Mass Effect - What IF The Council had Backed Shepard COMPLETELY?

So in todays Mass Effect Legendary Edition video, i want to discuss a huge question that alot of fans in the community have been asking. And that is "what would have happened if the Council actually supported Shepard completely" in Mass Effect 1?
These are just my own theories & opinions.
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[@elijahtiemens5532]

Ashley was right about the council in ME1. “When their backs are against the wall, they’ll abandon us.”

[@__last]

Ah xenophobe Ash we have dismissed that claim

[@xRevanchist]

Yup, the only ones that didn't were the Turians and that was just BECAUSE they were under attack too :D

[@WhyTestify1]

@@__last ok commie

[@Jedi_Spartan]

Didn't Ashley also reference using helmet cams as evidence (why does nobody ever do that in Sci-fi?).

[@razer666L]

@@__last ME1 Garrus is actually more xenophobic than Ashley, you know? A casually xenophobe one at that.

[@gamingloser5909]

It really annoys me that even if the original Council survives they still don't believe the Reapers exist despite seeing Sovereign

[@MrHulthen]

I know right? 😂

[@Dark_Voice]

Tbh, its just the typical sign of bad writing - if you wanna have someone appear smart AND you dont know how to do it - make everyone else stupid moronic idiotic brainless ignorant so that your average smart person seems like a genius. In ME2 Citadel Council and Alliance got the short end of the stick because the writers had "best possible idea" about introducing Cerberus and trying to paint them as ambiguous. They killed Shepard, destroyed Liara's personality, ruined development of Garrus, totally trashed the council and everything JUST SO they can introduce grey Cerberus BUT in ME3 they threw that away and made them again a comical mustache villains that have power to control pretty much every significant center of the galaxy only failing to take the Citadel. Also, I kinda understand the council and I actually agree with them because Sovereign's existence doesnt prove Reaper invasion is coming AND Shepard's disappearence and reappearance with terrorist organisation is kinda black dot on his/her reputation. Tbf - I wouldnt trust Shepard IRL at all. We see things from Shepard's POV but from Council's POV - Shepard's a lunatic that insists that devil is coming to conquer Middle East and only if USA sends an army to Russia to whipe their forward operating base in Moscow and their secondary base in Beijing you can stop The Devil from taking over (imagine if you heard someone saying this) They cannot act based on one ship appearing to be much higher tech than anything and based on one opinion of a specter that managed to established followship and some sort of cult that believes that Reapers are coming to bring the end of all times, total apocalypse. Also, if you think about it - when I first played the game, i had Ashley and Kaidan with me on the Citadel and the Conduit made Kaidan (biotic) uncomfortable - did absolutely no asari ever pass around it? Or did all biotics just randomly think its their fault for feeling uneasy? - this is a sign that BW writes a story and never look back whether what they wrote make sense backwards. They only look forward and make things in the present have some references in the future BUT whether present is compatible or plausible with the past is something they obviously never thought about.

[@juzoli]

They DO believe it. They just publicly deny it. It is shown in the game. And it might annoy you, but it is quite realistic.

[@SkankHunt007]

They believed Sovereign to be one big “super ship” created by the Geth. Call it ignorance or naiveté. Either way that was just one ship. We have the info from our perspective, they don’t. It’s really not all that difficult to believe they’d be skeptical about the overall threat.

[@PragmaticOptimist_N7]

And what about Grayson... That seems to be a cover-up to me also so who was keeping them from delving further to investigate?

[@Jedi_Spartan]

Even though I'm fine with their standard reaction being one of the outcomes for Mass Effect 2 but I wish that after seeing a Reaper attack the Citadel that they'd stop being an echo chamber and have at least one councillor back him. For example: if the Council is saved and Anderson becomes the Human Councillor, by the time of ME2, have him and the Salarian Councillor enter into a political alliance. Maybe even keep the "Ah yes, Reapers" scene the same but as a facade in the Salarian's case to avoid losing influence with the ones willing to bury their heads in the sand. Then have him and Anderson explain the situation to Shepard by referencing that the Salarians are publicly helping rebuild the Systems Alliance Fleets (perhaps getting more War Assets in ME3) but all they can do to tackle the Collector threat is covertly send in undercover STG teams and stealth ships to monitor sightings of Collectors as direct action would only risk a war with the Terminus Systems that would make it even easier for the Collectors to attack colonies unnoticed.

[@thearisen7301]

The Asari secretly supporting Shep could make some sense given they have a beacon.

[@JnEricsonx]

Irony is that the Turian councilor is voice by Alaistair Duncan-from the Mordor games, and if you ever saw Split Second-Dick Durkin. Seeing a a Reaper should have made him go "That was a fucking IT! We need bigger guns!"

[@Jedi_Spartan]

@@thearisen7301 well the main reason I went for the Salarian Councillor because when presented with the evidence, he says "I'm more interested in these Reapers" only to do a full 180 later on.

[@Unknownusername1004]

@@Jedi_Spartan could've had a lot of implications with the krogan-turian mission and the genophage conversation

[@JokeCubed]

That would be really cool. Would've made a lot of sense, especially since in ME 3 you meet that Salarian Spectre who is after Kasumi and he basically says "Hey, I believed you from the start. We're not all idiots." So it would've been cool to see that the Salarians were cooking something up to deal with the reapers the entire time. On the whole, of the three council races, the Salarians seem most inclined to believe you.

[@thearisen7301]

Even if they conclude Soveriegn was a Geth dreadnought (I want to see their evidence to be so convinced) that would still mean the Geth built a ship far more powerful & capable than an Council race ship. That alone should of kicked off an arms race and lead to things like the repeal of the Treaty of Farfaxin (Mass Effect's version of the London naval treaty that limits Dreadnought numbers) The benchmark for new ships would be to match or surpass Soveriegn's estimated capabilities. I mean, the Alliance cruisers were unable to destroy Sov. on their own and were destroyed by Sov. quite easily so that'd cause a huge revaluation of ship capabilities. Not just Thanix cannons but larger drive cores, shields designed to counter Reaper weapons, etc.

[@juzoli]

The Citadel archive proves that they knew it was not a Geth dreadnought.

[@Jedi_Spartan]

@@juzoli and yet they do sweet fuck all regardless. The ending of the first game should have acted as a wakeup call to the Council that their navies no longer had the strongest ships in the galaxy and the Fleets stationed at the Citadel were able to be overrun.

[@juzoli]

@@Jedi_Spartan Both of them are stupid indeed. I just say there is a big difference between rejecting the truth, or ignoring it. The results might be the same, but the later is much more realistic, and the motivations can be understood. Honestly, Shepard’s evidence is enough to warrant further investigations, but not enough to accept it as a fact. So even if the Council takes it seriously, they can’t persuade their governments, and all their people. And without that, people won’t just give up their life, pay 90% taxes, and build only warships and weapons. So they felt powerless, and therefore chose to ignore it, as they couldn’t do anything. To accept the coming invasion as a fact, they needed 2 things: - Find the Reaper fleet in dark space, and confirm that there are indeed thousands of them - Negotiate with Reapers, and confirm their motivations At least the first one is pretty much impossible… And in the end, it would be irrelevant anyway. Even with 10x as many warships, the Reapers would easily win anyway…

[@thearisen7301]

@@juzoli Oh I know but Shep & Anderson give up on pressing them way too easily.

[@omegaman7377]

@@thearisen7301 Well, they were pretty much acting like morons most of the time. Saren Arterius had a very special look with the piping all over his body. A witness can have a problem identifying a Turian. But not that Turian. If you read the novels, you learn the counsel is afraid like hell of the human. They think they have another potential Rachni situation. The survival of the humanity after the "first Contact War" was a big surprise for Counsel. They are just pretending to be friendly. Even as a Specter, Saren Arterius do not trust the Counsel to deal with the situation. The action of Saren his an act of desperation.

[@fox7rain495]

All of it would have been moot if Shepherd just wore a bodycam.

