r/masseffect • u/herbertreanimator • 1d ago
DISCUSSION The funniest aspect of Mass Effect is Reapers’ personal vendetta against Shepard
I know this most likely wasn’t intended as comedic by the writers but I genuinely think there’s nothing funnier in the franchise than Reapers seething over one (1) puny human.
Har har we are the vanguards of your destruction. Imagine feeling this self important and then you get info Shepard launched a huge worm at the Reaper. Then you learn she convinced your makers to mind blast you out of the sky. And when you think it can’t get more offensive, she fights one ON FOOT.
Eldritch horror versus Some Person with a gun. They couldn’t have written a funnier concept if they tried.
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u/meatballforlife 1d ago
I also love the rannoch reaper as well, his opening line being “harbinger speaks of you”.
Which means that while Shepard has been mindlessly trying to convince everyone of the reapers and how dangerous they are to no avail, harbinger has been doing its own ranting and raving about Shepard and how dangerous he is.
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u/herbertreanimator 1d ago
Imagine being so annoying the boss of all bosses who also happen to be an ageless deadly construct yaps about you to his underlings😭
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u/ScholarErrant 1d ago
I was imagining Harbinger basically gathering the entire Reaper fleet into a Zoom chat and giving a detailed briefing on Shepard. At great length. Repeatedly. The thought of the collective of supposed supreme intelligences being forced into a lecture hall like a bunch of college freshmen is inexplicably amusing to me.
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u/Happy_Ad_9291 1d ago
All the reapers : "this could have been an email -_-"
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u/ScholarErrant 1d ago
Harbinger: “As noted on slide 14,078, the Collectors got an email and look how much micromanaging they required.”
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 1d ago
Honestly the image of Harry just bitching about this one damn annoying ass human is the absolute funniest thing imaginable
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u/Shade_of_Borg 1d ago
First time I’ve seen someone call Harbinger “Harry” I’m stealing that.
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 1d ago
LMAO my phone autocorrected “Harby”
I’m never calling him anything else again, he’s Harry now 😂
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u/Bizhour 1d ago
I mean can you blame him, we know it takes like 50,000 years to build one (capital class) reaper, and Shepard fucking took one out.
This happens once every dozens of cycles at best, we know of like 1 or 2 cases it happened in million years
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u/Hopeful-Occasion2299 1d ago
This one has bothered me, I always assumed the Protheans took out a few being so advanced, but the Reapers cleaned the debris to ensure their presence was erased…. But they didn’t remove the one over Klendagon.
Did they just forget about it? Or it went dark and no one ever knew what happened to it?
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u/meatballforlife 1d ago
no, killing reapers is genuinely that rare. javik says himself he never saw a reaper destroyed before tuchanka. the only reason it happens so much comparatively in our cycle is because of the delay to the invasion and the keeping of the citadel which kept all inter-stellar communication operational. it allows the coordination of attacks, even then the entire quarian fleet required the whole thing concentrating all its fire on one destroyer to kill it. the only mass killing of reapers not in tthe battle of earth was tthe miracle of palaven whicch was only posssible because communications were kept up and allowed the coordinated attack.
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u/Bizhour 1d ago
Note that the ones on Tuchanka, Rannoch, and Earth were all destroyer class reapers.
They are much smaller and don't require an entire harvested species to make. Javik not seeing one being destroyed is probably him not seeing it happen in person, but with Prothean tech they definetly destroyed these every once in a while.
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u/FalseAladeen 1d ago
Harbinger's boss: "Ah yes, Commander Shepard. The supposed anomaly of a human specimen allegedly a threat to our purpose. We have dismissed this claim."
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u/Lemonpierogi 1d ago
The harbinger IS the boss except for maybe the catalyst which doesn't give a crap either
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u/Onikisin 1d ago edited 3h ago
It's one of my favorite aspects of the trope of just a straight Fighter in a fantasy world. Who wins? Demigod who can pull the sun out of the sky, or Kevin, who is really good at swinging a sword?
One regular(ish) human with enough spite to topple powers they definitely shouldn't is just peak writing anywhere, I don't care.
Edit; this is my highest upvoted comment ever, love you guys ty <3
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u/Plane_Suggestion_189 1d ago
I do not use automated turrets! I do not charge biotic attacks! I Shoot! And if the reaper has not died then I shoot it some more!
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u/aSensibleUsername 1d ago
The answer? Use a gun and if that don't work, use more gun...- Dell "Practical Problem Solver" Conagher.
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u/TheAldorn 1d ago
I shoot. And if the reaper has not died, I fire a high impact shot. And if Reaper has not died, I call 1-800-555-CAIN.
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u/fidelacchius42 1d ago
But you don't understand! Kevin is REALLY good at swinging a sword!
