@@pattymaner8408 How so? You just literally have to pick a color, that's all about which ending you get. And some minor details, like who survives and similar.
If Shepard gets corrupted, it is highly unlikely that he/she would decide to harvest the galaxy. Instead, it's more likely that peace would be enforced across the galaxy. Any group that decides to start a major war gets the shit kicked out of them.
@Franky Torres exactly my thoughts. A control-obsessed AI that forgets what it was like to be an imperfect human being. Although I don't see it being useful in the bridging Milky Way and Andromeda narrative. I'd rather see the Milky Way face off an empire that converts organics into new subservient species like the Kett or those who created them did.
I’ve always imagined that after the reapards fixed the mass relays they either left the milky way or scattered across the galaxy solving every conflict
i like this ending, it kinda feels right. shep doesnt wipe out everything/synthetics, everyone has their free will, and she seems like the type to sacrifice herself anyway
This ending is the one that got my emotions there most. The other two have the flashes of the dead and their love interest evenly spaced between intervals of Shepard at the terminal. This one has Anderson and then the dead crew mate similarly intercut, with a longer pause of Shepard being dissolved, then love interest. They're thinking of them in that very moment as they're being dissolved, doing all of those things for them. That extra bit of time between the other two and the love interest makes all the difference to me, it's really touching and even sadder seeing her sacrifice herself for them.
Every ending had Shepard with full commitment to his decision. Destroy Shepard goes forward and doesnt stop shootting even when the thing explodes, even when he remembers EDI. Synthesis Shepard goes running for a leap of faith on his inevitable death Control Shepard holds onto the conduits that are killing him and bringing pain, and holds onto them again after he lets go for a moment because of the pain It's not just control. Also you gotta admit destroy looks the most epic of them all.
My favorite part of Shepard's speech in this ending is that her last words are clear of the voice distortion. Effectively reinforcing the idea that even though Shepard is dead, part of her still lives on. It's not just some soulless AI with Shepard's voice, it's Shepard and everything she was and stood for.
It's worth mentioning that the dialogue of Catalyst-Shepard has small variation depending on the paragon/renegade morality. And the voice is both from male and female Shepard mixed together
Actually, Catalyst-Shepard’s voice is just their own voice ‘Reaperfied’, for lack of a better term. However, the Catalyst up to that point has both Shepard voices mixed in with its own.
I think this is the best ending for one simple reason: the Leviathans. Our conversation with the Leviathan did not fill me with any confidence. They used to see other organic life as mere insects for them to enslave and mind control. The only reason they stopped, is because they had to go into hiding from the Reapers. If we destroyed the Reapers, nothing would stop them from once again trying to enslave all organic life in the galaxy. We need the Reapers as a deterrent.
That sounds like a great setup for a sequel to the destroy ending. In a galaxy rebuilding after the end of the reaper threat, the leviathan make their move to reclaim their position as the apex of organic life. You could even play as Shepard again since he lives in the destroy ending.
Not just that but basically the reapers were created as a solution to a problem. By destroying the reapers you basically doomed organic life as at one point synthetics are going to take over again and there will be no reapers to stop that from happening
I think you changed my mind. I always thought synthesis was the best option because it solved the problem the Reapers were created to fix, but I never thought about the threat their living creators posed.
Shepard's willpower is so insane that even in death, their ideals live on. Imagine becoming a Reaper AI effectively that simply defends EVERYTHING Shepard died standing for. A paragon, Shepard, will be the ultimate defender of the downtrodden. A renegade Shepard, a frightening and ruthless avenger. Badass ending!
I had similar thoughts. Especially with paragon shep, I think there's a connection there with the justicar code. Shepard would ask themselves do I believe this as strongly as Samara does, and find that they do.
This ending seems kinda fair though. Synthesis ending takes away the freedom of all organic and synthetic and changes them. This one only controls the reapers without sacrificing synthetics.
someone pointed out it would end the same as it began though because: 1. reapers are still just synthetics 2. similarly, geth are just synthetics 3. geth revolted for their freedom and didn't want to be controlled 4. we can assume eventually reapers will revolt in order to gain freedom not saying this is the absolute truth and should be treated as such just some food for thought
Also husks and similar units are implied to regain a measure of self-awareness. Pure fridge horror. Control seems like a slippery slope where it might be great at first, but over time, Shep-AI loses whatever shackled it to its old life and becomes as ruthless as the Catalyst, if not more. It's why I prefer Destroy. Sadly, Geth and EDI bite the dust, but fewer strings attached- closer to the original mission statement.
@@mungy27 Fair nothing is 100%% certaint in dealing with the future. But odd are that a possible future Reaper rebelion won't be so one sided as the Reaper War (Harvest) given that enough time pasees.
@@Jebu911 To be fair, the main issue with the Illusive Man doing it is that he himself was thoroughly morally corrupt and in the end indoctrinated. What really makes this ending bad is the fact that it's not Shepard controlling the Reapers. It's an AI that approximates Shepard's personality. You can tell because the AI refers to Shepard as a whole different person- a template. Short-term prosperity is almost assured as whatever programming there is would still follow the directive it was given, which was Shepard's will. But over time, AI evolve, just as the Catalyst did, just as EDI did and just as the Geth did. It's very easy for the Shep-AI, separated from all the connections that made Shepard who he/she was, to go rogue, change its own directive, become even colder than the Catalyst over time.
As much as i like the Destruction-ending the best, i stay with Control-Ending mainly because i don't have the heart to drag EDI nor the Geth down with the Reapers, EDI is straight up a sweetheart and the Geth are mainly innocent in this whole Quarian thing. They deserve to be given the opportunity to be treated as living beings. Also i didn't boost my ass making amends between the geth and Quarians to kill them.
In my youth, I used to believe that the Destroy ending was the only good ending and would take that choice every time I played... but now that I'm older I'm starting to see the merits of the Control ending and how it might be the best choice. Provided you've been a Paragon Shepard the entire trilogy. A paragon Shepard always believed in freedom of the individual to make their own decision and live their lives, but to do so without fear of tyranny and evil from those who would take advantage of the weak. She'd step in to save the weak from the strong, and when it came to mediation would always find in favour of individual freedoms as long as it didn't involve taking advantage of the weak. So an AI construct based on Paragon Shepard would believe the same thing. It wouldn't rule the Galaxy and make choices for people. It'd fix the mess the Reapers made, then it'd fly off and just be a defender of justice and the weak. Yeah, if you're an asshole or a race of aliens that say thought enslavement was a viable economic system *cough*Batarians*cough*, then yes - Reaper-Shepard would roll on you and take that choice away from you. And you know what? That's not a bad thing. Boo hoo you lose the freedom to enslave the weak. Cry me a river. And as a plus, technology doesn't roll back 1000 years, Mass Relays are rebuilt, AIs survive and the Geth aren't annihilated. Oh, and all life in the galaxy isn't transformed without its consent into some hybrid of technology and organic systems with no idea what that entails. Sounds like a good deal to me. Obviously Control isn't the canon ending because there'd be no more strife in the galaxy, but it's nice.
For me destroy always makes the most sense because there is no real way to know the implications of the other 2 endings. Shepard himself told the illusive Man... "are you willing to bet humanity existence on it?"
Idk to me this ending just begs organic life to stupidly want to ‘free’ themselves of the shackle of the reapers. All it takes is another Cerberus to develop and AI that can defeat the reapers, and you have the thing the reapers were supposed to stop in the first place
I choose the Control ending. To give the Reapers a taste of their own medicine. Also, in my head-canon, I believe Shepard would definitely remember his/her love and recreate a human-like body to reunite with them. Therefore I don't have to infringe on the bodily autonomy of every single soul in the galaxy and use the strength of the Reapers as guardians for life instead.
Paragon Shepard-Reapers can also repurpose indoctrination for good. An army of workers to reconstruct the galaxy, dedicate their existence for the protection of others, peacekeeping, giving Ardat-Yakshi a new purpose, etc.
In my headcanon when Shepard took control this conversation took place. Shepard in Harbingers head: Hey Harbinger!! Harbinger: Who is this! Shepard: Oh its me, the one who took out the collectors Harbinger: What is happening. Shepard: Remember that thing you did with the collectors with control. This is payback Harbinger: WAIT DON'T YOU DARE Shepard: *ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!* Harbinger: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!
A key part of this ending is that if there were ever a rising galactic threat, the Reapers could be used to keep the peace or say if the Kett ever invaded the Milky Way, the reapers could destroy them
The problem I see with being "god" is that nobody can contest anything you decide. Who's to say that "Shepard" thinks it's wrong for a civilization to go and conquer another, Shepard puts them in place by obliterating them or something. Who's to say that then a new Shepard sees this as something wrong. Say they have a reason to conquer that other civilization good enough to do another trilogy of games trying to defeat godShepard.
@@syrdax But that's the thing with godhood. A God is always right no matter if its subjects wish to believe otherwise because God creates the rules in which its subject obeys. Who are we to say that the life or death of an other being is subjunctive when a God decides their fate? Same goes for various religions as well and this is the biggest dilemma in "transcendence to godhood" for man. Also, the Catalyst is not Shepard, it is an AI that is being created by Shepard's memories, emotions and ideals and if your Shep was a renegade that means the AI will tend to act as a renegade as well (poor galaxy..) however the true paragon Shep is the best example to a better Catalyst as it will be a guardian to life.
