Mass Effect 3's polarizing ending has led to tens of thousands of fans signing petitions and even one over-zealous nut filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, OK buddy.
Those thousands of people, just didn't get it.
That's my honest opinion. The ending's grand design was totally lost on these people, maybe that is the fault of the developer, but the ending's philosophical and visceral finale was not as it seems.
Spoilers begin, be careful those who scroll beyond here:
The 'ending' we'll say, begins when Shepard make his way to London, after hauling fleets from all over the galaxy to Earth in order to re-take the planet, and connect the giant Crucible project to the Citadel, which turns out was the Catalyst (object needed to complete the project and defeat the Reapers) all along. A pretty good 'gasp' moment. The Citadel? The height of government and culture in the galaxy actually an integral part to its design. Wild.
The Reapers brought the Citadel to Earth to protect it, as that is where most of the living synthetic ships were, creating the perfect setting for a final stand. I love the incredible sense of drama this creates and the thousands of allied ships jump into view on one side, the giant Reapers on the other.
Shepard and his task force is able to punch through and make his way to London, where they are trying to get to what essentially mounts up to being a transportation beam up to the Citadel, which has all of its arms closed tight to prevent the Crucible from working, and any ships from docking. Those clever Reapers.
Shepard makes his way to the beam although not before getting knocked back by a Reaper laser, where most of his team is presumed dead.
This is where things get interesting, and where fans start to lose grasp on what's actually going on.
Shepard is not actually going up the beam to the Citadel.
What?
Nope. He's being indoctrinated. By the Reapers. They are controlling his mind, which they've done before on other characters like Saren from the first game and the Rachni Queen as well.
Which is why things seem so dream-like or un-real. Things aren't quite right when he makes it up there. The rooms he see's are similar to ones he's seen in previous parts of his life. The Collector Base, there are elements of Omega and the Citadel. It's all an attempt to control and warp Shepard's mind. Show him the familiar so it's believable. Similar to the Geth mission where Shepard enters the Geth Consensus, but more fleshed out.
Why else would Admiral Anders also have made it up the Citadel with him? Why did no one else? Why is the control room right next to where he beams up? It's all happening inside of Shepard's mind. And this fight is actually a fight to save his mind from being indoctrinated by the Reapers and becoming like Saren, The Illusive Man and others.
There are hints throughout that illustrate this, and I can't possibly go through them all, but if the player pays attention to the subtle things happening throughout the game, like the child he see's on Earth and in his dreams, it's a sign that the Reapers are attempting to control Shepard through emotions. It's been happening since he met Harbinger.
The duel of words that happens between Shepard, the Illusive Man, and Admiral Anders is all a trick by the Reaper indoctrination process.
This is the final test, and if you chose the correct path, the one on the right, and destroyed the conduit (the deceptively 'renegade' red one) Shepard's mind has defeated the indoctrination process. And instead sees images of the Reaper defeat with the a giant wave of energy, spreading all over the Galaxy. And the Normandy landing on a lush and strange environment, a sign of hope.
This is why the hologram on the Citadel looks so much like that child on Earth, he was never really there. Shepard was the only person who ever saw him, because he was already being indoctrinated, which can be a slow gradual process. The child was a way to play to Shepard's heartstrings and integrating him into the final test brings the whole process full circle.
What's not clear, and hopefully Bioware/EA will address this, is what happened in reality? Were the Reapers actually defeated, or did Shepard just prevent himself from becoming a Reaper slave? That is what is unclear.
But you can't always have a cut and dry ending that sums up absolutely everything. There is clearly going to more to the Mass Effect universe, and to cut and run like that would be a disservice to the fans.
Perhaps the developers should have made it more clear what was actually happening in that epic final scene, but slowly discovering the reality is what Mass Effect is all about. This is why I think the hubbub about the ending is pretty much an enormous misunderstanding.
I personally loved the ending, and I'm hoping EA/Bioware doesn't change this internal struggle, but shows more of what happens in reality.
This youtube video sums it all up beautifully, but I will digress I realized a lot of this before watching, but it puts it together so elegantly it's a must-watch.
I can't wait for the next chapter in this amazing universe. Well done Bioware.
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