Dominion Censorship

[Gradius]

How much do the Dominion civilians know about Mengsk's war crimes? Here's what the WoL news casts tell us:

Vermillion
Emperor, much has been written in regards to the tragic fall of Tarsonis. Tilosky's investigative documentary 'Imperial Dawn', even claims that you brought down the Confederate system by assuring Tarsonis' fall.

Arcturus
I've heard these conspiracy theories before. But the fact remains the zerg invaded Tarsonis en masse and no force in the universe could have stopped their onslaught. It was a very...terrible day.

Vermillion
Tilosky's film highlights the seeming...convenience of the aliens annihilating a corrupt government that you yourself spent a lifetime trying to overthrow.

Donny
This is Donny Vermillion, live from UNN. Tonight we're going to discuss the infamous Queen of Blades. Scientists and military insiders have long speculated that the enigmatic alien is, in fact, an infested human.

Kate
That's right Donny. Is it possible that the leader of the zerg has a human heart?

Donny
More importantly, Kate --could this mean some kind of terran-zerg alliance is possible?

Kate
Donny, there's never been any evidence -- at all -- to suggest that infested humans retain their free will.

Here are some facts that the quotes above seem to indicate:
1) Dominion citizens don't know about Mengsk's use of Psi Emitters.
2) Or that the Queen of Blades is Sarah Kerrigan.
3) Or that Mengsk worked with the zerg in BW.

Any of these facts really would have prevented him from reclaiming his title as Emperor. Logically, working with the zerg to dethrone the UED should have painted Mengsk as a traitor to humanity. However, we're led to believe that his strangehold on the media prevented that from happening. That's why the efforts of Michael Liberty, Tilosky and others to reveal the truth are relegated to fringe conspiracy theories.

And yet, one wonders how such is possible.

1) Didn't any of the soldiers that fought alongside Mengsk find it odd that the zerg helped them sack Korhal and that they would park right next to their base without any fear in "True Colors"? It should have been obvious that they were working with the zerg.
2) Kerrigan was second-in-command in the Sons of Korhal and arguably the most famous ghost agent. Wouldn't word of her leading the swarm have spread like wildfire throughout Mengsk's ranks?
3) Dugalle knew about Kerrigan, and he was Mengsk's enemy. Would have been extremely easy for him to disseminate this "propaganda" given that all the Dominion colonies were under UED control.
4) Michael Liberty essentially told everyone what happened:

The figure takes another long puff, and the final coffin nail joins the others on the floor. “And you people, whoever you are, need to hear it. True and unfiltered. That’s why the holo transmissions: they’re harder to fake. And I’m spreading this as far as I can, over the open wavelengths, so everyone knows about Mengsk, and the Zerg, and the Protoss. And knows about men and women like Jim Raynor and Sarah Kerrigan, so they and others like them may not be forgotten.”

It becomes especially problematic when you consider these facts:
1) In True Colors a random marine says "All units prepare for retaliation! Kerrigan caught us with our pants down, but it's time to start givin' some back!"
2) In Reign of Fire the SCV says "Um, with all due respect to Miss Kerrigan sir. These critters make me nervous as hell. I sure would appreciate some immediate evac."

This proves that Mengsk's soldiers DID know that Kerrigan was the zerg commander and that he worked with her. Michael Liberty's story should have been corroborated beyond a shadow of a doubt by the mere fact that the Queen of Blades is Kerrigan.

Just wondering how it's possible for Mengsk to have supressed all knowledge of his activities at a time when he was dethroned, on the run, and all his colonies were controlled by the UED. It's almost like WoL operates under the assumption that these planets have had zero news or information about the war being fed to them.

[Shadow Archon]

Well, according to Frontline, citizens and civilians on the core worlds do know, and were rioting as early as 2502. Censorship isn't anywhere near fool-proof.







The Dominion just brutally murders them when they protest without any one to stop them, killing some, and turning anyone else who survives into more Marines via Resoc. And that's on the core worlds!

The outlying colonies don't have the luxury of escaping the Dominion either. Any hint of what the Dominion considers rebellion, and, well....



Arcturus wasn't fooling everyone. You can tell in-game from the levels on Mar Sara, even if it is hammy.

