[SPEAKER_05]: I'm Commander Shepherd, and this is my favorite lorecast on the Citadel.

[SPEAKER_04]: Welcome to the Mass Effect lorecast.

[SPEAKER_04]: I'm in seven the legend.

[SPEAKER_12]: And I'm Genesis.

[SPEAKER_12]: Join us.

[SPEAKER_04]: As we explore along tides of light.

[SPEAKER_04]: And through sholes of dust.

[SPEAKER_04]: To see where this lore began.

[SPEAKER_12]: And consider where it may go.

[SPEAKER_04]: Specters welcome back to another magnificent, wonderful, uh, superfluous week of the Mass Effect Lordcast.

[SPEAKER_04]: I am your host in seven legend.

[SPEAKER_04]: Genesis is joining me as always.

[SPEAKER_04]: Genesis, how is your week been?

[SPEAKER_12]: Uh, very the the source filled.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yes, there we go.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's what we want.

[SPEAKER_04]: We want a good vocabulary.

[SPEAKER_04]: And we want to be able to know how to speak it since we're on a podcast.

[SPEAKER_04]: But we are now at our final area episode for now.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I say final because we always seem to find more elements to talk about later on.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, there always seems to be more lore.

[SPEAKER_12]: We look at a new comic.

[SPEAKER_12]: We look at a different website and here we go.

[SPEAKER_12]: There's a lot more information to start diving into.

[SPEAKER_12]: And we've kind of already covered quite a bit about Arya.

[SPEAKER_12]: First, we talked about her in the Is Arya, a secret specter.

[SPEAKER_12]: And then we branched to who is the owner of that club in ME two?

[SPEAKER_12]: then we talked about why does REL leave Omega off in the hands of Cerberus?

[SPEAKER_12]: So we're going to pick up the story from there because we've answered those questions, but now we have to talk about what happens after she strategically retreated from Oleg and the events that happen in Mass Effect Three.

[SPEAKER_04]: Right, so she goes to get help.

[SPEAKER_04]: The best help that she can get in the galaxy.

[SPEAKER_04]: And that takes us to where Shepard meets Arya in Mass Effect Three in the Citadel.

[SPEAKER_04]: And a club, interestingly named purgatory.

[SPEAKER_04]: Jen, what do you think is up with this theme of club names here after life?

[SPEAKER_04]: Arya's club in Omega, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: And then purgatory where we find her in Mass Effect Three.

[SPEAKER_12]: It fits the theme that even thousands of years removed from the Roman Empire.

[SPEAKER_12]: It still takes up a lot of real estate in people's minds.

[SPEAKER_12]: What's the Roman Empire?

[SPEAKER_04]: What is my Roman Empire?

[SPEAKER_04]: What is something I guess just current events?

[SPEAKER_04]: I always think about current events, but that's not particularly odd.

[SPEAKER_04]: Maybe Daisy, the game Daisy is my Roman Empire.

[SPEAKER_04]: I always seem to come back to it at least once a year and then I'm like totally obsessed.

[SPEAKER_04]: But I liked the whole, so after life makes sense in Mass Effect too, because Shepherd just got resurrected, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: I'm trying to draw some kind of parallel to where the writers may have been going with purgatory being, you know, symbolic of something in Mass Effect three, but I'm coming up on a blank here.

[SPEAKER_12]: Well, I mean, other than the fact that it's purgatory, nobody really, it's not good.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's not bad.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's just there.

[SPEAKER_12]: And it's a place that we have to stay for a long time.

[SPEAKER_12]: We don't want to be in purgatory disconnected from everybody else around us.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, kind of like a holding place where life seems to pause.

[SPEAKER_04]: And we don't go into the afterlife yet.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, I mean, and that can be a good thing because it is a spot for us to put our life on pause, you know, and forget about the outside world for a little bit.

[SPEAKER_12]: So that's nice.

[SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[SPEAKER_04]: So we see RIA here lounging on this sectional couch, not far from the dance floor, but this booth they're looking very exclusive and isolated anyway, kind of a symbol of her status that she's somehow retained even though she's not on Omega anymore.

[SPEAKER_04]: and we find her arguing with a Citadel Immigration's officer.

[SPEAKER_04]: We already covered that clip back in this secret spectre episode, so we won't go into too much depth about it, but it turns out that Arya had fled Omega, and then she and her gang snuck aboard the Citadel, somehow, and have been hanging out on the station for three weeks undetected by Citadel Immigration's.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, we definitely covered that a lot already, but it's still quite surprising.

[SPEAKER_12]: Three weeks is a long time for somebody to be hanging out and not get noticed or not be at least approached.

[SPEAKER_12]: Once or twice going, are you supposed to be here?

[SPEAKER_04]: Would this literally make her an illegal alien?

[SPEAKER_12]: Until the counselor signs the immigration paperwork on a letter puts her into refugees status?

[SPEAKER_04]: Which is like thirty seconds later.

[SPEAKER_04]: She and the midst of all this we hear Arya call up that a sorry counselor on speed dial and the counselor grants her a visa over hollow phone thing So it's funny that Arya has such a close connection to the counselor especially because she says that she hates the citadel for being so quote unquote significantly uptight [SPEAKER_04]: and that the elusive man will pay for quote unquote every second I've spent in this bureaucratic hellhole.

[SPEAKER_11]: I agree with our we don't want to be here either.

[SPEAKER_04]: She is definitely someone who thinks that regulations get in the way that she should be able to do as she pleases right with no impediments at all.

[SPEAKER_04]: She's used to being pirate queen.

[SPEAKER_04]: All of a sudden now, she's not even like the fifth biggest fish in the sea where she is.

[SPEAKER_12]: Right, I mean, being on Omega, it doesn't feel lawless because there is definitely a lot to the land.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's the rules of the land, though, and it's not regimented the same way that it is on the Citadel.

[SPEAKER_12]: I mean, on the Citadel, we have things rules and regulations that we have to follow at all times.

[SPEAKER_12]: Omega is a lot freer.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I mean, my perspective here is that Arya has so much of an ego after having been the judge jury executioner of Omega for so long that she can't stand not being in total control of her environment.

[SPEAKER_04]: And we already know, we already know that Arya hates it when she doesn't know something.

[SPEAKER_12]: she wants to be in control at all times.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yes, which makes me wonder how exactly her past went before she got to Omega, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: It's usually someone who needs to be in control all the time is someone who's endured some trauma that they haven't really come to terms with.

[SPEAKER_04]: And so that they feel that they need to be in control as some kind of self-defense mechanism.

[SPEAKER_04]: So I'd wonder, what harsh things are you went through in the past?

[SPEAKER_12]: Well, we know that she was a dancer, a stripper at one point, and she had to raise up the ranks through that way while dancing on Omega.

[SPEAKER_12]: There was all the stuff with Patriarch.

[SPEAKER_12]: There's been a lot, and she was in the, uh, a sorry military, so there have been a lot of situations in her life where she wasn't the one in control.

[SPEAKER_12]: And she has a child.

[SPEAKER_12]: And once you have a child, a lot of the control in your life goes away.

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, at this point, Massfic III had a child, because, of course, Kiling and Co killed her daughter, Lysel, if I remember a name right.

[SPEAKER_04]: But let's take a listen to her very first meeting with Shepherd, and how she kind of recaps the events of that Omega comic to Shepherd.

[SPEAKER_04]: We get to hear about it through Arias lens.

[SPEAKER_04]: So here we go.

[SPEAKER_04]: We've got a short clip.

[SPEAKER_10]: I did service to feed you, deceit, distraction, and a big fucking army.

[SPEAKER_10]: They lowered me away from Omega and ambush me.

