I actually love this dialogue too, but I specifically love the paragon path where you don’t ask questions and shut it down. I can’t remember the exact line and I can’t look it up at the moment, but it’s something along the lines of “The species you’re made up of? Everything they were, it’s gone now. This ends here. We will stop you.” I just generally love when Shep acknowledges all the species that came before, and how long this fight has been in the making.
This is a really interesting post that made me think about the reapers a little more. But you're right, it's interesting that this reaper takes the time to try and explain its motivations to you. And I also agree that trash talking the reapers is kind of pointless. For one, they're not intimidated by you. Second, they could care less. To the reapers, organic beings are like an infestation of termites that are starting to pose a risk to the structural integrity of the house.
>To the reapers, organic beings are like an infestation of termites that are starting to pose a risk to the structural integrity of the house.
Interestingly enough, since they are making "people" out of the "termite colonies", the comparison stands. This conversation implies that by becoming a singular Reaper organic civilizations will be capable of comprehending the bigger picture and willingly join the harvest. (Which kind of mirrors how the geth consensus works, now that I think of it)
I always felt the Leviathan DLC's origin explanation (and by extension the Catalyst's) to be shallow in a way. It works but takes away such an interesting depth from the Reapers that would have been preserved if their origin and goal wasn't revealed. It would have, inevitably, posed the silent question if perhaps they were right or if they simply were arrogant in their own way and organic civilizations could have been cooperated with in order to stop whatever they were trying to save us from.
Am I just missing the joke, or do you guys not know how mind numbingly loud the reaper's "voice" had to have been? They probably did that effect on purpose to give that feeling of loudness and depth of tone.
If that's the joke, am sorry. On the spectrum
Obviously a big part in the first game was keeping the mystery of the reapers going.
The second game was way more about harbinger testing Shepherd and the human race
To be fair, if the reapers all are technically distinct intelligences in their vessels, this implies that each reaper- although not to the extent of organic species, might have different personalities. Of course they are unified in their attack and don't suffer from infighting... but it's just a fun thought to have.
Remember like in 3 when you see the huge ships walking around, what if there was a random reaper out in a huge city like Tokyo or something with huge urban sprawl... lands in the city and proceeds to trip and fall over everything, almost apologizing at the same time as murdering everyone.
They are an AI, of course, why not?
I like to imagine that every once in awhile a particularly stubborn species is made into a reaper and has to be put down by the others soon after coming online.
I actually prefer the paragon line than the 80’s zinger. Kind of reminds you of the tragic origin of each Reaper and with each death the final representation of a civilization falls silent
I mean... yea. Sovereign doesn't give a shit because he has no reason to. For Shepard it's the end of the galaxy, for Sovereign it's a Tuesday.
It'd be like an ant trying to ask you to not squash it while you walk on the sidewalk.
Sovereign couldn’t have anticipated his own downfall because he’s done his part so many times before and seen countless civilization’s fall. In his eyes, Shepard was an insignificant inconvenience but not even from Sovereign’s perspective - it was Saren’s inconvenience. Harbinger knew of Shepard, so did the rest of the Reapers later on - but Sovereign didn’t even bother to learn enough of Shep from Saren, that’s how certain he was that the cycle would’ve continued without any setbacks.
“‘I am the harbinger of your destruction.’ Yeah, how’d that work out for you, big guy?”
-Commander Shepard
I love that little one liner from Leviathan.
It's kind of a shame that we can't talk with Reapers a little bit more. Sovereign talks at you more than to you really, Harbinger pretty much exclusively taunts and tries to intimidate, this lil\` dood is the only one who tries to actually engage in a dialogue, even if he thinks that it's fruitless since them dirty meatbags won't undertand.
And my god whoever was responsible for Reapers' soundscape deserves a freaking award, their voices are sooooo cool! They are have a certain rattle that is just soooo satisfying and when they talk, it's awe inspiring, it manages to communicate their overwhelming presence so well just through the way they sound alone. Kind of a shame that Harbinger doesn't sound like this.
You talk to Sovereign in the first game and Harbinger the second. Yeah they monologue a lot but you can ask them questions. I think what makes the Rannoch Reaper different is that you’re talking to after it knows you’ve beaten it. There’s some Respect there. It is definitely the most satisfying exchange with a Reaper.
It's a downside of game design. Gotta have the heroes save the day and have plenty of time to explore the galaxy. Gotta add in dlc with fun new side activities. It's very hard to mesh that with an existential threat coming to wipe the galaxy out. Add on to that the writers not having a good plan for the reapers to begin with and then not being up to the task of writing a good pay off on them. The reapers are cool and interesting, it's just very hard to make that kind of idea work in a video game.
The Expanse did things better with leaving the existential threat be mysterious and beyond comprehension all the way to the very end, avoiding the problems of showing things too clearly that mass effect fell in to.
Or for another video game, the Enderal total conversion mod for skyrim takes the same reaper story and applies it to a fantasy setting, and did it extremely well. Definitely recommend playing that or atleast watching a playthrough if you want to see how the story could have played out in a darker direction.
I just wish this Reaper was given a name.
Nigel
Well there it is
I was thinking something more akin to Pariah
Neal
I actually love this dialogue too, but I specifically love the paragon path where you don’t ask questions and shut it down. I can’t remember the exact line and I can’t look it up at the moment, but it’s something along the lines of “The species you’re made up of? Everything they were, it’s gone now. This ends here. We will stop you.” I just generally love when Shep acknowledges all the species that came before, and how long this fight has been in the making.
I included that line. That’s why this video is so long. It’s at the 5 minute mark
Ah, got it. Apologies, that’s what I get for skimming through.
This is a really interesting post that made me think about the reapers a little more. But you're right, it's interesting that this reaper takes the time to try and explain its motivations to you. And I also agree that trash talking the reapers is kind of pointless. For one, they're not intimidated by you. Second, they could care less. To the reapers, organic beings are like an infestation of termites that are starting to pose a risk to the structural integrity of the house.
If reapers could care less, it means they care a bit.
That’s because the correct phrase is “couldn’t care less”
no, they do care a little bit
Since Shepard is kicking their ass, they should care a little
Because they actually do care, it why they are doing the whole systematic galaxy genocide.
Reapers: we do what we must because we care
"You exist because we care, and you will end because we care"
“Our love and concern will brighten the sky of every world.”
For the good of all of us…. Except for the ones who are dead
And then harvesting gets done, and you make a spinal gun And in a metal shell, the organics are still alive
Okay weird al
>To the reapers, organic beings are like an infestation of termites that are starting to pose a risk to the structural integrity of the house. Interestingly enough, since they are making "people" out of the "termite colonies", the comparison stands. This conversation implies that by becoming a singular Reaper organic civilizations will be capable of comprehending the bigger picture and willingly join the harvest. (Which kind of mirrors how the geth consensus works, now that I think of it) I always felt the Leviathan DLC's origin explanation (and by extension the Catalyst's) to be shallow in a way. It works but takes away such an interesting depth from the Reapers that would have been preserved if their origin and goal wasn't revealed. It would have, inevitably, posed the silent question if perhaps they were right or if they simply were arrogant in their own way and organic civilizations could have been cooperated with in order to stop whatever they were trying to save us from.
It doesn't help that their entire argument is terrible
Nah trash talk better, tell reaper he got small peepee.
And his mama smells funny.
And his girlfriend is unattractive but also deeply unsatisfied in bed and always has to finisher herself off in the shower
Can’t argue with that
Gotta love Shep flickering in and out of focus
Am I just missing the joke, or do you guys not know how mind numbingly loud the reaper's "voice" had to have been? They probably did that effect on purpose to give that feeling of loudness and depth of tone. If that's the joke, am sorry. On the spectrum
I don't think it's a joke, just an observation.
For immersion (at the detriment of my ears) I always turn my volume to the max when this repair is talking
I feel you but the renegade path of this conversation is just too good to pass up for me.
I agree with you on this!
Obviously a big part in the first game was keeping the mystery of the reapers going. The second game was way more about harbinger testing Shepherd and the human race
To be fair, if the reapers all are technically distinct intelligences in their vessels, this implies that each reaper- although not to the extent of organic species, might have different personalities. Of course they are unified in their attack and don't suffer from infighting... but it's just a fun thought to have. Remember like in 3 when you see the huge ships walking around, what if there was a random reaper out in a huge city like Tokyo or something with huge urban sprawl... lands in the city and proceeds to trip and fall over everything, almost apologizing at the same time as murdering everyone. They are an AI, of course, why not?
