Things that don't happen in this ending:
- Anything concerning the star child and the three ending choices, that was BS and I removed that completely.
- The citadel blowing up.
- The relays getting destroyed
- Normandy crashing on Hawaii
- Some old guy talking about DLC
Part 1: The run for the beam
This starts with a slight variation of the beam scene. Shepard and squadmates are running towards the beam, when it looks like the slow-mo beam is going to hit us. Loyalty check of the squadmates. If both squadmates are loyal, one of them grabs Shepard, and all try to jump away from the beam, but still getting seriously hurt. If only one squadmate is loyal, the unloyal one grabs the loyal one and throws him to safety, dying in the process. You might say it would be more logical the other way around, but I did this on gameplay purposes. The loyal squadmates are usually squadmates the player likes more. Same happens when both are unloyal, put who lives and who dies is random. Except the LI is one of the squadmates, then the LI survives (dunno if it's even possible to have an unloyal LI).
After regaining consciousness, we see one (the other one lying there dead) or two squadmates sitting around injured, gesturing Shepard that they're fine and he should continue going towards the beam.
Now, everything stays the same till after the TIM/Anderson conclusion. I'll continue where Hackett told Shepard that nothing is happening.
Part 2: The crucibel and the means to victory
Your surviving squadmate(s) join you in the room with the control panel. Forcing themselves to the panel, Shepard and the squadmate(s) discuss the situation. Reaching the control panel, they figure out how to activate the crucibel, still not knowing what the crucibel does. After a moment of hesitation, Shepard presses some buttons on the panel, and the crucibel activates.
Camera changes to the space battle. We see the fleet fighting the reapers, but with more focus on evasion than on attack. Slowly, but steadily, the fleet is losing ground. Emphasize this with some specific scenes that show ships losing to reapers. Camera focuses on the citadel. *Think of citadel activation and firing eneryg wave of the ending video here*. The moment the wave hits the reapers, they kinda scream in agony. However, no direct effect on them is scene. In the background however, we see a dreadnought killing a reaper with a single strike.
Camera changes to the bridge of Hackett's ship, him standing at a tactical display of the battle, slightly above it, looking down on it. Camera angle slightly above Hackett, not showing his face. The ship is shaking due to receiving minor hits.
Hackett: "What the hell just happened? That's all? The reapers are still here."
We get a radio call from an Alliance frigate or the Destiny Ascension (if alive).
"We're not sure. But we just nailed a reaper. The shots went right through him. I don't know what to say, but it seems like the reapers lost their barriers."
Short moment of silence. Hackett looking up. (you could say he's doing a George Clooney
)Hackett: "Our turn."
Part 3: No way out
Camera changes back to Shepard. The activation of the crucibel seriously damaged the citadel, it's damaged, and there's fire everywhere. Shepard and the surviving squadmate(s) are desperately trying to find a way out. After some corridors, they end up in a room with a huge "window", which gives view to the battle (think of the catalyst room). This is it. No where left to go. Shepard and the squadmate(s) sit down, staring out the window. (I know this is similar to the Shepard/Anderson scene, but I couldn't think of anything else that would fit). If the LI is with Shepard, the female one rests its head on the shoulder of the male one (for homosexual ones... go figure yourself who's the man in the relationship
).Camera changes back to the space battle. The EMS comes into play. If the EMS is high, the battle shifting in favor of the fleet, reapers are resisting, but slowly going down. Overall look is positive. Medium EMS, the battle looks undecisive, it's not really clear if the fleet will win or not. If the EMS is low, even without their barriers, the reapers still have the upper hand, even if it's just due to their numbers.
Part 4: Normandy vs. Harbinger
cockpit of the Normandy. Through a window, we see the battle, especially Harbinger leaving earth and joining the battle in the distance.
Focus on Harbinger. We see him fighting, killing two dreadnoughts in the process. Focus back to the Normandy's cockpit. We see Joker and EDI, both looking at Harbinger's fight. Joker and EDI look at each other. No words. Both just nod at each other. The Normandy changes its course to go for Harbinger.
Ok, now the upgrades come into play again. Through this whole scene now, just think of some good Harbinger dialog and Joker flying awesome evasive maneuvers.
