Mass Effect 4 - This is How ALL Endings Could be Canon

You asked for it, here it is - An updated take on how Bioware could make every Mass Effect 3 ending count for the next Mass Effect game.
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[@ryankohnenkamp8946]

OK, here me out. At the beginning of ME4/5, you have a selection that says "What did you choose in ME3?" and gives you the 4 choices. If you choose the "refusal" ending, the credits just start rolling...

[@j19games24]

That would be hilarious

[@Kragith]

It's a shame there are no longer any non-indie dev's/large companys with enough of a sense of humor to do that.

[@clpudy]

@@Kragith true, I remember Ubisoft doing it with far cry 4's secret ending where if you don't leave the table then eventually pagan min comes back then the credits roll

[@Kragith]

@N7 Andy Sorry but had to stop reading after the first sentence, haven't played that yet but it's on my to do list. Spoilers an all that. :D

[@raulsanimation6803]

I'd say they should show us at the beginning on the game that if we choose either control, synthesis or refusal the galaxy gets destroyed and explain that by saying that it was the last attempt of the reapers to indoctrinate Shepard and if u chosen anything but to destroy them they won.

[@thecourier7759]

Easy way to explain Shepard being alive (if they do come back in ME4) is they found Shepard among the wreckage in London and since their injuries were extremely severe they threw them into cryostasis until they could heal their injuries. Idk just a thought

[@dakotaadams189]

I genuinely think this is what they're going to do, better if they throw in a Lost Fleet kind of story where Shepard has to navigate waking up in a society that reveres him as a Jesus figure.

[@andrews.5212]

Shepard was a LIE

[@LOTRFAN33]

He should still be at the citadel. No way to survive that fall...

[@shadowgaming013]

One thing that always puzzled me is why people think Shepard is even on earth. He/She was on the Citadel when it activated, and in the perfect control ending you see that the citadel is still in orbit and that most of the damage was focused on the outer wards. Meaning it's highly possible that Shepard is actually located in the ruins of the presidium. Makes them surviving more believable because there is no planetary re-entry.

[@thecourier7759]

@@shadowgaming013 best thing I can say is maybe the explosion was so big and powerful that the pressure of it sent him hurling back to earth. Idk it'll be hard to explain but good ole video game logic will explain it

[@cheper12effect]

I think the Destroy ending is at least the easiest way to make a story like You said. Other possibilities with Control or Synthesis are interesting, but hard to realizing. Mass Effect Trylogy is very complex series of games with multiple of choices, more and less important. They need to think about every one of them. That's very hard to do - a game where everything will add up. I just hope BW will do it right.

[@cjvaye99]

they really screwed this up. I think they really thought ME3 was the end so it didnt matter. idk what they were thinking. we got to make so many choices throughout the trilogy we didnt need a final big choice like that. it should of just been destroy. if the game was exactly the same but at the end instead of having that stupid conversation with the star child after you deal with the illusive man it just goes to the destroy cutscene where Shepard fires the crucible, I dont think anyone would of complained.

[@cheper12effect]

@@cjvaye99 maybe. I think many people would want to just see that their choices have an impact and Reapers killed. Well mods solved this in some way.

[@ThisAinThatMetro]

My take on this is Synthesis should be the cannon ending if another game wasn’t coming out. You spend all 3 games making tough paragon choices to unlock the ending, and knowing you were the most perfect protagonist possible, you being implanted into everyone via synthesis would end the cycle of organic vs synthesis, but not necessarily organic vs organic. There would still be political fight for power between races. Destroy makes the most sense because it ends synthetics or at least for a while, while the galaxy rebuilds and creates another synthetic life/AI, hence a sequel

[@morphor]

@@cjvaye99 Honestly, I don't even want an ME4 or Andromeda, what I actually want is a ME spinoff where you're basically a space detective, doesn't even need to be an RPG, it can be strictly (even preferably) an FPS for all I care. Smaller scale, personal/low level stakes not this big grand space epic/opera of galaxy ending proportions. Shepard's story is closed, the reapers are dealt with, put it either before Shepard becomes a Spectre or prior to ME3. It's a friggin GALAXY there's lots to work with without sullying the lore. Hell another great idea, ME Battlefield/Battlefront. first contact war as an option, reaper war as an option, throw even in the rachni war as an option if wanted or any other potential conflicts. Hell have it be all the races vs even.

[@cjvaye99]

@@morphor I've actually been thinking about something like that. Not exactly what you said as a game but as a concept of a spin off series. But for me I'm thinking something like a GTA, TES or fallout style sandbox set in the citadel or omega. How awesome would that be? I dont think it'll happen because the developers just have it dead set that mass effect has to be about space exploration. But I disagree. I'm with you I'd be totally fine with a scaled down world, but make it come alive. If it's just a game set in the citadel make the citadel world be detailed and breathe life into it. I'd prefer that over exploration of barren planets like ME1. To me ME isn't about spaceships or exploration it's about the characters. If a ME game is 'limited' to just the citadel or even just one of the wards I think that would be incredible and it would be a great way for them to build the world and lore of mass effect by maximizing that location. We got a little taste in the citadel DLC with just a little sliver of the sunset strip. Think about something like that but instead of just the sunset strip you'd have a GTA V style open world where you can drive those shuttles like in the shadow broker DLC or just walk around wherever.

[@baundiesel]

My hot take is that any ending that allows the Reapers to still exist is a bad one for the future of the franchise. Destroy is the only real answer for moving forward. Fight me. lol

[@Dedhaven]

Not a hot take at all, majority of us fans consider Red as canon.

[@phantomwraith1984]

Destroy is close minded and makes it harder for the galaxy to rebuild. Also I didn't go out of my way teaching EDI to be human or fight for the freedom of the Geth only to throw them under the bus

[@waltfield7559]

My Hot take: Reapers get bored of being galactic police and fucked off to somewhere else after a ____ decades/years/centuries. Boom, you can have both endings work easy peasy. No fuss or wars over "best ending" in the next game other than "what ending did you choose? choice.

[@TGBurgerGaming]

Refuse is the only ending that shakes off indoctrination. Everything else is suicide at the catalysts behest.

[@snatched.377]

@@phantomwraith1984 Well, that’s too bad.

[@V1rtualFlod]

I have a theory about ME4's story direction that ties some loose threads together neatly, both from a plot and overarching thematic perspective. This is gonna be a long post, you have been warned. First off, ME3 ending. This theory is heavily reliant on the destroy ending being cannon. Not only does the existence of living Reapers create issues, but the power vacuum left in their wake and the prevalence of salvageable Reaper technology are great opportunities to tell stories with. Synthesis is way too off putting for people who don't pick it, control creates an immortal dictator which would be hard to write around, and refusal... is refusal. Nuff said. Ok, now we go to remaining plot threads. 1. Assuming destroy ending, the Geth in the milky way were wiped out. However, from the teaser poster it's basically confirmed they will have some presence in the game. The Geth will need to have survived somehow and this will need to be explained in a logical and satisfying way. This is not optional for Bioware given what we know about ME4 thus far. 2. There's Reaper technology everywhere and every species lost significant military assets during the Reaper war. These 2 factors create a situation in which the balance of power can be easily shifted. Remaining Batarians might use Reaper tech to exact revenge on the Alliance for the alpha relay. Old Krogan warlords might want revenge for the genophage. Yahg could somehow get their hands on it and do Yahg stuff (they ain't exactly friendly). With the Geth presence, there could be Geth who seek to improve themselves with salvaged reaper tech. Cerberus remnants might want to reactivate a Reaper or some other stupid Cerberus shit. And you can't discount potential indoctrination. The derelict Reaper in ME2 was still able to indoctrinate the Cerberus scientists with ease. I'm not saying that I think all of these will happen, just giving examples of how this could play out. 3. The Catalyst's problem remains unsolved. Given the observations made by the Catalyst as it watched various cycles, the inevitability of synthetic uprising is a serious issue that was completely ignored by the destroy ending. Wiping out the Reapers was just treating the symptoms of this problem, rather than a solution to it. 4. The Leviathans were discovered, weren't very happy about it, see themselves as superior to everything, and have both the ability and desire to indoctrinate other species. Yeah the Leviathans were just the enemy of my enemy, they're not exactly the good guys. I'd be really disappointed if the Leviathans didn't factor into the story in a big way. 5. There's one question in MEA that was left unanswered and I think the next ME will resolve this. The identity of the Benefactor. I think this is going to be a big part of the story as this was probably the best story implication to come from MEA and could have a significant impact on the remaining Milky Way species. Alright, now I'm gonna talk about the overarching theme of Mass Effect. The background "meta story" of ME is about trying to reconcile the differences between organic and synthetic life, and the various issues that arise with coexistence. Given that the Geth are going to factor into the story, this is undoubtedly a theme Bioware will continue. This issue wasn't resolved in the destroy ending and has left the door open for a lot of additional questions to be raised. How do organics feel about synthetic life after almost being wiped out by the Reapers? What do the remaining Geth think when they realize that the majority of their "species" was sacrificed to save organics? Will the Quarians be sympathetic to Geth survivors or prefer them to be conveniently eradicated? Now onto the Geth's survival theory (in my reply cuz this comment is literally too long for KZbin to handle).

