Mass Effect 2 - Race to Survive (Final Mission)

[@monsterurby]

Does anyone else feel really sorry for the Collector General when Harbinger releases him? That look of utter bewilderment and sadness. :'(

[@MrVlad12340]

Yeah, even if his face is actually almost a carapace, you can feel that sadness. And this is understandable - he had been controlled for thousands of years, pawn to his enemies, trapped in his shell of a body. And after we learned about prothean race "character" from Javik - about their arrogant and prideful nature, sadness of General gets even more "real".

[@djrocksgaming6255]

VladTutushkin The general isn't sad though. The collectors aren't sentient or sapient, they are merely controlled by harbinger. Without control they are just organic robots. It doesn't feel sadness.

[@bigfatcarp93]

In theory, that would be true. But the General may have more intelligence than the others. After all, a mindless shell wouldn't make a very good "general."

[@CyarSkirata]

Whatever the case, it's a dick move by Harbinger.

[@TheNightWatcher1385]

Djrocks Gaming Yet it seems to longingly reach for the hologram of Harbinger as it vanishes.

[@jeffreyhunter6229]

Every time I watch this scene I get chills, this is hands down one of the greatest endings to a video game in history. The music is also the best in the series

[@batman_2004]

👍

[@Craig_Murray]

I think the music from the third game was one of the things they did better. "Leaving Earth" and "I was lost without you" in particular.

[@estelasayeed5608]

Mass Effect 1 disagrees with you

[@justinaddison769]

This is my favorite ending to any form of media I’ve ever seen. I was so captured and excited by this.

[@ArmadaAmbience]

For real. The feeling of not truly knowing whether you and the crew would make it out alive, even after playing every single mission possible beforehand to be 100% prepared...it's unmatched to this day in any game I've played. I remember mid-jump my heart pretty much stopped, then the "No One Left Behind" Achievement pops up, and Shep barely holds on. If that's not enough, Harbinger seconds later says, "Releasing Control," and all of our jaws collectively drop. Epic, unsurpassed moment in gaming!

[@CorekBleedingHollow]

You know... I felt the slightest bit for the Collector general when he was released and had that look on his face before his imminent death.

[@husamstarxin4626]

This is a highly under-rated scene, that collector is actually a Prothean, tortured, mutilated and brainswashed into doing Harbinger's bidding. When Harbinger releases control, that Prothean finally comes to its senses, realizing what it has become, and everything that it was forced to do for the Reapers, only to look back and see the end coming straight to him. Very emotional scene in just few seconds.

[@FreelancerFreak]

Maybe his death with actually his release and he welcomed it 🤷‍♂️

[@AutumnOnFire]

@@FreelancerFreak idk man, it really looked like it was something that realized it was abandoned and that death was creeping towards it.

[@gendoruwo6322]

The Collector General is what Saren would have become had he won ME1. Saren's idea of survival was ... 'collaboration' with the Reapers : eg: allowing the Reapers to take over more and more and more. By the end of ME 1 Saren was almost reduced to a total puppet. The Collector General would be the same way: deep in his mind he thinks "At least this way we are surviving, we are not extinct! We can live on." He never realized until it's much too late that his people are already dead: they are just meaningless toys now. That's exactly the way it is if you give in to a Narcissist .... you think you are making it work, you think you are keeping the peace.... in reality you are just an enabler... a total tool and puppet , absolutely miserable.... You're surviving alright,... as a doormat without any dignity. In the end The Collector General gets abandoned too. Horrible for him. Because existence as a puppet is all the life he can know now. If he's not a puppet anymore? ... He... is nothing.

[@Octane64]

I feel sorry for the collector. That was probably the first time it was in control of it's mind and than it wakes up to a explosion. That sucks. That sucks alot.

[@jamiemiller1482]

Perhaps, but at least now they’re free a puppet no longer and never again

[@Cinemarkerz96]

I cannot describe the sheer happiness I felt after finally hearing joker say: “All survivors onboard. We’re just waiting for you.”

[@ciaranmcguinness8900]

Everytime I play the suicide mission my breath stops when it gets to that part in anticipation of hearing Joker say that or the crushing feeling of seeing the camera slowly pan over Tali or Mordin

[@PerfectAlibi1]

@@ciaranmcguinness8900 As long as everyone is loyal and placed in the right positions. They should always survive.

[@ladyselin35]

@@PerfectAlibi1 Yeah and dont forget to never take garrus and grunt with you in last fight.

