Why the Prothean Empire Could Be Future Villains in Mass Effect 4

[@lisakassandra4222]

"... uplifted from just jellyfish to big stupid jellyfish." Ah yes, the ultimate lifeform.

[@MrHulthen]

Indeed, the final evolution

[@cassiespencer6134]

The Hanar are alright. I was tripping on Mindfish one night at the Silver Coast casino and danced with a Hanar. At least I think it was a Hanar. ;)

[@blitzphantom9488]

If they ever got into Shepard’s fish tank it would be a sure fire genocide because I always find a way to kill everything in that tank 🤦‍♂️

[@cassiespencer6134]

@@blitzphantom9488 Buy the Aquarium VI on the Citadel. It automagically feeds the fish, cleans the tank and maintains proper temp, pH, algae content and salinity, etc. It allegedly even talks to the fish when you’re not around.

[@blitzphantom9488]

@@cassiespencer6134 i was mainly referring to ME2, I forgot to flirt with Kelly so she never offered to watch my fish for me. 😔 I always forget something, it’s hard to go 20 hours perfect when you’re skipping through dialogue a lot.

[@vlover15OO]

Having Javiks people come back and becoming an antagonistic faction using Shepards image as a justification that the strong flourish would be an excellent world building moment.

[@MrHulthen]

Indeed!

[@zachall101]

They can’t come back though… it takes a bit more than 1 individual of a species to make an empire 😂😂AND JAVIK IS THE ONLY PROTHIAN LEFT… also JAVIK says in the game that their empire being one people was their downfall…. He says that due to them forcing all the other species to “act as one species” when the reapers cut them off from each other they became confused and were easily destroyed…. So if this is true… which it is… why would he rebuild this same civilisation…. Also the people of this cycle WILL NOT STAND FOR IT….also they have all come together due to the reapers…so if the race of prothians tried to control them… NOT A SINGLE RACE would allow it… and working together they would beat any new small prothian civilisation…. The collectors WERE NOT PROTHIANS…. They were indoctrinated…. Therefore they were no longer free and no longer a true prothian

[@vlover15OO]

@@zachall101 calm down its an idea. Not to mention that since the relays blew the galaxy would be seperated as well. You could but it doesnt mean you should, just a fun idea i had

[@zachall101]

@@vlover15OO true but at the end of the game we saw reaper ships working on and fixing the mass relays…. So they won’t really be as broken as that… some people like those on the Normandy ship may be lost fora few years due to being thrown out of the wormhole they were in while using the relay … but I think they would eventually be found after the reapers/shepherd fixed the relays and the went back to dark space….I would think it’s more likely that the leviathan that u meet in the game comes out of hiding…. The leviathan had some reaper forces as it’s slaves… so when shepherd took control it would/could have become aware that they were defeated… an possibly come out of hiding…. Watching from a distance it would try to possibly make something like but not as powerful or as free as the reapers to try again to stop the inevitable wars in the future…

[@vlover15OO]

@@zachall101 pretty sure that the destroy ending is going to be the cannon. otherwise you're giving "your side" to much power. it took the entire galaxy to just slow the reapers down enough to use the curable, without it Shepard would've lost. if the reapers are still around there's no way the leviathans are coming out of their hiding hole.

[@SuperJimmythegreek]

Man.. I was 13 years old when i played the first Mass Effect back in 2008, this game is technically the reason i speak the English language today.. When i got to Ilos, my jaw was dropped to the ground in the conversation with vigil, couldn't stop thinking about it for a month.. I sadly realize that those years, that innocence will never come back.. Gone forever, like tears in the rain..

[@MrHulthen]

I feel ya man ❤

[@amko6358]

blade runner references used in the right way always make me happy

[@eh1600]

c-beams

[@AllaMortify]

Well that just makes me feel old.

[@thecircleoft.e.d2121]

A couple issues in this video: 1) The Collectors aren't just Protheans working for the Reapers; they're literally indocrinated slaves, husks that are a mockery of the Protheans, that no longer think for themselves; extensively implanted with cybernetics with Mordin saying that even their souls were replaced by tech. They're essentially corpses that are functioned by dangerous technology. 2) The VI from Eden Prime isn't called Vendetta; that's the VI from Thessia. The VI you were referring to was Victory. 3) The extinction of an entire species is usually seen as a massive deal, just like any individual death; when you show the extinction wasn't as thorough as led to beleive, it loses the power it holds in its message. Having the 'last of their kind' trope is the expection to this, as there's no way that the species can successfully survive on just one organism, unless they reproduce aesexually. I think it's fitting and fulfilling that the Prothean's legacy dies with Javik; the last voice of the Protheans avenging a dead race by seeing the Reaper's own extermination through.

