So I was just replaying Mass Effect 1 and...

[Indecipherable]

So I was just replaying Mass Effect 1. Can anyone explain this.

The Protheans had a secret research base on Ilos.
After the Reaper threat was gone they went to the Citadel and reprogrammed the Keepers so that they would not send the 'attack' signal to the Reapers.

... they didn't leave some notes behind to say, "Hey guys, every 50,000 years a giant spacefaring army of sentient robots come in and exterminate all life. All that technology you found and never questioned? It's theirs. Here's everything we knew before we were wiped out".

A few of the Prothean relics are apparently unable to operate 50,000 years later but their statues and artwork in Ilos is perfectly intact. Why couldn't they just do things the old fashioned way and engrave it somewhere? Or, if the Keepers are going to remove that, put something small into orbit outside of their reach but at the citadel itself. I doubt the Keepers will remove things anyway, considering the Conduit was left totally untouched...

 

[Saelune]

Uh...after the Reapers were gone, so were the Protheans, except for those locked away on Ilos.
Im trying to fully remember the end though, but I do not recall any Protheans being active post Reapers. The thing you meet on Ilos is an A.I.

 

[Sanctus Hospes]

I may be oversimplifying this but...

If you found that on a stone wall 50,000 years later (or in a computer for that matter), would you believe it?

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Uh...after the Reapers were gone, so were the Protheans, except for those locked away on Ilos.
Im trying to fully remember the end though, but I do not recall any Protheans being active post Reapers. The thing you meet on Ilos is an A.I.

A very small number of high-level Prothean scientists survived until the Reapers had left.

They then returned to the Citadel through a one way relay.

I think I generally gathered from the technology they used in the relics, they wanted the next species to be able to 'see' the threat.

I assumed this was because the Protheans knew it was more or less impossible for the next species to have the same language that the Protheans had, and depending on how different the languages were it may have been impossible to translate anything written by them.

Also I think the team was too small to put anything into orbit, though it's not really explained in detail.

 

[Indecipherable]

Also I think the team was too small to put anything into orbit, though it is debatable.

Perhaps. They could have just written it down though.

Likewise there is the highly questionable plot hole that the Protheans were exterminated over the course of hundreds of years but yet again... they leave a number of broken beacons. How hard is it to write this down?

 

[Tearopenthelives]

Maybe they tried, every so often, Sovereign would wake and assess the galaxy as to whether the citadel gate should be re-opened, perhaps he/it destroyed any evidence. Besides the VI on Ilos was the remaining message, it said so itself.

 

[Indecipherable]

I may be oversimplifying this but...

If you found that on a stone wall 50,000 years later (or in a computer for that matter), would you believe it?

Considering the gaping lack of knowledge about everything around you, and the extent of detail you could provide, the Protheans could make a very very convincing argument about what happened.

They could also put the co-ordinates for Ilos, the other beacons, etc. etc. there for supporting evidence.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I may be oversimplifying this but...

If you found that on a stone wall 50,000 years later (or in a computer for that matter), would you believe it?

This. Hell, no one believes about the reaper invasion even after A REAPER ATTACKS THE CITADEL! It was just a weather balloon, after all.

 

[Indecipherable]

I may be oversimplifying this but...

If you found that on a stone wall 50,000 years later (or in a computer for that matter), would you believe it?

This. Hell, no one believes about the reaper invasion even after A REAPER ATTACKS THE CITADEL! It was just a weather balloon, after all.

It's hard to explain a plot hole by just saying the entire galaxy is filled with idiots. I suppose it works.

 

[ConnorCool]

What if the did leave something, but it was never noticed as a message. How would anybody read a message from a civilization that is eons dead?

 

[philcelery]

Maybe the real downfall of the Protheans was illiteracy.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Perhaps. They could have just written it down though.

Likewise there is the highly questionable plot hole that the Protheans were exterminated over the course of hundreds of years but yet again... they leave a number of broken beacons. How hard is it to write this down?

One of the Reapers goals after purging the galaxy is to remove any trace of their existence.

We can assume that the relic survived through sheer force of plot armour, and any writings would have been destroyed thanks to a distinct lack of plot armour.

 

[Simon Pettersson]

I may be oversimplifying this but...

If you found that on a stone wall 50,000 years later (or in a computer for that matter), would you believe it?

This. Hell, no one believes about the reaper invasion even after A REAPER ATTACKS THE CITADEL! It was just a weather balloon, after all.

Well they belive it was just a big ship that attacked the Citadel.

