Is it better to let the council die or save them in ME1?

We do know. The Protheans were caught by surprise when the Reapers came through the Citadel relay. Javik says as much. We know there are "patterns", including indoctrinated people secretly working for the Reapers. The only reason it didn't happen in the current cycle is because they were able able to stop it was because the Protheans modified the keepers to prevent them from activating the relays. We know the Conduit was built after the invasion. Scientists then went to the Citadel and modified the keepers.

Yes, the Protheans found out about the Crucible but there's nothing to suggest that happened before the invasion. Even in the current cycle the Crucible plans were only just being discovered when the Reapers arrived and even then only because Hackett believed Shepard. Even Anderson didn't know about it. Hackett seems to have been the one who directed Liara to Mars.

It's possible the crucible may have been completed and deployed during the prothean cycle had they been able to use the relays like this cycle was able to

Yep. It's likely that post-war Hackett is the most senior member of the Alliance. Hackett also never let Shepard forget he was human in ME1, sending him on all kinds of Alliance missions (plus Arrival in ME2). In contrast, Mikhailovich was a dick about it so Shepard blew him off. I love dealing with that guy with high renegade points.

All those missions were human-centric.  The Council would never have sent him on those.  The difference is that Shepard was a kick-ass Marine and had a stealthy ship.  For example, the probe with the nuke attached to it had to be recovered to avoid problems with the Council - turians, I think.  Major Kyle had to be handled because he was in the Alliance.  The human biotics holding that Alliance dude captive had to be dealt - human problem.  The rachni found on some planet or other were fought because Marines were being attacked.  Shep investigated scientist deaths of because they were human - turned out to be Cerberus and Toombs.  Assassinating Nassana's sister definitely wouldn't be a Spectre op.  Helping a cartel leader eliminate the other leaders wouldn't be a Spectre mission.  Rogue VI?  So long as it's not AI the Council wouldn't care.  I'm just now seeing how these missions are Spectre missions.

Yeah, Hackett asks you keep the whole thing hidden from the Council. It is a missed opportunity that Shepard can't object to his secrecy or decide to inform the Council anyway. After all, some would say Shepard owes the Council loyalty. It's an interesting dilemma.

Confession: I haven't been following the conversation but regarding Admiral Hackett he is a very shady man. It makes sense that as a human Systems Alliance Admiral he would be giving you human-centric missions. They do after all take place in human space. However, it should also not be forgotten that Hackett is a very pragmatic man. ME2 and ME3 portray him as being more Paragon, but in ME1 he is all-in for Renegade. Hackett arms criminal war lords to kill other war lords and then has them assassinated when they get too powerful. He is less concerned with saving a hostage from terrorists than with "sending a message". As pointed out with the probe, he'll hide information from the Council to avoid humanity being sanctioned.

Back in the ME2-era people used to speculate that he was a covert Cerberus agent and that Cerberus was still Alliance black ops. It made sense out of him vetoing other Alliance Officials from investigating Shepard during ME2 and also explained his appearance on the Normandy in Arrival. I thought it was fun theory and based on his actions in ME1 Hackett would have been a nice fit for Cerberus.

Given that Shepard did all of this stuff it's funny that A/K later accuses Shep of not being loyal to the Alliance.




I often chime in on things I haven't been followed. It's work to backtrack through it all. Hackett is a "get it done" type of guy. I don't think he qualifies particularly as Paragon or Renegade so far as gameplay goes. I don't think he did much in ME2 other than send him in a mission in The Arrival. For ME3, he gave Shepard blanket authority to do whatever was necessary to form alliances to come to the aid of Earth and, ultimately, the entire galaxy. The only missions he sent Shepard on were directly related to that goal.


IMO, he has never doubted Shepard. He saw the writing on the wall about the Collectors being a major threat. If that meant allowed Shepard to work with Cerberus for a while then that's what was done. Hackett even said he trusted Shepard in ME2 and I have no doubts he kept Shepard from being a tried and jailed, so much as held in custody.

How different would that scene have been if t'soni informed the Alliance that Shepard's corpse was in the hands of Cerberus?

I know but you said that despite shepard  doing all those missions for hackett that ashley or kaiden still felt suspicious of shepard for working with cerberus. I was just pointing out that there was more to it.

Oh... so that's why Shepard continually let TIM send him/her into obvious traps like the Collector Ship and the Derelict Reaper.  It was such a "working with" arrangement that all Shepard could do to TIM was bluster at him a little bit and, if renegade, make a very hollow, idle threat.  TIM controlled Shepard because TIM controlled the ship.  It wasn't until EDI broke free from Cerberus that Shepard could do anything without TIM's blessing.  Liara knew she sold Shepard down the river... but it was the only way she could see to get someone to care enough to revive Shepard.