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[Dean_the_Young]

Thoughts I had when people were claiming ME3's ending destroyed any possibility of a sequel.

 

Ironically, this shares much the same concept/leadup for 'if ME were a game of Civilization', a sort of post-ME3 scenario for a civilization mod in which the Destroy option serves as a galactic reset to justify a game of Civilization... in space!

 

Don't think I ever wrote that idea down fully, because it was too similar to this. Lots of shared concepts of potential civilizations, such as various divisions of Humans and Turians.

 

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http://social.biowar...9136/1#10619136

It’s called TL;DR for a reason, you have been warned, saying TL;DR is redundant, blah blah blah…

Bottom Line Up Front, this was approximately five minutes of typing on how, no, the Mass Effect universe is not without the possibility of a continuation. It doesn’t even need to presume a set canon: a sequel scenario can be made to what would normally be the hardest choices to make

A sequel trilogy would be pretty easy, all things considered. The hardest part wouldn't be the ME3 ending of the relays breaking, but the mutually exclusive Reapers dead/control/synthesis, as well as the mutually-exclusive outcomes of the Krogan/Quarian/Geth/Rachni subplots... and even that would be manageable simply by making them side, rather than major, themes. The fate of the Krogan wouldn’t be a plot line, for example, just a reflection of the previous outcome. Krogan still exist, and can still have a plot role, but the genophage plotline is done with.

Here are the two main underlying assumptions that can support a sequel series. While some people disagree, for the sake of this thread simply accept this interpretation as author fiat: don’t derail on an small things that can be explained by story devices.

1) Civilizations still exist. Accept the Crucible effect doesn’t turn relays into supernovas, by virtue of the energy in the relays already spent much of the energy in the Crucible Effect. Think the difference of driving a car to empty, and then setting it on fire: less gas to utilize. Regardless, this is actually irrelevant: every time I refer to homeworlds in this piece can be replaced with ‘largest surviving colony in a non-relay galaxy.’ The same goes for starvation: not all worlds only import food, and even in starvation scenarios populations fall to sustainable levels, not drop completely. The Post-Reaper war might have seen famine… but not ‘everyone dies’ levels. Technology such as hydrophonics, non-ruined garden worlds in FTL proximity, and even periods of cannibalism can be used to justify marginal survival before stability. Again, the dying doesn’t have to stop after the Reapers, but pockets of civilizations survive.

2) Slow FTL travel of the galaxy exists, albeit difficult. The difference between crossing Asia by plane or by car is a matter of logistics, but still possible. Clusters (which were relay-determined in the first place) are close enough that prepared groups can either carry the supplies they need to travel from one sector to the next, or pit-stop colonies exist. Additional technologies such as hydrophonics for food, transportable Helium 3 refineries for fuel refills where there isn’t infrastructure, and manufactories which can make items/spare parts out of raw resources are all established ME3 technologies. The Reapers also have established technologies that let them go indefinite periods of FTL without needing to drop drive cores. Slow-FTL might take between thirty and twenty years to complete, and be expensive and/or difficult without significant prepration, but it can still exist.

Again, even if you personally don’t believe them, accept that a story writer could address concerns with simple explanations.

The rest of this TL;DR will be bullet points of a possible sequel scenario. The rest of this assumes a 'Reaper destroyed' ending as a base for import, though ending differentiations will be made at the end to show how the galaxy could import and reflect major ending choices. These bullet points will focus on overall story concepts, concept sketches for species roles, various subplots, and endings.

Enjoy.

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Elements of a Trilogy

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-A sequel trilogy on Mass Effect can be the story of rebuilding of the Mass Relay network, and the troubles that come with it in a galaxy both familiar and different politically. Rediscovering a galaxy with less apocalyptic threats can cover for a looming threat.

-Given a time-skip of a few hundred years, you can move the galaxy from one that is razed by the Reapers to one that is recovering. Most characters would be long gone, but the remnants of groups would have time to reorganize and re-consolidate in a new, looser galaxy. A target of two or three hundred years would provide the flex-space to allow stabilization, the growth of new societies, but also allow old ones to regain their footing. We’d also move past nearly all known Mass Effect characters, bar Liara.

-The galaxy can be a combination of recovering old groups (the familiar racial governments) and new ones that have sprung up from the loss of central control. In some cases these could be competing groups from the same species: for example, a Turian schism resulting from the loss of a single Primarch. When the relays broke different parts of Turian territory had to follow chain of command and pick their own Primarch, and by the time slow-FTL re-connected them they didn't care to unify for whatever reasons. Hence a legitimacy dispute turned into a reunification crisis for the Heirarchy with various groups claiming to be the 'true' leader. A Turian Reunification/Civil War plot line, for example. A new government could be a new species that hadn’t risen before the Reapers arrived.

