I feel like this is just a loop ending…like litterally from the moment she says “here lies the account of our war with the reapers” you could then pop in me1 and start playing and it would be a big circle through the next cycles eyes
Got this ending cause i was speedruning through the dialogue and suddenly when it transitioned to a black screen and then this ending i was totally perplexed and felt an empty void in my stomach.
Imagine the panic and hopelessness that came from everybody else left in the galaxy from the Refusal ending. I'd love to see a story that takes place after the failure of the Crucible with characters coming to terms with the fact that they and everything they've ever known are 100% doomed.
I will stick to my theory that all the other endings are actually fake outs for Reapers to return in a new form. Blue - Galaxy is now dependent on Reapers who are literally godlike entity with the mind of the Galaxy's greatest warrior, from here they can control the cycle in the way that can prevent direct confrontation. Green - Reapers are literally part of every organic, so they can shut them off whenever they feel like it. Red - Galaxy is severely weakened by the destruction of all technology, new Reaper forces arrive from the dark space to finish them off eventually. Refusal is the only ending where you don't accept the options and conditions the Reapers, your enemies, present to you.
Whatever ending the player chosen, Shepard achieves beyond legendary status. Even the people of the new cycle speaks of them in awe, most likely eat their entire story and journey like it is air, and probably they become an inspiration to rally the people there when the Reapers finally knocked at their doorstep. They probably know how the bust their way in to catch Saren, how they survived the suicide misson, how they unite warring races, about how they weren't given an ear when they told them about the Reapers, about how they suck at dancing and driving. They failed to reach the destination, but hoo boy their journey was one hell of a ride. The new cycle didn't want to put Shepard's efforts into vain. Ah, the power of the Shepard even if they're nothing but stardust at this rate. They still influence the future generations with their signature charm/intimidation.
Funny how you can clearly hear Female & Male Shepard voice speaking in the exact same time as the Catalyst. Never understood why and what was the purpose of that. What were the devs trying to show ?
@@florianfrueh3282 if you look up indoctrination theory, it seems to make sense. In my first play through this was the ending I got & I was super disappointed. But after hearing that one YT video essay, it made me rethink it. Control seemed to be the outcome that the elusive man wanted & and synthesis sounds like the ending that Saren wanted. My Shepherd had to refuse or choose destroy.
I really dislike this ending and think it's out of character for even the most Renegade of Shepards. Also it's slightly better if you choose to actively defy the Catalyst by shooting at it.
Yeah me too, like the cycle (& all the 3 games you've invested 100+ hours in total ) were all in vain if you choose this ending) For me Shepard vocally declining to not using the crucible is the best as he/she will give a "little speech". Just shooting the catalyst was meh, like why is it even an option ? Anyway thanks for watching & commenting !
This really is an absolutely garbage ending. And there's so so sooo many plotholes here. The Protheans gave Council races the same exact warning. But it was in a method of communication that was completely alien to the Council races, so it was garbled and unclear, and even when it was deciphered, the Council refused to take it seriously. How is there any guarantee that the next cycle will even be able to decipher what Liara's warning was? 50,000 years is a very long time. Time for entirely new languages or methods of communication to evolve. And even if by some miracle they figure it out, there's an even smaller chance that the governments of their time will take it seriously. Its entirely possible that the next cycle is going to be just as shit out of luck as the current one. The only ending I respect is Destroy. Destroy the Reapers, and rebuild the Galaxy afterwards. Does it destroy the Geth and EDI? Sure. But EDI herself says that she was willing to die for her crew. And the Geth? The Geth helped build the thing. Presumably they figured out that the Crucible will target them as well and they took precautions to safeguard most of their consensus from the effects of the Crucible. Control is frankly stupid since it means confirming that the Illusive Man was right all along, and fuck that guy. And Synthesis not only makes no fucking sense, we've seen synthesis. Those husks? The scions? The Praetorians? The ungodly abominations that the Reapers have produced with the bodies of living people? Enslaved to the Reaper's will? Yeah, that's what Synthesis is. No matter how the Catalyst presents it, that was what Synthesis was. If it expects me to believe that yeeting myself into a giant superweapon will somehow "merge organic and synthetic life", then the Catalyst is even dumber than I thought. I mean besides the Husks, what would Synthesis even look like? How would it even work on a physical and material level? Do humans just magically grow cybernetics in their bodies? Do computers suddenly have a "eureka" moment where they learn to love? Its never explained, and the entire idea of "merging synthetic and organic life" just sounds so moronic. Synthesis is just so painfully contrived, and poorly written, its like the writers were sitting in a room and thinking "well we need a third option here, what if we like, merged man and machine I guess?". I suppose it could work, but the way they presented it was not it. They should have explored that more from the beginning that the Reapers are trying to merge man and machine as part of some fucked up programming gone wrong or whatever.
@@Killzoneguy117 Your point about EDI is the exact thing I argue when people mention the 'collateral damage' aspect of Destroy the Reapers. Along similar lines to your points on Synthesis, what happens to beings that are already Husks because if they regain their sentience then that would be a horrific existence... especially for variants that fuse multiple hosts together eg: Brutes, Scions and Praetorians.
@@Killzoneguy117 only problem I find with destroy is the destruction of the mass relays. As we learned in arrival those things wipe out systems on destruction so I don't see how most of the galaxy survived. Also even if they did all the fleets from every race are now stranded in the sol system on a ruined world with no more easy travel for food and resources. A bunch of armed soldiers stuck in a hard situation like that pretty much spells that there will be a bloody resource war in the coming months after the relay destruction. Control, while tainted by the failed character of the Illusive Man pitching it, ends up being the best end. The galaxy gains the strongest military of all time under the control of either a morally infallible Paragon or a Renegade who will do anything to complete their goals. All the AIs survive and are coexisting with organics. Finally the Mass effect relays are still completely operational. As for synthesis I completely agree and it's not worth mentioning.
I think no Shepard would ever chose this ending. A Paragon Shep would most likely pick destroy. He sacraficed 300k batarians to stop the reapers without even flinching. Why would he hesitate to kill of all synthetics? Allthough the Paragon Shepard might chose to pick the synthesis ending. A Renegade Shepard would most likely pick control or destroy I think.
There's so little talk about the control ending. I played a mostly renegade Femshep through the whole trilogy. My first choice was to choose the control ending. I was dead set on destroying at all costs but after brokering peace between the geth and quarians, getting to know EDI and Legion, I couldn't bring myself to destroy them. Secondly, presented with the choice to control the Reapers I found the idea to be the most ideal. 1. Shepard would replace the catalyst. The Catalyst was created by the Leviathans, a tyrannical species with a god-complex. Shepard would retain the essence of who she was along with her memories. This alone would make her better suited to have direct control of the Reapers. She knows their power, what it means, and what can be done with it. 2. The Reapers are broken OP guardian bots of doom. As Shep herself alludes to, the Reapers could become a fighting force made to protect and maintain the galaxy from threats internal and external. Destroying the Reapers would mean putting an end to the essence of millions of harvested species. Wasted resources and knowledge, but under new management could usher in a golden age for the galaxy. 3. Synthesis is an immoral choice as it removes personal choice and agency which is one of Shepards driving forces in fighting the Reapers. The decision for control is a totally personal one, and given who Shepard is, she can make it so that decision only directly affects her. The reapers can immediately stop, fly off into the dark and begin fixing the mess. The cycle ends, and the Reapers take on a new role under her command. It's not as rosy with Synthesis. Making that kind of decision for literally every living and synthetic being is hypocritical, it's exactly what the Reapers would do. I think Control is vastly underrated. People claim it's giving the Reapers what they want but honestly, being living machines themselves I'm certain the Reapers don't want to die either merely because they were fulfilling their intended purpose. Control only makes it so Shepard has to offer the sacrifice, and in so she offers her very being to add an organic sensibility to the Reapers, something they were seriously lacking despite their age and their complex litany of knowledge. Shepard could complete them and give them a different direction. Anywho, done rambling, ME is awesome.
