Combine Vs. Xen - the final solution

Angry Lawyer

Angry Lawyer

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Well, I was posting on Leak-Free, arguing about the Combine not being on Xen, and threatening to get legal on people's asses if they went and stuck Synth on them (as one does), when someone posted a groundbreaking revelation:

Orfuss said:
Just thought I'd impart some information straight from an interview done this month by Pczone magazine with Marc Laidlaw and Doug Lombardi.

Basically the combine are NOT in control of Xen, but Xen is a refuge that the xenains have run to from the combine.


A direct quote:

"Lombardi: We had a glimpse of the larger threat when we were working on Half Life 1. In other words we knew that once you cleared out the Nihilanth, you were going to discover something worse beyond it. We knew that some immense threat had chased the Nihilanth and its creatures out of their own world and into Xen, from which location they were all to glad to seize the opportunity to continue on to Earth with suppression through the citadels. But the exact nature of the threat was left to be solved in Half Life 2"

but this does back up the theory that the combine have used the border worlds to reach earth.
Click to expand...

Wow. Both sides of the argument are right, to an extent. The Combine don't control Xen (and likely can't get there, due to needing Mossman for Xenian teleporation tech, and the fact you don't see Synth shooting up the Xenians), but the races DO know about one another, and are in conflict. One opressor being chased out by another.
If this guy hasn't been blagging about the information, then it can be used to justify just about every point brung up in the huge, eternal debate.

And it opens up plenty of avenues for expansion packs and mods that can tie the Xenians in. And I can finally justify putting Xen as a seperate faction in Conquest: City 17! And the Combine AREN'T on Xen!

-Angry Lawyer
 
HOLY SH*T
This is huge. I mean ball-crushingly huge
 
The border world Xen is in our control for a time of being...
 
Possible implications of the G-Man siding with the Combine, then. See? Everything seems more clear. Or possibly the G-Man working for another race altogether - the universe is big enough.

And more importantly - HOT DAMN I'M RIGHT ABOUT THE COMBINE NOT CONTROLLING XEN! ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMJ!
-Angry Lawyer
 
Angry Lawyer always wins.
But...this means a good deal of the things i put in my theory and things i have thought are wrong...DAM

Then again, alot of stuff is more more clear. YAY FOR INFO LEAKS! :E
 
My question...In time of HL1 or HL2? I agree with time of HL2 but not in matters of HL2

Xenian teleportation tech. (Xen Relay) = Xen relay from Blue Shift??
 
Holy crap this is huge!
And even better, if it's true, the one small plothole I've found in my fanfic is covered now! Thanks to this statement! And it's been quoted by Angry Lawyer so no-one an argue against it! Well, they can *try* to argue against it but they won't make it. Meditate on this, I will...
 
****ing hell.

I always believed in you, Angry Lawyer. :upstare:

Let's get into a massive debate about implications! Right here, right now!

Firstly, this really ****s with the 'Slaves...we are their slaves' quote. Now we know that definitely DOES NOT mean the Combine. So who does it mean?

Secondly, here's a hypothetical theory. I don't necessarily believe it, but...


The Resonance Cascade was caused by The G-Man. He is an agent for the Combine, or was at least contracted by them. He was the one that seduced Breen with promises of seeing the universe and he was the one that made sure Breen made sure it would all happen. But before the Combine would take Earth, they needed to come through Xen - and before they could come through Xen, the Nihilanth needed to be killed. Enter Freeman, whom the G-Man selected as a potential hero (don't ask me how he knew). He brought the soldiers in (OP4, we know he's involved) to blunt the Xenian assault - it would weaken both Earth's armies and Xen's armies.

Now, this would also help Freeman in some ways - but what if he got killed by the soldiers? Of course, the G-Man had a backup in the form of Shepherd. In the end, Shepherd wasn't needed, hence OP4's ending. So, Freeman defeats Nihilanth and the way is now open for the Combine to come through. The portal storms also weaken Earth's defences in preparation for the grand assault.

After the 7-hour war, this random theory can go two ways.

1. The G-Man is not working for the Combine as such, but is somewhat of a bounty hunter. He'll work for anyone provided the price is right - and I'm not talking money, I'm talking planets, influence, politics stuff. It suited him to help the Combine at first but now they're stretched too thin and their fall is, at some point, inevitable. Someone, either the rebels - or even some other agency on our planet - who offer him and his 'employers' a stake on earth (or maybe they already have a stake :O). Or, he's contracted by another interdimensional power that wants the Combine off earth for whatever reason.

He wakes his favourite agent, Gordon Freeman, and drops him on Earth to sever Breen's link to the Combine motherforce.

2. Theory branch 2. Maybe a little flaky. The G-Man is still working for the Combine, but Breen is becoming troublesome. He demands too much, deviates too far from the Combine modus operendi. Galactopolitcally speaking, the Combine needs an excuse to swoop down there and ****ing trash the place - hence, they engineer a revolution through the G-Man and Freeman. We don't know to what extent the Combine can simply do anything they want - they may, like America, need excuses before they can nuke anywhere. In this scenario, Half-Life 3 may well concern the massive Combine onslaught. :eek:

edit: I do actually reckon that Shepherd was G-Man's backup. If Freeman had died in Black Mesa, Shepherd's story would have been rather different, and he would have taken out Nihilanth.



