The DARK ENERGY Plot/Ending in Mass Effect EXPLAINED 

Given the lovecraftian influences that inspired the reapers perhaps they should have just gone with not giving a definite explanation for the them at all.

I think the ending with dark energy could’ve been much darker and harder to choose. You can have Shepard choose between saving the universe and sacrificing everyone or killing the reapers now and dooming the universe later on. Could’ve been a much tougher choice

I disagree that the audience wouldn't understand the dark energy plot. People who play Mass Effect are sci-fi nerds, Not Call of Duty bro shooters.

Would have made more sense if the dark energy was killing stars and suns by aging them faster and causing an accelerated "heat death". Thus giving the reapers a purpose to survive in a cold and empty universe.

I honestly preferred the dark energy plot specifically because it was so difficult to digest. The best part of the reapers was their Lovecraftian, ominous behavior, that their reason for the harvesting of sapient life was something an organic being couldn't comprehend. The idea that something that almost all sapient life in the galaxy used daily was ripping holes in reality and the reapers were created to "solve that problem by any means necessary" before reality is completely broken;. that feels like the perfect reason an organic couldn't comprehend.

When you meet Giana Parasini in Illium during mass effect 2, she briefly mentions something related to dark energy 😮

Although it might make the Reapers to be the "Good Guys", I see it rather as a gray area, as you still can't decide this fate for all life, that becomes a philosophical/existential/moral issue. With the Reapers gone, now organics/less evolved synthetics will have to make their own choices on how to deal with it, and wisely, or else the consequences will be dire (ME4 Choices). Dialing back the threat of the dark energy threat to just a galactic threat, rather then a Universal threat, would be a good solution to incorporate it. But that's just me.

their motivations should have never been explained! like sovereign said "it not a thing you can comprehend"

The Reapers would need to be beyond conventional existence to address such a big problem as the Dark Energy plot. "We have no beginning, we have no end" implies they are paradoxical entities, that exist beyond the laws of time and space. Like that one doctor who episode with the tardis being re-engineered into a paradox machine so that future humans could kill their ancestors without suffering the paradox of killing themselves. In this way having no beginning becomes fact as they separated themselves from their original timeline and became ascendant to the point tracing a beginning is simply a memory and cannot be traced through any timeline. On a similar note, the cycle may need to be an ability to restart the universe on their terms, same universe, just mixed up for different outcomes, evolutions, galaxies, etc. This way they preserve the species they harvest without destroying them in a paradox, every restart of the universe ends the timeline and restarts it (No beginning, no end, your timeline is forever dead, yet you still exist, you are all that remains). But this gets way too far into fantasy and space magic, but technically that is exactly what element zero is.

It’s a better ending, they should have gone with the dark energy plot. It’s far more complex and interesting.

The problem I see is that the Dark Energy plot doesn't change the ending, or more precisely it doesn't change how are you supposed to beat the Reapers.

Not really related to the Dark Energy plot line, but I personally think it would of been better if we just got 1 ending where the reapers where destroyed like in the destroy ending (without it also destroying all AI like the Geth and EDI). Honestly having something like Mass Effect 1's ending where you could either just fight Seren or talk him out of it so he shoots himself would of be good. You could chose to either destroy the Reapers or you convince the catalyst that their solution is flawed. That way the options don't really come out of nowhere, and I always felt it was weird that in 2/3 ending the Reapers just lived and then chilled about helping the galaxy, when the whole point of the 3 games was beating the reapers and they where nothing but an antagonistic force.

I like the idea of the Reapers doing something to preserveing live by avoiding some cataclysm created by Dark Energy, it would be one of those "my goals are beyond your understanding" kind of situation. If we ignore the entire ME3 and build a new storyline for the 3rd game with that in mind, it could have gone smoother. But that is not what we got, so a dak energy plot in the future could be good, but i dont think they will folow up on it.

I feel like Dark Energy still has the same problem as the original ending of "lol the Reapers were good the whole time SIKE". The current ending is actually not too bad if you envision the Reapers as galactic caretakers, using the cycles to quite literally impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. Locking out technologies they deem too dangerous, either to galactic civilization or themselves from organic civilizations, and then coming in to harvest galactic civilizations at their apex to create room for new civilizations, or because they judge the existing cycle to have failed some sort of grand, galaxy-wide, eon spanning test. Their motivations perhaps being a myriad of things, or one unknowable one. I feel like these endings where "lol, they were actually good" are just kind of predictable and uninspired. In hindsight, I'm glad Bioware ditched Dark Energy. The current ending, while not perfect, leaves a lot of room more room for interpretation than people realize.

Is this why we were introduced to the unexplored sun plot line on Haesfrom when we recruit Tali in ME2?

The whole thing about "Players would have a harder time to wrap their heads around slow, all menacing, catastrophic consequences of biotics causing unrepairable damage to the universe." ...sounds so much like people's lack of mental ability to grasp climate chance through fossil fuels.

I had no issues with ME3 endings except Synthesis. 4th ending (not doing anything) was a good thing to add since the game is so focused on decision making.

A very easy way to have fixed Mass Effect 3’s ending from the rather hamfisted “organics vs synthetics” would have been once a certain species rose to a certain galactic level, it could’ve been they became a threat to themselves and all future life in the galaxy. It would allow a race to rise to and enjoy glory for a time, then be destroyed and forever preserved in a Reaper. This would’ve fit the theme of Mass Effect more with stuff like the Rachni War, Krogan Rebellions, Geth vs Quarians, etc. Shepard uniting all this disparate groups while keeping their individuality would be a direct refutation to the Reaper’s purpose.

There was more to the dark energy problem that hadn't yet been discussed. This discussion here takes several leaps making assumptions about where that plotline was going. There could have easily been something that at least appeared to be unique about the Milky Way's situation that prompted the reapers to think they could make a difference and fix the problem. The whole idea was very interesting, and engaging, clearly since we're moving in on 10 years since ME3's release and we're still discussing it, and the RGB ending with the star child was just stupid, rushed, and an easy way to get the product out the door. Everything about ME3 was fantastic right up until you got on board the Citadel after surviving Harbinger. From that point on there was still at least a hour's worth of in-game content that needed to be created to give the trilogy its closure, as well as a setup for a larger story. Sure we "beat" the reapers, but were we right to beat the reapers? And what about the goals they were trying to accomplish? If those were indeed noble goals and we just beat them, now what do we do? We have to solve the same problem they were attempting to solve. I mean, never mind the fact that we didn't get the various outcomes that show what each member of the Normandy ended up doing after the war against the reapers, and we should have gotten that. The bigger issue is that the ending was rushed into a simplistic ending of "reapers bad, we kill, yay game over!" That is what should have been avoided from the point of view of a developer that makes games, has a fantastic IP and wants to keep it going for both their own sakes an the sake of the fans.

