Mass Effect Relay Breakdown: A New Interstellar Highway

The relay tease released on N7 day 2022 for the next Mass Effect has caused rampant speculation. This video breaks down everything from the tease including the N7 stripe and the conversation Liara has with the geth to ultimately answer the excellent question of where this relay leads.
Veritasium video on black holes: • Something Strange Happ...
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📖 Chapters
0:00 Tom's Excellent Question
1:12 The BioWare Context
2:25 What Are We Seeing?
3:24 File Name.mp4
4:56 The Extinct Genus of Otters
6:45 Not You Again
8:01 Green Dagger
8:58 The Deepspace Timeline
10:21 The Hidden Conversation
12:31 What The Geth?
14:09 Not From Around These Parts
15:25 I Can Hear You, Can You Hear Me?
16:26 Their Endearing Trait
18:09 The Flying Ships
19:54 Who Are You? (Who, who, who, who)
21:00 The Gamble Connection
22:13 Ship Captain Soa'Rhal
23:27 I'm The Captain Now
24:43 Roomba Relay
26:37 Docking The Ships
28:15 Vacuum Goes Brrr
29:48 Mystery Drone
31:43 A Dose of Veritasium
33:30 Parallel Problems
35:41 Andromeda's Negative Scourge
38:41 The Parallels Are Uncanny
41:02 The N7 Isn't Shepard
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#masseffect #masseffect4 #masseffect5

[@DaemonCVT]

Not to mention that in ME3, EDI spoke about assisting Liara in calulating whether or not the Mass Effect phenomenon occurs in other universes... Bioware, you clever bastards.

[@nicholasmays4257]

I really hope they don’t go the multiverse/parallel universe route. That’s such an overused and tired trope, and there’s so much they could do with just the universe we have experienced in the series. It just would feel corny in my opinion, like they’re trying to chase Marvel trends or something.

[@AnnPorkins]

I agree that any potential multiverse storylines make me nervous, especially with BioWare’s dip in quality the past 10+ years. But if they make the use of multiverses grounded in some level of realism and use it sparingly, I can see a world where it doesn’t feel cheap or lazy. Maybe it’s something integral to the plot but is used only once or twice, and at a great cost? It could work. Or it could feel super cheap and unsatisfying, which might be the likelier outcome

[@AnnPorkins]

@@madkabal not always. Everything Everywhere All At Once is a recent example with inspired multiverse storytelling. It’s an over-saturated conceit, like Groundhogs Day do-over stories and rogue-like video games. But that saturation doesn’t mean all multiverse, groundhogs day, and rogue-like stories are bad. I don’t blame anyone for being pessimistic in a Mass Effect sequel potentially going down that route, and I share in that pessimism. But it doesn’t automatically mean it would be one of the bad ones

[@ListenHereHumptyDumpty]

I really hope they don't go p.c like Ubisoft did with assassins creed shadows

[@noblesseoblige319]

To be fair, mass effect is literally full of overused tropes. Hell, it came out in the height of third person shooters in space killing aliens and robots.

[@nicholasmays4257]

@@noblesseoblige319 that doesn't mean it should continue dipping into even more of them imo

[@manzaan83]

MR7 - Mass Relay 7? As an engineer, we try keep project names simple. So MR7 would be a good way to name it. Brown planet? Desert/arid biome - but look at the blue where the Exosphere boundary. Blue indicates an atmosphere dense enough to breathe. Rannoch perhaps? I also recall Matriarch Aethyta being quite vocal on not becoming reliant on existing infrastructure, but building new Relays. Can't wait for next N7 day... Great video!

[@paragonseven]

Very curious whether it's simply a new mass relay. But the 'vacuum-dock' part gives me pause... Of course I have an unhinged take that the MR7 stands for multidimensional relay 7..... but of course that's crazy, so I'd run with the Occam's Razor of 'Mass Relay 7' too lmao 🙃

[@manzaan83]

@@paragonseven Vacuum Dock, in this context, could have a myriad of uses in universe. As I recall, like the Citadel, people worked on the Mass Relays (Scott Ryder famously being a Rent-a-Cop for one). My wonder is - if MR7 is Mass Relay 7 - where's MR1 through MR6? And where do they go? Also, on the "Sub-Navarch" - I suspect it's a Quarian rank or brevet. Soa-Rhal has that Quarian double-barreled name ring, but the surname suggests a human partner. So my kooky theory is this is quite a bit of time after the Reaper War - likely 650 years or more - as Quarians and Humans can marry and not need Erythromycin and benedryl cocktails on hand, Geth seem somehow commonplace and integrated enough for Liara to use as a system admin for her own operational needs. MR7, if it is the 7th homebuilt Mass Relay, looks like a mega-project in itself - they could take decades each, and would need supporting infrastructure that would only exist WELL after the Reaper War and a long time rebuilding. Also, I like the Idea of Matriarch Liara - I hope she has fond memories of my not-quite-studly but endearing MaleShep but I suspect that's a long time past.

[@lordkresnik2873]

Ive seen some people speculate MR7 being Mobile Relay 7 instead of mass relay 7

[@keshlalish5586]

@@manzaan83 maybe they are located between both galaxies. if you watched SG atlantis, they do use multiple stargates to make a bridge between both galaxies, with a station in the middle of both.

[@millennialbug4828]

Being Rannoch also makes the captain's name in the footage more relevant. Looks kind of like a Quarrian name.

[@ExSpoonman]

I think the relay connects to the Andromeda galaxy. It probably uses Geth boosting tech similar to how the Andromeda initiative scouted the Heleus Cluster.

[@noblesseoblige319]

I still hate that explanation. They captured an image, which is made from light, at speeds that exceed light.... It's just silly. Would've made more sense to say they had a highly advanced vi conduct simulations to determine what they'd look like with 98% accuracy. Which is something they used as an excuse in the books already.