[SPEAKER_10]: I escaped with Cerberus had already laid siege.

[SPEAKER_10]: By the time I could launch an assault, they were too entrenched.

[SPEAKER_10]: If it were me, I'd want revenge.

[SPEAKER_10]: Glad to see we think alike.

[SPEAKER_10]: I'll take Omega back, but I'll get to that.

[SPEAKER_10]: You're here because I have a proposition.

[SPEAKER_10]: I'm listening.

[SPEAKER_10]: The way I see it, if you don't defeat the Reapers, we're all dead.

[SPEAKER_10]: What matter where I'm sitting?

[SPEAKER_10]: It's in my interest to help you.

[SPEAKER_04]: And so here's something that I really love about Arya, her ultimate pragmatism.

[SPEAKER_04]: Above any rules she might have, above any ego that she might have, she's pragmatic at heart.

[SPEAKER_04]: And real quick, I do want to give credit to Jaguar Fear of five-fifty now goes by Commander Vicarion on YouTube.

[SPEAKER_04]: So prolific in uploading these gameplay clips.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it helps us dissect and talk about the lore.

[SPEAKER_04]: So thank you to Jack Warrr, five, fifty, but back to the pragmatism.

[SPEAKER_04]: The fact that she has to be humbled in going and essentially grovelling, although she doesn't want to kind of appear that way, she's essentially grovelling [SPEAKER_04]: and talking to Shepherd like, yeah, I'm in a position where I need you now.

[SPEAKER_04]: Now, you needed me back in Mass Effect too, but tables have turned.

[SPEAKER_12]: It is very interesting to see this different side of Arya coming at us of the I'm the one who needs help so I'm caching in a chip you owe me and because that's how we haven't seen her like that before but it is also very it's it's good to see it's character growth for her so I was I was very interested to see where this was going to go on my first playthrough [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, yeah, my first playthrough, I was so into whatever quest she was going to give me, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: And then as it turns out, Arya basically wants us to help her solidify her control over all three major gangs from Omega, the Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it's a few side missions, which don't actually include a lot of screen time for Arya.

[SPEAKER_04]: But it's kind of a build up to the Omega DLC.

[SPEAKER_04]: Now, if you haven't played the DLC, we're going to be spinning the rest of this episode talking about it.

[SPEAKER_04]: So if you don't want spoilers for that, now it's time to tune out.

[SPEAKER_04]: However, it is included in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I don't even know if you can buy this standalone DLC anymore.

[SPEAKER_04]: Point is, are you needs those ships from the blood pack blue suns and eclipse?

[SPEAKER_04]: And she markets it to shepherd as, hey, if we get these ships, then you will have a ruthless band of mercenaries to do all the dirty work that you need to do in the Reaper War, because I know that you're a little alliance types.

[SPEAKER_04]: Don't want to keep their hands dirty.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, and therefore I was all for it.

[SPEAKER_12]: Like even when I didn't know that I wanted to get every single little war asset, I knew that I wanted the merch because they would be the ones that are out there doing ground battle and being the ones that are willing to do things on a little bit shadeier side of things.

[SPEAKER_04]: This would have been a perfect opportunity to work in a little remark from Arya if you had done the Arrival DLC and Mass Effect too, because Arya would have said something along lines of, I'm just imagining here, like, and besides, I know that you're not against some killing every now and then, or something like that, especially if you were playing a Renegade Shepherd, she could just throw that out there, maybe mention the Baterians, or something about how it's okay, braid doesn't hold it against you.

[SPEAKER_12]: I was, yeah, something along those lines.

[SPEAKER_12]: Like, my second command is a material.

[SPEAKER_12]: Are you okay working with them?

[SPEAKER_04]: Maybe.

[SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, you're invited to come along on this mission.

[SPEAKER_04]: Just, you know, leave Brayby.

[SPEAKER_04]: I know you got a thing for them.

[SPEAKER_12]: I like Brave by the end of this deal, see though.

[SPEAKER_04]: I like, I like Brave a lot more than Anso.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's for sure.

[SPEAKER_04]: Anyway, so, so you do this little song and dances she puts it in, you unify the three gangs.

[SPEAKER_04]: And that leaves Shepherd wondering, how do you plan to retake Omega?

[SPEAKER_04]: And I love the way that Ari replies here.

[SPEAKER_04]: She says, I think I'm going to use violence.

[SPEAKER_12]: Good choice, Arya.

[SPEAKER_12]: That's a really, really good choice.

[SPEAKER_04]: Like she's she's I can just imagine her saying it through her teeth like she's barely holding back the Blood-boiling rage that she feels for Cerberus and specifically Old Peglego Lake I choose violence.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_12]: That's how are you woke up today?

[SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[SPEAKER_04]: So then comes the real fun right?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, the real fun.

[SPEAKER_12]: We get an email from Aria saying the time to retake Omega has finally come.

[SPEAKER_04]: And you know, I'm not actually sure on timing, exact timing here because I always do the quest as soon as I can.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I'm a completionist.

[SPEAKER_04]: So I don't know if you skip those side quests.

[SPEAKER_04]: Can you still start the Omega DLC?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, you can do Omega even before the three mark missions on the Citadel because I had one run where talking to the Eclipse leader in the jail was completely glitched and she never showed up on the screen and I couldn't complete the side quest, but I was still able to do the Omega DLC.

[SPEAKER_12]: No problem.

[SPEAKER_04]: interesting.

[SPEAKER_04]: So at least we know if you want to be a completionist, maybe do the side quests first.

[SPEAKER_04]: But we get this email telling us to meet her on Doc Forty Two.

[SPEAKER_04]: We show up.

[SPEAKER_04]: And then there's this skycar with characteristically blackened windows that shows up and the door opens.

[SPEAKER_04]: And Arya is there to meet us.

[SPEAKER_04]: So let's check out this clip.

[SPEAKER_00]: So where is she?

[SPEAKER_09]: Shepherd.

[SPEAKER_10]: I'm dramatic.

[SPEAKER_10]: There are too many eyes and ears in Purgatory.

[SPEAKER_10]: I assume this is about retaking Omega.

[SPEAKER_10]: This is about your war shepherd.

[SPEAKER_10]: Cerber is controlling the terminus system seriously bolsters demobility.

[SPEAKER_10]: Since taking Omega this spread through the galaxy, surely the alliance has noticed.

[SPEAKER_10]: Cut to the chase.

[SPEAKER_10]: What's your plan?

[SPEAKER_10]: Kick them out.

[SPEAKER_10]: By the mast of lead of Mark ships were going to punch through enemy lines and invade.

[SPEAKER_10]: Once we're on a mega, it's a ground war.

[SPEAKER_10]: That's why I want you.

[SPEAKER_10]: I only accept the best.

[SPEAKER_10]: The leader of the server as an occupation is General Oleg Petrovsky.

[SPEAKER_10]: He's the one who...

how's doing me?

[SPEAKER_10]: Don't know.

[SPEAKER_10]: The elusive man's top military strategist in best kept secret.

[SPEAKER_10]: But all you really need to know is that he's a merciless bastard.

[SPEAKER_10]: What's your end ill in the occupation?

[SPEAKER_10]: Petroski's army is massive and he's got to make a locked tight.

[SPEAKER_10]: The information stops there.

[SPEAKER_10]: So you're winging it.

[SPEAKER_10]: Not at all.

[SPEAKER_10]: There are secrets on a mega only I know.

[SPEAKER_10]: Secrets that will provide us a football.

[SPEAKER_10]: I can tell you this, Petrovsky's invasion was precise and ruthless, was stopping nothing to me.

[SPEAKER_10]: He's about to meet his match.

[SPEAKER_10]: That kind of talk goes a lot away with me.