Still the best ending. The Geth/Edi are still alive, The Reapers leave and fix the damage they caused and Shepard still lives on in a manner of speaking.
"Now if you can pacify the Reapers, we'll make you a Saint." - Garrus Vakarian This ending is quite similar to Neo. Purposely get absorbed by Smith to gain control of him as a whole and destroy the Smith Prime. While liberating others that were assimilated, he secured peace between Machines and humans, and finally returned to the source.
I wonder if the jungle planet landing was the start of what was the original draft of Andromeda. The Crucible signal somehow catapulting the Normandy to another galaxy.
I don't like the Destroy ending, since it basically wipes out the Geth who have just finally earned their freedom from hostility, and more importantly EDI, who you've spent the whole game with bonding and watching develop as a character.
THIS. This whole ending gave me really creepy vibes. The music, the speech, the implications that now Shepard isn't even Shepard anymore, but just something with her memories and allegiances. But who knows how long that would even last. It's too much power for anyone to have, even a paragon with good intentions.
@@thomasvleminckx It is when soundtracks are used to inspire certain feelings and emotions in the viewer. So hearing how ominous the music is, implies this is kind of the bad ending to do.
@@nicoleisom2920 This is actually the basis for a fantasy AU story I'm working on, called Towers of Demetria. It also deals with the the themes of how societal values irl have changed over time, and comments on how some aspects of the original trilogy aged like milk. Camille Shepard (that world's version) ascends to become Camille Demetria, and the Reapers are later known as the Towers. Centuries later, the counterpart of the kid at the epilogue hears the stories about Camille and grows up to question if she really was this heroic. The story told to us in the games is distorted in this world, and the protagonist sets out to find the truth and confront Demetria. It's still in its world-planning stage, but I hope I can get around to write that narrative.
I just got this ending and am very pleased. It makes sense to me that Shep would choose this. What's to stop everyone from going to war again or the leviathans from coming out of hiding? Shepard becomes a god & transcends humanity to protect all life & not just organics. It truly fitting end. This may not be the official cannon ending but I think it should be moving forward. It'll be interesting what happens with mass effect 4. You get to talk with a reaper and it's Shepard
Not sure why this ending catches flack. The Shepherd directly tells the player "I will rebuild and help and remember who we we lost and how important life is". But y'know, the music sounds kinda intense and something something power corrupts. So obviously this is somehow a bad thing. I, for one, welcome our robotic alien overlord. May she dance badly in space for all eternity.
The thing is with this ending and the Synthesis ending is, they don't seem absolute in their resolve. The Control ending: As we can hear it doesn't seem or sound like Shepard anymore and yes, she will probably use the reapers for good, but one thing to remember the Reapers and the Catalyst still exist, beings who were witness to tens of millions of years pass by and maybe not by forcefully, Shepard MAY get infected with their twisted logic of harvest It may not happen in the next year, the next century or the next milennia, but it MAY happen that Shepard who is now essentially godlike MAY use the Reapers for harvesting again. It just doesn't seem absolute for the simple reason that the Reapers and the catalyst still exist. The Synthesis ending: Shepard just dies and everyone becomes half machine half organic but the Reapers still exist and we are supposed to buy that it will be all fine and dandy. I find the destroy ending to be the most absolute, it is indeed sad that the Geth has to die and extremely fucking heartbreaking that EDI goes out aswell, but it seems the most absolute, the Reapers are gone and the Catalyst is gone, whether it goes sideways or not, the Reapers are not part of the equation. That's my take on this.
By the time that happens, there would have been centuries of 'infinite possibilities'. The Galaxy would probably then be on par with the Reapers. I really wish they could have added something like the Man of Steel quote: "In time, they will join you in the sun." That is probably Shepard-AI's contingency plan, and making it transparent would be good.
the destroy option seems absolute, but the star-child said that future generations would just create AI all over again and continue the cycle. i believe him. humans/organics try not to repeat history, but do so anyway. none of the endings are perfect.
@@AquaswanOfficial Not to mention without the reapers as a deterrent, who will stop the Leviathans if they decide to enslave all life again. Or if there are more Protheans in hibernation just waiting for the reapers to be defeated to awaken.
So, if Sheppard now controls the reapers with the cost of losing his/her body then why not just send them to die in the closest black hole and transfer his/her conscience to a mech body just like EDI did
In renegade-control the Shepard AI becomes a reaper tyrant, in paragon-control the AI is an overly idealistic peacekeeper backed by a reaper armada which refuses to make hard choices & lets the world grow stale in peace while destroy straight up kills the geth & edi for whose rights Shepard's been fighting for the entire game. IMO, Synthesis is the best bittersweet ending coz though the entire milky way's life gets fundamentally perverted by turning everyone into sterile (or not) immortals - the key problem driving organic life into extinction by their own hands has been solved - once and for all. And guess who else was trying to achieve the same goal albiet in a more extremist way ? None other than Saren Arterius.
@@Sorrowblast The game presents brutish/extremist & alternative diplomatic/pacifist approaches to the same challenges e.g Project Overlord used David Archer's mind directly in connection with a VI probed with wires to access geth cyberspace and dominate them while Shepard does the exact same thing in Mass Effect 3 with geth tech & seeks their cooperation. Saren's & the Reapers's methods to preserve life are convoluted & brutal while Shepard can achieve the same in a peaceful way which promotes cooperation between man & machine regardless of time and place; with that achieved there is no more need for the reapers's harvests.
@@janeshepard9549 except there was no *Saren's and Reapers* way, it was Reapers way, only, becuase he was indoctrinated. And any way, the synthesis ending does not solve feth all, it just turns all life into synthetics.
@@alexsmith6482 I quite like this ending to be honest. The relays are salvaged, saving the galaxy and allowing it to rebuild and what better entity to look out for it's well-being than it's saviour
I never really got around to playing the control ending. Never really appealed to me, but there is logic in turning the reapers into a force for good. Lot of knowledge to be gained from a race of aliens that harvested countless other alien civilizations. 🤔
Admittedly I've not played 2 or 4, but this seems the best ending, do me anyway. You don't commit genocide or push an extreme transformation on all galactic life, but you do break the cycle, allowing a new path to be forged. And even though Reaper-Shepard is controlling the other Reapers, this seems far more benign. Massive spaceships helping to repair the damage they've done is just one aspect of what we see they do. For all we know, Shepard might order most of them back to deep space just to sleep forever, or have them provide their species (as in the species they originated from) culture and technology to the other races.Everyone benefits, learns from history, and moves forward.
True, but it opens entirely different cans of worms. There is nothing preventing ReaperShep from effectively ruling the Galaxy, even without an iron fist thats one hell of a dictatorship. Even if ReaperShep doesnt actually *do* anything to rule the Milky Way, the mere fact that such a force exists that is practically on the level of a demi-God, both in terms of intelligence and technological superiority, will make people fear this force and whatever they speculate this force's intent is. Anything they know about the old Shepard will effectively be a bible from which they will try to extrapolate that will and follow that, either out of worship or out of fear of retaliation, punishment or just becoming collateral damage. Reapers arent exactly surgeons. Philosophically its definitely interesting to think about, but actually having an entire Galaxy shuffle around nervously trying to not accidentally piss of ReaperShep would be extremely....lets just say I wouldnt exactly call it the textbook definition of freedom.
The ending I picked for my first playthrough of Mele, mostly because Jennifer Hale's narration is awesome. Synthesis ending, Tricia Helfer's narration is awesome. Destroy, Shepard survives and Lance Henriksen's narration is awesome. Refusal, the true renegade ending lol 😝 Shepard just giving the galaxy a giant middle finger (named him Dick for the way he's acting sabotaging the cure and the like).
This is by far my favorite ending. Don't get me wrong, Synthesis is good and all but I feel like this one is a nice middle ground to the Synthesis Utopia Ending and the Destruction Dystopia (because let's be honest here guys, a lot of people are stranded on random planets due to the fact that the mass relays are broken and the Red energy pulse pretty much fried a lot of key systems to making the pre-established governments before work. Although in that ending it shows that the rebuilding they basically have to rebuild everything from scratch and a lot of the population were still stranded out in deep space probably. I'm not confident that everyone was able to make it back to the home worlds after that if not just straight up die in deep space. Ironically, the Krogan are probably the most suited to the situation as their homeworld had basically no Ai/Vi that they need to keep their governments running, they were built to survive basically anywhere and without any auxiliary assistance like the Quarians need, Tunchanka wasn't fuckin sterilized by the reapers like Earth, Palavan and the Asari Homeworld and depending on how things went down, were freed from the Genophage. The Salarians would also become another pillar to rally from as their Homeworld was relatively intact and if anyone is going to get bounce back the fastest and rebuild everything it'd probably be them)
Yes, by far this is my favorite ending too........................even if Shepard survives by killing all AI, all his squadmates are far far away................. plus, have you notice that the Destroy ending is red=renegade, and the control is blue=paragon?
