Retcons

[broodmywarcraft]

"She" as in the Queen of Blades, not Sarah Kerrigan. The Queen of Blades was essentially her own entity, separate from Sarah and manifested out of Sarah's rage ( as explained by Tosh) and the basic Zerg instincts. All the actions in BW were thus the actions of the QoB, not Sarah; Sarah was powerless.

Oh that's a fine retcon explanation. That's the same thing they did with the Overmind, all the actions were explained by a programming.

But Sarah was very much the Queen of Blades in Brood War.

Her breathing heavily just before ordering the betrayal of her Allies in True Colors , her defensive nature when Jim confronts her after she kills Fenix, and her ending the mission by saying "For the first time since my tranfiguration, I am, wearied of the slaughter" are not signs of some raging monster.

This is HER.

[imdrunkontea]

The 'Queen' still has the same memories, and to an extent, opinions about other characters as Sarah did. I would liken her to an almost Jekyll-and-Hyde type of being, with the exception that Sarah is more the "center" or logical incarnation than the direct opposite. It's not precisely the "trapped within a body" explanation that you're going after, but more that she is so consumed by these feelings of rage and revenge that she can only follow that when it all comes down to it.

I never bought the take on the Queen of Blades as the same exact, and completely non-manipulated form of Sarah who would willingly go as far as murder billions of innocents and become pretty much the most evil thing ever seen in the universe in the course of Brood War. Even Arthas had the corruption of a blade to really twist him into what he became, and his actions are arguably less evil that the QoB's. If anything, I think the QoB is Sarah being controlled so that a single drive of hatred and revenge consumes all that she cares about, the same way a serial killer or rapist is manipulated by motives that lie within themselves, but beyond their control.

Sorry if it's unclear - I'm not the best at explaining myself sometimes. For what it's worth, I think a lot of other things are inconsistent between BW and SC2, but the Sarah being different from the Queen of Blades issue is one thing I actually think makes sense.

[RODTHEGOD]

changing the hydralisk in the falshback to be the new hydra instead of the one in the original

[Triceron]

Infested Stukov does not exist. This is proved by Ariel Hanson's story.

Hansen continuously tries to save the infected colonists, even after they're zergified. Raynor would have confirmed it's possibility since he KNOWS it's possible, and it happened to Stukov. Instead, he goes through the whole deal as if death is the only solution for Ariel.

I also hate the Overmind being a force of good corrupted by evil. They turned the Overmind, a lovecraftian primal creature that destroys all in its path simply because it exists, into a pansy Medivh ripoff.

[Pandonetho]

I also hate the Overmind being a force of good corrupted by evil. They turned the Overmind, a lovecraftian primal creature that destroys all in its path simply because it exists, into a pansy Medivh ripoff.

This.

[KillaKhan]

The Overmind may have not necessarily been a creature of good, but moreso of it's own intentions. It might not have wanted to consume the protoss because it watched it's beloved children die around it.

[Visions of Khas]

The only part about the Overmind's retcon that bothered me was the fact that it apparently did not, in fact, want to assimilate the protoss... despite saying so. Repeatedly. Honestly, that's the only real retcon they made to it. We already knew it was programmed to confront the protoss.

[mr. peasant]

Infested Stukov does not exist. This is proved by Ariel Hanson's story.

Hansen continuously tries to save the infected colonists, even after they're zergified. Raynor would have confirmed it's possibility since he KNOWS it's possible, and it happened to Stukov. Instead, he goes through the whole deal as if death is the only solution for Ariel.

We don't know what's happened to Stukov between his initial de-infestation and SC2. The process may not have stuck or had unforeseen complications. Indeed, if such a cure was viable, wouldn't the Protoss have opted for that over purification, especially once they realised that the colonists were under Raynor's care? Such an outcome is possible since Blizzard's stance had switched from silently ignoring it to confirming that it was canon over the course of SC2's development; which suggests that they had found a use for him.

[imdrunkontea]

About the whole assimilate vs annihilation thing: could it be that Zeratul meant "destruction of our people" as in the assimilation, and thus the "destruction" of the Protoss' civilizations/culture? And perhaps the Dark Voice wanted the assimilation at first to create the Hybrids for his own personal use, but once the Hybrids were being made thanks to Duran and Terran scientists he instead shifted to destroying the remaining Protoss, since they were no longer needed.

