What WAS the G-Man doing at Black Mesa?

[el Chi]

It's pretty fair to say that, despite his snazzy briefcase, his...employers... were not BMRF and it's very unlikely that, despite his name, he was working for the government.

So who wanted to cover it all up? The govt certainly did, as the sent in the troops, who not only tried to wipe out anything and anyone, but also planted a nuke.
However the G-Man restarted it after Shepherd turned it off, so if he wasn't from the govt, what were his (or rather his employers) vested interests in destroying Black Mesa?

The G-Man was also, or so it seems, encouraging the test at BMRF to go ahead so what did he have to gain from that? Perhaps he deliberately the control of Xen, seeing as at the end of HL1 he remarks about how Xen is "in our control" which of course begs who "our" refers to.

But who would want Xen? It's an extremely important area - it's the last stand of the Nihilanth's subjects; it's the slingshot for Eli's teleportation tech; the Combine used it to get through to Earth; it's the border world - clearly there's more dimensional significance to it than simply a passage to Earth.

So did Freeman unwittingly help the Combine to conquer Xen? This would make the "our" a reference to the Combine, and the G-Man's employers would be the Combine too, but this seems somewhat unlikely as this would mean he turns on them pretty sharply in HL2.
If he was never working for the government, then he can't have meant that it's in human control either and there's no way it was back in the hands of the Xenians. It's also highly unlikely that he himself is in control of Xen.
It's got to be true that he is now longer bound to his employers, whoever they may have been over the course of HL1.

Oh he's a puzzle wrapped in a shadow wrapped in an enigma alright.

[AHA-Lambda]

The G-Man was also, or so it seems, encouraging the test at BMRF to go ahead so what did he have to gain from that?

Some think he tried to stop it actually as some people tried to make out what he was saying with the scientist in the beginning and it seemed he wanted them to stop.

So who wanted to cover it all up? The govt certainly did, as the sent in the troops, who not only tried to wipe out anything and anyone, but also planted a nuke.

I think the GMan also had a hand in sending the troops because hewas at the boot camp damn you gearbox messing up HL canon!

[el Chi]

Some think he tried to stop it actually as some people tried to make out what he was saying with the scientist in the beginning and it seemed he wanted them to stop.
I thought in that conversation you could (barely) hear him adminstering the smackdown and telling the scientist to just do his job and not question the test?

I think the GMan also had a hand in sending the troops because hewas at the boot camp damn you gearbox messing up HL canon!
Yeah in retrospect that doesn't make much sense at all.

[Rim-Fire]

Scientist to the g-man:
"I have told you a thousand times, I am opposed to pushing the equipment beyond its safe levels"
I think the g-man was orgainising the events of the Black Mesa Incident for the benefit of his then current employers.

[AHA-Lambda]

Yes but there is also these:

* "We should not let the system commence."

* "If I had wondered why I'd chosen him, I would certainly..."

* "My employers don't agree!"

* "You're a scientist, and a fraud. Back off."

[Gordon-Shepherd]

[QUOTE=AHA-Lambda;2133339 I think the GMan also had a hand in sending the troops because hewas at the boot camp damn you gearbox messing up HL canon![/QUOTE]

no no no no nooooo. all he did was send good old Adrian into the advanced training. it seems quite obvious that he knows the troops are going to be sent in and he wanted ade to be one of them, for the same reason he wanted gordon to be his main subject.

[Samon]

We'll finally be getting the answer to that in Episode 2, I'm sure.


However, Valve said recently that the Gman used the events of Black Mesa to transform Gordon into his tool.

[Oppressor]

We'll finally be getting the answer to that in Episode 2, I'm sure.

They're obliged to reveal more about him! :D
But at the same time, I don't want Valve to reveal to much about his character. The mystery surrounding him makes the story very interesting in my oppinion

[Rim-Fire]

Yes but there is also these:

* "We should not let the system commence."

* "If I had wondered why I'd chosen him, I would certainly..."

* "My employers don't agree!"

* "You're a scientist, and a fraud. Back off."
Those are very fuzzy and most could be intereperated in many ways. The scientist's is much clearer and it's meaning is more obvious and doesn't need the context that the g-man's do.

