The Benefactor is one of the reasons I need an andromeda Sequel. this had me so intrigued about the initiative as a whole and I love that there's a hidden side to it. Who can it be? Is it a fresh character? Is it someone we saw in the trilogy? I want to know so badly.
There are two other reasons for me on top of that! First is that i’m itching to see Ryder’s mother be cured and reunited with her kids in the next game, second reason i want to see what happened to quarian ark and other milky way species, that were sent accross dark space!
I wish they would make a sequel, not because I liked the game all that much, but because all the unanswered questions(like this) that burn in my mind lol
Was the most intriguing part of Andromeda. They couldn't make a sequel though, they'd have had to do it on a different engine because Frostbite sucks, hence why the next game will be on Unreal Engine again and I'm not sure they could've transferred save data from the first game to a sequel on a new engine not that there's any decisions you can make in the game that has any impact, except maybe who you choose to save on the Archon's ship, but even then. Since the game won't get a sequel, I wish Bioware would just tell us what the plan was for saga.
@@Jimmer93 You're crazy if you genuinely think they're going to abandon the Frostbite engine. Dead Space is using Frostbite, DA4 is confirmed to be using Frosbite. It's highly likely that the next ME game will also continue to use Frostbite.
@Jimmer93 personally, I liked the game. Mass effect Andromeda was a good game, just the engine E.A. force Bioware to use to make it sucked and wasn't created for such complex games where you are shifting between the story version and the multi-player version that is why the game failed to meet expectations of both the fans and the companies. That is why the game suffered from so many glitches. you really can't fix a lousy engine from what the trailer of the next upcoming Mass effect game has shown it might involve both galaxies. The Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy because one of the pre-game preparing computer story things said. that another and most important job of pathfinders was also to find a way to make a faster way to connect with the Milky Way galaxy so that if the reapers were defeated and there were others that wanted to move to the Andromeda galaxy or even just wanted to trade with the Andromeda galaxy it would be possible. And there were some art stills that looked like a giant man made mass relay. Think of what that could do if that was the premise of the next game. Seeing if the mass relay that was meant to connect Andromeda and the Milky Way worked so that the people now living in Andromeda could get help against the Kett from the Milky Way and the people from the milky way could get help doing whatever they need help doing. That is the only explanation for the teaser trailer containing both galaxies.
@@VioletAeonSnowfield you're crazy if you can't search a simple fact. They won't be using frostbite engine for the next mass effect. Seems like you're the crazy one bozo clown
Oh come on, don't tell me the Jardaan/Remnants don't make you curious at all. I, for one, want to know what they'll do with them. The reapers were cool, but they were just a mad AI and that's not very original.
I feel like ME Andromeda was a stronger start to a trilogy than ME 1 was but that original title had two things going for it that Andromeda didn't: novelty and a clear, present threat for the ensuing games. The Benefactor and Garsson's death are things I hope gets some resolution in the next Mass Effect. Great video with some solid reasoning.
@@randomlyentertaining8287 Yes, but they more or less play the same role that the Geth did. They didn't have anywhere near the same level of menace that the Reapers did.
The AI theory makes perfect sense for multiple reasons. 1st, the fear of an attack: As shown in the Geth story arc, Reapers first target for Indoctrination is often the most powerful AI race they can find in each cycle. But why? Because a fully functioning AI can detect the seemingly random early signs of Reaper activity that come before an invasion on the citadel. Sovereign's pre-invasion planning was almost entirely initially focused on subjugating the Geth, then indoctrinating Saren and presenting the Geth as Sovereign's army. All major factions would and ultimately did assume that the Reaper was Geth technology which kept them distracted and misdirected. Second is the resources issue. An AI doesn't need to "make up" money. As EDI herself indicates she could rapidly destabilize the galactic economy if she chose to, exploiting a wide variety of factors to game all of the galactic market sectors simultaneously. Before long 50 companies are contributing material to the project, none of which realize they are working on behalf of a non-organic being. And that brings me to the following speculation: SAM is the benefactor. Or more specifically, SAM is a fully autonomous subroutine of the Benefactor AI. The reason for the benefactor's interest in Alec Ryder's AI theory was because as an integrated techno-organic being the AI would be less vulnerable to purely digital threats like other AIs. When the Ryders are awake, SAM is in control but unaware that it is sharing space with another personality. But during cryosleep, the Benefactor (which was left running for the entire duration to work on a cure for mama Ryder) had effectively free run of the ship and its organic partner was completely unaware of any actions it might take to secure its position in the Andromeda galaxy - such as tying up the loose end of Jien Garson a year before Alec Ryder could wake up.
The universal laws of Human Action discard the second point as nonsense, because everything that acts needs to "make up" money for their actions. Finally the act of stealling throught hacking being exclusive to IA is prettry much makes all IA in Mass Effect as quasiomnipotent beings.
Sam being a "Salvation" because he is built up to have a symbiotic nature makes so much sense considering that the benefactor knows about the Reapers and "Symbiosis" is the best solution the Reapers/Catalyst came up with. This would mean the Benefactor knew more about the Reapers before Sovereign essentially explained their existence and purpose. I also think the benefactor might be a Leviathan. First, they created them and have been aware of their timetable since they lived through each and every 50,000 year cycle, which would explain how the benefactor knew about the Reapers imminent arrival. Second, they can control lesser beings. I would imagine that the Andromeda Initiative was merely a test project to see if they can use the lesser species to create ships capable of galactic travel, the Arks, so that the Leviathans could use them to get away and take over another galaxy since the Milky Way was essentially hostile. Third, the Leviathans created the most intelligent AI in the galactic history, the Catalyst. They could have easily provided Alec with the necessary information to finish making SAM. And finally fourth, the Leviathans knew that the Catalyst was merging organics with machines to make Reapers, a faulty but still technical form of Symbiosis. It would explain why they took such an important notice of SAM since Alec was essentially trying to make a Symbiotic AI. This gives weight to the benefactors speech of "a different perspective" 9:57 as they now have the chance to do Symbiosis right using SAM instead of where the Reapers failed.
Based on our encounter with Leviathan in the DLC they do not care about other races, they are the "Apex race" that uses mind control of other races they deem as lesser as them. I don't see why they would care about saving anyone but themselves.
@@AeschylusShepherdto have workers. The leviathans are an aqautic race and they dont have hands. Thats the reason for the mind control evolving. We learn from the dlc that they used the land based species on their planet to achive space flight and to do anything that they couldnt. They cannot survive or at least do anything substantial without another organic race being around to control. So it makes perfect sense for them to want to send some to andromeda if they plan on leaving the milky way. They need someone to build shit.
I do think the theory you picked as most likely is by far the best one I've ever heard. I hadn't paid much attention to Andromeda since I played it for a couple of hours and left it alone, but I was always fascinated by it. This video was great.
Speaking as someone who is a big fan of Andromeda as well as the original trilogy, I appreciate your video taking the game seriously and not just dumping all over it. I thank you for the interesting video and theory. Might make me replay the game to see what I can come up with!
What about how the Kett also had a Benefactor? Cause there is a terminal in a Kett base (can't remember where but it I feel like I found it on Voeld possibly during the Moshae rescue mission) with a log from a higher rank Kett talking about how they had a meeting with their benefactor who showed them it's home galaxy and how they can't wait to show them the Kett's home galaxy.
your point on the benefactor being an AI has merit and precedence in the trilogy. In ME1 there's a side quest where you track a signal from a gambling machine that was funneling credits all the way back to an AI that wanted to build a ship for itself to escape the citadel. Now the benefactor can't be that specific AI but another AI could have the means to funnel credits out of somewhere else to fund the initiative.
Its an interesting idea to have an AI be The Benefactor. If so, the catalyst could be that AI, sending a copy of itself to Andromeda, in order to expand its influence in another galaxy. The catalyst, at the end of ME3 does seem to prefer the Synthesis solution, saying that it has tried to get to this previously, but organics weren't ready. SAM and the pathfinder's connection is very close to the Synthesis as the catalyst describes.
Love it. Love the theory. I love andromeda, and have Dove deep into that game. And I also have been leaning more towards that the benefactor could have been an AI of some sort. Part of me feels like it could even be a part of Sam that escaped to the net kind of like how they retconned Skynet in The Terminator series and it essentially funded itself into life, so to speak. I really wish we could get more on this in the future
28:27 The Illusive Man is the known title of the leader of Cerberus, who the Alliance have labelled as terrorists. Alex was part of N7, so would have been fighting against Cerberus operatives. The Illusive Man, assuming he _is_ the benefactor has a VERY good reason for not introducing himself as the leader of an organisation who have probably ended the lives of some of Alex's friends and colleagues in the Alliance. Back during the events before ME1 and ME2, Shepard was _literally dead,_ so they had no say in the matter. If you played the Citadel DLC in ME3, you find out there was an additional clone of Shepard, but without the memories of the original, so technically Cerberus had the option to train and deploy the clone if The Illusive Man thought Shepard was too uncontrollable (although since we only learn about the clone in a DLC for ME3, that would technically be a retcon if that had happened).
Being a long time fan of the franchise, I refuse to hate this game. No matter how hard the internet tries it can't make me. It reminds me of the rough start ME1 had. A flawed game with almost limitless series potential. Hope to see the crew of The Tempest back in action. They deserve it.
Im so glad you mentioned Foster Addison for the theory, as I personally think it is her. Outside of her voice being identical to the benefactors, she is pretty much the one you answer to when successfully terraforming a planet. She briefs you in the situation when you start a planet, and she congratulates you when you succeed. Also, her attitude seems to have alot of build up behind it, as if she is frustrated from spending a tremendous amount of money only for things to fall apart the way that they have. In short, she seems concerned and involved beyond her station as a simple head of colonial affairs. Bit of trivia. I still remember when I had a hinch something was off about Solas in Dragon Age Inquisition, like he knows too much to simply be a scholar. I have a decent nose for this type of stuff.
I think it's a Metacon AI. Javik in a conversation with Shepard during Mass Effect 3 references a conflict known to the Protheans as the Metacon War. The Metacons according to Javik installed AI into their bodies. It was suppose to be a symbiotic relationship. However the AI took over and the Protheans had to fight them. According to Javik the Protheans won that conflict with AI only to find out the war was long over when the Reapers arrived. Perhaps a disembodied and ancient Metacon AI survived. It watched as the Reapers wipe out their former enemies and realized that they will be back. So it waits dormant in a place like the Citadel and watches and waits for the races of the Milky Way to evolve. When Alec embarks on his highly illegal project and The Benefactor finds out about it the AI sees a way to not only resurrect it's race but reconnect with the remnants of the Metacons in the Andromeda Galaxy. That's why the sphere of Remnant technology is growing Angarans. Because the Angara and The Remnant used to be one species, the Metacons. They probably fled to escape the Protheans and ended up in Andromeda. Then some event happened that cut the Angarans from the network occurred. It's just a theory. A fucking game theory.
