User blog comment:Legionwrex/Why Destroy is the worst ending (besides refusal)./@comment-1388547-20120707004302

My problem with the non-Destroy endings is that they presume the Catalyst is right about synthetics and organics. We have only the Catalyst's word on what will happen after any of the ending choices, and the Catalyst is fairly clearly *not* impartial. It's the gestalt consciousness of the Reapers, for goodness' sake, and it already admits to having converted its creators into the first true Reaper against their will! I'd question whether the Catalyst really has the best interests of the peoples of the galaxy at heart, or whether it's distorting the truth or outright lying from selfish motivations. After all, only the Destroy ending results in the death of the Catalyst (although it's not clear what happens to it in Control -- whether it's displaced by Shepard's consciousness, or continues to be part of the Reaper-Shepard gestalt). I'd really need to see more evidence before I believed what it said without reservation.

The epilogue shows things working out well in the Synthesis ending, and more-or-less well in Control (though I have some misgivings about whether Shepard can really be a benevolent deity in the long run, after being shorn of all humanity), but from a role-playing standpoint my Shepards are still mistrustful of the Catalyst. Going forward, I'll probably pick Synthesis with my Paragon characters, in order to go with the generally hopeful (verging on goody-two-shoes) way I roleplay them, but my Renegade characters are definitely going for Destroy because it's the best way to ensure the victory of organic life. (And as for the argument that the organic-synthetic conflict will inevitably occur again, if Shepard survives, the Commander should be able to warn the organic civilizations of what could happen.) And if it was me who had to choose, rather than a character I'm roleplaying, I would personally choose Destroy.