Xel'Naga Plot Analysis

[Gradius]

In my effort to make sense of the Xel'Naga plot, I've compiled a basic plotline of events as it's given to us by LoTV.

- The Xel'Naga themselves were the first, which I assume means they evolved naturally, but they evolved in the void, which is essentially similar to normal reality.
Inconsistencies: In SC1, the void was merely an energy source, and the Xel'Naga were implied to have just been scientists who evolved early on in another galaxy.

- With the birth of a new universe, the Xel'Naga watched over it and incubated it with life. The game doesn't clarify if they were responsible for creating the universe, or if they were merely "along for the ride" when a new universe popped into being. Terrans were not necessarily seeded by the Xel'Naga, they could have still evolved naturally. Duran said about the hybrid "its role in the cosmic order was preordained when the stars were young."

- "The infinite cycle is always the same. One pure of essence, an indomitable spirit capable of great change. And one pure of form, a being capable of vast psionic potential, able to house the essence of a Xel'Naga".
Inconsistencies: In the SC1 manual, it was heavily implied that the purity of essence was a communal link of some sort like a hive mind, which the zerg had, and which the protoss lost when they lost the Khala. Purity of form as just "psionic potential" is pretty consistent with SC1 however.

- Amon himself was originally one of the beings comprised of the sub-races that "ascended" and became a Xel'Naga. At some point he became disillusioned with the cycle and plotted to end it.
Inconsistencies: According to the DT saga, the cycle is merely for the Xel'Naga to continue their long lives, since even they're not immortal. When they bestow their essence, it's to find a new host body. But this is supposed to take place over evolutionary time so vast that the races don't even notice. They're not supposed to arrive at Ulnar and be possessed as hosts in some ceremony. However, Kerrigan wasn't possessed and retained her free will, as did Amon, which raises the question of how the heck this cycle is supposed to be "infinite" if any random person that ascends can rebel and is allowed to disagree? If there's countless universes, how could this cycle have continued and how do the Xel'Naga control it?

- In the Milky Way, the Xel'Naga began seeding life from Ulnar, and scattered the keystone fragments so that eventually worthy races comprised of purity of form and essence would collect it and use it as a map to find their way back to Ulnar so that they too could ascend. They then went to sleep as civilizations fell and rose, waiting the whole time for the right species to show up.
Inconsistencies: The Xel'Naga apparently never interfere, but merely watch, so it's almost like they don't actually get to pick the races. Two races with those strict requirements coming together at just the right time at Ulnar is apparently just "destiny" and magically works out every time. This also raises the question of which temples the Xel'Naga actually created, and which ones were made by Amon. There's too much lore saying that the Xel'Naga left artifacts around, so perhaps they do interfere a little bit.

- While other Xel'Naga were sleeping, Amon and his followers were uplifting the protoss and the zerg, trying to artificially create purity of form (protoss psionic potential) and purity of essence (zerg ability to steal DNA).
Inconsistencies: Why did Amon not circumvent the protoss' ability to resist infestation? That's counter to his plans.
Retcon: Amon uplifted the Protoss and Zerg. Not the Xel'Naga.
Retcon: Zamara claimed to know the truth of the cycle through her memories, but it turns out she's completely mistaken. According to her, it's the Xel'Naga who created us. "We thought that we were flawed in some way, and that is why we were abandoned. But the truth is, the xel‘naga were simply done with us." They were portrayed as wholly benevolent. "They wanted us to become great and glorious. They would not suddenly descend, to possess our bodies; rather we would evolve so that we…became them."

- Amon created the Overmind and forced upon it the destruction of the protoss (or maybe not since Ouros lies about everything). Either the Xel'Naga found out Amon's plans, or he attacked them himself, and a "war in heaven" erupted, with the zerg being used to destroy the "greater whole" of the Xel'Naga. Later on, Amon's forces found the Xel'Naga sleeping in Ulnar and killed them too. But at some point, Amon himself was killed and thrust back into the Void.

