User blog comment:Diyartifact/Shepard's adversaries/@comment-1362864-20120406213115/@comment-1388547-20120408031852

I saw them as at least somewhat different. TIM is more of a shadowy manipulator type, preferring to sit in the background and manipulate people to accomplish his goals, which Saren was more active -- he actually fights Shepard one or two occasions, and leads his troops into battle at critical points. I'd actually put their similarity down to Reaper influence: the Reapers seem to have a particular line of reasoning they like to guide their thralls down, presumably one they've found effective over the course of hundreds of cycles. (Indeed, from what Javik says about his cycle, it sounds like the Prothean dissidents who wanted to control the Reapers may have been very much like Cerberus.)