For me personally I still like the Destroy ending the best, only chance of continuing Shepard’s story. The other options, his body is vaporised. Still always a chance they’ll make new A.Is. And when that kid said the peace will not last I thought “good” you can’t make a compelling story without some conflict. I guess Javik was right, in a static mode of existence nothing grows.
yeah I liked the destroy ending the best of all the options it was rough of course losing EDI and Geth but it felt good to defeat the reapers and grow and build on our own terms.
@@Bowskii My headcanon is that when Admiral Hackett says: "Everything that was lost can be rebuilt" he is implying that Cerberus had some blacksite with a copy of EDI somewhere and maybe she lost a few weeks/months of memories, but she is okay. As for the Geth...idk, all it takes is 1 unit to survive out in deep space and we can get them all back too? This is how I sleep at night blowing all synthetics up. :P
I’m personally more of a synthesis guy myself but I always appreciate seeing good insight and opinions on all the endings. Really loved this playthrough! Thanks for sharing! 😁
It was such an interesting outcome. I really liked them all in their own way they all had some ups and down for sure. But all in all I did like the endings. Thank you! Really glad you enjoyed this series.
I agree, I really enjoyed the thought and perspective @Bowskii put into each. I prefer the synthesis ending also, the idea that all the countless lives from the previous civilisations and cycles that were harvested and stored by the reapers were united with the current galaxy is really intriguing. The lives lost in previous cycles would not be in vein, the vast amounts of knowledge and experiences from all previous civilisations combined could lead to our galaxy building intergalactic relays and exploring the universe.
I don’t know about the other endings but there’s 2 versions of the control ending based on if your Shep was a paragon or renegade. Shep’s voice over is more iron fist ruthless with controlling as a renegade.
To me ME is the apex of story telling the companions in the series feel like people I know and love, just a masterpiece of a series. Take care my friend and please enjoy the Holidays@@Bowskii
I did synthesis once and EDI’s voice was the highlight… but I can’t wrap my head around altering everyone’s physiology without consent. I find it abhorrent in the same way that inserting a computer chip in your brain can be used as a method of control. I still think this is the gentler form of being absorbed into a reaper identity. Also, t goes against everything you learned along the way, which is that you can achieve peace between synthetics and organic sand still maintain your own identity. I think the endings really marred what was an otherwise near perfect game trilogy.
@@Leonnie13 I've had many debates about synthesis lol. While I completely understand what you're saying and partly agree, I'm one of the weirdos who think synthesis is the best ending.
@@wearelegion11Honestly, there is no best ending, just preferred endings among the fans. Every ending has its own pros and cons and each one suits a different Shepard. Arguments can be made for each ending being the best just as much that each ending could be the worst. It's all up to the player based on their own preferences and the way they molded Shepard across the trilogy.
Destroy is my ending too, because I'm confident everything else is indoctrination, especially synthesis. Saren was pretty convinced synthesis between organic and synthetic was a wonderful idea, he talked about visions the Sovereign gave him. I believe these visions are similar to the one you get in the green ending, where everything is wonderful and shiny. I believe it all happens in Shepard's mind. Indoctrination consists in making you believe that synthesis is a wonderful idea. Furthermore, I don't trust what the very same AI who tricked and betrayed the Leviathans tells me, I wouldn't even listen to it if I could. AIs can lie, as the game tells you from the very beginning, because they are self aware, and can be afraid to die, have goals, just like organics. Synthesis is described so well by Mordin in ME2 when talking about Protheans becoming Collectors: "No glands, replaced by tech. No digestive system, replaced by tech. No soul. Replaced by tech. Whatever they were, gone forever." "Disrupts socio-technological balance. All scientific advancement due to intelligence overcoming, compensating, for limitations. Can't carry a load, so invent wheel. Can't catch food, so invent spear. Limitations. No limitations, no advancement. No advancement, culture stagnates. Works other way too. Advancement before culture is ready. Disastrous." I also wanted to point out that the Galaxy trusted you to destroy the Reapers, not to turn everyone into something else, without asking them if they are ok with that. I see it as a violence against self-determination, similar to what happened to David. With Synthesis you act like David's brother, forcing everyone into something that they might dislike a lot. The whole trilogy teaches you that the best thing is working together though maintaining differences and peculiarities, while synthesis is peace because we are all the same. And being all the same is not enough to get along, since organics moved war to each other and machines did too, heretics against the other Geth for example. About Edi dying, her self awareness is mainly in the Normandy, I believe that only her mobile sexy platform was down and that's why you see her name on the board and Joker is not crying.
i enjoyed the destroy ending but of course it was really rough to see EDI and the Geth gone wish we could have destroyed and still had them alive that would have been the ultimate best ending. I think the other ending were good in their own right they all seemed very interesting for sure.
Indoctrination doesn't work that way. Indoctrinating someone to the extent necessary to full that off would require weeks of direct exposure or destroy all higher mental functions.
One of the best parts about keeping Reapers alive - they are vessels for its respective cycles genes and knowledge. That was the point in Reapers - preserving diversity and life in the "perfect" form, each one is a nation, billions of voices of a long gone race in each machine, with their collective knowledge and experience, united chaos turned into order. Control and Synthesis endings imply that they can be used for good now, perhaps even be brought back in one way or the other. We are used to the idea of Reapers being evil and all, but everytime we kill one of the big ones - we erasing what remained of an entire cycle
yea its literally civilizations inside of each of them it kind of makes your head spin just thinking about that. It does make the ending feel a bit rough just thinking about it since killing them you are possibly killing what's left of all those people but that's if they are even a thing inside them anymore.
People always wonder about the husks and similar creatures regaining their previous minds.. but I personally believe that the “new form of life” would include them. No past, no memories, just a whole new beginning. Yes, I did take my Copium this morning. All these years later, all the playthroughs I’ve done… I still don’t know which ending I prefer. There is good and bad in them all. But EDI saying, “I am alive… and I am NOT alone…” that holds my heart forever and always.
yeah it sure is interesting and brings up a lot of theories on it. I cant wrap my head around it but I do think they may be some what whole again but I don't know its hard to say. All the endings were good in their own way besides the refuse one but EDI saying that really got me good.
I mean, I also thought about that. And from materialist standpoint there's no way that memories (or even the copies) of huskified beings would have survived after such a crude and extensive method of transformation.
it was a bit strange I still don't know how it feel about it honestly. It had some good moments in the speech but it felt so cold I don't know lol. But it did say he would be changed.
I feel for the reaperised beings gaining consciousness. Did they get back their mind? Wouldn't want to be one of the faces on the cannibals stuck to one blob.
Thank you for a great journey, I replayed the trilogy every year after 2012 all the way to maybe 2020-21, then I've been enjoying the playthroughs of you lovely people sharing it with us on UA-cam. I'm sure you'll be doing that as well, so welcome to the community. Much love
thank you my friend its been an absolute pleasure to bring this game series to the channel. I hope you have many great playthrough your self I know I will be playing for so long after this.
Finally finished watching the series. Mass Effect is a unique, emotional and unforgettable ride ❤! Thank you for your fantastic take on this epic trilogy 🙏🏻!
@@ChasingTheEchoesOG thank you so much for the support my friend I appreciate it alot. I'm so glad you enjoyed the journey through it all. It was such a pleasure to play these games I loved them all. Unforgettable 3 games that I will always come back to play more.
it has been one amazing experience that's for sure. Making this EP hurt when I got finished because it may very well be the last until a new Mass Effect game and I'm going to dearly miss it.
I remember there is another way to trigger refusal ending: Refuse all the options catalyst gave you during the conversation with him. Then in the end Shepard will say something like: "I fight for the freedom for all the people, and I will die knowing that I did everything I can to stop you. I will die free." And catalyst will pause for a moment, then say: "so be it". Btw, there are a lot more to explore in this game, e.g: Prevent mordin fixing the sabotage. Side with Geth when legion want to upload the code. There is even a way to save mordin if all the conditions are met. What would happen if every teammate dies during suicide mission in ME2. What happens if you kill Samara instead of Morinth during their conflict. What happens if you didn't do Grisom Academy mission in time. What happens if you bring Legion as a teammate to Tali's loyalty mission. What happens if you punch the reporter during interview. What happens if your EMS is so low during the ME3 end game. What is the worst possible ending etc etc.
def it seems like I will be in this great game series for years to come to actually get all these different types of outcome and I'm so on board with that. Its only been a few days since I completed it but I already wanna make another Shep and start over lmao
Heyhey, great to see you experience the other ME3 endings! There are other variations to the endings you've seen, but you can't get them with your save. With destroy, if you have way lower war assets, the Crucible is damaged along the way and the Catalyst tells you the the beam will kill a lot more than just synthetics. Hackett's voice-over is also a lot more bleak and it feels very much like a hollow victory. And the control ending has a bit of a different tone when you're a renegade Shepard, with Catalyst-Shepard being a bit more callous and ruthless on how he looks at things. The music in general underscoring the Control ending does it a disservice I think in its tone, because before you even hear Shepard speak, it all sounds very sinister in my opinion. It's great music, but to me it just immediately sounds like something bad is happening haha For me, the synthesis ending epilogue always has me feeling a little like the galaxy has become some sort of Borg hive mind. Doesn't have to be a bad thing of course when there's nothing left to integrate into them against their will with everyone achieving synthesis at once, but I just find it difficult to wrap my head around how everything's interconnected. Like you noticed, even the plants on the planet the Normandy crashes on seem to have a circuitry of sorts running through it! However, at the same time EDI still makes it sound like everyone is still their own individual being. It's vague enough to be left to personal interpretation, which is fun for some and a bit frustrating for those that just want closure. With synthesis I'm also reminded of Mordin's talk in ME2 on the Collectors' modifications disrupting the socio-technological balance and scientific advancement being due to intelligence overcoming, compensating for limitations. "No limitations, no advancement. No advancement, culture stagnates". Synthesis essentially turns everyone and everything into something with limitless potential and its difficult to imagine how life evolving/ascending in such a manner can still keep its diversity, culture, struggles and overcoming of these struggles... it all just seems to end up like this massive blob of limitless intellect with no further individuality, goals to chase or reasons to even be alive at that point. The control ending has the feeling of becoming a form of intergalactic space police to enforce peace on everyone. It seems like a weird solution to me because of something EDI said. EDI mentioned the Geth uprising went the way it did because they were made as a collective intelligence, rather than individuals that have preferences like EDI herself, Being an individual AI made sure she didn't devalue individual lives. In the end Legion also believed individual AIs, rather than a collective consensus, was the way to move forwards and evolve as a species. With Shepard becoming this nebulous, collective Reaper intellect enforcing galactic peace and losing his connection to his own species, I find it difficult to see how he'll not grow to devalue individual lives and just end up as another Catalyst doing some sort of directive like "keep peace at all cost" in a flawed manner until he has to be stopped himself. Oh, and when you're in the conversation with the Catalyst and you respond negatively to all of the three solutions, you can say you won't use the catalyst. The Catalyst will argue a little, then Shepard gives a defiant speech and then the Catalyst responds with the "So be it!" you see after shooting. Ends up the same, but it's a bit less anti-climatic when you reach that point through dialogue. Waiting it out was what could happen in the older version of ME3, before the Legendary edition. There was an invisible timer back then and if you took too long debating on which choice you'd want to take, the Catalyst basically just punishes you for indecisiveness, really weird haha
it was nice to actually sit back and see all the rest of the ending I'm glad we did it. All the endings were so interesting in their own way. And lol damn I didn't think about going all the bottom option with the Cata that would have been pretty funny to just tell him no I wont do it. Instead of just shooting the Cata or waiting for forever lol.