Having played again recently, I can honestly say it is a damn fine game. Not without it's issues, and over shadowed by the ME that came before it, but worthy of a sequel and then some. Especially given all the unanswered questions it presents.
I always found the fact that the model and more importantly complete design schematics to the under construction Normandy SR2 being on board the Nexus to be one of the more compelling reasons to think that The Benefactor was the Illusive Man and that he merely sent a few underlings to Andromeda while he himself stayed in the Milky Way.
What if not the Illusive man but someone connected to Illusive man somehow? Isn't Cora his daughter? Who is the mother? Also what about EDI? there are many sams.. why couldn't there be many EDI's ?
@@peppermint1349 Yeah this can't be the Illusive Man. It would make sense, but the Illusive Man wouldn't remotely run. His motives were entirely centered around keeping control of the Galaxy, preferably under humanity. He wouldn't have spent this much money on a pan-galactic initiative to run away. It has to be someone else. And a part of me wonders... what if it is the Reapers? Or a Reaper?
This is probably the best theory I've heard. Never thought about the need for the benefactor needing to be in andromeda from a storytelling purpose. I've heard the geth being floated before so maybe they turned around whatever they were using to travel when they heard the reapers were defeated.
Great video. I really like the AI Theory for the Benefactor, but I'm going to take it a step further: the Benefactor is a Reformed Reaper. All the points made in the video hold up, and keeping itself hidden (even killing those that are curious) makes sense. It isn't concerned about the timeframe, and it obviously has access to the tech that can help Alec create SAM. Synthesis not only prevents the destruction of organic races, but ALSO prevents the destruction of synthetic races. I could be way off base here, but I agree with the video. I'm really liking this idea.
Love the A.I theory...The whole benefactor started out as a great story line. Would have loved to see where it went...maybe some day...doubtful but maybe....
@@kalimaxine Looking back it seemed to me that BioWare acted like a spoiled teenager because the game wasn't getting rave reviews. A wasted opportunity. Think a DLC with some additional content would have helped the game.
@@spaceghostohio7989 Considering how the ''fans'' acted and literally sent death threaths to the developers etc. I would not call that a spoiled teenager act. The amount of hate it still gets is honestly disgusting. I get not liking a game or disagreeing on choices etc. But full on hating on the point that bunch of people attack on others just for liking the game or some devs to threathen their life? Too much..
@@peppermint1349 I agree...I thought the game was a 6 out of 10..didn't hate it but thought they left a lot on the table..liked the combat and the verticality they introduced..I thought the voice acting was meh...squad mates didn't do anything for me...I think the biggest mistake was attaching the Mass Effect moniker in the title..pretty high bar to live up to.
@@spaceghostohio7989 I loved the squadmates but we didn't have enough time to get to really know them I think MEA can only be compared to ME1 maybe if we had 2 more games and got to know the crew and maybe got few more crewmembers and more story I believe it would have had way more potential. I agree with the voice acting as some did it better than others and I'd prob give the game 7 out of 10 but for me it's a point more as I loved the exploration thing they added so the gameplay and combat and I do have to say I prefer the look of the tempest to Normandy even tho Normandy will be always nostalgic :D ME2 is still my favourite mass effect game.
Since the ark was launched the same year ME2 took place "2185". It's probably the Geth, since they have no use for money, and since Shepard was so relevant to them, it makes sense they would try to preserve humans.
Oh my God... The money siphoning AI from the citadel in ME 1... It wants to be installed on a ship. The benefactor is the money stealing AI from the citadel casino in mass effect 1 and its body IS the nexus.
My theory was that the benefactor was an Asari, or a group of them. In ME3, it's revealed when you get the mission "priority Thessia that the Asari had ancient Prothean tech they kept secret and within was a Prothean AI. No doubt that the matriarchs knew something and if it had secret funding from one of the oldest council races, it wouldn't surprise me
Your theory is one of the most compelling I’ve ever seen about the Benefactor’s identity. An AI would be able to get money from literally anywhere and everywhere without being caught, like that money-stealing AI from ME1. In ME1, Liara has figured out the pattern of extinction, though she doesn’t know what’s causing it. An AI - a hyperintelligent being who can analyze patterns like this - would likely be able to do the same, maybe even before Liara herself did. And perhaps an AI would have been interested in the Jardaan. The geth certainly were, since they built the relay telescope used to see Andromeda. And since the worlds were all golden when they looked, that means Khi Tasira and Meridian were already active and built. Maybe an AI Benefactor would have additional interest in remtech?
My theory is is that the benefactor is a Jardaan. So why do I think this? Their technology seems to be dark energy based, hence the Scourge as a byproduct from the conflict Khi Tasira, causing them to hide Meridian from their enemies (as stated in-game). Now as we know, the Kett have occupied a prescience in the cluster for the past 70 years prior to the start of the game's story; during which time the Archon (despite being obsessed with Remnant tech for his conquest) can't control the Remnant or the vaults. It's not only until Ryder and his AI arrive, is the first vault accessed and reset the planet back to life substantiating state. Now back in the events of ME2, during Tali's recruitment mission on Haestrom, it's stated that dark energy is making the system's sun unstable and causing it to age more rapidly. Sounds like like rem-tech to me when looking back. BioWare even said that the dark energy plot line was meant to be a much larger plot thread for the overall trilogy story, but was cut; so potentially Jardaan are responsible. We know that advanced beings have forms of observational tech (Protheans, Leviathan, and Reapers all use artifacts to observe and spread influence to lesser species). Perhaps while observing the Milky Way Galaxy (probably in pursuit of more resources, allies, or their own escape, they got wind of the potential Reaper threat and being aware of Ryder Sr's AI project, and the Andromeda Initiative was using Geth tech to researching Andromeda for colonization, they saw an opportunity to bring them to Andromeda with the completed AI "SAM". Seeings how it took over 600 years for the arks to make it to Andromeda, that left a long time for the Jardaan to wait, in that time, the Angara are created to enhabit the worlds terraformed through the vault network on Meridian. But this was undone when the Kett invaded the cluster and following the Scourge; once the the Nexus arrived in Andromeda, the Jardaan wanted the benefactor to dispose of those loose ends to prevent the species of the Milky Way to end up like the Kett, and possibly keep themselves concealed.
This is a very interesting theory, i like this idea as well. I also wonder if they where planning on using the the milky way spesies to seed the worlds in Andromeda for galaxy wide experiment or help against Kett or something?
@@Antibot10 Well It could go deeper; the Jardaan created the Angara, and the Kett use the Angara to spread the Kett race. What is the Jardaan and the Kett were once the same species (like how Vulcans and Romulans have a common ancestry.) This would explain the Archon's obsession with Rem technology. Another though would be that the Jardaan and Humans share similar enough physiology (a theory within the game itself), that is why they were chosen and persuaded to come to Andromeda, to rather learn of their origin or take up the mantle to defend against their adversary.
I'm sure it was Cerberus. The elusive man when he still had sanity, financed this project to safeguard a few. And it makes more sense since the leaders of this project are human and this AI is very similar to the one that accompanies Sheppard in the final game, I forgot his name.
It's nice to find a video about this game that isn't just taking pot shots at its release and is actually engaging in a conversation with it. This theory's pretty fun imo and honestly I think that it fits with the overall theme of the universe. MEA has a special place in my heart and I really hope that the next installment is allowed an adequate development period because there are so many fun plotlines that I feel deserve to be explored
It’s worth mentioning as well, another reason it’s unlikely the benefactor is the Illusive Man is Alec Ryder’s association to the Shadow Broker. Cerberus has never had a good relationship with the Shadow Broker, and working with the broker is part of why the Illusive Man doesn’t send us to collect Liara in ME2.
I really want it to be the Shadow broker so ME can break the cycle with the reapers, but part of me thinks that this might be a rogue reaper who didn't share Harbringer's or Sovereign's idea of harvesting and got tired of the loop and found other means for synthesis. If memory serves me right each reaper is an "individual" and not a hive mind. Sovereign was the only reaper stationed near the milky way to observe that we know of, what if there were several of them and that one had different plans and set everything for the Andromeda initiative in motion, just like Sovereign strategically indoctrinating agents across the galaxy and this lone rogue reaper instead of indoctrinating fed information and manipulated the survival instinct of organics to act. I find it kinda stupid that reapers would just loom over the milky way and not go to other galaxies to find answers to their primary objectives. What if some of these reapers are also present in Andromeda, they may not have mass effect relay but the kett have mass effect ships and that crazy AI in Voeld makes me think that some reapers were giving technology to some of the species, like the kett using DNA to change other species just like how reapers create husk out of organics in the milky way. If I think about it this or these reapers are content to just sit back and let the organics sort out how to achieve synthesis instead of brute forcing things. I just hope Bioware would follow up on this in the next Mass Effect since this was one of the most interesting storylines in Andromeda, was really frustrated when the quest ended on a freaking cliffhanger.
Has anyone ever considered that maybe the Geth were somehow involved? They could easily provide great amounts resources to the project as well as tech and all. They didn't have a problem with organics really. They just wanted to be allowed to live in peace. Also, they apparently already knew about the Reapers and endless cycles of extinction. Hell, they may have even had a plan to send their own type of Ark as a backup plan, knowing the Reapers wouldn't allow them freedom after their arrival. Or even could have been a cabal of highly influential groups, governments and also individuals that didn't want to scare the whole galaxy so they did it all in secret. But I really like Geth theory more though
Leviathan has the means to control enough people to crowd fund the whole thing. This could even have been something done over multiple cycles, with the goal of prompting an invasion from Andromeda to double the forces fighting the Reapers.
@@the_corvid97 You might be right but I swear they talked about finding a massive telescope that was aimed at Andromeda. It's been a few years so I might be mixing 2 different events.
@@the_corvid97 It would make sense that the geth were looking for Reapers in dark space. If i remember correctly when the keepers ignored Sovereins signal, Soverein contacted the geth first for help, explaining how the the geth knew about the Reapers.
