I know there may be other pages similar to this, as well as some pages that explain very thoroughly why you all hate it, but I think not everyone is seeing the whole picture.

Snowsprite on another forum post came up with a pretty good theory on the whole ending sequence. They believed that the whole Citadel thing was all in Shepard's head, as the Reapers face-blasted him/her to oblivion.

More can be read here:

http://www.giantbomb.com/mass-effect-3/61-29935/the-truth-behind-the-mass-effect-3-ending-sequence/35-539298/#6

I basically came up with my own opinion as to what happened, which isn't too far off from what Snowsprite believed. Also, in regards to previous choices being bull, they actually did make an impact in the game. Although it wasn't as major or as epic as many had hoped... Certain things do happen because of it. Certain scenarios, side-quests, or even a key player in a mission can be changed by your previous actions. This goes for side-quests that actually involve old party members from ME2 that give a little backstory to what they've been up to, and add to your efforts (which can effect what variation of the three endings you get). Then there are moments in the main story where old friends appear in the place of other minor characters, such as Thane against Kai Leng. Finally, you have cutscenes that are altered based on previous decisions, such as the Destiny Ascension being present in the final attack (if you saved it).

I believe the game was just hyped up too much, and everyone expected a Hollywood happy ending (or something close to it). ME3 was grim from the start, and showed you just how ugly war can be. In the end the Galaxy can ultimately be save, unfortunately it comes at a heavy cost. I will agree, however, that a nice little epilogue should have been added. It would have been a nice touch, but not necessary.

More of what I had to say can be seen in this video:

Bargaining.

Bargaining.

@LordXavierBritish: I'm afraid I don't follow...

@LordXavierBritish: I'm afraid I don't follow...

@LordXavierBritish: Clever... However, I still feel there was more to the ending than people are paying attention to. It is what it is.

@SketchPanic: I like the way you presented your stance. As far as how you viewed the ending, it makes a decent amount of sense but I am not entirely sold on it. If one believes that Bioware is on some next level shit and is secretly blowing us all away, there are plot holes. If one believes that Bioware has completely dropped the ball, there are still holes (both in that logic as well as the ending).

Regardless of what happens in the future, it's at least pleasant to see some creativity/critical thinking coming out of people rather than hate.

@huntad: I agree, a little more would have been nice in the way of some kind of explanation or extended ending. I'm not saying that their ending was so great that it is beyond the comprehension of the average player, but I do feel they should deserve a little more credit for their work and that some details may have been overlooked. To see so many people hate a series over a less-than-appealing ending is just unfortunate.

Just finished the game and have bin following the discussion online about the ending. It is maybe hard to find an ending that satisfies everybody... but everyone can agree that they want to see concequences of their actions. I dont want a happy ending... the ending in all forms couldnt be happy, earth is destroyed, most species have lost their homeworld, so how can it be a happy ending even if Shepard lives and fucks his love interest as they start rebuilding the whole galaxy. I dont pretend to know how a better ending could had been done, but this ending does not even make sense.

For instance if the Reapers love the living things so much why do they destroy them, wouldnt it be easier just to make noah's arc and just keep them there intact? And in the final moments of the game you cant argue with the little brat and tell him the errors of his ways. You cant have any effect on the ending.

It was a very good ride, but in the end it was ruined. All I got was a text message that tells me to buy more dlc. And I dont buy the whole theory that Bioware just pulled one on us and that Shepard was indoctrinated or something. It just feels like the ending to that tv show that had bin running for so many years and the ending was that some girl was dreaming the whole thing.

But Im having thoughts that talking about this subject is stupid. There will never be another ending unless Bioware doles out some very good dlc which we would have to pay for anyway.

Im just still conflicted what to say or think about the ending, it just was so.... stupid. It was as if I just watched LotR The return of the king and in just before the scene where ring is destroyed there would be a message: Frodo is remembered as a hero!

But a good post, maybe the ending was something we all missed and only some spaced out writer at Bioware understands. Just maybe :)

"I've seen all 3 endings and... I don't get it."

Neither do we my friend, neither do we.

