Mass Effect 2 Plot Holes (Spoilers)

[MiracleOfSound]

SNIP

1, 2, 3 'plot holes'

1. Because they wanted to find out why they were abducting human colonies, and possibly rescue them.

2. Just because you don't 'get it' doesn't make it a plot hole. It will probably be explained in ME3. My guess is it's the reapers way of evolving, and the reason they cultivate and harvest organic life, in order to find DNA that will be right for them.

3. We saved the human colonies form the Reapers/Collectors and learned a lot about the reapers and thier motivations and plans.

 

[Punisher A.J.]

1. not really its like a giant canadian slingshot.
2. they saw terminator too many times or wanted to over spend resources... like cerberus and rebuilding shepard with bazillions of $$$ instead of ending all wars.
3. we helped our teammates solve there personal problems, learned more about the protheans, had more sex, and used a nuke launcher.... Oh and sir Issac Newton is the baddest mother F^.^er in space today!
[sub] I think thats right[/sub]

 

[Admiral Stukov]

1. Well I got ninja'd about a relay surviving a supernova.
2. The reapers seems to made as a charade of civilizations they have destroyed, or will destroy.
and the human reaper could be a revenge against Shepard who is responsible for the death of a reaper or simply as a replacement for Sovereign.
3. As for what Shepard accomplished it's either handing a shiny collector base to the Illusive Man, or effectivly kicking Cerbereus in the nuts by blowing it up. I expect that the ending will have a massive effect (unintentional pun) on the story of ME3.

 

[Agrael]

...and I just can't get Miranda's bubble butt and black bra out of my mind...

But actually, good questions indeed.

ME3 here we come!

 

[Bigeyez]

1. Our goal was to find out what happened to the colonists that were abducted and rescue them if possible, along with stopping the Collectors from doing whatever they were doing. We weren't able to save the colonist because they were killed, but thats something we wouldn't know without going through the Relay. Besides the Collectors have advanced technology and were working for the Reapers, we have no idea if destroying the Relay would truly stop them. (And yes Relays function in pairs, if you use one without the pair being active to catch you you'll never stop. The Relay description in the Codex explains this) Thats not even mentioning that Relays are filled with tons of Dark Energy and Eezo so destroying one would devastate the system it's in.

2. This is explained, partially, in game. Reapers are NOT just machines. EDI calls them "Super Contructs". They are both machine and organic. They take a specific species and use that species organic tissue in order to facilitate "reproduction". That tissue is essentially the "bloodline" if you will of the Reapers and the Reaper also takes the from of whatever species is used to "birth" it. Thats why the Reaper looked like a human.

Now why did they pick humans? We can presume that Shepard is the first person to kill a Reaper in millions of years. Naturally the Reapers if choosing a species to reproduce with are going to choose the strongest species in the galaxy. Humans are their choice.

What would this one Reaper do? Remember the Reapers are stuck in dark space. Yes you see them approaching the galaxy at the end of the game, but without Mass Relay travel it will take THOUSANDS OF YEARS for them to make it to even the edges of the galaxy simply using FTL travel. What many people conclude is that this Reaper was a backup plan to Sovereign and his purpose was to find some other way for the Reaper Fleets to reach the galaxy, along with being the first human variant of Reaper. Unless Bioware comes up with a Reverse Dues Ex Machinama to explain how the Reapers will travel billions of light years over the span between ME 2 and ME 3 the Reapers still won't be able to reach us in any amount of "short" time without help...so unless ME 3 takes place thousands of years after ME 2, the Reapers just flying here is not going to work. Remember when speaking in terms of galactic travel FTL speeds are slow. The fastest FTL drives can only reach about a dozen light years a day. Even assuming the Reapers are faster then that it would still take thousands of years for them to cover the billions of light years of distance needed to reach the edges of the galaxy. Mass Relay travel is near instantaneous and theoritically measures in at being able to propel ships millions of light years in a single second.

