Mass Effect 3 ending SPOILERS!

[Avatar Roku]

Jeez, this is still going on?

Alright, I think BioWare just needs to release a fourth ending for the people who don't like the really bittersweet endings that take a lot of analysis to come to like. (I'm one of the people who like the endings).

Here's what they could do:
Add a fourth choice. Basically, turn around to the Catalyst and say something along the lines of "No, no more choices, this ends here and now." Shepard can then shoot the Catalysts who merely disintegrates into thin air, kind of resembling his reoccurring nightmares. Shepard closes his eyes, then the camera pans away from Shepard lying in front of the console in the Citadel. Turns out that was his imagination playing tricks while he was unconscious. He then sluggishly rises up to the console as Hackett tells him nothings happening, and after fumbling with the console, can't find anything to do. He contacts EDI who eventually explains what to try. It works and the Crucible fires, and the Reapers start malfunctioning. Problem is, they are all also starting to explode, which will have some huge impact on Earth and the Citadel itself. So, the Normandy speeds to the window Shepard's staring out of and the doors open allowing Shepard to just barely jump inside. They then flee the Sol relay along with the entire fleet as the Reapers everywhere are destroyed. The effects are widespread, but not as drastic as the impact on Earth and the Citadel.

So, after all of this, they could show epilogues for Shepard, his/her crew, his/her friends, his/her LI. Then the credits can roll and the Stargazer video can still be there.

The problem is not that the ending is bittersweet or takes analysis. It's horribly developed. To quote myself from above:

To the people defending the endings, I see your point. I really do. The endings themselves are not inherently bad. If developed well, they could have actually been quite good. But look at how it happened. The game was over, but then our ending was just snatched away from us. We go from an ending where the historic work that Shepard did, that we did, really mattered and paid off, to an ending where every previous choice we made was devalued.

The Reapers' goals and such, even the Catalyst AI, could have worked on their own, but they really, really should have been developed. As it was, they were pulled out with 10 minutes to go, when we're already past the game's climax (EDIT: The climax being the confrontation with The Illusive Man, btw)and not at the point where we want new elements introduced. Ever notice how, in ME1 and 2, you made your big choice BEFORE (or, in ME2's case, before round 2 of) the big boss fight? There's a reason for that: pacing. Momentum. Pulling out that sort of bombshell when the pacing was telling us that the game is over is just horrible storytelling. When talking to the Catalyst, Shepard looks and sounds dazed and confused, and at that moment, I felt the same way.

 

[Deremix]

Jeez, this is still going on?

Alright, I think BioWare just needs to release a fourth ending for the people who don't like the really bittersweet endings that take a lot of analysis to come to like. (I'm one of the people who like the endings).

Here's what they could do:
Add a fourth choice. Basically, turn around to the Catalyst and say something along the lines of "No, no more choices, this ends here and now." Shepard can then shoot the Catalysts who merely disintegrates into thin air, kind of resembling his reoccurring nightmares. Shepard closes his eyes, then the camera pans away from Shepard lying in front of the console in the Citadel. Turns out that was his imagination playing tricks while he was unconscious. He then sluggishly rises up to the console as Hackett tells him nothings happening, and after fumbling with the console, can't find anything to do. He contacts EDI who eventually explains what to try. It works and the Crucible fires, and the Reapers start malfunctioning. Problem is, they are all also starting to explode, which will have some huge impact on Earth and the Citadel itself. So, the Normandy speeds to the window Shepard's staring out of and the doors open allowing Shepard to just barely jump inside. They then flee the Sol relay along with the entire fleet as the Reapers everywhere are destroyed. The effects are widespread, but not as drastic as the impact on Earth and the Citadel.

So, after all of this, they could show epilogues for Shepard, his/her crew, his/her friends, his/her LI. Then the credits can roll and the Stargazer video can still be there.

The problem is not that the ending is bittersweet or takes analysis. It's horribly developed. To quote myself from above:

To the people defending the endings, I see your point. I really do. The endings themselves are not inherently bad. If developed well, they could have actually been quite good. But look at how it happened. The game was over, but then our ending was just snatched away from us. We go from an ending where the historic work that Shepard did, that we did, really mattered and paid off, to an ending where every previous choice we made was devalued.

