User blog comment:SilencedSkies/The Illusive Man: Good, Evil or just bad writing?/@comment-1074875-20120412051714

I always thought the character of the Illusive Man was weak, but that's a different discussion.

Shepard was sent to save the colonies in ME2, not because the Illusive Man gives a damn about them, but because solving the kidnapping is a key to gaining power.

The Illusive Man became indoctrinated somewhere during the events between ME2 and ME3. There was a major change in his personality and how he chose to pursue his goals - not because the Reapers were already in the galaxy and time was short, but because it was part of the Reaper design.

If you look at the history of the human race (and even in current events the are now occurring), you can see many examples of the same thing. He is a man seeking power and will do anything to get that power.