[@V1rtualFlod]

Let's go over some things. - The Geth knew about the Reaper's existence before Shepard - The Geth believe all life should be self determinate - The Geth view the Reapers are a threat to this goal (except the Heretics) - The Geth are interested in Organic/Synthetic relations (observation and expansion of project overlord) - The Geth created an array which allowed them to view deep into dark space and other galaxies Knowing of the Reaper's existence, the Geth were looking for a way to survive. The Geth constructed the array to assist this goal by trying to assess the Reaper's in dark space and view other galaxies. The Geth observed that a group of explores created a program called "the Andromeda Initiative." Along with attempting to reach the Andromeda galaxy, the Geth became aware of Alec Ryder's project to create a symbiotic AI that directly interacts with organics. The Geth realized that their goals aligned with the Initiative's, and stepped in as an anonymous benefactor when the project ran low on funds. Reasons why the Geth is the benefactor. - The Geth have virtually limitless resources to put into the Initiative - Organic organizations with the resources required would not be able to move that amount of money without anyone taking notice - Symbiotic AI provides the best opportunity to establish relations between organics and synthetics - The Geth could survive the Reaper invasion by escaping to the Andromeda galaxy - The Geth do not wish for organic life to be exterminated and believe all life (including organics) should be self determinate - The Geth have good reasons to keep their identity hidden from the Andromeda Initiative until the time is right The Geth assembled their own Ark(s) to travel to the Andromeda galaxy as a way of evading the Reapers and establishing a connection with the organic civilizations they helped send there. Revealing that the Milky Way was invaded by the Reapers would help convince organics in Andromeda that the Geth want peace, since they used their resources to save them. Since the Geth do not need to rely on cryogenic suspension to survive for the trips duration, they were fully aware of everything that happened in the Milky Way during the Reaper invasion. Once it was established that Shepard succeeded in defeating the Reapers, the Ark (or one of the Ark's if there were multiple) returned to the Milky Way. It's also possible that other Geth Arks proceeded to the Andromeda galaxy. Let's tie it all together in one cohesive theory. Shepard fires the Crucible, destroying all synthetics and damaging the relay network. Whether she/he is still alive is irrelevant to the theory. Civilizations and societies are temporarily cut off from one another and the Geth are thought to have been wiped out. As repairs are made over the years, the relay network begins to slowly come back online. Each relay would most likely come online one by one, not all at once. Given the military presence in the Sol system at the end of ME3, the Sol relay would be the first to be repaired. As other relays are repaired, the links are reestablished and people are able to travel to and contact other systems. Given the time that has passed, some of these systems have had significant cultural changes as a result of the war. Conventional FLT travel may have led to the discovery of new systems and maybe new alien civilizations. Different ideas of leadership and various factions may have arisen in the aftermath of the war. Some planets had more severe infrastructure damage, leading to worse consequences for the inhabitants. While all of these sensitive issues are happening, it's discovered that some Geth have survived. These are the Geth from the returning Ark. The organic civilizations have an incredibly divided opinion on this. The Geth allied with organics during the final battle, but have a historically bad track record in most organics eyes. Not to mention that organic life was almost completely eradicated by the Reapers. At the same time, the returning Geth find out that every Geth program they left in the Milky Way was wiped out. They deduce that they had finally achieved full sentience, but organics killed them to save themselves. So the Geth are also divided on their relationship with organics. All of this leads to 3 main sides starting to emerge. 1. Unified. The unified side largely comprised of the surviving military forces within the Sol system. They regret the death of the Geth and wish to establish friendly relations with the returning Geth ark. They communicate and work with any Geth riding under the banner of peace, and want to assist the Geth on their journey to sentience as a way to repay their sacrifice during the Reaper war. They also understand how weak they are from their war with the Reapers, and wish to deescalate any conflict that could emerge. This would be the side the player is on. 2. Organic Absolutists. Not sure if that's the right word for it but whatever. This side wishes for all synthetic life to remain dead. They believe synthetic life poses too many risks, and this sentiment is reinforced by the scars they bear from the Reaper war. They fight both hostile and peaceful synthetics without impunity, and are trying to ensure that the returning Geth don't achieve the sentience they possessed from the Reaper upgrades. This side is being secretly controlled/manipulated by the Leviathans, who wish to dominate all organic life and ensure that no civilization ever creates synthetic life again. The Leviathan's ultimate goal is to return to being the apex race and force all organics to adhere to their rule. The Geth are in strict opposition to the Leviathans, not only because they wish for their extermination, but because they impede on all other life's ability to self determinate. 3. Resurgent Heretics. This side is led by a faction of Geth that split from the main consensus. They no longer believe that coexistence between organics and synthetics is possible. They view Shepard's actions with the Crucible as proof that organics will inevitably destroy synthetics when they feel threatened again. This side scours the galaxy for functioning Reaper tech to further their goals. They use this Reaper tech to indoctrinate organics, create husks and other reaper creatures, and upgrade themselves. Their ultimate objective is to find and use a functioning remnant reaper code fragment to restore the intelligence they possessed under Reaper control, while also using it to reunite the remaining Geth into their anti-organic consensus. The main plot of the game would revolve around the Geth's return to sentience and their relationship with organics. While this would be the main story, there could be other side stories tied into it. Vengeful Krogans and Batarians, underground Cerberus operations, new species discovery, return of the rachni etc. And as for Shepard, I believe this theory could operate with or without her/him. Nothing here inherently needs Shepard as the protagonist, however Shepard does bring a lot to the table and is a unique character in the game. Shepard brokered peace between the Geth and Quarians, was the only person to speak with the Leviathans, destroyed the alpha relay, cured the genophage, spared the rachni etc. There's also potential for your past decisions to influence the story, even if the main ending choices don't factor in. And that's the theory. I'm not 100% in the know on ME lore so I probably fucked something up here. If you actually read all of this then holy shit you're a legend. It took me like 3 hours to think it through and write it all out.

[@cheper12effect]

@@V1rtualFlod it's incredible what you wrote here. And I makes sense. Though I think there is too much "geth" plot here or smth. But it doesn't bother me. I like the idea of Shepard possibly not being main character. Your ME4 can happen soon after ME3 or a few centuries after. 3 hours to make it? Nice.

[@quicksilvercho]

Incredible! The theory where the part of the geth rebels and wants organic life dead seems really cool! Whatever the next story of ME revolves around, i will play it! And i can't wait to see more teasers from BW and to know how is the development of the game going

[@connorkenway09]

@@V1rtualFlod this sounds like a better version of what the original trilogy was about. Instead of fighting anti-organic apocalypse machines it would dive much deeper into the organic vs synthetic life theme. Sounds a bit like a Battlestar Galactica type of plot if you ask me. I gotta say i'd much more prefer if the Geth return but instead of taking center stage and being a 2.0 version of the original trilogy, I'd rather see organic life deal with problems of cooperating civilisations vs those that wish to conquer others.

[@thediesel4280]

@@V1rtualFlod very thorough. Makes a lot of sense. I kinda had an itching/hope that the benefactor was the geth. Ur whole post would tie in the good parts of andramada and give meaning/tie a lot of the content of all the games together nicely and focus moreso on what we all fell in love with the me trilogy.

[@SirEliteGrunt]

One thing, a lot of people omit is that not all choices get carried over in every game. Shepherd, being dead at the end of Mass Effect two is a possibility but that never gets carried over. I think they’re just going to choose the perfect destroy ending as canon.

[@YoungMrBlue]

I think that all the endings can be implemented in mass effect, especially if shepherd isn’t the playable character but a companion

[@filipgaecki5480]

​@@YoungMrBlue I don't. When you choose control the entire point of the game is gone. No matter what the threat is....just throw Reapers at it. Gee sounds like a fun game

[@nicolebarkdull2908]

Yeah this makes sense that destroy is canon and the next game is in the future. I’d be ok with it as a long time fan as long as there is some beginning sequence showing Shepherd being found and living a life with their love interest. I feel that’s what most of us were missing from 3s ending. Closure.

[@shadowleader5105]

Except Tali probably. 😭

[@gabematthews4532]

I think if Shepard goes into cryo sleep Garrus and tali might also volunteer considering they are basically secondary main characters and Liara could be on the outside trying to find a way to heal Shepard

[@pedroarannozzi]

@@gabematthews4532 i tought about this same scenario ! Tali waiting for Shephard Lazarus 2.0 in cryo. I WANT MORE TIME =(

[@gabematthews4532]

@@pedroarannozzi yeah I mean they’ve been by Shepards side so far why not now

[@gabematthews4532]

@@shadowleader5105 no tali is organic not synthetic

[@ZumieFiasco]

They could simply have every angle considered and do the following: - Player chooses their main decisions they made throughout the trilogy and andromeda - There are varying cutscenes formed to fit each answer structure - Based on choices the player made their custom tailored cutscene plays and that teaser we've all seen with Liara, and the reaper etc. is just that. A beginning cutscene where dead and gone Liara T'soni is telling the story of the reaper war and then 1000 or so years later no matter what decision was made its a fresh start due to so much time passing.

