Poll: mass effect: The council

[Micromyni]

I saved the council. All three of them didn't deserve to die just because I hated the turian and appointed Anderson because Udina's a douchenozzle.

 

[Genericjim101]

I let them die. Tactical decision. Without the hindsight of knowing every Paragon decision works out okay I thought the game would do a bait at switch at the last moment and this could've gone badly wrong.

 

[freaper]

I'm going for my first playthrough here, which I did as a "what would I do run?" and ended council dead anderson.

My reasons. You are specifically told that saving the Acension will result in many casulties, possibly meaning not there will not be enough ships left to beat Sovereign. Under those circumstances the only logical choice is to let them die so everyone in the galaxy doesn't.

Yes I know that Shepard was always gonna win and after seeing both endings there is no real difference whether they live or die. I really think there should of been more difference depending on what happened.

In the second game everyone in the Citadel is pissed at you for getting their counsel killed.

I went with "counsel alive, anderson": despite the counsel being a bother more often that not, I have a problem letting named characters die, even if they're a huge minority. And Udina would've just hampered Shepard had he become counsellor.

 

[putowtin]

Save the council, worth it if only for...

And Anderson's the only choice

 

[Jake0fTrades]

Save the Council, Anderson.

It's better to have a united galaxy behind a multi-race council. And I wouldn't trust Udina with my dry-cleaning, let alone my government.

 

[Foxblade618]

Saved the council, only to save the Ascension though. I thought that if the Reapers were coming, every dreadnought would count, especially the biggest, most powerful one. And Anderson, of course, even if he did leave his post later on.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

I killed the council. Screw them. They deserved to die goddamn politicians.
And I picked Anderson of course. What kind of idiot picks Udina? Reminds me of people who stay in abusive relationships.

Was it moral? Probably not.

Hilarious? You betcha.

 

[Zen Toombs]

I killed off the council and picked anderson.

...No wait, hear me out!

There was a reaper PLUGGED INTO THE CITADEL. Every second counted. I was NOT about to waste time saving a council that can be replaced (and was also pretty useless) when the Galaxy is on the line.

I totally understand, and when I chose to save the council I felt I was taking a huge risk. I did think that if assisted, the Ascension could use its (as the into called it) "main gun [that can] rip through the barriers on any ship in the Alliance fleet" to help murderify the giant mecha-cthulhu that was attempting to tentacle rape all living things.

I also knew how important the Council was in terms of what it stands for. Yes they tend to be very ineffectual, but losing them would be worse than losing all of the members of the UN security council and the Presidents/Prime Misters/whatevers of the respective countries.

But on half of my playthroughs I had to let the council die[footnote]well, i had a psycho playthough that wanted the council to die, but she's bonkers[/footnote], and some of them weren't even Renegade! [small]she's just very risk-adverse[/small]

Edit: Also, there are currently 5 people who have no souls. Seriously, why vote in Udina? The guy's a spineless jerk! Yes, he's an actual politician, but Anderson will do the work he has to do! Udina will just make humanity look worse.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

I killed the Council, because there was a Reaper about to destroy all life on the galaxy, I didn't know the consequences so I just focused on attacking Sovereign. It was the only logical choice.

I thought i'd get a multicultural council with Anderson present, but I didn't, was a little disappointing.

I always save the Council in the end, either on my Renegade or Paragon playthroughs.

Simply because, the Council is crucial towards the greater picture of a united galaxy in preparation to face the Reapers. The Council dying is essentially the greatest selfish act you can perform in that scenario, elevating humanity above everyone and everything else (mostly due to petty vengeance) in order to complete your objective and leaving the galaxy in a state of civil unrest. Which no less, is a pretty damning thing when the Reaper invasion actually does begin, and the Humans and Turians are still taking shots at each other at the expense of the greater picture.

I wouldn't say it's petty vengeance, sure I didn't like the Council but I was doing it to save the galaxy, you think in the moment. If Sovereign hadn't been defeated then there might not have been a galaxy to unite.

However, you end up defeating Sovereign by defeating Saren with Sovereign's conscience linked to him temporarily, fleet or no fleet. The fleet is just there to pound on the outer shell of Sovereign's form, and soften him up for the final blow from the Normandy. Not even the entire Alliance Fleet could make Sovereign flinch, so quite frankly, sacrificing the Council to allow more ships to engage Sovereign is more or less pointless in the end. You are losing what equates to the UN of the Mass Effect universe, that ties all of the races together in the galaxy, with little to no extra benefit against Sovereign from it.

I always save the Council in the end, either on my Renegade or Paragon playthroughs.

Simply because, the Council is crucial towards the greater picture of a united galaxy in preparation to face the Reapers. The Council dying is essentially the greatest selfish act you can perform in that scenario, elevating humanity above everyone and everything else (mostly due to petty vengeance) in order to complete your objective and leaving the galaxy in a state of civil unrest. Which no less, is a pretty damning thing when the Reaper invasion actually does begin, and the Humans and Turians are still taking shots at each other at the expense of the greater picture.

...The irony of having that argument with the picture of a character who is the epitome of 'for the greater good' as your avatar.

OT: I saved them, They are crucial and I had a feeling that if I didn't it would come back to bite me in the ass at some point.

