Well, just as the title says, this is my plot speculations of Mass Effect 3. Yeah yeah I know, ME3 is still moths away and we barely know any real information, but hey, this is the internet, I have the right and freedom to start whatever I want. I'm just going to run down a list of topics that are affected by the choices you made in the first and
second game, and elaborate a bit both on what happened and what may happen. Why? you ask. I'm just throwing this out there since I've had a few of these ideas swimming around in my head recently and I want to see what other people think will happen.
So from the looks of it, Mass Effect 3 will follow the same ‘'gather the races together to fight the common foe'
type of storyline, just as Dragon Age: Origins did. Shepard will throughout the galaxy be bringing the
civilizations of the galaxy together as allies to take back Earth and repel the Reaper invasion. This will no doubtly lead to an all out war against the Reapers, may it be in space or on the ground. And we can pretty much figure out that each race will have their own task to fulfill, and if they aren't available, then you're screwed.
The player's choices throughout not only Mass Effect 3, but the entire trilogy, will affect the fate of the these
civilizations and the endings the player can receive. Let's start with Mass Effect.
Mass Effect
All Right. Now that all that is out of the way, let's get to the nuts and bolts of things. Missions and assignments
and how you handle these are the core of the Mass Effect experience. Let's take a look:
Feros
On Feros, we have two big choices. First one is whether or not to kill the colonists. The second is whether to
spare Shiala or not. If we spare the colonists, including Ethan Jeong, ExoGeni will still pour funds into Feros. If Ethan dies and too many colonists die as well, Feros will close down shop. Shiala is just a matter of whether she will
appear or not. If you remember, Shiala (or the Feros rep) will say in ME2 that the Thorian has been taken for study despite its death. Perhaps the colonists plan to use this research to help Shepard in some way, assuming they're all
alive and still on Feros.
Noveria
The only decision that may impact the third game is the Rachni Queen and we all know where that is going.
- If you kill the Queen, the Rachni will not be there to help you, but you avoid war with the Krogan.
- If you spare the Queen, the Rachni will help you, but there's no guarantee the Krogan will cooperate.
I will be debating the Krogan/Rachni events later.
Virmire
Virmire is also pretty straightforward. A minor character appearance, Rana Thanoptis, is determined by what you do here, but it's not really important. The bigger choices are the following: Killing/Sparing Wrex, Aiding/Not Aiding Kirrahe's Team, and the classic Ashley/Kaidan question.
Wrex
- If you kill Wrex, Wreav will rule Tuchanka and more than likely will not help you.
- If you save Wrex, he will rule Tuchanka and will be more open to giving aid and listening to you.
Kirrahe
- If you aid the team, Kirrahe and Rentola will be there to help you
- If not, Kirrahe will die andRentola will not help you
Kaidan/Ashley
- If you leave Kaidan, Ash will be on your squad.
- If you leave Ash, Kaidan will be on your squad.
Ilos/Batlle of the Citadel
Big decisions occur in this last segment of the first game. Basically you either choose to save or abandon he
council. After that, you decide who will take the human seat on the council.
The Council
- Save Council - The council appears in the third game and humanity is held in higher regard.
- Abandon Council - Either a new mixed council or all human council will form based on Paragon/Renegade. Humanity will be viewed as a bully and a very negative force in the galaxy that only looks out for itself.
Anderson/Udina
- Choose Anderson - He will be the human councilor. Depending on Paragon/Renegade, Anderson will either lead a new human council, join the old one, or join a new mixed race council.
- Choose Udina - Same story except Udina is the new councilor.
Now this I think will have a hugei mpact in ME3. Here you basically choose your relationship with the Council
races. As we all know, if you abandoned the Council in ME1, the relationship between the humans and the races are very tense, which will lead to problems and conflicts. This may not necessary be a bad thing, it may only be a bit
harder to get the trust of the Council races.
Shepard’s background and service history
I’m very unsure about this, but I really think there is a reason to the backstory of Shepard. How it will play a role, I don't exactly know but I have an idea on some things.
