Garrusbio

Garrus Vakarian:

 

Role:

Garrus's role in Mass Effect 3 depends largely on his relationship (not including romance) with Shepard. Recognized as the heroic “Archangel”, Garrus is able to rally the citizens of Omega to form a local militia against invading Cerberus forces – or convince the station's inhabitants to leave Omega and head to the Citadel. Garrus (if loyal in ME2) can also be persuaded to make deals with the Blood Pack, Blue Suns, and Eclipse gangs who can be recruited. Furthermore, Garrus will become a Spectre if he took a more renegade route in the past games. Shepard can convince Garrus to become a Spectre if the turian was more paragon in the past games. If made a Spectre, Garrus will become a temporary squad-mate, and will contribute greatly to the war effort. He will coordinate with Jacob and Liara heavily on tracking and taking down Cerberus during the Shadow War campaign, where he is available for every mission. After Kai Leng infiltrates the Normandy and sabotages the Citadel's private docking bay, Garrus will track down the culprit who provided Leng with explosives.

 

Recruitment:

 

At either the Citadel or Shadow Base, Shepard retrieves details on the situation of Palaven. The Council or Liara says that in the hours since Shepard left Klencory and rendezvoused with the Shadow Base, the Reaper forces assaulted Palaven in great numbers, and that fighting there is more ferocious than anywhere else in the galaxy. One of Palaven's military moons has had its surface completely destroyed, and the planet is under a full scale invasion.  Luckily, the Council's assertions that Earth and Kar'shan are “shield worlds” proved to be true – for in the day since Earth's invasion the soldiers and citizens of Palaven rallied together to defend their home world. In many of the largest cities on Palaven's biggest continent, resistances are so numerous that Reapers cannot land without risking being heavily damaged.

 

The mission parameters are different depending on whether Shepard is being briefed by Liara or the Council. Shepard can be briefed by both (one after the other) and their stories lead him to the same location.

If Shepard is being briefed by Liara, she will explain that there is someone on the planet who investigated Reaper rumors, four months before the Reaper invasion, and was actually getting some private government attention while they investigated these rumors. According to Liara, whoever discussed the possibility of Reaper existence to the Hierarchy had proof of some kind.

 

If Shepard is being briefed by the Citadel Council, they will explain that there was an agent on the planet who was attempting to extract the Hierarchy from a war zone before the Reapers could kill them. Unfortunately the Council lost contact with their agent – though fragmented rumors coming in from Palaven refugees state that the Hierarchy is still alive.

 

Shepard takes the SR2 to Palaven to investigate this rumors – and extract the Hierarchy  and/or Reaper specialist.

The city that Shepard takes the kodiak shuttle to reflects turian culture completely. The buildings are sharp and blade-like, the streets have no curves, and the buildings are low and open faced, rather than having walls. Shepard must wear a helmet while on the planet, due to uncomfortable amounts of radiation natural to Palaven's thinner-than-Earth atmosphere. When Shepard exists the shuttle, he finds that there are already hundreds of turian civilians and soldiers acting together as the cities first and last defense against husk forces which are pouring into the city.

The Reaper capitals have chosen to land in the countrysides that surround many of Palaven's cities to avoid the dreadnought fire in atmosphere, and the giant monsters are dumping thousands of husk forces onto the planet's surface. The husks surround entire cities, then pour into them.

 

Shepard is escorted by turian soldiers to a government building where the Hierarchy/Reaper expert was last located. A soldier explains that the Turian Hierarchy lost contact with the Citadel when their quantum entanglers were damaged – and that the military leaders have decided to move the Hierarchy to the Citadel where they will be safer. Apparently a/the Reaper expert has been a great help in preparing to evacuate the political leaders.

