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[Deputy Secretary of Awesome]

The Reapers moving the Citadel to Earth is very perplexing.

There is of course the obvious questions of how it happened; Did the Illusive Man acting as the Reaper's agent take control of the Citadel and move it for them? Did the Reapers have the ability to do this all along, but didn't see it as necessary until "learning" of the Crucible? Did they send Reaper forces aboard to accomplish this task? Did the "Catalyst" move the Citadel?

However, aside from that there are also three critical questions: Why Earth? Why London? And why the beam?

There aren't clear explanations for all three of these. There are possibilities, some simple, others more speculative. It’s important to mention that the answers aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.  They’re listed in my order of descending likelihood and relevance. Lots of overlapping inferences but no answers... yet. Ideas would be welcome!


Why Earth?


Earth seems to be explainable largely for the first two reasons, with the potential of the third. The fourth is a throwaway, but it has to be included just to encompass other possibilities. I think that covers most likelihoods, but feel free to suggest more. 
1.       Highest concentration of Reaper forces. Easiest place to defend the Citadel.
2.       Harvesting of humans for Reaperization a high priority.
3.       Earth has mysterious macguffin relevance for Reaper goals, via the Citadel.
4.       Earth has sentimental value for whoever moved the Citadel: The Illusive Man? Surely not the Reapers...


Why London?

London is where it gets a bit trickier. There’s a very obvious answer, but it might not be the whole story. Anderson mentions in one of his talks over the quantum entanglers to the Normandy that Reaper forces have been gathering in London, as if for something big. The resistance too, seems to be gathering here. Not quite sure which one went first.

1.       To defend the beam. Duh.
2.       It’s the focal point of the Resistance. (Which came first in London, Resistance or Reaper build up?)
3.       London holds mysterious macguffin relevance yet to be revealed. Could London be home to a critical Cerberus facility or experiment? The Illusive Man’s final attempt at “Control”?
4.       Anderson was born here, you know. The Reapers really want to bring the pain to Anderson.
5.       It’s a recognisable backdrop (that isn’t NYC) to fight against and reminds us that this is Earth.
6.       Anderson was born here, you know.

Why the Beam?

1.       To harvest humans for Reaper processing in the Citadel.
(This has all kinds of problems to it, not the least of which is why Shep and Anderson both appear near the main control station and home of the Catalyst, and there’s no sign of a Reaper being made at all. Bodies on the floor, yes, but just seem to be dumped, not being used.)
2.       To sit there waiting for Shepard so he can become the great “chooser” for the Catalyst’s new solutions.
3.       Mysterious macguffin purpose yet to be revealed.
4.       Harbinger (and all Reapers) LOVE pretty beams, and do anything to defend them, including shooting their own pretty beams.
5.       It’s the backdrop to Marauder Shields’ heroic last stand.
6.       It’s a snazzy way for Reaper forces to be teleported on and off the Citadel.
7.       It has something to do with the Crucible? But that’s a whole new series of questions like: Did the Reapers (or their creators) create the plans and idea for the Crucible? For what reason? Is the Crucible a trap? A test? Was it always planned? Or was it a failsafe?

Seriously though, Harbinger and some of his pals freak out when Shep and the allied forces make a push to the beam, so much so that they drop in to intercept you, when you would think the giant freaking fleet you’ve brought is more of a serious threat.

Suggesting, that Harbinger believes Shepard reaching the beam is a greater threat.

The Catalyst, by contrast, seems downright dismissive and blasé about Shepard showing up. He’s either super irritated and condescending if you have low EMS, or all “fake nice” and condescending with high EMS. Either way, Shepard isn’t actually doing anything particularly threatening or dangerous until Catalyst “beams” him up to yet another level of “surreality”. So Harbinger, why the worry then?

Speculation, commence!

Modifié par Deputy Secretary of Awesome, 08 mai 2012 - 12:26 .

[Nero Narmeril]

Why London

Because Anderson was born in London.

[Iwillbeback]

Cerberus owns London.

[Mahrac]

My only disagreement is that London was occupied, THEN the resistance showed up en-masse

[Iwillbeback]

Mahrac wrote...

