Oh and another thing I've been reading: The Mass Relays get destroyed in any ending, right? That seems pretty bleak. Everyone's isolated.
Except, remember that the Reapers have superior FTL drives. Those can get them around the galaxy just a few months or years, which is why destroying the Mass Relays wasn't a solution for defeating the Reapers. And they built the Mass Relays to start with - in fact, I'd posit that the Relays were what they used to sterilize the galaxy, way back when. They can build those again.
So, in the synthesis ending, organics are now merged with the synthetics and have access to their FTL and technology. Everyone who's stranded has hope. It's not just homeworlds like Earth that will get rebuilt - an entire galaxy-spanning civilization can be rebuilt in the organic-synthetic partnership.
Unless of course you picked the right choice which was to destroy them. Synthesis is what the Reapers wanted you to do, you're indoctrinated Imochard.
So, you destroy the Reapers, all other synthetics, the Citadel, and the Relays. That sets galactic civilization back by thousands of years. Everyone's stuck in their own star systems, with no galactic trade to support their economies. That'll be like quitting heroin cold-turkey.
In a few hundred years, some of the advanced races recover, reinvent FTL and primitive Relays from Reaper corpses. And, in a few hundred years more, someone spawns synthetics that destroy their creators and go on to sterilize the galaxy. The Quarians were just ahead of their time. Eventually, you're back to a new form of Reapers, and the cycle renews. At least, that's my interpretation of the Mass Effect cosmology.
But, bah: I've seen the other endings now, and am no longer as happy as I was before. Reusing the same video assets, but with just some recoloring, is a really cheap production trick. I don't think I realized just how bad it was.
I'm guess I'm just being extra nice to the story, and filling in details for the devs. Like, I could've sworn that Joker limps more off the ship in other endings, but in the synthesis ending he's shiny green and helps EDI off the wreck without breaking his own legs. And, don't remember any of the characters I brought with me in my squad showing up in any of the endings, so that never ticked me off.
But, I'm probably just seeing things. I think everyone would have been happier with totally independent sequences for each of the big finales.
So, you destroy the Reapers, all other synthetics, the Citadel, and the Relays. That sets galactic civilization back by thousands of years. Everyone's stuck in their own star systems, with no galactic trade to support their economies. That'll be like quitting heroin cold-turkey.
Well, and then you see all the Relays explode. If that was a dream / indoctrination, all bets are off and I'll just shrug because anything could have happened.
But, assuming the Relays are gone, I'm extrapolating the rest. I mean, imagine Earth tomorrow if any mode of transportation faster or more buoyant than a horse blew up this afternoon - and we didn't have the technology to start rebuilding trade routes immediately.
He also says that Synthetics will die, including EDI and the Geth. Isn't it funny that their extermination is nowhere to be found in the montage? A lot of things he promises don't occur.
He also says that Synthetics will die, including EDI and the Geth. Isn't it funny that their extermination is nowhere to be found in the montage? A lot of things he promises don't occur.
Well, in the destroy ending, the Reapers get red sparkly like Sovereign did and fall over, and EDI's not on the planet after the Normandy crashes.
But, still... it's all crap because they're trying to reshuffle production assets to cover off on multiple endings. So, bah
In a few hundred years, some of the advanced races recover, reinvent FTL and primitive Relays from Reaper corpses. And, in a few hundred years more, someone spawns synthetics that destroy their creators and go on to sterilize the galaxy. The Quarians were just ahead of their time. Eventually, you're back to a new form of Reapers, and the cycle renews. At least, that's my interpretation of the Mass Effect cosmology.
First of all, it's mentioned somewhere, though I can't remember where, that the Asari were close to understanding how the relays worked. Without them and all the set backs that will cause as you've pointed out you can be sure the effort to fully understand the relays and build new ones will be the main driving force of their entire race and it won't be long before they succeed.
Secondly, after the creation of the Geth galactic law forbid creating other AIs and aside from EDI this was obeyed by every race. This was done with the idea of preventing exactly what you said "someone spawns synthetics that destroy their creators and go on to sterilize the galaxy" and this decision was made long before anyone even had any real knowledge of the Reapers. What this means is that the races that live in this cycle are intelligent enough and have the foresight to avoid making the same mistake whoever created the Reapers did. Even more reason that they won't make that mistake is that they have seen and survived the Reapers and they sure as hell aren't going to forget about it. The Krogan and Asari have lifespans of around 1000 years so even centuries later there will be those who survived the Reapers who will do everything in their power to prevent anyone from making new ones. Even the races with shorter lifespans who will be more likely to dismiss the Reapers as an ancient myth in a few hundred years will have the remains of Reapers all over their planets as proof that they're not and the possible consequences of creating synthetic life.
