88 réponses à ce sujet

[maegi46]

Let's go over what we know about Reapers. they are machines and organics combined. They are arrogant and think they are better than all other life forms. They have been conditioned to believe this because of their cycles succeeding over and over again, up until Ole Shep came along. The Protheans were the only other race we know of as yet to have even come close to defeating them. If not for their efforts, Shep wouldn't have been able to do what he's done so far.

Ok, so since part of a Reaper is organic, it means its composed at least partially of fleshy material, not sure what type as we have yet to dissect one....altho why scientists didn't collect pieces of Sovereign to do just that boggles my mind. This fleshy part has to age and deteriorate over time, unless they have a way to prevent that from happening too. Let's assume they don't have a way. This might explain why they do their cycle. They need to replenish, refuel, whatever you want to call it...their organic matter with aliens they collect and consume ala smoothies. Captain Bailey also mentions that the Keepers have protein vats that the duct rats sometimes fall into. that thought is very creepy to me and was never fully explained. Perhaps thats the Reapers quick "pick me up" like us stopping at Starbucks for some energy.

Protein shakes suddenly got a lot more morbid. This is just a theory but it makes some sense as to why they would repeat this pattern over and over. We know they collect humans, and probably collected all other races they have harvested in a similar fashion. We saw our crew and or colonist from Horizon being turned into this protein goo and fed through tubes to the reaper they were constructing. The Prothean visons showed what I assume were Protheans being harvested in this same manner, although it was hard to say exactly what those visionswere showing...Thoughts?

[lovgreno]

Processed organics are not necesarily what they "feed" on. The main power source of the reapers are a huge element zero reactor, not harvested organic material. All we know is that human smoothies was a ingredient of the construction of a reaper larva. This could mean that organics are only needed as a part of constructing new reapers. The reaper larva might get some of the qualities of the race that was the base component of it's baby food. Take the reaperbaby with human features for example.



I'm sure the STG and other groups like that are studying Sovereigns remains and have some interesting theories about it. They just don't trust people who works with Cerberus (like Shepard) with such sensetive information.

[didymos1120]

maegi46 wrote...
 The Protheans were the only other race we know of as yet to have even come close to defeating them. If not for their efforts, Shep wouldn't have been able to do what he's done so far.

I have to dispute this.  The Protheans were completely owned by the Reapers.  A small group of them hid and, after the crushing defeat and extermination of the rest of their species was finally over and the Reapers went back to dark space, tampered with the Keepers.  So far this has merely delayed them and provided a chance to defeat them, but it's nowhere near an actual victory.  And what's more, Shep hasn't come close to defeating them yet either.   So far, only one actual Reaper has been destroyed, a partly-formed one was essentially aborted (and it's "womb" either appropriated or destroyed), and the vast majority have again only been delayed. And it's really not much of a delay either since, barring outside intervention, they're immortal and have existed as a race for at least 37 million years.  Compared to that, even a few thousand years is only a minor delay.   Plus, we now know that another species (and it may have even been a multi-species effort) managed to kill at least one Reaper.

[angj57]

I don't think they need "Reaper smoothies" of organic material to feed themselves. I think the protein vats in the Citadel are what the Keepers themselves eat. I think Reapers seek new organic genetic material to reproduce. After all, if they just simply copied themselves, it would lead to evolutionary stagnation-- they would be an evolutionary dead end instead of the super-species they believe themselves to be.

I think the Reapers are smart enough to understand this. So they allow organic species to evolve and develop positive traits, and then they use that species to create new Reapers, thereby infusing new genetic material, positive traits, and maybe even new ways of thinking into their species. In my opinion that's how they stay dynamic and is what would set them apart from a "species" like the Geth, which could make linear improvements to itself but will not evolve in an unpredictable way like an organic species would.

That said, I also don't think this happens very often. I think the Reapers don't always deem organic species as being "worthy" of being incorporated into themselves. The Protheans, for instance, don't seem to have been incorporated (trying to avoid giant spoilers here). This would also explain why most of the Reapers look like squids-- I think the squid species probably created the Reapers and were either wiped out or assimilated by them. The Reapers come periodically and either assimilate a species or, if they deem them unworthy, turn them into mindless slaves like Keepers or Collectors.

[thegreateski]

They are actually gigantic trash collectors left behind by a race (lets call them Bob) that was destroyed by a plague.



Sadly, due to errors in their programming, everything that is not Bob is regarded as trash and needs to be disposed of.

