Audemus' Happy Ending Mod

Audemus' Happy Ending Mod (AHEM)

Ad Astra Per Aspera

This description contains SPOILERS for the ending of Mass Effect 3.

AHEM is a rework of the ending to LE3, and a spiritual successor to the Happy Ending Mod. The primary focus of the mod is to allow Commander Shepard to survive the final mission, as well as provide satisfying closure to this incredible trilogy through tweaked cutscenes, edited videos, new ending slides, and an overhauled memorial scene.

For those familiar with existing ending mods, this mod is most similar to Version B of JohnP's Alternate MEHEM.

What Does AHEM Do?

1. The Crucible is no longer space-magic.

A lore-friendly narrative has been constructed that explains how the Crucible destroys the Reapers and only the Reapers. This is told via 2 new Codex entries. "Crucible: Functionality" and "Crucible: The Catalyst" which unlock after the Citadel Coup and Cerberus HQ respectively. This should also help explain why characters start acting so confident that the Crucible is actually going to work in the second half of the game.

This new lore is inspired by Mass Effect Codex writer Chris Hepler's intended direction for the Crucible, in which the energy field manipulates the nuclear strong force to affect matter on an atomic level. I chose this direction in order to make this ending feel earned as well as provide a plausible explanation as to how this happy ending could work within the lore rather than simply handwaving. Can you tell I yearn for the days when Mass Effect was nearly hard sci-fi?

You can read about Chris Hepler's ending idea here: https://www.thegamer.com/mass-effect-3-ending-writer-idea

Additionally, while I recommend reading these codex entries in-game during your playthrough, you can read them here if you're curious:

Crucible: Functionality

As construction continues, the brightest minds in the galaxy have begun to unravel the sophisticated scientific principles behind the Crucible’s design.

The device is capable of emitting a dark energy wave that weakens the binding energy of the nucleon, resulting in atomic destabilization. As Reaper technology is both organic and inorganic, researchers speculate that it is possible to kill a Reaper by irradiating the exotic inorganic materials that compose their outer shells. The organic components within would then be damaged at the cellular level by extreme radiation poisoning.

Though theoretically sound, this raises two major complications. The energy wave is subject t