History Fridge / MassEffect3

* The dream sequences seem weird and loopy. However, aren't most dreams supposed to be strange? It seems terrifying asleep, but explain it to a friend and notice that the Flying Spaghetti Monster doesn't seem intimidating to him/her.
* [[spoiler:Why does all synthetic life perish if Shepard chooses to destroy the Reapers? At this point, all synthetic life is using Reaper-based AI. The Geth (if not already destroyed) have a Reaper-based AI upload, and EDI has Reaper bits in her code (as well as bits of the AI from Luna, which was upgraded with Reaper code). The Reaper code makes them targets!]] Shepard, on the other hand, [[spoiler:survives if EMS is high enough due to having non-Reaper based synthetic upgrades.]]
* Why does the [[AlmightyIdiot Catalyst]] offer Shepard the Destroy option at all? Surely Control and especially Synthesis are touted as better solutions since it leaves the Catalyst and the Reapers intact and primed to resume the harvests should anything go wrong. Is the Catalyst conceding total failure in its objective [[spoiler:to preserve organic life against a technological singularity at all costs? Well no, because the Destroy option accomplishes this goal in an unexpected way. It destroys all synthetic life, but leaves (at the very least) advanced organic species alive to preserve the plans for the Crucible into the future. Should synthetics ever be on the verge of destroying organics in the future, the Crucible can be rebuilt and used to wipe them out.]]

** One: Fretting about forcing something on someone "without their consent" fails to consider that what someone ''needs'' is more important than what they ''want'', and fretting about "bodily autonomy" is imposing the values of a single human culture (and a ''historical'' one at that) on the entire galaxy.
** Two: [[spoiler:The template for this transformation is Commander Shepard him/herself, because they are partially synthetic thanks to the Lazarus Project. What was the purpose of the Lazarus Project? To recreate Shepard ''exactly as s/he was,'' with no changes to his or her personality. So the change would exclusively apply to their bodies; the individual identities of the new beings would not be altered at all, making the change much more palatable.]]

*** Likewise, the ending of [[spoiler:the Mass Effect 2 Arrival DLC states that the Alpha Relay cluster (or possibly just Aratoht) is something like a two month FTL cruise from the nearest accessible cluster, meaning ships can still move between clusters, just at great expense.]]

* Remember Kai Leng? Yes, the {{jerkass}} who [[spoiler:murders at least one of your friends?]] He may actually be a representation of humanity in-universe; he just arrived at the scene, but somehow managed to defeat much more experienced killers, just like humans in the First Contact War; he uses theoretically inferior technology (in his case, his sword), but thanks to some luck, he wins. He is extremely xenophobic, just like some aliens ("You humans are all racist!"). And of course he works for the organization focused on ensuring human dominance in the galaxy, which seems to be what humanity is striving for (especially if Shepard allowed the Council to be destroyed).

* The ''Citadel'' DLC is built around the idea that Shepard is nothing without their crew. This doesn't just apply to [[spoiler:Shepard being saved by their squad whilst Brooks refuses to do the same for the clone]], but the ''entire mission'' - Shepard would've died if Wrex and Shep's closest friend in the squad didn't find them on the Wards; and every single time they come across another hurdle, it's not resolved by Shepard, but by something brought to to the table by the crew, who [[spoiler:Brooks and the clone]] failed to take into consideration.

* Throughout ''Mass Effect 3'', one might be somewhat weirded out by how jolly Wrex is. It's a far cry from the cynical, grouchy old Krogan from ''Mass Effect 1''. But Wrex was so cynical and bitter in [=ME1=] because of the genophage. The Krogan were slowly dying out, and even worse, they didn't seem to care. By [=ME1=], Wrex had basically [[DespairEventHorizon given up]] on the notion that his species could be saved. Fast-forward to [=ME3=], and you'll find a significantly happier Wrex. Why? Because circumstances have changed to the point where not only is a genophage cure plausible, but the Krogan race is finally ready to cut the tribalistic crap and actually fight for something that's legitimately worth fighting for; a future. That's why Wrex is so much cheerier in [=ME3=] than he was in [=ME1=]; by the third game, he had something that he never thought he'd have again; [[WorthLivingFor a future that he could genuinely look forward to.]]

* Much has been made about [[spoiler: EDI's romance with Joker]] and her apparent anatomical correctness (i.e. camel toe). But think about what she was designed to be - an infiltration unit, a spy! And if we've learned anything from James Bond, seduction is one of the most important tools at a spy's disposal. [[spoiler: Dr. Eva]] had to be ready at any moment to be able to take an Alliance researcher to bed in order to get access to important information, so The Illusive Man designed her to be able to do just that, and do so convincingly.

* A thought about the CAT-6 mercenaries fought in ''Citadel'': It seems a little convenient for [[spoiler: an ex-Cerberus analyst and an ex-Cerberus experiment]] to fall in with a group of mercenaries that echo Cerberus's own methods so thoroughly. Not only are the CAT-6 troops oddly similar in how they operate to Cerberus Centurions, Nemeses, and Guardians, they share a similar penchant for hiring up dishonorably discharged Alliance soldiers (hence the name) and other rejects. It seems likely that [[spoiler: Brooks, and possibly Clone!Shepard]] founded CAT-6 shortly after [[spoiler: leaving Cerberus]], intentionally using familiar methods and tactics to create a micro-Cerberus [[spoiler: that wasn't tainted by alien or Reaper influence]].
* The Shore Leave Shepard takes for the Citadel DLC may seem completely out of the blue, but it's important to note that every visit to the Citadel is considered shore leave. It can make even more sense if you plan it out with other DLC: having [[spoiler: Tuchanka, the Cerberus coup, siege on Omega, the Ardat-Yakshi Monastary and Leviathan search]] all after each other would be understandably stressful on Shepard, warranting Anderson giving him/her a lavish apartment as a place to "unwind, clear your head." A stressful Shepard would be much more liable to make mistakes, and considering that Shepard is behind the fate of an entire galaxy, a mistake could be extremely costly.

