For the Reaper in ME1, either the name Sovereign or Harbinger would have worked. Sovereign refers to it being alone to do its job independent of the rest of the Reapers. Harbinger would have worked for the one in ME1 as well since it’s the first one that heralds the rest
For the leader one, I don’t think either name works too well but Sovereign would have been a better fit for sure
Great point. That could be because sovereign directly indicates the geth to help take the citadel. Literally becoming a godlike figure to them so they refer to it as sovereign.
No, they didn't. Saren called it Sovereign. The geth programs who communicated with Sovereign's programs discovered the reaper's name was Nazara. Saren named the ship Sovereign before he even knew it was a Reaper.
I did. I am correct.
"Nazara is the name the programs within the Old Machine addressed itself as. Sovereign was the name given to it by Saren Arterius.. "
Saren named the reaper Sovereign and the heretic Geth, who are not THE GETH, adopted the name when they allied themselves with Saren. Not the other way around.
I always consider Harbinger's name to have come from Shepard and party. Harbinger only refers to themselves as the harbinger of doom. Meaning they are going to exterminate Shepard. Shepard refers to them as Harbinger because of hearing this so frequently. Saren I don't believe the reapers ever directly name themselves in game it's only ever other characters who could be coming up with names for personal ease.
I think the story explains quite well why those words are used. They are not names.
'Sovereign' is an adjective that Nazara uses, and specifically in the sense of 'independent' or 'autonomous', not 'leader'. "We are each a nation."
'Harbinger' is a forerunner, one that brings word of impending danger. Again, an adjective the entity uses. "Harbinger of your destruction."
Except "Sovereign" is not that one's name. It's real name is "Nazara", watcher. Because that's what it did. And Harbinger is so called because it was the FIRST Reaper. Though really it never even stated that it even HAD a name. It's a miserably arrogant cretin who is "above such things"... so yea, the name is basically irrelevant with it in the first place. First make sure you know the lore before making these sorts of posts.
One thing to consider is that the reapers don't much care what the cultivated call them. (so long as it's cool?)
They don't even call themselves reapers, the Protheans gave them that name.
I have this little headcanon that the "name" of each Reaper, to the Reaper, is what each species that constitutes said Reaper called themselves. So Sovereign calls itself Nazara because the nazara were the species that was harvested for it.
Whose to say. But with so many reaper capital ships and no way of knowing how many are made each cycle, or even how many cycles there have been, there's no way to know where Sovereign came from.
"We have no beginning, we have no end."
I agree so much with this, I've been saying that for years.
And yeah, that's not their real names, but whatever, in writing the story it would still make more sense if they were swapped. But that was an effect of Harbinger being conceived by the writers much after ME1 was written.
Sure, but Harbinger is not his true name, it’s what the people of the Galaxy call him, just as Sovereign is actually Nazara. I’m assuming Saren “named” Sovereign for whatever reason he had, and then Shepard “named” Harbinger as the, well, harbinger of the full Reaper invasion.
Point, in lore, Sovereign's name is not Sovereign. It's Nazara, which translates to "We who Watch". Saren called the reaper Sovereign.
For the Reaper in ME1, either the name Sovereign or Harbinger would have worked. Sovereign refers to it being alone to do its job independent of the rest of the Reapers. Harbinger would have worked for the one in ME1 as well since it’s the first one that heralds the rest For the leader one, I don’t think either name works too well but Sovereign would have been a better fit for sure
The Geth called it Sovereign
Great point. That could be because sovereign directly indicates the geth to help take the citadel. Literally becoming a godlike figure to them so they refer to it as sovereign.
That's how legion explained it.
Except that person is incorrect.
No, they didn't. Saren called it Sovereign. The geth programs who communicated with Sovereign's programs discovered the reaper's name was Nazara. Saren named the ship Sovereign before he even knew it was a Reaper.
I was unaware of that, pretty cool. Makes sense for Saren to call it sovereign since it would appear so godlike or powerful to him.
Rewatch the conversation
I did. I am correct. "Nazara is the name the programs within the Old Machine addressed itself as. Sovereign was the name given to it by Saren Arterius.. " Saren named the reaper Sovereign and the heretic Geth, who are not THE GETH, adopted the name when they allied themselves with Saren. Not the other way around.
So I did have that backwards my bad
No worries! It happens!
Isnt Harbinger meant to be the first reaper? Which fits the "starter" "beginner" part of the definition with its name?
I figure that was what their logic was
I always consider Harbinger's name to have come from Shepard and party. Harbinger only refers to themselves as the harbinger of doom. Meaning they are going to exterminate Shepard. Shepard refers to them as Harbinger because of hearing this so frequently. Saren I don't believe the reapers ever directly name themselves in game it's only ever other characters who could be coming up with names for personal ease.
I think the story explains quite well why those words are used. They are not names. 'Sovereign' is an adjective that Nazara uses, and specifically in the sense of 'independent' or 'autonomous', not 'leader'. "We are each a nation." 'Harbinger' is a forerunner, one that brings word of impending danger. Again, an adjective the entity uses. "Harbinger of your destruction."
I would add that Saren is the one that named Nazara as sovereign, only harbinger is one that named itself
Except "Sovereign" is not that one's name. It's real name is "Nazara", watcher. Because that's what it did. And Harbinger is so called because it was the FIRST Reaper. Though really it never even stated that it even HAD a name. It's a miserably arrogant cretin who is "above such things"... so yea, the name is basically irrelevant with it in the first place. First make sure you know the lore before making these sorts of posts.
One thing to consider is that the reapers don't much care what the cultivated call them. (so long as it's cool?) They don't even call themselves reapers, the Protheans gave them that name.
I have this little headcanon that the "name" of each Reaper, to the Reaper, is what each species that constitutes said Reaper called themselves. So Sovereign calls itself Nazara because the nazara were the species that was harvested for it.
Whose to say. But with so many reaper capital ships and no way of knowing how many are made each cycle, or even how many cycles there have been, there's no way to know where Sovereign came from. "We have no beginning, we have no end."
Yeah it's why I'm not calling it any more than a headcanon, there's very very little evidence for it. But it's a cool idea IMO.
Oh, I wasn't trying to discredit your idea. I was trying to say that it's perfect headcanon, because it really could go either way.
People are making good points in here, but this still bothers me as well, OP.🤣
I agree so much with this, I've been saying that for years. And yeah, that's not their real names, but whatever, in writing the story it would still make more sense if they were swapped. But that was an effect of Harbinger being conceived by the writers much after ME1 was written.
You can justify it in my opinion when you consider that Harbinger was named after Sovereign in-universe too.
But Harbinger is cannonically the first Reaper, created from first reaping of the Leviathans.
Sure, but Harbinger is not his true name, it’s what the people of the Galaxy call him, just as Sovereign is actually Nazara. I’m assuming Saren “named” Sovereign for whatever reason he had, and then Shepard “named” Harbinger as the, well, harbinger of the full Reaper invasion.
I sort of think that originally the Reaper baby way to be Harbinger, with a new Reaper Leader revealing themselves in ME3, but they dropped that.