Bioware made an incredibly bad first attempt at making an ME3 ending. They then lied about "not changing" the ending. They in fact added a 4th ending that a lot of people asked for - which is to reject the Star Child entirely.
Well, people got their wish. There is now a "Reject" option. However, Bioware chose to spite the ending by having the galaxy get annihilated by the Reapers (regardless of EMS score), and that a later civilization will break the cycle (implying they chose Red, Blue, or Green). It's little wonder that people are making fun of the line "SO BE IT" as something that was said by Mac Walters or Casey Hudson as a final insult to the people who hated their "creative vision", because it really does come off us nothing more than childish, petty spite by a pair of privelaged self-important "artists" who tried to peddle their crap as ground-breaking art.
But regardless of their intent, their attempt at spite failed. Because the Reject ending remains the best ending in the game. Defenders of the original endings will go "HAHA the people who picked Reject doomed the galaxy!", but that's because they are similarly nothing more than childish spiteful simpletons who are unable to properly assign blame.
Shepard didn't doom the Galaxy. The player did not doom the galaxy. The Reapers did. The Star Child did.
So when Shepard shoots the Star Child and rejects its logic, the blame for dooming the galaxy does not lie with Shepard. The fault lies squarely with the Reapers and the Star Child - because they're the ones committing the acts of mass-murder based on stupid logic.
Even the argument that "Shepard could still have prevented this by choosing Red, Blue, or Green, and is therefore partially culpable!" holds little water, because Shepard and the rest of the galaxy shouldn't have been put in the middle of that dilemma in the first place. If the Reapers and their creators weren't a bunch of retards (in every definition of the word) acting based on stupid prejudices (synthetics and organics will never get along!), there would be no need for Red, Blue, or Green.
At most, what Shep can be accused of is failing to make moral compromises in the name of the "Greater Good", which will certainly hold water in utilatarian value systems. But even here, can the alternatives be really described as viable?
Synthesis is the most abhorrent ending, despite all the love Bioware showers on it. Again, if you've read my previous threads, you'll understand that Synthesis is really nothing more than forcing every black man to undergo surgery to become a white man in the name of conformity. It's stupid and offensive.
Destroy potentially forces you to commit genocide of an entire allied race. Again, that's stupid and abhorrent.
Control is shockingly the best option from a utilitarian perspective - all the "good guys" live, the Reapers are enslaved and forced to help the people they were once slaughtering, and Shep apparently continue to live on as some kind of God. However, it still has dangerous undertones - it's the option preferred by TIM after all.
Thus, Reject actually presents itself not only as a sane option, but it is also the most morally upright option. It is a declaration that you do not compromise on the universal values that we cherish - which is respect for diversity, the freedom to choose, and the belief that we are stronger by working willingly together instead of singing kumbaya arbitrarily because we all have glowing green eyes now.
Yes, the galaxy gets wiped out. But in doing so it actually fulfills the maxim that Bioware tried to foist on us - which is that the journey is more important than the destination. Heroism is not necessarily about winning. It is often said in proverbs that the true test of character is not how you win, but how you lose. Losing because you chose to uphold the values that we love and cherish is not stupidity; it is heroism - moreso because the sacrifices of this cycle did in fact result in future races being able to break the cycle.
Now, some will argue that the next cycle "winning" represents Bioware trying to go "HAHAH, there are smarter people who chose Blue, Red, or Green!". Except that doesn't matter. That's the story of someone else - who have their own different beliefs and values. We shouldn't give a damn if Casey Hudson or Mac Walters decided that "their" story trumps yours- because we don't care about their story. It's a piece of crap passed off as art. What matters is our story - and while life may not always have a happy ending; we at least have the option of choosing how we face that end.
Reject is to choose to face the end with your dignity and morals intact.
Finally, I'm gonna tackle the issue of sequels. I'm personally rescinding "never buying any Bioware game" and instead simply say "never buy any Casey Hudson or Mac Walters" game, but the endings do also at least promise one thing:
There won't be any sequels based on the Synthesis ending.
They can't do Synthesis, because Synthesis claims that particular option eradicates all conflict. A peaceful galaxy is a pretty boring setting for a sequel, so there certainly won't be any more ME stories based on this stupid rainbows and green glowy eyes ending. If they do make this the canon ending, then they'll essentially be lying yet again - because it shows Synthesis isn't as perfect as the epilogue tried to make it out to be.
The only ones with potential sequels are Control (potentially with God-Shep as a villain, who knows?), Destroy (where you blow up the stupid Reapers), or even Reject (where you get to play in the next cycle - perhaps with some human remnants who had survived 10K years).
So, in a way, the fans actually got exactly what they wanted, despite Bioware trying to take it away from them as a childish "take that!". And Bioware's "preferred" ending of Synthesis has become a poisoned chalice from which no sequels can spring out of.
Either way, picking reject presents a good end point for the ME universe for me. Thanks to the folks in Bioware who cleverly made it happen, and a big "Take that!" to the folks in Bioware who tried to spite us. You failed
.
Modifié par Zine2, 27 juin 2012 - 08:31 .
Retour en haut
