Shepard as the new leader: "In order to ensure security and continuing stability, the Citadel Council will be reorganized... *INTO THE FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE! FOR A SAFE AND SECURE SOCIETY!!!"*
This is the kind of sequel I would love! A fractured galaxy, nations at war, a symbol needed. A group revives a legend, lead by asari Liara Tisoni a near mythical saint is brought back, will they being peace, help one side win, or even forge the galaxy in a nation under their vision. This is the story I want to see
@@allocater2 I would say "The Shepherd will return" as their myth. With a clone of him being brought forth...but is he merely a puppet of the Shadow Broker? A figment of her lost love?
So much opportunity to bring back exploration. Your new version of Shepard (and not Ryder) could put resources into repairing mass relays, explore solar systems in your new version of the Normandy (not the Tempest), and explore planets on the ground in your new version of the Mako (not the Nomad). And you could get some other reward for updating the codex.
Perhaps, but I already deal with enough "not-Europe"s & "really-truly-not-the-ussr" in every sci-fi and fantasy "this-time-we-mean-it-this-isn't-earth" setting out there. So I can do without a "really-not-the-1950s" portion of Mass Effect. What I want is either some First Contact War stuff, or something set far enough in the future from the events of ME1-3, where it is not constrained by 17,000, 1 or 0 values in save files. The codex is shown to be an unreliable narrator in the proper sense of the term right out of the box..... and I don't mean how it describes the layout of capital ships (described to be like what The Expanse does, in at least one codex entry) or what is done at what ranges of battle. Just look at how it uses the broadest strokes to describe the Turians and whatnot, a la Planet of Hats combined with a generic description designed to not offend people.... which they are quickly shown to be anything but. Now just take that unreliable official proclamation (Almost "And I smote him and 10,000 of his people.... shit from when kings would talk about how they kicked this person or that cities ass last year... meaning that even the phrases used seem cookie cutter... just like how the depiction of pharaoh smiting people doesn't change for some thousands of years) and add in an Asari lifetimes worth of temporal separation and you easily get an official sounding, but not truly reliable source of info on history, or histories even, as different species could claim radically different ones, only agreeing on causality (look up penrose diagrams & the geometry of causality to actually learn about what I am getting at here, its a really interesting topic with lots of potential to be used with any galaxy/universe spanning franchise). The epilogue in ME3 (with the exception of the 'shoot that bastard in the face' ending from the extended cut) takes place in some time or place that is fuzzy enough with the details of Shepard that they explicitly state that lots of details have been lost. So there is already a means of info dumping as well as some not unreliable but just unsure retelling of facts already shown in the games so far. You don't need to make every fan with every choice happy. You don't need to say "screw this, im going over to the neighbors house, they haven't heard my stories yet" that we got with Andromeda. You just need something that is internally consistent with established lore and checks enough boxes to make people feel familiar, but not at home (yet) with the new portion of the universe that whatever new story is being told.
Imagine the state of the Alliance. It would probably be one of the most diverse states around from all the stranded coalition forces. Truly the shining beacon of hope the Galaxy needs. It's also the only successor state to the Council to actually, you know, own the Citadel. Oh hey I even got the perfect motto. Stand fast. Stand strong. Strand together.
Curious about the fallout from the discovery of the Prothean Beacon hidden in the Temple of Athame. The Asari were the ones who insisted on the law to share all Prothean-related discoveries amongst the all members of the Citadel while secretly hoarding one of the greatest caches of information for themselves to maintain galactic supremacy over a system they engineered. More than that, this beacon contained detailed info about the Reapers, which if discovered earlier might have given the galaxy the means of victory without the cost of billions of lives. How is there no reckoning for that?
Honestly the Asari having no to little reckoning would be pretty realistic. You have to remember the Asari is the strongest in the galaxy in terms of soft-power. I can imagine nation would formally denounce the Asari republic but not do anything meaningful. Due to fear of Asari diplomatic/economic retaliation; unless the Asari is so devastated that it not a concern but than you have other much bigger problem. Like the legitimacy of the citadel if the “heart” is considered impotent. In the real world the strongest counties don’t face consequences for acting in bad faith or blatant hypocrisy.
If it wasn't for Shepherd then The Asari would have been dead along with The Batarians since the Asari are the most advanced civilization in the galaxy
I can see the council starting to gang up on the Asari before an exasperated Shepherd yells at them to save it for after the wave of mechanized extinction is dealt with. Then we can ask for trade concessions and economic reparations for the unfair advantage, but for now, SHOOTTHETWOKLICKSPACEKRAKENSANDSURVIVEYOUIDIOTS
@@Phoenix-vf4nd more importantly, the statue surrounding it was ancient, the entire temple was old Meaning that "punishing" the asari at this point is punishing a people who likely long since forgot or didn't know it existed It'd be like the world agreeing to share UFO finds/info, but then finding out that underneath the temples of Malta so we punish the people of Malta .. realistically if such a thing existed how would they know it?
How would the asari in general know about something underneath a temple that is older than literally anyone alive in their society? The matriarchs knew of it but weren't shown as having any real interactions with it It makes little sense to punish a people for not knowing something their leaders were hiding from THEM too
It wouldn't just be the System Alliance coming back from Earth. You'd have the Citadel, which could be rebuilt I would assume, so they would have that symbolic station as a icon of their authority, as well as the large allied military brought there by Shephard. They having defeated the Reapers would have a rather unifying bond, having fought, bled, and died with each other. This I would think would be the true "Council" successor state.
I'd see the citadel left as a ghost city left in a Lagrange point surround by a containment security fleet. Massively damaged, full of faulty automated defences, abandoned reaper tech such as carnivorous keepers, corrupted VIs and stranded criminals/scavengers. A nightmare for Even the most hardened and experienced soldier. So a bit like Glasgow. Even so Alliance teams pick through it for the former councils advanced tech, weapon caches and secret data files not including all the valuable art and historic artefacts left behind in private collections and galleries. Centuries worth of now lost star maps and the spectre vaults where darker secrets lie.
Earth was a pyre at the end of 3 so its likely humanity was pretty bad off. You're probably right that any re-emerging Systems Alliance would pretty much have to be an amalgamation of all those who fought the final battle. Depending on how far in the future you go, this faction could honestly bear little real resemblance to the human society we saw in the first trilogy.
Actually it was mentioned at the start of the video. All of the fleets and armies that had taken part in the last great battle slowly started to leave trying to see about getting home.
Nice, it makes perfect sense to assume a dark age after the destruction of the mass relay network. There's just no way galactic civilization could have survived without a stable transportation and communication network. My only critique is that in this "post-apocalyptic" galactic scenario, the quorians would have risen to be a galactic power in their own right. Taking into account that they have been scavengers, survivalists, and nomads for generations, they are the most prepared to survive, and thrive, in this new reality. I picture them evolving into a coalition of powerful merchant houses that control most of the trade in the galaxy. It's just that it would be such a delicious irony to have the most disrespected species in the mass effect universe become the most powerful faction in the future.
@@christopherfleetwood5252 the volus and quorians could be fearsome rivals at this point. A war that would be fought economically and threw privateer actions. And maybe the Drell have become a powerful raider faction.
Now I'm imagining a Medici fleet. Rolling in-system and cornering the market in various commodities, only to leave the place in financial upheaval once their profit is made.
The Reapers would have ensured life, sentient life, and even civilization would always survive. By destroying the Reapers, organics become masters of their own destiny once more in the Milky Way. That actually means there is no guarantee that someone won't start genociding right and left until they fuck civilization pretty bad. That said, the very existence of the Jardaans and the Ketts in the neighboring galaxy is the proof that organic civilization can thrive (but also self-destruct) indefinitely without supervision.
@@RayleighJones Perhaps they ensured it would survive in a way beyond what you are talking about, too. There was a curious case where a star went red-giant even though its age was nowhere near enough to warrant it. Its possible that use/overuse of element zero tech may have negative effects somehow on certain things (like stars), and that the Reapers purge those who use it explicitly to allow the galaxy as a whole to survive longer. It is just one theory about such things anyway. The games after the one this anomaly showed up didn't really expand on it that much from what I recall.
@@SephirothRyu the eezo thing was supposed to be part of the main plot, in which the Reapers were actually waiting for a species that could solve this problem. But they scrapped it in favour of the current ending. To be honest I think that considering how not very well explained the whole Eezo thing has been, it's not a bad thing. It works as a tool for the characters, but making it into the plot with all the holes left in its working would not be a good idea.
Since a large coalition fleet was left in Sol after the battle of Earth, I'd like to imagine the System Alliance would have the most integrated society compared other powers when they reemerge in this scenario and they would do so with a rebuilt Citadel, the physical station itself. The SA wouldn't just be humanity. It would be a unified faction made up of descendent of the leaders of every pre-Reaper galactic power and some of the heroes of the Reaper War who can live that long. While the population is majority human, the SA would have set up large colonies on Mars and the moons of Saturn and Jupiter for those who became trapped after the last battle. Just the act of the new SA arrival on the new galactic stage alone would weaken the foundation of the both of the existing factions because of how unified the various species in the SA are.
I had the smae idea watching this video. The best part of this concept, in my opinion, is the wildly divergent culture such a collective would have developed after centuries of isolation. They would have started repopulating Earth with a mixture of human's and aliens. That's alien children likely being raised and educated in a manner that is very human. Just imagine how much the Asari population would explode. Krogans and Turians competing with humans for military positions. The possibilities are endless.
An interesting counterpart to this Alliance could be one or several former colonies of the Alliance that would have become de facto independent and might have turned either nationalistic (xeno-inclusive version) or outright xenophobic, and maybe creating human-dominated pocket empires.
Imagine a rebuilt Citadel with the ability to (after a sizable energy investment and a LOT of math and maintenance checks) relocate itself around the galaxy. It would be the ultimate 'mobile capital' that brings its economic support structure along with it.
Yeah the Sol System would be a truly unified culture made up of the heroes who eradicated the Reapers forever. All of their expertise in leadership and the scientists who propelled technology forwards centuries by working on the Crucible. It would be a superpower that represents the best of every species and the unity that was needed to defeat the Reapers.
The Galaxy: Let's go back to being bastards! *loud joyous cheering* Liara: *Don't make me bring back Shepard!* The Galaxy: ....I would like to apologize.
The one thing I find most unbelievable about this scenario is the Krogan and Salarians working together. They already hated and distrusted each other before the war. After the dalatrass tried to sabotage the genophage cure I would be surprised if they ever had large scale positive interactions ever again.
I dont see the krogan forming any alliances really. The asari and turians sure. the slarians trying to make the yang their puppet state for war sure. But the Krogan wouldnt make an alliance with the salarians or turians o feel, maybe the asari. The asari probabbly would have the most difficulty reuniting I feel. The turians will be fine. Really wonder how the batarians and other minor races would be.
@@joeandrew8752 Batarians are unlikely to reunite since their empire was completely eradicated only scattered survivors remain, it's mostly military that survived because they were on ships unlike the planets which were pretty well done over
This sort of backstory would either make for a killer Mass Effect game worthy of its predecessors, or even a cool as fuck Hearts of Iron 4/Stellaris mod.
@@MijmerMopper youd have more diversity i feel in this setting, weve more or less already seen them at their best, now what happens if all these peoples get isolated? the divisions that would form after years perhaps even decades of being separated from any outside contact from both your own race and your neighbors, especially since you wouldnt know what else is left, did we win? or are we just a random backwater planet the reapers are saving for later well they deal with more problematic elements, that kinda threat would shred your previous psyche and be an interesting viewpoint from a geo-political standpoint, not all planets are created equal after all
As interesting as this scenario is, I think it defeats the whole purpose of one of ME3's core themes; unity. Shepard united and forged alliances once deemed impossible to create, and destroyed/controlled/whatever'd the Reapers thanks solely to those alliances. Having the remnants of former governments and species squabble over a massive power vacuum rather than working together just seems really out of place.
@@HalTheBot fair, though most of the military forces are at earth/the sol system so it’s basically martial law for other regions (assuming they didn’t get vaporized by the exploding relays)
Honestly, sounds way to ripoffy for 40k. Last time I checked, 40K was unique because it was different to every other sci-fi series, not because every other sci-fi series was like 40K. Whats with this weird push to make every other series like 40K? Isnt anyone scared of oversaturation? You want something thats actually like 40K? Check out the new Dune Movie. The Dune book was heavy inspiration for 40K, and Dune has no Aliens! Your welcome! Personally I didnt like this Remimagined scenario. The others were great but this one is way too obviously the Templine Institute wanting to rub their hard 40K boner out.
@@jakespacepiratee3740 Also, Warhammer 40k isn’t meant to be taken at face value, but obviously, there are a lot of fans who unironically think the ways that Warhammer is parodying and outright showing as awful, WHICH IT IS!! (Doesn’t help that it’s impossible to know whether some of these comments are ironic or otherwise.)
