Players: Destroy is unethical we can't sacrifice EDI and the Geth like that! Destroy Ending: *Shepard lives* Players: Okay maybe we were being a little hasty 🤔
@@LOTRFAN33 All endings can be argued to be unethical none more then the other but whether or not an ending is unethical ISN'T the point. Your job as Shepard at the end of the game is to choose an ending that provides the best outcome for the Galaxy. While the Mass Effect fandom will forever argue which ending is better the game itself gives subtle hints towards Synthesis. This is reflected in the relationship between Joker and EDI, The Leviathan DLC and to a lesser degree the Quarian and Geth conflict. The ENTIRE reason as to why The Reapers exist is because The Catalyst is trying to find a way to end conflict between Organic and Synthetic races. This conflict returns each cycle and is the result of a lack of UNDERSTANDING between both forms of life. Synthesis is the ONLY ending that resolves this problem and thus putting an end to this conflict forever.
@CarlosHuiskens True enough, except for the degrees of ethical dilemma. Unfortunately, those are subject to the player's own values. For me, forcing such a radical change on every species without their consent is worse than killing the geth and Edi. Control is not really unethical. It just doesn't permanently fix anything.
@@LOTRFAN33 You make decisions for other people, and one's that effect the entire galaxy throughout the whole series. Not only that, but the council and pretty much everyone else never believe the Reapers were even a thing, besides your crew, Anderson, and Hackett. There's really nothing unethical about Synthesis if it brings peace, and is pretty much what most intelligent life would be heading towards to begin with.
I like that the Destroy ending isn’t a clean cut “Super Happy Ending” and how it fits with the theme running throughout the story of “what are you prepared to sacrifice to accomplish the mission” that’s why I like to pick Destroy for my Renegade playthroughs, because at that point Renegade Shep has doomed at least one (and probably two) other species to extinction. Also I like think that Destroy makes Mass Effect a prequel to Dune
After KOTOR and Jade Empire, the hype i had for Biowares Mass Effect was unfathomable. Played each game at launch and until this day, no series has ever come close to matching what this series provided. In my opinion. Having my choices, my character, and relationships carry over into each game, having choices I made in the first effect parts of the third was incredible. The original trilogy is hands down, the peak of my gaming experiences. Nothing else comes close. In retrospect, having all 3 at your disposal at once may be a good thing, but the hype of waiting for the next release was part of the experience. It's like watching your favorite show unfold over years,vs watching it all in a couple of days. At any rate, there are certain milestones in gaming that everyone should experience. The original Mass Effect trilogy is definitely one of those milestones. It's a pity that studio no longer exists in that form. They had a 5 game streak like no other. Kotor,Jade Empire, Mass Effects 1-3.
The thing about the destroy ending is that it's like a two-sided coin. On one hand if your war assets is about 80 percent or higher then the space battle will go well in the beginning and Shepard will survive. On the other hand, if your war assets is not high then the space battle will not go well, Shepard won't survive and Earth will be damaged from the crumble backfire.
Heyhey, great to see your reactions to some other ME3 endings! There are a few more ending variations, some that you can't get with your war asset score and paragon/renegade alignment. If you complete the refusal ending through conversation, Shepard will give a final sort of defiant ending speech before the Catalyst comes out with the Reaper voice. The control ending you've seen is the paragon control ending, but there's also a more sinister renegade control ending speech. And with a low war asset score you only have a "bad" destroy ending as an option and the consequences are far more severe with admiral Hackett giving the details. The rest of the endings you've seen, the only details with the war asset score is that a low war asset score only has the "bad" destroy ending, medium war asset score gives the "good" destroy ending and also gives the control option. High war asset score gives the "good" destroy ending where Shepard also takes a breath in the outro, as well as synthesis also being an option now. Having seen all endings, I'd still always choose destroy, although I can see myself doing playthrough where Shepard picks synthesis. Control, whether paragon or renegade, will likely end up as you said with a Shepard becoming more distant from humanity and ending up as a second Catalyst. Synthesis has this weird feeling to me that everyone's all connected and like a hive mind, similar to the borg in Star Trek or the geth before Legion decided the best option for his species was to give everyone individuality like himself. With the destroy ending I simply don't trust the Catalyst's views on organics. It's been running for millennia and from the single conversation we've had with it, it clearly doesn't understand how organics think or feel. To me, that makes the Catalyst unqualified to make such sweeping statements as "all organics will create synthetics and synthetics will always kill organics". It took great effort from Shepard, Tali and Legion (and others), but clearly there's also a possibility for reconciliation between synthetics and organics. On top of that, the Catalyst's only point of reference for the interactions between organics and synthetics is a cycle dominated by Leviathan, or cycles dominated by the Catalyst and its reapers. The way I see it, the Catalyst came to a wrong conclusion in the Leviathan cycle, then every cycle after it made a self fulfilling prophecy by being the created synthetics destroying organics, affirming its own beliefs through its own actions. After thinking on the conversation with the Catalyst after several playthroughs and watching other people's playthroughs, I've personally come to the conclusion that Mass Effect never really was about organics versus synthetics in the end. The thematics come up a lot throughout the story and it is also referenced by the Catalyst as a reason for the cycles, but what it all comes down to is one single, faulty, all-powerful AI getting a warped view, making the wrong conclusions and screwing up the entire galaxy for both organics and synthetics over and over again in each cycle. It wasn't synthetics versus organics, it was absolutely everything ever versus one AI with a god complex. Seeing the events of Mass Effect in that light, and considering everything this cycle that defeated the Reapers had gone through, I have hope for a future where organics make new synthetics and not ending up in all-out war like the Catalyst predicts. And when it comes to the tragic sacrifices made by EDI and the geth when the destroy ending is picked, I personally also think they'd prefer destroy over a synthesis borg-like hive mind in the long run. Through EDI's conversations with Shepard, EDI learns what it means to be human, to be an individual, and to be alive. She says she finds the Reapers' sole focus on self-preservation repulsive and sees herself as different, changing her own protocols and be willing to risk her own life to save others. She also considers an individual AI personality preferable to a hive mind AI like the geth and outlines why. In the end, this is something that Legion agrees with as well. When his individual personality fully actualized in the end, he chose to sacrifice himself to give all geth individual personalities as he saw that as the best direction for his species to evolve. All that put together, in my opinion if it wasn't Shepard, but instead it was EDI or Legion making the choice after they've had the conversation with the Catalyst, both of them would prefer to choose destroy rather than synthesis. That's just my opinion though, no right or wrong in choice based games after all! Now I'll stop writing this wall of text, thanks for reading any or all of it if you did 😅
Synthesis was my first pick and my favorite ending. The questions & possibilities it raises are irresistible to me. The one gripe I have with Synthesis ending is how much the game paints it as the “Super Happy Perfect Ending” although I can understand why the Star Child and Edi in the epilogue would see it as such. I think that Synthesis would actually be the most chaotic ending, at least in the short term. I don’t think that all life; both organic and synthetic, being interconnected would breed understanding, as this comment section will probably show, many would revolt at the idea. And the Rachni Wars/Krogan Rebellion shows the dangers of uplifting a species before they are ready, But it would be interesting to see what happens. It’s definitely the most Sci-Fi of the 3 endings
There are technically two other endings. The refusal ending and a alternate version of the Control ending if you've got a higher renegade score. This Renegade control ending has a darker vibe from Shepard.
Renegade vs Paragon control is basically negative vs positive peace. The Paragon lets people be better on their own with a little guidance, the Renegade forces you to behave on the pain of death.
"Holy shit...she did it." I'm a huge control stan. I believe as the new catalsyst, with Shepard's contributed knowledge and access to the Reaper database, there's no reason you couldn't do synthesis on an individual basis or something with personal approval. Plus I would just create my own Shepard Husk, and download a personality simulator into that and be a robo-shep.
Played through this in August of 2023 on the PC,with *Restored content* & *Deleted Scenes* (from OG creators been restored by modding Community) and also an added *Mod* (that makes sense) more Aliens at the end mission at *Earth* making it way more believable and immersive. *God* still to this day the Ending Story and OST of Last Mission always gets me. There's not many space games that have this much story and closure to them.
Thanks Lucy for taking the time to go back and playthrough the other endings. Now you need playthroughs for the other classes too because there is still tons of undiscovered dialogue waiting for you should you dare to change things up. Don't worry about getting emotional with this game. We all understand. For me it's 2,000 hours of gameplay and this game still brings tears to my eyes. Bioware made me love the characters, stories and world like no game has before or since. 🫂
Awww Rosie! BioWare really did nail it with this series. And I am so happy that there's still so much to discover once I go back for another play through.
You shouldve just chosen the refusal dialogue choice. In my opinion, Shepards dialogue on why they refuse is perfect and a great transition to the crucible shutting off. Shooting the kid seems like a troll response from the developers and just plain silly.
