The Next Mass Effect’s Ingenious Plan To Break Spacetime

[@dorottyapapp]

Atharia: How much dark energy do you want? Me: Yes!

[@paragonseven]

Lmao 😂 *insert Oprah.gif* You get dark energy, and you get dark energy! Everybody gets dark energy!!!

[@dorottyapapp]

@@paragonseven That's the spirit! 😜

[@ArcticFoxMark]

Conrad being a Xenoscientist really surprised me, i was like "whattttt?., but It's a shame the dark energy plotline was dropped after ME2 but there is room to revisit this. It would be the perfect time to do so.

[@NotThatBob]

I swear, Paragon7's brain must be the size of a weather balloon. How she thinks these things up I have no idea. But her reasoning is always brilliant. She should be a crime investigator.

[@yo_negus9819]

These videos always get me exited for the future of mass effect.

[@Zoderus]

"Because we are a very smart & desperate fandom". Yes, yes we are! 😂 Great video once again, Atharia!

[@Mikullas]

ME2 orange cover image having black hole with Collectors base near black hole was probably not random thing too.

[@ibraheemahmad7404]

Imagine what if the entire galaxy is fked because we fired the crucible and every star in the galaxy is now about to either prematurely expand or explode, leading to mass exodus of all the species out of the milky way towards other galaxies. Hence needing the wormholes.

[@Blimbus-Blombo]

Oh this is BRILLIANT! Plus the Protheans wouldn’t know that it could be a side effect of firing crucible since they never finished it.

[@jaxonfreeman1756]

Sadly, Bioware's new DragonAge has left me feeling very worried about ME5.

[@Scottie_S]

David Bowie - Space Oddity. Kinda makes sense when pointing to the glowing star within a star.

[@TheCultOfShepard]

Excellent work as usual! Funnily enough there is a David Bowie (Starman) theory for the ME3 ending.... " Didn't know what time it was the lights were low oh ho- During the assault on the Catalyst, you don't know if it's day or night because of the way the sky is. I leaned back on my radio oh oh Some cat was layin down some rock n roll lotta soul, he said- Hackett and others speaking over your radio. Then the loud sound did seem to fade a ade- Shepard is hit by Harbinger's Beam. Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase hay hase- The Radio comes back on when Shep regains consciousness, but sounds strange. That werent no d.j. that was hazy cosmic jive- The hazy cosmic jive is all the strange voices and sounds heard as Shepard makes his way forward. There's a starman waiting in the sky- Star Child, The Catalyst, Up in the sky on the Citidel. He'd like to come and meet us But he thinks he'd blow our minds- He believes his grand scheme of the Cycle is too complex for us to comprehend. There's a starman waiting in the sky Hes told us not to blow it Cause he knows it's all worthwhile- He believe that this is the way the galaxy must work, and we should not stop the cycle I.E. Blow it. He told me:- He Gives You The 3 Choices. Let the children lose it- Destroy. We are the children, losing the Reapers and the Catalyst. Let the children use it- Control. We Use the Reapers and Catalyst. Let all the children boogie- Synthesis. All The Children being organics and synthetics. Boogying, meaning dancing, meaning living in a utopia with each other; Dancing, Laughing, Loving, etc. I had to phone someone so I picked on you hoo hoo- He gave the choice to You. Shepard. Hey, that's far out so you heard him too oo oo! Switch on the tv we may pick him up on channel two- The effects will be seen and heard throughout the galaxy(Not A Perfect Connection, but what is?) Look out your window I can see his light ai aight- The Explosions from the Relays. If we can sparkle he may land tonight a ight- The galaxy "Sparkels and we land; The Explosions save us all and end the Reaper Threat. We "Land" Safely. Don't tell your poppa or hell get us locked up in fright- Had Harbinger known, he would never have let us reach the Catalyst.(Again, Not Perfect.)" (Source: brettc893, Fextralife)

