It’s funny how much gameplay is needed before the story continues. Shepard must assemble the first round of the team. Garrus is back, and many new teammates join.
Eventually, though, the Illusive Man calls with a planet that seems sure to attract the Collectors. Our alive crewmember from ME1 (Kaidan or Ashley) is on Horizon for an Alliance mission. Before we arrive the Collectors descend, their bug swarm immobilizing the colonists. They’re in the process of loading the frozen into their ship when we land and battle them.
On their ship is a leader who directly communicates with an unseen Reaper called Harbinger.
From there he can assume control of any Collector on the planet, taking over the body and attacking us with enhanced powers. They’ve also brought some kind of husks with them, although at this point we don’t know where these zombies come from.
We interrupt the loading process and save over half the colonists from abduction. Colony guns blazing, the settlement defends itself with our help and routs the attack.
Back on the Normandy we check in with the Illusive Man. He used us and the crewmember as bait. Instead of waiting for the next Collecter attack and arriving after the fact, he sent out rumors that Shepard was still alive and working for Cerberus. Kaidan/Ashley uses the defensive guns as a cover story to investigate. Harbinger definitely wanted a showdown specifically with Shepard, something the Illusive Man suspected. By suggesting Shepard was on Horizon and attracting our friend, the opportunity was too much for the Collectors to resist. The Illusive Man considers the whole mission a success. The Collectors will think twice now before attacking another human colony.
He already shows himself as one of the great antagonists. The Illusive Man uses questionable methods, yet he can always come up with an “ends justify the means” argument that’s hard to deny. What the Collectors are doing is horrible and must be stopped. Compared to them, it’s easy to side with the Illusive Man. However, the slope is slippery, and the moral dilemma of the story is excellent.