User blog comment:Dragonzzilla/Describe Your Mass Effect 3 Ending/@comment-1786741-20120903230651/@comment-1978336-20120904022600

@Aleksandr the Great - I believe that the Catalyst is a point of convergence for the Reapers' consciousness which exercises a (very high) degree of it's own independence; in essence a hyperadvanced version of the geth's networked intelligence. The Reapers are fully independent and self-aware, but the Catalyst provides near-instantaneous communication between the Reapers, which in turn allows them to operate with unparalleled cohesiveness in battle. The Reapers and the Catalyst also influence one another equally; the Reapers are not necessarily the masters of the cycles, but they also are not necessarily anyone or anything's servants.

If this is true, as I believe it is, the Reapers would not be helpless in the event that the Catalyst was destroyed. The Reapers would lose their ability to coordinate on a galactic scale (or at least to do so instantly and seamlessly), but localized communication would still be fully functional. Tactically speaking, the Reapers would not be hindered in the event that the Catalyst was destroyed, but strategically they would be far less potent.