![mass effect 3 endings mass effect 3 endings](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2YwKaVQpP6DiJU5tpuoomA.jpg)
Unfortunately, given the lack of progress with the millenia of study that the Turians, Asarai, and Salarians have put into the Mass Relays, it is unlikely that they would be able to reproduce them without assistance from the Reapers themselves. With both of these facts know, it is instantly clear that Reaper technology is the key to a quick restoration of the Mass Relays and a return to the previous galactic order. This, according to the codex, is substantially faster than any of the Council races. Furthermore, we know from the Arrival expansion to Mass Effect 2 and the beginning of Mass Effect 3, that the Reapers possess FTL technology sufficiently advanced for them to cover an inter-Mass Relay distance in no more than 6 months.
![mass effect 3 endings mass effect 3 endings](https://static.miraheze.org/crappygameswiki/c/c6/2928915-0446595765-mass-.png)
The question that must be asked, then, is which of these endings is most likely to bring about the quick restoration of galactic stability? What we know from the first Mass Effect is that the Reapers were the ones who built the Mass Relays. Without this clear division, the war ends. Each has parts of the other forcibly combined into them, resulting in a single hybrid “synth-organic” gestalt. Synthesis: Shepard, again by sacrifice, forces an evolutionary change on both synthetic and organic life throughout the galaxy. The precise details are unimportant to the examination.
![mass effect 3 endings mass effect 3 endings](https://cdn.statically.io/img/gamertweak.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Mass-Effect-3-Legendary-Edition-Shepard-Lives-Ending.jpg)
It isn’t clear if this is by redefining the synthetic life to be subservient or if Shepard becomes some sort of machine god, controlling them like puppets. It is clear that this includes AIs, like EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers, but it is implied that some or perhaps all VIs would also be destroyed.ĭomination: Shepard, by sacrificing herself, asserts total control over all synthetic life. Taking the reconstruction of the Mass Relays as easily the most important post-Reaper activity causes the three endings to rearrange themselves in order of best possible outcome.ĭestruction: The Reapers–and all other synthetic life in the galaxy–are destroyed. However, as I thought about it, certain details that had been revealed made things seem less dire. Their absence, coupled with the devastation of numerous colonies, homeworlds, and stations, means, on its face, an end to the intergalactic status quo that has existed since the Asari found the Citadel.Īt first this seemed like an insurmountable hurdle to the remaining species. The Mass Relays represent a huge piece of galactic infrastructure and are necessary to the normal functioning of the society that has been built up.
![mass effect 3 endings mass effect 3 endings](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JIwKfMfAySE/maxresdefault.jpg)
The latter, however, is an unexpected, unplanned, and troublesome side effect. Now, the former item is what the Shepard has spent the better part of two games trying to ensure. The Reaper threat is ended (for now at least).Regardless of which ending Shepard chooses, two things are certain: Though the game fails to provide much insight as to the aftermath of each of the choices, enough is revealed about them in order to make some useful analysis. ME3 offers Shepard three choices in its final moments. While many people might be spending time analyzing what the ending to Mass Effect 3 means in a deep philosophical sense, I instead was more concerned about what it meant to the characters in the universe itself. Note: This was written before the “Extended Cut DLC” and thus doesn’t take it into account.įair warning: The rest of this article has deep spoilers about the ending of Mass Effect 3.