The Hero's Return - A Mass Effect (3) Blog

I'm a Mass Effect superfan. Before I even owned an Xbox 360, I had been following this game. I dreamed of the day my poor college-attending ass would be able to play it. I thought about buying the game to play on my buddy's 360. Yes, I wanted my hands on it this bad. The only other game I thought about doing this for was Metal Gear Solid 3, alas I still have yet to play that one. Mass Effect, on the other hand, was one of the first games I purchased when I came into a large sum of money after finishing college. Putting over 7 playthroughs and 200+ hours into Mass Effect, you could say I was somewhat excited for the sequel. You could also say I was squealing like a schoolgirl weeks before its release in January of 2010. I digress.
 
A post over on the Giant Bomb Mass Effect 3 forum  gave me the idea for this blog. The premise was which characters I wanted to see return in Mass Effect 3. I gave a response, but I wanted to go a little more in depth with my answers. One, because I love talking Mass Effect with anyone and everyone, and two, I like to ramble on about stuff I love. Drinking makes this evident. If you listen to my Podcast, you will soon find out we drink and ramble about games. Most of the time when we listen back to it, we find ourselves yelling at our iPhones, PCs or iPods to "shut the fuck up, you drunk!". True story. Anywho, as I sip my glass of Canadian Club Reserve, I present to you The Hero's Return - A Mass Effect (3) blog. (Yes, that's a Pink Floyd reference. I like to reference awesome when I blog. :D )
 
**NOTICE:** The following will contain spoilers for PS3 owners. If you have yet to play it, you might want to steer clear.
 
With the release of Mass Effect 3 technically under a year away, if you believe that it will make it out by December which I'm pretty confident it won't, we have to imagine what will be the main plot. Ok, maybe we don't have the imagine. The Reapers are coming and Shepard is the only person who can stop them. I saw another post in the forums about what Giant Bomb user DriveupLife had a theory on. His theory is about uniting the factions, which you can find here. I'll be getting into why I like this theory and how I see it going down in a bit.
 
One thing I want from Mass Effect 3 is the possibility of space combat. A little something more advanced from the Kotor mini game Bioware did. Maybe a little more Halo: Reach-ish. Full control of the Normandy in a combat situation OR taking control of a one-maned fighter from a Capital Ship or from a Space Station or Installation. 
 
The Normandy is docked at a station on the edge of The Terminus and it comes under Reaper attack, maybe Rogue Geth, maybe pirate attack. Shepard learns of the station's fighter compliment. He orders the Normandy to battlestations and detach from dock. He and his two current companions along with the station's fighter pilots launch their craft to defend the station. To cover if his companions can pilot the fighters or not, let's say they either stay behind to help with the relief effort on board the station or he orders them back to the Normandy before she detaches. Why is there one extra fighter for Shepard? One of the pilots dies in an explosion before they launch for drama or the station has extra fighters in case of technical issues for practicality. Either way, both are probable instances for the story to move from there. Maybe Shepard gets hit near the end of combat and he gets captured before the Normandy can rescue him? Then we get a little action with Shepard on his own, stuck on an unknown ship trying to send an SOS to his companions informing them of his location. 
 
See, I told you I like to ramble. With that part of a potential Mass Effect fantasy out of the way, I'll move on to the support cast. Who I want to return as Shepard's team. This doesn't include the ship's crew, for example, Kelly Chambers or Joker. Also this is where I'll add my two cents about the factions being united. Keep in mind as I write this, my first Shepard was male soldier who chose Ashley then Miranda as his bed companions. So if I go on about things you didn't experience, note this was my first experience.
 
Garrus Vakarian aka Archangel

Thane Krios 

I like Thane, I really do. I'm not sure how much of a Military the Drell have, unless he has some friends who are also assassins, but I wasn't sure what he could bring to the table. The main reason Thane is on this list, is because he's kinda awesome. Besides that, I want to see where is story leads. Can we find a cure for his illness? Will he die before Earth's final hour? Either way, I want Thane back for Mass Effect 3. If he's to die, I want it to be an honorable one.
 
