121 réponses à ce sujet

[Barquiel]

smudboy wrote...

Did he?  Didn't Miranda find out Feron was working both teams, and working with Liara?  (I didn't read the comics, but it makes sense.)

Feron was a SB agent, but TIM recruited him to assist Liara
Feron helps Liara to recover Shepards body - the SB captures him
Liara asks Miranda if TIM plans to rescue Feron, Miranda says "no"
Liara says she'll do it herself
ME2: Liara works for the SB, she can't be trusted

[mosor]

I trust TIM in regards to him wanting to stop the reapers. I also trust him when he says he wants human dominance.



I realize that I'm nothing more than a chess piece to him. A valuable one but ultimately expendable if it helps him achieve objective 1 or 2. So I base my trust within that mind frame,



Trusting him that he wants to stop the reapers and secure humanity's place in the galaxy is reasonable. Trusting him that he'll never play you is foolish.

[Big I]

I look forward to shooting and/or arresting TIM in ME3. He can't be trusted as an ally (he lies constantly), can barely be trusted as a resource (every project gets away from him and starts assassinating Admirals or sending mechs after Shepard or something), and at the end of the day I find the idea of someone who'd risk or sacrifice countless lives without even a practical goal to be unlikeable. Down with Cerberus.

[mosor]

LookingGlass93 wrote...

I look forward to shooting and/or arresting TIM in ME3. He can't be trusted as an ally (he lies constantly), can barely be trusted as a resource (every project gets away from him and starts assassinating Admirals or sending mechs after Shepard or something), and at the end of the day I find the idea of someone who'd risk or sacrifice countless lives without even a practical goal to be unlikeable. Down with Cerberus.

lol wut? He spent billions ressurecting you; spend billions giving you a new ship; the projects he initiated like discovering that derelict reaper and developing EDI from reaper tech being the major reason you stopped the collectors and you're telling me he can't be trusted as an ally or a resource? He's given a hell of a lot more help and resources than the council did in the first game.

Speaking of which. The help the old council gives you in the first game, pretty much amounts to making you a spectre. The help they give you in the second game is still pretty much making you a spectre again. I'm glad they did that in the second game. It illustrates just how worthless the council is when it comes to helping Shepard with anything. Damn ingrates..

Modifié par mosor, 11 octobre 2010 - 03:34 .

[IndigoWolfe]

I don't hate Tim! Why would I hate Tim?

[Finnish Dragon]

smudboy wrote...

Finnish Dragon wrote...
In the end, Shepard has no reasons to trust TIM:

Aside from that Jesus thing.

And the ship.

And the crew.

And handing the entire plot to him.

So, TIM assumes that Shepard will be his pawn and he can treat Shepard in a way he sees fit. That isn´t a good way to gain Shepard´s trust and motivate Shepard to work for Cerberus.

The fact is that TIM deliberately lied on Shepard regarding the Collector Ship

Which was a good thing.

In a retrospective that is true. However, a person who is walking to an ambush will disagree if he knows that his "boss" knew about the ambush and didn´t inform him. 

and regarding Liara.

Did he?  Didn't Miranda find out Feron was working both teams, and working with Liara?  (I didn't read the comics, but it makes sense.)

Liara brought Shepard´s body to Cerberus. That alone should convince that TIM lied about Liara.

He told that the Collector Ship was crippled by Turians and Turians sent a distress signal which Cerberus intercepted.

So that the infiltration mission would be successful.  No difference than a military commander not telling their subordinates need-to-know intel.

The fact that it is an ambush is something that a field commander should know and his superior should inform him about that. That kind of information is vital regarding during the mission for the success of that mission.

Sorry, but TIM cannot be trusted. He can say whatever he want but once you lost someone´s trust then regaining it will be very hard thing to achieve.

Considering Liara gets all retconny, I don't see the issue.  Could've been some other character entirely.

TIM lies once to us, and that's for the good of the mission.

No, he lied at least twice on Shepard. So, lying to your soldiers who are depending on you is acceptable? After the mission it is easy to say that it was for the good of the mission. TIM deliberately misled Shepard and the consequences of that could have been devastating for Shepard during that mission.

[PnXMarcin1PL]

I dont trust anyone in ME universe, I simply trust myself >.<

[Zulu_DFA]

mosor wrote...

The help the old council gives you in the first game, pretty much amounts to making you a spectre. The help they give you in the second game is still pretty much making you a spectre again. I'm glad they did that in the second game. It illustrates just how worthless the council is when it comes to helping Shepard with anything.

