When that tentacle brutally killed Kendra Daniels at the end of Dead Space Remake, I felt genuinely devastated. Throughout my entire playthrough, I kept hoping that she would make it. She did survive until the very end, but watching her die after everything we went through together hit harder than I expected.
This was my first time experiencing Dead Space, and Kendra Daniels became one of my favorite characters in the game. Here’s why I believe she deserved so much better.
Her Growing Presence Changed Everything
Towards the middle to the end of the game, Kendra’s presence became more and more significant. She wasn’t just another voice in Isaac’s ear – she was one of his key teammates, and arguably the most important one. While other characters panicked or made emotional decisions, Kendra remained the voice of reason throughout the nightmare aboard the Ishimura.
I found myself relying on her. She monitored the state of the ship, unlocked doors when Isaac got stuck in rooms, and provided crucial information that kept him alive. She was competent, professional, and incredibly helpful.
The Strength to See Through Illusions
One moment that really stood out to me was when Kendra saw her brother – clearly an illusion created by the Marker. My heart sank. I thought, “This is it. She’s going to chase after him and get herself killed like so many others.”
But she didn’t.
Unlike Hammond, who couldn’t even bring himself to shoot a teammate who had already transformed into a necromorph, Kendra quickly realized her brother wasn’t real. She recognized the illusion for what it was and pulled herself back from the brink. That mental strength, that ability to see through the Marker’s manipulation, showed me exactly who she was: logical, strong-willed, and clear-headed.
I love strong women characters in general, and Kendra exemplified that strength in the most meaningful way—not through physical power, but through mental fortitude and rational decision-making in impossible circumstances.
She Was Actually Right
I realized that Kendra wasn’t just a good character – she was making the RIGHT decisions all along.
The Marker had compromised Isaac, Dr. Kyne, and Dr. Cross. They weren’t just seeing hallucinations; the Marker had literally implanted its blueprint into their minds. They were becoming vessels, carriers who would inevitably spread the Marker’s influence even if they didn’t want to. Isaac, Kyne, and Cross were all being actively brainwashed by an artifact that could control their actions even when they were no longer near it.
From that perspective, killing Dr. Cross wasn’t murder – it was protecting humanity. Kendra understood what the rest of them couldn’t see through their Marker-induced delusions. She was the only one who avoided direct exposure to the Marker, the only one still thinking clearly enough to make those brutal but necessary calls.
Her actions weren’t out of malice. They were born from harsh necessity to prevent the spread of the Marker’s influence. Any one of them surviving and falling into the hands of the Unitologist Church would have been catastrophic. She was trying to contain an existential threat to humanity, and she was the only one sane enough to do it.
Yes, she planned to deliver the Marker to EarthGov, believing they would keep it safe. Was that naive? Probably. But naivety isn’t the same as evil. She genuinely thought it was the right thing to do, that they would contain it properly. She wasn’t some cartoonish villain – she was someone making impossible choices with limited information in the worst possible circumstances.
The Dread of Losing Her
As the game progressed, I found myself dreading what would happen next. Every time she opened a communication, every time things escalated, I worried about where this was all heading. I kept hoping she would make it, that maybe this remake would give her a different ending.
She fought so hard to survive. She stayed rational when everyone else was losing their minds. She helped Isaac every step of the way. And she made it to the end.
But it wasn’t enough.
She Deserved Better
Watching Kendra die, seeing that brief hope in her eyes that she might actually escape, and then having it brutally snatched away – it hurt. Not because she was evil and got what she deserved, but because she was competent, strong, and ultimately right about almost everything.
Kendra Daniels was the most reasonable and logical character in Dead Space Remake. She was a strong woman who kept her head when everyone else lost theirs. She made the hard calls that needed to be made. She helped Isaac survive impossible odds.
And she deserved to live.
That’s why her death still bothers me. Not because the story was bad – the remake did an incredible job with her character. But I just wish things could have turned out differently. Kendra Daniels could have made it off the Ishimura alive. She earned that survival.
Instead, we lost one of the game’s best characters to a tentacle right at the end.
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