Prologue
Yes, this article is about 1 1/2 years late, but people still continue to think ME3's ending wasn't "that bad". So here is a long article I wrote a while ago on why its ending is in fact terrible. Why do I care? Because I'm an amateur writer and purveyor of literature, and I find analzying stories to be fun. Obviously SPOILERS for ME3's ending apply. The only other spoilers I list are fairly non-specific ones for the endings of Star Wars VI and Lord of the Rings.
Introduction
ME3s ending is bad because it is bad storytelling. The vocal supporters seem to think the ending controversy is about artistic freedom. It is not, not at all. Nobody wants to limit artistic freedom. Artists should be able to create whatever ending they want.
However, like any story, it will be scrutinized to determine its intrinsic worth. This article will explain the endings blatant failings after briefly discussing what makes endings both bad and good.
What Makes a Good Ending?
An ending needs to logically flow out of the rest of the narrative. It is critical that it is internally consistent with the established setting, lore, characters, and concepts. Like music, it should resolve the storys grand crescendo. Therefore, a great ending needs to bring closure to the key events and characters, while maintaining internal consistency. That is all there is to it.
Specific Examples of Great Endings
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, nuff said. Well, I better explain. LotR devotes many pages/minutes to showing us the storys impact on the characters. For some it is happy, for some it is sad, and for some it is bittersweet. The ending embraces the full range of emotions. Frodo, the main character has a bittersweet ending. The events have forever changed him. He cant ever go back (an epic theme!). So he leaves for the unknown lands. Notice this ending doesnt explain all mysteries, but it brings closure to the books events while still leaving the future as a blank page.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi also does a fantastic job of bringing closure and gives a big payoff. You see how the defeat of the Empire has galactic-wide repercussions. The heroes get rewarded for their tremendous efforts. You see how life will carry on for them. Han gets Leah, and Leah is reunited with her brother. Luke can rebuild the Jedi. Vader is redeemed. Warning: I dont mean to say things need to always be happy like this, but happy was very fitting for Star Wars, which was built upon the Light overcoming Dark theme. Hence, the ending was extremely consistent with the entire trilogys narrative.
General Examples of Bad Endings
Some people seem to think that any ending is ok because it was made by an artist. That is absurd. Artists are merely humans who sometimes mess things up. To prove this point, consider the following.
Bad Ending #1. Take the it was all a dream ending. This is a terrible mechanic because it invalidates all prior events. Using dreams can be effective but only when part of a larger concept. The movie Inception is a perfect example of dreams done right because from the very start it presents itself as a movie about the nature of reality and the danger of losing your grounding. So the uncertain ending was perfect.
Bad Ending #2. Take the deus ex machina (god from the machine) ending. Wikipedia says this is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object. This is a terrible mechanic because it doesnt logically resolve prior story elements but uses a god character to one-up everyone and create a totally independent solution. Uh oh. That sounds a lot like ME3, but I get ahead of myself.
Bad Ending #3. Another terrible ending is what I call the lucky break ending where an unrelated event occurs to save the day. This is the lucked into it victory. For instance, the evil genius is about to launch the nuke but he trips and falls into his own shark tank. This ending is terrible because it makes all prior heroic efforts unnecessary, effectively invalidating prior events.
Note that all three terrible endings above share a common issue: the invalidation of prior events. Moreover, it is useful to note that all three ending types are extensively used in comedy because they are so illogical and absurd that they are inherently comedic. I mean just stop and think of the evil genius tripping and falling into his own shark tank! Tell me you arent laughing at that! (Then add an after-credits scene of the shark waking up and thinking, Whoa, that was a trippy dream!)
The Conclusion of the Philosophical Musings
Hopefully it is clear that some endings are better than others. The inferior endings (aka stupid endings) invalidate or trivialize the prior narrative and usually provide no meaningful resolution. Note this doesnt have anything to do with endings being happy or sad or bittersweet or stoic or emotional or ironic or just or unjust.
Theres a good way to do all sorts of endings. If you are true to your narrative and logically consistent, you can have the bad guys win, everybody die, the villain escape, the mission fail, the penguins take over, and so on. However, you better make absolutely sure your ending flows from your story! Otherwise, your audience is extremely justified in ripping your ending to shreds. Speaking of which, lets look at ME3.
The ME3 Ending, Part 1: Deranged God-Child
We pick things up right when Shepard collapses, positioned precisely on the elevator panel (lucky break by the way, refer to bad ending #3) and rises to the unknown. A god-child appears and says he built the Reapers in order to ensure synthetics wouldnt eradicate organic life and the Reapers eradication is actually preservation of organic life. Uh huh, right.