The Reapers' goals and such, even the Catalyst AI, could have worked on their own, but they really, really should have been developed. As it was, they were pulled out with 10 minutes to go, when we're already past the game's climax (EDIT: The climax being the confrontation with The Illusive Man, btw)and not at the point where we want new elements introduced. Ever notice how, in ME1 and 2, you made your big choice BEFORE (or, in ME2's case, before round 2 of) the big boss fight? There's a reason for that: pacing. Momentum. Pulling out that sort of bombshell when the pacing was telling us that the game is over is just horrible storytelling. When talking to the Catalyst, Shepard looks and sounds dazed and confused, and at that moment, I felt the same way.

Ah, okay. I can get that.

But if anything, you should probably blame that on an EA induced time crunch, not BioWare. From what I've seen of everyone else who's under EA, it's always a time crunch. Valve even went solo after dealing with EA. BioWare should go solo too, or if anything, have Valve produce their stuff.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Jeez, this is still going on?

Alright, I think BioWare just needs to release a fourth ending for the people who don't like the really bittersweet endings that take a lot of analysis to come to like. (I'm one of the people who like the endings).

Here's what they could do:
Add a fourth choice. Basically, turn around to the Catalyst and say something along the lines of "No, no more choices, this ends here and now." Shepard can then shoot the Catalysts who merely disintegrates into thin air, kind of resembling his reoccurring nightmares. Shepard closes his eyes, then the camera pans away from Shepard lying in front of the console in the Citadel. Turns out that was his imagination playing tricks while he was unconscious. He then sluggishly rises up to the console as Hackett tells him nothings happening, and after fumbling with the console, can't find anything to do. He contacts EDI who eventually explains what to try. It works and the Crucible fires, and the Reapers start malfunctioning. Problem is, they are all also starting to explode, which will have some huge impact on Earth and the Citadel itself. So, the Normandy speeds to the window Shepard's staring out of and the doors open allowing Shepard to just barely jump inside. They then flee the Sol relay along with the entire fleet as the Reapers everywhere are destroyed. The effects are widespread, but not as drastic as the impact on Earth and the Citadel.

So, after all of this, they could show epilogues for Shepard, his/her crew, his/her friends, his/her LI. Then the credits can roll and the Stargazer video can still be there.

The problem is not that the ending is bittersweet or takes analysis. It's horribly developed. To quote myself from above:

To the people defending the endings, I see your point. I really do. The endings themselves are not inherently bad. If developed well, they could have actually been quite good. But look at how it happened. The game was over, but then our ending was just snatched away from us. We go from an ending where the historic work that Shepard did, that we did, really mattered and paid off, to an ending where every previous choice we made was devalued.

The Reapers' goals and such, even the Catalyst AI, could have worked on their own, but they really, really should have been developed. As it was, they were pulled out with 10 minutes to go, when we're already past the game's climax (EDIT: The climax being the confrontation with The Illusive Man, btw)and not at the point where we want new elements introduced. Ever notice how, in ME1 and 2, you made your big choice BEFORE (or, in ME2's case, before round 2 of) the big boss fight? There's a reason for that: pacing. Momentum. Pulling out that sort of bombshell when the pacing was telling us that the game is over is just horrible storytelling. When talking to the Catalyst, Shepard looks and sounds dazed and confused, and at that moment, I felt the same way.

Ah, okay. I can get that.

But if anything, you should probably blame that on an EA induced time crunch, not BioWare. From what I've seen of everyone else who's under EA, it's always a time crunch. Valve even went solo after dealing with EA. BioWare should go solo too, or if anything, have Valve produce their stuff.

I've always been against the whole "Bioware did something some people find bad, it's clearly EA's fault", but in this case, you're probably right.

I don't think Valve ever worked with EA, though. As far as I know, EA just handled their PS3 ports.

 

[Deremix]

Jeez, this is still going on?

Alright, I think BioWare just needs to release a fourth ending for the people who don't like the really bittersweet endings that take a lot of analysis to come to like. (I'm one of the people who like the endings).

