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[jlb524]

Given the recent release of Lair of the Shadow Broker, I've been thinking about the future of Liara and her character, and how her taking on the Shadow Broker role will affect the events of ME3 and affect Shepard's fight against the Reapers.  Some of the points I'm about to mention have been brought up in various places, but I wanted to organize them into one thread for discussion.

I also think Liara is in a unique position due to the DLC, as we've gotten a tiny glimpse into what the future may hold for her.  Also, LotSB was the first of the 'ME2/ME3 story bridging DLCs' so something that happened in it must be important for ME3 (and potential future ME2 DLC).

Some key points:

• Liara (as the Shadow Broker) now has enough power and resources to help fund Shepard's mission against the Reapers in ME3 (similar to how TIM/Cerberus did in ME2).  It is possible she could act as the main quest giver in ME3.  I'm under the impression that the SB has always been more powerful/wealthy than Cerberus.
• Given this, it seems likely that Shepard will cut ties with Cerberus at some point.  Some Shepards (mine, for example) have already cut ties with the Council and Shepard's relationship to the Alliance is still rocky.
• Even if the Alliance is willing to aid Shepard in ME3, I doubt they have the resources that Liara (the SB) posesses, nor would the Alliance be able to spend all their efforts in stopping the Reapers.
• The Shadow Broker also had intelligence on the Protheans.  This data may be more meaningful to Liara than the ex-SB, given her expertise in the field.

Thus, it seems to me that Liara will be extremely important to Shepard's war effort come ME3.  One thing that concerns some is that she may not be able to join Shepard on the squad in ME3 if she has this vital role to fulfill.  One idea is that Feron could temporarily take over and run the base while Liara joins Shepard.  Others have speculated that Liara could simply move her base of operations to the Normandy.  EDI would be of valuable help to her.

For those that have read Retribution, we know that Shepard has fallen off the grid....the Alliance has no clue where the Commander has gone to.  One theory I've had is that Shepard is hanging out on the Shadow Broker's base, possibly preparing resources and intelligence for the upcoming war.  Another idea is that Shepard is wanted by the Council/Alliance for something and is hiding out.  Now, if it's the Alliance, I suspect we may be seeing this plot play out in a future DLC.

Given the last point I made, I think Liara's past Prothean expertise will come in handy again in ME3.  It's possible that the old SB found the location of another major, lost Prothean research center similar to Ilos.  This place may hold a key secret needed to stop the Reapers once and for all.  If Liara is not a permanent squad mate in ME3, I could still see her temporarily joining up with Shepard for the mission that involves the exploration of these ruins (there would be wild and dangerous local fauna they would encounter and fight, of course ).

This is all speculation of course, as we know little about ME3, except that it's the end of the trilogy and the Reapers will need to be dealt with at some point.  Feel free to add your own speculations.

I wasn't sure if I should post this in this forum (as it's character related) or in the main storyline forum (as it's also story related), so a mod can move it if needed.

[jlb524]

Would there be a logical reason for Liara not to fill the role as quest giver/funder?



I can't think of anything...it seems like LotSB is setting this up. If not, the DLC becomes pretty meaningless, IMO. Unless something happens to the Shadow Broker base when the Reapers invade. At this point, Liara may join up with Shepard permanently as a squad mate.

[jlb524]

Would it be wise for Liara to break up the base then? I'm not sure how the infrastructure of the Shadow Broker's network is set up...is the base on Hagalaz the one true center of this network? Would destroying the SB's base devastate Shepard's war efforts?



I doubt this is the case though...I'm sure the SB has other facilities that store backups for all this data.



It might hurt a bit, though, as the main SB base may house the better technology for analyzing this data, though the Normandy could be set up to act as a secondary place to go and do this from.

[jlb524]

LesEnfantsTerribles wrote...

I'm assuming that the Shadow Broker Base is the only location that possesses the technology and computer systems necessary to co-ordinate and manage the network, which is obviously vast. Would it be possible to relocate these systems to the Normandy, in order to allow Liara and EDI to manage it together? .

It might be possible to relocate some of it, but not all of it.  Liara would have to just take the vital stuff.

It would be cool if there was a tiny info center on the Normandy in ME3.

[Phaedon]

This makes me wonder if Liara will be coming back as a squad member...Would Feron run the SB business while she is gone ?

[jlb524]

I'm fine with Liara being a squad mate or not, or fulfilling two roles during the game (quest giver for the first part/squad mate for the last).  I just hope they do justice to her character.

LesEnfantsTerribles wrote...

Indeed. Assuming that we're going to be using the SR2 again in ME3, I'd imagine that alot of the rooms will be repurposed and refitted when Shepard inevitably recruits new squadmates. I suppose that one of these rooms could be utilised by Liara, in order to manage her information network.

I bet they will redesign and upgrade the SR2 a bit for ME3, so I don't expect it to be the exact same...hopefully they will add more rooms.

[jlb524]

Phaedon wrote...

This makes me wonder if Liara will be coming back as a squad member...Would Feron run the SB business while she is gone ?

I think he would be the logical choice.  I doubt he just hangs around the base while Liara does all the work, so he's going to help her and be familiar with its operations.   Plus, he knows how the info game is played.   Plus, he can't die in LotSB, so they must be saving him for something.

[Captain Iglo]

Makes me wonder how Liara will handle all the already running operations of the Shadow Broker. Will she try to impersonate as the shadow broker and run everything as given...or will she bring in her own interests? Dont wanna say she would abuse the power...I dont expect that to happen, but she might would start shaping some things in the Galaxy in her interest or in the way that she thinks is right? Or would she just drop all operations?

[thekook78]

One thing that found interesting in ME1 was the planet with ancient ruins:
Klencory is famously claimed by the eccentric volus billionaire Kumun Shol. He claims that a vision of a higher being told him to seek on Klencory the "lost crypts of beings of light." These entities were supposedly created at the dawn of time to protect organic life from synthetic "machine devils."

Liara as the Shadow Broker would have immense resources to track down any information or artifacts that were pillaged from this site. I think this might be the key Shepard would be looking for to defeat the Reapers. Perhaps the Protheans found out who these "beings' are. This could be the information Liara refers to when she said the previous Shadow Broker had theories about additional Prothean sites.

With Liara's position she could relay information and we could have quest closer to KotOR like Revan searching for the Starforge maps. Kind of a dark, galactic Indiana Jones.... maybe....  

Modifié par thekook78, 28 septembre 2010 - 08:37 .

[jlb524]

Captain Iglo wrote...

Makes me wonder how Liara will handle all the already running operations of the Shadow Broker. Will she try to impersonate as the shadow broker and run everything as given...or will she bring in her own interests? Dont wanna say she would abuse the power...I dont expect that to happen, but she might would start shaping some things in the Galaxy in her interest or in the way that she thinks is right? Or would she just drop all operations?

I think she has to do both...impersonate the SB to an extent so agents don't grow suspicious but also bring in her own motives and interests (i.e., aiding Shepard stop the Reapers).   Though, I doubt the SB's agents will really care if there's a new head to the organization, as long as their endeavours are still profitable.

Will she give up the base after ME3?   That's a good question...I don't know...right now it seems she's only doing it for the war effort against the Reapers.  However, Liara also states that part of her wants it, to be the Shadow Broker. 

[pf17456]

Liara and Shepard off the grid formulating a plan to combat the Reapers using the SB base as a home base of operations and the Normandy as a means of onsite information gathering. I like it.



I do think the Protheans have more information to contribute, perhaps an as yet undiscovered vulnerability requiring a revisit to Ilos.



I also think the residual effects of the Thorian on the colonists of Ferros may be useful in resisting indoctrination. Afterall the Thorian did manage to survive at least one Reaper invasion.





I would think that prior to having Liara and Shepard incorporate SB systems onboard the Normandy involving EDI a decision will have to be made about ties to Cerebrus since TIM has listening devices installed throughout the Normandy and perhaps directly to EDI.