..I can see your point, but my avatar is more or less just for the look. The character himself wasn't all that important towards choosing it.

 

[wintercoat]

I saved the council for my Paragon character(it was the "Right Thing To Do" my Paragon Shep is a bit of a lapdog...)

I killed the councel for my Renegade Shep because fuck those assholes!

I think we can(mostly) all agree on one thing though...fuck Udina! Anderson's the man!

 

[Alexias_Sandar]

I have so far saved the council and gone with Anderson every time. Though if I got the chance to plug brain dead Turian myself, personally... well. Shepherd PUNCH....out window...shoot on way down...keep shooting...fire off the Cain, just to make sure. And then perhaps have Garrus test out his calibrations on his smudge.

 

[Lightning Delight]

I love how almost no one has voted for appointing Udina. That guy was an ass, and I loved the part where he got a mouthful of fist. Go Anderson!

I saved the council. I only really hated the Turian, the other two weren't that bad. They were just doing their job. Also, I was looking forward to that sweet, sweet moment of "I told you so."

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Saved them and picked Anderson. But I regret that I picked him. Even tho I hate Udina, I think that he would be the better one.

Udina is a jerk, but he knows all the small politician tricks. Anderson is green in politics. You can see how the council just ignores him. Yes, Udina doesn't believe in Reaper, but once he finds out the truth, he will be able to persuade the council. Anderson on the other hand does believe you, but he can't persuade the council into doing anything.

 

[immortalfrieza]

I did 2 playthroughs pure renegade and pure paragon, so both kill and save the council. However, if I was actually making the choice I'd let the council die, they're just a bunch of ineffectual inept morons, Shepard could throw all the evidence in the world in front of them that the Reapers exist and that they're coming, but they'd never listen, people like that shouldn't be politicans, simple as that.

As for Anderson vs Udina, nobody in their right mind would choose Udina. Not only is he a prick, he's just another brainless politican like they are, so it would be redundant to have Udina on the council.

I haven't actually gone all the way through either playthough with mass effect 2 yet, so I can't comment on what the results would be. (I'm Paragon right now, and from what I've seen so far the Council is no better, if Anderson wasn't on there'd be no hope for them whatsoever.)

 

[Shavon513]

I have three paragon Shepards and one renegade Shepard. The paragon Shepards all save the council and give the recommendation to Anderson, just to see that smug sonuvabish Udina pissed off. My renegade does the opposite, just to see some variation in the game.

 

[TakeyB0y2]

Well, the council died on my canon paragon Shepard because someone said civilian ships were in danger or something so I picked the neutral option to concentrate on Sovereign. I remember hearing that the council was moved to the Destiny Ascension for evacuation and I remember seeing it at the beginning of the game and how Ashley commented on how big it was and how it's defenses were awesome so I thought "Ahh, they'll be fine".

Aaaaand, then they weren't. x_x

Oh and I picked Anderson because Udina never did anything good or helpful ever.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

in mass effect remember the final decision where you choose to either help or abondon the council did any of you actually save them because i think everyone hates them and i really think this is gonna effect ME3 hugley.p.s who did you pick as the human ambassador

Um, which time, with which character?

I have done each of the above combinations EXCEPT for council dead + Anderson.

If I had to pick a favorite, it's council alive + Udina, because that is the most practical option (Council Alive makes the Council like Earth/Shep better, and Udina is the better ambassador, and I respect him).

 

[CleverCover]

Have both killed off the council and saved them, but I always had Anderson as my stand-in Councilor.

I understand Udina to know that at the first sign of trouble he would sic me on the bear and run away. I don't want someone like him in charge of the galaxy.

 

[PaganAxe]

I mix it up as I please with my runs.

 

[bjj hero]

However, you end up defeating Sovereign by defeating Saren with Sovereign's conscience linked to him temporarily, fleet or no fleet. The fleet is just there to pound on the outer shell of Sovereign's form, and soften him up for the final blow from the Normandy. Not even the entire Alliance Fleet could make Sovereign flinch, so quite frankly, sacrificing the Council to allow more ships to engage Sovereign is more or less pointless in the end. You are losing what equates to the UN of the Mass Effect universe, that ties all of the races together in the galaxy, with little to no extra benefit against Sovereign from it.

But you only find this out by playing through. At the time Sov is about to hit the kill switch for every known life form and you are unsure if you have the resources to stop him. Splitting your troops to save some high ranking diplomats struck me as terribly elitist and selfish.

Knowing this is a bioware game and that everything will be hunky dory in the end you can safely assume you can save both the council and the universe but if it was RL, I would not feel confident enough to do it. Thats why I was disappointed that it earned Renegade points.

I felt the same way about gassing the Rachni queen. Everything you had heard, read and known pointed to you releasing a disaster that would take millions of lives into the wild amongst civilians, contractors and colonists. Of course; knowing its bioware you know this is not really the case but in reality you would not. Another time I felt the renegade points were unfairly dished out. Only by playing ME2 do you get the additional information showing that you didnt doom the galaxy.

Thats why I really hate the lightside-darkside/renegade/paragon BS. Its really subjective. Dragonage really improved for ditching the morality systems.