Combine & Children

[Cherubimon]

I was playing not long ago, and I looked at this. I have seen it and passed by it numerous times, but never really contemplated until now. It shows combine holding or what seems to be "protecting" a child. Now when Combine came to earth, they killed off all the kids, which explains only adults in the game.

 

[Cuthbert]

I always thought that to be Combine propaganda: "If you join civil protection you may have children!" I may be incredibly wrong, as always.

 

[Jintor]

"We're taking your future. It's ours, now."

 

[Tagaziel]

Actually, no, I don't think the Combine Empire killed off the children. There is no logical reason to do so. Children grow up, when they grow up, they become adult, when they become adult, they can be, err, conscripted into the Overwatch or the Stalker Enhancement Program (TM).

As such, I believe it's safe to assume, that most adults we see in Half-Life 2 are actually those, who were children at the time of the Seven Hour War, and managed to survive over the years. We have comparison, Eli and Kleiner, as well as Barney were adult at the time of the Black Mesa Incident, and 20 years later, they do look older than the average representative of the C17 populace.

 

[586FAC75]

I always thought it was clever "Bansky" style political graffiti. The Combine taking humanity in it's infancy and protecting and nurturing it. Yet, if you look at the babies eyes, it looks petrified.

 

[Jintor]

Actually, no, I don't think the Combine Empire killed off the children. There is no logical reason to do so. Children grow up, when they grow up, they become adult, when they become adult, they can be, err, conscripted into the Overwatch or the Stalker Enhancement Program (TM).

As such, I believe it's safe to assume, that most adults we see in Half-Life 2 are actually those, who were children at the time of the Seven Hour War, and managed to survive over the years. We have comparison, Eli and Kleiner, as well as Barney were adult at the time of the Black Mesa Incident, and 20 years later, they do look older than the average representative of the C17 populace.

Screw waiting for them to grow up. Let's just stuff the little expendable minions into grow tanks, pump them full of hormones and steroids, then remove their brains and make them into awesome humanoid supersoldiers.

 

[Tagaziel]

Interesting concept... where are those illegal Cuban children on US soil again?

 

[cyk]

The fact that it's graffiti makes me think it's a rebel painting his opinion on the suppression field. I've seen someone think that the Combine killed off children because of the voices of the playground and that graffiti, and while maybe they did a little just like they killed other citizens after the Seven Hour War, it's more about the suppression field.

 

[Ophiguris]

I was playing not long ago, and I looked at this. I have seen it and passed by it numerous times, but never really contemplated until now. It shows combine holding or what seems to be "protecting" a child. Now when Combine came to earth, they killed off all the kids, which explains only adults in the game.

To me, this seems to be a form of subliminal messaging. The child represents human kind's future. The combine are 'protecting' humanity's future. Probably graffiti from a Breen supporter who didn't want to make a direct reference to Dr.Breen protecting humanity. that would look kid of perverted... Where do you see this? is it in EP 1? because the only graffiti I noticed was a hunched lady holdng a baby.

 

[Darkside55]

You notice it a lot throughout both HL2 and Episode One. You can see it in a lot of the places where there's grafitti, like near the trainstation or outside the Ravenholm mine.

This picture used to be discussed a lot back in the day, especially the "caste" written next to it. Me personally, I always figured it had one of two meanings:

The first is showing the offspring of the Combine. When you look at the baby, it's got a shocked expression on its face, and its eyes are pupilless and gray; one might say soulless eyes. It's suggesting a cold, bleak future for humanity.

The second impression I get, much different from the first, is that that it's just a mother holding her child. There's something very protective about the pose, and a little sad, but it seems more heartfelt than propaganda. I like to think of it this way more than the first, even if it lacks any subtle meaning.

 

[Ophiguris]

So is it the one pic with the crouched mother or another one I've not yet seen... because the mother one has no eyes on the baby, and it definately isn't a combine holding the infant...

 

[Ophiguris]

I just just checked the pic. It IS a combine! I went throught the whole game thinking it was a homeless mother! Wow...

Sorry, my PC couldn't catch up, double posting by accident.

 

[ríomhaire]

The graffiti says 'CASTE'
I think it means we are children and the combine are a higher caste, or that's just how Combine view us. I doubt it's Combine-made though. Spray-paint hardly seems like their style.

 

[Ophiguris]

Knowing Combine, if they made it, they'd Either create an intimidating monument about it or carve it into the wall. It seems to be painted by a Breen Entusiast

 

[Link]

Are we sure there are no children? I wouldn't expect to see them in either game as they would be kept indoors and away from combat zones.

Was there something that definatly said that the kids are dead, or are we assuming?

 

[ríomhaire]

Are we sure there are no children? I wouldn't expect to see them in either game as they would be kept indoors and away from combat zones.

Was there something that definatly said that the kids are dead, or are we assuming?

In the very first chapter Dr. Breen talks about the reproductive subression field the Combine have in place.

 

[Link]

Yeah, but that wouldn't kill existing children.

 

[ríomhaire]

People age you know.

 

[esplin]

Yeah, but that wouldn't kill existing children.

It's been atleast 10-20 years since the suppression field went up. So even if you were born right before then you'd be at the very least a pre-teen if not a full grown adult.

Valve pretty much says this upfront in Raising the Bar.

Though there is one more possiblity

Combine Advisor: "The combine loves children, they are...........delicious"

 

[theotherguy]

Originally they had children working in factories, and all children were conscripts of the Combine...but valve decided it would be politically incorrect to put children in the game, so they removed it, and this art is probably left over from that.

 

[Link]

Ok, I obviously missed something here. I know the time from BM to city 17 is 'indeterminate', but where the hell did 10-20 years come from? Is that just in raising the bar, or did I play hl2 whilst looking the other way?

 

[Rossell]

One theory is "Earth is the child, in the Combine grasp"

Anyone ever thought of that?

 

[Asknoone]

Originally they had children working in factories, and all children were conscripts of the Combine...but valve decided it would be politically incorrect to put children in the game, so they removed it, and this art is probably left over from that.

Nah, it wasn't due to that. It was because of the suppression field.

 

[ríomhaire]

Ok, I obviously missed something here. I know the time from BM to city 17 is 'indeterminate', but where the hell did 10-20 years come from? Is that just in raising the bar, or did I play hl2 whilst looking the other way?

There are numerous references to 10 years in RtB. The EP1 website declares there's a gap of 2 decades. Dr. Kleiner in EP1 says there is more reason for hope now than for any time in the past decade.

 

[586FAC75]

From page 171 of the Bible known as Raising the Bar
The child factory never progressed beyond rough prototypes. Child citizens were also prototyped at one point, but eventually it became clear that the Combine had suppressed the human reproductive cycle for many years. The absence of children became a minor theme of the game and the child factory was rendered irrelevant

In addition to this, I think there are some countries that have restrictions on putting images of children in certain types of games.

 

[Ophiguris]

Are we sure there are no children? I wouldn't expect to see them in either game as they would be kept indoors and away from combat zones.

Was there something that definatly said that the kids are dead, or are we assuming?

You forget that HL2 is almost 20 years AFTER BM, all and any children would be adults, because of the sterilizers in the water and food supply...

 

[Link]

I didn't forget, I didn't know. My understanding was simply that an "unknown amount of time" had passed since BM. Given that everyones saying its been 10-20 years, I assume I missed something. Was there anything in game to indicate that much time has passed?

 

[Cuthbert]

As ríomhaire said, Kleiner says "past decade" implying at least 10 years after Combine invasion. Other than that all information about this is taken from interviews, RtB and official Ep1 site.

 

[Ophiguris]

well, considering that Alyx was so little at BM and is now atleast 10 but Barney has only gotten thinner, My guess is that astleast 15 years have passed.

 

[586FAC75]

well, considering that Alyx was so little at BM and is now atleast 10 but Barney has only gotten thinner, My guess is that astleast 15 years have passed.

Surely Alyx is in her early twenties? She looked about 12 months old in that Black Mesa-era photograph.

 

[Jintor]

That makes Barney in his 20s at Black Mesa, unless he's 50 or 60 now. ><

 

[TriddyD]

well in episode 1 kleiner goes over the radio telling citizens that something was disabled that didn't allow citizens to have babies or something they emitted didn't allow people to "work" i guess you could say.

 

[Darkside55]

The dates are very confusing. As Riom mentioned, some sources say ten years, the EpOne sight says closer to twenty, Dr. Kleiner says "more hope now than in the previous decade."

Alyx was older than that photograph showed when the Black Mesa Incident occurred. She was somewhere between four and six, I'd wager. I think of her as being about 26 years old now.

I dunno about Barney. He certainly doesn't look like he's in his 40s, but according to the timeline that's about as old as he'd be if he was of an age with Gordon at BMRF.

 

[Walter]

Calhoun looks as some 35 year old to me.

 

[ríomhaire]

Considering HL2 occurs 10-20 years after HL1 I assume he is older than 35.

 

[mortiz]

Assuming Calhoun is in his early 20's when the events of Half-Life 1 take place he'd be about 40 then.

 

[Jintor]

I feel that's a reasonable age for him. He's pretty fit, too.

 

[bigdorkarama]

Pretty clearly not a Combine soldier--it's a rebel. Obviously the Combine, being the lock-step orginization that they are aren't going to use graffiti, anyway. You ever see a Combine soldier in green? That's a gas-mask, by the way, before anybody asks. Why would a Combine soldier be cradling a baby? The proposed propagandic reasons put forth by earlier posters are ludicrous and far-fetched. If the piece is propaganda (and it likey is), it is rebel propaganda, representing the cause of the resistance as that of protecting humanity, specifically the innocents, as symbolized in the helpless child.

 

[Ophiguris]

The dates are very confusing.

Sorry, I haven't read much of new stuff, and I don't mean to bump this thread back up, but, as most of us knew, the date in HL1 was March 15th or so right? (If not then disregard this post) But in OP4s, the first calendar you see says December, I can't remember the exact date, but I remember bringing this up before with little notice, and I haven't been on in a long time so.

Also, (As I probably said before) anyone who was a kid when the combine descended upon Earth, is surely and adult now (IF in deed 20 years have passed). Even if any younger people are teens, you wouldn't really recognize them, some of the rebels look that old anyways.

 

[Rim-Fire]

Sorry, I haven't read much of new stuff, and I don't mean to bump this thread back up, but, as most of us knew, the date in HL1 was March 15th or so right? (If not then disregard this post) But in OP4s, the first calendar you see says December, I can't remember the exact date, but I remember bringing this up before with little notice, and I haven't been on in a long time so.

HL1 did not take place on March 15th. May 15th was the day Gordon Freeman had to report to Black Mesa by to start his orientation. It was also the day on which Barney Calhoun was reassigned to the Blue Shift. March 15th was the day that a mission to Black Mesa was confirmed by Adrian Shephard's unit (but was not due to take place on that day, they where told to be ready to be deployed at any time though, as 'it' may happen at any moment). All the calenders in HL1, BS, Decay and OP4 say December but they also all have the wrong number of days for December on them.