150 réponses à ce sujet

[BronzTrooper]

* Enters thread *

* Sees tons of questions *

* Leaves *

[Eryri]

mass perfection wrote...

conjmk wrote...

"-What are the voices in the background that we hear after the Rannoch missions in the War room."

What? I've never heard any voices. Does anyone have a vid of this?

I'm also confused.

I've not heard it myself, but I've read others state that you can hear lines from Priority Earth played at very low volume in the War Room; Coates' order to retreat, for example. I've no personal experience of this though. 

It could be meant to suggest something, or it could just be Bioware recycling audio files in order to create background noise.

Modifié par Eryri, 31 mars 2013 - 10:08 .

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Kesak12 wrote...

TL;DR Version


Since we know you wont answer all the questions we came up with we have picked out a few important ones.
 
1.Where does the breath scene take place?
2.Why did the Catalyst need Sovereign to open the relay?
3.How does Shepard survive the crucible blast in Destroy ending?
4.How does Shepard's squad know that Anderson is dead?
5. Where is this planet that the Normandy lands on in the end.
6.Why does Anderson's death effect Destroy ending?
7.Why is it that all of our squad mates return to the Normandy?
-

Well I'll do my best....

1. Since IT is dead. The breath scene takes place on the Citadel, and some place where there is air.
2. The Catalyst would normally receive a signal from the sentinel left in the galaxy and then signal the Keepers to open the relay. The Protheans modified the Keepers so they would not respond to the signal. Thus the catalyst had to have Sovereign do this manually.
3. How does Shepard survive.... Mac wanted Shepard dead. Casey wanted Shepard to survive the high EMS destroy ending with a more optimistic open ending than we got. So Shepard survives High EMS Destroy because Casey said so, but that got scaled back because some loud mouth at SDCC was worried about stepping on some emo destroy peoples "I wanted Shepard to die anyway" head canon.
4. They know about Anderson because of well... it is not something you can comprehend.
5. It resembles that planet that had operation Overlord, but it is probably somewhere within 12 ly of Earth around a red dwarf star. It would significantly increase the chances of getting lucky.
6. Because of reasons. Mac decided them. One does not question what goes on in the mind of Mac. It is not something you can comprehend.
7. Because Shepard took two with him/her. The others did not participate in the battle in case they were needed later if everything went to hell.

There, now I've answered the most critical questions to the best of my abilities.

[SpamBot2000]

Gamer072196 wrote...

* Enters thread *

* Sees tons of questions *

* Leaves *

But WHY? 

Damn it, now there's one more.

[Eryri]

sH0tgUn jUliA wrote...

Kesak12 wrote...

TL;DR Version


Since we know you wont answer all the questions we came up with we have picked out a few important ones.
 
1.Where does the breath scene take place?
2.Why did the Catalyst need Sovereign to open the relay?
3.How does Shepard survive the crucible blast in Destroy ending?
4.How does Shepard's squad know that Anderson is dead?
5. Where is this planet that the Normandy lands on in the end.
6.Why does Anderson's death effect Destroy ending?
7.Why is it that all of our squad mates return to the Normandy?
-

Well I'll do my best....

1. Since IT is dead. The breath scene takes place on the Citadel, and some place where there is air.
2. The Catalyst would normally receive a signal from the sentinel left in the galaxy and then signal the Keepers to open the relay. The Protheans modified the Keepers so they would not respond to the signal. Thus the catalyst had to have Sovereign do this manually.
3. How does Shepard survive.... Mac wanted Shepard dead. Casey wanted Shepard to survive the high EMS destroy ending with a more optimistic open ending than we got. So Shepard survives High EMS Destroy because Casey said so, but that got scaled back because some loud mouth at SDCC was worried about stepping on some emo destroy peoples "I wanted Shepard to die anyway" head canon.
4. They know about Anderson because of well... it is not something you can comprehend.
5. It resembles that planet that had operation Overlord, but it is probably somewhere within 12 ly of Earth around a red dwarf star. It would significantly increase the chances of getting lucky.
6. Because of reasons. Mac decided them. One does not question what goes on in the mind of Mac. It is not something you can comprehend.
7. Because Shepard took two with him/her. The others did not participate in the battle in case they were needed later if everything went to hell.

There, now I've answered the most critical questions to the best of my abilities.

No offence to you personally, that was a good, well thought out effort, but some of those answers just make me ask more questions:

1. How can there be air where Shepard is on the Citadel? The station is in ruins, and the decision chamber is open to space at the best of times. If there was an invisible field holding in the air, how is it still operational after the destroy blast which damages machinery?
2. Why didn't the Catalyst have back-up systems if the Keepers failed? Bit of a design flaw for an advanced AI. If it can only work through the Keepers, then how was it able to lift Shepard up on the elevator of light, or shut off the beam following Refusal? Also, how was the Shepalyst able to command the Crucible arms to close following Control?
3. How many emo types would really have complained if that was the case? Would they really have had more complaints than just an unambiguously happy, crowd pleasing ending?
4. Not only do they know for certain Anderson is dead, the LI (and only the LI) seems certain that Shepard is alive. That might make some sense for Liara, with her Asari mind-melding "thing" that she does, but makes no sense at all for the likes of "psychic as a brick" Garrus or Ashley.
5. Good explanation, but one would have thought all such habitable planets so close to Earth would have been colonised. It's a little moot now anyway since the whole "Garden of Eden" theme where we were supposed to infer that the Stargazer was a descendent of the stranded crew in the Original Cut, was retconned due to fan distaste. The crash seems pretty pointless now, since they are able to return home in all but the lowest EMS endings.
6. Agreed, that way madness lies.
7. Well since the charge to the beam was supposedly our last and only hope, and everything had already gone to Hell, they may as well have come with Shepard now and died sooner, rather than possibly get liquified later.

Modifié par Eryri, 31 mars 2013 - 11:05 .

[Maxster_]

Spartas Husky wrote...

Does change the point of it however?

Of course it is. People asking for in-universe explanation, and your answers like "to fill a plothole", looks like mocking.

Why does the normandy come in to rescue teamates. To fill a plothole of how they got back. Asnwering based on lore and answering based on headcannon are different things. If you dont agree with them that is fine, tell me what based on lore says otherwise.

Dafuq?
In what category of yours, fits "to fill a plothole"? Lore? Headcanon?

I already pointed out for a several of your answers, which either makes no sense, or not an explanation. Including this exact one, about Teleporting Normandy.
You do realise, that it is impossibe in MEU, to arrive from orbit to surface in 3 seconds, do you? And this plothole destroys any remaining reasons for priority:earth?
There is no reason to fight, when you can teleport any frigate in 3 sec right in front of the beam.

