Theories on the Ending

I was wondering about the Stargazer conversation and the illusive man/ Anderson symbolism, but I was so swept up in the end that my mind didn't even wander into this theory. It all makes sense. It follows everything the game has dealt with from ME1 and makes perfect sense. I'm with you Bar... I think the theorists are right and Bioware has produced one of the greatest endings and feets of all time. "Would you kindly" is now a thing of the past. I am ashamed to say I did choose to control the Reepers... looks like I'm the ass.

So i was reading this article and i was thinking that could be true but eh.. until i read this

"The Indoctrination Ending theory is a pretty solid one given what we know about Mass Effect and a few of the more strange alterations found in those final moments. A great example is the “Paragon” and “Renegade” presentation of the endings. The Red “Renegade” ending during the final cutscene destroys the Reapers, synthetics and lots of technology, but it’s also depicted as being the choice Anderson would make — a character generally viewed as having Paragon alignment. Meanwhile, the Blue ending features The Illusive Man, generally viewed as a Renegade character. Anderson may be a kicker of many asses (you know his voice was in John Carpenter’s The Thing, right?), but it’s hard to put him up against a super-rich, racist, smoking douche and say that of the two,Anderson is the Renegade choice."

Holy crap I was thinking about that last night.  I thought it was odd they were reversed.  Because of that explanation, I agree with the indoc theory.  That could be the most awesome ending ever.  This explains the color switching, the reason I only had renegade options even though I was a pure paragon.  

In all seriousness, this would be an awesome ending if they pull something like this off.  

I love the indoctrination theory.  But I have a different spin on it,  I personally think that the reapers won and wiped out all "advanced' civilizations.   This would end the Shepard Trilogy, but allow them to continue in the ME universe.  Think of it pretty much as wiping the slate clean.  Reapers came, destroyed humanity, but left the relays in place just as they did 50,000 years ago.   Now a few years down the line, enter ME 4 way in the future (storyline wise)..the new civilization has followed along the lines of tech just as every other past one has...this lets you restart the whole thing, but keep the basic bulding blocks intact....fucking genius. 

Yeah, let's talk "genius". As you'll recall, the child at the end goes into a whole long speech about who/what the Reapers are (which Sovereign said couldn't be done, the kid did it in 2 minutes) and then he explains that without the Reapers, synthetics would destroy all organic life. The Geth prove this is bullshit. The ONLY example of synthetics killing organics is when the Quarians attack the Geth and they act to defend themselves. The Geth even STOP attacking once they deem the Quarians no longer a threat and allow them to leave when they could have easily pressed the attack. The only time the Geth actively attack is under Reaper control, so the Reapers exist to solve a problem they cause! And let's look at EDI, a perfect example of purely synthetic life. She's sworn allegiance to an organic crew.

And not to mention the child says the Citadel is part of him, meaning he is also synthetic. Then he goes on to say his purpose is to aid organics by solving the chaos, another perfect example of synthetics NOT harming organics. He also uses the pronoun "us" when talking about the Reapers. So why would every other Reaper try to kill the organics, and this one is so happy to help. 

They established in Arrival that the destruction of a Mass Relay results in a powerful supernova-like explosion that would destroy the star system that relay is in. Since every Mass Relay was destroyed, wouldn't that wipe out all organic life no matter what choice Shepard makes?

Suppose you picked the control ending. The blue wave sent out is intended to take control of the Reapers, yet it destroys the Normandy as seen in the scene with Joker running away. The Normandy is supposedly the most advanced ship according to Shepard, so can you imagine the destruction to every other ship? That's a happy thought, we control the Reapers but everyone who came to help is now dead.

The indoctrination theory seems kinda far fetched as well. Anyone remember the prothean VI detecting an indoctrinated presence on Thessia when Kai Lang appeared? Why didn't it say anything about Shepard if he is supposed to be indoctrinated?

I dunno, to me this all just seems like that Scrotie McBoogerballs episode of South Park. It's just a story and people keep searching for meaning in it even though nothing is there. Which is exactly why BioWare isn't saying anything. They know they dodged a big bullet and the smartest thing they can do is clam up for now and work their asses off on a DLC that fixes things. If Shep is indoctrinated, why let him go through all this stuff? Shep spends the whole game fighting the Reapers, and the indoctrination finally sets in during the last 5 minutes of the war?

Something I just noticed that throws a hiccup in the theory... In the beginning of the attack on Earth the escape shuttle waits for the little boy to get on before it takes off... clear as day that the guards are waiting for the child as they hit the door to signal close and evac. But supposedly Shep is the only one to have seen the child?

True dat.

Yeah, but you can make ANYTHING fit into the indoctrination theory. "That wasn't the pistol my Shep was equipped with, must be a dream! Infinite ammo? Indoctrination dream! The child said reaper, that's just what the reapers would want me to hear!"

