Major Coats, we are all onto you.

I think the purpose to Coates being on the citadel, is to make the blunt point that he is in fact indoctrinated. Everything seems off about him, seems like he's moving in accordance with a plan that has been set in motion. He just so happens to be there to save Shepard with Anderson, technically he would be useful if he was carefully placed here. He even acts against Anderson and Shepard as if once again following some plan. Said plan seems to involve leaving Shepard alone in the rubble, since he seems to call for a retreat at the moment an unconscious Shepard would actually be laying in the same spot as the breathe scene.

"People go into that place and come out not the same not human anymore."

Thinking about Symbolism/Metaphor, where is this "place" the datapad is speaking of? Is it the place Shepard ends up? That hallway? The Decision room? But those places aren't real, their in Shepard's head. Is it possible that this person saw the same place, and saw their friend there... inside of their head?

Shared memory has evidence of being an Indoc side effect, so it's possible Shepard could be seeing Coates here because Coates is indoctrinated. Coates is here in this "place" which is inside of Shepards head.

Also what happens if Shepard dies? What if TIM kills Shepard? Does Shepard end up as one of those corpses? But if this place isn't real, what does that mean? It seems death here could end in indoctrination, since we know Coates isn't actually on the citadel. Death in this "mind world" ends in indoctrination? Synthesis and Control also kill you... Technically if this is an indoc attempt, then Shepard dying is pretty much death of the "conscious" that is "Shepard".

This wouldn't necessarily result in real death, it would simply mean the self awareness in Shepard is gone and thus there would be a lack of resistance to indoctrination.

Prettz Zell's video:

That video kinda scared the crap outta me....very dramatic :p But that's the first I've seen of Coats on the Citadel (don't have EC) and wow that's just...and the fact that that was specifically added to the EC version, crazy.

So Coats:

-Didn't charge the beam like he was supposed to.

-Called for a retreat even though he quoted Anderson earlier with "No retreat".

-Made it into the beam between the time he called for a retreat and Shepard got to the beam, while Shepard was looking at the beam the whole time.

-Got killed by something on the Citadel, even though there are no enemies there OR Got killed on the ground and tossed into the beam by Marauder Shields.

-Is alive all endings (first slide) and is seen even more in the Synthesis ending.

I have no idea why, but I read the first paragraph of your post in the voice of Nicholas Cage.

Anyway, yes, coates couldn't be more pointedly evil without stamping on an orphaned kitten's head in every other scene.

In synthesis the green DNA fused with tech is zoomed out to show that it was in Coates's eye. Why Coates specifically? Something's up.

@DD: Thanks for posting that video.

@megan3c: Yeah even if the EC turns out to be rendered inert later, I still think they've slipped hints in. I mean by the time EC came out people were busy flycamming and Bioware gets around on the internet so they likely knew that.

@BleedingUranium: Yep, nail on the head. Though he doesn't show up in Refuse, right? Also I feel like if there is to be a reveal this is all like a warning. I mean when Shepard wakes up, an indoctrinated agent like Coats is something to be watching out for. We all accept that Synthesis is the most indoctrinated ending, so as I said it's like a warning...

@TSA: I just tried that and it actually sounded like how he would word it too lol.

Indeed, I'm ready to put him down when Shep wakes up.... assuming we get the chance.

@Vizard: Most ITers already accept synthesis as an indoc ending, there's like no doubt. This is just one of the small subtle hints that makes it so obvious, however the fact that these hints continue even in the slide show are most interesting. Why, if there is no reveal? This reeks of a warning/foreshadowing, which is showing potential hidden motivations behind the EC itself.

Anderson helps Shepard out of the rubble, only to be shot in the head by Coats.

One problem: everything after the Harbinger blast is a hallucination, isn't it?

Beforehand, Coates was all for killing the Reapers, even keeping scared soldiers from abandoning Anderson's attack plan. Only after Harbinger does his character do a complete 180 and order a retreat.

I also don't count the flycam as evidence. If you can't see it with just the plain game, it's not evidence but simply an easter egg.

You can see it without flycam, and there is infrasound in the game whenever he's around, and only then.

Also, I made a thread.

Coats does seem rather shadey.

However, there is another mini-theory that by the time Shepard is on London he/she is starting to see things differently. More specifically, some behaviour may seem more normal and other behaviour seems shifty.

The basics of it is - Coats actually isn't indoctrinated, and may be the least tainted among all the cast. But the Reaper's influence makes everyone else view him with suspition, because he is different.

Has no basis in fact, but it would be pretty awesome if he was the one to rescue Shepard.

Selim Bradley wrote:One problem: everything after the Harbinger blast is a hallucination, isn't it?

Beforehand, Coates was all for killing the Reapers, even keeping scared soldiers from abandoning Anderson's attack plan. Only after Harbinger does his character do a complete 180 and order a retreat.

I also don't count the flycam as evidence. If you can't see it with just the plain game, it's not evidence but simply an easter egg.

Yeah I forgot you didn't even need flycam like Blur said. I find it most interesting they added in Coats of all people, after he JUST CALLED A RETREAT ON EARTH! What makes you possibly think something like that... with such huge implications... is an easter egg? Bioware must be aware of the red flags that'd send, and yet their so careless and don't care about any huge misunderstandings?

It might be possible that Anderson decided to retreat, and Coats was the one to give the order. I feel like the way the radio sounds, it sounds like Shepard is hearing it from the real world. If Shepard is unconscious at the mako crash, he/she might wake up back at the FOB.

Also as mentioned by Blur, there is infrasound whenever he is around. Then there is the fact that he suddenly starts gaining focus from the narrative out of the blue, he's just some soldier so why is he greeting Shepard and talking with Shepard at times when Anderson or a Squadmate would?