[Tenebrae]

Raynor wanting to save Kerrigan instead of killing her.

-Kerrigan in general. They turned her into a damsel trapped in a monster's body in order to satisfy the need for her against the Dark One instead of the monster she CHOSE to become.

*Spoilers*

Read through the novels a bit, especially "Queen of Blades" above all others if you wish to get a better understanding about Kerrigan after her rebirth into the swarm. She's, practically, the same person she always was...just with a Zerg instinctual nature that fuels her overwhelming desire of vengeance...she feels hurt and betrayed, beyond words. The novels were all confirmed cannon as a way to delve further into the lore where the game could not...and throughout that novel you come to discover that Kerrigan, despite her hybridization, still loves Jim as much as she ever did. She even offers him a chance, though subtly, to join her...

Even when he refuses, even when he sides against her with Tassadar and Zeratul, she plays with him like a sadistic lover. As she hunts for the Protoss, she completely bypasses Jim despite knowing he was there, when Tassadar, Zeratul, and Jim ambushed her...she leapt upon Jim first to deactivate his suit...then kiss his visor and show off for him by basically taking on Tassadar and Zeratul on her own.

I honestly do not believe that she would ever kill Jim, nor do I believe that he would kill her...despite their mutual claims of ending one another's lives. Both of them seem like the type that would stand there and try to force the other one into killing them to ensure that they, themselves, were not the one to do it... Kerrigan wants Jim, still...but she knows he'll never agree to become her consort.

I actually think that the end of the game was a plan on her part, that the Xel'Naga artifact did something far different than we expect, imbued her with Xel'Naga energies that will actually empower her rather than having deinfested her. She still has the Zerg hair-like tendrils...and they don't seem to be even remotely effected. All that we know of the artifacts is based upon Valerian Mengsk...who undoubtedly had his team of scientists testing the artifact fragments on Zerg and Terran subjects to study the effects. The Protoss themselves, including Zeratul and the Preservers, have difficulty understanding the nature of Xel'Naga ways, language, and technology...so why in the world would we assume that Valerian and his Terran team could decipher the Xel'Naga artifact's purpose?

They most likely found that it destroyed Zerg cells and left Terran in tact...coming to the logical conclusion that it would either kill or deinfest Kerrigan. However, what if the artifact's purpose was to actually empower a hybrid...which Kerrigan, technical, is. What if the regression in her state is only temporary and caused by the fact that the energies needed to prepare her for the final metamorphosis that would ascend her into "god-hood" akin to the Fallen One and the Xel'Naga themselves. She could have done this all on her own by getting the artifact before Jim did...but now she had Jim not only bring it to her...but use it on her, which may have been what she planned all along.

Now she's with Jim, the man she still loves...and quite possibly still the Queen of Blades, waiting for her ascention to take root...and in the perfect place to take Jim if she so chose. However, like I said before, I doubt she would ever force Jim to join her...but to play the part of the "good ol Kerrigan" as she transforms back...and then offer him the option of coming along with her at the promise of leaving the Terrans alone after Mengsk is destroyed... Well, the loss of love tends to weigh heavily on the heart, as we have seen with Jim...but to gain back what you have lost and then have it threatened again...that destroys people. He was a broken man...Kerrigan has him right where she wants him, with a false sense of hope...

All it'll take is a little push...and she can finally have the consort she wanted from the start...all she has to do is appeal to one bit of humanity and make him a promise that after it's all over...she'll leave the Terrans to themselves...and I think he'll jump.

I also hate the Overmind being a force of good corrupted by evil. They turned the Overmind, a lovecraftian primal creature that destroys all in its path simply because it exists, into a pansy Medivh ripoff.

They did not make the Overmind good, they simply depicted it as innocent...that all it truly cares about is self preservation of the Zerg race. Tassadar praises it not for its seemingly good nature, or it's original personality...but because it strove to exploit the Fallen One's hold upon it and sacrificed itself, stared death in the face so that it could free itself from the clutches of corruption.

That is why Tassadar praises it...because the Overmind chose to die so that Kerrigan could take the lead and free the Zerg. The Overmind knows that the Xel'Naga indened it to become perfect from the start...but that it's path to perfection was tainted by the Fallen One. If not for the Fallen One, the Overmind's goal and true prime directive would have been met without resistance by the Protoss...just countless years down the road. The Overmind is patient, however...