In ME1 they also asked you, if you didn't mind, to look for some of their affiliate's team, that'd supposedly gotten itself into something messy... In the end, it proved to be helpful too.

Modifié par Zulu_DFA, 11 octobre 2010 - 03:42 .

[Christmas Ape]

[quote]Neofelis Nebulosa wrote...
1.) You employ thinking patterns that are largely considered crimes against humanity and try to justify them. So from that point on, everything you say has to be reviewed with extreme caution. That is what I said.[/quote]I'm going to chalk the idea that thoughts could be considered crimes against humanity to a translation issue. I do suggest humanity might need to man up a bit and accept that we might have to bleed a little, as a species, to make it. We're out of the terrarium now, and I'm afraid the pet store isn't a very nice place after the staff leaves. Lots of larger, hungrier animals out there.[quote]2.) I define "okay" as the opposite of "not okay", as in "totally not legal to do". I believe this is not hard to get up with, but here you got your definition.[/quote]I'm torn between "so vague as to be useless" or taking it literally and pointing out that the first time Shepard came to the Citadel he gunned down about two dozen people before becoming a Spectre and you must abandon your legal high ground. Remember; I asked for what you may not even pursue in self-defense or for your own survival. If "things that are illegal" is the criteria, Shepard's never lived up to your standards.[quote]3.) If you'd have read closely, then you'd have realized I compared said action with your argument that Cancer is curable and thus no real harm would be done to those individuals.[/quote]Not no real harm - real harm that medical science can mitigate.[quote]As you correctly stated, we understand guns and their impact if you allow me that pun and to get to the point I was talking about, so does the "then" medicine understands cancer and its implications.[/quote]Yes. It does not, however, understand prenatal exposure to Element Zero until after the incident.[quote]We can patch up/cure gunshots, they can cure cancer. My point is just because you can cure it, doesn't mean it is "okay" (see definition as above) to actually do it with the handwave: "Hey, we can cure it! So let's go and do some cancer-stuff./Let's shoot some people."[/quote]If there was still something of value to the species to be learned from shooting someone, then yes, it would in fact be - while not your "okay" - justifiable.[quote]4.) And those clever minds did certainly not think: "Whoa, we're all gonna die tomorrow if we don't fiond out immediately. We have to get intel, no matter the costs!!!!1!", unless you meant Cerberus scientists. Then you are right.[/quote]Indeed, and thank the Maker someone out there is willing to take the first step.[quote]But we don't measure the world in terms of Cerberus, we measure the world in terms of human rights and justice[/quote]All of which mean what in the face of alien occupation again? Oh, right. NOTHING. There is almost no part of turian military doctrine that humanity has not at one time considered a war crime. That's not their shadowy, officially condemned cabal - that's their government. Bombing military targets without regard for collateral damage, house-to-house execution squads for those who refuse to be forcibly relocated into high-security camps established by the invading army? Turian government policy. We're not dealing with an adversary who's going to be bothered by some harsh words and UN sanctions.[quote]something this method of thinking plainly violates and therefor does not qualify in times where imminent danger is not given (like in the situation Humanity finds itself after the first contact with the Council. They might have considered it at times of the Conflict with the Turians, but once that got solved, imminent danger was no longer given).[/quote]Why? Because the asari said so? Because more than a decade later we're all kind of getting along as long as we trade 8,000 human lives for three politicians who will then refuse to act when we lose another several thousand human lives to unknown causes? In what world do you live that opening diplomatic relations with the Council suddenly broke the sky with a titanic rainbow and everybody starting holding hands and singing in a circle? We were subject to a brutal if brief occupation because we tried to use a Mass Relay; how delusional do you have to be to pretend we're all good friends the moment the guns stop firing? The turian response was essentially "Well, tough" until (and if) Shepard saves the Council.
Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard. Remember Saren's not the only one to feel it; he's just the only one to shove it in your face.[quote]5.) Thinking this through, ground combat has little to none vital role in said times either. Conflicts get won in space with the destruction of the enemies ability to engage ones territory. The time enemy soldiers land on the surface is the time one already got beaten. Unless you stationed every vital defence system surface-side on the planet that is capture-/destroyable via ground units, then you are dumb and deserve to lose. The only situation in which ground combat bears a significant role is when two species try to eradicate each other, when not only major sites are getting attacked and extensive ground engagements would occur. As long as the other species don't use biotics in their shipmounted cannons, they are militarily rather insignificant.[/quote]Enemy soldiers land en masse once you've secured orbital superiority. Prior to that one deploys Special Forces teams to sabotage sensor and defense networks, corrupt power grids, knock communications offline, destroy arms depots, and other actions in which biotics form an additional effective weapon.