Mass Effect: ANDROMEDA

[Reverend]

I think it's safe to say that Cerberus were 100% indoctrinated by the end, so I wouldn't expect to see them again. Now, certain characters being ex-Cerberus or some other "humanity first" type organisation cropping up is another matter.

 

[Kronos]

And Protheans as well. ugh.

One day, the Prothean empire will rise again! And all the primitives will kneel before Javik!

 

[HotRod]

I really am curious which existing characters do you think they'll cram into the ark? You just know there's gonna be a few cameos here and there for the long time players to discover. Hmmmm, who was in ME1 & 2 but was nowhere to be seen in 3?

 

[LeadHead]

I've thought about that too. There's not a lot that immediately come to mind. Some of them depend on when in the Ark launched and many could be killed or saved depending on your actions.

If it launched after Udina's attempted Citadel takeover, Matriarch Atheta could be aboard, she was seen before on the Citadel, not after.

Pretty much every established Quarian is out due to how the Rannoch storyline could turn out. Veetor is the only one with a name that I can think of that wasn't seen in ME3.

I thought Gianna Parasini at first, but if you instead of working with her, go and make a deal with Anoleis, then she's a goner.

I think that cameos may be limited to recorded messages from other characters. If the Ark is Prothean based, then Liara is likely to have some sort of video that requires examination.

 

[Reverend]

Liara's image & personality in VI form is I think the only feasible way to get one of the main characters in there in any meaningful way. As I said, most of the major players are accounted for so you're talking a few secondary and tertiary characters.

The likes of Conrad Verner, Ms al-Jilani are probably the most likely candidates Bailey, though it would seem a little off that any of these people would be selected for what must have been a very secret operation. On par with whatever security protocols kept indoctrinated agents away from the Crucible. Think about it, one indoctrinated crew-member or passenger and the whole expedition is compromised as (they must assume at least) the Reapers would eventually follow them.

Aria would be an interesting choice, though as I supposed a few months back, probably the only way to get her on the ship would be to knock her out and throw her in stasis. After all she went through to retake Omega, turning tail and running seems out of character.

I'm not sure about Aethyta TBH. Her views on how her people are wasting their potential could arguably be interpreted as a willingness to help a new colony start over in a new direction, but at the same time she just (potentially) reconnected with her daughter, so I have a hard time seeing her abandon Liara again so soon.

Gianna Parasini is an interesting choice since her appearance in ME2 made it seem like she was going to get an expanded role in ME3, but it never materialised (probably a casualty of the dark energy plot being dropped.)

Beyond those, you're down to one dimensional bit players like Veetor and the three other individual Quarrians you encounter in ME2 on Omega, Illum & the Citadel. The "blue rose of Illum" Asari merchant, the Urdnot shaman, Lizbeth Baynham etc.

I was always a little disappointed Shiala never showed up again, but I get that as a character that could have died in the first game, she's not really usable anymore. Unless Shepard missed on of her Thorian clones that gained sentience and a full set of her memories once the creature died...but that's a tad contrived.
Plus, she was indoctrinated at one point, so no way they'd let her anywhere near the Arks.

 

[LeadHead]

Yeah, I was trying to go through the ME & ME2 characters to see who the likeliest candidates were who didn't live or die based on your actions, there weren't many:

Random Eden Prime colonists
Khalisa Al-Jalani (reporter
Detective Chellick (C-Sec detective)
Barla Von (Shadow Broker agent)
Various Citadel & Noveria shopkeepers
"Big, stupid jellyfish" (Hanar preaching on the presidium)
The Baynems (Mother and Daughter working for Exo-Geni)
Gavin Hossle (Tech researcher, also knows Contad Verner)
Lorak Quiin (synthetic Insights manager)
Innamorda (Krogan Bounty Hunter)
Captain Maeko Matsuo (Noveria Security)
Vargas (Binary Helix rep)
Commander Rentola (Kirrahe's supply officer)
Admiral Ahern (In command of Pinnacle Station)
Simon (Terra Nova engineer)

So not a lot of major players from ME1

Veetor
Aria T'Loak
Delan (Horizon cranky colonist)
Detective Anaya (Illium Security)
Martriarch Atheta (Liara's "father")
Seryna (Illium security expert who helps you get to Thane)
Tracking Officer Dara (Illium security tracking Samara)
Various citadel/omega/Illium/Tuchanka shopkeepers

Not a lot of major players from ME2 either

General Corinthus (Menae landing zone commander
Dalatrass Linrall (Salarian leader who tries to get Shepard to sabotage the Genophage cure)
Doctor Brynn Cole (Ex-Cerberus scientist & having a baby with Jacob Taylor)
Grace Sato (Communications expert from Ontarom)

And not a lot from Mass Effect 3.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

It seems odd I never met Gianni Parasini in my play of ME2.