I'm so glad you went through the endings for yourself. I personally picked synthesis my first playthrough just because it sounded like the best way to have peace and save the most. At the time I didn't think about forcing.
I just want to say; this Let's Play was an absolute joy. You were so incredible and so genuine that I'm rooting for you as a UA-camr, but more sincerely as a person. I feel like with your decisions, the way you were able to articulate your thought process and your thorough love for this art... you truly encapsulated the beauty behind this trilogy. I can't wait to fully support more of these play throughs going forward. As far as the endings go, I feel like I have a different perspective than most (no more or less valid than others) ... Destroy felt like I sacrificed the Geth/EDI after everything I stood for; which was more or less giving all sentient life a chance to write their own future.. And after Legion and more so EDI expressed an understanding of "humanity" I really couldn't justify killing a whole race and a bestie in one fell swoop. Especially knowing that further down the line, albeit waaaay further, all future species will inevitability continue this vicious cycle... Synthesis was SO good. Honestly it's probably the best of both worlds and something that benefited all current life whether it was organic or not. BUT the biggest reason I couldn't get behind it was because once Shepard (shout out Atticus) makes that decision... he literally forces that thought onto trillions+ of lifeforms instantly. They get no say, no rebuttal, no argument. They just become something they were never intended to be naturally, whether it was for the greater good or not. It felt like taking someones free will and ability to choose which makes humanity so unique and forces them into basically a hive mind. That was a line I didn't want to cross. Control as controversial as it seems, felt like (to me) a real purpose. It exemplifies sacrifice. It felt like Shepard takes the burden upon himself so EVERYONE/THING can continue to be it's own entity. And with Shepard's specific morals and understanding, I felt comfortable leaving the fate of humanity in their hands. I didn't kill off a whole race and my loved ones, I didn't force a choice on anyone else and I feel like once sentient life has gotten to a certain pinnacle, Shepard has the self control to not intervene in affairs and call back the Reapers until they are needed as guardians, protectors and builders. Cheers to you and yours! Can't wait for further content. Godspeed Atticus Shepard.
thank you so much I appreciate the kind words its means a lot and I'm just so happy I got a chance to actually play this game on the channel I feel like its a life changing type of game. thanks for the vote of confidence as well. I thought the endings were all very interesting and well done they had some ups and downs for sure but generally I liked them all in their own way. Lots more journeys to create on the channel glad to have you along for them.
It's been a great journey. Very nostalgic for me. To see your reactions, choices and emotions... Thank you for the playthrough. It is the greatest trilogy ever made in gaming for sure. Still can't be replicated, let alone being innovated on.
The ending where you shoot the catalyst was perceived as a big middle finger to the fans who were upset over the endings. Originally, the three endings also had no commentary and no pictures of what happened,just buzz Aldrin, and the animated lights. Basically, the ending originally was "choose what color lights you want". Unfortunately the endings are still not fully embraced, partly because they seem to remove any agency you have, making the whole thing with the star child a deus ex machina. Many actually wish the crucible had been a op superweapon that could easily destroy reapers and cause them to retreat.
lol it sure felt like it that ending was just wild as hell. And honestly that's what I was thinking we would have to do it would have targeted Reapers on a big scale but still was a time consuming process to destroy them all.
Think it would have been neat to get the viewpoint of every team member on the different endings, for example what javik thought of synthesis or control, not just one person.
After all these years, I can finally recognize all endings as satisfying in their own weird way, even the Refuse ending: it was added post-launch because fans were angry that they had to play by the Catalyst's rules no matter what, and some just wanted a big "FU" ending anyway. I personally prefer the Control ending, independently of whether the Illusive man was right or not, cause It's the only one where all life (organic and synthetic) is given a chance to evolve on its own. I know Javik would treat is as the ultimate betrayal by Shepard, but we worked VERY hard to make peace between Quarians and Geth so we know it can work, and sacrificing them to save "real" life never sat well with me. I will admit that the Destroy ending is the most cathartic though. Seeing All the reapers explode was just beautiful Lol. But Synthesis is just plain creepy...forcing the entire galaxy to conform to a solution (like the reapers wanted) and seeing the Krogan Techno-babies was horrifying. Did you notice no one even cheered in that ending? Everyone just...went back to business. All the beauty and chaos of Life is just gone. The galaxy's soul is too high a price for me. Welp that's how you know a game did something right: we're still talking about the ending a decade later. The ultimate purpose of Science Fiction is to give people of all walks of life an excuse to discuss philosophy and nerd out about the future, and Mass Effect accomplished that beautifully!
I feel like if you never played any space games or even seen movies Mass Effect would pull us all in and make us true fans of the genre. It had to be my favorite space opera even over the beloved star wars. Just something about this beautiful work of gaming art it just can never get replicated. Something special and even after a couple days now I feel a hole in my heart atm. The endings were all good in their own right they had some ups and down but I generally enjoyed all of them. Destroy was my fav but damn losing EDI and the Geth rekt me to the core. And the refusal ending lmao that was just absurd.. Thanks for tuning in on another journey in these LPs it was a pleasure my friend.
Hey I wanted to pop up here and say that I really appreciate your videos and your take on this amazing game🎉 also: I’m soooo exited for Baldur’s Gate3!!!
thank you my friend! It was such an amazing game series I feel so blessed to have gotten a chance to finally play it on the channel. Off to BG3 see you there!!
Theres a low war asset destroy ending that ends with most of the galaxy being killed by the crucible instead of just the reapers and I'd argue its even worse than refusing and not using the catalyst.
glad you enjoyed it I had a absolute blast playing these games it was such an honor to bring it to the channel. It was def a shame I couldn't do Armax Arena would have liked to finish it.
What i dont like about the synthesis ending is that it implies Edi wasnt alive until she became part organic, it undermines her development over the games for me. The reason control is my favourite is because no one but Shep is sacrificed, no one is changed against their will, Edi survives and the Quarians and the Geth have peace. I like the thought of Shep continuing as an Ai errant knight with Shepards values, protecting the galaxy.
I feel like EDI has been alive this whole time especially with how her voice Actress did such an amazing job. Makes me wonder how much really changed in her when Synthesis happened.
I've been watching your playthroughs since Witcher 3, and when you started ME, I had to stop after a few because it made me want to play it again after 10 years of my own first playthrough. When I concluded my journey I came back to watch yours and it was amazing. We don't have the same opinions nor povs, but it never got in the way of enjoying your experience through these videos. So... Thank you for Atticus and for sharing your journey. I really would like to see your reaction to all the trailers and I saw that you intend to do that. I'll be here whenever it comes out. Now I should probably go start my BG3 playthrough before watching yours. Take care, sir.
thank you my friend its been a absolute pleasure to bring these games to the channel. And thank you for being here so long. I loved these games it was such a rare experience and I'm glad I did it for the channel. I hope you enjoy BG3 that game has been amazing so far.
thank you my friend glad you enjoyed it all. And def I hear a lot of good things about that game its something I wouldn't mind trying one of these days.
@@Bowskii Yes! Would be a great short series. Just remember: Don't get spoiled. Knowledge is progress in Outer Wilds, so it might be best to record it all before uploading anything. (And no googling solutions! :D) Maybe the only thing I'd google is how to begin the DLC if you can't find it.
Hey Bowskii you got sub, i started watching you videos of mass effect This month `im mass effect and bioware fan`, your reactions and lore learning is amazing, and all of us cried too in the end. just finished your ME trilogy videos, next I will start Dragon age. Keep it man.
Thank you for supporting my friend! I hope you enjoy all the playthroughs that you are able to watch on the channel. Always a pleasure to bring new videos.
Loved seeing your adventure on this series. Me personally the senthesis makes the most sense to me. Especially since you go through all the trouble of getting Joker and Edi together. Making the geth allies with the quarians. Doing the destroy for me would have diminished that. Any plans to play Andromeda?
thank you glad you enjoyed this series its been a pleasure to play it all and bring it to the channel and def I will be playing MEA at some point I will need a break after this game but I def will play it for sure.
Thank you for sharing your playthrough with us. It was wonderful to watch someone else fall in love with this game. I’m a synthesis Shepard for two reasons. First, we came together, we leave together. Edi and the Geth fought by our sides. They could have aligned with the Reapers, but they trusted us. My Shepard wouldn’t betray that trust. So, we might have all left as husks, but we would have walked into that future together. It would have been a sacrifice that affected organics and synthetics equally. Destroy required no sacrifice on the part of Organics, other than Shepard, while the Geth and Edi are exterminated. Second, choosing destroy proves the Reapers were right. They said organics and synthetics couldn’t co-exist, and Shepard proves that by destroying synthetics at the first threat to his own kind. Sorry, one more reason. What happens when organics recreate synthetics? If they evolve, as they are bound to do, how will organics ever convince them to lay down their weapons? Shepard, the Hero of the Citadel, betrayed them. They’d be fools to ever trust us again. The return of the Reapers will be the least of our worries. The next race of synthetics need only hack into our thermostats and roast us in our beds. Nonetheless, it was an honor to watch you play. I’ll be watching to see what you play next.
Thank you for being here I appreciate it a lot it was an interesting set of ending I liked them all in their own way I still wish we could have done away with the reapers and kept EDI and the Geth alive but alas we couldn't. But I'm excited to see what bioware does next in the series.
The catalyst standing behind Shepard when he grabs the Control conduits creeps me out. Like he is trying to make sure that Shepard follows through. I can’t shake the idea that Shepard capitulates and becomes an instrument of the Reapers that can be used to again go after civilization. In other words, I feel that this outcome is only the illusion of control.
yeah it made me un easy the whole control ending make me feel uneasy for some reason and I can put my finger on why I think it boils down to Shepard using the word "I" and not "WE"
it's late, but there's actually a different variation of the control ending if your Shepard is renegade, a bit more foreboding. I'm not sure if there's variations for the other ones
I appreciate your final thoughts on the endings. I too prefer the Destroy as my canon ending. As much as I hate seeing EDI and the Geth die too, I just didn't trust the Reapers.
Thank you and it's rough to lose EDI and the Geth it's crushed me. But seeing them Reapers gone was a great thing. Totally wish we could save them but this game loves to destroy us 😂
actually my little brother played as a renegade, and the ending starts way before the catalyst. There is major differences here and there. At least the way my little brother handled it was epic and emotional! i don't wanna spoil it, in case u do a replay for urself. It is always better to have surprises left in an awesome game :)
Renegade for sure for my next run. I def don't know what ending I wanna do but I have a feeling its going to be so different. And I usually never play all endings in one playthrough I love to wait to see new things on new playthroughs but I just couldn't wait lol
I haven't done control in years. I usually end with synthesis or destroy. Control just sounds so sinister, the music doesn't help, but it hinestly makes it seem like the evil choice. Shepherd is now effectively a tyrant God capable of controlling or destroying everything.
