What is Xen?

[Glenn the Great]

Oh, the Vortigaunt race are the Combine's slaves at the time. The Vortigaunts are like colonial insects, in that they have workers (regular Vortigaunts like you see in HL2), soldiers (the big ones with the hive gun), drones (the flying Vortigaunts with the big heads), and a queen (Nihilanth). If you notice, all of these are wearing green bands which seem to be a control device of some sort.

The vortigaunts are controlled through the Nihilanth. When the Nihilanth dies, it's power over the vorts is gone, leaving a lot of vorts stranded on Earth now with their free will restored, and they decide to help the humans, which the combine desires to enslave to fill the gap left by the vorts.

Notice in the first room in HL2 that there is a remaining vort slave with his green bands on, sweeping the floor.

 

[Max35]

No, I don't think that's it. Because the Nihil himself says that, that's how I always understood it.

 

[Glenn the Great]

I think the Nihilanth is a slave, and the Combine uses Nihilanth's natural control over hive minded vortigaunts to indirectly enslave those too.

Nihilanth is like the Dr. Breen of the Vortigaunts. Breen is a slave too, whether he realizes it or not.

 

[kirovman]

"We don't goto Xen anymore..."

 

[Remus]

I think the Nihilanth is a slave, and the Combine uses Nihilanth's natural control over hive minded vortigaunts to indirectly enslave those too.

Nihilanth is like the Dr. Breen of the Vortigaunts. Breen is a slave too, whether he realizes it or not.

That just might be true. One thing that has never been clear for me was which of those creatures in HL1 were intelligent (I mean like humans) and which were just animals. Ok those flying things, the vorts, the alien grunts that you mention would be in this category but what about the garg, is it an animal?

About Breen, well I think he kind of figures he's using the Combine to get more knowledge or something.

"We don't goto Xen anymore...".

They said the same thing about Ravenholm and...

 

[Asknoone]

I think the Nihilanth is a slave, and the Combine uses Nihilanth's natural control over hive minded vortigaunts to indirectly enslave those too.

Nihilanth is like the Dr. Breen of the Vortigaunts. Breen is a slave too, whether he realizes it or not.

Well considering Xen is a safe haven for aliens that have escaped the Combines clutches I always assumed Nihilanth was referring to that.

 

[Darkside55]

Nice explanation of teleportation, Glenn, except for that last part on dark energy. There's nothing to suggest that's what kept the Combine away from Xen; in addition to that, the whole thing about dark energy itself is a bit dodgy. Dark energy's used to describe the oppositional force that's pushing the universe apart. The only way that'd factor into teleportation is in calculating the exact point where you want to get to, if that point is constantly moving (albeit at an incredibly slow rate). But seeing as how the Combine can tunnel to any exact point from their universe to another, dark energy wouldn't play any part in keeping them away from Xen.

On the Xenian species: you're a bit off. The vortigaunt race is ONLY the race you see in HL2...greenish skin, six (reduced to four in HL2) eyes, three arms, shoots lightning. The other creatures are all other races. Also, the vortigaunts share a collective mind, but it's not necessarily a hive mind...they all have their own thoughts and personalities, but they can all see each other's as well.

The flying things with the bulbous heads are called Controllers. They're the dominant species on Xen, and presumably wherever they were originally from. It was the controllers who built the Nihilanth, and used him to harness the teleport energies and flee to Xen. Nihilanth is a construct, but he basically serves as their leader, a living god if you will.

The soldiers with the hivehands--greatest weapon ever--are called grunts. Not much is known about them. They're big, stupid, and they make the perfect soldier. In fact, the controllers might have even been engineering them in that facility. I personally have always said that they were once an almost uncivilized race, much like neanderthal man, but the controllers' experimentation turned them into the warmachines they are today.

The Combine never controlled Nihilanth or any of the Xenian races. They fled long before then. Nihilanth still says that they are slaves, though.

Xen sucks

H8TE :flame:

 

[UltimaApocalypse]

The flying things with the bulbous heads are called Controllers. They're the dominant species on Xen, and presumably wherever they were originally from. It was the controllers who built the Nihilanth, and used him to harness the teleport energies and flee to Xen. Nihilanth is a construct, but he basically serves as their leader, a living god if you will.

Is there any evidence that the Controllers were in charge or that Nihilanth was "built"?

