the me3 ending: how to cope
Gonna periodically update this shit, I keep dumping more into it
last edited 4/15/12 11:11 AM EST
ok lots has happened since I wrote this post.
First of all, EA has officially announced an extended cut of the ending, due out sometime this summer.
Second, several official sources have come forward and basically said "whoops, we didn't think the fans were going to apply logic to the end of the game, nobody has starved to death or died and the krogans and turians and whoever are gonna get home dw"
Here is a thread about an unofficial fan interview with Patrick Weekes. It's heavily paraphrased, and Weekes has commented on the tone of it (you can see that in the thread).
Key quotes:
-Did anyone on the Citadel survive?
Yes. We would never, ever do anything that made the player feel, on replay, that it would be better for everyone on the Citadel if they just died. The Citadel has emergency shelters and kinetic barriers - even if it blows up, millions might survive. You should assume that everyone plot-important on the Citadel survived.
-Did the mass relays pull an Arrival and go supernova?
No, they didn't. (i'm paraphrasing here, please don't interpret this too hard) They overloaded, they didn't rupture. We really didn't mean to imply that the whole galaxy had been destroyed. People interpreted the ending in ways we really didn't expect.
Here is a thread about the extended cut DLC, with some compiled quotes from various producers, etc about it.
Key quotes:
no. It won't just be a 'few cinematics'
Here are some tweets from Jessica Merizan about the ending, post-announcement (no links, I apparently didn't note them down and I am not wading back weeks in that feed to find them):
essica Merizan @JessicaMerizan
@Phoenix_Blue yup! Depending on your ending, rebuilding the relays is completely likely.
Jessica Merizan @JessicaMerizan
@Christo56739583 @mrblazenglazen no one starves to death. This is what clarity and closure free DLC is for :) Just wait and see!
Here is a collection of several of Jessica Merizan's tweets regarding the clarity and closure DLC.
Finally, the below is a really great video of exactly where the endings fall down.
It's about 40 minutes long but it's spot on and I really recommend watching. Totally worth it.
NOW. THAT SAID. INDOC THEORY STUFF LIES BELOW:
JUST FINISHED THE GAME? WATCH ME FIRST:
and its progenitor - don't need to watch this one but I wanted the link
Joker exiting the Normandy on Gilligan's Planet
Texture file LITERALLY named "Dream Foliage"
I extracted this myself, this is not some Harbinger-kid troll crap
More:
http://youtu.be/6AdWqlsQjWo?t=2m
The destruction of the mass relays doesn't appear to start from Earth, as you'd logically expect it to; it appears to start from the Viper Nebula... which is where the mass relay you blew up in Arrival was located. It then moves to Sol. Following the Reaper invasion path?
Another point: There are two instances in the game where you are given a gun with unlimited ammo.
1) The geth server (you are not actually in reality)
2) Past the beam...?
I admit right now I don't know what this means. Success? Okay, Kaidan was in my final squad and he stepped onto Gilligan's planet.
If SkyKid lives on the Citadel, created the Reapers, and approves of their methods:
1) Why did SkyKid not stop the Protheans from altering the keeper signal in ME1?
2) Why did SkyKid not just open the damn Citadel to the Reapers in 1, instead of having Sovereign use Saren to go on a wild goose chase to find the conduit?
3) If SkyKid created the Reapers, and they have been reaping every 50,000 years for many many unknowable cycles, how can SkyKid believe that all synthetic life will rebel against their creators? Hello?
putting this in the main post:
Lead writer's notes about Mass Effect 3 ending, from "The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3" App:
"LOTS OF SPECULATION FROM EVERYONE" lmao fuck you BioWare
There are two types of people in this world. Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data
- Chris Priestly (@BioEvilChris) March 14, 2012
BioWare history of plot twists: see Jade Empire, KOTOR. (I have readers who have not played these, please use lj's spoiler tag ([spoiler cut]spoiler materials) for further discussion of same.)
http://blog.bioware.com/2012/03/21/4108/
...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.
clarity
--offical statement by Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder & GM of BioWare
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/9872108&lf=8
Someone explain the ending to me.
[user: adept123]
OK so I chose the "perfect" ending. The one where Shepard lives and Reapers get destroyed.
-How was anything saved? Mass Relay explosion results in a super nova. That super nova made Normandy crash land.
--Is this some kind of a huge plot hole?
-- -why did they decide to destroy the relays anyway? * image removed *
-After Normandy crash landed they end up on this jungle planet, and this picture with grandpa and a child shows after the credits. Did the crew of the Normandy all had sex and multiplied or....
[user: Stanley Woo, BioWare QA and forum mod]
This thread seems to offer the service you're looking for. Thank you.
