User blog comment:JediSpectre117/Council not helping in ME3/@comment-1221773-20110925175301/@comment-1900300-20110928005855

No the Reapers control the relay via the Citadel, the relay hub. If the take control of that, they can use it to control the network. But if they dont have it, they are incapable to shutting down the network. That was why having the Keepers set off the Citadel relay was always the plan for the Reapers. They wie out the government leadership, hack ceasus data and take control of the realy system.