I like how you really dive into these theories and show visual graphs/presentations to help breakdown how they could work! Hope your channel continues to grow 🎉while growing our BELOVED Mass Effect Community! ❤

This theory makes the most logical and time saving way to conclude these story lines

What if the Geth did not look for habitable worlds, but instead for others like them aka the Jardaan for example.

OK I'm generally not a fan of "fan theories", but this is kind of genius. If it was any other studio but Bioware I'd think it was overthinking things, but the way the ME dev team spin out such complex puzzles and content teasers spanning the whole series - and state there are still things from a couple years ago that we haven't deciphered from their N7 day puzzles - I'm actually tempted to say this is accurate! Brilliant theory that *actually* holds water! 💜

Amazing theory.. One of the hardest choices i found leans into this actually 'Woild be interesting to hear two Geth platforms potentially 'arguing ' with e/o about if the Heratics deserved to be brainwashed or not .' Eg, IF some Geth did leave fir andromeda and return to find Shepard effectively destroyed their race over a lump of rock(Ranock) how would they *feel*? Would some splinter off again? Would some Quarians feel ghey can abyse the (returning) Geth platforms, would the Geth help Quarians? Interesting how many perpectives vould be created

There is also the reason why Alec Ryder created SAM. He discovered a loophole in the "inevitable" conflict between organic and synthetic life that The Catalyst did not discover.

Great Theory and newly subscribed. I have imagined how ME4/5 could work. As you said, the endings and choices make progression a logistical nightmare. My own musings. Liara aka Shadow Broker had a plan B. She knew about the Andromeda journey and after the end of ME3, she packed up her assets and critical people and boogies to Andromeda. lol Thank you for the great commentary!

I wonder if depending on Ryder's choices if the Andromeda krogan's would stay there or venture back to the milkyway? Also if they find out the humans used the genophage against/for the milkway krogan if that'd sway their decisions. Ngl I want a krogan villian arc ☠️

This is good high quality stuff! You really thought this through. Never thought of Andromeda in this light. Looking forward to your next video!

You just gave me a reason to play Andromeda again.

Happy Friday, thanks for the stream

Honestly I appreciate that you take the events of Andromeda into consideration when you’re theorizing. I don’t understand why people don’t like it so much…

Great video, very logical and well explained theory. It definitely could work and hopefully make the majority of fans happy 😊

Gonna be honest, calling the Breeder Queen a "genius" choice is... A choice to say the least. Having a whole race of duplicate Krogan and Geth sounds like the kind of writing even Andromeda would make fun of.

A paragon, 7 video drops on my go home day From work. This is gonna be a good day.😂😂

I can't wait for your next video. I've wondered if the Jardaan are remnants (pun unintended) of the Inusannon. And, when they discovered the Reapers had been dealt with they decided to return to the Milky Way to escape the threats of Andromeda. They could have certainly created the vaults since they would have been 100,000 years more advanced in science, technology, and thought by then. Certainly reasonable to assume the races of other cycles had tried something similar to the Initiative.

The reason Mass Effect 4 will take place (at least partly) in the Milky Way is simply this: Andromeda was received SO negatively, there’s no point in continuing the franchise in that direction. Even though Andromeda was clearly designed to get DLCs and a sequel, Bioware gave up on it, because they had good reason to believe that the fan base wasn’t going to follow them there. Hence the return to the Milky Way. It’s what the fans want, so it’s what they’ll get.

They obviously made Andromeda so the game wouldn't have to follow on these choices in the Milky Way.

One way to do a bunch of this content is to write/design the game as the perfect ending where you did everything perfectly paragon. Then remove content based on your (bad) decisions from the first trilogy. Some necessary content can stay and the NPC handing out the quest could change. BG3 does this if you go on a killing rampage. there is another NPC to give you the quest to keep the story going. I know there are more nuances than that, but it’s a starting place.

Your appreciation for Andromeda is growing 🙏🏽😎 Extremely well done video. I missed these breadcrumbs in all the hours I’ve put into the game.

happy Friday!!!

The only problem here is that the arks left before the reapers invaded, so the consequences for neither the genophage nor the geth/quarian stories would have any effect on the ark passengers,. Infact they left even before the quarian geth war in me3. There is only one person alive in Andromeda that knows anything about the reaper war and as far as they know, the milky way was lost. Liara's msg was pretty grim after all and didn't include deets about either of those stories.

great job

The Geth created a huge telescope out of three damaged relays which is where the Initiative got its early scans of the Helus Cluster. At some point the Geth either co-operated with the Initiative or they somehow got access to this telescope without alerting them. Which is unlikely as they were pretty keen on protecting their borders. They used the array's data but didn't know the reason why the Geth created the array or what they used it to observe.

bioware having a big brain pro gamer moment?

