The memorial wall is almost full – how Mass Effect 3 begins for the worst Shepard
BioWare spent years selling the Mass Effect trilogy on the promise that every decision carries weight. Most players treat that as an unspoken challenge: save everyone, earn every squadmate's loyalty, and reach the finale with a full roster.
But the same promise works in reverse. Then Shepard heads into the war with the Reapers aboard a ship where there's barely anyone left to pour a coffee.
That's exactly what one screenshot posted on Reddit shows. A player shared the memorial wall on the Normandy at the very start of Mass Effect 3, with just six plaques left free.
The fallen include Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zorah, Mordin Solus, Thane Krios, Jacob Taylor, Zaeed Massani, and Kasumi Goto, along with Kelly Chambers, Gabby Daniels, Kenneth Donnelly, and Dr. Karin Chakwas. Grunt isn't on the wall only because he was never released from his tank. The player sold Legion to Cerberus.
Getting there takes more than casual sloppiness, since the outcome of the Suicide Mission at the end of Mass Effect 2 depends on several factors:
whether the loyalty missions were completed, without which squadmates die even in suitable roles
whether the Normandy armor, shields, and cannon were upgraded, otherwise losses begin before the boarding even starts
who was assigned as the tech specialist for the vents, the biotic specialist for the barrier, and the leader of the second fire team
whether Shepard sent someone to escort the rescued crew back to the ship
The last point caught even series veterans off guard. Few knew Chakwas could die at all: if no one escorts the crew, they die off-screen. One commenter quipped that a disaster of this scale takes real effort.
The irony is that Samara is what saved this Shepard. At least two squad members must survive for the final jump to the Normandy. Otherwise the commander dies, and the save can't be carried over to the next game. One of the loading screen tips in Mass Effect 2 says as much.
You can import your save to Mass Effect 3. If you survive...
The story of Mass Effect 3 doesn't fall apart in a run like this, but it gets noticeably emptier. Stand-ins replace the dead heroes. The salarian Padok Wix handles the genophage storyline, a nameless geth VI takes over for Legion on Rannoch, and another krogan picks up the Grunt mission.
On a first playthrough, few players would welcome such swaps. On repeat runs, they reveal scenes and lines most people never knew existed. The cherry on top is the party in the Citadel DLC. The guest list will be tiny, but at least nobody will be thrown out at the door the way Grunt does it.
