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[Fixer5000]

As per the title.

I'm a budding Sci Fi author myself. I can't believe how dissapointed I was with the ending to ME3.
Not just because Shepard died but because it was so divergent from everything else we had seen in the rest of the series.

The plot holes and nonsensical parts have already been covered.

What hasn't been mentioned on much is the underlying theme Mass Effect had with it's morality. Paragon/Renegade was very much a Picard/Dirty Harry playstyle but also involved a federation style or humanity first outlook that was completely lost.

It was a choice between diplomacy/co-operation or being ruthless/dominating but always good or evil on either side.

The final choice we were given eventually came down to battlestar galactica's man vs. machine narrative, one that was barely mentioned in the story and with the three final choices making little real difference in the end.

Shepard dying is not a problem. You can have a good ending with Shepard dying as long as the sacrifice seems worthwhile.

So may I add here my suggestions for a more interesting choice of endings for ME3 and motivations for the reapers than means that there's real actual choice in what you do.


The motivations of
the Reapers:
The reaper cycle truly
is without beginning or end. It's revealed that the reapers created
this universe when their original reality started to crumble. In a last act of
desperation, using all their knowledge and power they possessed they created this new
universe at the cost of everything that remained in theirs.



In doing so they
created new life and a fresh start, but the universe that resulted
was simpler than the one before. Time had become linear, dimensions
limited, the possibilities that once existed in the universe before
ceased to be entirely except in the memories of the survivors of this
Universal cataclysm. They understood everything about the fabric of this new reality but also the limits now imposed upon them.




They are the creators
of and prisoners of all the limits of our universe.



Thus the Reapers had no
true beginning, their thoughts exist in a state beyond any possible
understanding or way of processing in the limited universe that we
now inhabit, As such they also believe they have no end.



Their true motivations
and thoughts as such cannot be extrapolated and the reasons their old
universe ceased to exist simply cannot be expressed as cohesive
thought in the confines of our more limited existence. Their battle against
entropy and the eventual death of all things remains as the
simplified expression of their true goal. As such many of their
actions appear random or even counterproductive to this goal but ultimately work towards an unfathomable
plan.



One they believe they
are ultimately unable to accomplish. The cycle continues and if the
universe has to start anew, it will be of the same or less complexity
. They harvest the galaxy, uplifting species to reaper form and
thought hoping that from the chaos of organic evolution they may gain
new insight into a solution which will bring back the old. One their
immeasurable but ordered mechanical minds could not conceive on their
own.



The reapers also
believe they have no true end, with minds that think outside of
linear time they see eternity at once. Then came the protheans and
Shepard. Shepard surprised them, did what they thought impossible. As
such they believe that somewhere in the chaos of humanity exists the
knowledge that could return their original reality and save the
existence of all species harvested in reaper form.



They are the only hope for an future without end.




Thus the reapers are our
salvation through destruction.



The Final Battle:
The crucible is not a
galaxy wide reaper killing superweapon. It is a device that
counter-acts the reapers though processes. While active the reapers
are limited to individual linear though restricted by the dimensions
of our universe with a chorus of voices screaming at once. With it the Reapers are greatly weakened, but still
powerful.



It's use at Earth is
the most sensible choice. Destroy the majority of the Reaper invasion
fleet before the rest of them discover the threat




A fleet is still needed
to protect it. Shepard's companions fight on both the battlefield and
in space, lack of military assets/leadership leads to their sacrifice
much in the same way as the old suicide mission.



Tragic endings –
Not enough military strength.
The
Reapers are ultimately victorious. The crucible is destroyed, the
last battle is lost and Shepard is left before the Reapers on the
nearly crippled Normandy, about to be harvested. His friends and
allies dead. Earth is a barren wasteland.



Still,
he has fought hard and the reapers respect his strength and still value his insight/genetic worth. The Reapers
offer him a choice. He can form the new core of a Reaper.



Paragon
ending:Shepard
becomes the core of the Reaper, his personality is ultimately
destroyed as it is subsumed into the reaper shell. However the Reaper
that was once humanity takes on his outlook and insight, and as the
Shepard leads the rest of the Reapers away from the galaxy. They
never return.



Though
the galaxy is harvested a record of what happened is left behind for
those of the next cycle. Humanity and Shepard are remembered as
legends for their ultimate sacrifice.


