A few dedicated Mass Effect fans have decoded a cryptic audio message released during yesterday’s N7 Day celebrations, revealing an ominous warning from series mainstay Liara T'Soni. Every year on November 7, Mass Effect fans and cast honor BioWare’s beloved sci-fi RPG, with the date chosen due to the N7 program that Commander Shepard is a part of. Sometimes BioWare even shares enticing hints about the next Mass Effect project, as was the case when a teaser poster for the Mass Effect 4 was released during last year’s N7 Day.Yesterday, BioWare released a new Mass Effect 4 image that gave fans a clue about which of Mass Effect 3’s controversial alternate endings is canon. This concept art also came with a coded audio message, and PC Gamer reports that someone has already deciphered it. Soundcloud Mosaic Horse ran the recording through processing, revealing the unmistakable voice of Liara T’Soni. PC Gamer’s in-house audio expert Tyler Wilde also uncovered the message, which features Liara talking to an unspecified individual (possibly a Geth due to the sounds playing around her) regarding something “the council will be furious” about. She also notes that “they should know by now not to underestimate human defiance,” a reference to all the times that Shepard defied the Council during the original Mass Effect trilogy. The official Mass Effect Twitter posted a translated version of Liara’s message yesterday afternoon, thanking everyone who worked to decode it.
Liara Gives A Cryptic Warning In New Mass Effect Teaser Message
One of the few things confirmed about the Mass Effect 4 is that Liara will return, as revealed during Mass Effect 4’s official announcement trailer back in 2020. This has caused some fans to draw theories about her role in the next Mass Effect title, including the idea that she could be the game’s playable character. Liara’s face model Jillian Murray would also confirm Liara’s involvement with Mass Effect 4, but her voice actress Ali Hillis once claimed not to know anything about the game or its development.
It is worth noting that these statements were made back when Mass Effect 4 was only just announced, and that BioWare could have brought Hillis into the fold to record this new N7 Day message in the two years since then. According to some fan speculation, the concept art included in Liara’s message seems to depict a human-made Mass Relay, hinting that the Alliance could be working to build their own means of hyperspace travel after the old Mass Relays were destroyed during Mass Effect 3's cliffhanger ending. This would easily anger the human-weary Citadel Council, which lines up with what Liara says in her message.
It will probably be a long time before fans get more information about Mass Effect 4. The game is still said to be in the early stages of development, and BioWare is also splitting its efforts toward Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. Still, this ominous message from what appears to be Liara T’Soni offers up an intriguing hint about where the Mass Effect storyline could go following the Reapers’ destruction at the end of Mass Effect 3 - including even more tension between the humans of Earth and the rest of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Source: Mass Effect/Twitter, PCGamer