Mass Effect contains a lot of different races that inhabit the Milky Way, and each one has a rich and unique history. However, since players see the game from the point of view of a human, they aren't present to witness the events that defined the lives of other races. As a race that ed the rest of the inhabitants of the Milky Way in galactic travel and politics, humans haven't witnessed many events that shaped the relations and cultures of other races that work with them after first was made and the resulting war resolved.

Quarians are one of many races that Commander Shepard works with throughout the Mass Effect trilogy, and Tali is the most notable member.Tali s Shepard as a crewmember on the Normandy, and she can be romanced in Mass Effect 2 and 3. As a race, Quarians have a few defining features, with the first being the most noticeable: their suits and visors. They're also known for their intelligence and scientific knowledge, but those abilities led to an event that was rather harmful for the race overall.

Quarian History With The Geth

Why Do They Have Bad Blood?

Tali on Rannoch in Mass Effect 3

While working with Tali, Commander Shepard learns about both the Quarians and Geth, since those races are linked to each other, and at the start of the trilogy, they're on hostile . With Geth being a common enemy throughout the first game, it doesn't feel unusual that the races of the Milky Way aren't fond of them. However, that dislike stems from completely different reasons for the Quarians, because the Geth weren't always hostile to them, especially not back on their shared home planet of Rannoch.

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Are the Mass Effect games worth playing?

The Mass Effect franchise has a large fanbase, and for good reason. These games are a lot of fun, mostly because you can take matters into your own hands. Open world games resonate with most gamers because the decisions that they make truly affect the game play - and even the ending of the game. That is true for all the Mass Effect games. Should you start from the first game, and play on the same platform, decisions you have made all along the way can impact how things turn out in other games as well. This makes it absolutely worth playing. You can even enter the world of Mass Effect over and over again, creating new characters and making different decisions. On top of that, the characters are intriguing and the planets that you can visit throughout the games are exciting. There is a lot to love about this franchise, especially for gamers who enjoy open world games.

At the time of their creation, the Geth weren't as advanced as the version that Commander Shepard first encounters. The Quarians created the Geth when they still inhabited their homeworld, Rannoch, to fulfill simple tasks and help with the labor that needed to be done to keep their society running. Then, the Quarians kept adding more complex tasks to those the Geth handled, ultimately resulting in the Geth starting to become sentient. Considering the Council's laws about artificial intelligence, the Geth becoming sentient was never intended by the Quarians.

As the Geth became more sentient and started asking questions about their own existence, such as Legion's famous question about whether he has a soul, the Quarians grew increasingly concerned about the state of their creation and worried about what that could mean for the future. As a result, the Quarians decided it was time to eliminate the Geth. The Geth, however, fought back, reducing the population of their creators to less than one percent, which is why the Quarians fled their homeworld and started living on ships to avoid total elimination.

The Future Of The Geth And Quarians Is Decided By Shepard

Pick One Side Or Create Peace

One of the brokering peace between the Quarians and Geth is the best ending for both sides involved. Additionally, it's a good way to get a boost in Galactic Readiness leading into the last sections of the game.

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In of story and lore, brokering peace feels like the most satisfying conclusion to a longstanding feud between natural and artificial life, shown through the shared history between the Quarians and Geth. After all, the Quarians created the Geth, and there was a time when they co-existed on Rannoch, which was beneficial to both parties, until fear resulted in a war. Considering how much time has ed since the Quarians left Rannoch, and looking at the state of the planet during the mission in ME3, the Geth would be a great help for rebuilding.

A lot of thought has gone into the world of Mass Effect when it comes to events of the past, and it makes the galaxy feel more alive when the species living in it have a rich history that includes their own conflicts and successes. At the same time, it's easy to miss how significant those events were when playing as a human, a race that wouldn't the rest of the galaxy until much later. Because of this, the scope of how devastating the war between the Geth and Quarians ends up being lost in the narrative of Mass Effect.

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Mass Effect Trilogy
10.0/10
Released
November 6, 2012

Developer(s)
BioWare
Publisher(s)
Microsoft
Franchise
Mass Effect
Platform(s)
Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, iOS, PS3, Android, PS4