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Did you have the memorial scene? If not, it was the original ending
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Yes, I had the memorial scene, so it's the extended cut.
Well if that's so, I wonder how the original ending was like. Because what I have seen looked pretty much the only possible way to make a fitting ending. I have heard the original ending was awful, but I thought the problem was like the ending wasn't appropriate or unsatisfying or unpleasant or something like that, and that Bioware created an extended version of the game to keep playing beyond the ending and reach a second, better ending. Apparently that was not the case. I assume the original ending was simply missing a few scenes. But I don't know how it was like and I guess I don't need to know. What I got is fair enough
As for our talkative friend God, I must say I sort of missed his shallow provocations and innuendoes, but you know, I am still wondering what makes him take everything so personally.
No I normally don't take things at face value, just to your knowledge.
Anyway, this ending is fitting. For three games we have been induced to wage war against AI. It seemed to be all about us against them. Organics on one side and synthetics on the other. I hated Cerberus much more than synthetics though. Not at first: at the beginning, during the first game, that obnoxious Saren took his well deserved dose of hatred. The Reapers then took his place. Then along came ME2 and Cerberus (quite a nasty presence already) was finally depicted as the criminal organization it actually is: the most hateful and repulsive characteristic of TIM and his bunch of criminals was their inherent racism and unacceptable belief that humanity should prevail over other species. Humanity is just one of the species of the galaxy, it needs to fit in the bigger picture and establish the right relationship with other species, who have exactly the same right to be in the galaxy and deserve exactly the same respect we owe to mankind. TIM and his terrorists would break just about any ethical rule just to push forward an intrinsically wrong end, which is promoting humanity at all costs, disregarding the needs and the rights of other species, and even using their own kin to perform the most disgusting experiments. In the end, it was obvious that such a powercrazed organization would think of controlling the Reapers, unsurprisingly to use them to promote their own interests in spite of those of other species. It was absolutely evident that the real evil was Cerberus. The Reapers were just machines went crazy, something we could deal with by destroying them and restoring the galactic balance.
But Cerberus: they were much worse than that. They were the futuristic version of Nazi belief that Germans come first. That anything is acceptable for the sake of your own good, or your race's good, which is mean, miserable and obtuse. Even without Reapers, imbeciles like TIM would always be there attempting to unbalance the beautiful equilibrium of diplomacy, compromise and peaceful life by conceiving evil plans whose only aim would be promoting their own small part of the picture. They are the space nazis. Priority one. After all, even the Prothean failed to stop the Reapers because a group among them reasoned much like Cerberus.
In ME3, Bioware does the right thing in explaining how Cerberus is actually despicable, and then turns the table with a coup that deserves commendation.
While we thought of the good old galaxy, the balance between organic species and the need to restore the status quo, they go one step further and make you think: look, it's all about diversity. It's not about Krogans, Turians and Salarians: they are different among themselves, true enough, but they aren't nearly as different as they differ from synthetics. Artificial life and Organic life is the ultimate distinction between "us" and "them". This story is about The Other. The relationship between different peoples of the world is reflected in the ultimate difficulty of relationship between organisms and machines.
Peace would not last, organics and synthetics never fully understand each other: even if the Reapers stop it (and they must stop it, because killing is never a solution), there will still be struggle between the opposite parts. It's no longer a matter of different species: this is a matter of different life forms. True, Quarians making peace with the Geth would prove that fighting is not necessary, that compromise and mutual understanding is indeed possible. But perhaps what the Catalyst means is that even there, eventually, Quarian and Geth would start struggling again.
The only possible way out of this is mutual understanding, and this is possible through integration. This is how civilization works after all. No progress in civilization can be achieved without a process of constant inclusion of diversity in your group. Closed groups that promote their own interests don't live long. The only way to progress is through integration, understanding, contamination.
So peace is only possible if the distinction between "us" and "them" disappears. Shepard gives her life to promote this fusion, this new culture that is the ultimate step in evolution. No more death, no more misunderstandings. This is the way to settle the matter once and for all.
I think Bioware taught a very good lesson here. I am not sure what the problem with the original ending was, but this is how things should go even here and now.
As for alternate endings, I haven't explored them yet. I will see, out of curiosity, what they are about. But I suspect that other endings can't be nearly as good as this one.
In fact, I understand the importance of giving alternatives in a role playing game. But this is not just a RPG, it's actually a fine story, and fine stories should teach something. I hope BioWare has found a way to uphold the essence of the morality of this game even in other endings.
I'll see and judge myself.
Bravo Bioware. Great game, despite you cheated me into playing for Nazis for a while.
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