-New governments can also be new mixes of governments, breaking from the Council's one-species-one-voice policy. The Earth-Alliance could be a good place for this, if Earth survived and all the species didn't go home. De-facto alliances of multi-species proximity in former Council regions, or the Mercenary Groups enforcing multi-racial empires (a Blue Suns Human/Turian/Batarian state, for example).

-Governments that long for the glory of days past (a dominant Citadel government) versus those who don't (ie, every species that wasn't on the Citadel). A political clash, for example, between Asari who feel they deserve/should/need to lead the galaxy, versus other more independent groups who say '**** that.'

-The rise of new species, naturally or as a consequence of the war. Yahg are an obvious candidate for breaking out of their Council-enforced quarantine in the interim. Others could be entirely original. Species that had no place in the pre-Reaper order simply because they did not exist as a force then, and who enter the galactic debate as a new player and opinion entirely.

-Factions that have come to dominate the Slow FTL travel/trade. This would actually be a good role for the Geth and/or Quarians: a species that does have a homeworld, but who uses the Migrant Fleet/Geth Fleet as a super-big galactic merchant fleet, with the best slow-FTL capabilities to 'connect' the galaxy via trade and travel while doing their own ends. Another could be a major FTL shipping conglomerate/alliance: one that controls infrastructure around key trade routes, manages the local security, etc. A Trader’s Federation corporation. Possibly a role for a species like the Volus.

-The Big Plot to tie it all together: the argument of how, or even if, the galaxy should rebuild the Mass Relays. Now possible because of some scientific advance from studying Reaper tech (possibly driven by Liara), a decades/century long project that has produced demonstration relays now faces the question of if it should even be allowed to be exist, let alone expanded. Everyone of importance from across the galaxy has territory/has sent forces/representatives to some crucial sector of the galaxy (close enough to be 'close' by FTL) in order to settle the dispute... and have in the meantime fallen into pro-relay, anti-relay, and undecided camps.

-Pro-Relay groups think galactic connectivity is a good thing for whatever reason. The Asari in particular favor it because they approach it from a position of paternal-benevolence in which the relays will help them help the galaxy (by spreading Asari influence). A warlike species like the Yahg/Wreave-Krogan might want it because the relays would make their conquests faster and more widespread. The Volus might want relays to resurrect their trade influence and interests, since the slow-FTL market continues to be dominated by the Geth/Quarians. Groups that want a new sort of Galactic Council (presuming that they will be part of it), want to finish the Mass Relays. Others just stand to benefit massively from relay placement: a relay placed near your colony would make it a massive transit/commercial/strategic hub, and would break the established commercial cliques that dominate slow FTL travel.

-Anti-Relay groups oppose the use of Reaper technology to connect the galaxy on moral/ethical/security grounds. Groups that believe in autonomy and self-determination don't want a galactic overlord telling them how to run their empires, be they good or bad groups. Some new species have no history of the Relays to want to return to the old-galaxy. Species with bad history with the Council don't want a new Council to rise up. Species like the Geth, or maybe the Hanar, might oppose using Reaper technology for development on philosophical grounds (falling into Reaper-intended lines of developments) or guilt-by-association grounds (the Reapers were bad, Relays were reaper tech which ruined the galaxy, ergo new relays are bad). Plus the security dimension: warlike species and fast-breeding species are both limited in their expansion by 'slow' FTL: giving them access to relays would merely allow them to focus their agression across the galaxy, rather than on themselves. Add in some other viewpoints (what will happen if someone else destroys relays? Can't take the risk), and political disputes (my enemy wants to build relays: I will oppose him), and finally the established economic interests would leave many people have a vested interest in preventing the relays from developing.

-The Undecided groups are just that for whatever reasons. They might be internally divided for normal reasons (weighing the cost-benefits internally), external/exceptional reasons (foreign meddling, civil war), or simply being very mercenary about it. As examples... a race that has very little inclination towards colonization (a single-unit species analogous to the Thorian) or can colonize regardless (Vorcha) might not have much reason for relays to appeal to them: either relays don't help them, or they expand consistently regardless. A more mercenary group would be a good role for the Krogan: whether as the last gasp of the genophaged race of mercenaries, Wreave's greed, or Wrex's measured pragmaticism, the Krogan would be a powerful influence... but depending on who leads them or what their status is, more people might side against them than work with them (a good leadership/genophage import carryover). As for a Civil War scenario, the Turrians would be ideal for that: the Primarch Unification War that never ends would be an obvious opportunity for outside/player influence, with different Primarch candidates having different preferences and different effects. Propping one up can get you an ally for your cause... but different Primarchs have different virtues and flaws. A pro-Relay Primarch who is also an unapologetic imperialist who seeks to restore Turian glory/predominance: an anti-Relay Primarch who has ideals of a pacifistic cultural reform that clash with an increased willingness for 'dishonorable' means. Etc.

