The Less Interesting TimesOn the Bleeding Edge

2012/08/12 The Mass Effect Finale

[SPOILER WARNING!] Every thing in this post is under a heavy spoiler warning. I am discussing Mass Effect in its entirety from start to finish but mostly how the trilogy ends. If you ever want to play it with out bias and haven’t yet, close this tab right now. However, if you haven’t played it yet, or just not the third one, there is a suggestion for you at the final paragraph. You should check it out.

There was some hubbub on the internet regarding the ending of Mass Effect 3. I haven’t played the game with out the Extended Cut and from this I understand that there were some problems with it. But most of them have been solved to some extent. For me, looking at the endings according to the Extended Cut, I think they were good. There were some problems with them, I didn’t expect the “Fuck You” option to be the “You Lose” option and the added slideshow at the end really seems tacked on but I still thought the ending was epic. Honestly, throughout the second half of the game I was hoping it would get a Star-Control-2-Class ending. And I’m glad to say it did. Really. Beautiful. There were some hitches I can snag on but overall, I liked it.

But after you step away with a sweet and sour taste in your mouth, you go online to see discussions of the endings and the entire trilogy and you come across the Indoctrination Theory (The Full Documentary), the idea that throughout this entire trilogy, or at least since the end of the second game, Shepard has been indoctrinated by Reapers and the end game represents a final struggle for control. This video presents very compelling evidence to it and, despite what others might say, I don’t think the EC debunks it. This could still all be in Shepard’s mind.

It is quite obvious once you think about it, and especially after reading Evolution, that the Illusive Man has undergone indoctrination for years, allowing the Reapers to slowly gain control of him but maintain his higher functions and his obliviousness. The same could also be said for Shepard, at least since The Arrival if not earlier. In the end, the destroy ending could very well be Shepard wrestling control of her own mind while synthesis and control signify going the way Saren and the Illusive Man wanted, respectively. Which probably meant I lost. :)

I chose the Synthesis version because it seemed like the proper way for the future to go. No longer strife or slavery but unification and evolution. But looking back at it through the lens of the indoctrination theory, it seems like the better ending, with only the destroy option being actual reality and not Reaper fed images into Shepard’s diseased mind.

And thinking like that, I hope the movie script is that subtle and not as “Take it at face value” as BioWare wishes us to believe. And even though I can shoot down 8, if not 9, out of 10 arguments for the indoctrination theory by using claims of some kind of laziness, forgetfulness, negligence or just plainly bending to the story over credibility on the part of the developers, I choose to believe the indoctrination theory and go with that as the true description of these games because it is something that always bothers me in stories. Every book and every movie, every comic and tv show, every time I hear someone say something that isn’t obvious, something that might be too much in their favour or too much in the hero’s favour, I’m thinking that they might be lying. Especially when the villain explains his plan. What if they were lying? Or weren’t lying? And the same thing goes here.

Saren explains everything. The Illusive Man explains everything. The god-like AI at the end explains E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G! Well, he doesn’t go into who designed the Crucible but he pretty much recounts history from the first cycle until today. So I naturally think what he isn’t telling me or which part of it is a complete, fuck-all, bullshit lie?

If you take the ending at face value, this was a great universe. Better than the Star Wars extended universe, I have to say. But the ending leaves a bit of sour note and diminishes the player’s investment and the grandness of the universe. If you see it with the Indoctrination Theory, it’s a 180 degree spin, incredible heroic fight, awesome to behold, mind-bogging twist and heart wrenching sort-of-closure to a fantastic trilogy that could still be continued if you want.

And if you take a good look at all the official or unofficial statements coming out of the BioWare staff, I have to conclude that either of these two options must be true: They either planned it all from the beginning leaving an ambiguous ending but still don’t want to limit interpretation, or they didn’t plan it but saw this theory and left the evidence for it alone, not wanting to limit the broad interpretation of the ending. Either way, I think it was awesome.

 

 

 

 

So, if you want to play it for, what I think is, the best possible ending, you have to play the entire trilogy like this: Save everyone (but go for the many over the few), complete everything (that you get your hands on), only romance Tali (optional, I just think her story was the best), whoever you romance, bring them for the final mission, and when you get to the end, choose destroy. Now watch that Indoctrination Theory video linked above and try to keep your mouth closed.

Posted in Gaming, Reviews, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 2 comments.