Enneagram – Page 23 – Enneagram and Encaustic

Cerberus

Our first mention of the mysterious Cerberus — a corporation? a research laboratory? — comes from an odd report included in a data dump at Feros. Cerberus has requested and received samples of the Thorian, it appears. When we check out the clue, an entire small colony has been turned into husks. Zombies, basically. They’re not much different from the Thorian Creepers that ExoGeni made.

Then Admiral Kahoku sends us to look for his missing soldiers. We find them dead on a planet. Someone set a beacon as a trap on top of a Thresher Maw nest. The giant sand worm, spitting acid, almost kills us in the Mako as we try to investigate the site. Cerberus, Kahoku angrily informs us, is an Alliance black ops organization. Did the soldiers get too close? Did Cerberus try to use them as experiments? It’s hard to tell. No one is held accountable, but Kahoku will pursue them anyway.

After a desperate message from Kahoku, we go looking for him throughout three Cerberus research facilities on an isolated planet. The first holds Thorian Creepers. The second holds a swarm of just-hatched small Rachni. The third holds an adult Rachni standing over the dead body of Kahoku. When we kill it and attend to Kahoku’s corpse, we see that he hasn’t been mauled. Needle tracks line his arms. Because of his investigation they turned him into another Cerberus experiment, an attempt to fuse alien DNA with a human to create a super soldier. What a way to go.

Eventually we end up at a Cerberus facility with a data terminal. After we clear the bunker and leave, I’m contacted by an agent for the Shadow Broker, an information dealer. Kahoku had a deal with them; that’s how he found the Cerberus research base. Now the Shadow Broker would like the information I discovered. At this point there seems to be nothing in it for me. Maybe there will be a turnaround later. I give them the data, though, because Kahoku was a very sympathetic story.

(By the way, this is Ace Shepard. I created another biotic for a better run-n-gun style. Like Athena, she’s also a paragon.)

SEAN THORNTON, NINE

A professional boxer retired due to tragedy, Sean seeks retreat and peace. He’s an easy Nine.

The Quiet Man’s story is simple: Irish-American comes to the Old Country to settle and make a new life in his ancestral home. When he sees a lass tending sheep, he falls for her, makes “pattyfingers in the holy water” with her, and arranges to court her. Her belligerent brother keeps them apart over spite about the property, until he consents and later regrets it, holding his sister’s dowry after the marriage. Sean must eventually demand the money and make peace with his brother-in-law, which leads to a town-consuming brawl between the two of them. In the end they live happily ever after.

We hit a wall, though, when we get to the scene of him dragging his wife by the nape of her neck. Is something about this moment particularly Nine-ish? His avoidance of conflict — taking the brother’s verbal ridicule, watching his volatile wife demand her things about her — might lead to a man who’s had enough and overreacts as a result. If he’s driven to take action, though, just give him a different action to take. The key to this whole movie is the moment when Sean pursues his wife to the train station and returns with her to town.

Noveria

A corporate world where anyone can do as they please as long as no other business is impeded, Noveria is Matriarch Benezia’s current location. She landed with heavy crates and a phalanx of Asari Commandos, and headed for a remote research site.

After negotiating the politics of the docking station, we finally get a garage pass and take the Mako out onto the mountain road. It’s a snowy planet under blizzard conditions, but the real danger is that Peak 15, Benezia’s destination, is under lockdown because of a biohazard containment breach.

Of course we must fight Geth. Benezia brought them in those mysterious crates. The surprise is what else we find: Rachni. This is a species thought extinct that now infests Peak 15. They’re a kind of giant scorpion thing with an alleged intelligence. Before we can confront the Matriarch, we must deal with the Rachni.

From a gameplay perspective, this mission has always been confusing. If I go into the hot labs too soon (which is what I mistakenly did with Tag) I lose a lot of side quests. If I meet Benezia first it’s easy to miss killing the Rachni in the hot lab. Ideally, I will settle with Benezia, kill the Rachni horde, and help the medical team as a side quest. The game doesn’t always help with getting me to every mission.

First, Benezia. She attacks us with her Asari Commandos and Geth, but when we defeat them we see that she resists Saren’s mind control. For a moment she has clarity and is repentant. From the Rachni (a species from another part of the galaxy) Saren has learned about the Mu Relay, a space location related to his pursuit of the Reapers. The Matriarch also gives us the coordinates, but where within the Relay we need to go is still a mystery.

Then Benezia, her control failing, attacks us and we must kill her. Tag didn’t take the daughter, but when Ace does we get a tiny, tender reunion. As Benezia dies she calls Liara “Little Wing”.

