**"One man, one very specific man, might be all that's stand between Humanity and the greatest threat in our brief existence..."** ME Best Triology of all time ME2 Best Game of all time ME2 Best Soundtrack of all time ME2 Best thing in the Sci-Fi Genre

_"Commander Shepard."_

Its actually true when you think about it. Chain of events linked to divide us using race and religion, something is going on.

I honestly want to see, if they ever get around to mass effect 4, that the illusive man was right and some major conflict breaks out between humanity and the other alien species.

"You seen it yourself - outbested all of them." "You are unique. Not in what you experienced, but in what you represent." "Despite what you think of Cerberus, of me...you are a valuable asset. For all of humanity. Be careful, Shepard "

"We'll bang okay?"

Damn, I forgot all about that.

it's "you're in my chair"

"That's my spot."

Correction: Shepard, you're in MY chair!

+SuperMissile "Sorry, I'm havin' trouble reading you. Gettin' alotta bullshit on this line..."

+Hanzzo Ezekiel "Don't turn your back on me, Shepard! I made you, I brought you back from the dead."

+Simon -Ghost- Riley "Joker, lose this line."

Shepard it's a new day & we have you to thank for our deliverance. That's what he said during my playthrough.

We did the right thing. You don't have to try and make me feel good about it.

Martin Sheen did a great job

The Illusive Man is Kreia as written by someone who never understood what Kreia stood for.

"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy, and ideas are bulletproof."

I'm more impressed by the times Shepard's conviction makes TIM pause for a moment. "You're idealism is....admirable, Shepard." That fact that even in private TIM still openly respected (maybe even admired) him/her makes me think some part of him always regretted losing Shepard as an asset. "No, I'm not writing Shepard off as a total loss yet."

And what idea is that? Seriously, did TIM ever tell us? Because, from what we get, their entire schtick is stuff like torturing kids to get better biotics, somehow, shoving Reaper Tech on people, getting killed by their experiments (thorian creepers, husks and rachni), and feeding colonists to Thresher Maws (to study the effect of feeding colonists to Thresher Maws, I guess?). If you stop to think about it, they only do mad-science or just pseudo-science, the moustache twilling villain kind. So, if Cerberus is an idea, then it's a really stupid one.

La Las >keeping the Collector base You what.

Harbinger Reaper Hello Harbinger. This is a quote of your favorite pawn TIM.

La Las Oh, he was a bloody idiot that messed with things far beyond his comprehension. In the end, we had no use for him.

La Las too bad it had zero impact on me3. I too saved the base

awdawdawdawdawd Well, this is just one the reasons about why i think that ME3 had wasted so much potential. The Collector base, as we mentioned before, and its technology could be reverse engineered by the Alliance to create new weapons against the Reapers (it has happened before with the Thannix cannon, that it is essentially a less-powerful,reverse-engineered version of Sovereign's laser cannon).

Joker, loose this channel.

I'm gonna win this war --- Without sacrificing the soul of our species = are not logial :/

You just had to shoot the kid didn't you!?!?!?!?

elock1277 If you shoot kid, he tell us "So be it!" with Reaper voice. Indoctrination Theory another evidence.

Bez Znaczenia or if you refuse indoctrination theory is my canon and I chose destroy + sheperd being alive

Me too at some point. Exactly like when Legion sacrificed himself.

Right?? I cried for both TIM and Saren...

He was believe in humanity until the last breath.

jaraweiat As terrible as his methods were, the illusive man always did what he thought was right, even at the end

@@nathangordon4891 That was both his weakness and strength. It provided him strength in ME2, where he put it towards a plan he believed would be the best plan against the Reapers, even though (IMO) he was being indoctrinated at the time (When you get Jarvik, he said something along the lines of the people who believed they could conquer the Reapers being indoctrinated, and being the knife in the back of the Protheans). Then when the Reapers actually attack, they utilise the indoctrination to turn him into a ruthless leader that is causing humanity more harm than good.

best villein music

+Hackett yes he does so where is Shepherd

+josue betances And you forgot those characteristic BLUE EYES !!!

Zed Zamorin how could I forget I am not worthy

+Zed Zamorin You mean the eyes of Indoctrination?