My biggest issue with the Indoctrination theory is this:

IF you went with the option to destroy the Reapers, and your war assets score was high enough, you see Shepard awaken on Earth laying in the rubble. How did he destroy the Reapers if he was never on the Citadel and the whole ending just played out in his mind?

My theory is it's a badly written ending purposefully left ambiguous and open for interpretation, that way they have time to wait for people to write the ending for them and write a DLC later on that caters to it. No matter what they did, they wouldn't have made an ending that left everyone happy. This way since the indoctrination theory seems so popular they can say that was the plan all along and finish up with a little bit of story that'll please more people.

I dunno Taco Bioware is a strong dev with some great writers in their stable. Even if that is they case then they succeeded... look at all the buzz about it on the web. I keep trying to find anything I can to disprove the theory but I think the theorists are right. It just all points to indoctrination. I'll lose respect for Bioware if they fold and make an ending DLC just so the baby's can have the ending they wanted.... Yea I know the baby's are what make you money but damn man take a stand. Either way it goes they made a great game to close out a great trilogy. It's one that I can always go back and play again and again and never get bored... frustrated but never bored.

I would have said that too, but have you played Dragon Age 2? That was pretty much a mess as well. Especially after their first ending was leaked, they may have just rushed to come up with this one, and that is what it feels like.

No I heard it was bad though.

Retribution was a great book.

I agree with Barheet a few above - I think Bioware, even with EA on their back, cares too much about this franchise and we'll have DLC that updates things..

In additon, my one further thought - let's say you chose destroy and killed the relays.  Bioware has repeatedly said that though this may end the Shepard trilogy, they're not done with with Mass Effect as a universe.  How do you continue the ME universe in a compelling way without the relays?

Just posted on the bioware blog, a letter from the Bioware co-founder http://blog.bioware.com/2012/03/21/4108/

Quote:

To Mass Effect 3 players, from Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare

 

 

 

As co-founder and GM of BioWare, I’m very proud of the ME3 team; I personally believe Mass Effect 3 is the best work we’ve yet created. So, it’s incredibly painful to receive feedback from our core fans that the game’s endings were not up to their expectations. Our first instinct is to defend our work and point to the high ratings offered by critics – but out of respect to our fans, we need to accept the criticism and feedback with humility.

 

I believe passionately that games are an art form, and that the power of our medium flows from our audience, who are deeply involved in how the story unfolds, and who have the uncontested right to provide constructive criticism. At the same time, I also believe in and support the artistic choices made by the development team.  The team and I have been thinking hard about how to best address the comments on ME3’s endings from players, while still maintaining the artistic integrity of the game.

 

Mass Effect 3 concludes a trilogy with so much player control and ownership of the story that it was hard for us to predict the range of emotions players would feel when they finished playing through it.  The journey you undertake in Mass Effect provokes an intense range of highly personal emotions in the player; even so, the passionate reaction of some of our most loyal players to the current endings in Mass Effect 3 is something that has genuinely surprised us. This is an issue we care about deeply, and we will respond to it in a fair and timely way. We’re already working hard to do that.

 

To that end, since the game launched, the team has been poring over everything they can find about reactions to the game – industry press, forums, Facebook, and Twitter, just to name a few. The Mass Effect team, like other teams across the BioWare Label within EA, consists of passionate people who work hard for the love of creating experiences that excite and delight our fans.  I’m honored to work with them because they have the courage and strength to respond to constructive feedback.

 

Building on their research, Exec Producer Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey. You’ll hear more on this in April.  We’re working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we’ve received.  This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue.

 

The reaction to the release of Mass Effect 3 has been unprecedented. On one hand, some of our loyal fans are passionately expressing their displeasure about how their game concluded; we care about this feedback, and we’re planning to directly address it. However, most folks appear to agree that the game as a whole is exceptional, with more than 75 critics giving it a perfect review score and a review average in the mid-90s. Net, I’m proud of the team, but we can and must always strive to do better.

 

Some of the criticism that has been delivered in the heat of passion by our most ardent fans, even if founded on valid principles, such as seeking more clarity to questions or looking for more closure, for example – has unfortunately become destructive rather than constructive. We listen and will respond to constructive criticism, but much as we will not tolerate individual attacks on our team members, we will not support or respond to destructive commentary.

 

If you are a Mass Effect fan and have input for the team – we respect your opinion and want to hear it. We’re committed to address your constructive feedback as best we can. In return, I’d ask that you help us do that by supporting what I truly believe is the best game BioWare has yet crafted. I urge you to do your own research: play the game, finish it and tell us what you think. Tell your friends if you feel it’s a good game as a whole. Trust that we are doing our damndest, as always, to address your feedback.  As artists, we care about our fans deeply and we appreciate your support.

 

Thank you for your feedback – we are listening.

 

Ray