Central Unit room

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Central Unit room
Game	Metroid Dread
Planet/Ship	ZDR
Area	Artaria Cataris Dairon Ghavoran Ferenia Hanubia
Notablefeatures	Central Unit Door
Significance	Location of Central Units
Inhabitants	Central Unit, Rinkas, Central Unit Cannons, Butterflies, Shelmit, Muzby

"Central Unit rooms" are recurring rooms on ZDR in Metroid Dread. Each E.M.M.I. Zone contains one, serving as the location for each Central Unit, which Samus must destroy to claim the Omega Cannon and defeat the area's E.M.M.I.

Description

Visually, these rooms are mostly identical, and are positioned deep into E.M.M.I. Zones. They often require new abilities to access. Each room features a resting dock for the Central Unit, from which it can detach, that is connected into the wall apparatus. Multiple upright tanks with bright lights are present behind this. Beside each Central Unit's resting dock is a pair of Chozo characters that read "CU", likely meaning Central Unit. The rooms are sealed by unique Central Unit Doors. Once the Central Unit in each room is destroyed, the E.M.M.I. is alerted and the Zone's alarm triggers, causing the Chozo characters and tank lights to flash red. Each room can be revisited, although there is little point to doing so. Both Artaria rooms are entered from the left, and Cataris, Ghavoran and Ferenia from the right.

The first Central Unit room has a dark blue color; additionally, there are cables strewn about the floor and hanging from the ceiling, as well as pipes embedded into the walls. After Samus's encounter with the first E.M.M.I.-01P, she arrives in this room and finds the Central Unit already destroyed, with its eye bulging out and a swarm of Butterflies on it. She kneels beside it and touches the exposed brain, absorbing a unique energy into her Arm Cannon that transforms it into the Omega Cannon. This weapon allows her to open the door to leave and destroy 01P. When Artaria freezes over, this room is inaccessible since the door to it in the funnel has been frozen. It can be accessed again once Experiment No. Z-57 is killed.

Samus encounters a second Central Unit in Artaria's E.M.M.I. Zone. She Slides into its chamber through a short tunnel, before landing and witnessing the Central Unit levitate into the air. This marks her first battle with one. Once defeated, Samus is able to absorb its energy and open the door out. E.M.M.I.-02SM is shown detecting the Central Unit's destruction, and rushing toward Samus to stop her.

The final Central Unit room is visited in Hanubia after the Central Unit has been destroyed. When Samus is accosted by E.M.M.I.-07PB, she completely drains its energy with her Metroid powers, and somehow the Central Unit's as well without directly contacting it. By the time she accesses its room, it is completely destroyed, with no trace of Rinkas or Central Unit Cannons. She passes through it one final time during the escape sequence. A Shelmit and Muzby are present here in a futile last attempt to stop Samus from escaping ZDR. Embers emanate from the floor in the room, with two fires burning on either side of the Central Unit in the background.

Should Samus die when fighting the E.M.M.I. in any Zone, a checkpoint places her in the Zone's Central Unit room, before the door is opened, so she may try again.

Connecting rooms

Samus acquires the Omega Cannon.

Artaria (1)

• "Central Unit access" (via Central Unit Door)

Artaria (2)

• "Ventilation chamber" (via tunnel and Central Unit Door)

Cataris

• "Chozo robotics factory" (via Central Unit Door)

Dairon

• "E.M.M.I. Zone main chamber" (via Central Unit Door)

Ghavoran

• "Zipline chamber" (via Central Unit Door)

Ferenia

• "Water platform shaft" (via Central Unit Door)

Hanubia

• "Final E.M.M.I. Zone exit" (via tunnel)
• "Final E.M.M.I. Zone foyer" (via tunnel)

Inhabitants

• Central Unit
• 7 Butterflies (first Artaria room only)
• ∞ Rinkas (spawning from up to 3 generators)
• Central Unit Cannons (1 in Artaria and Dairon, 2 in Cataris and Ghavoran, 3 in Ferenia)

Once the Central Unit is destroyed, the latter two stop spawning and firing.

During escape in Hanubia

• 1 Shelmit
• 1 Muzby

Trivia

• The background of the Central Unit rooms, in particular the first one in Artaria, appears behind Samus on the cover of Dread.
• Returning to the rooms of fallen Central Units after the X Parasites are released from Elun shows that they have not been reanimated or otherwise assimilated by the X, despite there being no apparent obstacles for the X to reach the Units. This indicates that the Central Units are not organic, as the X are unlikely to ignore a lifeform with access to weapon systems as extensive as those of a Central Unit.

Gallery

Samus encounters the first Central Unit.

She proceeds to absorb its energy.

Samus takes aim at the first Central Unit Door.

Samus lands in the second Central Unit's room.

The same scene with dimmer lighting (seen in Volume 3 of the Metroid Dread Report).

The first Central Unit to be fought.

The Central Unit Door with shielding, in Artaria's E.M.M.I. Zone.

The Hanubian Central Unit being remotely drained of energy.

The unit's death.

The final Central Unit room during the escape sequence.

Background image from the official Metroid Dread website.

Maps

Artaria (first)

Artaria (second)

Cataris

Dairon

Ghavoran

Ferenia

Hanubia