[Mass Effect: Races] The Krogan and Salarians

This is Mass Effect March! In honor of the release of Mass Effect 3, this entire month is devoted to digging into this epic trilogy. We’ll explore the different races, themes, and some major story arcs. At the end of the month we’ll cap things off with a week of posts on Mass Effect 3 to see how everything is resolved (or not). Today’s post looks at the Krogan, the Salarians and why you shouldn’t try to play god.

The Rachni War, as mentioned in the previous post, was won primarily by the Krogan who drove the Rachni to (near) extinction. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the war was won by the use of the Krogan. The Salarians took the relatively primitive Krogan from the harsh environment on their homeworld and planted them on a nicer planet so that they could expand their war-driven society. Once their population grew, the Salarians came back and said, “Hey by the way, now that you’re all powerful and stuff, how bout you go take out those Rachni for us.” So they did. When they were done with the Rachni, they decided that being free to roam around and kill stuff is pretty great, so then they became the new threat to replace the Rachni. The Salarians pulled out their magic science wand again and came up with a clever, yet dastardly plan for keeping the Krogan under control.

Source

Thus enters the Krogan Genophage, a major subplot in both stories. The Turians deployed this bioweapon, but don’t be fooled, the Salarians were behind it. The genophage does not cause full sterility, but rather induces rampant stillbirths in Krogan females. This was done to put a cap on their population numbers. It is hard to conceive of a worse fate to place on a species- making them suffer through one failed pregnancy after another in the hopes of having just one child. The genophage is essentially a forced genetic abortion.

There are many problems with this whole situation, some of which you can impact through Commander Shepard’s decisions. The first problem came when the Krogan were bred like dogs for the sole purpose of massing an army. An entire species was devalued and objectified as nothing more than a tool of war. Then those responsible added insult to injury once they realized the consequences of their actions. They used science to craft a biological curse on an entire species. There is an overall lack of appreciation for the sanctity of life in this situation.

All your genes are belong to us.

The Salarians have a scientific arrogance that is only barely checked by any kind of morality. This complex issue is fleshed out more with Mordin Solus in Mass Effect 2. He took part in an attempt to improve the genophage and struggles with guilt over that decision. Through him and his assistant Maelon (who appears in Mordin’s loyalty mission), we are able to see how these two Salarians acknowledge their mistakes in attempting to play god amongst the species of the universe.

Our reality has not been much better at times. The sense of superiority that some of us humans have had throughout our history shows that we too will use science to justify the giving and taking of life. This is an issue that has not yet been resolved- there are continuing debates about abortion, cloning, and gene manipulation. The science may not all be there yet, but the moral problems of having that power awaits us in the future.

The good news is that no matter how much we may screw each other up, there is a God who cares equally for all kinds of people. He created each race of people and his heart seeks to have each one of them reconciled to himself. We humans want to fight amongst each other to see who’s superior, but God shows no partiality for we are all his. The picture we’re given in Revelation shows that when all is said and done, the gathering in heaven will consist of those “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.”

Questions:

What group have you seen devalued? Who’s the “Krogan” of our society that gets pushed around?

In what ways have you seen science “playing god” in our modern age?

Will we ever be able to genetically create dinosaurs?

We’ll dip into Mass Effect 2 next time and look at the death and resurrection of Commander Shepard.

[Mass Effect: Races] The Rachni

This is Mass Effect March! In honor of the release of Mass Effect 3 (you probably stayed up way too late last night testing out the first few levels, I’m sure), this entire month is devoted to digging into this epic trilogy. We’ll explore the different races, themes, and some major story arcs. At the end of the month we’ll cap things off with a week of posts on Mass Effect 3 to see how everything is resolved (or not). Today’s post looks at the Rachni and some unique themes in their story.

Amongst the volumes of back story that Mass Effect provides is an account of the Rachni Wars. As the Council races explored space, they stumbled upon the Rachni, a surprisingly advanced insect-like species that overpowered and outnumbered the civilized Citadel races.

Insect-like? More like crawfish-like. I hear the most delicious way to eat a Rachni is by sucking out the brain.

In order to deal with this threat, the Salarians hatched a clever scientific way (this will come into play later) of defeating them and drove them to extinction. Or so everyone thought!! A subplot of Mass Effect 1 is defusing the villain Saren’s plan to reboot the Rachni as a means of building an new army to fight the known galaxy. Our hero, Commander Shepard, is tasked with handling this impending threat.

In true decision-based RPG fashion, you are given two choices. You find that the original, aggressive Rachni have completely died off and the new breed is not as aggressive. The new Rachni Queen has no intention of going crazy on everyone and just wants to live in peace. You can either play “better safe than sorry” and ax the whole lot of them anyway, or you can let them go on their merry way (I chose to let them live).

What strikes me about the Rachni is that they are portrayed at the same time as both advanced and primitive. What the Salarians did to them was effectively genocide. The moral dilemma here is whether or not said genocide was justified for the good of the galaxy. This subplot sadly seems to take a page from our history as humans. There have people who thought it necessary to determine which races were worthy and which deserved to be wiped out. The game’s narrative seems to be asking two possible questions- is genocide justifiable under any circumstance? and what constitutes a rational and advanced species?

