Lets Play: Mass Effect (Updated - Ch 6 Part 2 - Virmire)

[karma9308]

Yeah - it just seems weird because when I think of the Mass Effect series as a whole, "funny" is definitely one of the words I'd use to describe it (along with "epic", "awesome", etc) but that impression is obviously only coming from the second and third entries in the series.

It also makes me think of this again:

ME1 - written by Drew Karpyshyn
ME2 - written by Drew Karpyshyn AND Mac Walters
ME3 - written by Mac Walters

You ninja'd me! That was my exact thought, that the serious tone was more a style of Karpyshyn's writing style over Walters. Since ME2 is kinda mixed on serious and humorous moments, it does kinda fit.

Spoiler

Of course, ME3 become very self-referential and humorous but also had the PTSD going on with Shepard with the dreams featuring the stupid kid as well as all the "War is bad" messages it was obviously trying to convey.

It may not just have been Walters though, considering the turnover rate for the writers during the trilogy, it could have just been the new faces on the writing team. I know that if you listen to Donbrow (sic?) he essentially said he wrote his characters based on how fans would want them to be written. Considering his characters encompass most of the fan favorites (Wrex, Garrus, Javik), it's pretty easy to see.

 

[AD-Stu]

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone, much appreciated

OT: I've noticed that most of the sidequests involved humans being screwed over due to other humans or aliens involved. I wish there was side missions mainly involving the turians or actual krogans. I understand this is the first game, but the reason this is my least favorite version of the ME series is because it mainly focuses on humans and crap, let alone the unfavorable gameplay lol. But still it was amazing and got me into playing ME 2 and ME 3.

Good point - I don't really know what's behind that but there's a couple of possible explanations. Maybe they thought they were probably bogging us down enough with human lore and it'd be a bit too complicated to introduce too much alien-focussed stuff alongside it. It seems very possible (given the copy-pasted side quest locations) that it could've been a resources issue too. Plus we're with the Alliance in this game, ostensibly doing odd jobs for the Alliance, so I guess from that point of view it would make sense for us to mostly be focussed on humans.

Obviously it's a situation that gets improved upon greatly in the next game

It may not just have been Walters though, considering the turnover rate for the writers during the trilogy, it could have just been the new faces on the writing team. I know that if you listen to Donbrow (sic?) he essentially said he wrote his characters based on how fans would want them to be written. Considering his characters encompass most of the fan favorites (Wrex, Garrus, Javik), it's pretty easy to see.

Yeah, very true. I hadn't realised there was one guy largely responsible for Wrex, Garrus and Javik - though now that I know I have to say excellent work that man! Javik in particular had dozens of fantastic lines in ME3.

I only ever played the Renegade-specific mission once. And yeah, it's quite funny how Hackett actually DIDN'T want you to make a deal with that guy. (No idea how you'd get 90% Renegade, AND 80% Paragon. I wouldn't think that would be possible, without cheating.)

I think it's one of those things that's technically possible, but you've gotta plan the entire thing out from the start and basically play the game with the morality guide open beside you at all times to make sure you never, ever miss a free point or anything. I've certainly never been able to manage it - it was something I wanted to aim for in this LP, but instead we've just barely fallen over the line on the Paragon side and we can't be much higher than about 45% on the Renegade side.

Maybe as an academic exercise some time I'll work through the morality guide and map out exactly what you'd have to do to accomplish it

 

[sage42]

Well I'm glad I haven't read this for a while just managed to kill two hour with all these updates I never read. On the latest update though I never knew these were alignment specific missions. First time through I barely did any side quests. After that I just always used the glitch to max out both. So I always got both missions.

 

[AD-Stu]

I think the biggest impediment with the elevator conversations is that there's so many squadmate combinations you need to go through to hear them all and, worse than that, you've got to sit through all the repeated news stories in the meantime. I literally spent an hour going up and down that elevator with a few different combinations of squadmates and got maybe ten comments out of them? On the other hand I'd heard every news story multiple times.

With that in mind, someone datamining it would probably be a quicker solution

 

[sage42]

If you just want to hear 'em all look it up on youtube. I'm sure some poor schlub has gone through and done it. If you wanna do it, a free day and a lot of patience.

 

[AD-Stu]

Good point! *goes and looks*

OK, so there are a couple of individual conversations there, but nobody seems to have done a full compilation or anything. Internet, I am disappoint in you...

Seriously, most of them aren't actually that good. It's pretty much all background race relations stuff which we glean from other sources over the course of this game as well as ME2 and 3 (and the books and comics, if you're super dedicated )

 

[AD-Stu]

[HEADING=2]CHAPTER 6, PART 1 (Virmire) - Salarians suck at sneaking[/HEADING]

Spoiler: The first bit...

Previously, on Lets Play Mass Effect: In the absence of Cerberus, we gave some random groups of biotics their chance to shine as the douchebags of the week.

Now we're finally getting back onto the main plot. You'll all be relieved to hear that it's main plot from here to the end now, BTW, and the end is getting within spitting distance. Off to Virmire!

