(There was a comic here. It's gone now.)
I’m one of those insane people who
believed that the original Mass Effect 3 ending was good. Clearly it had
problems, after all: all four endings were basically the same video with a
little colour swapping and some added clips. But I find that what made it such
a good ending in the first place was what most ME fans consider its greatest
weakness: Ambiguity.
Yes, there will be spoilers ahead.
Therefore, your homework assignment is to go play the Mass Effect trilogy, then
come back when you’re done. Ready? Ok then.
The original ME3 ending represents
the end of what the Mass Effect story has been building up to: the invasion of
the epitome of The Reapers, sentient harvesting machines that exterminate the
space-faring civilisations of the galaxy every 50,000 years, revealed by the
“star child” AI as a countermeasure to the crisis of Synthetic life overtaking
Organic life (perhaps a self-defeating concept, but one that is created by a
potentially rogue and efficient AI. This part of the Extended Cut DLC I
applaud). In some form or other, whatever ending you choose defeats them-either
by taking absolute control of them, outright exterminating them (and
potentially every organic species as well) or defeating their primary purpose
by melding Synthetic and Organic life together. What makes the ending so
effective for me is the fact that, even though this ending wraps up the Reaper
invasion story, it still leaves behind enough questions that the audience may
fill in with their own answers.
This is also the reason everybody
hates this ending. Work with me here.
The fact that the fate of the
various ME characters is left ambiguous means that there is still reason to
remember each and every one of those characters. I was left thinking for months
what the ultimate fate of Tali, Garrus, Javik and the rest of my team members
were (except James Vega. He bores me). Based off of my knowledge of the Mass
Effect universe, I could come up with my own answers as well; for instance the
descendants of the humans and Liara would survive and populate their new home
planet whilst Tali and Garrus learn to grow Dextro-based crops from the
Normandy’s stores, and the various fleets stranded on Earth would need to band
together in order to survive and rebuild, etc. In my opinion, Bioware has done
an amazing job of creating the personalities and back stories of the Normandy’s
crew, creating a cast of characters I find myself invested in and deeply caring
for (call me a nerd, I don’t care). By leaving the ending ambiguous, those same
characters were left turning in my memory for weeks afterwards. It’s my own
reward for investing so much time and emotion into these characters.
There’s also the question of the
“Indoctrination Theory”; the belief that the events that occurred after
Harbinger’s attack was a hallucination created by the Reapers in an attempt to
brainwash Shepherd. This too makes for a great ending; the audience is once
again left to determine their own answers to what happens in the ending.
Endings such as this generate discussion between its fans that overall lead to
a more memorable product.
In fact, fan fiction writers should rejoice
for such an open-ended conclusion, as it creates a rich canvas in which to
write and express your ideas into these characters. Just don’t write any
Garrus/Shepherd erotica and name it “50 Types of Calibrations” or something,
please.
By now you probably think I’m an
idiot. Some of you love your concrete, definitive endings with no questions
left afterward. Fine, then let me give you an example of a game that did just
that: Gears of War 3.
Once again: spoiler warning. Go play
the Gears games right now, then report back when you’re done. Done? Ok, let’s
move on.
GoW3 concludes its trilogy by firing
a gigantic ending device/weapon (similar to Mass Effect 3, yes) that
conveniently wipes out the Locust Horde and the Lambent army. Humanity is left
as the only surviving race of the conflict. The COG wins. End of story.
That’s it.
Gears of War ends having almost
every story thread answered. Only a handful of questions remain: Was Queen
Myrrah truly a human that betrayed her own race? Will Marcus and Anya ever get
together and have many babby-Marcuses? How will humanity survive without
Imulsion based fuel? Otherwise, the Locust and Lambent are defeated, meaning
that the humans of Sera are guaranteed to rebuild and have their happy ending.
Completing Gears 3, I was left with no lingering questions to ask myself, nor
any burning desire to play that last level again to further evaluate it. In
short, it was forgettable.
Perhaps you’re now thinking: “well
if you’re so smart, why don’t you write a better ending?” Ok, I’ll give it a
shot. Here’s the Daget J Sparrow rewrite of the Gears of War 3 ending:
The Lambent are wiped out, but the
Locust survive-leaderless, fragmented, and stubbornly opposed to humanity. The
COG declare victory in the war, as the Lambent are dead and the Locust, near
extinct and without any organised leadership, are unable to oppose the humans
save for the occasional doomed raid or skirmish. However, the Gears universe
has a well established history of warfare and conflict, and the COG leadership
suffers from infighting and disagreement. Before too long, the COG is split and
humanity descends into warfare once again, unable to shake their decades-long
penchant of violence. In this ending, the story has reached its conclusion, but
the audience still has questions that can be answered by their own knowledge
and investment in the Gears of War franchise, and overall creates a story that
will not be forgotten by those who love it dearly.
Yes, I know Dom and his wife died,
ok? In any case, that is my idea of what makes an unforgettable and intelligent
ending, and that’s why I loved Mass Effect 3’s conclusion so. Whilst I still
enjoyed the Extended Cut (particularly Joker’s confliction at leaving Shepherd
behind, as well as the whole “rogue AI” star child think), it also left me with
all the questions answered and little incentive to imagine what else could
occur in the franchise.
…and yes, Anya will name the first
babby “Dom Fenix”.
Up Next: Why The Reapers should have also remained ambiguous.