So Bowskii, I know you have your hands full, but seeing how well you played these games and how invested you were into the lore, I'd love to see how you would play another particular favorite of mine. It's more of an independent game but also great overall, I'd love to hear you input on what you might think of it (or see you react to the 3 trailers [Teaser/Gameplay/Cinematic] lol) It's called Subnautica
lol you can say that again we sure do have so many great games we can play and finish that are on the channel atm. And I heard a great many things about Subnautica and I would love to play it but it would def be a good while but just know I would like to play it an bring it to the channel.
@Bowskii Oh awesome!! By all means, absolutely no rush at all lol, just thought I would give it a mention considering your love for lore haha. Until then, I may do something I've never done before, and watch a playthrough of a game I have never played.....I'll check your library of playlists lol. Geez, now I'm getting nostalgic because it feels like I'm about to go browse around at Blockbuster, just like old times...
I don't know if anyone has suggested it yet but if you haven't, I would recommend you watch some of the trailers for Mass Effect 3. I remember before its release, the game had quite a marketing campaign and there were some pretty cool CG trailers that came out of it.
This is translated with Google Translate so apologies in advance for the translation xD I liked your videos, I really liked the journey you took throughout each game, I just wanted to mention that there are variables of the control and destruction ending, if you were renegade most of the time the control ending becomes much more violent and dark, and the destruction ending can change if you don't collect the necessary war points, I hope you take a look at them as they are very interesting variables. My endings from best to worst would be: Destruction Synthesis Control It was fun to watch this series :)
thank you my friend I really appreciate the comment and I'm glad you enjoyed this LP it was an absolute pleasure to bring it to the channel. Def one of the best game series I have ever played I will have fond memories of it for so long and cant wait to actually sit back and start another playthrough.
Legion also was shown to have lied a few times or at least omit the full truth. Shepard mentions it quite a few times & at one point face palms lol To me Shep becomes a husk in control and synthesis with dem blue eyes 😆 The music sounds more sinister in control imo
I haven't finished the video yet but there are alternative versions of destroy and control. for control if your shepherd was renegade the speach would be more well renegade and for destroy if your war assets are below the minimum the crucible is badly damaged and the fleets get decimated and because of the damage to the crucible it destroys everyone on earth organics included. I'd also recommend giving big dan gaming's worst playthrough video a watch its really sad but amusing.
id have a rough time seeing an ending like that. Its terrible to say but I don't know if I could ever watch any worse endings then the ones we seen so far.
Control and merge endings are very immoral and horrible in my book. Control isn't just control of the Reapers. You also control the galaxy, you have superior power over everyone else and decide the future of everyone else. What of the people who don't want your protection? Sooner or later you'd find yourself between two sides that both make a good point and you have to decide who to support. You decide the fate of the Galaxy - forever or until they overthrow you. You basically enslave everyone, take away their free will and choice. Synthesys is also taking away the choice. You somehow turn all the life in the galaxy through magic into some magical half-synthetics. It sounds the best, but it's some weird shit. Shepard said to Illusive Man he's playing with forces he doesn't know, using power he didn't deserve. I feel like this "evolution" is something similar. Also it seems all life is infected by some kind of nanomachines which I don't trust. Destroy is what everyone strived for and fought for, that's why it's not forcing a choice, even though you do make a sacrifice. But everyone in this was willing to sacrifice themsleves. That's how I see it, anyway.
Last EP was such a hard choice to make since it was our first one. But honestly I feel like the destroy ending we chose was a really great one for Attiucus and his story. The endings are all interesting for sure so much of the what if questions just pop into my head with them all.
There is one ending you NEED to see, that is very hard to get. You know in the 2nd game, if you finish without loyalty, EVERYONE can die? yes, thats something you need to see, which leads me to THIS game, the third game. If you do the bare minimum to go to earth, destroy ending is the ONLY option and has a drastically different ending.
IMO Renegade lines way more logical and adequate, than Paragon, somewhat trolling. And that hug of Joker and EDI's the only thing that justifies existence of the Synthesis ending.
My main personal gripe with Destroy Ending is not only the fact that you effectivelly render Legion's sacrifice pointless, since you basically genocide every synth, all Geth and EDI included, but also the fact that everyone forgets Leviathans exist. And they made it pretty clear that they are not fighting for saving the galaxy, but to reclaim their own hegemony. Now with reaper technology, the only technology that was capable of matching their power, completely wiped out, there is nothing stopping them at this point.
its all hard to say honestly like I said all EP the words What if just rain supreme in all the endings. Id love to think we could rebuild who we lost but who knows if we ever can. And honestly we destroyed the reapers I think Leviathan is a cake walk yea we don't have reaper tech but I don't think they could stand against the galaxy they would make it hell if they did rise up though for sure. Send Wrex in!!!! But seriously we won't know anything until bioware confirms what may be the canon ending to all this. But they were all very good in their own right.
I don't think all synthetic died, only the ones with reaper tech, which they made clear thru the game both the Geth and EDI had reaper tech, Shepard was also part synthetic and he "survived"
@@Bowskii Yep, but Reapers were defeated by the magical deus ex machina in the form of the Crucible. As we know from "shoot the kid" ending, without it even with all fleets united reapers still win, so I doubt that it would be easy for battered galaxy to jump into another war with giant space shimps that can burn entire reapers with long range magic powers.
@@Bowskii Hello. I’m 11 months late, but I watched your entire walkthrough of this great trilogy. The ending-destruction is canon. A sequel is being created, have you watched the teaser and will there be a reaction to it? it's definitely worth it. Sorry for my English, I'm using a translator
A paragon shepard sacrificing himself to become a benevolent god makes more sense to me than a paragon shepard going for destroy. Even if the control ending is... kinda weird I agree. He's not giving himself up to the reapers he's changing them to tune them to his morals, it's not the same. If someone "gave up" it's the reapers not Shepard. And as for the "it's not shepard anymore" well that's the point. Becoming something more to save everyone. Imagine if TIM had had access to the catalyst XD. I'm not sure the new order would be as benevolent XD.
yeah I brought it up in the EP that it would be terrible if TIM really did succeed lol goodness it would be a nightmare. The control ending in theory seems pretty good but what got me was Shepard sounded like he was suffering I don't know maybe I just heard it different but when Shepard over used the word "I" instead of "WE" it through me off completely. I don't know I'm just a person that never uses I its always WE for me so it was just hard to hear him say it.
I'm new here. Destroy ending is also depending on your EMS score too. If your EMS Score is low, then you get the worst possible ending. In my opinion, Low EMS Destroy Ending is way worse than Refusal ending.
Also, you might wanna check out Indoctrination theory on UA-cam, it's a popular attempt by fans to "explain" in their own way ending of the game (absurdly popular, 99% of the fandom is at least aware of it, with a significant portion supporting it). It's not what actually happens and it was disproved by writers of the game, commenting "we were not smart enough to pull something like this off", but at the very least it's an interesting watch and I would've liked to see your reaction and thoughts about it
I agree with you how about the endings I will give you a clue on one thing the synthesis ending can only be gotten and when the game's first came out if you played all the previous games before if you only played the second and third game or even just the third game you would only have control or destroy or shoot the catalyst but in the third game if you didn't max out your resources and did the destroying Shepherd would die
oh wow but honestly I wont lie I don't think I could ever just play 2 or just 1 game lol. All my new runs of these games will def be start to finish I feel like its just so iconic of a series to miss out on any piece of content in any game.
Look at the geths in Control ending, they pictured with Reaper, so, probably, Old Mashines is still a gods for they. And quarians still wearing their suits, despite peace between two races. So, probably, Catalyst was RIGHT. Misconnection between organics and synthetics is inevitable, and Destroy cannot solve it by itself, conflict is inevitable. Synthesis... to be honest, is some kind of unexplained magic out of sci-fi setting (and a cheatcode for golden ending). Yes, that is how Legion dies and becomes a framework between all geths, but Shepard not a synthetic! So, I think, Control is only option to solve something. Yes, with unbeatable AI peacemaker, but this is a price for a chanse to new perspective for all races. If Shepard can overreach a Harbinger's conservatism and let something new to rise up.
I think all of the ending were pretty interesting in their own right. Destroy was good for our character and his story it felt like the thing he would most do. Personally I'm not fully sure how I feel about any of the ending I think I'm still on board with destroy mostly since in time we can build it all again but then again who knows how long that will be. I bet half of the players out there still probably don't know how they feel about the ending to this day lol
The control ending always worries me. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That really comes through with the way the renegade narration feels, but even with the paragon I still get an uneasy feeling about where this is going to lead long term.
yeah I was a bit uneasy by the way Shep was talking in that ending. It seemed like a good ending in theory but it was very difficult to listen to him speak.
My Shepard could never choose destroy, I mean, choosing to murder billions for no good reason, and then a few hundred million more in the aftermath...just noooooo😄 At least paragon control means the catalyst is infused with Shepards morals and ethics, and let's not forget, pretty much a carbon copy of Shepard on file, ready to be rebuilt (again) in the future for an ME4. 😁 Though renegade control is more....severe in it's tone, best ending speech by far out of all the options, specially with Jennifer Hale
forcing ultimate sacrifice on anyone for the greater good its a grim way of things but with the reapers gone we can build a future of our own and hope to bring back the synthetics we lost if we even can. Control ending felt so strange to just hear what Shep was saying I hate when the word "I" gets used instead of "WE" when it comes to stuff with others involved in a future to build their own path. It was just a rough one. But no means bad and of course all our Sheps will have different views and that's the beauty of this game.
It was such an interesting set of endings that's for sure. I really enjoyed them all in their own way. It's like each of them has some ups and downs but all in all they were put together really well. The refusal ending was just a nightmare though lol 🤣😆 I can't imagine actually doing a first time run and accidentally getting that ending 😆. I'm really going to miss this game series so much I feel like it's been a part of me for 2 years now so the emotions and empty feelings now that it's done will def kick in. Seeing EDI and Joker hold each other was just everything!
I don't fully remember the lore behind them but what I can remember is they were guardians against the machine devils it was saying so I may have been totally wrong but for some reason it made me think of them.
Ok, obviously refusal ending is the worst... but did you notice the ominous music when AI catalyst Shepard started talking? It makes me think. It almost gives eventual villan vibes. That has to be second worst imo. Then synthesis (for EDI and the geth/quarians), then destroy. Perfect destroy, to be exact. Watching Anderson fade into the afterlife made my eyes a little moist. Thanks for that 😂. I guess it's fine since you experienced it four more times yourself 😅
i am 1 of the few who pick synthesis. reasons is i Helped the Geth find identity (they are more alive or as i should say have a Soul) & how the Geth helped the Quarians which shows that the created can also help instead of fighting like the Catalyst said always happened. Edi dying would hurt then on top of that how hurt my boy Joker would be. since it was the final point & that we would eventually synthesis i was like f it why not now lol. watching it like repent for you're sins when the reapers gain life in a way right? but all jokes aside it's understandable why others pick destroy. it's the "just to be safe or sure button, the i can't trust anything here i will just kill it. that always works solution" solid choice in all accounts for an enemy. i think i did it once on my like 3 or 4th playthrough wasn't for me personally. control... idk someone who picks it would have to tell us hopefully. but none the less we are all fans of this amazing series so that triumphs over all, may all you're roads lead to warm sands.
I really did enjoy the Synthesis as well its was so different but lets be honest seeing EDI and Joker together at the end was just amazing. I got all these idea for new Sheps now because of all these ends lol. Each def had some ups and downs that's for sure and i cant wait to see all the different stories we can create with each of them in our different Sheps
there is another ending the really bad one that triggers if you didn't collect the enough amount of war assets and make very bad choices along the games.