Before Leviathan DLC (which most never played.) It made more sense than the original ending pre and post extended cut. Which was basically a poor sell on the idea that the machines were using broken cyclical logic and a semantic technicality (preserve life became preserve life in reaper form). Now if they'd applied the broken cyclical logic to the dark energy theme that would have held up better. personally the starchild scene was overkill. They should have just fired the crucible after Anderson died and let Sheps decisions decide if they live or die in the end.

personally i'd love the dark energy plot to be the canon ending for Mass Effect 3. from what i know of the original ending, the mass effect relays were what was causing the dark energy to be manipulated to the point of a near cataclysmic disaster hence why the reapers targeted the Milky Way galaxy. i still tell myself that Shepard was lied to at the end of Mass Effect 3 when he/she learns of why the reapers are invading. just didn't quite seem to be the best explanation or fitting excuse. i still love ME3 but i still think the dark energy plot would have been a better idea go go with. i also heard that they changed the ending because the original ending plot was leaked online. i still think they should've just ran with it anyway, people wouldn't still played the game for the same reason they'd have RE-played it; because it's an interactive experience.

The Starchild must be replaced by Harbinger. He's supposed to be the main Reaper.

If it was kept to the galaxy say "the constant use of element zero is causing our galaxy's stars to die quicker than they naturally would" that would've made enough sense, they could've even kept the leviathan dlc in too and just changed the bit about the thralls inevitably creating AI to them inevitably over relying on Eezo which ended up destabilising their suns, making the threat to ALL life more plausible. But they messed up by making this about the entire universe. Edit: they already did this with tali's recruitment mission in ME2

the biggest issue i had with the ending was i just spent 3 hours proving that AI and Organics can live together by getting the good ending with the Geth and Quarians, I didn't even get an option to say that i did so, the 3 endings also pissed me off as the only one where shep lives i have to undo all the good i did with the quarians and the Geth and kill them all, which doesn't make any sense, it was so very arbitrary and bullshit also fuck star child, just have harbinger as the one talking to you and the main AI, it made more sense imo and would feel better given harbinger had been a big bad for 2 games (also have him show up more in 3)

You can't have the dark energy problem recur in ME4. The Dark Energy is not a big problem, it's a galactic catastrophe. Something that even the most advanced civilizations on the Milkyway wouldn't be able to fix in their lifetime. Remember the main reason the Reapers were created was because they needed an immortal race to find a solution to the problem. In one of the scrubbed endings you could have had the choice to allow the reapers to complete their Humanoid Prototype in order to help fix this problem. This means that if you picked "Destroy" Then the problem will never be solved. The reapers are gone along with all the repository of knowledge they once had. a Colossal problem like the Dark Energy required a Colossal solution like the Reapers.

AI is a more comprehensible, simpler motivation for the Reapers (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and also provides a warning, of sorts, for our own society: we are starting to harness AI, eezo biotics is pure science fiction. The concept wasn’t bad, it was the execution of the final reveal that was.

the thing is reapers' reasons to do these things were supposed to be beyond the comprehension of Organic individuals, but that AI arises above their creators and leads to chaos is way too easy to understand and simultanously wrong, especially if you manage to make a peace between quarians and the geth. the conclusion the ending is still dum.

I've been wanting to make mass effect content on YT for so long, you give me motivation. really cool to see another mass-effect centric creator on the platform. great analysis!

now that the conversation is on again i wanna say, if the reapers wanted to control the dark energy, thye should ahve destroyed the mass relays and the citadel, the bets way to keep the organics away from element zero

Here are the BIG issues with this plot: - It is unprepared: It never had any plot-lines. It has a couple of random mentions, but doesn’t add anything to the conversations. It is not more than the words “dark” and “energy” being said, without any meaning. It only has a semi-major role in the Haestrom mission, but even there, it is entirely ignorable, the mission, and the consequences don’t need it at all. It is more like a backup plan from the beginning. It is common from the writers to have backup plots, just a few mentions about something, which likely will be forgotten, but may build on it if they run out of ideas. These random mentions should’ve been in ME1, give some bigger role to it in ME2, and then full on in ME3 to make it work. - It is illogical: Why the heck would the Reapers ENCOURAGE us to use eezo, if they will then punish us for using it? The Mass Relays are by far the biggest users of “dark energy”. They ruined this plot before it existed, by Sovereign, who stated that they built the Relays themselves. -> this might be the biggest reason why they dropped this plotline - It is unrealistic: “Dark Energy” might be a real scientific phenomena, but that has NOTHING to do with how it is represented here. It has zero scientific basis, only borrowed the name. It is completely made up. Also, the energy levels seen here are completely minor and insignificant compared to the energy of the universe, or even the galaxy itself. Drop in the bucket. The only thing which could scratch it are the mass relays, but even those are tiny. Also Haestrom, it is a remote star, nothing is really happening here. If it would be related to eezo overuse, the neighborhood stars would be affected. This was never meant to be a major plot line, and never thought out in the first place. Only a backup plan. On the other hand, the issue with synthetics: - Is integral part of the plot-line from day 1. - It is logical. We see that AI and synthetics have issues repeatedly. Also the Reapers solution does actually solve this problem in a literal way. Stupid solution because it creates equally big problems, but that’s not how they are programmed… - It is realistic. The idea that AI will surpass us is not a made up thing. It is an actual scientific concern. See “Technological Singularity”. Whether or not you like the synthetics plot line, the “dark energy” plot line is subpar in every single way. The only reason it is being discussed is because some people didn’t like the actual ending, and likes to kick into it by preferring ANYTHING else but that, wether it makes sense or not. (Indoctrination theory is the most extreme example of that). But this was not even the issue with the ending. The plot was perfectly fine. The real criticism against the ending were: - Ending was rushed, so the last mission is far from the quality of the suicide mission, or citadel attack in ME1 - Starchild just looks stupid, both conceptually and visually We should’ve talked to Harbinger. - Previous choices didn’t matter. -> it did though, as much as any other choices/consequences - Red/Green/Blue ending -> it was fixed in Extended Cut, which is the canon ending now, so it makes no sense to discuss it in 2021

I'm glad they didn't take the dark energy plot. I think it would have destroyed the whole premise of the game. The Reapers were the epitome of Lovecraftian evil from the very beginning. It would nullify everything Shepard did to prevent them from reaping the sapient life of the galaxy. It wouldn't be more "gray", it would be unnecessarily edgy, and I'm sure it would have disappointed even more fans than the actual ending(s) did. Other points that make it illogical: Why should the Reapers leave the mass relays out for the civilizations to find and use instead of destroying them? Why did they leave their own demise out for sentient species to find? For them to abuse the dark energy even earlier? Why didn't they wipe out the Asari, a whole race of biotics, before they could learn to travel and colonize space? And without the reaper technologies left all over the planets the civilizations would maybe never even have invented ways to harness dark energy. At least the humans never did before they started to travel through the mass relay. Would have spared the Reapers countless reapings. But NOOOO, they invented the mass relays, which use reams and reams of dark energy, more than even quintillions of Asari, THEMSELVES! Or ... why didn't they actually teach the species not to use dark energy instead of wiping them out every 50k years? If the Reapers in this scenario actually wanted to "save" the universe from dying too soon, they sure did a very bad job. Would make them even more faulty than in the actual plot. Not to mention the fact that the potential danger of dark energy was never really discussed in the game until ... ME2, was it? On Haelstrom? It would have been pretty ... inconsistent for it to be so important for the ending. I for one like the actual endings. I like it that the Reapers aren't perfect, eternal beings, but rigid machines and ultimately just a program gone rogue. Especially after the Leviathan DLC, it seems logical and comprehensible to me.

