BansheeOwnage wrote...
I had an epiphany. What if we've been looking at this wrong the whole time? What if people have been putting too much weight on exactly what this "Intelligence" is?
dorktainian wrote...
To solve this problem, we created an intelligence with the mandate to preserve life at any cost. As the intelligence evolved, it studied the development of civilizations. Its understanding grew until it found a solution. In that instant, it betrayed us. It chose our kind as the first harvest. From our essence, the first Reaper was created. You call it Harbinger.
I direct you to the Mass Effect 2: The Story So Far trailer. It's awesome in and of itself, with TIM narrating it. But one very specific section is relevant to my idea.
"50000 years ago, an ancient race - the Protheans - was destroyed by a mysterious artificial intelligence known as : The Reapers."
What if the "Intelligence" is the reapers? In that trailer, TIM referred to the reapers an a single intelligence, somewhat like the geth.
This could mean any number of things. It doesn't even mean there is an entity like the Guardian. Or maybe Harbinger is the reapers? As in, the rest of them are slaves, and he is the only truly independent one? Or perhaps in the sense that they are all part of him. Maybe killing him would defeat the rest? Or maybe I'm crazy? What do you think?
(Late reply, I know.)
Ya know, the first thing that came to my mind after readng this was:
Sovereign/Nazara: We are each a nation. (etc.)
You could easily imagine it like the U.S., a confederation of states (State of Nazara) under a central power (Harbinger)
Before ME3 was released, I 'knew' the ending would have been a confrontation with our beloved Harby, and that we would have ended the other reapers by killing him, like lights going out without electricity.
In IT, turns out that this is what happens through a final battle with Harby, that happens in the mind and is fought with our resolve. Being that ( to me) the crucible will do nothing and was a clever reaper deception, maybe by choosing destroy we deny Harby the full control of Shepard and instead we destroy what he stands for, and his mind, thus turning off the other reapers (which is what the red wave does, anyway)
In the end, really good post as always, Banshee, and really thought-provoking