Our Greatest Enemy | Reapers COMPLETE Breakdown

The Reapers are the greatest enemy to all life in the Milky Way Galaxy. This complete breakdown of this Mass Effect species, which blurred the line between organic and artificial life, from their history with the Leviathan species, to their ultimate fate with Commander Shepard. See while this is the ultimate Mass Effect species.
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[@spartantraveler7251]

"Ah, yes, 'Reapers'. The immortal race of sentient starships allegedly waiting in dark space. We have dismissed this claim."

[@paytonturner1421]

That line from that taurian is the example of being oblivious to a greater threat.

[@spartantraveler7251]

@@paytonturner1421 the oh so great Citadel Council blinds themselves and their citizens to maintain the "very precious" status quo. Pathetic.

[@Austin-sw3mf]

​@@spartantraveler7251Terra Firma, mf

[@jrr7031]

Which game and part was this line from? Im going to clip it and use it on my youtube page as a snarky remark. Lol (not this account im messaging from)

[@paytonturner1421]

@@jrr7031 ME2

[@Austin-sw3mf]

It's wild that this series is 17 years old now. I remember getting this for Christmas in 2007, and how much fun I had discovering this crazy galaxy. Definitely peak BioWare, along with NWN, BG 1 and 2, Jade Empire, KOTOR, and DA. Just a fuckin decade+ of bangers from them.

[@silverthehero1295]

I remember my dad got me ME1 for my birthday but I was disappointed and confused. I had never heard of Mass Effect, but I still decided to give it a try. I quickly grew to love it with multiple playthroughs.

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

The PS3 is almost 18 💀

[@Austin-sw3mf]

@misanthropicservitorofmars2116 I played it on the 360 bc screw waiting 5 years for them to port it to PS3. We didn't even know IF it was going to get a port at the time.

[@wanderhillen2435]

Man Jade Empire, that takes me back a loooong time. Great game, and obviously all the others were absolute bangers too.

[@Austin-sw3mf]

@@wanderhillen2435 Yeah, I picked it up when I saw it was a BioWare game. It had a good story, and I liked that BW tried something a little outside of their wheelhouse.

[@danwybrow7226]

“Your words are as empty as your future. We are the vanguards of your destruction.” CHILLS, every single time!

[@EternalNightingale]

Goosebumps frrr🥶🥶

[@theend-nz6vs]

That feels like a roast

[@MikelosM]

"You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it"

[@DM_Dad]

I love this scene so much. Sovereign is one of my favorite villains in any video game ever. It's a shame they turn the reapers into a joke.

[@MrTrees77]

God damn Mass effect's such an amazing series. The fact that it stays grounded to real science while still having batshit crazy technology and lore is so appealing

[@MetaNerdzLore]

yeah every time I look into it more I find new things I love and extra layers

[@Kragith]

@@MetaNerdzLore Miranda could have used a few less layers.

[@maplemayhem1988]

Imagine getting turned into soup but at least you get to be a super cool giant spaceship robot, only to get murdered again before you even leave the shipyard

[@Philtopy]

Imagine how many Reapers got destroyed during the games and in the final battle in ME3. They make one Sovereign class per worthy race per cycle. So something between one to four in one Cycle. The Protheans only resulted in a single new Reaper. So even if the reapers had won that final engagement, this Cycle has caused them demage measuring in the dozens and dozens of Cycles. So even if the ME3 organics had lost that war, it would have been an absolute *disaster,* a phyrric victory, for the reapers. Likely forcing them to completely rethink and adjust the cycle in accordance. So if the ME3 organics hadnt won that war, organic intelligent life in its entirety may have never gotten another chance to get that close to them ever again. ME3 really is the final battle.

[@gryphon_Space]

so this is a common and understandable misunderstanding, the reapers turn 1 species per cycle into capital ship class reapers while all others becomes destroyers, only 1 capital ship reaper per cycle is unsustainable.

[@Philtopy]

@@gryphon_Space aaaah I see. thanks! now that makes the statistic for them even worse. even more cause for them to reasses and redesign the cycle alltogether. But I always wondered why they never took a more proactive aproach to the entire cycle and indoctrinate and elevate organics way more directly? Why not infuse all aspiring civilised organic species with strong religious cults, honoring the reapers as their gods and salvation? Like with the Geth. This leads to them either just surrender to the Reapers as soon as they emerge, or there will be huge religious galactic civil wars, wich weakens their defense against the extermination. Either way the Reapers would have a really easy harvest. I am having the Genestealer Cults in Warhammer 40k in mind. Or is this like the Matrix: "The system doesnt work if we make it too easy"?

[@ombrepourpre7562]

Agreed, Yet a big mistake. Protean were a council of many race under one leading them. But not master/slave. So no, there have be more than one build after the fall of the Proteans. Beside, Proteans themself have destroyed multiple of the Reapers. Big and little. The number of new ship depend of how many world of people each race have settle and live. The "one ship for the more dominant race" is the one remaining behind, to prepare the come back. Not how many they have built from the cycle.

[@thrrax]

The true Protheans, as in Javik's species, were never "reaperized". They were instead turned into the Collectors. Initially they wanted the Collectors to be from all the Prothean empire species, but they decided on true Protheans to be the commanders and the foot soldiers to save up on models, while Abominations and Scions are human mutations and Praetorians are mechanical infused with human DNA (and skulls), created once the Collectors started abducting humans.

[@TheCorrodedMan]

@@ombrepourpre7562No, they attempt to create a reaper during every cycle, usually from every race they harvest. They’re rejected according to a set of parameters that remain unknown, meaning that if a species isn’t “worthy,” they aren’t made into a Reaper. They’re turned into advanced husks to help continue the harvest, or prepare the next cycle like the Collectors. For every race harvested, only a handful out of billions are worthy to become a Reaper.