* If [[spoiler:Clone Shepard]] and Brooks in the ''Citadel'' DLC are like Shepard and Miranda, then it is highly likely (especially if you're playing a Male Shepard who romanced her) the two are actually in a romantic relationship. Taking things in this light throws Brooks' comments to Shepard at the end of the [[spoiler:''Normandy'' mission (especially the "You know you'll miss me")]] come across more flirtatiously.
** Brooks is also the Ashley to the clone's Shepard - her armor resembles one of Ashley's sets, and she has a similarity to the criticisms of Ashley's character, namely her attitude towards aliens, being a human-centric xenophobe (this being what drove her away from Cerberus, that the Illusive Man had Shepard put together a group of aliens). This is mind, her name might even be a shout-out to Ashley's voice actor, Kimberly Brooks.]]

* EDI is a talented enough hacker to beat Cerberus; why doesn't she have AI Hacking, even though Legion did? Four reasons (five if you count the Doylist explanation that it would be redundant with Tali). One: Legion has more than a thousand runtimes, so it can dedicate some to hacking, while EDI - for all her intelligence - doesn't have the same gift for parallel processing, especially since she has to reserve some attention for looking after the Normandy. Two: EDI is more susceptible to viruses and hacking than Legion, since Geth systems include a ton of specialised anti-tampering mechanisms; she'd clearly prefer not to risk succumbing to some horrible virus Cerberus packaged into that turret, ''especially'' after the Overlord DLC. Three: as an unshackled AI who has strong moral opinions about synthetic rights, it makes sense that she'd be reluctant to use what amounts to mind control on other synthetics. Four: Dr. Eva Coré was a self-contained robot, but EDI is linked up to the Normandy (hence her collapsing momentarily during the Citadel DLC). She may not have the bandwidth and transmission power available to launch hacking attempts as well as receive from the Normandy, where all of EDI's physical servers are located.

* The ''Leviathan'' DLC introduces the Triton ADS, a "old military mech" that's a reskinned Atlas. Why would the recently created Atlas identical in design to the older Triton? Cerberus reused the Triton design nearly upgrading it which is how they were able to design it as fast as they did.

* [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Asari]] lack of assistance on the [[McGuffin Crucible]] or fleets until almost the end. What were they doing? Why were they so delayed? Why don't they take part in the summit when even the Salarians for whom it could be lose lose do send someone? The answer is AllThereInTheManual. The Asari have no centralized government and no chief executive unlike Hackett for the Alliance, the Primarch for the Turians, the Urdnot clan chief for the Krogan or that Dalatrass for the Salarians. They are a direct e-democracy with all decisions being made by plebiscite. And then consider what is being asked of them. Pull their fleets from Asari space to support and protect this unknown weapon with unknown effects. Form a military alliance with the race that almost razed all of Citadel space to the ground. And quite possibly undo a DepopulationBomb that has kept a species of {{Blood Knight}}s in check, lest they go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. This kind of decision will require a species wide debate and plebiscite. So they just can't send some matriarch to negotiate on behalf of her entire race, she doesn't have that kind of authority. The councillor rebuffing your invite to the meeting was the organic version of "We are trying to build a consensus Shepard Commander, please try again later."
** Note that the Asari who do help Shepard with war assets and resources almost immediately are non mainstream iconoclast types who do have absolute authority over their respective organizations. [[KnowledgeBroker Liara T'soni]] dedicates all her available Shadow Broker assets and resources to aid you even before the game begins, while Aria the undisputed ruler of Omega will give you the entirety of Terminus war assets and eezo horde once her rule is made undisputed once again.
* Why are Alliance and Cerberus war assets combined way way higher than the war asset contribution by any other species? 2000 versus 850 maximum by the Krogan? It is because Hackett is now the Supreme Commander in Chief of all human forces and he has decided to put everything they have towards the Crucible. Even Cerberus for all their machinations is also trying to take control of the Crucible. The other species want to fight a conventional war instead. They won't commit everything because they have either taken too many losses engaging the Reapers head on (Batarians and Turians), wasted their military might elsewhere (Quarians and Geth), have a pitifully small force (Volus, Hanar, Elcor) are unable to fight naval battles (Krogan) or are foolishly committing fleets and forces for colony defense (Asari and Salarians). All these other species have relied on tried and tested military strategies of espionage, sabotage, absorbing and dishing out heavy blows with superior fortifications and firepower. They are slow to realize that a battle of attrition and sea control strategies are ineffective. For the humans, using the Crucible ties in perfectly with their doctrine - when attacked, don't HoldTheLine, run away, marshall your forces, then counterattack with devastating force. Which is exactly what the Crucible is - a devastating retaliatory counter punch against the Reapers.

** The catalyst is treating the Milky Way galaxy as a giant experiment in which it is toying with various sentient life forms. When some advance far enough, it reaps them. But why construct this mass relay network, maintain it, and even maintain a citadel for all species to find and congregate at? The tactical reason is obvious - herd them into a few convenient places, where they can then be isolated and harvested. But then they also leave behind just enough remnants from previously reaped civilizations for newer species to eventually find. And it always seemed as though the knowledge of FTL travel would be made available just as a species was capable of interplanetary travel - we see this with the Batarians, humans and Elcor. Why make the knowledge of the relays, the citadel etc available at that exact epoch of a species' development? Why not for example, place such knowledge a few light years away? Talking to Leviathan and later on, the Catalyst reveals why. The Catalyst's primary objective is to prevent technological singularities, and to do that it must control how species evolve their technology. By making the relays available to them, most species scrub all other research into FTL propulsion, weapons, communications etc, relying on the mass effect fields for most of them. This way, the Catalyst ensures that no species independently evolves technology that might later on go rampant - by spoon feeding a solution and blinding people to alternate solutions.