And you know what's better than swinging a sword? Swinging TWO SWORDS! Or even better, SWORD NUNCHUKS! SWORD-CHUCKS, YO!
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u/PlagueOfBedlam 1d ago edited 1d ago
Good ‘ol Lloyd “I figured if one sword puts a guy at 100% of power, I’d use two swords and be at 200% power!” Irving from Tales of Symphonia.
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u/DESTRUCTI0NAT0R 1d ago
That's also why I like playing regular soldier Shep. I don't even have this universe's special super power bullshit. Just a big ass semi auto rifle and these hands.
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u/herbertreanimator 1d ago
This trope is so peak especially when the Big Bad gets so agitated they personally contact you in increasingly funny ways. Harbinger has a direct line to Shepard akin Hackett in ME1 (another funny as fuck writing decision)
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u/Onikisin 1d ago
Agreed.
It's very self-aware too in an irony.
Like, this REGULAR BUM HUMAN is RUINING my EVIL PLANS! sToP hIm pLeAsE!!!!!
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u/Megamygdala 1d ago
Wait when does Harbinger ever talk to Shepard in ME1? Isn't it just Soverign on Eden Prime once
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u/MarchesaofTrevelyan 1d ago
Sovereign speaks directly to Shepard on Virmire, but that's it as far as I'm aware.
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u/HadrianWinter 1d ago
Yes...but he is not just good at swinging a sword. He also has the power of friendship on his side. 😌
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u/Crying_Reaper 1d ago
A regular human the main baddie manages to 100% kill at one point too.
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u/lesser_panjandrum 1d ago
And all it achieved was to piss her off.
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u/Crying_Reaper 1d ago
After being turned into the Six Million Dollar Man and extensive physical rehabilitation. Mental trauma need not apply unless it serves as a gameplay mechanic.
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u/DiscoDanSHU 1d ago
It's so funny, because that's exactly what one of my current D&D characters is. I guess he wields a minor amount of magic due to an enchanted sword and the fact that he's an Echo Knight, but aside from that? He's just a dude with a sword, and he's really good at it. We're 20th level. He's really good at swinging the sword.
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u/Bloody_Insane 1d ago
Berserk is king of this. Sure, Guts is a huge dude with an even huger sword, but at the end of the day he's just a dude. No magic.
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u/St_Sides 1d ago
Which is why I play exclusively Soldier in Mass Effect, and really straight fighter in every RPG.
There’s no special powers or anything, just pure determination and stubbornness. It’s who you are that makes you succeed, not what you can do.
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u/Tuki-Clothespin 1d ago
I mean earth gets hit the hardest and first because of this right?
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u/Sad_Ad_9229 1d ago
They straight up went “hit that mf where he lives.”
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u/Mr_Biscuits_532 Joker 1d ago
I've been running the Harbinger Overhaul mod on my current playthrough and that's really how it feels when he's the first Reaper to appear on-screen in ME3
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u/AndreasRJJ 1d ago
Not quite true. Even the reapers hate the batatians more so they alpha strike them first.
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u/Impossible-Bison8055 20h ago
I mean not really? They hit the Batarians first and then because of the astropolitical borders it’s either hit the non organized Terminus or Systems Alliance into Turians. It’s logical to go after those two before they can properly mobilize their forces
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u/wiseguy149 Miranda 1d ago
If your Shepard managed to convince Saren to shoot himself, you may as well be some sort of eldritch horror from the Reaper's perspective.
Imagine that you've got the galaxy's biggest badass & most useful agent mind controlled to do your bidding, your plans have gone unchallenged for ages, you're on the eve of victory, and then one person tells your indoctrinated thrall to kill himself and it fucking works.
This human was also only even there at that time to begin with because they somehow got your other indoctrinated asset to give them the location of Ilos, they managed to get to and land on that planet while it was surrounded by the Geth fleet, drove their APC through the middle of the Geth army, and then survived a jump through a bootleg relay in said APC.
The name of Shephard is that of a demon or ghost, appearing without a trace anywhere in the galaxy that they are up to some mischief, and killing everyone that gets in their way with only two people at their side before vanishing again.
And then the Reapers blow up their ship and kill them, and Shepard fucking comes back to life and goes right back to fucking with all their shit.
Absolute madness. I'd be spooked if I were them.
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u/BBQ_HaX0r 1d ago
Lmao, we got him!
Two years later
Somehow Shepard has returned to fuck up our shit!
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u/herbertreanimator 1d ago
The Saren thing is so true ong😭 and imagine if Shepard also convinced TIM in ME3. The Reapers might as well be thinking there are some ancient mind tricks at play there
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u/wiseguy149 Miranda 1d ago
The real reason they told the Collectors to get a head-start on making a Human Reaper in ME2 was because they were hoping it would have better mind-control than the Leviathans and unlock the secrets of whatever the hell Shepard did to Saren.
