Starcraft 2 Armory - Unofficial Starcraft 2 Fansite

With the recent trailer for Heart of the Swarm expansion released at BlizzCon, I couldn't resist dissecting down the 2:27 video and examining every possible detail that may give clues to the storyline. Here is what I've gathered so far.

Warning: There is a lot to read. Grab a drink or some food, etc.



We have Kerrigan, the main focus/character of the story. With her de-infestation now returning her back to human (although that is debatable how human she really is and what infestation she still may have), it is now the year 2506 in the begining of HotS (confirmed), where as WoL ended in October 2504. It has been a good 1-2 years that have passed and Kerrigan, I assume, has been spending her time with Raynor.

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As the trailer starts, we have Kerrigan narrating a majority of the video. The first subject at hand is taking down Mengsk. What I don't understand is why now? Why does Kerrigan want a piece of Mengsk after all these years? She had the opportunity during the Brood War to kill him but she let him go to lick his wounds. It's clear and understandable why she hates him... but why is she motivated? Wasn't it her - that said to Zeratul - "Our petty conflicts mean nothing now. Storms' coming that can not be stopped". I thought Kerrigan was interested in the greater problems, such as the Hybrids and Xel'Naga? Why all of a sudden she wants to focus on taking down Mengsk like Raynor did? Kerrigan is either extremely dumb or the writers of the story have no idea what they are doing. Either way, I hope we don't spend a majority of the game bringing the Dominion to their knees.

TL;DR: Kerrigan wants to kill Mengsk with a cold hard vengeance.





With Mengsk and the Dominion most likely playing a large role in the story (among other Terran factors like the Kel-Morian Combine and Umoja Protectorate), we see in the photo above that two opposing fleets have a space battle. I'm going to assume that it is the Dominion and Raynor's Raiders in this space battle.



Here we see Nova doing a sweep with her Co-Op team of Ghosts and Marines. Her current location is unknown, however I'm going to assume she and her squad have somehow infiltrated the Hyperion, shortly after the space battle between the Dominion and Raiders. However...

Let's back up a second and talk about Nova. For those of you who aren't very familiar with her, she is a very powerful Dominion Ghost, who has had extensive training as a spy, assassin, and warrior. You may recognize her from the Starcraft: Ghost game, which was canceled, but despite this she has had her series of novels and graphic novels centered on her. She is known as being possibly the most powerful Ghost in existence, with a PI (Psi Index) of 10, the highest on record for any human (De-infested Sarah Kerrigan has been confirmed with a PI of 11, which is off the chart for any human). Personally I look forward to seeing more of Nova in HotS as she remains a famous character in the Starcraft novels and the overall universe of the game.


Can you imagine two foxy, powerful psionic Ghosts like Sarah Kerrigan and Nova fighting each other? That would be really really interesting. Not sure who would win, let alone who I would vote for.

...Anyways, lets go back to the space battle. If, theoritcly, Nova and her squad borded the Hyperion, they would obviously be out to find kerrigan, which is whay Nova says "This is Nova. Find Kerrigan". Mengsk no doubt wants to finish what Tychus started: Kill Kerrigan now that she is vunerable as a human.

One small thing I want to point out about the space battle is something I noticed on a mission preview:


Notice anything? A space station with Dominion (Red) space craft coming out and attacking a Blue (Raiders) Battlecruiser and Wraiths. I can't help but notice that the Dominion space craft are much similar to the Predator Fighter, which was a scraped Terran unit in Starcraft 2 Alpha:


One very curious thing I keep wondering is who this White marine is:




This may sound insane, but could it be that the White Marine is a UED? The UED had the white color for their units and according to lore, as well as Starcraft novels, UED still remain in the Koprulu sector as outlaws and terrorists even after the Brood War ended. Don't forget that the UED technology had slightly different adjustments compared to the Terrans in the Koprulu sector, thus many of their gear and equiment look very different than the Confederacy/Dominion, which may explain why this white marine's suit looks oddly shapped.

Also, noticed how I put a red circle around the wolf head in the first picture, indicating that the white marine is in fact on the Hyperion. In the second picture we still see the wolf head as Kerrigan is about to give the white marine its demise. If it is not the UED, my guess is that the white marine may be apart of Nova's squad and has managed to infiltrate the bridge. Just my own little speculation... I'm probably way off.




