- The endings are a consequence of two things: One, Drew Karpyshyn being removed as Lead Writer half-way through ME2's production, Two: Drew leaving BioWare. His original plot outline has been released here on the BSN and other sites like IGN. The original intent to have the plot be focused on Dark Energy and the Reaper's desire to prevent, mistakenly, the end of the Universe by harvesting the best of the Galaxy's races (and their collective knowledge) made a hell of a lot more sense then what Mac Walters and the writing team decided upon in their Deus Ex ending. Likewise, the original endings (Shepard choosing to let humans and the other races find the solution to Dark Energy: Reapers destroyed, everyone lives, Earth Saved. Or Shepard Sacrifices Earth, leaving it to the Reapers to save the Galaxy: Earth Harvested. Bad Ending) would have been *far* more well received.
- Wait -- WHAT? THAT was the original ending? That's AMAZING! That ties so much together. It makes so much more sense than this crap.
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This isn't a long-winded rant - I'm too drained for that. However, various sources as well as my own experiences in the game have raised a few massive issues with a certain part of the endings. Yes, I'm talking about that part.
I'll try to keep this as simple as I can.
So, all your squadmates are in London. The Normandy is in orbit assisting in the battle alongside the Alliance fleet. Reapers are everywhere, and shuttles are being blown out of the sky left right and center.
You take two squadmates with you, who are with Shepard right up until you're teleported to the Citadel. Despite everything, these two squadmates are perfectly capable of stepping out of the Normandy on whatever planet it crashes on (this happened to me). For this to be possible, we must assume the Normandy - for some bizarre reason - leaves the battle, risks flying down to London right in the middle of the battle with Reapers all around, picks up the two squadmates (and/or the others if different people step out for you), and then flees not only the planet, but the solar system - for no reason, given the Alliance ships are all fine - and all in the time it takes you to do your stuff with the Crucible.
+10 wtf points
But here is where it gets literally insane. If your EMS isn't high enough, those two squadmates you take with you DIE. You even see their bodies staring lifelessly up at you as you hobble towards the beam. And yet, despite this, they are still perfectly capable of stepping off the Normandy on Gilligan's Planet.
+100 wtf points
Not only does the Normandy somehow pick them up from London, but now it can resurrect them?
There is something seriously wrong with this ending. evilsherbear's theory about it all being a product of Shepard's warped mind is looking more and more plausable...
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Beast919 wrote...
So, gonna put together a list of the things about the ending that make me think there's something more to it (i.e. shepard is most likely unconcious to some degree after being hit by the harbinger blast).
1) Harbinger just up and leaves (despite having reaper forces on the ground still that would communicate to him Shepard is alive).
2) Your crew are not only obviously dead/grievously injured on the ground, they're lying *CLOSER* to the beam than you are. I don't know about you, but I have a feeling if they were mortally wounded by the blast they'd be behind me (since thats where they were standing to begin with), or Tali (my LI) would have died trying to wake me (which would most likely have worked anyways since you seem to wake up relatively shortly after the blast - Harbinger is *just* leaving when you get up)
3) Your gun is magical - it never runs out of bullets and is miraculously unscathed despite your entire armor interface/all life as you know it being destroyed around you. In addition, *its not your gun*. I had the lightning blaster, not some pea shooter. Where the hell did it come from?
Another Point I'm too lazy to re-do the format for) Upon waking, and walking past the corspes (or in some playthroughs' cases, the lack of corspes) of your squadmates.....you do nothing. You don't check for vitals, call their name, call for your non-squad mates (who I guess are just sitting on the sidelines this entire time doing nothing?). Incredibly non Shepard like. In addition, you not once ask the crazy god kid about your squad, or your love interest, at all. You just gloss right over it.
4) Once you arrive on the "Citadel", you magically start talking to Anderson, and he claims to have "followed you in" - despite you listening to the radio broadcasts and all you heard was calls for retreat (Which is weird for 2 reasons in of itself. 1 - you just GOT HIT BY A SPACE LASER - how is your radio fine? 2 - assuming your radio working makes sense, why don't you answer? You must get this done - why not call for help?) - Anderson would not have gone silently and would have belayed that order if he (an old man) was able to make it inside (unscathed and unarmed no less). Also you can look behind you, the old man isn't there. In addition, Anderson never mentions your Squad...ever. No condolences, no "we need to get this job done Shepard...I'm sorry..." - Nothing.
5) The keepers do absolutely nothing when you walk past them - while this in of itself isn't surprising, you've obviously tripped an alarm as the Keepers are supposed servants of the reapers. Where are the ground forces inside the citadel? Surely the reapers wouldn't throw resources to stop you from getting inside but have *NOTHING* inside to stop you once you got there. Another note on the Keepers - if they're servants to the reapers (or at least susceptible as you would imagine anyone the reapers had dealt with before - why do they not bar your entrance themselves? Why do the walls move in your favor?
