User blog comment:Ygrain/Seriously, Aria?!/@comment-4237253-20121226173121/@comment-1388547-20121227071309

Getting them back together might be cliched, but if it were something that Shep could either encourage or not, you'd be welcome skip it if you didn't like it. Heck, they might have done the end of the DLC mission as a three-way choice, similar to the end of the game (but with more foreshadowing):


 * Put Aria back in power by herself (award Renegade points)
 * Depose Aria, put Nyreen in charge (award Paragon points)
 * Put Aria and Nyreen jointly in charge (award neutral reputation points), optionally also getting them back together as a couple

Force Shep to make a decision between them, and base the possible outcomes on previous decisions. With a good playthrough make it possible for them to rule jointly; otherwise, one must die or go into exile. You could even make the whole thing basically a matter of Nyreen and Aria's relationship, with both conversation and sidequests feeding into it -- Shep could encourage them to compromise with each other or find solutions that satisfy both of them, and could also use sidequests to better prepare for the final assault, which would lead to fewer hard decisions that set the two of them at odds. If they like each other well enough at the end of the mission, they could rule jointly, and if they're getting along really well Shep could get them back together.

A setup like that would be in keeping with the previous spirit of Mass Effect, with the player's decisions (both in doing missions and in conversation) making an impact on the outcome of the story. But instead, so far as I know, there's very little possible variation in what happens to the characters -- you can influence Aria's demeanor somewhat, and do a few sidequests with varying degrees of usefulness, but generally there's only one way the story can unfold. It's a bit disappointing not to have any significant decisions, like in Bring Down the Sky (save the hostages or nab Balak), or even in Overlord (save or leave David). Having this sort of player control is neither necessary nor sufficient to make a good DLC mission (Lair of the Shadow Broker only plays out one way, aside from romance with Liara), but it helps, and it's been one of the major defining traits of the Mass Effect series.