From the second we saw Marcus Fenix fighting off a Locust in E-Day’s cinematic reveal trailer, and he gazed out at Kalona under attack alongside his friend Dominic Santiago, we knew the city wouldn’t last. If anything, its eventual downfall is the perfect analogy for Emergence Day as a whole: Quick and brutal at first, taking the lives of most of its populace, and then slowly, painfully grinding away the rest.
But setting the obvious aside, Gears of War: E-Day simultaneously feels like a prequel and a fresh start for the franchise. It’s a new path The Coalition can take to not only create new stories and conflicts around our favorite heroes but to flesh out existing events. First things first, however, we need to delve into E-Day’s ending. Spoilers follow, so if you haven’t completed the campaign, this is your one warning.
After the Locust emerge and attack Kalona, Pendulum Wars veterans Marcus and Dom, alongside Lucas Reyes and Mags Carter, are forced into action and try to save as many people as possible. They’re eventually drafted into the city’s defense under Captain Akila Grey, as Colonel Trench takes command of the Gears. Between creating a defensive line, destroying an Imulsion shipment, and recovering Dr Dalia Fabbri for unknown reasons, the newly constituted Bravo Squad has their hands full. As if things couldn’t get any worse, they discover one particular Locust leader, Vraahk, who leads his Scorched Legion on a campaign of violence. It doesn’t help that they have a penchant for eviscerating and immolating COG members of the utmost importance (including Gears).
Funnily enough, in a morbid way, things get even worse. Trench pulls Bravo Squad and other forces from the frontline to receive General Iver at Kalona’s airfield, which goes horribly wrong when the Locust attack. How do they have such a nasty penchant for being in the right place at the right time and always getting the drop on the Gears? When Bravo Squad ends up in the tunnels beneath the city and discovers an entire army is en route to Kalona, it’s revealed their communications have been compromised.
They rendezvous with Grey back on the surface and tell her about the oncoming assault, but that doesn’t matter because Trench has ordered an evacuation of Kalona, with Fort Vigil seemingly serving as their last stand. Little do they know that he planned to trap civilians on the bridge crossing over, using them as bait for the attacking Locust before detonating it. Bravo Squad has none of it and goes to help the people, and while Trench is still keen on blowing up the bridge, Vraahk suddenly kills him.
Despite holding up in Fort Vigil, it’s in no shape for a war of attrition. There’s only one option left, and it’s escaping to the sea by reactivating the warship, Resolute. As Bravo ventures to restore comms with High Command, they meet Anya Stroud. She tells them that they can rally at Port Farrall but reaffirms that Kalona is effectively done for. Why can’t the COG send reinforcements? Well, as any Gears fan knows, it’s because this isn’t the only city under attack. The war is happening everywhere on Sera, including Ephyra, where Dom’s family is located. Bravo Squad also happens upon Timgad Refinery and, upon further investigation, discovers research for an improved Lightmass Missile (which is why Trench wanted to save Dr Fabbri in the first place).
With the Resolute reactivated back at Fort Vigil, Bravo Squad readies to leave with Kalona’s residents, but must contend with Vraahk. While Dom is seemingly ready to lay down his life – which definitely won’t become something to worry about in the future – Marcus intervenes. Because despite their only initial connection being Carlos, Dom’s deceased brother, who Marcus was closer to during the Pendulum Wars, Kalona’s siege has brought them closer. And he doesn’t want to lose another brother (which, sadly, will become something to worry about in the future). He subsequently retrieves Trench’s detonator, blows up the bridge with Vraahk on it, and the Resolute abandons Kalona.
Despite his earlier freakout about his family, Dom isn’t giving up hope and wants to venture to Ephyra to find them. He and Marcus then vow to fight the Locust until the bitter end. With hindsight being 20/20, and the entire original trilogy (and beyond) as proof, we know that’s truer than anything else. And that’s how Gears of War: E-Day ends.
As is already obvious, this doesn’t directly transition into the first Gears of War because E-Day takes place 14 years prior. A lot happens in that space, and if The Coalition wanted, it could explore so many different sides of known conflicts. The destruction of Halvo Bay, courtesy of Baird’s Kilo Squad in Judgment? Marcus was there at the airport, leading Omega-Two. The Hammer of Dawn counterattack that changed Sera as a whole, including characters like Michael Barrick and Dizzy Wallin? Marcus (along with Dom and Tai Kaliso) was there, and their actions ultimately saved many who would have otherwise been disintegrated.
I wouldn’t put it past the development team to speed-run some of these conflicts, jumping ahead months or years at a time, if only to give players a first-hand look at what happens. After all, we’ve heard plenty about the Hammer of Dawn strikes. Seeing them up-close would be something else entirely, and traversing multiple locations would set the proverbial next game apart from E-Day.
It would also be interesting to witness the Fall of Landown, perhaps from Sergeant Hudson Connors’ perspective, despite his failed attempt to save the city. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve suddenly jumped to other Gears’ perspectives. See the start of Gears of War 4.
However, one major conflict that The Coalition has to revisit is the Fall of Ephyra, where Marcus infamously deserted his allies to try and save his father, Adam Fenix. The battle is intense enough, whether it’s the Battle at Chancery Bridge or the last stand at East Barricade Academy. But if E-Day is the start of a new trilogy, the developer could save this for the potential third title, perhaps with an Epilogue that feeds directly into the very first game’s events.
Regardless, there is so much that could be done from a character perspective. We could witness, first-hand, the depression that led to Maria abandoning Dom – as harrowing as it is, we never really saw her dealing with the deaths of their offpsring. We could see more of the relationship between Marcus and Adam, if for no other reason than because it would make up for their lack of time together at the finale of Gears of War 3. And then there’s the entire history with Marcus and Anya, even if much of it may be in the background and in cutscenes as opposed to the frontlines. It could provide some happier moments to balance out all the dread.
With how much work went into E-Day, The Coalition not reusing a single asset from the older games and rebuilding everything from scratch, I don’t think it will abandon this new thread and, say, pick up where we left off at the end of Gears 5. Then again, it didn’t seem like the team would make a prequel after that game’s massive cliffhanger, so really, who can say? Whichever way you look at it, it’s clear there are plenty more stories to tell on Sera, and more importantly, that they’re worth telling. Even if all roads inevitably lead to the same destination – death, decay, destruction, et al. – it’s the heartfelt stories that ultimately define the journey.
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