StarCraft 2 Campaign: Personal thoughts and opinons

[Eivind]

Fair enough. I can see that.

[Eivind]

3.0 - Heart of the Swarm

3.1 Speculations: what comes next?

Blizzard has announced that Heart of the Swarm will be released about 18 months after Wings of Liberty, which seems fair, seeing as The Frozen Throne took about a year to release, and the StarCraft 2 expansions are more than just add-ons. Whereas the expansions to games such as the original StarCraft and those in the WarCraft series were essentially packages of new missions, units and tilesets, those that follow Wings of Liberty will have that and more, specifically the way the storyline gameplay is structured and how the in-between interactions are constructed. Needless to say, there will be new missions, new units (most likely for all races, though Zerg might see a few extra in the campaign), and hopefully, a few new tilesets (let’s get some snow already). But what about the new mechanics? Apart from a leaked ending cinematic (which I haven’t seen, nor do I want to before the game is released), information about Heart of the Swarm has been scarce. A few tidbits here and there can be found, but for now, speculation is the best way for us to find out what’s going to come, and so speculate we will.

The game will follow Kerrigan, that much we know. Exactly what she will do is impossible to say, as it can go all sorts of ways. Certainly, we might finally get some answer about who this girl really is. For six of seven campaigns, she has been infested, and although some information about her past has been released in various formats, she is still somewhat of an enigma. For me, the central question is this: when the infested Kerrigan went on a murderous rampage, was this entirely because of the infestation, or did that just simply enhance an anger that was already present? Yes, true, she protested against the psi emitters before she became one of the Zerg, but she ultimately went along with it. And she was an assassin.

It is said that being infested means you are forced to follow the hive mind. But what does this say about Kerrigan, who actually was the hive mind for a large period? Whether her hand has been manipulated is too early to say, but from the looks of things, it was her own free will that caused the death of 8 billion people. Whether Raynor forgives her or not is actually irrelevant, as it will be opinions of everyone else that ultimately decides Kerrigan’s fate. Yes, there is a prophecy that states her being alive is required for the universe to be saved, but will it really be enough to convince everyone else? Raynor already seems crazy enough for saving her; will waving a memory crystal in front of everyone else really make him seem less crazy? I doubt it. Be aware that Raynor’s central motivation for saving Kerrigan is love, meaning he’d probably do it regardless if the prophecy existed or not (the same can’t be said for Zeratul).

Let’s leave Kerrigan for a while and look at the many other things that have been introduced and likely will play out in some way in the expansions. The artifact, for example. Most of the discussions about it have been on its convenience and whether or not it is a deus ex machina. But let’s look at it bit closer. On Blizzcon 2010, lead writer Brian Kindregan hinted very explicitly that the deinfestation of Kerrigan is actually a side effect of the artifact’s true purpose. And what is that purpose? I have no idea. I’ve heard several things. Some guess that it is somehow connected to the Hybrid storyline. True, we already know it is, but perhaps it is a manner more explicit than what first assumed? Perhaps Kerrigan is now a Terran/Zerg hybrid? Or perhaps she already was that, and now has a little Protoss in her too? After all, how does her biography on the game’s official site begin?

“No single human being has been more inseparably tied to the twisted destinies of the Terran, Protoss, and Zerg races than Sarah Kerrigan.”

Interesting.

Or perhaps the artifact removes Kerrigan’s individuality, which is her most important trait as a Zerg. Unlike the Cerebrates and the lesser minions of the Overmind, she was given free will to do as she pleased. When the Overmind died in the end of the first StarCraft, the epilogue stated that Kerrigan could sense that her the time of her true ascension had come. Those that claim that the manipulation of the Overmind by the hands of the Dark Voice is a retcon might perhaps consider the possibility that this was planned from the get-go. I fully understand that the Dark Voice might not have existed in any of the writers’ mind before StarCraft 2, but let’s look at the facts. The Overmind invaded Aiur and didn’t even make it through the entire game, which means its death was planned from the get-go. Kerrigan’s true role as the leader of the Zerg wasn’t introduced ‘till Brood War, but the epilogue states that the writers likely had that planned already too.

The question here is this: did the Overmind infest Kerrigan just as a backup in case it died, or did it plan to die and have Kerrigan lead the Swarm? I think the latter is most likely, especially as we seen in Brood War that the Cerebrates try to make a new Overmind. You see, if they have this function, it’s likely the Overmind knew about it, which would mean Kerrigan as a backup would be unnecessary. Another thing that makes this the likelier of two options is the fact that the Overmind gave Kerrigan free will, which we see resulted in Kerrigan killing all Cerebrates and becoming the hive mind. In other words: the Overmind wanted to die, it wanted its cerebrates to die, and it wanted Kerrigan to rule the Swarm. Why? It is easy to forget that until the prophecy was introduced, there was no reason for this fact to exist. I don’t believe Kerrigan was just a backup, nor that she betrayed the Overmind for selfish reasons (because the Overmind would have predicted this or at least taken it into consideration before giving her free will). No, I believe she was destined to lead the Swarm, and the prophecy finally explains why.