For those who've forgotten, here's why we're supposed to be interested in Virmire:



[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch4Pt5/Ch4Pt5629.jpg]

There wasn't actually any substance to the message by the way, just a burst of static. But we've set off on sillier errands with less cause than this, so let's go with it. Virmire is in the Sentry Omega system, which is right near the border of the forbidden Terminus systems.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1005_zps4a805d80.jpg]

I said last update that this game lacks humour compared to its sequels - I stand by that, but it does have occasional moments like this:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1009_zpsd2f8393d.jpg]

Anywho, here's the planet we actually want:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1014_zpsd8b29f99.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1016_zpscde916f8.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1017_zps3d019d48.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "N'yeah... but we're in an armoured frigate AND we've got a stealth drive. What do we care about turrets? It's not like we need to fly in low dodging shells from them or anything...

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Joker.jpg] "Challenge. Accepted."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Tali.jpg] "Bosh'tet, Joker, that's crazy. Just activate the stealth drive and drop us off somewhere quiet!"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Garrus.jpg] "Or just float down there and blow the turrets to hell with our main guns! They don't look very well calibrated, but they'll still do the trick."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Hundred credits says he pulls off the flying low thing without a scratch."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kaidan.jpg] *sighs* "I'll take that action."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Sold. Joker, do it."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] [img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Tali.jpg] [img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Garrus.jpg] *collective facepalm*

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1020_zps1685b311.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1024_zpsbd0c2389.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1025_zps1a2373e1.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1029_zps7336bce2.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1033_zpsfc5c1404.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Nice work Joker. No scratches?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Joker.jpg] [I]"Nothing external ma'am. There's a few on the arm rests of the cockpit chair where Kaidan's sitting though, and think he soiled himself too - it hasn't smelled this bad in here since Nihlus was on board."[/I]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Good. Tell the lieutenant he can spend my hundred credits getting his armour dry cleaned. Shepard out."

So here we are, on a very pretty, watery world, in the Mako. Because it's not a major plot world without a mandatory stint or two in the Mako driving down a linear canyon.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1046_zpsc12075fe.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1047_zpsaa5b4cf0.jpg]

...like I was saying. The point of all this is we need to take out some AA guns that are between here and the salarian camp so that the Normandy can land.

There's a couple of gatehouses to clear along the way, a few minor geth enemies to kill, and the occasional Geth Colossus. Which would be a problem if they weren't even easier to cheapshot here than normal.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1155_zps7f0980f9.jpg]

Here's what the Mako looks like if it gets blown to hell by the way - I left it in the line of fire by accident while I jumped out to cheapshot the Geth on foot.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1181_zps3c30f234.jpg]

Repairing it consumes omni-gel, not medpacks, and we've got WAY more omni-gel than we know what to do with right now. So soon enough it's back to normal shape again.

Here's one of the AA guns. Yes, they just took one of the sniper rifle models, blew it up big, stuck another one on top and put it on top of a turret. This game didn't have the budget its sequels did ;)

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1211_zps514bef73.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1227_zps35126415.jpg]

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[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1249_zps6d7084e2.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Joker.jpg] [I]"I'm reading that the grid is down, Commander. On approach to the salarian base now. Will make sure Lieutenant Alenko has put on his spare armour before he disembarks. Out."[/I]

There's another gatehouse to clear on the way. Grunka melees a Geth Destroyer there because LOL Immunity.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1275_zps2ab4bf2b.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1286_zpscb82b3af.jpg]

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[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1296_zpsb91f0755.jpg]

Thanks, Gunnery Chief Obvious. This is indeed the salarian camp. Grunka decides to let Ashley rush ahead to talk to the salarians. Because letting the biggest xenophobe in your group do that was the smart decision, I guess.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1308_zps7fd56d33.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1309_zpsb0c42efb.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "You and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hotzone."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kaidan.jpg] "You've got that right, it's gorgeous! Such a welcome change after all the snow in my boots on Noveria."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "What? I'm not talking about the weather! I'm talking about the fact that every AA gun within ten miles has been alerted to your presence. We stay put until the Council sends the reinforcements we requested."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1319_zps0c068ba5.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1320_zps82ba8fd1.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Yeah, our Ambassador tried that with them too - didn't work. Something about sending an entire fleet after one person being impractical or something. Plus..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1323_zpsbf455f2f.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "And besides, if we've alerted the enemy to our presence, surely it would be stupid to just sit here waiting."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kaidan.jpg] "So what have you found?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "Saren's base of operations. He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and very well fortified."

It turns out the salarians haven't actually [I]seen[/I] Saren here, they've just seen geth and intercepted some comm traffic referring to Saren. They have, at least, worked out what he's doing here though:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1342_zps6d023daa.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1343_zps1ca9c9b1.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "I can see where this is going to go... apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the genophage."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1348_zpsfa9da760.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Also, what's a paladin?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1350_zps66ca8f80.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Hudson.jpg] "And a Paladin is a gun that we'll include in the third game. You can't have one yet."