Came here to say this. Shepard's line when he refuses by dialogue is absolutely them most epic, badass line in a video game ever. I wish more people reacted to it, it's very hidden and most people just choose the other dialogue option sadly
The reason it shows the Admiral in the destroy cutscene and the Mystery Man in the control cutscene, is because they represent those particular viewpoints. Admiral believed in destroying the Reapers, while MM believed in controlling them.
yes, in my first playthrough my jaw dropped when Tali was no longer loyal, that broke my heart .. including the shock when she jum... * maybee a spoiler
the original ending stopped abruptly after the Normandy took off from that x planet, no epilogues, no Leviathan dlc to get the big picture of the situation.What an absolute nightmare. I was traumatized 😅
24:02 My favorite thing about the control ending is Shepard's final words of her voice over. Up until that point, there is a reverb on her voice showing her being "immortal", but her saying "....who could save the many." there is no reverb, just her normal voice. Brilliant subtle hint that her humanity is still there.
26:16 the counter arguement is that, sure the peace may not last, but at least there isn't reapers and that the new threat would be way more easier to solve, and we can only hope that all the races have learned enough to keep a Reaper like threat from happening again. its the best ending of the 3 in the long term, considering if the reaper are still here, who is to say they will destroy life again? but once there gone forever, its way more easier and manageable to solve life threatening issues before they get to Reaper level theat.
I don't know if anyone wrote or not, for example, in the red ending of the game there are three options: destroying the reapers, destroying the reapers and people on Earth, destroying the reapers, people, and buildings on Earth. And in the control blue ending there are two options in what Shepard says, more aggressive or peaceful
I like the Cosmic Horror vibes of the Control ending, where Shepard ascends to Elder Godhood. The Lovecratian Cosmic Horror has always been one of my favorite aspects of the Mass Effect series and the Control ending fits that vibe perfectly
There’s also a bad destroy ending when your war assets are too low, you get a different epilogue from Admiral Hacket. Might be worth looking it up on YT to see it.
You should watch the low-points Destroy ending, where the Crucible is basically falling apart and the Reapers are absolutely dominating. Its pretty shocking.
I'm sure that I'm very much in the minority, but Refusal is my favorite ending. It's the only ending that seemingly avoids the pitfalls I can see in the others. For better or worse, Synthesis seems to be exactly what the Reapers want, and I can only imagine the unintended consequences of creating a "technorganic" galaxy. And it's obviously done without the consent of trillions of people. Control runs into two issues: 1) The entity that goes on in place of the Catalyst isn't Shepard. She's an AI with Shepard's memories. 2) This new AI pretty much has absolute power through the Reapers, and power obviously has a tendency to corrupt. She may start out as a benevolent protector, but she could easily turn into a tyrannical ruler if she starts thinking that an iron fist is in the galaxy's best interest. Destroy is what the mission is from the outset, but it destroys the Geth and EDI, and it doesn't solve the long-term issue of synthetic beings rising up against the organic beings who created them. The Geth could have potentially led the way to peaceful coexistence between all organic and synthetic beings, but the Destroy ending wipes them out. There's not much to go on for what happened with the Refusal ending, but we know from the conversation at the end that the previous cycle fought a terrible war so that they wouldn't have to. This implies that they found a way to stop the Reapers before even having to fight them -- further implying that they didn't have to take any of the Catalyst's options. They also say in the conversation that they have peace and aren't threatened, which implies that they've either already dealt with a synthetic uprising and come out on top OR never had to deal with one at all. It's obviously tragic that the cycle humanity was a part of had to be wiped out, but Refusal seems to have produced the ideal outcome for the subsequent cycle.
Something that recently occurred to me about Refusal is that it’s the option that Shepard has the most agency in making. It always bugged me that the 3 options are, ultimately, the Star Child’s choices and Shepard just picks one of them, but Refusal is only Shepard’s choice. Also I think it’s kinda funny that Shep is stubborn enough to let all the advanced species of galaxy die fighting just so they can say fuck you to the star child and its solution. That’s a level of pettiness I can get behind. It reminds me of the of The World’s End “Face it! We are the human race and we don’t like being told what to do!”
On control ending, there are two differents speach if i remember, one for Parangon Shep and another for a Renegade Shep. You have the refuse ending too
the LI's never put the name up for Shep if you pick destroy (with high assets) they just look up and smile i have a feeling the plaque was made because they though shep died and then later they found her and she's in the hospital when they honor all the others and put them up on the board and when they get to sheps name they realize they don't have to use it anymore
Here's an argument for Paragon Control being the overall best ending: It can be Destroy Ending without the major drawbacks. Shepard takes control of the reapers, uses them to help rebuild what was lost. Once that task is done, Shepard gathers all the reapers and their tech and launches it into stars to be destroyed. Finally, Shepard shuts the reaper AI, and itself, down. No huge moral dilemmas, no committing genocide over the Geth, not forcing synthesis on everyone. Only main drawback remaining is the same all endings (except synthesis) have, we risk the cycle starting over again eventually.
I tend to be partial to the control ending since it does the least collateral damage. EDI lives, the Geth live, whatever knowledge remains of the species the reapers harvested survives. Whether Shepard becoming the reaper overlord is good or bad I think boils down to what you think of your Shepard. Will they be a protector or a tyrant, it all depends on how you played. Also with control you can headcanon that Shepard flew the lot of them into a star or a black hole after fixing the relays and downloading their knowledge to help the galaxy rebuild. Destroy like you said is a temporary fix. We may not get the reapers being rebuilt, but synthetics certainly will be, and they could still be an existential threat to at least the species that created them, if not the galaxy. Having the Geth and Quarians living side by side would be living proof that synthetics and organics can live in peace. Without that it will be a lot harder to mediate such disputes in the future. And if your main motivation is Shepard surviving, well what does it say about Shepard to throw away EDI and the Geth just to save his/her own life? Synthesis I have a big problem with because it would necessarily have to override free will to work. It's the most ethically dubious ending when you really think about it. The possibilities presented by control make it the most versatile option, which is why it's my favourite
The War Assets determine how well the Crucible functions, as the Fleet needs to protect it. The less assets you have, the more damage the Crucible takes, affecting what happens when it destroys the Reapers. If it's defended enough, the energy pulse only affects Reaper tech: damaging the Citadel/Relays and the Normandy IFF crashing. Killing the Reapers along with EDI and the Geth, due to their Reaper connection.
You didn’t see the cut-scene showing TIM using the control mechanism… that’s def a consistent bug, and I think, part of the reason you didn’t understand the mechanics of the ending choices.
I remember seeing this live and I saw some stuff with Anderson and I was amazing because I usually say with the paragon dialogue where if you say down that line and don’t change the illusive man does what Saren does in the first one ( not typing what he really does because I don’t think that word is always). But I also enjoyed seeing the other endings because I always do destroy. I also think that was the first time I’ve seen the refuse one and the other two ending all the way through. It was great seeing it live tho.
While I prefer the ending of Star Control 2, the Mass Effect series (as a spiritual successor of Star Control 2) has started growing on me since I started playing it for the first time a couple of days ago, thanks to the Steam sale. I've been spoiled about these endings for over a decade, which is why I'm so late to the party, but I saw a video explaining how Mass Effect is heavily inspired by Star Control 2 / The Ur-Quan Masters, so that won me over, in the end.
Control and Synthesis are definitely the only options for a peaceful future but that would probably make for a boring sequel if there's no conflict. Destroy would basically throw the galaxy into chaos again within the next 100 years or so. Not only would it be an AI problem but once Wrex dies the Krogan would reproduce out of control and become expansionist again and Leviathans would start to mind control everyone to make themselves God-like again. Control and Synthesis solves those problems and that's why I always choose either of those at the end of my playthroughs. Plus I don't like the idea of betraying my allies who just helped us win the war and that's what Destroy does. That would be like the British destroying America and Russia after WW2 as a thank you
Little brother always picks DESTROY. I can't sacrifice the Geth or EDI, I put too much time into them. If your Readiness Score is real low, Earth is cleansed. Big Ben blows away, Organic Soldiers and Reapers are wiped away, Jeff doesn't step out of the crashed Normandy. Your team rushing the Citadel Beam get smoked. It is nearly 13 years and I can remember the shock of Tali Suicide and Quarren Fleet destruction, Miranda Samara Grunt Mordin Legion... all dying in my first ME3 play through. It went so badly that I pulled ME1 and ME2 out for a perfect playthrough.
It's funny how everyone refers to the Catalyst by the form it took -- the child. Poor kid; first he gets slaughtered by Reapers then all Sheps hate him and want to throw him out the airlock!
