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Pre-Release

Tassadar will make a return... of sorts.
There is potential to follow up on something seeded a long time ago - Zeratul will sacrifice himself to merge with the spirit of Tassadar to return as the ultimate Protoss hero: the Twilight Archon, a fusion of light and dark, life and death. Let's look at the tidbits that fuel the theory:

  • Way back in the days of the original StarCraft, when using the map editor, there was an unused Protoss hero unit called Tassadar/Zeratul, the hero version of the Archon
  • We know that it is possible for a High Templar and a Dark Templar to merge into an Archon
  • One of the scrapped units for SC2 was a Twilight Archon, then replaced by the generic Archon above
    • All of this is Jossed. even the "spirit" of Tassadar turns out to be a Xel'naga, well, a good Xel'naga

The Protoss will be able to train heroes and revive them after death
It would definitely fit in with the Protoss style of quality of quantity. They already have the Mothership which is immensely powerful, can be reconstructed and which you can only train one of. In canon the Protoss already have a method of raising the dead (think Immortals or Dragoons) and Fenix has already been brought back from the dead. What if the Protoss used the tech from the Spear of Adun to improve their resurrection tech and now have unique machines to place their heroes in? The immortals can be used for most warriors but special heroes like Zeratul or Artanis (if they die at any point) get their own special machines. Maybe even a robotic simulacrum of their old bodies to give an excuse for continual training of a unit that looks like Zeratul classic. A giant mech would be pretty cool. Artanis could fall on the field of battle and come back as a colossus. Matti 23
  • Jossed.
  • The Deploy Fenix ability is quite similar to this. Although it's only a single character and it works on a timer rather than a revive mechanic, you can only have one and it's a unique unit.

