uwyz wrote...
I understand that if you choose destroy, the mass relays's destruction is logical and perhaps inevitable, because all reaper creations must also be destroyed. But if you chose synthesis, then you have already accepted the catalyst's very intrusive modification of all life forms - so why must the relays have to go as well? Whoever wrote the ending evidently don't care much about cultural exchange & diversity.
This reminds me of a series of messages on Twitter from BioWare that stated that it's entirely possible for those stuck in the Sol system to get home via FTL travel without the Mass Relays, rebuild the Mass Relays themselves, or upgrade their ships with Reaper technology to get themselves home. The thing is, these all raise major logistical issues.
Mass Relays link two points in space directly to each other, Mass Relay A and Mass Relay B. When you use A, you are taken directly to B without consideration for the expanse of space between these two points. For a ship to travel between clusters like that without Mass Relay technology would take decades, perhaps longer given the distance between stars. The reason is that you no longer have that instant transmissions between points A and B, you have to travel the entire distance between the two points. This would require that each ship be able to regularly discharge their FTL drive core (remember that FTL drives build up static charge over time that can potentially fry the crew).
The presence of fueling depots throughout the games indicates that all ships need to use these, it's not just unique to the Normandy. So there's a very high possibility that a ship could find itself in the predicament of having a FTL drive core that will microwave everyone on the ship if used, and having no fuel to manuever into a planet's orbit to discharge it.
It'd be like Star Trek: Voyager. They might get home eventually, but odds are against success to say the least.
Rebuilding the Mass Relays is an even bigger mess. While galactic technology is based on the mass effect principle, there has been no indication that any race in the galaxy knows what a Mass Relay is made of, let alone how to build one of their own. They can't even be scanned because they shield themselves down to the atomic level. In fact, it wasn't until six months before ME3 that we learned how to destroy one. So after the Crucible fires, all those millions (billions?) trapped in the Sol system have to research AND build their own Mass Relay technology with no reference point, because the original relays were destroyed. They wouldn't have long, since each fleet would have limited supplies and wouldn't be able to share them between each other.
So, it's either a matter of most likely dying on your way home, or rebuilding Mass Relay technology from the ground up within a few weeks with no blueprints.
The third suggestion from BioWare that I remember is the suggestion that the races would use tech from the dead Reapers to outfit themselves and go home. The first problem I find is that in two of the endings, the Reapers aren't dead. They just sort of pick up what they're doing and leave. The second is that it would likely result in a lot of infighting between the fleets. These alliances are still new and fragile, and would probably break down over a matter like this. They'd find a reason to fight over every matter that came up in regards to this. One species gets a Reaper tech weapon upgrade, so everyone wants one. But, everyone might not be able to get one because Sol is only one solar system and can't make enough for everybody. So, who gets these upgrades? Who gets to decide? Why does one person get to decide and not another? This is frought with peril to say the least.
I'd bring up the dangers of indoctrination, but the narrative in ME2 manages to send mixed signals on this one. Sovereign's destruction seems to indicate that when a Reaper is well and truly dead, its components are no longer able to indoctrinate those that come in contact with them. If they were, we wouldn't have been able to develop the Thanix Cannon. It's established that Reapers begin indoctrination by convincing the subject that their will is correct ("Wow, I never thought of it that way before!"); it would be counter-intuitive for a Reaper to tell someone "Obey our will, and turn our weapon technology against us". Counter to this though, the Arrival DLC tells us that even pieces of Reapers can indoctrinate those in contact with it. And again after that, we all assume that the Reaper IFF device would cause the indoctrination of those aboard the Normandy SR-2, but there's no indication in the narrative that that's happened at all. I'd point to James' "What's that hum" dialogue as a reference, but there's no indication that the Reaper IFF is still installed in the Normandy at that point, given how extensively the Alliance overhauled it.
The Destroy ending seems to indicate that the Reapers are thoroughly dead, so indoctrination might not be an issue as with Sovereign's death, but suspicion and paranoia would likely pervade any and all issues regarding using Reaper tech to upgrade their own ships. This would also go against the grain of the narrative if Shepard were to choose to destroy the Collector base.
Anything I missed? I'm doing my best here, but I really suck at this.
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