For an incredibly advanced AI/Sentient who can basically even in this Sci Fi setting perform magic - I gotta say:
The Catalyst is a complete moron.
Let's look at The Catalyst/Reaper battle plan:
- Leave The Citadel alone for 90% of the game. Not counting Udina's rebeliion, which is vague if it is Cerberus or Reaper. Why? They built it, possibly for just the reason of having advanced species come and take advantage of it. Why not just sack it early in the game and crush the Alliance?
- Move the Citadel. OK, this one actually makes sense to me. If you suddenly realize Shep's plans, move the important piece to a defensible point on the board.
- Now, give it a Space Elevator. Why? I think it is given an ingame explanation of "to move resources" but ... why move resources to the Citadel? The Reapers needed a Reaper Silo? Nobody raised a hand at that meeting and said, "hey - you know an invading force could easily use this a backdoor, right?"
OK, seriously though I could allow that just within the confines of SF writing. It wasn't until Harbringer mysteriously couldn't kill me at Point Blank Range that things got odd. Here's where The Catalyst really fails:
[*]So, Bond, you've found my secret lair. Seriously, when did the writing for this game turn into every Bond villain ever? First we have the over-dramatic "I'm so right, you just don't understand" speech from TIM - but then you have The Catalyst just laying down surrender because ... Shepard shows up at his doorstep? What exactly was in that Crucible that made him think that because a single organic makes their way up two easily used means of transport ... that suddenly the entire fight is lost?[/b][*]I could kill you, but let's talk instead. This space kid commands an entire fleet of the most devastatingly powerful robots the galaxy has ever seen. But when his solution is threatened - he just decides it is time to parley? WTF?
Maybe he is just the cordial type. So The Catalyst lays out a very simple dilemma:
All organic life, if sufficiently advanced, will create synthetic life which will then wipe out the organic life completely.
His current solution is:
Before that can happen, wipe out all sufficiently advanced organic life.
Which, all thematic issues aside and the fact that he's using synthetics to get the job done and all - we should probably admit, is an annoyingly secure way of getting the job done. The Catalyst is basically saying:
- When organic life becomes sufficiently intellgent, it will create synthetic life.
- When synthetic life becomes sufficiently intelligent, it will wipe out organic life.
- If we remove sufficinetly intelligent organic life before 2 occurs, 2 will not occur
- So really, we're just saving your asses. (cue binary solo)
- Control. Which doesn't actually remove any of the organic life any more and simply hopes that Shepard-Reapers will hold the line when it comes to the eventual synthetic apocalypse.
- Destroy. For one thing - seriously? You are so advanced, but you built a duct pipe which can destroy all of your creations if shot with a pistol?? Maybe next time hire a better engineer. But I digress, this clearly just removes the Reapers but does nothing to solve The Catalyst's dilemma. According to everything The Catalyst just said, Shepard just doomed the entirerity of organic life.
- Synthesis. Which again, doesn't really remove any of the life forms capable of bringing about the synthetic apocalypse, but apparently makes the Reapers just no interested in it anymore.
So to recap, The Catalyst - in of his advanced holographic wisdom:
[b]
- Leaves the back door open. Both of them.
- Designs his ultra advanced space station to be specifically be destroyed.
- Doesn't kill the one person capable of defeating his plans when given the chance.
- Replaces his solutions with three that doesn't solve anything.
Brilliant.
Modifié par RegularX, 20 mars 2012 - 05:22 .
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