Sanctuary was at least partially Shepard's fault.

Earth was a major target because the Reapers noted that a) his specific actions led to the defeat of Sovereign and his specific actions led to the defeat of the Collectors.  He accomplished something no one else had done before.  He had a strength or resolve and charisma that wasn't present in prior cycles.  Admittedly, it would have all been a fail had the Protheans not created the Conduit since without that the Reapers would have invaded during ME1.  Still, he took advantage of what was present WHEN NO ONE ELSE DID (except TIM, but he was too selfish, and eventually indoctrinated, to make the needed headway).

lol, I guess a nuke isn't certain death enough for some people.

But that's not necessarily true at any rate. Teh VS only becomes a Spectre because Udina makes councilor then needs a political puppet to cover his ass in the coup. A weakened Cerberus might not have the leverage to urge Udina to go through with it as it currently happens.

Still, having the VS come after you and being able to turn them to your side (or shoot them) would be interesting. A few steps up from the existing confrontation, but they could've done more with it.

I understand why the Reapers beelined it for Earth. I don't understand why the rest of us should care- that is make it the focus of the whole war. Earth is just one world, of many. Yes, I know it's home but the entire galaxy's at stake. We need to think big picture.

While repetition is to be expected (for reasons less charitable than deliberate symbolism), I kind of think this is stretching it, quite a bit. Especially on the Liara- Miranda idea. A wise, public figure asari known to work for her species advancement, estranged from her daughter and amused at her choice in career is similar to a megalomaniac businessman, possibly a pervert, that's only interested in his legacy and used to controlling every little detail of his "daughters" down to their very DNA? No, I don't believe they're the same at all, apart from a very superficial "not a happy parent-child relationship" way.

And even if we say you're right, this isn't the kind of story where symbolism can override logic and common sense. That's one of many reasons the endings are a mess. We enact galaxy wide change by... shooting a tube (and walking towards it like an idiot)? Jumping into a beam? Symbolism is all well and good but in a story lie this that expects to be a fairly what you see is what you get military sci-fi, symbolism has no place trying to justify something that just plain "don't make no sense".

I'm not averse to Liara at all. But her relationship with Benezia just doesn't compare to that of the Lawsons, nor does Benezia's character to that of Henry Lawson. Any similarities are mostly surface and circumstance, unlike teh beam runs which are literally running to be teleported onto the Citadel in order to enact the endgame in both cases.

They are surface- there is nothing intrinsic to the character of Benezia or her relationship to Liara that correlates to something intrinsic to the character of Lawson or his relationship to Miranda. All you have is dead parents on the way to the real enemy. For every similarity you point out there's at least one dissimilarity, if not more. You fight Benezia, you don't fight Lawson, Benezia is Saren's 2IC, Lawson isn't TIM's, at best it's a strategic temporary partnership, Benezia is indoctrinated (aka fighting you against her will), Lawson isn't. Shepard's mission to Noveria is after a specific end goal (Mu Relay), Shepard's mission to Horizon is a fishing expedition. Do some similarities exist in the framing of the situations? Sure. But why do they matter again?

Neither Ashley, nor Miranda are xenophobic. Ash's remarks may not be the most sensitive but she is referring to a real human trait- we tend to favor like over different. She doesn't go "fuck the aliens", she says in a crisis, you'd pick your own kind over an alien, most of the time. I don't think that's even racism, let alone xenophobia. As for Miranda, she flat out decries people who join Cerberus because xenophobia. Her goal is human advancement, she wants to make a positive improvement to her species. That doesn't mean she hates aliens. She envies the STG for their operational freedom, remember?

As for Earth, my primary problem is that again, symbolism shouldn't overrule logic in a franchise like this. In a fairy tale, or even some fantasy, sure, depending on the situation. But realistically, the good guys focusing on Earth is dumb. I'm also not sure about your progression any way. We don't start at one point and steadily move towards Earth, throughout the trilogy. If anything we got further away. In ME1 we stayed in Council space, closer to Earth. In ME3 we moved to the Terminus systems, farther away. Now we're going back? Regardless it's not a point I'll lean on strongly. Practicality and common sense should still come first.

I don't agree about Shepard being partially to blame for Sanctuary.

With Earth. Earth is the greatest planet in the universe and is home to the greatest species in the universe. All my Shepard's  know to help Earth is to help the other species. At the beginning of the game, Anderson stays behind. For nearly the entire game, Shepard helps the other species solve whatever. The Citadel is taken to Earth. So the final battle ends up being there.

What would of happened if the Citadel was taken to....say, Thessia? How would that play out? It can't because Anderson isn't there. There wouldn't be that touchy-feely scene.

Me personally. I would've left the Citadel where it was. It would've made the final battle interesting