History Analysis / MassEffect3

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! Final Military Strength Total : 8745 (7450 without [=DLC=])

* '''Search And Rescue''' : obtain War Assets by scanning systems. The clusters containing the most powerful War Assets are listed first.
* '''Miscellaneous''' : obtain War Assets by finding data or items during missions and delivering them on the Citadel, by taking part in discussions, or by leveraging your Spectre status.
* '''Downloadable Content and Tie-Ins''' : obtain additional War Assets by playing official [=DLCs=], the iOS game Mass Effect: Infiltrator, or the multiplayer of Mass Effect 3

* [[Videogame/MassEffect2 ME2]] : gather as much eezo, palladium, platinum and iridium as possible [[note]] the exact number required is unknown [[/note]]

** resolve the confrontation between Tali and Legion by a compromise [[note]] siding with one and regaining the other’s loyalty later does not count [[/note]]

* [[Videogame/MassEffect3 ME3]] : broker a peace between the geth and the quarians at the end of Priority: Rannoch [[note]] you need 4 full bars of reputation to pass the Charm or Intimidate check [[/note]]

* [[Videogame/MassEffect3 ME3]] : convince Mordin not to cure the genophage [[note]] This only possible if Eve is dead, which weakens the Krogan Clans [[/note]]

* [[Videogame/MassEffect3 ME3]] : do not take both Renegade interrupts when allowing Ann Bryson to be indoctrinated

* [[Videogame/MassEffect3 ME3]] : complete the DLC

* [[Videogame/MassEffect3 ME3]] : complete the DLC

And now the numbers start to make sense! Why are Miranda, Kasumi, Chakwas, Allers and al-Jilani combined stronger than the two asari commando units? Because they helped build the Crucible either directly by working on it, or by funneling assets to it, while the asari commandos have a very limited ability to draw Reaper fire away from the Crucible. Why is the Biotic Company slightly stronger than the Ascension? Because it is one big lumbering target as opposed to people who could distract a Reaper longer by scattering. Why is getting a banner, a religious artifact and an ancient book such a buff to certain fleets? Because they gain a lot more motivation to HoldTheLine against the Reapers with those things. It also explains the diminishing returns. A Crucible that fires with 3000 effectiveness is still the same Crucible that fires at 5000 or 8000 effectiveness. Giving it more protection against damage isn't going to change its effectiveness. Only with insufficient protection do you see different results as the crucible takes more and more damage. Even the Catalyst lampshades this.

Conclusion drawn - The Effective Military Strength is NOT a numerical value of the strength of your forces in a conventional battle against the Reapers. It is instead a measure of your Crucible's effectiveness, with all your military forces existing primarily to protect it by drawing fire away from it.

At first glance, the War Assets numbers appear to boggle the mind. After all, how could a company of biotic cadets have a higher strength than the biggest dreadnought in the Victory fleet? How can noncombatant assets [[DefectorFromDecadence Miranda]] [[DesignerBabies Lawson,]][[ClassyCatBurglar Kasumi]] [[StealthHiBye Goto]], [[TheMedic Doctor]] [[TeamMom Chakwas]], [[TheScrappy Diana]] and Khalisa al Jilani combined have more strength than the [[AmazonBrigade Armali]] [[SuperSoldier Sniper Unit]] and [[MindOverMatter Serrice]] [[MagicKnight Guard?]]

At first glance, the War Assets numbers appear to boggle the mind. After all, how could a company of biotic cadets have a higher strength than the biggest dreadnought in the Victory fleet? How can noncombatant assets [[DefectorFromDecadence Miranda]] [[DesignerBabies Lawson,]][[ClassyCatBurglae Kasumi]], [[TheMedic Doctor]] [[TeamMom Chakwas]], [[TheScrappy Diana]] and Khalisa al Jilani combined have more strength than the [[AmazonBrigade Armali]] [[SuperSoldier Sniper Unit]] and [[MindOverMatter Serrice]] [[MagicKnight Guard?]]

At first glance, the War Assets numbers appear to boggle the mind. After all, how could a company of biotic cadets have a higher strength than the biggest dreadnought in the Victory fleet? How can noncombatant assets [[DefectorFromDecadence Miranda]], [[ClassyCatBurgler Kasumi]], [[TheMedic Doctor]] [[TeamMom Chakwas]], [[TheScrappy Diana]] and Khalisa al Jilani combined have more strength than the [[AmazonBrigade Armali]] [[SuperSoldier Sniper Unit]] and [[MindOverMatter Serrice]] [[Badass Guard?]]

