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

[@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.

[@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

[@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!

[@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."

[@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]

[@zeneyep6590]

@Doc V2 most economic systems have murdered millions and continue to do so... especially the prevailing ones 🙄

[@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

[@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

[@amartyapandit]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@nickd1978]

Is that the part of Portal 2 when you’re underground going through the old test chambers?

[@MahNamJeff]

@@nickd1978yes

[@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

[@DeathScepter]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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)

[@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

[@MegatronEnthusiast]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@n0m4r22]

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

[@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

[@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

[@dasho2001]

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

[@Skyrionn]

a true statement

[@CookieLaddd]

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!

[@guppyclinic6630]

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

[@sanekibeko]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@Traffic_kone1]

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

[@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.

[@Gobinoid]

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

[@Skyrionn]

Perfect! It was meant to be.

[@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.

[@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

[@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 :)

[@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.

[@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!

[@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?"

[@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.

[@keanunotReeves8127]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@dirtpounder]

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

[@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.

[@yeboxxx_channel_2505]

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.

[@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

[@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.

[@lambdrey]

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

[@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

[@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

[@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

[@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

[@Klaudett]

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

[@Jesus_Christ_For_Real]

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

[@RingingResonance]

Imagine the combine's perspective. They're getting ready for the invasion of earth when suddenly an old rusted up ice breaker with a note attached appears out of nowhere blows up half their fleet in one blow. The attached reading "could you not?" in multiple alien languages gotten from the vorts.

[@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

[@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.

[@Scorchlette]

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

[@papascrumpeeh]

Man . Imagine all of a sudden you teleport somewhere without ur own skin... That's horrifying 💀

[@Someone_1994]

this is why i love portal and half life series

[@Skyrionn]

It's truly amazing

[@stripes9386]

It’s always bothered me that the Borealis was built in the 70’s when it clearly should’ve been built in the 80’s given the level of technology, Aperture logo, and existence of GLaDOS.

[@hypnotised-clover]

It is possible that the newer logo was used on it when it was made in the 70s before that logo became the standard logo for Aperture.

[@Croatz]

Half life 3 should start out with a cutscene of combine armies battling glados and her turrets inside aperture as they search for the borealis

[@pyropulseIXXI]

Black Mesa wasn't a corporation or company. It was a government research facility. Aperture Science was a private company, so I don't know why you said the 'two companies were competing...'

[@ikagura]

Companies can compete with the state.

[@Gummy41329]

I like to think the Borealis has a Test Chamber in it for emergency Testing.

[@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.

[@leonardofilho7397]

Poor GladOS, soon she'll have to deal with another mute lunatic breaking into her facility, and this one's armed

[@triforceofcourage100]

I’m positive that Glados would be elated to know Black Mesa doomed the world and humanity is now hinging its hopes on Aperture technology to save it

[@QueenOfFails]

I think valve are planning an ending for all the orange box games, back into one single game

[@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.

[@mrt6012]

Sounds exactly like something G-man would arrange

[@schaf7716]

"We have places to do and things to be" yeah that sounds like the G-Man

[@garagegaming625]

Dude created a godly weapon to do portals that dont explode users, bruh

[@Skyrionn]

...literally.

[@chilidog2469]

I want to believe if we ever get a HL3, it will be revealed that Aperture (or at least glados, being a super computer AI) has the power to destroy the combine

[@HikaruCh.]

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.

[@GnomeKr]

I have a wierd feeling that Borealis and Displacer Cannon from HL Opposing Foce may have something in common...

[@yosefsantoni599]

So much lore and potential for a giant ship, only to go to waste and never conclude. But at least we got a VR game... right?

[@Skyrionn]

*cries in Alyx*

[@FoxLosst]

I actually don't think the Borealis would have been any benefit to either side. The implication that Cave knows certain skin types don't work with her teleportation technology means that the Borealis had already been tested and sent to various locations. Despite this, the crew of the Borealis never brought it back to Aperture, but images show the ship is in incredibly good condition. This means that the most likely thing is that the ships technology was damaged too much to be used, and the sudden addition of an iceberg to her starboard side meant she couldn't move under her own power. The Borealis would not have been an asset, it's unique equipment was no longer usable and the ship itself could not be moved without it. All in all, the portal gun probably would have been more useful as a tool, allowing either resistance or combine to easily move about Edit: I just remembered a theory of mine that I think if true may be more useful than the Borealis. This theory follows a second ship, also called Borealis, also owned by Aperture Science. In Half Life 2, in the files there are blueprints present of a battleship bought by Aperture Science, bearing the name "Borealis", and signed off on by GLaDOS. These are generally considered to not be canon, as the ship they depict is clearly not the Borealis, and the time the Borealis was supposedly built is before the construction of GLaDOS. My theory is that this ship is another one, a warship acquired for some unknown purpose and named after the legendary (and lost) Borealis, and the signature the papers bear is the company's head, GLaDOS. To me, a large and armed warship possibly outfitted with Aperture tech would be more useful to the resistance than the original Borealis, a ship stuck in ice, of an unknown seaworthiness

