I think the indoctrination finale was Bioware's intent, but they ran out of time or couldn't figure out how to implement it in the best way. What we were left with was just the framework of an excellent idea. When the community melted down, Bioware had to abandon the idea and flesh out more conventional endings in the extended cut DLC. The main problem with the indoctrination theory is it doesnt end the story. So you pick Destroy, wake up on Earth.. and then.. the Reapers are still invading. If Bioware intended for indoctrination to be true, there may have been a whole additional part of the game that concluded the reaper war.
@thewildcat797227 күн бұрын
After 10+ years later, are u still alive?
@writerfish5056Ай бұрын
I really enjoy that this is narrated by text and your “personality” is kept out of it
@igodreamer7096Ай бұрын
Still a better theory than the whole ME3 script.
@Shepherd-ee2ck2 ай бұрын
Thats an interesting thery. But then again, Vigil and prothean VI in ME3 did not scent indoctrination in Shepard. And as catalyst said, Illusive Man could not control reapers, since he was indoctrinated. But Shepard can choose to control them. If the child in ME3 is really a hallucination, i believe the visions are caused by stress because of an upcoming invasion and war with reapers
@cowgoesmoo22 ай бұрын
dumbest idea ever
@falahibaboo15372 ай бұрын
Just enjoying my day and wanted to say Hi again for the 7th or 8th year in a row I guess.
@screwballsammo22182 ай бұрын
2024…vid is still awesome
@256k2 ай бұрын
12 years already since we worked on this theory, THE ORIGINAL indoctrination theory... I hope one day we will have the REAL answer
@KnoxCarbon3 ай бұрын
Maybe the real indoctrination was the friends we made along the way
@TheDogGeneral3 ай бұрын
And here you are all these years later and it doesn't make it true BioWare is the proprietary author owner writer decision maker for Mass Effect they have said over and over again that is not indoctrination and no matter how much you'd like to deny it it's not going to make it not true things as far as head cannon goes doesn't have to be true to be believable it's the same thing with the mirror from Harry Potter you see what you want to see and it gives you neither truth or knowledge my friend you must ditch the denial are red herring or Placebo is not going to make your case
@BladeStrikeАй бұрын
So you want everyone to be happy with and settle for the terrible endings the devs excreted like you have. You do you. Let others enjoy the greater possibilities of storytelling.
@TheDogGeneralАй бұрын
@@BladeStrike I've always gone with what fortune and fate dealt me I don't have to be happy about it but it is what it is and without truth the very essence of meaning of life is pointless what they excreted LOL it's what they gave us and it will have to stand for the test of time possibilities are just that possibilities but it'll never change the ending it'll never change what was.
@robkino613713 күн бұрын
>Destiny logo Opinion discarded. Go have shit taste elsewhere, simp.
@guitarlover423 ай бұрын
This is my canon.
@PrnvP233 ай бұрын
I've had this video in my favorites for god knows how many years. Found it again funnily enough while playing through Legendary Edition. Still the best fan video ever made. It's been emotional
@Srindal46574 ай бұрын
Mass effect is a lesson in manipulation. People who have been manipulated, recognises they are manipulated and applies actions to stop it happening again are the ones who are the most dangerous to those who manipulate.
@robkino61375 ай бұрын
Still better than anything Bioware has done before or since. Keep up the good fight lads, never fall for the Indoctrination!
@JackYOgurl6065 ай бұрын
I commented on this 11 years ago....Im replaying the series now this theory/fact is the best ever. I just have one question...if the ending was all a dream....and it was all just an indoctrination attempt...does that mean the war was still going on after it? The galaxy was close to defeat even without Shepard...Idk...I still love this damn video though.
@r0cketm00se32 ай бұрын
Prior to the Extended Cut ending we assumed and hoped that the DLC would include Shepard waking up after choosing destroy and you would have to fight your way to the control center where you would activate the SINGLE FUNCTION crucible and it would kill the Reapers as intended. Post EC DLC? Here's my thoughts. One of the main themes of ME is that Shepard, as amazing of a soldier as they are, is a mere individual in a war of galactic scale. Your real merit goes beyond your combat skills, its in the way you unite, and develop/mentor those around you into leading. Consider that in a war the most impressive soldier might be absent for the final battle, or a stray round could take out even the most skilled and aware. The reason you don't hear any fighting when you wake up from the indoctrination attempt is that regardless of what Shepard chose in those final moments in their head, their team (who had internalized his message of victory at all costs, even at personal sacrifice) has already won the day. While you were unconscious and presumed dead, being personally targeted by the Reapers in an attempt to indoctrinate their most significant threat, your team pressed on without you to the beam, took the Citadel, and finished the fight. An individual soldier can win countless battles, but a leader can steer the course of history. It's poetic justice that even unconscious, Shepard had instilled his mindset into enough of his allies to spur them on to victory even without you there to guide them. You got them to the 1 yard line, they took it the rest of the way. Or as Garrus said, "May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead." Even buried in rubble unconscious, the Reapers still had reason to fear the effect of Shepard.