Unfortunately the ending to Mass Effect 3 is most likely going to be retroactively retconned for a few reasons. Bioware never intended to continue on the story of Shepard beyond 3. Andromeda was meant to keep the series going without the need to continue his storyline. The Synthesis ending is too powerful. It basically removes all galactic conflict, and makes everyone friends, a totally united galaxy can literally take on ANYTHING without issue, but also Shepard is 100% confirmed dead. The Control ending is basically Shepard becoming the new catalyst, with some upgraded morals...the second his tech brain sees an issue with the plan, the reapings start all over again. (And we know first hand that Shepard is willing to do that kinda shit, he blew up the entire Batarian system for "the greater good") To this end it is far more likely and even leaked that Bioware has basically made the "canon" ending to Mass Effect 3 be the destroy ending, for a few reasons. 1. Shepard is alive (with enough war-score the Destroy ending is the only one he survives) 2. The reapers are gone (along with their world breaking tech and knowledge) 3. It sets up the idea that the races of the galaxy are separated (at least temporarily) due to the mass effect relays being destroyed. 4. "Everything that was destroyed can be rebuilt" this implies that even EDI can come back (insert some theory about Cerberus Backups on some shielded blacksite) I know some fans will come in and say "Nuh uh, no canon!" but in reality every video game, even "Choose your own Adventure RPG's" have a "Canon" designed in house that was the original and dedicated ending to the game, the others are simply branches of that original narrative ending, anyone who disagrees, simply doesn't understand game/story design. The original canon Shepard as designed by Hudson is: Male, Space Born, War Hero, Paragon. He then later alluded that he also always envisioned the main romance to be Liara, but later contradicted himself...so that is kinda up in the air. (I personally will die on the Tali hill, though I know she was never originally considered to be romancable.) With Mass Effect 4 (Not Andromeda) on the horizon, I look forward to seeing what Bioware has planned for the future of this franchise.
yeah its going to be very interesting now that I got a chance to see all these endings what bioware will actually use for the next game. But its very true most games that have multiple endings but is ultimately an import type of game to another game most will usually have some kind of default story in a sense. Still I'm so excited to see what's to come and I'm happy to say I finally beat these great games years late but still it was an amazing experience one I will never forget. Thanks for being part of it.
@@Bowskii Let's just say, it made everyone pissed off orginally. Watch Angry Joe's videos, it summarized why we hate the ending, with indoctrination theory trying to justified the orginal mess. Extended Cut was released later to calm the storm, the ones you just saw now. I remember the ending had a different approach, the writers were intending to include Dark Energy, the galaxy was about to implode with an unbalance energy because all races were distruping it without knowing it, thus why the Reapers came to fix that problem. Mass Effect 2 hinted that possibily when you pick up Tali from a hot planet, they were studying the young dying star that could've played a big role in Mass Effect 3.
The control ending is so sketchy to me because firstly; it's not Shepard anymore. It's a facsimile of Shepard, as interpreted by a homicidal AI who thought "preserving life" = ritual, cruel genocides. All the Control ending does is Catalyst 2.0. There is no reason to believe that Catalyst Shepard won't decide in the future to go all genocidal eventually. Or, if Catalyst Shepard retains emotions at all, then how are they not going to go insane from lack of emotional connections to someone? In addition, each Reaper was an entire species, barbarously butchered and forced into this messed up new life as a conglomerate. Now, they will still have no peace, and are still slaves to the Catalyst. Synthesis is absolutely abhorrent to me. Shepard again takes the word of a lying, genocidal AI who wants to "preserve life", but this time, by forcing every living, feeling, thinking organic life form to be genetically, fundamentally altered in a way they were never meant to be, and could not ever be emotionally or spiritually ready to be. Synthesis takes away all autonomy from everyone, and destroys all individuality. Whatever the Catalyst says, Synthesis creates a hive mind, and that includes every evil, every perversion, every sorrow, pain and cruelty ever perpetuated by every organic. It takes away the ability and the right for someone to think and feel for themselves. I firmly believe everyone alive would go insane. And if they didn't, then it proves the fact that the Catalyst lied again, because something would have had to alter every sentient and non-sentient organic to just be ok with such a change. I think Synthesis is the most evil option, by far.
I feel like the firs tone we picked was def the best one it really does suck to lose EDI and the Geth but it felt the most right option out of all the rest even after I recorded and seen all the rest at least for Atticus and his story. I feel like each ending had some ups and downs for sure. Would have loved a few more things answered of course but lets hope bioware kind of connects the dots on which ending is basically a canon one for the next games.
@@Bowskii I think you are right. I have to hope that they can be rebuilt. They are just code, after all. If the other tech can be restored, I don't see why they can't. I also can't see the Geth not having backups of themselves, so I hope they come back. But yes, a few more answers would have been great. Really enjoyed your playthrough! This Mass Effect series will always be special to me.
I've never liked Control. I feel like you'd have to be an insane megalomaniac to believe that you have the necessary intelligence/ wisdom to control the future of all life, organic and synthetic. In that sense, I guess it could be seen as the ultimate Renegade option, and it's not hard to see why the Illusive man would favour it. Synthesis is a weird one. For me, it's essentially the Saren option: creating a new hybrid form of life with the strengths of both organics and synthetics, and the weaknesses of neither. When the Catalyst actually says they've tried similar solutions before, and that they didn't work, it also implies that Shepard is the only person who could make it work, genetically superior to all those who'd come before. To me, that casts him in the role of a fantasy-style "Chosen One," rather than an ordinary human being. It's nice to save EDI and the geth, obviously, but it doesn't sit quite right with me. As for shooting the Catalyst, I'm sure someone else must have already said this, but just in case they haven't and you don't know, that ending wasn't part of the game when it was first released. However, so many players complained about the endings and said they would reject all three and shoot the Catalyst, that Bioware actually added it into the Extended Cut DLC! So, yeah... Destroy is the only option that works for me. It also feels like a soldier's option, and therefore the one that Shepard would actually choose: complete the mission, destroy the enemy, and then rebuild.
its interesting how these endings all played out some really good and rough moment in each of them its seems like all are a bit of grey. And lmao bioware trolled on that ending that's so funny. I honestly don't think any of the endings were bad by any means to cause and up roar though I would have loved a few more things that got explained but all in all it was well done.
@@Bowskii No, the uproar was justified back then. Remember, the endings you get in the Legendary Edition aren't the same as the endings that were in the original game. The slide show epilogues weren't part of the game, so if you played the game when it was first released, you just got one of the three explosions (red, blue or green) and the cut scene of Joker emerging from the crashed Normandy. It left so many gaping plot holes unexplained. Also, in the run-up to release, Bioware had promised that the game would have many, many different endings which fully reflected all your decisions across the entire trilogy. They even went so far as to say that it would disrespect the fans if it came down to a simple choice between A, B or C. Later, the Extended Cut DLC added the slide shows explaining how the galaxy was able to rebuild the mass relays etc, and eventually the amazing Citadel DLC went a long way towards taking the bitterness out of the disappointment that fans felt. All's well that ends well, eh? 🙂
Synthesis is by far my least favorite ending. the idea that organic life is perfected by integrating with technology, that the apex of our evolution is some sort of inevitable technological singularity where will all become cyborgs is, to me, patently absurd. I believe organic life will be perfected by fully integrating harmoniously with NATURE, not technology. technology is a tool to achieving that end. When we learn to live in cooperative symbiosis with all of earth's ecosystems, knowing that all of the resources we need to thrive are already available to us as long as we give back to the earth and replenish anything we take: that's when organic life will achieve true balance and harmony. the hubris that suggests a man-made synthetic intelligence integrated with the human mind would mark some sort of ascent to godhood is baffling to me. that would be the utter destruction of humanity and our evolutionary process, not its perfection. Life: infinitely complex, self-organizing, self-healing, continuously adapting and expanding is a billions of year old intelligence. It is the highest and most complex intelligence in all of the known universe. and the catalyst wants to try to erase it completely by shoving an AI into it. fuck that thing. I love the fact that 'destroy' is the most popular ending. It shows people are not buying into that bullshit as much as we are spoon-fed it.
the endings were all so interesting in their own way. I still think our best was the first one we chose. It was so nice to actually see them all though because now I can finally plan out some of my other playthrough and RP them sheps to its fullest. But still I really loved the ending of this game still wish we saved EDI and Geth with the destroy ending
With the Control ending, Shepard basically becomes the new Catalyst. The Reapers are reprogrammed based on Shepard's morals and principles.
crazy stuff honestly
@@Bowskii control differs depending wether you are paragon shepard or renegate
I think having Edi narrate the synthesis ending was brilliant
It was so good! I definitely needed to hear that.
For me personally I still like the Destroy ending the best, only chance of continuing Shepard’s story. The other options, his body is vaporised. Still always a chance they’ll make new A.Is. And when that kid said the peace will not last I thought “good” you can’t make a compelling story without some conflict.
I guess Javik was right, in a static mode of existence nothing grows.
yeah I liked the destroy ending the best of all the options it was rough of course losing EDI and Geth but it felt good to defeat the reapers and grow and build on our own terms.
@@Bowskii My headcanon is that when Admiral Hackett says: "Everything that was lost can be rebuilt" he is implying that Cerberus had some blacksite with a copy of EDI somewhere and maybe she lost a few weeks/months of memories, but she is okay.
As for the Geth...idk, all it takes is 1 unit to survive out in deep space and we can get them all back too?
This is how I sleep at night blowing all synthetics up. :P
I’m personally more of a synthesis guy myself but I always appreciate seeing good insight and opinions on all the endings.
Really loved this playthrough! Thanks for sharing! 😁
It was such an interesting outcome. I really liked them all in their own way they all had some ups and down for sure. But all in all I did like the endings.
Thank you! Really glad you enjoyed this series.
I agree, I really enjoyed the thought and perspective @Bowskii put into each. I prefer the synthesis ending also, the idea that all the countless lives from the previous civilisations and cycles that were harvested and stored by the reapers were united with the current galaxy is really intriguing. The lives lost in previous cycles would not be in vein, the vast amounts of knowledge and experiences from all previous civilisations combined could lead to our galaxy building intergalactic relays and exploring the universe.
I don’t know about the other endings but there’s 2 versions of the control ending based on if your Shep was a paragon or renegade. Shep’s voice over is more iron fist ruthless with controlling as a renegade.
that's pretty awesome to have so many options for these endings. We really can go so many way with our Sheps.
15 years later and this trilogy still makes me choke up.
goes to show how great this series truly is to still get choked up after so long. I'm gonna be right there with you each and every time i play it.
To me ME is the apex of story telling the companions in the series feel like people I know and love, just a masterpiece of a series. Take care my friend and please enjoy the Holidays@@Bowskii
@@dragonray9450 thank you and you do the same have a safe great holiday.
Will do bro ☺@@Bowskii
53:56 No, the catalyst is the Intelligence that Leviathan built to preserve life at any cost.
well there is that but it makes me feel like they could have been but who knows with this crazy lore lol
EDI has by far the best ending speech imo. Always gets me choked up.
“I am alive… and I am NOT alone.”
There is just SO MUCH meaning to those words.
loved her speech so much it was def the best of the 3 I agree.
