Why Mordin Solus Is Absolutely Brilliant 

As promised, here are those details: Mordin is the worst squadmate in the collector base by a lot. He has no strengths in the mission and he dies very easily. This is actually very clever and intentional. Mordin has the biggest role in stopping the collectors in terms of the story. He is the sole reason you're actually able to put up a fight against them at all. Having him be bad in the mission balances him out. If he was great in the suicide mission as well as being so vital in the story, the other squadmates would be undercut and look lame in comparison, hurting the games entire premise of 'putting together a team of the absolute best.' You also only realize just how bad he is if you look at the raw coded numbers, in game he'll only seem a little less useful than the rest. And the best part, Mordin’s most likely to die in the section where he is left holding the line. The best way to keep him alive is to have him escort the crew back halfway through the mission, letting him head back early. This strategy is foreshadowed by a dialogue line of his: "Bit of a cloaca though, loved his speeches. 'Hold the line.' Personally prefer to get job done and go home." The #1 way to keep Mordin alive is to let him go home and not make him hold the line, so damn clever.

"Best squadmate isn't Garrus or Tali..." ME fans: *reaches for pitchfork* "...It's Mordin" ME fans: I'll allow this.

I would also like to point out that "I MADE A MISTAKE" is one of the ONLY full sentences Mordin says in the two games he's in.

My favourite aspect about Mordin is his speech - he not only talks fast, but also efficiently by cutting out redundant words to get straight to the point. It truly reflects the Salarian mind.

"Everytime we talked about it You DEFENDED THE GENOPHAGE!" Mordin: I MADE A MISTAKE! That was bone chilling when I first heard him

That scene of mordin crawling to the table, putting every bit of life he had left towards trying to desperately fix his biggest mistake… Jesus that’s soul crushing

The gun metaphor is brilliant. It goes even deeper though. When you first meet Mordin, he’s gives you the gun TO DELIVER THE CURE TO A PLAGUE. Jeeeesus the story writing on Mordin is so tight

Even when it's just a video essay about this mission, Mordin's humming while fixing the genophage brings me to tears.

13:17 - This scene is all the more impactful when contrasted against the alternative. If Mordin died in ME2, the scenes will play out mostly the same but when shooting the Salarian that goes to cure the Genophage, he dies in the elevator. Whereas Mordin is so determined that he crawls all the way to the console using every ounce of strength his life can muster. (Because he's one tough cloaca.)

One thing that hurts even more when you stop Mordin is that it is a renegade interrupt which is tied to most people’s right trigger, meaning you literally have to shoot him in the back instead of watching a cutscene of Shepard doing it themselves

I was actually surprised when Mordin started mentioning about his beliefs. Not trying to dig at people who have them at all, but was mostly just surprised that one of arguably the most scientifically inclined people in our crew was so shaken about what he did with the genophage that he actualy saught comfort in a higher power.

That scene where he's singing at the top of the shroud is so emotional, but the one where you shoot him is actually heartbreaking.

mordin saying "Tell them, I held the line" in one of his death scenes on the suicide mission really hit me. I normally wouldn't have seen this but a friend of mine did a worst possible run for the legendary edition.

When I finally found the datapad in Citadel DLC, I legit sobbed. If you've never found it, hunt around by the bed on the morning after. Listen to everything. The last piece haunts me still. They went full gut punch.

Mordin's "I made a mistake!" is one of the most powerful piece of voice acting in the whole series. Change my mind.

The interactions between Wrex, Mordin, and Eve are some of my favorite in the game. Actually, the interactions between Tali and Legion, and Miranda and Jack are also fantastic. Bioware writers are pretty good at writing "enemies to allies to wary friends." See also: Dorian and Bull in Dragon Age, cutest NPC romance ever.

“Had to be me. Someone else might've gotten it wrong.” Still hurts my soul even after all these years also anyone who gun him down don’t have a heart I couldn’t bring myself to do it even on my evil character

11:25 When he shouted "I made a Mistake!", i legitimately was taken aback and got a bit scarred and felt sorry for him. I've never felt that way over any other video game character, much less a companion character. The best of Mass Effect truly is behind us

He is the best part of those games followed closely by Garrus. I know I wouldn't like him as much without Wrex either

"Hard to see big picture behind pile of corpses" and "Look at the dead woman, Mordin. It doesn't look like you saved her" are my two favorite lines in the entire trilogy and they're both from Mordin's loyalty mission.

