Unit-Alpha wrote...
We need to start getting this on more sites. It's taken hold on the Escapist, GameFAQ, and probably Neogaf, but it needs more widespread attention.
I've been following the threads on Escapist, decent stuff. I kind of killed the "what ending(s) would you have preferred?" thread yesterday with how I would have liked to have seen ME3 and the trilogy end.
My idea was right after the PoNR, Ashley/Kaiden or the LI confronts Shepard during the what was to be expected pre-finale nookie scene. The big reveal is that starting with the Lazarus Project and developing over the course of ME2 thanks to surreptitious and repeated exposure to Reaper tech, Shepard had become Indoctrinated and was a sleeper agent, who had been activated during the Reaper invasion and had been subconsciously
sabotaging the war effort the whole time. The game's finale pulls an eleventh hour U-turn from space opera to psychological horror with the final battle as a backdrop and framing device, with outcomes as such:
(Paragon/perfect playthrough) Shepard trusts the person who confronted them and removes him/herself from command. Squadmates and friends help him to break out of the Indoctrination, and Shepard uses the knowledge he has to use the Reapers' own tactics against them in the final battle. Victory against the reapers is assured, but GAW and GR along with choices made throughout the trilogy determines how heavy the cost of victory is, who lives and who dies.
(Neutral/okay playthrough) Shepard removes himself from command, but doesn't have enough surviving and loyal friends and squadmates at his side to break through the Indoctrination, and is either put down or is captured and detained. Or, Shepard refuses to listen, tries to escape and is killed in the attempt. GAW, GR, and previous decisions determine whether the organics defeat the Reapers, and how heavy that cost is (but it will be much more difficult and more costly without Shepard's assistance).
(Renegade/Bad playthrough) Shepard refuses to listen, and Ashley/Kaiden/LI are forced to attack. The Indoctrination takes over, and Shepard kills them, sets Normandy to self-destruct and escapes on a shuttle. Shepard escapes to the Council fleet and orders it to open fire on itself, with the claim it has been infiltrated by Indoctrinated agents. Here, GAW and GR determine how much of a fight the organics put up, but the loss to the Reapers is ensured thanks to Shepard leaving the fleet in complete disarray. A
high GAW and GR means the Council fleet rallies and fights back but is destroyed and Shepard is killed in the process, and the humans are exterminated; a
lowGAW and GR means the Council fleet is annihilated, and humanity is made into a Reaper with Shepard its dominant personality, and the vanguard of the next cycle as a reward.