[@the_dragon_gamer8850]

I agreed completely on this. Unless the protheans could reproduce asexually, their species is good as functionally extinct as there’s only one prothean left after Reapers were defeated (whichever the outcome came out of the ending of ME3). If protheans could reproduce asexually, then they would try to reform a new empire should they chose to undergo this path. There just too many unknowns here at the moment

[@Kronosfobi]

@@the_dragon_gamer8850 They cannot produce asexually as we now *one* thing about Javik's people. Once he heard Victory closed off life support to many hybernation pods, he protests. ''How am I to raise an Empire from a few hundred?!'' Which Victory immidietly decides its futile anyways and cuts power to *all* pods except Javik. Even the VI calls him the last prothean. The goal was to avenge their empire by warning the next generations with Javik. Not repopulate. Unless they do some cloning shenanigans there is no way for Protheans to come back.

[@Botar48]

Eh Quarians supposedly go extinct if you side with Geth but turns out no matter what happens some of them Survived on Andromeda. Wouldn't be the first time they made a fakeout extinction. Plus hey if it ends up making up for a good story does it matter?

[@dragoninthewest1]

@@the_dragon_gamer8850 theoretically they could bring them back from Extinction using 3D printing so long as they have backups of their DNA. It wouldn't surprise me if the protheans didn't have Cold Storage samples or even a digital recipe to replicate their DNA as contingencies. It wouldn't be the same prothean culture as these new ones would be children who never knew the empire.

[@dylanmonstrum1538]

Yeah, collectors are Prothian husks, in the same way as the human husks are ours. Just semi-organic machines. Not individuals capable of thinking. Reapers just had more time to tinker and turn them into what they are.

[@juzoli]

I don’t know how good Javik is as an eye witness of the Prothean empire. He only knew his galaxy as one being slaughtered by the Reapers. So naturally his views are more militaristic and cruel. So even though he had access to the collective memory of their history, not just book, he is still on the extreme side of ideologies.

[@gennarosavastano9424]

His ideology is perfect

[@cassiespencer6134]

Witnessing his entire civilization being annihilated by a race of intelligent machines would certainly have influenced his mindset. Not to mention the fact he stated that many of the leadership had been indoctrinated and became traitors to their own civilization. So of course he sees war through a different lens than those who haven't experienced what he did.

[@juzoli]

@@cassiespencer6134 Also not just him, but ALL Protheans of his generation experienced that. On the other hands, they have direct access to the actual memories of their predecessors, so probably he has a much more accurate picture of their history than for example we do. So probably they were always villainous, but maybe not as extreme as Javik. .

[@anvime739]

@@juzoli I imagine the like the Roman Empire. They could be ruthless conquering others. But they also let them keep their beliefs and some of the culture and have them great technology.

[@juzoli]

@@anvime739 Did they let them though? They were assimilated into the empire, but there is not much info about their freedom. Nevertheless it still makes them the villain of their galaxy… Edit: I just realized that we know very well how much of their beliefs could be kept by the people who wished to NOT join…

[@sdaly5391]

I wonder of the Prothean's had their own version of the Andromeda Initiative.

[@joshuamckay9561]

Onward to the magellanic clouds.

[@shitguy7615]

That would be sick

[@Jay-di3sq]

They then moved on to becoming the kett after realizing the reapers may have been right in using organics for ascension just not how they did it, that would be a twist

[@vlover15OO]

@@Jay-di3sq andromeda already reavealed the angarons as the kett. But a different variation would be cool

[@Jay-di3sq]

@@vlover15OO angarans are made into kett but arent the original kett species. I believe lexi talks about how their species somehow lost the ability to reproduce and used a serum to assimilate species such as the angara and a few krogan into the standard "kett" most frontline soldiers for kett are angaran though

[@Taco1011]

Honestly all of the theories I've seen on KZbin could be wrong and they could go in an entirely different direction. Something more different than what any of us could've imagined. But this is an interesting, and quite frankly, realistic scenario.

[@stevenbaumann5911]

I think Mass Effect 4 could potentially have a Galactic Civil War. After an event like the reaper War ended, people would want answers. The asari had information that could have saved billions of lives. Once people learn that they would want some form of Payback. At best the asari would lose a lot of their prestige. Some people might even demand reparations from the asari government. It doesn't necessarily have to come from other species governments. But I could see soldiers who fought in the War who lost loved ones would want some vengeance. It might even be possible for that to turn into a separatist movement. To some extent all the species governments bear some blame. Most of them had ignored Shepards warnings. The only one that bears the least responsibility would be the turians because they at least took some action. The alliance is not blameless in this either. They had an entire prothean archive on Mars. They could have let Shepherd into those archives and she could have given them the proof they need it.

[@TheMelancholicWriter]

A separatist movement would be a great concept. Especially when one, or at least the foundation of one, already exists. The Terminus Systems. Charismatic leaders could turn that into a unified government independent of Council Space.

[@Ms_StoryDragon]

Oh shoot - what if it becomes a power grab between the Leviathan and the Protheans? And the species in between have to pick a side as to who they will support or try to re-establish a galactic government with the Citadel as the center?

