Combine and Xen Connection (A long, Comprehensive Theory of evererything HL)

[Pai-Mei]

This is one thing that still perplexes me... one guy on one website once suggested that Xen was under Combine control and suddenly its the accepted theory.

People who disagree have been flamed to death because, and I jest not, "iz in teh manuil!!!!1"... a fate I most likely will meet soon.

That having been said, I used to believe that the Combine DID control Xen... the slavery, the Nihilanth, the alienness, the proximity of the game, and even argued such position it for a time, but I was eventually persuaded against it. I hope you will be as open minded as well, but nonetheless allow me to flesh out an argument AGAINST the idea that the Combine ever controlled Xen, and allow for some real constructive critiscism to my point and perhaps we can all look at things a little differently.

Arguments against the Combine/Xen Connection

1. Xen and the Combine controlled worlds look and feel completely different. Xen is organic... its defences are the very trees that grow and their weapons are either symbiotic creatures or a part of the individual who wields them. Most light on Xen is provided by living plants, there are countless indiginous races that have set up hierchies, from headcrabs to snarks to tentacles. Seren healing pools sanctuaries are everywhere, as is organic goo, organic lights, organic rocks... everything from local transportation to teleportation to the factories to their weapons seems to have a mystical organic feel to it in some way. Many of the very ground-platforms that make up Xen seem to be organic on some level of their own. The more advanced races seem to have a mystical feel about them, from a hive mind outside of time to the ability to teleport to a seeming lack of dependence on anything physical anymore.
Now take the Combine... they are rigidly and utterly dependent on machines. Everything from their Citadels to their soldiers to their weapons to their technology to their monitors to their own mechanical appendages has a very cold, dark-metal look to it. There seems no hint at a respect for that which is organic or mystical. Of course, the Synth are organic, at some level, but this can hardly be considered the same type of "organic." Look how they just hang on the walls, waiting to be repaired. They have wires running through them. Notice how they smoke when injured. Everything other what can only be called organic intelligence has been completely refitted with technology. The Combine follow a similar pattern to the other worlds they overtake. Look at humans... they have been turned into things that are hardly recognizable as people anymore. Their bodies flow with circuitry, artificial implants and electronic parts. As I said before, the synth are hardly organic anymore. Yet look at the Xenians... nearly everything about them remains unchanged. Other than a green collar or three, the Vortigaunts have nothing artificial on them at all. There appears to be no experimentation on them to make them better, more mechanical or dependent on technology. They were merely enslaved. When the Nihilanth dies, they all go free. How many transhumans do you think would go free if Breen were killed?
The exception to THIS observation, of course, is the Nihilanth. He's floating around on some hover-chair, has had extensive "surgery," (assuming he existed before the stitches), doesn't bear much resemblance to the Xen controllers, and just looks all around "modified."
Another exception could be the alien grunts. But notice that they use Hivehands, not machineguns and warpy-things like the comine. Their "armor" is actually a shell, not an artificial covering. All in all, I do not think that they are Combine-modified Vortigaunts. They do not show the resemblence of Combine tampering.

2. Where are the Combine on Xen? If they are controlling the Nihilanth, how are they doing it? I did not see any monitors and the Combine seem to be dependent on that level of physical communication. I saw no Synths on Xen, nor any evidence of anything Combine-like. Even the Xen factory seemed a lot more organic than the Citadel does. And those oil-pumpers... look at the textures on them. They seem to be grown (like bone) or otherwise a part of the whole Xen aura... not the cold metal or heartless presence of the combine.

3. The Combine do not know to use Xen for local teleportation. Mossman specifically states this right before you go down the elevator with her. Now, the Combine are VERY advanced. They do know some method of teleporting are seem to be much more adapt at the sciences than humans. Its hard to believe that a few humans in a lab somewheres have been able to set up a technology like that and the Combine haven't, unless the humans knew something that the Combine do not... the existance of Xen.

4. The Combine did not attack Earth until after well after the Nihilanth incident. I'm not sure how long, but we know that its long enough for most humans to move into cities and away from the bullsquids. Why wait this long? Why not attack right after their so-called Xen deployment forces 'failed'? Why not attack right when the Resonance cascade hit? Perhaps these events are not as coterminus as people would assume.

5. The Alien Controllers (Xen Masters) have no slave bonds. If Nihilanth needed green bonds and the Vortigaunts needed green bonds, why not the controllers? They seem to be the most powerful, I would assume that they would need the most tampering in order to stay loyal to the Combine.

6. Finally, take this quote from Raising the Bar...

Rather than fall under the dominion of the Combine, those Vortigaunts now stranded on Earth have joined with humans to fight for the freedom of all.

Fall under the dominion? Its not really proof, but the words chosen make me feel like the Vortigaunts were never under control of the Combine, they are merely in danger of being so in the future.


So now that I have attempted to shed the popular theory to shreds, I shall attempt to create a new one.

My comprehensive theory of Half-Life

-The background is what I think we all accept to be the case, that there are several alien "empires" out there trying to gain control of some of the more powerful dimensions. One of these is the G-Man's race, and one is the Combine.

-One of the more powerful dimensions is Xen. Controlling Xen would be a major benefit for any empire, as its inhabitants are powerful in many respects: physically, energy-wise, teleportation-wise, and they even seem to be wise in general. It would be EXTREMELY difficult to capture, as these strengths make it all the more resistant to capture. Currently, Xen is controlled by the Xen Masters, aka the "Alien Controllers." They created and use the Nihilanth to control the sentients in their dimension. The Nihilanth makes an already powerful race even harder to beat or control... we already know why. His presence also limits the ability of other races to teleport into Xen. You cannot blame the Xen Masters, though, for enslaving the Vortigaunts, as with everyone out ot control Xen, they're doing it only in the best interests of Mother Xen. They can create soldiers with the slaves and control, communicate with, and transport the soldiers ver effectively. Were the Nihilanth destroyed, Xen would be severly weakened.

-Another powerful dimension is Earth. With its strong, adaptable, creative inhabitants, tons of resources, and powerful weapons, Earth would be almost more difficult to take over than the benefits that would come from it.

-Humans begin to experiemnt with teleportation and wind up screwing around on Xen. The Xenians generally don't give a shit. We take their crystals, a few samples... nothing much. An explorer running around their factory taking pictures isn't really all that much of a threat. The G-Man and his race see an opportunity.

-The G-Man approaches Dr. Breen with the pure crystal that started the Resonance Cascade. Breen sees this as both a unique scientific possibility and was probably offered some kind of reward instead. I'm pretty sure that if you listen to the sound clips of him talking to that scientist at the beginning of the game, behind glass (near the 'wrong' air-lock), he says things like "You must proceed. You cannot get in the way. You do not know what is at stake here."

-The Resonance Cascade happens which somehow injures, weakens, or draws power away from the Nihilanth. As we saw in HL2 when you try and teleport, things in the teleporting field can be "drawn away" by a more powerful teleporting source. The resonance cascade first drew away Vortigaunts that the Nihilanth was teleporting and messed his whole system up. He needed to shut down or at least control the resonating area. He sent in (or let stay) a few Vortigaunts for this task. Headcrabs, etc., always hitch rides with the teleporting and now is no different.