It is easy to forget the Hybrids were there in Brood War, and although it is possible the writers hadn’t formed out the exact details on what role they would play in the sequel, it is certainly possible they knew were they were going with the story, ultimately. With this in mind, my guess is that the artifact’s purpose might be to enslave Kerrigan without her knowledge. She will build the Swarm oblivious of her enslavement, and then a certain fellow named Duran will step in and play his part. Oh yes, Duran. Who the hell is he actually? He calls himself a servant of a greater power, which is likely either the Dark Voice or the Xel’Naga (I separate the two because I think they are in conflict). He didn’t show up in Wings of Liberty, but a fellow named Narud did (in case you didn’t know already, the name of one is the name of the other’s one backwards). Narud leads the Moebius Foundation, which wanted the artifacts in the first place. Whether he and Duran are the same remains to be seen, but they are certainly connected.

I believe Duran has known of the artifact for a long time, and probably even had a hand in creating them and spreading them throughout the various worlds of the sector. That he didn’t use it before is not certain, and we need to know what it actually does before we can answer that. Was it a backup device? Could it actually be predicted that the Overmind would die and that Kerrigan would replace it? I don’t know how all of this fits together, but there are two things that are important to remember. First is the quote from Duran that says that Kerrigan was not initially a part of his experiments, but has sped of his process. What does that mean? Second is the fact that when Raynor collected all of the artifact fragments, he handed it over to Moebius to assemble them, and it is possible Duran added something to them that might not initially have been there. Exactly what he did or whether he actually did it or not, I don’t know.

But why was Kerrigan deinfested? How does it fit with the artifact? And how will this affect the Zerg campaign? No doubt there will still be a lot of Zerglings and Hydralisks around, but the Zerg campaign had always been short on actual Zerg characters, and now they technically have none? It is possible new ones might be introduced, but I’m uncertain on how this will be handled. I am guessing that the campaign will partly be like the final one in Brood War, where many non-Zerg characters join Kerrigan in some manner. I mean, we might not see much of Swann and his crew, but surely Horner and Raynor will still appear?

And what about the Dominion characters? My biggest query is whether Valerian Mengsk is good or not. We know he is connected to Narud, and then possibly Duran, but he might not be aware of it, and in all likeliness, he might just be played. But how much in odds with his father is he? The campaign plays them as opposites of the same coin, but can it be that they are putting on a charade? Perhaps the hologram of Arcturus is just a way of fooling Raynor into thinking that joining the Dominion is the right thing? After all, Arcturus mentions that saving Kerrigan is a stupid idea, and no one has ever mentioned this to him, at least as far as I can tell. It might be a script gaffe, but it may also be a giveaway of what is really going. It would take a lot for Raynor to join forces with Arcturus at this point, but if his son comes along with kind words, perhaps that would be the thing? We already know how that one played out.

But then again, in the beginning of the game, Raynor is ordered by Moebius to retrieve an artifact fragment from the Dominion. Since Valerian owns Moebius, this means there is someone in the Dominion who is at odds with him (otherwise he’d just be stealing from himself). There are only two candidates for who this might be: his father and gen. Warfield. The former is likely, but the latter is also possible. After all, despite not appearing until the end of the game, Warfield is a major character, and although he appears sympathetic, it is quite possible it is a put-on. Who knows?

Lastly: Raynor sells his Protoss and Zerg research to Moebius, lead by the guy who makes Hybrids? There is something to speculate over too. Is Raynor being manipulated? I’ve already speculated about this before in this article, and so it is therefore possible he might be this in more ways than one.

[Turalyon]

Hoo-boy, where do I begin?

Just kidding, Eivind. I know the segment is all about speculation so naturally there are quite a lot of instances where you're taking your own assumptions as solid fact but in truth aren't really fully known yet (ie: Raynor's central motivation for saving Kerrigan and Kerrigan being 'deinfested'). Please don't take what I just said the wrong way.

The one thing WoL has shown me about its story is that never take anything for granted (to it's detriment I might add) and to not make assumptions no matter how small. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if they revealed a link between Terrans and Xel'Naga through some convoluted but 'reasoned' explanation or that the psionic potential of all Protoss was actually a failed Xel'Nagan experiment in trying to create the first, true Overmind...