I guess it's [I]technically[/I] possible that you could get to this point without having any genophage-related discussions with other characters but there's absolutely no way in-universe that Shepard wouldn't know what the genophage is. Obsidian handled stuff like this really well in KOTOR2 (the Exile [B]never[/B] had to say "What's Malachor V" to anyone) but Bioware obviously didn't get that sophisticated.

For those that need a reminder though, the genophage is the population-control mutation that the salarians and turians inflicted upon the krogan to control their numbers and end the Krogan Rebellions a few hundred years ago. Krogan apparently breed at a truly alarming rate without it.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1356_zpse7fa34af.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "Exactly my thoughts. We must ensure that this facility and its secrets are destroyed."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1360_zpsa9d8efdd.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1365_zps8c8f0790.jpg]

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Wrex storms off, and Kirrahe says he needs a moment with his men to come up with a plan. When we go to check on Wrex, he's busy blowing holes in the water with his shotgun. Like a boss.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1433_zps90176f41.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1438_zps7c122e61.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1443_zps138c4b06.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "Help me out here Shepard. The lines between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I stand."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1450_zps82a2e7d3.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1453_zps7d1691b8.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "I've been loyal to you so far. Hell, you did more for me than my family ever did. But if I'm going to keep following you, I need to know we're doing it for the right reasons."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1462_zpsc893c61d.jpg]

Wrex and Grunka's "my quad is bigger than your quad" menace-off has escalated to gunpoint.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1470_zpsb9d1e336.jpg]

Wrex realises he's brought a pistol to a shotgun fight and starts to back down.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/Ch6Pt1476_zpsb2e068bf.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "Just one thing. When we find Saren, I want his head."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "I was planning to mount his head above the galaxy map in the CIC... can we come to some kind of time share agreement?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "OK, fine. Let's do this."

And with that, Wrex is back on side again. Whether or not Wrex survives this conversation is actually one of the big "choice" moments from this games that carries through into the sequels. There are three ways Wrex can end up dead: you can shoot Wrex yourself, or you can talk to Ashley and have her do it, or if you spend too long talking to Wrex, Ashley will shoot him on her own initiative. In the back. Because that's how she rolls.

There are also three ways to keep him alive: you can charm/intimidate him (requires 8 points in either), or just talk him down if we completed his family armour side quest (because he trusts us more), or apparently he just caves immediately if you only have four squadmates (only possible if you never recruited Garrus and come here before meeting Liara on Therum).

I don't recall choosing any charm/intimidate options, so I'm pretty sure we just did this using the second option. With the Wrex situation resolved we're free to go back to Kirrahe and see what kind of plan he's come up with.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-49-44-77_zps8ff1c5b8.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-49-50-20_zpsaa8b0522.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-49-53-79_zpsbb11372b.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "Nice. Drop that nuke from orbit and Saren can kiss his turian ass goodbye."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Hicks.jpg] "Good idea marine - that way you'll be sure."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "Unfortunately the facility is too well-fortified for that. We'll need to place the bomb at a precise location. The bomb must be taken to the far side of the facility. Your ship can drop it off, but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns, and pacify any ground forces first."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Garrus.jpg] "Again, with just a little calibration I'm pretty sure the Normandy's main guns could make short work of all those obstacles. Should I contact Joker and have him drop the boarding ramp?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "I'm not saying you're wrong Garrus, and I appreciate your passion for solving problems using the biggest gun to hand. But we take a huge XP hit for killing stuff in the Mako, can you imagine how little we'd get for using the Normandy? Let's see what the salarians have in mind."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-50-36-80_zps1b81661a.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "While we've got their attention, you can sneak your 'shadow' team in the back."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Garrus.jpg] "So you've got suicide in mind?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "If the lizards want to get themselves killed it works for me!"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-50-44-62_zps24e7c32d.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-50-49-90_zpsb742c4a5.jpg]

Just to make things interesting Kirrahe requests we send someone from our squad with him to help coordinate. Both Kaidan and Ashley volunteer. I chose Kaidan because Ashley hasn't gotten much airtime yet - plus I plan on egregiously abusing the Immunity ability for all our squadmates on this mission, and Kaidan doesn't have it.

After a bit more small talk Kirrahe assembles his troops for a pep talk.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-53-56-50_zps132af619.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-53-59-07_zpsf9eb88c3.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-54-27-85_zps01730d8b.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers. Our influence stopped the rachni..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] *fondles shotgun* "Actually the krogan did that..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "...but before that, we held the line. Our influence stopped the krogan..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] *grabs Wrex* "Easy there big fella - Garrus, help me hold him back!"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Kirrahe_zpsc3a9bdb7.jpg] "...but before that, we held the line!"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-55-05-14_zpsd44f3a1c.jpg]

That speech is the source of some running gags in the sequels, but it's important to note that it's played straight here (aside from my insertions, obviously), like a salarian version of the [I]Braveheart[/I] speech or something.

It mostly works. It also works to tell us more about the salarians, probably the major species that we've learned the least about in this game. You get the gist from the speech, but the lore nugget I like most about them is this one: they believe that waiting to actually [B]declare[/B] a war before you engage in one is insane - better to just get on the front foot and kick the enemy directly in the quad without warning.

