#synthesis as a paragon only choice perhaps?

[nellasbookplanet]

I just finished my playthrough of me2, and as I put off the overlord and arrival dlcs until the end of it my thoughts on them are very fresh and Must be aired.

The frustrating thing is, they didn’t have to suck. The gameplay, like the shadowbroker dlc, is fun and stands out from the rest of the game! The story and themes of 'how far will you go in sacrificing individual lives in the name of winning a war/stopping extinction' fits well with the overall narrative and emphasis on hard choices! I mostly enjoy them! Only, overlord is completely undone by gross ableism, and arrival doesn’t actually let you engage with the choice it sets up; it fully forces your hand, and then makes the whole thing feel pointless by just having the reapers show up for a surprise attack in the next game anyway. It’s a trolley problem that doesn’t actually let you control the lever and then derails the entire train to hit both tracks no matter what you do.

So, how do you fix arrival? Personally, I would probably keep in the loss of the batarian colony as inevitable, but change the focus. As it is, barely a moment is spared to let it sink in that you're about to end 300 000 lives, and the only 'choice' you get is whether you attempt to (futilely) warn them in a blink and you'll miss it scene. I would've at a minimum added dialogue options where Shepard/the player could’ve expressed anger at how this work could’ve gone on for as long as it did without a warning being sent long before. For a bigger change, that could’ve led into a major conflict: a paragon Shepard trying to warn the colony, while her opponents argue that doing so would jeopordize the project/the hidden base and tries to stop her as part of the final fight of the dlc. If you choose to warn and do it in time, perhaps some small amount of people make it out, with the majority of the colony still being destroyed to keep the tone of sacrifice. If you want to keep it real dark, everyone dies no matter how hard you try to save them, but you should at least have been given the option to seriously try even if it’s hopeless.

But there isn’t really a workaround for how part of the problem with arrival is a problem with the batarians: had the colony been human, turian, or asari, most players would likely have been more upset because those are our allies. The batarians, however, are a one-note species never portrayed as anything other than slavers, criminals, and terrorists. While other species are allowed horrific acts while still being portrayed as complex people capable of both good and bad (need I remind you of the first contact war, the krogan rebellion, the genophage, the quarian's attempted genocide of the geth, the geth's war against biological life, and so on), the player is given little to no reason to sympathize with batarians. Had they been made to feel like actual people while still our enemies from the start of the game, arrival would've felt more like the gut punch of sacrifice it was and less like it was off-handedly writing off a people everyone hates, anyway. There could’ve been a discussion of 'are you more willing to sacrifice those you don’t know/don’t like and what does it say about you; is this a sacrifice or is it selfish revenge with the greater good as cover (a discussion especially brought up if you take the renegade choice)' but instead it feels almost vindictive.

[tyrras]

LONG MASS EFFECT POST

Long, nerdy Mass Effect post that will probably bore everyone to tears, but I've got to get this out of my head and you're my victims. Since Bioware has announced that the series will be remastered and another sequel is in the works, I played it through again for the 4th or 5th time. I always play as a Paragon, and I always choose Synthesis. Paragon is just because I can’t enjoy being an asshole (the option to be Renegade). The rest of this post is dedicated to explaining my repeated choice of Synthesis. Warning: If you haven't played ME but think you might when the series is remastered, there are SPOILERS here. Also, Mass Effect is a Sci-Fi Space epic RPG (video game) trilogy.

The premise is this: Millenia ago (billions and billions), an almost immortal and godlike species existed (the Leviathan) that made thralls of lesser civilizations. The 'indoctrination' was subtle enough that the lesser species didn't even know they were thralls, but rather thought they were worshipping Leviathan. Since the Leviathan are essentially immortal, they noticed a particular cycle. Each civilization would eventually create artificial intelligence that they used to serve their own needs. This intelligence would become more and more sentient and eventually rebel against their creators (which always wanted to keep the AI as a tool or slave race), wiping out that civilization. Leviathan can enthrall organic creatures, but not synthetic life, and so it lost its tribute over and over. This annoyed Leviathan, so it, too, created an artificial intelligence, not missing the irony per se, but arrogantly thinking it was above the problem the lesser species encountered when doing so. Leviathan posed the Artificial Intelligence with one problem to solve: find a solution to the inevitable genocidal conflict between synthetic and organic life.

