Hypothetical Final Boss for ME3 (Just a fun little thought experiment)

While I do understand BioWare’s decision not to undercut the narrative weight of the ending with a big, flashy final boss, and I do agree that cutting the original concept of a big hulking monster Illusive Man was the right call… It’s still a video game, so let’s see if we can think of something that fits that narrative weight without undermining it.

For our hypothetical final boss, it would take place right after the stand-off between Shepard, Anderson and the Illusive Man. However that stand-off shakes out, Shepard will get interrupted by a Reaper Marauder that has been taken control of by Harbinger, trying one last time to stop Shepard.

Shepard’s body is still broken and bloody from the charge to the Conduit, and they’re without a weapon. So gameplay will be a little different for this fight. The only thing Shepard has on hand is their Omni-tool, so they’ll have to get in close and damage Harbinger’s Marauder body with an Omni-blade (if their a Soldier), electro-blade (if their an Infiltrator), flame-fist (if their an Engineer), or a close contact biotic punch (if they’re any of the biotic classes).

Of course, Harbinger isn’t going to make it easy, blasting at Shepard with bullets and biotics to keep them at bay. Worse, Shepard’s injuries and damaged suit means they have no shields and they’re down to one health bar, so Shepard basically can’t take any hits.

The goal is to move from cover to cover, slowly closing the distance before dealing a melee hit to Harbinger. Harbinger will throw Shepard off, starting the next phase, with a new arrangement of cover and more methods of attack to try and kill Shepard, including radial abilities, bringing in drones to flush you out of cover, or being able to destroy cover to limit your options.

Shepard can also disrupt, distract, or circumvent Harbinger with their class’s iconic power, like Adrenaline Rush for Soldier or Tactical Cloak for Infiltrator or Combat Drone for Engineer. However, due to Shepard’s weakened state, the cooldown for these powers will be much greater, so you have to be more careful in picking your moments to use them.

If Shepard can manage to get three solid hits on Harbinger, they destroy the Marauder body before succumbing to their own injuries, leading to the elevator scene that brings Shepard to the Catalyst. From there, the game proceeds as normal.

As an added bonus, much like destroying the Saren-Husk in ME1 caused Sovereign to become vulnerable enough for the Normandy to destroy it, the same is true for Harbinger once Shepard destroys his Marauder body, allowing the Normandy to finish off Harbinger.