! The much maligned War Assets, Effective Military Strength and their hidden meaning

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With this in mind, you will finally Franchise/MassEffect was never about saving the galaxy or wining against the reapers. It was story about the life of Shepard, an absolute speck in the grand design of things that happened to be at the right place at the right time.

!! In the [[DarkerAndEdgier Grim-Darkness]] of MassEffect3, there was never hope.

With this in mind, you will finally MassEffect was never about saving the galaxy or wining against the reapers. It was story about the life of Shepard, an absolute speck in the grand design of things that happened to be at the right place at the right time.

To establish some boundaries, this is written with a playthrough ''starting'' with MassEffect2 in mind and came from an impression of Cerberus as similar to the IRA, rather than the mad scientists we were actually shown in MassEffect1.

From then on, every conversation between Shepard and TIM in MassEffect3 runs like this: 'I hate you' 'You just don't understand Shepard. I'm doing everything for the good of humanity' 'You're a monster.' 'Shepard! You've just got to give me some respect, I can't keep letting you go on like this' And even then, when people ask if Shepard should die 'No, she could still be useful'

One of the most common complain from detractors of the game is that the ending completely breaks from the main theme of the series, namely the idea of ‘hope’ and that ‘your choices matter’. However, perhaps that was the intention of the storywriters all along?

When you play the game for the first time, most of the players will likely feel like a total badass that is like [[Terminator John Connor]], [[Halo Master Chief]], and [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Jean-Luc Picard]] all rolled into one as you gather more and more allies mission after mission, side quest after side quest. With the expectation of being able to be the hero that saves the day at the end, naturally many of us were shocked at how the ending changes very little no matter what you did previously.

However, after you managed to claim down for a bit, replay the game again slowly, pay close attention to every conversation and read every secondary codex entry. After doing so, you will make the realization that any you just experienced a masterfully done example of TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou.

Lets take a closer look at the actual effect that you actions have on the Reaper War, when you getting the krogans to support the turians, they weren’t there to retake Palaven or even to defend it. They were merely trying to delay he Repaer in order to buy you more time in building the Crucible. Similarly, the quarians and the geth weren’t there to help turn the tide, all they could do was help evaluate civilians and do hit-and-run attacks on the reapers in an attempt to slow them down. Even all the hours (not to mention Bioware points) that you spent on multiplayer were only to buy Crucible engineers more time, not with the expectation of wining the war or even survive.

In reality, they are both wrong, since in the bigger picture, Shepard is not much more important then a random mook. All the previous actions that you have taken have slightly more impact than the background conversation on the Citadel you can over hear, and the hard battles that you fought made slightly more impact than a random mook shooting at enemies at the background. The thing that you fight against is an insane ancient power with incalculable knowledge that can and probably will obliterate everything you know.

With this in mind, you will finally MassEffect was never about saving the galaxy or wining against the reapers. It was story about the life of Shepard, an absolute speck in the grand design of things that happened to be at the right place at the right time.

To establish some boundaries, this is written with a playthrough ''starting'' with MassEffect2 in mind and came from an impression of Cerberus as similar to the IRA, rather than the mad scientists we were actually shown in MassEffect1.

This is going to be a bit fanwanky but I believe I've got enough evidence to think that this is actually the storyline they were going for. However, whenever I describe TIM or Kai Leng as lame, imagine them with the flaw I described but 'cool' which is what Bioware were going for. The question is, if The Illusive Man could have had operatives like Kai Leng, why would he devote such a large chunk of his resources bringing Shepard back?

But the point is, TIM can't replace Shepard. And he's not the same as Shepard, he's so twisted he can't actually understand the sort of person Shepard is and what makes her great. And because of that, Kai Leng is flawed and won't be capable of anything close to what Shepard can achieve. TIM can't see that KL is an uncharismatic psychopath who can't inspire the respect and doesn't have the strength of character that Shepard uses in everything she does. KL is a flashy wannabe who, ultimately, is too useless to be able to beat Shepard in a simple fight. He's a reflection of The Illusive Mans flaws and can only ever be a shadow of what Shepard is. He gets some small victories, but every time Shepard lives and TIM says 'don't worry, your time will come, it's Shepard, of course you failed, but one day you will fight and kill her and I will have a Shepard who does exactly what I say and is loyal to me' and then that confrontation comes and Kai Leng straight up dies. Even in his death blow Shepard absolutely humiliates him and beats him down.

