Mass Effect: Legendary Edition released last week, with fans eager to return to the Normandy and relive the revamped original trilogy. One part few fans were looking forward to reliving, however, was the ending of Mass Effect 3.
When Mass Effect 3 released, the finale fell famously flat. Many fans felt it reduced hours of decision-making and character development to three nearly-identical cutscenes. To make matters worse, the only other character present for Shepard's final moments was an AI in the form of a ghostly child from Shepard's nightmares. Mass Effect 3's ending hasn't changed much in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. This time, however, the story isn't over.
The Ending
At the end of Mass Effect 3 the Reaper threat can be dealt with in one of the following ways. "Control" involves Shepard becoming an AI and taking over the Reapers personally. "Synthesis" merges all synthetic and organic life. In the "Destroy" ending Commander Shepard kills all of the Reapers and synthetics, and destroys the Mass Relays. Most fans remember the ending options by their colors - blue, green, and red. The color of the light released by the Crucible was infamously one of the few differences between the original three ending cutscenes.
The criticism of Mass Effect 3's ending was intense enough that BioWare promptly released the Extended Cut, a DLC which added some extra footage to help distinguish the three cutscenes. Eventually, the Citadel DLC attempted to put a more positive spin on the game's ending with a light-hearted side adventure set just before the final battle. The entire original trilogy remained beloved enough to make the remaster possible, but the reputation of Mass Effect 3's ending was never truly restored in the intervening years.
The Legendary Edition And Mass Effect 4
It was always a longshot to assume that BioWare would significantly change the original trilogy's ending in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. There have been changes to some of the requirements for the different endings, but those endings remain in tact. However, the studio is currently working on a new Mass Effect game, known for now as Mass Effect 4. Announced at the Game Awards 2020, Mass Effect 4's trailer hinted heavily at a return to the Milky Way and possibly Commander Shepard as the player character.
Mass Effect 4 is BioWare's shot to truly redeem the ending of Mass Effect 3. That potential appears to come with a large caveat. The Mass Effect 4 trailer seems to depict a world in which Mass Effect 3's Destroy ending is canon. Liara climbs over the snow-covered husk of a dead Reaper and finds a piece of N7 armor that looks like Shepard's. It was only the Destroy ending that killed the Reapers and hinted at Shepard's survival with a high enough Effective Military Strength. Not only that, but BioWare released an image on Twitter showing a Mass Relay being rebuilt in the style of the Systems Alliance, suggesting the destruction of the Mass Relays at the end of the original trilogy.
In one sense, Mass Effect 3 may still be the end of the line for players who pick the Control or Synthesis options. It seems that in order to move forward BioWare will need to render the original trilogy's final choice completely irrelevant. Fortunately for BioWare, the sheer unpopularity of Mass Effect 3's ending may actually be in the studio's favor here.
Picking a canonical ending may be the easiest way for the story of the next Mass Effect to have a strong enough foundation to launch its own narrative. For most franchises, fans would be outraged at the idea of two of the three main ending choices being made non-canon, especially in an RPG series. Many Mass Effect fans will just be happy to move on from Mass Effect 3's ending entirely.
Moving Beyond Mass Effect 3
Because Mass Effect 3's ending cinematic is almost entirely based on the last choice in the game, the fact that the final choice may be rendered irrelevant doesn't actually affect that much of the overarching story. A player could reload a save from ten minutes prior to the credits and see all three endings in quick succession if they wanted to. Saving Commander Shepard was more complicated, but fans interested in the few extra seconds it added to the cutscene could quickly find the clip on YouTube.
Most fans have attachments to the fates of Mass Effect's companion characters, but its far harder to end up attached to any of the specific alternate futures laid out by the Control, Synthesis, and Destroy endings. The game doesn't give players many reasons to care. There's little enough elaboration that it's very unclear which ending is "better" for the galaxy, and the choice doesn't appear to drastically change the fate of Shepard's squadmates based on the cutscenes alone.
The reveal that Mass Effect 4 is in the works does not redeem Mass Effect 3's ending in the Legendary Edition. It doesn't suddenly make that ending take into account all the player's decisions, or allow them to see the consequences of their final choice play out in detail. However, the development of Mass Effect 4 does revive the potential that many felt was squandered in the original trilogy's final moments. The true legacy of Mass Effect 3's ending will be up for revision, but it will depend on Mass Effect 4 sticking the landing. If the new Mass Effect feels as rushed or underdeveloped as Mass Effect: Andromeda, many fans of the franchise will feel that BioWare missed the opportunity not just to tell a new story, but to truly let the franchise move beyond Mass Effect 3's ending for good.
Mass Effect is a rich universe with a unique art style, memorable alien designs, and a generous balance between hard and soft sci-fi. Part of what motivated the original reception of Mass Effect 3's ending was the belief at the time that the series had gone out on a sour note. Now, the future for Mass Effect remains unclear, but far less definitive. It also appears that Mass Effect 4 will integrate the Andromeda galaxy in some way, giving the game the potential to help BioWare move beyond two of its most infamous missteps.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.