A question about Mass Effect 3's ending (spoiler alert)

[Austin Manning]

A note before we begin: no flaming, complaining about colours or a lack of choice, and absolutely NO dropping of the word "entitlement".

So I recently finished the entire Mass Effect franchise and it was incredibly awesome up to the very end of part 3. (control is my preferred ending in case anybody cares)

My question though has to do with the Citadel. Specifically, what happened to all the people on it?

When the Reapers conveniently captured the Citadel just as you discover it's the Catalyst, did everyone on board die? What happened to Captain Bailey, Barla Von, Aria T'Loak, Dr. Michel, the Blue Rose of Illium, the Council, the significant military and militia forces stationed there, the ambassadors and the tens of thousands of refugees?

It just seems kind of weird that so many characters (of varying importance) would just drop of the map like that. Though I suppose it could just be another loose plot thread like why the Reapers brought the Citadel to Earth in the first place instead of sending it into dark space for the remainder of the harvesting.

 

[Offworlder_v1legacy]

I've thought about this as well. My guess is that the explosion of the Catalyst, combined with the regular explosions, shut down all systems, and everyone who wasn't harvested suffocated with the lack of air, or got caught in an explosion. But I guess it's all down to speculation and another reason why the series will never achieve greatness.

 

[Eddie the head]

There is no answer. I guess they die but they never said that. I think? Anyway it's just one more on the pile.

 

[Zhukov]

There's absolutely no in-game evidence for this, but a couple of the writers (the good ones, not the hated ones) have explicitly stated that no, not everybody died, although obviously there would have been a ton of casualties. Of course you'll never get to find out who survived because closure is for entitl suckers.

So I guess that's it, as improbable as it seems.

Really, the treatment of the Citadel is just another problem with the ending. It would be more logical to assume that pretty much everybody died. It would seem a safe bet that the Reapers harvested what inhabitants they could when they captured the place (remember that you see hallways strewn with corpses after you exit the transport beam). Then there's the question of whether the inhabitants could have survived whatever means were used to transport the Citadel to Earth (How did the Reapers do that anyway? Giant tow ropes? Why bring it to Earth anyway? Oh right, because the final battle has to take place at Earth because "save the Earth" makes for more palatable marketing). Then of course there's the fact that at least two (all?) of the major endings involve the Citadel being wracked by explosions and then breaking apart. The Extended Cut endings show it being repaired again, but it seems a stretch to me that the mass effect field generators that keep the Citadel's atmosphere contained would have remained functional despite the station breaking apart. So there's everyone who survived the harvesting and the transport dead from asphyxiation.

At the end of the day, your question, like so many others about the ending, can be answered with, "Because the writers all had their heads stuck in buckets."

 

[Innegativeion]

Among the many, many, MANY issues with the ME 3 ending, the fate of those aboard the citadel (or how the fuck the reapers get it into earth's orbit for that matter. Somehow I find the image of a bunch of giant robotic hand-crabs towing the citadel with cables a tad... no... excessively silly) is never, ever, expounded upon.

Disappointed?

So am I.

 

[A Distant Star]

If you ask me, this is the single greatest problem with the ending of ME3. I am hoping we will see some sort of an answer with The Citadel DLC pack.

 

[Erttheking]

It's never addressed, but considering what the Reapers are known for and how the Citadel kinda falls apart on all of the endings, I think it's safe to put them down as KIA.

 

[Kingjackl]

All dead. The Citadel blows up in Destroy and Synthesis, but I think it might be okay in Control. I suppose if you picked that ending and assume that the Reapers haven't had time to harvest the Citadel yet since it got captured like half an hour before the final battle, then a few of the people might still be alive.

 

[Monster_user]

Really, the treatment of the Citadel is just another problem with the ending. It would be more logical to assume that pretty much everybody died.

Before the Citadel was taken, there were a ton of ships docked, and waiting to dock. Taking a look at the refugee deck, the significant difficulty getting onto the station would indicate that there would be difficulties leaving the station as well. It is logical to assume significant casualties, but not "pretty much everybody". They knew the Reapers were coming to the Citadel, an evactuation strategy for important officials had to be planned.

It is possible that your choices made on the Citadel during the course of the game, choosing which sides to support, would impact the evacuation effort. The question is how those choices impacted casualty levels, and the evacuation.

 

[Agent 45]

Going on in-game information: we don'know.

Speculative anwser: they're all dead. Either harvested or died because of a lack of life support. Or, as several people pointed out: they died when the Citadel explodes in two of the three endings.

