Genre: Action/Sci-Fi
Director: Rian Johnson
Writer: Seth Overton
Based on the video game series
Cast: Henry Cavill, Alicia Vikander, Tom Hardy, Lupita Nyong'o, Ron Perlman, Rebecca Hall, Mickey Rourke, Cate Blanchett, William Fichtner, Simon Pegg, Jennifer Garner, August Maturo, Martin Sheen
Plot: Unidentified Planet
A young Shepard (August Maturo) walks through a lush forest. He looks around for trail markers and adjusts his route accordingly. He hears a woman calling him, as well as the sound of waves hitting the shore. He runs towards the sound. He sees a beach in the distance. Shepard (Henry Cavill) walks towards the woman, who is facing the other way, staring at the sea. She turns around - It's Ashley (Rebecca Hall). After they hug each other, they walk along the shoreline. It all seems like a dream to him. He brings up the subject which prompts a conversation about the nature of reality (same scene from the ending of Mass Effect 1). Ashley ends by saying that it doesn't matter, that he won't ever remember having this conversation. Soon after, men in Cerberus outfits come and take Shepard to a nearby facility. His recovery is almost complete. The Lazarus Project was a success.
London - 4h before Earth's destruction
Jack (Jennifer Garner) wakes up on the Normandy, then leaves without anyone noticing. She walks around the streets of London which are overrun by husks. She blasts each and every one who gets in her way. In the left pocket of her jacket, there is a keycard she took from Dr. Jiro Toshiwa when she and Gillian killed him, as well as some files she took from the Shadow Broker. She uses the keycard to enter a seemingly abandoned building. Security try to stop her, but she blasts them with ease. She walks up a flight of stairs and enters the room at the end of a corridor. There, sits at a desk, the one behind all the misery she had endured - The Illussive Man (Martin Sheen).
He doesn't even notice her. In a rare moment of vulnerability, he lets out a tear as he watches David Anderson's sacrifice through the cameras installed on the Atlas Cerberus Mech he had sent as backup.
She approaches his desk and they finally make eye contact. He seems unfazed by seeing her, almost as if he has accepted his fate. He asks her if she would care for a cup of tea. With tears of anger, she asks him why? Why did he do all the things he did? He concludes that self-righteousness is a dangerous thing.
He then collapses on the ground. He knew she was coming and figured that dying from poison was somehow more dignifying than being blasted to shreds. Feeling overwhelmed, Jack blasts everything in his office then falls on her knees. She feels a hand on her shoulder. Someone offers to help her up on her feet. It's Kahlee Sanders (Cate Blanchett).
Kahlee heard of the Illusive Man's evacuation plans and how he wouldn't allow non-human immigrants to the evacuation sites or even purposely directed them to fake ones. She planned on saving as many as she could.
Jack and Kahlee leave the Cerberus facility and begin leading people to the evacuation sites. Jack's powers prove especially useful, as the husks are no longer a treat to the group.
As they go from one evacuation point to another they see a blast in the sky, followed by a shockwave of blinding lights. The Reaper ship has been fired towards Earth. They have a few minutes until impact. Kahlee tells Jack to go through the evacuation portal. Jack tells her to come with her, but she refuses. There is a 10 second cooldown period between teleports, and in that time someone else could be saved. It's the least she could do for these people after indirectly being part of an organization that has persecuted them for so long. It's also the least she could do for Jack. They nod to each other, as Jack goes through the portal.
Kahlee disappears in a flash of light as the whole planet is destroyed.
The Ark
On the Ark, Jack sees Gillian from a distance and begins approaching her enthusiastically. She sees Gillian running and embracing her father, Paul Grayson. She sees how happy Gillian is and realizes she has no place with them. She wouldn't fit in. She decides to leave the other way and explore other parts of the Ark. There's much to see and experience after spending all her life in a Cerberus facility.
Aboard the Normandy
Shepard, Ashley, Liara (Alicia Vikander), Garrus (Tom Hardy) and Javik (William Fichtner) are in the conference room. Javik tells them his plan for destroying the Reapers. He explains that the Reapers are like a plague that spreads through the galaxy. How do you stop a plague? Well, firstly you have to contain it. Stop it from spreading. And for that, he has an admitedly controversial solution - to destroy all mass relays. Everyone gasps. This would mean the end of mass effect travel and would bring about a dark age setting all civilizations back thousand of years.