Fantastic video on my favorite squadmate! Underrated conversation: Daniel: But doctor, you believe in helping people! Mordin: Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes cure patients, sometimes kill dangerous people. Either way helps.

I never fail to get chills when he shouts “I MADE A MISTAKE!” Even watching out of context in your video here. I tend to play a Shepard who is deeply conflicted about what to do in this situation. S/he’ll go right up to the line of killing Mordin, then give in. Because killing Mordin doesn’t just mean betraying Mordin, it means betraying Eve, who is so wise and full of hope and grace, and Wrex. Who just called you his sister. Because BioWare needs to bring that little bit more ow. The Wrex/Eve/Mordin story is what I always try to describe to people when giving an example of BioWare’s occasional brilliance with storytelling, but I never succeed in doing it justice. Will be sending your video from now on. We’ll done. You’ve got yourself a new subscriber.

I felt so bad when I played Legendary Edition after years away from the series. Remembering that I loved Mordin and was excited to play his Loyalty, obviously remembering what it was. But what I didn't remember was... the dead volunteer conversation. My god. I kept hitting the options I agreed with, and he kept hitting back. It felt like a genuine fight between me and the character. Except a fight isn't the correct term. He's defending his past self, and I'm attacking both him and his past. It was more like bullying him. I didn't like what I was doing, but it was as if I had a moral duty to go against him.

i do find it interesting how they managed to humanize what is effectively salarian Mengele. his line where he snaps is the part that made me fall in love with this guy, his " i made a mistake!" was so well voice acted sounds like he was actually fighting himself during it

Mordin is one of a very small handful of fictional characters whose death made me literally cry. Such a good character, for sure

I'd like to add another thing people tend to misnotice. When Mordin started to work on genophage, he saw quite a different Tuchanka we see. Wreav and people like that krogan who hold Maelon were in charge. Eve was locked in the female camp who had no actual voice around. He had actual, good reasons to believe _then_ what he can be conviced in fourth outcome - and still he stopped working because, well, ethically his actions are discussable. Still, Tuchanka was split between clans one worse then another. The reason that political situation on Tuchanka changed was Shepard - even if Wrex didn't survive, Shepard's destroying the Saren's cure is kind of known and launched changes. Shepard changed Mordin's situation before Mordin ever appeared in game.

Mordin's death hit me the most out of all of them. The way he was singing broke my heart; he didn't want to die, but he had to. He was the only one who could do it. And he knew. HE HELD THE LINE

I literally use his “it had to me, somebody else would’ve gotten it wrong” line as a life mantra when I’m given responsibilities even when I don’t want to do them.

Wonderful work, awesome analysis of Mordin’s mission! God, he’s so awesome and actually is like the first character whose story arc made me “do what’s right” instead of just saving him in ME3. You just know that it is RIGHT for him to sacrifice himself and cry and let him do it. Awful death. Incredible writing.

I grew so attached to Mordin. He had a personal code of ethics that was malleable. His sacrifice made me cry. "Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong." Thane's final prayer also tugged a few tears out of me.

It's very hard for me to pick who's best between my three favorites Mordin, Wrex, Garrus. Each of them offers really compelling stories and character growth.

Now you've made me want to go play ME2 again just so I can see Mordin again. He really is my favorite and you reinforced that. They did a great job writing him.

I've actually never seen that scene of Mordin admitting his guilt before your video, that was incredibly sad but I'm so glad you highlighted it! Your commentary was great, I loved the video.

I must have over 60 or so playthroughs, and Mordin's sacrifice still gets to me to this day.

Between this video, your one about Jacob, and that last little dunk on Kai Leng, you've got yourself a new subscriber! I actually did a renegade playthrough in which, among other things, Mordin survived. It's a surprisingly heartbreaking outcome for him; his redemption almost hinges on him dying in the third game. He is absolutely one of my favorite characters in the franchise.

