What does .NET Reflector show?

Question

C++ / C#

Watching various C# video tutorials, I see how programmers use .NET Reflector to learn how .NET internals work.

An example of such learning is the work of generics in C# (sometimes called templates).
After writing the program, they open the program with a reflector and show that the construction of such a class is located in the code.
At the same time, in C++, templates are "multiplied" in the code.

The question is, does .NET Reflector show the real picture of what's going on?
Or does he build some kind of his own representation of the program according to the type of reverse engineering?

Answer 1

Reflector shows IL

Answer 2

1. It doesn't make much sense to use Reflector in 2021, as there are free alternatives like dotPeek or sharplab. In the same rider, for example, there is also a button to immediately show IL.
The studio already knows how to decompile someone else's code out of the box.
2.

At the same time, in C++, templates are "multiplied" in the code.

In .NET, generics also propagate in code, but only for value types and only after JIT compilation.