I know this has probably been discussed multiple times, but I want to provide my opinion on what the endings meant to me, and my theory of why synthesis is the "best" choice for the outcome. Please note that when I say "best" choice, it's only my opinion based on how I played the game, and my personal character and beliefs about What It All Meant.
Honestly, I'm hoping to get some real feedback on this (not just one-liners), because I want to dissect my theory and get input from others to see if I missed something. So please, try to sway me, if you have the time!
Prepare for a bit of a read. Sorry.
If you think about it, the three choices given to Shepard are pretty much in line with what you'd done through the whole game. The Renegade option of Destroy causes you to sacrifice a lot of people (because as the game mentions more than once, synthetic life is still life). This is reminiscent of the typical Renegade character who does whatever is necessary to get the job done. The Paragon option has you completely sacrifice yourself in order to save everyone, but you lose who you are in the process. You basically become a Reaper. So while the choice itself is self-sacrificing, and in line with the Paragon character who would die to save another, you are no longer the same Shepard, and you become what you spent so many years trying to destroy.
The problem is lack of resolution. With both Paragon and Renegade, nothing is resolved. You still have the issue of an impending destruction via synthetic uprising. They merely suspend the inevitable. In Control, you yourself, controlling the Reapers, will have to one day figure out a solution to the problem, the chaos. In Destroy, chaos remains, and life will eventually succumb to synthetics. This is a pretty prevalent idea in sci-fi and AI theory, and I think that's sort of what Bioware was borrowing against. So I pretty much accept the "synthetics destroy advanced life before it has a chance to destroy all life" explanation at face value. I don't take the Geth and Quarians getting along, and EDI helping your cause, as being an argument against this inevitable conclusion. I view it as hope and optimism--right now, it's not a threat. In the future, it will be, especially when synthetics far surpass organics.
Further, the Geth cannot really be used as an example of how "organics and synthetics can get along." Why? Because they're no longer true synthetics after Legion uploads the Reaper code fragments. They synthesize. They are given the equivalent of a human brain. It's only after this occurs, only after this synthesis, that the Geth and the Quarians are able to cooperate as equals. I see this as foreshadowing--that a change must be made to life before there can be peace.
That is why synthesis, to me, makes the most sense.
I can't recall ever seeing it mentioned by someone who subscribes to the Indoctrination Theory that the synthesis option is only available with the highest GR and EMS scores. As with previous games, it is the reward you get for busting ass and doing everything you can to prepare yourself for the upcoming battle. The better prepared you are, the better, and more ideal, the outcome. Changing that mechanic this late in the game seems unlikely.
The Destroy option means destroying all synthetic life (including the Geth and EDI, whom you spent so much time befriending and defending), and the cycle continues. Control means that you do exactly what you just said to TIM shouldn't be done, because "we're not ready," and the cycle continues as well (only this time, it's Shepard in the distant future who has to devise a solution to the inevitable conclusion of synthetics destroying all life). In Synthesis, you're told that this choice raises all species to a new level where this chaos is no longer an issue. There is never another fight between organic and synthetic, and the cycle finally ends.
I believe that the Catalyst is called the Catalyst because it brings about change. It may not be the change you wanted, but it is the only option where a change occurs, and the cycle is broken. In the end of the game, you see the scene after the Normandy crashes, and Joker and EDI both step out of the ship and embrace, seeming to imply that synthetics and organics merge and are now equals. To me, that sort of says "happily ever after."
As a sort of aside, I want to mention the Relays exploding, and how I initially felt that with the explosions, all of the choices you made and all of the work you did to save humanity was in vain, because the explosions no doubt took out all of the advanced life you were trying to protect. But the Normandy survived. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that it plays back to the theme of "you can't save everyone." In the end, the goal was not to save everyone, or even every species. The goal was to stop the Reaper threat forever and break the cycle. Only with Synthesis does this happen. Shepard knew the relays would explode, but he also knew he had no other option. The Crucible had to be used. What was the term used in the game? "Ruthless calculus?" Trillions died so that future species would be forever spared. Luckily, the Normandy crew was able to escape, and humanity itself was able to survive the destruction and pass down the legend of The Shepard. Let us not ignore the iconography depicted by our character's name. The shepherd icon exists to lead people to enlightenment and salvation. Maybe Synthesis, and the ending of the cycle of destruction, is that enlightenment.
So I think that about wraps up my viewpoint of why I choose to believe that Synthesis was the right choice for me to make. It was the only option that was presented to you as yours and yours alone (Control and Destroy were TIM and Anderson's choices, respectively, hence the scenes depicting them engaging in them), and it was a compromise made between the two choices that allowed life to continue peacefully from then on. It was not ideal, by any means, but the game is very clear on the fact that not everyone will survive. There is loss and sacrifice in the name of peace. But loss and sacrifice are the only way peace could be achieved.
Thanks for reading, and I welcome any feedback you may have!
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how blasé the true Geth were about letting their reputation get dragged through the mud. Especially when they (a) monitor EVERY organic transmission and the extranet, and (
