Why does the Catalyst help you?
Because its cycle was beaten, if not in this cycle, than the next. Its that simple. It realizes that with the Crucible, organics are too resourceful for the cycle to continue, its solution won't work anymore. That is why he helps you. That is what he means by "altering the variables". Another reason he helps you is that it cannot activate the Crucible itself, it needs you. So that is two reasons it helps you.
There is NO hacking, no indoctrination, no reprogramming, and the Crucible does nothing but provide the energy that the Citadel directs and amplifies.
So if you refuse, the cycle is beaten anyway.
Destroy and Control do NOT fulfill its purpose and I don't how people here actually think they do. The Catalyst will say that the chaos will come back on Destroy and that it does not look forward to being replaced on Control.
Why won't the solution work anymore? What does it matter that one guy got into his secret chamber? It's not as though Organics were able to overcome the Reapers. The Reapers are still going to win the battle. You're right that Destroy and Control won't fulfill it's purpose, so why does it offer those options? Why not just throw Shepard into the Synthesis beam? The only answer is "it can not be forced," just because the Catalyst says so.
Also, why is Synthesis locked behind EMS? It might make sense if it was tied only to Crucible research, but it isn't.
The conflict - LISTEN to the protagonist.
The ending is NOT really about "organics vs synthetics", that is the CONTEXT of the conflict, not the CONFLICT. It seems hundreds of people really haven't figured this out. The conflict that Shepard has with the Catalyst is the barbarity of its cycle. That is the conflict...means not ends. so simply out, THE CONFLICT NEVER CHANGED. There is no new conflict, it was the same in the ending as it was when the Reapers were first introduced. Listen to Shepard....which brings me to my next point.
You're half right. The Catalyst opens up a new conflict, but you have some choice, at least in interpretation, as to how much Shepard cares. Destroy is basically telling the Catalyst that he doesn't care or that they will figure out their own solution. Control is Shepard taking that on himself. Synthesis is accepting the problem and doing the Catalyst's solution. The added Refuse ending is basically rejecting everything. But the conflict of Galaxy vs Reapers is still there.
The Reapers and the Catalyst don't truly understand organic life.
Yeah, it flipped from way back with Sovereign, when it said that Reapers are beyond comprehension. That is the twist. Its the other way around and that is the point. Never mind that Shepard even says multiple times in ME3 that the Reapers truly don't understand organic life, leading to the ending. It shows with the conversation with the Catalyst. Shepard argues that the meaning behind organic life is choice or hope. The Catalyst says earlier that organics are more resourceful than they realized. And another thing, and probably a big thing, when Synthesis is explained, Shepard can say two things...."I don't know..." and "You are asking me to change everything and everyone. I can;t make that decision and I won't"......The Catalyst replies to Shepard how Shepard can imagine his life without his synthetics which Shepard retorts..."That's beside the point" basically showing that the Catalyst does NOT comprehend the morality behind the decision or why Shepard would have trouble choosing it.
This is true, but nothing happens with this idea. There is no opportunity to teach the Catalyst or show it its errors. This is probably my biggest problem with the ending.
But victory comes at a cost.
A theme of the game. To end the cycle, Shepard has to sacrifice. Not on the Catalyst's behest but to fire the Crucible. Remember, the CRUCIBLE provides the choices, the solutions, not the Catalyst. And so the dilemma is brought by the thing that was built all game long, never mind Liara and Hackett did discuss and foreshadow the effects the Crucible could have.
So there you have it...not hard. Does it take some thought and some piecing together into what happened? Absolutely. And it was undercooked the first time around and too vague for its own good. But it does come together with what we have now and it does make sense. Pay attention to the narrative. Adding what you think happened or all these bonker theories just make the ending more confusing to you than it actually is.
Now the role of the Keepers to the catalyst...this is the series biggest unaddressed issue. Here is where I do think Bioware should have had the catalyst address these issues and clear the vagueness around them. The level of control that The Catalyst has with the Reapers is also too vague. It does seem however, they are not full puppets, they act on their own to fulfill its directive and the Leviathan did say the Intelligence "directed" them to build the relays. So here are two of the most vague parts of the ending.
No, the Citadel provides the choices and the Crucible merely makes them available. The Catalyst tells you that the Crucible is little more than a power source. Power sources power something else. Notice that it doesn't say that it needs him or the Citadel to be its power source. Therefore, the Crucible powers these hidden functions of the Citadel. Also, you are standing on the Citadel during the scene and the energy is emitted from the Citadel tower. The Reapers, and therefore the Catalyst, created the Citadel. The Catalyst did indeed create the options. So the question becomes; why was the Citadel built to do those things? How did the civilizations who started the Crucible know to make the Crucible do what it does?
As a side note, if every cycle added to the Crucible, was there any addition by the current cycle, or did they just follow the plans given?
First off, the Catalyst doesn't know what the Crucible does until its right at its doorstep. Second, it thought it eradicated the plans before. And the Catalyst is right that the solution doesn't work anymore because the next cycle will win before the Reapers even invade. So The Crucible passing from one cycle to another is a huge part of this reasoning.
But thats not the conflict....thats the context. Its a conflict of means, not ends. Second, the Rannoch Reaper hints at the catalyst's motives. You might want to pay close attention to what it says, especially with the paragon and neutral options with it. Third, The Catalyst is actually the SECOND AI on the Citadel Shepard meets that believed in an inevitable conflict between organics and synthetics. You meet the first way back in ME1. So its not even a "new" conflict.
The only thing from Leviathan that should of been in the main game was the explanation of why the Catalyst built the Mass Relays, other than that info, everything else is fine just being in Leviathan. The Catalyst in the EC is already one big talking codex entry.
Once again, the narrative only gave the Catalyst the power of enthrallment. Second, it directed the Reapers to build the Mass Relays, so it itself originally could not have had a mass relay before the Reapers built one at the Citadel. So, its basically a director of thralls, nothing more. The narrative doesn't assign him anything more.
Third, just because Vigil and Sovereign is contradicted doesn't mean its a plot hole or even a retcon. Characters can be wrong. This is what people are not getting. ME1's lore is driven by character conversation, which wasn't a good thing. Bioware still has this problem, but ME3 had more "showing things" instead of just telling them.
While the Catalyst might not know exactly what the Crucible does, it's not completely ignorant either. It was aware of the plans and watched it take shape over the cycles. It's likely other cycles actually built their proto-Crucibles. How does the Catalyst know the next cycle will win before the Reapers invade? How did they win? The woman in the Refuse Epilogue does make it sound like they didn't even have to fight. What if the Catalyst just destroyed the Crucible plans?
Organics vs Synthetics isn't a new idea to the Mass Effect series, but it was never the central conflict. It could have been, but several things derailed that. First was Sovereign's contempt for the Geth, showing that it was Reapers vs everything else. Second was making Reapers cyborgs rather than straight synthetics.
Sovereign already told you why they built the Mass Relays and there is nothing in the story to indicate that wasn't true.
There is reason to think the Catalyst directly controls the Citadel. As was mentioned, Catalyst Shepard closes it during the Control ending and the original Catalyst raises Shepard up to meet it. Additionally, how else did the Citadel move to Earth, close, and start up the teleport beam? There was no Reaper attached to the tower, as Sovereign was.
You're right that a plot hole doesn't automatically arise from something earlier being contradicted. However, what came before must be either explained or subverted. Vigil is mostly speculating, so that's pretty easy. But why would Sovereign be wrong? The is no attempt to make what came later either subvert or remain consistent with what came before. That is why there are plot holes.
but Mass Effect is about things going wrong, about things turning against those who try to control them.
If that's true, and that certainly does happen multiple times throughout the series, then why is there a Control option at the end? I suppose there is something to be said for rejecting everything you were supposed to have learned.
If the Catalyst dumps over established lore than who runs the Keepers in ME1? Something or someone has to run them.
Here is the fact here: The lore wasn't established. You really can't establish lore truly through what characters say, but through plot action, because characters can be contradicted. Hell, Tali's explanation of the history with the geth in ME1 was contradicted in ME3, but no one complains about that. Same thing with Vigil being contradicted. Hell in Empire Strikes Back, doesn't Vader contradict what Obi Won says in New Hope about Luke's father?
The game does not demonstrate that the Catalyst itself controls the Citadel completely. That's the Keepers job. That's why they are there. And the Catalyst does NOT directly control the Reapers. If it did, why didn't the space battle stop while the Catalyst was talking to Shepard? The Reapers seem to be AI built from an AI, programmed to follow a directive but not controlled completely by its creator. The Reapers run on directive and goals. You are not grasping the concept here. The methods of control are broad.
Let me asks you this...if the Reapers were "independent, each a nation" as Sovereign says, why do they all agree on the cycle? Well, ME3 answers that question.
Why does it have to be the Catalyst that controls the Keepers? Why can't they be going off of instinct, programmed or evolved, and responding only to the Citadel itself, as Vigil suggests? Tali being wrong about the Mourning War makes sense with the idea of oral tradition being passed down by the people on the other side of the conflict. It makes perfect sense to us. The new information is also presented as historical documentation, not merely the claims of a character. The visuals help as well.
Yes, Vader does contradict what Obi-Wan said about Luke's father and that is addressed in the third film. It's not the best answer, but they had to deal with an idea that they didn't have until after the first film was made and that change ultimately lead to a great story. Where is that here? Where is the attempt to reconcile the new information with the old? How is the story better for the new information?
If the Catalyst does not directly control the Reapers, then how does Shepard-Catalyst Control them? Was the Catalyst lying about Control?
I have more, but I have to go!
. But for the sake of argument I'd accept implicit and explicit assumptions and interpretations of my dialog partners. 
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Retour en haut
just thought that I could comment on that anyway.
People use totalitarian governments as an example because Shepalyst has no checks and balances. Also it is no mortal man, you can coup out of office or assassinate and a 100% loyal military arm, that will do everything it wants. Oh and mindcontrol in the toolbox. Dictator fits because Shepalyst is ruling alone. In the end it´s calling the shots and you can only hope that it is reluctant and not meddling.
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