Mass Effect’s First Contact War | FULL Mass Effect Lore

[@WiseFish]

QUICK EDIT! General Williams was Ashley Williams' GRANDFATHER not father. I said it wrong in the recording!! But anyways, hope you all like this dive into the Mass Effect universe! Let me know if you’d like to see more and what you’d like to be covered!

[@MrCombineGuy]

Also Relay 314 doesn't lead to a rachni system, just an unexplored one.

[@aaron75fy]

you should re-record this and replace it, realizing your mistake and owning it is commendable but that is step one in dealing with the action

[@WiseFish]

@@aaron75fy that means taking the whole video down removing all views and everything. If YT offered a way for me to add the corrected thing I totally would but I’m not prepared to take down the whole video for one small error

[@Midnightgamer00]

@@WiseFish I haven't really uploaded any videos, but I seen videos where people have what look like an annotation pop up during a part where they gave the wrong information. Not sure if there is a way to easily add something like that without having to take down a video

[@aaron75fy]

@@WiseFish so you don't care about having inaccurate information in your video? you do know just adding it to a comment doesn't fix your mistake right? but maybe you don't care enough about it to even try to make it right

[@masterofdisguise1112]

Got to love the Turians logic "We can't let the humans activate the dormant Mass relay because it could lead to a hostile alien race like the Rachni" by attacking Humanity you created a hostile alien race lol

[@bboyValentis]

Well i yes but... They knew the rachni and what they were capable of... And if i was that turian that gave the order... Id be more afraif of the species that caused decades of wars than some new race you never met before

[@jkm7983]

@@bboyValentis I can understand that but the rachni were extinct. They should have known the unknown vessel was a bigger threat than a possible (low chance) rachni like species from opening the mass relay

[@jerm70]

They should of tried to communicate with humanity instead of blowing them up on sight. The Council Races cry out in pain as they strike you.

[@victuz]

Gotta love how the Turians simply attacked Humans (a very young species) on sight instead of trying to communicate with them before doing that.

[@halrun209plays5]

Well they were right and we kick their asses

[@oatlord]

So basically that one Turian guy who didn't even attempt communicating is responsible for everything.

[@_MaZTeR_]

When you see the archival footage of them activating the genophage dispersal tower, it's really no surprise why they those to attack first, ask questions later to humanity (well, that and the fact that they were about to enter the Rachni mass relay)

[@_Saracen_]

Reminds me of Babylon 5.

[@ArakkoaChronicles]

Knowing the turians, they probably had a 1001 regulations about what to do in a situation like this, and the only legal resolution was to attack. So, like any good turian, they thought with their book instead of their brain and attacked.

[@addisonwelsh]

Actually, there’s some extra material that explains that Desolas (Saren’s brother) had been indoctrinated and was using the fleet to illegally search for a Reaper artifact. He attacked humanity, invaded Shanxi to find the artifact, and when another Turian fleet showed up and asked what the heck was going on, he lied and said the humans shot first.

[@Thefunnymanjared223]

Thats funny you would think the humans started it!

[@dustindubbo2892]

Honestly I don’t think it’s even the fact that the humans retaliated against the Turians, but just how well they actually were able to hold their own and piss in the Turians cornflakes a little which really pissed off the Uber military “we da best” Turians.

[@Cailus3542]

Precisely. The humans had a huge technological disadvantage, yet they won. Human N7 teams, dedicated carriers and innovative tactics gave the turians a fight unlike anything they had ever experienced. The krogan were formidable due to sheer numbers and brute force. The humans, however, were formidable because of how quickly they adapted, out-thinking the turians. It was a sobering experience for the turians after centuries of dominance.

[@the_infinexos]

Humans were a jack of all trades that turians had never experienced before. Asari specialized in leadership, turians specialized in military tactics & discipline, salarians specialized in brains and rationalization, krogans specialize in brute force and destruction, but humans - due to our ah, unique emotional range and thought processes - are a mix of all of those. Except the krogans, nothing is tanky like those

[@tazkol]

@@the_infinexos 'salarians specialized in brains and rationalization' rationalization is a strong word for a species who spends the entirety of there short lives extemely paranoid and finding plans to attack everyone including there allies.

[@starhammer5247]

@@tazkol Rational is questionable when it comes to the Salarians, but they definitely have brains.

[@tazkol]

@@starhammer5247 so do most sociopaths

[@nathanlevesque7812]

>Humans try to use a relay that connects to unexplored stars systems because something something Rachni which are extinct Turians: DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HOOMANS. >Shepard kills a rachni queen Turian councillor: yOu EnJOy geNoCiDE dOn'T yoU?

[@siegwardofcatarina100]

I would answer back if I could with 'I guess that's something we have in common, *cough cough* first contact war *cough* krogan'

[@SpectreStatus]

Shepard: "Occasionally."

[@basedkaiser5352]

Occasionally… Turians.

[@JaelinBezel]

Which is hilarious if you already went out of your way to avoid a mass slaughter of the Feros colony.

[@addisonwelsh]

The Council didn’t actually want the Rachni exterminated. The Krogan just refused to stop attacking them until they were all wiped out… That said, it was probably for the best, considering they were being controlled by the Reapers.

[@gibbyfraustro2509]

You know what it make so much sense the reason why krogan and humans get along since their the only race that beat the turian.

[@itzwillyboy2377]

Well I see the krogan as a dogs you know that could be your best friend that will always have your back no matter what

[@yetipotato8567]

Humans can be space orks

[@keithstone8693]

They're. They are the only races that beat the turians.

[@floatinggoose9197]

Turians : Attack and murder several ships of scientific research teams. Universe : "Remember when The humans started The Contact Wars"?

