Now THIS is an invasion! I'd also like to think in the original that with the original Cerebrate left behind on Char (and eventually killed by Tassadar), the last two missions has you as Araq and the actual Jormungand Brood.
@@arbiter11171 Yup - And it's Tassadar personally who does in Kerrigan's Cerebrate. My headcanon is that doing so is how he actually figures out that only Dark Templar can actually kill them. I think he genuinely doesn't know that the Khalai back on Aiur can't do it when he tells them about the Cerebrates initially.
Before you wonder why Kerrigan didn't come along, there are a few theories. 1. The psionic defences the Overmind was concerned about thwarting aren't things like High Templar shenanigans but rather are being used to conceal Aiur. Plucking Aiur's location out of Zeratul's mind means that this is no longer a concern, so the invasion can proceed without Kerrigan, who gets left behind as a contingency. 2. The death of Zasz notwithstanding, the Overmind realizes after the clashes on Char that the Protoss' psionic capabilities were not as formidable as it had feared, and a conventional assault would be sufficient to conquer Aiur. 3. The Overmind decided that the real psionic threat lay with the Protoss on Char, not Aiur, and that leaving Kerrigan behind to hunt them was the most efficient use of resources. 4. What the Overmind needed out of Kerrigan was the process of infesting a powerful psionic, not the Queen of Blades herself - it just needed her as a test subject to figure out how to incorporate her powers into the Swarm. Once that was done, it could go after the Protoss and, potentially, fold them and their purity of form into the fold. The opening of this mission supports that! It didn't need Kerrigan herself once she had survived infestation, but also she was useful enough not to just kill off, so she got to go "play" with Tassadar. 5. The Overmind decided that bringing Kerrigan to Aiur, so close to Xel'Naga temple and Khaydarin Crystals would amplify her psionic powers enough to break away from its control. 6. Because one field agent ain't what they were looking for; they were after learning how the whole thing works, and incorporating in into the Swarm - therefore, it's better to keep Kerrigan back, where's it's safer. Also, now that the Protoss managed to kill a Cerebrate, this means that the Swarm cannot wait to grow a new psi-warrior: they must strike ASAP, before the Protoss commit and wipe 'em out. 7. The Queen of Blades book says her staying on Char is HER choice, but the above can be why the Overmind didn't pressure her into coming along.
Interesting! I also imagined staying on Char was punishment for her failure to beat Tassadar. Her arrogance and recklessness cost the Overmind his second most treasured Cerebrate, and perhaps that made him realize she wasn't the "greatest" of his creations after all? Although if staying was Kerrigans' choice, then maybe not :D Edit: I just remembered SC2's lore.. The Overmind would've wanted Kerrigan to stay alive and free the Swarm from Amon. Char was much safer than Aiur.
@@rRecoveryProd I feel like there's a way to interpret it with the retconned lore as well, so this isn't necessarily incompatible. It works in both senses. :p
How about one more theory: Having Zeratul and his Dark Templar captured and/or stranded on Char, Overmind and Kerrigan already knew not only the location of Aiur, but also Shakuras the very moment Zeratul slew Zasz. That gave Kerrigan just enough time to visit Raszagal to gain her sympathy and make her enslaved to her (under the pretense of her being a victim under the influence of the Overmind) "long before she later met Zeratul, Aldaris and Artanis on Shakuras" - as she herself states in the Broodwar Zerg mission "To slay the beast".
Meanwhile, on StarCraft Alternate… The story now actually follows the Furinax Tribe, which bears the same colors as the one "babysitting" Duran (who stay behind on Aiur due to the Conclave not wanting to risk the Templar's recapture in case the Terrans have such capabilities), and with them are the Venatir and Shelak Tribes as the invasion of Tarsonis begins in earnest, starting with seizing the Rift Anchor for the Xel'Naga Worldship. "LORD OF FIRE" BOOK EVENTS As it turns out, Duran's psionic dreams towards Draliska also grant him hidden access to the Khala and translates the Protoss conversations he's managed to "overhear" throughout his numerous solo hunts. During their camping, a lot of things were discussed, such as how Draliska came to be, Mengsk's interest in the Zerg, Stukov's reasons for the UED being in the Koprulu Sector, and so on. There's even time for a friendly sword spar between Stukov and Mengsk, and Draliska learning the history of swords.
"RUN FOR THE BASEEE" or, you know, you could've used that defiled ground you had to have a nydus canal leading directly from the crystal formation to the beacon...
Aiur being conquered by the Zerg in two missions felt anti-climatic to me. You're facing the full might of the Protoss on their home turf with your entire swarm, and they fell in just two missions? It wasn't enough. Another mission between Z9 and Z10 should take place, where Daggoth tasks the player Cerebrate to take down the Conclave's forces, especially their Arbiters and the Psionic Matrix to weaken Protoss further before attacking the Temple.
They're not conquered, though. That's the point. You're fighting constantly across Aiur in the Protoss campaign. "Aiur burns at the touch of the Zerg, and you come all this way to arrest me?"
The implication isn't that all of Aiur fell in two missions. Just that the Overmind was able to make planetfall on Aiur. In the Protoss campaign following up, there's tons of missions trying to wipe the Zerg off Aiur, and the Conclave is still in position to give orders during that time. Agreed it would have been nice for all Vanilla campaigns to be 12 missions, but padding is never good. Even these two Aiur missions we got feel kind of samey.
@@Bloodlyshiva The moment the Overmind arrives is where the Zerg started gaining the upper hand against the Protoss on Aiur, that everything the Zerg does after that is now a cakewalk, so it fits the status as "conquered".
@@WhiteFangofWar I got your point that padding won't be good, but I'm talking on a lore perspective where fighting the full might of the Protoss on Aiur in two missions felt anti-climatic. Yes, it's samey in today's standards as StarCraft's two-decades-old AI and level design aged like milk.
>I like how Cinematics fade; As if these were Visions from the Overmind. >1:15 Operation: C̶r̶a̶z̶y Shinin Diamond. >2:19 High Templar StonerDoomStack. >3:56 Metapod Mirror Battles Be Like: >7:38 *Three Against The World Plays.* >9:00 Op. Update: Diggy Diggy Quartz. >10:36 Op. Update: No Drones Behind. >Teal Dragoons; Base Units in Disguise. >White Team-Coloured Zerg 🥰🥰🥰 >𝘡𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘡𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴.
Good call, wiping out the Protoss bases instead of trying your luck with a siege. If Terran 3 is any indication, those missions in this mod are absurdly hard.
1:29 Oh. Didn't even notice at first that there were Hunter Killers. (Are they supposed to be here?) I like to think that *special* zerg units are some sort of avatars to Cerebrates, having larger brain to contain a part of their personality and be controlled more precisely. And different Cerebrates seem to like different zerg types. Daggoth likes hydralisks so he has Hunter Killers. One of the Overmind defenders in To Chain the Beast mission is into ultralisks so he has the Torrasque, the other's avatar was Sunken Colony all of a sudden. I wonder what could be Zasz's choice.
Are there any lore sources on the casualties the zerg suffered pre Overmind death in the battle for Auir? I got to imagine it is easily in the Billions, if not Trillions.
@@ExecutorNral i dont know how to say this without sounding entitled.... Fix your goddamn sweet, good looking campaign, so that i dont need to rely on other humans to play it. please. Thank you
Still doesn't make sense as the protoss casually could glass entire planets, their homeworld would have a fleet of at least significant amount. Just to get on the planet would be a feat.