The AI (called ‘Stargazer’ and ‘The Catalyst’ in ME canon) attempted many solutions through several cycles, but ultimately it came to one very grim one. It created a race of spacefaring beings that were synthetic replicas of Leviathan in all ways. Immortal, supremely intelligent, and capable of indoctrinating organic life forms through a kind of telepathic neurological quantum entanglement (fine, ‘mind control.’ I didn’t write the story, ok?). This entire purpose of this race of synthetic creatures (The Reapers) was to destroy all advanced organic life BEFORE they could get wiped out by their own synthetic creations. All lesser organic life would be left to develop along a specific trajectory. Then, when that lesser life developed enough to create it’s own synthetic life, the Reapers would come out of hibernation in dark space, swoop into the galaxy and destroy all advanced life again, leaving no traces of themselves or the previous civilizations. Lesser life was preserved, and the cycle would begin anew. It is important to note that the Reapers ‘harvest’ the civilizations they slaughtered. The knowledge and history of each cycle was preserved within the bodies of the Reapers themselves. Thus, the Reapers grew to be MORE than Leviathan. The Reapers became the living synthetic embodiment of all civilizations in the galaxy, while simultaneously being the end of it.

This cycle lasted approximately 50,000 years.

Essentially, Leviathan made the problem worse, was almost completely wiped out by its own creation. The few survivors ran away and hid, and allowed the Reapers to return again and again.

All this background is important because I want to make one point: The Catalyst, that AI created by Leviathan, is merely a creation of a flawed organic species (even if said species didn’t know it was flawed). While it can evolve and grow, it still reflects its creator’s limitations. It is not an infallible entity and misses the irony of the Reapers, a synthetic race, destroying all organic life as a means of preventing inevitable organic genocide. They genuinely think that they are preserving organic life by allowing lesser species to evolve. They do not see themselves as destroyers, but some type of strange preservationists.

So. All that for this: Your character, Commander Shepard, is a human soldier who discovers the Reapers are beginning their next cycle. All advanced civilizations in the galaxy are now on the verge of extinction. It’s your job to find a way to defeat them.

At the end of the trilogy, Commander Shepard, has gone further towards defeating the Reapers than any organic life before. Ultimately, he meets The Catalyst and gets 3 choices (there’s a whole controversy around this, but I’m skipping that): Destroy, Control, or Synthesis.

In the Destroy ending, you kill all the Reapers, but the side effect is that ALL synthetic life in the galaxy also dies. This includes a race that has just evolved to full sentience, and a valued crew member whom you have helped to discover her ‘humanity’ (think of a female version of Data, and then think of having to kill him in order to kill the Reapers). This solution does not end the cycle of synthetic life against organic life; it simply destroys the Reapers and all current synthetic life. I can never choose this ending because I cannot bring myself to commit genocide, even though this means sacrificing myself and leaving my love to mourn my death alone in the galaxy (a whole other tragic but beautiful drama in this series). With the death of the Reapers comes the final death of all civilizations that they harvested.

In the Control ending, you must sacrifice yourself to become a kind of godlike part of the Reaper higher consciousness and, in effect, control them. You lose your humanity. This solution does not end the cycle of synthetic life against organic life; it simply controls the Reapers. Presumably, you could force the Reapers to aid organic life and warn them. You could indoctrinate all organic life. This option is one of absolute and godlike power to one individual. I can never choose this option because I cannot believe that kind of control to one individual is morally acceptable. I, personally, cannot accept that kind of power.

In the Synthesis ending, you sacrifice yourself to create a genetic fusion between all organic and synthetic life. All life across the galaxy undergoes a dramatic change, and all life going forward will be this fusion. You die, but your cells were used to make this change, and so you become a part of everything. This is perhaps the least popular ending, but it is the one I ALWAYS choose, despite the emotional devastation of leaving Kaidan (my romantic interest in the series). It ends the conflict between organic and synthetic life, and all the knowledge of previous civilizations that were destroyed is now alive again (at least in the sense of a kind of universal database).

