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Here is my understanding of the "History of the Overmind" and the Starcraft story line.
The Xel'Naga + Show Spoiler +The Xel'naga first created the Protoss of there own form and then created the Zerg of there own essence. The reason is to eventually assimilate the two aspects of the species into the next generation of Xel'naga. The Protoss become divided between Templar on Auir and DarkTemplar on Shakuras. The Xel'naga fear losing control of the Zerg as well and created the Overmind as a way of keeping the Zerg under there control. They control the Overmind via a Psionc Link from their "Mothership".
The DarkVoice + Show Spoiler +The DarkVoice is an enemy of the Xel'naga and plots against them. It severs the Psy Link between the Overmind and the Xel'naga and uses it to control the Overmind, commanding the Zerg to destroy the Xel'naga. Overwhelming them in only a few hours. During the aftermath the Overmind absorbs the imense knowledge of the now dead Xel'naga and with it becomes Self-Aware of what it has done and its true purpose to assimilate with the Protoss and create the next generation of Xel'naga. However becoming self-aware does not free the Overmind from the DarkVoices control.
The Queen of Blades + Show Spoiler +The DarkVoice, knowing that as long as both Zerg and Protoss survive another generation of Xel'naga can be born, commands the Overmind to destroy the Protoss completely. Thus ending the cycle of Xel'naga rebirth. The Overmind wants to stop the DarkVoice. The Overmind assimilates Kerrigan into the Queen of Blades thus creating a new 'sentient' Zerg with the free will to defy the DarkVoice.
Zeratul + Show Spoiler +The Queen of blades, and other Starcraft characters, are still unaware of these events until Zeratul learns of it from his contact with Tassadar and the dead Overmind on Auir. Zeratul passes on this information to Raynor after his vision of the future. Zeratul's vision shows that without the Queen of Blades the DarkVoice will regain control of the Zerg and eventually destroy all of the Protoss.
Heart of the Swarm? + Show Spoiler +
1) Since Kerrigan is now human again does she still have control of the zerg swarm? Or will Duran/Narud now control them since he is the only other infested ghost?
2) Is Duran/Narud a good guy trying to bring back the Xel'naga as the Overmind was intended? Or is Duran an asshole working with the DarkVoice to create bastard Xel'naga (Hybrids) in order to continue their plot to destroy the Protoss?
3) Does Duran even have the same free will Kerrigan had? Or is he being controlled by the DarkVoice just as the Overmind had been?
Again this is my personal interpretation of the events from the full Starcraft story and lore. I am really really, interested in hearing what you think about my version or any thoughts you have about the story.
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On October 18 2010 07:27 Stratos_speAr wrote:Show nested quote +On October 18 2010 06:50 im a roc wrote:On October 18 2010 03:27 Jibba wrote:"When the xel'naga began uplifting the zerg, they created the Overmind to control and direct the hive mind, so as to try and avoid the "failure" with the protoss. But the Overmind was not given free will. It was given an overriding directive to obliterate the protoss. The Dark Voice had a hand in this.[2][3]" That's completely contrary to what's in the SC1 manual. It says the Xel'Naga created the Overmind to maintain central control over the Zerg (to avoid the fragmentation that occurred within the Protoss) but the Overmind does essentially gain free will over time (Skynet-style, I think) and obliterating the Protoss isn't one of its initial goals. Its goal was simply to spread and it soon realized interspace travel was necessary to its goal. At the same time, it noticed the Xel'Naga monitoring it from orbit, therefore it severed their psychic link and then sent its new air units to destroy their ship. After eliminating the Xel'Naga ship, it absorbed their knowledge (not sure how) and thus became aware of the Protoss. It then understood that the Protoss were a threat because they had gained control of psionic energies that were extremely powerful. It then found out about humans, who were only several generations away from understanding psi energy and wanted to assimilate them in order to combat the Protoss. If anything from the SC1 manual, Infested Kerrigan was created primarily as a weapon against the Protoss. If anything, the Dark Voice seems retconned in. EDIT: Here, I found part of it online. + Show Spoiler +The Fall of the Xel'Naga
The pride in their achievements proved to be
the fatal downfall of the Xel’Naga. The
Overmind, while slowly expanding itself into
the void of space, became aware of the mighty
Xel’Naga world-ships hovering ominously
above the skies of Zerus. The Xel’Naga, having
kept a constant watch on the Overmind, were
horrified to find that it had actually severed their
psychic link, effectively hiding itself from their
view. With its need to consume driving its
minions into a lustful frenzy, the Overmind
launched the now space-faring Zerg swarms at
the unsuspecting Xel’Naga. The ancient race did
what they could to stem the tide of the everadvancing
Zerg onslaught, but in the end their
efforts were in vain. Wave after wave of Zerg
swarms hammered the reinforced hulls of the
Xel’Naga’s ships with no signs of abatement.
Within only a few hours the Zerg overran the
defenses of their creators and laid waste to the
Xel’Naga fleet.
As the greater whole of the Xel’Naga race was
consumed by the raging, genetic whirlwind of
the Zerg, the Overmind gained the knowledge
and insights of its masters. The Overmind
processed thousands of sentient beings into
itself, causing it to grow far more powerful than
it had ever imagined. It learned the secrets of
the sacred Khaydarin Crystals, and began to
incorporate the energies of these Crystals into
its own. Through the intimate knowledge
of evolution and proto-genetic physiology
gained from the Xel’Naga, the Overmind
was able to increase the level of sentience
in many of the higher Zerg strains, while
still keeping them fully under its control.
Through dissecting the memories of the
Xel’Naga, the Overmind was made aware
of the myriad races that had at one time
or another been influenced by the ancient
race. The Xel’Naga had kept a detailed
genetic history of each race, giving the
Overmind a clear understanding of their
respective strengths and weaknesses.
