116 réponses à ce sujet

[Callidous]

Destroy isn't genocide. Or at least it isn't so long as the destruction of the Geth is an unintended side effect. It counts as genocide if Shepard fully desires the elimination of the Geth, but then if that was the case, why not side with the Quarians at Rannoch?

In order for anyone to be guilty of genocide there has to be some intent. With Destroy, at least for most people's Shepards, the destruction of the Geth is more likely to be a case of horrific collateral damage rather than something that was intended. My Shepard didn't want to destroy the Geth. But he also wasn't willing to lost the war and allow the mass murdering A.I. responsible for countless extinction cycles to continue to exist as galactic overlord. Synthesis requires trusting an entity responsible for annihilation of entire civilizations, and the current ongoing attempt to destroy yours, to finally play nice and stop its mass murdering ways.

Realistically the Catalyst has probably also killed your relatives by that point. Think about how large extended families are. Think Shepard didn't have any aunts or uncles or cousins and such that were on Earth or colony words invaded by the Reapers? This is an entity that probably turned your own family members into husks. It is also responsible for the deaths of Anderson, Kaidan/Ashley, Mordin, Thane, and other companion lost throughout the trilogy.

The sacrifice of the Geth will be honored in the coming Empire.

I see what you're saying but I don't buy it. Starchild has zero reason to lie to you. He didn't have to bring you up to him, explain your options, and then open the bridges to said options. He could have just let you bleed out and then huzzah reaper victory. Also, if you fail to unite enough of the galaxy, synthesis, aka harmony, isnt even an option as the galaxy isnt ready. Granted, Shep doesnt know that part exactly.

Quite frankly, given the circumstances, I feel he was one of the most trustworthy characters in the series. If Shepard had met him elsewhere under different circumstances I'd probably be all about that destroy option, even though I'd feel awful about the geth.

[Callidous]

So, the body changes..... Because the Reapers wanted that outcome. And that's all you see because by the time we get to the end, despite hearing what is said the only thing that can be counted on is what you see with your eyes. That peoples entire biology has changed.

Well, one aspect that isn't touched on, because if it was true it could never be uttered by those affected by synthesis is what if the conversion affected the mind to?

To highlight the extreme change in outlook, both before and after the wave, I point to the solider and the husk that showcases two beings locked in mortal combat with no quarter being asked or given, then the wave hits and they both stop.

.......Why did they stop?

What was it about the wave that caused two people engaged in a fight to the death to stop trying to kill the other? It could be argued that the husk was reaper tech and thus reprogrammed by the wave, but that shouldn't have stopped the doomed soldier hyped on adrenaline from seeing a break, diving for a gun and shooting it down. But if the husk wasn't affected why didn't it pop back up and continue where it left off trying to claw the soldier to pieces?

The wave strikes me as having an affect on the mind as well as the body. In the instant the body was changed the mind was also altered to recognize like for like beings, which everyone is after the wave, as people they don't want to harm. So really, I see Synthesis as the worst ending due to it essentially being a state that only came about via the use of mind alteration that smacks of re-education via the violation of the body so that after the wave hits, people will say they are fine with the change..... because they are incapable of thinking anything except what was instilled in them after the change.

To me Synthesis is the removal of free will and the right to decide for yourself. It essentially lobotomizes the part of the brain that decides what the person likes and doesn't like while erasing prejudice thinking. Which on the surface is good thing.... But really, the Reapers were genocidal killing machines that killed many. Liquidized hundreds of thousands..... And somehow, the galaxy, the whole galaxy, is okay with with them having that history.

Seeing as war crimes are no longer a thing in the Synthesized galaxy because in the end, no one wants to raise the issue..... I'm going with mind manipulation in that the mind has been redeveloped according to how the Catalyst wanted all life in the galaxy to be. No longer capable of those things that it believed was the root cause of conflict between orgs and synths that had the added benefit of stopping all conflict.... And that's the scary part. That all life is now as the Cat prefers based on its shaky unproven logic. And that to get it's Utopia, all a person has to sacrifice is their mind and body to 'The System' and live according to another set of values while thinking anothers desired set of thoughts.