[el Chi]

However, Valve said recently that the Gman used the events of Black Mesa to transform Gordon into his tool.
Yeah, but I'd be incredibly surprised if he orchestrated/encouraged the resonance cascade in order to transform Gordon. It's far more likely he saw what Gordon was doing and saw him as useful.

[function9]

It seemed like a competition to me. To see which one was more "successful" according to his terms. While Gordon might have proved himself to be a bit more "worthy", Adrian could still be a viable backup plan in worse case scenario.

[Rim-Fire]

Yeah, but I'd be incredibly surprised if he orchestrated/encouraged the resonance cascade in order to transform Gordon. It's far more likely he saw what Gordon was doing and saw him as useful.
I agree. I think that the main objective was the seizure of Xen. Everything else was just an extra.

[Jintor]

I just want to know who was employing him.

A more maniglent force than even the Combine?

[Acepilotf14]

The Vortigaunts!

[Rim-Fire]

The Combine!

[Rizzo]

It's obvious that Eli knows more then he's telling.

[AHA-Lambda]

Maybe Race X hired him! *head asplodes!*

[Atomic_Piggy]

OMG! Thats so my theory now! *Assplodes, this time actaully at the ass, for the second time in my history, with AHA-Lambda.*

[Darkside55]

Yeah, but I'd be incredibly surprised if he orchestrated/encouraged the resonance cascade in order to transform Gordon. It's far more likely he saw what Gordon was doing and saw him as useful.
I agree. I think that the main objective was the seizure of Xen. Everything else was just an extra.
Indeed. Gordon caught his eye solely because of what he was achieving. To the G-man, who was moving about the facility overseeing these events take place and noticing Freeman popping up in these places and accomplishing these incredible feats, he was probably thinking, "Who IS this guy? I better keep my eye on him."

If the G-man was watching anyone from the get-go it was Adrian Shephard. I believe he was planning great things for him, but switched focus to Freeman.

But who would want Xen? It's an extremely important area - it's the last stand of the Nihilanth's subjects; it's the slingshot for Eli's teleportation tech; the Combine used it to get through to Earth; it's the border world - clearly there's more dimensional significance to it than simply a passage to Earth.
"Bottleneck for interdimensional travel." Which means that it's the gateway between all dimensions, despite the fact that you can get around it without going through it (as the Combine did). Whoever holds it basically has an express pass to other worlds, other universes. There's no one who wouldn't want Xen.

It's also a very scenic travel destination.

As for employers...I'm still going to say it's an unknown 4th party. It probably wasn't humans, wasn't the Combine (they didn't even know about the place, otherwise they could've punched right into it), and I highly doubt it was the vortigaunts. If anything he was acting on behalf of some party whose ambitions happened to coincide with his own. None of the aforementioned parties, save for perhaps humans, would fit that description. (Bear in mind I'm assuming that his goals don't involve the annihilation/subjugation of the human race [Combine] or the liberation of a species [vortigaunts])

[Rizzo]

Im with you on that 4th party thing Darkside.

[W4d5Y]

Yeah, but still it's weird to hear the gman talk about his employers in front of a scientist...So, maybe he knew that without the resonance cascade his job assignment wouldn't come to an end.
BUT! there IS a bit of information of what or who the employers might be...
So, think about the end of hl1: You can see human, deserted military tech, imbedded in a blast pit under the xenian sky. Though I don't know wether the sight of a defeated army bears great success, but never the less it implies that there was a fight on Xen, and that the human race invaded Xen. The blast pit doesn't really look like Xen, more like the desert surrounding Blakc Mesa, but the sky is Xenian. So, if the gman states, that Xen is in 'our' controle I believe he means his employers, cause I couldn't imagine he'd say 'thx to u, Xen is in *their* controle', i believe it'd simply sound stupid.
So, we also mustn't forget what the gman actually does...He is an agent, working for several parties, distributing Gordon's services (no, not blowjobs) and following the needs of the highest bidder. Tho I wonder what to pay with, in a business that's about planets and dimensions.
So, maybe in fact a human organization had some relations to the gman. But that again wouldn't make sense, coz tho u see human military scattered along the borderworld, there's no point that military forces actually made it to Xen.
So, maybe the gman's employers is in fact someone else...
Brief question: The Portal storms, they ended with the death of the nihilanth, right? I mean, how come they still are life and active during HL2 if there's nothing that would hold them open? I always thought the Nihilianth was the once force that tried to let his passeants flee to earth, or something...tho the vorts were under combine controle, due to their suits and their mechanical origin, according to wikipedia..
WELL; THIS MAKES NO SENSE, NARBIE

[Samon]

The Combine had nothing to do with the Resonance cascade, so that rules them out.

