So, how do you think we are going to beat the reapers at the end of mass effect 3?

[putowtin]

OR by suddenly making the reapers weaker for a reason that they won't explain but that bioware's moronic fans will just absorb anyway and continue to praise them for their great story telling abilities.

so you're
1: accusing bioware of doing what most games/films do when they get to the third film and need a get out of jail free card.
2: picking on fans of the series that you started a discussion about?

Whatever they do I'll enjoy it, and be sad to see the last of Commander Shepherd

 

[Manji187]

Independence Day or War of the Worlds. Either some cheap ass virus or a silly weakness to mundane stuff.

EDIT: or some kind of Halo like uber weapon of mass destruction that can be set to target specific life-forms/ entities. Then everything ends in a big flash and the reapers vaporize/ disintegrate or something.

 

[Mr Twist]

The Citadel have secretly been reverse engineering the remains of Sovereign and created their own reaper.

In the end Shephard will have the choice to become the 'avatar' of this 'reaper.'

The combination of this and an ancient relic allows shepherd to blast through half the reapers before coming across the mothership reaper. This gigantic battle station will be the site for the endgame. A massive shoot out inside leading to the centre, the avatar for all reapers, calling himself the Omega.

The final power of both the ancient relic and something we've all forgotten from the first game will ensue to shut down the reapers as Shepherd stays behind to fight it out in a blaze of glory. Then...Omega offers him an option...become a reaper...

And there is Mass Effect 3s 'gritty' ending.

 

[captain_dalan]

By something that is introduced in this game. Suddenly there's still a Prothean tech somewhere that can be retrofitted to work with theirs that will easily destroy the Reapers. Or they'll find a controle unit, destroy that.
Virus is good too.

Personally, I want something like Shepard liberating the Protheans from Reaper control and going down with the Normandy in the last stand which does destroy the Reapers. Either way, win or lose, Shepard has to die in my opinion.

Well in my perfect world, this should be done (or being able to be done)in several different ways, one/or several of which would result in Shepard ending dead and at least one in which the Reapers would win. Can we expect such a multiple ending game in 2012? Probably not, but if they do make one, i will celebrate the day of its release like a new national/gamer holiday

As to how we could win, i also hope at least 3-4 ways of doing it, with different results in benefits-damages department, some of which would depend on the choices we made in the first 2 games

Imo the biggest downside with this plot, is that they made the Reapers too powerfull. There's no 'realistic' way they can be beaten. They outnumber and outpower the universe. Especially considering the amount of Reapers that are coming.
So there has to be this weird Deus Ex Machina that gives them a chance of survival. Preferably the 'bad' ending is based on your choices in the previous 2 games and not on Loyalty missions and things of the like.

Hmm i agree! The rachni and the counsil survival/deaths should make a major impact for starters. As well as the results from the collector's base demise/survival. These are just of the top of my mind, and seam to have the most global effects on possible aid/hindrance for the war effort and the final outcome of the game. But i hope to run in to some old friend that "owe me" some beer, for small "cosmetic" quests that would hold less wight but still add some flavor to the missions!

 

[Wayneguard]

The reapers will lack anti-bodies to the common cold and will die...

 

[Zantos]

I know what'll happen. It'll be solved between Legion and Harbinger in a one-on-one dance off for the fate of the galaxy. Legion will bust out his sick moves and the Reapers will have no choice but to leave in shame.

For those of you who don't know what I'm on about

Spoiler: Legion Dancing

 

[Redryhno]

I'm still wondering why no one thought of just dropping several EMP bombs in the middle of the Reaper fleet. If they're machines, that should fry them pretty good. Might not kill them since we know they're also organic, but it should as least slow them down.

However, since we know that is not going to happen because the odds are that the Reapers have some sort of defense against that, I see two possibilities.

1) As the hologram on Ilos pointed out, the Reaper's main advantage is surprise. They storm in, crush the head of galactic civilization, and the body slowly dies. When Shep asks why they do this, the hologram points out that, while powerful, the Reapers cannot stand against an united galaxy and they know it. That is why they crush the leaders in a surprise attack. Well, Shep stopped that from happening, and if the previews are any indication, the Reapers are going after Earth first. Which means the other races will be left alone. It's going to be Shep's job to unite the other races while the Reapers are focused on one target, and then use the entire galaxy to counter attack. After a massive death toll, the Reapers will be defeated. BioWare already wrote in their defeat in the first game in order to avoid the situation you're talking about.

2) As others have pointed out, BioWare cheats and introduces some sort of super anti-Reaper tech that helps greatly. I must admit I'll be a little annoyed if this happens because it's a cheap way out, and it also raises the question of why no one before the humans thought to use this weapon.

Well, it could just be as easy as that, except they did show the anti-Reaper gun in ME2, with that one reaper you get into (take it anyway you want it), the only thing they have to do is say Cerberus actually recovered the wreckage of the gun and just didn't tell you about it.

 

[Mouse_Crouse]

... destruction of a "commander" reaper, thereby shutting down or handicapping every other reaper.

This was my guess, and IMHO the most likely. It feels like less of a cop-out then introducing a WTF last minute out.

 

[ZehMadScientist]

Aw man, I have to say that I laughed quite a few times while reading through this thread. The Escapist community really has a great sense of humor.

On topic though, as mentioned before, deus ex machina seems almost inevitable. The Reapers are, with their numbers, almost omnipotent. I'm not asking for a perfect ending, just try to tie up most loose ends.

 

[Ruwrak]

By pumping the Big Chief Reaper full of lead.



fin.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

We will win by the power of rock!

 

[Justanewguy]

Last I checked a Macguffin was something that was a plot device that had no real point except to push the plot along. If that "Macguffin" is useful to the main story, such as in Fallout 2 making the GECK destroy the Oil Platform, then it is no longer a Macguffin.

In the same vein, a Deus ex Machina is something that comes out of nowhere to fix an insurmountable problem. That would be like the Sun destabilizing for no in-plot reason (If, say, Shepherd detonates an *insert huge weapon here* in the Sun's core to destabilize it, then it wouldn't be a Deus ex Machina, it would be a plot driven answer to a plot driven problem), and destroying the Sol System, and the Reapers with it.

If they introduce something (a plan or weapon or just a general strategy that will lead to one of these) that can defeat the Reapers, and they introduce it before the halfway point of the game, then it's a plot driven answer, and neither a Macguffin nor a Deus ex Machina. If, on the other hand, they introduce a plot device that leads to nothing in and of itself, but leads to the answer; while that would be a Macguffin, it still wouldn't be a Deus ex Machina.

My belief? I have a feeling that the derelict reaper from ME2 will be a major part of ME3. I also have a feeling that the Rachni could feature heavily. That said, I don't think there will be one specific answer. I think that it's going to depend on the choices you made in ME1 and 2. Will there be a way to lose? Probably. The stakes are too high in this one to not have a losing ending.

 

[L3W15 M]

Repurposed reaper tech? Like you know scavenge their guns or something?
This had made me think to be honest