-The G-Man, posing as a G-Man, influences powerful military men to quickly order an operation to Black Mesa. "Who ordered this operation, anyway?" (-random soldier, HL1) Nihilanth is in deeper now... his Vortigaunts are getting slaughtered and BMRF is still messing with his teleports. He sends in more Vortigaunts to deal with them. The scientists are killed by soldiers because they might actually figure out what is going on and actually stop it. The Lambda complex, however, is left secure and some Black Ops are even there guarding it. The Lambda complex holds a higher purpose, as their idea of fixing the problem is exactly what the G-Man wants.

-The satellite is launched. This creates strengthens the resonating portals on Earth and decreases Nihilanth's ability to teleport. Nihilanth is screwed, now, and sends in powerful units to deal with the relentless human forces. He need to control Earth and get rid of the resonating area if he is going to be powerful again. Alien grunts, another Gargantuan or two, and he hopes things will quiet down.

-Gordon, being helped, led on, and tested by the G-Man, makes it to the Lambda complex. Another Resonance Cascade occures, weaking Nihilanth all the more. In a panic, the Xen Masters come to Earth and attempt to shut down the portal on this side, once and for all. Lambda guys, thinking that the only solution is to destroy the portal from that side, send in Gordon Freeman to lay some Gluon smack down. Nihilanth would normally be able to massacre Gordon, at least just by teleporting him off of a cliff or something, but his weakened form only allows him to teleport Gordon to places where there are previous teleport pads. He tries to kill Gordon by putting him in highly dangerous areas like Gonarchs lair, a Gargantuan cave, and even the factory that makes the grunts. Gordon lives through it all, and the Nihilanth realizes that his best chance is to take Gordon out himself.

-Finally, the G-Man's plan is complete. Xen is under their control... they can now teleport in and out freely. The G-man takes over the Vortigaunt hive mind (we serve the same mystery) and he has Gordon Freeman.

-Portal storms rage on Earth, since there is no counter-portal on the Xen side. Bullsquids roam the countryside and people flee to the cities for protection. Dr. Breen, having the most experience with extraterrestrials, is made the UN ET Advisor. After a few year years of battling houndeyes and Antlions, Earth is weak enough for an easy takeover. The Combine attempts this and succeeds as much as HL2 shows.

-The G-Man and his race however, dislike the Combine. Perhaps they want Earth or perhaps they want to show the Combine their powerful new Freeman. They send Gordon in to fight the Combine. The Combine are so impressed, that they ask for Gordon's services. "Hey, G-Men! If you let us use Gordon over there, on that dimension way out that you guys don't care about, you can have THIS dimension!" Thus, although they are competing empires, the G-Man sees no harm in contracting Gordon out if the price is high enough.


If you've made it this far, I thank you. Really, I do. I appreciate you reading all of that...

Personally, I think that this is the most comprehensive theory, in that it takes EVERYTHING into account... even the idea of harder monsters as the game progresses! I think it fits the best with the game. I think the only reason that people choose to believe that the Combine controlled Xen is because they like to keep things simple. Why have multiple enemies when one would do just fine? If we've seen anything about HL, its that nothing is simple. Everyone has their own agenda, from Breen to Mossman to Nihilanth, and the idea of having more to the story than THE COMBINE IS EVIL just makes sense. Therefore, we should try and find a theory that fits best, not that is the simplest.

EDIT: Oh, and I almost forgot... thanks to Angry Lawyer for turning me from the darkside and setting me on the path to truth.

 

[FireCrack]

Okay, i'm gonna make a realy long post on my theory now.

Xen was under combine control, but only in the sense that earth was. Were there any combine to fight in HL2? were your enimies directly controlled by the combine? No.

When the combine find a world to attack they first attack it with all force then appoint a globabl administrator and leave, that administrator is given absolute power. So therefore the combine set their "controlled" teritories inot a state of disarray, the leaders start to slowly eliminate the population and weaken it and eventualy when the time comes will themselves be eliminated by the combine when the planet is weak and all viable resources have been mined.

That's the catch, on earth the "combine" is always expanding, taking everything, big walls crush things and build things, essentialy the combine have turned the planets inhabitants into wildly efficient and fast terraformers. Unlike a conventianal terraforming process that would take thousands of years one made by sentient beings would exponentialy grow in speed, and when you get there, not only is the planet terraformed but all the buildings are already there also.

But on xen there are no viable resources for the combine, furthermore xen is inhabeted by multiple sentient races and many non sentient ones, it posesses it's own natural defences. Xen is very different from anything the combine have ever encountered. When the combine found xen, wich may have been the first "planet" (it's not realy a planet wbut will be called such from hereon) that the combine encountered due to it's centralisation in teleportation they saw no benefit to taking it, but it's centrelisation meant that it would have to be crossed to invade other worlds.

Now the combine could have exahsted tonnes of resources in attacking and then controling the planet, but they had a smarter idea. They made Nihilanth and presented him to the controllers as a god, furthermore they gave them technology to enslave the vortigaunts. In exchange the combine could travel safely through xen as they are dependant on.

Now the combine can freely invade other worlds at their whim as well as having a free buffer zone to their own homeworld (which is also no doubt heavily defended) So the combine start taking other wrolds, using the tactic that worked so well on xen but also modifying it to take resources. Eventualy te combine attack the homeworld of the bio-mechanical Synths. When they attack this planet they probably faced the most dificult battle they ever did, rather than a 7 hour war it was probably a 7 year war or more. Furthermore other wars with other races were probably on the order of 7 month wars.

So sooner or later the combine take the synth, and as being such a formidable enemy integrate them with their weapons and make them into the combine frontline force, all this time xen is completely neutral to the combine.

So the combine keep taking worlds for some more while and then sudenly they are under attack, by who? Well the clihed awnser seems to be G-man's race, I personaly belive the G-man is uniqe but i'l get to that later, or mabye not in this post. Anyways, the correct awnser is humans. Sudenly the combine are confronted with an attack on their own soil, well actualy xen soil. For quite some time now Black Mesa scientests have been colecting samples from xen but were generaly unnoticed. Those that were noticed were noticed by natural wildlife and were killed before they could be ID'ed.

So suddenly the resonance cascade goes off, with quite a hitch. xen basicly explodes into a portal storm and tonnes of xenians are swept to earth. The events of Halflife 1 up until the lambda satalite launch occour, then other things start happening. At this point the combine are still unaware of earth but then the satalite launches and it's basicly like a big sign saying "Invade me" to the combine. So the combine, with xen practicly devoid of stuff ask Nihilanth to attack earth while they mobilise, he attacks with his most powerfull forces.

Now this is where things start to get tricky, when gordon goes to xen and defeats Nihilanth things start going downhill for the combine. First of all the attacks stop, all earth-xen traffic grinds to a halt. Second, the G-man takes control of a good portion of xen by manipulating the US military so. It is easy to take becasue all the controlers are paniking as are the vortigaunts.

Now this creates an opposite of the original situation, the vortigaunts greet the humans as their liberators and controlers are hunted to extinction (or mabye they all died when Nihilanth did). Earth now has the buffer zone that the combine originaly had, as such US troops withdraw back to earth and xen is left alone, for a while.

The G-man, finds Gordon a usefull asset that should be preserved for earths sake so he sets him in a slow time warp to release when the time is right.