Modifié par Maxster_, 31 mars 2013 - 12:04 .

[Maxster_]

sH0tgUn jUliA wrote...

Kesak12 wrote...

TL;DR Version


Since we know you wont answer all the questions we came up with we have picked out a few important ones.
 
1.Where does the breath scene take place?
2.Why did the Catalyst need Sovereign to open the relay?
3.How does Shepard survive the crucible blast in Destroy ending?
4.How does Shepard's squad know that Anderson is dead?
5. Where is this planet that the Normandy lands on in the end.
6.Why does Anderson's death effect Destroy ending?
7.Why is it that all of our squad mates return to the Normandy?
-

Well I'll do my best....


2. The Catalyst would normally receive a signal from the sentinel left in the galaxy and then signal the Keepers to open the relay. The Protheans modified the Keepers so they would not respond to the signal. Thus the catalyst had to have Sovereign do this manually.

So much for embodiment of the reapers.
So, Catalyst restricted himself for fun. And he still can open the wards at any time, he just decides not to.
Otherwise, joke on Sovereign would be ruined.

[MetioricTest]

Where the **** is Toombs!? what happened to him


A lot of these questions though have either been answered or are kinda weak. At least half of them are pointless.

Modifié par MetioricTest, 31 mars 2013 - 12:39 .

[Eryri]

MetioricTest wrote...

Where the **** is Toombs!? what happened to him


A lot of these questions though have either been answered or are kinda weak. At least half of them are pointless.

Which ones?

Yes, it's possible for us to think up answers for many of them. The point is, we shouldn't have to. Bioware appear to be asking us to do the heavy lifting of creating a believable, consistent story ourselves. And when the story appears to be nonsensical and perversely depressing at the same time, I'm not sure I want to expend the effort in doing so.

[jasonxxsatanna]

Here is one I don't think has been asked.....if Saren need Liara's mother to help get a prothean
Beacon....why did they not use the one on Thesia.....if she knew about it already according to

[ZerebusPrime]

jasonxxsatanna wrote...

Here is one I don't think has been asked.....if Saren need Liara's mother to help get a prothean
Beacon....why did they not use the one on Thesia.....if she knew about it already according to

The one on Thessia was too heavily guarded for a relatively small Geth strike force to secure.  Also, Saren attacking a human colony is nothing compared to attacking a Council homeworld.  All the Council stonewalling in ME1 would have been gone and the full might of the Council fleets brought to bear against Saren and the Geth.  Better to target a beacon on a more remote world.

[KENNY4753]

heres another one

-Who is the executor of C-Sec?

I ask this because I swear I saw somewhere that Pallin died in the Battle of the Citadel and that Chellick took his place but then in ME3 Bailey said he killed Pallin for being corrupt. Then during the coup when you get to the Exexutor's office the dead executor is a human iirc but the codex states that Pallin was the executor who died in the coup.

So wtf is going on?

[MetioricTest]

Eryri wrote...

MetioricTest wrote...

Where the **** is Toombs!? what happened to him


A lot of these questions though have either been answered or are kinda weak. At least half of them are pointless.

Which ones?

Yes, it's possible for us to think up answers for many of them. The point is, we shouldn't have to. Bioware appear to be asking us to do the heavy lifting of creating a believable, consistent story ourselves. And when the story appears to be nonsensical and perversely depressing at the same time, I'm not sure I want to expend the effort in doing so.

Well at least half of them have very clear ingame answers.
Another chunk are just dumb questions.

I can systematically list each one if you want but it would be a looooooooong post....

[hiraeth]

MetioricTest wrote...

Well at least half of them have very clear ingame answers.
Another chunk are just dumb questions.

I can systematically list each one if you want but it would be a looooooooong post....

Half of these have "very clear ingame answers?" If you're willing to just answer the ones with "very clear ingame answers," I'd be interested in seeing it (long post or not).

[CaFe87]

Just from the top of my head:
What does it take for a civilisation to be ready for synthesis?
Did Shepard need to jump, or would have any dead body worked as well?
The Catalyst was created to preserve Organics so they could work for the Leviathans, how does it achieve that?

[Spartas Husky]

CaFé87 wrote...

Just from the top of my head:
What does it take for a civilisation to be ready for synthesis?

For space magic dust to be readily available.

Best answer I can come up with

[MetioricTest]

MassEffectFShep wrote...

MetioricTest wrote...

Well at least half of them have very clear ingame answers.
Another chunk are just dumb questions.

I can systematically list each one if you want but it would be a looooooooong post....

Half of these have "very clear ingame answers?" If you're willing to just answer the ones with "very clear ingame answers," I'd be interested in seeing it (long post or not).

Well okay I'll do my best but this is going to be a long post:




-Why did we hear a reaper scream when the kids shuttle was hit by the reaper as Shepard was leaving earth on the Normandy?

You hear Reaper screams throughout the entire intro at various points. It's just background noise.

-Why when Shepard was blown off his feet in the explosion in the committee chambers, did Anderson escape - despite the fact he was stood right next to Shepard?

Anderson was stood to the right of Shepard. when a desk was hurled at Shepard they both hit the floor to avoid it. They then become seperated with Anderson moving right as Shepard rolls desperately to the left to get back on his feet. Then Shepard is hit by a second explosion. Anderson is not near him. 

-How does Vent Brat vanish without a sound?

Because he's a small child trying to stay out of sight. While explosions and roaring happens around him.

-What's up with that weird electrocution warning sign? Why would an air vent be electrified, and if it was how did Vent Brat avoid getting fried?

Why does McDonalds Coffee have "Warning: Coffee maybe hot" signs. Probably just legal covering for danger, where there is none. Besides It's nitpick of all nitpicks to complain about a warning sign for a vent we know nothing about.

-Why doesn't Anderson seem to notice or care about the child?

Because as you said, the child is quiet. He doesn't know about it.

And even if he did, the Earth is dying around him and they need to get Shepard off the planet before it's too late. I doubt he'd care much.

-Why is Vent Brat playing alone on the outskirts of a military base?

Well persumably he lives there. Why are there NPCs standing around the Citadel? Who made Shepard's casual outfit's shoes? How much money did Kaidan's haircut cost? Do Krogans have tailors?

-How does he get from his little rooftop garden, to a balcony on a supposedly secure military building, despite the door to that balcony being shown to be locked by a red hologram?  How does the Child then pass through that locked door again moments later?

Because Bioware missed it. And ****ed up leaving the door unlocked.

If you need a cannonical explanation for game design oversights, persumably it was damaged by the Reaper fire. You bump into a lot of damaged doors throughout Mass Effect.
Hell and if you hate that, maybe the kid had a passcode, or lived there. Who knows? The truth is it was just a background screw up.

