The Mysterious Benefactor

The Geth would be a good candidate.

They knew about the existence of the Reapers and the Cycle of Extinction longer than most.

They rebuilt a Mass Relay into a telescope to observe Andromeda and it's highly convenient that information was then "leaked" to the Initiative.

The lore already has examples of AI who've nearly broken the bank by discreetly manipulating a few decimal points, so it wouldn't be hard for them to acquire enough wealth to bankroll Garson's project.

As AI, it would have been easy for them to point Alec's research in the the right direction and give him what he needed.

They'd be intrigued by Alec's belief that a symbiotic relationship between AI and organics would allow both to understand each other better, something that they never were able to achieve with their own Creators.

The were Quarian colonists making the journey to Andromeda, although their ship ended up plagued by problems that delayed departure.

The only issue with this theory is the one that stumbles all of them... why murder Jien Garson?

Either there was some major reason that she had to die that interfered with the Benefactor's plans, or her death and it's subsequent cover up is a red herring that had absolutely nothing to do with Fulcrum whatsoever.

Well, in TIM's case: Jien was the charismatic leader of the Anromeda Initiative that was needed as a front and in Andromeda he wanted to replace her with a loyalist. Or create tensions among the pioneers, creating conflict so humans would cling together or something.

This seems to confirm that the benefactor is in Andromeda, and suggests that either the Kett have been to the Milky Way or...

Could "the benefactor" be from Andromeda? Maybe one of the Jaardan?

Personally, I reckon Protheans have something to do with this...

"Benefactor" is a noun. It's any person who does something that benefits somebody else. In this particular case, the "benefactor" mentioned in the kett log is probably just whatever kett that sponsored the one who made the log, and not a proper noun referring to the Mysterious Benefactor that financed the Andromeda Initiative. It would be awkward to read it any other way, since the Mysterious Benefactor is from the Milky Way, and it would've been impossible for that individual to bring a random kett to their homeworld...and back.

This is kind of like confusing Ptolemaios III (ruler of Egypt from 246 BC to 222 BC) with Antiokhos VIII (ruler of Syria from 138 BC to 129 BC) because they both shared the epithet Euergetes. (Euergetes was a Greek title, common in the Hellenistic era, that meant, literally, "benefactor"; it was applied to philanthropic rulers who made significant donations to people or to other political entities.)

Incidentally, whenever I think of benefactors, I think of the Combine.



"...in the Citadel so thoughtfully provided by...our benefactors."

No. It's a mystery, although plenty have theories (TIM being the most obvious).

You may as well go here before the mods decide to shut down this thread: bsn.boards.net/thread/7069/mysterious-benefactor

If it's an existing character it seems like it really only comes down between TIM and the Shadow Broker (Pre-Liara)

Just the sheer money needed to help launch the initiative is enough to disqualify pretty much anyone else. I really doubt it's the Shadow Broker as it would be pretty underwhelming that a DLC boss had a hand in the initiative because...reasons? Also they name dropped the SB in earlier memories and it feels like they wouldn't want him in there if they were trying to make a reveal.

Bioware has always had a hard on for Cerberus...pretty much any material that came out post ME2 had to in some way tie into Cerberus/TIM.

Judging by the fact the benefactor helped the human funding who thinks it was the illusive man? Also that would go hand in hand with the theory that cora is his daughter he would want her on the team.

Secondly the man who murdered the AI founder jean garson or whatever her name was, could this also be the illusive man? Sure we know he was in the milkyway during ME3 but what if that was his clone which would also explain all his enhancements (similar to how he cloned sheppard) and his true self went with his daughter to the initiative and Andromeda?

1) Funding
2) Knowledge (and complete lack of denial) of Reapers
3) Willingness to work with Artificial Intelligence
4) ODSY drive somehow being based off Tantalus drive
5) Blueprints for the Normandy SR-2 on the Nexus


Reasoning for all five:
1) We already know they have a lot of money. After all, billions upon billions of credits went to Project Lazarus - the revival of Commander Shepard.
2) Cerberus knows and admits the Reapers are coming - this, after all, is why they resurrect Shepard.
3) Enhanced Defence Intelligence, aka EDI - enough said. It is my theory that SAM and EDI benefited from each other during their respective development.
4) Codex claims the Tempest (ODSY drive, "Ithaca" variant) has IES - Internal Emission System. This is a trademark of the Tantalus drive core, and first used on the SSV Normandy SR-1. Ithaca-variant ODSY is therefore partially derived from Tantalus drive, which are TOP SECRET and only known to the Systems Alliance, Turian Hierarchy and...
5) The second Normandy is a bigger, superior alternative to the original Alliance-Turian-built SR-1. The SR-2 was built by Cerberus from the ground up, including a larger version of the Tantalus drive core. Cerberus is the third faction to have the technology in producing a Tantalus drive core.


...thus I can say with absolute certainty - the Benefactor is the Illusive Man. The female voice could be someone acting on his orders, or exceptionally advanced voice distortion tool that allows to "switch" gender, making him sound like a woman. For someone who stuck with the name of Illusive Man, this is not even a leap.


The fact that the Illusive Man is tied to the Milky Way is a good thing - we will never have enough proof, and CAN NOT go back to investigate. We are stuck with what Garson and Alec Ryder know and are unlikely to ever get more information. Finding the Contact in Andromeda is undoubtedly equally tricky. The Contact has ceased all operation that might connect him to the Benefactor over a year before Ark Hyperion arrives. Considering they have no way to contact the Illusive Man - this was it. Their last job. Now, they can cut their ties and start a new life. To put someone on the Nexus to monitor situation is also very much like the Illusive Man.

This is what is genius about the idea. Cerberus is over 600 years gone, no matter the outcome. Control, Destroy, Synthesis, Refusal - all four endings have the Illusive Man's death in common. Cerberus' main base of operations dismantled by Shepard before Priority: Earth.

They have nothing left. They are completely disorganized. And this happened 633 years before our arrival to Andromeda.


Cerberus, even in the Milky Way, is a faction on it's last legs, unlikely to ever become strong without a leader like the Illusive Man. It is effectively no more. In Andromeda, scattered personnel remain, and even most of these were kicked out in the first place.

They are a distant past. A memory. And as I said - we are unlikely to catch the unknown man in Garson's apartment, and he's the only link to the Benefactor. Could be dead for all we know. This means that without meta knowledge the perspective of Shepard AND Ryder gives us, Sara and Scott are unable to find out who the Benefactor truly is - if they ever heard of Cerberus back in the Milky Way in the first place.

Armistan Banes!

Just kidding, but it would be funny if they finally tied up that old ME1 loose end by having him turn out to be the benefactor.

What if reapers lost and Cerberus controlled the milky way and humans are enhanced by reaper technology. Maybe they are in their way already to control andromeda