There's Something About Asari... (idle speculation)

Alright, it's idle speculation time. Let's take a little look at the galaxy's favourite pole-dancers. Because, for some reason, something about their existence simply doesn't add up for me.

They're mono-gendered.
They're remarkably long-lived.
They can mate with any species - and strangely, every species also finds them attractive, regardless of their own physiology.
They're capable of (some kind) of telepathic communication.
They're powerful biotics.
They're remarkably advanced.

Now, I know a lot of these elements are addressed within the story itself (hidden Prothean beacon, Prothean influence and uplifting), but I still find myself somewhat suspicious, and the main reason for that is the time frame.

The average Asari lifespan can last for over 1,000 years. The Reaper's cycle of extinction happens approximately every 50,000 years... that means that the Asari moved from pre-space flight primitives to one of the galaxy's most influential races in around 50 generations.

Even if we allow for the fact that the Asari may have been sufficiently developed to the equivalent of pre-2148 humanity at the time of the last Reaper invasion, there were 50 generations of Asari between then and now? Surely they should have retained some knowledge of the Prothean/Reaper conflict. Do they know much more than they're letting on?

And what's with that black-eyed "Embrace Eternity" crap? That's just freaky.

They viewed what the Protheans were doing as God-like events, like a meteor strike being deflected was Athame fighting off jelous Gods. As for how they advanced so quickly, they had the mother of all Prothean data caches on their homeworld. The one on Mars is tiny compared to that, yet jumped our technological capabilities by centuries.

do they have the same number of tentacles as a reaper?

dork wrote:do they have the same number of tentacles as a reaper?

No, they have more than five.

Because if you live for thousand years, you have plenty of time to think, research, explore.

And it is not 50 generations, it is a lot more. They do not generally get children when they are about to die of old age.

Early generations likely didn't live to be 1000. It seems, much like the human lifespan, that technology has been drastically influencing how old one can get. Prothean influence and experimentation likely also have a huge role to play in the biotic and telepathic things you mentioned. Maybe asari have a less advanced ability like javik's sensory gift?

Selim Bradley wrote:

dork wrote:do they have the same number of tentacles as a reaper?

No, they have more than five.

so do reapers (look underneath) hey the asari have tentacles underneath as well.....

dork wrote:

Selim Bradley wrote:

dork wrote:do they have the same number of tentacles as a reaper?

No, they have more than five.

so do reapers (look underneath) hey the asari have tentacles underneath as well.....

But the Reapers have five primary appendages and the asari have six main head-tentacles. The Reapers have about six secondary appendages and the asari have I believe three or so lower tentacles(it appears like the have more but that's just folds on the back of their necks).

sorry letting excitement get the better of me.

ok heres one.

how come the Asari ends up being stargazer in the refuse ending?

Just idle speculation, as I mentioned. Not saying the Asari are Reaper agents, but just that there's something not quite right about them... they're hiding something, and not just the Prothean Beacon or the Ardat Yakshi (Space Vampires for the win!)

The bachelor party conversation on Illium is hilarious, and at the same time intriguing...

dork wrote:sorry letting excitement get the better of me.

ok heres one.

how come the Asari ends up being stargazer in the refuse ending?

I think they justed used the same voice actress, Laura Bailey, to do it. I don't think it'a an actual asari.

Selim Bradley wrote:

dork wrote:sorry letting excitement get the better of me.

ok heres one.

how come the Asari ends up being stargazer in the refuse ending?

I think they justed used the same voice actress, Laura Bailey, to do it. I don't think it'a an actual asari.

Well, even a single Asari hidden in Pre-Industrial world could recreate it's own species by mating with planet's inhabitants, say Yahg, coz they're awesome.
Single Asari! Just wait patiently till Reapers gtfo from the galaxy and start rebuilding the Empire! Simple as that!

ElSuperGecko wrote:And what's with that black-eyed "Embrace Eternity" crap? That's just freaky.

Yeah... not to mention you can join minds with the indoctrinated Shiala. Implications... unpleasant.

Not simply a case of you can join minds with the indoctrinated Shiala, DoomsdayDevice... you do join minds with the indoctrinated Shiala.

There's no way around it. Good catch!

ElSuperGecko wrote:Not simply a case of you can join minds with the indoctrinated Shiala, DoomsdayDevice... you do join minds with the indoctrinated Shiala.

There's no way around it. Good catch!

Do you join minds with her even if you kill her? Not sure.

DoomsdayDevice wrote:
Do you join minds with her even if you kill her? Not sure.

