This was actually amazing. It was straight up creepy cosmic horror. The Citadel as a blank slate, silently waiting in the dark was way more unsettling than I was expecting. I hope this blows up in the fandom. Seriously, well done.
Thanks :) The video is doing pretty well to be honest, considering I only shared it once, when I made it. Most of traffic is from YT browse/suggestion.
I like the small details. Sovereign and Harbinger being the last ones to be at the citadel basically saying "see you at the next harvest" right before Harbinger does a relay jump and Sovereign FTLs into hiding.
"See ya at the next harvest, Sov." "Can we talk about this one more time, Harb? "What's that? Bzzzzz. I can barely hear from power loss. Bzzzz. I need to recharge back in Dark Space. Bzzzzzz. See ya." Harbinger leaves. "Harbinger. You are as much an asshole as the species you did come from." Sovereign leaves.
I believe there's a fic somewhere about a female Sov and Harb being in a romantic relationship. That's why he's got such a hard-on for killing Shep in ME2.
Really does make you wonder if the inside of the Citadel really does become just a maze of metallic gray blocks until the next space-faring race arrives since the reapers would clean out any traces of themselves and former civilizations that occupied it. Its almost haunting.
@@silentnight6810 The prothean researchers went and installed the conduit on the Citadel after the harvest. The question should be- why didn't the keepers remove it?
I think the leave just enough evidence of the previous cycle so that whoever does find the Citadel does so thinking that it was 100% left behind by that civilization. That way if there was anything left behind by the Protheans the two technologies and architecture don't look too different as to raise any suspicion to investigate too heavily.
@@UsernameGeri The keepers likely get a passive programming between the cycles. Which means, that they no longer interfere with organics. To them the protheans were the same category as the Asari. They could not really make difference between races of different cycels, and simply follow the Reapers' programming. Between cycles it is to keep the Citadel operational so whoever takes control can use it withoud digging too deep into it. Remember, that the Citadel holds literally all the answers. The entire plan, the reasons, everything. If a race were figured that out, then they could have beaten the cycle simply by reprogramming the Catalyst.
The citadel isn’t a trap - the reapers don’t just prey on the species that use the citadel. Anyone species advance enough to create synthetics is deemed worthy of harvesting, and they’d harvest them regardless. Heck even 21st century humans aren’t safe from the harvest if we create sentient AI regardless of if we are space faring. The reapers would probably just bombard us orbitally and harvest the remains. FTL civilizations are their priority each cycle as they pose a serious threat to the reapers. But kid you not - any space flight capable civilization advance enough to develop synthetics and AI is considered ripe for harvesting.
The most horrifying about all this was just how quiet everything was after it was done. The Reaper's had clinically and surgically destroyed all organic life, leaving for dark space and the Citadel to float around until being found by the next species. The Destiny Ascension coming into view as it finds it was the icing on the cake of this ominous video. That this has all happened before, a race finding the Citadel and starting the cycle all over again.
They've been doing this again and again and again thousands of times.. no wonder they look down on the possibility of anyone stopping them, it just hasn't happened before. Makes you wonder if some cycles did cause them more trouble than normal, yet were wiped out without a trace anyway. Chilling.
@@UsernameGeri Isn't it too early? Like, no way Azari kept that ship in active duty for hundreds of years after Citadel discovery for it to be present as flagship of defence force in ME1
@@atee5912 The same model of ship is visible in the Citadel archives in the Citadel DLC. Maybe it's not the exact same ship, but it's the same model. Here's the clip th-cam.com/video/N4QkfPjJL4Y/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PRGEQFgR89srXReN&t=227
I've been getting different Mass Effect videos recommended for months now, but this is the one that really makes me want to replay the trilogy. You really managed to capture something here!
A cool DLC. At this point I think that devs could throw a hellton of DLCs instead of Andromeda, telling new short stories of how previous cycles ended or were fighting, other stories from Milky Way
Watching these wonderful fan made videos gives me 3 immediate thoughts. 1) Knowledge that Mass Effect's best days are wwaaaaaay behind us, due to all of the founding members of Bioware having either been fired by EA, or quit, because the company now blows DEI chunks. 2) The very best that we ShepHeads can expect from Mass Effect moving forward, are these wonderful modern fan made videos. 3) Mass Effect: Andromeda
@@fobbitoperator3620 Yes, I am quite sure. The vast majority of people who use the concept of DEI in that way have no fucking idea what it means, and it's just their way of not having to muster the balls to say the slur they actually want to. Why, just look at who says it on national TV.
