Citadel DLC bits

I can't shake the filling citadel is not just fan service but the inconscious mind of shep and his squadmates.

I liked it just because we spent some more hours with them.
I particularly like the final fight on the Normandy.

and again there's the breathing theme when falling from the sushi restaurant. Prettz underlined the similarities with the beginning of the encounter with Levi in leviathan dlc quite well, see his 2 latest videos.

Shepard having a party before assaulting Cronos station. Sure.

Btw, this really is one of my least favorite DLCs. Like it was made by fans. The tone is so different from anything else that is Mass Effect. Too many predictable jokes and one-liners, instead of suspense and characterization.

Well, I like wandering the Strip and catching up with people. The party is some fun. But the actual mission... it reminds me of these "expansion packs" you had before the days of DLC, these were often outsourced to inexperienced studios, which usually meant the atmosphere and quality standards of the original game was lost.

Sorry, had to get this off my mind... I wonder what BW wanted to achieve with this DLC. The whole idea of a party is just... crazy in the context of ME3.

I found more potential hints in Citadel DLC, too much work to list them all, forgot most of it anyway. But Citadel DLC is just so off... a little campy, you know? Like it doesn't take itself seriously. Many "meta" jokes about the game itself. Maybe that's the idea, that we've been living a lie, or something like that.

For example, just heard this -- after Shepard discovers her clone, she says something like "anything is better than this" and then a squad member comments "like waking up and finding out you have a clone walking around?" Also some talk about the clone having no memories, which fueled your Foundation hypothesis. What's up with this clone? Will we be hearing of it again in future installments?

And the archive entry on Shepard's Spectre induction shows the clone Shepard.

Hmm...

Why so many malfunctioning archive entries? Why does Glyph tell us he found at least sixteen unknown historical events, which is then interrupted by combat engagement?

Questions...

I love those ideas.

The breathing thing comes back again and again.
But that would mean we're swimming in the underworld theory again and everything has to be interpretated through symbolism.

So I'm close to finishing my final ME playthrough and have just started Citadel DLC. According to people on the IT forum there's lots of hints in the dialogue, which I think I missed last time. Already found a few bits now:

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- Anderson ANN interview

Admiral Anderson, today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the N7 program. Can you describe your first day of training in this now-famous program?”

   Anderson:

“The Interplanetary Combatives Training program is all business from day one.”

   Khalisah al-Jilani:

“How so?”

   Anderson:

“We're given basic gear, then separated and stranded on an asteroid with no nav data. The test ends when the last person runs out of oxygen.” (1)

   Khalisah al-Jilani:

“Sounds daunting. What happens to the ones who run out of air first?”

   Anderson:

“Out of the program. The best N7s can survive alone, but work together to survive even longer.” (2)

   Khalisah al-Jilani:

“That's very impressive, Admiral. Deep space survival training. That has to be... so difficult. All of it would take such strength of character, just plain strength.” (3)

This sounds like it's about Shepard. About the breath scene. (1) About collecting enough war assets (uniting the galaxy, neural links with squad members maybe?) (2) to actually get the breath scene. About having enough strength of character to make the right choice, again to actually get the breath scene. (3)

   Khalisah al-Jilani:

“Well, does the program make the man, or do you think you were born for this?”

   Anderson:

“It's a bit of both, I suppose.

Every soldier reaches a point in their career, sometimes more than once, when they are asked to give more than they ever thought they could. That moment is the test. I've seen men and women, almost sure to fail, persevere long past the point of breaking. That experience changes them. Others, with all the gifts and abilities, fail in that moment. Sometimes, they pick themselves up and carry on. Sometimes, they're just done.”

Again, could easily be applied to the ending choices. And not just Destroy.

   Khalisah al-Jilani:

“What about you? What was your moment?”

   Anderson:

“I've had a few. None of which I'd like to share. But I think the toughest tests are still ahead of me.” (1)

   Khalisah al-Jilani:

“What makes you say that?”

   Anderson:

“Call it a hunch.”

   Khalisah al-Jilani:

“Soldier's intuition?”

   Anderson:

“Something like that. [...] The problem is war isn't orderly. And the enemy is never predictable. Even the most experienced veteran is going to find themselves in situations they haven't trained for.” (2)

   Khalisah al-Jilani:

“Thank you for your time, Admiral.

The remainder of this interview was to take a more personal look at Admiral Anderson's life. It wasn't finished when the Reapers invaded. We can only hope that the Admiral, and the soldiers under his command, survive to tell us the rest of their stories." (1)

Sounds like a story that's far from over. (1) Like something... unpredicted is coming. (2)

About Shepard

"There's been a lot written about the Commander, but most of it isn't true. People are quick to judge. They don't know the whole story. I don't even know the whole story." (1) [...] She's been forced to fight a lot of battles alone. God only knows how she got out of some of that. Makes your head spin." (2) [...] Few people know what Shepard's been through. I'd like to think I come pretty close. (3) And I worry sometimes she forgets: there's a whole bunch of people who lose sleep over her getting back home. (4)

So we haven't seen the whole story, huh, is that the message here? (1) Again, seems to reference the ending experience. (2) With Anderson being close to Shepard right there. (3) And who's that bunch of people worrying? Us? (4)