[@420bongking]

@@noblesseoblige319 send particles with mass through a gigantic ME corridor made by the geth array, find some material whose particles will interact with a materials color absorbing or reflecting in a similar way as light would under these conditions and will reliably bounce back along the corridor all at well past light speed. if we can send spaceships faster than light we can send light analogues or even light faster than itself. its not like you get color shifting while in FTL transit inside your ship so light can be carried faster than its natural speed limit by mass effect

[@j.m.2022]

@@noblesseoblige319 Anything moving "faster than light" is just silly. It makes no difference whether it's matter or waves through matter. It all comes down to energy and "f an object ever did reach the speed of light, its mass would become infinite. And as a result, the energy required to move the object would also become infinite: an impossibility." Still, it is a trope used in all stellar sci-fi and we all just suspend our disbelief to accommodate the "dream." The geth "telescope" projected something "faster than light" and, therefore, closed the distance so the light itself did not have to travel the distance to capture the image. If ships in the ME universe can travel faster than light and if Mass Relays work, then the geth telescope is also a possibility. I have no problem with it.

[@noblesseoblige319]

@@j.m.2022 the way ftl works here is by having negative mass, enough that the increase of mass from traveling faster than light doesn't matter, thus making the energy requirements less than infinite. If there was a way to have negative mass safely, this would actually be possible. Not probable, but still possible. But this literally only works by inversing the mass of something. Photons have zero mass. There's nothing to invert. So you can't speed up or slow down light. This also falls in line with irl theories about light and ftl travel. But more importantly, it falls in line with the pretend-science from the mass effect series itself. Looking at anything involving eezo, light, mass, and speed, it all either explicitly says or indirectly implies that light and images can't be faster than light, AND that there's a cap to exactly how fast you can travel. Reapers far and away outpace anything even conceivable in terms of speed. They can use relays to move faster than literally anything else, even faster than the ARKs themselves. Even at that insane speeds, it would take five years to get to Andromeda. The telescope, however, only had a 12 hour delay. TWELVE HOURS That means that light traveled not just faster than light, faster than literally anything the REAPERS had. That's literally impossible, even by the series's standards.

[@LightStreak567]

With the help of a geth telescope.

[@Nienormalny]

I hope it's not time travel. It always bothered me that after introducing time travel and multiverse concept to franchises, suddenly people's death lost it's meaning and impact.

[@bubblybobabubbles]

I kind of want just a little bit of time travel. I don't mind if we never see Shepard again (whether they're actually dead or just around), but if Liara is going to come back, I'd love to see my other ride or dies like Garrus and Tali, too. But we know the angara are going to be around, so the only thing to really do to accomplish both is a bit of time travel. And the seeds are already there: dark energy and Haestrom's sun. I don't want it to make anything obsolete- maybe it just happens and no one really knows why or how, just that dark energy is responsible, so they can't use this new discovery to have plot holes like "why didn't they just time travel?" but still tie the two together.

[@Ms_StoryDragon]

I don’t think it’s traditional time travel. More so leaning towards time dilation from Interstellar than The Time Machine. The humans could’ve created a mass relay that created a vacuum in space that bridges Andromeda and Milky Way. The Nexus and the Citadel are both giant relays, and the vacuum relay could act as a “slingshot” that could connect the two galaxies with relatively little time transpiring with traveling between them.

[@bubblybobabubbles]

@@Ms_StoryDragon Ooh, that's actually a pretty awesome idea.

[@oliverfranke7650]

@@Ms_StoryDragon A Mass Relay is already doing what you propose, except for the time dilation thing. We know there are two types of Relays, primary and secondary ones. With primary ones having the ability to connect to one other Relay being thousands of light years away. Probably more, since on the galaxy map we often see the Normandy flying across the galaxy in three or four jumps. So it seems like the range of a Relay is rather determined by the energy it has availbale. A primary relay seem is able to connect thousands of tens of thousands of light years, while bveing compeltely stationary. A secondary relay is limited to a couple of hundred, maybe a thousand light years, but is therefore rotatable. If the Alliance build a Mass Relay, which is certainly within the possibilities of the Citadel races, there seems to be no limit to how far a Mass Relay can connect, if it's a stationary one. After all, the Reapers retreated back beyond the border of our galaxy by using the Citadel. Given the distance Earth has to the Citadel, the entrance vector of the Reapers, the position of the Bataran Hegemony, this a distance of several tens of thousands of light years at least. Which further indicates that provided enough power, two primary relays can connect literally anywhere. Therefore the Aliance wouldn't actually need to create such an artifical new Relay, dilating time. All they would need a sufficient power source. And that's where a black hole could be of interest, since if you harness the power of a black hole, you have a hell lot of energy at your disposal.

[@jarivuorinen3878]

@@Ms_StoryDragon That is indeed traditional time travel, time dilation. Going back in time creates paradoxes or alternative timelines that are horrible from storytelling perspective. Time dilation is already well established in Mass Effect universe, and it's the only way time travel doesn't create paradoxes. It's also easy for people to grasp, because it is a phenomenon that happens in our own universe. I'm almost sure that player character and crew can travel between Milky Way and Andromeda in the upcoming game, and it may not end there. From gameplay perspective it would make sense, and now old baggage can be hauled from all established lore to the game, and oh boy would fans love it.

[@MrHorsepro]

Young lady, I always admire and applaud your thoroughness and dedication to the relevance and accuracy of each of these posts. They are always informative and thought-provoking, which attracted me to your channel in the first place, and to date, you have never disappointed me in that regard. Please continue the excellent work.

[@JeepSec]

Soa'Rhal sounds Quarian, and Jones is pretty certainly human, but the rank designation almost sounds Turian to me. The Turian Hierarchy, led by a Primarch, etc. Sub-navarch sounds the equivalent of a Romulan or Vulcan Sub-commander, and the "-arch" gives it a Turian vibe.