Just to make things clear, Kai Leng is a useless character that destroys everything he touches, because ultimately, whenever he's in a scene, his poor writing and cutscene superpowers make you wonder what the writers were doing making such a whiny annoying power, instead of the corrupted but interesting ball of hate he should have been. But what he means in terms of TIM's character is fascinating .

It's real shame that they chose Cerberus instead of inventing a new organisation for ME 2 because TIM has a complex relationship with Shepard and his conversation showdown is one of my favourite bits of the series.

A paragon Shepard thinks that he/she lives in a story from an old pulp fiction sci-fi (FlashGordon) or pre-cyberpunk traditional Space Operas (StarWars), in which the power of friendship and understanding can indeed overcome all obstacles; While a renegade thinks that he/she is the anti-hero badass from an action movie and the leader from a military fiction, in which you must be able to be willing in sacrificing the few for the many or take morally questionable action while others don’t want to get their hands dirty. The one constant thing for both is that you can indeed win against impossible odds if you really work for it.

In reality, they are both wrong, since in the bigger picture, Shepard is not more important then a random [[Warhammer40000 Imperial Guardsman]]. Sometimes, even if you give it you very best it will still be not enough. All the pervious actions that you have taken have slightly more impact than the background conversation on the Citadel you can over hear, and the hard battles that you fought made slightly more impact than a random mook shooting at enemies at the background. The thing that you fight against is an insane ancient power with incalculable knowleage that can and will obliterate everything you ever know. Nothing you did or did not do could have possibly made a difference, because the universe doesn't care, and the outcome of the war was already decided before you were even born.

With this in mind, you will finally MassEffect was never about saving the galaxy or wining against the reapers. It was story about the life of Shepard, an absolute zero in the grand design of things that happened to be at the right place at the right time. Just like a paragon Shepard told Garrus in the first game, you can never control what the world throws at you, you can only control how you act in respond to it.

.... So that is why Kai Leng exists and why TIM spent all that money bringing back Shepard. Petty jealously and the inability to understand what sort of person he really is and what his own real motivations are. A craving for respect and the failure to recognise why it's denied to him, resulting in this sad angry little Shepard doll doomed to failure. And a messy end to both of them.

And then we have Kai Leng. Kai Leng the Shepard replacement puppet. 'Your time is over [Kai Leng enters the shot]' The Illusive Man is embittered by the idea that Shepard won't work with him and is trying to take this second person, dresses him up to look like Shepard and he pretends that he's created a better Shepard, one who actually listens to him and obeys him this time.

But the point is, TIM can't replace Shepard. And he's not the same as Shepard, he's so twisted he can't actually understand the sort of person Shepard is and what makes her great. And because of that, Kai Leng is flawed and won't be capable of anything Shepard is like. TIM can't see that KL is an uncharismatic psychopath who can't inspire the respect and doesn't have the strength of character that Shepard uses to do everything she does. KL is a flashy wannabe who ultimately is too useless to be able to beat Shepard in a fight. He's a reflection of The Illusive Mans flaws and can only ever be a shadow of what Shepard is. He gets some small victories, but everytime Shepard lives and TIM says 'don't worry, your time will come, it's Shepard, of course you failed, but one day you will fight and kill her and I will have a Shepard who does exactly what I say and is loyal to me' and then that confrontation comes and Kai Leng straight up dies. Even in his death blow Shepard absolutely humiliates him and beats him down.

.... So that is why Kai Leng exists and TIM spent all that money bringing back Shepard. Petty jealously and the inability to understand what sort of person he really is and what his real motivations are. A craving for respect and the failure to recognise why it's denied to him, resulting in this sad angry little Shepard doll doomed to failure. And a messy end to both of them.

Just to make things clear, Kai Leng is a useless character that destroys everything he touches, because ultimately, whenever he's in a scene, his poor writing and cutscene superpowers make you wonder why the writers were doing making such a whiny annoying power, instead of the corrupted but interesting ball of hate he should have been. But what he means in terms of TIM's character is fascinating .

This is going to be a bit fanwanky. I believe I've got enough evidence to think that this is actually the storyline they were going for, but whenever I describe TIM or Kai Leng as lame, imagine them with the flaw I described but 'cool' which is what Bioware were going for. The question is, if The Illusive Man could have had operatives like Kai Leng, why would he devote such a large chunk of his resources bringing Shepard back?

With this in mind, you will finally MassEffect was never about saving the galaxy or wining against the reapers. It was story about the life of Shepard, an absolute zero in the grand design of things that happened to be at the right place at the right time. Just like a paragon Shepard told Garrus in the first game, you can never control what the world throws at you, you can only control how you act in respond to it.

