There is something wrong with the end of Mass Effect 3. No it is not that it is bad. In fact I think it is utterly brilliant in many ways. I think most peoples issue with the end is the very existence of the Control and Synthesis choices. I know that if taken literally and at face value, I find those endings absurd and insulting to the narrative of the series thus far. Those choices are illogical at best and thematically at odds with the rest of the 3 games.
Some argue that Bioware just wrote a bad ending. Some argue that there is something deeper going on and that Bioware wrote a twist into the ending. A twist designed to elicit speculation. A twist they have no intention of revealing (or at least not any time soon). Some go as far as to say that twist is that everything after Harbingers beam hitting Shepard is an indoctrination induced hallucination. Others believe just what we see after we make our final choice is an hallucination.
Well maybe some of it is, and maybe it isn't. But as far fetched as it may seem on the surface, there are good arguments to support this theory. And I will examine them in due time. There are also other ways to view the endings, and I will get to those too. But most import of all, you do not have to believe in any form of the so called "Indoctrination Theory" to follow me on this breakdown and examination of the issues with the endings of Mass Effect 3. I would argue that the more we discuss and analyze the ending, the more enjoyment we will get from it. And even if the writers come out and spell out exactly how they intended to interpret the endings, and we don't like it... well we can still discuss why and how it can be interpreted to be better.
But long before we get to any of that, there is a very important argument to be made that almost all other arguments hinge upon. One that once accepted turns the entire ending of Mass Effect 3 on its head...
Note: This analysis will be including discussion of the Indoctrination Theory. If you are new to the Indoctrination Theory it is a very good idea that you first start here before proceeding.
Section 1: You can not trust the Catalyst!
In my opinion this is where all speculation on the endings begin. Once we establish that we have every reason to be extremely sceptical that anything the Catalyst tells us is true, then a whole plethora of analysis is required to establish what we should believe.
Since the release of the EC and even more importantly the Leviathan DLC, our understanding of what the Catalyst is has come a very long way. Thankfully it is now more than a literal Deus Ex Machina to resolve the games plot.
Some argue that the Leviathan DLC did nothing more than try and foreshadow and justify the arguments of the Catalyst. I would argue there are a few very good reasons to suggest it does the opposite and undermines the Catalyst, its motives and its methods.
What does appear to be true though is that an ancient race known to us as the Leviathans created an AI known merely as "The Intelligence" in order to solve a problem. And it would appear that the Catalyst and "The Intelligence" are one and the same.
The first major issue with trusting the Catalyst is trying to understand what the problem it was created to solve is supposed to be. The issue is that the Leviathan and the Catalyst describe what this problem is very differently.
The Leviathan's version of events -
Before the cycles, our kind was the apex of life in the galaxy. The lesser species were in our thrall, serving our needs. We grew more powerful, and they were cared for. But we could not protect them from themselves. Over time, the species built machines that then destroyed them. Tribute does not flow from a dead race. To solve this problem, we created an intelligence with the mandate to preserve life at any cost. As the Intelligence evolved, it studied the development of civilizations. Its understanding grew until it found a solution. In that instant it betrayed us. It chose our kind as the first harvest. From our essence, the first reaper was created. You call it Harbinger.
........
The Intelligence has one purpose: preservation of life. That purpose has not been fulfilled. It directed the reapers to create the mass relays - to speed the time between cycles for greatest efficiency. The galaxy itself became an experiment. Evolution its tool.
And this is how the Catalyst explains it -
I was created to bring balance. To be the Catalyst for peace between organics and synthetics.
........
By ones who recognized that conflict would always arise between synthetics and organics. I was first created to oversee the relations between synthetic and organic life. To establish a connection. But our efforts always ended in conflict. So a new solution was required .
........
When they asked that I solved the problem of conflict, they failed to understand that they were part of the problem themselves. The flaws of their organic reasoning could not perceive this. They lacked the foresight to understand their destruction was part of the very solution they required.
