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The story so far

The story of Mass Effect (2007)

7 parts, from the opening to the ending (where it turned on your choices, what every ending shares). Read it before Mass Effect 2 (2010). This page tells the ending.

Mass Effect (2007)'s page

  1. Eden Prime

    You were Commander Shepard, an Alliance officer aboard the Normandy. A mission to recover a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime became a battle against the geth. The rogue Spectre Saren killed your evaluator, Nihlus, and escaped. When the beacon activated near a squadmate, you pulled them clear and were caught in its field. Visions of slaughter filled your mind before it exploded, leaving you unconscious.

  2. The First Human Spectre

    You brought the accusation against Saren to the Citadel Council. They dismissed it until you rescued Tali, a quarian carrying recorded evidence of his betrayal. The recording mentioned the Reapers and something called the Conduit. You became the first human Spectre and took command of the Normandy. Whether Garrus and Wrex joined your crew depended on you.

  3. Three Leads

    You pursued leads in an order you chose. On Therum, you rescued Liara, a Prothean scholar. On Feros, you destroyed the mind-controlling Thorian and received the Cipher from Shiala, making the beacon's message intelligible. The colonists' and Shiala's survival depended on you. On Noveria, you defeated Benezia, Liara's mother, and obtained the Mu Relay's coordinates. Whether the captive rachni queen lived was your decision.

  4. Virmire

    You could tackle Virmire before finishing your third lead; the order depended on you. You joined salarians to destroy Saren's base. If Wrex accompanied you, a confrontation over a potential cure for krogan infertility could end in his death. Inside, you learned that Sovereign was a Reaper, controlling Saren through indoctrination. You planted a nuclear bomb and escaped, but could rescue only Ashley or Kaidan. The other died in the blast.

  5. Ilos

    You identified Ilos as Saren's destination. When the authorities grounded the Normandy, Anderson helped you escape. On Ilos, the Prothean intelligence Vigil explained that the Reapers harvested advanced civilizations in repeating cycles. The Citadel was their invasion gateway. You raced through the Conduit, a relay into the Citadel, after Saren, who intended to reopen that gateway for Sovereign.

  6. Sovereign Falls

    You confronted Saren at the Citadel's controls. Depending on your approach, he died fighting you or killed himself after recognizing his enslavement. Sovereign then animated his implanted body. You destroyed it while the Alliance fleet attacked the Reaper outside. Sovereign fell, and you survived the wreckage. Your orders determined whether the fleet saved the Council or let its members die.

  7. The Normandy DepartedThe ending

    You emerged with the invasion stopped and humanity gaining power on the Citadel. The Council's future depended on your choices, and you could nominate Anderson or Udina as humanity's representative. You left aboard the Normandy with your surviving crew, determined to stop the Reapers still waiting beyond the galaxy. Defeating Sovereign had delayed their return.

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Written by an AI model from the game's wikis, and checked against them part by part by another before it was put here.