Really hope we'll get to see you react to other romances or different choices for the main missions (not just the ending) as well. Between games or on your off time, maybe. Doesnt have to be your Shepard, perhaps another persons video reaction so it wouldnt take up too much of your time
The tone of the control ending depends on your paragon/renegade alignment It seems more like a 'bad ending' with the renegade, but still not a terrible outcome
In retrospect, I’m glad I waited to until the Legendary Edition to finish the trilogy. I’m a console player and I live in the middle of nowhere, which means that until about 5 years ago, I didn’t have strong enough internet connection to download much of anything or play online multiplayer, so if a game didn’t have a disc release with the DLC on it I had no other opportunity to play it. I got lucky that the Platinum Hits edition of ME1 had the Bring Down The Sky DLC, but other than that I never played any of ME2’s DLC until ME:LE. And after hearing the disappointment fans had with ME3, and the fact that it was very hard to get the best outcome without playing multiplayer, I decided to not play ME3. I’m glad I waited until now to play ME3, because, with all the DLC, it’s still a great game, even if it is a bit of a letdown
I have never seen Anderson get killed by TIM before. Thanks, I guess? You can get TIM to go the way of Saran (with out the creepy possessed undead fight), but you need to go Paragon with him through the whole game (I think) or at least all through this conversation with him. A Renegade Shepard Control ending has a darker speech. One Shepard romanced nobody, truly being a mother/shepard of her crewmates for the whole game while another Shepard romanced and blew up Kaiden then romanced Thane, one chose control, the other synthesis. Every other Shepard with someone to go back to choses to destroy them as they have zero chance of surviving and reuniting with the other two endings. I might have said this (watched and commented on so many playthroughs now) The Geth have had two+ years to create non reaper based hardware so some might have survived or been stored on non volatile media. The Geth uploaded into Quarrian suits and tweaking their immune systems, that is a step toward synthesis already. Why didn't they put it up? I like to think whoever was at the radio received a message and put it over the intercom, perhaps your SO just has a feeling or in Liara's case a psychic connection? Low enough war assets and Shepard does not survive destroy either (and your name goes up), lower and there is more damage to the relays and low enough the Normandy does not outrun the shockwave. I do wonder though, with control/synthesis if it is at all possible to restore to bodies or birth new members via cloning of the 'stored' species.
You should also watch what happens when you go for earth and eventually choose destroy with the lowest possible war asset score. now that is a real ending....
The endings of ME3 make me appreciate why Lord of The Rings has, like, 17 endings, because when a story gets this epic and detailed it becomes very difficult (nigh impossible) to wrap up the whole story, in a satisfying way, in just a few minutes. I wish that BioWare could have had the time to flesh out the ending, if not the whole second half of the story. Because my disappointment with ME3 stems, not from the endings, but with how the story after Tuchanka feels progressively more, either hastily written, or underwritten to the point where, by the time it gets to Cerberus Base/Earth/Crucible it feels like laying tracks in front of the speeding train. I think that given enough time to refine them; these 3 endings could have been much more satisfying for the audience
Destroy has always been the perfect ending for me, it feels very true to the genre, and I think Synthesis is just too much of a "perfect" ending imo. Felt like the options should have been control or destroy, since those were the options at play the entire game, before synthesis is dangled in front of you at the very end as a best of both worlds. I like a little bit of Tragedy with my stories, it feels more real, more earned that way. That's definitely why I always send Jacob into the vents in me2, no other reason....
The Secret Destroyed ending basically confirms that Shepard survives the explosion. Every sneak peek for The Next Mass Effect (the pictures, trailers etc) still don't really show if Shepard is back but the one thing that is confirmed is that the destroyed ending is the canon ending to the game, but whether or not Shepard is back or the protagonist again is still unclear
Control is not a bad ending. I think it's just people who can't accept operatic endings where heroes sacrifice. I've always said that in this choice, it's a matter of whether you trust yourself.
ahh finally Thanks a lot for the Ending with Liaras Message @ 06:39 🙂 .. imo this is the best ending, since everyone including Shepard at the time Shepard decides so, everything is open what happened to the crew, and thanks to Liaras message the Milky Way managed to defeat the Reapers in the next cycle ... btw: instead of "Refusal" you can shoot the Catalyst with the same outcome
I really hated how this game ends. Not because I wanted the story having a happy ending with Miranda prancing around naked or something, it's just that they said that choices matter. So I played the second game with the final save game from the first, and I started this one with the final save from the second and then it all comes down to dialog options. I still think the games are great, don't start throwing stones at me! I'm just saying that the choices in the previous games didn't matter like they said they would.
I remember I played the whole trilogy again, with different decisions, for this breath: 38:35 🙂 .. yes it would be cool they if Shepard would be in ME 6 .. and it would also be cool if the decisions in ME Adromeda would have an impact on ME 6 🙂
The endings all are from a point of view: Destroy: Anderson, the only safe way to make sure the cycle never happens again is to remove the Reapers. Roll the dice and see what happens, but Shep lives. Control: TIM, harness the strength of your enemy but risk absolute power corrupting absolutely. Saves synthetics from destruction, but who can tell what will happen to god-Shep once she's been inside for a couple of millenia. Synthesis: Reapers, this is what they wanted but couldn't achieve it because it cannot be forced. In tempting the one human who could make the choice for all life in the galaxy, they achieve their ultimate goal originally specified by the leviathans, solve conflict between organics and synthetics. All life becomes reaper at this point (remember, reapers are cybernetic + actual liquified organic species), and who can tell if the catalyst is still controlling all reapers... I also theorise that the reapers would just come at the next cycle and offer the choice, and only attack if refused. "Now that we know it's an option, synthesis is inevitable"
To me Destroy will always be my ending of choice. And I disagree with the child that war with synthetics is inevitable, the Rannoch storyline is proof that we can coexist! The Geth never wanted war with the Quarians, and now there is peace!! So it is possible! Also the Child tries so hard to get you to not destroy them, seems suss to me haha To me synthesis is fundamentally wrong - you are taking away everyone's choice. I completely understand why people pick it and love it, it's just not for me.. I agree with you Lucy about the Control ending - Absolute power corrupts absolutely! Who's to say whatever is left of Shepard won't start to agree with the old Reapers?? I've never seen the Reject ending, so I'm delighted you went through it! So as much as losing the Geth and EDI hurt (literally sobbing everytime I pick it), I still go with Destroy! I also love the indoctrination theory, which ties into the Destroy ending as well 😎
yeah i was expecting decision wheel as well. i just wandered into my ending as well. and it wasn;t the one i wanted either. using color code for a partially colorblind person doesn;t end well...
The first time I finished the game I didn't get the option to do anything other than Destroy. At the time I was kinda pissed, but now that I look back on it I'm glad I got that ending.
So I’m a big fan of the indoctrination theory. If you picked synthesis you were indoctrinated like Seran from ME 1. If you picked Control you were indoctrinated like the illusive man. Destroy is the only ending where Shepard lives.
Would recommend watching an indoctrination video for the channel. Preferably the first one that came out, it’s tricky to find as other videos have more views but they’re generally pale imitations. It pitches that Shepard has been slowly indoctrinated over the course of ME 3. Shepard’s “oily shadow dreams”, the fact that destroy is the only one where Shepard lives, and how all other options are some form of reaper indoctrination shown through characters in all games. I dunno, it kinda saves the narrative. Sadly it’s also been said to not be cannon as the lead writers have straight up said it is a better explanation than they had time to write.
I have played through the whole storyline of ME from 1-3 did everything and every ending and for me the synth ending isn't really a good one because if you think about it all those some millions of years of culture just gone . I played through the game save all the endings and backed them up just incase when the New ME comes out that it will be much like the previous ones and can use the saves . I did the same thing the first time shot at the holo kid and was "oh sh%@ing myself I liked the control ending best because it was the best out of the worst situations for all living things out of all the tunes in the series I liked jack the most of course i couldn't have a relationship because I chose female the destroy one is the only one where there is a tiny chance that Sherard lives which is why people say its the best ending , also the name shepherd doesn't go up on that wall because they don't know live or dead but if you know Sheppard Shepard wouldn't have sacrificed any thing but him or herself to save all thats what makes him\her human but I also backed up that save when I played this last before I hear the rumors of a new me coming out
I did the same for the first time, walked to close and triggered synthesis ending... I was so pissed! 😅 Despite I liked that ending for EDI, destroy is my canon as it was the whole point in the trilogy
I wish they made it clearer on what you needed to do. I also didn't see those pathways opening up and accidentally walked the middle path because that's what I saw and thought I needed to go to 😂 Makes me think it was an intentional game design to make first playthroughs have the Synthesis ending lol
The problem I have with synthesis that it Is locks out any chance of growth, everyone is the same, everyone knows the same thing, everything is stagnant now and forever.
So the Geth didn't grow or change since their creation? That's one of the major plot points of the series: that synthetics can grow and become something better.
@garryuyahoo The star child is a Reaper, the Reaper. It stands to reason that any joining of repertech would always end in indoctrination. Synthesis was the best option for the Reapers to win. Synthesis at its core would just be mass indoctrination. As even "dead" repertech has shown.
They patched in that ending tidbit where you see Shepard's body move after the outcry from a vocal portion of the playerbase who were upset with the fact that they killed off Shepard. I didn't love the decision to kill Shepard but it was Bioware's story to tell.
A point that gets brought up often is that Destroy is the only ending that still preserves free will in the end. Control and Synthesis both take a lot of that away, in their own ways. I'm shooting that red test tube 10 times out of 10. ...also... ...I promised Samantha two kids and a house with a white picket fence, dammit.