Really though I am wondering: what got you to wonder this specific question? I could imagine that you'd have more and more pressing ones.

I also have a question of my own. Why do the reapers leave the rely to Sol open? Why not close it, like all the others? They have the Citadel, they're in full control of every relay the've built, so I can't imagine why they would leave it open.

 

[viranimus]

It is explained. Its just people do not understand what it is they are experiencing. The answer is incredibly simple, but you have to look at things through a figurative perspective rather than taking everything literally. There is a very specific reason why no one is on the citadel. Why the citadel is not wrecked. Why you encounter a whole area of it no one is familiar with, and how various people are there along with you such as Anderson and TIM

With as blatant as it has been thru the entire series it astounds me I have yet to encounter anyone who has even come close to broaching its intended meaning.

 

[ThriKreen]

I also have a question of my own. Why do the reapers leave the rely to Sol open? Why not close it, like all the others? They have the Citadel, they're in full control of every relay the've built, so I can't imagine why they would leave it open.

Going by another linked post from one of the writers, the idea was that the Citadel being the central hub of EVERYTHING also means it was the main off switch for the Mass Relays. The Prothean jamming system that prevented the Keepers from activating the Citadel Mass Relay also stopped them from deactivating the other Mass Relays. You can probably guess that the two modes are linked as part of the harvest mode, so it was stuck on normal mode and thus allowing people to jump around.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

I like to believe (and this has no basis in facts of any kind) that the more I did for that "Citadel defense" war asset, the more people were evacuated before the Reapers warped the whole kit and caboodle to Earth. There's plenty of carnage on board though so I'm guessing lots and lots of people died horribly and were processed.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I've thought about this as well. My guess is that the explosion of the Catalyst, combined with the regular explosions, shut down all systems, and everyone who wasn't harvested suffocated with the lack of air, or got caught in an explosion. But I guess it's all down to speculation and another reason why the series will never achieve greatness.

I like that you can leave up some of the ending to speculation. It lets you decide for yourself what happened. My theory is the same as yours though. I like to think that once the Reapers showed up, a lot of people escaped. There would probably have been a mass evacuation so in my mind, Bailey escaped.

 

[AD-Stu]

If you ask me, this is the single greatest problem with the ending of ME3. I am hoping we will see some sort of an answer with The Citadel DLC pack.

Unlikely, since pretty much by definition the upcoming DLC pack has to take place before the Citadel is moved.

OP, you've asked just one of hundreds of questions that don't really have answers - I think the most reasonable assumptions would be 1: the all died or 2: some managed to evacuate the Citadel as the Reapers were taking it... and the rest died. I guess it's possible a few people might have hidden out under the bar in Chora's Den or something, but the chances for survival for anyone still on the station once it's moved seem pretty slim.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

That, as nearly everyone else has said, is one of the main things that bugged the crap out of me. Yeah, the ending was full of hole and there are tons of things wrong with it, but this is one of my main complaints. Kelly was still on the Citadel last time I checked. I went through a HELL of a lot of work to make sure that she survived (still annoyed with them turning her into a barely-there side character in 3) and then...what happened to her?!

For that matter, what about Conrad, who finally seems to be getting a stroke of luck with his life when Jenna shows up? Finally, someone willing and excited to listen to him. Or Liara's 'father.' "Great, we finally get to bond, but I have to go die now." Or Commander Bailey? They take all this time to build all these characters, and then they just forget about them. Gr...

 

[UrinalDook]

I can't say if it's intentional, or just a side effect of re-used assets, but when you open the arms you can see lights and movement on the Wards. To me, that suggests the Reapers just closed up shop when they nabbed the Citadel, said 'we'll deal with these guys later' and then dragged the Citadel to Earth.

The game prior to that does show that the reason there is even a war worth fighting is because processing millions of people is a slow process even for millennia old robot squid gods. Not to mention they spend cycles of 50,000 years doing bugger all. If there's one thing the Reapers have, it's patience.

I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that the Reapers saw no reason to bother with the people of the Citadel when they can just seal them in and let indoctrination do its work.

As for the Citadel exploding, well anything that big is going to have a ton of redundancies. We have no idea how the Citadel's atmosphere works, though there is a fetch quest earlier that deals with localised power grids. It's possible areas of the Wards that didn't get exploded can still power their own atmosphere fields.

Ultimately, until a sequel turns up, this is one of those things you can just decide for yourself. Personally, it makes sense from a story structure point of view for all those people you helped out earlier in the game to not meaninglessly die.