Harbinger takes note of the Normandy coming towards him. He goes on an intercept course. First shot. The beam grazes the Normandy.
First upgrade: Shields. If they're upgraded, the shield overloads, but the beam only scratches the hull, doing minor damage. If not, the beam damages the Normandy and a random crewmate (not LI) dies.
Second shot. A little bit closer.
Second upgrade: Armor. If upgraded, the beam damages the ship, but it still holds together. If not, major damage to the ship, another crewmate dies.
The Normandy is in range. Joker fires the cannons several times at Harbinger.
Third upgrade: Weapons. If upgraded, the Thanix cannons rip Harbinger apart. Attack run complete. If not, Harbinger takes damage, but is still alive and kicking, so the Normandy has to go for another attack run.
Now, if shields and armor have been upgraded, the next beam from Harbinger does minor damage, and the Normandy kills him in its second attack run. If not, the beam seriously damages the Normandy, and the ship loses all maneuverability. Firing its last shots, the Normandy crashes into Harbinger, both going down.
Focus back on Shepard and squadmate(s). The following depends on the survival of the Normandy, I'll describe both variants seperately.
Part 5 A: The Normandy survived
Shepard and the squadmate(s) share some last words, when suddenly the radio comes alive. It's Joker.
Joker: "Shepard, can you hear me? Shepard? .... is this thing even working... Well, I know you're on the citadel somewhere, and even if there're some reapers bewteen me and you, I surely won't leave you to die again."
At this point, you get a dialog choice (standard, not renegade/paragon). You can either answer the radio and tell Joker where you are, but this will force him to make his way through some reapers close to the citadel, not knowing what will happen. The other choice would be to ignore the call, which will result in Shepard and the squadmate(s) dying, but the Normandy will definitly be safe.
If you answer the radio, upgrades and EMS come into play once again. If the Normandy is not fully upgraded, you will lose additional crewmates to reaper fire. Additionally, after this, you will look from a reapers "eyes" to the Normandy, charging up a beam. If your EMS is high, another ship (alliance, quarian, turian, pick one) will start attacking the reaper, drawing it's fire. If the EMS is medium or low, no one intercepts and the beam hits. If the Normandy is fully upgraded (shield, armor), this will do serious damage and kill a squadmate, but the Normandy itself will survive. If it's not fully upgraded, the beam will destroy the Normandy. If the Normandy is destroyed, this will continue with a slight variation of the other variant. If not, the Normandy will make its way to the citadel.
Part 5 B: The Normandy got destroyed
Instead of Joker, it's Hackett on the radio. If Shepard answers, a group of quarian, geth or both ships will change its course towards the citadel. Fighting through the reapers, some up to all ships of that group get destroyed depending on EMS. If at least one ship survives, it will make its way to the citadel. If the Normandy was destroyed while trying to get to the citadel, the group will only try to make its run if the EMS is high or medium, else there would be no ships to spare.
Back to Shepard, the ship that comes to the rescue tries to dock at the window, with the crew forcing a way through the window. Right when you're trying to enter the ship, a beam hits the citadel and a hull breach starts to suck out the air. One of your squadmate(s) (LI if present) will lose grip and Shepards tries to grap her. If loyal, he/she survives, if not, he/she dies. You could also make this the other way around, Shepard getting sucked out or not. No real preferance her. After this, the Normandy leaves.
Part 6: EMS conclusion
Now we come to the EMS conclusion. If EMS is high, the fleet defeats the reapers without serious losses. If medium, the fleet still wins, but with high casualties. If EMS is low, the reapers win, and the Normandy or rescue ship crash lands on earth.
From here on, we have some really different endings, so I will describe them seperately.
Part 7 A: Closure (Victory, Shepard is alive)
This scene takes place a few days or weeks after the final battle, on earth. We're at a memorial kinda thing. It's kinda early in the morning, the sun just rises, engulfing the whole scene in a warm, orange light (yeah, obviously symbolizing a new beginning). This scene is can be interactive, but doesn't have to be. Shepard and all his (ex-)squadmates and additional unknown people (to make it look bigger) are present. Shepard can know talk or talks to the other squadmates, getting their input of what they think about all that happens and what they're planning to do now. After that, we're disrupted by Hackett going to a podium. Hackett starts a speech to the crowd, then looks at Shepard. (think of something)
Hackett: "... but I think we've got someone here that has more right to give a speech than anyone. Commander Shepard?"