[@PerfectAlibi1]

@@ladyselin35 Garrus is my 2nd squad leader and I leave Grunt with him, so he has a good tank to work with. ^^

[@Khyron56]

I've heard a theory (and this is my personal headcanon as well), that the Collector General, in its last moments, is the one who sends that data on the datapad that Joker hands to Shepard in the next cutscene. A last act of defiance after finally being released, eons later.

[@Reach04]

I absolutely love this theory

[@ArtKO171]

Oh great theory !

[@vksasdgaming9472]

It might be that Reapers repurposed one of last strongholds of Protheans to serve as HQ for Collectors which were meant to act as just-in-case if their tried-and-working plan would not work. Just before their final defeat Protheans gathered what they had learned of their killers. Reapers never cared about it.

[@peytonburnsed2196]

Damn, imagine having 6 extra limbs from the last time you were actually able to control yourself. Bro doesnt even have fingers anymore. Makes me think he was completely aware during the entire 50k years.

[@trivipesnipe]

@@vksasdgaming9472 My headcanon is the Collector Base is the Prothean Crucible.

[@insertcreativenamehere242]

“Releasing control.” “Thank god i have my free will again.” (Look behind) “Oh shi-“

[@vksasdgaming9472]

It was more like "I have missed you so much. "

[@rhenvao2844]

2:22 "Harbinger, wait! Don't leave me!" 2:30 "I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIALLLLLLLL-"Gets cut off from explosion*

[@Vulpio7775]

Actually, I think he was relieved after Harbinger released control over him. At least he died free.

[@Karlos1234ify]

True that.

[@rhenvao2844]

Tyler Villarreal It was for the sake of comedy. :P

[@tchomie]

The feeling you get when you realize your team all survived 😎 and finding out that the collectors weren’t really your enemy but poor victims 😭

[@cobbler9113]

Nah, they had been programmed to know what they were doing. Their only regret was that they failed. In regards to their Prothean origins, Mordin made clear they weren’t the same Protheans that had been indoctrinated and that there was effectively no trace of their original selves.

[@LordGodsServant]

Perhaps the Generals final moments where filled with relief that he was finally free, even if he would die. Like finally going to a pure sleep after a long and horrible nightmare.

[@aaronschimmel2950]

"Releasing control" *goosebumps and sadness for the general*

[@jnoone2099]

One of the best deaths ever in gaming.

[@lando30001]

Poor guy didn't realise what he was doing, then suddenly woke up around an exploding ship.

[@ShawndaPrawn]

I’m sorry, that whole bit with the Collector General was just…(chef’s kiss). It reached for Harbinger’s hologram, as if silently begging it for help. Then that resigned lowering of its head as it realised the Collectors were doomed, that their creators and masters had abandoned them, then slowly looking towards the explosion in acceptance of their fate. How’d they give so much character to something that was effectively the main villain’s Vtuber model?

[@swa5026]

"Human, you've changed nothing. your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater... You have failed. We will find another way." This took everything you had and all it was was an annoyance if anything making humanity be the first target.

[@Hokunin]

The most epic scene in the history of gaming

[@Jedi_Spartan]

Ah, the late 2000s/early 2010s really had some of the most badass cutscenes in gaming, especially with sci-fi.

[@milantichy4413]

Those 15-20 seconds after "releasing control" are the most epic seconds in the history of videogames. I had chills as never before when i played it first time in 2011. And i had chills yesterday when i played it for 8th time. Perfect mix of great cinematics and epic music !

[@unreasonableJameson]

Watching this in 2024, with its flaws and all, I can't help to wonder what the fuck happened to the videogame industry.

[@lordzod1471]

GREED

[@unreasonableJameson]

@@lordzod1471 I think is worse than greed mayng. Most of the people think they don't want to make good games but sadly i think rn they can't. The talent isn't there, greed or no greed.

[@MegaGothmog]

Even though this is 9 years old... i still get shivers when you hear Harbinger (vioced by Keith Szarabajka) tells of your inevitable doom. "Your species has the attention of those infinantly greater. You have failed. We will find another way." You know he can back up those words... what makes the reapers such a terrifying and epic enemy. They aren't just some guys drunk on power spouting nonsense about world domination and 'I am Invincible!!'. The Reapers are a real threat with actual world-ending power. It makes it all so much better.

[@danjc9783]

This is still my most epic video game moment, the whole suicide mission and that ending and the music, all on point. God I love this game so much! So glad I now have ME:LE to play it all again.

[@vanpiisu88]

I totally agree 💛🔥!!! I just started it again in MELE and always gives me chills with the music 😍... Most epic moment ever and greatest ending.