I think you're looking at this the wrong way. I dont think their minds, personalities, or individualities are altered so much as they suddenly understand each other. I'm not sure I can explain it, but I'll try.

Imagine if you're fighting some horrifying monster. And in the course of that battle it stops and the the illusion around you is dispelled. Suddenly you realize you've been tricked into fighting your brother. Its not the best analogy, but it works. All living creatures, organic and synthetic, suddenly understood each other. They no longer needed to fight. There was nothing to fight about.

[Undead Han]

I see what you're saying but I don't buy it. Starchild has zero reason to lie to you. He didn't have to bring you up to him, explain your options, and then open the bridges to said options. He could have just let you bleed out and then huzzah reaper victory. Also, if you fail to unite enough of the galaxy, synthesis, aka harmony, isnt even an option as the galaxy isnt ready. Granted, Shep doesnt know that part exactly.

Quite frankly, given the circumstances, I feel he was one of the most trustworthy characters in the series. If Shepard had met him elsewhere under different circumstances I'd probably be all about that destroy option, even though I'd feel awful about the geth.

 

The issue is that the Catalyst makes some of the worst monsters in human history look like boy scouts in comparison. He has killed more people than Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Mao Tse Tsung, and Genghis Khan combined. And likely by many, many times over. After all he has had at least a billion years of it and has completely eradicated multiple civilizations, each likely numbering in the billions or trillions. 

 

Synthesis requires that you keep that monstrous mass-murdering A.I. as galactic overlord, effectively betraying every victim of it over the last billion years. It also perpetuates slavery, since if organic minds are somehow preserved in the process of creating Reapers (implied), similar to how the virtual aliens preserved themselves in synthetic form, all of the people indoctrinated and used to create the Reapers have been denied free will. 

 

Synthesis also requires trusting that the Catalyst won't at some point decide this new solution isn't working as intended, return to its mass murdering ways, and look for a new solution. It even admits to having done this once before. It says it tried Synthesis, but didn't quite like how it played out, so it annihilated everyone and returned to the drawing board. The Catalyst attributes the disappointing results to being forced, but what is to prevent it from also finding some element of the new attempt at Synthesis disappointing or inadequate? After all Shepard's version is no less forced. The galaxy didn't choose it. Shepard did. The only difference is that the Catalyst passes of the unilateral decision to Shepard. In both cases Synthesis is forced on the galaxy by a single person, with no one else having a vote or a say in the matter. Even ignoring the moral issues surrounding one person unilaterally deciding what happens to other peoples' bodies, Synthesis is a massive gamble of the galaxy's future. 

[Callidous]

The issue is that the Catalyst makes some of the worst monsters in human history look like boy scouts in comparison. He has killed more people than Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Mao Tse Tsung, and Genghis Khan combined. And likely by many, many times over. After all he has had at least a billion years of it and has completely eradicated multiple civilizations, each likely numbering in the billions or trillions.

Synthesis requires that you keep that monstrous mass-murdering A.I. as galactic overlord, effectively betraying every victim of it over the last billion years. It also perpetuates slavery, since if organic minds are somehow preserved in the process of creating Reapers (implied), similar to how the virtual aliens preserved themselves in synthetic form, all of the people indoctrinated and used to create the Reapers have been denied free will.

Synthesis also requires trusting that the Catalyst won't at some point decide this new solution isn't working as intended, return to its mass murdering ways, and look for a new solution. It even admits to having done this once before. It says it tried Synthesis, but didn't quite like how it played out, so it annihilated everyone and returned to the drawing board. The Catalyst attributes the disappointing results to being forced, but what is to prevent it from also finding some element of the new attempt at Synthesis disappointing or inadequate? After all Shepard's version is no less forced. The galaxy didn't choose it. Shepard and the Catalyst did. The only difference is that two people choose it for the galaxy instead of one. Synthesis is a massive gamble with galaxy's future.

I dont recall it saying anything about Starchild remaining in control. If anything, he sounded more like he wouldn't be needed anymore. Does the Citadel explode in the synthesis ending?