Well, BioWare certainly isn`t afraid about putting us into great dilemma when playing Mass Effect which makes the game even better in the end. I think it`s an individual choice & opinion. I mean after playing 100 + hours & making difficult choices throughout the 3 games, the final choice I think is what`s best in the player`s perspective about how his/her Shepard was. I really hope BioWare can really step the level up in Mass Effect 4 !
control option is flawed because it's control... too much for one who has done many horrible things... many in order to save the galaxy.. some not... destroy is the only way to go... and it's the only one where shep doesn't lose their form... they are still human and just like everyone else they can be killed... i think control is just a bit silly considering the premise of it... better hope any Batarians that are left don't try it with shep now that he's an army of reapers etc
I have one major problem with control - power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. People behave like people because they form connections with others. Because they love and laugh and grieve and hurt. But a Control ending Shepad? Imagine it. She has essentially had her mind uploaded to the largest supercomputer in the galaxy. She went from being a well above average human, to the most powerful and knowledgable being in existence in seconds. That's something which would change a person. Maybe not straight away. But once she's watched as Garrus and Tali and eventually Liara and Grunt die of old age. When large scale wars break out, or a huge terrorist/slaver atfack occurs, or the krogan want to expand? Eventually, a Control Shepard is going to make Synthesis a reality, I 100% believe. From a computer's perspective, it's the logical decision, and at that point she basically is just a computer. At best, she becomes a micro-managing control freak like The Illusive Man, as she intervenes to fix problem after problem. At worst, eventually she solves the problem by making everyone the same.
@@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human You're thinking in purely organic or synthetic terms, yet 'Shepard' in this case, is either or neither. power corrupts organics because organics innately have wants that purely serve themselves as individuals, a trait that comes as a result of just having biological, instinctive impulses to gather resources to stay alive. unless specifically programmed to have such wants, synthetics innately lack them. their existences are to serve purposes, & a sapient synthetic would simply be one that would like to define for themselves, their own purpose, than actually have innate wants like we do. we wouldn't see the new consciousness in the Reapers corrupted in the way organics would be from wielding absolute, unchallenged power, simply because that consciousness, despite being derived from Shepard, is NOT Shepard. having 'Shepard' in control simply means adding new organic-like directives to the catalyst, & unlike organics, the catalyst wouldn't have instinctive impulses to mangle these directives. On the flip side, given that said directives come from an organic & not entirely logical to begin with, acknowledged & implemented as such, the 'new Shepard' also wouldn't be reduced to being a mere machine that molds its behavior & attitude to fit its purpose like the Catalyst. with that said, the new directives, unless impacted by something as huge as how the completion of the Crucible changed the Catalyst, would ALWAYS stay true to Shepard's mindset when they fought the war. everything the new consciousness does, would always be based on Shepard's drive to protect everything dear to them, & with that vast power, to observe & mediate. the new Reapers may be more nosy or less nosy than the old ones depending on circumstances, but they would NEVER make everyone the same, simply because Shepard has always been one who'd at least appreciate diversity, at the time of their death.
If youd listen carefully of control speech, youd hear that Shep in the “all the reapers” form is taking decision each and other second for everybody. Id call that wrong rather than calling synthesis a hypocrisy as its a final goal for both types of species.
Since there needs to be an AI to manage the catalyst, and thus the Crucible, can't Shepard simply ask EDI to try and assume direct control of it? After all, since she's partially made of Reaper code, she might be capable of doing so
In my last playthrough I collected 8000+ war assets, practically maxing out the game. But when the final decision came I jokingly shot the Starchild in the head from distance on my way to Destroy... I just then realized that it leads to Refusal ending so I just closed it, reloaded and went for Perfect Destroy like it never happened, lol. Gotta say it scared me big time when after about 100 hours of perfectionist playthrough the kid said in a low voice that "So be it. The Cycle will continue" lol. Even the Reaper AI seemed to be disappointed in that decision. I consider this a horrible ending, it basically leaves everyone behind, even more than the worst Destroy.
Destroy ending means gen0cide of the Geth. Control is least bad ending despite being poorly written & contradicting everything said about the Reapers for three games
Best ending on my opinion. This cycle is a failure. All that could went wrong did so. The immense stupidity of the galactic counsil(basically the best individuals from the most advanced races). No preparations until the Reapers are already here. No unity until almost the very end. There is no universe where someone can carry all this by himself like Shepard did. Happy ending to this story is a delusion.
Meh there is no "best" ending for me. I agree that this cycle is a failure, but not 100% a failure as they've delayed the invasion by 3 years, defeated Sovereign, Shep defeated the collectors, delayed another reaper invasion by 6 months by destroying the Alpha Relay. It was a great story overall & I've dedicated 100+ hours in all 3 games. When I chose this ending, it was like everything thing I did, every decision I took & the 100 + hours were wasted. And even in the best ending (Synthesis or Destroy) their is no happy ending to Shepard story but that doesn't mean it's not a great story ! I see your point but everyone will defer. Ohh and thanks for watching ! 😁
Counselor is just a representative of their race, Udina is not the best of the human race. This cycle is not a failure, It succeeded, the Catalyst authenticate it. it said "the fact that you are standing here, the first organic ever, proves it, it also proves my solution won't work anymore" so we can understand the cycle stops here, what shepard needs to do is choose a new direction for the whole galaxy. If this cycle was a failure, why did the Catalyst decide to stop harvesting, and let Shepard choose the future? All 4 end like it or not, that is the story of Commander Shepard. It's like reading a book, you won't know the end until you finish it, and the story is written to convey the message, not to satisfy you.
That's an unfair judgement in my opinion. By all accounts this cycle did things that previous ones never managed at all, like getting all of the galactic civilizations to fight together and stand side-by-side, even if it took a long time. Destroy is the best ending, it achieves the goal that you as Shepard have been trying to complete for the whole trilogy, but it's also not perfect (which is a good thing, it's bittersweet and not a ''everyone lived happily ever after'') - eliminating all synthetics and mass relays, forcing organics to spend decades rebuilding. Also as the Catalyst warns - war will return, as inevitably new synthetics will be created so it leaves room for new stories to be told, which we now know they're doing. So Destroy is the best ending imo and it's the one they have to use as canon if they're gonna make the next Mass Effect happen in The Milky Way with returning characters.
@@akaranzo the protheans and leviathan made the same mistake....made sure they were the only people who ruled unilaterally this is why the programming of the reapers is the way it is. If they only worked together for peace there would be no reason for the reapers...that is its programming to preserve life....the only way to preserve life is peace in coexistence...we are talking about a whole galaxy they can spread out and live in peace with each other....
It really sucks Humanity was slaughtered and harvested to get to this ending, but it leaves me curious as to the next cycles Races and how they managed to stop the cycle entirely.
By the sounds of it they find Liaras beacon early, before the reapers even show up, build the crucible and activate it before the war even starts. Then all they'd have to do is choose one of the 3 endings themselves lol
@bucky699 I imagined that they travelled out to dark space and found the Reapers. The codex said that they basically went into hibernation to preserve energy, and they were defenceless, so they hid in dark space. If the next cycles organics just sent a few dreadnaughts to dark space and they found the Reapers, they could kill them all in a day or two. No need for the Crucible at all.
@@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human then the Reapers will start the cycle early. A few dreadnoughts aren't enough to take on the literal millions of Reaper ships out there. And we know they can leave hibernation in dark space - it's how they rushed to the Alpha Relay in ME2
The next cycle will be the Yahg, who are very territorial animals that demand obedience from all others. Something tells me that assholes like that won't be able to beat the Reapers, they're worse than Krogans
That's what Mass Effect 4 should be. The remaining crew of the Normandy, emerging from stasis in a cave a couple miles below the surface of Parnack and they begin the process of setting the Yahg on a course to destroy the reapers in 50,000 years.