But wait Bigeyes, if the Reapers look like the species they "mate" with, then why do all of them look the same? We don't have the official answer on this, but currently there is one popular theory. The theory is that the exterior that we see of all Reapers looks the same. If we disected a Reaper we would see a core, which is where each Reaper would look different. Basically the incomplete Human Reaper that we kill will eventually become the core of the fully built Reaper ship. The evidence supportng this theory is that the Human Reaper is much too small. Even though it's incomplete you can still see it is multiple times smaller then Sovereign was, hence why people think he will just form the core of the fully built ship.

3. We completed quite a lot in the game. We gathered a team of the best mercs/killers/savages/specialist in all the galaxy. We discovered that the Collectors were once Protheans and that the Prothean race was not only wiped out but the survivors were turned into slave labor for the Reapers. We discover that Reapers need organics in order to "reproduce". We wipe out all the Collector forces and either destroy their main base or save it for our own use. Lastly we stopped the creation of this new Reaper, who presumably, was a backup plan of sorts for the Reapers.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Here be the almighty plothole:

WHERE THE F*CK WAS BANES?


The one unexplained sidequest of ME1, and they don't even address it in ME2.


Onto the OP's Plotholes:

1) "The Mu Relay links to dozens of systems and hundreds of worlds..." - this is probably true of Omega 4 relay. It'd been locked by the CollectoReapers to only allow them access, but now that Cerberus has the key they can probably travel to any of the relay's possible destinations, not just the Reaper base. Also, as said, Mass Relays are nigh indestructible.

2) Human Reaper - as said it's an ickle baby Reaper, will get bigger.

3) We couldn't really accomplish much this time around because of what we've already accomplished in the first installment, not if we want to leave anything for the 3rd part of the trilogy (otherwise known as where it all goes to hell). ME2of3 follows the traditional pattern of following a parallel line to the 1st and 3rd, you can see where it ties in, but the original plotline is diverted from to deal with a secondary dilemma, now that it's dealt with we're back to the main quest again. (Think Final Fantasy VII, 1st and 3rd discs are spent fighting Sephiroth, 2nd disc is mostly concerned with stopping Shinra)

 

[Hawgh]

1. Answered already.
2. What reason does the gigantic lovecraftian extragalactic deathmachines have for doing anything? This apparent reproduction of theirs is at least an explanation for why they periodically kill everything.
I think it was mentioned ingame that the Reapers failed to make a prothean Reaper for some reason.
It is mentioned in the game that the Collectors have been gathering a wide variety of sentients in past, it seems they ended up deciding that humans were the most likely candidate for Cthulhu-godhood.
The shape of the "Human Reaper": A Reaper is a gigantic space wessel several kilometers wide. What you encounter in the game is obviously a stone's throw or two from the finished product.
3. Well, every bit counts. removing the Dreadnought production facility in the enemy's completely unreachable base should help.

 

[Souplex]

You don't need a relay at your destination, you just need it if you want to make the return trip. Each one launches you somewhere so destroying the relay would just mean the collectors would be unable to return to the center of the galaxy.

 

[teutonicman]

1) It might no be possible to destroy the relays
If you destroy the relay then you can't explore what it lead to
2) The human reaper could have been the next step in reaper development. There next stage in "evolution" if you will
3) We accomplished exactly what was said in the game and you re-stated, stop the collectors from abducting human colonies.
I can see your problem with these points as they are never really cleared up, however I would think that is what the 3rd part is for.

 

[Flack]

Im pretty sure if you look at the visions shepard has in the first game and the statues on Ilos, the Protheons had squid faces (hence the squid ships). Only after extensive genetic modification did they look like the collectors.

 

[Internet Kraken]

1.) Remember the Mu Relay? That got hit by a super nova. It survived. We can't just blow up relays whenever we feel like it. Besides, Cerberus wanted to acquire Collector technology.

2.) Many people have wondered why the Reapers constantly allow civilizations to build itself up, only to swiftly destroy it. There are many theories as to why. You could think that the Reapers are just using organics as a food source, but arguably there are easier ways to cultivate and sustain organic food than allowing civilizations to constantly evolve and then fall. Rather I think they do it because the Reaper's culture involves preserving the most advanced and valuable species for eternity as Reapers. Reapers are not one single species, but rather a combination of all species ascended into a higher form of life. The best the galaxy has ever produced, all united under one banner.