If you want to be particularly dramatic, you can just say that was Shepard's last breath before their death. Or, if you are all for happy endings, like I am, you can say Shepard is alive, barely, and can live happily ever after with [insert your favourite romance option here] ;) The Destroy ending is my favourite ending and has become my headcanon, thanks mainly to the Indoctrination Theory. Not going to spoil it, in case you want to check it out yourself at some point, just this much: It's a fan theory from about a decade ago that does a deep dive into indoctrination and the various endings. Although it has been debunked by the developers (quote: "We weren't that smart"), it is still really interesting. Anyway, romance reactions surely about to come at some point? Have a good one!
None of the decisions felt very fulfilling compared to the incredible story up to this point. I think I would have enjoyed this being the one time you did not have a choice, and destory was the only solution and you had to accept the repercussions.
Out of all ending story wise destroy fits best as canon if you gunna continue the mass effect story and continue it with Shepherd 🤞🏽🤞🏽 unless they just resurrect them again like mass effect 2
Control makes Shepard a little g god and flies in the face of the whole "No one should haver this power" thingy since ultimate power ultimately corrupts. Shepard becomes no better than the Illusive Man. Unity makes Shepard no better than the reapers since he/she just altered the DNA of every lifeform in the galaxy without their consent. Organic life becomes husks in all but name. Refusal means that Shepard has damned all future life in the galaxy to ultimately face extinction at the hands of the reapers in a neverending cycle created by a would-be omnipotent yet short-sighted race of Leviathans who lost control of their own tech. Destroy means that Shepard sacrifices all synthetic life as well as any organic life reliant upon synthetic tech in the galaxy in order to end the cycle and leave the future in the hands of the living, but it also risks that life creating something similar or worse than the reapers in the future. Destroy is the only choice that leaves decision-making in the hands of the people. The entire cycle was predicated upon one constant... That organic life will always yearn to play God and create synthetic life. Will they learn from the past and forego the creation of synthetic life? Can they deny themselves synthetic alterations that give them power and an edge over others? Can all species agree upon that one constant limitation? If they do not, then they only prove the need for the reaping as they cannot control themselves. Eventually, they will come to that conclusion and destroy themselves through a similar method whether deliberately or as a result of a completely avoidable accident, but will they be any worse off than they were under the reaper cycles? If they do overcome that desire to play God, they will have grown and learned to control themselves well enough to chart a new future never before seen in the galaxy. Destroy is the only reset that offers organic life the choice. I believe EDI would have recommended destroy. All that stuff aside, along with the obvious mirroring of our current times here on earth and the need for God, I choke up every time as well. I'm 58, male, and old school, but I tear up every time. There will never be another like Mass Effect.
The reason why destroy is the overall best solution is because the AI child literally says their solution won't work anymore and you beat the odds, this is coming from the main intelligence of the Reapers and youve seen how powerful they are so if they couldnt stop organics it means they cannot count for organics defying logic and it proves the point that theres always another way so it doesnt make sense why it would say its solution wont work anymore but the cycle will continue. The Reapers thought the cycle would never be stopped in the first place but there you are an organic about to stop it, so either the Intelligence was LYING for self preservation because all the other choices keep it alive OR it was speaking out of ignorance. The Quarians and Geth situation isnt pointless because its all about your choices in the conflict. If youre Renegade then it makes sense that the Geth wipe out the Quarians and if you pick Destroy then both species are extinct pretty much. Now going by Paragon Shepard, if youve established peace between the two factions then the Quarians will either A: Rebuild the Geth and learn from their ancestors mistakes and have peace throughout their coexistence especially after having the data logs shown by Legion. Like Admiral Koris said they were their children and they tried to get rid of them. The Geth never wanted to wipe out their creators just live so peace is definitely still possible. Or option B: The Quarians still dont trust AI and will choose not to take the chance again and simply not rebuild the Geth or anything capable or becoming true AI. Or your Shepard chooses the Quarians over the Geth anyways which wipes them out regardless so any thoughts of coexistence dont even exist in the first place because the Quarians achieved their goal of wiping out the Geth and reclaiming their world. The Destroy ending is all about your choices as Shepard and the impact they have on the Galaxy like Mass Effect has been since the beginning. You taught the Galaxy how to unite and overcome all their problems when working together as a whole. You ended several generational conflicts and managed to get the farthest any species could come to beating the Reapers because everyone united. Throughout the journey theyll tell you something cant be done its impossible then boom, you do it. Also Javik tells you that the diversity of your timeline compared to the singular identity of the Protheans is your only hope because once the Reapers beat one of them they knew how to beat all of them. So like i said its about deconstructing and rebuilding the Galaxy as a whole with your choices as Shepard and not thinking like the Reapers who do it by force. Which the Control and Synthesis ending are, theyre forcing peace instead of allowing choice. Sorry for the essay lol keep up the great content!
To me, the reapers are all about evil. All three games are fighting evil, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the evil. When you get to the end and the devil says you have three choices, he is doing what the devil does. He is lying to you. So your "choices" are: dominate evil, basically becoming evil yourself; fusing with evil; or destroying evil. Or the option to not choose, and just give up, which you exhibit by shooting at his hologram (there is also a dialog option for that, btw). The reason it shows Anderson in the little clip for the destroy choice is because when the game first released, there was no choices. You only came there to destroy the reapers. I don't quite remember how it went, but Shepard couldn't do it, so Anderson does it. People complained that a Bioware game has to have choices, so they patched the ending to give you the choices. Then people complained that all that did was give you three color endings, blue, green, and red, but are basically the same. Bioware couldn't win. Anyway, I personally have played through it several times to play the different combat classes, and to try the different romances. But I always destroy the reapers at the end. My choice of romance has evolved through the years, though. I noticed little things. Subtle things.
@@Paul_Kling bro what are you talking about that the original game had no choices and Anderson made the final decision. You can literally look up the original ending on TH-cam.
its quite the opposite. my head cannon is along a fan fic i read. talking about how joker used all of the audio and video from the previous 2 games to a newly EDI brain.
@ joining you for your halo play-through - so jealous you get to experience these for the first time! Would give anything to be able to forget them to experience them like it’s the early 2000’s all over again
![The Ambience in ODST Hits Different💜 | First Time Playing HALO 3: ODST Blind Playthrough [2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gf8MrsAdKfs/mqdefault.jpg)
Players: Destroy is unethical we can't sacrifice EDI and the Geth like that!
Destroy Ending: *Shepard lives*
Players: Okay maybe we were being a little hasty 🤔
Ahahah yep they know how to turn us round
Synthesis is more unethical. By miles.
@@LOTRFAN33 All endings can be argued to be unethical none more then the other but whether or not an ending is unethical ISN'T the point. Your job as Shepard at the end of the game is to choose an ending that provides the best outcome for the Galaxy.
While the Mass Effect fandom will forever argue which ending is better the game itself gives subtle hints towards Synthesis. This is reflected in the relationship between Joker and EDI, The Leviathan DLC and to a lesser degree the Quarian and Geth conflict.
The ENTIRE reason as to why The Reapers exist is because The Catalyst is trying to find a way to end conflict between Organic and Synthetic races. This conflict returns each cycle and is the result of a lack of UNDERSTANDING between both forms of life. Synthesis is the ONLY ending that resolves this problem and thus putting an end to this conflict forever.
@CarlosHuiskens
True enough, except for the degrees of ethical dilemma. Unfortunately, those are subject to the player's own values. For me, forcing such a radical change on every species without their consent is worse than killing the geth and Edi. Control is not really unethical. It just doesn't permanently fix anything.
@@LOTRFAN33 You make decisions for other people, and one's that effect the entire galaxy throughout the whole series. Not only that, but the council and pretty much everyone else never believe the Reapers were even a thing, besides your crew, Anderson, and Hackett. There's really nothing unethical about Synthesis if it brings peace, and is pretty much what most intelligent life would be heading towards to begin with.
29:45 - I always liked how the Reaper turns towards the incoming energy wave like "Oh shi-"
Hahahah
Nothing like re-opening up an old wound 😭
I like that the Destroy ending isn’t a clean cut “Super Happy Ending” and how it fits with the theme running throughout the story of “what are you prepared to sacrifice to accomplish the mission” that’s why I like to pick Destroy for my Renegade playthroughs, because at that point Renegade Shep has doomed at least one (and probably two) other species to extinction.
Also I like think that Destroy makes Mass Effect a prequel to Dune
After KOTOR and Jade Empire, the hype i had for Biowares Mass Effect was unfathomable. Played each game at launch and until this day, no series has ever come close to matching what this series provided. In my opinion.
Having my choices, my character, and relationships carry over into each game, having choices I made in the first effect parts of the third was incredible.
The original trilogy is hands down, the peak of my gaming experiences. Nothing else comes close.
In retrospect, having all 3 at your disposal at once may be a good thing, but the hype of waiting for the next release was part of the experience.
