BioWare and EA have revealed a new piece of concept art for the next Mass Effect game, showing what appears to be a new Mass Relay being built, hinting that the story is continuing from an ending where Commander Shepard nearly failed. In Mass Effect, the Mass Relays are devices that allow ships to instantly travel to different star systems, allowing journeys that would normally take years to happen in minutes. It was originally believed that the ancient Prothean race built the Mass Relays, but it was revealed that it was the Reapers who built them and that different races had been using them throughout the ages without knowledge of their origins.
The Mass Relays in the Mass Effect series only survive in the ending where Shepard attacks the Catalyst, as they’re damaged in all the others. In the ending where Commander Shepard fails to gather enough War Assets throughout the game, the Mass Relays are destroyed. This could now be the canonical ending of Mass Effect 3, as a new piece of concept art has been revealed for N7 Day 2022 on the official EA website, showing what appears to be a new kind of Mass Relay being built.
New Mass Effect Concept Art Shows A New Type Of Mass Relay
In most of Mass Effect 3‘s endings, the Mass Relays were damaged by the Crucible, as they were used as the conduit to either destroy the Reapers, control the Reapers, or combine organic and synthetic lifeforms into one. In these Mass Effect 3 endings, the survivors are shown rebuilding the Mass Relays, but not in the Low EMS/Destroy ending, where they’re destroyed. If brand new Mass Relays are being built, then it could hint that the Low EMS/Destroy ending is considered the canonical one, and it will form the foundation for the next Mass Effect game.
It’s possible that the Low EMS/Destroy ending was chosen as it’s the most suitable for continuing the story. The Synthesis ending brings about peace in the galaxy and the Control ending brings the Reapers under control, which means they would still have a massive part in any future stories (especially one in which they break free from control). The ending where the Reapers are gone and all the allied races have to struggle to repair the galaxy makes sense as a starting point for a brand-new storyline. The next Mass Effect game will continue the story of the original trilogy, with Liara confirmed to be in the game, so the developers had to pick at least one ending to go with, and this one makes the most sense.
The creation of a whole new Mass Relay means that the survivors may have found a way to improve upon the design of the original, perhaps allowing them to visit uncharted parts of the universe, possibly allowing travel to the Andromeda galaxy. Maybe building new Mass Relays is the goal of the new Mass Effect, as the player must reconnect the galaxy that has been separated for years. The new Mass Relay was first shown in previous Mass Effect concept art, so it’s clearly going to be an important part of the game, and it may hint at what BioWare has chosen for the canonical ending of Mass Effect 3.