It seems to be the general ME theme, but with dissonances. It plays wonderfully.

friendly reminder that the Illusive man was not technically the bad guy untill Mass Shit 3, which made the character a lame Saturday-morning cartoon villain that when confronted in dialogue he must reply "Im right, you're wrong!" or "You wouldn't understand LOL".

IMO, i think this theme is relaxing precisely because the villain is cold and calculating. It's how calm he is that makes it so much more evil...

I listen to this when I go to sleep, seriously

Curious enough, I found this very indoctrinating... too much relaxing and the mind begins to lose focus...

I would have to go with, Cerberus isn't just an organization it's an ideal that can't be so easily destroyed. It makes you think that maybe Cerberus in some fashion will be in the next game.

I hope they are. In a form of another organisation, with just hints connecting them to Cerberus. Or possibly hints pointing out that various, seemingly unrelated, human agents are operating according to one scheme. Never stating openly that Cerberus is still active.

Grey Hand Remember there are 2 or more active Cerberus cells. Cronos station is not only station that Cerberus have. Cerberus will exist as long as humanity exist.

@@bez_znaczenia of course. Cerberus is the other side of us, of humans. It is in our nature to be dominant and do things the way we see fit. Just look at the trilogy. Suddenly out of nowhere, this new race of aliens coming from their Sol System. They are thirsty for knowledge... perhaps too thirsty and they are adaptable. Maybe too adaptable. They might not be as hardened as krogans but they sure share some of their features. Namely the way they hate to be pushed around. And look at that. They already are talking and working for a representative in the Citadel. Those humans - wonderful creatures that can be batshit scary.

I'd like to think that he brought Shepard back not just to get the Collector Base, but also to keep the Reapers busy (be his shield), while Cerberus undisturbed would find a way to control them.

If they had enough funding maybe they could’ve done it for MELE’s 3

@@xenozilla0723 Honestly the branch should have started in ME2 - Cerberus and Alliance path for both games, with the option to switch sides at the beginning of ME3 if needed

OMG SPOILERSSSSSSSSS!!!! >_

Completely agree with you my friend.TIM is my favorite one too,then Garrus.In Mass Effect 3 his personality changed into something...I dont know how to say,but it was so cool to see him interviing in the perfect moments to make the story most interesting.And yes,I am one of the few people who like Mass Effect 3 as much as Mass Effect 2.

I agree that Mass Effect 3 was the best of the series, if not for the ending. They told us that our decisions would change the entire outcome but in the end we just got to pick what colour the mass relays exploded in.

+AN Productions Yep, great lines. But that was the reason for his demise. For he and the reapers shared the same unquenchable zeal to attain perfection. But that's where they are wrong. Organism/synthetics can't be perfect. For a perfect society or universe will hold no adventure or curiosity. Contention is perfection but curiosity is imperfection. That's where breakthroughs and discoveries lie!!

I also think ME 3 was the best of the trilogy, but It's really close.

+Fi Skirata Did you know this counts as a massive spoiler

+cokeheadbenny For a 4 year old game, though...

+cokeheadbenny its not a spoiler, you can shoot him instead.

+63Limar lol now that is a spoiler. is it just me or does anyone else enjoy guning him down.

Ruvik Payne I feel pity for him, for the story that went south with their "Cerberus are bad!" attitude in the third game.

I felt bad shooting him. He was a very influential character on me.

bozdra you don't have to shoot him, all you have to do is to either use charisma (paragon) or intimidation (renegade) on every encounter with him

I wanted to, but it still felt bad.

Good to know you guys likes me.

kkkkkkkkkk

no more than the rest of the game was

I believe in Indoctrination Theory, this theory is still alive after all. BioWare never said that this theory is false.

its possible that illusive man had been indoctrinated by reapers ,while he was trying to control them . After all the cerberus soldiers were turned into husks

No, he was not wasted. In fact ME:3 succeeded in making Illusive Man into the new Saren, the guy you hate at the start, but then feel sorry for because you realize he was brainwashed.

Yeah, he should have been an ally in ME3

an 11 year old comment... and it couldn't be more correct. I felt the same way. I always wanted dialogue options to get TIM to come back over. He shouldn't have ended up as a 1 dimensional adversary. He was way too smart for that kind of treatment.