They conclude that there's got to be another way. With the help of the armies from all Council representatives, maybe they stand a chance the old fashioned military way. "100.000 years later, and they still never listen" Javik tells himself.
Shepard decides to focus on two main objectives: saving Paladen, Garrus' planet, and finding a doctor for Tali (Lupita Nyong'o) who is in a coma in the ship's medbay.
Paladen
Garrus and Shepard fight alongside against the husks on Paladen. Soldiers from all races of the Council are also aiding them. Suddenly, the ground starts to shake. A thresher maw emergies from the ground. They are enourmous worm-like subterranean carnivore creatures that spend their entire lives eating or searching for something to eat and burst up from the ground without warning when disturbed. Garrus sarcastically notes that this was the best moment to run out of ammo. They signal others to retreat to camp. The maw attacks everyone indiscriminately, be it husk, human, krogan or turian.
Meanwhile, Liara, Ashley and Javik are escorting Tali in a M35 Mako vehicle to the location of an old friend who could possibly heal her. Javik sees the the thresher maw from a distance and notes that they are now too big to ride, indicating that the maws were much smaller during the Protheans' time. Ashley worriedly asks if they should go back and help, but Liara assures her that Shepard and Garrus can handle it. She proceeds to ask Ashley about her history with Shepard. Ashley tells her they were once together. Just as she is about to go into more detail, the group is ambushed by a pack of varren, hound-like creatures with metallic silver scales, leading to the rather unusual nickname 'fishdogs' from humans who have sighted them. Liara manages to run one over the windshield, but another varren manages to bite off a tire, which prompts Liara to stop the car. They all load their weapons and start shooting at the creatures.
Garrus and Shepard retreat to their camp, which is protected by a bioshield sphere that can't be penetrated by the maw. They go straight to the armory. Their eyes are caught by a rocket launcher. They both smile as they see it. When they come out of the armory, Harbinger (Ron Perlman) assumes control of a husk and destroys the bioshield sphere. The maws proceeds to wreak havoc in the camp. Garrus loads the rocket launcher and attacks the maw, while Shepard fights Harbinger.
While this happens, Liara, Ashley and Javik are still fighting the varren pack. One of the creatures manages to bite Ashley, injuring her. She retreats in the vehicle with Tali. They see another vehicle approaching from the distance. Liara seems relieved. It's probably Shepard. A masked man exits the vehicle and headshots 3 varren in the span of a few seconds. A varren jumps at him, but he puts it into a chokehold and smashes it into the ground then shoots it. He decapites another with his bare hands, all while the remaining ones run scared. Liara realizes that's certainly not Shepard's style. As he takes off his helmet, it all makes sense - it's the ruthless Zaeed Massani (Mickey Rourke). We see the last moments of the fight from Ashley's perspective as she struggles not to fall asleep. She closes her eyes once Zaeed reveals himself.
Moments later, Ashley wakes up in what seems to be a hospital bed and sees Mordin Solus (Simon Pegg). Zaeed has escorted them safely. Mordin agrees to come with them on the Normandy in case his assistance is needed against the Reaper threat.
Meanwhile, Garrus manages to slay the maw, all while Shepard kills every husk in the vicinity, which means Harbinger needs to find another host. They take a moment to breathe, Garrus tells him there's still some whiskey left in the Commander's tent. They drink together and reminisce about their adventures together and the strong friendship they have formed despite the difficult history between their races. As he looks at the destruction left behind by Harbinger and his husks, Shepard concludes that Javik is probably right. They might really have to destroy the mass relays in order to save the galaxy. But they have to do this right. Every fleet fighting in the name of the Council must be sent back to their home planet through the relays for one last time before they are destroyed. Everyone returns home. No one is left behind.
After they finish their drinks, they regroup with the others at the hospital which is overrun by husks. Shepard tells Javik that he is prepared to do what's necessary. Javik nods then tells him they must leave to the Citadel. They all escape the husks through a forest near the hospital.
Unidentified Planet
Young Shepard walks around the forest still seemingly looking for something. The faint call of the woman can still be heard in the distance. He sees a statue of someone at the entrance of a building. The statue appears to have been vandalized with its head missing. Young Shepard enters the building.
Aboard the Normandy
Shepard calls everyone in the main conference room. He also calls the Council which join the meeting as holograms. He tells everyone his and Javik's plan. First, they have to retake the Citadel from the Reapers. At the core of the Citadel, there is an AI system called the Catalyst which controls all the mass relays across the Milky Way. Shepard and his team plan to stall while most of the colonies retreat through the relays to their home planet. Once their travel is complete, Shepard will use the Catalyst to destroy the relays forever. The remaining forces will fight Harbinger who is now trapped and can no longer use the relays to assume control of husks from different parts of the galaxy.
