(perhaps they plan to wipe out all aliens and leave humanity alone in the galaxy). He finds out about all the goings on with Cerberus and the recreated Shepard, and has to convince everyone that he's the real Shepard, and build a squad to stop Cerberus in their diabolical scheme involving the Reapers. Now- The real Shepard is who we play in Mass Effect 3. Cerberus's motivation? They're planning something devastating, based on Reaper technology or something, and need Shepard to front their missions (which will be played out in Mass Effect 3). That 'control chip' Miranda talks about at the start of the game might have actually been placed in this new cyborg Shepard. lying to him about the accident and implanting him with memories etc (they can do it with their limitless cash supply) and convincing everyone that they've recovered Shepard's corpse and revived him.

Meanwhile, Cerberus recreates a new Shepard with DNA or some futuristic genetic material they took from the real Shepard at some point during his lifetime. Instead he spends a year or so (the time frame of Mass Effect 2, say) recovering, rebuilding himself with the help of the inhabitants of the planet he landed on until finally he's back to who he was. I reckon he lands on the planet, somehow miraculously surviving the fall from the planet's inner-atmosphere's highest point to the ground (or water or soft pillow storage facility). WRONG! There's a planet behind Shepard, and if you watch the cutscene again you'll see how he is floating towards it, though it's difficult to tell at what velocity he is travelling at.

Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, his suit malfunctions, causing him to run out of oxygen and go limp. This is my theory: At the start of the game Commander Shepard remains aboard the flaming Normandy before an explosion forces him into the void of deep space.

Shepards body mass effect redemption