Most importantly, the Overmind learned
of an exceedingly powerful race that lived
near the galaxy’s fringe known only as
the Protoss. The Overmind knew then that
the Protoss and the Zerg would eventually
be caught in an inevitable, apocalyptic
conflict. (we don't know who Duran works for) and it seems to me like the Overmind's goal is driven more by evolution than any evil will. This is false. It seems to me like a lot of this discussion is coming about completely ignorant of all cannon outside of SC, BW, and WOL. The dark voice was brought up multiple times in the dark templar trilogy, and the most recent comic series that I can't remember the name of right now was based entirely around explaining and setting up the Voice as an existing character in the world pre-WOL. I don't feel like it's a retcon at all, as that term implies going into past lore and removing/changing existing events. Really all Blizzard did was add in the Voice to the Overmind's development, but it doesn't by any means invalidate any previous cannon. It's not a retcon, it's just poor development of the Overmind as a character.
It's okay for the UED to control the overmind (with medicine... what?), but when it turns out that the old overmind was been controlled (or at least guided) all along, by some creepy dude in a dark corner then it's poor development, Why?
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It's okay for the UED to control the overmind (with medicine... what?), but when it turns out that the old overmind was been controlled (or at least guided) all along, by some creepy dude in a dark corner then it's poor development, Why?
Might have something to do with the fact that we got the same exact story for the Orcs in WC3. Or the fact that Blizzard is trying to turn everyone in the Starcraft universe into some kind of non-evil guy and replacing them with a generic, piece of shit villain.
Oh, and the UED controlling the Overmind is hardly comparable. That was something that was set out as a clear objective with a much more realistic, longer-enacting and much more believable process that shows realistic consequences (including the difficulty that the UED had in actually controlling it). Turning the Zerg into Neo-Orcs with no explanation or development is pretty bad writing for obvious reasons. At least there was room in the Orc's backstory for it back then, it just didn't work at all here.
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Maybe one day I'll play Warcraft and see the difference.
Please don't make shit up. The villain is generic because it is new, but we've known of it through has interesting subordinates like Duran and more recently The Tal'darim
Main article: Tal'darim
The Aiur branch of the Tal'darim, also known as "the Forged", are a group of protoss survivors on Aiur secretly created and manipulated by Ulrezaj.[7]
Check the wiki.
And I think that the years that Duran has worked at creating Hybrids which can control the Zerg counts as a struggle. But hey, you know everything so go and teach me.
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On October 19 2010 12:23 Billy_ wrote:Maybe one day I'll play Warcraft and see the difference. Please don't make shit up. The villain is generic because it is new, but we've known of it through has interesting subordinates like Duran and more recently The Tal'darim Show nested quote + Main article: Tal'darim
The Aiur branch of the Tal'darim, also known as "the Forged", are a group of protoss survivors on Aiur secretly created and manipulated by Ulrezaj.[7] Check the wiki. And I think that the years that Duran has worked at creating Hybrids which can control the Zerg counts as a struggle. But hey, you know everything so go and teach me.
Being new isn't an excuse for being a terrible character.
And where the hell did I make stuff up? What do the Tal'darim have to do with this conversation at all?
Yes, because we've actually played and/or gone through the story with Duran, seeing his process/the development of this story arc. You just made a completely random assumption when we haven't even seen the Hybrids control any Zerg in the first place.
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AFAIK, the Tal'darim are implied to be accidentally working for the dark voice in that they are working for Ulrezaj and Ulrezaj may well be working for the dark voice. However that assumption is pretty tenuous, considering the Tal'darim from the campaign are quite different to the ones presented in the novels. Additionally, we can;t be sure that ulrezaj is even working for the dark voice, although he IS trying to make hybrids, it may well be for his own purposes.
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On October 19 2010 23:31 Stratos_speAr wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2010 12:23 Billy_ wrote:Maybe one day I'll play Warcraft and see the difference. Please don't make shit up. The villain is generic because it is new, but we've known of it through has interesting subordinates like Duran and more recently The Tal'darim Main article: Tal'darim
The Aiur branch of the Tal'darim, also known as "the Forged", are a group of protoss survivors on Aiur secretly created and manipulated by Ulrezaj.[7] Check the wiki. And I think that the years that Duran has worked at creating Hybrids which can control the Zerg counts as a struggle. But hey, you know everything so go and teach me. Being new isn't an excuse for being a terrible character. And where the hell did I make stuff up? What do the Tal'darim have to do with this conversation at all? Yes, because we've actually played and/or gone through the story with Duran, seeing his process/the development of this story arc. You just made a completely random assumption when we haven't even seen the Hybrids control any Zerg in the first place.
Yeah, okay. When we know what the new big bad wants and who/what it is I may consider your subjective opinion based on whatever expectations that you have at the time. In the meantime, there is a much more interesting character to pay attention to by the name of Duran which is good enough as a place holder while we learn of the new guy. You may want to turn your attention elsewhere to the more established parts of the SC series. Such as
Maar controlling the protoss.
The experimental dominion weaponry which was way too ahead of their time to have invented on their own?
Hybrids of BW were still a work in progress.
So, yeah, that's about three missions which relate directly to the plans of Duran and this new guy. Tal'Darim and Mengsk have both been implicated to be on the enemies side.
Satisfied?
What do you even see in the UED controlling the Zerg anyway? Just got to the end of the campaign, and "oh, hey guys, just slip this drug in to the overminds drink and it's all yours". I think that plans for the overmind were mentioned exactly once, and I don't recall anything about giving it some pills. "destroy the disruptor", is about all I can remember hearing from them which may have suggested what the end goal was.
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Obviously we have a retcon in the linking part.
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EPT
