Hello all! Ric here with another index video, this time looking into the flashlight-headed,
synthetic, rubbery, (or is that metal?) legion of artificial intelligences, the Geth from
Mass Effect. With the Mass Effect legendary edition only a month away, I will be delving
back into my favourite Sci-fi game series, so it’s about time that I refresh myself
on its lore. However, there will be spoilers ahead for
the Mass Effect trilogy so be warned just in case you were planning on picking up the
collection. That being said, let’s begin with their origin, which we don’t have to
go back too far to witness. Unlike many of the species the index has looked into before,
the Geth’s origin is not in a time lost to prehistory, because they didn’t evolve,
they were made and not even that long ago on a species scale.
For a start, this is not a Geth. I mean it is, but it’s not. The Geth are in fact streams
of artificial intelligences all networked together and operate as a collective mind
within each of these robotic constructs; they refer to as “units”. The unit itself for
the sake of convenience can be referred to as a single Geth, even though every one of
these units is a hundred programs. They are not a hive mind however, but their collective
network is more akin to a sharing of processing power. This is what led them to develop into
truly sentient beings, but we’ll touch on that when we cover their history. A single
Geth unit only has base programming and the intelligence of an instinctual animal, but
when several come together, they are able to share their minds and form more complex
thoughts, increasing in intelligence the more of them there are.
There are exceptions to this however, such as the party member “Legion” who housed
far more programs and was designed to operate autonomously for a long period of time. When
not residing inside a unit the Geth programs themselves may be found in various hubs aboard
their ships or in server facilities where there can be innumerable Geth programs all
in dialogue with one another. How they govern and make decision is largely
only possible due to their rapid computational nature. They absorb information then use their
complex thought to formulate different options and stratagems before then bringing the outcomes
for a vote. Every Geth program has a say for or against a specific course of action and
this is referred to as building consensus. When the outcome has been voted for, all the
Geth go along with it. This sort of processing is in everything they do, from instant to
instant tactical decisions to life-altering revelations, although the magnitude of an
option often leads to more time dedicated to reaching consensus.
The frames themselves have since developed into myriad of different forms brought on
by the needs of the Geth themselves, but originally their form pretty much resembled the standard
unit we still see today. They are more or less humanoid and based closely on the Quarian
body when it comes to the angle of their legs and the number of digits they have. They are
actually a mixture of metals and synthetic polymers designed to act like muscle, sinew
and flesh. This gives them the slightly rubbery appearance (although that’s probably down
to the unreal engine used to make the game). This organic styled tissue is filled with
a fluidic conductor. Many Geth still retain the basic humanoid form for practicality,
the majority of other species are humanoid, so being able to manipulate their technology
is an advantage. But they are not limited to that form. Many
Geth have developed subtypes such as the agile “hopper” which doubles down on the robustness
of their synthetic tissue to spring around and jump great distances. There are battle
varieties of Geth like the Destroyer, Hunter, Geth Prime and such, all with their specialised
combat approaches. Additionally, because of their nature, their own technology is designed
without the need for “pilots”. There is the Colossus, a four limbed, heavily armoured
tank, the Geth Dropship and even their own space ships and dreadnaughts are controlled
by numerous Geth programs operating in consensus, just as their smaller units are. If a Geth
unit dies, its programs are simply uploaded to the nearest available other unit before
being returned to a server or to another vacant unit.
Because of their artificial nature, the Geth do not generally concern themselves with the
same things organics do. They do not need space to cultivate food and their spaceships
do not need atmosphere. Nevertheless, they do have a distinct style about them, their
technology sharing the same sleek, techno-organic look that their units have. This is probably
because it is their only frame of reference for design styles and, capable of learning
as they are, they adapted their design to fit their technology, which of course, has
its roots in Quarian style. The name Geth, in fact means servant just
as “Robot” is derived from the Church Slavonic word Robata which has similar connotations.
Their story begins on the home world of the Quarian people, an index on them can be found
here or in the description. The Quarian’s like many before them experimented into artificial
intelligences and machines that became increasingly complex and capable of learning.
At first, the Geth were no more sentient than Virtual Intelligences, an advance program
that is only a simulated intelligence. While advanced, a V.I cannot think independently,
but it was the Quarian’s networking of the Geth that elevated the simple V.Is into A.Is.
The more and more of them that the Quarians built to help them in their own lives, the
more complex they became until, in once incident, a simple household Geth unit asked its master
if Geth had a soul in 1873. The panicked Quarian people made the decision to shut down all
the Geth, but the Geth didn’t exactly like this plan and refused the shutdown order.
