Random Thoughts Thread

[Turalyon]

The Khala is its own external energy source:
- Cutting off your nerve cords or using sundrop forces you to draw from the void because you just lost the khala, which means you lost an energy source and are forced to find a new one.
- Protoss technology can draw energy from the khala, even when all protoss are cut off. An explicit example is the void ray.
- Brian Kindregan said in some q&a that having the Khala gives you access to a bunch of energy you wouldn't normally have.

So the Khala is akin to some extraplanar dimenstion or something that can exist outside of the communal link? So what the Protoss lost at the end of LotV was just access to the Khala but not the Khala itself?

If that's so, don't know why it's so bad. Their next generation will have nerve cords to be able to access it again and the existing Protoss with cut nerve cords can use technology to access it or stimulate that part of their brains that responds to it. And, if not even that they can still practice and keep in mind the doctrines and philosophies of the Khala/what Khas outlined initially. There's no real big loss as far as I can see.

Overall though, I think losing the khala was a dumb plot point to begin with because it's one of the things that made the protoss interesting, and if it's somehow the cause of their racism then it's pretty sad that they couldn't overcome it on their own.

Well, the Khala didn't prevent Aldaris and Tassadar to come to an agreement back in Sc1, so it's kinda curious how they were able to wage any kind of civil war against each other despite all Protoss on Aiur still being part of the Khala/communal link.

Anyways, I don't mind the concept of losing the Khala as long as it has discernible consequences. The Zerg lost their cultural equivalent in the Overmind afterall and they've been forever changed (whether you like the outcome of that or not). For the Protoss, there doesn't seem to be any considerable disadvantage in any losing it. The Protoss had more consequences in their defeat of the Overmind than against Amon it seems.

UA pointed out that the judicator's racism was a betrayal of Khas' intent to bring the Protoss together.

Not really. Khas' system required the Protoss to choose to be part of it, in order to end/resolve the Aeon of Strife. Those who refused to be part of this new system were essentially advocating for the Aeon of Strife to continue. These Protoss who rejected the Khala, and eventually became the Dark Templar, are those who were initially responsible for denying the innate communal link for individual pursuits and starting the Aeon of Strife in the first place. This is why the Khalai Protoss fear the Dark Templar and will do anything to stop them - they exemplify the potential for the Aeon of Strife to begin again and the end of their civilisation.

That's different, you forget what happened in the Countdown mission of BW?

So Magic A is not Magic A? It's not very clear when the whole idea of the Temple and magic crystals is overt artifice/plot device.

[Visions of Khas]

These Protoss who rejected the Khala, and eventually became the Dark Templar, are those who were initially responsible for denying the innate communal link for individual pursuits and starting the Aeon of Strife in the first place. This is why the Khalai Protoss fear the Dark Templar and will do anything to stop them - they exemplify the potential for the Aeon of Strife to begin again and the end of their civilisation.

That fear was slightly misplaced. Without the communal link, the Dark Templar could not experience one another's pain -- but they were also not susceptible to an emotional feedback loop of hatred and anger. This is why I consider Tal'Darim to be the modern-day equivalent to protoss from the Aeon of Strife. Some still have their nerve cords, and are thus subject to the communal link. Their culture is suffused by animosity and anger. Even if they lack the teachings of the Khala to raise that subconscious connection to a conscious level, as the khalai did.

[sandwich_bird]

If that's so, don't know why it's so bad. Their next generation will have nerve cords to be able to access it again and the existing Protoss with cut nerve cords can use technology to access it or stimulate that part of their brains that responds to it.

10$ this doesn't happen. I have a feeling they want it gone and they'll retcon how nerve cords work.

[Gradius]

Someone needs to make a custom campaign about a Tal’Darim that returned with Artanis and learned how to use the Khala. He’d be a super Protoss fueled by Khala, Void and Terrazine.

[Visions of Khas]

Someone needs to make a custom campaign about a Tal’Darim that returned with Artanis and learned how to use the Khala. He’d be a super Protoss fueled by Khala, Void and Terrazine.

Haha, I've been working on a story that centers on that very thing! I've made some maps, but I've been concentrating way too much on other things to see the campaign through. :[

[Turalyon]

That fear was slightly misplaced. Without the communal link, the Dark Templar could not experience one another's pain -- but they were also not susceptible to an emotional feedback loop of hatred and anger. This is why I consider Tal'Darim to be the modern-day equivalent to protoss from the Aeon of Strife. Some still have their nerve cords, and are thus subject to the communal link. Their culture is suffused by animosity and anger. Even if they lack the teachings of the Khala to raise that subconscious connection to a conscious level, as the khalai did.

I don't hold to the fact that having nerve cords means that they are always part of the communal link in some way.

