Shephard collapses on the ground in front of the terminal. Admiral Hackett is yelling, pleading over the com, but to no avail. Nothing is happening as it should. Shephard! For God's sake Shephard! All is lost. His voice cracks a bit as if in utter futility. You can hear desperation and despair in his tone. It gets very dark and quiet.
Then out of the darkness a scampering noise, faint at first it gets louder and louder. Spindly legs slowly fade into view and appear in front of Shephard's body. A slow pan upwards and we find it is a Keeper. Big bulging eyes look at Shephard, then look out the window towards the Reapers and Earth, and finally, the Keeper looks at the Crucible terminal. Other Keepers, seems like hundreds, have filed into this strange room in the Citadel, one that only the Keepers knew existed. Two Keepers pull Shephard back towards where Anderson is lying and roll Shephard over onto his back. One Keeper stands over Shephard and scans him and starts "working" on him as if at a Citadel terminal. The same is happening to Admiral Anderson as that Keeper reaches into the strange back-pack contraption on its back. Whatever they are, whatever they are doing, they are furiously busy. The Illusive Man is left alone. He is tainted. They know it. Meanwhile, the other Keepers are lining up along the massive window, side by side, to look out over a desolate battlefield: the Earth. Their shapes silhouetted and dark seem strange. They are here as spectators, to watch. Their time has come; they have waited centuries untold for this moment. The main Keeper looks down at the Crucible terminal and pushes a single button. Slowly it looks up and the cut scenes begin.
A huge ball of energy explodes from the Crucible to spread like a blanket of glittering light. The Reapers and husks are the only ones affected and literally begin to glow then disintegrate when the energy touches their hulls and bodies. They do not fly away, they do not flee, they are annihilated and vaporized on the spot—dramatically, painfully of course. Joker struggles to his feet in the Normandy and peers out of the huge cockpit window. The Reaper so close simply crumbles. Joker's mouth drops in utter disbelief. In a rare moment, he is speechless. This powerful foe gone in seconds. EDI is at his side. In a moment of human-ness, she puts a hand on his shoulder. The energy covers the heavens then finally falls to Earth. We see James, thick in battle and exhausted look stunned as this covering of light falls from the sky and vaporizes a husk he is fighting hand to hand. It is there, then there is nothing, no? We see Wrex, a look of shock and disbelief on his face at the sudden destruction of the enemies before him--yes, he will live to see his children. Grunt runs up behind him tired, also amazed at what he is seeing. He has a huge, bleeding wound on his head in the same place as Wrex's head scar. Wrex looks at him for a moment, then points at the oozing badge of honor and laughs. They let loose a loud victorious growl then stomp the ground together in that Urdnot Clan way. Garrus is wounded, lying against a pile of wreckage and like the last time death was knocking at his door he found himself clutching his beloved sniper rifle. He watches the scene through his pain. We win. He shakes his head in wonderment. His commander, his best friend, has done it. Then we see that Tali is searching and searching the battlefield frantically. She finally sees Garrus and runs towards him. She kneels to check on his condition. Garrus motions that all is well. She sighs deeply in relief then stands up and looks at the scene before her. She opens her arms wide to embrace the falling light as if to say, Wow, look at this! Garrus watches as she is overcome with emotion. She found her home world, but now she has a life. Then she folds her arms in front of her defiantly while shaking her head up and down-- those boshtet Reapers!
Back at the Citadel floor we see Anderson's hand lying lifeless on the ground—his finger, barely a twitch. Anderson is still alive. The Keepers over him back away and join the others at the window. Shephard's hand is next to Anderson's when we see it reach out frantically and grab Anderson's wrist, as if to keep him from falling off a cliff. This is his commander, friend, and at times a father; a man who never gave up on him. We only see this pair of hands telling the story: "I'm here sir. Hang on."