[@KiShonRasmussen-wj3ie]

“We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution you exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it. I am the vanguard of your extinction this exchange is over”Sovereign

[@colekuczek9812]

Imposing order on the chaos of organic evolution makes me think of the genophage. Maybe the writers were trying to say something about how the council was slowly taking the path of the reapers anyway? It would actually play pretty well into the mediocre ending of ME3, the council deserves this for their sins, they desired the order themselves and sought it though the genophage.

[@skoalsniper006]

Man you could tell me the lore of a coconut and I'd listen to it. The fact that you're constantly covering subjects I enjoy is just the benefit. Great work man!

[@GTeam-kl4je]

It's because he is a gay man. Gay men have elevated skill sets. It's why you see them be exponentially more productive and creative than gay women. They are the yin to the yang.

[@AeronHale]

EA are the real Reapers. They preserve nothing, while consuming & destroying all they lay their hands on. RIP Bioware, builders of wonderful universes and stories. You are missed.

[@Akbar_and_Shaa]

More like illusive man. Certain they are the only ones who see the real potential of an ip. While undercutting any non aligned attempts to do anything

[@robertcastanpn288]

not true at all bioware was to blame when they open two big studios away from each they couldt even talk in person which lead to compettion and blaming one other

[@AeronHale]

@@robertcastanpn288 EA is at fault for ruining pretty much everything they touch and arguably hold a great deal of responsibility for turning the gaming industry into a microtransaction hellscape. Bioware had it's issues prior to them being acquired by EA but it was largely after that which everything really went downhill with them.

[@MrBohij]

EA is the Batarians. Exploits others for money and everyone hates them.

[@Back-alley-technician]

Leviathans: "Oh no the lesser species keep developing ai and getting destroyed by it. How do we stop this cycle" "So we built this ai to solve the problem" "Why is the ai looking at me weird"

[@neilhannan5112]

Fun Fact: Bioware the Studio behind Mass Effect they also did the STAR WARS KOTOR when developing KOTOR 3 before cancelling the enemies The true sith were inspired by the shadow from Babylon 5 and when the game was cancelled they based The Reapers on the old game

[@Austin-sw3mf]

They also graced us with the first 2 Baldur's Gate games, and the excellent Neverwinter Nights. I remember how awesome KOTOR was, bc it felt like NWN, but with a better budget, and the change in camera angle made it feel more cinematic.

[@nebenkosteh]

Damn, so Babylon 5 really did influence sci-fi. The shadows are arguably the best sci-fi villains ever written

[@razor1.276]

All this advanced technology do you think no one attempted to record the conversation on their Omni tool

[@infernaldaedra]

Bioware was so good back in the day. Nowadays I don't know what the actual fhappened maybe theirs something in the office water cooler. Lmao.

[@rtyprty]

@@infernaldaedraalmost all of the OG Bioware team is gone now, that's why

[@JoshuaAdim]

Mass effect 3 galaxy map theme if you're wondering. I've been listening to it for years whenever I needed to relax and get some sleep

[@isakhagg243]

“We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it.” ~ Sovereign Such a chilling line. Baffles me that Sovereign is not Harbinger. Harbinger is a loser and doesn’t project the same level of fear as Sovereign. He also had the balls to fight us directly. Taking over Saren’s corpse to try and kill Shepard. Unlike Harbinger, who just stares at the Normandy landing directly infront of it and lets it take off without a single beam of death being fired.

[@brunohommerding3416]

Well to be fair Harbinger constantly fights against us in ME2 by assuming control of troops just like Sovereign did with Saren. I just found it odd how absent Harbinger was in ME3, i expected him to be the "main" antagonist and taking more direct action against Sheppard. But one could argue that he underestimated him even after all the setbacks and focused on the galactic purge instead until way too late

[@pietervanderzwaan4295]

​@@brunohommerding3416at the very end of the game you'll see harbinger, that big ass reaper when you run to the beam leading to the citadel.

[@emmanuel4989]

@@brunohommerding3416 I don't think Harbinger underestimates Shepard, that Reaper on Rannoch said that Harbinger speaks about Shepard and the threat they pose. Also the reason why Harbinger and the Reapers hit Earth the hardest was due to Shepard and in extention humanity gaining the Reapers attention by destroying Sovereign and delaying their invasion. Harbinger even goes to Earth to try and kill Shepard directly in the final beam run. It was a poor decision by Bioware not to include Harbinger in ME3 more though.

[@brunohommerding3416]

@@emmanuel4989 Oh yeah on these points its clear that it was "personal" for Harbingers and the reapers to focus alot on Earth. I remember back in 2013 watching for the first time Harbinger land while we ran to the citadel beam and was like "FUCK YEAH". I just wish he was more interactive like during ME2

[@DM_Dad]

Harbinger just sucks in general. it was a massive shift in the reapers tone from sovereign to mass effect 2 and 3. s Sovereign was very dismissive of a organic life and didn't care for it. We're inferior beings, used for whatever unknown purposes the Reapers have. Harbinger and the ME 2-3 Reapers are about "saving" organics. Could be fine if set up properly, but it wasn't and the change stands out.

[@Robert-cl2ft]

I have been seeing a resurgence of mass effect content and this convinced me to replay the trilogy again

[@thatguySmitty234]

I’ll never forget speaking to Sovereign for the first time, and simply learning that all organic life developed on the path the Reapers controlled. Which at the time was bone chilling. One quote Sovereign spoke sent chills down my spine and it was… “ We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.” Meaning all of human history or organic history was silently controlled by the reapers from dark space and at anytime could have been extinguished. Wrapping my head around it at that point in time was insane.