-On top of this all is the attitude towards studying and reverse-engineering Reaper technology. Species most-affected by the Reapers (those who lost their homeworlds in ME3) are strongly against the study of Reaper tech, and strongly for regulation and punishment of those who defy... a position that shunts them towards the pro-Council/pro-Relay position. On the other hand, species who don't want the Council also tend to favor studying and utilizing Reaper tech for their own benefit... a position the dominance-seeking Council faction would oppose, thus making using Reaper tech a Terminus position.

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A Trilogy In Brief

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A trilogy format could thus proceed as thus:

ME 2-1: A galaxy focusing on a dispute/clash as a galactic consensus on how to rebuild the Mass Relay network changes into a question of 'if', with various groups supporting and opposing. The player is introduced into setting that serves as a micro-cosm of the galaxy as a whole, as everyone of note has either territory in the sector or has sent diplomats as far back as decades earlier to the meeting. Quantum-entanglement networks allow real time communication with distant actors across the galaxy, and developments in this sector (things the player sees/affects) and elsewhere (say a war that breaks out across the galaxy) drive the tensions and the plot. The player-character is likely a Human, probably from Earth or the equivalent in a dead-earth scenario.

Ultimately, the player-character shapes the position of their own, undetermined faction, as well as the views of some other groups, either for or against the Relay plan. In the finale, irreconcilable differences burst with a Big Decision and the pro- and anti-relay factions move towards war: the pro-relay faction trying to build the relays regardless of galactic opinion, and the anti-relay faction trying to stop them.

ME 2-2: a time skip (and even a character change) decades later, as a 'slow' FTL galactic war wage over the building of a new relay network. The Relay Faction has founded a new Citadel Council on their own knock-off Citadel. The Anti-Relay Faction has adopted the role of the Terminus, individualistic and flawed, and is trying to defeat the new Council, a paternalist benevolent-authoritarian actor... which is starting to realize huge gains from the Relay network it's slowly putting into place, but is suffering massive costs as well. The Player Character, perhaps from a previously-neutral group or just one thrown into the war by Council/Terminus actions, becomes involved in a game changing conspiracy/event that could shape the fate of the war. Maybe a plan to nuke the relays by the Terminus, or a secret Council project to put a Relay deep in Terminus territory and open a rear front.

With the addition of a few relays, the war has truly gone galactic. New factions which were only introduced via emissaries or diplomats in ME 2-1 are now able to take center stage, while the more and more 'neutral' species are being forced/coerced into siding with one side or the other. The galaxy is polarizing.

ME 2-3: The galactic war finale, this time with a possible years time-skip and character change to allow new setting in a still largely unconnected galaxy. The Council faction has established a functional relay network. The Terminus looks to be doomed, but is rallying for one last, massive, overwhelming offensive to try and knock out the Council faction out of the game: apocalyptic, WMDs, Reaper tech, everything they can. The War may have finally reached Reaper-War levels of destruction. Maybe someone/someones even tries to make new Reapers: possible influence for ME2 Collector Base decision. You the player, blah blah blah, consequences coming about, blah blah blah, finale.

Ultimately the Terminus builds their own Crucible project, to try and re-destroy the relays. The Council has become so dependent on the relays so quickly that, without them, the Council would become divided and fall to the Terminus's otherwise superior technology/forces: the Destroy ending all over again, except just the Relays would be destroyed in a galaxy already equipped to survive without them. On the other hand, the Crucible could be used to turn the Terminus's own tech against them, turning their reliance on Reaper tech into their biggest weakness: the Control ending, without destroying the Relays.

You the player decide whether there will be a connected, united galaxy that enforces consensus, or a divided, independent galaxy separated by distance but free to pursue their own virtues and follies.

The End.

