History Fridge / MassEffectAndromeda

* Sloane's hatred of the kett. Her codex entry mentions she's a veteran of the Skyllian Blitz, and whatever she saw was so bad that she's ''still'' having recurring nightmares. Take a traumatised veteran, have her go through the Uprising, and take off to try and make a new world only to run smack dab into the kett (who, according to an e-mail you can find at Podromos operate very much like the batarians), and they're mashing on a very raw TraumaButton for her.

** Additional brilliance with Cora. Her hairstyle (a severe undercut) has led to some backdraft due to [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement its association with various subcultures such as gay subculture, which Cora wasn't a part of]]. The in-universe explanation is probably simpler - it's the closest human hair can mimic an asari's head-ridges, and Cora (having a strong affinity for the asari) probably did it to "fit in" as much as a human could.
** Another one for Cora: [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement some fans were disappointed (and some of them very vocally)]] that she was heterosexual. However, Cora spent her formative years among the asari and all but [[GoingNative assimilated into that culture]], feeling more affinity for it than for her human one. If she was attracted to women, she already had the chance to fall in love and settle down with an asari on Thessia instead of leaving the Milky Way.

** Also, there are various good reasons for the rules and regulations humanity has around relationships, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement including some of the religious reasons]]. This includes the facts such as monogamy increases family stability, reduces the risk of inbreeding (and all the deformities that causes) and it eliminates the risk of sexually transmitted diseases while still providing sexual pleasure if both partners are STI-free and in faithful monogamy with each each other.

*** Purely a modern human convention. Monogamy is not as common in the animal kingdom as humans like to think, with even troops of our closest living relatives having vastly different approaches, including pairing but also polyamorous relationships. Monogamy only increases family stability in HUMANS. Among other animals their own sexual behaviour is what keeps their units stable. Remember, humans are the only species that looks after our infants for such an extended period (directly causing familial units to expand into tribal and later cultural ones to protect said infants), and we have the longest period of 'helplessness' in early life of any other animal that has ever lived due to our highly developed brains related to our body mass. Monogamy may reduce the risk of inbreeding (in humans) - but this is NOT the reason monogamy exists and is a consequence of it, not a cause. Also, STDs and awareness of them is another purely human social observation. No other species could even understand the concept, and monogamy is certainly not common enough among animals for STDs to have any kind of evolutionary link.

** It may have been that galactic civilization was [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien getting so close to their technology level]] that the Reapers came to harvest them when they did. As precedent, the Protheans managed to reverse-engineer one of their technologies, the Conduit (a Mass Relay), by the time the Reapers came for them.

*** The Reapers commence harvests on a set 50,000 year cycle. The cycle by the time of the original trilogy was slightly overdue (hence why Sovereign used Saren as an agent), but generally each one is plus or minus a percentage anyway.

* A factor in Ellen Ryder's easy acceptance of being diagnosed with a fatal illness that is not mentioned is the fact that at least one of her Element Zero exposures occurred while she was pregnant. As explained by Kaidan and the Codex, thirty percent of in-utero exposures result in the baby developing terminal brain tumors. Since Ellen was pregnant with twins, Scott and Sara ''really'' dodged a bullet there. However sad Ellen was about dying and having to leave her family behind, she was probably more relieved that her research didn't end up [[AdultFear killing either of her children]].

*** The Reapers commence harvests on a set 50,000 year cycle. The cycle by the time of the original trilogy is slightly overdue (hence why Sovereign is using Saren as an agent), but generally each one is plus or minus a percentage anyway.

** Despite being an ex-cop (who have a healthy suspicion of people as part of their job), Liam comes off as way too naïve and trusting, completely losing his shit when his trust doesn't pay off. A normal cop wouldn't just fly off the handle and empty a full clip into a corpse in anger, nor would they hand over sensitive classified information to a newly formed contact. And a cop wouldn't take an issue with confining someone who leaked sensitive information (even for good intentions), until the security breaches have been patched up. Talking to him reveals why he is the way he is - Liam wasn't just a cop; he was a ''failed'' cop who got reassigned to a volunteer crisis response unit. He most likely failed as a cop due to his overly trusting nature, so they sent him off to crisis response, where everyone he encounters needs helping. That explains his behavior - he sees both the Initiative and the angara as being the victims of a disaster that need crisis response, instead of being at war against armed aggressors. His freely giving information to Verand is him pigeon-holing all angara as disaster victims, and never suspecting that any of them might have ulterior motives. His anger at Ryder if they confine Verand later is the same thing - he sees her as an innocent victim to be unquestionably helped, and the Pathfinder as the firefighter/paramedic/rescue worker who always has to help without being suspicious and judgmental. Acting like a military commander and confining her to compartmentalize your operations clashes with his "always help everyone" ethos of a rescue worker.

