HotS: Predictions/speculation about the Zerg's future.

[XSOLDIER]

So, the Overmind created Kerrigan in order to free the Zerg from their directive of assimilating the Protoss, and fully creating the Hybrids, thereby giving the Dark Voice control of the Zerg. But now Kerrigan has been (partially/fully) uninfested, so there are a few questions left open, since Kerrigan is now somewhat enslaved into the role of controlling the Zerg to be a good guy, and keep them free from the control of the Dark Voice, or find another option for the Zerg's future.

• Is Kerrigan still connected to / able to command the Swarm psychically?
- Her psychic capabilities should still be fully intact, though any augmentations from her infestation are likely gone, she may still have the capability of linking and manipulating the Zerg within her range, though the majority of the Swarm has likely gone stark raving mad again, just like they did before.
- The Zerg Queens: Their new morphology hints at the incorporation of Terran or Protoss DNA, or perhaps even the Zerg-altered genes of the Queen of Blades herself. - This ambiguity leans towards either the Hybrids (Protoss DNA) or Kerrigan (her DNA) being able to possibly regain control of the Swarm, as the Queens now replace the Cerebrates. If Kerrigan still has the ability to retain a psychic link to them, she may be able to control the Swarm or keep them from going crazy until she fully regains her abilities. The Queens may be able to manage the Zerg more capably, even if Kerrigan is uninfested, since this was a large weakness with the Overmind & Cerebrates, that she would have likely looked for a way to resolve between the events of BroodWar & SC2.

• Is she going to try to create an un-captivated Overmind-type entity?
- Aside from the fact that the "new Overmind plot" has been done to death, the only way Kerrigan is going to get free of her now-awkward obligation to the Zerg, in order to save the universe from the Hybrids using them to destroy everything, is to find a way to allow them to command themselves autonomously, possibly through the Queens, but without her (if she wants the "her & Jimmy, happy ending").

Anyhow, this is just a couple of topics to get things started.


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[BusinessMonkey]

I would love a "Conclave" of Queens. Hehehe. Pardon the pun, but a collective of queens is something I would really like in StarCraft.

And what's Sarah Kerrigan's psionic class before she was infested? Because the Adjudant in "All In" says Kerrigan as the Queen of Blades is a class 12, but wasn't she a class 12 already?
In that case she could easily take control of the Queens, that would work like the Cerebrates did for the Overmind, just without the "All-knowing" factor the Overmind had.

I would welcome some sort of campaign, where first Kerrigan has to regain her abilities fully, then trying to combine the Swarm against the Hybrids, so it couldn't be manipulated by the Hybrids to go against the Protoss and Terrans. (This would make a great opportunity to put in the "We need lesser evils in this world to take care of the even greater ones". A bit like the famous Team America speech. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RNga...eature=related
(You're welcome to remove the link if it's words are too profane. )

[Kimera757]

I don't think Raynor did a good job there. He rescued Kerrigan, but without a leader, the Swarm are still vulnerable to the hybrids.

But I think Kerrigan isn't completely uninfested, as how can she control the Swarm in Heart of the Swarm? I think she's still evil and will attempt to "purge her humanity" (the RPG portion, when she gets stronger again). Doing so enhances a villain's power, but ironically makes resisting the Dark Voice possible.

Kerrigan's original PI isn't known. It has to be at least 8, since (prior to getting her head messed with) she had telekinesis. However, her backstory on the official site said she was so powerful, it forced a rewriting of the original psionic power scale, so I think she was a PI 10 pre-infestation.

She was classified a "class 12 psi signature". I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if high templar were PI 12+, yet they don't register that way, and neither did archons. I don't think a "class 12 psi signature" counts as a PI 12. I think it's a different rating, using smaller numbers. (I think Infested Kerrigan would be above PI 12, although one wonders if you can even use the PI scale for non-terrans.)

And no more Overmind! Geez!

[Spartan13]

No more evil Kerrigan either please.

