LogFAQs > #984074215

Maniac64 posted...

Getting Legion/Legion Loyalty Mission

Ok let's make some quick progress.

I'm not going to be as detailed because it's been ages, so remind me if there is something specific you want my thoughts on.

We go to the old Collector ship and find it full of enemies but also meet Legion (as he is later named). I knew Legion existed as a party member and was excited to finally meet him. And learn more about the Geth. I thought it was really interesting to learn that the geth we have been fighting are essentially a cult thag split off from the main Geth. Which is a bit terrifying when you think numbers and realize that big enemy that has been all over the place is a tiny fraction of the geth.

But hey, at least the main force doesn't want to serve the Reapers.

We quickly triggered his loyalty mission and did it immediately after the kidnappings.

This loyalty mission was awesome. So much Geth info here. Basically the cult has a virus that will make all Geth think like them and join the Reaper side. (Last year I read Sanderson's Skyward series and there are some really interesting parallels here, though that AI race has some important differences. Still it made me think of those books.) Obviously we need to top this so Legion leads us to a geth base and helps us get through it.

We learn about how the Geth hive mind works and how small changes can happen when geth are separated for extended time like Legion. Legion is especially shocked to learn that the cult is spying on the main force. Geth apparently don't do lying and deception so this is a big departure. That was a really big piece of info imo.

This was an interesting mission overall with some unique mechanics.

Then we get the final decision. Legion figures out how to rewrite the virus to instead change the cult's thoughts to match the main force and turn against the Reapers. Or you can wipe out the cult instead.

Use the virus:
The good: more allies and military power to fight the Reapers
The bad: rewriting the thoughts of a sentient species. Basically forced indoctrination of the cult.

Kill the cult:
The good: not messing with the minds of a sentient species
The bad: killing tons of geth that could have been spared

The thing that makes this more interesting is that Legion has the Geth programs/individuals vote and they basically split the vote with "use the virus" winning by a single vote. Overall the Geth don't see a problem with rewriting software like this which makes the moral argument more nuanced and difficult. Now if you make what might seem like the more moral choice and erase the virus and kill the cult you are actually going against the wishes of the geth (barely) and choosing to kill instead.

This was a good moral dilemma and my wife and I talked it over for a while. In the end our decision came down to something that the game didn't bring up. If you use the virus to "fix" the cult geth they would be brought back into the main hive mind and they would share their memories. That means the main geth learn about the military/political benefits of lying and deceit as well as get a bunch of memories of fighting and killing all the other races (as well as seeing geth be killed by the other races). To me those memories were the real danger and could have pushed the entire Geth race in a dangerous direction at a time where we are pushing for unity between the races.

So we chose to destroy the virus and wipe out the cult geth (or at least most of them).

Great loyalty mission. Honestly one of the best in the game.

Somewhat relevant: at some point we got a message from one of the Quarian admirals who had figured out what Tali's dad did and was mad we didn't share that info. So that research is now back on the table as a strategy for the Quarians. Not good news.