Drake's LotV Review/Recap [SPOILERIFFIC]

[Turalyon]

Amon says in Amon's Fall that he was essentially forced to become a Xel'naga and that he was ripped from everything he knew.

I thought the cycle of Xel'Naga creation was due to the eventual and mutual consent of those who contained the purities. But meh, what do I know? The Xel'Naga cycle was tacked on in the EU, it figures they'd go tampering with that to give Amon his "excuse". Either way, I don't care for it.

[ragnarok]

I thought the cycle of Xel'Naga creation was due to the eventual and mutual consent of those who contained the purities. But meh, what do I know? The Xel'Naga cycle was tacked on in the EU, it figures they'd go tampering with that to give Amon his "excuse". Either way, I don't care for it.

Basically it's now heavily conflicted.

Now because of LotV, the cycle is like this:

The Xel'Naga would seed some worlds where they would support life. Those life forms would technically NOT be considered a Xel'Naga creation because the planet evolved them. Eventually two life forms on two planets would hold purity of form and purity of essence. Until those two life forms are found, the Xel'Naga would go back to Ulnar and be in hiberation and wait it out.

Once the two life forms are finally found (which would probably take like billions of years), the Xel'Naga would wake up, have these two species find each other, and then come to them to merge them together with themselves to become the new generation of Xel'Naga.

Or something like that.

[Drake Clawfang]

Basically it's now heavily conflicted.

Now because of LotV, the cycle is like this:

The Xel'Naga would seed some worlds where they would support life. Those life forms would technically NOT be considered a Xel'Naga creation because the planet evolved them. Eventually two life forms on two planets would hold purity of form and purity of essence. Until those two life forms are found, the Xel'Naga would go back to Ulnar and be in hiberation and wait it out.

Once the two life forms are finally found (which would probably take like billions of years), the Xel'Naga would wake up, have these two species find each other, and then come to them to merge them together with themselves to become the new generation of Xel'Naga.

Or something like that.

Pretty much, yes - the DT Saga explained the same. At least Blizzard remembered that and kept it straight.

[Turalyon]

^ Ok, so because Kerrigan became a Xel'Naga, that means humans were "seeded" by the Xel'Naga and are actually the ones who have "purity of form" (not the Protoss), right?

Amon is dumber than I thought. His pursuit of killing the Protoss is pointless since he wrecked them already from the start, he should have killed all the humans instead - would've been easier, too. Gee, and here I thought the mangling of the origins of the Zerg couldn't be topped...

[ragnarok]

Pretty much, yes - the DT Saga explained the same. At least Blizzard remembered that and kept it straight.

Not exactly. In the DT Saga, Zamara was telling Jake and Zeratul that the uplifting had to happen.

THAT is why to have Kerrigan ascend is not a plothole:

Because Amon and his followers uplifted the Protoss, they've been tainted. But it's not the same taint as the Zerg.

Basically imagine a robot you built that can think for itself, have thought and reason for complex problem solving, etc. However, it must obey your every command the moment you push the magic button. But if you never pushed the magic button, then it's free to do whatever it wants.

And that is why because of this uplifting, the Protoss society did not achieve purity of form. Since Amon had uplifted them before the Nerazim were exiled from Aiur, this is why even the Dark Templar, who had their chords cut, were not free of Amon's taint.

For that reason, only species that were not handled by Amon AT ALL could be considered purity of form, hence the need for the terran race, since the Zerus pool only transformed Kerrigan into a primal Zerg/terran hybrid, and therefore she would qualify to have the purity of form and essence

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^ Ok, so because Kerrigan became a Xel'Naga, that means humans were "seeded" by the Xel'Naga and are actually the ones who have "purity of form" (not the Protoss), right?

Amon is dumber than I thought. His pursuit of killing the Protoss is pointless since he wrecked them already from the start, he should have killed all the humans instead - would've been easier, too. Gee, and here I thought the mangling of the origins of the Zerg couldn't be topped...

No, the original plan of the Xel'Naga was never to even touch the Protoss AT ALL. The terrans were never seeded by the Xel'Naga in the first place, not that we know of.

For the whole killing all terrans, it's likely because he felt there's no way to obtain the purity of form because the swarm had been corrupted already. Likely, he didn't know about the existence of the primal Zerg on Zerus.