I’d definitely disagree to the premise that the “blueprint print” being a “solution” to the ever bloating string of choices. Honestly would love to play through the game and get a COMPLETELY different experience. It’s a RPG after all. Although I do get the work load for the team to be absolutely massive but also, Baldurs Gate literally exists. I would love for the next mass effect game to have that same level of detail and absolute love for the craft. Just kinda seems like to me that we are arguing are arguing against ourselves when we want impactful decisions, but also to be happy when the game makes it clear the choice ultimately doesn’t matter. The story can most definitely can be crafted with alternate realities essentially, or just have good narratives explaining it but that would also leave it as the last tittle in the mass effect series due to the whole game needing to be wrapping up plot points. Also andromeda I really don’t consider cannon, and was pretty much a dog water experience, especially after they dropped all future plans to fix it and add on content after the reaction of the state THEY released the game in. Hopefully we see a true sequel to the trilogy or maybe a reimagining, but I pray we do not connect anything to andromeda in any way besides a mention of the mission they embarked on. It would definitely turn me off of the story

The initiative could possibly return to the Milky Way when the kett’s main force reaches andromeda at a overwhelming magnitude

Glad there's a video I can almost completely agree with you on, because I really love the passion and hard work you put into these videos. The geth doing their own Andromeda thing also helps to resolve a fundamental conflict between destroy and the other ending choices, esp given the ongoing existence of geth has been pretty much 100% confirmed for ME5. I hate synthesis so much that I really hope bioware just pretends that was never an option, and all the synthesis lovers are just to to suck it up. Interestingly, I think refuse is easier to resolve than synthesis using the Andromeda loophole. And if you want Liara and Wrex to survive the refuse decision, they, and a handful of others (like Aria and Grunt) can do an Ilos and hide out, with the intention of being more active in helping the uplift of new cycle species, and without having to go into stasis. There are enough Milky Way people in Andromeda to re-seed the galaxy with all the main species, unlike the 12 or so Protheans left on Ilos at the end of their cycle. Hmmm, now that I think about it I'm sorta keen for refuse to be my canon now. If ME5 is a great game and it allows ME3 ending choices to come through I'll be doing a destroy, control and refuse version anyway. Just never a synthesis one.

Here’s hoping the new writing team is as creative. 👍

It's a compelling argument. The one thing that might bother me is that this would require a time jump of hundreds of years between ME3 and the next game (unless I'm misunderstanding your theory, in which case, nevermind) but I could be convinced otherwise.

GOOSEBUMPS. Ok you’ve convinced me 🤯

This is essentially how they could just incorporate the endings by having a universal story that account for all endings and choices but also be it's own story and game like if you just played mass effect 3 for the first time. That all said I don't think fans would like the idea of their choices changed or canonized for them in the next Mass effect game especially from mass effect Andromeda and I say this as someone who likes Andromeda but not many others do.

I like this but the only problem with it is that the Arks from Andromeda, as stated in the codex, left the Milky Way BETWEEN ME2 and ME3. Anyone on the arks would not know about the events of Mass Effect 3

I absolutely love your theory and your analysis of how the devs deal with the multiple choices we made are spot on. Just for fun here is another way how they could have chosen to deal with the galaxy altering consequences of our choices : Imagine a mission in the future who is very similar to the one with the rachni Queen in ME3 only with another species than Rachni. If we cured the genophage we are called by a Krogan special force team because they found something strange and want us to help investigate. and we can at the end have either our Krogan team full strength and the danger dealt with or the team killed but gained a new powerful ally. On the other hand if we sabotaged the cure it's the Salarian STG who'll find the anomaly and call us. They being much weaker than Krogans will not be as effective and we have no way to save the new potential ally and even if we leave the new species to die we can't save the whole STG Team so we end up at best with a weaker team and no new ally. While I believe your theory is the correct one because if they hope to make more games in the ME universe they need a somewhat coherent galaxy I think that mine would have the advantage to make us feel more the consequences of our choices. Many players felt that the very dramatic Noveria choice was in fact meaningless because even if the queen died there was still a queen in ME3. And that's not completely wrong, in the end we were promised a choice between saving a species or eradicating it and factually what happened was a choice between having a different set of war assets on a spreadsheet in ME3.

