User blog comment:Bluegear93/Mass Effect 3's ending, something came to my mind./@comment-4237253-20120522040705

Honestly, all that seems to have been changed from the leaked ending was the random, contrived conflict. In the original ending, it is revealed that dark energy will engulf the galaxy without the Reapers, and that they were originally entire nations the fused together in an effort to stop them. Shepard can choose to sacrifice humanity for the greater good, or destroy the Reapers and take their chances.

But that's about all that would have been changed due to leaked script. Simply because that was changed does not necessitate massive plot holes and a very literal deus ex machina.