Any chance of Rachni in Andromeda?

There's two concepts at play here:

Having the technology to go to another galaxy- the AI has the technology to go to another galaxy vs

Being at an extragalactic level of tech- the AI (i.e. Mass Effect) civilizations are not extragalactic level.

The difference is, is the technology widespread (as in, full regular production?) Or is it experimental/one shot? If it's the latter, like it is in the AI, then yeah that doesn't say much about their tech level otherwise (though its still an indication of great potential). If it's the former though...

The thing is travelling to another galaxy is so difficult it almost can't be done conventionally (even considering FTL "conventional"). Thus to do it regularly, you pretty much have to come up with some really esoteric way of doing it (bending space, pocket dimensions and other shenanigans). And if you have that, that's not all you can do with it. There are so many applications for stuff like that, it becomes impossible not to consider a race who's mastered it objectively superior technologically. It has nothing to do with culture or or alien perceptions. Physics pretty much tells us it's impossible to travel distances like that and treat it the same way as going to the corner store. So if you have a race in fiction that can treat it like going to the corner store, it's only because they've found a way to make physics their bitch. And if that happens, how can you not conclude they're superior technologically?

My feeling is Rachni is not important for bioware. It is a race created for a seconadary quest purpose. It had not be developped, and by the way, it allows to write what we want in the blanks.


I will not bet we will see rachni in andromeda, at least not in the first game. But Like (vortex13 ?) said, Rachni is only the symbol of really '' exotic '' aliens. It is not the kind of aliens we will have if we rely trailers. More likely it seems to be human like (Angaran), and an other human like with proteans similarities. Wait and see.

The Reapers and the Relay network don't bar anyone from exploring the galaxy, that restriction was enacted by the Council after the Rachni Wars. The fact that less than 1% of the Milky Way is explored is more to do with the current galactic government's isolationist policies than anything to do with Reapers' plan. Even then, just because the majority of the known galaxy is under explored doesn't mean that the Reapers ignore the other 99% of it just because the current cycle hasn't explored it yet. You also have to consider that the numerous cycles in the galaxy have each discovered and colonized different portions of the galaxy and that the Reapers wiped each of them out in turn. It's a systematic extermination of all advanced life in the galaxy, the Reapers aren't going to skip over a highly technological society just because they haven't discovered the Citadel.

As far as why the Rachni would have a desire to travel to Andromeda I have a personal theory for that. Like you mentioned earlier, the Rachni present during the time of the Prothean cycle were more than likely on the cusp of sentience, they were smart enough to engage the Prothean empire in their little "rebellion" but perhaps they couldn't quantify the extent of the other's attempts at genocide. Flash forward to the Reaper invasion, this young species might not be able to understand the implications of this event, but it would be very likely that the Rachni present during that time would be able to associate these metal monsters with death for everything. This primordial fear would certainly make an impression on the species as a whole, especially since all queens of the Rachni share an innate racial memory passed down from queen to queen. 

Now move forward in time to the intervening period between the Prothean cycle and the current one, say about 5,000 years prior to the onset of the Rachni Wars, the Rachni have advanced and developed as a species, reaching full fledged sentience. The various hives are all interested in expanding and securing their holdings, but for a select few; maybe there is a few queens present that are direct descendants of the Rachni from the Prothean cycle. These hives are concerned with this nameless fear that consumed everything they knew. The majority of the other hives don't think that such a baseless dread holds any concern for their agendas and ignore it, but maybe this small group decided to make an attempt at leaving the Milky Way.  This colonization effort is under taken, and the rest of the Rachni carry on with their lives. A short time later the Rachni in the galaxy discover the Levaithan artifacts and become enthralled, thus setting up the events lead up to the trilogy. The queen we meet in ME 1 would be an offspring of the Rachni that chose to remain in the Milky Way, so she wouldn't be aware of the plan to leave, so there wouldn't be any plot holes concerning her knowledge of events.

But consider how much more of the Milky Way would have been explored if that restriction hadn't been enacted by the Council concerning the relays. As much as it pains me to use as an example just look at the ending to ME 3, the network is spread out across the entirety of the galactic disk. A good portion of the reason why the galaxy is under explored has more to do with the actions of the Council, post-Rachni Wars, than the Reapers' machinations I feel.

As for the Rachni's ability to feel and express emotions they have a definite capacity for them; just muted and not at a direct 1:1 comparison with humans, and human-like aliens. The queen we meet on Noveria is able to express sadness over the insanity of her children and how euthanizing them would be a mercy. Again in ME 3 (if the player spared the queen) she makes another mention at how tortured the converted Rachni are, likening their horrible existence almost to "I have no mouth and I must scream" scenario. Indeed the whole fact that the "soothing songs" of the Rachni queens is needed in order to foster mental development of their young would point to a degree of social interaction beyond just mindless drones serving the cold, heartless hive mind. The queen is able to express anger and defiance when Shepard decides to kill her on Noveria, struggling to escape containment, but she is also able to express gratitude if the player spares her, promising to help in the coming war. And in regards to that last point, why would the queen be so adamant about building up an army to combat the Reapers if she could have just run?

I mean sure, you could say the Rachni are a very honorable species, one that keeps their promises of aid (looking at you Wrex), but if the queen was just saying all that stuff to save her exoskeleton at Peak 15 why didn't she just run and hide away on some secluded world and wait out the coming apocalypse? Likewise, why didn't the queen flee to parts unknown after being freed in ME 3 (if Shepard spared her in ME 1) and instead immediately jumped to work, directing her children to help with the Crucible? Loyalty will only go so far when the survival of your very species is concerned; I mean just look at Shepard's (potential) betrayal of the Krogan or Quarians/Geth; the queen would have no real binding alliance with the rest of the galaxy, especially considering the Rachni's robust physiology and penchant for surviving attempted genocides, so why the push to help? Could it be that even with their unique traits the Queen felt that fighting was the only way to survive? Out of all the known species present in the galaxy at the time, the Rachni might have the best chance at surviving by hiding out, but that is only that, a chance. There is no guarantee that they would be able to escape the notice of the Reaper armada a second time. 

So with that in mind, I don't think it would be as far fetched to assume that maybe one of the hives, back before the Rachni Wars, could have decided that the primitive fear their ancestors felt justified their attempt to flee the galaxy in order to preserve the species. It wouldn't be anything noteworthy to the species at the time either, just a ship or two, sent off into the intergalactic void in the off chance that some primordial boogyman did in fact exist. 


For your theory about an extra-galactic species bringing primitive Rachni to the Milky Way from Andromeda, I guess I could buy it, though that would beg the question as to what happened to them. If we are looking at an advanced Type III civilization, where trips to and from different galaxies is routine, why hasn't anyone seen anything about them? Surely the Reapers would have had something to say about a species as advanced, or perhaps even more advanced then them just waltzing into their territory.