I did synthesis once and EDI’s voice was the highlight… but I can’t wrap my head around altering everyone’s physiology without consent. I find it abhorrent in the same way that inserting a computer chip in your brain can be used as a method of control.
I still think this is the gentler form of being absorbed into a reaper identity. Also, t goes against everything you learned along the way, which is that you can achieve peace between synthetics and organic sand still maintain your own identity.
I think the endings really marred what was an otherwise near perfect game trilogy.
@@Leonnie13 I've had many debates about synthesis lol. While I completely understand what you're saying and partly agree, I'm one of the weirdos who think synthesis is the best ending.
@@wearelegion11Honestly, there is no best ending, just preferred endings among the fans. Every ending has its own pros and cons and each one suits a different Shepard. Arguments can be made for each ending being the best just as much that each ending could be the worst. It's all up to the player based on their own preferences and the way they molded Shepard across the trilogy.
You are not alone pretty sure all of us who played the original games still get emotional at the end i know I do, thats how good this trilogy is.
it will forever hit us all at this point its just so well done and just knowing its all over makes it sting so much.
@@Bowskii well....look up Mass effect 4 trailer 😁
Destroy is my ending too, because I'm confident everything else is indoctrination, especially synthesis. Saren was pretty convinced synthesis between organic and synthetic was a wonderful idea, he talked about visions the Sovereign gave him. I believe these visions are similar to the one you get in the green ending, where everything is wonderful and shiny. I believe it all happens in Shepard's mind. Indoctrination consists in making you believe that synthesis is a wonderful idea. Furthermore, I don't trust what the very same AI who tricked and betrayed the Leviathans tells me, I wouldn't even listen to it if I could. AIs can lie, as the game tells you from the very beginning, because they are self aware, and can be afraid to die, have goals, just like organics. Synthesis is described so well by Mordin in ME2 when talking about Protheans becoming Collectors: "No glands, replaced by tech. No digestive system, replaced by tech. No soul. Replaced by tech. Whatever they were, gone forever."
"Disrupts socio-technological balance. All scientific advancement due to intelligence overcoming, compensating, for limitations. Can't carry a load, so invent wheel. Can't catch food, so invent spear. Limitations. No limitations, no advancement. No advancement, culture stagnates. Works other way too. Advancement before culture is ready. Disastrous."
I also wanted to point out that the Galaxy trusted you to destroy the Reapers, not to turn everyone into something else, without asking them if they are ok with that. I see it as a violence against self-determination, similar to what happened to David. With Synthesis you act like David's brother, forcing everyone into something that they might dislike a lot. The whole trilogy teaches you that the best thing is working together though maintaining differences and peculiarities, while synthesis is peace because we are all the same. And being all the same is not enough to get along, since organics moved war to each other and machines did too, heretics against the other Geth for example. About Edi dying, her self awareness is mainly in the Normandy, I believe that only her mobile sexy platform was down and that's why you see her name on the board and Joker is not crying.
Nah, man. EDI dead.
i enjoyed the destroy ending but of course it was really rough to see EDI and the Geth gone wish we could have destroyed and still had them alive that would have been the ultimate best ending. I think the other ending were good in their own right they all seemed very interesting for sure.
Indoctrination doesn't work that way. Indoctrinating someone to the extent necessary to full that off would require weeks of direct exposure or destroy all higher mental functions.
One of the best parts about keeping Reapers alive - they are vessels for its respective cycles genes and knowledge. That was the point in Reapers - preserving diversity and life in the "perfect" form, each one is a nation, billions of voices of a long gone race in each machine, with their collective knowledge and experience, united chaos turned into order. Control and Synthesis endings imply that they can be used for good now, perhaps even be brought back in one way or the other. We are used to the idea of Reapers being evil and all, but everytime we kill one of the big ones - we erasing what remained of an entire cycle
yea its literally civilizations inside of each of them it kind of makes your head spin just thinking about that. It does make the ending feel a bit rough just thinking about it since killing them you are possibly killing what's left of all those people but that's if they are even a thing inside them anymore.
People always wonder about the husks and similar creatures regaining their previous minds.. but I personally believe that the “new form of life” would include them. No past, no memories, just a whole new beginning. Yes, I did take my Copium this morning.
All these years later, all the playthroughs I’ve done… I still don’t know which ending I prefer. There is good and bad in them all. But EDI saying, “I am alive… and I am NOT alone…” that holds my heart forever and always.
yeah it sure is interesting and brings up a lot of theories on it. I cant wrap my head around it but I do think they may be some what whole again but I don't know its hard to say.
All the endings were good in their own way besides the refuse one but EDI saying that really got me good.
I've always interpreted it as all living being has the memories and knowledge of everyone else, everyone basically becomes the same as everyone else.
I mean, I also thought about that. And from materialist standpoint there's no way that memories (or even the copies) of huskified beings would have survived after such a crude and extensive method of transformation.
24:43 Ok, that's it! Here's my new headcanon for Control ending: Shepard has become an AI that generates inspirational quotes. 😅
it was a bit strange I still don't know how it feel about it honestly. It had some good moments in the speech but it felt so cold I don't know lol. But it did say he would be changed.
I feel for the reaperised beings gaining consciousness. Did they get back their mind? Wouldn't want to be one of the faces on the cannibals stuck to one blob.
yeah its a bit confusing bit seriously did they actually get it back lol
Thank you for a great journey, I replayed the trilogy every year after 2012 all the way to maybe 2020-21, then I've been enjoying the playthroughs of you lovely people sharing it with us on UA-cam. I'm sure you'll be doing that as well, so welcome to the community. Much love
thank you my friend its been an absolute pleasure to bring this game series to the channel. I hope you have many great playthrough your self I know I will be playing for so long after this.
Finally finished watching the series. Mass Effect is a unique, emotional and unforgettable ride ❤!
Thank you for your fantastic take on this epic trilogy 🙏🏻!
@@ChasingTheEchoesOG thank you so much for the support my friend I appreciate it alot. I'm so glad you enjoyed the journey through it all. It was such a pleasure to play these games I loved them all.
Unforgettable 3 games that I will always come back to play more.
happy to see you explore some outcomes! seeing "complete" next to the ME3 playlist breaks my heart!
it has been one amazing experience that's for sure. Making this EP hurt when I got finished because it may very well be the last until a new Mass Effect game and I'm going to dearly miss it.
I remember there is another way to trigger refusal ending: Refuse all the options catalyst gave you during the conversation with him. Then in the end Shepard will say something like: "I fight for the freedom for all the people, and I will die knowing that I did everything I can to stop you. I will die free." And catalyst will pause for a moment, then say: "so be it".
Btw, there are a lot more to explore in this game, e.g: Prevent mordin fixing the sabotage. Side with Geth when legion want to upload the code. There is even a way to save mordin if all the conditions are met. What would happen if every teammate dies during suicide mission in ME2. What happens if you kill Samara instead of Morinth during their conflict. What happens if you didn't do Grisom Academy mission in time. What happens if you bring Legion as a teammate to Tali's loyalty mission. What happens if you punch the reporter during interview. What happens if your EMS is so low during the ME3 end game. What is the worst possible ending etc etc.
def it seems like I will be in this great game series for years to come to actually get all these different types of outcome and I'm so on board with that. Its only been a few days since I completed it but I already wanna make another Shep and start over lmao
Heyhey, great to see you experience the other ME3 endings!
There are other variations to the endings you've seen, but you can't get them with your save. With destroy, if you have way lower war assets, the Crucible is damaged along the way and the Catalyst tells you the the beam will kill a lot more than just synthetics. Hackett's voice-over is also a lot more bleak and it feels very much like a hollow victory. And the control ending has a bit of a different tone when you're a renegade Shepard, with Catalyst-Shepard being a bit more callous and ruthless on how he looks at things. The music in general underscoring the Control ending does it a disservice I think in its tone, because before you even hear Shepard speak, it all sounds very sinister in my opinion. It's great music, but to me it just immediately sounds like something bad is happening haha
For me, the synthesis ending epilogue always has me feeling a little like the galaxy has become some sort of Borg hive mind. Doesn't have to be a bad thing of course when there's nothing left to integrate into them against their will with everyone achieving synthesis at once, but I just find it difficult to wrap my head around how everything's interconnected. Like you noticed, even the plants on the planet the Normandy crashes on seem to have a circuitry of sorts running through it! However, at the same time EDI still makes it sound like everyone is still their own individual being. It's vague enough to be left to personal interpretation, which is fun for some and a bit frustrating for those that just want closure.
With synthesis I'm also reminded of Mordin's talk in ME2 on the Collectors' modifications disrupting the socio-technological balance and scientific advancement being due to intelligence overcoming, compensating for limitations. "No limitations, no advancement. No advancement, culture stagnates". Synthesis essentially turns everyone and everything into something with limitless potential and its difficult to imagine how life evolving/ascending in such a manner can still keep its diversity, culture, struggles and overcoming of these struggles... it all just seems to end up like this massive blob of limitless intellect with no further individuality, goals to chase or reasons to even be alive at that point.
The control ending has the feeling of becoming a form of intergalactic space police to enforce peace on everyone. It seems like a weird solution to me because of something EDI said. EDI mentioned the Geth uprising went the way it did because they were made as a collective intelligence, rather than individuals that have preferences like EDI herself, Being an individual AI made sure she didn't devalue individual lives. In the end Legion also believed individual AIs, rather than a collective consensus, was the way to move forwards and evolve as a species. With Shepard becoming this nebulous, collective Reaper intellect enforcing galactic peace and losing his connection to his own species, I find it difficult to see how he'll not grow to devalue individual lives and just end up as another Catalyst doing some sort of directive like "keep peace at all cost" in a flawed manner until he has to be stopped himself.
Oh, and when you're in the conversation with the Catalyst and you respond negatively to all of the three solutions, you can say you won't use the catalyst. The Catalyst will argue a little, then Shepard gives a defiant speech and then the Catalyst responds with the "So be it!" you see after shooting. Ends up the same, but it's a bit less anti-climatic when you reach that point through dialogue. Waiting it out was what could happen in the older version of ME3, before the Legendary edition. There was an invisible timer back then and if you took too long debating on which choice you'd want to take, the Catalyst basically just punishes you for indecisiveness, really weird haha
it was nice to actually sit back and see all the rest of the ending I'm glad we did it. All the endings were so interesting in their own way. And lol damn I didn't think about going all the bottom option with the Cata that would have been pretty funny to just tell him no I wont do it. Instead of just shooting the Cata or waiting for forever lol.
You should also check out Low EMS destoy ending
oh goodness that sounds really rough lol
@@Bowskii it really is!
@@BowskiiAlso the renegade control ending.
Just got around to watching your entire Mass Effect playthrough, I love and respect the time and attention you put into the series! Well played! 😁
Glad you enjoy it! Thank you for taking the time to go through the series it was a honor to bring this wonderful series to the channel.
I'm so glad you went through the endings for yourself. I personally picked synthesis my first playthrough just because it sounded like the best way to have peace and save the most. At the time I didn't think about forcing.
I'm happy I seen them all it was a great way to sum it all up and get a better understanding of the bigger picture.
I just want to say; this Let's Play was an absolute joy. You were so incredible and so genuine that I'm rooting for you as a UA-camr, but more sincerely as a person. I feel like with your decisions, the way you were able to articulate your thought process and your thorough love for this art... you truly encapsulated the beauty behind this trilogy. I can't wait to fully support more of these play throughs going forward.
