Xen and its relationship to the Combine

[BigPerm]

Hey everyone,

I am really convinced that Half-Life 1 foreshadows the invasion of the Combine; and here is why,

One thing you all may have neglected back in december of 1998 when you all were playing your copies of Half-life 1, were the shackles around
the hostile Vortigaunt's wrists. Slaves? Yes. Back then they were commonly refered to as slaves, even by valve (check out the map editor!). Now i don't recall the EXACT name of the vortigaunt NPC ID in the editor, but i do know it was ____ slave. Alright thats out...

NOW, in Half-Life 1, notice the very, very, very simliar appearances of the slaves and the alien grunts (the badasses who shot bees at you). They are both vortigaunts, correct? (Neglecting the fact the grunt is diesel compared to his weaker counterpart)...

Stay with me...

Now at the end of Half-life 1 you face Nihilanth; an alien creature who resembles a vortigaunt, but of much larger size and brain capacity
(notice the little arm coming out of his chest, and electrified attacks) Notice the shackles around HIS wrists and what his lower torso is made up of...

I think im on to something here...

I believe the Combine are a speces that are part biological, part technological who basicaly (in layman's terms) go around the universe conquering other planets. They take technology from these conquered planets and engineer it to be apart of themselves, hence making them stronger. Now this is all just an explanation to set the scene for my point (a point I have yet to get to yet!), so please understand im just trying to summarize previous thoughts and put them in quick and simplied terms for the sake of being able to move on. Im not here to explain the combine or anything else, im here simply to discuss the relationship between Xen and the Combine.

That being said, Xen is an example to the player (Gordon Freeman)of what the combine are capable of. Asteroids and floating landmasses in a void show that Xen was conquered by the Combine and sucked of all its resources (like wat is happening to earth) its resources leaving it a shattered wasteland. I believe the citadel In HL2 was not only the headquarters of the Combine but a machine that harvested Earth's resources. This can be proved by the large iron walls/spikes that appear
through various environments like veins as the player travels through the outskirts of city 17. Because the Combine are so techology-based, they need to conqeuer and harvest other planets in order to supplement themselves with the energy neccasary to survive.

Furthermore, I believe that the shackles around the wrists of the vortigaunts represent that they are slaves to the combine. Aside from the wildlife of Xen (headcrabs, bullsquids, etc), the vortigaunts are the Xen equivalents of Humans on Earth (shitty wording, bear with me) If they are slaves, who are the wardens? Easy. If you played Half-life 1 the Alien Grunts who appear ( the bee shooters ) seem to carry a heavy combine influence. The wear combine like armor, have a biological weapon,
and have tubes digging into their chest (dont believe me? Play Half-Life 1, kill a grunt, and study it's body)

Half-life 1 alien grunts indicate that the combine have coverted some of the vortigaunt populas to act as enforcers of the combine, much like half-life 2's Combine soldiers found in City 17 (overwatch, etc). The vortigaunt grunts represent the vortigaunt versions of the Combine. See, the combine take the physical form of the citizens of the planets they conquer. The Combine are not their own race, hence the name COMBINE (COM-BIN-A-TION). They are a combination of the speces they
conquer.

If you played half-life 1, or replayed it for story elements to more appreciate the new Half-lifes (like i did) you will notice that at the conclusion of the game you face Nihilanth. If you look closely, Nihilanth's lower torso resembles something that looks EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY combine. Not only that but he also has shackles around his wrists. Nihilanth is the leader of the creatures of Xen, but much like the rest of them he is also a slave. Remind you of someone? Breen. Oppressed humans are the counterparts of the vortigaunt slaves,
vortigaunt grunts are the counterparts of the human combine grunts, Nihilanth is the counterpart to Breen; the user-friendly (to their speces) spokesperson for the combine.

You want an explanation to the G-Man? Sure! Well..........I know just as much as you do but i can say this: your success in defeating nihilanth impressed him very much. He says so himself at the conclusion of Half-life 1; Although, I don't recall his exact words. After seeing you defeat the combine controlled Xen (remember,
the big grunts who shoots bees are actualy combine versions of vortigaunts with the job of keeping the grasp on the vortigaunt populas on xen. Much like Civial protection on Earth - in my theory at least) he puts you into stasis so you can use what you have learned, and do the same for Earth when the combine decide that it's Earth's
time to be conquered.

Do you guys see what I am saying here? I had a hard time choosing the right words, sentences, and terminology here but I hope you guys are on my level. So if you dont understand, PLEASE ask and ill clear it up for you! Im not saying it's right, im not saying it doesnt have any holes in it, but i confidently believe its a solid theory...

I'm gonna have another beer, and head to bed :cheers:

 

[LandStander]

You just blew my mind.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

I really wish people would read stickies http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=114535
Look under Combine/Xen relation.
Please, all new members, look at the laidlaw vault before posting any theories.