[@silverthehero1295]

Ah yes, Reapers. We have prepared for that threat. But seriously, Liara mentions the Cipher (or Javik’s presence) triggers the Thessia beacon. Maybe the asari couldn’t pull as much from it as they might have without a “prothean” present.

[@grantcawby7225]

So they wouldn't have been able to access the Thesia Beacon until after Shepard visits Feros or until the Alliance unearths Javik on Eden Prime, which might have happened earlier if the Asari councilor gave credibility to the notion that the beacon can give people information telepathically and credibility to Shepard in general.

[@nintendogamingchannel1007]

@@grantcawby7225 Agreed

[@Bateluer]

Thats a great point about the Asari counselor and the Thessia Beacon. Even if she doesn't reveal it in ME1, you'd think it'd . . . generate a response in the Thessian government's top levels.

[@FoolsGil]

2:16: The fact that a human dockworker knew the name of two turian secret agents should have been enough to justify an investigation right on the spot.

[@Davidofthelost]

Or at the very least pulled Saren back into the Citadel to wait and plead his case in person until the trial was fully closed instead of over a hologram. If he was proven guilty the first time then he’s just out there in space without a care in the world still.

[@Dafuqinator7]

One thing that annoyed me about the Council's dismissal of the dockworker was how nobody asked this: Just how did "one traumatized dockworker" know the name of and can accurately describe a Top Secret special agent who was supposedly never on Eden Prime? Or how his testimony would match Nihlus' remains of a single conventional mass driver shot to the back of the head, as opposed to exotic Geth weapon damage?

[@danielcooper3332]

I seem to remember hearing/reading somewhere in Mass Effect 2 that STG was investigating the missing colony disappearances plus the fact the Citadel archive in the DLC proved they knew Sovereign wasn't a Geth Dreadnought. It just seems so weird that the Council would bury their heads, especially the Salarians when it's stated multiple times they like to have an advantage on an enemy before a war even breaks out.

[@frankieseward8667]

I think if Shepard has been revived by the Council/ Salarian scientists, it would've been more sensible

[@__last]

There was a small conversation with the Turian councillor after the first meeting at Udinas Office in ME3 where Shepard says something along the lines of "I warned you this would happen" and the turian responds with "we can argue about that another time if you'd like" This is the closest we ever got to them actually acknowledging their mistakes.

[@tammykolu1242]

I mean shepards narcistism dont help

[@ryankohnenkamp8946]

Liara's "mind reading" doesn't seem to be unique to her, so why doesn't the Asari councilor (or some aide) use it to back Shepard after Tali's recording gives credibility to the threat? Yes, only Liara would know about Ilos and you would need the cypher (etc.) to truly understand it, but Liara understood some of it the first time (if you pick her up first).

[@Mr.Unfair]

Well shepard wasnt sure what to make of the vision b4 the cipher and b4 the mind meld thing, with liaras 50+ years of experience with prothean archeology. If the councilor had done it she probably wouldnt make sense of it either and if liara testified or something itd just be hearsay

[@onni4681]

I think something like this would happen given the council would have been a bit smarter. Then again, we wouldn't have the trilogy if that happened :D Great video!

[@e.q.s1137]

I agree

[@Perrocko]

What if we had the trilogy but the council backin up Shepard.. what a different story would that be

[@omegaman7377]

Secrets get lost sometime. Like the secret of the Apollo booster. The Asari on the counsel might learn the secret very late.

[@NostalgicGamerRickOShay]

More game time development and less political propaganda and this alternate idea present, we would have had a much much better Mass Effect 3.

[@Eldint123]

It was mentioned in ME3 that the Asari would have gotten into a lot of trouble for secretly hiding a prothean artifact from the other council races, to which may have been the source for them being as advanced as they were. I could see why playing along and denying the reapers as an Asari councilor makes sense.

[@williamkerfoot8039]

Except we don't know if Tevos was aware of said beacon from the start.

[@mujexzilla]

I have a better question for you: what IF humanity didn't discover the prothean ruins on Mars until AFTER the reapers invaded and wiped out everyone. I mean, they only harvest civilizations that "develop along the paths they desire" after all and without that technology humanity would of still been too primitive to harvest. Then when humanity did discover prothean technology in a freshly harvested galaxy, we would of have become the "new" protheans as the only advanced organic race left. Interesting question to pose me thinks.

[@maximoespinoza5200]

If we survive overpopulation remember the Drell

[@secretlythevillian8831]

There would have been some potentially violent meetings with Yahg. They are just entering into their space age at the time of the games. Having finally made a successful space ship. Still close to around 1960 era earth tech atm, but humans were able to jump up quickly after finding the archives.

[@Zombie0591]

In ME3 codex, there was a race listed, I don't recall their name, that were a new species. During the initial stages of the reaper invasion they destroyed their space capabilities and anything they put in orbit to try and be ignored by the reapers. I do not know of it worked or not but space faring may be advanced enough for harvest while being primitive enough for the reapers to not have to worry about the technological pathway.

[@omegaentertainment01]

@@Zombie0591 oh yeah, I think that was the Raloi.

[@christophermzdenek]

This is particularly pertinent when you recall that Sovereign was supposed to kick this off decades earlier. The Prothien reprogramming of the Keepers was the delay. I think if the Reapers had invaded while we were still bound to Luna and maybe the I.S.S, we would have been overlooked.

[@julia-6195]

On the old BSN back in 2012, after the EC came out, questions abounded about the "Refuse" ending - "They fought a terrible war so we didn't have to." According to Patrick Weekes, this meant that the next cycle found Liara's beacons, built the crucible and deployed it before the reapers invaded. As soon as they attacked, the crucible was activated and the war was over. So this isn't far fetched. You also neglected the Asari Councilor's ability to meld. I mean Liara melded with Shepard. Tevos was likely far stronger than Liara and could have made sense out of the vision. So it was "because reasons" - because if she did, there wouldn't have been a game.

[@CuteGallifreyian]

And then there is the fact that the Asari councilor could do the same thing as Liara and connect to Shepard's memories and see the vision for themself. I mean seriously....how dumb could you get. Unless she felt it was beneath her to do such a thing. Or maybe she knew very well about the Prothean beacon in the Temple of Athene. If that's the case then shame on the Asari, they had the knowledge and possibly were aware of the Reapers but figured they had plenty of time to act on it later.

[@Blazingstoke]

Given how secretive the asari are about that beacon, it seems likely that if Shepard did not kill Shiala on Feros, the asari government would have called her home to get the info from the beacon herself, while Shepard pursued Saren across the galaxy. And given that destroying the Alpha Relay would have only bought them about six months, it might not have been necessary if the crucible could be built in time. But all this is academic. Reaper artifacts are capable of indoctrination, and the Citadel is a Reaper artifact. Therefore, every government in every cycle was going to dismiss warnings about a coming Reaper invasion until it was too late, and impede efforts to fight back once it was.

[@jackcrook6330]

that's a good point but given the statements on indoctrination theory I doubt they had considered that either

[@danmarusan2878]

If the council listened to and believed Shepard back in ME 1 they would've allowed him to fly to Ilos and would've left the citadel in order to be out of danger. No dead council if the Destiny Ascencion gets destroyed, no sacrificed Alliance ships because there's no council present who needs to be saved. In Mass Effect 2 they would do what they did offically, but would prepare themselfes as good as possible secretly by analyzing parts of the Souveraign in order to find a weaknesses, developing more evective weapons and fill up supplies of their colonies, like Garrus did right before Mass Effect 3. In Mass Effect 3 they would act like they did in game: preparing themselfes for the arrival of the Reaper forces, but I think they would also send every engineer and scientist they can spare much earlier in order to start building the crucible. During Cerberus's coup attempt they would've ordered Ashley/Kaidan to lower her/his weapon and arrest Udina when he tries to open the door behind Shepard, which would lead to Ashley/Kaidan injure and arrest or simply kill Udina because he tries to resist. Shepard would be send to Thessia much earlier therefor beeing there before the Reapers and before Cerberus which means the Citadel beeing the Catalyst is revealed much earlier. I'm not entirely sure how this would affect the time for the final showdown between Cerberus and the Alliance but the rest of the story would be different. That's for sure.