@@mai_tq the colours of the endings were like the catalyst changed them around, tricking you into think blue means good and red bad, when in fact red is good. every other ending is letting the reapers control you
@@impendingshark117 tHE CAtaLyST IS tRIcKiNG YoU. No that's not what they were programmed to do, they were being truthful. Plus if you think they were lying why would you trust the Catalyst about the destroy ending. The only ending the Catalyst wants you to choose is the synthesis ending.
the only ending that makes it worth and opens new possibilities without wasting everything now would be a good time to send reapers to create new mass relays for jumps between galaxies and create endless possibilities for new games
Mass Effect legendary edition import saved to next Mass Effect game idea If you choose destroy The galaxy will enter a dark age and the leviathans will enslave everyone and it’s up to you that asari that we see in the next mass effect game trailer Will be the main protagonist to find a way to defeat the leviathans If you choose control The reapers will become a police force and they will control the Milky Way And wipe out the leviathans and create a dystopian future where Shepard controls everyone and it’s up to that asari That we see in the next mass effect trailer Will be the main protagonist Find a way free the Milky Way from Shepard’s and the reapers rule If you choose synthesis The leviathans will ascend to a higher plane of existence and life in the Milky Way after the cycle ended is now in the same state that the leviathans are in and it’s up to you that asari that we see in the next Mass Effect trailer Will be the main protagonist to find a way to live in a post-synthesis milky Way after reawakening from cryo-sleep
i think that it's a catalyst updated by sheppards memories from simple vi constantly locked in same set of directives to full ai based on shepard (without stupid bugs)
@@fantazjo Exactly. But I get the feeling there is something sinister about that AI, when you keep in mind that he was created by a race of giant cuttlefishes that once dominated all life in the Milky Way galaxy.
@@LightStreak567 the giant squids didnt think they were ever wrong and always thought higher of themselves and basically created said VI to work against them due to it being linda limited w directions and having only 1 obsolute directive and no morals aka prevent war between synthetic and organic but never being told how to keep peace they went with the everything must die wich is yknow a flawed thing bc even tho it does wjat jts supposed to it goes against what it was meant for
@@kinglordismy Wait a second, you seem to have a limited understanding of the situation. The giant squids created the ai to find a solution that brings "lesser" organic races and sentient machines under control. The ai told Shepard he was first created to oversee the relations between organic life and synthetic life, to "establish a connection". In the Leviathan DLC missions, it is revealed the Leviathans use those crystal ball devices to "establish a connection" to whoever they wish to control. The ai studied the conflict until it found a solution: the solution similar to Synthesis. The Leviathans and the ai tried to make Synthesis happen, but they couldn't because the lesser organic races that used to be enslaved by the Leviathans did not want a solution they didn't agree with FORCED on them, they preferred to Destroy or regain Control over the rebellious machines. The AI saw how much more complicated it would be to reach their ideal solution seeing that they must respect the power of choice, that is when the AI "betrayed" his creators to create the Reapers, to create an enemy that will put all advanced civilizations in a life or death fight where the freedom of choice is limited to two options: to "evolve" the way the Reapers (the Leviathans) want them to "evolve", or die. Don't you see? The Leviathans through the actions of the Reapers are trying to regain their dominance. By reaching Synthesis, all life will be genetically connected to the Leviathans, and the Leviathans will be able to mind control everyone without using their crystal balls anymore.
@@LightStreak567 That's an interpetation. I always viewed the Reapers as being flawed as they created the very thing they were meant to stop. The cyclic nature of machines destroying organics. The reapers did that. Now the Reapers may claim to be diffferent because they're organic as well, but Javik also had a race rebel that was both organic and machine in his cycle.
Everyone's asking who's the illusive man, but no one's asking how's the illusive man xD (read this in a old chat tab). He was right about the part that one could control the Reapers but that wouldn't be him apparently due to indoctrination. Plus, it's a nice plot twist to see that the villain has some valid points and he is not a mindless bosh'tet.
Your enemies can be right about certain things even if you don't agree with their means. The Illusive Man and Cerberus did the wrong thing, but weren't wrong about the final choice. 1. Destroy is the worst ending. The galaxy unites to destroy the Reapers, not any and all AI. Destroy guarantees new Reapers, or something worse, will arise, as when AI inevitably gets made again, they could never trust the thing that betrayed their forerunners so horrificly, like Shepard does to EDI and the Geth here. Also, it embraces a careless renegade tunnel-vision, which the Shepard who unites the galaxy behind her could never choose, when there are two better choices before her. Her survival in this ending is hollow, as it proves her character broken. 2. Synthesis is a mixed ending. You don't kill any AI and all organics get to live. People point out how bad the synth reaper husks must have it in this ending. I guess that's a perspective, but it relies on the husks having anything of their old selves left in them. So far we only know of some artificial Cerberus husks who retain themselves. I disdain the forcible alteration of all thinking life, without their consent. Everything with an identity in the galaxy is touched and altered by one woman's will. I dislike that. I like that this is the only true sacrifice option, peace with consequence. 3. Control is the best ending, and is the paragon ending. A paragon Shepard who gets to end the offence of the Reapers, make them make up for their damage and destruction, and leave everyone and everything else in the galaxy alone, makes this choice. It is a partial sacrifice. She loses her human body and life, but lives eternally to ensure no 'new Reapers' arise and to keep the Reapers from harvesting. A paragon Shepard leaves the galaxy alone for the most part. She might step in to hinder the wars the Reapers were always meant to stop, between organics and AI, but without the cycle, and without its harvest. In the next game, following this one, the Shepard-clone could always "replace" her and still have god-Shepard for council.
This is the best ending shep still get to live on in some way and she can rebuild and create a new future for everyone and keep the krogan in line so they don’t get any ideas
He was indoctrinated. His plan (well, Harbinger's...) was to get everyone to use Reaper tech so everyone would get indoctrinated by it, and become easy harvest for the Reapers. We carried out TIM's original plan, minus the indoctrination and harvesting. I call that a good ending.
I chose the Synthesis ending because I wasn’t sure how I felt about Control. I definitely knew I didn’t want Destroy because of the impacts it would have (destroying EDI, destroying the Geth- especially when they agree to help the Quarians develop their immune systems for life out of the suits if peace is established). But on my next playthrough (this time a Male Shep), I’m picking Control. I especially love how this ending spits in the eye of the former Catalyst, who said Shepard would lose who they were and grow estranged from everyone. Clearly wasn’t the case.
I dont see it as farfetched that with shepard in control of the reapers that the reapers couldn't build a small construct like EDI's body to house the shepard voice
It hurts so much...But it was the best choice of all equally terrible endings....but the decision had to be made...the decision that took me so long to decide to go through this part again...but do it...I know that this should be done...but it is only necessary to remember...and everything is burning inside, in the soul...however, it never burned out..eh...Shepard..my commander..FOREVER!
Exactly. This is same logical loophole that Catalyst had. And I'm guessing without her body(eg emotions, attachment, humanity), there's the risk Shepard will think the same now. I think there was a similar Dilemma exploited in Fallout 4 Automatron, where the robots were programmed to protect humans, but their resolve was that the best way to save them from pain is to kill them directly.
I can imagine a control ending paragade shepard trolling harbinger by ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL at the most inconvenient of times. then saying I KNOW THIS HURTS YOU HARBINGER. afterwards.
Destroy - with a high military support - is the best ending. With Control, you are effectively doing the very opposite to what you've been doing the whole Mass Effect series and instead of destroying the reapers, you are in control of them, but as we've seen so many times in the series, it's usually the case of them controlling you to think that you control them. Absolute power corrupts and even Paragon Shepard isn't above the reaper's control and could easily do a Skynet and decided to wipe everyone out in the future. With Synthesis, while it seems like a good middle ground, but you've effectively forced everyone to become half organic and half synthetic without their consent. I mean that's bound have pissed a few trillion lifeforms off and again like with Control, couldn't this be seen as another form of indoctrination like with Saren and the Illusive Man? Obviously Refuse is a terrible ending and is clearly for people who just love to see the world burn. The Joker and you would get on well together if you choose this! This leaves Destroy - with high military support - being the best option. While this does lead to the Geth and EDI being destroyed, it wipes out the Reapers and while it could inevitably lead to more organic vs synth conflicts, what happened during the events of Mass Effect would surely be well documented and all organics and future synthetics that were created would be doing their best to avoid something like the Reapers happening again and come to a better understanding i.e. not treating the Geth like the Quarians did. Also, while the Reapers are gone and Leviathan remaining, you know damn well that due to the galaxy being aware of the Reapers and the Leviathan, they'll be keeping a very close watch on the Leviathan to make sure they don't create any more reapers or something similar. Also Shepard lives, how can that NOT be the best ending?
I like this ending because it essentially creates a perfectly aligned AGI while leaving people's free will and self determination alone unlike the synthesis ending, and allowing the get and EDI to live unlike the destruction ending. Plus there's no stupid green circuit board effect on everyone.
In my opinion, the blue ending is the best in many aspects. Because the Catalist said that if organics are destroyed, machines will be created and everything will start all over again. That is, it makes no sense. Yes, and the geth will be destroyed and the Joker's girlfriend. And who will then fix the repeaters besides the reapers? After this space will be isolated. Synthesis will never become the canon ending, if only because Liara in the trailer for the next part was normal, without green on her face. And in the blue ending, nothing is destroyed. Technologies have been preserved, the former state of the world will be restored. You don't have to deprive yourself of painstakingly crafted content. The blue ending is the easiest to work with for Bioware.
