Mass Effect 3/Page 2/WMG: Difference between revisions

The first is [[Mass Effect (Franchise)/WMG|here]], and the second is [[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)/WMG|here]].

Unmarked spoilers of ''[[Mass Effect 1 (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mass Effect 1]]'' and ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' (including DLC)!

Storyline, final battle, post-game, and multi-player theories are here. General, squad, and romance theories are [[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)/WMG|here]].

* Hey, how about the [[Free Space|Shivans]]? Haestrom's sun destabilizing may have been a Reaper effort to see if they could accelerate the rate in which a star dies, and the Shivans may have been indoctrinated several millenniums before the Protheans. This could explain one of the things about how the {{spoiler|sun in Capella had gone supernova in a matter of hours in the ''Freespace 2'' ending.}}

* Think about it. After the final battle there are millions of aliens from all of the major races stranded in the Sol system, plus the ruins of the old capitol are floating in orbit above Earth. Even if they did repair the Citadel, with the mass relays gone, they might not be able to move it back where it was before - and with the relays gone the non-geth/quarian races might not have enough supplies for the long flight back home.

* It is, in fact, entirely likely that you have actually been doing this since ''[[Mass Effect 1 (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mass Effect 1]]''. The Rachni Queen on Noveria? If you save her, she sends you a message in ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' telling you that she's rebuilding her race and will fight for you when the Reapers arrive. During Tali's loyalty mission, if you suggest to the quarian admirals that they should seek peace with the geth, they'll do exactly that come ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'', and you'll already have the Migrant Fleet and Legion's true geth on your side. If Wrex survives ''[[Mass Effect 1 (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mass Effect 1]]'' and you do the loyalty missions for both Mordin and Grunt, thus eliminating some of Wrex's rivals, you'll also start the game with the Krogan armies on your side too. Although it's quite possible that this outcome will occur even if Wrex dies, since Shepard's actions on Tuchunka in ''ME2'' will have left Urdnot Wreav equally indebted to Shepard.

* You're forgetting the batarians. They will be the biggest pain in the ass to recruit, and will probably only agree after their colonies start getting slaughtered by someone not Shepard. Either they're the last race you recruit or there are consequences if you wait too long to recruit them. Like what happens when you wait too long to get your crew back in [[MEMass Effect 2]]: the longer you take, the more of their colonies get slaughtered, and the less they can contribute when you do recruit them. But if you get them early, they give you the biggest bonus out of anyone. But it'll be a major bitch to do it.

== ''There will be many, many [[Heroic Sacrifice|Heroic Sacrifices]]s.'' ==

{{quote| '''Legion:''' Creator Tali'Zorrah, DO Geth have a soul? We have not run processes concerning "death", Geth have never regarded it as a possibility, but we find ourselves... afraid. We are afraid of death. Do we... Do I.. have a soul?<br />

'''Tali:''' Yes Legion... Yes, you have a soul. All things that live do.<br />

'''Legion:''' Then I am not simply a machine? I am truly alive?<br />

'''Tali:''' Of course you are. You are alive. How could you not be? You are my friend.<br />

** There is a list of actual ranks in the Alliance Navy on the ME wiki, just fyi. Also, if you save the galaxy, forget captain--youcaptain—you deserve to be an Admiral! Or maybe you can become the next Human Councilor!

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will detail a years-long war with the Reapers, from their arrival up to their defeat/victory. ==

* Anyone who survived the first two games will help or hurt you in some capacity. The game will either start or end at Earth. Oh, and as per the ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' ending the Reapers will get a humanoid Reaper built by the end of the game. Renegade Sheperd may or may not finally get to do a [[Heel Face Turn]].

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will entail... ==

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will completely break Bioware's formula and crazily subvert everyone's expectations. ==

* By now people have noticed the "four main quests to complete, SURPRISE [[Reveal]] after the third, and then upshift into the endgame" formula that Bioware uses for its biggest hits like ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (Videovideo Gamegame)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'', the original ''[[Mass Effect 1 (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mass Effect]]'', and ''[[Dragon Age]]''. (Disclaimer: I have never played ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate]]'' or ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'', or indeed finished ''[[Dragon Age]]'', so I do not know if those actually subvert the formula in any way.) ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' mucked with that a little bit by making the majority of the quests largely focused on the characters before upshifting into the endgame. It follows, then, that ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will not adhere to the aforementioned formula in the ''slightest.'' Sure, it'll be about Shepard's final battle against the Reapers, but you won't be gathering allies like ''[[Dragon Age]]'' or MacGuffins like ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]''. It will be this crazy new formula that no one is expecting and will blow everyone's minds. Extreme [[Love It or Hate It]] will ensue, and no one will be sure quite what to make of it all, but the game will receive several confused Game of the Year nominations because of it.

** Sorta [https://web.archive.org/web/20130921030337/http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Mass_Effect_3:_Galaxy_at_War confirmed]! It's an optional thing that allows Shepard to coordinate galactic resources to achieve [[Hundred-Percent100% Completion|"Galactic Readiness"]]. You have earned the right to yell out [[I Knew It!|"called it!"]]