[@Urubu_de_terno]

Funny how the Turian councilor is the first one to offer support meanwhile the Asari and Salarian buried their heads in the sand. Then after the coup attempt by Udina/Cerberus the Salarians help with 100% and the Asari with 90%. It takes the cure of the genofage, stopping the coup, ending the conflict between Quarians and Geth AND the almost certain fall of Thessia for the Asari councilor to tell Shepard about the beacon. The fallout of that whole fiasco would make great lore... The three stooges being questioned and eventually deposed after the shadow Liara leaks how their hesitation almost wiped out their races, the Volus and the Krogan getting a seat on the council, the Quarians and the Geth forming a joint embassy...

[@williamkerfoot8039]

It's highly probable that Tevos wasn't aware of the beacon until her government told her about it.

[@faunt07]

Asari counselor didn't really know about the prothean VI, because they were unable to use the beacon, she also didn't know about the reapers and as you may remember the asari were hiding their usage of prothean tech.

[@GOODYGOODGOOD789]

5:29 If the Asari councilor said the 3o words "I think you're right Shepard because of a Prothean beacon on the Asari homeworld but I need you to confirm it but going to my homeworld and seeing the beacon." millions of people would be alive.

[@yongelbang]

In ME1, the Asari councilor would have had to reveal knowledge of the Thessia artifact to the Turian and Salarian councilors on the spot in order to back Shepard and not be overruled by them. However, the political fallout of revealing the Asari's historical betrayal of the other races at that time would have been MASSIVE. The council races would have been deeply divided and the Turians and Salarians would have only been more skeptical of anything from the Asari-held Prothean VI because of the huge loss of trust in the Asari. Asari diplomacy is what holds the Council together as a political entity. Losing the trust that underpins that diplomacy would have been truly devastating as it undercuts the very foundations of galactic civilisation itself. We could definitely still have a Trilogy but it would require a LOT more diplomacy to put the council back together first so that efforts against the reapers could commence in earnest! (which we do in ME3 anyway)

[@bigj1905]

I think the Council couldn’t support Shepard for a variety of reasons (these are just a few): 1. As the game explains, the Council can’t act on the word of one person, even a Specter. That makes sense. No single person should hold that much sway and influence over the galaxy. That fundamentally goes against why the Council was created, to share power. 2. It’s implied in ME3 that the Asari weren’t fully capable of understanding the Beacon. This makes sense, as they would need the Cipher to understand it (which only Shepard and Saren had.) So even though it certainly benefited Asari society, it was more of a artifact than a database. They couldn’t just go up and ask questions like Shepard and Javik could. 3. Even if the Council agreed that the Reapers were real and were a threat, it’s unlikely the average citizen would agree, especially non-Human ones. Think about it: Some Human goes on a rant about how the galaxy needs to mobilize for war against an enemy that most people don’t even know about? A lot of people probably would’ve protested Galactic Mobilization Still, grounding Shepard in ME1 was stupid. Shepard isn’t subtle sure, but it’s stupid to think the Batarians would go to war because one Council ship entered the Terminus Systems. That’s like saying China would attack America because a FBI Agent was working in their borders.

[@razer666L]

There's also Shepard during ME2, a person who has been considered dead for the last two years and suddenly arrives with a known terrorist organization's (Cerberus) ship, with rumors that they are working with them. It's a wonder they don't throw Shepard into jail the moment they step off the ship. It makes sense the Council "dismisses" Shepard and downplays the Reaper threat mainly because of Shepard's ties with Cerberus. Due to that issue, they can't simply tell Shepard everything about what they've been doing for the past two years to prepare for the Reaper invasion. From the Council's POV, Shepard could be faked their own death and secretly joined Cerberus. Any information they give to Shepard, especially the ones related to them preparing for the Reapers, can become invaluable intel for Cerberus.

[@jillgrimwater3726]

There's a conversation between EDI and Liara on the Normandy that explains why Tevos (the asari councilor) didn't say anything about the "artifact" earlier. It happens right after Liara confronts Javik about the revelations learned on Thessia, and before Shepard talks to her when she's on the bed. In the conversation, EDI tells Liara that the reason Benezia kept the secret of the beacon from her was because keeping any Prothean knowledge secret is a severe criminal act in Council government. So if Tevos revealed the beacon, the other councilors would have possibly arrested her and anyone else who kept it secret. Or possibly even expelled her and the asari from the council

[@williamkerfoot8039]

I don't think Tevos was aware of the beacon until her government informed her of it.

[@arx3516]

I imagine all citadel races diverting almost all their resources into building an army of giant mechs, each having the shape of the species that built them. Imagine giant Krogan mechs headbutting reapers to death on Tuchanka or human mechs supplexing them on Earth!

[@ScottElwinSchneider]

...so Pacific Rim? 😆 lol

[@arx3516]

@@ScottElwinSchneider more like Getter Robo: lots of screaming, power of friendship, cosmic horrors, space-time distortions, planets cut in half and lots of dead reapers!

[@cacharadon7460]

2 points against your assertions about the Asari councilor. 1. Being the representative in the citadel council does not necessarily mean they are at the top of the Asari Matriarchy. They are just the ambassador of their species. Probably pretty high up in the ranks, but not necessarily at the top. And not necessarily privy to the true nature of the Thessia beacon 2. Shepard could access the VI in the beacon because of his experience in Eden Prime and the cipher given by the Thorian. I doubt such a cipher exists elsewhere in the galaxy or among the Asari or Benezia could have handed it to Saren from the get-go. Therefore it's unlikely the Asari even knew about the presence of the VI. Their advancements likely derived by reverse-engineering the most surface-level understandings of the beacon and getting that early leg up by coming across the citadel first. But I agree, if the Asari councilor backed Shepard, things might have turned out differently. But politicians are gonna politic. If she backed Shepard, how far can she push? Will the leaders on Thessia let the human specter access their most jealously guarded secret? After all the hullabaloo about the Eden prime beacon and the need to share Prothean discoveries with the entire galactic community? It would be a very dirty secret to air and would result in the Asari being alienated by the Salarians and Turians. The Asari councilor also depended a lot on the Turian councilor to make the hard calls. During cutscenes, she would always look at her Turian counterpart when the moment comes to make a decision. All in all, I wouldn't call it terrible writing, but BioWare could have seeded this plotline better, by having at least some people question the origin of Asari dominance during the first 2 games.

[@DS-wl5pk]

According to Andromeda, others knew about the Reapers long before Shepard brought it to the Council. It shouldn't have only been Shepard screaming at th council about the Reapers, that's the problem. Anyone and everyone that had any information should have come forward with renewed confidence that an N7, a spectre, was taking the threat serious and taking it to the council. Garrus' father took him serious and some from Palaven "helped". He shouldn't have been the only one tho

[@Adiddy927]

The benefactor knew long before Shepard

[@dreammirrorbrony1240]

At one point during me1, they mention their armor records all combat & activities they are engaged in for future analysis. This was a huge reveal(to me) as its basically EVIDENCE that could have been presented along side the testimony of the dock worker to support their claims.

[@snafubar1971]

I think the Reapers would keep sabotaging efforts and creating doubt and uncertainty so at best the fleets would be stronger and defense better coordinated. The attack would still come and most of the destruction would take place with help of the indoctrinated. Remember that the Prothian's fought for centuries and still lost... The only difference would be an already complete crucible and that also may have been sabotaged, maybe the delay and rush to build even helped prevent that from occurring. Just my opinion.

