User blog comment:Simi truck/saren in mass effect 2?/@comment-1754255-20100210025928

In response to sparthawg948, Saren himself says that sovereign allows him to think for himself. Remember he talked about the less free will one is given the less capable they will become? He explained that sovereign only allowed him to think for himself because sovereign needed Saren to be capable enough to lead. Saren referred to this as "[his] saving grace." (All of this is from the in-game conversation w/ Saren in the investigation options at Virmire) An example of a creature that became mindless because of full indoctrination are the keepers. Since they lost their own thought processes, the reapers couldn't control them anymore. (Also found in investigation topics. Don't remember where, but it may be in the conversation with Vigil) That's why sovereign had to try to open the gates for the reapers himself. About the shooting-himself thing, Shepard's persuasion skills may have been able to break that enough for Saren to realize what he was doing. All of this information can be found in the conversations of ME1 when you choose the 'investigate' option.