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Major Species roles/plotlines

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The Sol Alliance

The remnants of Earth, the Alliance, and all the allies who went to Earth but never returned to their homeworlds. Whether recovering Earth (Earth-intact ending of ME3), or re-settling on the nearby garden world in Alpha Centari (from CDN, the Earth-destroyed ME3 ending), the Sol Alliance is a successor to the Human Systems Alliance, but is no longer Human-only. With the number of aliens who did not choose to take the long FTL journey back to their homeworlds after the Battle of Earth, plus the other local colonies of various races, the Sol Alliance is as much multi-species alliance as it is a human civilization with a large alien minority.

Inheriting the remaining fleets and military strength of Shepard’s coalition, as well as the remains of the Citadel and many destroyed Reapers, the Sol Alliance is technologically and militarily powerful even if it is not large (if Earth was destroyed). While the Reaper technology and Conduit that were in the Sol System were key to Liara T’soni’s Relay project, the Sol Alliance itself is an undecided faction on the Relay Question.

A prime player-faction in the first game, the Alliance/Humans are also remembered in terms of their reputation from Shepard’s story. Many species meeting/re-meeting Humanity will do so in the context of the ME1 choice: is Humanity remembered as a benevolent, cooperative species, or a forceful, self-interested one that will force its will on others?

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Rannoch: Geth and/or Quarians

Choosing to take the long FTL journey home after the Reaper War, the survivors of the Rannoch War returned to their homeworld… but soon set out again, looking to ensure a ‘proper’ development of AI across the galaxy. The first, largest, and most experienced at long-range travel, the Rannoch survivors became some of the first traders to fly the FTL routes and re-connect the galaxy. The Geth/Quarians run the largest trading/FTL service in the galaxy, less to sustain themselves and more to advance their interests in AI development. Both Geth and Quarians, content with their homeworld space and their shipping routes, are respected as neutral, non-aggressive, and non-expansionist travelers of the galaxy. However, both species favor the Relays being rebuilt, in order to further their mission of AI development.

While the role of the Geth/Quarians is largely interchangeable, their intents are where they differentiate.

A Quarian civilization sees a partial return to the Migrant Fleet generation ships: not out of necessity, but more of tradition and purpose. Qurians serve their pilgrimage traveling the FTL routes, searching for civilizations and watching for developing synthetic life forms… and then ending them, so no one repeats the Geth. The Quarians are infamously neutral and non-interventionist in most respects, but vehemently anti-AI (except in a synthesis ending, covered later). The Migrant Fleet is respected by most, but feared by those harboring AI, the galactic AI-prevention force. Still, Ranoch is the homeworld of one of the largest FTL economic forces in the galaxy, and the base of the best synthetic/AI researchers in the galaxy.

Geth civilization travels and trades not to stop AI, but to find them and bring them to Rannoch to develop peacefully, safe from organic fear but also to help them to avoid anti-organic prejudices. Rannoch is an AI utopia, where AIs can go for refuge from organics and to safely develop. The Geth are the public-face and representatives of AI across the galaxy, neutral in organic conflicts and seeking to prevent AI-Organic tensions. Their trading service that they run is less to sustain themselves, and more as a means to garner good-will and foster synthetic-organic cooperation.

Geth-Quarian Peace is a hybrid society of synthetic and organic, working together in ways never seen before. While tensions always exist, the Geth-Qurian Synthesis travels the galaxy trying to foster synthetic-organic co-existence: not isolationism for synthetics, not prevention-fears by the organics.

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The Turian Hierarchies

When the relays broke, the Hierarchies strength in a clear chain of command helped individual regions rally and reorganize despite the loss of communication. That strength turned into a weakness, however, when future generations re-made contact and could not resolve the disputes. Beginning with Primarch Victus’s 20-year delay in returning to the ruins of Palaven with the remainder of the Turian Fleet, only to find another Primarch firmly established, so too occurred across the galaxy: each colonial region had its own Primarch, most of whom refused to recognize the primacy of any other. Turian society only has one solution for those who refuse to accept lawful authority, though, and the Primarch Wars began.

The Turian Hierarchies, once the single greatest power in the galaxy, are now rival empires that have been engaged in constant warfare since they established internal stability after the Reapers. Generations of Turians have fought each other for centuries, sending massive invasion fleets over the massive FTL distances. Each Primarch has their own style of leadership, and their own strategies: some are ruthless, some are conciliatory. Some have sought to cultivate alliances with other races and governments, others have spread their own empires and annexed others. And in return, others have played the Primarchs against eachother: outside meddling and internal resurrections both have taken advantage of distracted Primarchs.

If the Turians were to unite, their combined forces and experience would be the largest in the galaxy… but the chances of them uniting, whether in favor the Council or the Terminus, is slim.

