Essence vs Form

[FanaticTemplar]

Now that I think of it, if we were to use the definition of form/essence that goes individual perfection/collective perfection, then by abandoning the Khala the Dark Templar would likely be the purest form, which would add to the duality by explaining what they're the only ones who could harm the Overmind and its Cerebrates.

[Visions of Khas]

by abandoning the Khala the Dark Templar would likely be the purest form

How do you figure? With the Khala we get badasses like Tassadar and Adun. But, Zeratul did mentioned in Queen of Blades that the powers of the Void were the true gift of the Protoss, which is interesting and directly conflicts with the Xel'Nagas' desire for a collectivist society.

[FanaticTemplar]

How do you figure? With the Khala we get badasses like Tassadar and Adun. But, Zeratul did mentioned in Queen of Blades that the powers of the Void were the true gift of the Protoss, which is interesting and directly conflicts with the Xel'Nagas' desire for a collectivist society.

Well, as I mentioned earlier, the Xel'Naga were originally going for total perfection with the Protoss, according to the manual. They wanted the Protoss to have both purity of form and purity of essence. When the Protoss cut themselves off from the Khala, this was perceived as a conflict of essence. So evidently, Khalai Protoss are purity of form, but also have, while not pure essence, they have pretty good essence. But by divorcing themselves completely from the Khala, the Dark Templar have no quality of essence. I speculate that this would make them anathema to something like the Overmind, which for most of the game didn't even appear to have a body at all, being pretty much entirely purity of essence.

The reason the likes of Tassadar are such badasses is because they're going both purity of form and purity of essence. By this reckoning, Tassadar would be the closest thing to a Xel'Naga before the Hybrids.

[Telenil]

Well, as I mentioned earlier, the Xel'Naga were originally going for total perfection with the Protoss, according to the manual. They wanted the Protoss to have both purity of form and purity of essence

I don't have the manual right now, but I don't think the Xel'Naga had even come up with the notions of form and essence before the Protoss turned against them. The way I remember it, they wanted to improve a race but it backfired, and they diagnosed that their "essence" had been corrupted by their ego. Thus the importance they gave to purity of essence. Then they came up with the concept of purity of form, as something that was more or less unnecessary when trying to reach purity of essence. I would need to check that in the manual, though.

Also, the Dark Templar could kill the Overmind because they used the same energy as he did, not something opposite. I don't think there is any relation between the sort of energy your wield and essence or form, which were philosophical concepts more than anything else.

[Turalyon]

I don't have the manual right now, but I don't think the Xel'Naga had even come up with the notions of form and essence before the Protoss turned against them. The way I remember it, they wanted to improve a race but it backfired, and they diagnosed that their "essence" had been corrupted by their ego. Thus the importance they gave to purity of essence. Then they came up with the concept of purity of form, as something that was more or less unnecessary when trying to reach purity of essence. I would need to check that in the manual, though.

Also, the Dark Templar could kill the Overmind because they used the same energy as he did, not something opposite. I don't think there is any relation between the sort of energy your wield and essence or form, which were philosophical concepts more than anything else.

Ssshh! Stop making sense, don't you know the most recent retcons rule all now?

[Robear]

I don't have the manual right now, but I don't think the Xel'Naga had even come up with the notions of form and essence before the Protoss turned against them. The way I remember it, they wanted to improve a race but it backfired, and they diagnosed that their "essence" had been corrupted by their ego. Thus the importance they gave to purity of essence. Then they came up with the concept of purity of form, as something that was more or less unnecessary when trying to reach purity of essence. I would need to check that in the manual, though.

The manual definitely decribes Purity of Form being a goal thousands of years before the Protoss even existed. But you're right about Purity of Essence coming after/because of the Protoss failure.

Obsessed with fashioning the perfect life-form, the Xel'Naga labored to create a creature that would be defined by a distinct purity of form. For thousands of years they carefully steered the delicate evolutionary processes of their budding species. Although their protracted experiments produced many intriguing deviants and mutations, the races that the Xel'Naga cultivated always fell short of their enormous expectations....

blah blah blah... One advanced race had developed tribal society and telepathy, on Aiur, one of their engineered worlds... Xel'Naga name them the Protoss/Firstborn... Over another millennium they guide the Protoss until they develop advanced culture, then reveal themselves. Protoss are overjoyed, but, as they quest for knowledge further, they become proud and isolated as tribes and individuals...

The Xel'Naga reeled in frustration. They speculated that perhaps they had pushed the evolution of the Protoss too far, marring the purity of their creation... The severing of the psychic link was also the greatest sign, to the Xel'Naga, that the Protoss had tragically lost the most fundamental element of their greatness.

And, the Xel'Naga leave.

Then, in the Zerg history, it says:

The inherent essence and sentience of the Protoss developed far too rapidly... The Xel'Naga deemed that the purity of form they sought to create had been sullied by a conflict of essence and thus decreed that the Protoss were, in fact, a failed creation... The Xel'Naga planned to continue their Grand Experiment of evolution, only this time they dismissed their tenets of a physical form and focused chiefly on the pursuit of a distinct purity of essence.

[Visions of Khas]

Race histories for quick reference.

[FanaticTemplar]

Also, the Dark Templar could kill the Overmind because they used the same energy as he did, not something opposite. I don't think there is any relation between the sort of energy your wield and essence or form, which were philosophical concepts more than anything else.

You're right. It was a thought I found interesting, but it seems it was indeed incorrect.

[Gradius]

I'm hoping that "essence" and "purity of essence" are two totally different things.