@Fyllikall said:

Just finished the game and have bin following the discussion online about the ending. It is maybe hard to find an ending that satisfies everybody... but everyone can agree that they want to see concequences of their actions. I dont want a happy ending... the ending in all forms couldnt be happy, earth is destroyed, most species have lost their homeworld, so how can it be a happy ending even if Shepard lives and fucks his love interest as they start rebuilding the whole galaxy. I dont pretend to know how a better ending could had been done, but this ending does not even make sense.

For instance if the Reapers love the living things so much why do they destroy them, wouldnt it be easier just to make noah's arc and just keep them there intact? And in the final moments of the game you cant argue with the little brat and tell him the errors of his ways. You cant have any effect on the ending.

It was a very good ride, but in the end it was ruined. All I got was a text message that tells me to buy more dlc. And I dont buy the whole theory that Bioware just pulled one on us and that Shepard was indoctrinated or something. It just feels like the ending to that tv show that had bin running for so many years and the ending was that some girl was dreaming the whole thing.

But Im having thoughts that talking about this subject is stupid. There will never be another ending unless Bioware doles out some very good dlc which we would have to pay for anyway.

Im just still conflicted what to say or think about the ending, it just was so.... stupid. It was as if I just watched LotR The return of the king and in just before the scene where ring is destroyed there would be a message: Frodo is remembered as a hero!

But a good post, maybe the ending was something we all missed and only some spaced out writer at Bioware understands. Just maybe :)

This, in part. The ending is lacking in many ways. Gamefront has an article that pretty much sums up what is wrong with the ending. The ending is just a ways of showing that nothing we did matters. It doesn't matter if you obtained total alliance in the galaxy. The main argument that Catalyst has is "Synthetics destroying the Creators" yet the game pretty much shows that is a big mistake. First, you can get the Geth to solve their problems with the Quarians. Problems that started FROM the Quarians, not the Geth, in FACT Geth just want to be more human in any case, as Legion would love to know what Hope is, he longs for it. Secondly, even if you end up sacrificing the Quarians, which happens if you did not save Tali in ME 2, the Geth become more sentient than before, and are integrated to the alliance fleet, thus providing proof that synthetics want to live peacefully, debunking the initial statement. Does Shepard make any remarks about this? No. But when given the choice of destroying technology, we are mentioned about geths. Or lets go smaller. What about EDI? In fact, the only Bad synthetics are the Reapers, and the ones controlled by Cerberus, who is controlled by, guess what, THE REAPERS.

There are many wrong things about the ending. Lots to be honest. This completely destroyed a game that had so much emotional charge that had me on the verge of crying repeteadly, even for low NPCs as Charr.

Read the post, watched the video. You're completely missing the point man. Yes, people are picking the end videos apart etc, but all of that is just nitpicking compared to the big problem. The thing that really breaks it is the whole catalyst and archaic choice situation. You need to bring your analysis back about 5-10 minutes. The videos and choices are decent enough if observed on their own (not great, but oh well), it's the setup and reasoning behind them that's broken.

@James_Giant_Peach said:

"I've seen all 3 endings and... I don't get it."

Neither do we my friend, neither do we.

3 endings? Hmm, that's 2 more than what's already in the game. ZING!

For the end of a trilogy I wanted closure, I did not get it.

The problem is the child says synthetics always try to destroy organics but I just spent the whole game proving the opposite, showing that the Geth were only defending themselves and in the end they bacame peaceful.

@Vinny_Says said:

The problem is the child says synthetics always try to destroy organics but I just spent the whole game proving the opposite, showing that the Geth were only defending themselves and in the end they bacame peaceful.

*backhand* Enough of your logic based on storylines and narrative development, your choices do not matter in this land, for Bioware own it, and they're going to make a 'great' story no matter your input or influence, despite that being the very driving force of the last three games! Then we're going to say we totally meant it, and build up more fan hate than has ever been seen for any piece of endgame writing ever.

I mean, holy shit, it's almost unanimous the general dislike/hatred for the ending, and I totally understand because:

@Demyx said:

For the end of a trilogy I wanted closure, I did not get it.

Pretty much this.

