Starcraft Lore Timeline and Mysteries

Before the article, I am rather announcing that today marks my 2001st post, as well as my 2nd anniversary on the armory! Roland turns two years old as well as achieving his 2k posts. I've come of age.

Firstly, I want to apologize for the enormous delay in the arrival a new Starcraft lore article, I think I promised you one in a few weeks about a year ago. To make up for the delay I attempted to answer all the most significant questions I could, as well as provide a timeline covering everything known in this Cycle. The Timeline goes back to the creation of the Protoss, obviously I could not do it all on a single scale, or it would be much too big, so I have divided it into five segments, each with it's own scale for measuring time.

It begins with Ancient History, the dates in this are purely relative as there is no record of the exact dates, even the relations are purely guesswork, this is more of a list of events than an accurate timeline.

Next comes Pre Great War, these are all the recorded events leading up to the Great War. The scale is about one pixel (the easiest way to measure in photostudio) to a year, over a period of 1,406 years.

The Great War begins in December, 2499, and ends in November 2500, given the amount of activity during this time, I had to measure it in months, with about a hundred pixels to each one.

The Brood Wars are just a continuation of The Great War, the measurement system is exactly the same.

The final segment is Post Brood Wars, it covers the four years after the Brood Wars leading up to Starcraft 2. The measurement system changes midway here, given the massive tilt in activity in the last year. Initially, in 2501-2504 there are about two-hundred pixels per year, with 16 to a month. At 2505 though, the activity picks up significantly, but because of a lack of data no exact date could be given, only relative measures. The total year takes almost 800 pixels, although all the events recorded could have taken place in only a couple months, they are spread throughout the year for the sake of space restraints.

You'll also notice there are various colored fonts, each color correlates to a race, or type of event. Red represents Zerg, Gold for Protoss and Blue for Terran. The black is for neutrality (all colors are black in Ancient History, it was too early for them to be anything but neutral. Green represents my own speculation, the timeline gives mostly the Who and What, I used the green to try and anticipate the Why. All the Green is on the left side of the line, to avoid confusion.

Please excuse the image quality; it's functional, but a little rough, I will fix it if possible



First the green parts require some explanation, beginning with the first one in The Great War I will explain them chronologically. The Overmind mind was born into a physical body on the ruins of the Protoss temple, which marked the spot where they first landed. Xel'naga energies have a tendency to support and create life wherever they go, the animal life on Bhekor Ro, for instance, jumped from amphibians and small reptiles to rodents overnight when the temple was unearthed. The land site was probably a nexus of Xel'naga energies of some sort, and thus only here could a living hivemind be made manifested.
The next green mark is where the I guess Duran left Kerrigan, he was last seen with her just before the Second Overmind was killed, he must have left directly afterwards as he was already very well established on the Dark Moon where Zeratul found him in the next green mark, it is possible that he could have been working on it under Kerrigan's nose, but the Terran forces couldn't have known how to work the Protoss technologies there, he must have done that personally.
Zeratul found Duran on the Dark Moon. He supposedly did it in June, directly after he killed Razagal, as there was no other opportunity to do so, and before the next battle with all the factions, because he was looking for Artanis, and news certainly would have reached him that Artanis was attacking Kerrigan if it was afterwards.
Now we skip to the last segment, in the year 2505. Starcraft 2 actually begins in the midst of events I describe. The whole chain reaction is set off when Arcturas forbids Valerion to personally study Xel'naga artifacts and temples, for fear he one be killed, and there would be no heir to the throne if one of them activated while he was studying it, desperate, Valerion hires Jake Ramsey to study the temple on Nemaka for him. When the temple is opened Zamara embeds herself in Ramsey's mind so as to impart her knowledge of the Cycle, realizing how important this is, Ramsey flees from Valerion for fear of what he might do with such knowledge. Ramsey was a last resort for Valerion, he has no other archeologists to turn to, and concludes he must do the work himself, but his father will not allow it, and will certainly find out if he does it using Dominion resources. Although it is important to note that his Arcturas does want the artifacts as he is afraid of what the Protoss or Zerg could do with them, he subsequently launches a search for all available within Dominion space, and forbids their transport except by his command, no doubt afraid that rouge organizations will sell them if possible. Valerion is frustrated by his inability to learn anything of them, and his father's dismissal of them except as military objectives. He turns to illegal methods so as to avoid his father's attention. He gains control of the Mobius Foundation, or makes a deal with it's leader, in order that he may use them as a front for acquiring artifacts, to do the dirty work though he uses his influence to free Tychus Findlay, and old friend of Raynor. When Tychus finds Raynor on Mar Sara he claims he broke out during a transfer. This simply isn't true, the evidence is in the original cinematic trailer he is taken directly from a life sentence in prison being rearmed as a marine. Albeit marines are often taken from prisons, but he wasn't just put in the army, he was freed, if he had escaped there's no way the Mobius Foundation (Valerion) could have found him, he would be entirely off the charts. With Raynor's Raiders they go searching around the sector for artifacts, to sell to the Mobius Foundation, and subsequently Valerion. It's possible Tychus himself doesn't know the emperor's son it there employer, but if he did he certainly wouldn't tell Raynor. I also believe Valerion specifically chose Tychus because of his relationship with Raynor, the Raider's are the only organization available who could do this entirely under the nose of Arcturas, and Valerion has stated his respect for Raynor in the past.

