Compilation of Unanswered questions

This is up now: http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/16423141




TL;DR Version


Since we know you wont answer all the questions we came up with we have picked out a few important ones. (Note to self: Try to find new format)

1.Where does the breath scene take place?
2.Why did the Catalyst need Sovereign to open the relay?
3.How does Shepard survive the crucible blast in Destroy ending?
4.How does Shepard's squad know that Anderson is dead?
5. Where is this planet that the Normandy lands on in the end.
6.Why does Anderson's death effect Destroy ending?
7.Why is it that all of our squad mates return to the Normandy?

Idea from: KneeTheCap.


All the questions


Beginning

-Why did we hear a reaper scream when the kids shuttle was hit by the reaper as Shepard was leaving earth on the Normandy?
-Why when Shepard was blown off his feet in the explosion in the committee chambers, did Anderson escape - despite the fact he was stood right next to Shepard?
-How does Vent Brat vanish without a sound?
-What's up with that weird electrocution warning sign? Why would an air vent be electrified, and if it was how did Vent Brat avoid getting fried?
-Why doesn't Anderson seem to notice or care about the child?
-Why is Vent Brat playing alone on the outskirts of a military base?
-How does he get from his little rooftop garden, to a balcony on a supposedly secure military building, despite the door to that balcony being shown to be locked by a red hologram?
-How does the Child then pass through that locked door again moments later?
-How does the Child survive the blast from the Reaper's weapon?
-Why do levels in Core engineering building are numered from top to bottom?
-Why the 2d sprites? Why are they all running towards the massive slusho machine of death at the beginning of the game?

Citadel (not necessarily the dlc)
-Just how is the citadel meant to function as a mass relay to dark space?
-why are there 'oily shadows' in displays all over the citadel?
-How do you move an object the size of the citadel so far in such a short space of time?
-Where is the decision chamber situated? any shot of the underside of the Citadel has shown nothing under the Citadel tower.
-What happened to everyone else on the Citadel during the reaper's pulling it to earth? did they survive? Gamble (or someone) tweeted some of them will have survived, how?
-How did they get the Citadel to Earth? How does the Citadel move?
-If the Catalyst is controlling the Citadel (or if the Citadel is his "home"), why did he need Sovereign to open the relay for the reapers?
-Why does the Citadel have an area that so closely resembles the engines from the Shadowbroker's ship?
-Anderson comments that the walls of the Citadel are moving and rearranging themselves. Why don't we actually see this happening?
-If the Catalyst was always in or on the Citadel or Crucible and truly is an Reaper ally or designed them. Why didn't the Reapers know that the Citadel was the key? Why did they need the Cerberus tip?
-Why are there billboard posters of Kai Leng, the Shadowbroker and Jack visible during the Citadel dlc?
-What is the objective of the Cerberus coup attempt on the Citadel? It takes place well before we learn about the Catalyst from the Prothean VI.
-What does Udina hope to gain by helping Cerberus, when he already has Shepard doing everything possible to secure allies for humanity? Aren't Udina's actions totally counter-productive to Shepard's efforts?


Normandy
-Why does the Normandy SR2 have alien languages all over it, when it is an earth vessel constructed by cerberus?
-If the SR2 is moving ‘faster than light’ then how come Shepard can see stars out of his window, when he would not be able to see anything?
-What are the voices in the background that we hear after the Rannoch missions in the War room.

Priority Earth

- If we can blow up reapers using Cains (see also ME2) then why not just fit cains to the fleet ships?
-How does Mr Random Soldier dude know everyone you want to contact by name, and their exact whereabouts and how is he able to actually contact them right on the spot?
-Why did the Reapers show such interest in London? London is a relatively small city, on a small island. If they were always planning to bring the Citadel to Earth to grow the new Reaper, why didn't they choose a city with a bigger population?
-London is also at a northern latitude. For the Citadel to remain in view of London, it must be in a geo-stationary orbit above the equator. Why then, does the beam point vertically upwards, instead of pointing at an angle due south?*


