** spoiler warning last chance...**
So I just got done with the ending and I have to say it is absolutely one of the best endings ever.
I understand where some may not like it, and that may be because many do not understand the symbolic meanings and the interpretations of many stories that have come before including the story of Genesis.
Yes this is very very long but necessary. As I don't think allot of people got the ending and I am very frustrated that they think it is so horrible.
I thought I would impart my own knowledge of religion, philosophy, and myth in order to explain why this ending is the true and only ending that could have been. My credentials are that I am an author who has written many fantasy stories in the past ( no I wont say who I am so dont ask ). I have also studied and read many Mythological tales in the past from The Oddessey to Don Coyote. This is also just an OPINION and interpretation. In all likelihood it may be incorrect but its just is what it is. I am not stating any fact, nor quoting any dev or writer from EA. This is simply how I "think" it may be.
Opposing views are welcome.
Without going over the whole ending I assume you have seen the ending already and have also played ME 1 and 2.
To understand how this ending is correct you need to know what the reapers are you have to understand the cycle.
The Cycle -
The cycle was put into place as the catalyst said, to prevent Chaos.
So what is Chaos? Basically a sapiant non-synthetic life form creates a synthetic life form and eventually that synthetic life form will destroy all organic life and there will be utter chaos forever. No life will exist anywhere in the galaxy. Then eventually robots will be all that's left and even them eventually will not sustain themselves and eventually ALL life of any form will be erased from the galaxy forever. The complete and utter end to all things.
A solution to this problem was put into place to prevent it. The Cycle. Every 50k years or so the reapers would come out and destroy all advance life, and then cultivate what is left ( children ) to continue the cycle. The previous advanced civilization would eventually be indoctrinated into the catalyst view of the next step of evolution.
All to prevent organics from creating synthetics that would eventually destroy everything.
You can sit there and say "no that wouldn't happen" all you want but how often has it been shown, even in our world, how machines or synthetic life can begin to take over and we are essentially controlled by them.
The Quarians are probably the most glaring example of why the Cycle is existing. Alot of people I am sure missed this little model of a galaxy without reapers or the cycle. The Quarians created synthetic life and eventually that life form turned on them. Now imagine that happening on a wider scale with even graver consequences.
Don't believe a bunch of story writers? Then take real world examples. Would anyone be able to be happy without their blackberrys? Their computers? Their TV's. Now what of those things that you own, begin to own you? ( shameless fight club plug ).
You become controlled by them, then destroyed by them. Its not out of the question.
The Catalyst -
The catalyst could be said is a God like creature. Or maybe God himself. He knows all, and has seen what the galaxy was like before the reapers and knows what WILL happen if the cycle ends. There are some possibilities in between here that may say "Oh he was just a reaper himself..and just decieving him". However, if that were true then the catalyst would have never even offered shephard a chance. Why not just kill him to let the cycle continue?
Regardless of what you think the catalyst was not there to decieve shephard it was there to protect life.
His protection was "The Solution". Nuke and pave everything, every so often, and the chaos never returns.
However, the one glaring fact that I think NOBODY has caught on to.
The Crucible. The crucible in my opinion was NOT a Prothean creation but was a failsafe firewall put in by the catalyst long ago. A way to say, if any civilization ever builds this thing and gets to this point I will know the solution is no longer working and something else has to be tried.
So now the catalyst had a problem. The solution was invalidated in two ways.
1. Someone built the crucible and used it.
2. The reapers had become corrupted in their manner. The catalyst and the reapers were two different entities. I will talk about them in a second.
Basically the Catalyst is the God of all things. Knows all knowledge and was there BEFORE the repears were in place. It put the cycle in place to prevent a reoccurance of what was Chaos which is basically the end of all things.
Taking that into account, you have to believe that what he/she/it said was true and also believe that its solutions and its prophecy of what would happen between those three decisions, was TRUE. More on that later.
