Did Anya Kill Jones? Project IGI 2 Ending Explained

Context

In Mission 19 (The Launch Pad), David Jones pushes the big red button, disabling the rocket launch system and redirecting the rocket to a safe detonation site, we switch to the final cutscene. Jones reports that he has accomplished his mission and asks for the getaway route, Lenahan answers him instead, his congratulations dripping with sarcasm. We then see a triad of helicopters advancing on the launch site. IGI agents open gunfire on the enemies and two soldiers get blown back by an explosion. 

The scene transitions to Anya in the control room. She has a silenced gun in her right hand and her left hand on her hip. She walks over to Jones, who is sitting in the corner of the room, his face blackened by dust and smoke. He says, ‘I wondered who was making such a racket. What would I do without you, Anya?’ To which she replies, ‘Someone’s gotta take care of you, David.’

What Could Have Happened between Anya and Jones?

This scene is definitely a talking point due to its ambiguity. Let’s deconstruct the possible scenarios.

Anya stands over Jones in the control room after Mission 19

Anya and Jones Have a Romantic Moment

Although the aftermath of a hazardous mission that ended in bullets and bombs is hardly a time and place for romance, it’s quite possible that Anya and Jones are no longer able to conceal their feelings for each other. They have a long history of working together with a healthy camaraderie, and Anya is often the only friendly human contact Jones has during his lonely expeditions. 

In IGI 1 Mission 6 (Get Priboi), Jones joked about his mother warning him about ladies like Anya. When they resumed contact during the midpoint of IGI 1 Mission 8 (Re-supply), Anya seemed genuinely happy. When she told Jones that Harrison would give him a fresh set of clothes, he asked if a hot bath would be part of the package. After IGI 1 Mission 14 (Finding the Bomb), both of them sit in the middle of the warehouse—while Anya self-administers a health injection—and discuss how the whole thing was a black-ops. Notice the similarity between the way Jones stands over her after the events of IGI 1 and the way she stands over Jones when he completes his mission in IGI 2.

As his mission director, Anya has to be consistently present with Jones during extended periods of time. So, it’s possible that they started as two colleagues who admired each other’s abilities and ended up as two people with a romantic interest in each other. So, when she tells Jones someone’s got to take care of him, she could mean that she’s been doing it all along in a professional capacity, but now wants to do it in an intimate way. Something about the way she slowly and suggestively says his name—David, not Jones—hints that she is expressing interest in him.

IGI 2 was harder than IGI 1 by a long shot. Realising that Jones was constantly in peril, she must have wanted to unburden her heart just in case they didn’t make it out alive or if he perished during future missions.

Anya brandishes a gun while telling Jones, 'Someone's gotta take care of you, David.'

Anya is a Villain Who Kills Jones

If we play the cutscene more than once or twice, paying close attention to Anya’s intonation and movements as well as the slow vertical tracking shot that is used to reveal her identity, we might have second thoughts.

On a YouTube video covering the topic of whether Anya becomes Jones’ lover or executioner at the end of Mission 19, some users shared their thoughts, which I have edited for clarity:

@vishalnarayan7812 It is common for most intelligence agencies to incarcerate or assassinate top agents. These agents are either retired or put to sleep by an execution squad so that they do not get a chance to become enemies of the state.

@majed8192 [I have reason to believe that Anya might have killed Jones because of] the menacing way she walked in there holding a silenced pistol, a weapon often used for assassinations. And the words “take care of” are a euphemism for “kill”.

If Anya was indeed a villain, the developers did a mighty fine job of brainwashing us into believing that she had Jones’ back all along only to stab it at the last moment. Many young players would have shipped the pairing of brainy, beautiful Anya with rugged Jones. In fact, many YouTube commenters (who were teenage boys when they first played Project IGI) confessed to having a crush on Anya. Playing as Jones would have made them feel connected to her and even fantasise a relationship between the two that might never have existed.

Players could have yielded to the misconception that Anya and Jones were in love simply because they were the two main characters with the most dialogue in the game. However, just because a man and a woman work closely together, it doesn’t mean there is a romance blossoming between them, or even the potential for it. Anya’s interest in Jones’ well-being and aliveness could have been purely professional.

As for her last words in the game, they certainly sound sinister in that sultry whisper. Even the way she holds the gun aloft as she approaches Jones is peculiar. It’s almost as if she’s preparing to point it at him and pull the trigger. From the way he is sitting on the floor, you can tell he’s exhausted, vulnerable, and unsuspecting. Anya stands over him. It’s possible that she wanted to kill him after IGI 1 Mission 14 but couldn’t do it because she was injured and needed him to shoot them a clear and bloody path out of the tunnels.

Another reason we have to believe that Anya was on the opposite side is because betrayal is a prevalent theme in IGI 2. Phillip White and Robert Quest betray Jones and the entire organisation. In another instance of two people turning against each other after intense collaboration, we have Wu Xing who assassinates White by the logic that “every tool wears out eventually”. A third betrayal by Anya would have rounded out the theme.

Ekk, a rogue ex-KGB agent and political extremist, was the only villain of IGI 1 and a woman. IGI 2 is notable for the all-male cast of antiheroes (Jach Priboi, Pat Lenahan) and villains (Robert Quest, Phillip White, Zaleb Said, Wu Xing). Anya would have added some interest and variation to the profile because she’s not a villain anyone would see coming.

Jones asks Anya if she's all right after she defuses Ekk's suitcase bomb

Final Verdict

So, all that said, we repeat the question: Did Anya kill Jones? 

Unfortunately, dear readers, the answer to that question is a big fat “We don’t know.” Cliffhangers can be frustrating, but they’re better than certitude in that they open up a world of interpretive possibilities. Just like there are many ways and means to play each mission, there are many ways the encounter between Jones and Anya could have played out. Being a prequel, IGI: Origins would have supplied context for the events of IGI 1 and 2, but not a resolution to the final cutscene of IGI 2. Sadly, it was dropped due to Antimatter shutting shop. 

The unresolved ending will always be a talking point for players old and new. A good thing, because that means the game and its memory will remain alive even if Jones didn’t.