Assault on Valerian Mengsk flagship Bucephalus 

"Because I can offer you what you always wanted..." "A sweet-ass cape like mine."

The way this cutscene is built makes me think there used to be a mission somewhere in the middle of it, probably where Jim and Tycus board the ship, with the hero units from the Nydus Tunnel mission

"A chance to rescue Sarah Kerrigan" Nailed it, Definitly

I hate it when the bad guys lose their troops just so they can tell the good guy they can work out a deal

Kephalus means Head in Greek. Buchephalus means ox-head. It was the name of Alexander the Greats horse, In a lot of ways Valerian is a tribute to Alexander, the name of the ship, and hes a blonde prince who wants a greater empire than his father could leave him.

In another universe, Raynor just shoots him in the back and doesn't care whether Arcturus sees it coming and the plot ends there.

Say what you will about Valerian Mengsk. His old man wouldn't have had the stones to do something like this. Not a chance in hell.

Of all the new characters introduced in SC2, I think I like Valerian the most, and not just because I read the book trilogy where he's an anti-villain. Nice to see the apple took a good bounce away from the tree.

Just think about the Marines that would have survived if Jim had listened to Mat. You know some of the Raiders had to of died too.

1:48 - That's based on music from the Brood War campaign intro, if anyone is wondering.

Here comes the Prince Charming

It’s scenes like this that make me feel like they should make a Starcraft first person shooter game And considering their latest brainchild overwatch We know blizzard can make it work

"SWEETMOTHER OF MERCY"

So Raynor has a gun with a single bullet specially for Arcturus. Originality intensifies?

Valerian just let his troops die for no reason

*sees half the Dominion fleet* *Attacks*

so putting on a spacesuit changes your firing hand. Im impressed.

There's so much about this cinematic that doesn't add up 1. Three state-of-the-art battlecruisers versus a single old, refurbished Confederate-era battlecruiser? Shouldn't everyone be freaking the fuck out? Even if the Hyperion has been upgraded and improved upon over the years, being outnumbered against the Dominion's highest tech isn't exactly a regular Tuesday. 2. Raynor fought alongside Arcturus. Raynor has seen firsthand that Arcturus is an extremely competent tactician. Why would he not immediately assume this was a trap since the Dominion's shields being down is apparently so odd? 3. If Raynor truly wants to kill Mengsk, why wouldn't he just destroy the ship instead of docking on it? Arcturus dies either way. Except, if Raynor boards the Buccephalus, the Hyperion has to get awkwardly close and sit still long enough for the docking tubes to transfer troops between the ships. All the while, the Hyperion is a sitting duck for the two other flagships. 4. Why is it odd for a Battlecruiser's shields to be down? It shouldn't be. Terran shields are extremely power-intensive and rarely used outside of warp jumps. This is cemented multiple times in lore. This isn't Star Wars. Terrans do not have shields that can be put up whenever. 5. Raynor's character was assassinated pretty heavily here. He endangers the entirety of Raynor's Raiders engaging in what could have been a futile battle despite being characterized as caring about the lives of his men. All for the exceedingly slim chance to kill Arcturus. We KNOW that Raynor isn't this headstrong because he has already had an opportunity to kill Arcturus in the past during Brood War. He is capable of setting aside his feelings for the good of the sector. 6. Why does Valerian let his men die? Why doesn't he tell his men to stand down and get out of the way? 7. Raynor looks at the back of Valerian's head and assumes this is Arcuturs. Except Valerian has golden blonde hair while Arcturus has dark brown hair. Seriously? 8. Valerian for some reason doesn't grasp the concept of an independent contractor and assumes he actually owns the entirety of Raynor's Raiders just because he commissioned five jobs from them. 9. Not necessarily a logical issue, but I dislike the fact that the Aria track is being used in this scene. It feels like a tone-deaf reference. Aria was a representation of the UED, from it's refined, classical style showing a clear distinction between the UED and the Koprulu Terrans, to the lyrics, which detail the dystopian society that the UED is. The song was crafted alongside the cinematics it appeared in such that the lyrics would line up with the events of the cinematic. Here, it's just thrown in as a reference to a game that the SC2 writers obviously dislike given how often they ignore its events.

Something tells me that if Valerian had the chance to kill his own father, he would do it with almost no second thought to it.

you wanted you revolution kid , now you got it :D

2:06 um....Raynor? Since when was Arcturus Mengsk BLONDE?!

