[Finale Spoiler] Finale discussion

[Dalamar]

Ok, I just finished the WoL campaign and I must say, the ending makes no sense. Zeratul's memories made it explicitly clear, that Kerrigan is the only one who can stop the hybrids and that is because she has free will and can steer the Swarm in directions the Overmind, constrained by his "programming", couldn't. As far as I can tell, Raynor understood that.

And then comes the finale... Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but, if Kerrigan does not command the Zerg, she might as well be dead for the purposes of the Prophesy. Her significance does not stem from some mystical origin, but from her position as leader of the Swarm. Once that is gone, she just another psi-sensitive human.

Am I the only one who feels, that this a rather substantial plot hole?

[Gurluash]

She still have zerg hair...Thus she can probably still command the swarm but she is no longer evil.

[Dalamar]

I think the Zerg hair is there so they wouldn't have to show her in a very unattractive bald. They would have been hard pressed to explain, how de-infestation grew her red hair back.

As for her not being evil (What is evil anyway... Harming humans? She's not human any more.), that is imho the worst possible of outcomes. The moment she was infested back in the original, was the moment she ceased being a merely interesting character and became one of the greatest villains of all time. Her personality and depth as a character sky-rocketed at that moment and that was partially because infestation removed her inhibitions and allowed her to act completely free.

Honestly, I can see Kerrigan working with the Protoss and the Terrans to fight a common threat, but Kerrigan good? I cannot event imagine it. For all intents and purposes, since Broodwar, Kerrigan is inextricably linked to the Swarm and, without her, the Zerg will become not unlike the critters that roam the maps. Random alien monsters...

Just my two cents.

[RainbowToeSocks]

I still can't decide if I want her to be good or evil
It just seems weird if she's no longer evil but at the same time its like "FUCK RAYNOR DID IT!"

EDIT: also remember at the beginning of brood war she did not yet have control over the Zerg so they were just attacking everyone including other Zerg
so maybe something like that will happen again and you gotta use Kerrigan to get them under control
ionno
I just want the expansion to come out

[Perfecttear]

How do you know she is not evil?
She was only deinfested, she could still be evil, for example Stukov went crazy when he was unifested, and he wanted to get his powers back, and come back to the swarm.

[Gurluash]

I hope she becomes good tbh.
I always liked her as a ghost.

[mr. peasant]

Ok, I just finished the WoL campaign and I must say, the ending makes no sense. Zeratul's memories made it explicitly clear, that Kerrigan is the only one who can stop the hybrids and that is because she has free will and can steer the Swarm in directions the Overmind, constrained by his "programming", couldn't. As far as I can tell, Raynor understood that.

And then comes the finale... Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but, if Kerrigan does not command the Zerg, she might as well be dead for the purposes of the Prophesy. Her significance does not stem from some mystical origin, but from her position as leader of the Swarm. Once that is gone, she just another psi-sensitive human.

Am I the only one who feels, that this a rather substantial plot hole?

Well, in HotS (the Zerg campaign), Blizzard has stated that you will be playing as Kerrigan; meaning she still controls Zerg. In terms of the story, there is a conversation (I think it's with Tosh) where Raynor wonders if the future is set in stone or whether it can be changed. Lastly, it could be argued that Kerrigan needed to be stopped as she would otherwise kill all Terrans. This was voiced again and again throughout the campaign by Raynor; particularly after he sided with Valerian Mengsk.

As for her not being evil (What is evil anyway... Harming humans? She's not human any more.), that is imho the worst possible of outcomes. The moment she was infested back in the original, was the moment she ceased being a merely interesting character and became one of the greatest villains of all time. Her personality and depth as a character sky-rocketed at that moment and that was partially because infestation removed her inhibitions and allowed her to act completely free.

Well, vengeance-obsessed Kerrigan has been well explored in Brood War. Personally, I think this turn of events makes Kerrigan quite interesting a character. She has to now live with herself for killing billions of people whilst she was a Zerg. Also, HotS can explore the repercussions of the loss of the 'clarity' that came with the Zerg hive mind (as previously described when Stukov was de-infested). There are a lot of story opportunities with non-evil Kerrigan. Less so with evil Kerrigan (at least fewer that are exclusive to evil Kerrigan).

[Dalamar]

Well, in HotS (the Zerg campaign), Blizzard has stated that you will be playing as Kerrigan; meaning she still controls Zerg. In terms of the story, there is a conversation (I think it's with Tosh) where Raynor wonders if the future is set in stone or whether it can be changed. Lastly, it could be argued that Kerrigan needed to be stopped as she would otherwise kill all Terrans. This was voiced again and again throughout the campaign by Raynor; particularly after he sided with Valerian Mengsk.