Those Protoss who started the Aeon of Strife, and the precursors of the DTs, had no emotional feedback loop of hatred and anger either because they willingly and mentally disconnected from the communal link. The overriding and individual egos of the Protoss allowed them to do this and distance themselves from each other - it was what allowed them to commit the atrocities they did throughout the Aeon of Strife. The Xel'Naga deemed the Protoss failures and abandoned them because they had lost their fundamental communal link.

It was only through Khas rediscovering, tapping back and sharing that link to other Protoss to share all their thoughts that they collectively realised their anger was baseless and that their egoism/individualism was the root cause of the Aeon of Strife and their abandonment by the Xel'Naga. If they were susceptible to emotional feedback loops as you say, then Khas sharing that loop wouldn't have stopped the Aeon of Strife, it would have perpetuated since "unthinking hatred" was all that pervaded the Protoss back then.

As such, those who do not conform to the new Khala-based communal link are those who wish to remain selfish and ego-driven - the root causes of the Aeon of Strife - which implies (to Protoss who adhere to the Khala that is) that such Protoss seek to perpetuate the Aeon of Strife and the ultimate societal collapse of their race. It's why following the Khala has to be a strict discipline because they know that each and every one of them can potentially cause the Aeon of Strife to start again if they stray. The Protoss essentially fear themselves above all else.

10$ this doesn't happen. I have a feeling they want it gone and they'll retcon how nerve cords work.

Eh, much like most things in Starcraft now, it's gone only until it's not. All things that happen in Sc now are transparently Doylist in reasoning, so they'll retcon the Khala back in again at some point if they feel they need to go for a nostalgia pull or some other writer-ly reason. Whether they eventually do or never will, I won't be surprised nor care either way since it'll just be sound and fury signifying nothing.

[Mislagnissa]

So the LotV-era Khala is Savassen's mental disciplines, the Communal Link, and the Psionic Matrix, all lumped together.

Is there a muffin button, too?


Hey man, just look at the trouble we're still having with that. If we could feel the emotions, joys and pains of one another, I'm pretty sure we'd make some headway, too. I thought I read somewhere that the Protoss' emotional centers in the brain functioned at a higher level, too, which I guess balances out their cognitive abilities. (I've always seen protoss as being very highly-functional savants, which would only be reinforced by the Khala's enforced caste system. A place for everyone, and everyone in their place.)


I totally agree. But back in the day, I formulated a theory that explained Blizzard's (potential) intent.

I was wrong. :[


I think it translated to The People of the Shadow. I'm pretty sure Neraz refers to shadows and darkness, as you pointed out, and it may be an homage to the Nazgul (even though the word naz itself means "ring"...) When you look at Tal'Darim, I'm pretty sure the -im suffix means "People," or "The People Of."

The People of the Shadow, or the Shadow People, may have been coined by the Khalai, and adopted by the Dark Templar as a mark of pride, as you said. Khalai, after all, refer to the Khala as the Light, so anyone not illuminated by it must, by definition, be enveloped in the shadow of ignorance. (And yes, there is a subtle hypocrisy here, considering the Khalai's racism, and I love it, because I see that shit in WarHammer 40K all the time. Gotta love the grimdark.)

It cannot be "shadow" because they only embraced the void after leaving Aiur, plus "Zhakul" and "Zhakan" already mean "shadow" and "darkness." I doubt Blizzard devised any synonyms in their dictionary.

The "-im" suffix is ripped right out of Hebrew. It is actually the plural inflection of masculine nouns.

[Visions of Khas]

There's likely a link between Nerazim and the Nathrazim -- the Dread Lords -- of WarCraft, considering how original Blizzard has become. I mean, hell, King Llane Wrynn is a straight up carbon copy of Valerian Mengsk -- they even have the same choices actor!!

[ragnarok]

Haha, I've been working on a story that centers on that very thing! I've made some maps, but I've been concentrating way too much on other things to see the campaign through. :[

Then you'll have to explain how he won't burn himself out like a star like what happened to Adun

[Mislagnissa]

I never understood why Metzen thought it would be a good idea to reintroduce Kerry as the QoB in Episode 2. Beyond the fact that Episode 2 easily has the weakest plot (if it can even be called that) of the original campaign trilogy, it clashes with the Zerg being a gestalt consciousness bent on devouring and remaking the universe.

It makes no sense for QoB to have her own personality, higher reasoning capabilities or the ability to pursue goals that do not benefit the Zerg. It makes no sense for the Zerg to have just one of her, when their modus operandi is mass spawning armies of warrior beasts. She's a measly human pretending to be Zerg, and her behavior and deus ex machinas in BW further cement her as just a deranged human enslaving the Zerg. From a narrative perspective I truly believe she would make more sense as a mutate using a variation Project Black Flag and hive mind emulators to control the Zerg.

Are there any decent Zerg campaigns anywhere where the Zerg act like Zerg? Custom campaigns, obviously.