[@paragonseven]

Whoaaa that's crazy!! Whoever thought this up is so smart! 🤯

[@Alex-gw9wq]

Unhinged theory takes, here we go. The ship we see over and over again is the Mudskipper. What do mudskippers do? They're mainly aquatic but they can use their strong fins to 'walk' on land for a period of time until they become demoisturised. Why would a ship be called a mudskipper? Humor me for a second The big start of life is the ocean (at least for humans, hanar, and likely salarians, no idea about the other species) After that we evolved to have legs and use land. We then built things that can fly in the air. Afterwards it was going through space, and later faster with the use of eezo & mass relays What if the next step is wormhole travel? The mudskipper can go around space comfortably, but could potentially go through wormholes unscathed (for a limited period). I don't know why that ship in specific would be able to traverse it, maybe some eezo shenanigans because I don't know how mass effect fields would interact with a theoretical wormhole, or some other stuff. Or it was simply the first

[@paragonseven]

Yo did you take a peek at next month's theory video?? 👀

[@MandoPrime1138]

I may be in the minority here, but I hope they don’t go the multiverse/alternate universe route. It’s been played out so much lately and I want the story to move forward

[@DoctorLifeMD]

Not to mention that multiverse BS is usually a cheap way to excuse yourself out of having to stick by established canon. It's legalized "hey, anything goes!" and makes an established universe that much less interesting to witness.

[@captainhybrid4045]

Love the idea of Einstein Rosenbridges in ME. Perfect fit given where the series is following ME3 and ME:A.

[@ooberguy12]

Insanely interesting video! So glad we have fans like you! Never knew these concept art pieces existed!!

[@paragonseven]

The amount of sleuthing I've done is truly unhinged, but getting a little closer to the (potential) truth makes it worth. :)

[@ooberguy12]

@@paragonseven I bet! Keep up the good work

[@rahulbinov1987]

bruh I was doing a deepdive of your vids today and now you drop a new vid!

[@paragonseven]

Welcome to the chaos that is my channel lmao 😂

[@effie9837]

I like that mention of how the Crucible may have used Dark Energy to synthesize, destroy or control the Reapers. It'd be a neat way to not choose a canon ending, given all of them did essentially the same, which was a blast of colorful energy.

[@lancep2002]

This reminds me of the Xeelee Sequence series by Stephen Baxter, where ( long story short) humanity spends millions of years fighting a god like alien race called the xeelee, but the real enemy are dark matter creatures that are prematurely aging the stars and eventually the remnants of humanity have to evacuate the universe through a wormhole

[@dungmaestr0912]

I would like to think Edi's explanation of what the briefing/comms room (when you ask and exhaust "what is this area of the ship?" She mentions you can actually communicate with different worlds. It's a really interesting conversation, but I could see us using FTL communication as well.

[@kirstenkane4469]

I read a fanfiction recently that suggested that the crucible blasted out a crapton of dark energy that was messing with spacetime (the crux of the fanfiction is that Shepard is in a loop of the first three games) and I remember thinking "huh, that's a neat idea, probably explains why there's a way to get to an alt universe Alchera and pick up Shepard" Then you drop this. Nice. Will be interesting to see where this concept ends up.

[@IndeedVancho]

Despite the Bowie reference, I haven't heard anyone mention the Blackstar album which I feel is very relevant to this theory.

[@catbertz]

Lots of interesting ideas to consider in your theory! Hope the story they ultimately deliver is compelling, and not rushed.

[@electrictrojan6719]

David Bowie, the original Starman waiting in the sky, made a song called Black Star, which is about parallel realities colliding into a point. Also, you can't help but wonder if this spacetime surfing thing is the full exposition regarding what exactly the Reapers really were trying to... protect people from.

[@KailoK7]

Did he actually..Cool. No way that's a coincidence if they've used they're labelling of the Me *Bowie". That would be very interesting.