If there's anything to be taken away from the ME universe regarding galactic species, is that there's NO ONE species that could dominate all others unless they emerge wayyyy earlier than others, & everyone else is so technologically behind that said species is unchallenged. that's highly unlikely with the yahg, as despite being a pre-space-flight species with intelligence on par with the more advanced races, they're far too territorial & confrontational with even each other to emerge as the technologically supreme race of the next cycle. besides, there're also indeed others that're already advanced enough to build civilizations yet stay out of the whole galactic war, just hardly mentioned.
1. Blue - Catalyst clearly states that all that's basically happens is that he will be replaced by an AI based on Shepard's mind, so nothing prevents Reapers from starting the cycle all over again, but this time they will likely have a huge advantage as they have been integrated into the society as omnipotent and omnipresent gods in control of the galaxy. 2. Green - Forget the fact that you violate bodily autonomy of the whole galaxy with this decision, you also turn every one into an advanced Husk, it's most likely that the synthetic part of all living being will be a Reaper who will control the galaxy and continue the cycle, this is probably the most sinister ending. 3. Red - What a great idea, destroy literally all the technology including weapons, medical equipment and the whole geth army along with killing millions of people all over the galaxy. All though ... Not all technology, only that within the reach of mass relays ... So nothing in the dark space will be affected and as the AI said the technology can be easily repaired. Seemingly the safest ending, but likely just a way to soften up the galaxy for Reapers eventual return. Refusal ending is the only true ending unfortunately. All the other leave you enslaved by the Reapers one way or another. People say that refusal ending means that all you did was in vain, but this is not true, without you the next cycle wouldn't be able to actually defeat the Reapers for real this time.
That is certainly a way to predict things, but I've read online comments on different platforms, and I get the impression that most people predict it like this: 1.) It's the Shepard AI that prevents the Reapers from restarting the cycle and so the cycle is broken. 2.) The Reapers have no reason to continue the cycle as every organic is now a hybrid with their original minds and synthetic structure, and every synthetic now understands the organics. "Husk" implies the organics will be controlled, but most likely they won't be controlled, so they are not husks. And so the cycle is broken. 3.) The Reapers are destroyed. The cycle is broken... unless some scientist in the future invents another Reaper-like AI.
@@IAmebAdger the blue ending doesn't make sense in general, but the green ending is just some Husk fascism. Have everyone forgotten that it was Saren's original goal to meld organics and synthetics when he was indoctrinated? This is exactly what Reapers want, because now they don't have to fight organics, they can just flip a switch and we will follow into the meatgrinder if they need us to for whatever reason, it's absolute control. Also remember, that in all of these ending, Reapers are in control. THEY are the ones giving you these options. In the blue ending there is no reason to belive that Shepard AI is not controlled by the Reapers, it's probably what will give them a huge advantage and allow them to win the war. Imagine someone breaks into your house wanting to kill your family, you fight them off and they're like "Hold on a sec, I see I can't beat you so how about we compromise? I give a choice, I can kill you, your wife or your child and then leave, what do you say?" - This is about what happens in the Mass Effect 3 ending sequence. The obvious choice is to tell them to f-off and fight them on your own terms.
@@NoName-ym5zj Generally people are not assuming that Reapers can flip any sort of switch to assume control over any other synthetics in the green ending, remember the Geth were never truly under Reaper control either. The cutscenes seem to imply the Reapers get an attitude change since they've reached their goal (their goal is to minimize war between organics and the synthetics that organics eventually create) and that's about it. About that last interpretation: It seems that the war against the Reapers was always unwinnable, according to the refusal ending cutscenes, so that interpretation might have to be rethought.
@@IAmebAdger that's a really bold assumption, considering these options are given to you by the Reapers. Reaper's goal wasn't to minimize war, it was to prevent organics being wiped out by synthetics and their logic was to wipe out all advanced organic life before they manage to create synthetics advanced enough to wipe out the organics. The reason why Reapers might be able to flip a switch is because this synthesis comes from Reaper tech and most likely infuses Reaper and human DNA or something. It is unwinnable, because you loose in all the endings IMO, the only ending where you at least get a fighting chance and don't end up a slave to the Reapers is the refusal ending where Shepard rejects the choices given to him by the Reapers and tries fighting against all odds. At the very least, it's the best one from narrative standpoints, because in all other ending you get this: 1) Blue - Robot fascism, organics loose autonomy as everything is now done by the Reapers and all the power is concentrated in this Reaper AI that might malfunction just like the previous version did. 2) Green - You literally violate bodily autonomy of the whole galaxy and turn them into advanced Husks that are most likely controlled by the Reapers. 3) Red - You commit a genocide of every synthetic being in the galaxy. 4) Refusal - Against all odds you try to fight without compromise with these hellish robot abominations and even if you don't save the galaxy, you give a fighting chance for the next cycle who end up destroying the Reapers.
This ending would be fine if you went into the final battle with low war assets. I maintain there SHOULD have been an ending to win the battle on military strength alone if you had enough assets.
@enduser-0 Really?? Well im glad they went with this ending/endings. One of the original ending concepts was a reaper queen of sorts and something about dark energy eating up the galaxy. Im sure they had some concepts about sacrificing humanity too. Many concepts were never realized, but Im quite convinced that the dark energy concept will return to mass effect 5 somehow.
@enduser-0 I agree. They must reignite the series with a dashing Mass effect 2 style of a game, if not, its done. Personally I think a prequel based on Drew Karpyshyns Revelation would do the trick. But he's no longer there and he wont come back sadly.
in The "REFUSAL" Ending In the last video the Asari or Quarian or Earth Clan granddaughter of Commander Separd tells the story to the grandchild of him or her!
They wouldn't be able to hold for long even with the technology extracted from Sovereign. The final attack was to distract the Reapers while the Crucible was being docked into the Citadel. The Reapers were actually holding back because they wanted to preserve the DNA of each species in order to upload it into Reaper bodies. If they wanted to kill everybody they would just go straight to orbital bombings and leave the home worlds and colonies inhospitable and then pick off the stragglers. The Reapers don't have a home world or need bases as they are spaceships. It was mentioned in the game that the Crucible was perfected during multiple cycles and each cycle that failed took it one step closer to completion. The cycle during the time of Mass Effect completed it and finally learned what it actually does. So even if the species of the time of Mass Effect failed the next cycle would be the last because the next species would find all the information and wouldn't be in the dark as to the true nature of the device.
Does this strike anyone else as extremely... selfish, as an ending? This choice (the choice of inaction) seems to be entirely predicated on Shep all at once deciding "no but me though". "If I die, at least I'll die free" is a very... jingoist and self-serving way of phrasing it. I get that the whole Mass Effect series is basically military wet dream (which don't get me wrong, I like this series a lot), but still, especially for a Paragon Shep, this ending and the motivation behind it feels incredibly out of character.
My Shepard basically told sovereign that he'd rather die free than be their pawn so it wasn't entirely out of character to give the catalyst the finger. This ending would have been better if the galaxy could actually defeat the reapers if they were united unlike in previous cycles.
It's because it is a hastily slopped together ending from the pressure of fans without any regard for stuff that's already been established. Many fans felt butthurt because the original endings didn't meet their hyped up expectations, so Bioware shrugged and added an ending which they thought would please the nay-sayers, and wouldn't you know it, some deluded individuals even try to rationalize this as being the "best" ending. XD
My favorite ending. The other 3 are just chosen outcomes the reapers pressure you into while pretending they are oh so gracious to offer you mediocre options at all. With this, the next cycle may finally end it, even if humanity is not part of it (who knows), and get to a better future without destroying or combining with machines.
I can tell you, they wont. Now the Keepers will be fixed, all capsuled will be found and Yahg will lead the galaxy into death and lose all the gift we gave them like the Asari. It has to end now.