Anywho, with that the teams split up and Grunka is left with her squad to find a way to sneak in the back door. We're also given some side quests to help out the salarian teams if we can.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-55-32-16_zpsf3e4e137.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-58-01-80_zpsc8d5fa73.jpg]

We're bringing Wrex as well as Ashley, because if we made Liara watch her mother die then we may as well make Wrex watch the only hope for the survival of his species die too. That's how Grunka rolls.

The first few times I played this game I never changed from the default "medium" graphical settings. It's only on more recent playthroughs that I've noticed it's actually quite pretty - in spots like this, it's even almost the equal of its sequels. We're in another watery tropical canyon that leads to Saren's base. Along the way there's a few guard posts and structures.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-58-48-30_zps9243f7ea.jpg]

If the environment here seems familiar, BTW, it's because it was reused for the 'tropical' levels in the <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.341194.15266323>Pinnacle Station DLC that we covered in a previous update. Even some of the structures, like the one in front of us now, were copy-pasted. Once again, [I]Mass Effect[/I] proves it wasn't always a AAA franchise with a seemingly endless budget :P

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-59-35-57_zps27b29663.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-59-48-04_zpsb4d5ec3f.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Geth.jpg] "Ow, this unit's squeedlyspooch has been damaged."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2522-59-59-74_zps75dedac7.jpg]

Messing with this geth computer console somehow helps the salarians, and we get XP and Paragon points for it.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-00-55-70_zps01a91a63.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-01-03-44_zps96acfe2e.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Yep - definitely picked the right team for this job."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-02-06-56_zpsc077b8d0.jpg]

That's our cue to try to disrupt the geth satellite transmissions. Fortunately on top of the next building...

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-04-01-81_zps83dd27bd.jpg]

We start running into krogan at this point... and like us, they've got that damned Immunity ability so it takes forever to kill them. Then we blow up some fuel tanks to disrupt the flying geth units that are hassling the salarians.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "I don't wanna seem like a spoilsport or anything Commander, but aren't all these great big explosions counter-productive when our mission was supposed to be slipping quietly in the back door?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "N'yeah, I thought about that too Gunny. But do you plan on sneaking past everyone we find inside, or shooting them in the face?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "I guess shooting them."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Exactly. So let's start as we mean to continue. Besides, even though I'm meant to be an Infiltrator, I don't actually have any stealth abilities."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Hudson.jpg] "We'll fix that for the next game. It won't be all that useful."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Figures."
[/spoiler]

 

[AD-Stu]

Spoiler: ...and the second bit

Eventually we arrive at the base. Kirrahe and his team expertly deduce that we've helped them again while we take out the guards.



[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "Bah - you're right Shepard, these aren't even real krogan! I could headbutt one to death!"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "I'd pay 50 credits to see that..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Me too."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-36-37-45_zps605cb7d7.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-37-01-51_zpsff4ad88b.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] [img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] *look down at omnitools and respectfully transfer credits*

There's an obvious door on the right, but to the left there's a sandy path leading to an even smaller door. Grunka takes that to maintain at least some pretense of being stealthy.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-39-00-15_zpsc42cc466.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-39-08-85_zps7ea130d7.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-39-32-12_zps21d7dedc.jpg]

Welcome to the sewer section, something every RPG has to have. It's mercifully brief, however, and we're through before we know it. Along the way we find some salarians who shoot at us and show up on the HUD as "Indoctrinated". Naturally Grunka puts them all down.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-39-53-89_zpsa31858de.jpg]

Upstairs there's a console that we can use to unlock the back door to the base.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-40-51-70_zps72637b70.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "It'll clear the guards out for us, but they might be too much for Lt. Alenko and the salarians to handle."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "By which you mean they're quadless little sissies, right?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "Erm... yeah, that's pretty much how they struck me."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Just disable the alarms. We can handle any guards inside. And I'll be damned if some salarian is going to take our combat XP from us."

We do just that, shoot a few more "indoctrinated" salarians and then find this room, with cells full of salarians in it.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-43-05-34_zps2d8858f6.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-43-36-59_zps306d47e5.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-43-49-87_zps1363a92f.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Anoleis.jpg] "Private Menos Avot of the Third Infiltration Regiment STG, ma'am! Captured while on reconnaissance six days ago. Glad to answer, ma'am! Never get any questions from these bastards. Just whispers and poking and cutting. I'd have said anything to get out and get some payback. That's not too much to ask, is it? A little payback?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "What did they do to you soldier?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-44-11-35_zps80e7d8c3.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-44-19-46_zps881b475f.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Is that your tactical assessment of the situation, or your xenophobia talking Gunny? If we don't let him out, he's as good as dead. We have to do something."