[WoodWizzard87]

The reapers are pretty straight forward, except for the whole part on how they get the essence of the species into the reaper. Souls don't exactly come from dead tissue and such. The other thing is how would they integrate millions of "souls" into the different computer programs running on the reaper. Thats the main thing that i don't understand. I get that they select a dominant species and create a reaper in their image for evolution or whatever, but how exactly they get the essence of a species into a computer.

[didymos1120]

angj57 wrote...
(trying to avoid giant spoilers here).

Uh, why?  You're posting in the part of the forum that's specifically for discussing spoilerific stuff.

[Janus Invictus]

WoodWizzard87 wrote...

The reapers are pretty straight forward, except for the whole part on how they get the essence of the species into the reaper. Souls don't exactly come from dead tissue and such. The other thing is how would they integrate millions of "souls" into the different computer programs running on the reaper. Thats the main thing that i don't understand. I get that they select a dominant species and create a reaper in their image for evolution or whatever, but how exactly they get the essence of a species into a computer.

It probably boils down to technology which "reads" memory in genetic code perhaps?  Even the Protheans had technology based on Reaper tech which basically imposed memories on Shepard.  To think that they could take some human goo and get collective memory which may or may not make a better Reaper is not a far stretch at this point.  What really bothers the imagination is why the Reapers insist on hiding until the time is ripe as opposed to directly interfering all the time.  Or perhaps they are content enough that their tech will allow them some "well-deserved" rest.

Not all organics are integrated however.  The Keepers and Protheans were kept as tools, and they are distinctly insect-like.

[adam_grif]

Let's go over what we know about Reapers. they are machines and organics
combined.

"Machine" = uses energy to perform task. Your body is a series of machines and is also organic. This distinction is irrelevant. Organic itself can mean many things, from "grown without fertilizer" to "based on carbon". Once again, calling Reapers "machines and organics combined" doesn't tell you much of anything about them.

The Protheans were the only other race we know of as yet to have even
come close to defeating them.

Considering all the Protheans had to do was hide with some people in cryosleep for a while, and that plan doesn't take a genius to think up, it's likely that many people did similar things in the past, but were unsuccessful for one reason or another.

We also know that there was at least one civilization that killed a Reaper with the Klendragon gun.

Ok, so since part of a Reaper is organic, it means its composed at least
partially of fleshy material, not sure what type as we have yet to
dissect one....altho why scientists didn't collect pieces of Sovereign
to do just that boggles my mind. This fleshy part has to age and
deteriorate over time, unless they have a way to prevent that from
happening too. Let's assume they don't have a way. This might explain
why they do their cycle. They need to replenish, refuel, whatever you
want to call it...their organic matter with aliens they collect and
consume ala smoothies. Captain Bailey also mentions that the Keepers
have protein vats that the duct rats sometimes fall into. that thought
is very creepy to me and was never fully explained. Perhaps thats the
Reapers quick "pick me up" like us stopping at Starbucks for some
energy.

Um. What? Organic does NOT equal "fleshy" or "decays over time". Even if they were literally human flesh or w/e, it's not difficult to imagine that an advanced species can have a great immune system that prevents infections and the like (which is what causes "rotting" and "decaying"). They'll still need energy to consume in order to repair and maintain themeslves as well as to move, shoot, etc. 

But human goop is a horrible food source, if that's what they were doing.

Processed organics are not necesarily what they "feed" on. The main
power source of the reapers are a huge element zero reactor, not
harvested organic material.

No.

Eezo is not a power source, and actually drains power to use. Council vessels use fusion reactors, Reapers probably do too.

[V-rex]

They are eternal unkillable machines of galactic doom, they feed on screams and are left alone to drift in the dark void of emptyness for the rest of eternity.

My guess is, they get bored and figure that for fun they vent out their hatred of their own immortality by destroying life whenever they see it.



Alternatively they do it because they were built to regulate the evolutionary process of biological life.

[FuturePasTimeCE]

who cares... theories on all the right reasons they need their asses kicked?

[Freelancer rook]

They probably need more organics to give them recourcses and build more of them. Or use them like slaves *cough*Collecters*Cough*Protheans*cough*.

[Whereto]

Who knows they could be fighting a war in another Galaxy with some other super advanced species and need the Element zero that has built up over time in our galaxy to power there cores. They might harvest more galaxy how do we know.