[@mryellow6918]

Well it's alot more passive than that, the are that far ahead in thinking. That they made sure you only developed down one tech tree and fast. So you couldn't develop problematic technology and you also couldn't have a well rounded species either.

[@AIFRANCHISE1]

So much damn potential…the writers just couldn’t bring it all together in a way that satisfied all that build up.

[@risingrat5491]

I’m still upset that they didn’t went with “dark matter is collapsing the universe”. That would be so much more interesting then “organica vs machines”

[@Marxon1134]

Interesting how when you investigate the derelict reaper you find that almost, almost all the walkways were cerberus catwalks in cavernous areas that otherwise wouldn't allow for easy foot traffic. Really gave that feeling that you were on an expedition into a place you're really not supposed to be. The interior of the ship really wasn't designed for you to be in it.

[@retr0dk93]

The scariest part about the reapers is thay at no point do thay consider it a war. It's a harvest to them. The galaxy fighting back is irrelevant to them.

[@user-rr3sq8mh8x]

But when Shepard unite all galaxy (ending wars between not only species but organics vs synthetics) also show AI another bether solution? Like update/rewrite code reapers ? So they harvest shouldn’t be as a unnecessary/ outdated by mashines and changed for : all species are united (including org-sinth) so we need to “patch” (harvest become wrong in 0:1 logic)

[@thelifeofbrandoncooney6099]

Sounds similar to the Borg. "We are the borg. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."

[@macwelch8599]

Imagine if Star Wars had something like this

[@konradoziom2225]

Abeloth and Vong should count as such. Or at least something simmilar.

[@Disco_Biscuit_]

Star wars King's of the galaxy Fighting for you and I Fighting for me

[@Gabes_Game_Cave]

The first season of Star Trek: Picard shamelessly ripped off mass effect. STP had "artifacts" that granted visions of an ancient machine race that periodically wiped out organics.

[@MetastaticMaladies]

The people that have made games and written books set in the Star Wars universe are way better writers than those that created the Star Wars universe. Reason I like the games better than the films, mostly, is because of the terrible writing the films have and all the inconsistencies and bullshit. It’s like they were just making it up as they went with no real thought behind it.

[@shadowhenge7118]

​@@Gabes_Game_Cave and mass effect ripped off a ton of other material. Every idea in sci fi has already been done. Every trope exhausted. Tge trick is can you use those lego bricks to tell a new story.

[@vonneely1977]

They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky...

[@craigsovilla6578]

Lovecraft's influence on modern media could never be properly measured.

[@LocomotiveThought]

This game blew my mind. I couldn't stop playing, heartbroken at the end. The Sovereign blew my mind.

[@KeytarArgonian]

I’d like to point out that it WAS a long time for the intelligence to decide on its final solution: the Reaper program. The intelligence tells you that it studied and tried to intervene in many AI uprises over an unknown period of time. It didn’t just instantly decide it would turn on its masters, and really if you think about it the Reaper program carried out its function successfully for a BILLION YEARS. It’s hard to say it was a failure of a project when it was largely correct, until Shepard and the most upgraded Crucible happened to just show up in the same cycle and prove to the Intelligence that the Reaper program had finally failed. Which is also the best argument against indoctrination theory, because no matter what ending you chose, the catalyst gives you a way to destroy the Reaper program in its current form. Even, ironically, the refusal ending leads to the defeat of the Reapers.

[@MikelosM]

Great post, and not to be that "ackshually" guy, but I am almost positive that there was some individual, minute form of ME lore that placed the emergence of Leviathans enthralling other races at closer to 2 billion years ago. Possibly there was a very long period between them first enthralling and the beginning of the cycles, or maybe I'm misremembering...

[@erfanshahidi2804]

How the refusal ending leads to Reaper defeat isn't just a vid massage telling the next cycle about them??(I never picked it and I'm genuinely intrigued by what you said)

[@KeytarArgonian]

@@erfanshahidi2804 if you pick the refusal ending you get a cutscene similar to the Prothean Vision showing the Reapers destroying Earth. Then, there is a short cutscene showing someone finding liara’s data caches, which contains all the information regarding the reapers and the updated crucible plan. Then, the scene with the grandpa and kid is instead an old woman iirc. And she explains how the next cycle beat the reapers thanks to ‘The Shepard’.

[@erfanshahidi2804]

@@KeytarArgonian thanks

[@darthvader78441]

They were inspired by Babylon 5's "Shadows"

[@JSLEnterprises]

False, the Sith as found in kotor are inspired by the shadows. Reapers themselves if compared to Babylon 5 species, would have resembled the vorlons the most. subservient to their order or destruction. Shadows wanted raw anarchism.. survival of the fittest only.

[@RobotechLegos]

Give the writers of mass effect their flowers. Good god! I loved the games but no idea how deep the lore was.

[@guillermocaliz2488]

Did you not play the games? Lol

[@dragonblaster-vu8wz]

I love the inclusion of Mass Effect Andromeda story as well. I really wish they'd make a sequel to that game, if nothing else but to complete that story. Hopefully the upcoming Mass Effect game answers some of those questions

[@HyugaBlood881]

I finally gave Andromeda a chance it honestly wasn't that bad I really liked it I gotta play again on ps5 I wasn't very far on it on my ps4 b4 I upgraded lol

[@dragonblaster-vu8wz]

@@HyugaBlood881 and it suffered the same behind-the-scenes issues that Mass Effect 3 did too. Rushed to production, even plans canceled because they just didn't have enough time. It's actually a decent game. It could be better, of course, but it still could be much worse

[@JSLEnterprises]

Andromeda has a good idea but was executed like garbage both narratively and technically all the way through.

