reido said: The way I look at it is this: Defining it as the Illusive Man's choice isn't really giving Control any credit, and also not really giving Shepard (at least if you're a Paragon) any credit, and the game itsn't doesn't help when it's all, "THIS IS WHAT THE IM WOULD HAVE CHOSEN". The IM would have chosen to control the Reapers.... specifically for the benefit of humanity. He would be ending the war and then having a big hyperdestructive knife at the throat of the rest of the galaxy. Shepard, or at least my Shep and probably most Paragon Sheps, would be choosing to control to Reapers specifically to benefit the galaxy as a whole. That's why I don't see it as being "the Illusive Man's choice", because the results and the goals are fundamentally different.
Tristan said: That's a fair distinction and yeah not what my normal paragon shep would do either but the poster boy for control in the series is the IM, hence the shortform referral. He also represents a sadly fading theme/option throughout the series and that's the human-first agenda. Given the state of the galaxy by ME3 I can see why Bioware limited Shep from those kinda choices but that's still too bad that you can't be Xenophobe Shep as much as you could in the previous ME's, it was a fun way to play. Then again when I think on it you could probably tell a lot of the races to go eff themselves still so Xenophobe Shep is getting thrown a bone a bit. And there's no reason that a Xenophobe Shep couldn't be a paragon to some extent, much the same as most paragons made some renegade calls and renegades finding some paragon choices to work for them. It's the same sort of reasoning that allowed for a paragon to agree with the IM during ME2 or a renegade to tell IM to eat it because you don't push around Shep.
Tristan said: Doesn't a rogue reaper kinda fuck with Starchild's side of things? Seems more in line with how some fans had hoped reapers would be like. Could be awesome though.
Colinp42 said: I don't know, I kind of liked the Synthesis ending - the whole "I am alive" thing. Especially because I had helped push EDI and Joker together.