@@cubeofcuriosities DEI forces governments & corporations to hire based on percentages of people with certain skin colors, gender identities, & sexual orientations. This is a formula of complete failure, as it focuses on race & identity, rather than meritorious abilities, & occupational qualifications. Calling me a racist due to the truth I speak, speaks volumes of your character. People like yourself are the problem in modern human society. DEI hamstrings human innovation, & the ascendance of our civilization...
It's *really* concerning that this right wing "hurr DEI!!!" garbage got a heart, I love this animation and it's prequel and the idea the creator might hold these views is disappointing indeed. They don't suck because of ""DEI"" they suck because the people that instilled magic into ME left, the people that are there now simply don't compare because *they simply aren't as good* or do not get it. It has literally nothing to do with this fucking hogwash you're spouting, which we both know is just code for slurs and women. Next you'll say "woke is killing games", I'm sure. Conservative brainwash victim.
@@UsernameGeri Manswell Expedition, The destruction of various planets due to the Reapers, the bird species discovered just at the end of the cycle trying desperately to hide their development from the reapers by destroying their satellites, the Yahg, etc.
Super ominous, very cool! I would be interest you could maybe show how you imagine a processing ship looks and operates like, they don’t get too much lore apart from a codex entry in the game
I would imagine it looks similar to the collector ship/base interior. Honestly tho, I'm terrible at animating characters, so I'd probably fail at trying to make this, since it would need to show living people as well.
The end of ME3 didn't do that for you when they were taking off people's armor? I wanted to shoot them during my playthroughs but they game won't let me.
@@gibster9624i dont remember that scene, ill have to go look it up but i mean i still dont wanna shoot them, for all we know they dont have any control over what theyre doing. its more likely theyre like the collectors and were made into a slave race, either that or they were built to be used by the reapers kinda like the angara
This gives me an idea on how Mass Effect 3 could've ended... what if, instead of using space magic, the Crucible was used to amplify the power of the Citadel's relay to send all of the Reapers back to Dark Space? Farther out than they were before, insuring that it would take billions of years for them to return to the galaxy via regular FTL travel... enough that they would run out of power before returning to the Milky Way, thus making the journey impossible?
To add to that, maybe the distance would be dependant on your war assets. The more you have, the further out they go. If your war assets are too low, the crucible might just misfire and the reapers stay where they are.
edi in mass effect 2 seem to implied they tried built prothean reaper but failed so i guess thats why citadel stayed opened this time unilke in shepard cycle
That could still have potentially happened in between the time the reapers leave and the asari first arrive. Once the reaper is fully gestated it leaves to join the reaper army and the station looks like nothing ever happened.
Also it made me think of... at least 2 mass relays are needed just to make the way from point A to point B and back, obviously. So, does it mean that there is one mass relay hidden in the dark space? In the intergalactic space? And probably the intact one, because the Crucible only affected mass relays of the Milky Way... Interesting, would it be in the next ME game...
Aaand yes of course I'm not the first who thought of that, just searched up and found 12yo topic on the Reddit Damn, why have I never come across this topic anywhere else?
@@UsernameGeri I thought the conduit was how they got to the citadel after the harvest ended. Wouldn’t they have to construct it beforehand? I was under the impression that there needed to be a relay at the start and end point to make the jump. I still think it looks sick just nitpicking. Pay me no mind.
@@PaperComa I guess it's never explicitly stated, but I think it's heavily implied that the Conduit project was being developed on Ilos during/after the harvest, so the relay we see on the Citadel had to have been hauled there after the reapers have already left.
You’re both right. The Conduit was already there before the harvest on Ilos and the Citadel. It may be considered a weak plot hole but the Reapers most likely were focused on waging the intergalactic war against the Protheans, as well as the harvest rather than what technological advancements they made. This seems to be the likely outcome, because the harvest was completed before they could finish mastering Mass Effect technology or the Catalyst.
@@ragnabolt683 So I watched the whole Vigil conversation again so I don't make unsubstantiated claims. th-cam.com/video/gUdYxa6r_bI/w-d-xo.html Here Vigil says the work on the relay prototype did start before the invasion began, but the research was done on Ilos, so I think it's very unlikely the small relay was already on the Citadel before the harvest. th-cam.com/video/gUdYxa6r_bI/w-d-xo.html And here Vigil only says the Conduit "gave access" to the Citadel. Fairly vague, but again, no mention of any relay prototype on the Citadel itself. Since this is Mass Effect 1, we can still believe the Reapers to be truly "brutal, and absolutely thorough", so leaving the conduit on the Citadel can be easily denied as a possibility.
