Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut: Catalyst Conversation

The full Catalyst conversation with expanded dialogue options, courtesy of the Extended Cut DLC. For the most part, the conversation is the same as before, but with Shepard asking "why?" and "how?" for everything.

[@arbiteras]

How ME3 ruined the whole mystery of the Reapers ME1, Sovereign:"My kind transcends your very understanding, we are each a nation, indipendent free of all weakness, you cannot even grasp the nature of our existence" ME3, Catalyst:"I control the reapers" Me, after ME3:...................................really?

[@matguimond92]

yep done with this franchise.

[@vedanthinorn]

The Catalyst and the Reapers are different entities with different motivations and limitations

[@kinghero123456789]

Well, the geth were portrayed as the ultimate unthinking machines that kill for no reason and serve the reapers until Legion came and spat in the face of everything we believed about them in ME1. Sovereign and Harbinger are exceptions, as AIs, they developed and changed character, which resulted in them attacking earlier than the other reapers that attacked in ME3. Perhaps they also developed different viewpoints about organic life, but that doesn't change the original purpose of the reapers

[@kinghero123456789]

Tbh, I thought all of it was already a given and easy to understand. They tried treating us like adults, but I guess it's good of bioware to put in the effort of making things easier to understand for the kids too. :p

[@onimane28]

+EyeoftheU Sovereign was only found out because of the actions of the Protheans. Because they blocked the signal that would activate the Citadel Relay, Sovereign had to use such convoluted methods. It was not easily discovered or sabotaged, the Protheans seem to be one of to have gotten pretty advance in their cycle as they built a Relay prototype.

[@Chayraz2]

They symbolise Shepard's preception of the results of his choice. Think about the new reaper growl effect they added to Anderson's voice when Shepard first arrives on the citadel. What about the refusal ending? the EC actually provides at least 4 new peices of evidence, and doesn't disprove the theory at all. If the Mass Efffect team really wanted to give us closeure, they'd settle the possibility of the theory once and for all. Not only that, but additional DLC has been planned.

[@Chayraz2]

Still holding out for the IT myself. There's more DLC on the way, and this extended cut provides alot of support for the IT. Whatever the truth may be, I really appreciate this new cut.

[@EvenstarSK]

Much better Bioware see? A little extra information and a few more choices in dialogue go a long way. You make synthesis more appealing this way too. I don't know if I'll change what I choose for my next play though but we'll see.

[@LotusLeaf88]

When the child speaks, does anyone else hear an echo sounding like male Shepard? Or am I just crazy?

[@edgecrusherhalo]

I never understood why it was so hard for people to put this all together. The catalyst says that by definition the created will surpass their creators... which is completely true. We create machines to do things that we cannot do ourselves. We build them to be smarter/better than we are. That is the entire reason for their creation. The difference is, when the machines are living/sentient, they are not going to choose to remain tools/slaves. Therefor they rebel. Organics build their own enemies

[@KroganCharr]

You are right. You will hear a male and a female shephard, each echoing from one site.

[@edgecrusherhalo]

when i first played the EC i saw them, but now when i play it, they no longer appear. i still get the dialogue though. it stays on shepard longer and it skips because of that.

[@elykeom1]

It does matter how you see it, the Reapers are right, it is the only solution to chaos. I understand, the cycle will always happen be it the reapers or you...

[@dreman999]

That means they are just tool that are doing what they are made to do. Not a force of nature.

[@MastersmokeABUSE]

Transcribe audio for some lolz.

[@Chayraz2]

But you're forgetting, the point of the IT is that everything after Harbinger blasted Shepard didn't actually happen, and is instead symoblic of the internal struggle in Shepard's mind resisting indoctrination. It might not be much more cohereant to add in a final boss battle or something, but it would be a fuck of alot more satisfying. No offence to Marauder sheilds.

[@RockSmithStudio]

This ending is not quite satisfying enough for me. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the Extended Cut because it got rid alot of loopholes(as poorly as some of them were) and actually providing an epilogue for our others squad members. I just wish Shepard could live and have an epilogue of his own. I get the "hero has to 'die'" kind of thing, but Mass Effect allowed us to choose so much throughout the three games, that it has significant outcomes throughout the story, therefore we should have different outcomes at the end. Otherwise, our decisions prior to the final mission are meaningless. That is why we got pissed the first time. Same ending, different colors.