As we prepare to leave, a dead Asari on the ground rises up and starts to talk, mind-controlled by the Rachni queen in her glass cage. The queen argues gracefully that we should let her go. She is a sentient being, and who are we to commit genocide?

Well, this is Tag the renegade. She injects an acid bath into the box and kills the queen. It was quite easy for me to role play a disgust of mind-controlling beings (again) and their wants.

But, in wonderful replay-ability, I also took the chance to let Ace release the queen. Her talk of singing, of the color of sound the Rachni use to communicate, is beautifully written (even for a bug). It’s really a masterful scene of characters speaking of a history that we in this time barely know.

Regardless of decisions, either way Saren and Shepard now have the same information, and both of them seek specific coordinates within the Mu Relay to further their pursuit of the Conduit.

Feros

Rescuing Liara is designed as our first mission. It’s easy and short. After that we have our choice of two other missions, each much more complicated. I choose Feros, a human colony barely surviving under Geth assault. (We’ll take Noveria, the third mission, last.)

The colonists all work for the corporation ExoGeni. After we clear out the Geth in the residential section, we head across the skybridge to the work environment. It all seems straightforward, except some of the colonists act weird. They’re secretive and a little cult-like. Also, why are the Geth here? Something over at ExoGeni has attracted their (meaning, Saren’s) interest.

It doesn’t take long to get the story. ExoGeni is here to study an indigenous life form, the Thorian. It’s an immense, brain-controlling plant. (Gross.) The colonists have been unknowingly infected, living right on top of it. ExoGeni considers them guinea pigs, basically. Evil corporation, human lab experiments, the usual villainous plotline.

Remember, I have two Shepards, the renegade Tag and the paragon Athena. Tag wipes out all the colonists and double-taps the Asari mystic aligned with the Thorian. Athena is a more forgiving sort.

Before passing judgment on the Asari Shiala, though, we receive her information, the ultimate purpose of this location. She is an associate of Matriarch Benezia, following her into Saren’s service. The Asari thought to soften Saren, but instead he persuaded them to go against their nature. He has an enormous alien warship, Sovereign, that exerts a subtle but all-consuming mind control. Benezia no longer acts independently.

Shiala merged with the Thorian so Saren could communicate with it. Apparently, the Thorian predates the Protheans, so knowledge of them is stored in its memory. In order to understand the vision of the Beacon, Saren (and Shepard) need to think like a Prothean. Shiala’s biotic/magical connection allows that memory to be transferred. She did it for Saren, and she does it for Shepard, imparting another dream sequence of orange apocalyptic destruction.

It’s mission-critical, so we can’t say no. “Embrace eternity!” Shiala calls out before she invades our physical and mental space. This game really has a problem with personal boundaries.

MARY KATE DANAHER, FOUR

The Quiet Man still has a lot to love. The couple riding in the matchmaker’s cart and escaping into the Irish countryside is charming. When she shelters against his wet, white shirt, it’s one of the more romantic moments ever put on film. The beautiful horse race on the beach, the Playfairs jovially riding their two-person bicycle through town, Father Lonergan battling with his fishing — all wonderful to watch. I can (and do) quote Michaleen Flynn all day.

However, Mary Kate dragged by her husband through the fields nullifies everything else. I can’t say how that scene played in 1952, but today it’s offensive.

When we strip away the baggage, this love story is simple. She’s a Four and he’s a Nine, a classic combination. She’s passionate and quick-tempered, having all the feelings for the both of them. He’s laid back, able to disengage from much that riles her. Perhaps as a Four, an open book to all of the village, one more degrading moment doesn’t shame her? Perhaps his display of feelings, no matter how ugly, reassures her of his love?

Nope, it’s all the language of abuse. It’s an unnecessary scene — the intent is quite clear without pulling a woman through sheep dung — that could be reworked, making a movie that is watchable today. I hate to see classic filmmaking consigned to the dustbin. John Ford made his choices, though, and today’s audience will judge accordingly.

Finding Liara

I and my two away team members are dropped on a planet. We drive and fight our way into an archaeological dig site, a Prothean ruin. Here we’ll find Liara — Matriarch Benezia’s daughter who is a scientist and an Asari biotic (which is Mass Effect’s version of magical powers). Geth swarm the ruin, looking for her. Saren, for some reason, wants her. Is it because of her mother? Or is it her expertise in Prothean technology and history? We can only guess.

After rescuing her and bringing her to our ship, we tell Liara about the Beacon and its vision. Her research shows that the Protheans were just another in a line of races who inhabit the galaxy and then disappear. We introduce her to the idea of the Reapers, the ones who extinguished the Protheans. She’s never heard of them or the Conduit, but she believes her knowledge can help us as we search. Our team is now complete.