In my playthrough, I let the krogan know about the cure and seeing Mordin die completely gutted me. I didn't get to see the moment where he admits to regretting the genophage. Here come the waterworks. Edit: and you're absolutely right. Mordin is an amazing character. Intelligent, funny and attuned so many people's lives eventhough it would seem he's too busy to even notice. I remember wondering why he wasn't a romance option because I most definitely would have been all up in that. Hehe

It's criminal you don't have more subs. Your analysis are always entertaining and informative.

Him and kirahee are the best salarians Edit-my fave squad mates are garrus, Tali, Kaiden and wrex

Replaying ME trilogy for the first time since 3 launched now. By chance I stumbled on to the Mordin "MISTAKE!" ending the first time and that whole sequence is still burned into my mind a decade later.

"This mission to save a race... is my penance for destroying one." This is probably my favourite Mordin quote and the closest you can get to summing up his entire character in a single line. This specific quote didn't appear in the games, but was instead the first thing he said in his fight for the lost trailer. Meaning that these words were the first words many players heard from Mordin's mouth

for me, it's always a fight between whether mordin or legion is my favorite character. both of them have an insane amount of galactic impact, but this video reminded me of just how flawed and complex mordin actually is. kudos!

What's even more amazing to me is how with how common it is for Mordin to die, they managed to follow him up with a character who carries on his work and has almost as strong of a personality and impact in the short time you get to spend with him.

I actually gasped at hearing Mordin say "I made a mistake." I've never seen that version of that scene before. Hearing Mordin, always so sure about his actions and methods, say that with that much force. God damn. I'm blown away

I think Mordin is someone who I found to have one of the most unique character developments I have seen. Rather than it being "he was evil but now he's good" it's more of a case of someone who believed wholeheartedly in consequentialism - that the ends justify the means - realising his errors and starting to adopt Aristotle's views of ethics, where the ends and means should both be benevolent. All it took for him to realise the errors in his ways was seeing a much darker reflection in the mirror in the form of Maelon, as whilst the both of them were trying to achieve opposite goals, they believed that what they were trying to achieve was good for the galaxy, even if the means were ultimately barbaric: Mordin says that the genophage isn't a method of genocide, rather it just makes it so the Krogan have less babies, even if it meant that it took the freedom to have kids away from the Krogans. Maelon thought that his experiments are completely fine because the women volunteered themselves, even if they were put under horrible conditions.

How to make yourself cry over Mordin even more: a tutorial 1. Play as femshep. Name her "Grace" 2. Play the game 3. Play the citadel dlc in ME3, and after waking up after the party, locate the data pad on the floor by the bed 4. Play Mordin's recordings he sent you 5. On the last one, he sings a verse from Amazing Grace: "Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come 'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far And Grace will lead me home" 6. Cry a lot

The first time he did that musical number in my playthrough I was surprised but endeared into laughter. Beautifully developed character.

HE IS!!!!! I mean, I’m biased because he’s my favorite character in the whole franchise, but he really was given a lot of attention by the devs, and I’m so happy about that. Love that this video popped up in my recommendations, couldn’t agree more. ❤️

Why Mordin is the very model of a scientist salarian? 1 - He's scientist 2- He's salarian Jokes aside very great video

When Mordin started talking about Kirrache I was crying “ loved his speeches hold the line , rather just get the job done and go home “🤣🤣🤣

The fact that he figures out that you're trying to delay him so quickly. 😢 I adore Wrex and Mordin. They both deserves peace.

I'm in love with your content man. So glad that people are still keeping up the legacy of the series to this very day

If you played ME1 first, his stort also has a distinct inertia The genophase is a huge part of world building brought up quite a few times by characters big and small and Mordin sets himself as the things arcitect So the more players have been paying attention the more that inertia will affect the players

I found you literally not even an hour ago and saw the worse squadmate video -I heavily agree with it!- I also agree here with him being the best, I still recall playing the game for the first time and having to stop for a near three weeks when he died. I literally cried over this man so much during that time. Seeing him crawl to still try and undo what he did? You're breaking my heart, I'm tearing up there. I thought I was fine by now but no I'm still an emotional mess over his death. God, Mordin just makes me real emotional. The only character to make me stop a game for so long to mourn. It was only a year ago that I played the original trilogy -and replayed the remastered the day it came out-

"I made a MISTAKE!" Dude. Chills. Every time.

