@comp13 said:

For the too long, didn’t read crowd:

- The child on Earth is not real. It is a manifestation of Shepard’s indoctrination.

Doubt it, you see him at the start of the game and I don't think it's from Shepard's POV.

Did anyone else find it weird that you can start firing your infini-pistol the second the game fades back in to the stumbling-towards-the beam part? And you can just keep hitting that button and keep on firing before you pick it up

Also: shooting the alliance guys does nothing... (I've got to try everything, I JUST GOTTA)

@AdmiralStupid said:

Not sure if it'd already been mentioned, but one (tiny) bit of the last 10-15 minutes that stuck out to me:

when you're shambling across the 'chasm', you head up a set of stairs/ramp to the control room for the Citadel's arms. On either side, there are bulkheads/structural points that have 1M1 (or something like that) written on them.

Am I just missing something here (or was Bioware just re-appropriating in-game assets), or is it odd that on this ancient and long-hidden part of the citadel, there's stuff written in English/human script on the walls?

Tell me it's not just me.

I had pointed this out in my post. The fact that it is there at all and in English is odd, good catch.

- This image shows the number one facing the wrong way. Some have seen this as a sign that morality has switched. http://oi41.tinypic.com/2nvgso4.jpg

Did anyone else find it weird that you can start firing your infini-pistol the second the game fades back in to the stumbling-towards-the beam part? And you can just keep hitting that button and keep on firing before you pick it up

Also: shooting the alliance guys does nothing... (I've got to try everything, I JUST GOTTA)

@Enigmatical said:

While I enjoyed reading that very long summary of the ending, I think the reality is BioWare's original ending (Dark Energy and such) was leaked so they decided to introduce a new ending. I also think you are making BioWare to be more clever than they actually are. I'm not sure where I read it, but BioWare is not known for making great stories, just great conversations. The whole "BioWare is out to fool you, the player, and Jeff" was where I started to waver.

They got me too. I didn't really pay attention at first. I mention Jeff because I posted this on Giant Bomb, but it is sort of everyone that has gotten hooked. On 3/14/12, Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade posted what he thought about the ending. He pretty much starts defending the Reaper's actions. While his analysis of the ending is fine, it's almost like an in-game conversation. "Listen to yourself, you are indoctrinated."

I would disagree that BioWare is not know for making great stories. You say the conversations are great. I think the conversations are the story. They are where things get explained or revealed.

I am glad you enjoyed reading the summary, and thank you for commenting after.

@Sooty said:

@comp13 said:

For the too long, didn’t read crowd:

- The child on Earth is not real. It is a manifestation of Shepard’s indoctrination.

Doubt it, you see him at the start of the game and I don't think it's from Shepard's POV.

Everytime you see him on Earth, it is from Shepards POV and nobody else every pays attention to him.

@Brodehouse: Yeah, I know there was 'infinite' ammo from ME1, my point was just that I found it weird (probably a bug) that I can start firing the pistol BEFORE Sheperd even puts his hand on the gun/trigger. As soon as the white fades back in and you can see Harbinger fly off, you can just go to town on the right trigger and the gun fires. It's just an odd screw-up.

I'm sorry people, but this is true. The whole indoctrination theory is true, or very plausible anyways. And after the bullshit I read within the FIRST THREE GODDAMMIT COMMENTS, I made an account just to reply. BIOWARE IS FULL OF GODDAMN GENIUSSES. I'm sorry, but all of you people that don't think bioware is capable of it obviously either: A. Never played a bioware gane in the past or B. Are a bunch of call of duty/ halo fanboys that have never had a good deleloper make a game with a good story and genius twist. Honestly, Bioware is known for mind-fucking the hell out of the gamer. So quit being a bunch of derps, or at least go back to your call of doody piece of shit. thank you. Oh, and thanks for the post, comp13! :D

Wow, just wow. Shame on you if you feel that this theory is simply a "retcon." This may be one of the better endings in video game history. I say this because it is weaved throughout ALL three of the games. When you take a step back and analyze this, there are far far too many "plot holes" to ignore. Let me explain it another way. If you're taking a 100 question test and get them all wrong-you knew all the answers in the first place. There are too many of these "coincidences." And they are all backed up. Very little of this theory is a stretch. The end was purposeful. What we all mistook (including me at first) for a rush job where the endings differed only in the slightest, these apparently small changes mean everything when you pull the curtain back. All I can say is bravo Bioware, for making one of the best sci fi games/series of all time.

...what? Do you really believe "It was all a dream" is a good ending and they meant to do it all along? That seems quite incredible for a series where 99% of the rest of it was about being precise and deliberate on the plot and technical details. To make that ending work means they lied to player in the last 30 minutes of the game which they've never ever done before. As M Night Shyamalan would say "What a twist!"

I like the idea of the indoctrination theory, but at the end of the day the ending was lazy and or rushed. Everything else in the last 2 ME games up to this point has been somewhat literal, you cant change that in the last 15 mins of the game. Even if the indoctrination theory is correct its still not conveyed properly.