Here's what they could do:
Add a fourth choice. Basically, turn around to the Catalyst and say something along the lines of "No, no more choices, this ends here and now." Shepard can then shoot the Catalysts who merely disintegrates into thin air, kind of resembling his reoccurring nightmares. Shepard closes his eyes, then the camera pans away from Shepard lying in front of the console in the Citadel. Turns out that was his imagination playing tricks while he was unconscious. He then sluggishly rises up to the console as Hackett tells him nothings happening, and after fumbling with the console, can't find anything to do. He contacts EDI who eventually explains what to try. It works and the Crucible fires, and the Reapers start malfunctioning. Problem is, they are all also starting to explode, which will have some huge impact on Earth and the Citadel itself. So, the Normandy speeds to the window Shepard's staring out of and the doors open allowing Shepard to just barely jump inside. They then flee the Sol relay along with the entire fleet as the Reapers everywhere are destroyed. The effects are widespread, but not as drastic as the impact on Earth and the Citadel.

So, after all of this, they could show epilogues for Shepard, his/her crew, his/her friends, his/her LI. Then the credits can roll and the Stargazer video can still be there.

The problem is not that the ending is bittersweet or takes analysis. It's horribly developed. To quote myself from above:

To the people defending the endings, I see your point. I really do. The endings themselves are not inherently bad. If developed well, they could have actually been quite good. But look at how it happened. The game was over, but then our ending was just snatched away from us. We go from an ending where the historic work that Shepard did, that we did, really mattered and paid off, to an ending where every previous choice we made was devalued.

The Reapers' goals and such, even the Catalyst AI, could have worked on their own, but they really, really should have been developed. As it was, they were pulled out with 10 minutes to go, when we're already past the game's climax (EDIT: The climax being the confrontation with The Illusive Man, btw)and not at the point where we want new elements introduced. Ever notice how, in ME1 and 2, you made your big choice BEFORE (or, in ME2's case, before round 2 of) the big boss fight? There's a reason for that: pacing. Momentum. Pulling out that sort of bombshell when the pacing was telling us that the game is over is just horrible storytelling. When talking to the Catalyst, Shepard looks and sounds dazed and confused, and at that moment, I felt the same way.

Ah, okay. I can get that.

But if anything, you should probably blame that on an EA induced time crunch, not BioWare. From what I've seen of everyone else who's under EA, it's always a time crunch. Valve even went solo after dealing with EA. BioWare should go solo too, or if anything, have Valve produce their stuff.

I've always been against the whole "Bioware did something some people find bad, it's clearly EA's fault", but in this case, you're probably right.

I don't think Valve ever worked with EA, though. As far as I know, EA just handled their PS3 ports.

Yeah, their PS3 ports and I think they handled L4D stuff. But anyway, no matter the endings, ME3 is still the most amazing of the series. But this discussion is obviously going to remain heated for some time now, so I'll just be going.

 

[Blindrooster]

I just finished it. I thought all this talk was wrong "it cant be that bad" I foolishly said to myself. I dont care if I end up with the romantic interest, or that everyone lives but....... that was an extremely poorly written ending.

None of the 3 choices were significant, all choices made up to this point are moot. pfft, screw saving the galaxy, I would rather take an option that lets me dig a deep hole and wait the cycle out. hey, it worked for the protheans, right?

 

[Jaeke]

I just finished my first playthrough and before I even chose one of the two endings i just sat there for 15 minutes and finally said... "What the fuck." and turned off my Xbox without choosing.

 

[Jaeke]

So choices went out the window, people are arguing/defending that.
The argument the Reapers had went out the window for some, including myself with the whole organics vs synthetics. I united the Geth and the Quarian. Hell, the old Geth archives showed that the Geth wanted to live peacfully with their creators. So by the AI saying synthetics are evil and will destroy humanity with no proof or backing was just dumb. Even EDI once she was free chose to integrate herself with the crew. All that hard work over the course of two games, just so Bioware could rip of the Age Of Strife from Warhammer 40k. Actually now that I think about Mass Effect is one big Warhammer rip off.

I can see the point of people defending these endings but at the same time. This statement "Humanity can now freely chose their path" is completely redundant. We'll just head back up into the stars with Mass Relay 2.0, which could still be manipulated by an outside force/start a new war. Life goes on and the cycle continues.

That statement there is why I'm pissed. The cycle continues. What good are choices when you can't break the cycle? I proved that organics and synthetics can live in harmony, but some asshole is going to tell me that it was temporary. No, the Geth wanted to be with their creators. Living in harmony. That's why they chose to never purge from their databanks the sacrifices that many Quarians made to protect them. I helped the Quarians see the error of their ways and they in turn wanted to live in harmony with the Geth.

