Battle of the Citadel | Mass Effect



The War Against the Reapers began before most in the galaxy could even conceive that the threat existed. The first engagement was the Battle of the Citadel.

In High Command, The Templin Institute investigates the greatest battles, conflicts, and wars from across alternate worlds.

New episodes every week.

Other Divisions & Branches:
🔹 Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/templininstitute
🔹 The Templin Commissary | https://shop.templin.institute
🔹 Twitch | https://www.twitch.tv/templininstitute
🔹 The Templin Archives | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLN1_nXZbY2Vqa7_7LLNeyQ
🔹 YouTube Membership | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpqCsO-fb2_OzVxm7J9MslA/join
🔹 Submit Your Episode Idea | https://ideas.templin.institute/

Communications & Media:
🔹 Website | https://www.templin.institute/
🔹 Discord | https://discord.gg/templininstitute
🔹 Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/TemplinInstitute
🔹 Twitter | https://twitter.com/TemplinEdu
🔹 Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/TemplinInstitute
🔹 Subreddit | https://www.reddit.com/r/TemplinInstitute/
🔹 Mailing Address | Unit 144 – 919 Centre St SW Calgary, AB T2E 2P6

Background music: “Final Alliance” by Tenacious Orchestra used under license by PremiumBeat.com .

Ending music “Battle Forever” used under license from Shutterstock.com.

source

41 thoughts on “Battle of the Citadel | Mass Effect”

  1. Yep, been expecting a video on the climax of Mass Effect 1 for a long time. Loved how you call the multiple options for Mass Effect as conflicting reports, especially given the apocalyptic scope of the Reaper Wars.

    Of course, in the multiverse, both options actually occur, with one reality where the Destiny Ascension is saved and the other reality where the Destiny Ascension is destroyed.

    Anyway, happy veterans day. Hope you'll follow up this video with a HiCom on the Reaper War.

    Reply
  2. I liked how normal Citadel citizens would treat you in ME2 (and assumingly other humans) if you chose to save the Council. They're generally friendlier and if I recall, there was less opposition to the humans having a Council seat in ME2. The Council in ME2 was also willing to meet with you, while if you had chosen to abandon them, the new Council wouldn't even spare the time to speak with you.

    Reply
  3. Love how the 'Fog of War' immediately after the battle accounts for the different 'Paragon' and 'Renegade' decisions 😄

    Question: Starting at 10:50, where did that little section of animation come from? I don't recognize it, but its been a long time since I saw the Mass Effect 'anime', so it could have come from that.

    Reply
  4. Decided to take a little break from ME2LE and what do I see? Here's hoping you guys do this battle the justice that burkharts stairway (as I call them) did not when they did a video on this some months back.

    Reply
  5. Interesting tidbit: In that opening cinematic from Andromeda that you see for a moment @ 8:40, just after the cut that was used for making this video, you can see no less than 7 of the 8 Systems Alliance dreadnoughts that exist at that time (That scene in Andromeda is very late in 2185 around 2-3 months before Shepard is rudely awakened in ME2, so it is possible that it is 7 out of 9 as the codex states that by 2186 there is one more, Orizaba iirc). As forgettable as so much of that game is, that detail always stood out to me. It showed how the Systems Alliance treated the Andromeda Initiative and its Arks as a bigger threat than anything preceding the events of ME3. For contrast, pouring over the cinematics from ME1 I have not seen a human dreadnought, in ME2 a single human dreadnought can be seen anchoring the Citadel Fleet and during the deployment of the Crucible, you can see 3 or so human dreadnoughts escorting it.

    addendum: you can tell the Systems Alliance dreadnoughts by the 4 prominent thrusters they have on them, similar to Normandy. Alliance cruisers only have 2, one per side (though I believe that there are 2 more on the cruisers that are blended more into the hull). Cruisers also have lots of pointy bits in the bow, dreadnoughts have a more blunted look to theirs.

    addendum 2: By simply looking at the numbers, System Alliance fleets likely have 1-2 per fleet, possibly 0 given the lack of them shown in 2183. So that show of force at the beginning of ME:A is about as powerful as they could have made it.

    addendum 3: If there are 8 total when the arks launched, one of them would be at the Citadel as shown in ME2 during the cinematic where Normandy approaches, then this would literally be the entire battle line that the Alliance was able to field for this show of force.

    Reply
  6. From a tactical perspective, saving Destiny Ascension and destroying geth ships before focusing on the Sovereign is the only valid choice, otherwise you leave Alliance fleet exposed and vulnerable to attacks from returning geth ships.

    Reply
  7. I always chose to save the Ascension, not because of the three massive idiots aboard, but because of the 9997 other innocent Asari crew. They didn't deserve to die because of the incompetence of their elected leaders.

    Reply
  8. Why did Sovereign even attack the citadel with the whole reaper fleet only 5 years away, and are they towing the relay connecting to the Citadel behind them or would he have opened the Citadel relay only to have no reapers come through bc they decided to take 'the scenic route' a long time ago

    Reply
  9. Asari deserve more credit for fostering a galactic society that allowed Shepard to create a force that could beat the Reapers.
    Through context clues it's implied that the Asari were the first dominant galactic species since the cycle started that were not conquerors and had no interest in ruling the galaxy outright, instead believing in creating an interspecies coalition.
    Protheans apparently were standard as far as dominant species went historically. Conquer and enslave what you need, destroy whatever you don't and keep your government centralized.
    The Asari broke the mold and created the groundwork for the end of the cycle.

    Reply
  10. I saved the destiny ascension on my first play through. Because as a human, I know that having a fully human council dictating galactic affairs would not go well. Humans can be caring, intelligent and loving, but humans can also be greedy, vengeful and self serving. Saving the destiny I saw as a sacrifice on the side of humans for the greater galactic good. It would also make the council indebted to the humans propelling us to a more significant status on the galactic stage. And I made the peace with the sacrifice because I knew that I as commander Sheppard would make the same sacrifice to save my crew if the need ever arose and why I sacrificed myself at the end for the synthetic ending. I chose synthetic ending because unlike the reapers turning all organics mechanical, it would be a hybrid. Synthetic and organic parts working together in balance. Like the get and the quarians but on a bigger and more smaller scale at the same time.

    Reply

Leave a Comment