BioWare is planning to flesh out the existing ending of Mass Effect 3, but that doesn't mean fans haven't already done some fleshing-out of their own.

(Spoilers!)

The much-discussed "Indoctrination Theory" floats the notion that Shepard in fact didn't make it to the final decision at all, and that much of the controversial ending took place in his/her mind. The decisions at the end (or at least, two of them) are controlled entirely by the Reapers.

There are many variations on this theory out there, each supported by a ton of clues gathered from the game. (This one from the BioWare forums is a good example, and there's also this video that breaks it down.)

But what do BioWare's developers think? At a PAX East panel today attended by Kotaku's Kate Cox, one of the panelists allowed that the indoctrination theory "illustrates how committed the [Mass Effect] fanbase is," but said that while "fans will interpret it in their own way," they didn't want to comment either way for fear of being "prescriptive."

Plus, they've got that "Extended Cut" DLC to make. "We want the content to speak for itself, and we'll let it do so."

That response gives me the impression that BioWare didn't expressly intend the Indoctrination Theory's interpretation. But who knows? It's always possible that they've got a suuuuper good poker face and are really going to blow our minds this summer.

Check out Kate's full liveblog of the Mass Effect panel here.

Our own Kate Cox is at PAX East, liveblogging BioWare's Mass Effect Panel.

What will happen? What will be revealed? How will it all end? Only one way to find out. To the liveblogmobile!

Today at PAX East, Stephen Totilo ran into a familiar face—Rana McAnear, the actress who provides the official model for Mass Effect's Asari Justicar Samara and her unhinged sex-killer daughter Morinth. He took a moment to shoot this quick video of her in her awesome Samara outfit.

There's cosplay, and then there's the actual person who played the character in the game, dressed in a kickass version of the original outfit from that game. She looks amazing! The only thing missing are the super-intense biotics.

Though she does probably smile more than Samara ever would. But that's okay. Man, I never could get Samara to be anything but an uptight killjoy.

Bummed that the extended Mass Effect 3 ending DLC won't contain any new playable content? All the new playable content you could ever want is right around the corner; you just have to believe in multiplayer.

The Resurgence Pack brings a ton of new playable characters and two fresh new maps (thank goodness) to the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer experience, all for the low, low price of nothing.

How do Bioware and EA make money on free? By adding in fresh new weapons to be earned by purchasing booster packs in the multiplayer store. Sure you can just earn the points through regular channels, but that Geth Plasma SMG is too sexy to leave to chance.

The Resurgence Pack drops on April 10 on Orgin, Xbox Live, and the North American PlayStation Network, with Euro PSN users getting it on April 11.

The ending that you get in Mass Effect 3 will have a greater likelihood of varying from the one I get starting this summer, when the people making the game release the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut.

The free, downloadable add-on, which was revealed by the game's developers at BioWare on Thursday, will highlight the different decisions you've made during your adventure through new cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes. The new ending won't introduce new gameplay sequences, a spokesperson told us. The result? More player-specific endings.

"Much of the focus of the Extended Cut is to expand on the variety of consequences of player choices and degrees of success," the spokesperson said, "so, with the new content, the player's choices should result in a much more varied experience."

The new ending content will be woven into the game and should be accessible seamlessly. We were told that players "should be able to grab a save file before the endgame and experience the new content from there." (Keep a pre-endgame savefile, folks!)

BioWare's work on the Extended Cut is delaying other DLC content, but players who want non-ending content shouldn't fret too much. "The overall development of other DLC will shift," the spokesperson told us, "but several projects are underway and in various stages of development."

The game's creators have also promised that the Extended Cut will not introduce a different ending or add more endings. It will just provide more clarity and context for what was already on the game's disc.

It's to the point that I don't really know what to make of it anymore, so I'm putting it up during Kotaku Melodic and I'll let you guys make up your own minds. It… there aren't words, really.

Poor Jacob.

(Fair warning: It has a ton of spoilers for all three Mass Effect games.)

The free downloadable extension to Mass Effect 3 will beef up the game's current ending, but it will not include ending or change what happened in the current one, the game's creators said today.

That information comes from a new post on the official blog of Mass Effect studio BioWare:

Are there going to be more/different endings or ending DLCs in the future?
No. BioWare strongly believes in the team's artistic vision for the end of this arc of the Mass Effect franchise. The extended cut DLC will expand on the existing endings, but no further ending DLC is planned.

The "mini-FAQ" reiterates that the summer-scheduled DLC will add "additional cinematics and epilogue scenes to the existing ending sequences. The goal of these new scenes is to provide additional clarity and closure to Mass Effect 3."

The studio says "the goal of the DLC is not to provide a new ending to the game, rather to offer fans additional context and answers to the end of Commander Shepard's story."

MASS EFFECT 3 EXTENDED CUT [BioWare Blog]

The extra content generated in response to fan outcry over Mass Effect 3's controversial ending will be out this summer, according to a press release issued by EA this morning.

Players of the sci-fi threequel will be able to experience additional cinematics and epilogue cutscenes that add further clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3. However, the release doesn't mention any additional gameplay content. BioWare co-founder Ray Muyzka said the following regarding the Extended Cut:

"We are all incredibly proud of Mass Effect 3 and the work done by Casey Hudson and team. Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding. With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe."

Series executive producer Casey Hudson's elaboration in the statement says, "We have reprioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player."

The word "reprioritized" seems to indicate that there's more post-launch DLC coming for ME3 but that the development studio shifted plans to address certain players' anger over the game's ending.

One important sidenote: the free DLC offer expires until April 12, 2014. So, if you're planning to wait out a massive price drop for Mass Effect 3, don't wait too long.

Update: BioWare has further clarified what they're doing to the ending, vowing that they will not offer any new or different endings, just an extended one.

So Bioware is giving us a "modified" ending to Mass Effect 3. While details are scant, the safe money is on not a changed ending, but an epilogue of sorts. Something more.

If you were hoping that would mean something more from a certain Commander Shepard, well, it doesn't sound like it will. Speaking with Edge, Jennifer Hale, the voice of Shepard, said that she hasn't recorded anything. She hasn't even been contacted by BioWare or told she'll be needed for whatever new content we end up with.

Not that she won't ever be contacted in the future, but given the timeframes needed to put DLC together, it doesn't seem likely Commander Shepard will have much of a role to play in whatever new content is added to the game's "ending".

Jennifer Hale on Mass Effect 3's ending [Edge]