ROTTOK Crapgame said:
The problems I have with the ME3 endings are purely plot based, they leave gaping holes, and generally make ZERO sense.
1. The Normandy gets wrecked by the energy pulse flowing through the Mass Relay... HOW? This would mean that Joker had legged it away from the final battle through the Mass Relay BEFORE I made my final decision on the Citadel, cheers for that Joker, you coward, that's right run away and leave Sheperd and the rest of the Alliance to their fate, not to mention the rest of the alien fleets.
2. After the above debacle takes place, some of my squad get off the Normandy! So Joker had time to swoop down and pick them up before legging it! Garrus and Liara were in my final assault squad, and they got off the Normandy! WHAT THE FUCK! My best friend, and my 'girlfriend' both leave me to die on Earth and choose to save their own asses.
3. All the alien fleets are now trapped in the Sol system, the Quarian and Turians starve to death because they can't eat the food, and all the races would blame Sheperd and the Alliance for trapping them on the wrong side of the galaxy which would start a nasty pushing match and no mistake. 3 to 4 hours of game play rescuing Rannoth and brokering peace between the Geth and Quarians all comes to nothing. Another couple of hours play curing the Genophage was pointless because most of the male Krogan are either on Palaven or Earth, and the list goes on.
4. Destroying a Mass Relay causes rather a loud POP! Or so we are led to believe, if ME2 DLC is to be believed, and if so this renders point 3 mute, and destroys all the worlds in a system containing a Mass Relay.
These 4 points are common to ALL the endings, so you can't say that it's dependent on choice, if you choose to 'Destroy' the Reapers you also wipe out the Geth, and EDI (UP YOURS JOKER! TRY NOT RUNNING AWAY NEXT TIME) Choose 'Assimilation' and everybody becomes 'Borg' Resistance IS futile! And 'Control' means you not only control the Reapers, but the Geth and EDI.
I could have coped with the endings as they stand if they made sense, but they don't, not in any artistic, literary or plot based context. They pose more questions than they answer, they disregard plot and canon, and reduce the ending of a trilogy down to 'RED, BLUE or GREEN' Then for the final insult, after the credits roll, you are magically transported back onto the Normandy so you can play the DLC, and any other missions you have missed, and so you can play the final mission again so you can view the alternative endings.
I don't mind if Sheperd was to die, I'd prefer it if she didn't, but then again I like an upbeat ending. But I just want closure, who lives, who dies, in an ending befitting the game and with a little acknowledgement of what MY Sheperd has achieved.
1) It is clear from the ending that there is a big gap between Battle ends (reapers leave/die) and mass relays explodes. Why it is illogical to think Joker was in the thick of the battle, then the battle is over... then the mass relays are seen overcharging and the whole fleet start fleeing? Mass effect universe ships have FTL drives independent of the Mass Relays. Of course Bioware show you just the Normandy instead of showing all the thousands other ships.
2)Yeps, this is impossible. See below though for one explanation.
3)FTL drives! The mass effect ships have them! You explore the whole galaxy in ME1, ME 2 and 3. Mass Relays are only in some systems, then you go FTL and move to other systems! Yes, it needs fuel but it is clear it takes only a short time (or then all the exploration done in ME3 would take YEARS and nothing in game implies that long has passed).
So the fleets (assuming they survive the Green/blue/Red explosion) are NOT stranded. It will just take them a few months to get back home instead than a few minutes.
4) Clearly the explosions of ME3 ending are not the same as Arrival. The first case is of something shutting down as designed, the second was tampering. at least that is one possible explanation, but see below for another one.
Finally: Indoctrination Theory, look it up, it makes 100% sense and I am convinced it is what happens here. There are plenty of evidence for it, but here are some points:
1) the child Shepard sees in the very first mission of the game is an Hallucination! No one else seems to see him, Not Anderson nor any of the dudes at the shuttle. You would think someone on the shuttle would go and HELP a poor child up the damn thing, but noooo, he has to climb by himself. Also earlier the child is seen entering a locked door and then the whole building explode in fire when hit by a reaper beam, still he is unscathed. Note: Suffering from hallucinations is a clear sign of Reapers' Influence as evidenced in ME2 Codex entry on Indoctrination.
2)During the whole ME3 shepard suffers from Nightmares in which dark, oily figures are present. Dark oily figures is exactly how the Rachni queen in ME1 describe the Reapers' influence. Ie: Shepard is getting indoctrinated!
3)The whole sequence AFTER being hit by Harbinger is a dream sequence that happens in your mind as you struggle against indoctrination. This is made clear by many clues:
A) the radio chatter makes it clear no one survived, but seemingly they somehow missed not only Shepard, but also Anderson
B) your pistol has infinite ammo
C) Anderson somehow get to the console BEFORE you, even if he says he "followed you in"
D) your armor is all wrecked, but somehow the radio works?
E) You shoot Anderson in the guts, but later it is Shepard that has a FRESH gut wound, with fresh blood spilling over
F) if they saw no one enter the beam, how come Hackett suddenly talks to you?
G) The Child ramblings are just that, ramblings, designed to confuse and deceive you.
H) the choices are color inverted. During the WHOLE game, choosing to Control the Reaper was the Renegade/RED choice and destroying them was the Paragon/BLUE choice, but at the end they are inverted, another deceit of the Reapers.
I) if you choose Blue or Green, you give in to the Reapers and become indoctrinated, infact shepard's skin fuses and becomes that of an Husk, also his eyes become like the Illusive Man's eyes. You choose Red, the one the Reapers do not want you to pick, and you stay human.
J) The RED ending supports this enormously. If you pick this with full war rating, you get a bonus scene at the end where you see a N7 armored figure in a pile of rubble taking a breath. That is Shepard, armor intact and alive. This means he/she fought off the indoctrination of the Reaper and is ready to end the fight (coming in a future DLC for sure)... Note his armor is still there, therefore all that happened before was a dream... also he is in London rubble (it is concrete, not shiny metal, also no way Shepard would have survived a orbital re-entry as the Citadel exploded), not the Citadel's.
So this means the whole normandy sequence, explosion, people on the jungle planet... it is all just in your mind! what Shepard would like to happen to his friends and this also explains why your love interest is ALWAYS seen exiting the Normandy. Makes sense that Shepard would like his or her girl/boyfriend to be alive and well.
4) Bioware people have many times said on Twitter and others that not all is over and to keep your saves!
So embrace the Indoctrination Theory. It sucks that we need to wait and a probable DLC to see the real ending, but this Theory makes too much sense and explain EVERYTHING to be false.
Plus: Bioware are not sucky writers, come on, the three Mass Effect games should prove this.
Plus: The ending is still to come
Minus: We will, most probably, have to fork out money to see it, which sucks, I agree.
rigins, Starwars:KOTAR 1&2, Jade Empire,Neverwinter Nights 1&2, Baldur's Gate 1&2,Shattered Steel, Mass Effect 1&2(both still amazing games.)