End of line.
[thread is then locked]
Linked thread leads to an indoctrination theory compilation post.
@ JessicaMerizan So ME# was great. But I remember reading multiple articles that said we'd get a massive variety in endings. What happened?
- Joshua Ian Jackson (@Amazing_IJ) March 14, 2012
@ Amazing_IJ Have you thought about the implications of the different ones you are presented with and how it affects the future?
- Jessica Merizan (@JessicaMerizan) March 14, 2012
@ JessicaMerizan Yeah, because the relays were destroyed I either a: destoyed all life quickly or b: sentenced them to extinction. Quarians..
- Joshua Ian Jackson (@Amazing_IJ) March 14, 2012
@ Amazing_IJ are you absolutely sure about that?
- Jessica Merizan (@JessicaMerizan) March 14, 2012
Just finished ME3. I didn't know my squadmates could teleport...strange, innit?@ JessicaMerizan
- Tom Marcotte (@TomMarcotte1) March 14, 2012
@ TomMarcotte1 not teleporting - can't explain now though to keep my feed spoiler free :)
- Jessica Merizan (@JessicaMerizan) March 14, 2012
...whoa, I hadn't seen this one before. (emphasis mine)
@ masseffect Are you holding something back, that could quell the large amount of frustration from the community, a tiny hint would be enough
- Jake Finn (@JakeFinn94) March 13, 2012
@ jakefinn94 Mike Gamble already said on his twitter, if the fans knew what was in store, the reaction would be different.
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 13, 2012
@ masseffect Mass Effect 3 was brilliant, the whole series was, but while this probably won't be answered, is that really how Shepard ends?
- Crowbar (@CrowbarRX) March 13, 2012
@ crowbarrx We can't saaaaay!
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 13, 2012
@ masseffect I am SO curious as to how aware you are of how much the majority of us is praying that you are holding something back lol >_<
- Dan Bradshaw(@DanCoys) March 13, 2012
@ dancoys It is impossible not to be aware.
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 13, 2012
lmao I feel so bad for the people running @masseffect, I really do
@ masseffect I kinda feel lost after that ending...not what I expected and left me feeling everything done was for nothing.
- Brian Moran (@DaCajunRTard) March 13, 2012
@ dacajunrtard We know it's a lot to take in! But hang in there. Your decisions matter.
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 13, 2012
?? or?
http://uninhibitedandunrepentant.tumblr.com/post/19344938387/mind-holy-fuck
sample of points from here:
- Why is the means to end the game (destroy, control, synthesis) built into the Citadel, a device that was created by the Reapers to trap the organic civilisations in each cycle?
- Why can’t you kill the Keeper that you find?
But Saren’s mistake was standing against the Council races, and creating an enemy of himself. People fought him, resisted him. Eventually, Shepard defeated him. So perhaps the Reapers tried a new tact. Miranda says it herself. Shepard’s an icon. People will fall in behind the Commander and follow him or her to death. Which they did in the closing of ME3, flying their vast fleets into the mouth of hell to fight and get Earth back.
In doing so, Shepard did the one thing Saren failed to do; deliver the galaxy right to the Reapers. By being indoctrinated, Shepard has led everyone to their doom.
[...boy I sure hope not]
@ masseffect Please don't change the ending to Mass Effect 3. Just release what happens after I wake up from under the rubble. Great game! :)
- Kyle Conway (@KyleWritesStuff) March 27, 2012
@ kylewritesstuff We are releasing additional content, not changing what exists!
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 27, 2012
@ masseffect THANK YOU! It was hard to sift through the thousand news stories to figure out exactly what this all meant. Will the DLC be big?
- Kyle Conway (@KyleWritesStuff) March 27, 2012
@ kylewritesstuff More news in April!
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 27, 2012
@ masseffect hope you guys have some epichappy post ending dlc planned.finished the game today. That can't be the end for shep and freinds
- stephen browne (@steve3194) March 27, 2012
@ steve3194 We have DLC planned, but we haven't released specific details about it yet.
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 27, 2012
fuck this twitter embed shit
https://twitter.com/#!/masseffect/status/184769555774709761
Eric J. Raack @SatoOtaku
@masseffect @PatrickWeekes did you feel pressured to change the ending, Isn't it important to stick to your guns on some things?
Mass Effect Mass Effect @masseffect
@satootaku We never said we were changing it :) We have ALWAYS had big plans for ME3. It isn't a response-It's been in the works
https://twitter.com/#!/masseffect/status/184787660018171904
Marc Robey @Kaladur
@masseffect Whats with the ending? It was confusing and very dreamlike was it supposed to be like that?
