Half-Life's Lost Superweapon | The Borealis | Full Half-Life Lore

The Borealis is one of the biggest mysteries in the Half-Life universe. This vessel is said to hold a powerful secret that could aid The Resistance of humanity against the dominating Combine Empire.
Who created The Borealis? Why it was created, and how it could change the future of the fate humanity? In this episode, I explore the mystery of the Borealis in the shared Half-Life and Portal universes.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:54 The Creation
03:49 The Disappearance
05:44 GLaDOS & The Combine Invasion
07:31 Rediscovery
14:56 Legacy
16:09 The Development of The Borealis
19:31 Epistle 3
25:15 Closing Thoughts
26:26 Ending
Older Borealis Video
• The Borealis | Half-Li...
Epistle 3
www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/
Join the Discord Server!
/ discord
BECOME A PATRON!
/ theskyrionn
Twitter
/ skyrionn
Instagram
/ skyrionn
Fable Lore Playlist: • What Became of Albion'...
Half-Life Lore Playlist: • The Borealis | Half-Li...
Fable 4 Updates: • Fable IV: Thoughts and...
Sims Stories: • 10 Times Funny Sims Pl...
Interesting Facts: • Fable 1: Interesting F...
Standard Sources
Half-Life series playthrough research
Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
Half-Life: Alyx Playthrough
Portal/ Half-Life Fandom
AUDIO USED
Half-Life 2 OST: Lab Practicum
#Borealis #Lore #HalfLife

[@naidenyordanov985]

An amazing video (as you usually do). I do wanna say that the relaxing but mysterious voice you make/have make me really engage with what you are talking about. I wanna comment the great editing you also make. It's really smooth and pleasing to the eye (synchronising with the great voice). I do think that you are underrated. Keep up the good work 👍

[@Skyrionn]

Wow, thank you! It takes a lot of time to put these together but when I see the final edit, I'm so happy with it. I'm pretty obsessive with how I put together the videos. Thank you for the kind words and support. It means more than you know! I promised to pin my favourite comment, so here you go!

[@deivytrajan]

His voice sounds like a conspiracy theory of why earth is flat. Hahaha. But good video nonetheless!

[@mousermind]

His enunciation and emphasis is all over the place though.

[@oxymoron02]

You're joking, right? His stunted enunciation is VERY jarring; I've had to stop watching after a minute.

[@oxymoron02]

@@mousermind I'm glad I'm not the only one to hear that.

[@Artcat932]

Portal in Half Life lore: *manufacturer of a highly important super weapon* Half Life in Portal lore: “Black Mesa can eat my bankrupt a-“

[@Skyrionn]

100% haha!

[@thealandude9146]

Honestly just thinking about Glados keeping everything in check as the combine brings havok on the surface is chilling

[@Ribbons0121R121]

"i dont even know whats going on out there.." considering theres so many security cameras this suggests the combine litterally trashed them all and she really has no idea

[@johnnyfettslem7439]

Bing chilling

[@grindcore124]

She probably gassed Aperture to prevent the combine from getting any info on what they were doing.

[@billybobjoephilcorncobtiptopge]

@@grindcore124 read the comic Lab Rat than you'll know why

[@M1z4rtsz]

@@billybobjoephilcorncobtiptopge yeah it doesent give any info on what he said

[@muddlewait8844]

It’s deeply ironic that Aperture lost the Borealis due to an aggressive release schedule when their utterly miraculous, fully functional unreleased Portal device is stuck in QA for literally decades

[@whatevernamegoeshere3644]

@ayy lmao ok tankie

[@Raum2901]

@ayy lmao Perhaps the speech of cave johnson about lemons is what put on hold the research of the portal gun, or more realistically the research of putting the mind of people into computers (like Glados)

[@Skyrionn]

I love this comment

[@aMySour]

[@docv2765]

@ayy lmaobetter than shitty communism that killed 100s of millions of people

[@kevinwaddle447]

The Borealis is full of Cave Johnson's greatest achievement: combustible lemons.

[@joyhoward6105]

Perfection

[@Epic_747]

you figured out why it's a weapon

[@RJ-wx3fh]

The right man in the wrong place with a bunch of combustible lemons can make all the difference in the world...

[@scrp6638]

“Make life take the lemons back. Get mad!”

[@republicofgamers9842]

"I'm cave Johnson. I got my engineer buys to make a combustible lemon that explodes quantum-universe and timeline travelling icebreakers, in the event of an alien invasion when I'm dead and Caroline is put into an AI and floods the enrichment center with neurotoxin. Wait, that did happen? Wow, I'm a genius. We can afford more moon rocks now. How's the Q&A on the handheld portal device going? Still not done? Bummer."

[@shiftbutbad]

When I first played HL2 (as a child) my thoughts were "wtf we went from a lab to humanity's enslavement". Now that i understand the l o r e, it makes way more sense.

[@Skyrionn]

same

[@wyattbottorff2473]

Same here, never played HL1 until last year. Half Life 2 made more sense without the original at first.

[@AveryBlueRemix]

I think time travel will also play a role too, we already saw it in Alyx.