[@thatssoderek2188]

even if there was an isolated colony somewhere, how would they have remained hidden for the last 50k years? unless they were in cryo stasis and get released after their version of Vigil senses the Reaper War is over. But even then, there would have to be 1000s of them with enough ships and firepower to be an actual threat.

[@Jonathan-ln8nn]

Not all of the milky way is known and explored in mass effect games

[@stewartlawrence3042]

Might sound a bit daft, but this sort of put me in mind of the Sopranos, when the various mobsters like Feech or Richie get out of jail and struggle with adapting. A similar sort of idea where the Protheans are struggling with a cooperative galaxy, instead one where they are the top dogs would be quite an interesting story line. Almost like a reluctant antagonist. Love the idea of a Prothean Ark, hard to imagine Ilos was their only contingency.

[@FlashBranson27]

This will make an interesting dilemma for Javik if he's still around, should he side with his people or with the others in the milky way galaxy

[@MrHulthen]

Ooooh hell yes

[@FlashBranson27]

@@MrHulthen you honor me, good sir

[@Pijoto]

It was never established how long Protheans could live, if it's in the thousands like Asari and Krogan, would be awesome to see Javik around; he could've made it his life mission to find other Protheans, and managed to find a huge colony in cryostasis, and then spent the last 600 years rebuilding the Prothean Empire.

[@omegaplayzz3257]

Imagine him as the main antagonist and in a ending boss fight

[@Johnny-Thunder]

Not just Javik, the hanar will also have a pretty big decision to make...

[@EvylServalz]

salarian liver while the subject is alive sounds delicious 😋 the fear adds spice, the live liver with its blood veins still pumping a .. delicacy. fresh as fresh can be.

[@MrHulthen]

Lmao the Salarians will be the first to flee

[@dominiccampbell181]

Well, we have two different groups of Protheans, the Ilos scientists and the Vendetta group, using the same method to preserve themselves, so there's plenty of reason to assume that they were just two of many groups to utilize this plan.

[@nemanja98rs]

Imagine discovering anew Protean empire gathering their strength and expanding their territories. Unified under a single goal that justifies them, to one day return to destroy the Reapers... And all of that in the Andromeda Galaxy. Please hire me, I don't need much food

[@rmeddy]

Personally not the direction I would go with for a sequel game or trilogy, I really want to see them tackle the dark energy stuff but this is still a solid premise All of that stuff with the Leviathans and the Awakened Collectors is solid material to springboard from with this idea.

[@gennarosavastano9424]

Their empire was basically like Rome. Even tho they conquered nations, without a doubt they uplifted most of them. And everyone was Roman regardless of nationality. Best empire in history. I like their ideas. And after Rome fell, many nations fall back into dark ages in sense of technology and culture, regressed for many years.

[@georgehouliaras7239]

Kneel before Emperor Javik!

[@zaguar3153]

Interesting. It's a big galaxy, and the Protheans were at the cusp of developing their own Relay technology, as evidenced by their _Conduit_ prototype. Maybe Vigil wasn't privy to the extent of their advanced Relay tech, and was unaware of Prothean construction crews and colony ships sent into the remotest reaches of the Milky Way, to build an independent Prothean Relay network completely separate from the Reaper network, and build a backup Prothean civilization as defense against whatever force their archeologists knew would return, to cleanse advanced sentient life from the known galaxy.

[@Krayfishkarl]

I think it's plausible that remnants of the Prothean Empire survived in remote isolated pockets or even other galaxies beyond the Reapers' reach. If anything, I actually find it more difficult to believe that every single Prothean was wiped out given how expansive they were. If they were to come back, I could see them wanting to retake a galaxy that once belonged to them. Could definitely be a different kind of antagonist. Whereas the Reapers were otherworldly and truly alien, the Protheans would be much more humanized villains - which could make for something just as terrifying.

[@MrJordwalk]

I agree. Most of the Milky Way is also uncharted and Mass 3 informed us that water masks heat signatures. So, the survival of an undersea colony would be a way of bringing the Protheans back.

[@nabiji]

I think its likely one of the Prothean subspecies have a connection with the Kett. It only seems like the Protheans would've tried to escape to Andromeda in the same way the Citadel species had. Whose to say there Protheans didn't uplift a species, or incorporate their genetics into their own species while in Andromeda.

[@GTAVictor9128]

So to put it simply, the Protheans were eugenicists.

[@Nae_So_Beautiful]

Leviathan is the new villian they even said they were the apex race, they were modeled after the reapers as well. They said something at the end too

[@jared8530]

Leviathan and his race created the Reapers in their image.

[@eefer5416]

I actually find this theory really intriguing but I cant exactly see how the protheans if they did come back would have enough people or ships to actually pose a serious threat to the galaxy. You would need at least 10s or 100s of thousands of protheans and an entire armada of ships. I suppose soon after the reaper war could work while all species are at their breaking point with such limited resources.