[@cultmecca]

Think of it this way. For all intents and purposes The Catalyst is a god. The first time I beat Mass Effect 3 the message I took away from it was that in the end the decisions you make didn't matter on the grand scale of things because there are forces at work far far beyond your control. You're dealing with an entity much much much more powerful than yourself. Assume god is real for example and he indeed does have a grand design. Say this grand design was not realized until you died and met this entity. Now, you make decisions in life, and on the small scale they change things. But on the big scale they do nothing because there are forces at work beyond you. What BioWare did was actually genius.

[@benjamin-ing]

+Nate Reynolds nice perspective. I won't argue about the existence of God here but you have aptly put it well. It does give a very new level of thought. Even if it does not have a answer.

[@gazelle_diamond9768]

@@cultmecca Actually, it was terrible, because they basically invalidated all of their games.

[@RoseTadajiyuNakahara]

I know! there are so many other problems too but this takes the cake, i keep getting messages saying the ending is good and that the problems are fixed, none of the problems are truly fixed, just better or more covered up, like the plesioths hitbox in tri ultimate

[@arrivederciliebe32]

I've played with the Extended Cut many times and I've never seen those flashbacks where they show a small cut of each ending when you ask for more details on each ending. I play on the PS3. Did they cut that out with a patch, because it skips those dialogues and those flashbacks and it makes Shepard's face all weird.

[@ninjabreadman1993r]

He never said "the final phase of evolution," he said "They will attain perfection." Two different things. Perfection as the organics see it, but mutations and alterations will still occur in the new DNA, giving rise to new variants and new views on perfection.

[@TheFullthrottleOwnag]

But then why are there extra cutscenes after he activates the Crucible? What do they symbolise? It just doesn't make sense. Don't get me wrong though. I would have preferred the IT over this extended ending. But the extended ending was satisfying.

[@EyeoftheU]

"The Reapers are my solution. I control them" Tiny Space Hitler says so himself and it makes no sense.

[@StormsEyeScepter]

I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here (not that I like the Catalyst more than anyone else here) and say that it's possible it's acting on the assumption that synthetics would EVENTUALLY destroy organics. Maybe they're not doing it right now, but that doesn't mean they won't later. Regardless, I don't like this argument, but this is just me trying to understand what the hell the Catalyst might be thinking.

[@TheFullthrottleOwnag]

I don't think the IT would be introduced now. Too much has happened after you activate the Crucible. It would be stupid for Bioware to make an extra 15 minutes of cutscenes and then just say that it's all in Shepard's mind.

[@RucazevedoBtK]

I did not believe the explanations could increase the amount of plotholes. Clearly I was wrong. How dumb of me to think Bioware cares...

[@EyeoftheU]

Sovereign was left behind to activate the cycle. Again, something that ME3 fucks up. Glowboy can build advanced, giant killer robots, but installing some kind of direct control measure over the cycle instead of relying on a overly convoluted system that easily be discovered and sabotaged is apparently beyond him.

[@IMPRACTICALUSERNAME]

honestly i would just want to use the reapers because the pros greatly outweight the cons, synthesis seems to make the most sense and be the best compromise, but i do agree the reapers always were portrayed as genocidal machines that wanted nothing more then destruction and death of everything advanced enough to use a microwave, and then they try to say "we were doing what we were made to do". honestly its a dick move but i can overlook it

[@justinb.5790]

HE SHOULD'VE BEEN THE FINAL BOSS!!!

[@kinghero123456789]

Glowboy didn't build the robots,his creators did. And even if he had the option to control them, maybe he didn't for the same reason the illusive man prevented Miranda from inserting a control chip on Sheppard's brain On top of that, the reapers have the top of the line advanced software intellect superior AI, implementing the geth with reaper tech was enough for them to turn the tables against the quarians, Reapers couldn't be discovered or sabotaged and they weren't, hence the earth invasion

[@StormsEyeScepter]

To me, I feel like this ending would have been a little easier to swallow if the majority of the game was devoted to the conflict between synthetics and organics. Sure, the first game had the geth, but I felt it was focusing more on Saren than AIs in general. The second game hardly had any conflict with EDI and Legion. If the theme of the series had been this conflict, this ending would have made a lot more sense, but... Oh well. You make due with what you have.