Reapers from Mass Effect heavily remind me inhibitors from Revelation Space series. Inhibitors were basically such an advanced race they turned themselves into machines and harvested all advanced civilizations because once inhibitors were victorious in the long and bloody war they had with other advanced species and after that they decided they aren't letting any sentient life advancing to their level. Or something along the lines. It is simple, but it makes at least some sense.

Hey @MrHulthen I hope you are doing well. I loved the video. I honestly hope that the dark Energy plot continues in the next Mass Effect. I would like to see the ancient race from Andromeda Jardaan be a big influence on the Dark Energy problem. Maybe that's why they built the remnants?

I would still prefer a "Dark-Mater Style ending" over the " SYnthetic vs organic" with our Blue Boy. It is so stupid and Boring and the game itself proves "this Solution" wrong! The Geth did not want to eridicate its Creator (the Quarians). AND you can negociate Peace between them. EDI represent the same possible coexistence.

probably not since this is a remaster not a remake. It will make no sense for those who doesn't play the remaster and jump to 4

The Dark Energy plot is pretty interesting, I hope the involve that plot somehow into future ME titles. Whether its ME4 or in titles afterwards. Will be very interesting to see what they do or don't with this theory.

Funny thing is, you can actually use Dark Energy for information transmission, even holographic that would be perceived "real" if measured here. But entire real, physical spaceships? That's something else.

I think the biggest problem with the dark energy plot is it directly contradicts the Reapers' previous motives They built the mass relays and the citadel so that organic races would evolve in a pattern they could exploit, if they were worried about dark energy caused by mass effect usage why not just let organic races evolve without the relays so that alternate discoveries could be made They basically stifled the ability for an organic race to come up with a solution, then harvest them for failing to develop one Personally I prefer the ending we got, I just think it needed more time in the oven to shine

As a writer, I can see a way out of the dark energy quandary. if this "dark energy" is the 5th fundamental force of the universe. You DONT stop it. If the Reapers were trying to stop the inevitable, because they're immortal or some such like that, and they try to cull species before they produce more of it... that's just THEIR ego. They are trying to do a Sisyphean, impossible task. Yes, they are so advanced that they understood the inevitable big crunch, but the circular logic kicks in, if they decide that culling all life in the galaxy (if they think that the Milky Way is the only galaxy with life) is a solution. But is it a solution? Or just their vanity? It goes into the realm of hubris, the supposedly "superior" machines are just as foolish as mortals can be. It's a whole other set of themes.

the "Mass" relays harvest dark energy but cannot stop it from expanding outside it's reach - so if anything mass effect ships are "shot" through dark energy areas via mass relay

"Along the paths we desire...."

I personally prefer the dark energy plot over the synthetic vs organic plot because Shepherd potentially has already shown that synthetics and organics can live in peace with the Geth and Quarians rendering the Reapers argument null and void and explaining it wouldn't be that hard they could've just say "the very thing that allows intergalactic travel to exist is the same thing that's accelerating the death of the galaxy" it would've been the toughest choice in the series allowing the current society to continue potentially to the end of everything or letting the Reapers to continue allowing life to continue. P.S I'm sure anyone who has watched Gurren Lagann can see familiar plot points just replace "dark" with "spiral" and "Reaper" with "anti-spiral" and you have the plot for the second half of the series.

The problem with ME3’s ending isn’t the 3 colors endings (even though I wouldn’t have complained if there were more, or if they were more distinct), but the starbrat giving us a choice on what to do. We should NOT have had a choice on what happened in the end of ME3. Not at this moment, at least. Up to this point, we’d had 3 games to make decisions. The Green/Blue/Red ending should have been decided automatically based off the choices we made through our journey. About the Dark Energy plot, that’s something I had heard about, and as a matter of fact, I remember very well that I noticed hints about Dark Energy back in ME1 (a log about a planet being destroyed by it, iirc), and when ME2 gave us more infos about it through Tali’s recruitment mission, I was convinced this was where ME3 would go. Seems like at the time I was right, but it was then changed. You make a good point about that plot though: if it’s a universal threat, then what happens in the Milky Way isn’t enough to change that. But in that case, we could then imagine that there are Reapers doing the same thing (stoping organics from using dark energy) in all galaxies, effectively stoping the end of the universe from happening too fast, and the Milky Way managing to get rid of their own Reapers wouldn’t change anything to the universal success of the Space Squid Machines, meaning that in the end, everyone is happy! Yay! See? If I can come up with something, I’m sure the professional writers at BioWare could have found a way to make the dark energy plot work out.

Time for me, an internet nobody, to write this plot: The Reapers were created by an organic race at their prime. They were a shining example of everything that most galactic civilizations want to become, and they treated the Reapers as equals. They were created as starships, but ships that shared a common cause with their creators and were a symbiotic race. The Reapers would sail the Creators through the stars and they shared a harmonious existence. However, a schism arose between the two races when the Reapers noticed that evolution was outpacing their technological advancement due to the organic ability to harness dark energy. It soon became clear to the Reapers that one day organics would achieve the command over time and space and would not need them anymore. This prompted a existential crises driven by the utilitarian nature of the Reaper AI (we will no longer be useful). After coming to this conclusion, the Reapers carefully extinguished every Creator life in the galaxy and enshrined them in the first Reaper, Harbinger. In theory, the Reapers could bring them back with their genetic information and memory patterns once their mission was complete. Their mission was to bring equity to the universe, they wanted to see if any organic could create a TRUE symbiosis with their creations, their machines. So they let civilization rise using the tools of the Creator race (the mass relays and the citadel) and watched again and again as either synthetics killed unevolved organics, or evolved organics outgrew the need for tools and discarded synthetics. This allows the plot of ME3 to remain largely the same. The three endings make sense now because Shepard can answer the Reapers in three ways: 1. They can override the Reaper AI (Renegade), converting them into docile useful tools. This basically says that the Reapers were right to fear organics, as we only have need of machines as tools. 2. They can obliterate synthetic life. This should be the "middle" option between Renegade and Paragon. It not only destroys the useful tools of our own creation, but also fails to see them as beings worthy of life. It's ultimately wasteful and should actually be the easiest option for a player. 3. They can finally create a true synthesis between organics and their creations that will last forever (Paragon). This will help the Reapers finally accomplish their mission. No more will organics fear their creations of vice versa. It's still the three endings ME3 offers, but it justifies them. On top of that, the crucible should be a dark energy amplifier that is actually using the biotic field generated by the army Shepard brings to the battle. The more organics he brings to Earth's defense, the better options he has. The base power of the Crucible can kill Reapers, but it's extremely crude. The ultimate design of the Crucible basically gives Shepard control of one of the fundamental powers of the universe. He can use dark energy to influence space and time and make real changes in the galaxy. Star child could be replaced with a younger, less hardened version of Harbinger. He was originally a starship who loved seeing the stars with his Creator crew, and that sense of wonder and adventure is still present in him as he explains their sorrow over being slowly made obsolete by the powers the Creators were evolving. I know that's a lot to read, but that's how this story can all make sense. The Reapers have a horribly misguided plan. Shepard can come along and punish them, or he can understand that their basic assumption was actually not wrong, just their way of "preserving" life and he can help them allay their fears forever.