If it wasnt already obvious, this god-child is just a slightly more obtuse version of deus ex machina (bad ending #2)! The seemingly impossible situation with the Reapers is solved by the introduction of this new god-child. Ever since 18 BC (Horaces Ars Poetica), writers (like Aristotle) have warned to never, ever, EVER use this device to resolve plots! Let me repeat that. For over 2,000 years, it has been known that deus ex machina is artificial, idiotic, and totally unsatisfying.
To make things sillier, deus ex machina wasnt even needed. The Reaper problem was bleak, but the Crucible was supposed to destroy the Reapers. BioWare could have simply allowed the Crucible to function as expected. The only reason the situation became impossible to solve was because of the introduction of the god-child. So the god-child is not only the solution to the impossible problem but also the cause! The hilarious irony of it all is clearly lost on BioWares writers.
But more than just relying on a terrible plot device, ME3s god-child doesnt even make sense. His logic is truly childish, which is another irony lost on the writers. He manages to claim the Reapers are really the ideal solution, 100 hours of story be danged. Reapers preserve society, exclaims the god-child (just in a very DEAD type of preservation, think mummies?)! Revealing a god character is bad enough, but then making him completely deranged is adding insult to injury.
The ME3 Ending, Part 2: The Resultant Comedy
What impact does this ending have? Well, it trivializes the entire Mass Effect universe. Everything up to this point seemed real and serious and consequential. But in two minutes we learn that the universe is run by a deranged nutjob.
You know what this reminds me of? Theres a scene in the brilliant comedy radio series (and book) Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams where the characters finally meet the Ruler of the Universe, hoping to finally get answers to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything! Turns out the Ruler is completely insane and isnt even sure the galaxy exists (hes only sure his pussycat is real). One of the characters, Zarniwoop, gets frustrated and exasperatedly says, But don't you see? What you decide affects the fate of millions of people? And the Ruler casually remarks, I don't know them, I've never met them. They only exist in words I think I hear. It is quite a hilarious scene. Remember how we said bad endings are inherently comedic?
Going back to ME3, it is as if BioWare accidently mixed up the satirical ending with the real one. They should have had Weird Als classic song Everything You Know is Wrong playing over the god-childs blabbering. Up is down, short is longeverything that seemed so important doesnt really matter You must admit ME3s god-child scene was pretty funny if you pretend it was intentional comedy.
Of course, ME3 isnt comedy. The Mass Effect series at its best is full of weighty choices and deadly consequences. Plus the series is built upon deeply human themes of hope, unity, and victory. So when a god character comes along who is deranged and/or plain stupid, it is totally crushing. This is what ME3s ending was, if taken seriously - a crushing of the human spirit. Like Zarniwoop, we came with high hopes and we left crestfallen. Hence why so many gamers were so, very, VERY angry.
The ME3 Ending, Part 3: The Trifecta Betrayal
Not content with the god-child trivializing all prior events, the writers then totally change Shepard into a mute, unquestioning fool who doesnt even bother to Investigate the childs speech. And now BioWare passes the point of no return. The god-child was moronic, but tampering with Shepard was heresy. Shepard resonated so powerfully with gamers because he represents the best in all of us. Remember our themes of hope, unity, and victory. Hence Shepard should have been able to respond with, To heck with you, theres always another way!
Or he should have at least reacted like Zarniwoop did and said, Dont you see your Reapers have killed billions of lives? Then at least gamers would have been able to remain emotionally harmonized with Shepard. We would have had a new evil to rally behind, the evil god-child. But no. First the god-child betrays the established lore surrounding the Reapers by telling us they preserve life, not destroy it. Then Shepard betrays himself and all gamers. Theres very little worse than defiling a main character in the final moments of a story. Consequently, it was at this point that ME3s ending truly became one of the biggest epic fails of all time.
Oh, yeah, and then after two betrayals, Joker betrays you by escaping with the Normandy rather than waiting for you. Thats been beaten to death by countless other articles and videos. I have nothing to add except to reiterate how utterly awful BioWares judgment was on this point.
Update: BioWares Extended Cut ending does slightly improve things, letting Shepard ask some questions. However, it doesnt change any of the underlying failures of the ending, and therefore I will not waste time discussing it.
Recap (TLDR Version)
ME3s ending uses the terrible deus ex machina plot device, which trivializes the roughly 100 prior hours of story. Moreover, ME3 presents you with a deranged idiot who betrays the entire Reaper plot by revealing the Reapers to be harbingers of cultural preservation (LOL). Then Shepard betrays you and himself by accepting this punk kids blabbering. Then just to complete the circle of betrayal, Joker and some of your crew fly away, betraying their allegiance to you.
Theres a lot more thats idiotic about the ending, but this deus ex machina trifecta betrayal is the heart of the issue. This isnt about artistic freedom. This is about proper storytelling, which the ending aint!
Epic mega-fail ending is EPIC MEGA-FAIL!