EPT[Spoilers] Thoughts on the end and expansions? - Page 9
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purerythem
United States245 Posts
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Count9
China10928 Posts
+ Show Spoiler + Tassadar's not dead and Kerrigan dying from mysterious circumstances (not necessarily avoided by killing tycus). I hope they don't drag out 2 games saving Kerrigan from drivebys and stuff all about keeping her alive. | ||
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writer22816
United States5775 Posts
Basically the entire storyline can be summed up as: Raynor teams up with Mengsk's son to "uninfest" Kerrigan; Tychus is killed because, despite the obvious plot holes, is actually working with Mengsk all along. The cliffhanger ending is a big problem for me. This is a full game and in my opinion the storyline should be complete even if you only bought that one game. If you look back at BW or WC3, you'll see what I mean. In each game, the story offered a good and complete ending even if you only bought vanilla (Overmind dies/Legion is defeated, world is saved). Here in SC2 I am given a fucking cliffhanger ending as to what Kerrigan's allegiances are, what Valerian's motives are, what happens to Mengsk, and Zeratul's prophecy. WoL may be the length of 3 campaigns but its actual story is pretty much only that of 1. Albeit I expected this to happen because of Activision greed. | ||
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Turbo.Tactics
Germany675 Posts
Duran got to Arcturus, told him about the ability to change kerrigan (or at least offered him an opportunity to get rid of her). Archy releases Findlay and introduces Duran aka. Dr.Nurad to his son Valerian, knowing that he wants to succeed his father and will turn Kerrigan for him, so Findlay (who is trustful because of "good old times" and will be on jimmies side when it happens) can kill her. This also explains Archys rather dry response to Valerian:"You've been way over your head!" because Valerian got played BIG TIME! Sadly Raynor interferes by killing Findlay (yes one might doubt that hes dead but the mainscreen says he is...) and turning kerrigan rather then killing her, therefore undoing the prophecy because the hybrids will lose the control over the zerg due to kerrigan in the future now to Heart of the swarm Kerrigan now back in her human form is still able to control a small amount of zerg to regain the reign over all Zerg. But the Zerg are endagered of beeing enslaved by the hybrids of Duran. Kerrigan is able to fight the Hybrids with Raynors help and can regain the Zergthrone. The Mengsks father son complex is at its peak. Valerian (fan of the newschick) is the hero of the universe because he got rid of Pirate Raynor and the weapon of mass destruction Queen of Blades (Raynor planned to escape with Kerrigan far far away so why not use this moment) and dethrones Arcturus (possibly killing him because raynor decided against revenge when he killed Findlay with the Arcturus-bullet to save kerrigan). [This also makes for an excellent opening cinematic: Just use the reporterchick to tell Raynor and Kerrigan are gone, Valerian dethroned Mengsk etc.] Duran however, prepares for the big hybrid invasion to destroy the new heir and everything else. End of Hots with evil smile of either the revealed Dark voice or an evil german accentish kinda laugh by Dr.Narud (servant to a higher force). LotV Meanwhile Zeratul, guided by jedighost Thassadar, had to reunite the shattered tribes of his race while gathering the help of ancient thingies like the collossi (depending on what awesome shadow of the collossus robots the toss will get). On his way he also fights Durans/dark voices Hybrids to gain control of his clan. When Zeratul finally is ready with all the protoss we are where we ended in HotS. At the great hybrid invasion of Archys former empire. Valerians imperial forces halfway overrun get a little help of Raynor who already knows their commander who he saved in battle.... The commander gets killed so Raynor gets the job done by taking his place as commander of valerians forces (prolly together with Matt Horner who does not particulary like the idea but fights for the greater good --> Survival of human race). The Zerg and Protoss led by Kerrigan and Zeratul fight together with the terrans to defeat the dark voice/durans hybrids. In the final moment of truth when the bad boy (duran or whatever leads the hybrids in battle) is about to die he/she or it turns to kerrigan or zeratul and says:" This would not have been possible without the help of the Xel'Naga!" (Pointing at Raynor aka. the Terrans/Humans) The End | ||
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On_Slaught
United States12190 Posts