[@tootiredtostop1606]

Please, let it be good. ME2 vibes. Aced the last mission on the first try. Found out later how bad it could have gone. I want that feeling again.

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

9:50 that zoom in looks suspiciously like the Normandy outline...

[@Baba_Lysaga]

This channel is so underrated

[@olgagerman4878]

Always love your analysis

[@jamesboley1402]

Can't wait for the next mass effect

[@lieuutenant]

Incredible theories, I love the work you put into explaining them so thoroughly!!

[@futureenergy4823]

I do hear "Anomaly readings all across space" however it feels like the person who says "space" isn't the same person who says "Anomaly readings all across". To me they are very different.

[@EasyGameEh]

on an unrelated note, i'm an IT follower and believer. every time i choose destroy (which is literally every time) shepard wakes up somewhere in london under some concrete piece of rubble. or so i thought, however, because this video gave me an idea - what if it's conrad's lying there in his knock off n7 armor. sheesh.

[@quigonbond]

Wow. Thanks Paragon 7. This really blows my mind. There's hardly anything "new" in scifi these days, diving into an exploding star to gain excess to a wormhole would be fresh. Crucible effect destabilising stars would also respect continuity and creates a galactic existential threat - a must for any epic story. I wonder if the game going to be set up as another trilogy.

[@tommclaughlin5872]

Love the breakdown, and the travel theory, it reminds me of the collapsar jumps from Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War". ME5 can't come soon enough! Keep up the incredible work!

[@captply4468]

Well the quarians did know about dark energy as did the Illusive Man when Shepard handed the omni tool data from the quarian who recorded the collector attack and the Illusive mans office has a birds eye view of a star going dark??? just food for thought

[@thirdcoastfirebird]

So, what you are saying is don't touch Dark Energy just in the real world, and don't stub our toes on Dark Matter. Okay I could stop this bad joke, and this vid was great!

[@echo1142]

I still hear the lady saying "Anomaly readings all across 'DARK' space" Also, if what you're saying is that the crucible pumped dark energy all over the galaxy, who's to say that the crucible being turned on the Reapers isn't the cause of the scourge? If the creators of the remnant had to pack up shop 400 years before the initiative arrives, and the journey took 600 years, maybe the crucible sent a huge pulse of dark energy heading out to andromeda that took 200 years to ruin everyone's day there.

[@paragonseven]

I've heard a few people say they hear "dark space" or "geth space." I personally can't decipher the word so its a blank space for now (pun intended). As to the scourge being from the Crucible, I have toyed with that theory before, but I just don't see it as logistically possible because of the distance between the two galaxies (unless wormholes are how it travelled in the first place). The Andromeda codex also lists the scourge as being the fallout of a weapon detonated at Khi Tasira. So unless that's retconned, I don't believe the Crucible and Scourge are directly linked.

[@yvasiuk.55]

I love when it is time for "it doesn't have any sense... OR DOES IT?🤔🤔🤔" 💖

[@jonathansud]

The science of all this is amazing and gets me excited. Folks are quick to forget that Mass Effect isn’t science fantasy, it’s hard sci-fi-literally everything lore-wise has a valid reason. I’m not thrilled at the idea of Shepard returning in any capacity, however. As profound world-building as this premise sounds-there’s a monumental difference between writing lore and a story, and Shepard’s return as a major character (cause what else could they even be) would imply lack of confidence with the overall narrative. Great analysis, truly!