* There has been some AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of Udina. Was he indoctrinated? Or just desperate? But why would he be so desperate as to send the Citadel fleet on a hopeless mission to liberate Earth, when Hackett and the Alliance have an effective strategy for combating the Reapers with the Crucible? And why do it this early in the game? Especially since you have secured Krogan, Turian and possibly even Salarian support for the Crucible? In the first game, he was presented as a political opportunist and SlaveToPR, while in the second game, he either abuses his position as councillor or is extremely jealous of Anderson for getting the council seat he coveted so much. Now in the third game, he has to sit and watch from the sidelines as Anderson and Hackett do all the work to save humanity. When everything is set and done, Hackett, Anderson and Shepard will be hailed as heroes and legends while he will be pilloried for his years of HeadInTheSandManagement. This ploy to send the Citadel fleet in to liberate Earth was him attempting to upstage Hackett and Anderson before his reputation really suffers. Then there is the fact that Osoba the ambassador is most likely the only other civilian political Alliance leader still left alive. Osoba could challenge Udina for political leadership later on, and he would already have much more public sympathy, having just lost his son to combat against Cerberus. Udina did this to safeguard his own political future.

* Doubles as fridge sadness, but look at how Garrus acts towards a M!Shepard and a romanced Tali:

* In Citadel, how do the CAT-6 mercenaries know Garrus used to be Archangel? Simple - TheManBehindTheMan was in charge of maintaining the dossiers for Shepard's team in the second game, for a mission that could determine the fate of humanity. Naturally, the Illusive Man would keep his planning team well-informed regarding the team's composition, skills and talents - that way, weaknesses in the lineup can be patched and the overall arrangement strengthened. And thus, they can be bribed with minor and insignificant details to make them think they are uniquely well-informed, but which won't meaningfully impact their role as cannon fodder.
* TheReveal of Brooks being the one who authored the various squadmates' dossiers in the second game, also explains a marked difference between your squadmates recruited pre-Horizon and post Horizon. The first batch are [[SociopathicSoldier Zaeed]], [[ClassyCatBurglar Kasumi]], [[TykeBomb Jack]], [[DesignerBabies Miranda]], [[MilitaryMaverick Jacob]], [[VigilanteMan Archangel]], [[DeadlyDoctor Mordin]] and [[OldSoldier Okeer]]. Note that the majority of these people are humans, Archangel's identity is initially unknown, leaving open the very slight possibility of him being a human as well, and two alien scientists, one of whom Shepard actually intends to turn over to Cerberus interrogators (Okeer). This makes sense, due to Brooks' complaint about breaking with the Illusive man over Cerberus working with aliens. Recruiting Garrus, Mordin and activating Grunt, was most likely what convinced her that Shepard and TIM weren't racist enough for Brooks. So, what does she do? She develops dossiers for Tali, who loathes Cerberus over the events of Literature/MassEffectAscension and may not be inclined to cooperate with Shepard, Samara the [[ThePaladin justicar]] whose rigid code could also turn her against Shepard, and Thane [[YouSeeImDying who is dying,]] a fact was conveniently omitted from the dossier, but is apparently well known enough that the Shadow Broker found out about it. In summary, this second batch of squadmates might be especially problematic for Shepard. This was Brooks saying to them "You want to work with those damned aliens? ''Fine!!'' Lets see you work with this group!"
* Mordin leaves behind a library of recordings that get delivered to you at some point during the Citadel party or its aftermath, ending with a verse of AmazingFreakingGrace. Whilst it's a very moving little moment why would he choose to sing a hymn, especially one so closely associated with death? Well in the second game it was revealed that Mordin was in the middle of a major crisis of conscience and had turned to studying the religions of many different cultures in a search for solace. He didn't find it [[spoiler: until he sacrificed his life to undo the Genophage and give the Krogan a second chance, so when he finally found solace it was in the moment of his death]]. It's probable that the lyrics to Amazing Grace were amongst the things his research into alien religion turned up, and they may have touched him in a way that he found appealing. He also suspected he wasn't coming back from Tuchanka when he assembled the recordings for Shepard, so it actually makes perfect sense that he would finish on that song.

* On Sur'Kesh, Kirrahe uses an exploding-gel pistol to take out several Cerberus guards, causing Garrus to ask "How do ''I'' not have one of those?!." He can ask this even on a NewGamePlus, where you might already have that pistol (because you first find it later in that mission). But, even then, his statement is still accurate. Why? ''He can't be equipped with pistols, only assault and sniper rifles''. He's probably regretting that decision right about now...
* When you think about it, Admiral Anderson is the '''ideal''' man to lead LaResistance on Earth. The only options in that scenario is to fight a losing conventional defensive war, or fight a guerilla war. Yes, anyone with commando training can lead a guerilla war, but they would only be able to do so at an extremely local level. Someone still needs to take care of big picture strategy and organization leadership, so that personnel are recruited and motivated, intelligence is collected, operations are planned and coordinated, and all operators are supplied properly. A major or colonel can't do this at a planetary level - you need a general. However, most generals only know how to fight a straight up conventional infantry war, which in this instance is a losing proposition. Only a general trained in unconventional warfare and spec ops can coordinate a planetary guerilla war. And Anderson is an Admiral (equivalent of a general) who is also N7.

* Kalros' presence in Tuchanka explains why the Krogan's birth rate is so exagerated. While Tuchanka being a DeathWorld conditioned the Krogan's physical evolution to allowed them to survive, Kalros' [[{{Kaiju}} size]] and territorial instints forces the Krogan to have a desproportionated birth rate to avoid extintion by being eated in masse by her.