1. By the end of the 3rd game we will all be in awe over this story. 2. The missions in this game are by far and away the greatest RTS missions ever made. 3. The game is realy really fun. 4. The story isn't really 'that' bad when you consider it's only purpose was to reintroduce us to the current state of things and leave us with a cliff hanger of what will happen with Kerrigan. 5. About the "taking out Char" so easily thing, who gives a fuck. They had half the Dominion fleet, which has been built for years and years to fight the zerg (and Raynor), and the artifact. You might want to overlook that but they even said we'd get overrun easily without it. I will give you one thing tho... the dialogue left much to be desired. I really think the voice actors did a great job but the lines they were given were bad most of the time. I suppose I also wish they would of made Kerrigan more of the "smart terror" she was in the first games. I miss the overmind so much  .Either way, everyone chill out and realize you just experienced one of the best PC experiences in the last decade. Plus there is still the multiplayer :D. | ||
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On_Slaught
United States12190 Posts
On August 01 2010 16:47 Hats Hats Hats wrote: Okay, since a lot of people seem to think that Raynor screwed over the universe with his shenanigans, I'll explain Blizzard's angle here. They want you to think that the galaxy is screwed because of what he does, but it's the complete opposite. Zeratul's prophecy is carefully worded to be interpreted incorrectly. Actually, + Show Spoiler + If Raynor had not used the artifact on Kerrigan, the universe would be screwed. Allow me to explain. This explanation also covers why Kerrigan's still got head tentacles. Zeratul knows "the xel'naga are returning," but he wonders if it's "to save...or to destroy?" We're supposed to assume that the latter is going to happen, but both of Zeratul's options are wrong. The xel'naga aren't going to return to save or destroy, they're going to save AND destroy. What do we know about the xel'naga? 1. They have cyclical lifespans whereby two species, one with purity of form, the other with purity of essence, fuse over millions of years to create a superspecies with both purity of form and purity of essence. (The novels confirm this) 2. They created the Protoss and Zerg as one of their many candidate 'successor' xel'naga; if the P and Z fuse, they might become xel'naga. Keyword 'might.' The xel'naga eventually reached the conclusion that the Protoss weren't good enough - this implies very heavily that xel'nagaization is a delicate and complex process that requires a good margin of luck. After all, the xel'naga created thousands, perhaps millions, of species. 3. Thus, the entire purpose of the xel'naga in this galaxy was to create a successor species. 4. The xel'naga considered the protoss to possess purity of form. Therefore, we know that their definition of 'purity of form' is 'kicks ass and has insane psychic powers' - basically, incredible individual power. 5. The xel'naga considered the zerg to possess purity of essence. Therefore, we know that their definition of 'purity of essence' is 'perfectly unified and endlessly adaptive' - basically, incredible communal power. The power of the individual turned to the purpose of the whole - that is a xel'naga. Knowing this, we can deduce the purpose of the xel'naga artifact. Why does it deinfest Kerrigan and blow up the zerg? Answer: it's not trying to do that. It's trying to fulfill the purpose of its creators. It's a tool that turns proto-xel'naga into xel'naga. The process is extremely draining; even the immortal Kerrigan is helpless, so mere minions like zerglings and shit just get blown up when the artifact tries to change 'em. Also, due to her immense psionic power, the artifact needs to reach full charge to penetrate her defenses and affect her. Why does Kerrigan qualify as a xel'naga candidate? Well, she used to kick ass and possessed incredible psychic powers (remember when she meets raynor she effortlessly reads his mind). She qualifies for purity of form. After she's infested, she obviously qualifies for purity of essence. However, because infestation is an imperfect process, her zerg side was way stronger than her terran side; her components aren't in harmony like the xel'naga's were. The artifact balances that out. It doesn't turn her into a terran - it turns her into a perfect fusion of an elite terran ghost and a zerg. A being with both purity of form and purity of essence. A xel'naga. With Kerrigan's apotheosis, the xel'naga have returned to this universe. Kerrigan is the galaxy's only hope because she is a xel'naga. Raynor didn't subvert the prophecy - he completed it. This post makes me feel MUCH better about both Blizzards ability to tell a complicated story as well as the future expansions. Must read (really big on the spoilers tho). | ||
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kmdarkmaster
France188 Posts
Mengsk : "What are you doing, my son ?" Valerian : "Succeeding you, father" (Kill Mengsk) Mengsk : "AAAHHHH" (Die) Some weird voice begin to speak : "This empire SHALL fall, and from the ashes SHALL arise a new monster that WILL shake the very foundation of the UNIVERSE" looool | ||
