The Prophecy of Ulaan: the warning that foretold the End War

The prophecy of Ulaan was a foretelling created by the xel'naga Ouros that warned of the end of the xel'naga's Infinite Cycle at the hands of Amon, the Fallen One, and of the apocalyptic restructuring of the cosmos that would follow. Stored in fragments on the world of Ulaan, the prophecy was recovered by the Dark Prelate Zeratul on the eve of the Second Great War and interpreted by the preservers of Zhakul. Its warnings revealed that Sarah Kerrigan was essential to stopping Amon, shaped the choices of Jim Raynor and Hierarch Artanis, and drew the great powers of the Koprulu sector toward the End War and its final battle in the Void.

Origins of the Prophecy#

The prophecy came into being in the aftermath of Amon's war against the xel'naga, the catastrophe in which the greater bulk of that ancient species was consumed by the zerg while the survivors withdrew to Ulnar. Among those survivors was Ouros, who created the prophecy for a purpose that would remain hidden for centuries. It was to guide the future races that possessed purity of form and purity of essence to Ulnar, where they would awaken the last of the xel'naga and turn the Infinite Cycle once more. The prophecy was stored in fragments on Ulaan, a shadowed world of xel'naga shrines, where it waited for a seeker capable of understanding it.

Zeratul later came to believe that a benevolent force had created the prophecy to assist the protoss, or perhaps a multitude of races, in a time of great need. His belief proved at least partially correct, though the full truth of its author and its design would not be revealed until the war it foretold had nearly run its course.

The Words of the Preservers#

When the preservers of Zhakul finally deciphered the recovered fragments, they spoke the prophecy in these words:

"In the fullness of time, the cycle shall draw to its end. The xel'naga, who forged the stars, will transcend their creation. Yet, the Fallen One shall remain, destined to cover the Void in shadow. Before the stars wake from their celestial courses, he shall break the cycle of the gods, devouring all light and hope. It begins with the Great Hungerer. It ends in utter darkness."

The Great Hungerer was the Overmind of the zerg, and the Fallen One was Amon, the dark god who had refused to surrender his place in the cycle. The prophecy thus bound together the fates of the Swarm, the protoss, and the xel'naga themselves in a single warning of annihilation.

Recovery of the Fragments#

Zeratul's path to the prophecy began at the close of the Brood War, when he discovered hybrid specimens on a dark moon. The discovery drove him to search for answers, and in 2503 he arrived on a distant world through a wormhole created by energy creatures, an encounter that set him on the prophecy's trail. He found rumors of the foretelling on Ulaan, which he believed spoke of the return of the xel'naga.

The prelate traveled to Ulaan on the eve of the Second Great War. He was not alone. The Queen of Blades had come for the fragments as well, and a Daelaam force under Praetor Karass, which had tracked her to the world, joined Zeratul in his search among the shrines. Karass held nothing above the task before them, urging the prelate onward with the words, "The prophecy is more important than either of us! Reveal its secrets, Zeratul! The future rests on it!" The praetor and his templar sacrificed themselves to cover Zeratul's escape, and the prelate departed Ulaan with the fragments in hand.

Aboard the Void Seeker, Zeratul carried the fragments to the forbidden archive world of Zhakul, where preservers could interpret them. Darker forces were already at work there. A hybrid destroyer, Maar, had imprisoned the three preservers, and Zeratul had to break their captivity before the fragments could be read. Once freed, the preservers deciphered the prophecy and prompted the prelate to seek further knowledge from the dead Overmind itself.

The Vision of the Overmind#

On the shell of the fallen Overmind, aided by what he believed was the spirit of Tassadar, Zeratul gained access to the creature's vision of the future. What he saw was the dark future the prophecy had warned of. On a distant, shadowed world the protoss would make their final stand, their heroes gathered and their forces marshaled, and still they would die. The zerg would become slaves to the hybrid, and all would bow before the power of the Fallen One. From the vision Zeratul drew the prophecy's hardest lesson: Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades, whose death the sector's armies sought, was essential to stopping Amon and his apocalyptic design.

The Ihan Crystal and the Queen of Blades#

Zeratul recorded what he had learned in an ihan crystal and delivered it to Jim Raynor during the Second Great War, so that Raynor would understand why Kerrigan had to survive. Raynor believed the prelate had brought him the warning at some risk to himself. Knowledge of the prophecy was not confined to the Raiders; Valerian Mengsk had also become aware of it, and his revelation of that knowledge took Raynor by surprise.

After Kerrigan was deinfested by the Keystone, Zeratul came to her leviathan and confronted her. He showed her Zerus, the birthplace of the zerg, and told her that she had to regain her power as the Queen of Blades and so continue the prophecy. Kerrigan acceded, though she declared that her purpose was vengeance against Arcturus Mengsk rather than the prophecy's demands. With Mengsk's death at her hands, Kerrigan turned her Swarm toward the confrontation with Amon.

The Final Piece#

One part of the prophecy still eluded Zeratul: the promise that the last light would be revealed on the world where Amon had been reborn. Seeking that world, the prelate entered a Moebius Foundation facility and found that the forces of Moebius Corps had become slaves of the hybrid, and that the terrans within had experimented on protoss technology and captive templar. With Praetor Talis he rescued the imprisoned templar and located Amon's place of rebirth, the world Atrias.

On Atrias, Zeratul and Talis fought the Tal'darim of Highlord Ma'lash, and Talis' forces opened the way for the prelate to enter the Temple of Erris. Within, Ouros, once more disguised as Tassadar, appeared in the Void catalyst through which Ma'lash communed with Amon. The spirit told Zeratul that the Keystone would usher them unto hope and showed him its resting place on Korhal. Despite Amon's efforts to kill him, Zeratul escaped with the prophecy complete and went to warn Hierarch Artanis. He arrived on the cusp of the reclamation of Aiur, and Artanis at first set his warnings aside, until hybrids appeared on the surface and Amon returned in force, seizing the Khala and every protoss joined to it. Zeratul cut his way through the possessed warriors and freed Artanis, but the effort cost him his life. The hierarch gathered the survivors and swore to take up Zeratul's charge, using the knowledge of the prophecy to defeat Amon.

Fulfillment in the Void#

Artanis reclaimed the Keystone from Korhal, and through the research of Phase-smith Karax the Daelaam found the xel'naga temple of Ulnar, where Kerrigan was already searching for the gods themselves. The xel'naga within were dead, and Amon sprang his trap inside the temple, but the allies fought free. In time the protoss turned the Keystone against the Fallen One, purging him from the Khala and forcing him back into the Void. The prophecy had strayed from the course Ouros intended, yet it had armed the protoss with the knowledge to defeat the ancient xel'naga.

Amon still lived. Two years later Kerrigan summoned Raynor and Artanis and told them of a voice calling to her from the Void, warning that the Fallen One was defeated but not dead. The three commanders led their fleets into Amon's realm, where the voice proved to belong to a spirit in the guise of Tassadar. After its jailer Narud was destroyed, the spirit revealed itself as Ouros, the last of the xel'naga and the creator of the prophecy. Ouros had manipulated events across the war to turn the Infinite Cycle one final time, and he asked Kerrigan to ascend in his place.

Kerrigan accepted, believing it the only way to atone for her past crimes. Raynor, Artanis, and Zagara defended her as she channeled Ouros' power and became xel'naga. She then faced Amon himself, and with her allies breaking the shield around him, she delivered the final blow. Defeated in the Void, Amon was destroyed at last. The dark future foreseen in the visions of Ouros had been averted, and the prophecy of Ulaan, the last design of a dying god, was fulfilled.