Originus Overwatchus

[GratsiDos]

And here arives another newcomer to the Half Life Universe. You've done a hell of a job on this forum, guys. Now, eh-hem, we move on.

-I am curious about The Overwatch: are they "The Combine" themselves (that's what I first thought...), or are they humans fused with Combine technology (Transhumans?) in the same method as the Gunship and Dropships(like synth-ettes)?

-If the second idea is true, how did they take Earth in the first place without the bulk of their force? Was Earth just wiped out in the Xen invasion? Did they have another race on their leash? Was it an inside job (Dr. Breen)? The Combine couldn't very well take control of the planet with just the heavy handed off world creatures you face later in the game, they need troops.

I was intrigued by this when listening to Breen scold the Overwatch in Nova Prospekt. He threatened their "extinction" I believe... Yet I always thought Breen was just a puppet. Ah (hold head)... If you wish, comment. If not, fetch me an Ibuprofin...

P.S.: And I'll, just for safety, apologize if this is explained in another Thread, I couldn't find the information I desired so.

 

[Rizzo]

I guess they attacked with synths and other stuff.
The true combine is that worm thing you see talking to Breen. the rest are humans, or was humans. The CP´s are still humans thou.

 

[Asknoone]

The Overwatch are not the Combine. The only Combine you see in HL2 is the Advisor on the Citadel monitors. The Overwatch are humans augmented with Combine technology, and in that way they are similar to stalkers - except built for combat. Since the gunships and such are other alien races augmented, you could certainly compare them to the Overwatch in the fact that they aren't Combine.

Earth was hugely weakened during the portal storms. Vast amounts of Earth became uninhabitable, and that’s why in HL2 its pretty much a wasteland. The Combine were attracted to Earth during the Cascade, and sent in numerous Citadels into crowded cities, and from there used Synth forces (or whatever else they sent in) to defeat the remaining human forces and enslave humanity. They would have had Synth troops as well, there was just no need to keep them on Earth come HL2.

Its unknown if Breen actually aided in the invasion, but he did manage to save Earth from extinction (he needn't have bothered really...) in surrendering the planet. There really wasn't much for the Combine to take over, given the fact that the planet was pretty much a wasteland.

Breen is Earths administrator, and keeps a human face on the invasion. He's also holding a promise to the Combine that he will infact gain Eli's local portal tech, which they are in great need of.
When he mentions extinction, he means in union with the rest of whats left of humanity.

 

[ríomhaire]

The Overwatch are of course transhumans (mechanicaly engineered humans) and not the Combine themselves. You see a Combine in Red Letter Day and Dark Energy. They're giant slugs and presumable pshycic.

The humans had crowded into cities for protection from the Xen wildlife. The Combine just teleported in citadels into the centres of cities and the Synths(a synthisis of machinery and organic creatures) poured out adn owned humanities.

 

[kupocake]

See attachment:

I see the relationship as in this Ven Diagram. I was under the impression that:

- Not all Overwatch are Transhuman Combine, the Synths are overwatch as well, and the non-augmented Metrocops are all members of Overwatch.
- Not all Synths are Overwatch
- Not all "Human-Combine" are Overwatch (Human-Combine as in where their allegience lies, not whether they have any particular modifcations to make them combine). Not only are Stalkers and Admins like Breen (it is implied by "I thought I'd seen the last of him in City 14" that there are other sell-outs like Breen knocking about) not included, but Transhumans also fufill non-Overwatch capabilities.
- "Overwatch" just seems to be a certain force tasked with 'watching-over' subordinate races. There may be many Overwatches on different worlds, and there are also other combine task forces - transhumans included, who don't fufil this task. Those sent on off world assignments as part of invasion forces for instance.

I'm sure my diagram is flawed though. For instance, don't take the sizes of the circles to mean much. The number of Stalkers is probably far greater than the number of non-enslaved Combine-Humans. Also, as everyone else seems to feel that Synths aren't Overwatch, I'm possibly wrong. Though even if you treat them as simply vehicles, some are still indisputably under Overwatch's control.