DISCUSS BITCHES
stab.gif
 
Stickied...just because you asked so nicely AL :p

How long it remains stickied however...
 
"Slaves, we are their slaves" could still refer to the Controllers :)

As for the Combine actually using Gordon to pop Nihilanth for free access to Xen - I'd argue against that. One of the new ideas to pop into my head was that one of the driving reasons the Combine wanted the Xen Relay tech was so that they could actually get to Xen, and get revenge. Still, they could have contracted Gordon just for the vengeance factor. The G-Man also can teleport locally - the Combine would have simply asked for the technology. Its possible that the G-Man serves another empire, seperate from both of the sides.

But still. YAHH!

-Angry Lawyer
 
The G-Man also can teleport locally - the Combine would have simply asked for the technology.
Click to expand...

Ah, but if he was some kind of freelance bounty hunter/coup-engineer, his weapons consisting of caged heroes on ice, then he wouldn't give it to them. Same reason NATO wouldn't give nukes to say, North Korea.
 
This just rases further questions. Such as who the F*CK IS THE 'GREATER MASTER'?
"For once the lesser master lay defeated we knew the greater must also fall in time. Unless it is refering to a lesser master that the Combine killed when chasing the Xenians away and Nihilanth was the greater master all along.
 
It's still a friggin' awesome relevation! This is brilliant- and it's perfect plothole cement, as AJ Rimmer says :p

Thing is, all the talk of a "greater master" could still apply to the Combine- they're oppressed, just indirectly- they're stuck in Xen indefinitely to avoid the Combine, who thus have a sort of control over their future.

But perhaps the Combine started an assimalation programme in their home realm, similar to Earth's, only for them to stage a successful uprising and retreat into Xen...
 
So from what I gather:

- Combine invade the Vortigaunt Homeworld.

- Nihilanth is given the job as ruler of this homeworld by the Combine.

- Nihilanth has a change of heart, turns on the Combine and manages to evacuate the remaining populace to a dimension called Xen where the Combine cannot follow.

- Nihilanth uses Combine technology to clone and attempt to rebuild what was lost at the hands of the Combine.

- Earth invades Xen, ubducting wildlife and stealing resources for testing.

- Because the humans are using a system different to the Combine (Entanglement instead of String), Nihilanth can't prevent them from entering Xen.

- A fragment of the crystals that give Nihilanth his power is tested on Earth in an experiment.

- The experiment goes sour and Nihilanth is able to keep the connection open.

- Nihilanth sends warriors to battle Earth's forces out of fear that Earth may be another Combine.

- A lone warrior (Gordon) makes it to Nihilanth's chamber and manages to defeat the giant.

- With Nihilanth gone, the portal storms occur.

- Without Nihilanth keeping the Xen realm shut, the Combine are now free to enter Xen.

- Once they arrive they find a surprise waiting for them...Earth.



...Or something like that. I'm sure I messed that up somehow. :E
 
Angry Lawyer said:
Possible implications of the G-Man siding with the Combine, then. See? Everything seems more clear. Or possibly the G-Man working for another race altogether - the universe is big enough.
-Angry Lawyer
Click to expand...
I really don't get the feeling the G-Man was working for the Combine - I mean, that'd contradict the "Combine not contolling Xen" part ("The border world, Xen, is in our control... For the time being..."). Whoever he was working for - his... employers - he's not with them now. He doesn't mention them once in HL2...
Although I don't quite get how the Xenian wildlife would've gotten evacuated? Vortigaunts, Alien Grunts, Controllers, Nihilanth, possibly even Gonarch or Gargs, I can see as taking some kind of sentient decision to flee, but Bullsquids? Houndeyes? Tentacles? Naaah. Unless the other, more sophisticated Xenians took them along like some inter-dimensional Noah's Ark. Or maybe they were on Xen in the first place, when the others got there.
 
My belief is that the Vortigaunts and many others are natives of Xen. Xen's inter-dimensional position makes it very interesting. Vortigaunts are the dominant species of Xen (like humans on Earth).

1. The Combine invade Xen. Possibly, their teleportation experiments go wrong and they can't get anywhere except Xen, much like the Black Mesa scientists discovered Xen almost by accident.

2. Nihilanth is assigned as the Administrator of Xen (like Breen). However, Vortigaunts are beings with a hive mind and telepathic abilites, so Nihilanth needs no propaganda to control them. Instead, telepathy is used. Vortigaunts can physically not disobey Nihilanth.

3. The Combine use the Vortigaunts for their own purposes. Vortigaunts are creating the Combine soldiers on Xen - Alien Grunts (Interloper level). This is similar to how humans are turned into Overwatch Soldiers in Nova Prospekt.

4. Black Mesa discovers Xen and sends teams with HEV suits to "harvest specimen".

5. The Combine notice that and have the Vortigaunts attack humans. In addition to that, native predatory species such as the Bullsquid are also attacking. Combine soldiers (Alien grunts) are also attacking.