About Kerrigan controlling the Zerg in HotS, I'm concerned the writers are going to stretch plausibility a bit, in order to facilitate a human Kerrigan controlling the Swarm. I guess we will see about this, when the time comes.

About Kerrigan having to be stopped, because she would have killed all humans, Raynor did indeed believe that to be true. However, he was, I believe, wrong. If you remember, shortly before the invasion of Char and before Kerrigan knew the main Hive was going to be attacked, the news reported that the Zerg main advance had slowed down on its own. I would argue, that Kerrigan has no interest in exterminating the humans and that the invasion of Dominion space was to find the Xel'Naga artifacts. Once it was obvious Raynor had gotten to them first, there was simply no reason to continue with the invasion. The next step for Kerrigan would have been to find the Hyperion. She knows about the impending threat, hence why she hasn't destroyed the Terrans and the Protoss all these years. No reason for her to change her mind now.

Well, vengeance-obsessed Kerrigan has been well explored in Brood War. Personally, I think this turn of events makes Kerrigan quite interesting a character. She has to now live with herself for killing billions of people whilst she was a Zerg. Also, HotS can explore the repercussions of the loss of the 'clarity' that came with the Zerg hive mind (as previously described when Stukov was de-infested). There are a lot of story opportunities with non-evil Kerrigan. Less so with evil Kerrigan (at least fewer that are exclusive to evil Kerrigan).

I'm not suggesting that we explore the vengeance and power seeking motif again. I'm questioning the reason for having Kerrigan de-infested, while she can ally with the Terrans and the Protoss against the Dark One as she is now. For me, a much better ending would have been Zeratul stopping Raynor from activating the Xel'Naga artifact at the last moment, because they would need Kerrigan as a Zerg for the coming war. It would present the opportunity for some nice emotional scenes with Raynor and it would serve as a nice cliff-hanger.
But, that's just my opinion of it.

[mr. peasant]

About Kerrigan controlling the Zerg in HotS, I'm concerned the writers are going to stretch plausibility a bit, in order to facilitate a human Kerrigan controlling the Swarm. I guess we will see about this, when the time comes.

About Kerrigan having to be stopped, because she would have killed all humans, Raynor did indeed believe that to be true. However, he was, I believe, wrong. If you remember, shortly before the invasion of Char and before Kerrigan knew the main Hive was going to be attacked, the news reported that the Zerg main advance had slowed down on its own. I would argue, that Kerrigan has no interest in exterminating the humans and that the invasion of Dominion space was to find the Xel'Naga artifacts. Once it was obvious Raynor had gotten to them first, there was simply no reason to continue with the invasion. The next step for Kerrigan would have been to find the Hyperion. She knows about the impending threat, hence why she hasn't destroyed the Terrans and the Protoss all these years. No reason for her to change her mind now.

Wrong or not, that was what Raynor believed. Hence, his actions and motivations. Therefore, it's not a plothole.

I'm not suggesting that we explore the vengeance and power seeking motif again. I'm questioning the reason for having Kerrigan de-infested, while she can ally with the Terrans and the Protoss against the Dark One as she is now. For me, a much better ending would have been Zeratul stopping Raynor from activating the Xel'Naga artifact at the last moment, because they would need Kerrigan as a Zerg for the coming war. It would present the opportunity for some nice emotional scenes with Raynor and it would serve as a nice cliff-hanger.
But, that's just my opinion of it.

The thing is, Kerrigan's character had been developed heavily over the course of the Brood War. And like Arcturus, there isn't much potential left for further growth. Something needed to change.

As for the actual events, maybe Raynor's actions have caused problems in the future. Maybe de-infesting Kerrigan is as good as killing her as far as preventing Zeratul's vision is concerned. The point is, that's something that only needs to be resolved come LotV. If the future can already be prevented by the end of WoL, there wouldn't be much point to the story left, would it?

[Gurluash]

Wrong or not, that was what Raynor believed. Hence, his actions and motivations. Therefore, it's not a plothole.



The thing is, Kerrigan's character had been developed heavily over the course of the Brood War. And like Arcturus, there isn't much potential left for further growth. Something needed to change.

As for the actual events, maybe Raynor's actions have caused problems in the future. Maybe de-infesting Kerrigan is as good as killing her as far as preventing Zeratul's vision is concerned. The point is, that's something that only needs to be resolved come LotV. If the future can already be prevented by the end of WoL, there wouldn't be much point to the story left, would it?

There would...Kerrigan is a spark of hope.
Just because she survived it does not mean that the voice will kill himself and the hybrids.