Grunka opens the cells... and the salarians all pull guns out of gawd-knows-where and attack us. Which is tantamount to suicide by cop at this point:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-44-56-56_zps4c5c86bd.jpg]

Kirrahe radios in a quick update:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-45-46-34_zpsf757718d.jpg]

A little further on we can access the back of what appears to be a garage, which is where we would've come through had we used the front entrance. There's nothing really in here except more geth to kill, but Grunka's not one to leave free XP on the table.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-47-27-99_zps9c1d8dac.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-47-39-42_zps6e562987.jpg]

Outside and down a ramp there's another set of cells with salarians in them.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-49-35-63_zpsf09870a3.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-49-45-67_zpsb75f0fe1.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-49-55-84_zps20b5199f.jpg]

This one immediately sounds more rational than the ones upstairs.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Anoleis.jpg] "Lieutenant Ganto Imness of the Third Infiltration Regiment, captured during recon. I assume the fleet was called in to destroy the base?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "Captured during recon?!? I thought sneaking around was all you salarians were good at, how the hell did so many of you get caught?!?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "And how come your portrait looks just like the other salarian, and a couple of other ones before that?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Dammit Williams, is that a dig at the lazyness of the author, or just your inner xenophobe talking again?!?" *turns back to salarian*

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-50-08-72_zps3fef2fe8.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Anoleis.jpg] "I see. Then you must be the infiltration team."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] "What makes you say that? We're out here, but it seems to be an 'infiltration team' you need to let a walking calculator catch you and lock you up..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Anoleis.jpg] "Ahem... point taken. Whoever you are, I know the captain. He will want this facility destroyed. My team was altered, indoctrinated. He knew about the breeding grounds. But the indoctrination is a greater threat, and far more horrifying."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-50-26-19_zps18cf0305.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-50-35-22_zps0d32c041.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Anoleis.jpg] "They were studying indoctrination. Symptoms, progress. Saren uses it to control his people, but I don't think he fully understands it. I don't know much else. I just saw what it did to the others. Turned them into empty husks. I can't end up like that. Please - let me out!"

Since he seems more sane than the others we open the cell and he runs away. We get 2 Paragon points for that. No good deed goes unpunished though, so when we look at the next cell of confused and unresponsive salarians...

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-51-21-94_zpsc5fc4196.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "We could open the doors, give them a chance to outrun the blast."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-51-36-37_zps48a02884.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "When I get back to the ship, I think I'm gonna update my DNR orders so it's someone more sane than either of you that makes the call on pulling my plug. But since you've made such a compelling case...

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-51-49-44_zpsa904aab6.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-52-03-82_zpsb337d792.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-52-05-22_zps654dd00e.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-52-06-29_zpse1590c4a.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-52-13-39_zps2831f14b.jpg]

Damn that was cold. Almost Varen cold. Anywho, now that we've balanced out or good and bad acts we can proceed upstairs to the lab.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-53-13-98_zps8821a1dd.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-53-45-58_zps39664dd4.jpg]

The head doctor doesn't like us fiddling with the experiments and attacks.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-54-00-74_zps9a520fe0.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-54-34-71_zps5d516f4a.jpg]

Through the other side of the lab we find an office with an asari hiding behind a desk.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-56-10-81_zps14f7fe54.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-56-15-71_zps15498554.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-56-22-93_zps898952f8.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Asari.jpg] "You think the indoctrination only affects prisoners? Sooner or later, Saren will want to dissect my brain too!"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-56-31-53_zps9ab9b17b.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-56-33-45_zps3f9ee162.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "You helped him and you don't even know why?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Asari.jpg] "I didn't have the option of negotiating. This position is a little more... permanent than I'd expected. But I can help you. This elevator behind me goes to Saren's private lab. I can get you in."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-56-59-89_zps6bfe9092.jpg]

Grunka pumps her for a little more information first. They've been studying Saren's flagship, Sovereign, which emits an undetectable 'signal' that allows Saren to indoctrinate and control his followers. Direct exposure reduces the subject to a mindless slave, like the salarians we've been killing.

She describes it as "like a tingle at the back of the skull, a whisper you can't quite hear". She also says they've discovered that the greater the control exercised over the subject, the less capable the indoctrinated person becomes. And here's the bombshell:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2523-58-33-99_zpsc173e180.jpg]

On that note we let the asari run for her life and take the elevator up to Saren's "private lab". Which seems like a funny thing for him to have since he's a Spectre, not a scientist. But anywho, here's what we find:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-00-33-89_zps1b9f00a1.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-01-02-00_zps455689b6.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-01-13-01_zpsc9a99e44.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-01-15-85_zps1c891dda.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-01-17-54_zps1d07d429.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-01-21-12_zps59afcf8f.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-01-27-03_zps998c6c2e.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-01-28-93_zps2a2cf272.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-01-30-12_zps50203a36.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Maybe it's just some shoddy screengrabbing, but that seemed a lot more like a specific message and a lot less like a Prothean snuff film than the previous visions."

It also seems to have activated a console on the level above.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-02-00-14_zps233f4f85.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-02-04-26_zpsb2cb7c83.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-02-07-53_zpsdb9724b3.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-02-12-50_zps5e1b4f42.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "I don't think this is a VI..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "I dunno, it could just be a really pompous one..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Sovereign_zps4d706cb9.jpg] "There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. Even on your imaginingest day with an element-zero powered imagining machine. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-02-39-27_zps805d5e3a.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-02-42-41_zps755a7553.jpg]

Sovereign is voiced by the same guy who did Administrator Anoleis's voice back on Noveria, but it's been heavily processed. Imagine Christopher Lee doing a deadpan-serious Soundwave from the old Transformers cartoons and you're most of the way there.