On another note, I think this part would do well if it was structured a little better with sub-headings. It seems to flit about everywhere - it was hard to concentrate on one thing before you asked questions about something else. Otherwise, keep up the good work. Look forward to the next part... the criticism one, I believe?

I don’t believe Kerrigan was just a backup, nor that she betrayed the Overmind for selfish reasons (because the Overmind would have predicted this or at least taken it into consideration before giving her free will). No, I believe she was destined to lead the Swarm, and the prophecy finally explains why.

I apologise in advance for indulging in a bit of "head-up-my-own-arse syndrome" for the following :

Your definition of "free will" would greatly help in the understanding of this statement (Blizz needs to do this as well). "Free will" can be defined loosely as the ability to make choices free of any constraint - which would mean that if the OM did give 'free will' to Kerrigan, than there is always the possibility that Kerrigan could betray the OM for selfish reasons (I'm sure there's plenty of reasons Kerrigan could have used - namely, to not be a pawn in someone else game again...). I somehow doubt Kerrigan had any more free will under the OM influence than the OM itself under the DV influence. Afterall, the OM has been revealed to be an unreliable narrator as of WoL, so when it says Kerrigan had 'free will' the OM could well have been lying.

BW was an interesting study of 'free will', especially in regards to Kerrigan since the overbearing 'constraint' (the OM) was no longer around, which gave no distinct answer. You could easily argue an incompatiblist side (either free will or determinism in the fullest sense) or compatibilist side (free will and determinism are intermingled with certain degrees). The immersive quality was that you used your own life experience to answer that unspoken question. I think this is one of the reasons why SC1 was so compelling despite it's cliched background.

There are relatively few or effectively constructed instances (that weren't forced) of this happening in WoL, however. In place of this, the only thing that's left to compel you is the eventual promise of a reveal of 'hard' lore facts and explanations (who/what/why/how is this happening and who/what/why/how someone doing/not doing this/that). This potentially becomes less compelling because it risks being ensconced/cloistered in its own world/fiction such that it only has meaning to a select few and alienates everyone else. The direction in which SC2s story is heading kind of reminds me of how the sci-fi series Farscape went in its later seasons. End of rant

[Eivind]

The structuring: sometimes I'm just really lazy and tend to make a better article in my head than on paper. Should learn to read from the audience's perspective more, I guess.

About Raynor's central motivation: this was actually confirmed by the lore writers on Blizzcon 2010. Did I forget to mention that? Kindregan said Raynor's motivation, first and foremost, was getting her back to him. The prophecy came second.

What I meant by free will was that she, unlike the cerebrates, could act on her own. Nothing more complicated than that. I think OM gave her this because betraying it wouldn't really be a problem. It was under a directive anyway, and so her killing it would have been all the better for it.

[Turalyon]

About Raynor's central motivation: this was actually confirmed by the lore writers on Blizzcon 2010. Did I forget to mention that? Kindregan said Raynor's motivation, first and foremost, was getting her back to him. The prophecy came second.

You probably have in your previous entries - very hard to remember and keep up with all of it.

I'm not sure if what you mentioned above pertains to 'love' for Kerrigan specifically or rather Raynor is seeing Kerrigan as a symbol for all of his (survivor?) guilt, failure at saving anyone close to him and a key to his own redemption. I don't have a problem using love as his core motivation to save Kerrigan, but if what you say is indeed true, it only adds fuel to the detractor's argument that WoL is sidestepping character progression from BW.

I knew from the start that Raynor's 'remembrance' of Kerrigan in the beginning of WoL was going to be important to how WoL was going to end. From the very beginning of WoL, Raynor's fawning over Kerrigan told me that he was NEVER going to kill Kerrigan (as he had promised) even if he was ever presented with a chance. Sure he gets 'angry' whenever anyone (ie: Zeratul) mentions her name but this is not, by any means, evidence for Raynor that he is still intent on killing Kerrigan.

The trouble lies in the "4 years has past" development Blizz is using to 'smooth' over these inconsistencies. They're using it to explain some things (like Raynor's attitude toward Kerrigan) but not other things (a ton of events happen in the span of a few months that is Sc1 and BW but expect us to believe no significant 'in-universe' shattering events happening for 4 years until another explosion of status-quo changing events that is WoL in a matter of weeks?). Narratively, even though justifiable (albeit poorly still in this case), the change (or lack of change in some cases) is jarring.

What I meant by free will was that she, unlike the cerebrates, could act on her own. Nothing more complicated than that. I think OM gave her this because betraying it wouldn't really be a problem. It was under a directive anyway, and so her killing it would have been all the better for it.

We're starting on a slippery slope here, Eivind. When Blizz throws terms around like 'free will' without fully knowing what it means (or when they use it in such a wishy-washy fashion) things can only get more complicated!