Spacer - Hannah Shepard will be in the story
Colonist - Mindoir will play a role
Earthborn - The 10th Street Reds may have a place here
War Hero - Elysium ( and Batarians) will play a role
Sole Survivor - Akuze (and maybe Cerberus) will be involved
Ruthless - Torfan (and probably a bunch of pissed off batarians) will be in the story.[/list]
Minor impacts
On the planet Eletania, if you possed the trinket which you got from Sha’ira, you could access the vision at
the Prothian ruins. Now, the ruin found on Eletania is extremely similar to the relic found in the Firewalker DLC pack, possibly noting a correlation between the two. What that may be, I have no clue. Possibly just going to reveal some
information about either the Protheans or Reapers.
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is more than likely going to have an even larger impact on Mass Effect 3 than Mass Effect will. I'm assuming the second game (and by extension DLC) will account for the majority of the 1,000 variables that will come into play. Here’s what I think will be the major impacts.
Aria T’loak
Aria is important as she has a lot of power. Completing the assignments "Datapad Recovered" and "The Patriarch" will definitely improve your relations with her and may make her feel more inclined to assist you in the third game. I will venture to say more must be done for her before she decides to just up and leave Omega to help Shepard but I'm sure she will play a role.
The Reaper IFF
Here, the main question is whether to keep Legion or hand it over to Cerberus for their cyber weapons division.
- Keep Legion - He will appear in Mass Effect 3
- Hand it Over to Cerberus - Heretic do not get eliminated and with assist the Reapers. Cerberus will also learn more about the geth and be able to use them against you when they try to kill you in the third game.
The Collector Base
This can either be a minor impact or a major, but I think it’s the last. But I only think it will play a different role if you kept the base.
- If you blow it up, Shepard severs ties with Cerberus and Cerberus can't gain a strong footing for when the Reapers show up.
-If you keep the base, Cerberus will more than likely use it to develop their own weapon or something to strengthen their goals. But the reapers might have an interest in it though. (Discussed more later on).
DLC’s
Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival are canon, whether you played them or not, so no difference there.
Slightly change of dialog if you played them.
Overlord depends on what you decided to do with David.
Take David Away - Overlord gets shut down
Let Gavin keep David - Cerberus will learn how to control Geth and use them to try and kill Shepard.
Minor things
A few assignments might probably have an impact on ME3, but one particular assignment that will possibly make a bigger impact is the N7:Archeological Dig Site. In the ending of the mission, you’ll run into a Prothean pyramid and a Prothean video log. Scanning the video log triggers a vision similar to the one Commander Shepard experienced with the beacon on Eden Prime, but a Collector is seen at the end of the vision. Now this made me wonder, what if there still more to it? Could the Prothean vision possibly expand in the shape of finding a weapon against the Reapers? Possibly.
Deeper into the story
Now with all the choices and things of that nature out of the way, lets focus on the various civilizations,governments, and maybe some corporations of the Mass Effect Universe.
Citadel Council and C-Sec
The council is a major portion of galactic government. Being on their good side is preferred. If you killed the
council, the asari, turians, and salarians probably don't like humans too much. In connection to that, the elcor, volus, hanar, and drell probably don't like us either. If we saved the council, these races will love us and will more than
likely assist us with the reaper threat. If Anderson is the human rep, the council is more likely to take action in personally assisting Earth with their ships and spectres and such. If Udina is the rep, they will most likely take
longer to act, if they even help at all. In Mass Effect 2, if you meet with the council and treat them badly, they'll be less likely to help you. However, if you don't burn bridges, they will be more inclined to help. Captain Bailey is
most likely going to take on role of Executor and give aid to Shepard with C-Sec forces regardless of how the council feels. Shepard's a damned hero in Bailey's books.
Systems Alliance
Earth is humanity's beacon. Hackett will probably be there with the Arcturus fleet, ready to fight. Enough said.
The reason why Ashley/Kaidan might be a Spectre is because you're really gonna need to be one to get order and access to various places throughout the galaxy. This is more directed to people whose Shepard didn't get reinstated.