** A possibility with Liam is that he is going through slow and several nervous breakdowns interspersed with devil may care manic levels of positivity. Him emptying an entire clip into a Kett corpse out of anger was the first symptom, but the actual first sign is him asking about champagne and a surprise party when arriving on the Nexus for the first time despite everything appearing to be dark and inoperable. That isn’t the reaction of someone trying to lighten the mood with positive thinking; it is the reaction of someone dealing with trauma by dissociating. When you land on Eos and ride around on the Nomad, Liam mutters “Ryder’s got this!” as if to reassure himself. Then Liam starts planning a movie night when there are still many tasks to be completed. His breakdown starts to become noticeable when you find him ranting at being considered “a goddamn outsider” after the rescue of the Moeshae. He then tells Ryder about the SUV his parents are shipping him, claiming that he “needs things to be normal and familiar.” While everyone else still has a sense of wonder and mystery about Andromeda and an instinct to go out and explore no matter how rotten the situation is, Liam is the one pining for normality and familiarity ''in a whole new galaxy''. In additional conversations, Liam mentions that he is starting to regret his decision to come to Andromeda. Him criticizing Vetra about bringing Sid is him projecting his regret onto her, and him criticizing Peebee for “not being a team player” is him being resentful of her not seeing the situation as messed up as he does. Due to this insecurity and regret, Liam does the two things that eventually lead to his LoyaltyMission - he has Ryder surreptitiously scan food and crops from a hostile merchant to “solve a food problem” that may or may not exist. This is Liam wanting to do ''something'' to help - not so much because he identified a problem that needed solving, but more so as an anxiety coping mechanism. Him giving codes to Verand is out of the same motivation - he is insecure and anxious, and needs to do ''something'' to make him feel better. On his LoyaltyMission, his insecurities come full force. Liam rants again and again about “how everything is just like Habitat 7 all over again” and how “when you take a risk, it’s supposed to work!” Liam was traumatized by the events on Habitat 7; he immediately started to regret making the trip, then freaks out and tries to do something to make it all seem worth it. This is why he gets mad if Ryder confines Verand - he took a risk with her and it didn't pay off, making his actions AllForNothing.
** Liam’s anxiety is explained by another fact - he never had a compelling reason to leave the Milky Way behind and come to Andromeda. The Ryder twins came due to their ostracism over Alec’s SAM experiments, Cora came because she never felt she fit in anywhere in the Milky Way, Vetra came to escape her and her father’s dirty past and provide a more stable life for Sid, Peebee came due to curiosity over something completely new, Drack and his entire clan came to get away from the krogan race’s mistakes, and Suvi and Kallo came for the exploration and scientific discoveries. Liam seemed to have had a good thing going with his crisis response job in the Milky Way and seemed to have joined the Initiative on a whim. Thus you notice that everyone except for him finds their niche early on in the game: Cora becomes the military advisor and steadfastly loyal bodyguard; Vetra becomes the wheeler-dealer and overall logistics specialist; Peebee becomes the Remnant expert; Drack becomes the krogan liaison, Kett killing expert and shock trooper (and even the ship's cook); and even the local guy Jaal becomes the team’s FriendlySniper and liaison to the Angara. Liam on the other hand doesn’t find that niche - Vetra or Jaal can both substitute for him in combat, and he doesn’t seem to do much except maybe plan social get togethers. He doesn’t even assist in the few criminal investigations that are conducted. No wonder he regrets coming here, feels like a “goddamned outsider”, and [[OverzealousUnderling tries to do anything he can to “help” fix the ”mess”]].

* A factor in Ellen Ryder's easy acceptance of being diagnosed with a fatal illness that is not mentioned is the fact that at least one of her Element Zero exposures occurred while she was pregnant. As explained by Kaidan and the Codex, thirty percent of in-utero exposures result in the baby developing terminal brain tumors. Since Ellen was pregnant with twins, Scott and Sara ''really'' dodged a bullet there. However sad Ellen was about dying and having to leave her family behind, she was probably more relieved that her research didn't end up [[AdultFear killing at least one of her children]].

** This is actually a choice between being a civilian version of a Pathfinder or a military version. Not revealing Sarissa's secret of sacrificing the original asari Pathfinder is the ''civilian'' way; a civilian pathfinder is literally a trailblazer, leading colonists to a place suitable for habitation. This person must constantly keep morale up, continuing to ''sell'' that populace on the promise of that colony even if there may be unforeseen dangers ahead. If they don't maintain an image as an icon of hope and inspiration, colonists could very well lose interest in the Initiative and want to go home. Sarissa is "selling" that paradigm of being a Pathfinder. Exposing her mistake, on the other hand, is behaving like a ''military'' pathfinder; these pathfinders are typically advance scouting units that reconnoiter an objective area and scrupulously report back everything they've seen - especially potential hazards - to a field commander. This job requires truthfulness and integrity, so that the field commander has all relevant information to make decisions. By choosing to "report" Sarissa to the captain, Ryder is behaving like a military pathfinder.

* Foster Addison's odd behavior for someone running a ''pioneering colonization'' effort may put people off sufficiently to land her in the scrappy heap. But if you stop for a second and consider who and what she was before she joined the Initiative, a lot of her behavior (including her "tired face") make sense. If Tann was 8 steps behind Garsen in the Initiative hierarchy, then Addison was probably 9 or 10. She never intended to ''lead'' the Initiative; she was satisfied with being a mid level bureaucrat on the Nexus. She never wanted to become a scrapping tough resilient git'er'done colonist ready to tackle any challenge head on. And she had a strain of anti-militarism too. Addison probably just wanted to be an ObstructiveBureaucrat, keeping flinty colonists in check by forcing them to conform to a policy. But now she has to deal with all the death and destruction of the Scourge, the extreme situation of food and possibly air and water shortages, and a restive mutinous populace. She has to make actual decisions, something that always severely taxes a process oriented bureaucrat. She has already gone through an insurrection and a hostile alien presence, something that would have been very taxing to someone who abhors militarism. And now, she finds out that Alec Ryder, one of the drivers of the Initiative, is dead and has put his kid in his role. Addison expected to work with Alec and act as a check and balance to his tendencies, but now she has an inexperienced grunt looking to her for leadership, and she can't be that inspiring leader. That is why she comes off as unpleasant and unappreciative - she can't be anything else. And her "tired face" is a symptom of just that - a woman horribly out of depth, probably dealing with PTSD, only able to muster a blank stare to deal with issues. Patch 1.05 gives Addison more appropriate body language for her attitude, complete with pinching-the-bridge-of-the-nose.

* The technologically to detect habitable worlds in other galaxies with minimal light lag is revealed to be geth in origin. Why would the geth need a faster than light sensor capable of seeing past the galaxy? The Reapers exist outside the Milky Way. Whether it was the Heretics looking for their gods or the True Geth looking for an escape, they would need such a device to investigate them.