[quote]6.) I am basing this evaluation in regard to the ingame lore which states that the Asari have no real reason to behave hostile. If you find a reason why the Asari should conquer Humanity, share it with us.[/quote]I don't believe I suggested I'm bringing war plans direct from the rulers of Thessia to prove their ill intent. I'm saying that the people who take them at face value the moment they hear from them are either xenophiles who feel no connection to humanity or are gullible beyond the reasonable boundaries of the word. You're once again conducting this entire argument based on knowledge it's entirely unreasonable to assume the initial Cerberus biotic research teams had access to. They're not scattering dust-form eezo over colonies now - we have biotics reasonably well understood and integrated into the Systems Alliance Marine Corps. We're good.
[quote]7.) As I said Biotics don't make a Super Soldier[/quote]A statement that can only be made with the benefit of biotic research having already been conducted.[quote]If those Commandos target vital areas, there should be plentyful of guards doing their job. If they fail, the defence systems failed as opposing to the Biotic Super Soldier won.[/quote]The Collector Cruiser wasn't better piloted and more advanced than the
SR-1; Joker failed. Shepard didn't take a team of commandos into the
heart of enemy territory and gut their fifth column; the Collectors
failed. Getting absurd yet?[quote]Biotics don't make you invulnerable, so you can be fend off. It is the architects and security's job to make sure that even a superiour force is not able to penetrate into vital areas. They either did their job or not. That is a question of layout and training and less of understanding on biotics.[/quote]Now stay with me for a second - what if you could have both?[quote]The latter only enables you to get the same outcome with less soldiers, the equation stays the same, simple as that.[/quote]That you dismiss being able to devote less military resources and still acquire the same success means I am done with the portion of this discussion that centers around the application of military force. We have absolutely no common ground to discuss it from.[quote]8.) My plan would be not to make those commandos tear my troops apart via not having war in the first place.[/quote]You seem to be laboring under the delusional state that you always get to choose not to have a war except by holding out your empty hands and baring your throat. Nothing in those two examples even required a declaration of war first.[quote]The Citadel Coucil is sure to not make war rage for no good reason, they even refused to sent a fleet into the Traverse as it could spark war with the Terminus Systems[/quote]Um, that the Council is unwilling to risk a war for the sake of a human colony kind of helps my case here; for all the glad-handing of the Council they'd gladly throw us to the wolves to keep their people secure.[quote]so again I ask, how are the odds a superiour force that would destroy you attacks Humanity?[/quote]You tell me - but no relying on any information you learned from Mass Effect related material. They didn't have a copy of the Codex and can't consult it as a 100% true information source about the galaxy.[quote]They already fought off the Batarians and they knew about biotics too and most probably had some Biotics on their side and Humanity still won.[/quote]Ah, the batarians - a race whose primary complaint is being pushed aside for the already more militarily competent humanity.[quote]Those had Dreadnoughts[/quote]The Hegemony? Probably. But we're not at war with the Batarian Hegemony, we're subject to raids and attacks by their state-sponsored terrorists.[quote]What other non Council organization could seriously threaten Humanity more than the Batarians?[/quote]Hey, you've got all the answers they didn't at the time. You tell me; without taking any information from the codex or gameplay, what else is out there in the galaxy? Please, be as thorough as possible in your list of undiscovered species potentially occupying the 95%+ of planets as yet uncharted by the Council or affiliated races - I'll even give you the freedom the nascent Cerberus lacked to consider the Council races not a threat. [quote]9.) There are things like knowledge exchange. The Humans already did that. Waiting a few years for equal results is clearly preferable to torturing ones own population, which is the point I originally started with.[/quote]What would make you think the Council races would share all the information that could be acquired from direct testing? Even after the Battle of the Citadel, with humanity a respected Council race, the turians successfully and covertly appropriate the vast majority of Soveriegn's remains for their own government. Not the Council, not the Alliance; the Heirarchy. So even once we're their full-fledged allies, they take strong measures to acquire a technological advantage over us. Considering the politically crippled state that is being a non-Council race - and among the least trusted of them to boot - why in the world do you believe they'd have just opened the books to us?[quote]The circle is closed, my argumentation done and your argumentation proven to have serious flaws in its basic assumption of morals.[/quote]I'm willing to look at my record and feel sick to my stomach if I've improved the position of the species. I'm not asking people to follow in my footsteps - if I've done my job right they won't have to - I'm not even asking them to stop condemning me with the hand not busy grasping for everything I've fought to give them. Just to understand that without men who can think that way, they either have to do it themselves and live with the self-loathing or go without.