As a factional force, different Primarchs will support different positions or policies. Depending on whether you favor the Relays/Council or no Relays/Terminus, you’d support different primarchs in their wars.

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The Asari Matriarchy

An evolution of the surviving Asari City States. As the Asari life span means that many Asari still remember the Reaper War, and their former age as a major power, Asari society has undergone a major culture shift. Gone is the dancing pacifism, internet democracy, and economic dominance of the old. Instead a more forceful, centralized government centered around the Matriarchs, which has taken a page out of a certain Bartender’s book and looked towards rebuilding the galaxy for the better… better meaning under the oversight of the Matriarchs, of course.

The Asari Matriarchy is the best and worst of the Council system of old: benevolent intentions, but insisting on dominance as well. The Matriarchs see themselves as the most qualified, arguably the only ones qualified, to re-order a galaxy no one else is alive to remember. Their cooperation is not as equals, but a paternalist leading partner who considers the concerns of the lesser partner. More militarized, and more openly ruthless, the Matriarchy isn’t evil, or even unwilling to compromise… it’s just not taking ‘no’ for an answer as it tries to re-make the Council... with itself as the leading member once again.

A vehemently pro-Council, pre-Relay faction. The Asari Matriarchy is, at the worst, benevolent authoritarianism, and at best a force for re-building the galaxy that is unable to reach a consensus. There are strong themes of revaunchism, of seeking to reclaim past glory, and Asari cultural superiority complex is an increased flaw.

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The Salarian City States

The Salarian political system of the Council Era was based on political alliances and machinations that became obsolete with the breakdown of the Mass Relays. In their absence, new political dynamics have taken over: every world a Daltrass, and only one Daltrass. Where the Asari have unified, the Salarians have fractured. The once united galactic power is now a powerful collective, but not a single unit. Perhaps the only force that truly wishes to re-unite the Salarians is the STG… a pan-Salarian force that seeks the defense, preservation, and advancement of Salarian kind.

Yes, that should sound familiar.

Salarian disunity can provide a easy mechanic for conspiracies on any side. If something’s strange, you can blame it on that faction’s Salarian element if no one else. A sub-plot of the STG attempting a unification movement, or simply being independent, can also provide variance of the group: whether you make the uncomfortable tradeoffs to re-unify the species, or let the STG exist autonomous and without government control much like Cerberus. Uniting the Salarians would help your faction of Council/Terminus, but would likely come with significant costs, ethical and galactic.

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The Volus Trade Federation

A counter-part to the Geth/Qurian shipping company, the Volus who survived used their economic ability and cultural inclination towards commerce to invest heavily in slow FTL infrastructure across the galaxy. Buying up Helium 3 refineries, purchasing rights to strategic worlds, and setting up the logistical infrastructure that allows slow-FTL, the Volus rebuilt the galactic credit and made one of the most influential organizations in the galaxy. With hired mercenary armies to protect their claims and an independent power in their own right, the Volus are powerful like they never were before in the Council galaxy… and have the most to lose if the relays break their economic dominance.

A commercial ‘big business’ faction that is vehemently anti-relay.

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The Yahg Empire

The Yahg are a rising, expansionist, and very aggressive power. Krogan without the birthrate, but more vicious and more intellectual to boot, the Yahg rose out of their planet after the Reaper War, and have rapidly become a significant power. Their conquests, brilliant as they are, have shown a mixture of cunning and calculus: though everyone acknowledges them as a threat, the Yahg have proven experts at exploiting divisions and making key strategic alliances that bring others to, if not like, at least tolerate them.

One of the Yahg’s most worrying positions is their public, unquestioned support of rebuilding the relays. Casting themselves as another force re-bringing order to the galaxy, their intelligence and willingness to make strategic alliances have made them an unwelcome, but key, ally to the Asari… who hope to moderate them as much as use them, even as they intend to offer them a seat on the future Council.

Their influence, strength, and intelligence have made them a cornerstone of the pro-Council, pro- cause, even backing Liara’s own Relay project from the start… but many fear that the Yahg see the relays as a means to expand their conquests. The Yahg are fierce foes, and even more worrisome allies, and the question of whether the Council alliance can control them in a connected galaxy is a real one.

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Krogan

Another of the races which left Earth to return to their own Homeworld, the Krogan remain an influential, if not dominant, force in the galaxy. The status of the genophage, and the nature of their leadership, dictates their galactic position.

If the Krogan were genophaged, all that remains of the once proud race is their last warriors. With the last Krogan female dead, the remainder have been unified into a fierce, feared army that seeks little more than glory and a worthy death… possibly under Grunt, if he lived. Picking fights across the galaxy even as it whittles their number, the Krogan Army remains large enough and powerful enough to strike one last blow that might shape the fate of the galaxy.