- Ouros survived and created the prophecy by mind controlling primitive civilizations and ordering them to carve pictures of Kerrigan, Zerg, Protoss, and Hybrids.
Inconsistencies: How the hell did he know about Kerrigan thousands of years ago? Why was he imprisoned and allowed to live?
Retcon: The prophecy in WoL, the Overmind's vision, as well as Tassadar coming back to life was all a hoax by Ouros. Which is cool with me.

- Narud survived and began to plan his master's return.
Inconsistencies: If Ouros knew about Kerrigan, Narud should have too and shouldn't have been helping her during the Brood War. He should have been helping Daggoth and the other Cerebrates. But somehow he said Kerrigan's rebirth into the swarm "sped up my progress".

- Kerrigan becomes the swarm's leader, but can still hear Amon whispering to her from the void. According to HoTS, he never controlled her. Presumably, he would have once he was revived.
Inconsistencies: Kerrigan's character page says that she actually was controlled by Amon during Wings of Liberty.

- Ouros planned the deinfestation of Kerrigan in order to allow her to become Primal and an eventual vessel for his power.

- Amon was revived by the keystone blast in WoL. He now seeks to destroy all life and fill the universe with his hybrid in order to end suffering.

- Ouros manipulates Zeratul into telling Kerrigan to go to Zerus, where she will be able to ascend to Xel'Naga if she accepts the power of Zerus.

- Artanis and friends defeat Amon and destroy his essence in the void. Kerrigan becomes gawd, and the cycle is broken.
Inconsistencies: Ouros keeps saying the cycle must continue, but the post-game mission text says it's broken. So which one is it? Nobody knows if the cycle is still going on or not. Sounds like it's not since Kerrigan isn't going to be creating any new universes and sacrificing herself to prolong the cycle anytime soon.

Loose Plot Threads
- Twilight Deliverer. Tassadar and Adun both burned out by channeling void/khala energy. Did this end up being meaningless?
- Who created the temples? Did Amon make both the mathematically ordered temple of Shakuras and the "wild" temples that hatch energy creatures? What exactly did the Xel'Naga do?
- What are the Phoenix creatures and what did Zeratul see on the other side of the portal one made in the Dark Templar saga?
- Are there still Xel'Naga in other universes?
- Narud. Is this really his name? Duran backwards? It has to be a joke.
- Voice in the Darkness. What is he? Some random creature from another universe? A more powerful void thrasher or the like?
- What exactly is the keystone's original purpose, and why does it only do everything?

[Visions of Khas]

Narud. Is this really his name? Duran backwards? It has to be a joke.

That definitely seems to be his name. I just wonder whether he is truly dead, given he wasn't killed by another Xel'Naga.

[Nissa]

I applaud you, Gradius.

I also fear for SC3. Holy crap, that's convoluted.

[ragnarok]

- Amon himself was originally one of the beings comprised of the sub-races that "ascended" and became a Xel'Naga. At some point he became disillusioned with the cycle and plotted to end it.
Inconsistencies:According to the DT saga, the cycle is merely for the Xel'Naga to continue their long lives, since even they're not immortal. When they bestow their essence, it's to find a new host body. But this is supposed to take place over evolutionary time so vast that the races don't even notice. They're not supposed to arrive at Ulnar and be possessed as hosts in some ceremony. However, Kerrigan wasn't possessed and retained her free will, as did Amon, which raises the question of how the heck this cycle is supposed to be "infinite" if any random person that ascends can rebel and is allowed to disagree? If there's countless universes, how could this cycle have continued and how do the Xel'Naga control it?

Shows the lore writers of LotV didn't bother with the DT Saga books. Likely they'll just use the excuse that what Zamara told Jake and Zeratul was what she THOUGHT was the case, but was something else. It's a pitiful excuse.