I think it's fairly clear that the unfinished story of Andromeda was heading to some sort of Quantum "instant" move between galaxies using the bigger enemy (scourge) or the restored vaults. I think it's -also_ teased that the Andromeda "created" species [to avoid spoilers, just in case] was either created by, or mirrored on, protheans. Also, that the tech may be actually "renegade reapers" or similar, who left the Milky Way and broke off from the whole a la the 2 geth factions in MEx3. It's obviously the Milky Way, but the fact we see Liara, who at the time the Initiative wake up in Andromeda is the only companion character except Grunt (who had 2 choice mechanics in 2 games leading to his death, and is therefore problematic) who can still be alive at 700 years old, is telling. Liara also had voice lines in Andromeda. Bioware always take 1 companion from the previous games to move forward into the next sequel [DAO --> Awakening, Oghren; DAA--> DA2, Anders; DA2--> DAI Varric, and DA4 will probably be Dorian; MEA doesn't count because it was running in parallel to ME2/3 and is not a "sequel" as a result, but this one is] so MEx3--> ME4 = Liara and, I'll bet, someone from Andromeda as well and I'll bet the farm on a Ryder cameo, a la Hawke in DAI. So, this theory could work.

They have their work cut out for them hope they do a good job

@paragonseven I think you're right with this one. Kudos for this analysis! I can't wait to see what you found on Aya. Imagine, one day the fans will realise that Andromeda saved the franchise from falling apart with this trick. 🙃

I have a solution: CTL+ALT+Delete. Wait, that doesn't help? Fine. Just go Paragon by default, and if you Import Games, you have many options, but as for the big three endings, modify them slightly cause the Reapers always lie.

Heres my take on these: Curing or not the Genophage doesnt really matter. You either get the Grunt approach (less krogan but faster, better, stronger) or they build natural immunity. It was already hinted in ME2 and 3 that Genophage needed to be altered in order to keep the Krogan "infected" because they started building natural immunity to it Geth or Qarrian or both can also be easily fixed. How? The ending fixes it for us. The truth is we dont know for sure if all quarrian die if you pick geth. They can always make the a$$pull of bringing them back cause some ships left the battlefield. Geth would disappear regardless because of the ending. We know it has to be 1 canon ending and 3 bad ones. Synthesis: Bad ending - its basically what The Reapers are trying to achieve in the first place Control: Bad ending - cycle is not broken... just prolonged and maybe in time Catalyst-Sheppard reaches same solution as his/her predecessor Refusal: Straight loss... Destroy: the only one that have several outcomes - lowest score - destroys Earth, ALL SYNTHETICS, and Reapers, normal score is same but excluding Earth and perfect score only shows that Sheppard could have survived. Synthetics still die regardless of what they are. Its even hinted that it affects cybernetic implants etc The real issue here is that Geth are hinted to return in the new ME... so either someone rebuilt them or they did like the Reapers and had some of them away from the galaxy I agree that this is where Andromeda comes in to fix the now "minor" issues. Probably evolving S.A.M. into platform running AI (like they did with E.D.I.) and we wont see geth but new AI that resembles the geth. It also reintroduces species we killed off like quarrians and krogan

Alot of work went in to the video but Andromeda is not necessary to Mass Effect 5. We can just continue in the worlds that we got at the end of ME3. The complexity is going to be there regardless, and even if the Andromeda fleet comes back (though why would they) weaving that in is fairly straightforward. What you see as complexity headache I see as opportunity for storytelling. For example if somehow the genophage wasn't cured, in the time between games, Liara stumbles across Mordin's research with the help of EDI, contacts STG and releases the genophage cure anyway. or If the quarians were destroyed, then not all of the quarians were destroyed, there was a group that stayed out of it that wanted nothing to do with fighting the geth, and they come back. If the geth were destroyed, the quarians felt guilt over the genocide and brought them back and injected the reaper code to make them self aware, and this builds understanding and trust between the geth and quarians. Tying all these things together to result in a default galaxy of their choosing is fairly simple you see.

I thought you said that every choice we made will matter and the game will be vastly different for each. So now you’re not saying that?