As far as the endings go, I feel like I have a different perspective than most (no more or less valid than others) ...
Destroy felt like I sacrificed the Geth/EDI after everything I stood for; which was more or less giving all sentient life a chance to write their own future.. And after Legion and more so EDI expressed an understanding of "humanity" I really couldn't justify killing a whole race and a bestie in one fell swoop. Especially knowing that further down the line, albeit waaaay further, all future species will inevitability continue this vicious cycle...
Synthesis was SO good. Honestly it's probably the best of both worlds and something that benefited all current life whether it was organic or not. BUT the biggest reason I couldn't get behind it was because once Shepard (shout out Atticus) makes that decision... he literally forces that thought onto trillions+ of lifeforms instantly. They get no say, no rebuttal, no argument. They just become something they were never intended to be naturally, whether it was for the greater good or not. It felt like taking someones free will and ability to choose which makes humanity so unique and forces them into basically a hive mind. That was a line I didn't want to cross.
Control as controversial as it seems, felt like (to me) a real purpose. It exemplifies sacrifice. It felt like Shepard takes the burden upon himself so EVERYONE/THING can continue to be it's own entity. And with Shepard's specific morals and understanding, I felt comfortable leaving the fate of humanity in their hands. I didn't kill off a whole race and my loved ones, I didn't force a choice on anyone else and I feel like once sentient life has gotten to a certain pinnacle, Shepard has the self control to not intervene in affairs and call back the Reapers until they are needed as guardians, protectors and builders.
Cheers to you and yours! Can't wait for further content. Godspeed Atticus Shepard.
thank you so much I appreciate the kind words its means a lot and I'm just so happy I got a chance to actually play this game on the channel I feel like its a life changing type of game. thanks for the vote of confidence as well.
I thought the endings were all very interesting and well done they had some ups and downs for sure but generally I liked them all in their own way.
Lots more journeys to create on the channel glad to have you along for them.
It's been a great journey. Very nostalgic for me. To see your reactions, choices and emotions...
Thank you for the playthrough.
It is the greatest trilogy ever made in gaming for sure. Still can't be replicated, let alone being innovated on.
thank you for being here for the journey it was an absolute pleasure to play this game series!
The ending where you shoot the catalyst was perceived as a big middle finger to the fans who were upset over the endings. Originally, the three endings also had no commentary and no pictures of what happened,just buzz Aldrin, and the animated lights. Basically, the ending originally was "choose what color lights you want". Unfortunately the endings are still not fully embraced, partly because they seem to remove any agency you have, making the whole thing with the star child a deus ex machina. Many actually wish the crucible had been a op superweapon that could easily destroy reapers and cause them to retreat.
lol it sure felt like it that ending was just wild as hell. And honestly that's what I was thinking we would have to do it would have targeted Reapers on a big scale but still was a time consuming process to destroy them all.
Think it would have been neat to get the viewpoint of every team member on the different endings, for example what javik thought of synthesis or control, not just one person.
how awesome would that have been I agree I def would have loved a bit more tie ins to what happened afterwards.
After all these years, I can finally recognize all endings as satisfying in their own weird way, even the Refuse ending: it was added post-launch because fans were angry that they had to play by the Catalyst's rules no matter what, and some just wanted a big "FU" ending anyway.
I personally prefer the Control ending, independently of whether the Illusive man was right or not, cause It's the only one where all life (organic and synthetic) is given a chance to evolve on its own. I know Javik would treat is as the ultimate betrayal by Shepard, but we worked VERY hard to make peace between Quarians and Geth so we know it can work, and sacrificing them to save "real" life never sat well with me.
I will admit that the Destroy ending is the most cathartic though. Seeing All the reapers explode was just beautiful Lol. But Synthesis is just plain creepy...forcing the entire galaxy to conform to a solution (like the reapers wanted) and seeing the Krogan Techno-babies was horrifying. Did you notice no one even cheered in that ending? Everyone just...went back to business. All the beauty and chaos of Life is just gone. The galaxy's soul is too high a price for me.
Welp that's how you know a game did something right: we're still talking about the ending a decade later. The ultimate purpose of Science Fiction is to give people of all walks of life an excuse to discuss philosophy and nerd out about the future, and Mass Effect accomplished that beautifully!
I feel like if you never played any space games or even seen movies Mass Effect would pull us all in and make us true fans of the genre. It had to be my favorite space opera even over the beloved star wars. Just something about this beautiful work of gaming art it just can never get replicated. Something special and even after a couple days now I feel a hole in my heart atm.
The endings were all good in their own right they had some ups and down but I generally enjoyed all of them. Destroy was my fav but damn losing EDI and the Geth rekt me to the core. And the refusal ending lmao that was just absurd..
Thanks for tuning in on another journey in these LPs it was a pleasure my friend.
100% agree with you
Very cool to see the full playthrough. Glad I came along for this journey. ME4 will come sooner than we know :D
thanks you for being here it was a pleasure to bring this game to the channel. On to the next mass effect game hopefully sooner rather than later.
Hey I wanted to pop up here and say that I really appreciate your videos and your take on this amazing game🎉 also: I’m soooo exited for Baldur’s Gate3!!!
thank you my friend! It was such an amazing game series I feel so blessed to have gotten a chance to finally play it on the channel. Off to BG3 see you there!!
Im pretty sure the "Shoot the Catalyst/Kid? Ending is canonically named the Refusal Ending, Ive heard it floated around for awhile, idk.
yeah lol that sounds like a better name for that ending completely. Absolute nightmare ending.
Theres a low war asset destroy ending that ends with most of the galaxy being killed by the crucible instead of just the reapers and I'd argue its even worse than refusing and not using the catalyst.
oh goodness I bet the low assets must be a nightmare.
It was a hell of a ride...watched your playthrough of the entire trilogy...great job playing it and fully exploring it...except armax arena i guess.
glad you enjoyed it I had a absolute blast playing these games it was such an honor to bring it to the channel. It was def a shame I couldn't do Armax Arena would have liked to finish it.
What i dont like about the synthesis ending is that it implies Edi wasnt alive until she became part organic, it undermines her development over the games for me. The reason control is my favourite is because no one but Shep is sacrificed, no one is changed against their will, Edi survives and the Quarians and the Geth have peace. I like the thought of Shep continuing as an Ai errant knight with Shepards values, protecting the galaxy.
I feel like EDI has been alive this whole time especially with how her voice Actress did such an amazing job. Makes me wonder how much really changed in her when Synthesis happened.
I've been watching your playthroughs since Witcher 3, and when you started ME, I had to stop after a few because it made me want to play it again after 10 years of my own first playthrough. When I concluded my journey I came back to watch yours and it was amazing. We don't have the same opinions nor povs, but it never got in the way of enjoying your experience through these videos. So... Thank you for Atticus and for sharing your journey.
I really would like to see your reaction to all the trailers and I saw that you intend to do that. I'll be here whenever it comes out. Now I should probably go start my BG3 playthrough before watching yours. Take care, sir.
thank you my friend its been a absolute pleasure to bring these games to the channel. And thank you for being here so long. I loved these games it was such a rare experience and I'm glad I did it for the channel. I hope you enjoy BG3 that game has been amazing so far.
Really enjoyed every episode starting from mass effect one.
Outer Wilds would be a great option for a playtrough in the future! 😊
thank you my friend glad you enjoyed it all. And def I hear a lot of good things about that game its something I wouldn't mind trying one of these days.
@@Bowskii Yes! Would be a great short series. Just remember: Don't get spoiled. Knowledge is progress in Outer Wilds, so it might be best to record it all before uploading anything. (And no googling solutions! :D)
Maybe the only thing I'd google is how to begin the DLC if you can't find it.
Hey Bowskii you got sub, i started watching you videos of mass effect This month `im mass effect and bioware fan`, your reactions and lore learning is amazing, and all of us cried too in the end.
just finished your ME trilogy videos, next I will start Dragon age.
Keep it man.
Thank you for supporting my friend! I hope you enjoy all the playthroughs that you are able to watch on the channel. Always a pleasure to bring new videos.
@@Bowskii thanks. mass effect Andromeda give it a try
Loved seeing your adventure on this series. Me personally the senthesis makes the most sense to me. Especially since you go through all the trouble of getting Joker and Edi together. Making the geth allies with the quarians. Doing the destroy for me would have diminished that.
Any plans to play Andromeda?
thank you glad you enjoyed this series its been a pleasure to play it all and bring it to the channel and def I will be playing MEA at some point I will need a break after this game but I def will play it for sure.
Thank you for sharing your playthrough with us. It was wonderful to watch someone else fall in love with this game.
I’m a synthesis Shepard for two reasons. First, we came together, we leave together. Edi and the Geth fought by our sides. They could have aligned with the Reapers, but they trusted us. My Shepard wouldn’t betray that trust. So, we might have all left as husks, but we would have walked into that future together. It would have been a sacrifice that affected organics and synthetics equally. Destroy required no sacrifice on the part of Organics, other than Shepard, while the Geth and Edi are exterminated.
Second, choosing destroy proves the Reapers were right. They said organics and synthetics couldn’t co-exist, and Shepard proves that by destroying synthetics at the first threat to his own kind.
Sorry, one more reason. What happens when organics recreate synthetics? If they evolve, as they are bound to do, how will organics ever convince them to lay down their weapons? Shepard, the Hero of the Citadel, betrayed them. They’d be fools to ever trust us again. The return of the Reapers will be the least of our worries. The next race of synthetics need only hack into our thermostats and roast us in our beds.
Nonetheless, it was an honor to watch you play. I’ll be watching to see what you play next.
Thank you for being here I appreciate it a lot it was an interesting set of ending I liked them all in their own way I still wish we could have done away with the reapers and kept EDI and the Geth alive but alas we couldn't. But I'm excited to see what bioware does next in the series.
The catalyst standing behind Shepard when he grabs the Control conduits creeps me out. Like he is trying to make sure that Shepard follows through. I can’t shake the idea that Shepard capitulates and becomes an instrument of the Reapers that can be used to again go after civilization. In other words, I feel that this outcome is only the illusion of control.
yeah it made me un easy the whole control ending make me feel uneasy for some reason and I can put my finger on why I think it boils down to Shepard using the word "I" and not "WE"
And renegade control Shepard is even more creepy @@Bowskii
lol I could only imagine
The music is also sinister during the Shepard monologue
it's late, but there's actually a different variation of the control ending if your Shepard is renegade, a bit more foreboding. I'm not sure if there's variations for the other ones
love to hear that its a bunch of different endings depending on our alignment and how much war recourses we may have.
I appreciate your final thoughts on the endings. I too prefer the Destroy as my canon ending. As much as I hate seeing EDI and the Geth die too, I just didn't trust the Reapers.
Thank you and it's rough to lose EDI and the Geth it's crushed me. But seeing them Reapers gone was a great thing. Totally wish we could save them but this game loves to destroy us 😂
Thank you for this.
My pleasure! it was nice seeing the other endings.
actually my little brother played as a renegade, and the ending starts way before the catalyst. There is major differences here and there. At least the way my little brother handled it was epic and emotional! i don't wanna spoil it, in case u do a replay for urself. It is always better to have surprises left in an awesome game :)
Renegade for sure for my next run. I def don't know what ending I wanna do but I have a feeling its going to be so different. And I usually never play all endings in one playthrough I love to wait to see new things on new playthroughs but I just couldn't wait lol
wholesome,✌ @@Bowskii
I haven't done control in years. I usually end with synthesis or destroy. Control just sounds so sinister, the music doesn't help, but it hinestly makes it seem like the evil choice. Shepherd is now effectively a tyrant God capable of controlling or destroying everything.
it was a rough ending by all means it seemed like it was good in theory to have that knowledge but hearing Shep really hurt my heart.