This is a case of devs caving in to pressure from whiny fans when they shouldn't have. It just comes out of the left field and is an ending which effectively makes EVERY action you've taken in all three games absolutely pointless. And not just the big actions, but small actions too.. helping someone reunite with a friend? Pft, they'll die anyway. You began an epic journey that lasted three games to change things. But in the end, you CHOSE to let it all happen just the same. Everything that transpires in the games, all the emotional moments, the paths diverging, te experience... all of it.. EVERYTHING ceases to matter. Some might argue that the endings as they originally were were bad because they resulted in what they considered to be "surface-level" changes and nothing else (a sentiment which I respectfully disagree with), but this ending makes NO sense because it renders you even having played the games at all into a dead-end fruitless endeavor. Like "no, I refuse to chose among the choices you present. I chose for you to kill the entire galaxy instead". If I could roll my eyes any harder.... And for what? So fans can sit back and think they have affected real change? However, I suppose it could also be seen as a diss from Bioware to all those who threw a fit because the endings didn't meet their expectations and so they gave them something which REALLY sucked. From that perspective, I say good on you, Bioware. Fuck those crybabies. Let them refuse to chose and see all that they love crumble into dust. It's what they deserve.
I wasn't on the hate bandwagon for the ending back in 2012, I thought most people were whiney and entitled. Bioware clearly had their own vision and the fans refused to accept it, so they made crappy theories like the Indoctrination theory to make themselves feel better about their purchase. I think refusal might be my favorite ending in terms of how realistic it is, the Reapers are the stewards of the Galaxy, they have good reason to put an expiration date on species, this is how lower species have a chance to evolve and continue the cycle of growth. I normally pick the Control ending, whether I'm doing a Renegade or Paragon run, I believe the Reapers have utility in the Mass Effect world; Destroy's ending isn't as colorful as people make it out to be, even the Destroy ending with high EMS. As cliche as it sounds, the journey is more valuable than the destination when it comes to Mass Effect. I cared more about the relationship dilemmas in this game more than saving the Galaxy. I look at it like this, whether or not there is a life beyond the grave, my actions still have small or large consequences on everyone around me, my choices in life DO matter.
Also the complaints over the "star child" are annoying, it's like fans need every little thing explained to them and have their hands held like babies. The Catalyst took on the form of a dead child to be on an equal footing with your Shepherd, it's an attempt of a truce and the Reapers being open minded to listen to you. The Catalyst admits that Shepherd has proven the cycles can no longer run as normal, the Reapers being machines only care about easing their objective and carrying out their functions; there isn't a literal AI star child controlling the Reapers.
You simply cannot start the game with Shepard under house arrest for blowing up a relay and causing a shockwave that destroyed the entire star system then have all 3 base game endings destroy the relays like it's fine. This is the only ending that I will ever pick because it's the only one that respects the established lore. Whatever they are cooking for the next game after Andromeda is a fun little "What if" as far as I am concerned. Also shout out to Andromeda for at least having a really smart way of side stepping the impact of the original trilogy. If it did anything right it was that.
Would be depressing but would love Mass Effect 4 to be in the aftermath of the Refusal ending. Covering both Liara Fighting and running, setting up beacons, and also about the species before the next cycle finding the beacons you setup as Liara. Prepping for the next culling.
Asari: they fought a terrible war so that we wouldn’t have to Me: I wish I had an option to make your species go extinct instead of the Krogan, Quarians, and Geth
I think for ME4 and other ME games in the future this ending has to be canon no way The Milky Way survived Shepard died by Harbingers beam like cmon on no way he survived that unless harbinger intentionally didn’t do enough damage to kill him for whatever reason as he just flew off I was confused as after he got beamed and went into the portal everything just felt off like a dream sequence or something, definitely the reapers are returning though not in the same way they were portrayed in the trilogy and we’ll definitely see the return of the scourge/ dark energy as that could be the next big threat. And could possibly even see the Jardaan who knows where they went after Meridian they knew something big was coming and fleed
Then why do we see an Asari (likely Liara) in the trailer? Also I think the characters in the background look like several of the Milky Way species from the current cycle.
@@Jedi_Spartan doesn’t mean every species went extinct after all a prothean survived its cycle though unable to reproduce so who knows what BioWare will come up with just doesn’t make sense for any other ending to work synthesis and control and destroy(red) where all life is destroyed could be canon also with few survivors remain, and the asari is Liara she’s about 800 years old in that trailer who knows what she’s been doing that time between the ending of 3 and then. After all she is the shadow broker so she must have good resources And i wonder if it’s a coincidence or not but her age being around 800 is when the events of mass effect andromeda are taking place or have taken place already so more than likely to combine both series together since they aren’t making a sequel to andromeda anymore
@drosedropped50 It`s unlikely that Shepard was dreaming all of that & died by Harbinger`s bean like come on, if that`s true then that`s some extremely bad story writing there ! I don`t think the Reapers are coming again in the next Mass Effect game though because in the trailer we see Liara climbing what it would seem like a dead Reaper...even if they do return in what form ? (as you described it). The scourge making its way to the milky way would be interesting theory & consequently story for me personally. In any case right now we don`t know what will happen in the next Mass Effect but I hope Bioware is cooking up some nice story & gameplay for us. Thank you for watching & commenting.
We can also distinguish what it would like an Angara though. Like I said right now there is only speculation about what`s what for the next Mass Effect game.
@@x.gamehub.x idk but it did give off a dream like vibe after he woke up being hit Anderson and the illusive man already being there just felt off and didn’t make too much sense like how’d Anderson survive harbinger also him being beamed up and ahead of Shepard like -_- and yea could be lazy writing but it is what it is, as for the reapers they still exist in dark space the reapers we seen were only a faction that agreed with the harvest as sovereign said each reaper is a nation independent, there are definitely more reapers in dark space finding their own means of the preservation of life we could see them return and not every reaper is based on the leviathans with their squid like feature as we seen their can be different types of reapers like the human one so we might see them in a different form, after all the years they could be out in other galaxy’s also but not with the intentions of harvesting life to preserve it, I seen something interesting that a reaper based species made the angara they experiment and actually made organic life And they made meridian and such for said life to be protected and was meant to be their home in andromeda, and they later fled cause they feared something idk if it was the scourge or dark energy forming meaning the sign of the end of the universe, but them leaving everything behind is strange, at the end of the day it’s still fun to speculate no matter what BioWare gives us if they tie in andromeda or whatever I’m sure it won’t satisfy everyone knowing how EA and them are
I jokingly shot at the catalyst, not realising this ending even existed. 🙈🙈
I did the same thing on my third playthrough. Was such a pleasant surprise.😂
Man me too😂❤
I feel like this is just a loop ending…like litterally from the moment she says “here lies the account of our war with the reapers” you could then pop in me1 and start playing and it would be a big circle through the next cycles eyes
Got this ending cause i was speedruning through the dialogue and suddenly when it transitioned to a black screen and then this ending i was totally perplexed and felt an empty void in my stomach.
I feel you.. that`s why I did that ending last.
This ending is basically the writers giving the middle finger to the fans who complained about the other endings sucking.
For me the other endings is one hell of a way to end a triology !
Maybe, but they don't realize they made a better ending than all three of their others.
Except the endings are meant to be bad that is part the point
@@ChangerofWays-Tzeentch then why they changed them in the Extended Cut DLC (the same DLC that added this ending)?
@@alexandergladkov3270 because people complained, so they changed it so people without imaginations can think of what happened afterward
Imagine the panic and hopelessness that came from everybody else left in the galaxy from the Refusal ending.
I'd love to see a story that takes place after the failure of the Crucible with characters coming to terms with the fact that they and everything they've ever known are 100% doomed.
I will stick to my theory that all the other endings are actually fake outs for Reapers to return in a new form. Blue - Galaxy is now dependent on Reapers who are literally godlike entity with the mind of the Galaxy's greatest warrior, from here they can control the cycle in the way that can prevent direct confrontation. Green - Reapers are literally part of every organic, so they can shut them off whenever they feel like it. Red - Galaxy is severely weakened by the destruction of all technology, new Reaper forces arrive from the dark space to finish them off eventually.
Refusal is the only ending where you don't accept the options and conditions the Reapers, your enemies, present to you.
