Mass Effect 3

I wonder if Pug ever finished this...

[Pug]

He did, a fair while back.

Destroyed all tech

And you never gave us a rundown on what happened? Tuchanka? What happened there? And on Rannoch? At least you chose the 'best' ending.

What did you make of the series as a whole?

I'm right near the end of my 'definitive' playthrough of this, which is using my properly imported femshep for the first time. I was thinking of choosing the control ending, but decided to YouTube it just now instead. I like it, but it feels 'wrong'.

What I like about these extended endings is that they not only make more sense, but they relate more to themes that are explored throughout the game. The silly space magic ending is still daft as fuck though.

[DogEyedBoy]

So, the Extended Cut. The epilogues are nice and all, and it's (sort of) great to see BioWare's absolute intention behind each ending, but I liked the original cut's ambiguity, and with the Extended Cut there is none.

I chose Destroy originally because that was Shepard's goal from the off, and there was no way to know how the other two choices would play out. Synthesis... nigger please, that sounds insane, and Control... who's to say Shepard would even be the same person having been transformed into an AI. There's also the issue of both Control and Synthesis leaving the Reapers intact.

With that in mind, Destroy was very much the easy choice to make, and with the Extended Cut it still is (without foreknowledge anyway), even with the Catalyst's expanded explanations, you still can't be sure of just what Control and Synthesis will entail, or that the Catalyst is even telling the truth. The difference now though is the epilogues. They spell out plain and simple that despite the fact that Shepard can survive, Destroy is (besides the new Refuse ending) actually the worst possible ending. The Citadel and relays are damaged the most with Destroy, the Geth are dead, EDI is dead, the Reapers aren't around to help repair and advance the galaxy, there's still the chance of synthetic life one day wiping out organic life, and with foreknowledge of the new endings, Destroy is now a downright selfish choice. Also, if you take everything the Catalyst says at face value, it doesn't seem that great of a choice even without foreknowledge.

Control originally sounded like an idea ripe for disaster, and even with the Catalyst's expanded explanation it still seems somewhat ominous: Shepard has to die to become this benevolent Reaper god... fuck that shit... but then it's epilogue time, and Shepard's voice-over is fucking awesome, and now she's some godlike, almost omnipotent, guardian of the galaxy and it's way cool. Also, the Citadel isn't even damaged a little bit with this choice, which makes me think that Destroy isn't remotely near to the Crucible's primary function.

Ah yes, "Synthesis". So easy to dismiss because the Catalyst is so fucking adamant that it's the best choice, and the Catalyst controls the fucking Reapers, and Synthesis sounds fucking crazy. I just get pictures in my head of all the synthetics and organics getting combined together into a mishmash of different beings... and it just sounds stupid.

Let me address the Catalyst briefly though. A lot of people seem to mistrust it and, as I pointed out above, I can see why. That really doesn't seem to be BioWare's intention though, as with the Extended Cut they go out of their way to show you that everything it says is true, and that removes an important aspect of the ending for me of whether this AI can be trusted... Well yes, yes it can. So there goes all the ambiguity.

I know plenty of people who chose Synthesis originally because it sounded like the happiest of endings: If you trust what the Catalyst says then EDI and the Geth live, there's no chance of Shepard become some crazy Reaper controlling Galactic Overlord AI thing, and synthetics will no longer pose a threat to organic life. If you don't trust the Catalyst though, its insistence on Synthesis being the best choice and the batshit crazy concept of the thing in the first place is somewhat off-putting. Now with the epilogue though it's clear that this really is the best fucking ending by far. The evolution of life has been propelled forward, husks are fucking cute now, EDI is alive, she's fucking alive! and her voice-over is brilliant and the only thing that could have made this ending better was if she actually shed a tear when hugging Samantha.

Refuse. Yay! Everybody's dead. Good fucking job Shepard, pat yourself on the back for that one. It would have been more interesting if you saw how the next civilisations had defeated the Reapers. I'm guessing they used the Crucible to make one of the three choices so... wait a minute, what was the point of refusing then? To get billions upon billions of people killed? Wow Shepard, you really are a hero for not making a choice. People moaned about the original three choices, so they get this. Slow clap BioWare, slow fucking clap.

