Kill or Spare the Rachni Queen

Decide the fate of the Rachni Queen in Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. Learn the consequences for ME2 and ME3, and gain a valuable War Asset.

Alright, so after you've dealt with Matriarch Benezia, you're gonna have a big decision to make about the Rachni Queen. Benezia was basically raising this… well, this *thing*. It's a giant, dangerous bug that could threaten the whole galaxy. The Queen's gonna try and talk her way out of it, even using a reanimated Asari as a puppet to chat with you. Pretty creepy, right?

She'll claim she wants peace now, but remember how much trouble the Rachni caused way back when they were running wild. This time, the Council won't have an endless supply of Krogan to bail them out. So, you've got two choices: you can either kill the Rachni Queen, or you can spare her and let her go.

Consequences

Honestly, this choice doesn't have as big an impact as you might think, at least not immediately. If you were worried about the Rachni being a threat, don't be – they'll show up again in later games no matter what you do here.

In Mass Effect 2, you'll get a little reminder of your decision, but it's pretty minor. If you killed the Queen, you'll just catch a news report about it. If you let her live, she'll send an Asari thrall to thank you on Illium, giving you a cryptic promise of future help.

Things get more interesting in Mass Effect 3. No matter what you chose on Noveria, you'll have to deal with a Rachni hive. If you killed the Queen, this new hive is led by a clone. But if you spared the original Queen, you'll be facing her again. And here's the kicker: if it's the real Queen, you can choose to spare her *again*, and she'll become a valuable War Asset for you. If it's the clone, though… well, her loyalty is a bit questionable, to say the least.