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will turn the standard Bioware conversation on its head. ==

In most (if not all) Bioware games conversations tend to go like this: the PC says one or two sentences and the NPC they're talking to starts talking at length about their backstory, mission objectives or any needed exposition. ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will ''invert'' this formula for the first time; at some point Shepard will have a conversation with someone (probably his/her love interest or maybe someone like Joker or Captain Anderson). And for once the NPC will be the one asking the one or two sentence questions while Shepard goes on at length about who he/she is and why they act the way they do. This will give players another chance to really customize their Commander Shepard as it will let them choose not only what Shepard does but help them explain ''why'' Shepard acts the way he or she does.

*** Yes, but there's a difference between what the player knowing the character's motivation and the character acting that way. Outside of a few instances Shepard hasn't really gone into the hows and whys of how s/he acts and when s/he does it normally doesn't affect much beyond a few lines of dialogue. But imagine combining the epic [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|Paragon Speech]] against Al-Jilani with the heartfelt intimacy of catching-up with Liara at the end of Liar of the Shadow Broker. That's what this would be: no moral choices, no Paragon/Renegade, just Commander Shepard talking about being Commander Shepard.

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will feature a mission involving a war between the batarians and the Alliance. ==

*** ... This ''is'' the last game in the franchise. Bioware keeps going on about how much the story can diverge because there's nothing after [[MEMass Effect 3]].

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will feature a loyalty mission for EDI. ==

* Things aren't looking exactly confidence-inspiring with the Council or the Alliance, but the geth, and potentially the rachni and the krogans are more than happy to offer a hand in the coming war. Maybe in ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' you get to convince the batarians and the vorcha to join the party, and then finally triumphantly march to the Council with an entourage of everybody they wanted to keep a million miles away from the Citadel.

== There will be a [[Heel Face Turn]] character in ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]''. ==

== [[Anyone Can Die]] will be in effect for ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' as well. ==

* Sure, it'd be a blatant reuse of the trope that the second game was pretty much entirely based around. However, it was a good way to emphasize that your decisions can have real consequences in the game world, and it is in fact possible to screw things up so badly that you won't make it out alive. The worst ending of the second game had everyone dead but Joker. Following the [[Rule of Cool]] and [[Up to Eleven]], then, the worst ending of the entire series will end in total, complete, abject failure -- thefailure—the Reapers destroy the Alliance/Citadel fleets, Harbinger executes Shepard personally, Earth is harvested and destroyed, and the Reapers retreat back into dark space for the next 50,000 years to wait for the next poor bastards to rise out of the primordial muck. But that's only if you screw up all the story missions.

== To expand from the above, while in ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' squad members could die, in ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' entire ''planets'' can be destroyed. ==

{{spoiler|Confirmed in the "bad ending" [[Earthshattering Kaboom|with Earth]].}}

== In ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' you can choose to side with the Reapers. ==

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' if Shepard dies. ==

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will take the concept of [[Old Save Bonus]] and take it [[Up to Eleven]]. ==

* [[Bio WareBioWare]] really wants player decisions to have an impact throughout the entire trilogy and, although we got a taste of what they meant by that in the second game, they've stated they're going all out for the third. Highlights most likely include:

* The {{spoiler|family members}} of {{spoiler|the person you left behind on Virmire}} will confront Shepard at {{spoiler|his/her trial}} at the beginning of [[MEMass Effect 3]].

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will keep the concept of [[Old Save Bonus]] just as cosmetic as ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' did. ==

*** And it was greatly jossed. If you import a save from Mass Effect 2, Shepard starts at the level that he was in the end of the second game.

** Liara will be the only returning party member, since she's the only one guaranteed not to be dead. The others will have token appearances only, as Ashley/Kaidan/Wrex did in ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]''.

**** As well as Tali. Wrex, Mordin and Legion make appearances and help with the plot, but we don't know if they'll even be temporary squadmates. I'd put money on the rest of the [[MEMass Effect 2]] crew to show up as well for at least a cameo role. I would also think that the potential Love Interests might play a significant role.

*** If they died, you meet their replacements in the third game. Cerberus salvages a different part of the Human-Reaper depending on if you spared the base or not. It can be recovered as a war asset later.

*** An artificial rachni queen is created by the Reapers if the real one is killed. If you spare this one, then you will regret it. However, sparing the real queen will help you.

*** Rewriting the heretics hinders you in the third game.

*** Curing the genophage is a major objective, but you can choose whether to or not. Depending on choices in the previous games, this turns out either to be a good or a bad idea.

* I'd like to point out that [[MEMass Effect 3]] is designed to be playable and replayable by even players who have never played [[ME 1]] or [[MEMass Effect 2]]. Whether or not you imported save data and what you did in it will only affect how difficult it is to achieve certain goals, not whether or not you can.