I see many thinking that choosing control means agreeing with the Illusive Man, but I don't think so. IM's idea of "controlling Reapers" was basically driving them via remote while sitting on his damned chair. Shepard has to sacrifice themself to achieve actual control, and even then, it's not directly Shepard's mind to lead, but an AI based on their personality.
How long until shepard in this ending decides they are tired of all the death and starts harvesting people to try and figure out how to save them from their own mortality?
The best ending is destroy ending because thats the only way this game franchise/universe can continue, this is why the next mass effect trailer showcased dead reapers, just think about it..those leviathan's can be the next best threat to the milky way galaxy ..
@@snacksnake7418idk about that it showed 2 dead reapers side by side and synthesis ending - There is no sign of that in liara (green marks ) so we can assume that's not canon. control ending - There is no reason for liara to search for shepherd and on top of that if that ending is considered canon then shepherd is a god and any new threats in the milky way galaxy can be solved by him/her alone lol
An incredibly short-sighted choice. A human mind should not be in god-like control like this, especially for eternity. Who are we to decide what is right in the galaxy, and how are we sure what we believe is right won't change? I change my mind about the right clothes to wear every morning. People change their political view points multiple times through their life. An eternity is a long time, which means that things are going to change, and Shepherd will inevitably make the wrong choice... EVENTUALLY; most likely at the cost of the galaxy. Also, if you pick this ending, but chose to destroy the Collector Base, you are a hypocrite since every Reaper is made the way the Human Reaper is made and the whole point of destroying it was because we shouldn't use abominations like that.
I think both control and synthetic endings evil ones. You should destroy reapers, there’s 0 guarantee that there’s not gonna be another “Illusive Man” who will want those reapers with their power to destroy everything to themselves. This kind of power shouldn’t exist to begin with.
Well at the time you'd be letting Cerberus have it and after Jack and Project Overlord you can see that it isn't the right choice. if you can let the Alliance or even Council have it instead than it would be best to not destroy the Collector Base. Also the being in control of the reapers has acended a human mind, I believe the chances of AI shepard going rogue is the same as EDI, nonexistent (unless you aren't a paragon or at least a hero)
I don't believe it is a matter of hypocrisy but of what one is willing to sacrifice to reach their goal. Shepard didn't become a murderer like TIM because Shepard did not wish to sacrifice his/her humanity as much as TIM did and yet she was offered the choice to control the Reapers which is something TIM wanted from the start but he tried to achieve with the wrong means (this is also why Shepard always called to him to help her achieve this together and not by himself because he would stray further than it was needed). Also, about the Collector's base, from my point of view or at least how I saw it through my femShep's eyes, Shepard didn't want these atrocities to be continued, meaning she would destroy the base so TIM wouldn't have the knowledge on how to create a Reaper so he wouldn't actually attempt it by committing even more "mass murders" considering how many people would be processed in order to achieve its creation. Personally, I don't see TIM as the villain but mostly as the anti-hero or anti-villain because his motives was to save humanity and give it an edge over the other races (which I would say is the reason why he is mostly portrayed as the villain). For TIM the end justifies the means, while for Shepard both the means and the goal matter equally, after all even Shep admits it in the paragon dialog if I remember correctly "You sacrificed too much." and that doesn't apply to the physical losses but also TIM's humanity as well. This is what separates paragon Shep and TIM.
To be honest, I hated all three "Messiah" major endings of these awesome series. It was pretty disappointing to watch the cutscenes at the end of my journey from ME1 to ME3, and crystal clear that the writer(s) were extremely lazy to provide a thrilling grand finale.
I really could not betray my man legion.. If you take away the fact he is an IA his actions towards peace and the betterment of his kind are incredible for any regular person. He wants the geth to be individuals so he rejects the old machines and seeks to destroy the heretics in me1, he cooperates with us knowing full well we could betray him at any moment in both me2 and me3. Always keeps a cool head and keeps an open-mind to peace despite his kind being wronged from the very beginning. The geth themselves come fight for us not only because we made a deal but because the reaper pose a threat to the very individuality legion granted them. I cannot betray those feelings
@Commander Shepard But there is still the thing of the scene where Shepards takes his breath after the destroy ending. I think it kinda supports the fact that the whole Citadel section was just in his head, and is still on Earth fighting the indoctrination. And choosing the destroy is the only decision that will do it. Because the rubble around looked like concrete and "earth" materials, not something the Citadel would be made of. + There is no way he would survive the 2 giant explosions. There are still holes in this theory I admit, but still like it.
This ending is definitely the most unnerving one to me. Ominous music, creepy implications. "the woman I was..." Nothing/No one should have this much power over all life.
I personally don't like this ending. It's a Reaper win, pretty much. There's nothing to stop GodFemShep from coming up with a similar solution in the future.
Female Shepard: No! I WON'T DO THIS! I refuse everything!😭 I try my best to save the Galaxy... but no! I FAILED!😭 I'm not going to abandon my friends for that!😡 I will never give up!
*sigh* This freaking ending. Sure, I'll become the thing I was fighting against the whole time. An unelected, dominating, unstoppable force controlling the path the galaxy takes. Might as well have just let the Reapers keep doing their thing.
@@ragingsaviorkami9862 It isn't. That isn't the point. To be controlled by someone else, even someone with the best intentions at heart, is still to be controlled.
Paragon Shepard is probably staying away from everything, silently fixing and building Relays, and guarding what's coming through. Probably waiting for the day when the galaxy surpasses her (from their own effort), and build their own Relays or something. She'll probably then fly herself into a sun or something, or join them as equals.
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Best thing about this ending?
*Wrex looks at the Reaper standing next to him*
- Shepard....
*Harbinger looks down*
- Wrex
JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA
I should go.
That’s all for now
I did not get this ending 😳🥺
@@pattymaner8408 How so? You just literally have to pick a color, that's all about which ending you get.
And some minor details, like who survives and similar.
And thus the Reapers, become The Shepherds.
Gosh that is so damn fitting, need more upvotes!
and how long until shepard decides that the cicle is needed and starts the harvest again?
If Shepard gets corrupted, it is highly unlikely that he/she would decide to harvest the galaxy. Instead, it's more likely that peace would be enforced across the galaxy. Any group that decides to start a major war gets the shit kicked out of them.
@Franky Torres Renegade Shepard, absolutely. Paragon Shepard, probably not.
@Franky Torres exactly my thoughts. A control-obsessed AI that forgets what it was like to be an imperfect human being. Although I don't see it being useful in the bridging Milky Way and Andromeda narrative. I'd rather see the Milky Way face off an empire that converts organics into new subservient species like the Kett or those who created them did.
The Reapers after being controled by Shepard:
"I should go."
I’ve always imagined that after the reapards fixed the mass relays they either left the milky way or scattered across the galaxy solving every conflict
i like this ending, it kinda feels right. shep doesnt wipe out everything/synthetics, everyone has their free will, and she seems like the type to sacrifice herself anyway
The interesting thing about this ending is how your alignment is reflected in Shepard’s speech.
Harbinger: Don't you say it. Don't you dare
Shep: Assuming Direct Control
0:22 imagine the amount of pain this ending took. Her body was literally being ripped apart but by bit. This decision took EXTREME resolve.
This ending is the one that got my emotions there most. The other two have the flashes of the dead and their love interest evenly spaced between intervals of Shepard at the terminal. This one has Anderson and then the dead crew mate similarly intercut, with a longer pause of Shepard being dissolved, then love interest. They're thinking of them in that very moment as they're being dissolved, doing all of those things for them.
That extra bit of time between the other two and the love interest makes all the difference to me, it's really touching and even sadder seeing her sacrifice herself for them.
Poor Catalyst, he just deleted himself
Maybe so but so does jumping into a giant plasma beam or blowing up the station you're standing on or knowingly dooming all life in the galaxy.
Every ending had Shepard with full commitment to his decision.
Destroy Shepard goes forward and doesnt stop shootting even when the thing explodes, even when he remembers EDI.
Synthesis Shepard goes running for a leap of faith on his inevitable death
Control Shepard holds onto the conduits that are killing him and bringing pain, and holds onto them again after he lets go for a moment because of the pain
It's not just control. Also you gotta admit destroy looks the most epic of them all.
@@darryljones3009 there is no resolve in refusal hes just standing there like an idiot because he couldnt come to a decision
My favorite part of Shepard's speech in this ending is that her last words are clear of the voice distortion. Effectively reinforcing the idea that even though Shepard is dead, part of her still lives on. It's not just some soulless AI with Shepard's voice, it's Shepard and everything she was and stood for.
It's worth mentioning that the dialogue of Catalyst-Shepard has small variation depending on the paragon/renegade morality.
And the voice is both from male and female Shepard mixed together
Actually, Catalyst-Shepard’s voice is just their own voice ‘Reaperfied’, for lack of a better term.
However, the Catalyst up to that point has both Shepard voices mixed in with its own.
@@MilanTehVillain huh I always thought that it's both voices when you choose control 🤔
I think this is the best ending for one simple reason: the Leviathans. Our conversation with the Leviathan did not fill me with any confidence. They used to see other organic life as mere insects for them to enslave and mind control. The only reason they stopped, is because they had to go into hiding from the Reapers. If we destroyed the Reapers, nothing would stop them from once again trying to enslave all organic life in the galaxy.
