Kerrigan why?

[Warsaw]

So the Xel'Naga are just the highest evolved race in the world pretty much and they want some more company? That is kind of lame. I can't wait to see what Duran turns out to be, but he is pretty diabolical so should that reflect on the Xel'Naga? If the Xel'Naga really reproduce like that they wouldn't be hostile to there children.

[Blackdogkt]

I'm in a bit of a hurry so i haven't read past page 4, but here goes:

Well, I'm pretty much in the boat that doesn't like such a menacing alien race controlled by some infested turned ho who is now bordering on Overpowered (being able to fight Zeratul and Tassadar at the same time). But eh, what can you do. I really hope she dies. That's one thing I love about the SC universe. Even though they have many characters who play main roles, they kill them off just as easily. It makes the universe feel more dark, realistic (cept Raynor who has plot armour all around him, apparently).

Well anyway, here's hoping to Raynor putting a good bullet between her eyes. Or if not, here's hoping she dies some how.

Hmmm...imagine if Jimmy's plot armor is found to be lacking?
That could also tie in with what Zeratul says about "holding her life in your hands, she's our only hope, blah blah" in that cinematic.

My scenario? Jimmy will be hard pressed to spare her and will have this massive, inner struggle that nobody except a few other main characters know about (eg Zeratul and maybe Tychus).
However, when he finally has a chance to kill her he spares her not because Zeratul's prophecy told him to, but because he can't do it.
That moment of weakness is enough for Kerrigan to seize the opportunity and kill Jimmy instead. Extra tragic sauce because, you know, the guy actually couldn't bring himself to do it, she can actually sense this weakness and she kills him anyway. It's this smell of weakness that maybe excites her predatory senses, or maybe she just decides to cut off all ties to her past by going overboard on villainy and killing maybe the one human being that was her "anchor point" to humanity, but either way Jimmy dies at the end of the terran campaign. Plus, she's a woman and they are capable of some pretty evil shit

So, she breaks free, re-asserts control over the swarm and in doing so she amasses the only army big enough to prevent total destruction of the universe by whatever the hell Zeratul is afraid of. That's why she's their only hope, she's rolling with a bajillion canon fodder zerglings that are impossible to completely eliminate and her mad quest for power will lead her into a direct confrontation with the evil Zeratul wants to prevent. She's not exactly being setup, she's just left to her own devices. Why? Well, because Zeratul knows that it pays off to make sacrifices and make Kerrigan stronger, as long as Kerrigan is sufficiently power hungry to go against the greater evil.

So, how does that serve as a lead-in to the protoss campaign? I mean, if Zerg and the mysterious evil force are mutually annihilated what purporse does the final campaign serve? Well, it would be a case of these factions being severely weakened instead of totally destroyed. Meanwhile, the Protoss have bought enough time to come back and mop up. But isn't that a bit dull?

Well, add in some spice and it could work out. Some guilt and remorse on Zeratul's part because he wasn't totally truthful to Jimmy ("damn, i should've told him that bitch is going to kill him, but i couldn't risk saving the galaxy"), some Protoss civil war, some Terran stupidity ("hey the zerg are weak again, let's go attack protoss because we're humans and think short term!") and it will be a campaign with enough challenging obstacles for the Protoss as they are trying their best to finally eliminate Kerrigan for good, but are forced to stray from their target multiple times due to the myriad of smaller issues surfacing.

So, in WoL Jimmy dies and sets the stage for Kerrigan's ascend to power. This will be the "resurgence of a favorite hero with a bit WTF tragic twist in the end" campaign, that will be its appeal.
In HoTS, Kerrigan and the Zerg become a powerhouse, only to attack the mysterious new force head on and break their teeth. The appeal of this campaign is seeing her go ballistic and rise to power by embracing her most primitive desires and impulses, only to end up in a bad position because of them in the end, sort of like a cliffhanger.
In LoTV the Protoss are on a race to finally eradicate both of the threats to the galaxy, but the other races and factions get in their way. The appeal of this campaign is to see the tragedy of the lesser species from the point of view of the greater one, see even this one get tainted by their influence (infighting and power struggles), all the while bitting your fingernails "omg omg omg, are they gonna make it in time or will the UED taskforce idiotically throw a spanner in the works and Kerrigan escapes for another series of expansions?"

[BusinessMonkey]

I'm in a bit of a hurry so i haven't read past page 4, but here goes:



Hmmm...imagine if Jimmy's plot armor is found to be lacking?
That could also tie in with what Zeratul says about "holding her life in your hands, she's our only hope, blah blah" in that cinematic.

My scenario? Jimmy will be hard pressed to spare her and will have this massive, inner struggle that nobody except a few other main characters know about (eg Zeratul and maybe Tychus).
However, when he finally has a chance to kill her he spares her not because Zeratul's prophecy told him to, but because he can't do it.
That moment of weakness is enough for Kerrigan to seize the opportunity and kill Jimmy instead. Extra tragic sauce because, you know, the guy actually couldn't bring himself to do it, she can actually sense this weakness and she kills him anyway. It's this smell of weakness that maybe excites her predatory senses, or maybe she just decides to cut off all ties to her past by going overboard on villainy and killing maybe the one human being that was her "anchor point" to humanity, but either way Jimmy dies at the end of the terran campaign. Plus, she's a woman and they are capable of some pretty evil shit

So, she breaks free, re-asserts control over the swarm and in doing so she amasses the only army big enough to prevent total destruction of the universe by whatever the hell Zeratul is afraid of. That's why she's their only hope, she's rolling with a bajillion canon fodder zerglings that are impossible to completely eliminate and her mad quest for power will lead her into a direct confrontation with the evil Zeratul wants to prevent. She's not exactly being setup, she's just left to her own devices. Why? Well, because Zeratul knows that it pays off to make sacrifices and make Kerrigan stronger, as long as Kerrigan is sufficiently power hungry to go against the greater evil.