Renegade
Ending:Shepard
uses what time he has left to fling a message into the future.
Humanity is lost but his warning will be discovered by the races of
the next cycle. He refuses to join the Reapers, taking his own life
and destroying the Human Reaper as well in a final act of defiance by
ramming the Normandy into it's heart and detonating its core.



Humanity
and Shepard are remembered as legends by the races of the next cycle,
who ultimately defeat the reapers thanks to his help.



Phyrric Victory:
Moderate military strength.
Shepard
defeats the reapers, though it costs almost everything he had. His
team is almost entirely dead or badly mauled but the battle has drawn
almost the entire reaper force into the Sol system. The reapers can
be trapped Earth's system, if the Charon relay can be destroyed the
buk of their forces can be annihilated. Alternatively the Reapers can
be pulled out of the system before the Relay network is shut down,
giving Earth time to regroup, building more crucible devices and take
back the galaxy planet by planet using slow conventional Mass Effect
drives enhanced by reaper tech.


Paragon
Ending:Ultimately
it comes down to a choice. Sacrifice Earth or sacrifice the Galaxy.
Shepard chose Earth. The planet is lost, mankind reduced to a bare
handful, Shepard dies... but the galaxy is safe. The relay network is
lost.

The
survivors begin again on Eden prime. It will take centuries for
mankind to become a power again. Admired by the rest of the galaxy
for their sacrifice Shepard and the rest of the humanity are hailed
as legends.

Centuries
later, using knowledge from the conduit's construction the Council rebuilds the relay network and galactic
civilisation flourishes again.


Renegade
Ending:Shepards
puts humanity first, the Reapers are defeated but it's a slow,
painful war with a long cleanup. Humanity is the only surviving
intact species in the galaxy and with it, they dominate. A new human
empire stretches across the galaxy, with other races effectively
enslaved.



The
galaxy is beset by minor conflicts for millenia after but the threat
of extinction never returns.



Epic Victory: Strong
military strength.
The
reapers are ultimately destroyed through massive force though not
without loss. Most of the Squad is still alive, the Reapers, broken
and helpless now find themselves begging for their survival and claim
the fate of everything hangs upon it. Shepard now has the choice of
destroying them forever or listening to their pleas.



Paragon
ending:Shepard
allows the reapers to live but the cycle of harvesting has to end.
They finally agree under duress. Shepard forces them to give up their
only means of defending themselves, the reapers release their cores
from their shells becoming minds without bodies or any way to
influence the galaxy. The technological insight gathered from them
helps rebuild civilisation and we see Earth, Thessia, Palaven
restored.

Ultimately
Shepard and his team live. We see their lives as they adapt to a
galaxy in peace, they grow old and eventually pass into the annals of
history.

Millenia
later through co-operation with the ascended races of the Galaxy the
reapers discover the answer to their question. They vanish without a
trace shortly afterwards, our reality intact, with a single message
left behind suggesting that the life of the galaxy will one day have
a choice of whether to join them.

The
galaxy remains united, Shepard revered as a hero in stories told to
children on every world.



Renegade
Ending:Shepard
destroys the reapers, their wreckage is recovered by humanity. With
sole access to the new technologies reverse engineered humanity
becomes the dominate power in the galaxy. Earth is swiftly rebuilt
while other worlds lie in ruins.

Shepard
and his team live. We see their lives as they adapt to a galaxy under
human control. They cannot rest, conflict lasts for years afterwards.
Wars between other races are swiftly put down by overwhelming force
from the enchanced Alliance forces and eventually like the Protheans
before them mankind rules as the sole power with all other races
becoming subservient.

When
Shepard finally passes, his body and implants are both studied and
revered.

Eventually
billions of years later later humanity has transcended with reaper
tech, and those races like them following them becoming machinelike.
The original question is answered and as the universe grows cold the
new reaper-like machines that were once humanity vanish into a new
existence in a flash of brilliant light.

The
name Shepard is still known to each of them. The being that called in
this new era and still exists in part of them all.

I think that just about covers it.

[bulldog2012]

Personally, I feel like you shouldn't know where the reapers came from. I don't want a Matrix-like infodump. I want a conclusion.

[Fixer5000]

It's possible to learn these things piece by piece in the game without infodumping.

Piecing together the crucible and fighting the Reapers could add more and more insight. When you finally face them, you know what they're doing, how to stop them.

When Sovereign first appeared you had some basic ideas of what the reapers were, when you saw the Collector base you saw what they did. In ME3 it would have been nice to learn why they did it, even if it was only a glimpse of a much larger plan.