5 VILLAINS We May See in Mass Effect 4

[@V1rtualFlod]

If the Kett return, Bioware really needs to flesh them out with proper goals, motivations, and depth. One of the underrated aspects of the original trilogy was its tragic antagonists. Both Saren and TIM had good intentions (even if their actions were extreme), but they flew too close to the sun. There was a level of sympathy you could have for them despite their flaws. In Andromeda, the Kett are just evil bonemen that do evil bonemen things. I always thought it would be interesting if the Kett became sterile due to some unfortunate event, and now exaltation is the only way to keep their species alive. Since nobody would voluntarily go through it, they either take people by force or face extinction. Maybe it's a dumb idea but at least it's something.

[@Dark_Voice]

Or if Alliance reaserched some intergalactic Massively faster than light travel (MFTL) and went to Andromeda and with say 500 years of evolution Human Alliance would start waging war against the Kett Empire which Kett Empire was loosing hard AND the Archon tried to get the Remnant on their side in attempt to hold off the human invading force despite the empire leaders forbidding him to do it and only seeking to "recruit" more soldiers for the war effort against the human menace.

[@bryanb2886]

@TheAspiringRRT He was antagonistic towards humans but that comes from the war he grew up around where humans show up, start fighting turians, and within the early span of his career- get a council seat, more colonies than several other council races, and a chance at a Spectre. His hatred comes from a love of his people and a wish to not see them be killed off by these mythical reapers he has found to be real.

[@christheviolaplayer8250]

you actually hit the nail on the head, in a dialogue with Lexi T'Perro, she points out that the kett have no reproductive organs, probably because they were removed for efficiency after some mass sterilization event. and exaltation requires the immune system of the chosen to be weak, like that of a baby. Edit: I just finished a run of MEA last night, it's actually in an email that Lexi sends to Ryder, so that may explain why some people might have missed it.

[@bryanb2886]

@@christheviolaplayer8250 So thats what happened to the Quarian Ark

[@broomhilder]

Hey I’d pay for a game with this plot

[@michaeldiaz6006]

Imagine a game with Matriarch Liara and Warlord Grunt.

[@theillusiveman2139]

700 year aren' t engough for be a Matriarch

[@chloewhitson7597]

@@theillusiveman2139 you have no idea what time the new game takes place in.

[@theillusiveman2139]

@@chloewhitson7597 yeah but i guess he thinks Me5 will be set just after andromeda, or at least that' s what most of the people think.

[@chloewhitson7597]

@@theillusiveman2139 I guess, it is as agravateing the SW theroies

[@EdwinPlayGamer]

Or Wrex

[@omegawolf2589]

I could say a galactic civil war. Even the Asari could splinter after what was revealed about their past and many races could be against them as well for it thinking if they shared the info they had then they might’ve stood a better chance at facing the Reapers.

[@bryanb2886]

If this is what we get, it would be hard to support the Asari over the others. IMO

[@JohnGoetzGaming]

Wait what did they learn?

[@bryanb2886]

Spoilers Ahead ` ` ` ` ` ` ` The Asari were hiding Prothean technology within their religion and temple. I think their ancestors were directly saved by protheans too.

[@luissera1296]

@@bryanb2886 spoilers If I remember rightly Javik says that the protheans deflected an asteroid strike or something like that. That was meant to hit the Asari homeworld saving the species .

[@GriffonSword]

Judging by mass effects 3's storyline quarians, krogan, turian and humans were the biggest contributors to the war effort (well depending on player choices, but I feel like if we follow the best case scenario it is true). In my headcannon I always tought they would be the pillars of the next council and the salarians and the assari would fade in light of their actions which would cause conflict

[@donnyyasu2764]

Civil War. I would honestly like a faction that forms with a mix of all races, that is against the 'Council' way of running things. The Reaper invasion could have been prepared for if the Council investigated further with Shepard. If news got out about that after such a devastating near galactic extinction event, I wouldn't doubt there would people who want to change how things run. Plus it also makes the game revolve around Shepard in a way, which makes it great if he returns, or you getting to hear about Shepard's action as a new character with all the choices you made. Throw in salvaged reaper tech, and a lack of military might to properly patrol the Council space, and you have a good premise on hand.

[@hyhena-gaming9986]

Heck I could see the bat Ariana leading that new faction, with the support of a new human splinter faction and some kurgan traditionalist who don’t like they “new” Krishna way of life

[@nathanlevesque7812]

Civil war is the best option because it plays to the best parts of each game. The overarcing big-bads were never as interesting as the conflicts of the different species. Imagine ME3 without having to tie everything into a final conflict with the reapers, and a greater focus on issues like the genophage or the Geth-Quarian war.

[@arx3516]

The teapers did never fit the Mass Effect universe, they always felt out of place. They would be perfect for a super robot anime series, where they act as a powerful villain against an equally powerful hero, but not for a work like M.E. where the hero's main strenght is diplomacy. They are however what could make work a participation of Mass Effect into a Super Robot Wars game, where we could see the Shin Getter decimating the reapers and Shepard brokering peace between Neo Zeon and the Earth Federation.

[@ZacharyDarkes]

The leviathan makes sense to me and the criminal underground of mass effect because the reapers are destroyed and many criminals would be trying to get reaper tech for themselves. That being said I could see bioware using both like mass effect 3 like they did with the reapers and cerberus. But the civil war theory to me makes the most sense.

[@LightStreak567]

Plus, the Leviathans used to enslave all sentient races in the Milky Way in a time before the Reapers existed. With the Reapers defeated, the Leviathans are free to reassert their dominance.

[@TheWireLayer]

Personally, I think it's quite possible that we will see Conrad Verner as the main villain in mass effect 5

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

Only if Shepard was mean to him in ME1.

[@cameocam007]

Just recently finished ME2 and I remember Tali's recruitment mission revolved around a star that was going into the end of its life cycle way too early and no one knew why. I know its very unlikely to be revisited but I wonder if there's the potential for a greater story nestled somewhere within that concept?