In the original plot by Karpishin which got leaked, Shepard had a choice of either destroying Reparers, and leave everyone deal with the dark energy problem themselves, or sacrificing humanity, due to our unique genetics (it was also the reason why Collectors were abducting humans specifically) in order to save the Galaxy. There was also a refusal option. I believe it was fair that the developers decided it was a hell of a choice, and some players might have found it too difficult.

It's true that as many have pointed out, the dark energy plot line is problematic when you start wondering why Reapers would leave their technology lying around to be used by organics if it's so dangerous. What I like about the synthetics vs organics motivation is how incredibly flawed it is. The Leviathans essentially programmed a synthetic to find a solution against itself - of course the conclusion would be nonsensical. The request in itself was unbelievably paradoxical. I find it fascinating because in ME3, it becomes obvious that the path to peace between synthetics and organics is to acknowledge their individuality, recognize them as people while accepting that they function differently. The Leviathans asked their AI to be an AI only, and to act on the premise that it would unavoidably destroy its creators. It's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Facing the very complex result of such a paradoxical demand is Shepard, who, no matter how you play them, has a very different way of working. Shepard addresses problems one at a time - they're a soldier, not a philosopher. They go to individuals, listen to their problems, and try to find solutions - whether it advantages everyone or no varies according to Paragon or Renegade. The incredibly complex problems of the Leviathans and the Reapers is solved when taken on a smaller scale. To the paradox of synthetic existence, Shepard finds a simple answer. Whether it's "they're people to me, and so peace can be achieved", or "destroying synthetics is the only way to save organics", in any case, it is implied that their solution is the best for today, and they will address future problems tomorrow, as they arise. The ME3 endings are far from perfect and, in many cases, quite nonsensical (how are we able to rewrite everyone's DNA with a huge blast? Okay, the Crucible is Prothean technology, but I'm pretty sure even they didn't know how to do that), but the idea of Reapers being a symptom of organics' fear of synthetics is pretty good in my eyes.

The dark energy plot was discarded because it was a stupid idea, which played close to zero role throughout the game, and they realized it... They won’t put it back because: - It would make the story worse - They are very explicit that they are just updating the visuals of the game, and they change nothing

Until ME3's ending the theory I had in my head was that the reapers were originally from another dimension. Sovereign hints at this with "there are realms you cannot even imagine". This would also make their "we have no beginning" line literally true, since they would not have a timeline that is part of our space-time continuum. So they arrived in our universe, in our galaxy, and are now stuck. So they impose the cycle on it because they're trying to create a race that can solve the dark energy problem because that's their ticket back to their own realm. It makes the reapers much less altruistic. There's options for multiple endings for example maybe you sacrifice an entire species, or the mass relay network, to destroy them. Or do you make a deal with them and allow them to leave, and hope they don't come back? EDIT: I actually just thought of this a second after hitting "Post"; the reason they are harvesting species to build new reapers is because they themselves are out of ideas. New reapers created from new species bring new perspectives, fresh ideas, things they had not considered or are even capable of considering. They're repeating the cycle and building reapers until they generate the solution.

They should’ve combined the dark energy plot and indoctrination theory. They still can. If ME3’s ending is Shepard indoctrinated, then it doesn’t matter what he (we) thought The Reapers’s purpose was

When Commander Shepard talks with Conrad Verner, it sounds like the Crucible uses Dark Energy so it's still being used in that four choice ending lol 😝 Red, Blue & Green, at least Shepard survives one of the choices right, so what colour represents the Refusal option so many fans seem to forget about. Shoot that catalyst star child sometime

Controversial opinion: The mass effect dark energy plot could work in a sequel for any ending of the OG ME3 trilogy

Drew, the writing team, and bioware as a whole had very little planned for this ending. And it was a topic very difficult to round out a conclusion from it. I honestly think the dark energy ending would have been worse. The extended and leviathan dlc really rounded out the ending properly but the star child was always a horrible idea. Wish the star child was a more stronger character and not voiced by a child

This is actually the first good argument/explanation of the ‘dark energy’ plot I’ve heard and the game came out like 10 year’s ago...

Everyone was so mad at the ending of ME3, but I was okay with it from the start, because it was the close of the best video game series I've ever played. Yes, it could have been better, but I knew it was going to be difficult to wrap up multiple storylines for multiple possible choices made over the course of the game. So I had my expectations in check.

The thing is, screwing with dark energy may just be a localised (galactic) thing. In the Milky Way it seems like the Leviathans were the original civilisation and they directed all other civilisations along the path of their choosing, and so they brought in biotics and manipulation of dark energy, and as per the end of ME3, the reapers perpetuated that developmental pathway with the Mass Relays and the Citadel being the technological foundation of all advanced civilisations. In other galaxies advanced civilisations forge different paths and many, even most, may never go down the dark energy manipulation path. So the Reapers are not concerned about the rest of the universe, only the problem of the Milky Way galazy being torn to shreds with the destabilising effects of DE manipulation. The interesting thing about Haestrom/Dholen in ME2 is that this would appear to possibly be a cumulative effect of the millions of cycles that have gone before. There is no good reason to believe Dark Energy manipulation in the Asari cycle alone has caused this problem. So really Haestrom/Dholen is the canary in the coal mine to the Reapers that their plan isn't working. They haven't prevented a dark energy catastrophe they have only delayed it, and not for too many more cycles perhaps. But this is not a universal threat, it is only a threat in galaxies where the path of technological development arrives at manipulation dark energy. But that is clearly not necessarily going to happen everywhere. ME Andromeda essentially affirms this. Mass Relays, biotics and using EEZO aren't a thing in Andromeda civilisations (or at least Heleus cluster civilisations). If the Milkyway races bring DE technology to Andromeda and clearly don't understand the destabilizing effect then this can create a disastrous situation in Andromeda after perhaps a few million years, i.e. no time at all on a galactic scale. The Dark Energy plot is actually quite similar to the Warp Drive plot in Star Trek TNG. Warp technology destabilises space-time, therefore it's use needed to be constrained.