[@lepimond4605]

Well, consider this: imagine somewhere a million Protheans survived (Vendetta's plan was originally going to save a million Protheans, too). And, say, they are put out of cryostasis automatically on the condition of the Reapers being destroyed by a future civilization. Now, remember that Liara has wrinkles in the trailer of Mass Effect 4, which (if we remember how long do asari live) hints at the time period being somewhere around year 3000. This means that those million Protheans had 800 years after the Reapers' destruction to grow in population and secretly rebuild, as to then start their invasion of all other galaxy.

[@mojom.9221]

Well Javik could go to the Hanar Homeworld. And lived there like a good ;-)

[@jbxerr]

like a queen 😂

[@danmueller4021]

I want to see a game where Javik is the main character and has to find out the stories of the protheans of other star clusters by finding memory shards. Finding out about their subservient races' fates. Discovering how the races that came before them fought the reapers. The history of the crucible. The protheans homeworld. Perhaps recreating the extinct races housed in the reapers to learn technologies from them and their histories as civilizations

[@c_rock3512]

I’ve seen ideas for a halo reach style prothean game that I think would be absolutely awesome

[@shogun8159]

This probably would not happen because the leviathans would be the big bad. The only reason why they’ve been hiding for eons is to escape the grasp of the reapers. With No reapers they’re free to return as the Apex race they were before the catalyst and I don’t see them sharing power with anybody that isn’t them.

[@sifrost6869]

I have been thinking this for years. It would be a brilliant way to connect all the games

[@huanhoundofthevailinor2374]

A friend and i are trying to design a game so gamers would you play a game based on irish mythology and ancient Ireland

[@j19games24]

Depending on the genre, if it's well done I would

[@tailgate8840]

I like the idea of the Protheans returing i wonder if when the Protheans where their prime before the Reapers i wonder if they had contact with the Jardaan the Andromeda galaxies equvalent of the Protheans

[@MrHulthen]

That could've been cool!

[@zachariashulthen]

I hope them will be back

[@scorpio69poison74]

I don't see how that could happen. But what you might want to talk about is what I saw in Mass Effect 1 that no other KZbinr has talked about ever every time you're done with a mission you all sit down in a group but what no one has noticed is that all the humans are sitting on one side and all the aliens are sitting on the other side.

[@devinrosenthal8928]

Cosmic imperative is just the space version of the manifest destiny

[@P3891]

That would be awesome if there was a Prothean Base that survived with enough Protheans to emerge and pardon my Beauclairoise F**k Sh*t up

[@MrHulthen]

Haha true

[@RedRabbit-ZA]

Gotta love those big stupid jellyfish. The scene with Blasto was hilarious.

[@eden20111]

fun fact: Blasto is also voiced by Mark Meer 😂 I bet the voice cast had a blast doing the Citadel DLC.

[@roycrowley5308]

Yeah could be a new enemy doing the same like the villains of Andromeda

[@Aquamarin36]

Maybe they are a factor in the future, but im scare about the Leviathan - THEY the most powerfull species in the galaxy....

[@shadowthoughts7959]

I want to play as Javik; imagine having to choose between his own people or the galaxy that he has now learned to respect...or perhaps pull a Geth+Quarian thing somehow.

[@35doddsy]

That's a really nice theory you have there. I reckon it would actually be super to see the cosmic imperative make come back.

[@rhoheavy1123]

I would like to see it happen, I always feel sad when think how alone Javik must feel. Great video as always.

[@MrHulthen]

True, poor Javik. Thanks! 😄

[@SagaciousNihilist]

They cant resist not to bring the protheans back, Just like they couldnt resist to add Javik to the game as a squad mate in 3, even though ilos was supposed to be the only established surviving prothean site, If Javik survived there be others for sure.

[@hexsire]

It really would be cool if there was a female prothean squad mate. It would also be amazing if there were working prothean bases.

[@cassiespencer6134]

Some evidence seems to suggest that ME4 will take place after the events of both ME3 and ME: Andromeda where the two galaxies have been linked, perhaps by a non-Reaper Mass Relay, similar to the one seen in a piece of concept art released on twitter. This could allow the Scourge to play a major role in ME4 as well.

[@SagaciousNihilist]

A interesting twist would be if the Remnant turn out to be Protheans that escaped to Andromeda. Would example why it takes Milkyway technology which is based off Prothean tech to active Remnant sites.

