WHAT AM I EVEN LOOKING AT OMG

 

 

 

 

hi

Thane's mug is kept full with the tears of fangirls.

Mine included.

They just happen to taste and look like hot chocolate.

HELLO THREAD.

HANA! IT IS GLORIOUS!

...Pimpmaster's nipples are intimidating and at least one is threatening my Shepard's hair. If she lifted her head, there'd be contact, I just KNOW it.

HAVE I MENTIONED I LOVE THIS? It turned out so wonderful.

Thank you thank you thank you for taking the time to bring the community and all of our Shepards together like this.

Feels good, man. ♥

Garrus or Thane snipe off?

If I were to go by game mechanics, I'd say Thane due to his Drell Marksman weapon bonus, which is double Garrus' Turian Renegade weapon bonus.

Now, someone mentioned "close combat" as being Thane's preference; however, don't forget that Garrus mentions that he and that scout he blew off some steam with were the top ranked hand-to-hand specialists on the ship, so he hasn't necessarily been a trained sniper his entire military career. As well, when Thane mentions Irikah, he's clearly sniping someone... so it's not like sniping is an in-game-only talent of his.

Clearly, Garrus and Thane need to hold a tie breaker in Thane's quarters.

FieryPhoenix7 wrote...

Amedyr wrote...

Is there any place where I can read that letter? I don't even have LotSB yet and I don't think I could kill Thane off just to see it, so I don't mind the spoiler, for once

Sure, my album. Starting from here.

Hit Next to move to the next part. There are 4.

EDIT: Or, you can see wait and see it in your game!

Or, if you don't want to have to read through three different images, it is also in the wikia for Thane's Shadow Broker Dossier, at the bottom.


EDIT-
The name game.  Uh...

Sneezy - Tali (suit rupture again)
Sleepy - Miranda (why else have all those pillows)
Dopey - Conrad Verner
Doc - Mordin
Happy - Kelly
Bashful - Kaidan?
Grumpy - Jack or Udina

General Ashous wrote...

Jacob and Kasumi? Match made in Heaven? I wouldn't say it'd last too long. Year or two at most. Jacob doesn't seem like the kind of guy who sticks around for too long. I wonder if there was anything between him and Miranda? Thane's mug! Empty! Same sentence! I doubt that very much. If it were empty my world would be shaken up. Which reminds me of the time...

As far as I recall, pretty early on you get the opportunity to ask him if he and Miranda were ever together, and he says something like it got really close and then it got really really far away.

After his loyalty mission, which promise Miranda was referring to is brought up, but he doesn't know.  But for all we know, if things got bad, she could have promised to destroy his soul or something.  It's pretty ambiguous.  On the other hand, it could also be a good friend thing.  I assume he opened up to her about his dad... maybe... hence her interference.  I haven't done Jacob's romance, I've only seen youtubes of it, but I think he gets squidgy if Shepard asks about it.

He'll also say she requires a better man than him.

All of this leads me to think they were very close and maybe tried a relationship and it didn't work out, or the idea of being something serious came up and one of them beat a hasty retreat.

Go go speculation and ambiguity!


BUT!  This is neither here nor there, because it is not Thane.

Here.  Some Thane.


by Sea-Sapphire

That would be one intense sammich.

Truth.



Zaeed: All right, Thane. What's in that mug of yours?



Thane: If I told you, I would have to kill you.



Zaeed: HA! Don't be so goddamned dramatic. It's an easy question. Just tell us the truth.



Thane: That is the truth.

JECWSU wrote...

If he were to die it could be a great scene if it is done right, but honestly I don't want him to die at all. If they find a way to prolong his life with the hopes of finding a cure then that's fine with me. I hope that they will do something amazing for such a great character in ME3.

When people mention beautiful death/funeral/touching doom moments, I think back to Virmire, and I have to echo what JEC mentioned above - it would be a great scene, if it were done right, but...

Any other death in Mass Effect so far has been pretty underwhelming.    The Virmire sacrifice, there's nothing.  No touching last words, no heroic last stand cinematic, no tribute after beyond answering Miranda's questions on the way to the other Cerberus base, and hearing in ME2 that the character was posthumously awared medals from the turians and salarians.