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Wrex.jpg] The Protheans vanished *stops to count for a moment, lips moving as he does it* 50,000 years ago. You couldn't have been there. It's impossible!"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Sovereign_zps4d706cb9.jpg] "Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-03-31-54_zps8ee9b6bd.jpg]

Grunka's trying to bluff nine high into a full boat here and Sovereign knows it:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-03-38-54_zps6b51dc1a.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "Cycle? What cycle? I was raised in a family with four kids, believe me, there's [B]no[/B] bicycle that can't be broken"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] *facepalms*

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Sovereign_zps4d706cb9.jpg] "The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance. And at the apex of their glory, they are extinguished."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-04-01-80_zpsa27b42f7.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Why would you construct the mass relays, then leave them for someone else to find?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Sovereign_zps4d706cb9.jpg] "Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays, our technology. By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Not because, say, you're trying to save us from being wiped out by the synthetic life forms we've created? Purely because you demand it?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Sovereign_zps4d706cb9.jpg] "Purely because we demand it."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Huh. Somebody's gonna need to retcon that statement in a few years time. And how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "Shepard, what the hell?!?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Well it's got an answer for everything else, I figure we may as well get a definitive one on woodchucks too..."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Sovereign_zps4d706cb9.jpg] "A woodchuck cannot chuck any amount of wood because its flawed, puny, organic form cannot chuck wood. We, on the other hand, can chuck infinite wood."

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "They're harvesting us! They're here to wipe us out! And they're going to take all our wood too!"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-04-44-95_zps257672d8.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-04-48-95_zps5447b0d2.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-05-07-93_zpsb11f9c75.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "What do you want from us? Slaves? Resources?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Sovereign_zps4d706cb9.jpg] "My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation. Independent, free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence."

Grunka decides now is the time to empty the bluffing clip:

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-05-41-22_zps5f038ff9.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-05-49-50_zpsddd6d054.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-05-55-38_zpsa920e523.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-05-55-87_zpsd470bbdc.jpg]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Joker.jpg] [I]"Commander? We got troble! That ship, Sovereign? It's moving. I don't know what you did down there, but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half. It's coming your way, and it's coming hard! You need to wrap things up in there fast."[/I]

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Shepard.jpg] "Sovereign is actually HERE?!? It's a two kilometre long metal space squid, why is this the first I'm hearing about it?!?"

This is a weird plot moment that's screamed out at me from the very first time I played the game: I didn't leave any lines out, this is seriously the first time it's suggested that Sovereign is actually here on the planet. Maybe I assumed too much, but it seemed to me like something that somebody would have explicitly mentioned at some point...

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Avatars/Ash.jpg] "This thing is fried. Orders, Commander?"

[img src=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b233/stu270/Mass%20Effect%20Lets%20Play/Ch6Pt1/MassEffect2013-04-2600-06-24-37_zps7ef9d40a.jpg]
[/spoiler]

So now we've learned the truth about Sovereign!

I'm now going to break somewhat with the LP norm and do a poll for something that hasn't happened yet. There's a big plot point that's going to happen smack in the middle of the next update, and I think pretty much everyone knows what it is (some people have even already voiced their opinion on it). But in case it's new to anyone, I'll ask in a spoiler:

[spoiler="Voting options for the next update"]
Obviously we're talking about Ashley and Kaidan here - who should we [B]SAVE?[/B] Ashley, or Kaidan?

To continue the pretense of hiding spoilers, maybe vote "option 1" to save Ashley, and "option two" to save Kaidan.[/spoiler]

Look forward to tallying the votes, thanks as always for reading and apologies as always for the delay between updates - got a new PC between updates this time so had to reinstall everything, find new screengrabbing software that works with my new video card... you get the picture :P

 

[woodaba]

Varen: "Yeah, almost. You need to start eating more souls and get a swimming pool made of the blood and entrails of your enemies (and friends, because I don't discriminate. I'm an equal-opportunities psychopath) before you can become as awesome as me."

Goddammit, get back behind the fourth wall, Varen! No one likes you!

...ahem. Sorry about that.

Virmire is one of my favorite segments of any game. A few nitpicks aside, including that "what's a paladin" level fail (seriously, Bioware, what the hell. Can you please assume that your audience didn't fall asleep the whole way through the game), this is just an awesome world.

The choice with Wrex is still one of the defining gaming choices in my eyes, for a couple reasons. Firstly, it sends pretty darn big ripples through the story of the next two games (particularly 3), and it also isn't blatantly Paragon/Renegade. It kind of is, in that a Renegade would probably shoot Wrex and be done with it, but at the same time, a Renegade probably likes Wrex and wants to keep him on side.

I didn't even know about that sewer section: I just blundered through the front door every time. And I've never seen the scene where you get an option to mercy-kill the Salarians.