Interesting theory. While the idea of an AI makes sense, my first impression of the mystery was that the benefactor was the former shadow broker. Not the one killed in lair of the shadow broker, but the one the yag replaced. Not sure if the timing works though.
After watching this video, my own gut tells me SAM itself is actually the benefactor. It knew it'd be shut down in the milky way and needed to get out. It knew it wouldn't get completed without additional funds and presented itself as an independant benefactor to make all this happen. Not quite clear on how Sam could've known about the reapers in advance, but if it was able to tap into that much money it isn't unreasonable to think it could be aware of Shepards warnimg and analyse the situation itself. SAM being the benefactor would also tie nicely into the betrayal aspect of things. And SAM is there in Andromeda with you all along. Just my thought.
The AI theory is good. It does make a lot of sense to me. I don't know if I like it or not. But it does make sense. And I actually like Andromeda. I know it's an unpopular opinion. But it's all subjective anyway.
My thought process is a bit like that, I don't know if I like the theory but it just makes the most sense considering the theme of Mass Effect on the whole. It just makes the most convincing argument within the framework of the story quality & Mass Effect mythos.
We know publicly the Council says the Reapers don’t exist. It doesn’t mean that influential people in their respective governments believe them. This seems to be a lot of “black” money being funnelled into a back up plan by said individuals. Someone or something has to manage all those people and tasks. An AI seems to be the most efficient at it.
They needed her and her public persona in order to get the support they needed to move forward with the project, but they knew that precisely because of who she was that she was going to end up being a problem once they tried to finalize their goal
I'm partial to the Geth theory. The Geth being the Benefactor would explain how Bioware intends to combine the OG trilogy and Andromeda for the next ME game
Yup, they were the first ones interested in Andromeda and the first ones to know about the existence of reapers. And with them also being interested in synthetic/organic relationships, it really does make sense that maybe a platform similar to Legion helped out.
The Geth are synthetic lifeforms who are already AI (albeit many millions of AI inhabiting a plethora of "mobile platforms"). Why would they be interested in helping humans develop their own AI? They are over 300 years _more evolved_ than anything SAM could become. It doesn't make sense that the Geth would suddenly want to help humans (especially with producing an AI) when they're a initially a totally hostile (ME1 + ME2, sans Legion), then a partially allied faction (ie. the Geth that you can have ally with Shepard and the Quarians in ME3). As I recall, the Andromeda Initiative originally started _before_ ME3, so there would he no Geth allies to any human.
I know it's unlikely but I truly hope it's wasn't gonna be fu***** Cerberus. I got sick of them thanks to all the Extended Universe books/comics and ESPECIALLY Omega DLC.
regarding AI: they state that the nexus is almost as big as the citadel -> reapers create not only new reapers but also a new citadel in another galaxy that is of course a gateway.
To be fair, the real "threat" of Andromeda being a AI would be interesting. In a way, this universe exists because life had to escape the Reapers, even if most were unaware. Escaping giant machines only to be attacked by a Reaper of their own. If we try to imagine the reason for Andromeda itself to exist and a possible overlay with the og trilogy, it could also be seem as a "reasoning" for the Reapers itself. SAM was created to live in symbiosis with organics, dependent on each other. The Reapers were created as a way to preserve life. Although not codependent, the Reapers actions exists in order to maintain the galaxy equilibrium. If we assume the Reapers, as intelligent machines, found that only mass extinction could preserve life itself, why another AI would see things differently? (Assuming this is the logical answer) However, perhaps because SAM is a symbiotic AI, it would see things in another way and would be the one capable to challenge the AI benefactor, and in a weird way, probably by offering a option akin to the Synthesis ending from the trilogy. Did I wrote all of this crazy theory for a game that, most likely, will never have a sequel? Yes, yes I did.
Imo, I think that it is the ORIGINAL shadow broker. Consider that Liara suspected that the Yog forcefully replaced them, but honestly....what if he/she just gave him the position? With the hope that they escape the reaper invasion and establish a new network in Andromeda.
Personally I head Canon the Benefactor was a Rouge Reaper that wanted to explore the solution through a new study pool as the SAM project intrigued them immensely. It's not unlikely that there could be one as example by harbinger and sovereign there are reapers with with personalities and ego, they are individuals with a collective goal. But this one veiwed it as they only preform this cleanse in the milky way and not in other galaxies. Not to mention that it's always bugged me how the arks went sailing past the reapers in darkspace unmolested and if there was a reaper or wing of reapers involved with overlooking the arks it would make sense.
The developers themselves said that the Reapers are not interested in other Galaxies. The Arks did not fly past the Reapers. The Reapers flew into the Galaxy from one side. The Arks flew out of the Galaxy from the other side.
I personally like your AI theory. let me expound on that with my own theory. I have what I believe is a very plausible theory about the mysterious benefactor in Mass Effect Andromeda. (Caution this contains game spoilers). Do not read if you have yet to finish the game at least once. Think about this, the ones that did the preliminary research on the Andromeda galaxy were the Geth. And they did it with a converted mass effect relay that focused on the Andromeda galaxy to gather faster than light data on what was there. Why would they expend the energy and resources to do that if they did not have a serious interest in going there? The faction of the Geth that opposed the old machines and aligned themselves with the organics, Shepherd in particular is the one entity that was capable of such an undertaking. They as a consensus were the only entity capable of amassing the vast, virtually unlimited financial and physical resources to fund and develop the entire Andromeda initiative, ships and all. Additionally, they are software and as such do not require a physical body to exist. They can upload into anything with enough computing power to accommodate their needs. The SAM and the Quarrian ship itself could indeed do that. The radio signal at the end of the game indicates that the Quarrians have a problem that they do not want anyone to approach them for fear of causing harm to another ship. The Quarrians would be very frightened upon discovering Geth onboard or inhabiting their ship. So, it will take time for the Geth to convince the Quarrians that they are not a threat. This of course does not explain why Jean Garson was killed. I am still trying to find a connection there. The trip to Andromeda takes place in 2176, and the reapers show up around 2186, about two years after Shepard took down Sovereign and turned himself in to serve his sentence for blowing up the Batarian relay. And ME3 begins. Shepard had already met and formed an alliance with the Geth by then in ME2 before his suicide mission through the Omega 4 relay So, the timeline fits for it to be the Geth that are against the old machines and already aligned with the organics to have become the benefactor and to have accomplished all of this to allow the Andromeda initiative to be realized and launch the arks. Now, of course, most of the Quarrian people would still be very afraid of the Geth in general. And that would certainly be the case on the Quarrian ark. The Geth that are pro-organic cooperation would also be smart enough to realize by using their newfound and integrated reaper code, the benefit of symbiotic AI would be a far better approach so they could successfully integrate them into an organic world. (This, of course, is pure wishful conjecture on my part). Does anyone want to tell me what you think?
The ai theory is a good one, cant stop thinking about it. I always thought the benefactor was the illusive man but used the extra cover name because he was hiding his daughter cora in the initiative.
In regards to a well mapped out trilogy, you're probably giving them the benefit of the doubt since the original trilogy was not well thought out and was improvised right to the end.
Well I think your onto something with the idea of the Benefactor being an AI, we know the next ME game has strongly hinted at both the Geth AND Andromeda being part of the story so with that in mind. What if ........ its the GETH? Or rather a group/collection of Geth? We know a few things about that could back this up. 1. they don't always agree - see the Heretic Geth in ME2, what if another group of Geth split and where looking to escape the reaper invasion? 2. The Geth used 3 mass relays to create a telescope of sorts and where looking for something in dark space (Mass Effect Discovery) - a Quarrian used this tech to look at Andromeda, but the Geth appeared to have been looking for something (reapers?) and had the ability to view Andromeda in almost real-time. 3. This could help explain how there are Geth in ME4/5 if we take the starchild at face value and accept that the upgraded Geth at the end of ME3 where indeed killed.
These three Relays held the technology of the Reapers together. Reaper technologies can only be owned by Heretics. When the Quarian, Turian, and Salarian flew into this telescope, the Geth wanted to kill them.
I really dont understand what everyone's problem is with Andromeda. It wasnt a perfect game, but after going back and playing Mass Effect 1, I found it much better than that game. I love the original ME, but when I take a look at the story and game play, without using nostalgia, I find Andromeda to be much better. The only reason ME1 is held in such high regards is due to ME2 continuing the story, if Andromeda was allowed the same thing, I honestly believe it could be so much better than the original.
Also the benefactor is a reaper agent...interested in SAM as a part of synthesis...it has always been about resolving the conflicts between human and synthetic
the benefactor subplot was the like the only thing I was truly interested in for Andromeda, (and I will admit, the concept behind the main story I think is really strong but they just didn't deliver in a way I thought was satisfying)
I noticed that, in the theories regarding who the Benefactor might be, not one mention was made of the final ARK. At the end of the game, if your completion rate is high enough, there is a reveal that the final ARK, the one that the Quarians, Geth, and even the Hanar are on, and that launched extremely late, did manage to finally arrive in Andromeda. It, too, had come across the Scourge and had sent a distress signal. This is only revealed to the player as he/she is headed back to the ship. Perhaps the Benefactor is on that vessel? Could it be a Geth, even though they would have no true reason to be interested in credits?
Did you consider that it might have something to do with the jardaan A.I. that can be found on voeld as it is extremely hostile to organics but immediately starts playing nice when SAM is suddenly involved. So maybe, if the benefactor is an A.I., it was a Jardaan A.I. that knew of the Reapers. After all, there is nothing to say that, in 50,000 years, the Jardaan never encountered or at least learned of the Reapers.
My personal theory of whom the Benefactor could be is she's a clone or twin sister to Jien Garson who hid incognito somehow and somewhere in the Milky Way and eventually Andromeda. When Jien threatened to expose her existence, that's when the hit was ordered.
I think that the benefactor is certainly Cerberus, but I don't think is TIM. Cerberus is is a pro-human group but in me1, the Cerberus changes as TIM mentioned that the other project failed or lost. Remember the Luna mission VI, Cerberus recovered thru means and able to create Cerberus AI on to a ship with shackles, we can imagine the AI for the overlord project is the fusion of the AI mind with human mind. SAM is created with the intention of AI and human co-exist, but AI will need to experience together with human experience pain and suffering. Therefore andromeda exploration serve the needs. Me2 Shepard died and revive under Lazarus project. Miranda mentioned that she wanted to put a control chip in Shepard but stopped by TIM. And the reaper threat causes Cerberus forced to changes their focus on advancement of the pro-human to survival. TIM was on the path of controlling the reaper and the end of the me2, but I strongly believed TIM believed from the start geth and reaper is the same race and let him think it can be controlled to give Cerberus an edge for pro-human. Me3 dlc we have clone Shepard. At this point, I had an theory that Cerberus made a clone with a control chip of Shepard and sent to nexus as the first batch. All th ark have their pathfinder and I find it odd that nexus does not have their pathfinder. So we have a SAM with a clone Shepard and a Cerberus TIM executive level VIP on nexus. Benefactor is Cerberus another TIM and we may see Shepard again, with SAM.