At this point the combine are freaking out. For the first time ever another race has made a hostile advance on them, but they have one advantage. They know that humans dont know about the combine, only xen. So they start building a massive force for attacking the most dificult enemy they have ever faced. Little do they know that this attacks sucess was realy an accident and string of luck for the humans.

The combine start building all kinda crap and realy going crazy with xxen, building a massive attack force and a massive defence force that would not fail like natural xen. All this activity in the border world causes random teleportations to occour everywhere. At this point the portal storms occour, channeled by the lambda satalite they are most severe on earth, but other planets experience them also.

Now the combine have massed their massive force and prepare for a grealing war with earth. They plow through xen and many vortigaunts retreat to earth. Then they hit earth and find an enemy not up to specs with what they expected. In a mere 7 hours earth is under combine control. So at this point they do what dhey do with any other race, turn the sentient species into natural terraformers.

Then a few years later the events of HalfLife 2 occour. The G-man belives this is an opertune moment for gordon to test his capabilities, the resistance have just closed in on reliable local teleport tech, and a war is on the horizon.

So freeman goes out and basicly blows up alot of junk, he gets to the citadel and blows that up and at this point the combine become fully aware of the true threat. So the G-man decides to sell off gordon to some other planets resistance, whoever will pay the most. This way gordon can start an attack from an angle the combine arent expecting, possibly causing them to think there are multiple unruly individuals about.

The G-man decides to stay on earth to make sure the combine dont retake it by recruiting and training new agents for the upcoming war. The combine will this time take less time to re mobilise due to the new xen combine presence so he sends a few people there to disrupt things.

At this point earth is rampantly working on teleportation technology and building WMD's to make a quick and decisive blow to the combine on xen and to retake xen to form their own buffer gain. By striking this blow the humans can delay the next combine attak by many months, now the combine know that their original estimate can be right in circumstances like this.

After nuking xen gordon would ome into the picture and systematicly destroy the combines hold on various planets. (remember, xen is surroneded)

Now, my theories on G-man.

The G-man is a human, he may be from the future, or an altrenate timelie, or somthing. He might have been standing at just the place during the resonance cascade that an unnaturaly large amount of xen crystal got lodged in his body and actualy fused with it in the same way it does in some xen creatures.

With a tad of work at it the G-man would be able to not only teleport around, but also to create errors in teleports to use slow time warps.

The G-man never directly attacks becasue he is preety frail and weak. THe suitcase is just somthing he caries around all the time becasue it looks nice or has some neat stuff in it but nothing realy big and fancy.


aaaand... that's about all i have to say right now.

 

[Asknoone]

Ok, well, i read the first part, not the second. So i am going to go from there. Not bieng ignorant or anything, but instead of reading someone else's story re - cap i am going to discuss the whole xen/combine situation.

Firstly i do believe the Combine were in control of Xen. Now you can all say that there were no Combine symbols on xen, or the Vorts didn't look meddled with or whatever.

What you have to remember is the fact that Valve didn't have the whole story together in half life 1, what they had was a brief plotline for what they wanted to happen, in half life 1, Gman was merley there to confuse. He didn't have a purpose he was just intruiging.

Now for half life 2, the vorts seem to know quite abit about the Combine, and whether this is because of thier lenghty stay on Earth, who knows. But to me, it seems it is because they were under thier control on Xen.

Also, don't you think it would make for a much more interesting story arc if it were under the control of the Combine? I mean, it would fit with the story and allow it to flow a helluva lot better. Its like saying Oh the Controllers enslave thier own world, the combine come and enslave ours. It seems a little pointless with too much enfisis on evil nasty dictator aliens.

You say the Vortigaunts only wore collars, well, in Half life 2 don't they only wear collars? Yes, they do. The way i see it the Combine make use of what they find in that world, they get thier technology over, and then rely on that worlds technology. Hence Xen is a very organic place, so everything they used was organic.

Now for the portal scenario. The combine's portal technology is somewhat obscure. They can only port massive distances and it requires wicked amounts of Dark energy to do so.

In the Citadel, we have Breen's reactor. This is quite clearly built by Breen, as is the portal, its got a very human look about it, and in some instances looks quite similar to the Lambda reactor in shape and what it does.

The reactor, we have to remember, doesn't just power Breens portal, it powers the Combines tunneling entanglement system. Which as Mossman so gracefully puts it "Allows them to tunnel in from thier universe"

The Nihalinth is set up with the same purpose, to allow them to teleport into Xen, from thier universe. You might say its strange to wonder why a massive race like the combine can't muster of as gooder portal tech as some scrawny humans, but isn't that a little stereo typical? I mean, its not that farfetched really.

They don't have local teleportation because of the portal tech Eli use's, not because of Xen.

And, if you think about it, your missions have both ended when the Nihanlinth bit the dust, and when Breens reactor went critical. Both are destroyed, meaning, the Combine can't reach either planet. Is gmans goal to cut off the combine from the different worlds they enslave? Xen is safe, Earth is safe, the combine can't reach them anymore.

*Regarding the first post, that is.

 

[ríomhaire]

The Combine adapt their conquering stratigies to suit their race
Synths=Completly asimilated
Vortigaunts=Asimilated their master
Humans=Made them surender, then took control of resources and set up a force to keep the place under control

We are slaves

Explain that.

Edit: I actualy came to the conclusion that the Combine controed Xen before the I started joining the form and searching for answers.

 

[Laivasse]

Well done to Pai Mei for coming up with such a thorough and interesting theory independent of a lot of the other theories flowting around the board, which are IMO half-baked and poorly supported. I've been trying to make a case for the independence of the Nihilanth for ages, but noone seems to listen, and I've never bothered to formulate a larger theory since 1) it's so much effort and 2) there are a lot of things unconnected to Xen etc which I am still too uncertain about to comment on. Kudos for putting the work in.

Having another theory out like this opens up discussion much more, too...

What you have to remember is the fact that Valve didn't have the whole story together in half life 1, what they had was a brief plotline for what they wanted to happen, in half life 1, Gman was merley there to confuse. He didn't have a purpose he was just intruiging.

Now for half life 2, the vorts seem to know quite abit about the Combine, and whether this is because of thier lenghty stay on Earth, who knows. But to me, it seems it is because they were under thier control on Xen.

See this is the problem with the Xen+Combine theory - everyone uses 2 main things from HL1 to try and assert that Xen were under the Combine's control; 1) "we are all slaves" and 2) stuff on the Nihilanth's body. At the same time, everyone seems to accept that the Combine didn't exist in Valve's mind during HL1. So, think about it....well? If Valve DID intend to link the story retroactively, and have their HL2 bad guy become HL1's bad guy too, then surely there'd be some evidence for that intention in HL2. There is *none*. Everyone seems to just link the 2 because it's convenient to think simply about your enemies, when, as Pai Mei said, HL is meant to be more complex than that.

Xen=organic infestation, Combine=mechanical infestation - the 2 just don't square up to being able to pass for the same enemy in HL1. If you say that they conquered the Nihilanth and left Xen largely untouched, then that goes against the whole idea of the Combine - they don't conquer races for territory which they rule in name only. They conquer to expand themselves, which they do by swallowing other races and adding them to their unstoppable force. If the Combine conquered Xen, they did it ONLY for the benefit of ruining Earth before their invasion. That is a massive waste. Why not come out of Xen with some killer new Overwatch species too? How about a synth-ed Gonarch with a cannon? How about learning something new about teleportation tech?