[@CeroAshura]

That does make sense if Green Dagger is a reference to joint military parade/operation. Name sounds Quarian and rank sounds Turian. Maybe post war the council races (probably extended with more races) have combined into an interstellar UN of sorts with their own military. Which would be interesting. Definitely agree with the take that it's Cerberus made, if anybody is building a mass relay it's the illusive man.

[@oliverfranke7650]

Navarch is Greek. It originates from Sparta and means "Leader of the Ships". So it refers to a Fleet Admiral of some sorts. Since the Turians are obviously some kind of equivalent of ancient Rome, which was heavily influenced by Greek culture, it does seem like the Turians could be involved. Although we haven't seen any Turian Admiral so far.

[@pvtghost117]

I think that vacuum-dock just refers to the way ships dock, like when they dock on the citadel the docking bay has an atmosphere, and when they dock in purgatory or omega the ship is still exposed to the vacuum of space. So dock 314 is probably meant for large ships like cruisers and dreadnoughts to dock since they wouldn't fit into a pressurized docking bay

[@markymark425]

So glad someone else gets it! I was so confused why she tried to make it so much more complex than it is.

[@Kross415]

That camera distortion usually happens on ''spy movies'' and stuff like that when cameras are hacked or put on a loop, might have something to do with the N7 spy-like operative.

[@vadda959]

I can also hear femshep during "It was always..." part. I wonder if "emitted probe in A" means Sagittarius A the Milky Way's blackhole

[@paragonseven]

YOO I didn't think about voice 1 but that'd be crazy!! I'm less sure about the accuracy of "emitted probe in A" but I can't unhear the "emitted probe" part. So you might be onto something!

[@vadda959]

@@paragonseven BTW Thank you for your videos, I've found your channel recently and your predictions are very detailed and explained. I love it.

[@ColetteHart]

Vacuum-dock reminds me of the word "dry dock" (which is sometimes spelled dry-dock), which is a dock that can be drained of or filled with water and it is used to build, repair or maintain ships. Maybe Vacuum-dock could be an analogy to this term and refer to the place being used to build spaceships? The text could just mean "Record of the construction of the Relay at the vacuum-dock", even if that's a much more boring and mundane explanation. Also a nitpick, but having aerodynamic stabilizers on a spaceship that operates outside of the atmosphere wouldn't make sense. To me they look more like antennas of some kind. Anyway, I love your theories. It's always fun to speculate, so keep it up!

[@thatgut2375]

There's probably a bunch of stuff that us fans have speculated about that they never thought of and when we say it they're like "huh, yeah sure, let's roll with that" with some of their scripts

[@Adiddy927]

Relay network was damaged but Hackett said they can be repaired. What if some can’t be repaired and they have to build replacement relays

[@miiasutherland852]

The retracing ship could very likely be a warp or time dilation drive. As seen in many scifi shows, a ship will warp to its location and The light will show up a few moments after. The ship appearing to arrive twice. It's slower movement and double appearance, along with the light shift, would fall in line with the time dilation theory. The ship headed to the ring following a single motion is a baseline, showing that the double tracing ship is the only ship being effected, likely having its own warp or time dilation drive. Obviously speculation but 🤔

[@paragonseven]

Ooh very interesting thought! Would be crazy if ships, in whatever time period this is, had warp drives. 🤯

[@bronwynecg]

A dhow is a type of a lateen-rigged ship with one or two masts used in the Indian Ocean so there’s that… 🤔

[@paragonseven]

Yeah the ship references are strange. The relay being a ship is well within the realm of possibility, just not something I vibe with, for now.

[@thebyzantineempire779]

4:35 leonardo pointing at screen COMMANDER SHEPARD

[@AllanHjorth]

It would make sense, that a vacuum-dock is simply a docking facility that gives entry to non-pressurized sections.

[@BDUBBGROWS]

The alliance and Cerberus are working together, that could be what would make the council furious

[@BrightstoneGG]

that made more sense than any of her theories.. both systems alliance and cerberus being weakened and losing leadership, one could have absorbed the other or working together with cerberus under the guise of new leadership new cerberus , could even simply just be cerberus hiding in plain sight while systems alliance builds things,

[@o.k.productions5202]

The implications of this theory are far more immense than I believe you realize. The first thought I had on the matter was “how do we know that the mysterious N7 isn’t an alternate Shepherd”, the side the reflection is on is mirrored so why assume that the shepherd behind it isn’t mirrored either? And a slightly deeper thought in this rabbit hole, “How do we know that the Systems Aliance building that relay is the SA we’re used to?” By the implication of this theory, this might not be the same relay with different art but a different (alternate universe) relay from the same angle?

[@paragonseven]

I can see how this would work (and had the same thought too), but until it's confirmed AU stuff will be involved, I'd rather try to stick with (somewhat) evidence-based theories. Otherwise we could technically say that everything we see is from an AU, but there's no evidence of that, right now. Yes, the mirrored N7 reflections could imply an AU Shepard, but I like seeing at least 2-3 pieces of evidence before crafting a theory, so I'll table that thought until / unless we see more hints of that being legit.

[@LongShen1883]

That would be a sound theory alternate reality where the alliance is Cerberus and Cerberus is the alliance, or better way to put it in an alternate reality where the alliance is the bad guy and Cerberus is the good guy.

[@startingQB]

Vacuum-dock probably means that it's a dock that is exposed to the vaccum of space

[@thatgut2375]

"why didn't we use black holes before?" You see the thing about that, is that it's a great idea that we wish we thought of before

[@paragonseven]

There's obviously a ton of reasons why they wouldn't have done this before. But thinking from a creative standpoint, you have to explain to the audience why it hasn't been done before *if* they even go with the black hole travel idea. Otherwise it's a glaring plot hole or subpar writing.

