The trailer for the next chapter of the Mass Effect franchise has been released. The cinematic appears to show Liara explore a frozen landscape to find a piece of N7 armor near the snow-covered hull of a dead Reaper. This has led to high hopes that the next game will be Mass Effect 4, and will continue the story of the original trilogy.
The discovery of a piece of N7 armor in the trailer has many fans hopeful that Commander Shepard will return as well, despite appearing to die in most endings to Mass Effect 3. After the story of the original trilogy there are a few different ways this could work in Mass Effect 4, as well as some good reasons BioWare may have made the decision to bring back Shepard.
Shepard's Survival
Shepard’s survival would likely mean that the Destroy ending to Mass Effect 3 is being made canon. However, the next game could still take place some time after the defeat of the Reapers. For a start, Liara's presence is the only reference point fans have to go on, and as an Asari she could live for centuries. Shepard was rebuilt by Cerberus’ Project Lazarus at the start of Mass Effect 2. This could have aided in the commander’s survival.
Shepard could also return some time after the events of the original trilogy. It’s unknown how Shepard’s reconstruction by Cerberus will have affected their aging, but aging does appear to be slower for genetically modified characters like Miranda Lawson, so it's possible in the Mass Effect universe. BioWare may come up with a simpler solution. Maybe the Lazarus Project simply allowed Shepard to be frozen Captain America-style when they crashed back down to Earth.
If BioWare isn’t hinting at Shepard’s return, then it’s unclear what the purpose of the N7 armor in the trailer implies. Liara appears to be on the hunt for Shepard, and as the Shadow Broker would have better intel on the commander's potential survival and whereabouts than almost anyone in the Milky Way. There is no character that the N7 armor is associated with more that Shepard, and the crashed Reaper likely means Liara is on Earth, the nearest planet to Mass Effect 3’s final confrontation.
Shepard as a Player Character
Shepard may not return as the next game’s player character and could be very different to the commander from the original trilogy. On the other hand, this would require BioWare to make some canonical decisions about the most single most customizable character in Mass Effect. If the player character is confirmed to be a different returning character - like Liara - then it’s likely Shepard will not appear as players' know them in the upcoming game.
If Shepard does return as the player character BioWare will have found a way out of a potentially tricky situation. The search for Mass Effect’s next player character led to problems with Andromeda’s Ryder, and big questions about how the next game could create a protagonist who could step out of Shepard’s shadow.
Shepard’s return may also provide a guiding light for the storytellers of the Mass Effect franchise during a relatively tumultuous time. Casey Hudson, who had worked as the creative director on the original Mass Effect games, recently left BioWare. The studio may become a little more conservative with the franchise in his absence, preferring the stability of Shepard’s return over the risk of a new protagonist.
Either way, the fact that the trailer for the next chapter of Mass Effect appears to show it taking place in the Milky Way galaxy has huge implications for the next game. Even if Shepard doesn’t return, it seems BioWare is choosing to continue the story of the original trilogy with or without them.
A new Mass Effect game is currently in development.