Quote Originally Posted by Douglas View Post
Finally, if Control is a trap, then why wouldn't Destroy also be a trap? The choice isn't really "Control, Synthesis, or Destroy", it's "Action A that will supposedly result in Control, action B that will supposedly result in Synthesis, or action C that will supposedly result in Destroy". Yes, the Star Child doesn't verbally tell you what the actions are, but you see visions of them as it's describing the outcomes, and the only way Shepard could know what to do is if those visions aren't just an out of character thing to inform the player. If you don't trust that at least something the Star Child told you is true, then you don't even have the ability to choose an ending at all.
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And if it is an Indoctrination attempt regardless? Then you can't trust that the "Destroy" action will actually do anything you want, much less what the Star Child said it would, either.
Thank you - was going to point that out myself until I saw you already had.

If you don't trust anything that the Catalyst tells you, then your only option is Refuse, since it's the only course of action that you know for a complete certainty that the Catalyst isn't manipulating. But that's just choosing to fail and let the Reapers win. So you have to place at least some amount of trust that the options it presents are in fact options in order to pick any of them - at which point, arguing that you don't trust, on its own, ceases to be a good reason not to pick any one particular option.

I'd also point out, in response to remarks I saw a couple of people make about how Synthesis somehow validates the Catalyst's argument: no, it doesn't. All it requires is that you believe that the Catalyst is being honest when it explains its motivations. If it is, then picking Synthesis means the Reapers will stop their attacks, because their motivation for them will be gone. You can fully believe that the Catalyst and Reapers are idiots and their arguments are bunk and still decide to take Synthesis, so long as you buy that they actually believe all of that nonsense.