[@Anacronian]

@@paragonseven Maybe they simply didn't have a mass effect core big enough to even contemplate the travel before, but after the Reaper war they have all these nice big Reaper cores lying around.

[@masterblaster3508]

Theory: 1 The Relay connects to the Nexus. Think about this: The Citadel was a relay and a station. Maybe the Nexus true purpose was to be a hidden relay that the Alliance new about. Which connecting the 2 galaxies would be taboo as they wouldn't know what they could link back to the galaxy. Theory 2: There are 2 relays being built. In order for a relay to function there has to be another relay to connect to regardless. Hence the 2 relays being shown. Theory 3: Red Element Zero I am supised red element zero isn't talked about given how the Reapers static discharge is red, and the omega 4 relay is red. Maybe the negative aspects could rrsult in the S.A building stronger relays that can travel them further than before. Theory 4: The Relay actually harnesses the power of a blackhole rather than element zero. The issues with building a relay is they are limited in range. It took 3 primary relays to see into andromeda in almost realtime. If Andromeda bridges the 2 together then they need something powerful.

[@paragonseven]

I like the red element zero theory, and I'd love to see how the writing team could spin that into being more than just "we wanted the Omega-4 relay to look unique." :p

[@StormcrowIV]

​@@paragonseven I'm fuzzy on the details but wasn't it a surprise that the Omega-4 relay pointed toward the galactic core? And isn't there a black hole at the core of both Andromeda and the Milky Way galaxies? The Reapers probably figured out special processing or refinement for eezo which made it visually distinct. That same processing is necessary to make mass effect relays work as you get closer to the dense core and eventually, into the black holes themselves. With some handwaving, you could say the Council Races didn't have enough time to research the Omega-4's unique properties because of the Reaper invasion. It would make sense that it's just now being figured out because there's relative peace and a TON of Reaper tech to analyze, not to mention the scientific knowledge gained from the Crucible. All that sets the stage for a method to move between the two galaxies, which we know this game is going to do anyway. Being able to travel between both is the only real way to appeal to those that like Andromeda and those that only like the original trilogy. It should be a great playground for Mass Effect fans. With us pushing eezo to its limits, you can bring back the dark matter plot teased in ME2. The Scourge and whoever deployed it against the Jardaan is also an open mystery, so there's plenty of Lovecraftian/existential horror in the background. On the smaller scale, we're still waiting to see how the larger Kett empire reacts to us wiping out part of their faction. In the MW, there's plenty of politics, military hardware, and scary reaper tech floating around to keep things interesting. And that's before you look at integrating Krogan, Geth, and Quarians into their new places in the galaxy. There's so much potential for this new game and I can't wait to see more of it.

[@bubblybobabubbles]

STOP if they used red eezo that would be SO funny because dragon age already has red lyrium 😭

[@NovoCognition]

For that section on "Andromeda's Negative Scourge", if time travel is involved, I wonder if the Alliance were the ones who created the Scourge accidentality in an attempt to reconnect with the ark ships, (or otherwise are related to the Scourge's existence) and now the seek to fix it? Plus, given the dark energy nature, maybe this also accidentality is the reason why the star Dholen was rapidly turning into a red giant in Mass Effect 2? It could be a way to return to that story line arc.

[@lorenzogiuffrida4315]

Great breakdown Atharia! We need Mass Effect back in our lives... hope they are taking great care of the next chapter. Still waiting patiently

[@cagednephilim3967]

Brilliant breakdown, Paragon. I personally believe it's a mobile relay. Imagine the advantage the Alliance would have being able to jump into a system, deploy a bunch of fighters and withdrawl quickly before anyone knew what was happening. I also think the ship on the left if the screen is an artifact from the ship on the right. They seem to cross the screen at exactly the same time. Thx for always challenging my expectations for the next game

[@paragonseven]

Definitely could be a mobile relay. And I found it *very* strange that the ship on the left appeared to be mirroring the right ship...except for the random retrace anyway. Had an extremely unhinged theory as to why that could be happening...but it was too unhinged for the video lmao

[@superchug2469]

This could also be old alliance footage of Cerberus building thier own mass relay smaller but just if not better. Remember Cerberus was doing and building anything that could help humanity become stronger and not as reliant on aliens. With Cerberus downfall the alliance quickly took control of it and have been building and finishing it. And that's why the date says 90 there its because there still working on it with the help of former Cerberus scientists and engineers wanting to redeem themselves while also continuing with their work like with jacob, miranda, dr cole, archer etc. What you think?

[@maxirhyme]

I am really curious how they will incorporate Shepard into this game. It seems to me that quite some time has passed if geth return, angara join the scene, mass relays are being built, this doesn't happen within 4 years. How did Shepard survive this long without being noticed/cared for? Also it dawns on me that humanity might be the antagonist, not like Cerberus, but the entirety of humanity. Like batarians but actually powerful. Curious how'd that happen. The more gets revealed the more sceptic I become because it all points towards either multiverse or big time jump between ME3 and ME5, both of which I am *not* a fan of at all, those would be close to being deal breaker for me.

[@queenboss7]

Just wanna say I love your videos and all the work and research that goes into them. I am so hyped for another ME game and love finding (non negative) videos and enjoy putting my tinfoil hat on. :)

[@queenboss7]

Also am totally down for a rogue AI N7, just not as the protagonist, which should be either a new customizable human or hell bring Shepard back idc about the other endings

[@MilaS3ME]

After watching this video I kept thinking about this and had an idea that would explain everything Liara is saying. So humans were trying to activate the 314 relay, the council does not want that. I have read all the books and comics ( has been a while) but as far as I remember, they don't tell us where the relay leads to. Maybe TIM found out and for whatever reason, he really wanted to go there. So at least in the beginning this could've been a Cerberus built thing. Ok so the idea. Maybe this is supposed to let you go to the same place as relay 314. The council would be FURIOUS, because humans are showing their DEFIANCE. As if saying " ok, we can't activate the relay, so we'll build our own to get there".

