Wow, Casselman, you're the only person I know thanking Bioware right about now.

It's not like I don't have my things I would change. But I tend to like a story for what it is, not what I want it to be. There would be no point for a story, then.

The only thing I would have changed at all is the ability to critique the final fates of you and your party. I wanted to end up with my romance to give that closure. That's it.

90% of the people complaining, are just angry fanboys who don't understand anything about story arc or development. Much like the MK community.

It doesn't require knowledge of story arc or development to know that you weren't satisfied with the conclusion of a story. It also isn't required of a good ending to follow the proper accepted form for a story arc... I'm a casual Mass Effect fan at best, I haven't invested the kind of time into these games as most people, but even I felt it the second that . The ending was cold and emotionless, it left no feeling, not even anger. I've read tons of the response to this ending on the internet, the general feeling isn't that of angry fan boys, but more or less baffled fans.

Well at first I was a little let down, but they grew on me a bit.

Now, most complaints I see about the ending are either stupid or not well thought out. Or people complaining they didn't get answers to questions that were obviously for you to interpret.

Here it seems a bit different.

Anyway, to start, this is what I thought happened (in all three endings)

Destroy:
You destroy all synthetic life. The relays explode, but only the shell, after the actual power is shot out. Otherwise the whole entire universe would be... Gone. (The Arrival, anyone?) Most ships that weren't already grounded on a planet (including the Normandy) got sucked up and spat out on random planets, possibly close to the Sol system, but not within it, as no planet here has two moons.

The Normandy is most likely not the only ship crashed here, as I'm sure it wasn't the only ship flying away from the red power ball in the same direction.

Shepard awakens on Earth, probably horribly injured, but alive. Keep in mind most friends from ME2 would also be on earth (If they weren't killed in the final battle or they didn't run away (like the Normandy crew) So Shepad is not alone anyway.

The Catalyst suggests that in the future, more synthetics would be built. This is left up to you to decide what you want to think. Me? We'll be fine.

Merge:
A new DNA is created. As this cycle will not be ending, it is most likely the last major evolution of species.We are all half organic and half synthetic, but not literally all like Shepard just with implants. Think outside the box.

The relays explode, but only the shell, after the actual power is shot out. Otherwise the whole entire universe would be... Gone. (The Arrival, anyone?) Most ships that weren't already grounded on a planet (including the Normandy) got sucked up and spat out on random planets, possibly close to the Sol system, but not within it, as no planet here has two moons.

The Normandy is most likely not the only ship crashed here, as I'm sure it wasn't the only ship flying away from the red power ball in the same direction. Shepard is dead.

Control:
This one is hard. You can control them, but yet... You die. So how do you control them? Maybe your being is spread throughout organic life? Like Legion?

The relays explode, but only the shell, after the actual power is shot out. Otherwise the whole entire universe would be... Gone. (The Arrival, anyone?) Most ships that weren't already grounded on a planet (including the Normandy) got sucked up and spat out on random planets, possibly close to the Sol system, but not within it, as no planet here has two moons.

The Normandy is most likely not the only ship crashed here, as I'm sure it wasn't the only ship flying away from the red power ball in the same direction. Shepard is dead.


Alright, as for what the Catalyst is... A lot of people want something logical, or thing that it is simply a machine. Keep in mind while this is a Sci Fi story, it's still a a story nonetheless, you don't need to explain EVERYTHING. Draw your own conclusion, people. Me? He is the... Higher being. The unknown force. God if you will, but toned down to a more Science Fiction friendly type god. A watcher, maybe not a creator.

As for the secret ending? Simple. An old man and what seems to be his Grandson sitting on a planet, talking about Shepard and what he did. It's been a while, the story has become a legend. Him calling you "The Shepard" meant nothing to me. It's a story, it's been a while. You were given a nickname of sorts. Simple. No dreams, no imaginations. It all REALLY happened.

As a storyteller myself (and yes, with over 15 "story telling" credits on my resume, I do not want to catch shit for saying that) I can certainly respect the ending.

It was a good ending to a trilogy. It provided closure. It all came together. Only small questions were asked, and they were left up to you to interpret. A good story almost never answers all the questions, especially one of this nature. That's generally why Expanded universe shit happens.

I was okay with them.

Also, as for "Expanding the legend through DLC" goes, I don't think they mean "New ending DLC" Crazy fucking fans think that will happen. It won't.

What I think they meant? Well, first off, all of the DLC will take place during ME3, but before you attack Earth (like where it spawns you after you beat the game)

I think the DLC will be something like this...

Remember how Aria kept talking about taking Omega back from Cerberus, but never did? What did they truly want with it? Seriously, why mention it if it will never happen? If we have to go to war soon anyway?

Because DLC is coming soon.

Eh, it was a decent ending to a great trilogy. Would have been nice to have a great ending, but it's more than just unanswered questions. Sometimes it's the questions they did answer that make the ending baffling...

It also kind of sounds like somebody trying to make it "deep" and not being entirely successful. I'd also like to point out that while you might argue that from a technical story telling point of view the ending was satisfactory, this is a line of thinking that rarely leads to anything greater than mediocrity as evidenced in story telling as a whole across all mediums. I think there is a point where form becomes a guide to be strayed from and the really great works tend to do this... That's just me though.

