A new chapter in the Mass Effect series is on the way, for now known colloquially as Mass Effect 4, with BioWare seemingly taking fans of the franchise back to the Milky Way, reintroducing fan-favorite characters from the original trilogy like Liara T’Soni, and perhaps even hinting at the return of Commander Shepard as the game’s player character. Not everything can go back to the way it was in the original trilogy, however.
The ending of Mass Effect 3 had huge implications for the Mass Effect universe. There are already hints in the trailer that one ending in particular is canonical, as well as an image which shows off one of the biggest changes in the galaxy that players will find themselves in in Mass Effect 4.
In the timeline of the original Mass Effect, humans are the new kids on the block. Humanity only discovered the Mass Relays and the galactic community based around the Citadel just a few decades before the events of the first game, while some of the other species seen in game like the Salarians and the Asari have been aware of the Citadel and the Mass Relays for millennia.
This had implications across the original trilogy. Depending on player choices, Shepard could see humanity given a spot on the Citadel Council, or could be consistently antagonistic towards the council throughout the games, a path made particularly fun by Renegade Shepard constantly hanging up on the council mid-call. In Mass Effect 4, however, it’s not even clear that the Citadel Council will exist at all.
For a start, the Citadel was revealed to be a giant Mass Relay, and a trap. The Citadel was left at the center of the Mass Relay system in order to lure technologically advanced species to it as a base, allowing for the Reapers to appear en masse from Dark Space to wipe out the heart of any galactic civilization that had arisen in the last 50,000 years.
Based on the dead Reaper seen in the trailer and the possibility of Shepard’s survival, it also appears very likely that in order to continue to story in the Milky Way BioWare will be making the Destroy Ending canon, where Shepard destroys all synthetics life and the Mass Relays, which would include the Citadel. Not only would the physical Citadel likely not exist in Mass Effect 4, but it’s also likely that the species of the galaxy would be far more wary of a body like the Citadel Council arising again, since the last concentration of power like that almost spelled doom during the Reaper invasion.
With the Citadel Council and species less powerful, it’s likely humanity will rise to fill that power vacuum. An image released by BioWare shows what appears to be humans rebuilding their own Mass Relay to reconnect them to the rest of the galaxy. If each species has to build its own Mass Relays to reconnect with the galactic community, it’s possible that Mass Effect 4 will show a more equitable society than the one shown in the original trilogy, where Turians, Salarians, and Asari ran the council while other species were only allowed embassies on the Citadel.
Just how extensive the role of humanity will be in rebuilding civilization in Mass Effect 4 remains to be seen, but it’s also likely that humanity will have some new-found respect in the wake of Commander Shepard’s defeat of the Reapers. Whether different human factions plan to use this newfound position for good or bad could become a major point of contention in the next game.
A new Mass Effect is currently in development by BioWare.
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