[@rafiurrahman7016]

I see another detailed deepdive by Our Queen Paragon7, I press like. Subbed with notifications on! Please keep up the great work! :D

[@MilanTimeLord]

I love all your theories. If I see or read all hints by Gamble I smell something really cool. I hope that new Mass Effect will be little bit nostalgic but absolutely AWESOME. (I really hope so.) BTW: One little crazy idea by me. What if... Liara will be the new N7 agent. Or not. (What I know.) But... body shape of new N7 agent looks like a woman. (Or interesting slim android.)

[@your_princess_azula]

If you include black holes into these theories I am not sure what a massless ship sent into a black hole would do but since light, which is also lightless, is sent into a black hole it can't escape. Mass effect engines (which do allow FTL just way slower than relays) might help survive the black holes even without a relay though so the relay has to serve some sort of purpose beyond just sending someone faster. The problem with traveling black holes to parallel universes for me is there doesn't seem to be a way back to your original universe. The new N7 could be a Shepard from an alternate universe revived by Liara.

[@hopspusher3052]

Rabbit hole thought. No one has discussed the concept of a 'Master Relay'. Every relay has to have a pair to work. The Reapers had to have a relay in dark space. If the Illusive Man found it in his pursuit of controlling the Reapers, that might explain the markings. Regardless of ending, having access to the Reapers relay would open up enormous amounts of possibilities for humans with regards to travel and influence.

[@doemaaan]

What the hell??? Where has this channel been all this time? Subscribed.

[@paragonseven]

Sorry, Garrus was busy calibrating the channel but it's good now!

[@ezenami]

314 may somehow hint at π 3.14..... How it relates to black holes and alternative physics possible in Mass Effect - dunno ;) but that's the first thing I thought about seeing 314 several times - I mean - out of all the random numbers they could've used ......

[@greggmacdonald9644]

Very thought-provoking. Thanks for uploading this, you're way better at unpacking the clues than I am, I appreciate your analysis/speculations!

[@ChaviChoffChop]

Loving the new supporting characters for your speculation videos - the three brain cells. 😄 And yet again, I'm heartily impressed with another Mass-Effect Sherlock's video! No words, just pure joy to watch

[@eliaspinto3560]

I think this makes sense. If there's a parallel universe. Will the main character didn't probably want to figure it out?

[@danielcopeland2758]

She's asking how we missed the distortion. That humans have devised a way to cloak their ships.

[@calvinmulraine736]

Tractor-trailer is a combination of a tractor and a trailer, not a dual function as a tractor and trailer. So I think that theory is out. Also, vertical stabilisers do not work in space. So that theory is out too.

[@faarsight]

Intercept implies that someone has accessed a message that wasn't meant for them. So I don't think that the SA are the people who intercepted the message but the people whose message was intercepted by someone (perhaps the council). We know that Liara has previously worked for/with the SA and I believe what we are seeing is a message and video recorded by the SA with Liara and a Geth discussing the SA doing something (perhaps involving the new relay) that the council wouldn't agree with.

[@Oradal]

I would guess that Deepspace Dhow is the name of a ship. Dhow is an Arab sailing vessel. SAV would be the ships title (Systems Alliance Vessel). The same as HMS or USS that we use for navy ships

[@paragonseven]

Hmm could be. When I searched SAV, I got back a random business term meaning "stock at valuation." So either it's another ship reference or a company on the stock market....either way it doesn't make much sense to me.

[@shoosh5360]

@@paragonseven I dont think "Property of Deepspace Dhow SAV" warrants too much overthinking (and here I go overthinking it, lol). Recording was clearly made from some kind of vessel, and that recording is a property of that ship, like any other asset of that ship. I am more worried about this weird combo of random words: - We have SA(Systems Alliance) acronym used, so SAV can be logically concluded as Systems Alliance Vessel/Vehicle like @Oradal said. Systems Alliance may be a multicultural establishment, but it is clearly US-based in flavour. Green Dagger is the same. - Deepspace Dhow - some long-distance spaceship named after (or classified as a reference to) an ancient type of Arab vessel - Navarch is a simplified english version of a Greek word that is essentailly means "an admiral". Greek theme is very pronounced in Asari's worldbuilding. Might be turians as well, but they are more Latin/Roman Empire-based. - Seemingly Quarian-Human name of the captain. Quarians have a Middle-Eastern inspiration. I think Bio were just trying to point out the collaboration happening between different galactic powerhouses, but ended up with a random ass alphabet soup that is kinda hilarious.

[@warriornorman4026]

I hope they do good buy the game and a well-written story with Shepherd returning he has unfinished business

[@user-yv2zy6fj2g]

Paragon 7 keep up the good work

[@xenowriter82]

Maybe the ships docks and they use the entire relay to travel like a ferry

[@xenowriter82]

Vacuum part may be like black hole lol

[@xenowriter82]

Also with all the relays gone they don’t have the time or technology to fix them all? So maybe just once will do it all? 😅

[@tourbean790]

That record of Liara and Geth conversation is kinda like a geth audio data from mass effect 1 where Saren and Liara's mother are speaking. Nice mirroring as well

[@MikeBenko]

Note. Much of the MIlky Way Galaxy itself remains largely unexplored. Exploration during previous eras was restricted along the lines of the relay network that left much of the galaxy unconnected.

[@marcbennett9232]

love how detailed and thorough you are. keep up the good work.