Asari Republics, Turian Hierarchy, Salarian Union, Counts of Dekuuna, Volus Protectorate, and the Illuminate
Primacy
Aiding the council will definitely help in human relations with the asari. Having a justicar like Samara around to
give the government her pearls of wisdom may help you out while having Morinth around will probably not. The same goes for the governments of the other citadel races. The Turian Hierarchy may be more reluctant due to the events of the First Contact War/ Relay 314 Incident. However, they will more than likely put these differences aside to aid humanity. The Salarian Union shares similar feelings with the Asari Republics towards humanity so that probably won't be an issue. The Counts of Dekuuna, Volus Protectorate, and the Illuminate Primacy, however, aren't as open minded about humans. They are frustrated that humanscan accomplish so much in short time while they must wait centuries to obtain the same rights. However, I think the council races' judgements will take precedent and the lower races will follow suit. As for how we will get the governments to join us in our efforts, Shepard will most likely have to carry out a task of sorts for each respective government.
Batarian Hegemony
If there is any way we can convince the batarians to help us, it will not be easy. Slamming an asteroid into a
relay and killing 305,000 batarians is not the way to improve galactic relations. If Shepard tried to warn them, there may be a better chance, but I still imagine this to be a difficult task. I wouldn't be surprised if they joined the Reapers to take revenge.
Krogan/Rachni
Based on your choices in Mass Effect 1 either the Krogan, the Rachni, or both will be reborn and recovering numbers. Even with only a few thousand krogans left, that is still a very formidable force. The Rachni may also end up being a great asset in the upcoming war. Rachni replenish their populations very rapidly, so I wouldn't be
surprised if they too have a sizeable army which will be a good tactical advantages on ground battles. Plus, this will lead to fewer casualties of other alien races.
However, the Krogan are probably the most complex situation in the galaxy. They have issues with citadel races due
to the Krogan Rebellions. They feel they were wronged and their punishment was far too severe. This might lead to some difficulties gaining their trust. But I think that if Shepard kept the data and Mordin finds a cure, that will improve the relationship with the Krogan. And with this cure being distributed, the Krogan may view the other races in a
more positive light, especially if a reasonable leader like Wrex is in power. The reason why Wrex will listen to Shepard is b/c he trusts him/her and will listen to anything Shepard has to say. Plus if Grunt's Loyalty mission is
completed, the Krogan will have a greater respect for Shepard personally.
If you let the Rachni live, I think it will lead to the Krogan and Rachni going to war, as a result of your choices. Wrex is perhaps the most sensible of all the Krogan, and even he admit that he would hunt down the Rachni should the reappear. A lot of the Krogan seemed extremely bound in their violent ways, and even if the Rachni queen does fulfill her promises for peace it seem likely that the Krogan would still fufill the purpose they were crafted for.
If Wreav is in power, however, I think a war with the Rachni will occur. This will end up you choosing sides. If
there are no Rachni and Wreav is in power, they will either sit this one out (no cure) or join the fight (genophage cured). This last option might lead to that the Krogan will be less team working with other species, which will result in more casualties.
Quarian/Geth
The quarians are another rather complex situation. If Shepard made all Paragon choices, it is likely that the Quarians will extend an olive branch to the Geth, return to their homeworld and happily coexist. However, the quarians may
also start a war with the geth if Shepard encouraged it or weakened the Geth numbers by destroying all the heretics. If the Quarians choose to not go to war, they can focus on aiding Shepard to fight the Reapers. If they go to war
with the Geth, it will have a heavy impact on Earth's situation.
Now let’s look from the Geth’s perspective. If the heretics were rewritten and the quarians were told not to go to war, the two races will most likely cooperate and the geth will help you fight the reapers. If you destroyed the heretics,
the quarians will probably engage in war regardless of what you told them. If you didn't help legion, the heretics will still be around and will fight alongside the reapers. If you terminated Project Overlord, Cerberus will never
learn how to control geth. However, if the project is allowed to continue, Cerberus will probably find a way to control the Geth and bend them to their will, which means the quarians would definitely wage war, not only against the Geth, but Cerberus too.
Cerberus
I have a feeling that a major part of ME3 will involve stopping Cerberus as they will probably show their true colors as a human regime using the collector knowledge they acquired from Shepard’s exploits in ME2 to gain a technological advantage and unseat the Council and Alliance as the biggest military power in the galaxy. The Illusive man will also foster some cooperation between Cerberus and the Reapers to try and ensure Humankind's place in the galaxy (essentially giving them all other races for them to enslave in a misguided attempt to keep humanity safe). I’m not sure if the cooperation between the two of them is b/c of voluntary or indoctrination. Could be both. Is the Illusive Man indoctrinated? Hardly.
