I've talked about this in other threads, but I figured since this is the new fad, what the hell, I'll take my swing at it. But first, I want to preface this a little, get a couple things out of the way, just to be clear.
I have gone on record as saying I believe the expedition to Andromeda should leave the Milky Way before the ending to ME3. I think that is the most logistically sound way of handling this game from a design stand point, I think it is perfectly logical from a story telling stand point, and I believe that any number of justifications can be created to make it work and fit consistently with the setting.
I also believe that canonizing one of the endings is the absolute worst thing BioWare could do with MEA, and I will not purchase or play this game if that is the route they decide to go with.
And finally, I would like to say that I do not care for the Refusal ending. I have never chosen it and I do not endorse it's message or moral. This is not me picking the ending I like most(High EMS Paragon Destroy, for the record) and arguing that it's the best. This is me taking an objective look at the facts as we know them and forming an assessment based on that.
Having said that, and for the benefit of those who lack the imagination to conceive of a way MEA can work without the expedition leaving after the events of ME3, I would like to explain why, should they make the decision to canonize one of the endings, that Refusal would be their best option.
Essentially, it comes down to one word; stakes. In any other ending, even a low-ems Destroy ending where the Galaxy has entered into a dark age, the simple fact remains that in any other ending than Refusal, life and civilization continues to exist – and in some cases, thrive – in the Milky Way. If we fail to establish a foot hold in Andromeda, if we all die, then that will be sad, but life goes on.
But with the Refusal ending, we are the last hope for the galactic civilization. Not just for humanity, but all the species of the Milky Way. If we fail, it's all over. The stakes just shoot up dramatically and, in theory, our investment in the story follows.
It also gives us a more tangible motivation than just “explore”. You can still have the wonder of exploring strange new worlds in this set up, but you also have the drive of desperation and survival. We've lost once, we cannot lose again. If we can't reach a peaceful arrangement with the locals, we can't just turn around and go home; we don't have a home anymore, and we need to claim one.
As for how this works logistically within the setting. A prominent theory as to how we get to Andromeda is reverse engineering Reaper drive cores. A common criticism for this theory is the idea that there isn't enough time in the span of ME3 to accomplish this. However, Liara at one point estimates that, should the Galactic forces fail at the battle of Earth, it will still take the Reapers another hundred years or so to complete the Harvest based solely on the fact that the Galaxy is huge.
So that gives us a few decades after our defeat where we're still alive, still struggling, however hopeless it is. A few decades to study dead reapers and figure out a way to adapt their technology into a working prototype that can take us out of the Galaxy.
And now we're in a situation where, even if it isn't perfect, even if it has a 1% chance of success at best, and we haven't gotten the chance to work out all the bugs, it's still worth trying because it's literally all we've got at this point.
Aside from those points, Refusal is kind of a best of both worlds scenario when it comes to blank-slating the endings. It combines the “well, we don't have to explain away why the friendly reapers aren't helping us and why everyone isn't a cyborg” of the Destroy ending with the “the geth aren't automatically dead” of the control and synthesis endings. So it gives them the freedom of bringing whatever elements they want from the setting without being burdened by the baggage the other endings saddled them with.
So, in conclusion, while I maintain that canonizing any of the endings is a terrible, terrible idea, if they have to choose one, then from a narrative stand point, I believe that Refusal would be the best option they could go with.
Retour en haut
). If BW were to make the mistake of making an ending canon, Refuse (or something XCOM2-esque of continuing from a timeline where Shep died earlier) would be the best choice. It gives reasons for the Ark project to exist, it gives time for the technology to be developed and it means there's no need to think about communications with "home".