Meanwhile, Kerrigan has infested a crime lord, Ethan Stewart, this is significant because he kept all his intelligence and capacities, and can command his own brood, but is still totally under Kerrigan's command, he is killed soon afterwards, but his creation shows a turning point in Kerrigan's ability to evolve the Swarm, previously she had not been able to reproduce what the Overmind had done to her, but now she can do it while still maintaining absolute control, Ethan Stewart was zealous in his devotion to The Queen of Blades. While he was alive Kerrigan had ordered Stewart to try to capture Ramsey, so she could acquire his knowledge, which she deemed invaluable. This is telling, as she must have had some knowledge of the Cycle, and the Xel'naga (possibly passed down from the Overmind) for her to realize the significance. I think she may have intercepted some knowledge, psionically during the transfer of Zamara out of Ramsey's body, it may have helped her find the cavern where she met Zeratul. At the end of Brood Wars she stated a precognition that a greater threat was looming on the horizon, in the four years she could easily have been investigating, in order to be able to assure her dominance when it comes. This theory is further backed up in that she was in the Xel'naga cavern Zeratul discovered, probably after following the Energy Creatures. They fought, and both survived, although Zeratul was injured, as evidenced by his wound when he found Raynor. Once separated Kerrigan immediately made for Mar Sara, where Raynor was recovering an artifact, Zeratul didn't reach Raynor until after he had recovered the second artifact from Protoss fanatics in t he original Campaign demonstration.


Next are the questions, some of them have already been answered, but will be included for the sake of clarity. I will attempt to answer all in the following list as well as I can using a Holmesian method whenever it is possible: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Prequel: There have been several Protoss prophecies being fulfilled, before the questions I will attempt to interpret them all, and distinguish between the ones which have already occurred, and those which are yet to be fulfilled.

1) What is the nature of the "Cycle?"
2) Can the Cycle be stopped?
3) What would happen if the Cycle was stopped, and what would happen if it was completed?
4) Are all the events relating to Starcraft part of the Cycle, or does it only refer to the end result?
5) Who is Duran in reality, and what is his affiliation with the Xel'naga?
6) What variation could there be between Hybrids and the Xel'naga?
7) What is the nature of the Energy Creatures (phoenix) which have been hatching out of Xel'naga temples?
8) What exactly are Purity of Essence and Form?
9) How do the artifacts fit into it all?
10) What is the state of the Protoss empire presently?
11) Could Adun or Khas be reincarnated?
12) Why did the Overmind have to be manifested where the Xel'naga first landed on Aiur?
13) How could the new Overmind be manifested on Char?
14) Why is Kerrigan so important to the completion of the Cycle?
15) Why has Kerrigan delayed so long before launching her attack?
16) What are Kerrigan's intentions now that she's active?
17) How are the Zerg not already perfect if both Razagal and the Xel'naga were seemingly infested?
18) What is the relation between Valerion, and his father, Mengsk?
19) What is the nature of the cavern in which Zeratul fought Kerrigan?
20) How will the Terran affect the Cycle?
21) What is the status of anti-Dominion forces in the sector?

