Sfdebris.net

I think the reason the Catalyst is one of the most hated characters and seen as a creators pet is due to how we can't argue against it. The Catalyst's defense as to why it does what it does is because Synthetics will always turn against Organics, that "True Peace" can only be obtained through fusing organics and synthetics, and that the Illusive Man and Saren were right in that the Reapers could be controlled.

You cannot argue any of these points. You can't point out that you made peace between the Geth and the Quarians, you can't point out how much EDI has grown and how she is willing to give up her life to save Joker and you. You cannot point out that the Geth only attacked the Quarians in self-defense and showed their creators mercy instead of wiping them out. You cannot point out how turning everyone into what the REAPERS see as perfect WITHOUT the galaxies consent is morally wrong and how diversity is what makes everyone strong. And you if you take the Blue Pill the game doesn't give you the option to just fly the Reapers into a couple of Stars and be done with this.

You can only argue that you can choose not to make a choice and them developers respond by just breaking the game and telling you that your wrong and that they'll just get their endings some other way.

Again, going over to Dragon Age: Inquisition and spoilers for that game, you can argue against Solas and make it clear that you plan to change his mind or stop him no matter what. You can show how clever you are and show that you've figured out that Solas is the Dread Wolf or just even telling him to get to the point and not give you a massive exposition dump. That conversion is, IMO, one of BioWare's best scenes as the tone and nature said conversation AND the possible fate of Solas is determined by you.

But in the conversation with the Catalyst it just ignores Shepard's ability to change anyone's mind with the Paragon and Renegade System despite the fact that is Shepard's greatest weapon, our ability to choose. But instead the game goes F#(k you and refuses to give us a chance to bring up anything we've learned throughout the series. Red, Green or Blue and try to point out what makes Shepard who he/she is and we will break the board and declare ourselves the winners.

Thoughts?

The problem with the set up is there's no POINT to arguing the case because the Catalyst is already convinced.

It's giving you the button:

* Destroy Reapers
* Control Reapers
* Create Cyborg Husk Reality

It's the choices are not really any good, not that the Catalyst has not already decided you are the end all judge of everything.

Arguing would be satisfying but the game was already running short on time with no real opposition from the Catalyst.

Nearing the end of my ME3 - LE playthrough and I am dreading what is going to come. The only ending-choices that makes any sort of sense are either Refusal or Destruction. Synthesis, which I choose in the past, is something I only ever choose because I could not stomach destryong the Geth and EDI, because they never did anything wrong. They are lifeforms and have a right to exist and it stands to reason that while Synthesis is the "natural" ending for the organic vs synthetic war-cycle, it's not a choice anyone has a right to force onto anyone, plus it stands to reason that Synthesis is just a fancy way of Reaperification, plus "Saren was right". Domination, heh, that one goes straight out the window for obvious reasons. During the playthrough it even gets pointed out: You can't dominate the Reapers and I very much am convinced, that power corrupts. Even if Shepard's personality gets disseminated through all Reapers and they are "nice guys" for a while, who can guarantee that they do not fall back to their previous patterns? Plus, indoctrination is still a thing so over time, everyone falls in line... Willing or otherwise... The problem with that should be obvious. Destruction... Well, the Geth and EDI... As someone who is very much in line with the "Ideals of Star Trek", going out there and finding new life, new things, explore the world and everything beyond, sacrificing all synthetic life to allow for the survival for all organics? I mean, don't get me wrong, in reality, I would do that. I can't argue against my own survival instincts and the responsibilities I have to life overall, because better someone survives than noone and, arguably, if AI was invented once, it can be invented again. Though that kinda makes the organics the new Reapers in a way... *shudders*
And then there is Refusal. Arguably that is the "noone wins" ending, because even though the Reapers technically win, the question is: Do they? The cycle continues, the inherent logical flaw in their plan remains and they are aware of it or at least the Catalyst is. They're trapped in their own personal hell, repeating the same mistake again and again and again and again...