Turian: oh hey! The Humans are back! Asari: Thank the goddess! We missed you guys! Salarian: strange. I don’t recognise their equipment. Also, did they get taller? Space Marine: PURGE THE XENOS!! (Sounds of Boltguns firing in righteous fury)
“The Templin Institute has a public front in the Mass Effect multiverse, and one well established enough that Shepard is aware of them,” is an unexpected headcanon to accept, to be sure, but a welcome one. Also, you’re now one step closer towards getting the entire VA cast to guest-voice episodes 😈
@@piotrd.4850 I can totally see that. Really, any sci-fi universe within reason could have a public Templin front, and those that don’t can still have powerful groups or entities that are aware of them. Even fantasy universes wouldn’t be safe, since many of those have beings with god or godlike power. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I really want just hundreds of mini-fics detailing encounters with parties who would be aware of Templin observation, such as The Doctor, the Q, or the SCP Foundation.
Interesting ideas, but I think reducing the galactic political landscape down to 2 power blocs renders this reimagining quite dull. I think it would be more interesting and more likely that you would have a galaxy with a large number of small alliances or single big powers competing in a more regional state (giving any future game multiple choices of who to support or counter instead of a simplified 2-choice blue/orange decision tree, and maybe make player decisions feel more impactful). The lack of the mass relay network should immediately negate the existence of any galactic scale superstates. And the Systems Alliance should be equally forced to deal the same problems as the other former Citadel Council members instead of being hidden away. In fact, because of Earth's and Shepard's prominence in the last battle (and since the start of the Reaper involvement), the SA would never be left alone or uninvolved by the other powers after the Reaper War aftermath.
I definitely agree, whole societies could fracture (looking at Quarians who aren't cool with Geth vs the chill ones). Couple that with groups scavenging Reaper tech, and it would be Game of Thrones, Mass Effect edition.
I really don't like the 'nope-not-nato' and 'really-not-the-warsaw-pact' lazyness of this setup. If they really want to look at a real world political clusterf--k to base things on.... given that the relay network was said in the extended cut (I forget with which endings, but with at least one of them anyways) to be heavily damaged, which is easy to note means "not actually destroyed"..... a fractured patchwork would seem a good way to go..... but the west vs east cold war stuff is not how to do it, balkanization is the way to go...... don't break it into 2 or 3 pieces..... let it shatter like a window onto a rock.... into a thousand pieces. colony after colony after colony.... just imagine how easily and how far one can go with just the fifth of Wilson's 14 Points "A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable government whose title is to be determined." (Wilson might be one of the worst presidents in history, but the points that don't prescribe stuff for specific nations like Italy or Austria-Hungary, who are explicitly mentioned, are fairly good ideals.)
Well they've said that the first two centuries of the post-War Era was a time of small political entities and warlords fighting each other, its only after this period when this two superpowers appeared. The thing Im gonna agree with you is the fact that there's no way that the Systems Alliance will be left aside in the aftermath of the War. Nice reflexion!
From a game development standpoint, having a highly fractured scenario like the one suggested, would also make it very shallow due to the widely but thinly spread development resources, ultimately damaging any attachment a player could form towards any one faction. On the other hand, if we limit the game to just a few strong power blocks and a few extra relatively shallow miscellaneous groups like cults, mercs, pirates, etc. We can create a stronger illusion of depth overall. Sure, it is a compromise, but it is the same compromise most studios have to make in this kind of scenario. Counter arguments would likely be something like the creations of Paradox Interactive, but they also act as a strong representative of how many decades it takes to create any actual depth, and even then most factions end up being forced into a very cookie cutter like mould regardless.
@@venoltar I don't rate Mass Effect fans in the same way I do Dynasty Warriors fans (even if they are one in the same at times, as I am an example of one). People playing Dynasty Warriors know that since the 2nd game it has not really changed. They want button mashing awesomeness and that is it. People playing Mass Effect want not just agency for their player, they want this agency to have a visible and lasting impact on the setting. You don't need to do anything but refresh the gameplay with the former. The latter requires by its very nature, a decent bit of storytelling. People who find fun in a game for button mashing awesomeness are not the people who will get bored of, even bothered by any lazy attempt at utilizing even a 50% copy of the 20th century political s--tstorm. We have all heard it before, a hundred if not a thousand times. Even if not intended as being based on the cold war, simply feeling as if it is based on the cold war can be enough to make someone go "yep, back to middle school creative writing class I see." Everything is secondary to story and player-character agency in the setting for Mass Effect. Proof of this is the love the community has for ME2. If it was based on gameplay 3 and Andromeda, which are more polished than 2 would be at the top. Therefore the foremost care needs to be put into these 2 things. A story that only involves a few big powers (which represents only a few big choices) is the easy way to take a long walk off a short pier (red blue green ring any bells). Been there, done that, RIP Marauder Shields. Now imagine a geopolitical landscape that looks like the world map at the beginning of a Total War campaign. Imagine utilizing your actions and inactions to help steer the direction of whichever faction or factions you side with or side against. The more fractured, the more places for the players choices to intersect and thus be actually visible. The more you can see your actions actually having an effect, the more _any_ player is going to care. Arguing that people will care less with a wide starting field due to spreading resources too thin is vacuous. Just as with a superpower setup, it is all about what is done with them. If you can take the investment a Total War player has in their late game faction and its rise to power (the struggles and the joy that comes with this) and merge this with the storytelling/choice making of classic Bioware and set it in the Mass Effect universe. You will get a base that has far more potential than the Shepard trilogy could have even thought of. The longer the story runs the better... think Phantasy Star 3, multi generational storytelling. A company like EA has far more money to throw at the actual workings of a project than most people realize. If anything their problem is, well, rant at the end..... Turning the attachment point from the avatar the player interacts with the world into the actual interaction with the world, or at least adding this as a true extra yet still primary attachment point, or even doing something like KotOR where the pieces that are the same are mechanical (HK-47, the Ebon Hawk) How about a true hero ship where that is the thread that ties different parts to a multiphase story together from the players perspective. No AI or anything, maybe there is AI but that isn't the binding part, just the pure mechanical part of the ship is, a story told about a family as seen by the house they lived in, so-to-speak. The only real problem to any of this, is the nadir of talent and the complete and utter lack of creative vision when it comes to people with the power to greenlight ambitious projects & the ability to ACTUALLY GO THROUGH WITH THE GODDAMNED PLAN AND NOT CHANGE IT 4756219875643298756234987562394875623498765983 TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah EA/Bioware/WannabeIronManGame I am looking at you. Don't spent a gazillion on ads, Don't change the goddamned focus 83 times before even knowing you needed to focus on something. MANAGE YOUR GODDAMNED INVESTMENTS FOR ONCE. and finally F U C K your bottom line EA, your customers pay your bills, they pay your investors they ARE WHAT PAYS. The more you bend them over without so much as even thinking about where the lube is, the harder you will have to rape the ones that don't run away.
What will determine the tone of the next game is how quickly the relays would have been repaired and if the damage to relays was as bad throughout the rest of the milky way
Mass Effect is the best game universe I have ever played in. The lore, the characters, the technology.... All of it touched me in a way that few other games have.
I don’t think post-reaper war era will ever be explored because there is so much that could be different depending on choices, genophage cured or not, rachni dead or alive, that sort of stuff seems hard to account for
@@djamondaxuzm4712 they will likely make destroy cannon and go with the genophage cured option, leaving some of the smaller details for player selection: did Hanar survive the war? did Drell survive the war? did Elcor survive the war? fate of the quarians / geth? fate of the rachni?
The next mass effect is almost certainly going to do this though. The trailer makes it fairly obvious that it will be following one specific timeline and branching off again from there. I quite like the idea, let's say it follows from the destroy ending. For those that picked that ending, it's a natural continuation. And for those that didn't, its more of a 'what if?' scenario from an alternative universe or whatever. Its not making your choices in 3 pointless, it's just exploring one specific scenario
@@warwolf3005 I'm not sure they'll even do that. Lot of art assets to not use if the player can decide a species doesn't exist or not. Rachni can always just be some random monster on an alien world like they already did, but the others would be voice and model work that would be wasted (the only one might be Geth/Quarians cause you can always bring back Geth as mobs too). Honestly, Bioware probably bit off more than they could chew by even having that stuff as options in the modern gaming landscape. You gonna spend millions on assets some players will/can never see?
The way I see it if they want to continue post war story line they are just going to have to bite the bullet and choose a Canon series of events and hope the fan base will get over it.
A random idea I came up for a post Synthesis ending would be to explore the disturbing implications of such a result and potentially a civil war between those who accept the new form of years and believe it to be the "strengths of both and the weaknesses of neither" (eg: EDI as she gives the Synthesis speech and Kasumi because she gets her boyfriend back) and those who see it as an abomination (such as the Husks regardless of whether they became new lifeforms or regained the personalities they had before being transformed). Probably with the Reapers staying on the sidelines minus a few in a similar way to how Ann Bryson theorized Leviathan was "a defector" before Shepard uncovered that they were the ones who created Harbinger. Also was it this channel that mentioned a 'Salarian and Krogan alliance' in a post Reaper era Cold War in a previous video?
@@Exospray Its implied during the Synthesis ending that they could do that. My guess is either Beings of Light or digital beings resembling any form they wish.
Problem is that Synthesis is - in light of Leviathan add-on - only logical solution. If one race in one Galaxy created Reapers once, this can happen all over universe. So what happens if Milky Way chooses "destroy" and then Adromedan / other exo-galactic Reapoer like threat arrives?
Synthesis would be interesting for the fact that it gives Reapers, whom themselves are the agglomerations of former civilizations free will. The galaxy has been cleansed over and over again, and it could be possible that many worlds currently inhabited by people used to be the homeworld of a particular Reaper. Imagine a Reaper showing up and demanding that the colonists get off its homeworld. Imagine if dinosaurs happened to be sentient and the dinosaur Reaper shows up on Earth - demanding a home to restore its dino-people to.
We all know that any new mass effect games that come out will never be as compelling as this. But to imagine all of the storytelling possibilities. Would a resurgent humanity side with the Pact claiming once and for all the council seat it so jealousy clawed for in the prewar era? Would its leaders see folly in returning to the old ways and join GalCon in hopes to assert its dominance in a new order? Perhaps having the Alliance been rebuilt in isolation would give cuase to play both sides off each other; establishing what Cerebus and the Illusive man had always envisioned for mankind. Human Galactic Supremacy? It'd be so cool to see what Templin has envisioned here come to life, and while doubt looms over the release of the next Mass Effect. I have what Shepard had instilled in us from the very beginning. Hope.
Any game post 3 can't use the Synthesis or Destroy endings, as that would radically change the setting of the universe. And, after the last couple of hits BioWare has taken against their reputation the last thing they'd do is stray away from what they know works. That means, no matter how much people hate it, Control will have to be the canonical ending as it leaves the Relay Network (mostly) intact, and doesn't drastically alter the galaxy's inhabitants or governments.
@@stryletz i disagree. from the one teaser theyve given us for ME5 so far, the galaxy seems to be in complete disarray. a situation somewhat similar to what templin came up with might actually be an option. also, i think the majority of people picked destroy for their ending, for relatively obvious reasons. i also cant really imagine what control would look like. i mean, reaper fleets just casually strolling through the galaxy? i dont think so. not after what happened. those things would be blasted out of the sky no matter whether its shepard in there or not. the copout theyll use probably, is that the new game will be set so far after me3s ending that any consequences would have long since played out. like, liara looked much older in the teaser, and we all know an asaris lifespan.
@@jenshep1720 The only downside for control for me at least is if I remember right, it wipes out the geth I freed ;_; It hurts too much to throw away everything Legion did for us.
@@crushcommando8637 i thought control saved the geth? anyway, i modded my ending. picked destroy for the satisfaction of wiping out the reapers, and replaced the bit about the geth being destroyed with diffferent slides because honestly, it doesnt make sense with how they set it up. theres no way for an energy pulse to destroy only ai and reaper technology and leave everything else intact. like, how would it even know to distniguish between those pices of hardware? its an energy pulse.
Those Reaper cults would be really fun in a Control Ending. The Control Ending is just something pushing the problem to another time. Sooner or later, even a Paragon Shepard intelligence is going to let all that power get to him/her. You know what they say about good intentions. A Renegade Shepard would probably start right way with seizing control of the galaxy.
And as soon as the common enemy is gone, they turned against each other after that. Fair Weather Friends - they stand with you but when things get rough, they leave you and turn on you.
Great video. However, I still maintain that the most likely alliance post-reaper war to challenge an attempt to reinstate the Citadel hegemony is that of Krogan and Quarian. When the reapers attacked, the Citadel races were devastated. The only species to potentially come out better than before are the Krogan with. cured genophage, and the Quarians with a reclaimed Rannoch. Both have grudges against the council, and make up for the other's weaknesses. Quarians have the largest fleet in the galaxy and technical knowhow, but a compromised immune system and low numbers. Krogan are insanely adaptable and rugged, but lack any form of space force. The two are natural allies, and with one being dextro and the other levo-protein, they never even have to worry about colonization rights. The only potential drawback to this is that Shepard, depending on player choice, could have royally screwed one, the other, or both in ME3.
They are good choices for allies, though given my playthrough, I'd hope that both would be kind and follow the path of compassion. I was respected on Tuchanka even before I helped a Salarian scientist to cure the Genophage. I helped forge a peace between the Geth and the Quarians. With those examples and their past tribulations, they'll be humble in prosperity.