@themoonlitquill5 ай бұрын
I read about this vid on Reddit, and DAMN am I glad I followed that lead! This was brilliant!! Well done!
@Conrad_Verner5 ай бұрын
How does Hackett know shepard is alive? 16:00
@timrickert82036 ай бұрын
9:11 Perhaps someone else caught this, but the "have a little faith" comment sounds way too much like how James says the same comment somewhere else in ME3 (I forget where. I think the little boxing match you have with him on the Normandy, maybe?).
@cornpopisabaddude6 ай бұрын
I guess I was successfully indoctrinated then
@filerecovery53197 ай бұрын
Still the best video on the IT on the Extranet
@Derhone7 ай бұрын
So what? Everyone in the galaxy whipped out?
@olechristianhenne65837 ай бұрын
The fact that bioware we're denying this including EA and other developers have even played all of the Mass Effect series in doctrination theory is very much real and the fact that they are denying this and just pretended like it never existed just go to the shows that there's just spitting on the fans
@Baked2597 ай бұрын
Ikr. WAAYYY too much lines up. The novels mentioning the deep growl that happens when someone rejects indoctrination. Or the Rachni Queen's oily shadow description is what sells it for me.
@cybergothika69068 ай бұрын
Vigil was not a VI, he was an true AI, and he always said the word "perhaps".
@kyriacostheofanous14458 ай бұрын
What's weird is why is the IM even trying to reason with them in the first place? Why even bother with this scene if it's real? If it's real then the reaper should just kill Anderson and shep
@LoganLS09 ай бұрын
Reapers are Commies. Commies cannot be bargained with or controled. Only destroyed.
@Baked2597 ай бұрын
*DEATH IS A PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMUNISM*
@marssavins6818Ай бұрын
... What?
@drflannelxd9049 ай бұрын
Bioware has said they were too incompetent to do something this cohesive. That said, if they don't retcon the canon of the next ME game to factor this in, they have too many implications from the ending to ever use Shepard again without writing at least 3 different games in the same title.
@CowboyRibeye10 ай бұрын
Does not matter what they say. Doesn't matter if its fan theory. It fits too perfectly.
@majuli842011 ай бұрын
Another clue that supports the indoctrination theory is the tone of voice that the Reapers use when they interact with Shepard: When Shepard talks to Sovereign, and later Harbinger in ME1 and ME2, their tone is one of sadistic glee, of triumphant arrogance, a feeling of absolute (almost fascistic) superiority. However, in the end, when Shepard talks to the Star Child, his tone is completely different. Suddenly, the Reapers seem almost harmless, they're doing organics a favor, it's not personal for them. Even before I heard of the indoctrination theory, I found that contrast in attitude jarring. If the Reapers are indeed merely galactic lawnmowers curating organic life in the galaxy, as the Star Child claims, why would they gloat and insult and belittle? Wouldn't they have the same tone of voice as their master, Star Child? No. Their true nature is that in ME1, when Sovereign tells Shepard that for the Reapers, organics are nothing. It makes much more sense that the conciliatory tone in the last segment is just a last, desperate attempt to get Shepard to accept indoctrination and view the Reapers as reasonable.
@dumont7478 Жыл бұрын
We're not saying Garrus is batman, but...
@Davanthall Жыл бұрын
Haha, the ol’ Mass Effect Indoctrination Theory, I remember tha- {sees age of video} …..OH SWEET JESUS FUCKING MERCIFUL CHRIST-ON-A-BIKE IT’S BEEN _HOW_ LONG????
@TrekCZ11 ай бұрын
I would like to know what happened with author of this video though. Why they disappeared suddenly, what happened with them, who is behind that?
@poolee77 Жыл бұрын
This still makes more sense than the RGB ending even if BioWare denies it.