Prequel: I've gathered three significant prophecies, they are designed not to give away the whole story, but they will help set the stage for the following questions.

Kerrigan:

"Your coming has been foretold... You are part of the culmination. But not the end of it. You shall show the way, the path that must be taken, the realigning of old truths no longer valid. Yours is not the hand, but your very existence provides necessary instruction."

Zeratul said this to Kerrigan when they fought on Char for the first time. I believe that the culmination he refers to is that of the Cycle, and the point is she is not the new Xel'naga, she is simply a revolution in terms of hybridization between Zerg and Protoss. Later, on the Dark Moon, Duran said this to Zeratul:

"her rebirth into the Zerg Swarm has sped up my progress."

Obviously, he is referring to the "necessary instruction" Zeratul referred to in the prophecy. So, Duran apparently lacked the capacity to create the Hybrids until Kerrigan was infested, his time in the Swarm may simply have been an attempt to study her more closely.

Shakuras:

" A dark land of ancient plateaus and oceans of night... Night becomes day, and our ancient fathers aid us... We erase that which blights our face, but not that which lies within... The land that rests in twilight will be the place of our greatest triumph and also our greatest shame."

The "dark land" is probably Shakuras, which was bathed in perpetual night for thousands of years. I believe this refers to the activation of the Xel'naga temple on Shakuras, it wiped out all the Zerg on Shakuras, and caused a sunrise (can be seen in the "Fury of the Xel'naga" cutscene) on the otherwise twilight planet. That explains the Night becoming Day and thw Blight on the face, as well as the ancient fathers (Xel'naga). The blight within and the greatest shame probably refers to the corruption and death of Razagal, she was a revered Dark Templar, and was corrupted from within by her "ally" Kerrigan. Shame is appropriate because Zeratul was forced to kill Razagal himself, it is indeed a shameful tragedy to have to kill your own leader.

Braken: This is a very interesting prophecy, although it is contestable whether or not is canon as the prophecy appears in the map description of a melee scenario set on it. It could certainly be valid though, as it fits in with the rest of the lore quite well.

"He who harnesses this world will someday wield great a power, sanctified by the ancient ones."

It is obvious that the "Ancient Ones" are the Xel'naga. This planet may appear in Starcraft 2 as a planet on which a significant artifact or temple remains.


1) What is the nature of the "Cycle?"

The Cycle is actually the lifecycle of the Xel'naga. It has been repeated innumerable times throughout history. The Xel'naga, as it turns out, are actually the result of the hybridization of two ancient species, one of which had Purity of Essence (just like the Zerg) and the other had Purity of Form (like the Protoss). They are as such virtually perfect, except they cannot reproduce, despite being unbelievably long lived, even by Protoss standards. Out of necessity the Xel'naga have taken to changing the evolution of various species throughout the galaxy in order to create two races, one of which has Purity of From, and the other Essence. The Xel'naga then somehow hybridize the two species, and thus create the next generation of Xel'naga in order to continue the Cycle. It is implied that both the original species are destroyed in the process.


2) Can the Cycle be stopped?

Only in theory, obviously it has not to date or the Xel'naga would not exist. It would appear though that Time itself bends around the Cycle to a certain extent. Despite being considered inevitable by Zamara it may be possible to prevent it, determining this is virtually impossible though as we only know the end result of the Cycle, and none of the details. Several events such as the overwhelming of the Xel'naga by the Zerg, and strangely enough, the creation of the hybrids, seem to be in contest with the ultimate culmination of the Cycle.

3) What would happen if the Cycle was stopped, and what would happen if it was completed?