Late to the party but I just realised the protheans being dragged off were the Ilos scientists. The unsung heroes of Mass Effect. Rest in Peace.
This was actually amazing. It was straight up creepy cosmic horror. The Citadel as a blank slate, silently waiting in the dark was way more unsettling than I was expecting. I hope this blows up in the fandom. Seriously, well done.
Thanks :)
The video is doing pretty well to be honest, considering I only shared it once, when I made it. Most of traffic is from YT browse/suggestion.
@@UsernameGeri dude people are asking me when are you gonna build the lego reaper people would love the video so much
not a big reaper tho....
@@deshionmcintyrejr2415 what people are asking *you* ? 😂
@@UsernameGeri are you gonna build a lego reaper? (with instructions)
I like the small details. Sovereign and Harbinger being the last ones to be at the citadel basically saying "see you at the next harvest" right before Harbinger does a relay jump and Sovereign FTLs into hiding.
"See ya at the next harvest, Sov."
"Can we talk about this one more time, Harb?
"What's that? Bzzzzz. I can barely hear from power loss. Bzzzz. I need to recharge back in Dark Space. Bzzzzzz. See ya."
Harbinger leaves.
"Harbinger. You are as much an asshole as the species you did come from."
Sovereign leaves.
I believe there's a fic somewhere about a female Sov and Harb being in a romantic relationship. That's why he's got such a hard-on for killing Shep in ME2.
Good catch! I didn't notice that their departing animations were different!
lmao@@maksymilianziele28
@@HowlingWolf518 Fanon supported lmao
Really does make you wonder if the inside of the Citadel really does become just a maze of metallic gray blocks until the next space-faring race arrives since the reapers would clean out any traces of themselves and former civilizations that occupied it. Its almost haunting.
A really interesting idea. Though it does raise the question on why they left the relay monument/conduits receiver but removed everything else.
@@silentnight6810 The prothean researchers went and installed the conduit on the Citadel after the harvest. The question should be- why didn't the keepers remove it?
@@UsernameGeri maybe when they modified the keepers, they made them not remove the monument :p
I think the leave just enough evidence of the previous cycle so that whoever does find the Citadel does so thinking that it was 100% left behind by that civilization. That way if there was anything left behind by the Protheans the two technologies and architecture don't look too different as to raise any suspicion to investigate too heavily.
@@UsernameGeri The keepers likely get a passive programming between the cycles. Which means, that they no longer interfere with organics. To them the protheans were the same category as the Asari. They could not really make difference between races of different cycels, and simply follow the Reapers' programming. Between cycles it is to keep the Citadel operational so whoever takes control can use it withoud digging too deep into it. Remember, that the Citadel holds literally all the answers. The entire plan, the reasons, everything. If a race were figured that out, then they could have beaten the cycle simply by reprogramming the Catalyst.
I can’t unsee this video. Now, I just see the arms of the Citadel as what they are - the grasping fingers of a horrific trap.
The silence of the universe, coming from the end of Reaper harvest is definitely creepy.
The citadel isn’t a trap - the reapers don’t just prey on the species that use the citadel. Anyone species advance enough to create synthetics is deemed worthy of harvesting, and they’d harvest them regardless. Heck even 21st century humans aren’t safe from the harvest if we create sentient AI regardless of if we are space faring. The reapers would probably just bombard us orbitally and harvest the remains. FTL civilizations are their priority each cycle as they pose a serious threat to the reapers. But kid you not - any space flight capable civilization advance enough to develop synthetics and AI is considered ripe for harvesting.
In the grim darkness of the distant past, there is only silence.
silence has never been so loud
The most horrifying about all this was just how quiet everything was after it was done. The Reaper's had clinically and surgically destroyed all organic life, leaving for dark space and the Citadel to float around until being found by the next species. The Destiny Ascension coming into view as it finds it was the icing on the cake of this ominous video. That this has all happened before, a race finding the Citadel and starting the cycle all over again.
50,000 years later. This is my favourite store on the citadel.
XD
Harbinger: Harvest 20,011 Complete. Reset Complete. Cycle 20,012 assigned watcher: Sovereign. Begin.
I kinda wanna see the Mass Effect universe from the Reapers' perspective now
"kinda" being *my* operative word 😮😮
It's gonna be mostly a space sim
So, Power Washing Simulator?
