GarouxBloodline said:
Isn't most of that besides the underlying point? It's true that the Reapers had a large part in a singular sect of Geth having a certain amount of animosity towards organic life. No argument there. But that's also not what I was talking about: The Geth, while being a largely peaceful race, largely living in exile because of fear from retribution, ever since the Citadel Council decided that such A.I. is now to be considered illegal.
But their peaceful nature doesn't sweep away their history, in that they almost wiped out an entire race. A galactic race, that used to span across a myriad of worlds. That is genocide on a galactic scale. The Quarians, on the other side of the coin, are also largely peaceful. But they have not forgotten their history, and as such, do not give a shit as to what sort of disposition can be generally attributed to the Geth.
So, yes; the rift absolutely does exist in a meaningful way. And tit involves a very colourful history, that has done little more than breed utter hatred.
As for your Krogan/Turian example, that is a false comparison. The Krogan are shown in each game as remembering very well as to whom almost caused their utter extinction. But they also know that they no longer have the numbers to start galactic wars again. Especially not against the Citadel races, as starting a war with the Turians would start a war with the other races, too. So they tolerate the Turians, because they have to in order to survive.
With respect, you're missing the forest for the trees. In media there is a narrative rule summed up in three word "Show, don't tell". When I say that "the rift doesn't exist in a meaningful way within the series", I mean that while it might tell us about such events, what it shows us stands in stark contrast. Hence the qualifier "in a meaningful way". Because when what is shown contrasts with what is told, the two have to be reconciled in some way. In this particular case, it suggests that what is told is at best incomplete and at worst preconception rather than fact, or otherwise not currently true.
Put a different way, the characters (Or really, just the Catalyst)
assume that there's a significant rift between organics and synthetics that can never be crossed, but what we see over the course of the series is that all that is required to do so is to try and reach an understanding and actually supply the trust required for social contracts to function. We are told that AI cannot be trusted, are pretty much the boogeyman, and as a rule are indifferent to disdainful towards organics. What we experience is Legion and EDI echoing Optimus Prime's "freedom is the right of all sentient beings" mindset and actually showing great empathy for organics[footnote]Perhaps the most amusing bit on this regard was the Shadow Broker's information on Legion, which showed EDI deliberately restricting herself for the benefit of the crew, and implied various things about Legion through his gamer profile (wherein he was shown to have logged a good 75 hours into "Fleet and Flotilla: Interactive Cross-Species Relationship Simulator" and been absolutely terrible at it, and had gone out of his way to discreetly donate to Eden Prime through the fundraiser edition of the game based on those events (Donation level: Ultra Platinum. Player Score: 0 (purchased but not played)))[/footnote] and actually coming to an understanding with the characters most initially antagonistic towards them (Tali and Joker, respectively).
I am not saying that distrust was not there, because it was, but that the idea that it was insurmountable, that organics and synthetics could never understand each other saw little if anything in way of representation. This is also why I brought up the Turians and Krogans. They don't forget the past, but they're willing to set that aside and move on.
reamfall is pretty bad. Nothing you did accomplished much more the delaying the bad guys and forestalling the end of the world, all of the main characters are pretty much fucked, from what we could tell considering almost nothing was resolved.