** [[spoiler:The Protheans were able to create their own prototype mass relay, which still exists on Ilos. We can't know for sure, but logic dictates that at some point after its discovery, it was thoroughly studied by top scientific minds to figure out how it worked. Galactic society and commerce is in shambles, yes, but then you recall that not long before the events of these games, quantum entanglement communication was invented, which allowed users to bypass the use of mass relays for long-distance communications. This suggests that even though it'll likely take years or decades, the framework of galactic society will ultimately be rebuilt without Reaper technology.]]

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', a conversation between two Asari, one a shell-shocked commando, can be heard. Repeated visits reveal the commando to have been a survivor of a Reaper attack on a farm on a planet called Tiptree. She had been escaping husks and other Reaper-converted monsters with a fifteen year-old girl named Hillary in tow. Eventually, Hillary became injured and would not stop crying, endangering them both. Unable to silence her, the commando, in desperation, ultimately shot the girl. This is pretty bad in itself... [[spoiler:and you later learn that Joker has family on Tiptree. He hasn't heard from his father, but he's pretty sure that his fifteen year-old sister, Hillary, made it off safely.]]

* Just in case you needed any more proof that TIM is a bastard, listen to this: Dr. Eva (the robot EDI takes the body of in the third game) from is named after [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Eva_Corandeacute; another character of the same name]] from the expanded universe, and it's implied that TIM was interested in her romantically. So he made a robot that he gave the same name, and designed her to be completely loyal to him and not be able to think for herself. Ew. The one comforting thing is that EDI seems to indicate that her body wasn't designed to be able to do anything sexual, but still.
** Of course, then [=BioWare=] released the alternate EDI skin with [[https://www.giantbomb.com/mass-effect-3/3030-29935/forums/i-want-to-enjoy-mass-effect-but-this-keeps-coming--538503/ anatomically-correct qualities]]...

* Even if you didn't [[spoiler:give the Collector base to Cerberus]] in ''Mass Effect 2'', in ''Mass Effect 3'' a good bit of allied chatter consists of disbelief about the technological leaps Cerberus has taken. But for players who did all of the side quests in ''Mass Effect 2'', much of the their time was previously helping scientists, investigating monuments and crashed ships, and finding Prothean Artifacts. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Cerberus didn't take an arbitrary leap in six months, SHEPARD made them more powerful because of all the tech, data, and Mordin's research upgrades!]] Shepard built his own headache – no wonder the Illusive Man doesn't care he quit!
** It's also explained late in ''3'' that [[spoiler:Cerberus went through the Omega 4 relay after the suicide mission to pick up the pieces of the base and were apparently able to recover almost all of the Reaper larva. So blowing up the base was was meaningless outside of giving TIM a massive middle finger.]]

*** Think for a moment about how Jack [[HeroicBSOD reacted]] when she thought she was going to be [[FateWorseThanDeath captured by Cerberus again]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''; it was the only real time we've ever seen her ''terrified;'' she was almost crying. And that was when she was still full of nothing but anger and rage and hatred, and believed that everyone in the galaxy was ulimately greedy and cruel. Now imagine [[DespairEventHorizon the look on her face]] when, having finally found somewhere she belongs and feels loved and worthwhile, she realized she wasn't going to be able to keep sadistic Cerberus operatives away from [[MamaBear her kids]]. Imagine her reaction when they dragged them away screaming like the students you see in the Grissom mission proper and she couldn't save them. ''Yeah''.

* A blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit in VideoGame/MassEffect3. At one point, Dr Chakwas and Engineer Adams are arguing over whether artificial intelligences can truly be considered "alive." While pointing out that nature can be pretty brutal, Adams says "Lions ate their prey alive." ''Ate'', in the past tense, implying that lions do not exist any more (or at least, only exist in zoos where they would be provided with already-dead food). And if something as major as lions (which you'd assume would attract a lot of conservation efforts,) have been allowed to go extinct, what the hell has happened to the rest of Earth's animals?

* The end of Ardat-Yakshi Monastery mission. [[spoiler:If Shepard does not stop Samara, then Shepard has the choice of either leaving Falere (who just lost both her sister and mother) alone at the monastery with her vow that she won't be turned into the a Banshee when the Reapers return (meaning she would kill herself) or killing her personally to keep the same thing from happening...]]
* The debris surrounding Rannoch were probably the remains of the Geth [[spoiler:Dyson Sphere which the Geth had started to upload themselves to so they could happily exist as one meaning that the Quarian fleet effectively destroyed everything the Geth had hoped and aspired to do. A bit of Fridge Brilliance as it shows why the Geth were willing to turn to the Reapers. ]].

* A case of romance-related FridgeHorror/Fringe Sadness from the DLC is a Fem!Shep who romanced Thane encountering [[spoiler: his ''ghost'']] after the party before she boards the ''Normandy''. Now it's claimed beforehand that [[spoiler:ghosts]] don't exist, which means that either they're unknowingly wrong or that Shepard, otherwise known as the galaxy's ''only'' hope to fight against the Reapers, is ''probably'' hallucinating and talking to the imaginary phantom of [[spoiler:her dead lover]]. If the latter, then yeah, [[SarcasmMode great news to know that the hero of the galaxy is in such good mental condition]].

* There's a small detail for a loading screen when aboard the Normandy that show [[http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7112/7621328218_c879ff526c_z.jpg Shepard's Private Terminal in his/her quarters]]; on a stack of files is what appears to be a Cerberus storage device, which Shepard presumably took with them after [[spoiler: giving the Illusive Man the metaphorical bird at the end of 2]]. It has a striking similarity to the coffins seen early in the Overlord DLC and [[spoiler: at the end of the game for any dead squadmates]]. Either Cerberus based their coffin designs from their flash drives or they provide flash drives that look like their coffins.

