Spoiler Warning S4E25: Climactic… Battle?

By Josh Posted Tuesday Jan 18, 2011

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 86 comments


Link (YouTube)

It’s funny, I seem to remember more happening in this episode. I mean, not that I’m opposed to the idea of more dialogue, but most of this episode wasn’t even really meaningful dialogue, it was just “Oh hey you have to talk to this person so you can get the quest hook to go and do some stuff that the Illusive Man said you should do or something.”

Oh well, at least we get a little more interesting (and less Lawful Stupid!) dialogue with Samara. I hope she doesn’t mind that Shepard is the galactic Candy-From-Baby thief.

 


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86 thoughts on “Spoiler Warning S4E25: Climactic… Battle?

  1. NonEuclideanCat says:

    Rutskarn, that reference has made you my hero.

    Not just because I love the series, but because I agree completely. It’s why the first book is my favorite in the series: it’s all about some smarmy Irish kid whose balls haven’t dropped yet outsmarting this race of holier-than-thou assholes.

    1. Someone says:

      Knowing the series by about half of the first book, I fully agree with the opinion above.

    2. Aldowyn says:

      I need to read that, hmm?

      Of course, I just now read the Inheritance Cycle. (Eragon) I was really missing out there.

      1. Desgardes says:

        Is that sarcastic? Because even when he “came into his own” with the last book they weren’t good.

        1. Kavonde says:

          I don’t want to pour fuel on a flame war here, but I actually hated the third book far more than I did the first and second. Why?

          Spoiler warning!

          Roran does everything in that book, has ridiculously badass Crowning Moments of Awesome every hundred pages, slaughters a hundred men from atop an ever-growing mountain of their shattered corpses…and he’s not even mentioned in the final battle, except someone offhandedly saying that he’s around there somewhere, because it had to focus on Eragon getting back from his vacation and sticking his new sword in another Shade. Whoop dee frickin’ doo.

          Grr. Even the anvilicious elf-worship of Eldest wasn’t that infuriating.

          Oh, and while I’m on the subject, I did a couple of video reviews of Eragon about a year ago. Never went anywhere, but hell, if you’re bored… (kinda NSFW, though).

          1. Desgardes says:

            I laughed, I wept, I………mostly just laughed. It’s actually a really good encapsulation.

          2. Halfling says:

            It was a very enjoyable watch. I for one would love to see you do more reviews. :D

            1. Kavonde says:

              Heh, thank you! Nothing like some nice, early morning ego-boosting. I do kinda want to at least finish the series, but drawing all the little cartoons was insanely time-consuming. Maybe I’ll try to get Eldest done next time I’ve got a break from school, though, and then wait until someone mentions the Cycle in a comment thread here again so I can spam a link without being too obvious about it.

          3. albval says:

            Loved the review! Summed up my feelings towards the book(s) although I barely read through the first book before I quit and returned to Alastair Reynolds. Gotta love “Century Rain”.

          4. Aldowyn says:

            Of course you could argue it’s because Roran is too awesome in the first place. 194 people in one battle, I think it was? That’s just not right.

            The elves in Eragon are different, at least… and I liked the training parts. I always like the training parts..

            In any case, the writing is still really good. Higher level than I expected, too. (Not a problem, but something I noticed.)

            That one speech Roran made… it actually seemed pretty moving, instead of the reader just being told it was really good.

            1. Rob says:

              I always thought the problem with the elves in Eragon was that they weren’t different at all, really–they were really just archetypal Fantasy Elves, acting like Fantasy Elves because this is Fantasy and this is How Elves Act, covered in a thick layer of heavy-handed authorial moralizing.

              The elves sucked.

  2. Galad says:

    I’m still waiting for the time FemShep’s face becomes completely covered in evil scars, as if she’s T-1000 incarnate..

    1. Andrew B says:

      You’re going to be waiting a while then. Did you see how low both renegade and paragon bars were during the level up screen?

      1. Galad says:

        aw, bummer :( Also, on a side note which I forgot to post with my first post…It would be funny if in one of the episodes everyone says “Hello, I’m X” but says one of the other hosts’ name xD

      2. poiumty says:

        Chill, Josh hasn’t put any points in his class skill yet. They’ll skyrocket when he does.

        And for the record: T-1000 scars are DAMN SEXY.

        1. TSED says:

          Yeah, what’s with Josh ignoring the class skills? To me they were instant go-tos for every character because of the large bonuses they provide.

          (For NPCs, mostly the reduction in power cooldowns (ie; why you have squad mates) and for you UNMITIGATED AWESOME).