[@Nimble.ninja910]

Facto i played 2 first, when i first joined the navy about 6 years ago. Could not wrap my head around that let alone how portal and half life were connected

[@marioman1242]

26:17 This clip of you straight up putting a magnum round through Magnusson's skull and Alyx just walking away made me have such a turn of emotions that I had to make a comment on it. This fairly serious tone throughout the whole video and then suddenly, BAM Magnusson just gets put down for no reason lol

[@thememeteam858]

He needed to join his casserole

[@Skyrionn]

It just tends to happen 😂 😂 I've done it in a few of the videos at this point

[@Fenrize]

@@thememeteam858 Arne Masserulosson Edit. Ok, I read that as if Magnusson would become one with his casserole. A unholy fusion if you will

[@amartya9034]

In an alternate reality Gordon is sick of everyone's BS and decides to take matters into his own hands first getting rid of the doubters

[@Allen667sjja]

@@thememeteam858 yeah in hell lol

[@SebasTian58323]

I like how humanity as a whole wasn't able to keep the combine out, but Aperture is untouched by them as a whole. Like holy crap, GLaDOS is the GOAT.

[@Skyrionn]

She truly is.

[@alyssa7867]

There probably wasn't a reading on life forms

[@ValentineC137]

@@alyssa7867 if you ignore all the alive people in stasis then yea in the coop ending all the people in the vault have heart beat readings on thier pods

[@mattvick159]

@Valentine unfortunately there is more to that where a week after glados has killed them all though testing, I thought the same as you but turns out they are dead.

[@ValentineC137]

@@mattvick159 They are alive until the week after they were found. Portal 2 takes place an unknown amount of time after HL2EP2, so for all the combine history we know of they were alive in the vault of Aperture

[@cavemanguy3625]

Honestly I am glad that they didn't have Gordon Freeman forgotten. Gordon Freeman is kinda meant to stay alive like forever.

[@somerand0mpers0n]

he will never change one iota

[@aymuhspunj]

He is Valve's Doom Guy.

[@elitely6748]

He's brought in every time a global crisis might occur. Written into history like a comet that appears every 10 years.

[@Astrothunder_]

@@elitely6748 he’s Master Chief.

[@sslingo]

i think it would be a fitting ending for him. he was just a regular dude caught in the middle of catastrophic events. seems like someone who would want to return to a quiet life imo

[@WardenWolf]

I have a suspicion for the meaning of the ending: the Borealis travels through time. It's entirely possible they completely undid the invasion, so it never even happened, and Gordon returned to a point in the future where he'd been all but forgotten, assumed lost in Black Mesa.

[@Skyrionn]

That's a brilliant view. Absolutely adding that to my headcanon!

[@cpufreak101]

I mean, a logical point that could back this up is, if the point that it launches at the combine empire right as they're gearing up to invade Earth, I am pretty sure a time travelling ship materializing out of nowhere and blowing up would definitely want to discourage you from invading that planet when you can easily pick another planet that's just got sticks and stones for weapons.

[@CapvilleYouTube]

@@Skyrionn That's actually been in my headcannon for a while, that they undid the invasion. Although in my headcannon they would have done that, found a way to destroy the combine's home world so they were all sucked into oblivion, and done it all in a way where the G-Man's "employers" would have been able to get what they wanted. Like, Gordon helped the G-Man's cause, although in a way that differed from what he would have wanted, but as a "thanks" he would have let the earth continue in peace. I think Col. Shepard would have been involved with because he was another person in the G-Man's control. Maybe the gimmick was you had two people working for the G-Man, but while one was working for the needs of the "employers" the other was working for the survival and restoration of humanity. At the end they both get what they want, and maybe Shepard takes Gordon's place as the one that gets hired, leaving Gordon free and able to go back home. (It could fit in with Portal 2's ending as well because it looked like the world was at peace when Chell left.) The timeline was righted. The invasion never happened. The combine are no more. The vorts are free and the G-Man leaves Gordon and Black Mesa alone. All at the cost of everyone forgetting Gordon's involvement and all the heroic actions and sacrifices he took. My ideal ending would be after G-Man thanks him and leaves through the white portal, Gordon is teleported to the moment where the resonance cascade would have occurred, but instead the insertion of the crystal breaks the machine. No portals, no invasion, no death, just a failed experiment. The science team shrugs it off, either going back to work and calling it done for the day and everyone finishes their work up and goes home. Maybe they say goodbye to Gordon as he gets back on the train to the main terminal, Doctors Vance and Kleiner contemplate what went wrong and whether to continue trying the experiment or not, and maybe they cancel it because of the high risk factor. Heck, maybe Doctors Magnusson and Mossman are there too, since Judith was the one meant to wear the HEV and do the experiment (like we see on the cams in Blue Shift). Maybe Barney sees Gordon and invites him for that beer at a bar after work as he boards through the door of the train before it closes, and Gordon is left on his way back to the main complex, and eventually towards the exit. As Gordon rides the train, the credits roll, naming everyone who worked on the game for us to read while we get to take one last look at previously unseen parts of the Black Mesa complex (maybe with a G-Man sighting or two) before the screen cuts to black, and we see the rest of the credits naming other important people while we hear another HL-1 ending credits theme remix. As an after-credits thing, maybe we see Gordon and the Science team along with Barney at the bar. Maybe we see a future where Gordon is working as a Professor teaching students. Maybe, if the timeline fits, Gordon meets Eli and Alyx's birth as like a cool little nod. It'd be great if they had one last message thanking everyone for waiting so long too.