[@3mpt7]

If Mass Effect wants to innovate, playing as one of the alien races that only exist in Mass Effect would be a good idea. The three endings for Mass Effect 3, whilst they conceptually sound drastically different, don't actually require that much to combine them. A few references to Reapers, maybe having some variations for background scenery where a Reaper is passively moving around, or is a destroyed hulk. Some variations in how much damage the Mass Effect relays receive from the different endings, and extended travel times. Oh, and make it so that the synthesis ending failed--like, maybe only those with cyborg implants were affected, or it granted everyone biotic powers rather than genuinely combining machines and people. Heck, I don't even know how the synthesis ending would affect machines--would they spontaneously start growing skin or scales, and other biological matter? The control ending might not last long--Shepard's mind might only control the Reapers for a few years, or even a few seconds, and a new body is made for him. The Dragon Age series by Bioware allows for a cameo appearance by the player-created main character(s) of the previous game(s). Shepard might suffer Anderson's fate--being consigned to work behind a desk or something. Same thing with the Pathfinder. Having a game where you play as the secondary character, and Shepard is the hero might have been an interesting innovation, as well. I'd like to have seen all the Normandy crew from throughout the Mass Effect Trilogy back for another game, but it's been too long. There's a tendency to hire different voice actors, and naturally, I'm not confident in the script.

[@vaultscribe4501]

So excited for this game! Your theories are phenomenal!

[@gamesadergaming1321]

Hi Paragon7. I'm playing ME3 and I've modded my game with the expanded universe. I came across the Heretic Staton where we do Legions loyalty mission in ME2. It says in the description that it was built by the Quarians and was stripped off everything valuable before they left, it's design looks a lot like the remnant and/or Jadaan technology.

[@e.s.6617]

I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite ME theorizing channel on youtube

[@riseuplights5017]

Look who's back to cooking

[@splattbinat1542]

I was always curious where that dark energy plot was going to be taking us during the trilogy. Would make sense to pick it up for the next installment

[@supunlakmal514]

8:43 in mass effect 3 end post scenes Normandy reaches planet close to twin stars...

[@LordofSyn]

The irony is that Life (of any kind) actually reduces the amount on entropy in its reference frame. The Reapers may have used that as their motivation but it doesnt make much sense overall. Finally, the mass-weight of all Life in the Cosmos can easily be 'outweighed' by a single Galactic SMB. Life only slows Entropy, it dos not reverse it. Also,also: I am super hyped for the future "Spiders from Mars" DLC.

[@greggmacdonald9644]

Intriguing! I wonder if Mike Gamble will comment on your theory?

[@Jswin-fi2pn]

Yes, all completely theoretical......I believe it all Great video, as always!

[@jonathaneggers2907]

I wonder if that relay with the vacuum aspect would also be a dark matter collector.

[@skynet0912]

I think it's gonna be a combination of the dark energy theory, as well as black holes. We know what dark energy does to galaxies and stars in this universe, but it's also recently been discovered that black holes might be near infinite containers and providers of dark energy, meaning black holes could be the source of dark energy as a concept, converting matter into dark energy. Today, we can only convert matter into energy and other matter. But black holes can convert matter into something we have no viable way of detecting directly. On top of that, Reapers were the brains behind the current cycle learning about FTL and how to handle Eezo, meaning they would have at least some idea about how dark energy and black holes work on a fundamental level. Meaning that if any amount of knowledge from the Reapers about dark energy is still around in the next game, it might be the new hot thing replacing Eezo. Only trouple is that anything that can be used for energy or fuel can also be used as a weapon, so i wouldn't be surprised if we encounter dark energy weapons and other technology based on it as part of the bad guys schemes...

[@Hajo87-tz7hz]

I completely agree with your deductions. Superb analysis! 🤓👍

[@gamesadergaming1321]

Hi Paragon7. I'm replaying the overlord DLC and David could speak with the geth, he could mimic their phonetics. I think David might have teamed up with Liara or the Alliance and even the Quarians and created some kind of language module that could help people understand what the geth are saying. It's been a while since I rewatched any theory videos from you or anyone else, but I have no doubt that this might have already been mentioned in your videos or someone else's.

[@tootiredtostop1606]

Veetor mentions dark energy as well.

