89 réponses à ce sujet

[Ibby1kanobi]

1) As already stated, reproduction.



2) To keep the races from gaining enough power to challenge the Reapers supremacy.



Every time the new organics gain enough power to begin to worry the Reapers, they swoop in, kill everything in the universe then plant the seeds of life to start the cycle again. This way they can reproduce and make sure no one advances enough to challenge them.

[Mad Oreo 112091]

Joshd21 wrote...

SithLordExarKun wrote...

I think ME3 will reveal all that. Maybe they(the reapers) are fighting an unseen and even more devastating enemy hence they need the resources? I don't know but that sounds ridiculous.

I demand Mass Effect 3 be long and intense and you meet up with your old allys, and tie in the loose ends. I hear we will be dying in the final Mass Effect 3. As Bioware put it his story has to come to an end, believe he will do some heroic thing in Mass Effect defeating the repeaers and saving the galaxy

He also could have died in this one, so I wouldn't be surprised if Bioware gave you the option of helping Sheperd live or die.

[Weskerr]

It's never been fully explained what "dark space" is. Do they mean inter-galactic space (the space between galaxies)? If dark space is intergalactic, then maybe the Milky Way galaxy is one of many galaxies that the Reapers harvest. Or perhaps there are Reaper factions who divide up the universe and compete for galaxies to control - like territory.

[Pexxithan]

Here's another thing to think about.



Husks. Mindless drones or very basic reapers.

[Inriri]

They probably chose humans this time because of Shepard laying the smackdown on Sovereign. They seek to achieve perfection, and at the time they viewed humans as the more powerful race. Which is why Harbinger really hates Shepard

[WoodWizzard87]

Ibby1kanobi wrote...

1) As already stated, reproduction.

2) To keep the races from gaining enough power to challenge the Reapers supremacy.

Every time the new organics gain enough power to begin to worry the Reapers, they swoop in, kill everything in the universe then plant the seeds of life to start the cycle again. This way they can reproduce and make sure no one advances enough to challenge them.

You would think that if they actually wipd out a species every 50k years, thats really no time at all in evolution terms.  If they wiped out all sentient beings and left the planets the way they are, logic and evolution, would probably dictate creating creatures again that look similar to the civilizations before.  Which makes me think, the protheans become enslaved, wipe out the rest of the species/races, and then the reapers turn on their worker bees, because that is what they do. 

[p-o-d-b-o-d]

I'm most interested in how the first Reaper came about. Did a civilisation reach an incredible height of technology that they decided that the only way to live forever was to make themselves into a massive synthetic-organic being?

[Shahadem]

Anacronian Stryx wrote...

My theory : The Reapers seek to reproduce, This is a common goal for all living entities, Without reproduction there is only stagnation - even for immortal races - think of the as V'ger from Star Trek the motion picture.

Nonsense. The urge to reproduce is purely a mortal one which is why all lving things do it even if they are just basic diseases or proteins. To an immortal nothing is more important than the self as that self has no beginning or end and is the only self by which one can see, view and interact with the world (universe) at large. New beings do not help the self carry on it's genetic profile, it alredy does that itself by being an immortal.

Modifié par Shahadem, 01 février 2010 - 06:47 .

[darthdrake201]

They probable harvest multiple galaxies.

[DerkontheForum]

Fabler4 wrote...

Why do we need to make more humans?

The goal of every organic thing is to reproduce.

[Thrakkesh]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that it has something to do with the Quarian Homeworld's Sun. There was something a little out-of-left-field about that whole conversation. I choose to put it to the whole bit at the end Harbinger said (We are your Salvation!), and connect the dots. It might make no sense, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I'm also dismissing the whole 'food-supremacy' thing because when you straight up ASK if they need Slaves or foods Soverign pretty much dismisses it as something you wouldn't understand. 'We're scared of you' or 'Om nom nom' is pretty easy to figure out.

Also, why the hell was Harbinger saying things like 'If I have to destroy you Shepard, I will?'  Seems to be showing a weird level of restraint compared to Soverign, wouldn't you say?  Who's to say the Reapers aren't a little more nuanced and invidiualistic than we believe, and some of them have different reasons for what they're doing? Hell, who's to say they even agree on the same agenda?

I'm gonna make the potentially stupid decision and call it: The Mass Effect fields slowly but surely destabilize the universe and do ugly things like make suns explode.  The Reapers realized sapient life inevitably figures it out sooner or later and breaks the universe, and so put this grand plan to keep a 'reset' button.  To put on the even crazier hat--the Reapers know this because they were the first ones to screw it up, and that's why they live in Darkspace/whatever you call it.

Modifié par Thrakkesh, 01 février 2010 - 07:01 .