[SPEAKER_04]: That kind of talk goes a long way with me.

[SPEAKER_04]: This play through the Jaguar-FI-Fifties doing is consistently picking Renegade options, as you probably noticed, Genesis, and I know that you love the Renegade, especially for the Omega DLC, but I'm a little boy scout, so I usually pick Paragon.

[SPEAKER_04]: I know you've done Paragon as well.

[SPEAKER_04]: Does this conversation go any differently if you're a boy scout?

[SPEAKER_12]: a little bit differently, yeah, because it kind of sets the tone.

[SPEAKER_12]: And especially one of the first few interactions you get with Arya in the actual DLC sets the tone if you are going to be defying her choices and trying to get her to change her mind by the end.

[SPEAKER_12]: Or if you're agreeing with her and feeding into the emotions she's already having.

[SPEAKER_12]: So playing Boy Scout.

[SPEAKER_12]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's just not as fun for me in this DLC.

[SPEAKER_04]: But regardless, yet another opportunity for Shepherd to mold those around them through their own morality.

[SPEAKER_04]: And this whole he's about to meet his match.

[SPEAKER_04]: This is exactly what I was talking about last week when I said that this whole back and forth game between Arya and Oleg really felt perfect because they are each other's foils.

[SPEAKER_04]: he's very rigid, she's very fluid.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it's almost like this kind of catch me if you can, dynamic with Arya and Oleg.

[SPEAKER_12]: There's definitely that.

[SPEAKER_12]: And for him, it's like a battle has happened like this before.

[SPEAKER_12]: And this was the outcome of that battle.

[SPEAKER_12]: Therefore, when this happens again, the outcome will be the same.

[SPEAKER_12]: And Arya is just there to throw a wrench into everything.

[SPEAKER_04]: right, she's an agent of chaos.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I also love how Ariah pitches this to Shepherd from the very get go.

[SPEAKER_04]: Once Shepherd jumps in the Skycar, Ariah basically says, this isn't about Omega.

[SPEAKER_04]: This is about your war.

[SPEAKER_04]: So Ari is a really good salesman here, like a really great one, because from the very bat, Ari is engaging us the player in terms of why this matters, why we should do this DLC.

[SPEAKER_12]: Mm-hmm.

[SPEAKER_12]: It matters because if you help me quit pro-cro, if you help me do this, then I will be able to supply you with all of this, but I get my thing first.

[SPEAKER_02]: You come to me on the day of my daughter's wedding.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, that's a horrible Marlin Brando.

[SPEAKER_04]: I will work on that.

[SPEAKER_04]: But anyway, Ariya basically says for that good pro quo that Shepherd, you can have the ships all the Ezo and the Merx anything you want if you helped me retake Omega.

[SPEAKER_04]: And this feels like a moment where [SPEAKER_04]: I completely trust her.

[SPEAKER_04]: She's actually being completely trustworthy, strangely enough, because usually you might doubt a pirate queen when she tells you this, maybe expect some betrayal along the line.

[SPEAKER_04]: But I think it's the hatred in her own voice when talking about Cerberus, when talking about Oleg, that really sells this, that really makes me feel like, okay, I can trust her.

[SPEAKER_12]: anger is a clean emotion.

[SPEAKER_12]: There's not a lot of deception that can happen through the lens of anger, because a lot of people can tell when you're faking being angry, you know, and it just doesn't sound right.

[SPEAKER_12]: It doesn't feel right.

[SPEAKER_12]: But this, you can tell that Arya is so angry, frustrated, pissed, betrayed, hurt, [SPEAKER_12]: on the brink of defeat to where now we can trust that she is going to do anything and everything to get [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_04]: She's far past her, you know, any reservations about holding a punch, any reservations she may have had about tapping into one resource here or one resource there.

[SPEAKER_04]: There is one thing though, we can't bring our crew because Arya has one quote objections to the company that we keep.

[SPEAKER_04]: Jin, how did you feel about this part?

[SPEAKER_12]: Extremely frustrated.

[SPEAKER_12]: Okay, it's not fair.

[SPEAKER_12]: Garus knows Omega just as well if not better than Shepard.

[SPEAKER_12]: And would have been an asset for sure.

[SPEAKER_12]: And are you kind of liked Arc Angel back in the day?

[SPEAKER_12]: So I'm not really seeing what the issue is.

[SPEAKER_12]: You know, unless we talk about the IRL complications of further voice acting and adding another squatty that could buff the party sides to four, but still, I should have at least been able to take care of this with me.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I agree.

[SPEAKER_04]: I was looking frustrated because I wanted to bring, you know, my beloved characters with me.

[SPEAKER_04]: However, I wasn't surprised because so many RPG games are like, you know, DLC area.

[SPEAKER_04]: You gotta leave everyone behind.

[SPEAKER_04]: You're gonna get new characters in your party.

[SPEAKER_04]: You're gonna get new blah, blah.

[SPEAKER_04]: And there's a chance for a new adventure.

[SPEAKER_12]: The one that they did that with the archered DLC.

[SPEAKER_12]: And I remember what it was called, the the gas one where David archer.

[SPEAKER_04]: Overlord.

[SPEAKER_12]: Overlord.

[SPEAKER_12]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_12]: They did allow your squadmates to go with you, but they had one maybe two additional lines of dialogue.

[SPEAKER_12]: Eighty surprisingly was the one with the most dialogue added into that one.

[SPEAKER_04]: It could have also been a cinematic thing, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: They would have had to expand the cinematic budget if they were bringing different squadmates along.

[SPEAKER_04]: They would have been including them on all the scenes.

[SPEAKER_04]: So who knows?

[SPEAKER_04]: Storyboard wise, maybe they were a little bit further along than they could justify bringing in more squadmates.

[SPEAKER_04]: There's probably some behind the curtain reason there, but the narrative reason for me [SPEAKER_04]: felt a little weak.

[SPEAKER_04]: So next mission, we board Ariah's command vessel.

[SPEAKER_04]: And we end up seeing this tale end of conversation between her and Jarl, who's in a sorry, Mark working for her.

[SPEAKER_04]: Jarl tells her that they're really outmaned and they're severely outgunned, which are tough odds from the get-go.

[SPEAKER_04]: Anyway, here, let's go ahead and play the clip, shall we?

[SPEAKER_10]: transports who limited firepower.

[SPEAKER_10]: We're not here to win a space battle jarrel.

[SPEAKER_10]: We just have to punch through their line.

[SPEAKER_10]: So you've come in dear to Cerberus Cruiser.

[SPEAKER_10]: The guest of honor has arrived.

[SPEAKER_10]: We can finally start.

[SPEAKER_10]: Let me guess.

[SPEAKER_10]: You're planning on infiltrating the enemy fleet.

[SPEAKER_10]: Exactly.

[SPEAKER_10]: We position ourselves to strike a crippling blow.

[SPEAKER_10]: And my force is joined the fun.

[SPEAKER_10]: Works for me.

[SPEAKER_10]: If you're as accommodating the rest of the way, we'll get along very well.

[SPEAKER_04]: Was that a flirty line?

[SPEAKER_04]: Genesis, that sounded somewhat flirty.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, there's a lot of little flirty things in this, but I wouldn't read too far into it for now.

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, I feel like she's being a little teasy.

[SPEAKER_04]: Because Ari is still knows that she's got sex appeal even though she's like, past middle age, right, for an assari?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, she's in her matron phase for sure.

[SPEAKER_12]: And it's also why I picked the wine glass that I'm drinking from tonight because it says badass and beautiful.

[SPEAKER_12]: And that's Arya.

[SPEAKER_04]: That is, it is for sure.