Halo Reach but it's 1000x worse basically lol
Whatever ending the player chosen, Shepard achieves beyond legendary status. Even the people of the new cycle speaks of them in awe, most likely eat their entire story and journey like it is air, and probably they become an inspiration to rally the people there when the Reapers finally knocked at their doorstep. They probably know how the bust their way in to catch Saren, how they survived the suicide misson, how they unite warring races, about how they weren't given an ear when they told them about the Reapers, about how they suck at dancing and driving. They failed to reach the destination, but hoo boy their journey was one hell of a ride. The new cycle didn't want to put Shepard's efforts into vain.
Ah, the power of the Shepard even if they're nothing but stardust at this rate. They still influence the future generations with their signature charm/intimidation.
year 49,999: WE FINALLY CRACKED THE LANGUAGE!........OH FU-
Funny how you can clearly hear Female & Male Shepard voice speaking in the exact same time as the Catalyst. Never understood why and what was the purpose of that. What were the devs trying to show ?
.....nothing i think. i mean all hanar in mass effect 1 are voiced by male shepard i think......well 2 years late to answer but hey.
@@florianfrueh3282 if you look up indoctrination theory, it seems to make sense. In my first play through this was the ending I got & I was super disappointed. But after hearing that one YT video essay, it made me rethink it. Control seemed to be the outcome that the elusive man wanted & and synthesis sounds like the ending that Saren wanted. My Shepherd had to refuse or choose destroy.
I really dislike this ending and think it's out of character for even the most Renegade of Shepards.
Also it's slightly better if you choose to actively defy the Catalyst by shooting at it.
Yeah me too, like the cycle (& all the 3 games you've invested 100+ hours in total ) were all in vain if you choose this ending) For me Shepard vocally declining to not using the crucible is the best as he/she will give a "little speech". Just shooting the catalyst was meh, like why is it even an option ? Anyway thanks for watching & commenting !
Yep. If you're going to refuse, do it right by shooting the catalyst.
This really is an absolutely garbage ending.
And there's so so sooo many plotholes here.
The Protheans gave Council races the same exact warning. But it was in a method of communication that was completely alien to the Council races, so it was garbled and unclear, and even when it was deciphered, the Council refused to take it seriously.
How is there any guarantee that the next cycle will even be able to decipher what Liara's warning was? 50,000 years is a very long time. Time for entirely new languages or methods of communication to evolve. And even if by some miracle they figure it out, there's an even smaller chance that the governments of their time will take it seriously. Its entirely possible that the next cycle is going to be just as shit out of luck as the current one.
The only ending I respect is Destroy. Destroy the Reapers, and rebuild the Galaxy afterwards. Does it destroy the Geth and EDI? Sure. But EDI herself says that she was willing to die for her crew. And the Geth? The Geth helped build the thing. Presumably they figured out that the Crucible will target them as well and they took precautions to safeguard most of their consensus from the effects of the Crucible.
Control is frankly stupid since it means confirming that the Illusive Man was right all along, and fuck that guy. And Synthesis not only makes no fucking sense, we've seen synthesis. Those husks? The scions? The Praetorians? The ungodly abominations that the Reapers have produced with the bodies of living people? Enslaved to the Reaper's will? Yeah, that's what Synthesis is. No matter how the Catalyst presents it, that was what Synthesis was. If it expects me to believe that yeeting myself into a giant superweapon will somehow "merge organic and synthetic life", then the Catalyst is even dumber than I thought. I mean besides the Husks, what would Synthesis even look like? How would it even work on a physical and material level? Do humans just magically grow cybernetics in their bodies? Do computers suddenly have a "eureka" moment where they learn to love? Its never explained, and the entire idea of "merging synthetic and organic life" just sounds so moronic. Synthesis is just so painfully contrived, and poorly written, its like the writers were sitting in a room and thinking "well we need a third option here, what if we like, merged man and machine I guess?". I suppose it could work, but the way they presented it was not it. They should have explored that more from the beginning that the Reapers are trying to merge man and machine as part of some fucked up programming gone wrong or whatever.
@@Killzoneguy117 Your point about EDI is the exact thing I argue when people mention the 'collateral damage' aspect of Destroy the Reapers. Along similar lines to your points on Synthesis, what happens to beings that are already Husks because if they regain their sentience then that would be a horrific existence... especially for variants that fuse multiple hosts together eg: Brutes, Scions and Praetorians.
@@Killzoneguy117 only problem I find with destroy is the destruction of the mass relays. As we learned in arrival those things wipe out systems on destruction so I don't see how most of the galaxy survived. Also even if they did all the fleets from every race are now stranded in the sol system on a ruined world with no more easy travel for food and resources. A bunch of armed soldiers stuck in a hard situation like that pretty much spells that there will be a bloody resource war in the coming months after the relay destruction. Control, while tainted by the failed character of the Illusive Man pitching it, ends up being the best end. The galaxy gains the strongest military of all time under the control of either a morally infallible Paragon or a Renegade who will do anything to complete their goals. All the AIs survive and are coexisting with organics. Finally the Mass effect relays are still completely operational. As for synthesis I completely agree and it's not worth mentioning.
I think no Shepard would ever chose this ending.
A Paragon Shep would most likely pick destroy. He sacraficed 300k batarians to stop the reapers without even flinching. Why would he hesitate to kill of all synthetics?
Allthough the Paragon Shepard might chose to pick the synthesis ending.
A Renegade Shepard would most likely pick control or destroy I think.
There's so little talk about the control ending. I played a mostly renegade Femshep through the whole trilogy. My first choice was to choose the control ending. I was dead set on destroying at all costs but after brokering peace between the geth and quarians, getting to know EDI and Legion, I couldn't bring myself to destroy them. Secondly, presented with the choice to control the Reapers I found the idea to be the most ideal.
1. Shepard would replace the catalyst. The Catalyst was created by the Leviathans, a tyrannical species with a god-complex. Shepard would retain the essence of who she was along with her memories. This alone would make her better suited to have direct control of the Reapers. She knows their power, what it means, and what can be done with it.
2. The Reapers are broken OP guardian bots of doom. As Shep herself alludes to, the Reapers could become a fighting force made to protect and maintain the galaxy from threats internal and external. Destroying the Reapers would mean putting an end to the essence of millions of harvested species. Wasted resources and knowledge, but under new management could usher in a golden age for the galaxy.
3. Synthesis is an immoral choice as it removes personal choice and agency which is one of Shepards driving forces in fighting the Reapers. The decision for control is a totally personal one, and given who Shepard is, she can make it so that decision only directly affects her. The reapers can immediately stop, fly off into the dark and begin fixing the mess. The cycle ends, and the Reapers take on a new role under her command. It's not as rosy with Synthesis. Making that kind of decision for literally every living and synthetic being is hypocritical, it's exactly what the Reapers would do.
I think Control is vastly underrated. People claim it's giving the Reapers what they want but honestly, being living machines themselves I'm certain the Reapers don't want to die either merely because they were fulfilling their intended purpose. Control only makes it so Shepard has to offer the sacrifice, and in so she offers her very being to add an organic sensibility to the Reapers, something they were seriously lacking despite their age and their complex litany of knowledge. Shepard could complete them and give them a different direction. Anywho, done rambling, ME is awesome.
Well, BioWare certainly isn`t afraid about putting us into great dilemma when playing Mass Effect which makes the game even better in the end. I think it`s an individual choice & opinion. I mean after playing 100 + hours & making difficult choices throughout the 3 games, the final choice I think is what`s best in the player`s perspective about how his/her Shepard was.
I really hope BioWare can really step the level up in Mass Effect 4 !
control option is flawed because it's control... too much for one who has done many horrible things... many in order to save the galaxy.. some not... destroy is the only way to go... and it's the only one where shep doesn't lose their form... they are still human and just like everyone else they can be killed... i think control is just a bit silly considering the premise of it... better hope any Batarians that are left don't try it with shep now that he's an army of reapers etc
I have one major problem with control - power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
People behave like people because they form connections with others. Because they love and laugh and grieve and hurt. But a Control ending Shepad?
