(Update) What makes sense storywise in the Virmire mission? Sacrifice Ashley or Kaidan? What Virmire role do you prefer them in?
After reading the comments from my last post involving this topic and thinking more about the mission I feel that I should update some thing I thought of what might make sense and what doesn't. Made some edits too.
Recap "Later on in the Virmire mission, you have to make a choice which one of the two squadmates to sacrifice. Who do you think makes sense to sacrifice story-wise? Keep in mind I'm not asking if one of them is sacrificed because the one you chose to spare is your love interest or because of your Shepard's class or because you personally don't like the character. Rather I'm asking which makes sense based on the story, character development, character arcs, and the results in Virmire."
Ashley Williams
Backstory: From what I gathered about Ashley Williams she comes from a family that includes a long-line of Alliance soldiers. Her Grandfather surrendered the garrison at Shanxi to the turians during the First Contact War in order to save what was left of Shanxi's population but became the first human to surrender to an alien force and was disgraced. Because of this the Williams family suffered through prejudice in the Systems Alliance military where they can't be promoted above ranks, despite good performances. Due to her family history and the effects that came with it, Ashley is less trusting to aliens but she is not xenophobic. She doesn't think humans are superior beings nor does she believe that they should be mistreated. Keep in mind that she doesn't like the Terra Firma party due to its much more overt racism.
The result of her sacrifice in Virmire: If Ashley died on Virmire, a news broadcast on the Citadel reports that Ashley Williams has been decorated for her service by both the salarian and turian governments, receiving the salarian Silver Dagger and turian Nova Cluster medals, becoming the first human to receive these awards. As a result, the stigma associated with the "Williams" name is finally wiped clean.
Character arc: Due to her family history and the prejudice against her family as a result, Ashley struggles to prove herself to the Alliance and redeem the Willams family name. This happens either way whether she dies in Virmire or survives Virmire. If she dies in Virmire she is awarded high honors by turians and salarians government for her actions. If she lives, her being part of Shepard's crew has opened up doors for her as she is finally able achieve the ranks she deserves (even reaching Spectre). She also seems to overcome her distrust of aliens in later games, but it hasn't been properly addressed. If not romanced, she hooks up with James Vega.
Rank: In the games Ashley Williams rank is Gunnery Chief (Mass Effect 1), Operations Chief (Mass Effect 2, if alive), Lieutenant Commander (Mass Effect 3, if alive), and Spectre (Mass Effect 3, if alive). Ashley is lower ranked then Kaidan if you want to contribute that as a reason to sacrifice her, or to pick whatever role she plays in Virmire. Do remember though that due to her family history her superiors would never consider promoting her, despite having good results.
Family: Ashley's father is dead and her mother is alive. Ashley has 3 sisters
Kaidan Alenko
Backstory: From what I gathered about Kaidan Alenko when he was young he was sent to Jump Zero to attend the programme BAaT (Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training, or BAaT) in order train his biotics. However, the teacher that was hired to train them was a turian mercenary named Vyrnnus who is racist and brutal with the trainees to the point where the students either snapped under his regime or died (from either accidents during training or from the strain). Vyrnnus had it out for Kaidan because Vyrnnus introduced himself by saying "I was at the helm of the dreadnought that killed your father" and Kaidan said that his father hadn't even been in the war. One day during training a friend of Kaidan, Rahna, reached for a glass of water instead of moving it biotically. Vyrnnus punished Rahna by breaking her arm. Kaidan tried to defend her, only to be attacked by Vyrnnus as a result. When Vyrnnus lost his temper and pulled a knife, Kaidan lost control and hit him with a full biotic kick, breaking Vyrnnus' neck. Because Vyrnnus' death caused a diplomatic stir with the turians, BAaT was shut down and the records were sealed to hide the Alliance's mistakes. Rahna feared Kaidan after that. The incident caused him to slightly fear his biotic potential, so instead of developing further he instead focused on other fields to improve on.