Then there are the lunatic fringe who are concocting conspiracy theories that Bioware will co-opt into their DLC, which will have the real endings...so pay a tenner there and get the experience you deserve! That said, the game overall was pretty damn good, but the ending drags it down, and renders everything pointless. That is not how you end a trilogy.

I didn't like the ending for two reasons:

a) It didn't have any real closure and

b) It didn't take anything discussed over the past two fucking games into account.

A good ending takes everything in the story thus far and culminates it, that is to say, it brings everything to a final point. Like a period in a sentence or a final paragraph in an essay, it wraps up all of a story's themes and ideas and delivers them in an interesting manner. This is why a deus ex machina is generally a bad idea for a story - it's a cop out. Incidentally, this is also why the Crucible is a deus ex machina - despite being introduced in the first few hours, all it does is kill all of the Reapers for you. Or takes control of them for you. Either way, it's not at all a good ending. A better ending of the game would have been Shephard joining all of the races in the galaxy together - Geth included - to fight the Reapers. This would have capped off the story's ideas of bringing humanity to more prominence in this new technological age they've come into. The Illusive Man would have been a great foil to Shephard and could have ended in a more interesting Paragon/Renegade choice. No, instead we just have this stupid spirit-child-Reaper-synthetic thingy that uses logic with more holes than you can think of. Really, the ending says "All right! You've done all this, now just push this button and we're done!"

I didn't play through three games to get to that moment. I played through three games to see Shephard's story culminate in a fantastic conclusion, not to fight some husks and then limp through the Citadel for half an hour.

EDIT: Oh, and the big shit with the Quarians and Geth? Total fucking bullshit. That was a stupid, stupidstupid way to end that whole subplot. Why the fuck can't you tell that hardass Admiral to stand down, that the Geth are no longer evil? I mean, damn, the Quarians just up and decided to take their homeworld back when the Geth had done nothing to them since booting them off the planet, which again was their fucking fault in the first place?

I think people are blowing awfulness of the ending out of proportion. Yes, it's bad, it's vague, it's unfulfilling, it's frustrating, but it's also 2% of the game. The rest of the 98% of the game is great. I wish more people would talk about the really great moments that precede it.

EDIT: Oh, and the big shit with the Quarians and Geth? Total fucking bullshit. That was a stupid, stupidstupid way to end that whole subplot. Why the fuck can't you tell that hardass Admiral to stand down, that the Geth are no longer evil? I mean, damn, the Quarians just up and decided to take their homeworld back when the Geth had done nothing to them since booting them off the planet, which again was their fucking fault in the first place?

Okay, I'm going to try and address most of the previous posts in one shot. Here goes...

@Fyllikall The Reapers didn't want to destroy all life, they wanted to harvest all advanced life forms into a new kind of being. Similar to the whole Borg thing (and I'm not a big fan of Star Trek). I don't understand what all the confusion is about. If you read the codex, followed the story throughout, and paid attention to everything that was said, the ending isn't as crazy as everyone is making it out to be. The effect that each ending has depends on your total war assets at the end. All of Earth, not just the Reapers, can be destroyed in an instant if you don't have enough assets.

@DragoonKain1687 That's the point... That Catalyst is trying to sway you away from the destroy option out of self-preservation. If you choose that option, the Catalyst dies, The Reapers die, all synthetics die. The catalyst doesn't want that. Your options do matter in more ways than one. It may not have this amazing impact that everyone was expecting, but it did matter. Aside from gaining further war assets from previous people you have saved/helped in the other two games, you will also notice a few other differences. For instance, if you didn't let all your party members from ME2 die, they show up one way or another in side-quests that you receive as well as some main story missions. From here you have the opportunity to learn what happened to them since the suicide mission and see how they have changed both emotionally and, in Jack's case, physically. There is also the matter of who is with you at the final fight. As an example, If you let the Destiny Ascension get destroyed at the end of the first Mass Effect, it isn't there to assist you in the final assault on Earth.