It's like watching your favorite show unfold over years,vs watching it all in a couple of days.
At any rate, there are certain milestones in gaming that everyone should experience. The original Mass Effect trilogy is definitely one of those milestones. It's a pity that studio no longer exists in that form. They had a 5 game streak like no other. Kotor,Jade Empire, Mass Effects 1-3.
The thing about the destroy ending is that it's like a two-sided coin. On one hand if your war assets is about 80 percent or higher then the space battle will go well in the beginning and Shepard will survive. On the other hand, if your war assets is not high then the space battle will not go well, Shepard won't survive and Earth will be damaged from the crumble backfire.
I have very mixed feelings about it too😩
Yes, war assets over 80 and destroy is the ONLY real ending to me.
That final breathe to the amazing song it’s just sooooooo good
Heyhey, great to see your reactions to some other ME3 endings!
There are a few more ending variations, some that you can't get with your war asset score and paragon/renegade alignment. If you complete the refusal ending through conversation, Shepard will give a final sort of defiant ending speech before the Catalyst comes out with the Reaper voice. The control ending you've seen is the paragon control ending, but there's also a more sinister renegade control ending speech. And with a low war asset score you only have a "bad" destroy ending as an option and the consequences are far more severe with admiral Hackett giving the details. The rest of the endings you've seen, the only details with the war asset score is that a low war asset score only has the "bad" destroy ending, medium war asset score gives the "good" destroy ending and also gives the control option. High war asset score gives the "good" destroy ending where Shepard also takes a breath in the outro, as well as synthesis also being an option now.
Having seen all endings, I'd still always choose destroy, although I can see myself doing playthrough where Shepard picks synthesis. Control, whether paragon or renegade, will likely end up as you said with a Shepard becoming more distant from humanity and ending up as a second Catalyst. Synthesis has this weird feeling to me that everyone's all connected and like a hive mind, similar to the borg in Star Trek or the geth before Legion decided the best option for his species was to give everyone individuality like himself.
With the destroy ending I simply don't trust the Catalyst's views on organics. It's been running for millennia and from the single conversation we've had with it, it clearly doesn't understand how organics think or feel. To me, that makes the Catalyst unqualified to make such sweeping statements as "all organics will create synthetics and synthetics will always kill organics". It took great effort from Shepard, Tali and Legion (and others), but clearly there's also a possibility for reconciliation between synthetics and organics. On top of that, the Catalyst's only point of reference for the interactions between organics and synthetics is a cycle dominated by Leviathan, or cycles dominated by the Catalyst and its reapers. The way I see it, the Catalyst came to a wrong conclusion in the Leviathan cycle, then every cycle after it made a self fulfilling prophecy by being the created synthetics destroying organics, affirming its own beliefs through its own actions.
After thinking on the conversation with the Catalyst after several playthroughs and watching other people's playthroughs, I've personally come to the conclusion that Mass Effect never really was about organics versus synthetics in the end. The thematics come up a lot throughout the story and it is also referenced by the Catalyst as a reason for the cycles, but what it all comes down to is one single, faulty, all-powerful AI getting a warped view, making the wrong conclusions and screwing up the entire galaxy for both organics and synthetics over and over again in each cycle. It wasn't synthetics versus organics, it was absolutely everything ever versus one AI with a god complex. Seeing the events of Mass Effect in that light, and considering everything this cycle that defeated the Reapers had gone through, I have hope for a future where organics make new synthetics and not ending up in all-out war like the Catalyst predicts.
And when it comes to the tragic sacrifices made by EDI and the geth when the destroy ending is picked, I personally also think they'd prefer destroy over a synthesis borg-like hive mind in the long run. Through EDI's conversations with Shepard, EDI learns what it means to be human, to be an individual, and to be alive. She says she finds the Reapers' sole focus on self-preservation repulsive and sees herself as different, changing her own protocols and be willing to risk her own life to save others. She also considers an individual AI personality preferable to a hive mind AI like the geth and outlines why. In the end, this is something that Legion agrees with as well. When his individual personality fully actualized in the end, he chose to sacrifice himself to give all geth individual personalities as he saw that as the best direction for his species to evolve. All that put together, in my opinion if it wasn't Shepard, but instead it was EDI or Legion making the choice after they've had the conversation with the Catalyst, both of them would prefer to choose destroy rather than synthesis.
That's just my opinion though, no right or wrong in choice based games after all! Now I'll stop writing this wall of text, thanks for reading any or all of it if you did 😅
Synthesis was my first pick and my favorite ending. The questions & possibilities it raises are irresistible to me. The one gripe I have with Synthesis ending is how much the game paints it as the “Super Happy Perfect Ending” although I can understand why the Star Child and Edi in the epilogue would see it as such. I think that Synthesis would actually be the most chaotic ending, at least in the short term. I don’t think that all life; both organic and synthetic, being interconnected would breed understanding, as this comment section will probably show, many would revolt at the idea. And the Rachni Wars/Krogan Rebellion shows the dangers of uplifting a species before they are ready, But it would be interesting to see what happens. It’s definitely the most Sci-Fi of the 3 endings
There are technically two other endings. The refusal ending and a alternate version of the Control ending if you've got a higher renegade score. This Renegade control ending has a darker vibe from Shepard.
and the destroy with or without a high enough warscore endings
Renegade vs Paragon control is basically negative vs positive peace. The Paragon lets people be better on their own with a little guidance, the Renegade forces you to behave on the pain of death.
"Holy shit...she did it." I'm a huge control stan. I believe as the new catalsyst, with Shepard's contributed knowledge and access to the Reaper database, there's no reason you couldn't do synthesis on an individual basis or something with personal approval. Plus I would just create my own Shepard Husk, and download a personality simulator into that and be a robo-shep.
Played through this in August of 2023 on the PC,with *Restored content* & *Deleted Scenes* (from OG creators been restored by modding Community) and also an added *Mod* (that makes sense) more Aliens at the end mission at *Earth* making it way more believable and immersive.
*God* still to this day the Ending Story and OST of Last Mission always gets me. There's not many space games that have this much story and closure to them.
“Am I gonna have to watch him put Shepards name up again 😢”
“Why didn’t he put her name up 🤔”
Shepard: 🌬️
👀‼️😳😳😲😲😲😲😲😲
CINEMA!👏🏼
Thanks Lucy for taking the time to go back and playthrough the other endings. Now you need playthroughs for the other classes too because there is still tons of undiscovered dialogue waiting for you should you dare to change things up.
Don't worry about getting emotional with this game. We all understand. For me it's 2,000 hours of gameplay and this game still brings tears to my eyes. Bioware made me love the characters, stories and world like no game has before or since. 🫂
Awww Rosie! BioWare really did nail it with this series. And I am so happy that there's still so much to discover once I go back for another play through.
You shouldve just chosen the refusal dialogue choice. In my opinion, Shepards dialogue on why they refuse is perfect and a great transition to the crucible shutting off. Shooting the kid seems like a troll response from the developers and just plain silly.
Came here to say this. Shepard's line when he refuses by dialogue is absolutely them most epic, badass line in a video game ever. I wish more people reacted to it, it's very hidden and most people just choose the other dialogue option sadly
The reason it shows the Admiral in the destroy cutscene and the Mystery Man in the control cutscene, is because they represent those particular viewpoints. Admiral believed in destroying the Reapers, while MM believed in controlling them.
Will never forget finishing ME3 for the first time. My jaw was on the floor.. and not in a good way 😅
Aww did you play it before all the options were available? I was happy with my ending eventually. But heart broken at the same time ha
yes, in my first playthrough my jaw dropped when Tali was no longer loyal, that broke my heart .. including the shock when she jum... * maybee a spoiler
@@LUCYJROBYNI played before the Extended Cut DLC. Let's just say you should be glad you played after
@@dball_94 Ah, you are from the same timeline as me - where Marauder Shields died trying to save us from the ending
the original ending stopped abruptly after the Normandy took off from that x planet, no epilogues, no Leviathan dlc to get the big picture of the situation.What an absolute nightmare. I was traumatized 😅
24:02 My favorite thing about the control ending is Shepard's final words of her voice over. Up until that point, there is a reverb on her voice showing her being "immortal", but her saying "....who could save the many." there is no reverb, just her normal voice. Brilliant subtle hint that her humanity is still there.
Thoroughly enjoyed your reaction to the whole trilogy. Out of curiosity, have you given any thought to doing a reaction to the trailers for Andromeda?
The funniest thing is, almost everyone wants to eliminate the child (who's not really a child) within 10 seconds of meeting him 😂😂
Lmao yep!
Control - What The Illusive man wanted
Sythesis - What Saryn wanted
Destroy - What Anderson wanted
Refusal- What the Reapers wanted
26:16 the counter arguement is that, sure the peace may not last, but at least there isn't reapers and that the new threat would be way more easier to solve, and we can only hope that all the races have learned enough to keep a Reaper like threat from happening again.
its the best ending of the 3 in the long term, considering if the reaper are still here, who is to say they will destroy life again? but once there gone forever, its way more easier and manageable to solve life threatening issues before they get to Reaper level theat.