[AHA-Lambda]

Brief question: The Portal storms, they ended with the death of the nihilanth, right? I mean, how come they still are life and active during HL2 if there's nothing that would hold them open? I always thought the Nihilianth was the once force that tried to let his passeants flee to earth, or something...tho the vorts were under combine controle, due to their suits and their mechanical origin, according to wikipedia..
WELL; THIS MAKES NO SENSE, NARBIE

Some believe that the portal storms begun as a result of nihilanth's death they didn't stop. Remember the resonance cascade and the portal storms are 2 different things.

[Jintor]

Question: Is the Resonance Cascade considered only the initial portal-creation explosions caused by the Xenian Crystals screwing with the Anti-Mass Spectometer, and thus followed by a series of Portal Storms, or is the Resonance Cascade everything up to the death of the Nihilanth and everything afterwards Portal Storms?

[W4d5Y]

er...
Well, someone MUST have had some interest in the dimensional breach...The nihilanth probably wanted to settle on new ground, having already fled from his home world, persued by the combine, Breen initialized the cascade as promised to the synth, the gman might have had his hands in it....
About the vorts clothing, I think maybe they're wearing that green stuff cause the combine already once managed to capture them...But again, as we see on Xenian enviroment, they ARE slaves... but judging to their anatomy, they are biogicaly related to the nihilanth, what again bears the question why he should exploit them. Or rather, who is the one who could better exploit them than the combine themself? I mean, if your entire race is in jeopardy, you wouldn't bother letting your peseants work in some mine or something. So the Xenian tech is probably a surviving part of transcombine technology, but as for the Vorts behaviour I don't understand why they'd be forced to invade earth if they knew it was only for their own good...Maybe again, they struggled to let the combine invade another planet? Cause they always act so wise, I bet they'd know, that if they opened a portal to earth but the combine managed to follow them there, they'd probably waste it all, cause another race would be defeated as well. But the nihilanth really looks inteligent enough to realize that...So why would the vorts be slaves, if they just barely managed to flee their own homeworld???
I think portal storms is concidered what happened between BM and the 7-hour war. 7-hour war was a direct intervention by the synth empire, while Breen initialized what was necessary- the resonance cascade, that was only followed by an invasion of the Xen, that was a minor event compared what was to follow.
Also you should note that the whole hl-story is always building upon a greater evil. Therefore the Xen invasion was mere necessity, and the subsequent assault by the synth was a complete Anihilation, so the Xen invasion probably wasn't meant as an invasion, cause from a storytelling-point, we'd already have our greatest evil, right?

[Remus]

Question: Is the Resonance Cascade considered only the initial portal-creation explosions caused by the Xenian Crystals screwing with the Anti-Mass Spectometer, and thus followed by a series of Portal Storms, or is the Resonance Cascade everything up to the death of the Nihilanth and everything afterwards Portal Storms?

That's what the Resonance Cascade is. Happy now?

[Jintor]

Quite.

[Samon]

The portal storms were forced even wider by the Combine.

[bigburpco]

OMG! Thats so my theory now! *Assplodes, this time actaully at the ass, for the second time in my history, with AHA-Lambda.*

I am honored. :D

[Darkside55]

Answered already but just to reiterate:

Resonance cascade: caused by crystal placed in anti-mass spectrometer. If I'm not mistaken sending that satellite into orbit in the first game stopped the cascade effect. Every portal opened after that was at the Nihilanth's direction.

Portal storms: caused by killing the Nihilanth and releasing his energies.