It's Dragon Age 2 all over again. I made the choice to sacrifice my PC to rid the world of the blight. Then in DA2 they state that my PC went missing. I guess he got bored of being dead. If Bioware wanted to give us free will in out games to determine an ending. Why restrict us? Three games, all with choices; expanding with every game and it boils down to Human Revolution. Press button A to bake bread, ect ect.

You guys can argue and defend the endings all you want, but from a writing stand point and at their core. They're lazy. I knew going in not everyone would walk away from this fight but I knew you could change certain outcomes. It turns out though, no. No you really can't. This hard reset ending is about as lazy as the "It was all dream" endings or the horror movie "It's all over now but it isn't" endings. I could see how the relays posed a threat, but couldn't the crucible be programmed to just detect Reaper IFFs? So when Shepard set it off, sure it shut down the relays and takes out the reapers but leaves the ships intact. That would be a bittersweet ending. Reapers wiped out, Technology still intact but the relays are disabled with no way in the near future to boot them back up.

We don't even get that. Everyone crash lands, stranded and defeated. Your choices didn't matter, getting ready didn't matter. Life goes on anyway. So what was the point of building up EMS? Oh right, to get a different angle on the same cutscene. You guys can respond but I'm not going to waste my breath replying. At the end of the day, Bioware decided to turn the "epic" conclusion to SHEPARD'S (as opposed to ending the Mass Effect franchise which they stated could still go on without Shepard) story into the history eraser button. Thanks Bioware.

Dude I had full Paragon and everything but I didn't notice a 3rd ending.

 

[Jaeke]

Like a lot of the posts I've seen here, the only really bad part seems to be the endings, which were overwhelmingly depressing and made me feel like the majority of the game was spent preparing for war, only to have it wasted.

I got the Turians and Krogan to work together, managed to wrangle the Asari and Salarians on my side, not to mention assets from the Batarians, Hanar, Elcor, Volus, and Drell, the Terminus Forces are on my side and I didn't have to do too much that was stepping out of my Paragon leanings. Then I prepared the Citadel for attack, and got the Quarians and Geth to get along. Even with the 'Good' Ending where you can destroy all synthetics, EDI and the Geth are screwed. Synthesis seemed too vague for me, and I wasn't willing to stoop so low as to control the Reapers.

Personally, I am only a little upset that Shepard ends up dead no matter what, but galactic change on that scale? How can they make any more Mass Effect games that feel like Mass Effect still? Either the Geth are gone entirely, the Reapers are around still and possibly even messing around with everything, or everyone is fused to some sort of machine. That, along with the loss of all the Mass Relays and the Citadel? I'd love to see how Bioware reconciles this.

Don't get me wrong, I love the ending, but I would definitely have preferred an ending similar to Mass Effect 2's, only more intense and grander in scale. This... Just makes me sad, disappointed, and feel like Shepard went through all of that for nothing.

[EDIT]: After having started my Fem-Shep play-through, I think I realized the key to why the endings were so dissatisfying: They don't feel like they belong in Mass Effect. That, along with the dreams with the kid in the forest felt out-of-place.

You got it backwards buddy, Controlling the Reaper's is the good ending, destroying all synthetics is the waaayyyy bad ending, sure you (not you i mean Shepard and everyone else in the galaxy) thinks that its the best way but according to that most Amazing(ly retarded) Final Guardian of All Time, destroying synthetics is bad because it will destroy the Reaper's who cannot reset the cycle that keeps organics from destroying each other with synthetics anyway. Controlling the Reaper's ment that life could start anew, by itself, without the help of the Reapers.
I think Harbinger(or mabye Sovereign) explained how they cultivated races to evolve via the Mass Relays, well with them gone and no other influence of the meta-races, life could evolve on its own and the Cycle could be broken.

You Evil Bastard ;P

 

[Still Life]

I've taken some time to think about the ending(s) of ME3 myself. I didn't know how to take it in all honestly because I was so emotionally invested in the universe, the characters and my Shepard that it felt so disempowering that there was a terrible, and final sacrifice to be made for breaking the cycle.

In retrospect, the entire game is an 'ending' to the journey that begun with ME1. We see the final results of our choices on the major issues such as the Genophage, the Geth and the characters that have come and gone along the way. Reading through historical documents however, you really get a sense that war doesn't doesn't often give individuals and societies the luxury post-event analysis. The Reapers represented such a fundamentally mortal and all-encompassing threat that only the ultimate sacrifice of all that compels us to live and love is required to break a cycle millions of years in motion.