[@macsmith2013]

@@Skyrionn As far as I know there are even mods for Portal (2) that add time traveling with portals to the mix. I can see that incorporated into a possible HL sequel, and it could also explain why the Borealis seemingly already disappeared in the 70ies (or maybe construction was started in the 70ies and this is why the drydock is in the 70ies part of Appreture Labs). Either way, time travel and/or alternate realities seem like the next logical step of escalation for a possible. HL 3 or Episode 3.

[@ceu160193]

@@macsmith2013 Alternative universes, most likely. Breen was literally teleporting into different universe, when we broke his teleport, and judging by his words, it's not alternative Earth he is teleporting to, as he can not survive there. We can see picture of portal gun in old parts of Aperture, so yes, Borealis was built in 70's and they already had portal technology. But it's unclear, if Cave was simply joking about time travel during tests, or if portal gun actually allows minor time travel.

[@fortyforty-seven1061]

it would be so cool to see glados fight the combine with the full force of aperture

[@Skyrionn]

I would have loved to have seen that

[@theredking254]

Animal king has defeated the combine. Animal king has taken over humanity.

[@TheDiloEmpire]

Just a bunch of combine soldiers and Metro Police walking down a hallway or into a test chamber and then just getting flattened by a panel in an instant

[@Codename-Thefox]

@@theredking254 Kirby intensifies

[@KantiDono]

Timeline bullshit theory: The timeline we see in the Half-Life games is the original timeline. Here, Aperture is operating normally, without Glados, up until the seven-hour war. The Combine detect the Borealis, which was still under development at that time, and assault the facility. To escape an alien threat they can't fight, the Aperture scientists board the Borealis and attempted to warp the entire ship. But due to the... unique nature of Aperture's teleportation technology, it not only moved itself from the space of the drydock it was in, but from time as well. This created an alternate timeline where the Borealis mysteriously vanished from Aperture in the 1970's, early into it's testing. The unexplained disappearance of an entire ship, and suggestions it was due to negligence, proved to be a large setback for Cave Johnson, who was already beginning to have financial trouble by then. This leads to the downfall of Aperture and their increasingly desperate research, which in turn led to the rise of Glados we know from the Portal series. Because the Borealis was not in Aperture anymore in this timeline when the seven-hour war happened, the Combine were much less interested in the facility, so Glados was able to keep them out and continue testing the portal gun. Thus, all plot holes are closed, and both Epistle 3, and Portal 1/2, can coexist in the same(ish) universe.

[@dextergrif1052]

This is a great theory. I wonder how Half-Life: Alyx can fit into this with the G-Man altering the timeline and removing Alyx.

[@Bumbaclaat360]

@@dextergrif1052 thank god lol

[@MrErizid]

@@dextergrif1052 Gman removed Alyx from the "present" (from the gamer's perspective, the end of Episode 2), which means the timeline isn't technically "altered" per-se.

[@MLPDethDealr32]

funny how this is also the Plotpoint for THE Philadelphia Experiment. Yours sounds just as good.

[@d0g3br34d]

for some reason i am obsessed with the 1950s-1970s facilities of aperture, it just feels like they are more interesting, and huge

[@Skyrionn]

100% agree

[@THE_CARBON]

​@@Skyrionn same

[@Yggdrasil42]

I'm just intrigued how Aperture got an Ice Breaker into a 4000m deep dry dock...

[@kanto20]

Very carefully

[@Skyrionn]

the best answer haha

[@strokey5284]

They built on spot, I guess Probably had it teleported there tho

[@snoofayy6150]

very complex spiralling waterslide, or maybe they lowered it down, IIRC ad they built years and years worth of test chambers and facilities they submerged the "old" outdated rooms and levels underground somehow, like a reverse jenga tower if that makes sense

[@KilosFoxo]

a lot of moon rocks and a big portal gun

[@raptorjesus3894]

It's possible that the GLaDOS and 7 hour war timeline looks something like this: The seven hour war begins, and the people at Aperature science (including Cave Johnson) find out. Due to Caves condition his brain is incompatible to be turned into an AI, so to save her and protect the facility, he orders that Caroline be be put in instead. GLaDOS now awaken she calculates that the danger of the scientists in Aperature being captured is too great and teleports the Borealis away, whilst simultaneously ensuring none of the scientists could be captured (By releasing the neuro toxin) After "securing" the information in the facility, she prepares proper defenses to keep the combine out of it Being confident that the combine is no longer a threat (Either due to the events of Epistle 3 or because the Combine just stopped trying to take the facility) she goes back to testing.

[@ExceedProduction]

Sounds awesome. GLaDOS being a lunatic about her solutions as usual.

[@kentslocum]

This would definitely put GLaDOS's actions in avery different light. As in, she killed everyone at Aperture in order to prevent Aperture from becoming a Combine target, thus indirectly saving humanity by preventing the Combine from obtaining Aperture's portal technology.

[@MuzzaHukka]

​@@kentslocumisn't the Combine on earth due to them already being able to cover large distances through their own portals/system of travel? It is bold to assume the Combine NEEDS human scientists. They're probably smarter.

[@cr90captain89]

@@MuzzaHukka they can teleport between universes, but can't do in universe teleportation, that is why the combine were so invested in aperture science. because the combine themselves couldn't figure it out, so them getting a hold of apertures portal technology would be huge! the universal union would become practically unstoppable, as they can deploy armies anywhere in the multiverse at the drop of a hat in any location.