[@stormbridge]

But there was a big difference between the prothian cycle and this cycle. When the reapers attacked the Prothians they came right trough the Citadel Portal and killed their Citadel Council so the Prothians where divided right from the beginning. That was not the case with this cycle since the few surviving prothian scientists made sure that the reapers couldn't use the Citadel Portal like they normally do.

[@andrewbowser9326]

Also.. if they had believed shepherd from the start.. they could probably have found a way to counter indoctrination by the time they arrived

[@aleksamilosevic8792]

Not really. When protheans got attacked they got beaten by the entire Repear fleet.

[@Darkfiretiger]

The councilor wasn't the head of the Asari, she was their rep on the council, the same as a countries representatives on the UN council are not their leaders.

[@Unknownusername1004]

Even in udinas office when the turian councilor walks in he literally says I cant give you what you need but can tell you how to get it then tells you about the primarch for his species so I'm pretty sure you're spot on about them basically just being a galactic version of the UN

[@HunterX05]

"The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof" Yes... one traumatized dockworker whom NAMED SAREN WITHOUT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF, NOR REASON FOR ACCUSING OTHERWISE.

[@juzoli]

Except if somebody drops Saren’s name between the attack and his testimony. Which does happen in real life a lot.

[@Unknownusername1004]

@@juzoli he literally hears them talking before shooting him and saren name drops the council and nihlus. It would be enough to at least take it seriously and not just completely blow it off like they do

[@juzoli]

@@Unknownusername1004 That’s not enough to even suspend Saren. But even ignoring his testimony, it is stupid to stop investigating it after a mere few days. There is no reason to ever stop investigating it, even after the hearing.

[@afaruexxing7629]

Maybe it is because The Turian counsellor still hate humans because of the first contact war The Asari counsellor underestimate the situation and want to play save with supporting Turian decision. Because when decide, she always look at Turian Counsellor The Salarian only believe in what their discover and the didn't believe something exists that they cannot explain

[@scittw22]

I think full backing of the council may have backfired. A large, galaxy-wide preparation effort would have been more easily seen and therefore more easily sabotaged.

[@DarkPaladin300]

The bigger problem however would be Cerberus, the rogue paramilitary organisation that were connected to some of the side missions in ME1 and would become a bigger feature in the storylines in ME2 and 3. One does figure that they would have like a spy or hacked system that surveyed the councils one way or another via the Shadow Broker or other means to gain all the info regarding the Reapers.

[@Jaggling]

Something else that isn't picked up by most people, that there was a second witness to Saren being on Eden Prime, the male Scientist you meet in the camp where the Beacon was stored. That plot hole always bothered me.

[@Cwronaga216]

Even if they didn't believe him, preparing for the potential of a galactic threat is a logical choice just in case you are "wrong" especially after a direct attack on the seat of galactic power. So the council is just dumb.

[@TheHeroBleeder]

I'm just gonna say this what if the council was secretly backing Shepard the entire time after Mass effect 1 because they want to keep the galaxy safe by not shoving the galaxy into complete and utter chaos.

[@razer666L]

It makes sense the Citadel Council wants to keep panic levels low by downplaying the Reaper threat in public. Plus, one of the holograms in the Citadel Archive in _ME3: Citadel_ DLC that states about Sovereign isn't a geth ship implies that the Council, in the intervening time between ME1 and ME3, knew about the Reaper threat.

[@arcadeinvader8086]

That would be doing something and that's scary for the council

[@griffingower1883]

So you're saying that achieving peace between the quarians and the geth and curing the genophage would still be possible if the council listened to Shepard

[@domjackson1437]

The council overlooked the fact that the dock worker had stated that he saw 2 Turians on Eden Prime when there should've been only one which was Nihlus who was supposed to be there. They also overlooked how the dock worker knew Saren's name out of all the Turians that it could've been not to mention they NEVER asked who killed Nihlus nor how he got shot in the head from behind in the first place. They wanted to dismiss all claims to what happened as a human incident because they even said that it was humans who wanted to live their rather than humans just didn't have any other options but to live outside council space

[@TheAtheistRanger]

Even in Mass Effect 3,most of our favorite characters said the same thing..it is the Councils fault and I totally 100% agree. The 3 years that oringal Council spent denying the Reapers could have use to be better prepared and building the Crucible.

[@majora320]

The Asari councilor could have also used melding to see everything shephard did, it would have shown her everything the council needed to know.

[@GrindyVine]

One of the most interesting idea i had in mind is what if the first contact war isn't with turians? The premise of that war of course, mass effect game But humans first contact war against krogan? Batarians? Rachni? Geth? How would that change

[@jwho1234]

Pause let's take a moment to realize the Prothean beacon on thessia stated it couldn't divulge information about the catalyst until the crucible was completed. With that being said maybe there were other checkpoints that needed to be reached before it divulged information. Just a thought. Mind you as the dominant force in the galaxy in their time, the probably felt a divided galaxy would fair any better than they did. So for the Thessian VI to even divulge the information it did to Shepard maybe a species needed to have similar qualities as them. As far as the councilor goes, in truth throughout the whole series, (Andromeda included) never met a Councilor I would trust to represent me. However as far as the Asari councilor goes this particular sin may not be on her. Just because she knew about it doesn't mean she herself studied it there for her deliberations in regards to the reapers were not as informed as they could be. To be honest, while I personally would've looked into whatever I could in order to find out about the reapers (particularly after the FIRST assault on the citadel) i understand the skepticism of not believing a synthetic race capable of wiping out a civilization and then leaving no trace behind at all is hard to believe. IF you think of them as advanced organics. No matter how meticulous an organic life maybe no matter how long lived they are no one would put in that much effort. A machine would though and ultimately that's where the council failed. The Asari as a whole however should be booted from the council if not from citadel space entirely. Too many times have they been met with a challenge and failed. As the quote unquote most advanced species in the galaxy they failed at every trial. Shepard said it best in citadel expansion in ME3. They failed at the Rachni wars, they failed during the Krogan rebellion, they failed to broker peace before hostilities during the first contact War. They failed during the battle with Sovereign. The Asari have proved to me that they are not up to the task of leading themselves let alone others boot them. While individuals may be special, that is to be said about every race. In the only council race that lives up to its name generally are the salarians. So the common consensus is Asari, most advanced. Turian, strongest army. Salarians, the smartest species. (Corrct me if I'm wrong) The Turians may have the largest fleet in the galaxy but still weren't able to hold the reapers back lets say like the Krogan were. Let's also not forget the Turians couldn't finish of the Rachni either without the Krogan. He'll the Turians couldn't finish off the Krogan either without the Salarians. The Asari have a whole century to learn as much as they can and if you dedicated your life to learn the most knowledge possible then yes asari would be the most advanced race but ultimately they don't but the Salarians do. As a collective unit the salarians work towards being intelligent or at least the smartest person in the room. So in truth the most ideal council would probably a krogan salarian quarian Volus council. Krogen are for war, Quarians are just too resourceful to not be there, salrians for the advancements, and Volus for their financial capabilities.

[@PonzooonTheGreat]

To think that the entire galaxy would have been screwed if it wasn't for that one lazy dock worker on Eden Prime lol.

[@ooberguy12]

Great video! This one always interested me and how the higher ups of the Asari could have positively effected the story instead of forestalling the inevitable. Totally off topic, and maybe something I’d like to see discussed. What has been drifting in my mind for about a decade now is the connection between the Citadel and dark space. We all know (for the most part) all relays are part of a network that has an enter and exit relay. Don’t think we know if you fired through a relay without an end, though I can imagine this would be…somewhat problematic. ME1 states it is the back door for the reapers into the supposed seat of power of the Milky Way as the conduit was the back door from Ilos (thank you Protheans). Size wise, that is a very tiny relay, and where Ilos is a most likely a fraction of the distance, what/where is the other doorway within Dark Space the reapers use to access the citadel? We know in ME2 they were supposedly needing to use the relay in the Bahak system to access the Milky Way more efficiently, so no evidence points to they are (in turn) capable of zipping to any relay without using another connecting relay. We know that the citadel is mostly disguised and can send travelers deep into dark space, but something large enough would be required to send the traveler back into the Milky Way, right? So… what the heck is it? Just a slightly larger relay, floating in the middle of extragalactic nowhere?