Now we get a nice dialog wheel speech like we got in all other games, maybe with different options depending on what we did so far. During the speech, we get to a longer part that's about the new beginning and the reconstruction. When this happens, we see scenes on the different planets of the different species, all of them having an important NPC in them (Kirrahe on Sur'Kesh, Eva on Tuchanka, Primarch Victus on Palaven, go figure).
After the speech, camera fades to black. A few days later. Now we get the closure scene with our LI. As there are quite a lot LI's, I'll just mention my "The ending we want (a complete summarization)" thread. There're already ideas for most of the scenes. Only one thing is the same in all of these scenes. In the end, the LI moves away from Shepard, the camera closes in on his face, and we get the -> epilogue.
Part 7 B: Closure (Victory, Shepard is dead)
Let's just mention the difference to Part x A. First, it's kinda difficult to make this scene interactive. Maybe control a squadmember instead of Shepard. The discussions of the squadmembers should have a focus on remembering Shepard. The speech is held by Hackett.
A few days later, we get the closure scene with the LI, a variation of the one where Shepard is alive. In the end, the camera closes in on the LI's face, and we get to the -> epilogue.
Part 7 C: Closure(Defeat)
This takes place right after the Normandy/rescue ship crashed on earth. We see the surviving squadmembers and Shepard (if alive) leaving the Normandy. They're surrounded by husk forces. Now we see them fighting for survival, one squadmate getting injured after the other. Even if in despair, Shepard raises a little smile. If he's going to die, this is the way it should be. Fighting the enemy together with the people he cares about. But one thing is clear. Neither he nor his crew will become a husk. If they go down, they go down in a big bang. Shepard moves to a console at the Normandy, setting the reactor to overload. If the LI is present, he/she and Shepard share a final kiss before the explosion vaporizes everyone. Concerning these scenes: If Shepard is dead, replace him with the LI. If LI is also dead, replace him/her with Joker.
After the explosion, time speeds up. We see the planet changing, healing its wounds over time. Fade To black.
Fade back in. We're on a unfamiliar looking planet. Is it earth, is it some alien planet? Doesn't really matter. We see a group of unfamiliar aliens just stopping digging, waving some others over. They found one of Liara's beacons (I'll just call it that). The beacon activates, and we see Shepard's hologram. "My name is Commander Shepard, ..." Fade to black. -> epilogue
Part 8: Epilogue (dunno the image/scenery, maybe looking at the galaxy / the stars)
Variant A: Shepard
"Well, here we are. In the end, even the reapers were no match for a united galaxy. However, one question remains: What was the reapers drive, what was their purpose? I remember Sovereign saying that it's beyond our comprehension, and I really can't think of anything justifing the death of billions. I just hope we didn't open the galaxy to an even bigger threat. Maybe yes, maybe no, maybe we will never know. *short pause* Only the future will tell."
Variant B: LI or Hackett or squadmate or whatever
Same as A, just voiced by the specific character. Additionally a sentence about Shepard's death.
Variant C: Defeat (Shepard's voice)
"In the end, it was too late. We didn't stand a chance against the reapers. Maybe no one will ever stand a chance against them, maybe the next cycle will learn from our mistakes. We don't know. Sovereign said that their purpose was beyond our comprehension, maybe the cycles are for the greater good. *short pause* Only the future will tell."
I'd like to get some input on how to improve it. However, that doesn't mean that I'll add it.
Flaws this ending already has:
- I'm a full paragon player, so I'm biased. I got the feeling that this ending as a big paragon feel. Maybe some Renegades could help me here.
- No explanation of the reapers (I don't see this as a flaw, but some might).
- Not completely addressing all possibile outcomes, e.g. ending/epilogue if the Normandy is already destroyed in the defeat ending.
- Not much stuff concerning the "Organics vs Synthetics" theme (personally, this was addressed enough on Rannoch for me).
- Not much clever dialog.
- No multiple colors for the crucible eneryg wave.
Thanks for reading.
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