The PlayStation 3 version of Mass Effect 2 recently received a patch, and inside that patch were three new trophies for the game that ousted a batch of yet-to-be-announced DLC titled "Arrival".
The new trophies were noticed and captured via screenshot by BioWare forum member Vamplosion, who soon posted them on the forum itself.
WARNING: The rest of the story contains possible spoilers as to the plot details of the "Arrival" DLC. Read on at your own risk.
One of the three trophies listed for the new DLC mentions a Dr. Amanda Kenson. Players with a good memory and eye remembered a Cerberus News Network entry dated January 24th, 2011 mentioning Dr. Kenson.
The entry read like this:
"Historians and astronomers alike are abuzz tonight over a new paper published by Dr. Amanda Kenson of the University of Arcturus. Her team claims that by testing the dust trapped in the gravity wells around a mass relay, and comparing its composition to that of dust clouds in the same system, scientists can create a timeline of when the relay passed through the dust. Her conclusion? ‘Only a small fraction of the mass effect relays date back 50,000 years,’ she writes, ‘The majority are far older, indicating they were created by a species predating even the Protheans.’ Dr. Aurana T’Meles of the University of Serrice met the information with skepticism: ‘While Dr. Kenson’s methods appear sound, the asari tried a similar procedure centuries ago and discounted it. What civilization could have spanned the galaxy for not thousands, but millions of years? If this were the case, we should have found mountains of evidence of their passing. Where is this species now?’"
The trophies themselves are detailed as such:
"The Ultimate Sacrifice" – Complete the "Arrival" DLC.
"Last Stand" – Survive all five waves in the battle for Object Rho.
"Covert Action" – Rescue Dr. Amanda Kenson without attracting hostile attention.
Speculation is abound across the internet and within the BioWare forums about what "Arrival" exactly will entail. Given the knowledge displayed above, it appears that the content will be a bridging of the gap between Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3.
Keeping that in mind, the DLC could perhaps be the literal arrival of the first Reapers coming to destroy the Milky Way and Shepard’s first skirmish with the ancient and deadly machines. With a trophy titled "The Ultimate Sacrifice" for completing the content it seems that whatever "Arrival" turns out to be, its ending will be a deadly one.