-How does the Child survive the blast from the Reaper's weapon?

He was hiding and got lucky. How did Shepard survive the blast from Reaper's weapon 3 minutes before?

-Why do levels in Core engineering building are numered from top to bottom?

I'm not sure what this question is even truing to say.

-Why the 2d sprites? Why are they all running towards the massive slusho machine of death at the beginning of the game?

Laziness on Bioware's part. If you're looking for a cannonical answer to this then you're just being unreasonable.

-Just how is the citadel meant to function as a mass relay to dark space?

I don't quite get this question. It was designed to be a giant mass relay as a trap. "How was it meant to function?"... Erm.. well the way Reapers built it. How was the Normandy meant to function as a ship?

-why are there 'oily shadows' in displays all over the citadel?

Why are there neon lights all over the Citadel? Some burke inside the Mass Effect Universe (and outside ironically) thinks they look cool, and so assumes we do too.

-How do you move an object the size of the citadel so far in such a short space of time?

By being the most advanced and powerful race in the history of the universe who are capable of doing things we can barely fathom. The Citadel is designed by the Reapers and is the absolute key to their cycles. Assuming they would never even consider that they might have to move it is foolish, assuming if they wanted to move it "it would be too big for them." is even more foolish.

The millions of years old picture perfect Mass Relays alone are a more impressive feat than moving the Citadel.


-Where is the decision chamber situated? any shot of the underside of the Citadel has shown nothing under the Citadel tower.

I have no idea. I don't know the Citadel's layout so I can't say. I honestly do not know if the Chamber makes any kind of sense if you look at it or not.

But Anderson does mention walls forming and changing, as well as you seeing stuff move around you. It's possible the Catalyst made the chamber himself, (that would certainly explain the damn machine he has, which IMO is one of the biggest unanswered questions of them all) However this is just speculation.

-What happened to everyone else on the Citadel during the reaper's pulling it to earth? did they survive? Gamble (or someone) tweeted some of them will have survived, how?

This is a good and valid question.

Best guess: They bunkered down in non-important parts of the station and the Reapers ignored them. But that's just lame fan explanation.

-How did they get the Citadel to Earth? How does the Citadel move?

You already asked this. You can't just repeat questions over and over and then point out how many there are.

-If the Catalyst is controlling the Citadel (or if the Citadel is his "home"), why did he need Sovereign to open the relay for the reapers?

Another valid question.

Best guess: He either has limited control over the Citadel beyond the Keepers (who the protheans ****ed up) or he just didn't want to interfere in the cycles at all for risk of ruining them.

Still that's just lame fan explanation

-Why does the Citadel have an area that so closely resembles the engines from the Shadowbroker's ship?

God knows. None of the stuff at the end on the Citadel makes any sense.

They do say things are moving and changing, but this is just changing the question to "Why are things moving and changing?"

Because it looks cool I guess? 

-Anderson comments that the walls of the Citadel are moving and rearranging themselves. Why don't we actually see this happening?

Well we kinda do. See above. But this isn't really a fair question. We don't see it much because Shepard didn't see it happen.

Granted why the walls were moving in the first place is a good question

-If the Catalyst was always in or on the Citadel or Crucible and truly is an Reaper ally or designed them. Why didn't the Reapers know that the Citadel was the key? Why did they need the Cerberus tip?

The Catalyst didn't design the Crucible and so had no idea he was the key. Why the Crucible was designed to use him is a valid question and I have no idea.

-Why are there billboard posters of Kai Leng, the Shadowbroker and Jack visible during the Citadel dlc?

There was a billboard of Jack in ME2, Kai Leng is persumably a wanted man and I haven't seen the Shadowbroker posters but I assume they're advertisments. Information Broker after all.

-What is the objective of the Cerberus coup attempt on the Citadel? It takes place well before we learn about the Catalyst from the Prothean VI.
-What does Udina hope to gain by helping Cerberus, when he already has Shepard doing everything possible to secure allies for humanity? Aren't Udina's actions totally counter-productive to Shepard's efforts?

From the codex:

Councilor Udina's
attempted coup will no doubt be analyzed for generations to come, but a clear picture is beginning to merge. Udina had contacted Cerberus to coordinate what was intended to be a bloodless takeover of the Citadel, in which he would force the other councilors to grant him emergency powers so that he could command the Citadel Fleet. He would then direct the fleet to liberate his homeworld, Earth. The plan fell apart early when Executor Pallin and the salarian councilor caught wind of it. In defense of the plan, the Illusive Man dispatched his top assassins, commanded by Kai Leng, to kill them. Udina had little choice but to support the assassins with
an armed force sufficient to hold the Citadel. Captured confidantes  have indicated that Udina and Leng's alliance was relatively fragile:  Udina may have planned to turn on Cerberus once the fleet was his to  command, and Leng departed when he calculated that Udina would not  succeed.

Persistent rumors suggest that Udina might have been a high-functioning victim of Reaper indoctrination. His actions played  right into the Reapers' plans: even if the coup failed, it would damage  Citadel governance. If it succeeded, his plan to retake Earth would  likely have turned into a military blunder that Council forces could ill
afford. However, there is no direct evidence of his indoctrination, nor obvious opportunity. It is more likely that Udina acted out of  desperation, and in doing so, cost humanity its councilor. Shepard was slow and failing, Udina planned to force the fleets hand to take EArth back bloodlessly (the kind of desperate Renegade plan that just might work) and it falls apart. Possibly as Cerberus try to take full advantage.

This is explaiend in detail. Pay attention to the story

-Why does the Normandy SR2 have alien languages all over it, when it is an earth vessel constructed by cerberus?

They followed the design of the SR1 and just made improvements when practical.

-If the SR2 is moving ‘faster than light’ then how come Shepard can see stars out of his window, when he would not be able to see anything?

Because it looks cooler for the player.

-What are the voices in the background that we hear after the Rannoch missions in the War room.

Background chatter on a ship full of people

- If we can blow up reapers using Cains (see also ME2) then why not just fit cains to the fleet ships?

We can't. The ME2 Human Reaper was a barely alive, barely functional embryo. It's the equlivant of killing a fetus. The cannon on Earth is NOT a Reaper.

There is no evidence of any kind that Cains are effective against fully grown real Reapers

-How does Mr Random Soldier dude know everyone you want to contact by name, and their exact whereabouts and how is he able to actually contact them right on the spot?

He doesn't. You ask him who you want to talk to. And persumably commuincations is his job. This is just a silly question.

-Why did the Reapers show such interest in London? London is a relatively small city, on a small island. If they were always planning to bring the Citadel to Earth to grow the new Reaper, why didn't they choose a city with a bigger population?