[@theugliestbarnacle816]

Can y’all imagine the chaos that would happen if somebody duel wielded the portal gun and gravity gun? Or just two people with each gun as a duo? They’d be unstoppable

[@Skyrionn]

Portal 3 confirmed?

[@joseislanio8910]

A good sequel would be if we figured out that Chell, after being released in the events of portal 2, is just at the right place to defeat the combine that attacked Judith, later joining Gordon to seize the ship

[@theleonpasta7336]

@@joseislanio8910 that'd be cool, but I think it'd be pretty weird to have two characters that don't talk be the focal points of the story, like how would the cutscenes play out? Gordon and Chell just standing around while the plot moves forward would be kind of lame

[@Humuncules]

@@theleonpasta7336 Lore-wise Chell can talk but refuses to talk with Aperture Science. Could still be weird to have a silent protagonist suddenly talk.

[@bullettime8760]

@@theleonpasta7336 both of them can talk Valve just decided to make them mute so you can project yourself as them, I mean just look at Barney for example when we play as him in blue shift he was a mute character but in HL2 he talks, they can just do what they did to Barney for Gordon and Chell

[@derram0k]

Never considered that there were emancipation grids on the Boriealis. Now I just can't stop thinking about what would happen if you sent an emancipation grid through a portal. And if that was the cause of the accident.

[@xavierrodriguez2463]

I wonder what would happen if the gravity gun went through one, which definitely could've been a possibility in Ep3 maybe the grids could be used in gameplay to vaporize combine soldiers, or just vaporize the gun out of their hand, maybe even grenades.

[@RJ-wx3fh]

@@xavierrodriguez2463 they kinda did that with the confiscation ray thingy in hl2 when Gordon gets into the cotadel

[@yourreabro]

@@RJ-wx3fh citydal*

[@RJ-wx3fh]

@@yourreabro *citadel I'll admit to oversight on the typo, but at least spell the word correctly when you're correcting me

[@yourreabro]

@@RJ-wx3fh i know, but that was a joke that i've seen a couple of times across the internet

[@zeallust8542]

Thank you for this. We need more videos talking about aperture and their part in the half life universe. The Borealis also shares a lot of traits with the real life thing the Philadelphia experiment. Which may or may not be real. I dont really care, but its interesting.

[@zeallust8542]

I think the Borealis must have been inspired by the story of the Philadelphia Experiment

[@Skyrionn]

I love the whole Philadelphia experiment conspiracy and it just makes me appreciate the games even more because I do truly believe they based The Borealis off of that. Thanks for watching too! I really appreciate the support and plan on making more Portal content too.

[@zeallust8542]

@@Skyrionn of course. And thank YOU for actually responding.

[@ephraimtimmerman4476]

"They can tunnel through from their universe, but once they're here they're dependent on local transportation" -Judith Mossman

[@AVI-lh6rm]

@Bolo "Pick up that rat."

[@Ze_eT]

@@AVI-lh6rm "Now hit it with the bat."

[@wilkins67890]

This teleportation works by going to Zen then back, It is slow clunky and unreliable at best. Either they need a giant portal or the More refined methods of potal generation that apeture have

[@DeathScepter]

i love it in how both Black Mesa and Aperture had bleed edge sciences as a major aspect of their experiments.

[@GojoGunning]

marc laidlaw explained its a hopeless romantic of a weapon being used fruitlessly in the end and it shows elis advice should be heeded

[@muratsmg62]

Cool thing is that Borealis started around 1999! The year where HL2 was devoleped Odell's personality was to be that of a sarcastic, ironic man, making remarks in the vein of that of Barney Calhoun. and his favorite food is cheese he's been looking for... tasty.

[@melissa7611]

I think that the borealis is connected with the "infinite universes video" explain by cave johnson, that can confirm that not only aperture was atempting to travel through space and also to another dimension, but for a lucky mistake or a by product of that kind of travel the borealis recive the chance to travel through time as well (asuming that the video is for investers and the borealis proyect is half way done)

[@FuzzyLittleBastard]

If its true that the Borealis went to the arctic the same day that the combine invaded, then that means that Bring Your Daughter to Work Day also happened on that day. Caroline was currently GLaDOS, and Cave was dead. Thats a lot to happen in one day.

[@yeahnah27]

This is such a good video! Thank you for making it, Skyrionn! A video dedicated to Epistle 3 sounds extremely alluring, I do hope you get around to makeing that. Cheers, mate!

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks for the continued my dude. There's much more to come and I do think I could have fun with making Epistle 3.

[@arthurcallahan4735]

I like how this topic is explored more in a lore accurate free game called "Entropy: Zero 2" You actually get to raid Mossman's compound as combine in that game.

[@greengarnish1711]

That game is canon for me due to how faithful and good it is, HDTF wished it could've done that.

[@VeryRareEgg]

A guy who actually put a spoiler alert for half life alyx before starting the video and keeping my experience complete spoiler free? Respect

[@n0m4r22]

10:57 to think that either one of those Elites is Unit 3650 (Aiden Walker)

[@thelastohioan7145]

Really wonder if the Borealis is in some small part inspired by the Philadelphia Experiment, which is an urban legend/conspiracy that the US Navy teleported the U.S.S. Eldrige through space and time. Very similar to the Borealis.

[@thecpmr6276]

I was just thinking that!!

