ME3 endings - your theories, decisions, interpretations

[Doc_Hotpants]

Hi all,

Would love to discuss the endings you chose, and why (no right or wrong either way, please play nice, everyone). (sorry for the following wall of text, please bear with me)

Do you choose different endings depending on whether you're doing a Paragon or Renegade playthrough? Or do you choose differently when you play BroShep or FemShep?

Do you believe there will be a canon ending defined for the ME game in pre-production right now? Which one do you think that would be, if so? (It would be lovely if we could discuss this without commenting on whether or not we think it will be a good game, or what everyone thinks of Bioware).

What's your personal headcanon around the ending you chose? Do you subscribe to the Indoctrination Theory? Or is the ending "real"? Does the IT influence your choice for the ending?

Personally, I play Paragon with a hint of Renegade in the later stages of each game. I help cure the Genophage and broker peace between Quarians and the Geth. I also destroy the Reaper Base and try to do as many side quests as I can.

I play as FemShep (always) and I always choose Destroy because this is what Shep's explicit goal was all through the games: destroy the Reapers. (again: it's perfectly fine if you choose differently!)

My personal headcanon: The starchild is likely a figment of Shep's imagination at the end as she's close to death after being hit by the Reaper's beam. Barely conscious, the mental imagery helps her finish the job while fighting last-ditch attempts at the Reapers' indoctrination. In her mind, she weighs the different options as represented by the starchild. So her mind is warring with herself as to what to do with the power she has at that moment (and the consequences each choice would entail). And in my playthrough she chooses to do what she came to do.

In my opinion, this explanation fits all scenarios. The starchild isn't lying but might be wrong (about destroying all synthetic life). The Reapers finish what they came to do if you refuse to decide (or rather physically/mentally can't due to your injuries, represented by simply not doing anything). Having the power to choose synthesis or control (and weighing the consequences as represented by the starchild explaining it) simply because she made it to the console that enables that.

Is my headcanon correct? I dunno. It works for me as an explanation (including as to why the Destroy ending does not necessarily mean the end of all synth life).

As for "the canon ending" - I have no idea. For practical purposes, they might have to define one, I think. Otherwise, they would have to spend the time and money to facilitate story and dialog for all possibilities (assuming Shep will be in the next game). And personally, I believe if they define one canon ending, it will likely be Destroy. Rehashing the Reapers in the new game would be kind of boring and probably impossible to fulfill fanbase's expectations due to lore interpretations etc. And with the Reapers gone, they would be able to introduce a new, different big bad that might want to take advantage of a universe weakened by the result of the destruction.

Anyway... Would be lovely to have a friendly and open discussion on all of this. Looking forward to your responses, theories, speculations, interpretations, headcanons and ideas.

[Apollyon]

Ok, this nonsense has gone on long enough lol. Time to put the nail in the proverbial coffin of your pitiful syllogisms of arguing semantics and missing the point.

Definitions of genocide:
- Per US Holocaust Memorial Museum: " The legal term “genocide” refers to certain acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group . Genocide is an international crime, according to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948). The acts that constitute genocide fall into five categories:

Killing members of the group

Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part

Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group

Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

- Per Wikipedia: " Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by means such as "the disintegration of [its] political and social institutions, of [its] culture, language, national feelings, religion, and [its] economic existence" .

Now, I dunno how good you all are at reading comprehension, but from what we can clearly read from those definitions, what Shepard does to the Reapers and Geth certifiably falls under the definition of genocide. So, cut the semantics drivel out of this discussion and admit to yourselves that you picked the worst ending in the games and are literally trying to whitewash genocide to make yourselves feel better so we can all move on with our day.

[N7_Shadow]

It's amazing that he doesn't see that it's aggressive in nature, per those terms. Intent is everything, but so to is the idea of who is the aggressor and who is the defender. It takes a really simple mind to understand that genocide is a term to describe a crime against humanity.

If an entire alien race lands on Earth, and makes it clear they aren't interested negotiating, and they want Earth for themselves, and we nuke them all into oblivion, nobody in their right mind is going to say we committed genocide on them, because once again, it's a war crime, a crime against humanity.

Some people simply have no ability to critically think for themselves. That's required to be able to read between the lines.