[@TheCorrodedMan]

Turians: attacks Humans: retaliate Turians: _surprised pikachu face_

[@michaelrosenstock9187]

I live in Israel and find this very relatable

[@hisyammudeanshamsudean6819]

@@michaelrosenstock9187 yeah..same goes with the Palestinians

[@michaelrosenstock9187]

@@hisyammudeanshamsudean6819 aaaannndddd there we go

[@hisyammudeanshamsudean6819]

@@michaelrosenstock9187 yeah... i can do this all day long

[@BogeyTheBear]

Imagine you rent an excavator and start digging out your backyard to create a pool, and you don't know a thing about submerged gas mains or fiber optic conduits. You're creating a potentially dangerous situation for the entire neighborhood without knowing it... ...and instead of a cease-and-desist phone call or a visit from a service representative, the city's first response is to send in the SWAT team to shoot up the place.

[@pianoman7753]

I should be able to dig up my own property; the ownership extends far into the sky above and a specified depth into the earth, if theyre running any lines of any kind in my dirt then they should have to move them if I wanna dig up my land. Why are they running their lines through my land if they dont want me unburying them? Why wouldnt they just leave me alone; and know, well, we ran our line through their dirt; we gotta expect them to dig em up.

[@loserinasuit7880]

​@@pianoman7753 Low iq

[@christophertryhorn784]

Forgot to mention that the turians dropped asteroids on civilian human cities which was against citadel law as well as made legal moves that heavily restricted how many Dreadnoughts humanity was allowed…..

[@shadewolf0075]

Yeah and they wonder why so many humans became xenophobic

[@drlukas4242]

They did that? Jesus Christ I wouldn't be surprised if a lot more humans secretly hated aliens.

[@ajaykumarsingh702]

@@drlukas4242 There are very good reason why Cerberus existed in mass effect universe. And it was pretty effective as well.

[@manumainio]

They didn't do that... Also the dreadnought treaty applies to all species, not just humans.

[@theProClaimer]

Reminds me of USA dropping nukes on civilian cities, during WW2.

[@ArcherAC3]

This "fog of war" with the Turians believing they had taken out the whole/most of Human forces is what I wished we had on Stellaris. Totally changing topics here, but many Mass Effect players also play Stellaris. And it always bugs me there that when you come into contact with a new empire you already know exactly their territory limits and size.

[@ArcherAC3]

Spoke too soon, seems like Stellaris 3.0 has enhanced the way First Contact works and there's a proper fog of war now, making possible such a Turian vs Humans scenario. Unfortunately for us console peasants, 3.0 seems ways away still.

[@caelestigladii]

@@ArcherAC3 I think I have Stellaris in my library somewhere. Might give it a shot if it is. The way you described it sounds like a game I'd love.

[@ArcherAC3]

@@caelestigladii Absolutely, you have to give it a try!

[@Exodon2020]

@@ArcherAC3 True, you can even engage in full-on warfare before having established contact now.

[@orangvii3633]

@@Exodon2020 gotta love the genocidal empires

[@bigj1905]

I always remember Garrus’ line in ME1 to the Terra Firma supporter. “If you saw a baby with a loaded gun, wouldn’t you stop them.” And I always thought “Yeah Garrus, but I wouldn’t drop kick the baby either.”

[@michaelrosenstock9187]

Turians : we killed their fleets !!! Humanity: aight , ill send me second fleet , and don't make me send my third and fourth fleets

[@ZurielWraithblades]

Turians in first contact war were the very definition of 'kicking a hornets nest'

[@BogeyTheBear]

The First Fleet is stationed in the Solar system for homeworld defense. The Second Fleet is based in the Arcturus system and thus the forward force projection of the Systems Alliance.

[@addisonwelsh]

@@ZurielWraithblades Yeah, an the Turians are the hornets. Humanity only had two hundred ships. The Turians have thousands.

[@KepleroGT]

@@addisonwelsh Turians were so damn stupid. What if humanity was a few hundred years more advanced and had the same fleet size as the turians who were restricted by treaties? Could have created a galatic war as bad as the rachni

[@addisonwelsh]

@@KepleroGT Actually, no. They could tell from scans of human ships that they were more primitive than the Turians vessels. If you’re going to ask how they could tell that, I have no idea. Sci fi pulls that kinda bs with scanners all the time. Also, the Turian fleet that attacked humanity had actually gone renegade. It was commanded by Saren’s brother Desolas, who’d been indoctrinated and was searching for a Reaper artifact. That artifact just so happened to be on Shanxi. So he attacked the human fleet at Relay 314. Then, when another Turian fleet showed up and asked what the hell was going on, he lied, said the humans shot first, and used that as justification to invade Shanxi.

[@WowSuchGaming]

Very intriguing and calm read my dude! I know mass effect doesn't pull in many views in general, but just wanted to say you did a bang up job!

[@WiseFish]

Thanks dude I appreciate that! I’m surprised Mass Effect content isn’t more popular, I really thought people would want to dive into the many stories! Shame really

[@prestonarmer277]

Awesome seeing WSG

[@ThisiswhyWecanthavenicethings]

97k views isn’t many views huh smh

[@JudoGeoff]

@@ThisiswhyWecanthavenicethings note that those comments were made 6 months ago, shortly after this video was posted. It wasn't nearly at 97k at the time, nor could they have predicted that early how many views this video would get months later. Also, while 97k might seem like a ton to some, it is not many to others. It's all relative.

[@ThisiswhyWecanthavenicethings]

@@JudoGeoff 97k is a healthy amount for any channel making mass effect content it’s a great video I was just saying it’s funny 😆 chill bro

[@aiosquadron]

What's going on in the Turian Patrol ship: Captain: Oh! Look! There seems to be a task force trying to activate the hidden relay! First Officer: We don't know who they are, so they probably don't know who we are, and about the law either. Should I open hailing frequency and tell them about the law? Captain: Lol, let's just shoot them. Tactical! Ready torpedoes.

[@scottdodge6979]

I always enjoy the portrayal of humans in ME. Especially the way the other traces view them, I think in this regard, bioware really was spot on

[@starhammer5247]

@Do0m3rdude1995 Halo is also a realistic interpretation as well but a bit darker.

[@starhammer5247]

@Do0m3rdude1995 Fair enough.