They've been doing this again and again and again thousands of times.. no wonder they look down on the possibility of anyone stopping them, it just hasn't happened before. Makes you wonder if some cycles did cause them more trouble than normal, yet were wiped out without a trace anyway. Chilling.
@@saint_alucardwarthunder759unless you land on a planet and just cannon everything you see, like at the start of ME3.
The moment I saw the Destiny Ascencion near the end.. I was shocked. So this was all before the events of the game trilogy.
yep ;)
@@UsernameGeri Can't wait for ME5 dude, Liara was there!! AAAAA
@@goldeneagle47 huh?😶
Indeed... and for an extra surprise check out who's being dragged off... This is a very DEEP video
Holy shit. This is the content I didn't know Mass Effect fandom needed, but there it is. Cosmic horror as it is. Great job, added to my favourites
Really well done, very creepy. A good reminder of Mass Effect's cosmic horror elements
Oh wow! This is so awesome! Thank you! It’s even spookier than I imagined
The ship in the end looks a lot like Azari battleship, which could meen we see start of cycle shown in ME1-ME3
It's the Destiny Ascension ;)
Just like i thought then@@UsernameGeri
Wasn’t that a brand new ship developed in the time of ME1?
@@UsernameGeri Isn't it too early? Like, no way Azari kept that ship in active duty for hundreds of years after Citadel discovery for it to be present as flagship of defence force in ME1
@@atee5912 The same model of ship is visible in the Citadel archives in the Citadel DLC. Maybe it's not the exact same ship, but it's the same model. Here's the clip th-cam.com/video/N4QkfPjJL4Y/w-d-xo.htmlsi=PRGEQFgR89srXReN&t=227
That is... creepy, to say the least.
I've been getting different Mass Effect videos recommended for months now, but this is the one that really makes me want to replay the trilogy.
You really managed to capture something here!
This would be a good prologue before Mass Effect 1
Nah that would ruin the surprise
@@emil_king8237 a good afterloque then lol
A cool DLC. At this point I think that devs could throw a hellton of DLCs instead of Andromeda, telling new short stories of how previous cycles ended or were fighting, other stories from Milky Way
@@saint_alucardwarthunder759 agreed, that would be fucking amazing
It would be a good prologue for a new game + Mass Effect
the ending with the asari ship arriving reminds me of the ending of the movie Life. haunting.
Gees this is eerie. Nice touch with Sovereign going into FTL to someplace to hide while Harbinger jumps into Dark Space and the Ilos scientists.
Watching these wonderful fan made videos gives me 3 immediate thoughts.
1) Knowledge that Mass Effect's best days are wwaaaaaay behind us, due to all of the founding members of Bioware having either been fired by EA, or quit, because the company now blows DEI chunks.
2) The very best that we ShepHeads can expect from Mass Effect moving forward, are these wonderful modern fan made videos.
3) Mass Effect: Andromeda
Blaming things on DEI is a sure sign of the average American racist.
@@cubeofcuriosities sure...
@@fobbitoperator3620 Yes, I am quite sure. The vast majority of people who use the concept of DEI in that way have no fucking idea what it means, and it's just their way of not having to muster the balls to say the slur they actually want to. Why, just look at who says it on national TV.
@@cubeofcuriosities DEI forces governments & corporations to hire based on percentages of people with certain skin colors, gender identities, & sexual orientations. This is a formula of complete failure, as it focuses on race & identity, rather than meritorious abilities, & occupational qualifications.
Calling me a racist due to the truth I speak, speaks volumes of your character. People like yourself are the problem in modern human society. DEI hamstrings human innovation, & the ascendance of our civilization...
It's *really* concerning that this right wing "hurr DEI!!!" garbage got a heart, I love this animation and it's prequel and the idea the creator might hold these views is disappointing indeed.
They don't suck because of ""DEI"" they suck because the people that instilled magic into ME left, the people that are there now simply don't compare because *they simply aren't as good* or do not get it. It has literally nothing to do with this fucking hogwash you're spouting, which we both know is just code for slurs and women.
Next you'll say "woke is killing games", I'm sure. Conservative brainwash victim.
I need more of these
If you have any ideas in mind, let me know.
@@UsernameGeri Manswell Expedition, The destruction of various planets due to the Reapers, the bird species discovered just at the end of the cycle trying desperately to hide their development from the reapers by destroying their satellites, the Yahg, etc.
Its like babylon 4 where they find it
Super ominous, very cool!
I would be interest you could maybe show how you imagine a processing ship looks and operates like, they don’t get too much lore apart from a codex entry in the game
I would imagine it looks similar to the collector ship/base interior. Honestly tho, I'm terrible at animating characters, so I'd probably fail at trying to make this, since it would need to show living people as well.