London is not a relatively small City. It's within the top 20 biggest cities in the world RIGHT NOW. Let alone nearly 200 years in the future where Earth has a population of over 11 billion.

For all we know, London now has the biggest population. Or maybe it's the most easy large city to contain?

Really using London was just  away to make the conflict on Earth feel global. Taking it out of America. No matter what city they picked you could argue that they should have picked another.

-London is also at a northern latitude. For the Citadel to remain in view of London, it must be in a geo-stationary orbit above the equator. Why then, does the beam point vertically upwards, instead of pointing at an angle due south?*

Why does the beam have to be pointed directly at the Citadel to take you there? That's one hell of an assumption.

- How was the Normandy able to respond to Shepard's call for help so quickly?
-Why didn't the Normandy drop off reinforcements to help him assault the beam?
-Why didn't Harbinger shoot at the Normandy?
-Why can the Normandy come in for a landing if you could not fly
there in the first place according to Anderson tanks to the influence
zone of the beam?
-If the Normandy could fly up to it then what is
the purpose of Priority: Earth when you could do something like a Mako
drop as you have in ME1?

These are valid questions.

The truth is because the EC was nonsensical fanservice.

-Why do we hear Coats and "Did we get anybody to the beam" lady yet we can't reply to them.

Shepard probably had other things on his mind, like getting to the beam. Poor guy took a real beating.

-Where the hell did Anderson sod off to at the beam run, he was all set with "We gotta move!" then does a vanishing act till later

This is a valid question.

-How come Shepard's radio is still functioning after Harbinger's beam while all his implants are fried?

Same reason his gun is. Plot.

If you need a cannonical explanation. A mixture of luck and good design of his gear. The blast missed Shepard, but the force of the blast damaged his armor and only his armor.

-How did Harbinger miss Shepard when he had stumbled to the ground and wasn't even a moving target?

Persumably he thought Shepard was dead. Reapers are not infalliable.

-Why does the gun you find on the ground before going up the beam have unlimited bullets? (explain with lore)

Explain with lore? The gun at the start of the game also had unlimited bullets. There is no lore, the reason is plot. Because they don't want you to think about or focus on picking up thermal clips.

This isn't an unanswered question, it's just disliking a game mechanic.

-Generic reaper sound or not, why add the "serve us" sound to the EC?

It was there before the EC. You can hear it in the pause menu as well as the background during the EC.

Why did they add it? Because it's a cool sound. And there are more scenes.

-What caused the transport to crash before the beam run?

Reapers.

-Why run head first at your enemy providing them with easy shooting practice?

Desperation, you have to reach the beam and the beam is one place. Harbringer is standing right there and the city around you is rubble. Coats even says it's a deathtrap. What else could they do? Dig a tunnel? Waste time trying to go around?

-What exactly is this beam of light? Is it a one-way transport? Are there any other beams like this in the MEU? -Why does the beam remain post-ending (e.g., it is depicted in High-EMS Destroy stills in the EC)? How was this beam not destroyed in the blast?

I always thought it was a lot like the conduit from ME1. Similar to the Mass Relays but for loading large amounts of stuff

This however is a fan explanation.

-How does Shepard survive Harbinger's blast?

Because it misses him.

-Why don't the Reapers simply turn the beam off before Hammer arrives?

They probably can't. I doubt it has an off switch. And if it does, the Alliance could just turn it on again.

-If the beam shuts down all comms (in the whole london), as it is said it does - what the hell is up with all the radio chatter in the entire Priority: Earth?

This again is a pretty minor question. It's not really answered because its not really important.

Presuamably the Alliance can compensate for Coms being Jammed, same way you can have upgrades that compensate for radar being jammed in ME1, and the smoke in ME3. They just have limited resources and are going all out for the mission.

-why when your collegues lie dying on the floor at the foot of the beam are you able to shoot them and.....nothing happens, but the moment marauder shields turn up your bullets actually do damage to him?

Because they're not enemy targets. There are several points throughout Mass Effect when you can shoot or harm NPCs without them reacting. Including your squadmates. I often pretend to punch them whenever I have an oppotunity and spent quite a lot of time in ME1 with my guns out, trying to find exploits to shoot at NPCs.

It's a game mechanic.

In cannon? Shepard doesn't shoot them.  Same way Shepard doesn't run in cirlces on the Normandy and ask the same question 2 or three times over by mistake.

-Why are Keepers apparently impervious to bullets?

See above.

-What's the noise Shepard makes after getting transported to the Citadel?

Is this seriously a question?

-What is the meaning of the "1M1" that we see all over the Citadel during the finale?

It's a random background texture. It's just being reused from ME1.



It has no meaning. It's just part of the Citadel. To stop it being bland.

-How is Hackett able to communicate with Shepard (right after Anderson dies)? Is Shepard's radio able to communicate with Anderson, Hackett, and other Alliance forces (as, at some point we here radio chatter from all these sources)?

This is a valid question.

I guess the Crucible did something that demonstrated it was in place, but then nothing happened. And Hackett figured it out from there. Especially now after the EC where Hackett is told he is in there.

-Why are there so many dead bodies around, all wearing either Kaidan's or Ashley's ME1 armour?

To mind**** the player

-Why are the Reapers bothering to beam dead bodies up to the Citadel, when they need live tissue to make a Reaper?

This is a valid question. God knows.

-Why does Shepard meet no resistance from the Reapers while on the Citadel?

He does. TIM.

As for footsoldiers? There probably aren't any. And any that come up after him will appear somewhere else.

-Why is there is single dead cerberus trooper in the citadel at the end? If there was cerberus at the citadel - where are the rest?

I don't know, I;ve never noticed this. I guess just padding out the corpses so they don't all look samey.

-why hide major Coates's head on the citadel?

Laziness in reusing models.

-Why did the transport beam deposit Shepard so close to the controls to open the Citadel?

I don't think the beam has much say in the matter. It;s a machine. Shep got lucky

-Why was traffic moving on the citadel pretty much like normal during the TIM / Anderson / Shepard scene?

Laziness in background design.

Lame fan canonical explanation: Probably all VI controlled vechiles doing some kind of task.

-How come Anderson can make it to a room with only one way in and out (not the corridor but the control room) before you, yet he followed you up?

Walls were moving. There was probably another path earlier.

-How does TIM control Anderson, Shepard has implants by Cerberus so that can explain Shepard's control, not Anderson's.

Because of the Reaper Tech he had implanted into him by Eva. The entire Horizon thing was about harnessing the Reaper's powers. He has somewhat succeeded, but lost his mind doing so.

-Why is The Illusive Man alone? Why doesn't he have any Cerberus bodyguards with which to confront Shepard?

Well because they all died when his base went BOOM! There is most likely very little Cerberus left, and he doesn't need them anymore.