[Christmas Ape]

Flamewielder wrote...

Bioware has retconned Cerberus from a former Alliance Military Covert Ops group gone rogue into a privately financed subversive organisation promoting human dominance. A rough parallel (and I don't imply any similarity in aims or means) would be Cerberus = IRA, Terra Firma = Sinn Fein).

I don't see that there's a retcon there; one can turn into the other. It's basically Jacob's story on a large scale.

- First Contact War; tIM publishes the Manifesto.

- 'Cerberus', a need-to-know division of Alliance military intelligence, is quietly established with a black budget and a single point of contact with the brass.

- Cerberus operations begin to exceed the amount of budget than can be siphoned, attention that can be diverted, and leaks that can be silenced.

- The 'right kind' of military intelligence officers attend the 'right kind' of parties, making contacts with private citizens of certain political views and intimating they could do their duty for the species.

- Cerberus Group officially 'goes rogue' from Alliance Command to a startling lack of response - few enough people knew about their existence to begin with.

- The privately funded Cerberus organization begins stepping up operations and branching out into additional fields of research as a 'whole defense' policy.

- Present day; Cerberus is a political reality of clear motives and speculative origins. As a body with a concealed membership, openly stated and subversive political goal, and willingness to employ violence, the Council quickly brands them 'terrorists'. The Alliance, naturally, does not protest an additional wall of plausible deniability going up.

[Schattenkeil]

 When I first saw TIM I thought it was some kind of setup. One twisted scheme of the enemy, of the reapers themselves, to manipulate you into serving them while you think you're doing the exact opposite. However, I don't see how it would possibly help the reapers getting rid of the collectors, so, TIMs is exactly what he seems to be. A zealous saviour of humanity whose path is paved with dead bodies, insane and so forth.

I wonder where he gets his money from. It is know that the project Lazarus alone cost four billion dollars. And that doesn't include the SR2. Yet it has produced little income for TIM. And you could probably say the same about a lot of his experiments - they were not only cruel but also not economical.

If there is one thing I wish for ME3 it's a true choice for your allegiance. Of the known options I'd love the council, the alliance and cerberus. Some additional ones  There may be different choices though, Mass Effect has been quite surprising in that regard so far. If it was similarly unlikely as before you might  end up in Aria's gang, with Eclipse or the Blue Suns.

Modifié par Schattenkeil, 11 octobre 2010 - 04:16 .

[Big I]

mosor wrote...

lol wut? He spent billions ressurecting you; spend billions giving you a new ship; the projects he initiated like discovering that derelict reaper and developing EDI from reaper tech being the major reason you stopped the collectors and you're telling me he can't be trusted as an ally or a resource? He's given a hell of a lot more help and resources than the council did in the first game.

Speaking of which. The help the old council gives you in the first game, pretty much amounts to making you a spectre. The help they give you in the second game is still pretty much making you a spectre again. I'm glad they did that in the second game. It illustrates just how worthless the council is when it comes to helping Shepard with anything. Damn ingrates..

He resurrected Shepard, true, but allowed his billion credit project and everyone who worked on it to be wiped out by a traitor. He found a derelict Reaper, but instead of handing the the evidence of it's existence to the Council or the Alliance to convince the sceptics he sent a crew aboard...who all end up indoctrinated. The SR2 is awesome, but he didn't develop it for the mission, he built it because he wanted a stealth ship (giving it to Shepard was pretty smart though).

I'll give you EDI; developing her was unambiguosly good; shackling her, probably not.

As for the Council, they're idiots no question, especially after "Ah yes, Reapers". At least Anderson's got your back.

[Big I]

Schattenkeil wrote..
If there is one thing I wish for ME3 it's a true choice for your allegiance. Of the known options I'd love the council, the alliance and cerberus. Some additional ones  There may be different choices though, Mass Effect has been quite surprising in that regard so far. If it was similarly unlikely as before you might  end up in Aria's gang, with Eclipse or the Blue Suns.

