A question about the plot of the original Starcraft.

[Zhukov]

Just something that was shaken loose by people discussing the plot of latest game. I'll get straight to the point:

Why did Mengsk betray Kerrigan?

It's a massively pivotal plot point for the series, but I don't recall there ever being an actual reason for it to happen. She's obviously a huge asset to Mengsk, being a fricken psychic commando and all, and she's never suggested to be anything other than a loyal subordinate. The only exception is a single conversation between her and Raynor in which doubts are expressed over the whole luring-zerg-into-cities thing. But then she says she owes Mengsk and goes ahead and does it anyway.

So... why the sudden betrayal?

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Disc: I haven't played LotV yet and am trying to stay spoiler-free as possible.

Two reasons. First, Kerrigan is a telepath and has developed feelings for Raynor. Mengsk can't just tell her the usual politician's lies to keep her on his side after destroying a world of millions, and when it came down to it she would have eventually turned on him and sided with Raynor. Which would have been preferable to the Zerg having her but he didn't know about that.
Second, in the novel 'I, Mengsk', it is revealed that Kerrigan is the Ghost that the Confederacy sent to assassinate his family on Korhal. Kind of petty since it could have been any Ghost and they're controlled almost as thoroughly as the brainwashed Marines, but there you go.

 

[Zhukov]

Disc: I haven't played LotV yet and am trying to stay spoiler-free as possible.

Two reasons. First, Kerrigan is a telepath and has developed feelings for Raynor.

I... don't quite see why that matters.

Mengsk can't just tell her the usual politician's lies to keep her on his side after destroying a world of millions, and when it came down to it she would have eventually turned on him and sided with Raynor. Which would have been preferable to the Zerg having her but he didn't know about that.

Well, of course he wouldn't be able to lie. She was right there. But why would he need to? She knowingly helped destroy that planet. Like, directly, with her own hands.

Second, in the novel 'I, Mengsk', it is revealed that Kerrigan is the Ghost that the Confederacy sent to assassinate his family on Korhal. Kind of petty since it could have been any Ghost and they're controlled almost as thoroughly as the brainwashed Marines, but there you go.

Is that mentioned anywhere in the game? It's been a good few years since I played it, so I might have missed or forgotten stuff, but I don't recall anything about Mengsk having a dead family. Just something vague about about a crushed rebellion on a place called Korhal.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

I always considered Mengsk to have sacrificed Kerrigan and not betraying her

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Just something that was shaken loose by people discussing the plot of latest game. I'll get straight to the point:

Why did Mengsk betray Kerrigan?

It's a massively pivotal plot point for the series, but I don't recall there ever being an actual reason for it to happen. She's obviously a huge asset to Mengsk, being a fricken psychic commando and all, and she's never suggested to be anything other than a loyal subordinate. The only exception is a single conversation between her and Raynor in which doubts are expressed over the whole luring-zerg-into-cities thing. But then she says she owes Mengsk and goes ahead and does it anyway.

So... why the sudden betrayal?

Main reason: Video Game Writing wasn't as good back then, even for Blizzard.

My reasoning? She out lived her usefulness, After that Mission IIRC Mengsk basically promotes himself to God Emperor of the sector.
At that point, he could get all the Ghosts he wanted and, unlike Kerrigan, they weren't going to call BS on him.
See, while Kerrigan was loyal to Mengsk, Future Ghosts like Nova get mind-wiped every 20 minutes (Least it feels that way) but when it would become time for Kerrigan to have her turn, I could imagine her going "Oh fuck this!" and putting a bullet in his head.
He wouldn't have that problem with rank and file Ghosts.

 

[Muspelheim]

I always imagined it as him not bothering, rather than actively betraying her. He knew he didn't have further use of her, and it'd cost him nothing to not intervene, so he took the opportunity. One more risk to his lovely empire-building gone, and all he had to do was to let it happen on its own.

He struck me as the type that plays the cards he's delt very well indeed, plays other people's cards and then cashes out precisely when he'll gain the most. Well, then he drank too much spiked space-drinks and became pretty bad at the dictator-gig.

 

[Pyrian]

I kind of figured he probably couldn't've have done it. At the end of the day, she functionally is a (non-amplified) psi-emitter. The Zerg overran that planet for one reason and one reason only: To get their claws on a Ghost. At that range and with the Overmind himself paying close attention, a rescue attempt would probably have failed.

Worse, from Mengsk's perspective, he would've risked having the Zerg abandon the planet to come after his fleet. He knew how psi-emitters work. I think he decided from the start that Kerrigan was as much bait as the psi-emitters themselves.

 

[shintakie10]

I always imagined it as him not bothering, rather than actively betraying her. He knew he didn't have further use of her, and it'd cost him nothing to not intervene, so he took the opportunity. One more risk to his lovely empire-building gone, and all he had to do was to let it happen on its own.

He struck me as the type that plays the cards he's delt very well indeed, plays other people's cards and then cashes out precisely when he'll gain the most. Well, then he drank too much spiked space-drinks and became pretty bad at the dictator-gig.

This is basically what it was.

Mengsk was, at this point, completely unopposed. He didnt need Kerrigan anymore and sending down ships, in the middle of a full on zerg invasion, would have cost him valuable assets. In his mind it wasn't worth it. He'd lose more than he gained trying to rescue Kerrigan at that point.

And Mengsk did great with his god emperor gig. The populace completely believed every lie he told them. Even after Raynors victory and broadcasting of the truth of what happened at Tarsonis he still held power until his son, as well as a huge ass army of zerg, overthrew him.

 

[FalloutJack]

Mengsk is a power-hungry ass who doesn't give a right or a left fuck about anybody. This doesn't need explanation, in my opinion.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

I... don't quite see why that matters.

Because that might affect her loyalties. If forced to choose between the two, she might very well join Raynor, rightly considering him to be a better person than Mengsk.

Is that mentioned anywhere in the game? It's been a good few years since I played it, so I might have missed or forgotten stuff, but I don't recall anything about Mengsk having a dead family. Just something vague about about a crushed rebellion on a place called Korhal.

Pretty much all the Terran campaign gives you is that Mengsk's rebel group is called the Sons of Korhal, seeking vengeance for when the Confederacy nuked their world from orbit. The instruction manual and the novel I mentioned before elaborated that Korhal Senator Angus Mengsk, Arcturus' father, spoke out loudly against the corruption of the Confederacy. The Confederates responded by sending Kerrigan to assassinate the entire Mengsk clan, which Arcturus only survived by being offworld at the time. He took over where his father left off, and the rest of Korhal was about to launch an open rebellion when NUCLEAR LAUNCH DETECTED. The survivors rebelled anyway, and lots of people joined them.

Mengsk is a power-hungry ass who doesn't give a right or a left fuck about anybody. This doesn't need explanation, in my opinion.

Sums it up more succinctly than I did. All other reasons aside, he betrayed her because she was no longer 100% loyal to him, no longer a mere tool.

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

Mengsk can't just tell her the usual politician's lies to keep her on his side after destroying a world of millions, and when it came down to it she would have eventually turned on him and sided with Raynor. Which would have been preferable to the Zerg having her but he didn't know about that.

Well, of course he wouldn't be able to lie. She was right there. But why would he need to? She knowingly helped destroy that planet. Like, directly, with her own hands.

Second, in the novel 'I, Mengsk', it is revealed that Kerrigan is the Ghost that the Confederacy sent to assassinate his family on Korhal. Kind of petty since it could have been any Ghost and they're controlled almost as thoroughly as the brainwashed Marines, but there you go.

Is that mentioned anywhere in the game? It's been a good few years since I played it, so I might have missed or forgotten stuff, but I don't recall anything about Mengsk having a dead family. Just something vague about about a crushed rebellion on a place called Korhal.

First, no, Kerrigan didn't knew that Tarsonis would host a large Zerg party.

(SC missions video seems rare there days)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IweR4mBS7_c
Skip to 25:35.

And she doesn't like Arcturus using Zerg for his plans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA2jydO5fsI
Skip to 2:40.

So I have to assume she was abandoned because she was becoming increasingly disloyal with Arcturus' recent "use Zerg to kill everything" tactics, not to mention being a psychic mind reader and dangerous.

I presume that Arcturus does not care about past grudges.. case in point: General Duke.
Edit: And perhaps Kerrigan again in the Broodwar. Although she did give him a very tempting offer.

 

[Hawki]

It's long been established that there's three reasons that Mengsk left Kerrigan:

1) She was becoming politically unreliable, as she was constantly questioning his orders.

2) It was his attempt at revenge for her murder of his family nine years ago.

3) In doing so, by sacrificing his lieutenant, he was sending a message to anyone else who might have second thoughts.

 

[Muspelheim]

I always imagined it as him not bothering, rather than actively betraying her. He knew he didn't have further use of her, and it'd cost him nothing to not intervene, so he took the opportunity. One more risk to his lovely empire-building gone, and all he had to do was to let it happen on its own.

He struck me as the type that plays the cards he's delt very well indeed, plays other people's cards and then cashes out precisely when he'll gain the most. Well, then he drank too much spiked space-drinks and became pretty bad at the dictator-gig.

This is basically what it was.

Mengsk was, at this point, completely unopposed. He didnt need Kerrigan anymore and sending down ships, in the middle of a full on zerg invasion, would have cost him valuable assets. In his mind it wasn't worth it. He'd lose more than he gained trying to rescue Kerrigan at that point.

And Mengsk did great with his god emperor gig. The populace completely believed every lie he told them. Even after Raynors victory and broadcasting of the truth of what happened at Tarsonis he still held power until his son, as well as a huge ass army of zerg, overthrew him.

True. It was more of a snipe at the way he came across in SC2. He was pretty damn good at his job, but he looked and acted like such a prat in the second series. Like storming off and shouting "This interview's OVER blaaaarghh!" rather than having the room locked down and a decent cover woven, like he would have back in his prime.

I think it's Blizzard's bad habit of leaning too hard on basic arcetypes, they sometimes seem way too dumb for their job.

 

[Zhukov]

First, no, Kerrigan didn't knew that Tarsonis would host a large Zerg party.

(SC missions video seems rare there days)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IweR4mBS7_c
Skip to 25:35.

And she doesn't like Arcturus using Zerg for his plans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA2jydO5fsI
Skip to 2:40.

So I have to assume she was abandoned because she was becoming increasingly disloyal with Arcturus' recent "use Zerg to kill everything" tactics, not to mention being a psychic mind reader and dangerous.

I presume that Arcturus does not care about past grudges.. case in point: General Duke.
Edit: And perhaps Kerrigan again in the Broodwar. Although she did give him a very tempting offer.

Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for the links.

2) It was his attempt at revenge for her murder of his family nine years ago.

How does she go from murdering his family to working for the guy anyway? That's a pretty big leap.

 

[Mangod]

First, no, Kerrigan didn't knew that Tarsonis would host a large Zerg party.

(SC missions video seems rare there days)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IweR4mBS7_c
Skip to 25:35.

And she doesn't like Arcturus using Zerg for his plans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA2jydO5fsI
Skip to 2:40.

So I have to assume she was abandoned because she was becoming increasingly disloyal with Arcturus' recent "use Zerg to kill everything" tactics, not to mention being a psychic mind reader and dangerous.

I presume that Arcturus does not care about past grudges.. case in point: General Duke.
Edit: And perhaps Kerrigan again in the Broodwar. Although she did give him a very tempting offer.

Okay, that makes more sense. Thanks for the links.

2) It was his attempt at revenge for her murder of his family nine years ago.

How does she go from murdering his family to working for the guy anyway? That's a pretty big leap.

It's established in EU material that Kerrigan was the Ghost tasked with assassinating Angus Mengsk, Arcturus' father. Afterwards, Kerrigan was (presumably) memory wiped [http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Memory_wipe] before her defection to the Sons of Korhal.

However, as I said, EU material. In-game, the justification is that she'd started to question Mengsk's orders and motivations. This, coupled with her having outlived her usefulness [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness], made letting the Zerg dispose of her the easiest option.

And then the Zerg Overmind's plans for an anti-Protoss weapon came into the picture...

 

[KaraFang]

If we don't use the books as they came after.

As mentioned, Kerrigan starts out loyal to Mengsk. However, she meets Jim Raynor and despite him coming across as a bit of an ass during their first meeting, she comes to like him. (I don't care that some people scream murder about her being in love with him in SC2 not being trumpeted to the moon in SC, the sexual tension was there in the short com sections before a mission).

Jim in SC is suspicious of Mengsk from the minute he joins up - even though Mengsk saved his life, I got the feeling during their conversations that he was unsure of the guy.

This starts to carry over to Kerrigan as Jim is a fresh set of eyes when it comes to what mengsk is up to.

He then uses a Psi emitter (and let us not forget that Sarah is VERY unhappy about using it... on innocent civilians, and also that the imprint is hers as well in the emitter - not good.)

he then ignores her pleas to never use it again as he's becoming drunk with power and the realisation that, with it, he can kill anyone (or planet) in his way.

Because she and jim are protesting so much, he decides neither Jim or Sarah can be trusted anymore.

He decides to leave Sarah so the zerg can kill her as shes a Psi and an assassin and in his opinion the more dangerous of the two in his own plans to rule the sector.

So, that's why - insane would be god ruler decides that someone with morals about what they've been up to is a risk. usual reason throughout the ages.

 

[Bobular]

I always took it as part of his re-inventing himself from terrorist leader to savior of humanity was severing ties with his past associates who know his dark past