Liara is very impressed with Shepard’s strong will. She, like most every other NPC in the game, will eventually invade our personal space and suggest a hook up.

LI, NULL

This is Shang-Chi’s mother. We don’t see much of her, but she is so impressive I wish we saw more. Gentle, obviously. She defeats the Ringbearer in the smoothest, quietest manner possible. Nature swirls around her, a cloud of leaves dancing with her movements. It’s lovely.

She gives up her own country to live with her husband and children. As a mother, she’s a fearless defender and a patient teacher.

Actually, she’s kind of perfect. Too perfect? Is she a real character or only an avatar of motherhood and sacrifice? She’s portrayed so beautifully, I want to give her a number, lol! Sadly, though, she has no flaws, no arc, and she’s basically fridged.

Forming the Team

We’re still on the Citadel, trying to prove that Saren has gone rogue. In the process of digging up clues, though, we assemble the rest of the team. Garrus the Turian is doing his own independent investigation, and when we find him he rolls in. Wrex, a Krogan badass, is ready to join us. And Tali, a Quarian who always wears her head mask, has information we need.

Presenting ourselves for the camera. From left to right: Udina (who deserves to only be seen from the rear), Tali, Garrus, Athena (me), and Wrex.

While on her Pilgrimage, a Quarian tradition, Tali disables a Geth and accesses its memory core. There she finds proof that Saren is working with them. When we take her and her recording to the Council, they finally declare Saren a rogue and grant our Shepard Spectre status so that we can hunt him down. Hopefully we’re now ready to leave the station and begin our adventure.

Tali delivers much information that isn’t completely relevant at this point, but we should keep it in reserve:

Saren seeks the Conduit, a form of Prothean technology like the Beacon. Then we’re introduced to the idea of the Reapers, an advanced machinist species that wiped out the Protheans 50,000 years ago. The Geth revere the Reapers as gods, and Saren is presenting himself as the Reapers’ prophet, and the one who can bring them back. Working with him (identified on the recording) is Matriarch Benezia, a powerful Asari elder.

Also, something mostly irrelevant until Mass Effect 2, Wrex explains about the genophage. The Salarians infected the entire Krogan race with it and now his people, unable to reproduce, are dying out.

The Salarian Councilor. It’s easy to believe that this species bioengineered a deadly weapon. Look at that face!

SHAUN/SHANG-CHI, NINE

Our protagonist, who will become a Marvel superhero in later projects, has a very strict father and a dead mother. (Thanks, Disney, for killing off another mom.) He leaves home in his teens, making a new life in America, and only returns when his father sends goons to attack him and steal his mother’s pendant.

So, strong and self-determined. He sets out with nothing. Of course he’s a physical creature, but, interestingly, I don’t think he’s a Body Type. Until called to fight he shows no interest in physical skills. His father, through abuse, coerces him to train. It’s not really something Shaun seeks from his own sense of self.

What is he, then? First, let me honestly own that I wasn’t impressed with Shaun. He was the weakest link in an otherwise good movie. The actor is wooden, or too stoic to be understood even by a camera, and I had a hard time engaging with his character. He’s not a Body Type, and he certainly isn’t a Head Type. Before his father comes for him, Shaun is a valet driver with little ambition or interest beyond karaoke night with his friend Katy. By default he becomes a Heart Type (or a Null).

I’m wrong.

You know what he is? A badly written Nine. He avoids conflict, which would be a defining trait. He’s a superhero, so they’ve put him in the traditional Nine silo, but given him none of the other characteristics of a Nine. Where is his lazy good humor? Where is his curiosity about people and the world? Where is his drive to maintain his activity level? Where is his diplomacy and righteous judgment? He decides his must kill his father, render a verdict, but it’s all so bland and contrived. It comes from the writers and not from a character drive.

I will call him a Nine, because that’s what the movie expects us to see, but I don’t think the showrunners or the actor have earned the number.

The Chase

See my Critical Notes after the breakdown for how I would fix a mistaken Three in an otherwise smoothly-structured episode.

ONE

Appa and the gang rest at a campsite.

TWO

Appa’s fur covers the ground. Aang blames the spring season as Appa shakes loose more of his coat.

THREE

From the fur Sokka makes a silly wig and Aang a beard. Rolling her eyes, Katara says she’s glad there’s now another girl in the group. Toph steps between the guys and lifts her arms to show off her “hairy” pits. A beat, and then Katara joins in the laughter.