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I don't know what the manual says so I'm only commenting based on the game.
I actually thought it was a retcon until recently, but now that I've gone back through the campaign, the WoL information from Tassadar actually seems like it might fit in with a lot of the SC and Broodwar happenings. It's easy to see how it could be considered a retcon, hence why I'm wondering if maybe SC just didn't do a good enough job at preparing us for what we learn in WoL. I know that the overmind said a lot of stuff which is now false since WoL, but if we just ignore what was said for a minute, and focus on what Kerrigan, the overmind and the cerebrates did to try and become "perfect"... then I'm not sure if it adds up.
Well, when we meet the overmind he talks a lot about how she will be the greatest weapon against her enemies, and sure enough she is quite effective at killing the Protoss. Only she wasn't ATTACKING the protoss, she was just responding to the protoss killing Zazs. If The overmind had intended Kerrigan to attack the protoss enemies, why would he send Kerrigan to Shakuras rather than Auir where she could do the most damage?
And then there is the second overmind... I'm not totally sure, but I never actually saw anything on Char that might be a Xel'Naga temple, or a Khadarin crystal, or holy ground or anything else which may be used as an ingredient in creating the perfect race. And then you have to ask yourself why the second overmind had picked Char as the location to regrow, rather than Auir where they were allegedly trying to become perfect. And if Auir was the final stepping stone to perfection, then how does it make sense for the overmind to leave cerbrates behind? The Zerg were winning quite convincingly at the time, and they apparantly didn't even need their full army to do so, so Auir would have been a much better place to regrow than Char.
And then we find out about Duran who was apparantly Kerrigans enemy the whole time, not on friendly terms with the Protoss and he also happens to be growing an army of hybrid monsters.
So... I don't honestly know what to think of all of this. Does what Tassadar said about the overmind kind of make sense in the context of SC and BW?
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Kerrigan stayed on Char, not Shakuras, to hunt dark templar, I believe.
The Zerg relocated to Char, so that was their "homeworld" during broodwar. Second overmind spawned their, because it was where most of their forces were. A bunch of cerebrates merged to form the new overmind, so no temple required. And there was one of the two protoss crystals nearby.
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On October 16 2010 23:48 igotmyown wrote: Second overmind spawned their, because it was where most of their forces were.
Didn't they get the memo? The protoss were the key to the perfection that the entire Zerg race were working towards. Why not stay with the overmind and ensure victory?
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On October 16 2010 23:54 Billy_ wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2010 23:48 igotmyown wrote: Second overmind spawned their, because it was where most of their forces were. Didn't they get the memo? The protoss were the key to the perfection that the entire Zerg race were working towards. Why not stay with the overmind and ensure victory? From what i gathered the overmind knew it was going to die, and it created kerrigan as the key to stop the hybrids and keep the zerg swarm alive.
Same with tassadar and his "Ive never tasted death, nor will i ever" quote
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United States22883 Posts
I just looked at the SC manual, and it doesn't not make sense .It doesn't have to be retconned when you're working with "prophecy" that may or may not have to come true. It's just non-descript, 2 bit story telling then. The Overmind deals with the Xel'Naga, sets its sights on the Protoss, and then predicts the hybrids will end life (why?) and makes Kerrigan to combat them. There's 0 indication that it could see the future or that the Xel'Naga knew about the hybrids (the Overmind gains their knowledge) but it's not necessarily retconned because everything is within the realm of possibility, it's just extremely cheesy and ends up coming off like the movie 2012.
They'll probably just come out and say there's some other race the Xel'Naga were originally competing with which is why they wanted new controllable minions in the first place, and then reveal that the competing group is behind Duran and the hybrids (if Duran is even in the story anymore.)
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Also the larva world of char is perfect for spawning zerg with all the excess thermal energy, and if all the zerg forces moved to Auir then the protoss might have pulled some stunt and wiped them all out like they did on shakuras.
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On October 17 2010 01:23 Jibba wrote: I just looked at the SC manual, and it doesn't not make sense .It doesn't have to be retconned when you're working with "prophecy" that may or may not have to come true. It's just non-descript, 2 bit story telling then. The Overmind deals with the Xel'Naga, sets its sights on the Protoss, and then predicts the hybrids will end life (why?) and makes Kerrigan to combat them. There's 0 indication that it could see the future or that the Xel'Naga knew about the hybrids (the Overmind gains their knowledge) but it's not necessarily retconned because everything is within the realm of possibility, it's just extremely cheesy and ends up coming off like the movie 2012.
They'll probably just come out and say there's some other race the Xel'Naga were originally competing with which is why they wanted new controllable minions in the first place, and then reveal that the competing group is behind Duran and the hybrids (if Duran is even in the story anymore.)
Okay, thanks Jibba. I don't know if it's bad story telling yet though, that kind of depends on what happens next.