No Xen lifeform has been seen combined with Combine tech a la synths and Overwatch - fact. If Valve wanted us to understand that the Combine controlled Xen, then they could have easily conveyed that message by having the Combine continue to attack us in HL2 with Gargs, or surprise us with mech-ized Vorts or bullsquids or whatever. That would have been a cool touch and a nice nod to continuity if that was what the story was intended to be. They didn't do this. All they do is casually shell places with headcrabs which they could have found anywhere on earth. Nor did they have the Combine use local teleport tech. If Valve wanted us to understand from what happens in HL2 that the Combine ruled Xen too, then they would have done a lot more to get the message across.


Having said that, there are some parts of your theory that I don't fully buy, Pai Mei. I still haven't properly formulated a Grand Unified Theory of my own to be able to counter them or offer my own theory, but I reckon some of the stuff regarding HL1 and the teleportation/resonance cascade info could be interpreted indifferent ways. I agree that I think G-Man was a force *for* causing the cascade rather than against it - btw, it's the first time I've ever read a transcript of that muffled convo, w/d - but I don't think that previous tothe cascade, the Nihilanth was just happy to sit back and let scientists wander Xen. He sounds pretty pissed off about it to me; "Thieves, you are all thieves"

I think it was pissed off and looking to get back at those working in BM for their experiments and their "questionable ethics". One possible scenario is that G-Man orchestrated the experiment to give Nihilanth a dimensional window into earth, with a view to later toppling it and claiming Xen. As things progress, and things go badly for the Xenians, the Nihilanth realises it's been set up to attack earth, and someone's been set up to attack Xen and kill itsleader. Hence "We are all slaves" and "He's not man..." - the Nihilanth clearly has an idea who's behind things.

It was a nice touch to work your theory around the progressing strength of the enemies Gordon faces. Perhaps you could say that the lambda satellite later strenghtened the Nihilanth's lever in the door and allowed it to port in stronger forces with more precision.

One thing I'm still not fully clear on is why the G-Man could have mobilised the troops. Obviously to eradicate witnesses (scientists) but why have them attack Xen forces if he set up the Xen incursion himself? One thing I've just thought of is that he intended the Earth troops to go on and topple the Nihilanth themselves....but it became increasingly evident that the Earth forces had bitten off more than they could chew. It also became clear to G-Man that a scientist he had previously paid little attention to - a certain Dr. Freeman - was in fact a human genocide machine. At this point Freeman stands a much better chance of nailing the Nihilanth than Special Ops do - and so comes the order for those troops to pull out and "Forget About Freeman".

The more I think about it, the more that theory is rock solid, and I'm sticking to it.

Massive thanks to anyone who reads this far.

 

[narc]

I have read all the posts and i think everyone puts forward their areguements very well. I personally agree nearly 100% with Firecrack. (apart from the Gman being human bit)

The storyline website is good but a bit too simple IMO. I might have a go at doing my own soon though.

he mortar synths look remarkably like Bullsquisds IMO but i've only seen them from a distance.

G-man seems like too much of a bastard to be part of some intergalactic combine resistance. I think he is part of a group of 'beings' but i don't neccessarilly believe they have 'pure' intentions. They probably are scared the Combine will become too powerful or they want to control the Combine themselves.

However Marc Laidlaw was quoted as saying 'thats pretty damn accurate' about the storyline website.

The whole no Combine on Xen thing is a good arguement but i think Valve hadn't really thought out the larger picture back then as they won't have known if HL1 would be a big success.

 

[ríomhaire]

One of your very point prove you are wrong. You keep saying that everything on Xen is organic, you are right about that, but then, where the hell did Nihilanth's assjet come from, there is clearly no evedence of anything mechanical on Xen except for that. Are we suposed to believe that the Xen Masters spontainiously built a propultion system powerfull enough to support Nihilanth and with perfect cotrolability, something humans have not done yet, and then decided that technology was uterly useless?

 

[narc]

I've just thought of this and it's possibly the strongest explanation of why there is little combine on Xen.

The Synth Race seem to make a substansial part of the Combine attack force. Can you imagine Striders on Xen? To wage a war on Xen using the same tactics on Earth would be very, very difficult for the Combine. For a start of most of the Xen islands aren't big enough to hold a couple of striders let alone a citadel. Hence why the Combine built the Nihilanth to enslave the Vorts instead of waging a conventional 'war' on the Xenians.

 

[ríomhaire]

he mortar synths look remarkably like Bullsquisds IMO but i've only seen them from a distance.

Are the mortar Syths in the game?
I checked on the last level, the big ones are crab synths, the small ones are called cycler(I think). Nether of them look like a bullsquid.

 

[narc]

Are the mortar Syths in the game?
I checked on the last level, the big ones are crab synths, the small ones are called cycler(I think). Nether of them look like a bullsquid.

I've got mixed up i thought the cyclers were mortar synths.

The cyclers looked like bullsquids to me. They had two legs, a tail and what looked like a gatling gun stuck where the tentacles should be.

 

[Laivasse]

G-man seems like too much of a bastard to be part of some intergalactic combine resistance. I think he is part of a group of 'beings' but i don't neccessarilly believe they have 'pure' intentions. They probably are scared the Combine will become too powerful or they want to control the Combine themselves.

I fully agree with this and IMO it fits with Combine being unconnected with Xen. G-Man is obviously a bastard and he doesn't seem like an entity that would ever out of benevolence or a sense of justice. Therefore he doesn't have to necessarily exist *just* to be "fighting against the Combine". Maybe he had a different aim in setting up the events of HL1, and maybe it wasn't the Combine.

The whole no Combine on Xen thing is a good arguement but i think Valve hadn't really thought out the larger picture back then as they won't have known if HL1 would be a big success.

That's right, so there's no Combine presence on Xen in HL1....so if Valve wanted to show us that the Combine were behind HL1 they would have linked them and shown us through the events of HL2. They haven't done that at all afai can see.

 

[Laivasse]

One of your very point prove you are wrong. You keep saying that everything on Xen is organic, you are right about that, but then, where the hell did Nihilanth's assjet come from, there is clearly no evedence of anything mechanical on Xen except for that. Are we suposed to believe that the Xen Masters spontainiously built a propultion system powerfull enough to support Nihilanth and with perfect cotrolability, something humans have not done yet, and then decided that technology was uterly useless?

Noone said that there was *no* machinery on Xen. The last section of Xen is a factory. Full of machines. But all the machinery is very Xen-like, with weird organic textures, a lot of it ostensibly for "growing" the grunts in those big plant-like pods. None of this is stuff the Xenians couldn't concievably have built themselves, and none of it looks like anything the Combine would dabble in. OBVIOUSLY it doesn't because the Combine hadn't been thought up yet.

Nihilanth's assjet doesn't "prove" I'm wrong. Nihilanth's assjet doesn't suggest Combine were on Xen. The only thing the Nihilanth's assjet does is make him fly around with his ass.

The only stuff that can "prove" us wrong HAS to come from HL2. since that is where the story attempts to become consistent and continuous. But there is nothing in HL2 that suggests against what has been said.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

It could be made of the same organic material that the Grunts have growing on them?