What about the Salarians? The Reapers didn't reach Sur Kesh and if the Genophage Is cured only part of their forces took part during the Battle of Earth They could play a bigger role
@@Ale-dd3ek IIRC, they are attacked at the very end of the game. Regardless though, they will probably be the most well-off Council rate, but my original comment had more to do with species that would be opposed to reinstituting the Council system. The Salarians already were benefiting from their council status and would probably like for things to go back status quo.
I feel like the Leviathan could have a huge role to play in the aftermath of the Reaper War as they and reassert themselves as the apex species. Their influence could be unknown and very subtle at first before it is realized they are pulling some serious strings.
This is why I feel a prequel would be the WORST waste of potential for Mass Effect. A post-Reaper world would be utterly fascinating to explore. I could also envision a sort of Arms-race. With Reaper corpses everywhere, I feel it would only be a matter of time before many factions reversed engineered Reaper tech and weapons.
Pretty sure that how the Batarians hegemony collapse; by studying the Leviathan of dis(the reaper corpse) and being indoctrinated. I have a hard time seeing earth being habitable with dead reaper on earth and in orbit brainwashing everyone.
@@Phoenix-vf4nd That's what I wonder, though. If the Reapers are destroyed, would indoctrination be an issue? The Turians created the Thanix canon from salvaging Sovereigns main gun, and we never heard a peep about that team being indoctrinated.
@@playcebovision5319 If the turians took Shepherds information seriously. I would imagine the scientists that work on sovereign corpse would be executed; then posthumously honor & promoted.( or whatever turians do with their dead.)
Boy that would be such a great synopsis for ME4. The destruction of the relays and the ravages brought by the war are a perfect setup for combination of Sci-Fi and Post-Apo genres. A post-apocalyptic galaxy is something rather original (excluding 40k). Let's hope Bioware has a somewhat similar idea...
I feel like the idea between GALCOM and the Block is a good one, but a far better third pillar should have been the “Omega Systems”, a collective of bandit kingdoms, military industrial conglomerates, and Huntas all paying tribute to the one person in the Terminus Systems more dangerous than even Shepard; Aria.
Honestly, galaxy in state of "dark ages" with various barbarian entities, is quite likable. Imagine Terminus x10: GalCom, Tetris (?) Pact, Terminus, Systems Alliance and smaller petty warlords.
@@sacredbeastzenon Aria is just about as dangerous, but the main thing I want in ME4 is a “Cult of the Shepard” type deal like the fanbase gave to Legion with the Geth (He terminated his runtimes for your errors.)
This is super interesting! Only thing I can see being problematic is the idea that reaper derelicts would still be able to indoctrinate people. It’s all up in the air whether or not the Crucible resolution neutralizes that aspect of leftover reaper tech.
its possible that some bits and pieces, though heavy damaged, could be intact enough to be ether re-engineered, repaired to some degree, of studied to the point that a weaker version could be made.
Given that it isn't even something the Reapers developed themselves but a leftover of their Leviathan builders it'd be a wierd stretch for the ability to be gone. A Paragon shepard AI refusing to use it would make sense.
this is an interesting timeline you guys have come up with. and I could see the humans do what we always do and innovate. in a time where the relay network is for all intents and purposes destroyed, I can see the humans reemerge not having restored or rebuilt their portions of the network but by combining mass effect tech with older concepts like say the Alcubirre warp drive creating a superior form of FTL allowing them to bypass the traditional limits of mass effect tech. and not only reach the other species and reconnect with them but explore and claim systems that were too far outside of the limits imposed by the relay network and the low FTL speed of the ships using traditional mass effect tech.
Well the citadel is really close to earth, so it might be posible that they somehow found a way to create their own relays, or perhaps the alliance mange to create ships with their own relay and essentially bypassing any form of pre-established transportation and communication.
There is one issue that was never quite expanded on. I forget if it was the first or second game, but there is a system where a star went red giant much earlier than it should have. A system where a very large number of mass effect ships happened to hang around for at least a fairly notable time. It has been wondered if this has anything to do with the original "purpose" of the Reapers, as well as why they wait so far outside the galaxy. That is to say, the notion that element zero and/or its use may have... less than desirable effects on local stars. And that the Reapers were a system to preserve the galaxy for future life by destroying those who use element zero too much and thus risk causing bad things to happen to stars. Edit: And yes, this does, for anime lovers, mean that the Reapers could in some ways be compared to the Anti-spiral.
This is a really neat idea. I love the idea of this setting the stage for a new chapter thats still a true Space Opera but doesn't just rely on another mysterious alien big bad and instead is just a game of war and politics between existing races that all likely have valid points. Honestly that's what I'd want from a new ME game/series, a dive into the world itself instead of just another generic big bad to thump. Still needs some handwavium to explain away how they resolved the mess ME3 left them with but that ending was so bad, its likely not possible to continue the story without substantial handwaving or retcons unless you just jump like 10,000 years ahead and ignore it all. Even this many years later I have still never seen a work of such well thought out and developed fiction shit the bed in such an efficient and rapid manner as ME3 did. It basically destroyed the entirety of its world and world building in less than 20 minutes. A shame considering that, weak space gun macguffin aside, the rest of that game is actually pretty damn good.
In retrospect, the world and plot went to hell in ME2. Characters and atmosphere were amazing, but the cracks began to show. By ME3 it was just CoD and forgetting everything we've learned/nice background lore that could've opened alternative routes for players who took the time to find them. But that would've required time...and work...and EA-Bioware was not in favor of that.
Yep. It's amazing that EA decided to double down on the ending instead owning up to their mistakes and fixing them. Heck, they could have just gone with Indoctrination Theory and said the crap ending was an attempt by the Reapers to learn about the galaxy's defenses. There could have been a epic jailbreak followup to save Shep from Reaper control. Historic failure.
I really like this idea, but my semi-optimistic ass still thinks a far more inclusive and democratic successor to the Citadel Council will form with most former and some new members joining it. Obviously new states would emerge from the ashes to either support or challenge this new federation or confederation, with rogue former colonies and maybe a resurgent Cerberus. I think the Alliance would be essential in the rebuilding efforts and become far more respected rather than a common rival. Also, what about the ending slides? How do you all think those will play into everything?
This is what we need as a sequel, The big thing the systems alliance would bring is not only a fleet built with the combined tech of the reapers, humans, citadel, and citadel species, but also the political clout of having won the reaper war, The systems alliance is already poised to absorb everyone into a new alliance, and they wouldn't even have to change their name
I could see humanity being represented by a more Cerberus like faction instead of a Systems Alliance one. Also a subset of humans who worship the Commander Shepard as some sort of divine protector.
I'd actually argue we'd most likely see an interdpecies systems alliance. mostly because A; Just about every species would be left stranded around Earth B; Most of the soldiers most likely bonded due to their experiences during the war
After what Cerberus had done in ME3 I doubt anyone aside from extreme fringe groups would support such a faction even having a slight resemblance to Cerberus. You can't really justify brain washing people, shoving mind control tech in their heads, and using a supposed refugee camp as a way to turn people into husk and other abominations and stabbing humanity in the back during the war
This is a pretty solid write up The idea I had for a Mass Effect 4 is to jump a few centuries to lineup with Andromeda and the idea is that all three ending of Mass Effect 3 happened (so only the reject ending would be treated as non-canon) and the big mystery and conceit is explaining how that is possible with it being the source of the conflict and new world building for the franchise going forward. I had a whole write up about Liara being the central figure and the star of Haestrom being crucial and how Shepard plays into it.
The setting is interesting. However, some points need to be fixed: - The Quarians have no hidden relays (ALL RELAYS WERE DESTROYED); - Ships in the Mass Effect universe travel only a few times faster than light. Only with Mass Relays can they travel hundreds of times faster than light. Therefore, the Migrant Fleet cannot assume the suggested role; - Emergency and massive effort to terraform Mars and Venus would occur due to the outrageous amount of people who came to the Solar System; - With Earth hosting fleets and individuals of the greatest powers in the Galaxy, it is not at all difficult to imagine that the greatest efforts would start here; - Why wasn't the Charon Relay rebuilt? - Why were no Mass Relays rebuilt?; - In what situation were the Geths and their fleet? - It is likely that Thessia recovered faster than Earth as they have more advanced technology than Humanity. Similar scenario with Sur'Kesh. Palaven is perhaps another story; - The Yagh are far from being a power as they are still pre-superluminal journeys; - Drell-Hanar Compact does not have the means to be anything more than it was before the War. Worse, perhaps they suffered irreparable damage; - Geopolitical bipolarism with little foundation. Galaxy is too vast for that. How many planets does each Species have? Hundreds? Thousands?
A few dozen, if that. The Mass Effect universe is pretty small in comparison to other similar universes like Halo. Since exploration is limited to systems near Relays, habitable planets are spread pretty thin. I mean, considering the Quarians lived entirely in their Migrant fleet with a few tens of thousands spread across the Galaxy, and they were stuck to their ships through the loss of what, 3 planets? Humans being the newest species had maybe 12 named, inhabited planets. And those planets had very few people. Eden Prime had about 4 million people on it and it was one of the first colonised planets. Mass Effect universe is tiny. The losses from the Reaper War would pale in comparison to the loses in the Human-Covenant war, and that's an entire galaxy's casualties versus two factions.
@@acrow5 it depends from who you are speaking of. Assarians are 1000 years ahead of anybody else. They could have hundreads of planets. Same with Turians.
@@Musashination They and the Salarians discovered the Citadel about 3000 years before the events of Mass Effect. And from what we've seen, the lore, the actual in-game maps, they have maybe a few dozen or so populated planets. Again, they can't explore the galaxy like in Halo. They're limited to the Relays, which only a few are activated. It doesn't cover the whole galaxy, and the Council have an active policy to not open new ones. You're thinking Halo scale, while the Mass effect universe is nothing like that. Halo humans had hundreds of worlds before the Covenant started glassing them, and that was in 400 or so years. Mass Effect doesn't have the size, the technology or the numbers to reach that scale. Well, not until after the Reaper Wars. The Protheans had a large number of worlds, because they aggressively conquered, and even then they had maybe a few hundred. They're constrained by the Relays. The Protheans also had many more thousands of years to reach their height. 3000 years for the Asari and Salarians before the Reapers awoke, and the habitable worlds that aren't still locked behind Relays are shared, or just not occupied. You visit several near habitable planets in the game with no life on them. Sorry but Mass Effect just isn't that big of a universe in comparison.
@@acrow5 I'm not comparing with anything. You are the one bring up Halo. Second, I know about the polices about the Relays. However, time is on the Assari side. They had the time, people and knowledge to expande. The policy about Relay activation only came into place after the Rachni Wars, about two milenia ago. So you get a Thousand years of unchecked expansion. That gives you a lot of run to go for it. Even then terraforming would be a thing as well. So you can count the number of planets in the hundreds for the Asari at least and a some dozens for everybody else (minus Krogans). On the Mass Effect Wiki page there is a list of planets. Turians have almost 30. You can math that there are a lot more, since guys from Bioware won't simple write 50.000 planets just for the sake of filing a page. But if you have space to expand, you will expand.
@@Musashination You are vastly overestimating the numbers, and clearly haven't actually read the wiki. Yes, the Turians have 30 planets on the wiki, but only 5 or 6 of them are actually inhabited. The rest exist in their sphere of influence, they aren't actual colonies. Yes, I do think eventually more planets will be colonised, but only now after the Reaper War. The Asari are worse, because they live for a thousand years, they move much slower. They don't colonise every rock they find like they're going out of style. Again, if you read the wiki, and I only gave it a cursory glance, the Asari have habitable worlds uncolonised in their space. That's how few planets they actually live on. If you want an even bigger sign that's the case, the Batarians were driven to near extinction in the 6 or so months between Mass Effect 2 and 3. They had that few planets, and were apart of the Citadel races for hundreds of years before humans showed up. Humans, comparatively, spread a lot faster than many of the other races, with several colonies before they even encountered the Council, but even they only have a few hundred thousand to a few million per planet. Mass Effect is small, really small. I don't think there is more than 100-200 colonised planets across all of the races combined, less so after the Reaper War. Again, limits of their FTL, they can only explore via relays and only colonise planets nearby said relays, with many relays untouched and after the War, completely destroyed. How many species that just recently acquired FTL won't ever be found because of the Relay's destruction?
@@churabros3321. Perhaps, like with the protagonist of Fallout 2 and 3, nobody can actually decide on who Shepard is. This maneuver is often done as a way of not interfering with player choice very much, which is quite important in RPG's like Mass Effect. This could then lead to some ideas like a cult based around Shepard who believes in some warped ideology of order by going full totalitarian because they believe that Shepard once did just that.
@@churabros3321. Bingo! Just like many other legendary figures throughout history, it becomes a pain to discern the facts from the myths, and could easily lead to more depth in the worldbuilding because you have all of these various Shepard cults who each have a completely different view on who Shepard was and what they did, which could lead to various smaller conflicts because of the classic differing ideologies and beliefs.
So your idea for ME4 is essentially to shuffle the deck chairs of the galaxy while making Humanity the kingmakers again...I can't help but feel I've played this game before...oh, I have, Mass Effect 1.