Yep. You need to join minds with her to gain the Cypher and decrypt the Prothean Beacon vision. Then you can choose to let her live or kill her.

Ah, right!

Javik said the Protheans genetically engineered the asari to all have biotics. Problem is, that's completely unnecessary. Animals native to planets rich in eezo like Thessia have biotics naturally. No meddling space roaches necessary.

I thought he said they helped them control it better and advance them? Cause they don't naturally need implants do they?

Is it ever stated why there was a beacon on Thessia? Every other race finds theirs somewhere in their solar system right? Except the Hanar I guess, but they just found ruins, no beacon. In fact, all of them find ruins, does anyone but the Asari have a beacon?

ElSuperGecko wrote:Just idle speculation, as I mentioned. Not saying the Asari are Reaper agents, but just that there's something not quite right about them... they're hiding something, and not just the Prothean Beacon or the Ardat Yakshi (Space Vampires for the win!)

The bachelor party conversation on Illium is hilarious, and at the same time intriguing...

First of all, their fast development is not that surprising. Take into account that scientific growth is exponential. Compare the scientific breakthroughs from 1990-2010 with those of the years 1600-1620...
However, I would say that they develop slower than humans/shorter lived races. Their long lives may not be advantageous for rapid changes. It's mentioned in the codex that they are known for a centristic, balanced and somewhat unhasty way of thinking.

Secondly, I think it was mentioned in Mass Effect: Revelations that the aliens were surprised that human females resembled the Asari. Some time has passed since I read that book, so can someone confirm that?
If it is true, then their physical appearence should be as we see them. However, some kind of mindfucking with their potential mates to be adored/loved/liked is still more than likely.

Rifneno wrote:Javik said the Protheans genetically engineered the asari to all have biotics. Problem is, that's completely unnecessary. Animals native to planets rich in eezo like Thessia have biotics naturally. No meddling space roaches necessary.

Well, let's assume Thessia had eezo. The Protheans see the potential and just refine the biotic abilities of the Asari through genetic engeneering. That would be my take to explain it.

Restrider wrote:

ElSuperGecko wrote:Just idle speculation, as I mentioned. Not saying the Asari are Reaper agents, but just that there's something not quite right about them... they're hiding something, and not just the Prothean Beacon or the Ardat Yakshi (Space Vampires for the win!)

The bachelor party conversation on Illium is hilarious, and at the same time intriguing...

First of all, their fast development is not that surprising. Take into account that scientific growth is exponential. Compare the scientific breakthroughs from 1990-2010 with those of the years 1600-1620...
However, I would say that they develop slower than humans/shorter lived races. Their long lives may not be advantageous for rapid changes. It's mentioned in the codex that they are known for a centristic, balanced and somewhat unhasty way of thinking.

Secondly, I think it was mentioned in Mass Effect: Revelations that the aliens were surprised that human females resembled the Asari. Some time has passed since I read that book, so can someone confirm that?
If it is true, then their physical appearence should be as we see them. However, some kind of mindfucking with their potential mates to be adored/loved/liked is still more than likely.

All I remember for sure was Anderson mentioning that human females looked like Asari. But maybe the batarian in the brothel mentioned it too?

Well I believe the Asari will have alot to answer for when the war is over. Their beacon was the treasure mine to stopping the Reaper Threat, remember Javik I believe said that the Protheans choose their race to lead the Galaxy to defeating the Reapers and that is why the Asari have that beacon in the first place if i remember right. His even angry when you find out they just been sitting on it doing nothing with it.

As for the Asari in the Stargazer seen, I think since the Asari can rebuild their race like they do because how they mate so is it possible Liara had some of her people planted on primitive worlds hidden from Reaper knowledge.

DarthSliver wrote:Well I believe the Asari will have alot to answer for when the war is over. Their beacon was the treasure mine to stopping the Reaper Threat, remember Javik I believe said that the Protheans choose their race to lead the Galaxy to defeating the Reapers and that is why the Asari have that beacon in the first place if i remember right. His even angry when you find out they just been sitting on it doing nothing with it.

As for the Asari in the Stargazer seen, I think since the Asari can rebuild their race like they do because how they mate so is it possible Liara had some of her people planted on primitive worlds hidden from Reaper knowledge.

I wouldn't say that Liara necessarily did that. Imagine some exobiologists on some backwater garden world that is just being explored. The non-Asari participants die after a few decades, the Asari shag with them or natives and could get substantial numbers up. However, I am not that certain if they would be able to sustain the level of technology/science on such worlds. They may fall back to being pre-space flight and maybe even primitives.