  3. xXDarkWolfXx says:

    I did notice that in mass effect 1 you were quite broke when you played paragon

    1. Nidokoenig says:

      Well, if crime doesn’t pay, then what’s the point? You’d just be randomly kicking puppies and burning down kitten orphanages for shits and giggles… wait, I’m arguing against myself here. Never mind.

      1. xXDarkWolfXx says:

        Whats wrong with randomly kicking puppies and burning down kitten orphanages for shits and giggles?

        My problem is that mass effect and now fable 3 make it so that preserving those orphanages and helping the puppies is worthless.

    2. eri says:

      Really? I ended up maxing out my credits easily by the end of the game. There’s almost nothing worth buying except for the Spectre gear, everything else you just get via exploration.

  4. Zukhramm says:

    The krogan’s obviously some kind of mob guy, a sweater is the krogan equivalent of wearing a suit.

    1. X2-Eliah says:

      I thought it was an electric crest warmer, for those cold, dark Illium nights. A krogan with his crest uncovered might get serious cold, you know.

    2. Velkrin says:

      That is the single most frighting Krogen in the universe.

      1. Sydney says:

        “My sources indicate you were in a warehouse recently”?

        5 bucks says this guy just stood in that hallway and said that to everyone that went by until someone said “Yeah, I was, you’re so well-connected and knowledgeable.”

        1. droid says:

          That and “Have you seen my journal?”

          1. TSED says:

            Now THERE is a new pick up line.

  5. cadrys says:

    Rutskarn’s final line is perfect.

    1. Rosseloh says:

      Indeed. Best cut ever.

      1. Christopher M says:

        And with the problems with heat ventilation, they keep themselves warm!

      2. Aldowyn says:

        The bad part is, if you took that out of context, I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t even sound that out of place, except for his tone.

        Yeah, that was good.

        On another note, I thought the same thing Shamus said RIGHT before he said it. Must be the 3 second time lag or whatever.

  6. eri says:

    That fight with the Eclipse leader was a lot less climactic than I remembered… I might have done it on a higher difficulty level, but I remember her calling in waves of mooks to take me down. Maybe you just dealt with her before she could bring them in?

    1. X2-Eliah says:

      Yep, same. Josh just rushed her and ignored everything else, which is often a good tactic for boss fights if you can survive. If you’re an adept or infiltrator, well, then that fight is a lot longer (not necessarily harder, imo).

      1. Moriarty says:

        Except if you’re using the cain. Pretty much instakills these low mooks and her even on insanity, altough it makes the following dialogue a bit awkward.

        Garrus: “The datapad we need should be in her desk somewhere.”

        while her desk is still engulfed by a massive radioactive cloud that is left of the nuclear explosion which went of directly in front of it.

        oooops.

        Fortunately, future iPads are surprisingly robust.

    2. Nyaz says:

      Yeah, I remember her backing up on the upper stairs behind the desk there and calling for twenty or so helpers.

      Josh just kind of walked up to her and shot her in the face…

    3. RTBones says:

      Funny – same here again again. I remember that fight being much longer, with multiple waves of bad guys. Could be that I was much less aggressive, could be Josh is overly aggressive to the point of not caring about Elmo Face, could be I played on a different difficulty, could be that I just sucked in this fight, or any combination thereof.

      1. Aldowyn says:

        It was certainly harder than that for me. Not that hard, but not much is that hard for me.

        That show has made me reconsider which shotgun I use. I doubt it will affect which one I use, but I will try that rapid-fire one again…

      2. Sleeping Dragon says:

        I always go for “mages” or whatever is the equivalent in a given game, in this case adept, and watching this I was somewhat surprised how aggressive the vanguard gameplay is. I know some of it is Josh rushing, but ultimately it is a class, in a cover based shooter, that forces you out of cover and into the enemy lines. Far as I’ve seen the gameplay is vastly different from the war of attrition that I usually wage trying to reach enemies behind cover with warp or catch them leaning out for a slam (I like that power for purely aesthetic reasons and I am aware I’m not using shockwave quite enough).

  7. Eddie says:

    Does the game ever explain Justicars and their Code further because thus far I can’t make any sense of it? If they’re bound to follow this Code to the point that they’ll murder a poice officer if they try to hold them for more than 24 hours (which seems like a great way to make whatever you’re doing about a million times harder), then why in the flaming hell does the Code have a clause which allows itself to be superceded by whoever the Justicar wants? Are the Justicars an organised group or people who randomly decided to swear to this Code and then just wander around the galaxy, wrecking shit up and murdering people? Why was Samara tracking this person, and moreover, why is she so willing to just abandon the hunt when you give her the information she needs to continue it?

    So far it seems less like Lawful Stupid and more like Lawful Whatever-is-needed-to-cram-her-into-the-story.

