The Glade 4.0

Being a philosopher I understood what the writer was trying to accomplish and can respect them for that. However, that style of writing would have been excellent and appropriate for something like Deus Ex: Human Revolution. In Mass Effect, it was totally out of place and inconsistent with the entire series.

The ending was not bad because it was bitter, or sad, or didn't feature rainbows and butterflies. The ending was bad because it did not fit Mass Effect.

First, to me the primary theme of Mass Effect is determinism (evolution) vs. self-determinism (free will). In Mass Effect 1, Sovreign tells Shepherd that he has no choice in the matter...the desturction of all life is inevitable. Shepherd effectively says "Screw you" and through determination, sacrifice, and perseverance he stops Sovreign and proves that life is not determined. Free will is the truth. ME2, everyone tells Shepherd that he is attempting a suicide mission--one way trip. His fate is determined. Shepherd's response: "I'm going to stop the Collectors but I plan to live to tell about it!" He defies fate and proves that through free will, sacrifice, and determination life can persist through insurmountable odds.

Now ME3. The kid tells Shepherd that their fate is inevitable. No matter what Shepherd does, synthetic life will destroy organic life. The only way Shepherd can prevent this is to synthesize organic and inorganic life (which if you think about it is essentially saying everyone must become a Reaper). This ending is entirely inconsistent (despite having glaring logical errors and lacks empirical support). As proven above, Mass Effect's primary theme is fatalistic determinism vs. free-willing self-determinism with self-determinism being proven again and again to be the truth. Now, the Reaper Guardian kid says that no that theme is wrong the truth is determinism. And this is asserted with no question. Major problem here.

Furthermore, the Guardian lacks empirical support for his claim. The reconciliation between the Geth and the Quarian disproves the Guardian. EDI disproves the guardian. The backstory of the Geth and Quarians disproves the Guardian. Essentially, the Guardian makes an assertion with zero empirical evidence and Shepherd just accepts this. I cry foul.

Furthermore, to me the dichotomy between organics and inorganics always was a metaphor for racism. I don't believe I am alone in this opionion and the entire theme throughout the game seems to prove this. Essentially what is the message being given by the Guardian then: racism is inevitable. Again, I cry foul! I do not say for one second that Bioware is propounding racism, rather I am saying that whoever wrote this ending was incredibly careless and not aware of the thematic implcations of his writing.