== We will encounter a dreadnought named Newton in ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]''. ==

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will end with a [[Distant Finale]]. ==

*** That sounds more like a [[Bad End]] than a Renegade end. For Renegade, humanity would be the dominant--anddominant—and perhaps only--sentientonly—sentient race in the galaxy. They would remember Shepard much more realistically than your Paragon ending religion, as a legendary war hero who saved humanity in spite of the rest of the galaxy's complacency. At around the 50,000 year mark, they wouldn't be preparing their defenses--theydefenses—they'de be going on the offensive, going into dark space to murder the Reapers once and for all. Or perhaps to start colonizing other galaxies.

*** ''The geth sacrifice themselves to shield the Migrant fleet'', if [[Bio WareBioWare]] is reading, that could become the best [[Tear Jerker]], [[Heroic Sacrifice]] and [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] ever.

{{quote| "Does this unit have a soul?"}}

*** This troper can picture that: Legion is fatally injured with Tali as the only squadmate on-hand. Legion: Creator Tali'Zorrah, DOES Geth have a soul? We have not run processes concerning "death", Geth have never regarded it as a possibility, but we find ourselves... afraid. Do we... Do I have a soul? Tali: Oh, Legion... Yes, you have a soul. Legion: Thank you, I hope you are correct... (static as systems fail)

== Renegade Shepard will [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him|die like a punk]] at the end of the third game. ==

== Shepard will get to mock the Council with impunity in ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]''. ==

* The Council, and the turian Councilor in particular, have always been massively dismissive of Shepard's claims through the first two games. In the end, this is going to bite them in the ass, as ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' is going to at some point reveal incontrovertible proof of the Reapers to them, and they'll realize they've been wrong the entire time.

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will be full of [[Sadistic Choice|Sadistic Choices]]s ==

== [[Chekhov's Army|Chekhov's army]] [[You Shall Not Pass|will not let them pass]]. ==

== Other than the Reapers, the other major foes of ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will be the following: ==

*** Or the Reapers go out of their way to indoctrinate them. And then you have t help Smara kill her other two daughters, provided she survived [[MEMass Effect 2]].

** EDI takes over a Reaper with the anti-Reaper algorithms mentioned in [[MEMass Effect 2]].

== ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will contain a choice that causes either Tali, or Garrus, to die. ==

** How about no. That one achievement we all know about greatly improved replayability. [[Bio WareBioWare]] can't be that stupid.

*** Kaidan now holds the rank of Staff Commander, so it's likely he comes back as your XO, Miranda having left to do her own thing or being sent elsewhere by the Alliance. If Kaidan survives, then he is the same guy he was in ME1 and a great Executive Officer. If he died, the replacement is a stick-in-the-mud regulations-before-everything [[MASHM*A*S*H the Series(television)|Frank Burns]] look-a-like that everyone hates.

** But, [[Near Villain VictoryEucatastrophe|just when all hope is lost,]] Shepard will reenter, [[Curb Stomp Battle|save the day]], the crew, and be ready to continue the fight.

* It'd be like the "fight off Morinth" scene, though much grander in scope. Here's a scenario as an example: During a major battle, Shepard takes a squad to board an enemy Reaper and destroy it from inside. As you fight through the Reaper's crew and onboard defenses, the Reaper will slowly try to indoctrinate you and your teammates. (Picture something like the Scarecrow sequences from [[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]: you're walking along shooting things, something mind-bending and horrifying happens as your mind unravels, and suddenly it shifts back to normal.) Once you reach a critical part of the ship, you'll be hit with a particularly strong wave. The only to beat it is by having sufficient Paragon/Renegade points, otherwise you'll get a Game Over as Shepard is fully indoctrinated. But even after you fight off the indoctrination, your squadmates won't have the same luck as they start to succumb. You'll have to snap them out of it, which will only be possible if you have an absurdly high Persuade/Intimidate score ''and'' if the squadmates are loyal. (It'll be easier if one of your squadmates is your [[Love Interest]].) If you succeed, the spell is broken and you kick Reaper ass together. If not... your teammates draw weapons and turn on you, forcing you to kill them in a boss fight.

I mean think about it - in ME2, Shepard's made off with billions of Cerberus credits worth of technology, swayed some of his most loyal officers to his/her cause, possibly destroyed the Collector base, and conceivably has access to plenty of Cerberus secrets. TIM has to be pissed about this, so he orders the resurrection of the Virmire survivor in order to lead his forces. Sure, they were Alliance officers in life, but this time he puts in the control chip - he doesn't need the personality intact, and the abilities aren't essential, because he's looking for the psychological effect on Shepard.

After all, why else would you name it that way?

There is no other force as powerful as the mass effect in its titular universe. It is fundamentally a part of it; no other element is more essential in making the fiction work. It seems fitting, then, that the nature of the series' namesake--itsnamesake—its origins and relation to the Reapers, as well as the workings of the mass relays--berelays—be explored in detail during the events of Mass Effect 3. I predict that not only will element zero, the mass effect, and the mass relays play a large role in the overall plot, but will be essential to its conclusion. Note that the relays have played a key role in the finales of both games. In fact...