6. The Combine get interested in Earth, as it's obvious that whoever sent the HEV people has teleportation tech.

7. The resonance cascade happens, allowing passage from Xen to Earth.

8. Significant amounts of Xen wildlife come through to Earth, quite possibly randomly, but the Combine also send their soldiers, including things like Gargs and Manta Rays, to attack.

9. Gordon cleans up the mess on Earth, kills Nihilanth. Vortigaunts are no longer under Combine control, all of Xen no longer is. Thus, the control passes to the G-Man and whoever he's working for - I assume, the G-Man and the employers are against the Combine.

10. The Combine use the Portal Storms forming on Earth to teleport with a massive invasion force. The 7-hour war happens, humans are enslaved, with Breen set up as the administrator.
 
Solver said:
My belief is that the Vortigaunts and many others are natives of Xen. Xen's inter-dimensional position makes it very interesting. Vortigaunts are the dominant species of Xen (like humans on Earth).

1. The Combine invade Xen. Possibly, their teleportation experiments go wrong and they can't get anywhere except Xen, much like the Black Mesa scientists discovered Xen almost by accident.
Click to expand...

How many of you actually read the first post?

Doug Lombardi said:
We knew that some immense threat had chased the Nihilanth and its creatures out of their own world and into Xen
Click to expand...

Therefore, the Combine DIDN'T invade Xen. They chased them TO Xen, where presumably, they couldn't follow them. Therefore, Alien Grunts AREN'T Combine. They're likely bred to try and fight off any attempts by the Combine to follow them to Xen.

The various similarities (few that there are) between the races are likely due to the Xenians emulating certain tech that the Combine had. Like when the British in WW2 sent out tanks for the first time - it wasn't long for other nationalities to copy it.

As for the Nihilanth, I'm leaning towards him being manufactured by the Xenians as a way to actually form a gate to get to Xen, which is a place the Combine doesn't seem to be able to get to. The stitching on the flesh is still a very different style from the very clean method the Combine use - stitching versus cauterisation.

And Chi, the wildlife on Xen could actually be native, as opposed to the intelligent Xenians which arrived seperately.

-Angry Lawyer
 
Polaris said:
I need hear this personally from Marc Laidlaw :)
Click to expand...

It was a Marc Laidlaw and Doug Lombardi interview, I believe. I.E, Marc Laidlaw was sitting right next to him. Its no use denying the truth :)
 
And Chi, the wildlife on Xen could actually be native, as opposed to the intelligent Xenians which arrived seperately.
Click to expand...

Or, the Xenians wanted to somewhat recreate some of their own wildlife and engineered them, setting them free on Xen. Just like if we escaped the destruction of earth colonised a new planet we'd probably use stored genetic material from our earth wildlife to clone the ecosystem all over again.
 
Samon said:
It was a Marc Laidlaw and Doug Lombardi interview, I believe. I.E, Marc Laidlaw was sitting right next to him. Its no use denying the truth :)
Click to expand...
Please do you have link of this interview?
TRUSTNO1
 
Angry Lawyer said:
Posting scans is against forum rules.

-Angry Lawyer
Click to expand...
Oh, sorry.:eek:
I thoght it was in some internet magazine...
 
Ahhhhh, the sweet smell of the TRUTH. Witness changed sig :E
 
I think its Doug you need to E-Mail, as it his his quote.

-Angry Lawyer
 
Angry Lawyer said:
I think its Doug you need to E-Mail, as it his his quote.

-Angry Lawyer
Click to expand...
Too late, it has just(and I mean just) been sent. He'll probably forward it to Marc and/or Doug.
 
Or it will get stuck in the reams of mail that get sent to him, and he'll never find it? Everyone goes to Gabe first - his inbox is constantly full :p

-Angry Lawyer
 
Angry Lawyer said:
Or it will get stuck in the reams of mail that get sent to him, and he'll never find it? Everyone goes to Gabe first - his inbox is constantly full :p

-Angry Lawyer
Click to expand...
Well, the first time it didn't take more 3 days.

Edit: Infact, he'll probably be releaved from all the WHEN IS TEH AFTETRMATH COMING OUT IT LOOKS TEH ROXXORS!111111 e-mails he gets.

And most of the vortigaunts are being despatched from the area around your house.
 
Hi, Orfuss here the discoverer of this little morsel of information from the great man himself. If anyone wants to see this quote as proof of it being real, its in PCZone issue 160 pg 139.
Angry Lawer you may want to frame it hehe.
Quite a good interview actually I had to look twice as I know how rare these guys speak out about their creation.
 
Orfuss said:
Hi, Orfuss here the discoverer of this little morsel of information from the great man himself. If anyone wants to see this quote as proof of it being real, its in PCZone issue 160 pg 139.
Angry Lawer you may want to frame it hehe.
Quite a good interview actually I had to look twice as I know how rare these guys speak out about their creation.
Click to expand...
Is that the one where they interviewed Doug, Marc and someone else? I think I skimmed through that once in a shop.
 
No just Doug and Marc, its this months one, the interview is in the "looking back" section discusing Half Life 1 and 2
 
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