** A possibility with Liam is that he is going through slow and several nervous breakdowns interspersed with devil may care manic levels of positivity. Him emptying an entire clip into a Kett corpse out of anger was the first symptom, but the actual first sign is him asking about champagne and a surprise party when arriving on the Nexus for the first time despite everything appearing to be dark and inoperable. That isn’t the reaction of someone trying to lighten the mood with positive thinking; it is the reaction of someone dealing with trauma by dissociating. When you land on Eos and ride around on the Nomad, Liam mutters “Ryder’s got this!” as if to reassure himself. Then Liam starts planning a movie night when there are still many tasks to be completed. His breakdown starts to become noticeable when you find him ranting at being considered “a goddamn outsider” after you rescue the Moeshae. He then tells you about the SUV his parents are shipping him, claiming that he “needs things to be normal and familiar.” While everyone else still has a sense of wonder and mystery about Andromeda and an instinct to go out and explore no matter how rotten the situation is, Liam is the one pining for normality and familiarity ''in a whole new galaxy''. In additional conversations, Liam mentions that he is starting to regret his decision to come to Andromeda. Him criticizing Vetra about bringing Sid is him projecting his regret onto her, and him criticizing Peebee for “not being a team player” is him being resentful of her not seeing the situation as messed up as he does. Due to this insecurity and regret, Liam does the two things that eventually lead to his LoyaltyMission - he has Ryder surreptitiously scan food and crops from a hostile merchant to “solve a food problem” that may or may not exist. This is Liam wanting to do ''something'' to help - not so much because he identified a problem that needed solving, but more so as an anxiety coping mechanism. Him giving codes to Verand is out of the same motivation - he is insecure and anxious, and needs to do ''something'' to make him feel better. On his LoyaltyMission, his insecurities come full force. Liam rants again and again about “how everything is just like Habitat 7 all over again” and how “when you take a risk, it’s supposed to work!” Liam was traumatized by the events on Habitat 7; he immediately started to regret making the trip, then freaks out and tries to do something to make it all seem worth it. This is why he gets mad if Ryder confines Verand - he took a risk with her and it didn't pay off, making his actions AllForNothing.
** Liam’s anxiety is explained by another fact - he never had a compelling reason to leave the Milky Way behind and come to Andromeda. The Ryder twins came due to their ostracism over Alec’s SAM experiments, Cora came because she never felt she fit in anywhere in the Milky Way, Vetra came to escape her and her father’s dirty past and provide a more stable life for Sid, Peebee came due to curiosity over something completely new, Drack and his entire clan came to get away from the krogan race’s mistakes, and Suvi and Kallo came for the exploration and scientific discoveries. Liam seemed to have had a good thing going with his crisis response job in the Milky Way and seemed to have joined the Initiative on a whim. Thus you notice that everyone except for him finds their niche early on in the game: Cora becomes your military advisor and steadfastly loyal bodyguard; Vetra becomes your wheeler-dealer and overall logistics specialist; Peebee becomes your Remnant expert; Drack becomes your krogan liaison, Kett killing expert and shock trooper (and even the ship's cook); and even the local guy Jaal becomes the team’s FriendlySniper and liaison to the Angara. Liam on the other hand doesn’t find that niche - Vetra or Jaal can both substitute for him in combat, and he doesn’t seem to do much except maybe plan social get togethers. He doesn’t even assist in the few criminal investigations that are conducted. No wonder he regrets coming here, feels like a “goddamned outsider”, and [[OverzealousUnderling tries to do anything he can to “help” fix the ”mess”]].
* Drack's [[EverybodyHasStandards outrage]] at what the kett are doing to the salarians if he's brought to the Archon's ship make perfect sense when you that he was around when the [[SterilityPlague genophage]] was deployed. [[PlayingWithSyringes Experiments]] on [[TheyWouldCutYouUp sentient beings]] would be a massive BerserkButton to most krogan, especially ones who were alive to see the genophage be unleashed. This could also be the reason [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Okeer]] was "a very hated name."

** Another one for Cora: [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement some fans were disappointed (and some of them very vocally)]] that she was heterosexual. However, Cora spent her formative years among the asari and all but [[GoingNative assimilated into that culture]], feeling more affinity for it than for her human one. If she was attracted to women, she already had the chance to fall in love and settle down with a asari on Thessia instead of leaving the Milky Way.

** It's explained that the Arks have a unique [[FasterThanLightTravel FTL drive]] that captures and recycles the static energy that would otherwise build up and destroy other ships unless discharged, thus bypassing the normal range limitation. The Reapers were noted to somehow be immune to such buildup; now we know how that's possible. It's possible this was one of the technologies salvaged from Sovereign along with the Thanix Cannon.
** It may have been that galactic civilization was [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien getting that close to their technology level]] that the Reapers came to harvest them when they did. As precedent, the Protheans managed to reverse-engineer one of their technologies, a Mass Relay (the Conduit) by the time the Reapers came for them.
*** The Reapers commence harvests on a set 50,000 year cycle. The cycle in the time of the games is slightly overdue (which is why Sovereign is using Saren as an agent), but generally each one is plus or minus a percentage anyway.

** At first it doesn't seem to make sense that the single cluster the game takes place in to have so many habitable planets and races when the Milky Way clusters had only, two maybe three garden worlds at most. However, if you look at the descriptions for many of the lifeless planets in ''Mass Effect 1'' and ''2'', you'll see that many of them used to have life before the Reapers wiped them out. Without the regularly scheduled genocide, the Andromeda galaxy has a much larger abundance of living worlds.
** Also the Initiative is likely exploring the cluster more thoroughly than what would have been done in the Milky Way without the Mass Relays to provide a easier alternative method of travel than regular FTL.
** It's explained very early on that an ancient race of {{Precursors}} had been terraforming planets in the Heleus Cluster, and that the Initiative simply failed to realize this as the ''reason'' so many planets there were golden worlds. Unfortunately, by the time they get there, the terrforming machines ("Vaults") had been turned off for centuries, leaving most of the planets inhospitable rocks that were even worse than before.
* Shepard's helmet was a combat helmet that covered everything to protect the wearer. Ryder's helmet has a larger visor to allow them to look around better. This is because Shepard was more of a soldier fighting enemies, while Ryder is more of an explorer.
** The standard Initiative helmets have the same design, [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous minus Alec's N7 colors.]] [[DeconstructedTrope Unfortunately,]] this focus on visibility over protection [[spoiler: led to our Ryder's helmet cracking under pressure not just once, but twice]]. If the Initiative had gone with [=N7-style=] helmets instead, [[spoiler: Alec might not have had to sacrifice himself in the first place]].