[@JimankyGaming]

That was actually going to be a HUGE story point in Mass Effect 3, but it was cut.

[@tyrayentali7041]

As I understand it was originally meant to be the thing which defeats the Reapers.

[@GTAVictor9128]

The accumulation of dark energy as a result of eezo use was meant to be the original plot around which the game revolved - in real physics, dark energy is the proposed factor that causes the universe expansion rate to accelerate. Alas, the universe is projected to eventually expand so far out that even the most basic atomic vibrations would cease in a state of maximum entropy - the so-called "Heat Death" of the universe. Hence, the over-reliance on eezo by advanced civilizations was leading to an accelerated expansion, and the Reapers were trying to find a solution to this problem. This makes me wonder if that theme could be revived with the scourge.

[@vladboch]

I'd like them to explore this theme more. The scourge from the Andromeda seems to be the evolution of this idea. What if the scourge somehow appears in the Milky Way? It may be caused by the Jardaan's enemies.

[@unoriginalname9387]

So basically, in a distant future, the whole universe would crumble in reaction to its expansion caused by dark energy (the real theory is called The big rip btw). The reapers were created to find a solution, they couldn't. So in order to enhance their own "computing power" and intelligence they amass genetic material from advanced species and use it to make new reapers in the hope that they will find the solution one day. This was supposed to be the plot of ME3 and it's so much better than this crappy organic/synthetic conflict which made no sense. If you think about it the words of Sovereign and Harbinger now make sense. "We are your salvation through destruction", even if they are wiping out countless civilizations, their long term goal is to save the universe and if they succeed they would ultimately have saved way more lives than they sacrificed in the process, numbers against the infinite you know. "You will surrender your potential against the growing void", direct reference to the dark energy plot and the goal of the reapers. "Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding", Sovereign is right, we can't understand, It's impossible. No one sane would agree to the reapers plan and sacrifice so many lives. We don't see time the same way, we can understand that the end of the universe needs to be stoped in the future but It's a future sooooo distant from our own life span that we would ultimately never do something about it and the universe would be doomed with us. We have the same problem right now with our own planet. Species go instinct, resources are depleting and the climat change will bring huge disasters. We could do more about it but in our heads we think "by the time the really bad consequences appear I will be gone." So yeah, for me there is no comparison, this plot would have satisfy me way more than the one we got. I would still be able to see the reapers as this species so advanced and alien that I can't really understand their actions.

[@thedroid4681]

I’d like to see some part of the criminal side. Not having galaxy wide implications. Structured like mass effect 2

[@humansvd3269]

But we've seen plenty of the criminal side. Omega, mercy, thieves, blue sun's, eclipse.

[@johnnys8393]

Personally I would like to see some new races in the next mass effect. We already know there were many mass relays that the council prohibited opening. Maybe after the destruction of the mass relays at the conclusion of the trilogy a new race (or two or three) is travelling the galaxy repairing and reactivating the relays. New races with their own unique appearances, histories, cultures, value systems and mannerisms.

[@kingmasterlord]

maybe the inactive ones didn't blow up

[@barrybend7189]

I can see the Leviathans doing a First ones like in Babylon 5 and leave the younger races be. But I can see one being left behind to keep an eye on the Citidel and any intact reaper tech.

[@nellouse1]

I see you are also a person of culture

[@thomas.parnell7365]

Interesting idea a lone group patroling the galaxy finding and destroying all leftover reaper technology either by negotiation following a mind wipe of all involved to protect their identity .eg say the geth and quarians are at peace .say hello both of you we have a proposal your reaper source code must be destroyed but rather than just destroy you we have written a replacement code which do the same job if not better.all you to do transfer your essence into the new coding the reapers technology is still dangerous to all after we are done here can you help us in removing every trace of them dead reaper hulls among many other artifacts.otherwise we fear a new reaper could form one day from the remain s it could be a million years from now your time but if you don't help all the lives lost on the reaper war will have been for nothing .

[@cublue3239]

I like the idea of the Yahg trying to become the dominant species and taking over from the ones crippled by the Reaper war. With mass effect tech crippled they will advance in a new way and could make for interesting enemies

[@MrHulthen]

Since they're as intelligent as the Salarians and as strong as the Krogan - they could possibly be the worst kind of conqueror yet

[@Elia-fn8jv]

@@MrHulthen they have been foreshadowed since mass effect 2 from Liara and Admiral Hackett being a powerful race and untouched by the Reapers

[@inquisitorpig5760]

@@Elia-fn8jv And a semi-funny mention about a Yahg using the chaos during Cerberus' attack on the Sur'Kesh facility from Liara or Garrus to escape(or try to, at least)... "There goes the next Shadow Broker." I'd prefer those things over the kett. Why? One word : Exaltation. I hate the concept of someone you might know effectively getting brainwashed and turned into another species. Also just seems a little too similar to what Reapers would do to create additional ground forces during their invasion with Milky Way species, with the main difference being that they need it to ensure the survival of their species. Not to mention that the process is irreversible. Just keep them over in Andromeda.

[@benkr]

yea thats one of the things, we have a game called mass effect but didnt really do anything with that yet but flying. so mass effect could be the main plot.

[@iamdiscothedrunkhippo5380]

I’d honestly just like to see the galaxy mostly at peace, with you fighting against pirates and crime bosses trying to take advantage of the war. With how badly every species was beaten up, I don’t think anyone is quite that ambitious yet. And I think it would diminish all Shepard accomplishes in ME3. You unite the entire galaxy to fight the greatest threat to all life just for it to go right back into another galaxy wide conflict? Cannot see that being popular.

[@sergioh.9375]

Make Sense, a galaxy full of tyrants, criminal empires and slavers would be interesting to see. Or even something like Star Trek Dyscovery, where you have to try to "reincorporate" the aliens back into the "Council"

[@popcornfilms1]

This, Shepard United the galaxy for war - now it needs to be repaired for peace

[@omaradanielthelolmodel4490]

There's a very valid point here👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿. ME4 should be handled as a 1st to another trilogy. And that can't start on a crazy high. I'd do a MGS5 Style galactic level task force building, with Liara at the helm as a mentor, or even playable at the start before we design out own character.