[Giantevilhead]

Shahadem wrote...

Anacronian Stryx wrote...

My theory : The Reapers seek to reproduce, This is a common goal for all living entities, Without reproduction there is only stagnation - even for immortal races - think of the as V'ger from Star Trek the motion picture.

Nonsense. The urge to reproduce is purely a mortal one which is why all lving things do it even if they are just basic diseases or proteins. To an immortal nothing is more important than the self as that self has no beginning or end and is the only self by which one can see, view and interact with the world (universe) at large. New beings do not help the self carry on it's genetic profile, it alredy does that itself by being an immortal.

Actually, the "urge" to reproduce is not a mortal one. There are bacteria that essentially cannot die from natural causes but they still reproduce. Reproduction is an evolutionary adaptation. It is for the benefit of the species, not the individual.

[DerkontheForum]

p-o-d-b-o-d wrote...

I'm most interested in how the first Reaper came about. Did a civilisation reach an incredible height of technology that they decided that the only way to live forever was to make themselves into a massive synthetic-organic being?

Could see this happening. Kind of like great power comes with great responsiblity thing, except they didn't get that note and made a machince to melt down their own race to make a super ship..

[flem1]

Anacronian Stryx wrote...

My theory : The Reapers seek to reproduce, This is a common goal for all living entities, Without reproduction there is only stagnation - even for immortal races - think of the as V'ger from Star Trek the motion picture.

The problem is that so far The Reapers have been unsuccessful at finding any race who could be made into Reapers, Even the Protheons were unsuited for Reaperhood (for some unknown reason)

So the Reapers goes on a killing spree every 50.000 years until the galaxy finally produce a race who can be made into Reapers, And now they have found it - and of cause it's humans.

Except Sov was trying to activate the Citadel for a long, long time.

[AtreiyaN7]

It sounds like they're doing this to evolve. That's why they wanted our genetic material for this new Reaper. Shepard defeated one of their own - no other race has done this. Is it any surprise that they targeted us? Maybe they think we're the latest race worthy of becoming part of them (so to speak).

** Edit: should have stated reproduce AND evolve up there.

Modifié par AtreiyaN7, 01 février 2010 - 07:48 .

[musmulja]

They remind me on shadows (Babylon 5). Every 1000 (in this case 50,000) years they "wake up" and destroy everything.

[john william]

I don't think they need a real reason for it beyond hatred of other things.

[asaiasai]

Dellingr wrote...

the reapers harvest organics for their biomass (which they use to construct new reapers, since they're not entirely synthetic after all), and it takes 50,000 years for enough biomass to develop to make a decent number of reapers. It's their method of reproduction

Quite agree, it is reaper reproduction, nothing more. Now what is interesting since WE aborted the human reaper fetus if we lose we will be wiped from existence no trace of us will be left. The reapers construct thier new reapers i think to mimic the most influential or powerful race in the galaxy at the time. It is in imho a nod, an honor according to the reapers that they would have made a human shaped reaper. He instructs his troops in the final battle to save Shepards body to be added to the reaper, as he/she is the most worthy adversary. It is kind of a double edged sword here, i feel honored in the fact that my character was instrumental in the reapers taking notice of my species, but at the same time being liquified to make a new reaper is not something i am looking foward to.

Should be interesting to see how they put this story to bed in ME3.

Asai

[WoodWizzard87]

DerkontheForum wrote...

p-o-d-b-o-d wrote...

I'm most interested in how the first Reaper came about. Did a civilisation reach an incredible height of technology that they decided that the only way to live forever was to make themselves into a massive synthetic-organic being?

Could see this happening. Kind of like great power comes with great responsiblity thing, except they didn't get that note and made a machince to melt down their own race to make a super ship..

My guess is that it could possibly something around the lines of the first quote.  And if they created the first reaper, im guessing they also created the citadel and the mass relays, and died off before the reaper became a self aware program/nation thingy.  Ive came to believe that its every 50,000 years that the reapers come back, but thats just a number/myth that was told to us by Liara and a few other people.  This cycle could also be alot longer than 50,000 years, since it take alot longr than that for creation of higher brain power aliens/animals.

[WoodWizzard87]

WoodWizzard87 wrote...

DerkontheForum wrote...

p-o-d-b-o-d wrote...

I'm most interested in how the first Reaper came about. Did a civilisation reach an incredible height of technology that they decided that the only way to live forever was to make themselves into a massive synthetic-organic being?

Could see this happening. Kind of like great power comes with great responsiblity thing, except they didn't get that note and made a machince to melt down their own race to make a super ship..