[@milliondollarmistake]

It 100% is inspired by that.

[@LexiLunarpaw]

It is Indeed Inspired by that

[@newcastleman86]

Excellent job on that video. Every Half-Life fan has been hoping to see the borealis again for years. To finish the story of Half-Life for good. Thanks again!

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks my guy! I really do appreciate the support.

[@aitipsea3909]

Imagine in Half Life 3 Gordon and Alyx go looking for the Borealis, they arrive at Aperture and investigate In one chamber theres a little easter egg: GLaDOS destroyed, in the same position as youd see her in Portal 2, but in a more clean state, plants not growing over the facility yet

[@johnfortnitetoes]

Portal 2 is set 50,000 years in the future

[@aitipsea3909]

@@johnfortnitetoes i know Is why I made this ABUDANTLY CLEAR that this would take in between Portal 1 and Portal 2, I implied that they would find GLaDOS destroyed a few years after Portal 1

[@user-xh1hy2jm1k]

@@aitipsea3909that would be fun lolol and if they turned off the breakers to stop her from waking up

[@TheJuggerClutch]

I believe Glados killing all the Aperture employees, right as the 7 hour war occurred, happened due to one of two reasons: One could be mercy, given she was probably the only one to know what's happening above-ground at the time. Dying quickly/peacefully to neurotoxin beats seeing your home world, your friends/family murdered, enslaved, dominated, and assimilated by an overwhelmingly, mindbreakingly advanced and cruel alien species, and to have it happen in such little time to understand it all that it must feel like a really bad dream you can't wake up from. Or, more likely, she immediately realized the threat of the Combine to herself/Aperture and killed everyone, knowing that they'd flee work to find their loved ones. Aperture employees fleeing = combine capturing, interrogating, and finding information on Aperture. But if no employees ever escape/leave? Well, Aperture and its achievements are quickly forgotten, and left alone for the foreseeable future. Glados is pretty damn smart, and this would be the fastest and most assured solution to her Combine problem. Maybe even having something to do with getting rid of the Borealis: she clearly only cares about testing the portal gun, but may know the Combine would look for it/and the Borealis, so she sends down the order to the employees get it out of the facility right before she kills everyone. Timeline/reasoning-wise, I think it tracks pretty well. Now she has no target on her back, and now has no employees that could compromise her or the works of Aperture.

[@granmastersword]

nah, I don't think that could be the case. Remember, GLaDOS was made by using Caroline's brain as a base, and we know from Portal 2's ending that Caroline's consciousness existed within GLaDOS. So there's strong inference that she killed the scientist by influence of Caroline wishing revenge on them for turning her into an AI against her will. Also the disappearance of the Borealis happened years before GLaDOS' inception, and Aperture has a habit of abandoning and locking up old buildings they would no longer have use for

[@Stranger-gl6ie]

I love the theory

[@scunnerdarkly4929]

Great series with a refreshingly calm delivery. Producing these scripts, gathering footage and assembling it all looks like more of a labour of love than many I’ve seen on KZbin. Keep up the good work mate.

[@eidoneverchoosen1171]

Their one thing that is good because Alyx saved her father the combine adviors did not get any information of the rebels and the combine ate on a countdown to defeat . I am glad Eli is alive.

[@Skyrionn]

I good retcon that kind of makes sense within the universe I guess

[@sanekibeko]

Im pretty sure the ending of Epistle 3 is how Marc felt about his time at Valve which what made him leave.

[@dasho2001]

epic!!! portal related half-life lore is the best

[@Skyrionn]

a true statement

[@zaptainkuboom5520]

I believe this is a sign of a upcoming Half-Life ³ So, wake up, Mister Freeman... wake up and... smell the salty air.

[@Skyrionn]

perfect comment.

[@aaaaaaaa9249]

the gman fired freeman in half life alyx and replace him with alyx.

[@shookengie370]

@@aaaaaaaa9249 Just because Gman fired Gordon doesn't mean we will not be wearing his shoes It just means gman will be the antagonist of the game

[@aaaaaaaa9249]

@@shookengie370 im just saying that the gman wouldn’t be waking up gordon freeman in the new game, since he has dropped this pawn for another pawn (alex)

[@shookengie370]

@@aaaaaaaa9249 Gman didn't wake up Gordon, Eli did

[@justcookie7156]

Your voice makes it sound like I'm listening to a real life documentary, Love it and love your channel!

[@Skyrionn]

It's kind of the style I'm going for. I'm glad you noticed!

[@frozarburst6350]

It's sad to think that Aperture probably could have done a lot for the world had they stopped testing and just release their stuff (kinda like Valve in real life). But at the same time, Glados may have been doing everyone a favor as she kept the Combine from using this technology when they really needed it

[@danamarvelstar]

Ever heard the urban legend of the USS Eldridge that vanished at sea? No doubt that legend inspired this mysterious ship’s story. It showed up in episode 5 of Loki.

[@heidyngamer5820]

Glados singing Want You Gone as the citadel core explodes I hope Glados will play a bigger part if there is a Half Life 3, like maybe helping the player or something.

[@CertifiedGrimlockFan]

Cave: Where did the Borealis go!? GLaDOS: It was taking up too much space… So I removed it.

[@Gobinoid]

was just going through your older videos and then this video came out, great timing.

[@Skyrionn]

Perfect! It was meant to be.

