SCGA Volume 3

[Gradius]

Anybody read it yet? Here's some highlights (spoilers):

Hidden Content:

• Nova singlehandedly destroys a hive cluster with a ton of Zerg as well. Same effect as a nuke. Probably stronger than that incident when she blew up the skyscraper. With the standards that she's setting, I better see some high templar have DBZ-style fights in LoTV. :P
• After screwing up which planet of the Baker's dozen they were going to in the previous volume, Bick tells the trainees "you are all going to the fourth planet of the baker's dozen....or is it fifth? Anyway doesn't matter". I loled.
• Is this four years after the BW or right after? I have no idea. There's spore crawlers & roaches. But does that mean that the old family kids have been trapped underground for four years? And Tosh looks completely different than he does in WoL. How is it possible to grow so much facial hair in such a short time?
• Why are there only a handful of trainees in the academy? There are no teams other than red or blue? And Mengsk killed off half his ghosts for no reason in Firstborn? Sometimes I hate the small-scale of the SC universe.

[Quirel]

Wasn't the Ghost purging for cost-cutting measures?

[Hawki]

Still waiting for my order to arrive (Australia is to Earth what the Koprulu Sector is to the Milky Way) so I can't give judgement. However, in regards to the points you raised:

-How was the planet screwed up? It was explicitly stated in Vol. 2 that the Old Families were on the fourth planet (Shi) and that the trainees were going to the fifth planet, only to pick up the adjacent distress signal (as per vol. summary).

-As explicitly stated in the HD timeline and given in vol. 2, the trilogy takes place in 2501 (Janurary/February to March if you want to be specific). As for roaches and spore crawlers...how is that strange? It's not as if they popped up overnight. Multiple SCII units were established to be in use pre-2504 through material such as Frontline and the DTS.

-Trust me, facial hair can grow very fast (thank you, electric razor...). Anyway, he's taken on his WoL appearance by 2503...mostly, so I guess there's some transition.

-Handful of trainees? The first two volumes clearly showed the academy was swarming with them. As for the Ghost purge, there's some iffiness as to whether it takes place in 2500 or 2502 (as in explicit stating in HD or contextual relevance in Shadow Hunters). More inclined to the latter IMO.

So yeah. Maybe I'm missing stuff. Certainly I preferred vol. 1 (written by DeCandido) to that by Gerold. But the stuff raised hardly seems like issues...

[Kimera757]

Anybody read it yet? Here's some highlights (spoilers): After screwing up which planet of the Baker's dozen they were going to in the previous volume, Bick tells the trainees "you are all going to the fourth planet of the baker's dozen....or is it fifth? Anyway doesn't matter". I loled.

He might have known about what was really there, but it's hard to lie, especially to telepaths.

Is this four years after the BW or right after? I have no idea. There's spore crawlers & roaches. But does that mean that the old family kids have been trapped underground for four years? And Tosh looks completely different than he does in WoL. How is it possible to grow so much facial hair in such a short time?

It's 2501, one year after the Brood War. (Actually, less than one year since that point.)

Why are there only a handful of trainees in the academy? There are no teams other than red or blue?

No, there's lots. You can see tons of them in the first volume. Team Purple is just the composite of the first two teams to go through team training. The other ghost trainees are doing individual stuff.

And Mengsk killed off half his ghosts for no reason in Firstborn?

Shadow Hunters, and that was one to three years before that.

Sometimes I hate the small-scale of the SC universe.

Psychics are rare, those that are strong enough to be ghosts probably even rarer, and those that make it through ghost training even rarer. The numbers actually made sense.

-How was the planet screwed up? It was explicitly stated in Vol. 2 that the Old Families were on the fourth planet (Shi) and that the trainees were going to the fifth planet, only to pick up the adjacent distress signal (as per vol. summary).

Bick couldn't keep his lies straight.

-Handful of trainees? The first two volumes clearly showed the academy was swarming with them.

You are correct.

Hidden Content:

A certain ghostmaster general made a brief appearance. I hope he appears in Spectres.

[l33telboi]

Speaking about the Ghost Academy, I've been wondering about Ghost training in the Dominion in more general terms. How exactly is it done?

Alright, the manual says that Ghosts are quarantined and trained since infancy. This isn't strictly true since nearly all of the named characters have been recruited as young, some even being in their late teens (possibly even over 20). But since it says infancy one can assume this is still the norm.

But what happens then? Delta didn't seem like she was being actively trained in the beginning and all the members on team blue/red are quite old. So... are they trained individually before they're assigned to teams? Or is it that just a portion gets assigned to teams? Or are they just quarantined at first and kept away from society without training? I even remember something about a specific time length of Ghost training from the Nova novel (though I can't recall the actual figure), which makes the whole thing even stranger.

I'm getting the manga some time next week, hopefully it's good. Is there any resolution to Phash's fate? What happens to the head honchos at the Ghost Academy? How do things end for Nova, Tosh and the other members of team blue?

[Kimera757]

Speaking about the Ghost Academy, I've been wondering about Ghost training in the Dominion in more general terms. How exactly is it done?

Alright, the manual says that Ghosts are quarantined and trained since infancy. This isn't strictly true since nearly all of the named characters have been recruited as young, some even being in their late teens (possibly even over 20). But since it says infancy one can assume this is still the norm.