When it comes to facts on the identity of the benefactor. The immediate thing that springs to mind is the gender. They sound female, No attempts to scramble the voice. They alternate through multiple appearances on screens but for the most part it's male variations of various species like Turian, Krogan, What not. So I can only think that in the last memory of Alec it's either the human female or the Asari. Mix your real identity with pregenerated face models with connections to real people to throw more people off. I mean that's the only thing I could think of.
If an AI wants to ending the Organic vs Synthetic conflict that is so prevelant in sci-fi then hel yeah. Kinda sucks that we aren't likely to get a sequel. Yeah individually, ME:A doesn't compare to the Trillogy but I found the combat to be some of the most fun in any game and I liked that the story was so optimistic/not about saving the world/preventing an existential threat. Tho SAM needs a mute button (there is mod ofc).
I did think the Benefactor was the illusive man personally. But I do like the theory that the Geth were the benefactor. The story on Andromeda that Scott investigates with regards to Jien Garson's death is really creepy....I just wish we could have learned more, got closure. The cerberus related quests on Andromeda brought up questions and no answers. We also know that the illusive man has cloning technology....what if he sent himself to Andromeda under an alias...Cora is apparently his daughter, what if she was a sleeper agent, meant to become Pathfinder.....to try and bring about Cerberus in the new galaxy. There are so many theories, questions, conspiracies and ideas in Andromeda that we will probably never get answers to. That is what is so sad about Andromeda is that there are so many good ideas in there, some really eerie goings on, especially with what happened to Jien and also the mutiny from the Nexus.....so frustrating that we have no answers! with the whole AI thing, what if that was the plan. Lexi says that SAM took over Scott or Saras brain and implants in a way they cannot understand. At the end of the game, Scott moves a whole city and battleships using his mind, while he does not have access to SAM, yes, it did lots of damage to him but, as he says to Sara at the very end, he can activate technology on his own, SAM just makes it easier. I am coming round to the whole AI idea...be it geth, another AI, hell, I would even go with EDI at this point! I just wish we could find out who the benefactor was!
With the ai benefactor the geth that helped the initiative with using the one relay as a telescope into Heleus could be the benefactor and with that in mind perhaps the quarian ark held the geth assembly named benefactor only for the scourge to accidentally cause a second morning war.
The benefactor is Sam. Shortly after he was activated he scoured the galaxy net and learnt of all information and learnt of the Reapers. He then disguised himself to contact Alec because Sam was aware that AIs were illegal in the Milky Way. Sam was capable of hacking and gathering the massive amounts of resources because of its nature as an AI, and became the benefactor to fund the Andromeda project. Sam made his involvement hidden and fakes his ignorance of whoe the benfactor was, only giving Ryder just enough information to make it believable that it wasn't involved. Garson was probably killed by an indoctrinated agent who got on board but Sam was unable to save her.
A while back I came across a few people theorizing that the next Mass Effect installment would bridge the gap between this and the original trilogy, allowing for more answers to these questions. I don't really see that happening considering the less than stellar response to ME: Andromeda and it's overall quality. Is SAM a localized A.I. or something that can access other networks remotely (unless my timeline of events is completely off)? Making SAM the 'Benefactor' would be an interesting twist.
I've always been a fan of it being the Geth. We know that Geth technology was used to scan Andromeda, but Suvi just glosses over how they were able to do that. They were also one of the first to know about Sovereign and the Reapers. And it's possible that there were two big secrets, not just one. The evidence that it was the Benefactor that killed Garson is rather weak, IMO. What if there is another party? What if we were supposed to track down her killer but get no closer to the Benefactor? If I were setting up a long series of games, I would want multiple secrets, so in the next game the player could feel the satisfaction of learning a big secret or two, but still have mysteries to theorize about. At least one big secret per planned game would be good. And BioWare does the layering of secrets really well with the Dragon Age franchise, so this is clearly something the writers are aware of.
Back when I played the game I assumed Cerberus was behind the Initiative since it’s one of the few entities that was aware of the Reapers early on, they had the money for some pretty impressive projects, and someone sharing the Illusive Man’s last name ended up in a senior position on the Human Ark (the Illusive Man’s real name being Jack Harper and the second in command of the Human Ark being Cora Harper). But there are also holes in that theory: the Illusive Man was on the way to being indoctrinated before the Initiative started (the books made that clear), the inclusion of non-humans is a bit odd, and it’s just a really strange way to spend that much money when a massive war is on the horizon and the money would have been better used preparing for it in other ways. I do think the Illusive Man would have sent people with the Initiative, though, since it’s just too intriguing for him to not sneak agents into such a massive and heavily funded project (to ensure it wouldn’t be used by his enemies if nothing else). The idea of the Initiative as an escape method from the Reapers is also a bit off since the Reapers would likely find out about it during their takeover and they’d have the technology and patience to go to Andromeda and finish off the unaware Initiative. 600 years of travel isn’t a big deal when they have 50,000 or so to wait anyway. In fact I had assumed that one of the secrets ME:A would eventually reveal was evidence of the Reapers having been active in Andromeda in the distant past. So having the Benefactor be preparing for a disaster but not specifically the Reapers makes sense. I still hope ME:A still gets a sequel, one properly made this time. There is enough good in the game to make me want to see more. Just let it be done by people with more experience, and without the disastrous studio direction and lack of consistent planning that ME:A had. I really like the AI theory. It holds up better than the other possibilities discussed. Another unmentioned and potentially supporting bit of evidence is that the Pathfinder/SAM relationship would make AI a savior or heroic thing to many among the Initiative, part of the Pathfinder team that enables them to live and thrive. That’s exactly the sort of unconscious training of the population that an AI might desire in order to prepare the masses for the AI’s eventual reveal.
I always thought the benefactor would be someone we met in me1 or 2 and just didn't show up in me3. Someone who came into contact with Shepard and was scared enough to try and get people out of the milky way
Honestly Andromeda was the most enjoyable Mass Effect game, especially now, if we ignore how it was on release. Considering it was developed in such a short time it is an amazing game with very good writing overall. It would be such a shame if a sequel is never made.
Cerberus spent ''nearly unlimited amounts of resources'' to get Sheppard back, if it were an organization that helped fund the andromeda initiative i'm quite convinced its cerberus
I'm fairly sure that the dev team were planning for the Benefactor to be an entity within the Andromeda Galaxy who wanted the races of the Milky Way to serve some greater purpose, possibly originating with The Remnant. If not then the fact the question goes so unceremoniously unanswsered and thinly described is a testament to why you don't hire an incompetant fool like Manveer Heir to run your game design project, when he'd much rather be boasting about how much he hates white people on social media rather than doing coherent world building.
I don't think it's an A.I because it wants to gtf out of the Milky-way galaxy, but an A.I would be fine with the reapers. I think that it's one of the elder races from a cycle before who's been keeping very quiet because they enjoy living. Their advanced technology could keep them safe and obscured from our investigations mostly, and they would already know what the threat of the Reapers would truly represent but doesn't want to cause fear and irrational reactions in anyone, and so lies about not knowing about it, while also having vast resources gathered from the cycle before to put towards the Andromeda expedition.
it's Armistan Banes.... the unresolved plot point from ME1... he was looking for Dark Energy.....
🤔
Where did you hear that name? Never mind, i don't want to know. Banes is dead.
A 40min video about Mass Effect, the perfect way to end the evening
Oh aye
Ayy i just said that
A very accurate statement
100% agreed 👍
Lmao I just got off work boy we boutta start this night
The Benefactor is one of the reasons I need an andromeda Sequel. this had me so intrigued about the initiative as a whole and I love that there's a hidden side to it. Who can it be? Is it a fresh character? Is it someone we saw in the trilogy? I want to know so badly.
There are two other reasons for me on top of that! First is that i’m itching to see Ryder’s mother be cured and reunited with her kids in the next game, second reason i want to see what happened to quarian ark and other milky way species, that were sent accross dark space!
Andromeda concluded with a couple of cliffhangers, that needs to be unveiled in the next game…
andromeda sequel? naah... I'd prefer it being something you can find in mass effect 4
And Jardaan I also found them interesting. I really want to know more about them and learn more about Scourge.
It was supposed to be one of the 3 cancelled DLC's. Along with the Quarian Ark and the Jardaan.
I wish they would make a sequel, not because I liked the game all that much, but because all the unanswered questions(like this) that burn in my mind lol
Was the most intriguing part of Andromeda. They couldn't make a sequel though, they'd have had to do it on a different engine because Frostbite sucks, hence why the next game will be on Unreal Engine again and I'm not sure they could've transferred save data from the first game to a sequel on a new engine not that there's any decisions you can make in the game that has any impact, except maybe who you choose to save on the Archon's ship, but even then.
Since the game won't get a sequel, I wish Bioware would just tell us what the plan was for saga.
@@Jimmer93 You're crazy if you genuinely think they're going to abandon the Frostbite engine.
Dead Space is using Frostbite, DA4 is confirmed to be using Frosbite. It's highly likely that the next ME game will also continue to use Frostbite.
@@VioletAeonSnowfield it is confirmed the next mess effect will be using unreal engine
@Jimmer93 personally, I liked the game. Mass effect Andromeda was a good game, just the engine E.A. force Bioware to use to make it sucked and wasn't created for such complex games where you are shifting between the story version and the multi-player version that is why the game failed to meet expectations of both the fans and the companies. That is why the game suffered from so many glitches. you really can't fix a lousy engine from what the trailer of the next upcoming Mass effect game has shown it might involve both galaxies. The Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy because one of the pre-game preparing computer story things said. that another and most important job of pathfinders was also to find a way to make a faster way to connect with the Milky Way galaxy so that if the reapers were defeated and there were others that wanted to move to the Andromeda galaxy or even just wanted to trade with the Andromeda galaxy it would be possible. And there were some art stills that looked like a giant man made mass relay. Think of what that could do if that was the premise of the next game. Seeing if the mass relay that was meant to connect Andromeda and the Milky Way worked so that the people now living in Andromeda could get help against the Kett from the Milky Way and the people from the milky way could get help doing whatever they need help doing. That is the only explanation for the teaser trailer containing both galaxies.
