[Finale Spoiler] Finale discussion

[Gradius]

Which it uses to do what? It didn't make the Zerg any more powerful. It wasn't the reason why the Protoss were losing. For all of that talk about a "powerful nexus of psionic power," all that it actually did was make the Overmind a big, fat, immobile target.

Exactly as planned.

So the Overmind had enough free will to find a way to get killed and create Sarah Kerrigan, but not enough free will to not invade the Protoss? Now you're just arbitrarily assigning anything bad the Overmind did to the Dark Voice, and anything good he did to the fact that "he was able to resist."

This ruins the original character. He wasn't his own villain anymore, because it turns out he was actually a good guy who was being mind controlled into acting like what you would expect an alien hivemind to act.

[Visions of Khas]

True, Nicol.

I don't mind that it had "no free will", a slave to the instincts which it represented - assimilation and evolution. We've known this since the first game. But the Overmind clearly desired to assimilate the protoss after touching down on Aiur, not destroy them. This is what I take issue with, the only thing I take issue with.

It was so effusive about fulfilling this goal - now I learn it didn't actually plan to?!

My children, the hour of our victory is at hand. For upon this world of Aiur shall we incorporate the strongest known species into our fold. Then shall we be the greatest of creation's children. We shall be...

Perfect.

[broodmywarcraft]

So the Overmind had enough free will to find a way to get killed and create Sarah Kerrigan, but not enough free will to not invade the Protoss? Now you're just arbitrarily assigning anything bad the Overmind did to the Dark Voice, and anything good he did to the fact that "he was able to resist."

This ruins the original character. He wasn't his own villain anymore, because it turns out he was actually a good guy who was being mind controlled into acting like what you would expect an alien hivemind to act.

If I may add, it also diminishes the scope of the final act of the Original game as now instead of fighting a super villain, we were fighting a slave.

[Nicol Bolas]

Now you're just arbitrarily assigning anything bad the Overmind did to the Dark Voice, and anything good he did to the fact that "he was able to resist."

Define "good". I wouldn't say that infesting Kerrigan was "good", but it was necessary.

And I'm only going by what the game itself said: that Kerrigan was his plan. The Overmind had to create Kerrigan. Then the Overmind had to die in order for Kerrigan to become ascendant. These are the things that the story told us that it choose to do.

The only way I can see to reconcile this is that the Dark Voice was not directly controlling the Overmind's actions (also supported by the dialog). Instead, it incorporated a compulsion into the Overmind, one that it could not resist no matter how much it wanted to. However, while it ensured that the Overmind would perform a certain task, it didn't ensure that the Overmind couldn't do other things.

Like make Kerrigan. And leave her behind. And expose himself to the only race in the galaxy that could kill him while simultaneously giving them a very good reason to do so at the earliest opportunity (I imagine him sitting there while the Protoss mini-civil war was going on thinking, "What is taking these idiots so long?").

None of these things necessarily goes against the Dark Voice programming. So it was free to act on them.

It is not known if the Overmind would have invaded Aiur without the compulsion. But to be honest, if it wanted to bring the Protoss into the Swarm, a much more legitimate way to do so would be to capture several Protoss colonies or outlying groups and do whatever it planned on doing to them in relative secret.

But the Overmind clearly desired to assimilate the protoss after touching down on Aiur, not destroy them.

It desired to assimilate them before getting to Aiur too. That's where the plothole of "Why take physical form on the home planet of the only race in the galaxy that can kill you?" comes from.

Which the retcon neatly patches: so that he could die.

It was so effusive about fulfilling this goal - now I learn it didn't actually plan to?!

Whether it truly desired this or it was part of the compulsion, we can't say. But the way it went about invading Aiur was not wise.

I think of the compulsion like a form of schizophrenia. There's this thing that it absolutely needs to do. And it will accomplish them. But there are moments of clarity, when it realizes that the mental disease exists and that it can use to work against it.

If I may add, it also diminishes the scope of the final act of the Original game as now instead of fighting a super villain, we were fighting a slave.

No big loss; it wasn't particularly interesting anyway. The Overmind wasn't a "super villain"; he was just a powerful force.

[Visions of Khas]

Reminds me of Larry Niven's Pak Protectors. They were highly intelligent creatures, but their intelligence only served their instincts, which was the protection of their bloodline. This led to apocalyptic wars between Pak clans, and eventually led to their extinction. The few survivng Pak characters shown in his book were unable to refuse their instincts, but attempted to "outsmart" their instincts by placing minute flaws into their plans, or telling just enough information to their foe so they would be able to puzzle it out. These characters knew their irrepressible instincts would ruin them in the long-run, so they gave their foes a chance to beat them.



It still doesn't quite explain to me how the Overmind expected to become "perfect" when it knew it couldn't assimilate protoss. Maybe the "destroy all protoss" program kicked in when it physically manifested?...

[broodmywarcraft]

No big loss; it wasn't particularly interesting anyway. The Overmind wasn't a "super villain"; he was just a powerful force.

I beg to differ. I found the arc to be quite engrossing.

And maybe not a supervillian in your eyes, but I'm sure the Protoss felt differently considering they've been battling the Zerg before the original game and considering the Overmind wrecked the hell outta Auir.

The whole slave bit makes Tassadar's sacrifice at the end seems less...worthy now... and especially less since HE'S BACK!!!!

[Pandonetho]

I can handle artistic differences to an extent, but bad writing is without excuse. Tassadar's Return and the Overmind's Retcon just had my eyes rolling almost out of their sockets.

Overmind Retcon? What Retcon?

[broodmywarcraft]

Overmind Retcon? What Retcon?

Um, he was bad, but then he was good? Was that suppose to be sarcastic?

[Hawki]

Well, more good, then bad. Still, it isn't really a retcon, as it doesn't explicitly contradict anything. We know that the Overmind did the nasty things it did to the xel'naga, but as part of an altered ego, which was left out. The idea of the zerg/Overmind being altered was hinted as early as Twilight.

[Nicol Bolas]

The whole slave bit makes Tassadar's sacrifice at the end seems less...worthy now...

That assumes you saw his sacrifice as being "worthy" to begin with, rather than an obviously contrived circumstance.

Still, it isn't really a retcon, as it doesn't explicitly contradict anything.

That's what a retcon is supposed to do: not contradict anything. Retcon stands for Retroactive Continuity. The term has degenerated into being a catch-all statement for anything that affects the part parts of continuity, whether it respects the actual sequence of events or not.