[@Cookiesrfood]

I think ME4 should be set at least a few centuries into the future to the point where its story has no chance to conflict with Shepard's story and the galaxy should be relatively stable and at peace at least to start off with. Also, Liara could be your matriarch Asari companion in the game.

[@MjolnirFeaw]

I think your final point is damn right. And I'm pretty sure that's what Bioware thought when they started writing a 4th game. The idea of a re-uniting quest of concil (& non-concil) species is interesting but lack some sort greatness after saving all sentient lives in the galaxy, don't you think?

[@VannTheDawn]

In Liara’s logs in Andromeda, she talked of the minute chance of finding living Protheans that may have survived into our cycle. A totalitarian race bent on reconquering the galaxy that was once theirs, taking advantage of the reapers’ devastation.

[@Hartzilla2007]

Javik was the only survivor of their attempt at that.

[@daferrarifan]

Oh yes!! Galactic civil war is a great idea! Batarians going into war with the humans, Krogans expanding way to much and going rogue with wrex dying a hero's death and with Grunt joining your squad to fight back against these Krogans OR have Grunt be leading the bad guys.... oohh the possibilities, just as long as they dont f*ck it up like andromeda, im cool

[@kennyasche3099]

are there still Batarians left?

[@kahikovmikey]

@@kennyasche3099 i was about to say, the batarians have nothing left 🤣

[@silvertemplar8061]

I’d actually like to think that the devastation of Batarian territory brought a new attitude in which they would ally with humanity, or remain an independent power with a new government and outlook on the galaxy. There is no way they would be the same after Mass Effect 3, they lost almost everything to the Reapers. That would greatly shape any society.

[@Jidcruz1]

I like to think the Galactic Civil War would begin in the case of paranoia and hatred from the Citadel Council for not acting sooner from Shepard's Warnings before the Reaper Invasion. This new faction could be a alliance of different alien races who have a similar distrust towards towards the Council. Also Reaper tech could be involved as well being valuable for weapons, ship-designs, and more being a valued resource after the war.

[@humansvd3269]

​@kennyasche3099 yes. They scattered about and with no home planet, they'll come back for vengeance. They were almost as big as the humans, so they're a threat

[@anthonykarlsson5166]

A theory about Shepard’s return. He fought against his own clone in Citadel DLC. Who says there could not have been more clones? So depending on which end you chose, a clone can be spare parts or an Avatar for Shepard. Sorry for the gramma. English is not my first language.

[@COOKIE-gk9oc]

The enemys in the Andromeda galaxy are most likely to be the antagonists for the next ME game. It would just be foolish not to do anything with them because of the hate for Andromeda, but the Ovarores sound pretty interesting. Wouldn't mind having the as the next big bads.

[@juzoli]

The hate for Andromeda is the exact reason why the would not reuse them. Also they are far in the future, and in general it is a stupid idea to just reuse the villains…

[@Agherosh]

@@juzoli Why would it be stupid to reuse the enemies? We had three games fighting reapers, geth and Cerberus.

[@COOKIE-gk9oc]

@@juzoli Reuse? The story line with the Kett hasn't been concluded yet and we never found out who the Jardaan were warring against. It would be idiotic to abandoned the Andromeda storyline with many unanswered story threads for the concluded storyline of the Milky-Way.

[@COOKIE-gk9oc]

@@juzoli And in my opinion the only reason the next ME game is set in the future is sodat the timeline of the Milky-Way galaxy can align with the timeline of the Andromeda galaxy sodat Liara can go over to meet up with Ryder and the Initiative.

[@juzoli]

@@COOKIE-gk9oc Next ME game is not set in the future, it is set after the events of ME3.

[@thisissarcasm9579]

Every time I think of the leviathans, I get a clear picture in my mind of Javik doing Drax's line "It's really Thanos I should kill."

[@basedkaiser5352]

I feel like the Leviathans would be too similar to the Reapers and the Ketts would get pwned if they entered the Milky Way as every races in this galaxy is basically battle-hardened.

[@pawli7470]

I feel like the leviathans are a no since they experienced the reapers themselves and fighting the races that defeated the reapers might not be a great idea and a civil war would be interesting if you ask me

[@Nemesis_T-Type]

The galaxy is separated and in shambles tho. Much easier to conquer

[@MrHulthen]

Very true!

[@matthewanthony4606]

The leviathans can mind control organics. With machines gone they probably feel they have a much easier time taking back the galaxy against organics than machines

[@Jaceksobczak8]

@@matthewanthony4606 all depends whats ending is canon Might you say destroy bcs with enough force sheppard lives But maybe synthesis is canon and we gonna play one of the crews in ME4 Like Ashley or Kaidan (depends who survives)

[@jjankrom4398]

@@Jaceksobczak8 Being that the reapers win in every ending but destroy, destroy is probably canon. Refusal: the reapers just complete their galactic genocide. Synthesis: you join your organic body with the catalyst( the very ai that created the reapers) and everything synthetic and organic becomes "living". Imagine regaining your consiosness and being a husk or a banshee are anything indoctrinated. Every single mind becomes one collective give through the reapers. Control: Shepard is indoctrinated because the reapers wanted him not the illusive man. The illusive man wanted to control them but the catalyst says " but WE wouldn't let him" Shepard loses his physical body becoming one of the most advanced ai systems in the galaxy REPLACING the catalyst as the reapers main ai. And the destroy: the only plausible ending due to the reapers being defeated and Shepard survives

[@Gameman1977]

The Borg LOL !!!

[@MrHulthen]

Oh god 😂

[@viktorbarney6795]

Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.

[@Ozeec2]

I'd say the Kett are the most likely to return, however, I have to say I'd love to see a galactic civil war with a New Vegas-style main quest where you make your character and then get wrapped up with one of the factions. Maybe Council loyalists, a group with a similar mindset as the Legion from New Vegas, and possibly some of the Corporations. I think that would work best if they wanted to let us play as a non-human for a change. Maybe we play as a veteran N7 Spec Op from the multiplayer who fought in the Reaper War, as personally, I don't want Shepard to return as the player character.

