[Spoilers] Specuation Thread - Episode One and Two

I liked Eli's speech in the Ep2 trailer and the prospect of a last stand - it's kind of cliched but fits in with the core Half-Life theme, which has always been barely surviving in uncertainty and desperation.
It seems like Ep2 has a lot more potential than Ep1 - it looks like it's going to have more scope.
 
I think its unfair to say Ep1 didnt have potential its kind of like watching a drama unfold if you only see the opening act you are in no place to judge it for not completing the story.

Ep1 for me was perfect it continued immediately on from Halflife2 and placed you in perfect 'End of season TV show cliff hanger' position similar to Jack bauer and his 'Stuck on a chinese ship in the middle of the sea' cliff hanger.

Its sweet roll on the meat of this Trilogy
 
Don't get me wrong, I loved that it progressed from the very end of HL2 - to do anything else would have felt far too disjointed. Plus, it was nice to see the Citadel coming down and see C17 in such a state of collapse.
However, realistically it couldn't have been anything other than what it was, if you see what I mean? The way Ep2 unfolds is a lot less obvious and thus more malleable - that's pretty exciting.

As an aside: thank you for ruining the end of season 5 of 24 D:
 
yer, Episode 1 was to wrap up Half-life 2, Mostly and now Episode 2 is going to be a "What the hell we do now" type of situation..
 
LOL sorry I thought this was the internet.. who relies on Skyone when they have this :p...

That said though I would hardly say ruined its only a minor plot point similar to that of the alyx holding onto the pipes ... i never said what happens.:)
 
Andy018 said:
LOL sorry I thought this was the internet.. who relies on Skyone when they have this :p...

That said though I would hardly say ruined its only a minor plot point similar to that of the alyx holding onto the pipes ... i never said what happens.:)
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Yeah, I've been using the internet to "obtain" season 5, but at the moment I'm up to like 21 or something, so I'm still in the dark!
The version of episode 21 that I "obtained" has music but no speech whatsoever! Get what you pay for, I guess...
 
lol.. well play catch up and watch it its a fanastic series this season and the finale is ace.

Anyway back to speculating :D ... who reckons we will revisit black mesa in its nuked run down but still partly accessible state?
 
Black Mesa East? Maybe, But not Black Mesa it self, Its in New Mexico and right now were in Eastern Europe :p
 
lol yeah and mossman is in the arctic ... with those Xen portals im sure they can port freeman over to good ole mesa for me :)
 
I'll make a prediction for one of the upcoming episodes.
Gravgun boss fight! Like tennis, but with cinder blocks, wooden boxes and grenades. I'm gonna guess this is how the Advisor fights (or whatever was in those pods). While it won't have a gravgun of its own, it seems to be telepathic, so maybe they're telekinetic too.

I'd also like to see some motorbike driving in there too.
 
I can't exactly remember, but didn't the place where the "mini-strider" that popped up at the end of Mossman's video look a lot like the place at the end of the Episode Two trailer?
 
Ok I just breezed through this but I can answer some questions I saw and form some possible theories on my own. First, episode two will be a standoff between the rebels and the combine on the rebel's turf, out in the rural/suburban/whatever areas away from City 17. The "mini-strider" as we're calling it, is the same thing that was in Mossman's video and will obviously be a new enemy for Episode 2.

Now...
The pods that you encounter in the Citidel and see flying from the Citidel during its explosion... I believe that they are the host bodies that Breen was talking about. The reason I came to this conclusion has multiple reasons. First, they show up after Breen talks about them in the video. Second, they do something to assault the mind (causing the pain that Freeman and Alyx receive during the same scene) which makes sense if they are to hold the conciousness of someone such as Breen. I assume that they were being manufactured as a dying function of the citidel. After their manufacture they'd be open to absorb conciousness and probably were doing just that when Gordon and Alyx happen upon them.