The Dominion can openly afford to kill pretty much anyone who openly rebels, and spread the news however they would like to.

Media Blitz just managed to abuse Mengsk's monopoly on the news. By using the seemingly only one news network that exist, Mengsk managed to control what other worlds heard about what was happening on other worlds. The same way Mengsk managed to isolate each planet, Raynor managed to deliver the news about Tarsonis to everyone at once, and with evidence that propaganda couldn't really dispute.

Before that, any Marines that are on the Dominion's side can be Resoced to do anything Mengsk wants them to, and any civilian that starts promoting UED propaganda can be shot as a UED sympathizer, or "suddenly" have a change of heart and enlist in the military "willingly."

Hell, Mengsk managed to hold onto the Dominion even after Media Blitz, and open riots on Korhal. His military dictatorship is just too powerful for any normal citizen resistance.

[The_Blade]

Dominion colonies during BW were probably held down by fear or corrupt goverment officials. After the UED took over Korhal, most colonies probably changed their allegiance in favor of a better government or profit.

A lot of people probably knew about what really went down, but they were not interested in doing something against it. There are a lot of reasons, including what shadown archon pointed out.

I'm just surprised Kate Lockwell got as far as she did. There should be some book or mini-campagin built around an underground group that helped her, without Kate finding out. Mr. Liberty and some other folks could be around the story.

[Shadow Archon]

I'm just surprised Kate Lockwell got as far as she did. There should be some book or mini-campagin built around an underground group that helped her, without Kate finding out. Mr. Liberty and some other folks could be around the story.

Frontline manga volume 2 actually has Kate Lockwell and Liberty meet face to face.

Her camera man was a source for Liberty, and was sending him the data.

Liberty and his men and actually saved her life.

[The_Blade]

Now I remember! Well, we should get some more of that!

[Hawki]

Oh boy I can see where this is going. Y'know, you could have gone the full length in the original post to go the "Mengsk should have returned to SoK status" and "the UED should have been welcomed with open arms." So, I'll save us all some time:

-I don't think it's a case of the Dominion's citizenry not knowing anything per se - Liberty's transmissions must have reached some people for instance. However, I'd say it's more a case of willful ignorance/incredulity. There's certainly a precedent in-universe, how the Confederacy claimed that Korhal was planning to nuke Tarsonis first and their strike was to stop that from happening, a claim that seems to have been swallowed up by many people (see LC, Nova). Likewise with SK, most people are aware of her being SK, and being a former ally of Mengsk (e.g. ghosts are told that she willingly defected), but Mengsk's hands themselves are kept clean.

-Concerning SoK loyalists, there's other facets to consider bar BW itself, which I'll get to. Concerning the Fall of Tarsonis, those remaining can be in group A (Raynor's Raiders, whose claims are going to treated with suspicion due to their status as a rebel group), group B (stay with SoK but are uneasy) or group C (completely loyal). There's a precedent for dealing with group B though, since Mengsk has initiated at least two purges within his military, and the first one involved officers (see SotXN). No doubt there's been claims over the years, but what I took from Tilosky is that Mengsk is willing to play the propaganda game. Let people claim these things, deny them, and make themselves look like conspiracy theorists in the process. We saw with the Confederacy that many willed themselves to believe that the zerg and protoss didn't even exist.

-BW is a problem, but it ties in with other points that I'll cover here. Firstly, like I said, it's problematic, that we have zerg working with terrans, and even if they're being kept separate on the battlefield in the teamup phase, I can see info leaking out. However, the "traitor to humanity" idea is flawed, because the UED were using zerg as well, who were also fighting alongside their forces. By all indications, Mengsk is liberating the people of Korhal from an invading force (UED), who they have every reason to fear historically (UPL), and have every reason to hate contemporarily (unprovoked invasion). We can speculate that the UED tried to implement a WHAM policy, and maybe you can argue there's evidence of this in BW itself (claiming the sector "for all mankind" and other platitudes the end vid and DuGalle utters). And of course, the above points have used some spec in themselves as well, but I'd still maintain that they're spec stemming from facts (fact - Mengsk inititated purges, fact - Confederacy painted SoK as the aggressors, etc.). The idea that the UED managed to paint themselves as liberators, heroes, or whatever in so short a time however, is one that I find to be really reaching.

