Landing in the Hot Zone - The Steve Cortez Discussion Thread

I suppose. Thane says when Irikah died he returned to his “battle sleep” and focused on avenging her death -- I get the sense that he didn't feel or think about more than simply that and by the time he looked up so much time had passed and Kolyat was already grown. He dealt with his grief in the only way he knew how, and I feel that's where part of his regret comes in. He wasn't able to be emotionally available for Kolyat (or himself) and instead returned to being a "tool" again like he had before he met his wife, taking actions of which he's not very proud. When we meet him in ME2 he's dying and does already see himself as dead but meeting Shepard "wakes" him up again. Reminds him that he is still alive. Cortez is given verbal "permission" to let go, to continue living, he was fortunate to have that moment with Robert. Thane did not and fell back into old habits. He's just at a different stage than Cortez, and, yeah, is a drell.

Still, I don’t think these romances are that comparable when the “target” audience is different. Thane is one of three male LIs for femShep in just one game whereas Cortez is only one of two possible males for mShep throughout the entire series, as Kaidan is not guaranteed. So a male LI is finally introduced for mShep in the last game but he's a recent widower still processing his grief. I mean, that probably is heavier than some would have preferred after waiting the whole trilogy to romance another man. It might also not be as appealing as Kaidan who already had a relationship with Shepard (and has the modded ME1 content); not without drama but it isn't as emotionally heavy. It's more familiar which can go a long way.

It's somewhat similar to ME1 when Kaidan was the only male LI for femShep, but not all femShep players wanted to romance him. Just being an option isn't always enough.

Regardless, I really like Cortez and his romance. It's really not as weird as it might seem at first.