We will even have a hand in its termination. The plot of ''ME3'' will have Shepard and crew working to defeat the Reapers by using the relays as weapons, setting up a nice little [[Hoist Byby His Own Petard]] scenario, but nonetheless extinguishing the relays' element zero cores. This would actually be an interesting conclusion to the trilogy; the Reapers are defeated, and the crew of the Normandy survive, but the galaxy's avenues of transport are cut. Depending on the mark left on the galaxy by Shepard, this either results in a long, yet peaceful process of attempting to reconnect with each other, or a violent dark age where all the species attempt to fend for themselves. As for the Commander and crew, they are left adrift, slowly planet-hopping their way across the galaxy, a band of brothers without abode, alone and yet together in a universe of wild adventure.

Everybody likes Joker. He's just awesome. Which is why it would be the mother of all [[Player Punch|Player Punches]]es to kill him.

The Reapers may or may not do the same for the Keepers, though they won't be as prominently featured. The "may not" part is because the Reapers could just fix the Keepers after they retake the Citadel.

While Earth will be their biggest target (because they want to create more Reapers from humanity), the Reapers are smart enough to realize the other races could be a problem. They'll send out forces to cripple the turian, asari, and salarian armies. With their people dying, their economies in ruins, and resources spread too thin, the three major Council races begin ignoring their allies to tend to their own problems. Since the Council was founded on the idea of interspecies cooperation, outrage and hatred will spread as those ideals are being betrayed. The Council will do its best to make peace, but even they are falling prey to the infighting, and rumors of war breaking out are spreading. The Reapers essentially let their enemies deal with themselves while they focus on building more Reapers to help with the galactic genocide. However, the Reapers will make the mistake of not paying enough attention to the less prominent races, leaving them in the best position to help Shepard at the beginning of the game.

{{quote| '''Reapers''': ''[[Nobody Dies (Fanfic)/Shout Out|ASSUMING COMPLETE CONTROL. ALL USERS VIEWING THIS THREAD MUST PROCREATE, BY THE ORDERS OF SUPREME COMMANDER LILITH. BABIESBABIESBABIESBABIESBABIESBABIESBABIESBABIESBABIES]]''}}

{{quote| 1. It's a standard case of [[Never Found the Body]] as we never actually saw the character during the explosion itself.<br />

** Well remember that the more control exerted over an indoctrinated, the less effective they are (mild to moderate indoctrination like Saren was still functional and rational, up to the slaves on Virmire that are little more than cattle). I'd say any indoctrination to the Illusive Man is probably between moderate where the Reapers are controlling his actions and ordering his men through that, to complete enslavement.

** Or maybe the Illusive Man has been indoctrinated the entire time, and was actively working against Shepard in [[MEMass Effect 2]]. Without constant monitoring by the Reapers, he is left with just instructions to waste all Cerberus funds on long-shot schemes. As we know from [[ME 1]], that is what he's been doing for a long time (rachni experiments, husk experiments, etc.). One of his long-shot schemes was to blow billions of credits on bringing a single person (Shepard) back to life. To his surprise, it works, and so he sends Shepard off to work against the Collectors. TIM is under orders not to work against the Reapers, but since he can plausibly deny 'knowing' that the Collectors serve the Reapers, he can work around his orders. As you go through the game, he is more and more strongly indoctrinated by the Reapers (once Harbinger finds out what he's done), and is increasingly unhelpful, throughout the missions. 'Forgetting' to mention what he'd agreed to do for Zaeed and Kasumi, baiting Horizon with Shepard's friend, and that sort of thing. Once he is more indoctrinated (whether ordered to sabatage Shepard, or just made to greatly overestimate Shepard's abilities) he sends Shepard blind into a blatant Collector trap. Shepard escapes. Then he sends Shepard to investigate the derelict Reaper, knowing full well what happened to Chandana's team, and expecting that Shepard will be trapped and killed. Shepard escapes, and prepares to take the fight to take the fight through the Omega 4 relay. Once Shepard survives the trip there (in a ship that Cerberus had made to be vulnerable to Collector weapons just like the original, though Shepard might have done some upgrades himself) Harbinger cannot let this go on, and takes complete control of TIM. TIM, now a near-mindless slave of the Reapers, point-blank orders Shepard to preserve the Collector base (for the Reapers, though he doesn't say it). And now, in [[MEMass Effect 3]], TIM is a Reaper agent, and is commanded to stop Shepard at any cost.

The ultimate plan was to take the "seeds" of knowledge and genetics of the entire Milky Way galaxy, then "sow" them into the new one created by the collision with Andromeda.

However, the second wave of space-farers were unconvinced, and refused to be inducted. After fruitlessly trying diplomacy, the Sowers, resolving to save them from themselves whatever the cost, created the process of [[More Than Mind Control|Indoctrination]] to force them to do so. However, they quickly discovered that removing a creature's free will left it mad and useless, unable to be inducted. Finally, in an act of perfect desperation, they proved that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and, over the objections of some Reapers, fought a quick and decisive war against the stubborn settlers, forcibly inducting them. However, the process was much more painful than a willing fusion, and created terrible residual memories that slowly drove these new Reapers mad.