[@cyfertea8707]

@Do0m3rdude1995 yeah that's what I loved as well. There's no "Galactic empire" or any medieval inspired factions. Instead we have more modern and realistic factions. There's no "There's only war" kind of story and there's no "Good guys and bad guys", all factions have their own goal and their own interests even Humans despite being the protagonist have a lot of flaws. I also love the politics and diplomacy of each factions. The massive difference of cultures, history, and perspective of each species is also amazing. What I didn't like in starwars is each races have either the same cultures or similar cultures (tbf Aliens and Humans in that universe have coexisted way longer than the species in ME universe so it makes sense that they have similar cultures).

[@rohenthar8449]

@Do0m3rdude1995 Agree. Also ME is way better than Star Trek in species portrayal and appearance/diversity, after all in Star Trek every alien (except Undine) are humans with different heads, lol.

[@rohenthar8449]

@@cyfertea8707 I agree, but to tell you the truth, Star Trek and Mass Effect are they own universes, or at last they are a visionary universes, while Star Wars is only an republican propaganda with US marine war ethos/tactics (carpet bombing in space, heavy bombers, guns only on the uper side of ISD's and so on). Also, they not only coexisted, but also were a slaves to Rakata way before Republic, so their cultures are similar to a degree..., well except Sith (bad guys) and Mandalorians.

[@DrCoomer_1]

Turians: "We sure showed them." Lockheed Martin: "The fuck you did"

[@ClericOfPholtus]

Laughs as Citadel Defense fleet is wiped out by Geth 😂

[@christophergroenewald5847]

In the book "Mass Effect revelation" it gives some details about the space battle during the first contact war. An expedition team consisting of 3 frigates and 2 cargo freighters attempted to activate a dormant mass relay called Shanxi Theta/Relay 314 when a turian patrol fleet attacked them. Only 1 frigate survived and retreated back to Shanxi. The next day Shanxi sent out a flotilla that easily dispatched the patrol fleet. Not long after that, the turians arrived with an even bigger fleet, defeating the flotilla and occupying the colony. Believing that colony was a homeworld and that the small group of ships was all humanity had, they were unprepared when the entire Alliance 2nd fleet descended on the colony a few days later. Obliterating the turian occupation fleet. The turians mobilised for full scale war. With humanity only having about 200 ships at the time and the turians having thousands, it would have been an easy victory. This drew the attention of the Council who ended the First Contact War diplomatically

[@st-6837]

Go humans

[@halrun209plays5]

They had 1000 ships we have a shepherd

[@hazmatsquad6703]

I think the asari and salarians are the real heroes here. This race which has no knowledge of a galactic law even existing comes under brutal attack for violating it by supposedly the greatest military in the galaxy, pisses said military off by beating it, and has no means of contacting their attackers is rescued by the two other council races from a devastating conflict.

[@kmyoutubechannel5182]

GO HUMANS

[@ZurielWraithblades]

Not really, The Council quickly realized that IF they didnt step in now, they A- have let the Turians completely wipe out humanity or B- they'd end up with another race like the Krogan, hostile and serious threat if left unchecked. And like the Krogan forever distrusting to outright hostile to all the Council races. It was simple math, stop this before it TRULY gets out of hand, or else. Remember a race barely out into the galaxy not once, but twice in short order, bent over the greatest military race. Imagine what said 'new race' could do in a generation or two after they finally caught up with the council races? Rachni and Krogan threats all over again.

[@mikomido20]

Bioware could have literally made a fucking epic of a game by letting the player experience humanity's first contact with the turians, and play through the first contact war. Instead we got Andromeda.....

[@stoneheart7628]

Andromeda could of actually blown away the original ME trilogy hand's down but EA's capitalistic nature got in way and forced bioware to release Andromeda at least 2 years earlier than planned. Fucking EA

[@Blox117]

sjw-dromeda

[@AntwanMackJr]

@@stoneheart7628there is no way you actually believe in your fucking mind that andromeda was ever coming any where near the trilogy. There just no fucking way. Please tell me you’re joking. Im begging you 🙏🏾

[@ikstarven]

@@AntwanMackJr while i dont think it would have ever overshadowed the original trilogy because at that time bioware already became a questionable company (cough cough dragon age cough cough), but it is true that the game is largely incomplete. I actually enjoyed the start of the first planet, but after that everything went downhill, and generally everything is clunky and feels unfinished

[@TheGreatestJediOfAllTime]

@@AntwanMackJr Two extra years of development can do wonders for a video game. Who knows what could’ve been. Your redditor energy disbelief is embarrassing though.

[@samuel10125]

Ashley's mindset makes sense though if the whole galaxy is acting like racist pricks to humanity why would we trust them.

[@heretical_cuttlefish]

Not to mention the races, especially the council, put themselves first in literally every single game. Yeah, Ashley was well justified in her mistrust of the other species, and she does not deserve the hate she gets from the fanbase.

[@samuel10125]

@@heretical_cuttlefish What happens if you let the council die well they are replaced with proper xenophobic memebers towards humanity.

[@NobodyN7]

And everything Ashley said became true. The Council in ME1 sided with Saren in the beginning, and grounded Shepard in the end forcing Shepard to steal the Normandy to stop Saren. In ME2 the Council (If you kept them alive) refused to help Shepard only giving him or her a useless title. And in ME3 the Council again refused to help Shepard only looking out for themselves in the beginning forcing Shepard to go behind their back and go directly to their government leaders.

[@bizbe4465]

@@NobodyN7 ME1: that's not what happened... at all? You didn't steal the ship you got evidence to prove saren was a traitor while on the citadel. ME2: Do you blame them? You may be a hero but you are working for a rogue terrorist organization. Ashley / Kaidans distrust of shepard after being literally brought back from the dead is understandable. The council and ash-kaid had no idea if shepard was actually... well shepard and not judt a cerberus pawn. The fact they gave him his title back at all is a blessing. ME3: As shitty as it sounds. The council was thinking strategically. While the earth burns they can prepare their fleets and armies for a counter attack. It's a sound strategy that even our own militaries would use. Humanity is out for itself. Turians are out for themselves. Asari are out for themselves. Etc.