If the genophage was cured but Wreave rules, the Krogan are what they were always feared to be: the barbarians that swarm the galaxy and destroy everything they conquer. Eve’s mediation is mitigated to the fact that Wreave is ambitious, and dangerous. Krogan support would be sold to whichever side offers the most profit… but at high and worrisome cost. Wreave’s Krogan are the best argument against the connection of the Mass Relays, and the threat of any fast-breeding species overrunning the galaxy through the relays.

If the genophage was cured and Wrex rules, the Krogan have proved the galaxy wrong. Culture reforms have seen Tuchanka heal, and the Krogan are responsible members of the galaxy: still loving a good fight, but not the expansionist conquerors they were before. Knowing the Krogan need good foes to fight, but in a constructive way, the Krogan under Wrex are increasingly ‘defenders’: fighting other expansionist, aggressive powers like the Yahg on the behalf of weaker states, who then give the Krogan legitimacy and acceptance. Wrex’s vision offers the Krogan the fights they want in their blood, but an acceptable status in society. Krogan defense pacts under Wrex are honored, and the Krogan may yet become galactic peace keepers rather than occupiers… though of course Wrex intends to make sure that galactic role is one that benefits the Krogan as much as possible.

The Krogan are heavily influenced by ME 1-3, but not a key part of this sequel. The genophage plotline settled, more oxygen for other plots and species needs to be freed. The Krogan are accessory, but not critical. They are something of a ‘recrutiable’ faction this time around: they aren’t fixated on relays or not, only what benefits them best. Each will join for their own reasons: the Army for a final battle of glory in the history books, Wreave for Greed, Wrex for pragmatic self-interest.

However, again the Krogan are not central. The genophage is cured, or it is not, and this sequel won’t focus on it but rather let the consequences play out. The Krogan are accessory, not main focuses.

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Cerberus

The Illusive Man was right: Cerberus was more than a group, it was an idea. An idea of Human advancement, that won’t die until Humans do. The once-formidable group has all the elements to survive: the science, the secrecy, and the ability to forcibly recruit and produce highly capable agents. With just one Cerberus lab capable of producing Cerberus troopers, the organization can be rebuilt again… but perhaps differently, this time.

Cerberus is a possibility, as opposed to a central player. More of someone else assuming the name from the ruins of the organization of old, it could be considered a cancer that never goes away: whether this new group, still seeking the same goals if not by the same means, turns out to be a benign or malevolent cancer remains to be seen.

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Mercenary Empires

The Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack were more than Terminus mercenary groups: they were some of the few truly multi-racial groups in the galaxy before the Reapers, where merit and not race determined status. In the post-Reaper galaxy, when those Merc Groups set up their own states, whether by occupation or otherwise, they kept it. Now the Mercenary Empires are some of the most diverse states in the galaxy, avoiding the paradigm of ‘race = nation.’

Some have become something better, reforming and being legitimate cultures in their own right. Others have become dictatorial. What is clear, however, is that these mercenary states are up for grabs in determining the new galactic order.

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Possible Themes of Note

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Integration versus Separation

The relays connected the galaxy like airports connect Earth: almost every region in the galaxy was hours, maybe days, away from each other, or how ships connected coasts. The speed of travel brought distant communities closer together… and with that ability to travel came both benefits and costs. Exploration came hand in hand with wars of ever greater disaster. Not everyone wants close neighbors.

The species of the Mass Effect universe never had a choice about being neighbors: the relays were there from the start. Few species truly developed on their own, and the relays made distant threats much closer... and foreign occupations much easier.

There’s certainly something to be said for connectivity: a globalized world, if you will. But there are also very real drawbacks to being too close in proximity with others. Integration vs. separation can be as simple as the distance and effort it takes to meet others.

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Central Authority vs. Autonomy

Even as the Relays push connectivity vs. isolation, the movement to reestablish a Council authority brings up its own dilemma. The Council faction represents order, yes, but also an imposition of authority or ideology: the Matriarchs, or the Yahg, even the Geth/Quarians. While a vision for the future might be benevolent, the imposition of it still overrides the wills and views of others, who might also be legitimate. Taken too far, tyranny and exploitation result.

Autonomy, letting each decide their own fate, is an alternative… but it also comes at a cost. Autonomy can be an excuse for rampancy, or individual malevolence towards others. The lack of a central authority can lead to dead lock, a lack of action, or inconsistency when it’s needed most. Individual rights and responsibilities, when taken to an extreme, allow anarchy… and a different source of exploitation.

