Kerrigan Pt. 2: Agenda

[Roland]

Taken from SC2armory, original thread. It looks prettier there.

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Pt. 1:Abilities

"Every living thing in the universe will bow before the Queen of Blades, or else they will die. Obedience or oblivion. That is why we fight."

That is taken from Frontline: Why we Fight. Right off the bat is summarizes Kerrigan's goals. She wants power, and absolute control over her surroundings, The past four year's she's had it though, and spent or time brooding on Char. We can tell with reasonable certainty now that she was actually trying to make more Terran/Zerg hybrids like herself during this time. That raises two obvious questions, first, why Terran/Zerg hybrids, there are better option physically, and Protoss would have provided far superior psi-powers from her perspective. The second question is why does the queen of the galaxy need to improve her already overwhelming powerful swarm, which should've been able to massacre the standing Dominion and Protoss forces? The answer to the first is surprisingly simple, she's a narcissist, and believes herself to be the pinnacle of Zerg evolution, to make the swarm better, it has to be closer to herself, recruiting as many infested terran for generals also has it's advantages in the same way genetic variation does, she can have specialists now, the old Zerg swarm was divided by cerebrates' each one of which fulfilled a specific job, even if she doesn't need so many intelligent infested Terrans now to do the job and control the swarm, they certainly come in handy with various more specific tasks, ex: she can now have an offensive and defensive hybrid to be applied given the circumstances. This type of specialization will probably lead to superior battle tactics in many Zerg battles, I theorized in part 1 that Kerrigan controls the swarm by essentially implanting a need for them to love her completely, so she can control them without the need for subordinates, but it would be the equivalent of Attack moving your troops every in-game. Specialized commanders essentially means the swarm and micro now.


So, she is absolutely power hungry and is using infested Terran to absolutely establish her dominance. Why wait though? Why didn't she take out the Dominion right off the bat after Brood Wars? She could have just captured millions of Terrans to experiment on and so develop the hybrids faster. I think the answer is in the closing text-page of SC1, it basically states that Kerrigan had a feeling of a massive impending threat at the end of SC1, given the nature of her psi-abilities accurate premonitions are entirely plausible, she may have sensed the threat of the Xel'naga/hybrids to her power, and has been investigating it these four years in addition to researching Terran/Zerg hybrids. She believes she need the infested terran in addition to the original swarm to deal with the newest threat. It's not a difficult jump to make that she found the Xel'naga caverns long before Zeratul and has been studying them, and has learned the nature of the hybrids, and interesting point to note is that her reemergence coincided with Zeratul's contacting Raynor, both after they met each other in the caverns, I think something beyond a simple brawl happened there, and whatever it was prompted Kerrigan to start the invasion on the Dominion immediately, instead of as soon as she learned how to create some Terran Zerg hybrids. She may now be fully aware of the threat, and the importance of the artifacts to it, the first planet she attacked was Mar Sara, where Raynor was already taking a Xel'naga artifact, no one in the SC community even has a really solid idea what the artifacts do, but everyone knows they're vital to the culmination of the cycle, the mad grab made by, Kerrigan and Zeratul for them indicates that whatever happened in the caverns revealed their purpose. Kerrigan's agenda may be simply to gather them all up before anyone who can use them gets them to preemptively stop that threat, or she could want to harness them in some way, as based on his wounds, Zeratul seems to object to her getting them, if she were merely doing it for safe keeping Zeratul might as well let her do it, as she can hold them a whole lot better than anyone else at present. point being she wants them for her own use, or there would be no conflict between Zeratul and Kerrigan.

We have Kerrigan's ultimate over-aching goal, power and her plans to accomplish it, Terran/Zerg commanders, and use of Xel'naga artifacts.

One more subject worth mentioning is Kerrigan's humanity, Blizzard definitely wants to explore her as a character, and there are confirmed to be flashbacks in which we see Sarah Kerrigan being abandoned to the Zerg, however, they are Raynor's flashback and the subject will probably not be explored very much at all until Heart of the Swarm. I thought it was worth noting though, at the end of Brood Wars, after murdering Duke and Fenix, she mentioned that she was "weary of the slaughter." Any shred of humanity that is drawn out of her could be hugely significant, maybe if her rage is subsided by the death of Mengsk or something the guilt could hit her, it's been hinted that she resents him (no source) enough to want revenge for abandoning her. which could mean she may still have conventional human feelings, if they ever mature the guilt could be so overwhelming she would try to redeem herself, SC doesn't really need the number of villians it has anyway, giving her a conscience could be a good move to make the story more epic for blizzard.