[SPEAKER_04]: Now I mentioned before that clip that these are really tough odds from the get-go.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's also something that Arya and I collected to tell Shepherd in the Skycar.

[SPEAKER_04]: Hey, by the way, this could be a veritable suicide mission.

[SPEAKER_12]: We've done those before and survived.

[SPEAKER_12]: What's another one?

[SPEAKER_04]: Details details.

[SPEAKER_04]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_04]: I feel like Shepherd should have a little bit of an opportunity to be like, hey, what the hell?

[SPEAKER_04]: We could have taken my shift.

[SPEAKER_12]: That's a fair point.

[SPEAKER_12]: We could have taken the Normandy.

[SPEAKER_04]: With it, with it stealth drive?

[SPEAKER_04]: Oh, yeah.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, I think I'm more upset about not being able to take the Normandy than I am a squad mate.

[SPEAKER_04]: Why am I here?

[SPEAKER_04]: Why did I just leave my Lambo to get in your nineteen ninety-two Toyota?

[SPEAKER_04]: I don't know, Celica.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's a throwback.

[SPEAKER_04]: But yeah, I would be a little bit peaved knowing that this is the game plan that we are outmaned for to one severely outguned because most of the ships in your fleet are civilian transport vessels.

[SPEAKER_04]: But hey, if your plan's to just dive right at the enemy and hopefully we punch a hole through and get to Omega, I guess, so be it, right?

[SPEAKER_11]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, that's all we got for the first half of the show.

[SPEAKER_04]: Let's go over to the mid-break and thank our patrons.

[SPEAKER_08]: We have beef, bacon, we have beer, the foods of my people.

[SPEAKER_00]: Young men have funny ideas of what a star you're like.

[SPEAKER_00]: I blame the extra net and computer games.

[SPEAKER_05]: Rex, Shepherd, Grant, Shepherd, Rex.

[SPEAKER_05]: Grant?

[SPEAKER_04]: Alright, here we are in the middle of the show and we have no new reviews on Apple but we do have a couple of nice remarks that people left us on Spotify.

[SPEAKER_04]: Number one coming from bad blood.

[SPEAKER_04]: It says hello from England.

[SPEAKER_04]: I'm in the Royal Air Force and basic training three years ago would have been very different if I didn't have you guys to iron to.

[SPEAKER_04]: Now it's first since I thought about for a while.

[SPEAKER_04]: Didn't have us to iron to.

[SPEAKER_04]: He literally means ironing.

[SPEAKER_04]: I thought it was perhaps some bridge slaying, but then I realized, oh, he's ironing his uniforms.

[SPEAKER_04]: While he's listening to us.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, next time you make that crease, you think of us.

[SPEAKER_04]: Anyway, Bad Blood says, though in seventh legend, will always tell you he doesn't know everything about the lore because I don't.

[SPEAKER_04]: And you give him too much credit because you guys do.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's not the knowledge, but the passion and the dedication to researching the lore every week, which deserves credit.

[SPEAKER_04]: Much love to both Tom and Genesis as well.

[SPEAKER_04]: You have all made this lore cast what it is to me and so many other people.

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, bad blood, thank you so much for those kind words.

[SPEAKER_04]: Really means a lot.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's I think like those kinds of comments are why I continue doing this.

[SPEAKER_04]: And we have another one, gin assist.

[SPEAKER_04]: Do you want to read this one?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, from Jeruko.

[SPEAKER_12]: Hello from Finland.

[SPEAKER_12]: Very interesting lore podcast.

[SPEAKER_12]: Can you cover Mass Effect infiltrator game?

[SPEAKER_12]: And that's the cell phone mobile app, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: That came out on the Blackberry.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's how long ago that was.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, and so this was a mass effect.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's like dead software now.

[SPEAKER_04]: You can't buy it anywhere.

[SPEAKER_04]: You have to get it through an emulator, I think.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's the only way I've seen people stream it.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it covers a server's agent who basically finds out the server is saying that good.

[SPEAKER_04]: We will probably cover it at some point.

[SPEAKER_04]: I need to find out where I can get it specifically through totally legal and legitimate means.

[SPEAKER_04]: We will see about that, but maybe maybe we can even stream that to our new Twitch, which is a good segue for plugging the fact that we are now in affiliate.

[SPEAKER_04]: So come on by, say hello, and we are working on some custom emotes for all of our subscribers on Twitch.

[SPEAKER_04]: but alright thank you for those remarks on Spotify if you like the show or if you've got some suggestions you can always leave our mark on the most recent episode of the lore cast and we look at those try and include them on the mid break but that takes us to our voice line pop quiz.

[SPEAKER_04]: Jen you've got one for me.

[SPEAKER_12]: I do, why don't you go ahead and play the one called, I cheated.

[SPEAKER_03]: Alright.

[SPEAKER_03]: Damn it, woman if you keep pounding me, I'm gonna put you over my knee and teach you a lesson.

[SPEAKER_04]: What in the world?

[SPEAKER_03]: Okay, all of them, let's take another lesson of that one.

[SPEAKER_03]: Damn it, woman if you keep pounding me, I'm gonna put you over my knee and teach you a lesson.

[SPEAKER_03]: Oh boy, Taden's gonna teach me a lesson.

[SPEAKER_04]: Um, wow.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: I understand why you named this.

[SPEAKER_04]: I cheated since we agreed not to use any, uh, dialogue from Caden Ashley that's romance specific.

[SPEAKER_04]: So I am going to say this is Caden in Mass Effect three and.

[SPEAKER_04]: Oh, man.

[SPEAKER_04]: Is it during?

[SPEAKER_04]: a mission where you assign Caden to do something and you've asked Caden, are you finished yet?

[SPEAKER_04]: Is it the guess mission where you're trying to take out the AA's hours?

[SPEAKER_04]: Am I right?

[SPEAKER_12]: No, it's called I cheated because that's not Caden.

[SPEAKER_12]: That's actually Carth from Cotor.

[SPEAKER_04]: Oh, what the hell?

[SPEAKER_04]: Ah, that is, that okay, you threw me a curb ball there.

[SPEAKER_04]: And congrats to anyone listening if you identified that, because you've played Coates or, but all right, we've got a second voice clip here.

[SPEAKER_04]: I'm guessing this is the real deal.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right, no more aces per sleeve.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_07]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_07]: Operative Losin's uniform is very official.

[SPEAKER_07]: It always makes me stand in attention.

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, that's good.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's Ken in the engineering bay, or what is that room called?

[SPEAKER_04]: He's in engineering.

[SPEAKER_04]: He's talking with Gabby, and they're talking about Miranda.

[SPEAKER_04]: So Mass Effect, too, right?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's part of Ken's dialogue, I think.

[SPEAKER_04]: That one's my second favorite line from Ken.

[SPEAKER_04]: My first one is the Daddy bags, one.

[SPEAKER_12]: the daddy bags are good.

[SPEAKER_12]: But yeah, I figured since I cheated on the first round, I would give you a nice softball on the second one.

[SPEAKER_04]: That was a softball.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_04]: We also have some new patrons to think.

[SPEAKER_04]: Karina Pickle-Twelve, odd specimen and psych.

[SPEAKER_04]: Welcome back, psych.

[SPEAKER_04]: If you've been a long time listener of the show, then you probably remember psych on some of the patron episodes.

[SPEAKER_04]: So we've got some new tier fives as well.

[SPEAKER_04]: Buds, Buds, Buds, Buds, Verifund name and Titega.

[SPEAKER_04]: We also have tier-fives, unfortunate benefactor, William Superfly for Forty, Red Trobat, Lieutenant to Sino, Kira-C and Edboy.

[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you all so much for supporting the show.

