User blog comment:The Milkman/Indoctrination Theorists Say the Darndest Things, Part II/@comment-5830255-20121205082807

"Yeah, because the The Matrix didn't..."

Mass Effect introduces Indoctrination subtly... People hear loud sounds in their mind, and Shepard herp derps claiming it's signal interference. It's not until later when we know about the Reapers that we could realize what that sound was, and why it was inside their mind, and even then they were just some very small time criminals who happened to be hiding in a shed you could completely avoid and we probably won't make the connection, right? But yet they foreshadowed Indoctrination in the Narrative.

Bioware not only foreshadowed Indoctrination here, they also made it so subtle you could accidentally ignore it or even forget about it if you did go to that shed. They did also make sure you somewhat knew by placing a guy into the narrative that you are forced to talk to, but hearing that 4 people had a screech or whatever in their head is more suspicious and less doubtful than just 1 person.

This being the beginning to ME1, and it proves it is in the narrative because it's foreshadowing.