Awesome stuff!

The best idea I ever heard for an ending of Mass Effect 3 was that the reapers were slaved to the catalyst. You break the connection and the reapers start destroying the citadel in revenge. Then, they just leave the Galaxy or go do whatever it is they want because now they are free.

I largely ignored the ending and chose destroy based on my own in-head non-canon. - The leviathian was not telling the entire truth. Early on the first thralls created Advanced AI that managed to stop the indoctrination of the thrall race, so the leviathan created the reapers to cleanse the thralls and cycle it. The first few cycles went off without a hitch, but the reapers started to evolve and found out that biotics, eezo and FTL were causing an imblance in dark energy thus increasing the likelihood of a false vaccum occuring ripping the space time continium - even though the reapers use eezo to bind them to the will of Leviathan they believe they can mitigate or control it. Turns out the Leviathans nautrally produce eezo that allows them to have a quantum entanglement communication with organics so the reapers went after Leviathans too. The protheans got really close to figuring this out during their centuries long reaper war and coming up with a plan to stop it- hence the crucible, they used the thorian and a leviathan to engineer a form of quantum entanglement to activate the eezo throughout the galaxy binding all eezo together via QE. By launching this, it kills all sythentics that have a large enough amount of eezo (reapers fuel source basically), damages the relays heavily, damages some biotic organics (causes a small percentage to die) but largely leaves organic and synthetic life intact. This leaves the series open to a new trilogy whereby the Leviathans are now dominant apex race and begin to thrall organics causing a large scale organic civil war with the synthetics on the rise. They could do a new triology about this whereby first part is the rebuilding and outbreak of civil war, second part is the rise of good and bad AI to join the war and the third part is the resolution of the war and a new way to ensure the false vaccum is not introduced by the Mass Effect

I love this breakdown thanks my friend

The dark energy plot was still stupid. Mass effect takes place in our galaxy. A relatively small spot in the universe. It's basically a grain of sand in a vast desert.

The dark energy plot works best in my brain when the Milky Way is the center of the universe so that the reapers can use the center to expand from slash encourage the universe to avoid beginning it’s Big Crunch process. As long as the cycle continues, it feeds/releases dark matter into the universe so it can just grow exponentially forever. Restarting civilizations because the discovery era of element zero and all the experiments to refine and use it is what gives off the most dark energy so the cycle must continue. This is also to make sure every galaxy eventually has a reaper host of stewards.

You make some very good points, sir. My big issue with the ending we got, is mostly on a narrative perspective. Mainly on the inclusion of the Rannoch plotline, wich is (in my opinion) one of the highest highs in terms of emotional impact from the whole trilogy. It becomes a problem on a narrative perspective because in the best ending possible for the Rannoch plotline, basically the whole moral conflit between synthetics and organics is been resolved. Sure, you could argue that maybe in the future it is inevitable that Quarians and Geth will collide once again, but that kind of far future "what-if-alism" can also be applied to the Tcuchanka plotline ("Can we really trust the Krogan will be nice and they really won't try to wipe us all out again in some distant future?") So on these basis, if we leave aside the far future what-if-alisms, it means that the final ending we got, and especially the moronic circular logic presented by the starchild is devoid of any true impact. We ALREADY found a solution to the conflict, presented by the conflict between Quarians and Geth. It just doesn't pack the same strenght as an argument anymore. You asked something very relevant. "How do we keep this problem localized to the Milky Way?" Here's my idea, on the top of my mind. Instead of using dark energy to state that it will TEAR the WHOLE Universe apart, it will create "rifts" (Like the scourge of Andromeda) that if uncecked will somehow allow entry to some other-dimension type entities. We keep these entities totally unknown and unknowable, in order to bring back the lovecraftian feel that Sovereign had in ME1... the only thing we know about these things, is that even the Reapers fear them, and they keep being "galactic janitors" in order to avoid the kind of dark energy drifts that could allow these entities entrance in our galaxy. This way we can somewhat try to bring back the sense of cosmic horror, but at the same time give the Reapers a motive that TRULY feels important, scary, and does not rely on theoretical conflicts that have already been resolved by the narrative, and at the same time reframes the morality of the Reapers. By "harvesting" us, they are somehow allowing life to flourish in a natural way and trying to avoid some type of galaxy-wide complete life extinction that these "unkowable entities" might bring. These entities might not even WANT to kill us all. Maybe just their presence somehow breaks the laws of physics as we know them, and therefore nullify life as we know it (Both organic and synthetic). Sorry for the long-ass comment. My idea is kinda in the air, I know, and it's far from perfect, but still it might have been better that what we got while at the same time keeping the issues you brought forward in a maneagable format. It probably would boil down the last choice to an extremely binary one. Kill the Reapers, knowing that this will eventually mean dark energy rifts, entrance to certain entities and possibly the extintion of all life as we know it? Sure, you and your loved ones will survive, will go on to live long and fulfilling lives... but you know that EVENTUALLY, after many thousands of years (or less) all of that will come to an end. OR... don't kill the Reapers, and allow them to complete the Harvest. Give your life up, give your loved one's lives up, but knowing that with this sacrifice at least the future will still see countless new generations, hopes, loves flourish in the thousands of years between harvests for possibly countless more cycles, until the universe just comes to it's natural end. An issue with this ending, is (of course) how do we move on from there. Either you killed the Reapers, or you didn't. So, the big problem becomes.. either now you have to try to solve the problem that the Reapers were trying to solve, or just go back to your normal cycle of extintion. UNLESS you somehow bring in something like the Leviathans (or some other weird stuff) into the equation to justify some kind of plot-point that is going to happen regardless of your ending choice I appreciate your video and the arguments you presented. Cheers.

I think the ending they went with is a better concept. Conflict between advanced organic life and sentient machines they create is a more realistic and relatable concept; In some ways, this conflict is present in our daily lives, and there are notable examples of AIs producing negative unexpected results, such as when the youtube algorithm exhibited a tendency to radicalise viewers. It has also been a theme in science fiction for a long time. In comparison, the evolution of the universe occurs over timespans that are difficult to comprehend. It also seems that Bioware had a lot of handwaving involved in the dark energy plot, which would have made it awkward in practice. In retrospect, the issues with the ending to Mass Effect 3 are a result of time constraints forcing a underdeveloped ending, not a poor concept for the Reaper's motivations.

