Mass Effect has no plot holes

That's why the Mako is so essential.  Runs right over those things!  I mean, just look at the Prothean skyway on Feros!

Within the narrative, Bioware does imply that the Catalyst should know about what's going on with the Citadel: 

When Shepard asks about the nature of the Catalyst by saying "I thought the Citadel was the Catalyst", the Catalyst replies:  "No, the Citadel is part of me." So, the Citadel and the Catalyst are extremely intertwined (to the point that Vendetta, a VI made by the same Protheans who made and used the Conduit, believes the two are one and the same) and the Catalyst indicates that it is the greater whole and the Citadel is merely a part of that whole.  Your computer is programmed to run diagnostics on itself and, if spotting a problem, to run even deeper diagnostics in that area and, if necessary, to take steps to fix the problem internally and often automatically.  Given all that, I would respond... Why should I assume that the Catalyst, an even more advanced AI than a present-day computer, be unaware of what is going on within itself? 

Also, the Conduit Mass Relay is NOT found in a super-secret area of the Citadel.  It's found in a public plaza and it was, apparently, used by the Prothean scientists themselves to get to the Citadel from Ilos (it's a one way trip we're told)... so that they could then work their way to the Citadel Tower and sabotage the keeper signal.  Within the narrative, we are shown Shepard's own "entrance" onto the Citadel using that same method to get there, and it is hardly covert.  A further plot hole here is how, when the Prothean Scientists were trapped on Ilos, did they manage to emerge on the Citadel when they were unable to get to the Citadel to build that end of their Relay... that is, the Citadel end of that "paired" system could not have existed before the Prothean Scientists apparently emerged from it.  Do Mass Relays just appear out of thin air and build themselves when someone starts the journey at the other end (like nether portals in MInecraft)?  Bioware never indicates that anywhere in the narrative and this begs the question - Why then can't we build distant relays (like in Andromeda) simply by building one on this end and pointing it towards a destination... after all, the Protheans apparently built a relay on the Citadel by just traveling through a new one on Ilos.  So, next scenario - Perhaps there were other Protheans already on the Citadel who built that end at the same time the Protheans on Ilos were building there end of it.  However, again Bioware never indicates that in the narrative and it begs the question then, why build it at all?... just communicate the 'how to disable the keepers" to the Protheans already on the Citadel.. so, another plot hole.

Moreover, the Catalyst says he controls the reapers.  That means he tells them what to do.  That means he tells Sovereign, a reaper, what to do.  So why would I assume he is then completely unaware of what Sovereign is doing?

Lastly, the narrative gives absolutely no indication that the Prothean Scientists hacked the Catalyst. You are the one supposing that from your own mind and creating your own "what if" scenario to fill that plot hole. Ditto, the narrative gives absolutely no indication that the Catalyst is ever dormant, so that is again another "what if" scenario you're using to fill their plot hole.  Sure, Bioware could ultimately insert your "what if" scenario into their narrative in a future game... and that would close their plot hole... but for now, the plot hole still exists.

OK, you're pointing out inconsistencies in the narrative by saying that "you need only assume..." and that the Catalyst "is badly intertwined with the Citadel"  I'm not assuming a "perfect identify" for the Catalyst - I'm told by the Catalyst himself directly in the narrative "The Citadel is part of me."  Inconsistencies are another defined aspect of a plot hole existing in the narrative.  You are the one, by your own admission, still having to "assume" something (so then it's not explained by Bioware).  You're saying "maybe the Relay Statue was always there" but Vigil indicates that it was the Prothean Scientists who built the Conduit which is the back door onto the Citadel. Firstly, Bioware does not indicate that the statue was always there... and the primary question remains even if it it was.  How then did the Prothean scientists turn an inert statue into a mass relay without being there to put in the necessary eezo core, etc.

You're still not getting the fact that I'm not arguing whether or not your assumptions are possible (they are)... but the fact that you have to resort to making them at all indicates that a plot hole exists in the narrative.  I'm also saying that, within RPGs, creating room for people to interject their own assumptions and "solutions" to the narrative is part of the game.  I'm saying media where the narrative is one sided (books, movies) need to close all plot holes (and we've been conditioned to view plot holes in that context), but in RPGs it's almost inevitable (and in some ways desirable and more engaging if some plot holes are left open for the player to play around with different theories for solving them.  Your assumptions are not written in stone and they are certainly not the ONLY ones that can be made to resolve the plot holes that do exist in this game... and that's part of the game.

