Why invade the terran sector?

[FanaticTemplar]

If Kerrigan's intent was to wipe out all the Terrans before they could do the same to her, the Zerg forces wouldn't have been spread out and that she'd brook no chance of counter attack

What makes you say that? She has a massive numbers advantage and surprise on her side. It seems to me that the best strategy is to simultaneously strike down as many worlds as she could.

[Turalyon]

What makes you say that? She has a massive numbers advantage and surprise on her side. It seems to me that the best strategy is to simultaneously strike down as many worlds as she could.

It's questionable whether her numbers meant for anything if they were spread thin across the entire sector as other's seem to be suggesting. That's why I asked whether you had ditched Kerrigan's motivation for breaking her 4 year silence was "to get artifacts" for your theory of "total Terran annihilation because she was scared of them".

I'd hardly call her eventual attack that much of a surprise either when everyone would have been anticipating it ever since BW ended (or was 4 years enough time for the Terrans to get lazy and stop worrying about the Zerg, too? Who knows.).

The idea of simultaneous strikes also seems to be at odds with Kerrigan's supposed worry of being defeated by Terrans because it indicates over-confidence/fearlessness on Kerrigan's part against Terrans. It's a bit incongruous, especially when her "tactics" made Char open to counter-attack and she made no attemps to hide herself. It has this "trying to sneak up on a snake, knowing it could potentially kill you, and stomp on its head before it can bite you" logic to it...

[FanaticTemplar]

It's questionable whether her numbers meant for anything if they were spread thin across the entire sector as other's seem to be suggesting. That's why I asked whether you had ditched Kerrigan's motivation for breaking her 4 year silence was "to get artifacts" for your theory of "total Terran annihilation because she was scared of them".

Well, there were Terrans on all those worlds, so the Terrans would be stretched thin as well. There are more Zerg than Terrans, if both are divided among an equal number of worlds, the Zerg will still have more numbers than Terrans. Besides, I'm sure Kerrigan wasn't afraid of the Dominion as a military threat. It probably was the artefacts, hence the Moebius hunt.

I'd hardly call her eventual attack that much of a surprise either when everyone would have been anticipating it ever since BW ended

Yeah, they knew the Zerg would come back eventually. But when is that going to be? A day? A month? A year? Ten, a hundred? You can't just spend the rest of your existence crouching in ambush. Some people have Empires to rebuild.

The idea of simultaneous strikes also seems to be at odds with Kerrigan's supposed worry of being defeated by Terrans because it indicates over-confidence/fearlessness on Kerrigan's part against Terrans. It's a bit incongruous, especially when her "tactics" made Char open to counter-attack and she made no attemps to hide herself. It has this "trying to sneak up on a snake, knowing it could potentially kill you, and stomp on its head before it can bite you" logic to it...

Yeah, but what's the alternative? Hide on Char and gather all your minions around you so you can spend the rest of your existence in a prison of your own making, where you will only get attacked at a time and manner of your enemy's choosing, when they are most ready for you? There are no perfect plans.

[Turalyon]

Well, there were Terrans on all those worlds, so the Terrans would be stretched thin as well. There are more Zerg than Terrans, if both are divided among an equal number of worlds, the Zerg will still have more numbers than Terrans.

That wasn't the point I was trying to make (see next response).... Still, it's kinda pointless attacking numerous Terran worlds that aren't really a threat to her. She's diverting forces that could 've been used more effectively and tactically elsewhere.

Besides, I'm sure Kerrigan wasn't afraid of the Dominion as a military threat. It probably was the artefacts, hence the Moebius hunt.

Ok, that finally makes sense now. You didn't mention anything about artifacts in your big theory so I was under the impression that you thought that Kerrigan was only coming out to attack the Terrans for the sake of a forecast that the Terrans would kill her later. It initially sounded like the justification for the Xindi's actions in Enterprise. It was lame and full of suck then, too.

