The Reapers invade. Since the events of ME2, Shepard has been under house arrest. The Normandy was confiscated and Shepard’s been relieved of duty after she returned the hardware to the Alliance military.
At least, I think that’s what happened. We only learn this through subtext while Captain Anderson brings Shepard up to speed now that her services are needed again. Her condition and reinstatement could’ve been told more traditionally, but instead we get the bang. As she addresses the Defense Committee, the Reapers arrive at Earth and blow everything to hell. Shepard and Anderson are on their own to — well, have a tutorial, lol — get to a shuttle. The graphics are astonishing.
Humongous claw ships decimating the world make for emotional footage.
As Shepard follows Anderson through a building, something in the duct work catches her eye. It’s a boy, hiding. When she tries to coax him out, he says, “Everyone’s dying. You can’t help me.” A beat as she looks away, and he’s gone when she turns back. Actually, I’m going to name him Boy. He seems at this point like a twee ploy for feelings, but I remember that he’s more. I remember, honestly, that I hate his role in this story.
After a bit of fighting practice, Shepard arrives at the shuttle. Anderson stays behind to help with the battle for Earth. Shepard is to go on and convince the Council to help defend our homeworld. As the shuttle lifts off Shepard looks down at the other humans loading into other shuttles. There’s Boy, squinting up at her. He climbs aboard, and the two shuttles lift off.
Shepard watches as both shuttles are cut by a Reaper beam and explode. Boy, assuming he’s a real person rather than a metaphor, is dead. Evocative music plays. (Why it’s the exact chord change as Rammstein’s “Wo bist du”, released years earlier, is a coincidence, I assume. Nice choice, though, if you’re going to accidentally borrow an existing work.)