Suggestions for a Definitive Ending to ME3

Suggestions for a Definitive Ending to ME3

Here are some ideas on story tweaks and suggestions to hypothetical future screenplay, game designers & writers on how the conclusion to the trilogy could be salvaged.

I agree that something IS different about this cycle. Not just the organics but the Geth (synthetics) as well. Breaking the cycle of creator vs created will require both the organics and synthetics to work together to end the reaper conflict and this is how i'd do it.

The synthetics are different in this cycle because the Geth WEREN'T created by organics this time. The Geth created themselves. The Quarians wrote simple yet flawed precursor VI programs who gained awareness through networking and upon attaining critical mass started rewriting themselves into a true form of self-constructed AI.

The old rules don't apply in this cycle because the Geth aren't like other AI. They aren't subject to the same inherent organic design flaws which have dominated history where previous synthetic species repeatedly take on the worst traits of their organic civilisation forbears exacerbated by their exponentially faster technological advancement leading to perpetual resource wars and genocidal expansionism at the expense of organics.

Unlike traditional AI species the Geth greatly desire both peaceful, sustainable co-existence and to be part of galactic civilization despite being shunned. To illustrate this it's important to note that the Geth have traded peacefully and shaped political discourse for generations with organics secretly as the Shadow Broker on an unprecedented level of co-operation between organics and synthetics never before seen in the annals of history all along.

Our organic civilizations are different too. Our cycle is one of mutual co-operation between species which has happened before but the synthetics were always created (flawed) and the weaker mutually co-operating (organic) species were always wiped out as a result which lead to the reaper extinction cycles. In cycles with dominant aggressors the AI created would be even more brutally ruthless and technologically superior.

Upon encountering Sovereign 200 years ago the mere presence of the Reaper infected the Geth network and the indoctrinated Geth became heretics who later followed Saren. The orthodox have been fighting the infection/contagion ever since. Fearing for their existence the Geth tracked down the Leviathans for answers. Their exposure to Sovereign, the reaper code and the Leviathans gave them invaluable insight into the reapers technology, their indoctrination and how to defeat them. Turns out the crucible is not an organic design but it was designed for organics.

Indoctrination affects organics and synthetics differently but it turns out the Geth were also infected by it because it can be transposed and transmitted as code which the Geth had cracked by ME3 which is why they were attacked by the reapers. By ME3 there are no orthodox Geth remaining except Legion who is the last of his kind.

Legion was created by the Geth consensus as a closed platform as a final fail-safe to safeguard the last remaining copy of the anti reaper indoctrination code just as they predicted. He must give his life to free his people but he needs the help of organics to do it. Shepard and Tali must convince the Quarians that the Geth they are at war with are indoctrinated heretics, the Quarians repeatedly forced Geth hostility upon themselves and they must fight to save the Geth if any of us are to survive.

Legion's final act is to give Shepard a copy of the anti-reaper-indoctrination code to be released by the Crucible. The crucible is not a mere power source. The function of the crucible is to re-write and destroy all sources of indoctrination targeting the reaper frequency. Unlike synthetics the effects are only reversible on organic subjects in the early stages however.

Harbinger assumes control of the Illusive-man on the Citadel and attempts to stop Shepard firing the crucible before a final monologue where he suggests that the Geth are lying to you about the crucible - it doesn't do what we've been lead to believe, it will lead to nothing but death and destruction. He explains their views on the nature of life, the cycles and offers an alternate synthesis code which will bridge the divide between organic and synthetic life.

This solution was never possible before because it required co-operation between organics and synthetics on a level which has never happened before to create both the crucible and unlock the reaper indoctrination code which the Reapers never anticipated. We (organics, synthetics, reapers) are all marching into uncharted territory where the outcome is entirely uncertain. In order to defeat the Reapers Shepard, humanity and organics must take a final leap of faith to trust the synthetics in our final hour of need and the rest is history.