[@NobodyN7]

@@bizbe4465 In ME1 when I said the Council sided with Saren that was at the beginning of the game before you become a Spectre and when Shepard steals the Normandy is at the end when you compete Virmire and return to the Citadel only to be ground by Udina and the Council forcing Shepard to steal the ship to go after Saren on Illos. For both ME2, and 3 I agree with you on everything but Ashley was still right about what would happen, as she said "When their backs are against the wall they'll abandon us."

[@RelativelyBest]

Seriously, what kind of "police force" opens fire on innocent civilians at the mere assumption of criminal activity and then refuses to be held responsible?

[@SisyphusJP]

Same type of cops who write 115 dollar tickets for food delivery drivers

[@sto1238]

American police 😂😂😂

[@jasonvoorhees5180]

Do you have any idea how accurately you just described a startling amount of American police officers? Lol

[@Blox117]

you mean like all of them?

[@Discontinuedalready7372]

_American police_

[@Gnamut]

It's quite baffling how a rushed reckless decision can become the birth of so many monsters. The turians deciding that the best course of action to stop humans from violating a law they never even knew it existed was attacking them, which inevitably triggered a war afterwards, led to extremist xenophobic feelings bursting out in the years to come after the conflict was over. Monsters such as Saren or Cerberus would've probably never existed, or would've been entirely different, if it wasn't for the First Contact War.

[@rohenthar8449]

Tell this to Babylon V humans who shot down Mimbari.

[@WallNutBreaker524]

Cerberus aren't monsters, they're humanitys hope.

[@Gnamut]

@@WallNutBreaker524 Then, considering they've pretty much been indoctrinated by the Reapers during the events of ME3, that means humanity's always been screwed up from the very beginning. Also, the fact that they performed atrocious experiments for the sake of their own goals, and didn't fear of murdering some fellow humans for that same matter, doesn't exactly speaks in their favor.

[@bencegergohocz5988]

Saren would have been just as shit. I'm pretty sure, the one who tortured the Illusive man and bombed the planet was his brother too. There would have never been a cerberus, or at least not one as powerfull as it was if the Turians didn't consider droping meteors on civilians a valid move.

[@jaypea30]

​@@WallNutBreaker524*Coughs in Reaper indoctrination*

[@Cailus3542]

I'm a sucker for ME lore videos, and this is a great one. Love it. The First Contact War is a huge deal in ME for many reasons, most particularly in establishing the Alliance as BAMFs. The humans took on the most powerful military in the galaxy head-to-head, despite having only discovered mass effect technology decades prior, and held their own. Humanity's potential as displayed by the war was both obvious and frightening. Physically, they weren't that special. They didn't have the natural biotics or longevity of the asari, nor the hardiness of the turians. What made humans worrying was that they brought something new to the galaxy. They had the discipline and raw strength of the turians, the adaptive brilliance of the salarians and the tactical flexibility of the asari, all mixed into one, combined with a fearsome appetite for growth and expansion. To the staid Citadel races, who had been so cautious and comfortable since the Krogan Rebellions, humanity's strong drive was a serious shake-up of galactic affairs, the first since the quarians were driven out of the Perseus Veil. Just some small points: 1) The mass relay that the humans were trying to activate wasn't the rachni relay. The rachni are the reason why that Council law exists, but that particular relay near Shanxi was never opened, as far as we know. The rachni relay remains open (nobody knows how to shut mass relays off, presumably). 2) The humans and Citadel races were completely unaware of each other until first contact. There are no indications otherwise. 3) Nobody seriously bought the turians' excuse for starting the war, least of all the Citadel Council. Nobody seriously thought that the humans were at fault, either, save for some diehard turians. The Turian Heirarchy paid reparations to the Alliance afterwards, and the Council gave the turians a rather thorough spanking for the whole mess. The Council then bent over backwards to make the humans happy, deeply worried that the Alliance might simply refuse to join the Citadel Accords, becoming a powerful foreign power that the Council couldn't control save through conquest. Anderson's hasty candidacy for the Spectres was an example of the Council's political accommodation.

[@amouramarie]

Huh... I never connected the council's strange accommodation of humanity with the Relay 314 incident. Now that you say so, it does make perfect sense that the council would want to ensure this new race - who is entirely willing to throw down with _the turians_ who are most of the council's military strength - becomes more sympathetic toward council authority. Even if the council races would certainly put the Alliance down in the end, they saw what it would cost them if they couldn't get humanity on side peacefully.

[@Phoenix-vf4nd]

I was looking for this comment I also a bit of a mass effect buff too. I noticed the few errors and was seriously confused. I would say you playing up the humans slightly too much. As most other races didn’t thought too much about the 314 incident. But the council definitely recognize humanity potential. Especially when considering that statistically less humans join the military compare to the other council races. As well as humanity innovative war doctrine

[@rohenthar8449]

@@Phoenix-vf4nd True, ME is a bit too human centered, but still it is a fresh and innovative universe in the stagnant SF scene, or to be more precise, ME is more realistic than Star Trek or Star Wars.

[@addisonwelsh]

@@rohenthar8449 To be fare, Star Trek and Star Wars aren’t really trying to be realistic. Neither is Mass Effect really.