[@Dark_Voice]

Its a plot hole - just like Omega-4 Relay - you dont see any Mass relay when you got through it, you just appear - How collector ships go to Omega-4 Relay? BW Writers: We didnt think that far ahead... (unless of course the Collector base is a relay itself)

[@ooberguy12]

@@Dark_Voice yeah, definitely right on that account. I agree with the ME2 situation. At least the ME1 scenario and turn into something xD

[@JakubWielkiMistrz]

Just like Ark

[@Fayheurblode]

@@Dark_Voice If i remember correctly the cinematic, when we arrive there is quite a debris field, and the angle allow for a relay to be on the part that is not shown, so i would just go with the thing we are told might be when you get the reaper ID : The relay engages a serie of protocols that allows for a more precise transfer to the target relay, and then after that, seeing how the collector ship is made, going through brute force through any debris that would come their way... Or indeed the collector base itself could be a relay

[@joshbrown5842]

Doesn’t the Catalyst or Star child also say that the crucible targets all synthetics (in the destroy ending) because the crucible wasn’t fully completed? So if they started it earlier it would mean that the geth wouldn’t be destroyed. But in this timeline that might not be a good thing since Shepard and co would probably never meet Legion cuz the circumstances of the collector attacks would be different and so finding “humanity” within the geth and thus a reason for peace probably wouldn’t happen.

[@thedroplett214]

most likely the galaxy would have listen to Liara's "father", and would have build mass relays themselves, while disableing the others. and also the citadel. and the reapers would have been denied the use of relays, while being welcomed with some big ass lasers.

[@02091992able]

The thing is if Saren were captured Reaper indoctrination would force Saren to commit suicide. Much like Rana Thanoptis if you don't kill her on Virmire which she commits suicide after being arrested for a bombing of an Asari research complex which killed not only researchers and innocent bystanders but military command personnel that were visiting the complex this happens during Mass Effect 3. Her drive for the attack was that she was foretold the ascension of the Asari and that anyone fighting the Reapers had to die. This was due to her role in researching Sovreign for Saren during the events of Mass Effect in which she became indoctrinated. However, this attack occurs even if you kill her just the mail message will not mention her name if she was killed instead it being a unnamed Asari.

[@BalsapphicVinegar]

So, forward warning means the Galaxy is taking the “you develop along the path [we Reapers] allow” and pulling a huge uno reverse card. They would be hard-pressed to subvert a preparing Galaxy. My money is waiting and stirring up conflict until the Galaxy is distracted by a war or starts to doubt the Reapers will ever come. I still think the Galaxy would be at at disadvantage due to the massive estimated number of Reapers.

[@hydra9627]

The thing is, it's realistic how they act because they're politicians. Why believe there's a bigger threat out there other than say, the Terminus gangs or the Batarians or the Krogan. The sheer fact that they don't believe Shepard shows the short sightedness and idiocy of politicians no matter what side of the spectrum they're on, but they still have a reason not to listen because the Reapers seem like a fairy tale to anyone outside the Normandy crew because nobody else has seen or heard of them. Maybe if the Shadow Broker stepped forward there would be a different outcome. Saren using the idea of Reapers to control the Geth makes sense if you look at it from their view compared to million year old AIs that destroyed an ancient race that ruled the galaxy. It's like us hearing someone say Aliens wiped out the Dinosaurs. This is why Mass Effect is so good because yes, they were wrong not to listen to Shepard, it makes sense as to why they didn't.

[@MatthiasPowerbomb]

In the scene where Shepard talks to the Council in ME2, you totally missed an opportunity to insert a Tobey Spider-Man "I missed the part where that's my problem" meme.

[@christophermzdenek]

My only opposition to this is that the "Device" data only seemed to be a very recent discovery at the Mars Beacon. On that note, though, why the heck wouldn't the Allience have transferred Shepard to Mars, as he is the only living person to have complete understanding of Prothien translation? Heck, even if he was there a month, he might have jumped Humanity's understanding ahead further than the previous 30 years of "start from scratch" they had been doing.

[@jacforceforever5606]

While the dock worker wouldn't be irrefutable proof, it should've at least be enough to bring in saren for questioning for multiple reasons. 1. Nihluis dropping his guard during a COMBAT MISSION would not happen around a stranger. 2. Why else would a DOCK WORKER on a FRINGE COLONY claim to see a trusted spectre kill another spectre during a geth attack. 3. Completely disregarding his claims due to "trauma" is a major mistake in any investigation.

[@mikeice38]

I believe one of the squadmates in the original Mass Effect was a historian books about the extinction event even before Humanity come in contact with alien races.

[@Dragon_Lair]

Liara also made it clear that her research was not taken seriously in academia due to her young (for asari) age.

[@mikeice38]

@@Dragon_Lair true but that means someone can put the blame squarely at the beautiful feet of the asari

[@Dragon_Lair]

@@mikeice38 I'm sure there are people who will do that. They are the single most advanced race in the galaxy, they are the diplomatic arm of the Citadel Council, and they are the ones who established the laws regarding Prothean artifacts being shared with all other council races all the while knowingly keeping their prothean artifacts secret from the others. The asari certainly can be blamed for a lot, but that blame is largely symptomatic of politicians having power the longest and refusing to give it up more than it is for them as a species. Especially since the vast majority of asari aren't aware about beacon.

[@mikeice38]

@@Dragon_Lair Ok I see point, I feel like politicians in the Mass Effect universe should be put on trial.

[@Dragon_Lair]

@@mikeice38 As Ashley puts it. "And that's why I hate politicians." Kaiden also makes a great point his bad experience with a turian helped him see that their are saints and jack butts in every species, and he would say it's a very human trait, except for them not being human.

[@guardiantree8879]

Even if the council believes you, I think ME1 goes pretty close to the same except that the Citadel is more well defended. For ME2, I think you’d still fight the collectors. However I’m uncertain if Shepard still pulls a lazuras & if Liara goes down the same path. You’d probably also drum up more political power for the coming war. I think this would also be about the time the Crucible is discovered. The Alliance might take control of the Collector base. The Battarian Relay still gets destroyed but Shepard wouldn’t be imprisoned for it. ME3: I think curing the Krogan & settling the Geth Quarian dispute would occur before the Reaper invasion. Potentially the fight with Cerebrus as well. The rest of ME3 would focus on getting the rest of the galaxy ready to fight, finishing the crucible and fighting the Reapers potentially without needing the crucible. Mass Effect Andromeda: The Arks get even more funding and is probably upscaled considerably. That’s right, Hanar, Quarians & Geth in Andromeda let’s go!

[@Luxia-f1e]

my one problem is that it requires the asari councilor to believe that the beacon on Thessia was relevant to shepard’s claim *and* urgent *and* couldnt be unlocked by the Asari they were already studying that exact beacon, and its revealed exactly how much of a foux pax it is to not reveal a beacon when found. its be diplomatic suicide for the Asari nation I believe the earliest she could realistically be convinced is ME2, if shepard just recorded his interaction with Harbinger at any point. Honestly if Shep wore a body cam the council would probably back him so fast

[@shadowforgedgamerz520]

I wouldn't be surprised if I were to find out that some Universities have actual CLASSES to debate the Mass Effect Trilogy on all various aspects and degrees including "what if" scenarios to change up the canon storylines! lol

[@Adiddy927]

The prothean beacon was the asari edge and they will never give up their most advance race in the galaxy status

[@SalinaMoonfall]

It's a council that has held a monopoly on galactic control, having that challenged put them straight into damage control mode to make sure the galaxy didn't fall into panic and given it was their sluggish response that helped enable the initial attack they chose to double down on their initial denial in order to avoid culpability. Even though 1) the galaxy should have been panicking and starting to prepare for the invasion and 2) they did shoulder a large bit of blame, never mind the Spectre program might have been heavily re-evaluated given Saren was able to avoid any oversight in what he was doing, having it torn down would have lost the council some of their most powerful agents for exerting their control (the only reason Shepard got so much push back when a Spectre was because he wasn't following "their" whims).

