Half-Life Story Explanations (Spoilers)

[nick_t]

I just finished HL2, and absolutely loved it. It's just that I didn't totally get the whole story. I tried to be very observant and find information from everything around me but I still don't entirely understand what happened since the end of HL1! So can you guys please help me out?

This is what I do know:
- G-Man "hired" Gordon at the end of HL1
- the combine conquered Earth in a 7 hour war
- the combine soldiers are humans (but somehow modified/enhanced)

This is what I dont get:
- why is Gordon on a train and going to city 17 in the beginning? (i'm guessing its the same train as in the end of HL1)
- what exactly is city 17? (im guessing all cities on earth (or at least the ones conquered) have been given a numerical number and are slowly being taken over by a combine citadel)
- who are the Combine and what are they up to? (i guess they are aliens which need earth for its resources/power. they have modiefied humans to be subservient and rule other non-modified humans)
- who is the G-man? (i guess he is Donald Trump's brother because he finds the right person for the right job)

Thanks for reading my questions and can you please help me fill in the gaps?
:cheers:

[Mr. Redundant]

I just finished HL2, and absolutely loved it. It's just that I didn't totally get the whole story. I tried to be very observant and find information from everything around me but I still don't entirely understand what happened since the end of HL1! So can you guys please help me out?

This is what I do know:
- G-Man "hired" Gordon at the end of HL1
- the combine conquered Earth in a 7 hour war
- the combine soldiers are humans (but somehow modified/enhanced)

This is what I dont get:
- why is Gordon on a train and going to city 17 in the beginning? (i'm guessing its the same train as in the end of HL1)
- what exactly is city 17? (im guessing all cities on earth (or at least the ones conquered) have been given a numerical number and are slowly being taken over by a combine citadel)
- who are the Combine and what are they up to? (i guess they are aliens which need earth for its resources/power. they have modiefied humans to be subservient and rule other non-modified humans)
- who is the G-man? (i guess he is Donald Trump's brother because he finds the right person for the right job)

Thanks for reading my questions and can you please help me fill in the gaps?
:cheers:


1. you end on a tram in Hl1, the train in Hl2 is just where the G-man put you, where he needed you to be.

2. city 17 is home of administration, where the citidel resides and where Breen is handing earth to the combine.

3.yep pretty much, at least thats what I thought too.

an alien race coming to earth, dominating it like it did other planets, and absorbing the useful species of the planet into it's order to increase it's forces. Decimating all life that would not conform, or was not useful/could not be used for resources.

the people know full well what is going on, Breen is being diplomatic he would rather conform and die, and in his wayward thinking wants to "save" humanity, resistance fighters would rather die than be immortal and live forever as mere shells doing the bidding of the combine.

4. The g-man is still as mysterious as ever, all we know is that he is pulling the strings for his "employers" what purpous he serves is anyone's guess.

[seinfeldrules]

- the combine conquered Earth in a 7 hour war


I missed that. Where was that revealed?

[Samon]

It was revealed on that clipboard in Eli's lab, along with portal storm continues

[nick_t]

Thanks a lot Mr. Redundant! That clears things up.

[koopa]

We know the G-Man has the power to stop time (assuming time really stops, and not just a trick played on Gordon's mind). It also seems that he can appear in the world, and possibly materialise and dematerialise as well. Does anyone know if the G-Man actually interacts with anybody else in the world, or is it possible that those appearances are only in Gordon's head? What else do we know the G-Man can do?

[EVIL]

seriously, I doubt the 7 hour war was againt the humans, it does not make sence. an inteligent lifeform doesn't come blasting on a planet ala independance day. They come in pease to help suppress the content that the portal storm brought: hazardus creatures on eart (wich makes sence why the antlions are so adapted). and stab humanity in their backs (finding a back door) it seems more logical the combine helped us to fight the xen aliens, also makes more sence why dr breen is on their side, he is ignorant, he believes in forcing the next a colabiration with an alien force on humanity to be a good thing. he obviously does not see why the combine are bad. valve also said in the more recent interviews that dr breen is not really evil. he just believes in his own things, both eli and breen is wrong. but the combine have an obvious hidden agende, that is enslaving humanity and depletinh earth from their recources (explains the dried seabed and the stranded ships)

[nick_t]

seriously, I doubt the 7 hour war was againt the humans, it does not make sence. an inteligent lifeform doesn't come blasting on a planet ala independance day. They come in pease to help suppress the content that the portal storm brought: hazardus creatures on eart (wich makes sence why the antlions are so adapted). and stab humanity in their backs (finding a back door) it seems more logical the combine helped us to fight the xen aliens, also makes more sence why dr breen is on their side, he is ignorant, he believes in forcing the next a colabiration with an alien force on humanity to be a good thing. he obviously does not see why the combine are bad. valve also said in the more recent interviews that dr breen is not really evil. he just believes in his own things, both eli and breen is wrong. but the combine have an obvious hidden agende, that is enslaving humanity and depletinh earth from their recources (explains the dried seabed and the stranded ships)


yea thats a possiblity. but i think breen is so compliant with the combine because he thinks earth's resistance doesn't stand a chance. he thinks human defeat is inevitable so he might as well have good relations with the combine so humans in general at least get to live and are not totally wiped out (as they would be if they continue to resist).

[Irish_PSU]

I am not entirely certain what the Gman is up to, no one really knows. He is however Deus ex Machina defined. I will say he interacts with others though; I got a pic of him speaking with someone at the resistance camp before you drive in. See the pic.

