Samara's loyalty mission involves her daughter Morinth, an asari afflicted with a genetic condition that makes Ardat-Yakshi like her aggressive sexual predators and voracious killers.
[1] Kindregan considers her children's diagnosis as Ardat-Yakshi, a term in asari culture for biological deviants who cause their partners' deaths when mating, and Morinth's defiance against the laws which regulate her kind, to be the character's "defining moment" as she chose to respond by exerting "an iron-willed self control" and find purpose in her life through her role as a problem solver.
Although this scenario presents Samara as the ideal image of the "Paragon" while Morinth is a "Renegade" in its most extreme form within the context of the game's morality system,[3] Kindregan took the view that there is no preferred outcome as to players should choose to side with.
Although Morinth was never intended to be a sympathetic character as she is a serial killer, Kindregan emphasized that both Samara and Shepard have committed numerous extrajudicial killings themselves: the former out of her obligation to the Justicar Code and the latter at their discretion as a Spectre in service to the council.
[1] Kindregan maintained that he wanted to craft an emotionally and morally nuanced situation, and to subvert player's expectations of what they perceived Samara's reaction would be at the completion of the mission; instead of being in a celebratory mood, she is depicted as shattered by the demise of her daughter, whom she calls the best and bravest of her children.
[2] As a core part of her self-control, she is deliberately written to carry herself with subtle insinuations during conversations, where she makes a choice to let the player character into a deeper point during the midst of a discussion, but "not all the way".
[2] Kindregan suggested that this is best exemplified during quasi-romantic interactions between the player character and Samara, and while she may develop feelings for Shepard which she cannot deny, it is her decision and self control that hold her back from acting on them as opposed to a literal interpretation of the Code.
Samara joins Shepard's squad after she is aided in her investigation, and explains that she is on a quest to track down and stop Morinth, who has been killing innocents by burning out their nervous systems during sexual encounters as a result of her Ardat-Yakshi condition.
While investigating the disappearance of asari commandos at a monastery home to Ardat-Yakshi, Shepard discovers that it has been overrun by Reaper ground forces, who are turning its residents into husk-like monsters called Banshees.
Like other past and present surviving squad members, Samara makes an appearance in the Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC pack, which adds character moments which will vary in content depending on dialogue and event choices.
[9] Cian Maher from TheGamer praised Samara's loyalty mission as one of the game's most distinct both in its design and atmosphere, and that there is a continuation of the ambition and intent it displays in the non-combat set pieces of Mass Effect 3.
"[12] Alyssa Favreau from The Mary Sue found herself drawn to the character's immense power and "quiet clarity of purpose" in terms of her moral compass, but criticized BioWare's decision to not offer Samara as a full-fledged romance option.
Favreau reasoned that while it makes sense for Samara to reject Shepard's advances due to their large age disparity, her presentation and the lack of other meaningful same sex romance options in Mass Effect 2 inevitably played into a common trope involving queer women in popular media, where they are employed to "titillate audiences but never see their stories given narrative importance".
[15] Maggie Baird's body of work as an actress received increased media attention following her daughter Billie Eilish’s rise to prominence within the music industry by the late 2010s, with commentators describing Samara as her most recognizable video game role to date.