[SPEAKER_04]: And if you like the show and you have the ability and the desire to help us out on Patreon, you can get some cool benefits that way.

[SPEAKER_04]: You get ad free episodes with your own RSS feed.

[SPEAKER_04]: For tier fours and higher you also get t-shirts with our own Mass Effect style designs on them once every quarter and you get stickers as well for tier two I want to say is it two or three I think it's two is it three?

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay anyway, I clearly need to brush up on my own Patreon but That being said, let's get back to the rest of the show [SPEAKER_06]: After time adrift among open stars, along ties of light and through shows of dust, I will return to where I began.

[SPEAKER_01]: Celery and reproduction different, very little sex-trade.

[SPEAKER_01]: If intended to try human, would try you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Ow, my bakeries.

[SPEAKER_04]: Alright, and we are back with the rest of the show.

[SPEAKER_04]: Genesis, where do we go from here after Ari has told us about her suicide plan?

[SPEAKER_12]: Well, this is where the DLC really literally starts to pick up.

[SPEAKER_12]: And now that we can kind of look back and remember all that we learned about Oleg in the comics and why Aryan needs to take back her station, it really adds to the stakes of the conversation that we see between Oleg and Arya in this opening scene of her returning.

[SPEAKER_12]: Now what he says very in the very beginning is Arya.

[SPEAKER_12]: I knew this had to be you and that goes right back to what he said in the last panel of the comic of how MacArthur came back.

[SPEAKER_12]: So I love how they are playing on it there and little nods of things that only people who read the comics would know exactly all the depth to that line.

[SPEAKER_04]: That is really cool that they wrote that in basically.

[SPEAKER_04]: You can tell that something about the comics was in production by the time they were writing the same dialogue for this DLC.

[SPEAKER_12]: And that's so much fun.

[SPEAKER_12]: I love that.

[SPEAKER_12]: So here we are, making our way back to Omega, and it takes a little maneuvering to get there and a not so nice landing, which is why we take the Toyota and not the Lambo, I guess.

[SPEAKER_12]: But the Queen has finally returned to her station.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: Too much fanfare and everyone's happy and firing, you know, like, guns up in the air and that what, right, right, everyone's happy about that except for until I suppose.

[SPEAKER_12]: Uh, yeah, there's definitely a lot of people named Cerberus who are not happy about area returning also, but probably on to it's not very happy either.

[SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[SPEAKER_04]: And we're dropped into pretty much action right off the get go.

[SPEAKER_12]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_12]: And it's where Arya says that, you know, she's going to be the one in control, but on the ground shepherd is the one in control.

[SPEAKER_12]: And I know that we talked about that a little bit in the, is Arya's specter episode.

[SPEAKER_12]: But after thinking about it for a long time, I, I feel like it's because Arya knows that she has been out of combat for so long that taking orders is something that she can do in this moment.

[SPEAKER_12]: She's so much more big picture now.

[SPEAKER_04]: Maybe she just respects Shepherd's ground game enough to take orders.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's true.

[SPEAKER_12]: I like that.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: I like that.

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_04]: She's switching things up.

[SPEAKER_12]: So we go on.

[SPEAKER_12]: We shoot some things and re-race towards D.D.

[SPEAKER_12]: and here we go.

[SPEAKER_12]: Enter Nairin Candrose stage right.

[SPEAKER_12]: Now, she is the cousin to Tyrann Candrose of the Andromeda Initiative, a rare, naturally biotic terrain, former lover of Arya to look, and secret leader of the Talins gang.

[SPEAKER_12]: Oh, and the first female terrain we have ever seen in a game.

[SPEAKER_04]: And for a select few of us in awakening, [SPEAKER_04]: I've seen the archive of our own posts.

[SPEAKER_04]: I've seen the fan art on, uh, formerly known as Twitter.

[SPEAKER_04]: Uh, yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: So this was the first time we ever see a female terrain.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's also the second time that we've met one of our previous lovers.

[SPEAKER_04]: Can you guess who the first one is?

[SPEAKER_12]: Uh, it's morning.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's important.

[SPEAKER_04]: I was talking about more than, yeah.

[SPEAKER_12]: Uh, it is, it is head cannon.

[SPEAKER_12]: It is definitely a fanfic that Kit that Arya and Warden got together.

[SPEAKER_12]: I want that to be true so much.

[SPEAKER_12]: But I have thoughts on that one as well.

[SPEAKER_12]: But going back to that former lover status, we learn about this from Arya herself throughout the next few dialogue scenes.

[SPEAKER_12]: She really spends a lot of time talking about Nairine.

[SPEAKER_12]: Comments like, we go way back and my favorite Nairine.

[SPEAKER_12]: You left Omega fairly angry with me.

[SPEAKER_12]: I wasn't aware that you returned.

[SPEAKER_12]: Because the implication that Arya didn't know that Nairin actually left Omega is quite telling.

[SPEAKER_12]: She wanted to keep tabs on her, but also respected her enough to keep her distance and not wanting to really know what was going on, also feeling heartbroken and not wanting to stalk her ex on Instagram.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I guess, yeah, but still, Aryan needs to know, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: Everything that's happening on Omega.

[SPEAKER_04]: So this being the exception about people coming and going is really something.

[SPEAKER_12]: It is.

[SPEAKER_12]: Now, the conversations between the trio of Shepard, Arya, and Nairin continue to clue us into the fact that Arya honestly cares and loves people.

[SPEAKER_12]: just not most people.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's very select few.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, she doesn't want to tell people that either.

[SPEAKER_12]: No, of course not.

[SPEAKER_12]: That's a sign of weakness having an open heart and caring about people.

[SPEAKER_12]: No way.

[SPEAKER_04]: Or perhaps she's kind of more of a tragic hero than we know and she knows that anyone close to her or known to be close to her will be a target.

[SPEAKER_04]: So she's trying to protect them.

[SPEAKER_12]: I absolutely feel that way all about it because she wanted to protect Patriarch, but keep him at an arm's distance as well.

[SPEAKER_12]: He's not really inner circle.

[SPEAKER_12]: He's not really an enemy.

[SPEAKER_12]: He's nothing to me, but I want to keep him safe and protected.

[SPEAKER_12]: So don't really talk about him.

[SPEAKER_04]: Dave brings up in days of joking, but he brings up a good point in chat here that if that's the case for Arya, Dave says, okay, bad man.

[SPEAKER_04]: I am a makeup.

[SPEAKER_12]: Okay, Arya's Batman.

[SPEAKER_12]: I've seen Garrison Bathears, but now I can picture Arya with them as well.

[SPEAKER_12]: Maybe she can sculpt some of her hair flanges up into a little bathear.

[SPEAKER_04]: She gets a cape.

[SPEAKER_12]: I want Arya to cape.

[SPEAKER_04]: There are little dead tentacles and the dead bathears.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_04]: She is almost like this.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's almost like this fatal attraction that she has tonight.

[SPEAKER_04]: You get the sense that it is not a healthy relationship.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, and she kind of states that she says specifically, opposites attract.

[SPEAKER_12]: Our connection was powerful yet doomed.

[SPEAKER_12]: And that's sad.

[SPEAKER_04]: Star Cross lovers is not at all a surprising thing that are you would find yourself in?

[SPEAKER_12]: No, it's definitely a trope that would fit her personality type.

[SPEAKER_12]: And I could see how it was definitely a flame that burnt fast, but then had to fade quickly.

[SPEAKER_04]: They're both very independent people too.

[SPEAKER_04]: So I can't imagine like, you know what I mean?

[SPEAKER_04]: If too very independent people are seeing each other, there's going to be a falling out at some point.