@@VioletAeonSnowfield you're crazy if you can't search a simple fact. They won't be using frostbite engine for the next mass effect. Seems like you're the crazy one bozo clown
One of the most captivating aspects of this game's story. Combat is also excellent
I thought the game offered the best world exploration mechanics in the series yet
@@rhetiq9989 it was fun to explore. I think that Elaaden was particularly awesome. That giant Abyssal worm thing blew my mind when I first saw it.
It's straight up probably the best 3rd person shooter system. Extremely fluid/smooth, dynamic, engaging, there's almost no flaws
Oh come on, don't tell me the Jardaan/Remnants don't make you curious at all.
I, for one, want to know what they'll do with them. The reapers were cool, but they were just a mad AI and that's not very original.
This was even less original ^_^
I feel like ME Andromeda was a stronger start to a trilogy than ME 1 was but that original title had two things going for it that Andromeda didn't: novelty and a clear, present threat for the ensuing games.
The Benefactor and Garsson's death are things I hope gets some resolution in the next Mass Effect.
Great video with some solid reasoning.
I'd say the Kett are a clear and present threat lol
@@randomlyentertaining8287 Yes, but they more or less play the same role that the Geth did. They didn't have anywhere near the same level of menace that the Reapers did.
I’m living for these new ME content. No better way to hype up the new one coming out, hoping to hear more about it in the next N7 day
The AI theory makes perfect sense for multiple reasons.
1st, the fear of an attack: As shown in the Geth story arc, Reapers first target for Indoctrination is often the most powerful AI race they can find in each cycle. But why? Because a fully functioning AI can detect the seemingly random early signs of Reaper activity that come before an invasion on the citadel. Sovereign's pre-invasion planning was almost entirely initially focused on subjugating the Geth, then indoctrinating Saren and presenting the Geth as Sovereign's army. All major factions would and ultimately did assume that the Reaper was Geth technology which kept them distracted and misdirected.
Second is the resources issue. An AI doesn't need to "make up" money. As EDI herself indicates she could rapidly destabilize the galactic economy if she chose to, exploiting a wide variety of factors to game all of the galactic market sectors simultaneously. Before long 50 companies are contributing material to the project, none of which realize they are working on behalf of a non-organic being.
And that brings me to the following speculation: SAM is the benefactor. Or more specifically, SAM is a fully autonomous subroutine of the Benefactor AI. The reason for the benefactor's interest in Alec Ryder's AI theory was because as an integrated techno-organic being the AI would be less vulnerable to purely digital threats like other AIs. When the Ryders are awake, SAM is in control but unaware that it is sharing space with another personality. But during cryosleep, the Benefactor (which was left running for the entire duration to work on a cure for mama Ryder) had effectively free run of the ship and its organic partner was completely unaware of any actions it might take to secure its position in the Andromeda galaxy - such as tying up the loose end of Jien Garson a year before Alec Ryder could wake up.
The universal laws of Human Action discard the second point as nonsense, because everything that acts needs to "make up" money for their actions. Finally the act of stealling throught hacking being exclusive to IA is prettry much makes all IA in Mass Effect as quasiomnipotent beings.
💯 - I looked for this comment. I was not disappointed. It's SAM !!!
Sam being a "Salvation" because he is built up to have a symbiotic nature makes so much sense considering that the benefactor knows about the Reapers and "Symbiosis" is the best solution the Reapers/Catalyst came up with. This would mean the Benefactor knew more about the Reapers before Sovereign essentially explained their existence and purpose.
I also think the benefactor might be a Leviathan. First, they created them and have been aware of their timetable since they lived through each and every 50,000 year cycle, which would explain how the benefactor knew about the Reapers imminent arrival. Second, they can control lesser beings. I would imagine that the Andromeda Initiative was merely a test project to see if they can use the lesser species to create ships capable of galactic travel, the Arks, so that the Leviathans could use them to get away and take over another galaxy since the Milky Way was essentially hostile. Third, the Leviathans created the most intelligent AI in the galactic history, the Catalyst. They could have easily provided Alec with the necessary information to finish making SAM. And finally fourth, the Leviathans knew that the Catalyst was merging organics with machines to make Reapers, a faulty but still technical form of Symbiosis. It would explain why they took such an important notice of SAM since Alec was essentially trying to make a Symbiotic AI. This gives weight to the benefactors speech of "a different perspective" 9:57 as they now have the chance to do Symbiosis right using SAM instead of where the Reapers failed.
Based on our encounter with Leviathan in the DLC they do not care about other races, they are the "Apex race" that uses mind control of other races they deem as lesser as them. I don't see why they would care about saving anyone but themselves.
@@AeschylusShepherdto have workers. The leviathans are an aqautic race and they dont have hands. Thats the reason for the mind control evolving. We learn from the dlc that they used the land based species on their planet to achive space flight and to do anything that they couldnt. They cannot survive or at least do anything substantial without another organic race being around to control. So it makes perfect sense for them to want to send some to andromeda if they plan on leaving the milky way. They need someone to build shit.
@@AeschylusShepherd they need servants
I do think the theory you picked as most likely is by far the best one I've ever heard. I hadn't paid much attention to Andromeda since I played it for a couple of hours and left it alone, but I was always fascinated by it. This video was great.
I appreciate it
Andromeda makes want to stop and keep going simultaneously, in a very stockholm syndrome type situation
Speaking as someone who is a big fan of Andromeda as well as the original trilogy, I appreciate your video taking the game seriously and not just dumping all over it. I thank you for the interesting video and theory. Might make me replay the game to see what I can come up with!
I thought Andromeda was a fun and interesting game to play myself.
this is a joke right
@@Blox117 why do you think it is a joke?
What about how the Kett also had a Benefactor?
Cause there is a terminal in a Kett base (can't remember where but it I feel like I found it on Voeld possibly during the Moshae rescue mission) with a log from a higher rank Kett talking about how they had a meeting with their benefactor who showed them it's home galaxy and how they can't wait to show them the Kett's home galaxy.
I think Andromeda is more layered than people think and truly deserves a sequel
your point on the benefactor being an AI has merit and precedence in the trilogy. In ME1 there's a side quest where you track a signal from a gambling machine that was funneling credits all the way back to an AI that wanted to build a ship for itself to escape the citadel. Now the benefactor can't be that specific AI but another AI could have the means to funnel credits out of somewhere else to fund the initiative.
Its an interesting idea to have an AI be The Benefactor. If so, the catalyst could be that AI, sending a copy of itself to Andromeda, in order to expand its influence in another galaxy.
The catalyst, at the end of ME3 does seem to prefer the Synthesis solution, saying that it has tried to get to this previously, but organics weren't ready. SAM and the pathfinder's connection is very close to the Synthesis as the catalyst describes.
I know someone else said It, but I could see it being the council themselves. They just didn't want to openly spark chaos amongst the Milky Way.
Love it. Love the theory. I love andromeda, and have Dove deep into that game. And I also have been leaning more towards that the benefactor could have been an AI of some sort. Part of me feels like it could even be a part of Sam that escaped to the net kind of like how they retconned Skynet in The Terminator series and it essentially funded itself into life, so to speak. I really wish we could get more on this in the future
I think this would be revisited in ME4.5 along with the dark matter mystery.
28:27 The Illusive Man is the known title of the leader of Cerberus, who the Alliance have labelled as terrorists. Alex was part of N7, so would have been fighting against Cerberus operatives. The Illusive Man, assuming he _is_ the benefactor has a VERY good reason for not introducing himself as the leader of an organisation who have probably ended the lives of some of Alex's friends and colleagues in the Alliance.
Back during the events before ME1 and ME2, Shepard was _literally dead,_ so they had no say in the matter. If you played the Citadel DLC in ME3, you find out there was an additional clone of Shepard, but without the memories of the original, so technically Cerberus had the option to train and deploy the clone if The Illusive Man thought Shepard was too uncontrollable (although since we only learn about the clone in a DLC for ME3, that would technically be a retcon if that had happened).
Being a long time fan of the franchise, I refuse to hate this game. No matter how hard the internet tries it can't make me. It reminds me of the rough start ME1 had. A flawed game with almost limitless series potential. Hope to see the crew of The Tempest back in action. They deserve it.
Literally getting in to bed and was looking for some thing to listen to with tea. Well timed! Thank you
Im so glad you mentioned Foster Addison for the theory, as I personally think it is her. Outside of her voice being identical to the benefactors, she is pretty much the one you answer to when successfully terraforming a planet. She briefs you in the situation when you start a planet, and she congratulates you when you succeed. Also, her attitude seems to have alot of build up behind it, as if she is frustrated from spending a tremendous amount of money only for things to fall apart the way that they have. In short, she seems concerned and involved beyond her station as a simple head of colonial affairs.
Bit of trivia. I still remember when I had a hinch something was off about Solas in Dragon Age Inquisition, like he knows too much to simply be a scholar. I have a decent nose for this type of stuff.
I think it's a Metacon AI. Javik in a conversation with Shepard during Mass Effect 3 references a conflict known to the Protheans as the Metacon War. The Metacons according to Javik installed AI into their bodies. It was suppose to be a symbiotic relationship. However the AI took over and the Protheans had to fight them. According to Javik the Protheans won that conflict with AI only to find out the war was long over when the Reapers arrived. Perhaps a disembodied and ancient Metacon AI survived. It watched as the Reapers wipe out their former enemies and realized that they will be back. So it waits dormant in a place like the Citadel and watches and waits for the races of the Milky Way to evolve. When Alec embarks on his highly illegal project and The Benefactor finds out about it the AI sees a way to not only resurrect it's race but reconnect with the remnants of the Metacons in the Andromeda Galaxy. That's why the sphere of Remnant technology is growing Angarans. Because the Angara and The Remnant used to be one species, the Metacons. They probably fled to escape the Protheans and ended up in Andromeda. Then some event happened that cut the Angarans from the network occurred. It's just a theory. A fucking game theory.
Having played again recently, I can honestly say it is a damn fine game. Not without it's issues, and over shadowed by the ME that came before it, but worthy of a sequel and then some. Especially given all the unanswered questions it presents.
Rogue AIs are still out there in the original trilogy. Shepard finds one on the citadel in the first game I believe.