** At first it is confounding that Alec Ryder picked you, an inexperienced EnsignNewbie, to succeed him as Pathfinder. Why didn't he transfer authority to Cora, as is common protocol? At first, it would seem as though his reason was that you are a lot more intertwined with SAM than Cora can ever hope to be. Therefore, you can be enhanced further by SAM than Cora can. But that still doesn't explain why he bypassed Cora to give you that much power and responsibility. However, Cora's behavior during her LoyaltyMission reveals the true reason why Alec bypassed her for you. [[spoiler: Cora completely bought into the asari commando doctrine, especially focusing on what it means to be a good Tianma or bodyguard. Cora bought into the mythos so much that when she discovers that Sarissa, the exemplar of what an asari commando should be, sacrificed her protectee and pathfinder for the supposed greater good, she immediately calls out Sarissa for that action. Ryder on the other hand can recognize the pragmatism of that decision.]] This portrays Cora as being too much of a good soldier and loyal follower to take on a pathfinder's role, which involves a lot of out of the box thinking.
** Another reason is that your PlayerCharacter might be EnsignNewbie ''on paper'', but Alec Ryder's long association with the project meant that the Ryder twins practically grew up with the project and were ''informally'' training for the role their entire lives.
** There's an even simpler reason that SAM describes at the end of the Alec Ryder logs. [[spoiler:Ellen is alive. He didn't want to go through the effort of waking her up, only for her to mourn the death of her child.]]
** The tie-in novel Literature/MassEffectInitiation reveals yet another reason - SAM is genetically incompatible with Cora, since an experimental offshoot of SAM merged with Cora, enhanced her, but became highly unstable and needed to be “consumed” by SAM to save it. This makes sense, as SAM was initially constructed primarily to enhance only Alec and Ellen. Therefore, only someone who inherited Alec and Ellen’s genes - the twins - can be successfully merged with SAM.

** Additional brilliance with Cora. Her hairstyle (a severe undercut) has led to some backdraft due to the [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement style's association with various subcultures, such as gay subculture, that Cora wasn't a part of]]. The in-universe explanation is probably simpler - it's the closest human hair can mimic an asari's head-ridges. Cora, having a strong affinity for the asari, probably did it to "fit in" as much as a human could.
** Another one for Cora: [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement some fans were disappointed, and some of them very vocally]], that she was only romantically interested in males. The brilliance kicks in when you remember she spent her formative years among the asari and all but [[GoingNative assimilated into that culture]], feeling more affinity for it than for her human one. If she were into girls at all, even in the slightest, she would have probably found a nice asari to settle down with on Thessia, had a few daughters, and never left the Milky Way.
** Why was Cora ejected from the asari commandos and sent to the Initiative? Notice what Cora seizes upon to criticize Pathfinder Sarissa for? Being a good Tiamna or guardian. A guardian or bodyguard is required to be steadfastly loyal and feel a true sense of belonging. Notice what Cora always complains about - she never felt a sense of belonging anywhere before. Cora most likely wanted to be someone's Tiamna, which explains her Shield Boost ability. But the program she was part of was an exchange program to learn asari military doctrine, tactics, best practices etc and to go back to the human military to teach the same to them. Had Cora realized this, she would have been excited to go back to the Alliance to teach them new tactics, and create that niche for herself. Because she didn't realize this, the asari sent her somewhere where she could be someone's Tiamna. In the initiative, she could finally realize her dream and become Alec Ryder's Tiamna - and thereby follow in her hero Sarissa's footsteps.

** The link between SAM and the Ryder's, and the related discussions about trans-humanism, brings to mind the Synthesis ending in ''3''. It was likely meant as the "best" ending, but was heavily criticized due to a complete lack of positive foreshadowing (the only character arguing for it, Saren, was BrainwashedAndCrazy by it, so that was a big strike), or clearly showing or explaining why it was a good thing. This could be an AuthorsSavingThrow to redeem Synthesis by showing it in a good light.
** This intertwining is an example of Synthesis done ''right'', as opposed to previous attempts that failed. An attempt was made with the Zha'til in a previous cycle, but it failed because the AI was developed, allowed to grow, then introduced on mature people, who lost control of it. The second attempt - Project Overlord - failed because the human mind wasn't ready for a connection to a massive networked intelligence that had also matured over time. The Reapers' synthesis initially only created husks, and even those with strong minds such as Saren and TIM succumbed to it. Theirs was a case of an advanced AI attempting to coexist with, but instead taking complete control of a not-so-advanced organic. What Alec did right with SAM was to "raise" it alongside his children, and therefore when it was time to intertwine them, both human and AI are actually on an equal footing, so no one is going to override and seize control of the other. This is true symbiosis, while other forms of synthesis were like an infection taking control.
* There has been some criticism about the same wildlife appearing on five different planets despite the fact that by all rights they should have evolved very differently, but late game revelations may provide an answer. [[spoiler: The reason these same animals keep appearing on multiple planets is because they didn't evolve on their own. The were created by the same race that created the Remnant and the angara.]]
* Getting that first look at Alec Ryder's capabilities and sheer badassery as you work with him on Habitat 7 works not only as the taste of power as described elsewhere, but it provides a very nice bit of meta as you slowly realize that Alec has the experience and power of a higher-level ''player'' and you're his ''squadmate.''
* Foster "Tired Face" Addison's odd behavior for someone running a ''pioneering colonization'' effort may put people off sufficiently to land her in the scrappy heap, but if you stop for a second and consider who and what she was before she joined the initiative, a lot of her behavior including her "tired face" make sense. If Tann was 8 steps removed from Garsen in the initiative hierarchy, then Addison was probably 9 or 10 steps removed. She never intended to ''lead'' the initiative, she was satisfied with being a mid level bureaucrat on the Nexus. She never wanted to become a scrapping tough resilient git'er'done colonist ready to tackle any challenge head on. And she had a strain of anti-militarism too. Addison probably just wanted to be an ObstructiveBureaucrat keeping flinty colonists in check, by forcing them to conform to a policy. But now, she had to deal with all the death and destruction of the Scourge, the extreme situation of food and possibly air and water shortages, and a restive mutinous populace. She has to make actual decisions, something that always severely taxes a process oriented bureaucrat. She had to deal with an insurrection, and a hostile alien presence, something that would have been very taxing to someone who abhors militarism. And now, she finds out that Alec Ryder, one of the drivers of the initiative is dead and he's put his kid in his role. Addison expected to work with Alec and act as a check and balance to his tendencies - but now she has an inexperienced grunt looking to her for leadership. But Addison can't be that inspiring leader. That is why she comes off as unpleasant and unappreciative- she can't be anything else. And her "tired face" is a symptom of just that - a woman horribly out of depth, probably dealing with PTSD, only able to muster a blank stare to deal with issues. Patch 1.05 gives Addison more appropriate body language for her attitude, complete with pinching-the-bridge-of-the-nose.