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http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Voice
im guessing the dark voice was added later in the mythos as a character representation of the xelnega that survives to this time, so that blizz didn't have to add a complete race for the xelnega who are supposed to be long destroyed, or as some kind of uber enemy of the xelnega who reappears ("biding their time"), which is just bad story telling.
by having him as a manipulator, you get to keep the sanctity and established history of all the races, while still being able to introduce a new storyline and guide the story to a certain point.
so yes, by all sights I would agree it sounds like retcon, but the way blizz wrote it in doesn't really change the events of the history.
its just a shame that SC2's missions weren't written and produced, or with the same clarity, as the 'ethereal' tone of SCBW. i think many people would have understood it alot better (myself included) if that were the case.
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http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Voice
im guessing the dark voice was added later in the mythos as a character representation of the xelnega that survives to this time, so that blizz didn't have to add a complete race for the xelnega who are supposed to be long destroyed, or as some kind of uber enemy of the xelnega who reappears ("biding their time"), which is just bad story telling.
by having him as a manipulator, you get to keep the sanctity and established history of all the races, while still being able to introduce a new storyline and guide the story to a certain point.
so yes, by all sights I would agree it sounds like retcon, but the way blizz wrote it in doesn't really change the events of the history.
its just a shame that SC2's missions weren't written and produced, or with the same clarity, as the 'ethereal' tone of SCBW. i
To be honest I think that the SC2 story would kind of suffer if Blizzard try to explain in too much detail. The writing Kerrigans Shakuras schemes of BW, and Mengsks manipulation of Tychus were not very coherent at all. If the contrast between SCI to BW and WoL proves anything, it's that Blizzard thrives on simplicity, so I just want them to just keep that up, it's what they do best.
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Valhalla18444 Posts
sheesh Billy_ you really love the storyline eh?
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On October 17 2010 12:32 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote:sheesh Billy_ you really love the storyline eh? 
Sorry. I'm trying to hold back, really.
Original SC was great, but everything after that was slightly disappointing but still good in my opinion.
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On October 17 2010 01:22 arb wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2010 23:54 Billy_ wrote:On October 16 2010 23:48 igotmyown wrote: Second overmind spawned their, because it was where most of their forces were. Didn't they get the memo? The protoss were the key to the perfection that the entire Zerg race were working towards. Why not stay with the overmind and ensure victory? From what i gathered the overmind knew it was going to die, and it created kerrigan as the key to stop the hybrids and keep the zerg swarm alive. Same with tassadar and his "Ive never tasted death, nor will i ever" quote Actually, the zerg were originally intended to be a race like any other by the Xel'Naga so that in time they could naturally merge with the protoss as was intended. They created the Overmind to direct the race in some way but the Dark Voice tampered with the zerg somehow and the zerg (including the Overmind) were given an overwriting directive to kill everything. Especially the protoss. The overmind knew this but had no way of fighting back against it so it created Kerrigan, who it saw as the saviour of the zerg race as a whole because she wouldn't possess the allconsuming need to kill.
Just my two cents, and I might be wrong.
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United States22883 Posts
"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.
The Dark Voice isn't mentioned anywhere until WoL (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.
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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.
They are trying to say it was the Dark Voice who interfered with the Overmind, made it aware of the xel'nega, caused it to attack and kill them. Like I said before, the way blizzard wrote it in, it allows the Dark Voice to exist in the history without actually changing the history. Call it bad writing if you want
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This is perhaps a bit meta-fictional, but if i remember correctly, some of the earlier model files refered to Hybrids as (possible HoS spoilers?) + Show Spoiler +Xel'naga Ravagers/Destroyers this strongly implies that Blizzard were coming up with the plot on the fly, since they changed the name into something arguably very different, as so the whole "overmind was controlled" is a recent decision.
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Personally, I think it was a construct of the new writers for SC2, so yeah, retconned, however I don't think the overmind was ever really supposed to be the big evil bad guy of the Starcraft universe. In that sense his new backstory does make sense. It had to be retconned to make Kerrigan the big hero though, which we all know is retarded.
But yes, the key, as mentioned, is they keep giving him free will and taking it away again. I never got the impression the overmind was just some robot the evil xel naga programmed until they straight out said it.
...I always did kind of get this warm fuzzy fathering feeling when the overmind talked in the SC1 campaign though. Seemed like a nice guy except for all the murder and destruction. Wonder if that was intentional.
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What? Blizzard would -never- retcon something. Don't be absurd. They plan this shit years in advance, just ask WoW players about the Burning Legion, Demons, and the Draenei---- oh, right.
Carry on!
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United States22883 Posts
On October 18 2010 06:22 Vortok wrote:What? Blizzard would -never- retcon something. Don't be absurd. They plan this shit years in advance, just ask WoW players about the Burning Legion, Demons, and the Draenei---- oh, right. Carry on! Yeah, we know Metzen is terrible.
I don't think the all consuming Overmind was "evil" either. It had a singular goal like all other beings at the evolutionary level and although it gained presence of mind, it was still working to secure that goal. It's just like the Borg.
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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. The Dark Voice isn't mentioned anywhere until WoL (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.
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On October 18 2010 06:50 im a roc wrote:Show nested quote +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. The Dark Voice isn't mentioned anywhere until WoL (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.
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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. The Dark Voice isn't mentioned anywhere until WoL (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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