The prevention of the Cycle would probably just result in a natural continuation of each race respectively. The Cycle would simply end, most Protoss would probably not even be aware it existed, and each race would continue to progress with no outside interference. Eventually one would probably consume the other when they both got so powerful that they cannot stand rivalry within such close quarters. The very nature of time would be changed if it were not completed though, Time bends itself around several "inevitable" Cycles throughout the Universe, this being one of them, if it changes the results are totally unpredictable, it could be catastrophic or unnoticeable. he other alternative is that the Cycle would be completed, and the Hybrids would overwhelm everything before moving on. Zeratul describes it as "The end of all things." There is a certain mystery though, the Protoss and Zerg must obviously be destroyed by the creation of the Hybrids, or they would simply collect a population from each species in order to breed them and hybridize individuals indefinitely, in which case the Cycle would be unnecessary, they could simply splice more and more Hybrids when the originals die.

4) Are all the events relating to Starcraft part of the Cycle, or does it only refer to the end result?

There are only two known constants in the Cycle, those being the end result: the creation of a new generation of Xel'naga, and the time it takes. The length of each Cycle must be the same because every generation of Xel'naga must have roughly the same life-span, and given the nature of the Cycle, they certainly don't finish early and live amongst their replacements for a few thousand more years, I'd assume the previous generation is wiped out by the new one along with all the other species in conflict with the hybrids. All other variables are impossible to predict, it seems unlikely that the Xel'naga are nearly wiped out by the equivalent of the Zerg each Cycle though. The Overmind was exclusively responsible for that, and the only requirement of the previous Zerg is Purity of Essence, which has nothing to do with the Overmind (see question #7). If there had been no Zerg group collective then there's no telling how they would have reacted to the Xel'naga, although it is likely that they would have wanted to assimilate them for the sake of the superior DNA, but as individuals they may have done what the Protoss did and worship them like gods. One more mystery though is that the Xel'naga have been "sleeping" probably since the Zerg overwhelmed them in order to prolong their life spans until the Zerg and Protoss met naturally, at which point they could finish the job, having prolonged their life span, unless this occurs each Cycle then the Time has already been thrown off, and the best that can be done is to eventually create the new generation of Xel'naga and hope Father Time can sort out the metaphorical, tangled web.

Point being that unless every little detail is precisely the same, which is unlikely given the random condition of planets and the life on them, then none of the details are the same.

5) Who is Duran in reality, and what agenda, and affiliation with the Xel'naga?

Duran is an enigma, he is creating the hybrids to fulfill the Cycle, but is not a Xel'naga, despite being very ancient and is attempting to serve them by continuing the Cycle.

Duran describes himself, as "A servant of a far greater power A power that has slept for countless ages. And is reflected in the creature within that cell." When Zeratul questions him about the hybrid he responds: "This creature is the completion of a cycle. Its role in the cosmic order was preordained when the stars were young. Behold the culmination of your history."

Clearly, the Far Greater Power is the Xel'naga, which have probably been dormant in some sort of stasis since the Zerg overwhelmed them. Duran obviously believes that his hybrids will now complete the Cycle. Duran's hybrids are, however, abominable perversions, details on question #6. Anyway, the point is Duran doesn't realize the monsters he's creating, he also apparently lacked the knowledge to create them until he could study Infested Kerrigan. Not to mention his techniques used relatively common Protoss technologies, and his workforce was made up of Terran mercenaries. He is far less sophisticated, and working on fewer resources than any Xel'naga should.

Now, we know what he'd doing, but we don't know who he is. He is not a Xel'naga, or he would not be referring to his master being reflected in the Hybrid, as it would be him, nor would he refer to them having slept, as he would also be asleep, or too old to survive any longer.

There are only three remaining options. He is obviously not Zerg, as he says Kerrigan sped up his progress, as Kerrigan was the first effective Zerg-(blank) hybrid, to maintain original intellect and not simply become another breed, if her were a Zerg hybrid of some sort then Kerrigan would be unnecessary, he could just study himself. His age would also be inexplicable. He is also not Terran, as he is far too old to be such.