The Beam run

- How was the Normandy able to respond to Shepard's call for help so quickly?
-Why didn't the Normandy drop off reinforcements to help him assault the beam?
-Why didn't Harbinger shoot at the Normandy?
-Why do we hear Coats and "Did we get anybody to the beam" lady yet we can't reply to them.
-Where the hell did Anderson sod off to at the beam run, he was all set with "We gotta move!" then does a vanishing act till later
-How come Shepard's radio is still functioning after Harbinger's beam while all his implants are fried?
-How did Harbinger miss Shepard when he had stumbled to the ground and wasn't even a moving target?
-Why does the gun you find on the ground before going up the beam have unlimited bullets? (explain with lore)
-Generic reaper sound or not, why add the "serve us" sound to the EC?
-What caused the transport to crash before the beam run?
-Why run head first at your enemy providing them with easy shooting practice?
-What exactly is this beam of light? Is it a one-way transport? Are there any other beams like this in the MEU? -Why does the beam remain post-ending (e.g., it is depicted in High-EMS Destroy stills in the EC)? How was this beam not destroyed in the blast?
-How does Shepard survive Harbinger's blast?
-Why don't the Reapers simply turn the beam off before Hammer arrives?
-Why can the Normandy come in for a landing if you could not fly there in the first place according to Anderson tanks to the influence zone of the beam?
-If the Normandy could fly up to it then what is the purpose of Priority: Earth when you could do something like a Mako drop as you have in ME1?
-If the beam shuts down all comms (in the whole london), as it is said it does - what the hell is up with all the radio chatter in the entire Priority: Earth?
-why when your collegues lie dying on the floor at the foot of the beam are you able to shoot them and.....nothing happens, but the moment marauder shields turn up your bullets actually do damage to him?

Aboard the Citadel
-Why are Keepers apparently impervious to bullets?
-What's the noise Shepard makes after getting transported to the Citadel?
-What is the meaning of the "1M1" that we see all over the Citadel during the finale?
-How is Hackett able to communicate with Shepard (right after Anderson dies)? Is Shepard's radio able to communicate with Anderson, Hackett, and other Alliance forces (as, at some point we here radio chatter from all these sources)?
-Why are there so many dead bodies around, all wearing either Kaidan's or Ashley's ME1 armour?
-Why are the Reapers bothering to beam dead bodies up to the Citadel, when they need live tissue to make a Reaper?
-Why does Shepard meet no resistance from the Reapers while on the Citadel?
-Why is there is single dead cerberus trooper in the citadel at the end? If there was cerberus at the citadel - where are the rest?
If there wasn't - how did he get there?
-why hide major Coates's head on the citadel?
-Why did the transport beam deposit Shepard so close to the controls to open the Citadel?


Anderson scene

-Why was traffic moving on the citadel pretty much like normal during the TIM / Anderson / Shepard scene?
-How come Anderson can make it to a room with only one way in and out (not the corridor but the control room) before you, yet he followed you up?
-How does TIM control Anderson, Shepard has implants by Cerberus so that can explain Shepard's control, not Anderson's.
-Why is The Illusive Man alone? Why doesn't he have any Cerberus bodyguards with which to confront Shepard?
-Why did the Reapers allow the Illusive Man to board the Citadel?
-The Citadel is a vast miles-long structure. How did the Illusive Man know exactly where to wait for Shepard and Anderson?
-Why didn't we see the Illusive Man in the hallway? Does he have an infiltrator cloak?
-Why is Anderson impervious to bullets when he is at the console?