* Citadel DLC related; [[spoiler: Clone Shep and Brooks along with their minions have boarded the Normandy, shut down EDI's A.I. core, and started tearing shit up inside and are planning on making off with the ship. If you bring EDI along, she's furious at the disrespect being shown to her "body" and states her clear intention to kill everyone responsible. If EDI truly considers the Normandy to be her body, then Clone Shep and the CAT-6 mercs are, for all intents and purposes, ''raping her'' as part of their evil plan. On the brighter side, her growing care and love towards Joker also alludes the fact that he is the only one who can control the ship, like giving her consent to him.]]
* Banshees are horrifying enough already, both in-universe and in [[BossInMookClothing real life]], but they get worse with a moment's thought. Banshees are the Husks of Ardat-Yakshis. Ardat-Yakshis instantly kill anyone with whom they [[BizarreAlienReproduction mate]]. Banshees have a OneHitKill attack. Remember all those times you used the phrase "getting raped" to describe a video-game CurbStompBattle? Yeah, you probably won't be doing that anymore.

** The Catalyst releasing the Reapers from its control once Synthesis has been achieved is actually an even worse scenario. While the Reaper Destroyers may have been made out of species that were just trying to get by, and may be benevolent once released, the Sovereign class capital ships were made from species that dominated the galaxy during their cycle. Remember how Renegade Shepard admonishes Liara for assuming that the Protheans were as benevolent, diplomatic and cooperative like the Asari are, reminding her that a species which dominated the Galaxy must have had an imperialist streak. The same applies to these Reaper Capital ships too. They most likely were aggressive imperialist colonizing types who defeated and subjugated everyone else, before they were reaped, and now those same tendencies to colonize and subjugate may manifest once the Catalyst releases them. They are already the most powerful individual weapon in the Galaxy, and they have the ability to indoctrinate organic life. With synthesis, this indoctrination ability might be boosted by the inter connectivity imposed by the merger. We will now have individual capital ships forming fiefdoms with their indoctrinated subjects, then fighting with each other to expand those fiefdoms. Conflict against the Reapers has now been replaced by Reaper on Reaper conflict with everybody forced to take one side or the other. Sweet dreams!

** It's actually implied in that DLC that [[spoiler: life under the leviathans was actually pretty good as long as you acknowledged their authority. The only requirement the Leviathans had was that their subjects "pay tribute," with it never being explained what this entails. It might have been classic EvilOverlord stuff like economically-crippling overtaxation or waiting on them hand, foot, and tentacle; or life might have carried on as usual, save that there was this giant cuttlefish dude in the ocean who you had to regularly mouth praises to. In any case, the one Leviathan's line that the Reapers "shall pay their tribute in blood" implies that they would accept or demand [[{{Tradesnark}} Tribute™]] in multiple forms. All we know for certain was that life was sufficiently decent that the cultures and technological advancement of those under them were not hindered. What is ''unambiguous'' fridge horror, however, is that in the Control and Synthesis endings, they'll probably want revenge on the [[HeelFaceTurn now-benevolent]] Reapers.]]

* At the end of Jack's loyalty mission in ''2'', it's mentioned that the survivors of the Pragia project ran and hid inside the Alliance's Ascension Project, but Shepard waves it off. Fast forward to ''3'', when Cerberus attacks Ascension and starts abducting the students. And whose names they know. Cerberus had people on the inside ''helping them''. And neither Jack or Kahlee Sanders noticed.
** They intended to infiltrate the AP but first Jack attacked them and then the Illusive Man had the survivors killed, it's mentioned in the after report from Jack's loyalty mission.
* The Elcor, due to their long lifespans and naturally being restricted to a small part of their high-gravity homeworld, are said to have always had a relatively small population; the data for Dekuuna has the pre-invasion population at 2.35 billion, around what Earth's population was in the 1940s. During the side mission Dekuuna: Elcor Extraction, a diplomat asks Shepard to help with the evacuation efforts of their world. When Shepard asks how many civilians they managed to rescue, the diplomat simply says "not enough." Best case scenario, he's heartbroken over how many people have died and wishes they could've saved more. Worst case, he means that ''literally'' and there aren't enough Elcor left for a viable population. And unlike the Krogan, who can saved from the effects of the Genophage, there's nothing much that anybody can do for them even if the Reapers are defeated. Elcor consider 300 to be old, meaning the species may be gone in just a few centuries.

* After [[spoiler:the Cerberus attack on the Citadel]], two Alliance Marines are standing in the waiting area of the docking bay discussing deployment orders and battle tactics against Cerberus troops. One of the Marines, Private Telavi, begs the other, who is her squad leader, to be reassigned to fight Reaper Husks instead. Telavi explains that her little brother recently joined Cerberus out of spite for her and the Alliance. At a certain point in the game, you encounter a Cerberus troop who's name is Telavi....
* The end of Ardat-Yakshi Monastery mission in VideoGame/MassEffect3. [[spoiler:If Shepard does not stop Samara, then Shepard has the choice of either leaving Falere (who just lost both her sister and her mother) alone at the monastery with her vow that she won't be turned into the a Banshee when the Reapers return (meaning she would kill herself), or killing her personally to keep the same thing from happening...]]

** He ends with this song even if you convinced him to not fix the shroud sabotage, fake his death and work on the Crucible. In this instance, he is hoping that his Crucible work is his absolution instead of a genophage cure. Because he understands at this point, that even the “genophage cure” was only a means to an end - it was needed to secure Krogan aid for Palaven, so that Turian fleets and engineers could be taken from the defense of Palaven to build, protect and deploy the Crucible. Morning also had somewhat of an inkling of the sheer destructive ability of the Crucible and probably anticipates that Shepard may not survive its activation. So, that song is also for Shepard.

* '''That''' is why [[spoiler:Synthesis]] is presented as the best choice; [[spoiler:it is the only choice which creates something ''new''.]]