My guess is that it could possibly something around the lines of the first quote.  And if they created the first reaper, im guessing they also created the citadel and the mass relays, and died off before the reaper became a self aware program/nation thingy.  Ive came to believe that its every 50,000 years that the reapers come back, but thats just a number/myth that was told to us by Liara and a few other people.  This cycle could also be alot longer than 50,000 years, since it will take a lot longer than that for creation of higher brain power aliens/animals.

The fact that they destroy a whole civilization to create a new reaper just doesnt fit with the whole reproduction idea.  Self preservation always comes before reproduction.  What would be the reasoning to come back every million years or so and wipe out everything.  That seems like someone programmed them to do it, like a logical computer program.

[p-o-d-b-o-d]

Can't they just buy some Colt 45, turn on some Insane Clown Posse, turn on the lavalamp, and have sex to reproduce like everyone else

[OutlawJT]

I have a number of theories about the Reapers and not all of them are related or compatible.

1) Sovereign's speeches: I think there are three potential reasons for the way he responds to you. The most obvious is that at the time he truly believes that you are so far below him in the universe that it would be impossible for you to comprehend anything that could motivate a being as sophisticated and powerful as it. Second is it wishes to intimidate and/or misdirect you so it tries to lead your thinking down unconventional paths and away from it's true motivations. Third, and here is my personal favorite that will be revisited in other theories, Sovereign doesn't actually know why itself and the other Reapers are motivated to do everything that they do.

2) Salvation through destruction: Here's a very Asimov-centric theory, what if the Reaper's were originally programmed by their creators to preserve all sentient life. Maybe their creators were dying out due to stagnation of their genetic line and created the Reaper's to preserve their memory. Only, they never considered the races that would come after theirs and how the Reaper's methods of preservation might effect them prematurely. So, all this time the Reaper's have been waiting around to preserve the next batch of sentient life per their original mandate only they do it without consideration for the present health of the new sentient species. For all their posturing and vastly advanced and superior technology and abilities everyone has assumed that they are supremely intelligent. What if they're not that intelligent at all but just following their original programming in the most efficient way? Look at Stargate for an example. The Gou'ald are thought of as gods because their technology is so far above ours we can't explain it. In actuality, they're no more intelligent than we are, they've just been around longer and have superior tech. I think they can't comprehend themselves why they do everything they do and say we can't possibly fathom it as a rationalization because their programming won't let them question their mandate. Okay, so this one was two theories, though two that are compatible.

3) Siding with the general consensus that the human reaper was just the gooey center of what would be a full reaper that looks like all the others. Also siding with the general consensus that it was being constructed to replace Sovereign to activate the Citadel relay. Seems straightforward as it's production was started only months after Sovereign's demise. On a side note here, I like someone elses theory that Harbinger is actually Sovereign or a part of him anyway. It's clear Reaper's have the capability to download a portion of their consciousness into another entity that is wired or genetically structured to allow it. Saren and the Collector General are both proof of this. It's not unreasonable to think that Harbinger was a software backup of Sovereign that activated as soon as Sovereign's body was destroyed.

4) Since I love it so much I had to spring this theory out to it's own number anyway. Everyone assumes the Reaper's are extremely intelligent because of the vast superiority of their technology and the immense power of their abilities. What if they're not that intelligent at all but just following their original programming from their creators in an unanticipated fashion? What if they're actually less mentally advanced than the Geth and we just can't see it because of how impressive their abilities are? What if they're not even sentient but just VI's advanced so far beyond our level of understanding that we can't help but mistake them for AI's?

[TuringPoint]

I was thinking, funny theory - their original makers wanted to be invincible, and live forever. So they created AI's that would do that for them.



This is at the cost of the 50,000 year cycle, supposedly bringing more races into it - elevating them, if you will, to Reaper status. Giving a purpose to genetic evolution, loosely. Or, maybe the cycle just maintains the basic purpose of their makers, and the human reaper was an emergency because Sovereign had been destroyed.

[Lordambitious]

Perhaps the reapers are simply the last vestiges of the first race to achieve galactic dominance, and consequently the first to achieve technological singularity. The Geth are working towards a similar end where they wish to house their entire race in a single construct, the same way that the reapers contain the minds of the race used to construct said reaper (hinted at by sovereign, confirmed by Legion). They then add to their power by forcibly elevating the most influential (and highest genetic potential) race to reaper-hood. this can be inferred by Harbinger's comments regarding salarians and turians

[The Capital Gaultier]

 All of Mass Effect takes place in a single galaxy.  For all we or the Reapers know, there may be a race that would absolutely devour a small fry like the Reapers.  Given the fact that they are able to travel between galaxies, it would not be surprising if they were merely harvesting technology to protect themselves.