[@Audentia89]

The Vacuum-dock relay instantly told me this is about vacuum tunnel travel. A vacuum tunnel enable travel at very high velocity, and would be extremely useful for long distance travel. It doesnt have to be about time travel, it probably just enables quick cross-galaxy travel. Linking the Andromeda cluster to our own

[@jamesboley1402]

Really enjoy your videos

[@paragonseven]

Thank you! 😊

[@JourneyTal1]

I think if they go the parallel universe route it *can* be interesting emphasis on ‘can’. I think multiverse theory has been done to death in the worst ways and so a lot of people will dislike it on reaction but I also think it could be one of the coolest games if it’s done correctly. Mass Effect has always been about uncovering secrets to stop the greater threats in the universe and so if done smartly and done correctly the story and even gameplay elements that go into making a Mass Effect game based on hoping between parallel universes might be super fun. It’d just have to be done with immense care and creativity

[@koldaussie]

You know what else that sound sounds like, it sounds like the sounds that vehicles make in the game. You mentioned bridge, now I don't know if you know, but the flying car sound comes from a bridge in Edmonton called the humming bridge. It is quite unique in the world because of the construction materials. So what Bioware did was record the sounds of vehicles going across the bridge then digitally altered them. I used to live in Edmonton and know the bridge very well. So my thought is t g at this relay is a bridge between either two dimensions, which could be explained by the anomalies after the mass relays were destroyed/deactivated. I think that this relay is possibly trying to access the the anomaly, which I think is what the blur going across the screen. The blur ship could be a ship from the next dimension next-door dimension, and the relay could be thae doorway we need. New to your channel. Love your content and your voice. Keep up the great work.

[@Oscar-wp5cq]

I feel like the "The council will be furious part" is less the fact that it wont be cerberus, but rather that they'd be angry about the fact that even Liara, THE shadowbroker, didn't see it. So they'd be angry about it going undetected.

[@leafcatcher1715]

Dhow. I’m thinking that it is either an acronym or because it’s the name of certain types of seagoing vessels usually of one mast. Liara understanding Geth burbles. Of course The Shadow Broker’s got a Geth-speech personal translation matrix. We, the audience, do not.

[@harmstrongg]

It could just be that in the intercept Liara is speaking English and no translation has been applied. Liara definitely knows English. She studied on Mars, and studying cultures is her entire career.

[@LissyWitzi]

Love your theory, it made me think that we were still missing the quarian ark in andromeda and perhaps they are stuck somewhere in between as we got teased at the end of ME:A to "avoid until further"; perhaps the captain named in the teaser found a way back to the Milky Way and get help -> leading to Liara, a N7 and others to investigate and via this relay, they might be able to travel or even communicate with the andromeda fellas :)

[@normangeilich]

Miri took over Cerberus and redeems the Organisation.

[@thth1000]

The colors of the relay are probably Turian (Turian navy) , not Cereberus. Easy to confuse them as they are pretty close.

[@kirstenkane4469]

Regarding the distortion - The only thing I can offer is that it brings to mind when Kasumi hacked the security cam footage in Donovan Hock's estate. Not *quite* the same effect, but if the n7 in the trailer is in fact the rogue AI that you suggest, could be that they're hacking a portion of the security footage to hide something big that's about to happen? I mention portion because I can't otherwise explain why the ship on the right continues. Also - got SO excited when you mentioned the Veritasium video. Saw that only a few days after your trailer analysis videos and definitely did a bit of a double take when they went over the multiverse idea, especially your theory about what dark energy could be doing to the milky way. Super exciting stuff.

[@paragonseven]

Hmm interesting...which would prompt the question of what is the N7 trying to hide...? Ngl when I saw the Veritasium video come out soon after I released the trailer breakdown, I never clicked on a video faster in my life. 😂

[@LightShadowOnyx]

very well done the research and how you breakdown everything is top tier

[@cmcanfield32]

I believe vacuum-dock is just another phrase meaning space dock - a building platform in the vacuum of space to make assembly of large ships and stations possible (Larger ships and stations are difficult if not impossible to build in-atmo). The relay under construction just happens to be in the vacuum-dock. Space docks are a very common idea in science fiction, so I think it's as simple as that. You're really good at chasing threads but I think you're overanalyzing this part.

[@paragonseven]

Makes sense to me. Curious why they need a space-dock in the shape of a relay though. Seems weird to me. 🤷‍♀️ And of course, why would Gamble focus on where the relay leads? Something is funky about this relay...can't wait to find out what its purpose is.

[@selectthedead]

There have been multiple sound puzzles over the years, For example Portal has special messeges in the Radio signals. Maybe someone can run it through a fourie Transformation to see if anything more coherent comes out?

[@atomicrocketgames]

So forgive me if you’ve covered this in another video and I’ve missed it, but have you considered that the Geth language being used isn’t being used by an actual Geth, but rather the person viewing the scene of the dock below them? To put it another way, if the person who is viewing this scene is the N7 Agent, and they are the observer, what are the odds that they’re the individual speaking to Liara, and using Geth encryption to speak to Liara without being understood by outside listeners? I’m of the opinion that the reason that the Geth-speak is being used here is to obfuscate who and what Liara is speaking to - auditory obfuscation is a common tactic in trailers like this to drive up speculation, but it could also be a method being used to tell us that the person speaking to Liara is purposely disguising their true nature (which also ties to the full face mask of the Agent, a useful tool to disguise identity). It could also be a callback to David Archer, who was able to speak directly to the Geth in their own language, which he made very clear to tell us as Shepard was a more efficient and direct form of communication. Legion also mentioned the compact and efficient transfer of information via Geth language. If your theory about the Agent being an AI pans out, this could be a big clue toward that. I’m also wondering if the distortion we see is an interference pattern similar to a Moire pattern, indicating that something is happening to the viewers field of vision - as though the images being shown are slightly out of synch with one another, or a different visual range has been used, perhaps. In any event, I’m hyped for the new game so we can see what they have in store for us.

[@paragonseven]

It could be possible, but I guess with seeing a geth beside Liara (assuming Gamble's liked tweet wasn't trolling), I'm leaning towards the geth-speak actually being from a geth. It could easily be someone pretending to be a geth, but Liara sounds way too familiar with the geth (how did *we* miss this?) to be fooled by something like that.

