Mass Effect 3 Walkthrough Part 4: The Citadel Part 2

After visiting with your wounded squad-mate in the hospital, return to the elevator and proceed to the Citadel Embassy. You will find yourself in another lobby when the elevator doors open. There are several conversations you can overhear in this area, some of which will add new entries to your Codex. Head over to the volus speaking with a sitting turian and human couple to eavesdrop on their conversation. They will be talking about a strange Prothean Obelisk. You will unlock a Codex entry and a side mission to seek out the obelisk. You will be able to complete this mission after you leave the Citadel in the Normandy. For now, head back around the U-shaped lobby and to the door. If you’d like, you can also listen in to a conversation between an asari receptionist and a worried mother along the way, but this conversation will not grant you any bonuses or side quests.

When you enter the next hallway, enter the door to your left. This is Commander Bailey’s office. As you enter, an upset journalist named Khalisah al-Jilani from the Alliance News Network will be yelling at Bailey, asking him to grant her information on the war that she can then spin on television. If this reporter looks familiar, it’s because she was the very same one that you may have accosted in Mass Effect 2. She will soon storm out, but you can speak with her more later. For now, just worry about talking to Bailey. Investigating here can get you some more background information on the Commander and the situation on the Citadel, along with Paragon or Renegade points.

You can find Khalisah al-Jilani waiting for an interview outside of Commander Bailey’s office, to the right and in front of the elevator. She will begin the interview with a verbal barrage of accusations. An interrupt opportunity will appear onscreen, allowing you to gain some Renegade points by hitting RT. If you take this opportunity, be on the lookout for a second interrupt opportunity to flash up quickly after. These actions may prove satisfying, but it can actually be more useful to let the reporter gab. After she finishes her initial spiel, an interrupt opportunity will appear, this time a Paragon one. Hit LT to convince Khalisah al-Jilani to join up with your crew, thus adding one more to your pool of war assets. After you have dealt with the situation, return to the hallway where you found Commander Bailey’s office.

Head into Udina’s office across the hall. You will enter to find a meeting of the Council already in progress and Liara standing by waiting for you. The Council will brief you on the situation at large in the galaxy; the Asari are struggling against the Reaper threat, while the Turians have already lost one of their planets to the invaders. In short, things are looking grim and the Alliance forces have been spread paper thin around the galaxy trying to fend them off. The council will be a bit more forgiving if you chose to help them at the end of the first Mass Effect, but either way they will deny your request for assistance at Earth. It would be a foolish endeavor, they argue, to amass their forces at a planet that is already half-gone, to fend off an attack that, for all they know, only represents a fraction of the Reaper’s strength.

Aria will mention the Prothean super weapon for which you found the blueprints on Mars, and this will peak the Council’s interest a little more. They will remain skeptical, though, and will ask why the Protheans couldn’t defeat the Reapers if this weapon was so powerful. Aria will tell them that you still have yet to acquire a key component of the weapon. The Council will basically shrug it off and leave, parting ways to defend their own respective home planets. Shepard and Aria will leave, defeated.

After the meeting, the Turian Ambassador will approach you and Udina alone. He will offer assistance to you in return for a favor. He will ask you to go to Palaven, a planet under attack by the Reapers, and rescue the Turian Primarch, with whom the Citadel has lost contact. In return, the Turians will help the humans defend Earth until the Prothean weapon can be completed. Accept the Ambassador’s offer and you will be reinstated into the Specters. Note that you may have already been reinstated into the Specters if you performed particularly well in Mass Effect 2, in which case nothing will happen here other than your agreement with the Turian Ambassador. Talking to Udina further after this will allow you to get some insight into the situation, but won’t reveal anything critical.

Head outside and go into the room across the hall. Here you can access a shooting range, a weapon bench, and a gun shop that is reserved exclusively for Specters. All of the guns will be far too expensive for you to purchase right now, but remember this spot for later. Upgrade your weapons if you can, and leave.

As you exit the Embassy, look for James staring out the window in the lobby. Speak with him to advance your relationship a little bit, then take the elevator back to the main lobby of the Citadel and get onto the Normandy. This will trigger an odd dream sequence, in which you will run in slow motion to catch up with the child that you saw on Earth. Simply follow the child until he disappears, look for him again, and follow him again. You’ll have to do this three times before a cutscene plays and the dream ends. Shepard will awake on the Normandy with a start.

As you head outside, Liara will approach you. She will ask you about your dream. You can either tell her, or lie to her and pretend that you are worried about Earth and politics instead. Afterwards, your conversation will be interrupted by Samantha Traynor, a new hand on the ship. Comfort her and she will calm down a bit, or scold her for interrupting and she will back off a little. Traynor will give you an overview of all of the functions of the ship. After this, you will be left to roam free on the Normandy.