[@Eshtian]

Mission literally gave me anxiety with every voice line

[@NAmania]

There's the opening of the Vault Door with the great wasteland lying up ahead...There's the sound of the sirens and the dilapidated walls after the Resonance Cascade.... There are the great tales of Tamriel and Azeroth... The striking silhouette of Big Boss rising over the Horizon...The somber song of Firelink Shrine... And then there's this. The greatest moment in gaming history! Standing above the giants mentioned earlier.... Able to instill emotion and inspire grandeur like no other!

[@Bat-Twenty-Two]

This scene was ME2 sticking the landing.

[@boricua1151]

When the collector general died i couldnt help but feel bad for destroying their race

[@Sabin-Sinister]

I started playing the mass effect bundle and the collector general death still has an impact on me. I feel sorry for him

[@quintincoomber7259]

this one of the best games i have ever played along side metal gear solid its fantastic the death of the general was very sad and really showed that in war no one wins

[@kblargh]

it gets me more that with Shep hanging on for dead life, Grunt just hangs back and lets Tali do the heavy lifting

[@callahaine100]

Damn it's been 10 years already, and this is still the most epic video game scene in my opinion!

[@NAmania]

ABSOLUTELY! ME2 as a whole is gaming's peak as a medium! (Until now at least)

[@bzqp2]

The Collector General's death scene is by far my favourite in the whole trilogy.

[@XiangYu94]

1:41 - *when some random homeless dude on the subway sticks his cane between the doors allowing you to slip into the subway just in time*

[@Maddaaisar]

So, the collector is a victim

[@shinysip9328]

sasboy lapan enam To me there seems it looks like it realized something at the very end, but that can't be as, as Mordin said "Replaced by tech."

[@cobbler9113]

+Alexander Whapples Probably just dismayed that it had failed and let down the Reapers.

[@cobbler9113]

+Alexander Whapples Probably just dismayed that it had failed and let down the Reapers.

[@shinysip9328]

I refer to "Replaced by tech", can collectors feel emotions?

[@cobbler9113]

+Alexander Whapples I would say so. Even the Geth have emotions with the soul question and Legion in Mass effect 3 does beg Shepard to spare the Geth depending on dialogue. Depends if they still have some independent intelligence which they seem to have.

[@Hresvelgr211]

The saddest part of Mass Effect 2 for me was seeing the Collector General die.

[@Petitetinypengu]

I felt bad for the Collector General. It was a big shock to me that he was being controlled the whole time by the Harbringer. That look of dismay and sadness :< like..."I didn't want to do it."

[@crimsonmaddog4486]

Love how even Joker gets in on the action taking down some collectors, best ending ever

[@LordGodsServant]

Here's my small theory on the Collector General, he was either bred to be different or was a genetic anomaly that gave him sentience and intelligence of a Prothean. For this he was made the General and was enslaved to Harbinger. A theory I heard was that, trying for some redemption, he sent the plans of Harbinger to Shepard in his final moments. His final moments were probably a mix of sorrow for all the evil done through him, and joy at knowing the cycle would finally be ended by Shepard.

[@lando30001]

imagine if their was dlc where you could save the collector general and make him part of your squad. I'd probably die from happiness.

[@xnny9240]

Duuudeeee, you almost made me cry with this. I felt so bad about him when I first played this part of the game :(

[@bzqp2]

You can play as an Awakened Collector in ME3 multiplayer.

[@katinaswanson6511]

I still think this is one of the best cutscenes in a game, ever, despite its age. Mass Effect had great writing (aside from the overall ending), the visuals and the atmosphere are spot-on, and Harbinger's voice acting really puts the icing on the cake both with the delivery, and the dispassionate confidence of someone who has literally done the math.

[@Debbynhaaa]

7 years later still the best ending, better then this andromeda shit

[@rinzlerthehunter539]

I still Wonder how could they miss so bad with ME andromeda

[@cobbler9113]

Rinzler TheHunter EA

[@TheBosten-xo7tv]

Sjw Bioware and money stealin EA

[@CorekBleedingHollow]

EA

[@jasonleslie203]

Déborah Oliveira sadly i have to agree

[@sagivalia5041]

That's why I like the vibe of Mass Effect 2 the best, as a non-realistic sci-fi, it made you feel like the absolute hero who can do w/e the f*ck you want and live to tell about it, pure heroism. Mass Effect 3 on the other hand, tho understandabily so, made you feel hopeless and helpless and I felt that even the remotely optimistic dialouge choices and even slightly confident options granted you renegade points, as if it's renegadey to say "f*ck those machines that murder us by the millions". Epic score.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

In first Mass Effect threat is revealed. In sequel threat's tool is destroyed and more is learned of threat itself. Third really brings the threat in and it proves to be as dangerous and powerful as expected and worse.