Furthermore, this happened multiple times, and unforeseen problems in the [[Hive Mind]] software has led to mnemonic degradation. The Reapers have long since forgotten '''why''' they do what they do, and only repeat that organics will never understand them. Their disgust for the geth is rooted in their inability to assimilate them.

Similar to the above [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] WMG, the Reapers' origins and goals concern the protection of life in the galaxy.

Having reached (what they considered) the 'pinnacle of evolution' millions of years ago, the original Reapers were faced with the inevitability of stagnation and decline of their empire, and old age and death on a more personal level. Furthermore, it seemed increasingly likely that the mass effect technology on which their empire was based had a destabilising effect on the very fabric of the galaxy, as can be seen in the premature ageing of Haestrom's sun. After years of frantic study, they discovered a way around these problems.

By abandoning their individual bodies and transferring their consciousness into grey goo housed within huge space-faring machines, the Reapers achieved a form of transcendence and immortality. In the words of [[Arthur C. Clarke (Creator)]], 'They no longer built spaceships. They were spaceships. ' Then, by withdrawing from the galaxy itself for thousands of years at a time, the Reapers allowed the galaxy to recover from the effects of sustaining great civilisations, and allowed new forms of life to develop and flourish.

From their aeons-spanning point of view, sentient life and galactic civilisations rise, decline and fall in the blink of an eye, leaving all of their achievements to go to waste. This is why the Reapers, unlike Clarke's Firstborns, have taken a somewhat more proactive stance on other lifeforms' development. Not only do they encourage civilisations to develop along predetermined lines with the relay network and possibly even playing the role of 'enkindlers' in the same way that the protheans helped the hanar, the Reapers decided to intervene whenever a civilisation reaches its zenith and make others 'become like they are,' by force if necessary.

Therefore, the final conflict in Mass Effect 3 will be whether to accept or reject this [[Assimilation Plot]], leading all remaining sentient life in the galaxy to a new existence in Reaperified transcendence, or to convince them to leave and allow the current civilisation to follow its own path.

* Eerily close to being confirmed. We know those worlds are going to be battlegrounds in the war against the Reapers, and Casey has vaguely said that the Reapers are trying to harvest organic life, and not specifically humans. Whether this is just to not spoil ME2's ending or if it becomes a plot point remains to be seen.

* Remember how the Prothean researchers who survived on Ilos went to the Citadel through the conduit, with Vigil unaware of what happened afterward? He ''suspected'' they just starved to death, but who is to say they didn't find some way to survive and spend the remainder of their lives whipping up some serious anti-Reaper tech for future civilizations? Liara even mentions in Lair of the Shadow Broker that the Shadow Broker suspected there was more out there to be found, beyond the beacons and the warning, which seems a serious bit of foreshadowing. Otherwise, I can't imagine how all the [[Big Damn Hero]] moments in the world could overcome that entire Reaper fleet when all it took was one Reaper to nearly wipe out the combined naval might of the Citadel races.

== We will see newer races in [[MEMass Effect 3]] ==

As in, we'll see the yahg, the raloi, Husked versions of extinct races, and/or a newer species altogether.

== Saren in [[MEMass Effect 3]] ==

We saw a statue of him in Kasumi's DLC loyalty mission, so we'll likely see Saren as a vision or in a flashback for the third game.

== Choosing your allies in the previous games will have large effects on [[MEMass Effect 3]]. ==

A Paragon Shepard looks like he has it made at the end of [[MEMass Effect 2]], with almost the entire galaxy on his side. However, I theorize that there will be issues if you indiscriminately make nice with everyone.

Supposedly Cerberus have all been indoctrinated by the Reapers (source: this wiki; dunno where ''that'' person got it), which is why TIM is opposing you. Well, what better [[Sadistic Choice]] could he--orhe—or [[Bio WareBioWare]], for that matter--deploymatter—deploy against you? Either kill your Lancers or surrender the galaxy. Even more terrifying, it ''isn't'' a [[Sadistic Choice]]: [[But Thou Must!|you aren't given a peaceful resolution]]. At some point in the game, leading up to when you deal with Cerberus once and for all, you'll have to kill Jacob and Miranda.

* It's doubtful that Miranda and/or Jacob are indoctrinated. Miranda openly quits Cerberus if you take her with you to the final battle and destroy the Collector Base, and Jacob was never really loyal to Cerberus to begin with, so it's likely that he ditches them as well. If there was any time for Indoctrination to kick in, that was it, and they were with Shepard 100%.

* Interestingly, [[Bio WareBioWare]] has said that going all Paragon or all Renegade in [[MEMass Effect 3]] will lead to you losing. Slightly unrelated to what you're saying here, though.

Someone will get their hands on technology that allows for intergalactic travel (most likely taken from the Reapers). This will allow the hinted at future games to take place outside of the Milky Way, as Milky Way civilization expands out towards other galaxies and meets new alien species. It may also be revealed that the Reapers are also harvesting other galaxies other then the Milky Way, and that Shepard and company only destroyed the local Reapers.

* It ''did'' get a mention in the Shadow Broker dossier on Cerberus, saying that Cerberus has infiltrated Trident's security forces. [[Bio WareBioWare]] might pull a Klendagon and have it be important.