My only logical choice is Destruction, because it removes the Reapers from the table and guarantees that at least the organics for once and finally, have a chance to "ascend" and leave the past behind, not repeating the same mistake again, even though it comes at the cost of essentially repeating the mistake that lead to the Reapers in the first place, but at least there's a chance that people will realize the problem and get better... Either way, I sincerely do not wish any of the four endings to carry over to my character in ME4. I don't want to be resonsible for the destruction of all synthetic life. I don't want to be resonsible for creating a Reaper-dictatorship. I do not want to force everyone into becoming transhumanist (including the not-human and non-humanoid aliens in this word, as I lack a proper word for it) and I do not want to be responsible for the continuation of the cycle, when I play ME4.

I sincerely hope they go for a retcon and take the Destruction-ending minus kill-all-synths as a basis or take Domination with the Shepreapers having left known space after restoring the base infrastructure.

P.S.: Something that just bugged me since ME2, but does extremely more in ME3: Why the fuck are there Cerberus-logos on my weapons, armor and gear? I mean, it made some semblance of sense in ME, given Shephard got a good part of his gear from Cerberus, but in ME3? I run around with a Cerberus-marked sniper-rifle, use a Cerberus-marked SMG, wear a Cerberus-marked armor. WTF? They went through the trouble of removing the logos from Jacob and Miranda, despite them wearing their standard ME2-outfits, but I am not allowed to remove the logos of the armor and weaponry which I produce in the mini-fabricators my ship carries around? Hello?

P.P.S.: I just realized, the way the Catalyst talks about the Crucible... It's aware of it. And I mean, not just aware because of it being docked to the Citadel, but aware of it's continued existence through the cycles. I think it was Javik who indirectly made that point, as he mentioned that their version of the Crucible was in the process of being built, but got revealed through indoctrinated agents. Not just randomly discovered during an invasion, but through treachery by Indoctrination and we all know that indoctrinated people aren't mindless like Husks, but still keep some semblence of their mental faculties, so the Reapers must have known of the Crucible at least since the Protheans, possibly and quite likely even longer. Catalyst knew of it and choose to ignore what it proclaims to be an alternate solution to the problem it was trying to solve, despite pretending now that this new solution is something it actually welcomes and freely gives you control over. What?!
I mean, of course, shitty writing and all, but geezus fucking christ...

And coming at the Crucible from a different direction: Who came up with the idea of that thing in the first place? One had to be aware of the AI located on the Citadel in the first place and what that AI is intended to do, how it works, how the whole fucking Reaper thing works to come up with the idea of the Crucible in the first place. So where did that come from?! Anyone who comes close enough to the revelation of the Reapers, the Leviathans and the Catalyst, would stand at the same point that "our" cycle stands, would, by necessity, be powerful enough to make it to the Citadel during the Reaper invasion or even before the invasion starts, to come up with the idea for that device in the first place and thus be in direct contact with the Catalyst. Anyone in that place, would be just as good to push the button as Shepard is, so how comes noone did that yet?! Is the Crucible an idea of Catalyst in the first place and it leaked the idea to the organics, refining it through the cycles? No matter how much you think about this entire thing, no matter from what angle you come at the solution to this conundrum, it always leads to one thing: Catalyst is a fucking cunt and Destruction is the only viable solution, because everything else can not be helped but be interpreted as deception and deceit...

P.P.P.S.: Small wish for the next game, given I did the Citadel-DLC at the last possible moment and thus am probably skipping through content or missing it entirely despite being otherwise able to engage with the content: Please stop making content only available through mission-progress. I have no side-missions left and as far as I am aware, I am purely missing out on content because I can't "progress time forward" by doing a mission, except by beginning the final mission that takes away my means to interact with the content in the first place. Stuff like my crew melting if I am not fast enough in ME2 is fine, but not being able to buy better furniture for my brand spanking new apartment, unless I run the clone-story way too early for all the fun within the DLC to take place is fucking stupid.

I choose Control because it's the only option that doesn't involve mass body rape or genocide.