Making peace with the ME3 ending

[JamieCOTC]

When reaching the acceptance stage it must be done at your own pace and must be dealt with in your own mind.  I think I've finally reached that point.  I've been investigating the Indoctrination Theory via posts, youtube videos and blogs. To be honest, I don't buy it, not in the way it is presented. The way the IT is typically presented it that after Harbinger blasts the ground in front of her, Shepard is knocked back and from then on everything happens in Shepard's mind.  She is battling indoctrination and if she picks either control or synthesis, Shepard loses the battle. If she picks destroy, Shepard resists indoctrination and (if EMS is high enough) Shepard can live to fight another day.  Unfortunately, the only way this works is if the game isn't finished and the "real" ending is coming via DLC later on.  The theory on that is that the original story got leaked and BW didn't have time to completely do a new ending, so they made a temp ending to give them the time to finish it properly. 

I don't buy it.  95% of everything proposed by the IT (Indoctrination Theory) can be explained away by ME3 being a rushed product, game play mechanics changing to further the story, inept writing, "speculation from everyone" and simple coincidence.  However that does leave some other oddities, mostly Shepard clinging to her left side starring at a gaping wound in the same place Anderson had just been shot. Digging into PC files, players have found the foliage on the planet the Normandy crashed called "Dream_Foliage." That's a pretty big indication that the entire Normandy crash was a dream or in Shepard's mind. Still, I don't fully buy IT as it is presented.  For me it is entirely possible that the events of the final are happening in Shep's mind AND in reality at the same time.  In other words, IT could be probable, but the ending we got is still the final ending. If the game isn't finished, then why would BW bother w/ the EC? 

Anyway, just my opinion and I'm sticking to it, though I think destroy is still the best ending.  ;P

If you want to learn everything you can about the IT, go to INDOCTRINATION: The Definitive Guide to the Mass Effect 3 Ending Co... If anything, it is entertaining. 

EDIT: For those interested in the IT, the author who compiled the above information has a new site that delves even further into the theory. 

LINK: http://masseffectindoctrination.blogspot.com/

[SageQueen]

thanks for the link, jamie.

personally, i think given what's in game, IT makes total and complete sense. even little things like the weird warning sign on the wall next to the vent when you meet the kid in vancouver seem to point to indoctrination. the more i read about IT, the closer attention i pay in game to things that are said, the codex, etc., the less i believe the child, the more i feel something else was afoot...

or that it should have been afoot. cause, really, everything OUT of the game points away from IT. everything the devs said/released speaks of ... well, i'm not sure what. but it seems that they feel the end *is* the end. this astounds me, because there is not an end, so far as i can tell, but that seems to be what the 'official' word is.

so either the ending is brilliant misdirection from IT or it's a completely off-the-rails ending. not really much inbeteen, i find. either way, it leaves me massively dissatisfied, because the story doesn't feel like it really ended. hanging on like this is sort of wearying to me, i find. but i am open to the EC DLC and what it has to say about the story resolution.

[JamieCOTC]

Ultimately, I think it is a completely off-the-rails ending. I think we are supposed to judge for ourselves what the ending means and that the choice Shepard makes defines her as a character.  I think that was the intent.  I also think that they failed miserably in that intent. 

[Sinapus]

So... I'll just consider every N7 class I promote in MP as a Mk33 Bolo and pretend they drop on Earth at the final battle. ;-)

[HG]

Jamie, the reason why ME3 is rushed out seems like another 'business decision' to me. I hate to say it that business world always stick with the resources which is given. To answer your question why BW still released the game is likely because the game has already been delayed from last year. From the company (in this case EA), they have 'tolernate' and believe that BW will able to finish the job by the prolonged time. However, the leak ruined everything from them, they want to have more time to rewrite the story but by the already delayed time, their boss decline their request. So, what they could do is released the game with 'acceptable altered' ending, then they will put all their effort in the EC in hope to set the story back on track once and for all. 

If you ask whom should we blame, those people who leak the script will take full responsible for the mess. Not that they ruin this one of the kind game, but also they take down BW with it. This is how I see the whole thing when I put myself in BW's shoe. I sincerely hope in EC that BW will not only 'clarify' our questions but also telling us the truth of the mess, these people who ruin ME should be hunt down by others and set an example for the future.