And what evidence is there for it being that it's a propulsion device? The Nihilanth is basically a roughtly made version of a Controller, which can levitate unaided? It seems more likely that it's a life-support unit. I mean, how else are you going to feed it?

I'm glad some people are finally swinging around to my way of thinking, although I still think that Laidlaw has deliberately left G-Man's identity as void, and will probably never explain him, because it gives you that feeling of unsolvable mystery. Not everything has to be answered.

And on the Xen-Combine theory:
The universe is a big place, and the fact that Laidlaw has got everything being from different 'dimensions', what's stopping two empires that have interacted with Earth from being ignorant of one another's existance? Even if the Combine controlled a million planets, that's only a pinch of sand on the beach of the Universe.

And besides, why wouldn't they use the teleportation developed by the Xenians to teleport around on Earth? They're using some really inefficient tunneling way to get to our universe, rather than the low-cost slingshot effect that involves Xen.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[FireCrack]

Ok, i'l admit my G-man theory was quite half baked, i only provided it to justify what i said halfway througyh, that i'l explain him in the end. Anyways

My G-man theory boild down to this....


The G-man is uniqe and one of a kind.

 

[Jandor]

I believe the following:

G-Man is human.

The Combine controlled Xen.

Grunts are a modification of Vortigaunts.

Nihilanth is a modification of the Controllers.

The Combine used Nihilianth to teleport around Xen.

The Combine did not know how to use Nihilanth outside of Xen.

Humans experimenting on Xen was seen as an Invasion.

Nihilanth learned he could open portals to Earth.

Earth and Xen share a 'Border'.

when Nihilanth died, the portals between Earth and Xen began behaving uncontrollably.

Earth invaded Xen in self defence.

The Combine used the Portal Storms to invade Earth.

The Combine use tunnelling teleports outside of Xen, they still do.

They are interested in Human teleports because they can locally teleport. (The Combine do not realise this uses 'Xen')



I believe the Combine did rule Xen, they use a planets natural technologys to control it. bringing only minimal technologys of there own. most of there own technology leaves after the planet has been conquered.

The Combine may well use Gargs, etc. still, however they were not seen on Earth because a Garg would have trouble patrolling C17, the Synth arm of the Overwatch is more effective on Earth.

 

[Pai-Mei]

In the Citadel, we have Breen's reactor. This is quite clearly built by Breen, as is the portal, its got a very human look about it, and in some instances looks quite similar to the Lambda reactor in shape and what it does.

No offence, but I'm pretty sure that the entire Citadel is Combine-created... including the reactor. It landed or warped into earth one day... can't remember where I read/heard that. Raising the Bar, maybe?

Where the hell did Breen learn to build a dark energy reactor other than from the Combine? In which case, it might as well BE combine. Plus, if you look through the Portal, you see a bunch of other Combine "Citadel" towers.

We are slaves


Explain that.

You are just SO sure of yourself that everything you say is right. First of all, the Nihilanth said "We are their slaves..., and second of all, had you read my post, you would realize that I said....

Xen is controlled by the Xen Masters, aka the "Alien Controllers." They created and use the Nihilanth to control the sentients in their dimension. The Nihilanth makes an already powerful race even harder to beat or control... we already know why. His presence also limits the ability of other races to teleport into Xen. You cannot blame the Xen Masters, though, for enslaving the Vortigaunts, as with everyone out ot control Xen, they're doing it only in the best interests of Mother Xen. They can create soldiers with the slaves and control, communicate with, and transport the soldiers ver effectively. Were the Nihilanth destroyed, Xen would be severly weakened.

I don't expect everyone in the world to read my uber-post, but if you're going to argue with me, please know my arguments first.

G-man seems like too much of a bastard to be part of some intergalactic combine resistance.

Yeah, good point. As stated previously, I think that he has his own empire that he is loyal to.

 

[Jintor]

Works for me.

Good alternative theory. Don't see point of GMan causing cascade and at the same time bringing in the troops. Would like to understand more of the teleportation physics and its relationship to the Nihalith. Can't see how assjets factor into the equasion = maybe he built it himself? Maybe it's some sort of metalic fungi that grows on gigantic baby asses?

Gman is a mystery.

And if bullsquids were Cycler Synths, then the Cycler Synthes would only be intrested in eating and mating. Oh, and they'd be heraphrodites.

 

[Pai-Mei]

Don't see point of GMan causing cascade and at the same time bringing in the troops.

In my theory, G-Man sent in the troops to make sure that neither the Xenians nor the Scientists would fix the problem. He needed the BMRF area to keep resonating, drawing power from Nihilanth and eventually allowing people to be transported to Xen. Some of the BMRF scientists working in the anamalous materials might have realized that closing the portal on this end would have been a much better solution, and the Xen were here to do just that.

Nihilanth really didn't seem all that intent on invading Earth. The only forces he sent at first were a few Vorts. Even later, he only sent a few grunts or so. We know that he had SHITLOAD of alien grunt-back that he could have sent (the alternate HL1 ending), but didn't. This is because he never really wanted to invade Earth, he merely wanted to keep the resonance cascade from drawing his power.

The Lambda scientists, however, as I stated above, would do exactly what the G-Man wanted... create another Resonance Cascade and destroy the Nihilanth.

And perhaps the G-Man DID intend to have Black-ops and troops go into Xen and destroy the Nihilanth, but then realized that Gordon would be much better candidate. Remember, there were troops and black ops guarding the Lamba complex for some reason...

In short the G-Man sent in the troops in to keep protect the Lambda scientists from the aliens and kill everything else... especially those that would try and fix the problem.

 

[Laivasse]

Good alternative theory. Don't see point of GMan causing cascade and at the same time bringing in the troops. Would like to understand more of the teleportation physics and its relationship to the Nihalith. Can't see how assjets factor into the equasion = maybe he built it himself? Maybe it's some sort of metalic fungi that grows on gigantic baby asses?

Read my post earlier in the thread for my improvised theory on GMan's motives and the Cascade's relationship to the Nihilanth.

Or if you want it in its bowdlerised version: GMan sets up Cascade to give Nihilanth a lever into our dimension. This triggers a conflict twixt Xen forces and Earth. Gman uses it as pretense with a view to perhaps send in troops to kill Nihilanth. Troops get minced. Freeman, on the other hand, is making good progress. Troops get ordered to "Forget About Freeman" and pull out. Freeman goes on to get the job done. OR perhaps GMan was counting on Freeman all along (not what I believe). Ultimate goal: Nihilanth and Xen. Maybe GMan knew Earth would get screwed up along the way, but Earth could not have been the main goal or else containment forces would not have been ordered to kill Xenians.

Alternative possible theories:
-Breen caused the cascade through a deal with Combine and GMan tried to stop it (sent troops). Disagree. (Breen didn't exist, wasn't important enough at time of HL1, Combine didn't exist, makes Gman too benevolent, countless reasons)
-Gman caused cascade and someone else sent in troops. Disagree (rubbish)

edit: wanted to stipulate irrelevance of assjets.

 

[FireCrack]

IMO the cascade was complet and utter accident.

 

[Pai-Mei]

IMO the cascade was complet and utter accident.

Then WTF is the G-Man doing at Black Mesa before it happens?

Why is he urging the scientists to go through with it?