Even Shepard's own death was pretty meh.  Now, admittedly, if the beginning to ME2 were any longer, I'd die.  However, it would have been nice to see how Shepard's death affected people she'd helped or were even close to her - her LI, Anderson, her mother/Talitha/Toombs, Conrad, Hackett, etc.  Instead, you get a lot of  "Shepard?!  I thought you were dead!" "I got better" in ME2 and news blurbs.  Jacob says "most people didn't even know you were dead" while everyone else and the news blurbs prove otherwise.  Every semi-meaningful reaction you get is so after the fact - the Virmire Suvivor on Horizon, Liara, Garrus, Tali... I dunno.  The most that was evoked from me was how my Shepard felt about seeing them again, and not the other way around.  It was all very... bleh.

If someone dies during the suicide mission, there's no moment to mourn them or react, you just keep going and then... THEN... you get a semi-touching moment at the end where Shep's standing in front of one or more cerberus coffins, which just makes me D: ... because I don't know how we got the bodies back at all.  When Miranda died on one of my play throughs, the only way I knew she was dead was seeing black vinyl legs in the screen while Collectors ran past, which makes me think her body got left behind.

Mass Effect and death = anti-climatic.


Potential Thane Abilities:
- Necksnap Kasumi-like gank move.
- Battle Sleep - an AOE Kasumi-like gank move ala Dantius Tower
- Close ranged pistol bonus ability or...
- Laser dot -  something like concussive shot only it's a guaranteed headshot or something
- Some sort of stealth or damage evasion
- Prayers: self or squad.  something like...
"Arashu protect us" - BAM! bonus to armor, barriers, and shields
"Amonkira reveals them" - uncovers freaking geth hunters, omg.  Or knocks enemies out of cover.
"Grant me forgiveness" - bonus to health/shield or barrier recovery?


@Aello
Aello!  You lurk-a-potamus.  It's been a while.

I'd say, given his eidetic memory and likely having an extensive knowledge of different alien physiologies to know where to hit/shoot to disable or kill his targets... yeah.

yeeeeeeaaaaaah....

Just_mike wrote...

Why cant we just go and kill a Drell-Merc, rip his lungs out, and transplant it to Thane? There, problem solved.

I support this whole-heartedly, despite how unlikely it seems at the moment.

Surely there has to be a morally repugnant hanar out there somewhere with a morally  repugnant collection of drell assassins just begging to be killed unfortunately die in combat and have their organs harvested in order to buy Thane more time.  IT WOULD BE A SHAME FOR THEIR ORGANS TO GO TO WASTE.

CheeseEnchilada wrote...

rant

<3

As for Shepard and Kolyat...  In the Grand Scheme of Things™ I think how they relate to each other is way down the list and Thane and Kolyat have a lot to work through before they get down to the point where Shepard and Thane's relationship would be relevant at all to Kolyat and Thane's relationship.  If Thane lives, and if they save the galaxy from a reaper invasion, and end up having any semblance of a normal life, then I think it might matter more.  Just not so much in the immediate future. 

If he dies and they both attend the funeral, it has the potential to get awkward, but Kolyat could just assume Shepard's there to pay her respects to a fallen squadmate.

From a fanfic perspective, it could literally go anywhere - Shepard bawling at Thane's death, squadmates outting Thane and Shepard to Kolyat as being intimate, Shepard trying to reach out to Kolyat, etc.  But in what the game might address, I think it'll be way more limiting or not addressed at all.

Skyline_Stanza wrote...

Well, could you say that, due to Shepard's interaction with the the crew, that they, the squad of the Normandy 2.0, start opening up to each other? I mean, not like spilling thier guts or telling thier life stories or anything major like that. just tiny little things, like Thane or Garrus talking about different techniques for sniping? Or Thane talking about biotics with Samara or Miranda?

I could see that.  Good point

Skuline_Stanza wrote...