An aside: there is an option NOT to choose. It ends with the Reapers harvesting all current organic life, and the cycle continuing.

The critiques of the Synthesis ending are interesting.  The only one I find particularly compelling is the one about consent, as you literally decide to change the DNA/programming for every living creature, synthetic and organic without consulting them. You can’t—it’s a decision that must be made right there. ALL decisions you make involve this— and the only one you can choose based on ‘consent’ is to destroy the Reapers because everyone has showed up for the purpose of killing them. However, I doubt the synthetic civilization, which is fighting for survival just like everyone else, would agree to collectively be wiped out.

The potential loss of the ‘Individual and Free Will’ is major concern about the synthesis ending.  Players critical of the Synthesis ending interpret the lack of conflict and understanding to mean that you’ve essentially created the Borg— a hive mind across all species. There is no evidence to support this.  In the extended cut where it shows creatures in all races still wearing individual clothing and otherwise displaying individual behavior, their species are still developing within the individual characteristics of their kind.  Even the Reapers (who harvested and absorbed countless organic civilizations) were, in their own words, ‘each a nation unto itself.’ Such a proclamation suggests borders and distinction. This self description comes before the Synthesis, but many players often treat the Reapers as a kind of collective, which is inaccurate. The game treats the Synthesis ending as a type of evolution where conflict between organic and synthetic life ends, and since the Reapers’ knowledge has now been absorbed, lessons of the past and cultural achievements help foster a deeper understanding that leads to a kind of extended peace and cultural renaissance on a galactic scale.  It does NOT say that ALL conflict ends, only the cycle of conflict between organic and synthetic life.

Players also state that the Synthesis ending suggests the ‘pinnacle of evolution of organic and synthetic life’ and that there is nothing more to attain, no room for growth. The Catalyst states that Synthesis is the end result of all life.  I don’t accept this interpretation. The Catalyst is right— in a Hegellian dialectic sense, all life will result in synthesis, and then THAT new life will encounter struggles and a new synthesis will ultimately prevail.  Simply because player can’t imagine life evolving after this solution does not mean  it can’t happen.

I have two thoughts about the Catalyst’s statement that Synthesis is the end point of Evolution:1) It is an entity that is billions of years old and sees processes in a scope beyond our short lifespanned species can comprehend. It’s referring to evolution in a cyclical, metaphysical manner. Thesis (A) meets Antithesis (B) and Synthesis (C) results. Then the Synthesis now becomes the new Thesis and the cycle continues. This is the one I personally believe.

2) It’s simply wrong. The Catalyst demonstrates several times that it is capable of mistakes in judgment, some of them egregious and horrific in scope. This is the one I think will be used by BioWare in continuing the series, regardless of which ending it bases the continuation upon. ALL of this started because one species got angry it kept losing its thralls and made an AI to solve that problem, which was exactly part of the problem. That AI (the Catalyst) was this creation and is inherently bound to at least some of the flaws of its creators.

So, all this is just me explaining why I believe that the Synthesis ending is the only morally right choice, at least for me. Morals are by definition defined by individual codes, and I’m choosing that word deliberately over ‘ethics.’ I do not believe that ME left the player with any ethical choice, which, for me, was part of the beauty of it. It bother me that the canonical ‘Perfect’ ending is the Destroy ending with Shepard surviving. You commit galactic genocide, but you survive- this is the ‘perfect’ ending? I have major issues with that.

And yes, I know that there is a theory that Synthesis and Control are both elaborate ruses of Indoctrination meant to get Shepard, the only threat the Reapers have ever known, to destroy himself. I simply don’t buy it, as I feel that theory needs to come with a tinfoil hat.

Also, in my head canon, Shepard survives and Kaidan finds him (I always play mshenko). Fuck that dying crap. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[n0kt3rnal]

This is just aimless rambling, but, I just finished ME3. I was considering how the mass effect ending might have been made better. I think the main issue with the finale is that there’s no catharsis. Up until like, the last 15 mins the game is awesome. I don’t think mass effect needed a happy ending in order to have a good ending. It’s just that that big emotional release for fans after completing the franchise isn’t there. 

