1. As many believe, the I.T. was disproven by the Extended Cut by simple virtue of the ending slides. These slides, as many will say, disprove the I.T. by demonstrating that the ending was the real thing and was not taking place in Shepard's mind (as the primary I.T. interpretation will tell you). The I.T. camp, on the other hand will say that these slides were also in Shepard's mind. As the I.T. opposers would claim, they are just "grasping at straws." That being said, G.I. does not require the ending slides to be in Shepard's mind. In point of fact, the G.I. will say that they are very real.
2. As supported by the above point, the E.C. does not conflict with the concept of the G.I. as far as I am concerned.
3. The Reapers are not the "good" guys in the land of G.I. As Anderson says, "we destroy them or they destroy us." However, in this case, they both destroy us and we destroy ourselves. More on that later.
4. In G.I., depending on which ending was chosen the player, the Reapers have attained a more advanced form of indoctrination that is meant only to benefit themselves and not the galaxy as the literal interpretation would have the player believe.
5. The Crucible is not what it seems despite what the Catalyst claims in G.I.
OK, so let's get on with it. What is G.I.? To explain G.I., I will start by listing each ending choice (including Refuse) and then describe what the Reapers hope to obtain with each choice.
Synthesis
:We all know that indoctrinated subjects are able to resist the influence of the Reapers (at least for a certain amount of time) before submitting to their influence. Also, all indoctrinated subjects will outlive their usefulness when their minds eventually turn to putty. These subjects eventually lose the ability to reason and think. They become some sort of husk and eventually die of starvation as Virgil would tell you on Ilos. This is an inconvenience for the Reapers (especially when you consider that it takes time to indoctrinate subjects due to a subject's resistance of the effect). Additionally, it would be far more efficient and convenient were the Reapers able to indoctrinate everyone at once on a massive scale. But, how could they accomplish such a thing? That's where G.I. comes into play.
Using the Crucible and a suitable genetic host (I'm looking at you Shepard), the Reapers would have the essential ingredient for their green beam of "happy magic." This would actually have the effect of indoctrinating the galaxy at a "genetic" level. Essentially, everyone would be subservient to the Reapers without raising any conscious objections. The conscious mind and by extension, any form of choice would be bypassed in favor of massive brainwashing at the subconscious level. No one would make a choice because the choice would already be made for them. This is similar to the idea that psychopaths and sociopaths did not make the choice to be crazy, they were simply born that way. Indoctrination would be ingrained in the "genome" of its subjects. As a result, any offspring produced would also be slaves to the Reapers. They would simply be born as indoctrinated subjects with no choice involved. It is just what they are. Think of Achilles saying he had no choice to fight in the movie "Troy." He states: "I chose nothing. I was born and this is what I am."
Notice that this is the only choice (other than Refuse) in which both the Catalyst and the Reapers remain. This way, they can still continue to supervise their brainwashed slaves. Also, as some added perks, their subjects will not rapidly die out (since there is no mental resistance to indoctrination and therefore no mental deterioration). It's the perfect situation for the Reapers. The Reapers likely wouldn't risk a galaxy wide coupe by not brainwashing their subjects. The Reapers leak the plans for the Crucible after modifying it themselves. It serves it's main purpose here: it is a massive, galaxy wide "genetic indoctrination" device. The slides show us the massive indoctrination but give us the perception of a false utopia.
Control:
This happens exactly as we see it in the ending slides. This option was likely added on to the Crucible by either TIM, a control supporting faction of the past, or both. Shepard displaces the Catalyst and "controls" the Reapers. However, we are treading in dangerously deep water here. We must ask ourselves "What are the long term implications of control by the A.I. Shepard?" Even if Shepard manages to maintain control of the Reapers, what of the galactic forces that eventually manage to destroy Shepard's fleet? Shepard will need to rebuild, will he not? He will need materials to do this. What if he discovers that the only way to replenish his numbers is to melt down humans in order to create Reapers as the Collectors before him did? Sure, he could use machines to create the Reapers, but what if that is not good enough to create a strong, versatile Reaper?
In this case, we destroy ourselves by eventually becoming the Catalyst and indoctrinating ourselves. Perhaps the Catalyst believes that if you can see the galaxy from his point of view, you will eventually become just like him and think like he does. Be careful what you wish for.
Destroy:
According to G.I., this is the best option here. We destroy the Reapers but unfortunately must also sacrifice our synthetic allies in the process. As far as chaos returning by means of the machine devils, that is up for debate and could be a serious side effect of this choice.
Refuse:
As seen, we are wiped out if we refuse the options of the Crucible. This is because you have refused the options programmed into the Catalyst and leave it no choice but to continue the cycle. Perhaps it will find another victim that will hopefully choose "Synthesis." G.I. also states that the Catalyst purposely reprogrammed itself: in order to appear genuine, it had to include "Destroy" as an option. The Catalyst, with the aid of the Reapers, designed the Crucible which would in turn contain the code that would modify it to offer the choices of synthesis and control, at the cost of potential self destruction.
The Leviathans ?:
This is still a bit unclear but it seems that they may have been the architects behind this whole scheme. They allowed the Catalyst to wipe out most of them so that they could ascend and become both more powerful and immortal. Ultimately, they desired subservient thralls. As Keanu Reeves would state, however, "the problem is choice." How do you eliminate choice? Synthesis, which is a means to genetic indoctrination.
This, of course, is only meant to be my interpretation of the ending events (one of them at least) and is not meant to be fact. Undoubtedly, I will come under fire for this. I do ask, however, that everyone try to be civil and argue in a mature manner. That said, I'm sure that wont happen anyway.
Modifié par liggy002, 09 janvier 2014 - 02:04 .
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