Unpopular opinions

In part. He's also there to guarantee a "pure soldier" character will be available (As Ash can be dead).

Just as EDI is the guaranteed pure tech character and Liara is the pure biotic.

In terms of writer's pet accusations that the community in general throws around, I would ascribe to the notion that it is not Liara who gets the award for most obvious writer's pet in-game, but rather Cerberus. The sheer amount of spotlight this organization gets in-game, as well in tie in novels and comics far outweighs any preference given to a particular Asari.

Now, while I wouldn't go so far as to say that Cerberus was being elevated to the same level of Matt Ward's Ultramarines or Grey Knights from WH40K, I will say that Mac Walter's showcasing of Cerberus being involved in almost every event that goes on the trilogy was pretty dang close.

Certainly. The label of a writer's pet doesn't necessarily have to mean that the creation in question suddenly has to be re-imagined as the closet good guys. All that is needed is for the object of the writer's affections to receive inordinate time in the spotlight and/or advantages and victories that flow in direct contrast to pre-established lore and logic. 

Cerberus being able to directly challenge major species in military engagements despite being a small terrorist organization. Cerberus being able to create advanced medical procedures above and beyond the combined medical minds of the galaxy. Cerberus being able to infiltrate and directly assault the Salarian home world; an alien who's whole shtik is cloak & dagger espionage/subterfuge. Cerberus being the only ones to be able to track down the Shadow Broker. Cerberus being able to maintain a constant stream of separate cells and operatives despite practically every single one of them blowing up in their faces. Cerberus getting more screen time than the Reapers in ME 3. Cerberus being showcased in nearly all the Foundation comics. Etc. 

Matt Ward and Mac Walters are similar in their respective writing here because, in essence, the result comes across like the fan fiction of a hardcore fanboy. 

Other opinions I hold that may be unpopular;
1. Garrus was not an interesting character until ME3.

2. Tali was never an interesting character.

3. Liara was never an interesting character.

Yes Oriana was the primary reason for her to go to Cerberus. It was also the primary reason she stayed because the resources Cerberus offered her allowed her to keep her save. Matching the resources her Father as one of the most wealthy humans in the galaxy had at his disposal.  Her father isn't some broke abusive drug addled idiot who simply moving her to another planet would put Oriana completely out of his grasp. He is a billionaire with connections to the Alliance Government and with most likely contacts within the criminal underground. Or at least enough credits to buy their assistance.  And yes it is said in game by a person who has been working for a secret terrorist organization. Who wanted to implant a control chip in Shepard. Who created his old ship and had familiar faces like Joker and the Dr Chakwas.  Who despite being a pro human organization, so much so that they boarder on xenophobia that a fair number of squad mates Shepard is told to recruit are not humans. And a couple of them are equally old familiar faces to him.  Who has an AI on board who regularly monitors and reports back to TIM with Miranda acting in a similar set up. Always denouncing negative actions of Cerberus even though EDI will directly contradict her claims. Because TIM only has a handful of projects active at any one time so he can keep a direct eye on them. These things are even more relative for the context of the situation when you take into account a more paragon Shepard who is very reluctant to help Cerberus in the first place.

The entire set up is based around manipulating Shepard to do Cerberus's dirty work while making them seem sympathetic to them. And it is her job to make sure the illusion is maintained to keep Shepard in line. Because that is her job. With that context she could say gravity exists and I would question it.

Actually it does because when you strip the rigid interpretation of her being Cerberus's number 1 supporter and lover of all they have done since her joining the organization because she truly believes every single thing they have done. You can actually start to bring realistic morality into the situation.  The final of it being TIM attempting to convince Shepard to keep the Collector Base in tact to allow him unlimited access to the technology inside. Because the inherent issues of TIM with his lack of morals and mentality getting a hold of that technology is obviously bad. So she make sure she has non Cerberus based contacts for protecting her sister, soaks up all the information from TIM she can manage then gets the hell out of dodge. Because it has finally reached the point she can not justify assisting them anymore even if it is to protect her sister. Because her actions had helped raise a serious threat to everyone if TIM had his way.

