User blog comment:Awayorafk/Reaper Logic: What Bioware was TRYING to get across./@comment-4888821-20120426125757/@comment-4953843-20120426141359

it's not an issue of translation programs, it's an issue of time. by the time the primitives of a cycle evolved any extant tech left by their elders would've decayed badly to the elements or pillaged by vultures interested only in the profits they bring. bear in mind working archaeotech is rare in the mass effect universe; it's a miracle anything related to the crucible survived to shepard's day.

my first statement's an extremely dumbed-down analogy of how the crucible+citadel combo works. obviously you need the mass relays to distribute the magic beam effectively across a galaxy because there's literally no other alternative. and, unless you've been watching the cinematics with both eyes missing, the pulse is merely localized while the beam is for galactic transmission of the changes you bring.