The elephant in the room

I only played the SP once or twice - both were red, even though I saw all of the endings (EC and pre-EC).

One of my big problems with ME3 was the amount of "suck" in the endings.

If I choose green, I mind-rape the galaxy - Borg Green is not the answer for me.

If I choose blue, I am 100% indoctrinated (or so it feels to me), just like Tim and Saren. I'll never work with the Reapers, so green and blue are out.

If I shoot the brat, or choose to let the brat continue the cycle, then I lose all of my allies, my friends and my loved one. I can't watch the races / species of our cycle become extinct like the Protheans or those that came before us. I refuse to be left as part of that smoking crater for the next cycle to wonder about, as Garrus mentioned.

So, I was forced to choose red. While it sounds easy to just pick red, I found it to be so against my character that I am basically done with Bioware. Being forced to backstab my allies (EDI and the Geth) was nothing short of a pathetic attempt to give the other options "weight".

So, I chose red, and turned the game off after it was all over, thinking "Wow, I don't want to go through that ever again, that was effing terrible! - who wrote this appalling POS?"

That elephant is waving a blue ribbon.

Control confirmed


Nah, but in all seriousness, it may be time to bring my control thread over...

Red, because both green and blue smack way too much of a totalitarian regime (green is subtler, but still, never trust the Reapers). Actually, during my first playthrough I took the wrong path and ended up with synthesis, which was creepy as hell. Don't ask me how it happened, suffice to say, my Femshep was lucky not to see the aftermath of her poor orientation skills.

    I hear you there and see your obvious snark and shine-on.  However your point has merit.   The ending does not have to be happy, per se (as ME1,2 obviously allowed for (and I always chose)).  However, being a former serviceman and as someone who works closely with law enforcement, teamwork and trust go hand in hand.  If I tell someone I have their back, I mean it - a person is of little value if you can't trust them at their word.

    Backstabbing your allies is simply put, atrocious and reprehensible.  The ending didn't have to be happy and all sunshine and daisies, but it didn't have to destroy the character that I always tried to choose  / portray when playing my CDR Shepard.  As Harbinger / The Collector General put it, "We will find another way.......  releasing control."
        

Right, I see where you're coming from. I think where we differ is that I don't see the sacrifice as a betrayal or backstabbing. In my opinion Shepard really has no other choice. All the other options leave the Reapers alive. It's a risk (s)he can't take. Also, don't forget that both EDI and the Geth said they were prepared to die if it meant stopping the Reapers.

I've quoted them a few times already, but really, the words of Anderson perfectly sum it up for me:

"A good leader is someone who values the life of his men over the success of the mission, but understands that sometimes the cost of failing a mission is higher than the cost of losing those men."

It's terrible, but sometimes it's the only way.

I think this is one brilliant aspect of the ending. I mean, you can play the entire trilogy and always save everyone, pretty much without consequences. (Well, there are some exceptions, like the Geth heretics in ME2 - if you save them, the Reapers will have more forces in ME3 - but anyway) But then, in the end... if you're going for one of the options where you "save everyone" you're making a big mistake in my opinion. And I think this is also Reaper manipulation. They're counting on Shepard to save everyone. "Humans always want to save everyone", Garrus also says, IIRC. For me, it was a heartbreaking decision the first time. Especially because I'd played a mostly paragon Shepard. But I really had no choice, I had to go for the red option.

Also, how crazy was that, that Anderson symbolized the red option and Illusive Man the blue option... I can see how the ending completely messed people's thinking up.

In the end I was happy with it though. It was a terrible sacrifice, but it was worth it.

That's just one of the many ways Harbinger tries to trick you and how the ending fails.  Harbinger breaks the fourth wall by KNOWING Paragon Options are always Blue and Renegade Options are always Red!

What a troll!

Kelly: Get me out of this tube!

Shepard: Don't worry, Kelly! I picked Synthesis for you!

Kelly:

Red. My Shepard isn't going to permit a powerful presence like the reapers remain if it can be helped, and if that means something significant has to be removed to do it, so be it.

Voted Red since it`s the only option where the reapers are destroyed.

Destroy. No more Reapers for me.

I choose red every time except for once when I chose blue because it made sense for that particular character.