[@gamesadergaming1321]

When speaking with Vigil I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong. But when speaking with him he says that not a lot of people knew about Ilos and that it was kept in secret. So it is possible that other Prothean worlds could have had other hidden bases that no one knew about, It certainly would make an interesting enemy if an entire world of prothean were to wake up and try and retake the galaxy after learning the reapers have been destroyed. However I still like the idea that I sent to Casey Hudson when he returned to Bioware some time ago about an Andromeda 2. The reapers have been destroyed or taken control of and the knowledge housed with in the reapers has proven fruitful. Giving the Alliance/Council races new locations of prothean worlds, new Mass effect relays even relays to the Andromeda system. New weapons + ship engines. all brand new technology that could transfer over to Andromeda 2. I liked Andromeda and I don't want to see it end with Ryder. I even suggested that they could have the main protagonist in Andromeda 2 come from Cerberus. Since the Andromeda initiative left long before the reaper invasion they would have no idea that Cerberus betrayed everyone. This would also allow for male and/or female Cerberus character. The other Ryder character that isn't fused to an AI could become an Ambassador to other races. With a new protagonist in Andromeda we could take the fight to the enemy and meet new races along the way.

[@nightpop6309]

Blasto, the best spectre known in the galaxy!

[@Klijpo]

Thing is... Jaavik was wrong. Either he misunderstood his science (he was a soldier, after all), or the Protheans were mistaken. Evolution is not the strong-surviving-whilst-the-weak-perish, it's survival of the fittest; being whatever is the best 'fit' for the environment it is in. 'Strong' or 'weak' are kind of meaningless. The Cosmic Imperative sounds more like propaganda to justify Prothean imperialism, akin to 'manifest destiny' or 'the white man's burden' type of bullshit. Doesn't mean any such survivors might not try; they'd just get squished real quick by any passing krogan...

[@Spalthersaar]

What a great theory. Gives me chills down my spine right away

[@rickhunter8484]

I hope not, let the Protheans rest. They had their reign.

[@brandonw2734]

100% agreed.

[@henryviiifake8244]

And they were already the pseudo-villains in ME2 as the Collectors.

[@Trollgernautt]

I would LOVE to see Emperor Javik going around the galaxy finding sleeper Prothean cells and waking them up, slaving less developed races (like the Yagh, Vorcha and maybe the weakened Batarians) and building a new Prothean Empire while crushing the council races. I can even picture this big boss fight at the end and when he dies Javik smiles and says something like "The strong also perish after all..."

[@leopardth7273]

I​ think​ same​ as​ you​ but​ can​ prothean​ go​ to​ andromeda.​ If​ they​ want​ to​ build​ empire​ why​ stop​ at​ Milky​ Way​ they​ might​ buit something​ like​ ark​ but lost​ in​ dark​ space​ and​ manage​ to​ save​ enough​ energy for​ stasis pod.

[@Blacksnowfanfics]

Shepard:because it's a big stupid jellyfish🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@viktorberecz27]

It was "The strong flourished, the weak perished." 😛 Otherwise, I love your content! Keep up the good work!

[@bushmg1061]

I really like this idea. Having a former squad mate who you've become attached to turn into a villain as a result of established character traits was a big missed opportunity. Javik is perfect for this; I think Liara even said he would massacre everyone on the ship in a heartbeat if it would bring his people back. This dynamic of an old friend turned enemy is a really strong and interesting one, and it would solve a scale problem the next game will face. They can't really raise the stakes any higher than they were, so having something more grounded, kinda like the first game before you learn about Sovereign, would be better than trying to concoct some even greater threat.

[@EnderPlayer14]

The return of the protheans could be a cool idea but unfortunately in the lore it is stated that reapers after gaining control of the citadel accessed prothean records of star charts and from what i remember Illos was the only one colony to survive :/

[@CallenExile]

I could see a group of Protheans stumbling across a Leviathan and being forced to surrender to it in exchange for hiding alongside it.

[@viktorberecz27]

Well, yeah.. from Shepard's perspective (or from our own as real human beings in the more "developed" part of the world, where we commit a great amount of resources to protect the weak and help them survive) the "Cosmic Imperative" could seem a bit harsh and unforgiving, but it is pretty much how evolution and life on Earth as we know has been working for billions of years. Pretty much 99.something% of the species that ever lived on this planet had gone extinct already. Others adapted and evolved, repopulating Earth over and over again. So yeah, it's kind of sad but true. 😬 (Ps.: in my cycle, we would've thrown all those stupid jellyfish out the airlock, Commander...)

[@elkainator6629]

You know, coming to think of it, it might be possible that other planets in a similiar situation as Ilos was in mass Effect 1 could of still survived.

[@DEMONFOX199028]

How to take it off topic but has anyone ever noticed the fighters flying around the reapers on palavan's Moon are Y Wing bombers

[@stevenbaumann3942]

One problem I have with Mass Effect is why none of the previous cycles attempted the same thing as cryostasis? The Milky Way is a large galaxy and there are a lot of places to hide.

[@darthachref6195]

javik: you still have time commander throw the geth in the airlock

[@juzoli]

Javik would have good times in this scenario. Standing between his new friends, and his own people.