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On_Slaught
United States12190 Posts
On August 02 2010 18:41 kmdarkmaster wrote: I would love to see Valerian obtains some weird whispering sword (or gun) from Char and returns as a hero just to kill his father. Mengsk : "What are you doing, my son ?" Valerian : "Succeeding you, father" (Kill Mengsk) Mengsk : "AAAHHHH" (Die) Some weird voice begin to speak : "This empire SHALL fall, and from the ashes SHALL arise a new monster that WILL shake the very foundation of the UNIVERSE" looool Pft don't mock that cinematic. That entire scene still sends chills down my spine and is one of the greatest things i've ever seen in a video game. Prince Valerian is an interesting character. He doesn't seem pure but at the same time he seems much better than his father (which isn't hard to do I suppose). I'm guessing in the next game Kerrigan will finally kill Mengsk (who is probably under Durans control) in one of the last levels. This will then set up the last game where the Dominion is an ally of the Zerg and Raynor (and hence Zeratul and the protoss) against the comming hordes. | ||
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Bobgrimly
New Zealand250 Posts
On August 01 2010 19:11 Hats Hats Hats wrote: Well, in the same way that a hybrid is not an infested protoss, Xel'Naga!Sarah is not an infested terran. You are very correct, though, the current Sarah Kerrigan is not all that special; she's as weak as a newborn. The analogy we can use is that an adult me is stronger than a newborn Jaedong, but when the Jaedong grows up it's gonna kick ass. I imagine Blizzard will dance around the subject of her true species in Heart of the Swarm as she comes into the fullness of her power as a Xel'Naga. In this way, we as the player really do get into the heart of the prophecy without even knowing it: we first play Raynor, who must redeem her in order to trigger her Xel'Nagadom, and then Kerrigan herself, who has to become a being that embodies power like the Xel'Naga do, even though she doesn't realize what she is. She has the potential; now she has to bring it. Well, my initial conclusion was that, since zerg have purity of essence but not form, the artifact will try to convert them and end up just killing them with the trauma of attempted rapid evolution. The same thing would probably happen to any protoss who got near the pulse. However, since terrans do not exemplify either purity of form (hero ghosts are an exception) or purity of essence, the artifact wouldn't consider them candidates and thus not affect them, much as it doesn't affect the rocks around it. To the xel'naga, humans are as low as rocks. =) . Hats hats hats... I hope you are employed by blizzard or they have someone equally inventive on their team. I so hope that. Best possible explanation for the worst turn in the story I have seen, I could forgive all the badly written dialogue and wasteful side quests/missions if the main story becomes as good as that. | ||
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alsowikk
109 Posts
EDIT: I was thinking that the whole Xelnaga cycle competeles Zeratul's question of whether they will save or destroy. The truth is, they do both at once. They destroy the races with purity of form and essence but turn them into Xel'naga and "save" them from death. | ||
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kidijs
Latvia40 Posts
My thought is that during that time the queen bitch of the universe cooperated with Duran, but eventually got betrayed - because he seemed smarter than she is (plus she is/was a woman) -, and went on to destroy Mengsk who in turn was cooperating with Duran to make hybrids. +1 internets to On_Slaught who said this about Mengsk: (who is probably under Durans control) Also: the Xel'Naga. I think that they will be saviors and rally the three races to fight against the hybrids when the end cometh. They should act like Medivh eventually... maybe not. But cool new units yay. This discussion made me hard. Off to order StarCraft books! | ||
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renshank
United States41 Posts
On August 01 2010 19:11 Hats Hats Hats wrote: Well, in the same way that a hybrid is not an infested protoss, Xel'Naga!Sarah is not an infested terran. You are very correct, though, the current Sarah Kerrigan is not all that special; she's as weak as a newborn. The analogy we can use is that an adult me is stronger than a newborn Jaedong, but when the Jaedong grows up it's gonna kick ass. I imagine Blizzard will dance around the subject of her true species in Heart of the Swarm as she comes into the fullness of her power as a Xel'Naga. In this way, we as the player really do get into the heart of the prophecy without even knowing it: we first play Raynor, who must redeem her in order to trigger her Xel'Nagadom, and then Kerrigan herself, who has to become a being that embodies power like the Xel'Naga do, even though she doesn't realize what she is. She has the potential; now she has to bring it. I can confirm that this