This. Absolutely this.

[Aradace]

LookingGlass93 wrote...

Schattenkeil wrote..
If there is one thing I wish for ME3 it's a true choice for your allegiance. Of the known options I'd love the council, the alliance and cerberus. Some additional ones  There may be different choices though, Mass Effect has been quite surprising in that regard so far. If it was similarly unlikely as before you might  end up in Aria's gang, with Eclipse or the Blue Suns.

This. Absolutely this.

I agree.  Of all the things I would like to see in ME3, this is at the top of my list at #1.  Why? Simply because I dont care what options they give me so long as I have the choice to side with ANYONE other than the Alliance lol.

[mosor]

LookingGlass93 wrote...


He resurrected Shepard, true, but allowed his billion credit project and everyone who worked on it to be wiped out by a traitor.

A billion credit project wasn't wiped out. The crew and station were. Not the data and technology.

He found a derelict Reaper, but instead of handing the the evidence of it's existence to the Council or the Alliance to convince the sceptics he sent a crew aboard...who all end up indoctrinated.

The council had their own "derelict" reaper to study called sovereign, Any moron could have deternined it's beyond Geth technology or that the materials ( especially if it has organic compounds) are millions of years old. The council is either stupid, or they're fully aware of the threat and don't want you in the loop cuz of Cerberus, But hey, at least the Cerberus team found that shiny IFF and kindly put it one the table for you so it's easy to find, and you don't spend much time on the ship to get yourself indoctrinated.

The SR2 is awesome, but he didn't develop it for the mission, he built it because he wanted a stealth ship (giving it to Shepard was pretty smart though).

Who cares about the reason the SR2 was developed. He gives you a state of the art ship regardless

I'll give you EDI; developing her was unambiguosly good; shackling her, probably not.

So when TIM doesn't take precautions, he's an idiot. When he does take precautions he's still an idiot. The guy can't win!

Modifié par mosor, 11 octobre 2010 - 04:48 .

[Zulu_DFA]

mosor wrote...

I'll give you EDI; developing her was unambiguosly good; shackling her, probably not.

So when TIM doesn't take precautions, he's an idiot. When he does take precautions he's still an idiot. The guy can't win!

TIM is an idiot! I hates him!!! Grrr!!! His precautions are idiotic!!! I hates them too!!! Grrr! Grrrrrrrr!!!!

[Godeskian]

I trust TIM about as far as I could throw the great pyramids. He would sell out Shepard the moment he perceives that he can win without him.

[Moiaussi]

I agree with the OP! I mean, TIM provides decent coffee and donuts to thousands! Oh wait, wrong Tim...

[Markinator_123]

PnXMarcin1PL wrote...

I dont trust anyone in ME universe, I simply trust myself >.<

You have the right idea my friend. Nobody in the ME universe can be trusted especially considering how quick people are willing to kill each other.

[Zulu_DFA]

Markinator_123 wrote...

PnXMarcin1PL wrote...

I dont trust anyone in ME universe, I simply trust myself >.<

You have the right idea my friend. Nobody in the ME universe can be trusted especially considering how quick people are willing to kill each other.

When he let me keep my guns, I trusted Warden Kuril.




Kidding, kidding!

[Frybread76]

mosor wrote...

LookingGlass93 wrote...

I look forward to shooting and/or arresting TIM in ME3. He can't be trusted as an ally (he lies constantly), can barely be trusted as a resource (every project gets away from him and starts assassinating Admirals or sending mechs after Shepard or something), and at the end of the day I find the idea of someone who'd risk or sacrifice countless lives without even a practical goal to be unlikeable. Down with Cerberus.

lol wut? He spent billions ressurecting you; spend billions giving you a new ship; the projects he initiated like discovering that derelict reaper and developing EDI from reaper tech being the major reason you stopped the collectors and you're telling me he can't be trusted as an ally or a resource? He's given a hell of a lot more help and resources than the council did in the first game.

Speaking of which. The help the old council gives you in the first game, pretty much amounts to making you a spectre. The help they give you in the second game is still pretty much making you a spectre again. I'm glad they did that in the second game. It illustrates just how worthless the council is when it comes to helping Shepard with anything. Damn ingrates..

Shepard and his new shiny ship are only useful to TIM until the Reapers are stopped.  After that, Shepard will become a nuisance to TIM that will need to be dealt with.