Love the analysis. Hope you keep things like this going.

In me 3 when he shouts "i made a mistake!" absolute shivers down the spine

What an amazing video! I had never thought of Mordin like this, nor paid too much attention to his own story arc. Great job :)

What a great vid! Thank’s for making these!!!

Patrick Weekes is amazing at writing these types of morally ambiguous characters, and that's why I believe Solas will have a great arc in DA4. Beautiful analysis, loved it :)

Clean editing, nice voice over, nice audio balance, knowledgable, organized, timestamps, high quality gameplay, relatable gamer. The algorithm blessed me with your channel and I love these videos.

The first time I played ME3 the shroud scene made me full on on sob, and I've never had any other piece of media affect me so thouroughly. I wonder what kind of game it could have been if the same level of care and detail could have been applied to everything.

I just recently played these games for the first time, and Mordin was a character who I knew nothing about going in (I'd never even seen him before meeting him), and he and his story completely blindsided me. It's been a very long since a character cut me so deep that I was crying at his death. One that has stuck with me since finishing it. Unsurprisingly, he became one of my absolute favorites. This vid only hammered it home further and I thank you for that (despite me JUST seeing this lol).

I remember the moment when I fell in love with Mordin. There is a scene in ME2 where his assistant says something like 'How can you kill them? You' re a doctor! You're supposed to help people!' and Mordin just replies that there are many ways of helping people - sometimes curing them, sometimes executing dangerous individuals. That's when I knew - he' s my salarian.

Great video! Always loved Mordin and in the 12 playthroughs I have done of the trilogy, the shroud always gets me, no matter what way I play it. The first time I was trying to play Ms. Hardass Renegade Shep, that red renegade action icon blinked in the corner for what felt like an eternity, beckoning me to shoot him. I couldn't do it. Just could not.

just finished your jacob video and caught this one just in time!!! excellent work mate, definitely got a new subscriber in me. your formatting and ability to concisely phrase your analysis is brilliant.

Mordin is what I was expecting from Renegade Shepherd when I read the ME1 manual ("Lots of ways to help people; sometimes cure a disease, sometimes execute dangerous individuals.") rather than what you actually get which is a Chaotic Neutral psycho.

I never really though about it before but the singing ending was probably a reference to either taking strength from Shepard's example or even better taking comfort in the (likely best) friendship as he died

As a former choir girl Mordin had my heart with his Music Man solo. Love him.

Makes me cry every time. So heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. Best game series ever!

I would just talk to Mordin btw every mission of ME2, I loved him so much 🥰

Not me tearing up at the last line of this video :'( What a great video, loved the perspective!

Every RU-vid video about the Genophage: 1. Everybody calls it a sterility plague even though it is not, Mordin would be disappointed. 2. Everybody forgets that the Genophage was developed because the Krogan were unstoppable savages going on a genocidal rampage.

Seeing Mordin die was the most heartbreaking moment in PC gaming. Hearing him sing just tore through my heart. Well done Bioware and fy bioware. It's not easy to make people care, Mordin was just the best

My favorite moment from Mass effect is when Mordin stares at the camera and says there iconic trademarked catchphrase “it’s Mordin time”

I didn’t even know of that fourth possibility! Thanks for covering!

To me, Mordin dying on top of the tower was the best ending for him. Truly fitting in every way. Even his death was a memorable event. The other alternatives for him aren't that good IMO. Retirement at the beach? As if Mording would have ever done that. He admitted to that. Saving Mording till the end? Can be done, but IMO it takes away from his character and the entire game. Means playing full renegade, Wrex get killed in ME1, Maelon's data being destroyed in ME2 and not telling about the salarian plot in ME3. Particluary destroying Maelon's data in ME2 reinforces that Mordin thinks curing the genophage is wrong, hence there wouldn't be the "I made a mistake" part

Hey, just wanted to say you make amazing videos and deserve more subscribers.

A great video. I had knowledge of the other Mordin endings but had never seen the actual dialogue for them.

