Xel'Naga Storyline Projection 2: Twilight

[KillaKhan]

I have a theory.

What if the Xel'Naga are going to be antagonists? It said multiple time that they werent necessarily, but they could be.
My theory is that the energy beings are going to absorb key parts of the protoss and zerg, and then assimilate and destroy them completely.
It says that the Xel'Naga always chooses two species to adapt, but we have never seen these species in the starcraft universe ever. I think that the Xel'Naga consume both species. Or would, unless the protoss and zerg do something about it.

Duran and Ulrezaj could have forseen this, and are creating the hybrids not to fight the protoss with, but to attack the Xel'Naga.


*Edit*

Also, just a thought, what if the terrans themselves were previously engineered by the Xel'Naga, but don't have the means of remembrance or ways to find out that it happened.

[Kimera757]

It amazes me that you brush so close to it and yet missed Theory 3 for who Duran serves:

Someone from a previous cycle.

Previous to the incarnation which was destroyed by the zerg?

While possible (eg frozen) it's a bit unlikely, as I'm not sure Duran would depict himself as anyone's servant if he's the oldest one around.

Or do you simply mean from that last incarnation?

The resulting species would then be used in some fashion by the Xel'Naga to keep themselves alive. However, the resulting species would also themselves likely be as long-lived as the newly refreshed Xel'Naga.

That's not quite how the xel'naga cycle works. The old incarnation would die out of old age, unless there was something species about a protoss/zerg combination to keep the old ones going.

I have a theory.

What if the Xel'Naga are going to be antagonists? It said multiple time that they werent necessarily, but they could be.

True. But which incarnation of xel'naga are you talking about? The last one (not counting hybrids, which may be seen as an incarnation) were almost wiped out, and it's a bit doubtful that any are alive nowadays (unless a bunch froze themselves).

My theory is that the energy beings are going to absorb key parts of the protoss and zerg, and then assimilate and destroy them completely.

We've only seen one energy being do so, however. While it "ate" quite a few protoss and zerg, all the other ones we've seen were part of a wormhole system.

It says that the Xel'Naga always chooses two species to adapt, but we have never seen these species in the starcraft universe ever. I think that the Xel'Naga consume both species. Or would, unless the protoss and zerg do something about it.

Zamara's own sources would be sort of biased, so take with a grain of salt, but she said the xel'naga wouldn't do anything like this. Rather, the merging takes a really long time (presumably over many generations of a long-lived species). Pretty soon each member of one species would be "hybridized" with the other; leaving the few "purists" to die off by themselves (with a population too small to sustain themselves).

Duran and Ulrezaj could have forseen this, and are creating the hybrids not to fight the protoss with, but to attack the Xel'Naga.

Ulrezaj is a crazy Aiur hater; if he's making hybrids to fight the xel'naga, it's probably because he intends to use them against the protoss of Aiur (and someone will "steal" his creatures now that he's locked up). Indeed, Ulrezaj tried to use his enhanced zerg (which were basically zerg-dominant hybrids) to kill the protoss from Aiur.

Which leaves me to wonder, how do Duran's (barely known) motivations fit into this? It's not very parsimonious to have him be a servant of some unknown species which hates the xel'naga. Of course, he could know "the truth", leaving questions about how he has such enormous power (fake infestation, amazingly long life, etc).

Also, just a thought, what if the terrans themselves were previously engineered by the Xel'Naga, but don't have the means of remembrance or ways to find out that it happened.

The xel'naga modified lots of species; terrans could be one. I don't know if that would be particularly relevant, since the species created before the protoss and zerg were all failures.

[Norfindel]

About infested Protoss, maybe what makes them difficult to infest, is their purity of form. Did the Protoss even once get sick? The Zerg use a virus to mutate their targets, if the Protoss immune system is very powerful, that could really make things difficult for the Zerg.

I certainly don't think it's the Khala, as the Dark Templar would be an easy prey, then.

[Kimera757]

Maybe the Void protects as well. However, the protoss scientist did directly state the Khala provides protection from infestation.

[spychi]

I read the best article about StarCraft universe in my whole life.
Gratz for Gradius and Kimera, you guys turned my point of view about the Xel'Naga in a 180 degrees flop
I was always interested about the lore in StarCraft Universe, I have read many, many articles but this is the one that brings alot of new things in to how I see StarCraft 2. The plot in the game will be awesome no doubt but after this, I think it will be even more superb.
Again thanks for the effort guys, you've made a good job.

[Kimera757]

It's greatly appreciated.

[Hawki]

Pretty kickass. In way of general response:

-A good point is made about the protoss' psionic gestalt, how it could theoretically have provided purity of essence, saving the xel'naga the trouble of finding a second species. Hadn't considered that before.

-How the cycle started is certainly confusing-how could the xel'naga live long enough to get to the position of galactic manipulators before having to start a cycle? Or maybe it was of their own free will, making continuation of their species a surer thing.

-I'm not sure whether the zerg assimilating the xel'naga would allow a more potent combination with the protoss. It's old genetic material that in terms of modern biology, would probably be considered residual. Like the appendix-things that helped us in the past, but are useless to us now.

-I think the temple on Shakuras is more or less a general WMD, in that at least the protoss withdrew inside it to avoid its blast. On the other hand, it does seem to have been designed with the protoss in mind given that it requires Uraj and Khalis to use. Or maybe the xel'naga created it before aiding protoss development and giving them the crystals.

-I'm guessing the energy creatures are designed to recover protoss and zerg genetic material, exit through the wormhole and give it to the xel'naga to rebuild their race-a different form of combining purity of essence and form. Of course, there is the problem that Bhekar Ro seems to be the only planet where both zerg and protoss were absorbed.

-Nice point about the Conclave. I certainly think they were well informed, given the "we know things you do not," line in Shadow Hunters.

-I'd say the Voice in the Darkness bears far more resemblance to the Old Gods both physically and in terms of personality than the xel'naga, which could be compared to the titans. Still, I agree that Duran may not be working with it as even if he's not a terran, he didn't seemed possessed. And the question remains as to while the Voice 'slept' for a long time, how is it "reflected" in the hybrids (as pointed out)?

-Duran's an enigma, so I won't speculate. Still, one thing the article seemed to miss is his line in I, Mengsk that "I understand hatred very well." Possibly minor, but still, it could give us a clue as to his motives.

Anyway, once again, good article.

[Nicol Bolas]

-How the cycle started is certainly confusing-how could the xel'naga live long enough to get to the position of galactic manipulators before having to start a cycle? Or maybe it was of their own free will, making continuation of their species a surer thing.

Probably the same way we do: reproduction. What likely happened is that, at some point, one of the Xel'Naga discovered the "live forever" formula. Then they all switched to it.

[Gifted]

Just dropping in to say Superb job to Kimera and Gradius for putting this together.

[Pandonetho]

Huh, I didn't know Kimera was psiseveredhead on wiki, that's cool man.

I tried posting stuff on the wiki before but I just failed miserably since I didn't really know what I was doing.