-Why did the Reapers allow the Illusive Man to board the Citadel?

Because he's indoctrinated.

-The Citadel is a vast miles-long structure. How did the Illusive Man know exactly where to wait for Shepard and Anderson?

He got all the information from the Protehan VI. He knew more about where to go than anyone else.

Also, plot.

-Why didn't we see the Illusive Man in the hallway? Does he have an infiltrator cloak?

Dramatic entrance sake.

Canonically, he's either hiding or was just behind us.

-Why is Anderson impervious to bullets when he is at the console?

See NPC above.

It would be bizarre if we were allowed to shoot him and get critical mission failure for doing so.

-- Why does the Catalyst take the form of the dead child we see shot down at the start of the game?

This is a very valid question.

- Why are the 3 means of activating the Crucible so ludicrously symbolic? -
i.e. taking control by grabbing a pair of levers / control rods / joysticks? Initiating Synthesis by taking a leap into the unknown?

The same reason Leigon had to pointlessly kill himself to save the Geth.

Contrived dramatic scene purposes.

AS for canonically? That's just how the machine works.

-How can the Crucible achieve something as improbable and precise as Synthesis when it is "just a power source" constructed by people who didn't completely understand it?

The "Crucible" alone can't. It's just immense power. It's the Catalyst's Machine that can't.

Granted the Catalysts insane machine is an even bigger unanswered question

-How does the Crucible discriminate? In Destroy it will target all synthetic life, yet in Control EDI and the Geth (are seemingly) unaffected.

This is just goes back to the Catalyst's crazy machine. It just can. Unlike destroy the Catalyst designed this himself and maybe it plays off of Reaper IFFs or something,

Anyway You're not much of a controller if you can't choose to not controll something. Shep might just leave Edi and the Geth alone.

Still a fair question.

-Why is there no visible field retaining the air around the decision chamber, when we can see such a field around the Citadel docks?

Laziness.

Cannonically there is one.. Fan cannon if you need it: It's super tramsparent.


-When the energy was released by the crudible, why wasnt the citadel utterly destroyed?

It is in one of the low EMS endings I think. And because it;s designed to channel energy safely. This is stated in dialogue. The EMS just affects how damaged the crucible is by the battle, ergo, how well it works.

-Why do the reapers not try to destroy the Crucible? The Catalysts' response implies that the reapers were unaware of the Crucible being built ("We believed the concept had been eradicated. Clearly organics are more resourceful than we realized"), but this seems unlikely given (a) the Crucible is relatively large and easy to spot, and ( the reapers have indoctrinated spies everywhere. If the reapers really just didn't know, then how did they not know?

"Relatively large and easy to spot" is a pretty dumb thing to say when we're talking about a mobile device in the middle of the endless reaches of space that everybody is trying to protect. The various forces building it probably went all out to ensure there was no indoctrination.

Don't assume that because Shepard knows, and we play as Shepard, therefore everybody knows about the crucible. Let alone where it is.

-Who originally designed the Crucible, or at least, who first attempted to design/create/build it? How did the idea of the Crucible first come about?

Races from previous cycles. Tried to build a super-counter weapon to fight the Reapers. As time went on it developed into what we have now. Chances are the original crucible was uterrly different to this one.

This is answered right from the get go, almost as soon as the Crucible is introduced.

-When presenting the control option, the Catalyst does not directly state that they are not in control of Shepard (whereas he does state they were controlling TIM). Are the reapers (partially) in control of Shepard?

They are pretty clearly not in any control over Shepard.

-How does the Catalyst determine that Shepard (or more broadly, organics and synthetics) is ready for synthesis, especially given that it has failed in past cycles?

This oppotunity has never arrisen before. A working crucible and a man who is 70% organic and 30% synthetic. The previous failed attempts are clearly not the same thing.

-The Crucible design seems to strongly imply that it would fit with the Citadel (given how smoothly it slides into the Citadel arms and docks). Why did none of the brilliant scientists working on the Crucible notice this? It seems like it would be obvious to anyone who was familiar with the structure of the Crucible.

Said with hindsight.

Tell me when you played the game did you see it and go "Hey! That docks into the Citadel!" persumably none of the scientists noticed, and if they did, they probably thought nothing of it. The device was missing  1 component, The Catalyst. Assuming the Catalyst is the Citadel would be such an insane leap nobody would think of it.

-What was the original purpose of the Crucible? Did the original creators know the Catalyst was controlling the reapers?

To destroy the Reapers. And I don't have a clue.

Second question is valid.

-Why when the crudible docks do the reapers appear to 'pause' their intergalactic genocide?

They don't/

-Why does the Leviathan seem so evasive when Shepard asks it about the Crucible? Does it genuinely not know who designed it, or is it withholding that information deliberatively?

It's implied he is hiding something.

This is a valid question.

-How did the crew knew that Anderson had died but was not sure if Shepard did?

Because it;s commander Shepard!

Nah because it makes the ending dramatic if the Love Interest is hopeful. Nothing more.

-How did the Normandy only sustain minimal damage coming out of FTL speeds and manage to land safely when running from the final wave(s).

Because Joker is the best damn pilot out there.

-What planet did they land on?

No idea but is this really important after the EC? Pre EC it's a great question but now they are not stranded it doesn't really matter.

-How the hell did Joker not break anything on impact, especially as we see a rock poking through the pilot's area.

Who says he didn't?

And if he didn't, luck.

-Where were they actually making the reaper on the citadel?

God knows. This is a valid question.

-why in the original endings (prior to EC) did the relays explode in every ending?

God knows. This is a valid question.

Too much energy I suppose/

-How did anyone on the Normandy survive explosive decompression before they landed on dream planet?

Sheilds, barriers, Mass Effect fields etc.

-Where did the breath scene take place?

You already asked thos.

-How can Shepard survive the blast in high EMS Destroy, when it is powerful enough to damage the structure of the Citadel?

Because he's a tough son of a *****. Remember what Zaeed said about being shot point blank in the face?

-How come when the fleet is passing the SOL relay (at least we assume it’s the sol relay) the sun is so large in the sky, when it would look like just any other star in the sky from that distance?

Dramatic effect.

Come on you know this isn't a real question. You want Bioware to come out and explain why the sun in the background of a scene looks bigger than it realistically should do? You know this is just padding the questions out.

-If there are inactive relays within the galaxy, does that mean there are pockets of space where the Crucible had no effect? Would the Reapers in those pockets have survived Destroy?

Yes. But why would the Reapers be there if the Relays are inactive? It would take them months to get there and the game only takes place over a short amount of time.

-How does diving head first into a beam of light suddenly send shepards synthesis code to every creature in the galaxy?

Catalyst's crazy machine at work again. God knows.

