Regarding Admiral Hackett’s use of Commander Shepard...
Admiral Steven Hackett is a particularly interesting character to me. Even more interesting is how he uses Commander Shepard to get things done when he doesn’t wish the Alliance to be implicated. He does this very well, and although the ethics behind this can be ambiguous at best, he certainly knows how to get things done without any of the personal or professional blame.
I specifically want to bring up two missions that highlight this use of Shepard. Arrival, and the actions of Shepard in the Batarian home system, is the most obvious example. But an interesting example that comes long before this is the situation concerning Lord Darius in Mass Effect 1.
The negotiation with Lord Darius is a mission that requires a high Renegade score in order to unlock, and because of that it was only recently that I found it myself. Lord Darius is a man located near former Batarian space, who was given weapons and resources by the Alliance to hold the region and keep it safe in case the Batarians return. Darius saw the opportunity to begin extorting the Alliance, and so Hackett sends in Shepard to negotiate.
It becomes apparent very quickly that Shepard was sent to kill Darius, and Hackett, knowing Shepard’s reputation and tendency to shoot first, ask questions later, knew exactly what he was doing when he made that decision.
Here we see Hackett’s plan in sending Shepard, rather than an Alliance team. Shepard may be associated with the Alliance, but as a Spectre they can do almost anything without the political blowback.
Sound familiar? This is a very similar situation to the one in Arrival, at least in terms of Hackett’s requests.
“This is not an Alliance operation -- it’s one person going in alone to save a friend.” Again, Hackett knows that if something were to happen, if someone were to get upset, he could easily push the blame onto Shepard, and the Alliance would be clean. But where before it was the actions of a Spectre, working in Council Space outside of Alliance command, now it’s even easier for the Alliance and Hackett to shift the blame. Who would question that Commander Shepard, obsessed with the Reaper threat and now a terrorist working for Cerberus, was acting on their own in this?
And the thing is, I think Shepard knows this. Being asked to do this, it’s not hard for the Commander to read between the lines here. But Shepard knows it’s something that needs to be done, and Hackett can count on Shepard to do it.
“Someone has to make the difficult decisions that get people killed.”
That is what admirals do. That is what Shepard does every day. War cannot be won without sacrifices, and Hackett will do what it takes to win with as few casualties as possible, because he’s good at his job. Maybe it feels kind of scummy for him to send Shepard to be a scapegoat, but strategically it’s the best move. Ethically, well, that’s a whole debate.
Personally, I respect Admiral Hackett quite a lot. He has the weight of worlds on his shoulders, and he does what he can to keep the Alliance in the fight, even if it means making the difficult decisions.