@Ares42 The Catalyst situation was a bit unexpected, but we are talking about a game in a sci-fi universe, so is it truly so far-fetched for a highly advanced AI to try and stop you/give you options? It could be the situation actually happens, or it could be a dream sequence. Either way, you are faced with a very real fact of life... It's unpredictable and doesn't always turn out the way we expect it. We are forced to make a very hard decision. You basically have to play God, with no way of telling what is the right option (other than the one your gut tells you is right), or what will happen in the future. Do you kill all synthetic life, stopping the Reapers for good but also killing the Geth you may/may not have save along with EDI? Do you decide for the entire galaxy to become organic/synthetic hybrids, killing yourself in the process and still in a sense giving the Catalyst/Reapers what they wanted? Do you try to control the Reapers, to which the Catalyst even says from the beginning is not a certainty, while again killing yourself in the process? There is a deeper meaning than the "three colors" that everyone is seeing.

@Demyx: Your choices effect the ultimate outcome of the galaxy. The only closure that may be needed is what happens to the crew afterwards.

@Vinny_Says: Actually the Catalyst says that it harvests advanced life forms to prevent the chaos it believes to be inevitable between Organics and Synthetics, not that synthetics are the only ones with intentions to kill and destroy.

@Dookysharpgun: The game doesn't render all your previous decisions useless, because they are reflected throughout the journey that takes you to that ending. There are many species/people that won't be there to support you in the final fight, if you let them all die in the previous games.

@believer258: The game did just that. Everyone you saved, everyone you supported throughout the series, comes together to help you in that final time of need to take back Earth and end the Reaper forces. Even the Citadel has been a focal point since the first Mass Effect. I thought Deus Ex Machina only occurred near the very end of a plotline, not near the very beginning. Admiral Hacket even states from the beginning that conventional warfare wasn't going to work. The Protheans had a weapon and for the majority of the game you spent time fighting against the Reapers, while also building up an army to fight the Reapers and help build the Crucible. Also, as I've mentioned before, it's more than pushing a button. It's a very difficult choice to make for people who have become emotionally invested in the game. Each option has its consequences and sacrifices. The Geth/Quarian conflict can be resolved and you can talk him down if you have enough Paragon/Renegade built up.

@Renachan: I appreciate your kind words. As far as the choices are concerned, the game points out that sometimes in life things are not completely within our control and hard choices have to be made. I didn't want to accept any of the outcomes either, but sometimes we don't have the luxury of coming up with our own options. It's unfortunate that we are only left with such bleak options, but it goes with the overall tone of ME3.

I felt differently about the Destruction of all Synthetic life. Although that option pained me the most to make, you weren't becoming exactly like the Reapers or trying to control the situation entirely through destruction. You were erasing the problem from the equation... the Reapers and the Catalyst controlling them (considering it is a highly advanced AI). In the future, new synthetics would likely be made without the worry of Reapers inevitably showing up to "save everyone from the chaos".

For the option of Control, I agree with you. The same mistakes as TIM would be made and you would be throwing your life a way for something that isn't guaranteed to last. Shepard may be a bad-ass, but does anyone honestly believe he/she can control the Reapers forever?

I disliked the Synthesis option the most. You are giving the Reapers/Catalyst what they wanted and proving Saren right when you fought so hard to tell him he was wrong. I agree with what you said as far as robbing people of a choice in the matter. Everyone is forced to become part Synthetic, whether they like it or not. This also doesn't guarantee peace either, considering grudges will still remain and the Reapers still believe themselves to be superior. Who is to say that the Reapers won't attempt to control ALL life in the galaxy at that point in order to "save the galaxy from chaos"?

Shepard does point out, before the choices are presented, to the Catalyst that just giving in without fighting would be no different than being a robot that only does as it is programmed to do. I felt that the Catalyst/Star Child was thinking of terms of self-preservation of itself/Reapers. It acts, thinks, and even looks like an advanced AI that would likely die if you go with the choice of killing all Synthetic life.

I too would have liked to press matters further with the Catalyst, but didn't feel that the destruction option would disrespect the dead. You would essentially be doing what you set out to do from the start, if the option really does have that end result. You would also be going forward with what many others have sacrificed their lives for you to do, meaning their deaths would not be in vain.