I like the concept art idea that the next ship named Normandy after all this is a massive flagship. Shepard is probably a defining heroic figure by this point.
I've been making my own fanon articles on what might happen in a post-Reaper War era. Doesn't matter which choice was made, everyone has a lot of creative ideas.
This would set the stage for a great game where you have to rebuild the galactic civilization and work to resolve any major problems left over from the Reaper War.
It would be quite interesting seeing how the descendants of other species would be culturally shaped by whatever isolated nation state they happened to have ended up in. Such as the descendants of the military forces of non-human species who fought for Earth. And vice versa for the humans that were under the jurisdiction of other species' domain.
I'm actually interested in hearing and even seeing more of this hypothetical post-war galaxy map and various re-imagining or differences from the Systems Alliance of old, new and these successor states and organisations. Would they still adhere to the old laws and treaties of the Citadel Council such as the Treaty of Farixen, use of WMDs such as nuclear weaponry or even AI? Would the Alliance have rebuilt Arcturus Station or relegated the Citadel as its replacement?
Narratively speaking, I thought Mass Effect Andromeda was hinting that the Scourge originated from the Milky Way. It hit the Andromeda galaxy while the colonists were en route (Crucible activation timeframe plus or minus FTL drift error), was caused by a dark energy weapon of unknown function, it targets and destroys specific technology, and choice words were given for just how awful whoever pulled the trigger on such a weapon must have been. In other words, the Milky Way would be absolutely wrecked, possibly permanently. BioWare is of course not compelled to follow that plot direction. They have dropped previous-game-foreshadowing like a hot potato before.
The only problem is we know where the Scourge was activated from, and it was in the Heleus Cluster. It was activated on Khi Tasira, the same space station where we find out the Jardaan created the Angara. That is a cool idea though.
I really like how this sets the stage for a future game playing as humanity but surely in lore humanity would be one of the first civs to emerge? The citadel is on Earth as is the wreck of the reaper fleet and the fleets of all other powers at the end of ME3.
Destroy ending, ey? Likewise. Honestly I was kind of hoping you'd give a reference to Shepherd being alive, like "as communication is restored across the Galaxy, rumors are aboud of a legendary warrior thought fallen in battle" in reference to the Shepherd Lives ending or something. However, I find this scinerio really interesting!
So glad to see the Quarians as a core pillar of the galaxy’s effort to rebuild. They are probably my favorite species in Mass Effect and it’s about goddamn time they stopped being treated by the rest of the galaxy as a maligned underclass.
I like this idea I'd add a little something though, the systems alliance isn't just humans there should be the descendents of other species especially Asari living and working in the alliance. Also have a growing background threat a possible one. In the first mass effect game if you scanned some gas giants it was hinted that some had hidden objects within them. Also a conversation with Javik he says that the protheans were already at war with an AI species called the Metreon. What if the Metreon just decided to hide rather then be destroyed by the reapers. Also what if the Metreon aren't the AI bad cliché that's the usual story...?
If BioWare has any brains left they'll take their time, knock out a solid script, and only release when they are 100% ready. They can't afford another flop, if they mess up with one of their tent pole IPs, again, the rEApers will consume them.
They're gonna have to pick one of the endings and redcon the rest though. And with the reaper corpses, the N7 badge. And the teaser suggesting that asari is "looking for Shepard" all the edgelords wuth anime pictures for profile pics who write entire essays in the comment section about how it is somehow moral to brainwash everything (singularity) or turn Shepard into a Reaper tyrant (control) and NOT destroy the reapers are going to get very upset I think.
Considering how devastated earth was I could see a GTU situation happen on earth; abandoning it democratic institutions in an attempt to rebuild and end famine. I mean the system alliance entire civilian gov’t was kill off by reapers(with exception to Udina who was shoot in the chest).
@@failtolawl Except for the yahg and the salarian who only had a reaper presence near the end of ME3. Reapers target Batarian home world first who fall literally immediately (because their leaders was indoctrinated) before anyone even know of the reaper invasion; they then use their new soldiers and targeted Earth and Palaven. Those three homeworlds faced the brunt of the reaper assault; it stand to reason that Earth and Palaven would be the most devastated among the surviving worlds
I imagine the decisions we made in past games would *HEAVILY* influence a post Reaper Galaxy. A possible new Krogan threat of Wreav became leader or their possible extinction. Not to mention the opportunity some races, like the Yahg, would have to fully capture advanced tech and expand outwards and conquer stranded colonies and systems. Not to mention all the dead Reapers lying around would be a major issue. I could see a Mass Effect 4 being a big game of, reconnect with lost settlements, secure Reaper tech, and this settlement needs your help.
Somehow you've managed to create a believable scenario where the fate of the galaxy is on the line once again. I love it, and hope that one day I'll be able to play a game set in this timeline
Oh, you know what would be neat. If some of those cults you mentioned are dedicated Shepard. I mean the ending of Mass Effect 3 already insinuated some kind of reverence in the future. Maybe some of those Sheperd VI's become holy icons.
If only bioware followed this beat for beat. I have the lowest of hopes for what they will give us when they eventually come back around to a mass effect sequel.
This is unironically the best thing we got for this Nov 7th, 2021 N7 day. I hope BioWare actually gives special thanks to you for it. Since you have clearly outdone even their best efforts for celebrating this year’s N7 day.
Personally, I think humanity is overblown in Mass Effect. They mainly got to where they were thanks to being in the right place at the right time. At best, they probably got one of the best Prothean caches to boost them up. Also, maybe the quarian/Geth Alliance could be a third major polity, since even if the Geth were destroyed in the Destroy ending, there's nothing stopping Quarians from building new Geth assuming you made peace between them, aside from cultural issues. I also think a Krogan/Salarian alliance would be the least likely. I could see a Krogan/Turian (respect for each other's might) or Krogan/Asari (Asari are good at diplomacy, have long lives, and Asari Commandos are among the best in the galaxy).
"Personally, I think humanity is overblown" This is the case in virtually every form of media that features a race besides the humans. We have to be "special".
Dont say that here. Templin Institute literally admitted to being a "Humanity Supremacist" whatever the hell that means, so, if you see these videos praising the gloriousness of Humanity more hardcore than the Germans talking about the Aryan race, now you know why. I think this started after they started exploreing 40K, and, well, the guy got kind of obsessed with it.
Been hunting for a piece of literature about this very topic ever since I finished ME3 in 2012, deliverance is upon me from the hand of almighty Templin
Writing something for the immediate aftermath is too difficult on a galactic scale: the three endings just change circumstances way too much to write something that feels 'right'. You could have a lot of galactic "dark spots" though, where nobody uses relays for fear of the Reapers finding them; and since they would have no idea that the war is over, the people fighting over territory have to wage much more low-intensity warfare, for fear of being found.
I don’t know. In this version for the unity of all sentient life to be so “quickly” thrown aside it kinda turns me off. Almost gives the hint that the cycle of death the Reapers were doing was justified.
I agree. The best part of 3 was, in many ways, the galaxy coming together. For it to all fall apart (especially when species like Krogans and Asari would live long enough for thing to be fixed before their eyes) is just needlessly bleak, implying that we can never truly be better, that the second a unifying threat disappears, we'd tear each other apart.
The version I imagined was set entirely on Earth. Maybe a couple decades after the Reapers were destroyed. Earth is a ruin, the relays are gone. The united fleets are trapped in the solar system, so most have remained around Earth. With the human population significantly reduced, you're as likely to see Alien races throughout the ruins of Earth as you are Humans. The story would follow a character trying to reunite or reconquer Earth while dealing with squabbles, radical groups, Reaper remains and what not. Personally, I think just that setting alone would have plenty of interesting stuff in it.
I like the synthesis ending and a good ending with the geth and quarians. Though I know this channel and spacedock are both heavily of the idea that the destroy ending is the only way and I just think that's to narrow minded in a universe with techno zombies
Agreed. The controle ending is just a ticking time bomb given that the Reapers are now being dominated on a galaxy wide scale and this vid shows why the destroy ending is just horrific to the vital infrastructure of the galaxy. Syntheses allows for a true utopia.
....if this was the plot of the new ME, and based off the 'canon' that Shepard blew the relays and destroyed the reapers... I'd probably play. It'd feel like a whole new universe with new options, threats, alliances, and whatever else. I'd just hope the final section of it would take into account all the decisions you'd made up to that point, with the ending changing subtly with each decisions' result factoring in (so it's not just Pick a Color).
Shepard bless us, everyone!
Was that an actual cameo by the voice actor? Or, an impression?
Will you cover the World Government and Marines in One Piece?
@The Templin Institute
hey, what do you guys think about making a video about the phoenix empire or the Empire of Anbennar from the EU4 mod Anbennar?
Happy Shepardmas!
Happy N7 day
Even on post Reaper War earth, the real estate market in Vancouver is still absolutely fucked.
Vancouver has been the site of Furry Conventions so its cursed.
@@jakespacepiratee3740 Only furries with generational wealth can afford to live there
@@JordonVirtue So, kind of like San Francisco?
@@JordonVirtue Generational wealth?
@@jakespacepiratee3740 aka... were your parents rich and their parents and their parents and so on.
Shepard as the new leader: "In order to ensure security and continuing stability, the Citadel Council will be reorganized... *INTO THE FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE! FOR A SAFE AND SECURE SOCIETY!!!"*
We will have a human council! With a human chairman!
So this is how liberty dies? With reapers
Only for xenos, humanity however will be the freed, chosen people
"Report to the ship as soon as possible. We will bang, ok?"
- Grand Emperor Shepard the First
Lol
This is the kind of sequel I would love! A fractured galaxy, nations at war, a symbol needed. A group revives a legend, lead by asari Liara Tisoni a near mythical saint is brought back, will they being peace, help one side win, or even forge the galaxy in a nation under their vision. This is the story I want to see
The Shadow Broker has seeded myths on various planets to prepare them for the messiah Liaratz Tisonirach
@@allocater2 I would say "The Shepherd will return" as their myth. With a clone of him being brought forth...but is he merely a puppet of the Shadow Broker? A figment of her lost love?
So much opportunity to bring back exploration. Your new version of Shepard (and not Ryder) could put resources into repairing mass relays, explore solar systems in your new version of the Normandy (not the Tempest), and explore planets on the ground in your new version of the Mako (not the Nomad). And you could get some other reward for updating the codex.
Honestly I would like to see them attempt the Dark Energy threat they we’re getting at in Mass Effect 2. It still has potential.
Perhaps, but I already deal with enough "not-Europe"s & "really-truly-not-the-ussr" in every sci-fi and fantasy "this-time-we-mean-it-this-isn't-earth" setting out there.
So I can do without a "really-not-the-1950s" portion of Mass Effect.
What I want is either some First Contact War stuff, or something set far enough in the future from the events of ME1-3, where it is not constrained by 17,000, 1 or 0 values in save files.
The codex is shown to be an unreliable narrator in the proper sense of the term right out of the box..... and I don't mean how it describes the layout of capital ships (described to be like what The Expanse does, in at least one codex entry) or what is done at what ranges of battle. Just look at how it uses the broadest strokes to describe the Turians and whatnot, a la Planet of Hats combined with a generic description designed to not offend people.... which they are quickly shown to be anything but.
Now just take that unreliable official proclamation (Almost "And I smote him and 10,000 of his people.... shit from when kings would talk about how they kicked this person or that cities ass last year... meaning that even the phrases used seem cookie cutter... just like how the depiction of pharaoh smiting people doesn't change for some thousands of years) and add in an Asari lifetimes worth of temporal separation and you easily get an official sounding, but not truly reliable source of info on history, or histories even, as different species could claim radically different ones, only agreeing on causality (look up penrose diagrams & the geometry of causality to actually learn about what I am getting at here, its a really interesting topic with lots of potential to be used with any galaxy/universe spanning franchise).
The epilogue in ME3 (with the exception of the 'shoot that bastard in the face' ending from the extended cut) takes place in some time or place that is fuzzy enough with the details of Shepard that they explicitly state that lots of details have been lost. So there is already a means of info dumping as well as some not unreliable but just unsure retelling of facts already shown in the games so far.
You don't need to make every fan with every choice happy. You don't need to say "screw this, im going over to the neighbors house, they haven't heard my stories yet" that we got with Andromeda. You just need something that is internally consistent with established lore and checks enough boxes to make people feel familiar, but not at home (yet) with the new portion of the universe that whatever new story is being told.
Imagine the state of the Alliance. It would probably be one of the most diverse states around from all the stranded coalition forces. Truly the shining beacon of hope the Galaxy needs. It's also the only successor state to the Council to actually, you know, own the Citadel.
Oh hey I even got the perfect motto.
Stand fast. Stand strong. Strand together.
Curious about the fallout from the discovery of the Prothean Beacon hidden in the Temple of Athame. The Asari were the ones who insisted on the law to share all Prothean-related discoveries amongst the all members of the Citadel while secretly hoarding one of the greatest caches of information for themselves to maintain galactic supremacy over a system they engineered. More than that, this beacon contained detailed info about the Reapers, which if discovered earlier might have given the galaxy the means of victory without the cost of billions of lives. How is there no reckoning for that?