[@LookHereMars]

Well said you know your lore. I think what shook the Council up so much about Humans was just how seriously the Turians reacted, from what was essentially a first contact skirmish the Turians began gearing for all out War. This would have indicated to the Council that this new race was very militarilly capable. And Indeed Humanity proved to be a very versatile and adaptive, deadly enemy and one to be taken seriously. The fact that the Council chose to intervene to stop the conflict from escalating instead of letting the Turians handle the fight is very telling. I feel that aside from wishing to maintain peace that in part the decision was made also out of a feeling of intimidation and the unknown. For the Turians fighting Humans, aside from being an honourable challenge it must have been a big wake up call, as no race since the Krogans have been able to stand toe to toe with them. The fact that Humans were able to inflict slighlty more Turian casualties and throw them off Shanxi is remarkable and must of partly stunned and ultimately shocked the Turians into full mobilisation. Humans are quite possibly the most adaptive and versatile race within the Mass Effect Universe. Within decades they obtained politically and militarily in Citadel Space what took many other races centuries to achieve, some of which still await admition or a place on the council. The Batarians being one such race who in protest of Humanties fast track and special considerations left the Citadel alliance. Humans after fighting the Turians rapidly incorporated that valuable experience when fighting the Batarians in the first Skyllian War. For the Council Humanity was simply beyond the point of being controlled, too ambitious with the need, resources and want to expand full spectrum. All the council can really do is attempt to contain Humanity but ultimately must appease it to equal terms to their own. Essentially Humanity is just too effective and efficient to not be one of the leading races. Humanity has the potential in rapid time to eclispe the civilisations of the Turians, Asari and Salarians.

[@LeadMetal82]

I love how humans are treated as equal military wise compared to other races in this series

[@xeonespydonum4995]

I wonder if it's because Mars was the Prothean equivalent of DARPA from what we've seen.

[@ZurielWraithblades]

Umm thats because within less than one generation out into the stars, they were keeping up in a War with the greatest military of the galaxy. And humans werent yet equipped with tech most of the other races had, humans were behind them...yet still kept up. SO yes, arm humanity and you got another super military power on your hands.

[@LeadMetal82]

@@ZurielWraithblades I'm just saying, most stories I've read about humanity's first contact with extraterrestrial always depict humans as extremely inferior species, to the point they are considered backwater when compared to other races. Even HALO did this to an extent. In Mass Effect, humanity, even though were still inferior to an extent, weren't vastly outclassed, and were even able to go toe to toe with other races at the early stages.

[@lastmanstanding7155]

@@LeadMetal82 Shows that even if you have the best guns they can never outmatch the best tactics.

[@ChiefCrewin]

​@@LeadMetal82I mean that's because they discovered the Mars archives, which is the exact same technology the rest of the galaxy uses. So, while not identical, the weapons would be close enough to allow humans to be victorious.

[@AuroraAustralis_]

Turian Hierarchy: "We've defeated the humans and taken their homeworld. That will show them for violating Council Laws!" The Alliance 2nd Fleet: *"I DIDN’T HEAR NO BELL."*

[@samaritan_sys]

'The First Contact War', otherwise known as "Why the Terra Firma Party did nothing wrong".

[@jcaliberty8288]

Terrance Firma 4 life

[@Huczek141]

Humans need to expand their influence and technology. Staying on Earth means we are easy prey for the Council or Batarians.

[@basedkaiser5352]

@@Huczek141 we aren’t though. We have colonies on Eden Prime, Elysium, Horizon and so many more planets. Our species is growing in the ME universe and I think there will be a massive baby boom after the war with the reapers.

[@Exodon2020]

Fucking idiots protested against Aliens on human planets on the Citadel... ON THE FUCKING CITADEL! And their leader went to prison over tax evasion. They did virtually everything wrong...

[@accidentalmadness1708]

@@basedkaiser5352 humanities colonies get massacred every week so those barely count. That being said you’re 100% right about that baby boom. When mass effect 4 (yay) comes out humanity is probably gonna control whole planets instead of small colonies.

[@ImStillWoody]

I would love to see a First Contact War Game!

[@floatinggoose9197]

"Turians Vs. Humans - Colonial Marines" It would be a disaster like that Alien game

[@DuelyusSeazer]

Amazon/Netflix funded TV series would be good too

[@robpatterson3133]

Yes yes an yes . rakni war as well i bet that would be awesome

[@marcusblackwell2372]

I think it'd work better as a DLC

[@floatinggoose9197]

@@marcusblackwell2372 There, agreed. Perfect idea. Let's make sure they can even DO ME4 right, before we worry about story. Andromeda did NOT have a terrible story. It was the voice actors, paired down combat, bugs, pacing and design that made the game terrible IMO. If they cannot capture the immersion and consequential decision making of the first 3 games, with recognized and skilled voice actors, I don't care about the story. I don't want it

[@HauntrAndrw]

Criminally underrated content. I loved this man, great work! I know Mass Effect doesn't pull much in views but I'd love another video exploring events to other factions in the lore like the Geth vs Quarian conflict or the rise of Cerberus.

[@WiseFish]

I was thinking of doing one on the illusive man and Cerberus! Really interesting stuff

[@caelestigladii]

First contact with hivemind civilization: Turians: FIRE!!!! They were lucky humanity wasn't another hive mind.

[@bucky699]

Mass effect should have been the modern star wars, but for some reason aside from the games the rest of the franchise just didn't take off. Love to see more lore vids. Heres hoping a decent studio picks up the rights to a TV show or movie.

[@lavellelee5734]

Give me your energy like a spirit bomb, so I can make that happen 🤣

[@BogeyTheBear]

"We want to make a Mass Effect show, but we don't have the rights to the franchise." "We _do_ have Star Trek, however." "Star Trek is nothing like Mass Effect!" "It is-- _now."_

[@tacocat4252]

Tbh mass effect, while popular, never really had the numbers to make large scale shows. The total sales for the entire trilogy came out to about 14 million worldwide, with 8 million or so for legendary edition later. Compare that to something like call of duty 4 which sold 19 million on its own in 2007 (about the time of ME1). Now add the controversy that many fans were angry with BioWare for me3 and the flop of andromeda, most studios probably aren’t willing to risk a big show for it. Plus the main draw of the game is Shepard and being able to make impactful choices, neither of which can be done in a show or movie (at least not without impacting the lore of Shepard at minimum). They did some online comics but those just don’t have the pull they used to

[@romic8427]

Mass Effect becoming more like Star Wars is what ruined the trilogy and gave us shit games like ME2 and ME3

