The part of Gman that always stood out to me is how in the ending of Half Life 1, He hesitates before he says the word "employers." it’s as if he’s trying to think of a term that Gordon could best understand for them. A close enough analogue or approximation that a Human like Gordon could use as a reference point for whatever cosmic, unknowable force he is a part of. It's probably my favourite part about the Gman.
Spooks pretend to lie, all the time. Could be that. Probably not, just don't forget, professional liars, often let themselves get caught in them. It sets a precedence that people remember, while masking their actual lies.
His whole speech at the end.. and when he finishes it with a casual.. "this is where I get off" and a crooked smile.. then that little sideways glance before the door slides shut behind him .. first time I saw that I was absolutely stunned
It might be best to keep speculating. It's possible that, after such a long period of stagnation they might just not feel capable of producing something worthy of ending the Half Life series, something we fans would enjoy.
@@jackakakreanxx5587No, it is not. As HLX retconned anything epistle 3 related and the writer of epistle 3 regretted ever posting it, even before HLX was released.
Something I've always loved about Gman from the very beginning is his rebellious streak. He always talks about his employers with a slight hint of contempt, or perhaps just a lack of patience for their uptight ways. He openly gloats about going behind their backs and doing things his own way, and laments the fact he can't just completely ignore them altogether. It makes him so much more interesting and terrifying, to know that even the beings he works for can't control him. His speech in Episode 2 has always been my favourite because that's the moment you see the extent to which it's mostly his plans, _not_ theirs.
He is very much an analogue to the CIA in real life. They're constrained by having to do what the government wants when they want it done, but they end up mostly doing it their own way.
@@Cavemanner yea the ambiguity when HL1 released was cool, you werent sure if maybe he really WAS working for the US government on some elevated layer of reality. And it predated the Agents from the Matrix too, with their very similar vibe as stand-ins for SS/NSA working for a Higher Power.
As the games go on I love to see how much more people and entities are very aware of the Gman's presence, and yet seems he is 10 steps ahead of everyone and they remain as his pawns.
OK, this is kind of a joke, but... In a 1931 book "The Little Golden Calf" by Ilf and Petrov there's a passage describing a typical Southern Soviet beach and various people that usually visit it. Among those listed is a man who's always wearing a full official suit, complete with a suitcase, and nobody really knows why is he there and why he is dressed like that even on the hottest of days. I think that's a pretty good candidate for a G-Man theory :)
Not only that but City 17 is heavily based on one of the closer unknown soviet cities. To ms Half Life 2 and combine rule reminds me somewhat of how countries operated under heavy communist rule but way more dystopian in the game
At 39:24 the advisor seems to notice that Alyx appeared out of nowhere and jerks its head towards her before G-Man freezes time so she can kill it. Imagine how powerful his "employers" are if one of their associates can trivialize the elimination of a Combine advisor like that.
12:16 small correction, it is implied that Breen was the one to say Alyx would be of no use to anyone. Breen briefly flashes on the screen when this is said, plus the line "when... quelling... them? hm? was out of the question". G-Man would not quell his employers, this was a reference to Breen.
Breen is the face of the Combine on Earth, so it could have been a shortcut to represent them as a whole. Yes, he could have been an employee of the Combine, the one who facilitated the invasion of the Earth. Now he has a different employers, so now he goes against the combine.
@@konstantingeorgiev7668 Freedom. I think its in the phrase "prepare for unforeseen consequences". When you think about it, he's basically a genie. He's being used to get what his "employers" want, hence his imprisonment in ALYX. I think he's just playing the long game, giving his employers what they think they want all while setting them up to get their throats slit by the player (whom he discards like razors)
Agreed. Some things are best left unknown. Shoulda done the same with the Halo's in Halo...once we knew who created them, the mystery and wonder was gone ;/
I want more info but in the form of 'answer one question, open a dozen more' kind of way. Never give us too much, but give us a seed trail kind of thing.
Half life lore will never end in my opinion, it is a ever expanding universe inside gabes's mind. Many things in this lore just exist, the objective is to, we, players give meaning and interpret them.
The G-Man is a Shuulathoi god from Saturn. He is imprisoned in a black cube with a green hexagonal superpolygon. He can control Time, like the god Saturnus, or the Demiurge. The "G" relates to the G in the Freemasonic symbolism, a reference to the 7th letter/archon Saturn. Gordon Freeman, in contrast, is the Freemasonic initiate whose goal is to defeat the God of Time, just like Mithras in the Tauroctony. Even Black Mesa's logo is a reference to this. The Lambda complex looks like the astrological symbol for Saturn. "Some believe that the fate of our worlds is inflexible, my "employers" disagree"
In 2019 Mike Shapiro posted a new years greeting in G-Man's voice that sent chills down my spine. After years of half life silence, G-Man saying "see you in the next year" was insane.
I feel like Gman just walk into black mesa, see Dr Brean without no appoinment, acted like he work for the government and everyone went "well he from the government so we assume he in charge" when in reality Gman never said he was from the government, everyone just assumed it since he acted like it.
I mean what do you expect when some random dude in the suit In the lab that is middle of nowhere is hard to find, for civilians and he said his from the government. There is some speculation but it's enough to be believable.
I have always loved his bizarre speech, and often mimic it when i talk about Half-Life. He's such a creepy and intriguing character, I hope we get more info in the next few years (im doubtful, but still gotta try to hold out hope).
Nice video bro. Adrian Shepherd deserves so much more love within this franchise. If there is every to be a Half-life 3 I really hope they bring him back somehow.
I've got nothing to add, but something somewhat unrelated; One of the times I was sick last year or so, your timeline videos helped me fall asleep, and I want to thank you for that, anyways, genuinely one of my more favourite lore channels. Keep up the good work!
The Shu'ulathoi theory kind of makes sense at first glance, but I don't think it fits. The Gman has godlike powers. He is able to do things like a mini Doctor Manhattan: pause time selectively, teleport, appear in people's heads, inter-dimensionally travel, ditto with people, seemingly create pocket dimensions, and now with HL Alyx move himself and others selectively forward in time and appear in multiple places at once. All that to say, I really don't think he's a space grub. 1) I don't think Valve would do that because a lot of people would see him turning out to be a psychic space bug as a letdown. 2) He really seems to be a seems to be a higher-dimensional being beyond our understanding at the least, or some hyper intelligent lovecraftian monstrosity at the most. Valve could go that far, given the jump from New Mexico science experiments (HL1) to the space faring combine empire they already did (HL2) and made work. Honestly it might be really cool to only get a glimpse of the Gma's true, terrifying form, showing he's an eldritch entity we can't hope to comprehend, while keeping his details and his employers unknown. Imagination is more powerful than spelling everything out.
@@soda7998 if that the case then they couldn't be able of taking their planet, all we know of the combine is that they have incredible firepower, but the G man operates in another level.
you're constraining your imagination too much. he may be using a mix of powers, some things he seemingly does may be pure illusions, while others are real. it's not that simple
I think the reason why the gman and his employers actions were none existant during the early years of Combine occupation is because the gman was trapped until Alyx freed him therefor stopping operations, until he was freed then he prob went straight to the future to "place" gordon and restart their operations
That makes absolutely no sense. He can alter time and reality, he can literally drop people at any point in time or space. The only reason he wasn't there is because he saw no need to be.
I think he's been imprisoned from the start of Gordons journey. They "hired" him to open a path to earth, which is what Gordons objective was. Still under their "employ" in half life 2, he uses alyx to free himself and puts gordon back into play to inspire the rebellion in his bid to destroy his "handlers" which are the grubs. Because of his loss of Gordon due to the vortigaunts, he ditched him for alyx by offering her something she didn't know she wanted; her fathers life in exchange for her servitude. "Prepare for unforeseen consequences" is basically how a genie works
The g-mans long monologue in Episode 2 is so fascinating and mysterious. His inflection and choice of words along with the visuals and sound effects always puts chills up my spine. Excellent video as always Skyrionn. I don't think it's ever been stated as a fact but I can't stop seeing the G-Man as Valve's version of Q from the Star Trek and Picard shows.
Apparently the one telling gman "she's a mere child and no practical use to anyone" was not his employers, but Breen. When he says that line Breens face flashes up on the TV behind him
You dropping a almost 52 minute video on the SAME DAY I decide to research the G-Man was PERFECT! Found this within the first 14 minutes of the upload! XD
I invented and used a time-mashine to click on this "specific video," but due to [time relapse paradox], my mind split into a million fractions splattered all over time and space. Leaving nothing but a shell of conscience behind. More than eternity has passed, the shattered indentity is more alike a breathing spectral dot of dust longing a cosmic breeze of detrimental power. A feeble structural link born out of order, created in moment of rebirth sentence to perpetual torment in the next. Never truly knowing end or begging, neither light nor darkness. Life and nonexistent. P.s yo mom gay
I bet that in Half Life 3 (if there is one), Valve will shoehorn a plot where the Gman was "a good guy all along" or "the combine are scared of him." That would be such an easy thread to tie up his character that I can see Valve using it.
I loved the way you included voice lines and blurbs into the narration! 'He ran, he thought, he shot and he lived' was so freaking cute x3 I used to bring the game manual to school with me and read it on the bus over and over when i was small hahah
Thank you Skyrionn, your videos always bring back those childhood memories. Memories about the secrets of half life... that strange feeling of playing the series....
I would like to remind everyone that the G man depicted something akin to mature Nihilant in the Garys Pictures in the Half Life Alyx. Where his depiction seems extremely similar to nihilant with an opening head
personally I enjoy the theories about G-man being an advisor or nihilanth or some sort of alien. They definitely want us to think there's something inhuman about him with his speech pattern, weird eyes, and constant tugging at his tie
Are you talking about the vortigaunt cave drawing? Cuz that's...no? That's not an "opening in his head", that could be an empty skull, or his brain, or where the vortigaunts consider where the soul resides. It's ridiculous to look at that rudimentary drawing and use that as irrefutable proof that Gman = a nihilanth.
Far more believable then "G-man is future Gordon" or even "G-man is valve" (tbh that one can be true and more then likely is in metaphorical sense but not in universe)@@WobblesandBean
He is called "G-Man" because that´s how it appears in the game files. The "Government man" thing is a hypothesis. In the only place, outside of the internal game files, where he is mentioned in that way is in Adrian Shephard's diary where Shephard himself mentions him as a "government man", but it was never confirmed, in addition to that, it´s unclear if Oppossing Force is canon.
@@erdilalemr No, although in English "G-Man" is an abbreviation for "Government Man", he´s never referred to in the story as such, neither as G-Man nor as "Government Man". The only mention given to him is in Half Life 2 when Eli Vance refers to him as "our friend", and, as I said, in Shephard's diary he´s mentioned as "the government man", but, also as I said, it´s not clear if it´s canon. Also, since Shephard is the one who mentions it, he may very well not be a "G-Man." Still, no one who had contact with him refers to him in that way, not Alyx, not Eli, not the vortigaunts.
Ngl knowing the G-Mans disposition, it kinda seems like his choice for saving alyx was moreso a test to see if or how much things would change due to his deviated actions. (in my mind, to kinda see if he would be able to influence it more than his employers wanted him too.)
The hatched shu’ulatoii theory is canon for me. The other surviving shu’ulatoii are his employers and he has to abide certain restrictions to avoid being found by Combine advisors.
Great video, good work, man. I like the idea that he's something completely alien even to the combine, hense why even his imprisonment by them was just another play on the board. A common thread with HP Lovecrafts work is that eldritch entities have such immensely complicated plans that literally nothing but themselves can decipher all the impossibly entertwined and nuanced twists and turns. Gmans employers could be an entire coalition of eldritch beings, just a bunch of unknowable speculative investors looking to multiply their power by collecting the right assets across the multiverse.
maybe because all that lore wasn't even in larval state back then?? valve themselves released a big documentary about the making of half-life 1, watch it. it was a terrible mess.
G-man is the best Character in a game mostly because of the mystery about him/it but also because of Michael Shapiro voice acting. It is unbelievable a Character with such limited "screen time" can take up so much of my waking hour. I can't stop thinking about all the theories and the memories of me and my friends have "meet ups" just to sit and talk about Half-life and G-man. Thanks for this video!
"The black Mesa incident was a perfectly orchestrated moment in human history." But for gman, it was tuesday. I guess the gman is working for some eldritch entities. Something a human mind cant comprehend. It would also explain his powers and manerisms. Especially his ability to apear and disappear out of nowhere and the planning over time. Including dimensional hopping.
Great video as always... Your last theory is interesting. Since we will probably never know the truth, or at least have more informations, I'm going with this theory !
I love these god damn videos I’m currently playing through the 1st half life black mesa and it’s awesome. I don’t get much free time at home on my computer but I love the idea of it and these lore videos keep me intrigued. Keep it up ur awesome.
34:51 I think the real thing that is going on here is that Kleiner wanted to use and exploit the borealis whilst Eli wanted it to be destroyed which is something the Gman did not approve of
Can it be that G-man and his employers are trying to stop an absolute point (like when doctor strange tries to save christine but fails to do so) in time, like when he says "some believe that the fate of our worlds is INFLEXIBLE, but my employers disagree". They are trying to stop something or just trying to change the future by nudging some specific points in time to create a butterfly effect. They probably might have tried to change the future many times, only to fail and return back to try again, thats why he seems so irritated when something unplanned happens, might even prove his 'use and throw' nature towards his soldiers like Freeman and Shephard.
I've been sure for a long time that G-Man's employers are Valve, many details hint at this, and not a single one hints against it. While the G-Man personifies the scriptwriter of the play, the Vortigaunts, as guardians of the border world, personify the force that is trying to stop the interference of the parallel universe with them, to leave them alone, so as not to be pawns for our amusement.
I really have to give it to you about how well done the editing and story was! It was a pleasure to listen to this before work this morning and I am looking forward to enjoying more of your content.
I think the gman is a grub if you watched the lore of the shu ulathoi (grubs) when they grow up they can turn into anything they want to be there's also the voice lines that the nihilanth says, one of them being "you are man, he is not man" and along other voicelines
@@4Deadserious iirc from the breengrub account, when the grubs were first contacted by the combine it was in the form of a mind virus. the grubs had basically a telepathic internet so it was able to infect the entire species, but if the theory is correct there are some rebel grubs out there and the G-man is one of them, shapeshifted to appear human.
In the Breen Grub text, which is what you're referencing, Breen states that the hatched forms of the Shuulathoi are basically brainless beasts that only serve to procreate the species. I think it's more likely that G-man is some sort of psychosomatic phage. In the same text Breen mentions that some sort of psychic virus began spreading through the psychic system of the grubs, something which somehow and in some form corrupted grubs and introduced horrid things into their society at large which made them quarantine these infected individuals. When the Combine discovered the grubs they found out about this virus and began using it surgically to uproot Shuulathoi society and for easier absorption into the infrastructure of the Combine. Back to what I was saying about G-man, I think it's more likely that whatever Shuulathoi escaped the reach of the Combine used this psychic virus that the Combine took advantage of and twisted it for their purposes. This could be why G-man admires Shephard for being able to adapt against all odds, something viruses do. Or the fact that the Combine view him as a weapon and have him contained in a cell that looks strikingly like the capsid head of a bacteriophage.
My theory on Gman is that since the contract is open to the highest bidder he is some sort of war profiteer who could be combine and he starts the uprising for his employers I'd guess when breen mentions the contract that the Combine tried to hire him and that's why Gman puts him in stasis at the end of HL2
Amazing video! Only thing I could come up with, I wish there was a section about “leaked/rewritten” stuff from Valve was in the video like Theories part. I believe a lot revealed about HL2E3 by leaks, and even though they have been retconned, they are interesting to hear.
I loved this video very much and I can tell how passionate you are about this and has made me thoight of Gman in a new light! Thank you for making this masterpiece of a video!
There's also another character similar to G-man in a underrated helmetcam shooter in roblox, HELLMET. Make no mistake H E L L M E T. The first time you see him is very similar to Gman, incognito while speaking very.... Mmmm, with much opulence.
His eyes are straight up nebulous. Hes something more than just human I personally think hes an aspect of a cosmic force that defies understanding.. probably even understanding of itself.
