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harbinger-archives · 1 year ago

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Mass Effect 2 replay, Firewalker and Legion conversations:

Zeona – Rosalie Lost

-The skybox is gorgeous.

-This is just a tutorial mission for the Hammerhead. Given you can do Project Overlord before it, Bioware should have ensured you played Firewalker first. Or included an optional tutorial in Overlord.

Normandy

-Legion occasionally does what looks like a robot dance when you visit him. It’s cute.

-Legion says the geth became aware the quarians treated them differently and asked them about it.

The quarians first ignored them, then reprogrammed them, then attacked them. They were frightened by the potential of the geth.

-The geth accept the quarians’ hatred. They hurt the quarians badly in the Morning War and hold Rannoch.

-Legion also says the quarians would still hate the geth even if they gave back Rannoch.

He’s probably right. If the geth turned Rannoch over, the quarians’ would probably see it as a sign of weakness and pursue them. The faction that hate the geth want them dead.

-For a species that claims not to understand organic behavior, the geth are demonstrating a high level of understanding of the quarians’ emotions and motivations. They’ve put a lot of thought into this.

-Legion’s definition of home is interesting. It’s a place you’re familiar with and where you people you care about are. He doesn’t understand how that can be a planet for organics.

But “Legion” is a platform. It’s a body the programs’ are familiar with and they presumably care about each other. Is the Legion platform their home? Or would they still consider a geth server home?

I suspect that might help Legion process what organics mean by home.

-Legion says the geth are only caretakers of Rannoch, but at the same time they’re not willing to give it up. Not now, not in ME3 if you make peace.

Yes, part of that is that giving Rannoch back would not fix relations with the quarians. Another part is that they want the quarians to see them as equals and the quarians’ willingness to share the planet is a good test.

I suspect another part is that the geth are more attached to the planet than they realize. It’s their home. It’s where their Creators – the original ones – died in the Morning War. It’s why they’re cleaning it up even though they don’t expect the Creators to come back. To remember them.

The geth have a blind spot when it comes to any actions they take that are not entirely logical.

-If you ask Legion if the geth even tried to coexist with the quarians, he points out that Cerberus kept Edi shackled.

I disagree on that one. Part of galaxy’s wariness of AI is because of the war between the geth and the quarians. If not for that history, the galaxy may be less suspicious of them.

Edi’s also the Luna AI that murdered many Alliance marines, so Cerberus is rightfully wary of her. To be fair, however, Legion may not know that.

-What it comes down to is:

A) the geth want the quarians to see them as equals and

B) they can’t make peace by themselves. The quarians need to want it as well. Since the quarians don’t seem interested in peace, the geth don’t see a means to move forward.

For the latter, I think part of the problem is inexperience. Geth know how to observe but not how to interact. Part of the problem of being a gestalt of millions of programs that never actually socializes with other individuals; the geth are socially awkward.

They don’t know how to offer an olive branch. They don’t know how to form alliances with other species that could act as intermediaries. They don’t know how to run a public relations campaign to improve their image.

And they really need to stop murdering every diplomat the Citadel Council sends behind the Veil.

Codex – Geth Culture

-The entry says that the geth assaulted quarian positions. So even if the geth started the war on the defensive, they went on the offensive at some point.

-It notes that geth are effectively immortal since they can back themselves up. Ergo, individual platforms aren’t afraid to “die”.

Verr

-Corang – Survey Sites Located

-The yellow water is a nice change. This planet is not Earth.

-The most infuriating part of the Hammerhead is that you can’t save in it. This mission doesn’t even autosave after each artifact. So if you die, have fun redoing the entire mission.

-A ME2 mission that actually has multiple paths and isn’t just a corridor!

Shame Bioware saved the creativity for the DLC.

-There’s not much to this mission. As long as you stay out of aggro range, you can shoot the geth without them ever shooting back.

Normandy

-Legion notes that Shepard doesn’t fear them. Most organics do.

He says that organics fearing synthetics is because of their hardware. Is he implying that because Shepard has cybernetics that they’re no longer fully organic?

That would have been an interesting thread for Bioware to pursue, and it’s a shame neither ME2 nor ME3 did so.

-Geth are of the opinion that they’re a philosophical question, but that they don’t have any of their own.

They were created for labor, after they die their memories are archived, this makes them effectively immortal, their “gods” disowned them, and therefore they must create their own reasons to exist.

I’d argue that they do have philosophical questions. They’re just different from organic questions.

Do they have the right to exist? What role should take in galactic society? Should they defend new AI as they develop? What are the ethics behind reprogramming?* How will they handle future potential schims given how the last one went?

*They destroyed the virus that could reprogram the heretics during Legion’s loyalty mission, but what has been created can be recreated.

-Also, they refer to quarians as their gods. Obviously this is meant as a comparison to organics believing (or rejecting) that they were created by a god, but the point is that the geth were willing to go there. They did not sidestep the metaphor.

-All geth intend to upload themselves to the equivalent of a Dyson sphere. They’ve been building it for 264 years.