Another theory, though probably not valid. Overwatch is simply the female announcer voice that shepherds the combine force, i.e. Watching over the Combine.

 

[Rizzo]

Thats nice, but add alot of other races and there you have it! We saw a Vort working for the combine to. He was scrubbing the floor

 

[Sam]

I took the Overwatch to be the combine presence on earth - simply overseeing the remaining populace, ensuring they stay submissive - they aren't an army used for war. Transhumans are humans who have been 'converted' or 'added' to the combine in one way or another. So that makes the transhuman arm of the Overwatch the combine soldiers and possibly metrocops you fight in HL2.

 

[Langolier]

I think people need to distinguish and define what exactly they mean when they say "The Combine".

The Overwatch is part of the Combine. They are (at least in part) Earth-specific though. (namely Civil Protection)

The Transhuman forces (Soldiers and Elites) are part of the Overwatch, and naturally part of the Combine. (however apparantly that could change)

Striders, Gun-ships, Scanners, and the other 'animal-like-machines' (or is it machine-like-animals?) are Synths, Overwatch, and part of the Combine.

Depending on how you look at it, the soldiers in the Overwatch are primitive or first generation 'Synths'. If you think of their uniforms and gas-masks as actually being part of them. They're still just in testing though to see how effective they really are. Should they pass the test they'll likely be changed and modified even more until they're almost unrecognizable as being human. Otherwise... they are either allowed to expire in combat until there are none left (afterall, no babies being born to make any new ones) or simply liquidated.

So basically... you see the Combine throughout the whole game. Overwatch = part of the Combine. Of-course, it is logical to assume that in all of HL2 we only ever saw a small fraction of the Combine as a whole... but to ask whether or not we actaully saw the Combine is confusing because we see the Overwatch and the Overwatch is part of the Combine. So we saw the Combine's "garrison" force but their invasion force.

Unless you mean the original species to found the "Combine" (or Universal Union I should say) then... everyone else is right; you only catch glimpses of one in a few levels.

 

[GratsiDos]

(impressed whistle) Touche' with the diagram

That opens it up right there. That explains, among many other things, how Barney could pose as Civil Protection, they aren't Combaugified, if you forgive my madeupworditity.

But if Breen did keep the Combine from using a total scorched "Earth" policy on Earth, what could he have offered them?

 

[XANA]

wait... i thought overwatch was the chick that makes announcements in metropolice helmets and city announcements. maybe the combine is so called because they combine technology with living things. after all, the combine soldiers are part human. for example, in one level (either nova prospekt or anticitizen one), breen starts spewing propaganda, but the way hes talking sounds like hes trying to encourage the soldiers, meaning that they must have some human emotions.

 

[GratsiDos]

Possibly, but "Combine" also means a corporation of some sort (I love you encyclopedia). I think the Combine may just be a giant, universal, unstoppable corporation (like Wal-Mart, but instead of greeters with happy smiles they got Striders mowing down people)

In a way, the Combine sort of absorbed the Earth Department and Xen into its corporation, they also incorporate Combine tech into living creatures, combining man/animal and mechinization to make a better product.

Like a corporation, they want to monopolize. They want to have a monopoly in the Teleportation market, so they need to eliminate the compitition (Earth, Xen). There Corporate Empire is growing fine, well...

Then there is ole' G-man, maybe he's dressed like that because he's a corporate Combine employee, or maybe he's the CEO, or perhaps he works for a rival corporation and is trying to screw up their market.

Whoa, I just went off on a tangent, but could it be true? Could we learn that Earth was just be another Grady's Happy Go Store being absorbed by the Combina-Mart?

"Always Invading, Always Combina-Mart"

 

[UltimaApocalypse]

I don't think there actually is a one race of the Combine. I believe the Combine are a combination of the races they augument every time they take a planet, hence their name. That slug thing could just be one of the races, or one of the creatures that started the whole empire for all we know.

 

[Asknoone]

But if Breen did keep the Combine from using a total scorched "Earth" policy on Earth, what could he have offered them?

Local teleportation technology.

I wouldn't think of the Combine as a corporation, its more the games 'Evil empire.'
The Combine began as a race that became far too dependant on its own technology, and were absorbed by it. The final product is what you see on Breens monitors, that is a Combine. Its telepathic to boot.

 

[Eejit]

They're telepathic? That's Raising the Bar info Samon?

 

[kupocake]

They're telepathic? That's Raising the Bar info Samon?

It's in RtB, but you only have to consider that it's able to hold a dialogue with Breen without uttering a single word.

 

[Llama]

I SWEAR i've seen this thread before

 

[GratsiDos]

Maybe you have... (look at feet sadly)

(grin in self absorbed satisfaction) But you answered, eh? Eh comrades, eh?

..., Samon said they offered them Local Teleportation Tech, didn't Alyx say they couldn't transportize locally? Or did Breen promise he would get them that tech?

 

[Llama]

Mossman talks about how they CANT use local teleportation yet.

 

[UltimaApocalypse]

"Were closing in on a reliable local teleportation tech...something the Combine still hasn't mastered. Eli thinks their portals are strings based, similar to out colaial(sp?) model, but they fail to factor the dark energy equations. They can tunnel from their own universe but once there here, they have to reley on local teleportation if they knew what we were doing with entanglement..."

 

[Asknoone]

..., Samon said they offered them Local Teleportation Tech, didn't Alyx say they couldn't transportize locally? Or did Breen promise he would get them that tech?

Breen is promising them this technology. The Combines teleportation is very complex, and they can't make small jumps from one place to another. Their idea of local is universe to universe. If they could gain access to Eli's local teleportation, they'd be able to take over worlds much faster...and become even stronger than they already are.

Come the finale, Breen has already gained this from Mossman and the captive Eli, and attempts to escape to the Combine universe with the technology. The Combine came pretty close to gaining it really.

 

[kupocake]

colaial(sp?) model

Calabi-Yau Model. Or at least that's what I think it is. There's a track on the OST called that

 

[UltimaApocalypse]

I was waaay off

 

[GratsiDos]

(realizing) Ah ha... !, I get it!

 

[Langolier]

It's in RtB, but you only have to consider that it's able to hold a dialogue with Breen without uttering a single word.

And if he can do that then why must be go through the trouble of appearing on a video screen? Wouldn't he be able to communicate with Breen anywhere at anytime?

 

[UltimaApocalypse]

And if he can do that then why must be go through the trouble of appearing on a video screen? Wouldn't he be able to communicate with Breen anywhere at anytime?

Thats a very good point that I've never thought of. Maybe he needs to have eye contact? Or maybe Breen can't talk back using telepathy. It's most likely done that way to actually introduce the Combines true form.

 

[Jintor]

Second option: Breen isn't telepathic. Perhaps s/he/it drops the words directly into Breen's mind.

 

[Eejit]

Option 3: sign language/subtitles.

 

[ríomhaire]

Breen probably gets freaked out talking to a voice in his head. The screens are to stop him going mad.

 

[Langolier]

Actually I think the simplest answer is what just given: Breen may be able to listen but he can't talk back, so he uses the monitor. Then again that still doesn't explain why the Grub needs to actually appear on a video screen. A simple speaker would be all Breen needs.

 

[XANA]

i know im kind of veering off topic, but i once heard overwatch (the lady) say something in a metrocop's helmet. i think she said "Rank Leader, reminder. 100 sterilized credits qualifies non-mechanical reproduction simulation". you know, it sounds kind of disturbing, this message. i didn't know the combine did... or could even do that kind of thing.

 

[_Z_Ryuken]

It's easier to trust a face (so to speak) than a mysterious voice alone.

 

[Talyn]

i know im kind of veering off topic, but i once heard overwatch (the lady) say something in a metrocop's helmet. i think she said "Rank Leader, reminder. 100 sterilized credits qualifies non-mechanical reproduction simulation". you know, it sounds kind of disturbing, this message. i didn't know the combine did... or could even do that kind of thing.

