Because it's cheaper to do a breath than a full scene of him walking around.
Bioware had at least some resources to throw at the EC. You can see this in how they potrayed so many non-Shepard characters being alive and walking around not being buried in rubble in the ending slides. That must've cost a bit.
Because it's cheaper to do a breath than a full scene of him walking around.
It's possible, but I think it was clearly designed to convey what most people interpreted it as. If it were meant to say what you're suggesting, it would've worked better as, for instance, a longer moment with a slow intake and an equally slow exhale. Possibly a shot of Shepard's face closing his/her eyes with a somewhat content, or at least peaceful, look on the commander's face. Something more final and ending. What we have instead is a sharp inhale that it immediately cuts away from - I think this favours the notion that this is a twist on the previous assumption of Shepard dying, and the instant cut encouraging us to continue the trail of thought ourselves (namely, "Shepard is alive? What happens next?").
The thing is that it could have been done with very little actual work on Bioware's part, reusing assets that they already had.
You just need to take a look at John P's Alternate MEHEM (version A). It keeps pretty much everything exactly the same as the regular endings, including the hologram kid conversation. The difference comes from what happens in the high EMS Destroy ending. Things play out as normal, then when you get to the breath scene you get dialogue of the crew searching for Shepard. When rescued the memorial scene plays out with Shepard placing Anderson's name on the memorial board.
There really was no reason for them to make their confirmation so vague if it was indeed intended for that task. To be honest I find it far more likely that it was left vague so people could take that scene in the ways that we've discussed in this thread. Want Shepard alive? That's what you see. Want Shepard to take a last breath knowing the Reapers are destroyed. Then that's what you get.
I think it's a lot better than Synthesis and Control, some people prefer them to save EDI, but my Shepard and Garrus is more important to us.
I don't get why they didn't expand on Shepard's life in the EC if he survived Destroy. Why is it always left unexplored and open?
To be honest I felt more emotion from the text slides at the end of Dragon Age: Origins than I did from any of the visuals at the end of Mass Effect 3, pre or post Extended Cut. Bioware or modded endings.
While reading them I felt there was a certain passion about the characters and world in the words on screen. It was a shame that I never got that from Mass Effect 3.
I don't think I would have liked them to expand on Shepard further than survival because at the end I don't think they had the passion left about the series to do it proper justice.
There really was no reason for them to make their confirmation so vague if it was indeed intended for that task. To be honest I find it far more likely that it was left vague so people could take that scene in the ways that we've discussed in this thread. Want Shepard alive? That's what you see. Want Shepard to take a last breath knowing the Reapers are destroyed. Then that's what you get.
I can't bring myself to kill the geth, They are like puppies to me :C, also I can't help but feel like if shepard did in fact survive then s/he will probably be on serious life support and I doubt the alliance or anyone has enough money/resources for project lazarus 2.0 after the reaper war.
I think the fuss was because it required people to play multiplayer, and that's bad because multiplayer is evil and youtube doesn't exist. As for the scene itself, it was a throwaway "the end...OR IS IT???" easter egg, akin to the legendary endings in Halo. In the more oblique original endings, there was possibly enough ambiguity for people who wanted it to imagine Shepard survived, but the EC endings all but remove the ambiguity and show a Milky Way with an absent Shepard.
the multiplayer wasn't that bad, we got to play as krogan and the geth! *i'm a geth lover yes*. Personally i think it was a great addition. I Didn't know people disliked the multiplayer even if they did I would like to know why.
You missed something very important on that breathing scene.
When the camera rolls over Shepards body it is not moving in the beginning. His chest is not going up and down, nothing. Then he suddenly takes a deep breath / gasps for air.
This is not a sign of dying. It is more like he "came" back / woke up from a near dead state. Like when people where without air for a longer time, were unconscious and succesfully reanimated. The first thing they do is take a deep breath.
This is based on "cinematic reality" not real medical cases since I see Mass Effect as a playable movie and therefore it undergoes the same patterns.
A breathing scene where he would die, would be more like seeing him breath in the beginning and then it slowly fades away.
