GAMES · STORY NOTES

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is a 2022 action role-playing survival horror game developed and published by Techland. The game is a sequel to Dying Light, and was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 4, 2022. A cloud version for the Nintendo Switch is in development. It received generally favorable reviews, with praise directed at the combat, parkour system, and open world, but criticism for the story. It sold 5 million units in its first month of release.

Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Dying Light 2 · CC BY-SA 4.0. Text adapted for this entry.

FULL SPOILERS AHEAD

The story, including the ending.

These write-ups discuss major events and outcomes for this listed work. Each source and its coverage are identified below.

Complete story — includes the ending

=== Setting ===
The game takes place after the events of Dying Light; the 2014 rabies-like outbreak in the fictional city of Harran (the setting of Dying Light) ended with the “death” of all of the people in Harran. The international organization called the Global Relief Effort (GRE) was eventually able to develop a vaccine for the Harran Virus, ending the threat of a global pandemic, but the GRE continued experimenting on the virus in secret, intending to use it as a biological weapon.
In 2021, a mutated variant of the virus, named the Tachytransmissive Harran Virus (THV), escaped a GRE lab and started a second, more deadly pandemic that spread faster than the first, sweeping across the world and causing millions to transform into monsters. In an event called "The Fall", the GRE's vaccine and "Antizin" (antidote that delays the symptoms) became ineffective against the new strain of THV, but if an individual were to be infected their symptoms could be suppressed with ultraviolet light, which could also be used to ward off and harm the infected.
By 2036, fifteen years after the Fall, much of the world's population has been wiped out, human civilization has been reduced to a handful of scattered settlements, with the fictional walled European city of Villedor being one of the largest. Originally quarantined by the GRE, Villedor was spared the worst of the pandemic thanks to its quarantine walls keeping the hordes of infected out of the city. Control of the city is split between several factions, including the militaristic Peacekeepers, the independent Survivors, and the violent Renegades.
The main protagonist Aiden Caldwell is a Pilgrim: an individual brave enough to make the dangerous trek between human settlements. He decides to travel to Villedor in order to search for his lost sister, Mia.