Mass Effect Mass Effect @masseffect
@kaladur The ending was as we intended, so yes? :)
last edited 4/15/12 11:11 AM EST
ok lots has happened since I wrote this post.
First of all, EA has officially announced an extended cut of the ending, due out sometime this summer.
Second, several official sources have come forward and basically said "whoops, we didn't think the fans were going to apply logic to the end of the game, nobody has starved to death or died and the krogans and turians and whoever are gonna get home dw"
Here is a thread about an unofficial fan interview with Patrick Weekes. It's heavily paraphrased, and Weekes has commented on the tone of it (you can see that in the thread).
Key quotes:
-Did anyone on the Citadel survive?
Yes. We would never, ever do anything that made the player feel, on replay, that it would be better for everyone on the Citadel if they just died. The Citadel has emergency shelters and kinetic barriers - even if it blows up, millions might survive. You should assume that everyone plot-important on the Citadel survived.
-Did the mass relays pull an Arrival and go supernova?
No, they didn't. (i'm paraphrasing here, please don't interpret this too hard) They overloaded, they didn't rupture. We really didn't mean to imply that the whole galaxy had been destroyed. People interpreted the ending in ways we really didn't expect.
Here is a thread about the extended cut DLC, with some compiled quotes from various producers, etc about it.
Key quotes:
no. It won't just be a 'few cinematics'
Here are some tweets from Jessica Merizan about the ending, post-announcement (no links, I apparently didn't note them down and I am not wading back weeks in that feed to find them):
essica Merizan @JessicaMerizan
@Phoenix_Blue yup! Depending on your ending, rebuilding the relays is completely likely.
Jessica Merizan @JessicaMerizan
@Christo56739583 @mrblazenglazen no one starves to death. This is what clarity and closure free DLC is for :) Just wait and see!
Here is a collection of several of Jessica Merizan's tweets regarding the clarity and closure DLC.
Finally, the below is a really great video of exactly where the endings fall down.
Click to view
It's about 40 minutes long but it's spot on and I really recommend watching. Totally worth it.
NOW. THAT SAID. INDOC THEORY STUFF LIES BELOW:
JUST FINISHED THE GAME? WATCH ME FIRST:
and its progenitor - don't need to watch this one but I wanted the link
Joker exiting the Normandy on Gilligan's Planet
Texture file LITERALLY named "Dream Foliage"
I extracted this myself, this is not some Harbinger-kid troll crap
More:
http://youtu.be/6AdWqlsQjWo?t=2m
The destruction of the mass relays doesn't appear to start from Earth, as you'd logically expect it to; it appears to start from the Viper Nebula... which is where the mass relay you blew up in Arrival was located. It then moves to Sol. Following the Reaper invasion path?
Another point: There are two instances in the game where you are given a gun with unlimited ammo.
1) The geth server (you are not actually in reality)
2) Past the beam...?
I admit right now I don't know what this means. Success? Okay, Kaidan was in my final squad and he stepped onto Gilligan's planet.
If SkyKid lives on the Citadel, created the Reapers, and approves of their methods:
1) Why did SkyKid not stop the Protheans from altering the keeper signal in ME1?
2) Why did SkyKid not just open the damn Citadel to the Reapers in 1, instead of having Sovereign use Saren to go on a wild goose chase to find the conduit?
3) If SkyKid created the Reapers, and they have been reaping every 50,000 years for many many unknowable cycles, how can SkyKid believe that all synthetic life will rebel against their creators? Hello?
putting this in the main post:
Lead writer's notes about Mass Effect 3 ending, from "The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3" App:
"LOTS OF SPECULATION FROM EVERYONE" lmao fuck you BioWare
There are two types of people in this world. Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data
- Chris Priestly (@BioEvilChris) March 14, 2012
BioWare history of plot twists: see Jade Empire, KOTOR. (I have readers who have not played these, please use lj's spoiler tag ([spoiler cut]spoiler materials) for further discussion of same.)
http://blog.bioware.com/2012/03/21/4108/
...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.
clarity
--offical statement by Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder & GM of BioWare
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/9872108&lf=8
Someone explain the ending to me.
[user: adept123]
OK so I chose the "perfect" ending. The one where Shepard lives and Reapers get destroyed.
-How was anything saved? Mass Relay explosion results in a super nova. That super nova made Normandy crash land.
--Is this some kind of a huge plot hole?
-- -why did they decide to destroy the relays anyway? * image removed *
-After Normandy crash landed they end up on this jungle planet, and this picture with grandpa and a child shows after the credits. Did the crew of the Normandy all had sex and multiplied or....
[user: Stanley Woo, BioWare QA and forum mod]
This thread seems to offer the service you're looking for. Thank you.
End of line.
[thread is then locked]
Linked thread leads to an indoctrination theory compilation post.
