Mass Effect is arguably one of the best video game series of our time. It takes place in a huge galaxy with a wide range of characters, allowing you to scout a massive environment and make a name for yourself through interactions with different groups of people. In fact, the game is so large that fans have created their own theories to better understand the series. Some theories come from hints during character interactions, while others come from different events, such as the Mass Effect 3 final ending, which many fans argue was part of a bigg﷽er pic🅺ture.

While the games do follow a specific plot, they also leave a lot up to interpretation. The game developers are known for sneaking in references and thus many fans have sought to connect the dots and discover the wide range of possibilities or plausible intentions of the developers. Mass Effect Andromeda is the ꦅnewest game to join the series. Due to its separation from the main trilogy, it has caused quite a stir within the gaming community, with fans trying to link the game to the pr𓃲evious three.

Here are a list of the main Mass Effect and Mass Effect Andromeda fan theories.

Warning: there will be some major Mass Effect 1-3 spoilers and a few minor Mass Effect Andromeda spoilers (because not all of us have competed our first play-through of Andromeda).

20 ❀ 💛 Shepard Andromeda Initiative Theory

One theory that many fans agree on is that . The Initiative was initially founded in 2176. The events of Mass Effect 1 take place in 2183. During this year Shepard becomes a Spectre, which would have given him high lev🙈el clearance to cla💧ssified information. This means that any documents on the Andromeda Initiative, which would have already been in full swing at this point, would have been available to Shepard.

Along with this, in the Mass Effect 2 DLC Lair of the Shadow Broker, Liara T’Soni becomes the new Shadow Broker and provides Shepard with permanent access to the base, along with its wide range of files and footage. It is hard to imagine that there would be no files on the Andromeda Initiative. Video logs in Mass Effect Andromeda further prove that Liara had contact with Pathfinder and main member of ♑the ✅Initiative, Alec Ryder, before the Initiative's departure.

19 50,000 Year Cycle 🦋Theory ღ

The 50,000 Year Cycle Theory hypothesizes that there is a 50,000 year reoccurring cycle across the Mass Effect universe. Created by , it argues that the events in the Milky Way galaxy run a specific predetermined cycle. It is known by fans that the Reapers attack every 50,000 years, but this theory states that each cycle has the same characters and events that lead up to the Reaper attack. This means that🍷 there has always been a Commander Shepard character who attempted to save the world. Some fans believe that Javik was the Prothean’s version of Shepard.

But what makes Shepard’s cycle different and enables Shepard to finally defeat the Reapers? The 50,000 Year Cycle Theory claims this is due to the Protheans being able to miraculously delay the previous cycle, which in turn gave Shepard's cycle more time before the Reaper attack. Shepard dies at the end of Mass Effect 2. This is arguably what happened to every Shepard incarnation before, but this time, due to 🎃the delay, there was eಌnough time for Shepard to be brought back to life, which created an entirely new series of events unseen in any previous cycle.

18 Indoctrination Theory ꦿ

The Indoctrination Theory is by far the most popular and widely accepted theory among fans. It seeks to explain the seemingly random and anticlimactic ending of Mass Effect 3. The theory declares that the Reapers attempted to indoctrinate Commander Shepard throughout the series. Instead of trying to kill Shepard, which they had more than enough chances to do, the Reapers sought to make Shepard one of their own. The final battle with Harbinger in Mass Effect 3 was therefore a last attempt by the Reapers to fully indoctrinate Shepard and once Shepard was hit by Harbringer💯’s beam, all the following events took place within Shepard’s𒁏 mind as a dream.

There are many arguments for this theory. One of the main arguments is the appearance of Captain Anderson and The Illusive Man on the Citadel at the end of the game. Fans believe that Anderson and The Illusive Man represent Shepard’s internal battle: Anderson representing Shepard’s conscious t𝔉rying to fight the indoctrination, while The Illusive Man represents Shepard’s mind submitting. The final decision made at the end of the series decides whether Shepard manages to escape the indoctrination, by choosing destruction, or succumb to it.

17 Prothean 🧜Ark Theory ﷽

The Prothean A🐟rk Theory suggests that the Citade♋l was not the first to set forth an Andromeda Initiative to find a new home world. The founder of this theory, , argues that the Protheans were far more advanced than any other race during any of the other cycles. If the Citadel was able to come up with an idea to build arks to send to another galaxy, it is perfectly plausible that the Protheans were able to come up with the same idea, if not a better one.

The main question would be where the Protheans would send their ark. They may have sent it out to far distant galaxy, or they have have even sent it to Andromeda. It ܫis therefore possible that Ryder may meet some Prothean-like beings in the upcoming games. For this to happen, the Protheans would have had to survive from the time of their own Andromeda Initiative to the time of Ryder. X Raîzer x hints that perhaps the Angara may be an evolution of the Prothean species, though other fans believe that the Kett appear to be more closely related to the Protheans.

16 Catalyst Crucible Theory 🐼

The Catalyst Crucible Theory states that the Crucible was ultimately created by the Catalyst and Reapers. But why would the Reapers create a weapon that would lead to t💧heir own destruction? They did it to tes♊t the galaxy. The Reapers destroyed the civilization of each cycle because they were created by the Catalyst to protect all🌜 life from the inevitable conflict between organics and synthetics.