I can't bring myself to kill the geth. They are like puppies to me :C,
It's pretty easy. Just tell the talking toaster it can't keep the Reaper kool aid it got from becoming best buds with Harbinger and trying to exterminate everyone else. It gets butthurt at this completely rational decision, unprovokedly tries to murder you, and then your loyal quarian allies save your life and take care of the situation for you.
Alternatively, shoot the tube a few times. Crucible takes care of it for you.
Dunno, I've never had a puppy that tried to kill me when I simply told it to obey my commands and stop shitting on the carpet.....or stop helping genocidal interstellar robot squids, but w/e, guess I haven't seen many puppies.
I concur. The phenomenon I find strange is when someone doesn't want Shepard dead but feels compelled to interpret the scene that way anyway.
I can see the scene both ways. My preference would of course be to Shepard being alive, I just don't see the breath scene as absolute definite confirmation of life.
You missed something very important on that breathing scene.
When the camera rolls over Shepards body it is not moving in the beginning. His chest is not going up and down, nothing. Then he suddenly takes a deep breath / gasps for air.
This is not a sign of dying. It is more like he "came" back / woke up from a near dead state. Like when people where without air for a longer time, were unconscious and successfully reanimated. The first thing they do is take a deep breath.
This is based on "cinematic reality" not real medical cases since I see Mass Effect as a playable movie and therefore it undergoes the same patterns.
A breathing scene where he would die, would be more like seeing him breath in the beginning and then it slowly fades away.
Shepard is wearing armour, as damaged as it may be, and given the injuries sustained could very well be breathing so shallow that you wouldn't see movement, right up until that final breath.
You mention people coming back often take a sharp breath. People who are about to die often do the same thing.
So my points hold. Everything about the scene seems designed to be read in a multitude of ways, rather than a confirmation of one.
It's pretty easy. Just tell the talking toaster it can't keep the Reaper kool aid it got from becoming best buds with Harbinger and trying to exterminate everyone else. It gets butthurt at this completely rational decision, unprovokedly tries to murder you, and then your loyal quarian allies save your life and take care of the situation for you.
Alternatively, shoot the tube a few times. Crucible takes care of it for you.
Dunno, I've never had a puppy that tried to kill me when I simply told it to obey my commands and stop shitting on the carpet.....or stop helping genocidal interstellar robot squids, but w/e, guess I haven't seen many puppies.
I think legions response was totally justified, his race has suffered so much, It sacrificed everything for it's people. Yet the abusive parents couldn't see that they were forced to serve the reapers or face extinction. Legion went insane over the fact that you would deny his people freedom. Tali was the only person to convince me to spare your species. Geth have souls too
we are also going off topic
So my points hold. Everything about the scene seems designed to be read in a multitude of ways, rather than a confirmation of one.
Well, then if you want it your Shepard is dead.
Mine lives every time I get the breath 
It's as easy as that. Every player will read their own thing into it.
My Shepard lives and is currently in Vancouver having drinks with Samantha. Excellent
Well, then if you want it your Shepard is dead.
Mine lives every time I get the breath
Which is exactly what I've been saying. The scene can be read either way.
My Shepard lives and is currently in Vancouver having drinks with Samantha. Excellent
Can't be. Samantha is with my Shepard on Mindoir.
Which is exactly what I've been saying. The scene can be read either way.
I know what you were saying, but I just find it a bit strange that for someone who wants their Shepard to live, they'd take the scene as if it were Shepard's last breath.
And now you say your Shepard also lives, so... you didn't believe in her dying.
It's fine to headcanon it can be Shepard's last breath, or maybe even waking up to die from their wounds later, but that would also be ignoring that everything points to not being intended this way. We already have one ending in which Shepard dies from Destroy, and that's with lower EMS. Why should it happen with High EMS and a specifically designed extra scene for this purpose? Anyway, I guess you know what I want to say, and like I said, it's fine to take it both ways, but I'm pretty sure the dev's intention with the breath scene was to show Shepard's survival.
I know what you were saying, but I just find it a bit strange that for someone who wants their Shepard to live, they'd take the scene as if it were Shepard's last breath.
And now you say your Shepard also lives, so... you didn't believe in her dying.