Also, keep in mind that in his mind he was saving people. I know, path to hell and all that but it's a VERY important distinction in this case. I got the feeling he had considered synthesis but never gone through with it. Remember, Shepard was the first organic to meet him. This was the first cycle to complete the crucible. And both those things were necessary for synthesis. It doesn't seem as though there could have been any way for him to have gone through with it before.

If he is being honest, as there doesn't seem to be any reason for him not to be, synthesis is the end of it. DNA is forever altered. Even he couldn't simply reverse it and I believe he was likely deactivated as in the control and destroy endings. He wants what is best for the galaxy, and as he said, the crucible changed him. He now can see the reapers dont work. Its time for utopia.

[Vazgen]

The thing about both Control and Synthesis is that it require ultimate trust in the Catalyst. Basically it says "kill yourself and you'll control us" or "kill yourself and you'll merge organic and synthetic life". I just don't see my Shepard trusting it that much.

[Callidous]

The thing about both Control and Synthesis is that it require ultimate trust in the Catalyst. Basically it says "kill yourself and you'll control us" or "kill yourself and you'll merge organic and synthetic life". I just don't see my Shepard trusting it that much.

In fairness, he does imply heavily that destroy is "kill yourself and the reapers" as Shepard has cybernetics. You also have to trust that shooting the panel thing will do what he says it does. He could have just let you die when you passed out if he wanted the cycle to continue. He has no reason to need to try and trick you.

[Iakus]

Well, I am just going by what I see in the epilogue and I don't see a single person who has a problem with the whole affair. True, they might just not be shown but that would be just as bad. Because for those people - if their views would remain unaffected - it can be the absolute worst kind of torture to be trapped in a body that you may no longer consider your own when they look in the mirror. There should be people trying to claw their own green eyes out, other that just get really depressed by the change. You might find it irrational for people to think that and you may point out all the benefits that they can now enjoy but people are diverse, irrational and just aversive to even the most benevolent kinds of sudden changes. You may not agree with them (I know I wouldn't, I'd be thrilled to be synthesized myself) but that doesn't male it right to make the decision for them of how they should live their lives. There should be millions of different reactions and a lot of them should not be pleasant, even if the cast majority enjoys the new situation, those few are enough to deter myself from decision.

So does the epilogue just sweep all of these aspects under the rug or is it actually the case that suddenly everyone is the happy image that we see there? IMO, both options are really, really bad.

 

 

 

Getting Smilies Painted On Your Soul

[Undead Han]

I dont recall it saying anything about Starchild remaining in control. If anything, he sounded more like he wouldn't be needed anymore. Does the Citadel explode in the synthesis ending?
 

 

It is heavily implied by the fact that the Catalyst states that it will be destroyed in Destroy and replaced in Control, but doesn't state the same while explaining the results of Synthesis. Also something was in control of the Reapers in Synthesis as they all break off their attacks in unison similar to Control, except in the Synthesis ending there was no A.I. overlord which replaced the Catalyst. The green ending allows glow boy to keep the keys to the kingdom.

 

 

 

Also, keep in mind that in his mind he was saving people. I know, path to hell and all that but it's a VERY important distinction in this case. I got the feeling he had considered synthesis but never gone through with it. Remember, Shepard was the first organic to meet him. This was the first cycle to complete the crucible. And both those things were necessary for synthesis. It doesn't seem as though there could have been any way for him to have gone through with it before.

 

He explicitly states that he tried Synthesis before, but that it didn't work out as intended because it was forced on the galaxy rather than chosen by it. I can't recall now however whether this was original dialogue, or dialogue that was added with either the Extended Cut or Leviathan DLCs. At the very least however it is present with all DLCs installed. The thing is that Shepard's attempt at Synthesis is no different from the first. It's just as forced, the only difference is that Shepard makes the decision instead of the Catalyst. It isn't voted on by plebiscite, Shepard isn't an elected official, and he gets to make that decision unilaterally. Even if that wasn't the case and the galaxy voted or elected Shepard to make those sorts of decisions, the results would still end up forced on all of those who don't want to be a cyborg.

