Combine and Xen Connection (A long, Comprehensive Theory of evererything HL)

[fokke]

A nucleair reaction is in fact a cascade too. More and more molecules are splitted untill the warmth gets too high and the critical mass is passed. Maybe something like that happened in the Resonance Cascade. A Spectrometer is a method to study a substance by adding another to it. The substance (the Xen crystal) was added with another substance (The phaser beam or Anti-Mass Spectrometer). Apparently, this caused such a chain of events, which was a bad thing, clearly. Ask Gordon. Not that he'll answer though

 

[Angry Lawyer]

"Grunts in pods"

Those weren't pods. Those were eggs. There's the key difference. The Xenians grow their troops. The Combine engineer them.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Asknoone]

"Grunts in pods"

Those weren't pods. Those were eggs. There's the key difference. The Xenians grow their troops. The Combine engineer them.

-Angry Lawyer

There was a key difference, yes, but i was just pointing it out - the simulatiry that is

 

[[46] pushit [2]]

@ Laivasse

Thanks for clearing my questions up. Completely forgot about Gonarch *slaps head*, duh Headcrab queen on Xen would obviously mean that the headcrabs at least reside on Xen.

In HL2 do we ever learn how much time has passed from the end of HL1 to the beginning of HL2? Was it 10 years? I never remember hearing/seeing any evidence that would lead to any conclusion. What happened during that time? From what I can remember, portal storms broke out all over Earth, rushing on a huge invasion of Xen creatures. Earth fought, migrated to the cities and eventually were so worn out that the Combine saw an easy target -- and promplty decided to take over earth.

A few questions arise:
1) How were these portal storms caused? From the original post, I remember reading something about how because the portal was destroyed on Xen's side (I guess this happened when we killed Nilianth??) but remained open on Earth, causing some weird ass energy disturbances thus opening more portals

2) Are the Combine just a race that go about the Universe looking for places to conquer and move on? Did someone tip them off about Earth? What benefit do they gain? Slaves? Resources? Or are they a war-hunger race thristing for domination of other people/planets?

*MINOR SPOILER WARNING*
3) What speculation has arisen about the very alien-like face (reminded me of the Op4 boss) that Breen is talking to as you are chasing him in Dark Energy
*MINOR SPOILER WARNING OVER*

4) The original poster commented about G-mans "race". Is that a generally agreed fact that the G-man has some weird, sentinent race? Is he a sort of "intergalactic" diplomat? Making deals here and there for whatever end? I personally believe G-man is just a single entity with a single purpose, one uknown to all as of now.

Oh, and what of these "Xen Controllers"? Where did they come from? Are they in HL1? Am I missing something?

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Xen Controllers are the little floating mini-Nihilanth creatures you fight throughout HL1.

I think that the Combine simply saw the crazyness taking place through all of the portal storming in Earth's general direction, had a look, and decided to attack out of oppertunity.

The Alien Face is a Combine Advisor. That's supposedly what the Combine actually look like - so dependant on technology that their bodies wasted away into a maggot-mass. And if you look closely, you'll see that it's wearing a large, roughly-stiched body-stocking.

The G-Man is still undefined. There's so little information about him, that it's impossible to justify any decisions on it.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[[46] pushit [2]]

Just thought of something. I've been reading The Dark Tower novel (split into 7 smaller books) by Stephen King and realized that perhaps Laidlaw has been a Dark Tower fan all along. Thus would explain the almighty Citadel that you know from the second you see it that it will be your final destination in the game. And that nothing will stop you from getting there (even if you have to noclip it...)


Similar to Roland of Gilead. Just an interesting thought. Kind of out there. Oh, and by the way, read the Dark Tower novels. Great^1000000 books.

 

[special-ed]

A nucleair reaction is in fact a cascade too. More and more molecules are splitted untill the warmth gets too high and the critical mass is passed. Maybe something like that happened in the Resonance Cascade. A Spectrometer is a method to study a substance by adding another to it. The substance (the Xen crystal) was added with another substance (The phaser beam or Anti-Mass Spectrometer). Apparently, this caused such a chain of events, which was a bad thing, clearly. Ask Gordon. Not that he'll answer though

wow.. just, wow.. I take the half-life plot seriously but not THAT seriously..

 

[fokke]

Dude do you think that I looked that up, it's just basic infomation, and some people understand some things better than other people. I for one, suck in math but I speak 5 languages fluently, its just what your interests are.

 

[Jandor]

I think you looked it up to impress me, ya big nerd .

 

[Kingreaper]

He dealt with that point...maybe you ignored it? The vorts speak quite figuratively much of the time. Comparing the Nihilanth to the Combine as a lesser and a greater master does not necessarily mean one controlled the other. It's quite obvious that the Combine are a much bigger threat than the Nihilanth ever was. Thus "lesser" master. Their strange use of tense is nothing new..."we see you still in the Nihilanth's chamber" even though you're no longer there. Maybe their weird hive consciousness doesn't distinguish past and future too well.

That's perfectly fine use of tense, indicating a continuity of a past experience

If they knew it the moment the lesser master fell they must have already known the greater master, and it doesn't make sense for it to nbe the G-man, as why would the G-man want to destroy his own creation?

 

[Angry Lawyer]

That's perfectly fine use of tense, indicating a continuity of a past experience

If they knew it the moment the lesser master fell they must have already known the greater master, and it doesn't make sense for it to nbe the G-man, as why would the G-man want to destroy his own creation?

The G-Man remains undefined - I doubt even Laidlaw knows what he's for. Using G-Man in any theory will discredit it, as there is no evidence to use to tie him to anything, apart from him hiring Gordon, and possibly 'Controlling Xen'.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[ríomhaire]

He dealt with that point...maybe you ignored it? The vorts speak quite figuratively much of the time. Comparing the Nihilanth to the Combine as a lesser and a greater master does not necessarily mean one controlled the other. It's quite obvious that the Combine are a much bigger threat than the Nihilanth ever was. Thus "lesser" master. Their strange use of tense is nothing new..."we see you still in the Nihilanth's chamber" even though you're no longer there. Maybe their weird hive consciousness doesn't distinguish past and future too well.

That is just their grammar I'd say, English is the hardest European language to master (Irish is the hardest to pick up)

 

[Laivasse]

Wow, that quote of mine is quite old. I barely remember what I was talking about. I wasn't exactly saying that the vorts were ungrammatical in their statements. Rather, that they always speak quite figuratively and it's useless trying to stake an entire argument on one vort quote that can be interpreted in whatever way you want.

 

[Ravioli]

the question is:

How can the combine invade earth....if they do not exist?

Combines are humans-Aliens combined, so, how can they invade Earth if they havent even been combined yet?

 

[ríomhaire]

the question is:

How can the combine invade earth....if they do not exist?

Combines are humans-Aliens combined, so, how can they invade Earth if they havent even been combined yet?

The Combine are an interdimentional empire. They are called the Combine because the take over worlds and combine the world with their empire.

 

[Edcrab]

Yes, I get the impression that we're meant to think of them as some galaxy-spanning super empire that's taken all comers- 'til Gman threw Gordon into play.

I remember how, because of the leak, a lot of people were convinced that the Combine were human/machine creations- that is, how the more advanced soldiers are cyborgs (or at least augmented humans)- and thus a lot of idiots were certain that the Combine themselves were half-robot.

Of course a lot of non-idiots who'd never seen the leaked build thought they might've been human/alien or human/machine combinations too... I suppose they are, in a broader sense, what with being a massive union of all manner of civillisation.

 

[Jandor]

The original Combine are not Human-Alien combinations. Infact, the Overwatch arn't even Human-Alien combinations. There are no genetic crossbreeds in the Combine.

EDIT: Didn't take you two long.

 

[ríomhaire]

The original Combine are not Human-Alien combinations. Infact, the Overwatch arn't even Human-Alien combinations. There are no genetic crossbreeds in the Combine.

That we know of...

 

[Edcrab]

Well, I don't personally think there are any hybrids, although I wouldn't be remotely surprised if we get definitive proof that the Combine have or have attempted to tweak mankind's genetic makeup in a slightly less obtrusive way.

I'm an expert on speculation and I might butcher this universe with a degree of competence, but I don't think I've ever- just yet at least- proposed something too outlandish either...

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Ohh, the clincher in my argument...

I thought of this while sitting on the toilet, so I've not really had a chance to work out any flaws in it, but...

Xen has a rather varied ecosystem (or at least, was concepted to have). Mr. Friendly eats carrion, trees eat everything, frogs get eaten by everything, funguses grow in watery area and grow like plants.

When the Xen invaded Earth, most of our ecosystem was explodified. You see very little wildlife in the wilderness, apart from Antlions.

If the Combine invaded Xen BEFORE the events of HL, then there would not be such a wide range of life. The Combine don't see beauty in nature, only oppertunity for millitary and technological advancement.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[fokke]

I think you looked it up to impress me, ya big nerd .

Yeah because secretly I'm brutally in love with you, are you impressed?

 

[Jandor]

I was more impressed with the science thing, It came as more of a suprise .

 

[Marx! II]

Lord almighty, why have I not seen this thread before?

Probably because my own theory's been repeated and regurgitated (By White Eyebrows and co.) until the issue died peacefully in it's sleep.
Behold as I exhume it in a slightly different manner.
To support the NoCoX side, I'ma bring up a number of the opposing points as they come to me. They will be in boldface. And here we go.


The Vortimen were enslaved by the combine.
How do you figure?

The one in the tunnel, he says about the lesser master falling, and the greater one falling in time.
Supposing the greater master reference was a nod to Senor Nihlanth?
They look pretty freed now, for the most part.

Not at all, that one in Nova Prospekt was getting fitted for a similar collar.
Not to sound flip, but since when does fitting for a collar involve three guards, a restraining chair and a giant ceiling-mounted laser to the eyeball?

But the citidel on Xen, you went there.
How are we to believe it's a citidel, a combine-made one?
I'll grant that the difference in landscapes might warrant a change from standard type, but on the other hand I there to be plenty of room somewhere on the planet to fit one of those bad boys.
Never thought the combine much for altering invasion HQ to suit the asthetic tastes of the invadees.