Instead of having Shepard be able to survive Destroy, that should have made the three original choices always kill Shepard in some form or another, and really expanded on Refuse. Refuse should have been the "best" ending. If you have super high Effective Military Strength you should be able to choose Refuse, kill the Catalyst and actually beat the Reapers in a straight up fight (over several years I'd imagine) with Shepard surviving (maybe give her an eye patch to show she's had a tough time). Then just to to really stick it to the Catalyst they should have somehow shown synthetics and organics living happily together till the end of time.

There you have it. The extra stuff is great, but now nothing is left to the imagination and all my justifications for Destroy are pointless, as are any justifications for the other endings, because they don't need to be justified when we know exactly how they all play out. In an ideal world the Extended Cut would have been there from the start, I'd have chosen Destroy, and I'd have avoided all information on the other endings till I died. Oh well, at least the Normandy crashing on that planet was explained...

Agree with a lot of that, Dog, especially about Destroy being a very selfish choice. And while I too liked some of the original ending's ambiguity, it was marred with too many plot-holes which left even more questions than before, which is daft. However, I whole-heartedly agree with your comment about the Refuse ending, and how the EMS score could tie in with this so that a high score would result in beating the Reapers 'conventionally' (had the exact same thought earlier today, actually). That really would have been superb. But like I said in my original comment about it, the Refuse ending is essentially Casey and Mac saying "fuck you!" to all the fans who wanted it.

I'm now undecided on which ending I prefer. Control's ending is great, but the music that plays while Shepard makes its epilogue speech is rather eerie, and gives the ending a rather sinister feel. Yes, Destroy is selfish, but it ties in with Garrus' comment about the 'ruthless calculus of war'. I'm yet to watch the extended Synthesis ending ... space magic and cute husks? Fuck that shit.

Just watched the synthesis ending. It's not as bad as I'd read, but it is still a bit silly. It's definitely my least favourite of the three, and I found EDI's voice-over the weakest of the three, not in terms of the performance, but in the weight of the words. Still undecided on what ending is the 'best' one.

I chose synthesis before, and after having replayed the ending with the Extended Cut, I still chose synthesis. It basically just reaffirmed my choice with all the answers I kind of assumed before, but I do like the explanations they expanded upon the ending with. I also like that they didn't really change anything, only expanded on what was already there. All in all, I was very pleased with it, even though I loved the ending originally, and I liked that they were vague on a lot of the details. Either way, in my mind Shepard had to die. If he lives, it's bullshit. It's a bullshit ending to an otherwise amazing series, but since he's dead now, I'm happy. It simply has to end that way.

[DogEyedBoy]

What do you guys think of Fiana?

Definitely agree about Refuse - it should have been fuck you to the Catalyst, not fuck you to the fans, and tied with EMS.

I'm still happy with my choice of Destroy. I don't care if the space magic ending is all rainbows and cupcakes, I don't agree with it. It's just... wrong... IMO. I still don't trust that little cunt regardless, and I don't believe the space magic ending fits with certain themes that the series has emphasised.

My own "head canon" ending takes my choice, and then... ignores the destruction of EDI and the geth (that would be a good band name)... or has it that they are rebuilt. EDI and the geth are software, afterall. What about the main part of EDI that resides in the Normandy? What about the geth in servers? If they were destroyed by the Crucible, then would not other software be destroyed too, other computer systems? Anyway. I just imagine that EDI and the geth are OK. The Catalyst's OTT selling of Synthesis, and its Harby-esque "SO BE IT" when you Refuse, still make me it as a lying little cunt who was purely trying to protect itself.

Still, at least the plotholes were fixed, and we did get closure (even if in some ways it's now too much closure ).

[DogEyedBoy]

EDI is on the memorial wall though...

Here's my Shepard:



After watching and mulling over all three endings ... I still can't decide on which is best. It's definitely not Synthesis though.

EDI is on the memorial wall though...

Not in my head canon ending!