That leaves two options, he is either Protoss of some sort, or an entirely separate race, which may have served the Xel'naga, regardless he inhabits a Terran body. The Protoss is more plausible than you may initially think, remember Zamara? She inhabited a Terran body (it was a joint ownership in that case, but she quite possibly could have taken total control given her massive mental superiority). It could explain his failure to properly create the hybrids as well, given his lack of knowledge of the correct method. His acquisition of the information could have been much like Zamara's in that he entered a Xel'naga temple and learned from it somehow, the age also would be explained, despite thousands of years being beyond the average life span of a Protoss, he may have simply changed bodies whenever his old one began to break down, until he eventually came to Duran's body. I would like that to be true, but I don't believe it is. It would leave another, mystery, that of the unknown technologies (neither Protoss nor Xel'naga) which supported the Vat Creatures . This brings me to the next point, Ulrezaj We know he created the Vat Creatures, the interesting thing though is that he is serving an even greater being than himself , according to the word of Felanis . When Ulrezaj was on Aiur he ordered his followers to capture Zerg, he also brought down several of his own Protoss, which were formerly high templar, but he had been slowly manipulating to be closer to Dark. So, Ulrezaj, who has been utterly devoted to elevating the Dark Templar throughout his life is working for a extremely powerful being, who may have supplied him with technologies of a totally alien nature, in order that he could use the Giant Khaydarin Crystals beneath Aiur to absorb both Protoss and Zerg, and incubate six mysterious monstrosities beneath Aiur. The Khaydarin crystals are certainly capable of doing so, they have a tendency to change according to their owners, and they were the basis for all Xel'naga technology. His master can only be one of two things, either the Xel'naga, or Duran. I do not believe it is the Xel'naga as he is intentionally changing the crystals to certain more to Dark energies of he Void, which the Xel'naga would not allow as it would make some sort of Dark Hybrid. His method's are also closer to Duran's than the Xel'naga's. Details in question #6. Therefore, his master must be Duran. Unfortunately, now we just know how much more Duran has done, but nothing about his origin. Quite frankly, beyond his being a servant of the Xel'naga in a Terran body, who is incorrectly trying to further the Cycle, I don't know.

I have one purely speculative theory, which I care to present, although it is based on guesswork purely, but it has some amount of merit, despite several holes. I want your opinion on it though. Duran is…
a) The Terran of the previous Cycle, which the Xel'naga adopted as servants
b) A race the Xel'naga made as a failsafe to continue their work in case of death
c) A Giant Crystal

The answer is C! Duran is A Giant Crystal the Xel'naga place on Aiur before they left, for ages it has absorbed any life nearby, grown in intelligence, and eventually adopted the body of a Terran who was brought to him by some sort of reverse body draining. The obvious problems with this are that an AI with all the Xel'naga information would probably be better at continuing the Cycle, Duran claims to having had many names throughout the Millennium, and the Crystal probably would have ceased down once he transferred himself, it did not. It would probably also use only Xel'naga technology instead of making it's own.

6) What variation could there be between Hybrids and the Xel'naga?

According to Zamara. The Xel'naga had intended to gradually and peacefully merge the both the Protoss and Zerg to eventually create the next generation of Xel'naga. It's a rather benevolent method of wiping out several sentient species. There is apparently good reason for doing so also, as Duran's method of gene-splicing Protoss and Zerg will probably get the same result of a race with Purity of Form and Essence, it will be a far different manifestation of it. There's no telling what such a perversion of the natural Cycle is capable of. Whatever it is the power involved would be almost irresistible, they would almost inevitably destroy all three races unless something turns the tides. Duran's method is like genetically splitting a Zerg and Protoss down the middle and sewing half of one to half of the other. The Xel'naga on the other hand are closer to their original method of evolving the races by slowly guiding their evolution until they achieve a goal. In this case they would be moving the two races to a convergent point , until they could be more easily crossed.

7) What is the nature of the Energy Creatures (phoenix) which have been hatching out of Xel'naga temples?