!! In the [[DarkerAndEdgier Grim-Darkness]] of MassEffect3, there was never hope.

One of the most common complain from detractors of the game is that the ending completely breaks from the main theme of the series, namely the idea of ‘hope’ and that ‘your choices matter’. However, perhaps that was the intention of the storywriters all along?

When you play the game for the first time, most of the players will likely feel like a total badass that is like [[Terminator John Connor]], [[Halo Master Chief]], and [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Jean-Luc Picard]] all rolled into one as you gather more and more allies mission after mission, side quest after side quest. With the expectation of being able to be the hero that saves the day at the end, naturally many of us were shocked at how the ending changes very little no matter what you did previously.

However, after you managed to claim down for a bit, replay the game again slowly, pay close attention to every conversation and read every secondary codex entry. After doing so, you will make the realization that any you just experienced a masterfully done example of TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou.

Lets take a closer look at the actual effect that you actions have on the Reaper War, when you getting the krogans to support the turians, they weren’t there to retake Palaven or even to defend it. They were merely trying to delay he Repaer in order to buy you more time in building the Crucible. Similarly, the quarians and the geth weren’t there to help turn the tide, all they could do was help evaluate civilians and do hit-and-run attacks on the reapers in an attempt to slow them down. Even all the hours (not to mention Bioware points) that you spent on multiplayer were only to buy Crucible engineers more time, not with the expectation of wining the war or even survive.

If Shepard (more importantly, you the player) ever looked at the war assets screen with the green bar filled to the maximum and thought to him/herself ‘I can do this. This war can be won. There is hope’, then he/she was either purely delusional or living in denial. From the very beginning, Admiral Hackett already told you that you cannot win conventionally. And if you have the From Ashes DLC, when Javik reads you for the first time, if you have previously been choosing all the optimistic dialog opinions, he will express his shock and disbelieve at how foolish you are at thinking that you can win this war. During the battle of Earth, you were told that less then 50% of the ground forces even made it to the surface. With the Extended Cut, the Catalyst will outright tell a defiant Shepard that this cycle has already used up most of it’s resources after less then a year at war with the reapers. With this in mind, just how realistic was it that you ever expect your actions of talking down a criminal, rescuing a few hundred civilians, or choosing whether or not to save the residential district or the industrial sector of a colony matters at all?

A paragon Shepard thinks that he/she lives in a story from an old pulp fiction sci-fi (FlashGordon) or pre-cyberpunk traditional Space Operas (StarWars), in which the power of friendship and understanding can indeed overcome all obstacles; While a renegade thinks that he/she is the anti-hero badass from an action movie and the leader from a military fiction, in which you must be able to be willing in sacrificing the few for the many or take morally questionable action while others don’t want to get their hands dirty. The one constant thing for both is that you can indeed win against impossible odds if you really work for it.

In reality, they are both wrong, since in the bigger picture, Shepard is not more important then a random [[Warhammer40000 Imperial Guardsman]]. Sometimes, even if you give it you very best it will still be not enough. All the pervious actions that you have taken have slightly more impact than the background conversation on the Citadel you can over hear, and the hard battles that you fought made slightly more impact than a random mook shooting at enemies at the background. The thing that you fight against is an insane ancient power with incalculable knowleage that can and will obliterate everything you ever know. Nothing you did or did not do could have possibly made a difference, because the universe doesn't care, and the outcome of the war was already decided before you were even born.

With this in mind, you will finally MassEffect was never about saving the galaxy or wining against the reapers. It was story about the life of Shepard, an absolute zero in the grand design of things that happened to be at the right place at the right time. Just like a paragon Shepard told Garrus in the first game, you can never control what the world throws at you, you can only control how you act in respond to it.

** This entire theory has been completely jossed. In fact it was pretty much jossed before release since, despite Bioware's laziness in the ending, Shepard actually did defeat the Reapers, albeit he had to use a magical superweapon (it is true that the galaxy stood exactly 0% conventionally). It's been even more thoroughly jossed by now, as the Extended Cut eliminated the DiabolusExMachina and the creators of the Reapers flat-out call Shepard TheChosenOne. Doesn't sound like an absolute zero.

When you play the game for the first time, most of the players will likely feel like a total badass that is like [[Terminator John Connor]], [[Halo Master Chief]], and [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration Jean-Luc Picard]] all rolled into one as you gather more and more allies mission after mission, side quest after side quest. With the expectation of being able to be the hero that saves the day at the end, naturally many of us were shocked at how the ending changes very little no matter what you did previously.