In the Milky Way, the Xel'Naga began seeding life from Ulnar, and scattered the keystone fragments so that eventually worthy races comprised of purity of form and essence would collect it and use it as a map to find their way back to Ulnar so that they too could ascend. They then went to sleep as civilizations fell and rose, waiting the whole time for the right species to show up.
Inconsistencies: The Xel'Naga apparently never interfere, but merely watch, so it's almost like they don't actually get to pick the races. Two races with those strict requirements coming together at just the right time at Ulnar is apparently just "destiny" and magically works out every time. This also raises the question of which temples the Xel'Naga actually created, and which ones were made by Amon. There's too much lore saying that the Xel'Naga left artifacts around, so perhaps they do interfere a little bit.

The lore with regards to the leaving of artifacts is another contradiction. The very most we can get out of this is because the Xel'Naga wanted the races to find them, and use THAT technology to evolve. In that regard, the artifacts would have no instruction manual, the species has to figure it out all on their own. That's how the Xel'Naga would interpret "no interference," when in reality it still IS interference, just not DIRECT interference. That's probably what Artanis didn't understand at Ulnar (the difference of direct and indirect interference)

Amon created the Overmind and forced upon it the destruction of the protoss. Either the Xel'Naga found out Amon's plans, or he attacked them himself, and a "war in heaven" erupted, with the zerg being used to destroy the "greater whole" of the Xel'Naga. Later on, Amon's forces found the Xel'Naga sleeping in Ulnar and killed them too. But at some point, Amon himself was killed and thrust back into the Void.
Inconsistencies: Tassadar/Ouros says the Overmind was forced to pursue "the destruction of our people (the protoss)", but it should have been trying to merge with them instead according to SC1 and LoTV.

The whole merging process, according to SC1, might not have been a DIRECT order from Amon. It could have been from Narud instead. For example, if Amon didn't know he would be killed in the final confrontation, he would not need to issue the command to the Overmind for the merging with the Protoss (in order to create hybrids). Since he was killed, it's possible he gave the order to Narud to pass his instructions on to change his original order to the Overmind: to try to merge with the Protoss to create hybrids in order for his return.

Ouros survived and created the prophecy by mind controlling primitive civilizations and ordering them to carve pictures of Kerrigan, Zerg, Protoss, and Hybrids.
Inconsistencies: How the hell did he know about Kerrigan thousands of years ago? Why was he imprisoned and allowed to live?
Retcon: The prophecy in WoL, the Overmind's vision, as well as Tassadar coming back to life was all a hoax by Ouros. Which is cool with me.

Unless there's another evil out there that can only be chained by a pure essence of a Xel'Naga (and Amon no longer was), I see no reason for Ouros to live. Amon doing just to humiliate the guy isn't rational. As for how he knew about Kerrigan thousands of years ago, he probably didn't. If the carvings could be changed by the Xel'Naga without them physically touching it, it's possible that the carving of Kerrigan was only recently drawn there, as Ouros observed the events of SC1 from the void.

Narud survived and began to plan his master's return.
Inconsistencies: If Ouros knew about Kerrigan, Narud should have too and shouldn't have been helping her during the Brood War. He should have been helping Daggoth and the other Cerebrates. But somehow he said Kerrigan's rebirth into the swarm "sped up my progress". Maybe she was only allowed to live because her DNA being removed by the keystone was what was necessary to revive Amon (because she has form and essence according to Sc2), and why she was kept alive.

That's how I saw it, Gradius. Likely Duran had known all along the risks this would pose by keeping Kerrigan alive, and Amon's revival would have taken much longer. If he was trying to play it safe, yet STILL kept her alive, the only explanation I can see (which Blizzard foolishly forgot to say) is that perhaps Amon's conscience cannot survive in the void indefinitely. If that's true, perhaps Duran felt it was vital to get him out of there as quickly as possible, even if that meant sparing the life of the one person who just might be able to defeat him.

Kerrigan becomes the swarm's leader, but can still hear Amon whispering to her from the void. According to HoTS, he never controlled her. Presumably, he would have once he was revived.
Inconsistencies: Kerrigan's character page says that she actually was controlled by Amon during Wings of Liberty.
If he never controlled her, then deinfesting her in the first place was pointless.