[@SunnyHolly90]

Couldn’t the Jardaan be a Milky Way species (ie Ovarores)? We never saw the Ovarores who look almost identical to the Angara… with similar thought process of the Quarians considering not only did the Jardaan make a people but also an “army” of remnant. Maybe they saw the writing on the wall like the catalyst said and decided to flee taking all of the knowledge they harvested…

[@MrHulthen]

Hmm, i didn't think of that : )

[@shitguy7615]

I would say leviathan but more in depth, the species that they saved, they had interest in rare/special species, wouldnt be unbelievable that they kept some of them, they wanted Shepard right ? What if there is some type of 'dark ark' in dark space filled with species of the past cyles waiting for the perfect time to come. I think a story of old vs new and territory War would be awesome. It would be a way to add more races too.

[@shanethewatcher6163]

I think the end of ME3 leaves use with a galaxy full of mixed communities. No one said the galactic hierarchy had to go back to the way to was. In fact, ME2 and 3 show us that the political system isn't set in stone, seeing humans getting a seat at the grown up table after only 30ish years on the galactic stage. I think civil war will make an excellent B plot, but imma need Bioware to expand upon that dark energy plot. The stars blinking out early would be a threat to any and all parties still present anywhere in the ME universe.

[@MrHulthen]

Dark Energy plot would def be the most urgent plotline

[@darthachref6195]

work in elder scrolls will work with mass effect

[@shanethewatcher6163]

@@MrHulthen we still also have the beings of light. Maybe they are the same as the Jardaan or the catalyst. Maybe they'd be more concerned with the long term existence of the universe

[@pulpficti]

This dark energy plot doesn't make any sense though. I know Mass effect isn't hard sci-fi but that's just ridiculous

[@shanethewatcher6163]

@@pulpficti are you familiar with the anime Gurren Lagann? It'd be similar in premise to that Edit: The ending of Gurren Lagann, anyway

[@tyrayentali7041]

There's still a plot hole around Leviathan which I can't figure out. Namely, how they were defeated by the catalyst. As I understand, the first Reaper, Harbinger, was made from the Leviathan species. But then how did the Catalyst even attack them? I doubt that anything less than the Reapers would be able to defeat them so I don't think the Catalyst only gathered an army of small fray from the Galaxy. They still shouldn't stand a chance.

[@dangi6516]

There is noplot hole , there is literally a dialog option with Leviatan about that ...

[@tyrayentali7041]

@@dangi6516 The Catalyst doesn't explain how it was able to overthrow the Leviathan without Reapers.

[@dangi6516]

@@tyrayentali7041 Catalyst don't but Leviatan do , as I wrote, you have the option of asking leviatan how the "intelligence" defeated them and in response levitan explains that to be able to perform its task, AI needed information, so it created an army of machines that collected this information and with the help of these machines and probably others that were created in the meantime, Catalyst defeated the Leviathans

[@tyrayentali7041]

@@dangi6516 That's my point, though. There is no conceivable way that the Catalyst could have created an army that would be able to topple the Leviathan. Only 3 of them could easily deal with a capital class Reaper, even without any weapons at their disposal, so an entire society of Leviathan would be able to deal even with dozens of Reapers. There is no army beyond something like 100+ capital class Reapers that could ever take on the Leviathan.

[@dextergrif1052]

I think a prequel that plays more linearly would be interesting. Perhaps following Anderson’s story with Saren from Mass Effect: Revelation.

[@volrogue]

I'd literally be down for any game after we would get 1 more Shepard game that gives us a better send off for the character

[@jordandennis6794]

I don't wanna play as Anderson.

[@avay8726]

Maybe the first contact war will be good

[@LightStreak567]

@@avay8726 Since you don't know much about the Mass Effect lore outside the games, the First Contact War wasn't a war per se, it only lasted a week or less until the Citadel Council intervened. A new Mass Effect villain must present an "Avengers Level Threat" to the Mass Effect universe. The Turian military is nowhere near as threatening as the Kett.

[@barrybend7189]

I would love a Prothian based game.

[@EphPhaThaINC]

I do actually think that the Leviathans will be back as they were once the apex race in the galaxy, they came back and helped defeat the Reapers. I think that the Leviathans could come back as “pissed off” and wanting to get revenge as well as reclaim what they had lost to the Reapers.

[@juzoli]

How about this? New trilogy, Ep. 1: First mass relay built/fixed, galaxy reunited. We are fighting the factions which were previously stuck in Sol system (after the defeat of Rapers), and opposed the Relay, and wanted to stay isolated Ep. 2: Galaxy reunited, new power balance, civil war. New enemy emerges in the shadows Ep. 3: Actual new enemy. For example hidden Prothean colony is back to reclaim their galaxy. We find the Orevores who were also hiding, and help us defeating the Protheans.

[@jcwyatt3]

Personally, I would like for the story to go with a galactic civil war route. I think the way it would turn out would be The original council races (Asari, Salarian and Turian) against the Krogan, Humans, Quarians and/or Geth; with the Terminus systems being a wild card capable of joining either side depending on your characters actions.

[@basedkaiser5352]

Maybe a « civil war » to see who gets to be the dominant species. I feel like the Asari’s reputation is going to go down as years pass and the other species are going to hold a grudge against them. Maybe they’ll have the same reputation as the Quarians before the war with the Reapers began.

[@V4EVega]

If the Kett made their way to the Milky Way and managed to exalt the Vorcha, they'd be nightmares. Lore explains how the Vorcha are extremely adaptable to every environment though their short lifespans make it so their bodies typically only adapt to one specific environment. If the Kett harnessed that genetic ability and could harness it at will, they could infinitely adapt to any world regardless of environment or gravity. Hell, they could just make themselves super soldiers across the board.