In the picture above we see Kerrigan doing a Darth Vader choke grip on Valerian. One thing I'd like to note is that this is not the first time Kerrigan and Valerian have met, as they briefly encountered each other back in 2503 on Aiur in the Dark Templar Saga. I see two things coming from these pictures:
A) Kerrigan is going to kill Valerian to send Mengsk a message.
or
B) She will use Valerian as a hostage to bait Mengsk.



This is probably the most interesting thing I picked up on in the trailer. Notice anything odd about this picture? Amiss the dark clouds, we see something enormous in the sky, which consicedently has zerg drop pods coming from its direction. It's pretty clear at this point that it is the Behemoth:


The Behemoth (not to be confused with the Battlecruiser) is the largest of Zerg creatures, bigger than the Leviathan. It's role is to transport zerg broods through space. Why is the Behemoth on a Terran planet? invasion. It is unclear if this terran planet is a fringe world or the Korhal itself, but one thing is for certain: that planet is ****ed.


Now examine this photo for a second. Aside from the amazing detail on the Zerg swarm, notice those buildings in the background? They look to me like royal palace buildings, one that an emperor would stay at. If I am right, then I have no doubt that the entire Zerg swarm is knocking on Korhal's door.

TL;DR: Kerrigan and her Zerg are going to invade Korhal, destroy the dominion, and (possibly) kill Mengsk.

beautiful, absolutely beautiful ^_^. Looks like someone dissected this bad boy into nothing but particles lol! nice job Stebo, anyways back then in Broodwar it seems she really just had a function (or overriding code) that kind of pushed her ethics or her personal quests aside so she may begin the zergs quest for survival and absolute dominance in the sector. Now de-infested and that taken out of her, she was probably in stasis or in the Hyperion medical lab for probably many months, then I guess she wanted to spend some time with Raynor before hearing what has happened to the people around Korhal and whatnot, and I guess that brew up some bad moments in her memories, and thus wanting to get rid of the man who did this to her, and kill the being who wants to end her and Jim Raynors life .-. eh.

Interesting 'analysis Stebo!

I think you're pretty much dead on about the Raiders and Nova.

Interesting idea for the white marine stebo, I hadn't thought of the UED. My idea for the white marine was actually Horace Warfield, but come to think of it he doesn't have a right arm XD

My idea for Valerian was actually that Mengsk was hiding somewhere and Kerrigan was torturing him until he told her where he's hiding, just an idea.

very nice theory crafting there stebo! i think you picked up a trick or two from roland these last couple years

she most likely was torturing Valerian (since choking does make a human being spazz out and frantically flop about like a fish for air) to get something out of him, that or he must've made some remark (remember, she's been in the Hyperion for 2 years! she MUST'VE known he was there!) that caused her to react to make him remember that he is just a mere mortal compared to her powers
I don't think she would kill a man who doesn't have an interest in killing her (probably) and only wishes to be the opposite of Mengsk, to do good rather then corruption .-. I think.

p.s.: anyone else freaked by how huge the Behemoth is? The Leviathan holds thousands if not maybe millions of zerg creatures in it's sacs and whatnot, capable of combat and destroying Minotaur-class Battlecruisers (which are miles long and I think a mile in width) and the Leviathan towers even over them in size and shape. The Behemoth looks like it makes Battlecruisers look like toys and probably has such thick or strong armor that even nuclear blasts would probably just piss it off (which I don't reccemond) I wonder if it's capable of combat or not .-.

on 2/11/11Quote by zerginfestor

she most likely was torturing Valerian (since choking does make a human being spazz out and frantically flop about like a fish for air) to get something out of him, that or he must've made some remark (remember, she's been in the Hyperion for 2 years! she MUST'VE known he was there!) that caused her to react to make him remember that he is just a mere mortal compared to her powers
I don't think she would kill a man who doesn't have an interest in killing her (probably) and only wishes to be the opposite of Mengsk, to do good rather then corruption .-. I think.