is false, but very close to the truth. If you talk to Hanson after doing the first Crystal mission, she will explain that the artifact is attempting to draw as much power into itself as possible, and thus would (she speculates) destroy any Protoss or Zerg that came within its proximity. So, humans are basically rocks, but because they have almost no energy in them, not for these reasons. I have no idea why (for example) Tosh isn't completely destroyed by the thing if it is based on these power concerns, but it is just Hanson's speculation. Not doing the Haven mission until when you absolutely have to has made the entire story much more enjoyable for me (because of her presence on board), and I suggest anyone interested in lore do the same on their next play through. | ||
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Hats Hats Hats
United States19 Posts
On August 02 2010 18:31 On_Slaught wrote: This post makes me feel MUCH better about both Blizzards ability to tell a complicated story as well as the future expansions. Must read (really big on the spoilers tho). On August 02 2010 19:17 Bobgrimly wrote: + Show Spoiler + On August 01 2010 19:11 Hats Hats Hats wrote: Well, in the same way that a hybrid is not an infested protoss, Xel'Naga!Sarah is not an infested terran. You are very correct, though, the current Sarah Kerrigan is not all that special; she's as weak as a newborn. The analogy we can use is that an adult me is stronger than a newborn Jaedong, but when the Jaedong grows up it's gonna kick ass. I imagine Blizzard will dance around the subject of her true species in Heart of the Swarm as she comes into the fullness of her power as a Xel'Naga. In this way, we as the player really do get into the heart of the prophecy without even knowing it: we first play Raynor, who must redeem her in order to trigger her Xel'Nagadom, and then Kerrigan herself, who has to become a being that embodies power like the Xel'Naga do, even though she doesn't realize what she is. She has the potential; now she has to bring it. Well, my initial conclusion was that, since zerg have purity of essence but not form, the artifact will try to convert them and end up just killing them with the trauma of attempted rapid evolution. The same thing would probably happen to any protoss who got near the pulse. However, since terrans do not exemplify either purity of form (hero ghosts are an exception) or purity of essence, the artifact wouldn't consider them candidates and thus not affect them, much as it doesn't affect the rocks around it. To the xel'naga, humans are as low as rocks. =) . Hats hats hats... I hope you are employed by blizzard or they have someone equally inventive on their team. I so hope that. Best possible explanation for the worst turn in the story I have seen, I could forgive all the badly written dialogue and wasteful side quests/missions if the main story becomes as good as that. Thanks, guys. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry, I don't work for Blizzard (though one can hope...), but I do write, so I have some understanding of how stories are structured. Blizzard wants to set up all these assumptions in our heads and then knock 'em down in order to blow us away - hell, I was blown away when the artifact actually WORKED, because I totally thought they'd follow their usual pattern and give us a phyrric victory or Bad End, but this end was actually really hopeful and empowering for the players. | ||
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Hats Hats Hats
United States19 Posts
On August 02 2010 20:47 renshank wrote: + Show Spoiler + On August 01 2010 19:11 Hats Hats Hats wrote: Well, in the same way that a hybrid is not an infested protoss, Xel'Naga!Sarah is not an infested terran. You are very correct, though, the current Sarah Kerrigan is not all that special; she's as weak as a newborn. The analogy we can use is that an adult me is stronger than a newborn Jaedong, but when the Jaedong grows up it's gonna kick ass. I imagine Blizzard will dance around the subject of her true species in Heart of the Swarm as she comes into the fullness of her power as a Xel'Naga. In this way, we as the player really do get into the heart of the prophecy without even knowing it: we first play Raynor, who must redeem her in order to trigger her Xel'Nagadom, and then Kerrigan herself, who has to become a being that embodies power like the Xel'Naga do, even though she doesn't realize what she is. She has the potential; now she has to bring it. I can confirm that this is false, but very close to the truth. If you talk to Hanson after doing the first Crystal mission, she will explain that the artifact is attempting to draw as much power into itself as possible, and thus would (she speculates) destroy any Protoss or Zerg that came within its proximity. So, humans are basically rocks, but because they have almost no energy in them, not for these reasons. I have no idea why (for example) Tosh isn't completely destroyed by the thing if it is based on these power concerns, but