[@Chaotic_Monk43]

I like the civil war idea, but wouldn't want a simple "turians want this, salarians want that", I'd like it to be ideology based. Granted certain races skew certain ways but I feel like the OG trilogy covered the straight up species divides fairly extensively.

[@Pijoto]

A Game of Thrones like Galactic Civil War that's spiraling out of control, Liara manages to find a frozen Shepard and revives him/her, and once again task Shepard with bringing peace and reuniting the Galaxy. For an overall threat, maybe they can dust off parts of the Dark Energy plot, giving Shepard another reason to end the Civil War and focus on the bigger issue.

[@GouveiaBDesign]

I always love thought the reapers were connected to the Jardaan. What I assumed happened was that after reapers completed their harvest they took everything back to andromeda. They built the Jardaan with a mission to construct a more perfect version of organic life using what they harvested. The scourge and everything going crazy is somehow connected to the reaper destruction. A lot of the remnant have squid like looking features which is how I initially came about this connection.

[@sketchymari1966]

I always wanted to see more of Leviathan. When I first played, I assumed we were gonna see them in action and what they were capable of when the fight to Earth came but we didn't :(

[@wwoolofl8056]

Shepard is going to be the Big Bad, chasing whatever unknown goal Shepard is completing with the Reapers. A dead Reaper/Relay could be a misdirect to make everyone assume it was the destroy ending

[@danielcastillo4962]

I’d like to see a precuel, the first contact war between Humans and Turians. I do know it was a very short war but just imagine when humanity meets the entire species of the galaxy for first time and all the political implications behind it.

[@DeusNyx]

The Jaardan were hinted at by a developer as being a 'different evolved intelligence', this sounds like synthetic to me - and they created, in their view, artificial intelligences - the Angaran. Personally, I think the opposition was the Reapers. When the Reapers disappeared every 50,000yrs, they were in the Andromeda galaxy. It may explain why the Geth had built the mass relay telescope that was pointed at the Andromeda galaxy - they were searching for their gods, the Reapers.

[@Hartzilla2007]

If that was the case I doubt people from the Milky Way would have trouble understanding the technology scattered around since it would all be derived from Reaper tech.

[@turskiblazej7161]

I have a jardaan / opposition theory. According to which the Jardaans were / are the Milky Way race that escaped the harvest. Their original purpose seems to have been to regroup forces and create a technology that could destroy the reapers(the plague), but over the centuries, the return to conflict with the reapers has lost relevance in relation to the colonization / treatment of andromeda and the reproduction / cloning. Hence the breakdown into opposition.

[@turskiblazej7161]

And I think they will use this thread to get the current andromeda initiative to regain the lost galaxy( info from ark Kelaah Se'lai and 4th ending mass effect 3[cycle continues]). the kett might still be involved in this

[@GeonusKaikun]

I say the volus "biotic god" attains omnipotence and visits his wrath upon the galaxy.

[@AzathothXy]

How many Leviathans are really left though?

[@MrHulthen]

Good question, atleast 3 :)

[@andrevaughn6980]

Damn good question!

[@cushman72393]

There's only three of them that we know of but more than likely there's a lot more you got to remember the leviathans were smart they knew what was coming my bet is that they fled into dark space or into other galaxies

[@AzathothXy]

The one Shepherd talks to was born/ created after the Reapers attacked them. So they can still reproduce.

[@Zushi_Tsunami]

A civil war gives the most flexibility for story telling.

[@AnimeShinigami13]

There are a lot of questions remaining about Andromeda. 1. How did the Kett end up as they are? You don't completely remove reproduction from the equation and worship a parasite like form of transformation instead without some kind of major cataclysm driving your race to near extinction. Whatever that story is, they have a flourishing Kardeshev 2 collectivist based empire. 2. Are the Angara we see in Andromeda the ONLY angara? They themselves acknowledge that there may be more Angara colonies outside of the ones that we know; Kadara, Voeld, Aya and Havarl. There's even a quest that openly admits that possibility. We also have the Angaran pilot who's ancient craft we find on Havarl. There was a lot of excitement about the possibility of them returning in a concept art for ME4, because some thought we'd get to go back and forth between Heleus and the Milky Way. But the truth could be more interesting than that. We could have Angara come to settle the milky way, or a small group of refugees sent to flee the conflict either between the Jardaan and the Opposition or to flee the Kett. In which case we'd have the shoe be on the other foot now, with an Angara Ark coming to the Milky Way. This also leaves the possibility open for the Kett to invade as well, following behind them. The angara are social people by nature, and although they reproduce rapidly, they don't have the raw brawn or aggression the Krogan do. So the dynamic between Angara colonists and the Milky Way could be very interesting. Because so much of Angaran history has been lost, we don't even have an idea of when the Jaardan made the angara. No age was given for the Angara prototypes they found in the tubes in the Jaardan laboratory. Their estimates for how old their race is could be just flat out wrong. 3. Who or what is the Benefactor? Although there isn't much evidence, I believe the Benefactor is a Jaardan AI. My reasoning rests on both the events of "Ryder Family Secrets" and the main game's plot involving the Remnant. We know from the terminals we found on Khi Tasira that the Jaardan revered life forms but also making life. Because of this I highly doubt the Jaardan would attack the Milky Way if they still existed. I believe instead of outright contact they sent the Benefactor. Imagine if you'd done all that work, the labor of generations to create a new species from nothing, guide their culture, create or terraform whole worlds for them, and then someone tried to wipe it all out. You wouldn't let that go without a fight would you? That's what we see in the voice records we find in Khi Tasira. Well an AI doesn't have a body to worry about maintaining, and they can be transmitted at the speed of light. If you can send data, you can send an AI. The Benefactor AI may have been hoping that someone who was more technologically capable might come and restore the Jaardan's technology and remove the scourge. The Scourge represents a weaponization of a phenomenon called "Kessler syndrome". We know Mass Effect's devs are aware of this phenomenon in the very first game because there's a pistol model called "Kessler." Kessler syndrome is when debris from destroyed ships and stations produce a wall of sorts. Try to go through this and your ship gets destroyed. We see in ME2 that even the Normandy has trouble maneuvering through such a debris field when they assault the collector base. Joker barely made it through with collector Occulus unmanned drones chasing the Normandy down. So we know kinetic barriers will only go so far to protect a ship from it. The Benefactor may also have known the Kett were coming to Heleus and left to get help. It sees the Milky way species about to be wiped out by the Reapers and knows that it can hit two birds with one stone. Assuming the Benefactor is a Jaardan AI, it would have their core value system and want to preserve the Milky Way species from being Harvested. And if they failed to stop the Reapers, it could come back and preserve another round of sentient species in 50k years, and just keep doing this until the Reapers were beaten. The Kett are an invasive species in the Heleus cluster, and there's a school of thought in the real world for destroying Invasive Species where you introduce another life form to control an invasive one. IMO the Asari would be very attractive to the Benefactor because of their similarities to the Kett in how they value collecting good genes and breeding them into the Asari. Ideologically, it would be perfect because it would sow dissent among the Kett numbers. The Krogan ability to multiply would also be attractive to them, as the Krogan are so brawny and aggressive a single one could probably take down many Kett on it's own before dying, and they could fight or do risky exploration work without danger of extinction. Salarian intelligence and Human and Turian loyalty, as well as Quarian sociability and technological prowess, would all be attractive traits in a potential counter invader, with the Quarians being especially attractive because of their technological prowess with AI. So the Benefactor could be assured potential maitenence in the future, and a Quarian computer scientist might make it easier to crack the Vaults they left behind open. I believe this is the story that Bioware was planning, based on available data and futurist concepts. The Jaardan were likely well on their way to becoming a K3 civilization when they disappeared. The plan may have been to make species within Andromeda, along with homeworlds and even star systems from scratch rather than letting them evolve the natural way. Heleus' black hole would have been a good spot for putting an AI civilization, and the whole point may have been for them to make an artificial power plant around the black hole that would then be a home for life when the stars of Heleus burned out. It may well be that every world where we find a vault and/or remnant facility was supposed to be one part of a puzzle piece intended for the future races of Andromeda to find and use. You put the entire network together and you have the makings of a future galactic empire. I believe Elaaden was meant to be a shipyard for example, just based on the minerals we find there, the mining worm, and the giant remnant ship. The gas giant would have provided hydrogen and helium for fusion and to create more water. The hydrogen could have been fused with oxygen from the air to make more water for the vault to use, and a lot of material for starship hulls and computer equipment is present on Elaaden.