Imagine it. She has essentially had her mind uploaded to the largest supercomputer in the galaxy. She went from being a well above average human, to the most powerful and knowledgable being in existence in seconds.
That's something which would change a person.
Maybe not straight away. But once she's watched as Garrus and Tali and eventually Liara and Grunt die of old age. When large scale wars break out, or a huge terrorist/slaver atfack occurs, or the krogan want to expand?
Eventually, a Control Shepard is going to make Synthesis a reality, I 100% believe.
From a computer's perspective, it's the logical decision, and at that point she basically is just a computer.
At best, she becomes a micro-managing control freak like The Illusive Man, as she intervenes to fix problem after problem. At worst, eventually she solves the problem by making everyone the same.
@@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human You're thinking in purely organic or synthetic terms, yet 'Shepard' in this case, is either or neither. power corrupts organics because organics innately have wants that purely serve themselves as individuals, a trait that comes as a result of just having biological, instinctive impulses to gather resources to stay alive. unless specifically programmed to have such wants, synthetics innately lack them. their existences are to serve purposes, & a sapient synthetic would simply be one that would like to define for themselves, their own purpose, than actually have innate wants like we do. we wouldn't see the new consciousness in the Reapers corrupted in the way organics would be from wielding absolute, unchallenged power, simply because that consciousness, despite being derived from Shepard, is NOT Shepard. having 'Shepard' in control simply means adding new organic-like directives to the catalyst, & unlike organics, the catalyst wouldn't have instinctive impulses to mangle these directives.
On the flip side, given that said directives come from an organic & not entirely logical to begin with, acknowledged & implemented as such, the 'new Shepard' also wouldn't be reduced to being a mere machine that molds its behavior & attitude to fit its purpose like the Catalyst. with that said, the new directives, unless impacted by something as huge as how the completion of the Crucible changed the Catalyst, would ALWAYS stay true to Shepard's mindset when they fought the war. everything the new consciousness does, would always be based on Shepard's drive to protect everything dear to them, & with that vast power, to observe & mediate. the new Reapers may be more nosy or less nosy than the old ones depending on circumstances, but they would NEVER make everyone the same, simply because Shepard has always been one who'd at least appreciate diversity, at the time of their death.
If youd listen carefully of control speech, youd hear that Shep in the “all the reapers” form is taking decision each and other second for everybody. Id call that wrong rather than calling synthesis a hypocrisy as its a final goal for both types of species.
Since there needs to be an AI to manage the catalyst, and thus the Crucible, can't Shepard simply ask EDI to try and assume direct control of it? After all, since she's partially made of Reaper code, she might be capable of doing so
It would be funny if EDI's eyes turned yellow and out came Harbinger's voice.
U can't hack a computer with a firewall made out of billions of years of experience...
This game has been out for +10 years now and I had no idea refusal was a choice.
legendary edition...
I literaly just shot at the kid for no reason and got this ending. Good thing i saved.
In my last playthrough I collected 8000+ war assets, practically maxing out the game. But when the final decision came I jokingly shot the Starchild in the head from distance on my way to Destroy... I just then realized that it leads to Refusal ending so I just closed it, reloaded and went for Perfect Destroy like it never happened, lol.
Gotta say it scared me big time when after about 100 hours of perfectionist playthrough the kid said in a low voice that "So be it. The Cycle will continue" lol. Even the Reaper AI seemed to be disappointed in that decision.
I consider this a horrible ending, it basically leaves everyone behind, even more than the worst Destroy.
Destroy ending means gen0cide of the Geth. Control is least bad ending despite being poorly written & contradicting everything said about the Reapers for three games
Man, I love this ending, it’s so sad.
Videogames are a form of art
Best ending on my opinion. This cycle is a failure. All that could went wrong did so. The immense stupidity of the galactic counsil(basically the best individuals from the most advanced races). No preparations until the Reapers are already here. No unity until almost the very end. There is no universe where someone can carry all this by himself like Shepard did. Happy ending to this story is a delusion.
Meh there is no "best" ending for me. I agree that this cycle is a failure, but not 100% a failure as they've delayed the invasion by 3 years, defeated Sovereign, Shep defeated the collectors, delayed another reaper invasion by 6 months by destroying the Alpha Relay. It was a great story overall & I've dedicated 100+ hours in all 3 games. When I chose this ending, it was like everything thing I did, every decision I took & the 100 + hours were wasted. And even in the best ending (Synthesis or Destroy) their is no happy ending to Shepard story but that doesn't mean it's not a great story ! I see your point but everyone will defer. Ohh and thanks for watching ! 😁
Counselor is just a representative of their race, Udina is not the best of the human race. This cycle is not a failure, It succeeded, the Catalyst authenticate it. it said "the fact that you are standing here, the first organic ever, proves it, it also proves my solution won't work anymore" so we can understand the cycle stops here, what shepard needs to do is choose a new direction for the whole galaxy. If this cycle was a failure, why did the Catalyst decide to stop harvesting, and let Shepard choose the future? All 4 end like it or not, that is the story of Commander Shepard. It's like reading a book, you won't know the end until you finish it, and the story is written to convey the message, not to satisfy you.
That's an unfair judgement in my opinion. By all accounts this cycle did things that previous ones never managed at all, like getting all of the galactic civilizations to fight together and stand side-by-side, even if it took a long time. Destroy is the best ending, it achieves the goal that you as Shepard have been trying to complete for the whole trilogy, but it's also not perfect (which is a good thing, it's bittersweet and not a ''everyone lived happily ever after'') - eliminating all synthetics and mass relays, forcing organics to spend decades rebuilding. Also as the Catalyst warns - war will return, as inevitably new synthetics will be created so it leaves room for new stories to be told, which we now know they're doing. So Destroy is the best ending imo and it's the one they have to use as canon if they're gonna make the next Mass Effect happen in The Milky Way with returning characters.
@@akaranzo the protheans and leviathan made the same mistake....made sure they were the only people who ruled unilaterally this is why the programming of the reapers is the way it is. If they only worked together for peace there would be no reason for the reapers...that is its programming to preserve life....the only way to preserve life is peace in coexistence...we are talking about a whole galaxy they can spread out and live in peace with each other....
None of the endings are happy, that's the point. Each one requires sacrifice.
It really sucks Humanity was slaughtered and harvested to get to this ending, but it leaves me curious as to the next cycles Races and how they managed to stop the cycle entirely.
That my friend, it`s another story that we`ll probably would never know.
Thanks for watching !
By the sounds of it they find Liaras beacon early, before the reapers even show up, build the crucible and activate it before the war even starts. Then all they'd have to do is choose one of the 3 endings themselves lol
@bucky699 I imagined that they travelled out to dark space and found the Reapers. The codex said that they basically went into hibernation to preserve energy, and they were defenceless, so they hid in dark space.
If the next cycles organics just sent a few dreadnaughts to dark space and they found the Reapers, they could kill them all in a day or two.
No need for the Crucible at all.
@@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human then the Reapers will start the cycle early. A few dreadnoughts aren't enough to take on the literal millions of Reaper ships out there. And we know they can leave hibernation in dark space - it's how they rushed to the Alpha Relay in ME2
I'm sure the writers didn't know either
The next cycle will be the Yahg, who are very territorial animals that demand obedience from all others. Something tells me that assholes like that won't be able to beat the Reapers, they're worse than Krogans
That's what Mass Effect 4 should be. The remaining crew of the Normandy, emerging from stasis in a cave a couple miles below the surface of Parnack and they begin the process of setting the Yahg on a course to destroy the reapers in 50,000 years.
