i think alot of people are missing a major factor here, the ENTIRE crew of mass effect 2 are expendable , which means they all can die (EVEN SHEPHARD). I would love to see a couple coming back for the next one but i think that if that was the case then the creators would have to make basically numerous different games/quests for the characters that return. why do you think the council didnt play a big role in mass effect 2, its because if you saved them or didnt in the first one then they have to write an entire story around what didnt happen AND what did for the sequel so what they cleverly (but noticeably ) did was just shove them on the side like a piece of furniture, which i must say i was dissapointed because i thought it was a major story defining decision in the climax of the first game .but i can understand the decisions they have to make, its tough enough making one game let alone hundreds for each of the branches that the mass effect series could potentially reach out too. I think the odd NPC and simplistic quest is feasible to do developers, i think we can expect the same from me3 as we did from the jump from ME1 to ME2, the characters who were expendable in the previous games ( if they survive) will have minor roles. like kaiden/wrex and asheligh. i was suprised though that the entire crew of the normandy could be killed on the suicide mission. the only non expendable ex squad member is Liara who i believe will return as a recruit in ME3, garrus and tali will have a similar role to Kaiden and Asheligh provided they survived the collector ship. I also think we will not see cerberus alot in the next game either due to the big decision at the end of ME2, the developers i don't think would put that much effort into basically making 2 different games where in one the collector ship is saved and the other where its blown up. its kinda reminiscent of council dies/council lives, later to find out thatit didnt really matter anyway.