[@Slobbynobby]

Dark energy baby! Edit - knew it lol. Good vid

[@jamescrellin5466]

I think it could be simpler than this though. In the first trailer they clearly show a broken relay and if they are going with the destroy ending being canon (Liara walks on a dead reaper) which is most likely, I think the galaxy is struggling to replace the destroyed Mass Relays. They will be exploring all they can like the Vacuum Relay from your last video, dark energy, using the scourge and these worm holes to try and get back to a fully connected galaxy (which is defacto lost by the destroy ending destroying the relays) and by messing with it all it will cause SERIOUS issues with space time. Perhaps then we may see Shepard or a version of them, the rogue AI you theorise could be Shepard in some guise. If I was an AI trying to take over the galaxy I know exactly who's personality I would take as my own. I also think wormholes is how Ryder/Andromeda enters the equation too of course. Likely the new big bad enemy (this AI?) as well. I think that's why Liara says "How could we have missed it?" and mentions humanity's "defiance" as they are leading this effort to get back into a connected galaxy. But they get the calculations wrong and it goes terribly for space-time. That's my working theory for the story.

[@sarissanhunter7227]

Brilliant thesis. I think you would have had a lot of fun with the Caroline’s Star event in EvE Online about 8 or 9 years ago. It was a neat little experience for our community as it developed.

[@jittercritter]

The fanfic possibilities for parallel universes are endless, and it’s also a fun way to canonize every player’s story

[@Tymmy777]

yay new mass efefct videos 🤩

[@mrmaster9801]

This theory is so rich of consequences that, if it was proven true, it would have the potential to both dramatically improve the narrative of the games or to sink it altogether. By the way, great video. I discovered this channel thanks to a video on DAO (which I've just started playing for the first time after many years) and I'm glad to see that ME is an equally important part (perhaps even more, judging by the playlist).

[@paragonseven]

This channel will definitely scratch your Mass Effect itch 😁

[@MajorHickE]

I dont know whether i should be annoyed or impressed by the possibility the Conrad Verner could be the thread tying the entire series together

[@chrissistarski]

By the way the final album from David Bowie was called Black Star. Dark energy, dark matter - so why not dark stars? (Using a touch of poetic licence as artists might) M.e. Bowie after all, but I assume you all had already thought about this

[@raphaelmagie]

In my opinion, this Mass Effect should be thought of as a gift for the fans. We need to live one last adventure with Shepard and the rest of the team (Liara, Wrex, Tali, Garrus) and of course some new characters as it was with the second episode to really conclude the real Mass Effect series that made us all dream. We will have the real happy ending that we always wanted in Mass Effect 3. I think Bioware is fully aware of this and will do everything to get there without harming the great choices of the players (there are the writers that are needed for the project to succeed in not canonizing any endings). Just from a marketing point of view (because let's be honest, EA's main objective is to be profitable) it's the best thing to do. You only have to see the communication that Bioware has been doing in recent years. They only promote the trilogy. Of course, in order to fulfill this goal of a gift for fans, it is necessary not to forget those who liked ME Andromeda (I am not one of them :( ). As in your theories, I think that the introduction of quantum is the best option. But what we must not forget is our Shepard, and I am absolutely convinced that he will be the protagonist (at least thanks to the perfect destruction ending), who will save the license as he saved the galaxy. After that I think that the real Mass Effect will be finished and if there are sequels they will only be spin-offs taking place a long time in the future or in the past. That's why I think that the target name will be Mass Effect 4. Only the ME where Shepard is the protagonist deserve a number because they have what makes the soul of ME. For the release I can imagine, contrary to rumors, a release at the end of 2025 or in 2026. (I am French and I love your content :))

[@ScythianLancer]

Ohhh nooooo, they fell in classic scifi trap, it's so over now

[@niora973]

I actually would love if we'd get the chance to see the aftermarth of ME3 as Shepard. There are still so many stories and lore in the milkyway that we haven't explored or that wasn't wrapped up yet and I wish they'd build on this more I love ME because of Shep and their crew and DA for the lore because they're expanding it and hint on old stuff and don't throw it away like they did in MEA

