Mass Effect 5 Fans Are Debating What The Krogan Civil War Is About

Another N7 Day, another cryptic Mass Effect 5 clue. There’s still no sign of the game, so we’re yet again discussing a bread crumb. But it’s at least an interesting bread crumb: a Krogan civil war.

We don’t know what they’re fighting over, just that the war takes place after Mass Effect 3, and that all of the cryptic clues thus far are still relevant and connected, which has sparked all kinds of theories.

These range from Genophage fallout to a new big bad stoking conflict across the galaxy to Liara donning a comically large multicoloured scarf and travelling through time.

Did The Genophage Cure Lead To Another Krogan War?

Let’s start with the most likely theory: the Genophage was cured in Mass Effect 3, and in the distant future (but not so distant that Liara would be dead), two factions have emerged. “One wants to go back to conquering, the other wants to integrate into society like Wrex planned,” ipso facto, civil war.

Granted, that would canonise a player decision, a big taboo among BioWare fans, but some have argued that the Krogan may have found out that the cure was sabotaged and turn on Clan Urdnot, offering a path for each of Shepard’s decisions.

Or, if the team follows Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s example and scraps world states altogether, it could be handwaved as the Krogans recovering the sabotaged cure and finding a new distribution method, saving their species regardless of Shepard’s actions.

Is Liara On A Time Travel Quest To Save Shepard?

However, some, like u/Plenty-Climate2272, argue that it’s “premature” to assume this has anything to do with the Genophage, leading us to the more creative theories.

Let’s get the time travel one out of the way first. @collide727 put forward that Liara might have spent the last few centuries researching time travel to save Shepard, rewriting history again and again to find the perfect timeline. The Krogan civil war, then, would technically be ‘after’ Mass Effect 3, even if it’s set in the past. I’ll buy and eat a limited edition N7 helmet if this is true, but it’s a fun idea.

Could A Plague Be Spreading Across The Galaxy?

Moving onto more grounded theories, @WeAreMassEffect made an interesting observation: a lot of concept art shown so far features characters with breathing devices, including the new Krogan civil war piece.

While the most likely explanation is that only some planets require them, as in the original games, some have suggested that the galaxy may have been subjected to a viral plague, perhaps even as a result of the Genophage cure or the destruction of Mass Relays.

As for why this would spark a war among the Krogan, @Bunga65463765 pointed out what looks like a skyscraper with a glowing sign in the background, theorising that the Krogans might be attacking the Asari homeworld, Illium, featured in other concept art where characters can be seen with breathing devices. Perhaps the Krogran civil war has spilt out across the galaxy, or maybe this attack incites a rebellion.

If I had to guess, however, the breathing devices – if they are important – aren’t linked to the civil war.

Or Is Someone Pulling The Strings.

Then there’s the idea that this might all be part of a ploy to wrangle control of the Milky Way out from under the Council: i.e., it’s a manufactured rebellion.

“I believe the next big bad learned that the Milky Way galaxy is unstoppable when its people are united after observing what happened to the Reapers,” @thenerdbro_ suggested. “Now they’re trying to sow dissent among the factions.”

A divided Milky Way, with the Council disbanded as the entire galaxy collapses into war, paving the way for a larger threat, would certainly be a unique spin and an inventive way to set up a new saga. Whether this is the truth, hopefully, we’ll find out soon enough.

For now, it’s just nice to see Mass Effect fans debating again, and I definitely haven’t installed the entire trilogy for yet another playthrough because of it.

Released

November 20, 2007

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

Cross-Platform Play

doesn’t have cross-play between PC and consoles,

Cross Save

yes

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