* Most turians you encounter in this game are barefaced; i.e. they lack the clan markings that they considered so important back home. Naturally the number of turians who are willing to leave their entire galaxy behind forever would lack such emotional ties to their past.
* Similarly, the krogan you meet sport an unusual amount of scientists, mechanics and other intellectuals for their species. It makes sense that they would be the ones most interested in getting away from krogan politics and starting anew. Notice that clan Nakmor sends an ambassador to Clan Urdnot in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' only if Wrex is the clan chief, and not if Wreav heads it instead. Nakmor is willing to deal with Wrex because he is a progressive reformist and is a kindred spirit of sorts with them. If Wreav is in charge, Nakmor doesn't want to deal with him, as he is just another bloodthirsty traditional krogan. It's also possible that many of Nakmor's warriors joined Wrex's crusade.

* Similar to the above, the fact that Remnant technology is designed to respond to a neural link is related to [[spoiler:the angara's ability to manipulate bioelectricity. The Builders gave them that ability on purpose to allow them to interface with the technology. Some notes even mention teaching the angara how to use their ability (and the Builders being happily surprised when the angara discover unexpected uses). The angara have an entire order dedicated to trying to use this ability to make Remnant technology work; while they lost a lot after the Scourge, the fact that they are basically stumbling around blind and yet still making progress speaks volumes]].
* Weapons that didn't make the trip.
** The Vindicator burst fire battle rifle didn't make it because it was made exclusively for the Blue Suns. Only reason Shepard got one in the second game was because Garrus had scrounged one from the Suns. There is also the fact that the N7 Valkyrie and the Pathfinder Pioneer are much better burst fire assault rifles.
** The Scimitar shotgun didn't make the trip because like the Vindictator, it too was made exclusively for Eclipse. Shepard scrounges one from an Eclipse base. The Tempest submachine gun was similarly an Eclipse exclusive, which is why you see the SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Charger SMG.
** The complete lack of geth weapons is explained by the fact that geth weapons are mostly acquired by scrounging them off fallen geth. The true geth never really gave organics fabrication rights, so whatever Shepard used was reverse engineered. It is also mentioned that these weapons never saw wide use due to the difficulty in maintaining them. So they got left out. Despite its association with Legion, the Widow was included, as it is actually a quarian sniper rifle.