[@SuperJimmythegreek]

The catalyst can return in the next game and his motivations could be explained thoroughly. Perhaps when he was trying to save organics from synthetics, he realized that the mass effect technology everyone was using was destroying the galaxy, just like the original ending that the writers wanted to conclude the story with. So the cycles that were implemented by the catalyst were causing a speed up of the dark energy phenomenon, cause of the high usage of the mass effect technology, again given by the reapers. However, they, the catalyst and the reapers, couldn't discover or invent any new technology for the species to travel to the stars, as they knew that it's the destiny of the organic species to travel to space and become truly interstellar. Perhaps that's why they needed humanity, not just to stop the dark energy phenomenon but to also invent a new technology that can stop the destruction of the galaxy and the cycles themselves. But what if the reapers failed to stop the stars of the milky-way from blowing up? Well, that's what the reapers are for. Millions of years after Shepard's war, the reapers, as there is nothing left to harvest and the milky-way is officially dead, they could venture out into the dark space and recreate life there, in another galaxy, as they carry the genetic material of harvested species. Perhaps a reaper or reapers that mutinied left the armada and settled on the andromeda galaxy millions of years ago, creating life there and perhaps the jardaan. That's just some brainstorming i did, i hope you'll see it Mr hulthen!

[@sirgideonofnir6840]

Man, imagine during a Civil War campaign where you see the aftermath or have to hold off against st a krogan invasion force, we'd finally see why the citadel races went to the extreme of the genophage. We've seem the damge isolated groups or single krogans can do, imagines hundreds.

[@anonimus370]

The Leviathans meanwhile, even thou somewhat intimidating, really aren't. They lost to the Reapers, and then we defeated the Reapers, so kinda weaksauce . Maybe a small group of them would try to reinstate their superiority as a splinter of the main group, but I see them more as a sorta midway opponent , kinda like the Geth in ME2.

[@alexw4482]

To be fair we didn’t so much as best the reapers as bypass them, with the help of every cycle before. We would have been crushed in a stand up fight without the crucible.

[@hovercat6344]

What I really just want to see is a Krogan fight a Yahg

[@robbybobby4373]

Galactic civil war makes the most sense for the sequel imo. After the Reaper War (especially choosing the Destroy ending) the Milky Way would be vulnerable while each civilization is rebuilding. And yes, there would be a whole lot of in fighting between races, factions, etc. And even mercenary gangs would take advantage during this time. Anyhoo, I would definitely like to see something like that in the sequel with a new protagonist trying to help maintain peace in the Milky Way.

[@MrHulthen]

The next protagonist: The Peacemaker

[@safemode8598]

I want god-mode Shepard to rule the galaxy

[@Aeturnalis]

I think the Jardaan created to scourge to protect the Angara from a reaper invasion, with the Jardaan fleeing Andromeda to draw the reapers away from Heleus.

[@wyattwelton8599]

Civil war + advancing ancient enemy that the reapers were holding off in deep space would be a pretty cool story I think

[@cmdrlevianova1485]

I see the remnant somehow jumping over to haestrom with some dark energy wizardry. Geth scanned helius cluster in real time maybe they detected it and went to investigate. Meridian could be a gateway to milkyway too.

[@german2122]

i think it should focus on the dark space, that place has a lot of mysteries. some reapers may still be there.

[@jacforceforever5606]

The possibilities are really dependent on WHEN the new game takes place, Andromeda takes place over 500 years after ME3. So if it is the kett then the milky way (if the new game takes place there) then it would likely be 1000 years after 3 and whatever strife/wars/rebuilding is over and the galaxy might as well be unrecognizable.