Some would even say that the fact that everything is going haywire already lends to the possibility that someone was already trying to screw things up... keep scientists out of contact with each other... keep them from contracting the surface, etc.

 

[Asknoone]

No offence, but I'm pretty sure that the entire Citadel is Combine-created... including the reactor. It landed or warped into earth one day... can't remember where I read/heard that. Raising the Bar, maybe?

Where the hell did Breen learn to build a dark energy reactor other than from the Combine? In which case, it might as well BE combine. Plus, if you look through the Portal, you see a bunch of other Combine "Citadel" towers.

Hrm, the citadel appeared through the portal storms, in a similar fashion...

I'm thinking yes, the reactor has to be combine built, but the portal on top is definatley not, i mean, its a very small portal

The other citadel towers, are relays, i believe, that power the Breens portal.

 

[PickledGecko]

IMO the cascade was complete and utter accident.

Then WTF is the G-Man doing at Black Mesa before it happens?

Why is he urging the scientists to go through with it?

When a company pollutes a whole towns water system, do you honestly believe there's some figure sitting at the head of the meeting table, grinning at the thought of all the dead children his company is about to be responsible for? Or is it conceivable that sometimes people take risks; or should that be, are willing to risk the lives of some unknown townsfolk, in order to make more money?

I have always believed the person in charge didn't choose for the cascade to happen but saw it as a risk he/she was willing to take for progress in whatever it was they were doing. Even some of the scientists in HL1 comment on it.

One example is at the very start as your about to go into the chamber someone says something like

We’ve boosted the anti-mass spectrometer 105%. Bit of a gamble but we need the extra resolution.

And another says

I will admit that the possibility of a resonance cascade scenario is extremely unlikely. We’ve assured the Administrator that nothing will go wrong.

Then when scientists aren’t saying things like, “Why do we have to wear these ridiculous ties” they sometimes say

I predicted all of this you know, ALL of it!

Some would even say that the fact that everything is going haywire already lends to the possibility that someone was already trying to screw things up... keep scientists out of contact with each other... keep them from contracting the surface, etc.

Just before the experiment a console blows up and 2 scientists say:

Quick its about to go critical.
What the hell is going on with our equipment
It wasn’t meant to do this in the first place

Whenever there is safety or health issues everyone involved knows about them, but if the boss says “do it anyway” people feel they might lose their job if they don’t. In these situations everyone involved knows the risk, but 99.999% of people see it as out of their hands, choosing to hope everything will go alright rather than risk speaking out.

Look at any industry with a bad track record for health, accidents or disease and you find very few whistle blowers, and the ones that do, end up facing 20 high priced lawyers and a smear campaign.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

the ones that do, end up facing 20 high priced lawyers and a smear campaign.

*Waves* That's me.

On to the other points:

The Citadel did not appear through a portal storm, but through the Combine's tunnelling teleportation. It's not efficient enough to be used locally (waste of energy to get from A to B on Earth, when yuo can use a car), but it's still good enough to gate huge citadels, and countless troops, on to Earth.

And to whomever said that the Combine used Nihilanth for teleportation, but lost the technology when he died...

What do you take the Combine for? Idiots? They'd never put all their eggs into one basket. That's why there are citadels in all the major cities, and that's why each one is gating in stuff. Xen seems a big place - it seems counterproductive to just have one teleportation nexus thing. If the Xen Controllers made Nihilanth, then they have all reason to have only one - they have their own methods of teleporting around.

The couple of troops seen on Xen at the end sequence of HL1 aren't likely to be remnants of an invasion force. If you remember, in HL1, little pieces of Xen got gated into BMF. It could, feasibly, have happened the other way, too, with a tank, some sand, and a few troops being whipped on to the Borderworld.

I still think the G-Man is working for a cause that Laidlaw's never going to explain.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[ríomhaire]

My theory
Xen contained 2 main sentient species, the vortigaunts and controllers. One of the controllers evolved into their leader, Nihilanth. Nihilanth and the controllers took control of the vortigaunts, using their small psychic powers to manipulate the vortigaunt group mind, the vortessence.. The Combine, a race from another dimension, found a teleport that could get them to Xen. Seeing the power of Nihilanth they assimilated him with their technology that enslaved him and boosted his psychic powers. Then they slapped slave collars on the vortigaunts to make sure that they could never break free of Nihilanth’s control. The vortigaunts were made to manufacture the grunts and gargantuas.

The Combine not only captured Xen, but also many other words, including the Synths who then became the main attack force of the 7-hours war.

The g-man’s race also looked on to other worlds with the intension of conquering. They saw Earth, and opportunity. They had never seen a world before in this state; this “government” intrigued them. They infiltrated it and manipulated it as they saw fit. Many of them took human form. This may seem ludicrous but Breen speaks of a “host-body” at the end of the game. One of these was the g-man. A g-man is a government agent for those of you who do not know. In his infamous briefcase are his briefing, a gun and his agent ID. The g-man’s race pushed forward the teleport technology of the science team in Black Mesa. Eventually the scientists found a very pure sample of the strange crystals they had found on Xen. Dr. Breen was very exited by this and not really knowing what he was doing pushed forward the testing of the sample. They also took interest in certain humans, like Gordon, Gordon was clearly a prodigy “I heard about you long before the Black Mesa incident”. When the pure sample was found and Breen push forward it’s testing the g-man’s race knew they could not stop it without jeopardising other things. They Hacked the Black Mesa security files and removed Gordon’s clearance so that he could not get in the way.

The pure sample caused the resonance cascade that caused a small portal storm between a part of Xen and Black Mesa. Gordon is teleported to many places and ends up in a completely dark place, surrounded by vortigaunts. This may explain the quote “For a brief time you joined with us. You are one. Between the worlds.” This may have had great significance as to other strange things they say,” “There is no distance between us. No false veil of time or space may intervene.” “We call you sib, although your mind and meaning are a mystery to us.”

Many Xen creatures were sent to earth. The g-man’s race detected the resonance cascade and swiftly sent the marines and black ops to deal with it. The soldiers were instructed to kill the scientists to stop the research, as g-man’s race knew it could lead to war. They were also instructed to get Gordon specifically, so that he could not get in the way.

After the satellite launch, the portal storms grew worse and Nihilanth started to send in troops, as he feared an invasion from Earth. Gordon pushed on and found himself in Nihilanth’s chamber. Nihilanth was in trouble as he had sent lots of troops to Earth. Once Nihilanth lay dead, the vortigaunts where set free and the portal storms when out of control and global. Xen creatures where thrown everywhere and took over the countryside. People fled to the cities for protection. During this g-man’s race took control of Xen “The boarder world, Xen, is under our control”.
The Combine was deeply angered by the loss of Xen. They invaded with a massive army of Synths; the humans could not have possibly won as the humans were still in disarray after the portal storms. Breen manages to make contact with the leader of the Combine and make a treaty.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

In my theory, G-Man sent in the troops to make sure that neither the Xenians nor the Scientists would fix the problem. He needed the BMRF area to keep resonating, drawing power from Nihilanth and eventually allowing people to be transported to Xen. Some of the BMRF scientists working in the anamalous materials might have realized that closing the portal on this end would have been a much better solution, and the Xen were here to do just that.