StarCraft: Ghost: Nova said the typical ghost training was only 4 years (and the Dominion tried for 2.5 years, but it failed). Of course, it's possible that the Confederacy used to force children into the program (like John Raynor) but the new Ghost Academy is now doing things differently.

However, Uprising implied that most Confederate ghosts are recruited later. (A newly-trained ghost was old enough to drink, and drink, and drink... in that novel. Sarah Kerrigan joined the program when she was eight, mentioned in the same novel.) And "Do No Harm" suggested a ghost was recruited as a child.

To make matters more confusing, the stuff done to ghosts' heads has also changed. Seems like Blizzard is slowly, softly retconning the ghost concept. It would be pretty difficult to explain rogue ghosts like Gabriel Tosh if they all have super-resocialization.

IMO, terran psionics are an example of puberty superpowers which means they usually only manifest in teenagers. However, for exceptional ghosts (Nova, Sarah Kerrigan, Colin Phash) they manifested early. All three have high PI ratings. Nova is PI 10, Kerrigan's official bibliography said she was so powerful they actually had to reinvent the scale to suit her (so I'm guessing she's also PI 10, although she couldn't match Nova pre-infestation), and Phash is a "measly" 7.5. However, the gestalt in Do No Harm didn't seem like he was superpowerful before the surgery (his PI was only 7+ even after all the work done to him).

But what happens then? Delta didn't seem like she was being actively trained in the beginning

She had to learn to read first.

and all the members on team blue/red are quite old.

And all the recruits we've seen, actually, except Colin Phash.

So... are they trained individually before they're assigned to teams?

The teams are a new initiative, imposed by Superintendent Angelini in order to improve the Academy's image.

Or is it that just a portion gets assigned to teams?

For the moment.

Or are they just quarantined at first and kept away from society without training? I even remember something about a specific time length of Ghost training from the Nova novel (though I can't recall the actual figure), which makes the whole thing even stranger.

You're confusing the manual, which was written before the fall of the Confederacy, with Nova's training, which occurred afterward.

I'm getting the manga some time next week, hopefully it's good. Is there any resolution to Phash's fate?

Sort of.

What happens to the head honchos at the Ghost Academy?

That would be a spoiler. There was a bruising encounter with a barely-glimpsed character from the StarCraft comic. (Makes me wonder when the StarCraft OGN's ISBN number will be published. Simon Furman has said 0 words about it since last August.)

How do things end for Nova, Tosh and the other members of team blue?

It's now Team Purple, and of course, that's a spoiler.

[l33telboi]

Well, I just read the thing and I can't say I'm in love with it. I actually think it's the worst of the three in the series.

Hidden Content:

The whole ending seemed so... pointless. I mean the memories of team purple is effectively erased, with the exception of Tosh. Plus the kids they were there to save were also killed off behind the scenes. Colin and his story, despite his appearance throughout the series, also seem to end without anything significant having happened. There’s little to nothing that moves him forward from what we already learned in the Frontline issue.

What we're treated too is basically just one long combat operation, and even that is somewhat lackluster. I especially disliked the whole nuking thing. First the commodore figures a nuke ought to blow up the hives, then he suddenly changes his mind and says a spread of a dozen Apocalypse-class nukes ought to do it, and the finally, what we're treated to is three nukes going boom. And the boom isn't exactly what I expected considering Apocalypse-class nukes are supposed to be pretty high-yield.

And the whole Battlecruiser thing. Alright, so first the battlecruiser is shot down. It crashes into the ground is royally screwed up. But then Lio comes along and figures it's not that big of a deal and repairs it by talking to the computers, then he even gets it flying again and the thing doesn't seem to have any problems at all. I mean... that just seems very silly to me.

I can't say I've loved the Ghost Academy series as a whole, but this issue was definitely a low note.

[Kimera757]

Well, I just read the thing and I can't say I'm in love with it. I actually think it's the worst of the three in the series.

Hidden Content:

The whole ending seemed so... pointless. I mean the memories of team purple is effectively erased, with the exception of Tosh.

The memory wipe was only really relevant for Tosh and Nova. They were in love and fell out. Nova then tries to kill him (and depending on your choice in Wings of Liberty, may do so). I suspect that's very relevant in Spectres.

Plus the kids they were there to save were also killed off behind the scenes.

Yeah. That was pretty sad. Nova et al. didn't know how much of a nutjob Mengsk was.

Colin and his story, despite his appearance throughout the series, also seem to end without anything significant having happened. There’s little to nothing that moves him forward from what we already learned in the Frontline issue.

I was upset about that somewhat. I don't really care about Colin Phash himself, but I learned nothing about Angelini or about the Ghostmaster. Said Ghostmaster was supposed to be a major character in the StarCraft comic, but it got canned before he made much of an appearance. There's no information about whether he will appear in the OGN. (He was supposed to manipulate the War Pigs, but we're told they won't be coming back.)

I hope he appears in Spectres, otherwise that scene was a waste.

And the boom isn't exactly what I expected considering Apocalypse-class nukes are supposed to be pretty high-yield.

The Dominion doesn't have access to said nukes, and you're right about the pathetic bang. He (meaning the author) must have made an error naming them.

[LordofAscension]

Make sure to check out SC:L's official review available on the front-page now!!!



~LoA