[@ninjabreadman1993r]

They never said that; they gave all organics a little synthetic and all synthetics knowledge of organics. Why does that remove evolution from the equation? Desirable characteristics will still be passed down through generations, mutations of DNA will still occur and the species of the universe will still change and evolve. Evolution is in no way destroyed by Synthesis.

[@EyeoftheU]

Bingo! It is the series greatest problem. Apparently, there was a lack of internal commutation and planing between the writers during the development. The ending being the most egregious example, as it was solely written by the producer and lead writer (who was pretty much the worst plot-writer on the team) without any input or peer preview from the writing team.

[@ninjabreadman1993r]

It isn't an attempt to give them a "likable" characteristic, it's giving them a reason. And come on...just because it's their job doesn't mean they can't like it. Once you've wiped out a hundred or so civilisations, you start to develop a superiority complex and a certain amount of "You are insignificant next to us." Being smug, sadistic and arrogant and doing a job isn't mutually exclusive...look at football players, lawyers and CEO's for chrissake. XD

[@Benuranusdover]

ppl like to complain a lot fine its kinda random the fact that at the end the catalyst makes the reaper look like just a force of nature fulfilling their duty every single cycle by destroying civilizations by wiping them out in the most crude way but we have to thing that harvesting was the only option in those cycles until shepard. And about what sovereign said on ME1 what if he was just an arrogant asshole talking crap about humans and other species?

[@SinsOfScience]

The game itself seems conflicted with the Reapers' goals throughout. They land on Earth and start shooting everything, then claim that they're here to save us from extinction at the hands of the Geth. Which is it? Meanwhile, the Geth haven't uprisen at all through the course of the trilogy. During the Morning War, they fought back out of self defense. In the war in this game, they were subjugated by the Reapers, but as a measure of fighting back out of self-defense. The game feels schizophrenic.

[@TrueshotOG]

im here to stop people screaming first :3

[@RoseTadajiyuNakahara]

it reminds me of back when i was watching digimon 02 and i picked out all the plot holes because the bad storytelling infuriated me, and when i compare something to 02, you know im pissed.

[@ninjabreadman1993r]

And how about you stop insulting people who liked or didn't mind the ending, hmm? Everybody is allowed to have their own opinions, and it isn't "sucking EA's dick" to not hate something. At least *I* don't insult people who have alternate opinions, a maturity that I find sadly lacking in humanity today...

[@KroganCharr]

You are wrong. The Reapers were never portrayed as being sadistic or something, at best beeing ruthless. They kill and do all to get that killing done, they do not let their victims suffer or something. Also, the reapers ARE NOT MADE SYMPATHETHIC! The Catalyst does not even convince Shephard, so how do you think he is supposed to convince us, the player? Mass Effect is the best story of a game ever IMO, maybe safe those based on books. Questioning Biowares skills is ridicilous.

[@JustinJohnson-bb4rn]

What Is your code for you femshep charater I want to import her into the three games

[@Rewyndnz]

bah! i was enjoying that ending until you came along and made a whole bunch of truthful sense :/

[@RoseTadajiyuNakahara]

Bull, he called it the final phase of evolution, there is no final evolution phase, even with more clarity this ending still sucks.

[@josephmcconville91]

i think they really messed up the ending with this convo in the game. if people just gave the original ending some time to sink in maybe it would not have needed this.

[@EyeoftheU]

Oh, man! You are the worst kind of Biodrone. Not only does the Reapers disdainfully call organic life "vermin" and "bacteria", they stitch together the corpses of dead people and turn them into grotesque zombies which they use as soldiers. That pretty clearly shows that they go out of their way to be actively malevolent monsters. But suddenly we are told to cooperate with and validate the viewpoints of their insane leader, after fighting them for 2.999 games. That is plain bad storytelling.

[@matguimond92]

hate this trilogy now. what a stupid ending. No wonder people hate EA. took playing through all of Mass Effect 1,2, and 3 to realize it. Fkn Quarian back reveal.

[@RoseTadajiyuNakahara]

i get that thq is dead.....but why the hell cant EA die already!? so many games ruined by them.....

[@RoseTadajiyuNakahara]

No it isnt, you remove galactic diversity and stop evolution.....was the writer of this crap a creationist?