Is the Quarian Ark under attack by the Reapers?

Wait...

Would be a great way to show Ryder what the Reapers are as they only heard about them/sound in the memories, and also add to the feel that yes the Milky Way is really gone.

Thing is i just can't see the Reaper following the Ark through dark space for 600 years, and if it did - How did it not catch up or simply destroy the Ark? It is more likely that they hit the scourge. We'll see.

It's a black hole. There's nothing really ominous or mysterious about it. No one would dare get close to it for fear of being sucked in.

It is because of the memories quest that I believe this theory has legitimacy and could be true.

Again, this is really an issue of not understanding Reaper technology. It's possible that Reapers are not fully functional in dark space due to needing to conserve their power for long distance travel. It's also possible that the Reapers wanted to follow the quarian ark to see where it was going and if there were perhaps more Milky Way species to harvest. There are really a number of answers that could justify the Reaper's behavior.

If it really was just the Scourge, then it wouldn't be that big of a deal since every ark, as well as the Nexus, has already dealt with the Scourge. I'd be somewhat disappointed if the quarian ark literally was a repeat of the turian ark and the asari ark.

I'd like it if a Reaper chased the Q-Ark through Dark Space but was just a few steps behind the Ark but eventually caught up and did some damage to the Ark just as shepard destroyed the Reapers. 

Since this Reaper was disconnected from the Reaper-hivemind upon the destruction of the "Star-child AI" it was forced to go into a rebooting sequence for several hundred years making it go into a sleep mode. Being towed by the Q-ark all the way to Andromeda until the Ark drops out of FTL, but the Ark was caught in the continuing momentum of the Reaper, combined with the damage the Reaper did, was thrown into a tailspin until crashing onto an alien planet along with the Reaper.

Fast forward a bit and the crew of the Q-Ark begin waking up to see that they had crashed on an alien planet and the wreckage of a Capital class Reaper. However the Reaper had woken up before they did "reapifying" the local wildlife into ground units and indoctrinated fools who got too close to the Reapers crash site (which is about a fifty miles away from the Ark).

So the Quarian Pathfinder sends a signal out say to stay away since the Reaper is capable of turning anyone who gets too close against them. However those who scouted out the Reaper have begun repairing it with pieces of Remnant tech.


So Ryder decides that they have had enough of waiting and goes to trace where the signal came from. There they discover the Ark under siege by reaper and Indoctrinated forces and the Reapers' body being repaired.

Eventually the Reaper is now able to move and begins marching towards the Ark intent on getting at the cryo pods to make an army and continue the cycle.

So Ryder and Co destroy the Reaper but before it dies it tells Ryder and the crew everything they want to know about what had happened to the Milky Way during the attack; The decimation of Earth, the fall of Thessia, the genophage cure, the peace between Quarians and Geth, and the destruction of the "Star-Child" AI killing all of the Reapers.

That is definitely a very possible scenario for how the Reaper presence could be justified in this DLC or sequel game (whenever we meet the quarian ark). The only part that likely wouldn't be explained would be your last paragraph, merely because I'm still skeptical BioWare will ever create a canon ending for ME3. You obviously went with High EMS Destroy as an option (I did as well): cured the krogan, gave the Geth independence, destroyed the Reapers, but also destroyed all synthetics as a result.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Reaper did provide us with some details about its motivations. It's not like Reapers had not done this before with Sovereign, Harbinger, and others.

Honestly its the only one that would make sense as a strict canon for the series to go with since the Synthesised ending doesnt make a lick of sense and Control is just weird. (though control is the best ending with everyone winning and Shepard sort of being still alive)

Though an option for the writers to make events we made in the previous games would be to use the same system Dragon Age did for the console generation jump for Inquisition. Where we pick the choices we made in ME trilogy and is carried over to ME:A or its sequel. 

Personally I am done with the Reapers, lets move on from that story line.

The other thing that bothers me is the Quarians are the ultimate Milky Way space faring race, and they are very motivated to find a new home world. They wouldn't have needed much encouragement to make the journey and they should of been the first race to leave, not the last. For me anyway it just doesn't seem to fit within the ME universe.

