Mass Effect Trilogy Retrospective

You’d think that at this point, there’s not much left to say about Mass Effect. But then, you stumble upon an article like this The Guardian piece that takes a fairly favorable look at BioWare’s epic trilogy as a piece of outstanding science fiction. Here’s a quick excerpt and you take things from there:

Consider Legion. Potential conflict between artificial intelligence and life is a theme that runs through the entire Mass Effect trilogy, but especially through this storyline about a robot entity that always refers to themselves in the first-person plural. Legion is part of a “species” called the Geth: a hive mind of artificial intelligence programs that use bipedal bodies to transport themselves around the galaxy. Geth are distrusted in the galaxy but Legion is determined to rectify that by hunting down rogue factions that gave Geth a bad name.

In the final moments of Mass Effect 3, however, before sacrificing themselves to save the galaxy, Legion starts to use “I”. It is fully aware: a singular, conscious entity. It is a heartbreaking moment because as Legion is truly born, Legion dies. It speaks volumes that BioWare’s writers were able to make a literal robot with no emotions and no face into a character so memorable.