The relay thing still seems to be a hot item for debate. I would have to play The Arrival DLC to be sure, but I could have sworn that the destruction of the relays only destroyed worlds within its blast radius. This would mean that many planets in many systems would likely be destroyed, but wouldn't result in the destruction of everything. There is also the chance that such destruction was merely caused by a forced destruction, via the meteor, creating a very unstable detonation. When the Crucible destroys the relays, it could be a more controlled detonation. I have nothing for the whole Normandy scene, which should be explained/fixed. I find it funny when people mention the whole debate on life without technology. The galaxy may not have the relays, but life still goes on and they still have some tech needed to survive. Remember that each species managed to just fine without the relays for a very long time before they were discovered. The very same thing can be done.

If you actually think that the issue is that everyone expected a "hollywood goody goody everyone is happy ending", you haven't read a single complaint about the ending. If you haven't actually read the issues people have with the ending, why bother asking "why so much hate for the ending?"

Here are the issues:

1. It's nonsensical and illogical (yo dawg I heard you dont want synthetics killing organics so I made synthetics kill your organics so you wont make synthetics to kill organics).

2. It's out of place and doesn't fit in with the game (godchild?)

3. The choices at the end are both weird, stupid, and ENTIRELY THE SAME (cutscenes are mere pallette swaps).

4. None of your choices matter in the slightest (Who gives a fuck if you cured the genophage or not, saved the quarians or geth or both, united the galaxy - the entire plot of the majority of the game - when the relays are destroyed). It was just a waste of time.

5. It ruins the previous games. Sovereign was COMPLETELY POINTLESS when the citadel itself is what calls and controls the reapers. Why doesn't it just open the portal? dafuq is the point of sovereign? First game completely invalidated. Same for the second game - they took out the point of the reapers making a human reaper, so that was pointless. What was the plot of the second game? The reapers are impatient so they started making a reaper in the middle of the galaxy a bit early before their harvest for no reason. Okay.

6. The entire premise of the ending plot is out of nowhere, pointless, and wrong. The goal is supposedly to stop synthetics, despite the fact that we have. I know some people are going to justify this with some bullshit like "the fact that it was wrong is poetic!", but in the end, the entire reason for all of the games comes down to something that was wrong, and shepherd is NEVER given a chance to address this. Also, there's so many ridiculous plot holes that are so obvious, calling them plot holes doesn't do them justice. For example, if the goal of the catalyst is to stop synthetics from wiping us out, why doesn't it.. oh I don't know.. ACTUALLY FUCKING KILL THE SYNTHETICS? That's it's entire goal, so just fucking do that. Why bother with the cycle? Just kill them. Or make some rules. Say if you make synthetics, we'll fuck you up. INSTEAD, they not only DON'T kill synthetics, they work with them and upgrade them. the fuck?

7. Let me make an analogy. Let's say that in the end of Star Wars 6, Luke is with the Emperor, and the emperor explains that the real reason for the empire is to.. stop Boba Fett. Yes, if the Empire kills everyone that isn't part of the empire, there will be no one left for the Empire to hire Boba Fett to kill, despite the fact that Boba Fett was already dealt with. This is directly analogous. Right down to how the threat was really just a sideplot, that is now somehow more important than the real threat and plot. Right down to how illogical it is, how he was already dealt with, and how they worked together. But most importantly, right down to how underwhelming it is.

8. And then the method. Supposedly it's to allow lesser organics to survive (since he asserts that the synthetics will wipe out ALL organic life, with no evidence. No reason to suspect that computers will conclude it's a valuable use of materials and time to kill of bacteria on some no name planet). This is still nonsensical. To survive to die anyway? What's the point? He acts like organic life is some important thing but destroys it all anyway. It's just stupid. Entirely stupid, I didn't buy it for a second.

