ME 3 Ending headcanon

Generally my outcome is Destroy. So I like to think that my Earthborn Shepard eventually recovered from her wounds and helped Garrus rebuild Palaven (I'm shakarian trash).

On Tuchanka the genophage cure was sabotaged. I like to think that Grunt leads the krogan to overcome the genophage similar to how Okeer and that one shaman hinted at in ME2, with Bakara's support. This is just more interesting to me than outright curing the genophage.

All other planets slowly recover as you'd probably expect, with most of the surviving squad mates living somewhat successful lives.

I always pick Destroy except for that one time when I experimented with Synthesis. I hated the idea of Kaidan having to live without Shepard so much that I knew I could never again pick an ending the led to his death. (FYI, there's actually a "canon Shepard" thread that was created when this board was new.)

My headcanon is that they get married, adopt some kids (or use Space Science^TM to somehow have kids with no mother involved). They get out of the marines and end up living near Kaidan's mom, since she's now a window (since, in all likelihood, he was turned into a husk, or suffered some equally gruesome fate). Maybe they become apple farmers for a living or something but their days of soldiering are over. They basically live happily-ever-after but get visits from (as their children see it) Uncle Wrex, Uncle Grunt, Auto Liara, Aunt Miranda - and any other surviving members of the Normandy. Also, Grandma Alenko spoils the hell out of them. Since Shepard was Earthborn he has no family except the one he built after the war.

As the first two human Spectres, they do have a celebrity status of some kind but living away from any major cities (Vancouver being closest, but not too close) helps with the privacy.

Elsewhere in the galaxy, rebuilding takes place. Even on Tuchanka, which is the last place you'd expect to find real civilization. The potential threat of the Leviathan is out there but hopefully that's a problem for the next generation - or even for the combined forces of the krogan and rachni to handle. The asari were hit the hardest so aren't in a position to give serious help in such a war - at least not yet.

IIRC, BioWare originally intended for Earth to be destroyed.  I think the idea was that humanity would make the ultimate sacrifice to stop the Reapers.  That said, not everyone would be on Earth so humanity wouldn't really be dead.

I usually think one of two things about the endings that are non-canon.
1: EDI and the Geth survive the Destroy ending in the same way Shepard does; with a high enough EMS. Remember; Catalyst says that Shepard will die too since s/he's partly synthetic. Low-to-High EMS somehow effects how destructive the Crucible's beam is on organic life; we have no reason to assume the same is not also true for Synthetics.
or 2: Shepard was clever enough to use the Citadel's dark space relay to jet the Geth fleet and Normandy out of the Destruction beam's range (by shutting down the Citadel relay once all allied ships were safely through) thus saving them.

Thus Shepard and Tali can have their happily ever after with their adopted family (maybe Jonah) on whatever world they choose, Tali finally freed from her suit with the passing of years.

headcanon?
www.deviantart.com/themikefest/art/How-did-I-get-here-376939106

Well, the idea does require some understanding of the Crucible's nature beforehand I admit freely. Analysing all the possible beam configurations shortly after Rannoch would also allow the Geth and EDI to create a smaller-scale version of the Synthesis beam, affecting only one system's worth of people, to prevent anyone from having it forced on them against their will.

I meant that IF the Geth or EDI wanted the benefits of the Synthesis beam, they could do it without forcing the rest of the galactic population along with them. Not in terms of solving the "problem," but just as a benefit to EDI and the Geth.

And yes: "I created synthetics that destroy organics to prevent synthetics from destroying organics."  Both the Catalyst and Leviathans were the problem, not the solution.

Shep is dead, and the love interest mourns him/her while throwing their all into helping with the restoration efforts to honor his/her memory. Eventually, the pain fades enough for them to find someone of their own species to keep building a future with, and that's good. They move on, and there's plenty to do besides pine for a memory.

Everything is screwed, basically. The galaxy spends generations trying to get back on its feet after such a massive conflict. Poverty and strife is everywhere due to crashed economies and lack of communication. The only ones who are even remotely happy are the Quarians who have their home back and managed to move most of their population there before the relays were destroyed, but life is hard even for them due to lack of interspecies support. The Krogan are even more disorganized than before, and humans have joined Turians and Salarians as their sworn enemies. The Geth are destroyed and already mostly forgotten, nobody alive knows exactly where the Reapers came from, and there's nothing in the world preventing anyone from making the same mistakes all over again.