[@artursandwich1974]

1. How does the council sing would one traumatized duct worker know the name of Saren? 2. We get some on-suit camera recording of the Eden prime attack from soldiers stationed on Eden prime. Why is there no on-suit camera recording from Shepard or from Nihlus? I'd say they have the technology most probably don't you to keep records of everything that happens around them so I think Shepard should.

[@staffsargemobuto]

Even in ME3 they didn't really support you, they point you in the general direction of people who do.

[@no-onespecial5818]

Personally I want to know what would happen if Javik's pod was found early.

[@ninachan8920]

I agree with Javik 1000% when we do the Thessia mission his dialogue is just brutal honesty and changes my perspective of the Asari a lot. I prefer the Geth and Legion to most organic races honestly I could never go through with the destroy ending when EDI and Legion were such loyal and empathetic characters in comparison to half the organic ones.

[@Arcian]

Actually, the Council did back Shepard to the fullest extent that they normally back Spectres. Spectres are supposed to operate largely independently of the Council, and the Council doesn't normally want to involve themselves in the operations of their Spectres in order to maintain plausible deniability. Saren was a special case because he wasn't just a rogue Spectre, he also commanded the geth, who presented a tangible Rachni/Krogan-level threat to Citadel space. The problem here, and the reason why people get so mad at them, is that Shepard started making demands of the Council to mobilize all of Citadel space in anticipation of an invasion from a species of synthetics no one had ever seen except for Shepard. This isn't how the relationship between the Council and the Spectres is supposed to work - if a Spectre is concerned about a threat to Citadel space, THEY are supposed to act on it, not the Council. That's literally a Spectre's job. The Spectre can inform the Council about the threat and advise them on what should be done about it, but the Council have to act according to the evidence provided, and that evidence was inconclusive at best, which ultimately informed the decision they made. Now, does this mean they disregarded the Reaper threat entirely and believed Sovereign was just a geth dreadnought? No. All it means is that they lacked the evidence necessary to throw all of Citadel space into a mobilization drive which wouldn't just have caused mass-panic across thousands of Citadel-aligned worlds, but also would have tanked both local and galactic economies reacting to this sudden mobilization drive. In other words, the social and economic ramifications of taking Shepard's warnings seriously would be immense, and carry with it a high risk of causing severe and unnecessary galaxy-wide damage to society should it turn out Shepard was wrong. So the Council, while certainly acknowledging Sovereign as a Reaper (as implied by the archived evidence we can find in the Citadel DLC), chose to err on the side of caution by not mobilizing the entire galaxy against a threat that may or may not turn up at some point. And to be absolutely fair to them in ME1, they gave their full support to Shepard to pursue leads on the Reapers after the Battle of the Citadel, as is Shepard's right as a Spectre - it was only after Shepard's death at the hands of the Collectors that they chose to stop pursuing those leads anymore by not assigning a new Spectre to the investigation, given that Shepard was the only one taking them seriously. If Shepard had been able to provide more conclusive evidence that a Reaper invasion was coming, they would no doubt have taken it much more seriously. But as things stood in the trilogy, not even Shepard knew when they were coming, or how many of them to expect, or where they would attack first, or what galactic targets they would prioritize... all Shepard knew is that an invasion was coming. Sometime. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in a thousand years. Maybe it was a thousand Reapers, maybe it was a million. Maybe it was just a hundred, or a handful. Maybe Sovereign lied about their numbers to drive fear into the hearts of their enemies. That's not a lot of information for the Council to go on, especially when Shepard wasn't able to corroborate their suspicions with hard evidence. So yeah, the Council deserves to be cut some slack. If they'd taken Shepard seriously in ME1 the galactic society would've been in a rash of shit for three years while they waited for an invasion they had no clue would come, or when. It's possible the galactic governments may have lost faith in the Council in this scenario, which may have ended up driving them apart from each other just as the invasion began, perhaps even contributing to them losing the war in the long run.

[@stevejohnson5887]

You make the new mass effect feeling better. It’s gonna be years right? Til the next one comes out but I have hopes from your content bro 💪🏽

[@SchazmenRassir]

Sparatus: "The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence-" Me: "YOU DIDN'T *_LET_* THEM INVESTIGATE, SO OF COURSE THEY DIDN'T COME UP WITH ANYTHING, YOU LIVING HEAP OF COMPOST!"

[@teddythobane2636]

Great video, man! I think if the council had backed Shepard, the ending of ME1 would have played out differently, and the entirety of ME3 would be completely different. If Shepard had the backing of the council, the crucible would've already been built by ME3. But I think that would make Cerberus the central antagonist in that scenario, since the illusive man would probably do his utmost to have full control over the crucible, and try to control the reapers to assert human dominance. It would be, pretty much, a different story entirely.

[@trevornation9822]

The damn council chamber is a reaper star child ai bull sh!t that is giving out probably low level reaper mind control would make sense

[@MaxPain1996]

the councilors are absolutely waste of life, specially the asari!! the asari councilor and her government knew about the reapers yet they did nothing but stay in denial. even when the reapers invade, the asari remain in denial and refuse to help Shepard right way. the galaxy should hold the councilors and the asari government accountable for aiding the reapers

[@Jdne199311]

Also the second Sheperd mentioned Reapers, that should have put ever high level scientist on high alert...

[@jamesbrennan8232]

The only thing that would have changed really is the motivations of the characters rather than the actual games. Changing that alone could have drastically changed how the games felt. Because if we follow that logic Shepard still dies, likely Cerberus gets involved because Shepard is the vanguard for this massive movement as they know. Also given that if they believed him they would likely have someone confirm the Visions from the Beacon and made sure a few important people knew about it - having some Asari meld with him to see what the Visions are. A matriarch perhaps, someone more experienced than Liara. But the thing is Mass Effect 2 would start off pretty much on point, only differences here would be the motivations of the different groups. I would see Cerberus beefing up the Alliance from inside in order to prepare them for their survival because that is what their purpose is to ensure that humanity is ready for the threat that is to come. I would see Cerberus acting both in its interests and humanities, but in a way also using this as an opportunity to undermine the Council and elevate mankind. I would see that they would use Shepard as a sort of poster child for their movements and hint towards it. In fact, any talk about the Reaper threat not being taken seriously is the Illusive Man actually using a political ploy to undermine the Council’s efforts. But one thing that would change I think is that Cerberus itself would become an enemy in the end rather than the Collectors. That after taking over or destroying the Collector Base Cerberus itself would become a threat to them and needed to be fought and pushed back. Because of this it opens up the End Game content that comes later. Such as Project Overlord, Firewalker, and other operations meant to undermine Cerberus who are slowly building up power that is a danger. What we do in the game is build Cerberus up and make them stronger, afterwards we have to tear them down as they now become a threat as their influence and power grows. This can lead into major changes for Three, as we could have had it that if we debilitating Cerberus it affected our opening mission and resulted in heavier casualties and losses. While if we didn’t undermine them we get off with a bloody nose, and are still fighting strong for the time being. Those kinds of choices would greatly affect the story. Because it shows that trying to do good and topple power hungry tyrants doesn’t always means things will go well in the long run. It could also lead to deeper character dynamics as well as Cerberus personnel can turn on your after the Collector Base, or even Join you depending on what you do.

[@gateship2]

Well following your idea, they would have had over a two year head start to get everything rolling, so they probably could have completed the Crucible with time to spare since they’d have everyone working on it while not getting absolutely annihilated by the Reapers. The biggest problem would be the Collectors and Cerberus, as the reapers would probably have them try to stop the construction of the Crucible. However construction would likely be taking place near the Citadel, so they’d have to punch through the no doubt bolstered Citadel defense fleet to reach it.