But anyway there has to be a way to beat them because everything more complex than a atom can be thrown in to non existence

[AntiChri5]

The most basic reason at all.



Simple reproduction.

[Titanium Man]

I always just assumed they were gigantic mechanical a**holes.

[SandTrout]

I'm with AntiChri5. 'Ascending' species is how the reapers reproduce. They don't try to overly control organic development because then they would never gain the advantages from that species that it would develop on its own. Like any other life form, they need diversity to ensure their own survival.



As noted by others, Eezo is not a power source, it is a tool to provide kinetic barriers and FTL travel and communication. The power source is likely to be a fusion power-plan of some sort.

[Cheese Elemental]

I think they're actually just renegade AIs with delusions of godhood. It's clear that Sovereign was lying to you when he said that the Reapers' motivations were too complex for organics to understand.

[Kaiser Shepard]

They do what they must, because they can.

[FuturePasTimeCE]

Cheese Elemental wrote...

I think they're actually just renegade AIs with delusions of godhood. It's clear that Sovereign was lying to you when he said that the Reapers' motivations were too complex for organics to understand.

that's a alot of friggin reapers... need to build some sort of weaponry fast against them:mellow:

[FuturePasTimeCE]

Magnum Opus wrote...

Ever have a song that you just can't get out of your head? That's what happened to the Reapers, and ever since they heard Blue Oyster Cult in the '70's, they've just been really, really ticked off is all. That's the official story, anyway.

Me, I think they just don't like cowbell.

*nods*

True story.

this robotic guy here talks like those reaper borgs-sentinel robots.

Modifié par FuturePasTimeCE, 17 juillet 2010 - 02:09 .

[LorDC]

maegi46 wrote...
They are arrogant and think they are better than all other life forms.

And what if they really are better than us? What if by destroying Reapers we doom ourselves? What if destroying them will lead us in nightmare of dark age?

[FuturePasTimeCE]

LorDC wrote...

maegi46 wrote...
They are arrogant and think they are better than all other life forms.

And what if they really are better than us? What if by destroying Reapers we doom ourselves? What if destroying them will lead us in nightmare of dark age?

 what type of a ****ing bull**** is that? that's like saying Hitler was a good guy who cared about the world, and everything and he actually helped everyone survive and stuff... it's wrong to defeat him, or else we're doomed.

Modifié par FuturePasTimeCE, 17 juillet 2010 - 02:19 .

[LorDC]

FuturePasTimeCE wrote...
 what type of a ****ing bull**** is that? that's like saying Hitler was a good guy who cared about the world, and everything and he actually helped everyone survive and stuff... it's wrong to defeat him, or else we're doomed.

It's not a bull****. This kind of stuff even happened at least once in human history. You know, when barabrains destroyed Rome Empire. I bet they also thought something along the lines "This arrogant fools live in their stupid cities, conquered whole Europe. We will crush them and live happily ever after." But in reality this lead our civilization in Middle Age where/when overall tech and cultural level dropped dramatically.

[FuturePasTimeCE]

LorDC wrote...

FuturePasTimeCE wrote...
 what type of a ****ing bull**** is that? that's like saying Hitler was a good guy who cared about the world, and everything and he actually helped everyone survive and stuff... it's wrong to defeat him, or else we're doomed.

It's not a bull****. This kind of stuff even happened at least once in human history. You know, when barabrains destroyed Rome Empire. I bet they also thought something along the lines "This arrogant fools live in their stupid cities, conquered whole Europe. We will crush them and live happily ever after." But in reality this lead our civilization in Middle Age where/when overall tech and cultural level dropped dramatically.

so you're willing to become extinct along with your entire species, and other co-existing species just to make some pointless destructive machine of genocide and arrogance feel happy for destroying a galaxy and you along with it?

it's okay for it to destroy us yet wrong for us to destroy it? How about thinking in terms of how you're currently thinking, yet with a reversed perspective... as in not sympathizing for the reapers?

Barbarians, and Romans weren't machines... they were human/organic (it's not like a robot copied and pasted their culture as their own/etc)... the last time I checked pertaining to actual earthly human history, there's nothing about machines wiping everyone out in order to progress humanity into becoming a advanced civilization (if they were wiped out then how could they exist to be advanced/evolved and all?). That's like saying allowing for the apocalypse to occur is a good thing, that's the only way we can survive... that can be classified officially as jargon, bull****, etc

Modifié par FuturePasTimeCE, 17 juillet 2010 - 02:37 .