[@anonimus370]

I thought I could be possible that the Kett are a sort of faction of what used to be the Jaardan. Imagine Jaardan struggling with some sort of disease like the Genofage, maybe created by their Opposition. In a last ditch effort they create the Angara and the terraforming network to continue their legacy, but a smaller group of them go a different way and use their mastery of genetic engineering to change themselves and induce other species into their own, thus creating the Kett. The main Jaardan faction die off while still fighting the Opposition, and potentially destroy it, while the newly created Kett wait for their moment to strike, which they do once the main Jaardan faction dies off.

[@sonicANDtailsfan157k]

You know how the events of your playthroughs in each Mass Effect game carry over including Shepard themself well in one very VERY certain ending in ME3 some faint breathing can be heard implying that Shepard survives which image carying over into ME4 with the new Commander you'd play as eventually meeting the old one.

[@deadmonk6671]

I would agree on your listing, however there is one key possibility the Protheans themselves. Remember the Protheans attempted many means of survival during their war with the reapers, Javik is an example, he was to lead close to one million protheans into the establishment of a new Prothean empire. His endeavour failed due to indoctrinated individuals in their ranks. But that doesn't mean other plans for Prothean survival and the continuation of their empire didn't fail, for all we know maybe the Protheans attempted the same plan as the Andromeda initiative, send colonists away to a place the Reapers won't or can't go and re-establish their empire in a new galaxy. Or maybe there were other hidden bunkers that would hold out in seclusion until the reapers were gone, only for them to sleep far longer than they anticipated, waking up after the Reapers were defeated by Commander Shepard. Now the Milky way is in a bad place and recovering, these Protheans may want to rebuild their Empire once again

[@MrHulthen]

Protheans as villains could be badass ngl

[@jakub7726]

"the raknii were stopped by krogans, the krogans were stopped by turians, who will stop the turians"

[@anonimus370]

The kett even in force have no chance against the Milky Way. They would've struggled with the Milky Way the way it was originally, but now it has advanced by 600 years, and in whatever ending is cannon, the Milky Way ends up with some of the Reaper's tech one way or another. The tech gap is too wide, and milky way is way bigger so likely the Kett wouldn't even have the numbers advantage.

[@bencegergohocz5988]

The andromeda galaxy is over twice the size of the milky way... do some fact chacking please.

[@noble_ace9470]

I always thought a indoctrinated army would make sense like there was a huge reaper war plus the reaper tech clean up would be massive and likely indoctrinate more. There could be like a large army of crazy almost cult like people bent of kidnapping/harvesting or indoctrinating species. Maybe they even find some powerful failsafe artifact that the reapers had.

[@televisedpork7993]

But with every reaper dead and the catalyst destroyed, wouldn’t they not be able to indoctrinate?

[@martolcruz2532]

@@televisedpork7993 It reaper technology, we dont even know the full reaper technology so it could still be possible, hell the citadel is so confusing, as it far more than we ever thought, especially in ME1 And ME3 (although, it could just me being stupid and dont know enough about reaper technology)

[@sellerim6847]

Leviathans, Kett, Terrorists, New Milky Way Aliens, new mass relays, Dark Energy, Civil Wars, post-war PTSD. At this point I want all of them.

[@latemauve6332]

The real enemy is going to be crime on the citadel. You wake up as a harden c-sec officer ready to fight justice on the citadel but dang it there's all this red tape!

[@stanley-5323]

I know there is a huge stigma in Mass Effect about unlocking dormant mass effect rings, that'd be a cool addition to a future gane

[@sircovant8983]

If I don't see Shepard holding his promise to build a house with Tali I'm gonna cry

[@daijones5558]

A geth is literally on the poster, they survived the war, and are now individuals thanks to legion if that's Canon. Probably a rogue Geth unit playing a saren type role

[@vexelghost]

Should Shepard survive and the Kett make it to the Milky Way, it would be a heartbreaking move if BioWare had your love interest from the trilogy captured and uplifted. That would give cause for a revenge tale.

[@MrHulthen]

Holy crap, that could be a hell of a story

[@retrotd]

I would be extremely disappointed if they threw the Kett at the Milky Way. Leave them to flounder in Andromeda, since that game was so poor. The story of ME:A takes place 600 years after ME3 so if the Kett decide to go after the Milky Way after the events of ME:A, add another 600 years travel time, so 1200 years. Big time jump. Don't think even Grunt or Liara would be alive then.

[@tequenikality8202]

I always thought that the Jardaan's opposition was the Reapers. Or a fringe group of them, at least. The Jardaan were unarguably a very advanced race and if they drew the attention of the reapers somehow, I expect they'd face the same "cycle of extinction" that the reapers seek to uphold

[@TheViceKing1]

The only problem I have with Leviathan’s shown to be able to take out Reapers almost effortlessly, is how the actual f did you lose to Harbinger in the first place when there was 1 of himself against countless Leviathans..

[@meteora4478]

I’m hoping for post war conflicts, I’m very interested in that era

[@barkasz6066]

The Leviathans might make sense, but otherwise personally I could do without a galaxy ending threat. The stakes can be still high and your victory can still be meaningful if it’s a smaller scale, more personal threat. Andromeda shows the importance of good characters and a character driven story. I can’t think of a more generic, boring antagonist than the kett. That kind of crap belongs in a crappy Marvel movie or something.

[@gaowuji2091]

Civil War. Lot's of great exploring to do with the not just the galactic politics, but within the different races as well. It's also much more fertile ground for decision making than a big outside bad-guy.

[@dragontemplar4561]

Could Mass Effect 4 take place 634 years after 3? It would make the most sense given Liara's age in the Teaser. She was 108 by Mass effect 3 so that'd make her 742 by ME4 If they do go down the time skip route.

[@michaeldobosh8300]

They need a whole brand new villain that make it look so cool and have you returned as Commander Shepard

[@jonathanbell8887]

I would like to see a species similar to “the thing”. It’s creepy and they wouldn’t need to mess around with the origin of it so much if it’s always been around. I hope they do a good job.