Another bonus point! ) The bodies lying in the hall make no sense. The only time we've seen such lazy/inefficient use of human bodies by the Reapers was on the collector ship, while they were still experimenting. Otherwise they're incredibly efficient. Who stacked those bodies there anyways? Where the hell did they go?
6) Anderson makes his "entrance" after yours.....yet beats you to the platform....despite there not being any road except the one you're walking on, and you obviously don't see him until he's all the way at the console. And while on that line of thought - since when, ever, was anything ever that easy. Literally walk into a beam of light, walk forward down a hallway, walk forward down a ramp, and walk forward to a console that is exactly what you're looking for? Ooooooooooooook.
7) You brought your magical gun with you, but when TIM shows up, he's unarmed? And pulls a gun ... out of nowhere from behind Anderson? And when you convince him to shoot himself (or do the deed yourself with your magical pistol) 1 bullet is all it takes? We've covered this ground with Saren, a bullet to the brain doesn't stop a reaper-infested body.
8) Since when was indoctrination instant? Anderson hasn't been exposed to the reapers....ever - as far as we know - yet he's instantly mind controlled by a puppet of the reapers? Uh....ok. Shepard is a bit of a stretch anyways (I understand we don't really know what cerberus did to him so there's always that wild card) - one thing about Indoctrination as far as I've seen it in the game is its either ON, or OFF. This trembly-hand-shooting Anderson business is new, if Shepard were really indoctrinated, he'd do it without hesitation, and if he wasn't, he wouldn't do it at all.
9) Something relatively minor, but still odd that I noticed from the beginning (I need to check if this holds true with the portion on the ground, or only after reaching the Citadel) - Shepard's facial scars come back. Obviously this could just be an interpretation of how horrifically injured he is, but my face has been damned paragon-pretty for 2 games now, I noticed those scars re-appearing and thought it was weird.
10) Post-murder of TIM, when you get the call from Hackett that somethings wrong on your end, you collapse on the floor from your wounds. Now, if we know anything about Shepard at this point in the story, the only chance thats happening is if s/he has nothing in the tank, at all. He'd crawl by the might of his pinky if he still had a concious thought in his brain. Yet when he gets teleported (into space without a helmet), he stands up again 10 seconds later all fine and dandy. Doubtful. To further emphasize this point, when told by mystery God Kid he just needs to shoot the thing to blow up all reapers, he gets a burst of adrenaline (seemingly), starts walking faster, holds the gun with both hands, etc. - the sort of grim determination we'd expect from Shepard. Not that pansy ass fainting act he pulls when Hackett calls for help.
Bonus Point I'm too lazy to re-number in order to fit in) Once Shepard makes it on to the Citadel...which, agian, the Reapers *HAVE* to know is going on.....he opens the freaking arms. And what happens? Nothing. No daring rescue of the fleet you've gathered to sacrifice their lives to stop the Reapers from blowing the Citadel to bits, nothing. The Citadel just floats in space completely unopposed while the fate of the Reapers hangs in the balance. Yeah.
11) Shepard doesn't once question the kid's appearance. Not a "why do you present yourself like this?" not a "who the hell are you?!", he just nods and smiles, full on trust for no reason. All it takes is the kid saying he's the catalyst (without explaining what that even means) and Shep is A-ok. Yeah.
12) Just gonna leave this slot dedicated to the complete nonsense that is all 3 choices. Not even gonna bother with those. Space magic.
Another minor point) Mainly just a departure from the norm, but I was extremely off-put when I couldn't even re-start the convo with the kid to clarify what the hell he just told me. He basically just rails off the 3 options then leaves you to it, no questions, no repeats, just one chance to grasp the concepts you're about to base all galatic civilization off of. Very non-mass effect.
13) Joker...flying away from the battle...near a relay? Even if we assume, for whatever reason, that Joker abandoned Earth (which in my opinion, would never, ever happen, especially considering in all the endings YOU ARE STOPPING THE THREAT ANYWAYS so there is no reason to run), the relay is not right next to Earth - it would take some effort/planning to have reached the relay by the time Shepard decides to blow up galatic civilization on the whim of a child god. There's simply no way that set of circumstances is happening, and this is compounded by the fact that the two DEAD squadmates somehow poofed up to join him on his mystery escapade? There's a long list of things Tali/Garrus might do upon waking up from the death slumber - fleeing is not one of them.
14) The "living" Shepard bonus scene makes zero sense whatsoever if he was on the Citadel. Not only that, but I'm relatively sure the armor is more intact in the breathing scene than what he's in in the "ending" sequence - but thats minor and hard to distinguish.
