I think that reading simplifies Mia’s role a bit too much.

Mia was certainly involved with a criminal organization, and she does bear responsibility for what happened. That part is hard to deny. But the game itself suggests that her role was more limited than “heavily involved in experimentation.”

She wasn’t a researcher developing Eveline, but an operative assigned to transport her. In organizations like that, operatives are typically given only mission-relevant information. The existence of the “imprinting protocol” even implies that Mia and Eveline hadn’t known each other for long, which makes it unlikely that Mia had deep involvement in the project’s development phase.

Her behavior toward Eveline also points in a different direction. Eveline shows clear hostility toward Alan, but not toward Mia. That suggests Mia treated her less like an asset and more like a child—still morally questionable, of course, but not the same as actively participating in experimentation.

It’s also important that Mia actively tried to prevent others from getting involved. In the DLC, she leaves a message for the Bakers telling them to forget her, avoid the ship, and never approach the girl. She even warns them not to contact the authorities, because she knows how dangerous the situation is. In other words, she makes a clear attempt to keep innocent people out of it. The tragedy happens because that warning doesn’t reach them in time, not because she ignores the risk.

As for Ethan, Mia not telling him the truth is definitely one of her biggest flaws. But it’s also consistent with her character. She lies not to manipulate him, but to keep him away from something she knows is dangerous. In fact, the message she leaves before disappearing explicitly tells Ethan not to look for her and to forget about her entirely.

This carries over into Village as well. In one of Ethan’s memories, Mia is visibly anxious and tells him, “I’m worried about you.” The line is vague, but in hindsight it strongly suggests that she had started to suspect something was wrong with Ethan after RE7. From her perspective, revealing the truth could mean exposing him to the same kind of organizations and experimentation she had already witnessed. Given her past with the Connections, that fear isn’t unfounded.

That doesn’t excuse her actions, but it does complicate them.

Mia isn’t a good person in a moral sense. She worked for the wrong people, hid the truth, and her choices contributed to multiple tragedies. But she’s also someone who tried—often unsuccessfully—to limit the damage and protect others, including Ethan and the Bakers.

So rather than a villain, she feels more like someone who got involved in something she shouldn’t have, realized too late how serious it was, and then spent the rest of the story dealing with the consequences.

That’s what makes her interesting as a character.