 

[Note: My idea was that the Turian Hierarchy worked slightly different from the one in the game. Instead of political and military power being controlled by one turian, it was controlled by three. The candidates for the Hierarchy had to be voted into power – and they had to be comprised of a “team” of three turians – each referred to as a “Primarch”. One Primarch would oversee the turian military; one would oversee the judicial system – including Palaven's law enforcement; and one would oversee the economics of Palaven – including education, trade, and colony development. This way, political disagreements, corruption, and power squabbles (already rare amongst the general population on Palaven and its colony offshoots) were monitored by the public. If there was a particular problem with a facet of the current government, the entire party was put under public scrutiny, and pressured to change each of their respective branches accordingly. Because corruption usually comes in a complex of economic, judicial, and military issues for turian culture, having a Hierarchy that had clear and concise propositions on what is best for Palaven makes it easy for turian people to see when their leaders aren't acting in their best interest. Granted, the main issue with the Hierarchy is that, with three unified opinions on how  turians should act, social/cultural changes are slow to occur. Many turians on Palaven still harbor harsh grudges against humanity, the batarians, and the krogan, which make it difficult for these races to be sympathized with on Palaven. Old grudges die hard.]

 

Shepard makes his way inside the building where the Hierarchy is, but Reaper husks overrun the structure, and Shepard and company are forced to retreat while helping turians secure a defensive position. Just as husk forces seem almost overwhelming, a group of turian specialists manage to drive them back with some brutal but effective strategies. They are being led by Garrus Vakarian. After greeting Shepard, Garrus explains that he was a/the expert on Reaper theory. He brought DNA samples from a Collector corpse, and had a lab analyze it. When the turian scientific community confirmed that the DNA was indeed identical to the few remaining records of Prothean DNA, Garrus managed to get the Hierarchy's attention. Unfortunately, the Hierarchy, while convinced that the Collectors were once Protheans, were not so convinced that the Reapers actually existed. Later they came to believe the popular rumor that the Reapers are “rogue Prothean war machines” that wiped out or huskified their creators – not unlike the conflict between the quarians and the geth. Garrus explains that before he can leave with Shepard, he needs to fulfill his civic duty in getting the Hierarchy to safety. Shepard explains that the Normandy can get them all to safety, provided everyone can get to a safe evacuation site. Garrus and Shepard fight their way to a civilian controlled safe spot outside the building, and the shuttle comes to pick them up. Before leaving, the Hierarchy (much to renegade Shepard's impatience) gives a speech to the citizens, rallying them to fight to the death to protect their home-world. The Hierarchy then departs for the Citadel.

 

At the Citadel, the Primarchs go to meet with the council to discuss the situation on Palaven, while Garrus talks to Shepard. Garrus explains that his family is already aboard the Citadel as refugees, where they are actively helping the war effort. Apparently it took Garrus much convincing to get his father to leave Palaven, as he was prepared to stay and fight husk forces. Garrus asks Shepard to let him continue their partnership onboard the Normandy, and Shepard can agree. From this point onwards, Garrus will be a squad-mate – at least until he decides to be a Spectre or not.

 

Missions:

Garrus has no truly specific missions to himself (or rather “I haven't thought of any Garrus-centric missions as of yet – apart from his romance”), but his arch of becoming a Spectre plays an important part in discovering who provided Kai Leng with bombs in the Citadel's private docking bay. Depending on Garrus's paragon/renegade levels in ME1 and ME2, they will decide how he reacts to the culprit once brought in. As mentioned in the “Role” section of this bio, Garrus also coordinates with Shepard and Liara during the “Hidden War” campaign to take down Cerberus if he is a Spectre. After Cerberus is destroyed, Garrus will return to Shepard as a full on squad-mate.

 

Potential Spectre:

After turning in intel on the Collectors to the Hierarchy, helping the escape Palaven, and being recognized for his work as Archangel, the Citadel council (even the human council) sees Garrus as a valuable asset to the war effort, and decides to (re)consider him as Spectre material. Usually, Spectre trainees have to go through numerous missions with a full fledged Spectre to judge if they are ready. However Garrus already worked closely with the (ex) Spectre Shepard in the past, and is more than qualified by the Council's standards.

