Fair points, but I wonder if anyone really knows what happened with the Destroy ending, since it’s the only one where Shep isn’t around to tell the tale (or if he lives as the “perfect” ending implies, what does he/she decide to tell the galaxy?). As far as the galaxy knows, Destroy might have been the only function of the Crucible. I agree that it would make for an interesting story. Perhaps Shep’s choice to choose preserving organic life in its existing state at the cost of the Geth is something only learned much later by people researching the Crucible, when the galaxy has been sufficiently repaired to allow such things, calling into question the legacy of the galactic messiah that Shep would be to them

I agree with your points, except I think that the cycle of AI rebelling is Reaper propaganda. It’s extremely self-serving for them to claim it’s an inevitable truth. The Reapers stack the deck against organics every cycle. They leave enough tech around (most importantly the Citadel and the Relays) for organics to predictably organize society, but deny them the full knowledge and experience of the previous races. AI creation and rebellion might be inevitable as a point in linear development, but the Reapers deny the galaxy a chance to advance past that point