Well said!

On reflection, after many years, the only thing that Cerberus did that made sense in ME3 with their MO in ME2 was the attack on the citadel, to a certain degree. I say this considering that the attack on the citadel resulted in the Alliance getting the full support of the council after the attack, Cerberus become the public villain but the alliance ends up benefiting the most protecting humanity in the long term. Everything else they did undermined humanity.

​@@alphabet2238Now that you said that I think BioWare missed a GOLDEN opportunity with Cerberus in ME3, imagine if after all Tim did was only for the Alliance and Shepard gain strength and support from other races since otherwise they wouldn't or something like that, that he was pushing Shepard forward and betting all his chips on him... Would be cool

@@mariogallo2293 That would've been great. Even if we didn't have the option to ally with Cerberus at least keep them as morally grey rather than just a textbook villain. I probably disliked what they did to Cerberus more than the rushed product of the ending.

As if human supremacy is a bad thing.

@@basedkaiser5352 If it comes at the expense of the other races and not naturally then yes it's bad.

@@treacherousjslither6920 human supremacy is never a bad thing.

@@basedkaiser5352 You make that argument from the exact same position White Supremacists made theirs' from. We aren't special because of our race, we aren't special because of our species, it is our sentience that gives our lives special purpose. Should another species with sentience be encountered, they would be our equals, and if they came with peaceful intent, it would be for the betterment of all sentient life to further the improvement of the futures of both species as part of the interstellar community.

plus I'd say Martin Sheen's performance managed to really sell the character.

Not if Liara didn't give Shepard's body to Cerberus.

+Randy Marsh And Vaas Montenegro too, Farcry 3. He was PLAIN CRAZY!!!

+Zed Zamorin "Did I ever tell you the definition... of insanity?"

Randy Marsh hes not a villan he is an idealist

He is a grey hero.

Martin Sheen played the part splendidly

+Totally McMylastname If i recall correctly they switched the lead writer for ME3, resulting in changes in pacing and as you said, making cerberus cannon fodder with a (compared to the first two games) weak narrative and reason, as TIM is instantly indoctrinated and turns on you no matter what you do.

+Vicke Pee Under the influence of the Reapers shadow with the reaper heart/brain he installs in his base. Injecting with Reaper nanotech is the last straw that broke TIM's back. In ME1 various Cerb cells were portrayed as being somewhat ineffective, to put it mildly.

+M van dongen And really, as per his lore he was affected by something looooong ago. Coincidentally Saren was there too.........

+Totally McMylastname indeed

It was unavoidable, given the expanded universe's presentation. In one of the comics, he was exposed to a Reaper relic alongside Saren and began seeing visions of the Reapers' return. One would think Saren on the other hand was first exposed to indoctrination through Sovereign, but in truth he wasn't, as both of them had dealt with the relic from Shanxi. Due to lack of repeated exposure, the effects of the indoctrination appeared much, much later in the Illusive Man than in Saren but it was indeed unavoidable.

*franchises

he's also a copy of the Smoking Man from the X-Files, lmao.

smoking man and elusive man, my bffs

Random Garreh I'm new to the X-Files.... THAT'S WHO THE SMOKING MAN REMINDS ME OF OMG I COULD NEVER PUT MY FINGER ON IT. HE'S THE ILLUSIVE MAN HOLY CRAP.

And yet we still know so little about him, 10/10 character

EyeAr WeeTawTed we know enough... read Mass effect evolution its a 4 part mini series comic focusing on the illusive man and the first contact war (I think there was fighting)

underrated question

Dead

Why is illusive man?

But we did find out where is Illusive Man

Would love a game based on the Illusive man

'Good to see your memory is still intact. How are you feeling?'

@@naomigallacher7384 ...

Lol it's "a necessary precaution" Unecassary precaution makes no sense in that context

Yes, only in ME2 and sometimes in ME3. He could be a more beautiful written character. In ME3 his potential was wasted.

