Open Your Heart of the Swarm

Well what have we got here? Well golly me, if it isn't the trailer for the next installment of Starcraft 2!



Whilst I've never played Wings of Liberty (call it due to having a shit computer), I am aware of what happens in that Raynor is set out to retrieve Kerrigan's humanity and revert her from her infested state. And, by the end of the campaign, he achieves some degree of success.
However, judging from the above trailer, it seems that such effort has all been for naught as Sarah is gone forever and Infested Kerrigan is pretty much here to stay. Again, going from this trailer, this revelation would come about in one of the Terran labs as the game progresses.

But there is something about this that doesn't sit well with me. Whilst I may have criticized the ending of Starcraft before, I have to make a concession in that Kerrigan was actually a nasty villain. In the Zerg campaign in Brood War, I wasn't seeing Kerrigan's actions as part of a quest for vengeance - and as such, my perception of her changed into that of a sadist - doing all these terrible things just seemingly for the hell of it. And that indeed raised up the intimidation factor, indeed necessary for any villain, and left a greater impact.
That being said, this element of tragedy doesn't work for me at all. The story of Kerrigan's past doesn't mean anything at all as it diminishes the nastiness Infested Kerrigan eventually led to (and the fact that was established outside the game). As such the tragic element stinks of a cop-out.
Now there have been some tragic baddies in film, books and Shakespearean plays but they are all pre-planned stories and the audience has to sit and watch them play out - Whereas video games are more interactive and the demand participation from someone who has a say in how things flow. Thus, I don't support the idea of video game baddies being tragic: They are they to be mean, nasty, and give a sense of a goal worth working towards. By way of example, I don't give two shits about Sephiroth's background - his stabbing of Aerith is a good enough excuse to go and smash him in the face.

So do I think I could do better? Why yes I do. If I were in charge I would've done it differently in that Raynor eventually succeeds in restoring Sarah and eventually takes part in integrating her back to humanity. BUT! The memories of being an infested haven't been extinguished and subsequently haunt Sarah. HOWEVER! After witnessing the memories of what she did as an Infested, Sarah actually enjoys what she did. This, along with perceiving being a human as a worthless pursuit, prompts Kerrigan to actively go out to return herself to her Infested state thus ultimately undoing all Raynor's efforts and retaining her self-proclaimed status as Queen Bitch of the Universe.

Of course, this is all just speculation - based on a trailer.
How it effects the game, or course, remains to be seen....