I don't know if anyone wrote or not, for example, in the red ending of the game there are three options: destroying the reapers, destroying the reapers and people on Earth, destroying the reapers, people, and buildings on Earth. And in the control blue ending there are two options in what Shepard says, more aggressive or peaceful
I like the Cosmic Horror vibes of the Control ending, where Shepard ascends to Elder Godhood.
The Lovecratian Cosmic Horror has always been one of my favorite aspects of the Mass Effect series and the Control ending fits that vibe perfectly
I think your reaction to the destroy ending shows which ending is the best.
There’s also a bad destroy ending when your war assets are too low, you get a different epilogue from Admiral Hacket. Might be worth looking it up on YT to see it.
You should watch the low-points Destroy ending, where the Crucible is basically falling apart and the Reapers are absolutely dominating. Its pretty shocking.
I'm sure that I'm very much in the minority, but Refusal is my favorite ending. It's the only ending that seemingly avoids the pitfalls I can see in the others.
For better or worse, Synthesis seems to be exactly what the Reapers want, and I can only imagine the unintended consequences of creating a "technorganic" galaxy. And it's obviously done without the consent of trillions of people.
Control runs into two issues: 1) The entity that goes on in place of the Catalyst isn't Shepard. She's an AI with Shepard's memories. 2) This new AI pretty much has absolute power through the Reapers, and power obviously has a tendency to corrupt. She may start out as a benevolent protector, but she could easily turn into a tyrannical ruler if she starts thinking that an iron fist is in the galaxy's best interest.
Destroy is what the mission is from the outset, but it destroys the Geth and EDI, and it doesn't solve the long-term issue of synthetic beings rising up against the organic beings who created them. The Geth could have potentially led the way to peaceful coexistence between all organic and synthetic beings, but the Destroy ending wipes them out.
There's not much to go on for what happened with the Refusal ending, but we know from the conversation at the end that the previous cycle fought a terrible war so that they wouldn't have to. This implies that they found a way to stop the Reapers before even having to fight them -- further implying that they didn't have to take any of the Catalyst's options. They also say in the conversation that they have peace and aren't threatened, which implies that they've either already dealt with a synthetic uprising and come out on top OR never had to deal with one at all. It's obviously tragic that the cycle humanity was a part of had to be wiped out, but Refusal seems to have produced the ideal outcome for the subsequent cycle.
Something that recently occurred to me about Refusal is that it’s the option that Shepard has the most agency in making. It always bugged me that the 3 options are, ultimately, the Star Child’s choices and Shepard just picks one of them, but Refusal is only Shepard’s choice. Also I think it’s kinda funny that Shep is stubborn enough to let all the advanced species of galaxy die fighting just so they can say fuck you to the star child and its solution. That’s a level of pettiness I can get behind. It reminds me of the of The World’s End “Face it! We are the human race and we don’t like being told what to do!”
On control ending, there are two differents speach if i remember, one for Parangon Shep and another for a Renegade Shep. You have the refuse ending too
Control, and Synthesis are for Parts of The Fan Base, That doesn't like Bad Endings or for Anyone to die.
the LI's never put the name up for Shep if you pick destroy (with high assets) they just look up and smile
i have a feeling the plaque was made because they though shep died and then later they found her and she's in the hospital when they honor all the others and put them up on the board and when they get to sheps name they realize they don't have to use it anymore
Have a happy holidays LUCYJROBYN
Here's an argument for Paragon Control being the overall best ending: It can be Destroy Ending without the major drawbacks.
Shepard takes control of the reapers, uses them to help rebuild what was lost. Once that task is done, Shepard gathers all the reapers and their tech and launches it into stars to be destroyed. Finally, Shepard shuts the reaper AI, and itself, down.
No huge moral dilemmas, no committing genocide over the Geth, not forcing synthesis on everyone. Only main drawback remaining is the same all endings (except synthesis) have, we risk the cycle starting over again eventually.
I tend to be partial to the control ending since it does the least collateral damage. EDI lives, the Geth live, whatever knowledge remains of the species the reapers harvested survives. Whether Shepard becoming the reaper overlord is good or bad I think boils down to what you think of your Shepard. Will they be a protector or a tyrant, it all depends on how you played. Also with control you can headcanon that Shepard flew the lot of them into a star or a black hole after fixing the relays and downloading their knowledge to help the galaxy rebuild.
Destroy like you said is a temporary fix. We may not get the reapers being rebuilt, but synthetics certainly will be, and they could still be an existential threat to at least the species that created them, if not the galaxy. Having the Geth and Quarians living side by side would be living proof that synthetics and organics can live in peace. Without that it will be a lot harder to mediate such disputes in the future. And if your main motivation is Shepard surviving, well what does it say about Shepard to throw away EDI and the Geth just to save his/her own life?
Synthesis I have a big problem with because it would necessarily have to override free will to work. It's the most ethically dubious ending when you really think about it.
The possibilities presented by control make it the most versatile option, which is why it's my favourite
Paragon control every time for me, least awful of all the god awful choices available 😄
Renegade control on the other hand...oh my... 😄
I need to watch Renegade control!
Synthesis every time for me, I could never hurt EDI or the Geth
The War Assets determine how well the Crucible functions, as the Fleet needs to protect it. The less assets you have, the more damage the Crucible takes, affecting what happens when it destroys the Reapers.
If it's defended enough, the energy pulse only affects Reaper tech: damaging the Citadel/Relays and the Normandy IFF crashing. Killing the Reapers along with EDI and the Geth, due to their Reaper connection.
You didn’t see the cut-scene showing TIM using the control mechanism… that’s def a consistent bug, and I think, part of the reason you didn’t understand the mechanics of the ending choices.
I remember seeing this live and I saw some stuff with Anderson and I was amazing because I usually say with the paragon dialogue where if you say down that line and don’t change the illusive man does what Saren does in the first one ( not typing what he really does because I don’t think that word is always).
But I also enjoyed seeing the other endings because I always do destroy. I also think that was the first time I’ve seen the refuse one and the other two ending all the way through.
It was great seeing it live tho.
Hey Lucy! 2nd playthrough. Male Shep. Romance Tali 😂
I still believe that synthesis was the best ending, if only Shepard would survive in that one too.. 😊
I am so happy to see this, Next try react anothers romances. 🙏🏼🎄 Marry Christmas Lucy.
Absolutely will!❤️
This was so enjoyable to watch through the experience of someone else.
While I prefer the ending of Star Control 2, the Mass Effect series (as a spiritual successor of Star Control 2) has started growing on me since I started playing it for the first time a couple of days ago, thanks to the Steam sale. I've been spoiled about these endings for over a decade, which is why I'm so late to the party, but I saw a video explaining how Mass Effect is heavily inspired by Star Control 2 / The Ur-Quan Masters, so that won me over, in the end.
You didn't get my favourite ending ... there are more than those available to you.
Mine was specifically low EMS renegade control.
Like Lucy I found the choices confusing and accidentally selected synthesis
Control and Synthesis are definitely the only options for a peaceful future but that would probably make for a boring sequel if there's no conflict. Destroy would basically throw the galaxy into chaos again within the next 100 years or so. Not only would it be an AI problem but once Wrex dies the Krogan would reproduce out of control and become expansionist again and Leviathans would start to mind control everyone to make themselves God-like again. Control and Synthesis solves those problems and that's why I always choose either of those at the end of my playthroughs. Plus I don't like the idea of betraying my allies who just helped us win the war and that's what Destroy does. That would be like the British destroying America and Russia after WW2 as a thank you
Little brother always picks DESTROY.
I can't sacrifice the Geth or EDI, I put too much time into them.
If your Readiness Score is real low, Earth is cleansed. Big Ben blows away, Organic Soldiers and Reapers are wiped away, Jeff doesn't step out of the crashed Normandy. Your team rushing the Citadel Beam get smoked.
It is nearly 13 years and I can remember the shock of Tali Suicide and Quarren Fleet destruction, Miranda Samara Grunt Mordin Legion... all dying in my first ME3 play through.
It went so badly that I pulled ME1 and ME2 out for a perfect playthrough.
We'll bang, okay.
Lmao
It's funny how everyone refers to the Catalyst by the form it took -- the child. Poor kid; first he gets slaughtered by Reapers then all Sheps hate him and want to throw him out the airlock!
Samara is Billie Elish's mom and the male stargazer is Buzz Aldrin.
Really hope we'll get to see you react to other romances or different choices for the main missions (not just the ending) as well. Between games or on your off time, maybe. Doesnt have to be your Shepard, perhaps another persons video reaction so it wouldnt take up too much of your time
The tone of the control ending depends on your paragon/renegade alignment
It seems more like a 'bad ending' with the renegade, but still not a terrible outcome
You should do a polling asking which ending the players selected the most
eh. there is the results if you google. that is from bioware. mostly paragon playthrough and mostly liara for the romance
@thefogg dude I know I’m just encouraging her to engage with us in case she’s curious about it.
