While re-playing all the SC1 and 2 campaigns i’ve just finished Heart of the Swarm, while the overall campaign and story was still awesome and delivered on the fantasy of you commanding and evolving the swarm to your liking, this playthrough my older mind finally came to see why it also received a lot of criticisms when it was released, its inconsistencies.
While some are understandable for free will’s sake some are glaring ones like Kerrigan’s memories of being the OG Queen of Blades. In the epilogue stories and early in the campaign it was implied she didn’t have any memory but as you progress she begins to state she remembers this and that. Second and also related to this was when she was able to remember Zeratul and her unexplained hostility towards him even though she was the one who was always harassing and making his life a living hell also, as far as I remember Kerrigan and Zeratul only met while she was infested and never as a Terran, if she does not have memories of being the QoB then she wouldn’t know him at all. These put a little damper on my playthrough but nevertheless the HotS campaign was still fun and enjoyable.
Let me know your thoughts on these and maybe give some sauce that could help explain why these came to be?
Shortly after her deinfestation, Kerrigan didn’t remember much of anything about being the Queen of Blades. What she did remember was muddled, or part of her dreams. Shortly after that though, memories started coming back, but she was still saying she didn’t remember squat to try and discourage Valerian and co from “studying” her.
This was all from StarCraft II: Flashpoint, which leads into “Heart of the Swarm.”
As the “Heart of the Swarm” Campaign went on though, her memories did start coming back properly, and over time, she was remembering things pretty good, or certain things would trigger memories for her.
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One of the big inconsistencies was Kerrigan being redeemed from genocide and Raynor being fine with her.
Short story is that HotS is a weak expansion.
Well she did blame it on Amon “influencing” her behind the scenes and who’s not to say that Duran had been nudging on her as well. And she did show Raynor she meant business by holding back to help Valerian with his evacuation. Also after having been reformed into the Primal QoB she did wish to atone for everything by seeking out Amon and destroying him before he could make his move. Sadly she was being so sassy about it that she won’t cooperate with anybody even Zeratul that tipped her off on reforming in the first place.
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Ahh yes that was the epilogue story I was referring to. I think it would’ve helped in the campaign’s story telling if they showed she had flashbacks and not just imply it subtly that she’s steadily recovering from amnesia.
Yeah, the game blamed it on Amon, Arcturus Mengsk, or anybody but Kerrigan. It’s a sign of bad writing when you always redeem your favorite character whatever happens. Makes her actions weigh very little. Like all those Dominion worlds she ordered to attacks? Billions and billions butchered for her need for revenge. If that can be redeemed somehow…
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How is fighting Amon a redemption anyway? If he wins, Kerrigan gets killed too. It’s just self defense and survival as usual.
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Tbf, until the Epilogue there was no indication of Amon trying to harm her or the Swarm.
Skygeirr ? Kerrigan attacks first.
Prologue ? Same deal.
Ulnar ? She most likely followed his forces.
It’s funny to see that Amon literally did not give a sh!t about the one girl who in IUD was acknowledged as the only one who could derail his plans right until Ouros decided to make her a X’N. Even more proof that that Overmind’s vision was full of cr@p 
It’s not from our perspective, or any reasonable/skeptical perspective, but somehow everybody is inclined to forget everything Kerrigan did and just move on. Oh she is fighting for our survival, how noble. Even though everybody knocked her down and kicked her (Confederates, Mengsk, Overmind, Amon, etc.) she is willing to ascend to godhood and fight for her surv… I mean us.
Edit: You know how Charmed was always saying that Ouros picking Kerrigan shows that she is forgiven, or worthy or whatever? Well, she is literally the only one who could possibly absorb essence there, right? Therefore she had to be picked.
Whats the alternative? Picking a fight with her and getting killed either by her or by Amon? Jim is the only person who is actually comfortable working with her, and he’s obviously and explicitly not objective. Everybody else is varying flavors of “I wouldn’t do this if I had any other choice.”
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Oh yeah, everybody is so uncomfortable with it.
Matt and Valerian walk on eggshells around her. Artanis would have spat on her if he had a mouth to do so with. He’s diplomatic with her because thats just how he is, but he makes it very clear he would prefer to have killed her on Ulnar.
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I feel like my brain is melting away, so please can you give me citations? I promise to look at it once I don’t feel like trash.
It’s not Overmind’s vision. It’s a charade made up by Ouros.
That vision is Overmind’s as much as that shade is Tassadar’s.
All Ouros ever wanted was to pursue his agenda. Koprulu denizens just happened to have goal alignment in the department of killing Amon for the sake of survival.
Listen to their tone when they talk to Kerrigan. Theyre very formal and to the point. Valerian gets a bit bolder at the end when he gets his bearings with her, but its clear he very much remembers how Kerrigan tried to kill him when Jim got captured.
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A formal tone is not evidence that they’re walking on eggshells or even disprove of her. It’s just a formal tone. You can have a formal tone with someone you like.
Sure, thats why we see both Valerian and Matt use extreme formality whenever theyre uncomfortable talking to somebody. In Matt’s case, its even explicitly shown to be a character trait of his, showing up when Jim is drunk, and with Valerian in Evolution. Valerian also explicitly does it whenever he doesn’t want to negatively emote at somebody.
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From the cinematic I definitely got the sense Artanis was absolutely considering running her through on Ulnar. He opts not to because he’s got bigger problems and unlike Kerrigan gratuitous revenge isn’t his schtik.
Zeratul also basically says he really doesn’t want to be helping Kerrigan but does so anyways because he’s blindly following Oros bunk prophecy.
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The problem is the writing makes it seem like we’re only supposed to hate her for what she did in Brood war while infested, and that the wholesale mass slaughter of Dominion planets in HoTS just never happened. As if that was someone else.