[Spectre_907]

I trust TIM so far as him wanting to stop the Reapers. I do not trust TIM  with his goals regarding advancing humanity (whatever the **** that means!). Don't hate him though. He revived me, gave me a new ship, and made me a super biotic.

[smudboy]

Finnish Dragon wrote...
So, TIM assumes that Shepard will be his pawn and he can treat Shepard in a way he sees fit. That isn´t a good way to gain Shepard´s trust and motivate Shepard to work for Cerberus.

Does he?  Does it matter?  What matters is stopping the Reapers.  However TIM thinks of Shepard is irrelevant.

In a retrospective that is true. However, a person who is walking to an ambush will disagree if he knows that his "boss" knew about the ambush and didn´t inform him. 

I agree.  But considering the mission was to gain data, and if one could have behaved in a way that did not make it appear to be discovery, the mission would have failed.  It may not have been a totally necessary strategy, nor can we clearly speculate the means of Collector-discovery via Shepard's divergent behavior, it paid off.  Boarding a Collector Ship is a massive risk regardless of knowing it's a trap.  They were expecting to be attacked anyway.

Liara brought Shepard´s body to Cerberus. That alone should convince that TIM lied about Liara.

No that's not enough.  I didn't read the side stories so I can't say, but I do know that Liara and Feron were working together, and Feron was working for the Shadow Broker.  If Liara was even in some way related to the Shadow Broker, that's not someone that can be trusted.

The fact that it is an ambush is something that a field commander should know and his superior should inform him about that. That kind of information is vital regarding during the mission for the success of that mission.

But it wasn't.  Again, I agree, lying is bad, and I can use my imagination to conjure up what Shepard could've done if they knew.  But it's irrelevant: TIM has his methods, and they work.  If TIM's lying didn't work, or caused unnecessary losses, then there'd be an issue.  TIM knew what Shepard and his crew was capable of.  There's no need to confuse the soldiers or add complexity to those operatives in command of an operation.  (Get in, get info, get out, or get in, plant bombs, check for traps, secure an escape route, set bombs on key areas, get info, get out, set off bombs.)

No, he lied at least twice on Shepard. So, lying to your soldiers who are depending on you is acceptable? After the mission it is easy to say that it was for the good of the mission. TIM deliberately misled Shepard and the consequences of that could have been devastating for Shepard during that mission.

TIM lied once.  If the mission is a success, and soldiers are told only what they need to know?  I don't see a problem.  The consequences could've been much worse had the mission parameters been more complex.  (Mind you this is much more desirable to me.)

I don't see "she can't be trusted" as a lie.  She clearly has ties to the Shadow Broker.  Now how TIM doesn't know Liara wants to kill the Shadow Broker is anyones guess.  The fact that the LOTSB comes along and literally overwrites this judgement is bizarre, but the Liara character is a confusing mess anyway.

[ashwind]

I hate him. He is so freaking rich but he didnt thought of giving Shepard the credits to buy all the upgrades! He should also give Shepard the resources to upgrade and not have Shepard scanning the galaxy >.<"

[Zulu_DFA]

Frybread76 wrote...

mosor wrote...

LookingGlass93 wrote...

I look forward to shooting and/or arresting TIM in ME3. He can't be trusted as an ally (he lies constantly), can barely be trusted as a resource (every project gets away from him and starts assassinating Admirals or sending mechs after Shepard or something), and at the end of the day I find the idea of someone who'd risk or sacrifice countless lives without even a practical goal to be unlikeable. Down with Cerberus.

lol wut? He spent billions ressurecting you; spend billions giving you a new ship; the projects he initiated like discovering that derelict reaper and developing EDI from reaper tech being the major reason you stopped the collectors and you're telling me he can't be trusted as an ally or a resource? He's given a hell of a lot more help and resources than the council did in the first game.

Speaking of which. The help the old council gives you in the first game, pretty much amounts to making you a spectre. The help they give you in the second game is still pretty much making you a spectre again. I'm glad they did that in the second game. It illustrates just how worthless the council is when it comes to helping Shepard with anything. Damn ingrates..

Shepard and his new shiny ship are only useful to TIM until the Reapers are stopped.  After that, Shepard will become a nuisance to TIM that will need to be dealt with.

Therefore, the Reapers should not be stopped.

Prefferably they should be stricken a deal with. To complete the Saren-Shepard cycle. Rrrright.