As a gamer, and in my first playthrough. I felt how 'fake' of what Shepard has been through after the blast, I am not with the IT at that momen, but like most of you I felt that is more like something happening in her mind only. After I read about IT and other theories, I felt IT is the most make sense explanation for the whole thing. Although I am still tended to the last 5 mins is only just a dream but nothing else, which need far more less clarification if it is needed.

The very first question I asked myself was "If BW can make the game as awesome as Tachunka, Thessia or Rannoch, they should know how bad the ending should be. It doesn't make sense to just put these two opposite story into one, there should be a reason for it." Then they announce the EC which in some way fit my question. I doubt BW will release the EC before they can find a way to clarify everything without slapping back at EA, summer is already here but EC will and should need more time to finalize if this is what they are attempting to do.

So, here is my twenty cents :)

[JamieCOTC]

I'm w/ you Hyper.  I would like to believe that the people who wrote Tuchanka, Rannock and Thesia would be able to deliver an exceptional ending. Unfortunately, the bitter truth is that they didn't and the ending we got is very close to the ending in the leak. 

Final conversation between Shepard and the catalyst.

What happened is that they threw out the original ending of ME3 which had to do w/ dark energy, the mass relays and humans being "special."  Here's a link which describes it more in detail, but take it w/ a grain of salt. They then went to this organics vs synthetics theme which does kind of fit what has gone on before, but just barely.  I think they fell into a "forest for the trees" trap in which had they stepped back, they would have seen how that theme could fall apart.  I think what they were going for is that Shepard spends the entire game uniting organics and synthetics and in the end sacrifices herself to unite them permanently so there would be lasting peace between the two (or not). The choice Shepard makes can also define her as a character. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work because of (a lot of things) but mainly Shepard not being able to question the catalyst and the ultimate solution being forced. Shepard is no longer the hero of the story, but the Reapers allow her to make this choice. And no amount of closure or clarification is going to fix it. A heroic sacrifice must be earned just as a happy ending must be earned and it's not enough to fight through the story, but also in the final moments. I guess what I am saying is that the end feels both rushed and one dimensional.  It's sad, but it is what it is and life goes on.

[Mr.Vakarian]

I too was really upset by the ending as presented and am still on the fence about the entire IT theory. I have watched most of the videos, read quite a few of the blogs, rants and threads on the IT and do feel that it is a PLAUSIBLE and WORKABLE ending theory, but there are still plenty of discrepancies in it as well as Jamie points out. 

I am all for a great, well written and epic ending, but if that is what BW is trying to accomplish here (and if the IT is in fact true and was the goal).....it was poorly executed.

We will just have to wait and see however. I still love the franchise and will not "bring down the gavel" until we have experienced the new DLC.

 

[NoisulIvone]

Admittedly, that IT is well developed and points that highlights this theory are logical ... if we forget the human factor. What I mean is that many points or aspects of IT can be rationally justified as human error, lack of inspiration, laziness and even a joke. Just think about it: a designer will find a way to make it easier (and faster) his work, so it comes to recycling material or even make mistakes. We are human. In the end, IT is like the conspiracy theory of 911, is baseless. I have my opinion about the end and previously expressed, and no theory or a extension scene change that.

And JaimeCOTC, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

 

[Kryptice]

The IT, while brilliant and well thought out, is a theory by the fans. Whether Bioware will make use of this clever explanation remains to be seen. In any event, the fans that came up with the theory have clearly outclassed the writers who got really careless for some reason. I think Bioware needed more time to develop the conclusion and tie up all the loose ends, but were instead rushed into making a haphazard resolution to the plot. The result was the piss-poor ending that we got.

[Rah]

The IT has been developed rather well for something that's made by the fans. That Bioware also tried to get an indoctrination mechanic into the game gives the theory some support but that's about it for me. Whatever Bioware end up doing i'm pretty sure it's not the IT since the IT makes two of the endings invalid which is terrible. We got a rather (very imo) bad ending and no amount of polish will make it amazing but perhaps Bioware can make it acceptable at least

[OG]

I'm not at peace with the ending, even after 3 months but I don't think of it nowadays. IT or whatever, the whole London mission onwards never happened. I'll just remember ME for the memorable moments.