First off, if you have not played or finished Mass Effect 3 yet and somehow managed to not find out what the possible endings to the game are, congrats. Also, stop reading and start playing ME3 right now. I digress.
I, like many gamers, witnessed my jaw drop and face cringe upon seeing the credits to Mass Effect 3 go by. I literally could not believe that that was the ending, the trilogy was over. Up until the last 30 or so minutes of the game, Mass Effect had been my favorite game franchise of all time; it’s funny how quickly things change.
Once I confronted The Crucible after hours of grinding, intense, action-RPG gameplay, I just wanted to say, “No.” Every fiber in my body wanted to reject what this little boy was telling me. While it is true that in Bioware’s ‘Extended Cut’ of the ending you are presented with the option of shooting The Crucible down, gamers will soon find that option unsatisfying, as they discover that by making that selection, everyone dies and the Reapers’ cycle continues.
I wanted a different ending. I wanted to be allowed to say, “No” and still win the fight for Earth and the galaxy. So, I started writing. What I ended up with were song lyrics. Here is “The Crucible”:
- Fight, til you can’t fight
- Til there are none of them left
- There’s a light at the end of the tunnel
- We’re not the ones choosing death
- Fight, not for the rats
- But for what they might become
- And some day you’ll speak to your children
- Of all it is we have done
- The galaxy seeking protection
- And masses, have just one question
- Just one question
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- Past the corruption, through all the lies
- No more destruction, saving all life
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- Cry, til you can’t cry
- Til no more souls are reaped
- There’s a way to make them crumble
- It is somewhere beneath our feet
- Cry, not for the dead
- But for all those who still stand
- And some day you’ll speak to your children
- Of all of the times we’ve had
- The galaxy seeking protection
- And masses, have just one question
- Just one question
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- Past the corruption, through all the lies
- No more destruction, saving all life
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- Just say noooooo
- Nooooo
- to your prewritten destiny
- foretold life of misery
- Just say no
- To the Crucible
- Just say no
- And the cycle breaks
- The galaxy seeking protection
- And masses, have just one question
- Just one question
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- Past the corruption, through all the lies
- No more destruction, saving all life
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- Hope, til you can’t hope
- Til your eyes see the parade
- Our guns aren’t our only weapons
- Today we decide our own fate
- Hope, not for our freedom
- But that salvation will come
- And someday you’ll speak to your children
- When all of this is finally done
- The galaxy seeking protection
- And masses, have just one question
- Just one question
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- Past the corruption, through all the lies
- No more destruction, saving all life
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- How can you look, the world in the eye?
- So much destruction, so little life
- No more corruption, no one to lie
- How can you look, yourself in the eye?