Still, there's life in the galaxy and the different species at least have a chance of making things better again. Maybe they will. Who knows?

…I like to consider myself a realist.

Didn't you make a thread about this way back when this forum was first created?  I'm sure I gave my headcanon for it.

Shepard AI, after a period of rebuilding, withdraws from view with only the rachni and EDI knowing where she's gone to... And where the keys to a failsafe she built in to herself and deleted from her memory banks are.

She functions as a passive observer, with all the reapers and reaper creatures gathering data for her. She renames herself Archive, and guards a record of galactic history, genetics, culture, and struggles. Her primary mission is to gather and preserve knowledge with minimal interference.

No one knows what really happened to Shepard, or the Reapers, precisely, but they know she never came back.

Reprint! Note the October 2016 date. It doesn't say, but I'm pretty sure this is Soldier Shep. I haven't spent a lot of time playing Soldier though I am at the moment. It's so different from smashing people with Charge.


1dmc1001 Avatar
Oct 26, 2016 0:34:22 GMT -5 dmc1001 said:
OK, let me give it a shot.

John Shepard: After recovering from near-death when the Crucible fired, John has a long road to recovery. He retires and marries Kaidan Alenko, settling in Vancouver. They adopt a few orphans to raise as their own.

Kaidan Alenko: Marries John Shepard and settles in Vancouver. Remains both a Spectre and an Alliance man but trains biotics. Raises orphans with his husband. Insisted one unnamed infant girl be called Ashley. Occasionally heads out into space on Spectre missions for the Council but is glad the Citadel remains near Earth.

Joker: Mourns the loss of his father, his sister, and especially EDI. Throws himself into his work before meeting a beautiful woman who isn't cowed by sarcastic nature or his frail body. They marry and raise a family.

Urdnot Wrex: Rebuilds Tuchanka with the help of Bakara. Firstborn named Mordin. Erects statues of Mordin Solus and John Shepard. It's a rocky road but he maintains peace, especially with most krogan being too busy reproducing and raising children to think about fighting.

Garrus Vakarian: After a fling with Tali, he returns to Palaven to help rebuild. Remains in contact with Shepard. He's a legend and hero to the turians and eventually becomes primarch.

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy: Returns to Rannoch to help build the quarian civilization anew. Gets to experience life, occasionally, without a suit.

Liara T'Soni: Hands the Shadow Broker network over to Feron. Decides to reclaim her role as an archaeologist and help discover the true history of the galaxy without outside forces covering up the truth. Develops a close relationship with Javik.

Karin Chakwas: Continues life aboard starships. Loves every minute of it. Has a fling with Greg Adams. It doesn't lead anywhere but they meet up from time to time.

Miranda Lawson: Works full time for the Alliance. Heavily involved with Shepard's recovery. Has a home in close proximity to her sister, Oriana. Considered one of the most brilliant biology and cybernetics scientists currently living.

Jacob Taylor: Marries Brynn Cole and raises a huge family.

Urdnot Grunt: Despite his youth, considered a promising future leader. His proven strength and allegiance to Wrex goes a long way in maintaining peace on Tuchanka. Females flock to have his babies.

Kelly Chambers: Comes out of hiding and brings her skills to help the many people suffering from psychological trauma.

Samara: Helps Falere rebuild the Ardat-Yakshi monastery on Lessus. With her daughter, trains new Ardat-Yakshi who are sent there to control their urges. Has never been more happy.

Zaeed Massani: Restless, returns to mercenary work.

Kasumi Goto: Remains trapped in the memories of her dead lover but will sometimes show up in Vancouver to drop off a present of suspect origin for Shepard's children.

Ken & Gabby: They elope and have lots of kids. Ken never strays.

Jack: Continues to train biotics, specifically at Jump Zero. Having heard of the experience Kaidan had there, Jack is determined that she make it better for the next generation. They are the only kids she cares to have but it makes her happy to bring something good into the world.

James Vega: Formally accepted into the N7 program, Vega becomes a career military man. He sometimes crosses paths with Kaidan Alenko when the Spectre requests help for some of his missions.

Javik: Decides to find out more about the galaxy. Grows close to Liara and acts as a protector to her when in dangerous territory. Intends to find out what the Leviathan are up to now that the Reapers are no longer holding them back.

Samantha Traynor: Develops a relationship with Diana Allers and happily returns to a lab.

Steve Cortez: Thanks to Shepard, Cortez is open to the possibility of love again. He finds it and marries, with Vega as his best man.