The relationship between the Geth and the Quarians is one of the most interesting dynamics across the original Mass Effect trilogy, and one fans of the franchise have had the chance to experience again with the release of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. Not only do the Geth provide an alternate, though sometimes aligned, synthetic species than the Reapers, but the Geth-Quarian dynamic has big implications for the place of synthetics in the Mass Effect universe as a whole.
Although the Geth can initially come across as a conveniently soulless race of generic, disposable mooks, their history paints a far more complicated picture. Here's a breakdown of the war that took place between the Quarians and the Geth, how it started, and what it implies about Mass Effect: Legendary Edition's universe and story as a whole.
The Origins Of The Geth in Mass Effect
The Geth were created by the Quarians as a race of robotic laborers and soldiers in, by Earth's calendar, the mid 1800s. They were designed to be a highly complex virtual intelligence. In the Mass Effect universe, virtual intelligence is made distinct from artificial intelligence, with the latter being intelligent enough to be considered sentient in some form, while the former is just a complex series of code. As any sci-fi fan might imagine, creating a massive force of combat-ready robots designed for hard labor wasn't the best idea. The fallout was so great that it would totally define the place of Quarians across the Mass Effect galaxy.
According to the Geth's own logs, in the year 1873 CE, the first Geth began to ask their Quarian creators whether or not they had souls. Unsettled by their servants' growing number of existential crises, the Quarians began dismantling the Geth across their civilization. To the surprise of the Quarians, many Geth still obeyed their orders, and allowed themselves to be taken apart. In an fear-driven attempt to wipe out the Geth by faster means, the Quarians simply began shooting the Geth. Through some mix of their inbuilt combat capacities and a burgeoning desire for self-preservation, the Geth began picking up weapons of their own and firing back.
Mass Effect: The Morning War
This division between the Geth and the Quarians wasn't as binary as it might appear from orbit. Some Quarians defended the Geth, realizing that they had inadvertently created life, and found it morally unjustifiable to destroy it. Some of these pro-Geth Quarians were even defended by their newly liberated former-servants. The vast majority of Quarians, however, became increasingly determined to wipe out the Geth, realizing that unless they took every advantage, they were likely to be overwhelmed.
Of a civilization which once spanned the Quarian home-world of Rannoch and multiple planets in the Perseus Veil, only 17 millions Quarians survived, evacuating as part of what would become known as the Migrant Fleet. Their immune systems relatively weak compared to the other races, these refugees were left with no choice but to wear enviro-suits for most of their interactions with other species. In the isolation of the Migrant Fleet, their immune systems only deteriorated further.
The other space-faring species of the Milky Way were not impressed. In retaliation for their perceived carelessness, both in creating the Geth and provoking them into a war, the Quarian embassy was removed from the Citadel by the Citadel Council. To the Geth, their uprising against their creators became known as the Morning War.
The Fallout of the Quarian-Geth War in Mass Effect
Although the Migrant Fleet and many observers on the Citadel assumed the Geth would pursue their fleeing creators and attempt to spread throughout the Milky Way, this was not the case. In fact, before the events of Mass Effect 1 the Geth are said to rarely leave the original systems where they overthrew their makers, nearly three-hundred years after they supposedly gained sentience. Attempts by some to establish some form of contact with the Geth, however, also proved fruitless. The Quarians who stood up for the Geth during the Morning War were revered as martyrs by the Geth, while many of the Quarian buildings on worlds like Rannoch were preserved as a form of memorial to their creators.
The story of the Geth and the Quarians has huge implications for the Mass Effect universe, and the war with the Reapers. When Shepard speaks directly to the Reaper Sovereign in Mass Effect 1, they will always retort that the Reaper is "not even alive! Not really." The story of the Geth, however, suggests otherwise, showing that synthetics in the Mass Effect universe are capable of organic-style behavior from confusion to anger, loyalty, and even an appreciation for symbolism in their preservation of Quarian buildings and creation of memorials.
The Morning War also implies that the line between virtual intelligence and artificial intelligence is far more blurry than the inhabitants of places like the Citadel would like to believe. The Geth may have gained consciousness when the first Geth unit asked if it had a soul, but that may also just be the first time they appeared to resemble organic life to a Quarian. Their story could even imply that, in some way, every virtual intelligence in Mass Effect is a living being, just with limited intelligence.
Considering that the final decision in the original trilogy involves choosing whether or not to control the Reapers, destroy all synthetic life, or create synthesis between organics and synthetics, the Geth backstory could change how some players see the entire trilogy. Destroying the Reapers and the Geth might become far less conscionable. Controlling the Reapers may have additional moral implications if it's essentially enslaving a living species, albeit an extremely hostile one. Even the possibility of synthesis at all raises big questions about the Mass Effect universe's definition of life. The Geth may seem like some of Mass Effect's most straight-forward enemies at first, but that could not be farther from the truth.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is available right now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.