If you haven’t already beaten the Dead Space Remake, or the original Dead Space, you may want to do that before reading this; you may end up being spoiled. If you’re OK with that, continue on.
In the original Dead Space and the Dead Space Remake, once Isacc Clarke finishes off the Necromorph Hive Mind, he makes his way to USG Ishimura Executive Shuttle and flees Aegis VII.
Before his fight with the Necromorph Hive Mind takes place, Kendra Daniels tells Issac that Nicole has been dead the entire time, and he knew this; he just didn’t want to accept it. After the fight. Issac escapes Aegis VII, and starts to watch old footage that Nicole sent him. During this, he hears Nicole’s voice. Turning his head, a hallucination of Nicole attacks him, and the game fades to black.
When Nicole attacked Issac, I wasn’t expecting this when I defeated Dead Space 15 years ago, and this jump scare nearly scared the crap out of me. For those wondering, this also is the same ending in the Dead Space Remake.
However, should you manage to collect all 12 of the Markers, you’ll unlock the Dead Space Remake special ending, things play out differently.
In this special ending, once Issac Clarke defeats the Hive Mind and escapes the USG Ishimura Executive Shuttle, he isn’t attacked by Nicole. Instead, the new ending changes things.
As Issac leaves Aegis VII’s orbit, you can hear him talking to Nicole. During this conversation, Nicole asks Isacc if they’re going home, as there’s so much work to do. To which Issac tells her, soon, but first, there’s something he has to build first.
It’s a surprise for Nicole, and Isacc thinks she’ll like it.
During this special ending, we see Nicole approach Issac from the rear and put her hand on his shoulder. We never get to see Nicole’s face, as it’s purposely cut off from the camera.
Afterward, the camera pans backward, behind Issac and Nicole, and we can see some drawings on the ground. These are similar drawings that we’ve seen throughout the game.
Here’s where the speculation begins.
This Nicole that Issac is conversing with is likely the same one from the original ending. This ending also hints that Isacc had been affected by the Marker, more than initially thought, and hadn’t accepted that Nicole was dead. As for what he is going off to build, in my mind, it’s more Red Markers, which are made-man Markers based on the original Black Marker that was found on Earth.
This ending is a nice setup for Dead Space 2, which starts with Issac being committed to an asylum, for the past three years of his life – but seeing how he was all messed up from the Marker, he doesn’t remember anything, as he’s experiencing dementia. In the new special ending, he goes off and builds something.
It changes the story quite a bit. In the original game, it was EarthGov that basically took advantage of Issac’s state, forcing him to provide them with details on how to create new Markers. It was never explained how Issac made his way to the asylum, and the original ending was left open for interpretation.
In the special ending, during these missing years, he could have created more Markers, and just forgotten about it, had his mind wiped, or whatever, then made his way to the asylum. The special ending does a better job of clarifying things, but also creates another timeline of sorts.
Who made the new Markers? EarthGov or Issac? In Dead Space 2, we learned that EarthGov, used Issac’s mental breakdown to get plans to build more Markers. But with the special ending, seemingly, it was Issac who went off to build the Markers. I suppose we’ll never know the entire story. Not unless there’s a Dead Space 2 Remake that’s being planned that changes the history in the books and spin-offs.
Dead Space Remake is now available for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