[@powerstrokin2479]

FINALLY someone is doing reaper lore

[@ShinigamiSamaH]

I know a lot of people hated the three colors ending or how there are theories on Shepard already being indoctrinated by that point. But personally, I still subscribe to the Synthesis ending. It is the only one that really offers a long-term solution to the primary conflict of the entire Mass Effect series, racial differences. From the warlike Krogan to the alien Rachni, from the Biotics enhanced Asari to the mechanical Geth, or organics versus synthetics,... all have differences that prevents them from truly uniting. Even as the backdrop or unintended consequence of our actions, Shepard have slowly build bridges and solve those differences throughout the trilogy. Destruction would stop the immediate threat, but all it really does is resetting the cycle of violence. Someday, when the lesson of the past is long forgotten, another conflict between organics and synthetics will rise again. Control halt the threat, keeping the cycle in a stalemate. But how long will it last? What stopping the cycle to resume when control no longer function, much like the Keepers of the Citadel? Synthesis change the cycle, giving it new paths and possibilities. Much like with other races throughout the trilogy, we extend an olive branch of reconciliation to the Reapers. To break down the barrier between organics and synthetics, helping them to see eyes to eyes with each other so we can all come out stronger together. If Legion, the Geths, and EDI have a soul, then so does a Reaper. It would be hypocritical otherwise. And personally, the Shepard I know would not throw those lives away if there is another option. The Synthesis option is scary because we fear change, the unknown, and false promises. But if no one take that first step, then nothing changed, nothing get solved.

[@topethermohenes7658]

I've been arguing for years at this point that synthesis was the best option.

[@Ender7j]

Very nice

[@emmanuel4989]

I disagree I think Synthesis is the worst one out the 3. It makes the least sense, it's the worst explained and it looks ridiculous. Forcing evolution on an entire galaxy without there consent, from just one human is unethical. It also wouldn't stop wars as organics and synthetics being connected and understanding each other isn't the only issue, even the Geth had a war with each other against the heretics, as long as everyone is individualistic, and have different ideas and beliefs, there will always be conflict. This ending also doesn't explain what will happen to the millions of husks, who's lives have already been ruined by the Reapers or to all the families that have all been torn apart by the Reapers and we're supposed to believe that they're just going to forgive and work with the Reapers peacefully now? This ending also goes against the trilogy constantly talking about the importance of advancing on your own and not being given short cuts to reaching that goal, this is even said by Legion in ME2. The galaxy is capable of reaching some type of Synthesis on their own without Reaper intervention or without it being forced upon them, If Alec Ryder could figure this out in MEA, I'm pretty sure people more intelligent than him could figure this out too. I think Destroy is the best, just because the Reapers say the problem will continue doesn't mean organics can't prove them wrong and find a solution on their own. Let's not forget, the Reapers also said they couldn't be defeated and were wrong about that too.

[@topethermohenes7658]

@@emmanuel4989 so "destroy" is ethical? Mind you that we've already established that geth and synthetics have individuality too. But killing trillions of synthetics is ethical?

[@topethermohenes7658]

@@emmanuel4989 "just because the reapers says the problems will continue doesn't mean the organics can prove them wrong" is one of the stupidest idea out there. Dude the same has been happening for literal billions of cycles, what makes organics of this cycle special? Shepard? 😂 besides the way organics solve problems is with AI and synths EVERY SINGLE TIME. Look at reality right now, we are not far from a world where AI controls everything, DO YOU think you're special? 😂 do you think you're the next Elon musk or the next bill gates?

[@Thep184]

Here is my take on the reapers: they were such menacing and powerful threats that every single mass effect game after them cannot compare with its enemies. Mass effect andromeda suffered from this lack, mass effect 4 will also struggle with that i fear, if the game ever sees the light of day that is

[@AGSx37]

отлично, мне нравятся твои прошлые видео по Star Wars, а Mass Effect моя самая любимая трилогия - я рад что ты начал делать видео по этой вселенной)

[@matthewsolis7075]

Love mass effect so glad you covered the reapers I think they are awesome and it’s a shame more people didn’t seek out their history while playing the games

[@jamesbrockis5182]

Such a great build-up, only to fail at the climax.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

That's what she said.

[@Philtopy]

@@silverhawkscape2677 nnnice

[@averylynn_buttercup676]

Often it is thus when someone makes a masterpiece. I understand the ending had its problems, because the team was forced to rush their production of the 3rd game due to time and demand issues. This is one of those times where they were damned if they do, damned if they don't. Had they taken the time to actually get things down good and right most fans would have long been in outcry and profits would have majorly dropped due to the generational gap. Same things we've seen with other games who do try to take the time to end or continue things right. That dilemma combined with the extreme expectations from their fans made it bound to be less than what those expectations were. Me however I am just happy to have gotten to enjoy the journey. Yes it could have ended better, but I'm just happy it did have an end, unlike some other great stories that don't. >~> Looking at you Valve.

[@Cancoillotteman]

@@averylynn_buttercup676 False assumption : revenues can very well be just as high if they wait to do the game as well as possible, if not better, while improving the chances of future game to sell well too. Case and point : GTA or Elder Scrolls. Rushing to benefit a hype is never necessary if you produce quality.

[@JSLEnterprises]

This is what happens when the original writers leave and the secondary ones take over and their support writers were 60% dei hires (you can tell if you play all 4 games back to back, the sharp drop off for diolauge and narrative when you hit me3 and in full swing for andromeda

[@gureguru4694]

man RIP bioware.

[@feralprocessor9853]

Tali is best girl.

[@Lantian99]

I really need this game turned into a show. A show with ppl that KNOW the material! And make you think about big decisions of the main character throughout the seasons. Thank you for your breakdown it was truly eye-opening to me thinking of the Reapers on a different level of understanding from references in human history.

[@JSLEnterprises]

not in today's Hollywood would I want this lore turned into a show. too many it's have been laid waste because of wokeness out of modern day LA.