My only disagreement is that London was occupied, THEN the resistance showed up en-masse

It's not like there was a space battle happening or something.

[tilusN7]

 My only guess as to how they got it there is that they sent it through the widow relay. Granted it's not conventional, but if the relay can move the crucible, big as that was, I don't see why it couldn't move the Citadel.

Storywise, the largest concentration of reapers is at Earth, I guess since Shep and friends pissed them off enough that harbinger told them all to eradicate humanity first. My guess as to why Bioware did it was to try and illicit a feeling of attachment in players to Earth since we're all human. Sadly, i think they failed in many respects. I personally didn't feel much attachment to Earth at all, my Shep was a spacer for one, and we only see Earth for one half hour mission that's mostly dialogue and we don't really get to see Earth in its prime. 

It's like looking at say a natural disaster in another country you've never been to, unless you really have a memory of what it was like before, you can't really feel attached to the place or feel the loss of the event for yourself. You can understand the loss of the lives, but that's happening everywhere not just Earth.

In regards to the beam, maybe London is the most densely populated city in 2186, we can't really know without more info. My guess as to Bioware's choice of London was to see an iconic city in ruins, but not do the typical New York/Los Angeles city like many other alien invasion films. The beam presents the only way to get onto the citadel (lolconduit) so it's the only option they have.

It's definitely not how i'd have written the final battle for Earth if it was in my hands. 

Modifié par tilusN7, 08 mai 2012 - 12:55 .

[Ieldra]

Q: Why Earth?
A: Because humanity is the candidate for this cycle's Sovereign-class Reaper. We already know they specifically targeted humans in ME2.

Q: Why London?
A: We don't need to know. A random large city. They have to start somewhere. Might even be random.

Q: Why the beam?
A: The most efficient way to transport humans up. The Citadel can't land, and ships are too slow and can be shot at.

See? Easy.

[StElmo]

Max no. of reapers there. To be honest, it's one of those plot holes nobody would care about if the endings made sense.

[JBPBRC]

But why humans? With no Dark Energy ending no reason is given as to why humans are magically prioritized over Turians or Asari. Where's the Batarian Reaper? The Reapers had fun with the Batarians first and foremost before going after Citadel space, surely a Batarian Reaper would be closer to fruition if the Reapers were harvesting them for however many months it was between ME2 and ME3.

So many questions. So much speculation. Not enough Artistic Integrity to bother explaining anything beyond "SAVE THE EARTH GOOOOOOOO"

[IanPolaris]

JBPBRC wrote...

But why humans? With no Dark Energy ending no reason is given as to why humans are magically prioritized over Turians or Asari. Where's the Batarian Reaper? The Reapers had fun with the Batarians first and foremost before going after Citadel space, surely a Batarian Reaper would be closer to fruition if the Reapers were harvesting them for however many months it was between ME2 and ME3.

So many questions. So much speculation. Not enough Artistic Integrity to bother explaining anything beyond "SAVE THE EARTH GOOOOOOOO"

Why humans?  I think it's a backhanded compliment.  The Reapers realize thanks to Harbinger that humans are the real threat in the galaxy because humans (seem) to be the only ones able to organize and effectively resist the Reapers.  Yes the other races took part, but without humans, Sovereign would have won, and Harbinger knows it.

-Polaris

Edit PS:  It is worth noting that the second priority target for the reapers was Palavan.

Modifié par IanPolaris, 08 mai 2012 - 01:04 .

[Zombie Chow]

I agree with 1 point that OP pointed out, which seems small, but I think it's a major design issue.

London is a recognizable location, but perhaps just as important, it's believable that London wouldn't change much in 200 years. You may be familiar with the fact that there are certain policies that keep buildings in London in their current form, rather than knocking them down and building new ones. Partly, that's because of architectural heritage/artistic integrity, but also partly because tourism remains a pillar of London's economy and tourists want to see old buildings.

That said, the 1st time I did Priority: Earth and took cover on a lone standing pillar-like thing, then realized it was one of those old red phone boxes that are being phased out now, I kind of thought, "Would those really be around 200 years from now?" Then I thought, "Assuming they will be, can they really block bullets?"

[Victia]

Nero Narmeril wrote...

Why London

Because Anderson was born in London.

