Drake Clawfang
07-12-2015, 12:07 AM
Spoilers for HotS and WoL, obviously.
The big thing with the zerg in HotS was Amon's corruption, the hive mind. Kerrigan's re-infestation cured her of that, and she is pure and strong now. I think it's hard to say now how the hive mind stands with regard to the rest of the Swarm, but we're told in no uncertain terms Kerrigan is clean. Also, numerous members of the Primal zerg that were never corrupted in the first place are part of the Swarm.
LotV tells us that Amon returns and somehow corrupts the Khala which shatters the unity of the protoss, and Artanis has to reunite the race.
Of course it's been repeatedly emphasized throughout the series the protoss and zerg are the two extremes of a greater whole. The Dark Templar Saga tells us the two races were supposed to come together and combine naturally, which would result in the rebirth of the xel'naga, but that hasn't happened. In fact, it can't happen, Blizzard has said the zerg cannot infest or assimilate the protoss, the Khala makes them immune. That's why Duran and Narud had to artifically splice their genes together to create the hybrids, and the DT Saga says the existence of the hybrids is a disruption of the xel'naga's rebirth cycle. We also know the Overmind created Kerrigan with the purpose of trying to circumvent Amon's corruption, which apparently has been done via her cleansing of his influence, and the Overmind's goal all along was to assimilate the protoss and become "perfect".
So, my theory - the reason the zerg can't infest protoss is because Amon's corrupting hive mind. The hive mind and the Khala do not get along and they reject each other. So, Amon sabotages the xel'naga's experiments on the zerg to ensure they cannot join with the protoss and the xel'naga will never return, then the zerg goes on a rampage through the sector, building into an army. Then when Amon returns his hybrids will take control of the zerg and use them to destroy the protoss, as we saw in the vision in WoL.
The Overmind created Kerrigan to be an agent powerful enough to take command of the Swarm in its place, and free herself from Amon's influence. With Amon's influence from her gone, there is now the potential for the zerg to successfully assimilate the protoss and recreate the xel'naga... except, oops! Amon has come back and corrupted the Khala now! While this is shattering the protoss and is of benefit to him that way, now the Khala is corrupted by Amon, the same way the zerg were corrupted via the hive mind. Amon knows what the joining of the two races would mean, and now that Kerrigan has disrupted his ability to influence the zerg, he's doing it to the protoss instead, to ensure the two races cannot join. As long as his influence taints one of the two races, they cannot recreate the xel'naga.
In summary - LotV will see the return of the xel'naga via the joining of the zerg and protoss, or maybe two specific characters join. Amon corrupted the Khala to try and ensure the two races cannot join, but either the protoss will purify the Khala of his influence to merge with the zerg, or a specific character unconnected to the Khala merges with Kerrigan now free of Amon's influence. A Kerrigan/Zeratul archon? That'd be dumb but hey, with some of the other story choices Blizzard has made, maybe it'll happen. Or perhaps there will be a dramatic sequence where Artanis severs his nerve cords to become a dark templar, cutting himself off from the Khala to save himself from Amon's influence so he can merge with Kerrigan and become a xel'naga. Like Tassadar, allying with an ancient forbidden "enemy" for the greater good of their people. Or maybe the Dark Templar merge with the Primal Zerg, and with no hive mind or khala, and no Amon influence over them as such, they become the new xel'naga. This would also leave the rest of the zerg and protoss around to continue the franchise if Blizzard desires.
Story foreshadowing aside, it just makes sense for the trilogy to end this way. Ever since the original game we have built up what a union of protoss and zerg could mean, it's been one of the central concepts of the franchise, and The Dark Templar Saga that led up the trilogy explained what that union means. It's only logical for that union to finally become a reality.
The big thing with the zerg in HotS was Amon's corruption, the hive mind. Kerrigan's re-infestation cured her of that, and she is pure and strong now. I think it's hard to say now how the hive mind stands with regard to the rest of the Swarm, but we're told in no uncertain terms Kerrigan is clean. Also, numerous members of the Primal zerg that were never corrupted in the first place are part of the Swarm.
LotV tells us that Amon returns and somehow corrupts the Khala which shatters the unity of the protoss, and Artanis has to reunite the race.
Of course it's been repeatedly emphasized throughout the series the protoss and zerg are the two extremes of a greater whole. The Dark Templar Saga tells us the two races were supposed to come together and combine naturally, which would result in the rebirth of the xel'naga, but that hasn't happened. In fact, it can't happen, Blizzard has said the zerg cannot infest or assimilate the protoss, the Khala makes them immune. That's why Duran and Narud had to artifically splice their genes together to create the hybrids, and the DT Saga says the existence of the hybrids is a disruption of the xel'naga's rebirth cycle. We also know the Overmind created Kerrigan with the purpose of trying to circumvent Amon's corruption, which apparently has been done via her cleansing of his influence, and the Overmind's goal all along was to assimilate the protoss and become "perfect".
So, my theory - the reason the zerg can't infest protoss is because Amon's corrupting hive mind. The hive mind and the Khala do not get along and they reject each other. So, Amon sabotages the xel'naga's experiments on the zerg to ensure they cannot join with the protoss and the xel'naga will never return, then the zerg goes on a rampage through the sector, building into an army. Then when Amon returns his hybrids will take control of the zerg and use them to destroy the protoss, as we saw in the vision in WoL.
The Overmind created Kerrigan to be an agent powerful enough to take command of the Swarm in its place, and free herself from Amon's influence. With Amon's influence from her gone, there is now the potential for the zerg to successfully assimilate the protoss and recreate the xel'naga... except, oops! Amon has come back and corrupted the Khala now! While this is shattering the protoss and is of benefit to him that way, now the Khala is corrupted by Amon, the same way the zerg were corrupted via the hive mind. Amon knows what the joining of the two races would mean, and now that Kerrigan has disrupted his ability to influence the zerg, he's doing it to the protoss instead, to ensure the two races cannot join. As long as his influence taints one of the two races, they cannot recreate the xel'naga.
In summary - LotV will see the return of the xel'naga via the joining of the zerg and protoss, or maybe two specific characters join. Amon corrupted the Khala to try and ensure the two races cannot join, but either the protoss will purify the Khala of his influence to merge with the zerg, or a specific character unconnected to the Khala merges with Kerrigan now free of Amon's influence. A Kerrigan/Zeratul archon? That'd be dumb but hey, with some of the other story choices Blizzard has made, maybe it'll happen. Or perhaps there will be a dramatic sequence where Artanis severs his nerve cords to become a dark templar, cutting himself off from the Khala to save himself from Amon's influence so he can merge with Kerrigan and become a xel'naga. Like Tassadar, allying with an ancient forbidden "enemy" for the greater good of their people. Or maybe the Dark Templar merge with the Primal Zerg, and with no hive mind or khala, and no Amon influence over them as such, they become the new xel'naga. This would also leave the rest of the zerg and protoss around to continue the franchise if Blizzard desires.
Story foreshadowing aside, it just makes sense for the trilogy to end this way. Ever since the original game we have built up what a union of protoss and zerg could mean, it's been one of the central concepts of the franchise, and The Dark Templar Saga that led up the trilogy explained what that union means. It's only logical for that union to finally become a reality.