The Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster is looking more likely by the day. Between the unannounced “HD Title” set to be published by EA before the end of the fiscal year, the new edition of Dark Horse’s original Mass Effect trilogy concept art book set for release in 2021, and BioWare’s need for a sure-fire success after Andromeda and Anthem, many fans are hoping that this year will see the remaster finally confirmed.
Many fans have been speculating about what sort of changes could be made in the remaster. It’s unlikely BioWare will make any big changes to the plot, even Mass Effect 3’s highly controversial ending. Nonetheless, there’s a bunch of cut content from the original Mass Effect trilogy that could be included in the Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster that was originally intended for retail release that could be restored, and some of it could redeem one of the series central characters.
Ashley Williams is one of two human squadmates in the original Mass Effect, and if Shepard chooses her over Kaiden in Mass Effect 1’s Virmire mission, she’s a returning character in every game in the series. However, there are a few reasons that she is one of many fans’ least favorite Mass Effect squadmates. Case in point: Ashley is distrustful of aliens and her xenophobia seems particularly hypocritical in light of her religious faith, which she also brings up in in-game conversations.
To add to that, characters like Tali, Garrus, Liara and Wrex are among the most beloved video game companions across all roleplaying games, and Ashley’s refusal to get along with them made some players see her as an annoyance at best. If she survives to Mass Effect 2, she will refuse to listen to a Shepard, even one that romanced her in the first game, and breaks up with them for joining Cerberus.
In Mass Effect 3, she even has to be talked down from shooting Shepard. All in all, many fans found her frustratingly stubborn and set in her ways. There’s one small character moment that was cut from Mass Effect 3, however, that helps makes Ashley a lot more sympathetic, and if there are more like it that can be restored throughout the original trilogy, it’s possible the character could be more easily empathized with even if players still disagree with her point of view.
In the brief cut scene, likely removed due to Mass Effect 3’s tight development schedule, Ashley has a private moment with the player character. She asks Shepard what they saw after they died following the opening of Mass Effect 2. Not matter what the player responds with, the answer is equally bleak: Shepard saw no light at the end of the tunnel, and the moment between their death and their brief moments of consciousness during the Lazarus Project were almost instantaneous.
The moment may not seem like much, but its implications for Ashley’s character development are huge. Ashley is a character who is constantly struggling with her faith throughout the series—she is religious, yet literally spends her times exploring the heavens. It might seem trite, but she represents a form of human faith that is struggling to survive in a universe that’s once mystical secrets are constantly being revealed, including the reapers and the cycle of extinction they exact on the galaxy every 50,000 years. Shepard, as their name indicates, is the closest thing Ashely has to a guide through this strange new galaxy, and her wavering faith in Shepard becomes reframed not as her lack of trust in the player character but a struggle for humanity.
One reason many players find Ashley to be one of the less interesting Mass Effect characters is that she represents the human perspective many players already assume they have, being far more interested in learning about the new locations and new species in Mass Effect instead. However, if some of Ashley’s cut content was restored, she might be able to provide a human perspective which is unique to the events of the Mass Effect universe.
Ashley may never be the most beloved Mass Effect character, but she could be more complex. Her struggle to find meaning as the universe and the people she cares about are constantly changing and shifting allegiances makes her spinning moral compass understandable even if it is frustrating. Ashley’s desire to find out what happens after death, to have at least some certainty in her afterlife when facing a Shepard she can’t even be sure is the same as the one she met in Mass Effect 1 is as tragic as the answer she receives.
These changes don’t have to fundamentally change Ashley’s character, and they don’t need to be done in such a way that tries to make players who didn’t like Ashley when they played the original Mass Effect trilogy see her as a good person the second time around. However, they do help explain what tragic and understandable desire for stability she has that underpins her lapses in judgement. If BioWare restores her cut content in the Mass Effect Remastered Trilogy, fans could be treated to the studio’s original vision for the character in full.
The Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster is reportedly in development.
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