YES! Mordin has always been my favourite character so to see a full fledged out video on him makes my day! Even when I did a Renegade playthrough, the only action I didn’t do was shooting Mordin before he goes up the tower, I could not physically bring myself to do it

Love his character arc, even if it was a bit obvious. My favorite character from the series by far. My favorite way to resolve the genophage is by doing everything renegade right until the end. I had my Shepard staunchly pro genophage, openly hostile towards Wrex in dialogue (but spared him in ME1). She was unfazed by the brutality in Mordin's loyalty mission, let him kill Maelon, and destroyed the data, believing it could be a huge problem. Come ME3 she was still supportive of the genophage and made it clear to Wrex that the cure was just a pragmatic way to get turian support. She assumes Mordin feels the same and decides to go with the dalatrass' offer to sabotage the cure. When it comes time to disperse the cure she tries to stop Mordin and gets to hear that amazing "I MADE A MISTAKE!" line. But right when my Shep pulls the Carnifex on Mordin I don't hit the trigger. She's done awful things over the course of ME but cannot bring herself to murder a friend and betray another, deciding to let him die in peace and correct his self-admitted mistake. I love the ways you can develop your Shepard and give them an arc over the course of the series, the genophage cure was just as important to my Shepard as it was to Mordin and Wrex.

I honestly fell in love with his character when he sacrificed himself to cure the Genophage. And he had a sassy line as his send off. Top tier character

I always cry whit him singing as he sacrfices himself, why do i keep re watching the same scene

Thank you for the video! Mordin quickly became my favorite squad mate while playing the second one. I can honestly listen to him all day

I think this video is missing a small section, Mordin's impact on other characters not in your party. Such as what Maelon says about him, and particularly when you ask Padok wix is he knew mordin. "I once punched him in the face" will never not make me laugh.

This was a fantastically made video. I was wondering if you were going to bring up the gun, but you did. When I first learned that I was heartbroken…and honestly kinda impressed on a writing level. This video seems like it took a lot of time to compile and write up. If you’re looking for reason, I’d love to see you keep doing these (and I’m sure others would too). I’m particularly interested in seeing you talk about the arcs and nuances of the squad-mates (and even other supporting characters like Joker and Traynor). Garrus and Tali already have some immense talking points, and I’d love to hear what you have to say about them. Mass Effect 1-3 has been my favorite videogame series since I played ME2 back when it was released on my old 360. Now with the legendary edition and RU-vid commentary channels, I’m always looking for deep-dive videos like these. Again, wonderful job.

I am playing through the trilogy yet again. and while I have a personal canon I like to stick to it always gets me searching for paths I haven't taken. I'm glad I discovered you this time around as this video and its "worst character" counterpart are wonderfully written, and masterfully presented. I hope you find the time to continue what you have started. Based on my familiarity with mass effect I would love to see more about the series, yet also believe with your style, presenting pertinent background information interlaced with critical cutscenes, even stories about a game I haven't played would have a similarly significant impact on me. there were very few ME facts or scenes in this video that were new to me, yet having watched this I feel as though I've had a new experience. Thank you and great work!

Legit got chills when he started singing 5 seconds in

He had to be the best character, someone else might have gotten it wrong.

Fan of Mass effect here so I do enjoy these videos. ✌🏾

Eh okay I'm replaying this damn game. Just thinking about Mordin storyline gives me goosebumps, his writing is so tight. When "I MADE A MISTAKE" line dropped during my first playthrough, I was just as speechless as my Shepard

Hi! This video was incredibly done and I love the points you bring out and the way you pace them - you did a fantastic job of highlighting what makes Mordin such a great character and the way you intersperse the gameplay with your commentary really makes it all hit home! Thank you for this! the entire time i rlly was just goin mordin my friend mordin :') 11/10 this video essay is so important to me

I hope you do a video about Tali, i like her arc that goes from her being kinda a wierd nationalist, bordering on fascist, in the first game to accepting the geth as allies in the third game and feeling regret over the loss of Legion, someone she at the start of her arc would have shot on sight without a second thought.

the whole time i was playing ME1 i was thinking about how cool it'd be to have a Salarian squadmate and Mordin DID NOT disappoint. even though he's not playable in ME3 i loved seeing him return and complete his own character arc. lost him on the suicide mission and knew just this once i had to reset. absolutely bullshit a former STG operative known for being as good with a gun as he is with a scalpel is rated as a lvl 1 defender.