 

[ALT_F4]

ur guess is as good as mine. i thought it was a portal to the mind of a crack addict so w/e. ;p

 

[Glenn the Great]

I've always assumed that the humanoid Xen aliens were different castes of the same species since they all have that extra arm protruding from their chest.

Vorts are indeed hive-minded. I didn't make that up; it comes straight out of the Prima Official Game Guide, bearing credence to the caste system idea.

It is obvious that the Vorts were being controlled by another force. They come to Earth as vicious killers, and once their Nihilanth was destroyed, they are all of a sudden peaceable and friendly. Those green collars they wear are some kind of mind control device. This is certain. A Vort in Point Insertion is still wearing the collar, and he is laboring as a janitor right in the middle of a CP controlled station. Notice how the Combine aren't shooting him on sight. He is clearly under Combine control, and the same would go for all of those Vorts we killed in HL1 that wore the same bands.

 

[Darkside55]

I hereby declare the official guide WRONG then. A hivemind is a collective where the individual is stifled, having no thought but those of the group. Vortigaunts have their own thoughts, their own personalities, and are free to live their own lives. Their minds are, however, connected through the vortessence, which allows them to see through the eyes of others, and perhaps hear the thoughts of others, although they also communicate through vocalized language. Guide wrong. Darkside right. Always remember that.

The vortigaunts were not being "controlled"; rather, they were coerced. The Nihilanth has no mind control over them. In fact, there is nothing to suggest that the Nihilanth had any connection to the vortessence other than the fact that he existed. To explain, the vortigaunts say that Gordon Freeman severed the vortal chord that bound the Nihilanth to life, and to them. They also state that all things are woven of the vortessence; even if someone or something cannot see it or touch on it, they are still a part of it. In this way, the vortigaunts may have been speaking somewhat metaphorically about the Nihilanth's control over them.

The collars are more likely inhibitors of the vortigaunt's energy. There's absolutely no mind control going on. In fact, go back and play Half-Life again, and drop a vortigaunt to low life. Chances are, he'll stop fighting you. This is not something that a mind-controlled creature would do. If you think this is just a glitch, check out the very first section of the factory in Interloper. NONE of the vortigaunts there attack you. They go about their business and leave you be. But in the next section of the factory, where controllers are present...

Ultima, evidence that the Nihilanth was built: not all that much. The biggest signs are on his body. While all intelligent Xenian lifeforms have a third arm, the Nihilanth's third arm has been stitched to its body. This implies that it was either the result of some kind of experimentation, or a construct. Also, notice that it cannot float under its own power; it needs the metal "chair" under it to fly. Again, possibly experimentation or it was engineered. And the last sign is the Nihilanth's resemblance to the controllers. This is what really tips it in favor of being built; while it's possible that they just took a naturally-occuring species and modified it, the fact that the Nihilanth and the controllers look so much alike implies that the controllers created it in their image (which is sort of like a reverse god, if you think about it...they built it in THEIR image to worship IT).

 

[Glenn the Great]

Yes, the Nihilanth is part mechanical. So are the Controllers. Want to know who is responsible?

The Combine.

The Alien Controllers are card-carrying members of Overwatch. I'm going to have to put my foot down and say that Xen as a safe-haven is a bogus theory. Doug Lombardi said something, and a lot of people have taken it the wrong way and started running with it. I wasn't too comfortable with my previous Dark Energy suggestion to be completely honest. I had to find some way to adhere to a doctrine that I now believe is bogus.

One of the biggest themes Valve is trying to show us is that the Combine have a method of assimilation, a method they are very good at, and both the Vortigaunts and now the Humans have fallen victim to it. Many themes are paralleled between both races.

In both cases, the main leadership figure (Nihilanth for the Vorts and Dr. Breen for the Humans) is swayed over to the side of the Combine and begins to influence its brethren to become slaves and soldiers. The Combine takes powerful specimens of the species (strong male humans and the Vortigaunt Drone caste), turns them into cyborgs, which then rule over the common man or Vort, enforcing the will of the Combine. In the end, everyone is a slave or a soldier, and everyone has their free will taken from them (Stalkers and human Overwatch for the humans, and the whole assortment of Vortigaunts.)

It is so painfully obvious. The Vortigaunts even tell you that we share a "common enemy."

 

[Darkside55]

Your theory has a lot of problems though, I'm sorry to say.

First, the controllers themselves have no mechanical parts. Only the Nihilanth, and it's slight. The combine are very efficient...if they had a creature that could teleport armies, they probably would've simplified it into a very basic form for use, not a giant floating space-baby. No one else is modified either.