"100 sterilization credits qualifies non-mechanical reproduction simulation." I think this, by itself, is sufficient argument that even the Overwatch soldiers are still at least partly human under all that black armor. It's been noted elsewhere that the Combine encourage humanity to suppress their instincts and become more and more immersed in the "machine," but that doesn't mean that every CP or Overwatch soldier wants to be lobotomized and optimized with technology.

Remember, it's a Vichy-type state, where those who buy in to the Combine philosophy get rewarded... these rewards include better food, better housing, not getting your ass beaten for the hell of it, the ability to beat the asses of others for the hell of it, and, apparently, digital virtual sex simulation. Which I always thought was strange, really... the suppression field prevents pregnancy, not sexual interest or function, as far as I can tell. After all, you've got the "there, there" guy comforting his girlfriend (twice, both before and after they joined the Resistance), plus Alyx develops quite a crush on Freeman and there is obviously a romance blossoming between Dr. Vance and Dr. Mossman at the end of HL2. So, there is still romance, up to a point, and still sex, although no children - so why would the Overwatch soldiers, who could pretty much have any woman they wanted, be induced by a glorified porn machine?

But I digress. Anyways, like I was saying before I got sidetracked, the higher ranking you are (senior CPs, Elites, etc.), the less human you are. "Attention, Civil Protection. Remember, memory replacement leads to promotion," is another Overwatch message that you hear somewhere. This, of course, means that there are still Combine agents who cling to their humanity despite brainwashing and technological "upgrades," and their command staff is trying to induce them to choose otherwise.

 

[_Z_Ryuken]

I'm starting to think the Combine turned into slugs because they sat on their fat duffs and had virtual sex all day while their robo maids did everything for them.

I think the Combine are in a constant state of arousal.

 

[Talyn]

You know, I think you are absolutely right (minus the whole sex thing, which was weird). The Combine did become so dependent on technology that the only thing they ever exercised was their brain, which is why they are so fat and worthless but so technologically advanced.

It also makes sense that they need to wage aggressive war on other worlds - they need slaves to do their work for them, and they need a constant supply of raw materials to fuel their technological/industrial state.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

So, there is still romance, up to a point, and still sex, although no children - so why would the Overwatch soldiers, who could pretty much have any woman they wanted, be induced by a glorified porn machine?

Maybe non-earned sex is punishable by death?

 

[Digamma]

Anyone here know what a sterilized credit is? Maybe the metrocops are actualy using those sun sticks to...fix people...

 

[Talyn]

Ooh, never thought of that. Or, at the least, mandatory loyalty reprogramming (i.e. get turned into a Stalker). It would go along with the whole "suppress your instincts" line.

And, since the Overwatch Lady uses the term "Sterilize" when ordering Metrocops to wipe out the rebel base, I'm pretty sure you get Sterilization Credits for beating up, capturing and killing antictizens. Maybe beating up an ordinary citizen is one, but killing a rebel is worth 10, or something. Some way to keep "score" for CP and the Overwatch, and to encourage them to be extra vicious in the prosecution of their orders.

 

[ríomhaire]

I just assumed that credits were curency like in Deus Ex and sterilized just ment they were registered or something.

 

[Digamma]

And, since the Overwatch Lady uses the term "Sterilize" when ordering Metrocops to wipe out the rebel base, I'm pretty sure you get Sterilization Credits for beating up, capturing and killing antictizens. Maybe beating up an ordinary citizen is one, but killing a rebel is worth 10, or something. Some way to keep "score" for CP and the Overwatch, and to encourage them to be extra vicious in the prosecution of their orders.

Maybe its called a sterilized credit because it a credit for "sterilizing" the city from anti-citizens. Like how alcohol sterilizes something from bacteria.

 

[XANA]

i guess. after all, "sterile" means clean (and unable to produce sperm), so maybe sterilized credits are earned every time a civil protection unit eliminates a rebelious citizen. 1 credit would be earned for the disposal. after all, why would Overwatch only address a rank leader, eh?