If there's anything to be taken away from the ME universe regarding galactic species, is that there's NO ONE species that could dominate all others unless they emerge wayyyy earlier than others, & everyone else is so technologically behind that said species is unchallenged. that's highly unlikely with the yahg, as despite being a pre-space-flight species with intelligence on par with the more advanced races, they're far too territorial & confrontational with even each other to emerge as the technologically supreme race of the next cycle. besides, there're also indeed others that're already advanced enough to build civilizations yet stay out of the whole galactic war, just hardly mentioned.
there 2 Cryo Pods offscreen: 1 has Shepard and other has Javik
So everybody dies in this ending??? Wtf??!
One more story... About the time Shepard threw a house party at the end of the galaxy and it was his greatest accomplishment
This is HOW game of thrones should have ended.
1. Blue - Catalyst clearly states that all that's basically happens is that he will be replaced by an AI based on Shepard's mind, so nothing prevents Reapers from starting the cycle all over again, but this time they will likely have a huge advantage as they have been integrated into the society as omnipotent and omnipresent gods in control of the galaxy.
2. Green - Forget the fact that you violate bodily autonomy of the whole galaxy with this decision, you also turn every one into an advanced Husk, it's most likely that the synthetic part of all living being will be a Reaper who will control the galaxy and continue the cycle, this is probably the most sinister ending.
3. Red - What a great idea, destroy literally all the technology including weapons, medical equipment and the whole geth army along with killing millions of people all over the galaxy. All though ... Not all technology, only that within the reach of mass relays ... So nothing in the dark space will be affected and as the AI said the technology can be easily repaired. Seemingly the safest ending, but likely just a way to soften up the galaxy for Reapers eventual return.
Refusal ending is the only true ending unfortunately. All the other leave you enslaved by the Reapers one way or another. People say that refusal ending means that all you did was in vain, but this is not true, without you the next cycle wouldn't be able to actually defeat the Reapers for real this time.
Next cycle lives under Yahg tyranny. Good job.
That is certainly a way to predict things, but I've read online comments on different platforms, and I get the impression that most people predict it like this:
1.) It's the Shepard AI that prevents the Reapers from restarting the cycle and so the cycle is broken.
2.) The Reapers have no reason to continue the cycle as every organic is now a hybrid with their original minds and synthetic structure, and every synthetic now understands the organics. "Husk" implies the organics will be controlled, but most likely they won't be controlled, so they are not husks. And so the cycle is broken.
3.) The Reapers are destroyed. The cycle is broken... unless some scientist in the future invents another Reaper-like AI.
@@IAmebAdger the blue ending doesn't make sense in general, but the green ending is just some Husk fascism. Have everyone forgotten that it was Saren's original goal to meld organics and synthetics when he was indoctrinated? This is exactly what Reapers want, because now they don't have to fight organics, they can just flip a switch and we will follow into the meatgrinder if they need us to for whatever reason, it's absolute control.
Also remember, that in all of these ending, Reapers are in control. THEY are the ones giving you these options. In the blue ending there is no reason to belive that Shepard AI is not controlled by the Reapers, it's probably what will give them a huge advantage and allow them to win the war.
Imagine someone breaks into your house wanting to kill your family, you fight them off and they're like "Hold on a sec, I see I can't beat you so how about we compromise? I give a choice, I can kill you, your wife or your child and then leave, what do you say?" - This is about what happens in the Mass Effect 3 ending sequence. The obvious choice is to tell them to f-off and fight them on your own terms.
@@NoName-ym5zj Generally people are not assuming that Reapers can flip any sort of switch to assume control over any other synthetics in the green ending, remember the Geth were never truly under Reaper control either. The cutscenes seem to imply the Reapers get an attitude change since they've reached their goal (their goal is to minimize war between organics and the synthetics that organics eventually create) and that's about it.
About that last interpretation: It seems that the war against the Reapers was always unwinnable, according to the refusal ending cutscenes, so that interpretation might have to be rethought.
@@IAmebAdger that's a really bold assumption, considering these options are given to you by the Reapers. Reaper's goal wasn't to minimize war, it was to prevent organics being wiped out by synthetics and their logic was to wipe out all advanced organic life before they manage to create synthetics advanced enough to wipe out the organics. The reason why Reapers might be able to flip a switch is because this synthesis comes from Reaper tech and most likely infuses Reaper and human DNA or something.
It is unwinnable, because you loose in all the endings IMO, the only ending where you at least get a fighting chance and don't end up a slave to the Reapers is the refusal ending where Shepard rejects the choices given to him by the Reapers and tries fighting against all odds.
At the very least, it's the best one from narrative standpoints, because in all other ending you get this:
1) Blue - Robot fascism, organics loose autonomy as everything is now done by the Reapers and all the power is concentrated in this Reaper AI that might malfunction just like the previous version did.
2) Green - You literally violate bodily autonomy of the whole galaxy and turn them into advanced Husks that are most likely controlled by the Reapers.
3) Red - You commit a genocide of every synthetic being in the galaxy.
4) Refusal - Against all odds you try to fight without compromise with these hellish robot abominations and even if you don't save the galaxy, you give a fighting chance for the next cycle who end up destroying the Reapers.
This ending would be fine if you went into the final battle with low war assets. I maintain there SHOULD have been an ending to win the battle on military strength alone if you had enough assets.
Couldn't she/he just go over and still destroy the thing for example
You see how fast the crucible shuts down, the catalyst is 100% in control the whole time... Why does it even bother with shepard...
@enduser-0 Really?? Well im glad they went with this ending/endings. One of the original ending concepts was a reaper queen of sorts and something about dark energy eating up the galaxy. Im sure they had some concepts about sacrificing humanity too. Many concepts were never realized, but Im quite convinced that the dark energy concept will return to mass effect 5 somehow.
@enduser-0 I agree. They must reignite the series with a dashing Mass effect 2 style of a game, if not, its done.
Personally I think a prequel based on Drew Karpyshyns Revelation would do the trick. But he's no longer there and he wont come back sadly.
@enduser-0 That would also make for a good tv show
control endding is the true one
in The "REFUSAL" Ending In the last video the Asari or Quarian or Earth Clan granddaughter of Commander Separd tells the story to the grandchild of him or her!
thats supposed to be one of the races of the next cycle 50k years in the future, everybody in the current one was killed.
That's the best ending. Eff that star child sh*t.
For the first time I played games I was so frustrated I shot the kid
Yeah, really surprised when cutscene showed up
Game basically tells you that the whole galaxy together couldn't stop the reapers. Fuck this game
The next cycle beat them.
This ending just shows Sovereign was right. "You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it."
You can thank the salty fanboys for that. This ending didn't even exist until Bioware felt the pressure to add it in a forced patch.
You had a very childish view on the game anyway.
They wouldn't be able to hold for long even with the technology extracted from Sovereign. The final attack was to distract the Reapers while the Crucible was being docked into the Citadel. The Reapers were actually holding back because they wanted to preserve the DNA of each species in order to upload it into Reaper bodies. If they wanted to kill everybody they would just go straight to orbital bombings and leave the home worlds and colonies inhospitable and then pick off the stragglers. The Reapers don't have a home world or need bases as they are spaceships. It was mentioned in the game that the Crucible was perfected during multiple cycles and each cycle that failed took it one step closer to completion. The cycle during the time of Mass Effect completed it and finally learned what it actually does. So even if the species of the time of Mass Effect failed the next cycle would be the last because the next species would find all the information and wouldn't be in the dark as to the true nature of the device.
This is the maga ending
Whats the point of the mass effect games if you just gonna refuse to do anything
Does this strike anyone else as extremely... selfish, as an ending? This choice (the choice of inaction) seems to be entirely predicated on Shep all at once deciding "no but me though".
"If I die, at least I'll die free" is a very... jingoist and self-serving way of phrasing it. I get that the whole Mass Effect series is basically military wet dream (which don't get me wrong, I like this series a lot), but still, especially for a Paragon Shep, this ending and the motivation behind it feels incredibly out of character.
My Shepard basically told sovereign that he'd rather die free than be their pawn so it wasn't entirely out of character to give the catalyst the finger.
This ending would have been better if the galaxy could actually defeat the reapers if they were united unlike in previous cycles.