[@AuraofMana]

I think they mentioned that the beacon on Thessia won't actually show up and respond unless they detected that someone who is Prothean is interfacing with it. Which if true, doesn't explain why the Asari kept the beacon and used it for "tech advantages" when it won't talk. But they did try to explain it. Also keep in mind that when they wrote ME1, they had no idea how it would end, or even what / why the reapers are doing what they're doing. They had to basically figure that out as they were making ME3.

[@OhDuhEh]

I saw some comments about the VI speaking prothean and Shepard not being able to understand it because he had not received the cipher. Now assuming that the beacon and the VI would have been somehow activated even without the cipher: *Vigil, the prothean VI on Ilos was able to quickly adapt to the language Shepard and his/her companions were speaking and spoke that instead of the prothean language* so it's completely possible that after a short while the VI on Thessia would have done the same.

[@vasyfa]

I replayed Thessia a few months ago and I think that the VI only tells us all of this, because Shepard received the Cipher on Feros and is perceived as a Prothean. Maybe the Asari didn't get all the information about the Reapers. Still plot convenience

[@Deamon93IT]

Well the Asari could not have backed Shep openly, after all the Asari kept Prothean tech for themselves in secret. Still, you could have built a trilogy there: -ME1 focused on Saren+Sovereign -ME2 focused on the political machinations of the various races -ME3: Harbinger et al show up and you fight them with whatever coalition you built in the previous game Granted if you royally screw up in ME2 ME3 would suck big time but ehy, having Harbinger win and the Cycle continue would still be an ending

[@gregs3845]

The council would probably still not know there is a connection between the Collectors and the Reapers, so maybe ME2 could have largely played out as it did, though the story probably would have needed to have a different prologue, because Cerberus would no longer be the only organisation looking for the Reapers, and so they probably would not care about resurrecting Shepard, and neither would the Alliance really. Though perhaps TIM might be the only one with intel that the Collectors are connected to the Reapers and so the Alliance could fob off any concerns over the collectors saying there was a much bigger threat to worry about. Cerberus would convince Shepard to go rogue, after the collectors attack the Normany 1 but don't kill Shep, to deal with the collector threat while the rest of the Alliance and the Council prep for the Reapers. TIM of course would like Shep to join their cause, just because, in Miranda's words "he's a bloody icon". Cerberus could sneak into Mars much sooner to steal all the Prothean information, including the Crucible information (in fact it could have happened off screen during ME1 or even years earlier) and it would be intel Shepard steals back some time during ME2, meaning galactic civilisation doesn't have as much more time to build the crucible than it is given in ME3. Without that intel they are just better prepared using conventional weaponry and reaper based weapons.

[@georgehouliaras7239]

Let's all be honest, we all saved the Council for the Destiny Ascension.

[@bradador1]

Yay! Ive been looking forward to this!

[@geennaam1201]

me1 is my favorite mass effect, the worldbuilding here is just amazing feel like 2 and 3 barely added to this or even took away from this a bit like how in me1 the councilors are named in the subtitles, in me2 and 3 they are just called asari councilor or turian councilor

[@imaratspal]

The eyewitness is some random dockworker, yes, but that proves the point. How would he know the name Saren? There are so many Turians in the galaxy and Eden Prime is a human colony, so I doubt many would know many Turians. Nihlus was killed, so it's bound to have been by someone strong, and he had to have been caught off-guard being a Spectre, they should be chosen for a reason. They're the most capable agents in the known universe for the council to utilize. So that dockworker's eyewitness account should have been received as far more legitimate evidence than it was.

[@jjb33083]

Why didn't Liara "meld" with the Asari Councilor? 🎤

[@johnmichael1559]

I imagine if the council believed sheperd and began preparing for the reaper invasion a lot more publicly then the reapers would have adjusted tactics, they still had the collectors in the galaxy after losing Soverign and its worth noting that after the attack on the citadel the citadel races were spending a great deal of time and effort rebuilding. Perhaps the collectors would instigate a shadow war against the council races trying to stymie their attempts to build up a military response for the inevitable reaper invasion. Not to mention the repears are far from mindless, its heavily implied they caused the Rachni to go to war with the rest of the galaxy so perhaps through the collectors they would instigate further wars such as from the Batarians or Krogan against the wider galaxy. Its a fun idea to consider though, I recall another of what if Sheperd had been revived by a group different to Cerberus, perhaps the Shadow broker (since he knew about the reaper threat perhaps he'd need sheperd to prevent their return (even if it was just to save his own skin)

[@shannasemenza8821]

I thought in ME3 it was said that since shep had 1st proth beacon but more importantly the cipher from the thorien making the thesia artifact register him/her as prothian that made it work.

[@Joelbaldwinthegamer]

That would of been nice

[@logical-functionsmodel9364]

TLDR: The council's decisions are more understandable if you look at it from a political angle, but (if they survive) their actions make less and less sense as the story progresses to varying degrees on various topics. I feel that people are too hard on the council, for reasons that are understandable; however, if you withdraw yourself from the perspective of Shepard there is some room to understand where they are coming from. First and foremost, remember that you are telling the three most powerful governments to go nuclear here. To set aside all their problems/rivalries and come together to fight a common foe. Which I feel can be, if we try to understand their position, something we can sympathize with a bit here as plausible behavior. Not that I would condone this behavior by any means. There is another side of this, which is the politics. Now I'm not entirely certain how each government orients their systems of power and how they handle transfers of power, but a constant remains that in order to hold power you need the support of others. Whether that is a voter base or a few generals, the optics must be played. Thus, we come to a short-term vs long term solution. Do I as a politician jeopardize my entire career and livelihood on the off chance that a single spectre is correct about what would otherwise be considered a zany conspiracy theory? That is why evidence is crucial. For people that state that they should have believed the reapers would come for them due to the Matriarch's comments, well it is the same eyewitness problem for starters. (Yes, the matriarch has more respect to her name but an eyewitness is not the best testimony even in the best of times.) Then there is this notion that the council believes that Saren is running a cult and have a strange mythology to which they idolize the reapers (him and the geth) If I recall correctly. Now this does make sense as a narrative; furthermore, it would explain why they would dismiss her claims as the ravings of a cultist. Then finally we have the reactions of time after the events of the first game. Here I feel it is a bit of a stretch if the same council members are still alive, for them to still ignore you. Like I get that they would be distrustful of Cerberus, (I would be too,) but they could use the attack as a means to rally people and politics towards unity and begin working on the infrastructure to have a response, even if tepid. It is somewhat plausible but also strange. (Again, this would probably harken back to politics and not due to the personal feelings of the councilors. Finally, we have the third game, which should be similar to the second game to be honest. I feel having Shepard grounded despite backstabbing Cerberus every opportunity that you got is a bit silly. I get that the Council won't know everything that you were doing in detail, but you would at least think that they would know about some highlights. I think an honorably removing the spectre status makes sense. You could then just have Shepard going around and doing political engagements like rallies etc. Alternatively, if you supported Cerberus, you would have been grounded, (and maybe have earth slightly better off due to Shepard's involvement in supporting Earth's defenses [could also have a thing where Cerberus was working with Shepard to do things] but I digress.)

[@andremerrick4925]

Ok but my question is why did they say the reapers were fake AFTER seeing Tali’s evidence? Benezia/saren specifically said they wanted to usher in the reapers return and that was straight from eden prime, nobody on the council even denied it, but later on they’ll say “nope reapers can’t be real.”

[@KanohiVahi]

Honestly I want to say it was denial but I dunno. Maybe it was part denial, part bad writing

[@knmaherijayatp8181]

ME1 set in year 2183 and yet no species use action cameras in their ultra hightech combat gear. "WHAT IF all council forces have GoPro Hero 69?"