[@LuizAlexPhoenix]

Kinda hard to create a branching path history and then turn it into another media. The comics already suffered because they had to determine which choices were canon, like Udina becoming the human councilor (fuck that). That would also become an issue as the series grew, even small things like sparing a group or another. Star Wars was easily digestable, watch 6 hours and you see the core of it. Mass Effect and games in general require people to actually sit down and play or watch someone play for several hours. By ME3 they already had to cut off branches, while others never grew very much. ME3 basically assumed you saved nearly everyone, chose Udina and was fairly Paragon. Even if you killed or lost a bunch of people, the plot required them so you got bootleg versions of them, which meant you just got the less charismatic and less capable versions, making it less fun and feeling like a punishment. Things like replacement Tali and Kirhahee, both of them meant you had to play the same missions but locked out of the best outcome. Meanwhile the spared Rachni Queen was only there to negate a malus, you still had to kill the Rachni for the best result or sacrifice an equaly worth krogan unit that you got by helping Grunt. Trying to build a whole universe would bring even more conflicts. I doubt both Greeks and Trojans would be pleased. Since the fanbase isn't even that big it could splinter it forever, sort of like a big buggy mess of a cheap continuation outside of the main story's scop... Oh, yeah...

[@harambememorialpage]

8:49 I just love how humanity was like “I know where this is going..” and clapped their cheeks almost immediately.

[@CommissarMannimarco]

Imagine if it was the warhammer40k humans they encounterd at the start of the great Crusade

[@Jdne199311]

Do you want a War or a Slaughter, because that is how you get a Slaughter.

[@durrangodsgrief6503]

@@Jdne199311 it wouldn't have been a slaughter no word in any human, alien or a.i languages could have described what it was

[@bencegergohocz5988]

The imperium vs reaper war would be intresting tho.

[@soap9277]

Foul xenos... Ashley Williams would have fit right in

[@CantRead1]

​@@soap9277not really because she isn't a racist. That's like saying Tali fits right in because she hated the Geth and took part in the genocide.

[@Wulfdane]

Fortunately for humans, the Citadel Council disapproved of the initial agression by the Taurians - they felt it was a diplomatic failure. But in the end Taurians and Humans do become friendly, unfortunately there are nuclear fusion bombs floating around Taurian space that have yet to be admitted to and could pose a future diplomatic disaster.

[@tristanbackup2536]

You disable two if I remember.

[@NightBane345]

Mass Effect is such a super interesting universe, because if a Mass Relay hadn't been discovered for lets say, 400 more years, or even less, and reapers ignoring us, because not that advanced. The massive advantage of time humans would have in next cycle would be so immense. Could be an interesting setting for sure

[@JokerJay1990]

Hopefully you make more videos on mass effect lore, because this is exactly the kind of info I want to learn. I'm playing through mass effect legandary edition for the first time I'm on the 2nd game and am having a blast. So any lore that doesn't spoil anything has me liking and subscribing. Also great video.

[@WiseFish]

I definitely got more to come and dw it’ll all be stories that are outside of the game so it doesn’t ruin the experience

[@Phoros]

"The Turians are a strong warrior race" and other lies they tell themselves

[@cosmictreason2242]

L ao

[@MIKEREW]

This one is so fricking good dude! Thanks for another fantastic video!

[@WiseFish]

Thanks for watching as always man! Really appreciate it :)

[@MIKEREW]

@@WiseFish As always man!

[@Dak87]

"We might not fire the first shot, but we will fire the last"-Zachary Hudson

[@astroroyal3903]

I know it's fiction but it's inspiring to hear when we humans are met with a threat that could threaten our existence we fight back harder and unite together. And more we are pushed to the ground the harder we resist and stand up, we will not go silently into the dark and we will not kneel to perish.

[@anormalhuman266]

Literally everyone: Slapping and kicking each other, autistic screaming Aliens: Bonjour Humans: Slow head turn Aliens: Why am I hearing boss music?

[@N3Rd32]

Mass effect is from an era of games we will likely never see again. Movies, games, TV all became burning trash fire over the last 6 years.

[@Th4tOn36uy]

I find it funny, if im remembering right, the turians trying to downplay the First Contact War as the Relay 314 INCIDENT like they’re trying to save face

[@ishouldgetalif3]

Turians: blows up some human ships Humanity: SPACE PEARL HARBOR IT IS *send's probes with nukes strapped to them*

[@Jfieldsend94]

Bioware and EA really missed an opportunity in releasing more games around other parts of the Mass Effect universe. They could release multiple, smaller games with varying genres. Like I'd love a First Contact War FPS, or something around the Rachni wars and Krogan rebellions.

[@stoneheart7628]

Unfortunately for bioware EA only cared about money 💰 even if it means fucking over the consumer as often they they want

[@Jaceblue04]

I feel like the Turians violated rules of engagement by opening fire on the human survey fleet. Activating dormant mass relays is dangerous because no one knows what's on the other side and the last time someone activated a dormant relay, it led to a massive war; if the Turians had gone on an open channel and explained that, any and all bloodshed probably would've been avoided. Then again, it's debatable if the military-entertainment complex has EVER paid attention to rules of engagement.

[@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong]

"Wow, these aliens didn't follow our human rules of engagement, which are clearly universal because we, humans, wrote them and therefore every sentient race must have the exact same rules."

[@blacksuite1]

I dont think humanity or the citadel races knew of each other till the first contact war.

[@WiseFish]

No they didn’t

[@jamiemiller1482]

This explains well why so many Turians are hostile to humanity, it’s not the fact that we’re upstarts or dangerous it’s the fact that we humiliated them, A far technologically superior race humiliated by what must seem like caveman to them

[@AHart7853]

Turian meeting a human first time: what’s a primate gonna do about it? Human: f#@& around and find out… Turian:Nani!? Human:apes. Together. Strong!