[@batmanthe]

Synthesis maybe unpredictable to lower life forms but it's inevitable. Organic life exists to evolve past itself and merge with it's creation. We exist to create the gods who created us and they exist to create us. This isn't speculation. It's just obvious fact. I would bet just about anything.

[@johnnycatch2243]

The mass effect 3 fight with them was underwhelming

[@dragonblaster-vu8wz]

I think that game was rushed to completion. Same with Andromeda. So they could've been much better if they were given more time on both games

[@robinmiller871]

Yea.... by the time we fought the 'baby reaper'.... everyone should have known it was over!

[@JSLEnterprises]

​@@dragonblaster-vu8wzAndromeda wasn't just rushed, but also suffered from incompetent dei hires

[@jobforarockstar]

Just wanted to say Thank you man for making this video. Ive always wanted somone to do a good breakdown on the Reapers and the cycle. Its such a dark and twisted, but somewhat logical pov when looking at it from their viewpoint. I want to learn more about them and pray ME 4 does something cool. I also really was interested in the Leviathans. So ill ve watching that video next. So thanks for such a comprehensive breakdown on so many things ive wanted to watch videos on from this amazing series. Did a great job. My daughter is named after Liara. Always thought it was a pretty name. Totally fits her too. Shes ten now

[@Kuwaitisnot_adeployment]

I love finding new fantasy worlds like this! Well new to me at least. I'm mainly a Warhammer guy but this world building is 💯. Cool video

[@razor1.276]

All this advanced technology, and nobody even wants think to consider to use their Omni tool to record some thing

[@ideadlift20kg83]

Omni tools are our cycles invention. Protheans used memory shards, beacons and their mind read crap. That is how we learned of their demise and technology. There is likely WAY more stuff that could've warned us about the reaper invasion but as we learn playing the game we are less developed compared to the protheans so never knew what they meant until Shepard/Saren found the beacons.

[@Dovah_Slayer]

I'll admit i never expected Metanerdz to cover anything in the Mass Effect series it's a surprise to be sure but a welcome one

[@DominusNox106]

The Reapers remind me of the "Hunters of the Dawn" in a book series that starts with Luna Marine and continued through 9 books that gave me hope for our future... even with the Hunters as a BIG BAD. They are THE ANSWER to the Fermi Paradox.

[@MetaNerdzLore]

Sounds interesting I'll look into it

[@mensch58306]

On our planet the Leviathans mind controlled humans into writing several religious books

[@jyahnarastartes]

I know glados/hal is considered to be the best ai villains but I think the reapers take the crown as number one best ai villain.

[@mikeyfrederick1232]

Just got to say sir you really did justice to the Mass Effect universe... I think I played it 8 years ago? Still a top pick for one of my favorite games...Your video just reminded me how amazing the game was.... being torn and nervous when it came to making decisions...and trying to hard to get certain characters to do certain things lol... I don't try to be naive but I really think/hope that most sentient beings would cooperate with each other...GRANTED it takes a serious annihilation event to do so... kind of like Independence Day.. Props to you and your Channel...

[@justindunlap1235]

Thank you, ive been needing some mass effect lore.

[@paytonturner1421]

The video was very entertaining and informative, that's what I like about your channel and your videos. Can you do videos on the Mass Effect races?

[@MetaNerdzLore]

Yeah I have them all written up but getting them done is taking time but should be done with all in a few months

[@paytonturner1421]

@@MetaNerdzLoreJust take your time to make sure anything important that you need to do is done. You don't want to rush yourself.

[@ramonsalvador6228]

They looked like ginormous bedbugs

[@Gaster_021]

Truly the final decision of the player is based both of their experience and their morals 🤔 Comes down to how they view the world, how they interact with it, and how they perceive both it and themselves Just what would be the right choice given the gravity and weight the decision makes, we can speculate all we like but none of us would truly know the choice we will make unless we are in the scenario

[@davidnavarro4821]

One possible inspiration for the Reapers were the Shivans from the Freespace video game franchise: a non-planetarian aquatic-like species that wiped out an entire ancient civilization eons ago, coming back to exterminate humanity and its extraterrestrial rival for unknown purposes. Their ships have black-red designs and fire destructive red beams

[@ideadlift20kg83]

They are inspired from Babylon 5 "Shadows" and the cycle thing was supposedly inspired by Alastair Reynolds series Revelation Space

[@ebusive]

I still don't get why the Reapers didn't make a beeline to the Citadel to immediately take control of the Mass Relay system during ME3.

[@Win32Neptunia]

Exactly - the game would simply not take place. Devs had literally no time given to think of a better plot.

[@ideadlift20kg83]

There aren't millions of reapers and since only a handful are created each cycle. Gambling on an all-out assault vs the most defended place in citadel space would be too costly. Because yes, even if they win their losses would be too great. What if the same thing happens next time they need to harvest? Eventually, they make a net loss reaper wise. The reapers instead focuses on divide and conquer which we saw in Me3. People did not want to risk their own troops to help others, which leaves the troops dealing with the reapers significantly weaker. One by one each civilization would fall. In a Me3 Codex you learn only 1 Harbinger class ship is built from the most dominant race in the galaxy and the other species are made into smaller destroyers. So, about 5 or 6 total reapers, judging by Protheans number of "smart" species and our cycles. It is also not known that each cycle takes 50,000 years. We just know that it has been 50,000 years since the Protheans were harvested. The reapers monitor every species and wait until they reach their Apex. Not every cycle would develop equally fast. We learn that from Javiq, as he calls us Primitive. Had we not been primitive compared to Protheans then we would've discovered their warnings hundreds if not thousands of years prior to Me1 which would make it possible to prepare against a reaper invasion. However the reapers would likely have seen this and started the harvest the moment question marks were flying around in citadel space about the reaper threat. Citadel and the technology we use is after all based on reaper tech so they can probably see every bit of logged information about colonies and current talking points/developments. The primary intelligens of the reapers is also housed in the Citadel, an all-out assault on the station could result in it being destroyed.