Hmm, I feel that's a bit off topic...so! Thane's biotics! What do you think he uses them for? We've seen his hand to hand skills and gunplay, but nothing cutscene wise (besides Suicide Mission) about his use of biotics in his assassinations. Do you think this was added after the fact or during Thane's creation? (What can I say, I'm a sucker for biotics....or turian renegades. )

Thane biotics.... I dunno.  You see him use them in the Blur Trailer in the group scene against the collectors toward the end.  Biotic barrel roll/bro fist FTW.

I could maybe argue that having biotics allows for a tiny bit more diversity than something like Kasumi's shadow strike, if only in that you can do combo things with him and a biotic Shepard or squadmate, like warp explosion, but Shadow Strike makes so much more sense for Thane's character than biotics.  Because, yeah, any solo cutscene of Thane shows him with pistols and popping out of nowhere.

But shadow strike AND his weapon damage bonus/sniper headshot damage?  That might be a little ridiculous and reason enough for the devs to leave it out.  Or maybe Shadow Strike didn't exist by the time the game launched?

Instead of biotics and the Drell Marksman +50% weapon damage, maybe Shadow Strike and Drell Marksman +50% weapon damage, trading out Sniper Rifle proficiency for Heavy Pistols instead?  But, I loves me some long-range sniper action, so, I dunno.  I also think he's the only squadmate who's both proficient in sniper rifles and uses the sniper rifle by default, while Garrus, Legion, and Zaeed all need to be switched to it... and of those 3, only Zaeed has the chance for +50% weapon damage as a Mercenary Warlord.

He'd need something to replace Throw as well.  He doesn't seem the grenades type... unless you're a Krogan.  However, only the DLC characters use grenades, so... it's an idea.  Concussive Shot?  But Garrus, Grunt, and Zaeed all have that.  Don't really consider him a techie hybrid, either, and Miranda, Kasumi, and Garrus all have Overload.

And his loyalty weapon ammo is not really useful in higher difficulties levels.  Given the state of things, I'm thinking:

4/4 Exposed Drell Chest: Doubles chance for survival.  FOR SCIENCE.
or
4/4 Trippin' Balls (Squad): area effect distraction, descreasing the likelihood that the enemies can aim effectively through all of the pretty, pretty colors and... BUGS?? OMG THERE ARE BUGS UNDER MY SKIN!!

What does he use biotics for when he's on his own?  Ima vote for opening pickle jars.

Or something.

Tasha vas Nar Rayya wrote...

I don't think that Thane is distant. He seems very open, he talks about his deceased wife and his son honestly, and he talks about how he feels for them, and you can see that he really cares for them.

What KaimanaMM said about distant is more what I meant.

And, I agree entirely with what's quoted above, but that's what I meant about the way the game's set up.  He's very open with Shepard.  Shepard's able to pull Thane out of his head - and he'll tell you that Shepard's the first friend he's made in 10 years and that he hasn't talked to anyone about his wife... ever - where, based off of what he mentions about friends and talking about his wife, I wonder if he would bother with opening up to other members of the squad and/or someone like Samara, whom you described as cold.

And Samara's not SO bad.  She'll tell Shepard that she's spent so long on her own that it's nice to travel in the company of others again, and that she also enjoys talking to Shepard.  So, she's amiable enough... to Shepard, anyway... if you can see past the I Will Kill You If I Must stone cold harbinger of justice exterior.  And she'll still toss a motherly jibe at you if you take the poisoned drink from the batarian bartender on Omega.

Garrus is... Garrus.  He may not open up about personal stuff in ME2 (like how we only found out about his mother and sister thanks to his LotSB dossier), but that doesn't mean he can't be a good bro to a fellow sniper who's also known what it was like to lose someone due to his profession and then seek revenge for it.  Or maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see there, because I consider him my Shepard's best friend.


It is unfortunate that there's not much at all in the way of squad interactions in Mass Effect 2 like there was in ME1 in the elevators, or like there is in Dragon Age.

mllrthyme wrote...

Hopefully this isn't too off topic, but one of my friends brought this video to my attention. It's the best tribue to Thane that I've seen yet.