Also...Sovereign. Occasional slip-ups aside, Bioware's writing tends to be pretty good, and it really shines in this scene. Unlike so many aliens in Sci-Fi, which are often just humans wearing different hats, Sovereign feels truly alien, truly aloof. I wish they had stuck with this characterization for the rest of the trilogy: you didn't have to give the Reapers any motivation, just say "they're so far higher than us, we can't understand it". Leave hints here and there, sure (ME2 did this really well) but I would never have confirmed their motivations. Instead, their "unknowable goals" are...really, really dumb.

As for the choice...I'm going to have to say...Option 2.

Spoiler

Kaidan may be kinda boring, but hell, at least he's a nice guy. Ashley, as you have so well pointed out, is a xenophobic jerk who gets a Jersey Shore makeover for the third game. So, yeah. Kaidan.

 

[AD-Stu]

Yeah, I've always really enjoyed this world too. I think the setting might have something to do with it, it's just such a nice place to be blowing the crap out of the bad guys - out in the sun, on beach, paddling through the water. There's also the really interesting dynamics going on, and the sense that you're part of something bigger in terms of the salarian operation going on at the same time. That's not a huge thing (and it didn't really come through in this update) but I thought it was a nice touch.

As for the Wrex thing I'm actually only seeing that play out for the first time right now - on my fourth playthrough of ME3 at the same time as I'm doing this, and it's the first time it's a save where I killed Wrex (also my first full-Renegade playthrough, first Vanguard playthrough, first Option 2 playthrough and a bunch of other firsts...). I know vaguely how it plays out, but I'm keen to see it first hand

On the voting, I checked back and there were two votes registered for Option 2 before the first update was even posted... so this is obviously something people feel strongly about!

Scores stand 0-3 in favour of Option 2. Keep the votes coming

 

[Goofguy]

Yeah, Virmire probably has the most far reaching repercussions of any decisions made in the first ME. I always look forward to replaying it as opposed to each time I have to go through Noveria and Feros *shudder*. That being said, I'd have to go with Option 2 as well. It'd be a tougher choice with no previous knowledge of the events of ME2 and ME3 but seeing how Ashley and Kaidan develop throughout those two games, I gotta go with the lesser of two evils.

 

[AD-Stu]

Cool, 0-4 for Option 2 now.

I actually quite enjoy Noveria, but gotta agree on Feros - it's kind of a dull grind.

 

[Gone Rampant]

Option 2, mostly because I was an idiot and only imported characters who did the first one and would like to see what the other side feels like.

 

[LetalisK]

I go with Option 1 to even it out a little bit. I think they're both good characters and they get too much hyperbole thrown their way, so I'd rather see a close fight between the two.

 

[Yokillernick]

Nice update, good to see that you're still working on this and haven't fallen in a pit somewhere.

Now on topic. I really don't see what people see in Option 2 that they would all like to save him, personally I always take Option 1 when playing because I made the mistake of taking Option 2 once and bloody hell did I regret it. The dialogue in the later games isn't as pants on head retarded with Option 2 as in this game but still... eugh.

Also I thanks for the useful insight into the fact that there actually is a way to stealth it inside the fortress, you know after killing a Geth battalion to get there. So yeah, I will go for Option 1 just for the reason that Option 2 is only good for sending me to sleep.

 

[AD-Stu]

Ooohhh, the voting draws a little closer now, we're back to 3-5 in favour of Option 2 (and 3-3 on votes made this year). Keep 'em coming people, this could still get interesting!

Okay, so we can't nuke it from orbit. The bomb must be placed at a certain location. Seems fair enough. One would assume this "precise location" would be underground somewhere, or at least somewhere where an orbital strike cannot reach. But nope. The bomb location is right there, out in the open. At a place where the Normandy could easy hit from orbit.

Yeah - there's definitely a dig at that coming in the next update

Firstly, I have to say, I thought Sovereign's voice sounded pretty cool. It definitely made him sound super-powerful. As for the conversation itself, ... ugh.
After playing ME3 (the last 10 or so minutes of that game in particular), this conversation with Sovereign seems more than a little weird now.

Agreed, I think they nailed Sovereign's voice - "Christopher Lee doing Soundwave" was meant to be a compliment, if that wasn't clear

As for how that conversation plays out further down the track, I'm of the same opinion - we never needed a definitive reason as to why the Reapers were doing what they were doing, and I think trying to come up with one is a big part of what cause them to pile dumb upon stupid upon trainwreck in the ending.

I get the feeling Bioware may have had some additional dialog here or something, but it got cut for reasons unknown. Or maybe, having Sovereign actually present on Virmire while we're there was a late addition to the plot.

Yeah, I get that feeling about it too. Overall it's still a very cool part of the game, but there's defintiely bits that feel rushed / unfinished / unpolished.

I think they're both good characters and they get too much hyperbole thrown their way, so I'd rather see a close fight between the two.

Good point - they both get a lot of criticism...

Spoiler

Ashley for being a one-dimensional racist, Kaidan for being boring

...but they're not necessarily bad characters. I'd take either of them over, say, Jacob in ME2. And I'm only just getting to see now how Option 2 plays out in ME3, it obviously didn't make much difference in ME2.