[@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

[@giantrobot5804]

Imagine that, the launch of the rigged Borealis to the combine home world actually happened BEFORE the strike of the combine on earth? Because of the ship’s ability to bend space and time, it went back in time, and to the combine it appears that earth actually attacked the combine first? So they were all like wth? Okay be our slaves. And nobody had any idea about it because it bent time?!

[@Dustbowl_Sandwing]

EPIC another Half Life and portal video

[@Skyrionn]

Thank you :) There's more to come!

[@Cazanu417]

If anyone stumbles upon this,play entropy zero 2,the whole game is about this and its incredible

[@soulmitsuki3640]

It's kind of interesting that cave johnson tried cutting corners with the Borealis, with how it's described it sounds like either Black Mesa or Aperture could have led to the events of Half Life 1, Black Mesa just did it first... Worse? Whatever.

[@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"

[@TheAsylumCat]

There's a certain humor in the idea that Apertures tech could change humanity and thier collective incompetence keeping said tech out of combine hands.

[@torikazuki8701]

If the story is ever continued, it will be interesting to see if a logical and satisfying conclusion can be reached. Yes, being able to hop through space (and more importantly, time), is valuable, we're still talking about fighting a vast, multidimensional EMPIRE. At best, I see it ending with reversing the resonance cascade and finding some way of keeping The Combine from access Earth via dimensional rifts. Of course, if 'conventional' space-travel is possible (Meaning at least Near-Lightspeed or FTL travel), then there would be nothing to stop the Combine from reaching earth in that manner. But, that could take years, decades, centuries, etc...

[@miniminerx]

I love the visual editing!

[@Skyrionn]

Thank you!

[@Axispa.]

Gordon might be alive cuz Gman keeping him alive in stasis after a task is done and gordon can not be killed

[@sharpol7608]

Thinking about GLaDOS fighting off the combine is interesting

[@the1grove]

One small thing, we don’t actually know if the story of Epistle 3 was actually the concluding story at one point. As you said, it was just fanfic and probably isn’t an actual representation of what Valve wants for a Half Life 3 game.

[@I_Am_Transcendentem]

7:08 I just imagine the combine: CMB: "LET ME IN! LET ME INNNNN!" GLaDOS: "No."

[@Vladimir_Kv]

Sorry, but the video begins with a massive mistake. Aperture and Black Mesa were not working on similar or even comparable teleportation technologies. No, their technologies were entirely different, and that was the reason why Aperture research is considered to be so important. Black Mesa was successful in figuring out *Trans-Dimensional Teleportation* which did not work for same-dimension translocation (only Kleiner was somewhat successful in making a teleport by the start of the HL2). Trans-Dimensional Teleportation is the tech The Combine are extremely familiar with because it's the backbone of their Trans-Dimensional Empire. On the other hand, Aperture had figured out *Same-Dimensional Teleportation* after extensive testing of their Wormhole Portal technology. They didn't have any clue - apart from wild theories - that Trans-Dimensional Transportation is even possible. Same-Dimensional Transportation tech is highly relevant for The Combine because they do not have any tech analogues, and after Freeman had killed the Nihilanth they are forced to conquer planets conventionally - on foot - after establishing a small handful of resource-intensive Trans-Dimensional Portals in key locations. Basically Black Mesa is capable of visiting other worlds while Aperture was researching the capability to visit any place in the same world. The first one was a disaster. The second one is considered as an immense strategic advantage.

[@olivercharles2930]

That doesn't seem like a massive mistake imo You are describing teleportation, just different flavors of it.

[@borger477]

I love these videos, keep up the great work!

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks, will do!

[@p.h.bridegroom4142]

I just realized how deeply telling it is of the true power of the combine that the G-man, who works for somebody or something and has power over space and time, works in opposition of the Combine. That simply altering time is not enough to stop them.

[@lionsxxden]

I think that the combine is at war with the G-Man and his employers. If the combine got their hands on the local teleport / time manipulation bootstrap device, they would finally have the weapons they need to make a difference against them. I believe in the future Gordon and the combine will have to team up against the G-Man and his benefactors