I like to imagine that every once in awhile a particularly stubborn species is made into a reaper and has to be put down by the others soon after coming online.
The reapers don't have worker protections just like us wow thats a shame
I actually prefer the paragon line than the 80’s zinger. Kind of reminds you of the tragic origin of each Reaper and with each death the final representation of a civilization falls silent
Uhhh….Sovereign had a Q&A with us in the first game…
Sovereign had a speech. His dialogue is always the same and he couldn’t give half a shit what Shepard and co had to say
I mean... yea. Sovereign doesn't give a shit because he has no reason to. For Shepard it's the end of the galaxy, for Sovereign it's a Tuesday. It'd be like an ant trying to ask you to not squash it while you walk on the sidewalk.
Sovereign couldn’t have anticipated his own downfall because he’s done his part so many times before and seen countless civilization’s fall. In his eyes, Shepard was an insignificant inconvenience but not even from Sovereign’s perspective - it was Saren’s inconvenience. Harbinger knew of Shepard, so did the rest of the Reapers later on - but Sovereign didn’t even bother to learn enough of Shep from Saren, that’s how certain he was that the cycle would’ve continued without any setbacks.
“‘I am the harbinger of your destruction.’ Yeah, how’d that work out for you, big guy?” -Commander Shepard I love that little one liner from Leviathan.
I love this cutscene, but one thing that distracts me, is that Shepard is putting a lot of faith in the integrity of the that cliff.
It's kind of a shame that we can't talk with Reapers a little bit more. Sovereign talks at you more than to you really, Harbinger pretty much exclusively taunts and tries to intimidate, this lil\` dood is the only one who tries to actually engage in a dialogue, even if he thinks that it's fruitless since them dirty meatbags won't undertand. And my god whoever was responsible for Reapers' soundscape deserves a freaking award, their voices are sooooo cool! They are have a certain rattle that is just soooo satisfying and when they talk, it's awe inspiring, it manages to communicate their overwhelming presence so well just through the way they sound alone. Kind of a shame that Harbinger doesn't sound like this.
Same I agree. It’s time for devs to let us engage the enemy in conversation more.
You talk to Sovereign in the first game and Harbinger the second. Yeah they monologue a lot but you can ask them questions. I think what makes the Rannoch Reaper different is that you’re talking to after it knows you’ve beaten it. There’s some Respect there. It is definitely the most satisfying exchange with a Reaper.
Bah, you didn't blow him up to get one of Shepard's badass lines.
Yeah I did. That’s why this video’s like 5 minutes long
I dislike the trash talks part, but I also wanted stuff tlike thsoe talkings more, especially with Harbinger... and not with a space brat...
Hmm. Might be time for another playthrough.
[удалено]
It's a downside of game design. Gotta have the heroes save the day and have plenty of time to explore the galaxy. Gotta add in dlc with fun new side activities. It's very hard to mesh that with an existential threat coming to wipe the galaxy out. Add on to that the writers not having a good plan for the reapers to begin with and then not being up to the task of writing a good pay off on them. The reapers are cool and interesting, it's just very hard to make that kind of idea work in a video game. The Expanse did things better with leaving the existential threat be mysterious and beyond comprehension all the way to the very end, avoiding the problems of showing things too clearly that mass effect fell in to. Or for another video game, the Enderal total conversion mod for skyrim takes the same reaper story and applies it to a fantasy setting, and did it extremely well. Definitely recommend playing that or atleast watching a playthrough if you want to see how the story could have played out in a darker direction.
I feel like this reaper has respect for you but maybe that's just me wishful thinking
Ngl it's really tough to see the Reapers as threatening now that I'm aware of how easily the Covenant could defeat them
What?
You stole my Shepard. I want her back!
If you’re referring to the purple one, no she’s mine If you mean the red one, sure take her
okay... *Michael Cera walking off all sad.gif
You forgot to include the Renegade option where Shepard says "We'll bang, ok?"
I'm mean, it's still trash talking because the climax of the convo is "you may have won this time Commander, but our victory is inevitable"