[SPEAKER_12]: So Nairin actually talks a little bit about that specific thing about the fact that Arya is such a powerful personality type and she was so enamored and saw Arya as this powerful woman that she wanted to be.

[SPEAKER_12]: I want to be just like Arya to the point that she started losing herself.

[SPEAKER_12]: And so Nairin had to make that decision of, do I want to stay in a relationship?

[SPEAKER_12]: with somebody who's making me forget who I am, or do I need to break away in order to really solidify my own personality?

[SPEAKER_04]: So, at least during the beginning, Nairin was somewhat star-struck.

[SPEAKER_04]: By RU.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, I see that you have a favorite joke here from RU.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, my last comment on their relationship is that Arya gave the best one-line joke to a garrison answer like myself.

[SPEAKER_12]: Nairine demonstrated zero flexibility.

[SPEAKER_04]: I wonder how her reach was.

[SPEAKER_12]: I mean, that means that she had to have the region Arya had the flexibility, which just opens up a whole new can of A.O.

[SPEAKER_12]: three.

[SPEAKER_04]: No, yeah, it does.

[SPEAKER_04]: Long with biotics.

[SPEAKER_04]: Both of them having biotics.

[SPEAKER_04]: On Abbey Wild.

[SPEAKER_04]: I'll try not to think about that one too much Wow look my shorts just got tighter we move forward right and What do we learn about Nairine?

[SPEAKER_12]: When we do, we learn officially that Nairin is the leader of the Talons, and that they are really the only marks left alive on Omega with true power and military level discipline.

[SPEAKER_12]: And they got that from Nairin, because Nairin, of course, was in the military being a Torian, everyone has to go through it.

[SPEAKER_12]: But now, the agitants make their entry.

[SPEAKER_12]: We don't actually see them yet, but are you let's just know that she has fought them before, and now Rene kind of has a PTSD reaction just to the name.

[SPEAKER_04]: Right on, so we've got a clip here from that scene that I'll go ahead and pull up, and let's take a listen, shall we?

[SPEAKER_10]: People of Omega, I have returned.

[SPEAKER_10]: Serverless believes they have beaten you.

[SPEAKER_10]: They believe they have you under control.

[SPEAKER_10]: They are gravely mistaken.

[SPEAKER_10]: You are the lawless of the galaxy.

[SPEAKER_10]: You cannot be beaten and you will never be controlled.

[SPEAKER_10]: Be ready.

[SPEAKER_10]: Your chance to strike out against your oppressors is coming.

[SPEAKER_10]: Together, we will take Omega back.

[SPEAKER_09]: That's your plan.

[SPEAKER_09]: Throw civilians at service.

[SPEAKER_10]: Anything is better than being locked up like mindless animals waiting for slaughter.

[SPEAKER_09]: I know what you're up to, Arya, and I don't like it.

[SPEAKER_04]: Alright, hopefully I stopped that clip at the right moment there.

[SPEAKER_04]: We're really seeing here that Nairin and Arya have diametrically opposed morality.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, and that really plays into the rest of the DLC where you can support Nairin in it being all about the people of Omega, the citizens of Omega, the innocence in this situation, where for [SPEAKER_12]: Arya is really about regaining control, regaining her power base, and using the civilians as people who are fighters, because she knows that the citizens are not just, you know, the innocence.

[SPEAKER_12]: They are also willing to take up arms and will fight for Omega right alongside her.

[SPEAKER_12]: And so that's also where Shepard's morality has to play into it.

[SPEAKER_12]: do you want to support an Irene and help the little guy or do you want to support an area in we need to take this the base back by any means necessary.

[SPEAKER_04]: You know, I feel like there's probably arguments to be made on both sides that for Arya's justifications, look, this is total war.

[SPEAKER_04]: You will not be safe under Cerberus anyway.

[SPEAKER_04]: And so I can understand her desire to rally the people to try and retake Omega, but I do question her motives because she just wants to be back and power again.

[SPEAKER_04]: How many bodies does it take to pile up along the way for her to second guess that desire, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: Whereas for Nairin, for Nairin, she just appears as the leader of, you know, Laura Zistons.

[SPEAKER_12]: Arya is not out there saying in any of her species that if you don't take up a gun, you will be exiled from Omega.

[SPEAKER_12]: If you don't fight for me, you will be killed right along Cerberus.

[SPEAKER_12]: There's no punishment for those who are not willing or able to take up arms, but it's just a rallying call for anyone who is able to fight back to fight back.

[SPEAKER_12]: So therefore it's up to the individual to make that decision.

[SPEAKER_04]: Hmm.

[SPEAKER_04]: So, do you think that Nairin's being a little bit too soft in trying to protect the civilians?

[SPEAKER_12]: With my playstyle?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, I tend to agree with Arya.

[SPEAKER_12]: We'll let the people fight if they want to fight.

[SPEAKER_12]: And for me, I can also see that it's obvious that Arya and Nairin still love each other, but they are not [SPEAKER_12]: in love with each other anymore.

[SPEAKER_12]: They know that they will continue to butt heads and be at these opposing ends of the spectrum when it comes to decisions like this.

[SPEAKER_12]: And Nareen has a point.

[SPEAKER_12]: Arya is willing to sacrifice a lot in order to stay in power and is up to shepherd to feed into that.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's up to the player to decide who to go with.

[SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[SPEAKER_04]: And that's part of what I love about this DLC so much that you're not just kind of railroaded into accepting RIA's narrative, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: You have this out through Nairin, where you can kind of try and steer RIA toward a different outcome.

[SPEAKER_04]: But RIA still remains in control for pretty much the entire offensive to retake Omega.

[SPEAKER_12]: because she continues to make the big decisions how to advance for the station where to go next and how to manipulate the situations to maintain her power base or to regain it in this case.

[SPEAKER_12]: She's quick to use citizens and the talents as fodder to get to the reactor to shut down the force fields blocking their main paths.

[SPEAKER_12]: Her overall goal is to get back to the afterlife because that is her central hub and that's where we know all I guess.

[SPEAKER_12]: She wants him dead.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, and that's the thing here.

[SPEAKER_04]: I think she may be willing to sacrifice civilian lives sacrifice talents because she's also blinded by the hatred.

[SPEAKER_04]: She feels first service in a leg.

[SPEAKER_12]: Blinded by the hatred you are.

[SPEAKER_12]: You know, these forest fields, we haven't really talked about them, but they're different.

[SPEAKER_12]: In this DLC, then they are normal ones.

[SPEAKER_12]: You can't just shoot them to make them drop like you can with other forest fields.

[SPEAKER_12]: We've seen their very special and they disintegrate people.

[SPEAKER_12]: and in a moment of complete and total battery, Arya shows that she's able to literally grab the shields by making barriers and many mass effect fields around her hands.

[SPEAKER_04]: She's without a doubt one of the most powerful biotics in the entire galaxy.

[SPEAKER_12]: I would think so.

[SPEAKER_12]: And Nairine uses her biotics in tandem with them to help bolster Ari's own personal shields, which was another indicator of, of course I still care about you.

[SPEAKER_12]: I don't want to see you die in front of my eyes.

[SPEAKER_12]: I'm going to help protect you no matter what your final goal is.

[SPEAKER_12]: And then she asks the questions, how did you know you could do that?

[SPEAKER_12]: And Ari's response was, I didn't.

[SPEAKER_04]: right yeah she didn't and she doesn't think about the consequences she just does right she just acts and I kind of like this I like this in terms of a breaking gender norms kind of thing because for sci-fi RPGs [SPEAKER_04]: This was very progressive at the time.

[SPEAKER_04]: For sci-fi RPGs, which so had such a long history, alongside fantasy RPGs, of objectifying women, putting them in support roles at best, and they were almost always hyper-feminine.