The Reapers were not just trying to build any ordinary Reaper. They wanted to build a Human Reaper. Not to lead a massive attack against the Citadel, but rather becuase this is the Reaper's culture. They believe Humans are the species with the greatest potential. If they were just trying to build a generic Reaper, they could have used any species. Arguably it would be a lot easier to target something other than human colonies. But they specifically wanted to turn humans into the Reapers. Think about Harbinger's dialogue. He refers to the process of turning humans into genetic paste to fuel the larva's growth as "ascension". Why use that word in particular? Why not call it "assimilation"? Or "consumption"? "Ascension" implies that they are raising humans to be what they consider to be a higher form of life. They see value in humans.

But what about Sovereign? He didn't seem to like organics at all. Why turn them into Reapers. Well I believe that the Reapers may have considered the current organic "crop" to be a failure, not worthy of being turned into Reapers. This could be for a number of reasons. I think it's because the galaxy had a very diverse category of sentient lifeforms, with no one species appearing to be dominant. The Protheans appeared to be the undisputed rulers of the galaxy at the time of their downfall. This is the Reapers idea of the perfect organic race to harvest. One species that follows their predetermined line of technological advancement, rather than a handful of species that all do so at the same time. So the Reapers were all set to just wipe every race out and start from scratch. What changed this? Well humans killed a Reaper. The game often alludes to the idea that by killing a Reaper, we grabbed their attention. To delay the extinction cycle and kill a powerful Reaper in the process would probably interest them. So Harbinger now thinks that humans are worthy of ascension into the ultimate life form.

If you're wondering why they didn't do this to the Protheans, it's because the Prothean Reaper failed. Instead they turned them into the Collectors, so that they would still serve a purpose.

In short; Reapers wanted to create a Human Reaper for cultural reasons, not military strength.

And I don't think this Reaper was a backup plan for Sovereign. It was still far from completion when you encountered it, and apparently the Collectors have been harvesting since before Sovereign died. Harbinger has some other way of reaching the galaxy. I don't think the human Reaper would have attacked the Citadel.

3.) Remember that datapad at the end? The ony with all the data on Harbinger on it? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was important. And we stopped another Reaper plan. I don;t see what the problem is.

If you really want a plot hole, ask yourself this; why did they all get on the shuttle during the IFF incident?

 

[mechanixis]

2. The Human Reaper
I...don't get it. Why were they doing this? What purpose does this serve the Reapers? There are presumably hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of Reapers in dark space. While the human Reaper looks badass and made a great end-game boss, it never really made any sense to me. Why are they using organic tissue? Why is that necessary? There wasn't anything organic about Sovereign that I could see. Why does the Reaper take on the image of the race that it conquers? Were all previous races squid-like? Why don't any Reapers look like keepers or Protheans? What did the Collectors plan to do with the human Reaper if it was completed? Stomp around on Earth like Godzilla? Why is it necessary to give it all the weaknesses of a human form - like frail limbs and obvious weak spots? Why is is so small compared to Sovereign? This is more than likely something I missed on my first two play-throughs, but I did not understand the ultimate plot of the Collectors (and thus the Reapers) in Mass Effect 2. Especially since we already saw that one Reaper would be torn to pieces by the united races of the galaxy as in Mass Effect 1.

This bit annoyed the hell out of me. Sure, it was kind of nice to have the final boss be this colossal doomsday machine instead of a spazzy robot frog, but the thing looked like a goddamn T-800. My first thought when I laid eyes on it was "It has teeth. When is it ever going to have to chew anything." I would buy the whole dna-harvest thing as part of the Reaper's motivation for their genocides - it's how they reproduce - but the whole 'taking on the image of their victims' crap was just awful and pointless. They're cold, unfeeling, calculating machines, they don't do things for aesthetic value.

 

[Lionsfan]

Here be the almighty plothole:

WHERE THE F*CK WAS BANES?

The one unexplained sidequest of ME1, and they don't even address it in ME2.

Refresh my memory, What quest was that?