Genuinely captivating, I wish there were more videos like this
Bro, imagine if this shows up during the Refusal Ending
I would like a fall of the prothean empire kinda game. Sort of like the fall of reach. You know the end but you still connect with the people
this really highlights how creepy the keepers are
The end of ME3 didn't do that for you when they were taking off people's armor? I wanted to shoot them during my playthroughs but they game won't let me.
@@gibster9624i dont remember that scene, ill have to go look it up but i mean i still dont wanna shoot them, for all we know they dont have any control over what theyre doing. its more likely theyre like the collectors and were made into a slave race, either that or they were built to be used by the reapers kinda like the angara
This was so much more haunting than I was expecting it to be. Stunning work.
My first game play was like that and I was "wait, whaaaat??? Did I really loose?" 😢😂😂
Death…. Silence….
This was awesome!
This gives me an idea on how Mass Effect 3 could've ended... what if, instead of using space magic, the Crucible was used to amplify the power of the Citadel's relay to send all of the Reapers back to Dark Space? Farther out than they were before, insuring that it would take billions of years for them to return to the galaxy via regular FTL travel... enough that they would run out of power before returning to the Milky Way, thus making the journey impossible?
Nice touch!
To add to that, maybe the distance would be dependant on your war assets. The more you have, the further out they go. If your war assets are too low, the crucible might just misfire and the reapers stay where they are.
@@atiqurrahman4034 and maybe the amount of them gone is also depends on war assets
Or straight up smash them into another interstellar object. Aka bug on a windshield.
The silence is haunting.
Awesome short. Looking forward to more, if you make them.
I always thought the Citadel closed off to incubate a new Reaper
edi in mass effect 2 seem to implied they tried built prothean reaper but failed so i guess thats why citadel stayed opened this time unilke in shepard cycle
That could still have potentially happened in between the time the reapers leave and the asari first arrive. Once the reaper is fully gestated it leaves to join the reaper army and the station looks like nothing ever happened.
I assumed the reaper was finished before Harbinger left. I presume they opened it up to let the reaper armada leave the Galaxy.
Amazing!
Also it made me think of... at least 2 mass relays are needed just to make the way from point A to point B and back, obviously.
So, does it mean that there is one mass relay hidden in the dark space? In the intergalactic space? And probably the intact one, because the Crucible only affected mass relays of the Milky Way...
Interesting, would it be in the next ME game...
Aaand yes of course I'm not the first who thought of that, just searched up and found 12yo topic on the Reddit
Damn, why have I never come across this topic anywhere else?
subscribed
The one thing I don’t like about this is that if the citadel is wiped clean like that then why didn’t they disassemble the conduit?
It was installed after the harvest.
@@UsernameGeri I thought the conduit was how they got to the citadel after the harvest ended. Wouldn’t they have to construct it beforehand? I was under the impression that there needed to be a relay at the start and end point to make the jump. I still think it looks sick just nitpicking. Pay me no mind.
@@PaperComa I guess it's never explicitly stated, but I think it's heavily implied that the Conduit project was being developed on Ilos during/after the harvest, so the relay we see on the Citadel had to have been hauled there after the reapers have already left.
You’re both right. The Conduit was already there before the harvest on Ilos and the Citadel. It may be considered a weak plot hole but the Reapers most likely were focused on waging the intergalactic war against the Protheans, as well as the harvest rather than what technological advancements they made. This seems to be the likely outcome, because the harvest was completed before they could finish mastering Mass Effect technology or the Catalyst.
@@ragnabolt683 So I watched the whole Vigil conversation again so I don't make unsubstantiated claims.
th-cam.com/video/gUdYxa6r_bI/w-d-xo.html
Here Vigil says the work on the relay prototype did start before the invasion began, but the research was done on Ilos, so I think it's very unlikely the small relay was already on the Citadel before the harvest.
th-cam.com/video/gUdYxa6r_bI/w-d-xo.html
And here Vigil only says the Conduit "gave access" to the Citadel. Fairly vague, but again, no mention of any relay prototype on the Citadel itself.
Since this is Mass Effect 1, we can still believe the Reapers to be truly "brutal, and absolutely thorough", so leaving the conduit on the Citadel can be easily denied as a possibility.
Ахриненно братан👍
10/10
This took place 5000 years ago?
50000
@@UsernameGeri that’s what I meant. Misspelling started it yesterday