Well....thats a long list. Only goes to show though, if this IS NOT a dream sequence.........all I can say is WTF. You can completely ignore the weird, ugly, gutted feeling of knowing nothing you chose prior to God Kid's rant meant a goddamned thing and the ending is still horrifically bad. It has to be a dream sequence of some sort. There's simply no other logical way.
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I haven't seen this posted on the Comm yet, but there's a great thread on the BSN about how the ending could be a hallucination or attempt at indoctrination:
Is it just me, or does the entire ending sequence not feel like it fits in with the overall theme of the ME universe? It just feels.... off. I cant really describe it.
It seems otherworldly and kind of unfocused.
And when you talk to TIM, you get those weird black things at the edges of the screen.
I am of the opinion that once reaching the Citadel, severely wounded, and losing blood, Shepard hallucinated most of the ending sequence.
It would explain why the kid was there.
The weird blackness when TIM tried to control you and you tried to fight it could be Shepard fighting against blood loss and trying not to pass out (hence the darkening around the edges of the screen)
It explains how even the crew who were wounded with you near the portal in London ended up on the Normandy, and even why the Normandy was leaving Earth in the first place, its because Shepard isnt thinking clearly, and these are just the images dreamed up by a deteriorating brain.
Also, there is a likelyhood that having spent so much time around Reapers, Shepard is slightly indoctrinated. The Synthesis ending really doesnt make much sense, other than the fact that the little kid seems to think it is the best option. We never get an explanation on how jumping into a beam of energy that kills us will do anything like what it is said it will do.
The Reapers used Shepard's slight indoctrination and confused state as part of a last ditch effort to get Shepard to take himself out of the picture, since they knew that if they didnt do so, Shepard was about to win.
tl;dr blood loss leads to reaper victory
Hallucination makes the most sense, in my humble opinion.
Maybe Bioware will release a DLC where it turns out the horrible endings were all just a hallucination that you experienced after you got knocked unconscious by Harbinger while heading towards the portal thingy, and then you can go on to have endings that actually make sense.
Edit: fixed my weird formatting
Edit 2: Adding a list summarizing the theories that people have come up with in the thread, compiled by Turtlicious:
recap:
Thought on the ending:
Parts 1-12 by kyleh619
1. The endgame scenario is Indoctrination/Manipulation from the Reapers (Harbinger) trying to force you into choosing to let the Reapers live. Shepard is not awake during the final sceens!
2. Choosing to control the Reapers allows them to live. Reapers win. They will still exist.
3. Choosing to combine organic and synthetic life: Reapers win. They will still exist.
4. Choosing to destroy all synthetic life: Reapers loose. Shepard lives. Reapers die.
5. Choosing to destroy all synthetic life option is more Renegade in appearence. Controlling the Reapers is more Paragon in appearence. The Illusive Man's choice should not be Paragon colors, just as Anderson's choice should not be Renegade.
6. Shepard awakes at the end of destroying Reapers. But Shepard is not awaking from the aftermath. He is awaking from either after he is hit by Harbingers lazer attack on Earth or after the scene with Anderson and the Illusive Man.
7. Stating that all sythetic life will be destroyed will give you pause; destroying the Geth can force you to a different conclusion. This choice exists for the illusion of choice; the other choices are ment to sound better.
8. Shepard does not awake in the other 2 "endings" because you are fully indoctrinated by the choices you made to allow the Reapers to win. "Assuming Control!"
9. Never trust any child construct, be it a ghost or artificial intelligence, or heck even human. They are just creepy.
10. Shepard awakes at the end because he has broken hold of the Reaper's control.
11. Shepard has spent alot of time around Reapers. Soveriegn, various Reaper artifacts, the Human Reaper, 2 Reaper destroyers, the Artifact from "The Arrival." Its foolish to assume there is not some level of
indoctrination.
12. Bioware not only get more $$$ for DLC for the final battle, but big props for INDOCTRINATING A LOT OF ITS OWN PLAYERS! I do not know of another gaming company that has tried to fool all of its consumers, but they look to be the first and reap all of the attention.
13. Look at these screenshots. I believe the 1m1 is a clue, because of how often it shows up, and how human it is, when the ship is supposedly older then the ancients.
They are perfect mirrors of each other, something that wouldn't happen in a normal situation like that, hinting at something is definitely up with the area. The backwards text isn't likely to be a mistake, its too obvious to miss.
14. Definitions:
Catalyst =
1. Chemistry A substance, usually used in small amounts relative to the reactants, that modifies and
increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed in the process.
2. One that precipitates a process or event, especially without being involved in or changed by the consequences
Crucible=
1. A vessel made of a refractory substance such as graphite or porcelain, used for melting and calcining materials
at high temperatures.
2. A severe test, as of patience or belief; a trial. See Synonyms at trial.
3. A place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political
forces:
15. Shepard is not wearing his armor when he wakes up in the Citadel, implying that this is a dream.
Kitten Tactics:
-The endgame scenario is Indoctrination/Manipulation from the Reapers (Harbinger) trying to force you into choosing to let the Reapers live.
