User blog comment:Ironreaper/Did Shepard leave Ceberus./@comment-204.210.207.90-20100915194803

I know a lot of people are going with the "if it looks like a duck and quacks likes a duck" theory here, but I think -IF YOU FOLLOW THE PARAGON ENDING- Shepards connection with Cerberus is all but done.

The "looks like a duck" theory is - "Shepard is still connected with Cerberus. He still gets intel from Cerberus, still gets paid by Cerberus, still uses a Cerberus ship manned by Cerberus crew, still gets new equipment from Cerberus, etc" and I can see the point here, but that doesn't actually prove anything:

1. Cerberus has sunk HUGE amounts of credits into Shepard and are not going to "just cut him off" - the Illusive Man brought Shepard back to fight the Reapers he is still going to send information Shepard's way if Shepard can use that information to fight the Reapers- ie keep your friends close but your enemies closer - the enemy of my enemy is my friend. As the Illusive Man said "I will do anything to stop the Reapers" - anything includes sending Shepard important info even if Shepard is against Cerberus.

2. Still recieving payments from Cerberus after the SM (end of game sequence) in DLC may just be an oversite from programmers trying to get the DLC released asap. It may be that the after mission reports are a master template and would be too difficult to change for those players following the paragon path (as renegade players would still be with Cerberus).

3.Still uses a Cerberus ship with a Cerberus crew- Not really true. The Normandy was built by Cerberus, however at the end of the game as Jack points out "we are either going to be dead or out in space with this ship". Futermore EDI was "released" or "unshackled" when the collecors boarded the ship prior to the SM. EDI can after that point tell you anything you want to know about Cerberus and the construction of the new Normandy. To make sure that the collectors could not regain control of the ship again EDI and Joker "scrubbed" the ship so it can't be remotely taken over. The ship is now Shepards as EDI and Joker are loyal to Shepard. As for the crew - the team members are loyal to Shepard (Jacob never trusted the Illusive Man to begin with, Miranda resignes, Katsumi is loyal to Shepard, (really Zaeed is the only "wildcard"), and the rest are aliens and know Cerberus's views toward them), and the crew- the Dr. is there for Joker and Shepard, the egineers only left the Alliance over the fallout of Shepards death (like Jacob), and the others are only still alive because Shepard saved them from being turned into Reaper goo. As Anderson said in the first Mass Effect right before Shepard and him steals the original Normandy: "that is your crew now they will follow you wherever you go and we both know it". I have a feeling in Mass Effect 3 (depending on your choice at the end of the game) the Normandy will hvae a different paint job and instead of a communications room direct to the Illusive Man they will have that lounge Shepard and Jacob want!!

4. As for using Cerberus weapons - if you already have them why not use them? All weapons DLCs so far are available from the start of each new playthrough so its not like Cerberus is still supplying Shepard with their new tech.