I like the dark energy plot it would have been more satisfying and it could have been a twist I would have appreciated. Let's say the reapers travel from galaxy to galaxy culling dark energy users to prevent the end of the universe. It would have explained their long absence and their destruction could have lead to a sequel where the races of the milkyway have to take on the reapers role of preventing universal destruction and begin travelling to other galaxies

Oh man I remember playing ME3 immediately after launch and the outrage the endings caused. Now pull up a chair and I'll let you youngens know why the ending was so controversial even after the extended ending was released... Picture it... Scicily 1893 lol I kid I kid. The rage over the ending of 3 came down to what was essentially a decade of us being told that our choices will truly impact the story and have it all get boiled down to "What color tray do you want us to serve your meal of Liver, Onions, and Ramen noodles on" As for the theoretical "Big Crunch" story line... yes there would have been a chunk of the playerbase who would still be confused by it to this day... so what I would like to see is... I want them to add in breadcrumbs for it within the remaster and ME4, potentially including information stating the extinction cycle sped up the process with the increased usage of Element Zero, not just from the Relays, and space flight, but also the large amount of biotics being utilized, and to really pull it in, have the space hazard from MEA be directly related to an experiment being ran to combat it prior to it being found that it could be weaponized. "Sorry I haven't played MEA in ages so my memory is fuzzy on it" Now something I would be interested in seeing... for a number of reapers, have them land on uninhabited planets with ruins on them to reestablish the races they were formed from to help you combat the issue they themselves had caused by having the future game(s) be a type of cycle... hit a milestone of galaxy/civilization growth, get forced into a super suspended animation until you're needed again to clean up the mess that got created... rinse & repeat in various fun ways until you catch the attention of highly advanced species that dwarf the level the reapers are at and find out that they too are in a mad panic to fight back the forces of nature to survive this universal cycle and start rebuilding after the next big bang if they can't stop the big crunch.

I don't like the dark energy plot line, I can't see that being handled in a way that doesn't feel contrived. Like consider in ME3 we learn the reason for the harvesting, then what? We let the reapers harvest us? go back to blow up/control/ or synthesis as a way to deal with it and end on a cliffhanger? We pull some contrived solution out of our ass that a million year old AI couldn't think of? it just doesn't seem workable to me.

“2 million galaxies in the observable universe.” I hate to be “that guy”, but it’s significantly more than that. Add about six more zeroes to that number.

The issue of the reapers being restricted to the Milky Way highlights a couple of issues: - in the Milky Way, technological advancement has been capped at a certain level for thousands of 50 000 year cycles. Why isn't Andromeda species massively ahead? - or for that matter - why aren't they dominated by AI? - if the technology level at the end of a cycle allows for travel between galaxies, shouldn't there be far more of it? Including to the Milky Way by species more advanced?

"We're harvesting you organics because your use of the Mass Relays is accelerating the destruction of the universe." "Okay, but you built the Mass relays. Can't you just shut them down?" "Uhhh, we are beyond your comprehension!" Yeah we should thank Casey Hudson for yeeting that into oblivion.

It's a bit difficult to inplement a plot this grand (even as a writer) but this is my take: the dark energy is an abundant energy source that reapers are advanced enough to control, and any civilization that becomes advanced enough to manipulate element zero is put on the path to later control the dark energy (since they are linked) unless they are wiped by those in control (i.e. the reapers). The reapers are then the Gods of the universe and they will let every civilization the chance to rise and fall whether they are synthetics or organics. And none should permanently rule over another in this way. Lastly, they use the dark energy to ultimately end the unvierse by accelerating it to a heat death, big rip, big crunch or big bounce which will ultimately end their rule as well. And the way they control is of course on a large scale basis so local phenomena like quickly aging stars etc is more like a side effect. With this in mind, they are the clock of every civilzation in the universe and the universe itself and they will not let the system they have created be challenged by any organic species that is prone to corruption. This can explain their motivation in a dark energy plot, but it can still be a bit difficult to grasp the grandness of the universe when we in the games only explore the milky way. Here, my simple suggestion would be that they wipe civilizations all over the universe for about 50 000 years before coming back to milkyway, if the keepers have sent them the signal, and they do this by travelling with mass relays.

I think it could be like this: Reapers are constantly calculating/computing solutions for the dark energy, and until they come up with one, they have to keep culling the spacefaring organics in the galaxy. However, they were originally designed by someone else, and have no innovative/original thoughts, so another reason to harvest organics is to absorb ideas from this cycle's organics so their calculations can be better. To me that's better than the Synthetics vs Organics ending we got, which wasn't very creative at all given how many other movies and games talked about this (also Geth-Quarian conflict was already enough). Again, this requires a lot of foreshadowing than what ME1 and especially ME2 did. In that case, ME2 should've been about exploring the origins of protheans/collectors, and how they were super good at manipulating mass effect, so they became an ideal target for indoctrinations and harvests, as they would be valuable for the reaper calculations - Shepard's journey in ME2 would then be to discover more about protheans, culminating in destroying the collector base. Collector base can still be located at the center of galaxy, where the dark energy concentrates. But instead of simple harvesting human for a human reaper, it's a research station for collectors to study on dark energy on behalf of the reapers.

My biggest issue with the endings of Mass Effect 3 were that The games are built on making decisions and those decisions having effects down the line; the ME2 suicide mission and whether or not you survive it at all is dependent on your choices earlier in the game. And nothing you've done in any of the games has any relevance to the lead-up or ending of ME3

interesting theory but one problem. the reapers created the mass relays so them stopping the use of element zero is a null arguemement. all technology in common era mass effect (as stated by sovereign himself in mass effect 1) was based on reaper tech. they left the tech to influence our tech advancement and therefore when we find the citadel it enqbles them to know that their time to come back is coming.

In my head cannon Shepher gets medically discharged from the alliance. They then ask him to be humanity's ambassador. Which he does for a few years. Then he retires to a small farm on Ranoc with Tali.

2:20 what if that was why the original AIs in the Leviathans cycle kept purging their creators. Then the Reapers original solution was as you say but when they went into dark space after the first culling the dark energy out there created by the Leviathans biotic powers the Dark Energy has an effect on the space time continuum or something that amounts to infecting the Reapers and thats why their reasoning seemed so inconsistent. Since Sovereign was always the Reaper left behind to signal the other Reapers to come in it would be the least affected and would have retained the "original" purpose.

How is entropy any harder to grasp than A.I, Dark Matter, or any other Sci-fi concept presented in the series? Being in the genre of science fiction always entails a bit of brushing up on science. I don't think it would have been unreasonable to expect that fans of the series would do a bit of homework, given how much they already explain in the codex and logs.

Saying people would not understand the dark energy requires one to assume that people are stupid. I can say from years of teaching regular people about science this assumption is wrong. Simply telling people what is going on works because contrary to popular opinion people are not stupid. I have a whole rant about how trying to dumb down science for the masses is the primary cause of people misunderstanding science, but that is off topic so I'll spare everyone.

