You encounter the mysterious Catalyst (aka Starchild). After the Illusive Man confrontation, Admiral Hackett suddenly contacts you to inform you that the Crucible isn't working - even though he has no reason to know you're still alive.

You warp into the Citadel, where Anderson informs you that he entered the beam right behind you but is somehow ahead of you. When Harbinger blasts you, survivors on the radio declare your whole team dead and retreat it's heavily implied that your squadmates and assault team all died, including Captain Anderson. The original ending, the Extended Cut, and the indoctrination theoryДЇrom the moment Shepard and the surviving Earth troops start charging towards the Citadel sky beam, things get confusing and depressing in the original Mass Effect 3 ending. It didn't know how many plot points it would be able to squeeze into the final product or what they'd have to change, so they made an ending with a single, solitary choice. Based on the leak, I can't help but wonder if Bioware had to make the ending isolated from the rest of the game out of necessity. One of the big criticisms of the Mass Effect ending is that none of your prior decisions or morality really affect it. It's also true that the leak didn't really reveal many details about the ending aside from the final choice. It let Bioware change major story elements right up until release day.Д¬oncerning Mass Effect 3's ending, it's intriguing how little changed, despite how many differences there were in the story leading up to it. Mass Effect's ending may have been isolated from the main narrative by design. But a rushed production schedule and the leak caused Bioware to abandon many plot threads and push out a more streamlined, simplified plot. Old Mass Effect 1 and 2 characters like Emily Wong, Kal'Reegar, and the Consort had major roles that were cut, benched Mass Effect 2 characters like Thane and Kasumi had longer missions, and villains like Udina were given more context for their actions. You learn revelations from the Starchild, then must choose to destroy, control, or 'become one' with the Reapers.

You sync the Crucible to the Citadel as per the original ending.

As Lord Protector, you would have to order ships and troops to protect the Crucible's approach, sacrificing troops and potentially fan-favorite characters in the process.

The final Priority: Earth mission, like the ending of Mass Effect 2, would have had more interactivity and consequences.

Zaeed infiltrates Cerberus to assassinate its leaders and learn more about how the troops are being augmented with Reaper tech.

After the Citadel coup / saving the council again, Shepard is given the title 'Lord Protector of the Galaxy'.

During the Thessia confrontation, you must choose to save either Liara or the Virmire survivor.

Kai Leng frames Shepard for the murder of a spectre, turning Kaidan or Ashley against you.

When he awakes on Eden Prime, he causes so much chaos and death that Shepard is blamed and loses their spectre status.

Javik wasn't just a Prothean survivor he was the Catalyst to the Crucible.

That script is hard to find online these days, but thanks to Redditors we know some fascinating details of what (allegedly) could have been in Mass Effect 3:

Unlike Naughty Dog, which stuck to its guns, Bioware allegedly changed major story beats of the final game so that players wouldn't know what was coming. Similar to how the Last of Us II leaked before launch and sparked fan outrage, a version of the Mass Effect 3 script leaked a few months before launch with some controversial scenes players didn't like.

Mass effect 3 ending shepard lives