[Vazgen]

In fairness, he does imply heavily that destroy is "kill yourself and the reapers" as Shepard has cybernetics. You also have to trust that shooting the panel thing will do what he says it does. He could have just let you die when you passed out if he wanted the cycle to continue. He has no reason to need to try and trick you.

Implies but not outright states. It is one thing to take a chance with shooting a tube and another to willingly sacrifice yourself for a promise of control or an utopia. 

Shooting the tube is a chance Shepard takes, true, but it is clear that there will be an explosion, and that explosion might damage the Catalyst's systems, since they seem to be located in the same place. After all, the tube is not connected to the Crucible. Each of the three options is a leap of faith, Destroy is simply the most believable of them.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

I'm calling bullsh*t on the mind change because even in the control ending what was stopping the soldier from picking up his gun and firing at the husk? He didn't understand the husk. He stopped and let it run off. In fact all of them stopped and let the husks run off. What changed their minds? Was Shepardlyst able to control people too? Look at the power they wield. Look at what they can do. Yet it is nearly the same scene as in synthesis, except synthesis they added a few frames.

 

Guys.... All this stuff you're talking about. Shepard doesn't know what happens when she jumps into the beam. Shepard only knows what the catalyst tells her. The rest is meta-gaming. Your world stops with perhaps seeing the image of Anderson, Liara, and Thane as you disintegrate.

 

What the writers did afterward is this:

 

 

This ending did not belong in Mass Effect. Starbrat and the three choices from hell did not belong in this game. Refuse isn't a choice, sorry. ME3 is still my least favorite of the three games.

[Redbelle]

I think you're looking at this the wrong way. I dont think their minds, personalities, or individualities are altered so much as they suddenly understand each other. I'm not sure I can explain it, but I'll try.

Imagine if you're fighting some horrifying monster. And in the course of that battle it stops and the the illusion around you is dispelled. Suddenly you realize you've been tricked into fighting your brother. Its not the best analogy, but it works. All living creatures, organic and synthetic, suddenly understood each other. They no longer needed to fight. There was nothing to fight about.

 

So, as I understand it, your saying that the green wave affected the players of the war that they came to an abrupt halt and stopped attacking each other, because they had an epiphany?

 

That may well be the case but we are still in the realm of of wave affecting people on the mental level. That the motivations and orders of the combatants give way to a higher calling that causes them to down their weapons and not fight.

 

And that just cannot happen unless a force is applied to stop the fighting. Clearly it's not a hard force, like someone pointing a gun and saying stop fighting. Synthesis is a soft force that just causes the conflict to cease.

 

But the two sides have to either make the choice to stop where before stopping wasn't a choice..... in which case something was added to them to force that decision gate in both sides at the same time that both led to the same outcome...... Or they had the choice made for them by the green wave in that it affected them to the point where survival instinct and the pressure of warfare was replaced with a desire to not go to war.

 

Total peace in the span of a few seconds that is galaxy wide, given the stakes that were involved is not a realistic outcome. The certainty in both sides that even though they may now understand each other, doesn't mean that they can put faith in each other unless that understanding and faith are installed by an outside source. These two sides made their decision. The Reapers wanted to Reap because they were designed and told to Reap. The free Orgs and Synths decided to fight because they didn't want to be reaped.

 

In that instant after the green wave, the fundamental nature of humanity and freedom were changed to favor a different outcome than war. Because in a galaxy of war no one pressed with it. And the nature of freedom involves chaos. No one continued the war. No free mind was left with enough hate or fury at what the Reapers had done to them and their loved ones not to pull another trigger after all the other times. The Chaos of freedom was replaced with the order of control. Just because two sides can understand each other is no reason for conflict to stop unless the minds of the people affected can no longer conceive of continuing the conflict.

 

If one brother found he'd been fighting his other brother, maybe they'd stop. But replicate that across the galaxy and some brothers would still kill brothers. The peace is implied to be total and absolute. Hence, Synthesis rebuilt the galaxy in both body and mind. Redesigning the mind so that thoughts of conflict would not arise even when reason exists to hate someone or something enough to want them destroyed/dead.

