Half Life: Alyx - Story Explanation and Analysis

Though I liked the story of Half-Life: Alyx very much, it doesn’t expand the lore a whole lot. Having said that, there are a couple of tidbits that the game offers us which might give credence to certain theories regarding G-Man, and the overall Half-Life narrative.

#halflifealyx
#halflife
#halflife3

[maxderrat]

Now that I have a look at her, I'm much more convinced that it's not Colette Green, but the possibility still exists. It could be a really old version of her. :P

[solderfromteamfortressthes]

I remember reading somewhere that gman speaks like he is not used to having lungs. That makes alot more sense now

[ElliFong]

Alyx: "Who are you?"
Gman: "Perhaps 'what' I am is not important."

[DrCranium]

...And here am I, pondering my meta-theory that "G-Man stands for 'Gaben's Man'" and that he's employed by Valve in general and Half-Life writers in particular - basically, a case of "self-concsious plot device"...

[morgue]

gman's employers do not have infinite knowledge; "I acted in the face of objections that she was 'a mere child' and 'of no practical use to anyone.'"

[its_suryanshu]

After 13 years, we finally got 30 seconds of episode 3 at the end, and it was definitely worth it!!

[Alias_Anybody]

I think that the Vortigaunts in the game made it very clear that time doesn't work for them the same way as for humans, and the implication is that it's exactly the same with the G-Man. In other words, he didn't put Alyx into stasis directly after she met him, the events of HL2, Ep1 and Ep2 played out exactly as we know them. No, they "just met" and her wish to save her father only came through when he was actually (almost) killed, which means she was put in stasis at the end of Ep2.

I mean, otherwise Gordon wouldn't even know what tf Eli was talking about in the ending sequence.

[mrozio]

In the beta version of hl2 there is a scene with G - Man saying that "you're not supposed to be here" and "you will forget it until we meet again". I think that's exactly what happened to Alyx in the ending.

[rayfwu]

"Let's not waste any time with long, drawn out introductions."


Instantly subscribed.

[davidburgos]

“You’re not living a full life, or a free life. You are merely living...a half-life”

Gave me chills. Top work, Max.

[GodofDark]

You talk about the 5 years between HLA and HL2, mentioning how they could've pulled Alyx out of stasis. It's heavily implied that the Alyx that was taken by the G-Man and put into stasis wasn't that Alyx from 5 years ago, but the Alyx from Episode 2.

Edit: forgot to mention, great video! I was waiting to see what you had to say about the ending :)

[lazymansload]

2:19 my guess is this: like the Vortigaunts, the G-Man has demonstrated the ability to affect people’s memories. In all likelihood, 19 year old Alyx left the Combine prison not remembering what actually transpired, and probably believed the vault was empty. The Resistance chalks this one up as a draw, since they took few losses and wreaked havoc on Combine forces, and life goes on.

Given what Eli tells Gordon in the post-credit scene, my guess is that the older Alyx we travelled with was taken by the G-Man after the Alyx of five years earlier, in a brief moment of co-terminousness, killed the Advisor and is taken away. Eli speaks as though he just witnessed his daughter’s abduction by the G-Man mere moments ago. This idea is further solidified by an Easter egg in the post credits scene, where, if the player turns their head to the left, they may see the G-Man in the room, watching them.

[Klerx]

*spoilers*

My main concern with Gman is that personally, I feel he allowed himself to get captured so he could speak to Alyx and hire her. In that vault, he didn't seem to be bothered that he was captured. If he's so powerful, he could escape at any time despite the security the Combine enforced without lifting a finger. He seemed expectant of her, lying in wait like a cliché Bond villain. Not only does that feel off-put, but also saying he makes nudges, followed by nudging her in the direction of working for him through seeing a future scenario with Eli's death. I don't have strong theories, but when I saw that ending in HL:A after the credits, it made me feel so small and virtually powerless over the fact the Gman could potentially even rewrite a timeline with how short, yet straightforward that nudge was. Does this mean that the episodes of HL2 were part of an even worse timeline? This raises more questions to me that, when finally answered, will open Pandora's box.

In short, everything happens so much.

[theferbtheorists]

Not a big fan of the ending of Half Life Alyx. I carried Vodka for hours to give to Russel and just ended up losing it in the Vault. Really wanted to take a shot with him

[DoctorLightning]

When the final
Half-Life: Alyx title appears onscreen and fades the final letter to fade is the y (an upside down lambda) which symbolizes Alyx is now "living" the half-life

[rich]

He referred to humans and grub things as 'entities', equal value, a fair trade to trade one for the other. Sounded to me like GMan is 'something else' entirely, but perhaps they are when they hatch.

[thetimelords]

"We have plans for her" -Erik Wolpaw
*if THAT doesnt confirm HL3 after HL:A's ending, i dont know what does.*

[rickedysplit]

Rise and shine Ms. Vance, Rise and shine...

[thehourman]

I think Alyx's consciousness was taken to the moment Eli died and her memory of the Gman was erased up until that moment and then he took her. This is because all of the events during HL2 that involve Alyx still happened, including her telling him "Prepare for unforseen consequences." It seems that Alyx must have gone back home after meeting the Gman with no recollection of what she saw.

[Josh-lelu]

Me responding to every G-Man theory I've ever heard: Sounds about right.