{"id":29106,"date":"2015-11-05T04:56:02","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T09:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=29106"},"modified":"2015-11-05T04:56:02","modified_gmt":"2015-11-05T09:56:02","slug":"mass-effect-retrospective-21-geth-of-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=29106","title":{"rendered":"Mass Effect Retrospective 21: Geth of Honor"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the last post on the squad members in Mass Effect 2. Next time we will finally<\/em> start talking about the plot. But now, I’ve saved the two bestUnless you think Mordin is the best. I’m cool with that. Or Garrus. Thane’s pretty cool too. I dunno.<\/span> for last:<\/p>\n

Tali<\/h3>\n

Hi Shepard. Don't mind me. I'm just setting up a side-plot that won't go anywhere.<\/div>
Hi Shepard. Don't mind me. I'm just setting up a side-plot that won't go anywhere.<\/div><\/p>\n

Tali’s recruitment mission has you rescuing her from a Geth attack during a research project. She’s studying a star that’s burning out too quickly because of mumble mumble dark energy space magic<\/em>. According to lead Mass Effect 1 writer Drew Karpyshyn (who departed BioWare just before Mass Effect 2 was completed) this was supposed to lead in to the overall Reaper plot. PC Gamer has a transcript of a podcast<\/a> where Karpyshyn discussed an early concept for the big Mass Effect 3 reveal:<\/p>\n

Dark Energy was something that only organics could access because of various techno-science magic reasons we hadn’t decided on yet. Maybe using this Dark Energy was having a ripple effect on the space-time continuum.<\/p>\n

Maybe the Reapers kept wiping out organic life because organics keep evolving to the state where they would use biotics and dark energy and that caused an entropic effect that would hasten the end of the universe. Being immortal beings, that’s something they wouldn’t want to see.<\/p>\n

Then we thought, let’s take it to the next level. Maybe the Reapers are looking at a way to stop this. Maybe there’s an inevitable descent into the opposite of the Big Bang (the Big Crunch) and the Reapers realize that the only way they can stop it is by using biotics, but since they can’t use biotics they have to keep rebuilding society – as they try and find the perfect group to use biotics for this purpose. The Asari were close but they weren’t quite right, the Protheans were close as well.<\/p>\n

Again it’s very vague and not fleshed out, it was something we considered but we ended up going in a different direction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m a little wary of talking about this here, if only because it strays dangerously close to the blame-game stuff I’ve been trying to avoid. Also, it’s a little unfair to compare this half-baked idea to the Actual Ending, because this Dark Energy plot has a lot of blanks that need to be filled in. It’s entirely possible this idea would have fallen apart just as violently as the one we got. <\/p>\n

Sure, it might sound like a promising ideaOr not. I dunno. A lot would depend on the execution.<\/span> when Karpyshyn outlines it, but if you put this explanation in the mouth of the Star Child and offered a Red, Green, Blue ending-o-tron then it probably would have been just as big a disaster as the ending we got. <\/p>\n

But I bring this up because this is the only part of the entire game that makes any effort at all to set something up for Mass Effect 3, and it sets up an idea they abandoned later. You don’t need<\/em> to do some kind of “big mind-blowing reveal” at the end of the series. But if you are going to go that way, then you really need to set it up properly ahead of time. A big twist is more than just “unexpected information”.<\/p>\n

Everyone points to the end of Mass Effect 3 as this point of failure, but I maintain the seeds of that eventual failure were planted much, much earlier. Yes, the eventual reveal of the purpose of the Reapers was awful, but it would have been easier to deliver a good ending if there had been something to build on here in Mass Effect 2. <\/p>\n

Tali’s Trial<\/h3>\n

The Quarians don't need to wear their suits when on their own ships, but I don't blame them for keeping them on here. The cumulative body odor of removing all these rubber suits at the same time would almost qualify as a biological attack.<\/div>
The Quarians don't need to wear their suits when on their own ships, but I don't blame them for keeping them on here. The cumulative body odor of removing all these rubber suits at the same time would almost qualify as a biological attack.<\/div><\/p>\n

While stopping the Reapers (and later, stopping Cerberus) remains the overarching plot, the Mass Effect series also has two major sub-plots that cover all three games: The Quarian \/ Geth conflict, and the Genophage. While the Reaper \/ Cerberus plot eventually disintegrates into frustrating nonsense, the other two plots remain uniformly excellent. Mordin’s loyalty mission advances the Genophage plot, while Tali’s advances the Geth \/ Quarian plot.<\/p>\n

Tali is called back to the flotilla and put on trial for smuggling live Geth onto their ships. Tali isn’t actually the one to blame. It was her father. But Tali wants to take the blame to protect the memory of her father. I just want to point out that last week on Spoiler Warning<\/a>, we ran into that exact situation in KOTOR, where one Wookiee wanted to take the blame for another, to protect the honor of the dead. Everyone notices when BioWare re-uses the Towers of Hanoi<\/a> puzzle, but little ideas like this often show up again and again without being noticed. <\/p>\n

I’d love to know if the same person wrote both stories. <\/p>\n

The entire quest is fantastic. You get to see the famous Quarian flotilla up close. (A payoff to something ME1 set up!) You get to meet the Quarian leadership. (Worldbuilding!) You get to participate in the trial and make some fairly weighty decisions that aren’t just lame paragon \/ renegade binaries. (Choices that matter and make sense!) You get to shoot some Geth and hear all their delightful robo-noises, which was one of the most aurally pleasant parts of Mass Effect 1Aside from the soundtrack.<\/span>. <\/p>\n

Also, this quest introduces characters and ideas that will return in Mass Effect 3 for a large dramatic payoff. We get character development, story development, choices, worldbuilding, and continuity between games. It’s wonderful, but it also highlights how much the main plot failed to do these things.<\/p>\n

Legion<\/h3>\n

Maybe it's the musical sting, but Legion's big reveal gets me every time. What a fantastic moment.<\/div>
Maybe it's the musical sting, but Legion's big reveal gets me every time. What a fantastic moment.<\/div><\/p>\n

Legion is a fan favorite. He made the rounds in the memes and comics when the game was fresh. Why do people like him so much? That cool voice? The fact that he’s a rare sci-fi robot that doesn’t<\/b> suffer from Pinocchio Syndrome<\/a>? Is it that intriguing N7 chestplate that the writers are smart enough to not explain? <\/p>\n

Those are all good reasons, but I think an overlooked reason for Legion’s popularity is that he’s a character made almost entirely out of worldbuilding. Legion is a payoff to numerous questions posed in Mass Effect 1. His explanations about Geth existence, motivations, and behavior are all interesting. It expands on what we already know without rewriting existing lore or clashing tonally. Since the moment Tali explained their shared history, I’ve wanted to hear the Geth side of the story.<\/p>\n

His recruitment takes place during a main story mission, so we’ll talk about it in a later entry. For now let’s talk about his loyalty mission, which poses the most interesting question of the entire Mass Effect series…<\/p>\n