Basically travel and communication between races will have a major set back for awhile but I would guess for less than a century and I really think that after being the first cycle to ever survive the Reapers it's very unlikely that anything like them will ever be created again.
Possible but I don't think it's ever mentioned how bad casualties are. I'm pretty sure they were one of the last to have their home world get hit so I think it might not be that bad. Then again I might just think that because of how late in the game you go there.
Found this unofficial epilogue generator on /r/MassEffect, I can personally say that this is much more emotionally fulfilling and actually seems like multiple endings are possible.
@Canti You forgot to mention Asari can share memories. Even if other species may forget the Asari can pass along memories of the Reaper attacks down through the generations, or across species.
If they're keeping the current endings I don't understand what there is to clear up. Every species in the galaxy is pretty much fucked regardless of the decisions Shepard made. I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out.
Comments
Except, remember that the Reapers have superior FTL drives. Those can get them around the galaxy just a few months or years, which is why destroying the Mass Relays wasn't a solution for defeating the Reapers. And they built the Mass Relays to start with - in fact, I'd posit that the Relays were what they used to sterilize the galaxy, way back when. They can build those again.
So, in the synthesis ending, organics are now merged with the synthetics and have access to their FTL and technology. Everyone who's stranded has hope. It's not just homeworlds like Earth that will get rebuilt - an entire galaxy-spanning civilization can be rebuilt in the organic-synthetic partnership.
In a few hundred years, some of the advanced races recover, reinvent FTL and primitive Relays from Reaper corpses. And, in a few hundred years more, someone spawns synthetics that destroy their creators and go on to sterilize the galaxy. The Quarians were just ahead of their time. Eventually, you're back to a new form of Reapers, and the cycle renews. At least, that's my interpretation of the Mass Effect cosmology.
But, bah: I've seen the other endings now, and am no longer as happy as I was before. Reusing the same video assets, but with just some recoloring, is a really cheap production trick. I don't think I realized just how bad it was.
I'm guess I'm just being extra nice to the story, and filling in details for the devs. Like, I could've sworn that Joker limps more off the ship in other endings, but in the synthesis ending he's shiny green and helps EDI off the wreck without breaking his own legs. And, don't remember any of the characters I brought with me in my squad showing up in any of the endings, so that never ticked me off.
But, I'm probably just seeing things. I think everyone would have been happier with totally independent sequences for each of the big finales.
But, assuming the Relays are gone, I'm extrapolating the rest. I mean, imagine Earth tomorrow if any mode of transportation faster or more buoyant than a horse blew up this afternoon - and we didn't have the technology to start rebuilding trade routes immediately.
But, still... it's all crap because they're trying to reshuffle production assets to cover off on multiple endings. So, bah
Secondly, after the creation of the Geth galactic law forbid creating other AIs and aside from EDI this was obeyed by every race. This was done with the idea of preventing exactly what you said "someone spawns synthetics that destroy their creators and go on to sterilize the galaxy" and this decision was made long before anyone even had any real knowledge of the Reapers. What this means is that the races that live in this cycle are intelligent enough and have the foresight to avoid making the same mistake whoever created the Reapers did. Even more reason that they won't make that mistake is that they have seen and survived the Reapers and they sure as hell aren't going to forget about it. The Krogan and Asari have lifespans of around 1000 years so even centuries later there will be those who survived the Reapers who will do everything in their power to prevent anyone from making new ones. Even the races with shorter lifespans who will be more likely to dismiss the Reapers as an ancient myth in a few hundred years will have the remains of Reapers all over their planets as proof that they're not and the possible consequences of creating synthetic life.
Basically travel and communication between races will have a major set back for awhile but I would guess for less than a century and I really think that after being the first cycle to ever survive the Reapers it's very unlikely that anything like them will ever be created again.
And you only need 1 asari to "meld" which each species to make a shitton more asari
also
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AmsYTS1wvgPwdGNZOExOQmJvZHd6aVJlbE4tTGw1NVE&rm=full
http://shannon.users.sonic.net/masseffect/
http://www.gamefront.com/breaking-bioware-officially-announces-ending-change-dlc/.
predict more butthurt!
also, Dustin, you haven't even played the game
space voodoo magic: extended
deleted scene lala: