that explains why gordon can only do rudimentary puzzles in game even though he's supposed to be a theoretical physicist, he's just insanely sleep deprived.
*spoilers for hla* that’s probably why Eli is telling Gordon to wake up in the post credits, the advisors didn’t knock him out or anything (he’s still awake at the very end of episode 2 after Eli dies) he just finally got the chance to catch some z’s and he took it
In end credits of first game you can actually hear steps if you try to move. Gordon is placed in an infinite void and could sleep as much as he liked. This interpretation of events is arguably worse. Because it leaves him in severe sensory deprivation for 20 years and arguably worse than no sleep for 6 days.
@@ashkuigp maybe the insanity he developed from being in solitary confinement in a pitch black room for 2 decades is exactly why he immediately went on a murder spree at the first opportunity and started killing every cop in city 17
i think chell would actually be the most well rested protagonist bc in portal 2 she was asleep long enough for aperture science to go from a fully functioning facility to something more like an ancient ruin, which wouldve taken at least hundreds of years and potentially even thousands
He also hasn't had a single bite to eat in all of that time, so he's also extremely starved and malnourished, completely sleep deprived, I'm sure only even kept going by the painkillers administered by his suit and the constant adrenaline of being in extremely deadly situations.
I used to as a kid like to think that characters from games got up to stuff when you turned the game off. Pretty sure I imagined Gordon taking a few naps in a few of those highway 17 houses or at resistance bases.
I really like how in recent years the half-life community has gone from treating Gordon as an unstoppable badass, to someone who just needs a good hug, a nap, and a really long crying break to cope with his soon to be PTSD
I love this minor fault on the Blank-Slate Protagonist trope in fiction. Because even thought the writers do the best they can to make a character as featureless as possible and only serve as a representation of the audience, even in video games, where the interactivity and control helps to make this illusion even more immersive, it's impossible to fully make the audience forget about the avatar that is suppose to represent them - so we tend to humanize this vassel that is completely empty.
Absolutely. I always like to imagine how Gordon feels, what was his backstory before the Black Mesa incident, etc. Despite the fact that Gordon is in fact nothing more than a camera with hands and a gun.
that is why you don't do representation ,Gordon is a character first and a puppet second the game is Crafted to a point that no matter what the player will act completely like Gordon the audience is the blank slate representing gordon Freeman not Gordon Freeman not the other way around
-becomes a theoretical physicist -causes an alien outbreak in a facility -picks up a gun and slaughters both the military and the aliens. -ends up in cryo sleep for 20 years -wakes up in a world controlled by a highly advanced alien race -slaughters the Alien garrison -Destroys Alien main HQ -never says a single word throughout his 6 day journey
From gordons perspective, him defeating the alien fetus on an alien world, to seeing the world he knew controlled by the combine, is only less than 30 minutes. From the black mesa incident to the end of episode 2, is only in the span of less than a week. Imagine how mentally taxing that would be
Fun bit: upon taking damage, the suit administers morphine, the next dose will not come until at least 30 minutes of in-game (not plot time unfortunately but let's assume otherwise) time has passed. Assuming if Gordon suffers an injury every within every 30 minutes, morphine was administered a maximum of 96 times on the Mark IV and 192 times on the Mark V.
@@twrecks6279 again, this only assumes that if Gordon has taken an injury with at least 30 minute intervals. There are certainly moments where he hasn't taken any injury. Discrepancy 1: When Gordon is knocked out in Apprehension, the knocking out itself may also be enough time for the suit to administer a dose but for several hours(potentially) Gordon hasn't taken an injury(so, no dose) as he wakes up in the trash compactor. Discrepancy 2: We don't know long Alyx was searching for Gordon at the start of Episode 1. Discrepancy 3: The train ride and the start of Episode 2 might be a period where no doses were administered. Other bits: The assumption doesn't also take into account the more peaceful moments of both games. As I reiterate, those numbers are just maximum intake of morphine assuming we had use the fact it only does so every 30 minutes-in game, it is 30 minutes of in-game time and this assumption assumes this the same amount of time in-canon.
@@dracmeister Yeah I know all that. The thought that he had been getting morphine every 30 minutes for 6 days made me laugh though. I was just thinking maybe we could take it even further haha
My headcannon is that Gordon sleeps in those mines at the end of "We Don't Go To Ravenholm...". Why? Because after you exit it's late morning, when it was fully nighttime when you enter the mines.
Head crabs and drinks the green healing goo in the medkits, which canonically may or may not be made up of pulped ant lion grubs. Which is very nutritious. Even Gman says so
while i personally assumed the g-mans void completely rejuvinated freeman while he was in there(example, he suffers no broken bones or other injuries he most definitely received in black mesa) since both games take place over multiple days, him only running on adrenaline, morphine and the miniscule amount of rest being knocked unconscious provides to him is still pretty insane to think about
Honestly, I see no issue with the idea that Gordon simply fell asleep while he was in stasis. Stasis does not necessarily mean that time had completely stopped. It could mean that time was merely slowed down (think like Miller's Planet from Interstellar). Gordon could have very well had an 8+ hour long nap while in stasis, and woke up almost 20 years later. G Man also has a certain level of control over time. He could have pulled Gordon in and out of stasis multiple times to prepare him for the events of Half-Life 2, and we simply don't know about it. I mean he must have done that at least once, given that Gordon does not have his suit at the beginning of Half Life 2, and we know he still had it on at the end of Half Life 1.
Truth be told, G-man could have simply removed Gordon's suit during the stasis, and gave him the civvies. Gordon could simply not notice the lack of HEV right after waking up.
When a fandom reaches critical mass, it doesn't matter if it's built around novel concept yet to be properly realised or a 20 year long labour of abundant love, it will _always_ end up asking trite, irrelevant questions and it's always amazing to see what little thing is inquisitioned.
@@user-bv7zo6vd4m i think he was meant to canonically wear one even though his model is different for the deathmatch gamemode or something, but it was forgotten about so he just doesnt anymore
@@user-bv7zo6vd4mhe definitely does. Otherwise he would have been domed/barnacled/zombified a long time ago. Also, how else would he have the hud? Or that zoom function he gets in 2?
@@sirgideonofnirtheall-knowi1881He definitely doesn't, considering every piece of official artwork shows him otherwise. The HEV helmet is constructed more like a hood with a skull cap likely for head protection from falling dangers and a rebreather suite, and wouldn't offer much protection in a gunfight. Head crabs have been shown to be unreliable in latching onto people's heads (see: Half Lyfe: Alex, general gameplay and Lamar) with the only documentation of it happening being one poor scientist who got taken by surprise, and barnacles snag you by the neck, not the crown, and a helmet won't protect your head from becoming it's next meal considering it must have powerful jaws. The HUD is likely just a visual representation of the suit's voice lines for the player's benefit, or else why even have the voice lines, and the zoom function can be chalked up to the same idea as a common game mechanic (a la New Vegas and other Source games), but if that's not acceptable, I guess a simple monocular can extend out of the collar and improve his vision or something? There aren't many good or convincing reasons for him to wear the helmet, especially since the way it is constructed makes it seem like it would hurt visibility and even ventilation, so frankly he'd be better off without it and chase his bets with the Combine always aiming for centre mass.
I think these are questions or things that people have always noticed or thought about at some point for years and years but have never really given more or proper thought to or haven't talked about it with others.
The thing is that being put on stasis by G-Man must have been physically restorative, but since Gordon can't perceive time being in stasis, it must have felt like one continuous experience. I've had some nights where I've gone to sleep and then woke up 8 hours later, but it seemed like I've just gone to bed. Physically I was well rested but mentally I felt surprised, like 'okay, I guess I gotta keep going'
gman literally asks you to wake up so stasis is obviously equivalent to sleeping unless gman is speaking in weird symbolic metaphorical bullsh- ok you're right
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I recall correctly the ending of Episode 1 takes place at dusk, while Episode 2 starts during daytime (Gordon having been knocked out in-between). Doesn't this mean episodes 1 and 2 take place on separate days, meaning it should be 7 days instead of 6?
EP1 is tricky because the sky is constantly orange, presumably from fires, smoke, and the crazy storm at the tip of the Citadel. However, the first map has the sun near the horizon (shining through the crashed gunship after Alyx contacts her dad), meaning it starts at either dawn or dusk. EP2 is quite clearly dawn-to-dusk, though; the skyboxes of the maps go in linear order from dawn at the train crash to dusk when the superportal is closed. So since EP1 has to end, at most, a few hours before sun rises at the start of EP2, it either: 1. Starts at dawn and ends early the next morning (~20 hours) 2. Starts at dusk and ends early the next morning (~8 hours) 3. Starts at dusk and ends early the morning two days later (~44 hours)
@@YesterdaysMinder The second is the right one. The game starts at sunset (at least judging from the position of the sun), Alyx and Gordon run around the citadel all night, by the time they get out its dawn/early morning. EP2 seems to start right at dawn which is pretty odd tbh because it probably would've taken them several hours to make it out of the city. I guess the devs just didn't want the end of EP2 to take place at night.
A thing that supports the real time POV theory at the start is that stasis is being outside of time, you don't experience time, you're basically paused, like said in the video. Since you're not experiencing time, you're basically just pulled from one point in time to the other instantly (from your perspective.)
I don't know if you've ever been sedated, but at least my experience was that right after I lost consciousness, from my perspective I had already woken up, just hours later, so that wouldn't change the fact that from Gordon's perspective time has barely passed, but he may have had some rest and then been "teleported" 20 years into the future
I think we are forgetting just how powerful the G-Man is canonically. It's made pretty clear that up until Episode 1, Gordon hasn't been acting on his own free will. It's not that hard to push a little further and say the G-Man is giving him energy to keep going. He can already put words in peoples mouths and stop time at will.
Was literally thinking about this yesterday and this pops up in my recommended lol. I think the stasis is more like a form of hibernation that slows aging, unlike true stasis. That said, only sleeping twice in the worst week of your life would be horrific! Very well made video, you deserve more views!
Two arguments for me to make here: Firstly, I suspect that Gman stasis moments between hl1-hl2 and hl2-ep1 *would* have rejuvinated Gordon an equivalent amount to getting an actual day worth of sleep, simply because Gordon is the Gman's most valued agent and it would be illogical for Gman to throw him into a job without properly accounting for his physical needs. Secondly, I suspect that the episodes take place over the course of two days rather than one. Just judging from how long they are, the blackout at the end of Episode 1, and the sky, it doesn't make much sense to me that they'd both be on the same day.
As a STEM student that’s had similar sleeping patterns, I may have the answer: a mix of self-loathing and masochism in the pursuit of a career they love as well as a crippling fear of failure diving way to a sense of drive led by nothing but anxiety and an implied sense of extreme urgency.
I think you are missing something, what if Gordon was actually sleeping in stasis? What if GovermentMan gave Gordon enough power to be awake for this long while the Freeman was in stasis? Nice vid tho
He mentioned it- While Gordon could be PHYSICALLY rejuvenated, no amount of alien black magic will emulate the mental rest sleep provides. Overall, Gordon would still be stressed the fuck out from sleep deprivation
@@ExpendedEcho But why not, though? If said alien black magic is so powerful that it can go as far as putting you into stasis into the cosmic void, or stopping time completely to remove you from reality (when the Citadel explodes), I don't see why it would be impossible to imagine that the same alien black magic could also have the power to rejuvenate the brain.
Someone needs to make a sleep deprivation mod, starts out fairly normal and as your progress you get more sluggish, less responsive, your vision blurs and eventually you start to hallucinate and black out for a second or two, would not really be anything other then a challenge/meme but I think it's an interesting idea
Technically Gordon does speak, when he gets hurt, sometimes he goes “ugh” that is almost speech, but in seriousness the lore states he is not a mute, just not a talker.
I'm glad someone pointed out how the entirety of both games literally happens in the span of three days from Gordon's point of view. Then again it's pretty impressive he has not eaten once or used the restroom in three days, gaming's most constipated character...
Y'know, I'm imagining the suit is helping carrying Gordon, literally. It might have some strength enhancement, mostly to carry the weight of the user. Which may help with the sleep deprivation by virtue of simply having less to throw around.
I like to interpret Gordons lack of sleep as a testament to the impossibly oppressive threat the combine had over the world. From the moment he arrived from stasis, all the way to episode two. Gordon could not afford to rest at all without the risk of dying, or just failing to save humanity because of his lack of presence for key events in the story. The Combine required his full attention at all times to a point where it would be too much for a human to handle over an extended period, and that really helps in showing how powerful the combine as a race were. Aside from other aspects like the 7 hour war, and complete global domination. Get this man Gordon A BED
I do think that Gordon HAS had some kind of rest in the stasis between Hl1 and Hl2. There is a weird feeling that, there was some time for gordon between the games in the stasis. At least enough to feel well rested. And, between Hl2 and Ep1, he gets put back in there, or Knocked out. Enough for some form of rest. Although probably not much. But yeah, gordon needs some sleep.
One thing to mention as well is that gordon being knocked out by the HECU marines for likely several hours by being hit, rather than something like anesthetics, means he likely has a TBI, so a realistic end to the half life story would be gman puts him in stasis, lets him out after years in half life 2, and he just drops on the train going to c17 from his TBI going untreated.
I always assumed that Gordon wasn't in 'stasis' but that time in void that G Man put him flows different, so while 20 years pass in our word, Gordon just pass out at the end of the first and woke up at the beign of the second. That way would make sense G Man would greet Gordon with 'rise and shine,' a thing you say to someone who is awakening at the moment.
I used to be awake Very early Monday to late Saturday night and then sleep all Sunday.. I wasn't fighting aliens mind you.. But I got a lot of shit done :P
When I play HL2 I like the take a break right after dodging the train. There is a cool little nook right before the next tunnel where you can hide the car and get some good Z's.
I always assumed the Gordon was unconscious at the beginnings of HL2: Episode 1 and 2. He wouldn’t have gotten much sleep, or good sleep. But I like to think he had some.
She got 9 years, Portal 1 Takes Place 1 hour before the black mesa incident, Chell Sleeps for 9 years After Half Life 1 and wakes up during the combine Era
I always felt like that void was just one of those time passes differently situation by that I mean it was probably near instant for gordon. When you meet Eli Vance he says "you haven't aged a day/bit" Don't exactly remember but something along those lines so it's safe to assume he might actually be sleep deprived and tripping balls during the game
I thought It will be something like this: There Is 7 Days (168 hours + included xen for some reason) that goes by in this game so to speak , I'll also put some reasonable playtimes to make this a bit simpler So let me list It down below; Half Life 1 takes average 16 Hours to beat Half Life 2 takes average 19 Hours to beat HL2 Ep 1 takes average 6 Hours to beat HL2 Ep 2 takes average 9 Hours to beat Add It all Up and you get 50 Hours where you play the main protagonist doing some puzzles and story progress Battles etc. ( the fun stuff ) But the rest of 118 Hours of those you don't play nor see, So the other hidden stuff that Gordon does which might not be important in the main story, ( which would not be ideal and not being included into the game such as eating, taking a poop, heal his wounds in real time, Sleep etc. )
I like to think that the high tech suit that pumps him full of morpheme also pumps him full of adrenaline. The combine get a similar “stimulant” injected into them by their suits. You can hear the overwatch voice announcer say it near the start of the game. It’s what keeps them up and moving I’d like to think that Gordon has smth like that. Especially considering his suit is better than the combine suits
I was having some problems recording OG HL1 the footage was just coming out really bad for some reason. I considered using Black Mesa footage but settled on trying to stay as authentic as possible with HL Source
completely unrelated to the video topic, but I was in a wreck once. A few months back. Something slashed/bashed my head open and I remember waking up in the hospital and everything that has happened that day, before I woke back up, had felt like a dream that I genuinely didn't actually happened. It felt like I went to bed the night prior, had a really long unusual dream, then woke up in the hospital. Anyways, this video reminded me of that for some reason and thought someone could relate lmao. Great video btw!
In my headcanon, I like to imagine that Gordon actually slept at some points in the game. For example, when we leave Ravenholm to go into the tunnels, it's nighttime, right? Well, we probably spend about 5-10 minutes into those tunnels before going to the surface, and then suddenly, it's ALREADY daytime? That doesn't make any sense at all! The only way I can make sense of this is if I pretend Gordon slept into these tunnels.
At the start of Half-Life 2 Gordon is "wearing his civvies" according to Barney. We can therefore conclude that the G-Man tenderly undressed Gordon, bathed him, and bought him new clothes while in stasis.
I always thought that Gordon was out of commission for like a day when the train crashed. To me it looked like sunrise/sunset when Episode 1 started, I thought that Lowlife took place over a night, and it looked sorta like sunset when Citadel exploded, and then it felt like Gordon was knocked out after the train crash. I mean, it was enough time for Dog to get from the Citadel to White Forest on foot.
Maybe we just don't see the parts where Gordon sleeps in hl2, notice that when he enters the ravenholm mine it's night but a short walk later it's daytime?
0:30 given Gman can time travel he may not even be in stasis, simply temporally teleported to his next target. Although an argument can be made that he curls up in a corner and sleeps there occasionally all off screen.
I've been doing a lot of 10k jogs and rock climbing lately, and afterwards my muscles are like "yeah we're half shredded and can barely function bro, don't do that again today or we'll just snap". The fact that gordon can still stand up after running for 5 days and nights is godlike
If you read accounts from veterans of the Normandy campaign during WWII, specifically paratroopers who jumped in on the first night, a lot of them actually don't remember the events of the end of the first week very well because they basically spent the first eight days after D-Day fighting almost non-stop and most were completely mentally exhausted after the first 3-4 days.
