Now that we know Reapers need numbers to harvest an entire organic race, it hands out an enigmatic question pertaining to the creation of the first Reaper and the beginning of the first cycle of harvest. We were made aware that Alliance sources suggest that Harbinger was the first reaper, whilst some fans positied that Sovereign was the first (inference made according to Chorban's data regarding Keepers).
Indeed, how did reaper(s) begin harvesting a species in the first place?
If each Reaper houses one unique species under its shell, how did the first one get built? Many hypothesized that first creators of these old machines turned themselves into Reapers; then one may assume that only 1 Reaper was created in the first place. Was it?
Could "1" Reaper really capable of destroying the entire members of an advanced species in a subsequent cycle?
It is quite impossible. Reapers are quite vulnerable when they are alone. Shepard for example destroyed Sovereign with the help of his allies. Thus logic dictates that there must have been sufficient amounts of Reapers in the first place to initiate harvesting, and perhaps turning the "excess" of the species into husks so that they could later help creating the next Reaper out of the newly harvested species.
Besides, Sovereign said that Reapers created Mass Relays and the Citadel. Did they? Or not? It seems very illogical to think that "1" Reaper created the whole Mass Relays and the Citadel; you'd still need numbers to construct those technological marvels. Following Sovereign's terms, one may think that by the time the Citadel was constructed, there had already been many Reapers around that were active and floating in the space.
Following Chorban's findings, another may think that some unfathomable race created both the Reapers and the Keepers which then created the Citadel and even the final boss (which I think is merely an advanced VI), and then initiated the cycle of extinction. In other words, it could be that this "unfathomable race" indirectly occasioned the cycle of extinction in Milky Way Galaxy. And they must have created many Reapers in the beginning, so that they could actually have to numbers to dominate an advanced civilization and complete a harvest, apart from creating the Citadel and the Mass Relays.
My whole attempt here is to extend the Reaper lore, and suggest that the God Child is the creation of Reapers, which may have been unleashed to Milky Way Galaxy from another to regulate our galaxy. Reapers then built the Mass Relays, the Citadel - just like hunters, once they set up the perfect trap, they finally initiated the cycles. To repeat my conviction: you'd absolutely need numbers and plenty of husks to do the harvesting and create the next Reaper. One Reaper just wouldn't do it. So there must have been many Reapers in the beginning.
We know that the entire existence of Reapers and the God Child suggest an oxymoron. God child says I created
"Reapers;" Sovereign says "We created Mass Relays and Citadel, and we are the beginning and the end of everything." From the events that took place in the Arrival, we could also say that Mass Relays' functions are dependent on dark energy propulsion. That is also a curious question.
To sum up, this may be a chicken-and-egg problem. Who created who? Though I still retain that if Sovereign is right about Reapers creating the Mass Relays and the Citadel (thus setting up the trap), there must be an even greater force behind the whole thing.
You don't have to agree with me or anything like it. No need for cynicism or sarcasim. This is just to stimulate imagination and bring some logical light to the existence of Reapers of which Bioware failed big time.
Modifié par Northernian, 22 mars 2012 - 03:54 .
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