I'm tired of the Genophage, but that's still a continuing thread in MEA. There are just some parallels that overlap that's going to happen between MEA and the original trilogy. I don't have an issue with a Reaper or two showing up as long as they are implemented well.

I suspect part of the problem that led to the delay of the quarian ark is the fact it's carrying more than just quarians. They have to also support the drell, volus, hanar, and elcor, which requires a much more sophisticated infrastructure than any of the other arks. There could have also been complications with the cryogenic process due to quarians needing their suits in order to live.

It's certainly easier for BioWare if there aren't dozens of world states that they have to account for. That being said, there were some significant decisions in MEA that could be made and certain individuals would die depending on your choices. I believe we will, at the very least, see an import system for a sequel game. I'm not sure if BioWare will ever do anything as ambitious as what the original trilogy attempted, however. While ME1-3 was largely great, there were some forced retcons that were a bit disheartening.

For folks who killed the rachni queen and thought they eradicated the rachni, they conveniently return in ME3. For folks who made Anderson and not Udina the human councilor, Udina took over the job for plot reasons. There were various changes forced upon us that didn't work with our custom world states, but BioWare did it anyway. I'll never forget the outcry over those who killed Leliana in DAO and Gaider brought her back for DAI as a main character regardless. His explanation was "my character, my story, my rules, deal with it."

@kamille Bidan
"His explanation was "my character, my story, my rules, deal with it."

That was basically what Mr. Walters told the fanbase after the HUGE outcry over the ending of ME3. Seems to be prevalent thinking at Biowar since EA took over.

Lets be honest, the original ME series wasn't popular because it had great graphics, or that the main story line was so great because it has more holes then Swiss Cheese. IMO the reason it became so popular was Bioware set the stage, then gave the PLAYER the ability to write his own story any way we wanted. The ME world became ours to do with as we pleased. Then at the very end they yank those tools away and say "my character, my story, my rules, deal with it."

I think that Bioware still does not understand why the ME series was so popular and why the ending of ME3 and now MEA gets so much heat from its fan base. Really sad to see one of the great gaming companies end up the way they have. ... Gets off soap box.

The geth wouldn't make them so scared. And would have no reasons to attack the ark. And it's not this part of the milky way's space

That's more or less true, although BioWare never really had a controversial story pre-EA for folks to be up in arms about.

I think, more specifically, what made people fall in love with Mass Effect is because it was really the first game where we had a voiced protagonist that we could shape with our choices. These weren't just minor choices either, but they were game changing and would have implications for future games. It was a massive overhaul of game design for BioWare as it was the first time we saw the dialogue wheel, which was a stark contrast from the silent protagonist with walls of text in KOTOR, JE, and DAO.

When anyone talks about Mass Effect, they always say "my Shepard." There's a level of ownership over Shepard that you just don't see with any other character in video games, including Dragon Age. It's why I'm such a huge advocate of keeping the same protagonist for multiple games and having those various world states that players can really customize with their choices. It's hard work and a nightmare for BioWare to design. But because of that effort, Mass Effect became a instant classic overnight.

I wouldn't have taken so much issue with ME3's ending if the Catalyst wasn't such a curve ball from left field and Mac actually bothered to explain who this rogue AI was, why he was in control of the Reapers, and what motivated him to begin all of this from the start. Those were answers we wouldn't get until the Leviathan DLC and Extended Cut, which should have been in the base game.

BioWare is letting the legacy of its past constrain its ambition. BioWare should be motivated and energized to take risks. I think BioWare is so afraid of another ME3 ending that it has lost its drive. MEA is a very good game, but it's also very safe in a lot of ways (largely avoiding the original trilogy). I guess I can't blame BioWare for being somewhat traumatized by ME3's reception, due to all the death threats and negative responses. I know a few of the dev leadership suffered through serious depression during that time.

Agreed. The quarians are familiar with the geth and know how to fight them. I can only imagine something like a Reaper would have the entire ark spooked. It's not like quarians had not been fighting the geth for centuries, so that seems highly unlikely.