I feel like they could have kept a similar premise without compromising the story. For one, I think the whole squad should have been involved in fighting their way to the beam together. It would amp up the big emotional final playthrough. They could all eventually get held up by various obstacles, or potentially die (with similar options to the main ending in me2), until you are left with your final two squadmates. Then that same cut scene could play, where Shepard ends up in the beam. 

I quite like how they are seriously inured at that point, and struggling to make it. I think that heightens the stakes. The ending starts to go downhill with the illusive man I think. Whilst it’s not awful at this point, I think this final confrontation could have been bigger. 

Maybe the illusive man could be the one to break it to Shepard what the catalyst actually is. Then at this point, it would begin to create tension where we know that there is no possible way Shepard is going to make it out. (I think part of the issue with the original ending is that it just kind of came out of nowhere with no time to emotionally prepare). I would liked to have seen maybe one last battle here where Anderson and Shepard take out the illusive man. Lots of dialogue about how what Shepard is doing is pointless, and that’s why the reaper’s should be controlled by humans, etc. It would have been good to hear some strong dialogue from Shepard about how they are sticking to their guns with destroying them anyway, no matter the cost. Perhaps Anderson could have died in the final cut scene taking out the illusive man to give Shepard one last chance to activate the catalyst. Again amping up the urgency. Maybe over the coms you can hear the reapers destroying everything. 

When they finally get up there, that’s when the ending just falls flat. None of the three options provide a strong emotional release. Part of the issue is that all of the options just feel so unfulfilling.  The computer child just gives you the options and is like, well choose. bye. 

Would have been nice to see Shepard like, actually have a proper despairing debate with the catalyst and like maybe break down a bit over the choices they are being given. 

I think destruction is the least bad one, and is the one that needs tweaking the least. It makes sense, especially if you’ve followed the renegade path. Part of the renegade playthrough is that Shepard is willing to sacrifice the few to save the many. The only thing I would change is that you actually see Shepard getting rescued if they live at the end. Instead of having the Normandy fly away, it should just have stayed near Earth and picked Shepard out of the citidel. I think the cost of the synthetic lives should be played up a lot more than it was. Maybe you see all the bodies of the geth, and of EDI, so the cost of that decision is really shown. The mass relays are all messed up and damaged. Maybe there’s a really emotional moment where EDI is talking to Joker and collapses. But Shepard gets to live, even if they are very badly injured. That survival has come at a cost. Would have been nice to see a cut scene with Shepard reuniting with their romance option, if not the remaining living crew members. 

The paragon option is the one that bothered me the most. Shepard’s main goal is to destroy the reapers, so it just doesn’t make a huge amount of sense that they would choose to control them. They have spent the whole time roasting the illusive man because it’s never going to work long term, and uploading themself leaves it open that they may create a new harvest cycle after becoming an AI. I think this could be fixed by Shepard sacrificing themself to take control of the reaper systems and shut them down. Maybe they upload their mind, and they get enough time to turn off the machines, but it costs them their life. In this scenario, everyone including EDI and the geth would get to live, and the mass effects would remain intact. However Shepard would have to die in order to take over the reapers and SHUT THEM DOWN, not control them. At least not permanently. This would fit with the paragon route best, because Shepard saves everyone, achieves their goals, but at the cost of their own life. It’s a sacrifice. Maybe there could have been a more detailed cut scene before they died as they think about what they’re leaving behind, and maybe some dialogue that it’s worth the cost. Lots of tearful moments. You see a proper memorial for Shepard where everyone is celebrating them as a hero. 

The synthesis ending just is what it is, and I don’t really think you could get a satisfying final end from this option tbh. It just doesn’t make sense for Shepard to do this, and it doesn’t align with either of the morality choices in the game. Plus once again, Shepard’s unwavering goal is to destroy the reapers, not mind meld with them. 

I don’t think this completely fixes some of the issues, but I think it would have been more satisfying than what happened. At least those endings would have worked a lot better with the morality alignments and goals of the character. Either way, the blue and red endings needed a much stronger catharsis with a big emotional release at the end.