Crucible

-- Why does the Catalyst take the form of the dead child we see shot down at the start of the game?
- Why are the 3 means of activating the Crucible so ludicrously symbolic? -
i.e. taking control by grabbing a pair of levers / control rods / joysticks? Initiating Synthesis by taking a leap into the unknown?
-How can the Crucible achieve something as improbable and precise as Synthesis when it is "just a power source" constructed by people who didn't completely understand it?
-How does the Crucible discriminate? In Destroy it will target all synthetic life, yet in Control EDI and the Geth (are seemingly) unaffected.
-Why is there no visible field retaining the air around the decision chamber, when we can see such a field around the Citadel docks?
-When the energy was released by the crudible, why wasnt the citadel utterly destroyed?
-Why do the reapers not try to destroy the Crucible? The Catalysts' response implies that the reapers were unaware of the Crucible being built ("We believed the concept had been eradicated. Clearly organics are more resourceful than we realized"), but this seems unlikely given (a) the Crucible is relatively large and easy to spot, and (b) the reapers have indoctrinated spies everywhere. If the reapers really just didn't know, then how did they not know?
-Who originally designed the Crucible, or at least, who first attempted to design/create/build it? How did the idea of the Crucible first come about?
-When presenting the control option, the Catalyst does not directly state that they are not in control of Shepard (whereas he does state they were controlling TIM). Are the reapers (partially) in control of Shepard?
-How does the Catalyst determine that Shepard (or more broadly, organics and synthetics) is ready for synthesis, especially given that it has failed in past cycles?
-The Crucible design seems to strongly imply that it would fit with the Citadel (given how smoothly it slides into the Citadel arms and docks). Why did none of the brilliant scientists working on the Crucible notice this? It seems like it would be obvious to anyone who was familiar with the structure of the Crucible.
-What was the original purpose of the Crucible? Did the original creators know the Catalyst was controlling the reapers?
-Why when the crudible docks do the reapers appear to 'pause' their intergalactic genocide?
-Why does the Leviathan seem so evasive when Shepard asks it about the Crucible? Does it genuinely not know who designed it, or is it withholding that information deliberatively?


The ending


-How did the crew knew that Anderson had died but was not sure if Shepard did?
-How did the Normandy only sustain minimal damage coming out of FTL speeds and manage to land safely when running from the final wave(s).
-What planet did they land on?
-How the hell did Joker not break anything on impact, especially as we see a rock poking through the pilot's area.
-Where were they actually making the reaper on the citadel?
-why in the original endings (prior to EC) did the relays explode in every ending?
-How did anyone on the Normandy survive explosive decompression before they landed on dream planet?
-Where did the breath scene take place?
-How can Shepard survive the blast in high EMS Destroy, when it is powerful enough to damage the structure of the Citadel?
-How come when the fleet is passing the SOL relay (at least we assume it’s the sol relay) the sun is so large in the sky, when it would look like just any other star in the sky from that distance?
-If there are inactive relays within the galaxy, does that mean there are pockets of space where the Crucible had no effect? Would the Reapers in those pockets have survived Destroy?
-How does diving head first into a beam of light suddenly send shepards synthesis code to every creature in the galaxy?
-How does Shepard control the reapers when he is vaporized?
-What is the deal with the magic elevator of light to nowhere?
-Why do Shepard's and the Catalyst's voices echo in the decision chamber?
-How the hell does hackett know shepard reached the citadel?
-How did the SR2 survive the crash with multiple hull breaches?
-Why doesn't the chain of relay explosions start at the Local Cluster?
- How did Anderson come up "behind Shepard" when we can turn around right before entering the beam and we don't see anybody.
-How did Anderson end up in a different part of the Citadel when the beam seems to link to one location?
-Why does Shepard's lover hesitate to place his or her name on the memorial after high EMS Destroy? How can they possibly know that Shepard is alive? Are we to believe that he or she is psychic?
-Why would the catalyst tell you about the tube if it was real?
-How does Shepard know how to use the crucibles choices?
-Why does Shepard's carnifex transform into a predator after shooting the tube in the destroy ending?
-Why are soldiers in the destroy ending (the scene added in the EC) more successful at fighting off the husks than in the control and synthesis endings?
-Why is Shepard wide awake after the Catalyst says "Wake up"?
-If the Leviathans were trying to prevent the inevitable rebellion of synthetic life forms, why did they create a synthetic "intelligence" and why were they surprised when it inevitably rebelled?
-How did the Intelligence defeat them before it had an army of Reapers?
-If the Leviathans can knock a capital Reaper out of the sky with such apparent ease, then why do they live in fear of them?
-Stargazer at the end asks about 'The Shepard', and is told there's 'One more story'. Will this story ever be told?
-Why does the Catalyst have the ability to switch off the Crucible beam, after Shepard refuses to use it? Why didn't it switch it off earlier?
-Why do the relays not explode with the same force that the Alpha relay did, during the events of Arrival? If the reason is because they transmit most of their energy on to the next relay in the chain, then what happens at the ends of those chains? Do the far relays (such as the one close to Rannoch) explode with all the combined energy of all the preceding relays?
-Edi states during ME2, that it is impossible to transfer an AI from one Blue Box to another without irrevocably changing its personality, due to quantum fluctuations which cannot be corrected or compensated for. If so, how can Shepard's mind be similarly uploaded from an organic brain to become the new Catalyst? How can this new entity be anything more than an imperfect copy of Shepard?
-Why is the stargazer scene identical after Shepard makes one of the three original choices? Why is it also very similar after Refusal, which is presumably in the following cycle? Wouldn't the galaxy have turned out very differently after millennia of Synthesis? How is it possible that the exact same grandfather and grandchild have improbably come to exist on that same planet, after three wildly different ending scenarios, while a grandmother and grandchild exist in another?
-How did commander shepards brain survive intact after planetary re-entry burn up, lack of oxygen, depressurizing of his suit which would have forced his lungs to explode, & huge impact forces?


