I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite thread on Obsidian

[jaguars4ever]

...for instance shortly after First Contact the newbie race of humanity managed to fight off the Turians (a species that had been travelling the galaxy for thousands of years) right off the bat. That doesn't really make sense.

Think about it.

 

Salarians are good at science.

Turians are good at discipline.

Asari are good at sex.

And Humans are good at blowing s*** up.

 

But: Explosions > Sex > Science > Following Orders

 

Therefore: Humans > Asari > Salarians > Turians

 

Thus, because: Humans >>> Turians, Humans Pr4wn Turians.

[HoonDing]

But: Explosions > Sex

...

 

Are you feeling alright today?

[RPGmasterBoo]

Amusingly enough the supposedly alien Reapers seem to possess entirely human characteristics, particularily vindictiveness. Not very mature for the ultimate race in the universe but whatever.

It's like TIM told Shepard, "I don't know if the reapers feel fear or not... but you killed one." There's only evidence this has been done once before, and that was pre-prothean (i think), and again TIM describes it as the last gasp of a dying civilization.

 

Vindictive? Maybe. Afraid, perhaps. At least aware that the civilized galaxy isn't going to be as easy to harvest this time around, thanks to Shepard and humanity. Killing Sovereign certainly wasn't the last gasp of a dying civilization.

 

I dunno. I was just amused by the Sovereing's lack of anything better to do than posses soldiers and insult me on the battlefield. Its a very comic book baddie approach.

 

Like most other people noted the game lacks a concrete villain - the people at Bio probably noticed this and tried to add a more personal encounter with the Reapers. I'm not sure it was fitting to have such a powerful race lower themselves to recognise an individual human, or any individual no matter how capable he is.

 

Then again, I imagined them as Cthulu like things, they may have been entirely different in the eyes of the devs.

[Oner]

...for instance shortly after First Contact the newbie race of humanity managed to fight off the Turians (a species that had been travelling the galaxy for thousands of years) right off the bat. That doesn't really make sense.

Think about it.

 

Salarians are good at science.

Turians are good at discipline.

Asari are good at sex.

And Humans are good at blowing s*** up.

 

But: Explosions > Sex > Science > Following Orders

 

Therefore: Humans > Asari > Salarians > Turians

 

Thus, because: Humans >>> Turians, Humans Pr4wn Turians.

But if turians follow humans (Garrus) then Explosions > Following Orders (more explosions or -depending on situation, for better or worse- more Sex)

[jaguars4ever]

But: Explosions > Sex

...

 

Are you feeling alright today?

I guess not.

 

 

...for instance shortly after First Contact the newbie race of humanity managed to fight off the Turians (a species that had been travelling the galaxy for thousands of years) right off the bat. That doesn't really make sense.

Think about it.

 

Salarians are good at science.

Turians are good at discipline.

Asari are good at sex.

And Humans are good at blowing s*** up.

 

But: Explosions > Sex > Science > Following Orders

 

Therefore: Humans > Asari > Salarians > Turians

 

Thus, because: Humans >>> Turians, Humans Pr4wn Turians.

But if turians follow humans (Garrus) then Explosions > Following Orders (more explosions or -depending on situation, for better or worse- more Sex)

 

--

 

Also two things:

 

1) Is Aria the same ninja Asari chick Wrex talked about in ME1? You know, where they pretty much tore up a whole space station trying to kill each other?

2) Remember that planet scan back in ME1 that revealed a dead reaper? Is that related to the derelict reaper in ME2?

[Oner]

1) Is Aria the same ninja Asari chick Wrex talked about in ME1? You know, where they pretty much tore up a whole space station trying to kill each other?

2) Remember that planet scan back in ME1 that revealed a dead reaper? Is that related to the derelict reaper in ME2?

1) That was Aleena.

2) ? You mean the Odd Skull?

[Nepenthe]

But considering Salarians & Asari were already colonizing the galaxy thousands of years before humanity made First Contact, it's almost as if technological progress stood still during this time... for instance shortly after First Contact the newbie race of humanity managed to fight off the Turians (a species that had been travelling the galaxy for thousands of years) right off the bat. That doesn't really make sense.

 

jag basically said it, but the key here is that humans were isolated, while the other races had access to mass accelerator technology. Humans weren't technologically backward, they were already researching FTL technology as it was etc., but they just lacked access to Mass Relays. That's the key difference between humans and other races, humans joined the galactic community at a significantly higher state of technological advancement than the others.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Nepenthe

[Purkake]

****Rampant Spoilers to follow... sometimes. Most times, even, maybe. ****

Harbinger's final words might be interpreted as suggesting such, anyway: base is about to blow up, Harbinger says "you have failed."

Just finished playing the game a second time last night, and

I thought harbinger was a reaper who had taken control of the collector "leader", in the same way we'd seen other collectors taken control of throughout the game, and the, "You have failed," was directed at this leader, not at Shepard - as in, they failed to stop Shepard. Looking at the end sequence just before the base is either blown up/cleaned out, it appears the collector leader is conversing with a holographic projection of a reaper.

