User blog comment:Legionwrex/Why Destroy is the worst ending (besides refusal)./@comment-122.151.64.173-20120814125342/@comment-4950455-20120815000015

I'd note that, if the Catalyst is explicitly lying about Shepard's survival in Destroy, that doesn't in any way imply it might be lying about the cycles - in fact, it helps support the idea that it isn't. The Catalyst is hostile towards Destroy in the first place because it does nothing to solve the "problem" of organic-synthetic conflict; that it's trying to make Destroy sound as unappealing as possible by claiming it will kill Shepard merely reinforces the possibility that it believes what it's saying.

I don't buy its theory of the cycles, or at least the bit about their inherent/universal nature, but I think it's mistaken out of a mixture of confirmation bias and bad programming. But actively lying? Doubtful.