First, I would like to say that my theories for this question are directly based on the above fact that the Xel'naga have been slowly merging the two races.

The Energy Creatures have been hatching out of Xel'naga temples all over the sector for some time, mostly one that have just risen out of the ground and been unearthed by a storm or something. Whenever they hatch out the life and fertility in the area surrounding the temple suddenly skyrockets, fertility and planet growth jumps, many more species than were previously "native" appear, there is some indication that they are more highly evolved than the natives, for instance, Bhekor Ro had mostly lizards and other reptiles, until the Energy Creature hatched, and rodents appeared.

They seem to thrive on any sort of energy, for instance, The Terran nuked the temple on Bhekor Ro , and directly afterwards an Energy Creature emerged, the energy created by a nuke was enough to speed up it's development progress, a fleet of battle cruisers immediately shot it with all their Yamamoto Guns. It simply absorbed the energy from the guns, and then absorbed the battlecruisers themselves. This was enough energy for it to leap from hatching to maturation very quickly. I would theorize that though that they natural atmosphere and events on a planet would eventually provide enough energy for the Creatures to hatch, without nukes and battlecruisers. The Energy Creature proceeded to absorb all the Protoss and Zerg in the area, as well as some Terran, the Terran were "deposited" back at the Temple, but the Creature itself flew away elsewhere.

There are two other known temples which have hatched Energy Creatures, the first was on Nemaka, where Ramsey later found Zamara. He top of the temple appeared blown open, Ramsey estimated it happened within 15 years. Considering the timing of it is clear that these creatures were hatching out before the Zerg ever reached the Koprula Sector. It's possible there are innumerable temples throughout the galaxy, which have been hatching out Energy creatures since the Xel'naga went into stasis.

The third account of an Energy Creature was in 2505 and occurred on the planet of Pegasus where Ramsey had studied a Xel'naga temple some years before. Zeratul arrived in time to follow it to a gathering of other energy Creatures, all of which proceeded through a wormhole. He followed only to discover a mysterious planet. I would guess that this planet is some sort of hub for the real Xel'naga. All the Phoenix gather some Zerg and Protoss then proceed to this planet to deposit them for the future development of the real next generation of Xel'naga.

8) What exactly are Purity of Essence and Form?

Purity of Essence is hard to define, to understand it you have to look at the Zerg's key traits (massive adaptability via rapid evolution, ability to control creatures and add to gene pool via infestation, and the unified consciousness embodied in the Overmind) and the order in which they appeared. The order is important because it shows what the Xel'naga wanted to be a trait more than anything, and subsequently which is Purity of Essence. The Overmind was added in near the end of development to maintain unity and prevent the hatred, which created the Aeon of Strife among Protoss, the massive adaptability via evolution cannot be it because while it is a trait, it is a result of the final trait, the ability to infest creatures and add them to the gene pool. As it turns out this is the only trait, which the original Zerg parasite had which drew the Xel'naga to it, and which they focused on initially.

Purity of Form is simpler. It is the physical prowess, endurance, and adaptability inherent to all Protoss. Their life expectancy is several times more than any humans, they don't have to stop to eat or drink as they are so hyper-photosynthetic that they can easily survive off even moonlight. They can communicate totally mentally, are far stronger and more intelligent than humans (not to mention far more psychic potential).


9) How do the artifacts fit into it all?

I'm only addressing this because it's been asked so much. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but no one knows how. It is noteworthy though that Kerrigan and Zeratul both apparently made a dash for them after they're conflict in the cavern. Whatever transpired there it is made it clear just how important these are.

10) What is the state of the Protoss empire presently?

The whole thing has been relocated to Shakuras, where they are attempting to rebuild, but they are presently very week as many facilities were lost on Aiur and 70% of the Protoss on Aiur were killed when the Zerg invaded. Artanis has become the Hierarch, a new rank which leads both high and dark Templar. His duties consist mostly of preventing Civil War or a slide in tribal fanaticism, similar to the one in The Aeon of Strife. Most Protoss forces, which remained on colonies, have done just that and slid in tribal warfare and universal animosity.