As I said before, keeping the Collector Base might have a huge impact in ME3. Here why. In the Arrival DLC, if you
have patience enough to wait ‘til the timer runs out, a short vision will be shown. Now, if you pay close attention to the vision, the images are very intriguing. One image shows a few Reapers approaching the Collector base. This
raises questions. What could there possibly be in the base that gets the Reapers attention to it? The Collector Base is built of Reaper technology, so there might be some secret(s) that it holds.
Now for the question, why is Cerberus after Shepard? Shouldn’t the real question still be, why do the Reapers want Shepard’s body? I mean, isn’t it obvious? Cerberus are working for the Reapers, the reapers want Shepard’s body, and Cerberus are just doing what the Reapers want.
The Ending
There being so many decision impacting the end game, I hardly think that there will only be two different endings. I don’t even think there’s really a paragon/renegade ending. It's more of a 'what will you sacrifice to win' ending ME3 is about. Here’s a few I have thought about.
Shepard Saves the Galaxy
Shepard will probably save the galaxy if he is fully prepared for the Reapers when they come and rallies an army together to fight them. The Geth will be an valuable ally to have against the Reapers, as will the Krogan or Rachni should either come back into power as you could have helped all three of the races. The rest of the races will most
likely rally under the Council or Alliance, though probably more the Council, to fight for Shepard.
This ending will result in how many casualties there’s going to be, what/who will you sacrifice to achieve victory,
yadayada obvious stuff.
Shepard becomes a Reaper
Come on, the signs are all their. Shepard is already a bio-synthetic construct. If that isn’t foreshadowing I don’t know what is.
The Collectors were building a Human reaper, but in the final fight it doesn’t behave like a Reaper at all. It doesn’t
talk, and it doesn’t seem very intelligent. It keeps itself out in the open longer than it needs to, and let’s face it A TEAM OF THREE DUDES KILLED IT.
You could explain this away by saying “It is in a larval stage,” but I purpose a new theory.
We now know that the Indoctrinated servants the Reapers collected did not simply die out, but were most likely turned into new Reapers.
However while the Reapers have individual identities, the Human larva is just a mindless husk. What if, the
final stage of a Reaper’s construction is integrating the consciousness of a living being with the husk.
When you finish Liara's Shadow Broker quest line, and she reveals that the Shadow Broker was planning on selling Shepard's body to the Collectors. Now we return (again) to the question, why would they need Shepard's body if he was already dead? All the targets the Collectors take are live. Why would they even bother stunning people if they could kill them?
Shepard is the first person to ever be brought back to life, at least that is what we should assume. The resources Cerberus used to bring Shepard back to life were astronomical in scope, and it is likely that anyone else with the funds to pursue such an effort would deem it unworthy due to the high risk of failure.
Sovereign offered a similar deal to the Geth, and if we assume that it was at the very least only a partial lie this only strengthens the theory.
Harbringer beats the concept into your skull the entire game. The weak are worthless, yet all of your crew is
integrated into the Human Reaper husk. Harbringer constantly threatens you, but he never seems completely intent on obliterating Shepard. And we all know that Shepard is far from human. No, I’m not talking about implants, which he has gotten, but something else. I think something is going on in Shepard’s head. The interaction with the kid in the vents certainly showed some hints to it. And while Shepard was unconscious during the events on Arrival, he might have gotten indoctrinated. Okay, indoctrination takes weeks to fulfill, but I’m talking about Shepard at least
been affected by it a little. And when he’s gonna be fighting Reapers, and quite a lot of them, maybe it will eventually develop into something. Maybe it turns out that Shepard's implants are derived from Reaper technology and starts
experiencing moments where the Reapers are speaking to him/her and are slowly starting to take control of him/her before finally culminating in total control near the end. (hurr de hurr durr)
All Is Lost
You failed, Reapers win, start a new game.
Any comments?
Modifié par Chewin3, 14 septembre 2011 - 10:43 .
Retour en haut
. Good post.
), but they might not. Two disagreements:
