Combine Theory

[Bing_Oh]

I've got an ongoing theory about WHAT the Combine really is and their connection to the G-Man and his mysterious employer, the Administrator (this covers alot of theory on the identity, background, and motives of the G-Man, the Admin, and what happened in the original HL, so bear with me). Tell me what y'all think...

It's generally accepted that the soldiers in gas masks seen in the screenshots and movies for HL2 are members of the Combine...so when I refer to the Combine, it's those guys I'm talking about.

OK, in the original HL (and, I think, in HL2 probably) the story centers around teleportation and CONTROL of the technology the makes teleportation possible. The Admin and his reprersentative, the G-Man, set up Black Mesa to develop teleportation (on behalf of the US Government...I don't subscribe to the idea that the G-Man and the Admin are aliens). Early on, they discovered that teleportation was possible, but that it required access to the border world, Xen, to work (as supported by the relay units on Xen in Blue Shift). They also discovered that Xen was inhabited by a race of aliens that didn't much like the idea of an interdimensional invasion by humans. So, the Admin set out to seize control of Xen to ensure that his teleportation technology was safe.

Well, along comes Gordon Freeman and his norotious Resonance Cascade at the beginning of HL. Now, either the Admin and the G-Man PLANNED the Resonance Cascade, or they simply took advantage of the event, but either way they manipulated Gordon into taking out the biggest hurdle in pacifying Xen...the alien leader Nilithak. The Admin sent in the Marines to contain the alien invasion made possible by the Resonance Cascade long enough for Gordon to kill of Nilithak. Then, the G-Man sets off the nuke (at the end of OpFor) in an attempt to seal off the random teleportation and to vaporize any evidence of what happened at Black Mesa.

Now, Gordon (who proved himself the most capable of the "point of view" characters) was recruited by the G-Man at the end of HL. Barney, the security guard in Blue Shift, was last seen escaping the clutches of the Admin and the G-Man with a group of scientists...and has been seen in City 17, possible fighting as a member of some kind of anti-Combine rebel force.

You'll notice that there is a character missing...namely Adrian Shephard from OpFor. Now, Shephard proved himself to be pretty capable himself...coming very close to actually catching Gordon as he jumped into the reactor. Likewise, he didn't object to following orders (something the Gordon seemed to be a little more hesitant to do...and, I suspect, we'll see him going contrary to the G-Man's orders in HL2). Finally, we know that he was also "recruited" by the G-Man at the end of OpFor.

SOOOOO...what, you may ask, does all of this have to do with WHO or WHAT the Combine actually is? Well, here it is. The Admin would clearly want a powerful security force to protect his teleportation technology. The Marines, obviously, weren't up to the task (they were getting SPANKED by the aliens in HL, after all, and ended up retreating). Likewise, the Black Ops failed to live up to expectations. So, what would be the best security force for this coveted technology? How about a COMBINEd soldier...a genetic merger between the Xen aliens and the BEST soldier the Admin could find...ADRIAN SHEPHARD! That's right...the Combine is a genetically-manipulated merger between Adrian Shephard's DNA and Xen aliens specifically created to protect the teleportation tehcnology on Earth, contain the expanding random-teleportation from Xen, and eventually pacify Xen itself so that teleportation can be totally controlled by the Administrator.

 

[Letters]

Nice first post.

I didn't see that one coming... that would be a pretty sweet backstory for the combine... and it makes sense too!

 

[Cunni]

Its a good theory.

 

[kaf11]

very good theory, except if the combine are there to protect the teleportation technology, why the hell are they taking over cities and taking citizens prisioners? i could see if they were arresting rebels trying to destroy the tech, but the combine seem to have their own agenda. i think the combine are here to take over, and the admin/g-man want to retain their own control using gordon and the rebels. gordon will then find out something that makes him turn against the g-man. he will then be in the middle of this whole mess, b/c he cant just let the combine take over the world. i dont know, but whatever it turns out being, it will be cool for sure.

 

[Bing_Oh]

I think City 17 is, for lack of a better term, the "new Black Mesa"...the place where the Admin took teleportation and Xen research after the nuke detonation at Black Mesa. Personally, I'd say that the ENTIRE CITY is, basically, a teleportation research facility and the "citizens" are little more than the scientists and support personnel (or, maybe, some kind of "slave labor" or cannon fodder for the invasion of Xen). It seems from a few of the screenshots that the Combine soldiers and the "citizens" of City 17 aren't hostile towards each other (at least early on). However, I suspect that two events will change that relationship between the Combine and the citizens at some point in HL2...invasion by Xen aliens and attack by the "rebels."

So, the Combine, being that they are charged with security of this EXTREMELY SENSITIVE HIGH-SECURITY FACILITY, are ordered to eliminate anything that looks like a threat. Since the rebels are, most likely, PART of the facility's personnel, the Combine just start off'ing non-essential personnal just because they MIGHT be rebels (and we KNOW the Admin doesn't have any moral problems about ordering the killing of innocent people for the sake of security...remember all the scientists that got mowed down at Black mesa, after all).

 

[Sulkdodds]

Anyone remember The Mullinator's secret cities? Soviet cities that were simply cover for giant miltary research facilities. One of them was called - yes - Shkotovo-17.

EDIT: Bear in mind that I said 'The Mullinator' for it was he that found the link 'I think'. He didn't actually own the cities.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Anyone remember The Mullinator's secret cities? Soviet cities that were simply cover for giant miltary research facilities. One of them was called - yes - Shkotovo-17.

EDIT: Bear in mind that I said 'The Mullinator' for it was he that found the link 'I think'. He didn't actually own the cities.

E-mail Valve, ask them if thats where they got the idea from heh.. long shot but who knows

-

nice idea Bing_Oh, guess we'll have to wait and see if its true though

 

[-JeZ-]

Very interesting Solk

 

[chimpmunk]

Actually i think shephard wasn't recruited by the Gman, he was put somewhere he can cause no harm and no harm can come to him, actually i think he'll either come back as the player in an expansion, or as an opponent, to force gordon freeman to obey gman or to exterminate him for not obeying, IMHO...

but cool theory nonetheless

 

[Dougy]

Actually i think shephard wasn't recruited by the Gman, he was put somewhere he can cause no harm and no harm can come to him, actually i think he'll either come back as the player in an expansion, or as an opponent, to force gordon freeman to obey gman or to exterminate him for not obeying, IMHO...

but cool theory nonetheless

if adrian comes back ill let him shoot me.


preffered the marines to pansy assed bearded specky ginger headed scientist boy anyday. :O

 

[Brian Damage]

I was thinking a similar thing... speculating to myself that maybe the combine troops are clones of Shepherd...

 

[<RJMC>]

the objective of HL is control the teletrasportation tecnology?
the administrator is the boss of Gman?
I have my own theory
but I dont hav much time to make the trhead

I will post my own theory in a thread so wait for it(is a litle hard to understand)
but that not means the teory of Bing oh is bad,is good

 

[Brian Damage]

I hope that wasn't a small spoiler gleaned from the beta...

 

[Varg|Hund]

***********************.

Damn man...I hope that wasn't from the Beta.
NO Spoilers please!

 

[Edcrab]

I'd hope so too. What, is the big twist that there's an army of Gordon's around? That Barney really is a mass produced, standardised security bloke and not the result of lazy moddeling in the first game?

THA TEH BIOZEMINADES ND TSE HOVARSING CSORPIONS TAEK TEH STRATAGY POLES AND BATLES TEH DEAHCRABS ANDS SNARNK>S/1?!?oneone?!?!1

 

[Bing_Oh]

Uh oh...I never considered the idea that there are only 4 different scientists and 2 security guards in HL and all the add-ons as supporting evidence for my cloning theory. The plot thinkens...

And, just for everybodys info, I havn't even seen the Beta.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Zetahl2world, no spoilers or hints to them from things you found in the stolen files


Thanks.

 

[Brian Damage]

Onya Fenric.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Oh, no. Not the Biozemanades again!

 

[The Dark Elf]

Oh, no. Not the Biozemanades again!

LOL, thanks, I was trying to remember that word for a discussion I was having yesterday heh

 

[Zetahl2world]

Sorry mate.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Sorry mate.

no worries, we'll have a spoiler section up soon anyway.

 

[<RJMC>]

somehting that I get doubth is
one class of combine is called "metrocop" and the striders in the top hav a metrocop logo like anothers combines
so
what the heck that means?
the combines are the police?

 

[Mechagodzilla]

I guess we'll find out soon enough. I agree with most of Bing's theory, but the cloning aidrian thing seems pretty far out.

 

[Brian Damage]

I say (As I've said before elsewhere.):

Metrocop = Combine Policeman.

Combine Soldier = Swat.

I think so, any way... if you watch the barricade video, the Metrocops in that seem not to be as dangerous as the Soldiers in Bugbait or Traptown...

 

[Sprafa]

The metrocops are the police for City 17. They're dispacthed away when the Resistance starts screwing City 17. The Combine Army is called when some sort of Martial Law is declared.


Thats what I think b/c you see Metrocops spanking ppl, but when you see the Combine Army, everybody's gone.

Meaning - Metrocops are some sort of police/defensive force.

Army is there to eliminate the humans when the Metrocops ain't enough anymore.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I said it once, and I’ll say it again, NEW WORLD ORDER is taking over, people...

The GMAN was working for the NWO, but he found out what they were going to do (sabotage the experiment at Black Mesa to make it look like an accident). So he resigned just before the incident, and when the time came, he hired freeman to stop their diabolical plot.

After the destruction of the nihilanth, the intelligent aliens (alien slaves, alien grunts) were free from the tyranny of his leadership and allied with the Black Mesa survivors.

The portal to Xen could not be shut down, so unintelligent Xenians (Barnacles, Bull squids, head crabs) kept on teleporting to earth, attacking the populace.

With the relentless number of aliens coming through the portal, the President was issued emergency powers to deal with this threat, ordering all alien life to be eradicated, and allow the military unlimited resources to deal with the cleanup, unwittingly creating the combine (Who are commanded by members of the NWO).

Medical researchers created human and alien hybrids based on captured specimens, to help them in their efforts against the Xenians.

Disgusting the human population, the humans form a resistance, commanded by Gordon, Barney, and the G-man, and aided by the intelligent Xenians.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Actually i think shephard wasn't recruited by the Gman, he was put somewhere he can cause no harm and no harm can come to him, actually i think he'll either come back as the player in an expansion, or as an opponent, to force gordon freeman to obey gman or to exterminate him for not obeying, IMHO...

but cool theory nonetheless

Gearbox Software mentioned that they are recruiting at the moment for another shooter, and valve mentioned that there will be a HL2 expansion pack. Who knows, we may be seeing adrian shepard, sporting a goatiee like gordon, after being conveyed somewhere.

 

[Brian Damage]

I think a lot of HL fans would like that. Gordon's the most popular player character, but Shepherd's got his followers, too.

Oooh, poll idea!

 

[Bing_Oh]

I can see the possibility for a HL2 expansion with the return of Adrian Shephard alot more that I can see him returning as a bad guy in HL2 (can't see Valve taking a point of view character and turning him "bad," though, technically, Adrian WAS trying to off Gordon in OpFor). I'm still figuring that we'll see Adrian strapped down in some lab in HL2 with the Admin's scientists extracting DNA from him.

Any way it goes, there's one thing I can guarantee...Sherhard WON'T be sporting a goatee Gordon-style. That's SO against military regulations (expect, apparently, for the black Marine in OpFor...oops!).

 

[DEATH eVADER]

He won't be sporting a goatee, no. He will be sporting mullet chops instead, LOL, going around city17 in style.

 

[Sulkdodds]

In a Buicik. Yes, I can see it now.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I never understood why they decided to give the main character a Scottish name, I wonder if they will be making a puppet show of Gordon, along with Thunderbirds, Stingray, and Joe Ninety (Thats his age)

 

[Hungpowbeef]

I said it once, and I’ll say it again, NEW WORLD ORDER is taking over, people...

The GMAN was working for the NWO, but he found out what they were going to do (sabotage the experiment at Black Mesa to make it look like an accident). So he resigned just before the incident, and when the time came, he hired freeman to stop their diabolical plot.

After the destruction of the nihilanth, the intelligent aliens (alien slaves, alien grunts) were free from the tyranny of his leadership and allied with the Black Mesa survivors.

The portal to Xen could not be shut down, so unintelligent Xenians (Barnacles, Bull squids, head crabs) kept on teleporting to earth, attacking the populace.

With the relentless number of aliens coming through the portal, the President was issued emergency powers to deal with this threat, ordering all alien life to be eradicated, and allow the military unlimited resources to deal with the cleanup, unwittingly creating the combine (Who are commanded by members of the NWO).

Medical researchers created human and alien hybrids based on captured specimens, to help them in their efforts against the Xenians.

Disgusting the human population, the humans form a resistance, commanded by Gordon, Barney, and the G-man, and aided by the intelligent Xenians.

Thats a great idea. I only see one problem and that is the resistance. I'm not exactly sure if the G-Man will be with the resistance or against it. I think that Freeman will be with the resistance sometime in the beginning, but I think that the G-Man will be an enemy. If the G-Man's boss is the Administator, and I remember a part of the original half-life where a scienist recalls that the 'Administator' may have knew or had something to do with the experiment foul-up. Therefore, I think we can assume that they will be with the Combine trying to control what they caused and later on, you will find out what Gordon has been doing untill this time and eventually what exactly the G-Man/Combine/Administator are trying to control. Somehow I think that they are not trying just to control teleportation, but possibly light travel or something crazy. The Xen alien theory is the best idea I have heard about which aliens and why those aliens are fighting on which side. I could be wrong about the G-Man and the administator, but since we are in a speculatory forum, I thought I might just throw that possibility out there as well.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

scienist recalls that the 'Administator' may have knew or had something to do with the experiment foul-up. QUOTE]

Scientist: "I knew this would happen, but the administrator just would not listen".

As for the Gman, I find it strange that in the original HalfLife, he would stutter alot and take long on certain sentences. Of what I've seen from the E3 vids, he seems of gained his confidence and now talks fluidly. Whats happened to hi character?

 

[Brian Damage]

Sounds the same to me. I think that the voice actor may just have gotten a little better.

 

[Hungpowbeef]

Thanks death for what the scientist said, couldn't remember exactly and that single line seems like it will be somehow important for Half-Life 2. This kinda makes the Administrator a guarrenteed enemy for at least part of the game, until maybe something else is revealed that Gordon doesn't know. I also have no clue about the GMan's voice. This may affect the character or not.

 

[kaf11]

im not sure how much is revealed in the beta, but cant we assume most of our theories are incorrect because if we were even getting close our posts would be deleted because of spoiler content?

 

[Foxtrot]

No....erm...yes...no....no...

 

[DEATH eVADER]

im not sure how much is revealed in the beta, but cant we assume most of our theories are incorrect because if we were even getting close our posts would be deleted because of spoiler content?

If are information is correct about HL2, but the people on the forum don't know if it is correct or if the person who posted the information just had a lucky guess, it doesn't need to be deleted (In other words don't give any information that is used in conjunction with the word *spoiler*, that makes them believe the information is correct). If the information is wrong, but nobody indicates its wrong, then it doesn't need to be deleted. (Don't try and justify that someones information is wrong, that just narrows people's idea of what the game is about, and eventually they find out what the game is really about)