I belive the easiest way for the Protheans was to show other speices what they were going to face. The could have left some coordinates or beacon on the citadel.
But the reapers have agents that can destroy and clean up all the evidents.

 

[Indecipherable]

What if the did leave something, but it was never noticed as a message. How would anybody read a message from a civilization that is eons dead?

Firstly they have beacons that give information quite directly. They could have just moved Vigil in there instead of hiding it for no reason whatsoever.

Secondly their technology and culture is described as being 'a form of controlled evolution' by the Reapers. As in the Reapers give the new cultures the secrets they want to shape them. This is explicitly stated in the game that the technologies of the races are aligned.

Thirdly their secret research base on Ilos is very very much like what a human would make. It has sculptures, artwork and a construction that shows staggering similarities to what we would produce.

So simply put, they can because they already have (see Vigil, above).

Edit: Vigil also provides you with a datadisc that uploads perfectly to your tecchie-arm-thing that he tells you has all the information on how to fight them. Their ability to convey information should probably go unquestioned.

 

[ultrachicken]

Also I think the team was too small to put anything into orbit, though it is debatable.

Perhaps. They could have just written it down though.

Likewise there is the highly questionable plot hole that the Protheans were exterminated over the course of hundreds of years but yet again... they leave a number of broken beacons. How hard is it to write this down?

The reapers go out of their way to leave as little remains of whatever species they wipe out as possible. They can't destroy everything, but they did a pretty good job of removing evidence.

Also, how would the Council races be able to read something written in an ancient language?

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

... they didn't leave some notes behind to say, "Hey guys, every 50,000 years a giant spacefaring army of sentient robots come in and exterminate all life. All that technology you found and never questioned? It's theirs. Here's everything we knew before we were wiped out".

A few of the Prothean relics are apparently unable to operate 50,000 years later but their statues and artwork in Ilos is perfectly intact. Why couldn't they just do things the old fashioned way and engrave it somewhere? Or, if the Keepers are going to remove that, put something small into orbit outside of their reach but at the citadel itself. I doubt the Keepers will remove things anyway, considering the Conduit was left totally untouched...

The invasion lasted for nearly a century and by that time, Ilos' fuel supply was running low. The AI (I forgot his name; Virgil, was it?) had to sequentially shut down the pods containing low level personnel to save power for the most important scientists, Only the ones who would be able to both use the conduit AND sabotage the Citadel. No medics. No craftsmen. Just researchers.

By the time the invasion ended, all that was left of the species was, like, half a dozen bruised and battered Protheans who had been in Cryo-stasis for nearly a century (which I'm sure takes it's toll on an organic body) and thus couldn't do ANYTHING other than complete their race's final mission and promptly die due to a lack of medical services.

Besides, they didn't KNOW that their beacons would break down by the time anyone found it. That's my take on it anyway.

So simply put, they can because they already have (see Vigil, above).

Are you implying that Vigil can speak English (or Galactic, or whatever) Because that's not the case. You could understand him becuase the codex gave you the ability to understand the Prothean Language. NOT the other way around.....

 

[Indecipherable]

Also I think the team was too small to put anything into orbit, though it is debatable.

Perhaps. They could have just written it down though.

Likewise there is the highly questionable plot hole that the Protheans were exterminated over the course of hundreds of years but yet again... they leave a number of broken beacons. How hard is it to write this down?

The reapers go out of their way to leave as little remains of whatever species they wipe out as possible. They can't destroy everything, but they did a pretty good job of removing evidence.

Also, how would the Council races be able to read something written in an ancient language?

The Reapers were already gone when the remaining Protheans went to the Citadel.

It would amaze me that the Reapers would be able to determine that there is a book/datadisc left behind but not determine earlier that their signal and the keepers left behind were now essentially neutered. The logical assumption from me is that once they were gone, they were gone.

 

[88chaz88]

Err... did you miss the entire beacon thing?

That was their message. Unfortunately they didn't bank on you having to be Prothean to understand it.

 

[Indecipherable]

Err... did you miss the entire beacon thing?

That was their message. Unfortunately they didn't bank on you having to be Prothean to understand it.

Actually they did. They coded the beacons to work with any organic life, but not synthetic life.

Also, they displayed already that they could make VI that could perfectly communicate with alien life forms already: ie Vigil.

 

[Sanctus Hospes]

I may be oversimplifying this but...

If you found that on a stone wall 50,000 years later (or in a computer for that matter), would you believe it?

This. Hell, no one believes about the reaper invasion even after A REAPER ATTACKS THE CITADEL! It was just a weather balloon, after all.

haha, weather balloon ^_^ that made me laugh.