 Zaeed Massani 

I surprised myself with this one. I don't really like Zaeed. Never did. The fact he was the former leader of the Blue Suns mercenaries makes me think he might be a big asset in the fight to come. If he could regain command of the Blue Suns, he might be able to unite the merc groups under one flag. This would be a huge help for Shepard and with Zaeed's loyalty, it might stay like that. I fear that if he were to gain that much power, he might not know how to handle it for the good of the galaxy. When the fight is over, it might have not been the best idea to give him that much power.
 
HONORABLE MENTION:

Samara

Look, we already have an Asari, sorry doll face. The reason she gets an honorable mention is because Samara probably has a lot more pull with the Asari government than Liara has, but other than that, I'm not sure she would be a huge help other than on a personal level, fighting by Shepard's side. Unless she can recruit the Justicars, but I think that would just fall under the Asari Military. They can definitely bring her back to be the Asari liaison, since Liara kind of has her hands full with previously mention tasks. I think Samara is a super badass, so I'd love to have her for another round in the third outing.
 
 There you have it! The character I want to return and my thoughts on the Uniting the Factions theory. Let me know what you think! Post you're own theories or tell me I'm crazy! Come one, come all!
 
-Your friendly neighborhood SharpShotApollo

I'm a Mass Effect superfan. Before I even owned an Xbox 360, I had been following this game. I dreamed of the day my poor college-attending ass would be able to play it. I thought about buying the game to play on my buddy's 360. Yes, I wanted my hands on it this bad. The only other game I thought about doing this for was Metal Gear Solid 3, alas I still have yet to play that one. Mass Effect, on the other hand, was one of the first games I purchased when I came into a large sum of money after finishing college. Putting over 7 playthroughs and 200+ hours into Mass Effect, you could say I was somewhat excited for the sequel. You could also say I was squealing like a schoolgirl weeks before its release in January of 2010. I digress.
 
A post over on the Giant Bomb Mass Effect 3 forum  gave me the idea for this blog. The premise was which characters I wanted to see return in Mass Effect 3. I gave a response, but I wanted to go a little more in depth with my answers. One, because I love talking Mass Effect with anyone and everyone, and two, I like to ramble on about stuff I love. Drinking makes this evident. If you listen to my Podcast, you will soon find out we drink and ramble about games. Most of the time when we listen back to it, we find ourselves yelling at our iPhones, PCs or iPods to "shut the fuck up, you drunk!". True story. Anywho, as I sip my glass of Canadian Club Reserve, I present to you The Hero's Return - A Mass Effect (3) blog. (Yes, that's a Pink Floyd reference. I like to reference awesome when I blog. :D )
 
**NOTICE:** The following will contain spoilers for PS3 owners. If you have yet to play it, you might want to steer clear.
 
With the release of Mass Effect 3 technically under a year away, if you believe that it will make it out by December which I'm pretty confident it won't, we have to imagine what will be the main plot. Ok, maybe we don't have the imagine. The Reapers are coming and Shepard is the only person who can stop them. I saw another post in the forums about what Giant Bomb user DriveupLife had a theory on. His theory is about uniting the factions, which you can find here. I'll be getting into why I like this theory and how I see it going down in a bit.
 
One thing I want from Mass Effect 3 is the possibility of space combat. A little something more advanced from the Kotor mini game Bioware did. Maybe a little more Halo: Reach-ish. Full control of the Normandy in a combat situation OR taking control of a one-maned fighter from a Capital Ship or from a Space Station or Installation. 
 