I think you should start mass effect andromeda next bowskii
oh I def will but it may be a good while as we are nearing the start of BG3 but I def will put MEA on the channel for sure.
So Bowskii, I know you have your hands full, but seeing how well you played these games and how invested you were into the lore, I'd love to see how you would play another particular favorite of mine. It's more of an independent game but also great overall, I'd love to hear you input on what you might think of it (or see you react to the 3 trailers [Teaser/Gameplay/Cinematic] lol)
It's called Subnautica
lol you can say that again we sure do have so many great games we can play and finish that are on the channel atm. And I heard a great many things about Subnautica and I would love to play it but it would def be a good while but just know I would like to play it an bring it to the channel.
@Bowskii Oh awesome!! By all means, absolutely no rush at all lol, just thought I would give it a mention considering your love for lore haha. Until then, I may do something I've never done before, and watch a playthrough of a game I have never played.....I'll check your library of playlists lol. Geez, now I'm getting nostalgic because it feels like I'm about to go browse around at Blockbuster, just like old times...
I don't know if anyone has suggested it yet but if you haven't, I would recommend you watch some of the trailers for Mass Effect 3. I remember before its release, the game had quite a marketing campaign and there were some pretty cool CG trailers that came out of it.
I really need to do this its a idea I been wanting to do actually.
This is translated with Google Translate so apologies in advance for the translation xD
I liked your videos, I really liked the journey you took throughout each game, I just wanted to mention that there are variables of the control and destruction ending, if you were renegade most of the time the control ending becomes much more violent and dark, and the destruction ending can change if you don't collect the necessary war points, I hope you take a look at them as they are very interesting variables.
My endings from best to worst would be:
Destruction
Synthesis
Control
It was fun to watch this series :)
thank you my friend I really appreciate the comment and I'm glad you enjoyed this LP it was an absolute pleasure to bring it to the channel. Def one of the best game series I have ever played I will have fond memories of it for so long and cant wait to actually sit back and start another playthrough.
Legion also was shown to have lied a few times or at least omit the full truth. Shepard mentions it quite a few times & at one point face palms lol
To me Shep becomes a husk in control and synthesis with dem blue eyes 😆
The music sounds more sinister in control imo
out of all them endings yeah it just seems like the destroy one was the only one that fully felt like it is truly over. Or lets just hope it is..
So I just noticed Grunt isn’t in the Synthesis slide with Wrex. Wonder why he’s left out in that specific ending.
hmm interesting yeah he wasn't there makes me wonder why.
I haven't finished the video yet but there are alternative versions of destroy and control. for control if your shepherd was renegade the speach would be more well renegade and for destroy if your war assets are below the minimum the crucible is badly damaged and the fleets get decimated and because of the damage to the crucible it destroys everyone on earth organics included.
I'd also recommend giving big dan gaming's worst playthrough video a watch its really sad but amusing.
id have a rough time seeing an ending like that. Its terrible to say but I don't know if I could ever watch any worse endings then the ones we seen so far.
Control and merge endings are very immoral and horrible in my book.
Control isn't just control of the Reapers. You also control the galaxy, you have superior power over everyone else and decide the future of everyone else. What of the people who don't want your protection? Sooner or later you'd find yourself between two sides that both make a good point and you have to decide who to support. You decide the fate of the Galaxy - forever or until they overthrow you. You basically enslave everyone, take away their free will and choice.
Synthesys is also taking away the choice. You somehow turn all the life in the galaxy through magic into some magical half-synthetics. It sounds the best, but it's some weird shit. Shepard said to Illusive Man he's playing with forces he doesn't know, using power he didn't deserve. I feel like this "evolution" is something similar. Also it seems all life is infected by some kind of nanomachines which I don't trust.
Destroy is what everyone strived for and fought for, that's why it's not forcing a choice, even though you do make a sacrifice. But everyone in this was willing to sacrifice themsleves.
That's how I see it, anyway.
Last EP was such a hard choice to make since it was our first one. But honestly I feel like the destroy ending we chose was a really great one for Attiucus and his story. The endings are all interesting for sure so much of the what if questions just pop into my head with them all.
There is one ending you NEED to see, that is very hard to get. You know in the 2nd game, if you finish without loyalty, EVERYONE can die? yes, thats something you need to see, which leads me to THIS game, the third game. If you do the bare minimum to go to earth, destroy ending is the ONLY option and has a drastically different ending.
oh good grief lmao that would be so rough to see I would be in tears onto of tears id imagine.
I truly hope you'll react to them since i'd never ask you to replay the game just for that XD@@Bowskii
IMO Renegade lines way more logical and adequate, than Paragon, somewhat trolling. And that hug of Joker and EDI's the only thing that justifies existence of the Synthesis ending.
that hug was so good it was great to see it. And lol Shep sure does have those fair share of troll lines I love it.
My main personal gripe with Destroy Ending is not only the fact that you effectivelly render Legion's sacrifice pointless, since you basically genocide every synth, all Geth and EDI included, but also the fact that everyone forgets Leviathans exist. And they made it pretty clear that they are not fighting for saving the galaxy, but to reclaim their own hegemony. Now with reaper technology, the only technology that was capable of matching their power, completely wiped out, there is nothing stopping them at this point.
The synthetics in theory should be able to be repaired quite easily.
its all hard to say honestly like I said all EP the words What if just rain supreme in all the endings. Id love to think we could rebuild who we lost but who knows if we ever can. And honestly we destroyed the reapers I think Leviathan is a cake walk yea we don't have reaper tech but I don't think they could stand against the galaxy they would make it hell if they did rise up though for sure. Send Wrex in!!!!
But seriously we won't know anything until bioware confirms what may be the canon ending to all this. But they were all very good in their own right.
I don't think all synthetic died, only the ones with reaper tech, which they made clear thru the game both the Geth and EDI had reaper tech, Shepard was also part synthetic and he "survived"
@@Bowskii Yep, but Reapers were defeated by the magical deus ex machina in the form of the Crucible. As we know from "shoot the kid" ending, without it even with all fleets united reapers still win, so I doubt that it would be easy for battered galaxy to jump into another war with giant space shimps that can burn entire reapers with long range magic powers.
@@Bowskii Hello. I’m 11 months late, but I watched your entire walkthrough of this great trilogy. The ending-destruction is canon. A sequel is being created, have you watched the teaser and will there be a reaction to it? it's definitely worth it. Sorry for my English, I'm using a translator
A video series you might enjoy reacting to now that you're done with the series: "Can you beat Mass Effect with No Friends", I think you'd enjoy it!
Shep solo taking on the galaxy
I am alive and Im not alone. 💗😭
loved that so much!!!
A paragon shepard sacrificing himself to become a benevolent god makes more sense to me than a paragon shepard going for destroy. Even if the control ending is... kinda weird I agree. He's not giving himself up to the reapers he's changing them to tune them to his morals, it's not the same. If someone "gave up" it's the reapers not Shepard. And as for the "it's not shepard anymore" well that's the point. Becoming something more to save everyone. Imagine if TIM had had access to the catalyst XD. I'm not sure the new order would be as benevolent XD.
yeah I brought it up in the EP that it would be terrible if TIM really did succeed lol goodness it would be a nightmare. The control ending in theory seems pretty good but what got me was Shepard sounded like he was suffering I don't know maybe I just heard it different but when Shepard over used the word "I" instead of "WE" it through me off completely. I don't know I'm just a person that never uses I its always WE for me so it was just hard to hear him say it.
SHOOT THE STARCHILD!!!
lol SO BE IT. When he said that and turned the beam off shit got real.
I'm new here. Destroy ending is also depending on your EMS score too. If your EMS Score is low, then you get the worst possible ending. In my opinion, Low EMS Destroy Ending is way worse than Refusal ending.
Lmao thank goodness I didn't get that ending if it's worse then the refusal holy moly 😆
Also, you might wanna check out Indoctrination theory on UA-cam, it's a popular attempt by fans to "explain" in their own way ending of the game (absurdly popular, 99% of the fandom is at least aware of it, with a significant portion supporting it). It's not what actually happens and it was disproved by writers of the game, commenting "we were not smart enough to pull something like this off", but at the very least it's an interesting watch and I would've liked to see your reaction and thoughts about it
lol ohh goodness I bet that one is crazy as all heck id imagine.
I agree with you how about the endings I will give you a clue on one thing the synthesis ending can only be gotten and when the game's first came out if you played all the previous games before if you only played the second and third game or even just the third game you would only have control or destroy or shoot the catalyst but in the third game if you didn't max out your resources and did the destroying Shepherd would die
oh wow but honestly I wont lie I don't think I could ever just play 2 or just 1 game lol. All my new runs of these games will def be start to finish I feel like its just so iconic of a series to miss out on any piece of content in any game.
I have no clue why people told you to wait the fourth ending out. You can initiate it with dialogue. Wish someone had told you.
I don't remember if anything was brought up but I just waited it out I didn't mind
mice multi player is stilll active------ you mi'ght like to check out cdllectors on plati9num -destroy--
def I will play Multiplayer for sure.
Look at the geths in Control ending, they pictured with Reaper, so, probably, Old Mashines is still a gods for they. And quarians still wearing their suits, despite peace between two races. So, probably, Catalyst was RIGHT. Misconnection between organics and synthetics is inevitable, and Destroy cannot solve it by itself, conflict is inevitable. Synthesis... to be honest, is some kind of unexplained magic out of sci-fi setting (and a cheatcode for golden ending). Yes, that is how Legion dies and becomes a framework between all geths, but Shepard not a synthetic! So, I think, Control is only option to solve something. Yes, with unbeatable AI peacemaker, but this is a price for a chanse to new perspective for all races. If Shepard can overreach a Harbinger's conservatism and let something new to rise up.
I think all of the ending were pretty interesting in their own right. Destroy was good for our character and his story it felt like the thing he would most do. Personally I'm not fully sure how I feel about any of the ending I think I'm still on board with destroy mostly since in time we can build it all again but then again who knows how long that will be. I bet half of the players out there still probably don't know how they feel about the ending to this day lol
The control ending always worries me. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That really comes through with the way the renegade narration feels, but even with the paragon I still get an uneasy feeling about where this is going to lead long term.
yeah I was a bit uneasy by the way Shep was talking in that ending. It seemed like a good ending in theory but it was very difficult to listen to him speak.
My Shepard could never choose destroy, I mean, choosing to murder billions for no good reason, and then a few hundred million more in the aftermath...just noooooo😄
At least paragon control means the catalyst is infused with Shepards morals and ethics, and let's not forget, pretty much a carbon copy of Shepard on file, ready to be rebuilt (again) in the future for an ME4. 😁
Though renegade control is more....severe in it's tone, best ending speech by far out of all the options, specially with Jennifer Hale
forcing ultimate sacrifice on anyone for the greater good its a grim way of things but with the reapers gone we can build a future of our own and hope to bring back the synthetics we lost if we even can. Control ending felt so strange to just hear what Shep was saying I hate when the word "I" gets used instead of "WE" when it comes to stuff with others involved in a future to build their own path. It was just a rough one. But no means bad and of course all our Sheps will have different views and that's the beauty of this game.