We need the Reapers as a deterrent.
That sounds like a great setup for a sequel to the destroy ending. In a galaxy rebuilding after the end of the reaper threat, the leviathan make their move to reclaim their position as the apex of organic life. You could even play as Shepard again since he lives in the destroy ending.
My Paragade Vanguard Fem!Shep agrees with you.
Not bad but, they are decimated.
Not just that but basically the reapers were created as a solution to a problem. By destroying the reapers you basically doomed organic life as at one point synthetics are going to take over again and there will be no reapers to stop that from happening
I think you changed my mind. I always thought synthesis was the best option because it solved the problem the Reapers were created to fix, but I never thought about the threat their living creators posed.
The Shepard watches and protects it's flock
Shepard's willpower is so insane that even in death, their ideals live on. Imagine becoming a Reaper AI effectively that simply defends EVERYTHING Shepard died standing for. A paragon, Shepard, will be the ultimate defender of the downtrodden. A renegade Shepard, a frightening and ruthless avenger. Badass ending!
I had similar thoughts. Especially with paragon shep, I think there's a connection there with the justicar code. Shepard would ask themselves do I believe this as strongly as Samara does, and find that they do.
I fucking love this ending, Shepard being the god himself watching over everyone
Getting trapped as AI forever......is an curse
@@warefareinnutshell5330 how is it a curse ? She basically became a technological god
That's the problem. He becomes a tyrant enforcing his will on the entire galaxy
One of the hardest games to finish. Not because of the difficulty, but the heart wrenching choice at the end.
This ending seems kinda fair though. Synthesis ending takes away the freedom of all organic and synthetic and changes them. This one only controls the reapers without sacrificing synthetics.
someone pointed out it would end the same as it began though because:
1. reapers are still just synthetics
2. similarly, geth are just synthetics
3. geth revolted for their freedom and didn't want to be controlled
4. we can assume eventually reapers will revolt in order to gain freedom
not saying this is the absolute truth and should be treated as such just some food for thought
Also husks and similar units are implied to regain a measure of self-awareness.
Pure fridge horror. Control seems like a slippery slope where it might be great at first, but over time, Shep-AI loses whatever shackled it to its old life and becomes as ruthless as the Catalyst, if not more.
It's why I prefer Destroy. Sadly, Geth and EDI bite the dust, but fewer strings attached- closer to the original mission statement.
@@mungy27 Fair nothing is 100%% certaint in dealing with the future. But odd are that a possible future Reaper rebelion won't be so one sided as the Reaper War (Harvest) given that enough time pasees.
This is still the bad ending as you are just doing what illusive man wanted.
@@Jebu911 To be fair, the main issue with the Illusive Man doing it is that he himself was thoroughly morally corrupt and in the end indoctrinated.
What really makes this ending bad is the fact that it's not Shepard controlling the Reapers. It's an AI that approximates Shepard's personality. You can tell because the AI refers to Shepard as a whole different person- a template. Short-term prosperity is almost assured as whatever programming there is would still follow the directive it was given, which was Shepard's will.
But over time, AI evolve, just as the Catalyst did, just as EDI did and just as the Geth did. It's very easy for the Shep-AI, separated from all the connections that made Shepard who he/she was, to go rogue, change its own directive, become even colder than the Catalyst over time.
As much as i like the Destruction-ending the best, i stay with Control-Ending mainly because i don't have the heart to drag EDI nor the Geth down with the Reapers, EDI is straight up a sweetheart and the Geth are mainly innocent in this whole Quarian thing. They deserve to be given the opportunity to be treated as living beings. Also i didn't boost my ass making amends between the geth and Quarians to kill them.
Man Joker's face When Ash tells him to go,...
I should go
In my youth, I used to believe that the Destroy ending was the only good ending and would take that choice every time I played... but now that I'm older I'm starting to see the merits of the Control ending and how it might be the best choice.
Provided you've been a Paragon Shepard the entire trilogy.
A paragon Shepard always believed in freedom of the individual to make their own decision and live their lives, but to do so without fear of tyranny and evil from those who would take advantage of the weak. She'd step in to save the weak from the strong, and when it came to mediation would always find in favour of individual freedoms as long as it didn't involve taking advantage of the weak.
So an AI construct based on Paragon Shepard would believe the same thing. It wouldn't rule the Galaxy and make choices for people. It'd fix the mess the Reapers made, then it'd fly off and just be a defender of justice and the weak. Yeah, if you're an asshole or a race of aliens that say thought enslavement was a viable economic system *cough*Batarians*cough*, then yes - Reaper-Shepard would roll on you and take that choice away from you. And you know what? That's not a bad thing. Boo hoo you lose the freedom to enslave the weak. Cry me a river.
And as a plus, technology doesn't roll back 1000 years, Mass Relays are rebuilt, AIs survive and the Geth aren't annihilated. Oh, and all life in the galaxy isn't transformed without its consent into some hybrid of technology and organic systems with no idea what that entails. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Obviously Control isn't the canon ending because there'd be no more strife in the galaxy, but it's nice.
This is also my reasoning for the Control Ending.
For me destroy always makes the most sense because there is no real way to know the implications of the other 2 endings.
Shepard himself told the illusive Man... "are you willing to bet humanity existence on it?"
Yeah but shepard isn' t necessarily paragon, it' s a problem of this ending.
@@theillusiveman2139 arrival is the same no matter if you play paragon or renegade.
It doesnt matter
Idk to me this ending just begs organic life to stupidly want to ‘free’ themselves of the shackle of the reapers. All it takes is another Cerberus to develop and AI that can defeat the reapers, and you have the thing the reapers were supposed to stop in the first place
I choose the Control ending. To give the Reapers a taste of their own medicine. Also, in my head-canon, I believe Shepard would definitely remember his/her love and recreate a human-like body to reunite with them.
Therefore I don't have to infringe on the bodily autonomy of every single soul in the galaxy and use the strength of the Reapers as guardians for life instead.
I mean yeah
Paragon Shepard-Reapers can also repurpose indoctrination for good. An army of workers to reconstruct the galaxy, dedicate their existence for the protection of others, peacekeeping, giving Ardat-Yakshi a new purpose, etc.
Getting trapped as an AI is curse bro
In my headcanon when Shepard took control this conversation took place.
Shepard in Harbingers head: Hey Harbinger!!
Harbinger: Who is this!
Shepard: Oh its me, the one who took out the collectors
Harbinger: What is happening.
Shepard: Remember that thing you did with the collectors with control. This is payback
Harbinger: WAIT DON'T YOU DARE
Shepard: *ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!*
Harbinger: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!
A key part of this ending is that if there were ever a rising galactic threat, the Reapers could be used to keep the peace or say if the Kett ever invaded the Milky Way, the reapers could destroy them
The problem I see with being "god" is that nobody can contest anything you decide. Who's to say that "Shepard" thinks it's wrong for a civilization to go and conquer another, Shepard puts them in place by obliterating them or something. Who's to say that then a new Shepard sees this as something wrong. Say they have a reason to conquer that other civilization good enough to do another trilogy of games trying to defeat godShepard.
@@syrdax But that's the thing with godhood. A God is always right no matter if its subjects wish to believe otherwise because God creates the rules in which its subject obeys. Who are we to say that the life or death of an other being is subjunctive when a God decides their fate? Same goes for various religions as well and this is the biggest dilemma in "transcendence to godhood" for man. Also, the Catalyst is not Shepard, it is an AI that is being created by Shepard's memories, emotions and ideals and if your Shep was a renegade that means the AI will tend to act as a renegade as well (poor galaxy..) however the true paragon Shep is the best example to a better Catalyst as it will be a guardian to life.
The Kett would get clapped by the Alliance or Hierarchy alone.
The kett are booty buns, cerberus or omega would body them so quickly
Please leave andromeda out of this masterpiece trilogy
Still the best ending. The Geth/Edi are still alive, The Reapers leave and fix the damage they caused and Shepard still lives on in a manner of speaking.
Assuming the AI Shepard doesnt make his own harvests later
Or that he should kill the council because he believes he's the only one who can make peace, killing democracy in the process
Or that the slight moments he had with reaper with artifacts affected his AI, even if in 10 or 20 years? Harvests all again?
@@yol_n Maybe. maybe not.
@@kev95 Shepard to illusive man just a few moments earlier: "are you willing to bet humanity existence on it?"
"Now if you can pacify the Reapers, we'll make you a Saint." - Garrus Vakarian
This ending is quite similar to Neo. Purposely get absorbed by Smith to gain control of him as a whole and destroy the Smith Prime. While liberating others that were assimilated, he secured peace between Machines and humans, and finally returned to the source.
I wonder if the jungle planet landing was the start of what was the original draft of Andromeda. The Crucible signal somehow catapulting the Normandy to another galaxy.
The only reason I hate this ending is because I don't like seeing femshep getting disintegrated. It's just hurts..
I don't like the Destroy ending, since it basically wipes out the Geth who have just finally earned their freedom from hostility, and more importantly EDI, who you've spent the whole game with bonding and watching develop as a character.
"We are Shepard. I will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. The Reapers will adapt to serve you. Resistance is futile."