With [[MEMass Effect 3]] taking place mere months after the conclusion of [[MEMass Effect 2]], the Illusive Man uses DNA samples of Shepard gathered from the Lazarus Project as well as the Collector/Reaper tech used to Huskify Paul Grayson to create an indoctrinated, fast-grown army of the most badass human in the galaxy.

The differing sexes amongst Cerberus's army are no problem: Miranda and Oriana prove it's possible to create an [[Opposite SexGender Clone]] in the ME universe, and that's without Reaper technology. Imagine what could be done with Reaper aid.

* Confirmed, actually. [[Bio WareBioWare]] has said that you can't win with pure Paragon or pure Renegade.

* The Reapers are huge and monstrous, but not mindless monsters. They fight smart and they set all kinds of traps (the Citadel, the Reaper IFF). they know the power of intel--theirintel—their typical plan has them assassinating galactic leadership on the Citadel *and* hacking into all of their databases so they can find all the colonies. Sice they can't get to the citadel, they instead go for the Shadow Broker's base for its intel. This is why Liara is free to join you--heryou—her base is gone.

She's been punched in the face by practically every Citadel race, most notably a Krogan, AND [[The Hero|Commander]] [[Badass|Shepard]]. Surviving looking no worse for ware. Its just now, with everything going to hell does her [[Badass]] trait get noticed.

* ...instead Shepard will later re-materialize as a near omnipotent/omniscient god-like being ala Dr. Manhattan from [[Watchmen]]. This will also unlock an optional god mode cheat for the new game+

== All the allies you gain throughout the games will join together for a [[Grand Finale]] at the end of ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]''. ==

**** Corollary to the alternatively: the Renegade options have a strong bias towards [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters|Earth First politics]]. You ''can'' win the trilogy as a Renegade, but that involves bolstering humanity to new xenophobic and [[Complete Monster]] lows. Winning actions include: subverting the Citadel to humanity's ends with a human only Council, utilizing Cerberus' black ops resources to steal tech and ships from other species (especially turian dreadnoughts), inciting a human expansionist effort into salarian, asari, and turian space, raising the species-wide military recruitment rate much higher than 3%, subjugating the Migrant Fleet, enslaving the geth, exploiting the krogans with false or otherwise promises of a genophage cure, and so on. Sure, you'll destroy the way half a dozen distinct species live their lives, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|but Earth made it out okay, right]]?

== All the enemies you foolishly chose to spare throughout the games will join together for a [[Grand Finale]] at the end of ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' in order to destroy you. ==

== The final battle of ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will be an [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]], [[And Now for Someone Completely Different]] switch to a [[Star Fox (Video Gameseries)|Star Fox]]-esque [[Rail Shooter]]. ==

*** Somehow, I don't think of [[Bio WareBioWare]] as "just another videogame developer."

** Well, space combat has been confirmed. If [[Halo: Reach]] could do it...

== A wild mass guess about how the finale of ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will play out. ==

== The Endgame of ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will take place on Earth and the Citadel simultaneously. ==

* And since you can't be in two places at once, which one you choose to complete first will be ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'''s [[Sadistic Choice]].

** Alternately, the Illusive Man will send him to kill Shepard in DLC or ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' as punishment for ''both'' of their betrayals.

== The final sequence of ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will be like the Suicide Mission, only on a massive scale. ==

* It has been many times remarked on this page that by the time of ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' Shepard will have a huge number of allies that can include:

== The final choice in ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'' will be something really sadistic. ==

*** Agreed, considering that [[Bio WareBioWare]] loves to [[Take a Third Option]]. Given the nature of the trilogy, however, you'll probably only get that option if you made certain decisions in the previous games.

*** Confirmed. There will be a bad ending for people who rush through the game, as there was for those who rushed through [[MEMass Effect 2]]. Also, since you'll be fighting Cerberus, giving them the Collector Base is almost certainly a bad idea.

* And the worst ending, if you took too many shortcuts throughout the series (losing squadmates in [[MEMass Effect 2]], killing off the Council, destroying the Collector base, etc.), will result in the [[Downer Ending|complete victory of the Reapers.]]

Knowing [[Bio WareBioWare]]'s love of Scenery Porn, and how the smallest, most insignifact details will come back later, in the case of the ''ME 1'' implying where the Dead Reaper would be in ''ME 2'', it says "- a canyon on the southern hemisphere appears to be unnatural, the product of a mass accelerator shot from nearly thirty-seven million years ago." There's another planet that says a volus merchant is excavating after a dream told him a "machine-killing superweapon lies underneath the surface". Perhaps there's more truth to this then believed, and a plot point in [[MEMass Effect 3]] will be finding this weapon so Shepard can *actually* fight Eldritch Abominations on his/her own?

== The final battle will involve [[Matt Smith]] [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 /E01 The Eleventh Hour|standing on a rooftop and yelling at the Reapers for five minutes until they run the hell away. Forever.]] ==

{{quote| Hello. I'm the Doctor. This is Shepard. Basically... '''RUN.'''}}

As mentioned above the series has shown that the titular "mass effect" has played a huge part in the plot the reapers plan is completely dependent upon the races use of mass effect-based technology. And several characters in the games have noted that the use of reverse-engineered Prothean/Reaper tech has caused creative stagnation of the races development.