You can say “Ah, they’re just bugs” and wipe them out, perhaps without giving it a second thought. Or you can see their value as a creature and show them compassion. That compassion is what comes to the forefront if you choose to save the Rachni Queen. She vows to teach her offspring about the kindness shown to her so that they will be allied with Shepard and the rest of the Council. She has been saved from destruction and she is able to joyfully experience freedom while spreading a gospel of salvation. The Rachni Queen’s story (unless you killed her, you murderer) is one of redemption that mirrors our own. We have been born into a body known for death and destruction, but a savior has come along and granted us freedom when we truly deserve death.

Commander Shepard didn’t change the Rachni Queen’s nature, he just set her free. Out of her gratitude, her outlook on the universe was changed. Likewise, Jesus has set us free from our sin in addition to changing our rotten nature (something Shepard couldn’t do), so that we can live in freedom out of gratitude for our savior.

Questions:

Which option did you choose? Why?

When have you been miraculously set free when you were in a tight spot?

What have you done with your freedom?

Next time we’ll look at two other important races in the Mass Effect story, the Krogans and the Salarians.

[Dead Space 2] Distorted Reality

Isaac’s fractured mind changes the way the player experiences the game. This post will look at Isaac’s altered perception and what we can learn from his experience.

Isaac’s girlfriend Nicole has appeared to him repeatedly throughout both games. It is not until the end of the first game that we learn that she has actually been dead the whole time. The Marker has had an effect on Isaac that distorts the way he views reality. In Dead Space 2, the Marker’s disorienting effects are further compounded by Isaac’s amnesia and severe mental instability. This story component injects a whole new level of fear into the game as the player is subject at any point to a terrifying flashing image of something that isn’t really there.

The Marker has had a similar effect on other characters in the story. Dr. Kyne in the first game regularly talked with his dead wife, whom we never actually see. Stross, a fellow mental patient in Dead Space 2, is bombarded by voices and images that convince him to do gruesome things.

"Hey pal, did you drop this??"

The Marker creates a distorted reality that is overlaid on top of what is actually there. The purpose of doing this is to convince those under its control to perform actions according to its will. The Marker, again, represents sin and its effects. Our fallen nature distorts how we see our world. It is so engrained in our bodies and minds that our thoughts and perceptions are irreparably altered. This occurs on two different levels- the individual level and the societal level.

The Individual Distortion

Sin has the ability to convince us to do terrible things. We start to see our world from a self-centered point of view from which all our decisions are then made. The core of sin is the belief that we know what’s best for us. We then deny God’s complete knowledge of what we really need. Humans have an uncanny way of creating justification for sin that alters or completely denies the facts of a given situation. Isaac knows on some level that Nicole is dead, yet he continues to engage her and listen to what she says. Sin filters our world so that we see only what we want to see. Whatever we already believe is confirmed to be true because we see through a distorted lens.

Dude, I don't think that's sunshine coming out of her face...

The Societal Distortion

This plays itself out on a massive level as well. Humanity’s history has had some pretty dark times. There are things in our past over which we as a collective share a sense of regret and disgust. There are countless examples, but two in particular come to mind.

Americans are guilty of profound racism that began with the slave trade. An entire subgroup of our population was viewed as less than human and treated as such. This sinful pattern continued through the civil rights era of the 60’s, but racism sadly still exists today. The cycle of prejudice and hatred in America, as well as many other places, shows how sin distorts the way we see people. Sin casts a huge net of collective blindness over us and it’s only with time and the grace of God that we’re able to gain a more humane perspective.

This makes one think of the obvious second major example- the Holocaust. There are more stories than we’re comfortable hearing about people who had some knowledge about what was happening to Jews in Europe during this time. Those who knew either ignored it, rationalized it, or were powerless to help. Even America failed to act when it mattered. There was a boat full of Jewish refugees who had fled the persecution in Germany in an attempt to find shelter. When they arrived at American shores, they were turned away and given no aid. How could we be so cruel to a group of innocent people who clearly needed help?

Real Reality

This kind of atrocious behavior is what happens when sin distorts our reality. There are countless examples of this in our history and too much is still going on today (racism, prejudice, sex trafficking, slavery, abuse, etc.). Often times the only reason we identify these past events as terrible is because we are looking back on them. We are blinded by sin and we only realize the horror of our actions after its too late.

Isaac follows Nicole all the way to the Marker, somehow thinking that she has been helping him. Only then does reality rear her ugly head as she then attempts to kill him. This is our experience with sin, which misleads us down a path of destruction being disguised as salvation. The Bible acknowledges this layer of false reality that reigns in our world, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

But God also inhabits the true reality beyond our physical sight. We are told that “the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Everything physical that is infested with sin will pass away and we will see reality for what it really is. God clears up the distortions in our perception and allows us to see him more clearly. There’s a great Old Testament story that illustrates this. The nation of Israel was surrounded on all sides by their enemies. A servant starts freaking out about this, but the prophet Elisha is right there and he sees God’s reality. He asks God to open the eyes of the servant and what does he see? “Behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around.” That story illustrates how God shows up in a clutch, much like another famous battle scene…

"Not alone.."

Questions:

Where do you see our society having a blindspot or distorted reality?

Was there a time when you knew you were being hindered by something not visible?

When in your life have you been led astray by a distortion of the truth?

Thanks for reading along about Dead Space. Share your thoughts and reactions in the comments!