The teasers for Mass Effect 4 confirm that the Geth are returning to play a central role in the story, but their existence is a bit of an enigma because of the different outcomes from the trilogy’s endings. It’s possible for the Geth to survive the trilogy, yet Mass Effect 4’s teasers all seem to imply that the Destroy ending will serve as the canonical ending to the Mass Effect trilogy and serve as the jumping-off point for the next game. The catch with this is that a significant repercussion of this ending is the Geth’s demise.There are several possible explanations for how the Geth survived to appear in Mass Effect 4. The most straightforward reasoning is that the Mass Effect 3’s Destroy ending won’t be canon. However, the dead Reapers and destroyed Mass Relays in Mass Effect's official teaser trailer run counter to this explanation. Perhaps the Geth were set to make their own trip to the Andromeda galaxy but returned home after the Catalyst blast. Some units could have been out of range from the wave that killed off all artificial intelligence, making it possible for them to survive and still have the upgrades Legion uploaded to the Geth Consensus. One more likely scenario is that the Geth were somehow rebuilt. Although how they could be rebuilt is a bit of a mystery, and it may involve Doctor Liara T’Soni.
Why Are The Geth Helping Liara In Mass Effect 4?
The N7 Day 2022 transmission shared by the Mass Effect Twitter account features an audio clip of Liara and a Geth talking about a mysterious, potentially dangerous discovery that could suggest Commander Shepard nearly failed in the Mass Effect trilogy's finale. Despite the Geth speaking a different language, the conversation is notable in that the tone reads as cooperative. Cooperation with the Geth is a significant possible outcome of the Quarian/Geth storyline in Mass Effect 3, but it is tragically cut short by choosing the Destroy ending, in which the Geth all die. If Liara and the Geth are indeed working together, it implies that the galaxy was able to rebuild and restore the Geth to their state just before the Catalyst explosion. Project director Michael Gamble’s tweet about Liara fuels speculation about her role in Mass Effect 4, which may put her in a position to help rebuild the Geth.
A potential Matriarch in Mass Effect 4, Liara’s speculated "REDACTED" role could be as a Council Spectre. She’s already the Shadow Broker, so the combination makes it so she has nearly unlimited access to resources from all over the galaxy. Given her friendship with Tali'Zorah, it would make sense that Liara would volunteer her help to rebuild the Geth, which the Quarians would likely want after finally achieving peace with their AI creations. This plot point will be thematically crucial to the Geth’s appearance in Mass Effect 4, as it directly contradicts what the Reapers thought to be true.
As the Catalyst explains to Shepard, artificial intelligence will always rebel against their creators, and the Reapers are its solution to that chaos. Yet, the peace between Mass Effect's Geth and Quarians at the end of the third game proves that the Catalyst and Reapers were wrong. It opens up further AI/organic cooperation in the galaxy, and the new teaser for Mass Effect 4 gives a glimpse into what that looks like - Liara and a Geth unit working together to protect the galaxy from its next big threat.
Source: Mass Effect/YouTube, Michael Gamble/Twitter, Mass Effect/Twitter