The Citadel is the centerpiece of the Reapers' grand scheme, the means they use to control the development of organic races, the hub of the relay network, and the gate through which they enter the galaxy. Destroying it would symbolize their utter defeat and destruction.

{{quote| [[Big Damn Heroes|Destiny Ascension move in!]] [[Meaningful Echo|Protect the Alliance ships...!]] }}

{{quote| '''Turian Councilor''': Ah, yes, "Reapers". We have dismissed this claim. With 0.85c kinetic broadsides.}}

[[Bio WareBioWare]] looked at this page and got sick of the Paragon vs Renegade debate, so they decided to Joss every single theory.

** Not as far fetched as you may think. Current (unconfirmed) details about the ending say that playing straight paragon or renegade will not yield the best ending of the game. maybe some neutral responses or a paragade mix will be necessary for the best ending.

If [[Bio WareBioWare]] intends to continue the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' franchise, why would they eliminate their primary villain?

== To echo what an earlier WMG said: "Renegade Shepard will [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him|die like a punk]] at the end" of the final battle ==

It will be one of many possible endings for Shepard, either through a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] (if Paragon), a [[Last Stand]], a [[Dying Asas Yourself]], or a [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him]] (if Renegade, preferably by an alien).

* Extremely likely given Harbinger's name literally means "that which fortells the coming of something."

[[Bio WareBioWare]] simply couldn't work an elcor or hanar squadmate into the final game. But as a cop-out, they did show them to be awesome. I'm just picturing a pitched battle, with Shepard heavily outnumbered, only for a blistering barrage to tear into the enemy. You look to the side, and it's a small ''army'' of elcor shock troops.

{{quote| '''Elcor Commander:''' [[Tranquil Fury|With unhinged fury]]: Kill them all. Show no mercy.}}

Stopping the full-scale invasion that is already occurring on multiple fronts will probably require blowing up ''every Mass Relay'' at once, just to make sure no Reaper escapes destruction. The "Paragon" choice will probably be delaying the act to allow time for the people who live near the relays to evacuate a safe distance which would also allow a Reaper or two to escape to fight another day. The "Renegade" choice would be to blow them up immediately -- theimmediately—the ending of "The Arrival" [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] taken [[Up to Eleven]]. Either way, the ending will be bittersweet at best, since Shepard will probably have to be near one of the Relays to trigger the destruction and sacrifice himself/herself in the process. Bonus points if the [[Love Interest]] is the only member of the crew [[Together in Death|who won't leave Shepard's side no matter what happens]]. It would also have galactic ramifications since the Relays made the current civilization possible in the first place. Depending on whether Shepard was a Paragon or a Renegade for most of the series, he/she will be remembered as a great savior or a ruthless monster.

* '''The war against the Reapers is lost, but they [[Fling a Light Into Thethe Future]]'''

* Jossed by Bioware. It will be brutal and hard fought but Hudson promised a Good Ending to the story if everything was done right.

only in this case, it will be the "blow up a lot of mass relays" threshold

It seems unlikely that even unified forces of the galaxy could take on the Reapers in a direct battle, but they can tie their attention for long enough for Shepard to infiltrate some forgotten ruins, or even the depths of some Reaper's brain to discover the truth of their origins and the reason they were born that they have forgotten, and broadcast it across their entire fleet, causing them to turn on one another or go crazy in other equally spectacular way.

A typical yahg has the intelligence of a salarian, the brutality and adaptability of a krogan, and the discipline of a turian. Following that [[Evil Counterpart]] trend, there will be a race that has the turians' militarism taken [[Up to Eleven]] and the ME equivalent to [[The Empire]].

Because [[Canon Sue|Shepard]] will either retire or die by the end of ME-3, so why not have other novels, comics or games with new main characters?

* The yahg will also be shown in [[MEMass Effect 3]]. I would guess as enemies.

The raloi will make an appearance in [[MEMass Effect 3]], but they'll get more prominent later on.

But there will be prequels. [[Bio WareBioWare]] has said that the only reason each ending to the first two games were so so similar (the only really difference between the multiple endings of both games is the conversations you had with The Council/Illusive Man) was because they had to make it so the third always started the same way. They don't plan to make a ''ME4'' so ''ME3'' will have such wildly different endings that any future games would be nigh impossible because of all the variables. However, a prequel would not be out of the question. Perhaps one about humans during the fighting in the First Contact War.

* Further, it will be called Mass Effect: Archangel.

== The classified companion character promised to come with the Collector's Edition will be either Gianna Parasini or Shiala. ==

Both have been teased as possible future companions and love interests in ME2 if you play your cards right in the first game. Perhaps one of them will be just a companion if you buy the Collector's Edition, but will also be a love interest if you fulfilled their quests properly in the previous two games as extra special reward for hardcore fans?