You cooked here ngl. Do you have a discord or something for ME fans?

well i agree that this is likely my main concern is the endings because the only way i can see it going is that all the reaper are destroyed no mater what choice. because there too powerful but then again if most of them were destroyed i guess they aren't that much more powerful then the other races so maybe it wont make a big difference

I think your theory has a lot of merit, but I hope you're wrong. Accomodating all player choices like this will likely just end making them feel mostly meaningless. If the truly monumental decisions at the end of ME3 just lead to slightly different flavours of the same setting, then what was the point? If I killed the Quarians, I should be confronted with their absence, not some replacement Quarians, especially when the same pattern is repeated with other important decisions. The more I think about it, the more I wish they'd just canonize some choices, even if they don't reflect my own. Anyway, please don't read this as an attack on your video. I think you're completely right. I'm just not happy about it.

If they try to use andromeda as the main plot point this will fail miserably. At least half of the target audience didnt even play it

Can you save the queen and Grunt both?

Interesting video! I enjoyed Andromeda, playing it right after my first run through of the Trilogy. Knowing it would be quite different helped me enjoy it for what it was (and the relatively lighter tone was a nice tonic after having my guts ripped out by the ending ofME3.) There was fun gameplay in Andromeda, and I agree, some interesting lore and possibilities. Can’t wait to see what plays out in the next game.

I'd prefer if Bioware just does what everyone else does: make a specific playthrough (and all it's choices) canon and leave it at that. That's the easiest way, and the only way that really makes sense, since the state of the galaxy has to be coherent, otherwise they'd literally have to make 4 different games to cover the endings. Literally none of the endings are even remotely similar in terms of consequence. Either humanity controls the Reapers, they wipe them out, synthetics and organics reach Synthesis, or Shepard fails and everyone is Harvested. Those are all radically different world states. Idk why people can't just swallow that pill and accept that they're going to need to make certain decisions canon. They already have to make the game from scratch in a new engine. They're not going to do all that extra work, especially since they don't know if ME5 will be as big of a hit as ME1 was, especially after Andromeda and Anthem tanked hard financially. People need to stop being obsessed with "their" Shepard. Canon Shepard will likely be a mixture of Renegade and Paragon and will have done things "your" Shepard would've never done in a million years. Shepard isn't ours, he's Bioware's.

👍🏼

Maybe getting to use Real engine opened up the game

Fortunately we only have to wait until 2029 to find out ! Nice video. Keep them coming. You'll write the story for them..save them some overhead.

Hi

You might see unmasked quarians if they survived along with the Geth. Since the Geth were helping the quarians readapt to their homeworld's enviroment by uploading into their suits and mimicing pathogens so the quarians could adapt to them.

Literal best mass effect youtuber

I completely disagree with your appraisal of how the devs handled the Rachni Queen dilemma. There is NOTHING genius about how the devs decided to handle it in ME 3; their decisions were made out of pure financial necessity, because as you say, they would have had to develop the Rachni game segment completely differently as well as having to come up with an alternative to Rachni opponents which you encounter throughout the game. I was legitimately PISSED when my decision made all the way back in ME 1 had ZERO consequences for ME 3, even though I was promised the opposite. They simply couldn’t develop ME 3 in a way that accomodated for all eventualities. I get that. But when I was faced with the decision to kill or save the queen on Novaria, I actually thought for a minute and tried to weigh the possible consequences. Because I felt that there were going to BE some. But then in ME 3 it felt like that was taken away from me entirely, save for maybe a few lines of dialog and your overall galactic readiness rating. Well, congrats. That’s... massive? Not. As for what you call that "blueprint": again, I think the options that the devs have are pretty underwhelming. With decisions made in ME 3 that would likely result in the annihalation of an entire race, the ONLY consequence in ME 4 will be whether characters from a specific race will like you or cuss at you? For real? That’s pathetic.

I wish they would just end the trilogy at the trilogy. Andromeda's krogan recovery already felt like a slap in the face to Mordin's sacrifice. Leave it as it is and explore some other time period, or make a prequel. Anything to avoid watering down the choices. We already had plenty of complaints in ME3 about how all the endings felt samey.

I know I will probably get heat for saying this but honestly I enjoyed Andromeda it’s fun and I still play it the way I look at it is that sooner or later you have to move on past Shepherd, that’s why I wasn’t bothered by not being shep in Andromeda. Just my own thoughts and opinions.

totally agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love your videos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bioware is going to have to make a cannon ending to the Mass Effect series. I know that will rub some people the wrong way but that's the right answer.

Combining Andromeda with the Milky Way is an AWFUL idea.

NOOOO THANKS

mass effect andromeda was a teen soap opera comedy involing anything from that will just make the game worse