Mass Effectcontains a lot of different races that inhabit the Milky Way, and each one has a rich and unique history. However, since players see the game from the point of view of a human, they aren’t present to witness the events that defined the lives of other races. As a race that joined the rest of the inhabitants of the Milky Way in galactic travel and politics, humans haven’t witnessed many events that shaped the relations and cultures of other races that work with them after first contact was made and the resulting war resolved.

Quarians are one of many races that Commander Shepard works with throughout theMass Effecttrilogy, and Tali is the most notable member.Tali joins Shepard as a crewmember on the Normandy, and she can beromanced inMass Effect 2and3. As a race,Quarians have a few defining features, with the first being the most noticeable: their suits and visors. They’re also known for their intelligence and scientific knowledge, but those abilities led to an event that was rather harmful for the race overall.

Tali on Rannoch in Mass Effect 3

Quarian History With The Geth

While working with Tali, Commander Shepard learns about both the Quarians and Geth, since those races are linked to each other, and at the start of the trilogy, they’re on hostile terms. WithGeth being a common enemythroughout the first game, it doesn’t feel unusual that the races of the Milky Way aren’t fond of them. However, that dislike stems from completely different reasons for the Quarians, because the Geth weren’t always hostile to them, especially not back on their shared home planet of Rannoch.

Are the Mass Effect games worth playing?

The Mass Effect franchise has a large fanbase, and for good reason. These games are a lot of fun, mostly because you may take matters into your own hands. Open world games resonate with most gamers because the decisions that they make truly affect the game play - and even the ending of the game. That is true for all the Mass Effect games. Should you start from the first game, and play on the same platform, decisions you have made all along the way can impact how things turn out in other games as well. This makes it absolutely worth playing. You can even enter the world of Mass Effect over and over again, creating new characters and making different decisions. On top of that, the characters are intriguing and the planets that you can visit throughout the games are exciting. There is a lot to love about this franchise, especially for gamers who enjoy open world games.

At the time of their creation, the Geth weren’t as advanced as the version that Commander Shepard first encounters. The Quarians created the Geth when they still inhabited their homeworld, Rannoch, to fulfill simple tasks and help with the labor that needed to be done to keep their society running. Then, the Quarians kept adding more complex tasks to those the Geth handled, ultimatelyresulting in the Geth starting to become sentient. Considering the Council’s laws about artificial intelligence, the Geth becoming sentient was never intended by the Quarians.

Ashley Williams From Mass Effect_3

As the Geth became more sentient and started asking questions about their own existence, such as Legion’s famous question about whether he has a soul, theQuarians grew increasingly concerned about the state of their creationand worried about what that could mean for the future. As a result, the Quarians decided it was time to eliminate the Geth. The Geth, however, fought back, reducing the population of their creators to less than one percent, which is why the Quarians fled their homeworld and started living on ships to avoid total elimination.

The Future Of The Geth And Quarians Is Decided By Shepard

Pick One Side Or Create Peace

One of thehardest choices inMass Effectis figuring out if Shepard should side with the Quarians, the Geth, or find a way to convince the two to work together. It’s not an easy task, since aiming for the peaceful option requires that Shepardstarts performing specific actions inMass Effect 2, butbrokering peace between the Quarians and Gethis the best ending for both sides involved. Additionally, it’s a good way to get a boost in Galactic Readiness leading into the last sections of the game.

Mass Effect: Should You Put Udina Or Anderson On The Council

Commander Shepard can choose either Udina or Anderson to represent humanity on the Council at the end of ME1, but does it make a difference?

In terms of story and lore, brokering peace feels like the most satisfying conclusion to a longstanding feud between natural and artificial life, shown through the shared history between the Quarians and Geth. After all, the Quarians created the Geth, and there was a time when they co-existed on Rannoch, which wasbeneficial to both parties, until fear resulted in a war. Considering how much time has passed since the Quarians left Rannoch, and looking at the state of the planet during the mission inME3, the Geth would be a great help for rebuilding.

Udina and Anderson from Mass Effect in front of a vivid blue and red image of outer space

A lot of thought has gone into the world ofMass Effectwhen it comes to events of the past, and it makes the galaxy feel more alive when the species living in it have a rich history that includes their own conflicts and successes. At the same time, it’s easy to miss how significant those events were when playing as a human, a race that wouldn’t join the rest of the galaxy until much later. Because of this, the scope of how devastating the war between the Geth and Quarians ends up being lost in the narrative ofMass Effect.

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