[@johnmin93]

LOL the whole team (except Sheperd, Grunt and Tali) made it back to the ship but they let cripple Joker to cover Sheperd? that's just cruel

[@gilmadreth680]

"I didn't come ALL this way to not shoot something! Now give me a damn rifle and get the Hell out of my way. I owe these bastards for their boarding my baby without permission a few hours ago!" -Joker (probably)

[@MrBropocalypian]

Harbinger is what makes this ending amazing.

[@batman_2004]

This scene with that epic music really make this epic and awesome!

[@blazetheplaneswalker]

Credit to Joker coming to the door to give cover fire despite having brittle bones disease and no armour or shields

[@kycolton]

2:12 Harbinger: Releasing control Collector General: Woah. Where am I? What's going on? Oh... shi--

[@joaoguilhermedossantosnogu280]

That ending... so beautiful and epic... one of the best games of my life

[@tlotpwist3417]

The game where Power of Friendship makes a difference when crushed under a metal beam

[@martinwettig8212]

I rarely felt so sad for an enemy that moment when he woke up to his final seconds. Poor guy really, that's not fair.

[@vankagerenka6105]

That Harbinger speech…Definitely one of the greatest of all time

[@derlich09]

Star Wars fans to Kathleen Kennedy: YOU HAVE FAILED! WE WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY!

[@senpaicorleone5321]

2:15 the spider inside the ps4 fat when i play tlou2

[@zotyo86]

I think the collector general was his era's hero like Shepard now. Shep's faith would have been the same if they had lost the war.

[@lando30001]

man i felt bad for the collector general.

[@dreammirrorbrony1240]

Few points. Translation error at 0:55 Harbinger: "Those which you know as Reapers are your salvation, not destruction". Minor point: As the Normandy rises up to rescue Shepard & team, why does it have no point defenses to cover them? Why is the pilot providing cover fire?

[@Beowulf95]

In the case the crew didn't make it and all shepards sidekicks all die as well They just reused the same scene

[@writteninstars]

can’t believe i used to play this at age 9

[@zzxcvb98]

@mattstorm360 also, his reaching out to the hologram clearly proves that he has some degree of autonomy and awareness, unlike a "robot".

the sad part at me2 end. theres me3 next. me3 is a good game. but too short and weak end in my opinion

[@Eshtian]

Plus the downgrades in combat.

[@SlimJared]

How did grunt beat shepard running up that hill?

[@Draculas-knight]

6 years later well bullets flying near you're ass can give you extra speed (trust me on that)

[@christinaromanova4357]

@@Draculas-knight 😅

[@MathieuGuerry]

"You have failed." Well, that's what I call an EPIC fail ! ;)

[@dubbeking]

Leaving the Collector General to his death like that felt so cruel. Though after 50 000 years of braincontrol, there was probably some relief to finally going to a pure sleep.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

It was finally free to join it's species in extinction.

[@Party_Almsivi]

>harbinger:EA >Collector leader:Dice >Shepard/the team/humanity:the entire internet

[@jimmykong3735]

No, harbinger is Andrew Wilson while Collector General is EA and its branches

[@prismanic24]

Nowadays it's more like Bioware is the Collector General, a sad husk of it's former self.

[@bryce1029]

wow I forgot how epic the ending of mass 2 was I got goosebumps :D

[@TheMrExemplar]

I cry everytime

[@TheMrExemplar]

Such an heroic and epic moment in video game

[@disafear3674]

Sameeee

[@DrTolis]

ehmmm...Harbinger, werent you controling the collector general directly? That means it was you who fucked up

[@SuperSaiyanAl]

See this? Bioware? THIS is how you end a game.

[@futuregamer24]

most epic ending ever

[@oguzmen5451]

rest in peace collector general

[@stephenrusso6019]

the collector general closed is eyes before the blast got to him. he is finally free.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Millennia of slavery as expendable tool hated by it's slavers. My personal view is that some cycles produced more viable sentient species to be transformed into new Reapers and Protheans for some reason were not fit. They ruled vast Prothean Empre with many subject species which had adapted Prothean culture and maybe some of them were suitable. If it could have done it would have cried of joy. Whatever waits it on the other side is better than what it had endured for millennia.