She specifically told Zurvan that Amon had an influence on her, but I agree this was meh because she said it was like background noise or something. The whole point of deinfestation was to remove that influence, has nothing to do with the control. For WoL she merely THOUGHT she was doing the right thing, not realizing this was somewhat doing Amon's bidding (though certainly not the EXACT bidding)

Amon was revived by the keystone blast in WoL. He now seeks to destroy all life and fill the universe with his hybrid in order to end suffering.
Inconsistencies: Even though he's revived, his body is still not actually complete all the way by LoTV.

Proves stupidity on the lore writers again. The only way for this to make sense would again have to mean that being in the void all this time weakened Amon dramatically. The energy boost via the artifact was only enough for him to grow strong enough to begin taking action in the real universe. That being said however, when Kerrigan and Stukov were discussing this at Skygeirr, both of them were only speculating. Neither of them knew what Narud REALLY did with that energy. As for the part of Kerrigan gazing into Narud's mind to see that Amon was alive again, let's just say that as a Xel'Naga, Narud probably tricked her. It's not the first time someone managed to outsmart her telepathy.

Artanis and friends defeat Amon and destroy his essence in the void. Kerrigan becomes gawd, and the cycle is broken.
Inconsistencies: Ouros keeps saying the cycle must continue, but the post-game mission text says it's broken. So which one is it? Nobody knows if the cycle is still going on or not. Sounds like it's not since Kerrigan isn't going to be creating any new universes and sacrificing herself to prolong the cycle anytime soon.

It's possible that during the essence transfer, Ouros began to look into Kerrigan's mind a bit, and concluded she was not going to continue the cycle. However, Ouros felt that defeating Amon was the bigger priority, so the loss of the cycle was understandable. Either that or he felt if he tried pushing Kerrigan to continue the cycle too hard, she may reject it outright. Therefore, it was better just to say the cycle would be broken, and then let Kerrigan decide for herself on the next steps to continue it or not. If she does, great. Maybe this is a gamble taken by Ouros.

It's like the DT Saga Twilight, where Zamara was telling Jake and Zeratul that for the two species to meet up and merge, this is a gamble the Xel'Naga are taking, but it's always paid off.

[Turalyon]

^ Oh, beaten to the punch by Rag. Figures...

- Amon himself was originally one of the beings comprised of the sub-races that "ascended" and became a Xel'Naga. At some point he became disillusioned with the cycle and plotted to end it.
Inconsistencies:According to the DT saga, the cycle is merely for the Xel'Naga to continue their long lives, since even they're not immortal. When they bestow their essence, it's to find a new host body. But this is supposed to take place over evolutionary time so vast that the races don't even notice. They're not supposed to arrive at Ulnar and be possessed as hosts in some ceremony. However, Kerrigan wasn't possessed and retained her free will, as did Amon, which raises the question of how the heck this cycle is supposed to be "infinite" if any random person that ascends can rebel and is allowed to disagree? If there's countless universes, how could this cycle have continued and how do the Xel'Naga control it?

Maybe there are sub-factions of Xel'Naga - ones who plan to do nothing and are content to wait out the time necessary for the natural evolution of new Xel'Naga and others who are more proactive and speeding up the process by forcing chosen races into a ceremony on Ulnar. Maybe there were "bad" Xel'Naga before Amon and Amon was just a victim of them and not the "more good" ones.

- In the Milky Way, the Xel'Naga began seeding life from Ulnar, and scattered the keystone fragments so that eventually worthy races comprised of purity of form and essence would collect it and use it as a map to find their way back to Ulnar so that they too could ascend.

Isn't the keystone harmful to the Protoss and Zerg? If it is, how can they collect it and use it to become Xel'Naga? Or is it only harmful to Amon corrupted Protoss and Zerg?

- Amon created the Overmind and forced upon it the destruction of the protoss. Either the Xel'Naga found out Amon's plans, or he attacked them himself, and a "war in heaven" erupted, with the zerg being used to destroy the "greater whole" of the Xel'Naga. Later on, Amon's forces found the Xel'Naga sleeping in Ulnar and killed them too. But at some point, Amon himself was killed and thrust back into the Void.
Inconsistencies: Tassadar/Ouros says the Overmind was forced to pursue "the destruction of our people (the protoss)", but it should have been trying to merge with them instead according to SC1 and LoTV.

Since Ouros is disguised as Tassadar, he's probably talking about Xel'Naga when he mentions "the destruction of our people". The Overmind Zerg will kill Protoss because they can assimilate them and if they are somehow combined, they create Hybrid. Both of these cases will eventually result in the destruction of the Xel'Naga.

- Ouros survived and created the prophecy by mind controlling primitive civilizations and ordering them to carve pictures of Kerrigan, Zerg, Protoss, and Hybrids.
Inconsistencies: How the hell did he know about Kerrigan thousands of years ago? Why was he imprisoned and allowed to live?
Retcon: The prophecy in WoL, the Overmind's vision, as well as Tassadar coming back to life was all a hoax by Ouros. Which is cool with me.

But the prophecy isn't completely a hoax because some of it involves and accurately predicts Kerrigan's importance. As to why Ouros is still conveniently allowed to live is beyond me since it's actually he that kills Amon, not Kerrigan. Why? Because without Ouros' power, Kerrigan can't actually do anything to Amon. Either way, it's plothole within a plothole.

- Narud survived and began to plan his master's return.
Inconsistencies: If Ouros knew about Kerrigan, Narud should have too and shouldn't have been helping her during the Brood War. He should have been helping Daggoth and the other Cerebrates. But somehow he said Kerrigan's rebirth into the swarm "sped up my progress". Maybe she was only allowed to live because her DNA being removed by the keystone was what was necessary to revive Amon (because she has form and essence according to Sc2), and why she was kept alive.

- Kerrigan becomes the swarm's leader, but can still hear Amon whispering to her from the void. According to HoTS, he never controlled her. Presumably, he would have once he was revived.
Inconsistencies: Kerrigan's character page says that she actually was controlled by Amon during Wings of Liberty.
If he never controlled her, then deinfesting her in the first place was pointless.

- Amon was revived by the keystone blast in WoL. He now seeks to destroy all life and fill the universe with his hybrid in order to end suffering.
Inconsistencies: Even though he's revived, his body is still not actually complete all the way by LoTV.

The deinfestation is suggested to only have a functional use in reviving Amon, so it was not "pointless" and justifies Duran helping her gain power in BW. However, if Amon was already revived enough to control the Overmind and manipulate Kerrigan, then it begs the question of whether the deinfestation was even required at all since it doesn't need to revive Amon anymore (didn't seem to do much by the time LotV happened either). In this case, it'd make more sense if it was Ouros who planned the deinfestation of Kerrigan in order to allow her to become Primal and eventual vessel for his power rather than it being Narud/Duran. It's another overlapping pair of plotholes here.

- Artanis and friends defeat Amon and destroy his essence in the void. Kerrigan becomes gawd, and the cycle is broken.
Inconsistencies: Ouros keeps saying the cycle must continue, but the post-game mission text says it's broken. So which one is it? Nobody knows if the cycle is still going on or not. Sounds like it's not since Kerrigan isn't going to be creating any new universes and sacrificing herself to prolong the cycle anytime soon.

Maybe what they meant with the cycle being broken is in regards to Xel'Naga requiring each a being of pure essence and of form to be recreated since it's never outright stated that Kerrigan is actually pure of form (despite the implication that purity of form is defined with something that has great psionic potential) and that the cycle was originally expecting Zerg and Protoss to fulfill those roles.

The new life flourishing on what was once barren planets could be an allusion to the start of a new cycle by Kerrigan - the seeds of the next species with purity of essence and of form? Maybe it's meant to be ambiguous.