 

Or did Javick suddenly learn to stop worrying and love the Reaper? Because if Javick 'understands' Reapers.... so what? They killed his species. They can't give him back his friends. His family. All the experiences he took for granted he'd have with people he cared about. The empire he was proud of. How can he forgive the Reapers unless he is made to forgive?

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Bioware also chose to overlook that the red wave fried technology and destroyed the relay network. Yet in the EC they give the impression the whole thing was rebuilt in a matter of months. Those ships made it back into the Sol System by eyeballing it and working it out with slide rules and pencils and paper. Go Bioware! But it doesn't matter because the ending slides show everything fine and eventually rebuilt... forgetting the fact we don't even know about Mass Relay technology. How much money do you think it would cost to rebuild the mass relay system? Let alone the Citadel? And with the worlds being about bankrupt having to rebuild themselves?

 

Bioware also chose to overlook how people will react to the reapers overseeing their day to day lives via the Shepardlyst in a police state. Suppose you have renegade Shepard? Uh oh.

 

If you didn't have high EMS in it, the red wave and the blue wave destroyed buildings as well - see Big Ben. The galaxy was a wasteland.

 

Trying to analyze this ending makes my head hurt. Hudson and Walters tried to get deep with it. The theme was technology - specifically reaper tech - the power of which was that which we shouldn't have because "nothing good ever comes from reaper tech".... After all what did the Reapers ever do for us! The mass relays? That goes without saying. The Citadel? They did give us that. Mass effect fields. And that. But aside from mass relays, the citadel, and mass effect fields, what have the reapers ever done for us?

 

The Catalyst represented god punishing mere mortals for toying with technology they shouldn't have - synthetics - saving us from certain disaster by preserving us in reaper form - yo dawg. The Illusive Man represented satan tempting us that reaper tech was good and that it could be controlled if we became god. The Synthesis ending was being giving us enlightenment because we were finally ready to receive it. Destroy was rejecting both and taking our own path even if it meant a 10,000 year dark age. The mysticism in the ending just ruined the series.

 

We're supposed to overlook the short comings of the endings, and keep our thoughts "high level."    The ME3 plot and the reaper plot in general once they started explaining it, got people thinking. And once you start thinking about it, you find the plot is like Wile E. Coyote - it ran out in a straight line and is hanging in mid air over a 1000 ft drop waving bye bye to you as it drops into a hole. Such is the way it is with the ending of the story as well. Keep your thoughts high level and overlook the massive flaws. Once you engage the cerebral cortex the endings fall into the precipice. But at least with one of them you get closure.

 

What is worse? Blowing up the galaxy and setting everything back about 10,000 years technologically (destroy)? Creating a galactic police state (control)? Jumping (literally) everything 10,000 years forward (synthesis)? Or leave the decision for the next cycle?

 

The Original ending was a plot hole. The Extended Cut was Bioware's attempt to explain the Original ending by digging a bigger hole.

 

In the end it doesn't matter because it was a bedtime story told by an old man to his great grandchild.

[Undead Han]

Synthesis as a permanent solution to conflict between organics and synthetics only works if it is also rewiring the minds of the organics it is altering. People with Javik's 'throw them out the airlock' world view aren't going to change just because you give them some Adam Jensen arms or synthetic bone weave or what have you.

 

Assuming for a moment that the problem the Catalyst was trying to solve is an actual problem (I don't believe it is), Synthesis would only work as a solution if it is also indoctrinating the people being altered. If their brains aren't being changed, than human nature will still be human nature. Or alien or what have you.

[Iakus]

"Sure as I know anything, I know this:  they will try again.  Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean.  A year from now, ten?  They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better.  And I do not hold to that."

[Callidous]

Synthesis as a permanent solution to conflict between organics and synthetics only works if it is also rewiring the minds of the organics it is altering. People with Javik's 'throw them out the airlock' world view aren't going to change just because you give them some Adam Jensen arms or synthetic bone weave or what have you.

Assuming for a moment that the problem the Catalyst was trying to solve is an actual problem (I don't believe it is), Synthesis would only work as a solution if it is also indoctrinating the people being altered. If their brains aren't being changed, than human nature will still be human nature. Or alien or what have you.

Its tooootally a problem. The geth prove that.The catalyst also says he's seen it happen over and over. Machines break free and attack. At least, in fictional universes it's always a problem. Mass Effect isnt any different.

Of course the brain is changed. Its simply changed to understand and connect with others though. Everything that makes you who you are stays the same. That's how it appears at least.

[Redbelle]

Its tooootally a problem. The geth prove that.The catalyst also says he's seen it happen over and over. Machines break free and attack. At least, in fictional universes it's always a problem. Mass Effect isnt any different.

Of course the brain is changed. Its simply changed to understand and connect with others though. Everything that makes you who you are stays the same. That's how it appears at least.

If your brain is altered to not want something, or to think in a different way than before then your only you on a superficial level.

 

Time and again it has been demonstrated that when put into a system of government there will be those who lash out at it for reasons of their own. Synthesis doesn't hold this aspect of life up. Everyone's just happy being who they were made to be. They are still themselves in personality perhaps but again, we come to Javick. Javick wants revengence. How does he fit into this society?

 

He only fits if he is pushed and prodded in his thinking to fit. Or, and this is another possibility that arises from Synthesis...... He's removed as a member of the outlying population that is deemed unworthy of continuing on.

 

You look at the ending and the husks, Brutes, Banchee's. They aren't there. They are airbrushed out of the Synth ending. Imagine trying to integrate those people into a synth society. The counseling over the lives they've taken, which they probably won't care about since the org's affected don't care enough to hold the Reapers to account for war crimes. The plastic surgery to turn these ruined beings back into something that remotely resembles a living creature.

 

Synthesis really is indoctrination on another level in mind and body. Different and not destructive. But it leads people to live a life someone else wants you to live. You can be yourself while you do it..... But you don't have a choice not to do it. And woe to those the new society deems unworthy because if you aren't pretty or disruptive to the new galactic order...... your out.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

 

You look at the ending and the husks, Brutes, Banchee's. They aren't there. They are airbrushed out of the Synth ending.

 

 

But..... Art. If you could only see it the way I do. It's so... perfect. *croaks*

 

It's the same with the Control ending. They're airbrushed out. We're supposed to overlook the flaws in the endings because Bioware never bothered to think about the consequences of any of them. They gave us fancy slide shows at the end in the EC. Honestly I like the Original Ending better. It sucked sh*t but at least it didn't try to p*** in a glass and tell me it was champagne.

 

The slides go to show just exactly how much thought went into the endings - none. They're stupid. It also goes to illustrate why the rage continues to this day. I still hate the endings, and I hope we never see another game ending like this.

[Iakus]

If your brain is altered to not want something, or to think in a different way than before then your only you on a superficial level.

 

Time and again it has been demonstrated that when put into a system of government there will be those who lash out at it for reasons of their own. Synthesis doesn't hold this aspect of life up. Everyone's just happy being who they were made to be. They are still themselves in personality perhaps but again, we come to Javick. Javick wants revengence. How does he fit into this society?

 

 

I could go into the really unpleasant implications here, but I think it would be in bad taste.  And perhaps offensive.

 

So I'll just refer once again to Dorian's personal quest in DAI:

 

"You tried to change me!"

[Laughing_Man]

I could go into the really unpleasant implications here, but I think it would be in bad taste.  And perhaps offensive.

 

So I'll just refer once again to Dorian's personal quest in DAI:

 

"You tried to change me!"

 

Oh please...

 

We are talking here about massive risks, galaxy spanning molecular changes, The End of Life as We Know Them, the moral issues of taking the reins to the Reaper armada, allowing that race of an abomination against sentient life where it may be to stay "alive" - or killing it together with many synthetics that just achieved true sentience, or using a new solution that is supposed to solve all your problems in one fell swoop if you believe starbrat.

 

But your reason is that it tickles your SJW pickle?...

Way to have your priorities straight.

[Iakus]

Oh please...