Honestly the Asari having no to little reckoning would be pretty realistic. You have to remember the Asari is the strongest in the galaxy in terms of soft-power. I can imagine nation would formally denounce the Asari republic but not do anything meaningful. Due to fear of Asari diplomatic/economic retaliation; unless the Asari is so devastated that it not a concern but than you have other much bigger problem. Like the legitimacy of the citadel if the “heart” is considered impotent. In the real world the strongest counties don’t face consequences for acting in bad faith or blatant hypocrisy.
If it wasn't for Shepherd then The Asari would have been dead along with The Batarians since the Asari are the most advanced civilization in the galaxy
I can see the council starting to gang up on the Asari before an exasperated Shepherd yells at them to save it for after the wave of mechanized extinction is dealt with. Then we can ask for trade concessions and economic reparations for the unfair advantage, but for now, SHOOTTHETWOKLICKSPACEKRAKENSANDSURVIVEYOUIDIOTS
@@Phoenix-vf4nd more importantly, the statue surrounding it was ancient, the entire temple was old
Meaning that "punishing" the asari at this point is punishing a people who likely long since forgot or didn't know it existed
It'd be like the world agreeing to share UFO finds/info, but then finding out that underneath the temples of Malta so we punish the people of Malta .. realistically if such a thing existed how would they know it?
How would the asari in general know about something underneath a temple that is older than literally anyone alive in their society? The matriarchs knew of it but weren't shown as having any real interactions with it
It makes little sense to punish a people for not knowing something their leaders were hiding from THEM too
It wouldn't just be the System Alliance coming back from Earth. You'd have the Citadel, which could be rebuilt I would assume, so they would have that symbolic station as a icon of their authority, as well as the large allied military brought there by Shephard. They having defeated the Reapers would have a rather unifying bond, having fought, bled, and died with each other. This I would think would be the true "Council" successor state.
I think pragmatic concerns would lead to that station being scrapped if the HSA finds a way to cut the alloys it's made of.
exactly!i think earth would become the new galaxy headquarters.with the citadel there,i think most of the leaders would stay there.
I'd see the citadel left as a ghost city left in a Lagrange point surround by a containment security fleet. Massively damaged, full of faulty automated defences, abandoned reaper tech such as carnivorous keepers, corrupted VIs and stranded criminals/scavengers. A nightmare for Even the most hardened and experienced soldier.
So a bit like Glasgow.
Even so Alliance teams pick through it for the former councils advanced tech, weapon caches and secret data files not including all the valuable art and historic artefacts left behind in private collections and galleries. Centuries worth of now lost star maps and the spectre vaults where darker secrets lie.
Earth was a pyre at the end of 3 so its likely humanity was pretty bad off. You're probably right that any re-emerging Systems Alliance would pretty much have to be an amalgamation of all those who fought the final battle. Depending on how far in the future you go, this faction could honestly bear little real resemblance to the human society we saw in the first trilogy.
Actually it was mentioned at the start of the video. All of the fleets and armies that had taken part in the last great battle slowly started to leave trying to see about getting home.
Nice, it makes perfect sense to assume a dark age after the destruction of the mass relay network. There's just no way galactic civilization could have survived without a stable transportation and communication network. My only critique is that in this "post-apocalyptic" galactic scenario, the quorians would have risen to be a galactic power in their own right. Taking into account that they have been scavengers, survivalists, and nomads for generations, they are the most prepared to survive, and thrive, in this new reality. I picture them evolving into a coalition of powerful merchant houses that control most of the trade in the galaxy. It's just that it would be such a delicious irony to have the most disrespected species in the mass effect universe become the most powerful faction in the future.
It need not break anything either. Have them be strictly non aligned.
Almost a swiss/ Venetian and mash up
And given how the Volus set up the previous galactic economy, I think they would do well in this setting.
@@christopherfleetwood5252 the volus and quorians could be fearsome rivals at this point. A war that would be fought economically and threw privateer actions. And maybe the Drell have become a powerful raider faction.
@@MandalorV7 Nah the Drell would still be Assassins assassing people because the Talking Sushi saved them.
Now I'm imagining a Medici fleet. Rolling in-system and cornering the market in various commodities, only to leave the place in financial upheaval once their profit is made.
"The situation has never been this dangerous"
I'm sorry, did we not fight a Galactic war against extermination of all sentient life once?
But seriously, good work!
The Reapers would have ensured life, sentient life, and even civilization would always survive. By destroying the Reapers, organics become masters of their own destiny once more in the Milky Way. That actually means there is no guarantee that someone won't start genociding right and left until they fuck civilization pretty bad.
That said, the very existence of the Jardaans and the Ketts in the neighboring galaxy is the proof that organic civilization can thrive (but also self-destruct) indefinitely without supervision.
Come on! That was Tuesday.
@@RayleighJones Perhaps they ensured it would survive in a way beyond what you are talking about, too. There was a curious case where a star went red-giant even though its age was nowhere near enough to warrant it. Its possible that use/overuse of element zero tech may have negative effects somehow on certain things (like stars), and that the Reapers purge those who use it explicitly to allow the galaxy as a whole to survive longer. It is just one theory about such things anyway. The games after the one this anomaly showed up didn't really expand on it that much from what I recall.
@@SephirothRyu the eezo thing was supposed to be part of the main plot, in which the Reapers were actually waiting for a species that could solve this problem. But they scrapped it in favour of the current ending.
To be honest I think that considering how not very well explained the whole Eezo thing has been, it's not a bad thing. It works as a tool for the characters, but making it into the plot with all the holes left in its working would not be a good idea.
Since a large coalition fleet was left in Sol after the battle of Earth, I'd like to imagine the System Alliance would have the most integrated society compared other powers when they reemerge in this scenario and they would do so with a rebuilt Citadel, the physical station itself. The SA wouldn't just be humanity. It would be a unified faction made up of descendent of the leaders of every pre-Reaper galactic power and some of the heroes of the Reaper War who can live that long. While the population is majority human, the SA would have set up large colonies on Mars and the moons of Saturn and Jupiter for those who became trapped after the last battle.
Just the act of the new SA arrival on the new galactic stage alone would weaken the foundation of the both of the existing factions because of how unified the various species in the SA are.
I had the smae idea watching this video. The best part of this concept, in my opinion, is the wildly divergent culture such a collective would have developed after centuries of isolation. They would have started repopulating Earth with a mixture of human's and aliens. That's alien children likely being raised and educated in a manner that is very human. Just imagine how much the Asari population would explode. Krogans and Turians competing with humans for military positions. The possibilities are endless.
@@The_Sigillite except that Turians can't eat anything that grows on earth sadly.
An interesting counterpart to this Alliance could be one or several former colonies of the Alliance that would have become de facto independent and might have turned either nationalistic (xeno-inclusive version) or outright xenophobic, and maybe creating human-dominated pocket empires.
Imagine a rebuilt Citadel with the ability to (after a sizable energy investment and a LOT of math and maintenance checks) relocate itself around the galaxy.
It would be the ultimate 'mobile capital' that brings its economic support structure along with it.
Yeah the Sol System would be a truly unified culture made up of the heroes who eradicated the Reapers forever. All of their expertise in leadership and the scientists who propelled technology forwards centuries by working on the Crucible. It would be a superpower that represents the best of every species and the unity that was needed to defeat the Reapers.
The Galaxy: Let's go back to being bastards! *loud joyous cheering*
Liara: *Don't make me bring back Shepard!*
The Galaxy: ....I would like to apologize.
The one thing I find most unbelievable about this scenario is the Krogan and Salarians working together. They already hated and distrusted each other before the war. After the dalatrass tried to sabotage the genophage cure I would be surprised if they ever had large scale positive interactions ever again.
Is it any more unbelieveable than the DUP and Sinn Fien working together?
i would suspected some kind of Carthago delenda est (Carthage must be destroyed)
what they did can't be forgiven or forgotten they must DIE
I dont see the krogan forming any alliances really. The asari and turians sure. the slarians trying to make the yang their puppet state for war sure. But the Krogan wouldnt make an alliance with the salarians or turians o feel, maybe the asari.
The asari probabbly would have the most difficulty reuniting I feel. The turians will be fine. Really wonder how the batarians and other minor races would be.
@@joeandrew8752 the Yahg are a single planet. The Salarians were planning on using them as deniable shock troops, not a puppet state.
@@joeandrew8752 Batarians are unlikely to reunite since their empire was completely eradicated only scattered survivors remain, it's mostly military that survived because they were on ships unlike the planets which were pretty well done over
Sounds like an epic setup for a sequel: chaos, strong mercenaries, needing to balance the factions
And meaningufl choices, but leading only to different types of defeat... :D
Basically Terminus systems.
This sort of backstory would either make for a killer Mass Effect game worthy of its predecessors, or even a cool as fuck Hearts of Iron 4/Stellaris mod.
Me and Tali are living on Ranoch, watching the Geth being reborn and host a BBQ celebrating the victory over the Reapers.
Quarians wont allow that again im sure of it.
sadly that outcome makes no sense since shepard being alive is destruction ending and that means the geth are fck.
Darker and grittier than the original, but exceedingly more interesting. I would love to see Mass Effect explore this direction in official releases.
Id hate it. I loved how there where different species with their own politics, cultures and nuances and I really wanted that to be expanded upon.
@@MijmerMopper youd have more diversity i feel in this setting, weve more or less already seen them at their best, now what happens if all these peoples get isolated? the divisions that would form after years perhaps even decades of being separated from any outside contact from both your own race and your neighbors, especially since you wouldnt know what else is left, did we win? or are we just a random backwater planet the reapers are saving for later well they deal with more problematic elements, that kinda threat would shred your previous psyche and be an interesting viewpoint from a geo-political standpoint, not all planets are created equal after all
As interesting as this scenario is, I think it defeats the whole purpose of one of ME3's core themes; unity. Shepard united and forged alliances once deemed impossible to create, and destroyed/controlled/whatever'd the Reapers thanks solely to those alliances. Having the remnants of former governments and species squabble over a massive power vacuum rather than working together just seems really out of place.
@@HalTheBot fair, though most of the military forces are at earth/the sol system so it’s basically martial law for other regions (assuming they didn’t get vaporized by the exploding relays)
Man-Emperor of Mankind seeing the post-Reaper War galaxy: "It's time for a Great Crusade!"
Honestly, sounds way to ripoffy for 40k. Last time I checked, 40K was unique because it was different to every other sci-fi series, not because every other sci-fi series was like 40K. Whats with this weird push to make every other series like 40K? Isnt anyone scared of oversaturation?
You want something thats actually like 40K? Check out the new Dune Movie. The Dune book was heavy inspiration for 40K, and Dune has no Aliens! Your welcome!
Personally I didnt like this Remimagined scenario. The others were great but this one is way too obviously the Templine Institute wanting to rub their hard 40K boner out.
@@jakespacepiratee3740 Also, Warhammer 40k isn’t meant to be taken at face value, but obviously, there are a lot of fans who unironically think the ways that Warhammer is parodying and outright showing as awful, WHICH IT IS!! (Doesn’t help that it’s impossible to know whether some of these comments are ironic or otherwise.)
@@AAZ-yu5ss To be fair, 40k has long since left its satire days behind.
Pre-quel to Dune
Turian: oh hey! The Humans are back!
Asari: Thank the goddess! We missed you guys!
Salarian: strange. I don’t recognise their equipment. Also, did they get taller?
Space Marine: PURGE THE XENOS!! (Sounds of Boltguns firing in righteous fury)
“The Templin Institute has a public front in the Mass Effect multiverse, and one well established enough that Shepard is aware of them,” is an unexpected headcanon to accept, to be sure, but a welcome one.
Also, you’re now one step closer towards getting the entire VA cast to guest-voice episodes 😈
Templin Institue has "not gone unnoticed in W40k universe; they are observed by some they are already aware .... and some of whom they are not" :D
@@piotrd.4850 I can totally see that. Really, any sci-fi universe within reason could have a public Templin front, and those that don’t can still have powerful groups or entities that are aware of them. Even fantasy universes wouldn’t be safe, since many of those have beings with god or godlike power.
Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I really want just hundreds of mini-fics detailing encounters with parties who would be aware of Templin observation, such as The Doctor, the Q, or the SCP Foundation.
@@VDiddy5000 Easter eggs abound!
Interesting ideas, but I think reducing the galactic political landscape down to 2 power blocs renders this reimagining quite dull. I think it would be more interesting and more likely that you would have a galaxy with a large number of small alliances or single big powers competing in a more regional state (giving any future game multiple choices of who to support or counter instead of a simplified 2-choice blue/orange decision tree, and maybe make player decisions feel more impactful). The lack of the mass relay network should immediately negate the existence of any galactic scale superstates. And the Systems Alliance should be equally forced to deal the same problems as the other former Citadel Council members instead of being hidden away. In fact, because of Earth's and Shepard's prominence in the last battle (and since the start of the Reaper involvement), the SA would never be left alone or uninvolved by the other powers after the Reaper War aftermath.
I definitely agree, whole societies could fracture (looking at Quarians who aren't cool with Geth vs the chill ones). Couple that with groups scavenging Reaper tech, and it would be Game of Thrones, Mass Effect edition.