 

[Laivasse]

Like Piggy says, read the sticky. Looks like you've put a lot of thought in, but it's wasted if you're contradicting 100% solid Laidlaw-sourced info (which you are).

 

[Garbel]

well, i've noticed that almost all the creatures in Xen connected to the vortigaunts have that arm on their chest (including the Gargantua) which kinda gives me the clue that the Gargantua in fact could have been a former vortigaunt too..If so, i wonder what cruelty the Combine did to the poor creature, or Nihilanth, and about the connection you did with Nihilanth and Breen, it also gives me the thought that Nihilanth was simply using the Combine, as Breen is, being friendly with them, obeying them as so forth but having other secret plans in his sleeve

 

[Laivasse]

How many times: read the DAMN sticky. The Nihilanth was not controlled by or controlling the Combine at the time of HL1.

 

[Asknoone]

What happened with Breen is not standard Combine procedure. And yeah, the read sticky, because the Combine weren't on Xen.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

well, i've noticed that almost all the creatures in Xen connected to the vortigaunts have that arm on their chest (including the Gargantua) which kinda gives me the clue that the Gargantua in fact could have been a former vortigaunt too..If so, i wonder what cruelty the Combine did to the poor creature, or Nihilanth, and about the connection you did with Nihilanth and Breen, it also gives me the thought that Nihilanth was simply using the Combine, as Breen is, being friendly with them, obeying them as so forth but having other secret plans in his sleeve

I should proboaly save this quote in notepad to be used for the rest of time:

I really wish people would read stickies http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=114535
Look under Combine/Xen relation.
Please, all new members, look at the laidlaw vault before posting any theories.

 

[Hellrider]

So who was the Nihilanth basically ? and why did the Vorts looked like slaves in HL1 ?

 

[Jintor]

READ THE DAMN STICKY kthxbai.

We shouldn't have to repeat this, you know.

 

[BigPerm]

so a noob (myself) signs onto the forum with just a thought he wants to spread; so i missed the sticky?? jesus christ, its not neccasary for 12 other people to say after the first... lol I get it though: most of you want to feel special to =) congrats on that.

anyways thanks for the FIRST guy who cleared it up and was polite about it, ill have to look over the sticky.

 

[Darkside55]

Grunts are not vortigaunts.
Nihilanth is not a vortigaunt.
Xen was never occupied by the Combine.
Nihilanth was never held by the Combine, so that metal seat he's sitting on has nothing to do with them.

 

[Laivasse]

so a noob (myself) signs onto the forum with just a thought he wants to spread; so i missed the sticky?? jesus christ, its not neccasary for 12 other people to say after the first...

Apparently it is since people continue to get the facts wrong in this very thread, after having been told to read the sticky.

What with the influx of new players there are a lot of people floating their opinions about the HL universe around here lately. These range from the interesting, to the unlikely, to the stupid, to the plain impossible. Yours is impossible, since it directly contradicts info from Laidlaw about Xen and the Nihilanth.

So don't put on a martyr complex about getting shot down. Noone was impolite to you. If you can't cope with being told that your theory doesn't fly you should read up on the mythology a bit more, something I personally would do before devoting any of my time to speculating. And frankly 'Get your facts straight' can't be said enough. Look how the pointless, wrong speculation continued even in this thread even after people were directed to the correct info.

That said: welcome to the forums :cheese:

 

[Darkside55]

Yours is impossible, since it directly contradicts info from Laidlaw about Xen and the Nihilanth.

There are, as I have said many-a-time, points of contention that can be raised against things Mr. Laidlaw has said.

Just pointing out that it's not entirely off-base to argue with some things the man says. A theory can still hold water if it makes good logical, practical sense...regardless of what the storywriter says.

 

[Laivasse]

That does not apply in this case. And in most cases, what the storywriter says about his own story tends to severely cripple any theory which says the direct opposite.

 

[Darkside55]

Oh, yeah, it definately doesn't apply in this case. I'm just saying, you CAN contradict Laidlaw, but only if it makes sense.

Which this particular theory obviously does not.

 

[Druckles]

Gabe himself mentions in an interview - they had no storyline for HL2 even after HL was completed. They storyline of HL2 was still rugged when they first started production of HL2.

And you should read wiki too. Very useful. Clears an awful lot of silly ideas

 

[kupocake]

I am really convinced that Half-Life 1 foreshadows the invasion of the Combine; and here is why,

In saying this, the thread starter is actually correct mind you. Regardless of the generally accepted fact that the Combine weren't on Xen, the parallels between 'Xenian' hierarchy and the Combine invasion method are similar, and therefore Half-Life 1 plays as a warning of what is to come.