[@MasterFug]

This is my own personal opinion but I think it is the Yahg, the reason is that in mass effect 3 admiral hackett stated that the reapers were not doing anything with the yahg mass relay, he then states that if they lose the war the Yahg will most likely be the next race to claim the galaxy in the next cycle. So an entire galaxy rebuilding from the reaper war and the yahg with their home world untouched from the war that could be fun

[@vladboch]

I have a crazy idea. What if the Jardaan's enemies, that unleashed the scourge on them, are some kind of ascended beings? They discovered the way to ascend to the higher level of existence and are able to manipulate the dark matter aka the scourge. Kind of like the Orai from the Stargate franchise. They might need some allies or followers for some reasons. They try to convert some races of the Milky Way into them, thus on the gameplay level you are fighting their followers/allies and in the grander scheme of things you have to find a way to stop them and the scourge from spreading into the heartland of the Citadel races.

[@MrHulthen]

That's a cool idea!

[@larbearskitchen3990]

Set several hundreds of years in the future, I think it might be possible to have a few missions to reintroduce us to the changes of time. Perhaps fighting criminal organizations that have appeared to fill the vacuum left behind by the death of the illusive man and the decline of Cerberus. Through these missions we become aware of some bigger threat that requires us to track it down. Bits and pieces , a mystery of sorts.

[@conecrazy]

Civil war sounds pretty good. Could explain why Liara is looking for Shepherd.

[@the_infinexos]

I love how I could tell it was a yahg in the thumbnail, truly my ME knowledge has not betrayed me

[@louth2882]

The Yahg are likely I think as one was the Shadow Brooker, he could have sent all the modern mass effect tech and information on all races and such to his homeworld in case the reapers went there

[@Hartzilla2007]

Or because the Salarians went through with their stupid uplift them plan.

[@nazimuddin5122]

The Yahg are an incredibly impressive race. They're like the Protheons of the current cycle.

[@wacky518thetoastmage8]

A galaxy at war would be amazing. Think about it, thee could be multiple separate alliances in a stale mate and you as the protagonist need to be a representative for humanity and decided which faction you would want humanity to back.

[@baphometh000]

During priority Thessia we can see the protean IV refers to the time being a cicle and not only on the reaper harvest, the organics make the same conflicts that looks like a pattern, he even says the repears following the same path, but they dont control the pattern. Also on Mass Effect 2 when you recruit Tail, she mentions that the star of that system is dying too soon, so it seems kind of related, maybe a interdimensional enemy?

[@tankian4545]

Reapers weren't in control of cycle because the Catalyst was.

[@baphometh000]

that in the end is the same thing, but what I mean is that the villain would be may be evolution or someone that is using it to create conflict

[@SuperGBros]

Given that the kett were the new antagonists in the series I think it is safe to say that the kett will be the antagonists going forward.

[@JohanHaagg]

I think there is one more possibility. Reapers still. Scientists, smugglers and what not, activating reaper tech and there by ”restarting” some of them, and they evolve to something new

[@elayerFawkes45]

🤣 Shepard survived as the last reaper and we face him ! 😅

[@bobisconsumed520]

To fit in with Mass Effect story would be to have AI based villain. Main theme of OG series was fate v hope and most prominent with how universe dealt with AI. Seems AI is fated to usurp masters but EDI and Legion break that cycle, but what about other AI being created in secret by remaining Cerberus or other groups?

[@paulgrattan3885]

A brand new race as antagonists. There are countless inactive relays leading to uncharted space. The council keep them closed by law to prevent just in case opening them up to a hostile race as that's how the Rachni Wars started. They activated a new relay and discovered the Rachni on the other side. As I recall you can turn a relay on but no one knows how to turn them off. Now what if the death of the Reapers who attacked this race venture out to find who or what stopped the machines attacking them and they bump into the other species. It would be a race who ventured out compelled to find the origin of this super weapon that saved them.

[@jaegergames7042]

Urdnot Grunt better be a thing. Wrex can just respectfully abdicate to Grunt so he can spend his later years breeding and travelling around w/ Garrus and Liara.

[@evegrim8780]

I think me4 will be those two where Shepard was dead at the beginning of me2 because it shows Liara picking up the n7 crest on a snow covered landscape

[@guardiantree8879]

I’d like to see a Galaxy that’s trying to recover, but is having to deal with a serious threat of a war lord, Yahg maybe? Then near the end the scourge starts to invade the galaxy?

[@robertbuckner2374]

Leviathan should be a factor if Shepard is still alive.They wanted to know how Shepard resisted Reaper indoctrination. But the new Enemy could from another galaxy that the Reapers deterred from entering the Milkway.

[@donaldlee9911]

I think it might be Aria taking power as Omega will be the new citadel in some ways, Aria using the Vorcha and Baterians to cease power in the galaxy

[@cosmic4092]

Given how they want to outdo themselves I would like to see a mixture of most of these together, even if over multiple games the seeds for the majority of these things should be in the next game. I think the best way to handle this is have the next series of games be about ending the power struggles between a lot of these groups and full multi galaxy chaos. After all I feel like the reason for liara to feel the need to bring Shepard back again would need to be REALLY important.

[@Lucifer_26]

Exactly! They could start a new trilogy with the first game setting up the stories for all these things, seems pretty cool!

[@eden20111]

I really hope they bring back the Rachni. Not as enemies but as an ALLY. We only ever saw them as enemies because they were being controlled. It would be nice to finally see them as a peaceful species helping others.

[@Little-Buster]

I got the Synthesis Best Ending, so the Milky Way galaxy is probably the Apex among all other galaxies. No other alien races from other galaxies can oppose.

[@MrBlack1968]

Apparently the vast majority of players chose to unleash the krogan on the galaxy, so I'd go with them. With their insane breeding rate they're going to need an incredible amount of territory.

[@B-Dawg2077]

Another MrHulthen video=let’s f***ing go