 

 

perhaps I'm mistaken but that's how it looked to me.

That is the common interpretation.

Harbinger was a Reaper

 

 

@Virumor: Yithians are cool, but their canon appearance is pretty ridiculous.

[Nepenthe]

****Rampant Spoilers to follow... sometimes. Most times, even, maybe. ****

Harbinger's final words might be interpreted as suggesting such, anyway: base is about to blow up, Harbinger says "you have failed."

Just finished playing the game a second time last night, and

I thought harbinger was a reaper who had taken control of the collector "leader", in the same way we'd seen other collectors taken control of throughout the game, and the, "You have failed," was directed at this leader, not at Shepard - as in, they failed to stop Shepard. Looking at the end sequence just before the base is either blown up/cleaned out, it appears the collector leader is conversing with a holographic projection of a reaper.

 

 

perhaps I'm mistaken but that's how it looked to me.

That is the common interpretation.

Harbinger was a Reaper

 

 

Considering that he

implant-possesses collectors like Sovereign possessed Saren in the end of ME1

I'm not exactly sure in what other ways that could be interpreted.

[jaguars4ever]

Nepenthe's probably on the money concerning Harbinger. He's gotta be a reaper (Harbinger, not Nepenthe...actually maybe both ).

 

--

 

1) Is Aria the same ninja Asari chick Wrex talked about in ME1? You know, where they pretty much tore up a whole space station trying to kill each other?

2) Remember that planet scan back in ME1 that revealed a dead reaper? Is that related to the derelict reaper in ME2?

1) That was Aleena.

2) ? You mean the Odd Skull?

1) Is it possible this Aleena is Aria? Krogans are st00pid you know. Maybe Wrex just mixed up the names.

 

2) From ME1:

 

Klendagon

Klendagon is an arid terrestrial, slightly larger than Earth, but with a lower density that reflects its relative lack of heavier elements. The crust is composed of tin and aluminum, with wide deserts of dust-fine sand that are easily stirred by the wind.

 

Klendagon's most striking feature is, of course, the Great Rift valley that stretches across the southern hemisphere. What is most fascinating about the Rift is that it does not appear to be natural. The geological record suggests it is the result of a "glancing blow" by a mass accelerator round of unimaginable destructive power. This occurred some thirty-seven million years ago.

 

Now I'm guessing this Great Rift Valley is the mass accelerator trench crater thingy TIM was talking about during the Reaper IFF mission in ME2. As for the the target itself...

 

--

 

Leviathan of Dis

The 'Leviathan of Dis' is the name given to a gigantic corpse discovered in a crater on Jartar in 2163. It is believed to be the remains of a genetically engineered starship and its age was originally placed at nearly a billion years old.

 

However there was little time to study it. Not long after its discovery by a batarian survey team, a batarian dreadnought visited the Dis system, after which the Leviathan mysteriously disappeared. The batarians have since strenuously denied that the Leviathan existed at all. They become even more vocal when showed documentation of the Leviathan by salarian researchers before its disappearance.

 

Could this be the derelict reaper?

[Nepenthe]

Nepenthe's probably on the money concerning Harbinger. He's gotta be a reaper (Harbinger, not Nepenthe...actually maybe both ).

 

 

I'm a friend of Sarah Connor^H^H^H^H^H^H Miranda Lawson. I was told she was here. Could I see her please?

 

Leviathan of Dis

The 'Leviathan of Dis' is the name given to a gigantic corpse discovered in a crater on Jartar in 2163. It is believed to be the remains of a genetically engineered starship and its age was originally placed at nearly a billion years old.

 

However there was little time to study it. Not long after its discovery by a batarian survey team, a batarian dreadnought visited the Dis system, after which the Leviathan mysteriously disappeared. The batarians have since strenuously denied that the Leviathan existed at all. They become even more vocal when showed documentation of the Leviathan by salarian researchers before its disappearance.

 

Could this be the derelict reaper?

 

I've got this nagging feeling from the first ME novel that Sovereign is the Leviathan of Dis. I should go back and check it, but unfortunately I'm not jaded enough yet to keep that kind of stuff at work. Eventually, maybe, or when I get home today, whichever happens first.

[Purkake]

Considering that he

implant-possesses collectors like Sovereign possessed Saren in the end of ME1

I'm not exactly sure in what other ways that could be interpreted.

Well, mr insomniac managed to come up with another one...

[HoonDing]

Was it explained how that Reaper corpse suddenly appeared in the Hawking Eta star system? IIRC this star system was already visited in ME1.

[Nepenthe]

Was it explained how that Reaper corpse suddenly appeared in the Hawking Eta star system? IIRC this star system was already visited in ME1.

 

It's in a different system within the Hawking Eta cluster. ME1 had just Century with the aforementioned Klendagon, ME2 has a total of 4 systems, including the new one, Thorne, with the derelict reaper.

