Did a replay of Tali's loyalty mission - and this time, selected the renegade option when first speaking to the admirals ("You've got some nerve!") where Shepard calls them out for springing the news of Tali's father's death on her right there in the middle of the trial.
I wasn't expecting any new dialogue when returning from the Alarei, but there is a slight change, with added dialogue from Han'Garrel admitting Shepard was right earlier.
In case Tumblr is being a POS or for those with not great internet connection, he says:
"Shepard was right. Springing the information about Rael on Tali... we practically dared her to take back the Alarei. We killed her."
So I was using Legendary Explorer mod to cruise through the sound files of dialogue from the Migrant Fleet, and found at least a couple of interesting deleted/unused ones, including this one from Han'Gerrel - which gives some background lore as well that we never hear otherwise. As another unused dialogue file has Shep noting that Gerrel seems well acquainted with Tali, I can assume that this would probably have been the response, which you can hear in this file.
"All the old guard knows Tali. Rael brought her to admiralty board meetings when she was a little girl."
MY HEART. Someone needs to write or draw this now.
Comparison of Han'Gerrel (Mass Effect) and Rameses (Prince of Egypt)
Why?
Because adhd brain says so! ;) Also, Prince of Egypt is amazing, and was my first main fandom on this site (way back in like 2014. Yeah, I've been here 11 years hahaha... *sweats*)
In all seriousness, thinking about Han'Gerrel and his character changes and motives in Mass Effect 2 and 3 woke up the Prince of Egypt department in my brain. I think it picked up how both had so much stubbornness and pride (yes, thank you, Plagues song for some epic lyrics), and how in a way, both had brought their fates upon themselves (see: Shep's renegade speech in Priority: Rannoch ("If you keep attacking, I will stand and watch as your people are laid to waste" like DAMN SHEP, and Moses' much calmer and sadder, "Rameses, you bring this upon yourself." There is not a single renegade atom in Moses' entire body.)
(Damn, I forgot how gorgeous the animation and everything is too! They even animated Rameses' inhalation as he looks up at the lightning.)
So, what are some similarities and differences, besides the obvious like Mass Effect and Prince of Egypt being completely different stories and media types, among other things?
A couple weeks ago, I'd noted down some ideas of similarities between the two characters in a notebook, so here are some scribbles below the cut, because this got long.
Also gonna tag @ideas-on-paper, because I'd love to hear your thoughts on this too.
SIMILARITIES HENCEFORTH
1. Stubborness and pride
Both absolutely have this in spades, their hearts hardened by their determination to achieve their goals at any cost, even to innocent lives. But the seed of stubbornness and pride were planted in very different contexts.
Rameses never quite forgot his father, Seti's, angry rebuke in his teens when he had tried to placate the latter with trying to explain how "one destroyed temple does not destroy centuries of tradition" - only to be met with "But one weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty!" (Patrick Stewart, you are also perfect btw.) From then on, year by year, but especially once the seat of kingship passed on to him, his determination not to be the weak link in the chain grew, for better or for worse (generally the latter).
This determination to not be the weak link in the chain of a mighty dynasty manifested in increasingly hostile conditions for the Hebrew slaves, and the building of temples and statues that surpassed his father's in number and in height. But we don't see this, as we stay with Moses the whole time, until he returns to Egypt, as bidden by God. And this, I think, makes the revelation of how much conditions have worsened for the Hebrews hit even harder, as we see it at the same time as Moses does.
Now let's shoot forward very far in time and far from Egypt, to the Migrant Fleet in a far flung arm of our galaxy during the 22nd Century.
Shep's gonna give him a stomach-ache to whine about after nearly killing her and Tali (as well as Garrus in my run) on the dreadnought.
Admiral Gerrel, on the other hand, has this similar level of stubborness, determined to go to war with the Geth at any cost, even at the cost of the lives of the Quarian civilians, and even Tali's and Shepard's as we see during the dreadnought mission. While at first, he did appear to care enough about the civilians to recognise a need for a world to shelter the non-combatants on (as he says if you talk to him during Tali's trial before you go on the Alarei in ME2), all of that prior consideration for civilians is defenestrated faster than you can say "bosh'tet!" in ME3.
So, in the end, like Rameses, he is willing to let civilians suffer or die to ensure that his goals are met, and if it means killing Shepard and Tali, so be it. (Which makes me sort of wish Rael was still somehow alive in ME3, because I'd have loved to see his reaction to his best friend (soon ex-best-friend) nearly killing his daughter on the dreadnought. That would be one pissed-off Quarian, who no doubt would side with Raan on putting Gerrel on trial for treason and see to it himself that it happens.
The seed for this immovable determination to kill all the geth with full-scale war had also taken root in his youth, especially bolstered by the fact he was also good friends with Rael'Zorah who also supported war with the geth. His rise to the rank of admiralty (ditto Rael's) was almost certainly rooted in that drive to see all the geth dead once and for all, and both men would certainly have influenced Tali's views on the Geth and that they needed to all die, full stop.