Secondly, Xen really is safe from the Combine. You'll probably find no one else who will rally with you and say Marc Laidlaw doesn't know what he's talking about; I don't care if he's the writer or not, he's said some things that either just don't work, or he'll be vague or ambiguous about his answers. But this is one time where there's no ambiguity; the Combine never touched Xen, and the Xenians fled before the Combine could get them.

Third is the fact that the combine, up until this point, have never bothered to leave a figurehead or interim ruler like Breen in charge of a species. They don't feel the need to establish hierarchies among different species; they simply assimilate all creatures they feel are worthy, and construct synths out of them. From there they get built and distributed where needed. No need for a middleman; the only reason Breen is in charge, and why humanity is being converted slowly, is because of Breen's bargaining with the Combine.

You still share a common enemy with the vortigaunts, yet Xenians and humans have been touched by the Combine in different ways.

 

[ríomhaire]

Is there any evidence that the Controllers were in charge or that Nihilanth was "built"?

"Slaves...we are their slaves...we are"

 

[Sulkdodds]

[QUOTEDarkside]No one else is modified either.[/QUOTE]Well, the grunts are 'built' on a production line. I always assumed that they were grown from Vortigaunt DNA.

Third is the fact that the combine, up until this point, have never bothered to leave a figurehead or interim ruler like Breen in charge of a species.

Huh? How'd you know that?

One of the biggest themes Valve is trying to show us is that the Combine have a method of assimilation, a method they are very good at, and both the Vortigaunts and now the Humans have fallen victim to it. Many themes are paralleled between both races.

The problem with this is that Xen isn't anything like Combine-controlled Earth; there is no evidence of Combine technology or structures. And if Nihilanth was a puppet of the Combine, why wouldn't they be able to use his teleportation technology on Earth? Why are they still trying to work out local porting?

 

[Remus]

Oh man, I just wish they would tell us those things straight. As it is now, with the little info we have we could continue to debate endlessly and not get anywhere.

Personally I accept the fact that the Vorts together with the controllers & co. fled from another world to Xen to get away from the Combine, so I guess those other creatures (the tentacle, barnacle, bullsquid, houndeye etc.) are native of Xen, but that is just a guess. The garg for instance I think is a bioengineered creature (perhapse a sinth) like the alien grunts with the hive arm. Those things and the giant baby were created by the controllers not the Combine IMO. What I would like to know is this: did the controllers and the Vorts come from the same world or didn't they ?

 

[Asknoone]

Huh? How'd you know that?

I thought it was pretty obvious myself - I don't think it's something the Combine do often.

 

[Sulkdodds]

The Soviets and the Nazis did it plenty.

 

[Glenn the Great]

I haven't taken a close enough look at the Controller model, but reading on Wikipedia it seems that people notice some mechanical parts inside their heads.

That stitch job on the Nihilanth reminds me of that of the Stalkers. I'm very sure that the Combine was responsible for both.

Just because we don't see the same combine technology in Xen and City 17 doesn't necessarily mean that the Combine weren't on Xen. Different environs may warrant the use of different kinds of technology. Maybe the Combine prefers organic technology, but that might not have been suited to Earth. Remember that these are completely different universes the Combine deals with, and each of them may have special laws of physics, like Xen seems to have. A different approach may be needed for different worlds. But anyway, notice the factory on Xen. Those conveyor belts seem a little out of place for a world that seems to be completely organic.

 

[Asknoone]

That stitch job on the Nihilanth reminds me of that of the Stalkers. I'm very sure that the Combine was responsible for both.

Absolutely right. And his shackles are broke. Obvious signs of escape. He's an escapee, a refugee if you will. Xen has a great deal of local teleportation....yet the Combine are incapable of such a thing. Wouldn't you think if they controlled Xen they would have adapted this tech? Yes.

 

[Glenn the Great]

The thing that just doesn't fit for me with the whole safe haven idea is the fact that Xen is ATTACKING Earth in HL1. If Nihilanth and the Vorts had already escaped from the Combine, why are they hostile? Nihilanth is the cause of the Vortigaunt rampage, and you acknowledge that the Combine made him into what he is.

A race of refugees doesn't all of a sudden turn into a race of invaders. It doesn't make sense.

 

[Asknoone]

The Black Mesa staff were the invaders first off. They crossed into Xen when attempting to teleport large distances, and began taking specimens. Then Gordon goes and opens a dimensional rift between the worlds. Obviously they panicked, and attacked.

 

[Glenn the Great]

I strongly doubt that the conflict in HL1 was the result of a misunderstanding or a panic attack. The Nihilanth tells you that he and his race ARE slaves. They wouldn't still be slaves if they had managed to get away from the Combine.

 

[Darkside55]

Huh? How'd you know that?

It's been said: developer comments, and I believe RtB mentions it.

About the vortigaunts-into-grunts, it's one theory. Personally, I think they're not engineered any further than being armored (which some people believe is actually a part of them, not actual armor), and being packaged in the factory. If you look at the grunts, they share NO traits with the vortigaunts other than the third arm. Grunts share a lot more in common with controllers: mouthparts, position of the eyes. Also, if they were modified vortigaunts, why take away some of their assets? Six eyes vs. three, the ability to project electricity, and the vortessence. The last one we can't be sure if they have anything like that or not (it'd be handy for soldiers), but the grunts don't seem to have any sense of teamwork or tactics to them. They just mill about and shoot.

Redneck, no creatures are native to Xen. Anything that was there ended up there from teleporting. So somehow the bullsquids and the headcrabs and the tentacle got there. I'm going to assume that the Nihilanth staged a mass exodus of the entire planet they were on, but there's really nothing to suggest that the other xenian lifeforms came from wherever Nith and co. came from.
Also, garg: relative to the snark. That's my position and I'm sticking to it.

On Nihilanth once belonging to the Combine, I think that's a bit of a stretch. As far as I know there are no broken links on his armbands, nothing to suggest they were once manacles. Plus, the difference between the stalkers and Nith is that with the stalkers, the combine are REDUCING parts, not adding them. There is no reason for a third arm. In fact, while I was taking a look at the vortigaunt HL2 model, trying to compile information on them, I noticed that their third arm is almost vestigial...they don't use it for ANYTHING. Thinking back, neither did Nihilanth, or the controllers. The only creature that used it was the grunt, as a feeding arm (being its only arm with proper gripping digits). Whatever built Nihilanth was attempting to make him into something that closely resembled a controller...why would the Combine do that? If the Gonarch is any indication, the Combine would've stripped the Nihilanth down to his basest parts. Also, they would've made sure to subjugate him enough (brainwashing, lobotomy, synthification) that he wouldn't even ATTEMPT to escape.

As for why the Xenians (and Race-X) attacked, Samon's got it. We teleported in, and started gathering the Xenians for experimentation. They retaliated. But don't think it was all self-defence. Controllers are malevolent by nature, and once they knew there was another world out there that they could reach....

 

[Glenn the Great]

I posted a thread dealing specifically with Lombardi's quote in the other forum. I have a different take on it.

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=104686

 

[hari66]

yeah, xen ws good and different. making it consist of individual rocks instead of a "propah" planet was an original.

does the group of roks forming xen circle around the combine homeworld?

 

[Darkside55]

No. The Combine homeworld is actually in a completely different universe, and the Combine have never seen Xen.

No one knows what Xen is circling, if anything. It seems like normal laws don't apply to Xen; that is to say that Xen could just be a bunch of rocks floating in a giant nebula cloud, with nothing at its center for gravity. On the other hand, it's possible there's something really dense in the center of Xen, like a star.

 

[99.vikram]

Xen is an inter-dimensional intersection. Normal laws need not apply there.

I used to believe in Combine-on-Xen, but three things made me change my mind-

i) Grunt armor is an exoskeleton, not Combine-metal. this was mentioned in the HL1 guide, which I never bothered to read.
ii) Nihilanth, at first, I believed was a Synth. But why have only one Nihilanth? Why not more? I believe this was because the Controllers built him as an escape vehicle from their own world into Xen. And his Vortigaunt controlling powers were put to good use too.
iii) RtB says explicitly that the Combine were attracted to earth in the wake of the Resonance Cascade. If xen was under Combine ontrol, they'd have known of the BMRF experiments much sooner.

Another thing - why did Nihilanth attack earth? Because he wanted the Black Mesa shit stopped. If the Combine got control of earth, this technology would let them enter Xen. So BMRF had to be stopped, and Nihilanth seized his chance during the Reonance Cascade.

 

[GardenFreshmint]

Its happyland !!!! for headcrab fishing really. Just play HL1.

Its not even a planet ..

 

[Asknoone]

Stop double posting.