| Khuutra said: The krogan, primarily through Grunt and Wrex, evolved beyond the point of essentially being klingon with ennui problems; we saw them as deeply self-destructive, almost savagely so, and their cruelty to each other and to other races was made much more clear in the second game. The salarians went from being the smart ones to being products of a culture of meddlers whose short lifespans are reflected in shortened perspectives, where consequences in the long-term are necessarily viewed through the lens of their own superiority. Their hubris becomes very real in ME2 and ME3, where we see that they are repeating the mistakes of the krogan rebellions over and over, where their involvement in any situation translates to tautological expertise on a given subject, which necessarily grants them authority. They evolved into the very embodiment of cultural colonialism, operating on the divine mandate of their ideas of progress. The turians are essentially space-Spartans, but at least they aren't all space-Spartans, and even that's a site better than a race of space-Cops Asari were definitely the most improved, though. God, the tone that they were treated with in the first game - I appreciate it, you know? I do. I like that they're a send-up to the sexy space babes of the 40s-70s. God bless Karpyshyn for that particular bit of cultural nostalgia. But when it translated into specific characters it kind of all fell apart, didn't it? When Benezia is the best-written character of a given species - and I like Benezia, don't get me wrong - you have a problem. And I just hate that particular conversation, with the Japanese honorifics, on a lot of levels. It's awkwardly written and makes no sense in the context of a universe with universal translators |
I hear what you're saying, but I maintain each of those were simply better execution, not better worldbuilding. To wit:
We've known the Krogan are deeply destructive, even towards each other. We know they almost committed racial suicide, and that the number one cause of death for Krogans was violence, even before they met other races. Once the Krogan Rebellions happened, it became clear that they were more than willing to wipe out everyone else in the name of their own expansion. We were told time and again that they're feared and despised throughout the galaxy for being barely above rabid dogs, and that many people think the Genophage was too merciful. Shoot, our introduction to one of the most level-headed Krogans in the galaxy, Wrex, has him getting cornered by security officials due to his vicious reputation and responding by threatening them with 'great bodily harm.' He then follows up by assassinating someone.
Again, he's the Krogan paragon. Relatively speaking.
As for the Salarians, the first game also emphasized that they operated on the basis of meddling via commando strikes, that they use their superior scientific knowledge to impose their will on other races, that they're patronizing of other races, and that they think they're entitled to make decisions for others. First they raise the Krogan to be their meatshields, then they launched a preemptive strike against said Krogan, then they raised the Turians as their new meatshields, then they created the Genophage.
Even in ME 1, they're still using their STG groups to do the same things they'll do in later games. Said STG group was openly the inspiration for Spectres, i.e. individuals who are above the law and who possess the skill and authority to do whatever they think is best. Their actions in the next two games shouldn't be unanticpated: I saw them as being their natural reaction to events, based on the worldbuilding done in ME 1.
The Turians not being uniform in their beliefs was also known. Garret is a prime example. Although maybe you forgot that because 1 made him. So. Damn. Boring. I'd whine that they made his character do a 180 in the later games, but he was so bad in the first game, and so awesome in the later ones, that I'll cheerfully go along with it.
As for that conversation, I admit I don't really remember it. Noveria in general kind of bored me though, so that might be why. And I have to say that I never liked the Asari in 1. I get what they were going for, but I never really appreciated it, especially for a race that's supposed to be one of the pillars of the galaxy. I'm glad they moved past that.