[Visions of Khas]

I don't think Raynor did a good job there. He rescued Kerrigan, but without a leader, the Swarm are still vulnerable to the hybrids.

I think she set it up so the zerg won't be without direction. She has apparently just developed the new generation of Queens, which are far more formidable and given more responsibility than before. (I think she planned for the de-infestation.) The zerg continually evolve, and the zerg will survive. A new hierarchy will develop sooner or later.

[phazonjunkie]

(I think she planned for the de-infestation.)

Tosh (to Raynor): 'Maybe because you both want de same t'ing...'

Anyway, in regards to the OP, if you'll recall, Kerrigan (pre-infestation) was part of a series of clandestine experiments on Vyctor 5 before being rescued by the Sons of Korhal. Even then she demonstrated the ability exert some control over lower level zerg strains. I think she was one of the few, if not the ONLY Terran psychic capable of doing so.

So in HoTS, her being able to re-establish control over the swarm despite her current state doesn't seem too far fetched.

[Innerhype]

I think it's going to come down to several different powers vying for ultimate command over the will of the swarm, since whomever controls the Zerg pretty much rules the universe.

With Kerrigan's current condition questionable, that leaves atleast a few very mysterious figures poised to do just that.

[warrior6]

im still trying to get over the fact that blizzard went the all races vs new threat overdone to death X1000 route...it really cheapens all the conflict that has occured thus far and the dynamic war that was between the zerg protoss and terrans....

[Alex06]

For some reason I believe Kerrigan is still tied to the Zerg, just that the artifact removed the Zerg "perversion". She's no longer infested, she's human, but she still has different genes and psionic abilities.

I'm willing to bet that she'll get some kind of Zerg bio-suit developped by Stettman or Dominion scientists working under Valerian, to replace her infestation. :P

- The Zerg Queens: Their new morphology hints at the incorporation of Terran or Protoss DNA, or perhaps even the Zerg-altered genes of the Queen of Blades herself. - This ambiguity leans towards either the Hybrids (Protoss DNA) or Kerrigan (her DNA) being able to possibly regain control of the Swarm, as the Queens now replace the Cerebrates. If Kerrigan still has the ability to retain a psychic link to them, she may be able to control the Swarm or keep them from going crazy until she fully regains her abilities. The Queens may be able to manage the Zerg more capably, even if Kerrigan is uninfested, since this was a large weakness with the Overmind & Cerebrates, that she would have likely looked for a way to resolve between the events of BroodWar & SC2.

The Queen...I remember seeing a picture of a Queen in some kind of vat or stasis cell in an artwork. There's a Protoss Adept (cancelled unit, shown in the CE's art book) standing by it and tons of crystals being linked to the vat/stasis cell. It made me think of a Tal'darim guarding a Hybrid that's still in the process of fully maturing. And there's one of the Dark Templar trilogy books that has a description of a hybrid in a vat similiar to what is seen in that artwork piece.

So maybe the Queens are really hybrids?

[GRUNT]

What I'm wondering is why Kerrigan's hair didn't get 'de-infested' as well?

Is Kerrigan, for all intents and purposes, a psionic human again and the hair is just cosmetic? Or is it indicative of some residual link with the Zerg?

Blizzard DID say that Heart of the Swarm would be about Kerrigan, but I'd be curious to see if that was a red herring.

In the Dark Templar trilogy, Kerrigan seemed keen on creating infested Terrans similar to her (still retaining their individuality and intelligence) for use as consorts/generals. I thought we'd see something come of this in Wings of Liberty, but that apparently wasn't the case.

What I'd be interested in seeing is whether or not one of the Queens or maybe some newly-introduced infested character takes control of the Swarm. I was really hoping for an expansion campaign where we play as the badguy ^^.

If Kerrigan can indeed still control even a portion of the Swarm in her current state, then we might just end up playing as the 'good guys' in all 3 campaigns .