It's because it is a hastily slopped together ending from the pressure of fans without any regard for stuff that's already been established. Many fans felt butthurt because the original endings didn't meet their hyped up expectations, so Bioware shrugged and added an ending which they thought would please the nay-sayers, and wouldn't you know it, some deluded individuals even try to rationalize this as being the "best" ending. XD
And I thought the other endings left me wanting more. This ending stinks
My favorite ending. The other 3 are just chosen outcomes the reapers pressure you into while pretending they are oh so gracious to offer you mediocre options at all. With this, the next cycle may finally end it, even if humanity is not part of it (who knows), and get to a better future without destroying or combining with machines.
I can tell you, they wont. Now the Keepers will be fixed, all capsuled will be found and Yahg will lead the galaxy into death and lose all the gift we gave them like the Asari. It has to end now.
@Vipa you sound Pretty indoctrinated to me
This is a case of devs caving in to pressure from whiny fans when they shouldn't have. It just comes out of the left field and is an ending which effectively makes EVERY action you've taken in all three games absolutely pointless. And not just the big actions, but small actions too.. helping someone reunite with a friend? Pft, they'll die anyway. You began an epic journey that lasted three games to change things. But in the end, you CHOSE to let it all happen just the same. Everything that transpires in the games, all the emotional moments, the paths diverging, te experience... all of it.. EVERYTHING ceases to matter.
Some might argue that the endings as they originally were were bad because they resulted in what they considered to be "surface-level" changes and nothing else (a sentiment which I respectfully disagree with), but this ending makes NO sense because it renders you even having played the games at all into a dead-end fruitless endeavor. Like "no, I refuse to chose among the choices you present. I chose for you to kill the entire galaxy instead". If I could roll my eyes any harder....
And for what? So fans can sit back and think they have affected real change?
However, I suppose it could also be seen as a diss from Bioware to all those who threw a fit because the endings didn't meet their expectations and so they gave them something which REALLY sucked. From that perspective, I say good on you, Bioware. Fuck those crybabies. Let them refuse to chose and see all that they love crumble into dust. It's what they deserve.
I wasn't on the hate bandwagon for the ending back in 2012, I thought most people were whiney and entitled. Bioware clearly had their own vision and the fans refused to accept it, so they made crappy theories like the Indoctrination theory to make themselves feel better about their purchase. I think refusal might be my favorite ending in terms of how realistic it is, the Reapers are the stewards of the Galaxy, they have good reason to put an expiration date on species, this is how lower species have a chance to evolve and continue the cycle of growth.
I normally pick the Control ending, whether I'm doing a Renegade or Paragon run, I believe the Reapers have utility in the Mass Effect world; Destroy's ending isn't as colorful as people make it out to be, even the Destroy ending with high EMS.
As cliche as it sounds, the journey is more valuable than the destination when it comes to Mass Effect. I cared more about the relationship dilemmas in this game more than saving the Galaxy. I look at it like this, whether or not there is a life beyond the grave, my actions still have small or large consequences on everyone around me, my choices in life DO matter.
Also the complaints over the "star child" are annoying, it's like fans need every little thing explained to them and have their hands held like babies. The Catalyst took on the form of a dead child to be on an equal footing with your Shepherd, it's an attempt of a truce and the Reapers being open minded to listen to you. The Catalyst admits that Shepherd has proven the cycles can no longer run as normal, the Reapers being machines only care about easing their objective and carrying out their functions; there isn't a literal AI star child controlling the Reapers.
This is literally worse than the other ending (not gonna count them as 3 cause they aren't.)
You simply cannot start the game with Shepard under house arrest for blowing up a relay and causing a shockwave that destroyed the entire star system then have all 3 base game endings destroy the relays like it's fine. This is the only ending that I will ever pick because it's the only one that respects the established lore. Whatever they are cooking for the next game after Andromeda is a fun little "What if" as far as I am concerned.
Also shout out to Andromeda for at least having a really smart way of side stepping the impact of the original trilogy. If it did anything right it was that.
Well that & killed 200,000 Batarian living in that star system if I remember correctly...
Would be depressing but would love Mass Effect 4 to be in the aftermath of the Refusal ending. Covering both Liara Fighting and running, setting up beacons, and also about the species before the next cycle finding the beacons you setup as Liara. Prepping for the next culling.
i think this is the worst ending in any medium i have seen in a video game....and that self righteous speech that got everyone killed....
This is why I chose Synthesis ending
Me too.
You chose wrong.
That's the equivalent of Wayne's World's Mega-Happy Ending.
@@Rikalonius Control and Refusal are the best endings.
This ending is another joke as the others are
Asari: they fought a terrible war so that we wouldn’t have to
Me: I wish I had an option to make your species go extinct instead of the Krogan, Quarians, and Geth
I think for ME4 and other ME games in the future this ending has to be canon no way The Milky Way survived Shepard died by Harbingers beam like cmon on no way he survived that unless harbinger intentionally didn’t do enough damage to kill him for whatever reason as he just flew off I was confused as after he got beamed and went into the portal everything just felt off like a dream sequence or something, definitely the reapers are returning though not in the same way they were portrayed in the trilogy and we’ll definitely see the return of the scourge/ dark energy as that could be the next big threat. And could possibly even see the Jardaan who knows where they went after Meridian they knew something big was coming and fleed
Then why do we see an Asari (likely Liara) in the trailer? Also I think the characters in the background look like several of the Milky Way species from the current cycle.
@@Jedi_Spartan doesn’t mean every species went extinct after all a prothean survived its cycle though unable to reproduce so who knows what BioWare will come up with just doesn’t make sense for any other ending to work synthesis and control and destroy(red) where all life is destroyed could be canon also with few survivors remain, and the asari is Liara she’s about 800 years old in that trailer who knows what she’s been doing that time between the ending of 3 and then. After all she is the shadow broker so she must have good resources And i wonder if it’s a coincidence or not but her age being around 800 is when the events of mass effect andromeda are taking place or have taken place already so more than likely to combine both series together since they aren’t making a sequel to andromeda anymore
@drosedropped50 It`s unlikely that Shepard was dreaming all of that & died by Harbinger`s bean like come on, if that`s true then that`s some extremely bad story writing there ! I don`t think the Reapers are coming again in the next Mass Effect game though because in the trailer we see Liara climbing what it would seem like a dead Reaper...even if they do return in what form ? (as you described it).
The scourge making its way to the milky way would be interesting theory & consequently story for me personally. In any case right now we don`t know what will happen in the next Mass Effect but I hope Bioware is cooking up some nice story & gameplay for us. Thank you for watching & commenting.
We can also distinguish what it would like an Angara though. Like I said right now there is only speculation about what`s what for the next Mass Effect game.
@@x.gamehub.x idk but it did give off a dream like vibe after he woke up being hit Anderson and the illusive man already being there just felt off and didn’t make too much sense like how’d Anderson survive harbinger also him being beamed up and ahead of Shepard like -_- and yea could be lazy writing but it is what it is, as for the reapers they still exist in dark space the reapers we seen were only a faction that agreed with the harvest as sovereign said each reaper is a nation independent, there are definitely more reapers in dark space finding their own means of the preservation of life we could see them return and not every reaper is based on the leviathans with their squid like feature as we seen their can be different types of reapers like the human one so we might see them in a different form, after all the years they could be out in other galaxy’s also but not with the intentions of harvesting life to preserve it, I seen something interesting that a reaper based species made the angara they experiment and actually made organic life And they made meridian and such for said life to be protected and was meant to be their home in andromeda, and they later fled cause they feared something idk if it was the scourge or dark energy forming meaning the sign of the end of the universe, but them leaving everything behind is strange, at the end of the day it’s still fun to speculate no matter what BioWare gives us if they tie in andromeda or whatever I’m sure it won’t satisfy everyone knowing how EA and them are
ah yes, the libertarian ending.
This is the true ending 👍
Choices
Graphics suck. This must have been on console.
Relax there master race.
@@christina3609
Lol!!!!!
You know us so well......