Quarian security then opened fire on the Geth, and that gave the Geth the idea to fight back
and so a war broke out in 1895 of the Common Era.
This was called the Morning War and resulted in the Quarians being chased off their home
planet of Rannoch. The Geth however, unbeknownst to the Quarians had concluded that they did
not wish to eradicate their creators, so they allowed them to leave and did not pursue them.
This led to centuries of bitterness from the Quarian and the reforming of their entire
culture into that of the nomadic migrant fleet. The Geth themselves were not exactly amiable
either. Any ship that ventured beyond the Perseus Veil and into their territory was
fired on while the Geth continued to eavesdrop and monitor the galaxy at large. While they
were doing this, their only goal at the time, aside from staying safe, was to create a single
hub big enough to house all their programs. However, the Geth would once again end up
being used a tools for someone else. It’s unknown to anyone outside the Geth exactly
when it occurred but around the late 2100s, the Reaper Sovereign made itself known to
the Geth and made them an “offer”. The ancient synthetic being became known as Nazara
to the Geth, offered its incredibly advanced technology, of which most galactic tech was
a pale imitation, if the Geth would work for it in attacking the Citadel species.
The Geth, for the most part refused. But not all. This was the first time that consensus
was not made and a fraction of the programs decided that they would ally with Nazara and
the Old Machines. Perhaps this schism was formed because of the indoctrinating effect
that the Reapers can have, but perhaps it was simply that the Geth were learning that
individuality and sentience does not equate to a universal opinion. Either way, the heretical
Geth as they were identified, were allowed to peacefully disengage themselves from the
Geth as a whole and follow their Old Machine God.
They created a space station of their own, out in the Terminus Systems, beyond Citadel
space and from there acted on Sovereign’s will in setting the stage for the return of
the Reapers and ultimately the plot of the Mass Effect games. Sovereign was able to manipulate
the Geth through its exploitation of their religion, which is a strange concept, but
one I think that proves just how far the Geth intelligence had evolved. Not satisfied with
looking for meaning in life in the quantifiable, the Geth, the heretics in particular had begun
to struggle with concepts such as the soul, indeed their first question had been one concerning
their own existence. I guess it’s just a consequence of being self-aware, and to the
heretics, an ancient, incredibly powerful being, closer to them than their organic creators,
was worthy of being deified. Unfortunately, now operating away from the
larger Geth consensus, these Reaper controlled Geth could be more easily led down aggressive
paths, which included the creation of a computer virus that would alter how any Geth thought,
making them come to the conclusion that following the Reapers was the correct course of action.
It was a viral version of the Reaper’s indoctrination effect and the heretical Geth intended to
introduce it into the main Geth network. It would be nice to say that it all ended
peacefully for the Geth, but that’s not the case. In 2186, the Quarians launched an
attack on the Geth’s massive server, the one designed to house their entire program,
and the result destroyed a lot of them. This had the knock on effect of dumbing-down the
Geth, because the more of them there are, the smarter they are, and they revised their
decision to join the Reapers, placing survival over free will. They allowed the Reaper’s
to alter and supplement their coding, making them more efficient fighters, at the cost
of their independence and ended up being brought into the Reaper invasion against organic life.
How it ends is down to the player, one possibility sees them all wiped out by the Quarians, one
sees them wipe out all the Quarians, while another sees a ceasefire finally called as
the Geth are freed from the Reaper’s control. It would probably be fair to say that the
Geth value open honesty and sharing, as they themselves share their consciousness and information.
This does mean that they tend not to priorities individuality, and as a consequence, don’t
really feel bad for extinguishing a single individual. However, the Geth are a very young
and quite unique species whose evolution is still ongoing at a rapid pace and a lot of
uncertainties still remain. For example, the isolated unit Legion, consisting of 1183 programs
was almost seen evolving a personality of its own after being apart from the whole for
so long, and a disagreement led to the offshoot heretics, so clearly, the individuality does
exist among the Geth, and perhaps with time it would manifest itself further.
What would that mean for the Geth culture then? Would they begin to prize individuality
or shun it? The only way to know is to observe them over time, without prejudice as the Quarian’s
did, and hope they survived the Reaper Invasion. Maybe then we can find out if this unit has
a soul. Thanks for watching this index video on the
Geth. What species should be next for the Cultural Index? What with the Quarians already
having been done, I thought we could instead look at a species that has nothing to do with
them, aside from a similar name, the Quarren from Star Wars. Then that got me thinking
about other squiddy-faced aliens, and I thought about the Ood. So there’s a glimpse into
my thought processors for you. Err... processes. I am not a robot.
Cast your vote over on the community tab and until the next video, I’ve been Ric and
I’ll see you again later. Goodbye!