 

[Reverend]

^It's a pretty inconsequential side-quest on Illum IIRC and save import errors not flagging it properly are certainly a possibility. Or you got her killed in ME1.

 

[Skywalker]

Most people from the Shepard trilogy will be dead by the time Andromeda kicks off, only asari and krogan live long enough for any recognizable faces to show up.

 

[Reverend]

^Unless they were all in stasis for the trip, which seems a likely possibility.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Aria is a useless tit except for the Omega DLC. Other than that I wouldn't want her in this game.

 

[Skywalker]

^Unless they were all in stasis for the trip, which seems a likely possibility.

That's true, I hadn't thought of that. @LeadHead seems to have it right, though, it doesn't look like there are many characters of consequence from the Shepard trilogy whose fates weren't determined in some way by our choices in those games.

 

[Reverend]

I'd hardly call many of those of any particular consequence. Even calling them "characters" is a little too charitable as they're mostly just one dimensional quest givers. Sure, one or two could show up and be given a larger role, but of what real value is that vs. creating a new character?

 

[Skywalker]

I'd hardly call many of those of any particular consequence. Even calling them "characters" is a little too charitable as they're mostly just one dimensional quest givers. Sure, one or two could show up and be given a larger role, but of what real value is that vs. creating a new character?

I wasn't saying any of those characters in his post are of consequence. I was saying that any characters who were consequential in some form are probably too inextricably tied to the choices made by the players in the first three games to be worth trying to port over to Andromeda.

 

[JD]

I think having every organic and inorganic being from microbes to Reapers fundamentally changed to share knowledge, understanding and come together in a utopian paradise is a pretty major "detail" vs. the version of the galaxy that my Shepard left in her tracks. In which the Reapers & Geth were obliterated, the relays were all destroyed, the major homeworlds were left devastated and Shepard herself (possibly) lived. Or the one where Shepard uploads her brain and becomes the Reapers' over-mind, with the giant bio-mechanoid squids playing facist babysitters to the rest or the younger races. Not to mention the one where the Reapers continued the cycles and it was another 50,000 years before someone got Liara's message.

If these were all so easily glossed over, (and fans would have rioted if they tried) it would have been set in the Milky-Way but instead they relocated the plot over two and a half million lightyears away from it. Their only options were to either pick a "canon" ending (which fans would also riot over) or side-step the whole thing, which is what they've done.

Wow, I didn't realize the ME3 endings were all that different. I just read through the descriptions on the Mass Effect wiki, and I didn't realize that the Mass Relays could survive some ending, I had assumed that no matter what you did they were completely destroyed. Seeing how hugely different they are, it would be pretty much impossible to just leave things vague. Even an quick off hand comment would almost certainly have to pick an ending.

 

[Reverend]

^Yeah, just taking the endings as originally presented one would be forgiven for seeing very little variation. However, the "Extended Cut" DLC added quite a bit of elaboration that made the consequences of each possibility much more explicit and distinct.

 

[JD]

Titan Books will be publishing a new series of prequel and sequel novels for Andromeda.
The first book, Mass Effect: Anrdomeda: Initiation by NK Jemisin will be released on August 16, 2016. The second and third books don't have authors yet, but they do have release months, March 2017, and September 2017 respectively. The fourth book with be written by Mass Effect creative director Marc Walters and will be released in March 2018.

 

[Skywalker]

Just no William Dietz, please.

 

[SPCTRE]

not interested in non-Karpyshyn novels, thanks

 

[Skywalker]

not interested in non-Karpyshyn novels, thanks

Him leaving the series to focus on The Old Republic is probably the biggest reason why things went off the rails in ME3. I admit one thing about Andromeda that still makes me wary is Mac Walters' involvement.