The Normandy is docked at a station on the edge of The Terminus and it comes under Reaper attack, maybe Rogue Geth, maybe pirate attack. Shepard learns of the station's fighter compliment. He orders the Normandy to battlestations and detach from dock. He and his two current companions along with the station's fighter pilots launch their craft to defend the station. To cover if his companions can pilot the fighters or not, let's say they either stay behind to help with the relief effort on board the station or he orders them back to the Normandy before she detaches. Why is there one extra fighter for Shepard? One of the pilots dies in an explosion before they launch for drama or the station has extra fighters in case of technical issues for practicality. Either way, both are probable instances for the story to move from there. Maybe Shepard gets hit near the end of combat and he gets captured before the Normandy can rescue him? Then we get a little action with Shepard on his own, stuck on an unknown ship trying to send an SOS to his companions informing them of his location. 
 
See, I told you I like to ramble. With that part of a potential Mass Effect fantasy out of the way, I'll move on to the support cast. Who I want to return as Shepard's team. This doesn't include the ship's crew, for example, Kelly Chambers or Joker. Also this is where I'll add my two cents about the factions being united. Keep in mind as I write this, my first Shepard was male soldier who chose Ashley then Miranda as his bed companions. So if I go on about things you didn't experience, note this was my first experience.
 
Garrus Vakarian aka Archangel

Thane Krios 

I like Thane, I really do. I'm not sure how much of a Military the Drell have, unless he has some friends who are also assassins, but I wasn't sure what he could bring to the table. The main reason Thane is on this list, is because he's kinda awesome. Besides that, I want to see where is story leads. Can we find a cure for his illness? Will he die before Earth's final hour? Either way, I want Thane back for Mass Effect 3. If he's to die, I want it to be an honorable one.
 
 Zaeed Massani 

I surprised myself with this one. I don't really like Zaeed. Never did. The fact he was the former leader of the Blue Suns mercenaries makes me think he might be a big asset in the fight to come. If he could regain command of the Blue Suns, he might be able to unite the merc groups under one flag. This would be a huge help for Shepard and with Zaeed's loyalty, it might stay like that. I fear that if he were to gain that much power, he might not know how to handle it for the good of the galaxy. When the fight is over, it might have not been the best idea to give him that much power.
 
HONORABLE MENTION:

Samara

Look, we already have an Asari, sorry doll face. The reason she gets an honorable mention is because Samara probably has a lot more pull with the Asari government than Liara has, but other than that, I'm not sure she would be a huge help other than on a personal level, fighting by Shepard's side. Unless she can recruit the Justicars, but I think that would just fall under the Asari Military. They can definitely bring her back to be the Asari liaison, since Liara kind of has her hands full with previously mention tasks. I think Samara is a super badass, so I'd love to have her for another round in the third outing.
 
 There you have it! The character I want to return and my thoughts on the Uniting the Factions theory. Let me know what you think! Post you're own theories or tell me I'm crazy! Come one, come all!
 
-Your friendly neighborhood SharpShotApollo

This is a well done blog, and I agree with many of your choices, but. 
 
I honestly don't care what happens to Ashley Williams at this point. She can rot, get a Reaper dropped on her, I don't care. Her inability to get over the whole "CERBERUS~!" thing still blows my mind, because she knew Shepard better than anyone else in the original crew (in my game, anyhow), and yet she'd still think he's a traitor to his mission, to his people? That bitch.  
 
Otherwise, yeah, I agree with the above mentioned, except for maybe Thane. You really wrap his story up in a neat little bow by the end of ME2. Unless you're female and romanced him, I don't see how else he could be developed or impact the story. Same for Mordin. Chances are Mordin is dead by the time ME3 rolls around (or at the very least is ancient by Salarian terms), and I don't see him making a squad-based return. All I really want are Legion, Tali, Garrus, and Wrex in my party. Wrex because goddamn it, I miss the big scaly bastard. Garrus because he's the ultimate sidekick, and Legion, well, because he's probably the most fascinating companion in ME2. Tali, well, my Shepard found comfort in the Quarian after the whole Ashley Williams thing nose dived harder than the Hindenburg.  
 
That said, I don't know if they're going to go with uniting the galaxy, or with something else. I just hope that there is, at some point, a twenty minute speech to the Council that basically boils down to "I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO". 