The reapers -
Many that I have spoken to or read opinions given from have said "Well the reapers won.."
Bzz no they didn't.
I believe they were part of the problem and seperate from the catalyst.
The reapers were put into place to Enact the cycle. I believe in the beginning the cycle was never meant to be as ruthless as it was. The catalyst said that it was meant to uplift the existing advanced civilization of its time into a new form of evolution. I believe this happened early on but after a while, this was corrupted and by the current cycle it is apparant the catalyst views of uplifting were not being enacted.
I think the methods of the reapers were wrong. They became ruthless harvesters of life and in essence became chaos themselves.
Although they preserved the solutuion, eventually I am sure the catalyst saw the flaws but was unable to act.
Perhaps he put the crucible out there as a way to eventually end the solution in favor of another.
Either way, the reapers where the bad guys no matter that their original intent was noble. The catalyst I believe saw this and was a reason he said the solution was invalid.
Think of it if the reapers methodology was different. If they did "uplift" the previous species instead of destroying them or wiping them out. I think their was a corruption somewhere in the intent and the method.
The intent by the catalyst was to evolve life and let other forms evolve in their place. The reapers became the evil dreadnoughts and instead of uplifting them they indoctrinated them and killed most. Not what I believe the original intent of the catalyst.
Shephard -
Shephard is a Jesus like figure meant to sacrifice himself for the good of all. More on that later but pay attention to that.
So now you know what the forebearing elements are.
- The galaxy had a problem before the reapers in that organic life would eventually create synthetic life that would destroy its creators and then themselves, thus ending everything forever. This WOULD have happened if the cycle ended. No matter what you think of or think may have happened, it WOULD have happened.
- The cycle was created as a solution to that problem.
- The Reapers themselves became evil and where part of the problem to the solution.
- The Crucible was meant to be a firewall/failsafe to be put in place in case a species was capable enough of ending the cycle. In this way the catalyst could offer a new solution.
Knowing and understanding ALL of that. We now come to the end of ME3.
Shephard ( a representation of humanity ) had finally defeated the cycle. But now that the cycle was broken a new solution had to be put in. If not, and the cycle ended, eventually organics would create synthetics that would destroy everything.
So the catalyst offered Shephard a new solution.
- Destruction: Destroy the reapers, end the cycle. Great everyone gets to go home and have a ticker tape parade. BUT, eventually humanity would destroy itself and eventually all organic life would be wiped out across the galaxy.
- Control: Take control of the reapers. The Illusive mans solution. This would also not work as the catalyst said it wouldn't. Basically the cycle would continue, life would be erased and eventually the synthetics would take over.
In all likelihood this already happened. Someone else took control of the reapers and corrupted them into what they were doing today. But anyway...
- Joining: Combining synthetic and organic life into a new life form and destroy the relays, the citadel, and everything. Thus beginning anew with a new life form and a new chance to start over.
So why is the joining considered the "Good Ending" and here is all my responses to different "outrages" I have heard from other players.
Mass Relays Gone ( WTF!! ) - The mass relays were NOT an invention of any organic race. They were an invention of the cycle. In order to destroy the cycle and end it from ever re-ocurring you had to destroy them to essentially start over. Without them, now organic society has a chance to evolve its own form of travel instead of relying on the inventions of other synthetic life. Essentially the ME's were a method of control. Just like The prophecied path of the ONE in "the matrix" was also just another means of control.
They needed to be gone so that the cycle could never repeat, and so that if there were any reapers lurking around, they couldn't get anywhere.
So the reapers won?
No they didn't. The reapers are gone forever. All of them are presumed dead, gone, destroyed, never to be seen again. They lost, and they lost permanent. Be assured they are not celebrating.
All of previous actions were for nothing?