Characters
-In the books Kahlee Sanders hears reaper voices in her head, and expiriences loos of control of her body, due to reaper influence - how come she is all fine and dandy in ME3?
-What exactly happens to Legion? Why is "direct personality dissemination" required to upload the code in the Rannoch finale?
-The defining characteristic of a chemical catalyst, is that it facilitates a change or reaction, but either remains unchanged, or always returns to it's original state. If the Catalyst can be "changed" by the Crucible, then why did Bioware give it that particular name?


Other
-Why were the Reapers causing the extinction of the Rachni and the Quarians (through the Geth) when they according to the Catalyst are supposed to preserve all life?
-.What is Cerberus actual plan during ME3?
-What happened to Cerberus facility beyond Omega 4 relay?
-Why are the Salarians the only Council race not attacked?
-Why didn't Asari prepare for the reapers, when they were sitting on the complete knowledge of them including the schematics for the crucible for tens of thousands years?
-what happened to all the reaper tech that allience gathered in extensive quantities prior to ME3, and why didn't anyone get indoctrinated as we know of? (the allience actully came in froce and STOLE the remeains of the leviathan of DIS from the batarian research facility - those exact remains that got the entire batarian Hegemony indoctrinated)
-Why does QEC suddenly working as a simple mobile phone, including signal interferences in ME3 instead of point to point direct unobstructed lag less communications it is?
- Who was behind the attack on Lazarus Project?
-In the Citadel DLC, what is the function/purpose of showing the video clip of the initial reaper attack on Earth? Why does Shepard not comment or react to it?
-Once the Reapers had the Citadel, why didn't they use it to deactivate the relay network, and isolate the Alliance fleet?
-Why does Eva Cores body not have a cerberus logo, but when edi takes it over it does?
-Why doesn't Avina know about Purgatory?
-Why do the reapers trash talk organics when they are just trying to preserve them?
-Why didn't the Prothean VI on Ilos mention the Crucible?
-Why do the Reapers wait so long between cycles? Humans have been genetically similar for thousands of years. If all they are interested in is preserving life, then why do they allow us to attain a level of technology where our weapons begin to pose a threat to them, and the civilisations supposedly preserved within them?
-What exactly is dark space'?



Bioware, you promised us more answers than questions. Does this look like fewer questions than answers to you?

Thanks to (in no particular order):
Jusseb
MassEffectFshep
dork
demersel
WeAreHarbinger
symbowles
Eryri
TJBartlemus
Raistlin Majere
Lombus
MikeyTurvey
KneeTheCap
AxStapleton
Maffers
DoomsdayDevice
Andromidius
Drewton
IronicParticle
skillz1986
Omnimon
ZerebusPrime

1. How was the Normandy able to respond to Shepard's call for help so quickly?

2. Why didn't it drop off reinforcements to help him assault the beam?

3. Why didn't Harbinger shoot at it?

Why was traffic moving on the citadel pretty much like normal during the TIM / Anderson / Shepard scene?

Why did we hear a reaper scream when the kids shuttle was hit by the reaper as shep was leaving earth on the normandy?

Why when Shepard was blown off his feet in the explosion in the commitee chambers, did anderson escape - despite the fact he was stood right next to shepard?

How come Anderson can make it to a room with only one way in and out (not the corridor but the control room) before you, yet he followed you up?

Why does the Catalyst take the form of the dead child we see shot down at the start of the game?

How does TIM control Anderson, Shepard has implants by Cerberus so that can explain Shepard's control, not Anderson's.

Why do we hear Coats and "Did we get anybody to the beam" lady yet we can't reply to them.

