User blog comment:The Milkman/Mass Effect in Retrospect/@comment-4721065-20130419132524/@comment-4237253-20130420040731

1. Which would be a great qualification... if Shepard wasn't dead. Shepard needs to be irreplaceable. The Prothean cipher made Shepard important in the first game. In the second game, all they needed was a competent soldier. Shepard fits that description, but they're also dead. They're a perfect candidate, but definitely not worth investing billions on.

2. That attack happens late in the game. Oculi following them back is an assumption on your part, and far from impossible to avoid. Even if it was however, the narrative failed to address this.