It's fine to headcanon it can be Shepard's last breath, or maybe even waking up to die from their wounds later, but that would also be ignoring that everything points to not being intended this way. We already have one ending in which Shepard dies from Destroy, and that's with lower EMS. Why should it happen with High EMS and a specifically designed extra scene for this purpose? Anyway, I guess you know what I want to say, and like I said, it's fine to take it both ways, but I'm pretty sure the dev's intention with the breath scene was to show Shepard's survival.
You're confusing my being able to read the scene both ways for my preference on how I want it to play out.
If their intent was to confirm Shepard's survival then they did a poor job of that.
You're confusing my being able to read the scene both ways for my preference on how I want it to play out.
Exactly. The scene on it's own is ambiguous enough to allow for either reading.
Other scenes, not so much.
If their intent was to confirm Shepard's survival then they did a poor job of that.
I don't think so personally. Maybe I don't see it that way because I took the breath immediately as survival, and that never changed. While I see that it can be interpreted both ways, for me a videogame rule is, if you do more stuff, collect more things and thus spend more time in the game, you get a reward. This reward is Shepard surviving. It's a teaser scene like I've seen in other videogames as well when you collect enough things, like a "secret" ending, if you will 
I think it was poorly organised first and foremost. You have all the rambling from Hackett, then you see the Citadel getting repaired, then the memorial scene, and then you see the breath scene. Was Shepard lying there and holding her/his breath for several months of what? Did we randomly go back in time?
I still think it's the best ending. Which isn't saying much as far as ME3 ending goes. But at least the Reapers and the Catalyst are gone. Good riddance. Watching the bastards go down feels pretty good.
I think it was poorly organised first and foremost. You have all the rambling from Hackett, then you see the Citadel getting repaired, then the memorial scene, and then you see the breath scene. Was Shepard lying there and holding her/his breath for several months of what? Did we randomly go back in time?
To understand this order you have to keep some out-of-game history in mind (or become aware of them if you didn't know already). Namely that we originally had an ending showing less of the aftermath. Hackett's monologue with the slides and the Citadel's repairs were added as part of the Extended Cut that they released about 3 months later. Now, because of how the breath scene is set up, it kinda has to be the last thing shown, which is why you go back and forth.
I don't think it's a big deal, though. It's commonly seen in movies that an epilogue will tie some threads and paint a broad picture of what the future brought the survivors or whatever. Then at the very end you zoom back in on one of the important characters (the protagonist or even antagonist). "But what happened to our brave hero/the nefarious villain?" And you get a quick glimpse of them immediately after the final battle, which hints at what they might do in the future, albeit more vaguely than the previous part of the epilogue. "Oh, the hero survived after all!/Oh, the big baddie isn't dead after all! I wonder what will happen..."
Don't see the problem with this. Story doesn't break from a small jump back in time like that
Edit: what I personally see as a much bigger problem with the Extended Cut is showing the Normandy leaving the planet it stranded on if you had high EMS. It makes the whole segment pointless and it really hurts the narrative when part of the wrapping-up is completely superfluous.
To understand this order you have to keep some out-of-game history in mind (or become aware of them if you didn't know already). Namely that we originally had an ending showing less of the aftermath. Hackett's monologue with the slides and the Citadel's repairs were added as part of the Extended Cut that they released about 3 months later. Now, because of how the breath scene is set up, it kinda has to be the last thing shown, which is why you go back and forth.
I don't think it's a big deal, though. It's commonly seen in movies that an epilogue will tie some threads and paint a broad picture of what the future brought the survivors or whatever. Then at the very end you zoom back in on one of the important characters (the protagonist or even antagonist). "But what happened to our brave hero/the nefarious villain?" And you get a quick glimpse of them immediately after the final battle, which hints at what they might do in the future, albeit more vaguely than the previous part of the epilogue. "Oh, the hero survived after all!/Oh, the big baddie isn't dead after all! I wonder what will happen..."