+MrImastinker I wish that instead of spending half the game fighting other humans, we should have gotten that epic Reaper battle we were promised. It really should have been something like, the first half of the game only a few Reapers arrive, and we spend half the game fighting against the clock to prepare the galaxy. Then halfway through the game we get the actual Reapers, so there could be a sort of tonal shift where half the game is the Mass Effect 2 sorta "dark" tone, and then the rest of the game is Mass Effect 3's sorta "hopeful" tone.

+Cullen Bentley Mass Effect 3 could of easily been my favourite game of all time. So much miss opportunity's.

+Cullen Bentley The reaper battle showdown with Harbinger was supposed to be a DLC. Bioware literally got screwed up after fan rage over the ending. Indoctrination theory is supposed to be canon!!! Oh, and Shep is still kickin and 'breathing' amidst the rubble...bad news for any reaper plan!!! So, cheer up!

+Zed Zamorin the indoctrination theory is not canon. I should know, I did some work on it. it was merely us fans grasping at straws trying to make sense of this shit heap bioware gave us. I mean, this is the same company behind jade empire, knights of the old republic, baldur's gate and so much more. surely there has to be some hidden plot twists! but sadly, mass effect 3 is just a bad game.

+Cullen Bentley Yep, but ME3 was not a bad game. Its just the ending. But that's for 'Hero saves the day and lived happily after' BS we've been fed by every game and movie! After all the crazy stuff Shepard pulled off, and to remain a legend, He MUST Die !!! (Harvy Dent's quote from Dark Knight, remember?) ;)

Same he's too much of a grey area character to be called an antagonist but my favourite character in any game ever

We've never left. 😮

@@JockoJonson17 I will certainly return when Mass Effect 5 drops, that is for sure :)

Hes the hero that humanity deserves, but not the hero humanity needs right now. So we'll chase him, sick the dogs on him.

Andromeda was bad we all know this, so we must wait for another game (will be, they said that). After ME3 fully focused on Cerberus will be that what I waiting for.

Well... guess what, Andromeda was a complete utter trash.

you honestly make him look better and more complex than he is. replay the ME2 and ME3 and really think about what he says and look at it in context of everything what hes done. hes an idiot and cerberus a contradicting bunch of nonesensical spies (and later a bunch of stupid mooks to shoot) Hes already an idiot in ME2,really. he only gets the cool music,settings and camera perspectives.

Andromeda has garbage story, no argue about that. Main villan has generic syndrom of corypheus from DAI, there's nothing special about him... (but still overall this game had VERY FEW, NOT BAD "moments") i still think that whole "Andromeda" thing had potential but sadly it was wasted by too "teenager" and "stupid" approach... The only one thing that this game done quite right i guess is graphical views, enviroments etc... but all rest has just "fan fiction writing level" and a real bad one, sorry.

Real

Don't you mean "Yomanuity"?

#HumanityFirst

I liked working for Cerberus, shame they went completely evil in ME3.

@@journey95far49 ME1 already portrays them as a completely xenophobic sect. They were evil for the start because they didn't understand that strength comes from sharing with your peers. The whole point of ME2 is about recruiting allies from various background, which goes against everything Cerberus is built around, so they also are portrayed as being wrong in ME2...

@@journey95far49 I was sour on this for a long time. Since I replayed through the games a few months back, I ended up being okay with it. The Protheans went through the same scenario Javik states. TIM and his crew were a great balance between fighting the repears, their minions, and indoctrinated humans (Cerebus, at least influced by TIM).

I could never turn back on him, but ME 3 is stupid so I must.

"And I'm gonna do exactly what you brought me back for. I'm gonna win this war, and I'll do it without sacrificing the soul of our species."

Aye. ME2 was a solid score.

it also has a nice mix of like sci fi, mystery, horror, action, and emotion all rolled into one. my favorite of the trilogy, easily.

@Journey 95 I agree Mass Effect 2 is the perfect definition of a sequel done right.

too bad it was the beginning of ME downfall, it focused a lot on sidestories and forgot it had a main plot to deal with with made it look more like a spinoff than a main installment (no mention of reapers until Arrival dlc)

ME1 was by far the best in music department.

@@norseca542 Yeah, the main story wasn't that good, unfortunately. It was an expansion of the Mass Effect universe.

Psaro maybe he back, because his popularity

Lucas Kazama I have hope. Game in ME2 ME3 or after ME3 time.