[nick_t]

thanks irish, i saw that one too and it freaked me out. i believe he is definitely helping out earth... or is he one step ahead and trying to make you think that?

[Irish_PSU]

I think its hard to say what is exactly going on. It was said best in "Mothman Prophecies" when thinking of the Gman and Combine and the others "You're more advanced than a cockroach, have you ever tried explaining yourself to one of them?" Anything and everything the Gman and anyone else is doing may be WAY beyond what Freeman and the others can comprehend.

[TX WarHawk]

We can see him talking to people in HL1 and HL2. In HL1, talking to a scientist in the very beginning. In Opposing Force ( also in the beginning ) he was watching Shepard while he was doing training and at the same time talking to a military dude up there too. I don't remember seeing G-Man in BS, its been a long time now since I played it for the last time. And last, but DEFINITELY not least, G-Man was talking to that old resistance man in the coast ( the one who gives you the RPG :) )

After that last sighting, a guy's gotta ask himself if Gordon can trust the Resistance.

But this also leads me to think about what Breen said to Gordon in the Citadel and that Vortigaunt when leaving that same shelter where Gordon receives his RPG.

I mean, what the hell, Breen knows something about Gordon's past that the other scientists ( Eli and Kleinter ) and friends don't seem to know of, and then a Vortigaunt that talks about Gordon's darker past ( I'd say he means before HL1 ). What matters here is what Breen was going to say about his true past, maybe even his purpose in all this mess. Of course, that is something for HL3, it could be the biggest revelation for Gordon and the player himself, at least it will be for me :) , next to why G-Man doesn't buy new clothes.

[Zio]

I think Gmn owns Gordon, and the resistence, some higher ups, not necessarily Eli, Alyx, Barney, and Kleiner, but someone hire up knows Gman and hired Gordon, hence no one ask where he's been.
In the beginning of Half Life before the residence cascade, hell before you get the hazard suit, you can see Gman argueing with a scientist

[Muskrat]

I also remember seeing the Gman on the dam when you are in your airboat (the one you have to open the panel and jump through.) I tried to kill him for being so damn mysterious.

[FangsFirst]

yea thats a possiblity. but i think breen is so compliant with the combine because he thinks earth's resistance doesn't stand a chance. he thinks human defeat is inevitable so he might as well have good relations with the combine so humans in general at least get to live and are not totally wiped out (as they would be if they continue to resist).
There seemed to be a strong implication that he was headstrong/stubborn in his brainwashe-edness regarding the combine: either they forced him to believe, or, through some bizarre logic (in the same way that genocidal leaders come to their conclusions) decided they were "right" about humanity...

[Jesus Lincoln]

We know the G-Man has the power to stop time (assuming time really stops, and not just a trick played on Gordon's mind). It also seems that he can appear in the world, and possibly materialise and dematerialise as well. Does anyone know if the G-Man actually interacts with anybody else in the world, or is it possible that those appearances are only in Gordon's head? What else do we know the G-Man can do?


The 2nd time you see the Gman in hl1 he is talking to some guy behind glass

[koopa]

The 2nd time you see the Gman in hl1 he is talking to some guy behind glass
Yeah. For me the story breaks down a bit if you think of it as a conspiracy - that the G-Man is talking to all these guys and then plotting against just you. For me, it has to be that the G-Man infects all these people to help/hinder as he wants. It's like the whole thing is a gigantic test for Gordon. No idea what the point is still :)

[Asuka]

I see a lot of people are thinking the gman can stop time.

This is just a thought but give it a shot.

Think of it this way, that teleport that exploded with insane power. If you think about that kind of power maybe right when the explosion happened time shifted or froze as you and everyone get teleported to a unknown place.

[koopa]

Think of it this way, that teleport that exploded with insane power. If you think about that kind of power maybe right when the explosion happened time shifted or froze as you and everyone get teleported to a unknown place.
I suppose it's possible, but it does seem that the Gman comes and everything stops. Didn't he do the same trick in HL1, or am I misremembering that?

[Asuka]

I suppose it's possible, but it does seem that the Gman comes and everything stops. Didn't he do the same trick in HL1, or am I misremembering that?

No in hl1 you teleport to the train after you beat the boss.

[koopa]

No in hl1 you teleport to the train after you beat the boss.
Damn I suck. I could have sworn he stopped time at some point :(

[smsKONG]

It's all very cryptic- "Time, Mr Freeman"....
You can read it all in many ways, I would agree with the general consensus, but it's also possible that Gordon hasn't been totally inactive in the years leading upto the city17 events, maybe the past is your future or was erased from your mind, we won't know anymore for sure till the next game. And I get the feeling that even then we won't get all the answers, there's always a lot left to the imagination with these games, personally I love this as it gets you thinking. It's like the best films are the ones that leave you with questions and possibilities (eg Donnie Darko)

The combine war was definitely against humanity tho and now they use xen creatures to shepherd the flock, so to speak...

[[HL2G]VecTor]

What if the G-man is an alien but a different race than the combine & he has been sent to earth to recruit people to help his race defeat the combine? Perhaps his race has fell victim to the combine just like Earth & other planets.

[Mr. Redundant]

the G-man is obviously Neo in his old age.
swish.

I really can't wait to see how things unfold in the HL universe, its just as good as a brilliant book or movie (and in some cases even better)... HL is like the LOTR of gaming :D