BUT! there IS a bit of information of what or who the employers might be...
So, think about the end of hl1: You can see human, deserted military tech, imbedded in a blast pit under the xenian sky. Though I don't know wether the sight of a defeated army bears great success, but never the less it implies that there was a fight on Xen, and that the human race invaded Xen. The blast pit doesn't really look like Xen, more like the desert surrounding Blakc Mesa, but the sky is Xenian. So, if the gman states, that Xen is in 'our' controle I believe he means his employers, cause I couldn't imagine he'd say 'thx to u, Xen is in *their* controle', i believe it'd simply sound stupid.
So, we also mustn't forget what the gman actually does...He is an agent, working for several parties, distributing Gordon's services (no, not blowjobs) and following the needs of the highest bidder. Tho I wonder what to pay with, in a business that's about planets and dimensions.
So, maybe in fact a human organization had some relations to the gman. But that again wouldn't make sense, coz tho u see human military scattered along the borderworld, there's no point that military forces actually made it to Xen.
So, maybe the gman's employers is in fact someone else...

As you said, there's nothing that says the military ever made it to Xen. What the G-man was showing Gordon might have happened, or it might've been a hallucination, showing him images of things that didn't happen or hadn't happened yet.

About his employers, it's my belief that the G-man only had ONE set of employers at the time. He wasn't an "agent to several parties." While of course Valve might've decided to change the plot between HL and HL2, going by what Half-Life says it's evident that the G-man works for someone else on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. Nothing coincides with that theory more than the fact that the G-man had to ask permission to hire Gordon. Were he freelance it wouldn't have been up to ANYONE whether he should hire Gordon or not. He would've just done so.

And also bear in mind that at the end of HL2 he remarks that he ordinarily wouldn't accept offers for Gordon's services, whether he meant certain services or from certain parties is unclear, but it means that he's not a completely free agent. And despite what Breen said about Gordon's contract being open to the highest bidder, I've said before there's no evidence that the rebels paid anything for him, or that the Combine could've hired him even if they wanted to.

I think the G-man still has permanent employers. He's on a leash by someone, somewhere. You just know he's an intermediary, and that there are more players in the game than who we've seen thus far.

[el Chi]

Nah, I think the G-Man realised what a valuable asset and thus bargaining chip Freeman was and ditched his employers quick-smart and is now a rogue agent.
I don't happen to like the way he works, but by God does he get results.

[Rim-Fire]

wasn't the Combine (they didn't even know about the place, otherwise they could've punched right into it)
Maybe they couldn't for whatever reason. Weren't you arguing in another thread that the Combine can't teleport to Earth now that the citadel's reactors are down? If the same principal applies to Xen then perhaps they couldn't go to Xen without some gigantic dementional anomaly occuring using their teleportation technology.

The Combine had nothing to do with the Resonance cascade, so that rules them out.
That statement makes no sense. You basicly just said that the Combine had nothing to do with the resonance cascade because the Combine had nothing to do with the resonance cascade.

[Samon]

Yes, well done.

[Rim-Fire]

Yes, well done.
You make my head hurt.

[Darkside55]

Maybe they couldn't for whatever reason. Weren't you arguing in another thread that the Combine can't teleport to Earth now that the citadel's reactors are down? If the same principal applies to Xen then perhaps they couldn't go to Xen without some gigantic dementional anomaly occuring using their teleportation technology.
It's entirely possible. But initially, they couldn't have known where Xen was because they would've been bombarding it constantly. So the portal storms drew their eye to Xen and Earth. From there they ended up making the portal storms wider, as Samon mentioned already. Now the question is whether they could've gotten there simply by knowing the location, or if they NEEDED the storms, as you say.

The thing with their citadels...it put a damper on their ability to reach Earth. Some kind of anti-teleport barrier, I suppose?

Dr. Mossman stated they can tunnel into our universe from theirs, and we know that all their teleport tech works that way (which is why I use the word "punch" so often when I describe the Combine's teleportation; they're punching a hole in space and going through to another area of space). I'm going to assume that they're able to do that anywhere and everywhere as long as they have coordinates. It's just that they were drawn in by the massive energies of the portal storms.

That being said, here's an interesting thing to ponder: Combine portals go universe-to-universe. Xen's a dimensional border world. Even when the portal storms were in effect, the Combine never set foot on Xen (as far as we know). And for an empire that can chase the Xenians around for who-knows-how-many years, for them to suddenly drop off the radar? Not likely. Maybe the Combine CAN'T get to Xen with their technology, PERIOD. Even in the best case scenario, maybe they just...can't get there.

