User blog comment:Arbington/ME3 Theories/@comment-1462101-20100629124828

I believe that this will certainly allow us some insight into what dark energy is, how it relates to the physical entity of Mass Effect and Element Zero. I strongly support the idea of a Chekhov's Gun: "If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." That is from S. Shchukin from his 1911 Book, Memoirs. But it appears as though topic of squad mates keeps coming up. I think this is certainly an interesting topic; and it will be interesting too see Harkin become a squad-mate. He's had minor roles before but he still has combat training and such, and he'll no doubt at least appear in ME3. My best guess is that there will have to be some sort of allies system, in which the major missions involve going to places like Omega to receive support for a final battle. This should be something similar to what we saw in the Dragon Age Origins main quest, and Oblivion's "Allies For Bruma" Quest. But although Dark Energy could be the driving force that defeats the Reapers, that still leaves the question up in the air about how exactly will the reapers be defeated? A question I have been pondering for sometimes is that if the Reapers are Machines, was there another race that made them? I know that contradicts what we know from Harbinger and Sovereign, but perhaps an Organic Species is actually behind all of this.

Going back to my talk about all the different Allies, Citadel Forces is certainly going to be one, as Shepard will have to convince the Council to fight with him. Cerberus should be another, after that Omega, and maybe even a few criminal organizations like The Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse.