Blizzard Entertainment revealed the “Vengeance” Trailer two weeks before the release date of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm — the second episode of the StarCraft II trilogy.
Blizzard has gone and effed things up knocking the hornet’s nest with this trailer. After watching this, millions of story-hungry fans want to rush and play through Heart of the Swarm to learn exactly what’s going on.
My Analysis
Some of the cinematic scenes in the “Vengeance” trailer, comes from the cinematic intro, but there is a large deal of new cinematic clips here from the single player campaign that no one has ever seen before.
I’m going to attempt to break it down to our visitors. To see what lies within this trailer and what might be expected in the single player campaign.
It’s hard to tell what the single player campaign’s plot is just by listening to the voice acting clips, and the cinematic scenes in this new vengeance teaser. However, there is enough to know the fragile human form of Kerrigan won’t last for long.
One can tell based on the several cinematic scenes we see Sarah in her human form wearing the Ghost uniform that she will be in this form for at least a third or half the campaign.
In StarCraft II: Flashpoint
Her powers are honed and tested. She got a superior telekinetic and telepathic power set in this human form than we have previously seen. She’s definitely no damsel in distress. In the novel she defeated two Zerg/Protoss hybrids all by herself in her weakened human form.
We know that Sarah is on a quest to find the zerg broods.
What we didn’t know is that Sarah would become the Queen of Blades again. Wait, we went through all that work to return her humanity, just to see her back as the Queen of Blades?
Maybe. I can’t really tell what’s going on here. She looks like the Queen of Blades later on, but it’s like her human-mind is still there anyhow.
One of the scenes shows a Xel’Naga temple. Jim Raynor is there to witness some sort of explosion. There was a sort of misdirection putting two scenes in a backward sequence.
First, the way it should have played … the explosion scene, then Sarah on the ground with crystal pieces on the ground, kneeling and talking to Jim Raynor.
In this scene, what I can assume is that Sarah came to this Xel’Naga temple either willingly or forced to (by Narud?). She was in some sort of Pylon or crystal cocoon which transformed Sarah with Xel’Naga energies back into the Queen of Blades. She’s emerging from this cocoon.
Why were we teased during the launch of StarCraft II: Flashpoint that this was no longer the Queen of Blades, but Sarah? Well, in the story she is completely human and vulnerable.
A large part of the single player campaign shows her in ghost uniform. Thus, the Flashpoint tease wasn’t a lie.
We were never told it was a permanent thing. In addition, we have to go back to Zeratul’s Tidings of Doom message. Kerrigan is the key to undoing the hybrids’ plan.
In Zeratul’s vision of the far future, we see the hybrids consuming the universe as the last Protoss bastion is overrun. A future that came to be after the Queen of Blades was slain, and the Zerg was freed of a leadership, roaming space in freedom. But not for long — the hybrids enslaved the Zerg and the future was grim with the reign of The Fallen One.
No. That future shall not come to pass. Zeratul trusts Jim Raynor with an Ihan Crystal containing the memories of his travel through the cosmos these past four years in search of an ancient Xel’Naga prophecy.
The prophecy led Zeratul back to Aiur, to the empty husk of the Overmind. There, Tassadar’s avatar talked to Zeratul, sharing the knowledge that the Overmind had found a way to break his Xel’Naga-implanted all-consuming directive … the Overmind created the Queen of Blades to break the cycle of a dark future the Overmind had foreseen in a vision.
Jim Raynor saved Sarah Kerrigan, but in order to fulfill her destiny, her future doesn’t lie beside Jim Raynor as a human. She must prepare for war … as the Queen of Blades.
“Wait, but why use the Xel’Naga artifact to revert her to human if it was all for nothing?”
The old Queen of Blades, likely still had the all-consuming directive implanted by the Xel’Naga, or maybe implanted into the Overmind by a Xel’Naga traitor. The artifact used in the final mission of the Wings of Liberty episode, gave Sarah back her humanity, her free will. This new Queen of Blades might have a better chance at fulfilling her destiny than the old Queen of Blades.
I’ll transcribe the entire Zeratul missions in upcoming days prior to the launch of the Heart of the Swarm, so that you might learn more of this prophecy and the reason Sarah should no longer remain human — to explain what we have seen in this “Vengeance” trailer. TO answer why she is becoming once more “The Queen of Blades”.
War is coming. And the Queen of Blades shall be the only salvation of the universe against the Hybrids and their master: The Fallen One.
In that future, all that remains is a last stand of the Protoss, the Terrans have already been destroyed by the Hybrids including Jim Raynor and his Raiders. And beyond, the Fallen One is all that’s left. All stars go dark, and all that remains is the void.
While I work on transcribing the Zeratul missions, I recommend reading StarCraft II: Flashpoint
Trailer Transcript
Emperor Mengsk: Proud, Dominion citizens. The Zerg threat has been removed. The Swarm is leaderless. We have won.
Sarah Kerrigan: The killing will never stop until Mengsk is dead.
Jim Raynor: Forget Mengsk. I moved heaven and earth to bring you back, Sarah.
Sarah Kerrigan: There is something dark in me, Jim.
General Horace Warfield: Kerrigan. You betrayed us all. You are not even human anymore.
Captain Matt Horner: Stand down.
Jim Raynor: I never gave up on you, Sarah. Don’t you give up on us.
Sarah Kerrigan: I now see my true enemy. I’m the Swarm. Armies will be shattered. Worlds will burn. Vengeance shall be mine.
General Horace Warfield: How many innocents have you killed. How many more have to die.
Unknown: What if Raynor saw you right now?
Jim Raynor: What have you done?
Sarah Kerrigan: What I had to.
Vengeance Trailer
With StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm arriving on March 12, we’ve been itching to show you a new trailer called “Vengeance”, and we’ve just revealed it to the world in a special online event on Twitch.tv/StarCraft at 12:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday, February 26.
- Blizzard developers were on hand to talk about Heart of the Swarm and the making of “Vengeance”.
- An exclusive Heart of the Swarm eSports showmatch was casted by commentators John “TotalBiscuit” Bain and Shaun “dApollo” Clark.
- The world premiere of the “Vengeance” trailer for Heart of the Swarm.
Viewers participated in the discussion segment by posting Twitter questions using the hashtag #Vengeance. Click here to watch the VOD of the entire event.
Vengeance Trailer – Frame-by-Frame Gallery
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