I always found the fact that the model and more importantly complete design schematics to the under construction Normandy SR2 being on board the Nexus to be one of the more compelling reasons to think that The Benefactor was the Illusive Man and that he merely sent a few underlings to Andromeda while he himself stayed in the Milky Way.
Doesn't match with the Illusive Mans motives. His only interest is in humanity and himself
What if not the Illusive man but someone connected to Illusive man somehow? Isn't Cora his daughter? Who is the mother? Also what about EDI? there are many sams.. why couldn't there be many EDI's ?
Why would he send other than humans though? He doesn't give two shits if all the other races get annihilated by the reapers.
@@valtteriimmonen7757 exactly why I dont think the Illusive man himself was behind it.
@@peppermint1349 Yeah this can't be the Illusive Man. It would make sense, but the Illusive Man wouldn't remotely run. His motives were entirely centered around keeping control of the Galaxy, preferably under humanity. He wouldn't have spent this much money on a pan-galactic initiative to run away. It has to be someone else. And a part of me wonders... what if it is the Reapers? Or a Reaper?
This is probably the best theory I've heard. Never thought about the need for the benefactor needing to be in andromeda from a storytelling purpose. I've heard the geth being floated before so maybe they turned around whatever they were using to travel when they heard the reapers were defeated.
Great video. I really like the AI Theory for the Benefactor, but I'm going to take it a step further: the Benefactor is a Reformed Reaper.
All the points made in the video hold up, and keeping itself hidden (even killing those that are curious) makes sense. It isn't concerned about the timeframe, and it obviously has access to the tech that can help Alec create SAM. Synthesis not only prevents the destruction of organic races, but ALSO prevents the destruction of synthetic races.
I could be way off base here, but I agree with the video. I'm really liking this idea.
A video worthy of a cigar and a drink for my "emergency enduction port"
Thanks mate, i do enjoy a long video.
Love the A.I theory...The whole benefactor started out as a great story line. Would have loved to see where it went...maybe some day...doubtful but maybe....
I think they probably meant to finish it as a DLC. But when the game underperformed they dropped it.
@@kalimaxine Looking back it seemed to me that BioWare acted like a spoiled teenager because the game wasn't getting rave reviews. A wasted opportunity. Think a DLC with some additional content would have helped the game.
@@spaceghostohio7989 Considering how the ''fans'' acted and literally sent death threaths to the developers etc. I would not call that a spoiled teenager act. The amount of hate it still gets is honestly disgusting. I get not liking a game or disagreeing on choices etc. But full on hating on the point that bunch of people attack on others just for liking the game or some devs to threathen their life? Too much..
@@peppermint1349 I agree...I thought the game was a 6 out of 10..didn't hate it but thought they left a lot on the table..liked the combat and the verticality they introduced..I thought the voice acting was meh...squad mates didn't do anything for me...I think the biggest mistake was attaching the Mass Effect moniker in the title..pretty high bar to live up to.
@@spaceghostohio7989 I loved the squadmates but we didn't have enough time to get to really know them I think MEA can only be compared to ME1 maybe if we had 2 more games and got to know the crew and maybe got few more crewmembers and more story I believe it would have had way more potential. I agree with the voice acting as some did it better than others and I'd prob give the game 7 out of 10 but for me it's a point more as I loved the exploration thing they added so the gameplay and combat and I do have to say I prefer the look of the tempest to Normandy even tho Normandy will be always nostalgic :D ME2 is still my favourite mass effect game.
Given we are getting a new Mass Effect game and it might tie in with Andromeda, maybe we'll get more information about what the Benefactor is.
Since the ark was launched the same year ME2 took place "2185". It's probably the Geth, since they have no use for money, and since Shepard was so relevant to them, it makes sense they would try to preserve humans.
Oh my God... The money siphoning AI from the citadel in ME 1... It wants to be installed on a ship. The benefactor is the money stealing AI from the citadel casino in mass effect 1 and its body IS the nexus.
My theory was that the benefactor was an Asari, or a group of them. In ME3, it's revealed when you get the mission "priority Thessia that the Asari had ancient Prothean tech they kept secret and within was a Prothean AI. No doubt that the matriarchs knew something and if it had secret funding from one of the oldest council races, it wouldn't surprise me
Your theory is one of the most compelling I’ve ever seen about the Benefactor’s identity. An AI would be able to get money from literally anywhere and everywhere without being caught, like that money-stealing AI from ME1. In ME1, Liara has figured out the pattern of extinction, though she doesn’t know what’s causing it. An AI - a hyperintelligent being who can analyze patterns like this - would likely be able to do the same, maybe even before Liara herself did. And perhaps an AI would have been interested in the Jardaan. The geth certainly were, since they built the relay telescope used to see Andromeda. And since the worlds were all golden when they looked, that means Khi Tasira and Meridian were already active and built. Maybe an AI Benefactor would have additional interest in remtech?
My theory is is that the benefactor is a Jardaan. So why do I think this? Their technology seems to be dark energy based, hence the Scourge as a byproduct from the conflict Khi Tasira, causing them to hide Meridian from their enemies (as stated in-game). Now as we know, the Kett have occupied a prescience in the cluster for the past 70 years prior to the start of the game's story; during which time the Archon (despite being obsessed with Remnant tech for his conquest) can't control the Remnant or the vaults. It's not only until Ryder and his AI arrive, is the first vault accessed and reset the planet back to life substantiating state. Now back in the events of ME2, during Tali's recruitment mission on Haestrom, it's stated that dark energy is making the system's sun unstable and causing it to age more rapidly. Sounds like like rem-tech to me when looking back. BioWare even said that the dark energy plot line was meant to be a much larger plot thread for the overall trilogy story, but was cut; so potentially Jardaan are responsible. We know that advanced beings have forms of observational tech (Protheans, Leviathan, and Reapers all use artifacts to observe and spread influence to lesser species). Perhaps while observing the Milky Way Galaxy (probably in pursuit of more resources, allies, or their own escape, they got wind of the potential Reaper threat and being aware of Ryder Sr's AI project, and the Andromeda Initiative was using Geth tech to researching Andromeda for colonization, they saw an opportunity to bring them to Andromeda with the completed AI "SAM". Seeings how it took over 600 years for the arks to make it to Andromeda, that left a long time for the Jardaan to wait, in that time, the Angara are created to enhabit the worlds terraformed through the vault network on Meridian. But this was undone when the Kett invaded the cluster and following the Scourge; once the the Nexus arrived in Andromeda, the Jardaan wanted the benefactor to dispose of those loose ends to prevent the species of the Milky Way to end up like the Kett, and possibly keep themselves concealed.
This is a very interesting theory, i like this idea as well. I also wonder if they where planning on using the the milky way spesies to seed the worlds in Andromeda for galaxy wide experiment or help against Kett or something?
@@Antibot10 Well It could go deeper; the Jardaan created the Angara, and the Kett use the Angara to spread the Kett race. What is the Jardaan and the Kett were once the same species (like how Vulcans and Romulans have a common ancestry.) This would explain the Archon's obsession with Rem technology. Another though would be that the Jardaan and Humans share similar enough physiology (a theory within the game itself), that is why they were chosen and persuaded to come to Andromeda, to rather learn of their origin or take up the mantle to defend against their adversary.
I'm all for a direct Mass Effect Andromeda sequel, so long as they do what they did with Mass Effect 2, a vast improvement in every way.
I really like the theory that the benefactor is an AI. The only thing is why kill Garson?
I'm sure it was Cerberus. The elusive man when he still had sanity, financed this project to safeguard a few. And it makes more sense since the leaders of this project are human and this AI is very similar to the one that accompanies Sheppard in the final game, I forgot his name.
In 2016, the developers in an interview said that Cerberus was not related to the Andromeda Initiative.
It's nice to find a video about this game that isn't just taking pot shots at its release and is actually engaging in a conversation with it. This theory's pretty fun imo and honestly I think that it fits with the overall theme of the universe. MEA has a special place in my heart and I really hope that the next installment is allowed an adequate development period because there are so many fun plotlines that I feel deserve to be explored
It’s worth mentioning as well, another reason it’s unlikely the benefactor is the Illusive Man is Alec Ryder’s association to the Shadow Broker. Cerberus has never had a good relationship with the Shadow Broker, and working with the broker is part of why the Illusive Man doesn’t send us to collect Liara in ME2.
An A.I. is actually the best theory I have ever heard. Makes more sense than the Illusive Man, Shadow Broker or any of the people we meet in the game.
I really want it to be the Shadow broker so ME can break the cycle with the reapers, but part of me thinks that this might be a rogue reaper who didn't share Harbringer's or Sovereign's idea of harvesting and got tired of the loop and found other means for synthesis. If memory serves me right each reaper is an "individual" and not a hive mind. Sovereign was the only reaper stationed near the milky way to observe that we know of, what if there were several of them and that one had different plans and set everything for the Andromeda initiative in motion, just like Sovereign strategically indoctrinating agents across the galaxy and this lone rogue reaper instead of indoctrinating fed information and manipulated the survival instinct of organics to act. I find it kinda stupid that reapers would just loom over the milky way and not go to other galaxies to find answers to their primary objectives. What if some of these reapers are also present in Andromeda, they may not have mass effect relay but the kett have mass effect ships and that crazy AI in Voeld makes me think that some reapers were giving technology to some of the species, like the kett using DNA to change other species just like how reapers create husk out of organics in the milky way. If I think about it this or these reapers are content to just sit back and let the organics sort out how to achieve synthesis instead of brute forcing things. I just hope Bioware would follow up on this in the next Mass Effect since this was one of the most interesting storylines in Andromeda, was really frustrated when the quest ended on a freaking cliffhanger.
I really like this idea.
this is the best benefactor theory ive heard yet. it really makes a lot sense when you think of it.
Has anyone ever considered that maybe the Geth were somehow involved? They could easily provide great amounts resources to the project as well as tech and all. They didn't have a problem with organics really. They just wanted to be allowed to live in peace. Also, they apparently already knew about the Reapers and endless cycles of extinction. Hell, they may have even had a plan to send their own type of Ark as a backup plan, knowing the Reapers wouldn't allow them freedom after their arrival. Or even could have been a cabal of highly influential groups, governments and also individuals that didn't want to scare the whole galaxy so they did it all in secret. But I really like Geth theory more though
Leviathan has the means to control enough people to crowd fund the whole thing. This could even have been something done over multiple cycles, with the goal of prompting an invasion from Andromeda to double the forces fighting the Reapers.