[@Skyrionn]

If you enjoyed this! I would really appreciate it if you could leave a comment, a like, dislike - anything to show engagement to appease the algorithm gods! - The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. -

[@phantomcat1958]

Sadly we can’t see dislikes. They got unexisted by our corporate overlord

[@Crash99800]

Honestly I'd like to see a gordon freeman lore video

[@Ragnordragon]

I'm loving the half life content but I'm open to all your future content

[@brandonpearson2987]

I get excited when I see new half-life videos. Keep up the good work man! These are very entertaining!

[@Skyrionn]

I'm attempting to post them every 2 weeks (a week before on Patreon). Just need to fix up my schedule :)

[@macsmith2013]

With time being a squishy factor regarding the Borealis's technology, it's not too much of a strech having it "retroactively" disappear from its drydock in the 70ies although the bootstrap device onboard wasn't activated until decades later. As to how the device could work in an actual game, take a look at Ratchet & Clank on the PS5, which does "portaling" between dimensions/timelines masterfully.

[@pagannova3621]

now I'm curious how GLaDOS kept the Combine out..there's not enough bullet per bullet in those turrets for that..

[@marmite8959]

DeAdlY nEuRoToxiN

[@NATIK001]

Given that Aperture Science facilities can be remapped at will. She Probably just made the entire outer perimeter of the facility into one giant death trap (or a billion smaller ones more like it). Still wouldn't keep the Combine out forever if they decided they really wanted to get in, but the Combine suffer from a lack of creativity among their common soldiery, so setting up simple mechanisms to wipe out large groups at a time would be well within GLaDOS' capability. The Combine would need focus their advisors and big guns on getting through a fully functional GLaDOS controlled Aperture Science facility.

[@howtomundane3109]

Is 65% more bullet not enough per bullet?

[@busygirlbeauty8437]

See I’ve been trying to understand the connection between HL and portal/borealis and this explains it in a clear / concise manner…. Thank you!

[@CrabGamingTF2]

Great video I'd like to know how you do the cinematic visuals is it in noclip mode or something else? The Borealis always intrigued me and it was great to see a full lore video

[@mil1992]

Noclip and disable hud

[@Skyrionn]

It's basically noclip, disable hud and some other methods too :) - thanks for the support!

[@AntonyCannon]

Are you sure the "them" to which Glados referred was The Combine? I've heard it mentioned that she was referring to the Resonance Cascade and the minions of the Nihilanth.

[@Skyrionn]

I'm glad you watched it. Barney truly is iconic!

[@homerocketscience1874]

@@Skyrionnwhat?

[@Emperorhirohito19272]

@@homerocketscience1874 yeah what the fuck is he on about?😂

[@ValentineC137]

@@homerocketscience1874 Robot Skyrionn moment lol

[@MonkeySponge]

Hey man just wanted to say how great all your work is! Your videos have helped me navigated some rough days and pass time that feels like syrup. Thank you and keep it up, fellow resistance member.

[@guppyclinic6630]

"The ship is stolen!!" "Their taking it to mesa hill, where it all started!!" - Doug Rattmann

[@Raitzu]

This was very interesting video, nice work!

[@keanunotReeves8127]

I have to admit seeing the freecam of Gordon and friends really brings the atmosphere of the game in full aspect.

[@caderlocke8869]

Wow this was thorough. Well done!

[@calebbowen6406]

ive just watched abunch of your stuff, i love it. keep up the good work

[@GEONEgaming]

My head-cannon for the end of Epistle 3 is that Gordon is returned to Earth by the Vortigaunts but is put far in the future and in an overgrown grassy field and sees the figure of a woman in the distance (Chell) and then the game ends.

[@shookengie370]

The Vortigaunts: "so uhhh, are guys gonna make out?"

[@mani_mincraft]

I have been waiting for someone to talk about this mysterious ship and wow this video did not disappoint!

[@Skyrionn]

It's a part of my quest to explore everything the HL universe has to offer. The Borealis still is one of my favourites

[@TheGuyWhoAsked2187]

Sometimes I think about an eventual portal 3, where (in my opinion) Gordon and eli Vance go to the Borealis, where we play as Gordon instead of chell, and the Borealis is its own research facility where an instance of glados (maybe an important researcher talking in recordings) runs its own tests while eli heads to the bridge to try to do what he wants to do

[@Kurogane_Hikaru]

I've been watching your videos for a while and recently subbed but i must say: this is awesome, not only this video but the others i've watched as well, it explains tons of stuff i kinda missed (F Grigori, Laszlo and Eli) even though i haven't played EP1 and EP2 yet .. for me, Half-Life was just an engine to run CS when i was a child but i've decided to play it and loved what i missed before, just like that i got HL2 as well (cleared it on hard 4 days ago) and i'm amazed by how the plot went. I really wants EP3 a thing to exist now but i guess it won't be a thing anytime soon .... welp, too much text lol but yeah, i loved your content and i'll be sticking up for more in the future too.

[@borger477]

I love these videos, keep up the great work!

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks, will do!

[@miniminerx]

I love the visual editing!

[@Skyrionn]

Thank you!

[@milliondollarmistake]

Seeing that ending where Alyx cries over Eli still pisses me off. It's one thing to end a trilogy prematurely with a cliff hanger, but never getting any resolution over Eli's death is another thing entirely. Fucking Valve man.