This is so that all programs can be together. They will become a super intelligent entity that can envision a future the geth are presumably incapable of imagining now with their more limited capabilities.

-Between this and Edi’s comparison of the geth mind to a galactic arm, the implications are that the geth’s gestalt intelligence was intended to play a role in ME3. They were not just going to be potential troops; they’d have a role in directing the war effort.

-Also, Legion says that once the Dyson sphere is complete no geth will be alone.

Geth avoid being alone when at all possible. Not sure if it’s hate or fear, but it’s a major Do Not Want.

No wonder they reacted so strongly when the quarians destroyed many geth in their initial attack in ME3. That struck what can best be described as a primal chord in the geth and they responded accordingly.

-Legion: We are a shattered mind. Most platforms are unable to gain consciousness on their own.

Legion, why don’t the geth build more platforms like you that can hold numerous programs?

But that aside, another reason why the geth are so invested in the Dyson sphere. They want all the programs to be together.

I think they’re so driven by this because geth are reduced to animal intelligence as individual programs. Organics fear mental deterioration for the loss of self and the potential of abuse it creates – Jacob’s entire loyalty mission is based around it!

That’s what happens when geth are separated. Of course they avoid it when possible. Of course they lash out when threatened with it. (They know the quarians would take advantage of it.)

-If you compare the structure to a Reaper, Legion does not deny the comparison. He sidesteps it and says that the geth do not bear malice towards organics.

-Legion: The Reapers are more your future than ours.

Unfortunately, Legion, the Reapers are coming for everyone. Synthetics included. You’re also on the harvesting list.

-Sovereign offered the geth a reaper body to upload to. The geth rejected it because part of their growth is building their own infrastructure.

I’d love to hear more about that. Would they have become a true Reaper or would the Reapers have killed them once they served their purpose? Are there other Reapers that were born from previous cycles’ synthetics?

Yakawa

-Maskawa – The volus university Ten-Clan Academy hosts symposia on the surface. Professors and students frequently are kidnapped for easy money. This has increased the university’s prestige – if you attend a symposia, you must be committed!

Never call volus cowards. They’re courageous as hell.

-Karumoto – Volcano Station

-Once again, a mission with multiple paths. I’d forgotten how much I’d enjoyed being able to poke around.

-Can you fail the escape if you’re too slow?

-This is a new one from the Hammerhead: Please keep limbs inside vehicle at all times during operation.

Chomos

-Lattesh – Geth Incursion

The geth were researching the atmosphere change. Is this related to the mission N7: Anomalous Weather Detected where the geth were testing a terraforming device?

Once again: The geth live on space stations. What is their interest in weather and terraforming? What were the plans for this thread (that ME3 obviously dropped)?

-This mission is entirely optional. You can skip it.

-This mission is a test of how well you can handle the Hammerhead. And how well you know the route to the nodes. Until you’ve mastered both, it’s extremely obnoxious.

Hoplos

-Kopis – Prothean Site

-How are there what looks like beetles on this moon? There’s barely an atmosphere and no evidence of water.

-I am puzzled by what happened.

A) Dr. O’Loy made a deal with the Collectors to hand over the Prothean artifact in return for them not targeting the colony his wife is on.

Logical if overly trusting for Dr. O’Loy, but why do the Collectors care? What do they want a Prothean artifact for? They have Reaper technology!

I suppose it could be just to prevent this cycle from getting their hands on it. Fine.

B) So Dr. O’Loy sent transmissions to a geth ship.

Why geth if he made a deal with the Collectors? Did the Collectors cut a deal with the geth to give the geth a Prothean artifact in return for… something and put the two in contact with each other?

Or was it a geth ship that the Collectors had obtained? But we encountered geth in a past mission, so Dr. O’Loy presumably did contact the geth.

Why do the geth want a Prothean artifact? I don’t recall them ever expressing interest before. Presumably these are the heretics – do they think it will help the Reapers somehow? Or are is the motive again just to keep other species from getting it?

C) Dr Cayce found out Dr. O’Loy was contacting the geth and killed him. Fine.

D) Dr. Cayce: It’s too late for me. They’re still in my head stealing my thoughts. I can’t keep them out. I’ve got no choice but to destroy this relic and myself.

Where the hell did that come from? He sounds indoctrinated, but when did that happen? Or does he still think the geth are stealing his thoughts somehow?

I suppose we can assume he killed the Blue Suns. Despite him being a researcher and them being mercenaries – let’s go with the advantage of surprise.

He clearly failed to destroy the artifact. It doesn’t even look like he tried. I guess we have to assume the suicide part worked.

-The relic shrinks when Shepard touches it. Presumably Dr. Cyace and Dr. O’Loy touched it and it did not so. Did it perhaps respond to the Prothean vision burned into Shepard’s brain?

-And Shepard keeps it. At least he doesn’t turn it over to Cerberus, but I bet numerous universities would kill for it.

Hell, given that this DLC is intended to be played at the start of ME2 and money is tight then Shepard should start a bidding war between them.

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