[@NormandySR2XO]

With so many Mass Relays left unactavated it's possible one may lead to the sleeping place of the last of the Prothean's

[@Ale-dd3ek]

According to ME codex citadel races explored only a fraction of Milky way We just need enough creativity and to open a couple of new mass relays

[@hysteria3503]

i think protheans will return to help us if there's gonna be a andromeda prothean thing as a villain

[@SagaciousNihilist]

They will defintely return and so will the Rachni, video game devs are too predictable when it comes to these cliches.

[@noahnachnameerforderlichlo2879]

Thank you for all your videos ♡ I just have to get off my chest, that i really wish for the next mass effect, that they will catch up on the actual definition of anarchy because they are using it wrong in all games so far and it really grinds my gears.

[@liasiona3420]

Due to Mass Effect 2 technically the Cerberus organization had access to prothean DNA, the data EDI recovered from the collector ship, and they have the technology to clone. It would have been a given conclusion that the Illusive Man would have had at least one if not multiple teams trying to recreate them. I think that 4 will have, as a minor background villain, an assortment of Cerberus splinter groups who will have access to all the information and projects we "potentially" saw while in 2 due to EDI giving updates and Cerberus taking advantage during the chaos of 3. Could definitely see some various executives having formed their own versions and maybe you help certain ones against others, lesser evils yadda yadda. Just feel like Cerberus is to good of an enemy to throw away. They could claim that the main enemies from andromeda could have been a project of the protheans as a way to link the various series.

[@caveresch]

All I really want is to have a game where it's possible to not kill people in the story and talk your way out of issues, like in fallout. That option would be a ton of fun. Also the combat of Andromeda. I want to be able to snipe people with extremely powerful skills inside the singularity bubble I tossed.

[@akirawiskizofrene]

It might sound stupid but we know Protheans to assimilate species in their rank by force. The kert do the same thing but in a more advanced way. So I always thought that Kerts were actually Protheans that left the Milky Way to survive just as all species did in Mass effect Andromeda.

[@AllaMortify]

If the Prothean Empire fell 50,000 years ago, then either those turned into Collectors were rendered immortal by the Reaper alterations of them or the Reapers possessed working cryostasis vaults of Protheans whom they could thaw and process into new Collectors when needed. Perhaps if this latter idea is true then that might be how the Protheans could return in some manner. Alternately, the multiplayer missions in ME3 (going back to the 2012 release) had Collectors that had been freed from Reaper control. Perhaps if there are a large number of these, they might consider themselves Protheans and want to launch a new empire.

[@lauragarcia4037]

So, if all the races fell under the Prothean name, there would be so many types of species that are diverse and different. Is Javik Prothean because that's what a true Prothean is and looks like,or is it just a common shared title or name and Javiks species name is something different. Just like if this milky ways cycle species all called ourselves Prothean, ? What races is it just a "title" to..? Which are the root races ?

[@MrHulthen]

I think he's from the main 'Prothean' species & not an absorbed species :)

[@lauragarcia4037]

@@MrHulthen roger that !

[@angel8fingers]

I am hoping it is in fact, the Protheans led by Javik; that are the villains. When they introduced live Leviathan, they admit the chance of lost preserved Prothean enclaves. Bam

[@TheMMObro]

Even if.. they wouldn't have the numbers to be a galactic threat

[@JohnMiller-zr8pl]

It would be great if Javik found some purpose like trying to find more of their kind or the other species under the empire and in the next ME we get to know his findings...or maybe people or communities he found in stasis.

[@Blacksnowfanfics]

That is actually very strategic of the prothean's I commend them for it

[@bennuredjedi]

Bring it, so lit, because some of the Protheans fled the Invasion so this is not such a far flung idea, the question will be how to reintroduce them into the modern storyline?

[@chrisbritton58]

I still think that Mass Effect 4 will be a crossover with Andromeda. How? There are hundreds of videos talking about everything in Mass Effect but one important topic never comes to a discussion that is critical for the original trilogy and that is the Citadel is a Mass Relay that the reapers used for transportation from the dark parts of space. (which is never discussed where that is) I am betting it is a direct Mass Relay to Andromeda or connected somehow to our closest neighboring galaxy. It also is not discussed why they would not venture outside the realm of the Milky Way Galaxy. They are machines and do not need food oxygen or water which in the Andromeda Initiative was a logistical nightmare of living beings sent hundreds of years across "dead space" in between galaxies. So in my mind what ever comes out of the Citadel main relay will be the next bad guys. That also goes back to the management saying "Just because you got rid of a bad manager does not mean the next one will not be the same if not worse."

[@ottaviocolombo5805]

I think it's unlikely. The Angara are the equivalent of the Proteans. Once technologically incredibly advanced (probably even more than the Protheans themselves) they were attacked by a misterious entity, they left the machines they could operate to terraform worlds (this, in fact, could be a hint to the geths), and left behind pods of other angaras (and the current angaras) engineerd (I suppose to restart their race, as the Zorai quest may point to. Zorai may well be the analogous of Javik, one last "old" Angara who attempted to restart or preserve the genetically built ones). Plus, the modern angaras are turned into ketts by a process quite similar to the one used by Reapers to "elevate" the Protheans. I think that apart for Liara we won't see many of the old characters. And I would say "Fortunately", since bringing back forcefully connections and stories that unfolded and ended would feel artificial...

