For those of you still dissapointed by the ending. I thought you guys might be interested in a theory known as the indoctrination theory. Now, I didn't know anything about this theory until a few days ago, it basically fits almost perfectly with the plot of the games, has a ton of fairly strong evidence for it, and means that the writers of ME3 basically managed to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. If I say so myself, it's pretty mind blowing; Major props to the writers at ME3 for pulling it off'm fairly sure the reason the ending we "thought" we got was so crap was due to EA pushing the game out the door before it was ready, and so they came up with this "Indoctrination" storyline to give them room to expand on it later, or set up the oppertunity for a sequel in the future. Sucks, but hey, that's EA.)
Warning, this post is about to get nerdy in 5...4...3...2...1.
So anyways, the theory basically states that ever since the arrival DLC from ME2, when Shepard was knocked unconcious for a few days and experimented on, the Reapers have been attemping to indoctrinate him. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically a form of mind control the reapers do to get someone to do their bidding, eventually leaving them as a husk. They did it to Sarren in ME1.
Anyway, back to the theory. It states that everything after when Shepard was hit by harbinger's laser up unitl the end of the game is a dream sequence. And your actions in the final confrontation with starchild determine whether or not Shepard gets indoctrinated in the end. Only the "Destroy" option prevents you from getting indoctrinated. Because one of the signs of being indoctrinated is the eyes of the indoctrinated. Which glow.
Here is a screenshot of Saren's eyes from ME1, and The Illusive Man's from his final confrontation in ME3. Notice in both pictures the eyes are glowing, which according to the novels, is a sign of indoctrination. Now look at this picture, which compares shepard's eys in the control ending with the illusive man's, here. It's pretty clear from that picture that at the end he ends up indoctrinated, as his eyes are also glowing. Wheras with the "Destroy" ending his eyes are fine; See? (Yeah, I couldn't find the male Shepard, but whatever
Still not convinced? Well like I said before there's a TON more evidence for it. No seriously, about six hours of it. And yes...I'm ashamed to say I watched it all (And you thought it was nerdy before)
I'm gonna go ahead and drop the documentaries here (Yes, documentaries on a video game conspiracy theory; Go figure.) So if anyone wants to check out some or all of it, go ahead:
One
Two
And three (This was made after the extended cut DLC, and clears that up.)
I may post the key evidence for it here if I have time, I'm not actually expecting anyone here to sit through six hours of this stuff, unless they're a diehard ME fan, I more wanted to notify people about this, as I noticed some people said they were dissapointed and wanted to let them know all hope is not lost. Note I'm not saying the theory is definately true, but I certainly think it is, in my humble opinion. For me there's just far, FAR too much evidence that hints at it for it all to be coincidence, and these are the same writers who created the fantastic ME universe. Why would those same writers create so many blunders in the original ending even WITH extended cut but fit perfectly wth this ending?
Anyway, that's all for now, feel free to check those vids out, or just google "ME3 indocrination theory" if you'd rather read a summary article rather than sit through six hours of video.
Other than that, have fun.![]()
Yo, that EA video is hilarious![]()
But yeah, I believe the indoctrination theory as well. You'll also notice how on the control ending, the catalyst's facial expression is almost a smirk, like it was happy it won.. the reapers, that is. It also sticks around for a bit, almost seeming to make sure that Shepard chose the reaper's set path. Whereas in the destroy ending, the catalyst seems to disappear immediately, like it's angry that it lost, or doesn't care.
Bit of evidence pieces here and there, but it totally adds up perfectly into the indoctrination theory.
Nice post, btw. Lovin dat research!
Thanks...I wish I could see the look on the EA CEO's face when he sees that vid...Originally Posted by bDIdol![]()
My personal favourite bit of evidence is in the final confrontation between Anderson and The Illusive Man. When Anderson says "They're controlling you", at first glance it looks as if he's talking to the illusive man, but if you pause and look carefully, he's actually looking over the illusive man's shoulder, directly at the camera. And in the collectors edition there was some kind of book from the devs, and in the book it said that they intended to use eyes as a storytelling mechanic.
Oh Bioware, you so crafty.![]()
I can only pray for more of Mass Effect![]()