1) Not being understandable to "everyone" is not a valid reason for not using a good idea. 2) The reaper's logic IS circular and contradictory, and summoning a technomagical child using a device with plans passed by many different civilizations of other cycles (of which it was stated in game that there was no evidence of) was a far worse decision.

What we needed for a good ending, results of a terrible player, results of a semi player, results of a player who made all the right choices. Let us have a kid with our romance Make the perfect ending be that you convert the Illusive man and help EDI develop into a living being, to perceive love. Make it so they both end up facing the catalyst with Shepard and instead of dying, their energy together let’s them live yet get synthesis

In response to the critique that the reapers would need to harvest the entire universe given dark energy's universal effects, I guess the writers could have just implied that it can have localised impacts dependent on local activity. I.e. intensive biotic use in the Milky Way leading to Milky Way-specific issues such as suns dying too quickly as observed in Tali's recruitment mission in ME2 (which IIRC was an early foreshadowing of the Dark Energy plot). It's not scientifically sound, but there's usually a lot of leeway for these sorts of things in science fiction such as this. Good video btw.

I honestly do not hate the endings we got in the final product. Anyone who says there's not much difference between the options, is clearly wrong - i think it makes a pretty huge difference what happens to the Reapers lol... a considerable impact on the galaxy.

I can't help but wonder why these questions keep popping up. It's a remaster, not a re-write. The plot's gonna be the same, it's just graphics and *maybe* some cleaned up gameplay mechanics from the first two games.

The issue with the endings we got was not the choices or the "circular logic". The logic can be explained and handwaved to work with ME1's established Reaper plot. The choices are unfortunate and a cause for personal complaint but the only thing that doesn't WORK about the endings is the supposition that the whole tale of the trilogy has been about the theme of "Organics vs Synthetics". Sure, it comes up and is dealt with but it was subservient to the larger narrative about "Unity through Diversity". The point of the Geth and EDI story arc was only exploring the theme of inherent difference between "us and them" to bounce off a similar theme on Tuchanka between Krogan, Salarians and Turians, the idea of "what is diversity?" and for the Geth issue, it was the difference in fundamental sapience, but it comes to a conclusion by saying "We are different, but we are equal." Then the ending breaks this by saying "We are different, so we cannot be equal" and supposes that you MUST use an alternative solution to the Reaper Harvest to solve that problem. That is a direct contradiction of the story's themes and direction and it narrows the entire "tale" down to something that doesn't describe the adventure as a whole. It has a lack of context to the other themes in the plot, such as Tuchanka which was about the difference in evolutionary steps. The Krogan/Salarian is another analogue of "Created vs Creators" because the Salarians uplifted the Krogan and the Krogan helped until they rebelled because of a lack of cultural uplift. They were made advanced through materialism of technology and lacked the societal development to control themselves with it, which is a failure in evolution and a struggle between the sapience of different organics. The Ending supposes it is only "Synthetic life" that is the threat of this universe, and the only problem-space left in the story but as I said we already kind of dealt with that earlier, and it had a different spin on what Synthetic life really entails. They are trying to conclude on a story that hasn't been written in the current endings. Sure it might've been better in some ways and Dark Energy might've had its own problems but ultimately I think the issue is that there's not enough seeding of the "Synthetics are the real threat" into the plot of the game, because it proves the opposite to be true throughout most of ME3, contradicting its own reasoning, and effectively making you solve a problem that does not exist, when it seems more convenient if the Reapers just shut themselves off because they are actually wrong about their assumptions. It might've been bad in the past, but it hasn't had any sign past this "extinction-terminus" in Shepard's life. The player has not seen the problem ensue, and the only times they saw something relevant to it, like on Rannoch, it was contradicted. The ending is FALSE. It doesn't summarize the adventure like an ending should. I don't know how Dark Energy would've been hashed out if Drew had stayed, but it would have been bouncing off the foreshadowing already present in ME2. Cerberus's "mysterious" role but Illusive Man talking about "Advancement and Preservation" of humanity (familiar words...) sitting in his Reaper-imagery chair looking at a **dying sun**, and almost lures you into the processing lair of a human Reaper, a Reaper made from humans because the Reapers are laser-focusing on humanity **for some reason** while suns are prematurely aging. The "Unite the Galaxy" theme would've remained the same no matter what, but maybe the Crucible had not been the crux of ME3, and Cerberus would've not sought "Control" but they would've most likely known since ME2 about the true purpose of the Reapers and slowly but steadily changing their words from "We fight for advancement and preservation of humanity" to "We must give humanity to the Reapers to make the perfect Reaper, to become the saviors of this world" and building up the signs that the universe is dying, then contrasting that with a choice between the player's emotional connection to their people or the responsibility to ensure that life goes on no matter what. Sentimentalism vs Existentialism. Sacrifice humanity (which seems inhumane) to attempt to save the universe, or go through with your original goal to stop the Reapers with your allies and friends because that's what matters to you. It would've been a binary choice between established themes put to their extremes. Pragmatism vs Idealism. The endings are actually similar, the difference is how ME3 does not make use of previous chapters (ME2) to continue building a story thread leaving it feeling rushed and once you get to the "Big Reveal" it feels disconnected and nonexistent in the previous chapters of the story, and despite it having some resonance with the dangers of AI shown in ME1, they ultimately pick the opposite direction throughout ME2 and ME3 by humanizing AI and then proving that the Geth/Quarians was just a situation like any other and the difference in sapience was only superficially the problem based on the prejudices of creators and distrust of created. The constellation didn't ring true, because it was not well established prior to the last 10 minutes of the story. The conclusion was false.

You know what's not easier to understand? The original ending... And so we still have indoctrination theorists post Leviathan DLC. Dark Energy is a highly scientific ending to a great series. The original ending is a highly existential ending to a great series. With Dark Energy, most people would not think beyond the local galaxy and would not find the larger plot holes in the smaller scale wrap up. With the original ending, people become too busy in thinking they are being tricked/are too conspiracy minded to see what's actually being presented to them at FACE VALUE on a MACROCOSMIC SCALE. I think in either way, there wasn't much room for most people to get it.

The reapers motivation should've been left a mystery. They were always supposed to be just a synthetic malevolent bad guy who had evolved past human concepts of morality. The why wasn't as important as the fact that they were bad and you had to stop them. The explanation the player came up with in their head was always going to be better than whatever motivation that game presented.

