Maybe Shepards choices were never meant to matter.
to create a story about Shepards inability to change anything.
A fourth option, Refusal, was added in the Extended Cut.
To be fair, though,Mass Effect 3told the player what might be coming.
Its a fight we cant win.
The break between those two phrases is very important.
It explains the plot, since the story ofMass Effect 3is all about Shepard gathering allies.
Commander Shepard is generally positive whether Paragon or Renegade, he always moves forward.
We see him at a low point, even shedding tears, inMass Effect 3.
I dont know, but Im sure as hell going to give it my best shot.
I dont know is often the answer.
Shepard is willing to fight, no matter in what infamy or obscurity.
The flip side of heroism is that willingness to be forgotten.
Being right about the Reapers has never felt much like a victory, has it?
Along with the emotional aspect ofMass Effects story, there is also the science fictional one.
Shepard is revived at the beginning ofMass Effect 2with both organic and synthetic parts.
No matter which ending is chosen, all sentient species have been changed irrevocably along with their galaxy.
The Reapers are always saying this Harbingers much-memed assuming direct control quote is about exactly what it sounds like.
Control, actions leading to direct proportionate reactions, is integral to games.
He can re-spawn in a new body every time he is killed.
This seems a victory to you, it says.
Shepard replies, Maybe youre right.
Maybe we cant win this.
But well fight you regardless, just like we did Sovereign, just like Im doing now.
Shepard has to fight past the Reapers telling him that his choices arent important.
To be a hero, Shepard says, is to choose and live with the consequences.
That ending is called Refusal the letting go of choice.)
Similarly, no Shepard gets out ofMass Effect 3unscathed.
Everyone could survive through the players skill and strategy.
Not so with the originalMass Effect, and in the third installment, the death count gets even higher.
We will find a way.
Thats what humans do, Shepard says, and says variations on the same theme time and time again.
The thread of futility that runs through it doesnt change that.
This article originally appeared on June 15, 2015.
It has been lightly updated.
Megan Crouse is a staff writer.