Please react to the gamerpoops 🤣
That’s on my to do list!
@@LUCYJROBYNI really think those were a product of their time and spent more time rolling my eyes than laughing.
Better "Austin Powers in ME", "Michael Scott in ME" and "Buzz Lightyear in ME".
In retrospect, I’m glad I waited to until the Legendary Edition to finish the trilogy. I’m a console player and I live in the middle of nowhere, which means that until about 5 years ago, I didn’t have strong enough internet connection to download much of anything or play online multiplayer, so if a game didn’t have a disc release with the DLC on it I had no other opportunity to play it. I got lucky that the Platinum Hits edition of ME1 had the Bring Down The Sky DLC, but other than that I never played any of ME2’s DLC until ME:LE. And after hearing the disappointment fans had with ME3, and the fact that it was very hard to get the best outcome without playing multiplayer, I decided to not play ME3. I’m glad I waited until now to play ME3, because, with all the DLC, it’s still a great game, even if it is a bit of a letdown
I have never seen Anderson get killed by TIM before. Thanks, I guess?
You can get TIM to go the way of Saran (with out the creepy possessed undead fight), but you need to go Paragon with him through the whole game (I think) or at least all through this conversation with him.
A Renegade Shepard Control ending has a darker speech.
One Shepard romanced nobody, truly being a mother/shepard of her crewmates for the whole game while another Shepard romanced and blew up Kaiden then romanced Thane, one chose control, the other synthesis. Every other Shepard with someone to go back to choses to destroy them as they have zero chance of surviving and reuniting with the other two endings.
I might have said this (watched and commented on so many playthroughs now)
The Geth have had two+ years to create non reaper based hardware so some might have survived or been stored on non volatile media.
The Geth uploaded into Quarrian suits and tweaking their immune systems, that is a step toward synthesis already.
Why didn't they put it up? I like to think whoever was at the radio received a message and put it over the intercom, perhaps your SO just has a feeling or in Liara's case a psychic connection?
Low enough war assets and Shepard does not survive destroy either (and your name goes up), lower and there is more damage to the relays and low enough the Normandy does not outrun the shockwave.
I do wonder though, with control/synthesis if it is at all possible to restore to bodies or birth new members via cloning of the 'stored' species.
You should also watch what happens when you go for earth and eventually choose destroy with the lowest possible war asset score. now that is a real ending....
Classic bioware, even though the studio was as overwhelmed as lucy at the end of the video when they made this game 😅
The endings of ME3 make me appreciate why Lord of The Rings has, like, 17 endings, because when a story gets this epic and detailed it becomes very difficult (nigh impossible) to wrap up the whole story, in a satisfying way, in just a few minutes.
I wish that BioWare could have had the time to flesh out the ending, if not the whole second half of the story. Because my disappointment with ME3 stems, not from the endings, but with how the story after Tuchanka feels progressively more, either hastily written, or underwritten to the point where, by the time it gets to Cerberus Base/Earth/Crucible it feels like laying tracks in front of the speeding train.
I think that given enough time to refine them; these 3 endings could have been much more satisfying for the audience
2Q: Before you reached the ending, what were you hoping, and expecting?
1Q: Do you want Shepard to return in the next Mass Effect?
Destroy has always been the perfect ending for me, it feels very true to the genre, and I think Synthesis is just too much of a "perfect" ending imo. Felt like the options should have been control or destroy, since those were the options at play the entire game, before synthesis is dangled in front of you at the very end as a best of both worlds. I like a little bit of Tragedy with my stories, it feels more real, more earned that way. That's definitely why I always send Jacob into the vents in me2, no other reason....
The Secret Destroyed ending basically confirms that Shepard survives the explosion. Every sneak peek for The Next Mass Effect (the pictures, trailers etc) still don't really show if Shepard is back but the one thing that is confirmed is that the destroyed ending is the canon ending to the game, but whether or not Shepard is back or the protagonist again is still unclear
Control is the only ending.
Become the guardian
Control is not a bad ending. I think it's just people who can't accept operatic endings where heroes sacrifice. I've always said that in this choice, it's a matter of whether you trust yourself.
ahh finally Thanks a lot for the Ending with Liaras Message @ 06:39 🙂 .. imo this is the best ending, since everyone including Shepard at the time Shepard decides so, everything is open what happened to the crew, and thanks to Liaras message the Milky Way managed to defeat the Reapers in the next cycle ... btw: instead of "Refusal" you can shoot the Catalyst with the same outcome
Liara’s message was so beautiful!
Everyone dies in Refusal, there is nothing left open about that.
I really hated how this game ends. Not because I wanted the story having a happy ending with Miranda prancing around naked or something, it's just that they said that choices matter. So I played the second game with the final save game from the first, and I started this one with the final save from the second and then it all comes down to dialog options. I still think the games are great, don't start throwing stones at me! I'm just saying that the choices in the previous games didn't matter like they said they would.
I remember I played the whole trilogy again, with different decisions, for this breath: 38:35 🙂 .. yes it would be cool they if Shepard would be in ME 6 .. and it would also be cool if the decisions in ME Adromeda would have an impact on ME 6 🙂
Mass Effect games = greatness
and I was never drawn more into a game than the Mass Effect Series.
Agreed
Oh yes, Skyrim is a good one! Hope you play it soon Lucy!
When I’m home in January, yes😊
Lest try one more time to be wrong :D
control is blue, destroy is red..
if destroy is canon, then next ME should be called Joker's Revenge
The endings all are from a point of view:
Destroy: Anderson, the only safe way to make sure the cycle never happens again is to remove the Reapers. Roll the dice and see what happens, but Shep lives.
Control: TIM, harness the strength of your enemy but risk absolute power corrupting absolutely. Saves synthetics from destruction, but who can tell what will happen to god-Shep once she's been inside for a couple of millenia.
Synthesis: Reapers, this is what they wanted but couldn't achieve it because it cannot be forced. In tempting the one human who could make the choice for all life in the galaxy, they achieve their ultimate goal originally specified by the leviathans, solve conflict between organics and synthetics. All life becomes reaper at this point (remember, reapers are cybernetic + actual liquified organic species), and who can tell if the catalyst is still controlling all reapers... I also theorise that the reapers would just come at the next cycle and offer the choice, and only attack if refused. "Now that we know it's an option, synthesis is inevitable"
To me Destroy will always be my ending of choice. And I disagree with the child that war with synthetics is inevitable, the Rannoch storyline is proof that we can coexist! The Geth never wanted war with the Quarians, and now there is peace!! So it is possible! Also the Child tries so hard to get you to not destroy them, seems suss to me haha
To me synthesis is fundamentally wrong - you are taking away everyone's choice. I completely understand why people pick it and love it, it's just not for me..
I agree with you Lucy about the Control ending - Absolute power corrupts absolutely! Who's to say whatever is left of Shepard won't start to agree with the old Reapers??
I've never seen the Reject ending, so I'm delighted you went through it!
So as much as losing the Geth and EDI hurt (literally sobbing everytime I pick it), I still go with Destroy!
I also love the indoctrination theory, which ties into the Destroy ending as well 😎
now for the low ending
These are all the high war asset endings there are low war asset destroy and control varients
yeah i was expecting decision wheel as well. i just wandered into my ending as well. and it wasn;t the one i wanted either. using color code for a partially colorblind person doesn;t end well...
Oooh brutal 😱
Oop
The first time I finished the game I didn't get the option to do anything other than Destroy. At the time I was kinda pissed, but now that I look back on it I'm glad I got that ending.
Do u act?/are u an actor?
Love your accent
I'm a fellow American ❤
So I’m a big fan of the indoctrination theory. If you picked synthesis you were indoctrinated like Seran from ME 1. If you picked Control you were indoctrinated like the illusive man. Destroy is the only ending where Shepard lives.
Would recommend watching an indoctrination video for the channel. Preferably the first one that came out, it’s tricky to find as other videos have more views but they’re generally pale imitations. It pitches that Shepard has been slowly indoctrinated over the course of ME 3. Shepard’s “oily shadow dreams”, the fact that destroy is the only one where Shepard lives, and how all other options are some form of reaper indoctrination shown through characters in all games. I dunno, it kinda saves the narrative. Sadly it’s also been said to not be cannon as the lead writers have straight up said it is a better explanation than they had time to write.
@@Howsmyaim 100% agree with you. indoctrination theory is real. destroy is the only way to go.
I have played through the whole storyline of ME from 1-3 did everything and every ending and for me the synth ending isn't really a good one because if you think about it all those some millions of years of culture just gone .
I played through the game save all the endings and backed them up just incase when the New ME comes out that it will be much like the previous ones and can use the saves .
