Mass Effect: Andromeda trailer teases a surprising link to the original trilogy

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Who exactly is Cora Harper, and what was your dad up to before the mission to Andromeda?

While I was busy speculating about whether or not your dad dies in Mass Effect: Andromeda, the rest of the internet was chasing a story with slightly more meat on its bones: Who the hell is Cora Harper?

What can I say, I have dad issues. But on to the big story: Cora was introduced in yesterday's Andromeda Initiative briefing. What makes her so interesting is that her surname, Harper, is shared by a very important guy from the original trilogy: Jack Harper, aka The Illusive Man, the leader of Cerberus.

It seems awfully unlikely that this is a coincidence, given that Mass Effect is a work of fiction and not a true story about space explorers going to another galaxy, in which case I would understand if two unrelated people shared a common surname.

Keep in mind that while Andromeda takes place hundreds of years after Mass Effect 3, the mission to Andromeda leaves during Mass Effect 2. That means that not only do these settlers have no idea about the Reaper attack, Cora could easily be The Illusive Man's daughter, or otherwise directly related. And that might explain why she's teamed up with the player's father, Pathfinder Alec Ryder. He's big into AI research, which is something Cerberus enjoyed as well.

As Kotaku points out, we also know that Harper was hanging out with asari commandos for four years, which is a decidedly un-Cerberus thing to do. So maybe she's not related after all, or she just rejected here pops' xenophobia.

I'm starting to think we'll see more call backs to the original trilogy than I had expected.

Tyler Wilde
Tyler Wilde
Editor-in-Chief, US

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.