[Kimera757]

Kerrigan is also following the Overmind's old agenda.

From the Shadow Hunters excerpt:

Kerrigan rose and paced. She was beginning to grow impatient. Before her arrival as their queen, she knew, the zerg had had a mission. To grow, to absorb, to become perfect, as their creators had wanted them to be. Their creators, whom they had turned on without so much as a breath of conscience. Sarah Kerrigan understood the idea of "conscience." There had been moments, even in this glorious new incarnation, where she had had twinges of it. She did not see such a thing as a weakness, but as an advantage. If one thought like one's enemies, one could defeat them.

The zerg were still on that mission under her guidance. But she had brought something new into the mix: the pleasure of revenge and victory. And for too long now, she had been forced to rest and recover, lick wounds, and fall back on the original mission. Certainly, she had not been idle over the last four years. She had rested here on Char, had found new worlds for her zerg to explore and exploit. The zerg had thrived under her leadership, had grown and advanced and improved.

But she hungered. And that hunger was not sated by moving from planet to planet and simply re-creating and improving zerg genetics. She hungered for action, for revenge, for pitting her mind -- keen even as a human's, awesome in its ability now -- against her adversaries.

Arcturus Mengsk, self-styled "emperor" of the Terran Dominion. She'd enjoyed playing with him before and would again. It was why she had let him survive their last encounter, why she'd even tossed him a few crumbs, just to ensure he'd make it.

Prelate Zeratul, the dark templar protoss. Clever, that one. Admirable. And dangerous.

Jim Raynor.

Unease fluttered inside her, quickly quelled. Once, before her transformation, she had cared for the easygoing marshal. Perhaps she had even loved him. She would never know now. It was enough that thoughts of him were still able to unsettle her. He, too, was dangerous, although in quite another way than Zeratul. He was dangerous for his ability to make her...regret.

Four years of waiting, gathering strength, resting. She had been sick of slaughter, but no more.

Source: http://books.simonandschuster.com/St...t_with_id/8904

[Gradius]

it basically states that Kerrigan had a feeling of a massive impending threat at the end of SC1, given the nature of her psi-abilities accurate premonitions are entirely plausible, she may have sensed the threat of the Xel'naga/hybrids to her power, and has been investigating it these four years in addition to researching Terran/Zerg hybrids.

It's funny because the last time she had a "premonition", that the Protoss were coming to destroy Tarsonis, she was wrong.

[Roland]

Kerrigan is also following the Overmind's old agenda.

From the Shadow Hunters excerpt:



Source: http://books.simonandschuster.com/St...t_with_id/8904

Thanks for that, I still have not even read a single SC book, I can't get past the writing, I read for the sake of ideas, not entertainment, and entertainment is the purpose of those books...

on topic though, that quote is very interesting, it (a) Confirms Kerrigan does resent Mengsk, and still has the more sensitive human emotions. Maybe once she commits genocide against the Dominion the negativity will work out of her system.. I still hold by the theory that she consider T/Z hybrids perfection though, and will try to get as many of them as possible therefore, as it furthers the Overmind's, and now her own goals. I still think it's really eerie how much the queen looks like a protoss though, could she been incorporating protoss DNA into the swarm, and therefore herself? Logic will probably win out over narcissism if she sees it as an option, which she wouldd if she ever finds and adopts the mutated creep or Ruom from Frontline.



Compare the profiles.

[Kimera757]

I very much doubt queens have protoss DNA in them. Kerrigan only just learned how to properly infest a terran. Assimilating/infesting/whatever-ing a protoss is going to be much harder.

[Roland]

I very much doubt queens have protoss DNA in them. Kerrigan only just learned how to properly infest a terran. Assimilating/infesting/whatever-ing a protoss is going to be much harder.

It seems like properly infesting a terran is just a matter of getting the right genes, there's not really a learning to it, you just try until you find it, and you make the best of it when you do. The PRotoss seem the same, one of them just get's caught in mutant creep and wham, yet another branch of hybrids.