[Turalyon]

For that reason, only species that were not handled by Amon AT ALL could be considered purity of form, hence the need for the terran race, since the Zerus pool only transformed Kerrigan into a primal Zerg/terran hybrid, and therefore she would qualify to have the purity of form and essence

Oh, I get it now, it's a retcon introduced in LotV. Should've said that at the start. Would've been less confusing.

No, the original plan of the Xel'Naga was never to even touch the Protoss AT ALL.

By "touch" you mean coming down to meet them (that's all they really did afterall)? Don't know how that could've of "wrecked" them forever. The Protoss had already and naturally developed their communal link and their physical bodies at the peak of perfection (their purity of form) by the time the Xel'Naga (or Amon as it has retconned to be) found them. Can we still assume Protoss are necessary for the creation of Xel'Naga or not anymore?

The terrans were never seeded by the Xel'Naga in the first place, not that we know of.

They have to be since they apparently incorporate the Xel'Nagan concept of "Purity of Form". Kerrigan being a Xel'Naga is a demonstration of that.

A Xel'Nagan aspect that is necessary for the creation of new Xel'Naga would require some involvement of the Xel'Naga in some capacity, right? Or is that another retcon. Can we assume then that all life not assisted into existence by the Xel'Naga, have purity of form? Would all the myriad animals with "latent psionics" aside from humans qualify, too? All in all, this is just a confirmation that the Protoss are not really special at all. I thought the Zerg retcons were bad, at least they had the plot-devicey Primal Zerg to keep them "special" despite the supposed corruption that was the hivemind.

For the whole killing all terrans, it's likely because he felt there's no way to obtain the purity of form because the swarm had been corrupted already. Likely, he didn't know about the existence of the primal Zerg on Zerus.

Please don't defend the inanity of Amon's actions. If he had already made sure the Protoss had no purity of form, his job in "breaking the cycle" was already done. He needn't even bother corrupting the Zerg to attack the Protoss at all since the Protoss are not even part of the equation anymore. That fact he did was a huge act of redundancy. It's as pointless as this very sentence.

He should have sent them to kill the Terrans (since he apparently knows that Kerrigan and humans are a threat or wait, was the prophecy stuff created by the good Xel'Naga and not Amon? God, I thnk I feel my brain leaking out!) or better yet, just have them sit there on Zerus and you know, extinguish any chance the Primal Zerg (the only thing that incorporates purity of essence) from ever existing. Man, Amon sure is one of the most dumbest-ever master planners in fiction ever.

[ragnarok]

Oh, I get it now, it's a retcon introduced in LotV. Should've said that at the start. Would've been less confusing.

Yeah and that's exactly what Amon was trying to tell Artanis in the game: everything the Protoss people had been led to believe, it's all fake.

By "touch" you mean coming down to meet them (that's all they really did afterall)? Don't know how that could've of "wrecked" them forever. The Protoss had already and naturally developed their communal link and their physical bodies at the peak of perfection (their purity of form) by the time the Xel'Naga (or Amon as it has retconned to be) found them. Can we still assume Protoss are necessary for the creation of Xel'Naga or not anymore?

Well basically the Protoss WOULD have been necessary for the creation of the Xel'Naga.

I think the original plan was this: the Xel'Naga (not just Amon's followers) did come to Aiur, discovered the Protoss and the Khala link. That's what got them to see them as candidates for the new generation of Xel'Naga. But the original plan was merely to have the Protoss people develop their society without uplifting AT ALL, and then they'd be ideal for purity of form.

In that regard, and this is confusing to me too, it meant the terrans' purity of form wasn't ideal, and the Protoss would have been (had Amon not interfered). That meant the essence transfer did not make Kerrigan into an ideal Xel'Naga, though by then Ouros didn't need it to be, merely enough to kill Amon.

They have to be since they apparently incorporate the Xel'Nagan concept of "Purity of Form". Kerrigan being a Xel'Naga is a demonstration of that.

To me, it might not have been the ideal purity of form. If Amon had not interfered, the Protoss would have had the better purity of form.

It's like this: the Xel'Naga would come to a world where they see lifeforms and determine if they're worthy to be candidates, but would not do anything for them. Unless, of course, the planet was so harsh that there'd be no way this species could even survive without their help, so Zerus was like the exception.