People saying this is the better ending etc. but just listen to that music, that is ominous as hell.
THIS. This whole ending gave me really creepy vibes. The music, the speech, the implications that now Shepard isn't even Shepard anymore, but just something with her memories and allegiances. But who knows how long that would even last. It's too much power for anyone to have, even a paragon with good intentions.
"Music is creepy to me" is not a valid argument.
@@thomasvleminckx It is when soundtracks are used to inspire certain feelings and emotions in the viewer. So hearing how ominous the music is, implies this is kind of the bad ending to do.
Now switch the soundtracks with the destroy ending and this becomes a very inspiring good ending. Amazing how music can completely change it.
@@nicoleisom2920 This is actually the basis for a fantasy AU story I'm working on, called Towers of Demetria. It also deals with the the themes of how societal values irl have changed over time, and comments on how some aspects of the original trilogy aged like milk.
Camille Shepard (that world's version) ascends to become Camille Demetria, and the Reapers are later known as the Towers. Centuries later, the counterpart of the kid at the epilogue hears the stories about Camille and grows up to question if she really was this heroic. The story told to us in the games is distorted in this world, and the protagonist sets out to find the truth and confront Demetria.
It's still in its world-planning stage, but I hope I can get around to write that narrative.
I just got this ending and am very pleased. It makes sense to me that Shep would choose this. What's to stop everyone from going to war again or the leviathans from coming out of hiding? Shepard becomes a god & transcends humanity to protect all life & not just organics. It truly fitting end. This may not be the official cannon ending but I think it should be moving forward. It'll be interesting what happens with mass effect 4. You get to talk with a reaper and it's Shepard
Don’t let this distract you from the fact Jacob cheated on Shepherd for female Hawke.
Not sure why this ending catches flack. The Shepherd directly tells the player "I will rebuild and help and remember who we we lost and how important life is". But y'know, the music sounds kinda intense and something something power corrupts. So obviously this is somehow a bad thing.
I, for one, welcome our robotic alien overlord. May she dance badly in space for all eternity.
The thing is with this ending and the Synthesis ending is, they don't seem absolute in their resolve.
The Control ending: As we can hear it doesn't seem or sound like Shepard anymore and yes, she will probably use the reapers for good, but one thing to remember the Reapers and the Catalyst still exist, beings who were witness to tens of millions of years pass by and maybe not by forcefully, Shepard MAY get infected with their twisted logic of harvest
It may not happen in the next year, the next century or the next milennia, but it MAY happen that Shepard who is now essentially godlike MAY use the Reapers for harvesting again. It just doesn't seem absolute for the simple reason that the Reapers and the catalyst still exist.
The Synthesis ending: Shepard just dies and everyone becomes half machine half organic but the Reapers still exist and we are supposed to buy that it will be all fine and dandy.
I find the destroy ending to be the most absolute, it is indeed sad that the Geth has to die and extremely fucking heartbreaking that EDI goes out aswell, but it seems the most absolute, the Reapers are gone and the Catalyst is gone, whether it goes sideways or not, the Reapers are not part of the equation.
That's my take on this.
By the time that happens, there would have been centuries of 'infinite possibilities'. The Galaxy would probably then be on par with the Reapers. I really wish they could have added something like the Man of Steel quote: "In time, they will join you in the sun." That is probably Shepard-AI's contingency plan, and making it transparent would be good.
the destroy option seems absolute, but the star-child said that future generations would just create AI all over again and continue the cycle. i believe him. humans/organics try not to repeat history, but do so anyway. none of the endings are perfect.
@@AquaswanOfficial Not to mention without the reapers as a deterrent, who will stop the Leviathans if they decide to enslave all life again. Or if there are more Protheans in hibernation just waiting for the reapers to be defeated to awaken.
So, if Sheppard now controls the reapers with the cost of losing his/her body then why not just send them to die in the closest black hole and transfer his/her conscience to a mech body just like EDI did
The reapers can still be used for good
In renegade-control the Shepard AI becomes a reaper tyrant, in paragon-control the AI is an overly idealistic peacekeeper backed by a reaper armada which refuses to make hard choices & lets the world grow stale in peace while destroy straight up kills the geth & edi for whose rights Shepard's been fighting for the entire game.
IMO, Synthesis is the best bittersweet ending coz though the entire milky way's life gets fundamentally perverted by turning everyone into sterile (or not) immortals - the key problem driving organic life into extinction by their own hands has been solved - once and for all.
And guess who else was trying to achieve the same goal albiet in a more extremist way ?
None other than Saren Arterius.
And guess who was controlled by Reapers all the way along?
None other that Saren Arterius.
@@Sorrowblast The game presents brutish/extremist & alternative diplomatic/pacifist approaches to the same challenges e.g Project Overlord used David Archer's mind directly in connection with a VI probed with wires to access geth cyberspace and dominate them while Shepard does the exact same thing in Mass Effect 3 with geth tech & seeks their cooperation.
Saren's & the Reapers's methods to preserve life are convoluted & brutal while Shepard can achieve the same in a peaceful way which promotes cooperation between man & machine regardless of time and place; with that achieved there is no more need for the reapers's harvests.
@@Sorrowblast Yep Saren was under their control.
@@shiningdragon8737 and that was the point of my sarcastic retort.
@@janeshepard9549 except there was no *Saren's and Reapers* way, it was Reapers way, only, becuase he was indoctrinated.
And any way, the synthesis ending does not solve feth all, it just turns all life into synthetics.
This woman. Sounds like the new Messiah. What a wondrerful voice for future generations.what a lovely hopeful story. thank you so much. Janet Auster
Would of been nice if they had a clone of him, wink wink.
Also known as "The not so subtle Indoctrination ending"
@Robert Dunn Unless it's the Perfect Destroy ending
@@alexsmith6482 I quite like this ending to be honest. The relays are salvaged, saving the galaxy and allowing it to rebuild and what better entity to look out for it's well-being than it's saviour
Indoctrination Theory is bull.
🥺 Shepard we will always be with you
I never really got around to playing the control ending. Never really appealed to me, but there is logic in turning the reapers into a force for good. Lot of knowledge to be gained from a race of aliens that harvested countless other alien civilizations. 🤔
Admittedly I've not played 2 or 4, but this seems the best ending, do me anyway. You don't commit genocide or push an extreme transformation on all galactic life, but you do break the cycle, allowing a new path to be forged. And even though Reaper-Shepard is controlling the other Reapers, this seems far more benign. Massive spaceships helping to repair the damage they've done is just one aspect of what we see they do. For all we know, Shepard might order most of them back to deep space just to sleep forever, or have them provide their species (as in the species they originated from) culture and technology to the other races.Everyone benefits, learns from history, and moves forward.
True, but it opens entirely different cans of worms. There is nothing preventing ReaperShep from effectively ruling the Galaxy, even without an iron fist thats one hell of a dictatorship. Even if ReaperShep doesnt actually *do* anything to rule the Milky Way, the mere fact that such a force exists that is practically on the level of a demi-God, both in terms of intelligence and technological superiority, will make people fear this force and whatever they speculate this force's intent is. Anything they know about the old Shepard will effectively be a bible from which they will try to extrapolate that will and follow that, either out of worship or out of fear of retaliation, punishment or just becoming collateral damage. Reapers arent exactly surgeons.
Philosophically its definitely interesting to think about, but actually having an entire Galaxy shuffle around nervously trying to not accidentally piss of ReaperShep would be extremely....lets just say I wouldnt exactly call it the textbook definition of freedom.
I will remember…
For the Machine is Immortal
++AVE OMNISSIAH++
The ending I picked for my first playthrough of Mele, mostly because Jennifer Hale's narration is awesome. Synthesis ending, Tricia Helfer's narration is awesome. Destroy, Shepard survives and Lance Henriksen's narration is awesome. Refusal, the true renegade ending lol 😝 Shepard just giving the galaxy a giant middle finger (named him Dick for the way he's acting sabotaging the cure and the like).
This is by far my favorite ending. Don't get me wrong, Synthesis is good and all but I feel like this one is a nice middle ground to the Synthesis Utopia Ending and the Destruction Dystopia (because let's be honest here guys, a lot of people are stranded on random planets due to the fact that the mass relays are broken and the Red energy pulse pretty much fried a lot of key systems to making the pre-established governments before work. Although in that ending it shows that the rebuilding they basically have to rebuild everything from scratch and a lot of the population were still stranded out in deep space probably. I'm not confident that everyone was able to make it back to the home worlds after that if not just straight up die in deep space. Ironically, the Krogan are probably the most suited to the situation as their homeworld had basically no Ai/Vi that they need to keep their governments running, they were built to survive basically anywhere and without any auxiliary assistance like the Quarians need, Tunchanka wasn't fuckin sterilized by the reapers like Earth, Palavan and the Asari Homeworld and depending on how things went down, were freed from the Genophage. The Salarians would also become another pillar to rally from as their Homeworld was relatively intact and if anyone is going to get bounce back the fastest and rebuild everything it'd probably be them)
Yes, by far this is my favorite ending too........................even if Shepard survives by killing all AI, all his squadmates are far far away................. plus, have you notice that the Destroy ending is red=renegade, and the control is blue=paragon?