So yes, the zerg on Korhal are problematic. But end point, the UED has no monopoly on heroism, and by all indications, Mengsk did save Korhal from an occupying force. It's logical to assume that some people would lose faith in Mengsk post-TC, and heck, a lot of people no doubt did (Dominion's tenuous grip on its colonies, poor UP/KMC relations, etc.). But it's also logical to assume that some are going to stand by Mengsk due to the removal of an occupying force.

-Since I know the following points will come up (immediate post-BW, UED), I'll address them now.

1) "Tyrants can only survive as long as they portray another tyrant as a threat." This is a quote from LC, and while it's not word for word, it's close enough. It's a statement that's true in reality (I don't want to bring real world politics into this, but as a quickie, take Hitler's scapegoating of the Jews, and the threat of the Bolsheviks, what with Stalin being another tyrant), and a statement that's true to the setting, and other literature. The Confederacy portrayed the KMC as a threat to its citizens' liberty in the Guild Wars, and did the same to the SoK. Mengsk has no shortage of tyrants to choose from - there's the zerg, the UED, rebels, heck, the average terran citizen has good reason to hate the protoss too as per Tassadar's actions in SC1. We've seen this "greater tyrant" game played in SC1 (inaguration cinematic), we've seen it played post-BW (e.g. Frontline), and to use another work, Animal Farm is chilling as to how it portrays this. I've compared Mengsk to Napoleon before, and I'll do it here. Napoleon stays in power, because as bad as things get (animals get worse off throughout the story), for whatever he fails at (destruction of the windmill), he's still able to keep in power. He does so because he's able to portray Jones as a threat that only he can defend against. As long as that external threat exists, he can get away with anything. So for Mengsk, even after Korhal, even after Char Aleph, it strikes me as true to the setting and human nature that he stays in power. Because as long as he can portray a situation without him as being worse than the situation that currently exists, he has the mandate to stay in power. Weakened power of course, and not without internal threats (e.g. Hauler) and external rebellion (funny how the Dominion only stars dealing with rebels after BW bar the CLF, and I doubt Duran was in it for terran wellbeing), but power nonetheless.

And since it's going to come up, yes, the UP blockade is a sore thorn in the status quo of 2500, post-BW. However, I have two points. Firstly, the date was given outside the work itself, and I've got a feeling that it was a gimp. But fair enough, that's speculation. The second point is that Mercenaries exists, which states that the Dominion's military is so weak after BW they have to hire mercenaries. That, and we have other sources stating that the Dominion is sparring with the UP and KMC (Frontline is the main source for this, but various other web sources exist too). Point is, the UP story is an anomoly. A glaring anomoly, but it's not indicative of the post-BW situation. Not when we've seen the Dominion have to rebuild its military (GA), deal with political rivals (Thundergod, the Starry Lace story), espionage from said rivals (Collateral Damage) and internal insurgency (Spectres). The in's and outs can be debated until the cows come home - for instance, I've seen the claim that the KMC can claim a victory over the zerg per the raid in Episode VI. I'll take that as a possibility, but then one must also concede that Mengsk can portray defeats as victories too (overthrows UED, spins Char Aleph as a victory in that the zerg remain inactive afterwards) and has even done so in lore (Artika is portrayed as a worthwhile sacrifice, if not victory). And since his Omega line will not doubt be used as evidence for people wanting his head (see "I called in a few favors. Made a few concessions. You'd be surprised to see how many special interest groups in this sector want to see you dead."), all that tells me is that he called in what people already owed him, or acquiesed to existing demands that were met, upon condition of providing military power. Mengsk isn't in a position to owe anyone anything by this dialogue.