[Jintor]

to ponder: Combine portals go universe-to-universe. Xen's a dimensional border world. Even when the portal storms were in effect, the Combine never set foot on Xen (as far as we know). And for an empire that can chase the Xenians around for who-knows-how-many years, for them to suddenly drop off the radar? Not likely. Maybe the Combine CAN'T get to Xen with their technology, PERIOD. Even in the best case scenario, maybe they just...can't get there.

Lol, Plot Barrier?

[Mr. McLost]

We'll finally be getting the answer to that in Episode 2, I'm sure.


However, Valve said recently that the Gman used the events of Black Mesa to transform Gordon into his tool.

This leads to MY theory. Although i havent(sadly) been able to play HL2 as of yet, i feel Valve has a Solid Snake thing going on here. Gman used Black Mesa as a proving grounds for Freeman/Shephard whilst accomplishing other goals for his employers, although proving Freeman's/Shephard's worth was one of his objectives.

Of course G also had his hands in many a cookie jar as far as the Xen race go.
Do i think the Combine were his employers at the time of HL1?
-Nope. I think the US Gov. were his employers, for whatever reason they had a bone to pick with the Xen race, hence the inter-dimensional research at BM and the subsequent killing of big N, the head honcho of Xen/final boss of HL1.

DoI believe that the Combine took control of the USG in the 10 to 20 years of Freeman's/Shephard's(not confirmed for Ade, but as far as we know, hes been detained since Freeman went to Xen) and COMBINEd they're powers to rule over Earth, but in turn caused G to pull a 180 and FIGHT his former employers turned tools of alien invaders?

First off, that was a mouthfull. And yes, that is what i believe happened to G's employer's. The Combine took over Xen, used the portals from Xen to enter Earth, then took over the largest military power in the world: United States, G's former employer's. They then COMBINEd their power and have since then utilized US military battalions to form transhuman warriors, etc, and so forth.


Thats my theory on the direction of the story in a nutshell.

[function9]

You make my head hurt.
He makes my potty tingle. :O
First off, that was a mouthfull. And yes, that is what i believe happened to G's employer's. The Combine took over Xen, used the portals from Xen to enter Earth, then took over the largest military power in the world: United States, G's former employer's. They then COMBINEd their power and have since then utilized US military battalions to form transhuman warriors, etc, and so forth.So the 7 hour war was staged? Also if the US military power was still intact to some degree and were working along side the Combine, why would they turn it all over to a civilian (Breen)?

[Mr. McLost]

He makes my potty tingle. :O
So the 7 hour war was staged? Also if the US military power was still intact to some degree and were working along side the Combine, why would they turn it all over to a civilian (Breen)?

I can tell you why Breen is running things, but the 7 hour war doesnt have to be staged. It happened, supposedly. There isnt any proof except that basically breen negotiated the Earth's inhabitant's lives at the stake of their freedom, correct? Thats supposedly why Breen is running things, and he is most likely was put in that position to negotiate because of his involvement in BM's interdimensional research. Maybe he helped the Combine gain access to Earth/Xen? Maybe the Combine contacted him after the events of teh resonance cascade?

Besides, there is good evidence the transhuman overwatch members you fight are Army 7th Cav., look at the similarites between the combine arm patches and the 7th Cav's. There isnt enough information to tell exactly HOW the combine took control in 7 hours. Not only that, they could have overrun the goverment and started stockpiling the transhumans before the main invasion took place. It would also make more sense if large battalions of US Army and Marine personel were doing the invading as Combine transhumans instead of resistance fighters.

This is all speculation though. Which is fine, discussions like this are exactly why Valve made the storyline so mix and match.

[Samon]

I'm pretty sure the Gov were not the employers of the Gman, not in the least. It just isn't plausible, and the Combine are not the 7th cav. And they didn't take over the US government either. They attacked the human race as a whole, they didn't pick a specific government.

[Jintor]

Haha, Combine = Terrorists.