-How does Shepard control the reapers when he is vaporized?

His mind is made into a new AI. AKA the Catalyst 2.0

-What is the deal with the magic elevator of light to nowhere?

The Catalyst must have some control over the Citadel, he moves walls after all.

-Why do Shepard's and the Catalyst's voices echo in the decision chamber?

Dramatic effect. There is no cannonical reason. Most players playing the game won't even notice.

-How the hell does hackett know shepard reached the citadel?

Well someone handed him a pad, so they must have seen him. Coates or maybe Anderson considering he said he was behind.

Although again. EC/

-How did the SR2 survive the crash with multiple hull breaches?

You're repeating questions again.

-Why doesn't the chain of relay explosions start at the Local Cluster?

Laziness. There is no cannonical explanation because in cannon it did.

- How did Anderson come up "behind Shepard" when we can turn around right before entering the beam and we don't see anybody.

Because he came up after we went into the beam. When Shepard goes through he is down.

-How did Anderson end up in a different part of the Citadel when the beam seems to link to one location?

This is a somewhat valid question but I think it's not as bad as it seems. Reapers are hurling corpses into it, if they all ended up in the same place, soon there would be no room and just one huge pile of corpses.

-Why does Shepard's lover hesitate to place his or her name on the memorial after high EMS Destroy? How can they possibly know that Shepard is alive? Are we to believe that he or she is psychic?

Stop repeating questions.

-Why would the catalyst tell you about the tube if it was real?

I guess he wants to earn your trust. Maybe even unable to lie considering he is shackled.

This is a valid question BUT it's just yet another question saying "How does the Catalyst's machine make any sense" that you keep repeating in different ways.

-How does Shepard know how to use the crucibles choices?

Because it's kinda obvious aside from arguably destroy.

-Why does Shepard's carnifex transform into a predator after shooting the tube in the destroy ending?

It;s just a screw up. This acutally happens several times throughout Mass Effect, players just rarely notice.

I won;t call it lazy though because I think the developers literally didn't notice, just like very few fans (including you) noticed that it's happened several times. Not just in this ending.

-Why are soldiers in the destroy ending (the scene added in the EC) more successful at fighting off the husks than in the control and synthesis endings?

Because it's a cool scene. This isn't even a question. The Soldiers do well because we do well and we see them.

-Why is Shepard wide awake after the Catalyst says "Wake up"?

Because he was just told to wake up... That wakes people up.

-If the Leviathans were trying to prevent the inevitable rebellion of synthetic life forms, why did they create a synthetic "intelligence" and why were they surprised when it inevitably rebelled?

Levivthan tells you this in detail. Shepard can ask this exact same question. They did not think of themselves as the same level of beings as other organics. They never considered the possibility of synthetics turning on them, or even being a problem. They were used to manipulating the entire universe.

-How did the Intelligence defeat them before it had an army of Reapers?
-If the Leviathans can knock a capital Reaper out of the sky with such apparent ease, then why do they live in fear of them?

This is also explained. The Reapers took them by surprise and mercilessly massacred them. mixed in with the Levvy's inability to move around the universe quickly.. they were ****ed.

As for "killing a Reaper with ease." that's not a Captial Reaper. It's a small Reaper who was taken by surprise. And they took 1 down on their hometurf. In a straight out war, their lack of numbers and ability to move would be instant failure.

It'd be like seeing a drell kill a Krogan and saying "Why can't the entire drell race wipe out the entire Krogan race?" Only there are just 300 drells and 30 million Krogan.

-Stargazer at the end asks about 'The Shepard', and is told there's 'One more story'. Will this story ever be told?

Probably not as I doubt the next Mass Effect will be about Shepard. But we shall see.

-Why does the Catalyst have the ability to switch off the Crucible beam, after Shepard refuses to use it? Why didn't it switch it off earlier?

Does it switch off the beam? I never noticed this. If so then I guess because it's connected to the Citadel, it has some part of this.

-Why do the relays not explode with the same force that the Alpha relay did, during the events of Arrival? If the reason is because they transmit most of their energy on to the next relay in the chain, then what happens at the ends of those chains? Do the far relays (such as the one close to Rannoch) explode with all the combined energy of all the preceding relays?

This was a huge plot hole, and this is why they retconned it in the EC.  There was no cannonical answer.

-Edi states during ME2, that it is impossible to transfer an AI from one Blue Box to another without irrevocably changing its personality, due to quantum fluctuations which cannot be corrected or compensated for. If so, how can Shepard's mind be similarly uploaded from an organic brain to become the new Catalyst? How can this new entity be anything more than an imperfect copy of Shepard?

This is an unfair question.

A monkey would be unable to drive a car from one town to another without irrevocably damaing itself, the car, or not moving at all. Therefore humans cannot drive a car?

Reapers are not Edi. Reapers are not human. Their technology is beyond us. It's a mistake to say "How come their technology is beyond ours and doesn't have our problems." well, they are beyond us.

-Why is the stargazer scene identical after Shepard makes one of the three original choices? Why is it also very similar after Refusal, which is presumably in the following cycle? Wouldn't the galaxy have turned out very differently after millennia of Synthesis? How is it possible that the exact same grandfather and grandchild have improbably come to exist on that same planet, after three wildly different ending scenarios, while a grandmother and grandchild exist in another?

This is a valid question. There is no cannonical answer.

Real reason is, once again laziness

-How did commander shepards brain survive intact after planetary re-entry burn up, lack of oxygen, depressurizing of his suit which would have forced his lungs to explode, & huge impact forces?

You're assuming the breathing scene is on Earth.

-In the books Kahlee Sanders hears reaper voices in her head, and expiriences loos of control of her body, due to reaper influence - how come she is all fine and dandy in ME3?

The Reapers are still gone. Sanders is only experiening Grayson. Who is quickly removed. We don't know much about Indoctrination but Saren/Tim and Bezzy's ability to fight it at full force imply a lot of it is a willpower issue. And Sanders only fought a fraction of it for a very small amount of time. It's doubtful it really affected her much at all.

yes this is speculation but it's not a question that really needs to be answered considering the implications.

-What exactly happens to Legion? Why is "direct personality dissemination" required to upload the code in the Rannoch finale?

Dramatic effect. See above.

-The defining characteristic of a chemical catalyst, is that it facilitates a change or reaction, but either remains unchanged, or always returns to it's original state. If the Catalyst can be "changed" by the Crucible, then why did Bioware give it that particular name?

I think you're focusing too much on the literal definition and not the connotation. The Catalyst just means the big thing that effects everything else around it.

-Why were the Reapers causing the extinction of the Rachni and the Quarians (through the Geth) when they according to the Catalyst are supposed to preserve all life?

