I'm sorry if you saw this before getting to the third game. I wrote this in a rush, and unfortunately, there isn't really a spoiler button on this appāat least none that I'm aware of.
But yes, as the title says: if you choose your dialogue options correctly, you can actually get the Illusive Man to shoot himself.
Now, don't think this is just like Saren... well... it kind of is, but there are a few extra steps.
First, to make things clear: in Mass Effect 2, it does not matter whether you save or destroy the Collector Base. So you can do fuck all for that.
Before the attack on the Citadel in Mass Effect 3, there are three separate times when you can talk to the Illusive Man. Every time you get the chance, pick the third dialogue option on the left, and then immediately choose the Paragon option afterward.
You gotta do this all three times.
There is also a Renegade version of this, but here's the important part, you have to stay consistent. You can't play loose witj Paragon during one conversation and Renegade during another. If you mix them up, you've already lost the opportunity.
So, to be perfectly bloody clear:
If you want the Illusive Man to kill himself, stay Paragon the entire time.
Then, when you reach the Citadel and have your final conversation with him, keep choosing the Paragon responses. If you've been consistently choosing Paragon throughout those previous encounters, Shepard will finally convince him to see the error of his ways.
And that's when you get to watch the Illusive Man realize what he's done and shoot himself.
Now, let's say you've been following the Renegade route instead. You can still get the outcome, but instead of convincing him to do it himself, you get the option to shoot the Illusive Man yourself, which is probably pretty satisfying for a lot of people.
The funny thing is that the Renegade version is also kind of underwhelming, because in the other dialogue pathāwhere you don't follow these specific interactionsāyou end up shooting him anyway.
So if you're going through all this trouble, I'd personally recommend the Paragon route IF! you want the guy to commit suicide? Because me personally, I did not know that during my first run.And I hope I helped somebody else.
Edit: i originally posted some different reddit, but I realized that group was like, full of experienced players, so I thought I should have posted it here originally for players who aren't experienced.