I, like many of you, have invested hundreds of hours into this series. Taken a character from start to finish. From Eden Prime to Virmire and Sovereign. Remade by Cerberus and storming a collector base. Running a true paragon, a renegade, and all things in between through the entire story. It is so compelling for me is because it has a feeling of relatability. One thing in particular I’ve noticed is that it’s like watching the original trilogy of Star Wars for the first time. People and places in this universe are so alien (no pun intended) yet so familiar. Regardless of race and species, the characters feel human at their core. You can empathize with them.
The conclusion to Mass Effect 3 can best be related to one of the last scenes of Return of the Jedi: Luke being tempted to the dark side. The Emperor says whatever he can to try to turn him, from setting up the rebels for a trap to the idea that they have already lost. He asserts that Luke is already ‘his’ and that there is no escaping the total destruction of the rebels. Playing off his emotions and trickery, he nearly brings him to the dark side. After dueling Darth Vader for the last time, Emperor tells him to “take [his] place at my side”. After a few meaningful looks at his father, he replies “Never”. End of film.
While this is an amazing and powerful scene, it is not an ending. The same goes for Mass Effect 3. Shepard is given similar choices. He can join [with] them, and destroy them (of course there is the synthesis option, but Luke couldn’t really put a some Jedi in all of us at the time). We get to see a few flashbacks of friends and briefly watch the assumed outcome. Afterward there is a short scene implying team members and/or you survived. The ambiguity is definitely frustrating.
So rather than change the ending, add to it. Give some reason to things, some closure for people. Theres enough there to build upon for something satisfying. I, and many others, want to see what happened. Implying "Things were okay" just doesn't cut it for people.
Now this “Indoctrination Theory” is a very interesting possibility. During my first play through there seemed to be something off about the crucible. The exchange between Anderson and The Illusive Man was so surreal. The bullet wound that transferred to Shepard and the reversal of colors for the final decision made me wonder if it was the product of blood loss for the brain. Seeing these things that don’t make sense from Shepard’s point of view may have been one of the best instances of true role playing, falling under a very well done type of unreliable narration. The more I looked into this theory, the more it seemed likely. If that is how the end is meant to be taken, then I have to applaud Bioware for writing one of the greatest stories in existence. If it wasn’t intentional then they have pulled off one of the greatest examples of serendipity since Han Solo shooting first.
I believe that changing the ending wouldn’t solve much, but extending the ending could give us satisfaction. For instance, let us choose any of the options with a lower EMS. Possibly half the currant one for the “Breath ending”. Shepard wakes up, still in the middle of the battle for Earth. Team mates, Krogan, Turians and whoever else is helping earth dig you out of rubble. Virmire survivor others say you can’t stop now. You and all the races make a run for the conduit, parallel to earlier but with the sun starting to rise. Reaper forces flooding in, but allies keep them back. You and your team makes it through and cutscene to the battle in space for a minute or two.
Once in the citadel, you and your team make a run similar to the first Mass Effect. When you reach the master terminal area, TIM is once again waiting. He does his speech about being impressed Shepard could resist indoctrination. He then could reveal being the new avatar of Harbinger, a sort of ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’ moment. Also could hint at Harbinger actually being The Catalyst. Boss fight with enhanced TIM ensues. After the fight, a bloody and exhausted TIM says something to the effect of “Single victories mean nothing. You can’t destroy them. Once you’d have realized that you would know there was only one way to stop them. Whether it’s us or them, the only way this will end is by assuming direct control.”
Harbinger does just that and the cybernetic avatar attacks. Cue another grand boss fight with dialog from the reaper himself about the futility of everything you’ve done. When his health is low enough, a mini scene plays where he grabs you and sinks his “claws” in. Harbinger then starts to upload his own code into your cybernetics in a final attempt to control you… And succeeds. Out of sheer willpower, Shepard breaks free of it long enough to activate The Crucible. This could work due to him being (in part) The Catalyst.
Since The crucible itself isn’t perfect, all it can do is weaken The Reapers. Their shields become weak. They lose influence over husks, which just drop dead. Some, not all, Reapers would have their weapons self-destruct. At this point show all war assets putting their all into the last attack. Alliance ships, Quarian flotillas, Geth fleets and everything else attacking Reapers. At this point make the EMS and galactic readiness count. Show the consequences of a low EMS, or the awesome victory of a higher one. Really show that our efforts don’t simply contribute to a number and little else.
Shepard wakes up. The allies are unsure about him due to his momentary possession and ask what happened. Team mate points out that whatever it was, it worked. Beautiful space view of alliance and war assets destroying Reapers. Shepard and team a picked up and fly to meet Anderson on earth, but Harbinger races to cut them off. Joker himself takes down Harbinger with the Normandy upgrades from the previous game or with the help of a whole fleet if you didn’t get them. Final debriefing from Admiral Hackett. An overall sense of victory as you touch down and see soldiers everywhere. Have a “We did it!” talk with Anderson and watch the last Reapers go down.
Fade to months later. You’re in the Comm room and have the option of talking to some former team mates in there. Your personal terminal has emails from other team members and characters talking about how everything has been since you won, what they’re doing now and congratulating you. Go see joker for the last time and on the way meet up with currant love interest, if any. Joke about maybe a normal life. Talk to Joker and EDI briefly recount some of your accomplishments and talk about some parts of Cerberus still active throughout the galaxy. Then Joker would ask “So where do we go from here?” Shepard looks into space and says “Surprise me.”
Credits roll.
Now this is just an Idea of how to extend the ending. Personally, I do want to see something closer to this than the original conclusion. This is not a demand to make things that way but more of a possibility. Perhaps this could be a good way to wrap things up or maybe it would be worse off. Either way, I felt I would put my two cents in. Say what you'd like, I just want to see some constructive ideas from people. What would you want for an ending?
Modifié par Travisca, 25 mars 2012 - 04:32 .
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