Back on the planet we see jeering and cheering from the armies and allies of Earth. We see former enemies grabbing each other in pure joy, we see organics and synthetics in unity. A huge Geth Prime mimicing organic affection, grabs a nearby Quarian, lifting him completely off the ground and hugs him. Wait, did we really just see that? Then atop a bombed out building we see a familiar, stoic figure. It is Admiral Hackett holding a weapon, ready for his last stand. He would go down with a fight among his men; for he is a soldier to the end. Instead, he just stands there now and ever so slowly hangs his head and drops the rifle to his side. His sigh is heavy, deep. As he looks up again and slowly pans his head side to side to take in the victorious sight he thought was lost, we see something we never thought we could: a tear in the eye of a weary, hardened old warrior. He does not smile, he does not jeer, he does not celebrate. He just lets go of one, lone tear. Cut scene to Jack and Miranda who look around the suddenly confused quiet of victory and spy each other across an open war zone. They realize they were fighting within a few yards of each other; side by side. They walk up to one another dirty, bloodied, and bruised. Miranda was cautious. Would Jack carry through with her threat against the “Cerberus cheerleader” years earlier? Jack stares hard at Miranda. She then holds her hand up ready for a high five; it is a gesture of peace. Miranda pauses, then accepts. They both begin to laugh because that is so not like Miranda. Finally we see Liara and Ashley/Kaiden, walking forward from rubble to look at the sky. The love interest is clearly worried, frantic, and looks to the friend, the friend comforts with a look that says all will be well. Then in a glorious cut scene ending, we watch as one by one the Reapers vanish from the entire planet.
The main Keeper at the terminal pushes a final button. The light beam now shoots swiftly from relay to relay, star system to star system. They are not destroyed, rather the relays are “harbingers” of death to the Reapers and yet victory to a united galaxy we have fought hard for and have come to love. What the Reapers built as a manipulative tool to destroy others, destroyed them. The irony cannot be overlooked.
Back on the Citadel Shephard finds enough strength to raise his head and see all the Keepers watching the victory before them. Then the sound is clearly heard, yet strangely he also feels it. It's like a low hum that vibrates louder and louder, stronger and stronger. (You can feel it as you hold the controller). He realizes the room is alive with an energy he has never experienced. It goes on and on and feels alive. Are the Keepers speaking, celebrating? They are! The Keepers have vanquished their enemy who had enslaved them since time began. They remembered Saren as he angrily slaughter so many of them years ago when they did not respond to the Reaper signal. That instance had changed them, given them enough self-will to stand for this moment. No one understood that this quiet creature had been watching, listening; they were the unknown ally for Shephard and his crew all this time. In the end, the Keepers won the victory. They are the heroes. They are the slaves that overcame and destroyed a powerful creature they had watched inflict pain and suffering for centuries untold. They would end the cycle, but they needed their own catalyst for this moment. And Shephard came.
Slowly the Keepers start leaving to disappear into the Citadel once again. The main Keeper, the one at the terminal turns towards Shephard. It does not pass by as the others do, but stops. It looks down into Shephard's face. It is a deep, long stare. It's head is so close to Shephard's that he leans back a bit. The stare is permeating through to Shephard's very soul. He can feel a vibration in his chest, his head. Ever so slowly it bows it's head in respect, in gratitude, almost as if to say, well done. Shephard, curious and confused, slowly nods in reply. Then the creature is gone as Shephard slowly falls back and starts to lose consciousness again. The world slowly fades to white when we hear noises in the background; this time human noises. "They are here!!!!" A familiar voice is barking medical orders. It is a commanding voice, a tense voice: do this and do that now! You, take care of Anderson. You, bring me that med kit. It is Dr. Chakwas. This time she has come to rescue Shephard. "I'm here Shephard. I'm here. No one gets left behind, remember?" she says in a soothing, gentle tone. And all goes white.
That is my ending and I'm sticking to it. My heroes live, which is fitting for such a valiant fight! Shame on you Bioware for not keeping the magic of such a fantastic story alive for your fans to the very end!
Modifié par alapama, 10 mars 2012 - 08:17 .
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