Plot

Aiden, a 20 year old survivor of the Fall and a Pilgrim—a brave traveler who delivers goods and information between settlements—has been making his way to the city of Villedor. After being told by Spike how to contact a man named Dylan who knows the whereabouts of Vincent Waltz, a doctor who experimented on Aiden and his sister Mia when they were children to find a cure for THV, but were separated due to a terrible incident in the lab, Aiden contacts Dylan over the radio & meets with him. However, Aiden is attacked & bitten by a Volatile and becomes infected with THV. After saving Dylan from a group of Renegades, Dylan gives Aiden a working GRE electronic key, warning him that if Waltz were to get his hands on it, Villedor would be doomed. He then instructs Aiden to take the key to the "Fish Eye", and find a woman named Lawan. Dylan proceeds to open a fan duct, and sends Aiden through before shutting & locking it. Aiden watches as Waltz executes Dylan and then proceeds to chase Aiden, making his way further into Villedor.
Aiden eventually finds his way to the Bazaar, a large settlement in old Villedor run by a group of people called Survivors. Aiden is nearly killed due to his lack of a biomarker—an electronic device that tracks the progression of THV—but is saved by Hakon, a former Nightrunner. Hakon explains that tensions in Villedor are high due to the recent murder of a high ranking Peacekeeper officer, Lucas. The Peacekeepers believe that the survivors of the Bazaar are responsible due to their hatred of the Peacekeepers, and risk of a war between the two factions seems imminent. Hakon helps Aiden obtain a biomarker and tries to smuggle him into Villedor's Central loop, where the Fish Eye is located. Players can choose to side with either the Bazaar's leaders, Carl and Sophie, or with Aitor, an officer of the Peacekeepers. Both of them promise Aiden that they will smuggle him into the Central District as both sides go to war.
Regardless of who Aiden sides with, he discovers that Hakon was the one who killed Lucas, on Waltz's orders. If players choose to help Hakon after he is shot, Aiden comes across a person who is attempting to kill him, and discovers the person is a woman. After making his way to an abandoned GRE tunnel, Aiden is met by Aitor, who may be either angry or friendly depending on the player's choices. Waltz suddenly appears in the tunnel & confronts Aiden, demonstrating superhuman abilities as he steals the GRE key from him, and kills all of the Peacekeepers except for Aitor. Aiden pursues Waltz to an abandoned car factory, where he uses the key to activate a console before the mysterious woman intervenes, incapacitating Waltz long enough for Aiden to recover the key and escape. The woman reveals herself to be Lawan, and explains that she seeks revenge against Waltz because she was also one of his test subjects. She also reveals that Lucas was murdered by Waltz after originally finding the GRE key.
With the key, Aiden and Lawan are able to enter the Central district, where they see electricity suddenly be restored to the city due to Waltz's use of the key. Aiden then meets with the commander of the Peacekeepers, Jack Matt, as well as the former leader of the now defunct Nightrunner group, Frank. They both task Aiden with reactivating the radio antenna atop Villedor's highest skyscraper so that they can broadcast messages to the rest of Villedor and the settlements beyond, and in return they can help Aiden with finding a surviving GRE doctor so that he can access the GRE database.
After reactivating the tower, Aiden learns that the GRE doctor's identity is Dr. Veronika Ryan, a Bazaar resident. Aiden returns to the Bazaar and finds Veronika, who is on the run from the Renegades. Together, they head to a GRE facility called the Observatory, which had originally been inaccessible due to being bombarded by the toxic chemical THV Genmod. At the observatory Veronica claims they can find the location of a GRE database. After accessing the database, Aiden does not find any information to help his search for Mia, but discovers that Waltz reactivating Villedor's power plant also reactivated a GRE failsafe protocol, which initiates missile bombardments to destroy Villedor. Waltz arrives to take the key, and while fighting him, Aiden loses control of his THV infection and kills Veronika just as a missile destroys the Observatory, allowing Waltz to escape with the key.
Lawan pulls Aiden from the debris, and he warns her that Waltz's experiments on him means he will inevitably fully succumb to the infection. After a deal between the Survivors, Peacekeepers, and Renegades goes horribly wrong, Aiden has a choice to either stay & help Frank, or go after a getaway van, containing members of the Renegades. Either way, once he finishes his tasks, Aiden meets Colonel Williams, leader of the Renegades & former military colonel of Villedor. Williams claims he originally stopped the missile bombardments from destroying Villedor, but Waltz has resumed them, which resulted in Waltz being able to take Williams' men. Not wanting to see Villedor destroyed, Williams tells Aiden to head for the X13 lab to confront Waltz and stop the missiles. Aiden and Lawan enter the complex and are shocked to find that X13 was supposed to be a survival shelter for GRE officials, with massive stockpiles of food, water, and basic necessities. Lawan rescues Hakon after he tries to protect them from Waltz's Renegades, leaving Aiden to continue alone. As he journeys through X13, he realizes it is the same facility where he was experimented on.
Aiden confronts Waltz, who reveals that Aiden's memories were suppressed, and that Mia is actually Waltz's daughter, who he has been trying to cure of an aggressive strain of THV, for the past 15 years since the military incident. Waltz refuses to abort the missile launches, as that would require shutting down X13, whose facilities are necessary to cure Mia, forcing Aiden to battle him. Aiden finally manages to defeat Waltz, who succumbs to his wounds, but the GRE key is destroyed in the fighting. Lawan then tells Aiden she plans to detonate explosives to destroy the missiles before they can launch, which will destroy X13 and possibly herself. Aiden must choose to either try and save Mia, or save Lawan.

If Aiden goes to save Lawan, he takes her out of X13. However, Aiden fails to stop the missile strike, which destroys Villedor and kills a majority of the population. Aiden then leaves the city due to his infection, continuing his journey as a Pilgrim. Depending on the player's choices during the game, Hakon may leave the city with him.
If Aiden goes to save Mia, he takes her out of X13. X13 is destroyed in the explosion and the city is spared from destruction. Mia dies shortly after due to her weakened condition and is buried by Aiden. Meanwhile, Villedor falls under the control of the faction Aiden supported the most. However, Aiden ultimately decides to leave Villedor due to his infection and continues his journey as a Pilgrim. Depending on the player's choices during the game, Hakon may save Lawan from X13's destruction and Lawan may leave the city with Aiden.
Sources and content license

Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Dying Light 2. HTML and reference formatting removed; headings adjusted. · Content license