HL2 Theories

[ShinRa]

dont u guys love how valve makes such an amazing game, yet the names for the groups and characters couldnt get any lamer. lol the big flying thing is offcially "Alien Gunship" and the manipulator is "Gravity Gun" lmao....so lame

 

[Xenome]

How to open the pak0.pak?

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Edit: never mind i already know

 

[Xenome]

In blueshift, they are also referring to stephard and gordon...i can't really remember what they exactly said, but maybe it's something to figure out?

 

[Sushi]

Originally posted by guinny
dont u guys love how valve makes such an amazing game, yet the names for the groups and characters couldnt get any lamer. lol the big flying thing is offcially "Alien Gunship" and the manipulator is "Gravity Gun" lmao....so lame

Maybe that's because the characters in the game don't know the real names of these things. Besides, it'll save Valve time from figuring out names, and give them more time to work on the graphics or gameplay

 

[AC7]

I know I'm coming in kinda late here, but here's my opinion on just about everything. Some may be repeition, some may be not. I'll probably forget something, but here we go!

First off, I'd just like to say that I like Tuxedo's idea about making the final boss (of the final HL) the one(s) the G-man is working for. It seems to make sense, since they are the ones apparently in charge of everything. Since Gordon will be working for the G-man, he will possibly pick up more info about the whole situation. This may allow him to eventually rebel and fight against this massive superpower. Previously, Gordon had no chance to do this. As of the end of HL (and probably until the end of HL2), Gordon is held at bay by the G-man and his employers. They could easily eliminate him if they desired to do so.

Who is the G-man?

I believe that the G-man could work for the government, but he also must work for someone (something) else. Simply working for the government would not make sense. Consider the situation. The G-man seems to show up everywhere. He convinced or forced the scientists to conduct the experiment within dangerous parameters. He clearly has ties to the military, as well as the Black Ops. While this could be in line with government activities, the following is not. The G-man has great knowledge of teleportation and of the alien races. This is demonstrated most clearly at the end of HL. He seems to know every bit of what has happenned. Now, how would the government know this? The only way would be to have learned it from the scientists. However, we know that the scientists did not have that type of info. You could fabricate a second government-funded research facility, but that is not probable. If another existed, evidence would be found on Xen and/or the people at Black Mesa would have commented. Therefore, the G-man has learned this information through other means. These means are most likely related to an external power. The G-man could either be human or not human, but I believe that he is working for an alien power.

The importance of Xen

Most of this we have already agreed upon. Xen's resources are crucial for teleportation and the opening of gateways. This makes the planet very important in any use of teleportation. This includes travel between planets, travel within a planet, etc. Also, the Nihilanth seemed to derive his power from the crystals, so who knows their full potential? I think it's risky to speculate on why the original experiment was conducted. Some say that it was to wage war. This seems faulty, though. If it were done to create a war against Xen, a military force should've been built up. The military was brought in only AFTER the aliens arrived and started trouble. I cannot say why the experiment was done, for I have no idea. Now that Gordon has killed the Nihilanth, the inhabitants lack leadership. Their resistance is reduced drastically, and now the G-man and his employers (NOT humans necessarily) are in control of this huge center for universal transport. Then again, if some other race were to come to Xen, then they could control the power that the planet holds. Note that Xen is never shown to be controlled by any specific group after the fall of the Nihilanth.

Analyzing sound clips

Here's my attempt at going crazy deciphering the meaning of some of the sounds from the pak file.

*Nihilanth* - I don't remember when he says these exactly (in correlation with the fighting that goes on), so here are my guesses for "general" situations that they could have applied to.

"You can never know the truth" - Here, he is stating that Gordon is being deceived or misled in some way. He implies that Gordon does not know the true consequences of his actions.

"What have you done?" - Gordon is destroying the resistance of the Xen aliens and coming closer to the Big Baby himself. The chaos that he has already caused has put the planet of Xen in great danger. Even without killing the Nihilanth, he has done quite a bit of damage.

"You are the last" - The only thing I can think of is that Gordon Freeman is somehow special. Given, he defeated the military, Black Ops, aliens, and the Nihilanth, but it seems to mean that there is something else special about him. At face value, it would mean that he is the only one left standing in the way. But why would that be? What is he the last of? He can't possibly be the last threat to the security of Xen (short term or long term), so what is it about Gordon? Note: I don't like the theory about Gordon being an alien or something, but there still could be something unique in Mr. Freeman.

"You are man. He is not man. For you, he waits." - I really wish I remember the exact part he said this in, but just from what is stated, it seems like he refers to the G-man. He's the only one who "waited" for Gordon. If the G-man is not man, do we take that in a literal sense or a figurative one?

"You all are thieves" - I agree that this refers to the stealing of Xen's resources for teleportation and the like.

"We are their slaves" - Who are they slaves to? Other aliens? The G-man's employers? Anyone who wants Xen's crystals? I'm not quite sure who they are slaves to. Also, who is the "we" referring to? Is the Nihilanth talking about the inhabitants of Xen or is he talking about his own type (see next quote)?

"I am the last" - This could go one of two ways. The Nihilanth may be saying that he is the last hope for Xen. He is the only thing left standing in the way of the "conquest" of his planet. On the other hand, maybe he is the last of his "race." There could have been other Nihilanths on other worlds. They may have been killed/conquered similarly and he is the only one surviving.

*G-man* - Only 2 things to note really.

"The border world, Xen, is in our control for the time being" - Does this mean that there will be others who will try to take contol of Xen now? Who are these "others" who can take it away?

"I have recommended your services to my...employers" - I, too, find it interesting how he says this. It's almost as if he needs to choose his words wisely. If he simply worked for the government, he would have said so.

I remember him saying about how Gordon's ability to adapt reminded him of himself. I couldn't find where he said it though. This leads me to believe that the G-man is not "normal" in some way. Also, the hissing of the "s" is weird. I've never heard someone with that type of speech problem. Maybe a red herring, but maybe not.

-------

That's it for now, but I'm sure I've forgotten something and I'll have to poast again later. 'til then!desired to do so.

 

[pyroCow]

i dont think the combine is alien... they all have bodies that look human, and the all thing that makes them look weird is their suits/masks

 

[spamboo]

ok. so this is a little out there, but it is plausable.
nihilanth said "We are their slaves" so mabey he is refering to the crystals. mabey the crystals have some kind of brain or mind of their own, so they can control the aliens. or they could be some kind of holy object that the aliens worship.
the crystals seem to be a big part of the game thats all.
just random "what if" thoughts.

 

[LoneDeranger]

Interesting ideas AC7. However since Nihilath is obviously not a native English speaker, we can probably take his words just for what they are.

Now the combine are ALIEN, simply because Gabe said so in the video. Also people on this forum have linked the Striders and the Alien Gunships to the Combine. They are probably not the same Aliens as there were on Xen, though. I think that the Combine are enslaved by a higher civilization who are now in control of Xen.

Which brings up an interesting question ... who is the G-Man?

If the G-Man is on the side of the Combine, that means Gordon will be in some deep **** at the end of HL2

And if he's not .. then it's anybody's guess. He might be from an all-together different alien race, or maybe even some sort of a messiah figure.

 

[LoneDeranger]

Here is some more food for thought:

One thing that people forget about HL1 is that it had a set of 4 captions that were displayed throughout the game. They probably don't tell us anything interesting by themselves, but it shows that Gordon was constantly under surveillance .. of the G-Man.


This one is at the begging game, obviously:

SUBJECT:

Gordon Freeman

Male, age 27

EDUCATION:

Ph.D., MIT, Theoretical Physics

POSITION:

Research Associate

ASSIGNMENT:

Anomalous Materials Laboratory

CLEARANCE:

Level 3

ADMINISTRATIVE SPONSOR:

Classified

DISASTER RESPONSE PRIORITY:

Discretionary

This is from Questionable Ethics, if all the scientists get killed:

SUBJECT: FREEMAN

STATUS: EVALUATION TERMINATED

POSTMORTEM:

Subject failed to effectively utilize

human assets in achievement of goal.

And this are the two endings:

SUBJECT: FREEMAN

STATUS: HIRED

AWAITING ASSIGNMENT

SUBJECT: FREEMAN

STATUS: OBSERVATION TERMINATED

POSTMORTEM:

Subject declined offer of employment.

Also interesting is the enging of Opposing Force:

SUBJECT: SHEPHARD

STATUS: DETAINED

FURTHER EVALUATION PENDING

 

[Dile]

This proves, that the G-man and his...errr..employers have been watching Gordon throughout his "work" in black mesa. I think that the G-man was there where gordon was, only for 1 reason. To observe him and help him if he's in big trouble. So the G-man has recommended Gordon's services to his...errr..employers before the accident, and during the game he made a file on him.

 

[David]

Call 890 <Kill The Freeman>

 

[howser]

The thing you have to remember about Half-life serious is that it is all a pre planned story in terms of the events, environment and characters.

Xen is a boarder world so i'm guessing it’s a parallel universe for worlds to board before they teleport to other words. So I believe that Nihilanth and his gang of thugs. Protect the boarder world from evil alien races that want to invade other galaxies.
the reason BM was invaded was because it was messing with something it shouldn’t be and in turn humans might try to use xen to get to other places and invade.... but Nihilanth decided to step in, and make the first move rather than waiting for them- he coursed some trouble but with good intensions.
The G-man is seen talking to many people; I believe he is manipulating/blinding them from the truth. I think he also represents the combine or a 3rd race- this would explain why you're now fighting the combine and why he got you to kill Nihilanth.
Another thing that makes me think Nilhilanth is not a bad guy is because Gabe stated we would be allies with some of our old enemies. Maybe Freeman realises the truth and now an underground xen resistance is trying to get xen back while you're trying to get earth back!?
We'll just have to wait 98 days to find out
oh and the second one wont explain all just a bit more, valve couldn’t finish off the story all in the second one so they will be making the third.... more waiting after HL2

 

[David]

I think 96 days until HL2

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

EDIT: David could you please use a different picture. I know that picture is of the G-Man but it has a sparrow on his shoulder (yes its hard to see) Only you see its my picture and i'd prefer it not being used by other people.

 

[Lordblackadder]

TheG-man, and now Gordon, work for Valve Software. That's who their... er.. employer is. They run around causing interdimensional trouble and then design a game around it.

What you think that a story as awesome as HL could be dreamed up by some writers?

No way, it's the real thing, but digitized.

 

[Rossell]

Here's an Easter Egg:

Install Opposing Force over Half-Life. Start Opposing Force off with the disc in and type /map c0a0 to start the original Half-Life off with Op4 weapons.

On the way you get new information about Shepard. Check it out.

 

[David]

Ok ewerything is fine, and more something i think it's not a sparrow because it is Alyx.
Sorry for stolen your avatar

 

[FiShEh]

The G-man is blatantly human just a very dark character and maybe of a higher power, the way he talks about reports and such it just makes sense . Also why would a alien employ a human??. Xen, if you notice isn’t a planet is just a "place". Just random pieces of rock and earth in space never really any ground. So it is a “border World” between some where obviously. It could be the combine that have taken advantage of the border world and invaded. This makes freeman directly responsible again same as HL1

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Originally posted by Rossell
Here's an Easter Egg:

Install Opposing Force over Half-Life. Start Opposing Force off with the disc in and type /map c0a0 to start the original Half-Life off with Op4 weapons.

On the way you get new information about Shepard. Check it out.

What do you mean more information? Dont you just play Hl but with Op4 guns and thats it?

 

[AC7]

I never saw the "you'll be working with your old enemies" thing, but if that were true, wouldn't it only apply to grunts, Black Ops, and the alien slaves? You forget that you were fighting humans as well as aliens. Grunts and black ops because all of earth seems to be in trouble. Then, only alien slaves seem to make sense. The ones without much intelligence that seem like animals (such as the bullsquid and houndeye), wouldn't make much sense in helping you. That leaves us mainly with alien grunts, alien controllers, and alien slaves. The alien grunts and alien controllers were led by Nihilanth, I believe. Therefore, without his leadership, they are left somewhat helpless. Even if they were able to organize effectively, I don't think it is most probable that they would now help the man who killed their leader. This leaves the alien slaves. They were controlled by the alien controllers. Since the controllers are now a bit disorganized, the slaves can maybe join with the one who helped free them. Just a thought.

 

[Dile]

The PCZone article does say that the alien slaves will be on our side in HL2.

 

[Peks]

in the one demo where gordon finds alyx and the hydras come out and all the combine soldier speaks in a radio voice if thats any help. he says something like:
"hold it right there"

 

[Peks]

this is really out there.

G-man stands for gordon man...and the g-man is simply a holographic image projected from the HEV suit in order to keep gordon motivated. hehe

 

[The_demonwithin]

Or G-man could stand for Gordon free-man, probly not tho.

 

[AC7]

Another interesting thing about the G-man can be seen in Opposing Force (if you choose to count that as part of the storyline). At the end, he says, "I cannot close my report, until every loose end has been tied up. The biggest embarrassment has been Black Mesa Facility, but I think that's finally taken care of itself." If BM was the biggest embarrassment, what other loose ends were there? Were there simultaneous operations going on elsewhere? I doubt this is meant to infer activity at City-17, but there do seem to be some other events occurring at the same time. These events are not necessarily earth-related, and may relate to the consequences of the Xen scenes.

 

[LoneDeranger]

Hmm, the official HL2 website just about confirms my theory of aliens stealing Earth's resources. Check this out:

The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted, its populace dwindling.

 

[FatCombine]

The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted, its populace dwindling.

By the looks of that, couldn't the Combine fortress also be some sort of giant resource sucker?

 

[LoneDeranger]

Originally posted by FatCombine
By the looks of that, couldn't the Combine fortress also be some sort of giant resource sucker?

Yes it probably is, although I'm not sure what it's purpose is exactly. Some people suggested it's a space elevator, but thats not so, because you can see it ends after about 200 stories. On the inside it looks kinda weird, like a powerplant of some sort.

Also whats up with this (from IGN preview):

"As in the first game, there's a big question about who's really the bad guy. Kleiner makes a big assertion in Half-Life 2 to get all the people we think of as friendly moving in a certain direction."

 

[Tuxedo]

Hum, AC7 has a point about the other events - mabye the aliens opened other portals all over the world....

To be really REALLY pedantic:

doubt this is meant to infer activity at City-17

Technically it doesn't infer, it implies, and we infer FROM it. Go GCSE history

Sorry

Tux

 

[Alanity]

*bumpety bumpety bump*
Just read through all of this... O_O

Don't think this has been covered but what if experiments in interdimensional travel have been going on since the space race and the soviets were working on it as well, city 17 could be an abandoned research facility that had some kind of vulnerability due to a dis-used portal that allowed the combine to break through.

 

[Dalamari]

City 17 is covered in aliens, sorta like if a city is covered in disease they blockade so that nobody can spread the disease, so they slap a # on its name and leave it to be taken over. Now for gordan's job, I think this is just one of the jobs that gman gives him(maybe he's been doing jobs the whole time from hl1 to 2) and this is what he does, maybe after each mission his mind is erased and he is told he was in a coma or soemthing so that anyone he may have became attached to won't matter to him anymore so it doesnt complicate the mission. Just my thoughts.

Although my theory doesnt explain the combine, they might just be there to keep what peace is left, or they are whats left of the police force and they decide to run things their way since everything is going to hell.

 

[MTE]

Resistance is futile!

I think that the combine may be a parasitic race of machines which would explain why the soldiers are human in appearance and can speak english, because they've been enslaved.
Their fortress seems to be expanding its perimeter whilst gathering the earth's resources.

I wonder if we'll see Mr Shepard in HL2 or maybe in an OF2 so he can continue his evaluation.

