Duran's Infestation

This is a very minor observation (so minor I don't know if it warrants a thread) I made while perusing various campaign .wav files I got from Pandonetho.

I knew Duran's voice was modulated to convey a sense of "infestation" as he cornered Stukov and said, "I am here under orders *to terminate your command.*" What I hadn't noticed before was that there's a similar reverb and flanger as he is speaking to DuGalle in the briefing. "I mean no offense, Admiral, but perhaps *Stukov's loyalties* are not as strong as you once believed!"

I know we've been through this before, but still I wonder at the circumstances surrounding Duran's infestation. Was he Kerrigan's pawn since before the advent of the UED into Koprulu? Or was he only infested on Aiur? The modulation only occurs directly after Aiur. Perhaps he purposefully placed himself in a position as to better his chances at infestation as Kerrigan's troops covered Raynor and Mengsk's escape, as well as letting them past his defenses. Or, my original theory before noticing the briefing .wav; he allowed Kerrigan to believe she mind controlled him, then later infested him on Aiur.

If his first contact with Kerrigan was on Aiur, that reveals he really wanted the Zerg to win the whole time. Why would he side with the Zerg over the Protoss? Because of the Protoss' prediliction to fry entire planets? Their conservative nature? Sewing mistrust and discontent would weaken them further. But maybe that's not what he wanted at all. Maybe all he really wanted was to limit Terran -- specifically UED -- involvement in Koprulu. If so, then this may be proof that only the United Earth Directorate pose a real threat to the Xel'Naga/Hybrids?

I suppose it's all a moot point. We can only speculate mindlessly 'til SC2.

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Originally Posted by Visions of Khas

Perhaps he purposefully placed himself in a position as to better his chances at infestation as Kerrigan's troops covered Raynor and Mengsk's escape, as well as letting them past his defenses.

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I assumed that he was already working with the Zerg by then. Duran strikes me as someone who plans things ahead way in advance, which is why I think he was already infested before he infiltrated the UED ranks.

Duran has his voice under control most of the time, so perhaps the modulation is a result of Duran's psionic abilities as opposed to his vocal cords? Those strange vocal effects are produced by powerful psychics. I always believed that Duran was subtly using some form of mind control on Dugalle, so perhaps the "stukov's loyalties" bit is the moment when Duran started cranking up the juice on the mind control? Perhaps Duran didn't have enough mental discipline to both mind control Dugalle and keep the modulation from appearing in his "mental voice" at the same time? Or perhaps it's not that he didn't have the discipline, just that it didn't matter - Dugalle was already "hooked".

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If his first contact with Kerrigan was on Aiur, that reveals he really wanted the Zerg to win the whole time. Why would he side with the Zerg over the Protoss? Because of the Protoss' prediliction to fry entire planets? Their conservative nature? Sewing mistrust and discontent would weaken them further. But maybe that's not what he wanted at all. Maybe all he really wanted was to limit Terran -- specifically UED -- involvement in Koprulu. If so, then this may be proof that only the United Earth Directorate pose a real threat to the Xel'Naga/Hybrids?

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Perhaps the Xel'Naga/Hybrids have an extremely easy way of dealing with the Zerg, but not necessarily the Terran or the Protoss? Kind of like the Xel'Naga temple on Shakuras. This would explain why Duran wanted the Zerg to win - because they could be taken care of with much less difficulty way down the road. This would also be a plot device which complicates the SC2 story by not making it so easy for Kerrigan to just "sweep the sector."

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Originally Posted by Visions of Khas

This is a very minor observation (so minor I don't know if it warrants a thread) I made while perusing various campaign .wav files I got from Pandonetho.

I knew Duran's voice was modulated to convey a sense of "infestation" as he cornered Stukov and said, "I am here under orders *to terminate your command.*" What I hadn't noticed before was that there's a similar reverb and flanger as he is speaking to DuGalle in the briefing. "I mean no offense, Admiral, but perhaps *Stukov's loyalties* are not as strong as you once believed!"

I know we've been through this before, but still I wonder at the circumstances surrounding Duran's infestation. Was he Kerrigan's pawn since before the advent of the UED into Koprulu? Or was he only infested on Aiur?

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In I, Mengsk, Duran is a member of the Confederate Resistance Forces. He's aboard a battlecruiser which barely escaped Tarsonis. He acts and looks a bit weird, but a "liquid accent" and "hairless chest" could mean:
1) Alien!
2) Perfectly normal.

