The Geth make prominent appearances in Mass Effect 4’s teaser videos and images, which opens up the potential for the Normandy’s AI, EDI, to return to the story. This possibility is quite confounding, given the different endings of Mass Effect 3 and EDI’s variable fate. Yet, it seems that the trilogy’s conclusion may be more open to interpretation than once believed. Since the Geth are somehow returning in Mass Effect 4, EDI must surely have also survived the ending of the trilogy.EDI survives in two of the three endings of Mass Effect 3. However, all the Mass Effect 4 teasers so far seem to imply that Mass Effect 3’s Destroy ending, the one in which EDI supposedly dies, will be the canon conclusion of the trilogy and starting place of the next game. Despite this ending purportedly eliminating all Reapers and artificial intelligence in the galaxy, the Geth survived Mass Effect’s ending, which means that EDI may have also survived the red Catalyst blast or has been rebuilt by someone in the aftermath.Related: Mass Effect 4 Was Never Going To Make A Large Time Jump

How EDI Can Return In Mass Effect 4

Image of Joker and EDI standing side by side on a tropical planet.

At the end of Mass Effect 3, the Catalyst tells Shepard that choosing the Destroy option will target all synthetics. With a high War Asset count, though, the Catalyst adds that the tech that Galaxy relies on will be affected but can be easily repaired by the survivors. Given the teasers for Mass Effect 4, this would indicate that EDI, the Geth, and the mass relays were affected in some way and may even be dead. There might also be other dire consequences of defeating the Reapers. Each of these had Reaper technology installed in them to varying degrees, so perhaps only that part of EDI’s existence was destroyed.

EDI Can Be Restored In The Next Mass Effect Game

Mass Effect Legendary Edition Mass Effect 3 Squadmates

This leaves the opportunity to restore EDI to a state before any Reaper upgrades or to fill that space with new tech from the Geth. Tricia Helfer, EDI’s voice actor, even took to Twitter to express her interest in reprising her role as Commander Shepard’s AI companion. Her return is an exciting prospect that comes with curious implications about how she can return, in what form, and what role she’ll have in the story moving forward. It’s possible that with her new spectre or matriarch status in Mass Effect 4, Liara will have a considerable hand in bringing the Geth back and, by extension, EDI.

EDI and the Geth are highly advanced artificial intelligence and presumably require similar reconstruction methods and technology to restore their existence. If EDI does return, and depending on the extent of the damage caused by the Catalyst blasts, it's possible that she may not be able to return to the body she had in Mass Effect 3. So it’s likely that she could resume her AI role inside Normandy, as in Mass Effect 2.

Another notable point of overlap between EDI and the Geth is that they both contradict the Reaper’s thesis: that organics and synthetics can never live in peace. Characters like Mass Effect Andromeda’s Mysterious Benefactor may emerge to exploit this evolution in organic/synthetic relations. This is a rich thematic starting point for the series moving forward, and it would be shocking if Mass Effect 4 doesn’t pursue it in some way.

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Source: Mass Effect/YouTube, Tricia Helfer/Twitter