@Marco M For me this is an only logical way.

as we all must

Sadly, you can't, but each time I choose the Control option, I feel like I'm paying homage to him.

Nemui Desu shepard would never join a guy that send orders to capture jack torture her and use her to kill shep

I'll just quote Garrus: "There's that ruthless calculus again". If you didn't import a GOOD save from ME2, Shepard is forced to do much worse than have one girl sent for torture.

not side,but as ally it's what should have been

Agreed! What you need is a good fanfic. Allow me to suggest Mass Effect: All in the Details. It starts immediately before the first game (and so far they've just picked up Liara,) but with a few details changed, the world turns out differently.

*THE ILLUSIVE MAN:* A necessary precaution. Not unusual for people who know what you and I know. *SHEPARD:* You might be the reason I'm still alive, but that doesn't mean I trust you.

*THE ILLUSIVE MAN:* You need to put your personal feelings aside. Humanity is up against the greatest threat of our brief existence.

If you are okay with terrorism, manipulation, corruption, mass murder, brainwashing and genocide then sure he's a great dude lol. For me he's similar to Hitler with his ideas and is no different from his old buddy Saren with his racism, prejudice and hatred towards aliens. He's basically just a fascist extremist. Cerberus was never a good or a trustworthy organization no matter how much charisma and intelligence he has. His soundtrack is amazing, mysterious and soothing but that doesn't make me like him or his persona. He's still in the wrong regards to everything. Basically just your corporative egotistical douchebag. The only thing Shepard owes him is his life but he didn't even ask to be brought back. Cerberus did that on their own with their vast wealth and funding they have as a company but it was Liara who really saved your life by recovering Shepard's dead corpse.

+StarKeyStudios The best villains are the 'grey' ones who think they are doing the right thing and go to any end to see it through

+StarKeyStudios he did his best but reapers took his will who know,s what great chocies could he do for a short time Cerbures was indeed good guys but reaper effects slowly effected him!

EVEN WHEN THE REAPERS OWNED HIM HE WAS STILL RIGHT, THE REAPERS CAN BE CONTROLLED

Yeah, he was a tragic character, really. He was also one of my favourites in the whole series.

Most villains are the heroes of their own stories.

yea! Give him the lazarus project!

+dragonieprayer I'd buy it. i mean. he must have known he would get indoctrinated so he might have created a clone of himself and manipulated it. his backround make him sound like a very calculated person.

I just want a shadowy Cerberus again.

Perhaps he is the ''benefactor'' behind the andromeda initiative

I literally just unlocked those logs last night. As soon as they said "mysterious benefactor", my first thought was Illusive Man.

@ITz Ramzi and brandy*

"You weren't a good man, Harper, but you had conviction."

Illusive Man, I thought we’d be meeting face to face.

Agreed! You need a good fanfic. I suggest Mass Effect: All in the Details. The game constantly presents a lot of false dichotomies, but if you can change just a couple of little details, the galaxy comes out better. (The fic starts immediately before the first game, and so far they just picked up Liara.)

I'll give it a read when I get the time.

He was always a simple villain. He was just a charismatic and pragmatic one. TIM is a gifted orator who does a fantastic job of justifying his actions. When you look past all that, the facts themselves are hard and simple. He has no qualms about killing humans. He has no qualms about preforming horrific experiments on them, even before indoctrination. He treats everyone beneath him as expendable, and is overall a ruthless and terrible human being. Shepard knows this. That's why he/she never fully buys into his crap. It's possible to agree with some of his STATED methods, and even give them the benefit of the doubt. But in the end Shepard never fully trusts him, or Cerberus.

Tourettesguyfan102 Well you may be right, I just usually end up eating it up raw whenever he says something. Politicians could definitely learn something from this game :p

Mia Gadegaard Well, he has one thing going in his favor. He believes in what he's doing. I don't think for one second he, unindoctrinated, believes that what he's doing is for all mankind. It's for Cerberus For himself.. But he believes in that. That comes through in his speeches, and makes it sound as though he truly thinks it's for all of humanity.

Tourettesguyfan102 I think it's worth pointing out that even his voice actor thinks the Illusive Man's an absolute scumbag.

Going all fascist isn't what's best for humanity.