I really don't like the 'nope-not-nato' and 'really-not-the-warsaw-pact' lazyness of this setup. If they really want to look at a real world political clusterf--k to base things on.... given that the relay network was said in the extended cut (I forget with which endings, but with at least one of them anyways) to be heavily damaged, which is easy to note means "not actually destroyed"..... a fractured patchwork would seem a good way to go..... but the west vs east cold war stuff is not how to do it, balkanization is the way to go...... don't break it into 2 or 3 pieces..... let it shatter like a window onto a rock.... into a thousand pieces.
colony after colony after colony.... just imagine how easily and how far one can go with just the fifth of Wilson's 14 Points "A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable government whose title is to be determined." (Wilson might be one of the worst presidents in history, but the points that don't prescribe stuff for specific nations like Italy or Austria-Hungary, who are explicitly mentioned, are fairly good ideals.)
Well they've said that the first two centuries of the post-War Era was a time of small political entities and warlords fighting each other, its only after this period when this two superpowers appeared. The thing Im gonna agree with you is the fact that there's no way that the Systems Alliance will be left aside in the aftermath of the War. Nice reflexion!
From a game development standpoint, having a highly fractured scenario like the one suggested, would also make it very shallow due to the widely but thinly spread development resources, ultimately damaging any attachment a player could form towards any one faction. On the other hand, if we limit the game to just a few strong power blocks and a few extra relatively shallow miscellaneous groups like cults, mercs, pirates, etc. We can create a stronger illusion of depth overall. Sure, it is a compromise, but it is the same compromise most studios have to make in this kind of scenario.
Counter arguments would likely be something like the creations of Paradox Interactive, but they also act as a strong representative of how many decades it takes to create any actual depth, and even then most factions end up being forced into a very cookie cutter like mould regardless.
@@venoltar I don't rate Mass Effect fans in the same way I do Dynasty Warriors fans (even if they are one in the same at times, as I am an example of one).
People playing Dynasty Warriors know that since the 2nd game it has not really changed. They want button mashing awesomeness and that is it.
People playing Mass Effect want not just agency for their player, they want this agency to have a visible and lasting impact on the setting.
You don't need to do anything but refresh the gameplay with the former. The latter requires by its very nature, a decent bit of storytelling.
People who find fun in a game for button mashing awesomeness are not the people who will get bored of, even bothered by any lazy attempt at utilizing even a 50% copy of the 20th century political s--tstorm. We have all heard it before, a hundred if not a thousand times. Even if not intended as being based on the cold war, simply feeling as if it is based on the cold war can be enough to make someone go "yep, back to middle school creative writing class I see."
Everything is secondary to story and player-character agency in the setting for Mass Effect. Proof of this is the love the community has for ME2. If it was based on gameplay 3 and Andromeda, which are more polished than 2 would be at the top. Therefore the foremost care needs to be put into these 2 things.
A story that only involves a few big powers (which represents only a few big choices) is the easy way to take a long walk off a short pier (red blue green ring any bells). Been there, done that, RIP Marauder Shields.
Now imagine a geopolitical landscape that looks like the world map at the beginning of a Total War campaign. Imagine utilizing your actions and inactions to help steer the direction of whichever faction or factions you side with or side against. The more fractured, the more places for the players choices to intersect and thus be actually visible. The more you can see your actions actually having an effect, the more _any_ player is going to care.
Arguing that people will care less with a wide starting field due to spreading resources too thin is vacuous. Just as with a superpower setup, it is all about what is done with them. If you can take the investment a Total War player has in their late game faction and its rise to power (the struggles and the joy that comes with this) and merge this with the storytelling/choice making of classic Bioware and set it in the Mass Effect universe. You will get a base that has far more potential than the Shepard trilogy could have even thought of. The longer the story runs the better... think Phantasy Star 3, multi generational storytelling. A company like EA has far more money to throw at the actual workings of a project than most people realize. If anything their problem is, well, rant at the end.....
Turning the attachment point from the avatar the player interacts with the world into the actual interaction with the world, or at least adding this as a true extra yet still primary attachment point, or even doing something like KotOR where the pieces that are the same are mechanical (HK-47, the Ebon Hawk) How about a true hero ship where that is the thread that ties different parts to a multiphase story together from the players perspective. No AI or anything, maybe there is AI but that isn't the binding part, just the pure mechanical part of the ship is, a story told about a family as seen by the house they lived in, so-to-speak.
The only real problem to any of this, is the nadir of talent and the complete and utter lack of creative vision when it comes to people with the power to greenlight ambitious projects & the ability to ACTUALLY GO THROUGH WITH THE GODDAMNED PLAN AND NOT CHANGE IT 4756219875643298756234987562394875623498765983 TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah EA/Bioware/WannabeIronManGame I am looking at you.
Don't spent a gazillion on ads, Don't change the goddamned focus 83 times before even knowing you needed to focus on something. MANAGE YOUR GODDAMNED INVESTMENTS FOR ONCE. and finally F U C K your bottom line EA, your customers pay your bills, they pay your investors they ARE WHAT PAYS. The more you bend them over without so much as even thinking about where the lube is, the harder you will have to rape the ones that don't run away.
What will determine the tone of the next game is how quickly the relays would have been repaired and if the damage to relays was as bad throughout the rest of the milky way
i suspect the Prime Relays will be more damaged then the Secondary one.
The repairs would best be handled by the still-extant Reapers, but now there would have to be negotiations, payments, and union mandated breaks.
Mass Effect is the best game universe I have ever played in. The lore, the characters, the technology.... All of it touched me in a way that few other games have.
Out of nowhere it assumed its place among the pantheon of the great: Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, Mass Effect
@@allocater2 Yes, it did!
Don't forget Halo
I don’t think post-reaper war era will ever be explored because there is so much that could be different depending on choices, genophage cured or not, rachni dead or alive, that sort of stuff seems hard to account for
Wait but, mass effect 4?
@@djamondaxuzm4712 they will likely make destroy cannon and go with the genophage cured option, leaving some of the smaller details for player selection:
did Hanar survive the war?
did Drell survive the war?
did Elcor survive the war?
fate of the quarians / geth?
fate of the rachni?
The next mass effect is almost certainly going to do this though. The trailer makes it fairly obvious that it will be following one specific timeline and branching off again from there.
I quite like the idea, let's say it follows from the destroy ending. For those that picked that ending, it's a natural continuation. And for those that didn't, its more of a 'what if?' scenario from an alternative universe or whatever.
Its not making your choices in 3 pointless, it's just exploring one specific scenario
@@warwolf3005 I'm not sure they'll even do that. Lot of art assets to not use if the player can decide a species doesn't exist or not. Rachni can always just be some random monster on an alien world like they already did, but the others would be voice and model work that would be wasted (the only one might be Geth/Quarians cause you can always bring back Geth as mobs too). Honestly, Bioware probably bit off more than they could chew by even having that stuff as options in the modern gaming landscape. You gonna spend millions on assets some players will/can never see?
The way I see it if they want to continue post war story line they are just going to have to bite the bullet and choose a Canon series of events and hope the fan base will get over it.
A random idea I came up for a post Synthesis ending would be to explore the disturbing implications of such a result and potentially a civil war between those who accept the new form of years and believe it to be the "strengths of both and the weaknesses of neither" (eg: EDI as she gives the Synthesis speech and Kasumi because she gets her boyfriend back) and those who see it as an abomination (such as the Husks regardless of whether they became new lifeforms or regained the personalities they had before being transformed). Probably with the Reapers staying on the sidelines minus a few in a similar way to how Ann Bryson theorized Leviathan was "a defector" before Shepard uncovered that they were the ones who created Harbinger.
Also was it this channel that mentioned a 'Salarian and Krogan alliance' in a post Reaper era Cold War in a previous video?
Another interesting idea would be to explore the idea of people reconfiguring themselfes into new forms.
@@Exospray Its implied during the Synthesis ending that they could do that. My guess is either Beings of Light or digital beings resembling any form they wish.
@@Exospray Like Transformers? Roll out!
Problem is that Synthesis is - in light of Leviathan add-on - only logical solution. If one race in one Galaxy created Reapers once, this can happen all over universe. So what happens if Milky Way chooses "destroy" and then Adromedan / other exo-galactic Reapoer like threat arrives?
Synthesis would be interesting for the fact that it gives Reapers, whom themselves are the agglomerations of former civilizations free will. The galaxy has been cleansed over and over again, and it could be possible that many worlds currently inhabited by people used to be the homeworld of a particular Reaper. Imagine a Reaper showing up and demanding that the colonists get off its homeworld.
Imagine if dinosaurs happened to be sentient and the dinosaur Reaper shows up on Earth - demanding a home to restore its dino-people to.
We all know that any new mass effect games that come out will never be as compelling as this. But to imagine all of the storytelling possibilities. Would a resurgent humanity side with the Pact claiming once and for all the council seat it so jealousy clawed for in the prewar era? Would its leaders see folly in returning to the old ways and join GalCon in hopes to assert its dominance in a new order? Perhaps having the Alliance been rebuilt in isolation would give cuase to play both sides off each other; establishing what Cerebus and the Illusive man had always envisioned for mankind. Human Galactic Supremacy? It'd be so cool to see what Templin has envisioned here come to life, and while doubt looms over the release of the next Mass Effect. I have what Shepard had instilled in us from the very beginning. Hope.
Any game post 3 can't use the Synthesis or Destroy endings, as that would radically change the setting of the universe. And, after the last couple of hits BioWare has taken against their reputation the last thing they'd do is stray away from what they know works.
That means, no matter how much people hate it, Control will have to be the canonical ending as it leaves the Relay Network (mostly) intact, and doesn't drastically alter the galaxy's inhabitants or governments.
@@stryletz It's a shame that you're right and they'll cop-out to take the path of least resistance. One can dream though.
@@stryletz i disagree. from the one teaser theyve given us for ME5 so far, the galaxy seems to be in complete disarray. a situation somewhat similar to what templin came up with might actually be an option. also, i think the majority of people picked destroy for their ending, for relatively obvious reasons. i also cant really imagine what control would look like. i mean, reaper fleets just casually strolling through the galaxy? i dont think so. not after what happened. those things would be blasted out of the sky no matter whether its shepard in there or not.
the copout theyll use probably, is that the new game will be set so far after me3s ending that any consequences would have long since played out. like, liara looked much older in the teaser, and we all know an asaris lifespan.
@@jenshep1720 The only downside for control for me at least is if I remember right, it wipes out the geth I freed ;_; It hurts too much to throw away everything Legion did for us.
@@crushcommando8637 i thought control saved the geth? anyway, i modded my ending. picked destroy for the satisfaction of wiping out the reapers, and replaced the bit about the geth being destroyed with diffferent slides because honestly, it doesnt make sense with how they set it up. theres no way for an energy pulse to destroy only ai and reaper technology and leave everything else intact. like, how would it even know to distniguish between those pices of hardware? its an energy pulse.
Those Reaper cults would be really fun in a Control Ending. The Control Ending is just something pushing the problem to another time. Sooner or later, even a Paragon Shepard intelligence is going to let all that power get to him/her. You know what they say about good intentions. A Renegade Shepard would probably start right way with seizing control of the galaxy.
Renegade Shepard be looking at other galaxies and say: « that galaxy needs to be *LIBERATED* »
@@basedkaiser5352 Life forms we cant even imagine could be in other Galaxies, idiot. We live on 1 Planet and we think we know everything. XD
@@basedkaiser5352 Renegade Shepard: "Oh I wouldn't say free. I say *under new management..."*
Reminds me that Geth altar on Feros. Now add statue of Shapard there.
Plot twist after the reaper war humankind turns into the greater terran union
Why would Humanity's relationships with the other races suddenly break down? Its because of them together that they barely managed to survive.
And as soon as the common enemy is gone, they turned against each other after that.
Fair Weather Friends - they stand with you but when things get rough, they leave you and turn on you.
Great video. However, I still maintain that the most likely alliance post-reaper war to challenge an attempt to reinstate the Citadel hegemony is that of Krogan and Quarian.
When the reapers attacked, the Citadel races were devastated. The only species to potentially come out better than before are the Krogan with. cured genophage, and the Quarians with a reclaimed Rannoch.
Both have grudges against the council, and make up for the other's weaknesses. Quarians have the largest fleet in the galaxy and technical knowhow, but a compromised immune system and low numbers. Krogan are insanely adaptable and rugged, but lack any form of space force. The two are natural allies, and with one being dextro and the other levo-protein, they never even have to worry about colonization rights.
The only potential drawback to this is that Shepard, depending on player choice, could have royally screwed one, the other, or both in ME3.
Or even biblically "known" either or both.
They are good choices for allies, though given my playthrough, I'd hope that both would be kind and follow the path of compassion. I was respected on Tuchanka even before I helped a Salarian scientist to cure the Genophage. I helped forge a peace between the Geth and the Quarians. With those examples and their past tribulations, they'll be humble in prosperity.
What about the Salarians? The Reapers didn't reach Sur Kesh and if the Genophage Is cured only part of their forces took part during the Battle of Earth
They could play a bigger role
@@Ale-dd3ek IIRC, they are attacked at the very end of the game. Regardless though, they will probably be the most well-off Council rate, but my original comment had more to do with species that would be opposed to reinstituting the Council system. The Salarians already were benefiting from their council status and would probably like for things to go back status quo.
