User blog comment:The Milkman/The Writing of the Ending/@comment-5503561-20120531110346

Why does the Catalyst take the form of a glowy kid anyway? Sure, it probes Shepard's mind to choose a non-threatening form to lower his awareness/make him go on a guilt trip and accept its arguments easier, I get that. But why the kid? Hell, why does the kid have such prominent role in this game anyway?

"Oh look, a random, and only child model in all three games dies, I'm gonna suddenly develop a PTSD over him, even though I didn't give this much damn about the squadmate on Virmire (or tons of other people that might have died also if you're Renegade)". I mean what the hell. Sure, I can buy that Shepard is emotionally bogged down by the galaxy-wide slaughter Reapers are happily commiting and it shows in his nightmares.

But then, those nightmares should reflect that - they should have him walk past the squadmates/people he knew, that gave their lives across the games, willingly or not, instead of looking like a creepy pedophile chasing a kid through a forest. Personally, when I first saw the kid scene with the vent shaft, I went "Christ, why is this here, why are we pulling 'Aliens' on this one?", and I gave the Destroyer a thumbs up when kid's shuttle got blown up. That character was pointless at the beginning of the game. Putting his image at the very end of it only intensified my personal hate for him, and the fact I continually cheer at that scene with the shuttle, every time.