EthanDirtch wrote...
Again, bolded for emphasis. My post earlier discusses the fundamental question regarding the Indoctrination Theory: why? I reiterate fully: Why bother (to continue, supposing it had already begun) Indoctrinating Shepard, orchestrating this huge setup of events involving a battle of wills (Anderson/TIM), meeting 'The Catalyst', being given three choices to end the war, only for the war to not really end anyway since it was all in Shepard's head? What do the Reapers gain in doing this? Everything the Reapers have done in the series was for a purpose. People they've indoctrinated always served a specifc role. Even those who took years to indoctrinate played their parts.
We go back to two characters who--as we understand it--have been under 'long term' Reaper Indoctrination. Most people can agree to these two being Saren and The Illusive Man.
Unlike Shepard, neither of these men ever even considered that FIGHTING the Reapers was the right thing, that destroying them was even possible. Both tried to either ally with the Reapers, or believed in the false hope of somehow controlling them (a false hope shared by Protheans in the previous cycle, as explained by Vendetta). Neither ever considered fighting them, brushing that option off as foolhardy, impossible, or wasteful of potential. Shepard--had he been under Reaper indoctrination--would have been steered away from fighting the Reapers. It would have been subtle; at first Shep would want revenge, his resolve strong and his motivation pure, then he would perhaps start to think the fight was impossible and seek out other ways of winning, namely ways that did not involve destroying Reapers, eventually leading him to actively sabotaging other parties from accomplishing what he set out to do: beat the Reapers. Of course the argument is that his will is strong, but as strong as it is, he's still mortal, still just a man (or a woman). IT supposes he's been under steady Reaper indoctrination since at the very least Arrival, if not earlier. That's, what? More than 2 years in terms of story?
And, going back to my question of 'why', to reiterate from my earlier post: Why bother 'toying' with Shepard's psyche when they've already won the fight, conventionally or otherwise?
The crux of my argument obviously comes from the Acavyos Indoctrination Theory video that supposes Shepard was already in his 'indoctrination-induced' state before he enters the Conduit, with everything happening afterwards not real. There are other theories, but this is the one I watched and thus is the one I am using unless someone else wants to insert a different take on the theory.
First of all, Arrival was only about 6 months before ME3. This is established repeatedly in the in the opening act of the game.
Second off (And I've said this like 3 times already) Shepard wasn't indoctrinated yet. Arrival opened a window into his mind. The dreams are doubt creeping in (A lot of indoctrination is simply breaking resolve). When he talks to the Prothean VI, he is not indoctrinated. When he gets hit by Harbinger's beam, Shepard has reached the final fork in the road. Will he succumb or prevail?
Strategically, the Reapers have not won. The notion that they can't be defeated conventionally isn't really true. They've sustained heavy losses (for them) so far. The Turians/Krogans took out a bunch, Shepard took out 4. More were lost in other battles. Now shepard has united the galaxy, something they've never faced before, a strong united defense. Regardless, Shepard has the (Crucible). Shepard is the savior of the galaxy, if they turn him now, they undermine everything he built. They probably dissolve that alliance, and throw the opposition into chaos.
The star child's dialog in Low EMS vs. High EMS endings hints at this.
www.youtube.com/watch Low EMS (13:30 for star child)
www.youtube.com/watch Hight EMS (13:30 for star child)
At low EMS, the star child is annoyed with you. I talks to you like you're an annoyance, then he gives you one choice and you see london burn. This is because in this scenario, you didn't unite the galaxy. You really aren't a threat, so the reapers have no use for you.
From a storytelling perspective, indoctrination is the last weapon you haven't faced. But it's a big deal, Saren and Tim were indoctrinated. Shepard was knocked out for 2 days by Object Rho. It's kind of a copout if shepard never has to confront it. But to indoctrinate shepard you have to indoctrinate the player. Indoctrination is underhanded persuasion. Saren and Tim thought they were doing the right thing. The end game is trying to convince you that Control(TIM) or Synthesis(Saren) are the right thing. To adopt the reaper worldview. If you wanna have a meta gaming experience like this, you have to do certain things to prevent ruining the experience. That includes not having shepard snap out of it after picking destroy and going straight into a boss fight. That would be on youtube within 48hrs and the experience (and speculation) would be killed
You have to let the players figure out on their own what happened. That means going on BSN and arguing about it.
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