He tells Captain Emillian that he "understands hatred very well" which sounds reasonable. (If he's a xel'naga or a servant thereof, he would be upset about what the zerg did to the xel'naga.) But again, very ambiguous.

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The modulation only occurs directly after Aiur.

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I'm going to be honest, I hate that kind of analysis. Do you really know that to be the case? People swear that in Ruins of Tarsonis he did the same thing to DuGalle. And since, as a ghost, he has psychic powers, couldn't that just mean he's using them to implant suggestions in DuGalle's mind?

In any event, I do not think it's reasonable he wasn't working "for" Kerrigan by Ruins of Tarsonis. His position there was very unreasonable when he insisted on getting rid of the Psi Disrupter. This would mean he had so few opportunities to be infested prior to that event, he almost certainly was infested back on Tarsonis.

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Perhaps he purposefully placed himself in a position as to better his chances at infestation as Kerrigan's troops covered Raynor and Mengsk's escape, as well as letting them past his defenses. Or, my original theory before noticing the briefing .wav; he allowed Kerrigan to believe she mind controlled him, then later infested him on Aiur.

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I'm finding that hard to believe. His actions seemed to indicate that he was working "for" the zerg by that point. Prior to his infestation, why would she pick him to work with? (Maybe she thought he was a parasited minion like Starry Lace, though.)

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If his first contact with Kerrigan was on Aiur, that reveals he really wanted the Zerg to win the whole time. Why would he side with the Zerg over the Protoss? Because of the Protoss' prediliction to fry entire planets? Their conservative nature? Sewing mistrust and discontent would weaken them further. But maybe that's not what he wanted at all. Maybe all he really wanted was to limit Terran -- specifically UED -- involvement in Koprulu. If so, then this may be proof that only the United Earth Directorate pose a real threat to the Xel'Naga/Hybrids?

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I have no real proof, only a counter-theory.

Duran left Kerrigan and appeared on the dark moon almost immediately after the death of the second Overmind, leaving her "in the lurch". I don't believe he was interested in getting her to win, though, but may have wanted to keep her alive long enough to learn something about her infestation. He may also have feared the second Overmind, since if it had any knowledge from the first one (the first one absorbed the knowledge from numerous xel'naga) he could guarantee that it couldn't spread the knowledge. (As an enemy of Kerrigan, there's no way the second OM would tell her anything.)

Given that Kerrigan couldn't even replicate her own infestation, it should be obvious that there was much the first Overmind never told her.

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I suppose it's all a moot point. We can only speculate mindlessly 'til SC2.

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Specifically Legacy of the Void.

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Originally Posted by Kim

And since, as a ghost, he has psychic powers, couldn't that just mean he's using them to implant suggestions in DuGalle's mind?

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I wasn't suggesting he conducted any such mind manipulation. I just meant his covert infestation slipped a bit and messed with his voice in his anger.

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... he could guarantee that it couldn't spread the knowledge.

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Hm, I hadn't thought about the UED delving into its mind far enough to uncover that sort of information.

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Originally Posted by Visions of Khas

I wasn't suggesting he conducted any such mind manipulation. I just meant his covert infestation slipped a bit and messed with his voice in his anger.

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It is, however, what I was suggesting. I don't think he was angry; trying to manipulate DuGalle (someone who greatly outranked him) would have been a bad idea anyway.

It doesn't help that Duran's motivations are harder to ferret out, since he was working for his masters, Kerrigan and the UED simultaneously. Any time he does something (like try to destroy the Psi Disrupter) he could have been doing so just because Kerrigan told him to, even if it would have no effect on his own plans. Or, in other words, moles to kiss ass and seem useful. (Notice how Duran failed to kiss DuGalle's behind in UED mission 2? He got called a turncoat, and it was Stukov who ended up being charmed.)

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Hm, I hadn't thought about the UED delving into its mind far enough to uncover that sort of information.

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I wasn't thinking about the UED at all (but yes, that's a good point)*. Rather, suppose the second Overmind got free of the UED (which it might have been able to do if allowed to grow to maturity)? That would just recreate the original problem the xel'naga faced.

