The Mass Effect 3 ending. There has been a lot of talk about this ending lately. As Bono might say, maybe too much talk. Any way, having finished the game and having LOVED the ENDING, I'm gonna talk about it.
You too, can join me if you like. Or else scream into the void. People are mad as hell. There's petitions to change the ending. In it, Sheppard dies. WTF? There's a baby in space that talks. A 2001 Space Odysessy ending if you will. WTF?
The ending is so crazy it's a" fuck chick's a dude" type Blue Velvet ending. And it was awesome.
The blindside ending is that the 'Catalyst' turns out to be some kind of 'Baby Reaper' in control of the Reapers and this took a lot of people by surprise. A lot of now angry people.
The ending I got was just ballsy, science fiction writing. It's my view that Casey Hudson and the Bioware team took a determined decision to not go the easy route of the 'hero saves the day and everyone is safe ending' and I applaud them for it.
Why does the video game have to have a traditional 'heroic' ending. Why can't we be totally played. We were in the original Bioshock - would you kindly? So why do we care that all actions to get get us to meet the crucible were largely just a round about way of demonstrating we were NEO from the Matrix and were able to plug into the machine? This guy gets it. This guy does run a reasonably sane argument why it sucked...
It's not like this ending hasn't been hinted at. Even as far as the first game when Commander Sheppard encounters a Reaper dude of some kind ( shortly after you choose to let Wrex live or die) it tells him this is all about something he cannot comprehend. Given some fans cannot comprehend the ending, I reason the ending was telegraphed to us in the first game ! I jest. A little.
While I'm not really sure that the Reaper's goal of "preventing organic life from wiping itself out by creating synthetic life' is a real hook on which to base the extermination of a whole bunch of races and worlds, it certainly gives an answer to why Mass Effect is Mass Effect. It's kind of like a Halo argument how the Forerunners meddled in the affairs of other races because they are in charge of the Mantle, except I think that piece of fiction makes a little more sense.
While I wasn't sure why the Normandy was flying away from Earth (whatever was happening to the Reapers was not going to affect organic life) I loved they crashed landed on some strange random planet. The suggestion Joker et al might become the Adam and Eve's of that planet was a sweet little touch.
There is a post-credits sequence where a man and a child are seen on an alien planet looking to the sky. They talk about how the galaxy is full of stars and planets with other being on them. The child wants to hear another story about Sheppard. It's a cute little ending that probably is a little too cute but I like how it's a gentle echo to remind us that the universe continues to chug along as a result of Sheppard's actions.
I'll trying to figure out why the Prothean's built the Crucible knowing (?) the Catalyst was the er... Citidel and seeing as they'd have known they didn't actually build it themselves why did they not wonder about that issue...)
I mentioned in my review a quibble about the big deal that was made about the choice to save the Rachni Queen throughout the series and ME3's writer Mac Walters said "[The presence of the Rachni] has huge consequences in Mass Effect 3. Even just in the final battle with the Reapers." Well I didn't see one damn Rachni that was on my side in the final battle charge. I feel cheated in that regard and I imagine that sentiment will be shared be several players.
Overall I applaud Bioware's choice to deliver a bewildering David Lynch style ending to the Mass Effect trilogy. I think we can all agree it was better than the Lost finale.....
Update: Bioware has caved into the pressure, ME3 will have an expanded ending.
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