User blog comment:The Milkman/The Writing of the Ending/@comment-30764484-20120608021538

Yeah, I'm saying that. No one should be able to tell at the time what's happening, that's how indoctrination works. What you should be aware of is that Control and Synthesis are the ideas that belong to each of the two antagonists, while Destroy is what Shep & crew have been trying to do since day one.

Also, that a Catalyst doesn't get changed, therefore the kid was lying and is not the Catalyst, that should've tipped you off that he was lying. The Citadel also isn't the Catalyst because it explodes. In the literal ending, there is no Catalyst. Everything else after you get hit by Harbinger's beam is like this too. You're not supposed to be like "Oh, I'm being indoctrinated", you're just supposed to feel that something is off about everything.

Do you have a counter IT argument that doesn't involve laziness and/or bad writing?