What if earth is just a hatchery

[Orgror]

Well, we all now that the combine have several interests in earth, we know that they want to "asimilate" the humans in their ranks, we know that they are interested in the local teleportation tecchnology that the humans have created, and also we know that for some reason they have been changing the clime (at least the seas have not the amount of water they had in the past).

Well, after playing Episode 2 and hearing the Vorts talking about the advisor, and who they are in their infant stages I started to think, what if this climate change the combine is doing is nedeed for their advosors to survive and grow until they transform is their adult form. Maybe thesse advisors (be them the head of the combine or just one of the dominating rank in their jerarchy, or some proven valueble individuals of their conquested races that can fit in their growing empire, yeah I am thinking Breen found a hoost body ) need a specific envioriment to grow, maybe earth was suitable enought to them when they first started the invasion, maybe our world is nothing more to them (besides the other interests i have stated above) than a simple hatchery where their "children can grow up until they join the real ranks of the Combine Empire.

As a lot of people tend to think, maybe the battle in earth is nothing but a ich in the back for the combine empire at this point, we are not going to defeat an great empire (at least for the moment), we are just saving our ass and aour homeworld.

PD; sorry for my bad english, I hope that at least the idea of the thread can be understanded.

 

[Narvi]

And... why did they leave us alive then? I don't set my pram on a bunch of rabid dogs.

 

[Orgror]

As i said (maybe the "just" in the title is not a good choice ) .The combine have diferent interests in earth, they want to asimilate us making us part of their empire (Stalkers, Overwath etc..). They want the teleportation tecnology we have (thats why they have left the resistance more or less without trouble until now, they could have wipe em out anytime, or so said Breen), and with little changes in the weather they can make our world siutable enough for thesse advisors in their infancy, thats why they are here, thats why we dont see em in HL2 (they were just growing, and maybe giving advices and orders to Breen)

The citadel provide then with the resources they need (water maybe, loads of water) and thats why we see all the cables and pipes going in the citadel (not to mention that when you first enter the citadel it is doing something like diggin or pumping something inside), now that the citadel is gone, they need the pods and the life supporting machinery we see in EP2.

Just a crazy theory, but it does not seem imposible to me .

 

[Darkside55]

An interesting theory. I can dig it.

 

[Laivasse]

I don't think the advisors are infants at all. The need to 'hatch' is, as I understand it, due to them being in an incubatory state in the citadel and during escape - the vort says something along those lines anyway: 'Advisors, still in incubation pods.'

However, even while in that state they are mentally active and occupy a high-status command role within the Combine forces. Before they have even 'hatched', the inference is that they are watching you and commanding their troops in a way that suggests they are really not infants at all.

I would speculate the 'hatching' process is just something they undergo to make them mobile, attach the arms, etc. and get them ready for naked physical travel. Not something related to their stage of life or infancy.

 

[Orgror]

Well you have a point Laivasse, they are not like "children" in a human way, they have full telekinesis power, and as we see, they are mentally active, not acting nothing like children. I dont wanted to say that they are like their children (well, i said it, but not in that way). What I wanted to say, is that they are noit in their "definitive" form in their lifecircle, I think that they will change in aspect, so, this is like a larva form in the insect world, then they will grow in their true form and by doing so, they need an enviroment that few known worlds have (water, air ,etc..). Maybe thats why the are constantly conquering worlds (we dont know this for sure, but the combine seem like an ever conquering empire) and asimilating races, they need more resourcers for their own kind, and so, they need more worlds, more salves, and more souldiers and a deadlier weapons for their wars.

 

[Asknoone]

Earth is a lone, Combine outpost; humanity - or what's left of it - is slowly being augmented into the Combine ranks, and the planet is being plucked dry. I can imagine the Combine have many worlds under their grip, and I wouldn't count on Earth having any kind of special purpose.

 

[Laivasse]

Well you have a point Laivasse, they are not like "children" in a human way, they have full telekinesis power, and as we see, they are mentally active, not acting nothing like children. I dont wanted to say that they are like their children (well, i said it, but not in that way). What I wanted to say, is that they are noit in their "definitive" form in their lifecircle, I think that they will change in aspect, so, this is like a larva form in the insect world, then they will grow in their true form and by doing so, they need an enviroment that few known worlds have (water, air ,etc..). Maybe thats why the are constantly conquering worlds (we dont know this for sure, but the combine seem like an ever conquering empire) and asimilating races, they need more resourcers for their own kind, and so, they need more worlds, more salves, and more souldiers and a deadlier weapons for their wars.

Hmm, it sounds slightly more palatable when you put it like that. The problem with this idea, however, is that their 'definitive' form (after they have 'hatched') appears to be exactly the same as their original form, just with some nice swish mechanical arms attached. Also, this theory is, I feel, partly driven by the fact that the Advisors look like a larval form of some creature. However this appearance is, we are told, due to their evolution and the growing redundancy of any limb-like appendages as a result of their dependency on technology, not the fact that they are some kind of larva or grub.

As a theory I guess it could fly, but I'm still skeptical and leaning towards the point of view that this whole 'hatching' isn't a big deal.

 

[ranmafan]

What if, just what if, the combine Advisors you've seen so far are just barely growing into their telekinetic power? They could be infants as far as powers and capabilities are concerned, and the end result of a fully grown Advisor is something truly, really scary? We see that they can be hurt in their current state (DOG, for one), and the Vorts recommend hunting the 'unhatched' Advisors, and we know how tough Vorts can be.

But when they mature, what if they could develop a natural telekinetic barrier and/or possess a whole host of other more impressive powers? They lost their other limbs because they had growing reliance on technology, but it seems their brains aren't much regressed...

 

[Crash Happy]

I think the Vortigaunts hunt them Unhatched as in that state you can suffer mind blasts but not have a tente-probe shoved into your head.
I think it's perfectly reasonable to describe those escape pods and hatching when they open up, but still if they are incubation chanbers then that does suggest an immiturity. Whereas their looks and bahaviour certainly don't suggest that (in human terms).
Just a hatchery, no I think not. But then I'm not convinced that humanity is being recieved into the Combine either so I'm likely very wrong.

 

[ranmafan]

Well, if you look at the baby Advisors and the full grown one (there's a pic of one around the forums somewhere...), you'll notice that the full-grown one wears a sort of ceremonial potato sack with some runic inscriptions around its collar, plus its mechanical arms are far more robust than the skinny ones the younger Advisors use (as in the Eli scene).

The first one you encounter is probably just barely hatched (seems it was found before it hatched, but Combine forces got to the rebels before they could kill it.), same as the two that attack you at the end, judging by their smaller size (subjective since I don't have a true comparison), the first one's need for the incubation pod, lack of/less-robust arms, regular potato sack, etc. etc.

 

[Planeforger]

Earth is a lone, Combine outpost; humanity - or what's left of it - is slowly being augmented into the Combine ranks, and the planet is being plucked dry. I can imagine the Combine have many worlds under their grip, and I wouldn't count on Earth having any kind of special purpose.

If it didn't have a special purpose, then why are so many (presumably) high-ranking Combine advisors living on Earth?
They came to Earth for a reason, and, as I stated in the other thread, I think that reason is local teleportation technology, as found in Black Mesa and Aperture Science.

 

[Crash Happy]

It's you assuming that they are high-ranking, stop assuming that and the place seems alot less special.
This is an entirely alien species that we're dealing with, still there have been human cultures where going off into the wilds to prove yourself was a good career move.
I'm sure they they do want to nick our technology and even the scientific knowledge that people like the ex-BM team have but they're as likely doing the same thing elsewhere too.

 

[QuantumFireball]

Well, if you look at the baby Advisors and the full grown one (there's a pic of one around the forums somewhere...), you'll notice that the full-grown one wears a sort of ceremonial potato sack with some runic inscriptions around its collar, plus its mechanical arms are far more robust than the skinny ones the younger Advisors use (as in the Eli scene).

Someone should go into a Model Viewer and look at the Original Advisor from HL2 and Compare to the Advisors of EP2 and see if there is a size difference.

 

[Laivasse]

The problem is that you don't see that full model in-game, just the onscreen face. Models from GCFscape are not the best thing to base theories on, especially when they were not meant to be looked at closely by the player.

Any subsequent changes to the model can possibly be accounted for by gameplay concerns or changes to the story. Note for instance that this supposedly 'higher ranking' Advisor only has very rudimentary arms with no fingers - unusual if its apparatus is meant to reflect its higher status. These fingerless arms also appeared in early Ep2 trailers I believe, yet they've clearly been replaced since. Any differences in the model are therefore more likely to be indicative of a general model revamp, rather than a difference in rank.

 

[Crash Happy]

Yeah I'd agree. I wouldn't be suprised if we see some more minor differences in Ep3 too as they establish the Advisors and they strengths/weaknesses more fully.

 

[ranmafan]

The problem is that you don't see that full model in-game, just the onscreen face. Models from GCFscape are not the best thing to base theories on, especially when they were not meant to be looked at closely by the player.

Any subsequent changes to the model can possibly be accounted for by gameplay concerns or changes to the story. Note for instance that this supposedly 'higher ranking' Advisor only has very rudimentary arms with no fingers - unusual if its apparatus is meant to reflect its higher status. These fingerless arms also appeared in early Ep2 trailers I believe, yet they've clearly been replaced since. Any differences in the model are therefore more likely to be indicative of a general model revamp, rather than a difference in rank.

Maybe they could swap out arms as needed! They're not really attached to the body in any permanent way, are they?

But I stand by my theory that the potato sacks they wear more or less indicate some sort of seniority.