Is the problem with the Catalyst that it is too serious a plot hole and too inconsistent with the previous narrative?  Most people on this site have been saying so for years now.  I agree with them.  That doesn't mean I hate the endings - I still love them and enjoy playing around with the different theories people have made from it.  I prefer the original ones to the EC precisely because they leave the ultimate outcomes for the galaxy less defined.  We don't, for example, have Hackett comforting us by saying everything could be rebuilt... let's me imagine a far darker future for the Milky Way Galaxy if I want.  Others don't enjoy that, so best practice then, for Bioware, would probably be to not try to go that far with leaving a plot hole open ever again... but I'd hate to see them close everything up so tight that there's no longer any room in the narrative for the player(s) to make a variety of different assumption and theories.

The Protheans built the relay before their harvest started?  Doubt it and something certainly not stated by the narrative.  I'm pretty sure the sequence goes that the Protheans were caught completely off guard by the attack on the Citadel that started the harvest.  Their government fell almost immediately and communication across their empire was cut off.  Ilos survived because they were isolated and the scientists were on the verge of figuring out how relays worked and were then able to work something out.  We can expand a theory that the small relay was part of the testing being done to study the relays, but that's another assumption.

That the Catalyst never existed until Shepard shows up contradicts the Leviathan DLC that clearly states it was created by them eons earlier.  (The "Intelligence" that created the Reapers as a solution to their problem - which the Catalyst confirms is himself.)

ETA:  We could go way outside the original narrative and suggest that the Catalyst was a hack by another species (the Jaardan) that, in effect, replaced the Leviathan's "Intelligence" and was out to sabotage Shepard's efforts... and take the story forward from there.  Perhaps the Jaardan have been at war with the Leviathan for Eons and the Scourge is the result of Leviathan attacking the Jaardan... Perhaps there is technology in Andromeda that would enable a hero from the Initiative to undo the timeline, undo the hack (eliminate the Catalyst as we know him) and reveal the true one, enabling Shepard to make a different decision... Perhaps an interesting concept, but one that, I'm sure, lots of people will enjoy shooting down... and I don't mind (have at it).  It still doesn't actually eliminate the holes in the original narrative.

Exactly what I was questioning in my post previous to yours.  Still, Vigil (Bioware) gives us that sequence of events in the narrative and Bioware tells us that the Catalyst controls the Reapers as well.

Bioware could eventually decide to explain it and close their plot hole.  Until then, as Vigil says - "We have only theories."

your body is part of you but you are not always aware of everything happening to and in your body. Not even close. There is no logical contradiction between "x being part of y" and "y not being aware of something happening in/to x"

Vigil said the that before the invasion protheans were very very close to understand the mass-realy tech, and that on ilos scientist were working on a small scale version of mass relay directly linked to the citadel. So the mini-portal was already there.
So we can assume that when the invasion started, their work was almost finished, and after they wake up, they simply finished it, and used it.

A mass relay need eezo to push you from A to B. Mass relay A need eezo, yes.
Do mass relay B need eezo to "receive" you? Maybe not. Before the mako appears, the mass relay is empty. No eezo. Why/how did it activated? Who knows. Maybe the "energy" from portal A is enough.



because taking the citadel + shot down relay network is their plan A.
if sovering fails, they go with plan B, (as they've done).

It's like "we use our spy inside the castle to open the gates. If he fails, we attack directly". A sound strategy.




well, of course we need to assume that
a. the catalyst didn't know about the prothean altering the signals. He only discovered it later, when the asari had already arrived
or
b. he knew but the prothean, altering the citadel signals and being the citadel part of him, altered his signals too, preventing him to communicate with the reapers/sovereing
or
c. something else

Plot holes discussion here are more or less about the original trilogy.  Elaaden wouldn't come into play.  In one of by posts about my current play, I had my Shepard comment in a journal that there was talk of a faster "Mako" but it lost cannons to make that happen - and, no thanks.

I don't know about terminals and such. I'd almost imagine omni-tools would replace all of that. However, maybe they're as is because of the fairly frequent influx of new species'. It makes it easier for them to adapt. (Total made up theory on the spot.)

As for pilots...imagine you live in a society that's anti-AI. You wouldn't replace pilots with AI. Not sure a VI would be up to the task. After all, if you don't need pilots, you also don't need engineers. Maybe a captain but you wouldn't need an XO because the AI could watch the ship in your absence. Crew itself would be mostly irrelevant because the AI could do everything. Maybe you'd have a squad for ground battles, but why not use mechs and drones for that purpose? You can either accept that we need organics running the show or take it to its logical conclusion that they're unneeded entirely/

 yeah, i guess. 

And i  guess Shepard is too fond of Joker to break his heart and let EDI fly the Normandy. 

That made me look up the space shuttle and i found an article  relating  debates as whether NASA should do away with pilots altogether. One of the 
reasons against it was " pilots want to fly it" and also the fact that it looked good to the public, having astronauts landing the thing etc. 
(space shuttle )