Yeah, they knew the Zerg would come back eventually. But when is that going to be? A day? A month? A year? Ten, a hundred? You can't just spend the rest of your existence crouching in ambush. Some people have Empires to rebuild.

Convenient that she didn't just continue her rampage right from the end of BW and finish them off. If she was so overly paranoid and fearful of them, she could've wiped them out then. Would've been easier, too.

Yeah, but what's the alternative? Hide on Char and gather all your minions around you so you can spend the rest of your existence in a prison of your own making, where you will only get attacked at a time and manner of your enemy's choosing, when they are most ready for you? There are no perfect plans.

No. It's just plain simple tactical thinking. You don't expend forces on useless targets or make yourself vulnerable to attack especially if you fear the enemy (and their supposed potential kill you) you are fighting.

[Turalyon]

Accidental double post

[FanaticTemplar]

That wasn't the point I was trying to make (see next response).... Still, it's kinda pointless attacking numerous Terran worlds that aren't really a threat to her. She's diverting forces that could 've been used more effectively and tactically elsewhere.

Ok, that finally makes sense now. You didn't mention anything about artifacts in your big theory so I was under the impression that you thought that Kerrigan was only coming out to attack the Terrans for the sake of a forecast that the Terrans would kill her later. It initially sounded like the justification for the Xindi's actions in Enterprise. It was lame and full of suck then, too.

Oh, my apologies. I should have been clearer. Yes, the Terrans are certainly not a direct military threat to the Swarm in the post-Brood War era (neither are the Protoss, actually), so presumably she had an idea that the Terrans would stumble upon some secret weapon. As such, there's no specific reason to go for the bulk of the Terran forces, since that could be a drawn out conflict, when you can wipe out as many potential Terran worlds as possible. Ultimately, since the threat came from Raynor, focusing on the Dominion fleet would have left her more vulnerable anyway.

Convenient that she didn't just continue her rampage right from the end of BW and finish them off. If she was so overly paranoid and fearful of them, she could've wiped them out then. Would've been easier, too.

Well, we're discussing stuff that was written out of StarCraft II, so I couldn't begin to guess when, where or how Kerrigan learned of the Overmind's vision. I'm just guessing that this was the original motivation, then it was taken out and wasn't replaced with anything, which would explain the confusing mess we were left with. Kerrigan retreating to Char is not an invention of StarCraft II though, that's from Brood War.

No. It's just plain simple tactical thinking. You don't expend forces on useless targets or make yourself vulnerable to attack especially if you fear the enemy (and their supposed potential kill you) you are fighting.

Except they're not useless targets. It's killing the enemy she fears. That's the whole objective.

[Turalyon]

As such, there's no specific reason to go for the bulk of the Terran forces, since that could be a drawn out conflict, when you can wipe out as many potential Terran worlds as possible.

It's still a little bit fuzzy on the logic there. She fears the Terrans will one-up her, with the most immediate threat being their current military forces and then goes about dividing her forces to attack all Terran worlds, most of which are pointless targets that pose no threat to her forces whatsoever (like Agria) and diluting/weakening her potential at attacking major worlds (like Korhal) in the process, whilst all at the risk of inciting the most capable aspects of the Terran military (which she apparently fears) into finally taking action against her and potentially self-fulfilling the prophecy of her own death at Terran hands. That makes her either genre blind, stupid or both. Either way, still doesn't make for a worthy villain does it?

Ultimately, since the threat came from Raynor, focusing on the Dominion fleet would have left her more vulnerable anyway.

Correction: the actual threat came from Valerian and his half of the Dominion fleet. Without it, Raynor wouldn't have got anywhere near Kerrigan nor had the tools to harm her. Makes you wonder what would've happened had she gone straight straight for the Dominion fleet first. Oh wait, that happened in HotS! And she won! Shocking how things turn out, isn't it?

Well, we're discussing stuff that was written out of StarCraft II, so I couldn't begin to guess when, where or how Kerrigan learned of the Overmind's vision. I'm just guessing that this was the original motivation, then it was taken out and wasn't replaced with anything, which would explain the confusing mess we were left with.

