History Headscratchers / StarCraftII

** Upon replaying HotS, the Protoss were indeed trying to settle down elsewhere, as they going to great lengths to terraform planets as inhospitable as Kaldir. If they were willing to colonize such a nasty, dangerous planet, then the number of worlds that could host their civilization must have been few and far between. Note that in Shakuras' official description it clearly states that only a small portion of the planet was habitable, and the Dark Templar only settled there with extreme difficulty. There just weren't that many suitable worlds to choose from. Just because the Protoss can fight on a wide spectrum of worlds doesn't mean they can ''live'' there for an extended period of time.

** At the beginning of [=LoTV=], the Daelaam and Kerrigan are ''not'' on speaking terms. Kerrigan might have been willing to do if asked, but Artanis knows nothing about her changes during HotS.

** As of LotV, the Raiders are an official unit in the Dominion military.

** Khalai caste are not exempted from military service. In Starcraft 1, the Furinax tribe are classified as Khalai, but able to utilize every unit on the Protoss roster as well as the Templar and Judicator tribes. Templar are the ones most seen on the front lines, but any protoss civilian may fight if the need is there. Artanis is more progressive than most protoss, and was already Hierarch before LotV. It was his prerogative to decide Khalai protoss were needed, and Karax's promotion officially broke with the old rigid caste system.

* We (presumably) all know the story of how a fallout between Games Workshop and Blizzard led to the creation of the Warcraft/Starcraft franchises. However, one would think after all these years there would be more of a divergence from the original [=WH40k=] aesthetics. To this day one cans still identify practically every single SC unit with their [=WH40k=] counterpart, but it was the introduction of the Tal'darim as a visually and thematically different faction that really draws the parallels: They are the Dark Eldar down to a T! There are a lot of others too in LotV (void=warp, xel'naga=Old Ones, Amon is a Chaos God, the hybrids are demons (especially blatant with the Void Trasher), the Spear of Adun is a Craftworld, etc.) but arguably the Tal'darim are the most blatant. The question: Is this a conscious effort on Blizzard's part in order to poke at GW, an unconscious effect of sticking to the original design decisions or just a symptom of lack of creativity?

** Their main beef with the dark Templar was that they were showcasing an alternative existence to the Khala. To be fair, the Khala was absolutely essential in halting the Aeon of Strife, so it's understandable why many protoss assumed that anything opposing or disputing it could potentially lead to AoS_2.0.

** At the beginning of LoTV, the Daelaam and Kerrigan are ''not'' on speaking terms. Kerrigan might have been willing to do if asked, but Artanis knows nothing about her changes during HotS.

** Amon did not have his host body at first; it took the entire game of Heart of the Swarm and most of Legacy of the Void between his revival and his host body becoming complete, and he wanted to continue his efforts to weaken the three races in the meantime. His host body seemed to be a significantly upgraded and empowered version of the hybrid, so it seems likely that Narud's countless years of experiments with creating ever stronger and more stable hybrid were in part preparation for creating Amon's body. Also, it was never stated that his host body had the power to destroy worlds, just Amon himself; he was significantly weakened after his original death, relegating his true power to only when he's in the void, so even with such a host body allowing him to physically act outside the void, it's likely he's unable to bring forth the full power his original body had (which is why his host body could be destroyed by ships that were only capable of surface wiping). As for the latter, he tried; he nearly took full control of the Protoss, but a large number of them escaped by either having their connection to the Khala severed (the Nerazim and Artanis's survivors) or never having a Khala in the first place (the Tal'darim). He had also lost his indirect control of much of the Zerg after the Overmind was killed and Kerrigan was freed. As for why he waited until LotV to take direct control of any Zerg and Protoss, we can only speculate, but it could be that he wasn't able to yet before that point, or perhaps it expends his power to control so many billions and he was satisfied to let them fight each other naturally, until they no longer did so for the most part in LotV and he had to step in personally.

* Likely Defectors of the Dominion, the problem with using brainwashed crooks for your primary source of troops is that if they can shake off that brainwashing they are going to be real eager to join the side that lets them keep there free will

[[folder:Was defending the colony worlds a viable tactic for the dominion?]]

* Mengsk's abandoning of the outer colonies in favor of reinforcing the core worlds is treated as an unnecessary and callous act. Yet when assaulted by a numerically superior foe, it's good sense to accept that you can't defend everything without feeding your forces to the enemy piece-mail. In such a situation, it's crucial to prioritize your crucial assets (major population centers, industrial complexes, military bases etc.) over settlements which lack the capital and resources to support the war effort. From what we see, core worlds like Korhal have billions of people and massive skyscrapers you can fight entire battles on top of, while settlements like Agria can be evacuated within hours. Given how the dominion military was already outmatched against the Zerg before the invasion began, was it really so unfair for them to consolidate their forces, and thus avoid "Divide and Conquer"?
** Protecting the colonies was not viable, the Dominion is no match for the Swarm and never has been. Abandoning the colonies to get massacred or infested is what makes Mengsk's actions terrible. They should have evacuated everyone possible and tried to keep the civilians safe.

* More of a nitpick than anything, but some of the mission names seem uninspired, making someone ask oneself "what was the name of that one mission again?" For instance, the mission "Rendezvous" lacks the content of a more informative name such as "Rescue Raynor", while the mission "Domination" (the mission where Banelings are introduced) doesn't have the same impact of something like "Bane of Existence". The mission names in ''VideoGame/WingsOfLiberty'' usually seem far more memorable and immediately bring to mind what the mission is really about. Similarly, the mission names in ''VideoGame/LegacyOfTheVoid'' usually have more of a "ring" to them. On the plus side, there are memorable mission names in ''Heart of the Swarm'' are ones like "Shoot the Messenger", and "Enemy Within".

* In the news broadcast that's playing at the start of the final cinematic, it's mentioned that Matt is optimistic about the latest round of peace negotiations with the unified protoss. Here's the thing: why do there need to be ''peace'' negotiations? When were the Dominion and the Daelaam at war? I could file it up to InUniverse CriticalResearchFailure and someone not understanding that the Tal'darim aren't part of the Daelaam (the peace negotiations would then be a result of the Tal'darim's actions while under Amon's control, also because [[RuleOfFunny it's hilarious]] to imagine [[{{Troll}} Alarak]] sat at the negotiating table), but the Daelaam never acted against the Dominion and the only Tal'darim who joined the Daelaam were the unspecified number who joined when Alarak left. The last times the two factions interacted were the Daelaam saving the Dominion on Korhal by helping against Mobius Corps, and then the two fighting side-by-side in the Void to put an end to Amon. Surely at that point they'd be allied enough that peace talks would be unnecessary and the only negotiations would be minor quibbles over territory and resources.

* Although he did ultimately join forces with the dDminion in the end game, how does Raynor justify slaughtering dominion troops while the Zerg were threatening to wipe humanity out? Granted, he didn't know about the invasion while on Mar Sara, and was defending civilians, but he continued to launch attacks even while the Zerg were inflicting billions of casualties. Even if the forces he engaged weren't fighting the Zerg at that particular moment (salvage operations, military parades etc.) those same troops could have been redeployed at any time (as seen at the end of ''Heart of the Swarm''). The rebellions he incited after ''Media Blitz'' almost certainly hindered the war effort. I understand the game-play necessity of fighting all three races during the campaign (it would be boring if you fought only Zerg for 26 missions) but how is this justified story-wise?

** Probably, while Kerrigan isn't out to hurt innocents she's willing to accept their sacrifice if it acomplishes her goals.

** Kerrigan is well aware that all the protos hate the zerg and her specifically, she knows Zeratulhas more than enough reasons to want her dead so she doesn't give him a chance to attack her. She gains the upper hand and then gives him a chance to speak. As for the colonists, she very well may have let them leave if their leader hadn't screamed about how if even one of them make it out they'll send the Golden Armada to hunt her down.

* ...except they haven't? The entire reason Ouros wants to stop Amon from committing omnicide is so that the cycle can continue. He says this as both Ouros and Tassadar. It even contradicts what he just said in the line before: "With the last of our essence, a new eternity dawns." Why did he say that?[[/folder]]

* Mengsk's abandoning of the outer colonies in favor of reinforcing the core worlds is treated as an unnecessary and callous act. Yet when assaulted by a numerically superior foe, it's good sense to accept that you can't defend everything without feeding your forces to the enemy piece-mail. In such a situation, it's crucial to prioritize your crucial assets (major population centers, industrial complexes, military bases ext.) over settlements which lack the capital and resources to support the war effort. From what we see, core worlds like Korhal have billions of people and massive skyscrapers you can fight entire battles on top of, while settlements like Agria can be evacuated within hours. Given how the dominion military was already outmatched against the Zerg before the invasion began, was it really so unfair for them to consolidate their forces, and thus avoid "Divide and Conquer"?