** The Mantis single shot sniper rifle was left behind because they had the [[{{BFG}} Widow]], which is the same but far more powerful with its only drawback being greater weight, but those concerned by such would be using lightweight weapons instead anyway.
** The Eviscerator and Wraith shotguns were ignored since their advantage of greater range due to tighter spread was outclassed be the [=N7=] Crusader, which fire single slugs.
** The Claymore shotgun was stated in ''3'' to be poor selling due to it's flaws, so they ignored it in favor of other, more practical shotguns.
* How does the Hydra mech reuse much of the design of the Atlas from ''3'' despite the Atlas not being developed by the time the Initiative departed? The Atlas is inexplicably identical to the Triton ADS, an old military mech that they could have based the design off instead.
* While rescuing the Salarian ark and stealing the location of Meridian, you are presented with a SadisticChoice - [[spoiler: save the salarian pathfinder and a few captured salarians, or save some captured krogan scouts.]] Why can't you split your team up and save both? Because no one in your squad can be an effective squad leader. Liam is too impulsive and tends to leap before looking, Cora is too much of an order following good soldier and not yet a leader in her own right, Vetra never went through turian boot camp, so the only fighting she knows is from tangling with pirates and mercenaries, which doesn't exactly hone squad tactician ability. Peebee is basically a civilian who only knows how to defend herself with a pistol and biotics. Drack, like most krogan is an IWorkAlone type on the battlefield, so he (like Grunt in the second game) would only soak fire and succumb. Jaal is a resistance fighter, but has never actually led squads. So just sending three people to rescue the ones you didn't choose to rescue yourself would have just gotten them killed too. So how did Ryder become a squad tactician and leader seemingly out of nowhere? Because both twins served in a professional military and have been receiving informal training from their N7 father.
* When you think about it, the entire quarian race are capable of becoming pathfinders. Why is that? Because each and every one of them goes through a pilgrimage where they leave their ship, forage, scrounge, trade, build, fight for, tactically acquire, and generally do whatever it takes to bring back something valuable to the ship they want to serve on. They already have to live their entire lives in environmental suits that allow them to survive no matter where they are. They have an affinity for technology, and therefore would have been naturally curious about Remnant tech. And they have a lot of strategic processing ability on their ships, so the ark would have been no different, thereby they would have been able to decrypt the vaults without a SAM to aid them. So they could have picked any one person, sent them out and told them "find something to help us" and that person would have done an admirable job as pathfinder.
* Most of the Nexus' problems would have been easily handled if even a few quarians were aboard in an advisory capacity. Restive crews on the verge of mutiny? Pretty sure they've dealt with the situation before, as the ''Rayya'''s captain says that the admiralty board has had to mollify crews that wanted to break away before. Resource shortages? They've been dealing with such shortages for three hundred years. No planet to support habitation, forcing them to continue searching? Ditto! How to handle criminals? They've done that too! When the mutiny erupted, a single quarian would most likely have shamed them into falling in line. Most likely the Doylist explanation for why there are no quarians in the base game.
* Liam's behavior pattern of being way too naive and trusting, then completely losing his shit when that trust doesn't pay off, seems just ''weird'' for someone who is supposedly an ex-cop. After all most fictional cops, and to a certain extent RealLife cops, have a healthy suspicion of people, as it is their job to be suspicious types. A cop wouldn't for example just fly off the handle and empty a full clip into a corpse in anger, nor would they hand over sensitive classified information to a newly formed contact. And a cop wouldn't take an issue with confining someone who leaked sensitive information, even if with good intentions, until the security breaches have been patched up. Talking to him reveals why he is the way he is - he wasn't just a cop, he was a ''failed'' cop, who got reassigned to some volunteer crisis response unit. He most likely failed as a cop due to his overly trusting nature, so they sent him off to crisis response, where everyone he encounters needs helping. That explains his behavior - he sees both the initiative and the angara as being the victims of a disaster that need crisis response, instead of being at war against armed aggressors. His freely giving information to Verand is him pigeon-holing all angara as disaster victims, and never suspecting that any of them might have ulterior motives. His anger at you confining Verand later is the same thing - he sees her as an innocent victim to be unquestionably helped, and the Pathfinder as the firefighter/paramedic/rescue worker who always helps, never being suspicious and judgmental. If you instead act like a military commander and confine her to compartmentalized your operations, that clashes with his "always help everyone" ethos of a rescue worker.
* A possibility with Liam is that he is going through a nervous breakdown in slow motion. Instead of one huge meltdown, Liam seems to have mini-meltdowns interspersed with devil may care manic levels of positivity. Him emptying an entire clip into a Kett corpse out of anger was the first symptom, but the actual first sign is him asking about champagne and a surprise party when arriving on the Nexus for the first time and everything appears to be dark and inoperable. That isn’t the reaction of someone trying to lighten the mood with positive thinking, it is the reaction of someone dealing with trauma by dissociating. When you land on Eos and ride around on the Nomad, Liam mutters “Ryder’s got this!” as if to reassure himself. Then Liam starts planning a movie night when there are still many tasks to be completed. His breakdown starts to become noticeable when you find him ranting at being considered “a goddamn outsider” after you rescue the Moeshae. He then tells you about the SUV his parents are shipping him, claiming that he “needs things to be normal and familiar.” While everyone else still has a sense of wonder and mystery about Andromeda and an instinct to go out and explore, no matter how rotten the situation is, Liam is the one pining for normality and familiarity ''in a whole new galaxy''. In additional conversations, Liam mentions that he is starting to regret his decision to come to Andromeda. Him criticizing Vetra about bringing Sid was him displacing his own regret and insecurity onto her and other children. Him criticizing Peebee for “not being a team player” is again him being resentful of her not seeing the situation as messed up as Liam does. Due to this insecurity and regret, Liam does the two things that eventually lead to his LoyaltyMission - he has you surreptitiously scan food and crops from a hostile merchant to “solve a food problem” that may or may not exist. This is Liam wanting to do something to help - not so much because he identified a problem needing to be solved, but more so as an anxiety coping mechanism. Him giving codes to Verand is out of the same motivation - he is insecure, he is anxious, he needs to do ''something'' to make him feel better. And on his LoyaltyMission, his insecurities come full force. Liam rants again and again about “how everything is just like Habitat 7 all over again” and how “when you take a risk, it’s supposed to work damnit!” Liam was traumatized by the events on Habitat 7, he immediately started to regret making the trip, then freaks out and tries to do something to make it all seem worth it. Which is also why he gets mad if you confine Verand - he took a risk with her and damnit it’s supposed to pay off. Otherwise once again his actions were AllForNothing.
** Liam’s anxiety is explained by another fact - he never had a compelling reason to leave the Milky Way behind and come to Andromeda. The Ryders came due to their ostracism over Alec’s SAM experiments, Cora came because she never felt she fit in anywhere in the Milky Way, Peebee came due to curiosity over something completely new, Vetra came to escape her and her father’s dirty past and provide a more stable life for Sid, Drack and his entire clan came to get away from the krogan race’s mistakes, Suvi and Kallo came for the exploration and scientific discoveries, but Liam seems to have had a good thing going with his crisis response job in the Milky Way and seems to have joined the initiative on a whim. And so, you notice that everyone except for him finds their niche early on in the game. Cora becomes your military advisor and steadfastly loyal bodyguard, Vetra becomes your wheeler-dealer and overall logistics specialist, Drack becomes your krogan liaison, Kett killing expert and shock trooper (and even the ship's cook), Peebee becomes your Remnant expert, even the local guy Jaal becomes the team’s FriendlySniper and liaison to the Angara. Liam on the other hand doesn’t find that niche - Vetra or Jaal can both substitute for him in combat, and he doesn’t seem to do much except maybe plan social get togethers. He doesn’t even assist in the few criminal investigations you conduct. No wonder he regrets coming here, feels like a “goddamned outsider” and [[OverzealousUnderling tries to do something, anything to “help” fix the”mess”]].
* Drack's [[EverybodyHasStandards outrage]] at what the kett are doing to the salarians if you bring him to the Archon's ship make perfect sense when you that he was around when the [[SterilityPlague genophage]] was deployed, [[PlayingWithSyringes experiments]] on [[TheyWouldCutYouUp sentient beings]] would be a massive BerserkButton to most krogan especially ones who were alive to see the genophage be unleashed. This could also be the reason [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Okeer]] was "a very hated name."

* Since Andromeda never got Reaped every fifty thousand years, a lot of races would have been so technologically advanced that they would have [[CurbStompBattle stomped]] on a weak power like the kett. The only reason they are as powerful as they are is due to the Scourge. While we don't know the true extent of the Scourge or the kett empire, it wouldn't be too far from left field if the kett accomplished all they have by only hitting areas disrupted by the Scourge.
** Not likely, this seems to be Kett's first encounter with the Scourge, as they refer to it as "strange phenomenon" and their comms seem to be adversely affected by it, to the point of them having difficulty contacting their homeworld.
* A factor in Ellen Ryder's easy acceptance of being diagnosed with a fatal illness that the game doesn't bring up is the fact that at least one of her Element Zero exposures occurred while she was pregnant. As explained by Kaidan and the Codex, thirty percent of in-utero exposures result in the baby developing terminal brain tumors, and since Ellen was pregnant with twins, Scott and Sara ''really'' dodged a bullet there. However sad Ellen was about dying and having to leave her family behind, she was probably more relieved that her research didn't end up [[AdultFear killing at least one of her children]].
* The angara use a lot more PoirotSpeak than the other races because they've only recently met, so the translators still aren't perfect. According to older games, it can take years before translators are viable for even basic languages. SAM probably sped that process up in regards to the angara (and the angara have their own translators that probably helped), but it still takes time.