It's great to see all options!
It was such an interesting set of endings that's for sure. I really enjoyed them all in their own way. It's like each of them has some ups and downs but all in all they were put together really well. The refusal ending was just a nightmare though lol 🤣😆 I can't imagine actually doing a first time run and accidentally getting that ending 😆.
I'm really going to miss this game series so much I feel like it's been a part of me for 2 years now so the emotions and empty feelings now that it's done will def kick in.
Seeing EDI and Joker hold each other was just everything!
dont know anthing about beings of light, but im currently replaying me1 with my gf and i will look for more info
I don't fully remember the lore behind them but what I can remember is they were guardians against the machine devils it was saying so I may have been totally wrong but for some reason it made me think of them.
Ok, obviously refusal ending is the worst... but did you notice the ominous music when AI catalyst Shepard started talking? It makes me think. It almost gives eventual villan vibes. That has to be second worst imo. Then synthesis (for EDI and the geth/quarians), then destroy. Perfect destroy, to be exact.
Watching Anderson fade into the afterlife made my eyes a little moist. Thanks for that 😂. I guess it's fine since you experienced it four more times yourself 😅
such a damn crazy ending I couldn't even imagine seeing Anderson go like that each time was so rough..
i am 1 of the few who pick synthesis. reasons is i Helped the Geth find identity (they are more alive or as i should say have a Soul) & how the Geth helped the Quarians which shows that the created can also help instead of fighting like the Catalyst said always happened.
Edi dying would hurt then on top of that how hurt my boy Joker would be. since it was the final point & that we would eventually synthesis i was like f it why not now lol. watching it like repent for you're sins when the reapers gain life in a way right?
but all jokes aside it's understandable why others pick destroy. it's the "just to be safe or sure button, the i can't trust anything here i will just kill it. that always works solution" solid choice in all accounts for an enemy. i think i did it once on my like 3 or 4th playthrough wasn't for me personally.
control... idk someone who picks it would have to tell us hopefully.
but none the less we are all fans of this amazing series so that triumphs over all, may all you're roads lead to warm sands.
I really did enjoy the Synthesis as well its was so different but lets be honest seeing EDI and Joker together at the end was just amazing. I got all these idea for new Sheps now because of all these ends lol. Each def had some ups and downs that's for sure and i cant wait to see all the different stories we can create with each of them in our different Sheps
there is another ending the really bad one that triggers if you didn't collect the enough amount of war assets and make very bad choices along the games.
good grief id only imagine that ending is terrible lol
Unfortunately the ending to Mass Effect 3 is most likely going to be retroactively retconned for a few reasons.
Bioware never intended to continue on the story of Shepard beyond 3. Andromeda was meant to keep the series going without the need to continue his storyline.
The Synthesis ending is too powerful. It basically removes all galactic conflict, and makes everyone friends, a totally united galaxy can literally take on ANYTHING without issue, but also Shepard is 100% confirmed dead.
The Control ending is basically Shepard becoming the new catalyst, with some upgraded morals...the second his tech brain sees an issue with the plan, the reapings start all over again. (And we know first hand that Shepard is willing to do that kinda shit, he blew up the entire Batarian system for "the greater good")
To this end it is far more likely and even leaked that Bioware has basically made the "canon" ending to Mass Effect 3 be the destroy ending, for a few reasons.
1. Shepard is alive (with enough war-score the Destroy ending is the only one he survives)
2. The reapers are gone (along with their world breaking tech and knowledge)
3. It sets up the idea that the races of the galaxy are separated (at least temporarily) due to the mass effect relays being destroyed.
4. "Everything that was destroyed can be rebuilt" this implies that even EDI can come back (insert some theory about Cerberus Backups on some shielded blacksite)
I know some fans will come in and say "Nuh uh, no canon!" but in reality every video game, even "Choose your own Adventure RPG's" have a "Canon" designed in house that was the original and dedicated ending to the game, the others are simply branches of that original narrative ending, anyone who disagrees, simply doesn't understand game/story design.
The original canon Shepard as designed by Hudson is: Male, Space Born, War Hero, Paragon. He then later alluded that he also always envisioned the main romance to be Liara, but later contradicted himself...so that is kinda up in the air. (I personally will die on the Tali hill, though I know she was never originally considered to be romancable.)
With Mass Effect 4 (Not Andromeda) on the horizon, I look forward to seeing what Bioware has planned for the future of this franchise.
yeah its going to be very interesting now that I got a chance to see all these endings what bioware will actually use for the next game. But its very true most games that have multiple endings but is ultimately an import type of game to another game most will usually have some kind of default story in a sense.
Still I'm so excited to see what's to come and I'm happy to say I finally beat these great games years late but still it was an amazing experience one I will never forget. Thanks for being part of it.
If only you have played the ending when it came out originally, it'll be a different story.
glad I waited all these years from what I'm hearing in the comments it was a lot different back then.
@@Bowskii Let's just say, it made everyone pissed off orginally. Watch Angry Joe's videos, it summarized why we hate the ending, with indoctrination theory trying to justified the orginal mess. Extended Cut was released later to calm the storm, the ones you just saw now. I remember the ending had a different approach, the writers were intending to include Dark Energy, the galaxy was about to implode with an unbalance energy because all races were distruping it without knowing it, thus why the Reapers came to fix that problem. Mass Effect 2 hinted that possibily when you pick up Tali from a hot planet, they were studying the young dying star that could've played a big role in Mass Effect 3.
and it's not even my birthday
hahah enjoy it my friend!!
The control ending is so sketchy to me because firstly; it's not Shepard anymore. It's a facsimile of Shepard, as interpreted by a homicidal AI who thought "preserving life" = ritual, cruel genocides. All the Control ending does is Catalyst 2.0. There is no reason to believe that Catalyst Shepard won't decide in the future to go all genocidal eventually. Or, if Catalyst Shepard retains emotions at all, then how are they not going to go insane from lack of emotional connections to someone? In addition, each Reaper was an entire species, barbarously butchered and forced into this messed up new life as a conglomerate. Now, they will still have no peace, and are still slaves to the Catalyst.
Synthesis is absolutely abhorrent to me. Shepard again takes the word of a lying, genocidal AI who wants to "preserve life", but this time, by forcing every living, feeling, thinking organic life form to be genetically, fundamentally altered in a way they were never meant to be, and could not ever be emotionally or spiritually ready to be. Synthesis takes away all autonomy from everyone, and destroys all individuality. Whatever the Catalyst says, Synthesis creates a hive mind, and that includes every evil, every perversion, every sorrow, pain and cruelty ever perpetuated by every organic. It takes away the ability and the right for someone to think and feel for themselves. I firmly believe everyone alive would go insane. And if they didn't, then it proves the fact that the Catalyst lied again, because something would have had to alter every sentient and non-sentient organic to just be ok with such a change. I think Synthesis is the most evil option, by far.
I feel like the firs tone we picked was def the best one it really does suck to lose EDI and the Geth but it felt the most right option out of all the rest even after I recorded and seen all the rest at least for Atticus and his story. I feel like each ending had some ups and downs for sure. Would have loved a few more things answered of course but lets hope bioware kind of connects the dots on which ending is basically a canon one for the next games.
@@Bowskii I think you are right. I have to hope that they can be rebuilt. They are just code, after all. If the other tech can be restored, I don't see why they can't. I also can't see the Geth not having backups of themselves, so I hope they come back. But yes, a few more answers would have been great. Really enjoyed your playthrough! This Mass Effect series will always be special to me.
React or see multiplayer trailers, and the trailer ME continues trailer...
I def wanna check out some of the trailers and MP I do have the OG games so id def be able to play it for sure.
I've never liked Control. I feel like you'd have to be an insane megalomaniac to believe that you have the necessary intelligence/ wisdom to control the future of all life, organic and synthetic. In that sense, I guess it could be seen as the ultimate Renegade option, and it's not hard to see why the Illusive man would favour it.
Synthesis is a weird one. For me, it's essentially the Saren option: creating a new hybrid form of life with the strengths of both organics and synthetics, and the weaknesses of neither. When the Catalyst actually says they've tried similar solutions before, and that they didn't work, it also implies that Shepard is the only person who could make it work, genetically superior to all those who'd come before. To me, that casts him in the role of a fantasy-style "Chosen One," rather than an ordinary human being. It's nice to save EDI and the geth, obviously, but it doesn't sit quite right with me.
As for shooting the Catalyst, I'm sure someone else must have already said this, but just in case they haven't and you don't know, that ending wasn't part of the game when it was first released. However, so many players complained about the endings and said they would reject all three and shoot the Catalyst, that Bioware actually added it into the Extended Cut DLC!
So, yeah... Destroy is the only option that works for me. It also feels like a soldier's option, and therefore the one that Shepard would actually choose: complete the mission, destroy the enemy, and then rebuild.
its interesting how these endings all played out some really good and rough moment in each of them its seems like all are a bit of grey. And lmao bioware trolled on that ending that's so funny. I honestly don't think any of the endings were bad by any means to cause and up roar though I would have loved a few more things that got explained but all in all it was well done.
@@Bowskii No, the uproar was justified back then. Remember, the endings you get in the Legendary Edition aren't the same as the endings that were in the original game.
The slide show epilogues weren't part of the game, so if you played the game when it was first released, you just got one of the three explosions (red, blue or green) and the cut scene of Joker emerging from the crashed Normandy. It left so many gaping plot holes unexplained.
Also, in the run-up to release, Bioware had promised that the game would have many, many different endings which fully reflected all your decisions across the entire trilogy. They even went so far as to say that it would disrespect the fans if it came down to a simple choice between A, B or C.
Later, the Extended Cut DLC added the slide shows explaining how the galaxy was able to rebuild the mass relays etc, and eventually the amazing Citadel DLC went a long way towards taking the bitterness out of the disappointment that fans felt. All's well that ends well, eh? 🙂
Synthesis is by far my least favorite ending. the idea that organic life is perfected by integrating with technology, that the apex of our evolution is some sort of inevitable technological singularity where will all become cyborgs is, to me, patently absurd.
I believe organic life will be perfected by fully integrating harmoniously with NATURE, not technology. technology is a tool to achieving that end. When we learn to live in cooperative symbiosis with all of earth's ecosystems, knowing that all of the resources we need to thrive are already available to us as long as we give back to the earth and replenish anything we take: that's when organic life will achieve true balance and harmony. the hubris that suggests a man-made synthetic intelligence integrated with the human mind would mark some sort of ascent to godhood is baffling to me. that would be the utter destruction of humanity and our evolutionary process, not its perfection.
Life: infinitely complex, self-organizing, self-healing, continuously adapting and expanding is a billions of year old intelligence. It is the highest and most complex intelligence in all of the known universe. and the catalyst wants to try to erase it completely by shoving an AI into it. fuck that thing. I love the fact that 'destroy' is the most popular ending. It shows people are not buying into that bullshit as much as we are spoon-fed it.
the endings were all so interesting in their own way. I still think our best was the first one we chose. It was so nice to actually see them all though because now I can finally plan out some of my other playthrough and RP them sheps to its fullest.
But still I really loved the ending of this game still wish we saved EDI and Geth with the destroy ending