What did you think of the portrayal of Illusive Man in 3?

And this would be the codex entry for Shepard then:

“The Shepard” is a socio-religious entity, worshiped in several belief systems with various degrees of popularity throughout the galaxy. While the fact that “The Shepard” represents an actual historical figure is widely accepted among the archaeological and historical community, some of the more miraculous deeds, ascribed to the figure (such as resurrection, the curing of entire races from sickness or “The Shepard’s” alleged death to atone for the galaxy’s sin of creating AIs) are disputed by scientists. A number of more radical critics have dismissed claims that “The Shepard” existed entirely, based on the fact that it cannot even be established if it was a man or a woman.
Interestingly, descriptions of “The Shepard’s” achievements are mostly consistent throughout the different religions that focus on this persona. However, the various interpretations differ when it comes to specifics, such as details in certain actions, exact words spoken and most importantly the general demeanor of “The Shepard”. While some ascribe a benevolent and compassionate stance to the figure, others uphold the view of an uncompromising and unscrupulous pragmatist. Frequently, these disputes escalate into violence between the different sects, the most notable occurrences being the Paragonian Crusades in the 31st century (Shepardian calendar) and the Renegade terror campaigns in the 3350s.
However, despite these schisms, most of the various clergies view “The Shepard” and the 19 apostles as messianic saviours and many await the return of a new incarnation of this mysterious entity.




Seriously though, the Stargazer scene doesn't give them a free path for failures in the narrative. It's a story regardless, whether the story teller is BioWare directly or the Stargazer, causalities should be properly explained by either one.

opuspace : Yes, that's exactly what was needed for Cerberus and TIM to have come off as complicated and a "necessary evil". Humanity became a Council race in under 30 years. No...other...race...EVER...did...that...! Hence, the claims that humanity was being held back were outright ridiculous. It's one reason I thought that humanity having been on the galactic scene a lot longer, hundreds of years, maybe as an unwilling client race of the turians after losing the First Contact War, would have worked far better. We might have seen evidence that humanity was very capable, that the turians didn't want to admit it (making Sparatus's behavior toward Shepard even more believable, particularly in ME1), and uncovering evidence that the turians were actively working against humanity. Saren's betrayal would have hit home harder, the other members of the Council might have let it slide, and someone like TIM would have known that Udina (he'd best suit this scenario) ought to have replaced Sparatus rather than be an addition to the Council.

All that said, TIM was written as a villain. Cerberus were written as villains. Novels and games both had him the same way. His lines like "superiority for Cerberus is superiority for humanity" (I'm badly paraphrasing so feel free to correct it) come off as nothing more than Ming the Merciless trying for galactic conquest. He doesn't care per se that humanity is advanced; he cares that HE is advanced. At least, that's how he was written. I could have gotten behind the underdog trying to find a way for humanity to have at least an equal standing but that's not what we got.