[@BEANBOYOBEANITH]

Black Mesa: Perfects teleportation, meanwhile... Aperture Science: *doctor who theme plays*

[@sizzurpmp3]

Half-Life Alyx's ending is set within the same timeline, only rewinded a little by Gman. It isn't 2 different realities.

[@MaxCE]

riddle me this. with alyx taken by the gman. who the hell do we meet in hl2

[@sizzurpmp3]

@@MaxCE After Alyx cuts a deal with the Gman, she gets teleported out of the floating prison, and the events of Half-life 2 continue as normal until Ep. 2 where Eli is killed then brought back to life as we've seen in-game. Then she disappears and the HLA post credit scene plays out. In short, its the same Alyx we know and love.

[@MaxCE]

@@sizzurpmp3 she was placed in stasis just after she opened the vault. ⁿ

[@sizzurpmp3]

@@MaxCE no, canonically she was put in stasis after the EP2 ending. Presumably everything that happens after Gman is released (Alyx saving Eli) happens after the cliffhanger.

[@eidoneverchoosen1171]

Eli said it must be destroyed as whatever on the ship their is no controlling that power. And doesn't want another black mesa incident which may happen via the gman as he had a hand in why earth would be invaded. And I do agree as their still combine advisors on earth that would try to use the technology in the ship. Better it'd destroy med to keep.them from opening another portal store.

[@marekkoodziejak1513]

I like your rap-up! I love the lore of Half-Life - this is more epic sci-fi than anything else, at least untill now! Probably the best part of it is that I 'lived' through it! (Half-Life: Alyx still pending...) Valve managed to keep it great - this gives hope for the future, because so many brands are devastated recently...

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks for the support! I'm hoping that if we do get any future instalments, they will be just as well thought out as the ones we have already.

[@Gxaps]

How TF did GLaDOS keep the combine out? I know they're shown to be somewhat incompetent in hl2 and alyx, and that GLaDOS has some powerful toys at her disposal, but, like, the combine situated on earth during the events of hl2 is but a small fragment of the empire, and a weak one at that. I highly doubt she would have been able to keep the invading forces out...

[@AlsoFroggy]

I mean neurotoxins

[@medibirb6912]

Some people say she offered the Combine technology in order to keep them out, hence the turrets shooting the same bullets as the white ones in Aperature. Or maybe since Aperature is so far underground the Combine never noticed it?

[@NATIK001]

Modern Aperture Science facilities are almost 100% freely remapable. She could turn the outer perimeter of the facility into pure deathtraps, she could fake out a small facility with little of apparent interest, she could combine both those ideas. GLaDOS couldn't withstand a full Combine assault, but if she can make them think there is little to come for and too much to lose, it's not outside the Combine style to just abandon areas. We see several regions the Combine have decided to totally ignore as they were too much of a hassle. I think that's all that happened, the Combine failed to appreciate the full significance of Aperture Science, and GLaDOS effectively discouraged investigation or pursuit of Aperture Science material, so the final extent of what GLaDOS ended up needing to do would likely have been little more than wipe out the occasional Overwatch squad which made its way into the facilities before they could report back anything of interest.

[@FrostGlader]

It’s more than likely she had some sort of deal with them. “I supply you with some tech, you leave us alone.” She would more than likely have provided the cheaper stuff, such as Turrets, rather than the more secretive equipment of Aperture like the Portal Gun. It’s very possible the dealings were maintained after GLADoS’ “death” by certain automation within the facility, which meant the Combine never raided the facility. It’s very possible GLADoS was actually killed by Chell during the 7 hour war, with regards to her dialogue during her boss fight. It was probably during the 5th or 6th Hour, and Chell was dragged back into the facility to prevent the Combine from thinking something happened to GLADoS during the invasion.

[@yeboxxxchannel2505]

I mean.. Low-key the theories here make sense. GLaDOS could have refered to the 7-hour war that was still ongoing. I mean, if it was after the war, the facility would have been already found since Combines were exploring Earth. Eh, yup. I guess GLaDOS probably hiding the facility.

[@MaskedGEEK]

26:15 is the satisfying part of this video.

[@janmakajanmaka]

i feel like portal 2 and ending of epistle 3 fully cover each other's parts of the story with portal 2's wheat field and epistle 3's why that field exists in the first place

[@dirtpounder]

The biggest takeaway? Competition for contracts is a _wonderful_ idea!

[@CaptArcadian]

hope the borealis teleporting effect is somewhat a cross with portal and g-mans white door.

[@rodericbass963]

Considering the Orange Box I was thinking, with Portal's inclusion to the bundle, that Episode 3 would culminate with Gordon finding the Portal Gun as was used in Portal as the "Secret weapon" basically adding the Portal Gun in conjunction with the Gravity Gun and the gameplay would revolve around physics and using portals to your advantage leaving wild ideas for gameplay. This was just my speculation as of 2007. I'm old and too jaded for this.

[@Seriostudio]

I love when in the title we can see the spoiler alert!

[@michaelhudson7098]

I listen to all of your Half Life lore at work as I work in the excruciating heat doing electrical work. You're content keeps me from thinking about how shitty my work environment is and your voice helps me stay focused and make concise decisions. Thank you for all of this

[@Rajesh-Koothrappali]

With the borealis being able to time travel,it could have been the very thing that allowed the combine to travel through universes in the first place, a damaged ship, that is able to timetravel and multiverse travel, they however couldn’t get it fully functional, one of the reasons of their dominating the other universes could be to find the original one where the ship came from to fix it etc etc

[@Commander_L]

EPIC another Half Life and portal video

[@Skyrionn]

Thank you :) There's more to come!