[@MrHulthen]

Pretty much this. Starting cinematics that explain everything is probably the easiest way to go. Question is still if the effects of Synthesis could've "faded" by then.

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

Do you know that journalist Liana Rupert in the video "Why Mass Effect Andromeda Is A Better Game Than You Think" after 19 minutes said that the developers told her that Liara in the new ME will be old? That is, no 1000 years after ME3

[@tredausmaxima]

You know, Destroy is the ONLY choice out of the three (Not including Refusal), that has a worst outcome ending if you didn't gather enough war assets. It's make this choice much unique and interesting indeed.

[@AdrianGell]

Tredaus, I absolutely got that on my first pass, which I was kinda happy for. Because while other players were claiming "it's just a color difference" I'm dealing with having clearly destroyed all life on Earth. So while there was valid criticism of the effort put into the ending , it helped me appreciate the subtle differences that others seemed to be missing because they had all 100%'d everything prior to that choice.

[@cthroatbill5192]

I don't care which one is canon just as long as I can play Shepard and go back to my beautiful and intelligent Liara.

[@pedroarannozzi]

romance is the best part of this game

[@Arander92]

Jesus Christ man, let it go…

[@DHxJarsyl]

I think the best case scenario, you fix the ME3 ending by using the dragon age origins start. You pick your ME1-3 choices like backgroundz in origins. You then get a prologue chapter for each ending type with a few unique background dialogs that helps wrap up what occurred at the end of ME3 and get all 3 different end scenarios to the same place for act 1 of the new story.

[@arx3516]

I concur with the author on the Synthesis ending. For me it was like the Axis Shock in Char's Counter Attack, temporaneous. The reapers however are no longer a threat, beacause they shut down afyer reaching their goal. P.S: the catalyst could become the McGuffin of the new game, some faction could try to get possession of it and use it as a large scale mind control device.

[@juzoli]

It is not impossible to do, but they will never get enough resources to work out every detail. It will end up being a decision between either a story which is compatible with all endings, or a story which is actually good.

[@HammarPwnsYourFace]

Exactly!!

[@Prorok1994]

The story ending was rush to be "as open as possible" by EA decision. So i guess they had planned for it in some way ahead

[@monthc]

Synthesis could work if the external threat was the Kett. Their means of reproducing is basically a...different version of synthesis. While they're not the most interesting enemy faction, it would provide a way to reintroduce conflict and keep lore introduced by Andromeda intact. I don't think I would like this direction, but it's conceivable.

[@nunya_bizniz]

It would be Kett vs synthesized Reapers and every sentient species in the milky way. No threat at all. Can't build off synthesis or control endings. It's impossible. The kett certainly pose no threat.

[@forestwells5820]

Based on the journal entries, the Andromeda mission was launched before the invasion began. So it's unlikely this would be when it was launched. So I'm very curious, and nervous, about them trying to tie in Andromeda into ME4.

[@Summon256]

Mmm...so just a couple of years later then? After the events of og trilogy were concluded? Maybe only about a couple of months after that or at most half a year? Assuming the more Arks were sent later on, let's say Hyperion-2,3,4,5 etc...same for Natanus, Lusinia, Paarchero and Keelah Si'yah! They were likely sent as "waves" each ark per wave each 6 months or so! By the time next ME takes place it would have been about 2.5 years passed since original arks arrival in Helius Cluster and Shepard (if still alive) and the team could have been sent on say Hyperion-4 or Hyperion-5...

[@Summon256]

If all of that is true, than the next ME game will see Andromeda way more diverse and populated and as a result of such less dull! (here's hoping Bioware will fix Salarians being taller than they should be, Krogans being smaller than they should be and Asari being all clones of Doctor T'Perro!) ...More importantly we will likely see Quarians, Voluses, Hanars and Drells in Andromeda interacting with Angarans like th rest of the MW species!

[@abesmissioncontrol2013]

Maybe firing the Crucible (regardless of the ending chosen) triggers nuclear winter across the Milky Way / accelerates the dark energy decay, forcing the survivors of the Reaper War to build / scavenge a ship that can take them to Andromeda.

[@spacesamples8992]

Adding on to your theory of how conflict might be re-introduced in a post Synthesis galaxy. If you ask, the star child does mention that this is something that “can’t be forced”. Great vid! Really hoping the writers can somehow incorporate all player decisions even though I personally chose the Destroy ending.

[@Klijpo]

Synthesis never even implies that ALL conflict is eliminated, just the intrinsic conflict between organics and synthetics over being organics and synthetics. There's no mention of a hive-mind style everyone-is-the-same that many folk seem to misapprehended. They quite literally left us all to SPECULATE, but beyond the created-vs-creator conflict, nothing is ever spelled out.

[@jonhanson6686]

It'll be pretty badass if our Me3 ending choice made the Me4 story completely different like 3 different plots

[@whatever7240]

Now that right there would be a serious endeavor to commit to in terms of creating it. But it damn sure would be awesome. The same characters could be used for all 3 plots but be in different, maybe even extremely different situations(multiverse different even), depending on which plot is taken.

[@jonhanson6686]

@@whatever7240 Exactly it might even be the best mass effect game

[@khaens1116]

Who knows, maybe bioware had been working secretly for 10 years on such a game where all 3 endings (+perfect destroy) are cannon with a different enough plot from eachother

[@scottlambert9074]

all the endings happened, but it was so big of a moment that it shattered into different timelines that follow each ending and Liara uses her resources to find the timeline that Shepard survived in to come put them back together!

[@Nageat68]

Dragon Break, TES like x)

[@HolloVVpoint]

If the destroy ending is cannon then the choices, become irrelevant. It destroys all the Relays, all synthetics and leave’s basically everyone marooned in their own star systems. Additionally by the time Shepard and crew even make it to the crucible, majority of star systems and races are pretty much all destroyed or teetering on extinction anyway. In my opinion this makes it easy to carry on because it’s like a hard reset, as such all the decisions could be referenced with out it actually having any effect on the game. And you in away start from scratch building a new narrative.

[@FlawlessCowboy913]

My instinct is that all four ending choices are canon; but the non-destroy endings are canon in the same way that the ME2 “Shepard dies” ending is canon. Makes it much easier on the developers to focus on designing a new story without the baggage of alternate choices.

[@hariman7727]

Plus, Bioware can toss a bone to the fandom with the "Destroy" ending and Indoctrination Theory being true.

[@Kronosfobi]

@@hariman7727 On my first playthrough thats exactly what I thought. Synthesis was called to be ''perfect solution'' by the genocidal AI, which also claimed similar solutions in the past did not work. The boy also mentions he is not looking forward to be controlled by Shepard as well. Both endings completely throwing you into a live energy feed and disintegrating you whole made me think the little bastard was trying to manipulate me the same way it has Illusive man. Easiest choice in my life, considering it wasnt even a choice at that point.

[@VelociraptorsOfSkyrim]

@@Kronosfobi There's a big problem there: The Catalyst _isn't_ a Reaper, so lacks any kind of ability to Indoctrinate. Otherwise everyone on the Citadel should be Indoctrination _Long_ before Sovereign attacked the Citadel.

[@Kronosfobi]

@@VelociraptorsOfSkyrim Indoctrination was the wrong sentence to use here, Let me edit it. It was trying to MANIPULATE us, there.

[@JSLEnterprises]

Shepard doesnt die at the end of me2. thats whats canon. Shep dies at THE Beginning of me2, which is 2 years after the ending of ME1

[@Skarfar90]

Perfect Destroy is by far the best outcome to canonize, but there has to be a way to factor in other choices too. I think if they make something similar to Dragon Age Keep, where you can set a custom world state based on key choices in the Trilogy, that would be a good starting point. I still love the idea of multiple origin stories (post-war stories, seen from different perspectives), where you select the race of the protagonist (like in Dragon Age Origins, and Inquisition), which then culminates into the main story, once you get a crew and a ship.

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

Bioware have said many times that the history of Mass Effect is the history of humanity and that this is why the human will always be the protagonist

[@Skarfar90]

@@user-wr7mb3ic7m That does not mean that they can't do it 🤔 It is definitely something the fans have wanted for a long time now

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

@@Skarfar90 Not all fans. A few years ago, there was a fan poll on a site about the choice of the race of the protagonist. 70% voted for human

[@Skarfar90]

@@user-wr7mb3ic7m Hmm.

[@rileygallivan24]

I always figured that in Control, Shepherd would just turn off all the reapers or have them self destruct in dark space, which could explain their 'destruction'

[@cbhensoncbhenson5515]

Or just send all the reapers into the depths of space.

[@antagonisstic]

@@cbhensoncbhenson5515 Would be better to send The Reapers into the Sun if you controlled them.