[@addisonwelsh]

The lore kinda flip flops on this. One codex entry says they respect us for being able to beat them, but another says they’re still angry over the war. Saren and his brother hated us because they were Turian supremacists that later got indoctrinated. It’s also worth noting that Turians are just kinda grumpy in general.

[@Mr808pocho]

All I know is Garrus is my homie from day one. I made sure to do whatever I could to keep him alive.

[@MrTylerStricker]

The writing for the original ME trilogy really is very nuanced, well fleshed out & is a masterclass in character development. I love going back & playing any of these games & I'm always impressed at how well they hold up...10 to 15 years AFTER they were released!

[@thetayz72]

1:19 I didn't know the Oblivion guards fought in the First Contact War. Akatosh, give them rest 🙏

[@z0ro_62]

For what I read and remember once they took the planet from humanity the thought it was over right before a human fleet arrived wiped out the attacking force which then made them start fully mobilizing

[@precious2060]

I've played ME trilogy several times already but wasn't able to read the codex, books or comics. I know about the first contact war but not as much what you have shown in this vid. Also your voice is so relaxing, I hope more ME lore videos will be coming soon. Subbed.

[@WiseFish]

Thanks very much!! Dw I got more coming I think my next one will be on The Illusive Man & Cerberus

[@x0lopossum]

6:30 Proto Mass Effect is so interesting. 11:40 The first contact war is such a good piece of lore.

[@Viper631]

If they could make a game based on the humans finding the relay and the first contact war that would be awesome

[@LookHereMars]

That is what Andromeda should have been imo. They should have made a prequel where we see the first contact War, Humanity entering into Citadel Space and the Skyllian Blitz between Humanity and the Batarians. Could have played as a young Shepard and witnessed his earlier years and military progression into N7 Special Forces. The original lore was and is all already written, they only needed to adapt it.

[@diegochavez1286]

I love how Humans are seen as the newcommers but also the bullies of the galaxy instead of a lower and weaker race.

[@MrSlug-ki9jl]

I always chose to be racist towards the Batarians.

[@ShortArmOfGod]

Hell yeah brother.

[@ryanhannapel1830]

To many eyes right?

[@_r4x4]

@@ryanhannapel1830 Yes, you can't trust someone when you can't look into all of his eyes at once.

[@blakecampbell-taylor2865]

This would be a good time period to set things in if we ever get a Mass Effect TV show

[@TheGypsyTurtle]

I really wish someone would cover a full scale war between the alliance and the batarians

[@stavroskoul732]

Damn i thought most humans eould be wiped out. Didnt know humanity was so strong even though they were relatively "new" to the galaxy

[@richbattaglia5350]

Imagine stepping on the toes of the largest fleet commanded species in the galaxy. Beating back their forces, and then before a full scale war is unleashed, getting saved through diplomacy because it was all a misunderstanding. Lucky.

[@dr.veronica6155]

The turians tried their best to make humanity out to be the bad guys in the conflict, despite the turians themselves launching a surprise attack and murdering thousands of humans over a law humans had no way of knowing existed, both because they needed to save face in front of the other Citadel races and not look like the impulsive children they were being, and also because they'd suffered significant emotional damage upon realizing that humanity was *at least* as good as them at war, despite the turians themselves being basically the ones in the Council that wore the military hat and were supposed to be the best and most refined warriors in the galaxy. It's pretty embarrassing to think you wiped out the entire human fleet only to have am even bigger fleet show up and wipe out your entire occupation force. That's a big part of why none of the Council races really like humans. The turians wear the military hat, the salarians wear the technology and espionage hat, and the asari wear the diplomacy hat, and yet humans came in and proved themselves at least as capable at all of those things as the Council specialists. Hell, humanity is the one that invented quantum entanglement communication in Mass Effect, something none or the other races had seemingly even considered.

[@BuggingonBeeroids]

I now have alot more sympathy for Ashley. Damn, didn't think I'd ever say that

[@jcaliberty8288]

Ashley made good points

[@mattwho81]

The Turians were at the most extreme edge of their supply lines and only brought a patrol fleet. The Humans were near to home and brought their entire fleet. Had it comes to full war there was no way the humans could have withstood a fully mobilised Turian Hierarchy. Still in the brief window of the conflict humans impressed many races with their courage, tenacity inventiveness and innovative use of fighter tactics

[@janvesely1087]

My dumbass heard Shanxi and thought the turians actually bombed China 💀

[@SA-mo3hq]

Human: PUSH BUTAN Turian: Hey, don't touch that. Human: PUSH BUTAN Turian: No, seriously, don't touch that Human: PUSH BUTAN Turian: RIGHT TIME FOR YOUR SPANKING

[@kieranh2005]

Button

[@akramgimmini8165]

Good video as always I'm hyped for the Next Video 👌

[@WiseFish]

Thanks again for watching!! Not sure what to cover next but excited to make it :)

[@akramgimmini8165]

@@WiseFish I would suggest to make a video about Fallout again (maybe about the Factions NCR, Legion, Kings etc.)

[@shanevan413]

Humanity was trying to activate a relay into unknown space the council deemed dangerous and so a Turian patrol who found them attacked them. The Turians didn't just find humans and be like "we don't like these noobs, let's kill them".

[@youraveragescotsman7119]

Humanity had no knowledge of the Council or its laws at the time. Hell, this was the FIRST race they had encountered out in space and it welcomed them with a broadside. Had the Turians, who would have known that this was a new species, opened comms and told them what they were doing was illegal, then maybe Humanity would've stopped before the First Contact War kicked off.

[@gavynhohon2818]

A mass effect game set during the first contact war would be a cool idea.

[@geoxev9423]

You do some really good work. I enjoyed your previous videos and I hope you get more traffic on your channel. 😀

[@WiseFish]

Thank you!! I appreciate the view and comment. Plenty more videos to come soon :)

[@anderporascu5026]

The Elder Scrolls depth of lore in a scifi is what Mass Effect is. Hands down. We have Imperial Knowledge for anything lore centered in the Elder Scrolls universe. We have Wisefish for anything lore centered in the Mass Effect universe.

