BioWare's Mass Effect series is a hugely popular franchise with an extremely loyal and emotionally-invested player base. The series spans multiple games and has a fifth installment in development, as well as a rumored Amazon Studio TV series, and continues to be popular to this day. The latest Mass Effect release, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, was a remaster of the original trilogy and was released in 2020. It was well-received by gamers and critics with a score of 86 on Metacritic and has helped to bring the games to a new generation of players.
In addition to a story spanning two galaxies across the original trilogy, there have been comics, books, and mobile games that have delved deeper into the world of the games. The rich lore and extensive backstories of characters and races can be merely touched on in-game, but there are plenty of significant events throughout the history of Mass Effect's Milky Way that are worth noting for fans of the series. One of the most pivotal and consequential of these is the First Contact War.
An Introduction To The World Of Mass Effect
The original trilogy is set in the Milky Way, but the sci-fi series follows an alternate timeline where humans discovered a form of ancient alien technology that rapidly expanded their technological capabilities and their exploration of the galaxy. Humans discovered an object called a "Mass Relay" orbiting Pluto in 2149. Humans reactivated the device, which allowed them to travel between other mass relays positioned throughout the galaxy. The relay was called "Charon" after the supposed moon it was discovered within — a reference to the ferryman in Greek mythology, who helped souls undertake their journey across the river Styx and into the underworld.
The relay represented a similarly notable journey for humanity, as it opened up the entire galaxy to them. The Mass Relay led to them meeting a plethora of previously unknown alien species as they established human colonies across multiple planets.
Most importantly, it led to the discovery of the Citadel, a monumental space station home to many lifeforms and the governing body called the Council. It's a central hub, a place for races to interact and exist peacefully, and is a vital component of the galactic community. The Citadel is a significant aspect of several of the Mass Effect games, and is a key piece in the fight against the sentient machine race of synthetic-organic starships, called the Reapers, which drives the action of the first three games.
The First Contact War
However, before Commander Shepard took charge of the Normandy, before the humans earned their first seat on the Citadel Council, and before humanity even knew what Reapers were, there was the First Contact War. This significant conflict had far-reaching consequences for humanity and how they were perceived throughout the galaxy, shaping many aspects of the world Commander Shepard and their comrades occupy.
Like in Star Trek, a leap in human technological advancement and the expansion of their space travel capabilities led to the discovery that they were not alone in the galaxy. However, in Mass Effect lore, it was the Turians who humans first encountered, and the meeting did not go as smoothly. Following their discovery of the Charon Relay, humanity quickly took advantage of the network of interconnected mass relays to explore new parts of the galaxy, activating any relays they found along the way. Unbeknownst to them, this was in direct violation of orders from the Council that set up regulations on mass relays following the devastating events of the Rachni Wars.
A small contingent of human explorers had found and was attempting to reactivate Relay 314 in 2157 when they were discovered by a patrol of Turians. As a consequence of disobeying Council law, the Turians opened fire on the humans — an act of aggression that had deadly consequences. One human starship managed to escape and returned to warn the Alliance (the representative organization of Earth and all human colonies), who sent a force back to avenge their ships and destroy the Turian patrol.
This situation escalated quickly, with both sides growing increasingly antagonistic as the conflict soon threatened to become an all-out war. The conflict centered on Shanxi, a human colony that Turians put under orbital siege. This forced the humans into surrender as Turians took control of the planet, only to lose it again after an attack from the Alliance's Second Fleet. Just as both sides prepared for a full interplanetary war, the Citadel intervened and negotiated an uneasy peace.
The Consequences Of The Conflict
Despite only lasting a few months, the First Contact War was a pivotal moment in the history of humanity, and an extremely important part of cross-species relations for the galaxy as a whole. Not only did it lead to humanity gaining a place among the other sentient races within the galaxy, but it colored perceptions of the human race that led to biases and grudges for generations to come.
Most notably within the original Mass Effect trilogy, both Ashley Williams and Saren Arterius harbored a hatred of Turians and humans respectively as a direct result of the conflict between the two species. Ashley's grandfather was responsible for the first human surrender on Shanxi, and this family stigma encouraged some of her more xenophobic tendencies.
The First Contact War also established a complicated reputation for humans amongst the rest of the galaxy's alien races. Although humans established themselves as a power not to be underestimated, it also marked them as seemingly conflict-hungry and bullish. This hampered human development within the galaxy and was one of the reasons why it took such a long time to prove themselves and earn their seat on the Citadel Council. Although humans eventually were accepted among the galactic community, anti-alien factions remained as groups like Terra Firma and Cerberus formed to promote humanity's interests and galactic dominance.
Although humanity hardly had the most promising of starts within the galactic community, they had a chance to rehabilitate their image at the end of the first Mass Effect game. If players chose to save the Council at the cost of several human ships, humans win a seat on the Council and the Turian-human relationship continues to flourish as the Turian Hierarchy considers additional reparations to the humans affected by the Relay 314 Incident. However, perhaps the greatest symbol of cooperation between the two races, and a symbolic gesture to signify the end of hostilities, is the masterpiece of engineering that is the SSV Normandy — Shepard's ship that is designed and built by both races to showcase the very edge of leading space travel technology.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.