Based on your understanding of 'free will', the Cerebrates seem to have it as well. Are not Daggoth and Zasz separate entities from the OM and can they not make strategies in combat or make their own decisions how their own brood goes about achieving their main roles? The cerebrates did not die when the OM died and they could function independently from it for a time as well as make decisions. Afterall, wasn't it Daggoth's own plan and decision to try and reform the OM by merging with other cerebrates? You may argue that it only did this because it had no free will to choose against this option/ rebel. If the Cerebrates have no free will because they cannot rebel against the OM, Kerrigan also has no free will because she cannot rebel against the OM either (the OM states this explicitly). So, which is it? Free will or determinism? Compatibilist or incompatibilist?

The reveal that the OM is also potentially an unreliable narrator (through the "overriding directive" stuff) makes this worse. Can we believe the OM when it says Kerrigan had 'free will' back in Sc1? Was it lying to itself to trick it's own "directive"? Is that even possible? Does it even make any sense anymore? See what I mean by wishy-washy?

[DarthYam]

It's more along the lines of "they can't attack the overmind or fuck with his plans" but as long as they don't they can do whatever they damn well please. The overmind wanted Kerrigan to succeed him, so he gave her greater indpendence; so that if he died and the cerebrate's move against her she could fight back. What's more, there was no gaurantee the plan would actually work; tassadar says it was a "Chance". it wasn't much but it was better than facing definate oblivion

[Turalyon]

It's more along the lines of "they can't attack the overmind or fuck with his plans" but as long as they don't they can do whatever they damn well please. The overmind wanted Kerrigan to succeed him, so he gave her greater indpendence; so that if he died and the cerebrate's move against her she could fight back.

So it seems your definition of free will is a compatibilist view where free will and determinism are not mutually exclusive and that free will is somewhat constrained by certain factors.

If the cerebrates lack free will they cannot even entertain the possibility of moving against Kerrigan and also because the OM would have explicitly forbid them. If they can choose to attack Kerrigan after the OM died, does that not speak of the cerebrates capability for free will because if the OM was still around they could not do this? The Zerg are capable of free will, it's just that their 'limited' nature doesn't permit them to do anything else except fulfill their base instincts (as expressed when the OM died and they went 'chaotic'). I think that what the OM meant when speaking about the "greatness of her spirit" was not about 'free will' per se but just that he retained some element of her character and personality whereas most infested individuals lack these.

It's also strange that a being that has no free will (as was revealed in WoL about the OM) is able to know the difference between free will and no free will, let alone impart/retain it for another individual. How does it know the difference? As I mentioned before, by introducing the concept of the OM having no free will, everything the OM said in SC now has an element of doubt even if it was never intentioned to be in the first place.

[DarthYam]

if it was the overmind's private plan why not? People can "misinterpret" orders if they feel like it and daggoth may have felt that Kerrigan was unworthy regardless of the overmind's intent.

[Turalyon]

if it was the overmind's private plan why not? People can "misinterpret" orders if they feel like it and daggoth may have felt that Kerrigan was unworthy regardless of the overmind's intent.

I can only meet your speculation with my own speculation. Daggoth would never have felt the need to take aggressive action against Kerrigan because she was part of the OMs plan, whether it be free the zerg (the 'real OM agenda) or to help OM subdue and absorb the protoss (the directive's agenda) and that Daggoth's purpose was to enact the OM's will (it was consistent in portraying this throughout Sc1). Daggoth's loyalty to the OM extended to the attempt to try and recreate it - if that OM did reach maturity it would've been royally pissed to find out that it's loyal servant killed it's most prized possession.

Either way, your point indicates that the cerebrates have free will to choose and act on their own whim. If cerebrates can "misinterpret" an order from 'protect Kerrigan' to 'kill Kerrigan', they can also "misinterpret" the order of 'protect/create Overmind' to 'kill/not create Overmind', too. I could just as easily re-purpose your explanation: that no matter what the OM intended, the cerebrates felt having another OM was not really worth it and still justify it by saying "it was the OMs private plan". It'd still ring true - the OM did not want to comeback, otherwise it will ruin it's plan to have Kerrigan replace it and ultimately free the Zerg. This line of thinking only shows us that Kerrigan having 'free will' is not a significant aspect nor does it serve an important role in the OM's private plan.

[DarthYam]

with the overmind dead they do. If Zasz is an indicator they didn't like Kerrigan. What's more, they could have easily just been planning to enslave her. they knew nothing of the OM's plan, and the second OM wasn't the same; personality wise it was vastly different. Otherwise Zeratul would have looted that guy's memories. Also, the DV could have potentially manipulated the cerebrates as well so that they would kill her.