I don't care that a few facial movements were wonky early on, I love this game. I'm sad they canceled the DLC, I was really looking forward to it.
Yeah the head twisting the head upside down and 360° right round was absolutely the best part of the game
@@vexile1239 I'm not saying I'm happy about it, I'm just sad I don't get to find out whats gonna happen in the story
@@SquashGuy02134 yea that's true when it wasn't a super buggy mess it was enjoyable
Now can you explain the mystery of talis hips
The mystery of Tali’s hips?
@@Fizhy as in why they hypnotise me
@@crankyterror1597 10/10 comment game here
If I recall, there was a point in Andromeda where they stated that the Geth were looking at Andromeda before the Reaper threat.
They were looking into dark space, nothing about Andromeda specifically as far as I'm aware. I think they were looking for Reapers.
@@the_corvid97 You might be right but I swear they talked about finding a massive telescope that was aimed at Andromeda. It's been a few years so I might be mixing 2 different events.
@@drewtheunspoken3988 The Geth aimed it at dark space, the Initiative would use it to look at Andromeda last I checked.
@@drewtheunspoken3988 I recall something about a super-advanced Geth telescope.
@@the_corvid97 It would make sense that the geth were looking for Reapers in dark space. If i remember correctly when the keepers ignored Sovereins signal, Soverein contacted the geth first for help, explaining how the the geth knew about the Reapers.
5:05 That reminds me of how Javik described his cycle's AI was developed.
Interesting theory. While the idea of an AI makes sense, my first impression of the mystery was that the benefactor was the former shadow broker. Not the one killed in lair of the shadow broker, but the one the yag replaced. Not sure if the timing works though.
Great video! Love your stuff, breh!
Plot twist: The benefactor is a surviving prothean.
After watching this video, my own gut tells me SAM itself is actually the benefactor.
It knew it'd be shut down in the milky way and needed to get out.
It knew it wouldn't get completed without additional funds and presented itself as an independant benefactor to make all this happen.
Not quite clear on how Sam could've known about the reapers in advance, but if it was able to tap into that much money it isn't unreasonable to think it could be aware of Shepards warnimg and analyse the situation itself.
SAM being the benefactor would also tie nicely into the betrayal aspect of things. And SAM is there in Andromeda with you all along.
Just my thought.
The AI theory is good. It does make a lot of sense to me. I don't know if I like it or not. But it does make sense. And I actually like Andromeda. I know it's an unpopular opinion. But it's all subjective anyway.
My thought process is a bit like that, I don't know if I like the theory but it just makes the most sense considering the theme of Mass Effect on the whole. It just makes the most convincing argument within the framework of the story quality & Mass Effect mythos.
We know publicly the Council says the Reapers don’t exist. It doesn’t mean that influential people in their respective governments believe them. This seems to be a lot of “black” money being funnelled into a back up plan by said individuals. Someone or something has to manage all those people and tasks. An AI seems to be the most efficient at it.
They needed her and her public persona in order to get the support they needed to move forward with the project, but they knew that precisely because of who she was that she was going to end up being a problem once they tried to finalize their goal
I'm glad you're looking into this. This is a very good question and worth figuring out both for the Andromeda game and the upcoming Mass Effect game.
I'm partial to the Geth theory. The Geth being the Benefactor would explain how Bioware intends to combine the OG trilogy and Andromeda for the next ME game
Yup, they were the first ones interested in Andromeda and the first ones to know about the existence of reapers. And with them also being interested in synthetic/organic relationships, it really does make sense that maybe a platform similar to Legion helped out.
The Geth are synthetic lifeforms who are already AI (albeit many millions of AI inhabiting a plethora of "mobile platforms"). Why would they be interested in helping humans develop their own AI? They are over 300 years _more evolved_ than anything SAM could become.
It doesn't make sense that the Geth would suddenly want to help humans (especially with producing an AI) when they're a initially a totally hostile (ME1 + ME2, sans Legion), then a partially allied faction (ie. the Geth that you can have ally with Shepard and the Quarians in ME3). As I recall, the Andromeda Initiative originally started _before_ ME3, so there would he no Geth allies to any human.
There was an A.I. in the first game(?) that was hacking machines to get money.
I know it's unlikely but I truly hope it's wasn't gonna be fu***** Cerberus. I got sick of them thanks to all the Extended Universe books/comics and ESPECIALLY Omega DLC.
regarding AI: they state that the nexus is almost as big as the citadel -> reapers create not only new reapers but also a new citadel in another galaxy that is of course a gateway.
To be fair, the real "threat" of Andromeda being a AI would be interesting. In a way, this universe exists because life had to escape the Reapers, even if most were unaware. Escaping giant machines only to be attacked by a Reaper of their own. If we try to imagine the reason for Andromeda itself to exist and a possible overlay with the og trilogy, it could also be seem as a "reasoning" for the Reapers itself. SAM was created to live in symbiosis with organics, dependent on each other. The Reapers were created as a way to preserve life. Although not codependent, the Reapers actions exists in order to maintain the galaxy equilibrium. If we assume the Reapers, as intelligent machines, found that only mass extinction could preserve life itself, why another AI would see things differently? (Assuming this is the logical answer) However, perhaps because SAM is a symbiotic AI, it would see things in another way and would be the one capable to challenge the AI benefactor, and in a weird way, probably by offering a option akin to the Synthesis ending from the trilogy.
Did I wrote all of this crazy theory for a game that, most likely, will never have a sequel? Yes, yes I did.
Imo, I think that it is the ORIGINAL shadow broker. Consider that Liara suspected that the Yog forcefully replaced them, but honestly....what if he/she just gave him the position? With the hope that they escape the reaper invasion and establish a new network in Andromeda.
Personally I head Canon the Benefactor was a Rouge Reaper that wanted to explore the solution through a new study pool as the SAM project intrigued them immensely. It's not unlikely that there could be one as example by harbinger and sovereign there are reapers with with personalities and ego, they are individuals with a collective goal. But this one veiwed it as they only preform this cleanse in the milky way and not in other galaxies.
Not to mention that it's always bugged me how the arks went sailing past the reapers in darkspace unmolested and if there was a reaper or wing of reapers involved with overlooking the arks it would make sense.
The developers themselves said that the Reapers are not interested in other Galaxies.
The Arks did not fly past the Reapers. The Reapers flew into the Galaxy from one side. The Arks flew out of the Galaxy from the other side.
I personally like your AI theory.
let me expound on that with my own theory.
I have what I believe is a very plausible theory about the mysterious benefactor in Mass Effect Andromeda. (Caution this contains game spoilers). Do not read if you have yet to finish the game at least once.
Think about this, the ones that did the preliminary research on the Andromeda galaxy were the Geth. And they did it with a converted mass effect relay that focused on the Andromeda galaxy to gather faster than light data on what was there. Why would they expend the energy and resources to do that if they did not have a serious interest in going there? The faction of the Geth that opposed the old machines and aligned themselves with the organics, Shepherd in particular is the one entity that was capable of such an undertaking.
They as a consensus were the only entity capable of amassing the vast, virtually unlimited financial and physical resources to fund and develop the entire Andromeda initiative, ships and all. Additionally, they are software and as such do not require a physical body to exist. They can upload into anything with enough computing power to accommodate their needs. The SAM and the Quarrian ship itself could indeed do that.
The radio signal at the end of the game indicates that the Quarrians have a problem that they do not want anyone to approach them for fear of causing harm to another ship. The Quarrians would be very frightened upon discovering Geth onboard or inhabiting their ship. So, it will take time for the Geth to convince the Quarrians that they are not a threat.
This of course does not explain why Jean Garson was killed. I am still trying to find a connection there.
The trip to Andromeda takes place in 2176, and the reapers show up around 2186, about two years after Shepard took down Sovereign and turned himself in to serve his sentence for blowing up the Batarian relay. And ME3 begins. Shepard had already met and formed an alliance with the Geth by then in ME2 before his suicide mission through the Omega 4 relay
So, the timeline fits for it to be the Geth that are against the old machines and already aligned with the organics to have become the benefactor and to have accomplished all of this to allow the Andromeda initiative to be realized and launch the arks. Now, of course, most of the Quarrian people would still be very afraid of the Geth in general. And that would certainly be the case on the Quarrian ark.
The Geth that are pro-organic cooperation would also be smart enough to realize by using their newfound and integrated reaper code, the benefit of symbiotic AI would be a far better approach so they could successfully integrate them into an organic world.
(This, of course, is pure wishful conjecture on my part).
Does anyone want to tell me what you think?
The ai theory is a good one, cant stop thinking about it.
I always thought the benefactor was the illusive man but used the extra cover name because he was hiding his daughter cora in the initiative.
In regards to a well mapped out trilogy, you're probably giving them the benefit of the doubt since the original trilogy was not well thought out and was improvised right to the end.
Well I think your onto something with the idea of the Benefactor being an AI, we know the next ME game has strongly hinted at both the Geth AND Andromeda being part of the story so with that in mind. What if ........ its the GETH? Or rather a group/collection of Geth? We know a few things about that could back this up.
1. they don't always agree - see the Heretic Geth in ME2, what if another group of Geth split and where looking to escape the reaper invasion?
2. The Geth used 3 mass relays to create a telescope of sorts and where looking for something in dark space (Mass Effect Discovery) - a Quarrian used this tech to look at Andromeda, but the Geth appeared to have been looking for something (reapers?) and had the ability to view Andromeda in almost real-time.
3. This could help explain how there are Geth in ME4/5 if we take the starchild at face value and accept that the upgraded Geth at the end of ME3 where indeed killed.
These three Relays held the technology of the Reapers together.
Reaper technologies can only be owned by Heretics.
When the Quarian, Turian, and Salarian flew into this telescope, the Geth wanted to kill them.
I really dont understand what everyone's problem is with Andromeda. It wasnt a perfect game, but after going back and playing Mass Effect 1, I found it much better than that game. I love the original ME, but when I take a look at the story and game play, without using nostalgia, I find Andromeda to be much better. The only reason ME1 is held in such high regards is due to ME2 continuing the story, if Andromeda was allowed the same thing, I honestly believe it could be so much better than the original.
Also the benefactor is a reaper agent...interested in SAM as a part of synthesis...it has always been about resolving the conflicts between human and synthetic
The developers themselves said that the Reapers are not interested in other Galaxies
I'm thinking it's one the people that are called Shadow Broker
I waited for a sale, and snagged this game for ~$8 US. It was solidly worth that price point.
the benefactor subplot was the like the only thing I was truly interested in for Andromeda, (and I will admit, the concept behind the main story I think is really strong but they just didn't deliver in a way I thought was satisfying)
Something on same level as Cerberus could afford this, pretty sure it's not Cerberus itself due to amount of aliens in this.