The conclusions are deeply philosophical and not absolute. They move away from the comfort of materialism and answers to a story that transcends its roots to examine what it truly means to be alive. The universe marches on, but the conclusion to Shepard's story-arc is final.

I can understand why people don't like it. I have come to accept the endings and I admire Bioware for the guts to end the trilogy on a deeply philosophical note which steps away from materialism and triviality of 'who won' and 'who survived'. War and conflict evoke questions deeper than that, so bravo Bioware!

I really enjoyed the ride and truly enjoyed exploring transhumanism, sapience, self-determination, racism, faith, fate, love, war, obsession, control, bioethics, technoethics, morality and the meaning of life, among other things.

 

[Fapmaster5000]

Oh, found the best link yet: a facebook group demanding a better ending.

I'll just leave this here.

http://www.facebook.com/DemandABetterEndingToMassEffect3

 

[samplexample]

so you all actually wanted the game to end happily ever after? the game was always said to be about the journey, not the end. the story stands out from other transitional stories by ending in this bittersweet fashion. even though there is no epilogue, the choices you made throughout the game settled long standing disputes between races. every ME game had a major choice at the end - what would be your choice if the game ended all nice and shit? i liked the ending and i think it will retrospectively be remembered for being good, not bad. just like star wars 5.

 

[Smeggs]

The ending video was crap, but the actual ending, and the choice you must make, are great.

The entire point of the catalyst is supposed to be that there are simply things in this universe far too vast or old for us to possibly begin to comprehend.

Was the catalyst God? Was it some incredibly advanced AI from a race that came long before our time?

 

[LetalisK]

Hm. I'm going through ME1 and ME2 again and was planning on buying ME3 as soon as I get to that point, but I'm not so sure anymore skimming through this thread. I may stop playing ME1 and save myself some time. I didn't even like ME1 that much, it was ME2 that I really enjoyed.

 

[Pikey Mikey]

A game like ME bases everything on your decisions, on the relationships you build with the wonderful characters, the influences you have on the fantastic and detailed worlds they built

THIS, is what people seem to forget about what is wrong with the Mass Effect 3 ending.

It's another Example of How Video Game storytelling, and Writing storytelling are NOT one and the same.

In a Book this would be a perfect ending, however in Video games where Visuals matter to the player. The fact that you did all of that, and made the choice at the end. Only to get no VISUAL sense on the choices you had beforehand making any impact to the people you talked to, the people you decided to save?

That is the problem.

You did NOT see If all of the races survived their respected reaper attacks. You did NOT see if the geth and of EDI were truly annihilation in some ending. You did NOT see if The Turians and Krogans have finally found peace within one another. Yes you certainly heard about all of this, but you never saw it with your own eyes, Games are a visual medium, and just hearing it from a character does not just say that everything will become fine.

agreed

 

[Pikey Mikey]

I just finished my first playthrough and before I even chose one of the two endings i just sat there for 15 minutes and finally said... "What the fuck." and turned off my Xbox without choosing.

That's almost the reaction I had. Took me 5 minutes of sitting with a dumbfounded look on my face to fully take in what just happened.

I also did the same, for about ten minutes...
Then I spent the following 1½ hours replaying the last bit to discover that all endings were the same.

 

[Simeon Ivanov]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Reaper child at the end ... And WHY do you have to destroy the mass relays? If the Reaper child is controlling them, why can't you just reprogram them or something? And wouldn't destroying the mass relays destroy half the galaxy (Arrival)? If you choose the destroy all synthetics option, wouldn't that kill the volus and quarians since they can't live without their suits? WHY do synthetics always have to revolt? What about Joker and EDI or the Geth/Quarian piece? Why does the Normandy retreat my squadmates but not me? Why is Joker running away from the final battle? If the Mass Relays are destroyed, what happens to half the galactic army I brought with me? Are they stranded on Earth? How do organics react to their new synthetics DNA? How does this change them? How do quarians and turians survive? How are synthetics altered? WHAT HAPPENES TO MY TALI? AND GARRUS? What happens to the Krogan? Do they go with the whole "galactic war" thing the salarians were talking about? If I chose "Synthesis" doesn't this nullify my decision to cure the genophage? How does this synthesis thing even work? Who is the stargazer and his child? Did all of this happen or was it just a story? Am I thinking too hard on this????????