<3

I think Thane and Samara would probably have some disagreements. Samara follows a strict code about protecting the innocent, fighting the wicked etc, but Thane probably wouldn't have an issue with hurting the innocent if he had to.

Samara follows a strict code about right and wrong and galactic justice or whathaveyou. In her conversations, if you ask her about it, she pretty much says if it's gotten to the point that a Justicar is involved, everyone's doomed, and that's her justification for killing everyone.



Hide yo kids.



Hide yo wife.



She's killin urvryone up in hurr.



Meanwhile, the current state of Thane's assassinating isn't ever really fleshed out in game, which is kind of too bad. We know he's freelance now and that he took Nassana's contract for free and is helping Shepard for free. On the BioWare Mass Effect site, it's implied he's picking and choosing his contracts based on his own sense of personal morals and justice.



Which is sort of vigilante of him, a lot like what Garrus was doing on Omega. I'd be interested in learning how Samara feels about that sort of thing, how her Code sees this.



I think, personally and professionally, Samara and Thane have had a few things in common, but because both are so distant, I don't think it's too likely that their interactions would go much beyond a professional respect for one another's work, if only because they recognize there might be potential conflicts otherwise, and privacy. Not that it would be impossible for there to be more to it than that, but the game is set up to where both characters are portrayed as loners and Shepard is the one who is able to sort of break through their walls and pull them out of their heads a little where, with others, they might not be as likely to open up about some things. But that's nothing a good writer can't get past, right?



Meanwhile, the vigilante/revenge thing might be easier for forming a bro-ship over than Samara cooly asking, "Do I really need to know the man I am about to kill is somebody's father?" or whatever it is she says.

Lisinity wrote...

Hey, Thane fans. Happy Halloween Be safe, and don't do anything Thane wouldn't do.

Happy Halloween!

Lisinity wrote...
don't do anything Thane wouldn't do.

If I see any batarians while I'm out tonight, I can't promise anything...

I would die.

...becauseIdidn'tdothenecessaryupgrades...

Must have been awesome to be in the crowd and just know what it was.

Thane throwing himself at Irikah's feet and begging her pardon...

I like to think that it isn't something he thought much about, but instead it was something that was impulse-driven.  Like - stare... stare... target leaves... stare... go to her and prostrate himself before her.  Maybe get slapped.  Beg in earnest.  Leave his rifle at her feet.  Get chastised, agree entirely.  And then get left there after she convinces him to pick himself up.  But he persists and goes all devout stalker on her.  Or maybe she was touched by what he had to say and offers to enlighten him after taking pity on him when she realizes why he is how he is and what he was doing.

While taking care of his family, I think, if his services were going to the highest bidder, he probably made a good chunk of money.

Gooooood question. I could see it either way. I just dunno how much of that site to take as THE LAW. However, given that Seryna tells you Thane is offing Nassana for Free, and Thane accepts Shepard's proposal free of charge... and it makes sense that Thane would need to provide for his family...



I do wonder about what his services under the Compact meant - how well compensated he was, or if he literally was just a tool and if it was up to whomever owned the tool to decide what he was worth.

Lucky Thirteen wrote...
Correct me, as my memory is hazy, but didn't he say he was being picky about who he went after? Could that be some of Irikah's influence?

If you want to take the bioware page for the mass effect universe as canon, then, yes

http://masseffect.bi...se/squad/thane/ said...

A deadly assassin born of the Drell race, Thane is a warrior-monk. He is
stoic, collected, and very spiritual. He ardently believes in his
religious path and its accompanying rites and prayers. From Thane's
perspective, his body is the weapon wielded by his employers, however he
does not believe in killing indiscriminately. Once his services were
up to the highest bidder, but something happened; something changed him.
Now he has shifted his professional philosophy; he no longer takes
contracts for pay, but rather he chooses his targets based on his moral
and religious beliefs.

I would need to look up a game reference~

Dave of Canada wrote...

cindalkitty wrote...