@Andromidius: Well there is the fact that Garrus is suddenly talking about God and the Afterlife. and Liara melds with you. But then you can't ACTUALLY indoctrinate people in real life, I mean you can in a sense... but you can't make them hallucinate like Reaper indoctrination does.

You see the top of his hair wihout the flycam, nothing more. Nobody knew it was him until somebody used a flycam. Also, Shepard's radio was fried with the armor, so Shepard wouldn't be able to hear real Coates at all. They gave Coates narrative focus because a) he was in their first trailer and b) he was in London since day 1 of the invasion so knows the city better than anyone, hence Anderson having him help plan the assault.

Coats Theory is just the result of poor communication and/or maybe lazy stage design.

From what I understand, someone animates the scene with dummy models (no outer image) and then another person finalizes the characters, images, background , etc. That way, if there are extra dummy models waiting around doing whatever, the decorator has to try to fill this void with anyone or anything. Hence, why multiple characters use the same body language or a random soldier replaces Javik during Shepard's end speech.

Regardless of anything else, Coats is a newly introduced character with a lot of screen time, considering his late appearance.

Best ideas I have are that he's either an indoctrinated agent, or the person you play as while Shepard's out of it. A point for the former is infrasound, while a point for the latter is that he's voiced by Hawke's VA (Dragon Age II player character). Or maybe even both!

Hmmm, could Coats be the indoctrination device that tips Shepard over the edge I wonder. I mean before Harby does. Screen bob happens AFTER you meet him, right?

invetro wrote:Hmmm, could Coats be the indoctrination device that tips Shepard over the edge I wonder. I mean before Harby does. Screen bob happens AFTER you meet him, right?

I don't think so, since Coates doesn't have any Reaper tech in him, and the Alliance would check for stuff like that just like they check for zombie bites in zombie films.

If there is infrasound coming from him, then he must have something installed.

Unless the infrasound is coming from Shepard...

Coming from Shepard, but only present around Coats?

Re-listen/read the Indoctrination codex entry. Indoctrinated people become amplifiers for Indoctrination signals... that .. all in itself explains the infrasound from Coates.

James does hear a hum, so not just around Coats, and I'm familiar with the codex entry. But I don't actually think it's coming from Shepard. Coats is far too shady looking, and nothing like his trailer appearance which I feel is intentional.

Anyway, I really shouldn't be speculating, I've been up for about 26 hours now.

CSSteele wrote:Coming from Shepard, but only present around Coats?

Re-listen/read the Indoctrination codex entry. Indoctrinated people become amplifiers for Indoctrination signals... that .. all in itself explains the infrasound from Coates.

FOR THE WIN!!!


:*tinfoil*:

@Selim: come on, Shepard would be DEAD if he got hit with that beam. As evidenced by Rannoch, and while some can say "weaker beam"... why is there a weaker beam?

We talk about the explosion on the citadel being equal to millions of nuclear bombs, but when there is an instant kill beam it can be weakened for literally no reason at all? I mean some literalists have circumvented the breathe scene problem by using the explanation that Shepard is sent back down to earth through the beam. While that doesn't sound like it's likely to be true, it's as reasonable as the explanation given for why Shepard survives that beam.

"he was in London since day 1..." How isn't he indoctrinated? How many days around Reapers, Reaper minions, and Reaper tech has he endured? The top of his hair is enough, and Bioware knew we'd flycam it anyways. Someone was bound to notice that the hair looks like coats and BAM here it is.

Shepard is at the top of the hill, armor in tact. No beams of nonsensical raisins involved. IMO anyways because it makes the most sense. Shepard could end up waking back at the FOB with his/her squadmates there ready to explain what the hell messed with the vehicle in the first place, because if Shepard did get hit by that beam then at the very least there is the gaping plot hole of what exactly caused the mako/thing to crash in the first place.

@CSSteele: Like I said, it's TOO FREAKING OBVIOUS. I mean to deny Coats is indoctrinated seems silly, if I compiled the evidence in more detail then it'd be beyond accepted here. So why are we acting like it's so unbelievable?

Coats has been around Reapers, Reaper minions, likely other indoctrinated people, Reaper tech, etc for how long? He emits infrasound, just like an indoctrinated person would be boosting infrasound signals. He is strange, shady, etc and seems to be symbolic for SOMETHING in the slideshows... with his presence becoming way more common and all the more strange in Synthesis which is an indoctrination ending.

What more do you want? If it walks like a Reaper agent, Talks like a Reaper agent, then it's probably a Reaper agent ;)

Even adding in a section with a Keeper removing a soldier's helmet is enough to warrant suspition. Why would they add it?

I also consider flycamming to be a valid form of investigation and evidence when its clearly something that's designed. Example:

1/ Flycamming and finding two levels merged into one, or a dupilcate character means nothing. That's pure programming, for loading purposes.

2/ Flycamming and finding something just outside of the camera shot but would be completely in the character's field of vision is 100% valid.

3/ Flycamming and finding something suggestive outside of the camera shot and character's vision is good for speculation, such as the inky lines streaking across the white background when you flycam outside of the dream sequences.

I always assumed that Coates wasn't real. I mean, no one but Shepard and Anderson ever acknowledge his existence, he walks straight into a pit after your first conversation at the FOB, and he mysteriously teleports between the shuttle and landing pad in the FOB (as I believe is mentioned in Prettz's video) He has to be not quite real in some way.

Edit: But even if he is real, yes, it is quite obvious that he's indoctrinated.

Coats rubbed me the wrong way.
He gets a lot of screentime and it seems that he is important, yet nothing of that importance has been revealed yet.