A ME sequel trilogy would be well placed to address whether the galaxy should be connected in the first place. Self-determination? Unity? Order? Freedom of conscience?

A choice for you.

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Xenonationalism vs. Diversity

One part of the galaxy of Mass Effect that rarely got notice was that it was, in effect, a racist society. Governance, legal rights, and in some cases even job opportunities were determined by race. The Council System was a one race, one voice system: if you didn’t agree with the policies of your recognized government, you were SOL. The only place where diversity of races was a fact of life was the uncivilized Terminus.

With the fall of the old galactic order, though, a new one can rise. While the Matriarchy and the Council-revaunchist factions seek to return to the old ways of racial politics, that isn’t inherent. Racial integration, if not galactic integration, can be far more prominent, or even dominant.

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Reclaiming Past Glory vs. Moving Past the Past

The galaxy before the Reapers would, for very understandable reason, be seen as a Golden Age for many species… particularly the Council Races, which ruled much of it. Idealized as the past always is, reclaiming that lost position and status would be a galvanizing influence for many.

But besides Asari and Krogan, few are alive who can ever claim to have lived in those days. For most, it’s history: reclaimers wanting what their great-great-great-great grandparents had… or others who refuse to submit because your great-great-great-great grandparent lorded over theirs. Especially if their species wasn’t even practicing space flight at the time.

This sort of revaunchism is something that would be highly applicable to the former ‘haves’ of the galaxy, the Council Races. The Matriarchs can actually remember when they were dominant. Turian Primarchs may rally their people with vows to reclaim past glory. The Salarian STG seeks to advance the Salarians to what they once were, and the security they once enjoyed. These are understandable, if sometimes flawed.

But also understandable would be those who weren’t as well off in the last galaxy. Old Glories don’t automatically legitimize present power grabs. Yes, the Council Races may have been key in defeating the Reapers, but so what? It was a galaxy effort. It was centuries ago. It’s simply being used as an excuse to claim dominance.

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Accounting for the Endings

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Changing the game to consider other endings might include...

Mass Effect 1 Endings: Paragon, Renegade Councils

The ME1 end-game shaped the reputation of Humanity in the galaxy. Whether Humans will be greeted warmly or with fear and suspicion depends on Shepard.

-Paragon Council: Humanity is warmly greeted by the former Citadel races, remembered as a self-sacrificing, benevolent species. Warmly, perhaps too warmly, remembered, Humanities flaws are forgiven… and its virtues exaggerated to unreasonable levels. Presumed to be pro-Council from the start, race-centric groups like the Matriarchy will presume all Humans to join them… and will be all the more bitter if you oppose them. Humanity’s remembered kindness is also associated with weakness, however, and their presumed pro-Council leanings makes Humans a favored target of Terminus groups. Given that Humanity is divided across the galaxy in its own right, these are some unreasonable prejudices.

Effectively a rhetoric/presentation slant to push people towards the Council faction: former-Council Races positively validate you when you favor the Council/Relay side, and recriminate you if you don’t. Terminus factions are depicted as naturally hostile to Humans, because you were associated with the Council of old.

-Renegade Council: Humanity is remembered, some say feared, as a hard-willed, hard-fighting, and hard-to-like species that toppled the first Citadel Council. Council revaunchists don’t approve and are suspicious of nearly all humans, but the independence streak has won the respect, if not adoration, of Terminus-leaning groups. Humanity’s reputation for self-reliance and self-interest persists despite the alliance-making of ME3, and in many respects fears of Human ability are over-exagerated. This makes some groups leery of crossing Humanity… and others all the more likely to take advantage of a perceived weakness in a ‘formidable’ rival. Since ‘Humanity’ as a political unit doesn’t exist, that means a harder galaxy for a lot of Humans… but also one in which some have no desire to cross us.

The counter-slant, pushing players towards the Terminus. Former-Council races/revaunchists are openly suspicious or borderline hostile towards the player, while the Terminus groups are equally wary but also wary of crossing you.

Mass Effect 2 Ending: Keep or Destroy the Base

ME2’s ending would most obviously effect any reoccurrence of Cerberus, as a resurgent organization remade in the memory of the first.

Keep the Base: While the Reapers were destroyed and the relays broken, the Collector Base and Cerberus facilities based around it were not. A small Cerberus population survived, isolated in the galactic core, unable to escape. Surviving through a combination of careful breeding and re-utilizing the Collector cloning facilities, a sustainable population was maintained… and isolated. Devoting themselves to mastering the Reaper technology, and preparing for a time when they could return to the galaxy and continue their mission for Humanity.