The result of his sacrifice in Virmire: If Kaidan dies on Virmire, the Galactic News may mention that a Kaidan Alenko Memorial Scholarship is sending gifted biotic children to the Ascension Project. Kaidan had a terrible experience with the BAaT programme but the scholarship that honors him would help biotic children in an improved programme, and hopefully they would have a better experience.
Character arc: Despite Kaidan's past, he seems to already come to terms with the incident where he accidently killed his instructor before Mass Effect 1 and is well-adjusted as a result. He did express his reluctance to use his biotics at first but said he changed his mind after the events in Edan Prime happened.
Rank: Staff Lieutenant (Mass Effect 1), Staff Commander in (Mass Effect 2, if alive), Major (Mass Effect 3, if alive), and Spectre (Mass Effect 3, if alive). Kaidan has ranks high then Ashley if you want to contribute that as a reason to save him or to pick whatever role he plays in Virmire. Human biotics are rare.
Family: His mother and father are still alive
Virmire roles
There are 2 choices what role should Ashley and Kaidan take in the Virmire mission. Kirrahe plans to use his team as a distraction so that the bomb can be placed. One of them can either join one of the Salarian teams or plant the nuke.
Joining the Salarians: Kirrahe splits the team into three so he needs someone to co-ordinate his teams. Ashley would make sense because she's soldier and would be more effective in a combat situation, such as supporting the Salarian squad. Plus, she has led a squad on Edan Prime. Kaidan would make sense as well since he's higher rank, and probably has leadership experience.
Planting the bomb: The squadmate you didn't send with Kirrahe earlier walks down the Normandy's ramp with the salarian drive core that has been converted into a nuclear bomb. The squadmate will set up the arming sequence and defend the bomb from geth. Kaidan would make sense because he has a background in technology, making him the logical choice to handle the bomb. Ashley is a complicated one, she would be better defense against the geth when they come for the bomb. However, she hasn't been seen with technical skills, so she shouldn't know how to arm the bomb unless she was given quick instructions on how to set up the arming sequence by either one of the Salarians STG, Tali, or Chief Engineer Adams (if it's possible).
If you choose to go to the AA Tower regardless of which squadmate is there, you get a scene of bomb site involving the squadmate you left behind defending the bomb. If you choose to go to the bomb site you don't get to see the fate of whoever was left at the AA Tower.
Regardless if you choose you go to the bomb site or the AA Tower, Saren mentions about the "salarians" as a diversion, like he knew your team was the real threat. From the dialogue it would make sense to go to the bomb site. But he keeps monologuing instead of trying to disarm it.
Some people would choose to go to the AA Tower because they think saving more lives should be a priority since the bomb would go off regardless, but some others think planting the bomb seems to be the priority so going back would make a strategic sense to ensure things go well (as for the AA Tower, remember they are soldiers, dying for the mission is part of the job description).
(New theory): There are those who worry that Kirrahe dies if you don't chose to go to the AA Tower. I will say that it doesn't work that way. Before you end up in a scene where you make a decision on whether you should go to the bond site or the AA Tower, there a side mission where you can prevent Kirrahe from dying. Once you accomplish that, he'll live regardless if you choose to go to the bomb site or not. However, it does leave questions on how Kirrahe and his team get back to the Normandy in time and the squadmate didn`t? Remember the Kirrahe splits the team into three (Ashley or Kaidan leading one of them), so I assume that the other two teams are in different locations if that makes sense. Maybe the Salarian's ship has enough power after detaching the drive core. So they were able to escape the blast radius and link up with the Normandy.
Story-wise would it make sense to sacrifice Ashley or Kaidan? What role in Virmire do you think makes sense for them? AA Tower or planting the bomb?
Poll (made a new poll. In involves who would make sense to sacrifice and what role they would be in)
Reddit (if you want to see other people's comments go here)