[@MaXeRAlfa026]

this makes me think that Javik would be the first squadmate to become an antagonist or a villain And if perhaps he doesn't, he'll have to face his own people, practically betray his race.

[@Mrcheekymonkeyisback]

haynar. no. it's Hah nar. xD hanar.😅 good video mate. wish to see more of the protheans in the next mass effect game. I'm currently playing Mass effect 3 legendary edition again. love revisiting the trilogy.

[@andrewlaidlaw7975]

Going by what's only mentioned in ME1 its possible that other protean survivors survived by going into status, could they be part of the next villains in the next Mass Effect game. Possible but then again like the reapers there could be other reaper flets about going about harvesting different places. But doing that by my reckoning would be lazy writing when a bigger enemy could be about hiding about somewhere.

[@AprilSBarnes]

Huge missed opportunity for the thumbnail to say "The Empire Strikes Back"

[@almostfaceman]

Eh, the Collectors are "no longer Protheans" but I get your point. I think it's much more likely, logically, for Leviathan to be a threat vs the Protheans. Then again, the rise of Cerberus was hardly logical, so anything is possible xD.

[@jamesedwards1145]

I think the return of the Prothean could work as the main plot of the mass effect saga.

[@635574]

Holy shit i didnt realize how important the first reaper attaching to citadel was. If we didnt do anything the whole invasion would happen much sooner and basically instantly. I never replayed the games because i didnt care about doing basically the same shit multiple times over or about other classes.

[@imaran1303]

I think that the Empire had every right to say, hey guys, you are either gonna help us fight the reapers or you gonna fight them on your own when the inevitably come for your planet anyway. The reapers are a galaxy-level threat, and people who think the conflict is beneath them or has nothing to do with them don't get to complain when the Empire focuses its resources to defend those homes willing to help in the war effort.

[@Kenshiroit]

they need to find a Prothean queen

[@betravel1016]

good video Hulten, they know how to solve an error I think it is because in mass effect 3 I had 7203 of military resources and I choose the final destruction and what seemed strange to me is that I did not get the cinematics where shepard breathes. I play it in play 4

[@jrosa__]

Now this is a great theory.

[@MidKnight-0012]

wait a minute wasnt the collectors in me2 just prothean reapers since in javiks whole flashback scenes we see the collectors breaching into the cryochamber bunker area like a swarm of husks on earth? so we already had them as our big bad

[@huanhoundofthevailinor2374]

Well if leviathan can survive as long as they did there no reason the protheans couldn't do the same

[@wardenofashes5189]

Javik vi was called victory and the vi on Thessia was called Vendetta pulse in the final push Javik said that he would the the resting place on his warriors and kill himself

[@02091992able]

Why Javik's people failed in their mission to disappear in stasis in the millions until the Reapers returned to dark space and form a new society was because they were infiltrated and the plan revealed to the Reapers but what if another planet came to the same conclusion but theirs succeeded as they were not infiltrated. They just haven't awoken yet or are still isolated the planet unknown to the powers currently present in the galaxy. What if the Jaardan in Andromeda are the remains of the Protheans sent to the Andromeda galaxy for the same reason the Initiative went there. Just that their tech it took longer to get there and were there during the plans of the Initiative to go there.

[@mbm8404]

How did the Protheans know the Reapers where coming? Did the previous cycle leave beacons or something by similar?

[@alannorris3819]

It's either the protheans or the leviathans.

[@Royalscriber5633]

I feel like if there are survivors it would be split up between those that believe the Reapers are truly defeated or those that don't believe. The ones that do will simply go with the flow of the other races while the ones that don't believe the Reapers are gone will fall under this theory. If the Reapers are still a threat or believe to be they will see at a reason not to change their view and specific races would probably follow them. I can see Turians, Krogan, & Humans standing against this but Humans may have more say due to Shepard & Turians already live a Militarized lifestyle so maybe they won't and Krogans are definitely strong. Quarians and Volus would be considered weak for sure. Geth might even be seen as a threat but who knows. Them coming back could change a lot or maybe just add another seat to the Council lol

[@larbearskitchen3990]

I could totally see them coming back. I’m just not sure they would be the BIG BAD. Even with an isolated colony in not sure there would be enough of them.

[@artemvalkyrie7451]

I don't get it... protean empire had more reasons to expand to another galaxy than anyone in shepards cycle so how come they didn't try traveling to andromeda after securing majority of their own galaxy? the more i think about andromeda the more idiotic it becomes as proteans had time to build massive stasis bunkers and almost finish the crucible but they couldn't build one or two ark ships similar to those build by "primitives" in andromeda freaking hundreds years of exterminating proteans and in that time no one figured out that ark ships would be a good idea to survive.

