Read some commentary the other day about how the Council was right to push Shepard out of the picture due to their pig-headedness, and it immediately put me in mind of a conversation I had with @inglorious-boshtet, during which we determined that Shepard is, in fact, an absolutely terrible Spectre. Â And if you accept that, by Council standards, Shepard is a terrible Spectre, then a few other things in the game - like the fact Shepard is broke all the time - start to make sense.
Shepard is exactly what the Council expected to get from humanity as a Spectre.  And when I say that, bear in mind what the galaxy at large thinks of humanity in the original Mass Effect: humans are brash, impatient, demanding, even bullying.  Dangerous. Uncouth.  Humans don’t understand the galaxy, the delicate balance of galactic politics, the thousands of years of history, and have little interest in finding a place in the existing framework.  They are ambitious beyond reason, demanding privileges they have yet to earn, accustomed to taking what they want. Â
So when humanity demands a Spectre for the second time, the Council gives them enough rope to hang themselves. And, had it not been for the Reapers, they would have succeeded.
So, yes, Shepard does well enough on Eden Prime to be given the rank of Spectre, albeit in unusual circumstances.  But that was only the first part of the test to see if the representatives of humanity really understood what they were asking for.  The second part is what happens immediately after Shepard is promoted, and it’s here that the Council’s suspicions are confirmed and humanity fucks up:
Shepard does not resign their Alliance commission. Â
Look at it from the Council’s perspective.  The Council is the pre-eminent governing body in the galaxy.  Spectres are a pseudo-black-ops law enforcement body that reports directly to said Council and to said Council alone.  They exist to preserve galactic stability by any means necessary.  They are entrusted with missions of incredible sensitivity, with lives and state secrets on the line.
But Shepard remains in the Alliance.  In fact, it’s made pretty clear throughout the games that Shepard considers themselves to be an Alliance soldier first, Spectre second.  Anderson and Udina and even Hackett encourage this, not content with a Spectre who happens to be human, but wanting a Spectre outright working for humanity.
The upshot is that the Council can’t trust Shepard.  They know where Shepard’s loyalties lie, and they know that this means that they can’t trust Shepard one bit.  They can’t trust them to not go running to the Alliance brass with any bit of juicy intel that they find out.  They also can’t trust Shepard not to hand over any bleeding-edge, super-sekrit military tech to Alliance eggheads; hence Shepard has to buy their own Spectre gear.  Since Shepard is Alliance-first, they can assume Shepard’s drawing a stipend and that there’s no reason to pay them from Council funds.
Human Spectre Shepard is intended to be an object lesson to other species who hunger for a Spectre to further their political goals: someone running around with little more than a big ego, some guns and a very vague understanding of what they’re supposed to be doing and fucking things up as a result.  Shepard is grenade the Council pulls the pin on and lobs out into the field, expecting a big and damaging explosion.  Unfortunately for the Council, it all backfires horrendously when the Citadel is attacked, because Shepard either becomes a hero they can’t get rid of easily, or the Council is co-opted by humanity.
So, the Council ends up with a Spectre that isn’t loyal to them either as people or as an institution (and who doesn’t even really understand nor care what the rank means), that they can’t fully control, whom they can’t trust to keep their mouth shut about classified material (“Reapers are real! The Council’s lying everyone! No I won’t shut up about it even if you order me to!”), and whose approach to problem-solving is stereotypically human. Â
It’s a disaster.  Shepard is a rogue.  And so the Council sends Shepard off on a wild goose chase, hoping that they will either metaphorically finally explode in humanity’s face, die doing something stupidly heroic, or at least stay out of the spotlight long enough for the Council to plan and do damage control, and maybe quietly assassinate one day.
And I suspect every other Spectre knows all of this. Â Look at Tela Vasir and her reaction to Shepard complaining about her ties to the Shadow Broker. Â The hypocrisy is absolutely breathtaking, and no doubt infuriating to someone who was always loyal to the Council. Shepard never offered such loyalty, and has no right to judge whatsoever.
So, yeah, Shepard may have been the savior of the galaxy and all that entails, they were also a pretty damn lousy Spectre as Spectres go.
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
snowghoul
discoholicmusic
areudirty