Nice update, good to see that you're still working on this and haven't fallen in a pit somewhere.

Yep, still chipping away slowly It won't be quick, but we'll get there in the end

 

[LetalisK]

I think they're both good characters and they get too much hyperbole thrown their way, so I'd rather see a close fight between the two.

Good point - they both get a lot of criticism...

Spoiler

Ashley for being a one-dimensional racist, Kaidan for being boring

...but they're not necessarily bad characters. I'd take either of them over, say, Jacob in ME2. And I'm only just getting to see now how Option 2 plays out in ME3, it obviously didn't make much difference in ME2.

It doesn't change too much in ME3. Would you rather hear a female voice or a male voice? That's pretty much it as their romances don't have a lot to them*. Bioware really shit the bed in ME3 when it comes to the non-Liara romances. Even when you don't romance her, it's painfully obvious that's the route they wanted you to take.

*Edit: Which that homogenization of the two characters drives me up the wall considering what great foils they were of each other and of standard gender archetypes in the first game, even if I do understand why they did it.

 

[AD-Stu]

It doesn't change too much in ME3. Would you rather hear a female voice or a male voice? That's pretty much it as their romances don't have a lot to them*. Bioware really shit the bed in ME3 when it comes to the non-Liara romances. Even when you don't romance her, it's painfully obvious that's the route they wanted you to take.

*Edit: Which that homogenization of the two characters drives me up the wall considering what great foils they were of each other and of standard gender archetypes in the first game, even if I do understand why they did it.

Yeah, Mac Walters has been accused a few times of having favouritisim for a certain blue-skinned alien when it comes to his writing... maybe it's just because she's a universal option?

Spoiler: More ME2/ME3 still, mostly romance-related

By the time ME3 rolls around there are so many combinations that I've barely scratched the surface with them - hell, I don't even think I've seen the full set from ME2 yet. I've never played the Jacob or Thane ones, and I've never done the Jack one properly. When it comes to ME3 I've seen Liara (faithful through all three games), Miranda and Tali, and I'm partway through a Garrus one.

I know what you're saying about Liara but I don't think all the others were bad. I think the Tali romance was really well fleshed out in ME3, for example. It had a definite giggly-teenager vibe to it but given Tali's character / situation I thought it made sense. I'm led to believe the Garrus one is pretty good too, the signs so far are certainly positive.

IMO the ones that really got shafted were the new ME2 character romances carrying over to ME3. I have to admit I laughed when I heard what they did to anyone who romanced Jacob. I've heard they did some good things with the Thane romance in ME3 (yet to see it). But the Miranda one in ME3 felt very token, and I'm led to believe the same is true with Jack.

 

[LetalisK]

Yeah, Mac Walters has been accused a few times of having favouritisim for a certain blue-skinned alien when it comes to his writing... maybe it's just because she's a universal option?

That's certainly possible. Maybe it's just because Liara has a sizable non-romance role in the story and, as a certain someone mentions, there's a lot of sexual tension there. >.>


My opinion on the other romances I've seen in ME3:

Spoiler

They all felt token. I felt like the flirting you had in ME1 and 2 just wasn't there in ME3. It didn't feel quite as empty if you romanced a virmire survivor due to hospital visits, but it still felt lacking. Not as much romantic subplot. That said, in the Citadel DLC, I thought the Garrus date was the best romance scene in the entire series. Other good scenes in the DLC are Miranda(you definitely see more of the anxious human side of her) and Thane, though that's kind of cheating because Thane's whole thing in the DLC is a tear jerker and if you romanced him you only get a couple line changes and a bit of extra monologue. The rest were decent, except for Ashley's, which while it's funny, doesn't feel at all like a romance scene. I didn't expect it to be mushy and all, but I didn't expect them to bromance it up either. I expected Ashley's to be flirty and "saucy" for a lack of a better word and it felt more just like two co-workers going out for a drink.

Edit: Also, I take back the homogenization of the virmire survivor in ME3. After thinking about it, I don't think it was so much homogenized as much as individual characters being cut back in favor of the main plot.

Edit: Meant to spoiler it, not quote it.

 

[LetalisK]

Spoiler

Agreed.

The 'time capsule' that Liara makes seems to fit better if she's actually romancing Shepard as well.
Otherwise, that whole scene just seems weird.

And they did really seem token.
All I had to do was answer positively towards Liara during one conversation on the Citadel, and suddenly...

Paramour - Establish or rekindle a romantic relationship.

And I'm thinking "What? Is that it?"

Spoiler

Speaking of weird scenes, I'm at Priority: Earth right now with my current game and I'm pretty sure Ashley wouldn't appreciate Liara cuddling up next to me while sharing a vision of...something? A nuclear blast? Edit: Can't be, but it still makes no sense, particularly since it's supposed to be a memory.

Edit: Also turns out I didn't have the extended cut installed. Awesome, gotta go back and do that before finishing. I thought I did when I saw all those alien fleets helping the humans, since I thought one of the biggest complaints of the original ending was that you didn't get to see them.