[@screwyoutube-ed9jx]

ive yet to see a space setting where humanity hating aliens isnt justified

[@MightyJohnSmith]

This was good, I really hope you do more mass effect lore vids.

[@rawrdino7046]

Honestly I won't be surprised if this is how our first encounter with aliens go

[@Starcraftgamer97]

The Turians touched the Alliance Boats and found out the hard way

[@zachall101]

I always wonder what would have happened if it had been the Krogen that we had first met

[@ooshiemama1869]

Dang this was video was really well done and interesting, very surprised it doesn't have thousands of views and like I guess

[@WiseFish]

Thanks dude! Hopefully more people get to see it but for now I’m grateful for your view :)

[@ryanlaurie8733]

To be blunt This was a blunder of astronomical proportions on the turian's part. A situation that could have been resolved with a diplomatic mission became a blood bath because the turians were allowed to run wild as the "muscle" of the council races. They saw a technologically inferior foe and decided to kill a bunch of people over a law they couldn't have possibly known about. Imagine if the Turians had miscalculated... And started a war with a strong race because of a random attack like that. More than being unethical, it was irresponsible.

[@enditakamweneshe6428]

I love how the developers synced our real world space venturing events like SpaceX and landing on the moon with the events of Mass Effect.

[@Ajc-ni3xn]

tbh id love to see a humanity that allies itself with the krogan, both are impulsive, both value constant rapid movement forward, and both have beef with the turians

[@inohalajian4151]

Alliance Navy/Marines 😂 Best quote they should use is A Dead Bug Is A Good Bug Starship Trooper movie

[@ethanpechersky641]

Fantastic video man! Definitely looking forward to more ME lore from you

[@gtaakuma4514]

I think that it's incredible that humanity held its own against the turians. They have had thousands of years to research new tech and the humans who were complete beginners to space fought back and even won battles

[@alistairbolden6340]

Is really not clear what happened at the relay during that first Turian attack, the Turians claimed that they did attempt contact before opening fire but that the human ship simply lacked the tech to pick up their communication attempts. Humanity came out of it looking both stupid and overly aggressive.

[@jay-1800]

It worked out for them in the end though. Even before the reapers invaded humanity was becoming fully on par with the other council races

[@Ghosthackable]

it's a mystery where Relay 314 leads actually cause it was never activated because of the Rachni war

[@WiseFish]

Very true it just says unexplored space so I’d love to know what is through there!

[@Ghosthackable]

@@WiseFish Humans themselves was in one of these unexplored space so maybe another home world to another race. The main reason the citadel races never bother humans was also cause they never encounter any until the run in at Relay 314.

[@WiseFish]

Another race would be so cool honestly. There’s so much they could do with this area I reckon especially if the new game takes us back to the Milky Way galaxy

[@Cailus3542]

The Reapers might activate the relay, I suppose, during the war.

[@Blox117]

it actually leads to your moms house. plenty of people have already activated it

[@TheMinuteman]

Turian captain opening fire on the first human vessel: “does anyone else hear music playing?”

[@editorrbr2107]

This is great content man. Hope your channel blows up. Subbed

[@whatthehellisayoutube6010]

When you read the whole codex.

[@AlexS-oj8qf]

The Turians are like those newcomers who tries to show who’s boss and abuse the little authority they’re given.

[@icywolf6892]

Awesome edits on Forge Labs’s most recent video! I really love the part where the dragon died in one hit 😂

[@thecursed01]

Tl:dr: "Jo" " 'sup?" "Wanna fight?" "Sure"

[@emilysmite9356]

Turians found out :] Communication is key and they chose to attack right off rip.

[@JACCO20082012]

My one hang up on the whole mass effect backstory is that from activating the Charon relay to the end of mass effect 3 only like 35 years have passed. Almost everyone in the game was alive BEFORE humans even left the solar system and yet they interact and integrate with other aliens like it's nothing. I mean the footprint humanity has on the citadel alone is huge. It took Jamestown almost 50 years just to stabilize enough to be considered a permanent colony because of the challenges of learning to live and settle an untamed land and dealing with both hostile and nonhostile Indians. Mass effect should be taking place 200 years after first contact with the way humanity is presented as seamlessly integrated into galactic society.

[@popeyestheclown3292]

Great work man, keep up the content.

[@WiseFish]

Thanks dude really appreciate it :)

[@Mark-xh8md]

This is your friendly reminder that there is only one kind of good Batarian, and it's the kind which I don't think KZbin will allow me to point out.

[@KIRA-EL]

Turians just hit humanity for being curious and expected us not to throw hands......And we're the bad guys?

[@Horny_Fruit_Flies]

No? Almost nobody in the games thought the humans were the bad guys... the turians paid reparations

[@mivapusa]

Most unrealistic part is the lack of IEDs and homemade chlorine gas

[@lauraschlieselhuber8487]

10:56 wasn't he her great grandpa ?

[@efxnews4776]

C'mon buddy, you didn't even talk about Garrus Vakarian! Coolest turian of all, mankind the first alien foe was the turian, at the end of the game, the best friend of Shepard is Garrus, a turian! "Theres no Shepard without Garrus"

[@WiseFish]

Because they weren't around during this haha but yeah Garrus is the coolest and thanks to Shepard and Garrus I think that helped the Turian/Human relations. Beautiful friendship ngl

[@harambememorialpage]

Trigger happy turien: starts war, universe: dam humanity!

[@JayEm1325]

Human version: First Contact War Turian version: Police brutality coming up

[@harambememorialpage]

11:38 humanity would win a all out war if no one interferes.. hell if we found the krogan we’d be best friends who’d help them try to cure them.

[@TheGypsyTurtle]

Humanity would get wrecked.

[@TheGypsyTurtle]

The only ones they’d stand a chance against is the batarians

[@harambememorialpage]

The turiens alone with no interference from the council would be smacked like I previously mentioned.

[@Kenneth_A_H]

A game set in this time period would be fun!