@ JessicaMerizan So ME# was great. But I remember reading multiple articles that said we'd get a massive variety in endings. What happened?
- Joshua Ian Jackson (@Amazing_IJ) March 14, 2012
@ Amazing_IJ Have you thought about the implications of the different ones you are presented with and how it affects the future?
- Jessica Merizan (@JessicaMerizan) March 14, 2012
@ JessicaMerizan Yeah, because the relays were destroyed I either a: destoyed all life quickly or b: sentenced them to extinction. Quarians..
- Joshua Ian Jackson (@Amazing_IJ) March 14, 2012
@ Amazing_IJ are you absolutely sure about that?
- Jessica Merizan (@JessicaMerizan) March 14, 2012
Just finished ME3. I didn't know my squadmates could teleport...strange, innit?@ JessicaMerizan
- Tom Marcotte (@TomMarcotte1) March 14, 2012
@ TomMarcotte1 not teleporting - can't explain now though to keep my feed spoiler free :)
- Jessica Merizan (@JessicaMerizan) March 14, 2012
...whoa, I hadn't seen this one before. (emphasis mine)
@ masseffect Are you holding something back, that could quell the large amount of frustration from the community, a tiny hint would be enough
- Jake Finn (@JakeFinn94) March 13, 2012
@ jakefinn94 Mike Gamble already said on his twitter, if the fans knew what was in store, the reaction would be different.
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 13, 2012
@ masseffect Mass Effect 3 was brilliant, the whole series was, but while this probably won't be answered, is that really how Shepard ends?
- Crowbar (@CrowbarRX) March 13, 2012
@ crowbarrx We can't saaaaay!
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 13, 2012
@ masseffect I am SO curious as to how aware you are of how much the majority of us is praying that you are holding something back lol >_<
- Dan Bradshaw(@DanCoys) March 13, 2012
@ dancoys It is impossible not to be aware.
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 13, 2012
lmao I feel so bad for the people running @masseffect, I really do
@ masseffect I kinda feel lost after that ending...not what I expected and left me feeling everything done was for nothing.
- Brian Moran (@DaCajunRTard) March 13, 2012
@ dacajunrtard We know it's a lot to take in! But hang in there. Your decisions matter.
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 13, 2012
?? or?
http://uninhibitedandunrepentant.tumblr.com/post/19344938387/mind-holy-fuck
sample of points from here:
- Why is the means to end the game (destroy, control, synthesis) built into the Citadel, a device that was created by the Reapers to trap the organic civilisations in each cycle?
- Why can’t you kill the Keeper that you find?
But Saren’s mistake was standing against the Council races, and creating an enemy of himself. People fought him, resisted him. Eventually, Shepard defeated him. So perhaps the Reapers tried a new tact. Miranda says it herself. Shepard’s an icon. People will fall in behind the Commander and follow him or her to death. Which they did in the closing of ME3, flying their vast fleets into the mouth of hell to fight and get Earth back.
In doing so, Shepard did the one thing Saren failed to do; deliver the galaxy right to the Reapers. By being indoctrinated, Shepard has led everyone to their doom.
[...boy I sure hope not]
@ masseffect Please don't change the ending to Mass Effect 3. Just release what happens after I wake up from under the rubble. Great game! :)
- Kyle Conway (@KyleWritesStuff) March 27, 2012
@ kylewritesstuff We are releasing additional content, not changing what exists!
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 27, 2012
@ masseffect THANK YOU! It was hard to sift through the thousand news stories to figure out exactly what this all meant. Will the DLC be big?
- Kyle Conway (@KyleWritesStuff) March 27, 2012
@ kylewritesstuff More news in April!
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 27, 2012
@ masseffect hope you guys have some epichappy post ending dlc planned.finished the game today. That can't be the end for shep and freinds
- stephen browne (@steve3194) March 27, 2012
@ steve3194 We have DLC planned, but we haven't released specific details about it yet.
- Mass Effect (@masseffect) March 27, 2012
fuck this twitter embed shit
https://twitter.com/#!/masseffect/status/184769555774709761
Eric J. Raack @SatoOtaku
@masseffect @PatrickWeekes did you feel pressured to change the ending, Isn't it important to stick to your guns on some things?
Mass Effect Mass Effect @masseffect
@satootaku We never said we were changing it :) We have ALWAYS had big plans for ME3. It isn't a response-It's been in the works
https://twitter.com/#!/masseffect/status/184787660018171904
Marc Robey @Kaladur
@masseffect Whats with the ending? It was confusing and very dreamlike was it supposed to be like that?
Mass Effect Mass Effect @masseffect
@kaladur The ending was as we intended, so yes? :)