Video Gamers Podcast - Gaming Quick Takes - Indoctrination Theory Mass Effect

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Starting point is 00:00:22 Visit BetterHelp.com today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com. Hey guys, welcome to this Quick Take episode. We're so excited to have you here with us. In the past, these Quick Take episodes actually were only available to those who financially supported the show through Apple subscriptions and Patreon. But due to popular demand, we have decided to shake up the perks for our supporters and we'll be releasing these quick takes on Saturdays to everyone, giving you all some extra free content that was previously unavailable to the public. And these quick takes are a little more laid back and they're hosted by just one of us. So sit back, relax and enjoy this quick take episode. Shazam! Boom!

Starting point is 00:01:15 Hey guys, it's Paul here with another Quick Take episode. Before we get started, I do want to extend a special thank you to all of you who have helped support the show. We definitely can't do this without you. And today, I am really excited to talk about my favorite video game series, Mass Effect. You know, I'm going to try to not talk about Mass Effect in every single one of these, but I did want to talk about my all-time favorite fan theory, which relates to Mass Effect, called the Indoctrination Theory.

Starting point is 00:01:46 So basically, if you're not familiar with fan theories, basically, it's just a way of interpreting something in a game that's just not made explicit by the developers of the game. And when Mass Effect 3 rolled out, so many people were upset at the ending. It felt very out of place. The options at the end didn't really seem to make a whole lot of sense. And it just felt very unsatisfying for most people who played it. And obviously, we're going to be getting into a lot of spoilers here for Mass Effect. So just, you know, fair warning in that regard. But previously, I had talked in an earlier episode about how Saren from Mass Effect 1 is probably my all-time favorite video game villain. And he had basically argued that all of organic life needed to work with the main villains of the series, the Reapers,

Starting point is 00:02:41 which were machines that would come around and destroy all organic life every 50,000 years. And he felt that by working with them and letting them modify his body with machinery, basically human and organic could work and live together. Whereas you are fighting for the organics and you believe that the only answer is to destroy the Reapers over the course of the trilogy. So at the end of Mass Effect 3, without getting bogged down in all the details, basically you are presented with three options for how you can resolve the conflict with the Reapers. You can choose to destroy the Reapers outright, although that's a little bit of a complicated solution because you are told that not only will this shockwave destroy all the Reapers,

Starting point is 00:03:32 it'll also destroy all other machinery, which include synthetic robots called the Geth, and you actually become very close friends with one of them. There's also an artificial intelligence robot named Edie that you are friends with. And so they will basically be collateral damage if you destroy all machinery. You also have the control option, where basically you can override the will of the Reapers and control them and use them for good. Or you are presented with the last option, which is synthesis, which is the hardest

Starting point is 00:04:07 ending to unlock. Basically, you have to max everything out, and then that becomes an option where basically a shockwave will go out that will somehow genetically mix together all synthetic and organic life, and everyone can live at peace with one another. So basically, the indoctrination theory was basically where people came in and said, you know what, in these Mass Effect games, we're constantly learning about how the Reapers have the ability to indoctrinate organic life. And that's exactly what happened with Saren in Mass Effect 1. Basically, indoctrination just means that a Reaper, over time, can basically extend a form of mind control. Basically, they can start to override the way you think and the

Starting point is 00:04:52 way you process information, and all of a sudden you start fighting on behalf of the Reapers, but in your mind, you think these are all of your own ideas. It's almost kind of like Inception as a form of mind control. And basically, Saren, the villain in Mass Effect 1, is indoctrinated and doesn't even know it, and has been fighting for this type of synthesis type of resolution. And so at the end of Mass Effect 3, a lot of people were saying, well, why is the best ending synthesizing organic and synthetic life? That's what the villain of Mass Effect 1 was fighting for. Why was he wrong then, but now that's actually the best ending? And so some people started thinking, well, what if Shepard, the main protagonist of

Starting point is 00:05:41 Mass Effect, what if he was actually being slowly indoctrinated and you didn't even know it? And so then people started realizing that there are all of these little hints or clues that could point toward that kind of theory. So for example, you read about how indoctrination can cause seeing ghost-like specter figures that aren't really there. And all throughout Mass Effect 3, Shepard can see a boy. It's almost like the sixth sense. Like, no one interacts with him. No one can hear him.

Starting point is 00:06:14 It's only Shepard. And so some people were saying, well, it looks like these are like hallucinations. Also, you read about how indoctrination includes hearing a hum. And toward the end of Mass Effect 3, one of your crewmates even notices that your ship seems to be having this background hum that they hear in their mind. And so a lot of people started presenting this as the indoctrination theory. Shepard believes that he's doing what's right, but in reality, he's been poisoned in his mind to think and to start actually doing things for the Reapers. So one of the interesting things at the end is that the destroy all of the Reapers option is presented as the renegade or like the immoral option. And on the surface level, that's because you're also going to lose your friends and all synthetic life.

Starting point is 00:07:07 And even though not all synthetic life is evil, that's why it's considered renegade. But the indoctrination theory makes it a little bit more interesting because then people started saying, well, that's actually the renegade option from the perspective of the Reapers because that would actually destroy them. And so basically the Reapers, through their indoctrination, they want you to choose one of these other options because that actually keeps them alive. So this is a very popular theory. A lot of people subscribe to it. If you search on YouTube, there are videos that are actually 90 minutes and longer solely on this theory. And so, you know, here I'm kind of just explaining the very basic nuts and bolts. But BioWare did come out and they admitted that the indoctrination theory is not anything that they had in mind when they wrote the story. In fact, one of the writers even said, and this is a direct quote, we weren't that smart to write

Starting point is 00:08:04 this into the story. And, you know, Mass Effect 3, the ending definitely does not land. There's a lot of problems, you know, so the indoctrination theory is technically debunked, but the idea behind it I thought was so clever, it would have been really fascinating if that was, you know, confirmed and the actual ending kind of reminds me a little bit of the ending of The Sopranos. Where there was kind of the. Interpretation that the audience. Was whacked at the end of the movie.

Starting point is 00:08:32 Because the screen just goes black. And so here that's kind of a similar idea. Where throughout all these. Mass Effect games. You've actually been indoctrinated. Along with Shepard as the player. And at the end. Kind of what's right and what's wrong is all kind of muddied because of being indoctrinated over time. So anyway,

Starting point is 00:08:53 if that's something that maybe you hadn't heard about, maybe you learned something new. I love Mass Effect. I love the active community and how much people love to talk about it. Can't wait for the next Mass Effect entry to come, especially since Andromeda was such a letdown. But anyway, that's the Indoctrination Theory. Feel free to look up more about it. And then I'll be back with another Quick Take episode for you guys next week. All right. See you guys then.

Video Gamers Podcast - Gaming Quick Takes - Indoctrination Theory Mass Effect

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