Since all your squad mates can die in ME 2, I really doubt any of the previous characters in ME2 will play a huge role.  Like Wrex in ME2, I think they'll have a cool cameo, and will be doing stuff in the world, but I don't think they'll be in your squad or play that huge a role in the actual plot.  I mean, none of the choices you make in Mass Effect effect what missions you do, they effect what happens within that specific mission.  They can be referenced later on, but we've yet to see any real consequence to them outside of characters dying.  Even the death of the council in the first one doesn't effect anything that actually happens in the second.  

I just hope that there is, at some point, a twenty minute speech to the Council that basically boils down to "I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO".  "

I'm starting to think that I am the only person that loved Zaaed. On long journeys through the blackness of space my renegade self would often grab a couple of space beers, visit the ornery bastard in his quarters and listen to his battle stories. It didn't matter if he told the same stories over and over, I found comfort knowing that there was someone in the universe with a no-nonsense approach to battle and a slightly colder and blacker heart than my own.  He was almost like the horrible, abusive father that I never had.
 
Sadly though, I have to agree with TBird, I don't think any of the playable characters in the main story quest of 2 will be playable in 3. I'm sure Liara will be there, but the fact that everyone else could die in the final battle implies to me that they will not play a big role in 3. The only way they could really do it is if anyone who survived were basically bonus characters that you could choose among the inevitable new cast of regular characters that the game will center around. But I don't really see Bioware taking it that far. They sure as hell better not kill them off in some lazy cutscene at the beginning to make things convenient for them though. Mark my words, if they harm Tali in any way, shape or form, I will instantly take the disc out of my tray, drop kick it out the window, and curse the entire franchise all the way to my grave. MARK MY WORDS BIOWARE!!
 
Also, *double spoilers* I put that bitch Samara in the ground because Morinth is better  
>:-]
 
Love, 
Your evil counterpart Sean 

You left out Jack. This blog fails. :P

" You left out Jack. This blog fails. :P "

What I want ME 3 to do is SHOW TALI'S FACE

My Miranda died.  I still mourn her loss.  As for the rest of them, I don't much care except for maybe Tali and Garrus.

i really hope that the story in ME3 is like, crazy flexible to include all the options that could have happened to your squad in the last mission. i really want Garrus as a teammate in the last game. he was by far my favorite character. and Tali too. I also love the idea of wrex getting back into the fray. Maybe if nobody dies in your suicide mission you get more crew member options and they each have more loyalty missions. Sort of like getting rewarded for finishing the game the "correct" way

 @SharpShotApollo: Thane already died an honorable death in my playthough. Great blog. I'm totally with you on Garrus. He's my Shepard's closest friend and the best guy to have your back. I'm I the only one who would watch a Buddy Cop Drama staring Shepard and Garrus?

"I honestly don't care what happens to Ashley Williams at this point. She can rot, get a Reaper dropped on her, I don't care. Her inability to get over the whole "CERBERUS~!" thing still blows my mind, because she knew Shepard better than anyone else in the original crew (in my game, anyhow), and yet she'd still think he's a traitor to his mission, to his people? That bitch.

No Jack? 
 
You make Jack... ANGRY!!!!!!!!

" @KingWilly said:

"I honestly don't care what happens to Ashley Williams at this point. She can rot, get a Reaper dropped on her, I don't care. Her inability to get over the whole "CERBERUS~!" thing still blows my mind, because she knew Shepard better than anyone else in the original crew (in my game, anyhow), and yet she'd still think he's a traitor to his mission, to his people? That bitch.

I have to say, I actually thought the same thing after meeting her, and I had my mind set on "spacebanging" Tali. Then I noticed I'd recieved mail from Ashley where she pretty much said that she was sorry for what she said, I think, and then I went through ME2 without romancing anyone. Was I the only one who got this mail? Because it seems everyone else hates Ashley. Atleast I won't get shot in the face by Ashley in ME3 when she inevitably finds out what you did in ME2, though I didn't get the S-Rank in ME2 because I didn't romance anyone... Let's hope it pays off in ME3... "