This post is full of massive spoilers about the game, please DO NOT continue to read unless you’ve finished the game. “I don’t care if I get spoiled” is NOT an option! Mass Effect 1 is an amazing game, and although ME2 and ME3 are not nearly as good as it, the saga is definitely worth playing.

I’m going to tell you a little about how I play Mass Effect and why I love it so much. This game was the first RPG ever to actually make me feel like I was in control of my character, to force me to take difficult decisions (no “help or arrest the thief, what will you do?” bullshit), to introduce awesome characters I couldn’t help but fall in love with. When I play Mass Effect, I’m freaking Commander Shepard!

That’s why I practically rushed Mass Effect 3. I was so immerse in my role, it was so important for me to know if the galaxy was going to be okay, if the characters I loved were going to be okay, I just hurried up to complete all the missions and get to the ending. I think THAT’s why I first liked the outcome of the game. I chose the synthesis ending: my Shepard sacrificed her life for the good of everyone else (dude, I think a part of me also died with her), I saw Joker and EDI alive, together… It was perfect.

A few days later, a friend of mine that was also playing ME3 called me at night:

“Hello?”

“What ending did you choose?”

“What? Synthesis. Why?”

“Because there’s no way those are real endings.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I think Shepard has been indoctrinated.”

“WHAT?”

Then he explained there were a lot of plot holes and details I hadn’t seen. I laughed when he said things like in the last confrontation with The Illusive Man, Anderson was actually looking at Shepard when he said “Listen to yourself, you’re indoctrinated” and I called my friend a conspiracy whore. Still on the phone, we started searching the Internet for information that could prove or disprove his belief, and guess what? There were a lot of people that had come out with the same theory, and it turned out my friend was RIGHT about the plot holes.

I’m telling all this to prove that my support for the Indoctrination Theory was based on objective arguments: I tried to counter this theory and failed. This is the most watched video about the Indoctrination Theory and briefly explains its bases.

The previous video was enough for me to consider the IT arguments very reasonable, but if you’re planing to challenge it, there are a few videos you REALLY should watch. In these “documentaries”, CleverNoobNetwork mentions plot holes and details in the game both in favor and against the Indoctrination Theory from a very critic and objective point of view. Yes, they are about an hour and a half long each, but come on! You’ve probably followed this series for the last 5 years, and they are really interesting, watch them! Part 1 and part 2.

I agree with CleverNoobNetwork, some arguments from the IT are weak, or subjective, or just too roundabout, but there’s no way you can ignore ALL of the HUGE plot holes it points out.

I want to make this clear: although I said all this, I do NOT think the Indoctrination Theory is true. How’s that? My exact thoughts are in the description of the “Mass Effect 3 - Shepard’s Indoctrination” video:

Apparently Bioware hadn’t intended the Indoctrination Theory all along. Although the IT with its many arguments makes perfectly sense (also within the lore), Bioware tells us that it is all merely coincidence… they want us to take the endings at face value.

(…)

However, unfortunately Bioware showed us that we have to take the endings at face value, no profound mind struggle, no indoctrination attempt, everything happened as we have seen it. Bioware has missed the chance to write gaming history by delivering us one of the greatest mind blowing twists ever…but it was not to be.

Or, as it is said at the end of “The Indoctrination Theory - A Documentary”:

The Indoctrination Theory is the most compelling one out there to explain the confusing events that transpire at the end of Mass Effect 3, and I believe the most important thing for players to realize is this: it is not important whether or not BioWare intended for this theory to happen. It fits perfectly with every game in the series and it makes for one damn good epic mind-blowing ending.

Summing up, I think the “Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut” DLC proved the IT wrong and that there’s nothing more to see than what it showed us, although if the IT had been true, the Mass Effect series would have had one of the most amazing outcomes ever seen in gaming history.

But well, I guess I have to be a little happy about it, because that way I actually sacr… I mean, my Shepard actually sacrificed herself for everyone to be happy… and it wasn’t an illusion. (Close enough to a good ending… maybe?)