Specific government theory ftw! :D

[W4d5Y]

Don't let Bush or Rumsie - ~thank god he isn't in charge anymore~- read this, or they'll start throwing bombs onto other countries XDXD
as for Breen's involvement in the cascade, I was always pretty convinced the whole Black Mesa incident was one shit **** thing of an inside job. For the most part it serves the story coz VALVe wanted to create a conspiracy surrounding the events of Black Mesa. So Breen definately was aware that he'd bring the antimass-spectrometer to overcharge, so eventually the combine would fall in -also, maybe the combine got the coordinates from Breen, cause the BLack Mesa personel was very aware of the existence of Xen. So, taking into account that everything in the canon originally has had some sort of purpose or intention of parties and doesn't just happen as a coincidence ('oh lookie! Our beloved Xenians...now we can enslave them once again! heyhey, waht'S taht?!?! Another planet!? Let's ask the guy who is responsible for this wether he turns over controle of his homeworld to us. -Oh yeah, that would be cool, and I could get home for lunch before the interdimensional enslavement conference starts.') you know, if the resonance cascade were in fact an accident it wouldn't fit the story. Also, the incident looks like a planned invasion from the beginning on -Why would have all the vortigaunts and headcrabs teleported in so immediately after the cascade?? Huh?? HUH???!

[Rim-Fire]

This leads to MY theory. Although i havent(sadly) been able to play HL2 as of yet, i feel Valve has a Solid Snake thing going on here. Gman used Black Mesa as a proving grounds for Freeman/Shephard whilst accomplishing other goals for his employers, although proving Freeman's/Shephard's worth was one of his objectives.

Of course G also had his hands in many a cookie jar as far as the Xen race go.
Do i think the Combine were his employers at the time of HL1?
-Nope. I think the US Gov. were his employers, for whatever reason they had a bone to pick with the Xen race, hence the inter-dimensional research at BM and the subsequent killing of big N, the head honcho of Xen/final boss of HL1.

DoI believe that the Combine took control of the USG in the 10 to 20 years of Freeman's/Shephard's(not confirmed for Ade, but as far as we know, hes been detained since Freeman went to Xen) and COMBINEd they're powers to rule over Earth, but in turn caused G to pull a 180 and FIGHT his former employers turned tools of alien invaders?

First off, that was a mouthfull. And yes, that is what i believe happened to G's employer's. The Combine took over Xen, used the portals from Xen to enter Earth, then took over the largest military power in the world: United States, G's former employer's. They then COMBINEd their power and have since then utilized US military battalions to form transhuman warriors, etc, and so forth.


Thats my theory on the direction of the story in a nutshell.
So do you think that the g-man is human? Or that he was an alien under contract with the government? Either way I doubt that any humans where his employers.

[Darkside55]

Do i think the Combine were his employers at the time of HL1?
-Nope. I think the US Gov. were his employers, for whatever reason they had a bone to pick with the Xen race, hence the inter-dimensional research at BM and the subsequent killing of big N, the head honcho of Xen/final boss of HL1.
Couple flaws with that. First off, Black Mesa isn't a government-run facility. It's private sector. While Black Mesa receives government grants and--due to the nature of the research--has a good amount of pull with the government and the military, the government has no say in what kind of research is conducted there. Secondly, even assuming they did, there's zero evidence that the government knew about Xen...even a shadow government's knowledge of the borderworld would be implausible. The scientists themselves had no idea up until they stumbled upon it.

That being said the G-man himself had knowledge of Xen, likely prior to Black Mesa.

And yes, that is what i believe happened to G's employer's. The Combine took over Xen, used the portals from Xen to enter Earth, then took over the largest military power in the world: United States, G's former employer's. They then COMBINEd their power and have since then utilized US military battalions to form transhuman warriors, etc, and so forth.
Again, nothing says the Combine have reached Xen. In fact the entire reason they spared us was because they require our teleport technology--which, at least in this dimension, requires Xen. If they had that, they would've just killed us off.

As for the absorption of the United States military, you're half-right. After the Combine smashed the armies of the world, some soldiers who were spared (along with numerous civilians) voluntarily joined the ranks of the Overwatch. So while the Combine didn't exactly integrate our military into their empire, soldiers from the world's militaries did find their way into the Combine machine.