I hope you continue these videos. I could watch a video on every character. I’d love to see Wrex, Garrus, Legion, EDI, or Tali

I like to imagine that after the events of ME3, Shepard, Wrex and Eve spread the word among the krogan about what Mordin did for them. Statues of him go up all over Tuchanka. And every year on Solusday, krogan children bring seashells from faraway lands and lay them at the statues' feet.

Watching killing Mordin by Shepard was too much for me. I didn't save him in every playthrough I did, but he died like a hero on his terms. Fantastic character

Good vid. I’d say Mordin is the best character in ME2, but not the best in the whole trilogy. For me, that honor goes to Tali, and I’m not even including her romance plot. In ME, you meet Tali on her pilgrimage and she serves as your conduit into quarian history and culture. She also offers an unsurprising perspective on the geth which lines up nicely with your mission, but as Shepard, regardless of whether you go paragon/renegade, you’re very critical of the quarians’ decision to permanently deactivate all geth once they started inquiring about the state of their existence. Because Tali is the only quarian you meet in the first game, you get the impression that her views reflect that of the entire race. In ME2, you get introduced to the quarians as a whole and you learn that there are multiple perspectives on the geth. In fact, the varied beliefs are spread across all the members of the Admiralty Board, the highest authoritative body of the Migrant Fleet. On top of this, Tali’s father is an Admiral on the board, and it becomes apparent that Tali’s stated beliefs in the first game were heavily influenced by her father. In the second game, we see a more mature Tali who still believes as her father does but is more mindful of the impact of such beliefs on the lives of those closest to her. She’s resentful of the fact that her mission on Haestrom took her into geth space and cost the lives of her friends and peers. On her loyalty mission, things reach a breaking point. Tali sees what happens when beliefs are taken too far. Her father - desperate to take back the quarian home world within his lifetime - committed atrocious acts in pursuit of that goal. His actions cost the lives of everyone aboard his ship and endangered the entire fleet. Despite this, Tali’s father uses his last moments to record instructions for Tali to shut down his project. Tali, who respected her father so much despite not having much of a relationship with him is totally wrecked by these events. She spent her entire life living up to her father’s expectations; willing to promote his beliefs as her own; and now, she sees just how far an exalted figure like her father can fall. Despite this, she pleads with Shepard not to destroy her father’s reputation even if that means permanently losing her place in quarian society. To her, the integrity of the fleet and by extension, her people, is more important than her connection to them. This is again reinforced when Tali confronts Legion after both their loyalty missions are complete. ME3 is when Tali truly becomes her own person. She realizes that she can’t live her life in accordance with someone else’s beliefs, even if it’s a person she loves and respects. She needs to make her own decisions in accordance with her own beliefs. Sometimes, things will work out nicely and other times, they won’t. But she’ll be able to own everything she does and separate that from the actions of other people. After the Sanctuary mission, she reminisces about her past self and how foolish she was in blindly accepting everything her father taught her. It wasted so much time focusing on Zorah when she should’ve been focusing on Tali. That’s why I think Tali’s journey was the most impactful out of all the Mass Effect characters. Everyone else had a sense of identity when you meet them. Their decisions, goals, aspirations, desires, and feelings were all their own. Tali is the exception. Before her loyalty mission, it was hard to tell whether Tali actually believed in the rhetoric that she expressed. The only genuine moments she had were small talk moments. But every time she talked about quarian issues, she sounded flat, as if she was just saying what she thought her father would say. But now, she can speak for herself. It may not always get her where she wants to go, but she’s walking and talking on her own.

I love Mordin, great video and I hope you do more character profiles some day starting with Wrex

Haven't played this game in years. Haven't thought about it in years. Hearing Mordin quietly singing before he dies legit brought a tear to my eye as if i experienced it for the first time. That scene is just brilliant!

YES!! A thousand times yes!! I love Mordin, and he did way more in such a limited amount of screen time than alot of other people. I wish I could cure the Genophage and save him 🥺💕 I cry everytime. People who kill him are monsters. I love Eve and his relationship with her they're so cute.