With the release of ME3 coming in little under a year, and me finishing my second playthrough of ME2, I got to thinking what is the fate of Shepard? 
 
It is pretty common knowledge that Shepard died in the very begining of ME2, it setup the story of ME2 pretty nicely, and introduced Cerberus. The existence of a a pro-human organization was key to the development of the story and setup the whole Reaper invasion very nicely. It also made many of the decisions in the game very hard. On one hand Cerberus was a shady group with a dark past, on the other I felt that a lot of the time I kind of agreed with Cerberus. You know what maybe giving the Collector base over to The Illusive Man seemed unethical, but at the same time what has to be done just has to be done. One of the things I loved about the game was that you never knew if Cerberus was actually bad or if they were doing the necessary work to ensure that the Reapers were to be stopped in the future.
 
So I ultimately ask to you, what do you think the fate of Shepard will be? Do you think he will actually die in the end? Will that even feel conclusive, as Bioware has shown before that Shepard can be brought back from the dead? Will he trimuphantly defeat the Reapers and save humanity? This has to be a major concern over at Bioware as ME3 has been touted as the end of Shepard's story. I think they have a lot riding on it, and how the trilogy ends will color the perception of the story for years to come.

We don't even know why the Reapers are harvesting humans. I mean, sure, we know they want to use them and create more Reapers, but we don't know why this process exists. There are a lot of questions like that that need to be answered in ME3 before I can even get to whether or not I think John Shepard (was so happy when the canon name for Shepard was mine) will live or die. I'm personally pulling for the picket fence and little blue children, but that's just me.

Well Mass Effect games have a way of making you think Shepard is dead. Ending of the first game, and beginning of the second. I'm guessing something along those lines in the MIDDLE this time around. Then he conquers the Reapers, Batarians and Turians all in one go and is rightfully throned the ruler of the milky way.

I think depending on Shepard's actions in Mass Effect 1 & 2 (s)he will either be lauded as a hero of the galaxy or be tried as a war criminal. That is if (s)he doesn't die during the game.

Cerberus are looking out for humans and only humans. That is why I don't always agree with them. It is interesting to see what might happen as Bioware did say Shepard's story would be a trilogy. I think it will come down to a 'sacrifice everything to save the day' type scenario. However in saying that, Bioware aren't one for cliches and always surprise me so it's hard to judge.

" @foggel: Out of curiosity, how do you think ME3 will handle wanting to change your imported face or class? ME2 used the Lazarus  Project, and Bioware loves to make sure these kinds of "gamey" things are written cohesively into the story. What do you think will happen? "

Maybe it'll be a choice you have to make near the end.  You can turn yourself in for that whole Arrival thing like a tool, or... Space Pirate Captain Shepard.  It's not like anyone could go after you with the crew you've got.

" Bioware aren't one for cliches and always surprise me so it's hard to judge. "  

I believe Shepard was revived by the missing reaper tech, talk to Anderson and he'll mention something about how a whole lot of Sovereign went missing.

" @02sfraser: The humans were the only race able to stop a Reaper - therefore the Reapers wanted a human Reaper. The collectors we're controlled by the Reapers. 
Personally I think the whole story of ME2 was a bit pointless in the big scheme. A new enemy was introduced and defeated without progressing the overarching Reaper plot a bit. Only in the DLC did something significant happen.
 
I hope BioWare will fuck over the Renegade path, and make Shepard screw everything up by being a jerk to the wrong people. But that won't happen, we'll probably only get one ending - paragon or renegade.
 
@02sfraser said:

" Bioware aren't one for cliches and always surprise me so it's hard to judge. "  

No? Collect 4 things/Recruit 4 things -> Point of no return -> End game. Oh, and this. "

Shepard will find a Mass Relay that takes them to another dimension, where they will learn that their universe is just a videogame there and is being deleted by a program called the Reapers. 
 
*ObscureSO3refference*

Doubt he'll die again, what would now be a little weak. Im expecting something a bit more "Epic" from the decisions this one. Somthing like being given teh choice to head the alliance or take over from the illusive man to even side with the reapers.

" Doubt he'll die again, what would now be a little weak. Im expecting something a bit more "Epic" from the decisions this one. Somthing like being given teh choice to head the alliance or take over from the illusive man to even side with the reapers. "

" @KingWilly:  Garrus: Can it wait for a bit? I'm in the middle of some calibrations. "

" We don't even know why the Reapers are harvesting humans. I mean, sure, we know they want to use them and create more Reapers, but we don't know why this process exists. There are a lot of questions like that that need to be answered in ME3 before I can even get to whether or not I think John Shepard (was so happy when the canon name for Shepard was mine) will live or die. I'm personally pulling for the picket fence and little blue children, but that's just me. "

We don't even know why the Reapers are harvesting humans. I mean, sure, we know they want to use them and create more Reapers, but we don't know why this process exists. There are a lot of questions like that that need to be answered in ME3 before I can even get to whether or not I think John Shepard (was so happy when the canon name for Shepard was mine) will live or die. I'm personally pulling for the picket fence and little blue children, but that's just me.