[@atomicrocketgames]

@@paragonseven hear me out for a moment: who’s to say that the N7 Observer isn’t a Geth using their body compression technology as a disguise? That Agent Long Coat isn’t exactly TOO dissimilar from the fancy get up the Geth is wearing in the promo image. And we know that malleable materials exist in the ME universe. Shapeshifting isn’t out of the question. I’ve been thinking more about that moire pattern and the way the lower left side ship seems to “come in again,” and if we are to believe that it wasn’t just an animation oversight, then the idea comes to me that the moire ripple could be a perception shift. Possibly changing the perspective of view from one reality to another? Or one potential series of events to another? If it is an interference pattern after all, it’s possible that the pre- and post- ripple imagery could present a pair of potential outcomes of the same series of events. Things to ponder I guess. 😊

[@georgehavey]

I think the answer is simpler. The Andromeda initiative had its funding supported from an unknown source. That same unknown source made the nexus as a hidden relay (or capable of constructing one) and this is the other half. Allowing for travel between the Milky Way and the Helios cluster. This would also explain the Ryder look alike, Liaria being the character choice (only one alive after 600yrs) and the Angara. As well as the "it's [the relay] connected" tweet - which possibly suggests the N7 is on the other side of the relay. The 'vacuum-dock" could just be a reference to a design iteration of the protheon conduit relay where docking happened within an atmosphere. The geth could be from the quarian ark.

[@andrevaughn6980]

Won’t lie I went back to listen to that transmission, and it does sound like Shepard towards the very end!?

[@Anacronian]

Still think time travel will be a big part of the next Mass Effect, and this is the "time machine".

[@adot704]

i think you’re onto something with the whole wormhole thing, i think that’s how they could connect both galaxies without a massive time jump. If the relays from the teasers are able to generate wormholes to allow travel to Andromeda, I wonder if it’s theoretically possible for them to travel to Andromeda in the future while the milky way stays in the present

[@ebusive]

Hot take but I hope that Shepard is gone for good. I hope that this game focuses on Liara. She was still a kid in the Asari lifetime during the effects of the OG trilogy. I hope this game takes place during her Matron stage, long after the rest of the crew has passed on. Shepard was there to fight the Reapers. Regardless of what ending is made canon, that fight is done.

[@timwinter4420]

I know this one's kinda off the deep end here, but if they did go down the multiverse rabbit hole, maybe they'll intertwine the Dead Space universe into the next ME title? An alternate universe where an ancestral Commander Shepard was combating Necromorphs after Isaac Clarke? If you think about it: the developers previously incorporated N7 themed engineer outfits for Isaac in Dead Space 3 as DLC, so maybe there's a realm of possibility there as well?

[@paragonseven]

I personally don't think so, but if they do open the multiverse Pandora's box, anything's possible.

[@dungmaestr0912]

I think at this point somebody should tweet Michael Gamble and say "We know you can't tell us *WHO* the protagonist for the next 'Mass Effect' is, but will we at least get a protagonist *reveal* this year?" I think that's the only thing that's really tearing up this fanbase currently (myself included 😅) 😂 I think once we know concrete, who we will be moving forward - expectations can be lower/higher and can help us with a building point for theories (which helps creators). Everybody wins that way. I just hope 'N7 day' this year is a big one. I would love to say "Bioware is so back" by the time this year ends.

[@Blastxu]

Maybe it leads to alternate universes based on the three different endings of mass effect 3, so we get to explore them. On a meta level this makes the Mass effect 4 universe separate from the one the players played on mass effect 3 allowing all choices the players made to be canon without having to have the developers choose one.

[@eliaspinto3560]

I have so many questions. I hope this is technically a sequel after mass effect 3. But I also. Hope we get more contacts and clues about this new game.

[@EastlakeRasta7]

I personally like the idea that Shepherd is scarred beyond recognition after Mass Effect 3 and just leaving his or her life as a scarred War veteran. While his or her friends are enjoying the fruits of their labors but also the political ramifications of surviving such a gruesome War. This way Shepherd could mess with his friends in a good way well also enjoying his much earned rest

[@WorshipHunglabungla55]

i’ve always wondered why mass relays have lights. do people live on them??

[@Splash43]

ah you are forgetting one thing. remember mass effect 2 and the mission where you recruit Tali, what about Heastrum's star "Dholen". it was turning into a red dwarf earlier than it should have due to dark energy, could that somehow be tied in? it's so in the Milky Way Galaxy we HAVE something that can force dark energy into stars causing them to age faster. it was also IN Geth space when it started to age rapidly so if anyone would have records on the dark energy phenomenon it would be the Geth, and seeing how Liara is working with a Geth, just saying it DOES make sense no?

[@Cinquan]

What if Shepard’s mind took over a Geth and it became that Geth in the picture? So Shepard does return but in Geth form. And a choice could be made where he/she can have a new body. At the same time us the player can play the game as a new character. Then given that choice to either choose to bring back Shepard completely, or continue playing with the new character. Also gives us a chance to either play as both in future games. Could be a possibility.

[@BDUBBGROWS]

Those ships look like the same ships going through the scourge that you showed in Andromeda. Looks the same as the ones around that relay

[@kendilrhodes]

Hopefully Shepherd is in the game. Bring shepherd back

[@warriornorman4026]

Yeah I want Shepherd the return to he or she left with unfinished business I'll find it a slap in the face to end it that way

[@burnttoast26]

It's kinda been implied that perfect-Destroy is the canon ending, which would mean that Shepard survives

[@Shaco.]

Godspeed

[@devonoderkirk5845]

In Andromeda couldn’t Meridian be capable of harnessing and purifying the scourge’s negative energy to allow the Wormhole travel?

[@paragonseven]

Excellent point. We know next to nothing about Meridian and the Jardaan tech hidden there, so it's definitely possible.