9. Joker flying away. Absolutely fucking weird and nonsensical. He wanted to go to earth and kick reaper ass, then he.. leaves in the middle of the fight? No, he was not trying to outrun the explosion. Not only is this a stupid answer because THE EXPLOSION DOESN'T KILL SHIPS SO THERE'S NO REASON TO RUN FROM IT, but he couldn't have known about it. Shepard never says he's about to explode it. He never even said he got onto the ship - as far as Joker knows, he's still fighting to see what happens. Even if he "saw" the explosion and somehow predicted it, there's still no way he could have made it to the relay in time. Then there's the fact that crew members get off the ship when it somehow manages to directly land on a planet that was somehow straight in front if it after it lost its engines, which it somehow manages to land safely on despite the fact that reentry with a destroyed ship (that should have been torn up in space with that kind of damage) that couldn't possibly make it through atmosphere, when those crew members WERE DOWN WITH YOU ON EARTH. So what, did Joker fly down into an area with tons of reapers, somehow pick the crew up when they were making the charge (Charge, and don't stop until you're dead! was an order) without a shuttle, and then DID NOT SEND THEM INTO THE BEAM - remember, someone says "no one made it" - but instead FLIES AWAY AND LEAVES THE SOLAR SYSTEM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BATTLE EVER? Are you shitting me?

10. Absolutely no closure. Nothing is addressed at all. Not only that, but it's not even like we're left to draw our own conclusions - it's impossible to tell if some things were meant one way or another because of the terrible writing. It's impossible to tell if, for example, all of your crew (that you didnt take with you) is dead on the ground, or not. This is made worse by the fact that some who died, just appear on the Normandy getting out on the Convenient Planet anyway. If we're intended to believe that thousands of star systems will die without the relays of starvation, or if they simply overlooked that. They could have EASILY made a DA:O style text at the end that gives explanations to your choices, but they didn't.

11. The ending I "wanted" was one in which Earth and humanity was sacrificed in order for the galaxy to continue, or that it be canon that Shepard failed. And you think this comes down to "me being unhappy I didn't get a happy ending"? Please.

Edit: Bonus 12: "my sweet"

@SketchPanic said:

@Ares42 The Catalyst situation was a bit unexpected, but we are talking about a game in a sci-fi universe, so is it truly so far-fetched for a highly advanced AI to try and stop you/give you options?

Again you're not really seeing the issue. Is it far-fetched ? no, this is work of fiction, anything can happen. But does it make for good story-telling ? Does it fit into the context at all ? I mean Shepard could've suddenly stumbled over a "reaper death ray" and wiped the entire invasion by himself and it would still be plausible for a sci-fi story. But after spending the entire game working to mass up a fleet to make for one massive attack on the reapers, wouldn't it sorta cheapen the whole thing ?

The problem is that the ending (and by that I don't just mean the choices and their respective videos) doesn't in any way build on the story that's been told through the series, while it also does the complete opposite the series has done so far and explains as little as possible instead of the vast lore you experience playing through the games. Just the fact that the only explanation we get about who or what the spaceboy is is that he says "I am the catalyst" and then there's no more explanation is so out of touch with how the series has treated it's lore. Even the VI in Liaras chambers has more context than that.

@RockinKemosabe said:

I think people are blowing awfulness of the ending out of proportion. Yes, it's bad, it's vague, it's unfulfilling, it's frustrating, but it's also 2% of the game. The rest of the 98% of the game is great. I wish more people would talk about the really great moments that precede it.

I've said this same thing to myself about many games & when the ending is not what I was expecting. And I really love the events of this game, but I keep coming back to where we JUST made the Geth good again, & now with the Crucible they're going to be destroyed with The Reapers. Not only that, regardless of what choice is made the Mass Relies are going too. And all the alien races that are here to fight can't go back home, so that means all stranded with no homes. So to wrap it up what I mean, I'm not mad at ending it's self(kind of), I'm PISSED OFF that everything I've done up until this point had no EFFECT on how it ended.

So the 90% or so that was amazing, MIND AS WELL NOT EVEN HAPPEN!!!

I GIVE TO THEE... PROOF!!! (Not really. lol)

It does make the whole "back on London" theory a little more interesting.

I'm pissed there isn't an ending where the Reapers straight up wipe everything out.  
 
I mean, there was an ending in Mass Effect 2 where everyone died. Including Shepard.  
 
Why isn't there a total failure ending here? I mean, that just speaks to the fact that the endings available are too limited. It's just one specific example. But I'm perplexed as to why it isn't there. Like, at all. 