2. Then Let My Heart Be Hardened
"And no matter how high the cost may grow, this will still be so..."
Rameses' immovable stubborness and sense of pride is also a player in hardening his heart against Moses' constant pleas to set the Hebrew slaves free, at the bequest of his God. Likely fearing that letting them go would make him appear weak (aka a weak link in the dynasty), Rameses keeps hardening his resolve, even at the cost of his crops, his civilians, his infrastructure, and on even to his own firstborn son. No matter how horrific or intense the plagues, he does not budge on freeing the Hebrews.
He also shows no remorse or regret for any of it, other than the very mournful scene where we see him grieving his lost firstborn son - and only when Moses leaves, does he look up and you can see the rage in his face, and you know he's about to seek some kind of revenge or vengeance - and he does.
Ah yes. My heart. Didn't need that useless organ anyway.
As for Admiral Gerrel, you sense him harden his heart/resolve the deeper and further we move into the Rannoch arc, first appearing with full strength during the dreadnought mission. Like Rameses, he shows absolutely no remorse for potentially killing Shepard, Tali, and the third squadmate (for me, it's always Garrus), and doesn't even have the pair, let alone quad, to apologize or admit that he done fucked up. Even Rameses shows more regret about losing his close brotherhood and friendship with Moses, and, notably, doesn't try to kill him (or doesn't let anyone do so on pain of death). Well, at least up until the chase at the Red Sea anyway: "Kill them! Kill them all!"
And that would've included Moses, just as much as Gerrel's unilateral strike on the dreadnought would've included Tali as much as Shepard and anyone else with them. No remorse ("lol they made it out alive, chill, Raan" basically) that he could've gotten his best friend's daughter killed even (not if the angst fanfic dept in my brain has something to say about it)!
3. "Kill them! Kill them ALL!"
That absolute dedication to historical accuracy is pretty hot, not gonna lie. As is Fiennes' fine voice.
Both of them want an entire population of people (or synthetics) 110% dead at some point, and they'll be damned if even one would be left alive. While Rameses initially let the Hebrews go (that heartbreaking voice acting, oof, during his line: "You... and your people... have my permission to... go." Fiennes nailed it, holy shit.)
They also go at the cost of their whole civilisation, though Rameses' was on a relatively longer timeline; the plagues had no doubt decimated a significant part of the Egyptians, especially the civilians. And of course, when the Red Sea comes crashing back down on Rameses and his army, it is assumed that every one of those soldiers - save for Rameses himself, who's flung unceremoniously onto a rock - perished as they drowned in the returning water.
During the climax of the Rannoch arc, if you are unable to do a paragon/renegade speech check, you have one of two choices: let Legion upload the code or stop him. You are unable to persuade Gerrel at all if you don't have either of the paragon/renegade options available, so it's all down to whether you let Legion upload the code or stop him.
If you let Legion upload the Reaper code, well, the Quarians are absolutely doomed, all 17 million of them dying due to Gerrel's stubbornness and refusal to listen to reason or budge on his determination to see every single one of the geth dead. And even he doesn't survive it, nor seem to care at all. Indeed, to echo Moses' words right before the 10th plague to Rameses, he brought this on himself.
4. Youthful Recklessness: Of Chariots and Gunships
To round off this discussion of similarities on a lighter note, both Rameses and Gerrel have a memory of recklessness in their youths: one we see, and one we hear about, respectively. Not much to dissect here, just something I wanted to add to round the similarities off on a lighter note!
For Rameses, it's of course, the big epic chariot race with Moses, where we see them as carefree youths, unknowing of what the future would hold for them. For a moment, Rameses doesn't worry about kingship or responsibilities or upholding the dynasty - he's just happy to share a youthful moment of fun with Moses, even if it means destructing a statue or two, oops! He reins back this recklessness very quickly, though, especially after Seti's scolding right after the chariot race incident.
As for Han'Gerrel, he also has a reckless streak in him that is seen in his recollection of a youthful, pre-pilgrimage memory with himself and Rael'Zorah, when they were serving on the gunship Yaska. However, this was in a very different context, too, considering that it was during a Batarian raid, and just over half of the crew were dead. In this case, they took advantage of a loophole in the law, where they couldn't be put on trial for breaking formation, and did so - they broke it because they could, leading to them being scolded by the brass and made to go on pilgrimage earlier than usual.
This reckless streak in him continues strong even well into adulthood (I imagine he's at least in his mid-fifties or so when we see him, so an aging warhawk, as Xen puts it). We see this most prominently with his attack on the dreadnought, not caring to check if the squad were still inside before firing - but this is a recklessness born of a ruthless need to see all the geth dead and defeated in full-scale war, no matter how high the costs may grow.
