User blog comment:Suparockr/List of Plotholes throughout the series/@comment-166.82.245.89-20120719070005/@comment-3325589-20120719082705

I agree with TheUnknown on the subject of symbolism: to my mind, the kid stood in (for both Shepard and the player) for the people of Earth, whom Shepard pretty clearly felt s/he had left to die. While I thought some of the portrayals of the kid were kind of heavy-handed and not done very artfully, I don't think having the image of the kid play an important role was itself a problem.