Can we assume then that all life not assisted into existence by the Xel'Naga, have purity of form? Would all the myriad animals on Earth (or the K sector) aside from humans qualify, too?

In some ways yes, and that's what makes this bad. That's why in the future Blizzard better get rid of this lore and replace it with something better.

Please don't defend the inanity of Amon's actions. If he had already made sure the Protoss had no purity of form, his job in "breaking the cycle" was already done. He needn't even bother corrupting the Zerg to attack the Protoss at all since the Protoss are not even part of the equation anymore. That fact he did was a huge act of redundancy. It's as pointless as this very sentence.

But he needed to corrupt the Zerg. The fighting between the species is necessary to gather the psionic energy needed to release him from the void. This is what Stukov was telling Kerrigan at Skygeirr in HotS.

He should have sent them to kill the Terrans (since he apparently knows that Kerrigan and humans are a threat or wait, was the prophecy stuff created by the good Xel'Naga and not Amon? better yet, just have them sit there on Zerus and you know, extinguish any chance the Primal Zerg (the only thing that incorporates purity of essence) from ever existing

It should be the former. Why the hell would Amon write such prophetic things for his enemies to know how to beat him?

As for just sitting their on Zerus, this really makes me wonder just what powers DID the primal Zerg have, and could they actually hide themselves away from Amon, thus proving they have powers beyond that of the Xel'Naga.

[Nissa]

I still think you're mistaken, Fanatic. We spend a lot of time with Kerrigan, and while she is pulling a lot of strings, we see very clearly who she is. Just because her characterization is actually subtle -- unlike SC2 which just plain states directly the characterization they wanted to apply -- doesn't mean that we didn't spend a huge amount of time getting to know her and seeing how she operates. Unlike Aldaris, whose job we never fully understand, only appears intermittently, and is rarely shown in a state anything other than angry. We're not allowed to see his positives, because Aldaris exists purely to promote anti-traditionalist themes. Kerrigan represents a host of themes, because her character is broad enough to do so. Heck, if Kerrigan has no development, then by comparison Stukov, DuGalle, and Artanis have no development.

Don't even get me started on the cycle. Judging from what you guys are saying, it sounds like retcons on top of retcons, and it was never fully explained in the first place.

[FanaticTemplar]

I don't remember it being mentioned anywhere that the Terrans were now pure of form, but I guess that makes more sense than the alternative. Maybe. Relatively.

No, the original plan of the Xel'Naga was never to even touch the Protoss AT ALL. The terrans were never seeded by the Xel'Naga in the first place, not that we know of.

Apparently all life comes from the Xel'naga, they seed life in every new universe. Narud specifically calls the Terran a flawed creation of a flawed cycle or something, though he's a notorious liar of course.

By "touch" you mean coming down to meet them (that's all they really did afterall)? Don't know how that could've of "wrecked" them forever.

Oh, Legacy of the Void retcons the Xel'naga out of history. When you read 'Xel'naga' in the manual, it actually means 'Amon'. Except that after he'd corrupted the Zerg, the Xel'naga actually did show up to stop him and he unleashed the Swarm to destroy them.

Please don't defend the inanity of Amon's actions. If he had already made sure the Protoss had no purity of form, his job in "breaking the cycle" was already done. He needn't even bother corrupting the Zerg to attack the Protoss at all since the Protoss are not even part of the equation anymore. That fact he did was a huge act of redundancy. It's as pointless as this very sentence.

Well, having redundant failsafes isn't a bad idea. If he ruins both halves of the equation, then his plan can't be unraveled by one half finding a way to fix itself.

I still think you're mistaken, Fanatic. We spend a lot of time with Kerrigan, and while she is pulling a lot of strings, we see very clearly who she is.

So you say, but you haven't told me who she is. Why did she want to become the most powerful thing in the Sector? What's her motivation?

[ragnarok]

Don't even get me started on the cycle. Judging from what you guys are saying, it sounds like retcons on top of retcons, and it was never fully explained in the first place.

I really don't think the writers for LotV read much on the DT Saga and what the cycle was supposed to have been

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Apparently all life comes from the Xel'naga, they seed life in every new universe. Narud specifically calls the Terran a flawed creation of a flawed cycle or something, though he's a notorious liar of course.

Which only proves they seeded the Earth a long time ago, just never bothered to look there again, a shame