It seems rather likely that there is some kind of Combine / Xen relationship in the distant past, I thought it was something along the lines of 'Xenians' being chased to Xen from somewhere else by the Combine. Vortiguants have their own word for Advisors after all, and the 'Singing' Vortiguant seem to talk abstractly about the Nihilanth and possibly the Combine (or alternatively the G-Man, depending on interpretation). I think the Nihilianth learned military principles from a Combine encounter and was fighting fire with fire by building a Combine style army of its own. And then Black Mesa happened and turned the whole thing on its head.

 

[Druckles]

I was under the impression for quite a while that the Combine were enslaving the Vortigaunts, and it was Nihilanth that had a relationship similar to Breens with the Combine. No idea where I got that from.

 

[SpectreBlofeld]

I was under the impression for quite a while that the Combine were enslaving the Vortigaunts, and it was Nihilanth that had a relationship similar to Breens with the Combine. No idea where I got that from.

I thought the same thing. Thing is, you wouldn't know any better from playing the games.

 

[Druckles]

Typical valve. But then it does make you realise that Gordon [italian accent]knows nothing![/italian accent]

 

[Andrew LB]

There was definitely a relationship between the combine and the creatures of Xen long before Humans started making research excursions to the fringe world. Just take a look at the robo-Vort (half life original.... i forget it's name). It does not even remotely fit into the rest of the very oddly organic life on the fringe world.

 

[Planetary]

It was the Alien Grunt (the thing with the hivehand, right?). I think it was some cousin to the Vortigaunts but with no electrical powers of any kind, so they had to be given metal armor and an actual weapon, relying on their strength instead of lightning.

I wonder what happened to them? Weren't they freed by the Nihilanth's death as well? They'd have been really useful allies against the Combine...

 

[LandStander]

The combine do not have the capability to reach the world of Xen, because they're teleportation doesn't involve "border worlds" the way humanity's does. That is why it is so important for the combine to not find out about it. The Xenian creatures are not actually native to Xen. It was their last hope. And what creatures could thrive there? It is a barren world.

 

[Andrew LB]

Most of the plant like things definitely looked like they belonged... in a weird alien way.

 

[Druckles]

It was the Alien Grunt (the thing with the hivehand, right?). I think it was some cousin to the Vortigaunts but with no electrical powers of any kind, so they had to be given metal armor and an actual weapon, relying on their strength instead of lightning.

I wonder what happened to them? Weren't they freed by the Nihilanth's death as well? They'd have been really useful allies against the Combine...

I think it was decided they weren't slaves. And from the looks of them, they wouldn't be allies.

 

[Absinthe]

A lot of this needless speculation would also be sidestepped if Valve, y'know, expressed some of these ideas in the games instead of relying on e-mails.

If I had to knock the Half-Life series on one thing, that would be it. While I like being able to piece parts together through observation and appreciate some mystery, there are quite a few things that severely lack in-game clarification. I mean, we know that the death of Nihilanth triggered the portal storms. But I learned that from a Valve employee. Unless I missed something, I never heard or saw a confirmation while playing through. We know that the Xenians and the Combine were antagonistic towards each other and that the Xenians fled to a place where the Combine couldn't follow. But again, I wouldn't have been aware of this if I never came here and saw it in the big Valve info thread.

That said... stickies exist for a reason. They should be the first topics you read because they contain important information that can save you a lot of time and energy from propping up a false theory. It happens, but it must be understood that when the same debunked topics keep repeating themselves (sometimes for years), it grows taxing on the community's good will. =P

 

[Druckles]

The fact that Valve don't tell you any of this in the game is half the fun. It makes an almost solid fourth wall, making the user feel like Gordon knows nothing, which is totally the case. And it also helps us to speculate alot on what things might be. Which is always interesting.

Especially as it spouts wonderful threads like the one from the wonderful Darkside over there

 

[Absinthe]

Meh. Speculating is fun, but there reaches a point where I'd like to be told flat out if I'm right or wrong. I think you can balance Gordon's lack of knowledge with some decent exposition.

Not everybody who plays Half-Life is going to hop online and pester Valve with questions until they give up some goods. It's almost like a game unto itself, but for any amount of satisfaction I get from it, I experience an almost equal amount of frustration.

Basically, I want to learn key things about the universe in an in-game context. Seeing how skilled Valve is with handling their characters, their dialogue, and their scenes, I'm sure it would be far more fun and wondrous than some drab text. Unless I want to do some real deep canon rummaging, I shouldn't have to rely on a secondary source.

 

[Druckles]

The fact that you're still here shows evidently it works.

I wouldn't ever spend my time on a Halo forum. Merely because I know all the answers (or at least could find them out)

 

[Absinthe]

I'm here because I have an insatiable desire to know. Not because I find it to be a pleasing experience.

It can be, but that doesn't change my general assertion that it would be better if handled more in-game.

 

[Druckles]

I think the answer will come in time Mr Absinthe... Time...

 

[Absinthe]

I can only hope.

 

[Druckles]

They're not going to just not put any of the answers in. If they don't, they'll lose alot of their audience. I think how they're doing it at the moment is almost perfect.