2) Mengsk going back to SoK status. I know this is going to come up eventually in the thread, so I'll deal with this ahead of time. Firstly, it's technically possible. I could see that happening. But almost anything could have happened post-BW, and I disptute that BW itself really provides a mandate for it. Not when the last line is that Mengsk goes back to rule and rebuild his Dominion. Yes, Gradius has attributed that to delusions of granduer, but if that's the case, then I can just as easily claim that Artanis shouldn't be Hierarch despite the same text stating that Artanis is going to rebuild protoss civilization (after all, the protoss are in a precarious position too, with leaders such as Aldaris and Raszagal dead, among others). The "green text" has so far been infalliable up to the end of BW, so when it states something, I tend to take it as fact. Storywise...look, anyone can claim that x would be better than y, story is inherantly subjective, but all I can say is that Mengsk with SoK status was a story told when he had...well, SoK status. WoL and HotS are a story of (among other things) how a man who could fight and win an empire couldn't hold it, that while Mengsk is a great tactician, he's not a great ruler (insert Robert Baratheon reference here). Both these statements will no doubt be disputed, but all I can say is that I liked Mengsk in WoL. One of the reasons I liked him because it showed what I'd suspected as early as when I read Liberty's Crusade. Mengsk is someone who loves to work towards something. He works as a prospector, but gives up his big hit to lead a rebellion. He leads that rebellion to victory and gains an empire, but squanders his rule. Mengsk has always been a general first rather than a ruler. In contrast, Valerian has always been a ruler rather than a general (in as much that he hasn't accomplished military feats that come close to emulating his father). To segway a bit, Mengsk is sort of a dark mirror to Raynor, in that Raynor has always operated on the need to fight for a cause (CMC, MSCC, SoK, protoss, RR), and even after the Dominion topples, goes on to help rebuild human civilization. Raynor wants to fight for something, and will fight for another good cause if the previous one is accomplished (overthrowing Dominion), deemed unachievable (taking out Kerrigan) or deemed morally bankrupt (SoK overthrow of Confederacy). Mengsk will also fight for something, but lacks the moral compass to work within his own achievement, or change tune. Think of how Mengsk reacts to his own citizens as the images Shadow Archon posted. The tragedy of Mengsk is that he knows how to fight for what he wants, but doesn't know how to keep it. Heck, even Juliana was arguably a "conquest" of sorts. People have complained about Mengsk ruling ineffectively in WoL, but to that I can only say, "that's the point." (similar thing with Kerrigan's WoL persona, but that's another matter). Mengsk knows how to rule in some aspects (e.g. the propaganda game, as I mentioned), but not only can he collapse in that (see post-Blitz) but it was a game he was already playing with the SoK. That Mengsk so quickly squanders relations with the UP and KMC (see I, M) even before BW, and how willingly he results to the use of force, shows what kind of ruler he is.

But like I said, subjective. And no doubt that's going to be disputed too.

3) UED. Specifically the idea that they should have become their own political player. To which I say...no. Just no. By SC2, the Dominion is a weakened political player (makes sense), the KMC and UP are distinctly independent and vying for influence (makes sense), and the UED...well, the UED is the remnants of an invading force that was small in size, that's got every right to be hated by the average Dominion citizen, and is in no position to form their own political body. Heck, Raynor's Raiders have more of a basis to form an independent body, because as small as they are, they didn't invade a sector without provocation, nor do they have a history that stems back centuries that includes genocide. It makes sense that UED remnants are present (which they are, see Spectres and the original Ghost), and I could easily see the KMC and UP giving them support for anti-Dominion activities. But as a political body? No.

And before it's brought up, whatever leniency the UED gave the KMC for its mining operations in BW is moot since the KMC is free of the Dominion anyway. So while the UED fighting the Dominion is no doubt good for the KMC (same as with every other anti-Dominion rebel group), there's no motive for them to want a UED state in the K sector.

...and that's that. I'm going to leave it there. Arms are tired, and that I've felt the need to address arguments that aren't even part of this thread yet shows how tired this debate is. No doubt I've missed something, no doubt there'll be some post that claims to tear this all apart, no doubt that post will have some merit, but right now, I'm past caring.

[Robear]

Another thing which hasn't been mentioned is that the Sons of Korhal did do some genuinely good things. Like, you don't have to be a Sons of Korhal loyalist, or know about the Kerrigan or the SoK being adjacent to the Zerg on Tarsonis, to remember that it was Mensgk that got you off of Mar Sara when the Confederacy was going to leave you for dead. Assuming the SoK did similar operations at other times, that could have been easily played up and memorialized. It'd be easier to want to dismiss rumors of war crimes if you came to consider Mengsk a savior.