[@maplemayhem1988]

The more I hear about the Reapers origin the more I'm starting to think I'm getting indoctrinated

[@totalchaos444]

I took a week off from undergrad classes during 2009 to play this game. The memories were good!

[@kienPerry-wi6bl]

I hope you can do halo and the covenant species and weapons and ships one day and I hope you’re doing well and take care and keep up the good work😊❤

[@MetaNerdzLore]

thanks you too! and yep I have a ton of those already written just gotta get to them over the year

[@RaggaeGandalf92]

How fitting, my Favorit tabletop System Dropzone commander and its sister System dropfleet commander released a trailer for a New faction yesterday, and the faction is a bit like the reaper mixed with 40k's Khorne

[@Anonymous-vr6ph]

Our real enemies are the friends we made along the way

[@MetaNerdzLore]

Lol probably true with the leviathans

[@TheSagaris2]

It’s crazy that Mass Effect constantly warns of the risk of AI and humanity now in the real world is surging ahead in possibly creating a true AI. Terrifying.

[@Sbeve_One]

So glad this series was apart of my childhood

[@beskararmor7966]

That stupid catalyst kid ruined the Reapers for me permanently.

[@ideadlift20kg83]

I choose to believe that the kid you see is just Shepard hallucinating while the catalyst itself is speaking to him. The catalyst is hyper advanced AI after all. The image of that kid at the start of Me3 is burned into Shepards mind. "The Catalyst, also known as the Intelligence, is an ancient artificial intelligence that resides within the Citadel. It embodies the collective consciousness and memories of the Reapers, and thus countless ancient, harvested civilizations" - ME Wiki

[@Wavy_Gravy]

Us believing AI will evolve past us is just hubris. This whole story, is about precived hubris, across different mediums, times, dementions(dark space), and so on. IMO.

[@xJAKEx117x]

I have always wondered... Since the Rachni Wars were going on around the time of the Roman Empire, what if they had worked and Sovereign had weakened the galaxy enough to end the cycle then... The Salarians, Turians, Asari, and Krogan wouldn't be around anymore... But humanity would then have the next 50,000 years to do their thing. Even though the Reapers would have corrected the genetic modification of the Keepers and gained full control of the Citadel, Humanity would still have a ridiculously long time to work through things and most likely come across evidence of the Reapers to some effect pretty early on. Although I guess that's what Sovereign's presence is for, to watch and make sure that no organic civilization has enough time to truly pose a threat. So maybe my hypothetical cycle wouldn't be allowed to last very long haha.

[@villings]

I need to play these games again.. I love 'em all of them

[@willsalberg]

Awesomevid!!

[@triviszla1536]

Not sure what series this is but have a like and a comment anyway

[@JesusChristDenton_7]

Mass Effect.

[@triviszla1536]

@@JesusChristDenton_7 Thanks, got that after watching. I'm here for the Star Wars content but like to support the content I don't know about as well!

[@achristopher112]

God I remember the Kotor series, jade empire, and the ME series as peak gaming.

[@MrLedFarmer0331]

I agree with your ideas on the parallels from the Bible. Even to the point where the name Shepard is a reference to the "Good Shepherd" but I would say the reapers are false gods, pretenders and a good analogy for the Beast of Revelation and synthesis is taking the Mark of the Beast :)

[@saren7283]

My take on The Reapers, is that while being an objectively highly advanced machine race. I think they're actually quite lacking on the high end tech and military advancement tree. It's very well known that the Reapers would not be able to fight the Covenant Fleet with some research, Reaper ships armor and Kinetic barrier type shielding isn't good enough to handle immensely powerful Plasma weaponry that the Covie fleet uses. Moreover, when it comes to the upper echelons of the tech tree that a civilization can reach, the Reapers are powerful, but average fish in the sea. The Reapers aren't capable of technologically progressing, they fall into the classic trap of essentially being a corrupted genocidal machine race. For example, I personally think the Reapers would experience a severe run for their money against the Cybrex and Contingency from Stellaris, it's actually possible the Ghost Signal would completely humble the Reapers. I DO think the Cybrex and Contingency wouldn't outright annihilate them very quickly, but they would severely cripple them to the point that the Reapers would never be capable of threatening the Galaxy ever again. If you toss in the Ghost signal? It's over. The Reapers aren't capable of innovation or engineering on a mass scale to protect themselves, they are flawed machines run by a non-adaptive Machine Consciousness. The Reapers would also be completely unable to fight against the likes of Mendicant Bias, nor it's superior, Offensive Bias. Such AI are beyond comprehension, reaching Godlike levels of processing capabilities. It's not just those entities' processing and tactical prowess, it's their technology too. It's not really worth digging into. Honestly, I'm genuinely unsure how Reapers en masse would be able to handle the Imperium of Man from 40k in space specifically, from what I've seen, Imperium navy ships come slightly short when in even numbers vs a Reaper fleet. But the thing about the Reapers, are that they're a ground invasion type of crisis. I absolutely believe the Imperium would be more than capable of destroying Reaper ground offensives. The Reapers would lose a battle of attrition to the Imperium HARD because of this. Reaper Destroyers would go down so goddamn fast, Sovereign class Reapers, while large, would lack the armor and fighting power to actually stand in a protracted fight against the Imperiums capabilities for immense firepower down on planetside. If the Reapers fought the Necrons or Eldar? Please, the Reapers are far too primitive in comparison to top level advancement such as them, they are the 0.1% of the 1% I think the Reapers are a nightmare scenario crisis for the vast majority of Civilizations in any Galaxy, but when it comes to the upper echelons of civilizations? The Reapers aren't capable of punching in the their own weight class.