Perhaps this is where it will all lead up to with Andromeda and 4 and whatever is to come next. I think the more we were going to find out about the Jarduun in Andromeda is that they were a species that succeeded an exodus from the Milky Way. Between the cloning with memories, the machines, and that AI... I think they had been preparing for War. (A war against WHAT?) So much potential. I can come up with like 10 different plots and 50 different endings depending on the variables. Which is always how I thought ME should end. Three or five choices but depending on the variables leading up to them at least over 80 variations depending on all the choices throughout the game.

one of the main reasons me and my friends from the BioWare forums got upset about the ME3 ending was Casey Hudson himself. He had purposely promised that we weren’t getting an A, B or C ending choice at the end of ME3. And it’s true. We didn’t. We got Red, Blue, and Green. But we felt lied to and betrayed by this. Add to it the hopelessness of the ending that we got, where Shepard was dead, the relays destroyed so that the Turians and Quarians that weren’t with their own people/systems would slowly die of starvation since the eventually would run out of food compatible with their biology, etc. That was corrected a few months later with the Extended Cut Ending DLC, but by then it felt too little too late and I was done with ME as a whole. Now I’m returning with LE and enjoying the story again and hopefully it will all make more sense and feel better with the Extended cut ending instead.

I don't think we need a threat quite on the scale of dark energy or reapers for a couple of games. I'd rather they make a game where the space faring races goes to war against each other and it's up to the player to pick sides and build/rebuild alliances. Maybe a faction of the Geth splits off and they are interested in war... maybe theres a coup detat on tuchanka and the Krogan rebelion 2.0 happens. Maybe the one of the council races have a falling out... Like the Turians and Asari are going at it for whatever reasons... Maybe all the "lesser races" are sick of the current council races running the show. Plenty of things you can do.

The reapers were essentially trying to prevent a "grey goo" kind of future and it's honestly hard to blame them given how stupidly organics play with AI

Very well thought out and explained

Honestly they should have just kept it simple and made the Reapers like the Borg (pre Voyager), harvesting civilisations to make themselves stronger. Make the species of the galaxy be like cattle, being raised and nurtured to maturity and then be hunted like prey to feed the ravenous Reapers and in the minds of the Reapers, being a Reaper is the absolute pinnacle of existence so the dominant species in the galaxy is given the "honour" of having its essence transformed to be come a new Reaper, thus the Reapers warped sense of morality is satisfied and their hunger is satiated, at least for a while. Sure, you go back far enough in time there had to a be "first" civilisation that conquered the galaxy and for some reason were motivated to condense their civilisation into the vessels of living machines. They saw themselves as gods, saw all other species as being lesser than them, existing only to serve as prey but there doesn't need to be a big speech about it or even a justification for it. It's enough that they seem themselves as being top of the food chain.

If they wanted something simple for general public, why not make Crucible an actual super weapon? A Giant Lazer that goes KABOOM and all reapers die and after that depending on your choices galaxy continues. For example, if you've cured Genophage, but Eve died AND Wreave is a Leader of Clan Urdnot, then Krogans start another war. If you've saved Rachni Queen twice, Rachni finally get accepted into Galactic Alliance OR do something else, I dunno. Like in Fallout games, depending on your choices, fates of your companions, yourself and entire Galaxy change. This would've been nice, simple and your choices would've had even bigger impact on the FUTURE of the Galaxy.

Very good critique.

I personally would’ve been all for the dark energy theory

Imo The Mass Effect Trilogy is the goat of the space sci-fi genre. Shepard's tale will always stand out to me as one of the greatest of my generation and that I've ever experienced personally. Despite my admiration though I'm not interested in some product just because they slap the Mass Effect™ on it. Andromeda may as well been named Andriaster fortunately I saw it coming and didn't waste my money. I do very much hope for the future of Mass Effect. But it pains me to admit that I won't hold my breath that EA or even Bioware will make it happen.

I think they still should have gone with the dark energy plot and just at some point seed the idea that even though the reapers were created in the Milky Way they have sent legions of reapers out into the universe with a mandate to spread their mission to the entire universe, one system at at time: it matches the methodical nature of the reapers and reinforces the idea that 'our existence is beyond your comprehension' the fact that their mission is hard to grasp is exactly why it makes sense for immortal robots to have it: for them to look at the biggest possible picture in a way that is difficult for organics.

I don't think in general the back story of the reapers is bad just the part of "Killing you to save you" it's to dumb for godly immortal sentient machines, especially with the catalyst as "contingency plan". Like the synthesis ending is basically what the reapers wanted all along and they always had the power to do it but never done it? I think the subject of AI as a "life" form is fascinating, some of the best sci-fi stories deal with that. Are AI people? They are subject to right like us? A truly sentient AI is a slave if it doesn't have a choice of serving you or not? The Quarian-Geth conflict is one of the best parts of Mass Effect because of dealing with this questions. And since AI research is banned the idea that this is something cycle and the reapers are involved in some way is thematically consistent. I would just change their core motivations. I would just put the reapers as a more advanced and successful version of the Geth. The Leviathans created machines, they become self aware and wanted autonomy, the creators attack them and they fought back in self defense. But being machines with a more logical outlook at reality they never truly hated their creators, so they wanted to stop the conflict without wiping out their creators. The way the found to do this was the harvesting process to integrate the digitalize consciousness and biomass of the species into a machine (cyborg?) that was a hybrid of biological and synthetic life. After the creation of harbinger the reaper slowly saw the same conflict happen again and again with other races, some times the biological life winning, sometime losing, some times mutually assured destruction. He eventually decided to interfere to pacify the results end badly and it is almost destroyed, organic life would never accept synthetic as equals. So it starts to see that the only way to guarantee its own existence is harvesting all advanced organic life and using it to "reproduce". Starting to see itself like the Apex organism, the pinnacle of evolution and that it was justified to "eat" all other life. Just nature following it natural course. Then the cycle begins The crucible would really be the collective effort of a untold numbers of generations slowing studying the reapers and letting counter measures, a poetic notion that all life the reapers exterminated contributed to it's dawn fall. Literally life rejecting the reapers way of life. And while it is a kind of cheap plot device it's not implausible, certainly every cycle someone did what Liara did, let time capsules with information no matter how minimal and of the course of millions or billions years it would amount to a large pool of useful information. The mechanism of the crucible could be something that let all the individual minds flow as individual overwhelming the reapers systems and giving a opportunity for them to be easily killed. Finally if the player successfully resolve the Quarian-Geth war it is proof that a peaceful coexistence is possible and the reapers were wrong. With the player winning not only the physical battle but the moral one.

Why make a story easy to digest? Why make a villain with an understandable motivation? Why not make an ending where you can't stop the dark energy? Not every game needs a happy ending

I still think after all these years that ME3's ending was one of the worst in gaming history.

I remember the one mission from Mass Effect 2 on Haestrom where Tali tells us about dark energy affecting the life cycle of the local star. I think the dark energy problem could still be used as a more "local" or small scale issue. Only affecting our local star systems in the milky way. it could be expanded upon in a way that could still be digestible to the normal person (dark energy could be causing stars and other things to have problems), while still giving the option to investigate deeper and get more information on what it all means. it could either be a major plot point or just a side mission. but I think it would be cool if they expanded upon it.