[@camrynduplessis2743]

@@cbhensoncbhenson5515 they come from the depths of space so I'm pretty sure that even if the he did that they could still just come back

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

Um, didn't you listen to what the new Catalyst-Shepard had to say? Paragon will protect from threats. Renegade destroy threats. How will he do this if he destroys or sends the Reapers somewhere? By the way, in Control it is shown that the Reapers restore all the Relays. And in the teaser-trailer, the Relay is not restored

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

@@cbhensoncbhenson5515 haven't you heard what the new Catalyst Shepard has to say? Paragon will protect from threats. Renegade destroy threats. How will he do this if he destroys or sends the Reapers somewhere? By the way, in Control it is shown that the Reapers restore all the Relays. And in the teaser trailer, the Relay is not restored

[@Vopadevas]

I like to think Control puts the 3 Laws of Robotics into the source code of all AI in range. This would render the Reapers pacifists!

[@hariman7727]

There is no crueler tyranny than a tyranny enacted "for your own good". The greedy and the power hungry see their tyranny wax and wane, but a tyranny "for your own good" is endless.

[@gotdam4505]

Destroy ending with Shepard would make sense if Liara somehow found a way to put Shepard in a cryosleep in order to find a way to reconstruct his body in the future just like project lazarus

[@The_Based_Batman]

I just want more Tali Romance. 😭

[@1fishmob]

It could be based on what route you went, like they original planned the three endings. Control would be canon if you were a paragon shepard, destroy if you were a renegade shepard, and synthesis as a secret ending. As well, I did have an idea on how you can make ME4 work with Reaper AI Shepard. Basically, have the AI eventually evolve to where the Reapers gain self conscience like humanity does, as such while their nature is to protect like Shepard, it is now more complicated since they all now think independently of each other.

[@Caba-Rojo]

What if BioWare sidesteps the whole thing with the indoctrination theory… the last part of 3 was in Shepard’s mind….

[@paradiddlemcflam7167]

And indoctrination is much more interesting than 3 forced choices. The only part that would be a problem is to explain what happens with the reapers. I can't remember the details of indocttrination theory so maybe this has already been worked out.

[@Caba-Rojo]

@@paradiddlemcflam7167 perhaps the war’s gone that long…didn’t the Protheans fight the reapers for centuries?

[@paradiddlemcflam7167]

@@Caba-Rojo Good point. The war could still be going on.

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

In February 2021, the developers disproved this indoctrination theory. Codex ME1 says that the modern races have explored the galaxy at 1% out of 100%. The Protheans have explored the entire galaxy and they have the resources of the entire galaxy. Modern races have evolved in space for 2600 years. The Protheans evolved in space for 20,000 years.

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

@@paradiddlemcflam7167 In February 2021, the developers disproved this indoctrination theory. Codex ME1 says that the modern races have explored the galaxy at 1% out of 100%. The Protheans have explored the entire galaxy and they have the resources of the entire galaxy. Modern races have evolved in space for 2600 years. The Protheans evolved in space for 20,000 years.

[@shadowx3benz117]

We know it's in the future anyway, so I don't see why they couldn't do literally anything to get rid of the Reapers, and the dead ones in the trailer were killed in the war. They could pretty easily write out synthesis like you explained, and have a series of side quests dealing with Shepard's fate instead of just codex entries. Would probably satisfy most fans, there's going to be someone upset no matter what and they will be the loudest, and it prevents making people mad if they don't like the chosen ending. Side quest examples: Control: Shepard AI is having issues of some AI variety, and we help prevent his collapse because it would cause issues with the Reapers. Destroy: Someone finds still working Reaper artifacts, gets indoctrinated, and you have to stop them from doing whatever indoctrinated people would do with the Reapers gone. Synthesis: Do some work for a scientist trying to figure out why the synthesis effects dissapeared or something idk it's still the hardest to continue on but the best as an ending to a series I thought was over.

[@KyleTaylorDesigns]

Well the most simple way to explain why Destroy makes the most cannon sense for the timeline is that it's the default ending for players with the least amount of War Assets, and is the only ending that has the extra scene of Shepard taking a breath (supposed Shepard lives ending) if the play has the max amount of War Assets. Synthetics can be rebuilt in time, technology that was destroyed can be rebuilt in time. Destroy is the only way to close the book on the Reapers so where ever the series goes from there, the god-like machines can't swoop in and deus ex machina any future conflicts. Statistically speaking, it's the ending the combined player base (casual & hardcore) would have available to see. With all that said, I would like to see the next game be as close to a squeal to Andromeda's story and I think I can see a why how the two series can be connected. In MEA, the Arks for Humans, Salarians, Turians, and Asari all make it to Andromeda (well the Heleus Cluster). The Quarian Ark, which was also bring other races with them (Hanar, Elcor, Volus), but they had to return to the Milky Way due to technical issues with the ship; the official reason why they aren't in MEA. So considering the arks all left between ME2 and ME3, they may have witnessed some of the events of the Reaper War and would be bring the reports with them. It is revealed through the side quest "Ryder Family Secrets" that Alec Ryder (the player's father) received brief transmissions about the war prior to and just as it was beginning. Of course at the time he's hearing this, it's over 600 years later and over 2M miles away. But what does tie all this together is at the end of the MEA story, you hear a transmission from the Quarian Ark, they arrived in Andromeda (where exactly, we don't know) the transmission was a warning to stay away and not to look for them. If that's no ominous, I don't know what is. As we also discover through the story, once the Archon is defeated, the Kett race still strong and has a home world somewhere else in the galaxy. The Jardaan race may still exist somewhere in hiding. The Kett might have their sights set on the Milky Way based on what they learned of the species that did come to Andromeda (Human, Turian, Krogan, Salarian, Asari) and want to exaltation them as well as other species into the Kett collective. Maybe the threat that had the Jardaan run scared is still lurking around. Or maybe that threat was the Reapers, after all the, the Reapers lay dormant in dark space outside of the galaxy quietly observing the cycle until it's their time to return. Who is to say they may have been looking into another galaxy as well.

[@alexandermartinis147]

No, the Quarian Ark didn't return to the Milky Way. Their departure to Andromeda was delayed due to technical difficulties with trying to accommodate multiple species. It departed in 2186, just as the Reapers invaded through Batarian space; the other arks, along with the Nexus departed many months earlier, in 2185. Also, if you haven't read Mass Effect Andromeda: Annihilation- or listened to it; it's available as an audiobook as well- then I suggest you do so; you'll learn the true fate of Ark Keelah Si'yah and gain more context for that message post game. PS - The Reapers aren't involved, at least, not directly.

[@Jay_428]

Destroy is the only logical choice for me. Aside from being the size of skyscrapers and having giant red laser cannons, their greatest weapon is to dominate the mind of their opposition. After everything that you've gone through, I can't in the last few minutes suddenly start agreeing with ideas and "solutions" they're offering without feeling like it's some last ditch effort to capture the mind of the one guy that's been the tip of the spear leading the campaign against them. Especially when you just proved their logic false by reuniting the Geth and Quarians. The only possible dangerous side effect is that dead reapers / reaper tech can still indoctrinate. The hope is that the crucible somehow negates that.

[@Mr-Rinn]

When you posted this I was expecting you to describe an “all of the above” canon a bit like in the Deus Ex series, where the 2nd game is set in a time where elements of each of the first game’s final choice has happened. So for instance Shepherd picks the control ending, but the wave destroys a big chunk of the Reapers and beneficially mutates at least some of the organic and synthetic life that it touches but not all of it.

[@aguspuig6615]

i wish somehow they could make it happen shortly after the end of 3, if its the perfect destroy i wanna see first hand how things develop, i dont want a codex entry telling me how the crew lived i want to see it

[@blurmusic.5508]

Another video dropped! Love watching your stuff :) Keep it up!

[@MrHulthen]

[@Tkirby93]

My fav ending is where Mr Hulthen comes out of the shadows and just looks into the camera as it zooms in and goes…Hehe Mr Hulthen here 😂

[@Dorian_Kellum]

Actually, seeing the in-game codex change depending on the choices made by an imported Shepard would be kind of neat. It would have to be reflected in-game, though. Maybe Krogan characters are more hostile to humanity if Shepard sabotaged the cure. Maybe quarian characters get completely replaced if the geth were chosen.

[@Blazerri]

I did the scream that was missing from synthesis when Shepard is running towards the beam

[@sixmonkeys4796]

Or... they adopt the Indoctrination theory, where shepard never got up to the crucible and, in choosing destroy, simply wakes up where he took the beam having refused to be indoctrinated.

[@thehistori4n16]

Everyone keeps forgetting that shepard have a VI, with Synthesis he could get back through that VI, could be a interesting take that the new character takes him as a VI like Cortana, and we would be hearing our shepard (Paragon or Renegade) scold the new character and helping him/her out

[@vlover15OO]

From a story telling view, the perfect destroy ending makes the most sense to pick. With control and synthesis basically giving the milky way a galaxy level weapon to destroy any conflict is an emding. Unless you make an "super charged reapers" you have no opponent strong enough to fight and if u make those enimes now your making ur choice at the end of me3 useless. With destroy you now have all the remaining races engage in civil war fighting for remaining recourses with people on all sides either siding or objecting to the races helping each other. Its the one ending with the best setting to continue a story

[@shadowx3benz117]

Well, Leviathan exists. They made the Reapers and we watch them kill one with just their thoughts. Say they got more powerful over these millions of years and didn't know because they never used their power with all the hiding so now they try to take over again.