When the neo-Cerberus group found the Cerberus archives and old facilities, they also found the location of the Collector Base. Setting out to find the Base, neo-Cerberus found it still intact, and still inhabited… and came to absorb the knowledge and expertise of the original Cerberus as well.

Neo-Cerberus (or an equivalent group: the STG, for example) has much greater access to Reaper technology, and is much stronger.

Destroy the Base: When the Collector Base was isolated, the small Cerberus research labs studying the remains were trapped behind the Omega Relay. Without a sustainable population they soon died out, leaving the technology behind. When the neo-Cerberus group found the Cerberus archives and old facilities, they found the location of the Collector Base. When they arrived, it was empty, but the technology still intact.

Neo-Cerberus is weaker, having access to Reaper technology but not the mastery.

Mass Effect 3 Endings: Destroy, Control, Synthesis

The ME3 end-game scenarios, of course, shape some of the galactic context… but for the purpose of a sequel, can’t change too much.

-Destroy: The Shepard controls the Reapers, which still exist, but acts from a Distance. Shepard's inaction in the galactic crisis could be explained by pre-occupation with greater things: familiarizing him/herself with the Reapers and all their knowledge, as opposed to just ordering them around, could be a process centuries in length. Shepard could also have sent the Reapers to investigate other galaxies for an extra-galactic threat, such as un-interrupted Reaper Cycles in other galaxies, raising the prospect of an Outside Threat.

While the Control ending could provide an additional basis for the creation of the Mass Relays (The Shepard used the Reapers to teach organics), The Shepard plotline can be an added sense of a 'why has the Shepard abandoned us/left us to develop on our own' mixed with 'The Shepard is busy confronting a possibly even greater threat, and doesn't have time for our petty games.' By the time The Shepard actually deigns to notice and is both able and would care to intervene in ME 2-3, the Player Character might simply get some backing for their cause that they would already win. Icing on the cake.

-Synthesis: Cosmetic color change, without changing the nature of the political dispute. Fundamental differences would be beyond the writing ability anyway. The main plotline affect would be on they/any synthetic plotline. Similarity alone might not prevent conflicts, but it could change the position of a prominent non-Geth AI faction (say from anti-relay anti-organic hostility to pro-relay acceptance).

However, the still-living Reapers could be a force in their own right, albeit removed for similar reasons like The Shepard in the Control ending. Becoming more like Organics, Reaper-factionalization can have occured: most Reapers stay hidden in the Dark Space between systems, actually preferring isolation in their own worlds and with eachother than active engagement, and still on the watch for the rise of a singularity threat. Some 'deviant' exceptions, however, choose to involve themselves: for their own reasons, in opposition to the others, whatever. Pro-Council Reapers think that a united galaxy is the best way to collectively address any hostile singularity, and are involved in helping build the Council's Mass Relays. Pro-Terminus Reapers help the Terminus understand and master Reaper technology. Collectively, the balance eachother out in terms of effecting the war. The rest of the Reapers, as many as needed, could have elicited their own journey to other galaxies in the 'Outside Threat' subtext.

So, to differentiate by ME3 ending:

Destroy: No Reapers. The possibility of extra-galactic Reapers is a raised possibility, but a low-priority in face of the war. Both Council and Terminus factions more or less intend to look into it after they win the war in this galaxy.

Control: The Shepard exists, is known, but is largely absent from the main game story. Distracted in the First Game, busy in the Second, The Shepard is concerned about an extra-galactic Reaper threat, but has no proof and so is sending Reapers to search the cosmos for an outside threat. The Shepard, pre-occupied as it is, more or less allows the galaxy to sort itself out... but in ME 2-3 is willing to intervene at the behest of the Player, IE act on the side that will determine the outcome regardless. Control has the most explicit focus on the possibility of the Outside Threat.

Synthesis: AI-Organic hostility is more or less gone, with any AI-Organic feuds resolved/improved. Everyone has green eyes, and more people have superficial cybernetics, but new pure-synthetic and pure-organic civlilizations, or those not in range of the Crucible effect, are rising as well creating a trinary system rather than a binary. No hostile AI's, and even the pure-Quarian ME3 now focus on adapting pure-synthetics into the Synthesis rather than destroying them outright. The Reapers exist, but not as an active force: now divided, they effectively cancel each other out in support of the galactic factions. The Reapers conduct their own exploration outside the galaxy as well, searching for any Outside Threat.

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Simple, no?