And to echo Riomhaire I seriously cannot see the G-man working under the employ of humans. While I personally believe the G-man is human, and is working in the interest of humanity, it's very unlikely that his mysterious employers from the first game were human beings.

[Mr. McLost]

I'm pretty sure the Gov were not the employers of the Gman, not in the least. It just isn't plausible, and the Combine are not the 7th cav. And they didn't take over the US government either. They attacked the human race as a whole, they didn't pick a specific government.


What says they ARENT? There is more evidence supporting this theory than there is evidence denying it. OVerwatch soldiers are well versed in military procedures and firearms, work well in teams, the arm patches are identical save for a difference color. Not only that, what Freeman sees is only a small part of the modern Earth. Theres nothing saying that overwatch in City 17 is whats left of 7th Cav, in Europe you have transhuman royal marines, etc.

Darkside: Im not saying the combine still has control of Xen. Rather i should say they attempted to invade Xen, failed or were possibly just shut out. Im sure Xen civilization has more of an understanding of what they're planet can do. Then say the Combine found out little ole Earth has a rip in the seam, and subsequently is a habitble planet. Go to earth, invade, capture, start working on Xen again. < Just my thoughts on the whole story.

I dont see how they would require our technology though. They have mastered intergalactic and interdimensional space travel, yet in the time frame the farthest a human has traveled without teleporting is the moon. I still see the COmbine's interest in Earth is another way of gaining access to Xen and harvesting Earth's resources.

[function9]

I can tell you why Breen is running things, but the 7 hour war doesnt have to be staged. It happened, supposedly. There isnt any proof except that basically breen negotiated the Earth's inhabitant's lives at the stake of their freedom, correct? Thats supposedly why Breen is running things, and he is most likely was put in that position to negotiate because of his involvement in BM's interdimensional research. Maybe he helped the Combine gain access to Earth/Xen? Maybe the Combine contacted him after the events of teh resonance cascade?
But seeing the events that took place in HL1, I don't see how if the military is already in agreement with the Combine wouldn't want anything to do with someone from Black Mesa.


I dont see how they would require our technology though. They have mastered intergalactic and interdimensional space travel, yet in the time frame the farthest a human has traveled without teleporting is the moon. I still see the COmbine's interest in Earth is another way of gaining access to Xen and harvesting Earth's resources.In BME when you first meet Mossman, she explains how the Combine on Earth have to rely on "traditional" means of transportation (can't remember the exact quote). The resistance has the technology of local teleporting. It uses a Xen relay, I would imagine if the Combine were to get ahold of the tech, they might be able to get to Xen.

[Mr. McLost]

^ I dont think the US gov. and combine was an agreement, more of a forceful takeover that led to the combine utilizing the military.

I havent played HL2 yet, didnt know that about the combine. As far as teleportation tech, i think they already have it, they just want Earth because of what the resonance cascaded did in opening a seam between earth and Xen

[Darkside55]

"They Combine can tunnel through from their own universe, but once they're here they're reliant on local transportation." The Combine can't get to Xen without Earth's technology. In fact, truth be told the Combine's teleporters SUCK compared to ours. They're massive, require huge reactor cores and lots of time to activate, and can only go from universe to universe. From there, they gotta take the bus.

Teleporters built by humans, in contrast, run on much less power in comparison, can breach the dimensional wall, and can teleport things around in local space...point A to point B anywhere on Earth. Anywhere on Xen too for that matter.

You need to get the game, my friend. Explains all this stuff. :)

[Acepilotf14]

What is a guy who hasn't played HL2 doing on this site?
I agree with darkside.

[function9]

"They Combine can tunnel through from their own universe, but once they're here they're reliant on local transportation." The Combine can't get to Xen without Earth's technology. In fact, truth be told the Combine's teleporters SUCK compared to ours. They're massive, require huge reactor cores and lots of time to activate, and can only go from universe to universe. From there, they gotta take the bus...
Ah, thank you kind sir.

I agree, Mr. McLost you definitely need to play through HL2. :D

[Rim-Fire]

"They Combine can tunnel through from their own universe, but once they're here they're reliant on local transportation." The Combine can't get to Xen without Earth's technology. In fact, truth be told the Combine's teleporters SUCK compared to ours. They're massive, require huge reactor cores and lots of time to activate, and can only go from universe to universe. From there, they gotta take the bus.

