The elephant in the room

I don't know what's more sad. The Reapers. Or that the future still has McDonald's

But your not oppressing anyone when you take control of the Reapers. Your mind comes to some odd conclusions that are massively different from what is rather explicitly shown in game. 

You can also keep the galaxy safe from Reapers by becoming their guiding intelligence. Which then tells them to stop all that harvesting and killing. Instead go out and help rebuild the worlds they destroyed and protect the weak and helpless.

So spend another 30 years with LI. Or till the heat death of the universe ensuring the galaxy remains a safe and stable place.

Plus you're helping cows to ascend 

Tint the galaxy BLUE.

I was standing there at the crossroads where no other logical reason was valid.

If I destroy the synthetics then all synthetic life will end, some synthetic life is mere components and VIs used to life support systems.
If I integrate both then DNA will become hackable, exploitable and unstable for future reference, a big decision with big repercussions.
If I stick my fingers up my pockets then the whole push, the bloodshed, the burned stars and scorched worlds to get here were all for nothing.

Assuming direct control was what I chose.

One mind to unite the largest, most terrifying menace that has ever stood in history from the beginning of time.
Me, as a single controller, in charge of the entire universe and its future. I was confident and able to take that challenge.

What was left of my physical self was torn apart into bits of data and spread across the entire galaxy into all Reapers, through their navigation I picked which worlds to save and which to leave in darkness.
I chose which species lives and which will be forgotten.

Suddenly, like out of nowhere, I was carrying the quill of life...
I looked into the mirror and smiled, because I beat TIM to the punch and now the future was mine to write.

Now the Reapers learned something they never had before...
                                                                                                          ...satisfaction.

I appreciate your decision and other viewpoints are always nice to see.  Having done Synthesis once I can even see why a person would choose it.  Yet, I feel the Intelligence wasn't entirely accurate in what it said would happen.  It made it sound like anyone with technology inside of them was going to die.  Given that Shepard can survive Destroy, as can every single human biotic with implants, I found that it didn't know what was really going to happen.  If Shepard could have survived Synthesis, I'd consider it, but I'm way too selfish to have "thanks for doing what no one else could" carved on his tombstone.  He deserved better.  So did EDI, to be honest, but the Reapers and the geth hadn't proven themselves capable of being peaceful.  Just because everyone is synthetic it doesn't mean peace in our time.  It simply means they find other reasons to fight.  Like, for example, having different belief systems.  Or different politics.  Or for any reason any human chooses to fight against another human.  Maybe we won't have the organic vs synthetic battles but there's no reason to believe the "superior" beings like the Reapers or Leviathan wouldn't choose to conquer the galaxy.  Just sayin'.

Well that depends are Reapers a hive mind? In that case you must obviously kill the Rachni Queen every time because she oppresses her workers.  A manager at a job must also clearly oppress their workers because they tell them what to do and they do it.



Evolution only has so many paths. Our advancements only have so many ways forward. Even the Geth who started to develop on their own still end up technologically exactly the same as rest of the galaxy.

Rachni do what they do based on their biology.  Were Shepard to oust the queen and take control of the rachni, then you'd have a better comparison.  However, the rachni are a hive mind.  And you're being ridiculous with managers.  People are free to choose NOT to do what their managers say.  The Reapers don't get that choice.  Otherwise, why not leave them to do as they please?  But look at it this way.  Leviathans indoctrinate.  That power is also in the hands of the Catalyst.  It, in turn, gave the ability to Reapers.  This is not hive mind and it's sure not choice.

Sovereign says that each Reaper is a nation in itself, which is interpreted by some to mean that they are the sum total of a particular harvested race.  Harbinger, for example, is the sum of the Leviathan race.  Do you honestly think a harvested race wouldn't immediately turn against the Intelligence given what was done to them?  They would - unless they had no choice.

Good luck on the evolution thing.  We've only got the beings of one planet to study.  Not a good baseline to determine how evolution truly works.  What we do believe is that evolution isn't a straight line to a specific goal.  By setting and fulfilling a "goal" we are not necessarily going where evolution would have taken us - or at least not all of us.  

I'm not sure how the geth account for anything.  They were based on quarians and more or less seemed to follow quarian paths.  If I had to make a wager, I'd say the races in ME3 were all stunted by having advanced tech handed to them that was left behind by either the Reapers or the Protheans (who, in turn, got their major tech from Reapers).  The game itself says that we evolved along the lines the Reapers chose.  It's happened for uncounted cycles, meaning people have only evolved the way the Reapers wanted them to.   The Protheans had only just begun to crack mass relay technology near the end of their cycle.  Matriarch Aethyta said she thought they should build their own relays (which would have begun to allow them to do more than just use what was handed to them) and she was laughed at.  Clearly, it was uncommon to do more with the tech they found.

So, back to Synthesis.  Whose idea?  The Catalyst's, and it's the Catalyst who directs the Reapers.  This means that, once again, we'd be evolving along the path the Reapers chose.  Why not give ourselves the chance to evolve in unpredictable ways, in ways that have never before been possible so long as the Reapers existed?  Life isn't about a goal, it's about how you achieve it.