Really?

[ZombieChad]

Humans are going to be the first of the cycle, not the only ones. The Reapers strike me as highly arrogant "We are your saviours" blah blah blah. So I think they were actually impressed that the newest species in the galactic community killed one of their own even when taken by surprise (ME1). So they made us priority to give us less time to interfere with their plans. I think it's as simple as we were a high priority target. My guess is that the Reapers didn't make a Batarian Reaper as they needed a quick easy supply of troops (Cannibals) to get into places they couldn't fit.

As for the human reaper in the Collector Base, my reading is that they were experimenting with us seeing what they could do (Javik mentions that new horrors were always springing up in his cycle) and they probably hoped to take us off stage before their invasion began in earnest and have a new friend to help them.

Why London? Why not? I think for the teaser trailer they mentioned they chose London due to the Houses of Parliment being quite iconic and easily recognisable. I thought it was nice to have "ground zero" set some where other than the stereotypical American population centres (LA/New York etc). Though I did find it amusing that cockney's now sound like their New York

The beam is essentially the Conduit Mk2 and I imagine that simply throwing a person or corpse into it was a lot quicker than any other form of transport.

[ZombieChad]

Zombie Chow wrote...

That said, the 1st time I did Priority: Earth and took cover on a lone standing pillar-like thing, then realized it was one of those old red phone boxes that are being phased out now, I kind of thought, "Would those really be around 200 years from now?" Then I thought, "Assuming they will be, can they really block bullets?"

I always just imagined them as being Extranet related kind of like wireless routers and public usage terminals set up to give full coverage and easy access. Tie that in with the fact they look better than the modern ones and you've got a winner

[FatalX7.0]

'Cause Anderson.

[Shaoken]

Why Earth? Because The Reaper's, impressed by Shepard and the Alliance killing Soveriegn, decided to make humanity into a Reaper to replace the one they destroyed. Thus Earth has the largest concentration of Reaper Forces in the galaxy, best place to keep it.

Why London? Because logically the Citadel had to be somewhere. London was probably a city they had under their control, but could still bring bodies and victims to. Alternatively they've heard of the Doctor and decided to set up shop there so their largest concentration of forces would be in the place where the TARDIS would be liable to pop up again.

Why the beam? The Citadel was a good location to start making another Reaper, so why not use it for that purpose while the bodies are still fresh?

[sorentoft]

Because they could not take the rest of Europe, obviously. They tried but got headbutted back across the strait.

[LostHH]

London because UK because Canada is a commonwealth country who hates America

[Linkenski]

Not this again!
ANDERSON WUS BAWN THAR!

[IanPolaris]

LostHH wrote...

London because UK because Canada is a commonwealth country who hates America

Which is ironic because in the Mass Effect Universe, Canada in the 22nd century is part of the United States as is Mexico (renamed as the United North American States).

-Polaris

[JadedLibertine]

Why London? Just put Big Ben and a few red phone boxes and we've got an instantly recognisable city for everyone. And without having to go to all the trouble of drawing an entire skyline.

Of course an occasional visitor to Earth who has never been to London may imagine this is how it looks, and could be hallucinating the whole thing.

[onchristieroad]

I always wondered why they didn't just turn the transport beam off.

[BladyMZ]

-I was born in London, you know?
-Really?

Artistic.

In response to OP - it was talked a bit some time ago, I even made a thread back then about this, go take a look -  http://social.biowar.../index/10663894

[antares_sublight]

Earth, maybe because it was seeing some of the most intense fighting and had a larger presence of reapers already. (The real answer is simply because having it on earth makes it more 'epic' and relatable to the player.)

Harbinger heard Anderson was born in London, suggested it.

The transport beam is a problematic one. Who knows, it's a giant weak point advertised for all to see, and strangely lightly defended given the possibilities. And I like your point about how the Catalyst doesn't seem to care all that much about Shepard getting through the beam, so why pull Harby himself off to blast the attackers a couple of times (and then run off)?

[Elite Midget]

Harbringer heard that Andersan was born in Llondon, so he decided that he wanted to ****** on Andersan's cheerios.

Modifié par Elite Midget, 08 mai 2012 - 02:14 .