I was thinking the same thing which is a possibility.

on 2/11/11Quote by stebo88

on 2/11/11Quote by zerginfestor

she most likely was torturing Valerian (since choking does make a human being spazz out and frantically flop about like a fish for air) to get something out of him, that or he must've made some remark (remember, she's been in the Hyperion for 2 years! she MUST'VE known he was there!) that caused her to react to make him remember that he is just a mere mortal compared to her powers
I don't think she would kill a man who doesn't have an interest in killing her (probably) and only wishes to be the opposite of Mengsk, to do good rather then corruption .-. I think.

I was thinking the same thing which is a possibility.

exactly, after that, she will probably have to escape the Hyperion (which in the scene where she loads up her rifle, that MIGHT be a part inside of the Hyperion),and seeing as how Raynor looks at her with those puppy eyes (LOL couldn't help it) she might be having some sort of conflict inside of her (I don't know about you guys, but I would feel terrible for leaving a person I love or care about in a ship being torn apart). Who knows, but your predictions are pretty much spot on: Korhal will get slapped, turned around, forced to bend over, and take a Ultra in the kiester, along with Mengsk probably.

p.s. whos curious about Abathur? who's been said to have a side plot and quest after speaking to him quite alot. Hope he doesn't turn evil T_T he sounds awesome and well-mannered like a butler for something made to slaughter things.

It'd be interesting to find out how Kerrigan feels about being human again. If she's grateful for it, she probably wouldn't kill Valerian in gratitude.

I used to think nova is hoter....but after the HoTS trailer...
I can't decide anymore........><


(totally off topic..........xD)

It's pretty hard to know how/why things are gonna get done, but it seems like we might know what's probably (especially with all the data ****ysis in the OP) gonna happen..

However - I find it contradictory that Kerri's captured/stasised/w/e and the actual first few missions in the campaign seem to be a ZvZ fight for Zerg inside power and control (like kill an uprising Queen from the Broodmother "leaders" threatening to takeover her place or sth)

Might it be that Kerri somewhat later got captured and put of Hyperion for "experimentation" of some kind..

I don't say that she wouldn't go the distance until "every mengsk is dead", but I think that the Terrans captured her once again somewhat after.. So yah - just as always - a man with a hope and softened heart can't mistreat or hurt his with infinite aliby for hatred/revenge loved one, so Raynor in the hope that she might come back to him as well as "things might get easier some later day" (after all he couldn't keep her safe from all the Humanity hatred towards her), and maybe just focus her mind on not being worth to fulfill her vengeance/revenge based ideas and probably set Kerri free..

If that's true - guess it's reasonable turn on events, but odd to say the least..

on 3/11/11Quote by Spartan929

It'd be interesting to find out how Kerrigan feels about being human again. If she's grateful for it, she probably wouldn't kill Valerian in gratitude.

Playing the two missions in HotS durring the BlizzCon demo it would appear that Kerrigan has more empathy and humanity in her. For example, she spares the life of a Brood Mother even after the mother betrays Kerrigan. Instead of killing her like the Queen of Blades would, Kerrigan decided to let the mother join her Brood ranks again.

Also, Kerrigan, after destroying a Protoss base in the ice mission, spares the life of a surviving Protoss female civilian and even befriends her after the mission.

on 3/11/11Quote by VArsovskiSC

It's pretty hard to know how/why things are gonna get done, but it seems like we might know what's probably (especially with all the data ****ysis in the OP) gonna happen..

However - I find it contradictory that Kerri's captured/stasised/w/e and the actual first few missions in the campaign seem to be a ZvZ fight for Zerg inside power and control (like kill an uprising Queen from the Broodmother "leaders" threatening to takeover her place or sth)

Might it be that Kerri somewhat later got captured and put of Hyperion for "experimentation" of some kind..

I don't say that she wouldn't go the distance until "every mengsk is dead", but I think that the Terrans captured her once again somewhat after.. So yah - just as always - a man with a hope and softened heart can't mistreat or hurt his with infinite aliby for hatred/revenge loved one, so Raynor in the hope that she might come back to him as well as "things might get easier some later day" (after all he couldn't keep her safe from all the Humanity hatred towards her), and maybe just focus her mind on not being worth to fulfill her vengeance/revenge based ideas and probably set Kerri free..