[@vlover15OO]

@@shadowx3benz117 thats not that good. Theres only a few left, maybe just the three. Theres no reason they would attack the galxy if the reapers were still around in some capacity

[@shadowx3benz117]

@@vlover15OO If they thought the Reapers were weaker, maybe there were more than we saw, maybe THEY indoctrinated Shephard and now kind of control the Reapers. They did definitely get in Shep's head, so who knows.

[@vlover15OO]

@@shadowx3benz117 well no, they "let shepard go" implying they realized control of his mind. Also the leviathans wouldnt believe the reapers were weaker from the control or synth ending because theyre just as powerful as before. And even if they did, it still wouldnt be as troubling as the leviathans comming back after shepard destroys the reapers because now who would be there to stop them?

[@shadowx3benz117]

@@vlover15OO fair, I was just throwing out ideas. I've got a long thing somewhere in these on how to make it work without throwing away any endings or leaving it all in the codex and still not having to make separate games, but the tldr is find a way to get rid of most stuff and have a series of side quests related to it, with the whole game set a few 100 years later, which also lets Wrex, Grunt, and Liara all still be alive, so the only one of the best characters missing is Garrus.

[@payableondeath7]

Either I blacked out or you went this whole video without bringing up the Leviathans in any of the endings. In Destroy especially, they would be massively dangerous going forward

[@tcgaming2131]

What I want I want to know is how the geth survived the crucible during the destroy ending because I remember the catalyst saying that the destroy ending would destroy all synthetic life, including edi and the geth?

[@pedroarannozzi]

That question is a no brainer to me The Geth are very likely the most inteligent species in the galaxy. By the end of ME3 they probably have shared information and tech with the most important species of the galaxy. AND they have Reaper Code in them. So they could easily predict the catalyst would affect them, as they had Reaper in them AND they worked on the crucible soooo they have everything necessary to estabilish a countermeasure. They could have stored themselfs in the form of fisical data to prevent their death. Perhaps on a whole planet given the ammount of data it would take to store all the Geth. Hence the promo art of the Geth face on the planet ?

[@warriornorman4026]

I hope they don't abandon the story of Commander Shepard that would be terrible

[@TheGavrael]

Well, they already did and hopefully learned their lesson.

[@warriornorman4026]

@@TheGavrael yep Mass Effect Andromeda

[@Arander92]

They didn’t. Shepard is dead. Fans just cannot seem to accept it, even after all these years. It’s really pathetic honestly

[@warriornorman4026]

@@Arander92 Shepherd does die in all endings but the perfect destroying if you get enough war assets so they could bring them back they wanted to

[@Arander92]

@@warriornorman4026 Think about what a terrible decision that would be though. Think about the precedent it would set. You can’t make decisions based on coddling fans who cannot let go of a fictional character. They’d be bringing him back for essentially no reason. That’s not good storytelling. This is why I hope, if they go with a hard canon ending, that’s it’s the Control ending. Shepard may be dead, but the A.I. born from him/her, The Shepard would be around for us to talk to. It even says it remembers “what it was like to be Shepard”. I wanna ask it that question. Would The Shepard be a tyrant or a benevolent deity? More importantly, it also sets up an interesting premise where galactic society is ruled by these machine gods that tried to kill us centuries ago. How would the denizens of the galaxy feel about this? How many groups in opposition to these Reaper turned Guardians would there be? Are they all powerful? Or is there another threat (possibly the Leviathans) that could challenge them and threaten us with extinction yet again? So many possibilities, but they are all shouted down by “BUT I WANT SHEPARD TO LIIIIVE!!!!!”🤦🏾‍♂️

[@kerrybaldino8826]

To be honest the Refusal Ending is my favorite. The idea of fighting to the last and watching the reapers burn the galaxy, WHILE also playing in the future in the next cycle, finding Liara's black boxes sounds so cool to me.

[@bronwynecg]

Funny you mention this cause I came up with a harebrained idea a few days ago. For control and merge endings, Cerberus recovers unconscious Clone Shep from the Citadel. They (or others) somehow manage to convince Prime Shep’s mind to take over Clone Shep’s body. For destroy ending, Prime Shep’s body is recovered safety since Clone Shep body is destroyed . Players discover how Citadel and Reapers (AND NOT EDI and the Geth) were destroyed while Prime Shep was unconscious. Wakes up with possible amnesia from all the mental/physical trauma just went through. Now. Where the game goes after the first hour or two, who knows 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

The teaser trailer shows the destroyed Relay. And it hasn't been restored. In Control and Synthesis, Reapers repair all Relays

[@christopherg2347]

*Control Ending:* It is also possible people just grew tired, made ships that _could_ fight reapers and removed Shep. Most cycles lost their government and galactic communication with the Citadel at minute 0. Hard to reverse engineer reaper tech under those conditions. But the Human cycle had a head-start with Sovereign. And then centuries under Shep. They would have figured it out pretty quickly. *Synthesis:* Rachni War. Krogan Rebellions. WW1. WW2. First Contact War. Human/Battarian conflicts. Quite a lot of conflicts not involving any visible Synthetic. It doesn't end all conflict. Just Organic/Synthetic Genocide. Plenty other reasons to beat each others head in. The reapers might just leave the same way as Shep in your Control ending And again: In 700+ years, that skin effect might have subsided or they figured out how to hide it. *Destroy:* This would be the simplest ending by far. There is so much damage to data storage and so much rebuilding, people might not have had time to record the details of your decisions. Was the genophage cured by Shep? Was it a fake cure, but a real one made by someone else a few years later? Did the queen still have a Queen egg lying around, possibly not even knowing of it?

[@billcaddy359]

Ive never played a mass effect as I was 7 when the last one came out. I look forward to playing this one very much

[@Otis-Spunks]

Sorry but I cannot see the endings any other way than I have after my first playthrough. Control can't be an option. You dont invest on both major villains thinking they could control the reapers only to be convinced they were wrong and commit suicide. Synthesis has in game examples, they are called husks. I'm not interested in being the tool to enact the "final solution" of the reapers no matter how nice a post choice cut scene I'm given. Destroy is the only choice. The very thing we all set out to do from the beginning.

[@kyzit8458]

Why does almost every destroy fanboy thinks synthesis means hivemind, lack of free will or being turned into husks. In the extended cut you can see everyone happy in the same places as destroy. Asari moving the box with the human laughs. STOP THIS NONSENSE XDXDXD😂😂😂

[@asadatkins9263]

Also in order for it to be sequel to both Andromeda and ME3 it has to be a minimum of 600 years in the future considering the travel time to Andromeda

[@ThisIsAHandleOrSomething]

I just simply want them to incorporate a save import or just give us 5 choices on which ending was chosen and whether Shepard was M or F. They should’ve just carried on with Andromeda, as no one had to really worry about what ending was chosen as the initiative left just before it all happened.

[@Klijpo]

We can't have a save import because there is no save that records the ending choice. A simple questionaire at the start on the big 4 (ending, genophage, Rannoch, Rachni) would suffice

[@danielkavanagh6957]

Maybe the could do the world import that they do for the Dragon Age games

[@Klijpo]

@@danielkavanagh6957 That could work too. Is was a bit of a faff, though. I'd forgotten most of the smaller details when it came to setting up the Keep for DA3. Maybe something like an exam or test the protagonist has to do at the start: give an answer, then get a brief summary of what happened after, to set the scene as the game begins.

[@danielkavanagh6957]

@@Klijpo ye I just hope we get a choice on certain events because that is what made Mass Effect unique

[@Klijpo]

@@danielkavanagh6957 Given that choice was the USP if the trilogy, so one would hope!

[@TheImmortalBloodwolf]

When it comes to the control ending maybe at some point in the future something happens to the reapers because we have a new big threat that could somehow take them down and Shepherd would get downloaded into a body similar to EDI's Honestly I think this is more likely than the destroy ending because it's been confirmed that "the geth may play a major role in the next Mass effect game" which isn't possible with the destroy ending because all AI went down with the reapers including EDI and the geth Although in general making a new Mass effect game is it going to be a nightmare and to top it off after the disaster that was anthem a lot of people who were instrumental in the success of the original Mass effect trilogy got the boot because some corporate person from EA was mad that BioWare was is only skilled at making single player games and that their skill could in no way translate to a MMO environment... Im expecting a disaster

[@gr8m887]

The destroy option is definitely the easiest of the endings to work with, but the other two are more difficult. That said, I think I know some ways they could work. Control: The Shepherd AI eventually felt itself slipping away in the massive Reaper network and, in order to ensure they’d never harm the galaxy again, forces them to destroy themselves and each other. It appears as a self-imposed slaughter, but is in reality a mass suicide. Pretty dark, but still. Synthesis: a little more difficult, but hear me out. The united DNA eventually breaks down, and people return to being disconnected after a few years or so. The galactic unity eventually ends, leaving the races of the galaxy confused and, once more, divided. A bit of a stretch, and unsure what the surviving Reapers would do in that instance. Maybe some would stay connected to certain species and become sort of dreadnought super-weapons or something.