[@desolation2438]

I would say that it should be at least 100+ years after the reaper war, this would give enough time for known area's of space to recover, at least majoritively.

[@evilcrusader6322]

But I need to see talis home.

[@danashumway7090]

Being able to travel through black holes in order to travel between galaxies is a cool concept and I would be ok with them going that route. All I ask is that they steer clear of the whole multiverse and parallel universe crap. It is so overdone and it removes the impact and tension of death and consequences. Your favorite character dies. No big deal just go to an alternate dimension and grab another one. I also hope they stay away from time travel. There is so much unexplored potential within the Mass Effect universe. Let's not go too crazy and cheapen everything in the process. I hope BioWare can deliver on the next Dragon Age. If not I think Mass Effect is done for.

[@Havoc10K]

Keep in mind one thing, until the reaper endings, no one knew how to build a mass relay, since the space community was able to repair a relay, most of them, they figured out how to build a new one. As such this relay ca lead anywhere they will want to, but also keep in mind we lost the alpha relay, this could be a reconstruction of that relay to figure out where the reapers came from as we know they came from outside milky way.

[@ExSpoonman]

I think we are too focused on the Cerberus link. Cerberus likely doesn't exist after the reaper war. Especially with TIM dead.

[@CeroAshura]

Based on the presumed date it would be pre reaper war.

[@LongShen1883]

The possible link between Milky Way and Andromeda, would be a good game if they combined best of milky way with the best of Andromeda or add additional places to explore and populate/live. Addendum: I remember an NPC mentioning there were human quarian or an actual unmasked quarian in Andromeda.

[@michaelribeiro5777]

When I heard Vacuum relay I thought it was a relay that allow travel like the Mako did from a planet to a planet in the first ME. but your parallel universe theory is interesting...

[@jplabs456]

I was supposed to go to sleep 2 hours ago, but I just found your channel right after completing ME3 for the first time and now my head hurts

[@paragonseven]

Lmaooo apologies for the before bed rabbit hole you probably dived into 😁

[@trippyrabbit9972]

It's a moving Dock. A relay that can traverse the systems with ships docked. The vacuum-dock is to clean up the reaper war debris.

[@ReiCaixa]

It seems that the Relay is like an Aircraft Carrier but for Space ships instead of aircrafts.

[@1love1yaz]

I will take multiverse over Andromeda characters returning any day

[@Marvolo14]

If this game takes place in the 2800s, same time period as the Andromeda game, it's very likely the Milky Way narrative will be tied into the Andromeda narrative. My guess is the new 29th century relays will be able to send a ship to Andromeda much much faster than the 600 years it took the Andromeda Initiative to travel there. The Council will send more ships to Andromeda to reconnect with the Initiative and the Milky Way will get pulled into the conflict with the Kett Empire, the Benefactor's plans, and discover more about the Jardaan's goals. Liara, as a matriarch in her 700s, will probably be the only returning character from the original trilogy.

[@raxsavvage]

me - who still choses to beleive the newset thing to happen in mass effect is the end of paragon lost with vega back in the N program

[@TheGoIsWin21]

Something that occurred to me in one of your previous videos, it seems like a lot of the hints we've gotten suggest that the Geth are going to be accepted into the galactic community. That was my initial instinct when we were being shown the geth juxtaposed with humanity's first contact experience when you showed it off in the Alchera video. It's just reinforced by the inclusion of geth here, in my mind That could also explain the geth speaking in a language we don't understand; it's a new faction of geth attempting to develop their society in New ways, potentially earning their place in the galactic community

[@ebusive]

22:55 Likely a Quarian captain of a human ship. Quarian surnames are ship names, akin to Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy

[@NEMESIS.3337]

my theory the N7 Ai maybe is task to travel to Andromeda to help or gather knowledge on the scorge or help (Andromeda distress signal ) .and uses the new Mass Relay using ezzo and electric charge to speed the ship. like the normal Relay but to come back they use tha blackhole since they have the scorge (dark energy) and ezzo (FTL) . the blackhole serves as the Ship-Replay

[@scarlettwatters6179]

Your videos have made me hopeful and excited for the Mass Effect series again. I love a good sleuth video on my favorite series💜

[@AndrewBone]

Black holes are super dense though, so not a vacuum

[@nathanstruble2177]

Question, is the voice Liara is speaking to not just Glyph? It sounds a LOT like her trusty drone

[@paragonseven]

My original thought waay back a year ago was that she was talking to Glyph, and that either Glyph found a geth body or those synthetic sounds are common to all robotic-like speech. But who knows?

[@pyromethious]

[Typed as I watched, so some comments may get covered by the end of the video] Really old theory I thought of when I was little. Black holes are inlets, White holes are outlets, and Wormholes are the connections between. I think I semi-recently read that this is what actual scientists may believe now as well. I think they also related it to Rosenburg Bridges. I don't think we'll be dealing with alternate universes. The distortion we see is likely just us viewing outside of a portal and the camera shifting as it brings into focus the portal, hence the reflection coming into view. That might affect the reason why the ship on the left changes position. It may actually be a reflection of sorts from inside the ship the N7 is standing on. The relay likely leads to Andromeda, and I believe that was hinted before as this game bringing both galaxy stories together. I'd Preferred to have had the Andromeda story progress into its Own series, but anyway. The things she likened to sales are more likely to simply be comm towers or something like that. I think Horizon is metaphorical or like when someone says "lets see what's on the horizon", talking about time / future events.

[@chrishoward3733]

It looks like an aircraft carrier or some kind of mobile mass relay ship that’s manned with a crew

[@greensilverwolf3PhoenixGroup]

I hope that relay is a connection to the andromeda galaxy would be a solid story line where the kett return in force to andromeda around the time that the milky way is starting to send more inhabitants to the initiative. Sooo many things can be done with the andromeda side of ME