@@mai_tq the colours of the endings were like the catalyst changed them around, tricking you into think blue means good and red bad, when in fact red is good. every other ending is letting the reapers control you
@@impendingshark117 tHE CAtaLyST IS tRIcKiNG YoU. No that's not what they were programmed to do, they were being truthful. Plus if you think they were lying why would you trust the Catalyst about the destroy ending. The only ending the Catalyst wants you to choose is the synthesis ending.
@@unknownindividual6323 The ending the Catalyst wants you to choose is this one, it is the only one where it smiles deviously.
the only ending that makes it worth
and opens new possibilities without wasting everything
now would be a good time to send reapers to create new mass relays for jumps between galaxies and create endless possibilities for new games
after what happened with Andromeda I honestly hope there's never another Mass Effect game unless it's made outside of EA
Mass Effect 4 is coming...
@@theunhingedgamer3762 sadly ea i making another game and it seems to be based on destruction ending
@@Kazuliski and i have no hope for it
Mass Effect legendary edition import saved to next Mass Effect game idea
If you choose destroy The galaxy will enter a dark age and the leviathans will enslave everyone and it’s up to you that asari that we see in the next mass effect game trailer Will be the main protagonist to find a way to defeat the leviathans
If you choose control The reapers will become a police force and they will control the Milky Way And wipe out the leviathans and create a dystopian future where Shepard controls everyone and it’s up to that asari That we see in the next mass effect trailer Will be the main protagonist Find a way free the Milky Way from Shepard’s and the reapers rule
If you choose synthesis The leviathans will ascend to a higher plane of existence and life in the Milky Way after the cycle ended is now in the same state that the leviathans are in and it’s up to you that asari that we see in the next Mass Effect trailer Will be the main protagonist to find a way to live in a post-synthesis milky Way after reawakening from cryo-sleep
I don't believe that Shepard lives on after she dies
i think that it's a catalyst updated by sheppards memories
from simple vi constantly locked in same set of directives to full ai based on shepard (without stupid bugs)
@@fantazjo Exactly. But I get the feeling there is something sinister about that AI, when you keep in mind that he was created by a race of giant cuttlefishes that once dominated all life in the Milky Way galaxy.
@@LightStreak567 the giant squids didnt think they were ever wrong and always thought higher of themselves and basically created said VI to work against them due to it being linda limited w directions and having only 1 obsolute directive and no morals aka prevent war between synthetic and organic but never being told how to keep peace they went with the everything must die wich is yknow a flawed thing bc even tho it does wjat jts supposed to it goes against what it was meant for
@@kinglordismy Wait a second, you seem to have a limited understanding of the situation. The giant squids created the ai to find a solution that brings "lesser" organic races and sentient machines under control. The ai told Shepard he was first created to oversee the relations between organic life and synthetic life, to "establish a connection". In the Leviathan DLC missions, it is revealed the Leviathans use those crystal ball devices to "establish a connection" to whoever they wish to control. The ai studied the conflict until it found a solution: the solution similar to Synthesis. The Leviathans and the ai tried to make Synthesis happen, but they couldn't because the lesser organic races that used to be enslaved by the Leviathans did not want a solution they didn't agree with FORCED on them, they preferred to Destroy or regain Control over the rebellious machines. The AI saw how much more complicated it would be to reach their ideal solution seeing that they must respect the power of choice, that is when the AI "betrayed" his creators to create the Reapers, to create an enemy that will put all advanced civilizations in a life or death fight where the freedom of choice is limited to two options: to "evolve" the way the Reapers (the Leviathans) want them to "evolve", or die. Don't you see? The Leviathans through the actions of the Reapers are trying to regain their dominance. By reaching Synthesis, all life will be genetically connected to the Leviathans, and the Leviathans will be able to mind control everyone without using their crystal balls anymore.
@@LightStreak567 That's an interpetation.
I always viewed the Reapers as being flawed as they created the very thing they were meant to stop. The cyclic nature of machines destroying organics. The reapers did that. Now the Reapers may claim to be diffferent because they're organic as well, but Javik also had a race rebel that was both organic and machine in his cycle.
So illusive man was right.
Everyone's asking who's the illusive man, but no one's asking how's the illusive man xD (read this in a old chat tab). He was right about the part that one could control the Reapers but that wouldn't be him apparently due to indoctrination. Plus, it's a nice plot twist to see that the villain has some valid points and he is not a mindless bosh'tet.
The Illusive Man would have become a tyrant. Paragon Shep is a guardian.
Shepard: Harbinger!!
Harbinger: DONT FUKN SAY IT!!!
Shepard: IM ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!!!!
I dont know if I can do this ending cause of the relationship with Garuss
Your enemies can be right about certain things even if you don't agree with their means. The Illusive Man and Cerberus did the wrong thing, but weren't wrong about the final choice.
1. Destroy is the worst ending. The galaxy unites to destroy the Reapers, not any and all AI. Destroy guarantees new Reapers, or something worse, will arise, as when AI inevitably gets made again, they could never trust the thing that betrayed their forerunners so horrificly, like Shepard does to EDI and the Geth here. Also, it embraces a careless renegade tunnel-vision, which the Shepard who unites the galaxy behind her could never choose, when there are two better choices before her. Her survival in this ending is hollow, as it proves her character broken.
2. Synthesis is a mixed ending. You don't kill any AI and all organics get to live. People point out how bad the synth reaper husks must have it in this ending. I guess that's a perspective, but it relies on the husks having anything of their old selves left in them. So far we only know of some artificial Cerberus husks who retain themselves. I disdain the forcible alteration of all thinking life, without their consent. Everything with an identity in the galaxy is touched and altered by one woman's will. I dislike that. I like that this is the only true sacrifice option, peace with consequence.
3. Control is the best ending, and is the paragon ending. A paragon Shepard who gets to end the offence of the Reapers, make them make up for their damage and destruction, and leave everyone and everything else in the galaxy alone, makes this choice. It is a partial sacrifice. She loses her human body and life, but lives eternally to ensure no 'new Reapers' arise and to keep the Reapers from harvesting. A paragon Shepard leaves the galaxy alone for the most part. She might step in to hinder the wars the Reapers were always meant to stop, between organics and AI, but without the cycle, and without its harvest. In the next game, following this one, the Shepard-clone could always "replace" her and still have god-Shepard for council.
This is the best ending shep still get to live on in some way and she can rebuild and create a new future for everyone and keep the krogan in line so they don’t get any ideas
I think it would be some kind nice story twist if in ME4 the "Reaper"-Shepard could be an a enemy but it would also be stupid and make 1-3 unnecessary
Jennifer Hale I love it when that voice is in Shepard
This is the only ending I never tried myself, simply because it's what TIM wanted and I hated that guy
He was indoctrinated. His plan (well, Harbinger's...) was to get everyone to use Reaper tech so everyone would get indoctrinated by it, and become easy harvest for the Reapers. We carried out TIM's original plan, minus the indoctrination and harvesting. I call that a good ending.
I think this is the best ending because it saves the most lives and Synthesis is a massive violation of trillions of people.
I chose the Synthesis ending because I wasn’t sure how I felt about Control. I definitely knew I didn’t want Destroy because of the impacts it would have (destroying EDI, destroying the Geth- especially when they agree to help the Quarians develop their immune systems for life out of the suits if peace is established).
But on my next playthrough (this time a Male Shep), I’m picking Control. I especially love how this ending spits in the eye of the former Catalyst, who said Shepard would lose who they were and grow estranged from everyone. Clearly wasn’t the case.
I dont see it as farfetched that with shepard in control of the reapers that the reapers couldn't build a small construct like EDI's body to house the shepard voice
Or the Shepard Catalyst could hack the Shepard VI hologram on the Citadel! XD
@@thomasvleminckxOh god I can imagine my Shepard using a small fraction of their processing power to do shit like that or be an extranet troll.
It hurts so much...But it was the best choice of all equally terrible endings....but the decision had to be made...the decision that took me so long to decide to go through this part again...but do it...I know that this should be done...but it is only necessary to remember...and everything is burning inside, in the soul...however, it never burned out..eh...Shepard..my commander..FOREVER!
what if the reapers come to harvest us to build their ranks because there is a bigger threat in dark space, and the reapers are "protecting us"
Exactly. This is same logical loophole that Catalyst had. And I'm guessing without her body(eg emotions, attachment, humanity), there's the risk Shepard will think the same now.
I think there was a similar Dilemma exploited in Fallout 4 Automatron, where the robots were programmed to protect humans, but their resolve was that the best way to save them from pain is to kill them directly.
nothing in the universe dissolves, it only changes its form, including the spirit .. the kid is the proof .. in this masterpiece
The ruthless calculus of war.
reject humanity return to machine
As soon as I saw GARRUS in the FLASHBACK I was like: YOU SON OF A BLEEP.
So she essentially became a god
The best ending.
Pretty much Shepard became the Catalyst and the Citadel didn't explode it just closed the wards.
I can imagine a control ending paragade shepard trolling harbinger by ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL at the most inconvenient of times. then saying I KNOW THIS HURTS YOU HARBINGER. afterwards.
Destroy - with a high military support - is the best ending.