Well honestly, and I'm not stating this as a fact, for I am not BioWare, but here's what I think about that:

I wouldn't expect them to write something like "You cannot comprehend" without actually knowing the answer themselves. I'm sure the framework of the Catalyst was thought up from the start, much like other big choices throughout the series. Sure, maybe it wasn't fully worked out, but you just don't write that if you don't know the answer yourself.

Why? Well because if Shepard (Who is human) cannot comprehend, then the writers can't, as they are also human, so if they made it something easy to comprehend, it would make Shepard look dumb.

They met in the middle. I can understand how explaining the Catalyst could be hard, not impossible, but a little hard to take it all in.

That's my opinion. Yours is just as valid as mine.

Also, you might very well be the first person who has approached anything I have said on the matter in a mature and understanding way, so thank you.

Agreed. Let me re-phrase.

In my opinion, the general arc of Mass Effect (not every story in the world, but most that share a similar trilogy structure) was met with a satisfactory ending based on the possible directions one could go without getting utterly stupid.

I was thinking about it the entire time I played the series... How are they going to answer this question? That was one of the big things I was looking forward to and I think ultimately they did kind of give themselves a problem with no solution and didn't do too bad fixing it. I like the idea of the evolutionary cycle.

And thank you, haha, because I'm tired of getting yelled at on these forums! Fair enough, heh. When you take into consideration the challenge it had to have been to find an ending in a story like Mass Effect's, the ending seems better... But there is an initial shock you have to get over when you beat the game the first time. I think most people (myself included) expected several hugely different outcomes to the story (considering the nature of the game), but that is on the unrealistic side... Possible, but maybe not practical.

Oh believe me I was shocked. It's had some time to set in.

Also, my brother hates stories that have endings like "You still don't know, because you can never comprehend" so this has been troubling him about ME3.

He has yet to beat it though, so I am looking forward to finding out what he things.

And yes, I do believe it is generally stupid to write lines like that anyway, because it goes bad both ways:

1. You actually don't explain, because you stick it through and roll with "No one can understand it"

2. You do plan on writing an ending, but being human, you write something that can obviously be comprehended, so you end up making one of your characters look like a fool. In this case, I'll go with the Reapers and the Catalyst, not Shepard, as they were the ones that said he wouldn't be able to comprehend in the first place.

Hello friends. I just noticed this thread. I personally chose the synthesis ending. While it may not have had the closure people were asking for, it did hold a deep symbolism. The begging of the final cycle, one of harmony and eventual prosperity. Peace.

But...

There is an interesting theory that has been hitting the tide of ME3 news. That being-everything after Harbingers attack on your blitz of the Citadel beam was a dream caused by indoctrination.

Whut?

It has been called the indoctrination theory.

This guy explains it in detail.

It actually makes sense, for several reasons. Anyone wandering into a thread titled "ending, spoilers" had better fucking understand what they just read, so I'll just go ahead and give out the key points as to why.

*The ending where Shepard lives shows him gasping for air...on the ground...off the Citadel.

*The suspicious behaviors of Captain Anderson after the beam up

*The stargazing grandfathers hints of "one more story" (possible DLC for a...true ending?)

*Encounters after that point being heavily influenced by Shepard past experiences (Setting similarities, Catalysts chosen form, Mass Relay explosions causing no major galactic damage [Remember how the Batarian system got nuked in ME2 DLC?])


I could point out more... points..., but just watch the video I posted. I'm not implying this is what I believe, but it is a sound theory. As far as the endings we have now go, I am okay with them...given Bioware gives some answers later down the line. What we were left with really was beautiful, it was just lacking.

You should have listened to Marauder Shields and not walk into the light.

This website said Talias face was just photoshopped. Here's the actual girl they took it from.

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/hammasa-royalty-free-image/123488108

This would be the only game in which I could deal with that. Because MORE MASS EFFECT! Second play through is a go, but I really want that Prothean ally!

Repress it, deny it, and wait for the DLC endings to come out. I've never played Mass Effect, but I've heard so much outcry in the past weeks. Well apparently when the entire fan base lets out a simultanious wine large enough to shake the earth and change the stars the people who let them down step up and fix it. Mass Effect fans should be very happy with the creators for stepping up and listening to the fans. I don't think I could see any other company changing the ending of a game just to keep their fans happy.

Did no one here see the clues that suggests the Indoctrination Theory as the actual ending?

Javik is a beast and was a perma-squadmate in my playthrough. The Protheans aren't at all what the galactic races expected them to be like. Especially Liara.

Also, I agree with dibula that there is strong evidence pointing to Shepard's indoctrination. Even I noticed how the child in the beginning seemed auspiciously out of place as well as the subtle reaper scream when Anderson pulls Shepard away from the boy on Earth.

Finished this yesterday, amazing game. Didn't hate the ending, just found the explanations of the 3 choices really vague; ended up going with control. The final scene with Anderson overlooking Earth was my favorite in the whole game.