[@elizabetekalpina9611]

Greetings Paragon 7, I have a theory about the possible resurrection of commander Shepard. By deciding to play mass effect andromeda, by the way it’s a great game I must admit, despite all negative comments on it, right mods to enhance a looks and simply enjoy the story. So I have got to the point on search for Meridian, where we discovered that meridian is gone, inside Khi Tasira was uncovered a secret about the truth who are Angara. So, my theory is such, if the race who created Remnant technology and created a genetical beings that with time in nature developed as an evolutionary beings possible to live and reproduce on their own. May it be possible for commander Shepard to be recreated in this way, as a genetical being, as Liars brought Shepards body to Cerberus, in project Lazarus was used an synthetical technology with ai mind code, for commander to be commander, than maybe Liara will find a chance in Andromeda galaxy to return Shepard with this new technology. But of course a theory is a theory.

[@paragonseven]

When playing through Andromeda I definitely noticed the "synthesis" like aspects to it, so if anything, I think the dev team is more willing to play with the idea that Shepard could return in a multitude of unexpected ways. With regards to if I think this specific theory is possible, sure! I haven't seen anything to dispute it, but I also haven't seen any evidence to support it from the hints they've dished out so far. Regardless, its great to see another theory about Shepard's potential return. :)

[@elizabetekalpina9611]

@@paragonseven Thank You🦊

[@odie2763]

It's going to suck pretty bad when they ruin one trilogies end and screw up one trilogies beginning and now have to plot armor their way into making the next installment work somehow for both

[@miiasutherland852]

I do agree that black holes will likely play a roll. I however, also beleive that the diving in is figurative and not literal. As in, "diving in..... For a closer look". Given the newness of the stars as evident from the lack of tidal collection within the molecular cloud (no spiral at the solar equator between the stars poles), these twin stars are babies. These two stars are also optical doubles and not binary stars as they have not collected enough mass to become tidaly locked (no tidal movement within the molecular cloud). Neither of these stars would have enough mass to create a toroidal flow or enough compression (simplification) to create a black hole, let alone one that would be much larger than a pin hole sized gateway that a solar giants would create when a black hole is created by a collapse. Flying littetally into this star would not do much more than create a very small ship in comparative size to first collapse upon itself and then be molecularly assimilated. We are more than likely seeing a membrane crust with cracks and holes, seeing the light of the star passing through them like windows. Or, molecular Hotspot withun the molecular cloud that glow like tiny stars (think fireflys). A star with such little mass (in comparison to other stars) wouls also have a difficult time exploding on its own accord, and this is where the dark matter injection would help. Rapid expansion of mass can be an explosion if uncontrolled. It's my guess that the ships crew observes this and gives foresite to a much larger star facing the same fate later in the story. And what we are seeing is two stars as a direct comparison, babies from the same nursery, the same womb so to speak. They have similar, age conditions, and resources, yet are having much different experiences. Its showing that one is being effected by another source, like lighting striking one tree in a forest and none of its neighbors. If we start diving into stars littetally, without some insanely we'll patched together bending of physics, I will be disappointed. Granted, I'm OK with being disappointed, it's all part of life's experience. Thanks for the mind stretch Paragon7, keep up the fantastic work.

[@sp_a_ce]

I have no idea what you're talking about but I love it

[@miiasutherland852]

@@sp_a_ce 😅😂

[@LucasJAmmons]

So I paused the video at 0.53 to say that Dark Energy is going to be used in some tech/construct to warp space and time and connect the Milky Way galaxy with the Andromeda galaxy…this done on a space based Mass Relay scale, a miniature Mass Relay scale or both…

[@Slimo74]

He he you watched the Veritasium video about black holes, and Penrose diagrams ;-)

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

so they're setting up a blank slate

[@BohdanChub]

N7 day is on the way. Hope we'll see some news.