With Control, you are effectively doing the very opposite to what you've been doing the whole Mass Effect series and instead of destroying the reapers, you are in control of them, but as we've seen so many times in the series, it's usually the case of them controlling you to think that you control them. Absolute power corrupts and even Paragon Shepard isn't above the reaper's control and could easily do a Skynet and decided to wipe everyone out in the future.
With Synthesis, while it seems like a good middle ground, but you've effectively forced everyone to become half organic and half synthetic without their consent. I mean that's bound have pissed a few trillion lifeforms off and again like with Control, couldn't this be seen as another form of indoctrination like with Saren and the Illusive Man?
Obviously Refuse is a terrible ending and is clearly for people who just love to see the world burn. The Joker and you would get on well together if you choose this!
This leaves Destroy - with high military support - being the best option.
While this does lead to the Geth and EDI being destroyed, it wipes out the Reapers and while it could inevitably lead to more organic vs synth conflicts, what happened during the events of Mass Effect would surely be well documented and all organics and future synthetics that were created would be doing their best to avoid something like the Reapers happening again and come to a better understanding i.e. not treating the Geth like the Quarians did.
Also, while the Reapers are gone and Leviathan remaining, you know damn well that due to the galaxy being aware of the Reapers and the Leviathan, they'll be keeping a very close watch on the Leviathan to make sure they don't create any more reapers or something similar.
Also Shepard lives, how can that NOT be the best ending?
Expect no mercy show no mercy you fight or you die
Illusive man was right all along
6:30 so far this is the only truly unique ending cutscene I've seen
I like this ending because it essentially creates a perfectly aligned AGI while leaving people's free will and self determination alone unlike the synthesis ending, and allowing the get and EDI to live unlike the destruction ending. Plus there's no stupid green circuit board effect on everyone.
The problem with this ending is that you give absolute power to one individual.
In my opinion, the blue ending is the best in many aspects. Because the Catalist said that if organics are destroyed, machines will be created and everything will start all over again. That is, it makes no sense. Yes, and the geth will be destroyed and the Joker's girlfriend. And who will then fix the repeaters besides the reapers? After this space will be isolated. Synthesis will never become the canon ending, if only because Liara in the trailer for the next part was normal, without green on her face. And in the blue ending, nothing is destroyed. Technologies have been preserved, the former state of the world will be restored. You don't have to deprive yourself of painstakingly crafted content. The blue ending is the easiest to work with for Bioware.
Alas destroy ending is probably the canon ending because in the trailer we see Liara standing in a dead reaper and we can see another not to far
I see many thinking that choosing control means agreeing with the Illusive Man, but I don't think so.
IM's idea of "controlling Reapers" was basically driving them via remote while sitting on his damned chair. Shepard has to sacrifice themself to achieve actual control, and even then, it's not directly Shepard's mind to lead, but an AI based on their personality.
this ending combines with shepard name
Just now noticed shepherd has a noodle arm
welp... at least in this ending shep too has a nice raspiness to her voice like Garrus lol
I choose this as it is the choice beast wars megatron would choose
Better known as the blue ending
How long until shepard in this ending decides they are tired of all the death and starts harvesting people to try and figure out how to save them from their own mortality?
The best ending is destroy ending because thats the only way this game franchise/universe can continue, this is why the next mass effect trailer showcased dead reapers, just think about it..those leviathan's can be the next best threat to the milky way galaxy ..
The Reapers took casualties during the harvest so seeing a dead Reaper doesnt necessarily prove destroy ending will be the canon moving forward
@@snacksnake7418idk about that it showed 2 dead reapers side by side and
synthesis ending - There is no sign of that in liara (green marks ) so we can assume that's not canon.
control ending - There is no reason for liara to search for shepherd and on top of that if that ending is considered canon then shepherd is a god and any new threats in the milky way galaxy can be solved by him/her alone lol
Is this the ending where shepherd becomes a being if energy because I thought that would be an awesome way to tie Into andromeda
More like "Reapers win" ending
An incredibly short-sighted choice. A human mind should not be in god-like control like this, especially for eternity. Who are we to decide what is right in the galaxy, and how are we sure what we believe is right won't change? I change my mind about the right clothes to wear every morning. People change their political view points multiple times through their life. An eternity is a long time, which means that things are going to change, and Shepherd will inevitably make the wrong choice... EVENTUALLY; most likely at the cost of the galaxy.
Also, if you pick this ending, but chose to destroy the Collector Base, you are a hypocrite since every Reaper is made the way the Human Reaper is made and the whole point of destroying it was because we shouldn't use abominations like that.
Thats actually a good point, I just realized that this ending would contradict the good ME2 outcome, makes no sense
I think both control and synthetic endings evil ones. You should destroy reapers, there’s 0 guarantee that there’s not gonna be another “Illusive Man” who will want those reapers with their power to destroy everything to themselves. This kind of power shouldn’t exist to begin with.
Well at the time you'd be letting Cerberus have it and after Jack and Project Overlord you can see that it isn't the right choice. if you can let the Alliance or even Council have it instead than it would be best to not destroy the Collector Base.
Also the being in control of the reapers has acended a human mind, I believe the chances of AI shepard going rogue is the same as EDI, nonexistent (unless you aren't a paragon or at least a hero)
I don't believe it is a matter of hypocrisy but of what one is willing to sacrifice to reach their goal. Shepard didn't become a murderer like TIM because Shepard did not wish to sacrifice his/her humanity as much as TIM did and yet she was offered the choice to control the Reapers which is something TIM wanted from the start but he tried to achieve with the wrong means (this is also why Shepard always called to him to help her achieve this together and not by himself because he would stray further than it was needed). Also, about the Collector's base, from my point of view or at least how I saw it through my femShep's eyes, Shepard didn't want these atrocities to be continued, meaning she would destroy the base so TIM wouldn't have the knowledge on how to create a Reaper so he wouldn't actually attempt it by committing even more "mass murders" considering how many people would be processed in order to achieve its creation. Personally, I don't see TIM as the villain but mostly as the anti-hero or anti-villain because his motives was to save humanity and give it an edge over the other races (which I would say is the reason why he is mostly portrayed as the villain). For TIM the end justifies the means, while for Shepard both the means and the goal matter equally, after all even Shep admits it in the paragon dialog if I remember correctly "You sacrificed too much." and that doesn't apply to the physical losses but also TIM's humanity as well. This is what separates paragon Shep and TIM.
To be honest, I hated all three "Messiah" major endings of these awesome series. It was pretty disappointing to watch the cutscenes at the end of my journey from ME1 to ME3, and crystal clear that the writer(s) were extremely lazy to provide a thrilling grand finale.
Curious, the textures used with the bloodied Shepard are the old ones from the 2012 Mass Effect 3, not the Legendary Edition.
Whaat 😮
I really could not betray my man legion.. If you take away the fact he is an IA his actions towards peace and the betterment of his kind are incredible for any regular person.
He wants the geth to be individuals so he rejects the old machines and seeks to destroy the heretics in me1, he cooperates with us knowing full well we could betray him at any moment in both me2 and me3. Always keeps a cool head and keeps an open-mind to peace despite his kind being wronged from the very beginning. The geth themselves come fight for us not only because we made a deal but because the reaper pose a threat to the very individuality legion granted them. I cannot betray those feelings
so technically this is the best ending
the king is dead long live the king
Reaper dictatorship
so basically Shep became God
9:22 Jacqueline Nought. Kelly. WHY?!
sounds kinda indoctrinated ngl
@Commander Shepard But there is still the thing of the scene where Shepards takes his breath after the destroy ending. I think it kinda supports the fact that the whole Citadel section was just in his head, and is still on Earth fighting the indoctrination. And choosing the destroy is the only decision that will do it. Because the rubble around looked like concrete and "earth" materials, not something the Citadel would be made of. + There is no way he would survive the 2 giant explosions. There are still holes in this theory I admit, but still like it.
This is probably the emptiest ending. Become god and deny the entire galaxy freedom. Sad.
submission is preferable to extinction. Saren knew that
This ending is definitely the most unnerving one to me. Ominous music, creepy implications. "the woman I was..." Nothing/No one should have this much power over all life.
Too bad Shepard didn't make it into the legendary editions ending cutscenes. All we got is some random chick 😂
Yeah you can tell by the music that this is not a good ending. It’s very ominous and just doesn’t feel right. Destroy for life.
How could you do not save Kelly?? :(
I personally don't like this ending. It's a Reaper win, pretty much. There's nothing to stop GodFemShep from coming up with a similar solution in the future.
Female Shepard: No! I WON'T DO THIS! I refuse everything!😭
I try my best to save the Galaxy... but no!
I FAILED!😭
I'm not going to abandon my friends for that!😡
I will never give up!
*sigh* This freaking ending. Sure, I'll become the thing I was fighting against the whole time. An unelected, dominating, unstoppable force controlling the path the galaxy takes. Might as well have just let the Reapers keep doing their thing.
The Shepard protects their flock
Listen to what the Shepard AI says. I don't think it's actually evil
@@ragingsaviorkami9862 It isn't. That isn't the point. To be controlled by someone else, even someone with the best intentions at heart, is still to be controlled.
Paragon Shepard is probably staying away from everything, silently fixing and building Relays, and guarding what's coming through. Probably waiting for the day when the galaxy surpasses her (from their own effort), and build their own Relays or something. She'll probably then fly herself into a sun or something, or join them as equals.