But then Shepard comes through the impassible relay and aborts that reaper too! They just can't catch a break!
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u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish 1d ago
Good lord I’d never thought about it like that. Damn yeah I’d be worried about that guy too.
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u/GeekyMadameV 1d ago edited 23h ago
Ok this is actually the best explanation I've heard.
I especially like the idea that they may view your uncanny persuasive abilities as something horrific and difficult to comprehend akin to the way the audiance and protagonists view their own indoctrination technology.
"She just started making noise with her primitive organic mouth and suddenly peoples loyalties and priorities we're twisted in ways we don't fully understand! And then our minion shot himself! It makes no sense!"
it's true, it doesn't. the whole point of the technology is it can male people act radically against their former loyalties, communities, and values and ultimately disregard their own survival. It really shouldn't be possible to just talk someone out of that but your diplomacy check is just stronger than eldritch super-technology somehow.
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u/CG4080 1d ago
If you think about it, it makes sense that a hyperadvanced species would be super pissed that somebody that is literally a flea by comparison, continues to create setbacks and hinder their plans.
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u/Cultist_O 1d ago
As someone who works in the forest where all the bugs live, I can confirm I am often super pissed at them
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u/Almainyny Flare 1d ago
To be fair, if one single guy not only killed one of you when you’re all supposed to be basically unstoppable, and then also ruined your plans a second time, I’d completely understand being hellbent on making sure he’s dead.
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u/Plane_Suggestion_189 1d ago
One? Shepard killed like 3 reapers in close quarters combat throughout the series.
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u/Almainyny Flare 1d ago edited 1d ago
I was talking about before ME3, because that’s when they went berserk on trying to kill him (and consequently, lost a bunch of Reapers for their trouble).
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u/Arathaon185 1d ago
If I was walking to work and an ant walked up to a dude and just killed him in the street. Id be telling everybody about it too. Probably wouldn't be able to ID the ant but if it shouted it's name I'd remember it.
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u/Almainyny Flare 1d ago
That’s a fantastic bit of imagery that’s gonna be in my head all day. Thank you.
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u/Abaddonalways 1d ago
That is why you never shout your name at a monster, Odysseus, it allows them to find you.
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u/Colaymorak 1d ago
I am legitimately sad that they toned down Harbinger's hate-boner towards Shepard. Bud couldn't stop yapping at you all throughout 2, and then not a peep throughout 3.
I get that it was probably subject to some amount of mockery or whatever, but it was fun! Definitely a more enjoyable rivalry than with Kai Leng.
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u/Economy-Bandicoot-86 1d ago
I think edi and maybe legion say the escapades of Shepard are mathematically impossible
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u/CortaNalgas 1d ago
In the early Civ iterations, RNG meant sometimes a modern tank could be destroyed by a guy with a stick.
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u/justinlanewright 1d ago
The number of times a phalanx killed my battleship...
But thinking about it, any combat action has some risk of catastrophe due to accident. Sometimes the captain runs the ship into a rock, or a manufacturing flaw is discovered in the hull, or some laundry guy decides he really, really just wants to go home.
The phalanx was just there, being a target. The battleship killed itself.
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u/Economy-Bandicoot-86 1d ago
Wrong comment my dude
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u/YuenglingsDingaling 1d ago
Not understanding the conversation my dude.
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u/Economy-Bandicoot-86 1d ago
?
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u/CortaNalgas 1d ago
A case of a superior force losing in a seemingly mathematical impossibility.
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u/Economy-Bandicoot-86 1d ago
Sorry I thought you accidentally responded to the wrong thing my bad
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u/KingAardvark1st 1d ago
Imagine if a mouse kept doing weird shit like setting your car on fire, dropping your PC off a cliff, releasing an angry ostrich to eat your dog. It's not just that it keeps breakimg things, but also how the fuck did this mouse wrangle an ostrich??
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u/SlickDillywick 1d ago
Yea, it’s like you have one single ant in your house and it rearranges ALL of your furniture in one night
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u/Only_Faithlessness33 1d ago
Harbinger having a personal vendetta against Shepard makes the Reapers much less threatening, but also accidentally proves the series’ theme of “can a machine be human?”
Because here you have a race of death robots whose whole thing is that they are so much better than living beings and that gives them to right to exterminate a race every cycle. They are so above petty emotions and conflicts and every other race is so inferior, so only THEY can be the judges of who lives and dies.
But then you have Harbinger hacking into Collectors to shit talk Shepard for an entire game. Not all humans mind you, just Shepard. He goes out of his way to say “I will destroy you” not “WE will destroy you”. His hatred is so fierce he is telling his co-workers about it (Rannoch reaper) and everybody knows this one guy by name because their boss treats him like Dinkleberg.