11) Could Adun or Khas be reincarnated?

Given the nature of the Khala his spirit is out there somewhere, he could be reincarnated in a new body, although he probably wouldn't even know he was Adun. The Dark Templar believe he would return to save the Protoss someday. It is entirely possible though that Tassadar was Adun reincarnate. He did almost the same thing by accepting the Dark Templar and becoming a Twilight Templar before sacrificing himself for the sake of the Protoss. What is more likely given the present state of affairs in the Protoss empire is that Khas would be reincarnated to unite them, perhaps he has already, Artanis is trying to reunite his people just like Khas did. Certainly he is already back in body if he is ever going to be, it would take at least 200-300 years for him to come of age and begin reuniting the Protoss, and by that time things would have changed so much it wouldn't matter.

12) Why did the Overmind have to be manifested where the Xel'naga first landed on Aiur?

It wasn't for dramatic effect, I would guess that the Xel'naga either intentionally landed on, or built underneath it, a nexus of energy. The Dark Archon Ulrezaj had to continually return to another nexus in the caverns beneath Aiur to restore his energy and prevent him from burning out. Ulrezaj used the same type of Void energies as the Overmind, and so it is reasonable to assume that they had to be maintained by the same energy. No doubt being the mind of millions of monstrosities while managing your manifestation takes massive energy.

13) How could the new Overmind be manifested on Char?

It was a composite of several of the preexisting bodies of Cerebrates, to morph together takes less energy than to appear from scratch. At the time of formation it was also very near the Uraj crystal though, which is a hub of Dark Templar energy, and subsequently must have helped the process. By the time it was taken away from Char the new Overmind was already under the influence of UED drugs, psychics and stimulates. They could apparently maintain it despite the lack of Void energies.

14) Why is Kerrigan so important to the completion of the Cycle?

I've discussed them in previous questions; she was the first successful hybrid between the Zerg and another species. All other infested creatures are don't count as hybrids they are just a new variation of Zerg. Her very existence provided Duran with the knowledge necessary to create the Hybrids, as he could not have had the same expertise as the Overmind in hybridization.

15) Why has Kerrigan delayed so long before launching her attack?

At the end of Brood Wars she stated her precognition of a looming threat to come. Obviously, the events unfolding are what she felt. She was almost certainly preparing for it; she also has been working on a project to recreate the Overmind's success in creating an infested Terran to which will retain it's intellect, and can serve her in the same way the Cerebrates did to the Overmind, by commanding their own Brood. Her first success came with the infestation of Ethan Stewart. Although he was not a psychic he could command a small number of his own Zerg. It was discovered that it is necessary to possess a certain gene to be properly infested, without it, no matter what process the subject is put through they will not retain their intelligence.

16) What are Kerrigan's intentions now that she's active?

She is clearly targeting the Dominion, and is focusing on the acquisition of Xel'naga artifacts. She personally landed on Mar Sara, at the exact location where Raynor had just stolen an artifact from the Dominion just hours before. A large Zerg force attacked Raynor's ground force directly after landing.

17) How are the Zerg not already perfect if both Razagal and the Xel'naga were seemingly infested?

Razagal was not actually infested. Metzen has stated that the Zerg have discovered that the Protoss cannot be infested, something about the nature of the Khala prevents it. It would seem that Dark Templar could be infested, as the are not connected to the Khala, but Metzen clearly mean no Protoss can be infested. I would assume this is because they use the same Void energies as the Zerg, and thus the powers negate themselves. The Protoss Void counteracts the Zerg, whatever the reason no Protoss can be infested. Razagal was simply mind controlled by Kerrigan. This would usually not be possible, but Razagal was a very old Protoss, and her powers had begun to degrade. Taken off guard and underestimating Kerrigan, she could be controlled without infestation.

The Xel'naga may share something like the Khala with the Protoss, this point is very unclear, though it is implied that the Xel'naga were simply killed and not infested.

18) What is the relation between Valerion, and his father, Arcturas Mengsk?

