The Andromeda Initiative: Another Cerberus Project (or Unapologetically Awful Storytelling)

BTW Is 2176 year apparently gone from MEA timeline now? Are they retconning their retcon? What's going on?

BTW Is 2176 year apparently gone from MEA timeline now? Are they retconning their retcon? What's going on?

That would present immediate problems, which have been discussed often. Besides the problem of accounting for the Genophage, they would also have to cut off the possibility of including Quarians, because they could be extinct. And even if they were willing to do that, they'd have to have characters acknowledge major events from the trilogy in conversation, which would require multiple lines to account for all choices, adding to the budget. You want to talk about plot holes, imagine if the Reaper War had happened before they left, and no one ever spoke of it. That's the only way they'd be able to avoid making something canon without consuming their word budget on all those dialogue variants and references. Sure, you could be vague, but it would be terrible.

Also, the glowing synthesis textures.

Basically, pre-Reaper War remains, as it has always been, the best way to continue the series.

Two points.

First, BioWare would be out of their minds if they would transfer any of the choices of ME3 to Andromeda. It was bad enough that we got to discuss destroy-vs-control-vs-synthesis for years, as if it had ever been of any concern while we were playing the trilogy (and having fun). Now, they would carry that discussion for the years to come? Obviously, no. Lets face it, BioWare is running away from it all, 2.5 million light years away and 600 years into the future, to be precise. So, there's your answer.

Second, it's too much speculation to say that Cerberus is behind it all. It's much more likely that BioWare is purposefully being misleading about the context of the Andromeda Initiative, for obvious storytelling reasons.

Now, personally, I would have preferred if BioWare would just choose a canon ending and keep moving forward. But maybe we should accept Andromeda as a side-tour. Lets just give it a chance and see where it takes us...

Nah, Jien Garson, from Orientation video.

2175 CE
Cerberus covertly contacts Michael Moser Lang, a political dissident on Earth, and provides him with funding to purchase weapons. Cerberus continues to monitor him after contact ends. One year later, Lang assassinates United North American States president Enrique Aguilar and Chinese People's Federation premier Ying Xiong. The resulting political shuffle benefits Cerberus' shell companies and plans for the Systems Alliance Parliament.

2176 CE
The Andromeda Initiative, a privately-funded multi-species endeavor created to explore and colonize the Andromeda Galaxy, is founded.

THE ANDROMEDA INITIATIVE
Founded in 2176 and launched in 2185, the Andromeda Initiative is a civilian, multi-species project created to send scientists, explorers and colonists on a one-way trip to settle in the Andromeda Galaxy. With powerful benefactors lending their support, the program has grown substantially in scope since its inception. The Initiative’s ultimate goal is to establish a permanent presence on the seemingly resource-rich frontier of Andromeda, and eventually create a reliable route between it and the Milky Way Galaxy.


Now let's think about this.


A reliable route between Andromeda and the Milky Way??? A reliable 600 year route??? Or would it be a 1200 year route? How??? A project of this magnitude completed within nine years? What's the rush for a civilian funded project with no hope of any of its investors to ever hope to see any returns in their lifetime (that goes for the asari too)? They are literally flushing money, RESOURCES and personnel down the toilet. There is no guarantee that any human corporation would even still be around in 600+ years. And even if they were the people on the other would be the descendants of the original travelers. I mean, they'd be under no contractual obligation to do anything for the Milky Way.

Humans join the greater galaxy less than 20 years prior. And humanity, the babies of the story, of all the species, is spearheading a multi-species coalition to leave the entire galaxy? Not more than 30 years after leaving their own solar system for the first time. Asari, Turians and Salarians have been at this for thousands of years and have only charted 1% of the galaxy, but they are all on board to get resources TWELVE HUNDRED HUNDRED FREAKING YEARS AWAY? For the Asari the long play makes the most sense (although still nonsensical), but it's not the Asari heading this.

Bioware says the Andromeda Initiative has nothing to do with the Reaper threat. You know that's bullshit right?

In other media it says they are looking for a new home world. IN ANOTHER FREAKING GALAXY?!?!?! You don't go to another galaxy in search of a new home world when the current galaxy is 99% unexplored (per the codex). And the current home world is still looking pretty. The Turians, Salarian and Asari want a new home world too. I'm sure the Krogan would love one. But again, there are much closer options. It would be equivalent to early European explorers skipping Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas and going straight to colonize Saturn's moon Titan while the rest of the globe on Earth is unknown to them. The very notion is absurd. You know what's more cost effective than rich worlds in Andromeda? Rich worlds in the Milky Way. If you can see every planet in Andromeda you can see what's behind every relay in the Milky Way.

The Andromeda Initiative has EVERYTHING to do with the Reaper threat even if the participates aren't informed. It makes absolutely no sense outside of the Reaper threat.

The Reapers were known prior to ME1. There are people who've known about them since 2157 at the least. Possibly beforehand. The Illusive Man's origin story deals directly with Reaper issues. Cerberus was founded in part as a counter Reaper initiative. I wouldn't be surprised if Cerberus's name gets thrown in at some point. I don't expect them to be doing bad stuff or act as an antagonist organization per se, but they probably had something to do with the project and may have plants. The Ryders may even be a "Cerberus family", unbeknownst to the protagonist siblings. There was a mention about discovering the secrets of the Ryder family. Speculation for everyone.

If you believe it has nothing to do with the Reaper threat; are you worried? You must be extremely worried, right? Because the writers would have to be in full on DERP MODE for it to have nothing to do with the Reaper threat. And if the writing is that caliber of garbage how can you be excited about ME:A?

Not a good start for ME:A's story when you create massive plot holes in it before it is even released.

There are more then enough ways to be vague enough not to be forced to pick an official canon ending to ME Trilogy. And yet have it's logical place after the trilogy to make the extra galactic trip logical.

A scroll text opening like in ME 1 saying something like:

2186 the galaxy faced a threat far beyond their technological capabilities. The war cost billions of lives but eventually it was ended. The races of the galaxy banded together to rebuild the galaxy. Utilizing the technology of the Reapers the galaxy advanced far beyond their imaginations. Using their new advanced technology the races of the galaxy banded together to form the Andromeda Initiative. It's goal to send colonists distances never before attempted by any known race. To send them to an entirely new galaxy.....

-Cut scene showing the Ark flying by-

Andromeda


All 3 endings support that because in all 3 the potential to learn from the Reapers is there. Be it salvaging the technology from their broken hulls, to having it given to them by AI Shep or Synthesis Reapers. The glowing from Synthesis ending can just be called an exaggeration to show the change that took place. The only thing they would have to compromise on would possibly being Genophage being cured. To explain the Krogans still being around. And even then that can be explained away by the Krogan willingly accepting a genetic alteration that out right reduces the number of young produced. Rather then having thousands of miscarriages a Krogan female now only gives birth to 2 or 3 at a time.