Mass Effect and Midichlorians

At the end of Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader discover that the galaxy will forever remain in a cycle of endless death and destruction as the Light and Dark Sides of the Force constantly vie for control because the “midichlorians demand it.” In order to end this cycle, they both dive into the Death Star's core in order to destroy the Emperor, and in the process destroy both the Force and hyperspace in a colorful explosion that spreads across the galaxy. Fade to black; roll credits.

Obviously, that's not actually how the movie ends, otherwise Star Wars would have faded into obscurity the same way the disappointingly awful Matrix sequels dragged the first film into the mud. The prequels may have done some damage to the series, but as a whole the original trilogy remains intact as an amazing story. However, the Mass Effect trilogy of video games created by BioWare has had an ending much like the one I just described, and as you can probably guess, many of the fans are PISSED.

Let me be clear: I am not a fan of “changing the ending.” To do something like that would be a slap in the face to anyone like myself who considers video games worthy of being considered an art. I do, however, recognize when something is not of a particular quality, much as many critics out there can recognize a bad film, book, or game, many of us can recognize a poorly thought-out ending. The video gaming media has responded to the fan outrage largely by saying “suck it up” and throwing the fans' concerns back in their faces as if they don't matter. It's now time to set the record straight: the fans DO matter, and I intend to demonstrate this using the above described ending to Return of the Jedi.

Imagine that was the actual ending released in theaters back in 1983. How many people would have left the theaters entirely confused? How many people would have seen the sudden change in tone as entirely unfitting of everything up to that point? How many people would be fully insulted by the massive plot holes introduced by the sudden mention of “midichlorians,” a word up to that point never even hinted at, let alone actually UTTERED. Even in spite of the otherwise brilliant quality of the film, the ending makes much of it seem contrived in an attempt to create some incredible light show instead of bringing any meaningful closure to the story. There is no explanation of what happens to the rebels suddenly finding themselves stranded on a remote, unsettled planet, or the civil unrest left in the wake of an entire empire that has essentially had all communication and travel cut off, isolating billions, if not TRILLIONS, of citizens from trade routes critical to their planets' infrastructure.

But the real slap in the face is that word, again, “midichlorians.” What the hell is that? No explanation? No reason for why that is? Just saying “midichlorians did it?” What possible sense would that even make? Ask any Star Wars fan old enough to have been a fan before the prequels came into existence what midichlorians are, and 9 out of 10 of them likely wouldn't even answer the question. It's a topic brought up one time in one film, and was so utterly despised that it has essentially been completely written out of its fictional existence, and most critics would acknowledge that instead of trying to pretend that it somehow enriches the experience.

The fact of the matter is that video games may be an art, but much like film, they are also an industry. This is a business, for good or ill, dependent on customers, and BioWare has taken a step in this case that threatens their credibility, whether that threat is justified or not. Changing the ending is not necessary, nor is acknowledgment of whether the ending was good or bad, but accepting the fact that people are upset is not the same as agreeing with them, nor is attempting to shame them the same as telling them you disagree with them.