In the Mass Effect 2 DLC: Rewriting or Destroying the Geth Heretics
Legion’s loyalty mission in Mass Effect 2 features a decision that will have a big impact on the Mass Effect 3 story. The decision is simple enough: whether to rewrite or destroy the Geth Heretics. But this choice, and its impact on the story, are a bit more complicated than they initially appear.
If you’re playing Mass Effect 2 for the first time, you may have missed this decision entirely. Legion is not a party member until you reach the Geth Consensus, so you won’t be able to make this choice until you’re well into the game.
If you do have Legion with you on your journey across the galaxy, the quarians will arrive on Rannoch and introduce you to the Geth Heretics. Legion informs you that the Heretics plan to side with the Reapers, and he introduces a virus that will force all Geth to do the same. He offers you two options: rewrite the Heretics to be immune to the virus, or destroy them altogether.
You might expect that this decision would affect the war to retake Rannoch, but the consequences of either choice are more far-reaching than that.
If you destroy the Heretics, the Geth remain at war with the quarians. If you rewrite the Heretics, you can broker peace between the two races, and the number of Geth you can have with you at any given time increases, since the Geth are no longer at war with their creators. You also have the opportunity to keep both Tali and Legion as party members.
But is that really the only difference between the choices? The in-game consequences are obvious, but what about the clues we get through the game?
The immediate impact of your decision is minor, but it’s revealed in a conversation between Legion and Tali in Mass Effect 3. Tali asks Legion if he remembers their friends, the Heretics, and Legion replies that he does. Legion then says that rewriting the Heretics was the right choice, and Tali agrees.
The true, lasting consequences of your decision are revealed much later. If you destroy the Heretics, Rannoch is a warzone for much longer, and it’s harder to broker peace between the Geth and Quarians. Therefore, you don’t get as many Geth war assets and can’t get Legion in your party as early.
If you rewrite the Heretics, the number of Geth you can have with you increases, and you can get Tali in your party earlier. The number of Geth war assets you get depends on how many Geth there are in general, and the more Geth there are, the heavier the Quarian losses will be when you retake Rannoch.
Ultimately, this decision depends on your preference and your desired outcomes. Both are valid arguments. If you destroy the Heretics, you’re paving the way for peace between the Geth and Quarians. If you rewrite them, you can keep both Tali and Legion, but you’re doing so at a cost.
Mass Effect 2 is known for its challenging moral decisions, but this one stands out. Unlike decisions in other games, such as Dragon Age 3: Inquisition or Fallout 4, you’re not given additional rewards or incentives to make a decision. Instead, you’re forced to consider your choice based on the consequences alone.
This is only one of many difficult decisions you’ll have to make in Mass Effect 2. If you’re struggling to decide what to do next, our Mass Effect 2 walkthrough and guides will have you covered.