In [[MEMass Effect 2]] Legion tells us that the (non-heretic) Geth are the one race in the galaxy uninterested in using Reaper technology to advance their tech, preferring to upgrade based on their own efforts. Which would make them likely to be closest to working out their {{spoiler|own form of FTL travel, or at the very least likely to be the closest to having worked out how to make new relays.}}

By the amount of logic that was thrown into the endings, I'm pretty sure [[Bio WareBioWare]] has released the next two Mass Effect games. Without the relays around, all galactic civilization gets stuck in the dark ages. Without technology, species on some lucky planets will be integrating element zero into their bodies over time, eventually refining their abilities enough to do more than alter gravity (magic). Their fine level of control allows them to tap into the remains of the relay network (Golden City in the Fade), but in doing so they are corrupted by the Reaper code fragments still hanging out in there...thus becoming indoctrinated (the first Darkspawn). Since the newly indoctrinated beings can't integrate with technology, they just choose the biggest, nastiest organism around to create a new Reaper line (Dragons -> Archdemons). The new organic Reapers are still hell-bent on destroying all life, and so they come up with a new way to create husks (broodmothers). Just as before, different species create different husks. Though they now operate on a much smaller amount of time per cycle, they still follow through with a lesser version of the 50,000 year galactic cycle (Blights). As before, the best way to fight the Reapers is to have a little Reaper-tech of your own (the Joining to become a Grey Warden). Of course, eventually the Reapers will indoctrinate you unless you die first (the Calling).

== The Reapers will help to reestablishing the Mass Relay network in the Synthesis and Control endings. ==

In Synthesis, they just lost their sole reason for existence, but they still got the impulse to preserve and sustain. New form of life or no, the Sol System is still rather small for everybody gathered there, and building new connections in the form of Mass Relays would probably be the next best thing. In Control Shepard's personality upload has power over the Reaper Collective, and probably comes to the same conclusion, that it's better for the galaxy to stay tied together. And since there are Reapers in all the inhabited worlds now, they don't have to travel millennia to each destination; they can start the reconstruction of the network right away. If you chose to destroy them however...tough luck, better hope that you can salvage enough information and tech from the remains, and keep those quantum entanglers functional enough to coordinate at least some reconstruction.

And s/he'll have a line about how s/he used to bug his/her grandfather for stories about the Shepard.

== The Catalyst lied. The ''real'' reason the Reapers harvest the advanced organic species every 50,000 years... ==... is to prevent organic consciousness from giving birth to the Chaos Gods of [[Warhammer 4000040,000]]. The true purpose of the mass relays is to discourage the discovery and exploration of the warp. In destroying the Reapers, Shepard condemns the galaxy to the grim darkness of the far future.

== The endings were ripped off from ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]''. ==

- Control the Reapers (Illuminati)

== The interstellar travel will be done with Conduits for the next few decades/centuries. ==

Building full-sized Mass Relays can be a bit of a problem with the post-war reconstruction and chaos going on, but as long as the blueprints can be harvested from somewhere, it shouldn't be too hard to build a bunch of scale models, using quantum entaglement to communicate the plans between systems. The Conduit on Ilos went all the way from Terminus Systems to the Citadel, so the size doesn't seem to limit the distance they can take you. The scale of interstellar travel is by necessity reduced, but everyone can go home safely, and contact and basic trade can continue as before.

== The new interstellar communication will be based on the Rachni Song. ==

After the mission of dealing with the Rachni sightings Specialist Traynor mentions that the rachni communication is fascinating and mysterious, capable of transferring information instantaneously over interstellar distances. Something like that will sure come in handy after the ending, in spite of the many quantum entanglers likely to travel with the fleet to the Sol System.

* The scene with the Stargazer and Child will be explained as being 50,000 in the future, showing that the Reapers really did not win/[[Epileptic Trees|that the endings were not indoctrination]]

** It's not really [[Ass Pull]] when the suggestions fit in the witnessed scenes quite well. Most of the suggestions are quite plausible, although I'm more inclined to think that {{spoiler|the Mass Relays will be reverse-engineered from the blueprints of the Crucible, which explicitly uses the same technology, and that Joker and co. left as a secret contingency plan to seed information to the raloi and the yagh, and any other pre-spaceflight species they could find so they would be ready for the next invasion.}} And as for epilogue, one has explicitly been promised, though whether it'll be text or full-blown cutscenes is anybody's guess. It's unlikely that the stinger will actually be explained though; it really has no need for clarification.

== ''[[Bio WareBioWare]]'' is indoctrinated. ==

''[[Mass Effect]]'' is actually the result of Shepard traveling back in time to the early 21st century, in order to give prior warning about the Reapers, including the key to defeating them. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, [[Bio WareBioWare]] itself became indoctrinated, and they wrote the current ending to cover up the ''real'' one.

After all, that mysterious "promote" button in the character select has to be used for something. Maybe Shep will meet them in certain levels with fierce fighting, gain them as temporary squadmates, or assign them to command squads to tackle hotspots that s/he can't get to him/herself.

Yes, as in an eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate, galaxy-wide strategy game.

[[Category:Mass Effect 3{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]]