If that's true - guess it's reasonable turn on events, but odd to say the least..

.-. wha? you do realize that all of it takes place in the Hyperion right? the entire trailer just told it out basically that Kerrigan stayed in the Hyperion for around 2 years, trying to gain back what the hell has happened and whatnot, while Raynor's Raiders are basically going all over the place trying to hide from the Dominion. Finally it seems to take place where an ambush has been thrown out (seeing as the Dominion fleet appeared right by the Hyperion and open fired). It seems Kerrigan must've been running inside the cruiser before finally cornered in the bridge, thus she brings out a bit of her 'zerg' self to dispose of the mysterious marines. Just by the looks of Raynor's face in a dark red possible hallway, and a drop ship flying over to a planet, could mean this: The Hyperion finally succumbed to a all-out focused down attack by several Dominion Battlecruisers, and the crew evacuated, or Kerrigan went into evac, thus sparing the Raiders a bit since Mengsk is targetting HER, not them for now, giving the Raiders enough time to escape or fight back. The Planet she landed on could in fact be Char, and thus the beginning of the game..well..begins!

@Stebo, really? how did that go? I hope the protoss female isn't too pissed off at her. Kerrigan will probably explain why she had to and apologize and whatnot .-.

I seriously doubt Kerrigan is after vengeance here. She let Mengsk go in BW like you said.

I'd like to think Mengsk is somewhat involved in the Hybrids and she feels like she needs to kill him to save "her" race. She was very close to the Overmind. Maybe she was told something from a while ago? Remember Kerrigan was also in the Zeritul missions gathering knowledge also.

Mengsk was the one who left Kerrigan to the Zerg and told to stop the Protoss. I'd ask was what happened to her intentional? Also Tassadar did not incinerate the planet I'd like to think there is more of a reason for this than simply he felt bad for the terrans.

We also learned very little from WoL about Dr. Narud (Duran). This would raise questions for me as well.

on 3/11/11Quote by zerginfestor

@Stebo, really? how did that go? I hope the protoss female isn't too pissed off at her. Kerrigan will probably explain why she had to and apologize and whatnot .-.

Well the Protoss female civilian was actually a colonist/researcher and her name was Lassara. She's bassicaly the same of Dr. Aerial Hanson in everyway, just a Protoss. Also, Lassara was very resistant to Kerrigan's charm and even bluntly told her that she despises Kerrigan for murdering millions of people. However, in the end, Lassara was cooperative with Kerrigan after the mission, despite being scared of torture/death from Kerrigan in which case Kerrigan said she would leave Lassara unharmed as a hostage.

on 3/11/11Quote by stebo88

on 3/11/11Quote by zerginfestor

@Stebo, really? how did that go? I hope the protoss female isn't too pissed off at her. Kerrigan will probably explain why she had to and apologize and whatnot .-.

Well the Protoss female civilian was actually a colonist/researcher and her name was Lassara. She's bassicaly the same of Dr. Aerial Hanson in everyway, just a Protoss. Also, Lassara was very resistant to Kerrigan's charm and even bluntly told her that she despises Kerrigan for murdering millions of people. However, in the end, Lassara was cooperative with Kerrigan after the mission, despite being scared of torture/death from Kerrigan in which case Kerrigan said she would leave Lassara unharmed as a hostage.

damn, I'm starting to think that coldness or torture threat might be from her advantage point from her past Covert Ops missions and training.

edit: I gotta say, I'm shocked by how many idiots out there think the Swarm is a bunch of tragedy goodie-two-shoe aliens http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tGlVTIL8Oc&lc=4kuvkgwfvR1ar0A6kBkhkS_aRxxN0YyGmREqejFTmyk&feature=inbox (im ZergSwarmling in the argument) anyways, the guy thinks the plot is off from SC1 and BW, thinking the merciless zerg are now there to 'save the day'.

The truth is the Zerg Swarm most likely doesn't give a damn about the universe, nor any of the other races, but rather on the Survival of the Swarm, that is it. The Zerg are not evil nor good, but rather a neutral race that does whatever their Queen or Overmind feels pleased to do so, like a class-system or bees or ants, doing orders for the queen, and killing other different species in order for the Swarm to thrive.