Assjet!
Okay, assuming it is a jet, an antenna shaped, bleeding, non-jetting jet, who's to say the combine put it there? Think about it, if they can field a giant factory of that sort, they can surely build whatever it is that thing does, for their dear leader. Minor controllers can float at will, why not their creepy fetus-shaped king?

Speaking of factories, that one with the grunts?
Nah, again with the architecture difference.
Aside from which, force fields are fairly common.
And all that liquid? Eh?
Eggs too. Combine don't appear to like eggs.

They would so, if modified Earth-folk hatched from eggs.
But we don't.

Grunts on the other hand, former Vortidudes?
I don't buy it. Most any smart-looking species on Xen has a number of similar attributes, most common of which is that third arm down the center.
Vorts got it, grunts got it, big-headed comptrollers have it, Nihlanth has one. Those gargantuas, they have two I think. Add in the sideways mouth, the one eye, and a few other recurring characteristics, one can safely assume that we are dealing with an inter-species hierarchy of sorts. Sort of like humans and monkeys and gorillas, but with less difference. Make sense?

Kind of. But what about the gargantuan blue things? Those are metal all over, and they spew flame from the hands. That's total combine.
It certainly looks like it. But try this.
Firstly, the metal looks somewhat natural in its pattern, like a carapace of some sort. Now take something like a stalker, not much nature-looking platework, in fact it seems almost purely manufactured, save for that satisfying cry of a dying NES such as it makes.
Then figure the enormous hump on it's back.
Now as I've repeatedly said, I'm not a doctor or an animal specialist of any sort. But I would willingly believe that for a natural being of any dimension to be able to produce flame out of its hands would require some considerable organ work. I also think it follows that considerable organs require considerable space. Now if the fellow were just fitted with a couple of flamethrowers, even allowing for flames of decent size as well as adequate flame liquid stores, you still don't end up with that much space being taken up. I'm fairly confident that the blue thing's not using that space for brainstorage, and given his odd shape, it doesn't help his combat abilities any.
Again with the torso arms and and the one eye, he looks pretty Xen to me.

Of course he looks Xen, the whole combine strategy is to use the planet's people against them.
But not exclusively. There could still be synths galore running round Xen, and probably should be given the wildlife. Which leads me to my counterpoint.
Supposing the combine did have Xen, and couldn't bring things like striders in for want of a decent place to stand. There's still plenty of air. Lots of room for a gunship or twenty thousand to patrol and make sure of safety. Might have helped their Xen base, if they had one. And I don't buy for a minute that the atmosphere isn't conducive to flying, tell that to the controllers, the Nihlanth, the creepy translucent blob, and the long jumping Gordan. It can happen.

 

[special-ed]

Ok honestly, now seriously.. I think valve put the crap on nihilianth just because they thought it looked creepy and cool, nothing too deep.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

And to extend on that rather well written reply...

Gunships look a hundred times more efficient than Xen Manta-rays. And Xen uses Mantas to hook teleportation through. Why would their flying technologies be so different? Because THERE WERE NO COMBINE ON XEN!

That's not to say that, since the events of HL2, that the Combine haven't gone on to invade Xen after earth.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jandor]

I really really really don't want to say it.

But I will.

I kind of agree with...special-ed.

That's not to say that, since the events of HL2, that the Combine haven't gone on to invade Xen after earth.

Thats what Marc's latest offering to the community would seem to suggest.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Ok honestly, now seriously.. I think valve put the crap on nihilianth just because they thought it looked creepy and cool, nothing too deep.

Exactly why I think there is no Xen-Combine relationship.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jandor]

People are agreeing with special-ed. The fabric of the Universe is falling apart.

 

[Asknoone]

What has the world come to.

 

[ríomhaire]

Some new evedence!

 

[Jandor]

Failing to see a link of any kind :S .

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Picture 1, from Blue Shift (probably, judging by the hand), shows a cave, with a few xen life forms (tree, biolights, bounce pads).

Picture two shows a Stalker walking across a gantry.

Picture three shows the G-Man being strung up by some rather disturbed Vortigaunts simply because the G-Man supports the lack of connection theory, and because he owns some Angry Lawyer merchandise.

None are linked.

And if anyone goes and says "OMG - both the Xenians and the Combine have factories!", ponder this image for a while.

Mass production isn't specific to the Combine. Any intelligent civilisation is going to work out, sooner or later, that production lines are efficient.

And I'll get you back for that picture, Riomhaire...just you wait.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[ríomhaire]

......

 

[Angry Lawyer]

The evidence in #1 is planted.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jandor]

How the hell am I supposed to make out what those are?

Just tell me what you think the link is.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

#1 contains a shot from Blue Shift with a Gunship pasted into the top right corner.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Marx! II]

But the other two are genuine.

 

[ríomhaire]

2 is a garg in the citadel.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

*Laughs* never noticed that one, to be honest. That's pretty inconspicuous, but still very out of place.

Yes, I'm going to get you back

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jandor]

If theres a Garg in HL2, how come I've never seen him in the SDK?