TheMass Effecttrilogy includes a variety of species to populate the Milky Way Galaxy, and each has its own history, culture, and defining features. While there’s a lot to explore when it comes to the races of the Milky Way, details that pop up early in the trilogy can lead to questions that are answered later or perhaps only answered through digging into extra information provided either in the game or through additional content. Questions like why Tali and the rest of the Quarians wear special suits are luckily answered through completing quests.
Quarians are one of several races that call the Milky Way their home, and Tali represents them in the trilogy sinceshe’s the onlyQuarian who joins Shepardon the Normandy. Additionally, she can be recruited in all three games, giving Shepard plenty of time to learn about her and the Quarians. As it turns out, Quarians and Geth have a complex history with each other, and that factors into the reason Quarians wear their suits.
What Led To Quarians Creating The Migrant Fleet
The Importance Of Rannoch
Understanding the importance of Rannoch to Tali and the rest of the Quarians first requiresunderstanding how they ended up creating the Migrant Fleetand living there rather than on their homeworld. This also ties into whyQuarians and Geth are enemies inMass Effectsince the conflict between these two led to the Quarians evacuating Rannoch. When the Geth showed signs of becoming sentient, the Quarians planned to eliminate them.
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This plan backfired, and the Geth wiped out most of the population, leading the remaining Quarians to flee the planet. With living on their home planet no longer an option, the Quarians developed the Migrant Fleet, also known as the Flotilla, as their new home. Naturally, this had culturalimpacts that led to Quarians needing to wear special suitsto survive, using technology to live on overcrowded ships, and having the young people go on pilgrimages to learn about life beyond the fleet and how they can help the fleet with new knowledge from their pilgrimage.
Why Quarians Wear Their Suits
The Downfall Of A Sterile Environment
While this wasn’t always the case, Quarians all wear enviro-suits by the time that Shepard meets and recruits Tali. The information shows that their weak immune system isn’t a new feature when it comes to Quarian biology. However,their immune systems have worsened after living in the sterile environmentsof the ships that make up the Migrant Fleet. Because of this, any exposure to pathogens can make a Quarian rather ill, and they wear specialized suits to help protect them and support their immune systems.
Tali Shouldn’t Have Removed Her Visor During A War
She Risked Severe Sickness
Priority: Rannoch is an emotional mission for Tali, and it’s Shepard’s chance tobroker peace between the Quarians and GethinMass Effect3if they made the right choices throughout the trilogy leading up to that moment. By this point, life on Rannoch is a distant memory for the Quarians. Since centuries have passed, theirimmune systems are likely no longer compatible with their homeworld, especially when they’ve become progressively worse. Of course, this would include Tali, which is why she shouldn’t remove her visor when she was on Rannoch.
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Tali has survived a lot, including thesuicide mission inMass Effect 2, but that doesn’t make her invincible. While seeing Rannoch with her own eyes, and not through a visor, makes sense, it also presentsa risk that could’ve turned into a big issue, especially in the middle of a war for survival against the Reapers. It would’ve been easy for her to get sick when removing her visor since her immune system is so weak, and a war for survival is the worst possible time to get ill, whether it’s mild or severe.
Mass Effecthas many emotional moments, and it’s easy to see why Tali needed to remove her visor to see Rannoch with her own eyes. However, when looking at information about the Quarians and the circumstances happening at that time in the galaxy, it might not have been the best option to potentially expose herself to any number of pathogens at that moment, which could have made her severely ill. In the end, Tali’s actions make sense, even if they weren’t the best because she didn’t know if she’d have another chance to see Rannoch inMass Effect.
