Did Raynor tell Kerrigan she's supposed to save the universe?

[Turalyon]

I think the real question at hand is not about what Raynor believes and how that would affect Kerrigan but what Kerrigan believes alone. Why would Kerrigan take Raynor's dismissal of the prophecy to heart when she knows in truth that the potential threat it speaks of (and it's possible solution) is real?

Zeratul is quite likely among the Sector's deadliest assassins, has more than enough reasons to want Kerrigan dead and has just made his way to the heart of Kerrigan's Leviathan uninvited. She is completely justified in expecting danger and striking him down fast and hard. This is not evidence of a warped moral code.

Whoops, I probably should have worded that properly. I should have said, "in context of the above" rather than "either way".

Kerrigan should have known that Zeratul was the instigator of Raynor's stay of hand regarding Kerrigan in WoL (whether you like/include it or not - knowing your position on the Protoss stuff in WoL, FT, I take it as the latter) and that Zeratul actually intends to have her live. I know that the storyline about Raynor finding redemption without a plot gimmick of being "saviour of the galaxy" (which is what the Protoss portion in WoL essentially serves as) seems to fit your notion of WoL being "not so bad in story terms" but one has to consider that even without the Protoss stuff in WoL, the way in which Raynor achieves this redemption is through yet another another plot gimmick in the deus ex machina effect of the artifact on Kerrigan and the forced conceit in that "he just somehow lost his interest in wanting to kill her for some reason".

As to the claim of Zeratul being the most deadliest assassin, would Kerrigan even have had a chance to notice Zeratul and even attack him in the first place in HotS? In WoL, it is Kerrigan who gets the drop on Zeratul but in HotS, Zeratul has the initiative before Kerrigan realises he's there. It's much like the inanity of Raynor's ill-conceived raid on the Bucephalus where Valerian doesn't even bother to announce his intentions. In this case, we have Zeratul not even bothering to warn Kerrigan of his intentions and nearly gets himself killed for the trouble. Poor communications kills (oh hey, that's another overused trope), people!!

[Gradius]

If Zeratul wanted Kerrigan dead he wouldn't warp in right in front of her 20 feet away in a gesture of peace. Seems like Kerrigan should know that.

[FanaticTemplar]

As to the claim of Zeratul being the most deadliest assassin, would Kerrigan even have had a chance to notice Zeratul and even attack him in the first place in HotS? In WoL, it is Kerrigan who gets the drop on Zeratul but in HotS, Zeratul has the initiative before Kerrigan realises he's there.

In the cinematic, Kerrigan did detect Zeratul's presence before he appeared. I suppose it could have been deliberate on Zeratul's part, but that doesn't really appear to be the case.

It's much like the inanity of Raynor's ill-conceived raid on the Bucephalus where Valerian doesn't even bother to announce his intentions. In this case, we have Zeratul not even bothering to warn Kerrigan of his intentions and nearly gets himself killed for the trouble. Poor communications kills (oh hey, that's another overused trope), people!!

Well, yes. Definitely this. Zeratul likes his entrances :P.

If Zeratul wanted Kerrigan dead he wouldn't warp in right in front of her 20 feet away in a gesture of peace. Seems like Kerrigan should know that.

Zeratul showed up after Kerrigan detected him. If he'd wanted a gesture of peace, he should have called :P.

[Gradius]

Zeratul showed up after Kerrigan detected him. If he'd wanted a gesture of peace, he should have called :P.

Guess he didn't know the Leviathan's phone number. :P

But seriously, if Zeratul wanted her dead, he'd warp in behind her with the warp blade already shoved down her spine, as opposed to showing up right where she can see him, uncloaked, warp blades turned off. For all we know he was about to say why he showed up until Kerrigan went all psycho. But what can you expect from the character that murdered millions of people just to get revenge on one guy?

[NikoMyCousin]

Guess he didn't know the Leviathan's phone number. :P

But seriously, if Zeratul wanted her dead, he'd warp in behind her with the warp blade already shoved down her spine, as opposed to showing up right where she can see him, uncloaked, warp blades turned off. For all we know he was about to say why he showed up until Kerrigan went all psycho. But what can you expect from the character that murdered millions of people just to get revenge on one guy?

I don't think that's possible, Kerrigan knew he was on the ship/close by before he uncloaked. Just like Arcturus had sent some fleets to kill Kerrigan after she was in a weaker state, maybe she felt Zeratul and all her enemies would do the same.

I feel like part of this inconsistency comes from the terrible plot device of Kerrigan having "amnesia". Amnesia that she ended up remembering everything except for the Prophecy, which ended up being an irrelevant exception anyway.

[Turalyon]

In the cinematic, Kerrigan did detect Zeratul's presence before he appeared. I suppose it could have been deliberate on Zeratul's part, but that doesn't really appear to be the case.

Like Gradius said, what type of assassin magically appears in front of their victim, 20 feet away and proceeds to do nothing as their "victim" charges at them to attack?

Come to think of it, Raynor detected Zeratul's presence on the Hyperion before he technically appeared as well. Some "master assassin" Zeratul turned out to be, right?

In some cases, it's worse than the Valerian not advising Raynor thing in that Zeratul and Kerrigan are both capable of telepathy. Couldn't Zeratul "dial" Kerrigan via this? Why did he need to palm her head in order to impart such information?

I feel like part of this inconsistency comes from the terrible plot device of Kerrigan having "amnesia". Amnesia that she ended up remembering everything except for the Prophecy, which ended up being an irrelevant exception anyway.

Not to mention the fact that no-one bothered to fill her in on the current situation involving the Hybrids and the Ihan crystal.

[ragnarok]

Do we know for sure he doesn't believe in it? I mean, he was friends with Zeratul, so it's weird he'd disregard the thing.

I know that. But I think by the beginning of HotS, Raynor felt Zeratul wasn't telling him the whole picture. If that was the case, perhaps there was a way for someone ELSE to deal with the problem?

[ragnarok]

Kerrigan should have known that Zeratul was the instigator of Raynor's stay of hand regarding Kerrigan in WoL (whether you like/include it or not - knowing your position on the Protoss stuff in WoL, FT, I take it as the latter) and that Zeratul actually intends to have her live. I know that the storyline about Raynor finding redemption without a plot gimmick of being "saviour of the galaxy" (which is what the Protoss portion in WoL essentially serves as) seems to fit your notion of WoL being "not so bad in story terms" but one has to consider that even without the Protoss stuff in WoL, the way in which Raynor achieves this redemption is through yet another another plot gimmick in the deus ex machina effect of the artifact on Kerrigan and the forced conceit in that "he just somehow lost his interest in wanting to kill her for some reason".

Oh I doubt that, Turyalon. Zeratul has known of Raynor's deep feelings for Kerrigan for years. Kerrigan herself knew Raynor was suffering from guilt of what happened on Tarsonis, even when she was under Amon's influence. That's why she was not convinced he'd really kill her.

[Telenil]

Like Gradius said, what type of assassin magically appears in front of their victim, 20 feet away and proceeds to do nothing as their "victim" charges at them to attack?

To me, the worst part was to see a weakened Kerrigan charge Zeratul in melee.
Of all things.
She is in the middle of her headquarters, she can get massive backup in thirty seconds, she can cast psionic blasts from range, and her first move is to jump on the guy that can cut a siege tank in half. It is fortunate that Zeratul wasn't there to kill her, because it was definitely harder to facepalm her than to stab her in the face.

[TheEconomist]

Oh but the poetry of it all!

Seriously though, glad I'm not the only one that was frustrated by that cinematic.