Wrong again. Joker survived, humans survived, and even shephard survived ( oh you didn't think so, watch after the credits again and find out )
All the other species including the Krogans are still around. Yes the mass relays are gone, but they are still there and they evolved in whatever way they felt they could. Unknown as to their status as we only saw how the humans turned out. We didn't get to see what happened to the Geth, Quarians, Asari ( except for Liara of course ), and turians. They all lived because of shephard and they all lived on because of what the player did. Its not all for nothing.
Again yes the mass relays are gone but now they will evolve in their own way. Develop their own space travel, light travel, and begin to ascend on their own. Without the threat of reapers or chaos destroying everything.
Also, the humans are the saviours of the entire Galaxy, possibly the entire universe. I call that a pretty damn good accomplishment.
Soo whats up with that ending with Joker?
Wow people I guess nobody has ever read genesis before. Eve was the synthetic life form that survived. Adam and Eve anyone? Sheesh, play Assasins Creed 2 a bit more if you are still confused or watch "Knowing" or many other fantasy stories that have this type of ending.
What happened to Shephard?
He is still alive... just not in human form. He is now the NEW catalyst. Or possibly conjoined with it somehow. If your feeling religious he could be seen as the Jesus figure and became a sibling of the Catalyst. He lives, just no longer a playable character....
WAHH but I wanted my perfect ticker tape parade ending..
Umm you need to actually LISTEN to what the catalyst was saying. If Shephard DID essentially destroy the reapers, the cycle, and the solution with it. Yeah there would have been a parade, earth survived, and all fuzzy warm feelings shephard would have had his brood of blue children or quairan, or whatever path you chose. BUT eventually they would have turned on themselves, or created a synthetic life form that would have destroyed everything. Not just life, but everything. The end of everything as we know it. Thats why that ending cannot be.
So what no ME4?
Are you kidding me? EA give up its franchise?
No way. I doubt very seriously this is the end to all Mass effect games. In fact the writer said that there will be more. So just hold on and enjoy the current installment.
Replayability?
Yeah you cant play after the ending like in ME2 but so what. There is many many possible endings BEFORE the final ending. Play it again and chose some different choices. Kill the Geth or the quarians. Don't give the krogans their cure. Side with Udina.. Romance Tali instead of Liara. Or miranda.
Many many ways to go about changing things up a bit.
Okay Genius so really, explain the ending to me because I still dont get it.
Basically humans survived in whoever was left on that planet that Joker landed on. They evolved, lived, and procreated. This time without the cycle, without reapers, and with no limits on what they could achieve. Eventually they will return to the stars but on their own accord and without any help from Protheans, reapers, or mass relays. This time they will do it the right way and evolve a form of space travel as they see fit.
One important note is that not ALL humans ended up on that paradise planet. Earth is in all likelihood still around. Perhaps there is more humans, and they evolved in whatever way they were able to. We dont know.
What we do know..
Shephard is still alive, although in a different form. He is praised as a godlike figure now.
Joker and Eve are basically adam and eve.
Yes everyone is essentially a cyborg but a different kind. Now they are an evolved melding of both machine and organic life into a new form of life. Maybe even more perfect than before.
Yes, the quarians, turians, Krogans, Yagg.. All still alive and kicking. We know they are alive, we just don't know how they will deal with the new existance of no Mass relays. In my view they are better off without them.
I understand the outcry but I honestly think EA expected people to have a little bit more vision and imagination when they played this game.
I for one LOVED the ending and think its one of the best ever.
Is it confusing? Sure, if you dont understand the whole mass effect tale. You need to do some reading before you see that ending and understand a bit about the evolution of the human spirit as opposed to the evolution of Humanity as a whole.
People need to stop bashing it and understand it and come back with some real feedback on why they didn't like it. Not just generalities.
I do apologize for this long explenation but I really had to chime in and defend Bioware on this. They got this ending right and I applaud and appreciate the very symbolic and meaningful ending. Especially coming from someone who really appreciates it, because I really do.
Now I am going to go work on my 3rd playthrough of ME3.
Modifié par HrzRanok, 10 mars 2012 - 04:53 .
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