Guest_iOnlySignIn_*
I replayed the Overlord DLC a few days ago. Today I suddenly realized that BioWare has made it abundantly clear to us that in certain scenarios of ME3, Commander Shepard will be controlled/indoctrinated/possessed by the Reapers. Here are the facts that will support my point (contains spoiler of Overlord DLC):
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1. Reapers regularly take control of an organic with extensive cybernetic implants through these implants. Example: Harbinger possessing any Collector (Mordin tells you that all Collectors have extensive cybernetic implants); Sovereign controlling/possessing Saren through his implants (control is partial prior to the final battle). Note also that Saren is a powerful biotic and an individual of strong will and charisma - these qualities (which Shepard may share) didn't help him.
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2. Shepard has very extensive cybernetic implants. Just consider the scenes where Cerebrus rebuilt her/him.
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3. In Overlord DLC's final battle, Shepard was controlled by David, a much weaker AI than any Reaper, through Shepard's cybernetic implants. This is stated in the wikia, and also clear from the cutscene where Shepard's omnitool flashes green and Shepard's eyes (which we all know to be partly cybernetic - refer to Renegade eyes) glow with burning green. In fact the green eye glow on Shepard during this cutscene is remarkably similar to Saren's red eye glow when Sovereign finally possessed him, or the yellow eye glow when Harbinger possesses a Collector.
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4. Finally, why would BioWare let Cerebrus rebuild Shepard with cybernetics instead of any other means, other than to lay out this important plot point? They could have kidnapped some cutting edge Salarian scientist and rebuilt Shepard without cybernetic implants (Mordin could well be capable of that), or used some Asari biotic ritual to revive him/her (Asaris can use biotics to drain life [Samara] or mind control [Morinth] - neither is that far from reviving the dead). Cybernetic Shepard just echoes so strongly with Saren's and the Collectors' cybernetics. It also conforms to the tradition that every other Cerebrus project besides Lazarus had ended in disaster due to seemingly innocuous early decisions.
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To quote Commander Shepard's words on the Migrant Fleet, "I can't think of stronger evidence than that." Are the ME community prepared to render their judgment?
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FAQs [This section gets longer and longer]
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Q1: Why doesn't Harbinger assume direct control/hack Shepard in ME2?
A1: Hacking in the Mass Effect Universe requires physical proximity between the hacker and the hackee. Points to consider:
1. An Engineer/Tali/Legion can only hack a mech/geth once the target is within 40 meters.
2. The effect of indoctrination only happens when the victim has been physically around the source for some time. Rana Thanoptis explained this in ME1. The same info can be recovered from Cerebrus crew logs on the Derelict Reaper.
3. The way Harbinger controls a Collector is through the Collector General, which is always in close proximity to the Collector being possessed. The Collector General has been in existence since the beginning of the Collectors, designed as the Reapers' remote control on the Collectors. It cannot possess/control anything else besides a Collector.
4. All the Reapers, including Harbinger, are in Dark Space during the events of ME2. They are too far away to display their full hacking abilities and had to work through remote controls like the Collector General. They will arrive at our Galaxy in ME3, however.
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Q2: Cybernetic implants are not required for indoctrination/possession by Reapers.
A2: True. But it is pretty clear that cybernetic implants greatly help the Reapers to possess/control a subject:
1. They implanted Saren to better control him.
2. They implanted the Protheans, turning them into Collectors to better control them when initial indoctrination began to fail (Mordin's finding).
3. They are sentient machines, with a natural affinity to other machines/cybernetics.
4. Organics can resist the effect of indoctrination even when indotrination is very advanced and still in progress (Benezia, and possibly Saren, both did). AI's cannot. AI hacking is also a much more common ability than organic hacking. These imply that AI hacking is easier, and cybernetic implants make organic hacking easier.
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Q3: Why doesn't it work the other way around? Shepard may be able to hack the Reapers because of her/his cybernetic implants.
A3: Consider the odds. Reapers are far more advanced techologically than any galactic species. In the specific area of hacking, compare the following:
1. The best hackers we have (Tali, Legion, Engineer Shepard) can only hack one Geth platform for a few seconds at a time.
2. A single adapted Reaper virus (in Legion's Loyalty Mission) can hack all Geth permanently with one FTL energy pulse.
So who is more likely to be the hacker, and who is more likely to be the hackee here?
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P.S. Moderators, thank you for moving my thread! I'll post all topics containing spoilers in the ME2 quest/storyline sub-forum in the future.
Modifié par iOnlySignIn, 21 décembre 2010 - 10:03 .
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