I like the fact you made this into a proper setup for a video game, not just an overall backstory.
Why does Mark Meer not have strong feelings for the Templin Institute? 😭
What do u mean?
It's a Futurama reference.
Also didn't he do a bit for Templin in the past??
@@robertdrexel2043 yes he did. It's on a video about garrus I believe.
@@chaosouroboros4848 ofcourse its garrus who else would it be
3:37 So that's where the Second and Eleventh Primarchs had went to after they were declared as "Missing".
Totally uncalled for, but amazing nonetheless. Continue your goodworks citizen
I feel like the Leviathan could have a huge role to play in the aftermath of the Reaper War as they and reassert themselves as the apex species. Their influence could be unknown and very subtle at first before it is realized they are pulling some serious strings.
This is why I feel a prequel would be the WORST waste of potential for Mass Effect. A post-Reaper world would be utterly fascinating to explore. I could also envision a sort of Arms-race. With Reaper corpses everywhere, I feel it would only be a matter of time before many factions reversed engineered Reaper tech and weapons.
Pretty sure that how the Batarians hegemony collapse; by studying the Leviathan of dis(the reaper corpse) and being indoctrinated. I have a hard time seeing earth being habitable with dead reaper on earth and in orbit brainwashing everyone.
@@Phoenix-vf4nd That's what I wonder, though. If the Reapers are destroyed, would indoctrination be an issue? The Turians created the Thanix canon from salvaging Sovereigns main gun, and we never heard a peep about that team being indoctrinated.
@@playcebovision5319 If the turians took Shepherds information seriously. I would imagine the scientists that work on sovereign corpse would be executed; then posthumously honor & promoted.( or whatever turians do with their dead.)
@@Phoenix-vf4nd glory and honor, the Turians working on the project probably knew what was going to happen, so it was likely a volunteer assignment
Boy that would be such a great synopsis for ME4. The destruction of the relays and the ravages brought by the war are a perfect setup for combination of Sci-Fi and Post-Apo genres. A post-apocalyptic galaxy is something rather original (excluding 40k).
Let's hope Bioware has a somewhat similar idea...
I feel like the idea between GALCOM and the Block is a good one, but a far better third pillar should have been the “Omega Systems”, a collective of bandit kingdoms, military industrial conglomerates, and Huntas all paying tribute to the one person in the Terminus Systems more dangerous than even Shepard; Aria.
Aria is not more dangerous than Shepard.
IMO Omega should be capital of one side. Aria being a significant power behind the throne.
The other side should have a never deployed andromeda ark.
Honestly, galaxy in state of "dark ages" with various barbarian entities, is quite likable. Imagine Terminus x10: GalCom, Tetris (?) Pact, Terminus, Systems Alliance and smaller petty warlords.
@@sacredbeastzenon Aria is just about as dangerous, but the main thing I want in ME4 is a “Cult of the Shepard” type deal like the fanbase gave to Legion with the Geth (He terminated his runtimes for your errors.)
also... the Yahg had a captured council vessel and they were not touched by the war. i dont see them making an aliance with anyone.
This is super interesting! Only thing I can see being problematic is the idea that reaper derelicts would still be able to indoctrinate people. It’s all up in the air whether or not the Crucible resolution neutralizes that aspect of leftover reaper tech.
its possible that some bits and pieces, though heavy damaged, could be intact enough to be ether re-engineered, repaired to some degree, of studied to the point that a weaker version could be made.
@@Prozerge The Crucible could have neutralized the indoctrination effect of Reapers entirely.
Given that it isn't even something the Reapers developed themselves but a leftover of their Leviathan builders it'd be a wierd stretch for the ability to be gone. A Paragon shepard AI refusing to use it would make sense.
I was trying to figure out what the purpose of this video was. The setup at the end for a potential game really brought the whole thing together.
this is an interesting timeline you guys have come up with. and I could see the humans do what we always do and innovate. in a time where the relay network is for all intents and purposes destroyed, I can see the humans reemerge not having restored or rebuilt their portions of the network but by combining mass effect tech with older concepts like say the Alcubirre warp drive creating a superior form of FTL allowing them to bypass the traditional limits of mass effect tech. and not only reach the other species and reconnect with them but explore and claim systems that were too far outside of the limits imposed by the relay network and the low FTL speed of the ships using traditional mass effect tech.
Well the citadel is really close to earth, so it might be posible that they somehow found a way to create their own relays, or perhaps the alliance mange to create ships with their own relay and essentially bypassing any form of pre-established transportation and communication.
As far as I was concerned, Control ending Cyber-Sherpard is sitting on the Citadel as the Immortal God-Emperor of the Galaxy.
Oh no, he's gonna go on war against all xenos and make a human galactic empire.
For the emprah.
@@chaosouroboros4848good thing batarians are long gone xD
There is one issue that was never quite expanded on. I forget if it was the first or second game, but there is a system where a star went red giant much earlier than it should have. A system where a very large number of mass effect ships happened to hang around for at least a fairly notable time.
It has been wondered if this has anything to do with the original "purpose" of the Reapers, as well as why they wait so far outside the galaxy. That is to say, the notion that element zero and/or its use may have... less than desirable effects on local stars. And that the Reapers were a system to preserve the galaxy for future life by destroying those who use element zero too much and thus risk causing bad things to happen to stars.
Edit: And yes, this does, for anime lovers, mean that the Reapers could in some ways be compared to the Anti-spiral.
you mean the dark matter stuff from tali's recruitment mission on haestrom? about the star dholen?
Yeah that was part of a plot that was ultimately scrapped
Honestly, there are way too many variables to really reimagine a post-Reaper galaxy in any real meaningful way, even from the endings alone.
This is a really neat idea. I love the idea of this setting the stage for a new chapter thats still a true Space Opera but doesn't just rely on another mysterious alien big bad and instead is just a game of war and politics between existing races that all likely have valid points. Honestly that's what I'd want from a new ME game/series, a dive into the world itself instead of just another generic big bad to thump. Still needs some handwavium to explain away how they resolved the mess ME3 left them with but that ending was so bad, its likely not possible to continue the story without substantial handwaving or retcons unless you just jump like 10,000 years ahead and ignore it all.
Even this many years later I have still never seen a work of such well thought out and developed fiction shit the bed in such an efficient and rapid manner as ME3 did. It basically destroyed the entirety of its world and world building in less than 20 minutes. A shame considering that, weak space gun macguffin aside, the rest of that game is actually pretty damn good.
In retrospect, the world and plot went to hell in ME2. Characters and atmosphere were amazing, but the cracks began to show.
By ME3 it was just CoD and forgetting everything we've learned/nice background lore that could've opened alternative routes for players who took the time to find them.
But that would've required time...and work...and EA-Bioware was not in favor of that.
Yep. It's amazing that EA decided to double down on the ending instead owning up to their mistakes and fixing them. Heck, they could have just gone with Indoctrination Theory and said the crap ending was an attempt by the Reapers to learn about the galaxy's defenses. There could have been a epic jailbreak followup to save Shep from Reaper control. Historic failure.
I've been pondering this scenario since 2012. Nobody better to flesh it out than you guys.
I would love to see a space western arc in a post Reaper War
I really like this idea, but my semi-optimistic ass still thinks a far more inclusive and democratic successor to the Citadel Council will form with most former and some new members joining it. Obviously new states would emerge from the ashes to either support or challenge this new federation or confederation, with rogue former colonies and maybe a resurgent Cerberus. I think the Alliance would be essential in the rebuilding efforts and become far more respected rather than a common rival.
Also, what about the ending slides? How do you all think those will play into everything?
I think you've already put more thought into worldbuilding for the next game than Bioware has or will.
This is what we need as a sequel, The big thing the systems alliance would bring is not only a fleet built with the combined tech of the reapers, humans, citadel, and citadel species, but also the political clout of having won the reaper war, The systems alliance is already poised to absorb everyone into a new alliance, and they wouldn't even have to change their name
certainly an intersting topic, considering your re-imaginings of the First Order and New Republic im sure this will be great!
IT IS SO EPIC TO HEAR SHEPARD AGAIN GOT LEGIT GOOSEBUMPS
I could see humanity being represented by a more Cerberus like faction instead of a Systems Alliance one.
Also a subset of humans who worship the Commander Shepard as some sort of divine protector.
I'd actually argue we'd most likely see an interdpecies systems alliance.
mostly because
A;
Just about every species would be left stranded around Earth
B;
Most of the soldiers most likely bonded due to their experiences during the war
After what Cerberus had done in ME3 I doubt anyone aside from extreme fringe groups would support such a faction even having a slight resemblance to Cerberus. You can't really justify brain washing people, shoving mind control tech in their heads, and using a supposed refugee camp as a way to turn people into husk and other abominations and stabbing humanity in the back during the war
THE IMPERIUM OF MAN
This is a pretty solid write up
The idea I had for a Mass Effect 4 is to jump a few centuries to lineup with Andromeda and the idea is that all three ending of Mass Effect 3 happened (so only the reject ending would be treated as non-canon) and the big mystery and conceit is explaining how that is possible with it being the source of the conflict and new world building for the franchise going forward.
I had a whole write up about Liara being the central figure and the star of Haestrom being crucial and how Shepard plays into it.
The setting is interesting. However, some points need to be fixed:
- The Quarians have no hidden relays (ALL RELAYS WERE DESTROYED);
- Ships in the Mass Effect universe travel only a few times faster than light. Only with Mass Relays can they travel hundreds of times faster than light. Therefore, the Migrant Fleet cannot assume the suggested role;
- Emergency and massive effort to terraform Mars and Venus would occur due to the outrageous amount of people who came to the Solar System;
- With Earth hosting fleets and individuals of the greatest powers in the Galaxy, it is not at all difficult to imagine that the greatest efforts would start here;
- Why wasn't the Charon Relay rebuilt?
- Why were no Mass Relays rebuilt?;
- In what situation were the Geths and their fleet?
- It is likely that Thessia recovered faster than Earth as they have more advanced technology than Humanity. Similar scenario with Sur'Kesh. Palaven is perhaps another story;
- The Yagh are far from being a power as they are still pre-superluminal journeys;
- Drell-Hanar Compact does not have the means to be anything more than it was before the War. Worse, perhaps they suffered irreparable damage;
- Geopolitical bipolarism with little foundation. Galaxy is too vast for that. How many planets does each Species have? Hundreds? Thousands?
A few dozen, if that. The Mass Effect universe is pretty small in comparison to other similar universes like Halo. Since exploration is limited to systems near Relays, habitable planets are spread pretty thin. I mean, considering the Quarians lived entirely in their Migrant fleet with a few tens of thousands spread across the Galaxy, and they were stuck to their ships through the loss of what, 3 planets? Humans being the newest species had maybe 12 named, inhabited planets. And those planets had very few people. Eden Prime had about 4 million people on it and it was one of the first colonised planets. Mass Effect universe is tiny. The losses from the Reaper War would pale in comparison to the loses in the Human-Covenant war, and that's an entire galaxy's casualties versus two factions.
@@acrow5 it depends from who you are speaking of. Assarians are 1000 years ahead of anybody else. They could have hundreads of planets. Same with Turians.
@@Musashination They and the Salarians discovered the Citadel about 3000 years before the events of Mass Effect. And from what we've seen, the lore, the actual in-game maps, they have maybe a few dozen or so populated planets. Again, they can't explore the galaxy like in Halo. They're limited to the Relays, which only a few are activated. It doesn't cover the whole galaxy, and the Council have an active policy to not open new ones.
You're thinking Halo scale, while the Mass effect universe is nothing like that. Halo humans had hundreds of worlds before the Covenant started glassing them, and that was in 400 or so years. Mass Effect doesn't have the size, the technology or the numbers to reach that scale. Well, not until after the Reaper Wars.
The Protheans had a large number of worlds, because they aggressively conquered, and even then they had maybe a few hundred. They're constrained by the Relays. The Protheans also had many more thousands of years to reach their height. 3000 years for the Asari and Salarians before the Reapers awoke, and the habitable worlds that aren't still locked behind Relays are shared, or just not occupied. You visit several near habitable planets in the game with no life on them. Sorry but Mass Effect just isn't that big of a universe in comparison.
@@acrow5 I'm not comparing with anything. You are the one bring up Halo. Second, I know about the polices about the Relays. However, time is on the Assari side. They had the time, people and knowledge to expande. The policy about Relay activation only came into place after the Rachni Wars, about two milenia ago. So you get a Thousand years of unchecked expansion. That gives you a lot of run to go for it. Even then terraforming would be a thing as well. So you can count the number of planets in the hundreds for the Asari at least and a some dozens for everybody else (minus Krogans). On the Mass Effect Wiki page there is a list of planets. Turians have almost 30. You can math that there are a lot more, since guys from Bioware won't simple write 50.000 planets just for the sake of filing a page. But if you have space to expand, you will expand.
@@Musashination You are vastly overestimating the numbers, and clearly haven't actually read the wiki. Yes, the Turians have 30 planets on the wiki, but only 5 or 6 of them are actually inhabited. The rest exist in their sphere of influence, they aren't actual colonies. Yes, I do think eventually more planets will be colonised, but only now after the Reaper War.