Okay, here's some more thoughts and theories of mine:

While the Indoctrination Theory (the one where it's all in Shepard's mind) is all now but put to bed, there are still elements that show Shepard must have at least been under some influence by the Reapers. The most obvious element is the Catalyst itself - how would it know to take the form of the child that Shepard has dreams about? There are a couple of explanations:

a)While aboard the Citadel, the Catalyst comes to 'know' Shepard's mind - but surely that would then mean it could take control of Shepard like any other indoctrinated being.

b)The child you see at the beginning and in Shepard's dreams, is a sign of the catalyst's/Reapers' attempts to influence Shepard.

The latter is far more likely, in my opinion. Another obvious sign is The Illusive Man's apparent ability to take control of both Anderson and Shepard, resulting in Shepard shooting Anderson. Now, the Indoc Theory states that these two characters are two sides of Shepard's mind fighting, and I have to admit that there is still something to this part of the theory. You shoot Anderson, but there's no blood; The Illusive Man shoots himself in the head, but there's no blood; Shepard, however, collapses in a bloodied mess right before meeting the Catalyst.

Whether they're real or imagined is irrelevant, I still feel that that whole scenario was the Catalyst/Reaper setting up for what was to come. Control is the only option where you see a close-up of the catalyst's face before the crucible 'fires' ... I can't tell if it's a look of surprise, dismay, disappointment, or satisfaction. When you choose destroy, you see the catalyst disappear. Choosing Synthesis, you don't see anything.

It's my opinion that while the catalyst is very real, and that its explanations for its own existence are true, it's still attempting to manipulate Shepard into making the choice it believes to be the best one, which in this case is Synthesis. If the catalyst was created to solve the problem of a lack of understanding between organics and synthetics, which in turn always resulted in war between the two, then Synthesis is the answer to that problem. However, describing it as the final step in evolution of all life? I can't accept that, and I don't believe Shepard would either. And how about Shepard making that choice for every living being in the galaxy? That is morally wrong, Shepard could never do that. Evolution is not something you can force, and in attempting to do so with every being on the plant, Shepard would be robbing them all of their free will.

Destroy is the option that the Catalyst opposes the most. Yet, I do not believe it's because the Catalyst is evil, or simply trying to stay alive, but purely because it means an end to the solution it had already provided, while providing no alternative solution to a problem it believes with absolute certainty will return. Yes, organic life prevails, and yes, Shepard still draws breath ... but at what cost. The Geth evolve and become truly sentient, and EDI herself says to Shepard that she feels truly alive. "Does this unit have a soul?" To choose to destroy the reapers, and all synthetic life, is to choose to commit genocide. Isn't genocide what Shepard has been fighting against all this time? If you were to ask Garrus about this, he'd destroy them without a moment's hesitation, "the ruthless calculus of war," he said. But at what point do you become that which you have fought so hard against?

And that segues nicely into the Control option. To overcome your enemy, you have to become your enemy. EDI proved this to be a perfectly viable option when she chose to overcome EVA's body and take control. In doing so, EDI proved invaluable to the cause. So essentially, Shepard taking control of the reapers is basically doing what EDI did, writ large. The catalyst does try to dissuade Shepard from this option by making a point of the gravity of the sacrifice Shepard would be making, but I believe that's only because it believes Synthesis to be the final solution.

But here's where it gets interesting: There are two control endings. The differences are subtle, but there is one for Paragon, and one for Renegade. I have to say, if you've been role-playing as a renegade, then choosing control makes for a brilliant ending, as Shepard takes total control of the galaxy, and it's hinted that it won't be long before Shepard arrives at the same 'solution' that the catalyst did. If you're paragon, however, then the post credit reference to 'the shepherd' makes a lot of sense - you take control, and see to it that the reapers are put to use for the good of all life, both synthetic and organic, becoming the galaxy's great protectors ... but who watches the watchmen?

Overall, I can't decide which ending, for me, is the best one. But I have to say, this extended cut is most welcome, as instead of me always choosing to destroy and getting pissed off at all the plot-holes, I'm now stuck with a moral dilemma, one I don't think I will ever resolve ... nor should I.

What's everyone's problem with synthesis?! I still now think it's the best ending. It's our inevitability!