The Rachni were (implied) Indoctrinated by the Levys to fight the Reapers. They were probably seen as a threat. And the Quarians were a needed sacrfice to get the Geth on their side to make the cycle easier.

Reapers have no problems with killing lots and lots and lots of life, to perseve it as a whole.

-.What is Cerberus actual plan during ME3?

Find a way to control the Reapers, use controlled Reapers to make humanity awesome

-What happened to Cerberus facility beyond Omega 4 relay?

Unaffected by the cruicible. But after what happened on Omega, probably nothing happens there anymore. And TIM no longer needs it. Either it sits empty or some poor souls are stuck there.

Still a fair question. If Minor.

-Why are the Salarians the only Council race not attacked?

Luck and because they are the weakest militarily.

-Why didn't Asari prepare for the reapers, when they were sitting on the complete knowledge of them including the schematics for the crucible for tens of thousands years?

"The Asari" didn't know. A handful of Asari did. And they just knew they had Prothean stuff. Not Reaper info. And BTW, Humans also had prothean archieves and idn't know about the Reapers or the crucible. You're assuming decrptying and learning this stuff is easy.

-what happened to all the reaper tech that allience gathered in extensive quantities prior to ME3, and why didn't anyone get indoctrinated as we know of? (the allience actully came in froce and STOLE the remeains of the leviathan of DIS from the batarian research facility - those exact remains that got the entire batarian Hegemony indoctrinated)

Because they took precautions. Unlike the Batarians.

-Why does QEC suddenly working as a simple mobile phone, including signal interferences in ME3 instead of point to point direct unobstructed lag less communications it is?

Once again, do you really want Bioware to come out and explain the details of how QEC works and explain how they could be jammed? This is not unanswered because it's a mystery or a plothole. It's not answered because it's a dumb question

- Who was behind the attack on Lazarus Project?

Wilson. He was working for the Shadow Broker.

-In the Citadel DLC, what is the function/purpose of showing the video clip of the initial reaper attack on Earth? Why does Shepard not comment or react to it?

To remind Shepard and the player of what is still happening on Earth, despite all the goofing around on the Citadel.

-Once the Reapers had the Citadel, why didn't they use it to deactivate the relay network, and isolate the Alliance fleet?

This is a very very very valid question. But considering the events of ME2 and Javik's dialogue, it seems this Relay Network control was retconned.

-Why does Eva Cores body not have a cerberus logo, but when edi takes it over it does?

Wasn't it covered in charred burns?

-Why doesn't Avina know about Purgatory?

Because shes a dumb VI that doesn't know ****

-Why do the reapers trash talk organics when they are just trying to preserve them?

Because they were designed for a different ending.

Cannonically? Weaken the enemies moral I guess is the only viable fan explanation.

-Why didn't the Prothean VI on Ilos mention the Crucible?

Vigil probably didn't know. It was designed to maintain life-pods and explain this last ditch desperation plan.

Even if it did, saying "oh by the way we also had a plan to build a big device but we failed." seems irrelevant. and completely pointless.

It would be an even bigger question if Vigil DID have full plans for the crucible somehow.

Also because the crucible didn't exist in the writers mind at that point.

-Why do the Reapers wait so long between cycles? Humans have been genetically similar for thousands of years. If all they are interested in is preserving life, then why do they allow us to attain a level of technology where our weapons begin to pose a threat to them, and the civilisations supposedly preserved within them?

There are quite a large number of answers to this. Just pick your favorite.

1. The aforementioned Relay network makes technological advancement close to meaningless. (killed now if retconned(
2. Reapers need time to recharge in dark space.
3. A vanguard watches over the  cycle and will take steps to ensure it does not go too far.
4. The entire purpose of the Relay and Citadel is to set races along paths that will stop it from advancing too much AND speed up the cycle process instead of making it go unchecked. Matriarch Aethyta was mocked for suggesting doing things for themselves.


Well that was a long waste of time.... Anyway in short yet. Most of those questions were dumb, a bunch were repeated, several were absurdly minor. And some while really good are the ending stupidity that has been around since Day 1 of ME3's controversy and EC Controversy.

The Catalyst and his bizarre machine are indeed huge unanswered questions and roaming stupdity in of themselves but just rewording the same ultimate question 8 times to pad out the list is pointless.

Modifié par MetioricTest, 01 avril 2013 - 03:06 .

[MetioricTest]

MassEffectFShep wrote...

MetioricTest wrote...

MassEffectFShep wrote...

MetioricTest wrote...

Well at least half of them have very clear ingame answers.
Another chunk are just dumb questions.

I can systematically list each one if you want but it would be a looooooooong post....

Half of these have "very clear ingame answers?" If you're willing to just answer the ones with "very clear ingame answers," I'd be interested in seeing it (long post or not).

*snip*

Well, first, I really appreciate your thorough list of responses to the questions. It takes a lot of time to go through these questions, so it's cool that you did that.

As someone who read through all of your answers, though, I have to say that the vast majority of your responses are not derived from "very clear ingame answers," but rather you deducing things and coming to conclusions that could be easily debated by someone else's interpertation of events (or someone else's headcanon). I do appreciate some of your responses, like the one about "1M1"...your screenshot was helpful and shed some light on something that I (personally) missed. But the majority of your other responses are either "BW wanted to" or "b/c plot wouldn't proceed otherwise," which isn't the same as an ingame, true-to-the-lore reason. From where I stand, your responses just emphasize how poorly a lot of these questions were treated in the game.

If you over-examined any point in any Mass Effect game you would find the same plot contrivance. "Why can't we see x until suddenly he turns up halfway through a cutscene" especially. "Why can't doesn't it hurt if we shoot NPCS!" etc.

Most of those questions were anawnsered because they're not plot-holes. They're just busywork, or game mechanics. And most of the legitimate questions are just the same ending ones.

It's nothing but padding to make the list look long.

[blackcadillac117]

 I'm not saying it's indoctrination... But it's indoctrination. 

[Sentient6]

Because bad writing.

But seriously, the majority of those questions aren't questions at all, just nitpicks. Forced, contrived nitpicks that wouldn't exist if someone hadn't stubbornly thought them out.Answering them would be like trying to convince people of something they don't want to be convinced of.

[Spartas Husky]

Sentient6 wrote...

Because bad writing.

aleluya

[Lost Mercenary]

I have only 1 question.

1. What the hell was the point of the human reaper?

[IMNOTCRAZYiminsane]

lostmercenary99 wrote...

I have only 1 question.

1. What the hell was the point of the human reaper?

To show us Humans are more important to the reapers then the Asaris :innocent:

[valkulon]

A lot of your questions are already answered or don't even need to be asked....

Modifié par Valhart, 01 avril 2013 - 09:03 .

