More "What could have been"

Here are two images from The Art of Mass Effect 3.

Yes, that's a Cerberus enemy (at least I assume it's Cerberus) landing on your bed on the Normandy. My only question: why was this cut from the game? No, I have no idea how the logistics would work, but Cerberus trying to take back the Normandy would be cool.

Remember, way back when, I was arguing that the big asari mission should have been on Ilium, not Thessia, because Ilium was familiar to us. I said that one of the biggest gut-punches in the trilogy was running through the burning carcass of the Normandy SR-1 at the beginning of Mass Effect 2. That ship is home, Shepard's Fortress of Solitude. When a bad guy penetrates it one way or another, you know things are serious.

Second image:

That's much creepier than the version of the Illusive Man we faced at the end of the game. Also this art seems to imply that the final confrontation would have taken place inside Cerberus HQ. I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I thought that letting you get back on the Normandy and then cutting off every destination but the Sol system was obnoxious railroading. On the other hand, 1) if they didn't do that, you wouldn't be able to see Garrus and Tali have their last-minute hookup, and 2) ending the game on Cerberus HQ instead of Earth wouldn't be as emotionally satisfying (in theory! Not necessarily compared to what we got). It would have been Mass Effect 2 Part 2.

At the same time... is TIM dying? Is he dependent on Reaper tech to survive? That would have been a fascinating character twist, if handled properly. Not "I'm crazy indoctrinated because I'm power-mad," but "I got myself indoctrinated because I just want to stay alive." That would have made him, you know, a more complex character.