Nihilanth really didn't seem all that intent on invading Earth. The only forces he sent at first were a few Vorts. Even later, he only sent a few grunts or so. We know that he had SHITLOAD of alien grunt-back that he could have sent (the alternate HL1 ending), but didn't. This is because he never really wanted to invade Earth, he merely wanted to keep the resonance cascade from drawing his power.

The Lambda scientists, however, as I stated above, would do exactly what the G-Man wanted... create another Resonance Cascade and destroy the Nihilanth.

And perhaps the G-Man DID intend to have Black-ops and troops go into Xen and destroy the Nihilanth, but then realized that Gordon would be much better candidate. Remember, there were troops and black ops guarding the Lamba complex for some reason...

In short the G-Man sent in the troops in to keep protect the Lambda scientists from the aliens and kill everything else... especially those that would try and fix the problem.

I go with your theory with only slight modification, in opfor we see black ops killing marines. My theory is that there was a power struggle between the control of Xen, Breen sending his troops (marines which he lobbied to BMRF through political connections) to seize control of the facility and consequentely of the Lambda complex, and the G-man's Black Ops, going for control of the borderworld itself, why he wishes that I'm not sure, maybe he just doesn't want the combine to use Xen to slingshot to us, which could explain his next step, once he has control of Xen, his black ops pull out and nuke the only gateway in for a combine invasion. (or so he thought)

 

[Bing_Oh]

I, personally, still see too much evidence that Xen was under Combine control to out-and-out dismiss the idea.

First, let's remember that there are no Combine on Earth, even less then 10 years after the initial invasion. The only actual Combine we see in HL2 is the slug talking to Breen via monitor. All the Combine forces on Earth are either modified humans or Combine-created entities. It's wholly possible (and, highly supportable) that the Combine follow a single plan for the assimilation of another world...they use that world's resources as weapons. Therefore, weapons used on Earth would look and act totally different from those used in Xen because the environment and resources are so different. Given the evidence in HL2 that supports the Combine-assimilation theory, this becomes a supportable argument.

Also, you bring up the lack of short-range/local teleportation by the Combine. You state that the Combine's lack of this technology supports the theory that Xen was not a Combine-controlled territory. You assume, however, that Xen has the same relationship with the Combine dimension, teleportation-wise, that Earth has with Xen. Perhaps, however, Xen isn't the "boarder world" with the Combine dimension... Maybe it's just another dimension with exploitable resources that the Combine conquered. OR (and here's the more likely explanation), maybe the death of Nihilanth robbed the Combine of localized teleportation. We are sure that Nihilanth was the source of the teleportation as HL progressed (as is supported by the scientist just before you are teleported to Xen). What if Nihilanth was also a weapon for the Combine...an organic teleporter. The loss of their organic teleporter and the subsequent invasion of Xen by Earth military, coupled with the discovery that humans knew how to teleport locally WITHOUT the aid of a Nihilanth-like creature, would easily justify the Combine invasion of Earth.

Finally, and this is the one that gives alot of crediance to the Combine-controlled-Xen theory, is the behavior of the Vorts. The vortigaunts are strongly, almost religiously, opposed to the Combine. If they had no history with the Combine, why would they be willing to fight them to the point of extinction (and, in HL2, one of the vorts actually says that they will fight to the death rather then be enslaved again). Not only that, but they're not even fighting on their own homeworld! The vortigaunts have no reason to assist the human rebellion except for a common enemy...the Combine.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I, personally, still see too much evidence that Xen was under Combine control to out-and-out dismiss the idea.
Finally, and this is the one that gives alot of crediance to the Combine-controlled-Xen theory, is the behavior of the Vorts. The vortigaunts are strongly, almost religiously, opposed to the Combine. If they had no history with the Combine, why would they be willing to fight them to the point of extinction (and, in HL2, one of the vorts actually says that they will fight to the death rather then be enslaved again). Not only that, but they're not even fighting on their own homeworld! The vortigaunts have no reason to assist the human rebellion except for a common enemy...the Combine.

And also, the combines seem to use the same control-collar used in HL1 on the vorts in hl2, the vort in the trainstation has one.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

And also, the combines seem to use the same control-collar used in HL1 on the vorts in hl2, the vort in the trainstation has one.

Did you expect them to just fall off when Nihilanth died? So what if it's wearing a collar, the Combine could have found him still wearing it, before getting him to be a janitor.

You assume, however, that Xen has the same relationship with the Combine dimension, teleportation-wise, that Earth has with Xen. Perhaps, however, Xen isn't the "boarder world" with the Combine dimension...

Well, in the theory of dimensions and crap, you'll find that all dimensions touch one another at all points, all at once. Or something similar.

What if Nihilanth was also a weapon for the Combine...an organic teleporter. The loss of their organic teleporter and the subsequent invasion of Xen by Earth military...

Makes little sense for them to only have one. The Combine seem like a clever folk - why put so much into one delicate creature?
Besides, there's still no evidence that the Earth Military ever entered Xen - if you remember the scene at the end of HL1, they were on sand, with a Xen sky. So, the ground must have got gated too, either that, or it's just a crude way of doing the mind effects that G-Man does in HL2's intro using HL1's tech. But, assuming the ground got gated, alongside some tank traps, it smacks to me of a random teleportation - maybe a hint of the portal storm? When things teleport in, perhaps the stuff at the place they were has to get teleported out first?

one of the vorts actually says that they will fight to the death rather then be enslaved again

The Combine planned on enslaving everything on Earth, not just humanity. The Vortigaunts had already been enslaved by Xen Controllers - probably not pleasant for them - and if they didn't ally with Humanity, then they were sure to be enslaved under another's control.

The point I'm trying to make is not that the Combine definately didn't control Xen. It's to not jump to conclusions for the "OMG COMBINZE CONTROL XEN!!11" side of the argument. Just because one person devoted a web-page to it (alongside loads of bogus dates, and some obviously wrong information, like the main Combine race was called "Synth") and presented it as hard evidence doesn't mean it's the right answer. Knowing my luck, Laidlaw's going to prove everyone wrong for the next game.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Did you expect them to just fall off when Nihilanth died? So what if it's wearing a collar, the Combine could have found him still wearing it, before getting him to be a janitor.
-Angry Lawyer

Yeah maybe but to me it still makes perfect sense that the combine controlled Xen at some point, Nihilianth's speech, the vorts speeches, I think Mossman says something about the combine being unable to teleport directly without having to go through Xen, indicating they must have been to Xen before they attacked Earth, and as we are told that this happened in a very short time it makes sense that they knew of Xen before BMRF, and the combine don't look like those who would just leave a whole nice, juicy world all by itself. Then there are the factories in Xen, Nova Prospekt etc. But that's my theory, you have yours and we'll see if HL3/expansions will prove either of us right. Maybe Gordon is just high all the time.

 

[Sieg]

I think we are forgetting what is a combine.
ríomhaire,you said a combine is race from a another dimension.But at the beggining of HL2 do you remember these people waiting in line for food.If you talk to them,sometimes they will tell you:I think im ready to join civil protection just to get a decent meal".Also,at the end of the game,you hear the people shout:civil protection".
If you don't belive me,take some time in the game nd find out yourself but combines are really a race of humans,just bent on destroying Earth.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I think we are forgetting what is a combine.
ríomhaire,you said a combine is race from a another dimension.But at the beggining of HL2 do you remember these people waiting in line for food.If you talk to them,sometimes they will tell you:I think im ready to join civil protection just to get a decent meal".Also,at the end of the game,you hear the people shout:civil protection".
If you don't belive me,take some time in the game nd find out yourself but combines are really a race of humans,just bent on destroying Earth.