[@lordlossize]

now i feel bad

[@sn00ke]

Harbinger: ugh you have FAILED Collector General: My brother in Christ, *you* were the one in control.

[@16thdemon]

harbinger and the collector general disliked this video

[@drew413]

I like to think that when Harbinger released control of the Collector general, he was a Prothean once again, and he felt shock and sadness just before the end

[@3ntrpr1z53]

1:14 That one dude who thinks that he is a gangster.

[@Scarbgunner]

i feel bad for the collector general the reaper is like RELEASING CONTROL and hes like huh what just happend and what is that noi..... o shit....

[@Party_Almsivi]

2:11 The DNC headquarters on election night

[@jenshep1720]

no. politics. gtfo.

[@Karlos1234ify]

6 year anniversary for this video.

[@ScottSkynetT800]

ಠಠ_ಠಠ ASSUMING DIRE... OH F**K!!!

[@fraisertinko]

And after that great epic era are now receiving from bioware andromeda and anthem...RIP bioware

[@Karlos1234ify]

This video is 7 years old.

[@believer2]

14.

[@Filmseeproduktion]

That scene remindet me that the collectors there just as same as other idoctrinated only victims of the reapers. And then i felt sorry for them. But not for long cuz then i remembered that they shot one of my crewmembers in that run.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

They did deserve death - not as punishment, but act of mercy. Most likely Collector General retained more of it's own identity to actually do it's job and thus it was much more aware of what was done to it's species and what it was forced to do. It was happy to die.

[@Patriotismtriumphs]

@MaybeYesNo90 You didn't know that the Citadel is really one massive relay? The VI on Illos explained it to us. But yeah I thought we were going to need to get to Dark Space somehow but the trailer shows that the Reapers somehow got to the galaxy and now are destroying Earth. I thought it would be pretty cool to attack the Reapers in Dark Space though.

[@welldone6080]

I dont know why people are sorry for main collector. It lost mind in the same moment, when stopped being prothean. Not smarter than husks for reapers' needs. Also I think game needs TV series. Good presentation of the plot from the bioware. Just like in the movie. Go to hell EA with your silly ideas.

[@romanpetrov5798]

Releasing control...

[@YoungMrBlue]

I just managed to complete the suicide mission in a very specific way I killed Jacob and than but the rest survived with a few specific ones being unloyal

[@gendoruwo6322]

The Harbinger is perfect example of a Narcissistic Asshole Boss. Given how much he takes over ... and directly take control... the Collectors' failure is as much the Harbinger's failure as well as the Collector's if not more. And yet the Reaper conveniently absolves himself while condemning his loyal underlings. "You have failed. We will find another way." hey screw you Harbinger! It's you who should get fired for this fail.

[@rogerizaguirre8509]

That music as it ramps up.... Goosebumps!

[@SuperTiberian]

For a moment there i thought Grunt was dead :D

[@tanoshiofm3852]

After defeating the Reapers, they decided to attack Earth because humanity got their atention . Harbinger said that

[@16Vagabond]

Almost a decade later and I still get chills all over watching this, no game has ever come close to such an epic ending

[@robertadefrancesco5471]

YOU HAVE FAILED

[@DakotaSmith-kp4lp]

DAKOTA27

[@Anonimowalker]

Poor colector

[@Metal_Enjoyer]

The collector general really wasn’t your enemy he was just being controlled, I kinda feel bad for him

[@BoxHeadSFM_YT]

Peter B Parker: It's A Leap Of Faith..

[@AntiSocialismo50]

we will find another way but what exactly lol wasnt the reapers already coming to destroy us in the arrival dlc, so what was the point of the collectors?

[@InsaneMedic]

WOHOOO GRUNT IS ALIVE!!!!

[@MasterOverlord999]

its Joking time

[@ivankulola5847]

Kudos to the engineers who built that propulsion system

[@ThePredkiller]

Legion > Grunt. I always choose Legion and Tali for this mission.

[@coolsteve1342]

Still the best ending in a videogame

[@brutacka]

RELEASING CONTROL

[@deltainfinite8697]

One of the best ending for me 💯

[@Artaxian_Debacle]

1:40 when best girl pulls you in🥹

[@zzxcvb98]

@mattstorm360 that's one interpretation of the scene, but the other one is equally valid and much more poignant and moving. in his last moments, the general frantically tries to stop the impending explosion and is finally freed from his millennia of possession and servitude, allowing him to contemplate the welcome end.