Theoretically it shouldn't be possible to infest a Protoss, though but I think the queens have something different in them, they seem to be objects of importance in multiple cinematics and whatnot.

This thread isn't about them though.

@Gradius, that may be so but she's so much more powerful now that she was then that it seems like she'd be more accurate about it, not to mention we happen to know that she's right that there is a huge threat incoming. Also, it wouldn't even matter if she were right or not what matters is if she follows her hunch or not.

[Kimera757]

It seems like properly infesting a terran is just a matter of getting the right genes, there's not really a learning to it, you just try until you find it, and you make the best of it when you do. The PRotoss seem the same, one of them just get's caught in mutant creep and wham, yet another branch of hybrids.

I disagree, and that's because I've read both Hybrid and Shadow Hunters. (And have some genetics knowledge too.)

According to Hybrid, if a terran didn't have that genetic sequence that Kerrigan had, they go brain-dead. However that sequence was discovered, which means Kerrigan can simply substitute her own sequence for whichever sequence most terrans have. (You can do that in real life, just not nearly as efficiently as the zerg can.)

When she infested Ethan Stewart, she betrayed no trepidation that he wouldn't have the sequence. She didn't mention it at all. She would just (logically) use genetic engineering to solve that problem.

She noted Stewart was her first success, but did so even before she'd infested him.

@Gradius, that may be so but she's so much more powerful now that she was then that it seems like she'd be more accurate about it, not to mention we happen to know that she's right that there is a huge threat incoming. Also, it wouldn't even matter if she were right or not what matters is if she follows her hunch or not.

True. Whether her motivation is true or false, that won't matter early on. And Blizzard has made it pretty clear that a massive threat is coming, and both Kerrigan and Zeratul have been going around investigating it.

[Roland]

I disagree, and that's because I've read both Hybrid and Shadow Hunters. (And have some genetics knowledge too.)

According to Hybrid, if a terran didn't have that genetic sequence that Kerrigan had, they go brain-dead. However that sequence was discovered, which means Kerrigan can simply substitute her own sequence for whichever sequence most terrans have. (You can do that in real life, just not nearly as efficiently as the zerg can.)

When she infested Ethan Stewart, she betrayed no trepidation that he wouldn't have the sequence. She didn't mention it at all. She would just (logically) use genetic engineering to solve that problem.

She noted Stewart was her first success, but did so even before she'd infested him.

My mistake, it's the details that get me, ironically because your wiki doesn't include the details.

The ramifications of that are kind huge though, I guess she is planning on getting a wide genetic variety before making a strain out of them, it makes you wonder how many of those billions of casualties mentioned were real casualties and how many were infestations taken for causalities, a couple billion infested terran and you have a strain for the eggs no problem.

[Kimera757]

My mistake, it's the details that get me, ironically because your wiki doesn't include the details.

Some of what I said was speculation; the wiki can't include such details.

I'm also not sure how to write "Kerrigan was not worried about his genetic strands" when Shadow Hunters doesn't explicitly say so. It just says it was a successful test.

Since Kerrigan has probably solved that genetic problem, she doesn't need a wide variety of victims. What she needs are skilled victims. Ethan Stewart was a mercenary leader and crime lord, so he had the right skillset. Random civilians do not, and since the experiments are successful, there's no need for (many) more experiments.

In the mission Outbreak, Kerrigan appears to be performing these kinds of experiments again, but apparently she's looking for power (eg centaurs) or sheer quantity, not smarts.

[Roland]

I assume she's trying to make best use of the resources available, make grunts and centaurs out of the average Joe Terran, and save the potential for cerebrate replacements for good psychics and people like Ethan Stewart. Imagine infested Gabriel Tosh, his hair wouldn't even change. Reducing Mengsk to an infested commander of her's would be a great twist.

Kerrigan does seem to think she can use the artifacts though, her purposes being power, revenge, and evolution what do you think she'd be using them for, we've seen Xel'naga technology seem to jump evolution up a couple steps all at once, like a extremely focused Kassia crystal. That's what I assumed theorized happened on Bhekor Ro anyway, when the temple activated all the life on planet seemed to jump suddenly from basic reptiles to rodentia with no explanation, it just hopped the life to the next evolutionary level. Assuming any Xel'naga artifact can do something like that it would be a huge advantage to the Zerg.