Teleporters built by humans, in contrast, run on much less power in comparison, can breach the dimensional wall, and can teleport things around in local space...point A to point B anywhere on Earth. Anywhere on Xen too for that matter.

You need to get the game, my friend. Explains all this stuff. :)
But the Combine's teleporters aren't reliant on Xen. We don't even know if it's possible for human teleporters to go to any world besides Xen (and I'd bet if they could, they'd have to go through Xen to get there)

[AHA-Lambda]

OMG! Thats so my theory now! *Assplodes, this time actaully at the ass, for the second time in my history, with AHA-Lambda.*

I am honored. :D

I am honoured too :)

[Darkside55]

But the Combine's teleporters aren't reliant on Xen. We don't even know if it's possible for human teleporters to go to any world besides Xen (and I'd bet if they could, they'd have to go through Xen to get there)
I suppose that could be considered a pro for the Combine teleporters, but they're still large and linear in the way they can travel.

And you're right about humans going to other worlds; it'd only be from Xen, which is why everyone wants it. Laidlaw calling it a bottleneck suggests that anyone who uses that specific manner of teleportation (entanglement?) will ultimately end up on Xen when trying to teleport too far, which makes it like a hub between worlds. The Combine can bypass that hub entirely, cross over into parallel universes by brute-forcing it (the sheer power of their teleporters!), but it means that they can't go back to the hub and get off at another "stop" on the world they're on.

[Citadel]

I think that as a few people have mentioned the G-man was using Black Mesa as a proving ground for Adrian Shepard however when he realized the potential in Freeman he pitted the two survivors together. The G-man may or may not have implemented some of the troops into the Black Mesa Facility but if he did it is likely that he was going to make any of the troops his tool but Shepard was by far the most capable so he focused his efforts into perfecting Shepards skills, making him fight the Xen wildlife.

However then Gordon came into the picture, a simple scientist that had never even thought about touching a weapon before (apart from the tennis ball shooter he developed when he was 6 ;) ) and there he was killing Xen creatures with ease. (Well if the player was good at the game anyway) So was Shepard. So the G-man switched his gaze to both of them and as the soldiers were also told to kill any scientists, Shepard included, it would seem fitting to have them pitted against each other. In fact in Opposing Force you even get a chance to shoot Freeman. Unfortunately you can't kill him of course. This implies that Shepard wasn't as capable as Gordon and proved a fatal mistake perhaps.

Then Freeman continues to enter Xen and destroy the Nihillanth as well as escape Black Mesa. Yet Shepard in comparison achieves little. This may have been one of the causes for the g-man putting him in "suspended animation." So Gordon was chosen as the tool G-man would use to his advantage. Whatever this advantage may be of course is unknown.

I don't doubt though that the G-man orchestrated the resonance cascade to test Gordon's skills. He may have somehow for seen the Combine coming but it would be slightly stupid to trigger the event that allows the Combine to invade earth just to see how the person you've chosen to stop them with. It seems a little too far fetched. I don't think he triggered the Resonance Cascade for the purpose of testing Sheaprd and/or Freeman but I think it is initially possible that he tried to stop it to prevent the Combine from coming to earth. Shepard was there for a backup and Freeman was another backup he eventually put to his use.

So I think the only reason Shepard and the G-man were at Black Mesa was because the G-man was simply testing his skills for some event or person. Then because Freeman seemed so much more of a potential, planetary saver he chose Freeman and not his initial choice Shepard, for his gains. I have no ideas what his gains are or who his employers are/were but it seems likely that he needed somebody to stop a disaster and these two men were the people he wanted to do it.

Then the combine arrived and so the story begins. He awakens Freeman and sets him to stop the Combine. I don't believe that the resistance hired him as such but the G-man for some unknown reason has chosen to help the resistance.

Maybe then because the G-man was accepting offers for Gordons services, maybe even the the combine because he had been persuaded by them to "see it there way" that is he reason for the kidnapping of Gordon by the Vortigaunts in episode one. Who knows? Raise your hands. :p