*Things get weirder. Suppose the UED did get that info from the Overmind? DuGalle and Stukov would know, and Kaloth could have gone out of his way to get Stukov's body just to get that info. So many plot hooks... but I think that's not the case.

Who's to say Duran is even infested, he might be just mimicking the signs of infestation to fool Kerrigan, especially as he seemed the be able to throw the effects off quick enough when he wanted to disappear.

If he was infested, wouldn't Kerrigan be able to see through his eyes like she does with every other Zerg creature and Ethan Stewart? She even has those parasites now that can't be detected by Terran Sensors.

I'm pretty sure he wasn't infested.

Duran had Zerg carapace upgrades in the game and the consume ability.

Yeah, but his consume sounded mechanical. And his carapace was probably just an imitation.

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wouldn't Kerrigan be able to see through his eyes like she does with every other Zerg creature and Ethan Stewart?

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If she couldn't see through his eyes or delve at will through his mind, wouldn't she have become suspicious of his true nature? I'm thinking that, were he indeed infested, his essence or some fail-safe was strong enough to override it. Given that the Overmind was the essence of the Zerg swarm, and Kerrigan lacks that distinction, he may have just willed it away.

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Originally Posted by Visions of Khas

If she couldn't see through his eyes or delve at will through his mind, wouldn't she have become suspicious of his true nature?

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Possibly, but possibly she either isn't bothered, so long as she can 'feel' his presence, or she hadn't got her control down to that level (keeping control of herself, and running through his mind would make patting her head and rubbing her stomach like child's play).

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Originally Posted by Gradius

Duran had Zerg carapace upgrades in the game and the consume ability.

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Yet he had no such thing when he wasn't on the "infested" mode? He didn't regenerate health, didn't have zerg armor, didn't have the consume ability. And considering he didn't actually eat the zerg, he used a device. This suggests that perhaps he was using it to make it seem more realistic that he had been infested.

Ever since I saw the secret mission, I've been thinking non-infested. I at one time thought perhaps Xel'naga. But that doesn't seem too likely. Perhaps rogue Xel'naga?

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Yet he had no such thing when he wasn't on the "infested" mode? He didn't regenerate health, didn't have zerg armor, didn't have the consume ability.

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Uhh, it's kind of hard to disguise yourself as a human under constant scrutiny by Earth's finest admiral when you have carapace sticking out and you eat zerg.

The carapace thing is just his armor upgrade, which all ground zerg units have.

Personally I think one of three things happened:

1) He had a parasite in him, the same type Starry Lace had, which he got on Tarsonis. Later, Kerrigan "bit" and infested him. She would have had time to do that between UED missions 7 and 8. (I think this one is the least likely, not least because the idea of the mind-control parasite hadn't existed yet.)

2) He was actually infested by the Overmind, but was such a good psychic/biologist using xel'naga secrets that he only got the positives, not the negatives. As a good psychic, he was able to "filter" what Kerrigan could read from him, kind of like how Ethan Stewart though non-suspicious thoughts (for a crime lord) to prevent Jake Ramsey from reading his real aims.

3) As above, but was faking it. He first appeared to Kerrigan as an "infested" terran.

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Originally Posted by Kimera757

The carapace thing is just his armor upgrade, which all ground zerg units have.

Personally I think one of three things happened:

1) He had a parasite in him, the same type Starry Lace had, which he got on Tarsonis. Later, Kerrigan "bit" and infested him. She would have had time to do that between UED missions 7 and 8. (I think this one is the least likely, not least because the idea of the mind-control parasite hadn't existed yet.)

2) He was actually infested by the Overmind, but was such a good psychic/biologist using xel'naga secrets that he only got the positives, not the negatives. As a good psychic, he was able to "filter" what Kerrigan could read from him, kind of like how Ethan Stewart though non-suspicious thoughts (for a crime lord) to prevent Jake Ramsey from reading his real aims.

3) As above, but was faking it. He first appeared to Kerrigan as an "infested" terran.

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Number three is generally what I accept. It just doesn't sit well with me that he was infested.

The N64 version of BroodWar is pretty humorous. If you click on Duran, pre-infestation, I believe he says, "Cerebrate!" as though he were infested. The rest of his dialog is pre-infestation.

DuGalle: "Um, Duran, who are you talking to?"

Duran: (Oh shit!) "Just bragging about your huge brain sir."

Well, after Starcraft II, we shall know.