This theory also follows the "combine" way of using multiple species and races manufactured to create new beings. Whatever beings were leading the Citidel of City 17 (possible Breen as well) were transplanted into these vessels to be transferred out of the city with the most safety. By doing it during the final moments, not only are the vessels insured safety, but they are also masked in their destination.

What do you think? Makes sense to me.
 
What interests me the most (and I'm sure I am not alone here) is the G-Man's involvement in Episode 2. After being stopped by the Vortigaunts, it makes me wonder what exactly he would have said if he wasnt stopped. It almost made me want to yell at the Vortigaunts, "let the (g)man speak!"

Now that the Citadel is kaput and the Combine's comm link is destroyed, the Combine are going to have a huge retaliation. If you listen to Kleiner talk either on the big screen or the TV, he mentions that they Combine's retaliation will be much bigger than anything they have seen before. I believe the next two episodes will be an all-out war, with the mini-striders at the fore-front of the reinforcements sent to end the rebel threat.

I agree with whoever said that Elyx isnt dead, I think she is just gonna be out for an episode or two. She was there for 90% of Episode 1, VALVe just wants to focus more on other things, I guess.

Probably the most interesting thing I got from this Episode and the trailer, was the information concerning the arctic base "Kraken." This is where you see Mossman (during episode 1) I believe they have found or developed new technology there which will *hopefully* lead to a new weapon in the coming Episodes.

I found a link that discusses alot of the material cut from Half Life 2 and it seems that alot of the it being used in the expansion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_cut_from_Half-Life_2

Anyway, the next few episodes are probably going to kick ass and there should be alot more answers.
 
I suppose that the Advisors, now stranded on Earth, are simply trying to rebuild communications and gather troops.

And has anyone noticed that the Ministriders are a lot like the Houndeyes in HL1? Maybe they're the synth versions of Houndeyes....
 
CrazyJeepDriver said:
I suppose that the Advisors, now stranded on Earth, are simply trying to rebuild communications and gather troops.

And has anyone noticed that the Ministriders are a lot like the Houndeyes in HL1? Maybe they're the synth versions of Houndeyes....
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No, I don't think they are Synthed Houndeyes... :p

With communications cut off and the teleporters down I think the Advisors will be doing their utmost to re establish contact, gather the remaining Overwatch forces and attempt to either continue with the assimilation program or proceed to wipe humanity and capture Gordon Freeman.
 
Samon said:
No, I don't think they are Synthed Houndeyes... :p
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We'll see...about that!

*Hopes they are...thus keeping a nice connection with HL1*
 
Below the thunders of the upper deep,
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides; above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant fins the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages, and will lie
Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.
 
So the Kraken is an undersea weapon? Planted millenia ago?? I'm confused:|
 
Hmm, stupid question but when Kleiner is giving his speech over the TVs and such...what is that he says at this part? I looked in GCF and it goes kind of like this "Let me just say this, as we struggle out of the shadow of our malofactors, welcome back to the light". It sounds like malofactors (which isn't a word) but what is it really?
 
Samon said:
Well, when your in the escape pod chamber you seen an Advisor within one.
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Ah damn. I seem to have missed it although I was being particularly observant.
 
Cargo Cult said:
This is why writing is wasted on gamers. A simple choice of name can have all kinds of associations. ;-)
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Well, since you've been to Valve HQ I assumed you were revealing some kind of spoiler. Curse you for dashing my hopes :frown:

EDIT: Nice poem, btw.
 
Darksabre said:
Hmm, stupid question but when Kleiner is giving his speech over the TVs and such...what is that he says at this part? I looked in GCF and it goes kind of like this "Let me just say this, as we struggle out of the shadow of our malofactors, welcome back to the light". It sounds like malofactors (which isn't a word) but what is it really?
Click to expand...
It's the opposite of benefactors.
bonus, -a, -um = good
malus, -a, -um = bad
 
It's malefactors. And it's referring to the Combine forces, giving a nod to HL2 where Breen referred to them as benefactors.

Like LG said, the prefix bene = good, male = bad (e.g. benefit, malevolent),
 
I thought Kleiner's coining of the term "malofactors" was pretty funny. If I were in the Advisor's position and I was willing to sacrifice what was left of my base to send a single transmission, it would say, "Send help!" and include whatever information I could about what to expect. Perhaps the shift of Freeman's "contract" from the G-man to the Vortigaunts, as Freeman was certainly cause for grief from the Combine. I still don't know where the G-man stands (apparently against the Combine), but I think that having Freeman in allegiance with the Vortigaunts would be a bit more worrisome to the Combine - worth mentioning in a single, final transmission anyway.

I'm also pretty sure a bunch of Episode 2 will take place in a forest (yay!). The train ride at the end of Episode 1 moves into a forest and the preview shows striders and mini-striders moving through a forest. Maybe much of Episode 2 will be getting from the forest to the "Project" in the same way that much of Episode 1 was getting out of the Citadel.
 
Adabiviak said:
I'm also pretty sure a bunch of Episode 2 will take place in a forest (yay!). The train ride at the end of Episode 1 moves into a forest and the preview shows striders and mini-striders moving through a forest. Maybe much of Episode 2 will be getting from the forest to the "Project" in the same way that much of Episode 1 was getting out of the Citadel.
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Episode 2 will be like Star Wars' Endor :D
 
The Episode Two trailer/teaser looks amazing. But I didn’t expect there would still be living forests on earth. I thought most parts of earth would be dry wastelands.
 
I hope that for the retaliation of the Universal Union in future episodes, they reintroduce the concept of depleting the Earth's oxygen via Air Exchanges along with actually turning all those forests from Episode 2 into wastelands. Perhaps those Cremators can be retooled for this purpose?
 
Sufferin-rebel said:
Episode 2 will be like Star Wars' Endor :D
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Hopefully absent of those little ****ing teddy bears.

Black Op said:
I hope that for the retaliation of the Universal Union in future episodes, they reintroduce the concept of depleting the Earth's oxygen via Air Exchanges along with actually turning all those forests from Episode 2 into wastelands. Perhaps those Cremators can be retooled for this purpose?
Click to expand...

Cremators were for cleaning the streets weren't they? Then again that could be a useful purpose for them. You're from BMS forums right? :p
 
Darksabre said:
Hopefully absent of those little ****ing teddy bears.
Click to expand...
The politically correct name for them are Ewoks. :dork:

Cremators were for cleaning the streets weren't they? Then again that could be a useful purpose for them. You're from BMS forums right? :p
Click to expand...
You're right of course, but the Cremators came from a HL2 development period when oxygen depletion was a major story element IIRC. Obviously the in-game universe got retooled and the Cremators lost their jobs. However old concepts can be modified for future use, and the Cremators may return in the capacity of enviroment destroyers. I can see it now; you're fighting in a forest when the Cremators come and set the trees on fire with what resemble flamethrowers. :smoking:

And yes, I come from the BMS Forums.
 
My thoughts of an Alternate Ending for EP1

There was 1 part that kinda pissed me off. Near the ending, where Alyx tells Barney and the others to leave, and you and her will stay back and keep the Combine from following.

There was no Combine around except for the Strider scene. Gordon and Alyx could of defended the train and made the ending better like that.

Then when they get to their "destination", THEN the Citadel blows up.
That to be would of made a WAY better ending scene then seeing the destruction heading right towards you.

Apparently, Alyx didn't think the Citadel would blow 'till another hour, or send the "transmission". Gordon and Alyx could of easily defended the train from the Combine.

My guess is that they DID actually think of this, but they scrubbed it to have an "OMG!! NO!!" ending instead. Probally to make EP2 fit with EP1.


Bash my opinion all you want, but I'm standing behind it 100%.
 
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