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Eryri wrote...

sH0tgUn jUliA wrote...

Kesak12 wrote...

TL;DR Version


Since we know you wont answer all the questions we came up with we have picked out a few important ones.
 
1.Where does the breath scene take place?
2.Why did the Catalyst need Sovereign to open the relay?
3.How does Shepard survive the crucible blast in Destroy ending?
4.How does Shepard's squad know that Anderson is dead?
5. Where is this planet that the Normandy lands on in the end.
6.Why does Anderson's death effect Destroy ending?
7.Why is it that all of our squad mates return to the Normandy?
-

Well I'll do my best....

1. Since IT is dead. The breath scene takes place on the Citadel, and some place where there is air.
2. The Catalyst would normally receive a signal from the sentinel left in the galaxy and then signal the Keepers to open the relay. The Protheans modified the Keepers so they would not respond to the signal. Thus the catalyst had to have Sovereign do this manually.
3. How does Shepard survive.... Mac wanted Shepard dead. Casey wanted Shepard to survive the high EMS destroy ending with a more optimistic open ending than we got. So Shepard survives High EMS Destroy because Casey said so, but that got scaled back because some loud mouth at SDCC was worried about stepping on some emo destroy peoples "I wanted Shepard to die anyway" head canon.
4. They know about Anderson because of well... it is not something you can comprehend.
5. It resembles that planet that had operation Overlord, but it is probably somewhere within 12 ly of Earth around a red dwarf star. It would significantly increase the chances of getting lucky.
6. Because of reasons. Mac decided them. One does not question what goes on in the mind of Mac. It is not something you can comprehend.
7. Because Shepard took two with him/her. The others did not participate in the battle in case they were needed later if everything went to hell.

There, now I've answered the most critical questions to the best of my abilities.

No offence to you personally, that was a good, well thought out effort, but some of those answers just make me ask more questions:

1. How can there be air where Shepard is on the Citadel? The station is in ruins, and the decision chamber is open to space at the best of times. If there was an invisible field holding in the air, how is it still operational after the destroy blast which damages machinery?
2. Why didn't the Catalyst have back-up systems if the Keepers failed? Bit of a design flaw for an advanced AI. If it can only work through the Keepers, then how was it able to lift Shepard up on the elevator of light, or shut off the beam following Refusal? Also, how was the Shepalyst able to command the Crucible arms to close following Control?
3. How many emo types would really have complained if that was the case? Would they really have had more complaints than just an unambiguously happy, crowd pleasing ending?
4. Not only do they know for certain Anderson is dead, the LI (and only the LI) seems certain that Shepard is alive. That might make some sense for Liara, with her Asari mind-melding "thing" that she does, but makes no sense at all for the likes of "psychic as a brick" Garrus or Ashley.
5. Good explanation, but one would have thought all such habitable planets so close to Earth would have been colonised. It's a little moot now anyway since the whole "Garden of Eden" theme where we were supposed to infer that the Stargazer was a descendent of the stranded crew in the Original Cut, was retconned due to fan distaste. The crash seems pretty pointless now, since they are able to return home in all but the lowest EMS endings.
6. Agreed, that way madness lies.
7. Well since the charge to the beam was supposedly our last and only hope, and everything had already gone to Hell, they may as well have come with Shepard now and died sooner, rather than possibly get liquified later.

Yes, this ending is maddening isn't it? It just leaves you with more questions. As Smudboy put it, "it is turtles all the way down."

1) Jessica Merizan said Shepard got thrown to one of the ward arms after the blast. Well, according to the codex, with the ward arms open like that all the air and everything that wasn't nailed down would have been thrown off the arms. If you look closely you can see debris flying off when they open. And we know her lack of credibility regarding things. So there are two other possibilities. (a) Shepard is still where she was which is .3 g, and inside the kinetic barrier and there is still air in there. OR ( Shepard got beamed back down to London on that white transport beam before everything blew up as part of the way the Crucible was designed since we don't know exactly how it worked anyway. This way Shepard would not have to survive re-entry and would be in on Earth. This may be better explained in 2 where I can build off of this with a supporting ass pull.

2) You got me there. I'll have to come up with an ass pull here.... Okay. Face the facts. The Leviathans were not that bright. Intimidating, but not that bright. Any race that would create a super intelligence like they did, give it the directive to preserve organic life at all costs, and not put a restriction on it similar to Asimov's three laws is pretty f****** stupid. Look what happened to them. There's your design flaw. How did Shepard get up there? Shepard never got there. That part happened in Shepard's mind. See, that control panel in front of Shepard was the interface. When the Crucible attached and Shepard tried to get up Shepard got close enough and due to bad graphics engine actually activated something.

The "intelligence" possesses properties of its creators, the Leviathans, to project itself into Shepard's mind. And thus while Shepard was laying there unconscious, it projected itself into Shepard's mind as a glowing ghost child. There was no special chamber. There were no control rods, there was no disintegration beam, there was no tube. There was only the panel. Shepard had to stand up and push a button on the panel. For synthesis a beam would do the thing. For Control different beam would do the thing. For destroy Shepard would be transported back to earth and Crucible would fire. For refusal, it just gave the illusion of walking off and leaving Shepard alone in a chamber. Whew! That was a hard one, but I think I pull a good one.

3) Only one emo type was necessary.... Mac. I'm also sure that a small minority was sufficient. See, those of us in the "vocal minority" (really the majority) just didn't understand the need for sacrifice. Shepard was supposed to sacrifice themselves for the galaxy's sins to become "The Shepard" of the galaxy. This is not something any of us can comprehend.

4) Psychic as a brick Ashley and Garrus.... The scenes were out of order for artistic reasons only known to Mac. The correct order was Breath Scene, Take off, Memorial Scene. That is how they would know about Anderson. Something a little more definite than just cradling the name would have been more welcome, but again ... Mac.

5) Even if the worlds were all colonized, there would still be parts that would be wild. And if they were colonized it would make getting parts for the Normandy easier. Take a shuttle to the nearest town for materials and use their machine shop to make replacement parts. Makes even more sense to me. Solidified.

6) not touching this one again.

7) If the battle for earth fails, or if Shepard refuses, the Normandy would get the hell out of there. Hackett would call for a full retreat. There are plenty of places to hide. It's a big galaxy. Liara would continue with her seeding project. There is a very good chance the humans would live to old age, and the Normandy would become a very lonely place with just EDI and Liara, and maybe pick up a few Asari from one of the Asari ships, for a crew along the way. Who knows? When she is done they just may find a world and say so long to EDI, and spend the rest of their days there and live like a primitives after planting the last of her beacons. The reapers may never find her. The woman in the Stargazer scene in the refuse ending talking to the boy does look Asari. Possible they co-habit this world with the native race.