[@blurmusic.5508]

hello paragon7, do u still believe shepard will return or is it a lost cause?

[@paragonseven]

I mean, I have a 47 minute theory video that Shepard will 100% return, so I'd say I still believe 😁 Genuine belief too, not memeing. At this point, I'd be surprised if they didn't return, HOWEVER it's not in my control if that happens, so I'm happily along for the ride with whatever the devs decide. :)

[@blurmusic.5508]

@@paragonseven thanks for the answer! ill check it out

[@redcoatdestroyer55]

mass effect had a massive effect on me

[@captainhybrid4045]

Didn't Veetor kick off the dark energy theme in ME2 at Freedom's Progress with the Collectors/Seekers?

[@55rz55]

So basically bringing Sheperd from a parallel universe?

[@Stefan8632]

imagine if they make a new class or power with space time warp whatever. this would be the next step after in andromeda you could use every power 😃

[@kalaelizabeth]

omg mom look it's me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@paragonseven]

LMAOOO

[@3mpt7]

I recently read part of the Forever War, and the idea to dive into black holes to teleport in a straight line to the nearest black hole on an exit vector is explored there, along with the time dilation, in the form of an Earth that nobody wants to be a part of from decades ago. I'm fairly convinced that black holes are solid objects in a gravity well that accelerates objects to light speed before they collide with each other though. Similar to dark energy, and element zero, these are magic fantasy terms rather than the scientific objects of the same name. Element zero: a neutron (or any fundamental particle that isn't a proton or an electron). Dark energy--never going to make biotics. The recently discovered Higgs boson or 'God' particle, on the other hand? Fits the bill for what Mass Effect is trying to do with element zero. The next game might need a terminology change. Anyway, from the evidence you've provided, it looks like the next Mass Effect is trying to be rather ambitious--more ambitious than Starfield New Game Plus, at any rate (not that I've played Starfield at all, but a galaxy full of only humans is less interesting than the Mass Effect galaxy). I don't think they can pull it off. Maybe scale it back a bit. Just including all of the species in the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies seen so far in the games, remaking the two mobile games nobody can access, and perhaps seeing how events would play out in the Mass Effect galaxy in a timeline without the Reapers might work. I mean, there's plenty of enemies available in two galaxies that are largely unexplored. Pulling from Stargate, there's the Goa'uld, the Wraiths, the Replicators, and the Ori to consider. Star Wars had the Galactic Empire--seeing how the Council would react against a duplicate/mirror universe Citadel that was evil might work. Then from Halo, there's the Covenant species. And that's before getting into some kind of civil war--as seen in Andromeda (which I've played, but haven't finished). I realize that a lot of these are covered in fan-made fiction. But the fact remains that the terraforming technology in the Andromeda Galaxy is too powerful to beat, and the Reapers themselves are too powerful to beat, given the technology of what's available in Mass Effect. Stargate started getting into this problem with the Ori and the Replicators, and Halo got into this problem with the Prometheans and turning the previous enemy into an intergalactic unstoppable devil-god. Star Wars is the only series that I know of that has done a galactic war with an enemy that's powerful, but logistically beatable, with the Yuuzhan Vong basically being the Thorian type enemy. The big reveal that Commander Shepard probably couldn't understand was that the Reapers simply viewed the galaxy as a video game, and they were simply harvesting the galaxy every 50,000 years for the preservation of art. Y'know. In the original plot. I doubt Commander Shepard played video games.

[@michaellidh974]

AND if stars start aging faster from dark energy, the crucible potentially could have every single star in the galaxy start aging faster. Which would be a good motivation to risk going into the wormholes in the first place.

[@colts21215]

Any new Nexus, I think that’s the correct name, updates?

[@paragonseven]

Not sure if you're referring to the Nexus mods (which I don't use so I have no idea if there's an update) or the actual Nexus in Andromeda...?