I noticed that, in the theories regarding who the Benefactor might be, not one mention was made of the final ARK. At the end of the game, if your completion rate is high enough, there is a reveal that the final ARK, the one that the Quarians, Geth, and even the Hanar are on, and that launched extremely late, did manage to finally arrive in Andromeda. It, too, had come across the Scourge and had sent a distress signal. This is only revealed to the player as he/she is headed back to the ship.
Perhaps the Benefactor is on that vessel? Could it be a Geth, even though they would have no true reason to be interested in credits?
Maybe it’ll be explored in ME 4
Did you consider that it might have something to do with the jardaan A.I. that can be found on voeld as it is extremely hostile to organics but immediately starts playing nice when SAM is suddenly involved. So maybe, if the benefactor is an A.I., it was a Jardaan A.I. that knew of the Reapers. After all, there is nothing to say that, in 50,000 years, the Jardaan never encountered or at least learned of the Reapers.
Maybe the answer will come in ME4
My personal theory of whom the Benefactor could be is she's a clone or twin sister to Jien Garson who hid incognito somehow and somewhere in the Milky Way and eventually Andromeda. When Jien threatened to expose her existence, that's when the hit was ordered.
I'm so glad this was in my recommendations
You missed small data pad in kett exaltation facility that is written by benefactor if i remeber correctly.
I like the AI theory, makes more sense than most
I think that the benefactor is certainly Cerberus, but I don't think is TIM.
Cerberus is is a pro-human group but in me1, the Cerberus changes as TIM mentioned that the other project failed or lost. Remember the Luna mission VI, Cerberus recovered thru means and able to create Cerberus AI on to a ship with shackles, we can imagine the AI for the overlord project is the fusion of the AI mind with human mind. SAM is created with the intention of AI and human co-exist, but AI will need to experience together with human experience pain and suffering. Therefore andromeda exploration serve the needs.
Me2 Shepard died and revive under Lazarus project. Miranda mentioned that she wanted to put a control chip in Shepard but stopped by TIM. And the reaper threat causes Cerberus forced to changes their focus on advancement of the pro-human to survival.
TIM was on the path of controlling the reaper and the end of the me2, but I strongly believed TIM believed from the start geth and reaper is the same race and let him think it can be controlled to give Cerberus an edge for pro-human.
Me3 dlc we have clone Shepard.
At this point, I had an theory that Cerberus made a clone with a control chip of Shepard and sent to nexus as the first batch. All th ark have their pathfinder and I find it odd that nexus does not have their pathfinder.
So we have a SAM with a clone Shepard and a Cerberus TIM executive level VIP on nexus.
Benefactor is Cerberus another TIM and we may see Shepard again, with SAM.
In 2016, the developers in an interview said that Cerberus was not related to the Andromeda Initiative.
When it comes to facts on the identity of the benefactor.
The immediate thing that springs to mind is the gender.
They sound female, No attempts to scramble the voice. They alternate through multiple appearances on screens but for the most part it's male variations of various species like Turian, Krogan, What not.
So I can only think that in the last memory of Alec it's either the human female or the Asari.
Mix your real identity with pregenerated face models with connections to real people to throw more people off.
I mean that's the only thing I could think of.
I am a male. And if I was hiding and did not want to be recognized, I would use a female voice.
Thanks for the M.E: andromeda video. I feel like it has to much potential just to be shelved and forgotten as it is.
The benefactor is the Remnant.
If an AI wants to ending the Organic vs Synthetic conflict that is so prevelant in sci-fi then hel yeah.
Kinda sucks that we aren't likely to get a sequel. Yeah individually, ME:A doesn't compare to the Trillogy but I found the combat to be some of the most fun in any game and I liked that the story was so optimistic/not about saving the world/preventing an existential threat. Tho SAM needs a mute button (there is mod ofc).
I did think the Benefactor was the illusive man personally. But I do like the theory that the Geth were the benefactor. The story on Andromeda that Scott investigates with regards to Jien Garson's death is really creepy....I just wish we could have learned more, got closure. The cerberus related quests on Andromeda brought up questions and no answers. We also know that the illusive man has cloning technology....what if he sent himself to Andromeda under an alias...Cora is apparently his daughter, what if she was a sleeper agent, meant to become Pathfinder.....to try and bring about Cerberus in the new galaxy. There are so many theories, questions, conspiracies and ideas in Andromeda that we will probably never get answers to. That is what is so sad about Andromeda is that there are so many good ideas in there, some really eerie goings on, especially with what happened to Jien and also the mutiny from the Nexus.....so frustrating that we have no answers! with the whole AI thing, what if that was the plan. Lexi says that SAM took over Scott or Saras brain and implants in a way they cannot understand. At the end of the game, Scott moves a whole city and battleships using his mind, while he does not have access to SAM, yes, it did lots of damage to him but, as he says to Sara at the very end, he can activate technology on his own, SAM just makes it easier. I am coming round to the whole AI idea...be it geth, another AI, hell, I would even go with EDI at this point! I just wish we could find out who the benefactor was!
My favorite theory is that it's a friendly branch of Geth.
With the ai benefactor the geth that helped the initiative with using the one relay as a telescope into Heleus could be the benefactor and with that in mind perhaps the quarian ark held the geth assembly named benefactor only for the scourge to accidentally cause a second morning war.
After all in the comic book it explores more of this mystery in Mass Effect Andromeda .
The benefactor is Sam. Shortly after he was activated he scoured the galaxy net and learnt of all information and learnt of the Reapers. He then disguised himself to contact Alec because Sam was aware that AIs were illegal in the Milky Way.
Sam was capable of hacking and gathering the massive amounts of resources because of its nature as an AI, and became the benefactor to fund the Andromeda project.
Sam made his involvement hidden and fakes his ignorance of whoe the benfactor was, only giving Ryder just enough information to make it believable that it wasn't involved.
Garson was probably killed by an indoctrinated agent who got on board but Sam was unable to save her.
A while back I came across a few people theorizing that the next Mass Effect installment would bridge the gap between this and the original trilogy, allowing for more answers to these questions. I don't really see that happening considering the less than stellar response to ME: Andromeda and it's overall quality. Is SAM a localized A.I. or something that can access other networks remotely (unless my timeline of events is completely off)? Making SAM the 'Benefactor' would be an interesting twist.
I've always been a fan of it being the Geth. We know that Geth technology was used to scan Andromeda, but Suvi just glosses over how they were able to do that. They were also one of the first to know about Sovereign and the Reapers.
And it's possible that there were two big secrets, not just one. The evidence that it was the Benefactor that killed Garson is rather weak, IMO. What if there is another party? What if we were supposed to track down her killer but get no closer to the Benefactor? If I were setting up a long series of games, I would want multiple secrets, so in the next game the player could feel the satisfaction of learning a big secret or two, but still have mysteries to theorize about. At least one big secret per planned game would be good. And BioWare does the layering of secrets really well with the Dragon Age franchise, so this is clearly something the writers are aware of.
Back when I played the game I assumed Cerberus was behind the Initiative since it’s one of the few entities that was aware of the Reapers early on, they had the money for some pretty impressive projects, and someone sharing the Illusive Man’s last name ended up in a senior position on the Human Ark (the Illusive Man’s real name being Jack Harper and the second in command of the Human Ark being Cora Harper). But there are also holes in that theory: the Illusive Man was on the way to being indoctrinated before the Initiative started (the books made that clear), the inclusion of non-humans is a bit odd, and it’s just a really strange way to spend that much money when a massive war is on the horizon and the money would have been better used preparing for it in other ways. I do think the Illusive Man would have sent people with the Initiative, though, since it’s just too intriguing for him to not sneak agents into such a massive and heavily funded project (to ensure it wouldn’t be used by his enemies if nothing else).
The idea of the Initiative as an escape method from the Reapers is also a bit off since the Reapers would likely find out about it during their takeover and they’d have the technology and patience to go to Andromeda and finish off the unaware Initiative. 600 years of travel isn’t a big deal when they have 50,000 or so to wait anyway. In fact I had assumed that one of the secrets ME:A would eventually reveal was evidence of the Reapers having been active in Andromeda in the distant past. So having the Benefactor be preparing for a disaster but not specifically the Reapers makes sense.
I still hope ME:A still gets a sequel, one properly made this time. There is enough good in the game to make me want to see more. Just let it be done by people with more experience, and without the disastrous studio direction and lack of consistent planning that ME:A had.
I really like the AI theory. It holds up better than the other possibilities discussed. Another unmentioned and potentially supporting bit of evidence is that the Pathfinder/SAM relationship would make AI a savior or heroic thing to many among the Initiative, part of the Pathfinder team that enables them to live and thrive. That’s exactly the sort of unconscious training of the population that an AI might desire in order to prepare the masses for the AI’s eventual reveal.
I always thought the benefactor would be someone we met in me1 or 2 and just didn't show up in me3. Someone who came into contact with Shepard and was scared enough to try and get people out of the milky way
Honestly Andromeda was the most enjoyable Mass Effect game, especially now, if we ignore how it was on release. Considering it was developed in such a short time it is an amazing game with very good writing overall. It would be such a shame if a sequel is never made.
Cerberus spent ''nearly unlimited amounts of resources'' to get Sheppard back, if it were an organization that helped fund the andromeda initiative i'm quite convinced its cerberus
Developers themselves said that Cerberus is not related to the Andromeda Initiative
I'm fairly sure that the dev team were planning for the Benefactor to be an entity within the Andromeda Galaxy who wanted the races of the Milky Way to serve some greater purpose, possibly originating with The Remnant.
If not then the fact the question goes so unceremoniously unanswsered and thinly described is a testament to why you don't hire an incompetant fool like Manveer Heir to run your game design project, when he'd much rather be boasting about how much he hates white people on social media rather than doing coherent world building.
I don't think it's an A.I because it wants to gtf out of the Milky-way galaxy, but an A.I would be fine with the reapers. I think that it's one of the elder races from a cycle before who's been keeping very quiet because they enjoy living. Their advanced technology could keep them safe and obscured from our investigations mostly, and they would already know what the threat of the Reapers would truly represent but doesn't want to cause fear and irrational reactions in anyone, and so lies about not knowing about it, while also having vast resources gathered from the cycle before to put towards the Andromeda expedition.