Mass Effect 2 Message Board  

This idea popped into my head and I was wondering if perhaps this will be a major plot point later - Saren added geth components and became a cyborg that was later controlled and possible resurrected by Sovereign. Now that Shepard has cybernetic components added to resurrect him, won't he be running a similar risk of getting controlled by Reapers?

Interesting idea but I don't think so. Saren's were designed, built and put in by a reaper for the purpose of controlling him.

Shepard's implants, judging from what I read on the Wiki page, are more passive (i.e. don't control any bodily fuction) that exist mainly to hold him together. They also The only way that way I see him getting controlled is if there was a control chip implanted; that idea was vetoed by the Illusive Man though not for fear of Shepard getting controlled by an entity other than Cerberus.

shephard's implants were purely for cellular regeneration. converting dead cells and tissues into living ones by Project Lazarus. not for control.

As I remember it (willing to be corrected here) the only components added was geth enhancements - the main control was through indoctrination. I don't remember anything about reaper tech being added, although I have to admit that the Lazarus Saren was a weird bluish-black color rather than the tanish-silver of the geth. If reaper tech was added, than your statements are true, if not it was witnessed in ME2 how the reaper IFF took over the most advanced ship with an AI fighting against it (although it was physically installed) and would therefore not be inconceivable that using a method of delivery like the Collector Bees that Shepard could be controlled or manipulated stealthily - after all, to some people death is feared more than anything else and being threatened with being killed again may force Shepard into positions he/she may not want to be.

I assume that it is reaper tech since Saren says that Sovereign added the implants. On Virmire, Saren also said that Sovereign despised the geth on Virmire so I doubt that Sovereign would stoop so low as to use geth tech. According to The Art of Mass Effect Saren does have geth implants but they were there before he got new ones from Sovereign.

As for the reaper IFF, I have a few counterpoints.
1. The IFF had a virus that infected the Normandy's systems. It was not broadcasted. The virus was also killed when EDI was unlocked and given access to more of the ship's systems.

2. If it was that easy for the Collectors to infect ships, then why didn't the collector ship immobilize the original Normandy? Yes, the attack on the original Normandy was to destroy it, and the second was to capture the crew. Still, since they are controlled by a machine that favors efficiency, they would prefer to shot a target that doesn't move.

Your idea about Shepard getting infected through the Collector swarms has merit if the implants, as saurabhfzd said, were meant to do anything other than help bring him back to life. The Illusive Man wanted Shepard exactly the way he was before he died; that means no implants that increase his strength or make him a super soldier. The only change made is the type of biotic implant used.

I'll have to concede this then - there is no real evidence how far Shepard was modified - the only real mechanical implants seen were the scarring on his face and the images in the movie that looked like Shepard's spine was getting implants added on. There is no real evidence that the Reapers could control devices remotely except those engineered directly by themselves and while I personally feel that Mass Effect 2 could have added a Deus Ex type bio-upgrade system, there is no evidence that they did so or that anything in Shepard could be used against him. Thanks for clarifying the idea.

Hey, it's fun discussing topics like this.

How about the Illusive Man? He did order Miranda to put a "Mind Control" Chip to Shep's brain but Miranda refused. Maybe TIM has it installed secretly...