76 réponses à ce sujet

[Kaiser Shepard]

The only good Prothean is a dead one.

Or 'one' who merely exists as the Cipher.

[ilquaruxa]

Memmahkth wrote...

I don't think it's being unimaginative.  I think it has more to do with the fact that.. these reapers have been reaping for a very long time.  They're good at it.  At every turn we've been told the Protheans are gone.  It just seems like a cheap gimmicky twist to say "oh but wait!  There's more!"

We owe a lot to the Protheans, and they're smart.  Why was the complex on Ilos not discovered?  Because the Protheans took great pains to construct it.  I find it highly improbable (but not impossible) that the Protheans managed another way of circumventing the reaping.  And if then why stop at two.  Why not go with 4 other plans?  Why wouldn't the Protheans come back to the citadel after 2 thousand years, or 3 thousand years?  Perhaps Sovereign is waiting, but how would they know that?

I don't think it's a lack of imagination that people are saying no Protheans can be alive.  There seems to be great imagination put out as to why Protheans were all wiped out.  It just seems like it'd be forced.  It would raise a lot of questions.  Ilos seemed like the perfect strategy, and look how that turned out.  I can't imagine there would be another or other strategies they tried, and pulled off in secret.

If you look at indoctrination and how the Reapers operate, with civilizations being solely dependent on Reaper technology.. the odds of survival are extremely low.  It just can't be as simple as.. "oh, bill and martha jumped in a spaceship and flew to a system or cluster no where near a relay and started populating a planet.  The end."  It's not so imaginative.

There are a couple of questions I'd like answered in relation to all this however.  What happened to that science team that made it back to the citadel from Ilos, AND, what civilization did the Protheans figure built the relays and the citadel.  Why have we found no traces of that civilization.

Considering the Asari found the Citadel 2000 years ago (thereabouts) and are as powerful as they are, could you imagine any surviving colony of Protheans?  The knowledge they'd have?  The advancements they could have, the knowledge of the Reapers and having 50,000 years to prepare!?  I'd be frightened of the Protheans if we came across a colony of them.  Although, they'd probably have their own relay system going by now and be expanding in another galaxy.  <shrug>

Finally, a thought out response implicating why an alive Prothean would be unappealing.  Thank you for your comments Memmahkth, although I think we need to flesh out our differences a bit further. I don't think I'll change your mind one bit and visa versa, but it is some food for thought.

First, let me qualify my use of unimaginative. I was only referring to those replying with knee-jerk emotions; those that say, "But we were told they're all dead!" or "there is no way Protheans could live for 50,000 years without being found!" You clearly have given this more thought, and I appreciate that. This is where we disagree...

You said, "I can't imagine there would be another or other strategies they tried, and pulled off in secret" refering to there being more than one "Illos." I think it's very plausable that when the Protheans discovered the relays were being used against them, they realised that their only hope was to go into isolation.  Indeed, if there are two or more surving Prothean worlds then they would not be in contact with eachother, so that they would not jeapordize eachother if found. Under this scenario even Virgil would be unaware of such surviving worlds. So yes, given that bit of information some might find additional Prothean heaven worlds as misleading, which is why I insisted that this would be an ad hoc to the story.  Although, I do not find it to be gimmicky because it makes a lot of sense that the Protheans would necessarily remain isolated and avoid using the technology that lead to their demise.

I think I can explain away other questions you posed. Why hasn't anyone found them? Well, because, they don't want to be found.  Every other species known to the Citadel uses Reaper technology.  By the Protheans not using it, there would be no way of other species find them. If I remember correctly, one codex gives a statistic that only a very small percentage of the galaxy has been explored. 50,000 years is a long time, yes, but most exploration has been carried out via the mass relays. How would anyone find an "Illos" except by random chance? 100 billion stars is hard for me to fathom exploring. It very well could have been that Jack and Jill Prothean jumped in their spaceship and went to the way of Manifest Destiny.  Again, I'm okay with this scenario because it's plausable and I also find the idea of finding a Prothean world incredibly interesting.  However, I am also interested in what happened to the science team. I think that this is the most likely way we'll see a Prothean if we do.

Why have they not gone back to the Citadel? The Protheans, if they did survive on another world(s), then they would have had to start from a new begining, to live as an autonomous species.  Like the Geth that side with Legion the Protheans any use of their technology would bend them back to the Reapers. 

I'll go ahead and anticipate a rejeciton to this idea.  That is to say, that the Protheans on Illos elected to go back to the citidel thus sacrificing themselves and potentially the remainder of their species.  This obviously contradicts my story, however I think Illos is an exception to this principle. The Illos Protheans acted selflessly in order to save future species.

Finally, I want to make one last comment on this issue.  There is more than an aura, indeed a strong notion, that if the Protheans survived then they are a privledged species which contradicts the flawlessness of the Reapers reaping.  In other words, by surving the Reapers have made a mistake and no longer are demi-god in ability.  If you believe that and you also think that humans have any chance of standing up to the Reapers then you've commited a tu quoqua fallacy.  It is necessary that if humanity is survive, then they  must break the cycle and show that the Reapers are not invincable.

I am still interested in hearing other reasons why people are opposed to alive Protheans.