User blog comment:Ygrain/EDI and the geth: their purpose in the story?/@comment-3581090-20120727155928

Heh, my original comment was going to be about 2 pages long, so I’ll just cut to the chase: your instincts are right; it’s just bad writing. (Or maybe “patchwork” writing is more accurate. Or maybe “bit off more than they could chew” writing.) The organics vs. synthetics central conflict was shoehorned into the end of the game, and they never found a way to make it work. It sounds like a cop-out, but I think it’s really (and unfortunately) that simple.

EDI and the geth are likable because the writers wanted to make as much of a “Virmire dilemma” out of the final choices as they could. They just don’t follow through with it. With the three endings we’re given, there isn’t a “this or that” choice to make. It’s never about taking sides or choosing one group over another. It’s never like, “you can save all synthetics but no organics, all organics but no synthetics, your friends but no one else, or everyone but your friends.” Specifics aside, you basically can choose if you want to sacrifice only yourself or you AND the geth/EDI as well. And that's about as far as the "dilemma" goes.