
The game was ultra silly and it was a huge problem. Just not as big as some of the other crazy issues that mess had.
Jimmy Joe
Good ol' Jimmy Joe
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I'm not saying Other M didn't have silliness, just that the silliness was only ever a factor in the game's raging, status-quo-worshipping misogyny
Dread's silliness and Other M's silliness don't belong in the same conversation because their structural effects are very different
Dread's silliness and Other M's silliness don't belong in the same conversation because their structural effects are very different
JR436
Probably looks better in a dress.
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Dread has silly aspects. Other M is just straight up stupid, even disregarding the misogynistic angles.
I do appreciate how Dread truly feels like the conclusion to the story threads that had developed up to this point. The Metroids and X are gone, the Space Pirates are a non-entity, and the rogue Chozo have been defeated.
The gallery unlockables push this further, particularly with ensemble screen of all the major players of the Sakamoto games up to this point.
I hope they don't immediately renege on this and bring back the Metroids or Ridley straight away. They probably will - Ridley almost certainly - but I hope they come up with an entirely new threat that isn't related to this arc.
Besides, if the Federation Force tease is anything to go by, the Metroids will play a major role in Prime 4. Assuming that this takes place in the same timeframe as the other Prime games - between Metroid and Metroid II - then there shouldn't be any huge inclination to bring them back for a Dread sequel.
Raven Beak for the next Smash btw.
I do appreciate how Dread truly feels like the conclusion to the story threads that had developed up to this point. The Metroids and X are gone, the Space Pirates are a non-entity, and the rogue Chozo have been defeated.
The gallery unlockables push this further, particularly with ensemble screen of all the major players of the Sakamoto games up to this point.
I hope they don't immediately renege on this and bring back the Metroids or Ridley straight away. They probably will - Ridley almost certainly - but I hope they come up with an entirely new threat that isn't related to this arc.
Besides, if the Federation Force tease is anything to go by, the Metroids will play a major role in Prime 4. Assuming that this takes place in the same timeframe as the other Prime games - between Metroid and Metroid II - then there shouldn't be any huge inclination to bring them back for a Dread sequel.
Raven Beak for the next Smash btw.
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Nanomachines i mean dna
Linkstrikesback
Starman
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Now that's something I disagree with. Samus does ponder whether the X are capable of rational thought in the fusion briefly, but discards the idea because she's gonna kill them all anyway.
The X are however, absolutely capable of sentience if they've infected a host that had that similar level of intelligence. First, the SA-X understanding and sacrificing itself at the end of fusion to give Samus the ice beam in order to defeat a omega Metroid shows they do have a quite high level of intelligence, though at the time, you could have maybe argued that's self preservation more than anything.
During the story, it's a big point that the way that the X infiltrated ZDR in the first place is that one of the soldiers were replaced with an X clone and they got in that way. If they were immediately violent and/or incapable of following the behaviour of their host to a significant degree, that wouldn't have worked.
Indeed, that the X forms of all the wildlife replicate their original behaviours so thoroughly suggests that's the case for them infecting most creatures. We just never really see many infected creatures that have any reason to be anything but extremely hostile to samus. The particularly intelligent ones we know of, like Kraid, Ridley, Samus Aran-X were m mostly hostile to her in the first place. Samus Aran X is literally a clone of a person who often explodes entire planets in order to wipe out whole species that are a danger to her, after all.
Quiet robe is probably the only person shown infected on screen that would try and search for something other than violence as a situations immediate solution, so it's not that surprising that they behave differently to everyone else shown infected.