Feron may ultimately become the SB but that will likely take time however I don't think it would preclude him temporarily covering for Liara while she goes offbase with Shepard

[jlb524]

thekook78 wrote...

One thing that found interesting in ME1 was the planet with ancient ruins:
Klencory is famously claimed by the eccentric volus billionaire Kumun Shol. He claims that a vision of a higher being told him to seek on Klencory the "lost crypts of beings of light." These entities were supposedly created at the dawn of time to protect organic life from synthetic "machine devils."

Liara as the Shadow Broker would have immense resources to track down any information or artifacts that were pillaged from this site. I think this might be the key Shepard would be looking for to defeat the Reapers. Perhaps the Protheans found out who these "beings' are. This could be the information Liara refers to when she said the previous Shadow Broker had theories about additional Prothean sites.

With Liara's position she could relay information and we could have quest closer to KotOR like Revan searching for the Starforge maps. Kind of a dark, galactic Indiana Jones.... maybe....  

That would be awesome!  I really enjoyed the KOTOR story.  

I don't think it's coincidence that the Prothean expert also is the one to take over the Shadow Broker's information empire.  It would also be a nice tie in to the events that occured in ME1.

There also might be important parts to Shepard's vision that neither of them understand yet, and this potential unfound Prothean knowledge may help with that.

[jlb524]

pf17456 wrote...

I also think the residual effects of the Thorian on the colonists of Ferros may be useful in resisting indoctrination. Afterall the Thorian did manage to survive at least one Reaper invasion.

I wonder if the Cipher Shepard obtained from Shiala would assist with this?

pf17456 wrote...
I would think that prior to having Liara and Shepard incorporate SB systems onboard the Normandy involving EDI a decision will have to be made about ties to Cerebrus since TIM has listening devices installed throughout the Normandy and perhaps directly to EDI.

I personally hope Cerberus is out of the picture for good and TIM becomes your enemy in ME3 (regardless if the base was destroyed or not).   I can see TIM dropping  even a loyal Shepard if it's beneficial.

[Captain Iglo]

LesEnfantsTerribles wrote...

Well, Liara does state that she wishes to turn the operation into "something better", and in Redemption she does mention that those involved in the information broker business do not necessarily have to work for the purpose of monetary gain. Considering this, and the compassion and empathy fundamental to Liara's personality, I believe that she will use the Shadow Broker's network for the power of good, and to help galactic civilisation and it's inhabitants, becoming a more benevolent version of the Shadow Broker. Unlike the previous Broker, her motives and reasons for working in the position are not limited to self gain and a thirst for power. She wishes to use her power and influence in order to help people.

I think it could also be a possibility in the end of ME3 for her to...hmm how can I say..."go public" with all the information. Erase the fact that there is an Information broker and give the trust in the galaxy and the system to work on their own...without a watching and controlling eye.

She also could use the fact that the Shadow broker is feared to intimidate organized crime. though i dont know ifd ther agents would play a long with the sudden change of the shadow brokers intentions.

Or she could just keep going and work for the best in the galaxy (though of course it would be her opinion of "the best").

Or just blow the base sky high and ride with Shepard into the sunset.

LesEnfantsTerribles wrote...
It's quite irritating that the quote I mentioned above is featured
in a comic book that not every player will read, as it's such a vital
part of Liara's character development and reason for taking the Shadow
Broker job.

Never had the chance to really read em...the first issue just became available here in germany...dunno when the rest will be released.

Modifié par Captain Iglo, 28 septembre 2010 - 09:09 .

[Mox Ruuga]

I OTOH hope that we can continue to work with Cerberus, even tho I too bet that they won't be the "guest giver" in ME3. The Cerberus takes it all ending would be the ultimate Renegade victory scenario, where a Cerberus controlled Alliance takes over Citadel, unlocks its secrets, and thus controls the Relay network...

On topic, I think Liara will indeed be demoted to non-squaddie status. No need to fret, because the only previous squaddie that I think will be full time is the VS. We'll get a new squad otherwise, but since LotSB was successful and well loved, I can see Bioware using the "temporary" squaddie model with some of the old favorites in ME3.