Where the hell did Anderson sod off to at the beam run, he was all set with "We gotta move!" then does a vanishing act till later (see first question for reference).

Why were the Reapers causing the extinction of the Rachni and the Quarians (through the Geth) when they according to the Catalyst are supposed to preserve all life?

How did the crew knew that Anderson had died but was not sure if Shepard did?
Why giving DNA to a machine makes them understand organics?

How did the Normandy only sustain minimal damage coming out of FTL speeds and manage to land safely when running from the final wave(s).

How the hell did Joker not break anything on impact, especially as we see a rock poking through the pilot's area.

where were they actually making the reaper on the citadel?

Why does the Normandy SR2 have alien languages all over it, when it is an earth vessel constructed by cerberus?

Why are the 3 means of activating the Crucible so ludicrously symbolic? -
i.e. taking control by grabbing a pair of levers / control rods / joysticks? Initiating Synthesis by taking a leap into the unknown?
Destroying the Reapers by blowing up a piece of machinery?

WeAreHarbinger wrote:How did the Normandy only sustain minimal damage coming out of FTL speeds and manage to land safely when running from the final wave(s).

How the hell did Joker not break anything on impact, especially as we see a rock poking through the pilot's area.

To add to that what planet did they land on? As far as I know there are no habitable planets within easy FTL distance of Earth. Did they try to outrun that wave for weeks / months?

How can the Crucible achieve something as improbable and precise as Synthesis when it is "just a power source" constructed by people who didn't completely understand it?

How does the Crucible discriminate? In Destroy it will target all synthetic life, yet in Control EDI and the Geth (are seemingly) unaffected.

why in the original endings (prior to EC) did the relays explode IN EVERY ENDING!!!

How did anyone on the normandy survive explosive decompression before they landed on dream planet?

Nice job so far. Barley can keep up. I will be cutting back on opening new edits so I will keep 2 windows open. This will cause it to update less quickly.

why were the screens right throughout the game displaying the same text?

dork wrote:why were the screens right throughout the game displaying the same text?

Might need some clarification on this one.

Where did the breath scene take place?????

Why is there no visible field retaining the air around the decision chamber, when we can see such a field around the Citadel docks?

- What was up with that Human reaper in ME2?

- What is Cerberus actual plan during ME3?

- What happened to Cerberus facility beyond Omega 4 relay?

- Why are the Salarians the only Council race not attacked?

- Why didn't Asari prepare for the reapers, when they were sitting on the complete knowledge of them including the schematics for the crucible for tens of thousands years?

- What was the deal with all those reaper climate changing devices + batarian orbital mirrors (by that time the batarian hegemony was largely indoctrinated - and what do they start to do? they start building climate changing devices ?

- what happened to all the reaper tech that alliance gathered in extensive quantities prior to ME3, and why didn't anyone get indoctrinated as we know of? (the allience actually came in force and STOLE the remeains of the leviathan of DIS from the batarian research facility - those exact remains that got the entire batarian Hegemony indoctrinated)

- In the books Kelly Sanders hears reaper voices in her head, and expiriences loss of control of her body, due to reaper influence - how come she is all fine and dandy in ME3?

- Why does QEC suddenly working as a simple mobile phone, including signal interferences in ME3 instead of point to point direct unabstracted lagless communications it is?

- What is up with that hexogonal pattern everywhere? The same one from Saren's indoctrinating chamber on virmire, the collector base, Shadow broker ship, And in ME3 - all alliance comms, all holoprojectors, all cerberus's tech, etc.

How can Shepard survive the blast in high EMS Destroy, when it is powerful enough to damage the structure of the Citadel?

Why does failing to prevent The Illusive Man from shooting Anderson, effectively subtract 1000 EMS points when determining if Shepard survives to take a breath?

If the SR2 is moving ‘faster than light’ then how come Shepard can see stars out of his window, when he would not be able to see anything?

How come when the fleet is passing the SOL relay (at least we assume it’s the sol relay) the sun is so large in the sky, when it would look like just any other star in the sky from that distance?

Just how is the citadel meant to function as a mass relay to dark space?

If we can blow up reapers using Cains (see also ME2) then why not just fit cains to the fleet ships?

Why are Keepers apparently impervious to bullets?