Maybe in the moment the Overmind died, it psionically transmitted this prophecy to her. Hell, she could've just gone straight back to Aiur to touch the Overmind's tendrils (apparently they give good visions and prophecy) at anytime given that it was already overrun with Zerg. Unfortunately, it's still a bit of a mess if we go down this route, too.

Except they're not useless targets. It's killing the enemy she fears. That's the whole objective.

Yes, but quite irrational. It's like being told that you will be killed by a snake bite one day and then you go off hunting down every snake in the whole world with everything and every resource/aid at your disposal, up to and including putting yourself at risk by taking part in killing snakes personally.

[FanaticTemplar]

It's still a little bit fuzzy on the logic there. She fears the Terrans will one-up her, with the most immediate threat being their current military forces and then goes about dividing her forces to attack all Terran worlds, most of which are pointless targets that pose no threat to her forces whatsoever (like Agria) and diluting/weakening her potential at attacking major worlds (like Korhal) in the process, whilst all at the risk of inciting the most capable aspects of the Terran military (which she apparently fears) into finally taking action against her and potentially self-fulfilling the prophecy of her own death at Terran hands. That makes her either genre blind, stupid or both. Either way, still doesn't make for a worthy villain does it?

Actually, you're committing a typical prophecy related fallacy, focusing on the most obvious possible interpretation to the detriment of all others. But unless the prophecy specifically says that the Queen of Blades will be destroyed by the might of the Terran Dominion's military, that's unwise, and narratively practically always wrong. So it would be most accurate to say that your problem with her is that she was too genre-savvy and not narrow-minded enough. Besides, your position doesn't really make any sense. The Dominion military was not a threat to the Swarm, as you pointed out below. So you're basically saying that it was stupid of her to spread out her forces to eliminate multiple not-a-threats, when instead she should have focused all her resources on eliminating a single not-a-threat.

Correction: the actual threat came from Valerian and his half of the Dominion fleet. Without it, Raynor wouldn't have got anywhere near Kerrigan nor had the tools to harm her. Makes you wonder what would've happened had she gone straight straight for the Dominion fleet first. Oh wait, that happened in HotS! And she won! Shocking how things turn out, isn't it?

That's an interesting interpretation, given that Raynor was the one who had the artefact, he was the one Valerian came to for help executing his plan and was the one who basically rescued the Dominion armada during the invasion of Char. Now, let's say that Kerrigan had sent her Swarm to wipe out the Dominion. How hard do you think it would have been for Raynor to convince one of the other powers - the Protectorate or Combine or, hell, even the Protoss - to take down Kerrigan given that he had the weapon to do so, that Char was left vulnerable by the invasion, and that Kerrigan was clearly intent on eradicating the other species? Evidently, your plan does not improve her chances of survival.

Yes, but quite irrational. It's like being told that you will be killed by a snake bite one day and then you go off hunting down every snake in the whole world with everything and every resource/aid at your disposal, up to and including putting yourself at risk by taking part in killing snakes personally.

I think the odds of the Swarm wiping out all of humanity are far better than the odds of one guy wiping out all of snakedom, but even setting that aside, you put on some armoured boots and thick pants and you'll be far better equipped to survive snakes than when you're sleeping or just walking about doing your business.

[Turalyon]

Actually, you're committing a typical prophecy related fallacy, focusing on the most obvious possible interpretation to the detriment of all others. But unless the prophecy specifically says that the Queen of Blades will be destroyed by the might of the Terran Dominion's military, that's unwise, and narratively practically always wrong. So it would be most accurate to say that your problem with her is that she was too genre-savvy and not narrow-minded enough. Besides, your position doesn't really make any sense. The Dominion military was not a threat to the Swarm, as you pointed out below. So you're basically saying that it was stupid of her to spread out her forces to eliminate multiple not-a-threats, when instead she should have focused all her resources on eliminating a single not-a-threat.