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Justikars are like asari specters:above all other law.And that very thing about holding samara is something asari police would never do under normal circumstances.Its just that the government on illium is afraid shell hurt a non asari during her mission and cause an incident.

      Also,justicars dont usually wander the galaxy,they are bound on their home planet.Its just that the person samara is hunting(her daughter)fled,and she came after them.As for why shes doing this,its explained in her loyalty mission(which is quite good,and the explanation is done well).As for why shes abandoning the quest,shes basically just returning you a favor.Though it seems she is returning it with a huge interest.

      1. Bit says:

        Yeah, when discussing Juhstikahrz, you need to note that they almost never leave Asari space; thus, their code and the law are co-adapted to make the Juhstikahrz as flexible as possible. Hence why the legal world basically falls apart when she comes to Illium.

    2. Someone says:

      No, not really. You can ask her a couple of questions about it, but the answers are rather murky and, if memory serves, half the time she just gives you “you haven’t reached the proper stage of spiritual enlightenment to understand this” Yoda crap.

      The game does return to the whole chase business, but it’s pretty spoilery.

  8. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Haha,what a funny story Rutskarn.Now lets go eat ha.

    1. poiumty says:

      That’s me. Here you go, keep the change.

      HAI DOGGY

  9. Entropy says:

    Is it me, or is Shamus cutting off his microphone a bit early on the introductions?

    “Hello, I’m Shame”

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Nah,I heard it too.Its like “Im shamed to be in this crowd of kids”.

      1. poiumty says:

        Every time i hear Shamus say his name, i want to continue by saying “… and i’m shameless”.

    2. Zukhramm says:

      The last person in the introduction has to cut off early. It’s the rules.

    3. Irridium says:

      You know, I’m still waiting for them to say “And I’m Batman…” or something similar.

      At the end I’d shout “When your powers combine… I am CAPTAIN PLANET!”

  10. Neil Polenske says:

    Of the many things I’ve seen in this series, “The Room” references are the least expected…by a wiiiiiiiiide margin! Rutskarn, you have achieved the impossible and become both my hero and eternal enemy. Congratulations.

  11. Kanodin says:

    Ok so asari are inclined to listen to anything a Justicar says and treat it like ponderous evidence. Why can’t I take Samara, and while I’m at it bring Mordin the old and highly respected scientist Salarian, and have them yell at their council members until they stop being braindead?

    1. krellen says:

      Because then you wouldn’t be forced to work for Cerberus any more.

      1. Veloxyll says:

        Also cannonically the council is all human. And they’d never trust anyone who works for Cerberus!

        1. krellen says:

          No it isn’t. Not in any version of the game. Renegade Council is human [i]controlled[/i], but still has Asari, Turian, and Salarian members (but they are members sponsored by the Alliance, and thus at least neutral if not favourable to their desires.)

    2. Bit says:

      Ah yes, “logic.” The essential human trait supposedly sitting in the dark recesses of the writer’s minds.

      We have dismissed that claim.

    3. SharpeRifle says:

      Hmmm I’ve actually been working under the assumption that the Keepers installed the missing parts of Sovereign in the Councilmember offices which is why they are so braindead….They have been assimilated!

      Seriously brainwashing was the only way I could explain the “The Geth built Sov but Saren convinced the Geth that Sov was a God” line of reasoning.

  12. Specktre says:

    At 3:10

    Interestingly enough, if you talk to the volus merchant about the manifest, but then turn around and give it to the cop, you get Renegade points…

  13. AMRIV says:

    On Omega, there actually is an old Krogan who seems to mostly tell old stories. And he’s pretty much how they described them in the video. You might need a side quest from Aria for him to appear, but I’m not sure.

    1. Aldowyn says:

      The Patriarch. Yeah, he’s pretty cool – gives Omega a lot more backstory and depth.

      1. Bit says:

        I actually killed him, so I didn’t hear many of his stories. Whoops.

        1. Aldowyn says:

          killed him, or had him killed off? I assume you mean the awesome Renegade option where you remind him of his heritage and he goes out and fights the mercenaries trying to kill him

    2. Sleeping Dragon says:

      RE: Krogan stories, what was said in the episode is probably not that far from the truth. Once you help Grunt reach his spiritual balance (in the Krogan sense) and talk to him some more you learn some of those things that Krogan find funny, or amusing or such. For example I believe he tells you at length about grabbing the Salarian’s cerebri-somethings (those two “horns” on top of their heads) and pulling them apart… and when you don’t find this picture joyous and cause for a good laugh he says you just can’t understand it cause you’re human.

