User blog comment:The Milkman/End of the Line/@comment-4950455-20120706085128

I think I just realized why I'm so opposed to seeing any large-scale expansion to the "Shepard lives" scene in Destroy, as some people are calling for: I've seen a thread on BSN that tried to establish follow-up for all endings, and it makes it pretty obvious that a Destroy ending with full-fledged reunion scene(s) is going come across as a significantly better ending then the other two, even with the geth and EDI dying. As I've noted in the past, there's already a significant number of people picking Destroy just so their Shepard lives - blow that up into an all-out Happily Ever After (unless you're synthetic), and it's not even going to be a debate anymore.

Unfortunately, I can't find it anymore, but if anyone can it's worth checking out their idea for a Rejection ending. While they do offer a chance to win conventionally (which, incidentally, demonstrates why having one wouldn't be a great idea for the same reason as above - it comes off as far and away the best ending), the "Reapers win" ending is a good look at what Reject should have been, complete with watching your fleet go down in a blaze of glory and seeing a yahg armada blow the Reapers away next cycle.

All this said, I do think it would have been good to at least expand that scene long enough to show that no, it's not Shepard's last breath, and yes, s/he is on the Citadel, not on Earth as some people keep thinking. A brief scene (slide-show style) showing Shepard rejoining their squad and LI if applicable also would have made a lot of people happier without costing much.