@HistoryInRust: Well if you don't do so well YOU wipe everyone out... at least on Earth and if you choose the Destruction ending.

@SketchPanic said:

I GIVE TO THEE... PROOF!!! (Not really. lol)

It does make the whole "back on London" theory a little more interesting.

Err... where's Shepard's head?

RGB.

@SketchPanic said:

They believed that the whole Citadel thing was all in Shepard's head, as the Reapers face-blasted him/her to oblivion.

This whole thing reminds me of this:  
 

@Zithe: I did say "they believed". I still believe the events were real and that the "right" option was destruction. Think about it, the Catalyst (which for funk's sake is an advanced AI, not some "Godchild" as I've seen thrown around) takes on the form of the kid who died at the beginning and has been tormenting his/her dreams since the beginning. It also made the destruction option seem the least appealing. The whole point was trying to get you to choose any option that didn't result in its own death, but still favored the Catalyst and its Reapers.

@Napalm Behind the rubble, otherwise it is somewhat hard to breathe without one. D:

@SeriouslyNow: CMYK? Sorry, tired and felt like being a bit of a smartass on that one.

Did Shep die?

From reading this thread and giving the ending a little more thought I feel like these 3 endings represent the 3 main thoughts from the 3 games. Destruction (ME3), Control (ME2), and Synthesis(ME1).

@SketchPanic: I got this idea from reading your posts. So Illusive Man would obviously be control, Saren would be synthesis, and finally not Shepard, but Anderson would represent destruction. This makes Shepard the catalyst to make one of these things happen. I don't know...

Anyways, I'm not going to say that the endings were terrible, I had just found them to be really odd, but not completely unexpected. And to the people complaining that the ending does not incorporate any of the choices they made, neither did the other games. The other games had you make choices that affected the build up to the end, but not the actual ending, because that choice will be yours. The ending can be affected by what you did, but ultimately the ending is your choice.

@Ares42: I agree with you that with the way the ending is, it doesn't really fit in with how the rest of the game. The context is the issue.

Also the one and pretty much only lingering question I had was: What, why, and where was Joker taking my ship and crew??? And I want to believe that the old man and young kid at the end was just an old Garrus telling stories to my Shepard's son.

@mrpandaman: Interesting look at how each ending would be tied to each game. I still don't feel it is completely out of place, and provoked more thought than people would expect from most video games. Sure people may not have liked the options that were presented to them, but I bet every single one of you (myself included) actually put thought into which ending you felt was the "right" one. It was a difficult decision (at least for those of us who very emotionally invested in the game since the beginning and actually cared) to make because it raised quite a few moral questions.

@LooseChange: Depends on which ending you get.

@HistoryInRust: I can see where you are going with that. :P

No, I'm sorry but I can not accept the endings to this game. The journey starting from ME1 to ME3 was amazing. Then they give us the ending... I was having a blast with the game and I was so excited, there was all this tension that you may or may not destroy the reapers. Then within the last 20 minutes it was all gone. Im not sure what the writer was thinking when they threw in the three choices that in no way represented my Shepard or the mass effect universe as a whole. It just completely robbed the entire role playing experience that the rest of the game had. Not to mention how lazy it felt. Three endings with just difference color palettes and slightly different ending segments, with the Destroy one contradicting both since Shepard survives somehow.

Then we have this rumor "Truth" DLC coming out that is supposedly the real ending. If this is true, what the hell does that mean about the endings we all saw?

@Whitestripes09: As amazing of a character as Shepard is, sometimes things are beyond even the Hero's control. The actual ending is more than different color palettes and slightly different ending segments. The ending was what you decided to do with the galaxy based on your decision within the Crucible. It didn't rob anyone of anything, considering you still had three different options to choose from that everyone had to stop for a moment to think about. Not everyone chose the same ending for the same reasons. Also the "Truth" rumor is still just a rumor. If anything, it might be a continuation of the story after you have stopped the Reapers. This happened with "The Arrival" DLC after you either blew up the Collector Base or simply cleared it out. It's not the first time a game had DLC that went beyond a game's actual ending...