[@tristanbackup2536]

If Reapers find a civilisation from other IPs that are far more advance than them, they'll have a existential crisis. For the first time, they will retreat & won't attack the galaxy again, they will be hunted down & dissected like lab-rats.

[@Tinnitus1445]

Apples to Oranges. You can’t compare two franchises like you could two real civilizations because the conditions and rules that govern what advancement and strength is are different. Superimposing the reapers onto the Halo universe without taking into the account the different situation and rules of the Halo universe is disingenuous as it takes away their opportunity to mature and adjust in accordance to those rules that are made to justify a universe with more raw power. It’s like how if you take a professional boxer and an e-sports competitor and try and place them in each other’s wheelhouse to compare them it doesn’t add up their skills, background, and strength are fundamentally incompatible in that foreign environment. Had the convening exist in the max effect universe then it would’ve been destroyed before it could ever advance to the point it was in the Halo universe, and it’s technology would’ve been guided by the reapers so that it was never anything unfamiliar to the reapers. That’s the real strength of that faction they aren’t designed for warfare but gardening everyone else so that no one ever has that strength above them. Now going the other way, throw the reapers into the Halo universe and the reapers are out of their depth because they’re designed for a purpose that doesn’t exist so of course they’re a fish out of water.

[@jakerooke174]

You can’t really think of many sci-fi villains like the reapers the closest you get is the flood and they’re very different in many ways

[@Cancoillotteman]

They've got a classy A.F. soundtrack though !

[@Anglomachian]

Why is everyone suddenly making Reaper videos? I’m getting worried here

[@MetaNerdzLore]

Lol really? That is scary

[@stubbornspaceman7201]

It’s probably just because of all the hype for the new ME game

[@christophergroenewald5847]

Probably because mass effect has been circulating the internet more than usual lately.

[@Dovah_Slayer]

​@stubbornspaceman7201 surely this game will be better than andromeda...... right?

[@stubbornspaceman7201]

@@Dovah_SlayerHonestly the biggest problem with Andromeda is that like 3 it was *heavily* rushed. But one can only hope that this new one *doesn’t* flop.

[@John.S92]

"ol' harbie speaks of me? oh my, seems I'm famous in the reaper community!"

[@eldritchmorgasm4018]

I think the only movie showing something similar would be "Skyline" (1st one), big biomechanical ships harvesting humans (kinda like the Reapers), extracting brains to brainwash & repurpose them as control-units in other bodies (those could be the Collectors), and dead human bodies being disposed in a converter that makes protein-soup out of them, for food, I guess.

[@feralprocessor9853]

Right off the bat, sovereign dising on organic life.

[@Duran-not-Duran]

That multi colored ending that this franchise ended on will never leave the back of my mind.

[@ericpowell4350]

This fiction is so well thought out that it's frightening to think how terrible it would be if it was actually real.

[@BioShrog]

Awesome video.

[@sargepent9815]

What's WILD is if you think of how many times the reapers harvested the galaxy in the billion or so years since the first harvest of Harbinger. Even giving them a million years to build the relays and ect, if they conducted the harvest an average of every 50k years, there have been about 20,000 "cycles"

[@dreworyan5652]

Please help me remember the name of a game… it was a trilogy I believe where the guy fights alien invasion but becomes corrupted in the end??

[@MetaNerdzLore]

Super Mario Bros.

[@FilmCritictheone]

Resistance fall of man

[@Texass117]

Dead Space?

[@theamazinghaole2384]

Theory: if a civilization abandoned technology would they be left alone. Take huge swaths of a population and move them to an undeveloped world and go back to “hey, these two sticks get hot when rubbed together” technology would the reapers just pass over. Seeing a world cut off full of basically cave and nomad hunters but they came from a developed world?

[@macedon379]

The worst type of opponent you can imagine. Even after death you will have no peace.

[@ideadlift20kg83]

The greatest mystery is still... Who oils their joints?

[@nimbusspacewagon]

These games were incredible. Yes the ending was meh, but everything else rocked! Even Andromeda was pretty great, albeit no original trilogy.

[@azzy9263]

FYI don’t put a red boarder around your thumbnails I thought I’d already seen this due that the red bar running across the bottom of video

[@ideadlift20kg83]

That is probably why a lot of youtubers do it because even I go "Huh, when did I watch this?" and clicked on a video I hadn't watched.

[@tonesfreeman1769]

To control is a folly, to merge is to join, and, to have no effect is waste. So, option 1 - 'Destroy'. Great video, thanks.

[@blakeharkness306]

Reading the output of a chat gpt response as the main crux of your KZbin video blurs the lines between organic and synthetic cohabitation. Teetering on the brink of pure ease of use while also seeming utterly sophisticated, though prompted by a pivotal moment in the history, it also posed a moral dilemma for KZbinrs and KZbin management alike. Aligning the organic creative process with the intense thoroughness of synthetic knowledge and bland use of sophisticated vocabulary in extraordinarily predictable patterns spelled the end of this KZbinr and any other who would simply read from the output of an ai.

[@V20052]

Reapers remind me of enemy NDS game infinite space that game is awesome ❤

[@c9799-r1u]

So with the mass effect 4 trailer do you think the destroy ending is canon

[@ideadlift20kg83]

Probably, but Liara was the one whom found your body after Normandy crashed. So it could be a game that plays out during the 2 years Cerberus spent reviving Shepard and you play as some trained Spectre dude/woman or whatever. Not that I know what you would do though lmao.

