The Most Shocking Moments in Mass Effect 3
Your choices have consequences in the Mass Effect trilogy. Ignore what the haters of Mass Effect 3′s ending are saying; it’s during the game itself where all your decisions pay off, be they through positive or negative outcomes.
And boy, are there some intense negative ones. Unless you were playing a renegade Shepard and were particularly fond of character deaths then you probably didn’t see most of them. After two playthroughs and countless hours of discussion and research here are my picks for ME 3′s most shocking moments.
Gunning down Mordin
If you chose to take the salarians’ offer and sabotage the genophage cure there’s ultimately only one person standing in your way; Mass Effect 2 fan favourite Mordin Solus. It’s possible to simply talk him out of releasing the cure if your paragon or renegade points are high enough (made all the easier if Wrex’s destructive brother Wreav is in charge of the krogans).
However, the most stone cold option is to gun down poor Mordin, preventing him from deploying the full cure. Bioware pile on the drama by having him make it up the elevator ride, crawl toward the control console but expire before he can use it.
The betrayal and death of Wrex
If you chose to sabotage the genophage cure and you’ve kept Wrex alive since the first game he’ll confront you on the Citadel saying that he’s found out about your deal with the salarians. Rightly ticked off at this deceit that has condemned his people he’ll pull a shotgun on you and attempt to have retribution. C-Sec will gun him down, giving you the opportunity to fire the fatal bullet, as he crashes through a window to his death.
The genocide of the quarians & Tali’s death
Probably the most horrifying moment in the game is if you fail to stop the conflict between the quarians and the geth. In a dramatic space battle the vastly superior synthetic race annihilate their creators, effectively making them extinct before the Reapers have their way.
Team mate and ally since the original game Tali is so horrified at witnessing the genocide of her race that she takes off her mask and jumps off a cliff, dying on the home world that her people had been trying to retake. Even more gut-wrenching is the paragon interrupt where Shepard dives to grab her but always fails.
All of the suicides
Loss and death are big themes throughout Mass Effect 3 what with most of the races in the galaxy facing annihilation by the Reapers. But to add to the grim atmosphere there are several characters who will potentially commit harakiri at some point in the game. While there’s too many to post video links to here, Tali, Admiral Raan, Samara and the Illusive Man will all off themselves in certain situations, three of them by pistol shot to the head.
The worst ending: the destruction of Earth
If you’re the worst Commander Shepard ever and have a ridiculously low military strength score at the final mission this is the only ending afforded to you. For the most part it’s the same as the standard renegade option, where Shepard destroys all synthetic life in the galaxy, Reapers included.
However, the big difference is that the red synthetic-destroying wave also torches the surface of Earth below eradicating all organic life on the planet too. Presumably this is a side effect of the Crucible being so badly put together. Oops.
About the Author
Even on my renegade playthrough I didn’t see any of these scenes. That was mainly thanks to Wrex being out of the picture though. I managed to talk Mordin down from curing the Genophage.
Noooooo, not Mordin! Honestly, after seeing his Gilbert and Sullivan, I can’t understand how anyone could shoot him in his weird lizard face.