This theory argues that during these previous cycles, the Reapers believed that cooperation between organics and💫 synthetics was impossible at the time. However, in Commander Shepard’s cycle, Shepard was able to unite organics and synthetics together under one banner against a common 𒅌enemy: the Reapers. Shepard was finally able to destroy the Reapers because, for once, the galaxy had passed the test and worked towards a peaceful future together. Another reasoning for this theory is that the Reapers made no attempts to stop the Crucible’s construction or destroy it.

15 Leviathan Crucible Theory 🀅 ꦑ

Many fans have questioned the exact origins ofꩲ the Crucible. While some fans believe it was created by the Reapers, as stated above by the Catalyst Crucible Theory, others argue that it was created by the Leviathans. The Crucible has been around for many cycles and the Leviathans are the oldest species to have been in conflict with the Reapers. Once the Reapers turned on the Leviathans, it would be common sense to assume the Leviathans would ha﷽ve at least attempted to make some kind of weapon to protect themselves. 

When asked about the Crucible in the Mass Effect 3 DLC Leviathan, the Leviathan was extremely vague, stating that it had watched the Crucibles slow construction, but that u𝔉ltimately each species was unsuccessful. This theory suggests🌸 that the Leviathans could have constructed the plans for the Crucible and then enthralled the species of each cycle to create it.

14 ♛ Vetra’s Father Theory

One theory that has emerged with Mass Effect Andromeda is that Vetra Nyx is the daughter of Saren Arterius. This theory is credited to , who noticed that throughout party dialogue, Vetra will occasionally talk about her past. She tells Drack in one scene that her father was part of Special Ops and simply disappeared one day. All she knows is that he became involved with “shady types” which eventually caused her mother to leave when Vetra was 15 years old. Vetra’s mother was high up in military command and thus, rea✅listically, would haveꦓ had a chance to meet Saren, who climbed the military ladder and eventually became the youngest Turian Spectre.

Another argument for this theory is that Turians traditionally take the surnames of their same sex parent, thus Vetra would have taken her mother’s surname, Nyx. The name Nyx originally comes from the Greek deity, who was born from Chaos (i.e., Saren). Mass Effect Revelations took place in 2165 and kicked off Saren’s obsession with the Reapers and Geth. The events of Mass Effect 1 happened 18 y🍸ears later and by then Saren had become a rogue agent. Vetra’s younger sister, Sid, was one year old🍬 when their father left and is presumed to have been born at the beginning or during Saren’s descent into madness.

13 🍌 Reaper Indoctrination Theory ♈

The Reaper Indoctrination Theory argues that the Reapers themselves were indoctrinated an🔴d forced to take part in the harvesting of other species. This would mean that the Reapers were in fact puppets, forced to do the bidding of a higher being. This theory is based on the construction of the Reapers by the Catalyst, which was in turn created by the Leviathans, with the goal to preserve life.

This theory questions whether the Reapers were Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Virtual Intelligence (VI) beings. AIs are constructed to assist creators and are not self aware, while VIs are self aware and capable of independent decision making. During Commander Shepard’s initial meeting with Sovereign in Mass Effect 1, Liara T’Soni stated that she did not believe Sovereign to be a VI. If the Reapers𝓰 were AI꧑s, then it can be argued that they were indoctrinated and forced to fulfill a specific purpose. This plays into the 50,000 Year Cycle Theory mentioned above, and would mean that the Reapers were merely a part of a cycle and had no choice but to blindly follow their programming.

12 ꧑ Cerberus Benefactor Theory ♌

The Cerberus Benefactor Theory has arisen from Mass Effect Andromeda, and argues that Cerberus are the anonymous benefactors behind the Andromeda Initiative. As Ryder collects Alec Ryder’s memories and discovers how Alec became a part of the Andromeda Initiative, it becomes clear that the Initiative’s founder, Jien Garson, accepted donations from an anonymous benefactor in order to get the Initiative up and running. And, spoiler alert: it is discovered that Jien Gar𓂃son was killed by the benefactor, who used the Scourge incident as a cover up.

Some fans argue that this is a very Cerberus-like act. Cerberus will stop at nothing to promote their pro-human agenda and if Garson somehow tried to defy them and regain control over the In🎀itiative, Cerberus wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate this inconvenience. So perhaps it is not mere coincidence that the only ark to successfully find the Nexus was the human ark.

11 Asari T♕rue Form Theory

The Asari True Form Theory hypothesizes that the Asari’s true form is unknown, meaning the form they take across the Mass Effect universe is completely false. The Asari have highly advanced powers of manipulation, as depicted with the Ardat-Yakshi, Morinth, in Mass Effect 2. She is able to influence Commander Shepard’s mind, her eyes turning black 🎃and Shepard’s vision becoming distorted. With these abilities, it is highly likely that the Asari can manipulate the way each race views them.

This theory came to light due to a scene in Mass Effect 2, where . It becomes clear that each species views Asari in their own image. Since Commander Shepard and Ryder are humans, fans therefore see Asari as a human-like species. One counterargument to this is the Asarian Temple in Thessia in Mass Effect 3, where there are massive stone statues portraying Asari as human-like. However, some fans argue that the Asari have engrained this telepathic programming so dee🔴ply into other beings that it even ma𝓰nipulates how others see stone.