Mass Effect 2: What Happens If You Just Let Everyone Die

Mass Effect 2 has the most high-stakes endgame missions in the entire sci-fi RPG series. After players amass a formidable crew of space-faring explorers with Commander Shepard, they’ll embark on the infamous Suicide Mission, leading to the game’s grand finale. Shepard and his squadmates partner with a shadowy pro-human organization called Cerberus to infiltrate and destroy the headquarters of The Collectors, a mysterious alien race that has been kidnapping humans across the galaxy. That catch is that all of Shepard’s teammates can die during this mission, and anyone who falls won’t appear in Mass Effect 3. So, what happens if everyone dies?

To succeed, players need to plan for the final mission meticulously by building relationships with their companions, upgrading The Normandy, and selecting the best teammates for specific tasks. It’s possible to walk away without any casualties, which will award players Mass Effect 2‘s No One Left Behind achievement. On the other hand, the Suicide Mission can go catastrophically wrong and result in the death of everyone involved, including Shepard.

A lot of things can go wrong during the Suicide Mission that will impact what occurs in Mass Effect 3 if players choose to import their progress to the next entry of the series. Typically, if a squadmate dies during the expedition, they’re replaced by another character in Mass Effect 3 or are simply absent from the rest of the story. For example, if Mordin Solus doesn’t survive, the Salarian scientist is replaced by Padok Wiks in Mass Effect 3. That is how the game deals with a handful of deaths during the Suicide Mission, but things will play out very differently if players get the worst possible ending.

Mass Effect 2: What If Shepard Dies?

The worst-case scenario of the Suicide Mission sees everyone die except The Normandy’s pilot, Joker, who honors everyone’s sacrifice with coffins for every deceased crewmember aboard the ship. If this occurs, players won’t be able to import their Mass Effect 2 save to Mass Effect 3, since Shepard’s life was cut short. At least two squadmates need to survive if players want to import their progress to the series’ next chapter.

Still, even if there are no survivors from the Suicide Mission, players will still control Shepard in Mass Effect 3. That means Mass Effect 2‘s worst possible ending isn’t technically canon, but is instead an alternate timeline that players accidentally stumble upon or purposefully bring about if they’re curious to see what would happen if tragedy strikes and everyone dies.