[@thearisen7301]

Helmet cams are mentioned on Eden prime but somehow never get used or brought up again.

[@Dark_Voice]

Not to mention their videos are like 360p? At points. I would expect like 64kp in those years with completely perfect image quality. Also, having e-mail in omnitool is not a thing they thought about.

[@Dark_Voice]

You sure about the Councilor knowing? Throughout the message on Normandy where she contacts you to come to Citadel - she pretty much said she was contacted by Asari government and she got the info then. (it seems like the Asari Councilor was actually only a pawn of the High command or any government structure they have and didnt actually know it.) And SHepard being right once doesnt mean he/she is right again as every clock is right two times a day. You dont know whether Saren could have been captured and interrogated - he might explode upon capture like the Cerberus soldiers. Shepard needs Cypher to understand the beacon AND Asari would let themselves get exposed to being a fraud (so they would risk their entire status and future of their species because of a hunch? It wouldnt happen, you know it. Saying that Shepard is wrong and hoping they are right is far more realistic when they had a dirty secret (although how they actually got anything from the beacon without cypher themselves?). SO, the Asari councilor (assuming she knows, which I doubt) would be the LEAST likely to act on the trust because Asari would be witchhunted afterwards by everyone, Sparatus wouldnt trust a human that obviously wants to drag the council races to a war with Terminus systems so that they can rise to the top - the only one who would be more inclined to be on your side is Valern who probably would need way more evidence. Also, Reapers were made WAY WAY WAAAAAY too overpowered for the galaxy to deal with. Even Asari, Turians, Salarians and Alliance made Genophage cure and bred Krogan like crazy while having an arming race and did nothing but Dreadnaught building - Reapers would still crush them without the crucible which would be destroyed immediately. The fact Reapers dont know where it is being build is a major plot hole (as is pretty much entirety of ME3)

[@danielbuggie591]

I'm with you on this one about the Councilor. I see them closer to being like UN Ambassadors and not privy to the top secrets of their respective governments.

[@razer666L]

The Reapers don't know where the Crucible is constructed because the "construction site" itself is constantly moving from one star system or cluster to another throughout the war. We all know the Crucible is capable of FTL travel as shown in one of the Battle of Earth cinematic cutscenes, where the Crucible and its escort fleet are approaching the Earth's orbit sometime after jumping out of the Charon relay. Another is from a description for one of the Crucible's war assets--the Element Zero Converter. "Element zero refineries are large industrial facilities that remove impurities from the element, also called eezo, before it is used to fuel starships or gravity generators. It's an important process, as sending an electrical charge through impure eezo can cause the element to explode. *By setting up a conversion facility beside the Crucible, eezo can be mined, refined and supplied to the project in record time.* " That bolded bit implies that not only the Crucible is capable of performing FTL jumps despite it's still under construction, that there are also large, possibly multi-kilometres long FTL-capable vessels on site dedicated for eezo and helium-3 refinement, as well as metal processing and plastics manufacturing for the device's superstructure. That its entire construction can be quickly moved to a new location once Reaper forces are detected in the system or cluster.

[@aauwhatitdo1582]

I strongly doubt the councils support would've changed ME3 that much.

[@TimeKillerGuy]

See the funny thing is the events of mass effect 3 could have heavily changed simply by a choice the illusive man and EDI being I’m sure any upgrade the Normandy got it was sent to the illusive man. With blueprints of how to build them, he was a smart man, honestly if this game was a bit more realistic the Illusive man would have had a large shadow company that could have been called star defense, or anything like that with contracts to build massive defenses platforms around human colonies loaded with modified scaled back up Thanix Cannon, even in the lore the Thanix cannon can be fired in five seconds and could be placed on most fighters or frigates, but that raised some questions is why did the turian people not starts adding them to their own ships? Yes the have one of the largest fleets and it would have been very expansive but they could have added them to the newer larger ships since they already had to be rebuilt. Just the games could have gone better but because mass effect trilogy was not designed together lore wise we got what we got, I’m just glad it was not worse.

[@joshstreet6819]

I'd say the events of ME1 would still play out the way they did until the end scene (It would have taken Sovereign's attack to jolt the council out of its complacency about the Reapers). As Shepard goes to leave instead of getting Anderson's (or Udina's) speech we would get the Asari Ambassador telling Shepard to go to the temple on Thessia. (Because without the Shepard's cipher or Javik Vendetta wouldn't come out.) We would find Javik earlier. Javik and Shepard would both most likely be given a new job deciphering the Prothean language at the Mars Archives. For finding out the Bahak system's relay is the alpha Relay depends on if Harbinger takes it slow and starts to take human colonies like he did in ME2 or if he say screw it lets awake everyone while using the Collectors to keep everyone's eyes off the Balak Relay as they start the long trip to the Bahak system. (Remember Harbinger is controlling the Collectors even as Sovereign is doing its thing in ME1.) As for the Fleets with the help of Vendetta, the Thessia, and Mars Beacons they would be in a far better position than in ME3 (fully depending on what Harbinger does).

[@jamesroper4952]

There would still be a trilogy, but it would play out much differently. Cerberus would most likely be one of the main antagonists. Miranda would most likely be Shepard's arch nemesis, instead of that man bun wearing fruit cake with a sword.

[@colvamoon6962]

What do you think the plot of ME2 would've changed? Would the Council give resources to help Shepard take on the Reapers, even if it meant working alongside Cerberus, if temporary?

[@MrHulthen]

I don't think ME2 would've happened xD Shep wouldn't have been resurrected because he/she wouldn't have died, which would mean that Cerberus would be pummeled by the united Galaxy

[@colvamoon6962]

@@MrHulthen I doubt that. The collector ship was just too powerful for the Normandy, and, considering it was caught in an ambush, it's unlikely the Normandy could've made it even with light escort (Normandy is a fast ship, so it would need escort to match it's speed), but, hypothetically, if Shepard did die and was resurrected by Cerberus, what can you guess would happen?

[@thearisen7301]

The change would probably be working with & being supported by the council instead of the bare minimum "You're still a spectre" bs.

[@colvamoon6962]

@@thearisen7301 agreed. They couldn't send fleets, as it would likely start a war, but definitely more resources. Perhaps another Spectre or two to back him up.

[@thearisen7301]

@@colvamoon6962 Possibly totally different or partially different squadmates drawn from Council race militaries.

[@payableondeath7]

A big hole in your story is that the Collectors aren't found out to be Reaper pawns until halfway through ME2, so they would likely be reporting to Harbinger the construction of the Catalyst and would likely speed up the Reaper Arrival, which would lead to no curing of the genophage, the Rachni wouldn't have time to recover if you spared the queen in ME1, etc. Hell most of ME2 probably wouldn't have even happened.

[@ErosTKB]

what is really weird, isnt shepard like high tech gear? dont have a body camera or something? can't the Asari Councel just check Shepard memory or the other people? Like she must know about the Asari secrets, right?

[@neatop6281]

Council reminds me of the real US government

[@i0ushephf]

One detail that is overlooked here is that Shepard still needed to completely receive the cipher in order to understand the prothean vi. So the course of action would have still had to stayed the same in ME 1, albeit with some different motivations I suppose (mainly knowing a little more of what they actually were looking for). ME 2 however would have been completely different since knowing what the thessian vi would tell them, there’s no chance Shepard is sent to hunt geth in the terminus systems. The second game probably would have to be more focused on some of the diplomatic leg work that’s done in the beginning of ME3.

[@OhDuhEh]

Except the VI on Ilos spoke english, after your companion wonders how they can understand the VI, it stated that it had been monitoring their conversation for some time and was able to learn the speech patterns to talk in their preferred language instead of prothean.

[@Cursedzeba]

Still annoyed i never got to use the “ah yes reapers” line against the turian councillor in mass effect 3 😂

[@LucasJAmmons]

What if Saren broke free of indoctination, or Cerberus was an ally in Mass Effect 3...