Why Did Liara Give Shepard to Cerberus?
Liara gave Shepard's body to Cerberus because the alternative was the Collectors, and because Cerberus offered the one thing nobody else could: a chance to bring Shepard back. Here's what happened in Mass Effect: Redemption and how Liara explains it in Mass Effect 2.
Liara T'Soni gave Shepard's body to Cerberus because the alternative was the Collectors, who had paid the Shadow Broker to deliver it to them, and because Cerberus offered a chance, however slim, of bringing Shepard back. She couldn't let Shepard go. If the two were in a relationship, she admits as much in Mass Effect 2, and says she knew Cerberus would use the Commander for its own ends. (Mass Effect: Redemption; Mass Effect 2)
The race for the body#
When the Normandy was destroyed, Shepard's body ended up in the hands of the Blue Suns on Omega, who were selling it to the Shadow Broker. The Broker, in turn, had a deal to pass it to the Collectors. This is the plot of Mass Effect: Redemption, the comic series that bridges the first two games. (Mass Effect: Redemption)
Liara learned that Shepard was in a stasis pod and almost certainly dead, but insisted on seeing for herself. On Omega she worked with a drell information dealer, Feron. When the Broker's mercenaries ambushed them, they were saved by Cerberus operatives led by Miranda Lawson. (Mass Effect: Redemption)
What the Illusive Man offered#
Miranda took Liara to meet the Illusive Man. He told her the Collectors wanted Shepard's body, that the Shadow Broker was working with them, and that Cerberus might be able to bring Shepard back. He asked her to find out why the Collectors were so interested, knowing her feelings for Shepard would keep her from letting them have the body. (Mass Effect: Redemption)
Liara knew Cerberus's reputation, and Feron warned her about its prejudice against aliens. She agreed anyway. She made no wider promises, only that she'd cooperate as far as getting Shepard back went. (Mass Effect: Redemption)
Getting Shepard out#
Liara and Feron tracked the body from Omega to the Broker's base on Alingon. Feron turned out to be a triple agent, nominally working for the Broker but really for Cerberus. He helped her trick the Broker's people and she escaped with Shepard's pod, but she had to leave him behind. (Mass Effect: Redemption)
At the Cerberus station, Miranda told her the body was in worse shape than expected and the project might never work. Liara wondered aloud whether it would be better to let the dead rest, and compared what Cerberus wanted to do with what the Collectors might have done. Miranda answered that the Illusive Man was more hopeful, and that Cerberus would spend whatever it took. Liara left to go after the Broker and free Feron. (Mass Effect: Redemption)
How Liara explains it in Mass Effect 2#
Two years later, Shepard meets her on Illium. If the two were together in the first game, she confesses once her own business is sorted. She knew Cerberus would use Shepard for its own purposes, and she handed the body over anyway because she couldn't let go. She's afraid Shepard will hate her for it. (Mass Effect 2)
Shepard can reassure her that she did the right thing, given how much depends on the mission. Or Shepard can call it a selfish betrayal. In that case Liara pushes back: it was a sliver of hope she wasn't going to turn down, and if she had, Shepard would still be dead. It was Cerberus or the Collectors, and she chose Cerberus. (Mass Effect 2)
Was it the right call?#
The games let players judge, so this part is interpretation. Liara's choice is easy to defend. The Collectors, it later turns out, were working for the Reapers, and the Lazarus Project gave the galaxy back the one person who had already beaten a Reaper. It also handed the Commander to an organisation Shepard had spent the first game fighting, which is the knot at the centre of Mass Effect 2. (Mass Effect 2; Mass Effect 3)
What it cost Liara was Feron, and the two years she spent after the Broker. That grudge leads straight to why Liara became the Shadow Broker in Lair of the Shadow Broker, where she finally frees him. (Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker)
Read more in the full Liara T'Soni biography and the page on Feron. (Mass Effect: Redemption; Mass Effect 2)
Frequently asked questions
- Where is it shown that Liara gave Shepard to Cerberus?
