Mass Effect: Legendary Edition’s release date has finally come, and fans of the franchise are finally able to get back on-board the Normandy and take the fight to the Reapers a second time around.Mass EffectandDragon Agehave been BioWare’s two major RPG series for over a decade now, and there are some interesting similarities between their worlds.
Husks are synthetic-organic creatures created by the Reapers, and bear an interesting resemblance to the Darkspawn fromDragon Age. Both are essentially their universe’s take on the swarming zombie hordes seen across pop culture, but the connection goes far deeper than that. Here are all the similarities between the Husks fromMass Effect: Legendary Editionand the Darkspawn fromDragon Age, and how they use the same fears of the future in their respective stories.
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Husks and Darkspawn are Human Hybrids
The Husks are organics - usually humans - who have been captured bythe Gethor Reapers and transformed into synthetic-organic hybrids. To achieve this the victim is impaled on a giant spike known as a “dragon’s tooth” that slowly replaces their body parts with cybernetics. When ready, the dragon’s tooth will release its Husk, which not rushes towards enemies but now packs a powerful electric blast.
InMass Effect: Evolutiona Turian operation on a human colony uncovers an alien artifact known as the Arca Monolith. The Monolith has the ability to turn those who came into contact with it into hybrid creatures that would stop at nothing to protect the Monolith itself. Desolas, the brother ofMass Effect 1villain Saren Arterius, attempts to use the device to create a race of “meta-Turians.”
To do this, Desolas studies a human mercenary named Jack Harper who was only partially exposed to the Arca Monolith. This allowed Harper to maintain his own consciousness and individuality while still being able to sense the location of the Monolith from huge distances. Desolas' ambitions were cut short when his brother discovered the scheme and ordered an airstrike on his location. All of this will sound very familiar toDragon Agefans.
InDragon Age, the Darkspawncan transform the humanoid races of Thedas into an army of bloodthirsty monsters. Each race transforms into its own kind of Darkspawn. Humans become Hurlocks, Elves become Shrieks, Dwarves become Genlocks, and Qunari become Ogres.
Being impaled on a spike may seem grizzly, but that has nothing on the process for creatingnew Darkspawn. When a female is captured by the Darkspawn they are infected with the Taint, and are force-fed the flesh and vomit of the Darkspawn. If they survive they are transformed into a horrifying immobile creature known as a broodmother, which gives birth to the kind of Darkspawn corresponding with its original race.
The Hiveminds of ME’s Husks and DA’s Darkspawns
Humanoids who are just exposed to the Taint usually die - unlike the human to Husk transformation inMass Effectthe creation of Darkspawn requires a broodmother as an intermediary. However, just like the Husks, normal people exposed to the Darkspawn Taint can develop uncontrollable impulses. Before a Blight like the one inDragon Age: Originsbegins the Darkspawn obsessively explore the Deep Roads in search of the Old Gods, ancient dragons which they transform into Archdemons by exposing them to the Taint.
Humanoids who survive for a prolonged period after exposure to the Taint become Ghouls. Resembling extremely sickly versions of their old selves, these people are compelled to seek out the Darkspawn. The Darkspawn occasionally use Ghouls as craftsman. Other times, they simply eat them. Just like Jack Harper and the Arca Monolith, it is possible to be partially exposed to the Darkspawn Taint and retain one’s individuality. This process is known as the Joining, the ritual used to initiateGrey Wardenrecruits. It isn’t just ceremony, however. Just like Harper, Grey Wardens are able to sense the source of their corruption.
Grey Wardens sense the presence of the Darkspawn and receive the nightmarish messages of the Archdemon leading them. Not only that, but after ten to thirty years the Wardens eventually succumb to something known as the Calling.The Callingis the insuppressible desire to venture into the Deep Roads and seek out the Old Gods that drive the Darkspawn in their off-season.
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Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and The Dangers of Playing God
The Darkspawn are said to have no souls. WhiletheMass Effectseriesrarely gets so directly theological, the transformation of humanoids into Husks plays on a similar anxiety. Both the Darkspawn and the Husks are ultimately born of hubris, and play on the fear that a certain level of unchecked societal advancement eventually unleashes forces which will lead to the demise of that civilization.
InMass Effect,this is the creation of the Intelligence, AKA the Catalyst. The Catalyst was created bythe Leviathans, an ancient, enormous cuttlefish-like race. It was intended to manage relations between synthetics and organics to prevent the Leviathans being overthrown by their own creations, but eventually came to the conclusion that the only way to prevent synthetics taking over their creators was to wipe out advanced organic civilizations every 50,000 years. This led to the creation of the Reapers, created in the image of the Leviathans themselves.
InDragon Agethe Darkspawn are ostensibly created when the Magisters of Tevinter use blood magic to enter the magical world of the Fade andthe Golden City of the Maker. This corrupts the city, turning it black, and transforming them into the first Darkspawn in a similarly poetic moment to the creation of the Reapers. Playing god never ends well, at least according to BioWare.
In both series, zombie-like creatures are used to play on fears that human progress will one day spiral out of control, creating a form of “soulless” life with motives, thoughts, and an utter lack of ego or self-awareness that is completely alien to a modern person. The Husk and theDarkspawn may resemble zombies, but the series' play on their zombie hordes is not about the fear of the dead - it is about the anxiety that one day “progress” may leave life itself completely unrecognizable.
Mass Effect: Legendary Editionis out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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