- - - Updated - - -

Another thing which hasn't been mentioned is that the Sons of Korhal did do some genuinely good things. Like, you don't have to be a Sons of Korhal loyalist, or know about the Kerrigan or the SoK being adjacent to the Zerg on Tarsonis, to remember that it was Mensgk that got you off of Mar Sara when the Confederacy was going to leave you for dead. Assuming the SoK did similar operations at other times, that could have been easily played up and memorialized. It'd be easier to want to dismiss rumors of war crimes if you came to consider Mengsk a savior.

[Turalyon]

Just wondering how it's possible for Mengsk to have supressed all knowledge of his activities at a time when he was dethroned, on the run, and all his colonies were controlled by the UED. It's almost like WoL operates under the assumption that these planets have had zero news or information about the war being fed to them.

Coming from a lore-deprived perspective one could say that, if at the end of BW Mengsk was truly dethroned and made completely powerless, the knowledge of Mengsk's activities were not really suppressed at all but just ignored/made largely useless in terms of political potency because he was no longer in a position of power. Then again, such information would most likely be an obstacle for him to ever regain that power again should he wished to have tried again.

However, the other perspective is that Mengsk was never really rendered powerless in any significant political capacity at all in BW (as FT suggested in that other thread). This would mean he always had tight reign on any incriminating evidence that could reduce his political clout and was not in any real danger. Afterall, even after Kate Lockwell's exposing of Mengsk/ Raynor's Media Blitz, Mengsk shrugs both of these attacks off and still sits securely on this throne as that end of WoL epilogue states.

Other than, Hawki's done a good round-up.

[Telenil]

However, the other perspective is that Mengsk was never really rendered powerless in any significant political capacity at all in BW (as FT suggested in that other thread). This would mean he always had tight reign on any incriminating evidence that could reduce his political clout and was not in any real danger.

Mengsk himself compared the struggle he expects to come with the UED as his struggle against the Confederacy. He also admits that he can't hope to defeat the UED any time soon. By Emperor's Fall, the Dominion has lost the war and the UED controls most of the core worlds. If one thing should "reduce his political clout", this is it.

Afterall, even after Kate Lockwell's exposing of Mengsk/ Raynor's Media Blitz, Mengsk shrugs both of these attacks off and still sits securely on this throne as that end of WoL epilogue states.

On the other hand, Kate Lockwell should have been locked in New Folsom or worse two missions into the game, the Dominion should have reminded everyone that an audio recording can easily be faked by a competent engineer, and Arcturus shouldn't have blinked an eye when Lockwell played the audio during the press conference, especially since he already knew what it said.

I'm not sure that Media Blitz should be used to justify anything, except that the writers didn't take the story very seriously.

[Turalyon]

Mengsk himself compared the struggle he expects to come with the UED as his struggle against the Confederacy. He also admits that he can't hope to defeat the UED any time soon. By Emperor's Fall, the Dominion has lost the war and the UED controls most of the core worlds. If one thing should "reduce his political clout", this is it.

Don't get me wrong, I hear everything you say. But if one was inclined to accept the revisionist take on BW that nothing really happened because Mengsk was more or less "back" at the end of BW, then it makes sense. Course, this position paints the UED as being an even more feeble enemy than even before.

On the other hand, Kate Lockwell should have been locked in New Folsom or worse two missions into the game, the Dominion should have reminded everyone that an audio recording can easily be faked by a competent engineer, and Arcturus shouldn't have blinked an eye when Lockwell played the audio during the press conference, especially since he already knew what it said.

I'm not sure that Media Blitz should be used to justify anything, except that the writers didn't take the story very seriously.

Why should/shouldn't? Arcturus was ultimately untouched (that "securely on his throne" bit) by both Kate Lockwell's public outing in a media conference and Raynor's Media Blitz attack. Isn't that proof he didn't really need to do anything at all and that he is omnipotent? I don't really like the idea myself, but there is some logic (albeit somewhat twisted) in there.