It's no secret that I love Mass Effect. I am somewhat disappointed by the steep difficulty of Mass Effect 2, as well as its determined focus on a combat system that is, shall we say, not up to Gears of War standards, but I love it all the same. If the Mass Effect games were my children, Mass Effect 2 would be the "special" child. It doesn't measure up to its older sibling, but when all is said and done, I can't place my affection for one above the other.

Let's face it: Bioware do not do combat; they do story, and they do it well. I hope that they ease up on the action for Mass Effect 3 and remember why they have so many fans in the first place.

It is with Bioware's superb standard of story-telling in mind that I would like to test my own abilities as a story-teller by hazarding a few guesses at what is to come in Mass Effect 3.

1. I suspect we will find out who or what built the Reapers. They had to come from somewhere, right? Perhaps they were built as a superweapon for some long-forgotten war. Perhaps they are even from another galaxy. I mean, I can't imagine that traveling for a million years through dark space would perturb them much.

2. The Terminus Systems and Council Space will form an alliance. It stands to reason that if the galaxy and its peoples are divided, they cannot stand up to such a massive threat as the Reapers the way a unified front could. Seeing as the Terminus Systems are lawless and fraught with bloody power struggles between slavers, mercenaries, pirates and rogue AI's, I suspect that Shepard will have to spend much of his time installing a warlord to bring them together. (I'm thinking Aria T'Loak.)

3. The genophage will be cured (if you kept the salarian's research in Mass Effect 2). Wrex will stand beside Shepard, leading a renewed krogan horde. I wouldn't be surprised if Shepard even has to put down a few uppity clan leaders who want to restart the krogan rebellions.

4. Shepard will have to defuse a war between the geth and the quarians, or else choose a side. Much of the way this plays out will be determined by the way you handled Tali's and Legion's loyalty missions in Mass Effect 2, but one thing is clear: Tensions between the two groups are near breaking point. I expect them to come to a head in Mass Effect 3.

5. This one I'm absolutely sure of: The Citadel will be destroyed...by Shepard. If the Reapers gain control of it, they can shut down the mass relay network, leaving the entire galaxy at their mercy. They could even use it to bring in reinforcements from dark space. Obviously, trying to stop the Reapers by fighting them face-to-face is a doomed proposition, so Shepard will make the call to destroy the Citadel to prevent it from falling to the Reapers.

6. As a final thought, I would like to suggest the possibility that the Keepers built the Reapers. The Citadel is Reaper technology, and the Keepers maintain the Citadel. How do they know so much about their technology? The Keepers are also the only species that seems to be untouched by the regular harvesting. If I am correct, clearly something went wrong. They made the Reapers too smart, too powerful, like what happened with the geth and the quarians if the geth had ultimately enslaved their former masters. (This possibility only just occurred to me; I am not certain about it. That is why this point is separate from point number one.)

I want to point out that I am NOT acquainted with anyone who works at Bioware. These are my own conjectures arrived at by playing the Mass Effect games fanatically, reading the codex entries religiously, and having a knack for telling stories. If I'm right about the above plot points, I'm just awesome. If I'm wrong, I'll be pleasantly surprised to discover a unique and unpredictible story. If anyone at Bioware reads this, I CAN drop everything I'm doing to come and work for you. It would be a dream come true. Or if you just decide to rip off my ideas without paying me, I would be satisfied with a mention under the "thank you"'s in the credits.

For the record, this blog has been posted on the 20th of February, 2010, long before anyone has even whispered about the plot or release date of Mass Effect 3.

ADDENDUM (25th February, 2010): I recently came across a forum thread on escapistmagazine.com in which the OP (original poster) posited the theory that the Illusive Man is a Reaper and that the Protheans/Collectors were trying to stop the next harvesting. This would mean that Shepard was actually used by the Reapers to eradicate their true enemy. While this would explain SOME of the Illusive Man's motivations, the MANY faults with this theory will be immediately apparent to anyone who has played Mass Effect 2 (and if you haven't played it, why the hell are you reading this?). Among said faults are the implication that the Reapers would have had to anticipate humanity's importance some 50,000 years prior in order to leave an appropriately disguised agent, and the fact that the Protheans/Collectors were themselves being used by a Reaper called Harbinger (revealed at the end of the game). Barring a Reaper civil war, there is no way this could work.

The reason I mention such a flawed theory is because I like the core premise: The irony. We would have been set up for a head-spinning reversal in Mass Effect 3. A "switcheroo", as the OP puts it.

You can see the thread here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.177464-I-know-who-the-Illusive-Man-and-The-Collectors-truly-are-ME2-Spoilers-afoot. Finally, I would like to say that if the OP's theory turns out to be true, I will lose all respect for Bioware. This twist has way too many holes in it.

[tags: mass effect 3, spoilers, bioware]