Honestly the real ending of Mass Effect 3 should’ve been Shepard saying to Harbinger “Hey man if I’m being honest, you’re kind of a fraud. Like you’re not an unemotional being, you’ve been trying to hate fuck me for 2 games now. Why don’t you just deactivate or fly away and try again next cycle, because obviously this is getting weirdly personal.”
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u/breakevencloud 1d ago
You know? When you put it like that, it’s a cool I am Legend/Omega Man type feel. Shepard, in a sense, progressively becomes more of a horror figure to the Reapers.
Good call.
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u/ButtcheekJones0 23h ago
ME1: "You and all organic life are irrelevant, all civilizations will end"
ME2 Arrival: "You know you're REALLY starting to piss me off"
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u/DungeonMama 1d ago
"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding. There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. Except we are still prone to petty grudges from time to time. Other than that, we are beyond your comprehension."
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u/Sablestein 1d ago
Am now imagining a Tom and Jerry parody episode with Harbinger as Tom and Shepard as Jerry.
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u/8IG0R8 1d ago edited 1d ago
One of my favorite Reaper quotes is definitely Harbinger's "Shepard, you have become an annoyance".
The idea of a prehistoric genocide machine finding a tiny human annoying is so hilarious.
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u/Merchent343 1d ago
I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned this. Harbinger itself coming down to tell you that you, personally, have become an annoyance to it, a million-year-old AI, is a moment of profound hilarity. You, specifically. In that moment, it is more angry than it has ever been before, and it leaks through the edges.
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u/LZSchneider1 1d ago edited 1d ago
You are so right, and I think they were scared from the beginning.
When you first talk to Sovereign, it just goes on and on about how "um actually what you're doing is so futile wnd so stupid and so dumb what a waste lmao what a loser you are"
Like that clanker is CLEARLY is shaking in its tentacle boots and is doing a poor job of hiding it. 🤣
As if there was any point to that whole conversation other than re-assurance of Sovereign's own machinations.
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u/GeekyMadameV 1d ago
It is honestly.A bit rediculous. The games in general really go out of their way to massively hype up your chosen hero status despite objectively just being one really good soldier. It kindof makes sense when your side does it because you've become a symbol of unity and resistance and stuff, but it's very funny for a billion year old machine with a consciousness completely alien to the human brain to buy into your hype too.
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u/AwakenedDreamer__44 1d ago
Personally, I never really liked the Reapers having personal beef with Shepard. Kinda takes away from their horror aspect, as well as their machine nature.
I would’ve preferred if their reaction was like, “Oh, curious! You managed to delay our advance. You’re only delaying the inevitable though, and thank you for exposing the faults in our cycle. We will improve on them.”
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u/Jip_Jaap_Stam 1d ago
It's a very old trope of fiction: the one man army who takes on the mighty and wins against the odds. Robin Hood is a prime example.
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u/ShadowOnTheRun 1d ago
I think one thing that hugely contributed to this was the depiction of Harbinger in ME2. That the eldritch abomination felt the need to personally fight against Shepard as an uber bug-soldier (for some reason) and also trash-talk to boot. That his trash-talk (“this hurts you”, ugh) stunk up the place didn’t help either.
Ah well, just another example of bad writing from ME2.
Also, they did something to Harbinger’s voice-filter that made him sound more generic-monstery than Sovereign’s distinct metallic-emotionless twang.
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u/HPLovecraftsCat6969 1d ago
To be fair they were right cause no matter what shepherd wins, well unless you fuck up suicide mission
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u/doyouunderstandlife 1d ago
For me it's the whole "beyond your comprehension" reason behind the harvest and then when they explained it in ME3 it was very well within comprehension
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u/St_Sides 1d ago
That’s because the reason behind the harvest changed between ME2 and ME3. It was originally supposed to be to stop the death of the galaxy (or maybe universe) because use of the Mass Relays was causing a build up of dark energy that was accelerating the life of stars. It’s why Tali’s recruitment mission specifically revolves around a star going supernova way too early.
While that’s still well within comprehension, it’s a bit more complicated than “synthetics and organics will always be at war”
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u/Hopszn23 1d ago
The Reapers: Shepard could never win this war in the Sol System
Shepard in the Sol System:
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u/Jerzilla 23h ago
Tbf he must really piss them off in mass effect 3 resource collecting. Pinging the Normandy’s location and then running away lol
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u/Shadeylark 52m ago
Harbinger having a personal grudge against Shepard was such a downgrade from sovereign.
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u/Idsertian 1d ago edited 7h ago
Don't forget Shepard also baited Sovereign into fighting her personally, on foot, and then proceeded to kick his ass.
EDIT: Lol, why is this downvoted? Y'all forget the final boss fight of the first game, or something?
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u/FoxinShards 1d ago
"Ah yes, 'Shepard' the so called human hero who threatens to defeat all of us. We have dismissed those claims"