In support of the Reject ending

Take a look at this is a fantastic article in support of the reject ending from Forbes. I think his logic collapses in suggesting that Reject is superior to Destroy because Shepard cannot be sure the Catalyst is not lying. Because even if the Catalyst is lying, Shepard would still have all the benefits of the Reject ending while still having a shot at Destroy being a possibility.

Why hope that a future species can win this with the data Liara has left when you have a chance at winning this war right now without putting Liara's data beacon at risk? The only downside to Destroy is the loss of the Geth and EDI, and since Reject will still lead to losing them and everyone else I see no benefit.

However his argument on why Shepard should not trust the Catalyst is excellent and well worth a read.

Let’s stay inside the narrative for the moment. When Shepard reaches the Citadel, and meets the guiding intellect of the entire megillah, she is presented with up to three immediate options, depending on her success in rallying and readying forces:
  1. Destroy the Reapers, at the cost of the lives of the Geth, her crewmate EDI and herself.
  1. Control the Reapers
  1. Render the Reapers’ mission meaningless by combining organic and synthetic life, thus ending the cycle of synthetic/organic violence
None of these are perfect options – and, of course, Shepard is not aware that she is a video game character, and thus has no reason to believe that these options are actually true. To quote myself:
Think of it like this: if you were exploring a dungeon, and suddenly came across a blue potion of unknown provenance, would you drink it? Probably not. If your character does the same, you will think nothing of telling the character to drink it. Blue potions have thus far restored magical power, and this should be no exception. And, if it turns out to be poison, the penalty is relatively minor – having to restart the level, say.
BioWare has given Shepard another option – to refuse to drink the red, green or blue potions, in effect – and although it may not look like a happy ending, it is by no means an unrealistic or frame-breaking one.
So, the rejection ending. From Shepard’s point of view, none of those options are viable. Either she does not trust the mysterious new character offering them, or she will not sacrifice billions of Geth, even if the alternative is most likely the extinction over the coming decades or centuries of the Geth and many other races. Or she very wisely does not believe that she can control the Reapers, or that even the remarkably advanced science that created the Reapers could amend the DNA of every being in the universe.
She’s got a point.

FULL ARTICLE: The Real Hero Of Mass Effect Explains How - And Why - The 'Reject Ending' Works

3 comments:

  1. Not sure if this goes with the theme of the blog but I liked your views so far and would like to present this thought to you.

    I can tell why the destruction ending is the best: Shepard wouldn't tust the geth, in fact no human being would. Simple as that. Sure they are good guys but lets look at Shepard's experience with them: throughout the first game they're the "face" of the enemy, even killing Jenkins and Ashley/Kaidan (making Shepard's hate for them quite personal), they invade the Citadel, kill more peopele; then on the second ME they're back and for most of it they mantain their "shoot first don't ask questions" routine, but sudenly a talking geth asks you and a friend to go to their secret base CLOGGED with his pals and you what? BLOODY GO WITH HIM?! THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU SHEPARD?! GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER! A general rule of thumb is to NOT go to your mortal enemy's secret lair. An experienced soldier or any person who does not want to be mugged and/or violated would never do that.

    My Shepard mistrusted the geth. He helped the quarians destroy them. He put the fate of the galaxy in jeopardy by eliminating a piece from the board. And it was an awful thing. I mean they were genuinely good and would've helped, not just in the war but the Quarians quest to rebuild their planet. They held no grudge or showed any of those very nasty things we all have inside us. But still, who would trust Legion in the first place? We can barely trust people born on the other side of freaking imaginary lines! My Shepard commited nothing less than a genocide against them, but noone ever came to know that cause no way in hell he would've listened to Legion or that Geth VI. He did the "humane" thing, shot first and didn't ask questions.

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    1. I don't necessarily think that it is true that no one would trust the Geth. While some people would take it personally I think it's quite clear that the Geth were not against Shepard personally (the Collectors on the other hand...). In fact throughout the first game I was questioning the necessity of hostility with them. The back story was presented in that first game. The Quarians created them and then when they gained sentience they rebelled. At the time we didn't know about the preemptive strike the Quarians made but we did know that the Quarians had them performing menial and/or dangerous tasks, holding this new sentient race in slavery.

      The fact that the Geth had then remained in seclusion for 300 years instead of following the Quarian fleet to finish them seemed like evidence that they didn't want to destroy them all if they were just left alone. The Geth we fought were revealed to be working with Sovereign because they wanted to improve themselves and they thought Sovereign could help them.

      In ME2 the Geth were a minor enemy. Appearing in a few places but mostly we fought Collectors and Husks. The major point was on the Quarian fleet where they'd been taken to experiment on. Expecting anyone not to be hostile in that situation is absurd. Then we get to Legion. A talking geth that protects you from Reaper forces and is instrumental in getting the IFF you need. From there Legion explains that they're only interest is being able to live free and to improve upon themselves. He even reveals that they've been maintaining the buildings and infrastructure on the Quarian worlds for when the creators eventually return, all but saying outright that they would give back those worlds if only the Quarians would just ask for them.

      My Shepard outright told the Quarians not to attack the Geth telling them what a useless endeavour it would be but the attacked anyways and in a bid for survival the Geth got desperate and turned to the Reapers to save them at which point they became slaves to the Reaper instead. Once released from their hold the Quarians moved in for a final act of genocide which if my Shepard hadn't been able to convince them to stop they would have been wiped out by a new race that was only trying to defend itself from another that has been antagonistic towards them at every opportunity.

      Maybe I'm just biased from my childhood with Star Trek and other sci fi where AI does not mean evil, but to me the Geth were always portrayed as being a race constantly being mistreated and disrespected leaving me to wonder even from the early stages of the first game if anyone had ever tried talking to them and showing them a little respect.

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  2. So I play all though 1, 2 and 3 again with the intention of changing the reject ending I had picked before - there I am injured and dying, knowing my mind has been violated by dreams, knowing that what I'm doing may been an extension of these dreams. Do I grab the choice offered by the source of my torment? Do you pick door one, two or three. After seeing the state of those that had "synth'd" with reaper tech; souless automatons trapped with the illusion of freedom. Control the reapers - yeah right they had defeated stronger minds than mine that was going to last long wasn't it? Destroy - ahh the sweet choice, the one that cries out to the pain in my heart and soul..... but the easy path. And who is offering my choice, is there something in acquiescence that is the key to taking over my mind? Do I need to choose my doom for control to be complete?
    Nope couldn't do it - fired from the hip right between the eyes.

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