Members of the Council visibly gasp. It would mean the end of galactic civilization as they know it. Entire economic systems would collapse. Entire colonies will be unable to communicate with each other. They prohibit Shepard to go on with his plan. However, Shepard tells them this is not up for debate. He ends their transmission.
Meanwhile, the Council fleet made up of tens of thousands of ships from different species are in a massive space battle against Reaper ships. Shepard intercepts their comm-link and tells them his plan and how if they want to see their homes again they should plan their retreat to the nearest relays.
The Citadel
Harbinger assumes control of a Praetorian, a slow-moving flying Collector construction that consists of thirty deformed Husks fused together. The Citadel is also overrun by Banshees, synthetic-organic creatures derived from asari and mutated by Reaper technology and Cannibals which are synthetic-organic creatures derived from batarians and humans mutated by Reaper technology. Everyone agrees to cover for Shepard while he moves towards the core of the Citadel. Liara tells him she will wait for him to return, Shepard tells her to use the relays to go back home once he enters the Core.
A Banshee tries to attack Shepard, but is intercepted by Zaeed. Garrus takes down a Cannibal but is then ambushed by a Brute, a synthetic-organic creature derived from krogan and turians. Liara and Tali keep the swarm of husks at bay, while others deal with the more dangerous creatures. Harbinger injures Ashley, but is then attacked by Javik. He recognizes him and smiles. Their fight doesn't last long, since Javik isn't much of a fighter. He is killed by Harbinger, the last thing he sees being Shepard successfully entering the Core. He lets out a peaceful smile, knowing that there is a good chance his sacrifice might not be in vain. Mordin tries to heal Ashley, but he is smashed against a wall by the Brute. He realizes he doesn't have much time left and starts laughing at the irony of being killed by a genetically modified krogan, after his species have tried to mess with krogan DNA in the past. In her last breath, Ashley sends Liara the coordinates to an undisclosed planet and begs her to retreat there if Shepard doesn't make it. She tells her all will be clear once she gets there.
Zaeed prompts everyone to retreat once Shepard enters the Core. Harbinger tries to run after Shepard, Zaeed tries to stop him, but is killed instantly. Shepard's plan has become apparent for Harbinger and he is no longer in the mood for games. Liara's first instinct is to run after them, but Tali stops her. It would be her death sentence. She looks at Ashley once again and decides to retreat to the planet she has mentioned.
Unidentified Planet
Young Shepard explores the seemingly abandoned building. There are names written all over the walls. Some of them familiar:
David Anderson.
Urdnot Wrex.
Thane Krios.
His flashlight begins to flicker, leaving him in total darkness for a few seconds. He changes the batteries and continues on. As he walks down a corridor he sees even more names:
Zaeed Massani.
Kahlee Sanders.
Ashley Williams.
He feels the warm touch of a blue hand on his shoulder. Liara tells him she's being looking all over the place for him, shouting his name. She sees Ashley's name on the walls. She tells him it's the name of his biological mother. She adds how these are all names of the heroes who have died protecting the galaxy from the Reaper threat. They continue walking the corridors together, seeing more familiar names on the walls:
Mordin Solus.
Javik.
... and Jack Sheppard.
Liara tells him how his father has become a controversial figure once he ended the Reaper threat, since some believed it brought all civilizations in a dark age by destroying the mass relays. It is the reason why his statue outside had been vandalized.
After hearing all this, Young Shepard tells Liara that he wants to join the Alliance Military just like his father. He then asks her why she has kept all of this from him. She tells him this is exactly the reason why. She had hoped she would keep him protected for a little while longer, but just like his father, he never could keep out of trouble. She lets out a defeated smile and hugs him. She tells him she knows exactly the right person who could help him prepare for the Alliance Academy.
After they exit the building, an old and somehow frail Garrus is waiting for them outside. He tells Liara he is glad she has found the young one. As they are about to leave Young Shepard sees the statue's head. The three of them look at each other. Without saying a word, they all start to restore Shepard's statue together.
The camera slowly zooms out revealing the forest, then the forest and the town, the planet, and finally the planet's orbit in which a deactivated mass relay can be seen.
THE END.
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