But the control chip wouldn't turn him into a zombie. What it would do is allow them to over ride control of him if he steps out of line. Which is why TIM was against it because that set up might cause problems. It wouldn't strip away his ability to reason it would strip away his free will to act if it wasn't in line with what TIM or Miranda had in mind.  Adding the control Chip is no different then the Reaper effect that TIM later used. Only it provided more bonus by actually making the soldiers better. And stripping humans of their free will and experimenting on them horribly all in the name of the advancement of humanity. Is exactly what Cerberus is already well known for and according to you what Miranda is already aware of and doesn't have a problem with.  Nothing about the Cerberus troops is out of line in terms of action or logic of Cerberus's past activities. Which again someone 20 years working and according to you anyways 2nd in command of the entire organization would be well aware of.

Cut out a bunch of irrelevant stuff. That's something else you seem to do, throw out a word salad not relevant to the argument in the hopes that someone will rebut every one or more points in it and so get sidetracked, until by the end of it, it's back to multipage multiquote posts where you either don't know what you were initially arguing or you just get tired of trying to keep it straight. Obvious, in retrospect. You'll excuse me if I don't fall for it again.

If Oriana was the primary reason for joining/staying and Cerberus resources are required to keep her safe, why leave? This does not change at the end of ME2. You have provided no argument to this effect.

Source on these mythical "non-Cerberus" resources? I thought Cerberus was necessary to keep Daddy at bay, something about not being drug addled?

Ah, so now you're saying Cerberus is crossing some moral line that's unacceptable to Miranda... kind of like what I've been saying, that you keep giving me shit for.  Well then, you face the same problems. Come on, let's hear it, what is the exact, stated way Cerberus is different before and after ME2 and at what exact point does Miranda decide to quit? Tell me, and you make my argument for me. The only difference is my argument doesn't contradict the game.

You don't know what the control chip would've done, but even in your version, that's not taking away free will. "Override control when he steps out of line" is functionally no different than having a gun at his head the whole time. If I hold a gun to your head have I robbed you of your free will? No. You can't do otherwise than what I say, but that's not all there is to it. You can still think freely. This you admit Shepard can do and TIM requires it in order for Shepard to be as he was. Which means that Shepard would still know he was being controlled and could attempt to subvert it or remove it. None of this applies to the troopers in ME3 who have been indoctrinated. They are zombies, free will and humanity stripped irreversibly. And if I have to tell you the difference between one test subject in an experiment vs pretty much the entirety of your employees and later, civilians by the hundreds, I suspect we're wasting our time.

It seems liking Liara is actually an unpopular opinion on this forum.

Remember sH0tgUn jUliA.?  She posted a number of times saying bad writing theory(BWT)

Pretty much. Although I grew to like her myself. Instead of "stalker", which is the common (and funny) complaint, I started seeing her in bigger terms. She kind of has Paragon Control traits in a way. And there isn't any other character like that, so it's good for someone to have that place (you might say Aria, TIM, and somewhat Miranda fall more in the Renegade control category). Of course, Control is dealing with synthetics, but I think it can apply to general behavior too.

It's frustrating when a character is so prominent in the series, and yet they don't fit well with how people approach the series. But this is how I started appreciating her role.

Also known as "Art"  

I have sometimes wondered if Liara wasn't meant to eventually be revealed as an Ardat-Yakshi.

I like Liara.

One of my favourite Mass Effect characters, that in itself apparently an unpopular opinion on here

But I think for me she improved drastically across the trilogy and DLC. She was pretty meh in ME1, non-existent in ME2, but it was the Shadow Broker DLC that started making me appreciate her and her character more, particularly her friendship and loyalty to Shepard. By ME3, she had become one of my favourites, probably because of the extreme ME1 bias I have, towards all the characters and such, which is why having Kaidan, Liara, Garrus and Tali back in ME3 was what I preferred over having the ME2 cast back (another unpopular opinion).

I also like as Straykat mentioned, how several seemingly unconnected story threads in ME1, are eventually linked and connected over the course of the trilogy.

Which is why, going from how Cerberus were depicted in ME1, us suddenly joining Cerberus in ME2 is my biggest problem with the game and series overall (another unpopular opinion).