I did the same thing the first time shot at the holo kid and was "oh sh%@ing myself
I liked the control ending best because it was the best out of the worst situations for all living things
out of all the tunes in the series I liked jack the most of course i couldn't have a relationship because I chose female
the destroy one is the only one where there is a tiny chance that Sherard lives which is why people say its the best ending , also the name shepherd doesn't go up on that wall because they don't know live or dead but if you know Sheppard Shepard wouldn't have sacrificed any thing but him or herself to save all thats what makes him\her human but I also backed up that save when I played this last before I hear the rumors of a new me coming out
I did the same for the first time, walked to close and triggered synthesis ending... I was so pissed! 😅
Despite I liked that ending for EDI, destroy is my canon as it was the whole point in the trilogy
I wish they made it clearer on what you needed to do. I also didn't see those pathways opening up and accidentally walked the middle path because that's what I saw and thought I needed to go to 😂
Makes me think it was an intentional game design to make first playthroughs have the Synthesis ending lol
kakak kamu hari ini terlihat begitu cantik manis dan kawaiii love from Indonesia 🇮🇩
God of War sega when??😊😊
The problem I have with synthesis that it Is locks out any chance of growth, everyone is the same, everyone knows the same thing, everything is stagnant now and forever.
Very true
@@LUCYJROBYN Destroy is cannon.
That isn't how growth and change work.
So the Geth didn't grow or change since their creation?
That's one of the major plot points of the series: that synthetics can grow and become something better.
@garryuyahoo The star child is a Reaper, the Reaper. It stands to reason that any joining of repertech would always end in indoctrination. Synthesis was the best option for the Reapers to win. Synthesis at its core would just be mass indoctrination. As even "dead" repertech has shown.
They patched in that ending tidbit where you see Shepard's body move after the outcry from a vocal portion of the playerbase who were upset with the fact that they killed off Shepard. I didn't love the decision to kill Shepard but it was Bioware's story to tell.
A point that gets brought up often is that Destroy is the only ending that still preserves free will in the end. Control and Synthesis both take a lot of that away, in their own ways. I'm shooting that red test tube 10 times out of 10.
...also...
...I promised Samantha two kids and a house with a white picket fence, dammit.
If you want to be particularly dramatic, you can just say that was Shepard's last breath before their death.
Or, if you are all for happy endings, like I am, you can say Shepard is alive, barely, and can live happily ever after with [insert your favourite romance option here] ;)
The Destroy ending is my favourite ending and has become my headcanon, thanks mainly to the Indoctrination Theory. Not going to spoil it, in case you want to check it out yourself at some point, just this much: It's a fan theory from about a decade ago that does a deep dive into indoctrination and the various endings. Although it has been debunked by the developers (quote: "We weren't that smart"), it is still really interesting.
Anyway, romance reactions surely about to come at some point?
Have a good one!
Writers already said the breath was Shepard waking up in the rubble, and that Garrus later saves her.
None of the decisions felt very fulfilling compared to the incredible story up to this point.
I think I would have enjoyed this being the one time you did not have a choice, and destory was the only solution and you had to accept the repercussions.
They defo all have their pros and cons!
Out of all ending story wise destroy fits best as canon if you gunna continue the mass effect story and continue it with Shepherd 🤞🏽🤞🏽 unless they just resurrect them again like mass effect 2
We need Black Ops 6.
😂
And don't forget the Cold War alternate ending before starting BO6. It's not canon but it's worth seeing. Trust
Control makes Shepard a little g god and flies in the face of the whole "No one should haver this power" thingy since ultimate power ultimately corrupts. Shepard becomes no better than the Illusive Man.
Unity makes Shepard no better than the reapers since he/she just altered the DNA of every lifeform in the galaxy without their consent. Organic life becomes husks in all but name.
Refusal means that Shepard has damned all future life in the galaxy to ultimately face extinction at the hands of the reapers in a neverending cycle created by a would-be omnipotent yet short-sighted race of Leviathans who lost control of their own tech.
Destroy means that Shepard sacrifices all synthetic life as well as any organic life reliant upon synthetic tech in the galaxy in order to end the cycle and leave the future in the hands of the living, but it also risks that life creating something similar or worse than the reapers in the future.
Destroy is the only choice that leaves decision-making in the hands of the people. The entire cycle was predicated upon one constant... That organic life will always yearn to play God and create synthetic life. Will they learn from the past and forego the creation of synthetic life? Can they deny themselves synthetic alterations that give them power and an edge over others? Can all species agree upon that one constant limitation? If they do not, then they only prove the need for the reaping as they cannot control themselves. Eventually, they will come to that conclusion and destroy themselves through a similar method whether deliberately or as a result of a completely avoidable accident, but will they be any worse off than they were under the reaper cycles? If they do overcome that desire to play God, they will have grown and learned to control themselves well enough to chart a new future never before seen in the galaxy. Destroy is the only reset that offers organic life the choice. I believe EDI would have recommended destroy.
All that stuff aside, along with the obvious mirroring of our current times here on earth and the need for God, I choke up every time as well. I'm 58, male, and old school, but I tear up every time. There will never be another like Mass Effect.
The reason why destroy is the overall best solution is because the AI child literally says their solution won't work anymore and you beat the odds, this is coming from the main intelligence of the Reapers and youve seen how powerful they are so if they couldnt stop organics it means they cannot count for organics defying logic and it proves the point that theres always another way so it doesnt make sense why it would say its solution wont work anymore but the cycle will continue. The Reapers thought the cycle would never be stopped in the first place but there you are an organic about to stop it, so either the Intelligence was LYING for self preservation because all the other choices keep it alive OR it was speaking out of ignorance. The Quarians and Geth situation isnt pointless because its all about your choices in the conflict. If youre Renegade then it makes sense that the Geth wipe out the Quarians and if you pick Destroy then both species are extinct pretty much. Now going by Paragon Shepard, if youve established peace between the two factions then the Quarians will either A: Rebuild the Geth and learn from their ancestors mistakes and have peace throughout their coexistence especially after having the data logs shown by Legion. Like Admiral Koris said they were their children and they tried to get rid of them. The Geth never wanted to wipe out their creators just live so peace is definitely still possible. Or option B: The Quarians still dont trust AI and will choose not to take the chance again and simply not rebuild the Geth or anything capable or becoming true AI. Or your Shepard chooses the Quarians over the Geth anyways which wipes them out regardless so any thoughts of coexistence dont even exist in the first place because the Quarians achieved their goal of wiping out the Geth and reclaiming their world. The Destroy ending is all about your choices as Shepard and the impact they have on the Galaxy like Mass Effect has been since the beginning. You taught the Galaxy how to unite and overcome all their problems when working together as a whole. You ended several generational conflicts and managed to get the farthest any species could come to beating the Reapers because everyone united. Throughout the journey theyll tell you something cant be done its impossible then boom, you do it. Also Javik tells you that the diversity of your timeline compared to the singular identity of the Protheans is your only hope because once the Reapers beat one of them they knew how to beat all of them. So like i said its about deconstructing and rebuilding the Galaxy as a whole with your choices as Shepard and not thinking like the Reapers who do it by force. Which the Control and Synthesis ending are, theyre forcing peace instead of allowing choice. Sorry for the essay lol keep up the great content!
We need Skyrim
@@adamfrost1881 can’t believe all these bangers we get to vicariously experience for the first time again!
I’ll not be able to record any more Skyrim until I am home in January 😊
Destroy the true ending
To me, the reapers are all about evil. All three games are fighting evil, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the evil. When you get to the end and the devil says you have three choices, he is doing what the devil does. He is lying to you. So your "choices" are: dominate evil, basically becoming evil yourself; fusing with evil; or destroying evil. Or the option to not choose, and just give up, which you exhibit by shooting at his hologram (there is also a dialog option for that, btw).
The reason it shows Anderson in the little clip for the destroy choice is because when the game first released, there was no choices. You only came there to destroy the reapers. I don't quite remember how it went, but Shepard couldn't do it, so Anderson does it. People complained that a Bioware game has to have choices, so they patched the ending to give you the choices. Then people complained that all that did was give you three color endings, blue, green, and red, but are basically the same. Bioware couldn't win.
Anyway, I personally have played through it several times to play the different combat classes, and to try the different romances. But I always destroy the reapers at the end. My choice of romance has evolved through the years, though. I noticed little things. Subtle things.
@@Paul_Kling bro what are you talking about that the original game had no choices and Anderson made the final decision. You can literally look up the original ending on TH-cam.
@@Disrupt_01 The original ending that I played only had destroy. They patched it.
@@Disrupt_01 hes probably talking about the abandoned dark energy plot line.
Edi body die only the brain live! Rebuild body!
its quite the opposite. my head cannon is along a fan fic i read. talking about how joker used all of the audio and video from the previous 2 games to a newly EDI brain.
The writers confirmed Femshep was rescued from the rubble after by Garrus.
omgfirst
Hello!
@ joining you for your halo play-through - so jealous you get to experience these for the first time! Would give anything to be able to forget them to experience them like it’s the early 2000’s all over again
I don't always pick something other than synthesis, but when I do, it's destroy. Great to see you back at the helm commander 🥹🫡
It’s great to be back🙏🏼❤️