 

It's amazing what 10 seconds at the mass effect wiki can tell you.

[HoonDing]

So that Reaper corpse really has been floating around that star system for 37 million years without anyone noticing? Me thinks Martin Sheen's just decided to pull it out of his sleeve.

[Magnum Opus]

Just finished playing the game a second time last night, and

I thought harbinger was a reaper who had taken control of the collector "leader", in the same way we'd seen other collectors taken control of throughout the game, and the, "You have failed," was directed at this leader, not at Shepard - as in, they failed to stop Shepard. Looking at the end sequence just before the base is either blown up/cleaned out, it appears the collector leader is conversing with a holographic projection of a reaper.

 

 

perhaps I'm mistaken but that's how it looked to me.

*nods* That's a possibility. Have only been through that sequence once so far, and as I said, I likely missed a lot in the epic frenzy. I'm still fuzzy on exactly what's happening with all of the Harbinger Possession stuff. Is that the Reaper, or the Collector General, or what? Buggered if I know (ha ha ... bugs... )

 

I know that

in those end-of-mission summaries TIM was speculating about that possession thing, and he seemed to think it was a Collector thing instead of a Reaper one (that was the impression I was left with, at any rate).

That's largely where my impressions were formed, I think, but yeah... plenty of room for error on my part.

 

1) Is it possible this Aleena is Aria? Krogans are st00pid you know. Maybe Wrex just mixed up the names.

Am personally running on the assumption that they're the same person. The interlocking story hooks are just a little too striking, and Aria goes out of her way to mention that despite her position on Omega, she's got a lot to hide. A new name isn't a stretch of the imagination for her, I don't think.

 

@Gorath: TIM == Harbinger ... heh. Was thinking of "antagonist" in more the literary than literal sense with that one. In absence of any sort of well defined Bad Guy, TIM seems like the most antagonistic character in the game to me. Lord knows I've done enough to tick him off, too, with the way I ended the game. Miranda defecting, Collector base destroyed, Normandy II stolen out from under him... heh.

 

He's gonna be so PO'd in ME3... heh.

[Oner]

So that Reaper corpse really has been floating around that star system for 37 million years without anyone noticing? Me thinks Martin Sheen's just decided to pull it out of his sleeve.

I got a better one: 106~ years old Liara has done research on Ilos, even though it's relay was lost for centuries/millennia. And somehow completely missed everything that was there.

[Nepenthe]

So that Reaper corpse really has been floating around that star system for 37 million years without anyone noticing? Me thinks Martin Sheen's just decided to pull it out of his sleeve.

I got a better one: 106~ years old Liara has done research on Ilos, even though it's relay was lost for centuries/millennia. And somehow completely missed everything that was there.

 

Secondary sources.

 

Honestly, guys, there are problems and plot holes in this game, you don't have to constantly try to make up ones that don't exist.

[Oner]

Those sources must be crap if they missed the whole facility.

[Nepenthe]

Those sources must be crap if they missed the whole facility.

 

Well, it was a top-secret research facility that even the Reapers missed...

[Oner]

Then why did she do research on it? And it's not like the place isn't littered with sculptures and ruins, drawing attention there. Finding one of the two working elevators should be easy from there.

[Nepenthe]

Then why did she do research on it? And it's not like the place isn't littered with sculptures and ruins, drawing attention there. Finding one of the two working elevators should be easy from there.

 

I think there's a linguistic miscommunication here. There's researching Ilos, you know, finding out about the place, and there's doing research (physically) on Ilos. This is, obviously, the former.

 

Archaeologists do both. For the record.

[Guest Slinky]

[off topic]

I find it amusing how much people like to talk about the story in ME, like it's somesort of grand literature

[/off topic]

Edited February 17, 2010 by Slinky

[Raithe]

As I seem to recall.. at that ending sequence of ME2.. The Collector-General is scuttling around, goes to that pillar with the holographic of a Reaper.. and Harbringer's voice does the "Releasing Control" tone, and the Collector-General's eye glow dies out, and he slumps down.

 

Which really hammers home the idea that Harbringer was a Reaper who was possessing the Collector-General from a distance to organise the Collectors.. Rather then the Collector-General being an intelligence on its own that would then possess other Collectors.

 

Kind of making the Collector-General just a "biological relay" device for Harbringer to use...

[Niten_Ryu]

As I seem to recall.. at that ending sequence of ME2.. The Collector-General is scuttling around, goes to that pillar with the holographic of a Reaper.. and Harbringer's voice does the "Releasing Control" tone, and the Collector-General's eye glow dies out, and he slumps down.

 

Just finished my 2nd run with renagade Shepard (import from ME) and end sequence

I didn't blow up whole structure

was - Harbringer speaks "You have failed" "We'll find another way" Collector General raises head and look directly at Reaper holograp - "releasing control" and collector is free from control. It turns and see the massive explosion.