Warning: This article contains spoilers for Remnant 2.
Summary
- Remnant 2's ending reveals the true identity of the Keeper, who is responsible for the unchanging Labyrinth. He tasks the player character and Clementine with gathering the pieces of the Index key.
- The final boss of Remnant 2 is Annihilation, a formidable opponent with fast and hard-hitting attacks. Players should rely on long-range weapons and stay in one place to defeat it.
- Despite their efforts, the player character and Clementine are unable to defeat Annihilation. Clementine absorbs the universe into herself using the Index, leading to a reset. The game's ending reflects its cyclical nature and leaves players with unanswered questions.
Remnant 2's ending may seem unsatisfying at first glance, but a secret post-credits scene gives a little more context to what might be coming in the future. Remnant 2 is a sequel to Remnant: From the Ashes, both of which are Soulslike third-person shooters with procedurally generated dungeons and bosses. They both occur in a post-apocalyptic universe corrupted by an invasive, plantlike species called the Root, which travels from planet to planet, wreaking havoc and destroying all life. The Root and its various variants make up the bulk of the enemies in Remnant 2, and ultimately, the threat it presents leads the Traveler and their allies to a final showdown.
Remnant 2 picks up roughly 20 years after the original Remnant and its DLC ends. The original game and its DLC, Subject 2923, focus on the catastrophic damage inflicted by the Root's overgrowth and the implications of the mysterious Dreamer Project that first brought these wooden wretches to Earth. They implicate a particular Dreamer named Clementine, who is said to have escaped the project and traveled to another world and who becomes a major character in Remnant 2. Players must then gather the pieces of an interdimensional key - the Index - ahead of a final showdown with the Root.
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The Keeper Reveals His True Form Near The End Of Remnant 2
Remnant 2's ending reveals some details about the mysterious Keeper's identity. In the beginning, Clementine rescues the Remnant 2 player character from near death. She's soon dragged through a World Gate by a mysterious entity. When the player finally catches up, they meet the individual responsible for pulling her through - the Keeper. The Keeper is responsible for the only static, unchanging world in the game, a strange and confusing place called the Labyrinth. He charges the player character and Clementine with gathering the pieces of the interdimensional Index key.
No matter how a player's run of Remnant 2 starts and how it plays out, it always ends the same way. The Keeper appears as a giant eye in the sky for the majority of Remnant 2. Once the player has gathered all the pieces of the Index, however, he'll reveal his true, ghostly, humanoid form and explain the crux of his plan.
The Keeper has discovered that the Root's corruption, which has now spread throughout the entire universe, comes from a single source. "Cut the problem off at the root," he says, "and the afflicted worlds may heal." Using the Index, the Keeper opens up a portal, and together, the player character and Clementine step through.
Annihilation Is Remnant 2's Final Boss
At long last, the player character faces off against Annihilation in the final showdown of Remnant 2. It won't be an easy one - after all, nothing in Remnant 2 is. Annihilation is fast and hits hard, but its attacks are clearly telegraphed. In the first phase, players should watch for its ground stab, which can be chained up to three times before spawning homing projectiles that need to be shot down. In its second phase, it'll sweep the arena with its massive sword, then follow up with lightning strikes and a Blight-inflicting tentacle smash. Annihilation can rapidly switch between forms, briefly swapping back to its first phase to keep players guessing.
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The trick to beating Remnant 2's final boss is to stay in one place (preferably the middle of the arena) as much as possible and use a long-range weapon to hit Annihilation when it's far away. If the player is having trouble beating Annihilation, it's never a bad idea to go in with an experienced and communicative co-op team so that everyone can back each other up.
Remnant 2's Ending Sees Clementine Absorb The Universe
Despite their best efforts, the player character and Clementine are unable to defeat Annihilation. Clementine begins to panic, and the Keeper appears regretful and explains to the player character that if destruction and containment are both impossible, only two options remain: let the Root win or reset the entire universe.
Clementine resigns to her fate and seizes the Index from the Keeper, using it to draw the entirety of the universe into herself in the form of an ethereal white light. The screen goes black, and all that remains is the white-glowing Index as the credits roll. This may be a bit disappointing to players who expected a bit of closure from Remnant 2's ending, but there's more.
Remnant 2 Has A Secret Post-Credits Scene
Remnant 2 also has a secret, albeit very brief, post-credits scene that automatically skips if the player skips the credits. Once the last of the credits roll by, the Keeper takes the stage once more. He crosses to the Index, gazes at it wordlessly for a few moments, and then turns his back. At that moment, the Index shatters into shards of brilliant light, which spread throughout the universe. The people and buildings that previously dissipated into energy are regenerated as triumphant music plays. The player character appears in an unknown field, seemingly asleep, but wakes up suddenly with a sharp gasp as the screen fades to black.
For one thing, Remnant 2's ending reflects the ever-repeating nature of its world. Since campaigns are procedurally generated, many choices may affect the plot's outcome. Once the player finishes one, they're encouraged to re-roll and forge ahead for an entirely different experience. The total universe reset that occurs at the end is representative of the game's cyclical nature - as soon as it ends, the player can start over.
However, the actions of the Keeper in this final scene could be setting up a future release of DLC for Remnant 2. His apparent exemption from Clementine's universal absorption means that there's something deeper going on. The ways this could play out are almost infinite but mostly revolve around the questions of why the Keeper was exempt, and what does he know?
The Keeper may be an emanation from outside the game's normal universe, which would explain why he's not absorbed by Clementine - but not why he knows so much about the Index and the Root. He may also be more directly responsible for the game's events - after all, he is the one who pulled Clementine through.
The other mystery Remnant 2's DLC might revolve around is Clementine's location after the universal reset. Everyone else appears right back where they were before the game began, so that could apply to Clementine too. If she is elsewhere, it's possible it's some mysterious place reserved only for those who have touched the Index and incorporated with the material world. Another option is that she has transcended humanity to become a deity.
No matter how it's interpreted, though, only one thing is clear. For the moment, there are no definitive answers to the questions posed by Remnant 2's ending. Three DLC packs have been planned for the game, but so soon after its release, no one really knows what those look like or when they'll be released. For now, players will have to make their peace with not knowing; their questions will remain unanswered until more information about Remnant 2's DLC is revealed.