In any case, it doesn't matter if you're convinced.  We have different ideas about how this all works, about what makes sense for us and why we make the choices we do.  What I've written is how I see things and it guides my choices in the game.  You don't have to agree.  You make your own choices based on how you feel.  No need to try to convince me.  I've come to my own conclusions through the RP process while playing the game.  Based on what you're coming up with, I don't see you altering my opinion.

And the Reapers function like that based on design. So what is the difference between biological design and mechanical design? Funny thing is indoctrination already exists in it's own super subtle way. Quarians indoctrinated the rest of the galaxy about how big and evil the Geth are. Post Krogan Rebellion the Asari, Salarians and Turians indoctrinated all the other races that came after how the Krogan were brutal animals hovering on the extreme edge of civilization. Which granted there is a lot evidence towards that stereotype but also pushes it beyond valid statements.  The Batarian government indoctrinated it's people so much you could easily call them the space equivalent of North Korea. Remember that guy that Thane's son was going to kill? He was running on a platform of anti human. Which he was apparently pretty popular. That in it self is a form of indoctrination.

And simply because you have a tool at your disposal doesn't mean you will use it. Since WW2 the US and many other nations have had access to nuclear weapons. Yet none have really used them. And nearly every country attempts to limit those countries that might cause problems with them from getting access to them.  

The we are each a nation is open to debate. I view it as each Reaper is entirely self sufficient.  The entire reason trade exists in the galaxy is because each race is dependent on one another.  As well the way their mind works. We don't know how much of each individual personality survives that process. But all those millions if not billions of minds working together would much like with the Geth form it's on unique consciousness. Which is then given access to all the stored data the Catalyst has accumulated. At that point a mind greater then the sum of it's parts combined with full access to all data which supports that Catalyst's set up would very easily explain why they do what they do without being force  and whipped all the way.

No we have several planets and species in the game to show evolution. There are limitations to every bit of evolution based on the planet. Elcor are extremely strong due to developing on a high gravity world but also very slow moving due to that as well. The Turians evolved on a planet with a weak magnetic field so they evolved tough almost bone like plates all over their body with metal in them to help reduce the radiation their body absorbs.  Krogan evolved on a planet were the death of thousands a day due to predation is the norm so they developed bodies capable of taking serious amounts of damage without failing and and able to breed at numbers that would make a rabbit turn green with envy.

But evolution also has it's limitations. Evolution it self will not suddenly cause cybernetic implants that improve intelligence, strength and reaction speed to suddenly appear one day. And no matter how much we like X men evolution will not one day let people shoot death beams out of heir eyes, run so fast that bullets are moving in slow motion or control the weather.

Technology as well only has many paths but with many a set up there are only a few legitimate paths to take.  Taking vitamin C supplements, doing yoga and putting pads on your feet that suck the toxins out of your body will never cure cancer.  Violating the very fundamental basics of physics to allow ships to reach speeds 10x the speed of light and to travel millions of light years in seconds and only be done very specific ways.

Legion actually mentions the set up Sovereign said about how if they follow one path they are blinded to all others.  But the thing is the Geth developed their own way for hundreds of years and besides the whole super advanced VI thing that is capable of working 24/7 without stopping part. They still ended up just like the rest of the galaxy.

Synthesis is an inevitability not a goal. Organic evolution can only go so far and do so much. From that point on we take control of our own evolution. The Asari as an example are the perfect point of that. They were extensively genetically modified by the Protheans. The end result is a species that even when left alone for 50,000 years is capable of massive life spans, biotic control is almost second nature and are extremely intelligent thanks to the long live span.

Organic life improves it self though technology. As technology advances the ability for it to improve ourselves equally increases. There will come a point that we are capable of integrating that technology into our bodies not just our lives.  The Graybox as an example was created to interface with the brain and store memories as a way to combat  Alzheimer's disease. But unexpected side effects happened were if the software gets damaged or be removed for maintenance it would cause massive brain damage. 

masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Graybox

That in and of it self is the first step towards synthesis. Because once the problems with the gray box were removed and the technology would become cheaper to mass produce everyone would get it because of the increased ability to remember information. Success of that would not only spur development for other ways to enhance the body with technology but would also lead to an over all advancement of the race utilizing it. With everyone capable of having near perfect memory recall of everything the collective intelligence of that race goes up a few points.

The system would repeat over and over again as each new technology and improvement came about. Allowing more and more improvement and greater quality of life for all races involved.  Till you reach the point that organics literally evolve into a new form of life combining the best parts of organic and synthetic technology into something greater then the sum of it's parts.

Without mods and meta knowledge, refuse because trusting the word of a psycho antagonist is nuts.
With mods removing brat, red destroy Shep re-unites with Miranda.

Synthesis isn't an abomination. It's evolution. Let's remove the religious fervor. We aren't Hanar.

Evolution hasn't worked like that for centuries even in our time. We have been genetically modifying things for centuries.

Fun fact Kale, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts are all the exact same species. Brassica oleracea. And they can reproduced with each other.

Now if we could take a single plant and cultivate it to eventually develop into drastically different plants that are still the exact same species. Why would this be impossible for more advanced organisms?

Particularly when the technology exists to alter ourselves on the genetic level before being born. To the point that the Alliance actually had to pass a law to limit the amount of genetic manipulation humans could do to only health related ones. Like removing predispositions to cancer and what not.