Don't see the problem with this. Story doesn't break from a small jump back in time like that
Edit: what I personally see as a much bigger problem with the Extended Cut is showing the Normandy leaving the planet it stranded on if you had high EMS. It makes the whole segment pointless and it really hurts the narrative when part of the wrapping-up is completely superfluous.
I can't say I feel the same. I understand that it's meant to happen soon after the Crucible fires, but it feels messy (Maybe it's just me.) and it happens at the point of the ending when I don't think about Shepard so much any more because we're presented with how the galaxy deals after the war. So when it finally goes back to the breath scene, I'm like, "Oh, right." I didn't play the game before the Extended Cut came out, but the "It kind of worked okay before, but EC sort of messed it up," doesn't really work for me. It either works or it doesn't. It's the same with how they "fixed" the evac scene with more nonsense. I'm glad it's there but it's still silly.
However, it's not my biggest problem with the ending. My biggest problem with the ending is the whole deal with the star brat. (I don't want to beat a dead horse here, though.) What happens with the Normandy despite the high EMS ending comes rather close. I addressed the breath scene specifically because that's what the thread's title made me think of, to be honest.
I don't think so personally. Maybe I don't see it that way because I took the breath immediately as survival, and that never changed. While I see that it can be interpreted both ways, for me a videogame rule is, if you do more stuff, collect more things and thus spend more time in the game, you get a reward. This reward is Shepard surviving. It's a teaser scene like I've seen in other videogames as well when you collect enough things, like a "secret" ending, if you will
This I suppose it why the scene is so effective, it shows people what they want to see. The first time I played I was "yes, she's made it" when the breath scene played.
Yet that first playthrough was a 'perfect' run. Shepard was paragon, in love, and everyone had lived.
Then I did a renegade run with an insular Shepard who got lots of people killed. I did get enough war assets to get the breath scene but I felt a different perspective on it because of how I had played that Shepard. That Shepard may have won the same victory but she died alone without the memory of friends and family to comfort her passing.
This I suppose it why the scene is so effective, it shows people what they want to see. The first time I played I was "yes, she's made it" when the breath scene played.
Yet that first playthrough was a 'perfect' run. Shepard was paragon, in love, and everyone had lived.
Then I did a renegade run with an insular Shepard who got lots of people killed. I did get enough war assets to get the breath scene but I felt a different perspective on it because of how I had played that Shepard. That Shepard may have won the same victory but she died alone without the memory of friends and family to comfort her passing.
That is a good reason to end that Shepard's life and it's really cool you actually "felt" that way, I love when games do that, and ME is very good with this. Sounds like something I could enjoy as well. Though I'm not sure if I'll ever be almost full Renegade.
I guess when I don't want my Shepard to live I'll just go for lower EMS. I had planned that in my last run with FemShep for the first time (she was also half Renegade-y, killed loads of people, including Wrex and Mordin), but things changed... a lot I became so attached to her and her sad flawed character, so she lived to get a happy end and get better, haha.
But yeah, I guess we can just leave it at that. People will see what they will see, it is ambiguous enough, and also why I like this scene plus the open ending. It's so good for headcanoning.
Breath EMS Destroy doesn't confirm Shepard survival, it only implies it, and in a strange way.
I see voteDC's perspective. I don't agree with it, but I do think that Bioware, at least initially, didn't go over the edge just enough to confirm Shepard's survival. And even dramatically, there's not enough to necessarily carry the message of "Shepard made it"
That said, you add in the parts from Extended Cut and Citadel DLC (and even little symbolic gestures in stuff like Omega DLC)... and its at least HARD to ASSUME Shepard only died alone in rubble. There isn't that part. You get enough content implying that he's woken up, trying to get out, and a hand will pick him out of the rubble and he'll live.
In any case, Shepard seems to have 'died' in all endings. Even the Destroy ending might be that he was temporarily dead before something brings him back - IT-wake-up or suit defibrillator or whatever. And his 'Afterlife' is utterly up to our perceptions. Bioware may choose to address this in some way in the next game, or leave it entirely alone; arguments could be made for either happening.
All endings end with hope. There is is that. Even Refuse and Lowest EMS Destroy have it, even if to a lesser extent. The Reapers are defeated. Shepard.. well.. um... yeah.
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