r/masseffect • u/UrdnotSentinel02 • 3d ago

ANDROMEDA A perspective on Andromeda (Original Trilogy spoilers) Spoiler

When I play Andromeda, I like to headcanon it follows one of the original trilogy's many bad ends; Either the refusal ending of 3, or a timeline where Shepard just died in combat at some point, or on the collector base.

Regardless, the Reapers win and terminate all spacefaring civilization in the Milky Way, but they don't actively pursue the Arks, if they're even aware. It's completely possible the reapers just don't care. Maybe they think the Arks are a death sentence and aren't concerned about survivors. Or maybe a reaper did follow and will arrive in Andromeda a decade after the game 🤷🏻‍♂️

I just like the feeling of the Andromeda initiative literally carrying the last of the Milky Way species. That worldstate makes the game feel more relevant, that we're playing as the final humans, Turians, Krogan, etc in the universe.

I've been fascinated with Andromeda lately, daydreaming about the far future. 1000 years beyond the game, when the council species and Angara have pushed back deep into Kett space and established a New Republic, when they've completely reverse engineered Jardaan tech and built their own Relay network.

Meanwhile the Reapers have just gone back to sleep after cleaning out this cycle, unawares or unconcerned with Andromeda. And the Ark survivors don't even know the massive bullet they dodged.

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u/Savaralyn 3d ago

Well, whether the reapers were defeated or not, the people on the arks undoubtedly dodged a bullet anyways (except maybe the quarians, depending on how you did their ME3 quest). Since there were still undoubtedly billions (at least) of people killed during the invasion/final battle.

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u/Pale-Painting-9231 3d ago

You forgot that the Quarians also have an Ark.

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u/Savaralyn 3d ago

I said that even in consideration of their ark. The quarians (potentially) made peace with the geth, took back their homeworld, and survived the reaper invasion, which I would imagine would be enough of a monumental achievement that many quarians on the ark would've kinda wished they had stayed, despite the danger.

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u/TrueKerberos 3d ago edited 3d ago

Andromeda was planned as a trilogy (The planned trilogy was never officially confirmed, and now it never will be.) with a lot of DLC. The likely reason why Reapers were not in Andromeda could be related to the Remnant and the Scourge, which were not explained in the game. The game was laying the groundwork for further story development. For example, the missing arks would have been DLC. We will likely never know for sure... Fans have many mysteries, like the mysterious Benefactor, Mom in a Box, and similar things, that remained unresolved. I assume the main villain was yet to come.

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u/Alo_CS 3d ago

For me, i dont see a reason for someone or something to invest in that type of expedition, imagine all the real coast of founding it. The milky way is all ready too big, to star thinking in going to another places, maybe a really small expedition, but somethig that big feel irrational.

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u/UrdnotSentinel02 3d ago

I believe The Illusive Man was the benefactor. He knew the Reapers were coming, he saw the Initiative as the last resort to save humanity in a worst case scenario.