Is Indoctrination Theory dead

[Zaik]

Dunno.

With EC they opened up like 3 new plot holes I can think of that could plausibly support IT, but they look a lot more like piss poor writing trying to cover up for pisser poorer writing than an obfuscated ending like IT.

 

[mindlesspuppet]

I personally have my own theory about the indoctrination theory.

I believe that originally the Indoctrination theory was right but it was removed by Bioware at the last second because EA wanted them to appeal to a "broader audience" and if you hadn't played Mass Effect 1 or 2 you wouldn't know what indoctrination was. So they took the reveal that you were indoctrinated out but kept all the evidence in either because they were lazy or as a screw you to EA. When they were making the extended cut they took all the evidence out to avoid confusing people.

I have to agree. It is quite literally the only explanation that ties everything together. Not only that but it's the only thing that explains Casey Hudson's odd behavior when writing the ending; if the endings were meant to be taken at surface value as most of the EC implies, then there was absolutely no reason for him to seclude himself from the rest of the staff given there's no twists or anything of value that could have leaked.

I feel like Harbinger speaking via the Starchild in the refusal ending is almost confirmation of this.

I'm not sure who the extended cut served to be honest. The same glaring faults still exist when taking the ending at surface value, but it seems everyone is so sick of the issue at this point that they just don't care.

I suspect one day in a decade or so, when much of today's Bioware team has moved on, details will arise about the ending they had originally intended.

 

[Goofguy]

I was content to accept the Indoctrination Theory as my canon even if it ultimately meant there was no actual resolution to the Reaper threat.

The theory took off when rumours of an ending DLC starting surfacing. In the many weeks before Bioware announced that it would be an extended cut and not a re-write, the IT enthusiasts were going to town on speculations and wishful thinking. I didn't blame them.

Now that most of us have played/seen the new ending DLC, it's really not worth investing the energy anymore on interpretations of the ending(s). It is what it is, there are other games to focus on.

 

[Paladin Anderson]

I haven't and probably will never see the new endings. I've seen the old one once and that was enough for me. When I get to the part where we see the ghost kid I just shut the game off and say "And they all lived happily ever after". Because, up to that very moment, I loved every moment of the game. But I refuse to watch the ending again.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

It was always dead. It was created by people desperate to interpret the ME ending in a way they saw fit, ignoring the possibility that Bioware just fucked up the consistency of the ending.

Edit: I honestly believe anyone who truly thinks it is the correct ending is an absolute moron, just to be completely clear on the matter. Occam's razor defeats such people as always.

 

[PirateRose]

I never believed it, actually I was one of the ones that thought Shepard was indoctrinated before ME3 came out. I thought Bioware would pull an interesting story from that, and then due to ME3 I stopped believing it. I think it'd dead for a lot of people, but there will be people 10 years from now who will continue to believe it.

Much of the Mass Effect fan base are going to spend the rest of their lives like the Star Wars fans, pissed at the lore changes and inconsistencies that were introduced by bad artistic decisions from the creator(s).

I'm trying to not be one of those people, but damn it, it's so hard.

 

[AD-Stu]

As someone who's a big enough Mass Effect nerd to have, say, actually read the novels that people were citing as "evidence" that supported the theory, I never thought it made any damn sense to begin with. Furthermore, I never understood why anyone thought that, as horrible as the original ending was, "it was all a dream" was somehow a better solution.

Regardless, it's pretty obvious that it's never been even remotely close to Bioware's version of events so I'd say yeah, it's deader than A-line flares with pockets in the knees.