[@djwip]

It struck me right now that an interesting thought is that in the control ending could be improved. If it were expanded upon that how Shepard uses the reaper force would change if Shepard was a paragon or renegade character. So if the character was renegade Shepard would use the reapers rule as a General / Leader for all of milky way. Where as the paragon would be more of an independent military force. Just some thoughts, not perfect but only something to think about

[@axelnilsson5124]

I believe that in the control ending Shepard had the reapers leave the Milky Way after fixing the Mass Relays

[@Brook_tno]

If you side with the geth, they could still have Quarians in the game, by saying the missing Quarian Ark, from Andromeda, returned to the Milky Way. That could also explain the "Andromeda" connection

[@deadcard13]

I had wondered how a sequel set in the Milky Way could work without making player's choices moot. First, in character-creation/background, let the player decide what the major outcomes were for their trilogy play (Rannoch, Genophage, etc). Through dialogue-tree options, the player could even conjure together details about their version of Shepard. 2) makes all ME3 endings canon, from a certain point-of-view. The Reapers weren't perfect and infallible, so just because we were told what each option was meant to do, doesn't mean that's how it actually turned out. The setting could be a Milky Way in reconstruction with the Reapers disappearing back into Dark Space (with Shepard in control), anti-synthetic movements picking up momentum, and bizarre organic anomalies appearing across the galaxy.

[@xenowriter82]

Given the fact that the new game would be out on new platforms, I don’t think they could connect the games unless they do like a comic to choose at the beginning.

[@Winterfur1]

Like Dragon Age Inquisition using Dragon Age Keep to pick what choices you did and made it so there where no conflicting choices.

[@ReiCaixa]

I've been thinking about it: -Asari can live over 1k years, but Liara was 106. -The trailer hinted at a connection between Milky Way and Andromeda. -The trip from Milky Way to Andromeda was 600 years, so no other teammate except for Liara (and Grunt) can be alive. (Liara would be 700-800 and Grunt would be 600-700) The mass relay in the trailer could probably be a connection between Milky Way and Andromeda. I don't see any other reason to make the Relay an important part of the trailer if it was just for Milky Way travel. We might only have the Andromeda characters, Liara, Grunt, maybe some known Asari/Krogan/Geth, maybe someone frozen.

[@marlowepup9863]

Great video! I agree with your reasoning, but with how choice-heavy the ME trilogy is, I’m worried about an ending being canonized, as it would invalidate the decisions of any Shepard (and player) who chose differently; for example, my Shepard saw Synthesis as the best way forward; EDI and the geth are just as alive as anyone, and played a role in saving the galaxy- this is their home too, and just as importantly, the galaxy needs all the help we can get in recovering from this war; after all, though I don’t disagree that Shepard was trying to beat the Reapers, I feel it is just as accurate to say that Shepard wanted the galaxy to be saved. My Shepard put the lives of the galaxy- asari, geth, krogan, human- above her own, and saved those she cared about, even honoring Legion’s not-dissimilar sacrifice, and while I’m not sure how to make a sequel of that, it would suck to be told “you made the wrong choice”; it’s not a dealbreaker, but I hope it’s not like that

[@Klijpo]

A lot of the decisions could be canonised based on the data they have, because most of them emphatically swing one way only. However, the ending is a lot less clear cut, in that less than half went for Destroy, and more went for Synthesis + Control. If an ending is canonised, it would mean that more than half the player-base would get one they did not choose.

[@dakotaadams189]

It's pretty easy to interpret Synthesis as Indoctrination though, Saren arguably thought he was going for Synthesis.

[@ConnorLonergan]

@@dakotaadams189, yes, but that doesn't make it correct. None of the endings were Indoctrination

[@projectpat8807]

Just keep in mind that you CANNOT import a ME2 save into ME3 if Shepard died at the end of the Suicide Mission. ME2 pretty much creates some ending that implies the Reapers were successful in the events of ME3 and the galaxy is doomed. So ME3 canonized an ME2 ending and kind of removed some decisions (like no Shepard = no more story/game over for the trilogy, or that Shepard can’t survive if ALL squadmates are dead, you MUST have at least two squadmates survive the Suicide Mission, I would’ve liked to see what ME3 would’ve been like if ONLY Shepard (and Joker and EDI) survived the Suicide Mission and ALL squadmates died, but it’s not possible, BioWare forced an ending on me). So with the new Mass Effect, it could do some “game over” with Synthesis and Control endings and the only way to import an ME3 save or maybe just choices is to pick Destroy and do everything correctly to get the Destroy ending where Shepard lives. Control and Synthesis do have more of a final ending to them while Destroy leaves stuff open for another adventure. With Destroy, it’s like we have a temporary happily ever after unlike the other two that feel more like “that’s all, folks.” But yeah, removing decisions and having to do things a certain way are already there in the games. ME3 did it already if you want to import an ME2 save into ME3. You want to continue a save, Shepard MUST survive the Suicide Mission. ME3 doesn’t allow you to take over as someone else. The new Mass Effect might not be as restrictive though on who we play as, especially since we don’t really know much about the game (Shepard could just be a non-playable character in the next game), but I can just see that if you want to continue the narrative, Destroy must be picked and you had to do enough to get the Destroy ending where Shepard lives.

[@projectpat8807]

@@chuckles9767, some of the characters that they could've had us play as in ME3 if Shepard died at the end of ME2 is Joker, Liara, Virmire Survivor, Anderson, maybe Hackett, and/or James Vega (since ME3 was his debut in the games). But all these characters were elsewhere/not on the Normandy during the Suicide Mission. I could maybe see Liara, Virmire Survivor, or James being the mostly likely they could've went with. It still would've been nice to see Shepard only making it back to the Normandy during the Suicide Mission. Kind of like some final survivor. Sort of like what they do in horror/slasher movies. Some other characters that could've survived the Suicide Mission even if ALL squadmates were dead were Chakwas, Kelly, Kenneth, Gabby, and Gardner. I would've liked to do a playthrough where all of them and Shepard plus Joker and EDI all survived. But no. It's not possible. I sort of get why they did the whole thing that Shepard dies if ALL squadmates died. It's pretty much to say that Shepard is a terrible leader for allowing his whole squad to die and he shouldn't survive either, but it would still be nice/interesting to get that ending and import a ME2 save into ME3 where Shepard is the only survivor of the Suicide Mission in addition to some other crew members. I guess pretty much I'd like an ending where all playable squadmates died. Chakwas, Kelly, and the others I listed aren't really playable. Joker I'd still classify as a non-playable character since you only use him for that one bit of ME2 and you can't bring him along as a squadmate.

[@LightShadowOnyx]

the only enemy I can see being big enough to have the shepardized repaers returning to fight is the leviathan which could be a great villain to make a new trilogy around. synthesis does not make sense according to the poster they released we see bodies on the ground so unless something else happen synthesis is hardly feasible but a good story is that the new big enemy was against shepard picking the synthesis ending and start attacking. rejection is totally off the table Lets not forget the trailer show multiple dead reapers on the ice planet either destroy ending was chose or somehow two reapers were taken down which not even shepard took two reapers down on one planet. Maybe we all endings except rejection are canon and the devs chose the destroy ending for the trailer.

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

After the Leviathan DLC, there is textual information that there are only three Leviathans

[@Riqq44]

Tbh you could have control, destroy, and refuse all be canon pretty easily. Synthesis is by far the hardest one to make canon and continue a game off because there would really be no problems

[@kamchatmonk]

They could easily return to the original idea of dying stars with control ending. Once Shepard becomes the Reaper god, he realizes that the actual problem remains unsolved and places the galaxy under quarantine, shutting down mass relays and forcing an era of isolation while Reaper fleet is calculating the solution. In the end, the solution might be in reaping the asari - we find out that they were not just uplifted by the protheans, but by protheans indoctrinated by a rogue Reaper that sought to create the perfect harvest - a race with innate understanding of mass effect, a race whose Reaper's way of thinking might provide a key insight into solving the problem of dying stars. The final piece of asari harvest could be Shepard and Liara's daughter (remember that moment of intimacy right before the last push on Earth? Asari quickie), who's connected to her father (a Reaper god Shepard) and the Reapers activate relays for her. You explore the galaxy after centuries of isolation, witness dark ages and civil wars, reconnect the galaxy before the final terrible choice. Also, if that really reminds you of "Endymion", you're not wrong)

[@WaterMelon-Cat]

Synthesis is letting the reapers win, you literally turn yourself into a half machine half organic hybrid (just like the reapers are) all you are doing in synthesis is turning yourself into a reaper so the reapers don't have to do it

[@projectpat8807]

It's pretty much what Saren wanted, and Saren was indoctrinated. Just like The Illusive Man wanted to Control the reapers and he was indoctrinated too. Not one villain/bad guy character or indoctrinated character wanted to Destroy the reapers. They were against it.