 

[Nathaniel]

I made it to the 12th page, then I jumped to the last one

just a though about the G-man: Has anyone seen the move Dark City? where "The Doctor" is the only one not affected by the aliens. I really think G-man is like that. He is human, although he works for some alien race, may it be the Xen, the X or the Combine (or perhaps even another unknown race?). He is sent into our world to check things out, keep things in control or whatever, maybe just the hiding alien race's eyes into our world. And perhaps he has, like Dark City, som grudge against his "employers" which makes him betray them and help Gordon in some way. Though the final conversation in HL does suggest that he is more neutral, maybe having an agenda of his own, independent of any other (alien) race.

 

[LoneDeranger]

Originally posted by Nathaniel
I made it to the 12th page, then I jumped to the last one

just a though about the G-man: Has anyone seen the move Dark City? where "The Doctor" is the only one not affected by the aliens. I really think G-man is like that. He is human, although he works for some alien race, may it be the Xen, the X or the Combine (or perhaps even another unknown race?). He is sent into our world to check things out, keep things in control or whatever, maybe just the hiding alien race's eyes into our world. And perhaps he has, like Dark City, som grudge against his "employers" which makes him betray them and help Gordon in some way. Though the final conversation in HL does suggest that he is more neutral, maybe having an agenda of his own, independent of any other (alien) race.

Yeah, I think the Dark City analogy is quite interesting. Doesn't this sound like the Combine to you:

First, there was darkness. Then came the Strangers. They were a race as old as time itself .. But they were dying. Their civilization was in decline, and so they abandoned their world, seeking a cure for their own mortality. Their endless journey brought them to a small, blue world... in the farthest corner of the galaxy. Our world. Here, they thought they had finally found... what they had been searching for.

 

[Nathaniel]

definitely.

I really think the writer(s) of HL2 glanced a little at Dark City while creating the story. in DC they merely changed the city, while in HL2 they consume it.

 

[MastaBlasta]

oke here is my theory

i think gordon was a proto-type combine soldier created by g-man(maybe sheppard also cause in the training level of 0P4 you see g-man watching you)

so the whole black mesa thingy was there 2 create a portal and for you and maybe other proto-type combine soldier get in ( the other dead body in xen) and world taking over the xen world 2 get 2 other worlds(xen being a border world and all).

so he send gordon 2 test him out and watching if he's capable of taken over the xen world.

after you succeed the g-man offer you a job.

then you wake up in city 17 not knowing what happen after the g-man offerd you the job.

eventually you will discover that the g-man experimented with you 2 create the ultimate soldier(combine) 2 get what he wants.

that's why they first attack you and eventually the aliens will join side with stopping the g-man.

ps the reason why sheppard didn't get the job cause i was also killing race x aliens, maybe there alliance with the g-man

 

[Nathaniel]

hmmm... no, I really don't think Gordon was artificially created by anyone, I really think he is just a poor scientist who happened to get caught up in this godholy mess. Shepherd is also probably just another poor soul who landed smack in the middle and had to make his way out alive. The only one who seems fishy among all the characters is G-man (government man, it's not a HL unique term) who might or might not be human.

 

[ShadowJustice]

Originally posted by Nathaniel
hmmm... no, I really don't think Gordon was artificially created by anyone, I really think he is just a poor scientist who happened to get caught up in this godholy mess. Shepherd is also probably just another poor soul who landed smack in the middle and had to make his way out alive. The only one who seems fishy among all the characters is G-man (government man, it's not a HL unique term) who might or might not be human.

BUT

It seems obvious to me that neither Shepard or Freeman are average Joes.

I get this feeling from the way the gman observes them.

 

[Nathaniel]

Freeman seems like the average joe to me, but I agree on Shepherd. Although OpForce wasn't made by valve, and I'm not sure they had anything to do with the storyline, so the G-man looking down on Shepherd in the bootcamp may just be a trick to make it a little more freakish.

 

[ShadowJustice]

Freeman seems to be gifted as well. As gman and his employers stated, he has limitless potential.

Also they decided to hire freeman and conserve shephard for a later evaluation, so gordon should be even more gifted than adrian....