I just completed the Levitation dlc and have a question.
The end cutscene and codex entry confirms the fact that these creatures can control lessor species such as humans. And we see them defeat a Reaper simply with the power of its mind.
So after the Reapers retreat back into the void following a harvest; why haven’t the Levitations used the lessor species who they could have preserved in secret bunkers, to build advanced warships, the Crucible, and populate the galaxy with Levitation artifacts. They would have 50,000 years to prepare.

In a word? Fear. Despite all their posturing, the Leviathans are terrified of the Reapers. They know one false step will lead to their extinction, that the Reapers won't rest until every Leviathan is wiped from the galaxy if they ever found out that some Leviathans had survived.

They probably don't believe 50000 years is enough to prepare the "lesser species" (which, to them, is every other species) for the coming of the Reapers, at least not without revealing their presence. Who knows? Maybe they were responsible for the Protheans, and that's why Prothean technology (and their warning about the Reapers) survived for as long as it has.

Originally posted by Citizen Cook:

I just completed the Levitation dlc and have a question.
The end cutscene and codex entry confirms the fact that these creatures can control lessor species such as humans. And we see them defeat a Reaper simply with the power of its mind.
So after the Reapers retreat back into the void following a harvest; why haven’t the Levitations used the lessor species who they could have preserved in secret bunkers, to build advanced warships, the Crucible, and populate the galaxy with Levitation artifacts. They would have 50,000 years to prepare.

Mass Effect was written by many ppl... Everyone of them pushed forward theyr ideas as main ... so i guess that information was lost somewhere in writing :)

It is possible that they have tried from behind the scenes and simply failed.

Given the apparent immunity of the Rachnai to Reaper indoctrination it has been theorised that the "sour yellow note" which forced its own will on the old queens could have been the Leviathans taking control. Purging the other space-fairing races and then assuming a low profile to stall Sovereign from triggering the invasion, it is possible that the Rachnai would have been able to build their numbers up enough to pose a legitimate threat to the Reapers.


The Reapers do appear to be aware that some Leviathans survived, judging by how they go after the fragments, they simply haven't been able to locate the new homeworld.

The non-lore reason being because it was a DLC which came out after the whole trilogy was finished so they couldn't integrate their story into the rest of the games. Plus what the others said above

The Catalyst, also known as the Intelligence is/was Leviathans creation who they created to help save/preserve organic life in the Galaxy; and they in turn created Reapers as their solution to this "Ultimate Problem".

And since, Leviathans are organic, of course, they were the first victims of the "Ultimate Solution". Some of them survived, obviously, and for million years they maybe/probably watched the Reapers do their "thing" to see if the "Ultimate Problem" could be resolved like The Catalyst proposed.

IMHO, when Shepard found them, they maybe see in them a possible final ingredient of Catalyst's "Ultimate Solution" or they just had enough and wanted to enjoy their last hurrah fighting rather then hiding!


On a side note: This plot greatly reminds me of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.
Magratheans created Deep Thought, a supercomputer to answer that question and after 7,5 million years it gave them the answer and yes it was 42 and they were confused.
And them computer told them, they didn't even know the ultimate question, because, upper one is not really a question and it would design for them a even better SuperComputer (aka Planet Earth) to calculate the real Ultimate Question to which 42 would be the real Ultimate Answer and it would took only 10 million years! Of course, that never happened.

The point is, some questions, obviously can't be answered or at least can't be answered satisfactory as we saw in ME3 ending!