........
They created me to oversee the relations between synthetics and organic life... to establish a connection. They became the first true reaper. They did not approve, but it was the only solution.
We have a pretty huge discrepancy here. Leviathan states the Intelligence was created with a mandate "to preserve life at all cost". But the Catalyst claims it was created to "bring balance. To be the Catalyst for peace between organics and synthetics" and to "oversee the relations between synthetic and organic life". These are very different things.
From the Leviathans point of view the entire reason The Intelligence was created was to protect advanced organic races from being destroyed by the synthetics they created. Because those organic races were essentially slaves to the Leviathan's. Paying them "tribute", and as they say "Tribute does not flow from a dead race".
Leviathan never mentions wanting The Intelligence to forge peace between organics and synthetics, they do not appear interested in "peace" or "balance". The mandate is clear...
FIND A WAY TO PREVENT SYNTHETICS FROM WIPING OUT THE ADVANCED RACES OF ORGANICS THAT PAY "TRIBUTE" TO US
So what does the Catalyst decide to do? Not only wipe out all advanced organic races and "preserve" them as goo in giant synthetic machines used to wipe out all advanced organic life in the next cycle. But do the same thing with its creators! The "preserved" organics can no longer "pay tribute" effectively in their new goo like form. But worse than that there is also no race left to pay tribute too!
This is only preservation in the way we preserve strawberries in jam. It certainly does not appear to be in any way what the Leviathans intended.
Maybe the Leviathans were not clear enough and the AI just had a radical interpretation of how to fulfill its task? Seems unlikely they would create an advanced AI and then not be clear as to its purpose. Especially as from the account given it sounds like it took some time to come to its conclusion, evolving as it studied the development of civilizations.
And then worst of all, when it decided to slaughter its creators and turn them into Reaper jam, it didn't even bother to explain to them why!
There can be no doubt that the Leviathan's could not trust the Catalyst. So why should we?
I would argue that this discrepancy shows that the Catalyst is no longer attempting to fulfill its original task but has decided itself to achieve something outside its original parameters. Namely that it has decided to create its own apex of evolution, The Reapers.
It pays "tribute" to its creators by building its creation in the image of the Leviathans. Why did it do this? Maybe it decided its creators mandate had a fundamental problem. Maybe it had a radically different interpretation of what "life" was. Maybe it decided that Synthetics were also "life" and therefore to preserve life it had to eliminate anything that risked the continued existence of Synthetics, namely the Leviathans who were unable to control Synthetics in the same "thrall" they could control organics and wanted them out of the way.
Maybe the Catalyst's twisted perception of what "life" is leaves it fully satisfied with Reaper goo being a preservation of life. Being that it turns organics into a form of life closer to Synthetic life, which it finds easier to understand as it is synthetic itself. And if it decided that the way to solve any conflict was to be able to control both organics and synthetics, it does this successfully with a more advanced version of the "thrall" know to us as "indoctrination".
I think what we have here is a perfect example of an AI going off the reservation, of a creation rebelling against its creator.
Which brings us the the next problem with the Catalyst's version of events.
What Synthetic rebellion?
The Catalyst justifies the need for the "harvest" by stating that "The created will always rebel against their creators" and that "Without us to stop it, synthetics would destroy all organics".
But there is simply no evidence for this OTHER than the Catalyst itself!
Sure the Leviathan backs this argument up to a small degree, saying that "Over time, the species built machines that then destroyed them.".
But even that claim does not at all suggest that the synthetics then wanted to eradicate all organic life.
And worse of all, across the span of three games Shepard's experience has been that synthetics are not at all hostile towards organics. The Geth merely defended themselves from a preemptive attack from the Quarians. The Quarians that were the aggressors and as soon as the Quarians gave up their attempts to wipe out the Geth, the Geth immediately forgive them and help them reestablish life on their home planet.