There will be a Zerg-controlling level
Wings of Liberty had a mini-arc where you controlled Protoss. Heart of the Swarm had a mission where you control Terrans. So to keep the cycle going, Legacy of the Void will have a Zerg level or two.
  • Confirmed: You do control the Zerg in the last epilogue mission. You also control the Terrans in the mission prior to that one.
There is no Amon
The Tassadar from the Mission "Echoes of the Future" is fake. The Overmind fooled Zeratul with a false vision. The power that was stolen from Kerrigan at the end of Wings of Liberty resurrected the Overmind, not the Xel'Naga Amon. Amon may have been a Xel'Naga, but he's dead. (Yes, this is Hijacked by Ganon.)
  • Semi-confirmed: The Tassadar from Echoes of the Future is indeed fake. It's a Xel'Naga named Ouros. However, Amon is very real.
Niadra is going to be Amon's primary Zerg minion
She gets left all alone on a spaceship with nothing to do but chant "kill the protoss, kill the protoss" to herself? So going to be the primary Zerg opponent (along with the Protoss Tal'darim and Narud's Terran minions).
  • Jossed. Niadra doesn't even appear at all.
Zerg evolution choices will carry over from HOTS
Kerrigan spent the entire game evolving the Swarm into a new form it would just be weird to have it all revert for no reason. If you pay attention during the HOTS campaign you'll notice several of the upgrades and new units from WOL in play so it makes sense the same would carry over for the sequel. This will make the Zerg forces seem like a bigger threat, especially since you should only have one brood to worry about, and help the Protoss seem less overpowered as they unlock their own upgrades.
  • Seems to be Jossed as of Whispers of Oblivion, where Kerrigan's forces use the same units no matter what you chose on your playthrough
    • They ended up using the most popular selections for Kerrigan's abilities and everyone's selections during the Epilogue.
This is going to end on a cliffhanger.
C'mon folks, do you really think Blizzard is going to close the book on one of their Cash Cow Franchises anytime soon?
  • Considering the Protoss still hate the zerg, the zerg are still on an unending quest to assimilate everything they can to evolve to new levels of power and terrans are still humans and therefore power hungry backstabbing assholes, they could resolve every plot thread and still continue the story with no problems in drumming up new conflict. Hell, they've already set up the United Earth Directorate to return in the near future.
    • Shockingly not, while there is obviously still potential, most of the long running plot threads are resolved.
Zeratul will die
Let's review the 'evidence' shall we?
  • He's moved from primary protagonist to the mentor - a role often associated with death.
    • confirmed, he dies by an Amon-possessed Artanis' psiblades.
  • He's helped Kerrigan, practically Enemy Number 1 of the Protoss.
    • Not a contributing factor in his demise.
  • In the one of the last scenes of the trailer, he says, somberly 'My life... for Auir', indicating he is hesitant about doing something, but ultimately deciding his life is a cost worth paying to do it.
    • Severing Artanis' nerve cords to free him from Amon's corruption of the Khala was Zeratul's goal, and it did cost him his life.
  • It looks like Artanis is wearing his blade.
    • Definitely is
Amon will mind control various Dominion squads.
Thus justifying Protoss vs Terran missions.
  • This could be those Shadow Corps guys that appear in the crashing space station level.
  • Appears to be confirmed by the short story "Sector Six," though he's not controlling them directly — that's the hybrids' job.
    • Sort of. Moebius Corps are an Amon-controlled faction.
Artanis will marry Vorazun, or at least be set to
  • He represents the light templars, she represents the dark. While the most technologically advanced, the Protoss are also socially backward next to Terrans, still living in tribes and clans. A union between the two could bring the two main divisions of the Protoss closer together.
    • Jossed. There's no mention of marriage at all.
Zeratul is Vorazun's Father
  • It would fit in with his "Darth Vader" aesthetic, explain who her father is, and might explain who trained her as a warrior, as we haven't seen many dark templar females.
    • Vorazun is Raszagal's daughter.
      • There's no indication of who her father was. And Zeratul and Raszagal were close, before he was forced to kill her.
Vorazun will confront Kerrigan over what happened to her mother
  • By now, the Protoss known that Kerrigan (as the Overmind-infested original Queen of Blades, not her free-willed primal Queen of Blades form) mindwashed Raszagal, leaving the Dark Templar matriarch with only one line spoken of her own free will in the entire game, just after Zeratul had to put her down (she was mortally wounded, but had a last line). It's not too hard to see where this may go.
    • Jossed. The two never met.
Artanis will be learning to wield Templar and Dark Templar energies together
  • Just like Kerrigan had to access the Primal Power, the Protoss protagonist will have to use the ultimate power his race is capable of.
    • Confirmed. In one mission, Vorazun stated that Artanis was becoming a dark templar.
Artanis is totally gonna attempt a Tassadar-esque sacrifice by ramming the Spear of Adun to Amon
  • Because that would be a great throw back. Could be subverted or averted, depending if Amon has a huge final form. Zeratul could also warp in and get Artanis out of the Spear before impact. Or Zeratul would be the one doing the sacrificing.
    • Jossed.
The Moebius Corps are...
  • Former Terran forces that worked with Narud when experimenting upon the Hybrid. The survivors are now just working for his benefactor.
  • Former Dominion soldiers after Mengsk's defeat. Since many of the soldiers, notably Marines, were brainwashed into loyal soldiers of Mengsk, they were left leaderless after he fell. This opened the opportunity for Amon to offer service under a higher power.
  • Other Terrans outside the Dominion. Come on, the Terrans are NOT limited to the Dominion (Umoja and Moria for example). And there appears to be a planet not recognized before that serves as their HQ.
  • An extremist bunch of UED Remnants.
    • Mostly jossed. The Shadow Corps were their name in development, they're the Moebius Corps, Brainwashed and Crazy Moebius soldiers used by Amon, although they were originally under Narud's employ and were corrupted later.

How LotV will end
Everyone is facing down Amon, preparing for a final battle... but then, Raynor notices his visor is flashing faint words... "One Voice One Voice One Voice". He shakes it off but suddenly, Kerrigan falls to her knees. She hears the words "Speak in one voice" in her mind. Artanis starts screaming insanely, hearing "All shall speak in one voice or forever be silent" repeating in his mind. Amon seems outright confused, before starting to scream like Artanis... only his are of pain. He starts getting torn apart from the inside by tentacles, speaking aloud "ALL SHALL SPEAK IN ONE VOICE!" Raynor is clearly terrified, trying to snap out Kerrigan and Artanis. In a flash of black energy, it shifts to the Spear of Adun. Artanis is unconcious, Kerrigan is still blubbering, and Raynor has a cybernetic arm. The game ends on the words "Shit... just what we need, more damn tentacles"
  • I know this is supposed to be a reference to... something. But I can't figure out what. Anyone wanna clarify?
    • Jossed, obviously.
The final mission will be a Hold the Line involving all three playable races
Three races that are enemies with each other find out about a very powerful Big Bad relevant for two of them is back and wants to cause an Apocalypse How.
  • Hmmm... where have I seen that before?.
    • It will be Twilight of the Gods all over again, I think.
  • Semi-confirmed. There is such a mission, but it's the penultimate one.

The Shadow Corps are the 'Clandestine Mercenaries' from Dark Origin.
They're red. They're terran. They working for a higher power. It would be a waste of a perfectly good continuity not to NOT do this.

Raynor, Kerrigan, and Artanis will fuse into a good Xel'naga.
Who will then kill Amon.
  • Only Kerrigan does, and there's not much fusion to be done with yourself.

Jim Raynor's son, Johnny, is alive.
He will return in Starcraft III as a fully-fledged Ghost and take up his father's mantle as protagonist of the series. While memory-wipes are par for the course in the Academy, Johnny still retains a strong sense of justice and remains very disillusioned by the Dominion's corruption, culminating in defection.If Jim survives LotV, he will do his damnedest to re-establish relations with his son. If Kerrigan survives as well (Zergified or no), she'll assume a maternal role for Johnny. If Jim is dead, she'll act as a mix of Cool Big Sis, Trickster Mentor and Parental Substitute.
  • Johnny is never mentioned - not saying that he couldn't show up as a ghost, but there's also a chance he's long dead, one of the many faceless ghosts you murdered in the Terran/Zerg campaigns
The UED will return in Nova Covert Ops, or...
The UED seems to not rear their heads in LoTV in spite of Stukov speculating their return. Of course, when compared to a mass threat like Amon, the developers will have a hard time cramming them to it. Thus the better time would be epilogue during the missions involving Nova, who is also human and possibly capable of tangling with the UED even if she belonged to the Dominion. Otherwise, the whole 'return of UED' will be left forever hanging.

Post-release

Kerrigan is responsible for life unexpectedly blooming on barren and ravaged worlds.
Seeding world with life is the Xel'Naga's thing. Kerrigan is now a Xel'naga. Seems likely. Maybe her and Raynor are travelling together restoring worlds

There's going to be a Starcraft 3.
Looks like they've left a few plot threats to suggest another game. The villains are likely to initially be the Tal'Darim and possibly the Zerg Swarm. Since that's too obvious a plot thread to keep with long term it will turn out there's a bigger villain at work. Kerrigan and Raynor will probably have an important role to play and may even be the protagonists.

The battle against Amon would've gone easier if they'd just "Kicked the can down the road".
The expedition into the void successfully deals with traitor legions on several occasions so they are not the reason that a super Kerrigan was needed. In the final battle Amon, his special towers and the void fissures are powerful obstacles that require Kerrigan to deal with. These things are likely summoned abilities used for the time scale of a single battle by Amon since if they were constructs or permanent, they'd either be there at the beginning of the final battle, or surrounding a critical element of his plan, aka. the last Xel'Naga in existence with the motivation and power to kill him. If they'd waited weapon tech for all three races would improve and they'd be able to rebuild their armies. The towers, fissures and void crystals would become vastly weaker if they brought better weapons and his ability to mind control people would be much less now that the Protoss know not to use the Khala and the Terrans have likely been warned by the Protoss to stay away from the Terrazine (which links you to the void and thus Amon).

If their tech improves fast enough they might actually be able to outpace Amon as he tries to regain power and might be able to kill him without any Xel'Naga help at all.

Thoughts on the Ending - SPOILERS
Only specifically on the last minute or two. What on Earth is going on?
  • Has Kerrigan come back superficially in her old form, now that her job is done, and now can spend some proper quality time with Jim?
    • Sarah's now a Physical God. Who can stop her if she wants to put on a human disguise and take breaks off her world building?
    • Duran/Narud took human form for quite a long time with absolutely no ill effect. Why shouldn't Sarah be able to?
  • Has Kerrigan come to Ascend Jim?
    • His body is very likely not suitable for Ascension.
    • And he has no psionic potential. He'll likely just live out his life in full with the woman he loves
  • Has Jim been on the booze again?
    • Doubt it, despite booze appearing in the scene, Raynor never even makes a move for it - it's a stark contrast to the opening of Wings of Liberty.
  • Or, in what I think is the actual ending... Jim has drunk himself to death and the last thing he sees is an hallucination of the love of his life come to claim him?
    • He "was never heard from again". You'll think that if he passed away, someone will find the body.
    • And it's not like the bar was never searched when he went missing, his badge was found, but his body was gone. He's very likely on one of Sarah's re-seeded planets with her.

The Tal'darim will lose their violent tendencies as time goes on

Much of the Klingon Promotion like parts of their culture came from Amon, and would have supported a society ready to fight. Contact with the other protoss would have shown them another way to operate, and with no Amon, and fewer/smaller conflicts, those parts of the culture will have no purpose and disappear.

The Khala will rise again in the future

Since Amon is dead, there's no longer anything inherently dangerous about it. The current generation of Protoss won't be able to reform it, but there's no reason the next generation born with intact neural cords can't do it.

  • Even better, just bring in some dominion medics to healing beam them back.

Guessings of who would appear aside of Nova in the Covert Ops DLC

Use this WMG place to guess who else might appear in that DLC aside of the obvious ones (Nova and some new, original Ghosts).

  • Gabriel Tosh
  • Niadra
  • Alarak (Hey, he's wandering the verse, he might even bump to Nova while wandering)
    • Confirmed! Alarak is back in the 2nd pack.
  • Lt. Morales (Sgt. Hammer already made the transition as a Canon Immigrant, and likewise, Stukov still hinted that UED might return. Maybe Morales would be one of the UED reps...)
  • Stukov himself (Given his warnings of the UED's eventual return, he'd have a vested interest in not letting the Brood War repeat again.)

Starcraft 3 will take place several centuries after Starcraft 2

And it will take place in a new region of space where the Terrans, Protoss, and Zerg are expanding to. The singleplayer campaign could even have you playing as a sort of hybrid of the three factions instead of a separate campaign for each one (Provided Blizzard can think of a way to do so reasonably).

Purifier tech will be used to replace the Preservers
The Protoss who die now won't have their memories maintained by Preservers now. But they might be copied to make new Purifiers.

The DLC after Nova Covert Ops would focus on Niadra, and the one after that will focus on Alarak
Well, it goes by the staple Terran, Zerg, Protoss pattern, doesn't it?

The Tal'darim on Aiur will keep Rak'shir, but a non-fatal version

To preserve some sort of separate culture, the Tal'darim will keep some form of this ritual. However, instead of the loser dying, they will simply be demoted to some lower position. The fighting among allies will be replaced by some other kind of competition, based on the combatant's role in society (Warriors would fight, builders/engineers would build something, etc.) with psionic support intact.

The Purity of Form species was squid like in the last cycle, and the Xel'naga are that species' ideal form

Kerigan turned into a "perfect" looking human when she became Xel'naga. By analogy, the species the formed this generation of Xel'naga was a "perfect"/beautiful form of whatever the psionically powerful species was in the past form, which apparently was a tentacled creature of some sort. If Protoss had actually become the next Xel'naga, the next forms would perhaps have looked like the tassadar vision.

In Utter Darkness was a vision of Ouros's, and represents an accurate alternate timeline

The overmind may or may not have had some idea of what was going to happen, but the vision shown to Zeratul was from Ouros. Ouros has apparently been following events in the Koprulu sector somewhat closely, and as a powerful godlike Xel'naga with a lot of time to observe, has the capability to see ahead. The timeline:

The terran campaign plays out about as normal, but with Kerrigan dying at the end. (Maybe Raynor let Tychus shoot her, maybe he did so himself, maybe some dominion soldiers did it, maybe Raynor spent less effort protecting her, etc.)

With kerrigan dead, no one is able to unify the swarm, leaving Hybrids to be bred, than go to individual brood mothers, kill them, and take over individual broods. In this way, Amon gains control of the entire swarm, not just the Aiur zerg. In addition, Kerrigan was not around to destroy Skygeirr and kill Narud/Duran, allowing him(her? it?) to assist in controlling the swarm.

Under the control or Amon, the swarm attacks Korhal, possibly supported by the Taldarim and/or Shadow Corps. Unlike Kerrigan, Amon does not wis to simply kill Mengsk and leave, instead, he kills all humans in the sector. In addition, Amon's forces capture the Keystone.

Artanis starts the invasion of Aiur, as planned, but the invasion either takes place a bit before or a bit after in does in the game's timeline (Artanis may have expected interference from Kerrigan in the invasion, the news of her death and changes in events would change the invasion's timeline). Amon corrupts the Khala as he did in Legacy of the Void, but due to butterfly effects, a different collection of people is saved by nerve cord severing. The spear of Adun may or may not get activated, however, with no Keystone to get, the protoss wouldn't have any options but to try and fight Amon until thinking of some other plan. In control of the entire swarm, Amon would be able to seek out the protoss more effectively, eventually forcing them back to Shakuras or another dark world. Here, the protoss would fight their last stand and lose.

Because Amon would have the zerg to use, the khalai protoss would be saved to make hybrids and build a better body, rather than being used in combat. The protoss would also know that there were survivors from outside the sector, and would have a reason to preserve their story in what looks like the end of the universe.

The mastermind behind 'Defender of Man' in Nova Covert Ops is Arcturus Mengsk

Now you might be asking... "but isn't he dead?". Yes, he's still pretty much dead. However, for as many oppositions of his Dominion, he would have a good bunch of supporter. And seeing that he's also an excellent planner, he would have gathered his hidden supporters and implant them with a backup plan: They will continue where he left off should he die, meaning that Dominion and the world should be his and his alone. He might either upload his consciousness to a backup body or sorts, or just use holograms to command the Defenders. The time to act just happens to be during the Nova Covert Ops, as a Dominion under Valerian wouldn't fit with Arcturus' vision so the Defenders would use any means to restore the old Arcturus order.

And where does this link? At the final part of the 1st plan, Nova found out that... the Defender of Man is using the same modus operandi Arcturus used to topple the Confederacy, such as using psi-emitters to swarm a planet with Zergs when there's living people in there, in order to defame the current Dominion under Valerian so they will join the Defender of Man... much like Arcturus did with the Sons of Korhal.

The third Terran commander for co-op will be Nova

With Abathur being added as the third Zerg commander, the Terrans remain the only faction with (so far) only two commanders. Nova would be a possibility, seeing as how both Raynor and Swann lack Ghosts/Spectres, and how the Terrans only have male commanders.

  • Confirmed. Nova is now the third Terran co-op commander.

There will be more new Xel'naga
.Rather spoiler-heavy, beware epilogue-related spoilers. Kerrigan is now the sole Xel'Naga after the deaths of Narud and Amon, but she will not be alone for long. While Raynor may not be suitable to become a Xel'Naga, she will almost certainly try her hardest to ascend him if it's at all practical. But even if it's not, even if psionics are required, that leaves another good, noble candidate to help keep Kerrigan on her straight and narrow path - Artanis. And even if he's ruled out because the candidate must be pure of form and pure of essence (as opposed to that being an arbitrary restriction of the original Xel'Naga) that still leaves one other candidate - Stukov, Kerrigan's fellow psionic infested Terran, who has walked a nearly identical path to Kerrigan herself. Regardless, Kerrigan doesn't have to be alone if she doesn't want to be and will choose to raise someone else to her status if she can. Thus will a new Infinite Cycle begin and the Xel'Naga reborn.
  • Rather than ascend Raynor, maybe Kerrigan will try to have kids with him. Said kids could be a new generation of Xel'naga.

The Terran Co-Op commanders (besides Nova) each represent one or more general/Terran-specific playstyles
Raynor is Bio + All-In — his principle structure is the Barracks with multiple useful updates to keep them useful in lategame, his units build 50% faster than normal and his upper level abilities include units arriving by drop pod at their building's rally point and insta-building Supply Depots, both skills that emphasise forward momentum and on the spot reinforcement.

Swann is Mech + Macro play — his units are all Factory or Starport-based, he compensates for a lack of Barracks units or Bunkers with powerful defensive turrets and his upper-level abilities include multiple SCVs building a building faster together and smushing the Tech Lab and Reactor together — two Boring, but Practical upgrades that reward careful investments and knowing when to cash them in.

The Horners are Sky Terran + Micro play — all of Matt's units are Starport units, and Mira's stand-in for the Barracks and Factory is an air unit unto itself. Also, the air units are powerful, significant investments while the ground units are expendable Cannon Fodder, with a bunch of micro-heavy gimmicks to keep them competitive.

The epilogue campaign is Raynor's dream after playing Guild Wars nightfall
Explains the similarities between the Realm of Torment and the void. Three missions: the first that frees someone to help with the rest of the mission, the second a difficult mission to access some power, the third a mission where you defeat a huge bad guy by destroying some smaller stuff, while running from one end of a platform to another. The void also resembles the Realm of Torment in being a dark, weird world with lots of weird stuff being created. Amon also looks kind of like Abaddon, and people are not fans of the character that replaces him.

For the last campaign missions, "The Host" & "Salvation", selecting Dark Archons in the War Council is canon.
Think about it, Artanis is already reeling from all the losses throughout the Void campaign and isn't in the mood to lose any more lives if it can be helped. They therefore bring in the Dark Archons to counter Amon's mind control with their own. With the ability to wrest control of the Golden Armada and possessed ground forces away from Amon, Artanis proves to Alarak wrong about Amon leaving nothing left to save and the Daelaam receive a huge morale boost from the rescue of their allies from the corrupted Khala. Plus, this proves that the Dark Archons can be a major force of good in the face of a horrific foe like Amon, easing the fears of their powers. Mind Controlling Golden Armada also provides a boost beyond the supply cap, and can make holding out on the last mission surprisingly easy, suggesting it's an ideal course of action.

Kerrigan will give birth to the Titans.
Heavy spoilers: The game ends with Kerrigan doing pretty much the same thing to the Koprulu Sector that the Titans did to the WarCraft universe. Kerrigan will probably figure that the job is too big for her to do alone, and have some children from Raynor to help her.

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