[@mistercomment1622]

The original reason or dark energy being mentioned was that the reapers harvested the civilizations to combat an excess build up of dark engery. The plot got leaked and they chose the silly technical singularity instead. On a personal level I'm not convince that it even exists. (Call me a Councelor😉).

[@Dyslexicminipainter]

Amazing video 🎉🎉 . 🧐 I wouldn’t say universe I would say galaxy just because universe would imply that the reapers have to be at every galaxy in the universe to control the meddling or organic. What would the effect be on are galaxy massive black hole after the release of the crucible energy? And secondary thought what would all that energy do to sol’s sun be at ground zero just my intrusive thoughts

[@UnhingedJessie]

Aw not more time travel and multiverse stuff...

[@gbuster8167]

Ooook… So I’m incredibly “late to the party” (again) buuuut if your theories are all mostly correct and we will not only end up with 2 different Shepherds but also Ryder and crew back in the Milky Way Universe… Who exactly will our Main PC be? We have never had a former PC as a crew/NPC before within ME. They’ve pulled that nonsense in Dragon Age and it didn’t really feel right in any way.

[@bignick2k215]

I’m at a point with the Mass Effect universe that I don’t even care if I ever play as Shepard again. I just NEED to know what happened to Shepard after the perfect destroy ending where we see Shepard’s chest rise at the very end. I need closure.

[@MercyBot7]

Gonna be real with you, if they do this, it's probably going to be because they watched this video, thought it's a whole hell of a lot smarter than whatever their idea was, and put it altogether.

[@accidentalmadness1708]

Mass effect is already heavily influenced my Star Trek so they might as well pull on ds9 and make some worm hole aliens 😆. Seriously though I have no idea.

[@throwingbeef3524]

I like it, you always bring up great theories! You really do! But I think your reaching for something thats not going to be there this time. I think you were really on to something with the whole alt universe theory! At least for me anyway. So much potential, in that theory!

[@j.m.2022]

I still think you're wrong about Shepard returning. To bring back Shepard (as a playable character) without bringing back Mark Meer to voice the Broshep version just would be a gross betrayal of who Shepard was in the OT (and I have it on pretty good authority that Mark Meer is not going to be involved in the next game). I'm fine with accepting that we're already 600 years beyond the end of the Reaper War and have a great mystery to solve in the Milky Way as to what happened after the crucible was deployed regardless of which ending Shepard chose. The possibility of the mere deployment of the crucible for any of the choices destabilizing any cluster than had a mass relay is an intriguing theory that makes the Reaper's fate completely irrelevant. Whether scourge scientists from Andromeda (and we do see an Angara in the artwork) can come back in an accelerated fashion (with time still moving forward from 2819) to help stop the Milky Way stars from exploding and destroying that galaxy is an intriguing story line that does not necessitate reversing time just to bring back 1/2 of Shepard. In the ME Universe, dark energy compesses space-time by removing mass. Time has always moved forward even when objects are traveling at faster than light speeds.

[@VBenoodle]

I love the theory of grabbing a Shepard from another timeline, let’s say you’re right, we should be allowed to pulled Shepard or another universes equivalent of Shepard so that being a Turian, Asari, or Krogan. It would really expand the customization

[@jenniferhanses]

Well, doing time travel /alternate universe stuff is one way they could both bring Shepard back AND not commit to a canon universe set up. Because I like Mass Effect. But I like my specific game state. I don't want to be in someone else's canon universe where all the choices made were things I think are unethical and stupid. If they do this, then each of the three-ish endings to Mass Effect can all be real, and just function as a DA:O style starting point.

[@reddskair9523]

Algorithm comment 😊

[@tylerhaunted]

🎵🎵🎸LETS DO THE SPACE WARP AGAAAAIIIIIIN LETS DO THE SPACE WARP AGAAAAIIIIIN🎸🎵🎵