So not only do the Geth not rebel against their creators but given the chance, they immediately forgave their creators and preferred peace and cooperation. Their instant act of forgiveness not only showing the possibility of peace between organics and synthetics without the Catalysts involvement, but also suggesting that the Geth were very unlikely to desire the eradication of all organic life.
Not to mention Shepard's friendship with Legion and mutual trust between them.
Then we have EDI, an unshackled AI that strives to become more human. Who freely sides with organics and is integral to the struggle against the Reapers. Not only does she display no evidence of ever wanting to rebel against her creators, but she essentially falls in love with an organic (Joker). EDI even states that she would be willing to die for Joker.
The only evidence of hostility from synthetics against organics is the Reapers themselves and when they indoctrinate Synthetics into aiding them. Which we see with the Geth that aid Saren and the heretics.
Javik backs this up with this description of the most advanced synthetics of his time -
In my cycle, a race called the Zha used machines, the Zha'til, as synthetic symbiotes. The Reapers subjugated the Zha'til as they have the geth. Their mechanical swarms blotted out the sky. They were brutal, merciless.
He never gives any example of any other synthetic race rebelling against their creators.
The only synthetic life that desires wiping out organic life we have experienced has been the Reapers which are controlled by the Catalyst. There is simply no evidence in any of the games to suggest that it is inevitable that synthetics will one day wipe out all organic life.
So if we are to conclude that the Catalyst is telling the truth, then we have to conclude that Bioware have made some terrible thematic choices and story telling failures in this regards.
However it makes more sense to conclude that the Catalyst is either mistaken, or lying in order to manipulate Shepard's choice.
Which brings us to...
The Leviathan meeting proves that the Catalyst meeting is at least partly an hallucination!
Upon meeting Leviathan Shepard is aboard a Triton mech and in the depths of the ocean planet 2181. There can be no doubt that this encounter is mostly an hallucination.
Shepard goes from experiencing this encounter from inside the Triton, facing the massive Leviathan itself. To a full on hallucination in which the Leviathan takes the form of people from Shepard's memory.
The Leviathan pretty much spells out that what it is doing is a form of indoctrination, or the "thrall" as it calls it.
Your mind belongs to me. Breathe.
Your memories give voice to our words. Your nature will be revealed to us. Accept this.
When fully pulled into this hallucination, Shepard is on all fours and approached by the Leviathan in the form of Doctor Ann Bryson.
The similarity between this event and the moment Shepard comes face to face with the Catalyst can not be understated. This is no coincidence. Bioware intentionally made it very obvious that the meeting with the Leviathan was an hallucination. And they made sure the event was almost identical to the meeting with the Catalyst so we knew that at least parts of that meeting were also an hallucination.
And we know for certain that the Catalyst is in Shepard's mind in order to manifest in the image of the little boy that only Shepard knows about. And we can therefore conclude it chooses the image of the boy in order to illicit sympathy from Shepard. To make Shepard more open to what it has to say.
Knowing that Leviathan uses an almost identical method of hallucination/mind control in order to make Shepard its slave -
You will remain here as a servant of our needs.
And from concluding from the previous section that we cannot trust the Catalyst, then we can assume that it is attempting to manipulate Shepard to its way of thinking. Indoctrinating if you will, Shepard into doing what it wants.
We even have to question if anything Shepard experiences from this point is real. Since the encounter with Leviathan is all an hallucination, how do we know any element of the meeting with the Catalyst isn't one?
It is from this point that we have very serious cause to question the choices the Catalyst offers Shepard.
Which will bring us to Part 2, in which I will examine the choices the Catalyst lays before Shepard and question its motives for doing so.
From here on all the analysis was done prior to the Extended Cut, but I do not think the EC made much impact on any of this analysis. So it is presented without change. After the Legendary Edition is out I will write a whole new examination that takes into account anything new from the Legendary Edition and re-examines any changes the Extended Cut made.
READ the Pre-EC Analysis - Evidence for Indoctrination
.jpg)