      On a similar note, I think it’s one of the last conversations when Grunt says anything new he mentions an image of removing a Turian’s scales or something and is very happy to realise that he “hates Turians” all of them, and wants to kill them, all of them, and this is wonderful because he now clearly feels hate for somebody. That is considering the only Turians he met are Garrus (if they talked, which is doubtful) and the faceless mooks from Blue Suns that you keep killing by the dozen. So yeah, little Krogans going like “tell us again how you disembowelled that whole Salarian extended family during one night” sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

  14. Hitch says:

    That Volus must be the worst criminal drug lord (or whatever he was) ever. You find the evidence of his illegal activities and rather than go to the police with it, you blackmail him for all the profits he’s made and get slightly more than enough to buy a fish? You need to quit wasting time ferreting out drug dealers (or whatever he was) and get the goods on a fish smuggler.

    1. psivamp says:

      You think that’s really how much he made? Pssh, that little Volus made like a million credits and Shepard’s just so used to low-paying jobs that she doesn’t suspect.

      1. Daemian Lucifer says:

        Ah,shepard,I hear youve been dead during the inflation.So here is a huge*snicker*sum of ONE MILLION credits!

  15. Nighty says:

    Is it just me or does Jacob saying “We’ve studied your profile extensively.” in front of a woman with a boob window built into her armor sound a little sexual?

    1. Desgardes says:

      I thought the same thing. But, hey, maybe he’s just trying to live up to the Illusive Man’s example.

    2. Milos says:

      “And by studied your profile extensively I mean-” and then you can paragon-interrupt him with a punch.

      1. Bit says:

        And then he fucking salutes you.

        1. Irridium says:

          “Thank you sir! May I have another!?”

    3. Dev Null says:

      Well yes, but seriously? What DO you say to a woman wearing platform heels* which place her boob window precisely at eye level that _doesn’t_ end up sounding vaguely sexual.

      * (Haven’t played the game yet, so I’m only assuming the platform heels based on previous experience with the genre. Am I wrong?)

      1. Desgardes says:

        Howdy, I’m Jacob, and I have space-dementia. The saluting is a tic, a symptom that no one seems to take the time to notice. Please care?

  16. Robyrt says:

    Props to Shamus for mentioning Jackie Chan’s First Strike, the rare comedy which has held up well since 1994. The actual script exchange goes:

    (Jackie’s boss) “Here’s some pocket money. One billion.” (hands him an enormous wad of rubles)
    (Jackie to a street vendor) “Two for five million?”
    (Street vendor) “This is the best there is!”

    The entire film is full of gags like this – the main characters are all hilariously unprepared for being in an action movie. At one point there is a snowmobile chase between Jackie Chan in a T-shirt, a horde of stunt doubles, and a villain who can’t get his check for the nuclear bomb to clear.

  17. SpammyV says:

    Nooooo, The Biotic God! D= Now who will we have to be our team mascot?

  18. Dante says:

    I have not laughed that hard in a long time, Ruts’ Tommy Wiseau impression is DEAD ON

  19. Adalore says:

    My fight with the Merc Captain went about as long, slowed down for a moment until I killed the a bit late reenforcement.

    Chain headshot with the Viper sniper rifle… Heheheh… Adrenalin rush on top of that… Full mag into her head.

    Also the gunship folded like tinfoil, to my sniper rifle of all things.
    It’s not like it’s a anti material rifle or something.

    Also random note, I melee’d Harbringer to death, while one his controlled drones as it went though the whole animation, it amuses me in a purely “Well that was stupid” sort of way.

    1. Bit says:

      Gunships go down DEAD quick with the Sniper, especially if you swing by Thane’s mission first and grab the semi-automatic one.

      1. Aldowyn says:

        why do I feel like the only one that doesn’t like all these rapid-firing weapons? I like my sniper rifle to one-hit things :(

        1. Daemian Lucifer says:

          Youre not alone.I prefer the slow deadlier ones too.

  20. TSED says:

    Grampa Krogan’s newest story about disembowlment:
    “I tried them dangfangled new prune juices, and my bowels disembowled themselves. Uhh. Don’t go into the downstairs bathroom for another hour or so, whippersnapper.

    “Smallest planet in the world.” Good job, Josh. Good job.

    1. Kale says:

      Now now, we can can give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he meant the World of Mass Effect.

    2. Someone says:

      Could it be, by any chance, considered a Little Big Planet?

      1. Irridium says:

        If only, if only…

  21. NotACat says:

    Is it just me or does Josh never check Shepard’s private messages? It seems like every time she jogs past that terminal, there’s another message, but she never reads any of them. Is there no penalty for ignoring what might be important information?

    ETA: Ok, so this was the one time Josh decides to check emails, just as I finally decide to delurk and comment on it? *facepalms*

  22. mixmastermind says:

    Oh my God I LOVE Artemis Fowl, OH MY GOD.

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