[@c9799-r1u]

@ no they show pieces of dead reapers in the trailer also they already made a comic about liars giving sheapard’s body to Cerberus

[@ideadlift20kg83]

​@@c9799-r1u Yeah you are most likely right. As others pointed out she has a lot of wrinkles around her eyes and some around her mouth. So this is likely hundreds of years after Me3.

[@darkreflection9087]

Awesome

[@Apoc_Bone_Daddy]

The Sovereign speech will ALWAYS stick with me

[@0m3g4Dje]

Twisted cursed PERSONS!! 😏😉👌🏾😂😂. 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 Source!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾 Ancestors!!

[@shanechipman7157]

While I understand why people hated the star child so much most people I’ve asked why it upset them so much they usually say “ so bro a fucking kid is the leader of the reapers are you kidding me?” The star child isn’t ACTUALLY a child I feel like a lot of people misunderstand this. The intelligence aka the star child is just taking the form of a child that Shepard has a connection to, the “child” isn’t its true form we never see its “true” form. Don’t know why this confused so much of the fanbase lol I’m not saying that I thought the intelligence was a satisfying antagonist I would’ve preferred what BioWare writers have confirmed in interviews that a reaper queen was the original idea for the leader of the reapers but they changed it late in the games production to the star child.

[@MetaNerdzLore]

yeah I think the star child was genius, maybe I should make a vid on just that because I agree. It is the kid that you watch get blown up in the transport just after yours when leaving earth in the beginning. The kid has shepards features even like blue eyes and brown hair I think, he failed that kid and it haunts him. And he could identify with the kid, so it shows how insanely manipulative the reapers are, that it took a form that would put Shepard in the most sympathetic state. That's why I actually love the option to just shoot the AI hologram kid because f u reapers, it is clearly manipulating you. Obviously they made that the worst ending lol. But yeah I think it was actually the perfect form to take because you need to read between the lines, they made this a very realistic enemy. Not a bond villain bragging, or Disney witch overtly laying out their evil goals, it is saying nice things while you have every clue you need to know it is manipulating you even in this moment where it is acting like the victim when someone finally has the option to kill it.

[@shanechipman7157]

@@MetaNerdzLore well said man! I agree with everything you just said lol what’s your opinion on the leviathans just curious?

[@ideadlift20kg83]

I think the "child" is just Shepard hallucinating. He is very close to dying after all. The child dying at the start of Me3 is haunting him in his dreams. The Cataclyst is a hyper intelligent AI. WW2 Soldiers and even WW1 soldiers suffering from PTSD have talked/written about speaking with their dead friends. It's just a way for a our brain to deal with trauma.

[@jbear3478]

A lot of people are stupid

[@daniell1483]

I really loved the Reapers as antagonists, as characters. ME3's color coded ending was very disappointing for such a fascinating fusion of angel and alien, of religion and science. I never thought of Reapers in the context of the Christian Resurrection, but it makes a lot of sense!

[@lefdee]

wouldn't joining everyone together eventually be the same option as just letting it happen at the moment?

[@doc3087]

I'm still traumatized from andromeda and will never recover.

[@thrrax]

If you think you're traumatized by Andromeda, imagine working for EA and seeing how it looked in pre-alpha, testing the MP and then having your gf working on the project and telling you what crap they were doing with it. And then getting her deluxe copy, playing for 15 minutes and uninstalling it.

[@Emanon...]

Their reasoning: "To avoid inevitable conflict between organics and synthetics, we (synthetics) show up every 50.000 years and destroy all organics" Wait, what!? That's just outright stupid...

[@MetaNerdzLore]

watch the whole thing it was that obviously stupid you have to think u missed something. Each species is preserved in the Reaper, the alternative was species kept going extinct. Think like all the other homo genus like Neanderthal that are extinct, they live on in our DNA, but if you wanted to preserve them you would have needed to step in to prevent homo sapiens absorbing them. They also do not destroy all organics, they take only the most technologically advanced ones, that are on the cusp of developing AIs that could make them go extinct.

[@KeytarArgonian]

You say that, but the Reaper program runs successfully for a billion years. It can’t be all that bad a plan.

[@coldsoul333]

OMG this bring me back to the game so hard! should I play it game again? I finished the second 3 times and third 3-4 times......

[@seeker7158]

I thought the original ai's that war against the creators and the leviathans went to war because they saw that their creators were enslaves. And they attempted to free their masters who did not understand that they were trying to help and fought back. And this happened every time and the leviathans kept having to fight ai's that were trying to kill them. I also thought one of the commands for the. Reapers originally was that not only do they preserve life, but they also stop the creation of ai's. Am I wrong?

[@feralprocessor9853]

Straight away, Harbinger is a snitch.

[@I_am_a_cat_]

25:18 I KNEW I WASNT IMAGINING A REAPER BEING THERE. WHY TF DID THEY REMOVE IT IN THE REMASTER??

[@dustybunny6716]

Reapers terrifies me as much as a Tyranid hive fleet or Zerg swarm.

[@grunt7917]

May sound crazy but I actually support their "policy". Galaxy needs the Reapers. The Harvest is necessary. Of course, the Harvest is horrible thing but it's the only thing that saved entire Galaxy from dying for countless times. And everyone we know - Humans, Krogan, Turians, Asari and others - *EXIST THANKS TO THE REAPERS* Without their intervention humanity would possibly never met their dawn but even if they would... that would be a existence under foot of some superior space conquerors, like Protheans. There would be no such things as uniqueness and freedom. Reapers do nothing wrong. They "renew" the Galaxy by eradicating ones so others could evolve without being conquered, destroyed or brainwashed or enslaved or whatever. Of course, nothing fun when they appear and say "It's time". A few would want to die just because they say so. But if you look at bigger picture... besides, they actually preserve the life. Each Reaper is a civilisation.