[@thememeshow3126]

The reason that the Borealis can have such a short build time is because of two reasons. One the Borealis is a portal device that can travel to places but also certain points of time before its creation and obviously after. Secondly, the pre-existing technology Aperture had. Great video too

[@Scorchlette]

I think it's interesting that, of all the places to be left untouched by the Combine, it was Aperture.

[@thenuke1945]

I swear the next half life will be called Half-Life: Multiverse and we will be Gordon hopping through the multiverse to save Alex from the G-Man. We won’t be following the borealis storyline in the next 2 half life games coming out in the span of 30 years. Come on valve, count to 3, not 2.9999999.

[@Skyrionn]

Half-Life: 2.99999

[@danfletcher3255]

So in order for something to teleport, multiple things need to happen: the machine must work, there needs to be a location and everything needs to transfer over. When something teleports, your cutting the object down to particles then taking all the particles to another location then putting all the particles perfectly back together, BOOM teleporting. The Borealis, I assume isn't a real ship, it is a machine disguised as a ship due to a facility in Ohio (probably an abandoned 70s facility) there also needs to be a type of "field" that surrounds the thing teleporting so it can actually move, the Borealis' field had expanded and shrunk in some areas, due to some issues while teleporting. Not only was the device not complete, but it was unstable in many ways, the Borealis proved that it had a mind of its own because it could leave when it pleased and it also had an unstable field of what teleported, so half the dock went with but probably the particles of the dock didn't follow. If the combine did take the Borealis then everything is doomed.

[@Maddiedoggie]

Perhaps the secret weapon is something like the 3-portal portal gun we see in the Portal: Reloaded mod where you can travel through time? Maybe doing that showed some higher force in charge of the multiverse that humanity would be a capable opponent to the Combine forces, and dispatched G-Man to.... help things along with humanity's greatest prepare for what was to come....

[@doublebloggers6661]

I have a theory on why the borealis disappeared (I’m no expert in portals time lore) maybe the surviving scientists in aperture science used it in a last ditch effort in order to escape from glados ,when she was activated but due to it being rushed, it didn’t have a accurate location to teleport to.

[@asdbef3667]

We domt know if glados was activated before the incident or after

[@Skyrionn]

I like this

[@lambdrey]

The story of the two rival companies are like the Cold War, Aperture being the Soviet Union and USA being Black Mesa.

[@takumifujiwara4532]

Bro your voice is soothing I got sleepy watching this video

[@Johnny-zi6lw]

Amazingly, the Borealis and the mystery behind it has become legendary to us, just like how it is in the Half-Life universe itself

[@theshab4769]

Yo 26:16 tho 😭 You did Magnuson dirty lmao

[@markstevenson5917]

I'm getting serious ocarina of time bottom of the well vibes from your background music, but I'm enjoying your content

[@Ayahuasca98]

Welcome gentlemen, to the Borealis. Supersoldiers, Black Mesa scientists, Eskimos… you’re here because you’re seeking seeking our confidential quantum tunneling technology… or you failed your daily seal clubbing quota and ended up getting lost. Let me introduce myself. I’m Cave Johnson’s… disembodied spirit. I’m eternally bound to my greatest failure.

[@stefanbrigantini6834]

1UP "Fäst av Skyrionn Naiden Yordanov för 1 månad sedan An amazing video (as you usually do). I do wanna say that the relaxing but mysterious voice"

[@muggrootbeer]

Loved the video.

[@Skyrionn]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

[@muggrootbeer]

@@Skyrionn :)

[@Someone_1994]

this is why i love portal and half life series

[@Skyrionn]

It's truly amazing

[@petir_but_wierd]

its wierd since the part of old aperture we navigate in portal 2 (test shaft 09) was condemmed and sealed off in june 15th 1961 and which we travel within yet the borealis was sent off in the early 2000s which is like 40 years appart which is wierd

[@Flubberator]

Great video as usual, just wondering, where did you get the borealis model? (HL2E2 only has half of it)

[@Skyrionn]

I think it was just in the assetts - no additionals downloaded for that :)

[@Flubberator]

@@Skyrionn explains it, I think I was about confused about the top missing, but it seems to be the same for you

[@sharpol7608]

Thinking about GLaDOS fighting off the combine is interesting

[@ren7a8ero]

I feel nostalgic about HL and portal nowadays, and it is hard to know if the epistle 3 would be the final script version for the game. But is is fascinating. Borealis is impressive, and also the Portal lore. In the future, who killed the world? It happens after HL? Borealis returned after being used on Epistle3? Such a rich universe they left open… it may be for good in the big schemes of things

[@SkylerLinux]

Marc Laidlaw wrote what I like to call Author Fic, it's like FanFic but written by the Author. It's non-conical or sometimes it is, but it's closer to FanFic in style or content.

[@johnnybrown542]

Unfortunately, hunt down freeman is still canon if we're going multiverse. At least the parody videos are canon as well.

[@Skyrionn]

I like the way you think

[@shookengie370]

Hunt down freeman is an exception

[@realquadmoo]

I want Epistle 3 so much.

[@joost1453]

This videos deverse much more views