[@Blacksnowfanfics]

Hmm so if we are going by javik's theory my avatar should wipe out all mortals because she's an immortal super god right her morals would say no to that Javik

[@noiminoimi1179]

They were all obliterated by the reapers

[@brokenursa9986]

The Prothean Cosmic Imperative is just our own human concept of social Darwinism, which is derived from a misunderstanding of how evolution by natural selection works. Javik explains that he believes the strong survive by dominating the weak, but the reality is that the strong are just as likely to die as the weak, and the ones that persist are merely the ones best suited to success, strong or otherwise. In some ways, that's why our cycle succeeded where the Protheans' cycle failed. They weren't suited to success. They were too centralized, so when the Reapers cut off the seat of power, the empire fell into chaos. The current cycle has the Citadel council, sure, but that's more of a UN-style organization, and each race has their own government separate from the Citadel. When the Reapers arrived, even after they took the Citadel, the galaxy was able to coordinate, mass their forces, and counterattack.

[@JabamiLain]

People think you can't build new stories from any other ending other than "Destroy" ending. Well, allow me to disagree by presenting you the possible consequences of my "Synthesis" playthrough (which included betrayal on my part alongside the loss the Reapers inflicted). I like to believe that my Sherpard, hoping to spare synthetic and Krogan (because of the Genophage, only the salarians and their genetic modifications techniques can keep Krogans from going extinct) life in the galaxy, but at the same time keep the Reapers from gaining full control, decides to do the "Synthesis" ending, however counting that the memory shard Javik gave her could have its energy absorved alongside her, thus ensuring that people would eventually remember the monsters the Reapers are, breaking free of their forced consensus. But what about the Reapers who would want to preserve the Consensus ? Thanks to Tali and Legion's explanation, and Sherpard's tech knowledge due to her Infiltrator class, Sherpard understood how the Synthesis project actually worked, and came up with the theory that the Reapers, being hit by the Catalyst, would truly be affected by the Consensus as well, thus being imprisioned inside of it just as much as the galaxy, and as a result, they would be unable to harm the deviant parts of the consensus, because they had to understand that their separation was simply another reaction to the calculations of the Consensus. And it turns out, her theory was correct. Eventually, a BIG event (I'm still not sure what it could be), makes the people in the galaxy form diverging opinions of how to respond to the event, thus making the atoms of the memory shard finally act, and break the Consensus. The Reapers are the most affected ones, because now that they had access to genuine emotion, pain and empathy, they are unable to deal with the pain contained in the memories of the shard and guilt it brings to them, thus making all Reapers commit a massive suicide among each other. That's it, the war was finally over and there were no more casualties. But the consequences demanded a HEAVY price. Feeling the hangover effects of no longer being brainwashed into a full Consensus between each other, each species reacts differently. Some species like the Asari (particularly the Ardat-Yakshi due to the fact they once more fell that hunger that drove them to kill), the Geth (if you spared the heretics) and the quarians are desperate to rebuild the Consensus and perform gruesome experiments to rebuild it. The Krogans (if you killed Wrex and sabotaged the Genophage cure but kept Eve alive and Grunt alive) are in the middle of a civil war, with some believing they were all betrayed once more, and therefore had to take revenge on both the humans and the salaraians, while others, remembering the ideology that each time they are destroyed, the new generation rises stronger than before, believe that Sherpard's betrayal and the Consensus were a necessary evil that taught them the importance of self-restraint (as their fertility improved largely but not to the point of being exagerated like it was before the Genophage, allowing them to occupy new planets without having to worry about things like struggle for resources) and reinforced the ideology of stronger together (as they spent much time with the Rachni during the Consensus in order to better adapt to the idea of a hive mind), with the Rachni being on the side of the pro-Consensus Krogans, although in a more peaceful way, as they try to diplomatically reestablish the Consensus between the Krogans and themselves. The Salarians and the humans, fascinated with the possibilities of everybody having pretty much the same DNA right now, try to create hybrid species that will fill the void left by the Reapers in the Consensus, thus rebuilding the Consensus "Project Overlord" style. The Leviathan species is also in a civil war to decide if they should support the rebuilding of the Consensus or follow a more "Project Overlord" approach of things. Problem is, they're the wild card of all of this conflict and the choices of the main protagonist are what are gonna make them choose their approach of things. There's no way to undo the Synthesis, only how to react to it in the best way possible, because like it or not, the Consensus was an evolutionary jump, and all you can do with it is decide how you move forward from now on, just like everything else in life.

[@thedarksnow3771]

I guess this guy forgot about the leviathan expansion to the game. Now that... That is a possible enemy in the next game. They talked about other races doing their bidding to achieve their goals and even hid because of the reapers. Now that the reapers are gone the leviathans have nothing else to "fear" but no... You say the protheans are a threat.