Destroying the Collector Base is the Paragon choice, impacting dialogue and future games. Preserving the base is a Renegade move, focusing on Cerberus and human supremacy. The choice impacts War Assets in Mass Effect 3 with minor differences between outcomes.

The driving force behind the narrative of Mass Effect 2 is a mysterious alien race known as the Collectors, whose kidnappings of human colonists have increased since the destruction of Sovereign at the end of the first Mass Effect. A resurrected Commander Shepard is working alongside Cerberus to determine the Collectors' connection to the Reapers, and stop whatever machinations they have in the works. Much of Mass Effect 2 is spent recruiting a capable crew for the Normandy Sr-2, and finding a way to traverse the Omega-4 Relay to infiltrate the Collectors' base located near the center of the Milky Way.

The second installment of the Mass Effect trilogy concludes with a suicide...