it is just Hanson's speculation. Not doing the Haven mission until when you absolutely have to has made the entire story much more enjoyable for me (because of her presence on board), and I suggest anyone interested in lore do the same on their next play through. You raise a good point, renshank. On the other hand, Ariel Hanson didn't speculate as to the purpose of the device, only that it blows up protoss and zerg as a side effect of its energy system. It's a distinct possibility that the theories are not mutually exclusive. After doing some research on the Dark Voice, I'm convinced it's the KL-2 entity rather than a xel'naga (or possibly the KL-2 entity possessing the corpse of a xel'naga). The way it asked those Dark Templars to become its harbingers rings uncannily close to the Dark Voice's own "Go, my harbingers!" | ||
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Renseru
United States45 Posts
I would assume/agree that Kerrigan will be to protagonist in HotS. I'm thinking something along the lines of she was helping Duran for the last four years and now that she is somewhat "humanized" she sees the "evil" he was doing. Now she will be trying to convince other zerg, destroying the hybrids, & thus creating conflict with dominion Terran who are creating hybrids. I think Zerg vs Protoss will only be a very small part of the story. Perhaps near the ending Kerrigan will portray some purity of _____(hope/heart?) that lets the Xel'naga reconsider terran as a race thus completing the mind(Toss), body(Zerg), and soul(Terran)? I would also assume that Zeratul will be the protagonist in the final expansion. I think that he, along with Raynor and Kerrigan will put an end to the hybrids and perhaps find the Xel'naga once and for all. I think that this will also be PvT(Dominion) and PvZ(Non-Kerri forces, Likely Duran controlled) while they finalize what ever it is this story is about. PvP will be the least of it all & probably only against the lunatic guardians on the Xel'Naga artifacts. As a side note, I've never read any SC literature, only played the games. | ||
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Zocat
Germany2229 Posts
Tassadar looks exactly like "The Dark Voice" only with blue eyes instead of red ones. So I have this crazy theory: Tassadar kind of "merged" with the Overmind during the attack - resulting in this kind of hybrid leader (purity from protoss & zerg). He shows Zeratul the vision of defeat and tells him in that vision, that Kerrigan is the key to victory for the good guys. So we were helping the hybrids in letting Kerrigan live (and in the future she may be used by them, only to be swayed back to the light by Raynor etc... and with that action the hybrids fall anyways). I honestly cannot figure out how the prophecy fits in my theory though :/ | ||
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Ciryandor
United States3735 Posts
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TymerA
Netherlands759 Posts
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2shellbonus
Russian Federation22 Posts
Tychus was only wounded by Jim at the very end, so he survives and kills Jim in the beggining of the sc2 hots story. Kerrigan in revengefor Jim's death starts to regain her Zerg powers and will hunt down Tychus. After finding Tychus and killing him she will find out who is behind all this and will go after Mengsk Duran, and will face the Hybrids. She will manage to kill Mengsk, who betrayed her in the very first game. The game ends there with a cutscene of some superhybrid being formed... and thats where the protoss come into play. | ||
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Eredia
Sweden47 Posts
On August 02 2010 23:51 2shellbonus wrote: I tried to read through all the pages but didn't manage to get through, so sorry if i repeat someone erlier, but here is my take on whats gonna happen next. Tychus was only wounded by Jim at the very end, so he survives and kills Jim in the beggining of the sc2 hots story. Kerrigan in revengefor Jim's death starts to regain her Zerg powers and will hunt down Tychus. After finding Tychus and killing him she will find out who is behind all this and will go after Mengsk Duran, and will face the Hybrids. She will manage to kill Mengsk, who betrayed her in the very first game. The game ends there with a cutscene of some superhybrid being formed... and thats where the protoss come into play. Sorry but the epilogue text do say Tychus really is dead. :/ The reason to why they didn't show a close up shootout between two humans is the PEGI rating which for starcraft 2 is 13years. It's like, they can show alot of spatter if the characters are some weird unbelievable monster. But if it is a human with good graphics (aka look pretty real) they can't show alot of blood nor executions or it would be rated alot higher. In Europe this wouldn't really be a problem but I heard rumors about the US having quite some people being very strict with these things. | ||
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