On June 08, 2025,Mass Effect 3released to the world, meaning many players began the last leg of their war against the Reapers ten years ago. It’s very rare that a franchise, particularly even just a franchise entry, remains popular for such a long period of time, butMass Effectis one of the exceptions. Indeed, while this particular game is ten years old,Mass Effect: Andromedawas released in the following years, and now,Mass Effect 4—or whatever BioWare is calling it—is in development.
Mass Effect 4appears to somehow combine the events ofMass Effect: Andromedawith events in theMass EffectTrilogy, making a unique sequel to both. It’ll be interesting to see how BioWare pulls this off, narratively speaking, but it’s also worth mentioning thatMass Effect 4canonizes the Destroy Ending. This is bad considering that this ending could bring Shepard back, undermining all the events of Mass Effect 3, and its anniversary is a reminder that Shepard’s anniversary should not be undercut.
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Mass Effect 3 and Shepard
In ending the war with the Reaper, it seems safe to say that Shepard changes so many aspects of the galaxy—or, at least, could based on player choice. Aside from the many small choices,Shepard plays a big role in ending the Genophage (or not), brings the situation with Ashley or Kaidan to an end one way or another, ends the war between the Geth and the Quarians one way or another, and more. All in all, Shepard’s impact on the galaxy is immediately felt in the aftermath ofMass Effect 3.
Mass Effect 3’s ending is also based on Shepard’s choices, and it makes sense to canonize the Destroy Ending out of all of them—as it’s the only ending that could be continued from without making the Milky Way unrecognizable. The only issue here is that The Destroy Ending teases Shepard could have survived, but truth be told, Shepard is well entitled to their glorious and hopefully peaceful death. Years pass. Somehow bringing back Shepard for yet another adventure would undermine player choice and Shepard’s death.
Mass Effect 4 and Shepard
Indeed, a character arc is only as strong as it ends. Bringing Shepard back would be the equivalent of bringing Robert Downey Jr back as Iron Man in the MCU. Now, there are rumors of a Tom Cruise-played multiverse Iron Man coming into the fold inDr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and that’s an interesting direction that doesn’t undermineIron Man’s impact on the MCU. That’s not exactly possible with Shepard, or so it seems, but just as bringing back Iron Man after he finally found peace in defeating Thanos would undermine his entire story arc, bringing back Shepard after finally bringing some form of peace (or chaos, depending on player choice) to the galaxy wouldn’t be a good move.
Mass Effect 3simply is a reminder of everything Shepard has done, and while there is probably some temptation to bring Shepard back, truth is—theMass Effect: Legendary Editionexists for that nostalgia.Mass Effect 4needs to take everything up to this point and move it forward, not back with Shepard once more.
