History MassEffect3 / TropesAToD

* AliensInCardiff: The game's prologue takes place during the initial attack on Earth by the Reapers. Specifically, it details the Reaper attack on [[CanadaEh Vancouver]]. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since Creator/{{Bioware}} [[WriteWhatYouKnow is Canadian]] and Vancouver ''is'' one of the biggest and most iconic cities in Canada.

** Faunts (who provided "M4 Part II" as [=ME1=]'s ending credits music) returns to provide the music for the end credits, although now with the much darker and bleaker sounding "Das Malefitz".

* AGodAmI:
** [[spoiler: In the extended cut version of the Control ending, Shepard becomes the new master of the Reapers. A Paragon Shepard vows to protect the entire galaxy (rather than just one species, as the Illusive Man would have done). A Renegade Shepard wants to use the Reapers to destroy all who oppose their vision of peace.]]
** Despite losing their galactic empire to the Reapers, [[spoiler:the Leviathans still seem to have this opinion of themselves. Partly justified: they did create the Catalyst, and the Catalyst [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Leviathan designed the Reapers to look like them.]]]]

* DiplomaticBackChannel: After the mission on Tuchanka, [[spoiler: if you cured the genophage, Dalatrass Linron is most displeased and refuses to commit Salarian forces to the war against the Reapers. The Salarian Special Tasks Groups, however, realize what the stakes are and send several back-channel messages to Admiral Hackett that when the time comes for the offensive, they will be there.]]

* DaylightHorror: Sanctuary is one of the creepiest places in the whole series. There are no monsters, no jump scares and not even a lot of corpses. Just a huge and well lit reception terminal that appears way too fancy for a refugee camp that was opened just two months ago, and it's entirely deserted. However, [[CannedOrdersOverLoudspeaker the PA is still working]] and there are lots of notes on the many receptionists' desks, informing newcomers that they have to hand over their personal possessions until they are cleared to move from the reception area to the main habitats, and security is heavily screening for any unallowed communication devices inside the compound. Also, refugees can gain better accomodations in the habitat complex if they volunteer as receptionist while they are waiting to be cleared. And the administration staff refers to it not as the reception area, but as [[HumanResources Processing]]. It's either a cult center or a concentration camp, and the place is massive. [[spoiler: The truth is that it is actually much worse than either of those, with the refugees being used as test subjects for Reaper technology by Cerberus.]]

** When Thane is first encountered in ''Mass Effect 2'', he prays for "the wicked," but reveals that the prayer is for himself, not the target he just killed. [[spoiler:When he dies in this game, his final words are again a prayer, but this time they are not for him, but for Shepard]].
** One of the last conversations with Joker aboard the ''Normandy'' is him reminiscing about Eden Prime. The camera angles used when Joker and Shepard speak are identical to those used the first time you ever speak to Joker in ''Mass Effect''.
** Forms one with the original game by [[spoiler:playing the opening sequence in reverse. In ''Mass Effect 1'', the Normandy passes by Jupiter before jumping through the Charon Relay to the first Mission of the story, where Shepard speaks with Joker. In ''Mass Effect 3'', Shepard speaks with Joker before the final Mission of the story, jumping through the Charon Relay and passing by Jupiter in the Normandy. The only difference is Shepard brings an entire galactic armada with them in ''3'', which they left the Sol system to do. If you have low EMS, there's an added one: the former is of the Normandy's first Mission, and the latter is of the Normandy's last]].
** The final mission is [[spoiler: a race against time through hordes of Reaper forces to reach the conduit (your HUD even calls it that) so you can get to the Citadel to stop the Reapers, like the Prothean VI told you.]] All it's missing is the Mako.

** The first and last things you do in the trilogy are [[spoiler: use a dialogue wheel before walking through a non-combat area (unless you shoot the Catalyst for the Refusal ending). This is even referenced by the layout of the final area: they're in a trident shape, just like the dialogue wheels. The position of the Destroy and Control paths also align with the Morality needed to unlock them at the end of ''Mass Effect 2'']].

* AndIMustScream: Depending on choices you made in the second game, you might learn that [[spoiler:Jack and/or Legion]] have been brainwashed and turned into weapons for Cerberus.

** Prior to release, the devs released a [[http://blog.bioware.com/2011/12/22/shepard-off-duty/ blog post]] by Commander Shepard detailing their off-duty hours. Naturally, the writing [[GenderNeutralWriting is vague]] so that it [[CipherScything can fit most playthrough styles.]]

** In the Tuchanka Arc, we find that the Krogan aren't the strongest beings in their homeplanet as the previous games implied. That award goes to the top-predator there: Kalros, the galaxy's oldest, biggest and strongest Thresher Maw ever recorded.

* BuxomIsBetter: