Unpopular opinions

I agree 100%.  I don't think shooting good people for a misunderstanding should ever be an option.  Especially people who had your back in the past.

I only thought this since Liara was required, it would be cool for Kaidan and or Ash to be required as well. 

Javik isn't required for Thessia, but Liara is for example, and there are others where I feel a squadmate should or could have been required.

The whole required element wouldn't even be a problem, if some squadmates weren't mandatory in the first place I feel, it just opens it up to missions where I feel if this squdmate was required in one mission, then this squadmate should be required for this one etc.

Granted Eden Prime would have been just nostalgia, Liara just brought her usual Prothean 'expertise', and that was it. 

I thought James' quip about dinosaurs was more necessary to morale than all the help Liara did in that particular mission.

I agree Miranda should have been present in someway (provided she survived of course) but I appreciated the mission for allowing EDI some time to prove her worth. 

I agree, I would have liked it for Miranda's limited arc in ME3 to not have basically begun and end with her father and Oriana. Closing her arc off with Cerberus as well would have been nice, since its either brushed off in your first encounter with her on the Citadel in ME3, or there's just that one resignation line in ME2 if she is present for the encounter with the Proto-Reaper. Miranda having a wider role where Cerberus and the Illusive Man are concerned would have been preferable to her exhausted daddy issues storyline, most of the Cerberus stuff was delegated to video logs in Cronos, and we didn't even get to see her fight with Kai Leng, I would have loved to have seen one squad member actually beat him in combat after he magically managed to stop Thane, then Miranda, then became a pushover during his battles with Shep. 

In regards to Cronos, and the issue of two mandatory squadmates, I can't help but feel though that in the case of Miranda and EDI, they should have been mandatory.

Obviously for Miranda, but with EDI as well, it was great to finally get to all the questions regarding her answered, and her arc to come nearly full circle before her thanking Shep at the FOB with her feeling alive monologue. It made EDI so much more compelling and rounded a character when it was Shepard helping her with her questions regarding humanity and feeling alive etc, and her relation to Cerberus, than any crap that came with her pairing with Joker. Also TIM and EDI having that brief little exchange was great as well. 

If they made Javik compulsory, they would have to remove Thessia from the game for those without his DLC.
Or make two completely different versions of it.

The sum total of her character arc involves her dad and sister. She joined Cerberus because TIM agreed to hide her from her father and then provide resources to hide her sister in exchange for her assistance. Once she leaves Cerberus TIM goes back on the deal and starts working with her father who stopped his funding toward Cerberus specifically because TIM agreed to help assist her.

Once she confronts her dad and kills him her character arc is over. There is nothing to close it on the Cronos station because her entire arrangement with Cerberus and TIM was a business arrangement. TIM protected her from her father and provided resources so she could keep her sister safe and in return she would run what ever program TIM wanted her to run for the advancement of Cerberus's plan.

I suggest you play ME2 again, where you have several conversations with her about how fulfilling working on Cerberus projects has been, how she actively joined after they helped get her away from Lawson because she envied the STG for the operational freedom they had, and in general how much she toed the Cerberus line. She pitched the organization to Shepard, defended all their previous fuckups and was by all accounts, a true believer until TIM started openly stabbing them in the back and withholding information.

Then continue to playthroughs where you keep the CB or whatever other criteria there is where she doesn't quit, and finally to ME3 where they retcon her into being the second in command for the whole damn organization.

But sure, yeah it was all about her daddy issues.

Uhm, isn't making an male embryo female like, super easy (conceptually at least)? Duplicate the X chromosome or something? It's going the other way that's hard.

And joining Cerberus wasn't about hiding, it was about being out of Lawson's reach. She joined them for protection and better-deal'd her father's money. With her they got a bright capable operative for both scientific and more clandestine pursuits. Someone of her caliber would be well worth the loss of Lawson's funds- especially since Cerberus clearly didn't need them, going by the ridiculous resources they end up having and spending. Finally, at the time Miranda arranged Oriana's relocation she had no reason to expect she'd leave Cerberus. Why wouldn't she use them?

Then is should not have been possible to shoot Wrex in ME1.  The Citadel Coup standoff is almost a carbon copy of that first scenario with Wrex.

Yes, it is.  dmc1001's perspective was this:


... and shooting Wrex is shooting Wrex is shooting a person who has had Shepard's back throughout the game over a misunderstanding.  There are enough lines also that indicates the Wrex is also basically a "good person."  So, yeah, it's essentially the same scenario repeated.

So when TIM betrays SHEPARD NOT MIRANDA she loses faith in him. It is only when she quits with all the details of his organizations  high level member would have that he actively turns against her. Because again TIM kept his side of the bargain with Miranda and only once Miranda broke her side did he break his side of it. And I'm sorry but the being jealous of another secret agency doesn't really count as a good reason she would have to be there to watch Cerberus fall.

Your going to have to tell me the specific conversation with Miranda and or TIM in ME 3 that says she was second in command of the whole organization. Because I've played ME 3 several times and never saw that conversation pop up. Please tell me which interaction this happens with. And preferably can you post a video of it?

I didn't expect you'd agree because I know how you feel about Wrex.  The point is he's had your back the entire game and he's basically a "good" person who just, up to that point in time, just wanted to help you bring down Saren.  Also, up to that point in time, he's been killing other krogan who work with Saran.  He's thrown into an emotional conflict when confronted with the possibility that what Saren is doing will help his people survive.  dmc1001 is the one who used the word "ever" in his statement... meaning "no exceptions." 

If you agree with dmc1001's statement "I don't think shooting good people for a misunderstanding should ever be an option. Especially people who had your back in the past." then it holds that shooting Wrex should not be an option... period.  Whether or not Shepard or Garrus decides to shoot Ashley or Kaidan depends on his/her assessment of whether or not that person is going to shoot Shepard.  The game dialogue allows the player to become convinced that the VS does intend to shoot rather than let the mission be completed... and, therefore, the option to shoot them should exist in the game... player's choice whether or not they use it and for what reasons they do.

Could've sworn that was a thing. Maybe not relating to this game but...

Here we go: www.quora.com/Genetic-Engineering-Is-it-possible-to-clone-an-opposite-gender-version-of-yourself

No comments on the plausibility of this in real life of course. But in ME, it could entirely be possible, given what we're told of Lawson's intellect and resources.

Also, I don't think Lawson chose this route out of necessity. We're told the man is an egotistical narcissist, quite possibly the biggest one in the galaxy. It seems he didn't want to breed perfection so much as create it, manipulated and brand it at the genetic level. And then when we consider that he created a female with perfect er.... assets and proportions, well.... I don't think he acts much like a normal human being.

She wasn't hiding anyone from Cerberus at first. She had no reason to, she was working for them. Once she cut ties, yes she should've hid Oriana from Cerberus as well as even without her father in the picture, they could retaliate against her. However, Cerberus assassins probably preventer her from doing that. Come ME3 we're told she's been on the run for some time and she looks more disheveled and gaunt. She probably wasn't able to make the proper arrangements and she'd hardly want Oriana on the run with her.

Yes, Lawson is a genius but a egotistical genius who only cares about himself and his legacy. That's part of why Miranda's so disgusted with him. So despite his funding of them, he's hardly interested in working for Cerberus. The funding is probably pure business, money in exchange for certain favors or off the books acquisitions.

TIM betrayed them all by withholding information and leading them into a trap again and again. Miranda's on the ship too, you know. Prior to that she had faith that while Cerberus was ruthless, they weren't careless or flippant with people's lives the way the Alliance would have you believe. Probably also believed she was special due to her face-to-face contact with TIM (remember, less than a handful of people had that privilege). Faith shaken, she turns against him. The point is that faith was there to begin with. She was a full on Cerberus supporter and one of the few operatives that ever got close enough to TIM to see his face. So naturally she'd need to be there to see how it all went wrong.

I can't recall if it actually came up in coversation. It may have been a codex line. I'm not finding it at the moment but I'll get back to you.