Valerian just casually letting his Marines die and not giving a flying F... When he could have just told them to stand down and board the Hyperion.

@huskycommander I doubt it. Raynor thought that Valerion was Arcturas, so he wasn't likely to pause his boarding/assassination to chat with him. The only fault with Valerion was not ordering his men to let Raynor though unharassed.

i dont know why valerian is attacking raynor if he needs him

Their rifles.. if there was a remake or mod that could change the sound effects even in cutscenes for the gauss rifle for a more accurate caliber and rate of fire sound (according to some select lore specs), it'd be more like the GAU-19 .50 gatling gun. *BRRRRRRRRT!!!*

0:39 Gun at his left 1:59 Gun at his right Nice work there Blizzard xD

When you think about it Valerian just wasted those men's lives in a pointless firefight. Send out a hail maybe? Then at least when Raynor is blinded by revenge and ignores the hail those lives actually meant something trying to defend Valerian.

Benefit of hindsight: I have a hunch Valerian had planned everything, probably also showing that even though father and son aren't on good terms, Valerian did in fact inherit part of Arcturus' wit. Even though in canon, Arcturus had officially crowned Valerian heir to his throne, as mentioned, the two are not exactly on good terms, and in Hots, Mengsk Senior is more than willing to sacrifice his own flesh and blood just to get rid of Kerrigan. I have to guess that the security detail onboard the Bucephalus were already on Mengsk Senior's payroll, and while on paper, their job is to guard the Crown Prince, they can instantly change to his executioners if Arcturus gave the order. So by letting the Raiders storm the bridge to get to him (unaware it's not Arcturus), he managed to get rid of his father's security detail without implicating himself. As for why Raynor did not pull the trigger right away once he got on the bridge, rule of drama. Considering that Arcturus had hounded Raynor for years, when you have the chance to finally return the favor to an old foe, it is human nature to want to capture this moment in your own psyche. Plus, if he actually shot Valerian without hearing him out, you know Arcturus would use his son's death as a rallying cry to destroy the Raiders once and for all. Even if you think it's a little unbelievable with how things fall into place, remember that "impossible is nothing", especially in the realm of storytelling.

@huskycommander Yeah...same here. But most of the time, I've found that villains must offer really good incentives to their troops. You never see them complain about the high-risk nature of their job, they don't retreat in the face of hopeless odds, and not one of them defects and gives up the location of his patron's doom fortress.

HAVE A NICE DAY!!! ^_^

Bucephalus is a pretty awesome name for a ship

But marine visors are polarized..?

@electricbayonet2 there's that but Mengsk jr lost those men...to tell Jim a message? It kind of sounds like he was planing a flashy bad guy entrance rather than a business proposition. He could've just asked Jim through computer right?

Hey dont you notice he changed the gun's place when he puts his space suit

What is the music at 2:30? Right after the Brood War music ends?

This sequence doesn't make sense. Why did Valerian let them board and kill his men only to pretend that that was his plan all along? Bad writing in these games

Anduin Wrynn

1:25 me at the furry convention

@Tassadarky if im not mistaken,i think it was General Dugalle's music.The ending of broodwar I guess.

It's just the referred to as the "Intro to Brood War."

I LOVE THE GRAND ENTRANCE WITH THE HYPERION!!!!

but his right IS his firing hand... so putting on jeans changes ur firing hand? even more impressive.

Raynor pointing the gun at the back of some blond twinks head, apparently blind: turn around arcturus

Couldn't just text or something?

Why did tygus hesitate before shooting?

Epic!

Actually, that's "Dearest Helena."

@Tassadarky good ear. definitely sounds familiar

What is the name of the song Valerian listening to? it should be a baroque era ones i think.

1:43

whats the name of hte music between 00:38 and 00:40?

Have a Nice Day

Its not based on it is IS it.

thihi, phalus is almost phallus

This makes no sense, if Vamerian is so noble, and good guy, why did he let his guards get kill just tontell jim he wants to be partners?, thats a dick move, so the other troops supose to be cool about that?, like, hey this guys kill a bunch of our camarades and know we work together, sure dude its all cool no hard feelings, that shows how much they care about their soldiers

So... Why that combat happened at all? Valerian could just have sent SMS, yo, Im friendly

ummm? 0:39 wearing jeans... 1:59 wearing crazy ass space suit... if it was the same outfit you would be right, nice try tho

@electricbayonet2 well, I guess

Kael'Thas reused again.