So, how does that serve as a lead-in to the protoss campaign? I mean, if Zerg and the mysterious evil force are mutually annihilated what purporse does the final campaign serve? Well, it would be a case of these factions being severely weakened instead of totally destroyed. Meanwhile, the Protoss have bought enough time to come back and mop up. But isn't that a bit dull?

Well, add in some spice and it could work out. Some guilt and remorse on Zeratul's part because he wasn't totally truthful to Jimmy ("damn, i should've told him that bitch is going to kill him, but i couldn't risk saving the galaxy"), some Protoss civil war, some Terran stupidity ("hey the zerg are weak again, let's go attack protoss because we're humans and think short term!") and it will be a campaign with enough challenging obstacles for the Protoss as they are trying their best to finally eliminate Kerrigan for good, but are forced to stray from their target multiple times due to the myriad of smaller issues surfacing.

So, in WoL Jimmy dies and sets the stage for Kerrigan's ascend to power. This will be the "resurgence of a favorite hero with a bit WTF tragic twist in the end" campaign, that will be its appeal.
In HoTS, Kerrigan and the Zerg become a powerhouse, only to attack the mysterious new force head on and break their teeth. The appeal of this campaign is seeing her go ballistic and rise to power by embracing her most primitive desires and impulses, only to end up in a bad position because of them in the end, sort of like a cliffhanger.
In LoTV the Protoss are on a race to finally eradicate both of the threats to the galaxy, but the other races and factions get in their way. The appeal of this campaign is to see the tragedy of the lesser species from the point of view of the greater one, see even this one get tainted by their influence (infighting and power struggles), all the while bitting your fingernails "omg omg omg, are they gonna make it in time or will the UED taskforce idiotically throw a spanner in the works and Kerrigan escapes for another series of expansions?"

Very nice twists. I really like the way Raynor has too die. Thinking about it, I don't see him playing any big role in anything following WoL. Mengsk is much more needed for a terran enemy in HotS and LotV. So this sacrifice in order to get Kerrigan in a stronger, and even more non-human position is really a good idea in my head.
Only two things sound a bit silly, and that is Zeratul, using Raynor as a pawn and really, the UED, shouldn't play any part any more, it has been noted so many times, that Earth never recieved any news from the fleet. I choose to see that as they won't do anything about it in SCII rather than showing up "once again". UED, is to me better suited for an eventual (don't hate me for giving you that idea, we've waited enough for the second chapter ) SCIII.

Also to back up Raynor as a character that has to go down. He's a drunk and all that, even though we all after SC1 could never imagine him as a "grey" character. He's always been good. (Just remember the controversy when they announced and showed his character in SCII for the first time.)
This whole "gray" version of him, that we've only seen in SCII, could point towards a need to eliminate him in the end.

If he doesn't get killed. What will he do in HotS and LotV? Join the protoss again? Be infested? It's really tough to see what will happen to him, now that the idea of killing him has surfaced.

[Hawki]

Somehow I doubt Raynor will die. If any major terran character is going to die, I can see Arcturus being the one to do so and Valerian replacing him. It's been stated how Mengsk's story has essentially been told and that Valerian is effectively replacing him for story purposes, and coupled with at least one of the missions being on Korhal...

I also think that WoL will end with the zerg severely weakened. One of the tileset images for Char Aleph showed Char subject to bombardment and HotS is supposed to be about Kerrigan "building a zerg empire." The threat, I think, will only really make itself manifest at the end of that storyline, leading in to LotV, rather than being well known beforehand.

And while I doubt the UED will make an appearance apart from on the scale as the Spartan Company for instance, somehow I doubt there'll be a StarCraft III. I'm actually inclined to believe that Legacy of the Void will truely be the last in the series.

[AmeftoWriter]

There is a high possiblity that Jimmy can die in WoL, but then again, remebering what Zeratul said, "You will hold her life in your hands" (That is according to that vid I saw about him and Jimmy)

And didn't Stukov got infested as well but was cured cause of a technology made by the protoss? I was thinking if this would happen to Kerrgian...

Though I do want to see Jimmy as an infested terran, but then there might be some kind of plot twist to the storyline....

[Zero]

So the Xel'Naga are just the highest evolved race in the world pretty much and they want some more company? That is kind of lame. I can't wait to see what Duran turns out to be, but he is pretty diabolical so should that reflect on the Xel'Naga? If the Xel'Naga really reproduce like that they wouldn't be hostile to there children.

The whole reason for the Xel'Naga cycle, I believe, is that over the course of millions upon millions of years, and perhaps a million generations, even their originally perfect bodies begin to deteriorate. The Xel'Naga that created the Protoss and Zerg weren't the first Xel'Naga. The old Xel'Naga that created the Protoss and Zerg realized that their time was short, and it was time for their part in the great Cycle to be finished and another perfect race to take their place.

[Spartan13]

So what u says is that Xel'naga as a race have no standard id
And that whenever they find the race(s) which has the foundations of being perfect it getse named Xel'naga?

[Pandonetho]

IIRC the Xel'Naga just want to keep their essences alive since I don't think they can reproduce. Sooo pretty much they just take the 2 best species they can find, let them merge over the course of a very long time, then take over the bodies with their essences/souls because their former bodies were finally aging to their end.

[Kimera757]

Zamara emphatically clarified that the xel'naga do not use host bodies.

Any cultural transmission will probably be school lessons using those artifacts.

[Pandonetho]

Huh? K well I'm totally confused now.

Although I never paid attention to the XN (because I think they're boring) so oh well.