- In the four-issue comic Mass Effect: Redemption, released by Dark Horse alongside Mass Effect 2. The game refers back to it, and Liara talks about it with Shepard on Illium.
- Did Liara know Cerberus would bring Shepard back?
- No. Cerberus told her it might be possible, and that was enough for her to cooperate. When she saw the state of the body, she even wondered whether it would be better to let Shepard rest.
- Did Liara work for Cerberus?
- No. She cooperated with the Illusive Man only to recover Shepard, and made no promises beyond that. In Mass Effect 2 the Illusive Man even warns Shepard that she might be working for the Shadow Broker.
- What happened to Feron after Liara rescued Shepard's body?
- He was captured by the Shadow Broker during the escape. Liara spent two years trying to get him back, and freed him in Lair of the Shadow Broker.
Sources
- ComicMass Effect: Redemption, Dark Horse Comics, 2010 (written by Mac Walters and John Jackson Miller)
- GameMass Effect 2, BioWare, 2010
- GameMass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker, BioWare, 2010
- GameMass Effect 3, BioWare, 2012
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Why Did Liara Become the Shadow Broker?
Liara became the Shadow Broker because she spent two years hunting the old Broker for what he did to Shepard's body and to her friend Feron, and when she finally killed him, she took over his network rather than let it fall apart. Here's how it happens in Lair of the Shadow Broker and what she did with the power.
Liara T'Soni: Asari Researcher and Shadow Broker
Liara T'Soni was an asari archaeologist and expert on the Protheans who joined Commander Shepard's crew in 2183. Driven by the loss of her mother and the betrayal of a friend, she later seized control of the Shadow Broker's network and turned it against the Reapers.
How Did Shepard Survive Mass Effect 2? The Lazarus Project Explained
Shepard didn't survive. The Commander died when the Collectors destroyed the Normandy, and Cerberus spent two years rebuilding the body in the Lazarus Project. Here's how it worked, who recovered the body and what Mass Effect 3 later confirmed.
Feron: the drell double agent who lost Shepard's body on Omega
Feron was a drell information trafficker who worked for the Shadow Broker, Cerberus and Liara T'Soni at once while hunting Commander Shepard's corpse. He spent two years strapped to the Broker's torture rig for it.
Illium
Illium was a hot garden world colonized by asari corporate interests as a trade hub between the Terminus Systems and the Asari Republics, where relaxed customs laws made almost any good available. During the Reaper War its wealthy, well armed leaders mounted a fierce defense that slowed the invaders.
The Illusive Man
The Illusive Man was the secretive, well-informed leader of Cerberus, a human whose true identity as Jack Harper was forgotten by most. For decades he bent his vast network and resources toward a single goal, the ascension of humanity, before his obsession with controlling the Reapers led to his downfall.
Mentioned in4 entries
Feron: the drell double agent who lost Shepard's body on Omega
Feron was a drell information trafficker who worked for the Shadow Broker, Cerberus and Liara T'Soni at once while hunting Commander Shepard's corpse. He spent two years strapped to the Broker's torture rig for it.
How Did Shepard Survive Mass Effect 2? The Lazarus Project Explained
Shepard didn't survive. The Commander died when the Collectors destroyed the Normandy, and Cerberus spent two years rebuilding the body in the Lazarus Project. Here's how it worked, who recovered the body and what Mass Effect 3 later confirmed.
Liara T'Soni: Asari Researcher and Shadow Broker
Liara T'Soni was an asari archaeologist and expert on the Protheans who joined Commander Shepard's crew in 2183. Driven by the loss of her mother and the betrayal of a friend, she later seized control of the Shadow Broker's network and turned it against the Reapers.
Why Did Liara Become the Shadow Broker?
Liara became the Shadow Broker because she spent two years hunting the old Broker for what he did to Shepard's body and to her friend Feron, and when she finally killed him, she took over his network rather than let it fall apart. Here's how it happens in Lair of the Shadow Broker and what she did with the power.
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