If this turns out to be true, and they can prove they planned it all along, and the final 'citadel battle/real ending DLC' is free, it would be the greatest artistic masterstroke in the history of gaming.
If it is true, I assume they wanted to release the 'real ending/citadel battle' DLC last, after all the other DLCs have been done, maybe in six months, and when they are ready to announce another Mass Effect spinoff game. Now they will have to rush out the new ending to placate everyone, so even the 'true ending', if planned all along, could be compromised.
If it WAS true though, with viral marketing and puzzles for fans to solve being so common, one would think Bioware would have hinted at that by now. They might have said, 'Ah ha, analyse the ending in more detail' to the haters or something to build up suspense. Or they would have given the people who 'solved' it already some kudos. Maybe they will make the Indoctrination Theory true now even if they didn't plan to because it has gathered some steam, but if it had been true all along, you'd think they'd be hinting at that already to save face (and stock value).
Great theory, I'd love for it to be true. Heck, that and Dark Energy would satisfy me. Anything that keeps the relays around and most races intact so we can play more games in the Mass Effect universe again later. It's such a great setting; seems a shame to spoil the whole chance of a further franchise by decimating the relays that make the universe work and give the games their name.
Also, I note, there is so much Christian/Jesus allegory in the series, so much so that sometimes they out-and-out throw the appropriate Bible quote in there. Shepard was raised from the dead; Legion's million souls did get thrown out there amongst all the 'pigs' (perceived lower form of life); the Illusive Man is something of a Judas. The one thing they haven't done from Jesus lore/mythology/whatever is the Temptation in the Desert. Well, maybe you could count working with Cerberus as temptation, but, the Reapers were the Devil all along, not Cerberus. Cerberus are just the gateway to hell, selling out humanity, selling out salvation, like Judas. The game has always NEEDED an indoctrination scene for its internal logic, and that scene always needed to be big and memorable. A few seconds of funny voices in the head and shooting Anderson isn't much of an indoctrination/temptation scene. This ending, as Indoctrination Theory, would be the perfect temptation scene. 40 days and 40 nights, so it's supposed to feel weighty.
What does the devil tempt Jesus with? One temptation is joining the devil to have power over the known world and all life (Control) and the other thing the devil suggests is that Jesus jumps off a cliff and trusts that angels will break his fall... and the Synthesis ending sure looks like that, with Shepard leaping off a platform into holy light. Silly, silly Synthesis Shepard (I did that, my Shepard is a husk now I guess).
Christian allegory has been in the background of the games all along. Don't have to be religious to see that or care. I'm an Atheist but it's all cool, just a storytelling technique, sci fi does religion a lot these days. Even the game calls the story of Eve and the Bible quote 'mythology', so they're using it for storytelling richness and not religious propaganda. The devil tempting Jesus in the desert is a major part of Jesus lore, and the devils in this universe are the reapers, Shepard is Jesus (obviously, good shepherd, duh) and indoctrination is temptation. Join the devil and have power over everything (Control), jump off a cliff and rely on angels saving you (Synthesis) or resist temptation (destroy). Jesus in the desert... Shepard in the rubble. The devil is even right there with him in the desert/rubble: harbinger.
So Indoctrination Theory perfectly fits the game's internal logic in so many beautiful ways.
Modifié par jimminysausage, 23 mars 2012 - 05:03 .
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