@blueshit199 Жыл бұрын
2010-2014 was a good time for videogame meme culture
@blueshit199 Жыл бұрын
lmfao
@AdromedaJoel Жыл бұрын
This theory is very thought provicating
@funtourhawk Жыл бұрын
Just finished a Mass Effect trilogy playthrough...gotta come back and watch this...love the editing/sound design (besides the audio glitches). Obviously the real ending, playing thru ME3 there's a lot of clues
@Alexander_Gordeev Жыл бұрын
Remember, than it isn't a canonical theory. It can't answer on the all questions after mission "Cerberus HQ". Only old endings (before DLC Extented Cut)
@projectpat880711 ай бұрын
I don't believe in the theory anymore. The Extended Cut ending did debunk a lot of stuff. But the more I play Mass Effect 3, it's quite clear that the Destroy ending is the correct choice.There is tons of hints and foreshadowing throughout the game for Destroy/to pick that. The other two options, not so much. The only ones for Control or even Synthesis are villain characters. Pretty much ALL "good" characters are for Destroy.
@etoya4513 Жыл бұрын
great video, thanks! I started to see that this all is fake after removed UI and Anderson's words about getting to the control panel when there is no other way
@cristianvogelfang5670 Жыл бұрын
Jahajajaa sorry but no
@tempest9186 Жыл бұрын
In June of 2023, this video is still awesome.
@jacoballen148 Жыл бұрын
When did we get security cameras
@jacoballen148 Жыл бұрын
Edi quit screwing with my head
@sakkra93 Жыл бұрын
Shepard is a supersoldier not a superhero, his mind is still Human. Even though Shepard is incredibly strong-willed and possesses a strong ability with logic, he can still be turned, it just takes longer. I kind of like the idea that the extensive reconstruction at the start of ME2 kind of "reset" Shepard's indoctrination, erasing, even if temporarily, the beginnings of indoctrination that occured in ME1.
@Alexander_Gordeev Жыл бұрын
But this theory isn't ideal, unfortunately. M-6 has a unlimited thermal clip after Harbinger's hit. But I can't remember that you could shoot any, who wasn't an enemy before this mission (remember mission on Benning). Author forgot than any armour suite changes to heavy damaged N7 armour suite. Any weapon changes to M-6 Carnifex. The main part of this video - there are Harbinger's words from ME 2 missions with Collectors, if I didn't forget ME 2 Javik can feel emotions, but Vigil in the ME 1 told, that prorhean empire fallen very fast "thanks to" indoctrinated "refugees".
@jaskbi Жыл бұрын
11 Years and still coming back to this, come back Acavyos!
@gregdass276 Жыл бұрын
I just completed my first playthrough going the the LE. I find this theory interesting. But I suppose a question I have is, if everything on the citadel took place in Shep's mind, how does resisting indoctrination, red, destroy the Reaper. What actually kills them? If you choose Blue or Green, what does surrendering to Reaper Indoctrination actually do besides flip a beat to hell Shep into a Reaper puppet? And does the theory suggest that all the cut scene things after the choice are also not real? I think some of these questions would need to be answered for me before I jumped into the indoctrination theory with both feet
@falahibaboo1537 Жыл бұрын
I give up on waiting and just wanted to say hi. That’s it have a good day and I’ll see you next year ✌🏻
@evildeathbloody Жыл бұрын
I've played ME 3 at launch, so many years ago. Finished it with a sense of...nonesense. I did embraced Indoctrination theory at the time, as a more fulfilling ending. Im playing the Legendary Edition rn. The indoctrination theory still make so much sense.
@matthewroughan589 Жыл бұрын
An ode to the greatest NPC ever created. There is no Shepherd without Varkarien.
@stevenstice6683 Жыл бұрын
I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the wrong number that wakes you up at 3 am. I am Archangel!
@jasonbommerify Жыл бұрын
In Mass Effect 2, the Elusive Man has glowing blue eyes. It's due to implants, similar to Shep's glowing yellow in the citadel DLC. However by the end of 3 he is indoctrinated. Major Coates not noticing you moving to the beam is an easy miss. He's looking over a field of destruction, you're currently on the ground near death, and Anderson had already entered before the fly over.
@hurricane7727 Жыл бұрын
I think it is a Dream. I think Anderson died in the Beam Run and the Anderson we see in the Dream is Part of Shepard.
@Sigurjon96 Жыл бұрын
He was indoctrinated after he encountered an artifact way back. Similar in the Arrival DLC how everyone is under the influence of brainwashing with Object Rho. Jack Harper/TIM was always an asshole but now he was controlled by The Reapers just the same that they did with Saren except he was much more noble despite his flaws. TIM's almost like a corrupt politician (similar traits to Udina) while Saren is a warrior. In the comic books it's explained. But one thing certain don't trust TIM.
@daddy7860 Жыл бұрын
"C'mon, I was just calibrating the security feeds"