[@WaterMelon-Cat]

@@projectpat8807 Javik mentioned that the respers indoctrinated the prothean scientists to try to research controlling the reapers just like they did TIM. clearly control doesn't work or else the reapers wouldn't indoctrinate the protheans and TIM to do it and yeah Saren hinted a lot at synthesis

[@bofaybaykweh]

Considering that in ME3 liara says asari "can live to be 1000" it seems pretty unlikely that me4 will happen after the actual events of andromeda- what would liara have been doing for 600 years? Plus wouldn't she be significantly aged by then? Seems most likely it's immediately or nearly immediately after the "destroy" ending. I would not mind liara being the protagonist, or maybe being able to choose a different species to play as..... PLEASE let me play as renegade protagonist vorcha 😭😭😭😭

[@hariman7727]

I'd love the option to play as one of the surviving characters for about 7 to 10 hours, then you find Shepherd and your Shepherd is BACK to lead the rebuilding of the galaxy.

[@JimmyThree-Balls]

I think it will boil down to control and destroy with enough time between then and now to negate many differences. I could think maybe shepherd makes a new body and decommissioned the reapers after rebuilding.

[@someguy2347]

I swear, if they timeskip, they do not damage the trilogy, they KILL it.

[@hariman7727]

Nah, it would be the funeral. They already killed it with the original ME3 ending and switching from the true ending of the Mass Effect relays eating suns/biotics causing reality to break.

[@TyrantJaeger]

One thing I don't understand is why there are so many people obsessed with the idea that there must be a canon ending. Why is it so hard to believe that ME4 will let us import our save file and actually see the aftermath of Control, Destroy, and Synthesis in separate playthroughs? Yes, this would make the game very big because it would essentially be three games in one with vastly different stories and outcomes. But doesn't that sound cool? Wouldn't you want something like that? That's never really been done before, which is why it would be a really big deal if they did it. Just think of the replay value that would bring. This would push the envelope and make ME4 an unforgettable experience.

[@chamaragayan4011]

Refuse ending: Joke ending. Blue ending: Shepard drops the gun and gives in to the reapers. Green ending: Shepard falls for a too good to be true bluff. Red ending: Shepard fights to the bitter end. And also Shepard is still down there in London. They got hit by a reaper weapon and his body is charred to a crisp. I assumed the crucible connects to his mind in the final moments and presents him with these choices to decide the fate of the galaxy. Because no one really knew how the crucible was supposed to be activated in the first place.

[@graymalkin7645]

I found synthesis to be the best ending for players albeit bitter-sweet. Sure you have to give up your Shepard but the game is over anyway and after three games of bloodshed- what is one human compared to all that life that is being spared and elevated to live in harmony? I especially loved how the post-credit scene hit, when the kid asks *Buzz-fucking-Aldrin* to tell him another story of "The Shepherd". You basically become Jesus and create Eden when you choose synthesis. What's not to love? I always thought destroy was the worst ending because it would have made Shepard a big old hypocrite- at least the way I played them. Acknowledging EDI and Legion's sentience and humanity and then simply wiping them out to save your own ass is beyond sinister. Totally agree with you though: Synthesis is a tough ending to follow up on and they'll probably canonize the destroy- ending. I would find that rather disappointing tbh but then I'd still look forward to hearing Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer as Shepard again. Love those guys.

[@someguy2347]

Either way, if they port Andromeda lore to 4, only four people will be satisfied, let alone understand

[@Smeginator]

It’s unlikely to be far in the future - Wrex is on the poster, and he was already 1500 years old by the end of Mass Effect 3

[@aguspuig6615]

dont krogan live like indefinetly? (if they dont die in a fight or something)

[@projectpat8807]

It's never specified how long Krogan can live. Most Krogan don't die of old age. They usually die from fighting or something else that isn't old age. Very few die of old age, and the Krogran probably aren't keeping a record of some kind of when Krogan do die of old age to try and figure out a number/average.

[@Rathause]

What do you think are the chances of the next Mass Effect opening with a choice where you decide which ending Shepard choose, and you can play through three slightly different versions of the game depending on your choice.

[@matthewsemidey1822]

In the end with the stargazer and the child, the child ask him to tell him another story of the shepard. Coincidence, I think not

[@csdn4483]

Synthesis cannot be canon for a simple reason, Liara shows no signs of be merged in any of the trailers. If it was, she would show signs or merger, she doesn't. So you can scratch that one off the list.

[@projectpat8807]

My theory (for now and until debunked) is that we could get a trailer for each of the endings. We got the Destroy ending trailer first and then maybe a Synthesis and Control ending trailer later. We probably won't see the next game until like 2025-2027, so there is still time to stall/not rush the Synthesis and Control ending trailers for the next game.

[@fangslore9988]

there's another possibility that you forget, what if the reapers in control and synthisis endings chose to terminate themselves after a specific period of time since in synthisis ending they starchild AI/Intelegence finally achived its primary mission to find a way to preserve all life in the galaxy and prevent synthetics and organics from falling into conflict since their function was fulfilled and were no longer needed like a self-termination function and in control shepard used the reapers to rebuild that which they destroyed then again triggered a self-termination function which all reapers died. so reapers always die and this could preserve a beginning but have the effects of each decision have conciquences in terms of specific missions, or even dialogue with Liara about what happened. its like if you romance Liara in ME3 and see her "gift" she shows shepard, maybe it could be a reaveal that Liara was pregnent with Shepard's daughter who could show up in the game and other little things that could be interesting. since the new mass effect game continues mass effect andromida and the original games maybe it could be around 600 or 700 years after the reaper war, humanity rebuilt and eventually a mass relay system was built that is capible of sending ships to and from Andromida and now Andromida species can come and go as they see fit for trade and more but we also invited an enemy from andromida (maybe Kett or another race) and the milkyway is facing a new threat which may not be as bad as the reapers at first but unlike the reapers this new threat could favor mass invasion and the new protagonist who could be a newly minted specter could be tasked to investigate this new threat and Shepard's legacy could hang over them, they could admire Shepard and they could get an SOS from an N7 team which leads them to the snow planet with Liara as a crewmember due to her familiarity of N7 combat tactics thanks to being with Shepard's crew. this could lead to investigating a dead or hibernating reaper on the snow planet since reaper tech could be valuable and the new threat could be trying to strip reaper tech from the reaper to analyze and utilize it and the threat could be more focused on trying to use reaper tech for supremacy in fighting the milkyway species for whatever reason they have.

[@eliasnilsson6604]

I guess putting it about 20 years in the future would be enough to let us continue the story. Theyve had time to rebuild and there is space for all endings. Controll have made Sheppard leave the galaxy because his/her presence caused problems, Synthesis can have worn off after 10 years and Destroy simply had people move on and rebuild. All 3 gives room for a form of Sheppard.

[@AnthonyAllenJr]

If Mass Effect really wanted to push its story forward, it will choose a canonical ending and then say that we have achieved organic immortality through reaper tech, but the powers that be are fighting over the tech. The tech also has ability to resurrect people, aka Sheppard, and everyone killed by the reapers from this phase to several phases ago if the reapers have stored their organic matter. The enemy could easily be one of the resurrected races, (the protheans easily fit the bill here with their imperialism).

[@mikevik100]

Even the ending of mass effect 3 with the old man and the child suggest we are already thousands of year in the future. Events in Mass effect is told as a legend/myth

[@crestonchi5427]

Said before Saying again: The Best Ending is the one where the Protagonist does what the Antagonist had wanted to do. The illusive man was right, its called Irony. Paragon Control is the only ending that keeps the Geth alive beyond the Rannoch mission, so a geth's head promo for ME4 is the spoiler. "What happen to the god-shepard reapers then?" They were beaten by the new antagonist threat and why Matriarch Liara is on "not earth" snowy planet finding Shepard's armor. "What about Ryder and Andromeda?" They have a Dyson Sphere and their own "reapers" to build any sort of Technology they want including ways of getting back to the Milky Way via Mass Effect. "What about My Shepard, I miss them?" They play along side you as an NPC and by the end of ME6, that Reaper Horn call is like Thor landing in Wakanda for the finale.

[@ladyphoenixgrey3923]

The final scene where Shepard takes a breath isn’t on Earth. I’ve never gotten why people assume that. You can clearly see the Geth wiring around in the background and the curved architecture that’s only found in the same place at the same time when you’re heading to the final confrontation with the Illusive Man and Star Child. Shepard never left the Citadel. Doesn’t make sense given the explosion, I know, but I’ve been working on a Geth theory for years so I’ve studied that scene frame by frame and the Geth wiring is unmistakeable and found nowhere on earth - at least not near architecture that is clearly from the Citadel. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@brenthowell7786]

All i want is an opening scene with my renegade Shepard and a couple of blue children. Thats all i need and then you can let the story end.