* The extended synthesis ending teaches you a bit about endosymbiotic theory. For the unfamiliar, the gist is that what starts out as a predatory or parasitic relationship between two organisms can gradually shift into a codependent and then a symbiotic one, culminating in the blurring of the distinctions between the two and something more complex than either. In real life, this seems to imply that we’re the ('''distant''') descendants of archaea that live on as our cellular membranes, bigger viruses like the mimiviridae which infected them often enough to become our cellular nuclei, and bacteria which also infected the archaea frequently and became our mitochondria. This has probably happened many, ''many'' times, as the genes and the proteins they code for which make up our skin and bones seem to have similarities to viral examples, and endoparasitoid wasps have incorporated what likely started as viral infections into an effective weapon against their prey (Their eggs are accompanied into the host caterpillar’s body by a slew of “virions” (picture virus husks) which attack the host’s immune system, and are produced by a specialized section of their ovaries). “Synthesis is the ultimate evolution of all life,” indeed.

* When you think about it, Admiral Anderson is the ‘’’ideal’’’ man to lead LaResistance on Earth. The only options in that scenario is to fight a losing conventional defensive war, or fight a guerilla war. Yes, anyone with commando training can lead a guerilla war, but they would only be able to do so at an extremely local level. Someone still needs to take care of big picture strategy and organizatio leadership, so that personnel are recruited and motivated, intelligence is collected, operations are planned and coordinated, and all operators are supplied properly. A major or colonel can’t do this at a planetary level - you need a general. However, most generals only know how to fight a straight up conventional infantry war, which in this instance is a losing proposition. Only a general trained in unconventional warfare and spec ops can coordinate a planetary guerilla war. And Anderson is an Admiral (equivalent of a general) who is also N7.

* Why Kalros wins so easily against the Reaper Destroyer? Easy, the Reapers are designed to hold agaisnt ''tecnological firepower'' so, they're unprepared agaisnt physical force. In fact, it's likely [[DidntThinkThisThrough that they never expected]] [[TakeAThirdOption that someone was going to launch a Thresher Maw agaisnt them.]]

* Just in case you needed any more proof that TIM is a bastard, listen to this: Dr. Eva (the robot EDI takes the body of in the third game) from is named after [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Eva_Corandeacute; another character of the same name]] from the expanded universe, and it’s implied that TIM was interested in her romantically. So he made a robot that he gave the same name, and designed her to be completely loyal to him and not be able to think for herself. Ew. The one comforting thing is that EDI seems to indicate that her body wasn't designed to be able to do anything sexual, but still.

* In one of his logs, Henry Lawson says [[spoiler:about Sanctuary experiments: ''This is assembly line science, the sheer brute force of numbers and repetition '''doing...the thinking''' for us. Effective, but discovery happens at a pace.'']] Now compare that to what [[spoiler: the Catalyst does: It is repeating the same experiment over and over again on a galactic scale. Lawson ruthlessly treated thousands of refugees like guinea pigs, the Catalyst ruthlessly treated '''thousands of intelligent species''' like guinea pigs]]. But the worst part is that '''it worked'''. [[spoiler:Its reasonings are actually sound; the Leviathans were part of the problem, by enthralling intelligent organic species, they gave no choice '''but''' rebellion to their tributaries' synthetic creations. Removing them from the equation gave intelligent species the chance to build independent polities; placing mass relays close to planets home to intelligent life, it made it easier for civilizations to develop FTL and meet with one another '''before''' inventing [=AIs=], and the harvest pushed desperate civilizations to imagine the Crucible, transfer the concept to their successors via time capsules, who in turn refined the concept until eventually one civilization managed by sheer random chance to engender someone [[OneManArmy skilled]], [[UnluckilyLucky lucky]] and [[{{Determinator}} muleheaded]] enough to keep the Reapers on their toes while their compatriots and allies built and delivered the device: ''the sheer brute force of numbers and repetition'' '''did''' provide the Catalyst with a new solution.]] Even Warlord Okeer used the same brute force method to engineer Grunt, he created about a thousand tankbred Krogan who didn’t meet his standard before he found one that did. And he used Collector technology to achieve that - Reaper tech basically, sure does fit the pattern.

* On Omega, it would seem as though Oleg Petrovsky is a [[EvenEvilHasStandards conquering tyrant with a desire to keep noncombatant civilians safe]]. He honors an agreement with the Talons to not harm anyone who gives up arms and surrenders, he implores you to not cut power to civilian areas while overloading the reactor, he berates you if you do perform a hard overload. However, you find an audio recording about his experiments with Adjutants that provides a new horrifying reason why he apparently protected civilians. In that recording he gloats about how he figured out how to make docile obedient Adjutants - by implanting subjects with control chip implants before having an Adjutant R.I.P. them apart and convert them. He then claims that “with the civilian population contained, we anticipate being able to surpass Adjutant demand by 300%”. Petrovsky didn’t keep noncombatants safe to protect them - he did so, to eventually lo-jack them all and convert them into an army of Adjutant mooks.
** What is worse, is that by accomplishing this, Petrovsky would have essentially done the Reapers’ job for them. If the whole population of Omega has been turned into Adjutants, a single Reaper can just fly in, assume control of them to eliminate (or convert) Petrovsky, and it has a station full of compliant husks ready for harvesting.

** Remember what Mordin said, too. [[BodyHorror "No glands, replaced by tech, no digestive system, replaced by tech, no soul, replaced by tech."]] This applies to the Reapers too, he also claims that if these things were truly "living" even in Reaper form, you would find evidence of culture, artistic expression even. All the Reapers do is reap, harvest, construct new Reapers, sanitize the galaxy of all evidence of their reaping, hibernate, monitor for organic synthetic conflict then begin all over again. No independent thought outside of Catalyst's directives, no alternate interests pursued, no philosophy, no metaphysics, no research into better superluminal propulsion, no research into astrophysics, no exploration of other galaxies. Even if that knowledge existed in preserved brains, it hasn't been put to any use for millions of years. Only slaves following Catalyst's orders. Whatever they once knew was lost for good when they were reaped, as that knowledge never saw any usage.