Shepard is not awake during the final scenes.
-Choosing Control - You can not control them, they control you. Shepard says as much to the Illusive Man moments earlier.
-Choosing Synthesis - Allows everyone in the galaxy to be manipulated by Reaper code, like they have done to the Geth multiple times now.
-Choosing Destroy - Breaks the hold the reapers have on Shepard's mind.
-Choosing to destroy all synthetic life option is more Renegade in appearence. Controlling the Reapers is more Paragon in appearence. The Illusive Man's choice should not be Paragon colors, just as Anderson's choice should not be Renegade. The reapers are saying that Destroy is the worst, Control is worse, and Synthesis is the best. They want you to fail.
-Stating that all sythetic life will be destroyed will give you pause; destroying the Geth can force you to a different conclusion. This choice exists for the illusion of choice; the other choices are ment to sound better.
-Shepard wakes up after Destroy, because the Reaper's hold is diminished. Shepard does not awake in the other 2 "endings" because you are fully indoctrinated by the choices you made to allow the Reapers to win. "Assuming Control!"
-The child does not actually exist. He is an attempt to indoctrinate Shepard. Nobody but Shepard ever sees or interacts with the child.
-When Anderson calls for Shepard at the beginning of the game, when Shepard is talking to the child, Shepard turns back and the child is gone. Shepard has been "snapped out of it".
-When Shepard turns towards Anderson after being "snapped out of it", a growl is heard. In the third novel, when Greyson resisted the reapers they would make a growling noise once they realized they didn't have him under complete control.
-During Shepard's final dream with the child, chatter can be heard over the radio about nobody making it to the beam. Shepard is still in London.
-When Shepard catches the child in the final dream, they are both engulfed in flame. Going with the child (the
reapers) means Shepard's destruction.
-Shepard has spent alot of time around Reapers. Soveriegn, various Reaper artifacts, the Human Reaper, 2 Reaper destroyers, the Artifact from "The Arrival." Its foolish to assume there is not some level of indoctrination.
-When Shepard wakes up at the end of Destroy, he/she is waking up in London, after being hit with the laser.
Other bits:
The Codex on Indoctrination:
INDOCTRINATION
Reaper "indoctrination" is an insidious means of corrupting organic minds, "reprogramming" the brain through physical and psychological conditioning using electromagnetic fields, infasonic and ultrasonic noise, and other subliminal methods. The Reaper's resulting control over the limbic system leaves the victim highly susceptible to its suggestions.
Organics undergoing indoctrination may complain of headaches and buzzing or ringing in their ears. As time pases, they have feelings of "being watched" and hallucinations of "ghostly" presences. Ultimately, the Reaper gains the ability to use the victim's body to amplify its signals, manifesting as "alien" voices in the mind.
Indoctrination can create perfect deep cover agents. A Reaper's "suggestions" can manipulate victims into betraying friends, trusting enemies, or viewing the Reaper itself with superstitious awe. Should a Reaper subvert a well-placed political or military leader, the resulting chasos can bring down nations.
Long-term physical effects of the manipulation are unstable. Higher mental functioning mental functioning decays, ultimately leaving the victim a gibbering animal. Rapid indoctrination is possible, but causes this decay in days or weeks. Slow, patient indoctrination allows the thrall to last for months or years.
That sounds an awful lot like the nightmares Shep has, and if you bother James enough, he talks about hearing a humm on the Normandy. James is the only new recruit who wasn't onboard the Normandy in previous games or during the retrofit, and to out knowledge hasn't been around any reaper tech. The Normandy was rebuilt with Reaper tech remember.
It's also interesting to note that there's a military Cruicble test:
On the final day of the Crucible, recruits are awoken and begin their final march (including "The Reaper" a forced march up a steeply inclined hill to the top of Edson's Ridge on the west coast).
The Synthesis version also reminded me of the final talk with Saren:
Lightbulb!
If you've got Chakwas on your ship and you share some brandy with her, she talks about how Commander Shepard is an idea now, and no one can call you by your first name. It seemed like silly ramblings at the time, but think back to confronting TIM the last time. He states Cerberus is an idea, and you can't kill an idea. If you choose all the right options, TIM will commit suicide to preserve himself, same as Saren. This makes sense why the Reapers would want you to pick "Control" or "Synthesis." "Destroy" would kill you, but you would keep who Commander Shepard is intact, that idea of no compromise, and always willing to do what it takes to stop the Reapers.
Another good BSN post.
The only flaw to this is that the Prothean VI doesn't recognize Shep as indoctrinated either time. This could be because the VI can only detect fully indoctrinated beings, and Shep was still in the process.
I want to believe lol