- What exactly is the keystone's original purpose, and why does it only do everything?

You're asking the wrong question. A better one is whether the Keystone in Sc2 is more plot devicey than the Black Soulstone in D3?

That definitely seems to be his name. I just wonder whether he is truly dead, given he wasn't killed by another Xel'Naga.

Maybe things that die in the Void remain dead? But if that was any measure, Kerrigan wouldn't have needed Ouros' power then to kill Amon. Let's just assume he's dead for now but can easily comeback through retcon later (like Zeratul - I'm not fooled by him turning into dust). Seems to be new recurring theme for Blizz now. Kinda makes death seem irrelevent and meaningless now.

[ragnarok]

Isn't the keystone harmful to the Protoss and Zerg? If it is, how can they collect it and use it to become Xel'Naga? Or is it only harmful to Amon corrupted Protoss and Zerg?

This is something Blizzard kept vague. Remember, on Monlyth, the Tal'darim could stand relatively close to it and it didn't kill them. It's possible this depends on how it's configured or something. That's why in LotV, Karax could be right next to it and not be killed by it.

But the prophecy isn't completely a hoax because some of it involves and accurately predicts Kerrigan's importance. As to why Ouros is still conveniently allowed to live is beyond me since it's actually he that kills Amon, not Kerrigan. Why? Because without Ouros' power, Kerrigan can't actually do anything to Amon. Either way, it's plothole within a plothole.

Proving that Amon was self-defeating, having allowed the key person who could defeat him survive all this time. The only way to explain this is if he completely underestimated the terran race. Perhaps he felt without the Protoss high end tech and the Zerg's advanced biology, the terran race is a pushover. In that regard, he didn't understand the fundamental rule of war: it's not smart to underestimate the little guy.

The deinfestation is suggested to only have a functional use in reviving Amon, so it was not "pointless" and justifies Duran helping her gain power in BW. However, if Amon was already revived enough to control the Overmind and manipulate Kerrigan, then it begs the question of whether the deinfestation was even required at all since it doesn't need to revive Amon anymore (didn't seem to do much by the time LotV happened either). In this case, it'd make more sense if it was Ouros who planned the deinfestation of Kerrigan in order to allow her to become Primal and eventual vessel for his power rather than it being Narud/Duran. It's another overlapping pair of plotholes here.

He wouldn't be revived enough to control the Overmind, but perhaps it WAS enough to manipulate Kerrigan. She WAS telling Zurvan about Amon's influence and everything in HotS, after all. But to control the Overmind is an obvious no. If that was true, then Amon would have prevented the Overmind from infesting Kerrigan in the first place back in SC1.

For the whole Ouros planning the deinfestation of Kerrigan, this could certainly be the case. From the Blizzplanet articles (for the Flashpoint book), Jake Ramsey was the one who told Valerian about the artifact which could deinfest her. How Jake Ramsey knew this is difficult to say, but given his associations with the Protoss and Ouros could create a fake image of Tassadar, perhaps he did similarly with Jake

[Gradius]

I applaud you, Gradius.

I also fear for SC3. Holy crap, that's convoluted.

I'm a glutton for punishment. :3

Unless there's another evil out there that can only be chained by a pure essence of a Xel'Naga (and Amon no longer was), I see no reason for Ouros to live. Amon doing just to humiliate the guy isn't rational. As for how he knew about Kerrigan thousands of years ago, he probably didn't. If the carvings could be changed by the Xel'Naga without them physically touching it, it's possible that the carving of Kerrigan was only recently drawn there, as Ouros observed the events of SC1 from the void.

He said "primitive" peoples. It was drawn way before SC1.

That's how I saw it, Gradius. Likely Duran had known all along the risks this would pose by keeping Kerrigan alive, and Amon's revival would have taken much longer. If he was trying to play it safe, yet STILL kept her alive, the only explanation I can see (which Blizzard foolishly forgot to say) is that perhaps Amon's conscience cannot survive in the void indefinitely. If that's true, perhaps Duran felt it was vital to get him out of there as quickly as possible, even if that meant sparing the life of the one person who just might be able to defeat him.

