Final Metamorphosis

So here's a recap of some information lore-wise that has slowly been leaking out over the past months.

1. In the recent Zerg trailer, Kerrigan says the "Final Metamorphosis has only just begun".
2. Protoss buildings are now infestable by the Infestor unit.
3. It is confirmed by Zeratul that the Xel'Naga have returned in another video. This is supposedly really bad
4. Duran's experiment to create a Zerg/Protoss hybrid was a success and they have been hidden across the koprulu sector (and possibly beyond)
5.The reason the Zerg are even in the Koprulu sector is because they found out about the protoss after infesting some of the Xel'Naga above Zerus.
6. The Zerg infested the humans so that they could use their psionic potential to combat the Protoss on more even terms.


So, my thought is that this final metamorphosis is going to be the infestation of the Protoss by the Swarm. Does that run counter to the hybrids who may or may not have been created by the Xel'Naga? Would they be the same or not?

I think that there is a lot of questions that we still need answered to figure out what's going on in SC2, but I was wondering what everyone's theories were about this.

 

Nice Thesis! But I think the Zerg Queen is already an infested Protoss.. At least, it looks like a Protoss face in there!

 

Duran referred to himself as a superior race that was long before Protoss and the Zerg.

(Wiki Xel'Naga for a good resumé) My bet is that he is a Xel'Naga. You can see that they like to temper with life and to play god by creating Zergs and playing with Protoss. So seeing how Duran is trying to create a new race with a fusion of Zerg and Protoss could be logically a Xel'Naga.

About protoss infestation I doubt that it is the new most powerful race more like a monstrosity created to bolster the Zerg's forces.

Marcus you're right on one point, the queen does look like a Protoss, but to say that it is an infested protoss... I don't know.

I hope they don't plan on making a Starcraft3, and extending the number of questions we have about that awesome universe

Reality a$ told me that marketing alway$ had the la$t word :upset:

 

Yeah I'm pretty sure that the Zerg Queen is NOT an infested Protoss.

Anyway, some other things we know:
- The Zerg have been biding their time, evolving and becoming more powerful
- Blizzard said Duran and the Hybrids will be dealt with using in-game NPCs in single-player (Hybrids or Xel 'Naga?)
- Terrans and Protoss are infestable by the Zerg

So perhaps the Zerg will try to officially assimilate both the Terrans and the Protoss? Assimilation is different than infestation - some species becomes an official strain of the Zerg, as opposed to a mutated soldier. This is what happened, for instance, with the herbivoric Slothien (Hydralisks now for the Zerg). By trying to fully incorporate the Terrans and Protoss into the Zerg race, Kerrigan would have the means to effectively combat Duran and his Hybrids.

 

One question that I have though, is that wouldn't the infested protoss be (for all intents and purposes) the hybrids? What differentiates the two?

Also, would Kerrigan have trouble keeping the broods under her control if she has to control the infested Protoss as well? Remember that Tassadar was able to mentally defeat her by himself, and he's just one Protoss. Each Protoss has a psionic level that would be extremely rare among humans (say a kerrigan level)... so what about the high templar? What about any of the many more psionically advanced Protoss?

 

string_me_along the difference was written in one of the other topics, lets see if i can tell you it with by very bad english:
Hybrids are half Zerg and Protoss (one half of a DNA each)
In infestion the Zergs mix up the protoss´es DNA.

 

I'll direct you guys to a very nice post of mine that differentiates a Hybrid and an Infested. Furrer is on the right track though.

And to answer string_me_along's question, once a Protoss has been infested, it'll lack the means to resist Kerrigan's commands. Again, I'll direct you to my post as above for clarification.

 

he final metamorphosis is ME... muahahhahaaaa

 

Hey buddy, welcome to the forums, but please don't spam.

 

@ uh... well everyone I guess.

Firstly, it was evolutionarily true that the Overmind controlled the zerg, they had a biological instinct to follow him, including Kerrigan. However, on his (its?) demise Kerrigan did not automatically replace it, and certainly not within a genetic framework, Daggoth and the other celebrates did not revert back over to her command, she had to dominate psionically in order to control. It stands then Kerrigan needs to mentally kill off or dominate those who rival her psionically... i.e. the protoss. Like the cerebrates, she can lose control over her swarms if she doesn't keep them in line with her powers. That is different from the relationship that the celebrates and kerrigan had with the overmind, who they could not question as it was in their composition not to be able to.

As for the hybrids, clearly they exist as they've been mentioned by blizzard, but genetically, it's very difficult to make a hybrid and they rarely occur in animals (and are usually sterile if they are possible.) Plants do this more frequently, but it's still not common.

If the two organisms do not have comparable genes on their chromosomes and/or don't have the same number of chromosomes, it is impossible to do a 1:1 hybridization. Seeing how different the two races are so different, the Xel'Naga have to be doing something wonky with the DNA to make it work.

Storywise I'm sure there has to be a difference, and physiologically there would be a difference to some extent, but the amount that they would differ... probably wouldn't be that much. IMO

 

I don't really see a Protoss face... where do you see it?

 

It is hard to explain, insanecrazy, but it does look like a protoss face...

 

The thing is an infested Protoss has been sufficiently warped and mutated to severely impact its psionic powers. As a result, the Zerg swarm (and Kerrigan) would have a much easier time controlling it.

You are also right that at present time hybrids that are 1:1 genetically are often infertile and not always viable. However, with the (presumably) Xel 'Naga technology at Duran's disposal in the world of Starcraft, creating a hybrid is clearly possible. That said, I'm sure that in real life (so to speak) creating a Protoss/Zerg hybrid would not be a perfect 1:1 genetic ratio. Duran would splice together optimal pieces of DNA from each species to make it work - maybe throwing in some synthetic DNA while he was at it.

When it comes down to it, Starcraft is just a game though. I was just using genetics to explain how hybridization in Starcraft would theoretically be different from infestation.

 

I must really say something now that is a bit off-topic but:
Im waiting so much for starcraft2 and all those damn good missions.
ANd I have something to add:
What about the celebrates, you think they will play a role (those left)?
After all i know she has been hunting them in 5 years, but perhaps some of them have survived?

 

I'm pretty sure that other than the player-controlled Cerebrate, the others are all dead. I think Blizzard even said it somewhere.

 

Yeah, that's so old. They told us long ago that all cerebrates, the one you played included, are dead.

 

Hi everyone

If you listen closely to the female voice of the zerg trailer, it is actually the voice of razagal (previous matriarch of the protoss)

as some of you have mentioned, the "protoss-faced" zerg is infested razagal. In SC1, she was swayed by the influence of Kerrigan; maybe she is now infested and is central to the zerg plot in SC2

This opens up a lot about the story.

 

Welcome to the forums, epoch707.

However, that's not necessarily true. Both Raynor and Zeratul's voices are completely different in Starcraft II - I'd imagine the same for Kerrigan.

Not to mention Zeratul actually ended up killing her in Brood War rather than let her live under Kerrigan's control.

 

As some may say "protoss-faced" zerg, looks like its implanted in the ground. It does not look like infested kerrigan at all.

When you go to starcraft2.com and see the short intro movie, you see a glimpse of kerrigan. She still has feminine facial features.

 

The video was probably showing a Zerg Queen, not Kerrigan.