** Jaal's bisexuality and the angara not making a big deal out of it could be culturally explained through their religious beliefs. The angara believe in reincarnation and there is evidence that in some people's past lives they were the opposite sex. It shows that while there are obvious physical differences between male and female, the soul has no designated gender, regardless of the angara's current life. Why limit your current interest if you were the opposite sex at one point in your cycle?
** Furthermore, there are good cultural reasons beyond this, especially when one remembers both the information the game provides on angaran relationships & reproduction as a whole and the simple fact that angarans are ''aliens'': they don't have the same hang-ups that modern humanity does due to various reasons including cultural, religious and psychological ones.
*** Firstly, although the precise details are unclear, we know that angarans are both litter-birthers (thus removing the pressure of having but a single child to carry on the family) and practice a form of communal child-rearing, where all of the offspring of a group of females consider themselves a single family unit. Angarans clearly don't have the same interconnection of "family" and "biological relationship" as humans do; being homosexual isn't a big deal from a reproductive view, because there's always someone in the family who can perpetuate the family.
*** Secondly, we know that angarans don't practice life-long monogamy as a matter of course. Jaal outright states that relationships change as feelings do, which is partly why family units are so communal. In all likelihood, bisexuality may be more common amongst angarans than amongst humans, since the evidence is that couples form and then break up semi-regularly.

* The choice of whether to participate in Sarissa's cover up or to reveal it, is actually a choice between being a civilian version of a Pathfinder, or a military version. Choosing to let Sarissa cover up her sacrificing the original asari Pathfinder is the ''civilian'' way - the motivation being that a pathfinder needs to be an icon of hope and inspiration for a colonist populace. A civilian pathfinder is literally a trailblazer, leading colonists to a place suitable for habitation. This person must constantly keep morale up, continuing to ''sell'' that populace on the promise of that colony, even if there may be unforeseen dangers ahead. If they don't do this, colonists could very well lose interest in the initiative and want to go home. Sarissa is "selling" that paradigm of being a Pathfinder. Choosing to reveal her mistake on the other hand, is behaving like a ''military'' pathfinder. These pathfinders are typically advance scouting units that reconnoiter an objective area and scrupulously report back everything they've seen - including potential hazards, and especially that - to a field commander. This job requires truthfulness and integrity, so that the field commander has all relevant information to make decisions. By choosing to "report" Sarissa to the captain, Ryder is behaving like a military pathfinder.
** Doctrinal differences between human and asari militaries also plays a role here. It is stated in the Codex that the asari military is primarily a decentralized collection of huntress bands, each of which were raised by a city. A huntress captain like Sarissa was therefore used to there being no chain of command above her, except a mayor, governor or governing council. Such an arrangement usually lends itself to a pattern of the huntress captain taking care of problems covertly, then telling civilian leadership that the situation has been resolved and everything is fine. Asari pride themselves on a very stable society, so no point revealing the ugly details of your op, panicking civilians and cracking that veneer of prosperous stability, right? So, Sarissa most likely treated her Captain like a mayor who doesn’t need to know the ugly details and only needs to be reassured that the danger has passed. Human militaries are larger and spec ops units are there primarily as a force multiplier and HypercompetentSidekick to a bigger more powerful military unit such as a division, fleet or army. Therefore a human special forces operative is trained to not hide anything from a superior officer and scrupulously report everything so that higher ranked officer can make a better decision. Ryder therefore can see the ark captain not as a mayor, but as the ark’s commanding officer.
* The UnintentionallyUnsympathetic Zoe Kennedy’s “selfish” actions in getting started with reproducing the human race makes more sense if you ask her what she will name her kid at the end of the mission. She mentions “an old friend - David Edward” strongly implying that she knew Admiral Anderson from the trilogy. If she knew Anderson well, she must have also known about the Reaper threat - and probably assumes that humanity has gone extinct in the Milky Way. No wonder she wanted to start making babies!
* Reyes Vidal is able to come and go from Kadara Port as he pleases, but he prefers to hang out at Tartarus in the slums rather than Kralla's Song in the port proper. While part of this might have to do with his business as a smuggler, it also likely has to do with [[spoiler: him being The Charlatan. Since Kralla's Song is the club that all of Sloane Kelly's closest people go to, he prefers to do his business in Tartarus where he's a bit further from her notice.]]
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6PJEmEHIaY Launch Trailer]] features the song "Only Human" by Rag'N'Bone Man. The song fits the story of the human Pathfinder's struggle to establish a foothold for the Milky Way colonists in two different ways: On the face of it, the song fits because Ryder is "only human" going up against the Archon's [[spoiler: AssimilationPlot]], but also because the song itself is about being held to high expectations while being quite aware of one's flaws and shortcomings, which sums up Ryder's character arc.
** The song would actually apply to Liam more than Ryder. Unlike Ryder who is symbiotically intertwined with SAM and can be physiologically augmented by him, making him/her technically transhuman, or Cora Harper who was born a biotic and therefore also a transhuman, Liam is your only purely human squadmate. And he is also the one who makes well intentioned but spectacular mistakes during the course of the game.
* Suvi bases her strong belief in a “Divine Intelligence” on an observation of “an undeniable pattern” of how life evolved in the Milky Way. Those who’ve played the trilogy know that there was a repeating pattern of “evolution and dissolution” - and it was due to an “intelligence” influencing life and planetary environments for a billion years. So, Suvi was right - life in the Milky Way was being controlled by a powerful intelligence! Her mistake was that she assumed it was a ''benevolent'' intelligence - instead of it being an [[AlmightyIdiot all powerful crapshoot]] like the Catalyst was.
* Regarding the Jardaan and their accomplishments, looking at them, a lot of them aren't far removed from some of the things seen through the original trilogy - genetically engineering a species? Saren and Dr. Okeer say hi. Tech capable of filtering radiation out of an atmosphere? The salarian Shroud on Tuchanka did that. Dyson spheres? Like the one the geth made? Much of what the Jardaan can do are what we've already seen, just on a much ''bigger'' scale.
* Sloan's hatred of the kett. Her codex entry mentions she's a veteran of the Skyllian Blitz, and whatever it was she saw is bad enough she's ''still'' having recurring nightmares. Now, take a traumatised veteran, have her go through the Uprising, and take off to try and make a new world, only to run smack dab into the kett, who according to an e-mail you can find at Podromos operate very much like the batarians. They're mashing on a very raw TraumaButton for her.