I actually don't have a position as of yet. My confusion at the fuzzy logic being employed to explain her actions in your interpretation is making me spitball alternative explanations. I'm struggling to understand the motivation behind Kerrigan's choice of action here and how it's supposed to be interpreted by the audience. The prophecy is where all the problems begin, I think. We don't know how much stock we, as the audience, are supposed to take into it and how to expect Kerrigan reacts to it either.

If the audience are to expect that the Terrans are really a non-threat whether she attacks them head on or not, you're correct that it doesn't really matter how she approaches the attack. However, Kerrigan can't know this because she is coloured by the prophecy that tells her the Terrans will end her. What makes her think that attacking relatively minor, potential threats (as she perceives them) in the numerous fringe colonies is better than attacking the more immediate, relatively major threat (as she would perceive them) in the core worlds and/or main Dominion fleet? How are we, the audience supposed to know this?

The audience and Kerrigan don't know the apparent time frame as to when this prophecy is supposed to be fulfilled (or not?) either so there are also questions about the timing of her attack. Also, given the fatalism that Kerrigan displays in WoL, the interpretation that she chose to attack the Terrans at all is to actually fulfill the prophecy (ie: her dying) is also a reasonable explanation that can't be discounted.

That's an interesting interpretation, given that Raynor was the one who had the artefact, he was the one Valerian came to for help executing his plan and was the one who basically rescued the Dominion armada during the invasion of Char. Now, let's say that Kerrigan had sent her Swarm to wipe out the Dominion. How hard do you think it would have been for Raynor to convince one of the other powers - the Protectorate or Combine or, hell, even the Protoss - to take down Kerrigan given that he had the weapon to do so, that Char was left vulnerable by the invasion, and that Kerrigan was clearly intent on eradicating the other species? Evidently, your plan does not improve her chances of survival.

Raynor only had the artifact at all due to information from Valerian (fed down through Tychus somehow, even though he was working for Mengsk and that Mengsk was probably not aware of the artifacts power until later... or something. One has to start making assumptions given the dearth of information). Not to mention that Valerian (or rather Narud who was perhaps manipulating him) was the only person who knew how to weaponise the artifact against Kerrigan. I don't know why Valerian chose Raynor at all given that he was losing his fight against Mengsk and out-of-sorts in more ways than one when he found him through Tychus. Valerian also supposedly had a tactical genius in Warfield (disregarding the fact that he is actually incompetent as WoL eventually shows us), so he could have conceivably got the artifacts himself. This is disregarding the fact that Narud could've done without Valerian altogether because the Tal'darim were Narud's puppets all along and had immediate access to the artifacts already...

The Protectorate or Combine angle is speculative given that their strength is implied to be less than the Dominion/Confederacy even at the best of times. Given the information about the artifacts belongs only to Valerian, Raynor wouldn't have any point recruiting them because he'd have no weapon to use.

As to Kerrigan herself, I'm surprised she wasn't located where the bulk of her forces were and/or constantly on the move if she wanted to complete the destruction of the Terrans and avoid being killed by them. At this point, there's nothing that can really improve her chances of survival, so why not go out whilst being proactive? That said, I don't know what Kerrigan is thinking or how I'm supposed to understand it anyway so it's kinda moot anyway.

I think the odds of the Swarm wiping out all of humanity are far better than the odds of one guy wiping out all of snakedom, but even setting that aside, you put on some armoured boots and thick pants and you'll be far better equipped to survive snakes than when you're sleeping or just walking about doing your business.

Wasn't really going for the actual possibility of it being realised one way or another here but rather to highlight the absurdity of rationalising such action.

[FanaticTemplar]

Well, as I said I'm reaching into some seriously speculative areas here. Even if my theory is correct, it was wiped out during rewrites before we got to our current version of the product. I don't know how the audience was supposed to interpret a product I never got to see, I'm just trying to piece together the original idea for something that can only be inducted through observing some vestigial remains of the earlier draft.

Because in the released version, as Gradius noted, there's very little reason for Kerrigan's invasion of the Koprulu Sector.