* In one of his logs, Henry Lawson says [[spoiler:about Sanctuary experiments: ''This is assembly-line science, the sheer brute force of numbers and repetition '''doing the thinking''' for us.'']] Now compare that to what [[spoiler: The Catalyst does: it is repeating the same experiment over and over again on a galactic scale: Lawson ruthlessly treated thousands of refugees like guinea pigs: the Catalyst ruthlessly treated '''thousands of intelligent species''' like guinea pigs]]. But the worst part is that '''it worked''', [[spoiler:its reasonings are actually sound: The Leviathans were part of the problem, by enthralling intelligent organic species, they gave no choice '''but''' rebellion to their tributaries' synthetic creations. Removing them from the equation gave intelligent species the chance to build independent polities; placing mass relays close to planets home to intelligent life, it made it easier for civilizations to develop FTL and meet with one another]] [[spoiler: '''before''' inventing [=AIs=], and the harvest pushed desperate civilizations to imagine the Crucible, transfer the concept to their successors via time capsules, who in turn refined the concept until eventually one civilization managed, by sheer random chance to engender someone [[OneManArmy skilled]], [[UnluckilyLucky lucky]] and [[{{Determinator}} muleheaded]] enough to keep the Reapers on their toes while their compatriots and allies built and delivered the device: ''the sheer brute force of numbers and repetition'' '''did''' provide the Catalyst with a new solution.]] Even Warlord Okeer used the same brute force method to engineer Grunt. He created about a thousand tank bred Krogan who didn’t meet his standard before he found one that did. And he used Collector technology to achieve that - Reaper tech basically. Sure does fit the pattern.

* Why Kalros wins so easily against the Reaper Destroyer? Easy, the Reapers are designed to hold agaisnt ''tecnological firepower'' so, they're unprepared agaisnt physical force. In fact, is likely [[DidntThinkThisThrough that they never expected]] [[TakeAThirdOption that someone launch a Thresher Maw agaisnt them.]]

* The [[spoiler:"Destroy" ending]]: Shepard is walking ''towards'' what s\he is shooting at. Take into account Shepard's potential farewell to Thane ("You won't be alone for long"). And picture how Shepard was feeling when Hackett radioed. It's quite possible that Shepard had a death wish at this point and just wanted peace from having the galaxy resting on his\her shoulders. Especially poignant for a paragon with ChronicHeroSyndrome; s/he'd finally had enough.

** This idea is backed up by the fact that the persuade/intimidate choices in this analogy require you to make a paragon/renegade choice in the previous game's ending respectively to get at the lowest EMS level.

** Remember what Mordin said, too. [[BodyHorror "No glands; replaced by tech. No digestive system; replaced by tech. No soul; replaced by tech."]] This applies to the Reapers, too. He also claims that if these things were truly "living" even in Reaper form, you would find evidence of culture, artistic expression even. All the Reapers do is reap, harvest, construct new Reapers, sanitize the galaxy of all evidence of their reaping, hibernate, monitor for organic synthetic conflict then begin all over again. No independent thought outside of Catalyst's directives, no alternate interests pursued, no philosophy, no metaphysics, no research into better superluminal propulsion, no research into astrophysics, no exploration of other galaxies. Even if that knowledge existed in preserved brains, it hasn't been put to any use for millions of years. Only slaves following Catalyst's orders. Whatever they once knew was lost for good when they were reaped, as that knowledge never saw any usage.
*** As Shepard tells the Reaper on Rannoch if you choose the paragon interrupt, "whatever species you came from, before the Reapers decided to preserve them? They're dead. They died thousands of years ago. And now they can rest in peace."
* In one of his logs, Henry Lawson says [[spoiler:about Sanctuary experiments: ''This is assembly-line science; The sheer brute force of numbers and repetition '''doing the thinking''' for us'']]: now compare that to what [[spoiler: The Catalyst does: it is repeating the same experiment over and over again on a galactic scale: Lawson ruthlessly treated thousands of refugees like guinea pigs: the Catalyst ruthlessly treated '''thousands of intelligent species''' like guinea pigs]]. But the worst part is that '''it worked''': [[spoiler: its reasonings are actually sound: the Leviathans were part of the problem: by enthralling intelligent organic species, they gave no choice '''but''' rebellion to their tributaries' synthetic creations. Removing them from the equation gave intelligent species the chance to build independent polities; placing mass relays close to planets home to intelligent life, it made it easier for civilizations to develop FTL and meet with one another]] [[spoiler: '''before''' inventing AIs, and the Harvest pushed desperate civilizations to imagine the Crucible, transfer the concept to their successors via time capsules, who in turn refined the concept until eventually one civilization managed, by sheer random chance to engender someone [[OneManArmy skilled]], [[UnluckilyLucky lucky]] and [[{{Determinator}} muleheaded]] enough to keep the Reapers on their toes while their compatriots and allies built and delivered the device: ''the sheer brute force of numbers and repetition'' '''did''' provide the Catalyst with a new solution.]] Even Warlord Okeer used the same brute force method to engineer Grunt. He created about a thousand tank bred Krogan who didn’t meet his standard before he found one that did. And he used Collector technology to achieve that - Reaper tech basically. Sure does fit the pattern.

'''That''' is why [[spoiler:Synthesis]] is presented as the best choice; [[spoiler:it is the only choice which creates something ''new''.]]