 

We are talking here about massive risks, galaxy spanning molecular changes, The End of Life as We Know Them, the moral issues of taking the reins to the Reaper armada, allowing that race of an abomination against sentient life where it may be to stay "alive" - or killing it together with many synthetics that just achieved true sentience, or using a new solution that is supposed to solve all your problems in one fell swoop if you believe starbrat.

 

But your reason is that it tickles your SJW pickle?...

Way to have your priorities straight.

 

It's not about social justice as you are describing it, it's about the theft of free will.

 

Because not only is Synthesis doing everything you described, but it's logical progression is that it mentally forces every sentient life form to accept these changes.  Everyone who lives, everyone who will live.  Not only is this done to them, they are made incapable of fighting it, or even wanting to fight it, even if it would normally be part of their nature (as Javik has already been used as an example)

 

Messing with the galaxy physically is abomination enough.  To to frak with billions, trillions of minds?  That to me, is the true horror.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Even Krogan and Salarians will get along after this! Think. And it will end the threat of the Yahg before they eat everyone.

[Laughing_Man]

It's not about social justice as you are describing it, it's about the theft of free will.
 
Because not only is Synthesis doing everything you described, but it's logical progression is that it mentally forces every sentient life form to accept these changes.  Everyone who lives, everyone who will live.  Not only is this done to them, they are made incapable of fighting it, or even wanting to fight it, even if it would normally be part of their nature (as Javik has already been used as an example)
 
Messing with the galaxy physically is abomination enough.  To to frak with billions, trillions of minds?  That to me, is the true horror.

 

When it comes down to it, I don't really like Synthesis.

 

That said, I think that there are far greater horrors than forcing people to become smarter a hundred times over by giving them access to infinite amounts of data, and the ability to comprehend more than the mindless drudgery of everyday life.

 

And if a measure of understanding and peace comes from it? Great!

 

No matter how some may wish it was otherwise, if you believe the information provided within the game, there is no mind control component in Synthesis. Any change is incidental, and a result of everyone becoming smarter and wiser.

 

Synthesis is intended as a supposed utopia.

[Iakus]

When it comes down to it, I don't really like Synthesis.

 

That said, I think that there are far greater horrors than forcing people to become smarter a hundred times over by giving them access to infinite amounts of data, and the ability to comprehend more than the mindless drudgery of everyday life.

 

And if a measure of understanding and peace comes from it? Great!

 

No matter how some may wish it was otherwise, if you believe the information provided within the game, there is no mind control component in Synthesis. Any change is incidental, and a result of everyone becoming smarter and wiser.

 

Synthesis is intended as a supposed utopia.

Since when has knowledge ever guaranteed peace?  Did that work with the krogan?  Heck did it work with humans?  We just find new things to fight over.

 

Synthesis may be intended to be the "shiny, happy people" ending.  But all I saw was The Shepard trying to be Sybok for the galaxy.

[Laughing_Man]

Since when has knowledge ever guaranteed peace?  Did that work with the krogan?  Heck did it work with humans?  We just find new things to fight over.

 

Synthesis may be intended to be the "shiny, happy people" ending.  But all I saw was The Shepard trying to be Sybok for the galaxy.

 

Not merely knowledge, understanding, a new point of view.

If everyone is suddenly made from the same materials - essentially the same race race, and have access to the same depository of knowledge and perhaps experience, things are suddenly seen in an entirely different perspective than before.

 

In any case, there is no mind control component involved, so Dorian's sexuality is out of danger...

[Iakus]

Not merely knowledge, understanding, a new point of view.

If everyone is suddenly made from the same materials - essentially the same race race, and have access to the same depository of knowledge and perhaps experience, things are suddenly seen in an entirely different perspective than before.

That doesn't work with human communities.  Why should it work with other organic races, let alone synthetics.

 

Providing information =/=providing understanding.  And even understanding doesn't guarantee acceptance of a point of view.  Not unless you tinker with someone's mind.

 

 

In any case, there is no mind control component involved, so Dorian's sexuality is out of danger...

So what about sexuality?  his father tried to use blood magic to make him accept his place in Tevinter society.  Which sounds an awful lot like Synthesis and providing "understanding" and "a new point of view" and encouraging him to accept it.