[@digimaster0024]

Perhaps, if the new game takes place centuries after ME3, the enhancements given to Shepard in ME2's beginning may have lengthened his lifespan or had some safeguards against natural death. After all, Cerberus in ME2 was in the fight for the long-haul and likely would not have wanted Shepard to die before he could fight the Reaper threat. In addition, it may be possible to introduce Shepard as a clone, such as making a clone to 'resurrect' him or something similar.

[@69Kazeshini]

it depends on how big the timeskip is, if the timeskip is only a few decades after the reaper war i can believe it however if it is 600 years after the reaper war i have to call bullshit on that. I know cerberus has impressive technology but so far humanity's mainstream technology allows them to live up to 150, Miranda's genetic enhancements allows her to live twice that, so i can see shepard living to 200 or 250 years but 600 is ridiculous.

[@hariman7727]

@@69Kazeshini Emergency Stasis in a shelter built from wreckage that's held up because the area of the crash is stable, and it's in a really well built ship/a geth or something could maintain it.

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

Shepard may be in cryostasis. Or he will be resurrected by Project Lazarus

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

@@69Kazeshini Shepard may be in cryostasis. Or he will be resurrected by Project Lazarus

[@Adiddy927]

BioWare don’t have those talented writers to make all endings cannon. They barely can make one cannon.

[@asianprotocol7159]

I have created my own me4 story. Hear it out: Its been 25 yrs since the reapers war. The galaxy has almost recovered from the aftermath but the focus was only on rebuilding the homeworld currently not the colonial worlds of the species like earth for humans, thessia for asari, etc. The rest of the galaxy is still a long way to go however citadel had been rebuilt completely . Shepard has become a legendary figure in galaxy obviously. He has his statue at the citadel and some kind of memorabilia in every species homeworld. The species of the galaxy has also formes a joint special forces command in which top soldiers from every species are recruited, this force is called Shepards Forces. Shepards love interest grieved and mourned their death and in order to over come it and have a purpose in their life they adopted a child giving them the same surname as Shepard. This child will be our mc for the game. If our li didn't survive the prev game than liara will be the one adopting this child. Our new shepard just like the old one is an n7 commando and because of their superior skillset are sent to shepard forces program. The main fleet ship of this combined forces is our beloved normandy. Our galaxy now face a threat from the enemy as ruthless as reapers. Hell even the reapers were scared as shit of them. You guessed it right, its leviathan. Leviathan wanted to control all the species but reapers put their dreams on hold. Now with reapers gone there is nothing that can stop them so they rise from the dark corners of this galaxy to rule the world only to face the warrior who share the surname with the greatest savior of the galaxy. And will live up to their name. Note: This adopted mc will be a human to avoid complexity. Canon choices: Destroy ending, quarians and geth survived. Fate of genophage can be carried on from me3 and not canonised. After destroy ending geth were rebuild by quarians and because they are the most sophisticated synthetics in milky way, leviathan will control them as their puppet army. So basically, we will be having original me trilogy plot except leviathan in place of reapers.

[@02091992able]

How the next game can be a sequel to Andromeda is that the people back in the Milky Way are trying to reestablish communication with the Initiative in the Helus Cluster of the Andromeda Galaxy. As it was shown in Andromeda that all the beacons in the Milky Way that signaled arrival in Andromeda were unanswered. Synthesis doesn't mean all conflict is gone just that the conflict between synthetic and organic life was eliminated by all life being a mix of both. There is always going to be conflict between people as long as there are conflicts in opinions without that there can be no freedom you mind well be a machine doing what you are told. Maybe in the teaser Liara isn't searching for Shepard but the piece of N7 armor gave Liara found memories of her time with Shepard as he/she died many years before.

[@delux6993]

Not true. if you get 7800 war supplies and choose to destroy there is a scene that suggests Shepard lives

[@tabby842]

IIRC, with the control ending the relays can be repaired, the crucible and citadel are still intact while preserving the countless previous cycle's worth of knowledge. So technically you could enact synthesis again if you wanted, or at the very least you would have more options open for everyone with all the aforementioned benefits. IMO this means control was the best ending, with possibly synthesis beating it, but no one knows what exactly that solution entails. But anyway, it would be easier to write a game where Shepard chose destroy. Bioware could literally just say, if you chose Blue or Green, the universe lives happily ever after. But if you chose destroy this is what conflicts are left behind. It was always implied that destroy would just set back the clock but the same conflict would happen all over again. So I wonder if this next story is centered around redevelopment of synthetics and the ethics regarding it, which would be even more relevant in this day and age. But I vaguely remember ME3 already talking about this, so it would be kind of boring to rehash it. Even though those discussions go really deep. I can't imagine Bioware undertaking a game where they have to account for the ending you chose, they're all very different from each other, essentially 3 different games, it'd be a nightmare to develop even more than normal AAA game development.

[@lidular]

I think that committing to one set of choices is the better and more satisfying solution.

[@grunt7917]

Only RED. Only DESTROY. Blue is obvious Reapers trick ending. And green is just... it's the dumbest, illogical ending without any normal explanation.

[@yol_n]

I dont mind one ending being canon and some choices being the canon (Geno cure etc). The game is pretty much "choice optimization", only a few choices arent obvious like Geno cure with wrex dead and eva alive, vermire survivor, and think thats about it. The writers did intend me3 to have some crazy choices because they wouldnt have to branch off in a sequel, but its been many years and if the only way to continue mass effect is to streamline choices I dont mind it.

[@PersonHumanGuy]

I think it would be best if they just retconned the ending and just had the crucible fire as planned, destroying the Reapers. Like the destroy ending, but just for Reapers. That would take a huge weight off of Bioware"s shoulders, and open up a whole new list of options for where the story could go.

[@michu3763]

Canonizing all endings is terrible idea in my opinion, unless BioWare wants to make 3 games at the same time. It will result as same as choice to save Collectors base or saving the council in original trilogy. Those choices became utterly meaningless and pointless with just slightly variations. The endings to ME3 already had fair amount of criticism and were not entirely fixed, so making them not matter at all for save continuity would break them even more.

[@phantomwraith1984]

It'll just be so close minded to have a single ending like destroy as a canon ending. If we're allowed to have control, then I want this scene: Wrex: "Shepard." Reaper: "Wrex." Also if we still have the reapers and possibly return to Andromeda, imagine the look on the Kett when they see what REAL Power is

[@okankyoto]

Reaper Shepard treks down to the Citadel every month to deposit rent for that apartment.

[@snatched.377]

This would suck.

[@user-wr7mb3ic7m]

You are forgetting one simple fact. The teaser trailer shows the destroyed Relay. And it hasn't been restored. In Control and Synthesis, Reapers repair all Relays

[@UBERKalti]

Funny how we’re all like “dead reapers” apparently shown in the trailer

[@wyattd8423]

Shepard tells Javik my mission is to destroy the reapers. Javik says he can tell shes not being honest. Shepard says nothing.

[@CatastrophicMarauder]

Jokes on us it’s actually mass effect 1.5 where we play liara gathering shepards bits to give to Cerberus

[@RobertWWD]

I heard the next Mass Effect game will let you choose which ending you want to go with. What’s odd is I heard Mass Effect 3 has 12 endings.

[@aboathchan5494]

I think the destroy ending is the worst because not only does it leave Shepard as a character that is entirely unaffected by their experiences throughout the trilogy, it also leaves the galaxy at the mercy of the leviathan that are basically organic reapers and explicitly tell shepherd they are hiding and waiting until they can return. With no tech to even fight back with everyone is fucked.

[@Sgthalo]

Would Agree. If that DLC didn't happen, the destory ending woudl be a good choice but, with the dlc not so much.

[@foreverfree101]

I don't care what anybody says when the starchild says "so be it" all I hear is a mixture of both shepherds but distorted with the main voice being harbinger

[@willbrown6298]

If the Indoctrination Theory wasn't shut down, it would have been easy for BioWare to choose themselves how the Reaper conflict ended while each ending would be equally "canon".

[@Super-Godzilla99]

if shepard survive the endings somehow, because we all want too see how the relationships will turn out, this can`t be playing hundreds of years after me3 because most crew members would be dead then, the love interests even so. i don`t know what bioware is planning, but a few things must be in the new game 1. we must see shepard alive and well life happy with his love interest, because that is the thing we never saw in me3 no matter what choice you take in the end. the important thing we must see it not in anyway an codex entry 2. we must know how the choices we are made during all 3 games turn out in the end, the same reason like before, because we didn`t see that in any me3 ending. 3. the section of the game that play a short time after me3 must not go too long because it would be too much differences between all the 3 endings. 4. the game must jump forward in time after the prolog at least 500 years, too show every ending doesn`t mean so much that it effects the galaxy in the very long run, so that we have an almost clean galaxy too start the game. 5. as what species our main character is, it would be very good that this depends on what love interest shepard had, so that we play as an child of shepard if we choose liara, or an great great grand child of shepard if shepard has another love interest than liara, that would be asome i think. so we knew that shepard and there love interest lifed there life happy till the end. it would also be a fresh start, and from this point we can create that ancestor of shepard what ever we like limited only too the love interest shepard had. i think many players would be happy with that. the best thing about this would be that we so could have different backstorys of that character.