Why Kerrigan though? That's the only place Duran can get energy from to revive Amon? What about Ouros? Or literally anywhere else. Seems too contrived.

Proves stupidity on the lore writers again. The only way for this to make sense would again have to mean that being in the void all this time weakened Amon dramatically. The energy boost via the artifact was only enough for him to grow strong enough to begin taking action in the real universe. That being said however, when Kerrigan and Stukov were discussing this at Skygeirr, both of them were only speculating. Neither of them knew what Narud REALLY did with that energy. As for the part of Kerrigan gazing into Narud's mind to see that Amon was alive again, let's just say that as a Xel'Naga, Narud probably tricked her. It's not the first time someone managed to outsmart her telepathy.

Why would he lie?

Isn't the keystone harmful to the Protoss and Zerg? If it is, how can they collect it and use it to become Xel'Naga? Or is it only harmful to Amon corrupted Protoss and Zerg?

Karax says something like that that's a simplistic conclusion lesser beings might come to without examining all the evidence or something like that. Kind of a retcon.

Since Ouros is disguised as Tassadar, he's probably talking about Xel'Naga when he mentions "the destruction of our people".

Why would he do that? He's pretending to be a protoss to Zeratul.

But the prophecy isn't completely a hoax because some of it involves and accurately predicts Kerrigan's importance. As to why Ouros is still conveniently allowed to live is beyond me since it's actually he that kills Amon, not Kerrigan. Why? Because without Ouros' power, Kerrigan can't actually do anything to Amon. Either way, it's plothole within a plothole.

Plothole-ception. I've lost track of how many plothole levels deep we're in by now.

The deinfestation is suggested to only have a functional use in reviving Amon, so it was not "pointless" and justifies Duran helping her gain power in BW. However, if Amon was already revived enough to control the Overmind and manipulate Kerrigan, then it begs the question of whether the deinfestation was even required at all since it doesn't need to revive Amon anymore (didn't seem to do much by the time LotV happened either). In this case, it'd make more sense if it was Ouros who planned the deinfestation of Kerrigan in order to allow her to become Primal and eventual vessel for his power rather than it being Narud/Duran. It's another overlapping pair of plotholes here.

I meant pointless from Zeratul's perspective. Obviously he doesn't want Amon to be revived.

That's true about Ouros though, I'll edit that in.

[ragnarok]

Why Kerrigan though? That's the only place Duran can get energy from to revive Amon? What about Ouros? Or literally anywhere else. Seems too contrived.

This is why I feel Ouros should have had more lore time. Maybe Amon got tainted by the void or something where energies from another Xel'Naga wouldn't work. If only Blizzard explained more of this

[Visions of Khas]

My question is, if Duran rivaled the Primal Queen of Blades in sheer power, why didn't Amon sacrifice Narud to revive himself? It's clear Moebius and the Tal'Darim chugged along quite well enough on their own.

And how, exactly, was Amon "revived" with Kerrigan's power? His host body was forged from hundreds of Protoss and Zerg, and the Overmind itself.

[ragnarok]

My question is, if Duran rivaled the Primal Queen of Blades in sheer power, why didn't Amon sacrifice Narud to revive himself? It's clear Moebius and the Tal'Darim chugged along quite well enough on their own.

And how, exactly, was Amon "revived" with Kerrigan's power? His host body was forged from hundreds of Protoss and Zerg, and the Overmind itself.

I don't think Amon was really revived via Kerrigan's psionic energy, but more like that energy allowed him to finally have the power necessary to take action in the real universe. This would mean when he was defeated and his conscience escaped into the void, he could do little more than observe as events happened, but couldn't do anything himself.

As for not sacrificing Duran, let's just say he was quite useful in manipulating others in the BW. It was still the case for WoL, though certainly not on the same scale. It's possible Amon felt it'd be better to keep Duran alive to keep spreading the confusion.