 

[LordMoose]

The Collectors would still be able to launch themselves out with FTL to the nearest other mass relay, because of course they have other avenues of escape then just A mass relay. Their base is able to withstand the horrific power of blackholes and exploding suns.

Also, On Horizon, Ashley/Kaiden gets taken out mear feet from Lillith who is later found at the colector base. How the fuck did they just leave him there, ignore him?

My Theory, They Didnt.
The Reapers have planted their seed in Ashely/Kaiden, and i'll get to Kill Them Later.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Not actually reading a damn thing in this thread for fear of spoilers.

But how did you know about Thermal Clips when you woke up?

 

[obex]

1. Relays were made by the reapers so fixing that problem would not be to hard also the protheians had almost unlocked relay tech when they were harvested suggesting reaper mass effect tech is way superior. Also there base was shielded if they wanted to leave they could just move the base ship.

2. yeh it was ok that they were making reapers out of the races but i dont get why it had to look like a human at all, possibly that was just the basic form its not known if the completed reaper hybrid would of had legs ect, this is probably fleshing out for mass effect 3's explanation of the reapers motives.

3. Yeh but with most games it a bit of the middle child it has no beginning and no end its hard to have some major victory against the reapers and then still have them posed as a threat in the third game so its better to pwn a proxy agent that was also a threat, i mean we killed a reaper in the first one but that took the entire fleet making it seem bad ass if by the third game we were making scratches on the side of the Normandy for each reaper we had trashed they wouldn't seem as cool. Also again its setting the stage.

 

[Professor M]

I have another question, if someone could please help me with it:

When EDI is installing the IFF, and tells you to take the shuttle to your next destination, you agree and set off with all of your squad, leaving Joker and the rest of the Normandy crew at the hands of the Collector assault. Now, my question is this: Where the hell did Shep and the squad go during this time? No destination was mentioned, just that he needs to take the shuttle to "his next mission". I probably missed something here, but it sort of ruined it for me. Surely it wouldn't have been too difficult for Bioware to put in some dialogue about going to some random off-world armory or something to prepare.

I suppose it was lucky that this confusion was immediately followed by the fantastic kick-ass Joker mission, thus momentarily covering up the plot hole

 

[Rancid0ffspring]

2. The Human Reaper
Although it wasn't really explaned to well during the game I theorised it's their way of reproducing. Wait for intelligent life to develop, find out which one is best for their needs & then harvest them to be used for reproduction & create more Reapers

Other questions I have no answer for but that's what I think

 

[Garaw]

Off topic: I haven't played ME2 yet, but I gotta ask if it's supposed to be 'illusive man' or 'elusive man'. They're both words but one makes a lot more sense than the other out of context.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

You don't need a relay at your destination, you just need it if you want to make the return trip. Each one launches you somewhere so destroying the relay would just mean the collectors would be unable to return to the center of the galaxy.

You need two relays. Otherwise you'd never stop. This explained in the codex, and we've seen it happen numerous times in game.

As explained there are many reasons why the Mass Relay wasn't destroyed. It may be indestructable or destroy the solar system it inhabits, or it could just be that part of the point of the mission is rescue the colonists as well as discover more about the Reapers.

Not actually reading a damn thing in this thread for fear of spoilers.

But how did you know about Thermal Clips when you woke up?

I don't think it's considered a new thing, more of a "Yeah...they've always existed. Because we said so."

I have another question, if someone could please help me with it:

When EDI is installing the IFF, and tells you to take the shuttle to your next destination, you agree and set off with all of your squad, leaving Joker and the rest of the Normandy crew at the hands of the Collector assault. Now, my question is this: Where the hell did Shep and the squad go during this time? No destination was mentioned, just that he needs to take the shuttle to "his next mission". I probably missed something here, but it sort of ruined it for me. Surely it wouldn't have been too difficult for Bioware to put in some dialogue about going to some random off-world armory or something to prepare.

I suppose it was lucky that this confusion was immediately followed by the fantastic kick-ass Joker mission, thus momentarily covering up the plot hole

If you havn't completed all the main missions by this point this happens when you select a world to land on. So that would be the mission your doing.

Apparently they have the same mission if you manage to do all the loyalty and squad collection missions. That may be were the confusion lies.