The Asari are worse, because they live for a thousand years, they move much slower. They don't colonise every rock they find like they're going out of style. Again, if you read the wiki, and I only gave it a cursory glance, the Asari have habitable worlds uncolonised in their space. That's how few planets they actually live on.
If you want an even bigger sign that's the case, the Batarians were driven to near extinction in the 6 or so months between Mass Effect 2 and 3. They had that few planets, and were apart of the Citadel races for hundreds of years before humans showed up. Humans, comparatively, spread a lot faster than many of the other races, with several colonies before they even encountered the Council, but even they only have a few hundred thousand to a few million per planet.
Mass Effect is small, really small. I don't think there is more than 100-200 colonised planets across all of the races combined, less so after the Reaper War. Again, limits of their FTL, they can only explore via relays and only colonise planets nearby said relays, with many relays untouched and after the War, completely destroyed. How many species that just recently acquired FTL won't ever be found because of the Relay's destruction?
honestly imagine a shepherd cult rising in this post reaper war
That actually seems pretty logical.
@@dragonbornexpress5650 I know right? I hope they bring these kinda elements in the new mass effect game.
@@churabros3321. Perhaps, like with the protagonist of Fallout 2 and 3, nobody can actually decide on who Shepard is. This maneuver is often done as a way of not interfering with player choice very much, which is quite important in RPG's like Mass Effect. This could then lead to some ideas like a cult based around Shepard who believes in some warped ideology of order by going full totalitarian because they believe that Shepard once did just that.
@@dragonbornexpress5650 exactly, something like that. The name shepherd becomes muddled in myth and legend.
@@churabros3321. Bingo! Just like many other legendary figures throughout history, it becomes a pain to discern the facts from the myths, and could easily lead to more depth in the worldbuilding because you have all of these various Shepard cults who each have a completely different view on who Shepard was and what they did, which could lead to various smaller conflicts because of the classic differing ideologies and beliefs.
So your idea for ME4 is essentially to shuffle the deck chairs of the galaxy while making Humanity the kingmakers again...I can't help but feel I've played this game before...oh, I have, Mass Effect 1.
And ME1 was great! 👍
I like the concept art idea that the next ship named Normandy after all this is a massive flagship. Shepard is probably a defining heroic figure by this point.
I always liked the idea of a Human Quarian Alliance. The two would become unstoppable. (And TaliXShep is canon).
I've been making my own fanon articles on what might happen in a post-Reaper War era. Doesn't matter which choice was made, everyone has a lot of creative ideas.
Commander Shepard when they see the state of the galaxy:
“I leave for five minutes and look at the mess you’ve made!”
This would set the stage for a great game where you have to rebuild the galactic civilization and work to resolve any major problems left over from the Reaper War.
It would be quite interesting seeing how the descendants of other species would be culturally shaped by whatever isolated nation state they happened to have ended up in. Such as the descendants of the military forces of non-human species who fought for Earth. And vice versa for the humans that were under the jurisdiction of other species' domain.
I hope if we see the post-reaper war era that both the quarrians and the Geth are still alive, both were my favourite races of mass effect
Fact, that Systems Alliance has such a neutral name, that can include not only humans, but also other races, is quite hopegiving.
Well it's full name is the human systems alliance but I think they ditched the human part once they started getting high enough alien immigrants
I’d like to see more Reimagining videos. Just very interested in hearing different takes on different Factions/Worlds.
I'm actually interested in hearing and even seeing more of this hypothetical post-war galaxy map and various re-imagining or differences from the Systems Alliance of old, new and these successor states and organisations. Would they still adhere to the old laws and treaties of the Citadel Council such as the Treaty of Farixen, use of WMDs such as nuclear weaponry or even AI? Would the Alliance have rebuilt Arcturus Station or relegated the Citadel as its replacement?
Being a Terminus Colonist just continues to be a great time!
Wow.. I am convinced that this could be canon. Really well done.
Marauder Shields died trying to prevent us from experiencing all of this.
Narratively speaking, I thought Mass Effect Andromeda was hinting that the Scourge originated from the Milky Way. It hit the Andromeda galaxy while the colonists were en route (Crucible activation timeframe plus or minus FTL drift error), was caused by a dark energy weapon of unknown function, it targets and destroys specific technology, and choice words were given for just how awful whoever pulled the trigger on such a weapon must have been. In other words, the Milky Way would be absolutely wrecked, possibly permanently. BioWare is of course not compelled to follow that plot direction. They have dropped previous-game-foreshadowing like a hot potato before.
The only problem is we know where the Scourge was activated from, and it was in the Heleus Cluster. It was activated on Khi Tasira, the same space station where we find out the Jardaan created the Angara.
That is a cool idea though.
I really like how this sets the stage for a future game playing as humanity but surely in lore humanity would be one of the first civs to emerge? The citadel is on Earth as is the wreck of the reaper fleet and the fleets of all other powers at the end of ME3.
Destroy ending, ey? Likewise.
Honestly I was kind of hoping you'd give a reference to Shepherd being alive, like "as communication is restored across the Galaxy, rumors are aboud of a legendary warrior thought fallen in battle" in reference to the Shepherd Lives ending or something. However, I find this scinerio really interesting!
So glad to see the Quarians as a core pillar of the galaxy’s effort to rebuild. They are probably my favorite species in Mass Effect and it’s about goddamn time they stopped being treated by the rest of the galaxy as a maligned underclass.
I like this idea I'd add a little something though, the systems alliance isn't just humans there should be the descendents of other species especially Asari living and working in the alliance. Also have a growing background threat a possible one. In the first mass effect game if you scanned some gas giants it was hinted that some had hidden objects within them. Also a conversation with Javik he says that the protheans were already at war with an AI species called the Metreon. What if the Metreon just decided to hide rather then be destroyed by the reapers. Also what if the Metreon aren't the AI bad cliché that's the usual story...?
I could certainly stand to hear more. Great stuff!
We need a post reaper mass effect game (that isn't andromeda), I remember they teased it about a year ago but we haven't heard anything since.
If BioWare has any brains left they'll take their time, knock out a solid script, and only release when they are 100% ready.
They can't afford another flop, if they mess up with one of their tent pole IPs, again, the rEApers will consume them.
They're gonna have to pick one of the endings and redcon the rest though. And with the reaper corpses, the N7 badge. And the teaser suggesting that asari is "looking for Shepard" all the edgelords wuth anime pictures for profile pics who write entire essays in the comment section about how it is somehow moral to brainwash everything (singularity) or turn Shepard into a Reaper tyrant (control) and NOT destroy the reapers are going to get very upset I think.
@@madkabal a guy called big dan gaming went over the trailer and summarised that it had to be destroy or a multiple ending save and start.
@@stryletz Agreed. Andromeda was the definition of rushed.
This... is probably the BEST suggestion for a ME4 setup I have heard to date. Good job.
Considering how influential humanity has been, I was expecting a little on their involvement or lack of involvement.
Considering how devastated earth was I could see a GTU situation happen on earth; abandoning it democratic institutions in an attempt to rebuild and end famine. I mean the system alliance entire civilian gov’t was kill off by reapers(with exception to Udina who was shoot in the chest).
@@Phoenix-vf4nd everybody's homeworld got devastated.
@@failtolawl Except for the yahg and the salarian who only had a reaper presence near the end of ME3. Reapers target Batarian home world first who fall literally immediately (because their leaders was indoctrinated) before anyone even know of the reaper invasion; they then use their new soldiers and targeted Earth and Palaven. Those three homeworlds faced the brunt of the reaper assault; it stand to reason that Earth and Palaven would be the most devastated among the surviving worlds
Though earth got everybody's aid, so it will likely recover quickly.
In Stellaris terms, the endgame crisis has just been defeated and now we're all back to fighting each other for dominance.
I imagine the decisions we made in past games would *HEAVILY* influence a post Reaper Galaxy. A possible new Krogan threat of Wreav became leader or their possible extinction.
Not to mention the opportunity some races, like the Yahg, would have to fully capture advanced tech and expand outwards and conquer stranded colonies and systems.
Not to mention all the dead Reapers lying around would be a major issue. I could see a Mass Effect 4 being a big game of, reconnect with lost settlements, secure Reaper tech, and this settlement needs your help.
I really like where you went with this and I know it would be unrealistic but still cool if a next game had this plot
Somehow you've managed to create a believable scenario where the fate of the galaxy is on the line once again. I love it, and hope that one day I'll be able to play a game set in this timeline
Oh, you know what would be neat. If some of those cults you mentioned are dedicated Shepard. I mean the ending of Mass Effect 3 already insinuated some kind of reverence in the future. Maybe some of those Sheperd VI's become holy icons.
If only bioware followed this beat for beat. I have the lowest of hopes for what they will give us when they eventually come back around to a mass effect sequel.
So this is not assuming Shepherd made the choice to impose synthesis on all life.
Someone picked the red ending.
Oh man, I love this take so much. Unfortunately that probably means nothing even close to this will happen. But we can hope
Reaper go beeeeep boooooop
This is unironically the best thing we got for this Nov 7th, 2021 N7 day.
I hope BioWare actually gives special thanks to you for it. Since you have clearly outdone even their best efforts for celebrating this year’s N7 day.
Personally, I think humanity is overblown in Mass Effect. They mainly got to where they were thanks to being in the right place at the right time. At best, they probably got one of the best Prothean caches to boost them up.
Also, maybe the quarian/Geth Alliance could be a third major polity, since even if the Geth were destroyed in the Destroy ending, there's nothing stopping Quarians from building new Geth assuming you made peace between them, aside from cultural issues.
I also think a Krogan/Salarian alliance would be the least likely. I could see a Krogan/Turian (respect for each other's might) or Krogan/Asari (Asari are good at diplomacy, have long lives, and Asari Commandos are among the best in the galaxy).
"Personally, I think humanity is overblown"
This is the case in virtually every form of media that features a race besides the humans. We have to be "special".
Dont say that here. Templin Institute literally admitted to being a "Humanity Supremacist" whatever the hell that means, so, if you see these videos praising the gloriousness of Humanity more hardcore than the Germans talking about the Aryan race, now you know why.
I think this started after they started exploreing 40K, and, well, the guy got kind of obsessed with it.
@@ShEsHy yeah no shit ! Who tf wants to see humanity being sidelined ?
@@basedkaiser5352 Honestly? I do. I'm tired of the masturbatory "we're special" cliche.
@@ShEsHy sounds like a race traitor.
Hi I'm Commander Shepard and the Templin Institute is my favorite source for theoretical extrapolations on what my future may hold.
At least the Reaper War is not as bad as the Men of Iron Rebellion that completely destabilized the Human Federation in the first place.
Been hunting for a piece of literature about this very topic ever since I finished ME3 in 2012, deliverance is upon me from the hand of almighty Templin
I always thought the STG would coup the salarian government and become a military junta
The Commentary was....Awesome And smooth
And the story.....WOW
Keep it up👍
Writing something for the immediate aftermath is too difficult on a galactic scale: the three endings just change circumstances way too much to write something that feels 'right'.
You could have a lot of galactic "dark spots" though, where nobody uses relays for fear of the Reapers finding them; and since they would have no idea that the war is over, the people fighting over territory have to wage much more low-intensity warfare, for fear of being found.
Please continue with this. It's very interesting.
See, Bioware? That's how you do it. Or rather, how you used to do it. We miss you.
I'd totally play the hell out of it if this was made into the next mass effect game.
I don’t know. In this version for the unity of all sentient life to be so “quickly” thrown aside it kinda turns me off. Almost gives the hint that the cycle of death the Reapers were doing was justified.
I agree. The best part of 3 was, in many ways, the galaxy coming together. For it to all fall apart (especially when species like Krogans and Asari would live long enough for thing to be fixed before their eyes) is just needlessly bleak, implying that we can never truly be better, that the second a unifying threat disappears, we'd tear each other apart.
The version I imagined was set entirely on Earth. Maybe a couple decades after the Reapers were destroyed. Earth is a ruin, the relays are gone. The united fleets are trapped in the solar system, so most have remained around Earth. With the human population significantly reduced, you're as likely to see Alien races throughout the ruins of Earth as you are Humans.
The story would follow a character trying to reunite or reconquer Earth while dealing with squabbles, radical groups, Reaper remains and what not. Personally, I think just that setting alone would have plenty of interesting stuff in it.
I like the synthesis ending and a good ending with the geth and quarians. Though I know this channel and spacedock are both heavily of the idea that the destroy ending is the only way and I just think that's to narrow minded in a universe with techno zombies
Agreed. The controle ending is just a ticking time bomb given that the Reapers are now being dominated on a galaxy wide scale and this vid shows why the destroy ending is just horrific to the vital infrastructure of the galaxy. Syntheses allows for a true utopia.
....if this was the plot of the new ME, and based off the 'canon' that Shepard blew the relays and destroyed the reapers... I'd probably play. It'd feel like a whole new universe with new options, threats, alliances, and whatever else. I'd just hope the final section of it would take into account all the decisions you'd made up to that point, with the ending changing subtly with each decisions' result factoring in (so it's not just Pick a Color).