 

[Simeon Ivanov]

The endings were horrible... No choices throughout the game mattered one bit. Not to mention in general they just sucked. Where's the one where the Mass Relays stay active, Shepard lives, and life can go back to normal? Why does each ending have to be just soo... stupid...

I have been working through the trilogy to get an ending where Shepard lives and life can finally become peaceful. Instead, you don't get any of that.

Game was amazing, best in the series, until the last couple minutes.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I waited three games just to build a house and live with Tali. Maybe Garrus can live in the garage and calibrate the plants or something. I didn't expect the sunshine and rainbows ending where you destroy all the Reapers, in fact, I wanted casualties. Palaven being almost destroyed, Thesia decimated, Earth left like Tuchanka ... but at least there would be hope for restoration ... The endings killed any desire to go back and replay the trilogy ...

 

[Sp3ratus]

I just finished my first playthrough and before I even chose one of the two endings i just sat there for 15 minutes and finally said... "What the fuck." and turned off my Xbox without choosing.

That's almost the reaction I had. Took me 5 minutes of sitting with a dumbfounded look on my face to fully take in what just happened.

I also did the same, for about ten minutes...
Then I spent the following 1½ hours replaying the last bit to discover that all endings were the same.

Except they weren't. The cutscene might have been almost the same, with different colours, but the implication of each ending varies wildly.

Control, you (obviously) take control of the Reapers and make them go away, but their ultimate fate is unknown. What is known however, is that they won't be bothering the Mass Effect galaxy anymore.

Synthesis, you merge synthetic and organic life, effectively ending the question whether synthetic life is "real" life or not and erasing the boundary between synthetics and organics.

Destroy, if you choose that, is you saying that synthetic life isn't "real" life. The Catalyst, however, says that this is not a permanent solution, as future generations will create synthetics, who will eventually wipe out organics and thus undoing everything the Reapers were trying to prevent.

You can't honestly tell me that those 3 endings don't differ in what they accomplish and how it will alter the future.

EDIT:

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Reaper child at the end ... And WHY do you have to destroy the mass relays? If the Reaper child is controlling them, why can't you just reprogram them or something? And wouldn't destroying the mass relays destroy half the galaxy (Arrival)? If you choose the destroy all synthetics option, wouldn't that kill the volus and quarians since they can't live without their suits? WHY do synthetics always have to revolt? What about Joker and EDI or the Geth/Quarian piece? Why does the Normandy retreat my squadmates but not me? Why is Joker running away from the final battle? If the Mass Relays are destroyed, what happens to half the galactic army I brought with me? Are they stranded on Earth? How do organics react to their new synthetics DNA? How does this change them? How do quarians and turians survive? How are synthetics altered? WHAT HAPPENES TO MY TALI? AND GARRUS? What happens to the Krogan? Do they go with the whole "galactic war" thing the salarians were talking about? If I chose "Synthesis" doesn't this nullify my decision to cure the genophage? How does this synthesis thing even work? Who is the stargazer and his child? Did all of this happen or was it just a story? Am I thinking too hard on this????????

Please take your time and read through the thread. Most of your questions have been answered time and again by both SajuukKhar and synobal.

 

[Blachman201_v1legacy]

I would like to direct everyones attention to this poll about the endings:

http://social.bioware.com/633606/polls/28989/


Only about about 200 people are satisfied with them, and good for them, I say.

But the facts remains that over 6500 are unsatisfied and about 1000 are somewhat unsatisfied with the endings. Basically, that's a whole lot of disappointed people. If the numbers are any inaction, and with almost 8000 votes on the poll I would say so, BioWare has alienated a huge chunk of their fanbase. I really don't see how all this will go over well for them.

 

[Matt King]

I have an interesting interpretation for this ending:

When Hackett gets on the radio and says that the Crucible isn't doing anything, I believe that Shepard lost consciousness. As a result, everything from that point onwards is simply Shepard's hallucinations as he slowly bled out. That would explain why the Guardian looks like the kid from Shepard's dreams and why Joker fled the Sol system in the thick of battle, an action which doesn't reflect his character as we know it at all.

Shepard was dreaming of a galaxy free from the Reapers as he slowly died from his wounds. That's how the ending should be interpreted.

Still, crappy, crappy, ending though.

i can see them pulling that for the dlc and i wouldn't mind that if we got a better ending