[SPEAKER_04]: Arya is the shining example of shattering that gender norm.

[SPEAKER_12]: very much so, but still being able to maintain a level of femininity.

[SPEAKER_12]: She does this all in high heels, baby.

[SPEAKER_12]: Are you kidding me?

[SPEAKER_12]: Like, I love it.

[SPEAKER_12]: I love the fact that she's able to be out there and still, she looks gorgeous.

[SPEAKER_12]: But even if she didn't, she's able to show that she's powerful in her own right and I am all for it.

[SPEAKER_12]: That and I like, [SPEAKER_04]: We basically had a front row seat to see why she's the pirate queen.

[SPEAKER_12]: I also like the fact that Nairin is a female Torean, not just because I want to see female Toreans in this game, but it leads to like, [SPEAKER_12]: Doesn't really matter.

[SPEAKER_12]: You know, Ari's former lover is a woman.

[SPEAKER_12]: Get over it.

[SPEAKER_04]: We're right.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it doesn't.

[SPEAKER_04]: It doesn't.

[SPEAKER_04]: It shouldn't really bother anyone because a sorry or mono gendered species anyway.

[SPEAKER_04]: So like the idea of gender to a sorry doesn't really make sense.

[SPEAKER_04]: Sure.

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, I'm sure it could make sense on an intellectual level, but you get where I'm going with them.

[SPEAKER_12]: Right.

[SPEAKER_12]: Okay, so where we are going with Arya next is that there is more fighting towards the goal of getting to the afterlife.

[SPEAKER_12]: And then there's a truly heroic moment that I think we should cover in a separate episode on Nairine.

[SPEAKER_12]: Because there's enough about Nairine to talk about her on her own.

[SPEAKER_04]: There really is.

[SPEAKER_04]: And we've just discovered recently when we were researching for this episode, there's an entire comic.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, and I had no idea about that one.

[SPEAKER_12]: So now I got to go figure out where I can get my hands on the Nairin comic and see if there are other like and drama to comics out there that I've missed.

[SPEAKER_04]: Oh, yeah, definitely.

[SPEAKER_04]: So how does Arya respond to Nairin's self sacrifice?

[SPEAKER_12]: Oh, she absolutely loses her shit.

[SPEAKER_12]: a full on, she's blinded by a combination of, I'd say, anger, frustration, pain and hurt, and just like a blind determination to make that sacrifice not in vain.

[SPEAKER_12]: by getting to the afterlife.

[SPEAKER_12]: But it's in those following moments that she makes a critical mistake being blinded by the heavy emotions.

[SPEAKER_12]: And she's being able to be temporarily recaptured by Oleg.

[SPEAKER_04]: Falls right into a trap.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's a trap.

[SPEAKER_12]: But that's what Sheppards here for.

[SPEAKER_12]: We're here to save the day and get her at least kill the bad guys around her so she can break herself out.

[SPEAKER_12]: We do not save Arya.

[SPEAKER_12]: Arya saves herself.

[SPEAKER_12]: We just give her the time in order to do it.

[SPEAKER_12]: Now the next big decision that we have here is making the decision if we are going to kill Oleger not.

[SPEAKER_12]: And I've done it both ways.

[SPEAKER_12]: I feel like both are satisfying in their own ways.

[SPEAKER_12]: But for the next scene to happen, you kind of have to kill.

[SPEAKER_12]: You have to kill a leg.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, and which scene would that be?

[SPEAKER_12]: show if you have agreed with ria for most conversations primarily choosing the renegade or the lower dialogue choices there's one more very personal interaction with ria that a lot of little boy scouts miss out on okay look i know how to use youtube okay [SPEAKER_12]: Now both broship and femme ship get grabbed by the shoulders and Arya kisses them in a moment of post-murder glow, I guess?

[SPEAKER_04]: It's like a power boner.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's what she has.

[SPEAKER_12]: She is a rage on and okay, go with it.

[SPEAKER_12]: Now as a bro, RES seems surprised that she just did that and keeps her arms up in surprise at her rash decision.

[SPEAKER_12]: Bro just lifts the corner of his lips in a great smirk.

[SPEAKER_12]: It really is the smirk face emoji.

[SPEAKER_04]: Bro Shep does have some pretty great smurks.

[SPEAKER_04]: The dating back all the way to Mass Effect One when Analaya skits arrested.

[SPEAKER_12]: That's true.

[SPEAKER_12]: That was a good smirk.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's also interesting that femme ship gets a different reaction.

[SPEAKER_12]: Arya is the one that gives off a little smirk after the kiss, and her hands return to her signature arms across the chest pose.

[SPEAKER_12]: I like the fact that they are different.

[SPEAKER_12]: It reads to me that this was a heat of the moment decision and that Arya has a preference.

[SPEAKER_12]: Kissing the bro is more impulse and kissing femme is more desire in my opinion.

[SPEAKER_04]: So we've got a couple clips here, you know, we've been talking about a lot, but if you're watching along, why don't we go ahead and take a look and then our viewers can tell us what they think about whether Arya was fully into it or not.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right, here we go, ready?

[SPEAKER_10]: Shepherd, I never thought I'd enjoy having a partner.

[SPEAKER_10]: Thank you for not interfering.

[SPEAKER_10]: Killing that man was deeply satisfying.

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay, so yeah, the blocking in that one.

[SPEAKER_04]: She just keeps her hands up like hmm, like she just needed to get it out of her system.

[SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: And yeah, that is very much like she's just happy with the situation kind of kiss.

[SPEAKER_04]: And it is pretty cool that they program different cinematics for if you played Fim Shep or not.

[SPEAKER_04]: I also love how Bro Shep just goes ragdoll.

[SPEAKER_04]: When are you, Paul's invite the shoulders?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, it, if I'm shoved, goes a little ragdoll as well.

[SPEAKER_12]: I think it's a little bit of like shock and surprise because normally after, you know, a heated battle like we just went through if somebody that I could potentially see as a threat grabs me by the shoulders.

[SPEAKER_12]: My reactions generally gonna be violent, but I think this was the immediate like, oh no, don't do anything bad, completely fall into it.

[SPEAKER_12]: So that way, you go limp in order to not attack.

[SPEAKER_04]: I don't know, this kiss reminded me of like, it's like two friends who are at like, I don't know, like some event.

[SPEAKER_04]: They get drunk or something and they kiss and they're like, oh, yeah, let's not do that.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, tried at that one time.

[SPEAKER_12]: It did not work out.

[SPEAKER_12]: I think we're good.

[SPEAKER_04]: Good to walk away from where we were solid.

[SPEAKER_04]: No feeling certain.

[SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's kind of how it felt.

[SPEAKER_04]: And then she immediately changes subject and be like, okay.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: I really enjoyed killing him.

[SPEAKER_04]: And then Shepherd can just go.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_04]: Me too.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Why don't we go now?

[SPEAKER_04]: I should go.

[SPEAKER_04]: I should go.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, that's the perfect perfect segue for a ship to lean into that.

[SPEAKER_04]: I should go line.

[SPEAKER_04]: Now, that makes me wonder what the animation is for FAMCHEP, so I will look that up after we're done here.

[SPEAKER_04]: But from there, don't we have like one final iconic scene in this DLC?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, there is the final speech that Arya gives over the speaker system to all of Omega that she is finally back in control.

[SPEAKER_12]: And this is, this speech might sound different to you.

[SPEAKER_12]: then what you're used to hearing because this is if you have gone the renegade route the whole time.

[SPEAKER_12]: And so I know for a fact that it's very different than somebody who has gone the paragon options who decided to not kill oligue to do all those things.

