Resident Evil Village has been a resounding success for developer Capcom, with players enjoying the game's balance of horror and action and the twisting story that follows Resident Evil Biohazard protagonist Ethan Winters as he fights to save his daughter Rose from the despicable Mother Miranda. Out of the many characters that players encounter throughout the game, Mia Winters faces one of the most terrible fates, as she apparently loses her life within the game's opening moments. However, things become much more complicated later on.
[Warning: Spoilers for Resident Evil Village below]
The beginning of Resident Evil Village sees Ethan Winters and his wife Mia having moved to Europe with the help of Chris Redfield, trying to put the events of Resident Evil 7 behind them. Mia's fate is seemingly decided in the opening moments, which sees Chris and his team attacking the home and shooting Mia multiple times. Rose is taken away and Ethan follows, leaving players with the assumption that Mia is deceased.
It is later revealed that Mia wasn't really ever in the beginning of Resident Evil Village at all. During Ethan's long trek through the Heisenberg factory, he runs into Chris, who reveals that the Mia he shot was actually Mother Miranda in disguise. Her ability to shapeshift allowed her to assume the identity of Mia without Ethan noticing, giving her the chance to get close to Rose and kidnap her for her evil plans involving her deceased daughter Eva. There's no indication that Chris knows where the real Mia is, with logic dictating that she is most likely dead.
Mia's Grave And Why It's Missing
Mia's grave (or lack thereof) is acknowledged during Resident Evil Village's post-credit scene, which sees a teenaged Rose taking a bus ride to visit Ethan Winter's grave. Once she arrives, she finds her father's headstone and has a conversation with him, apologizing for taking so long to visit and blaming her tardiness on some "tests." During this interaction, players will notice that there is no grave for Mia beside of her husband's, leading to speculation about where she could be located.
The likely reason that Mia does not have a grave alongside her husband is because she is still alive, which makes sense when looking at the conclusion of Resident Evil Village. During the playable Chris Redfield section of the game, Chris stumbles upon Mother Miranda's laboratory, where he finds the real Mia Winters locked in a cell. After Chris lets her out, Mia explains that Mother Miranda was keeping her alive so she could run experiments on her, potentially trying to learn more about the Mold that Mia was exposed to during her time at the Baker house in Resident Evil 7.
Mia isn't shown again until the very end of Resident Evil Village, when she is seen on the helicopter with Chris and Rose as they escape the village following Ethan's great sacrifice to destroy the Megamycete. Seeing Mia alive on the helicopter seems a logical explanation as to why she does not have a headstone beside of Ethan's, as she was never dead during the events of the game - and likely is still alive in Resident Evil Village's post-credits scene. It remains to be seen what role she will play in any potential sequels, or how she feels about Rose working with Chris against the BSAA.