Again, the misconception between combine and combine Forces. Combine Forces, CP, Overwatch (not sure about elites) are Humans who join the combine ranks (the general idea I think is the CP are just human, Overwatch mechanically improved humans) they are humans, yes. But the Combine Race are, based on what we've seen so far big slugs, Breen speaks to one of them twice in the game, he refers to them as our Benefactors. They are the ones who teleported in, conquered earth, set up citadels, constructed striders, gunships, synths and combine walls.
*EDIT I'm not sure, are combine elite humans or what? Their suits don't like they would work well on humans.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

I think Mossman says something about the combine being unable to teleport directly without having to go through Xen

She says quite the opposite, actually, which is why the Combine employ her. They're not sure how to get to Xen, nor slingshot around it.

Oh, and Combine Elites are human. The helmet is akin to night vision goggles, if you look at how human ones are shaped.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[AJ Rimmer]

She says quite the opposite, actually, which is why the Combine employ her. They're not sure how to get to Xen, nor slingshot around it.

Oh, and Combine Elites are human. The helmet is akin to night vision goggles, if you look at how human ones are shaped.

-Angry Lawyer

Really? Man I have a bad memory, I need to play HL2 again it seems.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Me too, I'm sure I missed loads, mostly G-Man sightings.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Laivasse]

Who's to say that the Xen collars are the same type of collar on the Vort in the trainstation? IIRC correctly it has a little hoop on the top that looks as if it could be connected to a chain or a leash. Presumably it also keeps its electricity in check. The nihilanth had no need for collars with leash attachments since he had them under complete mind control.

Therefore the vort in the station is wearing a collar of Earth-Combine manufacture. This signifies no significant link for or against the Combine/Xen argument, since the Combine could have simply discovered a few vorts on Earth and cooked up something to keep them docile. It certainly doesn't mean that the Combine have been their masters all along. Even if it is the same type of collar, it means very little.

Also someone mentioned that Maybe Xen has a different dimensional relationship to the Combine world and so they can't use it to teleport. IRRELEVANT! They're not operating on this "Combine world"....they're on Earth, where Xen teleportation is perfectly possible.

Also, if the Combine invaded Xen yet couldn't use the Nihilanth to teleport...what the hell were they doing there? They didn't assimilate any species, they didn't build any structures, and they weren't using the Nihilanth for anything other than bossing around some vorts....utterly pointless.

Finally, my take on the Elites - I reckon they are the most heavily modded form of "transhuman", possibly the closest human equivalent to the synth type of forces that they've yet created. Personally I believe all the Combine-sided troops, from Metrocops upwards, are modified/modded in some way. It seems to me that their masks, rather than be just a mask, is actually some form of carapace that has been grafted on. The combine propaganda evolution pic seems to suggest that there is no human face under the mask, and it also fits quite nicely with the blood welling up through the mask when you strike it. Presumably Barney had to get his one by hacking someone's face off. Granted, in Nova Prospekt you do see a transhuman halfway through being modded, and he still has a face and normal skin, but it *is* only halfway....

edit:- just to clarify my main argument: I'm saying that if the Combine were on Xen at all, it was for teleportation sk1L5. They can't teleport though, so can't have been there.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Who's to say that the Xen collars are the same type of collar on the Vort in the trainstation? IIRC correctly it has a little hoop on the top that looks as if it could be connected to a chain or a leash. Presumably it also keeps its electricity in check. The nihilanth had no need for collars with leash attachments since he had them under complete mind control.

Therefore the vort in the station is wearing a collar of Earth-Combine manufacture. This signifies no significant link for or against the Combine/Xen argument, since the Combine could have simply discovered a few vorts on Earth and cooked up something to keep them docile. It certainly doesn't mean that the Combine have been their masters all along. Even if it is the same type of collar, it means very little.

Also someone mentioned that Maybe Xen has a different dimensional relationship to the Combine world and so they can't use it to teleport. IRRELEVANT! They're not operating on this "Combine world"....they're on Earth, where Xen teleportation is perfectly possible.

Also, if the Combine invaded Xen yet couldn't use the Nihilanth to teleport...what the hell were they doing there? They didn't assimilate any species, they didn't build any structures, and they weren't using the Nihilanth for anything other than bossing around some vorts....utterly pointless.

Finally, my take on the Elites - I reckon they are the most heavily modded form of "transhuman", possibly the closest human equivalent to the synth type of forces that they've yet created. Personally I believe all the Combine-sided troops, from Metrocops upwards, are modified/modded in some way. It seems to me that their masks, rather than be just a mask, is actually some form of carapace that has been grafted on. The combine propaganda evolution pic seems to suggest that there is no human face under the mask, and it also fits quite nicely with the blood welling up through the mask when you strike it. Presumably Barney had to get his one by hacking someone's face off. Granted, in Nova Prospekt you do see a transhuman halfway through being modded, and he still has a face and normal skin, but it *is* only halfway....

edit:- just to clarify my main argument: I'm saying that if the Combine were on Xen at all, it was for teleportation sk1L5. They can't teleport though, so can't have been there.

Civil protection can't have been modded humans, in that case how did Barney go undercover? If i were the combine and was gonna mechanically improve humans, the first item on the list would be a tracking system, and then a way of keeping them in check, probably involving an electric shock that would make your testicles tie themselves in a knot and then descend so far down you'd have to wear extra big socks. I'm pretty sure CPs are 100% human.

 

[Laivasse]

Civil protection can't have been modded humans, in that case how did Barney go undercover? If i were the combine and was gonna mechanically improve humans, the first item on the list would be a tracking system, and then a way of keeping them in check, probably involving an electric shock that would make your testicles tie themselves in a knot and then descend so far down you'd have to wear extra big socks. I'm pretty sure CPs are 100% human.

This is getting a bit OT, but... There's nothing that suggests Barney couldn't just pass for one of them simply by looking like them - something that wouldbe very hard to do if it's all implants, and so would account for why more resistance members don't try it.

All transhumans (metrocops, Overwatch, Elite) talk to eachother - shout orders, ask eachother to report in, etc. So from that we can assume they don't just simply have some all-seeing hive mind which would root out outsiders. Also, if what they're wearing is not just a uniform then it would make them even less likely to assume that they had an intruder in their midst.

 

[ríomhaire]

Pai-Mei, you say we are going on very little evedence and we are so sure of ourselfs, you are the same, and you are ignoring the evedence against your theory.

For once the lesser master lay defeated, we knew the greater must also fall in time.

So who is the greater master if not the Combine?

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Pai-Mei, you say we are going on very little evedence and we are so sure of ourselfs, you are the same, and you are ignoring the evedence against your theory.

So who is the greater master if not the Combine?

Right coz the vort who says that speaks in past tense, in my mind saying that the combine had control of Xen.

And I don't think OW soldiers and Elites are 100% human, but CPs are basically just cops, it's not like they get to see top secret stuff like Nova Prospekt or the citadel so the combine don't need quite as big a control over them. But OW and elites probably have lots of improvements in them.