[SPEAKER_12]: So this might be some of our listeners first time hearing it this way as well.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_10]: Citizens of Omega.

[SPEAKER_10]: Hear me.

[SPEAKER_10]: I are a token as given you back your lives.

[SPEAKER_10]: My rule is reignited.

[SPEAKER_10]: My hand is on the controls once more, and I will not let go again.

[SPEAKER_10]: Each of you owes a debt.

[SPEAKER_10]: Game my favor by rounding up the remaining servers and Vader's end.

[SPEAKER_10]: And we'll take our revenge.

[SPEAKER_10]: It's their turn to tremble.

[SPEAKER_10]: Their turn to bleed.

[SPEAKER_10]: Going forward, your lives will be hard.

[SPEAKER_10]: But the price you pay is for your freedom.

[SPEAKER_10]: Only I can protect that.

[SPEAKER_10]: And here this, I will make Omega impenetrable.

[SPEAKER_10]: No one will ever threaten my domain again.

[SPEAKER_08]: From this day on, the galaxy will know one hard truth.

[SPEAKER_10]: Don't fuck.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right, and I love how she kind of replaces Arya with Omega there because it's otherwise the renegade version of that speech is otherwise kind of dark [SPEAKER_12]: It is, it is very dark.

[SPEAKER_12]: It is all about the fact that now I'm back in power.

[SPEAKER_12]: I'm back in control.

[SPEAKER_12]: We will kill all the remaining server's agents on here.

[SPEAKER_12]: And it's very much, it's a little depressing and dark.

[SPEAKER_12]: And I do like the paragon ending.

[SPEAKER_12]: I like the paragon speech more than I do the renegade speech at the end.

[SPEAKER_04]: The paragon speech is far more dynamic for her as a character, right?

[SPEAKER_04]: Like she's grown and I forget how she follows that I've round up the remaining server troops and doesn't she just hand them to the alliance or I think she has a very eloquent way of putting it, but basically [SPEAKER_04]: The way that I see this renegade conclusion for the DLC is that we have solidified Arya's status as a dimma dog and very much in [SPEAKER_12]: that she has to keep her walls up and her barriers in place because with Nairine dead, you know, it's like you can't reopen your heart again or it's going to get hurt again by, you know, they're willing to be self-sacrificing and it just, it doesn't feel as good at the end.

[SPEAKER_12]: to me in the moment it felt good killing Oleg because of everything that he put us through in this DLC, but not having Ari feel okay with herself at the end.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's not a good enough payoff.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, you see that flare of biotic energy around her as she gets angry while she's talking and You can tell she's not really on a good track She's not at peace, but I also found it interesting that she's talking about I will never let anyone invade Omega again and The way that she talks about that if I remember off the top of my head correctly is a little bit different in the paragon one where [SPEAKER_04]: I would be interested to see in the next Mass Effect if you are allowed to import your choices is how you concluded the Omega DLC going to have an impact.

[SPEAKER_04]: Like if we're talking about hundreds of years after the events of Mass Effect three does Omega become more of a friendly commercial hub than it previously was, [SPEAKER_04]: If you went with the Paragon route because of the change in leadership that Ariah has, or if you went the Rina Gay route, it does it become this militaristic Citadel.

[SPEAKER_04]: No pun intended.

[SPEAKER_04]: But you get where I'm going with that.

[SPEAKER_12]: I think it'll definitely be interesting and also to find out who now took Ari's place, you know, because as of right now, we don't have a clear line of succession as to who's going to be controlling after her.

[SPEAKER_12]: And so it would be very interesting to see where Omega goes in the future.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: And but, you know, that might be the end of the DLC.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's not the end of the game.

[SPEAKER_04]: And for some reason, Ari goes back to the Citadel.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, the last little bit of it is where it is really immersion breaking for me, and it's the part that I hate the most, because when we get back to the Citadel, Arya is right there on the couch again, and the weakest reasoning ever that is given is that it's easier to coordinate the murks from purgatory.

[SPEAKER_12]: Little Miss, I'm never leaving Omega.

[SPEAKER_12]: I will never let anybody invade it again.

[SPEAKER_12]: Here I am, Arya.

[SPEAKER_12]: Back at the helmet and control.

[SPEAKER_12]: I am here for you, citizens of Omega.

[SPEAKER_12]: Oh, no, my, and I'm going back to the bar that I said I hated.

[SPEAKER_12]: Okay, fine.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, it's a little bit of a week in Mercer.

[SPEAKER_04]: I don't know why they couldn't just take her out of purgatory after that, but whatever, you know, it's a really cool DLC.

[SPEAKER_04]: It's basically Arya, the DLC.

[SPEAKER_12]: And I do overall, I agree.

[SPEAKER_12]: I love playing this DLC, and it's not so much about the overall Mass Effect lore, but the area of it all.

[SPEAKER_12]: It's a story that I wanted to follow, and the fact that it's got the gamer in me happy, because there's a really good balance between dialogue and combat, and the combat's engaging and difficult, and enemies that we haven't faced in any other DLC.

[SPEAKER_12]: and Cerberus that we have faced before.

[SPEAKER_12]: So there's a really good mix.

[SPEAKER_04]: And I agree that in terms of like narrative, it still provides Shepherd with ample choices to make big decisions about whether or not they're going to be this paragon of heroism or win it all costs kind of mindset.

[SPEAKER_12]: I don't think that there will be a playthrough where I don't do this DLC, because not only do I enjoy it, I am also the completionist, but it's also, it's good to see her it again.

[SPEAKER_12]: No, yeah.

[SPEAKER_12]: The side quest of finding Arya's couch.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's my couch.

[SPEAKER_04]: There are no, she doesn't say, is that my couch?

[SPEAKER_12]: Something along those lines.

[SPEAKER_12]: What's my couch doing down there?

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, I think that wraps it up for Ariah for now.

[SPEAKER_04]: I say for now, because we probably will find something else to talk about with her later on, but the Ariah character episodes pretty much wrapped up.

[SPEAKER_04]: I think from here, we're going to go forward and talk about Paul Grayson finally.

[SPEAKER_04]: We'll see we might want to break this up from the character episodes maybe throw in a corporation or topical episode before we dive into Paul Grayson because he's mentioned so much in the novels that's gonna be series of episodes and we do have of course the patron chat coming up at the end of this month where we have a few new faces that we will perhaps meet I can't wait to chat with them but until next week Genesis what do you got going on and how can people get hold of you?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, so Friday, August, twenty-nineth, which is coming up very quickly, I will be in Seattle at Pax West, doing a panel with my other podcasts, the two girls, one shit podcast.

[SPEAKER_12]: So if you are going to Pax West, we are showing at nine PM Friday night.

[SPEAKER_12]: So if you want to stop by and say hi, that is where I will be.

[SPEAKER_12]: But if you aren't into traveling, you can always listen to me on that said podcast, two girls, one ship, and also on the cyberpunk lore cast, where we discuss everything related to the cyberpunk video game, TTRPG, Netflix series, the old school card game.

[SPEAKER_12]: If you want cyberpunk, that's where it's at.

[SPEAKER_04]: That's so awesome.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, if you're going to be around Seattle for Pax West, to definitely go check out Genesis's panel, you can see her in person and Oliver glory.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[SPEAKER_04]: Well, that's all we got for this week's Specters.

[SPEAKER_04]: Until next time, we should go.

[SPEAKER_04]: Thanks for listening to the Mass Effect War text.

[SPEAKER_04]: Reach out to us on Blue Sky, Twitter, Discord, Patreon, or email us at Mass EffectLorecast at gmail.com.

[SPEAKER_12]: Join us next week for more lore, same space, same time, or check out our live streams at twitch.tv slash Mass Effect Forecast.