 

After telling Garrus that they would like him to consider being a Spectre, Garrus is conflicted. He knows the weighty decisions that come with the position, but he is ready to prove himself in the hopes of helping the galaxy. Unfortunately, his family – particularly his by-the-books father disapproves of Spectre authority, and the late Saren Arterius gave turian Spectres a bad name. Garrus questions Shepard as to whether being a Spectre is a positive or negative aspect, and asks for Shepard's opinion on the matter.

 

Shepard can tell Garrus that being a Spectre is an honor, and a great chance to do something good that most law enforcement can't.

Shepard can tell Garrus that being a Spectre is a huge responsibility of personal restraint and moral devotion.

Shepard can tell Garrus that being a Spectre is fun and powerful, and that making those who deserve to suffer pay for their crimes is rewarding.

Shepard can tell Garrus that he shouldn't become a Spectre, as Garrus is unsure of his own morals, and being a Spectre requires unflinching determination.

 

Garrus's decision hinges upon whether he was loyal in ME2, and is a paragon, neutral, or renegade.

 

If Garrus was not loyal in ME2, then he decides to ask his father for advice. His father is dismayed by the concept of Garrus becoming a Spectre, and Garrus decides to not become one. He will be a full squad-mate (not temp).

If Garrus was a paragon (arrested Dr. Heart in ME1, and let Sidonis live in ME2) then he will decide that being a lawful Spectre would greatly help the galaxy, regardless of what his father thinks. He decides to accept the Council's offer. After the Spectre ceremony, Garrus becomes a temp squad-mate.

If Garrus was a renegade (killed Dr. Heart in ME1, and killed Sidonis in ME2), he will decide that the galaxy needs someone willing to make immoral choices if the Reapers are to be defeated. He decides to accept the Council's offer. After the Spectre ceremony, Garrus becomes a temp squad-mate.

If Garrus was neutral (killed Dr. Heart in ME1 or Sidonis in ME2), he will be indecisive, and will decide that he doesn't need to be given special rights and privileges of a Spectre to help the galaxy. He plans on returning to C-sec after the Reaper war. He will be a full squad-mate (not temp).

If Garrus becomes a Spectre, the Councilor will decide to arrange a ceremony for his induction into Special Tactics and Recons, once they have some free time, and get some witnesses together. This doesn't occur until Shepard leaves the Citadel and then returns. After being made into a Spectre, the Council will send him on classified special missions (a visit to the Shadow Base reveals that he is leading coordinated attacks against large pirate bands, who are attacking and robbing refugees making their cosmic exodus to the Citadel). He will be available for a handful of Citadel missions, including “Stopping a Killer”, “Tracking a Killer”, and “The Hidden Wards”. Furthermore, Garrus, Thane, and Legion (provided they are all alive and loyal) can persuade Shepard into having a sniping contest in a temporarily empty sector of the Citadel, under construction for incoming refugees.

 

If Thane is alive, Garrus and the drell will work together to track down Kai Leng after Shepard stops/tries to stop him from killing a Citadel councilor.

If Thane is dead, then Garrus fulfills Thane's role of tracking Leng by himself, or with the help of Jacob Taylor, if he is a Spectre too.

 

Ironing out variables:

If Garrus was killed in ME2, he does not appear in ME3.

If Garrus was not recruited (via modding?) in ME2, he does not appear in ME3 – having been killed on Omega.

If Garrus romanced Shepard, she can lie when he asks her if being a Spectre is all its cracked up to be in an attempt to keep him close to her. If Shepard confesses this lie to Garrus or Liara (Garrus will overhear) the turian becomes angry and their relationship is damaged. Shepard must work to gain his trust again.

If Garrus died in ME2, he can be mourned by Shepard as one of his/her closest friends/romance.