** Liam’s anxiety is explained by another fact - he never had a compelling reason to leave the Milky Way behind and come to Andromeda. The Ryders came due to their ostracism over Alec’s SAM experiments, Cora came because she never felt she fit in anywhere in the Milky Way, Peebee came due to curiosity over something completely new, Vetra came to escape her and her father’s dirty past and provide a more stable life for Sid, Drack and his entire clan came to get away from the krogan race’s mistakes, Suvi and Kallo came for the exploration and scientific discoveries, but Liam seems to have had a good thing going with his crisis response job in the Milky Way and seems to have joined the initiative on a whim. And so, you notice that everyone except for him finds their niche early on in the game. Cora becomes your military advisor and steadfastly loyal bodyguard, Vetra becomes your wheeler dealer and scrounged as well as line infantry, Drack becomes your krogan liaison, Kett killing expert and shock trooper, Peebee becomes your Remnant expert, even the local guy Jaal becomes the team’s FriendlySniper and liaison to the Angaara. Liam on the other hand doesn’t find that niche - Vetra or Jaal can both substitute for him in combat, and he doesn’t seem to do much except maybe plan social get togethers. He doesn’t even assist in the few criminal investigations you conduct. No wonder he regrets coming here, feels like a “goddamned outsider” and [[OverzealousUnderling tries to do something, anything to “help” fix the”mess”]].

* How does the Hydra mech reuse much of the design of the Atlas from ''3'' despite the Atlas not being developed by the time the Initiative departed? The Altas is inexplicably identical to the Triton ADS, an old military mech that they could have based the design off instead.

* Suvi bases her strong belief in a “Divine Intelligence” on an observation of “an undeniable pattern” of how life evolved in the Milky Way. Those who’ve played the trilogy know that there was a repeating pattern of “evolution and dissolution” - and it was due to an “intelligence” influencing life and planetary environments for a billion years. So, Sufi was right - life in the Milky Way was being controlled by a powerful intelligence! Her mistake was that she assumed it was a ''benevolent'' intelligence - instead of it being an [[AlmightyIdiot all powerful crapshoot]] like the Catalyst was.

*** Purely a modern human convention. Monogamy is not as common in the animal kingdom as humans like to think, with even troops of our closest living relatives having vastly different approaches, including pairing but also polyamorous relationships. Monogamy only increases family stability in HUMANS. Among other animals their own sexual behaviour is what keeps their units stable. Remember, humans are the only species that looks after our infants for such an extended period (directly causing familial units to expand into tribal and later cultural ones to protect said infants), and we have the longest period of 'helplessness' in early life of any other animal that has ever lived due to our highly developed brains related to our body mass. Monogamy may reduce the risk of inbreeding (in humans) - but this is NOT the reason monogamy exists and is a consequence of it, not a cause. Also, STDs and awareness of them is another purely human social observation. No other species could even understand the concept, and monogamy is certainly not common enough among animals for STDs to have any kind of evolutionary link. All of this is without even TOUCHING sexual pleasure, which simply occurs in too few animals for it to be a factor. Mating instinct is strong enough in animals that do not have the concept of 'sex' in the cultural sense.

* Similarly, the Krogan you meet sport an unusual amount of scientists, mechanics and other intellectuals for their species. It makes sense that they would be the ones most interested in getting away from Krogan politics and starting anew. Notice that clan Nakmor sends an ambassador to Clan Urdnot in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' only if Wrex is the clan chief, and not if Wreav heads it instead. Nakmor is willing to deal with Wrex because he is a progressive reformist and is a kindred spirit of sorts with them. If Wreav is in charge, Nakmor doesn't want to deal with him, as he is just another bloodthirsty traditional Krogan. It's also possible that many of Nakmor's warriors joined Wrex's crusade.

** Liam’s anxiety is explained by another fact - he never had a compelling reason to leave the Milky Way behind and come to Andromeda. The Ryders came due to their ostracism over Alec’s SAM experiments, Cora came because she never felt she fit in anywhere in the Milky Way, Peebee came due to curiosity over something completely new, Vetra came to escape her and her father’s dirty past and provide a more stable life for Sid, Drack and his entire clan came to get away from the Krogan race’s mistakes, Suvi and Kallo came for the exploration and scientific discoveries, but Liam seems to have had a good thing going with his crisis response job in the Milky Way and seems to have joined the initiative on a whim. And so, you notice that everyone except for him finds their niche early on in the game. Cora becomes your military advisor and steadfastly loyal bodyguard, Vetra becomes your wheeler dealer and scrounged as well as line infantry, Drack becomes your Krogan liaison, Kett killing expert and shock trooper, Peebee becomes your Remnant expert, even the local guy Jaal becomes the team’s FriendlySniper and liaison to the Angaara. Liam on the other hand doesn’t find that niche - Vetra or Jaal can both substitute for him in combat, and he doesn’t seem to do much except maybe plan social get togethers. He doesn’t even assist in the few criminal investigations you conduct. No wonder he regrets coming here, feels like a “goddamned outsider” and [[OverzealousUnderling tries to do something, anything to “help” fix the”mess”]].

*** In the Milky Way, this would happen. But many of clan Nakmor are different, and most people do the Krogan a disservice. Even Drack, a hoary old warrior, very quickly respected Ryder and Jaal, possbily two people he would have little time for if he stuck to stereotype. But the Krogan are not just beserkers, they have a culture that it doesn't take a genius to figure out. In many ways, they are most like the Angara of any race - forthright, often blunt and honest, proud warriors, determined survivors and they never shy from a fight. The Krogan have far more in common with them than they do with Asari, Salarians or Turians...and guess which races comprised the original Council back home? They also have too little in common with Quarians, Volus, Hanar, Drell or even Humans to have many common paths of reference. But the Angara? Kindred spirits.

** As mentioned in Mass Effect 3, Salarian operatives stole the schematics to the Normandy's stealth drive and subsequently churned out dreadnoughts capable of pulling the same stealth moves as the SR-2. Given that there's at least one ex-STG operative hanging around with the initiative, it's entirely possible Garson leveraged them into doing something similar.