They are not on the best terms, Arcturas does not believe his son is strong enough to run the empire, but keeps pushing him to make his own path, separate from his father's. Valerion is also frustrated by his father's apparent dismissal of Xel'naga artifacts and temple, and his decree that he is not to be near them personally. Valerion is also extremely wary of his father as his mother several times warned him not to allow himself to be controlled. Valerion shows no signs of being nearly as power hungry as his father though, but he may be just as ruthless in pursuing his own goals though, he may already have gone so far as to hire the most wanted criminals in the sector (Raynor's Raiders) to help him accomplish them. His mother often mistook Valerion for Arcturus on her deathbed, this may be foreshadowing that he is just like his father when Arcturas was his age, implying a similar future.

19) What is the nature of the cavern in which Zeratul fought Kerrigan?

It is generally accepted that it is beneath the very planet Zeratul follow the Energy Creature's too. Kerrigan's presence there may mean she knows of the Xel'naga and the Cycle, and is doing everything possible to work it in her favor, perhaps even putting her own twist on the New Generation so as to make them more susceptible to her control.

20) How will the Terran affect the Cycle?

There are three possibilities:

1) They may have virtually no effect beyond just being a thorn in the side of the development. This would be bad storytelling though, you don't leave a third of the population of a calculation.

2) They are actually part of the Cycle, and will factor into it somehow, perhaps there role is already done, in that they provided Kerrigan to the Swarm, in order to further the development of Hybrids. It is hard to believe they wouldn't effect it somehow though, even Raynor's possession of two artifacts affects it. They also might be Duran's race this time around, and be adopted by the new Xel'naga as a servant race though, I think if Duran went all the way back to the previous Cycle though he would know how to cook up a better batch of Xel'naga.

3) They will play much the same part as Neo did in the matrix in that they will make a choice, which affects the outcome of the events of Starcraft 2. This is probably the most likely.

21) What is the status of anti-dominion forces in the sector?

The UED will not return in force, but there are still some remnants of their forces in the area. There are four Terran factions outside of the Dominion which could pose a threat to it. The Kel-Morian Combine, the The Umojan Protectorate, Raynor's Raiders, and finally, Abaddon. Raynor's Raiders and Abaddon are the only forces presently in direct conflict with the Dominion. Unfortunately, they're also the weakest The Kel-Morian are the strongest with a total possession of about six planets in opposition to the Dominion's fourteen. They share an interesting dynamic in that they are vying for influence against the Dominion, while still remaining allies with them, they also have a good relationship with Jim Raynor who worked with the for some time. Finally, the Umojan Protectorate consisting of only two planets, and technically under Dominion control. It should be noted though that they are far from considering themselves Dominion and are not at all very pleased with the status quo.

There are a total of 9 Terran planets which could potentially unify to revolt against the Dominion, certainly if either the Umojan or the Kel-morian revolted, then the others would follow. This is more than enough to overthrow it, as the Son's of Korhal overthrew the Confederacy operating out of nothing but a couple battlecruisers. What's more is that the Dominion is not well loved on any planet, and they would certainly gain momentum if they ever began. What will happen though depends more than anything else on what the Zerg do, so far the Zerg directly attacked the Dominion core worlds, and the Fringe planets were given up for lost. Obviously, this is a significant blow to the Dominion and Mengsk seems to believe that the Swarm is far more powerful than his forces at present, or he would have tried to save the Fringe. After they've been roughed up a bit by the Zerg, the opposing factions may easily make a lunge for the throat and overthrow the Dominion when it's hurting. That being said Raynor may have a conflict in that Zeratul will be urging him to find the artifacts when he can, but it may make him miss out on finally taking out Mengsk. It is possible though the Arcturas already has a store of artifacts he's hoarding, in which case Raynor would have to race Kerrigan in destroying the Dominion in order to reach them first.



I will add more in the future, but I designed this article to be a format for the future, I can now add more questions or expand on the Timeline at my leisure. I will almost certainly do so after Blizzcon 09.