You base speculation off of what you're given, not the other way around.  I don't need to major in Literature to know that.

You're given knowledge that Irikah (spelling?) is against assassination, that's enough to cause speculation on Thane's behavior to her. I heavily doubt she'd suddenly change her mind about it.

We know so little about Irikah that I can't take much about her as canon.  All I know is that she was brave enough to step between an assassin and his target, and she was indignant over it, and Thane fell head over heels for her.   There's a wide realm of possibilities as to why she did it and what this means about her, but we just don't know.  However, I do agree that it is likely that his job and her convictions did clash, but not based off of that.

I agree, I don't think she'd suddenly change her mind about it.  He says she "eventually" forgave him and "later" loved him, implying that it took time to get to those points.

However, given everything else posted in the last 4 pages or so, I'm more inclined to err on the side of her accepting it's all he knows how to do and all he could do to support them, rather than him being trying to carry on a double life over it.

But this has all been said.  So why are you two in here?

edit:  she's been disagreed with, but at no point has she been attacked.

OH but it IS important enough for you to come in here and derail an already derailed issue when you clearly have no interest in Thane or his part in ME3?

Maybe if you hadn't thrust it out there like it mattered, then?

Bryy_Miller wrote...

cindalkitty wrote...
 However, just because something can be taken many ways, does it mean it should be taken many ways?  No.  You have to go off of what you know and everything else presented to you to draw a conclusion, not just cling to an idea because it exists in a wide realm of possibility.

My Lit Major sense is tingling. 

This is, quite frankly, wrong. It's not bad in any form to interpret something based on little evidence, if it is within reason. 

If it's within reason, I agree.

Due to the nature of the issue - the fact that it's an aspect of a character in a video game - we're given only so much to work with.  I don't think leading a double life for nearly a decade is out of the realm of possibility, which I've said, just the realm of probability given what we do know about the character (verus what we speculate about the character).

You base speculation off of what you're given, not the other way around.  I don't need to major in Literature to know that.

cindalkitty wrote...

Commander Shepard said...
I don't think that's something you should share with Kolyat.

Thane Krios said...
Irikah helped me carry my burdens. With what time I have left, I must help him with his. I haven't spoken about my wife in-- I don't think I ever have. I didn't have anyone left to tell it to.

Masha's point.  The context.  Shepard suggests omission.  He won't omit it.

And then, yes, Irikah helped him carry his burdens.  However, just because something can be taken many ways, does it mean it should be taken many ways?  No.  You have to go off of what you know and everything else presented to you to draw a conclusion, not just cling to an idea because it exists in a wide realm of possibility.

And this is why I'm debating the likelihood here.


Also in regard to omission, if you pick the "paragon" choice when talking to Bailey about Thane's son,  Thane points out like the Omission Police as you leave C-Sec that you didn't tell Bailey that Kolyat plans to kill someone.

Given everything, I just don't see him having led a double-life with Irikah, especially nearly 20 years ago when he was, arguably, less experienced.  Whereas, I would also argue that having to lie and omit and deceive for the duration of his marriage would likely have amounted to Thane developing into a pathological liar simply out of habit.

Thane Krios said...
My body is blessed with the skills to take life. The hanar honed them in me. I have few others. I didn't want that life for Kolyat. I hoped he would find his own way. If he hated me, so bet it. He would not have shared the path of sin.

I think that might be one of the quotes that was being looked for.

ALSO!

RE: lying

In the first conversation post loyalty mission:

Thane Krios said...
My body hunted her killers. Murdered them. I was taught to grant death quickly, cleanly. Them-- I let them linger.

Commander Shepard said...
I don't think that's something you should share with Kolyat.

Thane Krios said...
Irikah helped me carry my burdens. With what time I have left, I must help him with his. I haven't spoken about my wife in-- I don't think I ever have. I didn't have anyone left to tell it to.

This is an option in the post-loyalty mission convo where he reveals who Sunset Colored Eyes is, talks about her death, and calls Shepard "Siha" if you pick "I wouldn't tell your son that" instead of "Your body did. Not your soul." or "I would have, too."