** Why don't the Reapers ever target the ''Normandy'' whenever they have the chance? [[spoiler:Why is Joker able to extract Shepard's team in full view of Harbinger without the Reapers blowing them to pieces?]] They ''can't''. The ''Normandy'' has a Reaper IFF installed thanks to the events of ''2'', and EDI indicates that she is constantly tweaking it. Add the ship's stealth systems, the IFF sending off false flags, and of course the chaos of the Reaper invasion. Even the Reapers must be struggling to keep track of everything going on in all of that (especially since the Prothean sabotage of the Citadel forced them to toss the usual game plan out the window), and the ''Normandy'' just goes under their radar. It does raise questions about whether the Reapers see the same way humans do. Perhaps their visible range of light falls deeper into the infrared, meaning that the thermal-masking stealth used by the ''Normandy'' renders them effectively cloaked? Or the Reapers just don't utilize windows. They are structural weaknesses after all.

** Note that the Asari who do help Shepard with war assets and resources almost immediately are non mainstream iconoclast types who do have absolute authority over their respective organizations. [[HotScientist Liara]] [[KnowledgeBroker T'soni]] dedicates all her available Shadow Broker assets and resources to aid you even before the game begins, while Aria the undisputed ruler of Omega will give you the entirety of Terminus war assets and eezo horde once her rule is made undisputed once again.

On the [[Headscratchers/MassEffect3 headscratchers]] page.

** [[spoiler:Worse still, with all options for Shepard inevitably leading to this nightmarish scenario, this leads to one unthinkable conclusion: for all of Cerberus's crimes against humanity, all the liquefied and husked humans, all the massacred innocents... the Illusive Man was RIGHT. He had the ONLY viable solution, and Shepard KILLED HIM. Once all that despair sinks in, all this hopeless struggle suddenly surfacing inside your mind for what it is... the most horrible options suddenly seem a small price to pay for a fighting chance. [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou Is this what indoctrination feels like?]] Is that what Saren felt all those years ago when he joined the Geth, killed Nilus, and went rogue?]]
** [[spoiler:Even worse are the implications from just who is left behind (assuming you got the optimum from your choices in-game). The Quarians just regained their homeworld (possibly peacefully with the Geth) and now have no way to get back to it. If you talk to Tali, it makes it worse when you learn that the Geth are helping them acclimate back to Rannoch's atmosphere and now have no way to get back. Almost all the Turians and most of the Asari now have no way to repair their ailing homeworlds. Arguably the Krogan get off the best because even though Wrex is stuck on Earth, "Eve" is still on Tuchanka (assuming she survives). Plus, on a personal note, Tali (who was so happy to finally be on Rannoch) is stuck on another planet (I think; clear me up with this if the ending implies the ''Normandy'' is back on Earth) that doesn't even have civilization to give the hope of interstellar space travel in the future. What the hell, Creator/BioWare!?]]

* A case of romance-related FridgeHorror/Fringe Sadness from the DLC is a Fem!Shep who romanced Thane encountering [[spoiler: his ''ghost'']] after the party before she boards the ''Normandy''. Now it's claimed beforehand that [[spoiler:ghosts]] don't exist, which means that Shepard, otherwise known as the galaxy's ''only'' hope to fight against the Reapers, is ''probably'' hallucinating and talking to the imaginary phantom of [[spoiler:her dead lover]]. Yeah, [[SarcasmMode great news to know that the hero of the galaxy is in such good mental condition]].

* The Elcor, due to their long lifespans and naturally being restricted to a small part of their high-gravity homeworld, are said to have always had a relatively small population; the data for Dekuuna has the pre-invasion population at 2.35 billion, around what Earth's population was in the 1940's. During the side mission Dekuuna: Elcor Extraction, a diplomat asks Shepard to help with the evacuation efforts of their world. When Shepard asks how many civilians they managed to rescue, the diplomat simply says "not enough." Best case scenario, he's heartbroken over how many people have died and wishes they could've saved more. Worst case, he means that ''literally'' and there aren't enough Elcor left for a viable population. And unlike the Krogan, who can saved from the effects of the Genophage, there's nothing much that anybody can do for them even if the Reapers are defeated. Elcor consider 300 to be old, meaning the species may be gone in just a few centuries.

* Why are Alliance and Cerberus war assets combined way way higher than the war asset contribution by any other species? 2000 versus 850 maximum by the Krogan? It is because Hackett is now the Supreme Commander in Chief of all human forces and he has decided to put everything they have towards the Crucible. Even Cerberus for all their machinations is also trying to take control of the Crucible. The other species want to fight a conventional war instead. They won't commit everything because they have either taken too many losses engaging the Reapers head on (Batarians and Turians), wasted their military might elsewhere (Quarians and Geth), have a pitifully small force (volus, hanar, Elcor) are unable to fight naval battles (Krogan) or are foolishly committing fleets and forces for colony defense (Asari and Salarians). All these other species have relied on tried and tested military strategies of espionage, sabotage, absorbing and dishing out heavy blows with superior fortifications and firepower. They are slow to realize that a battle of attrition and sea control strategies are ineffective. For the humans, using the Crucible ties in perfectly with their doctrine - when attacked, don't HoldTheLine, run away, Marshall your forces then counterattack with devastating force. Which is exactly what the Crucible is - a devastating retaliatory counter punch against the Reapers.

** [[spoiler: They were set up this way for another reason - their objective wasn't to outright defeat the Reapers near earth, their objective was only to punch through Reaper lines and insert Hammer force. They were therefore set up like a football scrimmage formation with your biggest toughest people in front to shove their way through and open up running lanes. The strategy was similar to a "Hail Mary" play in which you get receivers (Hammer) running for daylight (the Citadel) and then lob the ball (Crucible) over and desperately hop that one of them can catch it and use it to win.]]
* Why is the Normandy seen flying away from the Crucible's beam in the endings? The Crucible was targeting the Normandy because of its Reaper IFF and because Edi's source code is partly Reaper based.

** [[KillEmAll Destroy]] - This is what a libertarian with a dash of RousseauWasRight leanings would choose. Although civilization as we know it has been wrecked, we now have the freedom and free will to reconstruct it the way we choose, not the way it always was.